Chapter 12: Hope in the Rain

Hope: Day 3
Nightfall: Day Unknown

Nightfall’s POV (Dragon Form)

Just before we entered the Everfree Forest, I asked, “Give me a moment.” I then transformed into my dragon form.

Twilight then asked, “Okay, is everypony ready?” Everypony nodded and replied with a yes and then we all began to walk into the forest, to find our missing friend…

After a few minutes of walking into the forest, Rarity asked, “How are we supposed to find him, in a place like this? I’m starting to all dirty from the mud.”

Twilight replied, “Come on Rarity. Hope could be in trouble as we speak.”

Suddenly, we all looked up and noticed that the clouds are starting to darken. Then it started raining. I knew this wasn’t going to help Trixie at all, in her condition.

As I looked around, I could see all the mares manes were starting to get quite soaked. Rainbow then spoke, with a bit of humour, to Rarity, “Problem solved…”

I then spoke, “Come on, we better hurry.”

Twilight then looked at me and asked, while wondering, “Got any ideas where he could be?”

I thought for a moment and replied, “He once mentioned that he prefers to rest in large clearings.”

Twilight then said, quickly, “Zecora lives nearby. Maybe she can help us.”

The light-blue unicorn then spoke, “Zecora, *coughs*?”

The orange earth-pony replied, “She’s another friend of ours…”

After quickly following Twilight, we arrived at Zecora’s tree house, in the middle of the forest. Twilight knocked and then we waited. Rarity then spoke, worriedly, “I hope she’s in, or we are going to be totally soaked.”

I replied, correcting her, “I think it’s a bit late for that Rarity…”

A moment later, the door opened with a zebra behind it, which was Zecora herself.

The purple unicorn spoke first, “Hi Zecora.”

The zebra replied, looking surprised, “Hey, Twilight. What brought you here in the rain?” She looked around, examining us all, including me and Trixie. She then carried on her speech, “I see you have brought your friends too.”

Fluttershy asked, hoping she would know, “We are looking for an ampwolf called Hope. Have you seen him?”

The zebra looked at us confused and replied, “An ‘ampwolf’ you say? Sorry, I have not seen any ampwolf around here.”

The pink mane pegasus looked disappointed and said, “Thank you, anyway.”

Applejack then asked, “Do ya know any large clearings in the forest?”

Zecora went deep in thought for a moment and then replied, while pointing in a direction, “I know there is a clearing over there.”

The zebra carried on speaking, while pointing a bit to the left from where she was originally pointing, “But, I believe your friend would be taking shelter from the rain. Probably in the cave near the river over there. If I remember correctly, ampwolfs are known to feel little pain due to the rain.”

I then looked towards Fluttershy, who looked quite worried. So I assured her, “Don’t worry Fluttershy. He’s a tough one.” She brightened up a little, but still looked quite worried.

Twilight then said, “Thanks for your help Zecora.”

She replied, “Glad I could help you again. Beware though, the Everfree Forest during the rain is more dangerous.”

Twilight showed her appreciation once again, “Thanks again Zecora.”

The zebra warned us further before returning inside, “Be cautious everypony. I wouldn’t stay out for very long.” Zecora then closed the door to her house.

Twilight wondered where we should head first. I know Hope likes the rain, but if it is going to hurt him though. So I said to everypony, “I recommend checking the clearing first. If he’s in the cave, he should be fine.”

The lavender unicorn replied, “Sounds like the best option to me.”

As we headed to the clearing, I noticed that Pinkie Pie had pulled out her umbrella hat. I knew it was pointless asking, where she got it, until Trixie noticed and asked, “Where did you get that *cough* umbrella hat?”

The party pony replied, “I just had it with me, just in case it decides to rain.”

Applejack then explained, “Don’t bother trying to figure it out. She’s just being Pinkie Pie…”

When we arrived in the clearing, in the forest, we all called out and looked. But we found no trace of him anywhere. Rainbow then says, “I guess that just leaves the cave then.”

Just before we went to check, Pinkie had a large Pinkie Sense moment. Trixie then asked, while being curious and confused, “Is she alright?”

The orange earth-pony replied, “It’s just Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense. It alerts her to nearby dangers.”

Trixie replied, while being even more confused than she was a before, “O-okay.”

I then spoke, wondering, “What does this one mean Pinkie?”

She replied, “I don’t know. This one’s totally different.”

I then said, getting a little nervous on what could be out there, while making haste, “We better hurry…”

Hope’s POV

I opened my eyes and I noticed that I must have fallen asleep. I then thought, ‘Maybe I should try and figure out how to use electricity, to help take my mind of things…’

After about five minutes of learning how to control it, it became clear that in order to use my power, I had to get angry. Then it is just a simple wave of the arm.

I suddenly got hit with an image of Dash in my head, once again, of me harming her earlier. I started to think, ‘What if I’m forced to return to Earth, after what I done to her…?’

Nightfall’s POV (Dragon Form)

We followed the river, which lead us to the cave which Zecora had spoke of. As we neared the entrance, I stopped and then Twilight asked me, being curious, “Are you not coming in with us?”

I replied, being honest, “I don’t trust caves.” She looked at me a bit confused, so I explained, “I just worry about getting trapped by a cave in.”

Pinkie than shouted out, “You don’t have to worry with me around though.”

Quickly thinking, I say to Twilight, “It may be best if only you and Fluttershy go in, while the rest of us wait out here.”

Twilight replied, as she focused her attention on everypony here, “I agree. If we all go, it may only worry him even more. That is, if he’s in there.”

The lavender unicorn and the pink mane pegasus then began to proceed entering the cave, hoping to find our friend…

While the rest of us waited outside, Trixie coughed and sniffed a little. So I asked, to help take her mind of the possible illness, “How are things going with you and Twi at the Library?”

She replied, looking tired and ill, “We are doing *achoo*! We are doing great. I didn’t think we would had so much in common…”

Hope’s POV

While I was still giving myself some time to think, I thought I could hear Fluttershy calling out to me from the entrance. I thought I imagined it, until I heard Twilight calling this time, “Hope…?”

So I decided to get up off the floor and call back, but not too loud due to us being in a cave, “I’m over here…”

After a moment, Twilight and Fluttershy came into view. The lavender unicorn then spoke first, demanding an explanation, “Care to explain yourself?”

I replied, while looking towards Fluttershy, with sadness in my voice, “I-… I’m sorry… I only just started to worry about losing you all.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at my excuse. Can’t say I blame her though.

My pegasus then asked, while getting upset and angry at me, “Why did you harm Rainbow Dash!? She’s my best friend!?” I flinched from hearing her words, not expecting her to get this annoyed at me. But I deserve it though, after what I did.

Once I gathered the courage, I replied back while trying my best to not sound like I’m yelling at her, “It was an accident. I was just only trying to scare her off, because she was bugging me. I told her that I just wanted some quiet time for myself to think.”

Twilight then asked, while trying to get to the source of the problem, “What is bothering you, Hope?”

I replied, hesitantly, “I’m scared-… I’m scared of losing you all. I’m sacred of being sent back to Earth, being forced to leave you all behind.”

At that moment, total silence filled the cave. The only thing we were able to hear though are the echoes of the rain from outside.

Fluttershy then walked up to me and said, calmly, “You’re worried of losing me?”

I replied, quietly and gently, “Yes.”

Shy then said, while being serious and kind as possible, “You would never lose me.” Standing on her rear hoofs, she give me a comforting hug. I paused for a moment in shock and then carefully hugged her back, with my paws.

Twilight then blushed a little, then said, “Come on, all our friends are waiting outside for us.”

I then asked, not realising sooner, “Including Nightfall?”

She replied, while walking to the entrance, “Yes, come on.”

During that relieving moment, I was scared of letting her go. But sooner or later, she broke the hug and said, while she landed back on all-fours, “Come on, our friends are waiting…”

I replied by nodding and then walked with her to the entrance.

Nightfall’s POV (Dragon Form)

After nearly five minutes, I looked up at the sky and noticed, that it look like it is going to thunder. Rainbow, also noticing, spoke, “We better hurry. I think there is a storm on the way.”

Soon, the lavender unicorn had exited the cave. We noticed however that Fluttershy wasn’t among her. Twilight, noticing us looking around for somepony, spoke, “Give them a minute…”

After nearly a minute, both Hope and Fluttershy walked out of the cave together. The wolf examined everypony around him, noticing that all the mare’s manes are completely soaked due to his actions. So he apologised, “I’m-… I’m sorry I put you all through this.”

Hope then noticed that the rainbow mane pegasus had her back turned towards him, looking away from him angrily. Her bandages were completely soaked due to the rain. So the wolf walked up to her and says, “Rainbow Dash…?” She still had her head turned away from him, but Hope carried on, “I’m-… I’m very sorry that I hurt you… I was just trying to scare you away, even though you were trying to help me.”

Rainbow then turned around, with the rain still pouring down her mane. She closed her eyes for a moment, while taking a sigh and then replied back, “Okay… I’ll forgive you…”

Hope quickly examined her bandages and then he asked, “I didn’t hurt you badly, did I?”

She shook her head and replied, “I’ll be fine. They are just burn marks that should go in a day or two.”

Suddenly, we all glimpsed at Pinkie who was shaking and bouncing like crazy. She then explained, “This is- is- very ba---d.”

Applejack then spoke in fear, “This is bad… We better run back to Ponyville! Now!” We all then started running as fast as possible back to Ponyville, when suddenly we all saw a flash of lightning in front of us. We paused for a moment, examining the location of the flash and then kept on running…

As we ran, Pinkie started to shake like crazy once again. We all stopped and quickly viewed our surroundings as we were stood in the clearing from earlier. The clouds in the sky were black, rain was pouring and there are flashes of thunder in multiple directions. I knew if we didn’t get out of here, one of us could get stroke by lightning.

We all noticed that the ground had started to shake, which increasingly started to shake even more as we could hear foot steps of something coming closer towards us…

Hope then looked up, noticing something above the trees and said, “No way this day can get any worse…” We all looked in his direction and as soon as a flash of lightning appeared, we could all see where the foot steps were coming from. There was a four-headed snake-like-monster in front of us.

Twilight then spoke, worriedly, “Isn’t that…!?”

Applejack carried on for her as she shouted in fear, “The-… The Hydra!”

Twilight then shouted, “Everypony run!!!” Which we all did as AJ grabbed Pinkie and put her on her back…

Struggling with our escape, we were not too far from reaching Ponyville with all our bodies still intact. But Fluttershy had tripped over a branch and landed on her back. She stared hopelessly at what awaited her cruel fate.

Hope instantly noticed that she had fallen behind, so he turned around as everypony else did. He shouted, as he ran desperately to save his mare, “Fluttershy!” We all then charged against the incoming ancient beast, to save her.

Hope then quickly picked up Fluttershy and dodged one of the attacking Hydra’s heads just in time, as it hit the ground, missing them both.

Just as the next incoming head was about to meet its pray, I fired a blast of dark-blue magic at the beast. At the same time, Twilight had fired a blast of her own purple magic at the attacking Hydra’s head, which both effectively stunned it for a moment.

Once Hope had moved Fluttershy to safety, we all stood in line with Fluttershy at the back. The ampwolf then started running towards the beast, which is ten times his size, shouting in anger, “Nopony! Nopony Hurts Fluttershy!!!” As he started running, his entire body was engulfed with purple sparks and electricity. He was even running twice as fast than a normal pony.”

When the Hydra was about to attack Hope once again, Rainbow unleashed a rainbow-coloured explosion on the Hydra’s body. It effectively sent the ancient beast a step back in pain with a frightful roar, from its four heads. The explosion had sent a large rainbow shock wave throughout the forest, sending branches and twigs from trees, flying in all directions.

Hope then ran to one of its legs and paw smashed it, sending high levels of electricity from his body into the Hydra’s, causing it even more pain.

The rainbow mane pegasus then shouted, “How ya like that!?” But suddenly, Rainbow was unable to dodge the coming attack as she got hit full force by the Hydra’s tail, which Hope just manages to skilfully dodge in time.

Rainbow however had got sent flying backwards towards a tree, impacting it hard in the process. She then slide down multiple branches until she collapsed on the wet dirt ground below, with some of her blood bleeding from her back. The rainbow mane pegasus had gotten a large cut on her right hoof and was laying unconsciously on the ground.

Fluttershy, quickly went to check her fallen friend and replied, “She’s still alive, but these injuries are bad.” She then took off the bandages from the burns caused from earlier and re-wrapped them on the bleeding parts.

Everypony then stared at the ancient beast with anger and rage, as they also snort air from their noses. The very beast that hurt Rainbow, give us another roar and prepared itself to attack once again. Trixie then spoke angrily, “*cough*Are we going to do this?”

Everypony, including myself replied with yes. Pinkie’s hair then went slim as she got annoyed, it creeps me out when she does that. The pink earth-pony grabbed her party cannon out of nowhere and then spoke, with determination, “Ready!”

Fluttershy then spoke, with anger in her words “This is one creature, that needs to be punished!”

Twilight did a roar of her own and then fired another purple blast, that was actually quite larger than before, at the Hydra’s body. Applejack then kicked a large log at it, which you wouldn’t think she could do at its size. Both of the attacks had successfully stunned two of its heads.

Me and Trixie focused at bringing most of the storm clouds together to form a very large nasty one, which two of the Hydra’s heads had notice. While we were focusing on the spell, Trixie collapsed on the floor from exhaustion.

Pinkie then fired party strings from her cannon at the Hydra, which effectively confused it. Rarity then threw a log at its belly, with her light-blue magic which the Hydra laughed at, causing her to get even more pissed.

Hope then charged his own purple electricity, completely covering his body and roared out loud, “Your going down!!!”

Hope then ran at twice the speed once again as I then shouted, “Now fall!”

As my horn glowed a powerful dark-blue, I fired large bolts of lightning from the dark cloud on to the Hydra’s back. Hope had just made contact with the beast, just as the summoned lightning had hit. The enormous beast was covered in a mixture of blue and purple electricity, sending both blue and purple sparks everywhere in the area, while all the Hydra’s heads roared out in pain…

Seconds later, we were panting heavily from exhaustion. The smoke had blown away in the wind and the ancient beast was out cold.

Looking to see if everypony was okay. I saw that Hope was walking towards us, partly groaning in pain as he was holding his right arm and said, “It’s… over…”

Fluttershy then flew up to Hope and said, while examining him “You’re hurt...”

He replied, trying his best not to groan, “I’ll-… I’ll be alright…”

The ampwolf then looked towards Rainbow, who was still laying on the ground behind us. He then asked, after examining her, “Is-… Is she alright?”

The pink mane pegasus replied, upset, “She’s out cold. But I just managed to barely stop the bleeding.”

Hope’s POV

My body felt like that someone had just put a bucket of boiling hot water on me after taking a ice cold shower. I was just glad though that we are all standing in one piece.

Just when I was about to ask who was going to carry Rainbow, everypony gasped and shouted, “Look out!” I looked back and saw the gigantic tail of the Hydra was heading our way, so I pushed Fluttershy out of the way just in time for her to dodge it, while I took the hit.

I had got sent flying towards a tree and then I fell down a few branches to the ground a moment later. I was now in even more pain than before. I was hurt so much that I couldn’t move but groan in pain. My vision was fading, but I think I saw the Hydra was running away. Fluttershy though, was at the side of me breaking down into tears, “Hope!? *sniff* Hope!?”

The only thing I could reply with at that moment, before darkness took me, “Fluttershy… I-… I love you…”