Chapter 1: Sonic Rainboom

-:Wonderbolt Try-outs:-

"Welcome mares and gentlecolts, to this year's spectacular Wonderbolt athletic trails! Today, there is fierce competition to see who is worthy of joining the famed Wonderbolts!" Just as the announcer finished speaking, a massive amount of cheering and stomping hooves filled the air. While the cheering was commencing, a five Wonderbolts flashed by overhead and showered the crowd with a variety of stunts. Ranging from loops, to twists, and spirals around each other, before performing daring close flybys of one another.

Before the announcer had a chance to announce the famed names of those that had just flown by overhead, awing the crowd with their stunts, other Pegasi started to land along the ground; yet along a line that would state where they would begin their turns from. Turning his attention towards the new arrivals, he starts saying, "Oh lookie here, there are the contestants, and they look more than ready ever to get this competition underway! You have Spirit on the far left, then Dust, and here we have Rainbow Dash..."

As he went on with speaking off the names, down on the lines, the contestants were all feeling extremely nervous for a chance at joining the Wonderbolts. While they continued to think out the routine they were going to perform, one mare in particular, was focusing on how she was going to successfully complete a sonic rainboom without the motivation of saving somepony this time...

-:Elsewhere:-

(Dominic's P.O.V.)

Hitting the boosters to my jets afterburners, I felt my helmet hit the back of my seat, but that didn't matter to me. Dead ahead, just now taking off of the runway, was my adversary, and he was stealing an improved version of the F35, but he hadn't done so without help. Looking over the base around me, I saw the flaming buildings, charred bodies, twisted metal, and huge jagged craters in the cemented runways off to either side of me. Bombers, saboteurs, and even gunmen were running loose throughout the base. I was going through maintenance on my fighter when I saw Victor run past the front of my open hanger door, but before I could give chase, the first bombs had started to rain down on every hanger on base.

Tilting the jet back as I fought to catch up with the traitor that was the cause of so many deaths, I was already letting my targeting system lock onto his jet while he was trying to make his getaway. While his fighter had advantages over my F22, those advantages only brought it up to par with my fighter.

BEEP BEEP BEEP...

Quickly pressing the firing studs on my joystick after flicking a single switch up on my console, I watched as a missile whisked away from the right wing of my fighter. I wasn't about to let this scum make a free getaway with what he has done, and not with what could be harmful to the United States air force none the less!

Cursing as he banked away at a sharp angle as flairs dumped out below his fuselage, I watched my missile swerve, and explode harmlessly... for his craft that is. "Woah!"

I look to the side as a long scratch is etched into the glass of my cockpit, and while I return my attention towards my target, I couldn't help but wonder how bad my luck is going to be if a piece of shrapnel managed to hit me like that.

"Heh heh heh... So you thought you could just come after me and try to take this victory away from me?"

Looking towards the other craft as the voice filtered into my helmet, I growled out before clicking the communication system, and saying forcefully, "Surrender and land your jet, or I will take you out of the sky."

There was more sound of laughter through the speakers, and for a second, his craft seemed to stop its idle turn, and that gave me the chance I needed. I might have given him a warning, but I wasn't going to remain good on that warning... I was going to just kill him.

Letting my finger depress the trigger to my joystick, I watched the high velocity rounds tear through the air, before flying past his canopy, and striking his wing a few times. The brief hits though is all it takes for his laughter to change to shouts of rage, and while I know any pilot would be angry about it, he seems particularly more pissed off about it that others would have, before he starts shouting, "You think you can just up and take this victory from me!? Well not this time! This time, I will make sure you die, like you should have during that last... incident..."

Feeling anger shine through the determined façade I had acquired, I turned my guns to the jet as it did a flip, before rocketing in the other direction after he applied his afterburners for a short while. Growling a bit, I flipped my jet over as I applied the air brakes, while at the same time banking towards his direction, effectively shooting my jet towards him. As I was now behind him and facing him, I applied pressure to the trigger under my finger, but my 20 MM Vulcan bullets passed by harmlessly behind him. I was now just waiting for my missile system to acquire a lock, but before it did, I noticed the flair of his engines; then he was rocketing away at a pace that seemed almost impossible for his older fighter version.

"Heh heh, try to keep up, boy!"

Grimacing at the nickname that every base personal used on me, I was going to show them that age and looks was nothing, and to prove it, I shot my fighter towards him, feeling it start to shake as it was approaching Mach speed. I flicked another two switches up on my console as my computer nearly had a lock, but just as it was establishing a lock, I felt pain lash at my eyes; I hadn't managed to grab my helmet before the bombs had destroyed the locker room part of the hanger...

...

(Rainbow Dash's P.O.V.)

Smiling as I felt the massive amount of air focusing around me as I blazed past over the crowd as fast as I could, I felt a familiar thrill, and while I wasn't sure if it was me or not; I felt like the crowd below me was all holding a collective breath.

Zooming down as fast as I could, I heard a whistling sound right beside my ear, and right as a loud boom sound noise came from behind me; I heard a cheering from the crowd.

Smiling as the breath left me, I looked over, and saw even the Princess was awed...

-:Surrounding Airspace:-

The ever expanding prism of sparkling clouds left from the Rainboom was a spectacular sight that left every spectator speechless, so they resorted to the other method of showing their appreciation; cheering and stomping there hooves as loud as they could. Every single pony had read about the legendary Sonic Rainboom, but none had ever witnessed one until now, that is, everypony except Celestia.

While everypony watched the expanding ball of rainbow colors in the epicenter of the Rainboom growing larger with unbridled curiosity, Princess Celestia was watching with growing worry. If her memory still served her correctly, then that wasn't supposed to happen. The more she thought about it, she came up with her own conclusion, Maybe Rainbow Dash's unique rainbow mane is what allowed her to create this even more unique Sonic Rainboom...

That was her thought, until an odd anomaly occurred... and an ear splitting roar came with it. As the cheering died down into a slight curiosity, everypony present looked on with intense interest. That curiosity was fulfilled when from the two orbs came two strange sights... seemingly with a dance of flight prowess themselves.

The sleek surfaces of both strange... things, was something nopony had been expecting, and while they seemed to be circling an unseen pillar, they also seemed to be of two different things; seen from the differences in appearance, if only slightly.

It had at first seemed strange and eerie, but it was starting to be a beautiful sight, and even more-so when a strange small cylinder thing flew away from one of the larger things with a blaze of fire where its tail must be. The other one let out a multitude of white stars that dazzled the watching crowd, and even the goddess watching was awed... that is, until the cylinder and stars met.

BOOM!

As soon as the loud explosion ripped through the peaceful air around the large amphitheater type arena, the two things suddenly didn't seem all that beautiful...

(Dominic's P.O.V.)

Spinning my aircraft around as the explosion of the missile narrowly blew by, the shockwave gently rocked my aircraft. Growling in my throat as I looked around, I didn't see my target anywhere outside of my cockpit, and even my radar didn't see him... though it was glitching and flaring a bit. My engines power level was pulled back and dangerously close to the stalling line for how slow I was flying.

The taunting that had been going on was no longer present, and it was a mix from my lack of patience, and was reinforced by my radio ignoring his frequency. That didn't mean that it was a smart idea however, but while I continued to search for my target, something strange happened. A feeble color of light surrounded my cockpit, and my jet was suddenly slowing down even more. Quickly looking over my displays, I saw fuel levels were still relatively high, but the more I looked at the speed of my craft, the more I was feeling panic welding up in me.

There, a flash of silver shooting up towards the clouds, and I saw what was happening, and I needed out of this situation, and fast; figuratively, and literally!

Jamming the jets engine lever forward, I heard the engines start to rumble, and I looked at my monitor and saw they were functioning, but that barely made a difference; I was only slightly going faster now. Looking back as much as I could with my flight harness on I saw the heat waves rolling away from the rear of my fuselage, but then the glimmer was back, and my radar weakly bleeped. Looking back towards it, I saw a small blip rapidly approaching, and I felt panic weld up within my chest, before I quickly squashed it into nothingness again.

I didn't want to use the afterburners, but it is a waste of fuel, or death...

Pressing the button on the side of the engine power lever, I felt like something snapped away from my aircraft, and the explosion of noise through the body of my jet was anything but comforting as I suddenly rocketed away.

Feeling my body react to the sudden added extra 'G' forces and my vision actually narrowing a bit, along with darkening along the edges, I heard a few popping noises, and saw the bullet holes rupture along my wing.

TOO close!

BEEP BEEP BEEP...

Twisting my jet up-side down, I released my flares as I arced my craft at an upwards angle relative to my position, and I looked towards the top of my cockpit, and would have blanched, had it not been for my sudden evasive maneuvers once again. Angling my flaps and using my rudders to twist my craft on a sharp banking turn, I rocketed past a stone platform that held a strange, yet familiar creature. What looked like a mix between a white Pegasus, wings fully erect at its sides, along with the horn atop its head, I wanted to fly by again to make sure I wasn't hallucinating; but I had bigger problems on my hand.

Popping more flairs as the insistent blare persisted, alerting me of the threat still locked on behind me; I was also now trying to avoid giant hoops that seemed to come from nowhere.

Slamming my fingers into a button along the monitor screen, along with letting off of the afterburners button, I stole my first hand from the console and grabbed the once vacant lever. My brief lapse in control of my craft caused a few errant bullets to slam into my engines, and I saw bullet slashes appearing along my jets wings along with long furrows along the glass of my cockpit.

Spinning my jet to its side, I applied the airbrakes that were intended for landing procedures, along with dumping some fuel into the after burners as an added measure. The resulting turn forced more 'G' forces onto my body, but the upside to such a risky maneuver paid off, as the faint blip on my radar raced past me, but I now had a new problem. I was racing towards a stand of what looked like more Pegasus creatures.

Illusion or not, I could not cause them harm, and the only way to do that was apply the airbrakes once again...

(Rainbow Dash's P.O.V.)

Grabbing another Pegasus that hadn't bothered to move out of the way, I flew to the side as the giant metal beast, as I was now able to get a better look at it, rushed past me with a rush of air and pressure. Feeling like the air was being dragged away from me as soon as it passed, I let the other Pegasus go, in favor of chasing after whatever it was that had nearly taken out the other pony; along with having stolen my spotlight!

Once I was flying alongside it, I looked towards the 'head' of the metal beast, and saw yet another creature inside it, and it was frantically moving around inside the larger, metal beast. Before I could approach it and even speak my mind, I was suddenly hit with something hard, and as I flew away from it with a slight pain in my leg, I saw the large metal beast had turned on its side, and what must've passed as its 'wing' is what struck me.

As it roared away from me, there was a loud roaring noise, and then another metal beast flew past, and this time, the smaller creature inside happened to be looking at me...

(Dominic's P.O.V.)

Zooming higher into the sky to get further away from those Pegasus like creatures, I was struggling to keep Victor off my tail, as I was now out of flares, but he still had missiles. His taunting had come back, and I discovered why soon enough; I had accidently pushed the radio button on, which was now jammed.

"Any last words, boy?"

Growling as I spun my craft to hopefully confuse the missiles tracking sensors only worked so far, but it was a small chance I was willing to use in my current situation. Even with all my experience, all my skills, and all my achievements; I was going to die at the hands of a traitor.

The rumble in my jet, followed by the now insistent drones of my jet, all indicated a single reason.

My jet took a hit from a missile...

-:Sorrounding Area:-

Metal fell from the sky in tiny shards, along with smoke permeating the once pristine quality of air, and while that was happening, scorching hot metal in the shape of ammo shells rained down on the helpless, confused, panicking, and frightened ponies. The once beautiful, if not strange objects, were obviously in some form of combat. The cause of which was lost on all those present.

Pulling sharp turns and making desperate spirals was the metal beast, also known as a F22 jet, and all the while, it was billowing pitch black and suffocating smoke from the rear of it. The ponies that had been come to see the tryouts of the cadets that wanted to someday become wonderbolts was what they had anticipated, but now, they were receiving more than they bargained for.

The screeching sound of both the metal beasts, their weapons, and even frightened mares was the most prominent thing in the air, and only adding to the confusion was the Princess herself desperately trying to calm down her ponies. Never in her four thousand or so years of life had she ever seen such a display of misleading beauty, and her curiosity as to what it was or how it came to be was being overcome with her desire to save her citizens; who were wisely not taking to the air. Or the air above the stadium that is.

She had even tried to subdue one of the strange anomalies, but that had only succeeded so far, before it had suddenly acquired a burst of energy from nowhere. The speed at which it had rocketed away from her shattered magical grasp was a startling realization to the princess, it may be more powerful than her; a goddess. And if the situation didn't seem bleak already, there were two of them... and they were apparently mad...

Another explosion sounded high above, and to the Princesses horror, she saw that not only did it seem one of the beasts was approaching its death, but one of her ponies was trying to catch up to them. Narrowing her eyes as to see who was foolish enough to approach the obvious hazard, the Princesses gaze hardened, before they widened. The foolish pony, who was also acting brashly... was none other than the cause of the Rainboom; Rainbow Dash...

(Dominic's P.O.V.)

There was nothing else I could do, and I knew if I ejected, I only had a small chance at survival if he was still flying. I was losing systems left and right, and my jet was so limited, that I probably only had a few more offensive options left when it came to my survival; none of them were optimal for my position. The only maneuvering I had left was my airbrakes, and an incredibly dangerous maneuver that required the locking mechanisms on a jet to remain locked during their launch procedure. Yet, on a jet as heavy as mine, it would do nothing more than risk a fast and yet painful death.

The sound of bullets digging through my engines wasn't a pleasant sound, and the more it went on, the more frantic for a solution that would save my life became. Then it hit me...

Air brakes...

He is trailing directly behind me, and if I apply the airbrakes, along with the last of my limited flight controls, then I might be able to use my jet as a way to kill him. But if he even shifts his fire up by the slightest margin, then not only will he die, but I surely will as well...

It is worth the risk if he doesn't survive...

Quickly, I applied the jets brakes, applied the landing procedure to slow it down even more, and I killed all remaining power to the engines, or engine, if they even functioned anymore. And the only thing I did that lessened my weight was dump my remaining fuel as I punched the buttons that held my cockpit in place. As the sudden speed decreased rapidly and the glass covering launched away from my craft, I pulled the lever between my legs, and as I did, I felt lightweight for a minute, before I started to plummet like a rock.

NO, THE HARNESS CAME OFF!

I didn't have a choice as I desperately reached for the spinning fibers, and as they flew out of my reach, an explosion somewhere parallel to my position, yet still above me ripped through the air, and I looked over to see both aircraft be consumed by a large fireball, and just as I saw the explosion grow even larger, I heard a startled shout come from behind me...

Spinning in the air as something snapped behind me, I heard a feminine voice cry out in pain, and when I looked over my shoulder at whatever it was, I wasn't so sure I was hallucinating anymore.

Spreading my arms out, I let myself catch air, before I spun myself over in the air, and I looked towards small horse in front of me, and while we continued to plummet from the sky, she cried out, "What are you!?"

Opening my mouth, I wanted to say something, but I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that this small horse, or pony, if dimensional sizes were right, had just spoken to me with flawless English. Feeling another wave of pressure apply to my back as another explosion came from far above, I was propelled towards the pony.

(Rainbow Dash's P.O.V.)

Whatever the thing that broke my wing was, it was now holding me as we fell from the sky, and I couldn't get my one good wing out from under its grip; not that it would help me in anyway with the other busted.

"Oh no..."

Snapping my eyes to the creature holding onto me, I saw its eyes, or his, as the voice I heard was masculine, looking directly past me. Following his gaze while twisting my head to peer behind me, I saw that the clouds were approaching rapidly, and waiting there were my friends, the Princess, and her guards; all other ponies having disappeared. Then I saw wooden stage the he must've been looking at...

(Dominic's P.O.V.)

This is it... I'm dead... at least this pony Pegasus will live...

I didn't have time to tell this Pegasus my plan, and I'm not too sure if I was hallucinating or not, but either way, not need for another needless death...

Spinning us over until she was above me, I quickly shoved her away from me to try and slow her descent, and when I did that, I made my fall just as fast, but I misbalanced myself, and found myself spinning. This is how it ends...

Closing my eyes as I continued the last few dozens of feet to my death, I felt warm, yet cold at the same time, and it was with a heavy heart that I wouldn't be able to return my jet back to base...

WHooosh!

When I felt all my speed cease, along with the no longer hearing the deafening wind whistle past my ears, I expected the pain to come. But the longer I waited, the more I heard my heart pounding wildly in my chest, and the blood in my ears. As I saw the ground a few centimeters from my nose, along with a golden light surrounding me, I felt like something miraculous just happened... but before I could dwell on somehow floating in air, and not dying, blackness claimed my vision...