Fluttershy was hyperventilating.

It's true, she was not the most calm of ponies. Truth be told, she might even be among the most anxiety prone, with her slight case of xenophobia, however she was not prone to hyperventilation. She turned to her friend, trembling. "P-Pinkie, c-c-could you find our way b-back to camp? D-d-do you know how to do that?"

Pinkie hummed, tapping her hoof to her chin. "Well, I do know that moss always grows on the north side of trees..." Fluttershy's expression grew hopeful. "But we have no idea if Camp is North, South, East, or West! Or up or down! Well, we do know that, but I thought it'd be funnier to add it in!"

Fluttershy instantly wilted. "P-Pinkie, we're lost in the woods! C-can't you be serious?"

Pinkie shrugged. "Well, why don't you fly silly?"

Fluttershy blinked.

"Yeah! Rainbow Dash flew up there! Why not fly up there and look for her? Or look for the camp? I bet if we find camp we'll find her eventually!"

Fluttershy stared at her friend with a neutral expression. How had she forgotten she was a pegasus? Oh, right, crippling fear. Fluttershy was not particularly fond of flying high and made a point of only doing so when a situation absolutely called for it - now seemed to count, however. She nodded and began to gently flap her wings, slowly lifting herself up from the ground.

Within moments, she was above the treeline, and looked out. Sure enough, she could see Rainbow Dash - however, the pegasus was moving around erratically, and at a distance - Fluttershy could only see her because she was moving around too much to possibly miss. She took in a deep breath, ready to call to her friend.

"Uhh, Rainbow Dash? Over here!"

Of course, she only spoke slightly louder than she would have had Rainbow Dash been right next to her.

"Oh... oh my...."

Fluttershy simply drifted there for a minute, hoping to catch Rainbow Dash's attention. She sat for a few minutes before she saw Dash dive below the treeline. Her ears folded back and she looked down to Pinkie Pie to see empty space.

Wait, where was Pinkie?

Fluttershy gasped and dove beneath the tree line and immediately began to look frantically for her friend. "P-Pinkie!? Pinkie Pie! C-come out! Please!"

"What is it, Flutters?"

Fluttershy nearly jumped out of her skin, turning to face her friend, panting. "Where d-did you go!?"

Fluttershy smiled brightly. "I went under the tree cause I saw a really cute froggy! I wanted to tell him that I had a friend who was also a reptile, but then I remembered that froggies are amphibians! Silly Pinkie Pie! Anyway, I still wanted to say hi to him, but then he hopped away, so I started hopping with him, and then I saw you! Did you find Dashie?"

Fluttershy bit her lip. "W-well yes... but... she was moving around so fast, and she was so far away I couldn't call to her... then she went under the trees... "

The party pony shrugged. "So? Why not go after her?"

Fluttershy bit her lip and shook her head. "I don't know Pinkie... I'm not familiar with this place, and I don't want to risk accidentally losing track of you..." She didn't have the heart to add that she was afraid Pinkie might also become distracted and lose herself. "If I go after Rainbow Dash, you could end up lost, and nopony should be lost without a friend..."

Pinkie stared at Fluttershy for several seconds. Then her lip trembled. And her eyes watered. And she pulled Fluttershy into a hug. What would otherwise have been a touching moment seemed somewhat ruined when Pinkie bawled. "That is so beautiful Fluttershy! I'm so glad we're friends! Waaaaaaaaaaah!"

The butter yellow pegasus gasped for air. "P-Pinkie... can't.... breathe..."

Pinkie let go of Fluttershy, and just like that, her tears were gone. "Oopsies! So, what should we do, Flutters?"

Fluttershy tried to regain her breath a moment before looking up to the sky. She let her mind race with ideas, trying to figure out what to do. Suddenly, it came to her. "Let's see if we can't find a cave or something to take shelter first... maybe a point to return to, so I can go looking for the camp..."

Pinkie grinned. "That's a great idea, Fluttershy! Alright, let's look for us a cave!"

"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh"

Rainbow Dash had just dove beneath the treeline and was frantically flying about looking for her friends. She had lost Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, and couldn't even find them! Poor Fluttershy was probably so scared she had forgotten how to fly! Pinkie Pie is probably... well, she's probably okay, but she's probably not helping poor Fluttershy's anxiety at all! Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt-in-training, Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, and she lost her friends in the woods, likely filled with all kinds of dangerous animals and environmental hazards.

Her mind betrayed her by making her imagine just how many ways they might get hurt without her being there to help them, and with each new creative injury and/or death, her panick only increased. She landed, taking a few quick breaths to try to think.

"Okay Rainbow Dash, yo lost your friends in the woods. They're probably alone, scared, and terrified. You have the map, and they likely have no idea how to get back to camp. You had walked for a least forty five minutes, so you know that the odds of them finding their way back to camp themselves are maybe... 25%? And that's assuming they tried to walk backwards from where they were."

Rainbow bit her lip trying to find a way to calm herself.

"But! Fluttershy's a pegasus! I'm sure she'll eventually calm down and fly back to camp to get Twilight and everypony else! Yeah! And then they'll go back to find Pinkie Pie who... might... get lost to? No! Fluttershy would not leave Pinkie behind, not without a way to find her..."

Rainbow sat silent before slumping on the ground, placing her hooves over her head. "Ohhhh no, I've screwed up REALLY bad this time!"

Applejack stared out at the lake, concern etched into her face. The sun was beginning to set, and Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy had yet to return. The farm mare turned and trotted back towards the camp - over the campfire, on a four-legged grate with a pan on it, with a vegetarian stir-fry in that. "Supper's about done an' none of 'em have come back yet..."

Big Mac stepped from his tent. "Somethin' wrong?"

Applejack turned to her brother, her expression becoming somewhat deadpan. "Ah just said that it's about supper an' none of 'em have come back yet!" She saw the stoic expression on Big Mac's face - one of understanding. She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, Ah guess Ah'm a lil' worried. They been gone a few hours now..."

Rarity stepped from her tent, wearing a pair of sunglasses. "Well, I do believe I saw Rainbow Dash earlier. She was zipping around the sky erratically, and then she fell below the treeline..." Rarity let out a gasp. "You don't suppose she's injured do you? Or one of the other girls?"

The apple siblings exchanged glances. Applejack had really not considered that before. She looked to Big Mac and sighed. "Ah'ma go look for them."

Big Mac nodded. "Ah'll come."

Applejack shook her head. "Oh no, someone's gotta watch that stir fry n' make sure it don' overcook!"

Big Mac bit his lip. "Ya sure?" Truth be told, Big Mac simply didn't want to be stuck alone with Applejack's friends. It's not that he had a problem with them; they seemed like nice enough mares. It's just that Big Mac was an admittedly shy pony; he needed familiarity otherwise he was a very awkward pony to be around.

"Yeah Ah'm sure."

"Then I shall go with you, dear!" Rarity stepped forward, nose sticking into the air. "It would be simply rude of me to allow a dear friend to go into the wilderness alone!" She looked aside. "Besides, those girls might get their manes all messy and dirty and in need of emergency hair care."

Applejack grimaced at the hair care concept, but smiled thinking about her friend's generosity. "Of course, Rarity. Let's get on then."

Big Mac blinked. "Twilight?"

Applejack shook her head. "She's kinda preoccupied, Ah think. Not that she wouldn't help, but Ah'd hate t' bother 'er if we ended up findin' out they was okay an' jus' playin' around. Besides, Ah'd hate t' leave ya all alone."

Big Mac wanted to tell her he'd prefer to be alone, but not with Rarity present. How would that make him look?

"Alright..."

The orange mare smiled. "Good! We'll be back with two shakes of a cricket's leg. Don't let that stir fry overcook, an' don't let any critters get into it, alright?" Big Mac replied with a gentle nod. With that, Applejack looked to Rarity, and then the two began to trot in the direction they had seen the others wander off into. Big Mac looked back at the large tent; at least Twilight was so enraptured with whatever she was reading that she was not likely to bother him.

"Alright... now... let's see if I can try this again..."

Twilight held up an old piece of cloth in her levitation field. She focused her magic into it, and then a ring expanded from said cloth. She groaned. "Ugh. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong! The spell keeps telling me that Smartypants is here!" She looked down at her book. "Maybe this spell is meant to find ponies who the objects belong to instead of the objects themselves...?"

Twilight closed the book and shook her head. "Well, I tried. I should really get back to enjoying camping..."

With that, she levitated the book into her saddlebag, and pulled another in it's stead, setting it before her and opening it. On the cover was the title 'Camping for Eggheads.'

Pinkie and Fluttershy wandered somewhat aimlessly into the woods. They had, admittedly, tried to wander in favor of re-finding the camp, however no such luck had found them yet. Pinkie Pie had taken to humming tunes; something that, Fluttershy had to admit, was actually calming her nerves a great deal. Eventually, Pinkie pointed and jumped. "LOOK!"

Fluttershy gasped. "What, is it Rainbow Dash?"

Pinkie shook her head. "Nope! Next best thing!"

The wannabe tree looked to where her friend was pointing; and sure enough, there was a cave. "Oh my! A cave!"

Pinkie clopped her hooves together and bounced in place. "Yay! Alrighty, Fluttershy! I think I'm gonna go gather some berries and stuff to eat! I'm STARVED!"

Fluttershy winced at the mention of food, her stomach growling. "Okay Pinkie, but be careful about--"

The pink mare simply waved her hoof. "Fluttershy, come on! I take foals camping a lot! I know what kinda stuff is good and what kinda stuff is poisonous, and if I'm not familiar with it, I don't eat it! Gimme some credit here!"

The mares stared at each other, before Fluttershy relented and nodded. "Alright... if you say so. I'm going to fly above the treeline and see if I can't find Rainbow Dash..." Pinkie nodded her head enthusiastically; Fluttershy could swear she heard rattling as she did. Spreading her wings, the butter yellow pegasus began her ascent over the tree line to look around for their friends.

She could see no sign of Rainbow Dash or the camp. Fluttershy let loose a sigh of frustration and slowly drifted back down to the ground, and turned to find Pinkie with a skillet, a campfire, and on the skillet were several mushrooms. ".... Pinkie... where did..."

Pinkie reached into her mane and produced a salt shaker, putting some on the mushrooms. "Hm? Did you say something, Flutters?"

Fluttershy stared at her friend and decided it was probably best not to actually think about how Pinkie did what she did. "No, it's alright."

Big Mac stared at the stir fry that lay in the pan. Applejack had been gone for quite a while, and the food was already nearly finished. This camping trip seemed to be going downhill - Applejack was barely getting to have any fun with her friends, some of them were lost, and now she was wandering the woods looking for them. He cared a lot for his sister; it broke his heart to see her spending what was supposed to be a good time as frustrated as ever - maybe moreso.

Big Mac felt a dull pain invade his snout; it had been there for a bit, but it was still a bit soon to take his medication. Given it was not a really bad pain, it was still enough to be a nuisance. He turned to look at his modest tent and remembered something; the poultice that Applebloom had given him.

Big Mac trotted towards his tent and peeled it open, stepping inside. He placed a hoof in his saddlebag and pulled the small jar from it, staring at it analytically. Whatever was inside was a slush-like substance; not quite solid, not quite liquid. He popped the top off of it and leaned his nose over it, taking a sniff - it was strong, that much he knew. He reeled a bit from the stench, sticking his tongue out. He considered just putting it back and forgetting it, but then a mix of the dull pain in his snout and the image of his sister pleading him to try it out made him decide that he had to use it.

He gave a light shrug. ".. Bottoms up..."

He put the poultice to his lips and let the sludge slide down his throat. He sputtered a bit at the foul taste, shaking his head and putting the top back on. He stared at it, sticking his tongue out of his mouth as if it might keep the horrid taste at bay. He gently placed it in his saddlebag and sighed.

Though, on the plus side, the pain was starting to go away.

As a matter of fact, he was feeling pretty darn relaxed.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SLEEPOVER! YAY!"

The three fillies giggled as they stared at several bags of chips, cookies, and other snacks, as well as a stack of boardgames. "This is gonna be the best camping trip ever!" shouted Applebloom.

"Not really a camping trip..." replied Scootaloo, "We're just in the clubhouse on your farm. It's not like we're in the woods."

"Well, we're KIND of in woods... just... tame woods?" replied Sweetie Belle.

"What matters is that we're not in our homes!" shouted Applebloom, waving her hooves around. "We're not in our homes, we're in a place that's outside of said homes, an' no adults t' tell us what we can an' can't do!"

Sweetie Belle nodded. "She has a point."

Scootaloo waved a hoof. "Alright, I guess that's true..."

Applebloom smiled and hummed. "Ya know... Ah can't help but feel there's somethin' Ah forgot t' do t'day... somethin' important..."