The Other Side Of The Rainboom

by alexrockclimber

Chapter 1

The other side of the rainboom

Chapter 1

“This is Bravo Two Zero, currently flying at 30,000 feet. No sign of any activity in the immediate vicinity. Clear skies all around. Over.”

“Acknowledged Bravo. Maintain altitude and report in any activity. Over and out.”

Flight Lieutenant Michael Wilkinson listened to the voice with slight unease. It seemed too robotic, too inhuman, as if it was merely a voice on the other end of the radio and nothing more. It was, in fact, the voice of a man 500 kilometres away, in a bunker somewhere, warm, comfortable and in control, as it always was. This man would be listening to his progress as he soared through the sky, high above the clouds, patrolling the same barren patch of sky as he always had and likely always would. Nothing interesting ever happened here; he was too far inland for any “hostiles” to come here. Who those hostiles would even be, he didn’t know. Wars fought that involved any plane versus plane action didn’t really exist anymore, he thought. These patrols were most likely just an excuse to use the hardware that the government had spent so much of their money on.

Michael was a professional though, and wouldn’t let boredom get in the way of his job. He surveyed the sky around him, searching for any other aircraft or objects of interest. There were none, just the same blue sky and occasional glimpses through the lumbering clouds below, of the green earth beneath him, except for the shape of his wing man, Bravo two, flying to the right of him.

“Any sign of any activity over there Bravo Two?”

“Negative, Bravo One,” came the reply from a more human voice, “wish there was though.”

“Well keep your eyes open and scan the horizon, today could be the special day,” though Michael seriously doubted that it would be.

For the next twenty minutes not much happened; there was little conversation between the two pilots. Anything good to talk about how been used up long ago. Michael was still persistently scouring the surrounding sky and checking the sensors for any signs of disturbances. He glanced a quick look at the sensors and monitors adorning every space inside of the cockpit. They all showed no changes, except minor differences, which were to be expected. One monitor though, showed a sensor which was rapidly gaining momentum with increasing ferocity. Michael stared at the monitor in disbelief. The monitor shouldn’t be doing this, there hadn’t been an explosion or anything to set if off. He leant closer to examine the Geiger counter and as he did so he felt his stomach begin to tighten up in apprehension of what could or might have happened. He had to contact command and warn them. No, first he had to check with Bravo Two to see if he had similar readings. There could be a malfunction with his equipment. His tightened stomach though was revealing his true thoughts to himself.

Suddenly a nervous voice crackled in his headset, “Bravo One I’m getting some weird...”

Alarms deafened Michael as he was thrown about inside the cockpit. The plane was thrown to the side while shouting at the top of its voice to warn Michael. The plane was being rocked from side to side as Michael tried his best to ignore the deafening alarms resonating from every sensor inside the cockpit. He grabbed onto the joystick with all his strength, fighting to keep the aircraft stable and to stop it plummeting through the clouds beneath him. The plane felt like it was shaking him and itself apart as it was thrown about. Above the constant screaming sirens, he heard a voice inside his head. At first he thought that he was going crazy. Maybe it was an angel welcoming him to his soon to be death.

“This is Bravo Two, mayday!” Even above the alarms Michael could hear the urgency in Bravo Two’s voice. “I’m gonna have to bail out!”

Michael looked out of the right side of the cockpit in time to see the cockpit of Bravo Two’s cockpit blow off, immediately followed by Bravo Two himself. He had been lucky to get out, as the now empty plane was thrown upside down and plummeted straight through the clouds below, turning in random motions as it did so. Michael was faring better. His plane was flying nearly level but was still shuddering violently. He had to keep a constant white knuckle grip on the joystick, as his arms felt like they were being shaken apart. He shot hurried looks around the cockpit, checking for any damage. There fortunately wasn’t any but, as he looked at the sensors and monitors, he found the origin of the wailing that was screaming in his ears; the Geiger counter was showing a huge radiation spike. Horrified he looked to the side for any sign of a nuclear detonation below, to affect him up here it must have been devastating, he thought. As he did so, something shot past his plane, sending it into another spasm of violent shaking's, that threatened to tear the plane out of his control as the G-forces slammed into him. He gritted his teeth as he sought to control the flailing aircraft.

Am I under attack? What was that blue thing that shot past?

Michael brought the aircraft level once again and scanned the surrounding sky for any sign of the hostiles that seemed to have attacked him. He looked behind and saw both a confusing and bewildering sight. In the normally blue sky behind him he saw a series of white rings surrounded by a larger ring full of bright colours, which instantly reminded him of a rainbow. The most confusing sight though was that out of the bright white centre, a rainbow shot out, carried on past his plane and into the sky ahead of him.

He had been attacked.

Suddenly Michael heard that familiar robotic voice in his ears.

“Bravo Two Zero, come in”. The voice seemed as calm as ever, devoid of emotion. “What is your status?”
Michael’s years of training and preparation kicked in after a moment of hesitation.

“Believe that we may have come under attack from an unidentified flying object. Bravo Two is down, bailed out upon initial attack.” The voice just listened. “Large spike in radiation levels, near critical. Aircraft ahead, but no visible sighting possible.”

It’s left a very clear vapour trail though, he thought.

“Any response from radio transmissions?” said the robotic man in the safe bunker.
Michael tried to raise the unidentified aircraft on the radio.

“This is Bravo Two Zero, of the United States Air force. Do you respond?” Michael hoped that he would get a response, but the apprehensive stomach tightening had returned.

“Negative. No response from bogey,” Michael said as calmly as he could.

The voice came back as calmly as ever, “the aircraft is deemed hostile. Proceed to engage. Over”

Michael missed a beat, “roger, engaging.”

Michael felt as if he was in shock as his training took over. He pressed a button, felt the thrusters kick in and he was once again thrown back into his seat as he flew ahead. The cause of the brightly coloured vapour began to get closer. He armed the heat seeking missiles and tried to get a lock on whatever had tried to take him down. Whatever it was, it was very small. It was nearly impossible to get a track on it, and even then it was only because of the computers that he even knew that he had it locked. He couldn’t see what it was, just heard the gentle beep as he locked on, the click of a button being pressed and then the sound and sight of a missile shooting ahead of him, flying parallel to the “rainbow” as it flew onwards toward its final destination.

“Missile away,” he heard someone confidently say. Only to realise that it was himself.

Michael held his breath as the missile careered onwards to strike the aircraft or whatever it was. Time seemed to slow down as the missile quickly became too small to see. He waited for the explosion that would signify the impact and destruction off whatever had tried to possibly kill him, and nearly succeeded. But there was no explosion, no impact, no bright light, instead the “rainbow” twirled around in a 360 degree loop and carried on flying on the same course as before. The missile had missed.

The voice also realised this, “prepare to engage again. Launch two missiles, if no contact then proceed to engage with cannons.” As calm as ever.
“Affirmative, proceeding to engage target,” replied Michael.

Once again Michael felt like he was watching someone else arm the arsenal that surrounded him. He heard the familiar beep then the click as the man sitting in the same seat sent the two missiles on their way. They flew straight and true, one slightly lagging behind the other, but both intent on seeking their victim. Michael was still too far off to see the mysterious aircraft, but not too far off to see the blinding explosion; that didn’t happen. Instead the cause of the “rainbow” swerved to the right and then suddenly swooped downward and then upward with incredible swiftness. This made Michael let out the breath that he realised he had once again been holding.
The first missile had obviously missed, but the other lagging behind meant that it avoided any drastic changes in its course. It carried on straight and true towards its target. Its target however was ready for it and flew to its right but so that it went in a full circle and ended up behind the missile. This gave Michael a clearer view of the target, but he was still too far out to see any clear characteristics. Once again all he saw was a blue blur.

I recognise that shape from somewhere, thought Michael. The second missile tried to face its target but instead went off at an odd angle and flew on a few hundred confused metres before exploding. Even from where Michael was, it was clear that the explosion was too far away from the hostile aircraft to cause any damage. The missiles had failed.

“Proceeding to engage with cannons, over,” Michael heard himself say.

“Affirmative.” Was all that came from the robotic voice.

Michael set off to finish the job that three missiles hadn’t completed. Whatever this thing was it was fast, manoeuvrable and had tried to kill him. He set off at full speed, hurtling towards the distant origin of the “rainbow”. As it grew closer he began to make out its shape a bit more. It was very streamlined in its design. There was no sign of any wings.

Maybe they’re folded inwards during times of highest acceleration? Thought Michael.
As he drew within range he began to notice that the “rainbow” was beginning to thin out. It was becoming more transparent.

Maybe it’s running out of momentum, thought Michael.
He chanced a quick glance behind to where he had first been attacked. The rings of multi-coloured light had begun to disperse and in doing so had become more transparent. The same as the trail that had originated from them.
Michael turned back towards the target and prepared himself for what he was about to attempt. He set about controlling his breathing, breathing in through his nose, waiting a few seconds and then exhaling through his mouth. Then he let his thumb hover over the fire button as he drew the target into his sights. He pressed the button.

The bullets spilled out of the cannon as they bored down upon their victim. Michael’s plane shook slightly as the rounds left their home and set out on their deadly adventure. They hurtled across the wide open expanse of sky intent on reaching that distant point, for them that was all that mattered in the world; it was their purpose in life. But they failed.
With both awe and frustration, Michael saw the blue aircraft swerve to the left and narrowly avoid the bullets. Michael bore down upon his target and prepared to fire another burst but as he did so the aircraft's wings appeared at its side.

They look too small for even an aircraft of that size.

In this moment of slight confusion over the dynamics of the aircraft's flying ability he nearly didn’t notice that the hostile aircraft was beginning to slow down, it’s “rainbow” beginning to patter out.
Michael was now nearly upon it and realising how close he was, hurriedly let of a loose burst of gunfire as he flew above the much smaller aircraft. The rounds came near but not near enough.
Damn it! He thought as he began a lazy circle to get himself back in position behind the “rainbow” aircraft. He kept a constant gaze on his target as he flew around to a better position. The target was slower than it had been before and it’s “rainbow” vapour had all but disappeared. Micheal's thumb once again hovered over the button that would rain death down upon whatever and whoever he chose it to. Through the nose; out the mouth, fire.

This time these adventurers found their mark, or at least one did. All Michael knew was that he saw the little blue aircraft begin to fall to the ground, no clouds to stop him from seeing where it landed; the sky seemed to be vacant of them.
“Target neutralised” he once again heard himself say.
“Affirmative. Return to base, over.” He heard the robotic voice say.

As Michael followed the spiralling descent of the aircraft from above, he felt surprisingly heavy hearted over what he had just done. Even though the aircraft was too small to have any humans aboard he still felt as if he had done something terrible. Something about the way it moved and reacted made it seem almost...non -robotic were the only words that he could come up with to describe it.

As he flew back to base he realised how low he had come during the chase, the aircraft might even be salvageable. He looked up at the sky behind him and saw the last of the brightly coloured sky fade away into obscurity.

I’ve had enough special days.

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The clouds began to drop away as Rainbow Dash pushed upwards towards the sky. It was colder up here, but the benefits outweighed the chilling cold. The thinner air meant that she would be faster and speed was what she was looking for, as she always was.

As she carried on upwards, she let her mind drift. She was too embarrassed to tell anypony, but no matter how many times she had tried, she hadn’t been able to perform another sonic rainboom since the incident at Cloudsdale. The feeling was the most phenomenal sense of speed and power that she could ever imagine. She felt like a force flying through the air, unmatched by anything or anypony else. Even though she was faster than most other pegasi ponies, the sonic rainboom was what separated her from the rest. It was the thing that made her stand out to the Wonderbolts. She had to be able to do a sonic rainboom whenever she wanted to. She had to master it, she had to tame it, but they only ever seemed to work when something was needed of her.

Normally she didn’t fly this high, no pony did. The air became harder to breathe this high but it was still manageable, just. But she wasn’t planning on staying up here long for too long. The sky straight above of her was dark blue, reminding her of where Luna had been banished to more than a thousand years ago. That barren landscape, an endless void of empty space punctuated by the occasional stars that were just tiny, insignificant specks of light in the empty vacuum of space. I wonder where she was now; no pony had seen any sign of her since she had been taken back to Canterlot with her sister.

Rainbow Dash pushed these thoughts of her head, for them only to be replaced with ones of Pinkie Pie. She had promised to meet with her at Sugarcube Corner to make some cupcakes. Normally she asked someone like Applejack to help make them with her. Maybe Pinkie Pie had just decided that her time had come to help make them with her. Well she’d do them with her once she got back down to Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash flew as high as she dared. She stopped as she gazed at the clouds littering the sky below her; she probably should have cleared them before she had set off. She would just have to level out a bit while flying downwards. She didn’t want to fly through the clouds while in the middle of a sonic rainboom; the ground could be a lot closer than she thought.

She focused. Through the nose, pause; out the mouth. Rainbow Dash shot downwards. She folded in her wings as she accelerated downwards at an incredible speed. Tears began to form on her eyes as the air tried to slow her down. It wasn’t going to slow her down though, nothing was, she wouldn’t let anything slow her down. She was going to perform a sonic rainboom and nothing was going to stop her. Concentration was etched into her face as she rocketed downwards towards the clouds that were coming ever closer to greet her, their soft coating welcoming her. She began to feel that familiar feeling as the air around her began to become pierced by her own momentum as her speed increased. She began to level out, lifting her body upwards, and as she did so she saw the air in front of her begin to separate, forming a cone around her. Her skin began to prickle slightly as the air around her became charged with electricity. She was about to finish the rainboom. She squinted against the tears in her eyes and the G- forces crashing into her. Nothing was going to stop Rainbow Dash.

The world exploded around Rainbow Dash in an orgasm of colour. Her vision was filled with every colour of the rainbow and her ears were filled with the explosion that she had set off behind her. She had done it, she had finished a sonic rainboom.

The air buffeted against her as she was propelled forward by the massive energy that had just exploded behind her. The noise was near deafening as her ears were pushed backwards, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything at that moment in time, she felt free. As her vision returned she noticed two grey pegasi ponies flying in front her. Even though they seemed to be flying away from her, they were quickly coming closer. As she looked at them, they seemed to have been forcefully thrown to either side of her.

Maybe they had been up too high for too long and were dizzy, thought Rainbow Dash.

She didn’t have any more time to look at them as she shot between the two of them, but she had noticed one thing about them. They weren’t pegasus ponies.

Fear crossed Dash’s mind as she raced to find an explanation to what those things were. Whatever they were, they were giant. She hadn’t noticed until she had gotten closer just how big they were. They weren’t as big as a dragon, but they were still too big for comfort. She looked behind her. The grey creatures were now just grey little specks behind her. Well at least one was, the other seemed to have disappeared from sight. She looked around, worried that it may have crept up on her; instead she saw it disappear through the clouds below like a dead weight. Whatever it was it wasn’t coming back. She looked at the remaining grey speck behind her and saw something flash towards her. Instinctively she threw herself backwards and came around in a loop; the object passing beneath her as she did so. The object had a flame coming out of its back but suddenly it went out. As she looked at it, it began to fall harmlessly through the sky below.
Whatever these creatures are, they’re trying to hurt me.

It was only now that she noticed that the sky around her was still blue, but it seemed duller, a less vivid blue than usual. She looked below and saw, through patches in the clouds, a green and duller land than she remembered. She once again looked behind her at the grey speck in the distance and was greeted by the sight of two flashes coming towards her.

She pushed herself downward as fast as she could and then pulled up as fast as was ponily possible. It had helped save Rarity and the Wonderbolts before, and this time it saved her as she saw a flash fly past her and disappear into the distance. Feeling proud of herself, she nearly forgot about the second flash. Spontaneously Dash flung herself to the right as she felt the flying object pierce through where she had just been. Whatever it was, it was intent on murder. Her murder. She once again flew around behind where the bright object that seemed so intent on hitting her, should have been, but instead she saw a bright flash in the corner of her eye, followed by a sound of an explosion. The force of which, was strong enough to take the breath out of her.
What the hay was that? she thought as she tried to regain her composure as she looked around for that speck in the distance that was firing things at her. Instead, she saw a great metal bird coming straight at her, flashes coming from its right wing. Dash swerved to the left and as she did so she heard what sounded like bees buzzing past her. This grey bird had once again tried to kill her, and had nearly succeeded.

Rainbow Dash now realised that she had been slowing down, the momentum of the sonic rainboom wasn’t enough to outpace the grey bird now. Unfurling her wings she flew on, just as more bees flew past her and she became deafened as the great bird flew directly overheard. The heat was magnificent, nearly scorching her mane. As the bird flew overhead, she saw that it too had fire coming out of its back. She also noticed that it didn’t have any feathers. It seemed to be completely rigid. It seemed too unnatural to exist. Also it was much faster than her, she had to fly lower. Maybe she could lose it in the trees below. There had to be somewhere to...

Rainbow Dash’s vision went black as she felt something crease her temple. Her wings went limp. All she could see through her rapidly darkening vision as she spiralled down, was the shape of the grey bird as it soared overhead and the dull green trees eagerly coming up to greet her.

Thanks for reading this so far. Eventually the first 2 chapters will be edited quite plot heavily.

Comments

[Cunt_Crusader]

hoh my gawd this is awesome

[Ghost-091]

I always nit pick certain details when it comes to having military personnel in a story, so don't take this the wrong way. I do this to freaking Hollywood movies and such as well, so don't feel too bad. This is just me passing along information. I'll leave an actual review/comment on the most recently posted chapter.

Over: a radio proword that ends a radio transmission and means that the sender is awaiting a response. Out: a radio proword that ends a radio transmission and means that the sender is not awaiting a response, usually used by the superior of the two on the radio. Break: a radio proword that means the sender is not done transmitting, but needs to pause for some reason or marking the next line for a MEDIEVAC request. Wait: a radio proword that means the sender is done transmitting, but the sender is not yet finished talking, usually used when new information is being reported to the sender. Over and out: a made up Hollywood radio proword that is not grounded in the actual military, using this just shows that you do not know proper military radio etiquette. For more on military radio etiquette, I recommend FM 3-21.75 chapter 11.4. This gives you all you need to know about basic military radio etiquette (and as I was told in training, "keeps you from sounding like a jack*** over the radio.")
(Source: Soldier in the US Army)