Rainbow Dash landed on a balcony of the Mortuana hotel and stepped in through the sliding glass window of her and her friends' suite.
She immediately heard sobbing.
Quietly, calmly, Rainbow turned the corner, wandering through the dimly-lit chamber as she followed the melancholic sound.
Past the bathroom, down a narrow hallway, she found a paper trail of shredded envelope and manuscript pieces. They gathered on the edge of the room where Caramel was staying. Pausing, Rainbow Dash squatted low, nudging a shredded sheet of paper with her muzzle. She turned the thing around until she was able to read the typewritten words evenly. She only needed to navigate two sentences... and the mare sighed.
Biting her lip, she gazed into Caramel's room... then quietly trotted inside. There, she found more shredded bits of a letter, followed by loose bedsheets on the floor. Trotting around the furniture, she discovered Caramel sitting against the wall in a slumped position. His mane was disheveled, and his eyes puffy from countless hours of anguished crying. He hugged himself, shivering in place.
Without saying a word, Rainbow Dash sat down next to him. She settled in place, then extended a wing to enfold the stallion's shoulder.
At last, Caramel shifted. Sniffling, he looked up and made eye contact with Rainbow. His muzzle attempted a smile, but failed halfway through. Nevertheless, a squeak of sincerity broke through his raspy voice: "Rainbow Dash..." A gulp. "I... I'm s-sorry. I didn't hear you come in..."
"Most ponies don't," Rainbow muttered. She tightened her wing's embrace. "How are ya doin', girl?"
"It's so very nice to see you, Rainbow." Caramel shook in place, eyes moist. "The rest of the girls were worried, but I... I..."
Rainbow looked at him.
Caramel's face broke. He lowered his head, quivering. "Mmmmm... please f-forgive me. It's so nice knowing that you're safe. It's just that... th-that I..." He gnashed his teeth.
Rainbow Dash inhaled. "What happened, Caramel? What did the letter say?"
"They... th-they want four times as m-much money!" Caramel hyperventilated. "Two of the doctors at the Canterlot clinic have retired overnight. They're n-now understaffed and... and there's this new legislature that's confounding the whole thing all the more and... and..." He buried his face in his hooves. "Mmmmm... j-just one thing after another, Rainbow Dash! Always! Everything k-keeps drawing away from me! And I'm just so sick of it..."
Rainbow gulped hard. "Maybe... maybe if you took back those dresses—"
"It wouldn't even come close," Caramel cried. "It's just so unfair, Rainbow. I don't h-have that kind of money! Not even in five years will I-I have that much money!"
Rainbow nodded. She had nothing to say but: "That sucks, Caramel."
Caramel shook, his eyes taking on a hard glint as he glared across the hotel room floor. "I'm so disgusted... so sick and t-tired of... of being stuck in this shell..." He stared at his fetlocks, trembling. "It's wrong, Rainbow Dash. Every day I look in the mirror, it's not me. Like... like a million butterflies stuck in an urn. And every month, they die off. I... I just want to be free, but at this rate... I-I almost fear that it will never happen. And when I die... it'll be like I'm buried in two coffins... one inside the other..."
Rainbow Dash held him close, listening.
"I hope..." Caramel sobbed. "I hope you never have to know what that f-feels like, Rainbow." He clenched his eyes shut. "I hope you never know what it means to be trapped inside yourself all the time..."
She leaned in, giving the stallion a friendly nuzzle. "I guess I never will, Caramel," she said in a calm breath. "But... I do know what it means to go nowhere." She tilted his chin up. "For what it's worth... I think you're one of the kindest, gentlest mares I've ever known." She bore a gentle smile. "I have faith that someday you will enjoy the awesomeness of being you... outside and inside." She breathed firmly. "The best and worst of us have found freedom without even expecting it."
Caramel's tears rolled past a smiling muzzle. "I... I always figured you were s-safe." He rubbed his cheek. "These past few day... after you went m-missing?" He shook his head. "I wasn't scared. You always know how to look after yourself, don't you, Rainbow?"
"Not always," Rainbow said. "But I'm getting there. Having friends like you is pretty wicked cool inspiration."
"You're too kind..." Caramel said. "I hope that someday... if I win the lottery or something... I can become as awesome a mare as you."
"Shhhh..." Rainbow straightened his bangs. "Redundancy's a lame shade on you."
He giggled slightly, but it didn't last long. Another wave of sorrow rippled through him, and he clenched his eyes shut, burying his head in Rainbow's shoulder. Rainbow held him close, allowing the sobs to subside. When the tempest eventually ended, they straightened the room together, and surrendered separately to the shadows of night.