The Miracle of Flight

by TheDorkside99

Part 2

“You sure this’ll work, Applejack?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Sure I’m sure,” she replied. “Why this here contraption has been in the family for so long, and not once has anypony had any problems with it.”

“Well, I’m just excited that I’m gonna be flying soon!” screamed Pinkie, wiggling with anticipation in the seat of the unusual arrangement of wood planks, a worn wicker chair, and hundreds of nails rusted with age.

“Yup,” chuckled Applejack. “But that’s not all Pinkie. Granny Smith once told me that when she was a little filly, the first mayor of Ponyville took the first ride in this here beauty.”

Pinkie gasped. “Really? Oh, I’m gonna be flying right into the history books! Well, not literally because that would hurt, but metaphorically that’s awesome. Hey, I wonder how the first mayor of Ponyville smelled like.”

Pinkie gave the ancient seat a large whiff and coughed.

“Well, more than just the mayor has been on that seat, sugarcube!”

As Applejack and Pinkie Pie were talking, Rainbow Dash took a few observant glances at the old structure. She noticed several cracks in the wood caused by termite damage and that a few tugs on the thinning seatbelt loosened its grip.

“Uh, AJ,” Rainbow began. “Have you seen the condition this thing is in?”

Applejack scoffed. “Well Miss Rainbow Dash, I wouldn’t expect you of all ponies to be concernin’ herself about safety. Why I can assure you that this flying contraption my great grandpappy built is able to withstand the mightiest of storms.”

“Yeah, but look at these cracks. Clearly termite damage. And this seatbelt is about as secure as if it had none.”

“Pfft. Details. You’ll see that the masterful craftsmanship of the Apple family will once again prove itself as Pinkie takes the sky for the millionth time.”

“Hey!” Pinkie screamed. “Are you two gonna keep squawking? I should be the one squawking right now!”

“Uh, come again, sugarcube?”

“You know, squawking like bird. Squawk!”

“Alright, sugarcube.” Applejack bent down and gripped her side of the machine. She turned to look at Rainbow Dash. “So, are ya gonna help me let Pinkie live her dreams, or what?”

Rainbow Dash huffed with resentment, but bent down and held up her side of the machine.

The trio looked out from the peak of Mount Equestria. The sky was clear and blue without a cloud in sight. The trees that lined the border of the lush meadow stood unfazed, eagerly awaiting the spectacle that would be Pinkie soaring through the sky.

“Now remember, Pinkie,” informed Applejack. “Pull this here rope to turn left and this one to turn right. If ya get tired of pedalin’, simply stop and this sail here will assure a slow and graceful descent to safety.”

“Okie dokie lokie,” replied Pinkie Pie.

“Okay, on the count of three. One. Two. Th-.” Before Applejack finished her countdown, she felt a large shift of weight go to her side of the machine. She looked up and found Rainbow Dash standing with her hooves crossed.

“Rainbow, what the hay?”

“I’m not doing this.” Rainbow cast a fiery glare at Applejack and remained firmly with her hooves crossed.

“Fine then,” said Applejack. She went behind the worn seat and began to push Pinkie Pie towards the cliff. As she neared the edge, a strong halting force forced her muzzle into Pinkie’s back.

“Are you insane?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Well, that’s pretty normal for me,” replied Pinkie Pie.

“Not you Pinkie, her.” Rainbow pointed a hoof at the recovering farm pony.

“Why, of all the! Get outta my way, Rainbow.” Applejack returned to her position behind the contraption and began to push.

“No!” Rainbow Dash countered the farm pony by pushing the front of the machine back towards the mountain. It was a losing battle as years of applebucking aided Applejack’s success in getting Pinkie closer to the edge. After struggling for about a minute, Rainbow’s back legs gave way and the ancient machine brushed past her.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow Dash managed to grip one of Applejack’s back legs just as she was about to give a final burst of push to Pinkie. Applejack reacted naturally by reaching for the side of Pinkie’s seat. The change in direction sent Pinkie careening over the cliff on one side.

“Pinkie, no!”

Applejack sprung from Rainbow’s grip and watched as Pinkie tumbled down the side of the mountain. Thick branches sprouting from the sides scratched her soft pink fur.

“Help!”

“Don’t worry Pinkie. I’m coming!” Rainbow Dash bolted from the cliff down towards the helpless pink pony, but the branches prohibited her from getting anywhere near her excitable friend. She flew in disbelief as she watched her good friend plunge towards the rocky bottom of Mount Equestria.

“Pinkie!”

“Oh my stars. Oh my stars. Oh my…”

* * *

Darkness dragged across the rugged outskirts of Ponyville amidst a light drizzle and a serenade of noisy crickets twiddling their legs in disunity. All along the muddy path, Applejack looked down at her soiled hooves and switched shoulders to rest her vagabond knapsack. Up ahead she caught a faint glimpse of a rest stop for ponies that scaled the country landscape by train. When she arrived, she let her knapsack fall next to her on a chipping wooden bench. Sue buried her face into her wet hooves.

“Mind if I smoke?” asked a voice from behind.

Applejack looked up to find a cloak bearing pony pull out a pack of cigarettes from one of the deep pockets and a lighter from another. She removed the hoodie concealing her face and let her long black mane fall over her sharp violet eyes. After lighting up the first cigarette, she took a seat next to Applejack and pulled out a second cigarette in front of the farm pony’s face.

“Uh, no thanks. I don’t smoke.”

The black maned pony placed the cigarette back into her pocket and puffed a gray smoke into the dark air. “You think you’re better than me, ay farm pony?”

Applejack scrunched her brow. “Come again?”

The pony chuckled. “You think that just because I smoke I’m somehow inferior to you. Like health makes you any better than I.” She flicked off the ash onto the red soil and placed the half-used cigarette into its pack.

“Well, I don’t mean to offend ya, but I know that smokin’ is bad for yer body.”

“Bad is such a relative term.” The pony raised her hooves behind her head and looked over at Applejack. The whites of her eyes flowed with rivers of red veins and her gray fur felt rough at sight. Applejack swallowed a nervous amount of saliva and turned away to look out into the black night.

“Name’s Octavia,” the pony said. “And yours?”

“Um, Applejack.” She cautiously stuck out her hoof. “Nice to meetcha.”

Octavia turned to look out into the dusk horizon, ignoring the friendly gesture. “So, what’s a good little filly like you doing out in the middle of bucking nowhere?”

“I…I don’t know,” Applejack said reflectively.

Octavia snickered. “For somepony who thinks she’s better than me, you’re about as bright as a dark alley oozing with filthy hookers.”

Applejack straightened her posture. “What’s that s’pose to mean?”

“Now you’re just being stupid.”

“Now you listen. First off, I wasn’t offendin’ you with my comments. I know for a fact that smokin’ does bad things to yerself regardless of how you define bad. And second, I’m out here in the middle of nowhere because I needed some time to think.”

Octavia lit up a new cigarette in her mouth, guarding the weak flame with her hoof from the light breeze. “You’re running away.”

Applejack gasped in disbelief.

Octavia continued. “Yes, my little pony, you are escaping the inescapable, extending the inevitable, and practicing the predictable.”

“I don’t follow.”

“The miracle of flight.”

A puff of smoke danced mischievously into the night sky then vanished within its encompassing grip. Out in the distance, two bobbing lights inched closer and closer until it rushed past the two traveling mares flapping their manes over their eyes. Applejack quickly restored her appearance with a flick of the hoof while Octavia simply brushed away the parts surrounding her lips and snuggled the cigarette.

“So, whaddja do? Murder somepony?”

Applejack pressed her lips. “Well, you could say that somepony very close to me is hurtin’ now. All because of my negligence.”

“She had it coming.”

Applejack rose to her hooves. “How can you say that?”

“Karma’s a bitch. And from the choice of friends she has, she’s not a whole lot better.”

“I just about had enough of this,” said Applejack. She threw her knapsack on her shoulder and marched towards the direction the train had passed.

“The miracle of flight.”

The orange pony stopped in her muddy tracks as her curiosity got the best of her bothered intentions. She slowly turned to see the blunt pony nonchalantly flick the finished cigarette in between the worn tracks of the Equestrian train station.

“What is this miracle of flight thing you keep mentionin’?” Applejack asked, taking a seat on Octavia’s other side.

After a brief moment of silence, Octavia began.

“His name was Bass. He sang in the choir. He had a unique voice.”

“Lemme guess,” said Applejack. “He sang bass?”

“Countertenor.” Octavia replied. “Talked like a girl, sang like a girl. He told me one time when he wore his mane long he was mistook for a mare outside the gym bathrooms. And, well, let’s just say he got mighty rich and a funny step.”

Another train passed and Octavia sat unfazed by the rush of wind that settled her mane back in place.

“But even when they all laughed at his voice or at his rump, I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He took notice and took me out to dinner after a show we did together. I gotta say for a scrawny singer, he sure talked like a bellowing bass, and he wasn’t too bad in the hay either.”

Octavia paused a moment to light up.

“Then one day we were at the store buying fruits for an exotic dish he was teaching me how to make. There next to the apples was a little filly getting slapped around by her father for a few that spilled on the floor. Nopony did a damn thing about it. They just stared like it was a show on television.”

Octavia paused again to cough.

“Then Bass walked over to the stallion. He looked at him dead in the eyes. And said ‘Stop it, you filthy bastard’.”

The gray pony drew out a long sigh. “I couldn’t tell you what happened right after because I was on cloud nine. I’ve never seen anypony stand up quite like that before. But then, they started to tussle on the floor right in front of the poor little filly. She was crying so loud, and nopony did a damn thing.”

“What happened next?” asked Applejack.

“Well, somepony finally managed to do something brave and call the police from across the street. But not before the bigger stallion battered Bass so badly it looked like he was run over by a freight train. I stood over him for a good minute or two, and all I could think of was how much of a fighter he was.”

“And what did you do?” asked Applejack.

“I flew.”

A third train pulling ten boxcars pulled up beside the two mares sitting on the wooden bench and whistled signaling it’s soon departure. Octavia stood to her hooves, lifted the hoodie over her head, and hopped inside a boxcar filled with hay. As the train started to move away, Octavia pulled out the half-used cigarette from her pocket.

“If I can give you a word of advice, Applejack,” Octavia said as she flicked the cigarette down to Applejack’s hooves.

“If somepony gives you hell, shove it right back up their sorry plot.”

Comments

[Blitz the Dragon]

Not sure how much I like this chapter. I mean, Applejack is really stubborn and headstrong, but I hardly believe she wouldn't keep such a contraption so poorly maintained in blind faith that her grandpappy's work is immortal. It also wouldn't be Pinkie's first flight what with the candycopter she has. That, and Octavia felt really, well, wrong, to say the least.

[Silent Storms]

I would tend to agree with Blitz. Applejack seems a bit OOC, she strikes me as the character that would check on these things before sending someone she loved into them.

Example: Lesson Zero: barn's getting old, she doesn't want anyone to get hurt in it so she has Rainbow tear it down so she can erect a new one.

Octavia: While we've never actually HAD a canon personality established, there's a pretty deep fanon one established that people like to follow. Having her named Octavia in this situation really doesn't matter since you could establish the stranger who thinks they know everything motif by using any character.

That being said: This story is still enjoyable, and i'm looking forward to where you go with it.

[nerevars]

I agree with the comment above. The character is seems a bit off from the show, like a TOO stubborn Applejack, and The Element of Loyalty who kicked her friend because her mistake?
Well, its your story though and I hope it's not end soon 'cuz I really enjoyed a tragedy story like this, keep writing!

[TheDorkside99]

Wow, lots of good comments! Thanks guys

I know there's some concern about the freedom I give myself to stretch the characters within their personality limits. All I can say is when ideas come to my head I use the Stephen King method: I put my characters in a bind and simply report the events that occur. However, I don't want you to think I want to go too far and completely ignore the canon of the show. I just don't want it to restrict what I witness in my head, because ignoring those events is to bring to you a misrepresentation of my creativity.

I'm also happy to see so many people enjoying the story. Part three should be up tomorrow, if not today!

[Trznce]

How dd Octavia know AppleJacks name?

[TheDorkside99]

181280
Well, in the part Applejack mentions her name to Octavia. Even though Octavia didn't acknowledge the friendly gesture, she still heard the name.