The Stranded Pilot

Maverick walked in to Thunderlanes living room after spending three hours of the day moving clouds around the Ponyville sky. Thunderlane himself was sitting at a desk going through some paperwork. He looked up and held out a glass of ice cold lemonade.

"Good work today Maverick. Here, you need to keep hydrated on weather duty."

Maverick took the glass gratefully. The clouds only felt like large pillows, but pushing them around in the sun for three hours had made him thirsty. Thunderlane slid a small cotton bag over the desk towards him as Maverick drank.

"Here, 50 Bits. It's not much, but it's all we can give you." Thunderlane said.

Maverick nodded and finished the lemonade. "No problem, it's a good start. As a matter of curiosity, how much does it cost to buy a house here in Ponyville?" he set the glass down and picked up the bag of coins. His first payment. That made him smile.

"Well, to buy, a house is about 50,000 Bits. To rent, it's usually like 300 Bits a month. You should probably get an apartment though. The rents only like a 100 Bits a month."

"What about a cloud-house, like this one, or Dash's?"

"They're specially made. Not as expensive as normal houses, but the mayors pretty fussy about 'em. They have to be a certain way from Ponyville, because of zoning laws and all that. Should cost you about 10,000 Bits though." Thunderlane said.

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Thunderlane."

"No problem Maverick. Oh, and Flitter said to say hi." he called after Maverick as the pegasus walked through the front door and flew down towards Ponyville with the bag of coins held in his mouth. He had a train to meet.

Maverick landed and trotted up to the Ponyville station to meet Twilight and her friends off the train. He had caught some of the events from last night, and Twilight and co. had a lot of explaining to do given the smoke and green fire he saw rising from the city. At least the wedding seemed to have gone off well, if the firework display afterwards was anything to go by.

The train hissed into the station just as Maverick reached the platform. The conductor pony came and opened each carriage's door in turn. Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack all walked out of the third carriage wearing saddlebags which Maverick presumed held their wedding dresses. As usual, Spike was next to Twilight. Before Maverick walked up to them they said goodbye to each other and walked off in their different directions. Maverick flew over and tapped Dash on the shoulder, making her spin around in surprise. She calmed down when she saw it was him and high-hoofed him.

"Maverick, nice to see you again!"

"You too Dash. By the way, nice Rainboom yesterday." Maverick followed Dash as she set off into the air towards her house.

"Thanks, you saw that?" Dash asked.

"Uh huh. Pretty sure all of Equestria saw it too. One of the best things I've ever seen."

Dash looked back at Maverick and beamed proudly. "Thanks!" then she noticed the bag on his back. "What's in the bag?"

"My first weather patrol salary. I got myself a job." Maverick stated proudly.

"Really? What else did you do while we were away?" Dash asked as they approached her house.

"That was the most eventful thing that happened." Maverick shrugged. "It's actually pretty boring around here when you guys go." he admitted. He touched down next to Dash outside her house.

"Huh. I'd never really thought of it like that. There always seems to be something going on with Twilight or Pinkie or someone." Dash shrugged.

"I guess. Hey, can you tell me what happened? In Canterlot I mean, with all the smoke and that huge shield."

Dash sighed. "It's a long story." she warned him.

Maverick grinned. "I've got all day."

"Alright then. You may as well come in." Dash walked into her house and Maverick followed.

"So you really fought a changeling army?" Maverick asked awed at Dash's story. He was sitting on her couch, money on the table side.

"Yep! And you can bet we kicked flank!" Dash shouted, mimicking an uppercut.

"I don't doubt it." Maverick said. "I should talk to the Princess. That's exactly the sort of thing the Lightning could have helped with."

"The Lightning?" Dash asked, cocking her head.

"My plane. Remember, it's called a Eurofighter Lightning." Maverick reminded her.

"Oh yeah. Hey, that reminds me, the Princess gave Twilight a note to give you, I think was something about the Lightning."

Maverick's eyebrows rose. "It's probably important. I gotta go, sorry Dash!" Maverick ran out the front door, gliding down to the Ponyville library, forgetting the bag of Bits. He ran in through the door.

"Twilight!" he called. The purple unicorn appeared at the top of the stairs.

"There you are Maverick, we've been looking for you." she said.

"We?" Maverick asked, closing the door behind him.

"Yep." a familiar brown unicorn appeared next to her.

"Iron Clad! What're you doing here?" Maverick flew up the stairs and high-hoofed him.

"So, you really turned into a pony, huh?" Iron Clad smiled as he returned the high-hoof.

Twilight smiled and levitated a scroll over to Maverick who plucked it from the air with his fore-hooves. "I'll leave you two to it. Here you go Maverick, a letter from the princess."

Maverick smiled gratefully. "Thanks Twilight. So, Iron Clad, you never answered my question."

"Well, read the letter and you'll find out." Iron Clad nodded at the scroll in Mavericks hoof.

He sighed. "Couldn't just tell me?"

Iron Clad laughed. "Nope. Follow me."

Maverick unfurled the scroll and held it between his front hooves as he flew down the stairs bipedally.

Maverick

This is the Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armour. As you know, I have just married, so please forgive my disorganisation. Princess Celestia has briefed me on your status and where you have come from. Upon Princess Celestia's order your airship is a part of the Royal Guard, and in my care. Don't worry, it still belongs to you, but you must allow the Guard to use it when requested. In exchange I have sent Iron Clad to help you construct a permanent shelter for your airship, as you have experience working together. Attached is another scroll with the debrief of what happened yesterday in Canterlot.

And thank you for passing on congratulations through my sister Twilight.

-Shining Armour

Maverick and Iron Clad, or Frederic, were walking down the street and Maverick now realised they were heading for crash clearing.

"Wow, so the Lightning is a part of the Royal Guard now. What does it mean 'permanent shelter'?"

"That's why I'm here. I'm gonna be helping you make a hangar. The materials arrived with the train and a couple of guards took them to the clearing." Frederic looked back at Maverick as flew along behind him. "I was damned surprised when word reached me that you'd been transformed into a pony."

"How so?" Maverick asked as he looked through the debriefing.

"Humans come here sometimes, but you're the first that's visited since I arrived. Most of the time they go back to Earth, but you're the first to choose to stay for about a hundred years."

Maverick looked up, surprised. "There have been other humans here?"

"Apparently." Frederic nodded as they left Ponyville.

"Huh. I wonder where the ones who stayed behind are."

"I don't know. Ponies don't really talk about humans once they leave. To everyone in Equestria, you're just another pony. And so am I." Frederic said.

"Wow. And all this happened just yesterday?" Maverick flew over to Frederic and pointed out the part of the debriefing to Frederic that mentioned the battle.

"Yeah. It was insane. Hey, here we are." Frederic pointed a hoof forwards.

Maverick looked up as well and saw a pair of guards building a wooden fence in the forest.

"What are they doing?" Maverick asked.

"Fencing off the clearing. It's royal property now, and we wouldn't want anyone seeing the fighter."

"Wow, you don't mess around. So what are we doing again?"

"Building a hanger. I brought a load of corrugated steel with me and tools to put it in place. It's simple; we take the tent down then build the hangar over the top of the plane. And I need to record the wingspan and height so I can make the door."

"Is it going to be automatic?" Maverick asked.

"Yep. And I haven't got to the best part yet." Frederic stopped on the Eurofighters runway.

"The best part?" Maverick cocked his head curiously.

"Yeah. You said your plane was experimental, and wasn't carrying weapons?"

"Other than the cannon under the cockpit and my pistol, except the cannon doesn't have any ammunition."

"Alright. That's my other job; making munitions and weapons for your fighter. But there are certain parameters with that. I'll talk to you about that later. First, the hangar." Frederic walked over to a cart loaded with corrugated steel and lifted up a steel I-beam. "First, we lay these around the edge of the base, cement them in and place the steel in the gaps in the I-beams. Simple. I hold the stuff in place with magic, and then you secure it."

"Seems simple enough." Maverick shrugged.

"In theory." Frederic muttered.

"What?" Maverick asked.

"Nothing." Frederic said quickly as he set the I-beam down.

"Oooookkkkk then. So, I cement in place?" Maverick asked.

"Yeah."

"Don't we need cement for that though?"

Frederic nodded. "You start the mixer, I'll move the beams into place and take down the tent."

Maverick sighed. "This is going to take all day, isn't it?"

"And most of tomorrow." Frederic nodded.

A convenient time lapse of 29 hours, to the next day, 8 o'clock…

Maverick used his hoof to hammer the last bolt into place, securing two pieces of corrugated steel. Using a hoof like a hammer, another perk. He stood on the curving roof and slid down sideways. Frederic watched him with a raised eyebrow.

"It may not have been, but I found it necessary." Maverick said. "Besides, it proves the roof is adequately curved."

"And I think I have the automatic door running. Give me the rest of the day, I think I can make it remote activated."

"You're pretty good with all this, inventing, and stuff." Maverick noted.

"Thanks." Frederic smiled gratefully. "Let's check out the finished product."

The doors slid open under the influence of Frederic's magic. They had built the hangar with a window on either side of the fighter. The sunlight was supplemented by several electrical lights that ran off the power generated by Mavericks solar panel generators when they were running. Five rows of curved I-beams arced over the fighter and held up the steel corrugated roof.

"Now, I was thinking we could cover the roof in soil, to camouflage the hangar, preserve heat and stop rainfall. And you need a vault or something to keep the weapons secure."

"All good ideas. I can't get over how professional this looks." Maverick flew up and knocked on the roof.

"Equestria magic. Hey, I was thinking, we should get a couple of pony sized batteries. That way you can charge your battery without the generators. Could power the lights as well…" Frederic looked at the back wall.

"We need a way to move the fighter in and out without magic." Maverick noted.

"Good thinking. Let me get a scroll." Frederic walked out into the sunlight and picked up a scroll and quill from the table next to the guards tent. One of the Royal Guards approached him as Maverick trotted over.

"Sir, the fence is almost done. What do we do now?"

Frederic looked up and nodded at Maverick. "You're asking the wrong guy. Maverick knows what needs to be done."

The guard turned to Maverick. "Sir?"

Maverick thought for a few seconds. "Well, if we're keeping this a secret from the general public, we should camouflage the runway. Do you have any green netting? Or something of the like?"

"Yes sir." the guard nodded.

"Ok, lay it over the runway and put spikes down on either side of the runway to keep it in place."

"Ok sir." the guard turned and two more followed him.

"Alright." Frederic finished the scroll and rolled it up. "I've asked for more copper and rubber for wires, but if we're going to be making some weapons and batteries it's going to take a lot of time."

"And we'll need to test them." Maverick said.

"Yeah, it should take a couple of weeks. So, want to brainstorm?" Frederic held up another scroll.

"Sure." Maverick dragged over two stools and sat on one. "Now, I'm going to go straight ahead and say no explosions or lethal weapons."

"Nope." Frederic scribbled on the scroll and underlined it as he sat down on the other stool.

"But I was thinking rubber bullets. They're the same as normal bullets except they have the point replaced with a small rubber ball. Dangerous at close range but from afar they just wind the person and or pony they hit." Maverick said.

Frederic scribbled on the scroll. "Sounds good."

"I'm stuck for heavier payloads though. Bombs and missiles, not really practical. A lot of circuitry and stuff needed." Maverick said.

"Well, you never know. There might be a couple of spells for that. Actually, I'll need to research it, but I think there's paralysis spell. Temporary, of course, but I might be able to make it so when the rubber ball hits somepony it paralyses them." Frederic tapped his chin with a hoof and looked thoughtfully upwards.

"You think you can make a large version of that? That activates in a wave, for a bomb or something?"

"That will take a metric tonne of magic." Frederic said.

"But it would be possible?" Maverick asked leaning forward.

"Theoretically." Frederic nodded.

"Well, time for science!" Maverick jumped up and thrust a hoof skywards.

A/N: There will be 2, and I say 2, more chapters of this story. After that I'm going to focus on my other stories, including the upcoming one. I won't be publishing that until I finish my other stories, because I want to put all my time to that. Also, here's a sneak preview of the new story here.