Taking a short break from the battle unfolding at Fort Shield in my Equestria dreamscape to better show off one of the combatants in this struggle. The Heavy Pegasi Contact Aerial Combat Units usually referred to as the Slashers.
 
The Slashers are elite aerial units of the Royal Equestria Air Force. Their role is to breakup enemy formations by engaging them in close quarter battles. Today they primarily serve to combat renegade clans of griffins that still sometimes raid along Equestrias borders. But originally they had a much bigger and dangerous foe; a foe they still train for to this day. Dragons.
 
For attacking draconic opponents the Slashers preferred tactic is that of hit and run attacks. Attacking from above they use their greater speed and maneuverability to attack and then break away from their opponents. They rarely aim for the tough, magically armored, scale-covered bodies of the dragons but instead aerial cataphracts target the more vulnerable flight membranes, tendons, bones and muscles. Slashers armor has numerous, curved blades mounted to it. These blades are designed to delivery slashing cuts, but are designed to shear off if placed under severe stress. This way a Slasher is less likely to become hooked and entangled with a plummeting enemy.
 
Even if they are unable to slash their opponent, just the act of crashing their steel-sheathed bodies into wings of their enemies at over 120mph is often enough to break or dislocate wings. Since high-speed impacts are very likely Slasher armor is designed with this in mind. Slasher armor is one of few styles of pony armor that offer full plate protection to the neck. The neck armor does restrict head and neck movement but also acts as a neck brace against spinal injury. There are some helmet variants that have full-face masks but many Slashers find them too restricting to their vision. Unlike most pony helmets the ears are of Slashers are protected under the metal shell. Extensive padding and full plate limb protection also give the Slashers limited fire and enhance collision protection. Only their wings are left unarmored.
 
Needless to say, along with a stout heart and a confidence in ones abilities Slashers also need to have some of strongest flight magic amongst the pegasus tribe. Not only does one need to be able to take off with this much armor on, one must be able to do all the basic aerobatic maneuvers expected of a member of the Royal Equestria Air Force. Also one needs to be able to climb quickly after making a slashing attack, and since one wants to have the height advantage one needs to be able at an altitude higher than your foe. So Slashers will often begin their attacks from heights as greater than 12,000ft.
 
A final feature not commonly found on other pegasus helmets is the air scoop style crest found on the top of the helmet. At the back of the helmet Slashers will often mount a double reed into the crest. When Slasher reaches over 90mphs in a dive the reeds begin vibrate creating this eerie, moaning howl.
 
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