Chapter 17:
Balancing Act
Later into the night, a layer of mist settles down on a rock valley. Trixie swiftly rose up from the mist and looked around as Starlight appeared behind her and they rushed off. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie appeared as they walked and Pinkie ran into a stump as she hits her hoof hard.
"Watch out, there's a stump!" Trixie said, swiftly appearing from the mist and rushing off again.
"Not anymore," Pinkie squeaks in pain. She wished the warning had come sooner.
Trixie and Starlight rushed back to Flash as Twilight was following behind him, with her gaze looking forward in anger.
"Twi, you're still not upset are you?" Flash asked, hoping to apologize to the mare. The last thing he had wanted to do was upset her.
"Trixie, please tell your brother I'm not in the mood for small talk," Twilight instructed Trixie who winced, her brother really messed up. He really needed to work on his social skills.
Trixie walked to Flash and said while she was walking backward, "She said she doesn't want to talk to you because you deeply offended her,".
"Come on, I didn't mean to-Ow!" Flash said as he banged his head against a rock and Twilight walked ahead of him, still looking forward.
"Look, Twi, maybe if we could just start over-Ow!" Flash tried again, only to end up stubbing his hoof against another rock.
"Tell your brother that I would much rather have some personal space right now!" Twilight strained through her gritted teeth to the two changeling sisters as she furrowed her brows. Starlight and Trixie gulped, Flash REALLY messed up this time.
"Twilight basically said that she doesn't want to start over with you…," Trixie said to him, transformed into a possum, and hanging upside down in front of Flash.
"...Because you made her uncomfortable by saying you wanted to have kids already!" Starlight added, appearing next to Trixie as the two shooked their heads at him and dropped down, transforming back into their normal appearances.
"It was just a slip of the tongue. You know?" Flash grumbled. He honestly didn't see why his sisters were sticking up for Twilight.
"Oh, well what do you want? A medal for bad relationship building?" Trixie asked sarcastically.
Trixie and Starlight walked off until suddenly they dropped down vanishing into the mist screaming. Flash rushed forward trying to help them as the ground suddenly shifted and tilted upward as Rainbow Dash held onto the ledge and Pinkie quickly leaped up and held onto Rainbow's legs. A piece of rock broke off underneath Flash's hooves as the rock tipped more as Twilight and Flash slipped trying to regain their footings. Below them, Trixie and Starlight were on a rocky ledge as they spun.
"Stop moving!" Rainbow Dash ordered.
Twilight and Flash stopped moving as the rocks stopped moving as well.
"Thank you," Rainbow Dash sighed in great relief.
Suddenly the rock underneath the one Twilight, Flash, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie are on broke into two pieces as they dropped onto another rock ledge, and Pinkie slipped as she fell and landed on the rock ledge as she quickly held onto it. The rocks spun around as the side of the rock Flash and Rainbow Dash were on cracked and started to come loose.
"Twilight! Flash! Lock Magics!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
Twilight and Flash turned to each other but they narrowed their eyes at each other.
"Hmph!" Twilight scoffed.
"NOW!" Rainbow Dash ordered.
Seeing that they have no choice, Twilight and Flash quickly linked each other's magic as Twilight stepped back pulling them up, and straightened up the rock piece.
"Trixie! Starlight! You two grab onto that ledge!" Rainbow Dash ordered.
Trixie and Starlight turn to the ledge as it is coming to them. But they looked down and saw a sheer drop below them as they laughed nervously.
"Funny, Rainbow Dash. Now, what's your real plan?" Starlight said as Trixie silently said her prayers.
"Just do it!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Bye, Starlight!" Trixie said, hugging Starlight.
"Bye, Trixie!" Starlight said, hugging Trixie back.
"Bye, Flash!" Trixie said, waving to Flash.
"Go now!" Rainbow Dash yelled, she was not going to die because of a bunch of cowards.
As they neared the ledge, Starlight leaned out grabbing the ledge as Trixie grabbed onto her tail. Seeing how he could now talk to Twilight directly Flash decided to apologize for his fumble earlier.
"Um, uh, Twilight. I'm sorry. If what I said before offended you," Flash apologized unsurely as Twilight looked at him in disbelief.
"What do you mean "if" it offended me?!" Twilight retorted as she stepped back a bit.
The rock ledge came loose as Starlight slipped and Trixie slipped but held onto Starlight's tail.
"'That' it offended her, Flash! "That" it offended her!" Starlight yelled at her brother.
"I mean That. That what I said offended you, Twilight," Flash corrected as he and Twilight are struggling to hold on. He pulled Twilight forward as she gave him a look saying, 'Go on'.
"You just overreacted, Twi. That's all," Flash assured with a quick shrug.
"WHAT?!" Twilight exclaimed in offense, losing her magic grip.
"Don't say it like that, Flash!" Trixie called, one wrong word and they'd all die. And things weren't looking too good.
"There are other creatures' lives at stake here!" Starlight called out.
"Oh, but wait a minute. Flash has got a point," Pinkie defended, acting casual despite hanging only by her hooves on a rock.
"Our brother's got nothing," Trixie argued as their rocks bypass each other.
"It was just a misunderstanding on Twilight's part!" Pinkie shot back.
"It was insensitive on Flash's!" Starlight yelled.
"Apologize to her, Flash!" Rainbow Dash yelled, gripping the rock tightly.
"What?! Why me?! She's the one who overreacted, Rainbow!" Flash argued.
"Just apologize to her!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"No," Flash said as Rainbow looked down and saw they were slipping.
"Do it!" Rainbow Dash growled. She didn't want to die because of some creature's stubbornness.
"Okay, I'm sorry, Flash!" Twilight yelled, giving out while shedding a tear.
"What?!" The Others exclaimed in unison as the rocks became still. They were surprised that Twilight was the one apologizing for the situation.
"Flash is right. I-I-I overreacted," Twilight admitted, "I just, I honestly did want to start a relationship with you Flash, but when you mentioned saving our species and foals I was afraid that I couldn't be half the mother Cadance was!" She said as tears dripped from her eyes.
"Wait, Twilight, Who's-," Flash tried to ask but Rainbow interrupted.
"Not another word or I'll come down there and push you over myself!" Rainbow Dash snapped, nearing the end of her rope.
Flash kept his eyes narrowed as he looked at Twilight. Seeing her saddened, teary eyes made him soften his face, as it just came to him that he wasn't the only one who lost his family. Whoever Cadance was, she must have been important to Twilight.
Meanwhile, Pinkie has pulled herself up and she was going for the ledge.
"I got it. I got it. I got it," Pinkie said, getting nearer to the ledge.
But then Pinkie slipped off and hits the ledge as she sat up, and the rocks started tipping upwards. Pinkie heard the rumble and said, "Uh-Oh,".
Pinkie Pie looked back and saw it herself.
Now the rocks started to tip over as Twilight and Flash are struggling to hold on.
"Twilight! Flash! Run! Run!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
Quickly, Twilight and Flash pulled each other up and they and Starlight and Trixie make a run for the ledge and made it. Rainbow Dash quickly got to the top of the loose tower and ran as it fell apart and then quickly made a leap for it as she spreads her wings and Twilight and Flash caught her with their magic.
"Guess, we finally did something right together, huh?" Flash said as he and Twilight smiled.
"Yeah," Twilight said.
"Don't mind me. A Rainbow-Maned Pegasus hanging off the edge of a cliff here," Rainbow Dash said with obvious worry in her voice as Twilight and Flash pulled her up onto the ledge.
Later, once every creature was safe, and a nice fire going, Pinkie Pie made some observations. It was while she was adding wood to the fire, reminding her of the first time fire was made, as she used a stick to place another stick in place over the fire. Then she saw Twilight and Flash walking by and shielding the fire just to be on the safe side and guarding it as the two Alicorns walked by.
Rainbow Dash was already asleep on a cloud when Pinkie came by dragging a large piece of bark and Rainbow Dash woke up and turned to her.
"Remember the good old days, Rainbow?" Pinkie asked.
"Which good old days, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, you know. Yesterday, last week. Remember when we first met and became best friends?" Pinkie asked as she wipes the bark with her tail and lightly hits Rainbow Dash's face with it.
"Eeyup, those were the good days, Pinkie. Changelings were Changelings and Alicorns were Alicorns. We should get some sleep," Rainbow Dash agreed with a tired yawn.
"Yeah, tomorrow's the day the Vulture Griffon said we're all gonna die," Pinkie said laying down on her bark bed as she then quickly dropped down asleep and snored.
Trixie and Starlight were already asleep as Flash scooped them up with his magic and hung them over a tree branch as the Changeling Sisters transformed into bats and cling the branch with their feet. Nearby, Twilight woke up and turn to see Flash as he gently closed his sisters' mouths to keep them from snoring.
As Twilight went back to sleep, Flash went over to her and gave her a gentle goodnight kiss before he went back to the tree and hung upside-down on the branch sleeping along with his sisters.
Soon everybody is asleep but high above them on a tree branch, a Vulture Griffon was watching them.
Author's Note: Looks like the Unusual Mane 6 has officially came to forgiveness in this chapter.
At first, Twilight was still upset with Flash about how he wanted to save their species but when you have them and their friends trying to balance on some unstable rocks, things take a crazy turn. While trying to keep the rocks balanced, Flash tries apologizing to Twilight for his fumble and said she was overreacting, which Twilight didn't take so well at first. Pinkie, Trixie, and Starlight argued about Flash's fumble being a misunderstanding or insensitive and Rainbow Dash ordered Flash to apologize to Twilight. That's when Twilight apologized and told them the reason why overreacted.
Afterward, the Unusual Mane 6 made it safely to the other side of the cliff...well...almost safely.
But most importantly, Twilight and Flash forgive each other and have decided to put things behind them.
And right now, after all of that night walking, our heroes and their new friends have decided to call it the night to get some rest so they can continue on their adventure tomorrow.