Refuge
15
"Damn it," Twilight cursed under her breath. There couldn't have been a worse time for a search party, with the chilling winter air proving to be all but hospitable. The only reason she had chosen this place to look first was the fact that Rainbow had fled here in the past when she was embarrassed (albeit rarely) by anything. The starless sky didn't make matters better, either; their only light source being that of a dimly lit kerosene lamp being dragged along with them. Trudging through the Glades, the atmosphere of the scene was rather morbid, not unlike something with semblance to something along the lines of a suicide scene. Oddly enough, the two had remained relatively silent, speaking up only to ask others if they'd seen their rainbow-colored pegasus. As expected, no luck. Rarity acknowledged Twilight's apparent mood back home in Ponyville, deciding it was in their sanities' best interest for both of them to remain quiet.
Twilight paused, just barely making out a pair of hoof-steps and a makeshift padding which looked like it served as a bed, or perhaps a shelter of some sort. "Look," she whispered to Rarity, pointing at the two things of interest. It was most definitely used, she noted in a detective-like persona, mimicking a character from a fiction series she had just finished reading. The pair of hoof-steps only covered a few square feet of land around the clearing - in fact, it was small enough that it honestly may have only been one pony walking in circles. She arched downwards, more closely observing the prints. Upon further inspection, she decided they were too close and too staggered to be a single pony. That, and the fact that the prints had terminated at almost the same time, the final set of prints being dragged out slightly longer than the others.
They were undoubtedly pegasus.
Her first lead. Yet, for some reason, she was hardly satisfied at all. One of the pegasi that were here was almost certainly Rainbow - that's good. Knowing this, she's hopefully near. But, who could the other set of prints belong to? They also seemed to be that of a pegasus, and it would make sense given Rainbow's implied, defeated nature who was probably seeked help from someone else. Honestly, it could have been anyone from the vast number of cities near here.
She doubted it was anyone from the weather team, as Rainbow wasn't really known for interacting with them; at least, not that Twilight had seen, anyway. She tried to think of other pegasi around here that would be willing to help, but no one immediately came to mind. Perhaps she was looking too far into the issue; maybe it was a random patrol that noticed her and shuttled her off to safety, or home. Yet, she highly, highly doubted she would be returning home anytime soon, given the recent events.
"Thoughts?" she asked Rarity, breaking the pristine silence. "The two sets are clearly pegasus, one almost certainly Rainbow," she continued in a matter-of-fact tone. "But, the second set could literally be anyone. It could have been a patrol, it could have been an old friend, it could have been herself - hell, it could have been her mom. I don't know." Twilight was surprised she could even have a sense of humor in times like these, even if it was sarcastic and unintentional. "Where do we search first?"
"Well, we can stride into the closest town and ask around if anyone knows anything," Rarity suggested.
"Ugh, sure," she groaned. "I don't see how it would be any different than the towns we already did that in, but it's better than nothing," Twilight figured.
Following the directions of the final hoof-steps, they took off towards the portal to Cloudsdale.
~
Reclined in a regal, yet modern blue couch, Rainbow yawned as her exhaustion from the past nights had finally dawned on her. Spitfire had just introduced her to her room before leaving out to meet Soarin' and the rest for practice. Had this been any other day with any other circumstances, she would have been delighted; no, ecstatic to tag along and watch their practice adoringly. Yet, she found herself depressed, tired, and lonely, seeking refuge in another mare's room. Despite Spitfire being in debt to Rainbow for over a year now, it was an embarassing act in itself, an act of desperation.
That said, the room was very nice. It was essentially modern upper echelon decoration. While the room had only the finest portraits of Spitfire and the Wonderbolts, as well as deep, glacial-looking furniture to complement the lighter stark blues of the walls, adorned with gold lining and texture, as well as cloud-like couches, it was all but a fleeting consolation to aid Rainbow's unusually downtrodden personality.
She wondered what doing any of this would even accomplish for her. What is she even doing here? Looking back, she realized all she wanted to do from that dreaded moment on was run away - not to anywhere specific for any reason, but just, to run away, to be "anywhere but here". Maybe, just maybe she can find some sort of friendship with Spitfire and the rest of the Wonderbolts... maybe, something more. She quickly put aside the thought as if it were a bad dream she had just woken up from. She considered going back to what she used to call "home", but it was impractical in every sense of the word to put aside her trials and tribulations with Twilight. She doubted they could even be around each other anymore without either of the two snapping at each other.
With thoughts and memories of the purple unicorn surfacing once more, a lone delicate teardrop rolled down her brilliant blue cheeks before resting on the floor. Time and time again, she reconsidered everything she had done with the unicorn. What was the point of it all? Wasn't their friendship good enough? Why, why the hell had she pushed for more? What the hell was it about Twilight that drove her to these drastic situations, and why did she go through with them so damn easily?
She flipped over on the couch, her once proud, arrogant face now tear-streaked and whimpering into the pillow.
Why?
~
Twilight sighed, ready to check in to a hotel after the exhausting, albeit unsuccessful search for Rainbow. She wouldn't give up, despite walking around and talking to almost every pony in Cloudsdale in the span of a single day. As one would expect, Rarity fared much worse. Two hours into the day, she was already grumbling and moaning for Twilight to bring them to a place where they can rest or eat, but to no avail. She was determined to find Rainbow as fast as possible, no matter the work and no matter the means. All that mattered to Twilight, right there, right now, was finding Rainbow.
As she and Rarity made their way to the nearest hotel, Twilight noticed a familiar yellow pegasus trotting around. She wasn't entirely sure it was the pegasus she had believed it was, however; her mane was uncharacteristically matted down and missing the trademark suit and goggles. But, it was close enough to not hurt to ask.
"Spitfire?" The yellow pegasus turned around to meet the voice.
Upon seeing Twilight, Spitfire flinched in remembrance of what Rainbow had told her and what the source of her agony was. And, here she was, presumably searching to make amends with Rainbow. Unbelievable, crawling back for forgiveness after what she had put the poor thing through. She feigned ignorance.
"Huh?" she asked, looking at Twilight with a wary glance.
"Oh, so you are Spitfire!" Twilight said, glad she remembered her name. "Good! Have you seen Rainbow Dash around? It's pretty important."
Spitfire flinched again, remembering the sight of the broken down, agonized pegasus - who not a week ago, was able to perform sound-breaking tricks with ease - now a depressed, lonely creature due to a mere few words. It broke her heart.
What were she to do here? Should she lie and say she hadn't seen her, she runs the risk of them finding Rainbow here later anyway. But, she felt it was necessary to keep this "Twilight Sparkle" away from Rainbow. There was a reason that Rainbow was evading Twilight, and from what she gathered, it was a damn good reason and she wouldn't be violating her friend anytime soon. So, she did the most rational thing she could bring herself to do in her situation.
"Nope, haven't seen her. Sorry."