> Please Don't Let Go > by Tzee > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Crash Landing--Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There's nothing I like more than the feeling of flying. The wind whipping your mane backwards, the speed of the ground moving below you, and of course, there's the thunderous applause of the adoring crowd of fanmares. And we were on an Equestria Tour, so every day there was a new city, a new crowd, new tricks, new awesomeness! Me, Spitfire and Fleetfoot were flying at full speed towards our next show. Finally we had picked up enough speed for our storm-cloud trail to fire up. The next town we were hitting had come into view; Appleoosa. I looked at my teammates and nodded. Spitfire was in the middle, and would be the first to enter. I was right wing, Fleetfoot took left. We would fly in the sides of the arena next, followed by other Wonderbolts. "You ready?" Spitfire asked us. "As pumped as always!" I replied. "Roger that," I heard Fleetfoot's voice. Spitfire picked up speed and flew towards the town, while I branched out to the right and began to loop out towards the main centre of the town for my big appearance. I noticed a house that dotted the outskirts of town, about half a mile out. I could slightly see the silhouette of a pony working inside. Weird, I thought. Must be some loner or something. I brushed the thought off to the side and began to angle towards the small town. Meanwhile below... "C'mon, Salmon Hide!" a filly moaned. "Hold the bat right already!" "Uhm truhyun!" said the pink filly named Salmon Hide. The mare staggered around, struggling to hold a baseball bat in her mouth. "Ready?" "Ah gesh..." Salmon's friend threw the baseball and Salmon took an aimless swing. With a crack, the ball flew at a wacky angle. Salmon sighed an apology, but her friend just shook her head and started rambling bout how now Salmon owed her a new ball. What they didn't notice was the ball shattering the flight glasses of a Pegasus flying above... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I felt the ball hit my face. I heard my flight glasses shatter. I saw nothing. With the wind cutting across my face and no flight glasses, I was a blind pony. I felt myself start to spiral down. I screamed, and heard ponies gasping. I heard a cry of terror that was not my own, and then pain flew through my body. My ears started to ring, but the sound faded quickly. And i was tired...so...tired... All I wanted to do was sleep... Sleep... > I'd Rather Die--Chapter One > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Ugh..." When I woke up, my surroundings were blurry. I blinked a few times and saw...broken wood? Rubble? "H-Howdy!" I heard a shaky voice say. "Y-You're awake..." "Where...what..." I started to stammer. It all came into focus. In front of me was a creamy yellow stallion with a long, golden mane. I noticed he kept glancing up at the ceiling, nervously. "Y'crashed in here a coupla hours ago," the colt said. "Completely destroyed mah here home. Luck'ly, ah was able t'pull ya under this here table b'fore anything bad happened to the either of us. It's a sturdy table, but ah don't know how longer it'll hold up...hopef'lly ponies 'll be lookin' fer us soon, b'cause ah don't know if it'll be able to hold up much longer..." This pony...this weird pony...saved my life? But why? If he had just left me, he probably could have escaped and gotten out OK...but instead he saved me...? The pony tried to look up more, but gave a yelp of pain through clenched teeth and quickly stuck it back down. "Mah hind legs...they're stuck under this here debris...prah'bly broken... This pony that had come out of nowhere to save my life, he broke his legs in order to save my life? I would have left him...unless he was a Wonderbolt...or Rainbow Dash...or my parents...well, it depends on who it was...but still... I tried to sit up, but I couldn't move. At all. I just lay there, completely petrified. And whenever I tried to move, but immense pain shot through my entire body. I screamed. The other pony closed his eyes and sighed. "Ah'm pretty sure...yer spine...ah think it was busted..." "WHAT!?!?" I screamed. I tried to get up, spread my wings, fly away, away from here, back to my normal life, back to the tour, away from this pain. But I couldn't it just sent more pain ripping through my body. Not a single muscle moved. My screams turned into sobs. I would never fly again. Flying...the thing I loved more than anything...never again would I be able to fly. What did I ever do to deserve this? I had done some pretty bad things in my life...but...that didn't mean...my life deserved to be...ruined... "...Ah'm sorry..." the other stallion spoke up. Soarin noticed he was starting to cry too. "Ah tried...t'get you out before anything..happ'ned...but...ah cudhn't...it was too...too late..." He seemed to feel so guilty. He must have really tried. He tried to get me out of here OK...he tried... "Name's Braeburn," he said. "Soarin," I said, weakly. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. It was broken by a deafening crack. Braeburn's head shot up, but was quickly pulled back down as he winced in pain. "The table..." I asked. All I got was a nod. My choices: die. Be crushed by tonnes of debris created by me. Or never fly, nevertheless walk again. I think I'll go with option one.