Twilight Sparkle looked around the living room of her library, surveying the scene of confusion and emotional dismay. Two mares were frantically debating on which course of action they should take in response to the current situation, unable to keep still and bottle up all of the anxiety and insecurity they were feeling for the ones they loved. Twilight sighed, her patience beginning to run thin.
"So, what are we gonna do?! Mah sister's out there!" complained Applejack, a sour tint of frustration in her voice. AJ could feel the muscles in her throat begin to contort, her voice becoming shakier, and her breathing and heart beat quickening. She looked over to her left, where her friend and fellow Element of Harmony, Rarity, was sitting on her haunches, unable to even speak because of the powerful downpour of sobbing. The white unicorn had lost her composure nearly an hour ago when she heard of what had happened, blowing her nose on countless tissues, her eyes softer than Applejack had ever seen in the fashonista before.
Rarity hadn't even looked up from her tissues at the question, and continued to let her flood of tears soak the floor around her, mixing with the gooey stream of mucus that spilled from her nostrils, despite her best efforts to suppress it. Twilight looked at the wooden hard floor beneath Rarity, now stained with her tears and mucus. She cared for her friend, but couldn't help but feel disgusted that she would have to clean it up later. Oh, right. That's what Spike's here for.
"Listen! We need to stop and regroup. We're not going to find your sisters in this state." Twilight's voice boomed through the room, silencing everypony... Except for Rainbow Dash, who was silent the entire time. It almost made you wonder if she even cared. Twilight was sure she did, she was just keeping her composure, and doing a pretty good job at it...
"Okay, now that you're all silent, we can find out what's going on. Where was the last place you saw them?" asked Twilight.
"Well, Apple Bloom said she was going to Fluttershy's cottage with the others." replied AJ. Rarity momentarily ceased her sobbing to answer the question.
"A-as... did Sw-s-sweetie B-be-e-e-elle!" she continued crying at her sisters name, almost worse than before. Rainbow Dash looked Twilight in the eyes with a look that answered the question the same way.
"Okay. Now, we need to formulate a plan. Any suggestions?" Nopony replied. They all glared at Twilight like she had the answers to everything. Twilight paused to enter deep thought into a plan.
"Alright. Rainbow Dash, you and me will fly over the Everfree and see if we can find them. Okay?" Twilight looked at Dashie, who, once again, simply nodded in response, but it was good enough for Twilight.
"Good. Now, AJ, you will stay here with Rarity to see if they come back. Got it?" Applejack opened her mouth to protest for a second, only to shut it once more, realizing that she had no better idea.
"Got it." She agreed, looking at Rarity, who was still burning through tissue paper like a wildfire.
"Alright, then. We have a plan."
"Where are we?" Apple Bloom asked in confusion.
"I don't know, but I'm pretty sure we're going in circles." replied Scootaloo, whose hooves were becoming sore. They had been walking for nearly an hour now. The stress was kicking in, and all three of them were beginning to fear the worst.
"Girls, if we get through this, promise that we'll never try to be explorers again?" asked Sweetie Belle in a moan that constituted both fear and exhaustion.
"Okay." Scootaloo said, feeling guilty because it was her idea in the first place.
"You betcha." Apple Bloom replied. They walked on for nearly 30 minutes. The sun was long gone, the moonlight glowing enough only to keep them from bumping into a tree. The forest had always freaked them out, but at this point, they never wanted to come back. Sweetie Belle couldn't stop thinking of how her sister must be worrying right now. She thought of all the things she had ever said to her, and then it hit her.
"Wait!" she called to the other two in front of her, her voice startling them, causing them to jump and somehow spin in the air.
"My sister told me that, if you ever get lost, it's a good idea to stay in one spot. That way, it's easier for somepony to find you." The other two looked at each other, considering the idea.
"She's right." they said in a unison that suggested sudden clarity. The three searched for a spot to hunker down in and wait, eventually finding a cluster of bushes that didn't have thorns in them, for once. They all huddled in, hiding themselves out of fear of something that wasn't a pony that would find them first...
Twilight adjusted the saddle bags on her flank, preparing for flight and search operations. Rainbow Dash was at her side, simply waiting for Twilight to get ready so they could go already.
"All set!" said Twilight.
"Good, come on."
Twilight noticed how impatient Rainbow Dash sounded all of a sudden, like she didn't care about what was happening. No... Rainbow Dash did care, she just didn't care as much as the others. She still loved Scoots, but not like family. Twilight was snapped from her contemplation as she noticed that Rainbow Dash had already taken off, and was now almost 100 feet ahead.
"The nerve of some ponies..." Twilight mumbled to herself as she opened her wings and caught up with Rainbow Dash.
"What was that?!" Scootaloo said in a suddenly panicked tone, waking the others. The other two had nearly fallen asleep in the bush, only to be awoken by Scoots panicking at a rustling noise in the vegetation nearest to them. All three began hyperventilating as the noise came closer, becoming louder, more violent, more present. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo all lunged from the bush, hitting the ground and running for their lives, the sound of their screams erupting into the forest.
They ran as fast as their underage legs could carry them, their ruckus becoming less and less audible, until you couldn't hear it at all. They had run far from the bushes now, deeper into the forest. The bushes continued rustling however, a tiny glow becoming visible through the thick brush. Eventually, a tiny head with glowing antenna popped out, curious as to what that screaming noise was.
"Zawkol ansar vula, messe." She called back to her fellow Breezies, still foraging for berries within the bush. Two more heads popped out, each one now looking around and searching for the source of the screaming they had heard...
