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Starlight in a Broken Vessel

by the-pieman

Chapter 157

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Chapter 157

Once we’ve all been checked over, patched up and given the okay, we just kind of stand on the somehow-paved cloud runway. It occurs to me that I have no way of standing on clouds, but the simple application of another surface on the cloud, another seemingly impossible feat, makes it totally safe for anyone to stand on. How does one make a cloudbank not only stay stationary, but also support an entire building? Why didn’t I think of this while I saw it in Chickago?

You know what, I’ll just ask later. Right now we’re waiting for... Rainbow Dash I guess. The care package we brought with us had some clothes in it which Rarity begrudgingly sacrificed to patch up our balloon so we could get back down to the ground safely. Apparently Rainbow had some business to take care of.

Speaking of, she’s trotting towards us, a rather... unidentifiable look on her face. It looks somewhat familiar but I can’t quite tell why. Whatever it is, it’s not a pleased face. She just kind of walks past us, muttering that she’ll see us back in Ponyville. She gets to the end of the runway, speeding up, and takes a literal flying leap off into the sky and then dives down, rocketing towards the ground. What’s up with her?

A moment later that one Wonderbolt whose name escapes me but I know has something to do with fire shows up. “Hey, Rainbow Dash came this way right? She didn’t... leave already, did she?”

After an explanation of what we know, Fire-whatever just sighs. “Oh well. That’s that I guess.”

She wishes us a safe return and walks off, a much more ‘serious business’ face on than the first time I saw her. She also had an interesting navy-blue uniform, like a war-pilot commander would wear. She even had some pips and a medal. I knew she was like this huge celebrity or something but... dang. Our brief meeting with the Wonderbolt over, the six of us hop in our balloon and head back home, along with a few pegasi as escorts in case of another accident.

“I’ve never seen Rainbow Dash like that before. Okay, I have, but something about this time seemed a bit more... important.”

Applejack agrees with me, as does everyone else. We all turn to Fluttershy. “You’ve known her longest, any idea what’s going on?”

Fluttershy just gives a quiet reply that we just interpret as her having no idea. Touching down, we fan out to search for her. We at least know she’s in Ponyville. Walking around a bit, I find her outside some restaurant, looking... really bummed. I honestly can’t think of a better adjective at the moment.

I sit down at the table, taking the seat across from her. She’s got her muzzle half-buried in a dish of what look like cheese curds. “Hey there. Wanna talk about it?”

She makes a grunting noise which I read as a ‘no’ and slumps further into her dish. “Then I’ll come up with my own story.” I think for a minute. “You were the best one there and all the other participants wanted you kicked out so that they’d have a chance.”

“Pfft, I wish!”

“You didn’t botch it on your first day, did you?”

Rainbow pulls her head out of the dish, a bit of cheese sticking to her snout. “Heck no! I was totally on my game from the start! I just....” She trails off, her expression slumping again and she plants her face back in the dish. I now notice there’s six others just like it, all empty and off to the side.

“You know, eating all that cheese will give you a lot of problems. Well, more like one big problem.” I get another grunt and a stink eye in return. “Come on Dash, what could be so bad that you turn into... whatever’s in front of me right now?”

“I quit.”

“What was that?”

“I quit, alright?! I quit Wonderbolt training!”

What? But... wasn’t being a Wonderbolt her life dream? Like, her overarching goal? “Why? Why would you want to quit?”

“I didn’t really want to, but I had to... It was against my principles.”

Suddenly I get it, even if I don’t know the whole story. “Something happened you were supposed to agree with, something that you saw differently. You knew it was wrong, but you had to go along with it. You couldn’t go along with it. It wasn’t you... so you left. You’d rather be a quitter than-”

“It... wasn’t exactly like that.” Rainbow admits, interrupting me. “But... yeah. Lightning Dust kept... overdoing things. It got dangerous and I was supposed to be her wingpony! She was supposed to lead me around! We passed each test better than everypony else, mainly because we sabotaged them and...We almost killed you!” What? She winces and continues. “That tornado... that was us. We just... I had to draw the line. I couldn’t be a winner who hurt others, even if I was the best. So... I told Spitfire I quit. I told her why, but... I quit.”

“Rainbow Dash, I want you to know that, while you may never be a famous celebrity, you did the right thing. There’s nothing more important than standing up for yourself and speaking your mind. If you see things that you can’t abide, then say something about it and damn the consequences. You may regret it, that I won’t deny. You may spend years regretting every word you said, but you still did what you felt you had to, and that makes the difference. I’m on your side of this Dash, and not just because you’re my friend.”

Rainbow is staring down at her dish of cheese curds and gives a small smile. “That sounds pretty stupid, but... thanks. I really needed that.”

“Yeah... wish I had someone to tell me that years ago... who knows what might’ve happened?”

“You wouldn’t have wound up so darn ugly?” Dash smirks, her mood definitely having improved.

“At least I’m easier on the eyes, Miss kaleidoscope hair! Where’d you get dye that lets your mane do that, anyway?”

“Dye? I’ll have you know this is all natural!”

“Wow, what’d your mom drink when she was pregnant? Skittle extract?”

“Shut up, you’re just jealous ‘cause I have a special somepony and you don’t!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!”


Once everyone has gotten together, Rainbow Dash fills us in on the whole story. From what I can gather, Lightning Dust was the reckless and careless type, the kind who only cares about being in first place and miles ahead of everyone else, no matter what. But to be positioned as the leader, and making Rainbow the ‘helper’? Lightning must have been good.

Pinkie seems the most sad, and she just keeps talking about how we should have gone sooner, and that we should have been there for her. I remind her that it’s not our fault as it was impossible for us to know. “Besides, we can’t just know we’d have to be somewhere whenever something happens. That’d require absolute precognition or omnipresence.”

“But we should still try to be there!”

Rainbow Dash pulls Pinkie into a hug. “And you were. Okay, I kind of stormed off on you guys, but... you were there. And if you hadn’t been in danger, I’d probably never have the motivation to give Spitfire a piece of my mind and call out Lightning Dust. You were there when you needed to be.” Pinkie gives a look of uncertainty for a moment but then she smiles and pulls us all into a big group hug which I find very fluffy and warm.

After the hug ends and Dash looks a lot more cheered up, we just go off to do our usual stuff. But for me, that means nothing at all so I just hang around with Pinkie. When we’ve sat down and are alone, serious and worried Pinkie comes back. “I still think that we should have been there for Dashie. I mean, we’re her friends... I can’t help but-”

“Pinkie, calm down. Everything’s fine. Yeah I know you feel obligated to be a good friend and all, but what you’re suggesting is crazy. Even for you.” I mutter the last part under my breath and continue. “You just can’t know every event as it happens. As I said, that would require some form of omnipresence.”

“What’s that mean though?” Pinkie looks at me quizzically.

“Omnipresence means literally being everywhere at once. Being present for everything at every moment. It’s impossible. You could try to do it with super speed or teleportation, but that doesn’t work as you still spend some amount of time not being somewhere. Every nanosecond, every sliver of a moment you spend not being somewhere counts against omnipresence. It’s not just seeing everything at once, you’d have to be everywhere at once.”

Pinkie gives a wistful sigh and nods. “I just wish there was some way for us to cover everything. There’s so much we miss and overlook. What if there was a way for somepony to be everywhere at once?”

I think that over for a moment. “Well, if we had a numerous enough mass of people spread out, paying constant attention to their every surrounding... I guess that would be a way to attempt omnipresence. It would certainly be a good try, but you’re the only one I can imagine who has enough energy for constant vigilance, and we’d need a lot more than one pony.”

Pinkie looks like she’s thinking hard on it, but after a while lets out another sigh, this one a bit more disappointed. I figure I should cheer her up. It’s what she’d do for me, after all. “But we don’t need that. Sure you can end up late for something, but you can always try to fix it or make up for being late. Don’t worry about things like that. Everything’s fine now and that’s what’s important.” Next Chapter: Chapter 158 Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 30 Minutes

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