Twilight could be a very distracted reader.

It has been said by Rainbow Dash that if you ever wanted to sneak something past Twilight or catch her by surprise, it was to do whatever you were doing while she was reading; she would not leave her little world of learning and education for anything short of disaster, it seemed. Indeed, she stared at her book for who knew how long, eyes scanning each and every word, taking in the information - she was not one to skim if it could be helped. She truly, deeply loved books.

She also liked food, as her growling stomach's protests might reveal.

Twilight looked to her own stomach and giggled, blushing. "Oh my, I guess I have been reading a while! I almost forgot that Applejack was making dinner!" She looked toward the entrance-flap of the tent. "Huh. I wonder how long it's been? Have Applejack and the others returned yet?" Twilight stood and trotted towards the flap, pushing her head past it to look outside.

Indeed, the sun was already setting, much of the sky brilliant colors of darker blues, purples, and pinks. She had heard no return, no talk, nothing, so she could only assume her friends were still away. "Huh... oh well... I guess I better check and see if the food--"

Twilight would have screamed had she not been so paralyzed with fear.

Standing at the campfire was nothing other than a massive bear; rather, it was next to the camp fire. The skillet that had been placed there had been knocked off, with it's contents scattered along the floor, the bear making to eat as much as it could. Several bags of materials that were nearby (spares in case anypony wanted seconds) had also been ransacked. The bear sloppily chewed up it's meal, before stopping to look up at Twilight.

They stared at each other.

Twilight barely let out an audible 'eep' before she disappeared in a burst of light.

The bear stared at the spot where the alicorn had been for a moment before returning to it's meal.

Twilight popped back into existence a distance away, sitting high atop a tree, staring down at the campsite. The bear likely would not notice her hear, which was good, because she was panting pretty hard, having nearly had a heart attack. She could only watch as the bear finished it's meal then moved on to the various bags of food it had already rummaged, apparently having favored the cooked meal first before wanting to finish the raw materials.

"Wow... a bear... I didn't even know bears lived in these woods..." said Twilight under her breath, hoof still on her chest. "I guess it likes Applejack's... cook... ing...."

The mention of her friend's name reminded her of something.

"Wait... wh... where's Big Mac?"

Twilight looked towards the camp with intent focus, wishing she could see through solid surfaces. "... Big Mac wouldn't have... simply run away from the camp would he? No, Apples don't do that... no matter how terrified they are..." she reasoned with herself. "Then... then that means..."

She stared at the tiny tent that Big Mac had set up for himself, and her eyes shrank to pinpricks as she glanced between it and the bear. She gulped nervously; she REALLY didn't want to go back, but she definitely could not risk leaving Applejack's brother to get eaten by a bear. She whimpered as her horn began to light, and with another pop, she was gone...

... and appeared in Big Mac's tent.

It was, by no means, a big tent, but it was big enough for at least two ponies and some supplies, which was good because that's just what was in there. Twilight turned to see Big Mac laying on his back, staring upward. She tried to whisper loud enough for him to hear. "Big Mac! There... is a bear outside! We have to get out of here!" Big Mac slowly lifted his head up to look at Twilight. His eyes blinked unevenly. And then he smiled. Twilight somewhat flinched at him as he slowly pulled himself up, that smile, a big, dopey smile, plastered to his face.

"Oh... hi Twilight... how are ya? Ah'm fine, thanks fer askin'. So is mah nose too. Mah nose also says 'thanks fer askin'.' But Ah was sayin' it er it. Cause it can't talk."

Twilight stared, dumbfounded, at the stallion before her. The slow, lumbering movements. The unsteadiness. The relaxed, somewhat lazy stare. The added strangeness being that Big Mac rarely said more than three words to anypony who wasn't family. "M... McIntosh... are.... are you high...?"

Big Mac shook his head. "Eeemaybe? ... Ah dunno. Are we on a mountain?"

Twilight almost groaned had she not remembered the bear not a few feet away from his tent. "Big Mac! We've got to get out of here! I'll remind Applejack to scold you later for taking drugs!"

Big Mac nodded. "Nnope. Not drugs. Ah jus' took this medicine Applebloom gave me..." He reached into his saddlebag and produced the poultice. Twilight levitated it to herself, popped it open, and sniffed it. She immediately blanched.

"Wha... this... this is a herbal salve... what kind is it?" She shook her head. "Oh never mind... it doesn't matter. I'm pretty certain you're supposed to rub this on the injury, not eat it! Ohh..." Twilight quickly levitated the poultice back into Big Mac's saddlebag, and then placed that (somewhat roughly) onto his back. "Come on, you, we have to get out of here before-"

Suddenly, the tent was swatted away, flipping over and bouncing a few feet as it fell apart. Twilight saw Big Mac's expression suddenly drift from calm and relaxed to somewhat anxious. She didn't even look back as a loud roar blew her mane past her face.

"GOTTAGOBYE!"

With another pop, both Twilight and Big Mac disappeared.

Once more, Twilight appeared in a new place, though this one a bit more distant from the camp.

In fact, she might not really know where she had sent herself and Big McIntosh.

Twilight slumped onto her belly and panted a bit, hearing a thud as Big Mac fell over. She slowly turned to look at him, to see that he had simply fallen onto his stomach, eyes wide and pupils the size of pinpricks.

"B... Big Mac... are.... are you okay?" she said between breaths.

"Eenope..." said the large horse, his voice trembling as his body began to visibly do.

"Wh... are you hurt?"

He shook his head.

"Are you sick?"

He shrugged.

"What's the matter?"

He gulped. "Th' trees're lookin' at us funny..."

Twilight quirked a brow and turned her head to look about. The trees were not looking at them funny and, in fact, did not possess faces. The alicorn turned her attention back to the stallion, sighing as she put her hoof to her face. "Ugh... that salve Applebloom gave you must have had a hallucinogenic in it... no telling when you'll return to normalcy..." Big Mac slowly curled into a ball, whimpering. Twilight wanted to scream, wanted to yell, but did not want to disturb McIntosh while he was tripping, and REALLY didn't want to draw the attention of more wild animals. Instead, she slumped to the ground once more in defeat.

"We'd best find somewhere safe before anything else finds us..."

Fluttershy smiled as she took the last bite of mushroom on her plate.

"Thank you so much, Pinkie Pie. You were right, a little meal did make me feel a lot better."

Pinkie Pie, wearing a chef's hat and apron, and wielding a spatula, smiled brightly at her buttery yellow friend. "No problem, Flutters! I told you a nice, safe-to-munch mushroom meal would brighten your day!"

Fluttershy gave a gentle nod. "You know," she began, "I think I might just do it. I'm going to fly higher than I'd normally feel comfortable. Because we're lost and I want to fix that! Rainbow Dash is sure to come back to camp eventually!"

Pinkie hopped about, clopping her hooves joyfully. "You go, Flutters! Go up there and tell us where to go!"

Fluttershy smiled a rare, confident smile, and began to flap her wings, gently ascending. Despite her bravado, she still did things at her own pace - after all, she was not Rainbow Dash. Slowly, she ascended over the treecover. Slowly, beyond that. Eventually, and with a little nervousness and anxiety, she was high enough she could take in nearly the entire forest. She stared down upon it, taking in the sight; the sunset enveloping the world, preparing it for night, the trees, everything...

It was beautiful.

She almost lost track of her mission, before reaffirming it and looking more diligently. She looked around for several minutes, before something finally snapped. The tiny lake (more like a big pond, maybe?) that her earlier flying height had hidden from her. It was near the camp. At least, you could see it FROM the camp...

Fluttershy gently let herself descend, falling to join her friend and almost seeming ready to shout - as much as Fluttershy might, anyway. "I think I found it, Pinkie Pie! I think I found the camp site!"

Ever the party pony, Pinkie grabbed Fluttershy's hooves and danced with her. "Woo! Way to go Flutters! You did it, you did it, you did it!"

Fluttershy blushed, smiling more. "I... I d-did didn't I?"

"Yep!"

The two mares broke into a fit of giggles, Pinkie snorting as she did. Eventually, they stopped, and Fluttershy nodded. "Well, let's go. It should be this way. I'll stay with you so you don't get lost, and rize above the treetops every once in a while to make sure we're going the right way."

Rainbow Dash soared through the trees at a frantic pace.

Night was coming, and she STILL hadn't found her friends.

Her fear and worry mounting, the images of ways they could be hurt had grown to the gruesome and even highly unlikely (such as being attacked by pirates and eaten by eldritch horrors). She was losing focus, her eyes darting left and right as she called out their names.

"Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie! Where are you!"

"Fluttershy! Pinkie P-"

There was a flash. Not a flash like having your picture taken - the kind of flash that comes from hitting your head really hard. The sense knocked out of her, Rainbow Dash felt the sensation of the world spinning around her. Hitting a few more things - a few loud cracks and snaps, one of which was particularly discomforting - and eventually, hitting what she could only assume was the ground and rolling, slowly reaching a stop.

A few minutes later, she felt her senses return to her. She was staring across several trees and bushes, laying sideways in the dirt. She felt numb at first, but slowly, feeling began to take over. A harsh, horrible pain on one side. She couldn't quite pinpoint where it was though.

Eventually, it hit her full force, and she let out a whimper as she felt her body laying on top of what she knew to be a damaged wing.

As much as it hurt, she was reluctant to get up; for fear she might hurt it more, or be stuck to something. Still, she had to choose between getting up and hurting a bit, or laying here and being easy prey. She would be as difficult as possible if she had to be eaten.

So, she put a hoof to the ground; the movement eliciting a slight pain.

Slowly, she used her other leg to push herself up.

That drew out a horrible, stabbing pain across her wing AND foreleg, causing her to yelp.

Okay, so it wasn't just her wing; she may have broken a leg as well. This was bad. Here she was, who knows where in the woods, a broken wing, a busted leg, all alone.

The show had to go on.

Slowly, she tried again. She pit her lip and screamed into her own teeth as she forced herself up on the damaged leg and off the busted wing, eventually getting to her hooves. She immediately almost fell over the other way - not so bad considering at least that half of her felt more bruised and bloodied than broken. Still, she steadied herself, and began to favor the injured foreleg. She looked back at her wing to find several feathers having been broken and twisted; she wouldn't be able to fly for a while.

Her panic would grow had she not already felt so defeated.

Not only had she lost her friends, but she had probably doomed herself.

That was it. No more. She would have to return to camp - if she could - and tell her friends what happened. Hopefully, somepony would find her.

Before something else did.

So, she began to limp through the woods, looking for something - anything - that might tell her where to go next.

And as luck would have it, she found a cave.

It had taken what felt like hours (but had actually been about fifteen minutes) but she had found a cave. She limped towards it, her body sore, aching, demanding rest and medical attention. As she entered the cave, she looked to the ground, inviting and peaceful, and let herself fall to her side - the least damaged one - with a grunt.

She stared out of the cave, sighing sadly and looking at her leg. She was afraid. She was worried.

Most of all...

She was alone.

... in a cave that smelled like roasted mushrooms?

"Well... Ah gotta be honest with ya Rarity... Ah think we're licked."

Applejack and Rarity looked about several trees, both very tired and in different levels of stress. "Oh you're telling me, Applejack... I don't believe I can see them anywhere. I do so hope that they're alright..." This elicited a nod from the farm mare, who pushed a hoof under her hat and scratched her head.

"Well... Ah s'pose we should head back t' th' camp n' see if they aint come back yet. If not, we'll have t' see if Twilight can help us find 'em..." Applejack shook her head and reached her head back to her saddlebags, pushing her mouth into it and pulling out a piece of paper.

One that had a recipe for a vegetarian stir-fry.

"Oops... wrong paper. That aint the map!" Giggled Applejack, shaking her head as she shoved her muzzle back into the bag. She felt bandaging, a joke book, and an emergency apple, but nothing else. She turned to search the other bag, rummaging through it. She then pulled her head up slowly, staring at Rarity with a neutral expression. Rarity stared at her, worry growing into her expression.

"Please tell me you brought the map..."

Applejack winced. "... Ah brought the map."

"... You didn't bring the map?"

"Ah didn't bring th' map..."

Rarity stared at her friend for several minutes. "How... how did you-"

"Ah think Ah mmmmighta left it at home... Ah musta thought Ah grabbed it an'... an'..."

"We're lost."

"Now hold on a minute, we aint lost!" said Applejack, stomping a hoof. "We can get back. Ah've been in these woods hundreds-a times. Ah just gotta get mah bearings..."

The fashionista sighed. "Please do it soon... I really don't want to be out here when night falls..." Rarity turned her gaze skyward - indeed, the stars had already begun to appear. She did not even want to imagine what sort of creatures wandered these woods at night.

She was going to find out.

Wake up...

"... Who... wha..?"

Wake up...

"Who are you?"

Wake up...

"Ah'm awake...."

Then get to your hooves right now...

"Right now... ?"

Suddenly, reality came to Big Mac. He opened his eyes tiredly, and stared up at a familiar face, looking down at him with an expression of annoyance. Twilight Sparkle was mad at somepony...