//------------------------------//
// Sonic...Rainboom? 
// Story: Fallen Angels 
// by ReapersSprint 
//------------------------------//

"Control to Warhorse 1, what's your status?"

"Warhorse 1 to control, everything is running smoothly up here, over."

"Copy that, you have permission to test how you see fit."

"Control, you don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that."

The F-40 Vertical Take Off and Landing jet is the newest VTOL technology created by the military. It is designed to be as maneuverable as any F-22 but able to reach speeds no other jet can. All of this integrated into the VTOL system. Captain Garrick has flown many jets during his life, so his experience and reputation led to him being chosen to pilot the aircraft. However, the F-40 requires two pilots. Garrick was given a list of new recruits to take with him, and he chose 1st Sgt. Marshall. He chose him both from his statistics, and the basis that he managed to beat Garrick's own records.

"Are you ready to see what this girls got under the hood? Sgt.Garrick yelled to Pvt.Marshall.

"Uh yea, sure..."Marshall hesitated. 

"What's wrong, you sound nervous. Don't tell me you have a fear of heights or something!?"Garrick joked.

"Its not that, its just that the word 'experimental' just doesn't sit with me too well, ya know?"Marshall responded.

"Well that's what we're here for, we are the experiment." Garrick smirked. He pushed the throttle further ahead increasing the jets speed."Now just relax and keep feeding me the readings."

Marshall sighed, he looked over all of the readings several times."Looks good back here."  

"Roger, time to see what we can do in this thing."Garrick proceeded to push the throttle further increasing the speed and began to perform different maneuvers.  Garrick tried every test and maneuver he had learned through his life, and the metal beast refused to disappoint.

"Well hell, this girl isn't half bad." Garrick spoke again,"Only one last test to put her through, hope you're ready for this one Marshall, you're going to hate me after this."

Still concentrating on the readings, Marshall barely heard what Garrick had just said. "Wait, what..." He got cut off as he was pushed back into his seat from the vertical climb. "What the hell are you doing!?" Marshall choked out. He looked down at the altitude seeing it climb rapidly. "We're going to stall!" 

"I know, just trust me." Garrick responded. They managed to reach their maximum height, the jets engines cut out from lack of oxygen.

"Well, what's your bright idea?" Marshall questioned.

"Just watch." Garrick smiled, he found Marshall's fear comedic.

After a few seconds, the F-40's nose was pointing straight down, a few seconds later, the engines fired to life yet again. At that moment, Garrick pushed the throttle as far as he could, forcing the engine to its limits. Both pilots were thrown back into their seats from the force pressed onto them. It was more than Garrick had expected, but he was determined not to get either of them killed. He went to pull back the throttle, but found it nearly impossible to move his arm. He wanted to apologize to the Sgt who he was about to kill, but he could barely breath as it was.

He looked out of the cock-pit and notice the cone forming around the jet. No matter how many times he has broken the speed of sound, the cone has never ceased to amaze him. however, this seemed different, he was almost certain they had broken the speed of sound already. Just as the jet was about to strike the ground, the jet broke through the cone.

Both pilots looked in shock as the world appeared to have turned upside down. Both were sure that they were seconds from hitting the hard rock they called earth. Garrick was pulled out of his shock as he realized the pressure that was holding his arm had disappeared now that they had slowed down from their vertical ascent. He seized the opportunity and pulled back on the throttle and pushed forward on the controls to bring the jet into a steady hover.

Marshall was the first to break the silence. "What the fuck is wrong with you!? I agree to fly with you and you almost kill me!?"

"Uh yea, sorry about that. Never had that much force before while flying. We're still alive aren't we? So I don't see what your problem is." Garrick spit back.

"You know what, to hell with it. I think we should contact control and see if we can head back." Marshall suggested, still angry.

Garrick sighed, as much as he wished to remind Marshall who the ranking officer was, Garrick just wanted to get back to base as well. "This is Warhorse 1 to control, do you read me?" No answer. "Warhorse 1 to control, do you copy?" Still no answer. "No response, probably just a dead zone, lets head back anyway and see if we can pick them up along the way."

Pushing the throttle forward, Garrick began to fly back towards base based off of the coordinates given to him by Marshall. 

"You've got to admit, that got the adrenaline pumping." Garrick tried to lighten the mood.

"Yea, and almost killed us too." Marshall responded.

"Yea well..."Garrick stopped after a double take out the side of the cock-pit. 

"Hey, you ok up there?" Marshall asked noticing Garrick's sudden silence.

"What the fuck is that!? A flying horse!?" Was the only response that Marshall received. He followed Garrick's gaze out the side of the F-40 to see a cyan colored Pony with a Rainbow colored tail and mane flying besides them. The pony turned its head just noticing the object beside it, its jaw dropping as the pilots and the Pegasus stared at each other.