falling from the sky (fringe preview)

first chapter of the third book in my Fringe story

The water of the Draconian sea was quite calm in the morning. The currents pushed cool air and mixed with the warm breeze flowing over the surface. Of course the usual smell of death and decay hung in the air even in the middle of the ocean. High above the water, the sky was a deep shade of orange and grey due to the heavy amounts of methane and carbon in the air, but with the faint outline of the sun rising over the horizon it made everything quiet pleasant. Of course if it was viewed from anywhere but above the clouds it would have been the gloomy depressing sight of the fallout world the planet is today, but yet it was peaceful.
 
It was not at all peaceful for Crash. He sat in an awkward seat made for a human stuck inside of a rocketing tin can, falling towards the surface of Equis. Only two thoughts were going through his head. One; the regret and sadness of the loss of his companion and closest friend Colby, who had sacrificed himself to stop the spreading of a dangerous disease created by the human resistance. It still baffled him how they had blown up half of the moon in the process and not giving a second though to the aftereffects of what would happen from doing said act.
 
Two; how the hell were they gonna get the bucket of bolts of an escape pod safely to the surface of Equis, and not get themselves killed in the process. That was one question he was gonna have to save for the pilot and another friend of his. Kris the fox was in an equally uncomfortable chair at the front of the escape pod. She clutched the seemingly simple joystick and button controls frantically keeping the pod more or less stabilized. Unlike Crash, she was completely focused on the job at hand and was doing particularly well at it too. doing well meant somehow flying the burning damaged alien craft through space and getting them about as close to home as possible, considered a home run in there minds.
 
Crash’s thoughts floated back to the last two months, it felt more like two years since they had left the Furry Federation and set out around the world to fight the human occupation. So much had been achieved in such a little time. Fighting alongside Dragons, Minotaurs and Ponies in the desperate yet ultimately successful attempts to free at least a few of the nations held in the Hr’s iron grip. Now that there moonbase and most lethal weapon were history, there was only one last bastion of resistance to take. The pony country of Equestria, where fire had rained down and the humans had first claimed blood and land. But things will change, they had to or there dangerous foe will get back on its feet and destroy them all.
 
Things began to change drastically as the pod had begun to enter the atmosphere. Licks of bright blue and red flames began to creep into view around the thick glass of the front window, How it did not shatter was beyond the comprehension of the passengers inside. It seems human technology was always strange and a mystery. The pod rattled and shook as if it was gonna fall apart any second and a few times they thought it would. Adding to the unsettling sounds was the whimpering and crying of the two ponies who sat huddled at the back of the pod. muffling the sounds from her mind Kris kept a level head and concentrated on her unique flying skill. Crash continued to hang on for dear life and the ponies cried internally and externally. which of course was no help to their current situation mind you.
 
In the dim lights that illuminated the back of the pod, Sparkle clung to the tail of her older sister and buried her head Into her mane. She sobbed quietly, half out of grief for Colby and half that there journey might come to a very quick an unexpected end. Her sister Heart, held her with a wing protectively wrapped around her. She was quiet and stared into the opposite corner of the pod as if in some kind of trance. The soft voice of her sister brought her back to the situation at hand, reassuring her as much as she could without scaring her and adding to the horror of their impending demise.
 
“Hey Heart? Are we gonna die?” Asked sparkle looking up at her with big eyes. Her face was dirty and wet with tears from crying, and from all the fighting and running and praying they have done through the last two months. she was quite shocked that she even had the energy to cry, much less keep fighting if they lived through the next hour or two.
 
Heart looked down and squeezed her lips shut thinking for the right words. if it had been anyone else in her position and ironically not the sister of who she was trying to comfort, things would be much different. after a few seconds of pondering what words to say with the other half of her mind focused on the danger around them she spoke in a soft voice. “Huh? Oh no of course not Sparkle, we’re gonna be just fine.” She knew small talk would do better than anything else, but secretly that was all she could come up with. A jolt took her attention from her sister and the current thought as she glanced up to the two furies at the front of the pod and called out to them. “Hey! What’s happening?” Are we almost home?”
 
Crash looked back at her and nodded quickly giving her a thumbs up with a free hand he did not have to spare. With his knuckles hurting and white from clutching the armrests he was shocked at the strength left him to hold on against the G-forces threatening to throw him out of the chair. Grabbing the seat again he yelled back to them in a reassuring voice. “Were gonna be alright You two! Don’t you worry!” He cracked a grin before glancing back to the pilot and mumbled under his breath. “At least I hope so, with old fox ears driving.” Of course he had the misfortune of forgetting that foxes have a very good sense of hearing and if they survived this he was gonna learn that the hard way. But there was a pretty big if in there and if he had the choice of either getting pounded by Kris or burning to death in space he would choose the latter.
 
Kris took the few seconds and glance from the controls and scowled at him, her voice was thick with malice and frustration. “I heard that you dirt eater!” She quickly returned her focus on the controls and with her right hand she wrestled with a small joystick that kept the craft level, or as level as possible while at an almost vertical descent at hundreds of miles an hour. It was almost by instinct that she knew what button did what or what that thingy did, but we can only guess that the control manual was under the seat all along. Lots of small switches lined a panel in front of her, she ignored them all and focused on guiding the craft through the thick clouds. “How about you come up here and help!–better yet how about you drive!” She yelled back, knowing all too well Crash was either to stubborn to get up, too scared to or just too stupid. She chuckled at her little joke predicting that if she handed the fate of the craft to him they were all dead, but at the rate they were falling she knew that was all too close a reality.
 

 
 
Crash stifled a laugh and only smiled a buck tooth grin, even tho she could not see it with her back turned. “No thanks mrs bossy, I’ll stick to the first class seats back here!” Of course he threw as much sarcasm into the remark as possible, while trying to stay as good humored as always knowing death was just around the corner about to embrace him in its cold fingers. better to die happy and cheerful then in a somber state of despair and hopelessness. “I just hope you know what you’re doing, or at least you think you know what you’re doing!”
 
“Of course!, what do you think i have been doing for the past ten minutes??” Kris’s voice only held the faint edge to it that let Crash know she was mocking his every word. But she knew he was only keeping their spirits up. She was about to reply with a casual smart-aleck response when the tiny craft gave a sudden lurch and dipped lower towards the surface taking the breath out of her with the crash harness digging into her chest. Pushing whatever comment was inside her mind at the moment she attempted to struggle against the sudden increase of G-forces pushing her back into metal seat.