7

They were getting tired. Maybe it wouldn't have been a bad idea to wait until morning to get to Canterlot. Since the railroad was closed off, Twilight and Spike had to walk there. Oh well. They couldn't turn back now that they were finally in the city.

The first thing Twilight noticed was the castle. It had been boarded up all over, which saddened Twilight. With the princesses gone, the citizens must had seen the castle as pointless, and never entered it again. A strong wind threatened to pull away the planks of wood, but they stayed in place over the windows and doors. Twilight stared at it for a moment longer before she kept moving. She once lived here, so she was able to navigate the quiet streets easily. She knew where the asylum was, too.

It was in an abandoned part of the city. There was nothing except the ivory building itself. It looked very much like an average Canterlot house, but much bigger. Some moss clung to the bottom edge of it, and one of the dark violet doors seemed to have some kind of stain on it. Twilight was using her horn for light, but she still couldn't make out what the stain was. It wasn't important, but it peaked her curiosity that someone would manage to stain a door of all things.

Then they heard someone running toward them. They turned in alarm, and Twilight immediately recognized the two ponies rushing over. One was a pale yellow earthpony, with a familiar pink bow tied in her red mane. The other was a white unicorn with lavender and pink curls. Twilight looked at what she was instantly curious about, and felt a flicker of pride at seeing a blooming white flower on one mare's flank and a couple black musical notes on the other. She looked at their eyes, full of disbelief.

"What are you two doing here?" Twilight asked.

Apple Bloom blinked. "I'd ask ya where the hay ya've been...but that ain't important right now."

"We're looking for Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle informed them. "We came here to visit Rainbow Dash, but we when we left for a few minutes to use the bathroom, we went back and couldn't find her anywhere."

Twilight shook her head. "We just got here. To see Rainbow."

The two mares seemed disappointed.

"She's in room three," Apple Bloom informed her. "We'll just keep looking 'round."

As the girls ran off Twilight pulled open the door with telekinesis. It was quite dark inside. Only one pony was guarding, and he didn't seem to notice the door opening. Since Room Three was on the ground floor, it didn't take long to find it. But Twilight was afraid to open the little window. She glanced at Spike and asked, "Are we really ready for this?"

Spike smiled reassuringly at her. "Even if you can't talk to her, you should at least see how well she is."

Twilight nodded. She slide the white covering aside. Rainbow Dash was lying there near the window, in a white straitjacket. Oddly enough, her mouth wasn't covered. She didn't seem to notice Twilight. She was just absentmindedly brushing the wall with her tail.

Twilight was afraid to speak. If Rainbow noticed her, she would probably assume Twilight was a hallucination. Twilight was afraid of how she'd react to her. But I have to know. If I see her reaction, I might be able to figure out how twisted her perception is. Which could be helpful. Tentatively, Twilight knocked against the iron bars filling the opening. "Um...Rainbow Dash?"

The pegasus looked up with alarm, She stared at Twilight for a few seconds, as if she needed to process what she was seeing. She then used her hind legs to push herself away toward the opposite wall. She seemed to be hurriedly whispering something to herself. Her eyes were full of shock and sorrow.

Twilight sighed sadly. "I-I promise I'm not a hallucination."

Rainbow then spoke clearly and strictly, though her hoarse voice was really shaky. "Go away." But she wasn't looking at Twilight and Spike when she said this. It was almost as if she was giving the order to herself.

"How did you end up here?"

"I'm not coming back!" Rainbow was raising her voice, still speaking to herself.

"Coming back to what?" Twilight asked, a little desperately. "Ponyville?"

Rainbow didn't answer the question, unsurprisingly. She glanced up at Twilight again, then slammed herself against the wall. "W-why aren't you listening? Stop it!" She sounded as if she was crying, but Twilight couldn't see any tears.

Spike tapped her shoulder. When she looked down at him, he said, "I think she wants us to leave."

"Stop it!" Rainbow screamed again. Twilight hurriedly covered the window again, and led Spike back to the hallway. Twilight sat down beside the locked door to the room, which she glanced at and said, "I hope I didn't make it worse."

"Twilight, the hall closet's door's closed."

Twilight glanced down at the door to the hall closet, which she hadn't even noticed before. She looked back at Spike. "And?"

"I saw it when we came in. It was open then." He paused. "Actually, I think somepony was in there. It wasn't really a closet, more like a little room."

Twilight blinked. "How did you notice?"

"I saw them looking at us. The same way everyone else's looked at us." Spike glanced at the door again. "It could've been her."

"Who?"

"Scootaloo. I think Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle found her, though, if the door's closed."

Twilight shrugged and stood up. "Well, it doesn't hurt to check."

They headed down to the closed door. It was unlocked, so Twilight easily turned it open with her magic. She swung open the door, and as soon as she saw what was waiting for her, she didn't attempt to suppress her shriek of terror.