The Stranded Pilot

A/N: I know a couple of you wanted to see the date, but I couldn't write anything that wouldn't be boring. And most of the remaining story is going to be time-skips.

"See you later Iron Clad!" Maverick took to the air and flew out of the clearing as Frederic waved him off and went back to the blueprints. The Royal Guards had finished the fence and, with Mavericks direction, laid a green camouflage net over the whole runway. From the ground it was obvious it was there, but much higher than the treetops and none of the pegasi guards could see it, and Maverick had to agree. Soon the hangar would be covered as well.

He flapped his wings and soared higher into the air towards the library. While he'd had spare time during the day he'd decided he was going to rent an apartment in a three-storey building near to where Adven was staying that he had checked out. The rest of the day had been spent brainstorming more weapon ideas with Frederic. Frederic had sent a letter to Shining Armour requesting a military grant of 100,000 Bits to research and develop weapons. The grant had been approved, but only a quarter of it would be given straight away. Frederic had to make a prototype of each of the weapons and prove they worked before being given the other 75,000.

Maverick swerved around a cloud. Going through them was like going through a pile of pillows, so it was just easier to go around. Another pegasus started flying alongside. A mare, with gelled up white and light neon blue hair.

"Hey Maverick!" she said.

"Hey. Cloud Chaser right?" Maverick asked.

"Yeah. I only spoke to you a couple of days ago, you forget already?" she laughed.

"Sorry, I've got a lot on my mind." Maverick apologized.

"No problem. Can I ask you a question?" she asked.

"Shoot."

"You know my friend Flitter?"

Maverick rolled his eyes. "If you're going to ask if I know whether she likes me, the answer is yes, I do."

"Alright."

"Alright?" Maverick looked at the mare flying alongside him. "Nothing else?"

"Well, she'd kill me if she knew I was asking you, but maybe you could go on a date with her sometime? I mean, you don't have to but it would mean a lot to me." Cloud Chaser asked.

Maverick sighed. "I don't know. She seems nice, but I've got a lot going on." Maverick thought for a few seconds. "But… I guess it wouldn't hurt. Ok, I guess I can do that."

"Awesome! I'll tell Flitter."

"Don't forget to tell her the first wingman trick with Adven was good."

"First one?" Cloud Chaser asked.

"Yeah. Come on Chaser, don't play dumb. Clouds don't move that fast." Maverick pointed behind him towards the cloud he'd swerved around a minute earlier. "I'll meet you at the library, six o'clock tomorrow night Flitter!" Maverick called out. Cloud Chaser stopped and Maverick flew down to the library below. Flitter abandoned the cloud she'd been hiding in and caught up with the other pegasus.

"How does he do that?" Cloud Chaser asked.

"I don't know, but I've got a date!" she exclaimed. "Thanks Chaser!" Flitter hugged the other mare.

The Next Day, 5:53pm

Maverick ran through the door to Rarity's boutique. The fashion pony was stitching together pieces of fabric, presumably making a dress, and looked up at the sudden intrusion.

"Rarity, just the pony I need to see. Do you know anywhere I could take somepony on a date?" Maverick asked.

"Might I ask who the lucky mare is?" Rarity put down the needle and thread.

"Her names Flitter, a pegasus." Maverick said.

"How sweet." Rarity tapped her chin with a hoof. "Well, dinner is always nice."

"I was planning something like that." Maverick nodded. "Any suggestions where?"

"Well, there's a lovely restaurant around the corner from the market, the Purple Tulip. And I remember Twilight mentioning something about a meteor shower tonight. That might be nice to watch." Rarity suggested.

"Meteor shower; got it. Thanks Rarity, I owe ya'!" Maverick ran out the door again and flew towards the library, leaving a rather bewildered Rarity to shrug and continue with the dress.

Maverick flew towards the library as fast as he could. He'd spent the day working with the weather patrol and earned another 50 Bits, enough for his date. After that he'd gone back to the library, showered, met Frederic at the Hangar to brainstorm more armaments, then gone back to the library at half four for a nap. Curse that bed for being so comfortable. He'd woken up ten minutes ago and looked in shock at his digital watch to find he had the grand total of fifteen minutes before Flitter was due to arrive.

As Maverick closed in on the library he saw the mare in question walk up to the library door and knock on it. Maverick panicked and flew around the back and in through a window, ran down the stairs and stopped at the front door. He swept back his mane and opened the door.

"Hi Flitter. Ready to go?" Maverick asked.

"Sure! Are you ok? You seem a little out of breath." Flitter noted as Maverick closed the library door and led her towards the town centre.

"I'm fine." Maverick grinned.

Maverick led Flitter up the hill outside Ponyville, where he normally went drawing. He'd taken her to the restaurant Rarity had recommended and had a meal, Flitter a meadow grass salad and Maverick a hay and rose sandwich, and now he'd brought her here as the evening drew to a close and the sky darkened overhead.

"Thanks for dinner Maverick." Flitter said to him.

"No problem." Maverick smiled. "The hay was a little dry, but the meal was none too unpleasant."

"So what are we doing up here?" Flitter asked, looking around the darkening hillside.

"A little surprise." Maverick winked at her. He sat down under his usual tree and pointed up at the sky.

Flitter sat down next to him, looking up at the sky expectantly.

"So, is something supposed to happen?" she asked after a minute.

"Yeah, just give it a second." Maverick said.

The two ponies sat there, waiting. Flitter spoke up. "Why didn't you go back? To your own world, I mean?"

Maverick thought for a bit, looking up at the sky. "It's nice here. Better than back where I come from. Besides, there's nothing back there for me."

"Really? What about your family?"

"My mum and dad are all I have, and I haven't seen or heard from them since I left home, years ago."

"Oh." Flitter said.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Maverick waved it away. "Well, here's the show, at long last." he pointed upwards.

Flitter looked up to see dozens of pinpricks of light moving across the sky.

"Oh wow!" she sat up straight. "It's amazing! What are they?"

"According to Twilight they're meteors, and this is a meteor storm. If I remember right, that's a bunch of space rocks that burn up in the atmosphere." Maverick looked up at a particularly bright one.

"I'd love to see one up close." Flitter said, gazing skywards.

An idea struck Maverick. "Hold on a second." he stood up and flared his wings.

"What are you doing?" Flutter asked, watching him.

"Something stupid." Maverick jumped into the air and flew up towards the light show. It took a couple of minutes to get high enough, as high as he had gone the other day. Eventually the rocks were whistling just over his head. He started to have second thoughts, but shrugged.

"You've done stupider stuff before." he said to himself.

He flew a little higher, getting short of breath now, and flew along with the meteors. He powered himself, flying faster and faster, until he was travelling almost as quickly as the rocks. He locked onto a particularly large one, flew up and grabbed it.

"Hothothothothothot!" he shouted, letting it go. Grabbing it had slowed it down enough to stop it burning up, though, and it fell towards the ground glowing red hot. He followed it down, watching carefully as the rushing air cooled it and stopped it glowing. Maverick stretched and grabbed it between the hooves on his forelegs. He pulled up and flew towards the hill where Flitter was waiting. He dropped the rock near to her and landed next to it.

"Ouch. That was hotter than I expected." Maverick waved a fore-hoof as Flitter walked over. "Anyway, ask and you shall receive." he nodded at the fist-sized rock, smiling.

Flitter smiled at him. "Oh wow, thanks Maverick." she flicked the rock over with her hoof. "Wow, it's weird to think this came from space. It's really warm too."

"Don't need to tell me that." Maverick muttered. "Anyway, it was no problem. Flying that high was pretty cool." Maverick looked up as the last few space rocks burnt up and the lights faded. The sun had fully set now, and the only the gentle light of the moon was allowing them to see. Flitter shivered.

"Getting cold?" Maverick asked as they both sat down.

"A little." she nodded.

Maverick draped a wing over her back. In return, she nuzzled her head against his neck. The rock sat in front of them.

After a couple minutes of sitting on the hillside admiring the night sky Flitter spoke up. "It's getting pretty cold."

"Alright. Want me to walk you home?" Maverick asked.

"That'd be nice." Flitter said.

"Do you want to keep the meteor?" Maverick asked.

"No thanks. It's a nice gift, but I don't have anywhere to keep it." Flitter said.

Maverick nodded. "I think Twilight might like it. I'll take it." Maverick stood up, leant forward and picked up the meteor with a wing. "Geez." he puffed as he lifted it onto his back. It felt five times as heavy as it had any right to be. "So, uh…" he trailed off and held out a hoof to Flitter, who took it and helped herself up. "Where is your house?" Maverick asked sheepishly.

Flitter giggled. "Just follow me." she turned and walked down the hill towards Ponyville. Maverick trotted down after her, steadying the lump of space rock on his back with a wing. He caught up with her after a couple of seconds. She shivered and he draped his other wing over her back again. She smiled gratefully.

"So, are you moving into your own place soon?" she asked him.

"Yeah, as soon as I get the Bits together. I know where I'm gonna move to though."

"Where?" Flitter asked.

"An apartment on Gemstone Avenue." Maverick answered.

"Oh really?" Flitter asked.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

Flitter nodded at a sign as they walked down the lit cobblestone street. Maverick smiled "Gemstone Avenue. So, you live here?"

Flitter nodded against his neck. "Sure do. Right there." she pointed at the building she was towards. "I'm guessing it's the one you're looking into buying an apartment for."

"Don't know how you guessed." Maverick grinned as he stepped up to the front door and pushed it open. "So, which apartment is yours?"

"Sixteen." she said.

"So, right here." Maverick walked up to a door with the number 16 on it. "Your abode, Madame." he said grandly.

Flitter giggled as she pulled a key out and unlocked the door with a click. "Such a gentle-colt." she turned and looked at Maverick with a raised eyebrow. "No goodnight kiss?" she asked.

Maverick smiled, leant forward and kissed her. He was a little surprised when she wrapped a foreleg around his neck and pulled him further into it, but he didn't mind. They stayed like that for about a minute, before Flitter let go and stepped back. She sighed, smiling dreamily.

"We should do this again." she said.

"I'd like that." Maverick smiled back at her. "Sleep well." he said as she closed the door.

Maverick hummed to himself and made his way back to the library, where Twilight was telling Spike what to write down in her weekly report to the Princess.

"…can always rely on your friends. Did you get all that Spike?" she asked the baby dragon.

"Sure did." Spike breathed in deeply, ready to send the letter, but before he could the library door swung open and Maverick trotted in with a rock on his back.

"So Maverick, I take it your date went well?" Twilight asked.

"Yep." he replied.

"What's with the rock?" Spike asked.

"It's a meteor, from the meteor storm. Flitter wanted a closer look at one." Maverick slipped the rock off his back and twirled his wings to ease the muscles in his back.

"Wow, that's really romantic." Twilight smiled. "But what are you doing with it now?"

"Thought you might want a look at it Twilight. Be careful, it's like five times as heavy as it looks."

"Hmm, meteors are usually made of rock and metals, compressed to become incredibly dense and heavy." Twilight groaned as she lifted up the rock with her magic. "And thank you Maverick, I was going to look for one anyway. You've saved me the time." Twilight started walking towards the study and Spike cleared his throat.

"Uh, Twilight? Do you want me to send the letter?" Spike held the scroll up to her.

"Yes please Spike." Twilight nodded.

"Tell the Princess I said hi." Maverick said as he trotted into the basement.

"Maverick, this is an official letter to the Princess! I can't just say hi." Twilight said.

"Tell her I insisted!" Maverick called back.

Spike sighed. "P.S., Maverick, insists, I say, hello, for him." he drew in a lungful of air and sent the letter off in a cloud of magical fire.

Evening, the next day…

Maverick poured a final shovel load of dirt behind the hangar, covering the final of three pony sized batteries. There was a small, finger sized metal outlet for a wire. Frederic was watching him, leaning against his own shovel.

"I don't know how you made three batteries that big in just one day." he said to Frederic.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Anyway, I have something else to show you." he magically picked up both shovels and put them onto a saddle on his back, then led the way onto the runway towards his temporary workshop, a newly erected tent. Next to it was a small construction site, consisting only of a low cobblestone wall. The materials had arrived yesterday, and it was to be the Command Centre for the small airfield. Inside would be a layout similar to the Weather Control Centre in Canterlot, except on a smaller scale and it would only be staffed when the Lightning, and Maverick with it, was on a mission.

Frederic moved the tent flap to the side and walked in with Maverick close behind. Inside was half a dozen workbenches covered in metal components and capsules, blueprints of all shapes and sizes on the canvas walls, chalkboards covered in notes and. Frederic led the way over to a table in the middle of the room with a variety of metal objects on. As Maverick got closer, he recognised some of them as bullets and others as heavier payloads, designed for attaching to the wings.

"So, what do ya' think?" Fredric asked.

"Explain them to me." Maverick stepped up to the table.

Frederic pointed to the bullets. Each one was about 22mm tall, 5mm shorter than the standard High Explosive round. "Alright, the gun will be your standard weapon, and this is your ammunition for it. As you can see, each bullet is slightly smaller than the normal round, because of the rubber point. These ones here are just rubber; when your fire, the ball shoots out and hits the target, 'knocking the wind out of them'. And these ones," he turned his hoof to ones with faint whitish grey coloured rubber, the same colour as Frederic's magic, as opposed to the black rubber of the others. "These are the ones with the paralysation spell. It's experimental in projectiles this small, but if it hits them, they should lose a fine motor control."

"In English?" Maverick asked.

"They can't move." Frederic said, and moved onto the next object. It was a short, thick capsule, about as long as the end of Mavericks foreleg. "This here is a general purpose bomb. Unguided, you hit the button," he whistled as he lowered his hoof to the table. "Bang."

"Does it explode?" Maverick asked.

"No, no, none of this is lethal. Let me explain it." using his magic, he unscrewed the bomb's forward end and gently pulled out what appeared to be a glass bottle of thick, pale, whitish grey liquid, also the same colour of Frederic's magic. "This is a special liquid that conducts raw magic and magical spells. Right now, that's a more concentrated form of the paralysation spell. When the bomb hits the target, the glass shatters, and when the liquid comes into contact with the air, the spell activates and a wave of magic spreads out in a 50 metre diameter, paralysing everyone its path."

"Do any of these have names? We can't just keep calling them 'shells' and 'bombs'."

"I've been thinking about that, but for now I want to finish designing and making them." Frederic said as he put the magical substance back in the bomb and sealed it.

"What about that one?" Maverick pointed at a workbench in the corner, a number of strings holding various components in the air like a messy 3D diagram. It was by far one of the largest constructions in the workshop, and the most intricate.

"My attempt at a Fuel Air Explosion Bomb. I'm calling it the Cupcake." Frederic waved it off with a hoof.

Maverick smirked. "So you named that one?" a thought struck him. "How do we know these work?" Maverick asked.

"We don't. We need to field test him."

Maverick grinned whole-heartedly. "Excellent."