"Wow. We’re really high up."

"Heheh, sure are Squirt. Gotta make sure he, heh, has an incentive not ta screw up-"

Scootaloo chuckled with the older mare, but went to look over the edge of the cloud. Her purple irises flared as she quickly scuttled back, bumping into a wall. Turning around, she watched as Rainbow Dash laughed.

"Scared of heights?"

Scootaloo blew a raspberry, on the verge of either a mental breakdown or an onslaught of sweat. Flailing a hoof, she remarked, "No, course not! Pssh, I can handle this crud. It’s just…" her voice trailed off as she tip-hoofed over to the edge again, before adding in a slightly lower tone, "...we’re really high up."

"Hey," Rainbow said, grabbing the filly with a hoof, "ya don’t have ta worry." She pointed a hoof to her chest, before bringing Scootaloo in closer, practically hugging her cyan body, “I’m here. If you fall, I’ll make sure to wait until you’re close to the ground. That way, it’ll be even awesomer and cooler when I catch you."

Scootaloo’s ears flattened against her head. "Is that how it works?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow said almost too excitedly, "it’d be like one o’ those action movies! Hey, if we’re lucky, I could even do a Sonic Rainboom on the way down!"

At this, Scootaloo’s ears perked up, eyes brightening as she smiled, "Yeah, that does sound cool!"

"You bet it is!" Rainbow said with glee. Raising a hoof, she said coolly, "Hoof-bump. Give it here, Squirt."

Scootaloo grinned from ear to ear. Awkwardly raising her hoof, she bumped the older Pegasus’ hoof, chuckling slightly as if she were an antisocial just getting into the in-crowd. The two grinned at each other, before Rainbow suddenly let out a huge breath, commenting, "Nothin’ like the smell of fresh air, huh Scoots?"

She only nodded in response.

Rainbow breathed through her nostrils, magenta peering every which way in a sweeping motion. "This is the life."

Scootaloo raised a brow. "I thought that being in the Wonderbolts was 'the life'."

Rainbow seemed troubled for half a second, but regained her composure and glanced at Scootaloo out of the corner of her eye. They remained this way, fixated on the filly, before they looked straight ahead and into the deep blue sky, and Rainbow suddenly sat on her haunches, threw her forelegs out, and said to everything in the world around her, “Nope. This… right here… right now?” She turned back. “This is the life. Being out here with my little sis on a hot summer day with nopony out here, sitting on a strato-cumulus in the sun, and able to enjoy whatever the heck I want, it’s great.” Walking over to Scootaloo, she brought her close, ruffling the filly’s mane with a hoof before adding finally, “just don’t tell anypony you heard that from me.”

Scootaloo gave a sly grin, “Or what?”

“Or I’ll have to kill you.”

The duo locked eyes for what seemed to be hours, before breaking down in laughter. Giggling next to one another, they found enjoyment for a good two seconds before a loud sound blew through the air. Suddenly getting up, Rainbow held Scootaloo behind her, wondering where Pinkie Pie was and why she was popping balloons next to them. More specifically, why she was popping fifty-foot tall balloons next to them.

Rainbow cautiously stepped forward, ushering Scootaloo behind her as she peeked over the edge of the cloud, scanning the stratus clouds below for the noise’s perpetrator. It took her four seconds before the next sound passed through her ears, startling the orange filly behind her. Giving a worried glance behind her, she turned her head and intended to watch for where the next would come from. Turning her head slightly, she said, “Scootaloo, cover your ears.”

Scootaloo did so. Rainbow returned to her position, scanning the clouds for any sign of the annoyance. She waited.

It came again.

A large flare seemed to appear from the end of a cloud, disappearing almost instantly with the sound. A large flock of birds flew circles not too far away. Waving a hoof behind her, Rainbow stepped back, flared her wings, and jumped, diving toward the source of the noise. She only flapped her wings as she reached twenty feet from the cloud, hovering in midair and finally landing. She about jumped yet again, the now evident balloon popping directly in front of her, almost deafening her immediately. Left with a ringing in her ears, she stomped over to the opposite end of the mist, becoming aware of a large lump of cloud sitting atop the usual formation. Raising a brow, she leaned over, and saw a large golden pole sticking out of the lump, a rectangle sticking out with holes lining its side.

Looking past the pole, she found the flock of geese completely oblivious to what was happening. Glaring at the lump, she turned to her side, coiled her right hind leg, and gave it a kick.

“Fucking shit!”

The lump dissipated, disappearing into the blue air, leaving behind a seething, flank-clenching blue stallion, who rolled on the floor next to his sniper rifle, teeth grit.

“What the fuck are you doing here Delirious...”

“You fuckin’ bitch! My fuckin’ ass hurts!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes, walking toward the weapon on the ground. Picking it up, she examined its golden exterior, ignoring the pained cries of the Pegasus on the ground behind her. Seeing the lever on the side, she pulled it, watching in a confused wonder as the spent casing flew out of the center of the gun, flying past her and falling through the cloud and toward the dirt, a little less than six-thousand feet below.

She looked back at Delirious with an unimpressed look, pushing the lever back into its prior position. “Get back up to that strato-cumulus! We’ve got shit to do!”

Delirious recovered, turning over to look at Rainbow. “What the fuck is a strato- hey!”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide.

“Put that shit down!”

Rainbow stuck out her tongue, holding it away from him with two hooves, like a child selfishly trying to protect their toys. “No.”

“You wanna fuckin’ shoot yourself?”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed, “Are you implying I don’t know how to use one of these, jackass?”

Delirious got up, brushing cloud off his shoulder before looking up again, “Oh, and just where the fuck did you, I dunno, buy a fucking gun in this fucking place?”

Rainbow’s expression faltered slightly, but quickly reformed, “I… uh… I play video games. I know how a sniper rifle works-”

“First off,” Delirious began, trotting toward Rainbow. As she still held it, Delirious gave her a raised brow, stepped in front of her, and raised a hoof to the bolt-action. Rainbow gave him him a blank look, before frowning at nothing in particular as Delirious pushed the bolt downward and into its holding place.

Rainbow looked at him.

“Fuck you-”

“Rainbow Dash!”

The two looked up, spying an orange Pegasus peering over her strato-cumulus, almost nothing but a mere dot in the distance.

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof, shouting, “Hey Squirt!”

The wind passed the older duo. A cricket chirped from almost six thousand feet below them. Delirious coughed.

“Hi Rainbow Dash!”

“You doin’ okay?!”

…

…

“Yeah!”

“Okay, fuck this,” Rainbow said, turning to Delirious, “here’s your stupid gun. Next time you fuck around,” she threw the sniper into his chest, “I’ll make sure the clouds are extra rainy above you.”

“Huhhuhhaha, hope you wouldn’t mind a few extra,” he moved the rifle slightly, “holes in your wings-”

“You wouldn’t fucking dare.”

Delirious gave a smile underneath his mask.

Rainbow gave him a suspicious look.

“You’re alright.”

“I know it.”

He holstered his sniper rifle, the weapon disappearing into his crotch. Rainbow gave him a disgusted look, mouth open as she stared at him blankly.

“That’s gross, dude.”

“Whatever.”

Rainbow flapped her wings, hovering in midair. Turning to fly upward, she glanced back at Delirious, saying, “You uh… might wanna come back up with me. School’s still in session, Delirous."

"Alright. Just, uh, gimme a fuckin' second."

Rainbow nodded her head, and finally said, "Okay," and flew back to Scootaloo.

Delirious watched as she left, flying up into the sky away from him. Taking a minute to brush more clouds off his shoulders, he made a mental note to get a water bottle from Applejack later for a suppressor. Flaring his primaries, he coiled his legs and crouched low, taking off swiftly to get back to his flying lesson. Looking back as he ascended, he began to have an idea for his trusty sniper rifle.

Author's Notes:

A bit of a parting gift to you guys. More of you read this instead of my blogs, so I'll repeat it here. I hit a bump again, and Outta My Mind is On Hiatus until further notice. A shoddily made 1,500 words, but I had to put it out before I left. I hope my situation didn't affect this chapter. I'm sorry if it did. Thank you for being here.

I'll be back soon.