Fool's Paradise

by Chapter 13

Part: 5

Fool's Paradise
By: Rumble, Chapter: 13, Typoglyphic.

Rainbow Dash flew back to the hotel from Lightning’s apartment, her mind racing as she tried to pull her head around everything that had just happened. The night air was cool and crisp. The smell of salt lingered in the air.

How had she not known that Lightning had been expelled? On top of that: what had she thought happened to the mare? After the incident, Rainbow had not seen hide nor hair of the opal pegasus. She guessed that now she knew why. Why hadn’t she asked questions?

The rainbow haired mare shook her head as she readjusted her course towards her target, having strayed off with her mental tirade.

She felt bad for the mare. Really bad. It was her fault all this had happened to her. If she had spoken up, or at least cared to check up on her friend, none of this would have happened… right?

Right?

Again, Rainbow shook her head as she dived down and landed on one of the nearly empty streets right in front of the hotel Spitfire had booked for the ‘Bolts.

She strode inside with purpose to the front desk, a tired blue unicorn mare barely awake sitting behind it, head resting on one of her hooves. She soon noticed Rainbow’s approach and snapped herself awake.

“Oh! Mrs. Dash, right?” the mare announced, a bright smile on her face.

Rainbow gave the mare a cocky grin, striking a pose. “The one and only!” she announced.

The mare chuckled, then lit up her horn and levitated over a key from behind the desk. “Here is your key, Miss. You’ll find your room and the rest of the Wonderbolts located on the top floor. Don’t be afraid to voice if there is anything we can do to make your stay more enjoyable.”

Rainbow took the key with her wing, tucking it underneath. “Thanks,” she replied, then headed over to the nearby elevator… only to pause and turn back. “Actually, I have a quick question.”

The mare nodded. “Yes?”

Rainbow bit her lip, mulling over her question. “Could you… which room is Spitfire’s?”

---

Rainbow Dash shifted her weight from hoof to hoof, nervously looking at the door in front of her as if it would jump out at her at any second. For the past ten minutes or so, this had been her routine. She was trying to psych her up for what she was about to do, or even just get the courage to knock. It was just a door… why was this do hard?!

She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Okay,” the Rainbow whispered to herself, “just go in there and say what needs to be said. That’s it.”

She took another deep breath, closed her eyes, and lifted her hoof and knocked a few times on the door. A minute passed without any form of response. Had Spitfire not heard it? Should she knock again? Louder? Call out her name? No, that might wake the rest of the—

Rainbow paused her mental tirade when she heard shuffling from somewhere behind the door. The mare suddenly stiffened, standing as straight as she could. Her heart pounded. Soon, the shuffling stopped just behind the door, followed by a loud yawn, and, finally, the door opened, the room’s occupant standing behind it.

Spitfire stood in front of Dash, her eyes half-lidded. The mare was currently dressed in fluffy PJ’s that reflected her official captain uniform, with generic slippers on her hooves. She let out another yawn, wiped her eyes with a hoof, then leaned against the door for support.

“Oh, it’s you,” Spitfire muttered, then stifled a yawn with her hoof. She shook her head a little, then turned around and headed back into the room with a wave of her hoof. “Come on in, Dash.”

Rainbow looked at her sleepy captain oddly, then shook her head and trotted into the hotel room, closing the door behind her with her hind hoof, only to wince as it shut louder then she had expected. The mare looked up to her captain—who was currently shuffling into the small kitchen—and let out a sigh when it appeared that her sleepy teammate didn’t seem to notice. The pegasus then briefly glanced around the room, taking it in. It looked pretty standard, what she had come to expect from her experience thus far on the tour: a single ‘living area’ with a couch and TV, a small kitchen behind that, and a slightly open door that she believed to lead to bedroom.

The mare shaped back to reality when she noticed Spitfire shuffling over to her with a steaming cup in hoof. “Take a seat, Dash,” Spitfire mumbled as she crawled onto the couch, setting down the cup of what Dash now smelled to be coffee, onto the small coffee table in front of her.

Rainbow nodded, then took a seat in one of the armchairs that sat next to the couch.

About a minute passed in silence; Spitfire trying not to fall back asleep, and Rainbow shifting awkwardly in her chair.

“So, what’s on your mind?” Spitfire finally spoke, breaking the silence. “I mean, I hope you didn’t wake me up in the middle of the night to just sit around.”

Rainbow’s eyes went wide. “Oh, no! No! T-that’s not it!” she sputtered, now afraid she had offended her boss.

To Rainbow’s surprise, the mare let out a soft chuckle. “I’m kidding, Kid. Relax,” she began, then took a sip of her coffee. “But, seriously, you look like you have something to say.”

“Y-yeah, I do.” She took a deep breath, keeping her head down. Come on, you can do it. “I just wanted to say that… well, after I left you guys at the bar, I ended up finding Lightning Dust and walking her home.”

“And?”

“And she said some things that made me think.”

“What kind of things?”

“Well, um… she told me that, after you kicked her out, things kinda went downhill for her.”

“And?” Spitfire asked, her voice now more awake. Rainbow looked up to see Spitfire looking at her, seemingly oblivious to what she was saying.

Rainbow scoffed, her nervousness now gone, replaced by disbelief. “And isn’t it kinda our fault she’s like this?”

Spitfire rolled her eyes, much to Dash’s annoyance, then took a large sip of her coffee. “No, it isn’t. I kicked her out because she was a danger and liability to the academy—what happened after that is completely on her.” She shook her head. “Seriously, Dash, I can’t control what ponies do after they leave my academy, especially after being kicked out.”

Rainbow was speechless. How could she see the problem? She shook her head. “I… how can this not bother you?”

The Wonderbolt captain shrugged. “Honestly, Dash, why should it? Lightning broke the rules and put ponies in danger—I had every right to throw her out.” She shrugged once again, then gave Rainbow a strange look. “Is this really why you woke me up? To talk about Dust?” She shook her head. “Don’t bother yourself with this issue. What’s done is done.”

Rainbow sat there with her mouth hung agape. “I… you…” she began, then shook her and replaced her shocked expression with an angered one. “Spitfire, I did the exact same things as her! I helped cause all that mess! Why didn’t I get punished like she did?”

“Because you showed me that you knew what you did was wrong, and actively showed both remorse and tried to fix it, while Dust didn’t.” Spitfire shook her head once more. “She was a bad influence on you, Dash. If I didn’t know about you before-hoof, I definitely would have kicked you out as well.”

Bad influence… she thought. Yes, Lightning had been a bit too... intense, but only because she wanted to be the best, something that Rainbow could relate too… and hadn’t Spitfire praised her for this behavior? The sky-blue mare’s eyes suddenly went wide, then she scowled. It all made sense, now.

“Spitfire,” Rainbow began, rising from her chair, which Spitfire rose an eyebrow too. “I know you are my captain, but this needs to be said: you screwed up.”

Spitfire's eyes narrowed into a cold glare. "Excuse me?"

Rainbow gulped, but she pressed on. “Y-you heard me: you messed up,” she repeated, them steeled herself. She was not going to back down. “You knew that Lightning was intense, and you encouraged it, but when she eventually went too far doing what you praised her for.” She scowled deeper and she pointed an accusatory hoof at her superior. “It’s your fault everything went to shit, and you threw Lightning under the bus!”

Spitfire’s left eye twitched, but she remained calm. She took a calming breath, obviously holding something back. “Dash, did you really wake me up in the middle of the night to yell at me? Look, I’m tired, you’re tired, so just go to bed before you say something you’ll regret. We’ll talk about this in the morning.” The mare stood up from the couch and turned towards her bedroom.

Rainbow blinked. Did Spitfire really think that she could just walk away from this? No, this needed to be said. Now! With a quick burst of speed, Rainbow flew passed her captain and into the bedroom doorway, using her wings to block the entrance. “No, Spitfire, we are talking about this now.”

“Careful, Dash,” Spitfire growled, “remember who you’re talking to.”

“I know,” Rainbow breathed, “that’s why this has to be said. You’re a great captain, Spitfire, but what you did to Lightning…”

“Was, and is, standard protocol. I don’t make the rules, Dash, I only enforce them.”

“Screw the rules!” Rainbow shot back. “What about what is right? Fairness? If you were such a stickler for the rules, then why didn’t you kick me out too? Huh?!”

Spitfire rubbed her eyes with a hoof and suppressed a yawn. “You’re more responsible than you give yourself credit for. Lightning Dust was, and apparently still is, a bad influence on you.” She turned around. “Go. To. Sleep.”

With a quick flap of her wings, Rainbow was once again in Spitfire’s face. “How are you so blind!” she shouted. “And how can you just expect me to fall asleep after this? Honestly! Your mistake ruined her life!”

Spitfire sighed. “Rainbow, stand down. I’m tired and not in the mood for this. What’s done is done. Lightning Dust is a grown mare. Even if this was my fault, which it isn’t, I am not to blame for what happened next. I lost control of her life the moment she left The Academy.” Spitfire pushed past Rainbow, making her way to the door. “Now, I think it’s time for you to get some sleep,” she finished as she opened the door.

To spitfire’s surprise, she didn’t hear a response, nor see the mare trot passed her. With a roll of her eyes, she turned back. “Seriously, Dash, you really gonna pull something like—”

“How can you be that blind…?” Rainbow muttered softly, a hurt expression on her face as she stood resolute in place at the other end of room.

Spitfire blinked. “What?” she replied, oblivious to Rainbow’s meaning.

“How can you not see past yourself and see that you ruined someone's life?” the mare elaborated, shaking her head softly.

“Dash, you’re tired, just go to—”

“How can you just stand there and just brush her off? She wasn’t just some name on a paper that you could just throw away.” Rainbow shook her head. “She is a pony, Spitfire! She had dreams, dreams that you crushed because of your pride. You don’t understand what happened to her! She was crushed! I dragged her drunk ass home and I got to see what became of her: a drunken mess!”

“The Wonderbolts Academy admits hundreds of recruits every year. A name on a paper is exactly what she was. I don’t know how many dreams I’ve crushed, and I don’t want to know.”

“And you’re happy about that?!”

“No, of course not, but not just anypony can become a Wonderbolt. I have to fail most of our recruits. That’s just the way it is.”

“Lightning Dust wasn’t a failure! She wasn’t a pony who couldn’t handle it, or didn’t have what it took, or any other excuse you can think up! She was a pony who you guided down the wrong path, then tossed away when she hit the wall at the end. She failed because you failed her.”

Spitfire’s mouth hung open, occasionally twitching as she seemed to search for a reply. Eventually, she closed it, anger spreading across her features. She slammed the door closed behind her and marched over to Rainbow, poking a hoof into her chest. “How dare you accuse me of neglecting any of my recruits! I give each and every one of them my all; it is only up to them if they should pass or fail!”

Rainbow didn’t flinch. “Is that really how you treat every recruit? No warnings, no second chance. One mistake and boom, you’re out? You were encouraging us to take risks, to push further and further. How did you not see her stunt with the tornado coming? It was only a matter of time!”

“She should have know!” Spitfire’s face twitched. “I can’t babysit over everypony and hold their hooves. I have to give them their freedom, space, and room to grow!” The mare fell back on her flank and growled into her hooves. “You know what? That’s it!” she screamed. “Rainbow Dash, I am hereby suspending you from the performance tomorrow! If I see you take one step into that stadium tomorrow, you might as well just go pack your things. Understand?!”

Rainbow glared daggers at her Captain. With a huff, she pushed passed Spitfire and threw open the door. She briefly turned around and shot one last angry glance at the yellow mare. “I thought you were better than that,” she muttered, then slammed the door behind her.

Spitfire could hear as Rainbow angrily trudged down the hallway, then open her room and slam the door. After that, the world was once again was engulfed in silence, leaving the mare alone to her thoughts. A brief frown befell her face, but it was soon replaced with a scowl. She angrily shuffled back towards her bedroom, even though she knew she wasn’t going to get any sleep that night.

Comments

[AngelDCS]

️️️️Rainbow is saying the truth to be honest

[Chapter 13]

7536065 This is how I believe the episode went. To be honest, this entire story was born from my want to explain my view on it. And a central message that will become more apparent in the next chapter, which is about half finished.

~ Chapter: 13

[tuntematon]

Both sides are at fault here in my opinion.

[Chapter 13]

7546953 Totally agree. Lightning is not free of guilt, that is for certain.

~ Chapter: 13

[Fire Seeker12]

7547837 I'm liking this so far.

[Chapter 13]

7555480 Good to hear! More should be out soon.

~ Chapter: 13