Nickolas is running for his life, with more than 30 Russians on his ass. Now Nickolas doubted that going this war isn't the best idea.
It's July 3, 2034, two years after World War 3 broke out between the Russian and the American. The Chinese isolated themselves from this war, and UK is also isolated from the war, but they brought supplies for the Americans. Nickolas Smith is a 19 year-old captain of the USAF "Eagle" Squadron. Yes, he is a Captain. Due to his shocking skills of military and flying, this young man became a Captain of the most deadliest squadron of the USAF in just two months.
When the war broke out, Nick is eager to join the war and fight for his country. He flies a Lockheed F-22 Raptor, yup, the Raptor.
This big bird is a single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft that can beat almost every other fighter jets in the world. However, that doesn't mean F-22 is invincible; The Russian S-400s and their Su-57s. A good pilot in a Su-57 is one of the biggest enemies for the Raptors, and for the S-400, almost no aircrafts can escape its radar. But other than those two, Nick felt completely safe flying in his Raptor, which he nicknamed it "Dragon Wings".
Chinese mythologies and cultures were Nick's favorite, he'd many military friends back at China, but due to the war, their friendship is broken too. Still that don't change his view on the Chinese dragons. They're symbols of luck, Nick has a neckless of a dragon he wore all time instead of a cross, though many made fun of him for that. He named his F-22 Raptor "Dragon Wings", due to his amazing skills and talents, his superior allowed him to do whatever he wants fro his Raptor. Nick painted a dragon head on his Raptor by himself. He's an artist before going the Air Force, so the look is awesome.
A week ago, Nick's squadron were sent to escort a C-130 with supplies to pass the edge of the Russian Border, it was suppose to be a piece of cake, but unfortunately fate has other ideas.
They encountered a squadron of Su-57s, after losing three of his teammates and splash down three of the Su-57s, Nick was captured alive, with his Raptor "Dragon Wings". He's escorted to the Russian POW Camp, while his beloved "Dragon Wings" is sent to the lab to be researched.
Nick aren't gonna let this happen.
Catching two off-guard guards, Nick quickly snapped their necks and grabbed their AK-12s with 10 mags. He towed the two dead guards into a corner before getting off their helmets, vest, and other combat tools before off to find "Dragon Wings."
Luckily, the Raptor is still at the Russian Airfield. But the research vehicles and more Russians are coming in, Nick himself is racing against time. The young pilot quietly yet quickly passed the guard towers. Due to the uniform he robbed from the two dead guards, no one bothered him; also, Nick speaks Russian too. He walked by a corner and ran into a buff Russian. He had his mask on, so no one could recognize his face.
"Эй, что за хрень? (Yo, what the fuck?)" the Russian grunted, pushing Nick away.
"Извините, извините, товарищ, вы где-нибудь видели американского раптора? Командир отправил меня проверить. (Sorry, sorry, comarde, did you see an American Raptor anywhere? The commander send me to check on it.)" Nick quickly replied, choosing his words carefully.
"брух, где ты был во время выступления командира. «Раптор» находится на подвеске рядом с Су-35. (bruh, where have you been during Commander's speech. The Raptor is at the hanger, next to the Su-35.)" The Russian said.
"Хорошо, спасибо, хорошего дня. (Alright thanks, have a great day.)" Nick replied before walking pass the buff Russian, who stared in confusion before shrugging and walking off.
Nick quickly walked into the hanger that Russian told him about, and there he saw a Su-35 Flanker. And next to it is his beloved "Dragon Wings".
"Phew, glad you're all right boy." Nick sighed before he walked into the hanger. Surprisingly, there's no Russian patrol in there.
Nick glanced around to check that no one is watching before changing into the Russian flight suit he'd robbed. He got onto his Raptor and opened the cockpit. The young pilot got in and smoothly rubbed the dash board, "Here we go buddy." he mumbled.
Nick tacked his belts on, checked the wings and flaps, then putting on the oxygen mask and the flight goggle. This made him looked more like a Russian, bet no one can figure his true identity until he takes off.
Suddenly, he heard the Russian radio coming from the tower, "Сектор третий, кто бы ни пилотировал Raptor, укажите свою цель и свой ID. (Sector three, whoever is piloting the Raptor, please respond your purpose and your ID.)"
Nick thought about it for a moment before replying, "Летная вышка, это летчик Киев Александр, командир просит меня на испытательный полет. (Flight tower, this is pilot Kiev Alexander, the commander is requesting me for a test flight.)" He got that name from the pilot he'd killed earlier. He'd heard the pilot speak before killing him, and he's also a great voice actor.
The tower was silence for a brief moment, Nick's palm is sweating, if his undercover exposed, then his pretty much dead.
"Хорошо, пилот Киев, ты можешь лететь в тестовый полет, только оставайся на границе. (Good, pilot Kiev, you're free to take a test flight, just make sure to stay in the border.)" Flight Tower's respond came in, Nick's tightened heart softened.
"Скопируй это. (Copy that.)" Nick replied before driving the fighter jet towards the runway. Along the way he saw Russians watching the Raptor in confusion and suspicion, but Nick waved at them, which turned their guards down.
Nick lined the Raptor along the runway, he spoke to the radio, "Авиационная вышка, это пилот Киев Александр, запрашивает взлет. (Flight tower, this is pilot Kiev Alexander, requesting take off.)"
"Пилот Киев, это летная вышка, запрос удовлетворен. (Pilot Kiev, this is the flight tower, request granted.)" Here comes the respond.
Nick took a deep breath before starting the engine. The F119 afterburning turbofan engine began to roar, violet colored jets of flame bursted out. The F-22 Raptor began to move forward, slowly increasing speed. Finally, it reached the take off speed.
(Stop the music once you reached the end)
Nick pulled the lever backward violently, making the Raptor performing a vertical take-off. Seconds later, the flight tower's angry sound came in, "Пилот Киев! Смотрите, что вы делаете! Не ломайте Raptor! Нам нужно изучить это позже! (Pilot Kiev! Watch what you're doing! Don't break the Raptor! We need to research it later!)"
Nick ignored it and continue to climb altitude and speed. Finally, it reached Mach 1 and went onto the height of 8,000 feet in the air. Suddenly, he heard other engine roar, he turned and saw a Flanker catching up on him, he frowned.
"Это пилот Киев для Фланкера, что ты здесь делаешь? (This is pilot Kiev to the Flanker, what're you doing up here?)" Nick asked through the radio.
"Это пилот Вазири, который пилотирует Киев. Башня отправила меня проводить вас обратно на базу. Мы только что обнаружили двух убитых солдат и сбежавшего пленника. Пожалуйста следуйте за мной. (This is pilot Vaziri to pilot Kiev, the tower send me to escort you back to the base, we've just discovered two dead soldiers and a prisoner who escaped. Please follow me.)" The Russian pilot said, wiggling the Flanker's wings, signaling Nick to follow him. But Nick had other ideas. Since he's free, than there's no point of going undercover.
"Как насчет того, чтобы я тебя сбил, ублюдок. (How about I take you down, motherfucker.)"
Before the Russian pilot could react to Nick's words, Nick quickly maneuvered his Raptor behind the Russian Flanker's tail, he switched his weapon into the 20 millimeter cannon before pulling the trigger.
BLRRRRR...
The rain of bullets made contact with the Flanker's engine and tore it to shreds, igniting its fuel tank and ending the Flanker into a fireball.
"Adios, Ivan!" Nick smirked before gaining back to his original attitude.
The radio began to chatter with Russian voices, but Nick shut it off and increased his speed, knowing that later the Flankers would be coming for him.
Suddenly, his radar began to beep in alarm, and the dash board showed three most unluckiest letter a pilot would encounter: SAM.
Right after Nick shot down the Flanker, a SAM missile carriage spotted the Raptor and immediately warned the base while locking him up. Now Nick is in some serious trouble.
"Oh com' on!" Nick groaned, he popped some flares before performing evasive maneuvers. But unfortunately for him, SAMs aren't heat seekers.
"FUCK!" Nic cursed at the radar, which is showing that the SAM is getting closer and closer. Finally, Nick snapped, he pushed the airspeed lever into max na pulled the control lever back, performing a Cobra.
The SAM whooshed right below the Raptor before exploded behind the Raptor, sending shards flying towards every direction. One of these shards scraped the area where the fuel tank is, the skin brome off as a trail of smoke came out; the fuel is leaking.
"Shit! Bastard just leaked the tank!" Nick cursed under his breath. The best way to dodge an incoming missile is to either release flares or fly into a cloud. Since flares don't work, then the cloud is the only option.
Nick directed the jet to fly straight into a cloud, but due to the rush, Nick did not notice that this cloud is creepy; it just appeared out of nowhere. But he flew into it anyway.
He heard the roars of jet engines behind him, Nick tried to increase the speed, but he then found that he's already flying in the max speed of 1,500 miles per hour. Due to the monstrous speed, the jet immediately shot straight out of the cloud. But what Nick saw made his jaw dropped.
Instead of woods like in Russia, he saw a brown colored mountain-ranhe, an active volcano can be seen from the distance, but the weirdest part is that he couldn't hear the roars of the engines chasing him from before anymore. Have they flew away due to the word weather? Or... Did something happened to himself and "Dragon Wings"?
Nick froze at the thought, but he shrugged it off, "Maybe there's a mountain range next by and the Flankers avoided it." he said to himself. Checking the fuel, he found that due to the leak, 'Dragon Wings" need to land and refuel as quick as possible; or it'll end up crashing.
Nick spotted a smooth field near the Volcano, he directed the jet towards the field. But something isn't right. Nick saw some bats coming at him... No... Too big to be bats... Wait a minute... Are those...
Nick's eyes widened, "Are those... Dragons?!"
What he saw were two dragon-like reptilians: A dark red one with holes on his wings, and a orange one with light purple spikes along her head. Nick supposed it's a her due to her size and body structure. She's smaller than the red one. They seemed to be... Scared? Confused? Worried? Concerned? ???
The orange one waved at him, pointed at him, than at his wings, lastly at the spring below him.
She's... Helping him?
Nick immediately did what he's told, cause a fuel leak could end up in a terrifying fire if the temperature is hot enough. And next to an active volcano can totally set him on fire.
The "Dragon Wing" flew passed the shooting spring, the water extinguished the small flame, which formed right before the jet reached the spring, luckily it was put out before it reaches the fuel tank.
"Phew, here's my thanks to whoever that orange dragon is." Nick said.
Nick then aimed at the field, lining it up. He decreased the airspeed while deploying the landing gears. The fighter jet screeched as the wheels hit the ground. Moments later, it stopped.
Nick took off his helmet and mask, unlocked his belts, and took off the cockpit. He jumped out of the Raptor, just as the two dragons landed next to him.
"Are you okay?" The orange one asked, she spotted Nick, her eyes widened, "Whoa! What are you?"
"You... You can talk?!" Nick asked.
"Duh!" The dark red dragon crossed his arms, "Now, who are you, and what is this thing?"
"Uh...My name is Nickolas Smith; but call me Nick. I'm a human" Nick introduce himself, "And this is my F-22 Raptor fighter jet, his name is 'Dragon Wings.'"
The Orange dragon have a amused look on her face, "Dragon Wings eh? Intersecting name, I'm Smolder, this is my brother Garble. And I think I heard humans before."
"Wait! You do?!" Nick asked.
"I think so, but they're different from what you look, I learned it at Princess Twilight's School of Friendship."
"Princess Twilight? School of Friendship?" Nick is slightly confused but shrugged that off, "Oh! And thanks Smolder, for saving me and Dragon Wings." Nick said.
Smolder turend her head around, hiding a blush, "Nah, it's nothing, I saw your... what is it again?"
"It's a jet." Nick answered.
"Yeah, I saw your jet smoking, so I thought is was hurt." Smolder said.
"So... Mind explaining our current location?" Nick asked.
"You're in Dragon Land, Equestria." Garble, the red dragon charmed in.
"Equestria? Never heard of it." Nick said, "I'm a pilot of the USAF, United States Air Force, from Earth."
"Never heard of 'United States' or 'Earth'," Smolder said, "What's an Air Force?"
"YOU DON'T HAVE ONE?!" Nick asked, surprised.
"No." The siblings shook their heads, "In fact, we don't even have this type of flying machine."
"You can explain everything to the Dragon Lord, we'll take you to her." Garble said.
"Lead the way then." Nick said as he followed the siblings, his adventure in Equestria had just began...
Author's Note
This happened after season 9, the episode "The Ending of the End". So Garble is kinda good now, not as cocky as before.
Chapter 1: Heart Of a Dragon
Nick is not quite sure whether he's dead or dreaming... But he hope neither of these were real. Fortunately, they're not. And though half of him is confused and frustrated as hell, the other part is in complete awe. He is walking along side with two dragons. Two living dragons... TWO ACTUAL FUCKING FIRE BREATHING DRAGONS!!!
Though his inside were soaring, his expression remains calm. There's silence during their day to the Dragon Lord's cave, Smolder decided to break the silence.
"So... Nick is it?" Smolder asked, "Care to explain your purpose here?"
"I have no purpose of coming this place," Nick said, "I arrived after getting chased by to god-damned Russian jets." There's a brief silence, Nick looked at Garble and Smolder to see their confused expression.
"Ok, Russian are people from a country name Russia, which is the worst enemy to America, which is where I came from. And those jets, "Dragon Wings" is a jet; to be specific, a fighter jet." Nick explained.
"Let me guess, they... fight?" Smolder asked, gaining a chuckle from the young pilot.
"Yeah, they do," Nick said, "there's lots of types of jets: Fighter jets, Fighter Bombers, Jet Bombers, Intercepters, AWACS; which stands for Airborne Warning And Control System, and lastly, Cargo Aircrafts."
Garble, who seems a bit annoyed due to all the facts rushing to his brain, but Smolder, surprisingly is intrigued; which his not like herself. Probably because the jets are cool. Just give her some notebook and a quill, she'll be the dragon version of Twilight Sparkle.
"Ahem, not trying to be rude but, I must go for some... stuff." Garble said, Smolder rolled her eyes, knowing what "stuff" Garble would do. Nick just shrugged, "Sure, go do your stuff." After Garble flew away, Smolder continued, "Can you explain each type of jets?"
"Gladly," Nick started, "We'll kick off with fighter jets. They'e known for their ability to counter the enemy aircrafts, they're the main force of an Air Force; For example, "Dragon Wings" is a fighter jet, there's also other fighter jets like F-15 "Eagle", F-16 "Fighting Falcon", and some other fighter jets all around the world. Their goal is tp gain air superiority, which means to gain control of a certain air space. Then we have Fighter Bombers; mix of a Fighter jet and a Bomber, which I'll explain in minute. Fighter Bomber is used to quickly and unexpectedly bombard or air strike a certain target that a bomber cannot. Some famous examples are the US F-4 Phantoms, Chinese Q-5, and F/A-18E "Super Hornets". Bombers were aircrafts that carries small or bug explosives called bombs. Bombers are rather he comparing to the others due to the amounts of bombs they carries. Some examples were the B-52 Stratofortress, Russian Tu-95, and B-2 "Spirit" Stealth Bomber. Many battle tactics involves bombings, so Bombers are extremely important. Intercepters, is a type of aircraft designed to defend an airspace against enemy bombers and fighter bombers. Like the Russian Su-15 or the US F-104 "Starfighter", but now they're retired. AWACS, they're some VERY VERY important aircrafts, almost as important as the Bombers; they have a huge radar disc attached to their back. They can help Fighter Jets to detect enemy aircrafts from a really far distance."
"Excuse me, uh... What is a radar?" Smolder asked, surprisingly quiet while listening to Nick's lesson.
"Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to detect distant objects. If you need some easier explanation, just think of bats. They're basically living radars; they uses sonar to detect objects in the dark to prevent ramming into stuff." Nick said.
"Anyway, going back to the topic; Lastly, there's Cargo Aircrafts. They're not much of a fighter, more like a carriage that carries supplies." Nick said.
"Eh, Cargo Aircraft are NOT my type." Smolder commented, Nick smiled.
"Don't judge yet, an army's ammunition, food, equipments, and members depends on the Cargo Aircrafts. For example, back on Earth, I'm a Captain of a fighter squadron, there's this mission where my squadron have to escort a Cargo Aircraft through the enemy line, and guess what? When we got there. our men were dying of hunger, lack of ammunition and equipment. That lasted for about two weeks. After resting for about a week, they;re back in action again."
"Whoa, so they does sound important; can't imagine not eating Gems for two weeks straight." Smolder said, gaining Nick's attention.
"Wait, you guys... Eats... Gems?" he asked, surprised.
"Yeah, we do. What do you expect?" Smolder asked, curious about human diets.
"Uh..." Nick knew this is coming, what if he told her that they eat meats? Will Smolder be disgusted? Will she reject him? But Nick decided to try it.
"We humans are omnivores; we eat both meat and vegetables."Nick said.
"You... You don't eat dragons... Right?" Smolder asked, a bit hesitation in her voice.
"WHAT?! HELL NOT!" Nick nearly shouted, but apologized after his outburst, "Sorry, I don't. Dragons are one of my most respected mythological creatures."
"Mythological?" Smolder cocked her head.
"Yeah, back in my world, creatures like dragons and Pegasus exist only in myths and legends." Nick said, "I suppose... They're real here?"
Smolder smirked, "Sure am. I have some friends that are 'mythological'. A Griffon, and a hippogriff. The rest were a Yak, a Changeling, and an Earth pony."
"Griffons and hippogriffs?!" Nick's eyes widened, "DAMN!!!"
"Ah, we're here." Said Smolder. They stopped in front of a huge cave decorated with glittering gems and golds.
Smolder led Nick into the cave. They arrived in a throne-room kind of cave, there are mountains of sparkly stuff, mostly gems.
"Smolder, how do dragons even eat gems?" Nick asked, "They're hard as fuck."
"Hey! Watch your language in front of the dragon lord!" Smolder quietly whispered at him, nodding her head forward towards the throne-like stone. Nick realized that there's another dragon sitting on the throne with a blood-red staff in her claws. She's kind of skinny, but not bone-like skinny, just perfectly balanced. Her eyes are ruby red, her scales were light blue with ocean blue wings.
"Well, you must be the creature in a flying metal bird that my fellow dragons told me about." She said, "I'm Ember, the Dragon Lord."
"Oh, shoot." Nick scrambled for a bow, "Where are my manners, my name is Nickolas Smith; but call me Nick."
"You may stand," Ember said, Nick did what he was told, "tell me about you and your species."
Nick spend the next thirty minutes explaining stuff about Earth, humans, their technologies, and the sociality. But the next question Ember asked is not in his expectation.
"So, Nick, were your parents worried when they haven't seen you for 8 months?" Ember asked.
Nick's smile froze, so did his body.
"Uh... Nick?" Smolder waved her arm in front of Nick's eyes, "You okay?"
"Huh? Oh... My parents..." Nick sighed in sadness, Ember frowned, "Nick, you don't have to say it if you don't want to."
"No, there's a wise sentence from my world saying that the best way to heal your past is to share them." Nick said, "My father was divorced with my mother when I was born, and my mother abandoned me and my big sister. We're adopted by a kind-hearted family. When I'm 10 year-old, we ran into a terrorist suicidal attack, my step-parents were blown into pieces right in front of my eyes, my sister were shot to death, but... somehow... the ignored me and moved on... Then I was adopted again by Military... And when I as 18 I joined the USAF. I made some really good friends there. But a month later... We went on a escort mission, we encountered enemies and... and....... We were outnumbered... I watched as my friends getting killed one by one... while I can do nothing to help... I... I... I'm just so useless.... I lost everyone I cared, loved... I lost all my friends... because... I'M JUST SO FUCKING USELESS!!! I'M AN ASSHOLE!!!" Nick couldn't hold back the tears as he burst into a sob.
To his surprise, he felt someone hugged him. Nick opened his eyes and saw the dragon lord herself is hugging him. She's too, tearing up.
"I'm... I' so sorry..." she said in between tears, "I ne... I never knew you went through so much..."
Smolder pat him on his shoulder, "Hey... Big guy... listen, you still got us."
"Thanks... But every time I made some new friends... I just loose them someday... Unexpectedly..." Nick said, drying his tears.
"Then I'll make sure we'll never leave your side." Ember whispered into his ears, before anyone can react, she gave Nick a quick peck kiss on his cheek. She then let go gently, blushing. Nick's cheek turned red, he scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward. Smolder had a fake smile on her face while moving away from the cave, "I... I have some... studies to do... heh heh... Enjoy yourselves."
Now, Nick and Ember were left alone in the cave.
"Uh... So... Where am I going to stay?" Nick asked, breaking the silence.
Ember suddenly wrapped her arms against his, "Well, since some dragons around here are mostly the quick-to-judge type..." she winked at Nick, "You'll be staying with me."
Nick felt his cheeks getting warm again, "Uh... Are you sure Dragon Lord?"
Ember giggled, "Just Ember is fine, and yes, I don't mind sharing bed with another creature... What are you again?"
"I'm a human." Nick answered, still blushing.
"Yes, a human." Ember said as they walked into smaller room, decorated with gems, a golden armor (The armor Ember used during the Trial of Fire), and some gold. And in the middle was a mid-sized bed.
"Lord... I mean Ember, is there a shower?" Nick asked, expecting the answer to be a no.
"Yeah, there is one," Ember said, surprised Nick, "It's at the end of the hall way. I have a friend name Spike who's raised by ponies; so he take shower whenever he came for a visit."
"Thanks." Nick said before he went towards the bathroom. Behind him, Ember is staring at his back with a dreamy look on her face, but she quickly snapped out of it, blushing furiously at some thought about the look of Nick's body.
After 20 minutes, Nick came out of the shower, though there's no shampoos or anything like that, Nick could still live on without it. He'll just make sure not to sweat too much during the day.
He found Ember already asleep on the bed, he quietly set aside his flight suit as he climbs onto the bed and tucked himself in. Suddenly, he felt something on his back, Nick turned and saw Ember cuddling him, he felt his face heating up again, and... Is that a blush on Ember's face too?
He shook the thought off and, too, cuddled her. Ember's arms tightened around Nick as she felt Nick is cuddling her too. That left with a thought.
Oh dear lord, he thought, what have I gotten myself into. Welp, the dream's gonna end soon... I hope not.
With that, Nick slipped off into sleep, with a blushing Dragon Lord next to him.
