(Open) I just need to get away...

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"I just need to get away... You know? I need to travel. Just for a bit. I would never leave you guys! I swear! I just... I need to find something. I don't know what, but I need to. Hope you understand... -Rainbow Dash

That was the letter she left at Twilight's house. She'd get the message to the others. That was Twilight. She was always reliable. Dash sighed, rubbing her temples. She missed the common horizon of Ponyville already. But, she had promised herself this. This one thing needed to be found. It was a gaping hole in her chest that just kept getting bigger. An emptiness that wouldn't go away just never left. She had thought about asking her friends, but most of them would overreact or just wouldn't understand.

Rainbow let out another breath, watching it immediately turn to fog. She had just taken a train in a random direction. Apparently she had decided to go somewhere cold. It wasn't freeze your butt off cold, but it was cold. And humid. It felt like she was in air soup. Come on Dashie, focus. You're looking for something... Geez, you don't even know what you're looking for! Nice plan! Rainbow Dash, defeated, turned around, but paused, watching the train she was just on roll away. Great. That's just great.

Another sigh escaped her lips, and she stepped off the platform, immediately shivering at the feel of mud. Might as well start walking... How far... She really didn't know. She didn't. What she did know, was that... Did it feel colder all of a sudden? Dash ran forwards, the muddy swamp gradually giving way to ice. She kept going, and found herself in lava fields. That didn't even make sense! Was Discord back again? Was-

Yeah, right... Her life wasn't that exciting. Pretty much nothing had happened since the Wedding, so Rainbow Dash had caught herself fantasizing about things that Daring Do might run into. If only she was Daring Do... Sadly, she wasn't.

She trudged through the mud, trying to see some sort of landmark, through the heavy fog that surrounded her. But it was just trees, and vines, and mud. Whatever she was trying to find, it wasn't out here... Dash sighed, continuing her march through the soup.

Luckily, the soup seemed to break away. The fog parted, as did the mud and trees, to show a town, surrounded by a magic bubble. Now that looked a bit more promising. Dash stepped through the magic, only feeling a tingle. It seemed nice enough. She trotted in, looking around, and ran smack into another pony.

[lost]

((It says open so... Here we go?))

It had been about an hour since Blank had managed to stumble off at the wrong platform and she was starting to get nippy. The ice mud under her hooves crunched and squelched oddly and the dense fog made traveling on the difficult side. She had set off at a trot originally, thinking she could just head out and find a civilization somewhere in the chilly, humid air. There wouldn't be a platform out in the middle of no where, if there wasn't even a small town or village nearby to make use of it.

However, as she traveled, she could have sworn she was just wondering in circles. This theory was proven true when she stopped and found a set of hoof prints... her own hoof prints. Now she was just frustrated. Maybe her best bet was to simply turn around and wait at the platform.

The unicorn had just turned around to head back in the direction she thought the platform was only to run right into somepony. She grunted and stumbled trying to back up and look at whoever she ran into, her ears flickering in annoyance at her own clumsiness.

"Wha-who?"

She blinked and stared into the face of a pale blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. A rainbowed lightning bolt cutie mark rested on her flank. Blank shook her head and snorted, backing up even more.

"Sorry about that,"she said. "I was just trying to get back to the platform... I didn't mean to get off here."

[Deleted]

She stumbled backwards. When she looked to see who it was, she was surprised to see a rather dull pony standing there. Eh, dull's mean. Plain. Simple. In fact, she didn't even have a cutie mark. A bit weird, but, Dash wandering in a swamp wasn't exactly normal. "The platform? Oh, it's... Uh..." She looked back into the fog, trying to make sense of it.

Yeah, no going back now. She hadn't exactly memorized the path, so... "I just came from there, but... Sorry... Can't see anything. Do you know where we are?"

[lost]

Blank flicked her tail and peered behind the other pony, trying to see through the thick mist with no such luck. She flicked an ear back and looked back at the pegas again, shifting on her hooves restlessly. Not knowing where she was, when she'd always known where she was, was an unsettling feeling. Being lost was hardly her favorite state of being.

Meeting the other pony's magenta eyes, she frowned and shook her head slowly. "I'm afraid I don't..."she said, feeling a bit despondent over being very little help. She looked away again, trying to make out their surroundings. Mostly there just seemed to be a lot of fog and vague, shadowy outlines that gave Blank Slate the heeby geebies. She shuddered slightly and shook her head.

Turning back around, her eyes instead landed on the other pony's wings. "You're a pegasus,"she said, stating the obvious. "Why don't you see if you can't fly up above the fog?" She smiled, happy to have come up with some kind of idea.

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Geez, why hadn't she thought of that? But, nonetheless, she was up for flying any day. Her wings immediately snapped open. "I thought you'd never ask." She jumped upwards, easily catching a wind gale. She rode the wind, carrying her upwards, before breaking through the fog.

That was all there was. As far as she could see, fog covered every inch of the ground. She could see the tops of a few trees, but no train platform. Time to be lost... Great... Dash angled her wings downwards, and flew back down. She came to a halt, setting her hooves back on the ground. "Just fog. Fog everywhere."

[lost]

Blank watched the blue pony streak into the air, stepping back a bit from the sudden whoosh of air. She waited and waited what seemed like an eternity, a niggling at the back of her mind telling her,'She could just fly away and leave you lost here...' She flicked an ear back at the thought and backed up some more, hooves crunching through the ice. Her eyes narrowed, trying to see through the fog and she was almost relieved when the pegasus's shadow and then form came into view.

Her heart dropped at the other mare's words though. Nothing but fog, huh? Well... it couldn't persist to the end of the world. She'd just have to keep walking forward until she got out. That's how she got out of everything in life, at least!

"Oh well... there has to be a town around here,"Blank reasoned. "They would just drop a train platform out in the middle of nowhere if there wasn't, ya' know." She smiled broadly.

"My name is Blank Slate!"she said, turning around so she was sideways. "Kinda obvious, huh?" Her tail waved to indicate her empty flank and she giggled and turned back, blushing a little as a tiny snort escaped her. It didn't stop her from grinning broadly.

"What should I call you?"she said, eagerly.

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Rainbow Dash blinked, looking directly behind Blank Slate at the town in the magic bubble she had seen earlier. "Uh, yeah... Gotta find that town." She wondered how long it would take Blank Slate to realize what Dash was looking at. "Name's Rainbow Dash. And, we really should get looking for that town. Could be anywhere. Could be two miles, could be two steps, could be two days away... Could be two steps..."

She just sarcastically shrugged. "Well, may as well get started." She took two steps past Blank Slate, and smiled. "Oh, hey look, a town."

[lost]

((XD; Ach. Sorry, I didn't see that part in your post. I read it late at night. ))

Blank Slate had never been known for good eye sight, let alone being the most observant. She had completely missed the town! She turned sharply as Rainbow Dash pointed it out and blinked, flushing a bit more. "Haha... that's been there the whole time, right?"she said, looking rather sheepish for a pony. Her grin had diminished to a small, embarrassed smile. She cleared her throat.

"Uh... well, at least you found a town..."

She brightened, trying to not let it get her down. "And now maybe we can find out where the hay we are,"she said. Yes, the bright side was always the better side; no pessimism. Though... why the town was out in the middle of the cold, swampy area... with a magical bubble force field around it... in the midst of all this fog...

Er...

Suddenly she thought it a very good idea to be in the bubble town. "Uh... lets get going, shall we?"Blank said eager. She brushed past the pegasus at a hurried trot, feeling antsy. Obviously there was something in the fog that the townsfolk thought very important to keep out. Blank Slate didn't want to find out what that was...

[Deleted]

Rainbow Dash took the ponies words with a grain of salt, just stepping past her, and into the bubble. Immediately, she could tell the difference. The air felt like air. It didn't feel so soupy and tight. The ground was dry. It was like an oasis.

"I'm sure somepony in here could point us in the right direction. I need to get off somewhere that's less-" A few ponies pushed past her, running at high speeds. "I mean, I need to-" She watched soldiers run past.

Dash frowned finally, when she saw a triad of unicorns running past. "Alright, what the hay is going on around here?!" Her hoof shot out, stopping a stallion in his tracks. "Hey, bub, where's the fire? What's going on? What's with the shield?"

He looked at them both, fear shining through his eyes. "Changelings! They're everywhere!" He kept running. Changelings?! She stopped another pony. "Griffins are gonna eat me!" "Snakes!"

Rainbow Dash looked at Blank Slate. "What are they talking about? I don't see a thing."

[lost]

((Oh, this is interesting. ))

Blank Slate blinked and watched the unicorns charge by, barely able to dodge one as it nearly trampled her. Grunting a bit, she frowned and laid her ears back, feeling more niggling doubt somewhere that they really needed to get as far away from this place as possible. All the townponies seemed frightened of... something... something that didn't exist.

"I'm... not really sure,"she said, glancing back at the bubble. It seemed to work well at keeping the fog out and the air really did feel much nicer inside but... everypony was acting so strange. The fur at the tip of her tail bristled and she looked to Rainbow Dash.

So far the other pony didn't seem to hold her with very high regard but maybe that was just the way she was? Or it was possible that Blank Slate had done something... She shook her head not dwelling on it.

"Maybe we could try knocking on a few doors or visiting some of the shops?"Blank suggested, eyeing a near by library. "Somepony around here has to not be... uh... crazy or in a hurry..." At the very least she hoped so. She pawed the ground, which was much harder than that they'd just left, and moved toward the library. Librarians, she found, were generally trustworthy people.

"Lets try over her first,"she said. "Usually the library keeps a copy of the town's local newspaper. That'll at least tell us where the hay we are, right?"

[Deleted]

So, Rainbow Dash made her way through the freaking out ponies. Dash picked a newspaper off of the ground, and almost fell over at what she saw. "The village of Crane's Town, or ScareTown as some would call it now, has been experiencing a series of hallucinations, all being the pony's fear. I myself have experienced these, but have placed myself in a secluded room, stripped bare, and given myself herbs to stay sane."

"My name is Ink Wells. I used to be one of the most renowned reporters. Then, this stupid mist came through." Rainbow Dash gasped. She had breathed it in. They both had. "Everypony's infected with it. There is no known cure. I've only managed to find a temporary solution. This is the only way I can warn you. You need to find the train station. You need to travel somewhere, and tell everypony about what's happening! You have to-Oh, Celestia! They're everywhere! Get them away!" "These writings were found in a small cottage outside of town. The inhabitant had been hung. We have reason to believe it was a suicide."

Rainbow Dash dropped the paper shaking her head. "We've gotta do something! We can't let this happen! We gotta find that cottage! Whatever Ink Wells was using staved it off, even if it was temporary. Must have a way to make it permanent. Or, maybe find the unicorn who made this bubble, I don't know! We just need to do something!"

[lost]

((Oh, this reminds me of BBC's Sherlock!))

"Whoa, whoa! What?!"

Blank's eyes were comically wide. "A hallucinogenic fog?"she said, feeling sick and anxious suddenly. She'd been out in the fog a lot longer than Rainbow Dash had; that means she was probably well on her way to acting like a maniac like these other ponies. She flicked her ears back and pawed the ground nervously; what if she started to imagine her worst fear? What if she ended up like the other ponies around here?!

No! Keep yourself together! Don't panic! That'll just make things worse! Deep breath!

She sucked in a hard, shuddering breath and closed her eyes, thinking hard. Had she ever seen anything like this on her travels? Something similar? She frowned, drawing a panicky blank... Their best bet was probably find this Ink Well's home and investigate.

"Okay,"she said, nodding and opening her eyes. "Okay, we do have to do something... First, we probably should find Ink Well's home. If we find his home, maybe we can find some notes on the herbs he mentioned." Yeah... that sounded like a good idea. Any herbs he may have eaten would probably be around his home to begin with; easy to get and supply to himself.

"It said something about a small cottage... "she mumbled, moving over and peering at the paper as well,"but its probably best if neither of us get anymore exposure to the fog. Maybe we could find some kind of mask to block it out?"

[Deleted]

Rainbow Dash nodded. Masks could be useful. Probably weren't any in this town. Have to make do... Heh, if Rarity could see what she was about to do. "There aren't any masks, so we're gonna have to use something else." She ran up to a clothesline, and yanked the first thing she saw down. She wrapped a towel around her mouth.

It wasn't a mask, but it would do. She ripped one down, and tossed it to Blank Slate. "We're the sanest ponies here, so it's our job to save them." Well, finding herself would have to wait. These ponies needed their help.