//------------------------------//
// Defending Her Company 
// Story: The Iron Mare 
// by FanofAwesomeness 
//------------------------------//

	The flight was even faster than normal with rocket boosters instead of wings guiding Rainbow Dash's flight to the shipment bay. She started to think of how fast she might be able to go with the boosters only as extra support mid-flight.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she hit the side wall of a ship and tumbled through it and down into the lower levels.
"Remind me to work on my landings," she muttered. As soon as she said it, the note was taken down and stored in a file database somewhere. "Also remind me to thank Twilight for the audio note idea. This thing is awesome."
Before the file could finish being stored, somepony behind her yelled something. Rainbow turned around and saw a guard with one of her guns, pointing said gun at her.
Without thinking, Rainbow opened fire first. The guard was thrown off balance and his gun went off blowing a hole the size of her hoof in the wall. Rainbow then felt something bounce off her armor from behind and turned to see another guard shooting at her.
She jumped back, planning on flying back into the storage bay, only to find excess power being pushed through her boots and the pony shooting at her.
She landed and ran for the cargo bay, trying not to think about those two guards. She was here for a reason. She had to destroy the weapons before they left. And at this rate, she had to escape before the Wonderbolts could-
"Attention hostile force aboard the ESS Knightly," came the voice of Spitfire. "We know you're in there. The ship is surrounded. Come out peacefully or we will use force."
"Crap," Rainbow said. She didn't have time to talk to them and destroy the weapons. She had to do one or the other. Unless...
Rainbow lifted a hoof and pushed power through it to fire a blast of flame. She fired off a few more shots so she would have a clear way out. With that, the ship would be under fire as soon as she left. That meant that everypony would think it was a stray shot.
Aiming for the hole, Rainbow shot through it like a bullet. Actual bullets bounced off her armor as she came out of the ship. It was going to be a lot harder to do it this way, but she didn't have much choice. 
A small missile fired from her armor and hit the ground where she had been standing a few seconds before. The explosion pushed her farther than she expected and caused her to crash into one of the newer buildings. Before anypony could figure out what was happening, though, she got up and shot through the roof. At the speed she was going, she would be home before dinner.
That's when she saw the clouds of smoke and lightning. The Wonderbolts were right on her tail, and they weren't going to stop their pursuit. Rainbow saw only one option left.
She brought up her contacts and called Spitfire.
After a couple rings, there was the sound of wind whipping past and a voice on the line. "Hello?"
"Spitfire," Rainbow said. "I need you to do something."
"A little busy here, Dash," Spitfire said. "I'm chasing a pony that just blew up a ship."
"The whole ship went up already?" Rainbow asked without thinking.
"What was that?" Spitfire asked.
"Never mind," Rainbow said. "I just need you to meet me at my house. Right now."
"I can meet you there after we catch this guy," Spitfire said.
Rainbow sighed and said, "It's me."
"I already know it's you on the phone," Spitfire said. "You told me that when I answered. Now I've got to go and-"
"I mean it's me you're chasing!" Rainbow said. "It's a suit, and I'm wearing it."
"What?!" Spitfire screamed, causing the formation to break slightly, but only for a few seconds. "Could you repeat that for me?"
"I'm in a suit and you're chasing me!" Rainbow screamed into the microphone. "If you let me go, I'll explain everything to you. Just meet me at my house in twenty."
"I can't just call off a chase," Spitfire said. "You just blew up a ship. We have to respond appropriately. That includes a chase."
"Then make it look like you lost me," Rainbow said.
"Yeah," Spitfire replied. "And how many ponies can outfly the Wonderbolts? You're the only one in recent history to have out-flown the entire team. It takes something beyond what most ponies are capable of for that to happen."
"And how many ponies could be piloting a suit that could give said pilot an exact way to get out of a chase?" Rainbow asked.
She could almost hear the chuckle from Spitfire. "Do it," she said. "But I'm expecting one hell of an explanation later."
With that, Rainbow hung up. She brought up a diagram of flight patterns and the current sky traffic. With everything ready, all she had to do was move at the right speed in the right way in a brand-new piece of technology that is barely past prototype to escape prosecution from the law. No pressure.

*******************************

Rainbow trotted up to her door. Only when she opened it, did she actually get a surprise.
Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts and leader of the Equestrian Air Force, punched her in the face.
"What was that for?" Rainbow asked.
"That was for putting my team in a situation that could have endangered countless lives," Spitfire said. "And this," she said with another punch, "is for testing some new tech without telling me."
Rainbow sat there for a moment, nursing her already bruising cheek. "Sorry," she said. "I had to make a split-second call. There wasn't much choice."
"You could've warned me that you were testing unstable tech in the area," Spitfire said. "I could've cleared the area and sent that ship out before you blasted a hole in it. And then we wouldn't have to pay for a new boat, too. You do realize how expensive those things are, don't you?"
"That's why I didn't tell you before," Rainbow said. "I was there for the ship."
Spitfire sat down suddenly. "You did that. On purpose?"
"Yeah," Rainbow said. "I had to stop it, and the only way to do that quickly enough was to do it myself. It was just convenient that I had some new stuff that needed testing."
Spitfire sighed. "Did you even consider what might happen afterwards? How are we going to explain this to the public?"
"Don't you guys have something about training exercises to use in these scenarios?" Rainbow asked.
That got a chuckle from Spitfire. "I guess we could use that," she said. "But before I go, why did you have that thing? I thought you weren't making weapons anymore."
"It was an unfinished project," Rainbow said."You know how I can get when I want something done."

*******************************

Shining Armor was sitting in his office when he received a call. "Hello?"
"I thought you said it wouldn't be a problem," said the gruff voice on the other end. "So why is it my shipment just got blown up?"
"I'm sorry," Shining said. "We ran into an unusual threat. Something, or somepony, went in there to stop it, and was successful. And they were lucky enough to get away with only property damage. The closest thing we have to a clue to answer who did it, is the memory of a guard who was less lucky than the rest. He had his shoulder burned badly enough to start to blister within a few seconds and hit his head pretty hard."
"Well then I would recommend you jog his memory before I get impatient," the other side said. "I have a feeling it's a mare we both know fairly well."
Shining laughed. "Rainbow Dash is not the kind of pony to go into something herself," he said. "The closest she would get would be to send in one of her friends, and she wouldn't do that if her life depended on it. So I doubt you have the right pony in mind."
"Do not make my mistake in underestimating her," said the other voice. "It might not end as well for you as it did for me."
"And I wouldn't recommend you try to threaten me," Shining said. "I know where you are and I still have connections in the Guard. I could have you blown the rest of the way to hell if I wanted."
"I know full well what the Guard is capable of," came a quick reply. "But you wouldn't murder a good business partner, especially if that partner had something you needed."
"And what is it that you have that I need?" Shining asked.
"I have pieces of some armor that you might find useful in your investigation," said the voice.
"Then maybe we should meet face to face," Shining said.
"I agree," Saarken said.  "I think it's time we decided what to do about this problematic mare of yours."