The Stranded Pilot

A/N: When you get to it, listen to the song while reading the story

They need to make the delete button smaller, or put it somewhere else. I almost gave myself a heart attack when I tried to add this chapter D:

Maverick tossed the book back onto the table.

'Bored' he thought. It had only been half an hour since he'd watched the train leave Ponyville, but it seemed all activity stopped. Almost like people lost interest in Ponyville while Twilight and her friends weren't here.

He shrugged. 'Might as well practise my flying.' he thought to himself again. He walked out the door and jumped into the air. He headed towards the field where Dash had first taught him the power of flight. Just as she had said, flying was coming a lot easier through practise. It took him little concentration to flap his new wings in time. On the way to the field he saw one of Ponyville's weather patrols, and had an idea.

He flew up to the two pegasi whom he recognized as Flitter and Cloud Chaser.

"Hey there Maverick." Cloud Chaser said as she kicked some clouds.

"Hey Cloud Chaser. You two are part of the weather patrol, right?" Maverick asked, hovering in place.

"Yeah." she nodded before moving away with a bank of clouds.

"Is it an actual job? Like, you get paid for it?" Maverick asked.

"Yeah. The pay isn't that great, but it's awesome doing a job for Ponyville." Flitter said. "Look out!" she pointed above him then shoved him out the way. A bolt of lightning flew down between them. Maverick looked up to see a dark grey cloud, and Ditzy's head looking over the side.

"Sorry guys." she said, frowning.

"Don't you remember what Rainbow Dash said about kicking the dark clouds Derpy?" Flitter called out. Derpy looked sad.

"I know, I know. Black clouds bad, white clouds good." she said. "Sorry."

Maverick shook his head as the air buzzed with electricity. His mane had become an afro, so he swept it back with a hoof back into its regular style. "It's alright Derpy." he said. "Thanks Flitter."

She smiled back at him. "No problem. So, why did you want know about weather patrol?"

Maverick shrugged. "I need a job if I'm going to live here. Got any openings?"

"You have to ask Thunder Lane if you want a job." Cloud Chaser said.

Maverick cursed under his breath. "I saw him earlier. If I'd known I'd have asked him. Oh well. Thanks anyway." Maverick nodded at the pegasi as Ditzy pushed the dark cloud away.

"No problem Maverick." Cloud Chaser said. "Whoa." she stared at something behind Maverick and Flitter was staring as well. He turned in the air, looking at the Canter mountains, where Canterlot itself was. Then he saw what they were staring at. There was a massive shield around the city, and was pulsing with energy. The pink colour grew denser, then calmed down.

'What the hell?' Maverick thought to himself. 'Why is there a shield around Canterlot?'

He'd ask Twilight when she got back. It looked like magic of some sort.

"Jeez." he muttered.

"Jeez?" Flitter asked.

"It's an expression where I come from." Maverick explained. "Anyway, I'm gonna go practise flying. I probably need it. Thanks again." Maverick flapped harder and did a corkscrew towards the field.

"Did you see that?" Cloud Chaser whispered to Flitter as Maverick dipped under a cloud.

"Yeah." Flitter answered dreamily.

Maverick soared through the sky towards the library. He'd been practising for about three hours now, and had mastered basic moves. He'd even managed to fly upside down for a few minutes before the blood had gone to his head and made him dizzy. But he wanted to try something new. And he'd need music for it.

He touched down and walked in through the door of the library. Deserted, not even Spike was here at the moment, probably at Sugar Cube Corner. Maverick trotted down into the basement and grabbed his iPhone. Surprisingly the headphones still fitted him, even though his ears twitched when he tried to put them in. Now that was done, Maverick needed some tape. There was a roll left from when he had made his treadmill, weeks ago. He picked it up and tore off several pieces. He placed the iPhone on his chest and taped it there, making sure to leave the screen unblocked and that it was held down tightly.

Having done that, Maverick taped the headphone wires along his neck. It would hurt later when he took it off, but it would be worth it. He tugged slightly at them, making sure there was no slack but he could move his head. It was all good. Maverick smirked to himself.

'Let's do this!'

He trotted up the stairs and closed the door behind him. As he made his way through the main door he rotated and flexed his wings, touching both sides of the door frame. He pulled the door shut with his wing and looked into the sky. Oh, this was going to be good.

He flapped his wings hard to push himself into the air. He needed a good spot for this.

He'd found that he could go maybe a couple of kilometres into the sky, but no further for lack of air and heat. The higher he got, the harder it got to fly. Less air to breathe and it was damn cold.

He was about to push that boundary again.

After a while Ponyville became a tiny speck below him. He was now as high as the lower peaks of the Canter Mountains. He looked down at the iPhone on his chest. It was difficult to look at, but he could just about see it. He went to his music and selected a song.

Now he was ready. He shivered as a cold wind blew across him and through his mane and tail. He tapped the screen with his hoof and the song  started in his ears.

God was he glad he'd brought his iPhone.

As the first notes played he closed his eyes and folded his wings, letting himself fall, enjoying the wind in his face.

"Falling toward the skyyyyyyy... waiting for myyyyyyyy… ride."

Maverick opened his eyes as the song really started. He was moving fast. REALLY fast. This was why he'd taped the headphones in. He flared his wings and set them flat, letting the wind blow over them. This was amazing. He tipped his right wing down and his left wing up, making himself spin like a bullet. The wind was blasting his face, ruffling his coat. He turned his whole left wing at an angle, committing himself to a corkscrew manoeuvre.

The corkscrew levelled him out, so he flapped his wings hard to keep his speed. He was an adrenaline junkie by nature, and the power of sub sonic flight didn't help. He tipped his feathers of both wings down like the flaps on his fighter, making him do a loop. The fall from his original height had dropped him a good deal down, and he was now about 500 meters off the ground, over the outskirts of Ponyville. He briefly glimpsed Sweet Apple Acres below him.

"Landin' safe on the back of the truck, now we riding through the streets talkin' 'bout good luck. Man that was tough, jumpin' off the building but if we didn't do it then our time was up."

Maverick saw some pegasi and banked right so he flew straight through a bank of cloud next to them, making two long entrails form from the tips of his wings. Flitter and Cloud Chaser had just finished piling the clouds up and they would probably be a bit annoyed, but right now he was having too much fun to care. He whooped as he barrel rolled again, just riding the momentum of the fall and no longer flapping his wings.

"…rise from the ash, and then I'm gone!" Maverick shouted as he pulled up again, flying straight into the sky. He put his wings out flat to slow himself and did a backflip, doing a vertical 480 degree flip so he was pointed at the ground yet again. He felt himself slow to a stop, then begin to fall. He looked straight down. He was now over the centre of Ponyville. He was gaining speed, just like with his first flight with Rainbow Dash. This time though, he was able to pull up just fine and shot around the rooftops of Ponyville with ease, sometimes getting within mere metres of the straw roofs. His wings were tired from the exertion of the last few minutes, so after a few more seconds he pulled up one last time, doing a half loop before righting himself and landing on a cloud, panting. The song wasn't over yet, but he didn't care.

He turned when he heard applause from behind. A group of maybe a dozen pegasi had gathered. He recognized them all as members of the weather patrol. He bowed.

Thunderlane touched down next to him as the others dispersed.

"Nice moves Maverick." he said before Maverick cut him off by holding up a hoof. He took the headphones out of his ears and nodded at Thunderlane, so he continued. "So, Flitter and Cloud Chaser said you wanted a job?" he asked as he folded his wings.

Maverick nodded. "I'll have to thank them. So, what you got available?"

Thunderlane put a hoof to his chin and looked thoughtful. "Normally I'd give you an interview and test your flying skills, but after that little air-show I think we can skip that. We don't have many openings, but we could always use more ponies to move clouds around at the weekend. Can you do that?"

"Sure. When do I start?" Maverick asked, stretching his tired wings.

"Well like I said, not many ponies want to work at, so just show up at the weekend if you want."

"Alright. Thanks Thunderlane." Maverick unfurled his wings and took off from the cloud.

"Meet up at my house, Saturday morning. 7am sharp!" Thunderlane shouted after him.

Maverick flew towards the library, and on the way he made sure he passed Flitter and Cloud Chaser.

"Thanks for letting Thunderlane know I wanted a job you two." he said as he glided past them.

"No problem Maverick." Flitter said.

Maverick nodded at the smiling pegasus and banked towards the library. Just this small exertion hurt his new appendages. Sub-sonic flight was exhausting. He made a running landing in front of the landing and hockey-stopped.

"Because that's how I roll." Maverick said to himself as he was about to enter the library. At the last moment though, his stomach rumbled. His body said it wanted to eat, and felt like something sugary.

He turned tail and headed towards Sugar Cube Corner. On the way he said hello to a few ponies, but it was ultimately uneventful. Again, it felt as though thousands of people had lost interest in Ponyville. He walked through the door of the gingerbread bakery. Spike was serving a tray of cookies.

"Hey Spike. Helping out while Pinkie's in Canterlot?" Maverick asked.

"Yup. Look, this is my first batch of cookies! Wanna try one?" Spike asked, holding the tray forward.

"Sure, I came here to get something to eat anyway." Maverick nodded. Spike tossed him a cookie and Maverick grabbed it out of mid-air before throwing it into his mouth.

"Not bad." he said through a mouthful of cookie.

"Thanks. Mrs Cake said they were good, but I wanted a second opinion." Spike grabbed a cookie for himself. "And a third opinion sure doesn't hurt." he dropped it in to his mouth and ate it in a single bite.

Maverick laughed and Spike held out the tray again. "Mr Cake says these were a test run, so he can't sell them. That means we get them to ourselves."

Maverick grinned more. "That's convenient; I didn't have any bits to buy anything." Spike handed him a handful of cookies as Maverick laughed. He saw a shadow in the door, but when he looked it was gone. He raised an eyebrow and then Spike called out.

"Flitter?" he called. There was no response. "Huh, coulda sworn Flitter was about to come in. Oh well." Spike shrugged and crammed a clawful of cookies into his mouth.

"Hey, leave some for me." Maverick said as he turned grabbed half the tray of cookies, before he raised a foreleg to see what the time was, but his watch wasn't there. Of course, it hadn't fitted his new form, and nor did his flight jacket. Maybe once he earned some money he could pay Rarity to alter them for him.

'Yeah, why not.'

"Hey Spike, mind if I go? I just sorta exhausted my wings a couple of minutes ago." he asked.

"No problem. See you later." Spike waved as Maverick left the bakery, the warm treats held in his fore legs. He had to fly like this, but it wouldn't be for long. He ate another cookie as he flew towards the library. He gained height so he flew over the roofs. If he was gonna fly, might as well go straight there. There were three cookies left by the time arrived and hovered through the door. He shrugged and decided to save them for later.

After he'd put them on a plate, he decided to take a shower to soothe his wings and have a nap.

A/N: For anyone wondering, Maverick will NOT be performing a Sonic Rainboom at any point. With all the other stories giving their characters the ability too, it's become too mainstream.