The Dark Side of the Rainboom

by Yukigo Kurosaki

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Alternate Universe
Length: 5937

Rainbow Dash makes a terrible, terrible mistake.

Rainbow Dash knows that she's done something absolutely deplorable when she lets her rage get the best of her, and it seems to her like the only thing she can do is run away. Can she sort out her feelings before things go too far, or will her friends have to deal with two losses?

An alternate series of events from "The Last Roundup."

Published 2012-04-30 19:34:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-30 19:34:01 UTC

The Accident

A/N: I pulled off the gloves on this story, no more messing around. I didn't get 300000 views on my SoFurry page for no reason, and it's time that I upgrade my ponyfics to that standard. So, with no further ado, I bring to you my first serious piece (By which I mean no sex, no romance and above all, serious themes)

I'd like to thank the user TiramisuTales on #EquestriaAfterDark of irc://irc.canternet.org for her inspection of the first half of this story. I didn't have time to get the second half to her, but hopefully I missed nothing egregious. I hope I can capture all of your hearts enough to make it somewhere with my writing, it would be my life's dream as a brony.

Thank you for your time,
Yukigo Kurosaki

P.S. What are the tags on this? Dark, Sad or Tragedy?

Rainbow Dash lifted Applejack’s farewell banner for her trip to the Canterlot rodeo, inspecting the walls for a good place to put it. She tacked it to City Hall before driving the nail in with her hoof. She smiled at her work, pulling away for a moment to survey her handiwork, before a light flashed in her peripheral vision. She ducked, only just in time to avoid a sharp flash of lighting hurled straight at her, leaving the tip of her tail a singed mess. She looked back in disbelief before giving a glare to the culprit, one grey furred pegasis mare bouncing jauntily on a thunderhead.

“Now careful Derpy!” She chided with a hint of annoyance, flying up to speak with her current “assistant”, Derpy Hooves.

Rainbow was more than aware of how absentminded and otherwise just oblivious the mare could be, considering her numerous experiences with her on the weather patrol. Hay, it was her fault that City Hall was in its current state and Applejack had to pledge her prize money to fix it. Why was Derpy still there? One would think after destroying the center of local government, one would retreat in shame; alas, she remained. “You don’t want to cause any more damage than you already have.” She gestured back to the fractured roof of City Hall, which collapsed even further into a heap of dust.

Derpy shrugged and went back to bouncing on the cloud. “I just don’t know what went wrong!” Rainbow flew back cautiously as she watched the thunderhead bristle with charge in its agitated state, soon discharging it straight up into Derpy. She was left scorched in most places, feathers falling from her wings, eyes rolling around.

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she returned to her work, driving the second nail into the banner. “Yeah, it’s a mystery...” She deadpanned.

Derpy seemed to have recovered just as quickly as she was shocked, flying backwards. Rainbow winced, trying to stop her with hastily outstretched hooves. “Nice work, Rainbow Dash!” It was too late, her rump bumped into a support beam, cracking it and causing it to fall towards the already unstable building. Dash panicked, jaw dropping before flying downward as quickly as she could, bracing herself underneath the beam, flapping furiously to slow its momentum. But it was too little and too late, and she plummeted down to the next level, the heavy beam sending her straight down into the deepest parts of the subfloor.

“Ah!” She yelped in pain, landing in a heap. Her hoof immediately went to her wings, thankfully they were undamaged. “Urrrg... why do I have to deal with this!” She lamented under her breath.

Derpy Hooves stuck her head down the hole. “You okay, Rainbow Dash? Anything I can do to help?” Derpy gave a worried glance to another piece of floor that chipped off and fell into the chasm as she spoke.

Rainbow Dash wasted no time in darting straight out, planting her hooves firmly on the platform as she shouted at Derpy, encroaching on her space to send a clear message. “No! Nothing! In the name of Celestia, sit there and do nothing!”

Derpy obeyed, sitting down on the floor as Rainbow turned away. She scoffed, disgusted and thankful it would soon be over and she could get away from the flying disaster zone. The floor beneath Derpy’s rump fractured and soon opened up into the chasm that remained of the basement, and she fell through with a startled look. Out of instinct and sheer surprise, she grabbed the first thing she could see to hold on to: Rainbow Dash’s namesake tail. The cyan mare was dragged down with her as she fell, much to both of their surprises, and the two landed together in the twilight darkness of the subfloor, the light landing upon them in a small beam mottled with flecks of dust and debris. “Whoops! My bad...” Derpy said innocently.

Rainbow felt her wing, and this time, a dull twinge ran through it; she’d landed on her side, directly on her wing. She could feel the blood throbbing through it, gasping as sharp pain flooded her with each heartbeat. She raised a hoof to her face, grimacing as she rubbed the hoof along a cut. She must have scraped her face on the way down. She glanced down at the grey pegasus to see if she was harmed, but she was not, just confused. Of course... she was always confused, always unharmed. Why did she get all of the luck?! Rainbow felt a rage boiling inside of her, snorting and grinding her teeth together. She could stand it no longer.

“You idiot!” She screamed at Derpy, making the poor mare shrink back, despite already being pressed against the ground. “You pathetic excuse for a pegasus! I’ve had enough of you! You destroy City Hall, you nearly take off my head with lighting, but you do NOT hurt Rainbow Dash’s wings!” Derpy whimpered, a very palpable fear in her eyes.

“P-please don’t be mad... I’m s-so sorry...”

“Sorry? Sorry?! Do you know what you’ve done! I think you sprained my wing! I’m going to be a Wonderbolt someday, if I damage my wings I’m finished!” She was panting, fury clouding her sense of reason. Derpy’s eyes widened, her lips quivering in vain as she tried to give a response. She was cut off by Dash giving her a firm slap.

Derpy cried out in more shock than pain. “Ow! D-Dashie!”

“Shut UP!” She screamed, hitting her again. “Only my friends can call me that! You are not my friend! You’re nothing!” Her rage finally broke her, eye twitching as she rained down a series of clumsy blows on Derpy Hooves’ helpless form, hitting her across the face with the hard ends of her hooves. “You pathetic. Stupid. Bucking. Retard!” She punctuated each word with a hard punch to her face, making Derpy squeal and attempt to cover her face to avoid the hail of blows. Rainbow only stopped when she heard and felt something crunch under her hoof. She got up, letting the light wash over the pair once again. Only then could she see the damage she did: Derpy’s eyes looked even more distant than usual, one socket colored a sickly shade of purple. Her nose bled and her entire face covered in blood now with hoof prints where Rainbow had struck. Rainbow looked down disbelievingly at her hooves: they were splattered with red. She had hit Derpy hard, hard enough to break her nose.

“Oh... oh Celestia...” The enormity of what she had done finally dawned on her. Derpy was still breathing, but raggedly, sobbing and gasping for air, as an errant blow had hit her throat. Rainbow Dash got off of her, still staring down at her hooves in disbelief.

“What... did I d-do?” Derpy choked out.

Those four simple words echoed inside Dash’s head, swirling in a crescendo. She flew out of the hole without thinking, ignoring the pain in her wing as she took took to the sky, glancing back every possible moment to watch the crowd that had begun to gather. They stared in confusion at her as she flew away, not seeing her bloodstained hooves, then down into the hole.

It was the last thing she remembered as she bolted away, sobbing.

“Rainbow Dash did what?!” Rarity screamed, prompting a quick shushing from the hospital staff, seemingly from all directions. Derpy Hooves laid in a bed with a bandaged muzzle, looking little worse for wear elsewhere, except for her black eye, which was currently swollen shut. Despite all of her injuries, few were severe enough to warrant any real concern; the doctors expected her to make a full recovery within a month.

“I thaid thee punthed me” She said, lisping through her bandages. “I acthedently broke a wood thing and thee went to go thop it, but thee fell through the floor. I athed if thee was okay and thee thaid yeah.” She sighed, “When am I gonna thop lithping like thith?”

“I’m sorry,” the doctor said “you bit your tongue fairly hard, so it’s gonna be a bit until the swelling stops.”

She turned back to her friends that had gathered. “Tho thee told me that I th-t--t... had to thay thill and do nothing. Tho I that down... but the floor broke, and I just... grabbed her tail, like I wa-wat--w... I didn’t think. I dragged her down... and then, thee wath yelling at me... and... and then...” Tears formed in her mismatched eyes. “Thee juth hit me over and over again... thee looked tho fearthom! I d-don’t know what I did wrong...”

Twilight Sparkle stroked the pegasus’ cheek carefully, her voice soft. “You didn’t do anything wrong Derpy... Rainbow Dash just lost her temper and took it out on you.” Her face darkened. “I didn’t know that Dash could be so violent though... it seems we’re going to have to have a very serious talk.”

“You and me both sister!” Pinkie Pie chimed in furiously. “Nopony hurts my friends, not even my bestest friend in the whole wide world!” She punched one hoof into the other, temporarily standing on two legs to do so. “That filly needs a taste of her own medicine! And not the yummy kind that tastes like bubble gum or banana!”

“The kind that you almost overdosed on?” Rarity said dryly.

“Hey! It’s their fault for making it taste like candy! How was I supposed to know I wasn’t supposed to eat all of it at once!”

“Because it says so on the label?”

“Who reads?” She shrugged, then looked to Twilight. “Oops, sorry Twilight, no offense!”

“Girls! Please, we have a serious situation here!”

“You’re sure right it’s seriou--” Pinkie Pie was cut off as Rarity stuffed a hoof into her mouth.

“Continue.”

Twilight looked incredulously at Pinkie, then continued on. “It’s apparent that Rainbow Dash has some anger management issues that she needs to get addressed. She needs help, and she won’t get it on her own. And Pinkie, violence isn’t the solution to violence, that only makes it worse.”

Fluttershy flew into the room without a sound, seeing it occupied. Rather than interrupt, she stuck to the shadows, trying to remain out of sight for now. “Fluttershy.” Twilight called out to her without looking, a preternatural instinct telling her she was there. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise, quickly raising her head. “Did you find Rainbow Dash?”

“Um well...” She lowered herself down. “N-no... actually. I looked everywhere! Sweet Apple Acres, her cloud house... most of her usual spots, but she just wasn’t there. I asked around Ponyville, but nopony has seen her for hours.” She whispered. “I-I’m sorry...”

Twilight rubbed her chin. “Looks like we’re gonna have to go find her then. And we’re gonna have to do it without Applejack for now... she needs to go to the Rodeo, it’s what she’s been training for all year for it, it would be selfish to ask her to stay back from her dreams. I just hope we won’t need her roping skills.”

A dark furred stallion coughed in the corner, wearing a rather worn out hat, easily recognizable as a Stetson, as Applejack had popularized the look in Ponyville. His rather large handlebar moustache twitched as he spoke. “Ah hate to interrupt this conversation here... but as Ponyville’s sheriff... I have to ask Ms. Hooves... Er... do you mind if I call you Derpy?” She shook her head. “Alright, Derpy then... do you want to file a report for assault?”

“No! No pleathe, don’t!” She pleaded. “Rainbow Dath hath helped me tho muth! Theeth normally tho patient, even when I meth up everything! I know I’m not a really thmart mare... but thee trieth tho hard wiff me! Theeth not a bad pony!”

He thought it over, then finally clicked his tongue. “Alright... I won’t press charges. But you,” He gestured over to the group of friends. “You need to get Ms. Dash to anger management class... I mandate it. If I don’t see her there within two weeks, she’s going away regardless and I’ll make her take it, that poor filly didn’t deserve such harm!”

Pinkie bounced up into a firm salute. “Sir, yes Sir!”

“Pinkie, he’s not military...” Rarity pointed out.

“Um... Aye aye, sir?” She said less surely.

“No that’s not--” Rarity gave up with a sigh and shook her head. “Yes, Bronze Star, we’ll get Rainbow Dash there, whatever it takes, it shouldn’t be too hard...”

“I hope...” Twilight trailed off, glancing out at the stormy skies that had gathered in Rainbow’s absence of duty, pegasi frantically darting about to try and contain them. “I have a feeling it’s not going to be that easy.”

Rainbow rested on a solitary tuft of cloud, tossing and turning on what was turning out to be a very uncomfortable surface, as it was filled to the brim with unyielding ice, unlike the clouds she was used to. But she didn’t have much choice in the matter; since, in such a cold climate, they were all like this.

She’d flown until exhaustion, heading far north. She didn’t have any particular reason for heading that way, she just picked a direction. She felt like she’d flown what seemed like halfway to Neighpon... or was that Mane-atoba? She never did pay much attention in school, a fact she often regretted whenever somepony tried to give her directions, or explain their favorite book. It was why she often made fun of Twilight; she was jealous, she just didn’t want to admit it.

“Celestia... I’m more stubborn than than Applejack.” She spoke to herself, tossing over again, hoping to find a more comfortable spot on her perch. She suspected even if the cloud was a perfect altostratus, she wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it, for her guilt made her restless. She rolled over onto a jagged, patch of pure ice. She flew up, grabbing the cloud and throwing it as far away as she possibly could. “Luna damn it!” She swore, rocketing towards the vexing creation, bucking and punching it into little more than a nebulous fog.

She hovered, arms crossed for a little while until her wings began to twinge with pain once again, far overused. She’d discovered long ago that her wings weren’t sprained, a fact that angered her even more; she’d beat up Derpy Hooves for no good reason.

“Damn it...” She choked on tears, wiping them away. “I’m so pathetic...”

Eventually, she begrudgingly shaped the cloud back together. Surprisingly, it was more comfortable now, for the ice had mostly broken apart. She felt like she was lying on a slushie. She fell backwards passively, sending a puff of white dust upward, sinking into the surface, breathing out a long, jaded sigh. Her eyes were passive, glistening at the edges with freezing tears. She was starkly reminded of just how frigid the night air this far north was.

She paused for a few, silent moments, then turned over lazily on her perch, listlessly staring forward at the ground. Lights flickered to life in the distance. A cursory squint brought rectangular shapes into focus, buildings. “Must be a village...” She muttered to herself, starting to shiver. No use freezing to death, she thought, wings flaring.

But as soon as she thought about it, her wings folded back, hesitating. For the briefest moment, she considered what she was doing. She’d just run away from her friends, from responsibility, she didn’t even see her friend Applejack off to the rodeo! She may have been the Element of Loyalty, but right now, she didn’t feel like it. She glanced down to a hoof, and it might have been the waning light, but her fur seemed just the slightest bit greyer.

“What have I done?” She whispered, clutching the cloud tight below her. “I don’t want this... I want to go home... please just let me go home...” She rambled frantically to whatever would listen. She turned south, glancing to the last rim of sun at her left. It would be too dark, and as much as it stung her pride, she couldn’t fly anymore tonight. She had to rest, or risk making a nasty tumble when her energy gave out to the point she couldn’t hold herself up.

She let her wings unfurl once again, and glided down from the cloud into the village. It was a quaint place, cross beamed timber homes capped with snow. An image of a frothing stein quickly betrayed the location of the local inn. It was a charming enough place, it had all that Rainbow Dash could ask for: a place to stay, simple meals, a staff that didn’t ask questions. It was the perfect place to lie low. Fifteen bits later, Rainbow Dash had her own room for the night, an insulated loft containing little but a desk and a mattress stuffed with hay (including a rather humorous sign asking ponies not to eat the bed.)

“Here’s to day one on the run...” She blew out the candle keeping her room alight. “Hoo bucking rah...”

"So, you're telling me that you have no idea where Rainbow Dash went?"

The mayor shook her head, grey mane bouncing slightly. "I'm afraid not, girls. I wasn't anywhere near Town Hall when the incident happened, I was at home getting myself ready for the big speech. When I had arrived, Rainbow had already left, I only saw the aftermath of what had happened."

Twilight sighed, gesturing to Spike, who was holding a rather large checklist trailing behind him. He scratched off another name, then shrugged, trying to offer his condolences in his softest voice. "Sorry Twilight... but it's hard to track a pegasus if they don't tell you where they're going. Especially one as fast as Rainbow Dash. It may be impossible to catch up to her." He stopped when he realized he was only making it worse, staring down at the ground, awkwardly clearing his throat.

"There's gotta be a way!" Pinkie exclaimed, waving her hooves frantically. "Why not use a spell or something, you're good at magic, right? Just Abra Kadabra something up!" She was becoming desperate, shaking a little bit. "Please, you gotta get my Dashie back! I can't let her go! You can't let her go to jail! Do you know what they'll do in there?! What if she drops the so--"

Rarity clamped the pony's jaw shut with her two front hooves, standing wobbly on two legs. "Darling, please... calm down, we'll get her back." She said soothingly. "And don't believe everything on those silly, gritty crime shows. Prison isn't that bad." She paused, then added. "...at least not for a tough filly like Rainbow Dash."

Pinkie slipped away, popping up beside Twilight, grabbing her around the neck and gesturing out to the wide world. "But what if we can't? She's out there, all alone! Nopony's throwing her a party or pulling pranks with her! She's probably sitting alone, out on some spiky, icy cloud way up north, crying till there's nothing left!"

Twilight shrugged her off. "Now Pinkie, you're probably dramatizing a bit. She's only been gone for a few hours. Maybe she checked in at Cloudsdale, Fluttershy will find that out." The yellow mare was absent from the search party, asking around at Cloudsdale. "She'll be back. She's the Element of Loyalty, right?" She looked at the other two ponies that had accompanied her, both glanced away, not quite sure. "...right?" She asked less surely, not even sure herself now.

She glanced at the northern sky worriedly; the only report she'd been able to obtain is that she flew north. "Please come home, Rainbow Dash."

She listed downstairs in a disconcerted haze. With no energy or will to even attempt flying, Rainbow could only blunder her way down the stairs with a grace that could tactfully be called inebriated. Luckally, it seemed the staff of the quaint venue seemed to be used to early risers, and a golden coated pegasus mare trotted over with a demeanor as bright as her fur.

“Man... she looks like Spitfire.” She thought to herself. “Really looks like Spitfire.” She gave her head the slightest shake to clear the train of thought before it derailed her priorities. What were her priorities anyway? Her stomach gave another tortured growl. Oh, right.

The goldenrod mare gave a giggle, the cute, teasing sort a young mare uses to seduce a colt into her bidding. “Sounds like you need a bite or two to eat, eh?”

The giggle pushed her fractured mind off course once again. “I wonder if she’d like to role play sometime... how easy would it be to get her in my ro... Bucking Celestia, get a hold of yourself Rainbow Dash!” She gave a disjointed stare forward, likely not winning her any points with the mare. “...yeah.” She finally said after a few awkward seconds.

The unnamed serveuse recognized that Rainbow was obviously not in any mood to talk, or else was simply loaded with Luna knows how many drugs. Considering her mane and tail were a vibrant rainbow shade, more ruffled than a spooked gryphon, the latter was a distinct possibility. “Well... um, what would you like?” She asked, becoming more direct, focused with her questions. She led Dash to a table, a simple, mock up affair of rough, hoof cut wood. These tables obviously weren’t designed for commercial work.

“Just something simple... a Daffodil sandwich or something.” Rainbow Dash mumbled back, flying up only long enough to settle down into a chair.

This prompted a tilt of her head, as if the request was absurd. “You... must be new here.” She gestured out a window to a flurry of falling snow. “It’s not exactly flower growing season...”

“Does it look like I care!” Rainbow rebutted, shouting at the waitress. She slammed a hoof on the table, making the plate rattle, jumping an inch off the surface. Everypony glanced towards the table, eliciting a blush from the blue pegasus. “Um...” She whispered now. “Sorry... just... it’s been a long day... er... was... last day... I mean... yesterday. You know what? You know what I mean, buck off.” She practically collapsed on the table, a need for quality sleep battling with intense famine. “Just... get me something... please.”

She trotted off with her first betraying emotion, a disdainful snort, and Rainbow was left to lie across the table, unwilling to move a muscle, staring at the same spot for some time. It wasn’t an interesting spot by any means, it was just a wall, not even any interesting stains or pictures. She just didn’t feel like looking somewhere else. Eventually, her eyes closed against her will, and she was plunged into a half-dream, time lurching in jagged blocks.

Some time later, she was snapped out of the quasi-sleep phase by somepony poking the plate into her face. She stirred with an unintelligible babble. The same mare returned, her expression having decayed from chipper to annoyed. “Your food, ma’am.” The final word dripped with a layer of sarcasm that even the currently dull witted Rainbow could pick it up.

“Yeah, love you too, Spitfire.” It seemed thats what she was calling the waitress now, Spitfire. She didn’t bother to ask her real name, nor did she really care, she just clutched to her memories, whatever inconveniences she encountered and remembered, so that she could remain sane.

The scent of fruit wafted by her nose, and she broke from her stupor to see exactly what “Spitfire” had dropped in front of her. It was... a sandwich, yes, good, she seemed to have kept that part. She inspected the interior. Jelly, fresh raspberry jelly. Well, there were certainly worse things to eat. She wolfed down the sandwich in a choice few bites, throwing all manner of etiquette out the window. What else did she have to lose anyway? “Another please.” She mumbled, raising a hoof. “Make that two... I haven’t eaten in days.”

She set to work hesitantly. “You’ve got the bits to pay for this, right?” She asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Yes, of course I have the bits to pay for it!” Rainbow shot back, her pride wounded. How many bits did she have, anyway? She never kept very many on hoof, since the coinpurse was terrible for her aerodynamics, and she didn’t think to grab more when she had left so suddenly. She opened it up: 20 remained. She was surprised she was carrying 35 to begin with, a larger number than she normally bothered with. Luck was on her side, for once.

She lifted her head weakly from the table to look around the tavern. “Spitfire” was the only one working it seemed, as she was balancing the load of making Rainbow Dash’s food with the duty of filling everypony’s glasses with fresh alcohol, free to wallow in their misery fifteen minutes longer. “Excuse me... where are we anyway?”

She glanced up from her work, placing the second slice of bread on the second sandwich, floating over with the tray in her hooves, and putting them both down at Dash’s table. “You’re in a little ol’ town known as Saint Germane...” She said with practiced indifference, as if she’d heard the question thousands of times before. Likely, she had, Rainbow began to realize.

“Aren’t you gonna ask why I’m here?” Dash ventured, hoping, just a little, that she could vent.

Spitfire the Second shook her head. “Isn’t my business.” She said simply. “I couldn’t care less why you’re here, as long as you pay your bits, you could’ve killed somepony for all I care.” She paused. “Well, maybe not that extreme, but you get the idea.”

“May as well’ve.” Dash muttered bitterly. Suddenly, she wished for a glass of hard cider to dull her flaring emotions. She was just barely not of age... but she looked it, right? No... this place was shelter, it was all she had, she couldn’t risk being kicked out. She chewed on the sandwiches boredly. They tasted delicious, but something about their flavor just didn’t register. Everything just seemed hollow, it was a fight to keep every bite down, despite the fact that her stomach begged for every morsel.

How many hours of sleep did she get, counting the nightmares, tossing and turning and incessant thoughts? Probably a good two, if she was lucky. Lethargy was taking its toll, as she had to grope for her second sandwich. She was in no condition to fly, but yet, she had to, or else somepony might catch up to her, and the last thing she wanted to do was explain this to her friends. A teary eyed image of Scootaloo, her biggest, undying fan, appeared in her mind’s eye.

“Why?” The orange filly sobbed. “Why did such an awesome pony as you do this?!”

Rainbow retched as she was jerked back to reality, her food suddenly becoming volatile. She managed to keep it down, but not without a degree of gasping, sweat running down her brow.

Everypony was looking at her, and she could only stare down at her plate, ashamed. Only a single bite remained of her sandwich, but nothing remained of her appetite. The very thought of eating another bite sent another cold sweat through her. She shook her head violently, tossing her full coin purse onto the table with a jingle. The silence was sepulchral, feeling the prickling of a dozen eyes upon her.

“Just take it...” She pleaded. She said nothing else, darting back up the stairs to her room, colliding with a couple walls, slamming the door and falling onto her bed, not even bothering to hold back her hysterical cries as she buried her head into the sheets.

Twilight had been forced to give up her search when she found herself unable to walk, her body succumbing to exhaustion. She was unafraid to inquire with everypony, regardless if it interrupted their respective sleep schedules at midnight, one AM, two, and then eventually three. After realizing that she couldn’t string more than three words together intelligently, and being thrown out on her rump more times than she could count, she realized it was time to just go to bed; she could continue tomorrow.

Rarity had long since departed their search party, mentioning something about needing her “beauty sleep”, and Spike even earlier, but Pinkie remained a constant companion, jabbering in her ear, even if most of it was gibberish. Twilight realized that even the indefatigable Pinkie Pie was starting to get tired at two, when she simply stopped talking, each step of hers like a listless trot though sludge. Twilight finally told Pinkie to go to sleep when the pink mare began to wobble, fighting to keep her eyes open.

She continued on alone, dragging the checklist behind her, the purple glow of her magic acting as a bastion in Luna’s pitch black night. It seemed like she’d inquired half the ponies in her small town, but the list still stretched on and on. Her stomach sank when she realized fully how scary of a situation this was. Rainbow Dash, unless she did something to give her away, would be absolutely impossible to track if she escaped unseen. There was no use, nopony that had answers would give them away at this hour. She had failed. She would just have to try again tomorrow.

“Twilight, Twilight, wake up!”

Twilight cracked open a single eye, wincing in the sunlight that glared through the crack in her curtains. Celestia sure made the sun unusually bright this morning...

“Pinkie?” She asked groggily, head splitting. Staying up so late was a better idea at the time... “What in Equestria... what time is it?”

Pinkie bounced on all four hooves, making a squeaky little “Boing!” sound, which defied all laws of physics, much like everything else she did -- Twilight stopped trying to explain it long ago.

“It’s almost noon, silly filly! Normally you don’t sleep so late, so I figured I should go get you up, you know, just to make sure you’re okay and not pulling your mane out over this Rainbow Dash stuff.” She added another couple feet to her bounce. “Ooh, ooh, ooh! I just remembered why else I came here! I got a lead! Well actually Rarity, did, but as soon as I heard, I ran over here, but gosh, you wouldn’t believe the traffic!”

Twilight, sensing that Pinkie was about to ramble on again, stopped her, practically flying out of bed, completely ignoring how tired she was. “Wait, Pinkie, a lead? You’re sure? It’s not vague or a dead end?”

Pinkie shook her head. “Nope! Rarity was talking to all her fancy pants friends she has, well, she didn’t actually talk to Fancy Pants, because he’s in Canterlot and everything, and he wouldn’t have seen Rainbow Dash, unless she stopped by Canterlot, but why would she go there? I mean... if she went there, Princess Celestia would see her, and that makes no sense, I mean... that’s just nuts if you’re trying to hide.”

“Pinkie!” Twilight grabbed her by the shoulders. “Enough about that, what did Rarity find?’

Pinkie mentally retraced her thoughts for a few seconds, then remembered what she was trying to say. “Oh right, so Rarity was talking to Filthy Rich, and it turns out that somepony claiming to be Rainbow Dash just tried withdraw all of her bits from the bank in Saint Germane”

Twilight pushed Pinkie Pie out of the way, stumbling downstairs, rapidly sorting through a bookshelf. Pinkie bounded down behind her brightly. “Whatcha looking for?”

“A map! I have to have an Equestrian atlas somewhere!”

“You mean this?” Pinkie withdrew a scroll from Celestia knows where, presenting it to Twilight. She arched her brow, tentatively taking it with her magic.

“Where did you... nevermind...” She spread the map down on a table, poring over it, suddenly placing a hoof on a small dot to the north. “Here! Saint Germane.” She then withdrew in shock. “She made it that far north?” She darted about the library, gathering quills and various pamphlets and books. “Pinkie, go get Fluttershy and Rarity, I need to find a train schedule. We’re going to Saint Germane.”

“What do you mean you can’t give me my bits!? They’re my damn bits!”

A green coated unicorn with a cutie mark of a set of balances shook his head. “Ma’am... Ms. Dash, I believe? I have nothing against you or your money... but well... it’s bank policy. All withdrawals must be accompanied by identification.”

“How do you not know who I am? Best Young Flier in Cloudsdale? The Rainbow Dash?! Did the Sonic Rainboom, twice?”

The unicorn boredly tapped his horn. “Does it look like I get to Cloudsdale very often?” He intoned dryly.

“C’mon! I’m famous! I’m the Element of Loya--” She paused, gut wrenching at that thought. Element of Loyalty... what a joke she was. She couldn’t even find the courage to go back and admit she made a mistake.

“Maybe I should just go home... they can’t hold that over me forever, right?”

Her imagination took off again as she thought of Applejack’s horrified face. “You broke an innocent filly’s nose. What the hay is wrong with ya?!”

Rarity was next, upturning her nose, her carefully constructed locks bouncing behind her. “I knew you were a brute, Rainbow Dash, but even I wouldn’t expect you to go so low as to rough up a single mother because you don’t like that she’s clumsy!”

Fluttershy hid behind a straight haired Pinkie Pie, who was currently giving her the evil eye. Twilight just shook her head, walking away.

She practically groveled to the teller, forcing herself back to reality. She couldn’t go home! “Please! I need these bits! You don’t understand!”

“Not my problem... if it is really you, then come back with the proper identification and I’ll gladly empty your account. However, we don’t give money out to strangers.”

Rainbow nodded and plodded out, head dipped low. Where could she go now?

“I could always live spartan, if I need to.”

She looked up at the scintillating flakes of snow that fluttered down to the ground around her. It could almost be considered beautiful, if she were in a better mindset. The little amount of sunlight that filtered through the falling haze of snow glinted over a frozen lake. Fillies and colts were giggling as they played in the snow.

“...I really need to take Pinkie here sometime.” She said to herself, before picking a direction, and flying.