The Skies Above Equestria
“One thing you new cadets must remember is the fact that the Wonderbolts is also an active military force.” Soarin said in a clear voice, as he glared down on the two ponies before him.
Standing at attention on the runway and doing their best to pay attention, Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger struggled to stay up with the weight of their heavy equipment on them, as they listened to listen to their instructor. With bulky metal containers, with long barrels protruding in front of them, strapped to their sides and heavy helmets pressing on their heads, the gear they had on felt uncomfortable and a burden under the hot blaring morning sun.
Sweating and aching under the weight, the two of them felt weary with the gear on and seemed ready to give up. But with the heavy gaze of their instructor on them and knowing that this phase of their training was crucial in becoming a Wonderbolt, they dared not to.
So still they stood, listening as best they can.
“True, our main job nowadays is to perform aerial exhibitions-“ Soarin continued. “-but that does not mean we are unable to perform our duty in protecting Equestria. We are an elite force, the best of the best. We fly hard and we fight hard. Every member of the team is a fighter and knows how to fight in the air. So if you candets want to be a fully pledged member of the Wonderbolts, then you must know how to fight. So tell me, can you fight?”
“Sir, yes, sir!” The two said in unision, their voices obviously strained, yet the energy and spirit behind it could still be felt.
Smirking and shaking his head, Soarin eyed the too with judging eyes. “That’s what you two say, but there’s only one way to find out if the meaning behind your words are true.”
Putting on his shades and looking up at the sky, he scanned the world aboce him to see the clear open expanse of blue. This was a perfect day for flying, and a perfect day for target practice.
“Now-“ Soarin said, as his gaze fell back on the two cadets before him. “-I’m sure the both of you are aware and, hopefully, well knowledgeable of the equipment on you. You took your classes and passed them. But now you’re about to apply the lessons you’ve learned and see if you really understood them.”
Moving forward and approaching Vapor Trail, Soarin took a hoof a tapped the metal container on her side, creating a low thumping sound as he did so.
“The first thing you probably realized is the fact that these things are heavier than the ones you had in class.” Soarin said. “Well that’s because these Machine Gun Saddles you have on right now are loaded with live ammunition. Unlike the ones you wore at class, these things right here are full of two hundred rounds of .30 cal ammunition, per gun.”
“Now-“ Soarin went on. “-you’re probably wondering: ‘Four hundred rounds of ammo? What ever shall we do with all of them.?’ Well, the answer is simple, you’re going to shoot them. Shoot at what? Shoot at that.”
Turning away from Vapor Trail and pointing a hoof towards a kite like object on the middle of the runway, Soarin presented to them the target drone that will serve as their hapless victim for the day. Triangular in shape, made out of aluminum, and with a magically powered propeller in front, this simple looking machine was the day’s objective.
Grinning as he stared at it, Soarin couldn’t help but find some amusement at the picture of the Changeling Queen Chrysalis painted on top and under the target drone. It brought some character to the target and made it more than just another piece of equipment.
Besides, it was also entertaining to riddle more holes into one of Equestria’s most wanted enemy.
“Don’t be fooled now by what you see, because that thing over there is a menace in the skies.” Soarin told them. “Capable of flying as fast as any pegasi, you two would have to fly pretty fast, with those guns strapped on you, if you want to be able to catch up with it and shoot it down. Think you can do it, cadets?”
“We sure can, sir!” Sky Stinger said, a bit of overconfidence obvious in his voice, as he gave a firm nod and made a wide smile. This to him seemed like another task in which he can prove himself and he was not afraid to show what he can do.
Vapor Trail however was more apprehensive about their capabilities. She was already struggling on keeping up the equipment as she stood there and she wondered if she’ll be able to fly fast with such a heavy load strapped to her.
Staring at the two one more time and seeing that they were ready as they ever can be, Soarin opened his wings and gave them the signal to take-off.
“Well, we’ll see. Alright, cadets, visors down and take to the air!”
Trying her best to catch up, Vapor Trail flapped her wings as hard as she can, aiming for the speck in front of her. But despite her best effort, she struggled to get more speed, as the burden of the equipment on her was slowing her down.
“Come on, Vapor, you can do it!” Sky Stinger encouraged, as he flew beside her. Able to fly with a bit more ease, due to his stronger frame, he was taking the flight better than Vapor Trail. In fact, given a bit more effort, he believed that he could catch up on their target and give it a good riddling.
But since Vapor Trail was his wingpony and that one of the main rules in aerial combat was to stick to your flight members no matter what, he instead kept his pace slow, so that Vapor Trail could stay with him. This made the both of them lag far behind their target, as it flew farther and farther away into the distance.
“You two have to do better than that if you want a score on your grade today.” Soarin called out, as he flew slightly above the two. Watching their progress and not liking it one bit, he stared with disappointment as the two failed to get near the target. Sure, he applauded Sky Stinger’s ability to stick with his wingpony no matter what, for he had half expected him to leave her behind, but he was still let down at the fact that they haven’t even gotten within range of their target, let alone fire at it.
“Vapor Trail, you’re slowing us all down!” Soarin said, as he glared at the snow white pegasus. “I’ve seen a tortoise fly faster than that!”
“Sorry, sir…” Vapor Trail panted, as she continued to struggle. “…it’s just so…heavy…”
“Don’t worry, Vapor, you can do it.” Sky Stinger encouraged again. “Just put a little more effort.”
Groaning and knowing that Vapor Trail couldn’t do it, Soarin shook his head in defeat. “Vapor Trail, you need to work on your ability to fly with equipment on. You’re a great flyer when it comes to aerobatics, but you need to build up your wing strength. When we get back to base, you owe me a hundred wing push-ups.” Turning his attention towards Sky Stinger, Soarin nodded towards the pegasus and gestured towards the distant target. “Sky Stinger, you’re free to break off from the formation and chase that drone. Shoot it down before it flies off to somewhere populated and hurt somepony.”
“Yes, sir!” Sky Stinger said with a salute. Then, turning towards Vapor Trail, he gave her a small sympathetic smile and said: “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be able to do it next time.”
Smiling as he flew, he moved with great confidence, sure that he would be able to bring down the drone in no time.
Using all his wing strength and giving off one powerful flap, Sky Stinger propelled himself forward, as he flapped harder in order to go faster and faster. Soon enough, he was catching up on the drone and although a bit fatigued by the work, he kept himself going with excitement and adrenaline.
Looking through the visor of his helmet and concentrating on the red crosshair that was enchanted to point at the same direction his gun barrels were pointing, Sky Stinger carefully and quickly approached his target’s rear, locking onto it and staying locked.
Running the crosshairs through the drone, letting it pass the supposedly menacing image of Queen Chrysalis, he aimed just ahead of the target drone, just like what they were told in their classes. Keeping his sights steady, he got ready to bite on the trigger in his helmet, to unleash the hail of bullets and eliminate the target.
Staying concentrated and sure on his mark, he gave one last check before biting on the trigger and preparing himself for the recoil of his guns firing.
But none came.
Instead of the loud bursts and powerful push he was told to expect, he was met with silence and free unopposed flight.
Confused by this and deciding to bite again on the trigger, he was met by the same response. Biting and biting, he furiously tried to hit the trigger till it fired. But it never did.
Annoyed by this, he let out a small curse and wondered why his weapon was firing. Was it a maintenance problem? Was the gun jammed? Thinking it through and trying to find an answer, he soon realized the main reason on why his weapon didn’t fire.
He forgot the lock them before taking off!
Halting in the air and feeling like he wanted to punch himself because of his foolishness, Sky Stinger batted his hooves in the air. He just couldn’t believe it. How could he have forgotten to arm his guns? It was supposed to be one of the first things one was to do before taking off, to arm the weapon and make sure that they were ready to fire.
Now, realizing it, he soon placed his attention away from cursing his misfortune, to moving his hooves towards his guns and fumbling them, hoping to arm them.
Seeing this struggle and watching Sky Stinger work on his gear while the drone flew away from him, Soarin couldn’t help but shake his said and sigh. He had expected better things to come out in this training session, too bad none of those expectations came true.
Flying towards the furious pegasus and seeing him still fumble with his equipment as the drone flew farther and farther away, he knew that today’s training would have to be cut short. There was just too many SNAFUs to continue now and it was best to stop and continue another day.
So as Sorain drew closer towards Sky Stinger, hoping to stop him before he causes an accident in his reckless attempts to engage his weapons, he gave one last glance towards the flying target drone as it flew out of sight.
“Well, you look like you had a nice flight.” Spitfire said, as she watched Soarin enter the armory with a stressed look on his face. Sitting by a bench and slowly polishing two cylindrical container in front of her, the pegasus mare looked very much relaxed and quite happy, especially when compared to the light blue pegasus who had a big frown on his face.
“Training session didn’t go out too well?” Spitfire inquired.
“Worst.” Soarin said, as he moved through the armory and searched for his equipment. “It was terrible! The cadets didn’t even get to fire a shot. Not a single shot.”
“Ouch. That bad, huh?” Spitfire said, a bit of amusement in her voice.
“Yes, that bad. Vapor Trail couldn’t even get near the target, since she was having trouble hauling the gear she had on her, while Sky Stinger, that feather brain, forgot to arm his machine guns. I tell you, I have never seen a simple firing exercise go so wrong.”
“Oh yeah?” Spitfire said, a grin plastered on her face. “How about our first firing exercise, all those years back? You and I both missed the drone, because we were foolish enough to forget to aim ahead of the target.”
“Well, that’s a different story.” Soarin defended. “Besides, at least we managed to fire our weapons. These two failed stupendously!”
“Eh, that’s how new cadets are. I bet they’ll do better the second time round.” Spitfire said before chuckling. “Just make sure not to forget to punish them. Cause I’ll be sure to call them to my office later for a nice yelling session.”
“Oh, I’ll be sure to punish them. I’ll make them do flights around the Academy till their wings could barely keep them up.” Soarin told her, as he finally found his equipment and began inspecting it if it was good to go. “But I’ll have to do that later. The target drone is still up there and flying, a big hazard in the skies. It was heading for the direction of Ponyville when I last saw it and I fear that it might some innocent pegasus if it isn’t brought down soon.”
“So you flying to shoot it down yourself?” Spitfire asked, a bright look plastered on her face.
“Yeah.” Soarin said nodding. “Want to come?”
“You bet I would!” She said as she stood up, her sudden excitement making Soarin curious. “And forget those old Mk. 5 Machine Gun Saddles, cause I’ve got a better weapon for us to use in shooting that drone down. This thing right over here.”
Gently tapping the cylinders in front of her, Soarin eyed the object before him before eyeing Spitfire herself.
“Um, what is that?” He asked.
Chuckling and shaking her head, Spitfire gently lifted the cylinders before smoothly strapping them onto her sides. “This right here is the latest weapon that came from the Canterlot Armory, and it got here just this morning. The eggheads over there call this the Mk. 1 Missile Pods. But I have given it the unofficial name of Thunder and Lightning.”
“Thunder and Lightning, huh?” Soarin said with a laugh. “Then I assume these must be powerful things.”
“You bet they are!” Spitfire said, jabbing a hoof at him. “Each one of these cylinders has twenty enchanted homing rockets, capable of intercepting the first target it finds. Now, I’ve been told that the spell casts on the rockets are still on the works, but I’ve also been reassured that they’ll work. Most of the time.”
“Most of the time… Dosen’t sound that good to me.” Soarin said with doubt.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out if they work, so what do you say? I have another set over there, so if you’re willing, go pick it up so we can test these babies!”
“Well that’s one weird looking kite…” Starlight Glimmer muttered to herself, as she gazed up and stared at a triangular object flying towards her own kite. Quietly relaxing and enjoying her day, Starlight had been peacefully flying her kite, when a sudden buzzing sound attracted her attention.
Now gazing at the source of the noise and wondering what it could be, Starlight watched the kite and find it quite odd that there was an image of Queen Chrysalis imprinted on it. That was a weird thing to paint on a kite, but then again who was she to judge other ponies’ kites?
Studying the weird looking kite and following its trajectory, she soon realized the path it was taking would bring it into contact with her own kite. This made her eyes grow wide in panic, as she shook her head at the thought of what might happen.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no!” She said to herself, as she used her magic too pull on her kite’s strings. Frantically pulling on the strings of her kite, she hoped of bringing it down before any impact happens and destroy her precious kite. She had worked on making this kite and she wasn’t going to let some weird kite destroy it.
Exchanging glances between her kite and the buzzing triangular one, she kept on muttering to herself as she tried to pull her creation from the high altitude she had strived to bring it too. But with so much air to clear, the task was very difficult.
The first sign she had that the triangular object impacted her kite was the sudden pull she had on her kite’s string. Unable to bear the sight of her kite colliding with the object, she had shut her eyes closed and hoped for the best.
Sadly, this action did not prevent her kite from making contact with the strange object.
However, as she opened her eye and looked up, she noticed that her kite was not completely destroyed. Although a bit damaged, with some of the paper torn up, her kite was still in one piece.
It was just stuck.
Impaled by the triangular object, the tip of it went through her kite, as it clung for dear life. Stuck on it and being pushed, her kite moved further and further away from her, as the weird triangular object stole her kite for her.
Realizing this and determined to save her kite, no matter what, Starlight concentrated on the object, as her horn began to glow.
“Oh no you don’t…” She muttered to herself. “…you aren’t going to steal my kite, not while I’m here.”
“There it is!” Spitfire called out, as she pointed towards the triangular target drone that flew in front of them. Having searched for a couple of minutes and finally locating their target above the outskirts of Ponyville, both Spitfire and Soarin were glad to see that there didn’t seem to be a pony hurt because of the coasting target drone.
“Yup, that’s the drone alright.” Soarin said with agreement. “But what’s that thing in front of it?”
“Who cares? It’s probably just some rubbish it picked up, maybe a paper bag that was blown by the wind. It’s probably nothing important.” Spitfire said, her voice filled with anticipation as excitement filled her bloodstream.
Now was the time to test out her new toy.
Armed and ready, the missile pods on their sides only needed one signal before propelling themselves into the air and hunting its target. And now that they were in the perfect area to fire, Spitfire was ready to use them.
Flying at the outskirts of Ponyville, they were safe from any populated area that a stray rocket they fired could hit. Not that there would be a stray missile, Spitfire thought to herself, knowing that the enchantment on each rocket would make sure they hit their mark.
“Well each fire two rockets on my mark.” Spitfire called out to Soarin. “If everything works out, which they should, then all four rockets would home in on the drone and explode at the same time.”
“Roger that, Captain.” Soarin said, readying himself for the order.
Grinning and turning towards the target drone, Spitfire did her best to make sure that he was aligned with her target. Since the rockets were enchanted to home in on its target, the helmet that came with the equipment wasn’t built with any crosshairs. The builders of the gear believed that such things were unnecessary, since the rockets would be doing most of the aiming. This meant that she had no way of manually aiming the rockets and had to solely rely on its reliability to hit its target.
Satisfied that her alignment was good enough and very much ready to see what her new equipment can do, she gave cleared her throat and called out in a loud voice: “Fire!” Before biting onto the trigger twice and releasing her rockets.
Feeling the kick and almost becoming dazed by it, the loud soaring shout of the rocket filled her ears and for a moment she was deaf and hearing nothing but a loud ringing sound it left.
The rockets were powerful and loud, for more than she had expected. Covering her with smoke and kicking her with more force than any Machine Gun Saddle could, it felt terrifying yet amazing. Despite all the smoke and the kick it brought, she could sense the great power it had within it.
It was a wonderful feeling and she loved it.
Turning her attention towards the rockets they fired and following the trail of smoke it made, Spitfire couldn’t help but smile as she watched them head towards the drone. Although not directly aimed at it, the rockets turned and homed in on the drone, as it was the nearest target in front of it.
Watching it follow the turns of the drone and seeing the four rockets grow closer to it, she felt confident and sure that the target drone would soon be destroyed.
But just as the rockets were about to zoom on the drone, and just as the rockets were about to explode, the drone made a sudden turn to the right, as if it were suddenly dragged. Confusing the enchantment on the rocket, as their target suddenly moved with a sharpness they could not replicate, the rockets just continued in a straight movement, losing their lock on the drone, before exploding harmlessly in the air.
“Did…” Spitfire said with shock, as her eyes twitched within her helmet. “…did our rockets miss?”
“Um, it seems they did.” Soarin reported. “Well, so much for homing rockets. I knew I should have brought the Machine Gun Saddles instead of this. Shall we head back to base and- Hey wait, where are you going?”
“Towards the drone! These rockets have potential, Soarin, it would be a waste not to use them.” Spitfire called out, as she zoomed away from Soarin and closer towards the drone. “Maybe if we tried again, they would work.”
“Um, Spitfire, I don’t that’s how it works.” Soarin replied, as he tried to catch up with her.
“Oh, yeah, since when did you become an expert on this equipment?” Spitfire interjected. “Besides, I think that if I fire more rockets, then the chances of them hitting would increase.”
“Fire more rockets, wait… I don’t think that’s a good-“
The rest of Soarin’s sentence was cut off by the loud striking sound of rockets firing from Spitfire’s missle pods. Creating flashes like lightning, the rockets flew and flew, as Soarin tried to count how many she fired.
By the time the flame colored pegasus stopped firing, Soarin had counted eight rockets. Now staring at these rockets, Soarin followed their path and watched as the familiar sight of the rockets pointing towards their target played before him. Flying through the air and moving fast, it seemed they were all going to hit the target with one powerful blasts.
But just like before, the target drone suddenly shifted away from its present position and suddenly moved towards the left, once again confusing the rockets and making them fly straight and till they exploded with a thunder like bang in the distance.
Finding the sudden movement of the drone weird and wondering why it was moving so swiftly and quickly, Soarin became curious as he thought about it. Wanting to ask Spitfire if she saw the same thing, he tried to move closer to her when the sudden bursts of smoke from the missile pods covered his face and made him cough.
Firing another burst of rockets and unleashing another volley onto the drone, the frustrated Spitfire emptied her pods and sent all her rockets flying in one big mass formation of smoke and weaponry.
Clearing the smoke in front of him and coughing a couple more times, Soarin watched as the rockets repeated its pattern of following the drone and moving towards it. Having seen a similar sight twice already, he couldn’t help but shake his head, knowing what was going to happen next.
Returning home to Twilight’s Castle and levitating both her kite and her newly acquired kite, Starlight quietly reflected on the day’s events, wondering how a simple kite flying trip turned into one of the strangest days in her life.
Trying to rescue her kite from being entrapped on the weird self-propelled kite, she found that pulling it with magic was quite harder that it was. Whatever was propelling the thing was strong and the pull on it was powerful. She had to use a lot of her strength to be able to influence its direction and try to pull it down.
But if trying to pull down the kites wasn’t hard enough, it became even more difficult when two pegasi arrived and started attacking it.
Firing what she could only assume were fireworks, they aimed their shots directly towards the kites she had with her magic. With her own precious kite as a target, Starlight had to desperately steer them away from the flying fireworks, or else have a burnt kite.
Luckily for her, she managed to dodge all of the volleys of the pegasi and safely bring down both her kite and the flying triangle that started all her problems.
Now bringing home this triangular object, she wondered what she should do with it. The image of Queen Chrysalis was a bit creepy, but the magical motor it had seemed quite interesting to her. Entering the castle and levitating the object in front of her, she shook her head and decided to just put it away from now.
Maybe one day she’ll find some use for it.
Moving through the halls and heading towards her room, she was suddenly met by a rushing Twilight, who was levitating dozens of water filled buckets and galloping towards the entrance of the castle.
“Oh, hi, Twilight.” Starlight said in greeting. “Um, where’s the rush?”
“Hey, Starlight, not much time to talk now.” Twilight said, as she galloped passed her. “Sweet Apple Acres has apparently been hit by lightning and it started a fire. I’m heading there now to help the apples fight it.”
Watching Twilight as she leave and thinking about what she said, Starlight found it odd that lightning caused a fire at Sweet Apple Acres. It had been sunny all day and there was not a single sign of a thunder cloud.
“I guess this day just keeps on becoming stranger and stranger.”
Author's Note
Based on a somewhat similar incident in 1956.
