//------------------------------// // Part: 3 // Story: Fool's Paradise // by Chapter 13 //------------------------------// Fool's Paradise By: Rumble, Chapter: 13, Typoglyphic. “...and that should be it,” Rainbow finished to the bartender. The stallion smiled. He placed the glass he’d been scrubbing down on the counter and turned to grab some clean ones. Rainbow made the mistake of looking directly at the glass and winced. It shone like the sun. “Alright, no problem, just give me a sec.” The stallion began mixing the requested drinks. “Stanly! I need another hit!” Rainbow watched the bartender sigh and shake his head slightly. “Sorry, I need to deal with this,” the bartender apologized, placing the half-finished glasses on the bar than walking down to the other end of the bar. "Hey, uh..." Unbelievable. He just walked away. Rainbow looked over at the swaying, glazed over mare he was serving. She had to be pretty far into her cups already. "What the hay?" she called to the bartender. "I ordered first!" The bartender either ignored or didn’t hear her as he didn’t respond to Rainbow’s outburst. Rainbow studied the mare he was serving. Actually, that pony looked familiar. Opal coat striped gold and yellow mane… wait, she knew that pony. “Lightning?” Rainbow spoke, louder than she had planned. The mare grunted, her face turned down toward her empty glass. “Yeah, maybe.” Stanly slid a newly topped up glass in front of her, and she took a swig. “You?” “... Lightning,” Rainbow said again, this time, more firmly. Lightning groaned and turned toward her. She stared at Rainbow blankly for a moment before her eyes widened. “Huh. Well... buck.” Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Lightning Dust… now that was a pony she had not seen in a long time. Hay, it had been years. If she remembered correctly, they hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms. Part of her wondered if she should even talk to this mare. She had, after all, almost killed her friends. “Uh… long time no see?” Rainbow managed. Lightning turned back towards her glass. “You could say that…” Rainbow bit her lip. She could end the conversation there. It didn’t look like Lightning was too interested in talking to her. She could just walk away. This is what she wanted to do, but... curiosity got the best of her. “Uh… how have you been?” The opal mare snorted. “Absolute shit,” she replied in earnest, “but you wouldn’t care about that, would you?” Lightning removed her gaze from the glass and turned to face Rainbow. “You would rather stab your friends in the back and leave them to the wolves.” Rainbow’s face contorted in confusion. “Lightning, what are you talking--” “Oh, don’t play stupid with me!” She slammed her hoof into the bar, almost spilling her drink. “You know what I’m talking about! Unless you just didn’t care to remember the day your friend had their life ruined!” Wait, what? What was she talking about? To relieve her confusion, Rainbow inquired, “What do you mean you had your life ruin–” “Hey, Dash, what’s taking you so long with those drinks?” A new voice. Rainbow turned to see Spitfire standing beside her. “Oh, sorry, Spitfire. I was just talking to–” “You!” Rainbow turned once again, this time back to Lighting. The mare currently wobbled next to the bar, her eyes unfocused but still shown with anger. Lightning seethed. “You ruined my life!” “What are you talking about,” Spitfire asked. “Do I know you?” The opal mare’s eye twitched, anger clearly growing inside of her alcohol-clouded mind. “How can you not remember me?! I’m Lighting Dust!” She pointed to Rainbow. “I was her wing-pony before you expelled me!” Spitfire’s eyes shown with realization, then annoyance. “Oh, right, you. Listen, I know you’re upset, but it’s not my fault: you did it to yourself. If you would have looked past that thick skull of yours for two seconds–” “It’s not my fault!” “–and think about other ponies, this wouldn’t have happened.” Spitfire continued, unfazed. “You decided it was better to only think about yourself and almost get ponies killed. I’m sorry, but that is just not something that we tolerate in the Wonderbolts.” “What about disloyalty, huh? Do you tolerate that?!” Lightning turned to face Dash. “Like, I don’t know, sticking by your friends!” “Don’t bring Rainbow into this!” Spitfire warned. “It was your fault. It was all your fault. Don’t blame other ponies for the mistakes that you make.” “But it wasn’t my fault!” “It’s all your fault, Lightning! You made those decisions, not Rainbow. You chose the path you took, and it leads you right out of the academy.” Lighting looked like she was going to scream… but didn’t. Instead, her anger filled eyes began to soften as they filled with moisture. Before anyone could say anything, Lightning turned around and bolted out the door, stumbling slightly but still managing to exit. Rainbow stood there for a second, shocked, then stood up and bolted for the door as well. “Dash!” Rainbow paused before she could exit the door, turning to face the owner of the outburst. “Where the heck are you going?” Spitfire asked, clearly confused. The sky blue mare took a deep breath, then opened the door with a hoof. “She was right: it was my fault,” she said, then ran out. The door lead to the district right next to the Fillydelphian shoreline. Her head swiveled left and right, searching for a sign of the distressed mare. Not seeing anything, she immediately took to the skies to begin an aerial search. It yielded results almost instantly, and Rainbow dove down towards an opal dot in an alley not far from the tavern. She landed hard but proceeded to trot gently forward. The sound of a soft sob echoed off the closely adjacent walls. Rainbow continued onwards until she spotted the cause of her search. “Hey, Lightning, you okay?” Lightning sniffed from within her front hooves currently pressed up against her face. “Go away, Rainbow! Just leave me.” The sky-blue mare stood her ground. “No, Lightning, I’m not leaving you again.” “Why? After I almost killed your friends and--” “You didn’t mean it, Lighting. Sure, you were being careless, but I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” She paused. “I should have stuck by your side the first time. I know what you did was wrong, but you still didn’t deserve to be expelled.” Lightning went silent for a second. “Just go away, please.” Rainbow sighed. This wasn’t getting anywhere. “Can I at least help you get home? I doubt you’d be able to in your current condition.” “I’m fine, Rainbow. I don’t need your help.” Rainbow shook her head, then leaned down and nudged Lightning up. The mare fought back lightly, but ultimately gave up and let Rainbow assist her to her feet. Rainbow trotted next to the mare. “Here, drape your wing around me so you don’t trip, okay?” Lightning grumbled, refusing to make eye contact, but still complied. The duo began to trot out of the alley, Rainbow having to constantly correct her stumbling charge’s path as they continued onwards. *** The pair (mainly Lightning) stumbled forwards down the seaside corner of Fillydelphia. Not being able to fly, Lightning had to verbally guide Rainbow the long way towards her apartment (which became even longer as Lightning’s still clouded mind lead them down several wrong turns). After a pretty tiresome journey, and several flights of stairs, both mare’s stood in front of Lightning’s apartment. “Lightning, where do you keep the key?” “It’s in the potted plant,” the opal mare muttered back, having a hard time keeping her head up. Rainbow pushed aside the plant pot, retrieved the key, then unlocked the door. Before she could open it, however, her charge removed their wings from her and stumbled in first, closing the door behind her. Rainbow scrunched up her nose in annoyance. Rude, much. She turned to leave, but stopped when she heard a loud crash from within the apartment. Without thinking, she turned back around and opened the yet-to-be locked door. “Lightning, are you…” She stopped when spotted Lightning curled up on the floor, shoring softly. She shook her head, figuring the sound was just her friend collapsing on the ground. She turned to exit but stopped when she realized that her… once friend(?) was still on the ground. Rainbow helped the other pegasus up and onto the nearby couch. She smiled slightly at her handiwork. Her face soon scrunched up, however, when a realization popped into the forefront of her mind. She looked around and confirmed the thought: this place was a dump. It was dirty, small and only held furniture that had either come with the room or was just as old. Rainbow cringed at the thought of having to live somewhere so… horrible. Was this her fault? The thought passed briefly through the mare’s mind. But it lingered. Guilt began to build within the mare. She looked down at Lighting. The mare still slept. Rainbow had to make things right. Whether or not it was truly her fault, she still felt guilty. She felt shame for abandoning her friend, for not giving her the benefit of the doubt. The mare wracked her brain for a solution. A plan. Something! She had an idea. Rainbow trotted quietly around the room. She eventually stumbled upon what she needed: a pen and paper. She quickly wrote down a note onto the paper and left it on the coffee table in front of the sleeping mare. She hoped she would see it. With nothing else she could do but wait and pray, Rainbow turned around and exited the small apartment and locked it behind her.