//------------------------------// // Buisiness as as usual // Story: Sandblasted // by MoondustIsPoison //------------------------------// I heard a familiar screetching klaxon from outside my room... Immediately my mind kicked into overdrive and I jumped from my bunk and landed, my comrades already scrambling along with me to the dispatch room. As we rushed through the small hallway the PA system crackled to life and our commander read out what we were dealijg with. "we have a class 6 sandstorm headed north by north east, winds at 80 knots, we have confirmed the presence of lightning, suit up and use runway 2..." "with practiced ease I sprinted along to the west hangar and prepped my trusty falcon... The tired old aircraft still holding strong, I checked it over quickly and made sure the sand filters were clear, after the brief inspection I fluttered myself into the somewhat small single pony cockpit and began the startup procedure... I saw the guages bounce up and the 2 gigantic retrofitted wyvern engines turn over and sputter before finally spinning up the 2 giant 4 bladed props, I waggled the controls just to check one last time and I throttled up as the massive tornado proof hangar wheeled its door open. As I taxied out I saw our local daredevil open wing crew... They wore nothing but goggles, a respirator, and a slightly less thin suit to protect them from the sand... And they called us pilots daredevils for flying these beasts... I clicked on the radio and checked in with the tower as I taxied past the massive magic sensor dish outside of the barracks. "This is falcon 3 checking in... Tower do you copy?" "This is tower, we hear you loud and clear... Head to runway 2 and take off immediately... You will join falcons 1 and 2 as soon as you're airborne." "Rodger that" I wheeled the plane to the runway and gunned it... The giant engines screamed on wide open throttle and the plane took off almost immediately... The falcon was truly something else... It had the highest thrust to weight ratio out of all equestrian military aircraft, our weather control unit used them because they were tough as nails and could effortlessly handle rough winds and harsh weather. I pulled into a steep climb and soon met up with the 2 other falcon pilots on base. "This is falcon 3 checking in... You guys hear me?" I heard the rough feminine voice of our griffon pilot Gretchen crackle through the radio. " I can hear ya..." then the deep voice of Dusty Clouds made itself clear. " Hey dude... I can hear ya too... " with the comm's tested We all heard the tower start rearing off instructions " Falcon 1 head off the front and help alpha slow it down, falcon 2, head above the storm and provide support to team beta, and falcon. 3, drop low and assist gamma in collapsing it from below..." "copy that... All units proceeding" I watched my comrades fly off and I pushed my stick down hard and dove toward the sand below, The massive wall of sand plowed on before me, I flicked on the magic cockpit hud and watched the soft greenish tint appear on the window... In the storm I could see a cluster of dots, each marked with the gamma symbol, from my right arm rest a magic hologram showed fuel, food, and magic capacity, the food was for the teams in the storm... And consisted of mildly flavored and extremely sugary fluid with the consistency of watered down maple syrup. The magic was to power a magic amplifier that would be towed behind and below the plane it served the purpose of amplifying pegasus magic and allowing the weather team to far better control the storm with fewer pegasi. "Falcon 3 to team gamma... Assistance is here" " gamma leader to Falcon 3...glad to have ya here! We're ready when you are." "dropping amp and straw" I flicked another switch and heard a squealy whine as the lower hatch opened and the 2 lines were unwound, I saw the glowing pink magic amplifier appear from behind the plane, the small flaps affixed to the roughly bomb shaped object keeping it at a constant distance from the plane. The food tube dropped below mounted to a metal rod with attached handlebars to allow the pegasi outside to hold on while they replenished themselves, A small hologram popped up to my left to monitor the tube. "lines dropped... Activating amp" I l flicked the safety cover from the switch and activated it... Immediately I saw the amplifier light up like a shooting star, and the pegasi nearby began to glow a soft pink. I let myself relax a bit... All I had to do was fly a steady pattern following the storm, and keep within a kilometer of team gamma to ensure that the amplifier was affecting them, and that they could get some sugar when they needed to. I looked to the feeder tube monitor and saw a pegasus mare by the name of Mountain Snow, grab the handles and start chugging the sugar drink like no tomorrow... She chugged almost an entire 2 gallons in under a minute and then leave with a very distended stomach, by the time she came back it would be flat again... Only to be engorged once more to continue her work. A bolt of lightning ripped across the sky and I heard a thunderous boom over my head, several more bolts tore across the sandy roof of the storm... Then I heard the frantic radio call from a pair of pegasi to my stern... "we have wounded! ... Drop the stretcher and prepare to take on a patient" "Rodger" I pulled a small lever near my left arm and heard the mechanical thunk of the emergency patient recovery system flip open from below the cockpit of the plane and the little warning buzzer start beeping... The radio crackled on again and the pegasus from before came on "she's in... Reel it up!" I did as he said and waited until I heard the little alarm stop... Then I let the autopilot take over... It was rudimentary and kinda sketchy but the system had proven itself to be good at at least keeping an aircraft steady, I rotated the pilot's seat around and slid open the small hatch into the tiny little spot just below and behind the cockpit which served as an Aerial field hospital. I knelt and scooted over to the stretcher where a badly burned pegasus mare laid. I pulled on some rubber gloves and grabbed the first aid kit from the wall behind me, "okay.... What happened?" "L-L-Lightning...hit....h-here" she tried to point to a spot on her left hip" "try not to move... Just try to calm down... Everything is going to be fine" I cut away the flight suit and cleansed the wound... After it was thoroughly cleaned I applied some ointment and gave her a shot of strong painkillers mixed with something to put her to sleep. "you oughtta wake up when we touch down... Sleep well" She was already knocked out so I removed the gloves and climbed back to the cockpit and resumed control of my aircraft, the rest of the operation went off without a hitch and the storm died down just south of Appleloosa. I brought the large silvery plane down on runway 1and called for paramedics to take care of the pegasus in the stretcher. 10 minutes later, mess hall. "Hey!... Crispy!... Great flying today!" the leader of gamma called out from one of the tables nearby... Crispy was my nickname from when I accidentally set my left wing on fire while maintenancing my plane. My actual name was Sandy Skies... Nobody called me that because It sounded very feminine... Despite me being a stallion... If I was a mare I could imagine that Dunes would probably have a whole new meaning to some of the pervs on base. "Hey DR!" it was her base wide nickname... Her name was desert rose and it was eventually abbreviated. "Thanks for taking care of ocean breeze... She's one of my best wing mares... Although she may loose a cutie mark because of her wound... But she's still alive and kicking... If a bit twitchy at the moment." "just doin my job..." I said casually As I heard the base commander start talking through a megaphone to the lot of us... All 30. "just a quick announcement... Tomorrow commander spitfire and the wonderbolts will be coming here for their annual visit and inspection... Slipstream.... Before you say anything... Yes that Includes Rainbow Dash... I expect your best tomorrow...please don't Fuck this up like last year... That is all"