Fell Swoop flapped his wings leisurely over the northern mountains. His low altitude presented him with a scenic view of the countryside, and the angular summits provided gentle updrafts as he passed them. If he had not known he was Equestria's first line of defense, he'd have thought he was on vacation.
His training had been intensive. He'd competed in races by wing and by hoof, executed complicated maneuvers in formation, and memorized military protocol to the point of instinct. He'd passed fitness exams, psychological analyses, and background checks. He'd earned his flightsuit and goggles through grueling workouts and by outcompeting hundreds of other applicants. By comparison, his peaceful flyover mission seemed almost a waste of preparation.
Unless, of course, he spotted a dragon. But, he mused, the chances were no larger than his one out of the six other pegasi assigned to this patrol. In the meantime, he had an almost relaxing job. He wondered if his attitude had been predicted by his psychological profile. Maybe they needed calm ponies in the service.
While he admired his own mental merits, Fell Swoop did a half barrel roll over the next updraft and stared upward. He wrapped himself up in solitude and felt a moment's pity for the ponies who had to spend their days working for food rations, while he and his comrades received mess hall meals optimized for fitness training by Cloudsdale nutritionists. He wondered what his mother had made for dinner back home.
Intense pain interrupted his whimsy. A column of flame erupted to his right, engulfing the tip of his wing. He smelled burning feathers.
Before his mind had given the order, his wings had retracted and turned him over, and Fell Swoop found himself in near-freefall, gaining speed toward the source of the inferno. A few hundred feet below him, a colossus covered in green scales and hovering on house-sized wings grinned up at him. It opened its maw, and another bolt of flame erupted toward him.
Fell Swoop's wings flexed, and his vertical descent suddenly veered horizontally. He felt fire lick at his tail, and he beat his wings furiously to put the flames farther behind him. But, instead of shooting forth like a comet, he banked right and lost altitude. He glanced at his wing; the plumage had burnt away at its farthest point, exposing seared flesh beneath. The image caused the pain to catch up with him, and he tore his eyes away to avoid shock.
A deafening roar overtook him and echoed off the mountaintops, rocking the air like an earthquake rocks the ground. Fell Swoop clenched his teeth and flapped harder. His burnt wing screamed in protest, but he steeled himself and brought in his good wing to compensate for his asymmetry. He couldn't make his top speed this way, but at least he could fly straight.
But where to go? He might be able to lose the dragon with some fancy maneuvers; any creature that massive couldn't pull a one-eighty as fast as he could. Then again, his bad wing might lose him the edge, and he didn't know that doubling back wouldn't run him into another dragon. He could try landing in the forest and taking cover; on hoof, his wing wouldn't give him any trouble. Then again, a single breath from his pursuer could reduce the forest and anypony in it to cinders.
He would have to complete the mission he'd been assigned. If he could make it to the nearest defense outpost, he could not only alert Equestria's military but take cover behind them. That meant a direct line on his current southward heading, with only his speed to save him.
Another blaze shot past him, narrowly missing his flank. He craned his head back and saw the dragon fly straight through its own wall of flame, its eyes focused directly on him.
Fell Swoop flapped harder. He straightened his forelegs in front of his face, streamlining his body. As he picked up speed, the whoosh of passing air drowned out all sounds but the hammering of his heart and the crackle of flame behind him. He glanced backward sporadically, trying to predict the dragon's next breath and dodging out of its wake. Adrenaline alerted every muscle in his body, and he managed to weave away from the brunt of the attacks. His reflexes did not always steer him clear, however, and several times he cried out as the fire charred an errant leg or flank. Despite the agony, or perhaps because of it, his wings continued pulling him forward at breakneck speed.
The highest mountains fell away beneath him, replaced by smaller and smaller ripples in the earth until at last he was over open plains. In the distance, he could just make out a dot on the landscape that he knew to be the first of many outposts. He pulled his wings in closer and traded altitude for speed, hurtling down toward friendly forces with the help of gravity's firm hands.
The dragon followed, but its girth caught more wind resistance than Fell Swoop's battered body ever could. Fell Swoop put precious inches between them, then feet, until an entire train length separated them. Ahead, the outpost grew details; he could just make out the square wall surrounding the camp and the watch towers at its corners. If he could reach any of them only a few seconds before the wyrm behind him, he might give them a chance to prepare.
His wing throbbed, and his vision blurred from pain. He had pushed his body to its limits, and his last reserves of energy left him through his open wounds. Images and sounds crept into his mind as his sight failed. His drill sergeant's whistle. His neighborhood in Cloudsdale . The barrettes in his little sister's hair. His mother's apple pie.
Turbulence shook him back to the present. He felt himself slipping into a tumble, and his wings shot out to catch him. The nearest watchtower was only a hundred feet away at most; a pair of guards stood idly atop it. He drew breath to yell, but his voice vanished into the headwind.
He needed to land. He bade his wings to slow him down, but they mustered all the stiffness of jelly. He'd made it to the outpost; they'd know what to do. The world was dim, and he needed rest. He closed his eyes.
A pegasus slammed into the north tower of outpost seven. The alarm was raised only seconds before a dragon did the same.