At the Task Force X headquarters in Canterlot, Arion Squadron was called over to the briefing room by Neon Nimbus. They saw that Meteor was there as well. Neon Nimbus wanted them to talk about the unknown fighter when they were in the Desert of Equestria. A white and red jet aircraft attacked them while they were on pursuit on Razor Whisk. They heard Razor Whisk and that unknown pilot talking. It was told they were allies. At first they thought it was one of Razor Whisk's Rogue Squadron, but it had a different emblem on it. The Rogue emblem is a gray unicorn with a red thunderbolt. But the emblem it had was a sharp wave with a flaming mobius string surrounding it. Neon Nimbus said there is no E.R.A.F squadron that has that kind of emblem.

How did they find this? Thanks to Meteor's E-13 AWACS plane that had an enchanted scope. He was tracking down the battle this whole time. They tried to zoom in on the cockpit of the unknown plane to identify the pilot, but was unable to see him/her. The window was thickly tinted blue on the unknown aircraft.

Neon Nimbus looked at the aircraft and didn't recognized it. She wondered if that jet was a prototype for the Equestrian Royal Air Force for reconnaissance missions. It wasn't.

"I don't recognize that jet from anywhere." She looked at HandyFlash. "Did your father made this prototype?"

"No ma'am. I read his blue prints, but never saw this kind of aircraft." HandyFlash responded while still staring at the holographic image. "It looks like an old version of my CPB-86 Jet to me."

"Except with an ESM plate on top like Blossomforth's ESF-26." Thunderlane added.

Rainbow Dash looked outside at the hangars to see if the unknown jet was one of the aircrafts here in Canterlot Air Base. She scanned, double checked, tripled, but still no sign of it. She gave up and decided to say it's not from them. She looked at Neon Nimbus.

"So it's definitely not from the E.R.A.F. But what about the pilots? They might know about it too." She said.

"I doubt it. Most of the non-Task Force X pilots don't know about this. Plus HandyFlash here said that it doesn't match with any jets in his father's blueprints." Flitter told her. She hoped she double checked well about what she said.

"Maybe they repainted their jet more than three times!" Dumbbell suspiciously looked around. They all just stared at him awkwardly. "Or maybe the pilot is a ghost."

Rainbow Dash faced hoofed. "Dumbbell, stop guessing."

"Lieutenant Colonel, Just go to the hangars and check if this plane matches with anypony's." Neon Nimbus ordered Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash nodded and readied her wings as she walked outside to the runway to the hangars, flying through one by one. No sign of the match, so she reported back with a negative.

"Looks like its not us then. Plus I heard Razor Whisk and that pilot were allies. Probably a Rogue Squadron member." Blossomforth said.

"But shouldn't that aircraft have the Rogue Squadron emblem?" Derpy asked while looking at the hologram, pointing her hoof at the emblem of the Sharp wave and the Flaming Mobius.

"Who knows? It can be the squad leader or something." HandyFlash told her. He had a strong feeling that it was the Rogue Leader.

"You all should report to friends. I'll just be in the briefing room if you need anything." Neon Nimbus went outside the balcony and stared at the view of the shining buildings of Canterlot.

They all left the briefing room quietly, except for Fluttershy and HandyFlash. Both of them stood their looking at Neon Nimbus. She sighed while still in the balcony. Fluttershy knew that something was wrong with her. HandyFlash can feel it too. They both quietly walked to their General quietly, but stopped when Neon Nimbus took out a photograph from her bag. She lied her head on her hoof, then sighed. HandyFlash was about to step out to follow his squadron, but Fluttershy went to Neon Nimbus which made HandyFlash thinks he should help as well. Very strange that Neon Nimbus didn't hear their hoofsteps as they walked towards her. Fluttershy was the first one to talk.

"G-General Neon…?" Fluttershy spoke her words. Neon Nimbus startled slightly as soon as she heard Fluttershy. They awkwardly stared at eachother. "I'm sorry."

"Wait, no need to be. How may I help you?" Neon Nimbus looked at the opposite direction of them.

"We just want to know what's going on with you. You aren't really acting the same ever since we mentioned…your brother." HandyFlash explained why both him and Fluttershy were there. Neon Nimbus stayed silent and shut her eyes.

"Please. We want to help." Fluttershy begged for her response.

Neon Nimbus's mane covered her eyes. "Helping me today won't bring my brother back." She said.

"Can we…know what happened?" Fluttershy asked.

"I…I…" Neon Nimbus tried her hardest to answer what she asked. She stayed silent and took out a photograph and show HandyFlash and Fluttershy. It was Neon Nimbus and her brother with some E.S.A.S operatives.

HandyFlash kept scanning the photo. "Is that one your older brother?" he pointed out at the pegasus stallion with an albino coat, red orange mane and tail, red eyes, and in the outfit of the E.S.A.S.

Neon Nimbus nodded. "Yes. That's me right next to him." she pointed out. Next to her was another stallion that she thinks they recognize. "By the way, can you guess who that stallion is?"

They both looked at the stallion in the picture. It didn't really ring a bell about their first guess. They shook their head No.

"That's Razor Whisk." she admitted.

HandyFlash and Fluttershy's eyes widened. What did she just say? Razor Whisk? They looked at the picture and saw that he was wearing the E.S.A.S uniform like the others. He looked more different than today. Neon Nimbus looked away and chuckled.

"Did you know Razor Whisk actually had a crush on me when we were in the E.S.A.S?" She chuckled at the thought. HandyFlash and Fluttershy's reaction was immediately shown, Surprised.

"Uh…okay. How did you know?" Was all HandyFlash could say at this awkward moment.

"Pfft. I saw it in his eyes." Was her response.

The both of them stayed silent.

"Is there a problem?" She smirked.

"No Ma'am. Nothing." HandyFlash said, nervous about her look.

"Alright. I'll meet you all at that high class restaurant where you all ate before." Neon Nimbus picked up her bag and went outside.

Fluttershy looked at HandyFlash. "I can't believe she was friends with Razor Whisk before." She commented.

"Yeah. She's fighting her own old friend now." HandyFlash said.

Soon, The both of them went outside as well to find the others. They looked around Canterlot to find Rainbow Dash and the rest. Twilight and her friends might be with them, so it might be easier to find them. As they passed by all kinds of spots in Canterlot, some of their Task Force X friends were seen minding their own buisness. Cloud Dash making his own Cider at the Cider Slider Cafe, Night Swift was buying some fruits, Dimitri on a table eating and writing something, Thunder Rain and Gentlestep talking, and Lancaster hanging out with his squadron. They wonder if this is what they do every time when briefing is done. Probably most of the time. Elite pilots like them and Arion squadron need some relax time like an original job. Except their job, it's more of a adrenaline rusher…and hope to be safe.

They soon saw Rainbow Dash flying through the doors of the restaurant swiftly and fast which made them follow. When they opened the doors, it was almost the same as last time. Rainbow Dash was soon flying upward to the high level of floors in the high class tables. HandyFlash used his wings to fly up there as fast as he can. Fluttershy followed him. Slowly.

When they reached the destination where Rainbow Dash was going, they saw that their whole squadron, Twilight and the rest were there sitting on the same table where they were reserved by Celestia and Luna. They all had a friendly conversation, with the rest of Arion Squadron talking about their missions. They know when to tell them their missions because it wasn't a classified operation.

"Were the nine of you okay? That battle sounded like it was a struggle." Twilight asked nervously.

"In close to the end it was. Some unknown fighter showed up out of nowhere to help that Razor pony." Blossomforth responded.

HandyFlash went to them. "By the way, we still have no idea who that pilot was. But what we should focus on is what Razor Whisk is up too." He said. Arion squadron nodded and started thinking.

"About the Sunspot weapon, what reason does Razor Whisk want with that thing anyway?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Probably rule Equestria himself?" Derpy guessed.

"Maybe not, Derpy. He probably wants Equestria to be shattered like glass and make it nothing but ruins for the changelings." Rarity said her opinion. That made chills rundown everypony's spine. Rarity realized how gloomy that sounded.

"Wow. That sounded…dark and…you know what, nevermind what I said." Rarity stopped her sentence.

"I don't know. You can be right Rarity. He probably has a reason why to do it. Hated the rulers? Domination? Revenge?" HandyFlash giving examples of why Razor might be doing all this attack.

"Hmm. Whoever agrees with Rarity, say 'I'." Thunderlane said and agreed.

"'I'" Flitter said.

"'I'" Blossomforth said.

"Me!" Derpy said.

"No Derpy. Say 'I' if you agree." Rainbow Dash reminded her.

"Rainbow Dash!" Derpy answered again.

"Okay okay. Say the word 'I' if you agree with Rarity."

"What? What wrong with my eyes?" Derpy put her hooves on her face in embarrassment.

"Nevermind. She agrees." Thunderlane said.

"What is this agreement you guys are talking about?" A male voice came from right next to the table. The stallion standing there was that Colonel from the graduation and Baltimare.

"Raptor 1. Good to see you. Or your name, Dimitri." HandyFlash saluted as Dimitri did the same.

"Hehe. I see you all are hanging out with your friends." Dimitri said looking at Twilight and the rest. "I'm Colonel Dimitri. Leader of the Raptor squadron in Task Force X. Your Twilight Sparkle, correct?" He asked.

"Yes I am." Twilight replied.

"Ah. I should show more respect to you from now on. Your brother and Princess Cadance got married, so your part of the royal families." Dimitri bowed.

"Thank you Colonel." Twilight smiled.

"Yo Dimitri? Anything new you heard about Warrior Squadron and Us flying in the desert?" Dumbbell asked if he heard about the unknown pilot.

"Not that I've been there. I was patrolling with the other pilots in Japanda. Why? What did you see in the desert?" Dimitri asked suspiciously.

"A white and red colored aircraft assisted Razor Whisk while we were in pursuit. He struck me with a missile me when I was chasing that Razor Whisk pony." Rainbow Dash told him. She looked like she wanted to challenge that unknown pilot.

Dimitri shook his head. "Nope. This is actually the first time I heard about it. You Arions okay?" He asked. They replied with a nod. "I gotta report at Cloudsdale. I'll talk to you all later." Dimitri flew down and went through the doors. They could see him flying to Cloudsdale out the window.

"He should've used his aircraft to go to Cloudsdale. It's more faster." Thunderlane shrugged.

"Taking off and landing takes longer Thunderlane." Blossomforth told him.

"Like you when your trying on gala dresses?" Thunderlane teased. Blossomforth blushed in embarrassment and hit his side with her wing.

"I have a low-self esteem problem. Don't judge me." Blossomforth said.

"Take a joke Blossom. You know I didn't mean that, right?" Thunderlane asked.

"Prove it." She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. You're a well mannered mare, strong, beautiful, and talented one." Thunderlane gave positive examples about Blossomforth. She smiled and kissed Thunderlane's cheek. Which made him fall back and laid on his seat.

"Gotcha. And Thank you." Blossomforth smirked and rolled her eyes.

"And what did he do to you?" A female voice asked. They looked at who was it from. Neon Nimbus was right there while her bag was on her side. She wore glasses and made a ponytail which made her more attractive. They all stared at her new look. She raised her eyebrow. "What? Can't a young General get some good looks as well?" She laughed.

"There's nothing wrong with you. You look divine!" Rarity commented, impressed with Neon Nimbus's look.

"Thanks Ms. Rarity. Anyway, I got news for you Arion squad." Neon Nimbus told them and opened her bag to take out a map. "Watch this." She opened it which only looked like a regular map. But a button was seen in the right-hoof corner of the map. She pressed it which caused the map to turn into a 3D map.

The group widened their eyes on how amazing it looked. It almost looked like you were flying over in the air as you looked down. The buildings and terrain were risen in 3D.

"Archangel Squadron and Meteor was in the air at this location. They said that unknown flyers were in the area. And it wasn't Razor Whisk's drones. Are you all thinking what I'm thinking?" Neon Nimbus asked them if they remember about…

"Rogue Squadron." The nine of them said all at the same time.

She nodded. "I'm sending you, and Falco Squadron to this location." She pointed at a Plain near Canterlot's west.

"Unicorn's Range, General?" HandyFlash asked.

"Yes. We believe Rogue Squadron was ordered to do a air reconnaissance on Canterlot. But Archangel spotted them when they were flying away from Bearing five-seven-zero, Canterlot's North East. You are authorized to eliminate the Rogues on sight." Neon Nimbus told them.

Thunderlane smirked. "Give me my plane and I'll blow those jets up." He said enthusiastically.

"Yeah. That's just fine as long as its the enemy, Mr. Ruby Brain." Blossomforth teased.

"Anyway, report to your aircrafts to check it out. This should be a short mission." Neon Nimbus shrugged. She looked at Twilight and her friends. "You girls want a tour of the Task Force X base or help out at the radio tower?"

Twilight stared blankly. "I-…S-sure." She stuttered.

They followed Neon Nimbus to the air base and prepared for an operation of patrolling the air.

-(Unicorn Range Airspace)-

"Arion nine to Neon, no sign of the Rogues just yet. Continuing search with my squad leader." Cloudchaser said in the comm.

"Roger that, nine. Hey Arion, Twilight is actually making the tower more organized. Does she always do this?" Neon Nimbus asked. She smiled on how Twilight was making the place more fixed.

"Uh…pretty much. She's a librarian in Ponyville." HandyFlash replied.

"And she's also an egghead as well." Rainbow Dash laughed.

"You read books to, smarty." Rarity reminded her on the comms.

"It wasn't an insult. Calm down. I know I read too." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

The nine Arion squadron members swiftly flew around the Unicorns Range, looking for any sign of suspicious activity. Nothing has been seen yet. Even above the clouds. Nothing but air blowing through and clouds. Blossomforth made her radar more enchanted, but it showed nothing. Since nothing was being seen in the air, they all decided to enjoy the view until Blossomforth spots something. Thunderlane almost fell asleep, but he's lucky his jet was on autopilot mode. Lazy stallion he is.

"Arion 4? Are you sleepy?" Derpy giggled. She noticed when she heard snoring of the frequency.

"Huh? What? Oh. Sorry. I should've stretched before we got on the mission." He yawned.

"And if you actually fell asleep when we encounter the Rogues, then you'll be shot down first." Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, least you won't be alone in the air. Voron Squadron is on route. ETA: Ten minutes" Neon Nimbus told them about backup.

Blossomforth heard a beeping sound that was loud and flashed a red light on her HUD. She looked at her aircraft's tail and saw a shocking moment. A missile was heading straight for her tail. She did a barrel roll with flares and pulled up.

"I've been locked. Evading!" She yelled out and kept ascending her altitude.

HandyFlash looked behind him and saw another missile heading for his tail. He dropped his flares and did a Cobra flip, which was like an ordinary cobra maneuver, except he did a full flip at the same height. The missile passed by. VERY Close call.

One jet came out of the clouds and fired it's cannons at Arion squadron. Minor damage was given, but not enough for them to bail out. The jet was the same aircraft they encountered in the South. The White and Red Tiger. And the problem was, he bought some backup. A dozen of drones.

"Arion Squadron." The stallion piloting the white and red aircraft said.

Fluttershy looked behind her. "What do you want?" She asked.

"Ah. Major Fluttershy. I heard you're the shyest one on the team. Maybe I could change that." The pilot launched two missiles at Fluttershy's aircraft,

Fluttershy panicked and dropped flares. She thinks that wouldn't be enough to avoid getting hit, so she did the Kulbit maneuver. Successful evasive move.

"I'm impressed. Drones, attack! Leave the Major to me." The pilot said and attacked Fluttershy's aircraft.

"Vampir 1, finish them." Another voice came from the radio. It's got to be Razor Whisk. Vampir 1 was the pilot's callsign.

"Arion 3, evade every missile. Stay off his effective range!" HandyFlash gave tips to his third squad mate.

"R-Roger." Fluttershy said and used her afterburners to increase speed.

Cloudchaser was being shot at from the tail and tried to evade the drones cannons. She went to the mountains and flew through the rocky hills and mountains. She moved around a lot which caused the drone's wing to malfunction and crash.

"Cloudchaser, I got your back." Rainbow Dash said and went close to her aircraft.

"Roger that, Rains."

Back to Fluttershy, she was still being chased by Vampir 1. She struggled to make her lose the ace. Missiles headed to her every ten seconds.

"Goodnight Equestrian Weakling." Vampir 1 sped up behind Fluttershy and fired more cannon rounds. It took down 67% of her shields.

In Panic, she descended her altitude roughly the go in the clouds to lose Vampir 1. She moved around, sliding and accelerated around the clouds until her missile alert was gone. She pulled up out of the clouds and looked around her surroundings. Nothing. All she saw was Vampir 1's Drones attacking her squadron. She knew she was on her own for a short time. She accelerated to her squad mates, but was stopped when a jet pulled up out of the clouds in front of her, closely.

"What's wrong now? You being cowardly and crying your squad for help?" Vampir 1 teased. He leveled his aircraft and attacked again.

"Don't. Get. In. My. Way!" She made a sharp turn and flipped her aircraft by using her brakes. Vampir 1 panicked because his aircraft was about to hit hers. Her plane wouldn't be effected since it has shields. Vampir 1 break left. Fluttershy was now behind him and stayed right on his tail. "Fox 3!" She yelled. Four missiles were now on Vampir 1's tail. One missed, but three struck his plane.

"Grr…you going down!" Vampir 1 decelerated his aircraft to make Fluttershy go forward. "Let's see if you can evade this." Vampir 1 fired on missile.

Fluttershy tried to evade the missile, but it was a tough one as she thought. It just followed her like her own shadow. She began to think while evading the missile. One idea popped up. She hope it will work. She dived into the clouds, hidden. Then she popped out from behind Vampir 1 and followed him as the missile was still chasing her tail.

Vampir 1 was confused. "What are you doing?" He asked.

The only response Fluttershy had was accelerating ahead of Vampir 1. He looked at her aircraft, but didn't see the missile that was after her. Uh Oh.

Vampir 1 looked back and saw the missile he launched was heading at him. He tried to evade, but it was too late. The missile struck his aircraft, creating heavy damage.

"O Loshadʹ yabloki." Vampir 1 cursed. He turned his aircraft away from the combat zone. "Razor, This is Vampir 1. Returning to base to rearm and repair."

"Very well comrade. Fall back." Razor Whisk said on the comms.

HandyFlash looked at the damaged aircraft that Fluttershy fought with and noticed it falling back to safety. He break his aircraft to face and pursue the fleeing aircraft. The other Arion members noticed as well and followed his lead.

"Any pilots on this net? We have a fleeing enemy aircraft that has possible information about Razor Whisk. Any allied units in the area, please assist." HandyFlash called for help.

His radio picked up a voice. "This is Wasp 1. We have visual on your aircraft that you're chasing after. Engaging."

He looked at the clouds in front of him and saw five allied aircraft heading to the fleeing aircraft. The fired cannons and missiles, but failed. Vampir 1 fired his cannons, which took down two planes.

"Wasp 3 and 5 are down! Evading!" Wasp 1 yelled out. "Anypony see their chutes?"

"Roger that, Wasp 1. I have two chutes coming down. Sending search and rescue teams." Neon Nimbus told Wasp 1.

"Arion 1, our aircraft is heavily damaged. Unable to attack." Wasp 1 said.

"Copy. Head back to base. We'll deal with this guy." HandyFlash sped up as Arion squadron followed.

The fleeing aircraft sped up as well, trying to lose Arion squad. He turned and went through the clouds. Arion squadron spreader out. Derpy and Cloudchaser went forward, Flitter and Blossomfroth went left, and Rainbow Dash and Dumbbell went right. HandyFlash and Thunderlane ascended above the clouds, keeping and eye on the open areas and edges. They all watched the clouds and scouted across each section. Nothing came out.

"Arion 1 to flight, any sign of that fleeing aircraft?" HandyFlash asked.

Rainbow Dash spoke. "Sorry One. That's a negative."

"Nothing's on my radar, Flash." Blossomforth said.

"Roger that. Airspace is secured, General." HandyFlash said.

"Affirmative, Arion. Return to base. I got something you might want to see." Neon Nimbus told them.

"Arion." He confirmed and led his squad to Canterlot's airbase.

-(Unknown Airspace)-

Vampir 1 struggled to level his aircraft because of the critical damage that Fluttershy gave. He picked up his radio and contacted his ally. Razor Whisk.

"Sir, I failed to shoot them down. Looks like that Major is a tough pilot." Vampir 1 said.

"That's humiliating. Looks like Arion is getting better at the air." Razor Whisk admitted.

"Pfft. They only flew three times." Vampir 1 rolled his eyes.

"Plenty of time for them to get used to the air Vampir 1. Plenty of time."

-(Canterlot)-

"I'll keep this picture just in case we find anything interesting." Neon Nimbus slid a picture at HandyFlash. He picked it up and revealed a photo of the plane that Vampir 1 was on.

"That's him." He said.

"Anything you notice on his plane?" Neon Nimbus asked.

HandyFlash took a closer look at the photograph. Twilight went next to him and scanned the photo as well. Neon was right. They both noticed that a number code was on the tail. It read '4913920189'.

"Yes. A number code." Twilight looked at it.

"Anypony recognize any number like that at all?" She asked.

They all shook their heads 'No'. Neon Nimbus took the picture again and kept scanning it. She had no idea what it means.

"Ugh. Is this a math quiz or something?!" Thunderlane whined.

"Nope, Captain. It is not," Neon Nimbus replied.

Next Chapter: Nopony Flies Alone Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 59 Minutes