"Ow ow ow ow! Not so hard!" Rainbow hissed as Dottie was putting on her new braces… and rather tightly at that.
"You brought this on yourself just so you know." Dottie said with a glare. "There, now absolutely no flying whatsoever. Understand?"
Rainbow nodded, sighing. "Yes ma'am."
"Good girl, Dusty, you make sure she doesn't try anything."
Dusty gave a nod as he looked at Rainbow with a soft smile. "I'll keep her safe."
Rainbow smiled back. "Did the crops do okay last night?"
"According to Chug we only lost a few plants, but we'll be okay, we were able to save a lot thanks to harvesting as much as we could."
"Phew…"
"Dottie?"
The three looked to see Sparky at the door with Skipper right behind him.
"Hey Sparky, what's up?" Dottie asked.
Sparky looked to Skipper who gave him a nod.
"Well last night… we found something… or rather, somethings found us."
Skipper backed up a little to reveal two other ponies that were hiding behind him and Sparky… Rainbow's eyes went wide when she saw them… and immediately rushed over to them.
"THORN! LIGHTNING DUST!"
She tackled hugged them both to the ground as they returned the gesture.
"Oh thank Celestia you're okay!" Thorn said.
After a moment Rainbow backed off them, relieved to see them okay… and surprised at the look Lightning had on her face.
"... Lightning… are you… crying?"
Lightning shook her head, standing firm. "NO! I don't cry! … I'm a Jolly Wrench!"
Thorn could help but break down laughing. "Really? That's your best come back?"
Lightning felt a little embarrassed but then broke down laughing as well.
"I'm just glad to see you guys are okay. Where have you been these past few days?" Rainbow asked.
"Trying to find our way around this forsaken place, we nearly got mauled by that monster we encountered when we first got here."
"Ah, the harvester. Accidently tip a tractor?"
"If you mean those cow like creatures, then yes, Thorn scared a whole herd of them."
"YOU HELPED!" Thorn snapped, her cheeks completely flushed. "Don't push it all on me!"
"Alright you two, no fighting, I get it, you've been through the wringer as well." Rainbow said getting between the two.
"And you especially." Lightning said, eying the braces. "Are you unable to fly?"
"Under doctor's orders I'm grounded."
"So… we're not going anywhere fast are we?" Thorn asked.
"Yeah…"
Rainbow sighed. "Though not like we had an idea where we were going, we don't know where the endpoint. All we have is 'go back to where you began,' whatever that means at this point since we know for fact there's no portal where we started."
Thorn rubbed her head a little. "I hate cryptic nonsense SO MUCH."
The three sat in silence as they thought over the phrase till Dusty chimed in.
"Dash, you mentioned you trained on Flysenhower right?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Well… the Flysenhower you described to me sounded a lot different from the one I know… But… I can't help but think maybe the answer to your way home might have something to do with the Flysenhower here."
"That's it!" Thorn said, stomping her hoof. "Go back to where you began! We started on Flysenhower before we came here so… we have to go to the Flysenhower that's in this world!"
"That makes sense… now the only problem is we don't know how to get there and Dash is in no condition to fly at all."
"You don't, but Skipper and I do."
The three mares looked to Dusty and Skipper, a bit of a hopeful look in their eyes.
"Do you think you could…?"
"Yes, if Skipper doesn't mind flying along as well." Dusty said, looking to his mentor.
"I don't mind, but with the condition Rainbow Dash is in I'm not sure when we'll be able to leave."
"Actually I might have an idea that could help." Dottie said bringing over what looked like a harness of some sort.
"What's that?" Rainbow asked.
"Old fashion harness that was used to tether forklifts to planes for all sorts of things, I could adjust it so I could tether you to Dusty and he could fly for you."
Rainbow grinned. "That sounds great!"
Dottie nodded. "The only thing I'm worried about is the weather conditions, and if Thorn and Lightning Dust will be able to keep up with Skipper and Dusty."
"They should be fine, though might need to use magic flight to keep up."
"Yeeeeeah about that." Thorn sighed. "We can't use magic flight here. Apparently the whole world without magic applies to those who go into it."
"... Well that explains why I wasn't able to cloud bust but besides the point, so you might not be able to keep up with two planes."
"If Dottie has more of those harnesses maybe she could tether them to Skip?" Dusty suggested.
"I should have more somewhere… Would you be okay with it Skipper?" Dottie asked.
Skipper gave a nod.
"Then the last thing is the weather conditions, it's going to be cold going over the ocean."
"Our Jolly Wrench suits allow us to keep in heat, we'll be fine." Lightning said with a smile. "We just need help getting there."
Dottie smiled. "Then it shall be done, we just need to get Dusty and Skipper prepped for the flight over and get these harnesses adjusted for you."
The three mares nodded.
"Alright then… let's do it."
It didn't take long to adjust the harnesses and get the mare tethered to the two planes. The only difficulty they had was getting Rainbow back in her Jolly Wrench Uniform while still wearing her braces, but they eventually got around it. After a few good byes to the machines Rainbow had met and become friends with, it was off to Flysenhower.
"Anyone else having Deja vu?" Thorn asked after about an hour in.
"I am." Lightning answered. "Reminds me so much of the flight we had to our Flysenhower, though this time someone else is doing the flying for us." She looked to Skipper giving a bit of a smile. "Thanks again for doing this, it's highly appreciated."
Skipper gave a bit of a smile. "Wrenches stick together."
Lightning nodded and as did Thorn.
Rainbow was resting at the moment, huddled close to Dusty.
It'll be nice to be home… I got so much I want to tell my friends about… even if they might not believe me. She thought with a smile.
She opened one eye looking at Dusty. He was focused on his task, keeping track of his surroundings and readings on his dashboard.
He's been so good to me since I got here… The fact he's doing this for us… he really is a great friend…
Then a thought crossed her mind about Dusty. After this… would they ever see each other again?
I don't know if Wrenches are allowed to come here as they please… If anything, they probably only come here once…
Rainbow found herself frowning a little. She had only had so much time with Dusty and the others… and now it was all just coming to an end.
"You okay, Dash?" Dusty asked, snapping the mare out of her thought train.
"Huh? Oh…" Dash lowered her head a little. "Just… When this is over… I was… I was just thinking about if we would ever see each other again… You've been so good to me Dusty… You took me in despite me being a stranger, you were kind to me, you saved my life… you did a lot of things for me… we became friends over a short amount of time and now… it just ends here…"
Dusty frowned a little. "Some times good things just come to an end… But Dash." His expression changed to a comforting one. "It doesn't mean we'll forget each other or what we've been through… no matter how far apart friends are, you always have a piece of them with you, as corny as that sounds… but it's true."
Rainbow couldn't help but smile a little. "True… and who knows… maybe we will meet again…"
Dusty chuckled a little. "Some how… maybe not the same way… but some how we will. Bonds between friends are strong, and you'd be surprised how they can bring friends back together."
Rainbow nuzzled him. "Oh Dusty…"
"Dash…"
"Hey, Dusty, we're approaching Flysenhower." Skipper radioed. "Prepare yourself for landing."
"Roger that Skip."
The two planes flew their course as the ship came into view. The three mares kept low as the two planes landed. Soon as they had touched down, they moved below them, hanging onto their landing gear as they made their way about the ship.
"Well look who decided to pay us a visit!"
The three mares froze when they heard the voice.
… No… way.
They looked up to see a plane greeting Dusty that had a familiar looking red helmet on his head. Next to the plane was another one just like it with another familiar helmet design… they couldn't believe their eyes, especially when they saw the names that were written on the helmets.
ECHO AND BRAVO?! WHEN DID THEY TURN INTO PLANES?!
"Hey guys, nice to see you again." Dusty said with a smile to the two jets. "Just thought it would be nice to visit, maybe get some practice in."
Echo grinned. "Just like old times, sure thing Dusty."
Dusty nodded. "For now, Skipper and I are pretty tired from the flight, so just give us some time to refuel and rest."
"Of course."
With that, the two planes made their way to the lower levels of the ship. Once they were out of the sight of others planes in a room the three mares came out of their hiding spots.
"I can't believe those two chuckle heads! You think they would have told us they were gonna be here or least say 'Oh by the way we're not just griffons, we're also big Metal Birds' gosh I'm gonna have their beaks when we get home." Thorn yelled as she paced the room.
Rainbow and Lightning kept quiet, but they were thinking the same thing.
Dusty looked at the mares surprised. "You know Echo and Bravo?"
"Know them? They mock us, daily, and train us till our wings fall off." Lightning said with slight irritation in her voice. "And apparently have been lying this whole time about what they really are."
"Um… guys… I don't think the Echo and Bravo here are the same ones you know."
The three mares looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"Well… Think about it. Flysenhower exists here and it exists in your world as well, but both are different in what they are. Here it's a boat and in Equestria it's a moving island that's attached to a sea turtle. So maybe… the Echo and Bravo here are plane counterparts to the ones that live in Equestria."
Thorn slumped to the floor holding her head. "... Two of them… there's two of them… As if there weren't enough of them in the universes…"
Lightning and Rainbow shook their heads. "Well it makes sense… speaking of, we need to find that gateway out of here."
Dusty nodded, looking to Skipper.
"Ideas Skip?"
"Let's split up and search different parts of the ship. Lightning Dust and Thorn, you're with me, Dusty is with Rainbow Dash. If one of us finds anything, radio to the other where to go. Simple enough?"
"Yes."
"Then let's move out."