Rainbow Dash stared at Ghastly Gorge proper. This wasn’t the same one she had taken her pets. No, this was one that nopony went through, not even her. The turns were sharper, the monsters deadlier, and even a slight breeze became a jetstream that was hard for regular pegasi to keep up with, and tested most Wonderbolts. Her wings stiffened against the strong breeze that blew this day.

“You can still back out, Rainbow. Twilight said she could be wrong and it would be a little less than awesome to prove her wrong.” Her wings took her slightly off the ground and away from the fog embraced gorge.

But what if you didn’t need an extra life?

She stopped in midair and tested the wind again. It was stiff, but more than manageable for someone as skilled as herself. She pursed her lips as she climbed through the clouds. It would be dangerous, but since when was she afraid of danger? You’re afraid of others finding out about your screw up though.

Once more she paused. The pause lasted a long time as she drifted upwards and in the end led to her arching backwards and closing her wings.

She quickly descended, and after two seconds of only using gravity, her wings came out and started to add to the force. The beginning of the gorge came quickly into view, and even quicker came the floor and the giant rock spiders that inhabited it. Their mandibles glistened with venom that could kill a pony in a matter of seconds.

Boom!

Rainbow smirked. The easy part was done. The hard part would be causing the second rainboom, and for that she would need the jetstream. The rainbow blur banked left and immediately had to squeeze between the ground and a sudden ledge. Spiders came up with her upbeat, and soon she hit the next curve.

She hugged the wall as her muscles started to protest. She knew this would come, but she still didn’t know if she was even close to the jetstream. Her wings stiffened for a moment and her heart almost stopped. A bit more force caused her wings to come back down. She was far too committed to stop now. She came about the next turn and found a large wall in front of her.

“You bitch!” She banked twice in rapid succession before shooting straight through a hole in the wall. In order to keep her speed, Rainbow spun herself to keep the currents push. This came with her feeling like she was going to throw up when she burst out of the hole. It also meant her sense of distance was off coming out.

Crack

“Augh!” Rainbow spun a bit as her wing spasmed in pain. That’s it, Rainbow, you need to get ou- “Ah!”

What she had not known was that the wall was what caused the jetstream. The breeze would disperse and focus in the holes and then come together just outside of it. Right where Rainbow was. The blue pegasus soon found herself becoming a pony pinball as she crashed against the rocks and walls. She was at the mercy of the storm, and soon found herself letting go.

Knock, knock.

Twilight came to the door and opened it. In front of her was Bulk Biceps. “Hello there, Bulk. What brings you here?”

He swallowed hard and opened his mouth. Within was a large amount of rainbow colored hair. Twilight took it and stared at it. “What? Did you bite Rainbow’s tail?”

Bulk swallowed hard and shook his head. “N-no. I-I found it by Ghastly Gorge, just outside of the really bad part. I looked around and asked around, but I couldn’t find Rainbow Dash. That is until…” He grew silent and hung his head down.

Twilight’s heart almost stopped. “Bulk, what are you saying? Where did you find her?”

He bit into his lip before sighing. “I flew over the gorge again. I saw something blue, but a lot of red was around it… and the rock it was against.”

Twilight paled. “No. Rainbow’s survived worse than just a crash.” Her mind quickly got to work, but she knew where Bulk would have been talking about. That jetstream had taken plenty of pegasus lives before. But Rainbow would have been more careful. She isn’t stupid, just headstrong. She knows it is almost certain death.

Unless… Twilight slammed the door in his face and a thud could be heard outside as Bulk got knocked out. Her breaths became very short as she backed away from the door. Thoughts of the Mirror Pool raced through her mind, and she knew what Rainbow had done.

I should have kept my mouth shut. I should have been more stern with Rainbow. I should have known better than to think Rainbow wouldn’t try it. Not when she was that excited. Books started to fling themselves at her and open. Each one got a quick scan, but as more and more of her library became depleted, her heart started to fall and tears blurred her vision. The Mirror Pool was merely a myth, so no book could confirm her theory.

It was only once she had gone through every book in her library that a new knock filled the air. It was slow, and not from the door. All she could do was pray that it wasn’t her friends. She didn’t know how she would take explaining it to them. She found the correct window and opened it.

There, hovering in front of her, was Rainbow Dash, completely uninjured.

The blue pegasus was dragged into the castle and a deep embrace as Twilight babbled. “I… I was so worried. Bulk had just told me about Ghastly Gorge and I had assumed the wor-Why are your hooves tied?”

Rainbow looked down and chuckled. “Well I didn’t want the clone getting away. Now if only I could undo these damn ropes. Some help please.”

Twilight simply stared at her for a few moments. “You mean the theory worked?”

“Yeah, egghead. Pretty awesome, right?”

“And you just let me think that I had caused you to kill yourself?”

“Oh, um, yeah, sorry, Twi. I swear I didn’t mean to.”

Twilight composed herself and stood straight. “Tell me, do you have any more clones?”

Rainbow tried rolling her eyes. “Of course I did; just in–”

The radiant blast of purple energy that soon followed could be seen in Canterlot.

Author's Notes:

No end link because I was the creator, but from here on out, the story is free game! I hope you all have fun.