Chapter 4: Far from Home.

Chapter 4: Far from Home.

~Lightning groaned and opened her eyes, but they didn't constantly flutter from the bright light above her, instead, they were still as a stone. Ignoring it, she looked at her surroundings. Rocky plains and mountains were shown, and Lightning saw herself lying in the rocky pavement and the shallow water of the river. She got up and wiped some of the water off her face. Her clothes and hair were half wet and super messy. She was able to fix herself up a little by tying her hair in a ponytail and attempting to dry her clothes in the spot where the most wind is breezing, holding her sleeveless jacket up high.~

Lightning grunted. "Great. We're Lost. How far though? Ah, Never mind. I'll worry about that when I find the others." She sighed.

~A scream was suddenly heard on the other side of the river far away, and it alerts Lightning to go and check it out. Roughly putting her jacket back on, Lightning arrives to see Rarity, Spike and Applejack, soaked and covered in bruises. It didn't take long for Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Twilight to also be alerted by Rarity's scream, assuming it was Rarity, and came over to where it came from. They were also covered in bruises and half-covered in water. However, Sunset and Pinkie were nowhere to be found.~

"Rarity, Are you ok?" Twilight moaned.

"My clothes are drenched! My massacre is running down…! And-" She then groaned and put her hand on her head. "I don't feel good…"

"Neither do I." Fluttershy sighed.

"You can say that again...my head hurts. Are you alright, Lightnin'?" Applejack asked, turning to Lightning.

"Me?" She softly clutched her head. "I've been better. What about you? Looks like you girls went in quite a calamity too."

"...The river was a lot rockier than we thought." Twilight said, looking down.

Spike's head and eyes suddenly started spinning. "My...head...hurts…"

~Without warning, Spike collapses to the ground with all four of his paws stretched out. Twilight and Fluttershy then both got super concerned after Spike fainted. Twilight kneels beside him, and Fluttershy places her hand over her mouth in shock.~

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Wh-what's wrong with him…?!" Fluttershy worried.

Applejack kneels down and puts her hand on Spike's back. "He must be worn out from that fight with that other dog."

"Oh yeah! It's that little thing's fault we're in this mess! And his bite was vicious!" Rainbow stated, rubbing her injured leg.

"I told you!" Lightning yelled.

"Lightnin', Rainbow Dash, let's not worry about that for now. We need to help Spike and find out where we are." said Applejack.

"Right, Right…" Lightning replied, calming down again.

~Everyone nods in agreement. Twilight lifted Spike from where he was lying. She then noticed that Spike didn't just have bruises from the rocky river, but scratches and cuts all over him and under his paws and belly. He needed medical attention quick.~

"Poor Spikey Wikey...We better find Sunset and Pinkie, as well as search for some medicine or something to heal Spike." Rarity worried.

"Hm." Twilight nodded in distress.

Everyone suddenly heard a scream.

Lightning's head turns left. "Looks like we don't have to look far."

"That sounded like Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

~The team races off to where they heard Pinkie's scream. They ran until they came across a high mountain slope of small and medium-sized rocks. With Pinkie and Sunset on top of the cliff above the rock pile at the very edge. It looked like something was threatening them, trapping them on the edge.~

"Girls!" Twilight called.

Pinkie Pie turned and looked down. "Twilight! Up here!"

"It's the blue, vicious dog!" exclaimed Sunset.

Lightning glowers. "What?!"

~Lightning started to climb up and the rocky mountain of rocks, almost slipping every time she placed a foot on the rocks since they weren't sturdy and they tumbled down, making sandy dust to blind the others down below. Lightning, eventually made it to the cliff, just hanging on below Pinkie's feet, she tilted her head as much as she could to see the blue dog creature, sitting down and staring at her normally, he wasn't growling or whimpering, so he wasn't scared of them, or even making himself scary. Lightning glared at the dog and tried to get up the cliff to give him a piece of her mind.~

"Come here, you little-Come here!" Lightning struggled.

~The dog looked in confusion and began to carefully amble to Lightning's face, sniffing along the way. Lightning then got worried, thinking the animal will attack.~

"No, Stay away, you little-Stay away!"

~Lightning was able to softly push the dog away from her, and the dog responds by turning around and kicking dusty sand in her face, making her cough and release her grip on the cliff, making her fall back down. Applejack catches her in time before she is terribly injured for the third time dealing with this thing. Pinkie and Sunset turn and look down to see if Lightning was ok, looking worried and confused. The dog then scurried off, not interested in the girls anymore.~

"Thank you, Applejack." Lightning panted.

Twilight looked at Lightning then up at the slope. "Hm...Come on, girls. We gotta catch that thing!"

"Why, Twilight? We need to find Karly!" Applejack stated.

"I have a feeling it may know something about Karly's whereabouts…" Twilight replied.

Spike fluttered his eyes open. "It...must...do…"

"Spike…"

"When I tried to catch Karly's scent on a strand of her hair...that thing's scent was also on it…" He coughed.

"So, it's responsible!?" Rainbow bellowed.

Lightning growled.

"It's responsible…" Twilight shamefully confirms.

"I don't think I'm comfortable with this…" Fluttershy said, feeling unsure. "What if we're wrong and the creature is sweet, innocent and just misunderstanding…?"

Lightning grunted. "He has some ties in with Karly's disappearance! I'm not taking any chances!"

~Lightning skillfully makes it up the rocks again, with some help from Sunset this time. The others had to catch up as well, using Rarity, Applejack and Twilight's magic. All eight girls and Spike made it to the top and look beyond into somewhat of a spruce forest. Lightning slowly begins to stomp to it.~

"Let's go!" She commanded.

"Whoa there, Lightning." Sunset stopped Lightning. "I know you want to catch this thing, but I would rather focus on the most important thing…"

"What could be more important?" Lightning scowled.

~Sunset points to the unhealthy Spike rocking in Twilight's arms. Rarity then takes in a deep breath and sighs and walks over to Lightning with tranquillity in her voice.~

"I agree with Sunset. We should find something to heal our darling, Spike."

Lightning's scrunched up face faded into a concerned face. "Uuuggghhh…! Fine!" She then groaned.

Rainbow nudged her arm. "No need to worry! I'll find something for Spike in 10 seconds flat!"

~With that, Rainbow dashes around and into the forest with her speed, she then returns 2 seconds later.~

"Ok, maybe not in 10 seconds flat...there's hardly anything in this damp forest!"

"Maybe it's because ya rushed it. We need to look closer and around the other mountains too." Applejack said.

"I could ask the animals in the forest as well…they can help…" Fluttershy suggested.

"Go for it, girls. We should split up as well to cover more ground." Sunset happily said.

"What if we lose each other?" Fluttershy asked.

"Shoot up a flare! Or...use your powers as a signal. Whichever." Lightning yelled and shugged.

"I'll make fireworks using my exploding sprinkles!" Pinkie shot her hands up in the air contentedly.

"Yeah...ok." Lightning said.

"But, remember, Pinkie Pie. Only use your powers if you see something helpful or suspicious." Applejack stated.

"Got it! Something helpful or suspicious…" Pinkie said in a serious tone as she darts her eyes to the left and right.

"Twilight and I will search the left side of the forest." Rarity said, pointing in that said direction.

"Then me and Applejack get to look around the right side!" Rainbow exclaimed, pointing right.

"I'll take Pinkie with me to look over the northwest…" Sunset directed Pinkie to the northwest.

"I'll...um...take Flutters and me to the northeast...I guess…" Lightning stuttered a little.

Twilight sighed. "Spike will be with me and Rarity too."

"Alright…" Lightning sighed.

Sunset smiles proudly. "We'll find something that can help Spike and we'll meet back here once we do. If anyone finds something, use the signal. Let's split up."

~Everyone nods and splits up two by two and heads to the moderately sized trees in different directions. Rainbow and Applejack run for it, while the rest walk.~

~A little while had passed and no one had any luck in finding anything. No signal was activated. Lightning and Fluttershy were strolling down the forest pathway and Lightning was gravely irritated. Her hand was covering half of her face then she throws both of her hands forward and sighs.~

"There's nothing here!" Lightning groaned. "I think the forest had already been explored, let's just head back, I'm getting bored."

"Um...Lightning...this is only the first area...I'm sure the others may also find something…" Fluttershy softly stated while smiling.

"This makes us coming here a waste of time. I'm sure Spike can heal himself! I honestly don't want to do this!" Lightning huffed, crossed her arms.

The shy girl gasps in shock. "H-How can you say that?! Spike needs our help...! We can't leave him in agony…! Princess Twilight did tell me one time, you can't always get what you want…"

Lightning looked at Flutters in fear and sighs. "Ok…Ok...I'm getting frustrated again...Of course, I can't always get what I want...I have never met this Princess Twilight but she sounds like she's a good mentor…"

"She is...She brought us back together, reformed Sunset Shimmer and helped us defeat the Dazzlings too. We have been keeping in touch ever since." Fluttershy replied.

"What would she say about this situation?" asked Lightning.

"A friend going missing? I'm not sure…"

"Well-Actually, I don't know what to say about that…"

~Fluttershy giggled and Lightning smiles and rolls her eyes, calming down from her frustration. Although, she is still feeling salty about that mysterious dog and his ties with Karly going missing. Fluttershy could still see Lightning was upset from her expression, so she attempts to still be understanding by smiling softly and sweetly and placing her hand on Lightning's shoulder. This makes Lightning smile back at her, feeling comfortable to be around her. Fluttershy then spots something hanging from a small oak tree and cheers.~

"That's perfect…!" She gasped and rushes over to the tree.

"Hm?"

"Do you see those berries on that tree?"

Lightning looks up to see red berries on the top of the tree. "Yeah…"

"We can use them. They are Wuloric berries. They heal bad wounds and any poor animals that are sick…" Fluttershy explained.

"How do you know?" Lightning asked.

"A mouse brought them to me one time and told me to give them to a bird with an injured wing, and the next day, the bird was flying high once again…!"

Lightning smugged. "Huh. I guess if it worked for that bird, it'll work for Spike. Ok, I'll climb up the tree and get the berries, you signal the others to come here…"

~Lightning takes off her jacket and throws it on the floor before jumping on the tree. Clutching on the bark and branches, she gradually makes her way up the tree. Fluttershy walks over to another nearby tree and calls out to some birds. Three of them answer her call and flew down. Two landed on her head and the third one lands on her finger. The one on her finger chirps and Fluttershy begins to whisper to it. It nods after she was done whispering and all the birds fly off. She goes back to Lightning still climbing the tree.~

"My bird friends will find the others…" Fluttershy waved.

"Alright-WHOA!"

~Lightning goes to turn to Fluttershy's direction but one of her hands loses grip and she began to fall but Lightning grasps on again, quickly, only a bit lower than where she was. Fluttershy covers her eyes when Lightning slipped but opens them again to see if she's ok.~

"Phew...I'm ok! Fast reflexes! What a secret agent mostly needs!"

The shy girl sighs in relief. "Ok…" Her eyes suddenly widen. "Um…?"

"I know, my reflexes are so quick." Lightning continued, ignoring her. "Well, it's because most villains like to take you by surprise, so my reflexes improved every time I encounter these types of villains."

"Um...Lightning?"

"Hopefully your skills can grow to be like me!"

"Lightning?"

"Maybe even better than me!"

"Lightning, look out-"

Fluttershy screamed and Lightning shouted in surprise.