The Christchurch Rescue
A Saturday in July 3266, Las Vegas, C.T.
Hal Sleet sat in the shade of a large party umbrella, watching the house party going on around him. Among the guests were his friends from Australia: Machspeed, his wife Flashpoint and their daughter Starstruck, Amelia and her husband Sunbeam, along with a few other members of the A.R.R.R.S. Some of the ponies were splashing in the pool, which was the reason for the house party, it having been stamped officially complete less than a week earlier. The sun beat down, the seasonal monsoon taking a break for the next few days.
“Thanks for inviting us up here, Hal,” Machspeed said from the next chair.
“Hey, you’re all friends we don’t get to see often enough. I’m just glad you got the telegram I had sent, letting you know about this. Besides, I figured you would want to see the foal,” Hal replied, looking at where his wife Raven, Flashpoint, and Starstruck were playing in the kiddie pool with Hal’s youngest daughter, Starshine Rainbow, a light gray unicorn filly with Hal’s multi-colored mane and tail.
“You were right in that,” Machspeed said after a slug of his drink. “Besides, it’s been rather slow recently. Not many rescues this past month.”
“The last aerial Return here was last year, right over that way,” Hal said, pointing east and a touch south. “An F-35 Returned over Kingman but ran out of fuel and crashed on the next ridge. The pilot ejected, and I managed to catch him before he slipped out of the seat. Turns out he had met Raven when they were both kids on the reservation, but really didn’t know each other.”
“Fortunate all around. What’s he doing now?” Mach asked.
“He works for Nassie Weather Control full time. This season, he’s a flight leader, or as we call it, a rook. His weather control is pretty damn good, for a second year pegasus.”
“Good to hear. That reminds me- interested in coming down and teaching the pegasi who work for me some more weather control?” Mach asked.
Hal shook his head, his multicolored mane flying about some. “Not during the monsoon. After, I’m sure I can put together a team to come down. Speaking of teams, how many from the California joined your team?”
“Six,” Mac said with a smile. “Three pegasi, two unicorns and an earth pony. They do good work, plus that gift they gave us sure is helping when rescues go lean.”
“I’ll be sure to tell Commander Haugen next time I see him. Ten of them came here a couple months ago, and have settled in. The sub is so many pieces now, they could not be near it.”
“I know that feeling, Hal. That’s what the ones who came to the A triple-R S said to me. Now, how about some food from the grill?”
Hal got up. “Sounds good to me! Come on!” Mach got up as well, and they went to the grill, where Wordy was busy putting food on to cook and taking off food when it was done. Hal built himself a double hayburger while Mach took some grilled corn.
Mach had just taken a bite of the wonderful grilled corn when he felt a ping in his head. That was from a signal device Raven had rigged up on her visit, to allow Mach to be away from the base, but still able to be contacted in case of need. He grimaced at the signal.
“Something wrong with the corn, Mach?” Wordy asked.
“No, just the office calling,” Mach replied, carrying his corn over to the kiddie pool, munching it down. “Flash, something’s going on at the office. I ping just got pinged.”
Flashpoint grimaced as well but got out of the pool and shook herself dry. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, Mach,” she said before vanishing.
“Office calling, Mach?” Raven asked from the pool, steadying Starshine as she splashed about.
“Yeah. Hope it’s not too bad. We’re having fun here,” Mach answered, finishing his corncob.
“Flash was saying it’s been a dull month. Hope everything will be okay,” Raven said as she watched her daughters splashing in the pool, Kaleidoscope being a good big sister to Starshine.
“I hope so too, Raven,” Mach said before heading back to the grill for another chunk of corn. Whatever Wordy spiced the stuff with, he wanted more.
Flash soon reappeared at the party. Quickly, she moved to Mach’s side. “Air New Zealand flight 1618, Christchurch to Sydney, eighty-eight passengers and five crew. The Captain is a griffin. Good thing he had got up a moment before, but he can’t get back behind the seat. Copilot is a pegasus, and while he's calm now, has no coordination yet. Plane was forty minutes out of Christchurch, autopilot has control. Sound the roundup,” she said quietly as Mach had another piece of corn.
“Yes, let’s do this. Crew back at base getting together?” Mach asked.
“By the time we get back, they will be.”
“Okay, then,” Mach said, finishing his piece of corn.“Okay, ponies! Pirates on deck, we got a job! Gather round the gate and don’t be late!” he called out.
All the ARRRS members looked up at the call, made their excuses to whomever they were with, and gathered at the appropriate spot.
Hal came up to the group. “Mind if I tag along? I want to see how a jet rescue is handled.” He asked.
Mach didn’t hesitate. “Go grab your coat, Hal, and stay out of the way while we work. We do owe you a true rescue experience, after the blimp and sub escapades.”
“Sounds good to me!” Hal shouted before heading inside, coming back out half a minute later with his ARRRS jacket. “Raven, you and Wordy handle the party! I’ll be back when I can!”
“You do that, Hal. Otherwise, it’s the skillet for you!” Raven called just before Flashpoint teleported the Australian contingent out.
Ten minutes later, the ARRRS team appeared aboard ANZ flight 1618. Aboard was rather chaotic, with the different passengers, now mostly ponies, with four zebras, three griffons, two thestrals and a yak back in Economy class, trying to get their bodies under control. The team spread out along the craft, working to calm the passengers, while Mach and Amelia headed forward to the cockpit of the Boeing 787. Hal found himself at the front of the cabin, by the doors, where he had a little space to stand out of the way of the chaos.
Right by Hal was an earth pony mare who was almost catatonic in shock, and a little thestral colt, about five or six, who was looking at himself with curiosity mixed with joy. The colt looked up when he felt Hal’s presence. “Do you know what happened, Mister?” the colt asked.
“I do have a good idea, yes. Want to hear?”
“Yeah! I got wings! This is cool! Will I be able to fly with them?”
“I don’t see any reason why not. What’s your name, son?” Hal asked.
“I’m Desmond Jones and that’s my mom. We’re flying to Sydney to see Dad. He works there in Sydney, and once a month we fly out to see him or he comes home for a while,” Desmond said as brightly as a youngster of five or six would say.
“What does your Dad do for a living?” Hal asked, sitting down so he could get on a better level with the colt.
“He fixes computers for a big company. He’s good at it!” Desmond said brightly. “What do you do?”
Hal smiled. “I do a lot of things, Desmond. I have my own radio show five days a week, I help out this bunch of ponies,” he said, tapping the ARRRS badge on his coat. “I’m a Colonel for the Nevada Aeronautical Survey, and I have three little ponies back home in Las Vegas.”
“Las Vegas? How did you get here?” Desmond asked.
Hal pointed with a wing down the aisle. “One of the ponies there, Miss Flashpoint, is a very good teleporter. She and her friends go around rescuing planes like this that appear with all the people aboard changed to ponies. They were at my home having a party with me when they got word of this, and I asked if I could come help them,” he explained as Desmond turned his head to look down the aisle.
Desmond flapped his wings some, or tried to, the seat belt hampering his movements. “Here, let me get this for you,” Hal said, releasing the seat belt buckle with a wing.
Desmond slid out of the seat and onto the floor, falling with a bit of a splat. “How can I get up?” he asked, his legs and wings getting all mangled together.
“Easy, Des. Stop struggling and I’ll get you straightened out.” Hal gently nosed Des around, taking Des' shirt off, getting his legs and wings spread and tucked back in before backing away a step. “Okay, now. Try to stand up. Take it slow and easy, and you’ll get it. One leg at a time.”
With the encouragement, Desmond was soon on his hooves. “Wow…” he breathed, the joy evident on his face. “Look, Mommy! I’m walking on my own! We’re ponies!”
Desmond’s mother just looked at the colt, eyes wide with fright, not recognizing what she was seeing. “Where’s Desmond? Where’s my boy?” she said, voice shaking with fright.
“I’m right here, Mommy!” Des shouted, bouncing up and down in front of her, his shiny deep blue fur catching the light.
“You’re not Desmond! Where’s my Desmond?” the mare cried out, not knowing what she was seeing.
Desmond’s face fell, and he stopped bouncing. “Mommy?” he said in a small voice, eyes going bright with tears. “I’m right here, Mommy.”
Hal put a wing around Desmond’s small body. “Your mommy looks real scared, Des. Maybe she’s so scared about being a pony, she does not know what she is seeing, even though you were right next to her when it happened. Don’t worry, she’ll be all right. Just give her time.”
Desmond clung to Hal, weeping. “Mommy doesn’t know me… I’m scared…”
“I know you’re scared, Desmond. It’s all right to be scared. These ponies will help take care of you and your mommy and will take you to where you can adjust. Everything will be okay. I went through the same thing a few years ago. It’s going to be all right,” Hal said, wrapping his wings and forelegs around the shaking colt.
“Are you sure, Colonel?” Desmond sniffled.
“I’m sure. I don’t make promises I can’t keep. Tell you what- if things get very bad here, you let the ponies that are helping you know that they are to contact me. If necessary, you can stay with me. How old are you, Des?” Hal asked.
“Six.” Des said, the voice muffled because his head was buried in Hal’s jacket.
“I have four-year-old twins, Black Onyx and Kaleidoscope, and a baby girl named Starshine Rainbow. Can you learn to be a big brother, and have Kaleidoscope help you learn to fly?”
“Kaleidoscope can fly?” Des said, pulling his head out of Hal’s Jacket to look him in the eye.
“Yes, she can. She’s a pegasus, like me, and the family next door to us.”
“If you’re a pegasus, then what am I?” Desmond asked, flapping his wings some. “I don’t have feathers, like you do.”
“You, Des, are what is known as a thestral, or bat pony. I have a few thestral friends who can help you a lot on the special things only thestrals can do. I really don’t know much about them, but you can learn. I know it.” Hal said with confidence as the plane banked to the left some before straightening out.
With a soft ‘ding’, the intercom came on. “Hello, passengers! I’m Captain Machspeed, and all is progressing well with the flight. We are still two hours flight time to Sydney, where I can assure you we will be routed in for a direct landing. Upon landing, please set your watches ahead three thousand two hundred sixty-six years, two months and a day or three. The ponies going through the aircraft are here to help you adjust to your new body, your new era, and your new life. Please give them your full attention. Also, the snack and beverage cart will be coming through soon, and don’t worry about the cost. I’m buying!” there was a soft ‘doong’ sound as the intercom was shut off.
“Colonel, can I have a Coke? And, can you show me how to use my hooves?” Des asked.
“Of course, you can, Des. I’ll go get it. You stay here, okay?”
“Yes, Colonel!”
Hal went to get the desired beverage, plus one for himself and some straws, putting them in the pockets of his leather coat. Back at the front of First Class, which fortunately only had a few ponies in it, most of them sleeping, he brought Desmond aside and showed him, going slow and careful, how to open the can and the straw. As they sat and talked, Flashpoint came up to talk with Desmond’s mother, who was still in some sort of shock. After a couple minutes of conversation, Flashpoint went over to Hal and Des. “Hal, can you come with me to the cockpit?” she asked.
“Sure can, Flash. Des, you wait here, okay?”
“Will do, Colonel!”
Flash brought Hal to the cockpit, where Mach and Amelia were handling the plane. The plane’s former captain, who is now a griffin, was crouched to one side, the copilot being passed out on the floor. “We have a bit of a problem here,” she led off with.
“What’s wrong, Flash? Trouble with a passenger?” Amelia asked.
“Yes, and it’s a bad one. We have a first-class passenger who has lost it completely. She has even denied her own child, saying that little monster cannot be her son,” Flash reported sadly.
“How old is the boy, and what did he turn into?” Mach asked.
“He’s six, and a thestral. We’ve been talking through the flight. Good little kid, he is,” Hal told the group.
The plane’s captain spoke up. “Does this sort of thing happen often, Captain Machspeed?”
Mach sighed. “No, Captain Mitchell. It’s very rare, but it does happen. It’s very hard on the child when their own mother does not know them, and about half the time, the mother never will recognize the child, especially when they are of different species. It’s saddening when it does happen.”
“I have a possible solution, if I may,” Hal said.
“What you got in mind, Hal?” Amelia asked.
“I’ll take him home with me and see to his rehabilitation. His mother is turning away, his father is who knows when, and we have been getting along famously since we got here. I’m willing to brave Raven’s ire and skillet to do this. When his mother didn’t recognize him, his face fell and my heart sank. I can’t just leave him here alone.”
Amelia looked at Hal, whose head was hanging down, sniffing a bit. “Hal, you have a good heart and a good family. I’m sure Raven will not mind this at all,” she said to him.
“in fact, I think I should get you two back to Las Vegas as soon as possible. His mother may lose it completely, and Des should not see that. Besides, with everyone there still for the party, him meeting other kids would be of benefit to him,” Flashpoint said to the group.
“Let’s do this, Flash. Sooner started, sooner settled,” Hal said.
“Sooner done, the sooner the lumps on your head will go down, Hal,” Amelia commented.
“I know Raven will pitch a fit about it, but later. At first, and later too, she will welcome Desmond in public, but in private…” Hal shivered, as did the three unicorns. They all knew what Raven’s temper could be like.
“Let’s get going, Hal. I just hope his mother won’t have a loud freak out before we get him out,” Flashpoint said before pausing in thought. “I could teleport the two of you from in here, Des on your back.”
“That could work,” Machspeed said. “What little boy doesn’t want to see the cockpit of a jet plane?”
Hal smiled for the first time in a while. “None that I know of, not even Onyx.”
“Go get him, Hal. We’ll talk to him in here.”
Hal left the cockpit and went back to where Desmond sat, sipping on his soda. His mother still had the panicked look in her eyes, sitting tensely in her seat. “Hey, Desmond, want to see the inside of the cockpit? Watch the pilots flying the plane?” Hal asked quietly.
“You’ll let me do that?” Des said with excitement.
“That’s why I was up in there. The pilots are friends of mine, and they want to see you. Ready?”
“Yeah!” Desmond said eagerly, putting his soda on the floor and walking carefully next to Hal, who tried to keep himself between Des and his mother. Hal opened the door and they squeezed in. Des was surrounded by Mach’s green glow, lifted off the floor and placed on Hal’s back. “Wow!”
“Fun, eh? I’m Captain Machspeed. Unicorns can do what I just did, with the proper training. You, as a thestral, can do things I can never dream of doing, like flying with your wings, not a plane.”
“When can I learn how to do that?” Des asked.
“Sooner than you think, Des. It looks like your mother is not doing well after the change, and we’ve decided you’re going to come home with me,” Hal said, turning his head to look at Des.
“Will Mommy be all right?” Des asked, his face crinkling some with worry.
“We don’t know for sure. It’s possible, but she may never recover enough to recognize and accept you. We’ve seen it happen before,” Flashpoint told the little colt. “You think you can manage staying with Colonel Sleet and his family while you learn how to be a pony?”
Desmond hugged Hal tightly with all four legs. “Yes, I can. Colonel Sleet is nice. He made me not worry when he saw me trying to undo my seat belt and has been so good to me since. He did promise to look after me,” he said as seriously as a six-year-old could.
“Okay, then. Flashpoint will take you and Colonel Sleet back to his house in Las Vegas. Ready for a fun ride?” Machspeed said.
Des’ ears flapped a little. “How can we get to the Colonel’s house from here?” he asked, clearly confused.
“Just a little magic,” Flashpoint said. “The same thing that turned you into a little pony and brought you forward in time will make me able to take you two to Las Vegas, and I can come back and help the other ponies here. Ready to go?”
“Yeah!” Des cried happily, his wings flapping a little with joy.
“Shut your eyes, Des. The sun is real bright in Las Vegas, and you’ll have to get used to it slowly,” Hal cautioned as Flashpoint’s horn started to glow.
“I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes, Mach. Raven will need an explanation,” Flashpoint said just before teleporting.
Hal, Des and Flashpoint appeared in the back yard of Hal’s house on Calico Ridge in Las Vegas, the pool party still going strong, about a dozen adults there along with at least seven children. Wordy was the first to notice them. “Hey, Hal! Who you got there?” he called out from his post behind the big brick grill.
“Someone who needs a home. Where’s Raven?” Hal asked.
Wordy pointed with a hoof toward Hal’s side of the house. “Inside, putting Starshine down for a nap. Something wrong?”
“Wordy, If Raven reacts the way I think she will, I may need Green Mane. Is she still here?”
“In the pool right now. Why?” Wordy asked, a bit confused.
“Hal just might have a concussion,” Flashpoint said drily as the three made their way to the side entrance of the house. The trio found Raven just coming out of the bedroom.
“Flash? Hal? Everything okay?” she asked, looking at the two, then the thestral colt clinging to Hal’s back.
“Everything can be okay, with some help from you and yours,” Flashpoint said before explaining about Desmond, his mother, and what happened to her.
Raven surrounded Des with her violet glow and lifted the colt off Hal’s back, bringing him to her for a snuggle. “As if there will be any doubt of what I would say, Flash. Of course, we’ll give Desmond a home here for as long as he needs it, right, Hal?”
“You got that right, Raven,” Hal said as Raven put the slightly struggling colt down, who darted to Hal and hugged his forelegs. “Hear that, buddy? You get to stay with us now!”
Des grimaced as Raven reached down and gave him a kiss on his nose. “There, Desmond. Your first pony kiss!”
“Do I hafta have many more of them, Miss Raven?” Desmond pleaded, getting laughs from the three adults.
“Des, if I can take them, so can you.” Hal said after his laughing stopped.
Flashpoint looked up at everypony. “I’ll be back sometime in the next day or so, after everything gets wrapped up, to let you know what happened. Right now, I better get back there before Mach and Amelia decide to fly to Tahiti without me!” she said with a laugh before powering up her horn and blinking out.
“Come on, Desmond, let’s go outside and meet everypony. You hungry for anything?” Raven asked as she led the way outside.
“Something did smell nice out there. Can I go find out what it is?” Des asked.
“Of course. Just take things slow and easy, until you feel more comfortable about yourself. Falling down hurts,” Raven told the colt.
“You did enough of it when we first Returned…” Hal muttered, followed by a CLANG as a skillet met his rump.
“Let’s go, Des, while Daddy recovers from a case of the stupids,” Raven said, opening the door to the atrium, allowing Des and herself to get out of the hallway before Hal fell with a dull thud.
“Daddy got the stupids?”
“It happens a lot, Des. Don’t worry about it.”
The rest of the weekend, Hal, Raven, Wordy and Summer Sun (who was pregnant with her second foal, due November), along with Onyx and Kaleidoscope, worked hard in helping Desmond settle in. Onyx insisted Des share his room while one was made ready for him, and Des agreed, finding the black unicorn colt a good playmate, along with Kaleidoscope, who showed Des how flying worked, and got Des to lift off the ground and hover by Sunday night, to much whooping and hollering from all watching.
Monday, Hal flew Des to the Returnee Center, where the colt was to spend his days training on how to use his thestral body, while spending nights at home with his new family. Des was adapting to his new family, but not without some bumps in the road. The thestrals at the Returnee Center found him to be an eager student, learning how to handle himself physically, as well as getting his flight under control.
Flashpoint dropped by on Monday with forms for Raven to fill out, officially adopting Desmond into their family. She did report the flight landed without any trouble, and all the passengers and crew were undergoing rehabilitation in Sydney. Desmond’s mother, Maria, was still in denial, saying that little black thing could not be her son, and was being held under close watch. “Mach called in a couple of favors to get this adoption through without any hitches. Australian bureaucracy, when it comes to adoptions, can be rough. Fortunately, we know a few ponies. It’s all for the colt, anyhow. He needs a stable home more than anything else.”
“He’s getting it. The first night here, he woke up crying about how he missed his parents. He knew his father but has not really seen him much for some time. How long, he’s not sure. Onyx came and got us, and Hal slept with him in the guest room, just holding him all night long. Yesterday, he talked with us for several hours before finally settling down and being a happy colt again.
“The kids just love him as a brother, Summer Sun and Wordy are handling his outfitting, and Hal brought Des to the Returnee Center this morning on his back and will bring him home after he gets off tonight. He’ll be rooming with Onyx until we can get a room built for him, at Onyx’s insistence,” Raven reported.
“With luck, the psychologists at the Returnee center will get the demons out of his head and he will be happy here. They are the real pros, and he does know he has somepony here who really does care for him. Got any pictures?” Flash asked.
“What do you think?” Raven said as she broke out some glossies Wordy had developed the night before. There were portraits of Des with his new family, with the kids, with Hal and Raven, and the one Flash took with her, a pic of Hal buzzing the ground, Des on his back, wings spread, a big grin on his face.
“They are going to love this one,” Flash said, tucking the picture into her saddlebags. “See you next month?”
“Sounds like a plan, Flash. Usual routine applies,” meaning that about the time of the gathering, Flash would drop in to see what was going on before bringing Mach and the rest over for a visit. “Oh, before you go, why did you fly all the way to Sydney when there is a good useable runway in Christchurch?”
“Simple, really. It was for the passenger’s sake. Christchurch does not have the ponies to handle over ninety Returnees in one go, while Sydney does. Besides, do you know how hard it is for Mach and Amelia to cut a flight short for any reason?” Flashpoint said drily.
“About as hard as Hal not going out to chase a thunderstorm in Monsoon season.” Raven replied, equally dry, before laughing a little. “Better get a move on, Flash!”
“Okay, then! See you next time!” Flash said before winking out.