Chapter 6: On the Road to Who Knows Where.
~Lightning soared up in the blue skies with Stitch riding on her back and Spike tucked comfortably under her arms. All three were slowly and silently blinking at the road down below them, as well as what's ahead of them. Stitch suddenly noticed the roof of the Topas and Luda's van. He barked at Lightning.~
"Ok, Master, make sure you don't lose that van. Me will keep A firm eye on it and me will tell you where it's going."
"Me too!" Spike added.
"Got it, boys. Better also put those strong noses of yours to good use. That'll also help."
"Right."
"Stop chasing me!" Pinkie screamed.
"Pinkie! Come on! Stop fooling around!" Rainbow sighed.
~Tears started to well up in Pinkie's eyes once more and her hair began to deflate. She covers her face as she begins to run faster and further into the forest up ahead. The other desperately tries to catch up with her. They were all calling her name constantly.~
"DON'T TALK TO ME!"
Rarity sighed. "Pinkie Pie, I know you are upset because of what we said about you, but you've gotta understand that Jace was in genuine danger. Your ideas were too…"
"Weird?" Applejack shrugged.
"Crazy?" Sunset blinked.
"Stupid?" Rainbow muttered.
"Complex...to work. Maybe we should save your ideas for something more...suited to your level of creativity." Rarity explained.
Rainbow nodded. "Tsk! Yeah! Like a pity par-"
~Rainbow was about to laugh but Rarity covers Rainbow's mouth, as well as shoots her a disapproving look and shakes her head very slowly.~
"Okay, okay, you're right! Now! I need to go!"
~Pinkie sobbed even more and raced around behind an oak tree. Rainbow sped around and went to face her, but when she looked behind the tree, she wasn't there anymore.~
"No! Pinkie, wait!"
"Where did she go?" Twilight inquired in fear.
Sunset sighed. "We gotta find her! Lets go this way!"
~As the gang raced off deeper into the forest, Pinkie hopped out from her hiding spot. She slumped down by a tree stumped and face planted onto it. But, as she was sulking to herself, she began to think about re-evaluating her abilities and skills.~
"Oh, they're right! Again! Everything I do IS useless! How am I EVER gonna save Jace if I'm wasting time being STUPID?!"
~Pinkie lifts her head from the tree stump she was sobbing to. She thinks about Jace and Fluttershy, and how they were still in immediate danger. She thought about how close she'd gotten to saving her friend. But most of all, she thought about how easily she'd given into her friends' worthless complaints, and how she was now hopelessly sulking over nothing. Sulking while Jace was still suffering at the clutches of some rather sinister kids. Something suddenly slips out of Pinkie's hair and it lands on the ground with a clunk. Pinkie looked down to see what it was. It was her E.Q.U.E.S.T.R.I.A agent badge. That's when something clicked inside of her.~
"No...No! What am I doing? I am Pinkie Pie! And a secret agent now! Not some wimp! I don't give in THAT easily! And I don't let sticks and stones break my bones! I must keep going...for Jace and Fluttershy."
~Pinkie snatches her badge off the ground and shoves it back into her flat hair. She brushes it with her fingers, and it immediately poofs back up. She poses dramatically, and filled with determination again, she sped off into the forest.~
"Lightning, turn left, the van's going left!" Stitch yelped.
"Oh! On it!"
~Lightning reversed rather unexpectedly, causing Spike to yelp and almost fall out of her arms. She then glided left as smoothly as she could, and got back on track of the van.~
"Whoa…! Careful when you turn please, Lightning." Spike panted.
"Sorry, Spike. That was pretty sudden. Even for me."
Stitch purred. "Sorry, but we gonna not lose this van."
"Stitch is right. We need to focus-and where's the van gone?"
~The two dogs and Lightning look down and see the road completely bare, not a car, or van in sight. Panic began to let loose on the trio. Stitch and Spike began barking and whining in anger and sadness while the emotionless Lightning was trying to calm them both down before they do something she does not want them to do.~
"Dang it."
"No! We gotta find it!"
"Super sensitive noses, activate!"
~Lightning pulled out the thread from Jace's jacket and let Spike have a whiff of it. She then let Stitch smell it afterwards. The pups both darted around the road and into the trees. Stitch closed his eyes, and licked his paw, then he opened them again, and his pupils shrunk in confidence. He got the scent.~
"Ah-ha!" Stitch barked. "That way!" He pointed his snout right.
"Brilliant work, Stitch!" Lightning said, cheerfully. "Hang on now!"
~Lightning charged up her geode, then she zoomed off in the direction of the van, Stitch and Spike held on tight and cheered.~
~Exiting the forest, Twilight, Sunset, Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity began walking on a hiking trail. They didn't know where they were going, but they just had to walk to save up time and effort before Lightning, Stitch and Spike returned to them for a location. However, while walking, they all began to feel the same emotion, guilty. They couldn't find Pinkie Pie so, they had to give up and hope that they'll find her again during the journey, after all, they all had the same objective. Only Rainbow Dash felt the most guilty out of the five of them, she did not want to give up finding Pinkie so she, along with Applejack and Rarity, kept on searching.~
"I don't think Pinkie went this way, y'all." Applejack said, worriedly.
"Meaning we lost her!" Rarity sighed in frustration. "We should have never said such harsh things to her!"
"She needed to know the truth, Rarity, no matter how much it hurts."
"No! We haven't lost her!" Rainbow prompted. "We just...need to look harder!"
Sunset frowned. "Rainbow…"
"No! She's just...up ahead, yeah! I'll go see!" Rainbow went for her geode.
Twilight stopped her. "Rainbow, don't. Even if we do find Pinkie, I don't think she'd want to see us right now. We practically just made things worse by constantly going after her. I think we should give her some time. We are technically going in the same direction so we haven't lost her completely."
"Twilight's right. I know it doesn't feel right that we let her out of our sight, but I'm sure she will understand things eventually." Sunset smiled. "And also hope she doesn't get lost or something."
"It's a forest. The place was practically made to get lost in!" Rainbow grumbled.
Applejack nodded. "I concur with Rainbow Dash, but then again, this is Pinkie Pie we're talkin' 'bout!"
"Indeed. She's not going to go out of control this time." Rarity nodded.
"And, well, if she does need help, she can still contact us." Sunset assured, holding up her arm with the wrist calm around it.
"Right. Let's just move on for now and see what'll happen." Twilight shrugged.
Rainbow looked at her friends indignantly, then sighed. "Okay…"
Rarity put her hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "We will apologise to Pinkie as well, don't worry, Rainbow Dash. But, the only thing we can do now is keep moving forward."
~Rarity smiled before continuing to walk along the trail with Applejack, Twilight and Sunset. Rainbow looked up along the hiking trail, then took one look at the forest again, and tenses up, pondering, was it always that dark? And were those trees always so tall? She rapidly shook off whatever was going on in her mind, and put it at the back of her head before running and catching up with the others.~
~Back in the depths of the forest, Pinkie Pie leapt over the thorns inside the bushes and wall jumped off all the trees all adventurous like. The tiniest bits of gunk swarmed her and landed itself in her hair, but she shakes it all out like a dog.~
"Okay, is this east or west?" She scratched the back of her head.
~Putting her hand above her eyes and squinting, Pinkie looked through the forest. She spots something in the midst and assumes it's a clue, so she runs towards it. However, while running, something lodged into the dry, dirty floor, catches her foot and throws her forwards onto the ground. Pinkie looks behind herself and sees her foot over a log.~
"Ok, WHO PUTS A LOG IN THE MIDDLE OF A PATHWAY?!"
~Pinkie grunted as she stood back up again. Her clothes were an absolute mess. She tried to clean them out, but they were beyond washing. The mud was everywhere.~
"Okay. Well, it looks like this isn't going well for me, but that's ok! Because nothing is going to go wrong when I'm saving my friends! I'm Pinkiemena Diane Pie! And I know what I'm doing! Now, what was that thing I saw?"
~Pinkie darted over into the trees and spotted a pair of beady, beastly eyes. She gasped, and the eyes started to get closer and closer, but the closer they got, the smaller they got. Suddenly, a squirrel comes out of the darkness, squeals, then scurries off.~
"Squirrel!"
~Stumbling on her feet, Pinkie began to chase the squirrel through the forest. She had completely forgotten what she was doing and where she was going.~
~Lightning flopped her arms down underneath her chest, completely bored. She kept on following the van, and she wasn't sure if it was her or was the van going much slower than it was last time? Stitch and Spike relaxed on Lightning's back and yawned as she soared more softly and slowly to be at pace with the van.~
"This caravan is moving very slow…" Spike yawned.
"Me know, right?" Stitch whined.
"Honestly, I could just sit on a tree for an hour and I can still catch it going up the hill." groaned Lightning, swaying her body left and right in a flight pattern. "But, I can't, because if I do, the van might begin to move faster again. It'll kinda be like the tortoise and the hare story."
"Couldn't we just hitch a ride, and land on top of the van?" Spike suggested.
"Eh, they'll see us. Easily." Lightning nodded seriously. "Let's just keep doing what we're doing, and hope they reach wherever they're going. Soon. I'm starting to get tired from flying."
"Quick, y'all, I can't hold this any longer!"
~Applejack grunted as she struggled to hold down a large log that was bridged across the powerful streaming river. Rainbow jumped and sped down it like it was nothing. Sunset took Twilight's hand and both side-stepped on the log over to the other side. Rarity had a little bit of trouble crossing since the water hit the log rather hard and it sloshed all over her and the clothes. It nearly made her fall in the river as well, but thankfully she was close enough for Sunset to take her hand and pull her to safety. When they all made it across, Twilight signalled Applejack, she nods and swiftly jumps on the log, runs and hops down it before it fell in the water.~
"Good job, guys." Twilight said, smiling and adjusting her glasses straight.
"Let's keep going..." Sunset nodded, leading the way.