//------------------------------//
// Wash Your Worries Away 
// Story: Detour 
// by Jetset0099 
//------------------------------//

       The nose of the C-130 was lined up facing Ponyville. Jake had about two thousand feet to take off before hitting one of the town's buildings. 
Twilight sat in the co-pilots seat, studying the countless buttons and knobs on the control panels. Applejack sat in the jump seat, situated between the two pilot's chairs directly behind the throttle quadrant. Mac and the other four sat along the back of the cockpit in small jump seats that folded out of the wall. 
"Ahm gonna be quite honest with ya Jake. Ahm nervous as all get out."
The pilot laughed. 
"You don't have anything to worry about. This will be fun and safe I assure you."
The four engines whined as he increased the throttle. The plane began to slowly roll forward, the heavy duty suspension keeping it riding smooth and straight. 
Fluttershy shut her eyes tight, afraid of what could happen if the plane somehow didn't get airborne in time. 
"Ok I'm at fifty knots. Sixty, sixty-five, seventy."
Dust was being thrashed around in the wake of the turboprops. Everyone except Rainbow Dash, who wasn't impressed at all, had a scared look on their face. Twilight started hyper ventilating. 
"We're not going to make it!"
Jake had all of his focus on the speed indicator. 
"Yes we will...come on come on just ten more knots."
Ponies in the town stopped and stared at the massive aircraft speeding towards one of the buildings. Back in the cockpit, the speed indicator read seventy eight knots. Twilight yelled over to him. 
"We're at eighty knots! Pull up pull up!"

"We need to be at ninety!"
The unicorn panicked and grabbed the yoke.  
"Eighty's good enough!"
She pulled back and the nose slowly lifted. Jake retook control and pulled even harder. The building was only two hundred feet away as the back wheels lifted off. The plane barely missed the roof as it soared over it, making a loud whipping noise that reverberated off the walls and windows of the town. 
Everyone in the cockpit slowly opened their eyes, and all except Jake and Rainbow Dash's mouths dropped at the sight. 
The C-130 was at two thousand feet and climbing. A majestic mountain range was directly in front of them, miles away. And Canterlot was sticking out of a different range to their right. Jake banked slowly towards the capitol city and started for it. 
"See, I told you everything would be fine. Lets take a stroll over to Canterlot."
He mumbled under his breath. 
"This time I'll be conscious."
Rainbow Dash yawned. 
"This isn't as fun as the way I fly."
Applejack rolled her eyes. 
"Can ya be a little more polite Dash?"

"Pshh, whatevs."
Jake sighed. 
"Dash, this plane isn't meant for stunts and fast flying. It's meant for heavy duty work and flying into military zones while bullets are flying everywhere."

"Yeah I get that, but there isn't a SINGLE trick you can pull in this thing?"
He paused for a moment to think. 
"When I don't have the Ferrari in the back, I'll do one that I think you might like. But not now."
She sat back and crossed her hooves. 
"Humph, fine."
Twilight looked out the window to the approaching city. 
"We're not too far away now. Only around ten more minutes and we'll be there."

"Cool. But I just realized something. The reason we didn't get off the ground sooner is because I forgot to use the correct amount of flaps. I'm kicking myself for not remembering it. You always need to use more on soft-field takeoffs. Jeez I'm an idiot sometimes."
The unicorn laughed. 
"We all have our moments Jake. We all have our moments."
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Soarin, the captain of the Wonderbolts, was sitting at his desk at their headquarters. The building was just north of Canterlot, and was a little higher up than the tallest castle tower. It jutted out of a cliff just like the city, and had a large rounded panoramic window just behind Soarin's desk. 
"No Spitfire, we have to cancel the show in Fillydelphia in order to make room for the Manehattan show. The revenue will be much higher there than at Fillydelphia."
Spitfire rolled her eyes and sat forward in the chair in front of his desk. 
"Is it all about the bits Soarin? We've performed in Manehattan more times than I can count. If you-...what the? Look at that."
She pointed her hoof out the large window to the south of Canterlot. Soarin followed her direction until his own eyes rested upon what she was seeing. The grey C-130 was five miles away, and closing in fast.
His eyes opened wide and he shot up from his desk. 
"That must be it!"
A confused Spitfire stared at him. 
"What is it?"

"It's the aircraft! The aircraft that the Princess told us about, remember? We were supposed to go down to Ponyville to help out with it, but the Royal Guards went instead. I've been itching to see that thing since I heard about it! Come on, round up the rest of the team. We're going for a little flight!"
He ran out of his large office, Spitfire following right behind him. 
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Jake popped in a CD and leaned back in his seat. 
"This song is my favorite song to fly to."
Fluttershy spoke up.
"Um, what's it called? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's called Here to Stay, by The Pat Metheney Group. Get ready to be relaxed and at ease."
He cranked up the volume as the song began. (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=g6JlE_xRRes)
Instantly, everyone in the cockpit was engrossed in the smooth rhythm and style of the tune. 
"Yeah, when your up thirty thousand feet, and there's nothing but you and your plane, this is the perfect music to listen to. It opens your mind and lets your worries wash away."
He started head bobbing to the tempo. Mac followed suit.   
"Ah think this is mighty catchy."
They passed Canterlot, and Jake began to ascend. Rarity looked confused. 
"Um, Jake dear? Aren't we supposed to be going TO Canterlot? Not past it."
He held up his hoof. 
"Trust me, if you've never flown before, then your going to want to see this."
Fluttershy sheepishly cut in. 
"But we all have Jake. We did in Twilights balloon to get up to Cloudsdale."

"How high is it?"
Twilight spoke up. 
"About ten thousand feet in the air. Why do you want to know?"
He smirked. 
"Trust me. You'll want to see this then."
The C-130 climbed higher and higher, the props emitting a drawling whine as the engines sucked in more of the thinning air. 
Soon, nothing could be seen through the cockpit windows as the plane was engulfed in thick clouds that overcast the entire region. 
Fluttershy got scared. 
"We can't see anything! We're going to crash!"
Jake laughed. 
"We're not going to crash. I know exactly what I'm doing. Just a couple more seconds...aaaand....voila!"
All of there mouths, this time including Rainbow Dash's, hit the floor at the sight before them. The plane leveled off at thirty thousand feet, and nothing could be seen except for the blue sky above them, and a rolling ocean of continuous white clouds below them. The sun was only a couple minutes from starting to set, causing its rays to bounce off some of the clouds giving a golden aurora to them. The rainbow mare was lost for words. 
"I...I don't know what to say. I've never been this high before."
Jake nodded. 
"I thought you'd say that. This cabin is pressurized, allowing me to go higher than any pegasus could I'm assuming."

"Yeah, you're right in assuming. The highest any pegasus has ever gone is like twenty thousand feet before they passed out do to oxygen deprivation and cold temperatures."

"We'll congratulations Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. You two are the highest pegasi in the world as of now."

"Oh my, what an honor."
Dash jumped out of her seat and hugged Jake. 
"Omygoshomygoshomygosh! Thank you! I take back everything I said about this plane!"
She released him and sat back down. 
"Your welcome. I guess ALL of us are the highest ponies on the planet."
He chuckled at his unintentional double entendre. 
Pinkie Pie started bouncing up and down.
"How far are we going?!"
He thought for a moment. 
"As far as I feel like I guess. I have unlimited fuel and no airspace restrictions. If its alright with you guys, let's just keep flying for a while."
Applejack nodded. 
"Ah think that's a fine idea partner."
Everyone else agreed.
"Very well then. Enjoy the flight."
He turned up the volume as the song began to approach it's climax. 
Everyone in the cabin leaned back and took in the scenery.    
Celestia's sun began to set, turning the white sea of clouds into a glowing expanse of orange bluffs.