“I’m very sorry, dearie, but I haven’t seen anypony else outside since the storm hit,” the blue earth pony explained, shaking her head.
A quite thoroughly soaked Twilight Sparkle sighed. “Alright. Thanks anyway, Mrs. Cake.” With that, she turned back toward the road.
“You be careful out there, now!” Mrs. Cake called after Twilight as she closed the sweet shop door.
Twilight galloped toward a nearby overhanging roof, beneath which Rainbow Dash and Applejack were already waiting.
Applejack fiddled nervously with her hat. “Any luck?”
Twilight shook her head. “Nothing. I really thought she would be somewhere on the main road, but nopony’s seen her.”
Rainbow Dash cringed. “So if she’s not at the farm, and she’s not in town, then…”
“…she must still be somewhere in the Everfree!” Applejack concluded, her eyes nearly the size of dinner plates. “C'mon, we gotta hurry!”
“Applejack, wait!” Twilight leaped in front of Applejack to stop her from charging off into the storm.
Applejack glared. “We ain’t got time for this, Twilight! My baby sister’s still out there! What the hay are you stopping me for?”
Twilight’s expression softened, but she stood her ground. “I heard a report earlier that there have been timberwolf sightings near the forest in the past few days. They’re dangerous enough under the light of day; in a storm like this, we would never see them coming.”
“T-Timberwolves?!” Applejack practically screeched. “Land sakes, I’d never have let her off on her own like that if I’d known…!”
Twilight nodded. “That’s why I want to get a second opinion first.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “A second opinion? From who?”
Applejack visibly relaxed as the answer came to her. “From somepony who was out there all day building a fence.”
Twilight nodded. “If he saw anything out of the ordinary, that might be all the clue we need.” She took a step forward and put a gentle hoof over Applejack’s shoulders. “We’ll find her, I promise. Let’s go talk to Tank and see if - ”
“…aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAA”
A milk-curdling scream accompanied a blur of green and purple shooting past the three ponies at blinding speed.
“AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa…”
For several seconds, the three simply stared.
Finally, Twilight blinked. “Was that… Tank? And Spike? They went by so fast, it’s hard to tell…”
Rainbow scratched her head. “It… looks like they’re headed toward the forest.”
“Well that sure answers our question, don’t it? Let’s go!” Without another moment of hesitation, Applejack took off in pursuit, hooves kicking up mud as she galloped away. Twilight and Rainbow Dash exchanged very brief glances before following behind her.
It felt like every fiber of his being was screaming at him to turn back.
Even in the dim light, Tank could see the road split up ahead. Taking the alternate path would lead him to Fluttershy’s cottage; surely she wouldn’t begrudge him the shelter? If he showed up at her door, sopping wet and trembling, he’d be warm and dry before he knew it. Sitting by the fire, wrapped in a towel, and nursing a hot cup of tea… That had to be the best plan he’d heard all day.
“Come on, Tank, we’re almost there! You’re doing great!” Spike gave Tank a reassuring pat.
A small sigh escaped Tank as he remembered that retreat wasn’t an option. Gritting his teeth, he charged straight ahead, the path to Fluttershy foregone in an instant.
From his perch on Tank’s back, Spike stood up, peering through the pouring rain as they reached the mouth of the forest path. “We made it! But where could she be? I don’t see any sign of her…”
Tank skidded to a stop in the mud, shaking like the leaves on the nearby trees under the torrent of rain hitting them. A sharp intake of breath, and…
“APPLE BLOOM!”
A moment passed, but no sound could be heard over the rain. Tank took off running once again, frantically looking this way and that for any sign of the little filly. “Please be okay, please be okay, please be - ”
RUMBLE
“AAAAUGH”
In an instant, Tank went from charging full tilt down the path to falling snout-first into the mud, his passenger tumbling from his back and landing nearby. As Spike watched, Tank curled up on the ground and desperately tried to cover his head with his forelegs. “No no no no no, please make it stop…!”
“…eeeeelp!”
Tank gasped. His ears perked up as he lifted his head, the better to pick out the source of the sound. “I heard something! Where was that?”
“Over here!” Spike waved Tank over to a sinkhole even larger than the one they’d found earlier that day, ten feet wide and at least as many deep. Tank approached it with shaky steps and peered over the edge.
“Apple Bloom…!”
An exhausted-looking Apple Bloom peered up at Tank from halfway down the now-flooded hole, too deep to stand in but too shallow to climb out. Muddy hoof marks and scrapes around the edges told a tale of numerous failed escape attempts that had left her with little recourse beyond sitting there treading water. As Tank watched, her head dipped under the surface for a couple of seconds before she breached again, gasping desperately for air.
“Help!” Apple Bloom flailed desperately, panting hard between words. “Tank! Help… hurry…!”
“Hang on!” Tank immediately laid flat on his belly, reaching down over the edge as far as his forelegs would stretch. “You’re gonna be fine! Here, grab on!”
“O-Okay!” Apple Bloom swam forward until she was almost directly beneath Tank and reached as high as she could, but it wasn’t enough; scant inches still separated their hooves. “Rrgh… can’t… reach…”
Tank gritted his teeth once again. “Okay… okay, here we go. Everybody chill out, I got this.” A careful nudge of his hind leg put him a little closer, then another, until…
“Gotcha!”
Tank’s hooves finally came together around Apple Bloom’s forelegs, causing her to emit a sigh of relief audible even over the roar of the storm. A second later, Tank inched forward yet again.
Apple Bloom blinked. “Uh… Tank…?”
Tank gave her a nervous grin. “Everything is fine! Totally not slipping. Just stay calm. Breathe! Breathing is good.” Try as he might, he’d already slipped too far to see anything over his shoulder but the ominous trees of the Everfree looming over the pathway. “Spike! I could use a little help over here!”
Several seconds passed, but saw no response.
“Spike? SPIKE!” Tank’s eyes darted between the dark clouds above and the muddy water below. “Okay, so Spike ran off somewhere. That’s fine! No need to worry. Let’s just… let’s just stay calm and - ”
RUMBLE
“AAAAAAAA”
Tank flailed in absolute panic, very nearly dropping Apple Bloom in the process. In regaining his grip on her, however, he’d lost what traction his hind hooves had in the mud, and he began sliding much more rapidly over the edge, inches from being trapped in the hole himself.
“Gotcha!”
Something grabbed onto Tank’s hind legs just as he lost the last of his grip on the edge and pulled both him and Apple Bloom out of the hole, causing the two to land in the mud with a splat.
“Didn’t think I’d leave you hanging, did you?” Rainbow Dash gave the both of them a confident smirk.
The sound of muddy hoofbeats rang out a second later as Twilight and Applejack caught up, accompanied by none other than Spike.
In spite of himself, Tank spent a moment scratching his head. “Oh, so that’s where he went.”
“You made it!” Twilight grinned up at Rainbow. “Good catch, Rainbow Dash.”
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack didn’t stop running until she’d scooped up Apple Bloom in her hooves. “Moon and stars, June bug, I thought I’d lost you. I’m so glad you’re alright…”
Apple Bloom trembled, but smiled all the same. “I’m fine, Applejack! Really, I am. Tank came and found me…”
“Hey, can I interject for just a sec?”
Five heads turned toward Tank, who stood once again on shaky legs. “Is there any chance this conversation could happen back at the library? ‘Cause I need a roof over my head right the void now.”
“Oh!” Twilight winced. “Oh goodness, I almost forgot…! Come on, everypony - let’s get back to the library, quick!”