Later at night, while Twilight was still sleeping in the attic after cleaning it and reading some of host's books, somepony had knocked on the door. Fluttershy heard the sound, and saw a pegasus pony behind the window. The pony was looking wet and tired. Fluttershy opened the door, and the pegasus came in. She was blue with dark grey mane, and called herself Rain. She told Fluttershy that she had been on a long way from Flutterdam towards Summer Springs, and expected to be there already, but went through a thunderstorm, and therefore needed a place to stay. She found a light, and thought that it was a refueling base.
The generous pony offered Rain a hay pudding, then Rain noted that she liked to drink water. Fluttershy took two big bowls from the shelf and poured water in them. Rain drank water from one of them, but then, as Fluttershy noticed when she returned to the living room, doused the fire in the oven with the second one. The yellow pony showed Rain the first floor rooms, and then she tried to ask about the places Rain had visited. The blue pony told her stories about places with waterfalls, places with modular rivers, and strange places between layers of clouds... Fluttershy tried to introduce her animals, but most of them were afraid of Rain.
And then it was morning. Purple unicorn came to them, and asked Rain who she was. Rain then asked who Twilight was, and Twilight said that she was Twilight Sparkle. Rain said that she was Rain, and they talked about if she knows anything about Rainbow Dash, or saw anypony on the way, and she said that there was nothing really but a house about a mile away. Twilight asked if Rain could help them, and she said yes.
When they went outside, they saw the sunshine. They looked back and found that Rain mysteriously disappeared.
They had to return and check again, but came to no result. "She's a pegasus. Maybe she went through the window?" - Twilight asked.
"That mare acted a bit strange" - yellow pegasus responded. "She was soaked with water when she came, and it wasn't raining. Maybe she used the water from the well?" She went toward the well. "It's empty! She did use the well. I'll have to search for water..." - she exclaimed.
They went through the dark plains that seemed to be covered by black ash and small transparent crystals in some places, and an hour later, they found a place Rain was talking about. Among dead trees, there stood a beautiful but seemingly deserted house. The door was open. Twilight and Fluttershy went inside, and there was almost nothing but old wooden furniture, table and broken chairs, two large empty crates were placed on the bed covered with a carpet. Among all that, in the middle, there stood a working refrigerator. Inside, there was just a really big pie in a transparent plastic package. The interior of the house reminded them of a storage shed.
When leaving though, they noticed an open mailbox with something inside. A zip folder was lying there. Fluttershy opened it and saw that a pony was compressed there. She quickly uncompressed a white unicorn with dark blue mane. Rarity complained that pegasi delivered her home after her trip to Alicornia, but forgot to unpack. "My name is Rarity, and now I seriously need to repair the house! It's just horrible! How many years have passed? My home!.. I'd probably have to return to Coco and beg for help! Hope she hasn't forgot me..."
"We are here to find water because there is a drought and Twilight's looking for her friend Rainbow Dash... Would you join us, and we could find supplies also, I mean, if we find them lying around or..." - Fluttershy said quietly.
"Well, if your Rainbow Dash friend could be lost somewhere, it might be in the Rocky Pit. It's easy to lose the way in there."
"She is a bird. And I will use every opportunity to find Dash. And so is Fluttershy. Can you lead us there?" - Twilight said. "Not that I want you to get into trouble, if it's dangerous..."
Rarity also took the pie and tied it to her saddle. She opened the door with telekinesis and loudly stomped on the floor. "Come with me, I know where is the cave," - she said.
They went to the east. The environment around them was very dry. Fallen trees, sand, white stones, and the mighty sun above.
"Fluttershy, do you have any ink in your cottage?" - Twilight suddenly asked.
"I don't remember. We could return there and search if you want, but-"
"I don't mean in that cottage. I mean in the other one, it's urgent, if I can't find more ink right now, time will-"
--
At Fluttershy's cottage, Twilight stood up, opened the drawer and put the scroll inside. "They've got to find her in the story eventually, right? Just like we have to find her in reality now." - she thought. "All right, where was I?"