The descent is longer than the ascent, mostly because you keep having to readjust the way you're holding Dash, finally settling on holding her like a babe, her back down, and her legs in the air, curled a bit, as you slowly drop out the sky. A few minutes of this, and you can finally see Ponyville below again, only a tiny smear on the landscape, but luckily your veritech zooms in for you, and you see the others all looking up, the Professor with a telescope already unpacked, and pointing into the sky in the direction you and Dash had probably vanished in. You seem to have drifted a bit though, only a bit luckily enough otherwise you would have probably ended up lost somewhere for a long time, as you doubted Dash traveled too far from home, even with her adventurous spirit.
So it is that a few minutes later, you and Dash land behind the crowd, the loud metallic thud of the veritech landing drawing everypony's eyes to the two of you. Of course, the looks on their eyes aren't friendly, and within seconds, you have three Wonderbolts in the air over your head, while the others all seem to be gearing up for a fight. It takes you a second to realize they were probably not expecting you to appear in battloid mode, and with Dash draped over your arms, passed out, it probably didn't look good, and as they approached, you held up a hand, and motioned for them to stop.
"Wait, it's my, everypony," you say, and gently lay Dash down on the ground at the feet of your veritech. Of course, transforming would likely be the easiest way to show off that you're you, but that doesn't even occur to you as you search for the hatch release. It's not easy to find the control though, and outside, the veritech seems to move in odd ways, the hands constantly groping at the empty air, as you say things to yourself, that are transmitted outside through the mic.
"This one?" you ask yourself, and press a big red button. However, instead of being the hatch release, it fires a laser from the battloid's head, which lances out, and forces the ponies to dodge, before it slams into a tree, which becomes a burning torch. Said tree was luckily enough not someone's home, but just a regular tree. Staring at it through the displays, you aren't too thrilled with what you just did, and judging from the looks you're getting, neither is anypony else.
"Oops....so not that one," you say, and then notice something that looks like the hood release lever for a car. Figuring you don't have anything to lose, you pull it, and instantly hear a pneumatic hiss as the air inside the cockpit mixes with the air outside. The monitors through which you'd been looking suddenly fall black, but rather than being left in darkness, the hydraulics inside the fighter hum, the head tilts away, and the seat you’re in, as well as the second seat behind you, which you hadn't noticed before, both rise out of the hole left by the head sort of hanging off the chest.
"So, you are in there," said the Professor, and for once, you are looking down at him. You hadn't noticed before, but the veritech, in battloid mode, is about, if Twilight and her friends are really three feet tall, a bit over six feet itself. That's actually kind of cool, as other than with your flight powers, you hadn't gotten a chance to look down at any of the ponies, and you revel in this for a moment, before shaking your head clear of the delusions you'd been having of striding on legs made of fire among the ponies, and instead smile at DawnChaser.
"I was indeed," you tell him, and he begins to scribble something in a book he's got floating next to him.
"So, did you use magic to alter your vessel into this new shape? Or did you just completely erase that one to make this one?" he asks, curiously, and you find yourself once again as the center of attention, as you stand on the edge of the battloids shoulders, looking down at the ponies.
"Um, neither. It's a veritech. They have three modes, fighter, which you saw before, capable of firing missiles, and high speeds, as well as using it's gun, if not as accurately as the others. This mode, called Battloid, which is a humanoid shaped robot, with fingers about as dexterous as a man's normal ones, to allow interaction with things at this size, it does lose missile capabilities though, however, it's got the most accurate fire for its gun. And then there's an inbetween, called guardian mode, it's basically the same as jet mode, except it's got arms and legs, so it's got the ability to interact like the battloid, but is almost as fast as the fighter, and also has missiles and guns, accuracy with the latter being somewhere in between the other two," you explain, and he nods, drawing out another book from his saddlebag and writing into it
"Missiles, I assume that's some kind of weapon, correct? And a gun as well?" he asks, and you would face palm, but you're being watched. You'd kind of forgotten that Equestria was a ways behind you in the military hardware. They'd probably never seen a missile, or even a crossbow bolt, considering their lack of hands, and would likely never get guns, or at least, you kind of hoped they wouldn't. Still, you'd already blabbed it out, and they'd all heard you, so you decide to be honest.
"Missile is the singular, but yes, they're both weapons," you admit to the Professor, who hmms and then continues writing.
"Was that beam of light you set fire to the tree with before one of these?" he asks.
"Oh, no, that's called a laser. It's a focused light beam, basically it's like focusing a sunbeam through a magnifying glass, and then doing it again for about a thousand times. It's not a direct combat weapon though. It burns out a bit too quickly," you explain.
"Really? Hmm, interesting. I will have to try that sometime. Anyhow, tell me, who won the race? Ms. Rainbow Dash seems to be in no condition to talk, though she is sleeping peacefully. Considering you were carrying her though, I would assume you were victorious?" he asks, and you look down at her. She looks small down there, which is an odd thought, considering you'd actually been down her throat before. Still, it is the perfect opportunity to fib a bit. After all, Dash wouldn't know that she'd actually beaten you, considering she'd passed out, and no one else could follow you up that high. Still, she'd been trying so hard, and while you could have gone higher than her, in a test of speed, she'd proven your better, and one should always try to be humble in such situations.
"She won, hoofs down. She really is the fastest thing in all of Equestria," you tell them, as Rainbow Dash appears to stir a bit, yawning as her head rises, and she faces you.
"And you better remember it," she says, somewhat breathlessly, before falling back asleep, breathing gently. You smile at that for some reason, and watch as Applejack and Big Macintosh walk over to her, helping a few pegasi to pick her up, and carry her off into the sky, towards a little cloud above Ponyville that has little lines of light coming out of it. It takes you a moment to realize that it's her house, and they're probably taking her there to rest. Of course, you're brought back down to earth when you hear a metallic banging noise, and look down to see the Professor lightly tapping his hoof against the veritech.
"Hmm, what's the material this mechanical biped is constructed from?" he asks, and you shrug in response, as he looks up at you.
"I haven't a clue. I don't even know how half these systems work, truth to tell," you admit, and he seems to just gap at you for a moment, all the while, a quill continues to work furiously at the book beside him.
"Really? That's incredible. Though it's possibly you'd heard what the material is and subconsciously filled in the details. What's more, why would you people design such a transformation? It seems rather odd," he says, looking over the battloid mode.
"Well, they didn't, exactly. I mean, someone thought up the idea, sure, but this is like the sword and the armor I was wearing, it's from a TV show I watched as a kid. I always wanted one though, and so, I just kind of summoned it," you tell him, and this time, even the quill stops, which makes you kind of worried, like maybe you'd made something that will explode. Then his face lights up like a child on Christmas morning, and suddenly there are a dozen books around him, and all of them are being written in simultaneously. For once, DawnChaser is even paying attention to them, rather than having the pens go on automatic, and he shifts one or two books to float right in front of him, and then moves them off for others, rotating between them, while you turn away, finding Octavia, Vinyl, and Spitfire standing just below the mecha.
"That was so awesome, little dude. You were like, whoosh, and then she was like, zoom, and then, kapow! It was so cool," said Vinyl, and before you can respond, she levitates a small form up towards you. It's Deasly, who stands on the veritech's shoulder with you, smiling. Obviously, he'd enjoyed the show too, and looking almost like the Professor, he leaned forward, looking into the cockpit of the veritech.
"She's not wrong. That was awesome. I mean, I'd heard the stories about Ms. Rainbow Dash, to be sure. Almost everypony in Equestria knows about her Sonic Rainboom from the Young Flier's Competition last year, but to not only see it, but see this marvel in action, truly awesome," he says, and reaches a hoof towards the controls. Of course, knowing that you might fire the lasers again, or something equally bad, you grab him and hold his leg for a moment, wagging your finger.
"I'm sure it was, because it was awesome to fly too, but just for now, let's not play with the controls of the death machine, especially when I don't know what all of them do," you advise him, and he looks towards the buttons on the arm of the chair forlornly, but nods, and walks back over towards the shoulder's edge, with Octavia smiling up at you. That makes you feel cool, for some reason, like a real fighter ace, getting praise from his girlfriend, that last thought making you blush a bit. Still, you look towards Spitfire too find her goggles off, staring at the veritech, and then reaching out a hoof to place against it, seeming quiet impressed by it.
"So, this hunk of metal kept up with that filly. That's pretty cool. I saw how it handled too, which I must admit, never seen a machine that can do that," she told you, and you nod down at her.
"I doubt you ever will again. Veritechs are top of the line, some of the best fighters in any universe, the transformations are just icing on the cake," you tell her.
"Heh, so I see. Still, how do you think these things could stand up in real combat? I mean, zeppelins and other aircraft are pretty flimsy compared to a squadron of pegasi," she says, a note of challenge in her voice. Again, a pegasus seems to be making light of your creations abilities, and looking down at the two musical ponies, one seems to be egging you on, obviously wanting to see a good fight, while the other is facehoofing at the absurdity of it all. Turning to Deasly, he's gazing into the hole that leads to the cockpit, not seemingly aware of anything.
"Hmm, that might be a good test, but I would request you maintain a lower flight ceiling this time," says the Professor, surprising the five of you, and making all of you jump, Deasly banging his head pretty hard on your pilot seat, before looking down at the Professor.
"You can't be serious. I mean, that's absurd. Spitfire and her group are Wonderbotls, the elite fliers. Even if this machine is good enough to keep up with Rainbow Dash, it's still not that sturdy...is it?" he asks you while rubbing his head with one hoof, and you scratchy your chin in consideration. You'd earlier thought about it, and turned your stuff down to training guns and missiles. If the Wonderbolts have similar settings to their weapons, you can probably do a safe training flight. That, and you're sure it will be fun, and you're equally positive that you can take them. Still, Dash beat you, and your pride might not like the second blow so soon after the first.
So thinking, you accept. It was a chance to prove your worth, and what's more, it sounded like a blast. This time, however, there are ground rules. First, DawnChaser adjusts their horseshoes, turning down whatever magic is in them to less than lethal levels, as demonstrated with Soarin kicks out, and a ball of energy shoots into a nearby tree, crackling against it, but otherwise leaving the thing unharmed. Second, you have a flight ceiling limitation, around one mile up. He gives you the measurement in some weird unit you don't know the name of, but a few minutes of comparisons, and you figure it to be a bit over a mile, which you try to remember is how much, but then, failing that, just decide to stay under fifteen hundred meters, that sounded about right.
"Next, winner is based off a point system, so as to make this fair. Three hits for a Bolt, nine for your contraption. Does that sound fair?" he asks, and you think about it for a moment, before shaking your head.
"Better make it five hits for them to shoot me down, otherwise, they won't stand a chance," you boast, and you can see the crowd looking impressed. Octavia and Vinyl too, and you wink confidentially at them, as the Professor jots down the tally in his book, and then turns towards townhall again.
"Now, you keep your weapons on non-lethal settings too, which you can, right?" he asks, looking at you, and you nod. You'd already made the missiles into ink pack things. It's only then that you remember that you'd just let the gun fall off when you'd transformed into battloid mode to catch Dash. Still, you only have to lean down, touch the veritech with your hand, and imagine it holding the gun, for the thing to appear, forming an outline of it in a rainbow of colors that slowly filled in with the dull gray of the gun.
"I think I can manage," you tell hm, resuming your seat. At the same time, Deasly, who has been drawing a bit himself in the sketch books from his saddlebags, runs past you, showing you a glimpse of his art of the inside of your cockpit, before wishing you luck in a whisper, and then hopping off the edge of the veritech's shoulder, growing as he does so, and landing with a thud you can hear. Still, no one seems to be reacting as if he hurt himself, and a moment later, he trots over towards the crowd, sharing his drawing with the mane six and the music ponies.
"Okay, you have to reach the townhall first, only then can you start blasting each other, got it?" he asks, and you nod, along with the Wonderbolts, who all take up position near you, lowering their goggles as they do. That makes you smile, wondering if anyone was waking up Dash to watch from above, but figuring they wouldn't. She had been pretty much out of it. You are then presented with a control problem, namely, you have no idea which one is the one to lower the cockpit chair back inside, and spend a moment reading the random numbers, and trying to figure out what the pictures mean. Your first choice, a picture of the seat, sends the second cockpit seat into the sky, obviously an ejection system, though, as with the sword, when it stops touching the veritech, it starts to pixelate a bit, looking grainy, before finally seeming to pop like a bubble, bursting into a thousand points of light.
"Uh....didn't need that seat anyway," you say to yourself, and decide to try your next option, one with a down arrow on it. This one elicits a groaning, mechanical noise from the mecha, but a moment later, you are descending back into the dark confines, as the head swings back into place, covering you in shadows again, deep within the chest of the humanoid figure. Slipping back into the space easily, you blink as the displays flare to life, showing you the scene right outside again, only now noticing that the image, rather than being from the chest, is one from the head's level, meaning it has the cameras and sensors on it, with which you begin to play, flicking between infrared, sonar, and some form of energy detection which sees nothing back dark shapes, before returning to normal, and listening as everypony outside tenses, ready for the action to begin.
"Okay, let me show you my weapon," you say, and point your gun towards the tree that Soarin had shot at. Hoping it was still just a stun blaster, you let it go, firing, and finding the shot flying with almost perfect accuracy where you aimed. Quick to have some fun, as the shot hadn't even reached the tree yet, you begin to rapid fire, letting a spray of bullet like energy projectiles loose from the muzzle of your gun, projectiles that splattered against the tree, leaving a smiley face in its bark, but doing little damage beyond a slight yellow discoloration.
"Excellent. All combatants ready then. Set your marks!" shouts DawnChaser, and you turn, looking down, still an odd sensation, on the Wonderbolts, who look like arrows, drawn back in a bow, and ready to fly. Figuring flight will be the first bit of the contest, you reach down and pull the lever marked F, causing mechanical whirring sounds to issue from all around you, as you hop into the air using your feet jets, and then turn your head, feeling as the mecha unit shifts about you, wings popping out from their folded positions, hands sliding back into the arms for storage, and the legs tucking beneath you, even as the gun goes between them, the legs forming your rear thrusters, and the gun becoming a gun pod situated just below your cockpit.
"Marks set. Wolf 010, ready for takeoff," you tell him, remembering something from an old Robotech game, and figuring it would make a good callsign, as you hover just off the ground, turning your head a little to find you're perfectly level with the Wonderbolts, who don't even seem to have noticed your transformation. Worse, they do look a bit intimidating now, since you're now facing them as a tiny human in a hunk of metal, and begin to doubt your choice to transform. Before you can doubt yourself too much, however, the Professor waves a flag he got from somewhere while you weren't looking, and instinctively, you push your thrusters to their limit, rocketing off, the Wonderbolts right behind you, as your four streaks race to the townhall, pull up, and then begin the aerial dance of dogfighting.