Winged Defender

Chapters

Chapter 1: "Engage!"
Chapter 2: "Is anyone receiving?"
Chapter 3: "Say again?"
Chapter 4: "Mayday!"

Chapter 1: "Engage!"

Have you ever been bored? Like really bored. Like that time you were on an eleven hour flight and your tablet ran out of batteries leaving you with nothing to do. That type of bored. If you have you would know how I was feeling.

I should probably introduce myself. My name is Raina Moore. I am a Captain in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

I was flying a Avro CF-200 Super Arrow over the Arctic Ocean with the four other Arrows of my flight. Ever since the Ukraine crisis thirteen years ago we had been getting Russian planes coming over the north, probing our radar coverage.

It was really a dream come true. I had wanted to be a fighter pilot since I was five years old. Now at twenty-five, I was a flight commander already. The best part was the Arrows.

After the F-35s were deemed too expensive, they had decided to revive the Arrow. After a through redesign and modernization, we had an absolutely beautiful aircraft. Of course, it went without saying that the improved Arrow was even better than the original design. She was capable of reaching Mach 3.02 in level flight, the fastest operational fighter jet ever. They had delivered the first few three years ago in 2024.

"Nighthawk 2-1. This is Alert, over." Came the call from the ground controller.

"Go ahead Alert." I said.

"Bogeys are 140 klicks off your nose, count ten, assumed to be Russian fighters escorting a couple Bears. Your orders are to make contact and escort them out of our airspace."

"Wilco, 2-1 out." I said quickly switching to my squadron radio channel, "OK boys, we got ten Bogeys off the nose, 'bout 140 klicks. We're to make contact and kindly show them out."

"What exactly we dealing with Dash?" my wingman asked.

"No idea Flocho." I replied, using Lucas' callsign. I honestly never figured out how he got it.

"Shit." Was his only reply.

My radar then showed a contact on the very edge of it's scope. I looked out at my flight of four Arrows, silently hoping that we wouldn't get in a fight. Four CF-200s versus eight Su-50s? Considering that the planes were approximately evenly matched, it came down to pilots skill and numbers, which the Russians were at an advantage.

"Nighthawk 2-1 to Alert, we have the contacts on radar. Moving to intercept." I reported.

"Roger. Continue with objective. Out."

We continued towards the contacts, hoping they couldn't pick us up on their radar. When we approached the sleek Russian fighters began to take shape.

"Alert, Nighthawk 2-1. Tally eight Flamers." I reported, using the NATO code for the Sukhoi jets.

"Two Bears as well." I added spotting the large four engined bombers.

"Roger." Was his reply.

We fell into a loose formation around them as I tried to establish radio contact. Just before I opened a channel a panicked yell came through my headphones.

"FUCK! MISFIRE! MISFIRE!" came the yell from Nighthawk 2-3 as a AIM-9X Sidewinder zoomed past my cockpit before slamming into a Russian fighter near the front of the formation blasting it to smithereens.

After that all hell broke loose.

I immediately rolled right while slamming open my throttle and began a hard turn right as several cannon shells whizzed past my cockpit.

"WEAPONS FREE! Disengage as soon as you can!" I yelled to my flight.

"Nighthawk 2-1, what's going on?" Came Alert's voice over the radio.

I rolled and dumped flares as I spotted a missile's trail heading for me.

"We were escorting them out when 2-3's missile misfired and accidentally shot one of them down!" I reported quickly.

I let out a relived breath as the missile flew past off to my side. A glance over my shoulder showed a jet sitting behind me.

"Got one on my six! Flocho where are you?!"

"I'm on him boss!...Break right!" Said Lucas.

I did as Flocho instructed and tossed my jet into a hard right turn. I looked behind me to see the Su-50 explode.

"Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Nighthawk 2-4 going down! I'm ejecting!" Came a panicked cry.

"Shit!" I cursed, realizing we were getting torn apart.

I spotted 2-3 off to my right going the opposite direction with another jet behind her.

"Talisman! Break Left!" I called, pulling right to help her.

Talisman complied allowing me to latch onto the fighter that was trailing her. I pulled the trigger, my gun filling him with lead, and shearing off this left wing. I looked past the falling fighter to see 2-3 flying before her plane exploded and a Russian jet pulled through the fireball heading the opposite direction.

"Nighthawk flight! Pull out! I repeat, pull out! The two of you wont last long against five of them!" yelled Alert.

"Roger Alert! Flocho! Say on my wing!" I said. Lucas came winging in beside me before I rolled my jet over on it's back and gave her full afterburner.

I dove to gain as much speed as I possibly could. I looked at my speed to see it rapidly climbing as I lost altitude. I heard my headphones go crazy as a radar guided missile came after me. I dumped chaff and levelled out 100 feet above sea level. The combination tricked the missile and it dove into the ice as we raced home.

We had flown back to base after outrunning the jets and were circling as we waited for a CC-177 Globemaster III to land.

"Resolute Tower, Nighthawk two-one, requesting landing clearance." I asked the tower.

"Nighthawk two-one, Resolute Tower, runway two two right, cleared for landing."

"Roger, Nighthawk two-one, cleared for landing, two two right. Flocho, you go first." I told him.

As he flew off ahead of me to land I lined up with the runway and began my approach. Right then, I began to feel light headed.

I shook my head to clear it and in the process, noticed the tip of my wing was glowing.

"What the?" I muttered.

I looked back at it and saw that it seemed to be dissolving by little pink particles. I quickly spread until it covered my entire plane as well as me! I watched in morbid fascination as my hand seemed to dissolve in front of my face.

Then every thing went black, but I could still feel and hear my plane.

Fuck! I cant fly while I'm blind!

Just as that thought formed in my head, my vision returned.

"What! How?"

Author's Note

Have a Super Arrow! Yes, this is a thing! Look it up!

Oh and Su-50? Have one of those too!

Chapter 2: "Is anyone receiving?"

I was confused. I had been flying in the Arctic. Everything up there was white. The sea ice, the tundra covered by snow, everything. So why were there green hills covered in trees and grass, and in the distance cartoonish snow capped mountains? Dead ahead I could see a runway about a kilometre distant. Except it wasn't CFB Resolute Bay. There was a runway, three large fuel tanks, and a large hangar.

I'll figure out what happened later. I'm running out of fuel as it is. I thought looking at my fuel gauge.

I quickly corrected for my drift and came in to a textbook landing.

I taxied over towards the hangar, spotting two additional Arrows, one of which, upon closer inspection was an CF-200B two seater. I went over and parked beside them and shut off my jet, but not before I glanced at my GPS and noticed that I had no signal. Clicking over to my radio display, I saw that I was not receiving any radio traffic whatsoever as well.

Damn.

I reached over and shut the jet off as well as pop the canopy. As the hood opened I removed my oxygen mask, and promptly noticed the appendage that I used to do so.

The heck! What happened to my hand! I thought as I looked at the gloved nub attached to my arm.

I brought my other hand over to pull the covering off and found it had suffered a similar fate.

Then how was I flying the jet a second ago!? I thought in confusion.

I pushed my 'hands' together and imagined grabbing the glove on my right 'hand' before pulling them apart, slipping it off and to reveal a round, light blue…thing. It kind looked like a hoof. I took the other glove off to see my other hand was similar.

"What th-…OK, my voice changed too?" I said in a voice much raspier than my own.

I reached up and removed my helmet, causing a lock of red and orange hair to appear at the top of my vision.

"Seriously. What the hell!" I exclaimed. "What the fuck was that pink shit!"

I took a deep breath, and tried to get my anger under control,

Ok, lets just keep calm and figure out what happened. OK, so I can grab stuff with...these. I thought reaching for the stick and imagining grabbing it. I then moved my former hand around and the stick followed.

"OK that explains how I was flying. I guess I gotta get used to this voice too." I muttered.

I began to undo my harness and realized I did't have a ladder. As I shifted and undid my harness I felt something that felt like an arm being rubbed on my back.

Wha… I stopped as I moved and got a look at my back.

"I have wings." I said flabbergasted at the two blue feathered appendages attached to my back. A huge smile appeared on my face as I began grinning like a maniac.

"I HAVE WINGS! YES! ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! I can FLY!" I exclaimed. After all, what pilot wouldn't want to be able to fly without an airplane.

I quickly finished undoing my harness and stood up to find that I couldn't balance on two legs. Looking at my legs I realized they were jointed like a cat's or some other four legged creature.

Okay, well lets try this. I thought, before poking my wings. I quickly found the muscles to extend my wings.

Grinning like a maniac, I spread them before jumping off and gliding over the ground.

WOW! I'm flying!

Then I hit the ground. It hurt.

OOOwwwww.

I struggled to stand back up on all fours and finally got a good look at myself.

I was still wearing my green flight suit which had some how changed to fit my new body. My wings were poking through a pair of holes as was my rainbow tail. I appeared to be covered in a short, light blue coat of fur.

"Huh." I muttered. The best thing I could come up with was that I was a small horse. More of a pony. Which plus wings made me a pegasus then.

I took a step to head for the hangar before I stumbled and fell. Getting back to my hooves I realized I would have to re-learn how to walk.

After five minutes of practising, I had it down. It was basically like crawling on my hands and knees, except that it felt like balancing on my fingertips and tiptoeing.

I spotted a smaller building beside the hangar as I tuned back to what I was doing.

It looked a lot like a small officer's cabin like mine at CFB Cold Lake. I walked over to the door and opened it with my weird sticky hooves. My eyes widened at the inside. On the wall by the entrance was a framed picture of my Dad and I. I felt a surge of sadness, before I crushed it. I would see him again. I had to.

I took a deep breath

I walked (cantered?) to my room. To my surprise, all of my cloths had changed to fit my new form. Deciding not to question it, I changed out of my flight suit into a more comfortable pair of cargo pants and a T-shirt. I walked out the front door heading for the jets.

When I got there I did a walk-around of each jet and found they were in top condition, except mine which had a couple of cannon strikes on the fuselage, but otherwise was fine. After that I headed to the hangar. When I got there I was in for a treat. Inside was full of every single type of weapon that you could put on the Arrow minus the nukes. AIM-120 AMRAAMs, AIM-9X Sidewinders, AGM-65 Mavericks, and Paveway series laser-guided bombs. You name it, they were all in that building.

"Ohmygoshohmygosh! Yes!" I exclaimed as I began cantering around examining the weapons and finding they were all factory new and ready to be fired off of a jet. There was even a weapons tractor to pull them out to my plane should I need to, and a ladder on wheels so that I could get into my jet.

Further back was spare parts. Like enough spare parts to build a whole Arrow!

I left the hangar behind and headed for the fuel tanks next. As I approached I spotted a hose off to one side. Upon closer inspection, it could easily be used to refuel my jet, and there was even a meter showing how much fuel was in the tanks, which happened to be full.

"Geez. There's enough fuel and ammo for a squadron to operate for two weeks, let alone just me. This'll last me a year if I was flying every day!" I mused.

I headed back to my cabin. As I entered I glanced at the clock. It was five, so I headed to the kitchen to see if I had anything to eat.

I woke up the next morning around ten. It was nice to be able to sleep in. I almost never got to, being in the military and all. I got up and got dressed in my usual cargo pants and T-shirt. Admittedly getting dressed was really awkward as a quadruped, but I managed. As I got dressed I spotted something on my flank.

"The heck? Why do I have a tattoo on my ass?" I asked no one in particular as I looked at the image of a cloud and a multicoloured lightning bolt on my flank, "Weird."

With a shrug, I headed to the kitchen to find something to eat. I had been away from my cabin for a while, as it was my flight's turn to be posted to the far north for a month. Hence I didn't have much to eat.

"Well where am I supposed to get food from then? Eat grass?" I grumbled.

I decided I would go for a walk to see if I could find any berries and edible plants.

Before I left I stopped a holster for my standard issue pistol on my left leg. I had discovered that by using the same magic grabby thing that I used in my jet, I could use to fire my gun. I also glanced at my wallet on top of my dresser, to find it was now a bag filled with a bunch of gold coins. I chucked it into my saddle bags and moved out of my house and decided to head southwest.

The going was fairly easy as it was mostly grassy hills and woodlands. After ten minutes I came upon a dirt road.

"Where there's a road, there's civilization." I thought out loud before deciding to follow it east.

After another ten minutes I came over a hill to see a good sized town in front of me. The houses looked like something from Switzerland except with thatched roofs. And, much to my relief and horror, it seemed to be populated by a multitude of pastel creatures, like myself at the moment.

What the!? OK, Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic! OK. At least I don't have to worry about not fitting in. Did the everyone just turn into ponies or something? This is just weird! I though to myself.

I continued down the road and into town. As I entered I spotted a sign that said "Welcome To Ponyville!"

"Ponyville? Really?" I muttered, shaking my head before proceeding into town.

As I walked along I noticed that there were a few ponies that had horns, some with wings like me, and few with neither. I got a few strange looks as I trotted along but no one stopped me.

So apparently unicorns are a thing here too.

I continued to trot through town until I came upon what appeared to be the town market. I found a stand selling apples. Behind it was a Stetson toting orange mare with a blond mane.

"Well howdy there Rainbow!" She said as I approached.

Caught by surprise I had a hard time formulating a response, but part of me just told me to go along with it. "Ummm…Hi."

"Nice day ya got here, ya get up early ta' clear the sky?" She said.

"Uhh…" What! Do they control the weather here or something! "Yeah."

"What'chya wearing there?" She asked looking me over.

Oh shit! none of the ponies I've seen have been wearing cloths! Come on, come on, what do I say?

"Yeah…I was just...uh...seeing how comfortable they were!" I stuttered.

She looked at me funny before backing off. "Alrighty then. Jus' don't let Rarity see you wearing that, she'll have one of her 'crime against fashion' episodes. Anyway, you here to get some apples?"

"Yes please. Umm, how about a dozen?" I asked looking over the apples.

"Sure. It's on the house, just something for my friend." She told me

"Really? Wow thanks! See ya!" I said thankfully as I loaded the apples in my saddlebags.

As I left my mind went into overdrive, trying to sort out what just happened.

I moved between the stalls and bought more groceries.

What is wrong with these ponies? And where did 'Rainbow Dash' come from? They don't know my name and it certainly isn't 'Rainbow Dash'! I thought to myself as I loaded the rest of the food into my bags.

I left town the same way I came in. Without any distractions my mind wandered.

"So let's see here. I was coming in for a landing, and all of a sudden my jet gets teleported or something, I find I'm in a land full of talking ponies and that I some how became one, and for some reason they're calling me Rainbow Dash. Am I hallucinating? Dreaming? Am I dead? It...It all feels so real. OK, what ever happened the best thing is to take it as it comes and not lose my mind. After all, I am the best fighter pilot in the world!" I though out loud.

When I got back, I stored the food in my kitchen before heading out to check the jets.

I walked over to my Super Arrow and examined it more closely for any battle damage. I couldn't see any from where I was so I headed to the hanger to get the ladder when I realized I had wings.

"Well lets try it!" I said. I hopped and began flapping my wings. It was surprisingly easy to hover.

After five minutes of failing, or having minor successes, I finally got into a stable hover.

I hovered back to my jet doing my best not lose control, before landing carefully on top and spotting several cannon strikes on it.

Now for those of you who don't know, cannons are not machine guns. Guns fire solid slugs, cannons fire explosive rounds that can easily shred most airplanes and ground targets. You think a .50 cal is big? Those are nothing compared to a 20mm high-explosive cannon shell, or as it is affectionately called, the twenty Mike-Mike.

I began to examine each one closely to see if they would affect my jet's performance in the air. Two shells had impacted just behind the cockpit and were of no consequence, but three others had hit along the right wing root, and on further investigation, made it so the wing was structurally compromised and would likely break off if I did any high-G manoeuvres.

"How the hell am I supposed to patch that up?" I muttered before heading into the hanger to see if I had anything to fix the problem.

After rummaging around in the hanger for a few minutes, I found the parts and tools I needed.

Well that's going to be extremely useful! I thought as I walked over to a panel that matched the damaged part, as well as grabbing the tools I would need.

"That should do it." I said to myself, as I finished my repairs.

It had taken me all of yesterday afternoon and this morning for me to take the damaged section of metal and replace it with a brand new one from the hanger. It was a sloppy job, but that's what happens when a pilot with rudimentary knowledge of aircraft maintenance has to do it. Don't ask me how I had managed it, but I had.

"Well then time for a test flight."

I walked back across the tarmac to my cabin and some how managed to put on my flight suit and G-suit. Going back to my Arrow I used my newfound hovering abilities to get into the cockpit.

I grabbed my helmet and let it rest in my head as I began to strap in.

A glance at my fuel revealed I would need to fill it up before I could go flying.

I quickly ran through the start-up checklist before I flipped the ignition switches and started up my Arrow. I taxied over to the fuel tanks and shut it off again when I got there to avoid any unfortunate accidents.

I put my helmet back in the stick and fluttered down to the hose. I grabbed it in my forehooves and dragged it up to the refuelling port on top just behind the cockpit. I plugged it in and opened it letting the inflammable aviation fuel flow into the jet.

When it was full I pulled the hose out, and put the plug in and replaced the hose.

I flew up to the cockpit and put my helmet back on before doing my last pre-flight checks. Satisfied that everything was was in working order I taxied to the end of the runway and was about to ask for permission to take off when I realized the I was the only person around with a working radio.

"Alright lets get this bird in the air!" I thought out loud as I opened the throttle and began to roll down the runway.

I watched as the indicated airspeed (IAS) rose on my HUD. As soon as it reached 180 knots I gently pulled back on the stick causing my jet to leap into the air.

I gained some altitude before I rolled right and began to test the G-loads put on my repair job to see if it was safe. Long story short? It was perfectly fine.

OK that's enough for now. I thought, after ten minutes of high-G turns and rolls. I quickly looked around to get my bearings.

I noticed that during my manoeuvres I ended up above Ponyville. I began to turn back towards my base when a radar proximity warning sounded in my headphones.

I glanced at my radar and saw that a small contact the size of a missile was closing in on my six.

One of the pegasi getting curious probably. Let's see if it can keep up with a super-sonic fighter jet! I thought to myself as I opened the throttle and watched as my speed began to build up.

I glanced back at my radar display and saw that despite my speed the blip was keeping up.

Can they even fly at mach .9? I thought in awe.

As the blip came even closer I open the throttle to full afterburner and watched as the contact began to drop back, until I was satisfied that the interloper had given up as it dropped off my radar.

I glanced at my GPS (which wasn't working except for displaying my beacon that was at the base) and got a heading on the runway.

"Well that was exciting." I thought out loud while shutting off my jet, "If that was a pony, it was hauling ass! Mach .9? that shouldn't even be possible!"

With that last thought, I engaged the lock on the jet and decided to call it a day.

"Well lets see about getting home." I muttered to myself. It was the next day, and I was finishing off a couple of apples for breakfast.

After I finished, I walked into my room and began to grab what I would need.

"OK, as much as this feels wrong, no clothes this time, I don't want to attract attention, I'll still bring my pistol just in case, and saddlebags to carry anything I get."

Over the last two days I had practiced flying with my new wings and found that with a little practice it came rather easily. Of course it wasn't without it's fair share of crashes and bruises.

I left the cabin and headed for the town. Partway to the town I cut through a small wooded area.

ROWR!!

"What th--Oh shit." I turned around to see a large lion creature with bat-wings, and a scorpions tail glaring at me.

I quickly flapped my wings to hover three feet off the ground while I drew my pistol from it's wrist holster with my right hoof.

At that, the...thing, roared again and charged me. I levelled the barrel of my trusty Glock at its head and squeezed the trigger.

"BANG!---BANG!-BANG!BANG!"

The first round impacted the beast's right shoulder, the second and third missed and took a chunk out of it's ear respectively, while the fourth was dead between the eyes.

I watched as the thing fell and slid to a stop a foot in front of my fore-hooves which were now firmly placed on the ground.

I holstered my pistol. Then something hit me from behind.

"Ow!"

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! Oh, it's you!" Said the butter yellow pegasus as she got off of me.

"I heard loud noises and a Manticore roaring so I came to..." She trailed off as she noticed the dead 'Manticore' lying beside us.

"Oh m-m-my... Wa-what happened too him?" She said before moving over to help the Manticore.

"I shot it."

"You shot it? But Rainbow, you don't have a bow." She said.

"Uh…yeah, whatever, I gotta go." I said turning to continue my way to town.

"I'll come with you." She said, beginning to follow me.

"But I hardly know you." I replied looking over my shoulder.

"What? Rainbow? It's me Fluttershy." She said, trotting up beside me.

"Sorry, not ringing a bell."

"But we've been best friends since kindergarden!" She said, almost panicking.

"Sorry, but I just got here. I've never been to Ponyville in my life. Except for last sunday." I stated confused, flapping my wings and beginning to take off.

"Oh my gosh, I must have given you amnesia when I hit you!" She exclaimed

"You didn't give me amnesia. You must be confusing me with somebo-somepony else." I deadpanned as I stopped and looked at her.

"Quick we have to go see Twilight! She probably has a spell to restore your memories!" She exclaimed grabbing my foreleg and dragging me towards town.

"No. Wait! Lemme go!" I struggled for a minute as she dragged me along, before giving up and letting her do as she wished. She had a surprisingly strong grip.

A few minutes later we came to a large tree that appeared to be a dwelling at the same time. 'Fluttershy' went up to the door and knocked. It was answered by a short purple and green lizard like creature...that talked.

"Hey Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash. What are you guys doing here?" He asked.

"Oh Spike! It's horrible! I ran into Rainbow and gave her amnesia!"

"AGH! For the last time, I DON'T HAVE AMNESIA!" I yelled in frustration.

"We need to see Twilight!" Fluttershy finished.

"OK one sec, I'll go get her." he said letting us in before running off up the stairs.

You have got to be kidding me.

Half a minute later a purple unicorn came down the stairs.

"So what is this about Rainbow having amnesia?" She asked, walking towards us.

"Oh Twilight! It's horrible! I ran into her and now she can't remember anything!" Fluttershy explained.

"Are you kidding me!" I burst in, "I remember my whole damn life!"

"You do?" Twilight asked, with a confused look on her face.

"Yes." I said in exasperation.

"Well thats a relief!" the purple unicorn said as she turned to Fluttershy

"Are you sure?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes!" I all but yelled.

"Eep!" She squeaked hiding behind her pink hair.

"Oh. Sorry." I replies sheepishly

"Wait a second...Rainbow Dash?......Rainbow?" Said the purple unicorn, but I wasn't paying attention as I trotted towards the door.

Suddenly I felt myself lifted off the ground.

"The heck!?"

"Rainbow Dash! Since when do you curse!?" she exclaimed as I was spun around. I saw that her horn was glowing the same colour as the aura that was surrounding me.

Is she levitating me?!

"Listen Purple. I have no idea what or how you are doing that, but if you would kindly put me down I'll be on my way." I said as my temper began to flare up.

"Purple? What has gotten into you Rainbow?" She said in confusion.

"One; my name isn't 'Rainbow Dash', two; nothing, and three; heck isn't even a swear!"

"If you're not Rainbow who are you?"

"Raina." I said.

"Pardon?" Twilight said with a confused look.

"My name is Raina. Best fighter pilot in the world!" I boasted.

"That's a strange name."

"BWAHAHA!!!! O-o-oh, right! And 'Twilight Sparkle isn't!"

"Well Rainbow, sorry to end your fantasy but we need to get you back to normal. Please stay still, this will just take a second." She said as her horn shone brighter and she began to approach me.

"Wait! What!! No no no no! Stay away!" I yelled as she got closer.

I began to squirm and thrash my body trying to escape.

"GET AWAY! DON'T TOUCH ME!!"

As her horn got closer and closer I began to scream...but it wasn't coming from me and it was slowly getting louder and louder.

"AaaaaaaaaaaAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

A cyan and rainbow streak came whizzing through the window above my head before impacting the bookshelf across the room.

"THUD! CRUNCH! CRASH!"

As the dust cleared, I opened my eyes and glanced across the room. There upside down was a pegasus pony who looked just like me!

Author's Note

So I decided to mash the first two chapters together. So yeah. Expect the last rewritten chapter in the next couple days! Oh and point out any Typos!

Chapter 3: "Say again?"

I looked across the room at my doppelganger as her eyes opened and went wide at the sight of me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Twilight and Fluttershy looking back-and-forth between us.

Suddenly Twilight pointed her horn at me and it began to glow.

"Wait! What are you do-" I began to to say before she zapped me.

ZZAP!

I felt myself thrown backwards into the book case. Right then a pain that felt like I had been struck by lightning kicked in.

"The FUCK was that! What did you do Twilight?!" I asked confusedly as the pain retreated and then went away altogether.

A confused look came over her face before she whirled around and zapped 'Rainbow Dash' with what I assumed was the same thing.

"AGH! What the HAY Twilight!" She yelled glaring at the unicorn.

Twilight's eyes went wide and a look of sheer confusion came over her.

"B-but how?" She stuttered with a look of confusion on her face, "T-that was a revealing spell! How is that possible?! You are both Rainbo-"

That's when the pain hit.

Twilight stopped speaking as I fell over and began cursing like my life depended on it. A pain that felt like I had been dipped in lava overcame my entire body causing me to fall over. I let out a pained scream. Then I blacked out.

A minute later I regained consciousness. I was laying on my side in the fetal position.

"What is it?" came a soft voice off to my left.

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it." Came Twilight's voice.

I brought my hoof up to rub my eyes.

instead of the expected hard appendage, I felt my fingers rubbing my eyes.

Is that? My...hand?

"Wha? Am I?" I said in my slightly lower human voice, "YES!" I exclaimed with a huge grin. I stood up as I looked over my body. Same fingers, same messy shoulder length brown hair, same everything. I even had my flight suit on.

I looked over at the ponies and saw that they were gazing at me with a mix of fear, confusion, and curiosity. That's when the rainbow one flapped her wings and zipped straight at me. I quickly sidestepped and watched as she slammed into the bookshelf behind me sending books everywhere.

"Ow!" She said as she rubbed her head.

"Geez! Chill!" I said as she glared daggers at me.

"Oh yeah! Well how come you looked just like me a few seconds ago, huh?" She asked getting ready to pounce a second time.

"Uh...I-I honestly have no idea." I answered hesitantly.

"Huh?" She said looking confused.

"I have no idea why." I said, shrugging.

"Well, what are you then?" Asked Twilight from behind me.

"I'm a human." I replied glancing at her.

Twilight grabbed Rainbow in her levitation thing and floated her over to where the unicorn was sitting, before setting her down.

"Thanks." I said glancing at RD, "How did you do that by the way?" I asked Twilight.

"Do what?" She asked evidently confused.

"Make me human again. " I said sitting down against a book shelf, "and levitate stuff."

"Oh, that. It's just a revealing spell, and basic levatation." she said with an excited gleam in her eyes. "The revealing spell dispels all magical illusions and returns anything that has been affected by a transformation spell matrix to its true form, as well as making it so that the object cannot be affected by either for thirty minutes."

"…OK then." I said trying to wrap my head around what she just said. "So magic is a thing here?"

"Yes. Why?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do you not have magic where you are from?"

"Nope."

"What! That's!…I!" She stuttered at a loss for words. She took a deep breath before she said, "Can I ask you some questions?"

"Sure, I guess. Though I might not answer several." I shrugged.

"Ok!" She squealed with excitement before levitating several things out of drawers and cabinets around the room, namely scrolls, quills and an inkwell.

"Hmm let's see." She paused deep in thought, "Oh! I know! First of all, what is your full name?" She asked excitedly.

"Captain Raina Moore, call-sign 'Dash', 409 squadron RCAF."

"Captain? So you're a member of the royal guard where you come from?" She said with an raised eyebrow.

"I guess? I'm a member of my country's military." I said proudly.

"Oh." she paused to scribble something on her scroll, "What does RCAF stand for?"

"Royal Canadian Air Force."

"So you're a flyer? I don't see any wings on you." She said while looking over me.

"Oh, those are right here." I said sarcastically while indicating the pilot's wings on my uniform.

"What!? How do you fly with those?" asked Rainbow as she zipped up and examined them closely.

"I was kidding! Those just show that I've completed flight school." I explained as I tried to stifle my laughter.

"Well, how do you fly then?" She said looking curious.

"In a CF-200 Super Arrow." I explained, realizing that these ponies were much less advanced than what I was used to, tech wise.

"A Arrow?" She asked looking very confused.

"A CF-200 Super Arrow. The best way to describe it would be a metal flying machine." I explained.

"Pfff. Who needs a machine? I bet I can beat it in a race!" She boasted.

"Not unless you can fly at mach three." I said with what I figure was a shit eating grin on my face.

"WHAT!" Both Rainbow and Twilight exclaimed.

"No way!" Rainbow finished, hovering a few feet in front of me.

"Yup." I nodded.

"Well...uh...I can fly Mach two!"

"No! No living thing can go that fast!" I exclaimed. The forces needed to go that fast would tear a being without any protection apart.

She huffed and crossed her forelegs, "Well I did."

"That was you chasing me wasn't it?" I asked her.

"What?"

"That was you chasing my plane." I said pointing at her.

"Uh, you mean the big grey…flying thing?" She said.

I nodded before she continued, "Well then, yeah that was me."

"How the hell did you keep up then?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria! Duh!" She said giving little flap of her wings.

"Yeah well my jet's faster!" I said sticking my tongue out at her.

"H-how?" Stuttered Twilight.

"How what?" I asked turning to her.

"How can you make something that goes that fast?" She clarified.

"Technology. Don't ask me how it works, I only know how the weapons and jet engine works."

"Weapons?" She said sounding panicked.

"Well, yeah. It is a warplane." I said enphisizeing the fact.

"Warplane?" She squeeked.

"Did you even catch what I said about me being in the military?" I said crossing my arms, and giving her a skeptical look.

"Oh. Umm...let's move on." She said visibly worried "What is a callsign?"

"A call-sign is a nickname a pilot uses over the radio in squadron. You earn it for something you did in basic or something that describes your personality." I explained before I sat down against a book case, quickly followed by Dash and Twilight. I couldn't see Fluttershy, which led me to believe she had left while we were talking.

I continued, "I got mine, 'Dash', because, one; I tend to use that word a lot when issuing orders, two; I'm really athletic, and three; my friend Lucas said I acted like some character named 'Dash' from a little girls show he watched. He was the one who came up with it and it stuck."

"Oh, interesting." She said scribbling down some notes, "How did you get here?"

"Well, I was coming in on final approach to the runway in my jet, and the entire plane and me just...Dissolved into little pink bits. Then everything went black for a few seconds, when my vision returned I was on final for a runway so I landed and found two extra jets, fuel, and a hanger full of spare parts and ammo." I said before shrugging, "Basically, I have no clue."

I looked back a Twi, "Twilight, can I ask a few questions now?"

"Oh." She said contemplating it. "Sure!"

"Were the hell am I?" I asked being blunt.

"Ponyville, Equestria."

"Like I know where that is. Hell, I must be on another planet altogether." I said putting my head in my hands and doing my best to stave off another panic attack.

I took a deep breath and sighed. "So..."

We chatted for a good Twenty minutes, Twilight and Rainbow answering my questions about Equestria, including the marks on their flanks called 'cutie marks'.

"Huh, weird." I said, after Twilight finished explaining.

That's all I could manage before I was on the floor moaning in agony.

"FUCKING-SON-OF-A-BITCH!" I screamed before blacking out for the second time in one day.

As I woke up, I slowly uncurled and brought my hand up to my face, afraid of what I would see.

A cyan hoof.

"NO! I don't want hooves, I don't want fur, I don't want to be a pony!! I wanna be myself!" I screamed in Rainbow's voice before I fell on my haunches began sobbing uncontrollably.

I cried. My wings hung loosely beside me and I felt my ears fold down. A few seconds later I felt something soft drape over my back. I looked to my left to see Rainbow looking at me with her wing on my back. I glanced at her before letting it all out, 72 hours of bottled up emotions spilling out.

"Hey...uhhh." She said looking at me sadly. "Sorry. Comforting ponies isn't really my thing." She muttered as she searched for words.

Twilight came up and sat on the opposite side of me. "Don't worry. We will find a way to change you back."

"Y-you will?" I asked looking at her.

"Sure! Here, I'll just cast that spell on you again." Twilight chipped in as she lowered and charged her horn.

"NO!" I yelled putting up my hooves to protect myself "...I mean...Don't, that hurts to much and I'll probably just end up changing back again." I said solemnly.

"Well then we will find some other way." She said canceling the spell.

"Really?" I asked, brightening.

"Of course!" Rainbow said, "What kind of ponies would we be if we didn't?"

"Wow...Thanks guys." I said beginning to feel much better.

"But only if you arn't the start of an alien invasion!" Rainbow exclaimed, before she grinned. "Now how about those jets?"

"Ugh, fine. Lemme get my bag." I said as I trotted over to where I had left my saddlebags.

I sat down on my haunches and pulled out my Glock from the bag, ejecting the mag giving it a quick look over. Satisfied that it was in working condition, I placed the quarter empty mag in my saddlebag and replaced it with a fresh thirteen round magazine.

"How are you doing that?" Came Twilight's voice.

"Doing what?" I asked not looking up from my gun.

"Pressing the buttons on that…thing." she said walking over.

"I don't know. I just am." I said as I quickly gave the pistol a look over.

"Wait a second." She said before casting a spell that sent a pulse out from her horn in all directions.

"What the hell was that?" I said looking around for any changes.

"That was a magic detector spell, any magic fields are highlighted so you can see it. Like at your hooves." she explained, pointing at the gun in my hooves.

"What?" I asked as my gaze shifted to the gun.

I saw a purple outline in the shape of fingers extending from my hooves and holding the gun.

"The hell? Twilight, what the heck is this?" I asked before I noticed that she was examining my 'fingers' closely and muttering to herself.

"So the field's projection is shaped like her appendages in her human form allowing more interactivity."

"Twilight." I said, but she ignored me.

She continued "The reason for this is because she is used to having them."

"Twilight!" I yelled finally getting her attention.

"Yes?" She said as her head popped up.

"Can you stop? That's a little weird."

"Oh, sorry." She said backing up quickly.

"So what is this exactly?" I asked after re-holstering my gun and flexing my 'fingers' a few times.

"That is a magic field, basically identical to the one I can make from my horn, all ponies can make one from their hooves. But only when they are almost in direct contact, as opposed to the ability of unicorns to levitate objects from a distance, but nopony's ever seen one shaped like this." She finished indicating my 'fingers'.

"What does a regular pony's field thingamadohicky look like?" I asked noticing that if I didn't think about it my fingers they disappeared.

"This." Twilight said as she levitated a book over and grabbing it with her hoof, causing a purple blob to appear around the edge of the book and hold it onto her hoof.

"Oh, weird." I said looking at it.

"Helloooo? Super cool flying machines waiting to be seen out there!" An impatient rainbow pegasus yelled.

"Alright alright! Let's go then." I said heading for the door.

"Wait! We need to come up with an excuse for why there are two Rainbow Dashes first." Exclaimed Twilight.

"Oh. Umm." I thought for a second. "There are identical twins here right?" I asked.

"Yes, but Identical twins are very rare." Twi responded.

"What about identical twins with the same cutie marks?" I wondered.

"Only one pair of twins in nine hundred, ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-seven, point five six-"

"Get on with it Twi!" Yelled Rainbow Dash.

"Ugh! -Identical twins having identical cutie marks is extremely rare but not unheard of." She said giving us a shortened version.

"Egghead!" Whispered RD who was hovering beside me, causing me to giggle.

"Well there's our excuse." I said feeling slightly relieved. "Is there anyone around town who would know that I'm not actually your twin sister?"

"Only Fluttershy." Replied Rainbow, "We should also come up with a pony name for you, since Raina is not exactly a pony name."

"OK." I began thinking of everything I knew about pony names.

Rainbow Cloud? Too strange. Lightning Dash? Good but sounds like a guys name. Rainbow Crash? Too demeaning. Oh! I got one!

"How about...Rainbow Slash?" I said, cocking my head to one side.

"Hey! That's perfect! Now let's go." Dash said hovering towards the door. "Oh, and have you figured out how use your wings yet?" She said glancing back at me.

"Oh a bit!" I said, grinning and jumping into a hover.

"So where is your base?" Twi asked.

"Just north of here."

"Hurry up, let's go! I wanna see these jets!'" Exclaimed Dash as she opened the door and flew outside, as me and Twilight followed.

Author's Note

Tah DA!

So thanks to school, I don't really have time to write, hence I only have weekends now.

Now you guys are proboly wondering why the heck I made the protagonist female after the rewrite. Well…I just felt I couldn't make a realistic reaction to a sex change, so yeah.

Also on the subject of the Arrow. The Super Arrow in this story is heavily modified from the design made back in the 1960s. It is redesigned so as to be faster, and more maneuverable, with new engines, avionics and a modified wing, so yeah. Just think back to the pic in the Chapter one authors notes.

Any questions? Ask em' below! (if their reasonable)

Chapter 4: "Mayday!"

"Woah. I've only seen a runway that long when I took a tour of the Wonderbolts training center when I was a filly." Rainbow muttered as we came into view of the strip.

I grinned. The runway was actually much shorter than most, only a klick and a half long. It didn't have painted lines and numbers either. Two taxiways exited each end leading to the apron, a good sized paved area with the hangar opening on one side. This was where my jets were parked.

"Eh, by my standards this is fairly short." I replied as we made our way towards the hangar, "Most back home are three kilometres long."

"Three?" Twilight asked as we crossed the runway, "Why would you need such a long runway?"

I turned back to her as I spoke, "Some of the really big transport and tanker planes we have need 'em. And I mean really big planes."

"Oh." Was all Twilight said as we crossed the runway-something I would never do if there were flight ops in progress-and approached the Super Arrows. All three were painted with a functional standard grey camouflage, as well as bearing standard RCAF roundels and other markings. I could tell mine apart from the other two as it had my name, rank and callsign stenciled on the side just under the canopy.

"Wow these things look so awesome!" Dash exclaimed as she flew up and around the plane looking at it from all angles. Seeing as there was no risk of an accident, I let her.

"Huh." Said Twilight, as she too examined the plane, "You weren't kidding when you said they were big. I mean does this really fly?"

I nodded as my own eyes went over the aircraft. I had over one hundred hours at the controls of this specific plane, but every time I laid eyes on it I still felt a little part inside of me squealing with joy, fan-girling over my plane. It was just so sleek and, well...awesome!

"What's up with this one?" Dash asked. I looked over to see her hovering above the CF-200B.

"That's a two seater." I replied hovering over, "Its used for training and when you need a designator aircraft for laser guided weapons."

At that her eyes lit up. "Can we!?"

"Can we what?" I asked in puzzlement quirking an eyebrow.

"Go for a flight!" Dash exclaimed. "You can fly, and Ill enjoy the ride."

I thought it over. On one hand, or rather, hoof, It was against regulations to take a civilian for a ride unless given permission by the wing commander. But the other side was that no one back home would ever know if I did get back. I could just 'conveniently' forget.

My mind made up, I replied "Fine. Come with me. You can borrow one of my extra flight suits." I hovered down to land before trotting off towards my cabin, Dash and Twi following.

"Are you sure that's OK Slash?" Twilight asked, and I quirked an eyebrow at her use of my chosen pony name.

"Yeah. Ill just take her up, show the speed and maneuverability and come back. Will you be OK waiting for a bit?" I asked as I opened the front door.

"Yeah that's fine." She replied as the three of us entered. "So where did this base come from? It wasn't here before. And whats this building."

"I dunno about the base. It was just here when I got my vision back. And this is my cabin from my former base. Dunno how this got here either." I explained as The two of them entered.

"Hey who's this?" Rainbow asked as she pointed a hoof at a picture of me and my Dad. "I know thats you but who's this?"

I looked over at the picture. It was of me at my graduation from 'fighter school' with my dad. He was a younger guy for a father only being 43. In fact I had been something of an 'accident' when my dad was Eighteen. According to him my Mom had left because she hadn't wanted the responsibility at their young age, leaving Dad to raise me. As a result we had been extremely close. Just looking at the picture made me want to cry since I had no way home at the moment. I missed him more than I would admit.

I steeled myself and forced my tears back though as I replied, "Thats my Dad. My Mom left after she had me…"

"Really?" Rainbow asked, "How old were they when they had you?"

"Dad was eighteen, Mom was only sixteen." I answered as I led them into my bedroom.

"Really?!" Dash exclaimed as I took one of my spare green fight suits out of the closet. "Me too!"

I stopped and gave her a surprised look, "Oh…huh. How old are you now?"

"Twenty-five." She replied.

Rainbow's look of surprise mirrored mine as I replied, "Me too!"

Twilight too had a look of surprise, and soon began muttering to herself.

"Thats really weird." Dash said as she took the flight suit and began putting it on.

"So why do we need these?" She asked changing the subject.

"Oh, the flight suits?" I asked and she nodded as she continued to struggle into it. "It has spots to attach the G-suit and harnesses."

"G-suits?" Dash asked as she managed to zip up the suit.

"I'll explain later." I replied leading them back to the door, with Twilight muttering quietly to herself the whole way.

I reached the door and opened the closet to grab my helmet, G-suit, and other necessary gear, as well as my extra set, which I gave to Dash.

"Do we really need all this?" She asked, slipping the grey helmet on her head and putting the rest on her back to carry.

"Yup." I answered, doing the same and heading out the door.

"So uh…Whats your dad like?" Dash asked as we exited the door.

"He's…cool." I muttered.

"Cool?"

"Dash…I don't really wanna talk about him right now…" I said as I glanced at her.

Twilight glanced up, surprised from her thoughts, at this exchange. She looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "You miss him don't you?"

"Yes."

We walked the rest of the way to the plane in silence, save for the sounds of three sets of hooves. "Wait here." I said as we came up to the aircraft. I promptly dropped all the gear off my back. Hovering up, I unlatched the canopy and opened it, while Dash and Twilight waited. I hovered back down and grabbed some of Dash's borrowed gear dropping it beside us.

"Stay still." I muttered before I took the G-suit and began strapping it on around Dash's rear legs. She obeyed and it only took a few seconds.

"OK hop in." I said indicating the rear seat.

"So whats this for?" The Rainbow pegasus asked as we hovered up.

"The G-suit?" I replied.

"Yeah."

Dash hovered up to the cockpit as I replied, "It's to prevent blackouts. You now when you do a high speed turn and you feel like your body is trying to go to the outside of the turn?"

"Yeah." She replied as I began to buckle her in.

"Well, at the speeds this jet will get going, if we turn really hard the blood will drain from your head and you'll black out. The air pockets in the G-suit will inflate during those turns and squeeze your legs, preventing the blood from leaving your head." I explained as I finished tightening the last restraints.

"Oh." Dash muttered. "Cool. So, what are all these buttons and black things?" she finished, waving a hoof at the screens and instruments.

I glanced at it, remembering the first time I had been in a Super Arrow's cockpit. At first glance, like most modern fighter jets, it was a fairly intimidating amount of buttons, knobs, display screens, and dials. More so when the screens were on.

"Don't worry about it. Just don't touch anything but this-" I said, indicating the stick "-this, and this." As well as pointing out the rudder pedals and throttle. "Just rest your hooves lightly on them to feel how they move as I fly the plane."

"OK." Dash said, barely hiding her excitement as I connected her radio and oxygen from the mask.

"When I start the plane, clip this on, and lower your visor OK?" I said pointing to her mask.

"Got it." She replied.

I nodded before hovering down to Twilight. "Twi, can you wait by the cabin? I don't want the jet wash or anything to hurt you."

"Alright." She said, "Good luck!"

"Not gonna need it!" I replied with a smile as she turned around and walked away as I quickly attached my own G-suit before hopping into the front seat. I quickly attached my own restraints as well as radio and oxygen. Satisfied, I began running over my start-checklist.

"Fuel pump on." I muttered as I went through the list, "Mixture rich. Throttle full. Throttle all the way back. Mixture lean. Aaaaand ignition!" I finished as I flipped the switch and the engines roared to life.

I flipped on the avionics and the radio.

"Check check. You hear me Dash?" I asked over the intercom.

"Yeah I got ya. How are we talking right now?" She replied.

"The mask has a built in microphone." I said, continuing to flip on the radar and the Heads Up Display causing it to project onto my helmet's visor.

"Oh…The hay?! Hey, Slash?" Dash said in surprise.

"Yeah?" I asked, not pausing in my start up.

"What's this stuff that just appeared on the visor?"

"Thats the HUD, or Heads Up Display. Its shows speed, altitude, heading and a bunch of other useful stuff." I explained.

"Oh, so-"

"Wait one." I said cutting her off. I had finished my start up and was about to start taxing when I had spotted something on the radio display. I had set it to scan all channels for any radio traffic, just in case, and it had found something.

"What is it?" Dash asked.

"I'm getting radio traffic." I replied, fiddling with the radio and finding the frequency.

"Radio traffic?"

"Yeah, long range communication equipment. Allows us to talk to other planes." I replied, "Now be quiet lets see whats going on."

And with that I flicked to the frequency. A panicked sounding female voice immediately filled my headphones.

"-ayday, Mayday! This is Sukhoi fifty, Tiger Three-Three! I've lost my number two engine and am under attack by an unknown hostile! If you are receiving please respond!"

I Immediately took action, opening the throttle and beginning to taxi to the runway, while simultaneously hitting the transmit button on the stick.

"Tiger three-three, this is Avro Charlie-Foxtrot-Two-Hundred Nighthawk two-one. How copy?" I asked.

"Oh thank god! Solid copy Nighthawk! Wait one!" Came the voice back full of relief.

"Uh…what?" Dash asked from the back seat, "What just happened?"

I turned onto the runway not hesitating as I slammed open the throttle to full afterburner. "Radio discipline. I'll teach you a bit another time." I told her as I quickly did inventory, flicking my weapons to armed. The jet was armed with six AIM-120 radar guided missiles and two Sidewinder heat seekers. Satisfied, I glanced at my airspeed and eased back on the stick, bringing the jet into the air. I couldn't see Dash in the back but I figured she had a huge grin on her face.

"Nighthawk two-one, Tiger three-three! Whats your locat-Fuck!" The call cut off mid sentence as I banked to the right and climbed getting a look at the castle built on the side of a mountain to the North. Canterlot Twilight had told me back in the library.

"Tiger! Do you copy!?" I yelled. Sure, she was obviously Russian, much like the others that had killed half my flight a few days back, but she was probably the only other human in a similar situation to me, considering I was pretty sure the ponies didn't have Su-50s.

"I'm OK Nighthawk! I'm OK! Fuck. What is this thing." She muttered. "Nighthawk. I'm lighting up my radar!"

"Roger." I replied, right before a Sukhoi's radar spike appeared on my Radar Warning Receiver, or my RWR. It detected any radar emissions from aircraft and told me where it was. "I got your spike! Spiking you! Oscar Mike." I said turning toward the blip on the screen about two hundred klicks to the North and activating my radar.

"I got you as well." Tiger replied. "Heading to you full throttle."

"Roger, Nighthawk out." I replied opening to full afterburner and climbing. Behind Tiger's radar spike I could see a much bigger contact. I took a deep breath to quell my rapidly accelerating heart beat.

"Slash? Whats going on?" Dash asked as the speed built up.

"Tiger is in trouble. And we are going to help her." I replied as the jet broke the speed of sound and I levelled out at seven thousand feet.

I hit my transmit button again before speaking. "Tiger, this is Nighthawk. What can you tell me about your attacker?"

"Nighthawk, Tiger! All I can say is it looks like a god damn dragon! Out!" I raised my eyebrow at that.

As we broke mach three and the range between us rapidly closed as I glanced at my radar again. From my displays Tiger was now one hundred klicks away at five thousand feet doing about four hundred knots, or about eight hundred kilometres an hour. Her slow speed was no doubt because of her blown engine.

"Are Dragons a thing here Dash?" I asked.

"Yup." She replied. I could almost hear the nervousness in her voice.

"Big fire breathing lizard things?"

"Yeah. Are we really gonna attack it?"

"Well yeah…but…fuck." Was all could think of to say.

I began trying to think of a plan of attack. The heat seekers were out, as a dragon wouldn't be putting out enough heat for them to lock on to. That left the AMRAAMs. They had a range of about one hundred klicks, but if I wanted to guarantee a hit and avoid hitting Tiger it would be best to attack from behind.

My mind made up, I watched the range count down. I glanced out of the cockpit as we came within five klicks. Off to the right about two klicks away and three thousand feet below was Canterlot. To the left I immediately spotted a big orange thing flying three thousand feet below, level with the castle and city, chasing a small black dot across the sky.

"Tiger three-three, this is Nighthawk two-one. I have visual."

"Roger I see you too!" She replied, relief evident.

I was about to roll over and dive in behind when the dragon opened its mouth and spewed a fireball at the Russian aircraft. My eyes widened and I quickly shouted, "Tiger! Break left!"

She quickly complied rolling left and turning out of the way of the fireball. Unfortunately this sent her straight toward Canterlot, and at the speed the jet was going…

Unfortunately the dragon followed. I quickly rolled over with my throttle all the way back and deployed my air breaks. I felt my heart rate spike as I selected all six of my AMRAAMs and swiftly locked up the dragon. I saw Tiger panic and turn away to avoid the castle. I figured she came within two hundred meters of the edge.

"Slash! the dragons gonna hit Canterlot!" Dash yelled over my headphones.

I didn't hesitate.

"Fox three!"

I loosed the missiles and rolled into a hard right turn to avoid the castle. I felt the G-forces squishing me into my seat and I fought to remain conscious. I watched as our trajectory changed and I levelled out on a course that would take us past the mountain. Looking to the left I quickly spotted the missile trails right before impact. There a flash as the first three impacted all over his back, doing negligible damage as the dragon flapped his wings and went into a hover in front of the castle. The next three were better, two hitting each wing and shredding them. The dragon lost all his lift and began to plummet. I watched as he fell, a full five thousand feet before smashing into the ground.

He didn't get up.

"WOO! Hell yeah! Scratch one dragon!" I exclaimed.

"Nice shooting Nighthawk! I owe you!" Tiger three-three replied.

"Wow. was all Dash said.

"No prob. You got anywhere to land?" I asked quickly spotting the Sukhoi limping along.

I flew over and pulled up onto her wing as she replied "Negative. I'm a bit banged up and low on fuel though."

I looked over to see her helmet looking over at me. "Roger that. Follow me then. Out."

I turned back towards the base, heading home.

Author's Note

so yeah...I'm not very satisfied by this chapter...Just doesn't feel right. But this is like my fifth attempt so I don't think I can do much better without some serious help. I may come back if I feel like overhauling it, but...Fuck it! You've all waited long enough!

Anyway, thanks to my friend Storm wolf40 for finding all the tiny little typos.