Chapter 14: Searching
The Same Day, Evening...
Rainbow Dash and her friends were wandering in the Everfree Forest, still. Ugh, this is so boring, I can't take it much longer. I could be doing important things like napping right now, instead of walking around on my aching hooves. Stupid Alexander just had to go and escape, didn't he.
"We'll look around for another hour or two, then we will make camp for the night," said Twilight, from in front of Dash.
She didn't just say what I thought she said, did she? No she couldn't have. "So we aren't even going to sleep inside tonight?" asked Dash.
"Of course we aren't. We still have all of tomorrow to spend walking back through the Everfree, even if we turned back now we wouldn't get home until midnight," said Twilight.
"Cheer up, Dash, it's not that bad," said Applejack, who had 'accidentally' tore her dress to shreds at some point, and it was now lying somewhere behind them. Several somewheres in fact.
Rarity had long since fallen asleep on Applejack's back and was snoring softly. I bet that when she wakes up she will be a little bit irritated at the loss of her dress, but more sane than this morning.
"See?" said Pinkie. "Even Rarity agrees we should have a sleepover in the forest."
"I wouldn't mind staying here tonight, I mean, if that's okay with you..." whispered Fluttershy. She was surrounded by dozens of small animals who seemed to know she was feeling depressed and had been trying to comfort her.
"But, where will we sleep? Nopony even brought pillows," Dash asked, slightly nervous about sleeping in the Everfree. Not that I would tell anypony.
"I've got that covered," said Twilight, smirking mischievously.
"Oh, oh, I've got this covered!" said Pinkie, leaping on top of a small stick.
"Ah don't think that's quite what she meant, sugar-," said Applejack.
"No, that's exactly what she meant," said Dash, cutting her off.
"Weeeee!" screamed Pinkie, jumping from object to object, saying "I've got this covered," every time she landed.
"Ummmmmm, girls?" whispered Fluttershy.
"Do you even know where we are going, Twilight?" asked Dash.
"Girls?" Fluttershy tried again, while looking up.
"Well, I was trying a spell I invented, but it seems I didn't study Alexander's genetic structure long enough to be able to track him. The spell just keeps going haywire, at one point it even told me he was in Ponyville."
"I think that-" said Fluttershy a little bit louder.
"So you mean to tell me that we are just walking around in the forest, without any idea where he went?" asked Dash.
"Well, yes. Do you have a better idea?" asked Twilight.
"Hey girls!" yelled Applejack.
"Huh?" said Twilight, Rainbow, and Pinkie in unison.
"Where is Fluttershy?" asked Applejack.
"Where did she go? She was right there not three seconds ago," said a mystified Twilight.
"She couldn't have gone far," said Dash, looking around. "Fluttershy! Where are you?!" she yelled.
"I'm right here," said a quiet voice from above them.
They all looked up to see Fluttershy slowly gliding down from the treetops with something in her hooves.
"I've got you covered," yelled Pinkie, intercepting Fluttershy in midair, and causing them both to crash into the ground. "That was fun!" she giggled, getting off of Fluttershy.
"Are you okay, sugar cube?" asked Applejack, somehow managing to lift her to her hooves while not disturbing Rarity.
Fluttershy opened her mouth and said, "Took you long enough to hear me," in a scratchy male voice.
What? Dash looked down, and standing next to Fluttershy's forelegs was Spike. Oh...
"Spike!" shouted Twilight, bowling Fluttershy out of the way in order to hug Spike. "I've missed you so much! No more going into the Everfree for you, young dragon."
"But, Twilight," whined Spike.
"No, Spike, I don't even know how you convinced me to let you come in here by yourself," said Twilight, placing Spike on her back. "But you are never coming back in here."
"Fine," groaned Spike. "It wasn't much fun anyways and I hardly found any gems..."
"Now go to sleep, you look tired. Tomorrow you can tell me exactly how you managed to get stuck that high in a tree," said Twilight sternly.
"Yes, Twilight," he mumbled, before falling asleep.
"Angel! You're alive!" came a sudden ear shattering screech.
Ow, my ears, thought Dash while she rubbed her ear with her hoof to try and make the ringing go away. The others were in similar states of pain, excluding Spike, who was still sleeping peacefully. The yell had even been loud enough to wake up Rarity from her 'beauty sleep.'
"Huh? What? Fashion?" mumbled Rarity.
"I'm so glad you're alive!" continued the voice.
Wait a second... Fluttershy? "What is it Fluttershy?" Dash asked, talking to Fluttershy's back a short distance away.
"I found Angel," she said without turning around.
"Do turn around so we can see the little dear," said Rarity, yawning discretely.
"Look at him, he's okay. Mommy little precious is okay," Fluttershy said, while turning around. "I'm so glad I found you, Angel," cooed Fluttershy softly, facing her friends. "When Mr. Bluebird told me that you weren't in any of your usual places I got worried. I was even more worried when you didn't come back at the end of the day like you always do. And I missed you so much, but I'm glad you're back now," she continued, stroking it like her life depended on it.
Dash leaned over to Applejack and whispered in her ear, "Do you think she realizes that she is holding a small rock that has moss on it?"
"Ah don't think so..." replied Applejack. "I mean, I talk to my hat sometimes, but that's only because it gets lonely workin' in the field all day. I think we get along quite nicely," she said petting her hat. That's kind of creepy...
"I... think this is a good time to set up camp now, don't you?" said Twilight.
Dash, Applejack, and Rarity just nodded, while Pinkie did who knows what off in the tree house.
Tree house?!Dash's mouth fell open as she looked at the giant tree house directly in front of her. But... how? It wasn't there a second ago. The tree house was a large pink rectangle wrapped around a thick tree. It had a dark blue roof, and window pane, and a warm orange door that seemed to be inviting them inside.
"Come on in to my 'Secret-Special-Emergency-Middle-Of-The-Everfree-Super-Secret-Sleepover-Clubhouse-Of-Awesome!" Pinkie shouted from the window, motioning to the retractable walkway. "Come on in! The water's fine!"
"Well ah'll be..." said Applejack, speaking for everypony.
"I do believe that the proper response to situations such as these would be, how do you say... 'roll with it,' isn't it?" said Rarity, walking up the stairs.
"Come on Angel time for bedtime," said Fluttershy, leading her rock up the stairs and leaving all of her real animals on the ground looking dejected.
"Ah'll be fine as long as Rarity doesn't try any funny business while ahm sleepin'," said Applejack, following Fluttershy into the large building.
"I don't think I have the necessary items to work on my designs here, so you are safe Applejack. However, I think our good friend Alexander's comment might have given me an idea..." Rarity muttered, walking through the door.
"Uh-oh. I call not model!" shouted Applejack, following Rarity into the tree house.
"Well this beats my idea..." muttered Twilight.
"Out of curiosity, what was your idea?" asked Dash as they walked up the stairs.
"Ummmmmmmm... cast a spell on us to turn us into trees or-" started Twilight.
"What!? Are you insane?!" Dash yelled.
"I estimated a eighty-nine percent survivability rate and I thought it would be an interesting experience. Or I memorized a animal repellent spell that is completely safe and guaranteed to keep the forest animals away from us for the whole night," said Twilight. "And its not like we couldn't make do without bedding."
"...You freak me out sometimes. You know that, right?" Dash said as the stairs retracted into the tree house with the help of Twilight's magic.