"Here they come!"
"Look over there!"
"That's awesome!"
The crowd roared as the formation came into view, making a large arc from a good distance to show off the C-130's impressive wingspan. Suddenly, the music started.
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http://ww9.mp3juices.com/download/4259v4/28900585/61174288/0dbed92ba0d4/pat-metheny-group---we-live-here-(s.-jam)
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A fast-paced jungle rhythm began, and the two Wonderbolts on either end broke off and make a huge loop, forming a double circle with their smoke trails.
Jake banked left and began a go-around at high speeds. Rainbow Dash, Soarin, and Spitfire circled back and formed a triangle. They flew right through the circles that were made and headed right towards the audience.
The other four stayed below and circled, waiting for their cue to come in. Suddenly, out of the left side of Canterlot, the C-130 thundered past in a complete ninety degree wide banked turn. It's belly faced the crowd, and they drew back in awe of the massive aircraft.
Then, right on cue, the trio of pegasi rocketed forward right towards the crowd and pulled up and twisted into the sky. They were blocked out by the suns glare as the four below made a wider corkscrew upwards in their wake.
Out of no where, a long, thin stretch of cloud with a thin strip of concrete was conjured up by some unicorns who were positioned below the audience on a perch of the cliff.
Jake pulled back the throttles a little and came back around to face the city. Starfyre laughed in amusement and held on to the edges of his seat.
"Ok here we go, Jake! Don't mess this one up."
Without hesitation, he dropped full flaps, lowered the landing gear, and tilted the nose down.
Shining Armor, along with Cadance and some if the guards there, yelled in amazement as the plane delicately touched its nose gear down on the concrete strip and flew down the length of it.
Mac laughed and shook his head.
"Ah tell ya, Jake is crazy sometimes!"
As the music built up, the synthesizer melody became more intense with it. Jake pulled out of his nose touch and raised the flaps and gear, banking off to the right to set up for his next trick.
The first songs ending was coming up, and as the volume increased, all seven pegasi changed course and started flying towards a single point. At first, it looked like they would hit, but as the last notes blasted the audience, they made a seven pointed cross with their smoke and all banked out to the valley for the second part of the show.
The crowd went wild at the first display of aerobatics. Pinkie Pie could barely be contained in her seat as she jumped and screamed the loudest out of anyone there, prompting some of the more "up-tight" residents of Canterlot to turn in bewilderment.
Without warning, a heavy rock song began to blast through the valley. It was a medium tempo backbeat with heavy electric guitar, setting up the mood for some more intense stunts.
In the cockpit, the music rang throughout. Jake, one hoof on the throttle, one on the yoke, looked over at Starfyre and smirked.
"This is where shit gets crazy."
Starfyre held his hoof in the air and spun it around in the "go ahead" gesture.
"Hit it, buddy."
Jake banked hard left, and rolled the plane over completely. The crowd went nuts as the six Wonderbolts formed a single file line on the upright belly of the aircraft and struck a surfing pose. The plane headed straight for the crowd, and just as it was about to get too close for comfort, the team jumped up and, in single file line, arced skywards while Jake pulled back and started diving since the controls were inverted. As he rumbled underneath the cliff, he left the audience on the edges of their hooves at the anticipation of a crash, however, the skilled pilot barely missed the cliff face and started leveling off heading back out towards the valley.
Starfyre had his head in his lap from the g-force, and was hysterically laughing at the thrill of the ride.
Up in the sky, Rainbow Dash hovered above the rest of the team as they formed a tight circle and started flying down. She quickly caught up and formed the center piece.
As they were coming down, they started leveling off slowly in the direction of Canterlot. Jake, on the other hand, was still coming up from his dive. The two groups headed straight for each other, and just as they were about to collide, Rainbow Dash and the top half of the circle split off from the bottom half just as the C-130 sailed right through the middle, the props missing Soarin's hooves by mere inches.
Fluttershy covered her eyes and shook her head in fear.
"I don't know if I can watch anymore!"
Mac looked over to Jade, who was head-banging to the music. He raised an eyebrow at the sight. Without stopping she yelled over the rock.
"It's called The Pegasus Freefall! My jam!"
Back in the sky, the song hit its final beat as the team rose into the clouds and out of sight. The plane was all that remained as it circled out in the distance. The mysterious female voice suddenly broke the silence.
"Day by day...hour by hour...minute by minute...second...by second......we live our lives under the strict law of time. Always moving forward, propelling us...advancing us through the continuum. What will happen when time stops? Our bustling world runs off of time. Without it, there wouldn't be any order, nothing to stem from. We'd be lost in a continuous monotony of confusion and emptiness. Thankfully, just as the sun rises everyday, time keeps on ticking. Out in the valley beyond, there's something else that's ticking, however, it won't keep ticking for long."
She gave a quiet, ominous laugh.
"I would cover my ears if I were you."
In the cockpit, Starfyre was bouncing up and down with excitement as he eyeballed the rocket detonator along with the countdown clock mounted to the dash board for timing purposes. Jake got into position, which was to the far right of the crowd, and looked over to give the go ahead.
"Just remember to save enough fuel for the end. Please?"
He simply nodded and, as the clock struck zero, clicked the button.
BOOM! The entire crowd whipped their heads to the north as the Sabres shot fire and white smoke out the back of the plane. Jake and Starfyre were pressed against their seats from the force. They quickly accelerated to over 450mph, which was in the danger zone for stress levels. However, Jake knew the plane could take the beating as he approached the city.
The two princesses watched in awe as the aircraft whipped across the sky and right by the city in a high-speed pass. The audience went nuts as the noise became deafening.
As he completed the pass, Starfyre shut the rockets down and they slowed. Jake banked out right and flew out in the distance to set up for the next trick. The voice came back on.
"That was exciting! Was it not?"
For the next hour, the crowd was entertained at the sight of flips, barrel rolls, and the plane performing all sorts of maneuvers. It was something that Jake was proud of. Something that he would never forget. Finally, he pulled out of his last roll and dove down to the bottom of the valley to set up for the next trick. The finale.
The Wonderbolts flew down from the clouds and hovered in a long line, Rainbow Dash in the very middle. The voice rang out over the crowd.
"The planet we live on is a strange place. It does not yield to the doings of pony-kind. We are it's guests, and must treat it as so. It doesn't try to erase us, it welcomes us. The sun and moon spin 'round in harmony, keeping our planet happy and full of life. Maybe that's why it's let us stay here for so long, because our great leaders have control over its most important asset. Is it possible that WE have power over our planet?........Well....look upon your world.....what do you see?"
The first chord of Eclipse blasted through the valley as Soarin, Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, Fleetfoot, and Rapidfire all shot up into the clouds to get set up. The two team members remaining stayed down below to entertain while the trick was being prepared. The song was in three four time, and sounded like a rock/waltz. Therefore, their tricks were long, arcing motions that went along with the timing of the music. The lyrics began as the crowd swayed and cheered.
All that you touch.
And all that you see.
All that you taste
All you feel
They flew towards each other and locked hooves as they passed, spinning around in circles and releasing going the opposite direction.
And all that you love
And all that you hate
All you distrust
All you save
Up above, the rest of the team reached their altitude. They were almost twenty thousand feet above Canterlot. They had been magically charmed to not freeze in the cold temperatures. Soarin came over the radio and spoke to everyone before the trick began.
And all that you give
And all that you deal
And all that you buy
Beg, borrow, or steal
Twenty-five thousand feet below, the C-130 was almost skimming the treetops it was so low. Soarin's voice was audible over the music as the two listened in.
"Ok Jake, you're in position, right?"
"Yeah I'm all good."
"Ok team...lets do this."
As the music picked up, the five above began to dive in a wide square. Soarin, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Rapidfire made up each corner, while Rainbow Dash was positioned right in the center. They were all distanced about a hundred yards from each other, as the end result would need plenty of room. Her head was spinning with thoughts of failure and disappointment, but she quickly shrugged it off and picked up speed.
And all you create
And all you destroy
And all that you do
All you say
Her eyes began to water as she neared her target speed. The other four followed right with her as five separate sonic cones began forming on each of their hooves.
All that you eat
And everyone you meet
And all that you slight
And everyone you fight
Jake pulled up and entered a vertical climb, aimed right for the rapidly descending Rainbow Dash. Starfyre held his breath waiting for the right time to hit the rockets again.
And all that is now
And all that is gone
The sonic cones became bigger as they appeared from the clouds, only having another eight thousand feet to work with. The crowd cheered as they approached near supersonic speeds.
And all that's to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
Starfyre hit the rockets and they blasted up even faster.
But the sun is eclipsed by the moooooooooooooon.
And as the last note was struck, it happened. All five pegasi at once broke the sound barrier, causing five separate sonic rings to form. The four on the outside were blue, while Rainbow Dash pulled off the Sonic Rainboom and made hers all colors of the spectrum. They all pulled up and hovered as Jake corkscrewed the plane upwards and thundered right through the center of the rainbow colored ring.
They bowed as the crowd went nuts. Jake leveled off and turned back to land at the airport. He'd meet up with the others later.
Twilight and her friends went wild and yelled out Dash's name over and over again.
The sonic rings dissipated just as the voice came on one last time.
"Never forget to look around once in awhile. You might miss something."