Allright, before you read this chapter I wish to apologize. I got waaaaay off track in my updating, and I forgot about this one. The updates will be coming more regurarily now.... Though it is hard to write on an iPad...
Chapter 8: Team Spirit
The wind brushed through her mane and cut through her coat. The speed at which she flew made sounds fall to mere echoes and her eyes brim with tears. She sould never admit it, but some of the tears were from the sting of betrayal. Pain and confusion gripped at her heart, wrestling with each other for dominance. The normal feeling of euphoria that she achieved with flight was missing, as if it wasn't there anymore. She flapped her wings even harder, determined to gain back that small tingle of happiness that the rush of adrenaline brought to her. She felt nothing except the cold wind streaming over her body.
She flew to where she belonged, where she knew that she needed to be; with the Wonderbolts. If anypony could make her feel better, it would be her idols. She turned in midflight, banking hard to the right as she aimed herself at Cloudsdale. Any clouds that were in her way were decimated by her hooves punching through them. The water from the clouds slicked her mane down with wetness, and made the coldness of the wind even more cutting. She gritted her teeth and pushed herself to go even faster. The air began to thicken and solidify as she pushed against it. Punching through it with the familiar ear-splitting boom that was followed with a lack of sound, Rainbow Dash shot towards Cloudsdale and further away from that traitor Wind Cutter.
There wasn't that many pegasi out and about, as it was the dead of night. The few pegasi who were out dodged out of the way of the supersonic, rainbow-maned pegasus. They shouted at her as she shot past them, but their voices were lost on her ears. She didn't care what they had to say, she didn't care what anypony said anymore. She came up on the Wonderbolt's stadium, and she flew straight through the compressed-cloud doors. Shooting straight forward, she followed the main hallway that lead directly into the stadium. She shot over the bars that usually held back the spectators and she shot up into the air above the stadium. She flew onto the cloud where the announcer usually sat, her speed decreasing and thoughts returning to her. She sat on the cloud and felt her tears finally fall from her eyes. This time she did nothing to stop it, preferring to let them fall out instead of looking like a baby and wiping them away. A few trickled into her panting mouth. They had a bitter taste, just how she felt.
A hoof was lain on her shoulder, and she smacked it away, spinning to see who put it there. She berated herself as recognition shot across her mind. Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh I just hit a Wonderbolt, was the only thing that she could think as she stared at the sky-blue pegasus in front of her, who was rubbing his foot and gazing at her with concern in his eyes. "Ouch! That was a good smack!" He shook his hoof for emphasis. "You know, instead of wallowing in whatever it is you're wallowing in, you could do something more productive." Soarin grabbed her hoof with two of his own and dragged her over to the edge of the cloud. Without warning, he shoved her off of the edge and into the vast sky below. Instinct kicked in, and she flapped her wings to slow and cancel out her descent. She hovered there for a few moments, her mind still rolling in circles at what was happening. She felt a gust of wind pass by her accompanied with a brush of feathers. Soarin spun in midair to look at her, a wide grin on his face. "Why don't you forget the feelings and just fly? Live in the moment a bit." With that, Soarin was streaking towards the other end of the stadium. A smile grew on Rainbow's face as she watched him fly for a moment, and then flew after him.
000
She sat up in her bunk and nearly smacked her head into the railing above her. The dream had seemd all too real. She touched her trembling lips and tried to banish the embarrasing dream from her mind. She jumped up as a breeze whistled through the night and really did bang her head on the rails. That was a major downside to sleeping in bunkbeds, but it was one she lived with. After all, it was her who ordered the entire team to live together. She figured that living together would increase the bonds of family that should be between a team, which it did. She remembered the groans of the team as she said that they would all live in the same barracks. That had been one of the first tests to her leadership, and Soarin had helped her assert authority. She knew that they were the talk of the entire team, the childhood friends bunking together. Spitfire had tried multiple times to dissuade the rumors but she knew that they were still muttered behind their backs, not that it really mattered. Soarin is just a friend, that's all.
The entire bunkhouse was eerily quiet and moonlight streamed into the room via the windows. The other Wonderbolts were all tucked away in their respective bunks and breathing deeply with sleep. She sighed and leaned back into her own bed, snuggling into the still-warm blankets. With a sudden gasp, she leapt from the bed, falling to the floor in a tangle of covers. She struggled momentarily with the blankets that seemed to want to drag her back to sleep and then climbed up the ladder to peer into the bunk above her own. The blankets were messily made in the usual way that Soarin usually kept them, but with the addition of a sky-blue feather atop his pillow. She recognized the sign, and she made her way back down the ladder and walked over to the closet where all the wonderbolt suits were. She took hers off of the hanger and walked into the bathroom so she wouldn't wake anypony putting it on.
When she stepped out of the bathroom, she was the captain of the wonderbolts ready for a performance. She walked silently over to the window and opened it. She winced at the tiny squeak it made, and looked anxiously back at the room. Nopony stirred at the noise and she gave a small mental sigh of relief. Alighting herself on the window's ledge, she looked out into the night sky, enraptured by it's beauty. Shaking herself and spreading her wings, she leapt from the window and into the cold night air. She relished at the feel of the night air as she plummeted to the ground below. Pulling out of her dive, show flew back up to the window where she exited the house from and closed it silently. Placing her hooves on the wall and crouching, she jumped away from the building and corkscrewed gracefully to shoot higher into the sky.
When she reached higher air, she stopped her ascension and flapped her wings in place for a few moments as she observed the normaly-bustling city in its time of peace. She flew in a graceful arc to aim her body at the Wonderbolt arena and she shot off towards it, flapping her wings quickly to gain speed. She smiled to herself again at the feeling of the air running through her mane and around her entire body as if she was just a gust of wind that displaced the rest of the air, like a drop of water does to a puddle. She shot over the tall walls that surrounded the stadium and dropped into the stands below. She grinned evily as she looked around for Soarin, planning to frighten him. Shock shot through her as she watched two pegasi dance gracefully around each other in midair, their movements syncronized and perfect at every turn. She caught herself smiling a bit at the large smile that was plastered on Soarin's face, she had never seen him so happy to be flying, except when they went out and flew in a duet. A frown of jealousy began to form on her face as she prepared to fly up and scold Soarin for bringing some fanmare into their private arena.
She jumped into the air and streaked towards the pair, who had stopped dancing after Soarin saw her. He waved a hoof at her casually, as if he didn't know what she was planning. I can't beleive him. He would be the LAST pony I would have thought to bring a silly fanmare into-, the thought stopped short of completion as another wave of surprise shot through her. Rainbow Dash had been the other pegasus. She slowed her rapid approach and tried to morph it into something more casual. Her attempt didn't go unnoticed, as she saw the big smile that was on Soarin's face grow a little larger and change into something resembling a smirk.
"Hey Spitfi- uh... I mean, Good evening Captain!" Rainbow blushed at her stumble and saluted Spitfire. She groaned internally as she reached over to pull down Rainbow's hoof.
She shook her head at Rainbow Dash. "None of that formal stuff Rookie. We are a family, and it's gonna stay that way."
Rainbow Dash's smile grew a bit more at that, and Spitfire wanted to groan at the rainbow-maned mare's enthusiasm. "Allright! Heya Spitfire!" She held out a hoof and Spitfire bumped hers to it.
"Welcome to the team Dash. One thing though, where's your suit?"