War End:

"Where are those missiles going to impact!? Give me a path. Come on, navigator, I need to know which way to go to steer clear of the blasts!" An off-color orange-coated pegasi stallion in the pilot seat of this unusual vehicle was panicking after the comms systems lit up with command chatter issuing urgent warnings of incoming missiles.

"I know, I'm trying! Uhh..you need to head...northeast now! Turn for bearing 48. Oh, I don't like this." A rather petite yellow pegasus mare was desperately looking at a trajectory map in hear rear-facing seat, punching at buttons hurriedly.

"Command, this is G-6. What are my orders!? Should we head for Clouds..dale....no.." The pilot was careening their odd prototype skycraft away from potential impact sites as they both looked up to see a missile passing by them directly overhead. It was going straight towards the city.

"Turn for bearing 69 and punch us out of here right now! Pilot!? Pilot, turn right now or we'll be caught in the blast!" The navigator was screaming into her headset. He finally took the action at her behest.

"Where can we go!? I can't keep this up forever. We need a safe place to land, fast!" The pilot was terribly rattled.

They'd been out on a routine test flight of this prototype craft, and now suddenly the world was falling apart.

"There's.. there's an old abandoned underground hangar in Manehattan. Maybe..maybe it'd provide some protection? If we can land in time. There's.. nowhere else to go." The navigator was breathing heavily, nearly hyperventilating.

"Get us there. Do we still have a route?" The pilot questioned. She wasn't answering.

"Navigator, respond now or so help me.." He rocked the controls side to side making them sway heavily. That got her attention.

"Where? Now." He ordered.

"Y..yes, sir. Snap to bearing 78 and hold. There's..there will be a..m..missile heading for another target. We should miss it. We might be able to land at the hangar at these coordinates, but we'll have to make it inside fast. Can..can you land at.. at air speed?" She asked.

"At speed? Oh, you have got be ki..you're not kidding, are you? I hope this things landing dampers work real frigging good." He grunted and jammed the throttles as far forward as they would go.

The craft vibrated wildly as it reached a speed no other craft build to date could match.

"Just hold together, baby. Come on. This is what you were built for. Be good for daddy." He was muttering to the console.

"What are you saying up there? Be careful, are you trying to tear this thing apart? We need to come in at bearing 82 now and line up with an old landing nav marker to have a shot at making it inside in time." The navigator gave course instructions as they went.

"She can take it. I know she can take it. How long until approach?" He was focusing so intently on the controls. He was unquestionably a great pilot. Selected as a test pilot for his quick thinking and reaction times. His track record was nearly unblemished save for a few near-misses.

"Have you ever landed at this speed before?" The navigator was shivering in her seat. He hesitated a moment before answering her question. The pilot a deep breath.

"Yes. Yes I have." Was his terse reply.

"Why doesn't that sound very encouraging?" She gulped.

"Don't worry about it. We'll make it. You just better be right about this place or it's not going to make much difference whether we do or not." As he finished speaking a blipping buzzing alarm went off.

"Engine 2 is getting too hot. You're pushing it too hard. Ease up a little." The navigator continued to give directional info.

"Ease up? We are going to be wiped off the face of Equestria if we don't land ahead of those blasts. Any closer to the last one and we would have lost the engines. No amount of shielding can protect against that. If there's any surprises ahead we are done for." It was blunt of him, but true. If they didn't get inside somewhere resistant to both the blasts themselves and hardened against multiple forms of radiation they were surely finished. It was nothing but bad luck they were out on a test flight when it happened. The craft shuddered under the strain.

"You can take it. You can take it. Just do this for me. You won't be going anywhere for a long long time after this." He pat the console.

"You always were weird." The navigator joked.

"You know that's why ya love me. You do love me, right?" He asked with a coy tone.

"You know it's against the rules..I guess they don't matter now, do they? Of course I love you. At least we're together now." She sighed.

"Strip to down hangar straight ahead. Lock your run attitude on my mark, and get ready to bail. 3, 2, 1, Mark." She inhaled sharply as they dipped towards the thin hidden landing strip near the northern coast of Manehattan. It was always a difficult approach which was a major reason why the place was eventually mothballed.

"Do you see it, hun?" She was feeling sick to her stomach.

"I got it. I got it. Hang on. Looks like the hangar doors were removed. It's a straight run. We can probably slip right in. Contact with ground in 4." He said.

Three seconds later he eased the craft down against the strip at a massive rate of speed with a terrible squeal. They were going to run out of runway very rapidly.

"Full reverse thrusters." He yelped. The craft shivered and shook from the heavy landing at pace, wobbling down the runway barely under his control. By the time it stopped it was inside the open hangar bay.

"Good girl." He pet the console, popped off his harness rigging and climbed out.

"Move, move!" He yelled as the navigator made her way out of the cockpit as well. They ran for the inner doors of the old hangar. Hopefully, it would provide them some protection against what was to come.

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That was quite a rush, wasn't it? Heart pumping and pounding yet? Beating hard in your chest? At least you still have yours.