The Other Side Of The Rainboom

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Sonic rainbooms are not fully understood by pony kind. Little research has been done upon this rare phenomenon or the effects that they can have on the user. Researchers theorize that under different climatic conditions the effects can differ drastically. Currently only one pony has the ability to fully perform such a feat.

Chapter 2

Light flooded into Rainbow Dash’s eyes as they shot open. Darkness quickly returned though, as she struggled to keep them open. Her eyelids felt like weights. She once again tried to lift open her eyelids for long enough to see her surroundings. What she did see, before she fell back into unconsciousness, was the same dull world that she had seen from above.

Michael looked up to see a face staring back at him. The face was of a man no older than twenty five, with short, military style cut, dark blond hair and two piercingly dark blue eyes. Michael had never seen a man in shock before, but now he wasn’t so sure. The face seemed to be staring straight through him, watching something unfold behind Michael. Something that the man would never forget. Some event that he would remember in his sleep and which would come back to haunt him in his dreams. This man had experienced something that he would never be able to run away from, no matter how hard he tried. It would follow him everywhere, always peering over his shoulder. Always somewhere in his thoughts, waiting to pounce. It would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Michael tore his gaze away from his reflection and looked down to his hands. They were shaking. He stared at them. No thoughts going through his mind except those few minutes which kept on repeating themselves in his mind. Over and over. Those moments when he was filled with rage at that small aircraft. How easily he had been overcome with fury. He had been trained to kill and he had. It had been his first taste of combat and during it adrenaline had poured throughout him, feeding his body, urging him on. All that adrenaline had long gone. The feeling of invincibility had been replaced by him realising how vulnerable he had been. If he hadn’t reacted quick enough he may have plummeted to his doom. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind him.

“Hey,” Michael didn’t turn to look at the voice, “the Colonel wants a debrief in five minutes.”

Michael heard the footsteps become quieter as the source of the voice walked off. Michael once again looked up at the bathroom mirror in front of him. The face looked back at him. Michael closed his eyes and tried to compose himself. Through the nose; pause, out the mouth. His reflection now showed the same face that he normally saw. The one of a professional pilot. But now it was also the face of a pilot who had faced death and come out victorious. He had fought an enemy of his country and succeeded. He had done his job and he had done it well. He turned to leave the bathroom but as he did so a thought struck him. What or who exactly had been his enemy?

As he walked towards the debrief, his mind once again went over those few harrowing minutes. He analyzed every aspect of what had happened. The explosion, the rainbow, the blue plane itself and also the radiation. When he had landed a group of white clad men and women had come and quickly taken him away, but they had found no sign of any radiation poisoning. They had all been mesmerized as they had sent him on his way.

Before Michael knew it, he was standing in front of the door to the debriefing room. He knocked and was answered by a voice he instantly remembered.
“Come in.”
Michael pushed the door open and stepped inside. He had been inside this room a few times and every time it had been full. This time all he saw was a man in his late thirties sitting at the other end of a table, staring intently at the new occupant. Michael closed the door behind him and stood to attention, staring straight ahead and not making any eye contact. The figure kept on staring at Michael, studying him, searching for an answer to a question that Michael wasn't allowed to know. Michael continued to look ahead, feeling slightly uneasy about this other presence. His stomach tightening had returned. He had heard this voice many times before but he had never seen the source himself. He seemed to be someone who had spent his entire life in the Air Force. Everything about him was no nonsense, to the point. Eventually the man seemed to have found the answer to his question.

“At ease Lieutenant. Please take a seat.”
As soon as Michael sat down the man began to speak.
“I’m Colonel Ambler,” Michael began to give his rank and name but the Colonel had already launched into speech again, “ and you’re flight Lieutenant Michael Wilkinson, 25, unmarried. Studied business at IESE Business school in Madrid, Spain, before joining the air force. Served in the air force for two years and was recently promoted to Flight Lieutenant. No combat experience up until today. Is that what you were about to say Lieutenant?”

Michael sat slightly dumbstruck. They’ve been checking up on me, he thought.

“That is correct sir,” was all that he could think to say in return. The Colonel once again set about searching for another answer that he seemed to be able to get just by looking at Michael. After a few moments the Colonel, seemingly happy with the answer that he had found, began to talk again.

“At 1700 hours Bravo Two Zero came under attack from an unidentified flying object. Bravo Two was downed upon the first assault and managed to bail out. Bravo One returned fire and managed to down the hostile aircraft,” the Colonel paused, waiting for Michael to respond. The silence was deafening.

Once again all Michael could think of to say was, “Correct, sir.” The Colonel’s voice up close made Michael feel even more uneasy. It seemed as if he was always being judged. That every word, every gesture was being recorded by this robotic man in front of him. The Colonel stared deep into Michael's eyes as he delivered his next, carefully chosen words.

“What attacked you Lieutenant?”

Those few words meant three things to Michael. First was that the Colonel and the Air force didn’t know what had attacked him. Second was that they were asking for his help on the matter and third was they made Michael's hands begin to shake once again. The Colonel either didn’t notice or chose to ignore them. Instead he kept staring at Micheal, waiting for an answer. Once again the professionalism kicked in.

Michael began to recount the events that had unfolded during the flight. Beginning with the rapidly increasing radiation levels and the explosion that had nearly felled the two aircraft. During it all the Colonel didn’t give any indication of surprise or emotion. He just kept on staring at Michael, listening intently, registering everything that was said. Finally Michael finished telling his tale and waited in silence for the Colonels response. The Colonel raised himself out of his seat and stood upright at the other end of the table facing his subordinate.

“Well Lieutenant. Bravo Two has already been debriefed but he fell unconscious during his descent and doesn’t remember a thing. So that means that only you and I know what happened today and I would like to keep it that way until we know more about who attacked you.” Michael noted that the Colonel had put extra pressure on the word who. He let these words hang in the air for a few moments before carrying on. “Under no circumstances are you allowed to converse with anyone about what happened today. Do I make myself clear Lieutenant?”

After a few moments of hesitation Michael replied with a short, “ Yes sir.”
Instantly the whole room began to shake as if it was being rocked by some powerful force. He looked up at the Colonel, but he was just standing there, staring down at Michael; no emotion, no sign of any surprise. Nothing in the room was being thrown about, there were no chairs being flung about the room or tables shaking. Nothing. Just him reliving those moments when he had desperately fought for his life in that cramped cockpit high up in the heavens. Quickly Michael began to talk, hoping that the Colonel hadn’t noticed his odd behaviour.

“Sir. What happened to the crashed enemy aircraft?” As he said this he looked down at his shaking hands, willing them to stop.The Colonel didn’t respond. Confused, Michael looked up to see the Colonel grinning. Which to Michael seemed to be one of the most unnatural things that he had ever seen. His stomach punched itself as hard as it could.

“I sent out a recovery squad to salvage what’s left. They should be arriving there soon.”

Michael's hands began to shake even more.

Rainbow Dash heard her heavy breathing fill the air as she woke up. She slowly opened her eyes to get a grip on her surroundings. As she did so, she felt pain flash across her forehead. Groggily, she put a hoof to her head and felt it go wet. She moved her hoof in front of her and saw that it had blood on it.

Slowly she tried to raise herself to her hooves. Her legs shook as she struggled to get up on all fours. Rainbow Dash cringed with the pain in her head. It felt as if somepony was trying to cut her head with a knife. Ignoring the pain, Rainbow Dash readied herself to fly upwards to get a better view. She tensed her muscles around her wings, took a deep breath, and began to beat them. All she got for her efforts was a wave of nausea that hit her and nearly made her collapse to the ground again. Once again she steadied herself. She was too weak to fly. Most of the area around her was cast into shade by the surrounding trees.

As she looked around the ground near her, she realised that she must have fallen through them, as there were broken branches scattered everywhere. She also noticed a few drops of blood that had dried on the grass where she had been unconscious.
I must have been here for a while, thought Rainbow Dash. Up until now she had been too confused to even think as to why she had found herself unconscious in a forest with blood on her head. Suddenly the thoughts of the grey bird hit her and she looked up, expecting to see it glowering over her, ready to finish her off. Instead she just saw the underside of a green canopy that was beginning to get darker as the night grew closer.

She walked over to the nearest tree and leaned against it. She had to get her head straight. Questions were buzzing around her mind but the most obvious was simply, how did I get here? It must have been the sonic rainboom, thought Rainbow Dash, but it’s never done this before.

Rainbow Dash’s trail of thoughts were suddenly brought to a halt as she heard a noise nearby. It sounded like deep rumbling that was growing closer and closer. She stayed there, leaning against the tree and listening intently to the strange noise as it grew louder. That solitary sound filled the warm air. It reminded Rainbow Dash slightly of a dragon snoring and also of something else that she couldn’t quite put her hoof on. The whole forest seemed to be listening to it in silence as it drew closer. It wasn’t until she heard a high pitched squeal did she realise that the source of the noise was just on the other side of the nearby trees. That noise was immediately followed by the sound of footsteps and a harsh, loud voice shouting, but Rainbow Dash didn’t hear any of that. She had already begun to run.

Rainbow Dash crashed through the bushes and any other obstacles in her way. Her exhaustion had been forgotten as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She ran between trees, through bushes, over rotting leaves, everything became a blur to either side of her. She had to get away from whatever had made that noise. She had remembered the last thing that had made a similar noise tried to kill her. She wasn’t going to trust anything here.

Rainbow Dash carried on skillfully running for a few more moments. But her exhaustion soon got the better of her as she failed to notice a rotting log jutting out in front of her. She landed heavily on the other side of it, staring upwards at the dark blue sky above. Her head now felt even worse than before. She felt too weak to run anymore, so she just lay there, hiding. She felt embarrassed with herself that she was hiding from something instead of facing it head on. She had run away with her tail between her legs. She would never admit it to anypony but without her friends she wouldn’t be as brave as everypony thought she was.

Everypony expected her to be the brave one. She always had to be the first to do anything, the first to face any danger. She was the one who always went ahead to face danger so that others didn’t have to. She was the hero of the group.

Rainbow Dash stayed there, lying down on her back behind the rotting log. Thoughts of another world flashing through her mind. Memories of her friends came and went. The great times that they had all been part off. The laughs and journeys that they had all shared together. The adventures that they had all recently experienced would have been enough for most ponies but Rainbow Dash guessed that they there was many more to come in the near future.

Rainbow Dash’s ears suddenly pricked up. Coming towards her was the sound of hoof beats. Dash’s heart leapt for joy. Maybe she wasn’t as far away as she had thought. If ponies were here, they would help her. Rainbow Dash began to get up but something made her hesitate. Something about the sound of the hoof prints didn’t seem right. She stayed lying down on her back, listening to the hoof beats as they drew closer, wondering what felt so odd about them.

Suddenly she realised what was wrong about them but it was too late. The creature was already towering over her hiding place. It stood there for a few moments, looking for something or somepony, thought Rainbow Dash. She stayed there, frozen with fear, looking up with apprehension at the figure above her. It must have been twice as tall as a pony and as wide as a stallion but any more of its features were cloaked in shadows. It slowly moved its head from side to side, scanning the tree line for any sign of her. Hunting for its prey. It was hunting her. She let out a small squeak of fear.

The head snapped to face her. Her eyes opened even wider in fear. All she could see through the mask of darkness, were two eyes glowering at her. Rainbow Dash reacted first. She kicked out with all four of her hooves, straight into the other’s face. She felt a satisfying crunch as they made contact. She saw the monster fall backwards and in the same instant, she began to once again run for her life.

She didn’t care about the pain in her head or the aches throughout her body. All she cared about now was her survival. She felt as if her heart was about to explode, but still she ran as fast as she could. She didn’t look back. She didn’t want to see what was behind her, but hopefully that was the only one of those monsters. It wasn’t. The forest behind her erupted in a chorus of shouts and loud cracks followed by the sound of angry bees shooting past her. All around her she saw the ground being blown apart. She ran between the trees, desperately trying to avoid being hit. Every way she turned to run flew apart in front of her. Every tree that she hid behind exploded in a shower of sharp splinters and bark.

By now fear had completely taken over the brave pony. In a fear-induced lack of judgement, she threw herself into the air, desperately hoping to fly away. Her wings carried her nowhere. Instead, she crumpled to the floor and could only listen in horror as more shouts surrounded her. Like an erupting volcano’s smokey tendrils, they sealed her fate.

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Thanks for making it this far. Any criticism would be great

Chapter 3

The Other Side Of The Rainboom

Princess Luna has confirmed the recent astrophysical rumour of the existence of “black holes”. This new discovery has sparked many debates within the scientific community. One of which is whether a black hole could be created within Equestria under highly controlled circumstances. Most scientists believe that it would be impossible that enough energy could be created to perform such a feat.

Chapter 3

The metallic monsters loomed all around him, towering over his delicate body. Their massive mass giving them seemingly unstoppable power. Their mere presence was intimidating enough to humble most whose eyes came to rest on them, even for the briefest of time. Their purpose was unmistakable; they were created to cause death and destruction in the name of peace. These monsters were beasts and Michael was the beast master.

It had been two hours since Michael had left Colonel Ambler’s office and he’d been wandering aimlessly around ever since as he had nothing specific to do.. He liked to come to the hangars whenever he could so that he could marvel at the wonders hidden within. It had always been a dream that he’d had, to fly one of these creations of man, to soar high above the clouds looking down on the mortals below, feeling free. It had been a dream that was just that; a dream. It had been forgotten and overlooked as he grew older and it wasn’t until years later that he remembered his childhood reverie and endeavoured to turn it into reality. The training had been hard, harder than he had expected, but he fought through it. Over time he had felt himself becoming a well-oiled human machine. The training had pushed him to his limits. He had heard it being said before but he had never truly appreciated it. They were just words to him, not a life-changing experience. It wasn’t until his body constantly felt like collapsing and his brain felt dead that he truly experienced his limits. Over and over, his limits were reached and then replaced until his body and mind were tested and honed to perfection. He had become the person that he had always wanted to be.

As much as Michael admired the planes, he knew that they could also end up being a steel coffin. This thought had never come to him before the incident but now it plagued him. He had feared that he would never be able to look at them in the same way again, or feel as confident inside one, yet coming here had reassured him of what he had always thought of them of as: metal angels.

As Michael left the hangar and looked up at the rapidly darkening sky he realised that it was his, and most of the other pilots’, leave day. As if on cue he heard a voice shout from behind him.
“Oi, Michael!”
Michael turned around to be greeted by the grinning face of his wing-man Bravo-Two, also known as Jay. He had spent his last six weeks of holiday in England, and it was showing.
“Hey, at least your plane didn’t malfunction on you as well. That thing nearly killed me and I don’t even remember any of it.”
Michael remembered that Colonel Ambler had said that Jay seemed to have amnesia from the ejection out of his plane. He also remembered the Colonels warning about not telling anyone about what he experienced. Even so, Michael decided to press on and find out what he could recover from the deep recesses of Jay’s brain.
“So you don’t remember anything about the flight then?”
“The last thing that I remember is looking down in the cockpit and then waking up in the base. I had a bit of a headache at first but I feel as fresh as a daisy now though.”
Michael looked at him, the smiling face, steady hands, and wished that he had forgotten everything as well; he didn’t feel as fresh as anything at the moment.
“Mike. As the doc says that I’m free to, me and some of the others,” as he said this he gestured towards a small crowd coming towards them, “are going off base to the town, to celebrate me not being dead and all that. You can come if you want.”
As the crowd grew closer, Michael began to feign thinking about whether to go but was interrupted by Jay.
“One thing though. You better bring your wellies, ‘cuz we’re gonna be knee deep in clunge.”
A cheer of raucous laughter went up from the crowd and with that Michael made his excuses and left them behind as he quickly walked to his room, cradling his shaking hands with themselves.

Michael had the luxury of a room to himself. It was a comfort that he cherished as it gave him time to think and relax and these were two things that he intended to do. He got himself comfortable on his bed and switched on the television, which was another extravagance of his. Unfortunately there didn’t seem to be much on but Michael wasn’t focusing on the television. As images and sounds bombarded him, Michael's thoughts were on the Colonel and what he would be doing now. Most likely he would be co-ordinating the search for the downed enemy aircraft, by now the salvage crew had probably found it. His mind went back to the smile that the Colonel had had while discussing that. Something about it and his whole manner had put Michael at unease. Why had he seemed so happy to find it? It could mean a promotion or maybe it was so that he could get revenge on what had tried to kill him, but he seriously doubted that. The cold stare, the lack of emotions, Michael wondered if that would one day be him, if that was what power and stress did to you. His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

“We have to go back Kate.”
Michael stared in disbelief at that dishevelled beard and wondered if it belonged to the man that he once knew. Green eyes stared back at him, crazy eyed and wild. Michael wondered what troubles were hidden behind them, what had brought this sudden change on this once great leader of men. This man had once led men and women across vast areas of inhospitable land, with the constant threat of attack on their minds. They had shared what had seemed like years together, experienced so much together. What had happened since Michael had last set eyes on him? As Michael settled back to watch Lost he took no interest in the sounds of engines that reverberated outside of his room as they passed by, or the sudden halt and sounds of frenzied footsteps that followed it. Instead he focused on the many unexpected and exciting plot twists that were soon to happen in the coming story.

Colonel Ambler met the gaze of each face as he walked into the dark room. Each face belonged to a man that he could trust, which was a rare thing. The faces stared back, patiently awaiting orders.

“So what have we got here gentleman?” asked the Colonel. His voice wasn’t loud or aggressive yet it always made men snap to attention whenever they heard it and to listen as if their lives depended on hearing what he had to say. Now he wasn’t sure whether it actually did. He’d been told that he seemed to have no accent. He liked that, it gave nothing away. He only wanted others to know what he wanted them to know, nothing else.

“Sir,” said a face at the other end of the table. Colonel Ambler set his gaze upon him, silently allowing him to carry on. “At 1800 hours, Delta Squad found the hostile which then proceeded to escape on foot.”
The Colonel was slightly confused as to how a seemingly unmanned plane could travel by foot, and the lack of any information about the wreckage, but he gave no sign of it and allowed the man to carry on.
“After a short chase the target was then subdued and brought back to base. They arrived two hours ago and the target was then brought into a holding cell.”
The Colonel’s confusion was now even greater. Even so he carried on putting on the appearance that had gotten him this far in life, and acted as if he had already known all of this and wasn’t surprised in the least.
“What is the condition of the prisoner at this moment in time?”
“The prisoner is highly aggressive and prone to violent outburst of both the physical and linguistic kind and so has been put in a reinforced holding cell with no outside contact. One of Delta Squad was injured during the capture and another during the transfer to the holding cell, but there were no fatalities. The target was unarmed and so posed no serious threat.”
The Colonel stared hard at the man and at each of the others in the room. His eyes wavered over each of the faces in turn. All of them were meeting his gaze but there was something hidden behind the masks, there was something that they hadn’t yet told him.
“Do you have any more information about the prisoner at this time?”
The man’s eyes held steady and controlled, yet the Colonel had known men for long enough to see what was hidden there. He carried on looking at the man, examining him, tearing away his layers of protection, exposing his flaws to the world. Eventually the man replied with a stout, “Come look at this sir.”

The Colonel rose up out of his seat and walked towards a set of monitors, which the other figure was now standing by. The room was full of monitors that flickered with life in the dark room, casting everything inside into random shadows and patterns of darkness that adorned the walls. It gave the room an unnatural feel, yet was the amount of power that this room commanded not an unnatural thing as well? As he came closer to the screens, the man gestured towards the screen for “cell 3”. The Colonel knew that this was in a more obscure part of the base, hidden deep within the compound, out of view. Ideal for situations like this.

The screen showed the inside of a holding cell similar to every other within the base. There were no windows, no signs of escape, and just three plain, drab walls adorning each side. The camera must have been mounted above the door as there was no sign of one. The most striking thing within the cell was the thing that was being held inside. It was walking back and forth within the cell, and it was painfully obvious that it was angry. He had seen prisoners do this before, striding across the small cell, showing off their anger to anyone watching and to themselves, but it was always just a front for something. Hidden behind that anger was fear. Fear for the force that had brought them to that cell. Fear for what could happen to them at any moment. Fear for the uncertainty of their future and what it would bring. This prisoner was no different in this sense but in others it was a whole world apart.

“What am I looking at?” said the Colonel, in his normal, unassuming tone.

“This is prisoner RD. It seems to have the bodily structure of a small pony but there are several irregularities that are inconsistent with any type of Equidae that currently exist or has ever been known to exist. It seems to be a simpler version of existing ponies and yet has features that are unheard of. It also seems to have some sort of mark on its flanks that could be a sign of its rank or terrorist organisation, although we are unsure at the moment.”

The Colonel could see that this was true. On each flank was some sort of tattoo or branding, the camera didn’t show a high enough detail to be able to distinguish any more specifics about it. Sprouting out of either side of prisoner RD's back were two small wings that were currently folded against its body. If the monitor wasn’t in colour then he wouldn’t have believed it, but the mane and tail of the prisoner seemed to be in a colouration similar to a rainbow. Its body was covered in blue hair as well. This was an exact match for the object that the pilot had glimpsed at hours earlier. The prisoner, as it was on all fours, looked to be about 3 feet high and did not seem too imposing and yet it had managed to bring down one fighter and nearly destroyed another. It was more dangerous than it looked, that was for certain. Suddenly the Colonel remembered something that the pilot had said.
“Have you checked the prisoner for any signs of radiation?”
The man responded instantly. “We checked once it was brought in. There seems to be no sign of any radiation or existing radiation poisoning.”
The Colonel nodded, he had expected as much.
“Have you checked the Geiger counter in the pilots’ plane and the black box?”
“We have. It showed a sudden large spike in radiation levels,” as the pilot had said, thought the Colonel, “yet it lasted only a few moments. This may be because the pilot was moving away from the radiated area.”

All the planes had recently been outfitted with Geiger counters in case they were to carry nuclear material and to warn the pilot if there was a leakage. Though if there was a leakage then the pilot would be unlikely to know about it as he would be dead, the Colonel had thought when he had first been told about them. Now though he was glad that the base commander had deemed them mandatory.

The Colonel once again looked at the monitor and saw something on it that caught him completely unaware. Looking back at him was the reflection of confusion on his face. He stared through the face, as he had done to countless others before, and looked at the figure within the cell.

“We’ll find out what the fuck you are,” he promised to no one in particular in that dark room, full of emotionless faces patiently awaiting orders.

She was in the corner of the room, slumped on her back legs, defeated. At first she had strided across the room, back and forth, venting her anger. She had felt angry with herself at how easily they had captured her, whatever these things were. They must have thought of her as a frightened filly, it was hard not to feel like one though when she thought of how they had captured her. They walked on their hind legs like dragons, yet that was where the similarities ended. They had no scales, or not as far as she could tell. She hadn’t seen any of them without clothes covering their tall bodies. She had caught glimpses of pinkish red skin before she had been thrown into this horribly small room. A prison, she thought. They had covered her in something when she was caught in the forest and then time had seemed to never end. All she could use were her ears as she was carried towards what had sounded like an awaiting dragon. She had realised that this was what she had heard before and what she, so rightly, had fled from. The sound had grown louder and she had been felt herself being thrown. She had been horrified and that she was being fed to the monster, but she didn’t die. Instead she landed heavily on something hard; the wind was knocked out of her. It was then that the growls of the monster had shaken the floor beneath her.

She travelled in darkness. No light or sound came through what was covering her, except the sound of the beast. She had no sense of anything near her and yet she knew that they would be close, watching her, stopping her from escaping. There was little chance of that. Eventually the shaking and constant noise eventually became rhythmic and she gave into the desire for rest. Her fears and worries were forgotten as her eyelids became heavy and she slipped into that heavenly realm of the mind.

Her eyes shot open. Her wings opened up, ready for action. She flung herself into the air, ready for anything, challenging the world. There was nothing waiting to attack her, nothing to carry her away. Instead she found herself in a place that she thought she would never set her eyes upon again. She was back in Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash’s mouth broke into a smile that threatened to envelop her whole face as she flew as fast as she could to find her friends. She seemed to have woken up just on the edge of Ponyville. The wind buffeted her as she flew onwards towards the town, it coming ever closer, coming to greet her like a long lost friend. She rocketed towards the entrance to the town and skidded to a halt. She broke into a trot so as to not knock over any other ponies that would be there. There was none.

Rainbow Dash looked from side to side for any sign of any other ponies as she walked through the deserted streets. They were normally bustling with ponies going about the average day. Vendors would sell their goods in the square while other ponies sauntered about, seemingly doing nothing. Aromas and sounds would spread out from their respective shops and entice ponies to depart with their gold. Ponyville was bigger than most ponies imagined it to be. During certain times of the year it attracted lots of tourism from Canterlot, which was a major boost for the economy within. All of the apples within Ponyville were supplied by the Apple family. They basically controlled a monopoly within the town and the surrounding area. They were the major, and only, supplier of all the apples within the region, not that it wasn’t deserved. Poor Applejack worked herself to the bone bucking tree after tree. It did give her a strong flank though, thought Rainbow Dash.

Within all of this commotion her friends would be there somewhere, doing whatever it was that they did. Well they would have been if anypony had been around. Rainbow Dash walked through the centre of the town and looked around for any trace of a pony or her friends. As she did so something glinted in the afternoon sun. Moving closer she saw that it was a small, dull gold tube, lying on the ground. There seemed to be a few more of them scattered around the square, glistening in the sun, winking at her. Craning her neck down she went to grab it with her teeth and as she did so a strong, unfamiliar smell nearly overpowered her. It smelt of evil and like nothing she had ever experienced before. It stuck to the inside of her nose and made it itch. She gave it a little tap with her hoof and it rattled over the uneven ground, a light metallic sound ringing out over the deserted square.

Her smile had now faded, to be replaced by a look of uncertainty. She began to break into a gallop as she ran to where one of her friends should be. She arrived at Sugarcube corner. The door was wide open. Slowly Rainbow Dash plodded inside, carefully placing her hoofs in front of herself as she went. Her wings were by her sides but would be ready in a moment’s notice if they were needed to spring into action. Despite her fear at what may lie within, she managed to call out for her friend.
“Pinkie. You here?
There was no reply. Rainbow Dash looked around at the empty kitchen but there was nothing. There was no sign of where anypony could be, so she began to go up the stairs towards where Pinkies room would be. She kept her eyes locked straight ahead in case anything was in wait at the top, patiently waiting to ambush her. She tried to be as quiet and gentle as possible with each step but still the stairs beneath would occasionally give out an odd creak as the old wood stressed beneath her hooves. Each creak resulted in a pause as Rainbow Dash froze in fear as to what may have heard her. She would tense, ready to strike, or flee, if something happened. Nothing did and when she reached the top of the stairs and peered over, the room was empty.

She stood there in the centre of the room, once again listening for any signs of disturbances. All she heard was the butterfly-inducing sound of absolute silence. This household would normally be the home of constant noise and entertainment for anypony, but now all it gave to guests was the uneasy feeling of being constantly watched. She could feel eyes digging into her and yet there was no pony around. She scoured the room for any sign of Pinkie’s whereabouts. What could have happened to have caused everypony to disappear? Had they all set about to try and find her? How long had she been missing? How did she even get back to Ponyville? All of these thoughts were running through her brain when she heard a faint familiar creak.

Her head shot around. Something was coming up the stairs and like her, it was trying to be as quiet as possible. She looked around the room for any sign of escape. She could feel the fear began to creep up inside her. It could easily overtake her and she didn’t want that to happen again. Last time it had got her caught, she didn’t want to once again find herself in that situation. Looking around she saw the only possible haven, the bed. Rainbow Dash silently flew over to the bed, lifted the covers that were draping across the floor, and rolled beneath. As soon as she had done so she regretted it. There was hardly any space under the bed and it was an obvious place to check. Why didn’t I just fly upwards to the ceiling? thought Rainbow Dash sourly.

She lay there, listening. The creaking had stopped. She lay there beneath the bed, the long covers of the bed concealing her from the outside world. Briefly Rainbow Dash considered peeling them back to look for any signs of the mysterious intruder. Her hoof crept closer towards the covers onto to reel back as she heard a loud creak on the other side. Her breath caught in her throat as the fear crept back up. Her stomach tightened with fear as the blood was taken from it and used to feed her muscles. The urge to scream began to overwhelm her; she could feel it forming in her throat, being fed by the terror she felt but instead she held it in. Her eyes had never gone off the spot where she had heard the creak. Suddenly she heard thumping. It seemed to be coming from everywhere, it was shouting in her ears, revealing her hiding place to whatever was on the other side. Her chest felt as if it was about to explode with the force that her heart was pumping. Her body wanted her to run, to run as fast as her legs could take her out of this horrible house. The room was silent. Only the thumping of her heart was all she could hear. She couldn’t hold back the scream any longer but before it could escape her lips she heard the sound of hoofsteps begin to recede away, moving towards the stairs. She heard the stairs creak, one after the other as it climbed down them, more confident this time. Rainbow Dash let out a sigh of relief.

Rainbow Dash let her heart and nerves settle before pulling back the covers and peering out. The room was once again empty. She crept out from underneath the bed and began to flap her wings, flying made less noise. Hovering above the wooden floor, she began to make her way out of Sugarcube corner, checking every corner just to be safe. As she left the bakery she knew where she must head. If Twilight was still around then she would know what’s happening or at least have been smart enough to have left some form of message telling anypony where she was headed. Her home was also the unofficial meeting place for any of her friends whenever something happened so it was the most likely place to find the rest of her friends.

As she flew across town and through the deserted streets she began to feel like eyes on her, just as in Pinkie’s. Twilight’s house was further north in Ponyville than Sugarcube corner and so she had to pass more houses and buildings to get there. One of these, she realised, was Rarity’s. She thought about not checking inside for her friend but although she hadn’t seemed like it recently, she was the element of loyalty and she quickly persuaded herself to check inside. She silently dropped to the ground in front of the door to Carousel Boutique. This time the door was closed. Rainbow Dash gently placed a hoof on the sturdy wood and pushed. As the door opened something hit her in the face. Reeling back, Rainbow Dash shook her head and pushed through the strong smell. The boutique was ruined, that was obvious. Dresses that were once proudly displayed were now lying on the floor, ruined, their stands seemingly thrown to the ground. Boxes of accessories and tools were strewn about the floor and within them Rainbow Dash saw something give her a familiar wink. The same dull gold tubes were scattered around the room as well, their presence marking each scene of destruction. Giving another quick look around the room showed that the colourful walls were riddled with small holes. It was obvious that no pony was here, especially not Rarity. She would never leave her boutique in this state. Deciding not to call out, she left the once-beautiful home of fashion and set off to Twilight’s.

Rainbow Dash flew quickly but cautiously as she didn’t want to fly into a bad situation. As she flew, she shot worried glances to either side of her, checking for whatever seemed to be watching her. There was nothing. The streets were still deserted and the silence deafening. The streets soon cleared and she was presented with the sight of a surprisingly large tree, which looked out of place with its surroundings. She glided towards the ground and approached the wooden door. A sense of foreboding overshadowed her as she went to open the door; it opened before she could touch it.
Standing in front of the open door was a smiling Twilight.
“Rainbow Dash are you alright?” asked the purple unicorn, “Please come inside, you don’t look too well.”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but smile to herself as she walked inside the hollowed tree. She had been expecting a similar scene to Carousel Boutique, a scene of destruction, but instead she had found one of her friends, safe and apparently unharmed. As she sat down she turned to Twilight and gave in to her rising curiosity.
“Twi?”
“Yes?”
“Where is everypony? I haven’t seen anypony since I came back,” asked Rainbow Dash quizzically.
“Well they’ve all gone searching for you haven’t they?”
Rainbow Dash cocked her head to one side. “You mean the whole town?”
“Of course,” answered Twilight matter of factly.
Rainbow Dash tried to hide her smile. The WHOLE town had gone off to search for her; she couldn’t help but feel her ego grow. Scenes inside of Rarity’s shop, and her concern for her, flooded back.
“But what about Rar…” asked Rainbow Dash before she was interrupted.
“Hold that thought. I just need to go get some cupcakes that Pinkie brought around before she went out to search for you,” said Twilight before walking off to where, Rainbow Dash presumed, was the kitchen.
Left to her own thoughts for a few moments, Rainbow Dash began to think about what she had experienced since she had woken up outside of Ponyville. Maybe someponies had gone to Rarity’s and in their enthusiasm for finding herself, had accidentally ruined the whole boutique. And while she was hiding under the bed at Pinkies that could have been another pony trying to find her, she felt like such a scared filly. Yet something still didn’t seem right with the whole scenario.

It was still nagging her when Twilight returned, levitating a tray full of delicious looking pink cupcakes. Rainbow Dash rose and walked towards Twilight and the floating cupcake tray, a bright smile on her face. She stopped in front of the tray and looked down, her smile instantly faded. Lying amongst the cupcakes was a familiar tube. Her eyes widened. She looked up to her friend. All she saw was two glowering eyes staring at her through a mask of darkness. She tried to back away from the creature but it lashed out at her, grabbing her front legs. It thrust her to the ground, pinning her there. She tried to struggle out of the vice-like grip but it was impossible. Rainbow Dash looked down to her legs and saw the claws of the monsters that had captured her. She screamed.

The scream had filled the inside of the sack that she was in, muffled by the thin fabric wall. Through the darkness she had felt herself being held with the same grip that she had felt in her dream. Her weight had disappeared as she was hoisted up and carried. The terror from the dream had not gone, instead it had been added to by the real life nightmare that she was in. She kicked out wildly in her panic, shouting and screaming as she did so. What she had said she didn’t know, what she did know was that she’d hit something. A grunt of pain, as she came into contact with something soft, confirmed this. From then on she had been carried more forcefully and then found herself being emptied in this prison.

How long she had been in here, she couldn’t tell. Telling the time here was impossible. There was no sun in this room, only darkness. Yet not even Luna could control the darkness within here. Where she was now was no Equestria, it had never been. She was not meant to be here, nopony should be here, yet she was.

She heard hoofsteps, but they weren’t hoofsteps. They were a horrible sound, the most horrible noise that she had ever heard, pounding at her ears, willing her into defeat. She heard them stop in front of the iron door. She retreated to the corner of the room, trying, in vain, to stay as far away as possible from whatever was on the other side. The door opened, blinding her. She shut her eyes as hard as she could, her eyelids becoming a shield against the horrors that she now knew. The sounds came to stop in front of her and she once again felt herself in that iron grip. This time there was no scream.

--------

Thanks to anyone still reading this.

The whole Michael scene at the start will probably be taken out, just because it doesn't contribute anything story wise and drags on a bit. Well that's what the pre-readers think and it's true.

Chapter 4

The Other Side Of The Rainboom (WIP)

The head of the department for the study of the “Sonic Rainboom Effect”, Dr.Spectro, has recently been criticised over his new theory that a sonic rainboom could indeed function as a way to transport oneself over vast areas. He went on to theorise the way in which it could also result in time travel or as a means of multi-universal travel. Dr.Spectro says that his ideas are based on expanded theories of Albert Equine’s theory of relativity and that the new scientific discovery, that light may not in fact be the fastest means of travel within the universe, helps to reinforce his own theories. The scientific community believes that his theory is just in fact a way of getting new funding from LUNA - The Administration for the study of Light, the Universe, Nebula and Atoms.

Chapter 4

Colonel Ambler was once again in the dark control room as he had been for the past five days. Ever since the prisoner had come into his life, he had spent every waking moment on it. Watching it, studying it, trying to learn its secrets but this was easier said than done. Prisoner RD refused to crack. Most other prisoners would have broken a long time ago, or would have at least shown signs of stress. She,on the other hand, seemed constantly resilient, still showing the same lack of cooperation that she always had.

They had been interrogating the prisoner since she had first arrived. They were doing nothing too serious, even though the Geneva Convention and human rights clearly didn’t apply to this particular prisoner.

The Colonel stared at the screen, watching his prisoner sit in her cell. If, the need for information wasn’t so urgent, he would have admired her resilience. At the moment though the Pentagon had recently become involved and this raised a whole new range of problems. Earlier that day, a whole team of scientists came to the base and had requisitioned the hangar nearest the prisoner. They had filled the hangar with sophisticated machinery that only he and the base commander were allowed to see. Already they had nearly filled half of the massive hangar and they told him that more was to come. The Pentagon had clearly taken a keen interest in the prisoner.

Strangely they had also ordered that the prisoner be kept on the premises instead of being moved to a more secure location. They obviously didn’t want any extra attention. Even so the personnel on site were becoming anxious as to why a large area of the base had suddenly become restricted. Thankfully the pilot had not been spreading information around the camp which would have resulted in certain repercussions that he would rather not have to go through with. The pilot was keeping his word though and so he was being left alone for the time being.

Without looking away from the screen the Colonel called out.

“Have we gathered any more information from the prisoner since I last checked?”

He heard footsteps come over to beside him and a voice reply back.

“Negative sir. Prisoner RD will still only tell us that she is from Equestria and that somepony,” the Colonel turned to the man next to him, gave him a stern look for a few seconds before turning back to the screen allowing the man to continue, “called Twilight Sparkle will come and save her.”

“Have we learnt anything about this Twilight Sparkle?”

“No sir. We believe that wherever the prisoner is from, they use code names to communicate with each other. The code names could be acronyms. We currently having a team trying to crack them and cross-check them against any known terrorists.”

The Colonel was beginning to become worried. This group, who seemed to be calling themselves Equestria, was beginning to seem like an ever more professional group. This prisoner was a tribute to this. She had either been well trained in anti-interrogation techniques or was just a very resilient individual.

“Could drugs be used to gather more information from the prisoner?” asked the Colonel, still staring at the screen.

“That’s another negative sir. We have no idea what results the drugs could have on the prisoner and whether her body would be able to handle them. They could throw her body into shock and possibly kill her. The newly arrived Pentagon scientists, have taken samples of the prisoner’s blood and have told us that they will run tests to see if any drugs will have the desired affect on the prisoner.”

The Colonel continued to stare at the screen, taking it all in. He would have to use other techniques to get anything out the prisoner but he would have to time it right. Then he saw what he wanted. The prisoner’s shoulder suddenly slumped and she rested her head against the wall.

The Colonel stood upright and walked out of the room. He had finally found what he had been waiting for: a sign of defeat. He called back to the faces within the room.

“Begin to transfer the prisoner to the interrogation room and allow no one in until I get there.”

Behind him he heard the sound of shoes scuffling and of orders being given. As he walked alone to the interrogation room he treated himself to a small smile. This was his opportunity to get the information that he wanted. The prisoner had revealed her true feelings; she may have begun to break. When she first arrived, they all believed that she was already broken but as soon as they began to ask questions she suddenly gathered her resolve and refused to give any answers.

This would be the first time that he would actually see the prisoner in person; he had only seen her through the monitors before. He had seen the looks of the interrogators after they had questioned the prisoner. They had come out of the room with the far-off look of shock on their faces. It was no surprise, it’s not every day that you talk to a pony and expect to get an answer back. At first the prisoner seemed to share the same reaction to the fact that they shared a common tongue but it didn’t help much in getting any information.

He soon arrived outside a steel door with two armed guards on either side of it. He looked at them. They both stood rigidly to attention, staring forward. They both had a M16A1 in their hands, and a Beretta 92 in a side holster cocked and loaded for immediate action. They definitely looked a match for the prisoner and yet the assault rifles were too large if any trouble happened within the cell but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

“I’d like to have a word with the prisoner,” said the Colonel in a certain way that only came with years of practise of being an important part of a society.

The guards each replied with a gruff, “ yes sir.”

One of the guards slung his assault rifle over his shoulder, pulled out a key on a chain attached to his waist and began to unlock the door.

The guard next to the Colonel steeled himself; his whole body was tense, as was the guard in front of him. The Colonel, on the other hand, was calm, or at least seemed to be. Within himself though he was also tensing with anticipation at what lay behind the thick steel door. Finally the door became unlocked. The guard stood to the side as the Colonel calmly walked into the interrogation room.

He saw prisoner RD sitting in the centre of the room. He also saw that unfortunately her shoulders were no longer slumped and that she had that same steel expression that she always seemed to carry upon her face.

Her most favoured mask, thought the Colonel. The guards followed him inside, standing to either side of the now closed door. Their eyes were staring straight ahead but all their focus was on the prisoner that they now shared a room with. The Colonel noted with dissatisfaction that their guns did in fact seem too large and cumbersome to be use-able in this room.

The Colonel walked up to the chair that was positioned in front of the prisoner. The prisoners eyes stared intently at him. He returned the look. Luckily the prisoner was tied down to the floor by heavy bolts around a reinforced pair of handcuffs around her hind legs. She had already tried to break the handcuffs and the lock during earlier interrogations but to no avail. She wasn’t going anywhere. He sat down in the chair and looked at the prisoner in front of him. She was sitting down on the bare concrete floor looking straight at him. Occasionally, her eyes would flicker over the guards stationed either side of the door, evaluating her chances of escape. He waited until he saw a flicker of disappointment within her eyes and then began his questioning.

“What is your name?” He wasn’t about to start a good cop, bad cop routine as he didn’t want to lie to himself. This wasn’t the time for it anyway.

Prisoner RD didn’t reply, she just sat there on her back legs looking straight into the Colonel’s eyes. He stared back, their eyes battling each others, willing the other into defeat. They were sharing a silent battle that only they themselves could experience. Eventually one of them relented.

“I’m Rainbow Dash.”

The Colonel could understand why the previous interrogators had had that expression on their faces but hopefully he wasn’t showing it. At least they were getting somewhere. This was the first time the prisoner had relinquished her name. The name that they had chosen for the prisoner seemed to fit surprisingly well.

“How did you get here?” asked the Colonel in an authoritative tone and saw that the prisoner’s gaze relented once again.

“Sonic rainboom,” was all that she said back as she looked at the ground. The Colonel continued to use his most powerful asset and carried on staring into her. “Look, I don’t know how I got here! One minute I was in Equestria and now I’m here with you!”

Her deep purple eyes were now once again staring straight at the Colonel, full of anger. She is an aggressive one, he thought to himself.

“Do you know that your sonic rainboom nearly killed two men?”

For a few brief moments he saw a look of regret flash over the prisoner’s face but it was quickly replaced by a familiar mask.

“They attacked me first!” shouted back the pony.

“No, they didn’t.” He paused for a few seconds before carrying on. “When your sonic rainboom happened one of the planes crashed and the pilot only just managed to escape with his life. Even so, it’s lucky that he didn’t die from that altitude. The other then went on to catch you. You attacked first and they reacted.”

The Colonel looked at the graze across the prisoner’s forehead.

“How is that cut of yours? You’re lucky to be alive.”

There was no response besides another glare. He had gotten all that he was going to get out for her for the time being. He stood up and turned to leave when he heard a small voice.

“I didn’t mean to.”

Ignoring the voice, he began to walk out of the room. The two guards took up positions on the other side of the door and the Colonel walked out. Just before the door separated himself from the prisoner he turned to her and pointed to a camera in the corner of the room.

“We’re watching you. Don’t forget that.”

Later when he would watch the recording of the session he would see her shrink into herself at those words.

Rainbow Dash was once again in her tiny slice of prison. The room had seemed to get smaller and smaller over what had felt like months. Maybe it had been months. She certainly slept enough for it to have been months. Her life now consisted of sleeping, eating and being dragged out the room and placed into a larger room where some of the creatures would ask her questions. They had told her that they were called “humans” but to her they were just monsters.

Food seemed to arrive at random times and it was never very appealing. Even more so by the fact that sometimes after eating she would feel drowsy, fall asleep and then wake up with bruises and needle marks adorning her body. They must have used some kind of magic on the food to make her unconscious. Despite this fact she still always forced herself to eat; she would need all the energy she could get if she had any hope of escaping.

Her ears pricked up as she heard familiar sounds on the other side of the door. It swung open and she tried to back away, as she always did, and, like always, they blind folded her and dragged her out of the room. Her hooves scrapped across the hard ground as she was carried by her front legs to a familiar room. These were the only two places that she knew in this world. They stopped, the blindfold was torn off and she was thrown into the room. The two guards followed her in. She walked over to the middle of the room and sat down, as she had done every since she had first arrived here. One guard wrapped her back legs in tight iron constraints and locked them to the ground. She had seen similar things in Equestria but had never had the misfortune of wearing a pair.

The guards exited the room and left her to her own thoughts. She waited there, bored with nothing to do. Occasionally she would glance up at the camera, glowering at it but it had no effect and so she continued to sit there. She ran over a plan in her mind. It wasn’t perfect but it was better than nothing. She had already tested the metal around her back legs and found that she could quite easily break the chain and then, when the door opened, she would fly out as fast as she could and escape.

Simple but effective, thought Rainbow Dash with a small sense of pride but when the door did open, her body went rigid.

In through the door came the same human that she had seen only once before. The man with the evil eyes. The human was most likely male judging by the voice but it was hard to tell as they all seemed to sound the same. She stared at him as he came and sat down on the chair in front of her, as he had done the past time. Also like the last time, he stared at her and she stared back. His eyes were examining her and she could feel herself being searched from within by those piercing eyes. They soon found what they were searching for as the human began to talk.

“When you perform a sonic rainboom how does your body react?”

Nearly all the questions that she had been asked seemed to focus on sonic rainbooms. They seemed to be fascinated by them. Everypony would normally ask her questions about them but since she had been here the questions were focused on things that even she couldn’t answer. They wanted to know every little thing that she did while performing one, every minute detail, every tiny tremor of information that she could reveal was of the utmost importance to them.

Rainbow Dash steeled herself. She looked into the eyes of the monster before her and turned her back to it. She could feel the eyes on the back of her head, burrowing deep into her but she ignored them.

“Don’t you ignore me.” Yet she continued to do so. “We will find out what we want to know.” She could hear anger beginning to form in the voice of the normally calm human.

She heard him rise from the chair and begin to walk towards her. She felt the eyes get closer. All or nothing.

She kicked out her back legs with all the strength that she had stored over the months. Her legs broke free of their metal shackles and landed in the midriff of the human behind her. She turned around and saw the human on the ground, groaning in pain. She looked at the broken chains on the floor and her heart flipped. Quickly she flew to the corner of the room that the human had once pointed out. In it was a small square box; she kicked it with all her might. It smashed open and made a small sizzling sound. Now they couldn’t see her anymore.

She heard sounds on the other side of the door. She flew above it and hovered there. The door burst open and in rushed two humans. They quickly looked around the room and immediately noticed her absence. One of them looked upwards and spotted her. With amazing speed she lashed out at it with a right hook. It fell to the ground landing in a heavy heap. The other human turned its whole body to face her and began to raise a strange device but it was too slow. She once again kicked out and the body flew to the ground.

Rainbow Dash shot out of the room and over the two unconscious bodies to find herself in a large hallway. She heard shouts coming from one direction and so quickly flew down the other. She had no idea where she was going. It was now that she wished that she had thought out her plan a bit more. Regardless she flew as fast as she could in any direction that she could. Eventually she would find a way out, or so she hoped. She noted that the walls looked far too thick for her to be able to break through them.

Suddenly she stopped. Voices were coming from every direction, surrounding her. She looked around desperately for any avenue of escape but there was nothing but bare walls. Then she spotted a metallic grated cover high up on a wall. She flew up to it and kicked out with her back legs. It shattered and she flew inside. There wasn’t enough room to fly and so she had to crawl inside of it. With every movement she made a horrible, echoing noise as the metal groaned around her and so she tried to be as careful as possible. She heard voices below her as she silently crawled high above the view of the humans below.

It was a maze up here. Every new turn led to another. Every small metal wall looked the same. She was lost, even more so than before. The voices quickly became more quiet and more distant only to be replaced by a more familiar one.

“Lock the whole base down if you have to! We are not letting the prisoner escape.”

She had to find a way out of this maze quickly or she would never escape. She turned a corner and a ray of light blinded her. She blinked a few times before hurriedly crawling towards it. She crept up close to the grate and peered through. She saw two humans standing alert and looking around but behind them she saw something which she hadn’t seen for far too long. She saw a blue sky.

She took a deep breath through the nose, paused, and exhaled out of her mouth. She kicked the grate and flew through the hole. The two guards instantly became aware to her presence and began to go for something by their sides. She threw herself towards them. She briefly saw the confused expressions on the their faces before she broke through the glass door and embraced the great blue sky.

Michael looked around at the sky around him. These were the moments when he loved what he did. The blue ocean surrounding him went on for as far as the eye could see, punctuated by the odd low hanging cloud. Towering over him was a heavy layer of cloud that blocked out most of the sun.

Michael was flying alone today. After the incident, patrols had been stepped up considerably but that was five months ago and now most patrols were confined to single planes. This patrol was coming to an end and he was nearing the airbase when a voice crackled over the radio.

“Bravo actual you have a hostile aircraft in your AO at heading 2-9-0 to your immediate position. Your orders are to engage and destroy. How copy?”

Michael replied instantly.

“Roger Hotel 1.2.” he wasn’t afraid anymore. He had been tested before and come out on top, this time would be no different. “Adjusting course for heading 2-9-0.”

Michael felt the adrenaline being pumped into his blood stream, fueling his muscles for whatever they must do. He began to check the radar for any signs of hostile aircraft. He heard the sound of his breathing over the radio. It was heavier than he expected.

“No sign of hostile aircraft on the radar.”

“Keep looking Bravo Actual. Target is in your AO,” came the reply.

Michael continued to check his monitors yet they showed no signs of any disturbances. Michael once again heard the voice over the radio.

“Target should be nine miles ahead of you and heading 3-1-0. How copy?”

Michael thought for a few seconds and then responded.

“Bandit could be above cloud cover. Proceeding to increase altitude.”

“Copy,” came the reply.

“Travelling through cloud layer, minor turbulence,” noted Michael as he passed through the clouds.

“Copy Bravo Actual. Any sign of the bandit?” asked the voice.

Michael scanned the sky in front of him and noted a small smudge in the distance.

“I have a possible sighting but no heat signature. Proceeding to move closer. Over.”

Michael flew his plane forward, using the thrusters for maximum effect. He quickly closed the gap and his grip tightened at the sight.

“I have a confirmed sighting of the bandit. Heading 3-1-0.”

“Confirmed Bravo Actual. Proceed to engage,” commanded the voice.

Michael flicked the switch to arm the plane’s weapons of war. “Roger. Master switch on. Proceeding to engage.”

Michael swung the plane into a level firing position and began to try and get a lock on the small aircraft. He looked on with confusion when the on-board computers refused to lock onto the plane.

“That’s a negative on lock. Proceeding to get closer and attack with cannons,” said Michael over the radio.

“Affirmative,” was all that came back.

Michael could hear his breathing get even heavier over the radio but he ignored it. All his attention was focused solely on the target in front of him. He was closing fast on the target and was nearly within firing range when his heart stopped. To Michael's horror the aircraft disappeared in an explosion of light and he realised why he hadn’t been able to lock onto it. Before he could stop himself he heard his screams inside his helmet as his world was enclosed in a bright, colourful light.

Glossary for military/air force terms

AO - Area of Operations

Bandit - An aircraft identified as an enemy

To anyone still reading this is, thanks.

-Alex

Chapter 1

The other side of the rainboom

Chapter 1

“This is Bravo Two Zero, currently flying at 30,000 feet. No sign of any activity in the immediate vicinity. Clear skies all around. Over.”

“Acknowledged Bravo. Maintain altitude and report in any activity. Over and out.”

Flight Lieutenant Michael Wilkinson listened to the voice with slight unease. It seemed too robotic, too inhuman, as if it was merely a voice on the other end of the radio and nothing more. It was, in fact, the voice of a man 500 kilometres away, in a bunker somewhere, warm, comfortable and in control, as it always was. This man would be listening to his progress as he soared through the sky, high above the clouds, patrolling the same barren patch of sky as he always had and likely always would. Nothing interesting ever happened here; he was too far inland for any “hostiles” to come here. Who those hostiles would even be, he didn’t know. Wars fought that involved any plane versus plane action didn’t really exist anymore, he thought. These patrols were most likely just an excuse to use the hardware that the government had spent so much of their money on.

Michael was a professional though, and wouldn’t let boredom get in the way of his job. He surveyed the sky around him, searching for any other aircraft or objects of interest. There were none, just the same blue sky and occasional glimpses through the lumbering clouds below, of the green earth beneath him, except for the shape of his wing man, Bravo two, flying to the right of him.

“Any sign of any activity over there Bravo Two?”

“Negative, Bravo One,” came the reply from a more human voice, “wish there was though.”

“Well keep your eyes open and scan the horizon, today could be the special day,” though Michael seriously doubted that it would be.

For the next twenty minutes not much happened; there was little conversation between the two pilots. Anything good to talk about how been used up long ago. Michael was still persistently scouring the surrounding sky and checking the sensors for any signs of disturbances. He glanced a quick look at the sensors and monitors adorning every space inside of the cockpit. They all showed no changes, except minor differences, which were to be expected. One monitor though, showed a sensor which was rapidly gaining momentum with increasing ferocity. Michael stared at the monitor in disbelief. The monitor shouldn’t be doing this, there hadn’t been an explosion or anything to set if off. He leant closer to examine the Geiger counter and as he did so he felt his stomach begin to tighten up in apprehension of what could or might have happened. He had to contact command and warn them. No, first he had to check with Bravo Two to see if he had similar readings. There could be a malfunction with his equipment. His tightened stomach though was revealing his true thoughts to himself.

Suddenly a nervous voice crackled in his headset, “Bravo One I’m getting some weird...”

Alarms deafened Michael as he was thrown about inside the cockpit. The plane was thrown to the side while shouting at the top of its voice to warn Michael. The plane was being rocked from side to side as Michael tried his best to ignore the deafening alarms resonating from every sensor inside the cockpit. He grabbed onto the joystick with all his strength, fighting to keep the aircraft stable and to stop it plummeting through the clouds beneath him. The plane felt like it was shaking him and itself apart as it was thrown about. Above the constant screaming sirens, he heard a voice inside his head. At first he thought that he was going crazy. Maybe it was an angel welcoming him to his soon to be death.

“This is Bravo Two, mayday!” Even above the alarms Michael could hear the urgency in Bravo Two’s voice. “I’m gonna have to bail out!”

Michael looked out of the right side of the cockpit in time to see the cockpit of Bravo Two’s cockpit blow off, immediately followed by Bravo Two himself. He had been lucky to get out, as the now empty plane was thrown upside down and plummeted straight through the clouds below, turning in random motions as it did so. Michael was faring better. His plane was flying nearly level but was still shuddering violently. He had to keep a constant white knuckle grip on the joystick, as his arms felt like they were being shaken apart. He shot hurried looks around the cockpit, checking for any damage. There fortunately wasn’t any but, as he looked at the sensors and monitors, he found the origin of the wailing that was screaming in his ears; the Geiger counter was showing a huge radiation spike. Horrified he looked to the side for any sign of a nuclear detonation below, to affect him up here it must have been devastating, he thought. As he did so, something shot past his plane, sending it into another spasm of violent shaking's, that threatened to tear the plane out of his control as the G-forces slammed into him. He gritted his teeth as he sought to control the flailing aircraft.

Am I under attack? What was that blue thing that shot past?

Michael brought the aircraft level once again and scanned the surrounding sky for any sign of the hostiles that seemed to have attacked him. He looked behind and saw both a confusing and bewildering sight. In the normally blue sky behind him he saw a series of white rings surrounded by a larger ring full of bright colours, which instantly reminded him of a rainbow. The most confusing sight though was that out of the bright white centre, a rainbow shot out, carried on past his plane and into the sky ahead of him.

He had been attacked.

Suddenly Michael heard that familiar robotic voice in his ears.

“Bravo Two Zero, come in”. The voice seemed as calm as ever, devoid of emotion. “What is your status?”
Michael’s years of training and preparation kicked in after a moment of hesitation.

“Believe that we may have come under attack from an unidentified flying object. Bravo Two is down, bailed out upon initial attack.” The voice just listened. “Large spike in radiation levels, near critical. Aircraft ahead, but no visible sighting possible.”

It’s left a very clear vapour trail though, he thought.

“Any response from radio transmissions?” said the robotic man in the safe bunker.
Michael tried to raise the unidentified aircraft on the radio.

“This is Bravo Two Zero, of the United States Air force. Do you respond?” Michael hoped that he would get a response, but the apprehensive stomach tightening had returned.

“Negative. No response from bogey,” Michael said as calmly as he could.

The voice came back as calmly as ever, “the aircraft is deemed hostile. Proceed to engage. Over”

Michael missed a beat, “roger, engaging.”

Michael felt as if he was in shock as his training took over. He pressed a button, felt the thrusters kick in and he was once again thrown back into his seat as he flew ahead. The cause of the brightly coloured vapour began to get closer. He armed the heat seeking missiles and tried to get a lock on whatever had tried to take him down. Whatever it was, it was very small. It was nearly impossible to get a track on it, and even then it was only because of the computers that he even knew that he had it locked. He couldn’t see what it was, just heard the gentle beep as he locked on, the click of a button being pressed and then the sound and sight of a missile shooting ahead of him, flying parallel to the “rainbow” as it flew onwards toward its final destination.

“Missile away,” he heard someone confidently say. Only to realise that it was himself.

Michael held his breath as the missile careered onwards to strike the aircraft or whatever it was. Time seemed to slow down as the missile quickly became too small to see. He waited for the explosion that would signify the impact and destruction off whatever had tried to possibly kill him, and nearly succeeded. But there was no explosion, no impact, no bright light, instead the “rainbow” twirled around in a 360 degree loop and carried on flying on the same course as before. The missile had missed.

The voice also realised this, “prepare to engage again. Launch two missiles, if no contact then proceed to engage with cannons.” As calm as ever.
“Affirmative, proceeding to engage target,” replied Michael.

Once again Michael felt like he was watching someone else arm the arsenal that surrounded him. He heard the familiar beep then the click as the man sitting in the same seat sent the two missiles on their way. They flew straight and true, one slightly lagging behind the other, but both intent on seeking their victim. Michael was still too far off to see the mysterious aircraft, but not too far off to see the blinding explosion; that didn’t happen. Instead the cause of the “rainbow” swerved to the right and then suddenly swooped downward and then upward with incredible swiftness. This made Michael let out the breath that he realised he had once again been holding.
The first missile had obviously missed, but the other lagging behind meant that it avoided any drastic changes in its course. It carried on straight and true towards its target. Its target however was ready for it and flew to its right but so that it went in a full circle and ended up behind the missile. This gave Michael a clearer view of the target, but he was still too far out to see any clear characteristics. Once again all he saw was a blue blur.

I recognise that shape from somewhere, thought Michael. The second missile tried to face its target but instead went off at an odd angle and flew on a few hundred confused metres before exploding. Even from where Michael was, it was clear that the explosion was too far away from the hostile aircraft to cause any damage. The missiles had failed.

“Proceeding to engage with cannons, over,” Michael heard himself say.

“Affirmative.” Was all that came from the robotic voice.

Michael set off to finish the job that three missiles hadn’t completed. Whatever this thing was it was fast, manoeuvrable and had tried to kill him. He set off at full speed, hurtling towards the distant origin of the “rainbow”. As it grew closer he began to make out its shape a bit more. It was very streamlined in its design. There was no sign of any wings.

Maybe they’re folded inwards during times of highest acceleration? Thought Michael.
As he drew within range he began to notice that the “rainbow” was beginning to thin out. It was becoming more transparent.

Maybe it’s running out of momentum, thought Michael.
He chanced a quick glance behind to where he had first been attacked. The rings of multi-coloured light had begun to disperse and in doing so had become more transparent. The same as the trail that had originated from them.
Michael turned back towards the target and prepared himself for what he was about to attempt. He set about controlling his breathing, breathing in through his nose, waiting a few seconds and then exhaling through his mouth. Then he let his thumb hover over the fire button as he drew the target into his sights. He pressed the button.

The bullets spilled out of the cannon as they bored down upon their victim. Michael’s plane shook slightly as the rounds left their home and set out on their deadly adventure. They hurtled across the wide open expanse of sky intent on reaching that distant point, for them that was all that mattered in the world; it was their purpose in life. But they failed.
With both awe and frustration, Michael saw the blue aircraft swerve to the left and narrowly avoid the bullets. Michael bore down upon his target and prepared to fire another burst but as he did so the aircraft's wings appeared at its side.

They look too small for even an aircraft of that size.

In this moment of slight confusion over the dynamics of the aircraft's flying ability he nearly didn’t notice that the hostile aircraft was beginning to slow down, it’s “rainbow” beginning to patter out.
Michael was now nearly upon it and realising how close he was, hurriedly let of a loose burst of gunfire as he flew above the much smaller aircraft. The rounds came near but not near enough.
Damn it! He thought as he began a lazy circle to get himself back in position behind the “rainbow” aircraft. He kept a constant gaze on his target as he flew around to a better position. The target was slower than it had been before and it’s “rainbow” vapour had all but disappeared. Micheal's thumb once again hovered over the button that would rain death down upon whatever and whoever he chose it to. Through the nose; out the mouth, fire.

This time these adventurers found their mark, or at least one did. All Michael knew was that he saw the little blue aircraft begin to fall to the ground, no clouds to stop him from seeing where it landed; the sky seemed to be vacant of them.
“Target neutralised” he once again heard himself say.
“Affirmative. Return to base, over.” He heard the robotic voice say.

As Michael followed the spiralling descent of the aircraft from above, he felt surprisingly heavy hearted over what he had just done. Even though the aircraft was too small to have any humans aboard he still felt as if he had done something terrible. Something about the way it moved and reacted made it seem almost...non -robotic were the only words that he could come up with to describe it.

As he flew back to base he realised how low he had come during the chase, the aircraft might even be salvageable. He looked up at the sky behind him and saw the last of the brightly coloured sky fade away into obscurity.

I’ve had enough special days.

The clouds began to drop away as Rainbow Dash pushed upwards towards the sky. It was colder up here, but the benefits outweighed the chilling cold. The thinner air meant that she would be faster and speed was what she was looking for, as she always was.

As she carried on upwards, she let her mind drift. She was too embarrassed to tell anypony, but no matter how many times she had tried, she hadn’t been able to perform another sonic rainboom since the incident at Cloudsdale. The feeling was the most phenomenal sense of speed and power that she could ever imagine. She felt like a force flying through the air, unmatched by anything or anypony else. Even though she was faster than most other pegasi ponies, the sonic rainboom was what separated her from the rest. It was the thing that made her stand out to the Wonderbolts. She had to be able to do a sonic rainboom whenever she wanted to. She had to master it, she had to tame it, but they only ever seemed to work when something was needed of her.

Normally she didn’t fly this high, no pony did. The air became harder to breathe this high but it was still manageable, just. But she wasn’t planning on staying up here long for too long. The sky straight above of her was dark blue, reminding her of where Luna had been banished to more than a thousand years ago. That barren landscape, an endless void of empty space punctuated by the occasional stars that were just tiny, insignificant specks of light in the empty vacuum of space. I wonder where she was now; no pony had seen any sign of her since she had been taken back to Canterlot with her sister.

Rainbow Dash pushed these thoughts of her head, for them only to be replaced with ones of Pinkie Pie. She had promised to meet with her at Sugarcube Corner to make some cupcakes. Normally she asked someone like Applejack to help make them with her. Maybe Pinkie Pie had just decided that her time had come to help make them with her. Well she’d do them with her once she got back down to Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash flew as high as she dared. She stopped as she gazed at the clouds littering the sky below her; she probably should have cleared them before she had set off. She would just have to level out a bit while flying downwards. She didn’t want to fly through the clouds while in the middle of a sonic rainboom; the ground could be a lot closer than she thought.

She focused. Through the nose, pause; out the mouth. Rainbow Dash shot downwards. She folded in her wings as she accelerated downwards at an incredible speed. Tears began to form on her eyes as the air tried to slow her down. It wasn’t going to slow her down though, nothing was, she wouldn’t let anything slow her down. She was going to perform a sonic rainboom and nothing was going to stop her. Concentration was etched into her face as she rocketed downwards towards the clouds that were coming ever closer to greet her, their soft coating welcoming her. She began to feel that familiar feeling as the air around her began to become pierced by her own momentum as her speed increased. She began to level out, lifting her body upwards, and as she did so she saw the air in front of her begin to separate, forming a cone around her. Her skin began to prickle slightly as the air around her became charged with electricity. She was about to finish the rainboom. She squinted against the tears in her eyes and the G- forces crashing into her. Nothing was going to stop Rainbow Dash.

The world exploded around Rainbow Dash in an orgasm of colour. Her vision was filled with every colour of the rainbow and her ears were filled with the explosion that she had set off behind her. She had done it, she had finished a sonic rainboom.

The air buffeted against her as she was propelled forward by the massive energy that had just exploded behind her. The noise was near deafening as her ears were pushed backwards, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything at that moment in time, she felt free. As her vision returned she noticed two grey pegasi ponies flying in front her. Even though they seemed to be flying away from her, they were quickly coming closer. As she looked at them, they seemed to have been forcefully thrown to either side of her.

Maybe they had been up too high for too long and were dizzy, thought Rainbow Dash.

She didn’t have any more time to look at them as she shot between the two of them, but she had noticed one thing about them. They weren’t pegasus ponies.

Fear crossed Dash’s mind as she raced to find an explanation to what those things were. Whatever they were, they were giant. She hadn’t noticed until she had gotten closer just how big they were. They weren’t as big as a dragon, but they were still too big for comfort. She looked behind her. The grey creatures were now just grey little specks behind her. Well at least one was, the other seemed to have disappeared from sight. She looked around, worried that it may have crept up on her; instead she saw it disappear through the clouds below like a dead weight. Whatever it was it wasn’t coming back. She looked at the remaining grey speck behind her and saw something flash towards her. Instinctively she threw herself backwards and came around in a loop; the object passing beneath her as she did so. The object had a flame coming out of its back but suddenly it went out. As she looked at it, it began to fall harmlessly through the sky below.
Whatever these creatures are, they’re trying to hurt me.

It was only now that she noticed that the sky around her was still blue, but it seemed duller, a less vivid blue than usual. She looked below and saw, through patches in the clouds, a green and duller land than she remembered. She once again looked behind her at the grey speck in the distance and was greeted by the sight of two flashes coming towards her.

She pushed herself downward as fast as she could and then pulled up as fast as was ponily possible. It had helped save Rarity and the Wonderbolts before, and this time it saved her as she saw a flash fly past her and disappear into the distance. Feeling proud of herself, she nearly forgot about the second flash. Spontaneously Dash flung herself to the right as she felt the flying object pierce through where she had just been. Whatever it was, it was intent on murder. Her murder. She once again flew around behind where the bright object that seemed so intent on hitting her, should have been, but instead she saw a bright flash in the corner of her eye, followed by a sound of an explosion. The force of which, was strong enough to take the breath out of her.
What the hay was that? she thought as she tried to regain her composure as she looked around for that speck in the distance that was firing things at her. Instead, she saw a great metal bird coming straight at her, flashes coming from its right wing. Dash swerved to the left and as she did so she heard what sounded like bees buzzing past her. This grey bird had once again tried to kill her, and had nearly succeeded.

Rainbow Dash now realised that she had been slowing down, the momentum of the sonic rainboom wasn’t enough to outpace the grey bird now. Unfurling her wings she flew on, just as more bees flew past her and she became deafened as the great bird flew directly overheard. The heat was magnificent, nearly scorching her mane. As the bird flew overhead, she saw that it too had fire coming out of its back. She also noticed that it didn’t have any feathers. It seemed to be completely rigid. It seemed too unnatural to exist. Also it was much faster than her, she had to fly lower. Maybe she could lose it in the trees below. There had to be somewhere to...

Rainbow Dash’s vision went black as she felt something crease her temple. Her wings went limp. All she could see through her rapidly darkening vision as she spiralled down, was the shape of the grey bird as it soared overhead and the dull green trees eagerly coming up to greet her.

Thanks for reading this so far. Eventually the first 2 chapters will be edited quite plot heavily.