//------------------------------// // Taking Off // Story: Leap of Faith // by Lights //------------------------------// The peaceful, azure sky of Equestria was interrupted as two pegasi, fully clad in blue, zoomed over the green landscape. Both ponies wore full bodysuits. As they flew, they left two trails in their roaring wake, one of smoke and thunder, the other a bright and vivid rainbow. Eventually, both mares landed, brushing their wild manes down. "That was all me," Spitfire said, an air of competition in her voice. Her opponent scoffed harshly, rolling her eyes. "Puh-lease, I won that by a long shot, and you know it," Rainbow Dash replied. "Looks like the captain's losing her steam." Spitfire considered this comeback for a moment, then abruptly tackled the cyan pegasus, pulling both herself and her opponent to the ground. Soon, both ponies lay on the ground, panting. They slowly got up, giggling. Brushing the grass off of her suit, Spitfire turned to Rainbow Dash. "Let's go, we've got a show to put on, and quite frankly, we can't do that if we're not there in the first place." "Too bad I'm going to be there first." Rainbow Dash said, ruffling her wings. "Over my dead body, rookie." In mere seconds, both pegasi were rapidly shrinking dots on the horizon. As Rainbow Dash performed, she couldn't help but notice her friends in the stands. They hadn't told her they were coming, and their presence had nearly thrown off her concentration. Luckily for her, the stunts she had to pull off were practiced so many times that they were like second nature to her. For her first performance, she couldn't help but feel good about her performance so far. She found her mind drifting off. She had made up her mind about a month ago. After hearing, no, experiencing Spitfire's story, Rainbow Dash had lost herself to thought. Twilight had been the one to convince her to pursue her dreams. When Twilight returned from escorting Soarin to Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash had told her what happened, and asked her what she thought of the situation. She couldn't remember much of what happened that night, but she remembered that Twilight, for the first time ever, had truly raised her voice in anger at Rainbow Dash. Being a mare of logic, Twilight eventually won the argument, and convinced Rainbow Dash to become a Wonderbolt. "If you're so worried about your friends, how do you think they'll feel when they find out that they're the reason you gave up on your dreams?" When Twilight said that, it had settled everything for Rainbow Dash. She flew to Fillydelphia and met with Spitfire, where she was formally inducted into the Wonderbolts. After that, everything was a blur of drills and practices. It was terrible, and the aches and pains coursing through her body were proof of this, but she enjoyed it. Of course, she had risen above all expectations, so Spitfire, to Rainbow Dash's delight, had let her take four days a week off, compared to the normal two. She had spent all the time she could find with her friends, and to her relief, her original fears of abandoning them had been dismissed. She still was as close to her friends as she ever was, maybe even more than she had been prior to her becoming a Wonderbolt. She felt a nudge, and found herself looking at Spitfire. The orange-maned pegasus nodded upwards. She knew what that meant without needing any further explanation. Sonic Rainboom. With a beat of her wings, Rainbow Dash was shooting upwards. Reaching a high point in the sky, a point where her lungs nearly gave out due to the altitude, she stopped flapping her wings and began to slip into free fall. This is as close as I'll ever get to Glider. She thought, looking up at the dark blue zenith. Letting gravity do the work, she felt herself being pulled back to the stadium. She felt herself going faster and faster, as she adjusted her body as well as the tilt of her wings and began to accelerate rapidly, the angle of her wings causing her to corkscrew. It was unnecessary, but Spitfire had suggested it for appeal. A blur of orange and blue told her that Spitfire was to her left, following her descent. "I'd like to thank everyone who made this possible," Rainbow Dash shouted over the deafening roar of the wind. She didn't know why she said it, but it felt right. "Without you guys, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near where I am today," Spitfire shouted back, continuing Rainbow Dash's mock speech. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire began to alternate between names worthy of their mention. "Twilight and Applejack-" "Mom and Dad-" "Fluttershy and Rarity-" "Soarin and Aerial Ace-" "Pinkie Pie-" "Glider-" The two pegasi hit dead silence, the calm before the storm, a split second before the Sonic Rainboom shattered the sound barrier. It was as if Equestria itself held it's breath, if only for a moment, in anticipation. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire turned to look at each other, and in perfect unison said: "You guys complete me." Boom. Thank you so much for reading. If you find any errors, or think something should be changed, let me know, I'll do my best to help. I hope you had a great time reading this. If you like my work, don't hesitate to track me, I'll be writing a lot more in the future. Thanks. -Lights I'd like to thank everyone over at #EquestrianStudy (fanfic chatroom of EqD) who had acted as prereaders and helped this story get to where it is today. Seriously, I can't thank you guys enough. Also, a huge thanks to my friend Vivian, who did the cover artwork with pencil and paper, a very tedious way to draw artwork as apposed to computerized tablets and the likes.