//------------------------------// // It's Certainly Not Easy // Story: Odrsjot // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “Hammock hammock hammock hammock…” Rainbow Dash limped through the top floor of the Noble Jury. She climbed her way through the kitchen and trotted swiftly down the mess hall and lounge. “...hammock hammock hammock hammock…” “Rainbow Dash!” Bellesmith squeaked. Wincing belatedly from her own bruises, the mare picked up speed, breaking into a swift canter in hopes of catching up with the pegasus. “Rainbow, wait up!” Rainbow passed the infirmary. “Hammock hammock hammock hammock--hey Roarke--hammock hammock hammock.” A disgruntled voice groaned from the room as the pony zoomed by. “Rainbow! Please! Just for one s-second!” Belle stammered. “Hammock hammock hammock…” Rainbow galloped past the bunk rooms, slid down the crawlspace at the bow, and practically threw herself into the observation room. “Hammockhammockhammockhammock!” With a lunge, she fwoomped onto one of the hanging nets and cooed into the fibrous webs. “Hmmmmmmmmmyeahhhhhh…” Her legs and tail hung limp on the edges of the suspended bed. Stumbling, Belle climbed down the crawlspace and stood on the even floor. She slowly drifted into the observation room, squinting against the sunlight glinting in through the skeletal frame of the bubble window. “Hrmmmmmphhhhnnnghhh…” Rainbow Dash curled up in the hammock where she hung on the compartment’s port side. Her eyes fluttered, tensed, then opened. She gazed thinly at Belle, and ultimately smiled. “Hey, Ding Dong.” Belle smiled softly, leaning against a bulkhead. “Hey yourself.” Rainbow’s ears twitched. “Y’know, I had a dream that… like… there was this huge battle, and all my new friends were there, and I totally did the sonic rainboom in a chaos dragon’s face.” Belle stifled a chuckle, slowly nodding. “How ironic. I remember a pony very close to me doing the exact same thing.” Rainbow’s nostrils flared. She stirred on the hammock and stretched a limp hoof out. “Come closer, girl…” With a shuffle of her hooves, Belle obeyed. She trotted closer until Rainbow’s fetlock grazed her cheek. The mare winced slightly, but simply turned her head, allowing the pegasus to study her still-red welts. Rainbow’s jaw had tightened. After a deep breath, she grumbled, “Did you see what happened to him?” Belle slowly shook her head. “I’m… pretty sure he was on board the Steel Wing.” She gulped. “When… when it went down.” Rainbow nodded. “Good.” She retracted her hoof and curled up again. “Because Celestia help him if he was still alive…” “He’s… uhm… he’s survived worse, Rainbow Dash.” “So maybe he has.” Rainbow sighed into her forelimbs. “And so have I.” Belle said nothing. “Call it morbid, but--in his case--I’m happy to imagine the worse.” “We have the book again, and it looks like it’s still powered by the flame Nightshade first found,” Belle said. “I’m… I-I’m pretty sure Props can hook it back up to Floydien’s engine and get us our skystone propulsion again.” “Nnnngh…” Rainbow groaned into the swinging hammock. “Whoopty-flank.” “What I’m saying, Rainbow, is that soon all of us will fly as fast as you!” Belle’s eyes lit up. “Khao obviously switched gears. I doubt the Heraldites would be chasing us anymore. And if any Ledomaritans were stupid enough to try to pursue us past Xonan lines--” “You th-think that friggin’ matters anymore?” Rainbow Dash muttered. “Now we’ve got… like… pony bugs in sheep’s clothing.” She gulped. “You heard Eagle Eye, they were all heading east…” She gritted her teeth. “Along with her.” Belle’s brow furrowed. She fidgeted nervously and struggled to come up with something to say. “You’re all my friends,” Rainbow slurred. “None of you deserve this…” Belle glanced up, eyes quivering. “Rainbow…” “Just thinking about how he roughed you up.” Rainbow hissed through clenched teeth. “It boils my blood. And then all the crap Kera went through…” She gulped. “And Roarke,” she squeaked. “We’re all in this as a team, Rainbow,” Belle said. “And look at what we’ve accomplished as a team!” “You mean Simon croaking?” Rainbow snarled. “And Roarke almost biting the same bullet?” “You saved Kera!” Belle leaned forward. “You stopped Nevlamas and--for all we know--also halted the war!” “You mean Axan stopped Nevlamas,” Rainbow muttered. Belle gasped, jaw dropping. “You mean… She’s b-back?” She rested a hoof on the hammock’s edge. “The dragon from Silvadel?!” “Only she doesn’t give a flying feather about Silvadel anymore. I don’t think she has in a long time.” Rainbow took a deep, deep breath. “She’s following me, Belle.” “Following… you…?” “And why she never thought of intervening on our behalf before is beyond me.” Rainbow spat. “It’s all this stupid Austraeoh business! I never asked for it, y’know! I never asked for… f-for…” Belle watched, lips pursed. Rainbow stifled a whimper. “Lasairfion knew… or that creature who was Lasairfion knew. I dunno how… but she friggin’ knew!” “Knew what, Rainbow Dash?” “About… about Applejack,” Rainbow stammered. She opened her eyes and a tear rolled down her blue cheek. “How c-could she possibly know? How could anypony know?” She covered her face with two criss-crossing hooves. “I keep flying and flying and I-I just c-can’t friggin’ outrun it…” Belle smiled painfully. “Oh, Rainbow Dash…” “I sh-should have been d-dead months ago…” Rainbow Dash cried, her voice a dull and deflated thing as she shook and quivered in the hammock. “Why do I gotta keep carrying everything? Why c-can’t I just… just stop, already?” Belle leaned in and scooped Rainbow’s upper body in a dear hug, nuzzling the mare’s quivering face. “It’s not easy being awesome.” She sniffled as her lips curved. “But we all love you for it.” Rainbow surrendered into her embrace, hiccuping with tiny, squeaky sobs. Belle stroked her mane, weathering every jolt and shiver. She heard a scuffle of hoofsteps from behind, and she turned to look. Pilate stood, leaning against the doorframe. His ears twitched, taking in the sounds of Rainbow’s quiet sobs. Belle stared at him, then smiled gently as her eyes turned misty. She leaned her cheek against Rainbow’s forehead and quietly shut her eyes.