//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Far from Home 
// Story: Lightning and Stitch (#2) 
// by LightningStar626 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 4: Far from Home

~Lightning's eyes didn't flutter upon waking on the surface. Instead, she groaned and opened them slightly, noticing the overhead sunlight. She was as still as a stone. Ignoring it, she turned her head groggily and peered at her surroundings. It had stopped raining, and the flooding had gone. She saw herself lying in some gravel in a shallow puddle that came from the river.~

~Lightning tried to sit up on the ground to take a breather, but the accident had begun to take its toll on the rest of her body. A shooting pain coursed from her wrist to her shoulder, like a surge of electricity. She stared at her reflection on the river's glare and tried to fix the bandages around her head and over her eye. At first, she removed it, but after seeing the horrible damage, she immediately put it back on, not wanting to look at it. She called out to the Rainbooms.~

"GIRLS?"

~There was no answer. After a lot of panting and groaning later, the young spy finally felt better enough to stand and try to fix herself up a little by attempting to dry her clothes where the wind was mostly blowing. She held her sleeveless jacket up high and let it catch in the breeze. Then, she hung it over the nearby branch of a dead tree. She checked her watch. It was now seven in the evening, Karly had been missing for almost seven hours, while they had been asleep and lost for three! Lightning was shell-shocked; pale and exhausted, and her eyes were red and glassy. She didn't mean for her and the Rainbooms this time to vanish. She needed to find them fast. They couldn't have gone far, she thought.~ 

~Roughly putting her jacket back on, she ran along the river edge, despite the injury now throbbing in her legs. A familiar wooded area was seen nearby so that gave a hint that they could not have drifted far. Lightning kept to the river's side, in hopes to see someone, until finally she heard a groan. Lightning rose her head expectantly, and saw Rarity, Twilight and Applejack just crawling out of the water, soaked and covered in bruises.~

"Oh my gosh- Twilight! Rarity! Applejack!"

"Lightnin'!"

~Lightning hopped over to the three girls and helped Applejack to her feet immediately. She removed her hat from her head and twisted it to get the water out like it was a flannel. They turned to the other two.~

"Are you okay?" asked Lightning.

"Am I okay?!" exclaimed Rarity. "Look at me! My clothes are drenched, my massacre is running down, and- "

~The fashionista suddenly stopped as she felt her stomach and chest ache. It was as if something heavy had been placed on top of her for a long time and now that it had been removed, her body was slowly coming back to shape. She fainted into Applejack's arms. Lightning was horrified.~

"Oh, Rarity…"

"You can say that again. My head hurts an' it feels as if an apple tree fell on me." Applejack sighed in pain. "What about you? Are you alright, Lightnin'?" she then asked, turning to the said girl.

"Me?" Lightning softly clutched her head all of a sudden, and adjusted her bandages nervously. "Ahh, not so great. The tumble put pressure on my head and I felt it open again along with a shoulder and wrist cramp."

"Why ever would you pull us down then?" Rarity said, annoyed at her at the stunt she pulled at the slope.

"W-well, Spike fell so, I felt we needed to- "

"Spike!" Twilight suddenly rang out after staying silent for a while. She remembered what happened, and was concerned. "Oh my gosh- Where is Spike?!"

"He fell down into the river first. Goodness knows where he is now, I- "

~Suddenly, the sounds of whining and whimpering were heard not too far ahead. Twilight immediately recognised them to be her dog's.~

"Spike!"

~She immediately turned towards the sound and headed off at once. It didn't take long to find what she was looking for. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were there too, same bruises and pale faces. They were looking down at the purple dog. Twilight jostled her way past them to see. Spike turned, his face soaked by the heavy river. His cheek had a deep, fresh scratch, partially hidden by splattered mud, and his left foreleg was swollen and crooked and bruised. He collapsed to the ground, whimpering in pain. Fluttershy placed her hand over her mouth in shock.~

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed.

"W-what's wrong with him?" cried Rarity.

Applejack dropped to one knee and put her hand on Spike's back. "He's hurt bad. I think it's his leg."

"You're right. It looks like a terrible sprain." Fluttershy said. "Oh, poor Spike."

"Let me see," Rainbow said, and began rubbing the fractured leg. "That doesn't hurt, does it?"

"OWW!" Spike whined.

"Oh! Sorry!"

"Quick, we need to clean his wounds and patch them up. Where's the med kit?" Lightning ordered.

"We don't know…" said Fluttershy.

"What?"

"We lost all o' our stuff when we entered the river," Applejack explained. "We have nothin'."

"Unless Sunset and Pinkie might have recovered some stuff. But we need to find them first." Twilight said.

"You haven't seen them?" asked Rainbow.

Lightning blinked in surprise. "No, have you? Or at least, any leads to Karly perhaps?"

The question was sudden but Fluttershy realised that she and Dash should have expected it. The shy girl shook her head. "No, we're sorry."

~Lightning pressed her lips together, staying silent. She seemed to be evaluating the answer before finally turning away, seething in anger. She kicked a rock wedged in the floor, but since it was wedged in real good, all it resulted in doing was hurting Lightning's foot.~

She cursed in pain. "AHHH!"

~She recovered quick but growled fiercely like an angry lion.~

"Right, we're gonna need to look about. We can't have lost THREE of us now! Let's just quickly do what we can with Spike, then head towards the trees."

~The girls shuffled to obey. Fluttershy wet a washcloth and brought it to the riverside and gently wiped Spike's face. Rainbow Dash then removed her jacket and wrapped it around the puppy to keep him warm. Finally, Twilight took him in her arms and carried him. It was a struggle as he weighed at least forty pounds, and her arms ached, but she couldn't do much else but be there for him. After that, they took off in the forest in hopes to find Sunset and Pinkie.~

"You know, since we are in the forest near our city, we must be quite close to Camp Everfree," said Twilight.

"Camp Everfree?" Lightning questioned.

"Yeah! It's the place where we got our geodes." Rainbow smiled, remembering that glorious day.

"From the most gorgeous crystal cave ever to exist!" added Rarity.

"Huh. I wonder then…" Lightning said, looking down. "Do you think Karly might have gone there?"

"Well, I don't know about that. She doesn't really know of its existence now, does she? But, I suppose, if we do find the camp, we could ask our friends living there, Gloriosa Daisy and Timber Spruce." Twilight explained.

"Ooooh~ Timber Spruce! It'll be good to see him again- Ehh, Twi?" Rainbow winked, nudging Twilight's arm.

"Wh-what?" Twilight stuttered. "Oh! Well, I g-guess!" she laughed nervously.

Lightning was confused. "Uhh, is there something that I should know?"

Rainbow smirked. "Yeah- Timber Spruce is Twilight's boyfriend."

"Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed, her face blushing red. She laughed nervously as she turned to Lightning. "What she means to say is, Timber is a very close friend of mine. We've been on a few dates, but we've never made anything official yet. We just don't want to rush things, you know?"

"Nope!" came a high-pitched voice. "Sure, they like each other, but they would rather wait a few months before becoming a couple!"

"WHOA!"

~Pinkie Pie made her grand entrance by dropping down from the imaginary ceiling and landing right in front of the girls.~

"Ohh- Pinkie! There you are! Glad to see you're okay! Is Sunset with you, too?" Applejack said.

"Right here, AJ."

~They saw an orange-skinned hand peek out from the distant trees, then Sunset Shimmer came out from behind. Both she and Pinkie had bruises on their knees and legs but so far looked fine from their upper bodies. It seemed as if they got hurt the least out of the gang from the violent catastrophe.~

Lightning looked in her eyes shamefully. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"Not as okay as you." Sunset responded, but tried to be reasonable. "Lightning, I explicitly said not to push forward- Why did you do that?"

"It-It was for a good reason!" Fluttershy suddenly spoke up.

"Yes," Twilight agreed. "Spike fell, remember? And if we didn't go in after him, he would have been lost, and hurt, with no one to help!"

"Well, he still got injured, but yeah…" Lightning said, thankful for Fluttershy and Twilight backing her up. Sunset looked at them, then nodded silently, understanding. "Anyways," Lightning went on, "Any chance you saved any equipment for when we fell? We've lost everything."

"We were able to recover a few backpacks but I think the rest were swept away. We got yours, Pinkie's, Rainbow's and mine." Sunset answered.

"What?!" Rarity exclaimed. "My hair dryer! My makeup! My extra pairs of Sapphire Shores' furnishment! It's all gone!?"

"Yeahhh… Sorry, Rarity."

~The fashionista couldn't believe what she was hearing, and fainted again. Even Fluttershy was a little upset, because her bag contained the most important things they needed for this journey, including nourishment, cleaning products, medical supplies, and others.~ 

~Lightning immediately went to her bag to check for anything missing. A few items were wet and shoddy but not as bad as she thought they would be. That was, until she pulled out the sketchbook that contained her sketch of the Shiba Inu. Flipping to the page with the drawing, she looked at it in disgust, now feeling even more hatred for the dog, and now blaming him for their unfortunate 'mishap'.~

"This is all your fault…" she muttered to herself.

~She snatched the pencil from the side pocket of the rucksack, and proceeded to scribble all over the page and the sketch hard until the pencil turned blunt. The Mane 7 watched with concern but did not say a word.~ 

~After that, Lightning put her stuff away, threw the pack back over her shoulder, and marched into the woods, without another word. The Mane 7 followed with Spike still being carried by Twilight. The puppy had fallen asleep at this point to refrain from feeling his injuries, and over the fact of his fight wearing him out.~ 

~After a few minutes of the eight girls walking, they stumbled across a round opening of sun, grass and a lake. It seemed pretty from the outside but inside felt frightening. It was like a hole, surrounded by steep stone and large tree roots that dipped all the way down, and seemed impossible to climb. The eight gazed around wondrously.~

"Whoa…this place is lovely," said Fluttershy, trying to see the bright side of things.

"But troubling. We have no idea where we are." said Lightning, wishing she had a map.

~Just then, Sunset gave a gasp and everyone turned.~

"What is it, Sunset?" Lightning asked.

"Don't look now, but down there on the right, there's a low ledge. I think I see the Shiba Inu, and he's climbing up!"

~Just then, the flying figure of the Shiba Inu scaled hurriedly up the steep stone slope over on the right. The girls jumped back in surprise at his sudden appearance, before he failed to make his way out, and dropped back down into the hole, panting.~ 

~All eight poked their heads out behind a nearby boulder and watched as he tried and failed again. Lightning got out her sketchbook. As the dog fumbled around, barking and shrieking, she couldn't help but sketch him again, now getting a better look. Slowly taking a closer, but cautious, peek, she began scribbling again. This was the first time the Rainbooms saw him properly too, and as they watched his impressive movements, amazed, Fluttershy realised why he couldn't get out. His paws and belly were scratched, and his leg looked broken, just like Spike. That was when she remembered that he fell down into the river too, he must've endured the same injuries as Spike. Maybe he needed help too. Just then, Lightning has finished her redraw.~

Everyone gathered to look at it, as Lightning muttered. "Why doesn't it just…run away?"

~With another peek over the rocks, Lightning tried to get another better look at him. The dog pawed at the ground as she pushed forward to see him. Suddenly, she got too close to the edge and slipped on the moss, causing the pencil she was holding to loosen out of her grip. It clattered to the ground, and made noise, causing the Shiba to notice it, then them. Everyone fell silent. The dog crouched down low as he stared at the girls curiously, making the sounds of a lion cub's low growling.~ 

~Lightning tilted her head at the dog condescendingly, as he titled back, suddenly sensing a special form of communication.~





~When the night turned black, it mercifully became much cooler than that morning. Hazy clouds blew in the sky, keeping the moon from venting its full fury. It was a little before eleven o'clock when the girls finally settled where they were. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash was the one who carried their camping gear and tents. So, they set them all up. They placed Spike down first on a pile of extra coats they had packed, as they had no beds, but as he tried stretching his legs and arching his back, a sharp stabbing pain plunged into his leg and he howled in pain. Fluttershy immediately ran to his aid but there was nothing she could do.~

Rarity sighed. "Poor Spikey Wikey… I simply cannot bear to hear the poor darling whine any longer."

"Me neither," Fluttershy added. "We just…we just have to find something to help him!" She turned to get up and leave for the forest when Rainbow Dash took her arm.

"Whoa! Fluttershy! What are you thinking?! You can't go in there! It's too dark!"

"Dash's right. We're gonna 'ave to wait 'til mornin' if we wanna get somewhere," Applejack said.

"I'm just confused about that puppy." Pinkie said, jumping down from a tree. "Whose side do ya reckon he's on?"

"I don't know," her friend, Sunset, replied, "But we'd better not take anymore chances now."

"Yeah. Let's face it, it's all because we followed him that we got hurt and lost in the first place." Rainbow said, grumbling.

"I wish I knew why." Twilight sighed. "I mean, I feel like he knows something about Karly, but why force us down the river? What does he have to gain? Why us?"

"What do you think, Lightning?" Pinkie asked.

~The spy said nothing, for her mind was distracted. She just kept staring down below into the hole where the Shiba's silhouette lurked, still wandering and still whimpering.~

"I don't think it's best not to bring anything up with her at the moment," Twilight whispered. "She's still very upset."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement, then had a thought. "Hmm… Do you think then… I can try talking to her?"

"What?" Twilight and Sunset chroused.

"Maybe she just needs someone who can listen to her." Fluttershy said. "Th-think about it. Something else is bothering her. She got really upset when she found out Karly disappeared, and she's always upset at that poor animal… And not because she blames him for Karly's disappearance." She pointed down towards the slopes.

"Actually, yeah. You may be onto something, Fluttershy." Sunset said. "Okay. We'll give you the opportunity to talk to her then, and maybe, you can find out what else is troubling her."

"You think so?" Pinkie Pie smiled.

"Yeah!" Sunset replied confidently.

"B-but I don't want to pressure her, though. I just…would like to speak with her alone and try to get her to open up- a little." said Fluttershy.

"Of course, of course. Don't worry so much." Sunset assured. "Here, we'll discuss it with her later in the morning. And hopefully, for better luck, we can sort all these messes out at the same time. That'll make her feel better."

~Nodding in understanding, the girls agreed towards the plan among each other, then tried to last the night. It would be best to leave as soon as they could tomorrow morning so that they didn't have to sleep as much as they should under these now poor conditions. Rarity, especially. Nothing would make her more happy than to be back home or at least in their new secret hideaway, cuddling up in her nice, new warm bed. She did not expect the journey to be this difficult, now without much gear, but they must have some faith. For Karly Crystal and Spike.~





~By the time everyone woke up the next morning at dawn, the Rainbooms peered down to look for the Shiba Inu, but he was gone. He must have escaped during the night and ran off, just as Lightning wanted to happen. But this wasn't good news for the others, as they still needed him to tell them if he knew anything. They'd have to find him later. Because at the moment, Spike was still bruised and couldn't move, as much as walk, so Twilight had to take him in her arms again. By now, the bruises on the girls had almost healed, so they obtained some strength back in order to continue on with their quest. But first, they needed their sniffer to track, so finding Karly had to wait too, much to Lightning's annoyance. Spike came first, and they needed medicine fast.~

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

"Me and Applejack will look around eastwards!" Rainbow said.

"Ooo! Ooo! Sunset and I will look over to the west!" Pinkie smiled, taking Sunset by the hand.

"So, then that leaves with Lightning and Fluttershy to explore the south." Twilight said, addressing the two, and nodding at Fluttershy specifically.

Lightning shrugged. "Alright then."

Sunset smiled. "Alright, guys, once you find something that might help Spike, let the rest of us know with a signal, and we'll meet up in the spot where you found it. Okay?"

"Okay!" The Rainbooms chorused.

"Then, let us split up!"

~And just like that, at Sunset's command, the eight girls split up two by two and headed off in different directions. Rainbow and Applejack ran for it, while the rest walked sensibly.~







~Song: Beware the Forest Mushrooms/Forest Maze- (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars)~







~Twilight and Rarity had a hard time examining their surroundings. The trees gave out very little rays of sunlight, and it felt as if there was no breeze at all. It was strangely frightening. But, for Spike's sake, they had to continue. Twilight could feel him weakening in her arms with every movement she took. As Rarity cleaned the pathway of bushes and vines using her diamond discs, she began looking around and up at the tall thick trees that stretched high up for herbs, berries, or anything that could resemble medicine. But alas, she found nothing.~





~Rainbow Dash and Applejack weren't having very much luck either. While their side of the forest had more shine to it, it didn't mean it had less density. It was still dark and gloomy, without a single strand of hope. Rainbow even jumped when she heard the sound of a single tree branch snapping. Applejack tried to reach inside the hollows of the trees for any delicate plants, but all she ended up doing was enraging a squirrel that lived inside one of them that began to peck at her with its teeth. They decided to stay away from the trees.~





~Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie darted down towards the rustling bushes beneath their feet. Pinkie stuck her head into one of them, but after a quick rummage around, she came back to Sunset with no results. All she got were a few pines in her hair and brown marks on her pink face. Next, she tried going up a tree to look far across for anything nearby. It was quite the climb, but she got to the top with ease, much to Sunset's impress. Putting her hand above her eyes, Pinkie squinted as she looked over the open vast area of the forest. The light was strong from up there. Leaning out to get a further, better view, she stretched her arm out from the tree's stalk while still keeping a hold and swung around it a number of times. All she could see were the other sharp pencil tops of the trees, and the tiny versions of Rainbow Dash and Applejack, for whom she waved to but never got a response back. She climbed down and joined Sunset once again in the bushes.~





~Lightning and Fluttershy reached an area off the forest that was a little less dense, where the trees grew further apart and the branches and bushes didn't scrape against them continually. Here they were able to search more quickly, and Fluttershy could see three birds, or rather their figures, soaring in the sky. The ground was elevated slightly, it was usually dry, and animals flocked to the area. There were none in sight, however. Fluttershy bounced forwards to look for them, concerned as to where they went, but Lightning just thought she was scared.~

"First time being alone in the forest?" she asked.

"Oh, no." Fluttershy said softly. "I come here on a regular basis to check on the wild animals living here."

"Oh yeah, your superpower is communicating with animals, right? How does that work exactly?" asked Lightning.

"Mostly I just understand what the animals are thinking instead of feeling. They show their emotions quite emphatically, so it's easy to read their minds." answered Fluttershy.

"Ohhh, I see, I see."

~Fluttershy was happy that a conversation began to bloom. She didn't want to immediately unexpectedly talk about yesterday without a line up. However, it was still pretty hard to muster up the courage to ask. Even though Fluttershy was looking at her, she seemed far away, lost in a kind of listless daze. So, as quietly as she could, Fluttershy made her way over to Lightning, and took a deep breathe in.~

"Umm, Lightning?" Fluttershy finally said.

"Yeah?"

"About…what happened yesterday… Do you want to talk about it?"

Lightning shook her head angrily. "Ugh! Come on, Fluttershy, you're the last person I ever expected to ask that. Besides, I've already told you everything!"

At once, Fluttershy glanced down nervously. "I-I know, and I do not mean to sound brash, but you seem stressed and tense about all of this, more than an average person would, and I… We want to help. Why don't you want to talk?"

"...Look, I admit that I am now having problems about everything, but I just don't want you to worry, and I don't want to boggle my emotions."

"But you'll worry yourself even more if you don't say." Fluttershy answered nervously.

"But, I…"

"It's always good to speak up to people, Lightning, instead of bottling up your emotions, even if you hardly know them. They can be good listeners and help clear up your problems. Princess Twilight taught me that herself. Come on, you can tell me anything. You can…Trust me."

~Lightning didn't seem to understand as she squinted at Fluttershy, who was now standing before her with her arm out, smiling. Her thoughts were still hazy. Suddenly, the look of trust and kindness flashed into Fluttershy's eyes, and Lightning felt a sense of great comfort. Birds and squirrels and other woodland creatures suddenly appeared too, to show as well that Fluttershy is the kindest, most delicate soul she will ever meet, and trust. They all had the same look in their eyes as her. At once, Lightning eased up, and took a deep breathe in, then out.~

"Huh. I suppose I have been pretty frustrated and now distant for a while." she admitted. "I may have never met this Princess Twilight before but she sounds like she's a good mentor…"

"She is. She's done many things to bring us back together, she even reformed Sunset Shimmer when she used to bully me, and she helped us defeat the Dazzlings. We have been keeping in touch ever since…" Fluttershy smiled.

"I know, I know the story- you told me about it in Coinky-Dink World." laughed Lightning. She sighed. "Okay, I'll talk."

~They both sat down beside an open tree side to side, and as Fluttershy beckoned a few animals to come over and join them, Lightning began explaining, while fiddling with the bandage on her eye.~

"It's just…I've never had much support in my life. Karly was the only female that I can talk to most of the time." she paused for a moment. "And…if I lose her, I don't know what I'd do with myself. I can get really lonely. I do have other females in my life, yes; but none of which I am closer to than Karly."

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's complicated to say…"

"Is this about your family?"

"...Well, sorta…" Lightning mumbled. "Let's just say, I have a hard time spending time with them."

"You don't spend time with your mother, or anything? Why? What does she do for a living? Do you have any siblings? Brothers or sisters? What do you do when you're at home?"

Lightning didn't want to answer, back there was no use lying. "Fluttershy, I…"

~But before she could get to the point, Fluttershy's geode began to sparkle, distracting them from the conversation. Fluttershy then cupped her ear as if she was listening for something, then rose up from her seat unexpectedly, and took off in a random direction without another word. Lightning was left confused.~

"Fluttershy?"