One night, the life of one ordinary boy will be forever changed, and in ways he can't see
Jason Sanford, an 18 year old boy who owns his own private Boeing 777-200ER, who lives in Galveston, Texas, has been banished from his own home and has been living on his plane for the past 3 months. One night, a lavender Alicorn will appear in his life, but as he sleeps, he has no way of knowing this, but fate has set the clock in motion. There is no escape from what will happen to him in the next 24 hours, and his life will never be the same again…
It was just another quiet, placid, and peaceful evening, and 18 year old Jason Silas Sanford was reading a book on his own private Boeing 777-200ER at Galveston Scholes airport in his native home town of Galveston, Texas. For the past three months, he's lived the life of a recluse, only stepping foot from the comfort of his plane to go get groceries or to go to the beach whenever it was overcast. Ever since he got tossed out of his house, but thanks to the kind assistance of his ex mother he moved all of his possessions to his plane, including all his clothes, shoes, his books, his collection of all the seashells that he's ever found on Galveston's many beaches, and his 1903 Springfield along with it's associated stash of 3,000 rounds of ammunition, bayonet, scope with scope mount M1907 leather sling, and ammunition pouches.
Around midnight, he was in his plane's library reading a book with the light of a single candle in a holder in the chair adjacent to the one he was sitting in. He was using candles to read his books because it provided a perfectly soothing atmosphere in the library at night. Jason perfectly enjoyed reading at night, but on this night, he was getting tired. He wanted to call it quits, but the sleepiness was only filling his eyes with lead and making his eyelids heavy. So, he put the bookmark in between the pages, closed the book, put it on a nearby chair, blew out the candle, walked out of the room, and closed the door. Once the candle flame died out, the interior of Jason's plane was once again plunged into inky, pitch black darkness. But having owned his plane for the past 3 years and having designed the interior layout himself, he had the entire layout virtually memorized.
In fact, Jason had memorized his plane's layout so well, he could go through the entire plane blindfolded and with both hands tied behind his back! He went to his bedroom to get ready for bed. At 12:00 AM, Jason was laying on his bed, the bedsheets covering him, and his pajamas on his body, when suddenly, he had the feeling that someone, or even something, was in his room, watching him. He ultimately decided that he was just feeling a random feeling. So he just shrugged it off, turned out the lights, and went to sleep. As Jason's eyes closed and he slept in his bed, little does he know that in the next two and a half hours his life is about to be changed forever..if only there was some kind of warning, a sign.
Jason woke up in the middle of the night, his sleep wore off. He sat up in his bed, reached for and turned on one of the two lamps mounted on the wall above the bed. He then turned to his nightstand and picked up his watch, the time was 2:00 AM, he turned to his calendar, also on the nightstand. The date was August 27, 2013. He then grabbed his canteen from the floor, picked it up, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip of water. "Well, at least it's going to be overcast skies tomorrow. Maybe I'll go to the beach and swim after I do some grocery shopping." Jason said to himself.
But just as he put the lid back on the canteen, closed it and set it back on the floor, he heard a tinkling sound outside his room through the slightly open door, the tinkling was more than loud enough to get his attention. "What's that noise?" Jason asked himself, his curiosity peaked. He went back to his bed, and picked up the watch again, the time was 2:30 AM. Curiosity peaked, he put on his glasses and walked to the door. He had only opened the door a few inches before a brilliant flash of bright magenta colored light sent him flying back into his bedroom. The flash of pink light was more than bright enough to illuminate the entire interior of the 200 foot plane, and it did. He landed on the floor with a loud thud. The flash was very brilliant, but it only lasted a few short seconds.
Sprawled on the floor in his room, Jason was dazed, but still alive. Thinking quickly, after shaking the dizziness from his head, he ran and grabbed his Springfield and loaded the rifle. Just before getting his earplugs, he went back to his nightstand, and he grabbed the M1905 bayonet, unsheathed it, and slipped it onto the barrel of the rifle.
He then put in earplugs, and walked into the hallway, with his Springfield in his hands. As he walks, Jason doesn't watch where he's walking and trips over something, but through his half asleep half awake senses, the object he tripped on felt soft, and the object talked, "Ow!" It cried.
"Wah!" Jason lost his balance and fell to the floor, landing flat on his chest. He is knocked out for a few seconds. Having regained his senses, he got up and what he saw stunned him. There, just a few feet away from him, he saw a lavender Alicorn who he instantly recognized. It looked at him with a confused and surprised look. Jason immediately recognized her and fell in love. "T-Twilight Sparkle?!" Jason blurted out.
"Uhm... Yeah...how do you know my name?" She asked, coming closer to him. "Who are you? And.. don't take this offensive but, what are you?"
"My name is Jason Silas Sanford, and I'm a human. But its along story on how I know you."
"Where are we?" Twilight asked confused.
"We are on my plane at Galveston scholes airport in Galveston, Texas. And welcome onboard Twilight. How did you get here? I've never seen a... an Alicorn, before in my life." Jason asked.
"I honestly do not know how I got here. I was sleeping at midnight, and I woke up and I found myself here." Twilight replied, confused.
"Well that's interesting, very interesting." Jason mused, rubbing his chin.
"What's even more interesting is how you know who I am. How do you know?" Twilight asked.
"Well in my world, you are on a tv show called My Little Pony Friendship is Magic."
"Oh, so... I'm famous?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. You became an Alicorn and became The Princess of Friendship." Jason said.
"Yeah, I did!" Twilight replied proudly. Jason smiled as she smiled.
"Tell me how much you know about me." Twilight told Jason.
“You're the Princess of Friendship. You were Princess Celestia's personal protege before becoming a princess yourself and you know magic like nobody's business. You used to live in Canterlot before moving to Ponyville. You helped revert Princess Luna back to how she used to be. You have five friends, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, who are both Pegasi, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who are Earth Ponies, and Rarity who's a unicorn. Your #1 assistant is Spike, who happens to be a baby dragon. You got your Cutie Mark and became Princess Celestia's protege by hatching Spike yourself and you raised him ever since.” Jason explained.
“How does he know so much about me?....” Twilight asked herself.
Then, Twilight yawned, "Jason do you have a place for me to sleep? I'm kinda tired." She asked.
"Oh, yeah, I have the guest room. It's a bit further down the plane." Jason said.
"Good, cause I need someplace to sle.." Twilight said before dozing off to sleep right in front of Jason. Jason smiled and as gently as he could, he picked Twilight up and carried her to the guest room by the cockpit.
"She really does look like the real deal.” Jason said as he cradled Twilight in his arms. As quietly as he could, he opened the door, walked into the room, undid the bedsheets, set her down in the bed, covered her with the bedsheets and just before he walked away from the bed, Jason leaned over and kissed Twilight on her cheek, "Good night, Twilight." Jason whispered. Jason tiptoed away from the bed, walked out of the room, and just before he closed the door, he took one last look at the now asleep Alicorn. Seeing that she was sleeping, Jason smiled, yawned, and headed back to his bedroom, being as quiet as he could, and climbed back into bed. "Well, it looks like tomorrow promises to be quite interesting.." Jason mused to himself as he fell asleep.
It was almost 9:00 AM by the time Twilight woke up the next morning. She opened her eyes slowly and lifted her head off of her pillow to look around. The room she was in was darkened due to the thick, heavy clouds that she saw out of the windows behind her bed. Glancing around some more, she noticed two chairs facing each other at the opposite side of the room. She sat upright, took off her covers with her magic and jumped out of the bed. She landed on the soft carpeted floor on all fours. She trotted out of her room and into the hallway. "Jason? Jason?" Twilight called for Jason.
"I'm in here." She heard his voice.
"Where are you?" She asked.
"Follow my voice." Jason simply said.
Twilight followed his voice, like he told her to. She walked a long distance before trotting into a rather large room that had an entrance consisting of two wooden double doors, a large wood table with 8 chairs lining the ends of the table, and a couch behind the wood table that had two lamps on both ends of the couch. She trotted over to the table and saw several pitchers and plates on the table with hash browns, a fruit bowl and muffins. Jason picked up a blueberry muffin, poured some orange juice and grabbed some hash browns.
“What’s that?” Twilight asked, pointed with her hoof. Jason shook some salt on the hash browns, and took a bite. “Just some hash browns.” he replied between chewing.
"Hash browns? So hash browns are potatoes?" Twilight asked.
"Shredded or cubed potatoes." Jason said, taking a bite of his blueberry muffin. Twilight smiled, took a seat next to Jason, and ate a blueberry muffin.
After breakfast, Twilight took a better look around Jason's plane. It was very luxurious in comparison to her castle or her friends’ houses, but it still had that luxury feel and element to it. At the front of the plane was a room that had four seats, an immeasurable number of buttons and switches and two strange W shaped wheels. On the front panels, she saw 5 boxes and 3 smaller ones, with what appeared to be a pane of glass on the front. After giving them a quizzical stare, Jason explained that those were the screens for the EICAS, MFD, ND, PFD displays and the displays for the standby instruments. The screens that displayed all of the parameters of the planes systems and monitored the engine performance was the EICAS display. EICAS meant Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System, PFD meant Primary Flight Display, and ND meant Navigation Display. MFD meant Multifunction Function Display
Twilight made a mental note to take a look at that later. The hall outside where she had breakfast with Jason next to it had a small couch with two lamps on the end of it, like the couch in the back of the room. The couch had a blanket that said F4U Corsair Whistling Death on it. It was folded on the couch, and tossed on it was a pillow version of the Corsair blanket. Twilight looked in awe at the matching pillow and blanket. Next to the couch and down the hall was the door that led to his bedroom. The wall next to the door was lined with a wardrobe and another wardrobe with two shelves in it that had plane models, a box of seashells, and a bust of a person that Twilight didn’t recognise. Jason explained that the bust was of lieutenant colonel James Doolittle. He also explained that the Boeing 777-200ER that he owned was 209 feet long with a wingspan of 199 feet.
After a long day of explaining everything, Twilight got tired and she decided that she was going to be going to bed. And Jason reluctantly agreed, after all, the many explanations that he gave Twilight had worn him out considerably.
The next morning, Jason got up early to go to his plane's onboard library to see if he could find a way to get Twilight back to Equestria. But before he went to the library, as quietly as he could, he tiptoed to the guest room, where Twilight was sleeping. To his relief, the lavender Alicorn was still asleep, "D'oh, she is just adorable when she sleeps!" Jason said, clutching his heart. To his relief, Twilight didn't flick a hoof while Jason nearly had a heart attack from diabeetus.
As quietly as he tiptoed to Twilight's room, Jason tiptoed away from her room and towards the library. Once he was in the room, as quietly as he could, he closed the door. But he quietly reopened the door and hung up the do not disturb sign on the doorknob. As quietly as he reopened the door, Jason closed the door again. He quickly scanned the bookshelves in the room. But after a few minutes, Jason was horrified to see that he had absolutely no books on magic. "I have no way to get Twilight back to Equestria, but I'm going to have to tell her, one way or another.." Jason mused. Mustering all the courage he could, he quietly opened the door to the library, took the do not disturb sign off the doorknob, and headed straight for Twilight's room.
Jason was a little bit hesitant about telling Twilight that he had no way to send her back home before walking to Twilight's room, but he had to tell her, one way or another, and even if it hurt. To his relief, the alicorn was already awake. "Twilight, you got a second?" Jason asked, leaning into the doorframe.
"Yeah Jason, what's up?" Twilight asked.
"We need to talk, meet me in my room." Jason said before walking out of her room.
"Okay, I'm right behind you." Twilight said, getting off her bed and trotting behind Jason.
"What's up Jason?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight, you're probably hoping that I can send you back to Equestria, right?" Jason asked. Twilight simply nodded.
"Well, Twilight, what I'm about to tell you isn't good news, so I'm going to be as blunt as I can, okay?" Jason said.
"Okay." Twilight said, acknowledging him.
"Twilight, I checked my room this morning and I have no books on magic at all." Jason said.
"Meaning?" Twilight inquired.
"Meaning I can't send you back to Equestria." Jason said sadly.
"You can't?!" Twilight demanded.
"No." Jason said.
"Why not?" Twilight inquired.
"I don't know how. Twilight, Equestrian magic is far beyond what I'm humanly capable of. And even if I tried it, I may only land myself in the hospital in the intensive care unit or possibly disfigure or scar myself for life."
"But there has to be." Twilight said before being cut off.
Jason stood back stomping his foot. "TWILIGHT, JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME! YOU'RE STUCK HERE!!" Jason shouted. Twilight immediately went quiet, shock and horror in her eyes.
Jason lowered his head. "Twilight for the last time… you're stuck with me, forever… I'm sorry Twilight… but your days in Equestria are over, I can't send you back, I don't know how."
Twilight lowered her head, a few tears escaping her eyes. "So… I really am stuck with you … Everything I ever hoped for in being with Spike and my friends again was just an illusion" I''ll never see them again…. I...I won't… She thought back to all the fun times she had with the baby dragon and her friends… She couldn't believe she would never get to experience anything fun with them ever again.
"Twilight I never said-" Jason said before being cut off by Twilight.
She got off the bed, heading out. "I need some time alone…" Jason sighed watching her trot sadly out of his room.
"Oh, Twilight…" he looked over to her. "I hate seeing you sad. There has to be something I can do…" Jason sighed.
Twilight trotted sadly back to her room, ignoring the sun streaming into the plane through the open window blinds, tears dripping from her eyes and hitting the carpeted cabin floor. She trotted into her room, and sat down on her bed on all fours, bringing her front hooves over her head.
"I'll never see Spike or my friends again… ever… I was hoping that I would get to see them again. But now, it's just a dream… an illusion… But at least Jason is taking care of me..." Twilight thought to herself. She closed her eyes, sobbing a little. "I'm such an idiot…" Twilight sniffed.
She heard footsteps coming into her room. A shadow crept over her, as Jason came up to her. "Twilight…?" He asked. The young boy was worried for the young Alicorn, it didn't feel right to leave her alone when that was the one thing she needed. Twilight didn't look up.
Jason sat down on Twilight's bed and wrapped an arm around her. Twilight looped her forelegs around Jason's chest and buried her muzzle in his shirt. After what seemed like hours, Twilight's crying subsided. "Feeling a little better?" Jason asked.
"Yes…but I'll never see Spike or my friends again… I got my dreams of seeing them again and now it… it just fell to pieces." She sniffed.
Jason sighed and sat down beside Twilight, bringing an arm around her. "Twilight, look, I know this is hard for you… But you need to stay strong, and embrace your new lifestyle. You're living with someone who knows this island like the back of his head and I'll see if I can head into town tomorrow and get you some food. I'm going to try and find a way."
Twilight curled up to Jason a little, and scooted under his jacket, taking in his warmth. "If you could… I… I'd like that…"
He smiled gently, stroking her back with a hand. "I know I will… But there's one thing you have to do for me… Don't give up… ever… I didn't fall in love with a pony who gives up now did I?" Jason asked.
"No… you didn't…" Twilight sniffed.
"Good. Twilight, it's going to be okay." He nuzzled her gently. "I promise." Twilight nuzzled Jason back.
"Okay, Jason…" Twilight sniffed.
"Twilight, I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier." Jason said, apologizing to the alicorn.
"It's okay, Jason." Twilight said.
"So, no hard feelings?" Jason asked.
Twilight looped her forelegs around Jason, hugging him. "No hard feelings, Jason." Twilight said.
"Good." Jason said.
After they broke their embrace, Jason got up, and he helped the alicorn off the bed. He stood up, with Twilight standing next to him. "Come on, how about we get you some Martinelli's cider?" He asked.
"Yeah… good idea." She said.
"Then let's go. I'll get the cider." Jason said. As he walked out of Twilight's room, the Alicorn trotting behind him, a deep reality dawned on him, Jason knew that since the tv show was ongoing, he had to keep Twilight with him under terms of absolute secrecy. But he felt confident keeping Twilight a secret, he's kept secrets before, and he could just as easily do it again.
Later that same evening, Jason was in his bed, fast asleep, his door was closed. But in the darkness of the room, a magenta aurora enveloped the doorknob, and the door opened. It turned out that Twilight used her magic to open the door. As Twilight trotted into the room, she saw that Jason didn't even flick a finger. As quickly and quietly as she could, she trotted over to Jason's bed. She was afraid that teleporting over to his bed would wake him up. "Jason?" Twilight whispered, again he didn't flick a finger.
As Jason sleeps, Twilight taps his face with a wing. "Jason?" She whispered softly.
Again, no response. "Jason? Twilight called again.
"H-huh?" Jason sleepily mumbled.
"Jason?" Twilight called softly again.
"Huh? Wha-what is it Twilight?" Jason asked sleepily.
"Jason, can I sleep with you for tonight?" Twilight asked.
"Sure, get in." Jason said.
"Thanks Jason." Twilight said.
"You're welcome." Jason said.
"Good night, Jason." Twilight said closing her eyes.
"Good night, Twilight." Jason yawned, falling asleep himself.
The sun was setting at Galveston. The seagulls were still out and about, tending to their young and stealing from unlucky, unsuspecting tourists. At Scholes Airport, Jason Sanford was in the cockpit of his Boeing 777 watching it when Twilight's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Jason? Jason?" Twilight called out.
"I'm in here." Jason called out.
"Watching the sunset I see?" Twilight asked, trotting into the cockpit. As she trotted in, she noted Jason's look when he was watching the sunset.
"Yeah I was, as a matter of fact." Jason replied, smiling at her.
"Mind if I join you?" Twilight asked.
"No, not at all." Jason said.
Twilight smiled and trotted over to where Jason was sitting and Jason helped her into his seat, and he helped Twilight sit in his lap. "Beautiful sunset isn't it?" Jason asked.
"Yes, it's really pretty." Twilight said.
"It sure is, Twilight, it sure is." Jason replied.
The two watched the sunset for about 20 more minutes when the sun painted the ocean, the sky above it, and the rich island landscape below it a rich, vibrant golden glow.
"Jason I need to tell you something." Twilight said, snapping Jason out of his thoughts.
"What is it Twilight?" Jason asked.
"Jason, there's something I wanted to tell you. When you took me in when I didn't have a place to stay, and I was all alone, that was the sweetest thing anypony has ever done for me. You're kinda like me, we both love reading, and we have purple eyes. I've never had a special somepony or a coltfriend before, ever, and I've never even kissed a stallion, so I don't know how to explain this, but I've fallen for you, Jason..." Twilight said, smiling as she looked at him.
The moment she said that, Jason froze. For a split second, Jason felt his heart stop. He felt his jaw drop like a bag of wet cement as literally, he felt his entire body go numb. He didn't know what to say, Twilight had a spot in his heart the day that the show began, but at that split moment, Jason realized that this was his chance to finally confess his feelings for the one pony who he held near and dear to him for the past few years. "Twilight, I don't know how to explain this, but I've fallen for you too." Jason said, mustering all the courage that he could.
"You have?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, you're not like any of the girls that I've met on this island, you like reading so much, and like you said, we both have purple eyes, we're both eggheads, and I haven't kissed one single girl on this island, and no one has those purple eyes, and you're fun to hang out with and easy talk to, sweet, smart, and a little bit funny." Jason said, giggling.
"Really?" Twilight asked.
"And very beautiful." Jason said. Just as he said that, before Jason could react, he felt Twilight's forelegs loop themselves tightly around his neck, he felt his lips connect with Twilight's, and he had his vision obscured by lavender, his eyes widened almost instantaneously. They held that posture for a few seconds before they broke for air.
"Jason, nopony's ever called me beautiful, ever. That is the sweetest thing anypony has ever said to me." Twilight sighed.
"I love you, Twilight." Jason sighed.
"I love you, Jason." Twilight said, looking into Jason's eyes, which were the same color as Twilight's. Jason and Twilight smiled at each other, resumed their first kiss, fueled by nothing but true love. Brilliant yellow gold sunlight streamed into the cockpit through the windows. Twilight opened her wings and wrapped them around Jason and pulled him closer and closer to her. Twilight stroked Jason's back with both of her wings and her forelegs while they were wrapped around him, and Jason wrapped both arms around Twilight's neck and he combed his fingers through her mane. As they kissed, Twilight's horn rested on Jason's forehead, at the same time, a surge of warmth coursed through their bodies from head to toe, and head to hoof and through their kiss, Jason and Twilight felt their hearts speed up, and they could feel and hear their hearts pounding in their chests.
Twilight's horn lit up, and through their kiss, Jason found himself surrounded by the very same magenta aura that he's come to associate with Twilight. As the aura enveloped them, Jason felt a second, but even more intense surge of warmth course through his body. The aura enveloped both Jason and Twilight completely, and it made their first kiss all the more magical. "I love him, so much..." Twilight sighed dreamily, looking into Jason's purple eyes. As she looked at him, Twilight stroked Jason's back with both of her wings and her forelegs.
"This is the best day of my life!" Jason said to himself as he looked deeply into Twilight's purple eyes while stroking Twilight's back and running his fingers through her mane with both of his hands. As they kissed, Jason's peach colored skin and chocolate brown hair glowed in the golden light of the island sunset.
On that one very day, Jason's life was changed forever, but at the same time, it was made a little more magical, and this was one day that Jason was going to be remembering for a long time, and Twilight would be no different, but on that one magic day, the two finally showed their love for each other. As they kissed, the combination of gold yellow sunlight streaming into the cockpit through the uncovered windows, and the magenta aura of Twilight's horn enveloping both her and Jason mixing and combining with each other made for possibly the most magical kiss any guy, girl, mare, or stallion could have ever dreamed of or asked for.
The next morning, Jason had to go to the supermarket for groceries. But just before he stepped off his plane, he went into his office, and wrote Twilight a note. Before leaving he went back into his room and set the note on the bed. "The sooner I get this done, the better." Jason sighed to himself. Jason opened the forward retractable staircase and got on a borrowed golf cart and went to the supermarket.
That same morning, Twilight woke up. As her eyes fluttered open, she turned around and saw that Jason was nowhere in sight. "Jason? Jason?" Twilight called out.
But Jason as Twilight was about to step off the bed, she felt her hoof step in paper, and instinctively, she looked down. "It's a note." Twilight said to herself. Picking it up with her magic, she read it.
"Twilight, I went into town to get some groceries for dinner tonight. I should be back on the plane by 10:00, but don't worry, I'm bringing lunch too. Don't go outside the plane, I don't want anyone to see you. You can look around my plane if you want to.
Jason"
"Well, at least I know where he went." Twilight said to herself.
It had been about four hours since Jason left and Twilight had already looked around every inch of his Boeing 777. She made a few interesting finds, like a stack of papers on his desk that appeared to be in his office. She saw his M1A rifle right next to the spot where he slept in his bed, still loaded. Having seen nothing like it before, it looked menacing and powerful. Once she had made her way back past the office, she looked at his desk again and by the windows, by a pen, which appeared to have been used, she saw a stack of books. She giggled, trotted over to the desk, and reached out with her magic to pluck one from the stack.
Meanwhile, Jason had spent the better part of an hour driving back to the airport on a borrowed golf cart through the bustling island streets, “Here I am, living my reclusive lifestyle, buried in my books. But all of a sudden, poof! The very unicorn turned Alicorn that I love, Twilight Sparkle, suddenly pops into my life, on MY plane, on THIS island! Some night I went through..But now that I come to think of it, it might not be so bad.” Jason mused. He kept on driving back to the airport. But as he passed the Moody Gardens hotel, something caught his eye. There was his Boeing 777, dwarfing every other plane and helicopter at the airport.
Having obtained the book from the stack, Twilight smiled widely as she settled down on the chair in front of the desk to read it. "Ow!" Twilight cried in pain, she felt something dig into her back. She took it out and saw that it was a seatbelt buckle. She brushed it aside and looked at the cover of the book, she opened the cover with her magic and flicked through a few of the pages. Having been to the human world when her crown was stolen by Sunset Shimmer, she knew how to read the books.
Twilight was a quarter of the way through the book she was reading. "Twilight, I'm back." She heard Jason call out and Jason walked in, carrying his groceries. Jason happened to have walked past the office, and he looked at the alicorn and saw her reading one of his books. But her eyes were watering slightly.
"What’s wrong?” he asked as he put his groceries down and walk into the room.
Twilight blinked her tears away and looked back at the book. She pointed at it and sighed before, levitating the book over to Jason. “This book…” she explained. “It's so sad.” She sniffed.
Jason took the book and looked it. It was Isaac's Storm: a Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History, written by Erik Larson, a book about the one hurricane that very nearly destroyed Galveston completely and rewrote the island's destiny. He had bought that book back in elementary school. Jason put the book on his desk, smiled and stood back up and held the book in his hands. “You know, Twilight, I have more books…” Jason said, trying to hide a rapidly developing blush.
"You do?!" Twilight asked, grinning.
"Yeah I do." Jason said, a small smile etched on his face.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?!" Twilight said, taking Jason's hand in his hoof.
Jason smiled, one that made Twilight smile back at him. The two then walked down the plane until they came to a small room with 4 chairs facing each other. Twilight forgot about all of that when she looked at the bookshelf next to and to the left the door like Jason told her to. It was as tall as the entire room and it was full to bursting with books! She had no idea where to start, so many books to read, so little time.
Then Jason said something to her which made him smile even more. “Twilight, you can read my books whenever you want.” Twilight squealed with delight and ran over to Jason, hugging him. She barraged him with kisses and darted off to the bookshelf to find a book to read. Jason giggled at her enthusiasm and grabbed The Skull and Crossbones Squadron: VF-17 in World War II, and sat down to read.
It was almost 2 in the morning when Jason and Twilight were headed back to Jason's bedroom, having read for almost three hours. “Y’know Jason!” Twilight said as they walked up to the door for Jason's room.
“Most of your books are about flying, it's really amazing. I didn't know humans could fly.” Twilight gushed.
“Well that magic, I was imbued with that very same magic that the Wright brothers discovered more than 100 years ago.” he said.
"Can you teach me more on human flight?” Twilight asked.
"Yes, I will. In fact, we can go flying tomorrow, the weather is going to be perfect." Jason said. Twilight squealed and kissed Jason.
"But for now, let's go get some sleep, tomorrow's a big day." He said, yawning.
Jason smiled at Twilight's eagerness to learn new things and opened his door. The two walked into the room and Twilight wasted no time in getting in bed. Jason yawned loudly and laid down beside Twilight. “Good night, Twilight, love you.” Jason said, kissing Twilight's cheek, which made her blush. Within minutes, Jason was fast asleep, and Twilight was on the verge of falling asleep herself.
Twilight smiled at Jason sleeping and pulled the blanket up to cover them with her magic. "I love you, Jason.” She whispered, gently kissed his cheek and draped a wing over him as she fell asleep next to him. As Twilight fell asleep, she draped her tail over his legs. In his sleep, Jason reached over and held Twilight's hoof with his hand, Twilight smiled and nuzzled him and Jason and Twilight ended up sleeping with their cheeks nuzzling each other.
The next day dawned beautifully in Galveston. As the sun rose out of the ocean, beautiful golden rays of sunlight lit up everything on the island in a soft rosy glow. The morning calm, already complete with the sound of the rolling waves at the island's many beautiful beaches, was further enhanced by the familiar sound of seagull calls, and the call of the many songbirds that inhabited the small island.
The flora and the fauna on the island also awakened. The many flowers which inhabited the island, including the native hibiscus, opened their petals to their full width, and the island almost simultaneously exploded with color. On a Boeing 777-200ER at the local airport, a certain human and lavender alicorn were still asleep. Twilight had both wings wrapped around Jason and Jason was cradling her in his arms while still holding her right hoof in his hand.
As they slept, the golden rays from the sun streaked into the plane and illuminated the interior in a brilliant golden glow. At the same time, sunlight streaked into Jason's room, and sunlight streaked into his and Twilight's eyes. Jason moaned as he woke up. "Morning, Twilight." Jason said to her, looking into her purple eyes.
"Morning, sleepyhead." Twilight said, stroking Jason's side with a wing.
"You ready for our flight?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, but can we have some breakfast? I'm starving." Twilight said.
"Sure." Jason said.
The two got up, and they walked into the dining room and had their breakfast in the exact same chairs they had breakfast when Twilight first arrived on the island. They even had hash browns, orange juice and blueberry muffins again. After breakfast, and Jason changing into his clothes, the two went for the cockpit, but not before Jason pulled off the engine and pitot probe covers.
Soon the two were in the cockpit of the 300 ton plane. As Jason ran through the checklists, the standby instruments, the EICAS and EFIS displays flickered to life in front of Twilight.
Using the MFD, Jason checked all the systems, and everything was normal.
Twilight watched everything with a look of pure awe. Then with all the checklists completed, Jason was ready to start the engines. "Okay, preflight and before start checklists are complete, we're ready to fire up the engines." Jason said. He then flipped both start switches to START. The 2 Rolls Royce engines started up.
As the engines started, Jason kept a close eye on the EICAS display. Twilight watched in awe at everything happening in front of her. "Twilight, this plane has been sitting idle for the past 3 months, and I haven't gone flying since I got tossed out of my house." Jason said.
"Really?" Twilight asked. Jason simply nodded.
Once he got taxi clearance, Jason opened the throttle and the 777 moved under its own power once again. "Jason, we're moving!" Twilight said. Given the small size of Scholes Airport, the 777 was on the runway within a few minutes.
"Ready Twilight?" Jason asked.
"Ready!" Twilight replied.
Soon, their clearance was given. This was the moment Jason always waited for whenever he went flying in his Boeing 777. With clearance given, Jason engaged the parking brake and opened the throttle to full power. The engines suddenly went from the relatively quiet hum of taxiing to a deep throaty roar associated with takeoffs. The familiar roar of the two Rolls Royce Trent 800 engines filled Jason's ears.
"Okay, hang on, Twilight, we'll be going really fast!" With that, Jason released the parking brake. Twilight felt the plane respond with raw power and lurch down the runway.
"Whoa!" Twilight exclaimed. More than 60,000 lbs of thrust slammed Twilight back into her seat, despite her harness. The Boeing 777 lurched backwards and shot forward, both motions felt by Twilight and Jason.
"We sure are going fast!" Twilight said, shaking. When the airspeed indicator needle went past the 120 mark, Jason pulled on the yoke, and almost like magic, the 280 ton plane rose from the concrete runway, and towards the sky.
"Jason, we're flying!" Twilight cried.
"I know." Jason replied as he retracted the landing gear. Once the 777 climbed past 1,500 feet, Jason pulled power, and the sound of the engines quickly went from a deep roar to a gentle hum.
"Jason what are you doing?" Twilight asked, having heard what happened.
"I'm pulling power, it's to reduce wear on the engines." Jason replied, he looked at the EICAS display and power in the engines was tapering off. Jason climbed to 10,800 feet above Galveston, leveled off and started circling.
After what seemed like hours, "Twilight, I know flying's fun and all, but what goes up must come down." Jason said, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.
"What? We're landing already?" Twilight asked.
"Yep." Jason said, grabbing the manual.
Once getting clearance, Jason started descending to Galveston. While they were descending, Jason ensured they didn't accumulate extra airspeed. Once they were at 2,500 feet, Jason lowered the landing gear. Soon the before landing checklist was completed. As Jason's 777 dropped past 1,900 feet, Galveston was in view.
Soon, the morning flight was done and Jason could teach Twilight about how human flight evolved from the humble beginnings to the high tech it became.
"Okay, Twilight, are you ready for your lecture on human flight?" Jason asked as he undid his harness.
"Yes!" Twilight said, her eyes growing wide.
Jason took Twilight to their room and gave Twilight the lecture. He explained how over the years, people were fascinated with flight, watching birds fly over their houses on a daily basis. And as time went on, during the evolution of human flight, there was a constant succession of pioneers, failures, and deaths which seemed endless until one day in 1903, all that changed. Jason went on to explain how two very ingenious men, Orville and Wilbur Wright, also known as the Wright brothers, discovered the magic of human flight, and in doing so, they discovered a very special kind of magic that can both be enjoyed and shared. Twilight was enthralled.
At the end of the lecture, Twilight was awestruck, "Jason, that was amazing!" She gushed.
"Yeah, it was, and I'm proud of those guys!" Jason said, a small smile on his face.
"If only I could have been there to see that for myself!" Twilight said dreamily.
"Well, that makes two of us." Jason mused, shrugging his shoulders.
It was another quiet morning in Galveston. Jason was in his planes office reading a book when Twilight trotted into the room. "This package came in for you Jason." Twilight said trotting over to him with an orange envelope in her mouth.
"Thank you, Twilight." Jason said taking the envelope from her and setting it down on the desk.
"Twilight, there's more books in my room, one's already open." He said.
"You're letting me read your books Jason?!?" Twilight asked grinning.
"Go knock yourself out." Jason said. Twilight streaked out of the room, squealing like a fanatic.
Jason chuckled at the enthusiasm of the Alicorn, "I knew I loved you for a reason, Twilight."
"Okay, let's see what this is about." Jason said to himself as he opened the envelope.
In the large yellow envelope, he saw that the first white envelope was from his former aunt. "My aunt Matilda? Why would my former aunt be writing to me after I got tossed out of the house and the family? I'd better read this." Jason said to himself.
He opened the orange envelope and took out the white envelope. He then took out a letter opener from his desk and opened the envelope. He took the letter out and started reading.
Dear Jason,
This is to inform you that from complications from a recent surgery, your former mother Coleen Sanford died 3 weeks ago. On her deathbed, your mother said that after a joint discussion with the remnants of the Sanford family, your mother has decided that you are not allowed to return home. Our family was already falling apart over your sister dying, and your parents divorcing, with your ex father moving to Sitka, Alaska to work for Exxon Mobil and your ex mother being suspended from her job in Texas City. You celebrated your sisters death for annoying you, instead of stopping the party you worked to put together like your mother told you to, you went ahead and had the party anyway. Even though you were kicked out of the family, you will still retain the Sanford name. You can rename yourself if you wish. Included with this letter is the $980 that rested with your now closed bank account and the $790 that rested with your sisters closed bank account.
Never to be heard from again,
Your former aunt, Matilda Sanford
P.S. Your mother sold the house 3 weeks before she had the surgery, so I'm living in it but your uncle Joshua is living in my house and your ex father severed all ties with the family completely. Included in the orange envelope is a letter from your mother.
Jason sighed as put the letter from his former aunt on the desk. He picked up the orange envelope, and dug deeper into it and found three more envelopes. He opened the first two envelopes and found the $980 and the $790 mentioned in the letter from his former aunt. "Looks like all the money is here." Jason said to himself after he counted the money. As he put the money back in the envelopes, and put the envelopes in his desk drawer, and closed it, he saw the third envelope out of the corner of his left eye.
"Mother...." Jason snarled as he read who the envelope was from. Using his letter opener, he opened the envelope and pulled out the letter and began reading.
Dear Jason,
On the morning of March 23rd, our family's lives were devastated. I told you to stop celebrating your sisters death since before she was diagnosed with her condition, she annoyed you to no end like you said. I told you to stop the party, and you chose not to. You disobeyed me and celebrated anyway. On my behalf, I would like to say that I will never forgive you for celebrating your sisters death. I felt that you were not sad at your sisters funeral, and your faked sadness was just a mask hiding your true feelings towards your sister, resentment towards her and joy that she died. I hope you're happy, Jason, you had your fun, and your party.
You insignificant piece of humanity, don't call me, write to me, think of me, or even visit me, because you and I, we are no longer mother and son, and never will be again!
Never bother me again, ever! Your former mother, Coleen Sanford.
"You blasted woman!! It's because of you and your discipline that I got tossed out of my house!!" Jason roared. Jason's face turned crimson red and in a fit of rage, he crumpled up the letter in his hands and threw it across the room. It bounced off the wall rolled across the floor a few feet and stopped. "Well, at least I got to throw that party, and I still have all of my possessions." Jason said forcing a smile on his face.
"Jason is everything alright?" Twilight asked, poking her head into the room.
"Twilight, meet me in our room, there's something I need to tell you." Jason said, walking out of the room.
"Okay." Twilight replied.
"Twilight?" Jason asked.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Twilight, me taking your in when I did, me not taking care of you isn't my style, ever since what happened to my sister..." Jason said. "Your sister?" Twilight asked confused. "Meet me in our room, there's something I need to tell you." Jason said.
Once in Jason's room, the two started talking.
"Twilight, it was just another weekday, I had turned 15 years old just a day ago. I had only had my plane for just over a month, my plane was once a British Airways Boeing 777-200ER, one of a few that the airline retired after the flight 38 incident. But a family friend was able to acquire it before it was scrapped, and using our lottery winnings we were able to have it converted to the way it is now and we were able to get some training materials and an operating manual for the plane. I was at school, I attended Ball High School at the time, and my sister Tiffany was at school too, she was in middle school. It was just after lunch when my dad came and picked me up. He drove me to the hospital. When I stepped into that building, my whole world imploded." Jason said.
"What happened?" Twilight asked.
"Twilight, I was NOT prepared for what I saw when I stepped into the exam room. My mom was bawling her eyes out. My dad took me aside and he said that my sister had an unknown medical condition that was not only untreatable, but was life threatening AND life limiting. She only had two months to live. The night after we got back from the hospital, my sister threw a temper tantrum about the fact that I was still in perfect health and I had my whole life ahead of me, while she was dying." Jason said.
"Jason, I had no idea you went through so much..." Twilight gasped.
"Yeah, it was so sudden, I was not expecting that AT ALL Twilight! My parents argued about my sister and she was still throwing her fit. So I went to the beach to get away from it all. Then, one morning, those two months later, we were about to eat breakfast, but I already started eating. Meanwhile my parents walked into Tiffany's room, and she was gone. She died. The whole family was grief stricken. I couldn't bear to see my family upset, so I took my 777 and I went flying. I didn't know my sister was dead, but when I got back from flying that afternoon, the reality of what happened that morning finally sank in. But my parents pulled me out of school the week after my sister died, since my grades were deteriorating and I kicked a bully in the face."
"Your parents pulled you out of school?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, mainly because my grades were deteriorating and in self defense, I spin kicked a bully in the face with my foot. After I got pulled out of school, one afternoon, I was reading a book when I overheard that my mom had decreed that once I turned 18, I would go live on my plane, I protested, and we argued. The next 3 years without my sister were quiet, while my parents were at work, I made numerous trips to the beach. And just two days after I turned 18, I got my M1A. And it was then that I got tossed out of my house. After what happened, I vowed to never think about, write to, call, or even visit the remnants of my family ever again! I severed ties and all contact with them.."
"Jason.." Twilight soothed, rubbing his back with a wing.
Jason went on explaining how he was a recluse until she magically appeared on his plane and how she changed his life. Twilight sat by Jason's side, occasionally stroking his back with a wing.
And Twilight explained how she was under so much pressure, and how she just wanted to live like everypony else and how she didn't want those wings in the first place. For Jason, that confirmed what he had been feeling, that Twilight becoming an alicorn was a bad idea from the start.
It was just another peaceful night in Galveston, and the many locals and tourists were out and about, enjoying the nighttime side of the island. The many lights and sights on the island blazed fiercely, piercing through the inky black nighttime darkness. A few seagulls were still flying, and a few were still swooping down on tourists, stealing their food before they even have a chance to react. Meanwhile, at Scholes Airport, Jason and Twilight were just about to get ready for bed, Jason was already in his pajamas. Twilight was already in the bed on her side, the bedsheets were already draped over her. She was still waiting for Jason to get in bed with her.
"Jason was so right. Galveston is really pretty at night, no wonder he loves it here." Twilight said to herself, looking out the window.
"Coming to bed Jason?" Twilight suddenly asked.
"Yeah, hold on, Twilight." Jason replied.
A few minutes later, the two lovers were in each other's embrace. Twilight used her magic to drape the bedsheets over Jason, and Jason was about to turn off the lights. But suddenly, Jason realized something as his eyes widened. "Twilight, we need to do that rehearsal I told you about three days ago." He said, grabbing the operating manual and walking to the cockpit. Remembering what Jason said, Twilight trotted after Jason into the cockpit, once she was in, Jason shut the door behind them. Jason secured his harness, opened the operating manual and began running through the checklists. But with it being the dead of night, Twilight fumbled with her harness.
"Twilight, what are you doing?" Jason asked.
"I can't see, Jason, it's too dark!" Twilight replied.
"Hold on." Jason said, undoing his harness, walking over to Twilight's seat, and fastening her harness.
With Twilight's harness secured, Jason went back to his seat and put his harness back on. Jason began turning on the systems and soon began the start-up process. Jason then turned on the radios and navigation system. He then started both engines at the same time. Once both engines were up and running, Jason opened the throttle, and the plane taxied out to the nearest runway. Once given takeoff clearance, Jason tightened his harness, lowered the flaps to takeoff position and pushed the throttle handles to full power. With a newly replenished supply of food and fuel, Jason's Boeing 777 leaves the tarmac of Galveston Scholes airport, and the rehearsal officially begins.
As Jason's Boeing 777 climbed past 1,600 feet, Jason circles around the island twice, looking out the window at the sight below him before flying off into the inky black night. As Jason's Boeing 777 flies off, on the ground below, the roar of the two Trent 800 engines vanished gradually, granted a few islanders heard and saw his plane flying overhead, but once it flew off, they went on with their lives without a care in the world. While still climbing, as Jason left the lights and sights of Galveston island behind him, there was nothing ahead of the Boeing 777 but open ocean. "Well, Twilight, it looks like this rehearsal is on." Jason said to Twilight as he retracted the landing gear and the flaps.
Jason?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, Twilight?" Jason replied.
"Do we really need to do this? " Twilight asked, crossing her forelegs. Jason sighed, leveled off at 7,680 feet, engaged the autopilot, and undid his harness.
He walked over to the alicorn and put a hand on her shoulder, "Twilight, don't worry, we'll just do this one rehearsal and once we're done, we'll be back in Galveston before you know it." Jason reassured her.
But Twilight was still bummed out, and Jason could feel it through his arm. "Twilight, this'll be over before you know it, I promise." Jason reassured her, kissing Twilight on her cheek.
"You know, Jason, I'm starting to feel a little better." Twilight said,
"Good." Jason replied. He sat back in his seat, put his harness back on, and disengaged the autopilot. "Alright, let's get to Florida." Jason said to himself, taking a deep breath as he began climbing to 10,600 feet. But as Jason and Twilight conduct the rehearsal, they don't know it, but fate has other ideas in store for them…
2 hours later, the rehearsal flight to Miami was making steady progress. The rehearsal was halfway completed. In the cockpit, Jason looked at his 777's Navigation Display and saw that he was halfway across the Gulf of Mexico. He turned to look at the Primary Flight Display, the altitude reading said that the Boeing 777 was at 10,600 feet. He had leveled off at 10,600 feet and engaged the autopilot 20 minutes ago. He switched his attention from the PFD to the throttle handles, the engines were at idle, they had been at idle since Jason had climbed past 9,800 feet. "Well, Twilight, we're almost to Miami, we'll just go wait there for a few hours, and fly on back to the island." Jason said, turning to Twilight.
"Okay, Jason, the sooner we get this rehearsal done, the sooner we're back in Galveston, right?" Twilight asked.
"Right." Jason said, smiling.
But just as Jason finished speaking, before either he or Twilight could even react, the whole plane suddenly started shaking. The shaking was more than strong enough to get both Jason and Twilight's attention "Jason, what's happening?" Twilight whimpered.
"I don't know, Twilight. But is that the stall alarm?" Jason asked feeling the yoke shaking in his hands.
"I …I don't know.." Twilight stammered, shaking profusely.
"I'd better take drastic measures, hold on Twilight." Jason said. He tightened his harness, disengaged the autopilot, retook manual control, and put the plane in a slight dive and increased power to the engines to gain airspeed. As Jason's plane descended past 10,540 feet, a glow appeared and started to increase its brightness as well. Twilight quickly noticed the glowing and looked at the mysterious glowing.
"Uh, Jason!" Twilight exclaimed, noting the glow.
"Twilight, what in Equestria is that!?" Jason asked, astonished.
"I don't know, Jason." Twilight replied. Jason looked at the Primary Flight Display again, and looked at the altitude reading, in the short descent, Jason's 777 got to 10,220 feet. The glow grew even brighter and in a flash of light Jason's plane literally disappeared.
Jason and Twilight screamed as Jason's Boeing 777 flew down a long, glittery rainbow colored vortex straight towards a completely new world. In the cockpit, Jason and Twilight could only see flashes of light and colors. As the 300 ton jet flew further and further down the tunnel, with Jason and Twilight screaming their heads off, a small ball of light with rainbow colored energies emitting from it phased into the cockpit windows. The tunnel ended when the Boeing 777 disappeared into a circle of white light, just as Jason and Twilight's vision went black as they lost consciousness.
In Equestria, Twilight's friends were all mourning over the fact that the search for her has been called off. "I'll miss Twilight." Spike sniffed.
"I'll miss her too, Spikey Wikey." Rarity sniffed in Spike's embrace. Little did they know that in the space of a few hours, they would be reunited with her and make a new friend.
Elsewhere in the skies over Equestria, in a flash of light, Jason's Boeing 777 appeared out of nowhere. It continued to spiral before mysteriously leveling itself off. In the cockpit, Jason and Twilight were slumped in their seats, their heads were resting on the headrests of the seats, unconscious, but restrained by their harnesses. Although severely and completely disorientated, Jason and Twilight were still alive. Slowly, but gradually, the two regained consciousness.
Their eyes were just beginning to open. Jason and Twilight groaned as they slowly came to and lifted their heavy eyelids, their vision was still a little bit blurry at first but eventually it cleared up. Their heads still hurt though as they lifted them off their seats and sat up. "Ooh… my head…Twilight, wha-what happened?" Jason groaned, rubbing his forehead. They were both very groggy and very queasy from their spiraling flight down the rainbow tunnel.
"OoOOooooooooh, Jason are you okay?" Twilight asked him, rubbing her head.
"I'm fine, Twilight." Jason moaned. After shaking the last bit of dizziness from their heads, Jason and Twilight had finally regained their bearings, and were taking stock of their new surroundings. They saw that they weren't flying over the Gulf of Mexico at night anymore and that instead they were flying over perfectly grassy rolling hills with no brown spots. They also noticed that they weren't in the real world anymore.
"T-Twilight...where..are we?" Jason asked Twilight.
"I don't know how, but we're in Equestria now, Jason." Twilight replied.
Jason looked around and saw that everything, even his own plane and he and Twilight were animated. "T-T-This is impossible, Twilight! It can't be!" Jason cried.
Jason started examining himself, but he only started hyperventilating. "Jason calm down!" Twilight said.
"Twilight, am I still human??" Jason asked.
"Yeah, you are. But your ears are different." Twilight said.
"My ears?!" Jason asked. Instinctively, he reached for a mirror that he kept in the cockpit.
But just as he opened it, he saw that his hands had a border on them, "I'm- I'm…animated!" Jason said, looking at himself in the mirror. In the mirror, Jason saw that even his facial features were animated, he was astonished!
"Jason I have to admit, you do look kinda cute animated." Twilight replied, giggling.
"I do?" Jason asked.
Twilight nodded and kissed him. Jason rubbed the spot where Twilight kissed him, feeling heat rushing to his face.
Out of the corner of his left eye, Jason saw a small village below him. "Is that Ponyville?" Jason asked himself.
"Yeah, Jason it is." Twilight replied. Jason climbed from 10,320 feet to 11,100 feet, leveled off, and started circling. Jason looked out his cockpit windows and saw the one village that over the past 4 years he became familiar with, Ponyville. Meanwhile, on the ground, the roar of the 777's Rolls Royce Trent 800 engines filled the skies above Ponyville. Spike, Rarity and their friends were still mourning the loss of their friend Twilight at Sugarcube Corner when they heard the roar of the engines.
Applejack ran to the window of the bakery and she saw Jason's 777. "RD, what is that thing?" Applejack asked Rainbow Dash. The cyan Pegasus ran over the window and was astonished by the sight of the twin engine plane flying over the town.
"I don't know, but I'm going to go get a look at it." Rainbow Dash said before flying out the door and climbed towards Jason's altitude.
After a few minutes of flying, Rainbow Dash finally reached 11,100 feet, the altitude at which the Boeing 777 was flying. "What....is..this thing??" Rainbow Dash asked, seeing Jason's 777 up close. Jason kept circling Ponyville, but as a precaution to make certain he didn't hit anything, he climbed from 11,100 feet to 12,300 feet.
Then Jason saw a perfectly flat open meadow clear of trees that was long enough for him to land on it. "Twilight, I'm gonna shoot for that meadow!" Jason said.
"Okay." Twilight replied.
Jason turned away from Ponyville and set a course that would take him right for the flat meadow. Soon, he began running through the approach and landing checklists. Minutes later, both checklists were completed, and Jason set the landing gear lever to extend. Rainbow Dash watched in awe at the undercarriage as it extended from the bottom of Jason's 777. "Whatever this thing is, for some reason, it lands on wheels!" She said to herself. Jason lowered the flaps and deployed the air-brakes to control the plane's speed. Jason tightened his harness and braced himself for landing.
"Alright, Twilight, hang on tight, we're going in!" Jason called out as the plane got close, all the while pulling back on the throttle handles to idle, and leaving one hand on the yoke and the other hand on the reverser handles. As Jason's 777 dropped past 500 feet, Twilight braced herself for the inevitable impact. Seconds later, the plane hit the grassy ground hard. Amazingly, despite the 777 being fully loaded with fuel, the entire landing gear, including the tires, absorbed and shrugged off the colossal impact. It was a hard landing, but it was one that the plane was designed for. Jason immediately deployed both thrust reversers and the spoilers. As the fully fuel laden Boeing 777 decelerated, with Jason's hand still on the thrust reverser handles, he turned to see Twilight looking out the windows on her side of the cockpit, smiling. "Twilight." Jason said to the alicorn.
Twilight turned to him, still smiling. "Welcome home, sugarcube." Jason said, smiling. Twilight leaned over and kissed Jason on his cheek.
A minute later, the plane finally came to a grinding halt.
"Holy Celestia," Jason said, leaning back in his seat and undoing his harness. "We did it, Twilight. We did it."
"Yeah," Twilight replied, fatigue now taking hold after the harrowing landing. "We did." She rasped.
"Now let's get the plane secured." Jason said, grabbing the operating manual.
"Alright, I'm going through the after-landing checklist." Jason's tone was businesslike, though he couldn't keep the fatigue out of his voice.
Soon, the engines were shut down and the plane was powered down.
"Twilight, I'm going to go look at the landing gear for a bit and then I'll be back, stay put." Jason said. He stepped out of the cockpit, opened the forward retractable stairs and stepped outside the plane.
Upon close inspection of the landing gear, Jason breathed a sigh of relief, all 14 tires were still intact. "Okay, we're good, despite having a full fuel load, the landing gear is still intact and in one piece."
Jason said, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, but unbeknownst to him, he was being watched. "Rainbow Dash, who is that?" Spike asked.
"I don't know, Spike." Rainbow said confused.
"And why is he walking on his hind legs?" Rarity asked.
Jason soon stepped back into the plane. "Okay, Twilight, the landing gear held up, we can get off now." He said walking into the cockpit.
"Okay." Twilight replied. Jason went over to Twilight's seat and undid her harness.
The moment Twilight's friends saw her step off the plane with Jason, they immediately galloped over to her.
"Twilight, where have you been? We were so worried about you! Do you have any idea how much you put us through?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Twilight shrugged. “I know but, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“How did you even get back?” Rarity asked.
"Twilight, are those your friends?" Jason asked.
"Twilight, who is this?" Spike asked, pointing a claw at Jason.
"That's my coltfriend, Jason Sanford." Twilight replied. After a proper introduction, Jason, Twilight, and her friends started walking to Ponyville.
As Jason, Twilight and her friends walked into the outskirts of Ponyville, a random mare named Lyra Heartstrings looked at him with a deranged look in her eyes with a smile.
"A-a-a-A HUMAN!" She said excitedly as she ran up to Jason.
"Excuse me sir. But are you a human?" Lyra asked, grinning.
"Uhm, as far as I know...yes I am." Jason said.
"I KNEW IT! HUMANS DO EXIST! THEY KEPT SAYING I WAS CRAZY!" Lyra gushed and swooned a little.
"I'm so sorry about that, Jason, this is my friend, Lyra Heartstrings." Twilight said, noting Jason's surprised reaction.
"Oh, hey Twilight! I was just gushing over this Human that is with you, you thought I was crazy, and there was no such thing as humans. You stated that Humans were mythological but guess what? This boy is a REAL LIVE human!" Lyra gushed before fainting.
After a long walk, Twilight finally reached her castle. "Spike, take a letter please, for the Princess." Twilight said.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
I'm happy to report that I've returned to Equestria and I'm alive and well. I'm also happy to report that I've found myself a very special somepony.
I'm awaiting your response.
Your fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle"
Spike sent the letter. Within minutes, Princess Celestia responded.
"My faithful student, I'm happy to hear that you found a special somepony and I would like to meet him tomorrow in Canterlot.
Yours truly, Princess Celestia."
Spike said, reading the letter.
So far, Equestria was what Jason expected it to be. He was with Twilight's friends, telling them about what he and Twilight had gone through. His and Twilight's spiraling flight down the glittery rainbow tunnel was very nauseating, and even 6 hours later, the effects of said spiraling flight were still lingering, and they were still feeling a little bit groggy.
"Twilight and I were in the air for a good 2 hours, and I looked at the navigation system display and I saw that we were halfway across the Gulf of Mexico. Then the whole plane started shaking, at first I thought it was the stall alarm, so I increased engine power, and put my plane in a slight dive to gain airspeed. I descended from 10,600 feet and I got to about 10,220 feet when this bright glow out of the corner of my right eye got my attention. Because it was so bright I noticed it right away. But then, this bright flash of light came along and before I knew it, we were spiraling down this rainbow tunnel and we wound up here." He explained.
Later that night, after a rather lengthy explanation, Jason, Twilight and their friends were asleep, they needed their rest, knowing that they had a big day tomorrow.
After a few days in Canterlot, and the truth about Jason and Twilight dating came out, the reactions were mixed. Cadence was delighted for Twilight, and so was Shining. But Jason reassured them both that he loved Twilight very much and he wouldn't trade her for the world.
Then came the day that Jason was granted his citizenship in Equestria. Princess Celestia trotted up to Jason and Twilight, "Spike, take a note please." she said. The dragon quickly did so.
"I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the human Jason Sanford has been granted his citizenship in his new home in Equestria in Ponyville. And I further decree that Jason Sanford shall reside with Twilight Sparkle and assist her in completing her tasks." She declared.
"Oh thank you, Princess Celestia!" Jason cried, running over to the Alicorn princess, hugging her.
"You're welcome, Jason." The regal alicorn said, stroking Jason's back with a wing.
"Hey, you know what this calls for?!" Pinkie Pie suddenly asked.
"I think I know the answer to that question." Jason said to himself, smiling.
"A PARTY!" The pink earth pony cheered.
Later that night, Jason's Welcome to Equestria party was in full swing. As Jason and Twilight walked in, they noticed that Rarity and Spike were acting a little more affectionate than usual.
"Spike, you and Rarity have been acting all lovey dovey all evening, is there a spark going on between you two?" Jason asked, walking up to the couple.
"Yeah, what's going on Spike?" Twilight asked, walking up to them as well, her curiosity peaked too.
"Jason, Twilight, Spike and I are dating." Rarity said, looking into the dragon's eyes.
"You're going out with Rarity, Spike?" Jason asked, and the baby dragon simply nodded.
"Seriously? That's great!" Jason said, congratulating the new couple.
"At last. Rarity and Spike are finally dating, and to think I was afraid that wasn't going to happen…" Jason mused.
"Spike, you and Rarity are going to make a great couple, you know that." Jason said, kneeling down and patting the baby dragon on the shoulder.
"Thank you, Jason." Spike said to him.
"Spike, you are one lucky dragon." Jason said softly, proudly looking on at the baby dragon and Rarity as they sipped a milkshake.
“Here, Jason, have a cupcake.” Pinkie Pie said, trotted up to Jason, handing him a cupcake.
"Thank you for that, Pinkie." Jason said, smiling at the pink pony. Pinkie smiled at him and hopped away, handing out more cupcakes. He took off the wrapping, and took a bite, but suddenly, his eyes widened and it felt like his mouth was on fire. Beads of sweat started to form on Jason's forehead and his face cringed as it turned red.
“Are you alright, darling?” Rarity asked, noting Jason's change of color.
“Yeah, you don’t look so good, Jason.” Twilight asked him, slightly concerned about him.
Jason couldn’t hold it in any longer. He looked around for some water and saw a sink.
"NYAAAAAAAGH!!!" Jason screamed. He dropped the cupcake, spat out the piece that he bit off and ran to the sink as fast as he could, turned on the water, and threw his mouth over the faucet, sucking in as much water as he could.
All of Pinkie’s friends, including Twilight, glared at her, realizing she’d given Jason a cupcake with hot sauce. "What?" She asked.
After a minute of chugging water, Jason finally managed to put out the fire in his mouth. "Glad that's over..." Jason gasped, wiping away some water from his mouth.
"I'm sorry about that, Jason. Pinkie did the exact same thing to me on my first day here, too,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes and patting Jason's shoulder with a hoof.
"Well, I guess you could say that you and I are now on the same page on that, Twilight." Jason said, wiping water away from his mouth.
"I guess we are, Jason." Twilight said, patting his shoulder with a hoof.
"Sorry you had to see that, Twilight, I don't do well with anything spicy." Jason said.
"I don't either." Twilight said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well I guess that's one other thing we have in common." Jason said.
"Yep." Twilight said. The party went on for hours, with Jason and Twilight being the center of attention and the life of the party since word about their relationship spread all the way to Ponyville, and finally, at 3 in the morning, a few hours before Princess Celestia was due to raise the sun, the local populace of Ponyville started heading to their homes.
After bidding their farewells, Jason, Twilight, and Spike went on back to Twilight's castle. As they walked back, Spike was fast asleep, but Jason was carrying the baby dragon on his back.
"Twilight, Spike is a really lucky dragon, in fact, he's so lucky to have someone like Rarity, he has no idea." Jason said, looking at the sleeping baby dragon on his back.
"He sure is, Jason, he sure is." Twilight replied.
Soon, the trio walked into the castle, Jason took Spike off his back and cradled him in his arms. Twilight opened the door to her room, and Jason set Spike down in his basket and as quietly and as softly as he could pulled the blanket over him, all the while being careful not to wake him up.
After putting Spike to bed, Jason and Twilight climbed into bed themselves, exhausted from the long party that Pinkie threw for Jason to celebrate him getting his citizenship in Equestria.
Like she did, back in Galveston, Twilight looped her forelegs around Jason's neck, and draped both wings over him. And Jason looped both arms around Twilight's neck.
"Good night, Jason." Twilight whispered to Jason before kissing him.
"Good night, Twilight." Jason said, kissing Twilight.
"I think I'm going to love it here in Equestria." Jason said to himself before closing his eyes and falling asleep in Twilight's embrace.
