> Golf Echo Bravo > by part time pony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 | Mayday > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, France 11:47 AM It was a hot Tuesday Afternoon, the weather today had exceeded all expectations. The sun was hitting the ground and providing perhaps too much heat to the city of Toulouse in Southern France, the city where the famous European multinational corporation that designs, builds and sells popular aircraft. Such as the double-deck Airbus A380, or the small yet comfortable Airbus A318. One of these smaller Airbuses was currently on Runway 14R. The Aircraft had recently been built and was flying on its maiden voyage. Not that it was the first A318 ever built, but the more recent one. The Aircraft had been ordered by a British Airline but had however cancelled the order. Now the Aircraft was instead going to become the aircraft to represent the A318 aeroplane and the A320 Family. Onboard the plane were two pilots, Captain Antoine Pardieu and First Officer Timothy Coburn. Antoine was French while his friend, Timothy was British. Both are highly experienced pilots, having flown for over 12 years and knew every little detail that came with the cockpit of an Airbus. Today their destination was Keflavik Airport, the biggest Airport in Iceland and the hub for Icelandair and WOW! Air. It also served as the airport for Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. The Aircraft would have the callsign of Golf Echo Bravo for the flight because this wasn't a commercial flight, so, therefore, there'd be no digits or anything else that commercial flights had. "Golf Echo Bravo, the wind is heading from the east at 4 knots. Cleared for takeoff Runway 14R." ATC said. "Cleared for takeoff Runway 14R, Golf Echo Bravo," Antoine responded. Timothy began to increase thrust. Slowly, the plane began to move on the runway. Upon reaching higher speeds, it began to shake a little but nothing too big to abort take off. "V1," Timothy said. "Rotate," he said again. Upon hearing 'Rotate', Antoine began to pull on the control stick to the left of him. The Airbus A318 began to leave the runway and fly. The landing gear would then also no longer be on the ground. The plane was now flying and slowly pulling away from Toulouse-Blagnac Airport. "Gear up," Antoine said. Timothy located the Landing Gear level and pulled it upwards, following this the sound of the gear being brought up could be heard. The plane began to climb in altitude. Once they reached Positive Climb, Timothy retracted the flaps so that the Airbus could fly at max speed during cruising, also because it was much safer so. 1:27 PM The Airbus A318 had been cruising for the past two hours. It was now in Icelandic Airspace and was about 120 Kilometers from Keflavik Airport. The plane was flying above the Westmann Islands. Timothy was on his laptop that he carried on medium-range flights to entertain himself while the plane was on Auto-pilot. Antoine, on the other hand, was measuring fuel consumption. However, unbeknownst to the two pilots, a Volcanic Eruption had just occurred 20 kilometres from their location. ATC would detect it quickly but, they'd fail to warn Golf Echo Bravo. Somehow, the controller responsible for warning all aircraft had failed to reach the Airbus A318, the plane was an emergency about to happen. Unless the pilots were to spot the eruption themselves they would need to hope that they could find a suitable road for landing or hope they can reach Keflavik Airport by gliding the plane. The plane, flying at 380 km/h was approaching fast the ash. It didn't take long before the aircraft passed right through it and alerted the two pilots. Both their engines were gone. They were now experiencing a similar situation, if not the same to what happened to British Airways Flight 9, a Boeing 747-200 on the 24th June 1982 flew into Volcanic Ash that had erupted from Mount Galunggung south-east of Jakarta. As of result of this, all four engines failed. Luckily for them, three of the engines managed to restart and the plane safely landed in Jakarta. "We've got both engines rolling back!" Timothy warned Antoine of the problem occurring. The speed of the plane began to drop. Antoine put away the notebook which he was previously writing on all essential in-flight details. He quickly disabled Auto-pilot and began to steer the aircraft. "Contact Keflavik Airport, tell them we have an emergency," Antoine said to Timothy. While Antoine was flying the plane, Timothy would contact Keflavik Tower. "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, Keflavik Tower, Golf Echo Bravo we've lost both engines to Volcanic Ash, requesting assistance." "Golf Echo Bravo, Roger. Turn Right Heading 170, align with ILS for ILS Approach." Keflavik Tower would instruct the crew. Antoine would do as he heard, he would turn the plane right, 170. There he would attempt to align with the ILS for the approach. When all of the sudden. Electric sparks appeared out of nowhere in front of the aircraft. Antoine did not know what it was, nor did Timothy. But both knew it wasn't good. They attempted to switch directions but the electric sparks followed. Eventually, the sparks became a hole. A purple one that looked like a portal to another dimension. Antoine reacted quickly and pulled up, however it was to no avail. The plane entered the portal and then appeared on the other sides. The land in front was beautiful, but it didn't look like the one on Earth. Something wasn't right they thought. It was too colourful for it to be Earth. The engines, which were previously rendered useless were now working again somehow. The crew did not know that the portal they just passed through, took them to Equestria. Home of the Pony and other species. Elsewhere Rainbow Dash was flying, flying like she always did. However, instead of flying near her home she decided to take it one step further and fly at the Smokey Mountains. She was mostly practising flying close to the ground without hitting the ground and getting hurt. After flying for about two hours and starting to get exhausted, she decided to return to her home. A homemade out of clouds. Though, what she would see on her return was to surprise her. She began to hear loud noises, they sounded unnatural, it'd be impossible for a creature to create that sound. When the noises got louder she decided to look backwards from where they were coming from. Suddenly, a white object appeared and was about to collide with her. Having quick reflexes she flew upwards to dodge the collision. She saw how the giant object with wings flew away. Being a curious pony, she decided to follow the object. The fast pegasus mare managed to catch up. The object was huge for her. Though the object was probably flying much faster than she could, the mare still managed to follow it and spectate as the object was flying through the sky. It was also headed for Ponyville. Onboard the Airbus A318 The plane was low on fuel. Antoine and Timothy would need to land the aircraft, but there was only a problem. They were unable to contact Air Traffic Control or locate an Airport on the radar. The plane would be forced to make an emergency landing. Timothy pulled down the landing gear and the flaps. The Radio Altimeter had also been activated now. "Five Hundred." The Radio Altimeter said. The plane was now visible to anyone who was looking the sky. It was approaching the ground fast and not far from where the plane was going to land was a town. It didn't look big and Timothy estimated it housed 500-1000. The plane was also now approaching to stall. They knew they couldn't risk a stall but at the same time, they couldn't waste fuel. It wasn't until an alarm began to ring that they had to apply thrust to save themselves. "Sink rate, Sink rate." "Pull up! Pull up!" The plane was now flying lower than a hundred meters above the ground. Below the aircraft was the Everfree forest, if the plane was to go down now, it wouldn't be very good as the forest was a dangerous one. Therefore a new alarm began ringing in the cockpit. "Terrain, Terrain, Pull up!" "Fifty." "Fourty." "Thirty." "Twenty." "Ten." "Retard, Retard." The plane's landing gear located in the middle would touch the ground. The Airbus would flare slightly before the front landing gear made contact with the ground. Antoine applied the reverse thrusters and the spoilers came on as well to aid in the braking. The plane barely came to a stop before it advanced into a forest not far away. When the Airbus A318 came to a stop, so did the engines and all the lights that had been activated. The crew of the Airbus had just done something that is rarely successfully done. Rainbow Dash who had followed the plane the whole time landed right beside it. She was the first pony to witness such a large object that looked like it came from another world. It was impossible for this to come from Equestria. Shortly after, Rainbow Dash's 5 best friends came. "Rainbow Dash, what is that?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "I dunno! You're an egg head so you should know!" Rainbow Dash responded. Suddenly, a noise coming from the plane could be heard. One of the doors was opening on the other side of where the ponies were. Then, a grey slide appeared out of the door. "Oh! A Slide! I can have so much fun with it!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed and began to run towards the slide before being stopped by Applejack who had grabbed her tail using the teeth. She pulled the pink mare back. "Careful Pinkie, it can be dangerous!" Applejack said. Antoine and Timothy were now outside of the Aircraft. The ponies could only see the legs of the two humans as the Aircraft was blocking the rest. Twilight Sparkle began to approach the Aircraft. She went under it and could see the two humans fully. "Um, hello?" The lavender unicorn said quietly. Both pilots turned around quickly, being slightly scared as it was unexpected. They examined the creature that resembled a horse, but it wasn't a horse. It was a pony, a unicorn. And an intelligent one. "H-hello?" Timothy said, still being quite shocked. First Contact, had just been made. > Chapter 2 | The Inquiry > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Two days had passed since the A318 disappeared over the Westmann Islands. The news came as a shock to Airbus, for one of their planes to just disappear could impact their image in the Aviation Industry. Airbus, together with the French, British and Icelandic Government had sent some of their investigators from their respective agencies to work together and put the pieces together. One of these investigators was Álfur Sigurðsson, he was Icelandic. He was currently in his summer house on the Westmann Islands where he'd be staying until the investigation is over. For Álfur this would just be another day at the office, but he knew that this wouldn't be so easy. The only branch of the Icelandic Military, the Coast Guard had already begun to search for the flight recorders along with the US Navy which had decided to help the ICG. There also was the Royal Navy from the UK that had sent some of its ships to aid and the Royal Danish Navy from Denmark as well. The TV inside his living room was displaying a short report on the missing aircraft from the BBC. Álfur was looking at the TV and listening while being on the phone with one of his superiors in Reykjavik. "And as the search for Golf Echo Bravo continues, many have begun speculating whether the MH370 Incident in 2014 is connected to the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo. The reporter said with a calm, neutral voice as background footage of the Icelandic Coast Guard searching for the flight recorders was playing. "I've already told Laufar that this won't be easy, I can't understand how you want this done in two months time, we don't even have the recordings from Air Traffic Control yet!" Álfur said while being frustrated. "Listen Álfur, we are on a tight schedule with the annual report coming and the boss requires all employees at the office by the time it arrives, alright? If it was up to me I would delay it and give you all the time on earth you need." His superior said over the phone, understanding his worker's frustration. "Alright, alright. I understand. We'll try to get it done, otherwise, we'll just leave it to the other guys." Álfur said feeling already better. "That's what I like to hear. Oh and we're also sending Ebba to help you, we know that you and Úlrik can't handle it without having too much on your plate." "Okay. Well, we'll talk to each other next week I suppose about the investigation." "You bet." After that Álfur hanged up and looked at the TV one more time before deciding to change the channel. The TV went pitch-black for one second before then showing an ongoing football game between Manchester United and Chelsea. Álfur could tell the match was taking place Old Trafford. He had been there during a vacation in England and had even been on a tour of the stadium. "Lingard with the ball now, passes it to Sánchez." The Commentator said as he was following the action on the pitch "Sánchez, crosses it towards Ibrahimovć... GOAL! THAT'S HIS SECOND FOR THE DAY! MANCHESTER UNITED LEAD WITH TWO GOALS. THE SCORE IS NOW 3-1!" The crowd at the stadium roared as the tall Swede scored the acrobatic goal. The Red Devils were winning against one of London's best teams if not the best. Everyone in the stadium was jumping and cheering the goal, all except for the away fans that had travelled from the English capital to Manchester. However, Álfur wasn't at all interested in watching the remaining 23 minutes of the EPL Match, sure he loved football and even went to Paris for when Euro 2016 was hosted when Iceland, the underdogs went from being predicted to drop out of the group stage to making it as far as the Quarter Finals where they were defeated by France in a one-sided game with the score at the end being 5-2. Álfur looked at his phone, seeing the time was 21:37. He looked then at the TV Remote and grabbed it. Before shutting off the TV for the night, he looked at it one more time and saw Zlatan finishing his celebration and returning to his position for the game to continue. Most of the fans had stopped celebrating by now but there still was some clapping. Then with one press of a button, the television shut off. Álfur looked around the living room, more specifically at a picture of his wife and two children. Even though he arrived here a day ago it still felt like he hadn't seen his family in a year. He was used to coming home after a long day at the office and being greeted by his wife and two children. He then took off his jacket and folded it nicely and left it on the sofa as he made his way to the bedroom to get some sleep before starting work tomorrow morning. He would greet the other investigators including Ebba and then it'd be going straight to work. However, what Álfur didn't know was that, in another world, a world that at first glance seems to be a look-alike of Earth was where the missing pilots and the aircraft was. Ponyville The two humans that had landed in Ponyville two days ago were currently in the Golden Oak Library, where Twilight Sparkle, a student of Princess Celestia resided. The Unicorn Mare had been for the past two days been asking questions about her new 'friends'. Both for Timothy and Antoine, it was nice to have a creature able to understand them. Both of them had feared in the first place when they appeared in Equestria that they may have to live in isolation, just like in the movie 'Cast Away' that both of them had watched before. As Twilight's other friends they were mostly fine with these new humans, all of them had asked many questions about their universe. Fluttershy about animals, Rarity about fashion and cuisine, Pinkie Pie about, well, uh, partying and cakes? Applejack about agriculture and also about cuisine like Rarity. But, Rainbow Dash had probably asked the most questions than any of them. Maybe even Twilight. Having seen the A318 fly right next to her and landing she wanted to know everything about flying and how it worked for them. She had probably lost interest in Daring Do at the point as she was hooked to asking the pilots. Antoine had explained everything when it came to Aviation. He even told her how the world's largest plane, the Antonov An-225 Mryia could even manage takeoffs and how much it even weighed. Rainbow Dash was speechless, but Twilight, on the other hand, began asking how it even was possible to build such a beast to which Timothy responded. "If there's one thing that the Russians do better than the rest then it's building mechanical beasts." At the end of the day, the two pilots had probably answered over a thousand questions since there were so many. Mainly from the two mares. Timothy and Antoine would be sharing a recently built house not far from the Golden Oak Library, that way they would always know where they needed to go if they needed help or advice. Canterlot The Princess of the Sun had just finished lowering her bright sun as her younger sister Princess Luna began raising her moon. The two Princesses had been busy the last couple of days, mostly with lots of pressing matters such as the upcoming Mayor Elections for Canterlot required the two princesses to prepare major events that would span the entire city, and with the humans landing in Ponyville it only added more paperwork for the two sisters. Maybe too much paperwork as once Princess Celestia entered her younger sister's room only to find her half asleep on a chair with stacks of paper on her desk. The two princesses were currently walking down a hallway of Canterlot Castle. The night outside was not as bright as other nights but it was still providing some natural lighting for the two. "Sister, what should we do with these two new creatures and their mechanical beast in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle has not even sent you a letter regarding them yet." Princess Luna said to her older sister. "I share your concerns Luna, but if I know Twilight Sparkle well, then she's most likely busy asking questions to them," Celestia said with a side of humour in her answer.¨ "Funny," Luna responded with an annoyed voice. While admitted to herself that the small joke Celestia had put in was quite funny she was too concerned to share laugh at it. "But in all honesty Luna, I have faith that these new creatures won't pose any danger. If it's anything we have to worry about then it's the elections coming up for the Mayor's Office in Canterlot." Celestia said. "Now if you excuse me, sister, I have some paperwork to catch up on," Celestia said one more time before slowly trotting down the hallway to her room. And with that, the Princess of the Sun was gone from the eyes of her younger sister. Luna looked out one of the many windows in the castle. Her eyes were looking at the small town of Ponyville that was visible from this hallway. She could barely see the aircraft parked in a grass field. Then she looked at the iconic Ponyville library that still had its lights on. Even though most ponies were sleeping right now she could still see the lights glowing bright inside the library. "Maybe Twilight Sparkle is asking too many questions," Luna said as she looked away. The Alicorn looked down the hallway. She spotted a guard walking towards he direction, the guard was wearing the usual golden armour on him and was also carrying a lantern using his horn. She recognized the guard as Staff Sergeant Lighting Strike, a veteran when it came to the Royal Guard, having served for more than 30 years, the guard was quickly approaching his retirement age after having joined quite late for his age. "Your Highness," The guard said as he bowed down upon seeing the princess. "You may rise Lighting Strike." "Is there anything you need your highness?" "Yes, there is one thing," said Luna. "I need you to send down one or two Pegasus Guards to Twilight Sparkle's home. I need them to perform a one-week recon mission." "As you wish your highness." Lighting Strike before turning left at the next door which led to the Pegasus Barracks. Luna looked away and began to walk down slowly the hallway. Her destination wasn't decided. She didn't know where to go. Something was feeling wrong. It wasn't the two creatures, no, everything was fine with them, but the way they got here from what she'd heard wasn't right. How could they just appear coming in from the Undiscovered West. None of this made sense to her. Sometimes Luna felt as if she had trapped herself inside of a dream or nightmare, and the only way to return to reality was by doing something crazy that at first glance nopony would dare to do. Just like Luna sees and hears when she visits the nightmares of ponies and helps them to solve their issues. Most of the time it works, sometimes, it may need a second try. > Chapter 3 | A Noble Visit > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 days since the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Having already lived three days and nights in the new world, Timothy and Antoine were already used to seeing the ponies instead of normal humans. They had both learned the names of most ponies in Ponyville as well. Timothy himself was a fast learner, as for Antoine he prefered taking things slowly so that he wouldn't make mistakes in the long run. Bot The two that shared the small house near the Golden Oak Library did miss the technology, cultures, history and other common sights in their world, but at the same time, they were fascinated by Equestria. While the technology here resembled more of a Victorian-era one it still had the modern appliances such as the Television and modern-day Healthcare. As for transportation, the main forms of it were by steam train. Equestria had yet not gotten electrical trains which could go much, much faster than a steam train. At about 600km/h the SCMaglev from Japan was the fastest train the world, the human world of course. Timothy had estimated that the Friendship Express could go a max speed of 98km/h, not even close to the Mallard, a steam train on Earth that could go up to 203km/h. Antoine was, for the most part, curious about how a world full of ponies could adapt into a modern-day society. He perhaps thought too much of it as Timothy was trying to wake the Frenchman from his thoughts. "Hey, Antoine!" Timothy said loudly. "Ouais?" Antoine responded in his native language. "I don't speak baguette you know that." "Shut up.." Antoine started. "And you should at least be able to know that Ouais means Yeah at least." "The only word in French I'll ever know is Bonjour," said Timothy. "By the way, that Rare pony was looking for you, forgot her name." "I'll go see her at her store later today then. Ever since we arrived here she has been glued to me, must be because of how I described fashion in France." "Well I wouldn't be so surprised, she's a fashion designer, probably looking for some inspiration," Timothy said. All of the sudden though, a knock was heard on the front door of the small house. Antoine wasted no time in going to the door and opening it. When he opened it he was surprised to see a white pegasus pony with golden shiny armour. The pony looked as if he was military. "Hello?" Antoine said. "Hello, I am Squadron Leader Messerschmitt from the Royal Pegasus Corps, Princess Celestia was wondering whether you and your friend could come to her," Messerschmitt said. "Of course we'll come. Timmy, vien ici." Timothy who had been sitting at the kitchen table stood up and walked towards the entrance of the door. He looked at Antoine who was looking at a peculiar looking pony. Timothy was sort of stunned at first sight of the pony, the armour made him think that the pony at the front door was perhaps military. Maybe the pony government did not like the humans and wanted them to leave? Unlikely but possible, Timothy thought. "Yes, what is it?" The Brit asked after having been thinking for a while. "You two have been invited for a discussion with Princess Celestia. She is waiting for you two at your, uh, flying machine." Westmann Islands, Iceland The Investigation had officially begun yesterday on what happened to Golf Echo Bravo. All Investigators from the three countries and Airbus were currently being briefed by Álfur, the lead investigator who had been given special permission to oversee the investigation. The room was huge, but that wasn't a surprise to anyone as they were inside a hangar at the local airport. Álfur was standing at the end of the table while the others were sitting, behind him were some Whiteboards with a small, not to scale Airbus A318 painted on it, a roughly drawn map of Iceland's coast and some additional info. "Three days ago, at 1 PM local time, Golf Echo Bravo entered Icelandic Airspace. The Aircraft, an Airbus A318 was starting its long approach towards Keflavík Airport." Álfur started. "About 15 minutes later, a volcanic eruption started here." Álfur pointed towards a point on Southern Iceland. "ATC did not warn Golf Echo Bravo and moments later the aircraft disappeared." Álfur finished. "So what's the big deal, the plane's in the ocean, let's just dig it up." An Investigator from the UK said. "I wish it was that easy but it's not. There is no trace of the aircraft in the ocean and we haven't been able to find any of the beacons from the Flight Recorders." Álfur responded to the comments of the British Investigator. "So, if the aircraft isn't in the water, where is it then?" An Investigator from France asked. "That's our job, kind of. We're here to find out what happened, and if possible find this aircraft as it'll help us greatly." Álfur said. Landing Site of the Airbus A318, Equestria Princess Celestia looked in amazement at the aircraft. She had never seen anything like it. For her, it was an experience to learn something new, a thing the Princess enjoyed very much. Right next to her was one of her best pupils if not the best, Twilight Sparkle and her five best friends. They hadn't searched the aircraft yet to figure out what it is as they feared it could possibly be dangerous. Therefore, they decided to let the experts, Timothy and Antoine do the job. The two humans approached the aircraft followed by the Squadron Leader they met earlier. Antoine looked at the aircraft and saw how it had remained untouched, the evacuation slide was still there and had begun deflating slightly. While Antoine looked around Timothy went to Princess Celestia. The Princess was about the same height as Timothy, and as the man from Great Britain approached her he realized how much taller the white alicorn was compared to the other ponies. She was at least twice their height. "Hello your highness, I'm Timothy but can you can just call me Tim or Timmy." Timothy started. "Thank you for introducing yourself Timothy, I am Princess Equestria, ruler of Equestria," said Celestia. "Could you please tell me what this flying beast is?" She asked. "Oh, our aircraft? Well, it's an Airbus A318, built by the large multinational corporation known as Airbus and part of the A320 family. You know, I should tell you all the history of aviation while I'm here, it'll help you understand." Timothy offered. "History? Yes please!" Twilight Sparkle said out loud. "Well then, the history of aviation dates back to a millennium before the first flights. Back in Ancient Greece there already were stories about aviation, such as the most popular one about Icarus." "However, it would take years before humans would be able to enjoy the luxury of flying. You see, everyone was obsessed with flying back then, even English monks." "But in France, in the year 1783, two brilliant brothers ignite the match in modern air travel. Well, it wasn't very modern but you get the point." "After that, we went on to fly with zeppelins. Until the Hindenburg disaster which ended the legacy of zeppelins." "But, at the turn of the century, in 1903, the first aircraft took off in the United States. And that's when flying became a reality. However, before we could go to commercial flights the uh, The Great War had something planned for aviation, in fact, both world wars had and it wasn't until the end of the second that commercial flying could begin." "Numerous airlines sprung up, Air France, Lufthansa, British Airways, Scandinavian Airlines and the oldest existing airline KLM." "At the dawn of the sixties, a new form I'd travel by air was brought into commercial flight with the jet age. Air travel became cheaper, faster, safer and more efficient." "And from there it's history, multiple aircraft were built including the Queen of the Skies, the Boeing 747. Today, much bigger planes exist and new ones are coming out every day. Oh and don't get me started on Space travel!" "Space travel? Pleas-" Twilight tried to stay but was however cut off by Applejack. "Sorry Twilight, but ah don't think we want to hear more, just you sugar cube and Rainbow Dash seem interested." Applejack said while pointing at Rainbow Dash who had her mouth wide open. The five mares began to laugh at Rainbow Dash's expression and it took a while before the Pegasus mare realized she was being laughed at. "Uh, what's funny?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Oh, nothing! Except for that wide open mouth you had earlier!" Pinkie Pie said fast. > Chapter 4 | Developments > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 144 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Westman Islands, Iceland On the Westman Islands off the shores of Iceland, Lead Investigator Álfur was in a room inside the same hangar where the briefing took place, the room was full of notes, pictures, information and everything that would be needed in the investigation. Álfur was currently wearing black cargo pants and a zipped jacket, holding a coffee mug which he sipped onto every minute or so. He was currently looking at a board where the map of Iceland and Scotland and the Faroe Islands as well as parts of eastern Greenland and the Jan Mayen island. On the map, there were grid patterns, coordinates and a small compass to indicate north, south, west and east. The map had also red lines from a marker. These lines were the flight plan of the aircraft, the heading it had. There were also some dots on this line, next to the dots was some information such as aircraft speed, altitude, precise heading, along with other known records from Air Traffic Control and military installations. Álfur crossed his arms and continued to look at the map. He saw how after the aircraft had navigated through the Westmann Islands the red line ended and was instead replaced with a green line which represented the remaining of the flight ending at Keflavik International Airport. He placed his coffee mug on a nearby table, then raising his right arm at the point where the aircraft disappeared and with the help of the grid patterns and the coordinates on the side of the map he was able to get a location of the disappearance. The coordinates that he got were located in Iceland's Exclusive Economic Zone at 15 nautical miles away from the closest piece of land. He grabbed a black permanent marker and made a dot, then a line going south, on the map he wrote the coordinate and "ESTIMATED SITE OF DISAPPEARANCE" Then putting the marker down on a table. Álfur looked behind him to see Úlrik, one of his good friends and also an investigator for the Golf Echo Bravo case. Úlrik was currently sitting on a comfortable black office chair, looking at one of the lights in the room while holding a pen, doing some tricks with the pen. By the looks of it, Álfur could tell his friend was thinking about something, just what it was he didn't know, but it didn't matter to him, as he simply did not care. "Úlrik, what are you doing?" Álfur asked looking at him. He then took a step towards the table where he placed his mug and picked it up again, taking a sip and waiting. "I'm thinking," Úlrik responded with having diverted his attention from the light in the ceiling towards Álfur now. "Well, can you think about getting ICG to check out these coordinates? 63°32'57.8"N 20°56'40.3"W." Áflur told Úlrik in a rather demanding voice. "Alright..." Úlrik said as he put the pen back on the table. Úlrik stood up from his chair and walked towards a white phone on the end of the table he was sitting by. He grabbed it and pressed a few buttons to get in contact with the Icelandic Coast Guard. He was then redirected to one of the heads leading the search for the aircraft. The person in charge picked up almost immediately, Úlrik having a quick talk to him about what Áflur told him. The conversation was short, lasting only a minute. As the conversation finished, he put the phone back and looked up at his friend. "Alright, they have dispatched a patrol boat to check it out." He said, walking back to his chair, sitting down and continuing his work on his laptop. Ponyville, Equestria Timothy, having just explained the history of aviation had gone to talk with some of the ponies. Antoine, on the other hand, had climbed back into the aircraft that he, 144 hours ago was flying over Icelandic waters. He wasn't alone though, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had followed inside, at first Antoine did not know they were there, he hadn't expected for them to come but, seeing Timothy talking to Celestia and some of their other friends they decided to follow the French-man. Entering the cockpit of the A318, he saw how all of the controls, buttons and screens had remained untouched for the past couple of days, only mild dust being seen, which he brushed off on the spots he could then cleaning his hand. He sat down in his chair, the captain seat, and for a minute felt as he was back in the sky, about 30,000m in the sky cruising the world. His imagination, however, was quickly interrupted by Rainbow Dash as she entered the cockpit and was quick to open her mouth to talk. "What does this do?" The mare asked as she raised her left hoof towards the control stick that was next to Antoine. "That is the control stick. We use it to navigate the aircraft, basically, if we want to go up we pull it towards us. If we want to go down we push it farther from us. We can also turn with it, if you turn it to the left, the aircraft moves to the left, same with the opposite side. Quite simple really." Antoine answered. "Huh.." Rainbow Dash said quietly as she processed the new knowledge she had received into her brain, a thing that she wasn't the best at doing, finding education to be the most boring thing in Equestria. Twilight Sparkle, the opposite of Rainbow Dash when it came to education was intrigued to learn about the aircraft, this would most likely be the first and only time she would be in contact with a species this advanced, at least given the current time. But the unicorn mare at the same time was dying to know how an object this large could fly, according to her studies she had made on aviation it was practically impossible for something larger than an Alicorn to fly. "How does this thing fly? Given its size, it should be impossible!" Twilight exclaimed which surprised Antoine, but not entirely. "Twilight, is your name, oui?" Antonie asked just to make sure he remembered her name. At the same time, he turned around to face the purple mare. "Yes," Twilight answered, more quietly this time. "Well, if you lived in my world, you would see planes way bigger than this fly without issues, basically it's quite simple." Antonie paused, took a short break to breathe then continued. "You know the four forces of flight, thrust, drag, lift and weight?" Antoine said and went on to explain in detail how aircrafts worked. The lavender mare then thanked the French pilot for explaining. However, she was still slightly confused, she had never seen an object this large be able to fly and having heard that in his world there were aircraft as much as 10 times larger as the plane she was on existed and flew without problems made her head spin. Several Hours Later Timothy had a busy day today. Having had a lengthy conversation with Princess Celestia and some other curious ponies, he now was really tired. Having walked in the cold winds that Princess Luna's night brought he opened the door to his and Antoine's temporary home in Equestria. He looked at Antoine who was sitting and trying his best to read a newspaper from Ponyville. "Antoine?" Timothy asked, wishing to speak with his French friend. "Oui?" Antoine responded. He put down the newspaper and folded it, putting it on the table to show that he was paying attention. "Can I have a word with you?" Timothy said, sounding unsure. "Of course," Antoine replied. Timothy approached the chair next to Antoine, he pulled it towards him and sat down on it. He looked at Antoine who had put his hands in the pockets of his uniform pants. "What is it you want to talk about." The Frenchman asked. "I- I-. I'm just, wondering if we'll ever return home." Timothy replied, sounding worried which was unusual from him as in the past he had always been sure of himself and never sounded worried. Not even in previous emergencies. Well, maybe a little. "I'm sure we will, I mean, if we got here then we can get out, we just need to figure out how," Antoine replied trying to calm down his friend at the same time. "Well, not exactly. The aircraft.." Timothy stopped and looked at his French friend. "Go on," Antoine said. "It barely has enough fuel to fly for twenty minutes, it's running on fumes." "Well... I suppose we'll have to somehow find a source of fuel." Antoine had never checked the fuel amount left on the plane, turns out Timothy had done so and the finding was shocking, 144 hours ago, the aircraft disappeared from Earth and appeared in Equestria, however, Antoine clearly remembered that the plane had at least one hour of jet fuel left. It seems that during the disappearance of the aircraft they had lost fuel, however, Antoine couldn't put his finger on what it could have been. Maybe the ash was the reason why, none of the two pilots could find a good enough theory to know why, and even the smartest ponies couldn't know as they had no idea what jet fuel was. Only the two humans knew what it was, and while they had gone through years of training for becoming pilots, none of them had the slightest clue of what could've reduced the amount of fuel in the aircraft. However, Antoine being creative as he had always been in the past thought up a crazy idea, one that might be just crazy enough to work. "How long did it take us to reach the outskirt of the town?" Antoine asked Timothy. "I don't know. Probably 10 minutes." Timothy answered, naturally and he would obviously not know this, which didn't come to a surprise to Antoine, but 10 minutes sounded realistic enough. Antoine looked out the window of their temporary house and saw the Airbus A318. It hadn't moved a single inch since they got here and looked still the same. The evacuation slide was still there, it had deflated mostly and no longer looked stable enough to be used in an actual evacuation. "This is a long shot, for sure. But we have around 20 minutes of jet fuel left, so we could probably use what remains of the fuel and when we possibly get back on Earth we glide the plane to Keflavik. If we are able to do this correctly, we can glide the remainder of the distance to Keflavik." Antoine said. "Wait, wait. Do you want to glide the remaining 95 kilometres to Keflavik? Antoine, listen. You're a good mate and all but sometimes I think you go crazy, today I think so as well." Timothy protested against Antoine's idea. "If an Airbus A330 with 306 souls on board can glide to a Portuguese Air Base in the Azores then so can we," Antoine said, referring to Air Transat Flight 236. "Yes, but the captain on board was an experienced glider. We were commercial pilots flying for Air France and British Airways, you have extra experience because you flew in the French Air Force in some operation in Lybia for a few months before being discharged on medical reasons, other than that we have no experience really in aeroplanes apart from flight school." Timothy responded in protest yet again. He had somehow remembered personal details that Antoine rarely shared from a few years ago. However, the protests did little to change Antoine's mind. He was determined his admittingly crazy plan could work. "Well, I suppose we could try and write a new page in the history books," Timothy said, at last, having thought a little between the small breaks in the conversation he became slightly convinced it could work, after all, he was desperate to return home. Equestria was great and he had enjoyed his time here so far but he still had the lust to be back on Earth. Westmann Islands, Iceland As the moon went down, the sun came up. A new day was starting. For most people living on the island, it was a normal day in their occupation. But not for the investigation team partly based on the island in the field operation centre. The small detachment based here were the Icelanders, Álfur being the person in charge was already at the warehouse they were using for their investigation. Being in the main room where all the work took place his attention quickly shifted as the main doors of the warehouse opened and a small truck rolled along with a minor police escort consisting of two bikes and a Volvo V90. Álfur power walked outside of the room he was in and walked over to one of the officers riding the bike who was turning off the bike and switching off the blue lights. "What's all this about?" Álfur asked the Police Officer. "Coast Guard found something for you." The Police Officer answered as he took off his white helmet and black gloves, placing them on the front of the bike. The Police Officer led the way for Álfur towards the back of the white truck, as the truck driver turned off the engine and jogged towards the back, at the same time. Álfur waited patiently as Úlrik who just got to the warehouse entered. He dropped his backpack and rushed over to his friend. "Álfur, what's this?" Úlrik asked as he caught his breath. "No clue, apparently your phone call from yesterday has given us something in return." The Lead Investigator replied with. The driver opened up the back, revealing the content inside. The two investigators were amazed but also confused, by what they saw, and as the driver proceeded to unload the contents the Investigators began to examine it, first from a distance then up close. Úlrik looked over to Álfur, who was in the middle of examining the object. "I don't know what to make of this, never seen anything like it, but damn, this may be it!" He said excitedly. "We'll have to see, all I know for now is that we're gonna be busy the next couple of days," Álfur answered as he was still examining. The Police Officers left, and so did the truck. The rest of the team arrived and everyone got to work. Using all available sources to figure out what was known about the contents brought in. As the day went on, little progress was made, night fell upon the northern nation and most of the team left home to get some rest as tomorrow was gonna be another busy day. However, Álfur stayed along with one of the newer members of the team. Together they processed all data they could and continued their search. The thoughts that this was just another MH370 were by now all gone, the investigation continued and was getting closer and closer for development of the first couple of theories. > Chapter 5 | Formidable Discoveries & Troubles > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 192 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Westmann Islands, Iceland Over a week had passed since the last contact with Air Traffic Control was made with the missing aircraft. Since then, there was slow progress. That was until the white unmarked truck arrived last morning. The main room of the warehouse was now a complete mess, since the investigation had begun, little to no cleaning had been done. Which made navigating through the room slightly difficult. Álfur opened the door to the main room as he entered, removing his coat that was soaked by the heavy rainfall outside. By now, the entire initial investigation team had arrived, with Ebba arriving last due to complications with air travel. The volcano that had happened on the same day as the disappearance had only recently stopped shooting out ash and airlines were slowly resuming their routes, during the disappearance she had been on a short trip to Sweden. As for the rookie, who's name is Björn, he had arrived yesterday along with Álfur to receive a short briefing on what to do. "Lovely weather outside surely?" Ebba asked sarcastically. "Oh yes, 30 degrees*, the sun is shining with no clouds at all. Perfect day for the beach with the family I'd say." The completely soaked Álfur said in response. The two shared a short and quiet laugh as Álfur moved towards the big table in the room, containing multiple evidence boxes with ICG labelling. Some of them were already opened, the boxes in question were the items that came with the truck yesterday. The patrol boat had found something suspicious in the water, so it called down some other boats which included scuba divers. After having dived the entire day, they had found items which could help in the investigation. The items in question were a series of different things, some were aeroplane related, and others were unknown to the team. Björn was currently inspecting the items that supposedly came from an aircraft, however, after a quick 30-minute search he made his conclusion. "Sorry boss, these aircraft parts are not the ones from Golf Echo Bravo, registration numbers don't match and the parts are well over 5 years old, and our missing plane is less than a year old," Björn said, he dropped a piece looking like a small fragment from a flaperon into the same evidence box where it came from, then closing the lid. "Well, what are they doing in the ocean then?" Álfur asked. "My guess, related to that engine explosion that happened two years ago over Svalbard, these items must've made their way to the coast of Iceland with the current." The rookie said in response. Álfur nodded, accepting the theory of Björn as possible and went towards the unopened boxes. As he got there, he first examined the orange and white evidence box, on one of the sides there was a small description, likely to be made after a quick assessment by one of the sailors. The description read; "Aircraft part with unknown material painted across" The Lead Investigator opened the lid of the box carefully. Putting the lid aside his attention shifted towards the object inside. A quite large part, looking like it belonged to the hull. It had minor rust on it and towards the right, it had a mysterious material painted over it. Which Álfur thought were burnt parts probably from the engine explosion Björn explained earlier. However, curious still, he put on disposable gloves and ran his hand through the supposedly burnt part of the hull piece, to his surprise, the piece wasn't charred at all but instead, it was some sort of dust that glued itself on the piece. Being convinced this could be a piece from the missing aircraft he turned the object around to see if there was a registration number hidden somewhere. He eventually found one and memorised it as he put the object back in the evidence box without closing it. He threw the disposable gloves into the nearest trash bin, missing it and ran over to his laptop where he checked whether it was a match. It was, and Álfur quickly made an announcement. "Drop what you're doing, right now." He said in a loud voice. He took a short break then continued. "We've got a piece, that matches." he finished, walking back to the evidence box. The others gathered around, and Álfur went through what he discovered so far. Úlrik however, was confused still. "If they found this piece, why didn't they find others? I mean, 8 days isn't long enough for them to drift to the UK or Norway or somewhere in the Atlantic." He said. "I'll call the ICG for them to search around for other pieces but for now, this is what we got and I'm happy we finally may have a clue to what's happened," Álfur answered, he was also confused but he was happy nonetheless to finally start investigating possible theories with actual evidence as to the source and not a hypothesis. The team returned to work. Each and one of them starting their research on their theories, crucial information was still missing, however. The ATC recordings still hadn't arrived and some equipment was still waiting to be shipped from the mainland to the team. At the same time, lab tests needed to be sent to some facilities for examination, and the results would be unknown until they got an answer. With this, the team was limited on what they could call fiction, and what was deemed reasonable. Ponyville, Equestria The sun shined brightly through the afternoon. Mild winds were blowing through the town as today was to be another beautiful day in the land of ponies. The Airbus A318 was now in its 8th day in the Equestrian land, and since that time, no maintenance or inspection at all had been made. This slightly worried Timothy, because if Antoine's ambitious plan was to work, the plane would need to work as well. While Timothy was inspecting the aircraft. Antoine was outside the town. Exploring to see how this land compared to Earth. While wandering through a dirt road he stumbled upon a farm with an enormous apple orchard. Growing up in the south of France he had seen enormous farms producing grapes and wine, the vineyards would sometimes have fields stretching enormous lengths that you couldn't see the end. But the apple orchard here was unlike anything he had seen growing up there. As he wandered through the orchard, passing by the shades of each tree he somewhat felt as if he was back home. Running through his grandfather's vineyards. Continuing to walk through the orchard he decided to stop by one of the trees and sat down. Cooling down from the sun's heat in the shade. His uniform that he wore on flights wasn't the best choice of clothing for a hot sunny day and even though he had spare clothes in his luggage he had left it untouched, it still being in the aircraft. A couple of minutes passed and by now the heat felt less intense, the shade from provided. As he was resting, he felt at peace almost as if he was in another place, well, he was already. The only sound that could be heard were the birds and the leaves being in the way of the mild winds. It was at this time that a new sound arose. Emanating from the small dirt road behind the tree he identified the sound, as a wooden cart rolling about. "Ant-one?" A female voice was heard. The Captain looked to his left and identified the mare as Applejack. An orange pony with green eyes, a blonde mane and tail and a brown hat, typical farm looking. She had been pulling the wooden cart towards an area of the orchard which was fresh for bucking apples. Even though he had already talked with Applejack already in the past, she seemed to always have some difficulties pronouncing his name, which always made him smile. It was likely due to her accent as to why she couldn't. "Hello, Applejack." Antoine greeted the orange pony as she stopped pulled and looked at the Frenchman. "What are you doin' here?" She asked. "Well, Might as well explore a little, don't know when I'll be back, or if even I will be back," Antoine said, sounding slightly sad as he finished his sentence. "Ah see, well. While you're here, treat yourself to a fresh apple." Applejack said. The orange mare went back to her wooden cart and threw an apple towards the Captain. He reacted accordingly and caught with his left hand. He then threw it up weakly and caught it again. "Thank you Applejack," Antoine said. Taking a bite right afterwards. "Oh wow. It's really good." The Frenchman said. "Glad you think so! Anyway, ah gotta continue mah chores. See ya later partner!" The orange mare walked past. Antoine made sure to wave goodbye as she went away to continue the job that she loved. Meanwhile, he then went back to what he was doing before, just sitting and enjoying the summer heat. That was until when Timothy came rushing, wearing his usual uniform but with the addition of a high-visibility vest that was always worn when on the tarmac at the airport, used most of the time for pre-flight checks only, or emergencies. The British man began panting as he arrived at Antoine, looking down at the ground and holding onto his thighs as he spat. Antoine stood up quickly and looked at him, something was up he could tell. Timothy recovered and stood straight back up, looking at the Frenchman as he breathed in and then out. "Antoine, we've got a problem." 262 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Canterlot, Equestria Night fell upon the land and with that, it was the duty of the Princess of the Moon to carry the duties that her older sister had done during the day. Namely, to simply watch over the land, take care of any paperwork and bills or amendments or similar that would come in late at night. To her, it was no issue. The night was calmer than the day, and thus she had more free time during her peak time of the sidereal day. She had just finished a quick meeting with her older sister and one of the economic advisors to the monarchy while sipping tea. Her head was at the moment full of numbers and factors and multiple things, making it feel stuffed. She needed to unwind, and one of her favourite methods was star gazing. Having recently acquired a new strong portable telescope as a gift from the Royal Canterlot Observatory she intended to put it to good use. However, before she could reach the balcony where the telescope was located she noticed a guard approaching, trying to catch her attention as well. Luna stopped and identified the guard as Lighting Strike, whom she had met a week prior in a similar hallway. The Sergeant bowed down, eyes closed and waiting for the Princess to tell him to rise. "You may rise, Lightning Strike." She said quietly. Looking down as the guard rose back up and looked up at the Princess. "Your highness, the report of the reconnaissance mission you ordered a week ago has arrived. I've left it in your quarters as per policy." Lighting Strike said in the usual guard voice, slow and calm. "Thank you, I shall read it once I get back." Luna smiled as she talked. Thanking the Sergeant. "Is there anything else you need, your highness?" Lighting Strike asked. "No, I am fine for the night. You may resume your duties." Luna finished. The Sergeant bowed down one last time, then rising and taking a right leading to another hallway, his destination was unknown to the Princess, but she didn't feel the need to know. Even when the guards weren't on shift they knew what to do. Some simply took advantage of the breaks and would enjoy it, others mostly recruits would study or practice for the monthly inspections. She changed directions. Making a 180 degree turn towards her private room. She walked slowly but not too slowly. After a few minutes of walking and several turns, she had made it to her room. She opened the door slowly and entered. Seeing a small stack of paper on her desk she trotted over to read. Minutes passed but Luna was feeling disappointed as if her curiosity wasn't for anything good these days. The report kept stating how everything seemed safe but still advised to keep an eye out just in case. Continuing to read through the night she was suddenly shocked and surprised upon hearing a loud noise emanating from the outside. A loud screech was later heard before the sound stopped. She rushed on over to the nearest balcony but saw nothing. She wasn't the only one to have heard something as several ponies outside could be seen wondering what just happened, the younger ones panicking. Walking back to her room she noticed another thing, that most if not all windows in her room were now broken with glass shards spread around. She carefully navigated her way through. She didn't know what that noise was, and what it could've done to cause her windows from shattering. But now she felt even more curious. She went back to the balcony and took off into the night, determined to find out what happened. > Chapter 6 | Double the Trouble Part I > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 262 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo USS Dwight D. Eisenhower [CVN-69] North Atlantic Ocean The winds and waves of the North Atlantic Ocean on the Tuesday morning were ruthless. Constant pounding and cold winds made the outer parts of the carrier inhospitable even for the most experienced sailors. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Nimitz-class Aircraft Carrier originally came to the Norwegian Sea accompanied by several destroyers and frigates for a joint naval exercise with the Nordic nations and some NATO members. However, when word of the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo reached the U.S Navy the ship along with the USS Benfold, USS Barry, USS Anzio and one accompanying supply ship were dispatched to the coast of Iceland. There were also some other ships dispatched from the US which would carry specialized equipment with them along with more escorts. Apart from the Icelandic Coast Guard, the US Navy and the Royal Navy were the only other navies participating in the search and investigation. There was also Denmark's own Royal Navy which was helping by lending it's non-military vessels to the ICG as well as two patrol vessels. The British had dispatched a small fleet, comprised of two destroyers and several non-combat ships. An agreement had been made between all 3 countries to use the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower as a mobile headquarters for the operation. Even though the weather was unforgiving, duties still had to be carried out. Sailors in different coloured uniforms walked out onto the deck awaiting the arrival of a C-2 Greyhound, which was mostly carrying mail and spare parts but also Admiral Jakub Wilson from the British Navy and Commander Elsa Jonsdottir from the Icelandic Coast Guard. On the bridge of the carrier stood Admiral Omar Hopkins, commander of the task force and assigned joint command of the NATO exercise that was now postponed. Holding his binoculars with both hands he awaited the arrival of the Greyhound. The time was 4:45 PM in local time. Frustrated, he turned towards one of the Petty Officers on the bridge. "Where is that darned Greyhound? It was supposed to be here two hours ago!" He raised his voice dramatically, as sailors noticed his tough expression on his face. The Petty Officer looked at the Admiral, facing him and taking a breath before answering. "The pilots are having difficulty to land with the high winds. They're gonna do one last try to land and if not they'll go to the Faroe Islands to refuel." The Petty Officer answered, sounding as calm as possible. "Alright. Thank you." Omar replied. He looked out once again, the wipers on the windows were working overtime in clearing the accumulated water. His facial expression calmed down. Hopkins was a veteran to the navy, originally joining back in 1973 as an Ensign. He rose quickly through the ranks and by 2010 became a two-star Rear Admiral, though as part of the exercise and subsequent search he had been given the temporary rank of Vice-Admiral. He was approaching retirement soon and was hoping to have one last big adventure before it. The disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo would be just that. As he wandered off into his thoughts, a voice was raised in the bridge by a sailor. "Greyhound coming in, Admiral." The sailor said before returning outside. Hopkins shifted his attention to the short runway. Normally an aircraft would require a much longer runway but thanks to a rope and hook system, a plane could land with just that small amount of space. Hopkins watched as the grey C-2 Greyhound came in slowly, fighting the gusts of wind and before finally making contact with the deck and the hook successfully grabbing onto the rope. The aircraft came to a stop shortly after. It was then guided to a parking spot where the passengers on board got out. The aircraft was then taxied by a tug to an elevator and brought down to the hangars underneath, its wings folded to make more room. Omar Hopkins, wearing his khaki coloured service uniform put his hat on and made his way out of the bridge to greet the guests. Navigating through the narrow hallways of the carrier. Sailors that were in the way moved to the side and saluted. Those who were too busy to salute simply nodded at the Admiral who was now putting on a thick coat to go along. Eventually, he could hear a door at the end of the hallway open. The sounds of the wind and rain were heard on top of light chatter. Omar Hopkins walked slightly faster and identified said chatter as a Polish-British accent. Not long after he saw a man and a woman dressed in the respective uniforms of their navies or coast guard in Iceland's case enter the interiors of the carrier from the harsh weather outside. "Jakub!" Omar said to get the attention of the English admiral. Jakub Wilson turned around and saw Omar Hopkins. "Omar, how nice to see you. Wish the weather was better but we made it onboard your ship." They both shook hands. Omar greeted and welcomed the Icelandic Commander as well. "I must say, Omar, I envy your navy and especially your task forces. Only takes 7 days from Norfolk to the coast of Syria if I'm not mistaken." Jakub said while brushing off some raindrops on his jacket. "Thank you, Jacob, but let's save the chatter for later. We have more pressing matters so if you'll follow me." Omar walked to the meeting room onboard the carrier, located not far from the bridge itself. Jakub and Elsa followed as the three made their way through the narrow hallways, climbing up the set of stairs on the way. Eventually making it to the room, Omar opened the door and allowed the guests first. He then entered followed by two sailors who would assist him in the briefing. The meeting room, also known as the briefing room was mostly simple. The interior was grey, with chairs aligned facing two whiteboards. The chairs were metallic with the exception of the seating area itself, being made of a more comfortable material. The walls were covered with decorations mostly, pictures of former Admirals but also historic moments in the US Navy, one of these was a large framed picture of the USS Yorktown with its deck full of Corsair fighter planes and various other planes, the picture dated to 1943, in the middle of the Pacific Theater of World War Two. "So," Omar said. Taking a pause and placing himself in front of a board in the briefing room. Both Jakub and Elsa had taken seats by now as well as some others such as Lieutenant Commander Connor Davis, who happened to be a pilot of a single-seater F/A-18C Hornet. His plane had been retrofitted with instruments to take measurements as well as to collect other types of data that would then be sent to the investigators on the Westmann Islands. "As you're all aware already I imagine, if not, read the damn news once in a while. A plane belonging to the Airbus company disappeared about a week ago to unknown reasons. Now I honestly don't give a hell about it, but our governments have decided that our navies will help out in the search." Omar said, before taking yet another short pause. "My carrier, the Ike will act as a mobile headquarters for the ICG and Royal Navy as well as the US Navy during this time. I've already organised for a squadron of retrofitted F-18s to take flight and collect whatever we need. Any questions?" He finished, taking a deep but quiet breath. The briefing room was quiet. Just like Omar had hoped. No questions. That was until Connor raised his voice. "One question, Admiral." He said, raising his arm up slightly. Omar looked at the Lieutenant Commander before giving him the go-ahead. "Right so. I'm just curious when you want the Hornets to start flying. Only mine's ready to launch but the weat-" Connor was cut off by Omar Hopkins. "I don't give a damn about the weather if your plane is ready for taking off then get it up on deck right now." He said in response. Connor responded with an acknowledgement to the order, and with that, the meeting was over. The enlisted, NCOs and low-ranking officers left the meeting room while Omar, Elsa and Jakub remained to talk about some smaller details. With new orders, the Lieutenant Commander went towards the locker room to grab his flight uniform and gear. By now, the order had already reached the hangar crew who were already bringing out the plane onto the deck. The order to bring the carrier into the wind was also given. After changing he made his way up to the flight deck where individuals in yellow coloured shirts, as well as some in blue and white had just finished bringing up the F/A-18C, part of the 12th Carrier Air Wing and the 40th Strike Fighter Squadron. However, there was to be no strike mission today. Connor walked along the deck, his right arm being wrap around his dark green helmet. Approaching the jet he noticed an officer wearing a brown coloured deck uniform, he immediately recognized the officer as Captain Elliot Casey, also belonging to the 40th. "Good luck on the flight Lieutenant, I feel like you'll need it in this weather," Elliot said in a rather informal manner, offering to shake the hand of Connor, who by now had put on his helmet. Connor, accepted the handshake, grabbing onto the hand of the senior officer and shaking it. "Thank you, Captain, but we have to fly regardless of what the lord above has in store for us." Elliot chuckled, letting go off the Lieutenant's hand and tapped his shoulder, giving him a slight push in doing so towards the jet. "Well, Lieutenant, I'll be awaiting your return if that's the case." Connor smiled, saluting his superior officer before climbing a ladder into the cockpit and entering, a blue-uniformed sailor then taking away the ladder and stowing it away elsewhere. A yellow-uniformed sailor now stood in front of the jet, his left arm raised up and pointing to the left, while his right arm was pointed straight up and motioning a circle. Connor started the engine. The same sailor then pointed both arms upwards and motioned for the plane to move forward, later motioning for it to turn right and towards the catapult. Connor followed the instructions of the sailor that was marshalling. Upon reaching the catapult at the front of the carrier a different yellow-uniformed sailor attached the front gear to the catapult itself, a blast shield was raised behind the aircraft. Rain poured onto the deck, as Connor now closed his canopy. A green-shirted sailor sat by a set of controls that controlled the catapult, awaiting confirmation for launch final checks were made as Connor saluted the personnel on deck, the air marshaller from earlier now made a set of moves, crouching down towards the end and pointing out towards the sea. Not long after the plane rocked violently, as the catapult system was activated. The F/A-18C was pulled forward rapidly, reaching take-off speed within seconds. Once he had detached, he pulled away slowly, his thrusters now at max speed. Ponyville, Equestria Antoine and Timothy were both in the Golden Oak Library, discussing a recent concern that Timothy discovered on the plane. Twilight and Spike were also there, with the mare listening and the dragon assistant giving tea to everyone. "So. You mean to tell me parts of the plane have just vanished?" Antoine asked. "No, well, yes. I mean. I doubt those parts came off after we came to Equestria, I think they must've fallen off during the teleportation thing or whatever." Timothy responded. Twilight, who had mostly been listening to the conversation suddenly heard something that piqued her interest. Using her magic she put her cup of tea down on the table and entered the conversation. "Speaking of teleportation, I never got around to asking how you two came to Equestria. Can you explain what happened in the moments leading up this?" The two male pilots looked at the purple mare. Truth be told, they both didn't have a single clue what caused the teleportation. All they know was that they saw a portal after having cleared volcanic ash. "Well uh.." Timothy began, but couldn't find the words to continue. Antoine, noticing his friend having difficulties trying to explain decided to help out. "Well. Just when we were about to start our approach into Keflavik Airport, we went through some volcanic ash. Planes and volcanic ash don't go together by the way. At first, everything seemed okay, well, except for our engines failing. But then we saw electric sparks and eventually, that turned into a purple-ish looking portal that brought us here." Twilight was now seen with a book and quill in her hoofs. Writing down as fast as she could the details and her thoughts for later usage in some researching. She wrote intensively fast, and all three of them noticed that. Spike, holding a tray of tea refill walked over and attempted to calm the mare down with an offer of more tea, which she accepted and immediately drank the whole mug. "I suppose she's always like this when she gains new knowledge?" Timothy asked the baby dragon. "You get sort of used to it..." Spike replied, indicating that this was a common thing for Twilight to do. The two humans looked at the purple mare, not knowing how to really react. Antoine turned to Spike while Timothy refilled his cup with green tea and adding a little milk. The Frenchman then turned to Twilight, attempting to make eye contact, but failing. Seeing that night had fallen by now he decided to return to the topic of missing plane parts. But first, he had to know something. "Spike, how cold does it usually get around here at night." He asked politely. "Oh, uhm. Depends on the amount of wind. But usually, it's still warm." The baby dragon responded with while refilling Twilight's cup of tea. Antoine smirked slightly and looked towards Timothy. "Say, Tim, how about a night stroll to the plane and do a thorough examination," Antoine asked, already in the process of standing up. "Oh uh. Yeah, yeah sure." He finished his tea quickly and stood up just as fast. Twilight was still writing, by now she had finished writing about the teleportation and started writing multiple hypotheses in her book, erasing those she deemed invalid. All she heard was her heart beating and her brain spewing out words and numbers. To her, it was always the numbers on paper and magic. She was after all the element of magic. At first, she hadn't even noticed the two humans had stood up and begun putting their jackets back on, but she was suddenly awoken back to real life by her humble assistant Spike, who poked her in the shoulder. "Yes? What is it, Spike?" She asked. "Antoine and Timothy are leavi-" Spike was cut off, and the mare quickly rushed over to the two. "Wait!" She shouted. "Before you two go, me and my friends are going for lunch tomorrow at Applejack, you two maybe want to tag along?" She proposed, smiling and looking up at them. "That sounds wonderful, course we'll be there!" Timothy replied rapidly, even before Antoine had time to react, though he naturally would've also agreed. The mare and the dragon wished farewell to the two human pilots as they left the library. Strolling down the empty and not that well-lit streets of Ponyville they engaged in small talk on the way to the aircraft. Timothy would always make comparisons between Equestria and Earth. On the other hand, the way Antoine talked about the nature in Equestria made it almost seem as if he wished to retire in this land to live out his last days. Though while a possibility, they both still had hopes of possibly returning one day to Earth. North Altantic Ocean The weather of the North Atlantic had by now calmed down, as Lieutenant Commander Connor Davis soared through the skies at a comfortable 260 km/h to collect measurements that would hopefully be of use for the investigation. Cruising at the low altitude of only 1000m above sea level he was constantly checking his altitude. Connor wished to make sure there wouldn't be a sudden movement from which he would be unable to recover from. At the same time, he was also beginning to run out of fuel, as the jet had already burnt through most the fuel. Though luckily for Connor, the last pieces of data needed to be recorded were finished, and he could now begin his return to the Eisenhower. Switching on the radio and the mic attached to his helmet he called himself in and awaited the bridge on the Eisenhower to respond. "Understood, Viper 3-2, advise you change course heading to 240, the deck is being cleared as we speak." The Bridge responded with direct orders. "Roger that, Mighty Ike, 3-2 returning." Connor acknowledged, tuning his speed and tilting the control stick accordingly. The route back to the carrier would have him go through some heavy fog which also happened to be the remnants of the storm that passed in the morning. Increasing his speed to 280 km/h he began flying right through. He could almost immediately feel the pounding on his plane as it shook a little. It was all manageable for the experienced pilot. The plane shook violently once, surprising Connor. While attempting to stabilise and return to a more comfortable altitude a white bright flash temporarily blinded him. A loud boom was heard not long after. He flipped his visor up, and rubbed his eyes for a few seconds, then opening them again. Looking around he found himself confused, he wasn't seeing the ocean, but instead, land. Large forests, small towns, mountain ranges and the whole shebang. "What the hell." He muttered to himself, looking back at the cockpit he became even more confused seeing his radar was blank. It definitely wasn't Iceland he thought to himself. "Viper 3-2, Ike, how copy?" He spoke through the integrated mic. He waited, and waited more, but there was no response. Trying again he repeated his last message, but it was only followed by static. Frustrated, he banged his hands on the metallic parts of the cockpit several times, calming down after a short while upon hearing the engines suddenly shut down slowly. He attempted to turn them back on, but it was to no avail, the fuel counter read '0L'. He looked at the speedometer, seeing it read 1200 km/h which was at the sound barrier stage. He had somehow gained more speed. He didn't know why and how, as the fuel that remained earlier wasn't even close to make it to that amount. But now was not a time for figuring things out, he would eventually run out of speed and he would need a plan before that happened. Looking out at the horizon he couldn't find anything suitable for landing his modified fighter. The only things he could find remotely suitable were some farm fields, however, the small wheels of the F/A-18 were only good for solid concrete or asphalt runways, not uneven and rough fields. He shifted his attention at the infrastructure around but saw nothing suitable. His speed had now dropped to 800 km/h. Attempting one last-ditch effort to locate a landing field, he switched his mic on and changed his frequency to a global emergency one. "Viper 3-2, declaring a Mayday situation. Out of fuel, radar unable to detect any airfield, calling out for immediate assistance." He turned off the integrated mic, awaiting a response. But again, none came, he tried once more before an alert of low speed started sounding in the cockpit. He checked the compass, seeing he was heading west, he decided to look at this surroundings. Looking to the south he saw mostly flatlands, which if he had been trying to prioritise the safety of his aircraft over himself would make a great spot for an attempted landing. Then to the north, he could see snow-tipped mountains, which if he had known about earlier would have also made a good spot, though with the little speed remained he doubted he'd be even able to make it halfway to them. There'd have been most likely a large enough snowbed for him to crashland his aircraft onto though. Continuing to cruise forward he could see a tall mountain, which also happened to be the start of a mountain range. On the mountain laid a large city, resting on a small flat patch of grass, with some parts of the city hanging off the edge. He could also spot some obvious landmarks, such as what seemed to be a castle and a town square. Connor saw no better option, an ejection from his aircraft over the city seemed like the best choice considering his options. Having only ejected once prior during his training to become a pilot he naturally felt anxious, this would be the first time, and hopefully the last time he'd have to do it for real in the field. The jet continued forwards at an uncomfortable 300 km/h, though he was now just about at the start of the mountain range. The alarm of low speed rang again, this time louder. Looking at the cockpit he paid one last good look around, to check if everything was in place before performing the ejection. Wishing his aircraft a last goodbye. The speed dropped down to 200km/h, approaching the stall range. He located the ejection lever, pulling it violently. The canopy ejected first, flying away from the aircraft. Not long after the small rocket boosters attached to his seat ignited, shooting Connor Davis up and away from his jet. The boosters turned off, and the parachute deployed successfully. He, however, felt a sharp pain in his shoulders due to the ejection. Moaning from the pain he flipped his visor up and partially disconnected the oxygen mask attached to his helmet. Taking several deep breaths he watched his aircraft plummet down onto the ground near the mountain, crashing in what appeared to be a grass field. Slowing down his descent, he made sure to perform the PLF manoeuvre. Landing on his feet then and then onto his back. The ground was soft, getting back up on his feet he could tell he landed in a large garden, a beautiful one in fact as if it belonged to that of a rich person. He pulled his parachute back towards him and stowed it back in the parachute bag nicely. The garden had a view on the surrounding lands, walking up to the railing the Lieutenant Commander looked out. It still looked nothing like Earth, and part of him believed he was dreaming. The wind was cold, but luckily his g-suit provided enough warmth to not freeze, though he knew he couldn't be outside all night long. "Sometimes I wonder on whose side God is." Connor sighed as he spoke to himself. To him, it was unbelievable that all this had just happened, everything was going fine, he was simply returning to his home at sea after a regular scouting operation, yet instead, he now found himself in unknown territory, the only thing that seemed to comfort him now was the beautiful horizon in front of him. Still looking out at the horizon, he was suddenly startled when a voice rang out across the garden. The voice was assertive as if it came from a guard. "Halt, stay where you are!" Connor turned around rapidly. Seeing the guard wearing golden armour, but seeing it be a horse and not a human confused him even further. He was convinced he was inside of a dream or something. "A talking horse?" He muttered. The guard pony approached closer, he was now joined by a second. The first one, who had yelled the order was a white-coated pony with a blue mane, while the second had an orange coat and blue mane. Connor, being outnumbered unholstered his service weapon, a 9mm P228, or as the navy would call it, an M11. "HEY, HEY! We're all friends here, back up, American here, this uh, a NATO country right?" Connor said, in desperation to make the ponies understand him, everything was going too fast, one minute ago he was still not believing the fact he had landed here and now he was suddenly being asked to comply with the orders of ponies in fancy golden armour. The two guards looked at each other confused, trying to make sense of what the human just said, they understood the friends part alright. But to them, the human was trespassing on royal property, and in such case, there was no being friends. "Comply with our orders, we're only detaining you." The orange pony said. By now, Connor was loosely aiming his service weapon, knowing it was the only defence he had against the two ponies, or horses as he'd call them still. The round was already chambered, and the safety was off. He waved it around trying to scare them off, but he was unsuccessful, it seemed as if the ponies had no knowledge of what a gun was, or the dangers of one. He looked towards at the white pony, though at that moment, the other guard jumped onto Connor, seeing a brief window to perform a takedown. Connor, heard the sounds of the orange pony, and quickly turned to face him, there was no time to properly aim, but he neither wanted to use lethal force. His reflexes would, however, do the last thing he ever thought he'd do with a handheld gun, and that was to fire it at someone. He fired loosely, the round exiting through the barrel and onto its target. The shot rang through the city, the sound was heard loudly, and attention nearby was gathered. Silence followed, through the castle and across the entire city, but the silence was to be broken. > Chapter 7 | Double the Trouble Part II > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 262 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo USS Dwight D. Eisenhower The sound of a loud whistle was heard through the intercom, sailors identifying it as the Boatswain's call. Attention was paid at the coming announcement, something was up they could all tell. The whistle ended, and the Boatswain started speaking through the intercom. 'General Quarters, General Quarters, all hands man your battle stations. A loud repeating alarm began to sound, as sailors and marines rushed from their current activities to their assigned posts. The boatswain continued his announcement with instructions. As Omar Hopkins would've said, General Quarters was the most organised chaos on board a navy vessel. 'Up and forward to starboard, down and aft to port.' The ship was brought forward to the wind, as planes belonging to the 40th Strike Wing were brought up, a total of 17 jets, normally 18, however. Those jets were quickly launched through the catapult systems, the green shirts making sure each and one took off without any trouble. The air wing began patrolling the nearby areas, for their lost pilot. Westmann Islands The investigation had been full of ups and downs. Álfur who had so far felt comfortable with the pace of the investigation began now stressing over the facts that some required items still hadn't made it all the way to his headquarters. He mostly complained about the ATC recordings, as they were the best thing he could have until finding the black boxes if they'd even be ever found. Some progress had been made with the aircraft parts that were found by the ICG, however. Most notably three different sized pieces were found belonging to the actual Golf Echo Bravo, while the rest were from other planes which had incidents over the area. Those pieces were now sent back to the ICG, who'd handle the proper procedure. Úlrik looked over to his friend and the lead investigator. "Álfur, one of the investigators from the French team forwarded me an email, saying he had discovered something peculiar, he asked if I could tag along." Áflur, who had been writing an email of to the leaders of the French and British investigation teams respectively, stopped, saving the email as a draft to continue later. He switched off the laptop, and then looked at Úlrik. "Okay, go on." Úlrik put his coffee mug down on a table. "Well, it may not be fully related to the search, but they discovered that several airfields in the range of Golf Echo Bravo haven't sent in any recent reports to the aviation administration." Álfur shook his head, his eyes slightly closed. He sighed, "You know what, go do what they wish to do, might at least give some good news who the hell knows." He looked back at his shut off laptop, turning it back on again and logging in. Ebba, who had been listening onto the conversation stepped in to say her remarks. "Well, I for one think it's a bad idea since most those airfields wouldn't even be able to support a plane meant for commercial transportation purposes." Úlrik, seeing Ebba had entered the conversation turned to face her, crossing his arms at the same time. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Though part of me thinks that they may have something involved." Ebba rolled her eyes and went back to work. Just as Úlrik was about to leave to meet the other investigator, Björn spoke up. "Well it's not as far-fetched, I mean, a Boeing 727 did disappear under similar circumstances... somewhat." "Well, regardless of what happens, I'll stay in touch," Úlrik said as he went on to put his coat on and leave the building. Álfur looked around, seeing Björn going back to work and the same with Ebba. He was proud that of his team, in the past he had found it sometimes hard to cooperate with some of the other folks, but for once he had been given a team where everyone was able to work together, although some disagreements still happened, that was only natural he felt. As long as they wouldn't evolve into feuds or similar he'd be happy. He resumed writing his email, about organising a press conference. Since the disappearance, his emails had indeed been flooded with journalists and other curious people. He took a break from writing, and looked at all the emails he had been sent, he wasn't going to open any of them of course, he was just curious if he had received any updates from his superiors in Reykjavik. Scrolling past hundreds of journalists and news agencies he finally found one, and it was from his friend and supervisor Laufar. The email dated to two days ago. He blinked once and moved the cursor towards it. Clicking once the email opened, and rows of text were revealed. 'Hello Álfur! Hope you can excuse this late email, I've been in contact with the boss himself and I've got some good news, and also bad news. Since I believe your investigation has been filled with mostly bad news so far, I'll do you a favour and start with good ones. The good news is that the ATC recordings should arrive on Tuesday, I wasn't told the exact time but the delays were due to issues in copying over the audio files since you know, those recorders have to be on 24/7. But we managed to get it done during the night, however, there will be some additional delays as I wasn't able to book a charter plane for them so they'll be transported in a van to your headquarter. Now, as for the bad news... The first one is that unfortunately Antoine Pardieu, and Timothy Coburn (the pilots of Golf Echo Bravo), have been declared dead in absentia by their respective governments. Their families have of course already been notified. And the last one is that I haven't been able to convince Ólafur to delay the deadline for the investigation, he still wishes to have everyone back by the annual report, though considering it's in about a month and a half time, you should still have enough to collect enough information for a proper conclusion. I am confident you'll be able to do your best, you were always one of the most promising folks here, and I'm proud that I was the one who trained you in fact. Give me a call whenever you feel like talking, I'll try and answer. I wish you a good day Álfur, and to your team. Good luck on the investigation!' He closed the email. At least the recordings were coming now, though the death in absentia declaration made the Icelander shiver, he suddenly felt as if he was in the middle of a snowfield with no warm clothing. He huddled his arms up, feeling somewhat better, though his face was still grim. "Damn." He muttered loudly, with Björn and Ebba looking at Álfur in confusion. 286 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Canterlot, Equestria Connor looked to his left, his hand attached to a handcuff. Looking to his right he saw the same. He found himself on a white, comfortable bed, bandages were wrapt around his head. Everything to him didn't seem real. The way he found himself in this unknown land and the creatures that call it home. It couldn't be. All was going smooth yesterday, it was supposed to be a routine flight in bad weather, which he had done in the past with no problem. Apart from one time when he missed the deck and had to go around perhaps. Looking to his left again he barely made out a few details, his eyes were still half asleep, half-closed. He saw another bed and on it an orange pony, the same one from last night, stripped of his armour he laid there, also half awake, half asleep. 'Thank god he isn't dead' Connor told himself. The pony had bandages wrapped around his left shoulder, a little dried blood was seen on it, but Connor assumed it had stopped by now, and the wound inflicted by him was healing. Connor looked to his right, thinking he heard a door open. A tall white door had indeed been opened, and in stepped a white-coated pony with a stethoscope around his neck, as well as a doctor's uniform. He had a horn and was carrying a clipboard using his magic. He was followed by a tall, navy blue pony who had wings and a horn. Both of them walked over to Connor. "Greetings, mister?" The Doctor said, asking for Connor's name. The Lieutenant Commander looked at the doctor, breathing in and out twice. "Davis." He spoke out quietly. "Right, them. Mr Davis, a pleasure to meet you." The doctor said, pausing and looking over his clipboard, quickly scanning over details of last night's incident, having spoken to the other guard that witnessed it all go down as well as having done his own examinations during treatment of both patients. "Forgive me if the details are a bit gloomy, I am still learning the story, but from what I've been told currently you were knocked unconscious after falling onto paved ground head first. This was, of course after you seem to have inflicted an injury upon the Sergeant in the bed next to you." He continued. "I-s, is, is he going to be okay?" Connor asked, struggling at first to find the words. "Yes, thankfully whatever caused his wound didn't penetrate anything vital, though I was hoping you could tell me what happened since I've never dealt with anything like that." The doctor added. Connor looked over to the pony to his left, he indeed had been shot by Connor, and he felt guilty for it. He looked back at the Doctor, and the dark blue alicorn, feeling the only way to help out the injured Sergeant by opening up. "I want you to first know I am terribly sorry for what happened." He said, sighing and taking a deep breath. "Oh that's quite alright Mr Davis, forgiveness is a key aspect of our society, I am sure you meant no harm." The doctor replied. "Right. W-well, I used my gun on him." Connor said. The doctor looked at Connor. His eyes motioning he was confused. The doctor flipped through the pages of his clipboard, looking for anything that could be associated with the 'gun' word. Flipping through the first page, he saw nothing, same with the second but on the third, he saw something that could've been what Connor was referencing. "Oh, I assume you mean this, a grey metallic object that was found on you?" The Doctor had his eyes on the clipboard as he talked, then looking back at Connor. "Wha-, oh. Yes, that." Connor said, also confused by the description. The doctor continued, asking questions, and Connor answering them all truthfully. During the entire questioning, the blue alicorn who happened to be Princess Luna, had, for the most part, a somewhat angry look on her face. This was the exact thing she had feared from the whole start with humans appearing in Equestria. And now it had actually happened. All she could do was hope it wouldn't happen again. The Doctor remained optimistic, seeing the only way to get information was by being all friendly. While he held no grudge against the naval aviator, he still did feel some concern like most ponies in the Royal Castle after the event. "Right then. Mr Davis, I am also here to inform you that per requests from Princess Celestia." He stopped, looking at Connor who was even more confused now. "Oh, right, you've never heard of her." He cleared his throat. "Princess Celestia is the head of state for Equestria, this alicorn right next to me is Princess Luna, her sister, and I suppose what you can call a vice head of state." He said, pointing at Luna during the presentation of Celestia. "As I was saying, she decided that this affair will be best kept outside from the courts, she's already signed your pardon order, however, you will be required to meet with her, and one of her trusted advisors as well as some, friends of yours I believe I can say." The doctor added to finish. "Oh, and, my name is Doctor Artic Aid, if you ever need me just ask anyone at the castle, they should know where my office is." He added once more, this time finishing for real. The Doctor and the alicorn then walked over to the Sergeant next to Connor, talking to him about what had happened, what's going to happen in the future and other related things. The Lieutenant Commander remained in the bed. He sure just had learnt a lot in the short span of that conversation. Though learning that he was about to meet the head of state of the country that he had practically just invaded on his own made him nervous. He sighed, looking at the Sergeant. Artic and Luna were speaking to him. Connor barely heard anything though, as his eyes slowly shut and he drifted away to sleep. 310 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo "Mr Davis?" A voice was heard. Connor opened his eyes. He looked to the left, the Sergeant was gone. He looked to his right. And saw Doctor Artic Aid. He looked at him. It was the early morning he could tell, as the sun was shining through the window brightly, almost blinding him. "Splendid, you're awake." The doctor said, breathing in and out. "Right then. Do you feel capable of walking?" Connor looked at the Doctor, then at this legs. They were covered by a white blanket, though he could still see the shape of them. He tried moving his legs, they moved slowly, but enough to walk. He looked back at the Doctor. "Yeah. I figure I can walk, where are we going?" "Oh, we're going to meet Princess Celestia and her trusted advisor. " Artic Aid said. "And you won't be needing these anymore." He added, then using his magic to remove the specially designed hoof cuffs. "Now come along, sir." Connor, moved his arms around, feeling it great he was able to move them again. He looked at the Doctor, who by now had started to trot towards the large door. He got up, feeling his legs shake a bit as if he had stood up too quickly. He managed to bring them under control and walked over slowly towards the door. Connor seemed to have been partially stripped of his flight suit, with the top half hanging and swinging from side to side as he walked. His harness and vest were gone, and so was his helmet. Underneath the flight suit, Connor had only been wearing a navy blue physical training uniform, which he found to be more comfortable during flights. The shirt had a small navy crest on the front, while the back read 'AMERICA'S NAVY' in bold bright yellow letters. Artic Aid opened the doors that led to the outside of the medical bay, stepping out slowly he made sure to wait for Connor, who approached slowly, still feeling slightly shaky. He stopped by the entrance, looking slightly down at the white unicorn pony. "Right this way, Mr Davis," Artic said, in his usual calm voice. The doctor began trotting away, keeping a consistent pace. Connor followed behind carefully to ensure he wouldn't get lost. While his focus was on preventing getting lost, he still couldn't help himself at admiring the architecture of the castle. In many ways, he thought it resembled the Versailles Palace, on the outskirts of Paris. While the marble there may be a different colour and the walls and roofs decorated with hundreds of paintings, the resemblance was still striking to him. Having visited the palace himself before enlisting into the Navy, he almost felt as if he had been teleported back in time. Though his attention was shortly regained as Artic Aid made a turn, announcing it as well. Connor made a hard left, as the pair went down another hallway, one that had more guards than previously seen. The Doctor stopped in front of a door, which had two guards outside of it. Artic turned around, facing Connor. "Right then, before we enter I would like for you to remember that the Princess is quite the big deal in our world. So don't make a fool of yourself, even though she may seem relaxed most of the time she can quickly snap." "Oh, don't worry. You have no idea how much harsher the instructors at Great Lakes are." Connor said, chucking a little while referencing to his time in boot camp. "Very funny." Artic Aid said slowly, looking unamused as he turned back towards the door. He opened it slowly, entering with Connor right behind him. Princess Celestia was seen sitting on a comfortable chair, with her trusted advisor, Twilight Sparkle next to her also sitting on a chair. Both of them seemed to be in the middle of drinking tea. The door closed, and attention by the Princess and her beloved student was brought upon the doctor and the pilot. Connor stood at attention. "Your highness, may I introduce you to Mr Davis," Artic spoke. "The uh-, intruder from last night." He continued, but quietly as if trying to avoid unwanted attention from his patient. Celestia placed the floating cup of tea down onto the tray, using her magic. She stood up, walking slowly over to the two. "Thank you, Artic." She said, then looking over to Connor. "Please, Mr Davis," She examined the pose of the Lieutenant Commander, noticing he stood at attention as if Celestia was his superior in the army. "You may cease the formalities, we are all friends here." Connor, obliged. "Of course, your highness." He said as he switched from attention to at ease, while still in a taught out position, Celestia didn't seem to notice. "Now, I intend on keeping this short, as my beloved student Twilight Sparkle will have much, much to ask you later," Celestia said, Twilight being seen with a somewhat overexaggerated smile, her eyes narrowed and ears down. "That's quite alright, your highness," Connor answered, with a smile. Celestia sat back down, sipping some tea slowly with her eyes closed before putting the mug back down on the tray. She looked over to the two guests inside of her room. The table, which she and Twilight were seated had two more empty cups and two vacant seats. "Tea?" Celestia proposed. Artic, seemed hesitant, quickly looking over the clipboard he used magic to bring down his glasses onto his eyes. Then looking back up, with his glasses brought back up. "I'm afraid I can't, I must tend to Sergeant Sentry, his instructors over at OCS wish to know whether he will be able to participate this intake or wait until the next, next time perhaps, Princess." Artic Aid politely denied. "That's quite alright, Artic. Tell me, how is he doing?" Celestia inquired. "Oh the severity of the wounds were much below my expectations, he should make a full recovery within a few weeks." The doctor stated, bowing down to the Princess and back up as he made his way out and towards his own private office where the Sergeant awaited. Connor on the other hand, naturally stayed, and accepted the invitation to tea. While not a big fan of tea, and in fact preferring coffee he thought to himself that a nice hot beverage could do him nice, especially to relieve all the stress he's been feeling and slight pain he was still feeling in his shoulders. Celestia, using her magic served the naval aviator tea, with Connor himself not adding anything else extra to improve the flavour. "Pardon me for asking, Princess. But what is OCS?" Twilight Sparkle asked, looking over at the ruler of Equestria, her mentor and in many ways her second mother. Celestia, with her eyes closed, reopened them, once again putting her cup down. "I can't seem to remember." She looked over to Connor. "Would you perhaps know what it means, Mr Davis?" He looked at the princess. "Oh, but I assume it means Officer Candidate School, the academy for becoming a commissioned officer. This, Sergeant Sentry is as of right now a non-commissioned officer I imagine, so if he passes he'll become a commissioned one." Davis said, smiling slightly as he enjoyed answering those sorts of questions. "And by the way, please, call me Connor." Celestia smiled and nodded, taking a sip. "Connor, have you been introduced to Antoine and Timothy?" Celestia asked. She looked and noticed the naval aviator's confused expression. "I-i, uhm, can't say I have, your highness." He placed down his cup. "Who are they?" Celestia's facial expression changed to a neutral one, as she looked over to her student. "Twilight, have you arranged the introductions?" "Oh, but of course, Princess Celestia!" Twilight said in an energetic voice as she pulled out a thick book from her saddlebags, several coloured post-it notes being seen sticking out of the pages, plopping it down onto the table. The cups and small plates jumped slightly up, then landing again as the purple unicorn rapidly flipped through the pages towards the near end. "Tomorrow precisely at midday at the Ponyville Cafe!" She once again said in an even higher-pitched energetic voice. Reykjavik, Iceland Úlrik drove through the city, in his white pick up truck, heading to the Harpa Conference Centre, where tomorrow's press conference was to be held by the lead investigators of each team. Though he wasn't going there to prepare it, but rather to pick up Arnaud Dubois, the french investigation who had forwarded the email to Úlrik. Following the speed limit on the way, he was slightly hindered by roadwork, though after a while he had made it past and turned left into a parking lot, where the French investigator was. Stopping the car at the side the parking entrance he saw a medium height man in a grey jacket, blue jeans and dark-greyish hair. He knew it was Arnaud, having actually met him before in the past. Úlrik stepped out the car and walked over slowly. "Arnaud, good to see you again." The Icelander said, greeting the Frenchman and offering to shake his hand. "It is good to see you too mon amis." Arnaud smiled, shaking Úlrik's hand. "Well then, what about these airfields?" Úlrik asked. "I will explain on the way, it's quite far away the first one." Úlrik nodded and opened the door for Arnaud. Then walking around to the driver side he opened his own door and got in. Starting the engine and putting the truck into reserve he carefully navigated his way out onto the street again, then putting the gear on 'D' he advanced to the edge of the speed limit and drove alongside the road. Arnaud wrote the address of the first destination in the car's GPS, and Úlrik began following the route. The sun had just risen in the Icelandic capital, and it was a hot day. Mild clouds if none at all, would've been a good day for outdoor activities, but both men had larger things to worry about. While this small excursion would likely find nothing to help the investigation, Arnaud, the optimistic man was willing to give it a shot, as all three teams needed something at the moment. > Chapter 8 | The Resolve > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 334 Hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Ponyville, Equestria The sun shined brightly, and the wind roared lightly through the morning. The leaves on the trees moved along with the wind. Just outside the Everfree Forest laid a small and cosy cottage, which happened to also be the home of Fluttershy, a pegasus. She had just woken up and began her day of tending to the animals which called her house and the surrounding lands home. Greeting her pet bunny Angel she went outside and fed the birds who were sitting calmly outside their small birdhouses. The yellow pegasus continued with her routine, greeting the animals and feeding them, and by the time she had finished the sun had properly risen to near midday. As she was about to lay down and rest a little she became slightly startled upon hearing loud trotting coming towards her, though she quickly calmed down when she noticed it was Rarity. She looked as the white-coated unicorn slowed down and walked over to her. "Oh hello, Rarity," Fluttershy spoke calmly and quietly. "Hello there, darling, I hope I'm not bothering you." Rarity greeted Fluttershy, speaking in her usual elegant manner. "Oh no, not at all, I was just about to rest anyway." The pegasus responded, looking up at Rarity, who now stood in front of her. "I see. Well, I only came down to tell you that Twilight is coming back from Canterlot today." Rarity said. "That's wonderful, I can't wait to see her again, but why did she leave for Canterlot in such a hurry in the first place?" Fluttershy rejoiced with the news, but at the same time still confused as Twilight had to suddenly leave two days ago, taking the night train to Canterlot, she didn't have time to tell her friends why she had gotten an urgent letter from Luna and Celestia which requested her presence in Canterlot on such short notice, though all of this would hopefully be explained today she hoped. There was also the lunch at Applejack's which she had missed, Antoine and Timothy had been in attendance as they had promised. "I still haven't put my hoof on it, but it was after that loud noise during the night, whatever that was ruined my beauty sleep." Rarity said. Suddenly, just as Fluttershy was about to speak a rainbow-coloured streak appeared in front of both and spun around, both were startled and both mares screamed quietly, though they quickly calmed down upon realising it was their friend, and Ponyville's best prankster Rainbow Dash who had shown up. "Rainbow Dash!" Rarity spoke out loudly in a condemning voice. "What?" She spoke out innocently, then laughing lightly. Fluttershy couldn't help her self but giggle a little from what just happened, and when Rarity noticed both mares in front of her were now finding this situation amusing she rolled her eyes and smiled towards the end. "So what were you two talking about?" Rainbow asked. "Oh about that night." Rarity said, vaguely, however, the cyan-coated mare understood what she meant. "I heard some guards overtalk that in Cloudsdale yesterday," Rainbow said. Fluttershy looked up at the pegasus mare, who was using her wings to hover slightly above the ground. "What did they say?" She asked quietly. "Some tussle in the castle, one or two were hurt I think." She said, sounding unsure towards at the end. "Oh my, that sounds horrible." Rarity said, shocked, she expected the castle of Canterlot to be the last place in Equestria where a small skirmish would break loose. Fluttershy remained quiet. "Yeah, well, things happen I guess. Anyway when's Twilight back?" Rainbow Dash asked, changing from one mood to another just as fast as she flies. "It's not too long from now I presume." Rarity said once more, and right she was as directly after the loud whistle from the Friendship Express was heard in the distance, indicating the train would pull into the Ponyville station at any moment. "That's our cue!" Rainbow Dash said and disappeared from view just as fast as she had arrived. Árborg Muncipality, Iceland Úlrik and Arnaud drove through the Icelandic countryside, passing by several farms and minuscule farming towns. Driving on the mini highway their destination was the town of Selfoss, which was the closest large settlement to the first airfield they'd be visiting. As they drove, however, a question arose in the head of Úlrik. "Are you sure what we're doing is completely legal?" He asked, keeping his attention on the road. Arnaud chuckled. "Well uh, I haven't had the time to contact my attorney but it should be." He said. "Well, that's reassuring" Úlrik answered sarcastically. Arnaud looked over to his right, seeing flatlands, to his left a quarry. "No, but I did some digging on my own, and since you work for the Icelandic aviation authority you have the right to do so." Úlrik awaited to answer, as he carefully navigated his way through a roundabout and into the correct lane. "Uh-huh, and what about you?" "As far as the law is concerned I am simply your assistant." He said to conclude the conversation, as the pick-up truck now entered the town of Selfoss There was a second roundabout, and Úlrik took the second exit, driving now east he continued and near the outskirts of the town passed through yet another roundabout before continuing straight. At the intersection up ahead he turned left and drove on a small concrete road for five kilometres before once again turning left, this time onto a dirt road. In front of them laid a small airfield, with a somewhat large runway, one medium-sized hangar made of steel and some wooden huts, there was a fuel tank adjacent to the hangar. The runway was made out of the dirt as well, and lacked any illumination, as a matter of fact, there was no sign of any illumination anywhere, which rendered the airfield useless during the night. "Well, here we are." The Frenchman said. Úlrik parked his truck next to the hangar, and both stepped out onto the rough dirt below. They both walked onto the runway, standing not too close to the middle, but just far out enough to see all the buildings. "The hangar looks relatively brand new, but where's all the other more necessary infrastructure?" Úlrik wondered out loud. He couldn't exactly put his finger on it, however. "Your guess is as good as mine," Arnaud said. They both walked over to the hangar, the main doors being shut, however the access door on the side being ajar. Naturally, their curiosity got the better of them as both entered the steel hangar. Arnaud located the light switch and flipped it, within seconds the entire hangar was lit up with a bright white light. A bit too bright perhaps. However, what surprised them the most was that despite the closed hangar doors there was no plane inside. "Well, that's peculiar," Arnaud said. "You're right, brand new shiny hangar but no plane," Úlrik added. Arnaud chuckled, looking over to Úlrik. "That too, but I was more referencing those tables and boards over there." He said as he pointed his arm out. What both of them saw looked like something straight out of a typical 1960's detective movie with large investigative boards. All that was missing was a detective in a khaki trench coat and a fedora, smoking a pipe. They naturally, both walked over, and the contents of the board surprised them even further. In the centre, there was a large map of Iceland's south-western coast. The airfield was clearly marked with a large red dot, and so was Keflavik Airport with the same. There was also a continuous dotted line that started at the bottom of the map at an angle and went all the way to Keflavik. However, what shocked Úlrik the most was that on said line there was a small green dot, which happened to be nearly the exact same location where a week prior, Álfur had marked the estimated site of disappearance. "What's up?" Arnaud asked, noticing the shock on Úlrik. "See that dot on the line?" The Icelander said as Arnaud nodded. "Yeah, well, that's nearly the exact same place where Álfur marked the estimated disappearance of GBE." "You mean to tell me someone nicked the map from your office and took it to here?" Arnaud said once more. "Nono, our map is much fancier than this one," Úlrik said, both chuckled slightly before resuming. "Well, I'm all for creepy coincidences but let's check some other stuff in the hangar, I wouldn't really want to be caught snooping around here you know." The Frenchman voiced his concern, as he walked away from the board which featured a map and went over to one of the corners where there were all sorts of things scattered. "I wouldn't worry, this airfield is what we'd call a paper airfield," Úlrik said, referring to a term that was used by his colleagues and himself. "A what now?" Arnaud asked. "As in the airfield only exists on paper, but in actuality is pretty much abandoned, though that wouldn't really explain the hangar I guess." Arnaud acknowledged what Úlrik said, it did indeed seem to match the description of only existing on paper, though as he said, it wouldn't explain the hangar. Regardless if the airfield was abandoned or not, it didn't matter much, right now they had enough proof to say this airfield was suspicious enough o consider related, after all, it had a map that showed a loosely drawn flight and a dot on the map which nearly matched the same one at the Icelandic investigation's warehouse. The rest of the search was mostly uneventful, they had still found some interesting things, however. A mirror covered in a piece of cloth and a machine which looked suspiciously off, there were also some empty boxes which had traces of some rocks as shown by small pieces, but both assumed it was for the most part junk which the owner, assuming there was one just dropped in the hangar as temporary storage. There also was spare parts which belonged to a Cessna-172 and a lot of jerry cans, some empty, some filled with aviation fuel. An hour went by, and by now both decided that they'd revisit this airfield some other time, but now awaited another one in the area. They both walked back to the truck and drove off, away from the airfield. Ponyville, Equestria The train ride to Ponyville had been the opposite of quiet. Twilight, who would be accompanying Connor had been asking a lot of questions during the trip. Connor, naturally, answered them all, but at the same time also took his time to admire the landscape of what was to be perhaps his new home. It was his first time seeing it during daylight, and it looked even better than when he first saw it from the cockpit of his jet or after he had landed in the royal garden. Twilight's questions were for the most part rather specific as if she already knew about the basic things on Earth. How she knew came naturally as strange to the naval aviator. However, after probably over a hundred questions and several pages in Twilight's books later, the train had arrived and both disembarked onto the small wooden station. The platform was empty, no welcome party or anything, not that either of them was expecting one. However, the moment they left the station building and began walking away from it, they were interrupted with a winged pony landing right next to them, sliding a little as she braked using her hooves. "Hey, Twilight!" She said loudly as she was suddenly joined by two more ponies, a white-coated one and a yellow-coated one. "Oh, Twilight, what happened in Canterlot?" The white-coated unicorn spoke. Twilight Sparkle giggled, she expected them to have seen the tall human male next to her, but the fact they didn't make it even more perfect for her. "Girls, meet Connor!" "Another human?" Fluttershy asked in her usual quiet way. "Wait, so he's the reason you had to leave for Canterlot?" Rainbow Dash asked at the same time. Twilight smiled casually, and nodded with her eyes closed, answering both questions at once. Rainbow Dash smirked, as she took off and hovered slightly above the ground, moving over to Connor she poked him in the chest. "So you're another flyboy are you not?" She asked. "If that's what you call a naval aviator, then yes," Connor said, looking at the rainbow-maned mare in the eyes. "Wait, what's a naval aviator?" She asked, confused. Antoine and Timothy had always said pilot to describe the job, rather than aviator or some other fancy words. Just as Connor was about to inform Rainbow Dash, Twilight took out one of many books inside her saddlebags and quickly flipped through the pages where she had noted down what Connor said earlier in the train. She cleared her throat just as Connor was about to begin speaking. "A naval aviator is a commissioned position in the navy, somepony who is qualified to operate military aircraft that launch and operate from Aircraft carriers." Fluttershy and Rarity were confused by the description, the only thing they understood was just how complex the world of humans seemed. Though Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, felt otherwise. "That sounds so AWESOME!" Both Rarity and Fluttershy giggled at the reaction of Rainbow Dash, with Twilight Sparkle herself joining in. Connor was amused, however not in the mood for giggles and chuckles. Some minutes went by, and by the end of the introductions, they resumed walking towards the cafe, with Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash now joining them. The Ponyville cafe was rather quiet for the current time of day. Antoine was used to seeing the town cafe's usually busy during midday when everyone had their lunch or a small snack before resuming work. However, that was not the case in Equestria, or Ponyville at least. Both the pilots were seated at a large table, still waiting for Twilight to arrive. A waitress walked over, with two glasses of water, the waitress was a unicorn and was pink-coated with a yellow and purple mane. She used her magic to levitate the two glasses and bring them onto the table. "Thank you, darling." Timothy thanked the waitress, who smiled. "Say, do we pay now or at the end?" He added. "At the end." She answered, smiling once again and leaving. "It's always at the end, Tim." Antoine chuckled as he reaffirmed what the waitress said. "Not in England, at least not in the pubs." He exclaimed a bit loudly as he took a small sip of water from the glass. "Anyway, who are we meeting again?" "I don't know, she was vague in her letter," Antoine said, and just at that moment both of them could see the easily recognizable purple unicorn slowly make her way towards the restaurant. Accompanying her were 3 other ponies, whom the pair also recognized rapidly. Them being Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. However, there was one more being with them, who neither of them had seen before. "Is that?" Antoine started. But before he could finish the group had already arrived. "Yes!" Twilight exclaimed happily, sitting down and already taking out quills and books for notetaking. The rest sat down as well. Connor was still standing, however. Still examining the situation. He sighed and sat down. "Please tell me you both speak English." "Well, I don't think we'd be here if we didn't." Timothy pointed out in his relaxed British accent, referencing to the fact pilots were required to have an understanding of English. Connor was served water with the waitress coming back, the same with the four mares. "Right, let's get introductions out the way, I'm Connor. You two?" "I'm Antoine, and he's Timothy." "Tim works just fine," Timothy said, as Connor nodded. An awkward silence followed, at least in the thoughts of Twilight. Timothy and Antoine waited for the American to ask a question, or say something, but he sat there and looked as if he was suddenly in deep thought. Rainbow Dash nearly fell asleep at the sight, while Rarity and Fluttershy patiently waited. "Wait. Aren't you two the pilots of Gol.." Connor stuttered at the end. "That's us, yes." Antoine pointed out, and Connor was once again back in deep thought. He sat there as if his brain had just imploded, though come to think of it, it probably had imploded. Timothy was seen with a slightly smug smile while chuckling quietly. Antoine on the other hand was seen with a more neutral, serious expression. Minutes went by, and the awkward silence returned as Twilight Sparkle was slightly frustrated at the fact there was nothing to note down except the silence. That was until Spike was seen running towards her, shouting for her attention. "Twilight!" The mares quickly switched their attention, while the two pilots were still focused on Connor, who seemed to be in his own world at this point. Timothy, however, paid small attention towards Spike. "What is it, Spike?" Twilight asked the baby dragon, who stopped next to Rarity and panted. "Le-lett, letter fr-from C-c-celstia!" He continued catching his breath, as he drew out his arm with a letter in his claw. Twilight, immediately taking it with her magic and quickly reading it. "Spike, let's go!" The purple mare said as she suddenly disappeared from view using a simple teleportation spell to bring her to the library. "I-i'll come later..." He said as he plopped himself down onto the soft grass. "Poor Spikey-wikey" Rarity exclaimed, just as Twilight returned with the teleportation spell and smiled awkwardly, taking Spike with her magic and teleporting back to the library. "Well girls, I think that's our cue as well." Rarity said as she made her way towards the library, quickly followed by Fluttershy while Rainbow Dash went to get Pinkie Pie and Applejack. The Main 6 was assembled in Twilight's home. Though the three humans, Antoine, Timothy and Connor walked on a promenade through the town, giving the American naval aviator a tour of the town, mostly just telling him where the more important and significant buildings were located. They were currently walking past Sugarcube Corner. "This is the main bakery here in Ponyville," Timothy said. "Which also happens to be Antoine's favourite place." He added, referring to the Frenchman's fondness of baked foods, sweet or not. "Hey!" Antoine protested, and Timothy grinned in a way that made him look smug. The tour of the town went on, and towards the end, just when they were approaching the train station a loud yell was heard. "JUST A TEST?". Shortly after, the home of Twilight Sparkle was seen being launched up into the sky and back onto the ground. "Sounds like someone is having a rough day." The American stated, with the two pilots next to him chuckling at that comedic comment. "Well, she's unpredictable sometimes," Antoine said. "Just like you," Timothy commented with a wide smug smile seen on him. Antoine rolled his eyes and waved his arm towards both to continue towards the train station, where the tour was to conclude. It had been a relatively long day for everyone, especially Connor. The conclusion of the tour was a relief for his legs who by now were starting to hurt, it didn't help either by the fact he hadn't showered or had any time for relaxation apart from the hospital bed. The next few days though would prove to be interesting, not just for the main six, but also the investigation team back on Earth. > Chapter 9 | Echoes of the Past > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 358 hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Outskirts of the Crystal Empire The Friendship Express moved at slow speeds, combatting the harsh winds outside. The train, which wasn't built at all with speed in mind, nevermind anything to counter air resistance was pushing on hard. While the outside was inhospitable with below-freezing temperatures, the inside was the complete opposite, warm and comfortable. The train was only a couple of minutes away from its final destination, as the Main 6 were made aware by the conductor "Next stop, Crystal Empire!" The ride had been relatively smooth for the group of mares, who had spent their time onboard mostly talking. Twilight had naturally briefed her friends on what her mentor, Princess Celestia told her in the throne room. Though while the mission was at hand, some ponies couldn't help themselves but still talk about humans, as if the topic always made the headlines in the papers. "Ah don't trust that new guy, he attacked two guards ya' know." Applejack stated her point. "Oh darling, calm down, he simply misunderstood what they were trying to do." Rarity replied almost immediately, defining the relatively young naval aviator. "I get that Rare, but he nearly killed a guard!" The orange-coated mare snapped immediately back at Rarity. "He was stressed out, he wasn't himself that night. I happen to know that you can make poor decisions when stressed, not that I speak from experience, of course, though perhaps you do, darling?" Applejack was visibly annoyed and angry by this point. Though she calmed herself down, realising what Rarity said made sense. She sighed, looking out the window she could barely see the tall structure that was the Crystal Empire's very own castle. Closing her eyes she breathed in and exhaled. "Ah' guess you're correct Rarety." "Girls, the most important is the fact that he recognized what he did was wrong, besides, the guard is fine, they're friends now as a matter of fact," Twilight spoke in a calming voice, she herself had overseen the man's recovery and knew a lot about him to make a proper conclusion on the situation that happened that night. "I still can't believe it happened." Fluttershy voiced her opinion on the whole situation, truth be told most ponies in the train cart also had trouble believing it had happened. The last minutes of the train ride to the frozen north was calm and quiet, though just when the train pulled in did the chatter resume. The train stopped, and the doors opened as all mares stepped out, Rarity being seen with a scarf while Spike struggled to carry a bag full of them. Twilight Sparkle still felt uneasy, naturally, she'd have preferred a written exam or an oral one, however, that was not the case today, and it wouldn't be for a very long time. Ponyville, Equestria The sun came down, and in its place, the moon rose. The night was still young, the stars were shining bright and the breeze was relatively chilly though the temperature all around still warm. The town was relatively quiet, as Antoine sat on the porch of the house he shared along with Timothy and now Connor. In front of him laid a small table. He was wearing the same clothing from yesterday, not having even bothered changing. In his hands was an already lit cigarette. The cigarette burned slowly, as nearly invisible smoke was seen rising into the air. The night was peaceful, and the Frenchman enjoyed just how quiet the night was. Since arriving in Equestria two weeks ago he had barely had any time for himself. Now, however, was his time of peace and tranquillity. The only thing that seemed to disturb him was the crickets that could be heard, however, that just like surroundings near him became obsolete as he kept on smoking. The cigarette had burnt through completely, as Antoine properly discarded it in a makeshift ashtray. Just as he went to light a second one, the door to the house opened slowly. Antoine naturally expected Timothy but was surprised to hear the American accent of Connor. "Hey, Antoine." The Frenchman lit the cigarette and smoked a little. "Yes?" "You've probably already talked this through with your pal Timmy, though, I'm curious. Do you two even miss Earth, I mean, you two seemed way too over the moon yesterday." Connor voiced his concern, as he sat down on a different chair on the other side of the porch. "I don't know." Antoine paused. "At this point, I honestly know nothing." He grinned, looking at the pack of cigarette which he had opened earlier. "I was supposed to quit smoking, my Doctor back in France told me if I continued I'd get cancer, and I did as he told, for nearly a year I abstained from the devil's rolled tobacco." He paused, nearly laughing at the whole ridiculousness of the situation. "I guess..." He paused, taking a whiff of the cigarette. "I guess I couldn't help my self. All this, equestrian magic and disappearance." Small tears were seen rolling down his cheeks now, though barely visible. Connor approached his chair to Antoine and looked him straight in the eyes. "Look, Antoine. I know I haven't even been here for a week yet. But look, right now you're submitting yourself to further tragedy if you keep this up. To hell with those thoughts, they don't belong with you." He now stood up and grabbed a hold of the pack of cigarettes, throwing them into a waste bin. Antoine just sat there, quiet. He dropped the cigarette in his hand and Connor quickly stepped on it to prevent a small fire. "I have to tell you something." Antoine suddenly said. 65508 hours before the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Libyan Airspace "Lighting 1-1 to squadron, radio silence with Charles De Gaulle is now in effect," Antoine spoke through the integrated microphone on his helmet. The Squadron of Super Étendard planes, produced by Dassault for the French Navy and Air Force were now entering the Libyan air space. They were part of the NATO strike group operating under UN Resolution 1973 to intervene in the Libyan civil war. Today was a routine strike operation, get in, eliminate the target and get out. Antoine had done this type of operation hundreds of times before, thought today would be his first time leading one. Flying under the callsign of Lightning 1-1, the squadron consisted of 3 other planes of the same type. The ageing Dassault plane had already commenced its retirement process, and the young French pilot was impatiently waiting for the replacements. The squadron had taken off from the French carrier Charles De Gaulle only 45 minutes prior. Their target today was a military convoy consisting of armoured vehicles mostly heading to reinforce the city of Sabha. Their mission was simple, eliminate the convoy or at least render it useless. "Lighting 1-3, 1-1, I've got the convoy on the radar." The pilot of another Étendard spoke. "Lighting 1-1, 1-3, understood." He paused. "All planes, arm your weapons, we're going in hot shortly." Cruising rapidly at 800 km/h, the convoy was now in their sights, as Antoine gave the order for the squadron to attack. Though at that moment, an alarm rang in his cockpit. Short but loud beeps were heard, as the words 'LOCK' were seen in his interface. Not long after, the beeps changed into one loud alarm. He immediately began with evasive manoeuvres. A surface to air missile had been launched, and it was approaching rapidly. His flares were fired in an attempt for the missile to lose its target on his plane. A short sound was heard in the cockpit, the flares had successfully deployed and the missile lost its track of his plane. "Lighting 1-1 to squadron, how copy?" Static followed. Antoine repeated himself, but static followed once again. He double-checked his frequency, though found nothing wrong there. He then checked his radar but saw only himself on it, no other planes. He looked around to his surrounding, and he recognized the Libyan desert. Not only that, but he saw the convoy as well, and there wasn't single damage that had been inflicted to it. He began slightly sweating now as his mind was trying to understand what happened. "Lighting 1-1 is anyone here?!" More silence followed, Antoine was dumbstruck as to what had happened, though his worries calmed down slightly, as a sudden and somewhat familiar sound was heard. It sounded just like the flare deployment sound, followed by the end of the missile lock alarm. "Lightning 1-4, 1-1, I read you." The voice spoke unusually calmly. Antoine quickly identified the voice as that of Augustin, one of the pilots in his squadron. "Oh thank god you're here Augustin. Where are the others?" Antoine wasted no time trying to figure out what happened, they still had a mission to complete, but first, he would need to reorganise the squadron. "Antoine, I'm sorry to say but, Ibrahim and Pierre have bit the dust," Augustin informed his squadron leader in a slow, neutral-pitched voice. Antoine blinked twice rapidly, his hand hovering on the mic switch, however, he didn't speak. His hand now twitched rapidly as it moved back to the throttle control, slowly, he increased speed. Thoughts ran through his head rapidly. The images of Ibrahim and Pierre showed up repeatedly in his head, just before the mission, the two were smiling and excited, now, unfortunately, there was no more. The last words from Ibrahim echoed through his head, Lighting 1-3, 1-1, I've got the convoy on the radar. "Lighting 1-4, 1-1, Antoine, are you alright?" Antoine looked simply at the interface now, his speed was increasing, and so was his attitude. He wasn't even thinking anymore, his mind was dull as dishwater. So much so that he hadn't even heard Augustin speaking to him. He was quickly awoken however by the over speed alarm, instinctively he lowered the throttle. "Augustin, I'm aborting the mission, return to the Charles De Gaulle, I'll contact them shortly," Antoine spoke rapidly, with a saddened tone sounding clear in his voice to Augustin who complied with the order, the two planes resumed formation back to the French aircraft carrier. "I'm sorry to hear that," Connor spoke slowly, patting the Frenchman's back. "The navy told me afterwards that it wasn't my fault, I couldn't have known they had SAM launchers. I was responsible for the two, and I failed, I just couldn't take it." Antoine slammed his fist onto the table. He stood up just afterwards and looked up to the moon, he blinked rapidly and struggled to get the words to leave his mouth. "Every night I think of the two, I-i-i" He abruptly stopped towards the end, not capable of finishing the sentence. "Ease up, sit down." Connor motioned and made sure Antoine sat down gently. "I've dealt with loss as well, we all do it, it's what we signed up for, I too, have lost some good friends over the year, but it doesn't help to constantly grieve the losses, we have to move on eventually. Some take longer, yes, that's true, but holding onto those thoughts will only result in even more denial. You speak about having been on the road to recovery from nicotine yet here you were smoking just earlier to ease up the pain. It doesn't work like that." Connor took a deep breath, Antoine was listening to the American. "Look," He paused, grabbing a chair and placing it in front of Antoine, then sitting down. "Antoine, I've only been here for so short, yet, I've already learnt something from this world that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, regardless if we return to earth or not. You wanna know what that is?" Antoine nodded his head slowly. "That Twilight mare, you know, she's not just a talented unicorn or a know-it-all person, rather, she's become an expert in one field in particular, and that is friendship. You probably haven't had the chance to talk with her in-depth, but trust me, I can tell you're missing it. Up to this point, you've only been relying on your pal Timothy to get you through this mess, but that doesn't work like that under these circumstances. He understands it as well, I've seen him be more interactive with the ponies than you, and yeah, granted, as I said, I've only been here one or two days, but to me, it's clear as crystal." "Our brains are complex, too much or too little of everything will make it go upside down, but I already feel at ease, simply over the fact that I know there are good people in this world I can rely on, human and pony. I trust you will be able to see that too soon." He finished, once again taking a slow but deep breath with his eyes closed. Antoine sat quiet, his arms were crossed as he sat in a relaxed pose. His head was pointed upwards, then slowly he lowered it towards Connor, facing him. "I guess I never really thought about it... I did try, I spoke to Applejack a few times, and and, Twilight to-" He stopped himself once more, once more he found himself deep in thought. "Ah for godsakes, you're right. I've been too damn shy since coming here, I-yeah, I've been too reliant on Tim, I admit it." He raised his voice dramatically, though still made the effort to not be too loud. "I've been avoiding talking too much. I didn't want to get too attached to this world since I was hoping to still return, but looking at that possibility now, god knows if my family thinks I'm dead or alive." Connor nodded, smirking slightly. "How'd that feel?" "Taking all that off my chest, honestly, never felt better," Antoine responded, and so he smiled, standing up he shook Connor's hand and tapped his shoulder once. The two re-entered the small house and by now, the young night was no longer as bright. The two went to sleep in peace, both confident for the future regardless of the uncertainty that would follow. Westmann Islands, Iceland A lot of people in the world, including experts in air crash investigations deem this case to be a repeat of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, and a waste of resources to investigate it, therefore, especially when the international cooperation at the moment is nearly greater than that of MH370, do you feel that those critics bear with them the truth in their criticising comments? A reporter from FOX News asked the investigation panel at the conference calmly and neutrally while others from their respective networks including most major sources, though also more minor ones calmly awaited their turn. "In my experience with investigating aeroplanes, whether it be from human error or mechanical, I have learnt that there is no such thing as the same case twice. Each case is different, and GBE to MH370 is no exception to this. There are interesting details that have emerged, though I can not disclose what that is at the moment." Álfur's voice echoed through the conference room, as Álfur himself now grabbed the TV remote and lowered the volume of his television which was showing a replay of the conference. The investigative veteran found himself in his summer home on the islands, having just returned from the capital he was eager to resume work tomorrow on the case. Suddenly, however, his phone vibrated before the familiar tune of an incoming call was heard. He picked up the phone and saw it was Laufar calling him. He swiped up. "Hey there, Álfur!" His supervisor greeted him with an energetic voice. "Hello, Laufar." Álfur greeted back, with less energy. "I just finished speaking to uh, someone of uh, high-ranking, there's been something interesting that has happened not too long ago." Laufar went straight to the point, just like Álfur liked it. "Who's this 'someone' you speak of?" He asked. "Oh uh, hold on let me..." The sound of pages being turned rapidly were heard on the other end, as Álfur waited patiently he once again took the TV remote and this time completely muted the television. "Ah here we go. Uh, Vice Admiral Omar Hopkins, from the American navy" Álfur waited once more for Laufar to continue, as did he checked the time on his watch, it was 9 PM. "Right then. One of their planes went missing a few days ago, they haven't found it. It-um disappeared not far from your estimated location." The Icelander shook his head rapidly. "You mean to tell me there's been another plane missing for a few days and I am now only being told?" His voice was almost raging. "Relax, relax, I'm only telling you this now because you know how military things work, classified that and classified this, redact this and that, I only got the censored version of their incident report an hour ago, hell I haven't even finished reading through it." More sound of pages being turned could be heard. "Well, alright then. Send me over what you can, I'll process it tomorrow." Álfur submitted to cooler thoughts as his temporary anger vanished. "There'll be no investigation on that incident, Álfur, I'm simply calling you to inform so you're well, informed. The American Navy will be investigating this incident themselves, it's up to them if they wish to share anything. I'll do my best to still give you all the information I can however at the moment the best I can do is the report itself, expect it in your emails tomorrow." Álfur sighed, at least the work burden would be lighter, not that it mattered much right now anyway. Everybody was working nearly overtime. Björn especially, who, being the rookie naturally wished to put on a good impression on his first case. The rest of the phone call was mostly about how the investigation was going and towards the end, Álfur wished his friend back in Reykjavik well as the man on the other side of the phone did the same. The phonecall had lasted for forty-five minutes, and at the end, the Icelander was too tired to even get out of his formal black suit and tie, he kicked his shoes off as he picked up the TV remote again and switched the volume back on, the press conference was still playing as now a journalist from a smaller network began questioning. "Mr Sigurðsson, switching topics from the connections between GBE and MH370, there have been rumours that the aircraft never crashed, but rather vanished from Earth. What are your thoughts on those theories?" "Once again, in my experience, it is quite common for people to start trying to figure things out themselves when there is a lack of information, some do it for pure amusement while others do with a mission to spread misinformation. Regardless of their motives, I can say that I and my investigation team are prepared to turn over every rock, but a line has to be drawn between fact and fiction." Álfur was seen taking a short break by drinking from a water bottle before resuming. "As I said earlier, interesting things that are unexplainable at the moment have shown up, though that is only natural, everything has an explanation behind it, and we intend to find the reason why this plane went down, or as you referred, vanish." The journalist nodded, and Álfur took one more sip of water as the lead investigator from the United Kingdom checked his watch. "Right, I'm sorry to say ladies and gentlemen however that is all the time we could allocate to this conference, there'll be another one next month where we will share additional details. Thank you and have a pleasant continuous day." He wished them well, as now the three lead investigators stood up from their chairs and left the conference room. Álfur grabbed his remote once more, turning off the television. The screen now being pitch-black as he laid himself down upon the couch. The investigation had surprisingly actually been a lot more successful so far than Álfur had imagined. Small bits of wreckage that belonged to GBE had been found, though the question from the journalist at the end continued echoing through his mind. ...there have been rumours that the aircraft never crashed, but rather vanished from Earth. Throughout the entire day since the conference there was no shaking it away from his head, it bothered him while leaving Reykjavik, on the ride to the airport, on the charter plane and while walking back to his summer home. The truth was he had given thought about it before the conference. Several things in the investigation didn't still make any sense to him. If wreckage had been found so early on then why wasn't the entire plane found or any trace of the recorders? And if indeed the aircraft had vanished from Earth, then what are pieces from the hull doing in the Atlantic ocean? Álfur was bothered with these thoughts as he slept through the night. Úlrik had yet to still send an update of sorts informing of his findings. While he doubted there'd be any he still couldn't shake the feeling maybe there was something. Was an other-worldly creature involved? Aliens and UFOs? Or was it just the work of God himself? "I sometimes wonder on whose side God is." He muttered to himself before falling asleep. > Chapter 10 | The Morality > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 382 hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Westmann Islands, Iceland "Rain and rain and rain, will it ever stop?" Álfur watched as heavy rainfall poured down upon the streets outside of the warehouse. Being in the office part of it he turned around seeing Björn asleep on a desk, Ebba was nowhere to be seen. He checked his watch and it read precisely 7 AM. He sighed and slowly walked over to the desk which contained his personal laptop and some printed out documents that Laufar had sent him. As he walked he noticed Ulrik was hard at work. The man had returned just this morning and already explained what he and his friend Arnaud discovered on their excursion. All of it was interesting naturally, too much, however. There now was the probability that the disappearance was criminal, which made this case even more complex. At first, it was only the four teams from each country or company in Airbus' case, then the U.S Navy and now the Icelandic Police as well as Interpol. He smiled at the entire stupidity of the situation, one moment they were getting slow but interesting progress and the next they find themselves in an international mess with the Americans and the rest of Europe involved. What he originally thought would be a two-week-long investigation to just determine the plane crashed without a trace had become such a twist that it seemed unbelievable. He checked his emails rapidly, before looking at Ulrik quickly. He was seen with a phone in his hand now, spinning around in his chair slowly and casually as he spoke to somebody on the other side. Björn on the other hand was still seen sleeping. His arms in a relaxed position spread across the desk and his head in the middle. Álfur shook his head as he smiled lightly. He now walked towards the most important and holiest item in the room, the coffee machine. Switching it on he grabbed two empty mugs and selected regular Latte coffee, as the two coffees brewed Ulrik walked over to Álfur rapidly with a piece of paper that fresh from the printing machine. "Bad news." He said, giving the document to Álfur. "Look Ulrik, my week has been full of bad news this entire week, better not be to-" He stopped suddenly as he began reading the document. North Atlantic Ocean USS Dwight D. Eisenhower The rain retreated as the sun began now shining brightly. Vice Admiral Omar Hopkins took off his jacket and hat as he entered the bridge of his aircraft carrier, the mighty Ike. A sailor rapidly noticed the presence of the Admiral, standing at attention he shouted. "ADMIRAL ON DECK!" The rest of the sailors in the bridge stood at attention, as Omar Hopkins gave the order to be at ease and return to duties. He walked over to one of the many windows on the bridge, grabbing a pair of binoculars he looked out the neverending horizon of the sea. His attention was quickly disturbed however as the horn of a ship was heard loudly. "Who the hell-" The admiral cut himself off as he rapidly navigated his way through the bridge to a side entrance that led out on a small balcony with a non-obstructed view of the surroundings. He once again brought the binoculars up to his eyes and looked for the source of the horn, just when he located it a sailor came up to him. "The hell is that ship doing in our zone?" The Vice-Admiral demanded answers. "That should be the HMS Echo, a survey ship, sir. I believe it's taking final measurements before heading back to the UK." "Final measurements, the hell you mean?" "Haven't you heard, sir?" The sailor shifted his head towards the Vice-Admiral. Omar shook his head, allowing the sailor to continue. "The UK is pulling all of it's naval contribution to the investigation away due to the current recession in Europe." Omar Hopkins gave no reaction, rather he went back inside the bridge to coordinate the upcoming aerial exercise and patrol that the carrier's air wings were going to participate in. The sailor that stood with the Vice-Admiral reentered as well, going back to his task of manning the radar. The HMS Echo, on the other hand, joined formation with the fleet briefly just to announce it's presence as it later went off on its own to collect data nearby. 406 hours after the disappearance of Golf Echo Bravo Canterlot, Equestria The elegant halls of the royal castle in Canterlot were brightly lit up. The checkered white and purple floors were slightly covered by red carpets. The Princess of the Night, the stars and the moon had recently finished assisting her elder sister with the lowering of the sun and the raising of the moon and stars. The night brought a sense of relaxing serenity as the busy and bustling capital of Equestria was slowly brought to a halt for the hours of peaceful darkness. Yet, not everything was quiet during the night, namely, the castle itself. There was always activity inside and outside around it, never did it rest, not even during the weekends or the holidays. There was always guarding to be done and trouble to be found, especially since the latest incident. Security had naturally been temporarily increased and every hallway had at least one guardspony monitoring it. The hallway that Princess Luna walked through was no exception as she made notice of Lieutenant Lightning Strike, formerly a non-commissioned officer holding the rank of Sergeant, now a recently promoted commissioned officer. Though the promotion sure brought joy to the veteran stallion, it also brought more work to him, which was one of the reasons he had refused to enrol into OCS in the past. Earlier he had only been responsible for a small pegasi unit, now suddenly he was in charge of the second pegasi platoon of the Canterlot Garrison, which was made up of several other platoons and smaller units. The Lieutenant bowed down to greet the Princess, and then rose back up as she greeted him back. "Lighting, I have another favour to ask of you." The Princess began, with the guardspony listening attentively. "There is no such thing as favours, Princess. I will do anything you ask of me, such is my duty." He responded, giving out a clear and formal answer. It almost sounded as if he had rehearsed that specific line several times in the past. Luna gave out an awkward smirk at the response, though she rather quickly regained her serious attitude from earlier. "Remember when I asked for a report on the two humans in Ponyville?" Lightning Strike nodded slowly once. "I need thou to do the same thing, again." She said, but quickly resuming. "Except this time only on Connor. I am confident Antoine and Timothy are safe. But the new one, I feel as if he's unpredictable. Regardless. We can never be too sure." She said with numerous short breaks in between, but finishing in the end. The recently promoted Lieutenant nodded in acknowledgement with his eyes closed, reopening them at the end. "And, how long do you wish them to inspect him?" "A week will do. Just like last time. I want somepony else to perform it this however, somepony that's more... experienced." She responded, going a little too fast, yet the guard still understood perfectly. The Lieutenant thought for a while, as different names and ranks went through his head in and out rapidly. The ones that had performed the initial short and brief investigation into Antoine, Timothy, and their aircraft had been Private Thunder Arrow and Corporal Dauntless. While the latter was relatively experienced, she made it clear that it had to someone else. Someone not just experienced, but with seniority. "I believe Sergeant Valiant Justice is available, he just returned from Manehattan after that liaison task of his." Lighting Strike said, referring to the fact that the Sergeant had briefly been with the Manehattan Police Department as a sign of cooperation and friendship between the Royal Guards, more or less, however, the armed forces in general and the local departments. Princess Luna smiled and nodded, affirming the selection of the Lieutenant, and with that, he saluted, making his way to where the Sergeant would most likely be currently. The Princess watched as the senior guard trotted away, his metallic shoes echoing through the hallway, just as hers did. She resumed her quiet walk through the hallway, staying on the red carpet the noises of her walking were minimised as the soft fabrics dampened the sound. Princess Celestia was always the optimistic one, always seeing possibility where Luna sometimes saw deadends. The same applied to the three humans in Ponyville. The Princess of the Sun was excited about a new chapter in Equestrian history while Luna was paranoid about the potential dangers, and such dangers as she had feared had been fulfilled on that terrible night, unfortunately. She remembered clearly how she was one of the first ponies to arrive. When she did, she saw the orange-coated Sergeant on the floor, still awake though in pain, and the other guard on top of the unconscious human. She had been the one who assisted the guard in bringing the injured pony and human to the sickbay where Artic Aid prioritized the guard due to the nature of his injuries. He had later naturally inspected the human who only had a few bruises on his head. Nothing too severe. Though maybe, as she kept thinking, it wasn't all his fault. He was, naturally feeling under pressure. Could the situation have been approached differently? Maybe. Royal Guards weren't primarily taught in de-escalation, it wasn't their job after all. That was a job for the local law agencies instead. Yet their jurisdiction didn't exist in the castles. Just as she kept thinking about it, she awkwardly bumped into her older sister Celestia. She bounced off her and quickly regained her balance before falling onto the ground. "Oh my, Luna, are you fine?" "My fault entirely, sister. I was lost in my thoughts, you see." She explained her actions, and the taller princess turned around to face her. "What were you thinking about? If I may inquire." "Well. About the new human, I am still concerned." Celestia sighed, "I had a feeling you would be." Princess Luna looked at her curiously. "Really?" She asked. "Why yes, you, after all, doubted the appearance of Antoine and Timothy." She reaffirmed her remark, as she smiled confidently at her younger lunar sister. This time it was Luna who sighed. "That is true. Then again, I've always been the more conservative princess, at least compared to you." "Don't worry, Luna, thy way of thinking and action isn't the only thing conservative about thee," Celestia responded to her own sisterly joke at the end with a giggle and smirk, as the Princess next to her rolled her eyes. "Very funny." She commented annoyingly. Celestia turned back around, facing the large window which she had been doing before Luna bumped into her. Her sister did the same. "See that over there Luna?" She pointed her hoof towards Ponyville, but more specifically, the parked aeroplane in a field not far from the town itself. Luna nodded in acknowledgement. "You see an obstruction. That the humans will only bring trouble. Yet, I see opportunity. While I doubt I'll ever visit their world I can still learn much from them. Did you know in Timothy's country their monarchy is constitutional? I hadn't even heard of that idea before he spoke to me about it when we visited them." She began, breathing in out and slowly before resuming. "And in Antoine's country, they don't even have a monarch, well they did he told me but something happened that changed it. He didn't go into much detail... Regardless, there their head of state is an elected position, isn't that fascinating?" She finished, a wide smile was seen on her face. Knowledge was a passion one of her passions, one that she passed down to all her students in the past, and her current one was even more fascinated by that passion than her. The Princess of the Moon thought a little about it for a while, surrendering to the same passion her older sister and student had in common "It does sound interesting, I admit. And what of this... Connor's country?" Princess Celestia continued looking out the window, though now towards the Ponyville library which was a little hard to see as it was relatively hidden by multiple buildings in its vicinity. "It's the same as Antoine's country if I remember their wordings correctly." Luna nodded once more in acknowledgement. The sisters now shared a short but pleasant silence. Celestia used it to admire the surrounding towns and cities that were lit up by the lights while Luna analysed the recent knowledge. The idea of a different government other than monarchies was something she hadn't thought about in the past. Sure, she had learnt about how some ancient pony civilisations practised democracy, yet it was a flawed version as the history books wrote. Her moment of thought was unfortunately interrupted by her sister as she stretched her hoof out once more to point out something, this time, something not stationary. "It looks like Twilight is returning from the Crystal Empire." What she was pointing out was, in fact, the Friendship Express, the lights at the front locomotive being visible from the castle in the mountain. The train sported four carriages as it was seen racing down the railway tracks that paused briefly in Ponyville, before resuming in two directions, one towards Canterlot and another towards the southern regions. "It seems like it indeed. I take it you're personally excited to hear about her adventure?" Luna asked her older sister. "Of course. I know for a fact she is that much closer to being ready." The Princess said one final time, as she now backed up from the window to face her sister once again. "My dear Luna, I will retire for the night. Don't cause too much trouble now." She said one last time, with another confident smirk at the end as the night princess rolled her eyes once more. She greeted her sister goodnight. She watched her slowly walk away from the hallway towards her own personal room. She sighed to herself and resumed her walk as she shook her head slowly. She walked through several hallways with no particular destination in mind. A lot was on her mind and not enough answers. In the void of it all, confusion flooded, leaving her almost in a state of desperation to find an answer. But, as time went on, all still felt quiet and the same, not in a good way for her. Too much was quiet, and too much was all the same. And it wasn't just since the humans arrived, but before. She could see when things would happen and how. Yet this entire appearance was a surprise to her, an unpleasant one for that fact. What truly was behind it she didn't know. There was no way for any normal unicorn, or any pony, in general, to have caused this. Not without help at least. But help from where the magic of the other species wasn't strong enough. Even alicorn magic could not have caused, not even the combined power of Celestia, Luna and Cadence. Too many questions and too many of them left unanswered.