//------------------------------// // Can't Hang Without Cliffs // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Peanuts. Honey roasted peanuts. Rainbow Dash couldn't remember the last time she ate any of those. They were definitely tasty. Pegasi salesponies used to serve them out in the open atop a floating cloud vendor that orbited the lateral residential beds of Cloudsdale. The salty/sugary taste reminded Rainbow Dash of early days at Flight Camp. Hanging out by the bleachers and giggling the hours away with Gilda. In the afternoon, she'd spare a few of the peanuts and slip them secretly into Fluttershy's saddlebag when the dainty pegasus wasn't looking. She was always so thin and gangly; she always looked like she could use more food in her. Of course, Rainbow Dash wouldn't ever admit to that. Perhaps she could go shopping for some honey roasted peanuts. Her taste buds could use the nostalgia trip. Also—there was no telling how the Noble Jury would react. Belle and Kera would appreciate it for certain. Josho, no doubt. Pilate and Roarke—that was anypony's guess. Ebon would want to make some new recipe out of it and Eagle Eye would undoubtedly humor him over how good it tasted. Rainbow Dash wondered who would be able to help her procure some. She thought of Booster Spice—he knew the Alafreon countryside well enough. If nothing else, he might be able to procure some peanuts from the western fringes of Val Roa, presuming there weren't any naga or Cartel members encroaching upon the farmland. Now as for the honey... "... ... ..." Rainbow's brow furrowed. A lot of time had passed between Flight Camp and Alafreo. Months? Years? Something about clouds and continents. Explosions. A big violet dragon and a bloodied wing. "Rainbow Dash..." Rainbow didn't have time to go searching for honey roasted peanuts. She had to take down Chrysalis... or was it Revan... or was it Verlax— "Rainbow Dash!!!" Her eyelids fluttered open. The air was wind and turbulence. A screaming unicorn fell beside her in a lavender streak. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight Sparkle shrieked. "Pull up!"" Ground. Rainbow's ruby lightning bolt illuminated a shrinking spotlight across a patch of arid rock. Definitely ground. "Nuts!" Rainbow Dash shouted. She pivoted her wings, finally redirecting the dive of her limp body. SWOOOOOOOOOSH! She pulled up at the very last second. Her fuzzy belly burned from the frictious contact it made with the platateu below. But—within the next breath—she had flapped her wings and thrown herself high enough to avoid a cleft of rocks. Barely. "Ooomf!" She plowed through an erratic pocket of air, barreled sideways, and grinded to a dusty halt against the surface of the wasteland. As her body came to a stop, she felt wet all over. Her mind went into overdrive, and she rationalized that it was frost from her high-altitude climb melting across her fuzzy features. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." She groaned, allowing her battered muscles to lay limp. "...ho ho ho ho ho hohhhhhhhhhhh-boyoooooo..." She coughed, sputtered, and rolled over. "Whelp... so much for the Rainbow Space Program." Her head fell back... ...and an upside down lavender frown came into view. Rainbow waved a limp hoof. "Hiya, toots," her voice cracked. "Stay right where you are, Rainbow," Twilight Sparkle grumbled. Rainbow blinked. "... ... ...consider it done." "Rrrrngh!" Twilight dashed forward and began swinging her hooves violently. They phased through Rainbow's skull with constant lavender bursts of ghostly light. Rainbow squinted into the unicorn barrage. "What are you doing?" "Pretending to hit you!" Twilight snarled, not letting loose. "Ah. Cool." Rainbow wheezed. "Could you pretend to go get me a grilled cheese sandwich while you're at it?!" "Do you have a single serious bone in your body?!" "Totally!" Rainbow rasped. "It just so happens that my body is hungry!" "Rrrrgh... Rainbow..." "I'm not kidding. I came to dreaming of honey roasted peanuts." Twilight grunted and pretended to kick and buck Rainbow's spine. Rainbow sighed, eyes rolling. "Twilight, you're an egghead. Not an eggbeater, will you knock it off?!" "Well, will you stop doing stupid things and try to be serious about your well-being for once?!" Twilight yelped, nearly hyperventilating. "Okay... hold the sound stone." Rainbow sat up with a glaring frown. "I found you guys again, and I was super friggin' serious. Then the Quade happened." "Rainbow—" "So I tried to let loose a bit! Then Verlax happened!" She waved one hoof. "I get half of my ghost friends telling me I need to relax." She waved the other hoof. "I get the others telling me I gotta put on my war face..." "Being relaxed doesn't mean being stupid!" "Stupid's gotten me to a lot of places!" "That's not stupidity! That's luck!" "Easy for you to say!" Rainbow Dash hobbled up to her hooves and shouted in the middle of the darkness. "I could have stayed in Val Roa and thrown allllllll of this behind me! But no! I did the stupid thing! And I didn't get through to the other side of the Choke to embrace your nerdiness again just through sheer luck! There's a purpose to all of this! To me! I'm the Austraeoh! Sometimes... I-I just gotta push, Twilight! Things come together when they need to come together!" "Did Commander Hurricane think the same thing?!" Twilight frowned. "How far did she get?!" Rainbow blinked at her. Another eye roll, and she slumped down onto her haunches with an adolescent pouch. "Just what does everypony friggin' want from me, anyways?" "You've gotta find a middle ground, Rainbow!" Twilight said, her voice becoming slightly softer. She trotted around the mare and stared with eyes full of concern. "Every time you get too serious, you do something crazy. And every time you get too sure of yourself, you go full monster." "Jee, thanks." "Rainbow, what I'm trying to tell you is that you have to find a balance! Discover what works for you on the whole and not test the waters so wildly!" "Twilight, what balance is there to find?!" Rainbow gestured wildly. "I was on my own for over a year before I discovered you and the other girls could come back. And now I'm on the Dark Side, accompanied by a group a badasses whom I didn't even know about months ago. Don't you see?! It's always changing! I just..." She hugged herself, staring off across the star-lit plains. "...I just want to be ahead of the curve for once." She gulped. "I'm sick and tired of regretting everything in hindsight." "Well, you pick the dumbest ways to try and solve it." "Yeah." Rainbow exhaled. "I do." Twilight stared in silence. Rainbow sat, unmoving. "... ... ...you need a break," Twilight said. "Hmrfff..." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Celestia knows I can't afford one—" "You need a break," Twilight reinforced with a frown. "Take a few days to just rest and relax inside of Darkreach." "Ha!" "Do it!" Twilight frowned. "Relax. Stop stressing yourself over the fate of your journey or the fate of the Herald. Sit down and rest your mind and center yourself. Or—I swear to Luna—the girls and I are going to go on strike." Rainbow gave her a curious squint. "You can actually do that?" Twilight smiled devilishly. "It'll just be you, Discord, and the walls of Darkreach. Think you can manage on your own?" "... ... ...that's unbelievably evil and cruel. Even for you." "I can do stupid things too." "No you can't." Wincing, Rainbow Dash stumbled up to her aching hooves and turned about. "Won't give you the satisfaction." "Does that mean you'll take it easy for the next few days?" "No. It just means that I won't give you the satisfaction." "Rainbow..." "Ah. There." Rainbow Dash pointed. "Found the mesa." "That's not the mesa." "Then help me find the mesa." "Not until you promise never to do something stupid like that again." "Twilight—" "I mean it!" Rainbow groaned. "Twilight Sparkle, I—Rainbow Danger Dash—promise never to fly so high into the sky that I almost pierce the heavens and lose consciousness and fall to my death ever again." "Mrmmmmmm..." "Good enough?" "Will you say it again with the Herald present?" "Oh you've gotta be—" "Will you?!" "Yes! I'll say it with them present!" Rainbow's tail flicked. "I'll confess my sins and let Logan sit me in the corner." "Good. Now that's better." "So... where's the mesa?" "Uhm..." Twilight pointed nervously. "You're looking at it." Rainbow groaned and began flying limply in the structure's direction. "I think I'd much prefer you beating my face to a pulp." "Once we're back in Equestria, we can talk it over." "Yeah, if I make it that far." "That's the point."