After about an hour of searching, there was still no sign of Butterscotch. Deep in the Everfree forest, with only darkness sounds of critters Elusive started panicking. His heart started beating fast. Sweat poured down, and tears began to flood in his eyes. Elusive blabbered without breathing, "What if we cannot find him? What if everything goes downhill from here? What if I can't dress him up anymore? what if we won't make it out alive!" He fell drastically mid-air. His hoof hanging on his forehead.
Applejack swooped in immediately and caught Elusive on his back. With Elusive lying on Applejack's back, Aj could not help but roll his eyes. Instantly, his annoyed face turned into a look of sadness. His brows curved, and his annoyed lips turned even more down. Elusive's actions were valid. There is a pretty low chance of them finding Butterscotch. Nonetheless, none of them can lose hope now.
The four ponies lowered themselves on the enormous grass of the forest in unison. Each breath they took was heavy with exhaustion, the rhythm of their inhales and exhales synchronising with the gentle rustle of leaves overhead. They lay there, thinking of any possible way to find hope. Together.
Rainbow Blitz relocated his head slightly and saw his tired friends and the journey they had to face. His eyes shifted to the side and focused between the tree trunks. He saw the empty, dark space. Rainbow squinted his eyes on a bush–Is it a bush? He could not tell, but it was not far away from the trees the group was near.
Behind that bush, he can see a little bit of bright yellow. Is that? Rainbow stood up. With lightning speed, he moved as swiftly as his muscles would allow towards the bush. It was unlikely to see a buttercup yellow amid trees. That could be Butterscotch! Rainbow halted abruptly, his heart racing as he caught sight of Butter, only to find a space where he should have been. Disappointment washed over the pegasus. He glanced left and right with a sense of urgency, desperately searching for any sign of his friend. And then, there he was, standing with a purple figure beside him.
"Let me help you with that Twi." Butterscotch politely said. He stretched out his wing to reach one of Twilight's scrolls out of the quicksand. He gave it to Twilight, and Twilight accepted. She thanked the kind colt and placed her scroll in her overpacked saddlebag. Just as the scroll neared the opening of the saddlebag, poised to slip inside, it tumbled to the ground instead. Twilight's magic on the scroll stopped working when she jolted because of a sudden noise coming into them—the noise of loud, fast-paced hooves. Twilight looked to her side and saw Rainbow Blitz. Her smile faded.
Butterscotch, on the other hand, was glad to see his pegasus friend. "Rainbow!" Butterscotch stepped forward but stood still after he felt something coming through.
It wasn't a thing. It was ponies. They looked up and saw Applejack coming in hot. "Oh mighty good you found 'em!" He hugged Butterscotch and wrapped himself to Twilight with a tight squeeze.
Butterscotch and Twilight didn't have any air to breathe anymore. They gave signals and weak voices to tell Applejack to stop. Yet Aj finished the warm embrace on his own as he heard two more ponies coming.
Alternatively, Elusive and Pinkie collided with Applejack, bouncing off each other like playful orbs. However, it was Elusive who took the final impact, his body hitting the ground with a thud. He let out a grunt of discomfort, his muzzle meeting the earth. "Pinkie! What did I tell you about jumping towards me when we are moving? Much more so even when we are not moving!" Elusive felt his head crack. He searched around to find a reflection. However, he only saw Twilight's overflowing saddlebag. He then went over to Twilight, opened her bag despite the fact he did not need to open it any further and dug through like it was his own saddlebag he was holding. "A big saddlebag yet no mirror!?" He franticked.
A cough was heard. "Ehem! Ignoring Elusive and his weird obsessions, the gang is back together!" Rainbow enthusiastically claimed. He brought his hands together and made a smack with a cheer.
"What gang?" Twilight asked.
"Wha- THE gang! Our gang, this gang! Now let's go out there and kick some butts!"
"No, we won't."
"But-"
Twilight walked over to the nearby river. She gave a thoughtful look. Twilight darted a look to the side. Then she smiled. "Look. I have to do this on my own. Why don't you all understand?"
"Us? Understand? On your own? You don't gotta problem with Butter with you. Why can't you let us stay, too?" Rainbow saddened himself. Why can't she pick me, too?
"Butterscotch is different. He proved to himself that he can join me."
"Oh yeah? What are we? Little interns to impress you and for you to pick and discard us whenever you want to?"
"Rainbow, just leave it." Applejack placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder.
Sigh. Rainbow saw Twilight's unaffected face. "You're right, Aj. We can't waste our time on a pony who can't even appreciate us." He turned his back, along with his concerned friends behind him, as he walked out of the forest.
Twilight heard everything. She didn't care. She doesn't want to care. Everypony leaves her. It's not something to be surprised about, but she did. She cared. Twilight thought she had friends who wanted to be with her. But they were all just fakes. Fakes who do not show their true intentions. Just like Moon-what-cer and her group. Spike said she wanted to befriend me, but he did not get it. They laugh at me secretly. I don't need evidence for what they did. I know they wanted to. I could be hallucinating. I could not be. It's always better to be sure about people like them.
Twilight Sparkle left her never-lasting thoughts and hopped on a nearby curved-thick vine that looked purple-ish, drowning in the river. There was no time to think everything through. This adventure might make me into a different pony. She thought while hopping once more on the following vine. And the other following. Twilight felt unusual about these rocks, but she did not know what made them strange.
Twilight hopped again on the second-last rock, and the stones started rumbling.
A creature appeared out of the waters—a long-necked violet creature. The unicorn opened her mouth wide.
Before Twilight could react, the creature pounced at her, its claws aiming for her neck. Her heart pounding against the aggressive grass, swaying back and forth due to the mighty wind. She gulped. Twilight closed her eyes. Her brows drew together, forming a furrowed line.
Rainbow dashed away from the group, his hooves reaching out while speed-flying. A drop of sweat dropped from his head, Rainbow's eyes squinting. He knew he could fly faster than that. Regretting all that he had done to Twilight passed through his mind, flashing the arguments of the selfishness he had done right before him. As he was almost an inch away from grabbing the stunned Twilight, the creature held her neck and lifted her, taking advantage of his enormous size. "NO!" Cried Rainbow, his head following the beast and Twilight, passing them and giving a thunk sound while he crashed against a tree.
Applejack finally took action, hitting a tree multiple times to make it fall on the creature. Berry gathered a bunch of rocks and started throwing the rocks at the villain. Elusive, hitting it with a stick like a mother spanking their children with a slipper, and Butterscotch kept finding animals near them but in vain.
Still collapsed, Rainbow Blitz's head moved slightly. His eyebrows curved down, and his eyes tightened. He motioned his mouth open, then huffed and grunted quietly. Rainbow opened his eyes, but not too broad; as his vision blurred, Rainbow saw Applejack not taking a break from fighting off the monster, and so did the others. He saw Twilight mouthing words that were not audible for Rainbow. She also had a fury look, and Twilight's forehead wrinkled for some reason. He saw all of this upside down.
Rainbow closed his eyes and opened them once again, moving his wings and getting back up. The pegasus scanned the fight scene. His eyes drifted off to Butterscotch, who was far from the rest of the group. Rainbow motioned towards him, "Uh, Butter, What're you doing?"
Butterscotch's eyes widened. "Rainbow! You're alive!" He hugged Rainbow. Every pony called him the weak one, but Rainbow Blitz thinks otherwise when it comes to giving hugs.
"Of course I'm alive; one big hit would take much more to crush me down." Rainbow winked, and Butterscotch giggled. "So, what are you doing instead of going out there?"
Butterscotch stopped smiling. His mouthline straightened, and so did his brows and eyes, "Oh, you know I'm no good at fighting…I was going to ask my newfound friends and invite them to help us, but I couldn't find one." His mouthline ends lowered slightly.
"Butter…"
Silence befalls them. Rainbow diverted his pupils to the battlefield and diverted back to Butterscotch. He placed a hoof on Butter's head and patted him twice–no, four times. "Why don't you tell me how you got Twilight to trust you? That's what your speciality, BB, making people love you." He smiled, and Butterscotch returned that smile, getting nostalgic whenever Rainbow patted him when they were little as if it were a sign that Rainbow would protect him.
"Sure, maybe I might steal her from you."
"Hey! That's just drawing the line!" Rainbow replied jokingly.
They both sat down below a nearby tree. Rainbow Blitz lay down, feeling the rough texture on his back and becoming comfortable with it. He placed his arms above his head and scooted down onto the warm, tingly grass. This is a perfect sleeping spot. Too bad I won't go back here anytime soon. He thought to himself.
Butterscotch looked at him and giggled a little bit. He sighed at the typical Rainbow he always knew when they were foals and started his story: "Before we all agreed on returning home, I found a small notebook and thought it was Twilight's. I picked it up and went to see her before she was far. It's a good thing she wasn't. I gave her the pocket notebook. It turns out it was Twilight's task-checking book, and she thanked me so much for it. "
"What? Just for a simple notebook, she let you join her?"
"I doubt it was just any simple notebook." Butter rolled his eyes. Well, that wasn't how she made me join after giving me the notebook. I turned and walked back but didn't see you guys after a few minutes. I was getting scared, with the scary, creepy noises always coming back—" A sudden noise came, and Butterscotch jolted with a little scream.
Rainbow rolled his eyes. "Butter, that's just the wind passing through the leaves."
"Oh…Um, I also screamed a little after I couldn't take my fright anymore. Twilight swooped in behind me, looking fierce and ready to combat somepony. Twi asked me if something was wrong. I said no, and she wondered where the others were. Then she told me to be with her for the time being." Butterscotch finished his story, and he heard a sigh after finishing it. "What's wrong, Rainbow?" He asked shallowly.
Rainbow got up and sighed again. He turned to see the others, who had sweaty furs, messy hair, and tired eyes. Rainbow bit his lip. "It's just. I want to help Twilight if I can. But she doesn't want me to. I love Twilight. She's a real strong mare. Unlike others, I have dated." Butterscotch noticed Rainbow smiling brightly, talking about her. "Her passion for saving the princess and books are like my passion for becoming a wonderbolt! Her beautiful violet glimmering eyes, mane, and even sarcasm are beautiful! And I want her to see what I can do, too. I want Twilight to see my passionate side, not me being stubborn." Rainbow laughed uneasily with downcasted eyes.
Rainbow felt pats on his head. He tilted his head up, seeing Butterscotch with pitiful eyes patting him. Somehow, it made Rainbow feel better. No words were said at that precise moment, mere pats from Butterscotch only.
Rainbow Blitz's eyes focused on the ground. His mind was racing with solutions and counter-problems that would arise from those solutions. He widened his eyes and lifted his head immediately, "I got it!"