The E.Q.R.A

I sat meself down on the pilot's seat of an old cargo aircraft,the AN225 Skylifter.Only one of its kind with six powerful D-18T turbofan engines,32 landing gears and woth the empty weight of 250,000 kgs.It can fly over whole of Equestria in within 4 hours.The aircraft has 4 crew members in the cockpit,the pilot,co-pilot,engineer and the radio director.

Today,my crew is Icon at the seat of the co-pilot,Terry as the engineer and Hank as the radio director.We need to fly to Eclipse naval base to load an experimental weapon.Between us is the Crystal Empire,because this plane has no anti-ice features we have to take a detor around it,extanding the flight from 30 minutes to 40.

"Flight 225 on halt of runway 47,requesting for takeoff",i called the tower after our taxi."225 clear for takeoff,have a nice flight",it replied.I put my right hoof without my glove since we dont need to do much,Icon did the same thing.When the speed indicator indicated that it was 300 knots on the 9300 foot runway, i immediately said"B1", and i pulled the yolk taking my hoof off the engine controls.B1 is a phrase(not the Rockwell B1 strategic bomber,please dont get confused) to indicate the speed at wich a pilot can no longer abandoned his or her takeoff.

"Remember that time when i flew the Cessna while you were at the controlls?And then i made a false alarm about the controlls being haywire,you totaly freeked out ha ha"! Icon laughed and so did the others.Siriously,i realy hated when that guy makes fun of me."You all are going to regret this",i sighed and they immediately quiet down.I pulled the yolk up to ascend from 11000 ft to 14000 ft,the tower dosent know about what were doing since we're out of range.

I lowered the engine power and the others started getting cold feet."Hey,what the hell are you doing"?Icon asked.I just sat there quietly holding my yolk.I slammed it down and the aircraft went into a stall and a dive."AHHHHHHHHH,PULL UP!!!!!!!!!!!"they shouted.Aparently i was the only one that was calm since i had done multiple 0G flights in my experience.I pulled the yolk up when our altitude was 4000 ft.I increased the engine power to level us out."You imbicle,you scared the living crap out of me"!Icon said.I ignored him when i noticed two mig 21s on our left.They were in front of the engines so it was a clear sight of them.One of them did a hard left turn and it showed the under fuselage of the aircraft with only ten letters:DARK SHADOW.

"Hank,alert the closest signal aircraft,ask them if they sent two outdated planes for our escort".We heard a sudden explosion and a rough vibration.Checking the indicators,one by one engines from 2-5 were going down and caught fire.I pulled the emergency fire extinguishers to stop the fire,unfortunately the aircraft engines could not be restarted as they were badly damage.The Antonove can fly with remaining 3 engines but without that,were droping 15 ft per second."Negatiff,they did not send anything",Hank reported."Link my coms to the nearest control tower",i replied.

As soon i was linked to a tower at Rectory airbase near the Everfree,i sent out a distress signal."Air traffic control,we've lost four engines,300 knts at altitude two three zero.'Requesting for position for landing",i spoke."Flight 225,strongly advise atthe crystal Empire,there is a lot of space for landing grounds",the tower replied.Without my permission,Icon immediately ditched the aircraft to the right."What the hell are you doing"?i asked grabbing the yolk and turned the oposite."What choice do we have?we have no altitude,our speed is low and we barely have enough con"-'ponk'!.Refusing to lift his hooves,i punched him causing him to be unconscious.

I banked the aircraft to the left heading North.While banking,there was a large explosion and heavy vibration.Eyeing the heat detectors,our remaining engines were down and on fire.I grabed my glove since i needed to do extream action,taking it from basic to advance.I hit the extinguisher to put out the fire and switched on the APU(Auxilary Power Unit).Another large explosion came from the rear folowed by a lot of vibration.A huge decomprestion filled the cockpit with fog,but then subsided.

The cargo manager immediately apeared from the staircase of the cockpit with disturbing news."The bastards blew the cargo door open.'They crashed their fighters into the cargo bay and started shooting after comming out",he said."Hold them down, Terry,do we have any hydrolics left"?i asked."Their draining out,you got 2 minutes left".I projected the aircraft to the dessert,where many patrol units including SAR(Search And Rescue) units were placed.Unfortunately,just after finishing that,all power ceased and were out of hydrolics.The altitude meter showed only 400 ft when a soilder came in."The cargo manager has been shot,we need support"."I'll go,Hank,take the controls",i said going down the stairs.

Downstairs was complete chaos.At the bottom of the stairs,there were boxes stacked on each side for cover.The soilder i was following was shot dead and fell on the staircase.I got his .33 and got behind the boxes.Before i even took a shot,a loud shout came from the cockpit,"BRACE".I crouched on the ground and the aircraft hit the surface.While sliding,the rear fuselarge teared itself apart.While crouching,the box that was stacked next to me lost its grip and flew,nocking my head unconscious.

........

After regaining consciousness,i suprisingly found the front cargo bay door open,must've been striped off during the landing.Basicaly,after getting out of the wreckage,i regrouped with the remaining crew.On the ground was Icon with his bloody face,i mean really,bloody."What heapened"?"Icon had his seat belt on,at least but he diddn't brace of course,his head was flung down on his yolk and was bleading all over the place,sitting there like a ninny.So there i grab him,and heare he is",Terry said.Another guy came up not far,hit me down and pointed his gun unto Hank.Before he got his shot,i took my .33 and aim at his head."HAPPY BIRTHDAY",and i pulled the trigger,blowing his head off.Due to the velocity of the bullet at mach 1,the vibration practicly blew opened his head."Why did you do that for?Now we got blood all over the place",Hank said grinning like anything.A huey came and landed withmat least two medics on board."We'll get to the Ponyville hospital,its close enough".....