Fool's Paradise

by Chapter 13

Part: 7 [Preview]

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

Rainbow woke to the sound of the hotel shower sputtering to life. She winced, followed by a soft groan. The mare brought a hoof up to her muzzle and gently massaged rubbed the sleep from her eyes. With a brief mental battle between whether to return to sleep or waking up proper, Rainbow sat upright.

Being an elite flying team came with it’s perks. The Wonderbolts always stayed at the fanciest hotel in town when they were touring. The couch hadn’t even hurt her back that night. Her focus returned to sound of running water. She smiled. Lightning had definitely needed somewhere comfortable to sleep.

Rainbow stood up and stretched, her joints popping along her spine and down her legs. It felt great. She finished with a sharp twist of her chin. Her neck produced a satisfying crack. Her teammates were probably still in bed, recovering from the show’s after-party. In some ways, the parties were as much fun as the performance itself. This was the first one Rainbow had missed since joining the team.

She didn’t care nearly as much as she should have.

The hotel room kitchen--a sink, a mini-fridge, and two cabinets--hadn’t been touched since she arrived in Fillydelphia. VIPs like the Wonderbolts usually didn’t have to worry about room service fees or expensive restaurant dinners, but that morning her desire to avoid the outside world outweighed her impatience. She flipped the fridge door open and peered inside. Several bottles of soda and beer, what was possibly the world's smallest chocolate bar, and, right at the bottom, the largest sandwich she’d ever seen… in a mini-fridge. It was a pathetic excuse for a meal. It would have to do. The mare reached down, picked up the sandwich in her mouth, then turned around and kicked the fridge door. She trotted back to the couch, flopped back onto it’s surprisingly comfy material, then began to much on her hotel-grade sandwich. Tomato and lettuce. Not bad, all things considered.

Halfway through her sandwich, Rainbow heard the water stop in the bathroom. Not long after, Lightning trotted out of the bathroom and into the hotel room’s main room, her coat still damp. Her eyes soon met Rainbow’s own and she winced, almost as if she had forgotten that the blue mare had been there. Silence held as neither spoke; Lightning bit her lip and Rainbow chewed slowly.

“So...” Lightning muttered, “thanks for letting me stay here last night.” She fidgeted awkwardly. “I was a, uh, bit of a mess.”

Rainbow swallowed and nodded. “No prob’. I kinda owed you for the whole...”

“Yeah…”

“Right.” Rainbow sucked in a breath. “That.” Right. This was when she was supposed to say something. She shifted awkwardly as she tried not to look the opal mare in the eyes. Apologize. Make everything better. Something. Anything.

“Well, I better get going,” Lightning spoke, snapping Rainbow from her thoughts. “I gotta get to work later and stuff, so… yeah. Thanks.” She waited for a second, then turned and headed toward the door.

Shit! Rainbow thought. Say something! “Lightning!”

The mare turned and looked at her with a confused look. “Yeah?”

Rainbow fumbled for words in her head. What was she supposed to say? “I just, uh… wanted to know if you…” She cringed, then held out what was left of her sandwich in her hoof. “Wanted to have the other half of my sandwich?”

The opal mare looked at Rainbow, then at the half eaten sandwich. She gave her a weird smile. “Uh… yeah. No. No thanks,” she said, then trotted to the door.

The opal mare opened the door and walked out without a look back. As soon as the door clicked closed, the sound of Rainbow’s head hitting the coffee table echoed throughout the room.

---

Lightning exited the hotel lobby and into the streets of Fillydelphia. It was early in the morning, just after six, so the streets were mainly empty, safe for a small rush of ponies heading to their day jobs. Lucky for her, the sky was completely empty. The opal mare stretched her back and wings before taking off into the air. She flapped her way up into the city's sky-line and began her trip back to her apartment. When she made her way onto a familiar street and her mind went to autopilot, Lightning reflected her… experience with her old wingpony.

The entire thing had been surprising, to say the least. When she had broken down crying in front of the blue mare, the last thing she had expected from here was to invite her back to her hotel room. She had been even more surprised when Rainbow had offered her own bed and stubbornly taken the couch. It hadn't been much a choice on her part. But, the bed had been warm and comfy (unbelievably so) and the shower had been probably the best she had in years. She had lost most of the anger that she felt for the mare right there and then. Granted, she was still a little pissed about what had happened at the stadium, but she guess she could understand the circumstances. Sorta. Kinda.

Lightning shook her head, then took a banking turn down another street.

Everything after waking up and been awkward. Really awkward. It was waking up with after a one night stand. Neither of them seemed to know what to say to the other other than a ‘thanks’ and ‘goodbye’. Lightning shuttered briefly. None of this mattered. It was over now. Rainbow would be leaving the city soon with the rest of the Wonderbolts and she would return to her normal life. With luck, they would never see eachother again and all of this would be put behind her. Lightning found herself frowning at that, but she didn’t really know why. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Despite everything, it had been enjoyable. It was nice to have someone care about her, for once.

She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time for thinking about crap like this. She had still had to get back to her apartment so she could get ready for her shift. She couldn’t be late, again.

With that, the rest of her flight back to her apartment was met with mental silence. Time seemed to go by faster and she was at the steps of her building in no time. Lightning entered her complex and made her way up the stairs. When she got door, though, her entire mood changed.

Lightning looked upon her door with both anger and sadness. Although the fine print would take her a moment to read, the large text in big red letters was hard to miss: Eviction notice. Lightning stood there, unmoving, not sure whether to scream, hit a wall, or curl up into a ball and cry her eyes out. Instead, she decided to read the rest of the notice that was taped to her door. Besides a lot of bullshit that was supposed to not make her feel as bad about being kicked out of her home, the note stated that she had twenty-four hours to leave with all of her stuff or else she would be forced out. Actually, it said that she had twenty-four hours to pay all her back rent, but if she was reading the amount right, it was as good as a ‘just get out.’

Lightning took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. She had to remain calm. She needed to take this in stride. She had new this was going to happen. She had expected some type of warning first, but she still knew it was coming soon. She took another deep breath, then looked down to grab her key from the plant pot. To her surprise, she noticed a yellow sticky-note on the floor beside it. Must’ve fallen off the notice. Lightning reached down with a hoof, picked up the sticky and read what was on it. Her forced calm snapped.

“I tried to warn you yesterday and last night, but you weren’t here. Sorry it had to come to this,” Lightning grumbled to herself as she reread the note aloud. Why that little rainbow haired…! She then crumpled the piece of paper up in her hooves and threw it down the hall in barely contained rage. She proceeded to kick her plant pot, pick up her keys, unlocked her door and storm into her former apartment.

About five minutes later, Lightning stormed out of the room with her saddlebags jingling with the last of her bits. She stomped down the stairs and burst through her apartment door. The sun was still rising, which meant that most of the bars were still closed. Lightning would have lost it if she didn’t remember that even though the bars didn’t open till later, liquor stores were a different story.

---

It had been, what? Three or so hours since Lightning had left Rainbow’s hotel room. She had not really been keeping track of the time. She had yet to even move from her couch. The sandwich was long gone, though. The mare needed thinking fuel.

Rainbow Dash sat on the surprisingly comfy couch in her hotel room, seated in the exact same position she had been when her friend had left. In fact, ever since Lightning had left, Rainbow had been going over the conversation they had. She desperately tried to figure out what she should have said. Had she done what she should have, or did she screw it up? What was the ‘right’ or ‘good’ outcome for that conversation? Should she have gone after the mare? She hadn’t say anything bad, per se, but she had not done anything to help her cause. She wanted to help Lightning. That was it. She wanted to make up for what had happen at the academy. All of this had been her fault… and Spitfire’s… and probably a little bit her friend’s fault for visiting the campus while it was active. That was dumb, in hindsight. Wasn’t Twilight supposed to be the smart one, or something?

Rainbow sat upright and shook her head. “Focus!” she told herself.

There was a name for the feeling that Rainbow was… feeling. Exactly what, she was not sure. Conflicted? That sounded right in her mind, but not quite. The entire situation was strange. She felt responsible for what happened to Lightning, true, but Spitfire was right about something: it was Lightning fault for what happened after. She couldn’t be blamed for that, right?

The mare shifted awkwardly on the couch, then closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

Everything about the situation the pegasus had found herself in was weird. There seemed to be only wrong answers. Everyone seemed to be at fault, and she had no idea what it was she should, or should have, done. Should she do anything at all? Just stand back and let things happen?

“Ugg!” the pegasus let out in a cry of frustration. “That is it. I can’t take this anymore!”

The mare jumped to her hooves with a flap of her wings, then marched for the door. Too many things were on her mind at the moment, and she needed someone to talk to about it. Vent. Hopefully, the pony she had in mind for such a conversation would still be in his room. Rainbow opened her door and immediately trotted to the one across from her and pounded on the well painted wood.

“Soarin’, you idiot, you in there?!” Dash announced between pounds, then stood impatiently at the doors presupus, tapping a hoof.

It wasn’t long before the blue mare heard a loud groan from beyond, followed by a thump! and the trotting of hooves. Locks clicked and the door opened. A very tired, and clearly hungover, blue pegasus stood beyond. He blinked his squinted eyes, then hissed as if in pain. He mumbled something about the light. “Is that you, Rainbow?” he muttered in his gruff voice.

Rainbow awkwardly chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “Hehe, yeah… forgot about the party.” She took a deep breath. “Mind if I come in?”

The stallion nodded, motioning inward with a small jerk of her head. He seemed to regret it. “Yeah, come in. Just be quiet and, if you could, would you make the coffee?” He looked to Rainbow hopefully. The mare nodded. He sighed in relief. “Good. I’ll be suffering on the couch until then. Need fuel if you want more words out of me…”

---

Soarin’ slowly nursed his cup of coffee, all but moaning as the warm liquid slid down his throat. It was doing wonders for his headache. Yes, his head still pounded as if there were newborn pegasi learning how to fly inside it, but that was still marginally better then when he had awoken. He would have thanked Celestia for its creation, but he was currently reflecting on his stance on the princess. She was the one responsible for sunlight.

He let out a soft groan as another pulse of pain beat through his head. He made note to never again challenge his cousin to anything that involved alcohol.

He took another sip of his coffee. It was a little darker than he liked it, but he didn't want to insult the mare that had brought him the heavenly liquid. His salvation. The stallion then flinched when he remember that he had a guest.

With a sheepish smile, the stallion lifted his gaze from his coffee and towards his guest, who sat a few paces in front of him. She seemed to be nervous and fidgety. The stallion hoped that wasn't because of him. “Sorry, Rainbow,” he croaked, “got lost in the coffee. My head is killing me.”

The mare regarded him for a second, then sighed and lowered her head. “Don't worry about it, Soarin’. I should be sorry for bursting in this early.” She bit her lip, then looked away. “I can come back later if you want?”

Her voice was hesitant and sounded as if something was troubling her, Soarin’ noted. This worried him. He tried to perk up himself up and not show his discomfort. “Nah, it's okay. I'm feeling better already, thanks to your coffee.”

Rainbow smiled, but it soon fell as well has her gaze. Her wings as well, the stallion noted. Both sat awkwardly for the next few minutes.

Soarin’ coughed to break the tension. “So… what brings you here? Got something on your mind?” he asked, but already knew the answer. Something was bothering the mare, that was clear. It was only a matter of what and if he could get her to say it.

Rainbow nodded weakly. “Yeah. It’s...” she sighed again. “It's about Lightning Dust.”

Soarin’ cocked his head. Lightning Dust? This piqued his interest. He thought back to the incident with her at the bar the other day. Was this about that? He remembered the shouting march and Rainbow flying after the mare. He never knew what happened after that. He decided to make his thoughts known. “Is this about what happened between you guys at the bar?”

Rainbow scrunched her nose. “Kinda?” she scrunched her muzzle. “It's a lot more complicated than that.” She looked up to face him. “How much do you know about her?”

Soarin’ shrugged. “As much as the rest of the ponies at the academy. I wasn’t there during the accident, but, well, word travel fast. Not every day a recruit gets kicked out that spectacularly.” Soarin’ paused when he noticed Rainbow flinch. He decided to continue with caution. “And, uh, I know you were her wingpony, for a time.”

Rainbow fidgeted. “Anything else?”

The stallion thought for a moment. “I guess? I mean, I heard her was a loose cannon. Exceptional flier, but reckless. Rude. Unpleasant.” He had heard some other… choice words for her from the other cadets later on, but he decided not bring them up now.

Soarin’ flinched when he heard Rainbow groan. “Ugh! Of course that's what you heard!”

“Pardon?”

Soarin watched as rainbow changed from nervous to mad. “Of course that's what they said. Did you hear anything about me around that time?”

“No, not really…” He thought for a second. “Well, ponies did say that they felt sorry that you had to deal with her. And about how you chewed her out in the end. Other than that, nothing.” He looked to her. “Why?”

Rainbow exploded. “Why?! Because that's all bullshit!” She began to pace. Soarin flinched in pain. They didn't mention that I did everything she did? That I was all part of the problem. That I never said or did anything until it was too late!” She took a deep breath. “Of course they didn’t…” Her head fell.

Soarin, after recovering from the outburst, looked to the mare, confused and worried. He kinda understood what she was saying. Apparently she had been doing the same thing as Lighting, yet had taken none of the blame. “So,” he began, “you feel guilty that you weren't punished?”

“Exactly!” she exclaimed. “See, it's all my fault!”

The stallion cocked his head. “What's your fault?”

“That she got kicked out!”

Soarin flinched. He almost dropped his coffee. Ir felt like nails were being driven into his skull. He let the mare relax and his headache subside before he responded, “No, Rainbow. It's not.” Rainbow opened her mouth, but Soarin raised a hoof. “Give me a second to explain, and please stop yelling.”

The winced and shrank a little. “Sorry. Forgot.”

Soarin waved her off and took another sip. “It's okay. And it's not your fault. She did what she did of her own free will. Not yours. You didn't force her to do all those things, did you?”

“But I--”

“You were following her lead, right? Not the other way around?” Rainbow nodded, slowly. Soarin’ smiled. “See? You were following her lead. She was your lead pony; it was your job to do as she she does. You were her wing. Her shadow. If that's what you did, then you did your job well.”

“But--”

“I'm not finished!” Soarin interrupted, only to wince in pain. He needed to stop that. “Yes, you should have said something earlier, but I can't fault you that much. She was your superior. You had no authority over her, and she had no reason to listen to you.” Soarin paused. A thought breached his mind. “Actually, now that I think about it, I blame whoever made her lead pony. I mean, if what they say is true about how reckless she was, only an idiot would have kept her lead pony. I would have made her wingpony to someone with discipline.” Soarin paused once again. “Huh. Now that I think about it, kicking her out was a bit harsh. I mean, the job of the Academy it to teach you guys discipline.” Soarin shrugged, then turned it face Rainbow. “So, no, it's not your fault. Sure, you should have gotten talked to about not reporting reckless behavior, but I can't fault you for the actions of your incompetent leader.”

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

"I was not a fool to dream... I was a fool to believe it would lead me to paradise."

Who said that?

[Chapter 13]

8366274 Me.

[Pause]

Soarin is just passing the responsibility.

Leaders are not perfect beings. They have their flaws and that's where the followers come in. They have to point out the mistakes or things the leaders overlook so that they can correct them. Should the leader ignore their followers then yes it is solely on the leader's head but if the followers see a problem that the leader overlooks and doesn't communicate then the follower is just as much part of the problem if not more so.

[Pontiac56]

8366411
While it's true that not everything should been thrown on the shoulders of a leader, in this circumstance, a large part of the problem was Spitfire.

Lightning Dust did do some pretty dangerous and reckless things that put others at risk. But if you watch the episode, in every circumstance of this, barring the tornado itself, Spitfire is always praising Lightning's actions. Now obviously Lightning is still largely at fault here, but frankly, if the instructor you are placed under is constantly telling you that you are doing a good job, why would you change your behavior? If Spitfire had given any prior indication that Lightning's behavior was reckless or bad, and Lightning had then kept it up, then yes the matter would largely all be her own fault. But with Spitfire constantly telling her she was in the right the whole time, why would she stop acting reckless or dangerous?

Spitfire has some consequences coming her way.

[Chapter 13]

8367577 To quote Bug's Life, "When you are in charge: everything is your fault."

~ Chapter: 13

[zzzzzz]

Actually, now that I think about it, I blame whoever made her lead pony. I mean, if what they say is true about how reckless she was, only an idiot would have kept her lead pony. I would have made her wingpony to someone with discipline.” Soarin paused once again. “Huh. Now that I think about it, kicking her out was a bit harsh. I mean, the job of the Academy it to teach you guys discipline.”
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Exactly.
If Spitfire actually did her job and talked to Lightning about her behaviour she would have never created that tornado.
The least she could do is make Lightning Rainbows wingpony. But no, incompetent Spitfire has to humiliate her and kick her out.
I really hope that season 8 corrects this injustice.

[zzzzzz]

Will this story be continued?

[Chapter 13]

8906297 Yes.

[Chapter 13]

Okay, so, been a while since an update, but I got more planned and am making progress. Gonna have one or two more chapters, then finish this story in the sequel: "Death of a Dream."

Sorry for the hiatus, don't have as much time to write as I used to anymore.

Edit: Eventually...

Edit: Edit: work and junk. Need to write stuff I'm actually gonna publish.