Another Day

Chapters

One Peaceful Night
A-Camping We Will Go
Road Trip
Then Things Went Downhill
Lost
Scattered
Broken Pieces
In the Dark Of The Night
Waking Up
Falling Apart
Reunion
Did We Make It?
Regrouping
Revelations and Disaster
We All Fall Down
Faded Breath
Still Kicking
A Hero's Honour
Epilogue

One Peaceful Night

Ponyville is a quiet and peaceful place at night.

Despite being home of many eccentric ponies, it was nothing if not peaceful. The kind of quiet that allows one a sense of spiritual peace of mind, forgetting the darkness that might otherwise threaten to consume their lives. Why, it is even said that Twilight Sparkle (now crowned Princess of Ponyville) has found herself more at-ease than she had been living in the duty-driven society of Canterlot.

The calm oftentimes masked what happened behind closed doors. At this hour, many ponies were putting their foals to bed, telling stories to their young to lull them to sleep. Others were sharing special moments, expressions of love, of caring, of passion.

And yet others were simply having fun.

That was what was going on in the barn this night on Sweet Apple Acres.

"Fold."

"Again? Third time you folded at the start of a hoof! What are you playing at, Mac?"

Three stallions and two mares sat around a table, each with a series of cards in their hooves, eyeing them intently. The pony in question, one Big McIntosh, stared half-lidded at his cards as he sat them down, as if he had no interest in them whatsoever. He grunted as his only response.

"Right" said the mare, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and a dealer's visor who stared at her cards, her expression hard; she seemed as if she were concentrating on her cards, focusing so hard as if she might will them to win by staring at them.

"Fine," said Caramel, "I don't mind. I'm feeling pretty good about my cards anyway." He grinned, staring at his cards.

"Oh that does it!" Said Rainbow with a grin. "I'm going to raise!"

Caramel quirked a brow. "What? You raise because I'm so confident?"

"Of course she is," said Lyra, who was right next to Caramel, staring blankly at her cards. "We told you before, everytime you announce your confidence, you always seem to have a losing deck. I'm starting to think you just speak before you think. Raise."

Caramel balked. "What!? I do not!"

"YEEEEEEEEAH!" shouted the fifth, a large, white-coated pegasus that dwarfed even Big Mac. "... You do! Check."

Caramel rolled his eyes. "Pfft, you're all full of it."

Silence seemed to fall on the group again as the table went around in checks and raises. Eventually, Snowflake sighed. "I fold."

Lyra grinned. "What's wrong, big guy? All that muscle can't save you here?"

Snowflake shrugged. "My powerful pecks can do ANYTHING! I just think I should cut my losses tonight."

Big Mac grinned. "Chicken?"

Snowflake shrugged at the comment. "I made back a decent lot of what I lost, but a winning streak can't last forever. I'd rather come back with just a little less money than I came in with, than come out of it broke."

Big Mac nodded, conceding to his wisdom. Immediately, however, Rainbow Dash grinned. "Hah! Well, I'm an all-or-nothing mare! If I'm not gonna win, I'm gonna lose honestly!"

Snowflake waved a hoof. "Says the captain of the weather team. I don't get paid as much as you, and my membership at the gym costs money!"

Caramel snorted. "You really need it? I mean, your house practically has it's OWN gym. Can't you use your own equipment?"

"YEAH!" shouted Snowflake, causing everypony to cringe. "But what's the point if nopony can watch you work out!?"

Big Mac shrugged. "Want a job?"

Snowflake laughed. "I need a REAL workout, Small-Fry! Your little 'honest day's work' training regiment is adorable, but I gotta feel the BURN!" Big Mac scowled a bit. Rather than offer any form of rebuttal, he snorted and shook his head as everypony lay their cards down.

"Caramel, you lose." said Rainbow, matter-of-factly.

"Aww DANGIT!"

"Lyra... aw crud you beat me..."

Lyra grinned as she reached forward and raked the bits on the table towards herself. "Come to mama you sexy little things!" She giggled giddily and clopped her hooves together joyously. "I've got such good luck tonight!"

Rainbow sighed and looked out the window. "Well, it IS getting kinda late. Think we should call it a night, guys?"

"'Yup," replied Big Mac, stretching his fore hooves out. "Work tomorrow... and camping trip."

Rainbow Dash quirked a brow. "Yeah, what's that all about? I mean, we can carry our things just fine."

Big Mac nodded. "Miss Rarity's comin'."

Rainbow winced at the reminder of her trip with her friends and the Crusaders. "Oh yeah... right..." She huffed up. "Well, why doesn't she pull it herself then?"

Big Mac quirked a brow, smirking. "Don't want me to come?"

Rainbow immediately balked. "What!? I wasn't saying THAT, big guy! I was just trying to figure it out! Nothing's wrong with Applejack, is there?" Big Mac chuckled. He knew that Rainbow cared about Applejack - to what extent he wasn't sure, but until she proved otherwise, he would just assume it was sisterly. After all, nothing good ever came from wild assumptions.

"Nnope."

Rainbow tapped a hoof to her chin. She still wasn't sure she bought it - although she did imagine that maybe they'd take turns. She shrugged, deciding that for now it was best to accept whatever story was being given her and keep an eye on her friends to make sure nothing seemed amiss. "Alright. Well, I guess I'll go on home and get to sleep. You take care of yourself, Mac!"

With that, she bolted out the door. Big Mac turned to his friends and nodded. "Well, y'all better git on home if'n ya don' want a sore day t'morrow." One by one, the ponies began to file out of the barn, Big Mac waving each of them off. Once they were on their way, he let out a long, tired sigh and turned to pull a pocket watch from his saddlebag (which also stored his winnings for the night.)

It was 12:46

He snorted in surprise. He hadn't expected it to be so late! He thought it was closer to 10:30 or something! He'd be lucky if he got enough sleep to work properly the following day; and that's assuming he didn't wake anypony on his way inside. He half considered sleeping in the barn for the night, but decided against it - Applejack would think something was wrong and she'd do a full investigation of all his card-buddies. No, he'd have to go back inside, and he'd have to be sneaky about it.

A short hike led Big Mac to the porch, and just across that, to the door that marked the front entrance into his home. Big Mac winced as he pushed, hearing that high-pitched squeal of the metal hinges as the door creaked open. Carefully, he peaked around and perked his ear - he couldn't hear anypony moving around. Taking that as the 'coast is clear' sign, he began to gently tip-hoof his way into the house.

Just as he turned a corner to the living room, something overtook his vision, which lit up before being replaced with blackness.

*******************************

Pain.

The first thing Big Mac registered as he regained consciousness was pain. He let out a hiss as he put a hoof to his face.

"Careful Mac! Ah got ya pretty good, yer bleedin' a bit..."

Big Mac slowly opened his eyes, trying to bring them into focus. Before him was Applejack, holding his head up in her hooves and holding some tissue paper to his nose. "Ah thought you was a thief sneakin' inta our home! Ah didn't mean t' hurt ya!"

Big Mac would have smiled if he wasn't so worried about having a broken snout. Applejack peeled the tissue away. "Yer bleedin' pretty good... we might have t' take ya to the hospital..."

Big Mac shook his head. "Dope... I'b fide..."

Applejack scowled. "Yer talkin' funny. Sorry, but we're takin' ya to th' hospital. Y'all just hold that tissue to yer snout and use me fer balance if you got trouble walkin'."

Big Mac didn't want to comply, but he knew that her mind was set, and in this instance, she absolutely would not take 'nope' as an answer. Sighing in resignation, he stood up to his hooves, a bit wobbly, and took a clean bunch of tissue and placed it against his snout. The two made their way out of the house, their destination set towards Ponyville Hospital.

*******************************

Doctor Stable looked over the X-Rays and smiled. "Good news, Mister McIntosh. There was some damage, but I see no serious breaks, and you should heal up just fine, although you may have a bit of swelling for a little while." Big Mac sat on a nearby table, Applejack holding a hoof against his own. His snout had already begun to turn purple and swell - as well as his left eye (she had hit him with a vase, and he got caught at just the right part of the curve).

"Well... Ah guess that's a relief..." said Applejack. "Is there anythin' ya can do for 'em t' help? Maybe help 'em heal faster?"

Doctor Stable shook his head. "Healing magic can only do so much. The most I can do is prescribe you pain pills in case you're suffering any."

Big Mac shook his head - it DID hurt, but he felt he could manage it. "Nnope."

The doctor nodded. "Alright then. Just sign with the nurse on your way back out, and be careful in the future, alright?"

********************************

"Ah'm SO sorry again, Big Mac..."

Applejack stayed close to her older brother, who now sported a bandage over the top of his snout and was pressing a bag of ice against his eye, occasionally switching between it and said snout. "Ah mean, Ah thought you was a burglar, an' with Granny Smith bein' so old, n' Applebloom so young, n' Ah thought you was in yer room sleepin'--"

Big Mac blinked. "Didn't Ah say Ah was playing a card game...?"

Applejack blinked and bit her lip. "Uh... m-maybe... ya mighta said something about it?"

"Rainbow didn't say'?"

Applejack gulped. "Well, uh, Ah was workin' a lot t'day so when she came over Ah mighta not paid much mind..."

"Ah asked you to join..."

"Alright! Ah wasn't listenin'!" shouted Applejack, silencing Big Mac. "Ah was so busy workin' n' plannin' fer th' campin' trip t'morrow that Ah wasn't payin' attention t' anything else, alright!?" The silence seemed to hang in the air. Applejack blushed realizing she had probably just woke up half the neighborhood. "Sorry... Ah've just been kinda stressed, n' I--" Before she could even finish the sentence, Big Mac had pulled her into a hug. She was some what caught off guard, but did not resist, and returned the hug. "Ah'm so sorry Big Mac... Ah was so busy, Ah don't think I was payin' attention t' any of mah friends or family..."

Big Mac smiled. "Eeyup."

Applejack sighed. "This is just one of the few times Ah get t' spend with all mah friends, unhindered by work, or bills... Ah wanted t' be sure everything was right."

Big Mac nodded. He could understand the idea behind that. "Well... you make the stew at the trip. We'll be even."

Applejack sighed. "Big Mac, y'all don' have t' go. Th' least Ah could do is let ya off yer burden for repentance an' carry Rarity's stuff m'self."

Big Mac shook his head. "Nnope."

Applejack sighed. "What? Ya just wanna go campin' with a buncha pretty mares? An' Rainbow Dash?"

Big Mac smirked. "Nnope." He looked up at the sky. "Bondin' time with mah sister."

Applejack hummed. She didn't know how much they could possibly bond if she were so busy with her friends, but she supposed he had his plans. "Alright. But Ah'll find another way t' make this up t'ya. Mark mah words."

Big Mac shook his head, rolling his eye some as he held the ice over his other. "Alrighty then."

A-Camping We Will Go

"Ugh. Another month, another Topaz..."

Spike put tape on the corners of a sheet of paper and slapped it against the lamp post. The paper itself was a poster, depicting a ragged, stuffed doll and a little unicorn filly. The poster read as thus:

"Have you seen me?
My name is Smartypants
I'm a cherished stuffed pony and
I have been missing for two years!
If you find me, please return me to
my family (Twilight Sparkle) at your
earliest convenience!"

"Oh, what is that, Spike?"

Spike turned around to see Applejack staring at the poster, tilting her head a bit. "Oh, hi Applejack," greeted the dragon, "Twilight's been looking for Miss Smartypants for a year now. Every month she takes a day to give concentrated effort into finding her, but nothing has turned up yet."

Applejack hummed. "Strange. Ah swear that doll looks familiar..." She pondered on this a few moments before shaking her head. "Speakin' of Twilight, she gonna be able t' make th' camping trip t'day? Ah know she said she would but Ah figured Ah'd make sure somethin' didn't come up."

Spike smiled and nodded. "Oh yeah! She's been planning for that too. It's not very often that she gets to go camping, and she wants to experience the great outdoors!" He looked up at the poster. "She said that much as she cares for Smartypants, if she's still in Ponyville now, she probably won't be anywhere else for a while."

Applejack nodded. "Right... what's so important about that doll anyway?"

Spike sighed, rubbing his forehead. "What isn't? Mom made it for her when she was a little baby, and Twilight has had her ever since. She had forgotten all about her after that 'Want it, Need it' situation for a while, until she was going through her trunk a little over a year ago and found she was missing and remembered the last time she had seen her she was being thrown about by various crazy spell-bound ponies."

Applejack nodded. "Ah see...." She placed a hoof up on the top of her head, scratching a bit. "Well, Ah'll be sure t' tell y'all if'n Ah see anything, Ah s'pose."

Spike smiled a bit thankfully. "Thanks Applejack. It'd be really good if somepony found her... Twilight gets really frustrated when she looks for her and depressed when nothing comes up... it's temporary but still, I hate to see her so upset at the end of the day."

Applejack gave a small nod. "Anywho... out of curiosity, does Twilight know anythin' about healin' magic?" Applejack looked aside a bit, shame taking over her featurs. "Big Mac sorta had a bit of an accident an' broke 'is nose a bit. Doc says it shouldn't disfigure 'em any, but he's still feelin' some discomfort an' Ah was hopin' she might help?"

Spike blinked. "Oh, you mean from when you hit him in the head with a vase?"

The farm pony balked a bit. "Hu-wha... how did you know!?"

Spike chuckled. "Eh, the Cutie Mark Crusaders came by the Library today to find out that very same thing. They figured they might get a cutie mark in medicine if they could at LEAST help somepony get better... not sure how that works or if Cutie-Marks can form by the act of trying alone, but yeah."

"And?"

Spike shrugged. "Twilight said that she could read up on it, but she can't promise she could help very much. Said healing took a lot of effort and energy."

Applejack let out a sigh, hanging her head. "Well, thanks anyway Ah guess."

The dragonling nodded. "She DID, however, write Celestia and ask if she knew anything. We haven't received a response yet, so don't get your hopes up."

The farm pony seemed to ponder this before giving a small nod to the dragon. "Alright, Spike. Ah guess that's more than Ah have any right t' ask fer. Thanks a billion."

"Ah, don't worry about it," responded Spike with a dismissive wave of his claw. "Twilight loves helping her friends. As the local Princess, she feels it's more her duty now than ever before!"

*********************

"A cure for a damaged snout? What, Applebloom, is this about?"

Three fillies stood at the threshold of a home built in a tree, staring at the zebra who lived therein. "Applejack hit mah brother in th' face an' busted his snout. He's kinda hurtin', an' Ah was hopin' ya might know how t' fix it?"

Zecora tapped a hoof to her chin. "Oh my, that sounds quit bad. How often does she get so mad?"

Applebloom shook her head. "Oh, no, she wadn't mad!" said Applebloom in defense, understanding what Zecora was thinking. "Mah sister aint abusive! She jus' thought he was a burglar cause he was out playin' poker late and tried to sneak inta th' house last night!"

Zecora nodded in understanding, a look of relief crossing her features. "I see, that's good! No need for consern. Such a home one should not return." The Zebra turned to look into her hut. "Many brews have I to help and heal... but a unicorn could do more, I feel."

"Aww! What!" shouted the buttery yellow filly. "Ah thought you had miracle salves an' stuff! Like th' potion that fixed mah tooth!"

The older Zebra smiled. "Yes, that is true young filly, but listen up and do not be silly. That mixture was taken shortly after the break - fresher damage to heal in a hoof shake. If your brother was injured last night, then it had been too long by morning light. The most, I fear, I can do is this..." She reached into a nearby shelf and pulled out a small poultice. "To ease his pain; a little bliss."

The three fillies stared at the gift of the Zebra, before Sweetie Belle spoke up. "It aint drugs, is it? Miss Cheerilee said never to take drugs..."

The Zebra could not help but laugh, shaking her head. "Wise you are, you fillies three! But this is a salve made from a tree! If one rubs it on their aches, be it wounds or bone breaks, it calms the pain and cools the fire, quenching ones' physical ire."

The three fillies looked to each other a bit and sighed. "Well..." started Applebloom, "... The docs already gave Mac some painkillers, but Ah guess long as mixin' this with them isn't bad..."

The Zebra shook her head. "Heavens no, one should not ingest this balm of which I invest! Rub it on the wound, don't eat! It's a balm, not a treat!"

"What?" said Applebloom. "So... what happens if'n ya eat it?"

Zecora sighed. "Important to know, some of the ingrediants are powerful chemicals and active inebriants. It may also have Hallucinigenic qualities as well, but they're relatively rare, so that much is swell."

The fillies nodded as if to understand - they didn't. "Well, Ah guess that makes sense... well, thanks a bunch, Zecora! We'll go give this to 'em right away!"

The Zebra gave a gentle smile. "It is no problem, young Crusader. Do take care, and see you later!"

**************************

"Oh Angel, I don't know if I should go or not!"

The small rabbit stared at his owner (well, more like servant in his eyes, but that depends on who's asking) as she sat on her haunches. "I love my friends, and I want to go camping, b-but I'm afraid of the wilderness. What if something bad happens?"

Angel began to chitter and wave his forepaws around.

"Oh, I know I'm friends with almost all the animals in the woods, and that I can befriend any new animal I met with ease. It's not the animals I'm afraid of. It's just... well... what if a hunter sees one of us and thinks we're an animal? What if we stumble onto Diamond Dog territory? What if we..." Fluttershy gasped and retreated into her own body. "What if we wake a sleeping dragon?" She spoke barely above a whisper.

Angel responded with yet more chittering.

"What?" said Fluttershy, looking at her pet. "Do you really think I'm over thinking all of this?"

More chittering, arm flailing, and hopping.

"I... I guess that kind of makes sense... after all, we are sort of heroes, and Twilight Sparkle is one of the most powerful magicians in Equestria..."

More chittering from Angel, this time eliciting a gasp from Fluttershy.

"Angel! Watch your language!" The rabbit crossed his arms and stared almost defiantly up at her. She returned with a glare. The rabbit's will seemed to slowly break as he leaned back some before relenting and nodding apologetically, earning a smile from Fluttershy. "That's better... but... I suppose you do have a point. This might help me make new woodland critter friends."

The rabbit smiled and nodded, hopping up and down.

"Well..." said the butter yellow tree wannabe, "I guess that settles it then! Just... I'll need somepony to watch you while I'm away."

Angel scowled.

"Oh Angel, I know you feel you can be trusted home alone, but after that fire you started trying to cook your own dinner, mama doesn't trust you" she cooed gently. "It's not that I don't love you, I just don't think I'd return to a cottage."

**************************

"Hmm... what to bring what to bring..."

Sweetie Belle watched as her elder sister rummaged through various odds and ends. "Oh dear! I want to be fashionable and make sure I have all of the basic necessities... but the question is, what is absolutely required?"

"Well..." chimed Sweetie Belle, "Why not just bring a tent, some food, a canteen of water, and basic toiletries? It's camping, there's really no need to bring all your brushes, combs, perfumes, makeups, shampoos, conditioners, moisturisers, hoof polishes, curlers, and so on... is there?"

"No ne- No NEED!?" shouted Rarity at her sister. "Dear sister, I am shocked! What sort of travesty is it that I would EVER go ANYWHERE without everything I need to look my absolute best!?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged and decided Rarity knew best, and went back to her alphabet soup. She stared in it for a few moments as she read the letters that were left.

R-A-R-I-T-Y-S-T-A-R-T-S-A-F-I-R-E

"Well, they ARE going camping..." said Sweetie Belle, shrugging as she finished her lunch.

************************

"Ugh..."

Rainbow Dash looked around her home for a moment. "Another tough day at work... good thing I got done early, and a good thing the rain is scheduled to stay around Ponyville and away from our trip." She trotted towards her room and was greeted by a small tortoise on a propeller that drifted to her and nuzzled her nose. "Oh, hi Tank! How are you, buddy?"

The tortoise responded with silence.

"So, I think everypony's getting ready. I'm gonna leave you with Snowflake while we're away. Can you be a good boy?"

The tortoise replied with a long lick of her cheek.

"Good! I just gotta pack up and we can take off!" She leaned forward to give her favorite reptile a nuzzle - something she'd try to keep short in public but enjoyed in her home. "Who's a good boy? Hoosh a good boy!?"

The reptile responded with a slow, happy smile.

"Right! Best grab my tent, sleeping bag, canteen, and a box of crackers or something!"

************************

Big Mac stared around his room for a bit.

Before him lay a simple tent-building kit, a simple fire-making kit, a canteen, a bag of food supplies, and a sleeping bag. Something was missing, however. He looked around quickly, and trotted towards his closet, opening it. Reaching in, he pulled from it a ragged, stuffed pony doll. A smile crossed his face as he stuck the doll in his saddlebag, next to his pain killers.

"Oh, hey Big Mac!"

The red stallion jump-turned around, quick to close the bag, eyes wide, to behold his youngest sister. "Oh, uh, h-howdy..."

Applebloom quirked a brow. "You okay Big Mac? Ya look awful scared..."

Big Mac looked around. "Eeyup..."

The filly seemed to buy it - maybe she thought he was jumpy because of his injury? Best not to question it. "Well, alrighty then!" said Applebloom. "Before y'all went on yer trip, Ah wanted t' give you this! Zecora gave it to me this mornin', and Ah wanted to be sure you got it. She said it'd make yer nose feel better." She reached behind herself and pulled from her back a small poultice and presented it to him. Big Mac gently held his hooves out to take it from her, staring at it a second to analyze it. The red stallion then smiled to his sister and reached out to pat her head.

"Thanks, Applebloom."

"Yer welcome!" shouted the filly, who beamed at the praise given by her brother. She turned and trotted out of the room to return to whatever she had going otherwise. Big Mac once more turned to look at the poultice, scratching his mane. He shrugged, and placed it into his saddlebag with Smartypants and his pain killers.

**************************

Twilight sighed, staring at the empty chest before her. She didn't even acknowledge the sound of the front door opening and shutting. "Twilight!" shouted Spike, "I'm home! I've put posters all over town and everything... uhh... so... you packed up for your camping trip?"

Twilight nodded. "I have everything. Sleeping bag, supplies, how-to guides on camping and wilderness survival, first-aid kit... Rarity's bringing a big tent so we won't need to bring one..." Twilight sighed as she relented, shutting the chest. "Alright... well, no point worrying now. I got a trip to enjoy." Twilight's horn glowed a soft magenta color, and her saddlebags and a camping bag levitated towards her and landed atop her back. "Spike, you remember the rules, right?"

"No staying up past 10 PM, no midnight snacks, no Crusaders?"

"Aaand?"

Spike sighed. "No ice cream unless I've eaten dinner."

Twilight smiled. "Good. Now, you be good, and I'll buy you a nice, juicy ruby when I come home!" With that, the lavender mare trotted towards the door and opened it and stepped outside.

**************************

"Okay... 'Snowflake!' Yes, he sounds like a nice pony!" said Fluttershy as she knocked on the door. It opened up, and standing within the doorway was a massive, white-coated pegasus stallion with red eyes and a short-cut mane.

Fluttershy's eyes narrowed to pinpricks and she huddled down into herself and trembled as Angel let out a small whistle of amazement.

"M-my name is F... ffffluttershy... I-I-I was t-t-t-told yyyyyou c-c-c-"

"Watch your pets? Like Rainbow Dash's turtle?"

"t-t-t-t-"

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

Fluttershy simply stared up in intimidation. The stallion quirked a brow. "You gonna be okay?"

The little rabbit next to her rolled his eye and kicked her in the hoof, waking her from her stupor. "I-I-I'm fffine... yyyyyyou'll b-be good to him, right? He likes... salad... and carrots..."

Snowflake shrugged. "Yeah, I'm good with rabbits. Aunt owned a pet store."

Fluttershy sighed a bit and stood a bit taller, though she was still very nervous and distant. "O-okay... uh... well... he can be a bit cranky if he doesn't get his way... fair warning..."

The pegasus grinned down at the little rabbit. "I think me and he are going to get along famously."

Angel's ears folded back and he hugged onto Fluttershy's hoof.

"I'll miss you too, Sweety, but mama's gotta go now." Fluttershy peeled the rabbit from her leg and nuzzled him, placing him in the hooves of the massive stallion slowly. "I'll be back tomorrow, so be a good bunny until then."

Fluttershy waved goodbye and trotted on down the street. Snowflake brought the rabbit into his house and shut the door. "So, little rabbit... how about I show you my gym and we do some POWER LIFTING!"

Angel let out a tiny scream of terror.

****************************

"Well, everypony here an' accounted for?"

Six mares stood next to a large cart full of what was likely Rarity's supplies (who, unlike the others, was not wearing a camp-carrying bag, just her saddlebags and a massive hat). "Not yet" said Applejack, "Big Mac's gonna be here any second."

As if on queue, the group was greeted by the sight of the red stallion, who waved at them and smiled. "Howdy." It caught everypony's attention that he had a bandage on the bridge of his snout and a dark tint to his left eye. Everypony kept quiet, save one.

"Whoa, big guy! What happened to ya!?" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Where did you get that shiner!?"

"That's kinda mah fault... " admitted Applejack. "Kinda... thought... he was a burglar last night... an'... yeah..."

Rainbow stared at Mac a few seconds before turning to Applejack. "What did you hit him with? A frying pan!?"

"A vase, actually..." said Applejack. "One that Ah kinda broke on 'is head. Granny ain't too happy with me right now."

"Eeyup."

"Well!" said Pinkie Pie. "I guess we're all ready for our little trip then?"

The ponies exchanged glances, then nodded. Big Mac trotted towards the large cart and set his harness to it, and then the ponies began to make their trek from the acres, and out of Ponyville itself.

Road Trip

Seven ponies trotted down the dirt path into the woods. Well, six ponites trotted - one hovered a few feet above the ground.

Big Mac looked up at the sky for a minute and sighed a little sigh of thanks - it was not spectacularly warm today, so he would not need to waste any precious water trying to keep hydrated pulling the cart that carried Rarity's various belongings. A soft ache had begun to worm it's way into his nose; a fact that made him wince a bit. "Applejack, could y'all-" He stopped. He had forgotten that he had put Miss Smartypants right with his pain killers. Close call, really. He sighed, trying to think up a way to get his medication without potentially exposing his beloved doll. Biting his lip, he decided at that moment to just bare it.

"What was that, Big Mac?" asked Applejack, trotting up to catch up to him.

He thought quick.

"Ah'm a mite thirsty."

Applejack quirked a brow. "What? Aint it a bit early t' be drinkin' hard cider?" Just then, her glare intensified. "And if Ah recall, y'all aint s'posed t' drink alcoholic beverages an' couple 'em with meds!" She had him there. So much for nulling the pain with booze. He sighed internally in resigning to suffering just a bit longer.

"Ah. Well, could you gimme mah canteen then?"

Applejack gave him an analytic gaze. "It aint filled with booze too, is it?"

"Nope."

Applejack stared at her brother. "Fine, but Ah'ma give it a sniff t' be sure. Ah'd hate t' have t' explain t' Granny that y'all became an alcoholic durin' our trip." She leaned down to grab the canteen that was tied to his saddlebag. She untied it with her teeth and plucked it free, stopping just a moment to twist it open and take a sniff. Certain it was, indeed, water, she caught back up to her brother. "Alright, here ya go, Big Mac." She placed it to his mouth, and poured just a little water into his muzzle. Pulling back, she watched as he gulped it down and smiled.

"Thanks, Applejack."

She returned the smile, putting the cap back on and (much to the bewilderment of physicists everywhere) used her hooves to tie the canteen back onto his bags.

And so, the group continued their journey. As time passed by, Big Mac felt the pain in his snout grow slowly, but certainly. What had started off as just some discomfort had grown into a dull pain, and he knew it wouldn't be too long before it would be too much to bear. Already he could feel the itch of fire in the damage.

'Oh Applejack...' he thought to himself, 'You've hurt me in more ways than you realize.'

Then it hit him. The perfect, absolute perfect plan.

"A.J. Ah gotta use th' restroom."

Applejack blinked. "What? Really? Ah thought you went b'fore we left?"

Big Mac shook his head. "Nope."

Applejack shrugged. "Well... if ya gotta go..."

Big Mac cheered on the inside. He unhitched himself from his harness and nodded. "Be right back." With that, he turned and trotted towards some nearby bushes, behind them, out of sight, and out of mind. He sat on his haunches and pulled his saddlebag from his back, and began to rummage through it. Grabbing onto his pain meds, he pried them from the bag and popped the bottle open. He took his canteen from his back, wishing he didn't have to waste water earlier, and put a pill in his mouth, following with a swig to wash the thing down.

He stared at his bags momentarily, before taking and placing his pain medication in the opposite bag of the doll. He could easily keep Applejack away from her now. Standing up, he placed the saddlebags on his back again. If he actually ended up having to use the restroom TOO soon, Applejack might grow suspicious. After all, he did possess a notoriously strong bladder.

Stepping back from the bushes, Big Mac returned to the mares and hitched himself up. Rarity looked at him with a look of slight distaste. "Please tell me you washed your hooves?"

Big Mac turned to quirk a brow. "With what?"

Rarity's horn lit up and levitated from her various baggage a box of moist towelettes. She levitated them to Big Mac, who simply shrugged and took them in his hooves and swabbed them - he wasn't sure how important it was to clean hooves when he wasn't cooking anything at the moment and, likewise, was walking in dirt that had probably been used as a toilet for generations, but she was a mare, and he was nothing if not gentlecoltly. Once done, he stared at them, uncertain what to do.

"Oh, just cast them aside." said Rarity. "They're biodegradable, so they won't leave any lasting marks." Big Mac hummed, shrugged, and tossed the little towelette to the ground. With that, he hitched himself back to his harness and the party resumed their trot.

With his meds in his system and Miss Smartypants segregated from them, he felt both his pain and his anxiety slowly wash away.

***************************

"Oh BOY have we been walking a long time! Not that I'm complaining, because I love walking with my friends, and seeing the outdoors, so I'm just curious, but how much further 'til we reach the campsite?" said Pinkie Pie, who did not understand that she was not, indeed, walking with her friends, but instead bouncing along the path like her hooves were made of rubber.

"Not much further." said Twilight as she levitated a map up and looked it over. "According to this map, we should be there in about thirty minutes..."

Rainbow hovered just over Twilight and looked the map over. "Huh, about time! I'm half tempted to go on ahead and secure the place before the rest of you!"

Applejack smirked. "Yeah, but then y'all'd have t' wait fer us t' catch up. You an' waitin' don't exactly get along, last Ah checked.

Rainbow wanted to rebuttal - but A.J. had a point. Much as she hated moving slowly, she hated waiting even more. It was like her own personal hell, really. She sighed and shrugged. "Can't we move a bit faster? If we went at a jogging pace, we'd be there in like... fifteen minutes!"

Twilight gave Rainbow a side-glance. "Didn't you learn anything by me beating you at the Running of the Leaves? A pony has to pace herself. You, Applejack, and Pinkie might be able to make that distance, but the rest of us would likely tire out faster."

"Especially you, huh, Egghead?"

Twilight stopped and turned to face Rainbow. "Okay, forgive me if I'm being irrational, but that sounded somewhat mean-spirited."

Rainbow shook her head and waved hooves defensively. "Oh no! I didn't mean anything by it, I swear! It's just..." she rubbed a hoof behind her head. "You know... you don't exactly work out a lot."

Twilight hummed and shrugged. "You have me there. Still, try to phrase it better next time, alright Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash gave a nod. "Right. Sorry, Twilight."

"Apology accepted" said the purple alicorn with a smile.

Big Mac silently listened in to the mares' conversations. Strange, these fillies.

*********************************

"We're HERE!"

Everypony gazed about at the area before them. It had taken an hour or so of walking, but they had finally reached their destination. Before them lay a vast clearing overlooking a large, beautiful lake, several trees that seemed to have various birds and squirrels running about, doing their everyday routine of gathering and foraging. The sun reflected off of the lake water, sparkling wonderfully.

"It's gorgeous..." said Twilight.

"It's wonderful..." said Fluttershy.

"It's amazing!" said Pinkie with a hop.

"Eeyup." said Applejack and Big Mac in unison.

"Y'see," said Applejack, holding up the map. "Granny found this here place when our daddy was still a foal. She took 'em here every year until he started a family of his own." The orange mare stared out, her eyes seeming to gaze into the distant past. "We came here once every year. That was until.... until........."

Everypony turned to see as Applejack suddenly became solemn. Big Mac frowned and, still hitched up, trotted towards his sister and gave her a hug. Applejack sighed and shook her head. "But yeah... when our folks passed, we didn' have th' heart t' come 'ere no more. Mah Granny did it for our pa, an' he showed it to us. It didn' seem right t' come here without 'em. That was until we found th' map in our attic, an' Granny said that daddy'd want us t' share it with our friends."

Big Mac unhitched himself and looked to Rarity. She stared back. "... What? Is there something on my face, dear?" Her expression panicked. "It's not a bug is it!?"

Big Mac quirked a brow. "Y'all gonna unpack?"

Rarity giggled and waved a hoof. "Oh, maybe, but it'd be nice if a nice, strong stallion would do it for me?" She batted her eyelashes at Big Mac. He gave a sigh - he knew what she wanted, and much as he wanted to say no, or pretend to not understand, he knew it might reflect poorly on his sister. So, he got to work and began to unpack her various things.

Twilight sat on her haunches and stared out at the lake, at the sun. "It's amazing, Applejack. Did Granny really find this place for your father?"

Applejack trotted and sat next to her. "Well, sorta." She hummed and looked around. "Originally, she an' th' family found it durin' their travels, before settlin' in Ponyville. They half considered settlin' here, but decided against it. Granny never was specific on why - everytime she told the story, there'd be a different reason. Poisonous snakes, timberwolves, manticores, an' one time even said there was a dragon that lived here." Applejack gave a little laugh, shaking her head. "Ah swear, Ah dunno if she was jus' foolin' with us or if she jus' can't remember."

Twilight giggled a bit. "Right... so.... uh... are we sure those things AREN'T around?"

Applejack shrugged. "Well, not really. But if they are, they aint bugged mah Granny or Pa or us since we started comin' 'ere."

The alicorn sighed in relief. "Thank goodness..."

****************************************

Big Mac sighed, wiping a hoof across his brow as he stared at his work. He had finally finished setting up Rarity's tent - it was a big thing, almost like a small house. He had just finished furnishing the tent, almost hoping that Rarity had a desire to make this her new home so he would not have to take it all back out and go through the trouble of taking the dang thing down again.

"Oh thank you, Big Mac!" said Rarity as she trotted up to the stallion and gave him a hug. "You are such a gentlecolt!"

"Eeyup." he said with a blush.

With that, Rarity trotted into the tent and out of the outdoors. Big Mac sighed, wondering if she had any intention of actually ENJOYING this experience or not. Turning, he trotted towards his own belongings and began to unravel the parts for his own tent. Rarity peeked back outside at him.

"What are you doing?"

Big Mac looked at her. "Uh... settin' up mah tent?"

Rarity pursed her lips. "But... I brought one big enough for everypony."

Big Mac shrugged. "That's awful kind of ya, miss Rarity, but Ah figure you girls'd like yer privacy t' do mare stuff."

The fashionista smirked at the colt, quirking her brow. "And what exactly do you think we mares do on a camping trip?"

Big Mac hummed. He had never actually thought of that before. What did Applejack do? "Sing camp songs n' tell silly stories?"

Rarity giggled. "Well, those certainly seem like fun ideas, but I don't see why you can't sleep in this tent with us."

Big Mac had a few reasons. First off, while he was comfortable with Applejack's friends, he didn't know how he felt about sharing sleeping space with them. Secondly, if his bags were with theirs, there were chances one of them might find Smartypants - he began to rue even bringing her with him. Thirdly, Rarity might try to pretty him up. He liked how he looked.

"Thanks, but Ah'd rather sleep in mah own tent."

Rarity sighed and seemed almost disappointed. "Alright, McIntosh, but just remember, the offer is on the table if you change your mind. We'll keep a space available for you and everything." She smiled at him before retreating once more into the tent. Big Mac sighed a bit and shook his head, returning to the task at hoof.

******************************

Fluttershy stared at all the little animals as they went about their business, her eyes wide with wonder. "Oh my! Look at them! All of them! So sweet, so innocent, so cute!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, wanna help us out here, Flutters?"

Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who were sitting there as if waiting; Rainbow somewhat irritated, Pinkie smiling and bouncing in place. "Oh, so sorry Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow smiled. "Right! Now, I wanna show you girls some of my new stunts, and I was hoping you could cheer for me and tell me how awesome I am!"

Pinkie stopped. "Wait, Dashie, don't we do that normally?"

"What?" said Rainbow, confused.

"Yeah!" shouted Pinkie. "I mean, we're on a camping trip! Shouldn't we do something fun and outdoorsy? Like, look for treasure? OH! Maybe we'll find a mansion that's abandoned, but it's not REALLY abandoned because it's full of zombies! And then, we'll have to fight our way through a buncha them and get into the basement, where we'll find a top-secret facility that makes the zombies, and then Twilight will turn out to be the bad guy and then she'll get stabbed by a super-zombie, but she's not really dead and gets superpowers! Oh, and then we'll escape and there'll be a big explosion!"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stared at the pink mare.

"Uhh... Pinkie?" said Rainbow.

"Yes?"

"... As cool as that sounds, I don't think we'll have to worry about ANY of that coming true."

Fluttershy whimpered. "I-I-I don't want Twilight to be a bad guy..."

Pinkie hummed and shrugged. "Well, we can just go exploring then, right?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Well, I guess... but if we find any treasure, I call dibs."

***************************************

Big Mac stepped away from his tent, having finally finished it, and looked out at the scene. It was as beautiful as he remembered it as a foal. Unchanged by pony hooves, unaltered by time... the very sight of perfection. That's when he noticed something to the corner of his vision.

Applejack standing in front of a stone.

Big Mac sighed and trotted towards his little sister, looking down at the stone. On it were a few, simple words.

'Clementine Apple'

Big Mac frowned a bit. Applejack turned to look to him, her eyes sad, though looked as if any tears they might shed had dried up long ago. "... It's funny... we was plannin' for one of these trips when we lost 'er..."

Big Mac sighed and put a hoof on his sister's withers. "Eeyup..."

Applejack looked at the stone again, that frown as strong as ever. "... Ah remember... Ah remember that fer a while... I was angry at Applebloom... Ah remember tellin' daddy 'if it wasn't fer her, we'd still have ma'.... an' everytime Ah remember that... Ah hate m'self..."

The older stallion brought his sister in for another hug. "Don' talk like that. You was jus' a foal an' didn' know how t' cope with somethin' so terrible. No filly deserves t' lose their mother..."

Applejack sighed. "Ah know... but still..."

Big Mac smiled. "An', if Ah remember right, it was yer idea t' put this stone here. That way she'd always be here with us when we returned."

Applejack smiled a bit. She looked up to her older brother, and then her eyes began to wet a little as she let her frown come back. "Do... do ya think ma and pa'd be proud of me, brother?"

Big Mac tightened his hug on her. 'Eeyup' just didn't seem like the right thing to say. "Ah think they'd be more than proud. Their lil' filly is a full grown mare, responsible and honest as they raised 'er t' be. Strong an' diligent as they wanted her t' be. An' braver an' more heroic than they ever could have asked her t' be."

Applejack returned the hug, choking a little.

"Thanks, Big Mac..." she said softly.

He smiled.

"Eeyup."

Then Things Went Downhill

Fluttershy wandered about, twirling around to take in the scenery.

This was her element. The wilderness. The trees. The little woodland critters, unhindered and unchanged by pony society. She had once said if she could be a tree, she would be; after all, trees are at one with nature, perhaps the very core of nature itself. Any creature could alter nature, even if some did so through the most basic of manners; only trees remained a constant.

The various animals gathered about her, curious to see this strange pony dancing and twirling like a ballerina. Fluttershy turned to a nearby bush with a little bird on it and held a hoof out; the bird responding by hopping onto her hoof. Fluttershy sang a few notes, an act the bird responded with singing of it's own in small, beautiful--

"HEY FLUTTERSHY!"

Suddenly, all the animals scattered, the bird flying from Fluttershy's hoof. "No, wait!" she yelled, as loud as Fluttershy might typically do what might be considered at least an honest attempt at yelling.

Rainbow Dash hovered into the clearing. "Oh, there you are. What's up? You kind of wandered off."

Fluttershy sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry Rainbow Dash. I was just exploring and trying to make friends."

Rainbow hummed. She looked around to see the various animals scurrying in the trees and bushes and gave a nervous grin, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. "Oh, yeah, sorry about that... heheh..."

Fluttershy smiled at her longest time friend. "Oh, it's okay Rainbow Dash. What did you want anyway?"

Rainbow nodded. "Oh! Yeah, uh, Pinkie and I found this really cool cave! We was gonna go in and explore it. Wanna come with?"

Fluttershy drew circles in the dirt with a hoof. "Oh, I don't know Rainbow Dash. That sounds awefully dangerous, I mean, what if a bear lives there?"

The cyan mare threw her hooves to the air. "Well, duh! That's why we want you to come along! You're the animal whisperer! If there's any dangerous animals in there, you can... I don't know... talk to 'em or stare at 'em or whatever it is you do to make them like you!"

Fluttershy winced. "Oh, I don't stare at them to make them like me. The stare is--"

"Yeah yeah, that's interesting Fluttershy, so are you in or not?"

The butter pegasus looked at her hooves. "Well, I guess that makes sense, but I-"

"Excellent!" Rainbow Dash wrapped a hoof around Fluttershy's withers. "Let's go, Flutters ol' pal! Adventure awaits!" Without another word, Rainbow Dash took off. Fluttershy let loose but a single sigh of defeat and took to following her friend at a casual pace. It took several minutes of travel, walking past branches and trees that crowded and winded, and nearly slipping off a ledge down a hill (of yet more trees), and catching up with the overly enthusiastic Rainbow Dash, but eventually, they reached it.

"Here it is!"

Three mares stood at the entrance of the cave, staring in. Pinkie hopped in place, Rainbow holding her hooves up to display her amazing discovery, and Fluttershy smiling softly. "Oh, it's a very wonderful cave, Rainbow Dash. I bet there's some bears around here that would just love-"

"Yeah, but first, let's explore it and see if there's buried treasure!" interrupted Rainbow.

Fluttershy frowned a tad. "Uhm... isn't buried treasure usually buried?"

"Yeah! And there might be treasure buried in this cave!"

"Then how would we find it?" Added Pinkie Pie.

Rainbow hummed. "Hm... OH! I bet Applejack's map would know! Maps ALWAYS lead to treasure, right?"

Fluttershy raised a hoof. "Actually, her map was made to lead to-"

"Exactly! So, let's go get her to give us that map!"

"What!? OH MY GOODNESS THAT'S AN AMAZING IDEA!" Pinkie shouted, in all caps. "I bet we'll find dabloons, or thrones, or pony bones! GOLDEN pony bones! The kind that rich ponies have because they're so rich, they get their bones laced in GOLD!"

Fluttershy's ears folded back. "I-I don't really think that's possi-"

"Possible to do without leaving a big heaping chest of gold? I agree, Fluttershy!" interrupted Dash for not the first time in the past several minutes. "Let's go bug A.J for her treasure map!"

With that, Rainbow and Pinkie turned tail and took off for camp. Fluttershy shook her head in utter defeat as she followed her friends back.

"I just wanted to make some woodland friends..."

************************************

"Cannonball!"

Applejack lept off a tall rock and landed in the lake with a splash. Big Mac held a hoof over his face to avoid getting splashed, Twilight similarly raising a bubble to avoid letting the book she was reading get wet. Rarity, meanwhile, remained several feet away from the fun, laying on a towel and soaking up the sun. He quirked a brow at the sight. 'She's not going to get much luck sun bathing in a place with so many trees' he thought to himself. Big Mac trotted towards her and poked her in the side.

"Sun bathin'?"

Rarity waved a hoof at him. "I'm not sunbathing, McIntosh, why I'm basking! A mare as myself is far too beautiful to let her perfect skin be damaged by excessive sunlight. I'm just allowing the warmth to soothe me and give me the vital energy that only the sun can offer. The fact we're not at a beach where the heat would likely be even more intense is all the better."

Big Mac scratched his head a bit, then pointed his hoof out at the water. "Wanna go swimmin'?"

The marshmallow mare let out a soft giggle and turned to face Big Mac. "You'd have a mare such as myself splash around in water that has played both toilet and drinking fountain to various creatures?"

Big Mac pondered it over and shrugged. "Eeyup?"

Rarity let out a little laugh and turned about, patting Big Mac's cheek. "Oh you are so cute a stallion, Big Mac. How you remain single eludes me."

Big Mac blushed, fairly certain he just received a backhanded (backhoofed?) compliment, but he let his expression remain neutral just in case. "Eeyup."

Rarity nodded and rolled back onto her stomach. "If you've anymore wisdom to share, please do. I want to enjoy this camping trip to the fullest!" Big Mac just let another shrug roll across his shoulders and about-faced, trotting back towards the lake and towards Twilight Sparkle.

'Reading? On a camping trip? I know she's a princess, but I figure if you're going to go to the great out doors, you'd want to do more' he thought to himself.

"Readin'?" he said. "Why not swim?"

Twilight shrugged, not taking her eyes off her book. "Oh, thanks but no thanks. It's not that I'm against it, I just... uh... I've got a really interesting book here. I was reading it when I left home."

Big Mac hummed, then waved his hoof around. "You sure?"

Twilight sighed. "Yes, I'm sure." Twilight looked aside to see Big Mac staring at her. She blushed, feeling suddenly she might have seemed a bit rude, and gave an assuring smile. "Thanks for asking though. It's very kind of you." Big Mac just shrugged once more and trotted a distance away. He watched as Applejack swam about in the water, enjoying herself. He couldn't help but feel it odd that she said she and her friends came to enjoy a little time together, and yet none of them seemed to be actually doing anything together. Well, not these three anyway. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy kind of disappeared. Still, he felt that for a camping trip, it seemed only Applejack was trying to do anything she didn't normally do. Not that she didn't occasionally take a dip in the pond on their farm. Still, it's not as fun to do as it is when you're camping.

His mind made up, Big Mac snorted and trotted towards the tallest tree he could find. Working nimbly with hooves tempered by years of hard labor, he climbed up the branches to the very top branch (or at least the highest one he knew could support his weight) and looked down at the lake below. He took in a deep breath.

Applejack looked to her brother and scrunched her nose. "Big Mac?"

Twilight looked up and her eyes widened. Her horn sparked with magical power as a bubble formed around her.

Rarity did nothing being totally oblivious.

Just as Big Mac was about to jump, the branch he had believed to be strong enough to hold his weight broke, and he plummeted. Funny, it was able to hold his weight the last time he was here and--- was about two thirds of his current weight. Well dang. Luckily, he didn't hit any branches on the way down, instead belly-flopping into a deeper end of the water with a loud slapping sound. Everypony present winced, save for Rarity who suddenly averted her gaze, curious as to what had just happened.

Only one word could come to him. Okay, so he usually stuck to one or two, occasionally three words if he had to, but still, It was one word that was filled with poetry and meaning, filled with all of his heart and soul at this point and time, and it climbed out in a tired, ached voice.

"Ow..."

Slowly, Big Mac pedaled his hooves to drag himself towards land, and trudged onto the grass. He fell down on his side, his belly pink enough it could be seen through his coat. Applejack followed, and her look of concern was instantly replaced with an attempt not to laugh. Big Mac just looked at her with a scowl. "S-sorry Big Mac... *snort*... Ah... Ah just... *chortle*.... Ah just... aw shucks, that was funny!"

Big Mac snorted and lay his head on the grass, looking straight into the distance. "Nope..."

"Oh! Hey, there you are!"

Everypony turned their attention to the arrival of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was grinning madly. "Applejack! Big Mac! Can we borrow that map of yours?"

Applejack looked to Big Mac with concerned curiosity; a gesture he returned, before the two looked to the rainbow mare. "What ya need it fer?" said Applejack, inquisitively.

Pinkie nearly jumped out of her fur. "Oh! We found--"

Immediately, a hoof was jammed in her mouth by Rainbow Dash. "Uh, no reason! We just found some stuff and we was wondering if it was on the map was all."

Applejack looked at her friends carefully. She eyed Rainbow, whose face was dressed with the biggest, most suspicious grin she had ever seen. Meanwhile, Pinkie's own face was stuffed with Rainbow Dash's hoof. Fluttershy seemed rather neutral at the moment; her expression played aas one in which she was just along for the ride. Applejack pondered it over for a second.

"Well... Ah s'pose y'all can... but be careful with it."

Applejack stepped away from her big brother, who began to pick himself up as the pain on his tender underside began to fade. The farm mare plucked open her saddlebags and began to rummage, finally pulling out a rolled up piece of paper, and trotted back to Rainbow Dash, handing it to her.

"Dash, Ah mean it. Y'all have t' be careful with this. Ah don't want us gettin' lost, ya hear?"

With a hoofwave and a raspberry, Rainbow seemed to disregard the wisdom. "Please, we won't get lost. It's not so big, I can remember my way back!"

"Now that aint what I--"

Rainbow, however, immediately dashed off, Pinkie in tow. Applejack turned to Fluttershy who returned her gaze with one of apology. Applejack smiled. "Flutters, watch over 'em. We need that map t' get outta here. If we lose it, we're good as lost ourselves."

Fluttershy smiled. "Don't worry, Applejack. I'll try my best." This worked for Applejack, who nodded trustingly to her friend. Certain she had her friend's blessing, Fluttershy began to trot after her friends, who had already made their way into the deeper part of the woods.

Applejack sighed.

"You DO know she's probably going to lose that map, right dear?" said Rarity, with a look of worry adorning her features.

"Oh Ah know..." said Applejack. "That's why Ah got a spare. Granny made a second copy of th' durn thing in case any of us got lost. A third too, but that one always stays home." Applejack grinned in obvious pride at this situation, as did her brother. "We Apples aint nothin' if not prepared."

Twilight blinked. "W... wait... did Applejack just lie? You can't do that!"

Applejack huffed. "Who says I can't? Ah lied t' Pinkie like a pro up until she started gettin' nutty on her birthday a couple years back!" Twilight wanted to respond, but found herself at a loss for words. She didn't know if Applejack's fibbing potential was 'pro' status or not, but she certainly can't say she's better at it herself. She decided to let her friend have that one.

Big Mac sighed. "Gettin' late..."

Everypony present looked to one another. It was, in fact, getting quite late, and they had yet to eat anything. Rainbow Dash, though loyal, was prone to seeking out adventure and glory. Pinkie Pie was just easily distracted. And Fluttershy? Well, while she normally would return as soon as possible, she was also, by their own admittance, a bit of a door mat.

They wouldn't likely be back anytime soon.

**************************************

"Dashie, where is it?"

"I'm trying to find it Pinkie! I think it's this way! Or.... was it this way?"

"Are we lost?"

"Oh no, I know where the camp is!... Or... uh..."

The three ponies stood in a totally unfamiliar surrounding, Fluttershy wilting a bit. "Rainbow Dash, I think we traveled a bit further than the cave was... it took us twice as long to get here as it took us to reach that cave, and that was considering the time it took for you to find me..."

Rainbow waved a hoof. "Yeah yeah, that's... uh..."

Pinkie and Fluttershy stared at Rainbow Dash.

In a rare moment of bravery, Fluttershy asked the question on everypony's mind.

"Rainbow Dash...? Can you read maps?"

Rainbow Dash looked at her friends for a minute. She sighed and wilted a bit herself. "Uh... I... kinda can... when I see big formations... and stuff that there isn't a lot of?"

Silence hung in the air.

"So... we're lost...?"

Rainbow Dash blushed, placing a hoof on the back of her head. "Uh... well, not lost, per se... just kinda... not... one hundred percent certain of where we are..."

Silence once more.

Fluttershy sighed and hung her head. Rainbow Dash, however, retook her confident pose. "Fear not, friends! I can get a bird's eye view of the landscape and figure out exactly where we are!" With that, Rainbow Dash took flight into the sky and held her hoof out, looking about. She hummed, unable to see the lake; the telltale mark of where they were. She supposed they really HAD gone a bit further than intended. With that, she flew even higher, and higher, and higher, deciding to make things interesting by doing a twisting turn, until she could see the curve of the land, and looked down.

There, a little spot in her vision, marked their camp.

"Aha!"

With that, Rainbow Dash bolted back downwards, and landed triumphantly. "Well girls, I found our way.... back...."

It was then she realized neither Pinkie nor Fluttershy were present.

In fact, she didn't remember the rocks either.

Or a lot of the trees.

So she might have... miscalculated where she landed a tad. No big deal! Certainly her friends were nearby! Unless she flew in an arch. Did she fly in an arch? Well, only one way to be certain.

"Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie!"

Silence returned to her.

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "Uh... well, maybe they'll learn to read the map..."

She blinked for a moment, dread filling her heart as she reached into her saddle bag and pulled something from it.

The map.

She stared at it for a few seconds, her brain processing what she might have just done.

"... Oh boy... this is bad..."

She looked around, panic filling her. "Alright, uh, let's see... I-I-I could go to my friends! Find Twilight, she'll be able to find them! Or Applejack! Maybe even Big Mac! Yeah!" She stopped and shook her head. "No! No, because then they'd know I messed up, and they'd think I'm a total loser! I'm too cool to leave friends behind! And what if the girls get in trouble? They'll need somepony to get to them fast!"

She bit her lip and tried weighing her options.

"Uh... I... I guess I can look for them for a little while... if I don't find them, I can always fly back to camp and get the others! Who knows, maybe they're already on their way back, and we can have a big laugh about this later! Haha... ha..."

********************************

"She.... she left us?"

Pinkie stared up, somewhat surprised. "Why would Dashie do that? She just flew up, spun around some, and then landed somewhere else!"

Fluttershy bit her lip. "Oh no... I-I-I think she forgot where to land..." It was a little known fact that Fluttershy knew that Rainbow Dash was not very good at remembering landscapes unless they really stood out - such as a particularly phallic looking rock on the Apple Farm that she laughs at a lot and makes lude jokes. Applejack eventually got so annoyed she had the thing broken down and the pebbles thrown into the pond.

Fluttershy and Pinkie looked to each other. Pinkie smiled. "Well, it's a good thing I know how to read maps, huh?" Pinkie reached into her saddlebag, rummaged about, and pulled out a piece of paper. She unrolled it and looked it over inquisitively.

"Hmm... this formation looks familiar... but I don't think I see it around here..."

The butter yellow pegasus felt curiosity overtake her, and she peaked over her friend's shoulder. The map she held was, in fact, a map of Equestria, not just the woods. It was too big a scale to have any idea where they were in the relatively small woodland area.

"P-Pinkie Pie... that's the wrong map..."

Pinkie shrugged. "Oh! Lemme try again!" she reached into her saddlebag, and pulled out nothing. Literally, her hoof grasped as if it was holding the nothing. She hummed, and jammed her hoof into her mane. All she managed to pull from it was a squeaky mallet, a triangle, and her invite to the Gala.

"Wow! I guess Dashie still has the map!"

Fluttershy was very still for a moment.

Then she shivered.

Then shook.

Then quaked.

And she let out a sad, pathetic whimper as her eyes filled with tears.

Lost

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..."

Scattered

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...

Broken Pieces

Twilight was angry.

Big Mac gulped, staring up at the mare, wondering what she might possibly be upset about. She gave him a gentle nudge with her hoof, and suddenly, her sour expression shifted towards something kinder, more relieved. "About time you woke up. I was worried I'd have to watch you all night..."

The stallion quirked a brow. "What...?"

It was just then he realized they were in the woods, and the camp site was nowhere to be seen; not that he could see much, as it was dark and the area was illuminated by naught but a hastily constructed pile of firewood. He looked about and slowly pulled himself to his hooves. "Where are we?" Big Mac did not like saying more than needed to be said; at the same time, he felt so much needed to be asked.

"Well..." began Twilight, her expression growing somewhat guilty. "I uh... sorta don't know... the camp was raided by a bear, and you were kinda doped up on herbal medicine, so I teleported us away..." she rubbed a hoof against the back of her head. "I may have... sort of... got a bit carried away and teleported us as far away as I possibly could..."

Big Mac scrunched his face at this and glanced around a bit. Indeed, he had never dared to wander more than fifteen minutes away from camp - even that was pushing it, really. However, he was certain that with a little Earth Pony ingenuity and Twilight's brilliance and courage, they would--

"SNAKE!"

"Hm?"

Big Mac saw Twilight flapping her wings uselessly, hooves digging to try to climb a tree. Behind her was naught but a little garden snake; it's patterns betrayed it as harmless, probably not even having teeth worth biting with. Big Mac rolled his eyes internally, but dared not do so outwardly. He stepped forward and picked the tiny snake up with his teeth - gently - and tossed it several feet away. Twilight let out a breath of relief.

"Oh, thank you Big Mac... I..." she blushed and looked anywhere but at him. "Kind of... have a fear of snakes..."

Big Mac stared at her, his expression neutral. He wanted to be sarcastic, to say 'Really? I hadn't noticed...' or 'you don't say?' But he didn't like saying more than needed to be said... plus, it might offend the poor mare. "Eeyup." As Twilight composed herself, Big Mac suddenly backpedaled to earlier. "You said Ah was doped up on herbal medicine?"

Twilight nodded. "Oh yeah. You said Applebloom gave it to you..." Twilight glanced at his saddlebags. "It smelled familiar, and I recently remembered it might be the same stuff Zecora gave me a while back when I sprained my ankle. She said it soothes and has minor healing traits; nothing miraculous, but it accelerates the process somewhat." Big Mac hummed. He removed his saddlebag and gently pushed his hooves in; trying to avoid letting Twilight see his secret shame, and pulling the poultice from it. He popped it open again and considered things. He took his hoof and poured some of the sludge on it, pressing it to his nose; it hurt, as the area was still sensitive and healing, causing him to pull back with a wince.

"Oh!" Twilight shouted. "Here, let me do it. With that break and the bruised bone, you'll need to be careful." She poured some of the sludge onto her hoof and placed it over the injury, gently rubbing the stuff into it. It didn't hurt nearly as much as when Big Mac did it, though he was still grimacing a bit at the slight ache. Eventually, Twilight stopped, and brushed what was left of the stuff on the ground, smiling. "There. It should keep your nose from hurting for a short while."

Big Mac hummed and wiggled his nose some. It wasn't having the same profound effect of his pain medication, but it was keeping the pain at a tolerable level; little more than an irritation. It would at least allow him to economize his medication until they could find everypony else and return home.

Everypony else...

"Applejack!"

Twilight nearly fell back with the exclamation. Big Mac looked about frantically, panic clear in his expression. "Applejack!?"

Twilight scrunched her nose some at his sudden uneasyness. "Uhh... she's not here... Nopony else was in our tent, and you were alone in yours." She looked about, racking her brain for ideas. "It's possible they came back, saw the bear, and kept their distance, although if they did that I might have noticed them..." Well, might have was a strong word. Truth be told, she almost left Big Mac there.

Big Mac sighed, placing a hoof to his forehead and rubbing it, staring at the dirt. "Alright..." He began to let his head move around as he thought of the situation and pieced it all together. He pointed his hoof towards her and himself. "We're lost?"

Twilight bit her lip. "Uh... that's... kinda the gist of it, yes..."

Big Mac looked up to stare at her for a moment. The wheels began to turn in his mind and he pointed at her with a questioning look. "Wings..."

The alicorn blinked, confused. "Uhh... yeah?"

"Can ya fly?"

Twilight blushed a bit, drawing small circles in the dirt with a hoof. "Uh... yeah, I... kinda... sorta... can't fly..." Once more, she was finding everything in the world accept anything in Big Mac's particular direction fascinating. "Rainbow Dash says I don't time my wing flaps right, and that I push them too hard..." A grimace crossed her features. "Uhh... I also don't think I preen them right. Really, it never bothered me; I never saw much use for flying, so I just make sure they look presentable." Well, that idea went down the toilet awful fast. Once more, Big Mac pulled into his brain, trying to think if they had anymore options. He grimaced and shook his head; there was only one thing left to do.

"Teleport home?" He nodded. "Get help."

The alicorn's expression soured. "Do you think if I could do that we'd have walked for an hour?" Big Mac turned to face Twilight. It made sense, really. "It took everything I had to get just the two of us this far, and we're probably only thirty minutes away from where the camp sight is. I had to rest while you took your own little nap, and even now, I don't know if I could get just myself back to the camp."

Just how long was he out for? Judging by the lack of light, his immediate guess was perhaps two or three hours. Another sigh escaped the stallion; just what could they do? "Well... " Once again, he pondered. He let out a sigh of defeat. "Let's find shelter..."

"I have a suggestion..." Big Mac turned to the alicorn, nodding to signal he was all ears. "I can use my magic to tear down a few trees or branches, and construct a basic shelter for us."

"Nnope." It was a stern sort of response; one that said he would not change his mind.

Twilight balked. "What? Why not?"

He looked up at the trees and frowned. He stood and trotted towards a tree and put a hoof on it, giving it a few shoves, then looked to Twilight with a defensive expression. "Hurts the ecosystem..."

Despite his wisdom, Twilight stared at him as if he made no sense. "What? But what about us? We need shelter and food!"

He nodded. "Short term."

Twilight processed this. "Wait... are you saying that because it's a short term solution that it'd be wrong?" He gave a nod as his only response. Though she hated to admit it, Twilight knew he was right. She let a frustrated sigh pass her lips and shook her head. "Alright... well... what do you suggest then?"

Once more, the stallion was analyzing the area that surrounded them with interest. "It's dark..." he said. "... Take turns sleepin'."

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "What? You want to take turns? Like... sleep every few hours and wake the other up for their turn?" Big Mac nodded sagely. She grimaced at this. She really didn't like the idea, but if they were to preserve the ecosystem, and if they were to avoid getting even MORE lost, it might be their only option. "Okay... but I'm not happy about it..."

"Nnope..." replied Big McIntosh.

"I could make us a shelter..."

Big Mac fixed her with a firm stare and stood tall in front of her. He had that expression on his face that said it clear as day. 'If you're going to, you're going to go through me.' Twilight considered this for a moment. Physically, he was stronger than her by a great deal, but she was fairly certain he was no match for her magic. She could, in fact, work through him without having to even threaten him, and she was certain he wouldn't retaliate - after all, Big Mac didn't strike Twilight as the type to hit a mare.

But still. The look on his face, the words he spoke... well... kind of...

"Alright, I get it..."

Big Mac's stern gaze shifted to a gentle smile. "Thanks."

Twilight waved a hoof at him. "Don't mention it..."

********************************

"Well... this sucks!"

Pinkie and Fluttershy gazed about the destroyed remains of the camp. One tent had been torn to shreds, all of the food had been eaten, and nopony was anywhere to be found.

"Wh... where are they?" said Fluttershy with a tremble. "M... maybe in the tent?"

They did not find a pony in the tent.

Pinkie almost screamed, stopped only by Fluttershy shoving a hoof into her mouth. Laying there, sleeping, was a bear, it's body seeming to grow and shrink with each breath. Fluttershy gently trotted towards the beast, and gave it a soft poke in the side. It stirred, before turning to face her.

"Uhm, excuse me, Mister Bear? My friends and I were camping here, and you kind of came here and ate all our food. We know this is your home and we're guests here, but we weren't going to stay long. If you could be a dear, could you kindly let us have our camping space - at least the tent, back?"

The bear stared at Fluttershy for several long seconds.

Then it let out a ferocious roar, the yellow pony squeezing her eyes shut as her mane waved about in the force of the creature's voice.

Suddenly, her expression hardened into a glare.

"Look here, Mister," she began, "We're not causing you any trouble. We're not stealing food from you. Your den is probably far enough that you had to go out of your way to get here. Now you be nice and if you see my friends, you leave them alone, you hear me?"

The bear and Fluttershy stared silently at each other for a long time.

Slowly, however, the bear began to withdraw, growling at the pony whose gaze only hardened. Eventually, it let out a defeated grunt and trotted past Fluttershy, an utterly baffled Pinkie Pie, and out of the tent. Fluttershy turned to her friend and smiled sadly. "I didn't want to scold him, but he was being so rude... I'm sure he's a big softy when you get to know him better though..."

Pinkie Pie peeked out of the tent flap. "Eee... well, softy or not, he left a parting gift... and I'll tell you this, it ain't muffins..."

*******************************

It was dark.

That was no surprise really.

Rainbow Dash sighed, realizing she had been fading in and out of consciousness. She didn't know if it was boredom, if her injuries were worse than she knew, or what. All she knew was that she was still alone, still in pain, and still stranded.

"Hey, here it is!"

She was so lonely she could hear voices.

"Ugh... only because we're desperate... it's ONLY because we're desperate..."

And they sounded like her friends.

"Ah'll gather us some sticks n' make a camp fire. Ah got enough snacks t' at least hold us over fer the night..."

Wait a minute...

Suddenly, a light erupted at the end of the cave, stinging her eyes and blinding her momentarily.

"Ugh, it's so filthy in here! What creature would willing... ly... w.... what.... Rainbow? Rainbow Dash!? Oh my goodness, where have-- Oh my, what happened to you!?"

Rainbow smiled some and spoke with a raspy voice - one from a mix of crying earlier (something she intended to take to her grave) and not having anything to drink. "Had a bit of an accident... did Fluttershy or Pinkie Pie ever get back?"

Rarity stuck her head out of the cave. "Applejack! I found Rainbow Dash, and she's injured! Her wing and leg are bending wrong and she's covered in cuts and bruises!" The unicorn quickly trotted towards her friend, kneeling down. "Rainbow, where are they? What happened?"

The Pegasus grunted, shame etching onto her features. "I... sorta lost them in the woods... I couldn't read the map, so I tried to fly really high to see if I could find camp... but I lost track of them, went looking, hit some trees, and limped here..."

Rarity winced. "Oh my goodness, you WALKED here!? How far!? In your condition, I'm surprised you could even stand!"

Rainbow chuckled weakly. "It did hurt like noponies' business..."

"Oh mah stars, Rainbow! What happened, girl!?"

Just then, Applejack trotted into view, clearly very worried for the condition of her friend. Rainbow groaned and rolled her eyes; not only was she going to have to explain this again, she looked absolutely pathetic in front of her friendly rival. "Couldn't read map, flew real high, lost friends, crashed, and limped to this cave."

Applejack stepped closer, examining Rainbow thoroughly; enough to make the Pegasus uncharacteristically self-conscious. "Yer pretty banged up girl..." Applejack frowned, staring at her friend. "We can't leave yer limbs like this... Rainbow, we're gonna have t' put yer wing n' leg in a splint."

Rainbow quirked a brow. "Applejack, you're no medical professional..."

The farm mare shook her head. "Nope, but Big Mac n' Ah both know a little basic first aid, an' you do NOT leave broken bones at odd angles longer than ya need ta... Ah got what we need t' make the splints, so don't you worry."

Applejack turned to rummage through her bag, handing Rarity a first-aid kit, some stick-like things, and the pulling a larger stick that looked like she had found it on the ground from her bag, placing it before Rainbow Dash.

She gently put her hooves on Rainbow's leg; near where the bone had broken, causing the pegasus to wince as Applejack nodded to Rarity. Rarity grimaced, and her magic levitated the stick to Rainbow's face.

"Wh... what's this for..."

Applejack looked to her friend, guilt and pity clear in her face.

"For you to bite down on. This is prolly gonna be the single most painful thing you've ever felt in your life... until we get to yer wing..."

Rainbow Dash gulped and eyed the stick for a minute. "And... and what happens if I don't let you?"

Applejack shook her head. "The bones'll potentially heal wrong, and when we get ya to a doctor they'll have to break 'em again t' fix 'em up properly... it may even make it harder fer ya ta walk an' fly in th' long run... Ah ain't sure..."

As much as Rainbow Dash hated pain, she could not risk her flight. She could live with sub-par walking, but she had to be the best flier she could be. She grimaced, gulped, and opened her mouth, letting the stick slide broadside in between her teeth. Applejack looked to Rainbow Dash, a grimace on her features, then looked down to the leg.

"Ready?"

Rainbow Dash hesitated, but then gave a soft nod. Applejack then steeled herself; she wasn't going to like this anymore than her friend.

Quickly, she bent the bones back into place. Instantly, Rainbow Dash bit hard onto the stick, her eyes shot open, and she let out a blood curdling scream. Working gently, yet quickly, Applejack got to work setting the splint into place on her leg, wrapping it up nice and tight to assure it served it's function. She turned her gaze to Rainbow Dash, to see the mare's eyes filled with tears, whimpering, but not really crying.

"Y'alright, sugar cube?"

Rainbow Dash nodded a slow, pathetic nod.

Applejack gulped. "G-good... c-cause Ah gotta do yer wing now..."

Rainbow's eyes squeezed shut and she lay her head on the ground as if in defeat. The farm mare gently took the wing in her hooves, eliciting a soft whimper from Rainbow Dash; if only her friend knew how much it hurt her to see her like this. She could see it in Rarity's eyes as well; the unicorn mare's own eyes filled with tears, her hooves covering her mouth, not out of disguist, but to block her own emotional response best as she could.

"Ready?"

Rainbow whimpered again, but nodded.

Another swift motion, bending the bone into place, eliciting another scream from Rainbow Dash, tears streaking down her face. Rarity watched her friend as she stared at her, almost pleadingly.

She wanted to believe she was begging her to not tell anypony she saw her cry. But she was likely begging her to make the pain stop.

Eventually, Applejack got the wing splint into place, setting the bone. She sighed, wiping a hoof across her brow. "There ya go... that'll hold ya 'til we can get ya to a hospital... we got enough bandages in here t' take care of the smaller damage, but Ah'm afraid we'll be spent after that..."

Rainbow's whimper suddenly turned into relieved laughter; she was happy to have it over with. So happy. So happy to have her friends nearby.

"... Rainbow, are you still hurtin'? You've got a bit of waterworks goin'..."

"No. I'm fine, Applejack..."

In the Dark Of The Night

It was dark out.

That much was to be expected - miles from any pony settlement, in the middle of the woods, with only a meager campfire to speak of, the only illumination besides being the moon, it was understandable that there was a point in Big Mac's vision where everything turned pitch black. Still, he was pleased, for he had not had to chase off any animals, there were plenty of sticks around to throw into the firewood, and he had even improved upon Twilight's work (she had barely had enough rocks surrounding the fire to stop it from spreading if it managed to escape the confinement of the twigs).

He sighed, feeling the dull pain in his nose grow. He had been relying on the balm for the past three hours, and he was finally going mad. He had to erase the pain. Reaching into his saddlebag, he pried from it his bottle of medication and popped it open, tossing one of the pills into his mouth and washing it down with a sip from his canteen - he'd have to refill it once he had a chance.

Twilight Sparkle had wandered off to see if she could find suitable shelter. Admittedly, her need for a place to sleep reminded him so much of Rarity; at least she wasn't demanding particular accommodations. He sighed cuddling onto his prized possession; one Smartypants. He wasn't a cowardly stallion by any length of the word, but something about the simple little toy brought him comfort.

He snorted, wondering how long Twilight might be gone, and if he'd be forced to go hunting for her as well.

*******************************

"Well, this will never do..."

Twilight stared at the mouth of the cave, staring at it silently. "There's bear leavings around... it'd be a bad idea to even step hoof in there, let alone try to sleep in it for a night..." A bit dejected, Twilight let out a sigh of frustration and turned about. "Fifteen minutes. I wandered for fifteen minutes to find a cave that I can't even use... " She looked about for a minute, threw her hooves up in defeat, and turned around. "Back to camp I go then."

She began to move with a brisk trot, wanting to find Big McIntosh as quick as she possibly could. The sooner she wasn't alone out in the wilderness, the better.

Then, she felt a sharp pain in her leg.

Twilight let out a loud yelp and threw her foreleg around, seeing something fall off; something she recognized as a spider. She watched as it scurried away into the darkness. She looked at her hoof to see that it had bits of web on it - she must have accidentally stepped on it's home. Looking her leg over, she saw a red lump on her leg; it wasn't so bad, it had hurt when it bit her, but now all it was was a light itch, as spider-bites were want to do.

She let out a groan. Could this day possibly get any worse? No, don't ask that question, that's how things get worse.

She continued her trot; thankfully, she had marked her path (one of the few things Big Mac DID allow) so that she could find her way back to him. He was definitely an irritating stallion; she could respect a value of nature, but to shoot down every idea she had because it might harm the ecosystem? She couldn't tear down trees, she couldn't trap and train animals, she couldn't start a smoke-signal fire. It's like the stallion was going out of his way to complicate things.

The sooner they left these stupid, infernal woods, the better.

Eventually, Twilight saw the glow of the campfire. Much as the stallion irritated her, it would be nice to have a familiar face around. "Big Mac! I'm back!" She saw him suddenly fall over and struggle with something, before sitting back up rather hurriedly. As she approached him, she could see a nervous look on his face. "Big Mac? Is everything fine?"

"Eeyup!"

"... Are you sure?"

"Eeyup!"

Twilight stared at him a few minutes. He was nervous about something; VERY much so. She looked at him, at his saddlebags nearby, then back to him. He was visibly sweating, and his eyes darting around. Suddenly, it made sense. She figured it out.

"Big Mac..."

"Eeyup?"

"... Were you going to eat more of the herbal paste?"

Big Mac stared at her silently. That's all she needed to hear. "Big Mac, you don't want to eat too much of that stuff. It's not much for being addictive, but if you ingest too much, it can make you lazy, lower coordination, and... uh..." She blushed a bit and leaned in, whispering into his ear. "Lower potency." Big Mac quirked a brow. "So yeah!" continued Twilight. "That little poultice isn't enough to cause problems like that, but ponies who eat a lot of that stuff do tend to show addictive tendencies, even if not physiological in nature."

Big Mac decided it was better she think he was being stupid than she think he was hiding a doll, and he decided to passively not confess to either one. "Okay."

Twilight nodded and sat on the ground, letting out a bit of a yawn. Big Mac quirked a brow. "Sleepy?"

She nodded. "Yeah, a little..." She turned to look at the stallion. "I sort of... didn't sleep much last night, and I figured I could get all the sleep I needed during the trip..."The stallion gave a slight disapproving shake of his head. "I'll be fine. I've pulled all nighters before" she said. "It's alright."

Big Mac shook his head. "Nnope. Get some sleep."

Twilight shook her head. "Oh, no, I couldn't... it wouldn't be right."

Big Mac looked at her with a gentle smile. "It's alright."

Twilight bit her lip, feeling guilt at how tempted it was to simply accept the offer. "You... you sure you'll be okay with it?"

Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup."

Twilight looked at him for a bit, and then smiled thankfully. "Thanks... but if you start getting tired, you wake me up, alright?" Big Mac nodded, eliciting one of understanding from Twilight herself. She lay down on her stomach, and curled somewhat, closing her eyes. It wasn't minutes before Big Mac could hear the soft breathing that signaled that the mare was sleeping. He let out a tired sigh of his own and continued to stare into the dark.

***********************************************

"They're not coming back are they?"

The question was on both of their minds, but only one of them had the courage to say it.

"Oh of course they are, silly! They have to!"

It wasn't the pony you'd have suspected.

Fluttershy looked outside of the tent. It had been hours, and it was currently past the point most ponies began heading to bed. She sighed, looking to Pinkie Pie, who wore a big grin. "Pinkie, I don't think so... I... I'm pretty sure by now they would have found shelter and hid themselves away..."

Pinkie snorted. "What!? This was supposed to be a fun camping trip for everypony to get along, have fun, discover new things about each other, and maybe tell some funny stories! Why WOULDN'T they come back?"

Fluttershy stared at Pinkie for a few seconds. Something about Pinkie seemed off; her smile seemed forced, her joy seemed unauthentic.

"You're worried they'll never come back at all, arent you?"

Pinkie gasped, turning to Fluttershy. "What! Of course not! I know they'll come back!"

Fluttershy nodded. "I agree."

It grew silent for a few seconds.

"Unless they get eaten by bears..."

"Pinkie..."

"O-Or Timberwolves..."

"Pinkie?"

"Or fall off a cliff..."

"Pinkie Pie!"

Both ponies gasped, Fluttershy throwing her hooves over her muzzle. Pinkie seemed particularly shocked. Fluttershy recomposed herself and cleared her throat. "I-I just... I think you're getting too worried. I mean, they're lost, but they're all resourceful, capable mares, and Big Mac is pretty resilient, so we'll see our friends again, I promise..."

Pinkie stared at Fluttershy for a few minutes.

"You promise?"

Fluttershy smiled. "I promise..."

"Pinkie Promise?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Cross my heart, hope to fly."

*********************************

A bear wandered through the woods.

It had been wandering for hours, looking for food. It had been awoken so rudely from it's nap by the yellow pony, and now all it wanted was a meal. It was wondering if any other ponies were around that might have camping sites that had easy-to-achieve foods. Still, if they did, were they the yellow ponies' friends?

Staring into her eyes was as staring into the abyss.

Do not bother the yellow ponies' friends.

It's hunt had proved fruitless. Once more, it was tired. It wanted sleep. Sleep was good. Sleep was where it was before the yellow one disturbed it, disturbed it and then bore into its' very soul with her evil, hate-filled gaze, as if staring into the very pits of Tartarus itself.

Do not bother the yellow ponies' friends.

So, it began it's trek back towards it's cave. It had wandered so far, so far from home, so far from sanctuary. The bear did this a lot, but never for so extended a period of time; of course, it had been years since the bear had seen ponies. Why, it was perhaps but a cub when it last had seen a pony! When would it get a free meal again? One that didn't run, or sting, or jump, or move around a lot? When would it get a chance to try the various fruits and vegetables that ponies grew and harvested that were not native to it's home? It had to pounce on the chance when it got it, otherwise it might never get to savor the foods only ponies could make.

Sleep would come soon. It's cave was just in sight. It stopped momentarily, catching sight of a purple pony. She was leaving, which was good; that meant she would not use it's cave as a dwelling, and it would not have to worry about infuriating the yellow demoness with her horrible gaze. The bear's journey was near it's end. Blissful sleep was close at hand.

It saw three figures. One white, one blue, and one orange.

The white and orange ones were huddled together, while remaining close to the blue. Upon closer inspection, it realized there were in fact ponies; the blue looking as if it had been injured.

Do not bother the yellow ponies' friends.

The bear snorted. Even it's own lair had been invaded. Was this what ponies referred to as karma? Did the bear even know what karma was?

Or was all that encompassed it's memory right now the dreadful gaze of the yellow pony.

The bear turned tail and left it's den. It would find a new cave; there were plenty about. As long as it never saw the yellow pony again, as long as it never did anything to obtain her ire, all would be well.

*************************

Rarity clung tightly to Applejack, holding her breath as she watched the large bear leave. Why had it left? It was one bear against three ponies; one of which was particularly injured. By all means, it couldn't have lost. Still, it had decided to leave for reasons beyond her.

Suddenly, sleep overtook Rarity - more in the flavor of fainting than actually going to sleep, of course.

*************************

Big Mac stared at the night sky. Constantly, a fear found it's way into his mind; wondering what his sister was doing, if she had made it back to the campsite safely, or if the bear had ever left. He also felt himself worried about the others; they weren't really his friends, per se, but they were friendly acquaintances. He'd like to think everypony'd come back in one peace.

He turned to look at the mare currently accompanying him. Odd; she was a princess, and yet she didn't act like it. He'd known her long enough that even he really didn't feel he was in the presence of royalty. For all intents and purposes, she was like any other mare; just a bit more responsibility on her shoulders. As he watched her, he noticed that she was shivering; he did suppose it was kind of chilly, although he barely noticed. Of course, far as he was told, she was the type to stay indoors a lot, and did very little manual labor, so she probably wasn't as protected as he was from the harshness of the elements.

He sighed a bit before lifting himself up and trotting towards her, and laying down next to her, pressing his back to her. He could feel her shivering slow, and eventually stop. He smiled a bit, turning to look back up at the night sky.

At least he could do SOME good, for all it was worth.

Waking Up

Applejack opened her eyes to the sound of birdsong, faint but clear in what was, otherwise, silence. Sunlight poured through the mouth of their temporary shelter, thankfully drawing just short of her and her friends' faces, allowing them at least a little more time of peaceful rest. She let out a tired yawn and, used to her routine, pulled herself from her belly and stood on her hooves, stretching herself out. She turned to look at her companions. Rainbow Dash was, naturally, favoring her injuries and sleeping on her stronger side, while Rarity lay against her, keeping her warm. Applejack really hated to wake them, however the sooner they did what needed to be done, the sooner they could get Rainbow Dash some medical attention.

The farmer reached a foreleg out and placed her hoof on her white-coated friend, shaking her. "Rarity..." then, moving to the pegasus, shaking once more. "Rainbow Dash..." The two ponies stirred, slowly opening their eyes to look up at the stetson-wearing mare. "It's mornin' y'all. We mighta slept a bit long than woulda been ideal... we're gonna have t' get t' work soon as we can t' find th' camp..."

Rarity gave a curt nod and stood up herself, stretching in as lady-like a fashion as she could. Applejack rounded on the pegasus and placed her muzzle beneath her, helping her up. "Right... we'll have t' get back t' camp, n' tell everypony we're fine. After that, we gotta pack up quick as a bunny an' get back t' Ponyville n' get Rainbow Dash some help..."

Rarity held a hoof up. "I would like to have it known that if she needs to rest, I can always have my things arranged to make a flat surface for her as a makeshift bed..." Applejack smiled and nodded, looking back to Rainbow Dash, who returned with a tired smile of her own. "Right. Well gals, we gotta hop to it. Rainbow, where's yer bags?"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "My bags?'

Applejack nodded. "Yeah. You said you still had th' map, right?"

Silence seemed to rule over the scene all the sudden. Rainbow Dash looking up to Applejack with a sad, apologetic, tried expression. Applejack grimaced; she really wanted to be mad, to be infuriated, but she couldn't, not with Rainbow Dash in her current condition. "How'd ya lose 'em?"

"During the crash..."

A sigh escaped the orange pony's lips. Of course; she should have expected as much. "Do ya remember where ya crashed...? Maybe if we backtrack, we can find it..."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I think I have a good idea... I'm at least pretty certain I kept walking straight..." She looked down at her hooves in an uncharacteristically self-conscious, sombre manner. "But... I was spiraling pretty hard, I don't know where I lost the bags, how far I tumbled from them, or if I was even going straight or if I bounced around a bit..."

Applejack shook her head. "Well, it's gonna have t' do for now. We'll eat some breakfast, n' we'll get t' lookin' once we got some energy in us."

***********************************

The first sounds she heard were the sounds of birds chirping.

This was not unusual for Fluttershy, of course; she did, after all, live far enough away from Ponyville that she needn't be disturbed by the hustle and bustle of it's usual activity. What was unusual, however, was the other sound she was hearing; the sound of a mare singing.

The yellow pegasus sat up to look towards the exit of the tent flap. Something sure did smell good. Slowly, she picked herself up and began a slow pace towards the exit. Pushing it open, she looked out to see Pinkie Pie, roasting mushrooms and standing next to a basket with a variety of berries in it.

"Oh my. You're up early!" said the pegasus.

Fluttershy turned to face her, then smiled. "Oh! Morning Fluttershy! Yeah, I get up really early every day to help the Cakes take care of the twins and open the bakery and bake the cakes but not like the CAKES the cakes I mean the pastries, because actually baking THE Cakes'd be cruel and I really don't think ponies would make good muffins, though at one time somepony DID spread a nasty rumor that I baked ponies into muffins because Rainbow Dash disappeared, but she had gone to a comic book convention that year, OH! Don't tell her I told you that! She went and cosplayed as Daring Doo. ANYWAY, I get up this early a lot!"

Fluttershy took a few seconds to allow her brain to piece together the various words Pinkie seemed to utter in a single breath. Once she had the gist of it, she smiled and gave a polite nod. "Well, thank you very much, Pinkie Pie. It was awful polite of you to make breakfast."

Pinkie waved her hoof. "Think nothing of it, silly! It's the least I could do after how you got that scary bear to leave the camp alone and how you talked to me last night!"

The pegasus blushed and giggled. "Oh, it was nothing. The bear was just cranky because he was woke up. He didn't mean to hurt anypony when he came here. And you're my friend; of course I'd want to help you."

A pair of pink hooves wrapped around Fluttershy tightly, pulling her close, eliciting an almost comical squeak from Fluttershy. Pinkie, however, sounded more serious than the pegasus thought she had ever heard her sound before. "It wasn't nothing... I don't tell many ponies this, but I'm not always as confident as I seem. I put on a mask a lot to try to keep everypony's spirits up, but once in a while, I get too weak, too tired of always smiling... it usually happens when I'm alone, and when something particularly stressful or scary happens, but I can get very sad and mopey..."

This was something profound. Fluttershy had never known the burden Pinkie Pie had bared for her friends. Always smiling, always bouncing... she always wondered how Pinkie Pie could stay so happy all the time.

Who knew she wasn't?

Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around her friend. "Pinkie Pie... I didn't know..."

Pinkie smiled and nuzzled into her friend. "Don't tell anypony please? If at all possible, I want them to continue seeing me this way. At least until they have to know the truth."

"You have my word, Pinkie Pie..."

Pinkie Pie broke the hug, smiling to her friend. "We should eat up, and then go looking for the others! I'm sure they'll all be starved by now!"

**********************************

Sunlight.

Dreadful, horrible sunlight.

Where did all this sunlight come from?

Twilight momentarily wondered if she could ask Celestia to turn it off for just a few more minutes. That would be reckless, however, and Twilight wasn't the only pony in the world. She groaned and nuzzled into her pillow, burying her face into it fondly.

Wait.

Since when was her pillow breathing? Or fuzzy? Or muscular.

Or holding her back?

Her eyes popped open to take in red. A lot of red. Slowly, she looked up to see yet more red.

"What in the HAY ARE YOU DOING!?"

She pushed herself away, Big Mac snorting and pulling his head up, sloppily looking around, placing a hoof over his eyes and blinking the sleep out of them. "Hwha... what... where....?"

It was just then Twilight remembered where she was; lost in the woods with Applejack's older brother. This did not calm her fury as she stared at the stallion before her, wings flared, and face a deep red from both fury and embarrassment. "What did you think you were doing!? Why were you holding me in my sleep!?"

Big Mac's wits slowly returned to him and he rubbed his eyes. "Wh..Ah... huh!?" Suddenly, it seemed to hit him and he grimaced. "Ah fell asleep...?"

"I'll say you did! I woke up with your hooves around me!" She gasped and stared at him angrily. "You better not have tried something while I was asleep or so help me, I will tear you apart at the molecular level!"

Big Mac reeled and immediately threw his hooves up and waved them. "Nnope! Never!"

Twilight stomped her hoof. "Then why were you holding me!?"

Big Mac bit his lip. "Dunno... " He pointed to her. "Shiverin'..."

Twilight quirked her brow. "Shivering? What?"

The stallion nodded frantically and pantomimed a shivering motion. "Ah lay next to ya ta give ya warmth!"

Twilight blinked, some of the anger leaving her face. "I was shivering...? So you..." She shook her head and stomped her hoof. "B-but, then why were your forelegs around me!?"

Big Bac blushed and looked to the side, rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof. "Kinda... a cuddler..."

Twilight placed a hoof to the bridge of her nose. "Alright, alight... it's okay... you.... you were just trying to keep me warm, which is noble, and you accidentally fell asleep... it happens." She glared up to Big Mac and pointed a hoof at him. "But never tell anypony of this. It never happened."

Big Mac nodded. "Nnope."

The alicorn nodded. "Excellent..." Twilight cleared her throat and looked around. "Right. Well... now that that's been sorted out, we should probably check back into the camp and make sure that bear is gone."

"Eeyup."

They stood in silence for several seconds.

"Uhh... which way do we go?" Twilight pondered on her own question. "Well... we came into the woods from the north. My suggestion is we had north. Either we'll find the camp, or find the exit, and we can work from there."

Big Mac nodded. "Okay."

*************************************

Fluttershy looked around, her eyes tracing the world for any detail they could find. Something not a lot of ponies knew was that Pegasai had far better eyesight than other ponies; all the more to aid when flying at their fastest. Really, she had wondered if the rumors of Rainbow Dash being partially blind might have held some substance; it was surprising the mare hadn't found either of them by now. Of course, she wasn't flying around either, which was strange. Fluttershy was confident in her friend, but she couldn't help but worry a little.

"So!" started Pinkie Pie. "When we get outta the woods, I think I'm gonna throw us a 'That Camping Trip Didn't Go Quite As Planned' party! Wanna come?"

Fluttershy giggled, shaking her head. "Of course, Pinkie Pie." She was thankful to have the pink mare's company; it kept her focused and dissuaded her fears from overtaking her. "And I'm sure everypony else will come as well."

Pinkie waved her hoof. "Well, duh!"

The two ponies turned and continued to walk (or bounce in Pinkie's case) in silence, both keeping their eyes peeled, shifting, reading everything.

"So, uhh, Fluttershy? Mind if I ask you a question?"

Fluttershy didn't look to her friend, focused on looking for her friends. "Of course, Pinkie Pie."

"Uhh, I know this pony, right? And she really likes somepony else; said she didn't have feelings for her before, but that after a particularly nice gesture, she kinda got butterflies in her tummy tum, and then she spent all night thinking about it, and realized she really kinda liked her friend, and not just like, but like like! I wanted to help her out, but it's not really something I've had experience with! She's really worried that if she says something, she'll get rejected and might ruin her friendship, but if she doesn't, she might never know! I figured since you talk to Rarity a lot, maybe you'd know?"

Fluttershy stopped to look to Pinkie Pie, whose expression was as it always was. She moved her mouth wordlessly as thoughts rushed through her mind. They stared at each other for the longest time, before Fluttershy cleared her throat and composed herself, blushing and trying to avoid hyperventilating. "W-Well... P-Pinkie..." she began, "I-I-I think... that it would be wise for your friend to tell her friend how she feels... if they're really friends, a-and I have no reason to believe they're not--Not that I have reason to believe they are! But, if they're really friends, then it will work out."

Pinkie grinned a large grin. "Oh! I guess that makes sense! Thanks, Fluttershy, that's been eating me up all day!"

The two ponies resumed their trot, Fluttershy's mind now clogged with conserns and questions, while Pinkie's was filled with joy and premature thoughts of wedding bells.

*****************************

"Rainbow, ya sure ya don't need a shoulder to carry ya?"

Applejack turned to face Rainbow Dash, not bothering to hide any of the concern she felt for her pegasus pal. Rainbow Dash winced, shaking her head. "No, I'm fine. I maybe beaten, but I ain't beat..." The three were moving at a slow, leizurly pace, mostly so Rarity and Applejack allowing Rainbow Dash to keep pace. It hurt the pegasus greatly to feel so pitiful; the great Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria, a winner of the Young Flier's competition, Wonderbolt-in-training, and her two friends had to walk to let her keep up with them. Even worse, one was a rival.

"Well, if ya change yer mind, Ah'm sure either me or Rarity would be more than glad t' lend a hoof." Applejack smiled a sincere, if somewhat pitying smile at her friend. How Rainbow Dash hated to have her pity for even an instant.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine..."

Rarity sighed, looking down at her hooves and coat. "Ugh... the moment I get home, I am booking a spa reservation and getting the full package. All of this dirt, grime, and who knows what else is ruining my coat! Don't even get me started on my poor coiffure!"

Applejack groaned. "Rarity, far as Ah can see, ya look about th' same as ya did yesterday. Ya took several minutes of brushin' before we left, n' Ah'm fairly sure Ah saw ya use enough perfume t' be considered a war crime."

The fashionista huffed, sticking her nose in the air. "Well beg my pardon for wanting to look my absolute best."

"Yer excused." said Applejack, not even hiding the grin on her face.

"I didn't mean it literally!"

"Then ya shouldn'ta begged."

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash burst into laughter. Rarity was trying to hold onto a stern face, but it betrayed the slightest hint of amusement. "Wha... you.... well you... you're.... " Finally, even Rarity's composure broke - after all, she knew how to laugh at herself when she was beat. Eventually, Rainbow hissed and winced, gently pressing her hoof to her side, immediately turning her friends' attention to her.

"Y'alright, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Y-yeah... I think I've got a bruised rib though..."

Applejack grimaced. "Hopefully it's just bruised. Last night after y'all fell asleep Ah was worried ya mighta got a concussion and almost woke ya up."

Rainbow shook her head. "Nah... I hit my head pretty hard, but I don't think I hit it THAT hard."

Applejack sighed and turned her attention forward again. "Ah hope so. If'n y'all start t' feel anythin' off tho, tell us. If'n we gotta, we'll leave th' woods an' go back t' Ponyville without th' others. Ah'm sure they'd understand, an' truth be told, Ah'm considerin' it anyway."

******************************************

Big Mac looked up and sighed to himself. Already, it was looking to be getting close to noon. He and Twilight had been wandering for an hour now and they had found nothing. Just how far had she teleported them? He had asked earlier if she could teleport them back to camp, but it seemed that was a no-go; if the bear was still there, she might not have the energy to get both of them away. It seemed everything that could go wrong had. The sooner they got back to camp, the sooner they could go home - assuming his sister had returned.

He absolutely refused to leave if she hadn't.

Eventually, Twilight stopped and grimaced about something, looking down at her hooves. She then looked in Big Mac's direction. "I kinda need to use the little filly's room... would you mind waiting here until I come back?"

Big Mac sighed. "Of course."

Twilight smiled and trotted in another direction. There were some bushes off in the distance he imagined she was going to use. He shrugged and sat on his haunches, looking about. After a few seconds, he felt a slight sting in his snout; it was just then he remembered he had forgotten to take his meds before he went to sleep. He took his saddlebags off and placed them on the ground, and pulled one open. He reached a hoof in, but didn't find what he was looking for. He let loose an irritated groan and turned to the other bag, prying it open and, much to his relief, retrieved the bottle. He popped it open, then turned it on it's side and poured a single pill from it. He tossed that pill into his mouth, and took up his canteen, taking a sip from it.

"I'm back. Okay, we can... continue..."

Big Mac was about to put the bottle back into his bag when he noticed Twilight staring down. He looked at his hooves, making sure he didn't have a spider on them, but in that glance, he saw what had drawn her attention.

He had forgot to close his bags.

And one of them just-so-happened to have a doll in it.

He blushed and gulped, looking up to Twilight, waiting to hear her reaction before he said anything, trying desperately to hide his fear of being judged with a mask of stoicism.

"... Y... you have Smartypants?"

Smartypants? What? Why did she call the doll that? He had always called her Orchard; it felt right. Looking at the doll and back up to her, he went to say something, but was cut off. "I... I have been looking for her forever. I was so worried, I... I lost something precious to me! And... and... h.... how long have you had her?"

Big Mac wanted to lie. But that wasn't what an Apple did. "A few years..."

The look on Twilight's face seemed to shift from confused, to questioning. Then, suddenly, to anger. "A few years? A few years!?"

She stomped a hoof forward. "I had been posting wanted posters all over town looking for her! Once every month, I would devote hours at a time searching for her! And you've had her the whole time!?" To be fair, he hadn't seen the posters. At least, he hadn't noticed them.

"Eeyup..."

She stomped again. "This whole time, I thought she was in some grass or in a bush or in some animal's dish... and then I considered, 'what if a little filly took her and befriended her?' I decided if that was the case, then I'd gladly let the filly keep her! But instead, I find that a... a.... grown stallion had abducted her and... and..... what did you want her for!?"

Big Mac seemed to wilt some. "T-tea parties... conversation..."

Twilight's wings flared. "You had tea parties with her!? And talked to her!? Do I need to emphasize the 'grown stallion' thing!?" She seemed to stomp in place, her head winding and turning with various thoughts. "You're a grown stallion, playing with a filly's play toy!? You... you..." She gritted her teeth, full to bursting with pent up fury. Big McIntosh could swear he could see steam coming from her ears.

"You have got to be the biggest... freak.... weirdo.... thief I have ever known, Big McIntosh Apple!"

After the words left her mouth, Big Mac winced as if he had been hurt, if only for an instant, and Twilight suddenly became aware that things had just gotten really quiet. All the rage, all the anger, all of it had boiled over. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling quite so angry anymore. Big Mac looked down to his bag for a minute, then back up to Twilight. He closed his eyes and nodded his head, leaning down towards the bag and taking the doll's scruff into his teeth; carefully, as if he were holding onto an actual foal. He lifted it up and trotted towards her, eliciting a confused look from the mare. He then set the doll on the ground in front of her hooves, and then lifted his head back up. He gave her one more nod and turned around, trotting back to his bags and closing them, lifting them up and setting them on his back.

Twilight looked at Smartypants for a few seconds, then back to him as he sat there, waiting patiently, his expression as stoic and hard-to-read as ever. But Twilight had dealt with such things before. She didn't know if it was giving up the doll, or if it was what she said, but she could see something in his eyes. Something that made her regret her particular choice of words.

Big McIntosh. Stoic. Strong. Proud.

And she had managed to hurt him quite deeply.

She let her mouth move a bit. "B-Big Mac... I'm... I'm sorry, I..."

He looked away, towards the woods. "Me too."

She wanted to apologize again. She wanted to take it back. But she couldn't. She had said what she had said, and while she hated for herself for it, she couldn't deny that she had meant it, had really thought it. After all, he WAS a grown stallion. But was it really so wrong? She levitated Smartypants towards her saddlebags, propped one side open, and gently pushed her inside, closing it back. She turned to look at Big Mac, and spoke in a calm, if somewhat apologetic manner.

"I'm ready to go..."

Falling Apart

"Well... anypony feel like there's a sense of irony in that we lost a map?"

Three mares stood in the middle of the woods, letting their gazes wander the surrounding landscape in search of anything to help them on their quest. Despite the fact that they had been searching for hours, they couldn't find very much at all; not even a shred of Rainbow's saddlebags. The group's overall hope was slowly being sapped by the situation, but nopony was willing to give up just yet.

"You mean that I lost the map?"

It was a statement that Applejack knew was self-accusatory. It seemed that Rainbow Dash was not in her best of moods right now; but even then, it was rare for her to beat herself up. Applejack just assumed it was the lack of flight making her mopey, but she didn't know if that was really the case or not. "C'mon now, Dash, aint no need t' be like that! Ya got us with ya, an' we're all in this t'gether. Now, we gotta find that map soon! It's already past noon, an' Ah've got the funniest feelin' that Pinkie an' Fluttershy prolly got back to th' camp by now."

Rarity nodded. "Indeed! Why, dare I say it, with Pinkie's time spent as a Foal Scout, and Fluttershy's knowledge of nature, they're perhaps the two of us best suited to survive and find their way around this environment!"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Wait... Pinkie was a scout?"

The unicorn nodded. "Oh yes. She was pretty good at what she did! She became a troop leader, and I hear she only stopped to help the Cakes around the bakery more often. Rumor has it once the twins are older, she's going to personally get them into the scouts and help them learn all they need to know!"

Rainbow gulped. "... C-Can she read maps...?"

Rarity giggled. "Oh, I should hope so! She lead foals into the wilderness a lot!"

If she hadn't been using one foreleg to keep her front end standing and had another in a sling, Rainbow Dash would have facehoofed. "Ugh! She could read maps the whole time and... and she didn't tell me!?" The two mares turned to Rainbow. "She saw how I was panicking! She saw me freak! Why didn't she say anything!?"

Applejack put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Now calm down y'all, Ah'm sure she had a good reason. Maybe it jus' slipped 'er mind, or maybe she thought you'd feel upset if she found the way back?"

Rainbow wanted to argue the point, but she found herself unable to. Much as she wanted to deny it, she knew she might feel a bit embarrassed if Pinkie Pie had found their way back home instead of her. Silly and petty as it seemed, she didn't like having ponies have to clean up after messes she made; it was damaging to her pride.

"You're right Applejack... it's my fault..."

The mare's eyes widened. "Hold on, now! That ain't what Ah meant at all!"

"But it's true..." said Rainbow Dash, staring at the dirt. "I wanted to have fun and explore, and I found a cool cave, so I tried to take my friends to see it... and I should have said something but I didn't." She scuffed the dirt with a back hoof. "I'm so... so stupid..."

Rarity and Applejack both approached her from either side and wrapped her into a hug.

"Come on now, Rainbow Dash, you can't possibly believe that?" said Rarity.

"Ah know! Yer th' most loyal friend a pony could ever have!"

Rainbow shook her head. "So loyal, I get ponies lost, I lose them, and then I lead other ponies into getting lost..."

"But dear, you tried for them!" said Rarity. "You tried to help them, you tried to find them... you hurt yourself quite badly trying to find them actually."

Rainbow scowled. "But I should have come found you girls first!" She pushed away from her friends, pulling back and looking at both of them with utter self-contempt in her eyes. "I was so worried about looking bad... or needing help... I don't even know what it was I was scared of... all I know is it was selfish, and I didn't want to tell you girls I had lost them..." She looked at the dirt and sighed. "This is all my fault, and there's nothing to be said about it..."

It was then that Rarity and Applejack saw something neither thought they'd ever see.

Rainbow Dash's eyes were glistening, and a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

The two ponies trotted towards their friend, and embraced her again. She wanted to pull away, but she didn't. Nothing was said this time; there may have been not much to say about it, but a hug could convey all the message they needed.

They had already forgiven her, if there was indeed anything to be forgiven.

********************************

The walk through the woods had been quiet. Very quiet.

Almost deafeningly so.

Big McIntosh had taken the lead from the very start; not out of any form of aggression, but most likely as a form of pushing forward... or at the very least, distracting himself. Twilight followed silently, trying constantly to think of what to do. Should she try to apologize again? Should she give Smartypants back to him? After all, it's not like he knew Smartypants was her doll, right? Did she even have a right to have been upset? Any way she sliced it, Twilight felt guilty for what she had said. She wanted to take it back, to try to make it better, but what could she do?

She sighed and steeled herself, deciding it better to try and fail than to never try at all.

"Look.... Big Mac, about Smartypants... I-"

"Nothin' ta be said."

Twilight bit her lip. "It's... it's not...." She looked forward at the stallion, whose pace did not change, who did not turn to look back at her, and whose body language betrayed nothing short of the stoicism he was known for. She felt what little courage she had crumple. "... Nevermind..."

And so, their trip returned to silence.

Twilight would occasionally let her attention wander, to look at anything other than the stallion leading her. 'Well, that went smoothly...' she chided herself. 'Great. You finally get Smartypants back from the colt who foalnapped her, and YOU'RE the one who feels bad...' She stopped that train of thought, considering all things. 'Well... by the sound of things, he did take care of her...' She looked back at her saddlebags and, using her magic, opened the one containing her doll, stealing a glance at it. 'He also seems to have cleaned her and fixed her up a little... she still looks a little worse for the wear, but still in better condition than when I had...' The last thought brought her even more shame than she felt she really needed. '... Cast the want-it, need-it spell and had everypony in town trying to chase after her...'

Once more, her attention returned to the stallion she was following. 'He's not a bad stallion... he's very friendly, if a bit on the quiet side. He could have argued; there's a lot he could have said. That I'd thrown her away, that he didn't know... but instead he just handed her over...' Twilight's face adorned a grimace. 'And my first thought was to call him a weirdo, loser, and a freak...'

She was going to apologize again, but thought better of it. She had already tried, but he stopped her each time; he never let her really utter an actual apology. She didn't know if he felt guilty himself, or if he simply...

'Oh great... I bet he hates me now...' she groaned internally.

Twilight was no stranger to making other ponies hate her. She didn't like the idea, but growing up, she always had other foals who were jealous of her status as Celestia's personal student. She made other unicorns jealous at her particularly potent magic. Heck, she had once made a teacher mad when she corrected him on outdated information - which had resulted in updated text books for her class, which was great, but also lead to that teacher never talking to her again.

But this was Applejack's brother. He was an honest, kindhearted pony, and he never did anything to hurt anypony. Despite being quiet and reserved, he never showed anything short of politeness and respect for other ponies; even at times they might not have warranted either of those things.

This time, she wasn't making a pony jealous with knowledge, or with fortune of being Celestia's student, or even her magical skill. She had upset somepony by lashing out at him, and calling him names.

This time, she was truly to blame.

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. She would have to come up with something; ANYTHING to try to make things right. She might not know Big Mac well, but she knew he didn't deserve what she said to him. If anything, he probably deserved Smartypants more than she did.

That trail of thought was cut off when a sharp pain shot up her leg, eliciting a pained yelp from her.

Immediately, Big Mac turned around to look at her as she doubled over. He began to trot towards her as her own vision swam a bit. 'Something is wrong...' she thought to herself. 'I'm... why is my leg hurting...?'

"What's wrong?"

Twilight blinked, focus slowly coming back to her, though not fully. She looked down at her hoof to see it was swollen and turning a slight blue tint - in the center of the lump was a red dot, and vein-like patterns trailed from that point. "Oh... I... I think something bit me last night while I was searching for shelter..."

Big Mac sat down next to her and reached a hoof down, gently lifting hers up and looking at it for a few seconds. Slowly, his expression switched from it's usual stoicism to a great deal of concern. "... Blue Sage..."

Twilight blinked. "B... Blue Sage? You mean the spider?" Big Mac nodded. "B-But... Blue Sage bites are poisonous, and... potentially...."

Fatal.

Big Mac placed his nose beneath her and shoved her up to her legs.

"Forget th' others" he said decisively. "Emergency situation. Goin' home."

'Blue Sage bites... ponies don't usually die of them because the poison takes a while to work...' Twilight thought to herself. 'Usually, by the time it becomes a problem, it's already been found, and can be dealt with... but...'

Twilight gulped. "I-I can't..."

Big Mac scowled. "Why not?"

"I can't teleport all the way to Ponyville..." Twilight turned with panic on her face. Her vision was beginning to swim more; how long did it take for the bite to kill? Days, she thought. Still, before then, victims were known to go into a comatose state. Even worse, it drained energy and made victims weak before then. "The bite's already sapping my strength.. I wouldn't even be able to reach the edge of the forest, and if I pushed myself that hard, it might exacerbate the venom and speed up the process..."

Big Mac stared at her for a few minutes. His expression became something strange; Twilight couldn't tell if it was determination or irritation... or maybe a mix of the two. "Can ya stand?"

Twilight put her hooves on the ground and slowly, shakily pushed herself up. As she stood, her vision seemed to blur more. Was she already that far along? She began to waver a bit, gulping nervously. "I... I think.."

"Nope..." Twilight was surprised when suddenly Big Mac lowered onto the ground and looked over at her. "Get on"

"Wh... what?" She shook her head, wondering if she were hallucinating.

"Get on." he said. "Save yer strength."

Twilight looked at Big Mac uncertainly, before nodding and trotting forward. Immediately she realized he was right; vertigo seemed to take over as she moved. She thought she was going to fall over for a minute, but luckily she had reached him, and climbed over top of him. Slowly, he lifted up, and she felt her hooves leave the ground.

"Just hang on."

*****************************

"We've been searching for hours, and still nothing..."

Pinkie and Fluttershy had returned to camp just moments previously. They had taken time to occasionally venture from camp, without venturing too far, to see if they could find anything; all they had managed to find, however, was the damaged remains of Rainbow Dash's saddlebags.

Fluttershy had not been able to stop staring at it.

"Do you think Rainbow Dash is okay...?"

Pinkie tapped a hoof to her chin. "Yeah. I mean, it's Rainbow Dash, silly! Toughest of the tough! Only Applejack is tougher! Or equally tough. Almost as tough? Who won the Running fo the Leaves?"

Fluttershy sighed, hanging her head. "Oh Pinkie... this was a trip that was supposed to be fun... why did all of this happen? How did we all get separated?"

Pinkie threw a hoof up. "Ooo! Rainbow Dash wanted to explore a cave and look for buried treasure, so we went to explore! Then she realized she couldn't read maps, so she flew away without asking me if I could read maps! Then, when she realized she lost us, she started flying around and ended up falling down and getting injured so she can't fly! Rarity and Applejack went out to look for her, since they had the other map - BUT WAIT! Maybe they DIDN'T have one!? Maybe Applejack left it at home or something! Anyway, they spent the night in a cave with Rainbow Dash, who they found, but she didn't have the map either cause she lost it! Twilight and Big Mac were chased away by the bear, and then they had a fight over a doll or something, and Twilight got bit by a spider, so she has to be carried around!"

Fluttershy stared at Pinkie Pie.

"Of course, I'm just guessing!" said Pinkie, smiling. "They mighta just all got scared away by the bear!"

"We'd better find them before somepony ACTUALLY gets hurt..."

Reunion

Through twisting vision she looked up to see the sun, past it's xenith in the sky, which began to tint with orange and yellow colors. She let her sights drift back down to the sight before her; naught but an orange mane and two red ears poking up from either side. Her vision was blurring around the edges, movement causing her to become dizzy to the point she almost felt sick. She felt a tinge of warmth in her brow; it did not abode well. Then she looked to see that all the trees were staring at her. Did Big Mac see these trees? They were looking at her, but not like they were mad. They just seemed curious! Dare she say, even friendly!

"The trees want to play a game of tag..."

"Nnope..." he said with a hint of worry.

"Oh..." she said, almost dejectedly, resting her head on the back of his. "Do you think trees fall in love?"

Big Mac rolled his eyes. "Maybe?"

Twilight sighed. "Poor trees... they're rooted to the ground... if only they could embrace each other... whisper sweet nothings... have tree babies..." She giggled. "Oh wait, they do. But they need bees and birds and stuff to do that..." She fell silent for what seemed the longest while. Big Mac had hoped that it would hold. "Big Mac, do birds and bees count as prostitutes, or as donation agents for their troubles?" The stallion didn't know what to say to the alicorn mare on his back currently tripping quite hard as a result of a mix of the venom in her system and having asked for some of the herbal paste Zecora had made for him. She had asked him for some to ease the pain and in the hopes it might slow the progression of the poison in her body, though he didn't know if it really worked.

"They're jus' doin' what comes naturally..."

"Prostitutes it is then!" Twilight let out a giggle and nearly fell off his back, though Big Mac helped shift her back into place to stop that from happening. It was getting quite late, and they'd need to eat eventually; especially Twilight. Big Mac was not about to worry about shelter if he didn't have to, after all, he could see pretty well in the dark, and trusted his body to be able to make the trek home.

"Pain meds?"

Twilight nodded, reaching her hoof to the side and opening the bag. She pulled the bottle from it, tried to get it open, but to no avail; her hooves were too weak. She then used magic to try to pop it open with more success.

More than Big Mac would have liked.

She popped it open, and startled herself in the process; the bottle popping open and pills falling everywhere into the dirt. Big Mac looked back at the mess, his expression almost mournful of the loss. A few pills had been spared the same fate as their brothers, but not a lot. He knew it would be pointless to do much more about it at this time, so instead he took the bottle and stopped, pouring one pill into a hoof and tossing that in his mouth. Reaching for his canteen himself, he took a sip, while Twilight latched onto his yoke so she didn't slide off his back as he put more weight on his back legs for balance. He set the bottle and canteen back into his bag and sighed, trotting away, hoping that no poor animal decided to eat those meds and accidentally overdose.

"Sorry... "

"Nuthin' ta---"

"I-I-I just wanted to help, b-but but but... it 'sploded..."

Big Mac sighed, feeling the dull pain in his nose slowly ebb away. "Salright..."

******************************

"Dearies, I think it best we forget the map and just try to find our way back to camp..."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack turned to Rarity, who seemed more than a little uncomfortable at her own speaking. "It's not that I don't think we'd ever find it, but with Rainbow's injuries, I feel it wise that we try to find camp without it instead of roaming about looking for it. At least the camp is hard to miss; that map could be anywhere."

Applejack turned to look at her friend and sighed, shaking her head. "Yer right, Rarity. Not only is it hard t' tell if Rainbow's right on where she landed, that map coulda been dragged off by animals or th' wind or been ripped t' shreds entirely... we're just gonna have t' try t' find th' camp first. If'n it comes to it, we'll jus' leave th' woods entirely. Ah'm sure everypony'd understand, given Rainbow Dash's injuries."

This only made the rainbow maned mare sigh. Applejack shook her head, understanding that Rainbow Dash hated being pitied; but it was the truth. She was hurt, and her friends had to help her to the best of their ability.

"Rainbow, Ah think we're jus' gonna try t' get outta these here woods an' hoof it back t' Ponyville."

Rainbow shot up. "What!? We can't! What about Pinkie, or Fluttershy?"

"Pinkie was a scout, remember dear?" said Rarity, smiling. "As I said before, if anypony can do well out here, it's her and Fluttershy."

Rainbow Dash grimaced, looking around. "Uh... what about... Big Mac? Twilight? And Rarity's stuff?"

Rarity waved her hoof. "It's... true that it's a shame to leave my things behind, but you're more important to me, dear. I can always buy and/or make those things again. It'd be impossible to replace a Rainbow Dash." Rarity couldn't help bit smile at her own comment; even Rainbow had to try not to.

"As fer Big Mac an' Twilight, Ah figure Mac knows th' way back better than any of us. He's always had a good sense of direction, and if nothin' else he'd know how t' get outta the woods. Twilight's in good hooves so long as she does what he asks her t' do." Applejack nodded. "You on th' other hand are perdy banged up. We wanna get ya to a doctor b'fore those injuries have a chance to get infected or somethin'."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Fine... "

*****************************

Pinkie Pie stared at the campfire she was readying for the longest time. She felt like it was stirring something in her brain; some far off memory or idea that made sense. Staring at it just tickled something in her, something that wanted to be known.

"We should probably make our way back to Ponyville..."

Pinkie gasped and looked to Fluttershy. "Wh... but... what about the others?"

Fluttershy shook her head, sighing. "Pinkie, it's been over twenty four hours sinse we've seen any of them. We should go back to Ponyville and get help, find other ponies to help us look for them. If we just sit here waiting for them, there's no telling what will happen." The butter yellow mare turned to look at her pink friend. "We've got to do this for them, Pinkie Pie. We can't find them alone..."

Pinkie looked to Fluttershy for a few seconds, her expression visibly saddening, and she gave a slow nod. Fluttershy hugged her friend. "I'm sorry Pinkie, but it has to be done."

The two ponies had begun gathering their belongings, but stopped after thinking better of it.

They left the camp, fully intact, even leaving their own things behind in case somepony came back. Somepony who might need it much more than they did.

**********************************

The sun was beginning to set.

The sky was painted with oranges, reds, and purples, the woods growing visibly darker, but Big Mac wasn't too worried; he could already see the edge. It wouldn't be long before they were out of the woods. He turned back to look at Twilight; she was terrible. Her mane was a mess, her nose had run a little, and her eyes weren't focused at all. Her breathing was slower, and she had become extremely limp on his back.

"Hang in there..." he said. "Edge of the woods..."

Twilight didn't respond quickly. After several seconds, she spoke in a tired, raspy voice. "Big Mac...?"

"Eeyup?"

"... I don't think I'm going to make it..."

"Course ya will." He really didn't know. He wanted to believe what he was saying, but he really had no idea how long it took for the Blue Sage bite to deal it's worst. She was barely conscious as it was, and he could feel the life leaving her body. "Ah'll run." With that, he started to trot faster, trying not to go too fast so the mare on his back would remain comfortable.

"Big Mac...? Can I ask you a question...?"

"Eeyup?"

"... Why did you keep Smartypants?"

He really didn't want to talk about this. He was already feeling ashamed and, by his own admittance, a little angry at her for it. However, in her condition, he couldn't keep being mad at her, and felt he did owe her at least that much. He sighed a bit, thinking of the best way to put it.

"Company..."

No response.

Normally, Big Mac didn't say more than needed to be said. This time, however, he felt more needed to be said.

"Didn't have many friends growin' up..." he said. "Caramel... Cheerilee... Caramel's datin', Cheerilee works, an' so do Ah..." He shrugged as he ran. "Not much time."

Twilight blinked unevenly. "I thought you had other friends? Like Lyra, and Rainbow, and Snowflake?"

Big Mac smirked. "Rainbow's okay... but she comes fer Applejack. She invited Snowflake..." He paused mentally and thought it over. "No idea where Lyra came from..."

Twilight nodded. "... So... why did you keep Smartypants?"

He sighed. "Keep a secret?" Twilight nodded. "Never had toys growin' up... saw that beat up doll... reminded me of myself..."

"... You don't look beat up or worn down..."

Big Mac shrugged. "Ah wear it well. Work defines me." He smiled a bit as he thought of it. "She gives me peace of mind."

Twilight laughed weakly at this, eliciting a raised brow from Big Mac. "What's so funny?"

"You call her 'her'... instead of 'it'...."

Big Mac shrugged. "So?"

Twilight sighed. "It means you give her more value than most ponies would a doll. You treat her like you would a pony..."

Big Mac blushed and shrugged. "Reckon so."

It fell quiet again.

"Big Mac?"

"Eeyup?"

"I'm sorry for the things I said..."

Big Mac turned to look back at her. "Now don't--"

He stopped when he noticed she had tears in her eyes.

"I... I was just so... surprised to see her again, and upset that you had her the whole time, I stopped thinking... and what I said to you was wrong, and horrible... and you have every right to hate me for it..."

Big Mac sighed, grimacing. "Ah don't hate you..."

Twilight sniffled a bit. "B-But... I said such terrible, awful things..."

The stallion shook his head. "Been told lots of terrible things. Won't lie... ya hurt me." He shrugged again. "Ah don't hold grudges. Aint mad at ya at all."

Twilight sniffled. "... R.... really?"

He nodded, smiling a bit. "Eeyup."

Twilight smiled a bit. "... Thanks, Big Mac..."

He nodded. "Yer welcome..."

He stopped momentarily as he saw something else in the distance.

"... Is that...?"

*************************************

"Applejack?"

"Yeah, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash looked up to her friend, eyes pained and tired. "... I wanted to apologize for all of this..."

Applejack shrugged. "Think nothin' of it, Sugar Cube. It's the least Ah could do fer my friend."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Not this... I meant everything. For getting our friends lost and ruining the trip..."

Applejack groaned. "Rainbow, ain't we been over this already? Look, Ah can see th' edge of the woods. You can gimme yer apologies when yer not so mopey from yer injuries."

"No... it's not right... this was supposed to be fun, and I ruined it Applejack..."

Rarity sighed. "Rainbow, dear, you simply must get over this..."

"Rarity's right, Dash..." responded Applejack. "Yer just stressed out. Some R n' R an' you'll be back to yer good ol' self in no time."

Rainbow simply scowled. "Then maybe I deserve to be stressed..."

Everypony looked to her.

"I... I don't want ponies to think of me as ungrateful or full of myself... I want to be amazing, but sometimes I get so carried away.... right now I don't feel that... I just feel the reality of the situation, that there's nothing to blow up... that I'm... I'm...."

"Vulnerable?"

Rarity's choice of words seemed to physically hurt the pegasus. "Y-yeah... but like I'm being more honest too... and I want you to know Applejack..." Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack, gulping. "... that... I'm sorry I messed this up for you...."

Applejack sighed, shaking her head. "Salright, Rainbow... Ah ain't mad. Ah'm jus' happy t' help is all..."

The three ponies continued their walk in silence. Eventually, Applejack stopped and squinted. "Wait... is that....?"

*********************************

"Do you think they're okay?"

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had already crossed the threshold out of the woods. Pinkie was visibly worried at the idea of leaving their friends behind, but she still seemed to put her trust into Fluttershy.

"I'm sure they're fine, Pinkie... we've got to have faith in our friends."

The two mares turned to take one last glance into the woods.

Then they saw something.

"Hey... is that...?"

Suddnely, Applejack emerged from the treeline, rushing forward. "Holy horse apples! Flutters, Pinkie! We found ya! Ah though y'all were lost in th' woods!" She turned around. "We gotta go back in, Rainbow's banged up, an' she's with me an' Rarity! We should prolly head back t' camp an' see if Twilight n' Big Mac are--"

"They're not with you?"

Fluttershy's words seemed to piece the entire group.

"No... we left 'em in th' camp t' look fer you girls n' Rainbow..."

Fluttershy frowned. "... we were in the camp for the past twelve hours, I think... a bear had ransacked the place... we figured you girls ran away..."

Silence fell on the group. Applejack's mouth moving wordlessly. "Y... y'all don't think th' bear got mah brother or..."

"No..." spoke the butter mare. "... There were no bones, no sign of a struggle, and there was no smell of death... the bear didn't eat them or mortally wound them..."

"Then where--"

"Hey!"

Everypony turned to see Big Mac pass the tree line. As he got closer, they could make out he had something on his back; or rather, somepony, and his expression was nothing short of panicked. A short distance away, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had just exited the woods as well, staring at Big Mac as he rushed towards the group.

"Ponyville! Now!" he shouted, the utmost urgency painting his expression. Applejack and Fluttershy rounded to see that Twilight was unconscious, and her left forehoof was very swollen and turning a blueish black color. "Bue Sage." he shouted. "Last night! Hurry!" Applejack and Fluttershy's expressions both became of grave worry, everypony else just confused.

"Girls, we've gotta book it. Rainbow, get on mah back."

Did We Make It?

Twilight was in it's final hours.

Just as Twilight Sparkle seemed she might even be in hers.

As the sun disappeared slowly over the hills, five ponies ran forward with all their might, with two trailing, and one leading. Applejack slowly caught up to Big Mac, panting as she moved, Rainbow holding her hoof around her neck tight enough to remain in place, but not tight enough to hurt.

"AJ?"

Applejack turned to look at Twilight. She was almost ghostly pale, and her breaths were becoming more labored, her swollen hoof sticking out more and more as the rest of her body drained away. "She's not lookin' too good. Ah dunno how long she's gonna last..."

Everypony was afraid for their friend. Rainbow Dash stared over at the alicorn, worry painting her face. 'Here I was, feeling bad because of broken limbs...' she thought. 'Twilight... she might not even make it to see tomorrow...' As the group hurried, their worries began to seem to fade as their beloved home town came into sight. Applejack grinned wide, turning to her friend. "Twilight, y'all hang in there, alright? We're gonna make it!"

And so, everypony else ran. Applejack looked to her friend. "Twilight, you better not let this take you down..."

************************************

The doors burst open, and from them, six ponies emerged into the lobby of the hospital.

"We need a doctor stat! Our friend here got bit by a pretty nasty spider!" shouted the orange mare leading the small herd.

Everypony turned to face them; many injured, some visibly so, others seeming just sick. The nurse approached, looking over Twilight. "Oh my... what kind of spider?"

"Blue Sage." said Big Mac.

The nurse winced. "Oh my goodness..." She looked over Twilight, eying her condition, analyzing the bite, then looked up to Applejack. "How long has she been like this?"

Applejack shrugged. "Mah brother says she said she was bit last night..."

"Last night?" The nurse's eyes widened. "How long has she been unconscious!?"

Big Mac gulped. "Thirty minutes..."

The nurse shook her head. "Oh goodness, get her to the E.R. We don't have much time, assuming we have any at all. Follow me!"

*****************************************

Twilight lay in the hospital bed. Still. Motionless.

Quiet.

Everypony looked at their friend in grave concern as the nurse approached, carrying a syringe. She gently pushed the needle into Twilight's forehoof and pushed on the plunger, pushing the anti-venom into her system. Once she was done, she placed a bandage over the point of entry, and turned to her friends.

"You got her in here pretty late... a Blue Sage bite usually takes in the area of twenty four hours to do irreparable damage. I have no idea if she's passed the point of such suffering herself..."

Applejack winced. "What kinda damage we talkin' here...?"

The nurse shook her head. "Most often, organs begin to fail, often requiring a transplant... occasionally outright dooming the pony infected. Once they lose consciousness is usually when the venom begins doing it's worst. All we can do now is wait..."

Rarity stepped forward. "How long until we know how she's going to be?"

The nurse looked to Twilight. "Come tomorrow, we'll know how serious the damage was."

Everypony began to clear out of the room, save for Big McIntosh, who stared at the alicorn gravely.

The bite wasn't small. In fact, it was very obvious. Had he been paying more attention to her, would he have noticed sooner? Could he have gotten her here faster? Had he not been acting like a foal who had a treat taken away, would this not have happened? Maybe he should have just let her make her shelter. If she had done that, sure, she might mar the woods a little, but maybe then she'd be alright.

It was then something struck on him.

Here was a princess of Equestria. An alicorn of noteworthy magical power. Student of Celestia herself, savior of Equestria several times over. And now, she was fighting for her life against a spider bite.

It seemed sad, really, that she might possibly lose to something so mundane, so small in comparison.

He looked to the nurse. "Can Ah speak to her?"

Nurse Redheart looked to Twilight, then back to Big Mac. "Sure... just try not to keep too long." With that, she turned and walked out of the room, giving him a little privacy. Big Mac gave a slight nod, then trotted next to Twilight and sat on his haunches. It was almost gut wrenching how pathetic she looked. An IV plugged into her hoof, a breather on her muzzle, a heart monitor beeping with each beat of her heart.

"Twilight...?"

She didn't respond.

It had been a strange few hours at this point. Big Mac wasn't really familiar with this mare, but that didn't mean he didn't care for her condition. It almost hurt him to stare at her in her current state, and much as he wanted to look away, he couldn't. He drew a breath, staring at her and closed his eyes.

"... Ah dunno if you can hear me.... but..."

Big Mac looked around, putting a hoof on the back of his head. "Ah... Ah aint good with words, so forgive me if this don't sound as good as Ah want it to... Ah'm gonna be honest... when y'all took Lil' Orchard... er... Smartypants from me.... well, Ah was pretty upset..."

The only response he got was the beeping of the machine.

"Heck, Ah think th' only things more painful than that were a time when Apple Bloom said she hated me, an' when mah folks passed on..." He gulped a bit, looking down at her saddlebags; they had been removed from her and set next to her bed for the sake of making things easier on her. "An'... truth be told... Ah think... Ah think that maybe... maybe fer just an instant... Ah did hate you..."

He winced a bit at the words. He hoped that if she could hear, that she wasn't drawing conclusions.

"... But... it was only an instant... because Ah remembered... Ah remembered how Ah felt t' have that doll. How much comfort she gave me, an' how much Ah felt like Ah had a friend when Ah had her 'round... an' Ah realized... that had Ah been in your shoes... Ah woulda been upset too..."

He reached his head down, pulling her saddlebags open. From them, he pulled out the doll that had started it all, and set it next to her. "She's a good friend... an' you need a good friend right now. An' Ah know that Ah don't know you very well... but Ah hope that... in spite of whatever animosity there seemed ta be between us... that maybe we can be friends too?"

Silence was all the response he got.

"Twilight... Ah know y'all can pull through this. Ya got too many ponies who need you... an' one pony who couldn't live knowin' that it was his fault that yer in this mess in the first place..."

If she heard, she certainly didn't acknowledge it.

Big Mac sighed and nodded. "Ah'm gonna go now, Twilight... Ah promise Ah'll come back t'morrow with AJ an' check on ya. An' when we come... Ah hope its with good news waitin' fer us..." Slowly, he turned, stealing one last glance at the mare, hooked up to so many machines, with a doll resting between her foreleg and her body. He gave a nod, and turned from the room, trotting out.

Left alone, Twilight lay motionless in the bed.

Then, her hoof slowly, weakly pressed the doll against her body.

A weak, tired smile crossing her face.

************************************************

Rainbow Dash lay in a hospital bed, wearing a gown, staring at a wall.

"A few broken ribs... broken wing... broken foreleg... fortunately, none of the damage seems too severe, and you should be quite alright, given time, Ms. Dash."

Rainbow gave a slight nod.

"Well, that's good t' hear..." said Applejack, patting her friend's shoulder gently. "Ah was afraid that she mighta punctured a lung or somethin'..."

Doctor Stable nodded. "Just give a few weeks for the bones to mend, and you'll be right as rain, right, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. The Doctor turned, looking to Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. "I'm afraid visiting hours are over... please return to your home, or if you'd prefer, you can wait in the lobby for the night."

Applejack shook her head. "That's fine, thanks..." she turned to Rainbow, smiling. "Y'all take care now, y'hear?"

"We'll throw you and Twilight a super amazing 'get well soon' party!" shouted Pinkie.

With that, the four ponies made their way from the room, out into the hallway, and began to file out, into the lobby, then out of the hospital entirely. Big Mac was already waiting for them, and Applejack turned to the group and nodded. "Well y'all, Ah'ma head back on to th' farm. Gotta be up bright n' early t' check in on Twilight."

Rarity gave a nod. "Yes, I shall do the same. I can't even imagine what trouble my sister has been up to in her unexpectedly extended sleepover..."

With that, Rarity went her way, and the Apples another. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were left alone. Fluttershy looked at her pink friend, who simply grinned in response. The situation seemed so unbearably awkward to Fluttershy; if Pinkie agreed, she sure didn't show it. The butter mare decided to steel herself, and just say what needed to be said.

"Uhh..." said Fluttershy. "Pinkie? Mind if we talk?"

Pinkie nodded. "Sure! What's up, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy gulped a little, rubbing one forehoof over another, trying to pick the words as best she could. She had to tell her friend what she felt, and she couldn't bear keeping it to herself longer than she had to.. "You asked me about having crushes... in the woods... and I wanted to say something..." She took a deep breath, and decided to get it all out at once.

"Pinkie Pie, I'm not interested in you in that way but I still want to be friends please don't hate me!"

It fell quiet for a few seconds. A few agonizing seconds that seemed like an eternity to Fluttershy. 'She probably hates me now...' she said to herself. 'I've broken her heart, I just know it...'

And then Pinkie burst into a fit of giggles.

"Wha... what's so funny?"

Pinkie fell to her back. "Y... you thought I was talking.... that I meant...!!" Immediately, she sat back up, blushing and smiling. "N-not that there's anything wrong with you! You're a great mare, pretty and friendly! It's just... I don't think you and I would work, silly!" To emphasize her point, she held a hoof out. "I'm a hyperactive, fun and games party pony!" She held the other out. "And you're reserved and shy! It'd be like a horrible sitcom!"

Fluttershy let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Oh, thank goodness... I was so worried..."

Pinkie smiled and nodded. "Besides, I'm currently seeing somepony!"

Fluttershy gasped. "Wh... really?"

Pinkie nodded. Then, she let out a gasp. "Oh my goodness! I forgot to tell Pokie Pierce I was going camping! He probably has NO idea what Gummy is doing in his house! Gotta go, see ya later Fluttershy, bye!" With that, Pinkie bounced away.

"Hehe, Fluttershy thinking I had a crush on her... wait 'til Rainbow hears about this!"

**************************************

All was quiet at the Apple family table; quieter than usual.

BIg Mac and Applejack's late arrival was not entirely unforseen by Granny Smith, who had kept an eye on the Crusaders all day (as much as an elder mare might if she spent a lot of time sleeping), and she had even prepared a nice meal for them to return home to. However, she could sense something was amiss between her grandchildren.

Applejack was eating a bit slower than she was normally prone to; especially when it was such a good meal! She seemed to be taking precise, almost careful bites of her food instead of practically enhaling it. Big Mac, though always silent, was especially quiet at this point, and every once in a while, Granny noticed he'd turn his head to look out the nearby window, towards the direction of the town.

Neither of them had told anything about their trip.

"Ah'll take it by th' silence somethin' went horribly wrong?" Everypony looked towards Granny; including Apple Bloom, who then turned to look at her siblings. "What went wrong?"

Applejack shook her head. "Well... things coulda gone better, but Ah don't think Ah got it in me t' recount all th' trouble jus' yet..." The way she said it was tired, anxious even. It was the sort of way Applejack talked when she had a lot on her mind and no idea what to do about it.

Big Mac just nodded; which was very unverbal, even by his standards.

Granny Smith hummed. "Y'all didn't give inta those nasty rumors about our family an' curiosity an' experiment on one another didja?"

Applejack and Big Mac both turned towards Granny, jaws falling wide open and faces turning red. Redder in the case of Big Mac. "Granny Smith!" shouted Applejack. "How could y'all say such a thing!? And fer yer information, no! Never! Not in a thousand years!" Big Mac's jaw worked soundlessly, unsure if he should say 'eeyup' or 'nope', uncertain if the reaction might be misinterpreted.

"What? How would Applejack experiment with Big Mac?" said Apple Bloom. "Ah didn't know y'all were science types!"

"Uhh, yeah that's what she means..." said Applejack, biting her lip, hating that she had to lie to her little sister, even if it was for her own good. "Jus' forget what she said an' finish yer meal, Apple Bloom..." Applebloom huffed and continued to eat.

"Ah'm an' old mare, Applejack. Ah don't care what Ah say no more" said aformentioned old mare in a very matter-of-fact way. "If'n y'all didn't do th' forbidden deed, then what's got yer cows all up in a bunch? Ah aint seen so much tension since yer daddy found out yer mama was with foal an' they weren't even married! Th' Oranges wanted t' keep her an' Big Mac with 'em an' raise 'em without their... what'd they call 'em...?" Granny tapped a hoof to her chin. "Oh yeah! Mud-wallowin' hillbilly trash daddy!"

Everypony fell silent.

"...Ah'm a bastard...?" said Big Mac, jaw agape.

"Psh, naw!" Granny waved a hoof, chuckling. "Yer pa married yer ma before y'all were born. Proposed to 'er th' night he found out she was pregnant!"

Big Mac frowned. "... Ah always imagined our folks havin' been a bit more romantic than that..."

Granny smirked. "Well, they was romantic alright! Ah caught 'em bein' romantic once or twice in th' barn! Buuut in his defense, yer pa was gonna propose anyway. Findin' out Clementine was carryin' you only sped things up a bit."

"Alright, too many bad images in mah head..." interrupted Applejack.

"Question stands. What the hay happened in yer lil' trip? If'n y'all don't talk now, Ah'ma jus' gonna bug ya 'bout it t'morrow."

Applejack and Big Mac exchanged glances. They knew if they forgot about it for now, she most likely would too. Tempting as it was, neither of them had it in them to take advantage of their granny's lack of memory.

"Well... it started off a good trip...." began Applejack.

Regrouping

It was a bright, shining day in Ponyville.

The birds were chirping, the bees were buzzing, and everypony was going about their business. The market place was full of ponies, bartering and trading goods and supplies for bits and other goods and supplies. Nopony seemed to have a care in the world; they were all in the here and now, only concerning themselves with getting the best deals possible on whatever errands they were running.

It was so unfair.

Big Mac sat at the apple cart, selling his own supplies - stocked with apples, apple fritters, apple pies, and other such apple paraphernalia. He had black circles under his eyes, a sure sign that he did not get much sleep, if any, the night before, and occasionally he would nod off, but wake up when he would either hear a sound, get approached by a customer, or on one or two occasions, fall over and bump his chin.

"Y'all look like yer ready ta keel over..."

Big Mac jumped and turned to face his sister as she approached the apple cart. She smiled gently at Big Mac as she stepped up beside him. He cleared his throat and tried to ask the question that was eating him alive.

"Is she...?"

Applejack sighed and looked away a bit, putting a hoof on the back of her neck. Big Mac gulped. "H... how bad is it...?"

"Doc says they got ta work in time ta stop that bite from doin' any irreversible damage... but it's still perdy bad..." Applejack grimaced. "Apparently, she's suffered some minor muscular degeneration in th' leg that was bit... she did wake up, but the doc says she slides in and out of consciousness at random cause her body's so weak from fightin' the poison an' whatever sickness it's left 'er with..."

Big Mac sighed. "So... she's gonna get better?"

Applejack nodded. "Eventually, tho it might be a bit before she's healthy or strong enough ta even move about..." Big Mac nodded - he supposed it was good enough news. After all, she was going to be alright eventually. He turned his head back to face the crowds, feeling some of the gravity shift nearly pull him over. "Big Mac? Y'alright? Ya look like you lost a fight with... well... yerself..."

Big Mac sighed. "Ah s'pose Ah didn't get much sleep last night..." There's no reason for her to know that he had a nightmare about attending Twilight's funeral and being asked by friends and family why he didn't do something about it.

"Well, y'all look awful..." Applejack sighed and stepped next to him. "You go on home an' get some shut-eye. Ah'll take over th' stand fer the day."

Big Mac wanted to argue. Really he did. But he was honestly much too tired to do so. Without much more than a little hesitation, he turned and began to make the trot back home. Still, he felt a bit of weight come off his withers at the news that Twilight was going to be okay. That was one more thing that wouldn't be eating at his conscious quite as bad. However, he still felt he owed it to the mare to do her a favor. He'd take himself a nice nap first, however, then he would think about how to make amends.

***

Bored.

Rainbow Dash was bored.

She was bored out of her mind.

Rainbow Dash never liked hospitals. The restraint, the caution, the security; she was a free spirit by nature, and the small, closed-in walls and tiny windows she could barely fit through did nothing to ease the tension in her muscles. Broken as she was, she still yearned for the thrill of action, the power of competition.

"Guess who!"

Rainbow almost flew out of her bed at the sudden start caused by her friend. Pinkie Pie bounced into the room, grinning ear-to-ear. "Hiya Dashie! I know I said guess who, but I got too excited and I had to spoil the surprise that it was, in fact, me! Pinkie Pie! I was the mystery pony all along! Anyway, I had a talk with Fluttershy yesterday, and she gave me some really neat advice about your predicament! She said that if you really care for somepony, and that if they were a real friend, then they wouldn't let your expression of feelings effect that friendship; that is assuming they didn't like you back as well! So I see no reason why you shouldn't ask you-know-who out on a you-know-what!"

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times, trying to process what her friend said. She sighed a bit; it was good advice, but it wasn't the kind that really made her feel better. "So... you're saying I should just... ask? Just throw caution to the wind?"

Pinkie nodded. "I think it's a superdy duper idea, Dashie! I mean, the worst that can happen is you'll get rejected and then go into a horribly depressive state of depression where you become a recluse and adopt a bunch of kitty cats and grow into an old lonely mare with a house full of cute adorable kitties, am I right?"

Dash stared somewhat horrified at her friend's description. Pinkie giggled. "But I doubt that'll happen, because you're Rainbow Dash! You love being outside! Plus I don't think you and kitties would get along!"

Rainbow gave a shrug; true, she wasn't a real big fan of felines. The closest she ever got to that was having a griffon friend; and even then, only her hind legs were feline. "Well... I guess as soon as I can get out of here, I might just go for it then... all or nothing, right?"

Pinkie giggled. "That's the spirit! Ooo! And if it works out, I can throw a super amazing party! It'll have streamers and cake and ponies kissing and--"

"Pinkie?"

"Yeah-huh?"

"Worry about that AFTER it works out. IF it works out."

***

A brisk trot through Ponyville seemed like a good idea at the moment.

Fluttershy had just recently heard news from Applejack that Twilight was okay, and had decided to visit her friend later on. For the time being, however, she had some belated business to attend to.

The butter yellow pegasus trotted towards a familiar cottage and cleared her throat, readying herself for the intimidation to come. She gently knocked on the door and waited. After several seconds passed, she held up a hoof to knock again, just as the door swung open.

"YEEEEEEEEEAH?"

She reeled back into herself. The large, muscular white stallion looked down upon her and blinked. "Er... I mean... Yeah?"

Fluttershy, a bit startled by the outburst, gulped. "U-uhm... I-I-I'm here to pick up Angel Bunny? And my friend's tortoise?"

Snowflake nodded and walked back into the house. "You can come in if you like."

Fluttershy gingerly and cautiously stepped into the house. The living room was rather bachelor in it's set-up; it had a couch and a chair, with a simple table. There was a single pizza box, most of the pizza having been eaten (save for one slice of pizza with carrot slices on it), a bowl of water (half full), an apple-juice box of unknown fullness, and a protein shake. Eventually, the stallion returned with the tortoise floating beside him and Angel riding on his head - and it was just at this time she realized Snowflake had something written on his forehead.

"... Oh... oh my..." she blushed.

"What?" The stallion blinked, the little rabbit on his head, arms cross, grinning mischeiviously and waving a marker around. Quickly, the stallion grabbed a nearby mirror (a full-body sized one) and looked into it.

"... hctib? What is-- huh?" He blinked and pulled sat down, pulling the little rabbit off his head. "You... YOU wrote that on my head didn't you?"

Fluttershy tensed up, watching as the stallion stared down the little rabbit, whose only response was to give him the Bras d'honneur. After a second of silence, the stallion broke out into laughing. "HA HA HA... IS... IS THAT PERMANENT MARKER!?" The rabbit blinked and looked at the marker for a bit, before whistling and looking around as if innocent. Snowflake continued to laugh a hearty laugh, shaking his head and handing the bunny to Fluttershy.

"Th... that rabbit... he's got a lot of spirit! He was pretty scared when he got here, but he immediately got into pr... pranking me! He put a whoopie cushion in my weight bench, he flushed the toilet while I was taking a shower, and he... he even replaced my protein shake with a laxative!"

Fluttershy seemed horribly confused as the stallion wiped a tear from his eye, the laughter subsiding. "Ah... reminds me of my foalhood days, before I got so into the PUMP!" He grinned. "I respect tough, and let me tell ya, that there rabbit of yours is a whole different kind of tough!"

Fluttershy blinked and smiled a bit, placing Angel on her back. "Well thanks... I guess he can be a bit of a hooffull sometimes..."

"Oh, it's alright! That little guy was fun to have over! Never thought lil' animals like him could be so darn fun t' have around! Might have to get myself a pet sometime!"

Fluttershy nodded. "Alright... well, I think I'll be going now..."

The stallion nodded. "Uhh, yeah. Sure. I'll just... uhh... get back to the PUMP!"

With that, Fluttershy turned and trotted out. After a few seconds, she heard the door gently close behind her and smile to the little bunny on her head and the tortoise flying beside her on his propeller. "I guess that stallion isn't so bad after all. A little enthusiastic, but he's a sweet colt."

***

"She's right in here. She might not be fully conscious... if she is at all... "

Big Mac nodded to the nurse as he stepped into the hospital room. Sure enough, there Twilight was, as hooked up to various machines as she was the previous night. Her eyes were open just a bit, but she looked dazed and tired. "She's got a bit of a fever... while we did stop serious damage from occuring, the venom taxed her immune system so she's a bit sick. Try not to stress her too much, will you?" Big Mac gave another nod and stepped towards Twilight.

"Howdy."

She smiled weakly. "Hi... wasn't expecting to see you here."

Big Mac shrugged. "Ah was gonna show up earlier, but somepony had t' run th' apple stand. Plus Ah didn't get much sleep last night."

Twilight nodded. It suddenly became quiet.

"BIg Mac... about what happened in the woods--"

"Ah already told ya, I forgive ya."

Twilight blinked. "You did...?"

Big Mac stared at her confused. "Doncha remember? Ya was sad an' cryin' an'..."

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "No... After I took some of that herbal stuff Zecora gave you, it became a blur. Half of it from the medicine, and I think the other half because the venom might have been making me delirious..."

Big Mac sighed a bit. "Well... Ah already told ya... that Ah forgave ya... an' that Ah don't hate ya, an' that Ah understood how ya felt."

Twilight nodded. "Still... I feel like I should apologize, do something to make amends..."

The red stallion smirked. "Ah was gonna say th' same thing..." He huffed. "Ah wouldn'ta liked it, but had Ah let ya build yer shelter, you'd prolly not be in this mess..."

Twilight shrugged. "Realistically? The chances would have been low, but not impossible, especially if other Blue Sages or similarly dangerous creatures lived in any of the trees I would have used..."

The two ponies sat in silence as suddenly, another pony stepped into the room. Big Mac turned to see it was none other than Rarity, who smiled and waved her hoof. "Oh, hi Big Mac... hi Twilight..."

"Miss Rarity" said Big Mac with a nod of his head.

"Oh, hi Rarity..." said Twilight. "How are you?"

Rarity trotted beside Big Mac. "I'm swell, dear. I just got back from talking to Rainbow Dash. Seems the doctors will be letting her leave the hospital early, though she won't be able to fly for a week or so, so she might have to stay with somepony until then. She and Pinkie Pie seem to be sorting the details on that one out... I offered to let her stay in my guest room, but she made a... rather good argument on why that might not be the most wise of ideas..."

Twilight shrugged. "She can always stay in the Library. The doctor said I might be bedridden for the next week, so I could always use the extra hoof..."

Rarity shook her head. "Rainbow's not really in the position to do much herself dear... she broke a wing and a hoof..."

Twilight grimaced. "Oh... I thought it was just her wing... I must have been even more sleepy than I realized this morning..."

Rarity hummed and looked over at the doll on the night stand. "Oh! I see you found Miss Smartypants?" Big Mac seemed to tense up and he made eye contact with Twilight, who simply smiled.

"Oh, yes!" she said. "Big Mac found her for me..."

Rarity smiled and turned to Big Mac. "Why, what a gentlecolt you are!"

Big Mac waved a hoof. "T'weren't nothin', Miss Rarity..."

It was then they both noticed Rarity looking over the doll, analyzing it. "Hm... you know, no offense Twilight, but this poor thing's stitching is rather shoddy at best... it looks like whatever repairs were made to it might come undone at any second!" She did not see Big Mac frown a bit at her unknowing criticism of his repair work - he thought it was pretty good. "You simply MUST let me fix her up!"

Twilight blinked, looking at Rarity for a few seconds, then turning to Big Mac, giving him an apologetic glance. He simply shrugged. "Uh... that won't be necessary."

Rarity sighed. "Well, if you say so... at the very least, let me clean her up? Maybe sew a few of the gaps closed?"

Twilight shrugged a bit. "I... guess I see no harm in that..."

Rarity smiled. "Splendid! I'll return her to you as soon as possible!" With that, the mare levitated the small doll from the nightstand and placed it in her saddlebag. "Well, I think I'm going to take off... Twilight, dear, you get better soon, alright?"

Twilight smirked. "I'll try my best Rarity."

Rarity nodded and turned to Big Mac. "You take care as well, Mister McIntosh."

With that, she trotted out, and Big Mac sighed. "Ah s'pose Ah should get on mahself then..."

"Before you go, Big Mac..."

He stopped and turned to look at the alicorn mare, who smiled to him. "I think you're a great friend."

Big Mac let a small smile onto his face, and he gave a thankful nod before stepping out.

Revelations and Disaster

It was dinner time at the Apple residence, and everypony was present; gnawing and eating on their meals. Contrary to popular beleif, the Apples did not eat apples every day; while it was, indeed, their main export, they grew a personal garden of various other fruits and vegetables, which had been used to make Granny Smith's own vegetable soup. Everypony rather loved the meal; it was a favorite, especially for when you were sick or injured.

Big Mac wondered if Twilight and Rainbow Dash might want some when they got out of the hospital?

"-- And THEN yer granddaddy an' me got into a fight! We was both wieldin' knives an' starin' each other down on th' deck, and neither one of us was gonna let th' other get away with that treasure!" Everypony knew it wasn't true; Granny's stories about how she met their grandfather changed every time she told them. "He went fer mah hoof, an' Ah dodged and got 'em in the cheek! That's where that scar he had came from!" The scar had, in fact, come from a farming accident. "And then he shanked me in th' back! That's where that scar on mah back came from!" That scar wasn't even vaguely knife-like; it was a bite scar from a Timberwolf attack she was lucky to survive. Her coat grew over it so you couldn't see it unless you looked for it. "An' after hours of knife attacks, we finally decided ta split th' booty knowin' neither of us was gonna beat the other!"

Applejack smirked. "Sounds like a hoot, granny."

"Dern right it was!" shouted the mare. "Ah'd be th' most feared mare on th' seas t'day if Ah hadn't gone n' got knocked up with yer daddy! But Ah guess that's the way of things, 'specially with them there ninjas lurkin' about in th' shadows every derned corner." Everypony present was fairly certain Granny Smith had never been on anything bigger than a row boat in her entire life. "So, Big Mac, hows that there mare y'all saved doin'?"

Big Mac shrugged. "She's fine, Granny. They say she'll be able t' go back home t'morrow afternoon, though she'll need ta stay in bed fer a while after."

Granny nodded. "... So, when ya gonna marry 'er an gimme some great grandkids?"

Both Big McIntosh and Applejack spat their meals out.

"Granny!" shouted Applejack.

"Granny Smith!" shouted Big Mac.

"Wut!? Ah'm old an' Ah wanna see mah great grandfoal b'fore Ah pass on!"

Applejack groaned. "She's mah friend, Granny Smith. B'sides, ya don' just up n' marry a pony jus' cause ya save 'em from a spider bite!"

"That's how yer grandpappy n' me decided we wanted t' get hitched!"

Big Mac grimaced. "But y'all jus' said ya met on a pirate ship..."

"We *met* on a pirate ship!" she said, matter-of-factly. "We got *married* when Ah was bit by one of them there Blue Sage spiders! Yer granddaddy, bless 'is soul, sucked th' poison out and spat it right back at th' bugger!"

It was one of those things it was better not to argue with.

"Anyway, uh, that's not gonna happen." said Big Mac.

Granny hummed. "... Too bad." She turned to Applejack. "Wut about that there Fluttershy girl? She seems awful sweet."

Big Mac scowled. "Granny, ya already tried t' set us up on a date. It were awkward n' quiet most-a th' time."

Granny waved a hoof. "Oh you kids t'day don't know nothin' about romance... Ah suppose Applejack has three more friends..."

Big Mac groaned and stared flatly at his grandmother. "Can we drop th' subject, please?"

Granny hummed. "Speakin' of... hey AJ, when are you gonna find yerself a nice colt an' bare 'em some foals?" Applejack turned deep red and let her jaw hang open; Big mac, admittedly, was trying not to laugh. "Ah spend so much time badgerin' Big Mac who's prolly gonna die heirless at this rate that Ah fergot Ah had a grandaughter who was in her foal-barin' years!"

"G-granny!" shouted Applejack, putting her hooves over her head.

"Yer mah only other option, sweety! By th' time Apple Bloom's old enough t' have foals Ah'll prolly be six feet under, an' Ah need t' know that mah bloodline aint reached a dead end!" Nopony liked it when she talked about death. She did it so casually, as if she didn't care it was going to happen. "Ah, y'all're no fun. Mark mah words though, Ah'm not gonna die until SOMEPONY has a foal."

***

The next morning was mostly uneventful, with a few acceptions. Rainbow Dash was invited to spend the next few weeks at Applejack's place (Fluttershy had offered, but she had refused due to the fact she wasn't sure she could put up with all of the animals), and Everypony was getting to work on moving Twilight back home. Big Mac insisted in helping, and indeed he pushed her in a wheelchair back. Eventually, she was set up in her bed and put comfortable covers on, and everypony began to clear out, leaving Spike alone with Twilight.

The little dragon stared at her with the utmost fear and concern in his eyes. She smiled at him. "It's okay Spike, I won't bite..."

Spike shook his head. "Uh... it aint that... Twilight... I'm just..." His lip trembled and he ran to the bed, hopping up to it and wrapping her in a hug, much to her surprise. But she just smiled and wrapped a hoof around the little dragon as he sniffled. "I-I was so worried... and... I wanted to visit you in the hospital, but I was scared, and... and..."

Twilight smiled and cooed gently, stroking the little dragon's headscales. "Shh... it's okay Spike... I'm alright..."

He sniffled and nuzzled into her chest. "I'm so sorry... I'm the worst assistant ever..."

"No you are not..." she lifted his chin and stared him in the eyes, smiling. "You're the best assistant ever. Never doubt that." Spike just sniffled and nodded, whiping his eyes. "Spike, I'm sorry to ask... but could you fetch me a book? I'm kinda bed-bound for a while, and I'd like something to keep myself entertained." Spike nodded and dutifully hopped from her bed and rushed downstairs. Twilight giggled; she knew that would keep him distracted. All he needs is to be reminded he's helpful.

***

"Well, Rainbow, this'll be yer room until yer wing is good 'nuff ta get ya back to yer own place."

Rainbow Dash looked around the small guest room of Applejack's home; it was very... cosey, for lack of a better word. There was naught but a simple bed, a nightstand, a dask, and an empty closet to speak of. The pegasus let out a small sigh, figuring she didn't really have much she needed anyway; Fluttershy was going to take care of Tank (lest Applejack's dog, Winona, harassed the poor toroise) until she was well enough to return home, and she supposed there was no real reason to bring her Wonderbolts posters along with her. As the cyan mare trotted towards the bed, she turned about and sat on the edge, bouncing a bit, looking down at it, humming. It was more comfortable than it looked, really.

Applejack smiled towards her friend. "Right. Well, y'all get settled in. Me n' Mac are preparin' a meal downstairs if'n y'all care t' join us fer supper?"

"Uhh, sure, call me when it's finished..." Applejack nodded and turned, stepping out of the room and closing the door gently behind her, leaving the rainbow-maned mare alone. Rainbow sighed and slumped down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, several thoughts running their way through her mind. Deciding she was bored, she threw herself back to her hooves and stepped from the room, down the stairs.

She turned and made her way towards the doorway that led into the kitchen. She barely peaked around the corner to find Applejack and Big McIntosh working various odds and ends on the meal.

She felt her heart beat picking up.

Why did she have these feelings for her friend? Did it all start because of a little competition? Was it because they both had competitive drive? She didn't know if they shared any interests; after all, one was an athlete, the other a worker. Not that Rainbow Dash didn't work a good job, but it was hardly her big calling.

She felt her heart flutter as she tried to steel her nerves.

"Ah'll be back, Ah gotta use th' lil' filly's room."

With that, Applejack turned and trotted out of the kitchen. Rainbow Dash froze as she passed by and stopped, looking at her friend and smiling. "Oh! Wasn't expectin' ya Rainbow! Dinner'll be done in a bit, so Ah hope yer ready for some Veggie soup, corn bread, an' a heapin' helpin' of coleslaw!"

Rainbow chuckled nervously. "Uh, yeah, sounds good..." Applejack gave a nod and trotted up the stairs. Rainbow sighed and hung her head, shaking it.

"Howdy."

Rainbow turned around to face Big McIntosh, who smiled down at the mare. Rainbow Dash hoofwaved. "Oh, h-hi..." Then, things seemed to get silent. "Hey, Big Mac? Uhm, can I ask you something about... uhh... Applejack?"

Big Mac hummed, tapping a hoof to his chin. "Eeyup...?"

Rainbow gulped. "Uhh... well... she........ she and you go a long way, right?"

Big Mac raised an eyebrow and smirked. "We're siblings.."

Rainbow mentally face hoofed. "Yeah, I mean, no, what I meant to say was... you know her pretty well, right?"

Big Mac shrugged. "Eeyup."

Dash sighed. "Uhm... can you tell me what some of her interests are?"

The stallion chuckled. "Like 'er?"

"DO NOT!" shouted Rainbow, blushing madly. "I mean... no..."

Big Mac, much to his credit, simply shrugged, although a cheesy grin snuck into his face. "She likes long walks on the beach..."

"Big Maaaac!"

McIntosh chuckled at Rainbow's despair, shaking his head. "Ask her?"

Rainbow gulped. "I-I c-can't ask her... because..... I.... well..."

"Yeah?"

Rainbow gulped, and forced her eyes shut. She knew what she had to do. She was probably going to regret it, but she was going to do it. She threw herself forward, grabbing Big Mac's face between her hooves and pulling him down, pressing her lips against his. The stallion's eyes widened in shock as she quickly got into deepening the lock; to the point he felt her push her tongue into his mouth.

Quickly, he pulled away.

"Whoa whoa WHOA! Hold yer horses! What the hay!?"

Rainbow, having abandoned any sense of restraint she had, was blushing furiously but staring at Big Mac with intensity. "Big McIntosh! I-I think I l... l.... like you a lot! Ever since I started coming to those poker games, I've been falling for you, a-and sometimes I stay up at night cause I can't sleep cause I think so much of telling you it hurts! You're strong, awesome, and the mmmost trustworthy pony I've ever met, a-a-and I wwwwant to date you!"

Nailed it, Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

Big McIntosh rubbed a foreleg against his muzzle, his eyes staring as he tried to piece it all together. "So... y'all... an' AJ.... you was.... me?"

"I needed a conversation topic" she said, a hint of guilt in her tone, "Trying to break the ice with a pony that rarely talks is very hard to do."

Big Mac continued to stare at the mare as he pieced everything together. He then let out a sigh and stood up. "Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow nodded.

"... Yer a good friend.... but... that's all Ah see you as..." Rainbow seemed to stop any form of motion. "... Don't get me wrong, yer a great mare, an' Ah love havin' ya over t' play cards, but Ah don't think you and Ah would mesh well..." This made the mare cringe as if it physically hurt her. "... Ah mean... yer all action, tough, an' live fer th' thrill. Ah'm jus' a quiet hill pony..."

Rainbow threw herself to his hooves. "But you're not! You're strong, you compete in rodeos too! Applejack told me! And you're awesome! The way you saved Twilight? That was brave stuff!"

Big Mac sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes. "Dash..." the pegasus just seemed to whimper, staring up at him with eyes struggling not to shed tears. "Yer a good mare... an' a great friend... but Ah jus' don't see ya that way..."

Whatever little fight she still had in her drained. Rainbow, without another word, slowly picked herself up and nodded. She forced back her emotions and seemed to take on her poker face. "You're right... I'm sorry... I don't think I'll be joining you guys for dinner tonight, I'm going to head over to Twilight's and see how she's doing..."

"Rainbow, Ah-"

"No... it's okay, really..." Rainbow forced a smile. "I get it. Don't worry. I really do."

With that, she turned and trotted hurriedly out the door. Big Mac stared as she left, the air seeming to sit still. He did like the mare, he really did... but not in that way. He didn't want to break her heart, but what was a stallion to do. He let out a small sigh of frustration and turned to see his grandmother idling by the back door, a look of disappointment etched into her features.

"Ah'm never gonna have great grandfoals, am Ah?"

"Not now, please Granny?"

***

Once again, night time was upon Ponyville.

Foals were climbing into their beds, hearing tales of adventure and wonder. Lovers were convening in both public and privacy, expressing their love in one way or another. Rainbow Dash sulked in her temporary room space, not getting a wink of sleep, while a short distance away, Big Mac and his friends were playing another game of cards. While in a certain Library, a certain Princess was getting one last check up from her favorite assistant for the day.

"Are you comfortable, Twilight?"

Twilight lay in her bed, smiling at her number one assistant. The room was dark, save the light from a candle shining in from the hallway giving it slight illumination. She gave a slow, weak nod of affirmation to Spike, who smiled a bit in response. "Right. The doctor says that you need to get plenty of bed rest... don't exert yourself too much. You've still got small traces of poison in your body, as well as some of the lingering effects, and if you tax yourself too much it might make a comeback and do further damage." Spike looked over to notice that Twilight had fallen asleep. He sighed and nodded, turning and walking out of her room and picking up the candle, and made his way downstairs.

"Oh, hello Spike!"

He smiled - he never would forget that voice, and he turned to it's owner with a tired, yet dream-struck smile. "Hi Rarity."

The fashionista looked upon Spike and gasped. "Dear, are you sure you don't want help? You seem so exhausted!" Rarity trotted towards the dragon to look him over - indeed, he looked as if he had been working none stop.

"Twilight needs me now more than ever! I don't want to let her down!" he shouted. "I don't care if I didn't sleep at all last night - I'd stay awake an entire week if I had to!"

"You haven't slept in a day!?" shouted Rarity?

Spike winced. "A... two days actually..."

Rarity put a hoof on Spike's head and petted him gently. "Ohhh, Spikey Wikey..." she cooed, "It's alright... you really should get some rest my poor, poor baby..."

He sighed, the twisting emotions tearing at him - the urge to give in to the sweet and gentle sound of Rarity's beautiful voice and it's promise of sweet sleep... versus Twilight's well being. He shook his head and sighed. "Sorry, Rarity... but I have to do this..."

Rarity hummed and nodded. "Very well... but I will be back by later on to check on you. Don't be hard on yourself, alright?" Spike gave a soft nod, to which Rarity smiled. With that, she made her way out of the library, leaving Spike alone to his thoughts. He had to admit, the idea of sleep was downright tempting. But he must resist. Twilight needed him.

He would just close his eyes for a moment.

***

Rarity pushed the door to the library open and peaked inside. "Oh Spikey Wikey, I'm sorry dear, but I forgot I had come for a book and... and..." She heard a sound coming from the dragon, who was laying on a nearby pillow. Rarity trotted over to him and smiled a bit; he was fast asleep. "Poor dear... so diligent..." She trotted towards Spike and gave him a little kiss on his head, smiling down at the small dragon. "I'll just come back for it tomorrow... you sleep tight, little Spikey Wikey." She turned about and made her way towards the door, stepping out of the library and gently closing the entrance behind her.

As Spike lay there sleeping, an empty candle holder lay next to him; it's contents laying on their side. Slowly, a small flame had been born beneath it, and it was growing.

All thanks to a careless turn and a well-placed, curley tail.

***

"Hey Big Mac. You alright?"

Mac stared at his cards and looked up at the other ponies with a sigh. "Eeyup..." the word left his mouth, but he didn't put his heart into it. Lyra, Caramel, and Snowflake all exchanged glances, before turning to their cards.

"So... anypony know that... uh... Fluttershy gal?"

Everypony looked to Snowflake. Big Mac nodded. "Eeyup... why?"

Snowflake cleared his throat a bit, rubbing the back of his head. "Uhh... any idea if she's... ya know... single...?"

Big Mac couldn't help but force back a slight laugh. He shook his head, biting down on his lip and staring at the pegasus. Lyra, fortunately, spoke up. "Whoa whoa whoa... you... the biggest, loudest, most muscle-brained pony in all of Ponyville... have a crush on meek, little, quiet Fluttershy?"

Snowflake stood tall. "Yeah! What of it!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, Big guy!" Lyra said, grinning. "Nothin'. Just didn't expect it at all..." She looked around. "To be honest, I kinda thought... uhh.... ya know..... ah it ain't important. Anyway! Dunno!"

Big Mac shrugged. "Applejack never said she wasn't. Might be?"

Snowflake nodded. "... Think I'd have a chance?"

The ponies exchanged glances.

"Sure why not?" said Lyra.

"Maybe." said Big Mac.

"Snowflake's chance in hell, big guy." said Caramel without looking up from his cards.

"ALRIGHT!" shouted Snow Flake. "Yeah! YEEEAH! Gonna ask her out! TOMORROW!"

Everypony got to looking back at their cards; though Lyra was now somewhat amused, and Snowflake looked ready to take on the world. Well, on a mental level. Physically he always looks like that. It did him proud to see the big stallion find an interest in Fluttershy; who knows? Maybe their opposing natures might compliment each other? He wasn't really sure himself, but hey, he'd seen stranger things on a Tuesday.

Suddenly, the door flew open and slammed against the wall. Everypony turned about to see a panicked Applejack standing with Fluttershy, who was shivering madly. Big Mac stood up. "AJ? What's wrong?"

"It's the Library, Big Mac!" shouted Applejack.

"It's on fire!"

We All Fall Down

Big Mac and Applejack had ran the entire way from the barn toward Ponyville. It was an urgent situation, both knew - Applejack's friend was in danger, and Big Mac? Well, he had enough guilt on his plate already. He had just returned the mare's doll to her, and saved her from Blue Sage poison - if she... no, he wouldn't think of it. Somehow, things were going to be alright.

A small crowd of ponies had gathered to gawk and shout. Big Mac couldn't help but wonder what was taking the fireponies so long to arrive; of course, they were on the other side of town, so it would take a while. "We gotta do somethin'! She'll burn alive if we jus' sit here an' wait!" shouted Applejack. Fluttershy whimpered, tears welling in her eyes and rolling freely down her cheeks. Big Mac stared up at the great tree, and suddenly one end of it seemed to erupt into a small explosion, launching burning branches and leaves into the air and eliciting a scream from the crowd of ponies, some of which ran as far away from the tree as possible.

That was all he needed.

Big Mac pulled his harness off and gave it over to Applejack. "Take this."

"What? Ah-- Big Mac! What are you doing!?"

Without another word, he ran towards the door. He gave it a swift buck, launching it from it's hinges and landing in a small heap across the room, and what he saw inside drew a lot of his hopes away. The entire room was practically eaten up in fire; the books, the wooden structure, all of it served to feed the flames effortlessly as they spread madly. He would have to be very careful if he was going to do this right. Quickly, he ran into the small living room and looked around; the basement was blocked by several bits of wood that had collapsed from the ceiling.

"Twilight!" Big Mac shouted over the inferno. "Twilight, can ya hear me!?"

"Up here!"

Big Mac nodded and turned to a staircase. Some of the steps were covered in soot and ash, as well as pieces of broken wood, but fortunately they looked traversable. He rushed up the stairs, kicking away any wood that blocked his path, and finally reaching the bedroom. Much of it was already filled with smoke, the floor was growing hot, and some of the walls and items in the room had already caught fire. Twilight was laying on the floor, whimpering, staring at him with pleading eyes.

"Twilight! Y'alright?"

"Too weak..." she said in a tired, raspy voice. "Can't move..."

The stallion, without another word, trotted towards her and shoved his muzzle under her. With a quick motion, he rolled her over his head and onto his back, and helped her get situated. "Hold on tight" he said, to which she complied. He looked towards her balcony; several bits of wood had already fallen in the path, burning too hot. If he jumped, he risked injuring himself AND Twilight, and in her condition that could be a bad thing. He had no choice; he would have to go back downstairs. As if the universe had read his mind, in several places, he heard wood crashing into wood, and the sound of flame grabbing at more air.

Looking back down stairs, he saw that some of the staircase had collapsed into the basement, with fire pouring out of it; the air smelled different. Did she have some sort of flammable chemicals down there? "Hold on... Ah'm gonna have ta jump it..." With that, Big Mac ran down the steps, readying to time his jump just right. Just as he reached the hole halfway down, he sprang into the air and felt Twilight grip onto his neck. He fell back down, and at that moment, realized he may have miscalculated his jump just a bit.

He grabbed Twilight and pulled her towards his front as he spun a bit, and slammed onto his back. The force knocked the breath out of him, and forced him to let go of the mare, who rolled a few feet away from him. Big Mac slowly turned around and placed his hoof on the ground, slowly pushing himself up. The act, however, punished him as a pain shot through his ribs and his withers; he knew that pain. He had broken, at least bruised a few of his ribs, and likely had busted his shoulder as well... it seemed like a heroically good idea at first, but it was one he was going to pay for.

His shoulder in agony he limped towards Twilight, who seemed dazed by the situation. Big Mac gritted his teeth and bore the pain as he rolled her back onto his back once more, his broken body crying at him to forget the mare and leave. He would not do it though. Just as he was certain he had control of the situation, he turned around to see something that made his heart sink.

The door had been blocked. Parts of the tree, of the room upstairs, of branches, had fallen into the doorway. The mess of burning wood and broken rubble was too much for him to traverse. If he tried to climb it, he might get too close to the ceiling, or knock some of the debris that was being held up by chance alone loose.

"We're trapped..." said Twilight in a sad voice.

Big Mac analyzed the scene, his eyes desperate, searching. Then, a grim realization struck him. His expression shifted to frustrated, but then to acceptance.

"No. We're not."

He looked back at Twilight. "Miss Sparkle... Ah apologize for this... but it's either one of us or none of us."

"Wh... what?"

With that, the stallion ran towards the door, and then threw himself upward, propelling his back legs faster. Twilight, too shocked to hold on, was launched from his back and out the door. As she flew, her hoof accidentally struck a piece of wood, eliciting a shout from her. The wood itself, however, was poorly situated - her strike knocked it loose, and several bits of debris that had just been held up began to tumble down and cover the doorway.

Twilight hit the ground and tumbled to a stop before the crowd. Immediately, ponies rushed to her. "Give her room! Make sure she gets some air!" Applejack stared at her friend, relief painting her eyes, before the realization hit her, and horror became her world. She turned to look at the library door, which was now blocked by piles of burning lumber.

"BIG McINTOSH!"

***

That was a bad idea.

Well... for him at least.

Big Mac had only served to damage, or least injure, his broken bones more. He winced and growled in pain, slowly standing back up, trying to bear the ache in his body as he looked around, trying to come up with an escape plan of his own. He looked to the stairs and wondered if he might get back up there? He'd surely injure himself jumping from that balcony, but it was the only option. Most of the windows were blocked by flaming debris or burning branches, so he didn't know if any of those ideas were feasible. Of course, with the staircase having fallen, that would be quite the feat for an earth bound pony.

He turned once more to some of the windows; there were only maybe two in this room. One of them was blocked by the same rubble that kept him from using the designated exit, and the other by a series of burning branches that had fallen to the ground outside. What luck. He limped towards a nearby door and pushed it open; as soon as he did, he was greeted by an inferno in the small room space pouring out and licking at him. He yelled and backed away, frantically searching for some kind of escape.

"Ah'm trapped..."

He supposed he knew it was going to happen.

"Ah'm really gonna die."

He simply stood there for a few seconds, letting this information run through his head. It seemed unfair, really. Spend your life working hard, and you'll be rewarded. That's what pa always said. Of course, then his mother died giving birth to his baby sister, and his father... he wondered if it was a curse of some kind? Perhaps Apples arent meant to die of natural causes? Big McIntosh sighed and looked towards a nearby desk, and what he saw almost surprised him.

Sitting on that desk, surrounded by flames that had yet to reach her, was Smartypants.

He preferred Little Orchard, but he supposed it was Twilight's first.

He trotted towards the little doll and lifted it up, looking at it. "Guess we're both trapped in here, aint we?"

The doll did not answer back.

Big Mac chuckled.

"Ya know... Ah always figured if Ah died of unnatural causes... it'd be in a farmin' accident. Or from pushin' mahself too hard. Or from scarin' Applejack. Never thought it'd be from savin' a mare's life. Know what Ah'm sayin'?"

The doll simply stared at him in forever silence.

Big Mac chuckled a bit. "Ya always were a good listener, Lil' Orchard... or Smartypants... whatever ya prefer to be called..."

He sniffled a bit. A single tear rolling down his cheek. He pulled the small doll close and gave it a hug. It was just a doll... he knew this. But right now? It was the only comfort he had. And he needed comfort. He looked up to the ceiling and saw that it was straining to hold together. No, he turned his attention back to the doll that he coddled in his hooves. He didn't want to see it coming.

"Ya know..." said McIntosh to the little doll. "Ah guess this is all mah own fault. Promisin' ta help mah sister move her friend's things. Eatin' that mystery goo Apple Bloom gave me... then tellin' Twilight not ta build her lil' shelter... had Ah not done any one of those things, maybe she'da not got bit, and we'd jus' be askin' her if she was okay."

The doll remained silent.

"... But... Ah guess it ain't the worst way to go..." he coughed a bit. The smoke was really starting to get to him now. "Ah mean... burnin' alive is horrible, don' get me wrong... but... at least Ah left a mark, eh? And at least Ah saved somepony's life..." he smirked. "Twice..."

A loud cracking and groaning of weak wood nearly stole his attention.

"Ah lived a good life, Orchard..." he said, his voice cracking a bit, lip trembling. "... Ah reckon... if Ah could do it all over again... th' only thing Ah'd do different is find a way ta get you outta here too..."

Big Mac sighed and let out a rattled breath, and closed his eyes. He then began to hum. It was an old song... one he barely remembered... but now, he seemed to recall it with perfect clarity. A song he hadn't heard in years. From a pony he hadn't seen in years. A lullaby. A lullaby his mother used to sing to him when he was just a colt. Eventually, he stopped humming, and started to sing the song quietly to himself.

Hush now, quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head...

More cracking, and the sound of glass shattering.

Hush now, quiet now
It's time to go to bed...
Driftin' off to sleep...
Leave the day behind you...
Driftin' off to sleep...
Let the joy of dreamland find you...

He sniffed a bit, a small smile on his face, tears rolling down his eyes.

Hush now... quiet now...
It's time to lay your sleepy head...

He pulled the doll close and hugged her, nuzzling it a bit, then pushing it to his chest.

Hush now, quiet now...
It's time to go to bed...

The sound of snapping, screeching and wailing of shattering wood overcame his senses. His eyes damp, closed, and a smile on his face, Big McIntosh found acceptance in his heart. He found total peace of mind and serenity.

As the room above him came tumbling down upon him and enveloped his world in darkness.

Faded Breath

Twilight was surrounded by townsponies, frantically gathering her up.

"She's breathing, but she's barely conscious!"

"Where are those paramedics!?"

"Where's the fire department!"

All very good questions. Questions that burned inside a fearful Applejack who stared at a large, burning tree. So hot was it that it was causing her eyes to fill with tears. That's what it had to have been; the heat.

"Big Mac!" she shouted. "Can y'all hear me!?" She didn't hear a response. Instead she heard the various sounds of the tree burning - shattering glass, creaking and groaning. She reeled back as the pressure of the flames caused one of the windows to shatter onto the street. "Big Mac! Ah'll find a way to save you!" she shouted again and began to frantically look around.

The window immediately toward the entrance had been blocked - almost the entire front part of the tree seemed to have collapsed into it, enough to expose what remained of Twilight's bedroom, if only slightly. Structurally speaking, it was not likely to continue standing long; this she knew, and this she feared. She ran a quick circle around the house; there was one window which wasn't blocked by debris and, in fact, had shattered open, but the room beyond was almost completely ignited. She wondered if maybe that room had been full of books that, for whatever reason, weren't on their shelves in the main room?

The orange mare continued her journey around until she came to a stop. Another window, but it was completely blocked by several of the branches that had fallen off the house when the top of the tree seemingly exploded, and they were burning wildly, making getting past them in a timely manner very unlikely.

Eventually, she ran back to the front, trotting in place, fear taking hold of her. "Big Mac! Big Maaaac!" she shouted.

"Here we come, Big Guy!"

Applejack turned around to see Rainbow Dash gallop down the road, a look of determination etched on her face. Behind her were several pegasai pushing rain clouds, high enough to go over the tree. The pegasus stopped before Applejack and nodded. "Is he still in there?"

Applejack's jaw worked wordless for a minute before she spoke. "How did you--"

"Flutters moves pretty fast when she's scared" said Rainbow, rubbing the back of her neck. Applejack turned to see that Fluttershy had actually been among the ponies pushing the rain clouds which were now perched over the tree. The ponies positioned themselves among the clouds and all at once began to hop frantically on them, causing small, localized downpours that fell into the flames, suffocating them but not fully defeating them, filling the air with smoke and steam.

"That's one tough fire... everypony! Grab more!"

The pegasai began to dart around, grabbing whatever clouds they could and bouncing on them to get what little water they could draw from them. Everypony's attention soon was drawn to a spectacular sight - a large, white pegasus with tiny wings pushing a very large cloud towards them.

"Don't worry, lil' buddy! Here comes Snowflake! YEEEEEEAAAHHH!"

He positioned the massive cloud formation above the tree and flew high above it. Quickly, he slammed down, driving his back hooves into the cloud and flexing his forelegs in an awesome display of power that was half heroism - half showing off.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

As he collided with it, the cloud seemed to burst like a water balloon and release a massive stream of water that poured over the tree and brought more steam into the air. Much to Applejack's happiness, it seemed to smother a great majority of the flames that had taken out so much of the tree. "That's it everypony!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Keep 'em coming!"

Pegasai kept coming back with more clouds and jumping on them, putting out the flames piece by piece. It was not as effective as what could have been done by the Fire Department, but at the very least they might buy some time. It all seemed to be working so well, when there was a loud crackling, groaning, and wailing sound. Applejack and Rainbow both stared at the tree, eyes dilated.

They watched as the entire second level of the house collapsed into the tree, tearing much of the top half down, bringing branches, leaves, and assorted things in the house down, the collission causing a plume of flame to envelope the new source of kindling and whatever of it had not been soaked.

It was then that Applejack heard the loudest scream she had ever heard in her life.

It took her a few seconds to realize it was her.

Finally, they heard a siren sound as several pegasai in Fire Department uniforms sped towards the scene, pushing a large, black cloud with a hose jammed into it along with them. Rainbow could tell at first glance it was highly condensed water; that it would produce more than it's size implied, a practice done to help make transportation easier without sacrificing output to assure it reached it's target before they burned to death. Two more arrived as well, and the pegasai pulled up the hoses and unleashed streams of water.

The streams poured onto the burning remains of the trees, dousing the flames and putting them out in more effectiveness than the townsponies had enjoyed in their attempt to save the structure and the pony trapped inside. It had taken several minutes, and all of the clouds were nearly drained by the time the fire had finally been defeated. Much of the tree was already lost, either burned to crisp or collapsed in on itself.

Applejack could only stare in dismay at the scene as ponies milled about, hearing the questions fly, hearing voices, and seeing paramedics finally arrive.

"Was anypony inside?"

"The princess was but she got out!"

"I think somepony ran in there after her!"

"Did they make it back out?"

"What happened? How did this happen!?"

Applejack could only stare as a team effort began. Several ponies rushed forward and began throwing debris aside, milling about, treading carefully trying to find the stallion that had been buried beneath the rubble. All sound seemed to leave the world as she stared at the scene, unable to process it. The smoke, the shouting, ponies frantically trying to find a survivor...

"Oh my word! What happened!?"

Applejack didn't even turn around to see her friend approach her. Rarity ran to her side, eyes wide. "Dear, what happened!? Where are Twilight and Spike!?"

Applejack shook her head and pointed to Twilight Sparkle, who was already being put onto a stretcher and had a breathing mask on her face. As if on queue, she heard somepony shout. "We've got a dragon!"

The ponies helped the small purple dragon out of the wreckage, his expression dazed, but he was okay, and conscious, if covered in a lot of soot. Rarity rushed to him and took him from the ponies that had helped him. "Oh Spikey Wikey! What happened in there!? How did you survive that horrible mess!?"

Spike groaned. "I... I woke up and saw the library was burning... I was going to go out and get help, but just when I got to the door... I think.... something hit me?" He whimpered and put his claws on his face. "I feel like I got kicked in the head..."

"Oh poor dear!" shouted Rarity. "However did you survive!?"

Spike couldn't help but smile at the attention he was getting. "I'm a dragon... really tough scales and fireproof..." he put a claw on his head and mumbled. "Still hurts though..." Without further hesitation, Rarity pulled the dragon into a firm hug and looked to the ponies who had helped him.

"Thank you so much!"

"Welcome ma'am, but we still gotta find one more!"

Rarity blinked and looked over to see Twilight on a stretcher. "Who else was in there?"

"I think we found him!"

Everypony turned to see two stallions throwing debris aside hurriedly and impatiently, and then reaching their hooves down. "He's... heavy.... somepony give us a hoof!" Without hesitation, a few more ponies (more than was probably needed) rushed over. Some began to peel debris away to help, while others pried the victim free. Applejack rushed towards the tree and watched as the ponies brought with them their find.

The massive red stallion.

Big McIntosh.

His eyes were closed, most of his fur was missing. His body riddled in burns, bruises, and gashes.

"He's not breathing!"

"Paramedics! Get another breathing mask! Somepony administer Mouth-to-mouth!"

Applejack was quick to leap forward, rushing to her brother. "Outta mah way!"

The stallions balked. "Crazy mare, what are you doing!?"

Applejack stared down at her brother, the tears in her eyes welling up. "Big Mac, ya better not die on me!" She placed her ear to his chest, hoping, praying for something, for a good sign.

She heard it.

It was faint... but it was there.

"He's still got a heart beat... He's still alive!"

She quickly threw herself up and planted her hooves on his chest and began to pump them rhythmically. "1... 2.... 3.... 4.... Come on Big Mac..." She brought her face down and a hoof up, covering his nostrils as she placed her muzzle against his and forcibly breathed into his mouth. Pulling back, she pumped her hooves again, tears falling from her to her brother. "Y'all can't leave me... Ah ain't losin' another family member, not if Ah can help it..." Once more, she brought her face down to breathe into him, and pulled back to continue pumping his chest.

She whimpered as she stared at her unresponsive brother, pumping frantically. "Please Big Mac..." she pleaded, her voice crackling, losing any sense of confidence it had had earlier, "Don't do this to me..." Once more, she brought her muzzle to his and breathed into him, pulling back and pumping, whimpering. "Don't... leave me..."

She continued her frantic attempt to revive her brother for a few minutes, pumping four times, plugging his nostrils and breathing twice into him.

Finally, she stopped and stared at him.

He lay still.

She clenched her eyes shut and lowered her head, tears streaming down her cheeks and falling onto the stallion's barrel. She took her hat off and pressed her forehead against his. "Big Mac..." She began to choke as she placed her hooves on his cheeks. Rarity placed a hoof over her mouth, her makeup streaming down her cheeks. Rainbow was biting her lip and holding her hooves against her chest, feeling her heart ache more than it had earlier that day. Fluttershy was openly sobbing, while not crying loudly. Spike simply stared, unable to process everything that was happening. Snowflake marched towards the scene and his expression dropped as he was followed by Lyra and Caramel. The three bowed their heads mournfully, with Caramel sniffling a bit.

Twilight watched the scene. She was conscious - at least enough to know what was going on. She stared at the downed stallion, a weak sense of horror in her expression. He had risked his life to save her. He had run into a burning building, injured himself, and even sacrificed himself so that she might live. It didn't seem fair to her at all.

The memories of their fight echoed in her mind. He was willing to forgive her for the horrible things she said. He rushed to save her when he knew she was poisoned. He had given her her precious doll without a fight, even when he could have fought for it.

That stallion... he deserved to live.

She wouldn't let it be known she didn't try to give him what he deserved.

Twilight's horn glowed with faint magic and reached out to the stallion. She let her will focus into him, taking in the entirity of his being, filling him with energy. He was still alive, if fading... the least she could do is keep him from fading too much. Focusing, she poured as much magic as she could into the stallion, and focused on a secondary task.

She began to massage his lungs and airways, gently trying to coax the contanimation therein out of him. He had enhaled a lot of smoke, she knew, and the collapsing of the structure had probably added ash to that. Applejack's work had done a bit in helping move it about, but it was not quite there yet... she didn't know, and Twilight couldn't tell her, that he might still be saved. Desperate, she pressed as much of her weakened magic as she could... struggled... she could feel the blockage in his airways moving around... she could...

Big Mac coughed wildly, sputtering up ash and soot, breathing in rattled, ragged breaths. Applejack's eyes widened, and quickly she began to pump his chest again. "Stay with us, Big Guy! Somepony get those paramedics over here! Where are they!?"

The paramedics were paying attention to Twilight - their number one priority as a Princess of Equestria. "Princess, please stop using your magic! You're weak, you don't want to exacerbate your situation!"

Twilight's horn stopped glowing and she smiled, nodding. "Sorry... just making sure I could do something..." She closed her eyes and sighed in relief as Applejack pumped her brother's chest and gave him breaths, ushering a few more coughing fits, until eventually some ponies hurried to her and her brother and placed an oxygen mask over his muzzle.

"He's still with us! Somepony get a stretcher over here!"

Applejack choked, and let out a half cry, half laugh of relief as her friends rushed to her side and the large stallion was hefted onto a stretcher. Rarity patted Applejack's shoulder as did Rainbow, who was surprised when the orange mare turned to her and hugged her tight. At first she seemed a bit uncomfortable, but her expression softened and she hugged her friend back. Snowflake sighed in obvious relief, wiping his hoof across his forehead, then looking down to see a familiar buttery yellow mare whimpering at the scene. She turned to him and sniffled, his eyes darting around a bit, before he held a hoof out. She came close to him and hugged tightly, crying tears of relief into his side as he patted her shoulder comfortingly. Spike looked up to Rarity, who looked back to him and smiled in relief. Suddenly, Spike closed his eyes and puckered his lips slowly, pushing forward. Rarity smirked and rolled her eyes and gave him a small kiss on the forehead. He seemed disappointed at first, but quickly just accepted what he could get with a shrug.

It was then that Twilight thought she saw the most surprising thing happening.

Pinkie Pie and Pokey Pierce. Both of them were helping the paramedics with Big McIntosh, loading him onto the emergency transportation wagon. She knew for a fact Pinkie wasn't a paramedic, and yet she was working quite effectively. She supposed it made sense - a pony who liked to spread joy would be just as likely to save lives as anypony else. After all, what greater joy is there than to give the gift of life? Pokey Pierce, on the other hoof, was questionable - after all, his tendency to stab things made him the least likely candidate she could imagine to be helping injured ponies. Still, he seemed to be doing an excellent job, so who was she to judge?

Eventually, she herself was hefted up and pushed into a wagon. She smiled a bit as she watched the red stallion disappear behind two doors as his were shut, briefly before her own was shut.

'Anypony would be lucky to have a friend like you, McIntosh... and everypony deserves the chance to know it...'

Still Kicking

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Everything hurts...

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Why does everything hurt?

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Wasn't being dead supposed to be more... peaceful than this?

Beep... Beep... Beep...

And what is that grating beeping noise?

Light.

He had just become aware of light pouring into his eyelids, refusing to let the little bit of flesh that stood between his eyes and itself discourage it.

Annoying light.

He wanted to roll over... but he couldn't move... everything hurts... it was a numb pain, thankfully. Why did he feel like it should be so much worse?

After several minutes, he decided to seize the day. If he was dead... he'd have all of forever to rest.

So... he opened his eyes, slowly. The light burned them... but there was comfort to be found in the burning sensation. He welcomed the light... maybe... it would welcome him?

He didn't know what he expected... but it wasn't what he saw. Dull, greenish-blue walls. The smell of anti-bacterial materials wafting through the air. A dull, white ceiling. Where was he? Why was this scene familiar?

Slowly, he turned his head. It hurt to move. He felt like his flesh was taught, pulling itself apart as he moved, but he had to know more.

Near him was a nightstand. On it was a book - Daring Doo - and from a small knob floated some balloons that said 'Get Well Soon' on them. He could think of the color pink upon seeing them. Slowly, he turned his head again to look to his other side. A large monitor device, a line jumping with each beep to form a spike. That was a sight he knew. He let his vision crawl more over the rest of himself. His body was exposed, much as it needed to be - it was somewhat humbling to see that most, if not all of his coat was gone, exposing the soft, pink pony flesh beneath. Much of his body was covered in bandage, with outright castings covering all but one of his legs. Had they been broken? Was he really that unfortunate? Or were they being thorough?

He could barely remember intense heat and darkness.

"Hm...?... M... Mac?"

The voice was familiar. But it hurt to think.

"... Mac! McIntosh, yer awake!"

Stop shouting... it hurts...

"Nngh.." was all he could say in protest.

She seemed to get the hint as she soon came into his vision. She must have been waiting just outside his easiest field of view. An orange mare in a stetson with a blonde mane and green eyes... well... they were kind of swollen. Had she been crying?

"Nnh... Applejack?"

He winced a bit. It hurt to talk, and what he managed was tired and raspy.

"It's me big guy" she said, quieter than earlier, a smile growing on her face, fresh tears forming in her eyes. "Ya had us all scared somethin' terrible..."

McIntosh didn't respond. Suddenly, he became truly aware of just how... everything he was. His whole body was really sore, he felt like he could use a glass of water, and he wasn't sure but he was certain he had tubes in some very invasive areas. "Ugh... wh... what happened?"

Applejack smiled and gently wrapped her hooves around him and hugged him tight - well, tight as one might a pony who had been crushed and burned. "You became a hero... that's what happened."

That's when it came back to him.

"... Th... The library..."

Applejack nodded. "Yeah..."

"... An' Twilight...?"

Applejack smirked. "She's safe."

"... How long Ah been out fer...?"

Applejack's face became very serious and flat. "Big McIntosh... Ah dunno how ta say this but... you've been in a coma fer ten years..."

His eyes widened... well, much as his tired frame would let him. He mouthed the words 'ten years' at his sister, whose face suddenly began to crack into a grin. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Applejack..."

"Sorry..." she said, chuckling - he didn't fail to notice there was a hint of relief in that chuckle, as if she hadn't laughed in days, and that it was accompanied by another wave of tears which she promptly wiped from her eyes. "Ah don't suppose Ah know when Ah'd get a chance to do that again... in truth, ya only been out fer about nine hours... a good night's sleep, Ah guess?"

He nodded softly and lay his head back into his pillow. Even if he had gotten so much rest, he still felt very tired. Still, he felt the need to smile a bit. He had survived. He had risked everything to save somepony, and by all means, he figured he probably should be dead... but he had survived.

Maybe good deeds and hard work was rewarded after all?

Applejack smirked and kissed his forehead, hugging him again, before backing off a bit. Big Mac moved around a bit, trying to sit up some, but was rewarded for his efforts with a shot of pain running through his entire body, eliciting another groan from him as he steadied himself back to his previous position. Applejack trotted to his side and looked at him with a look that was half concern, half scolding. "Take it easy now, brother... the doctors had ta work really carefully on ya. Ya broke a lotta bones, an' they said maybe 75% of yer body was covered in burns..."

He let out a groan and clenched his eyes shut. He feared what that might mean. Applejack seemed to read up on it and held a hoof up. "The doc says he's certain you'll make a full recovery... at worst maybe a scar or two... so don't ya go gettin' mopey an' thinkin' yer gonna be lame. Yer a very, VERY lucky stallion ta even be alive, let alone in yer condition. Ah reckon a lesser stallion woulda been dead."

He supposed that was true. Years of hard work had probably saved him, what with enough muscle to pull a house, he reckoned he could take one falling on him better than your average earth pony. He closed his eyes and sighed a bit, a small chuckle escaping him. He didn't find anything so much funny... as he was just sort of relieved.

"Everything's fine..."

"Weeeelll not quite..." said Applejack, rubbing the back of her head. Big Mac slowly looked up to her and she coughed into her hooves, pondering over things in her head. "Well... first off... when Granny found out y'all saved a Princesses life she went on a tyrade about how in her day a princess married her savior, so ya might have ta put up with that fer a while..."

Despite the fact that Big McIntosh was fairly certain the Princess had never married in his grandmother's admittedly impressive lifetime.

"... Also, she said she was gonna knock ya upside the head fer runnin' into a burnin' tree alone without any form of backup, nearly dyin', and nearly givin' her a heart attack... so ya might have to put up with that..."

Well, that much was expected.

"Plus, the Cutie Mark Crusaders said they wanted to do somethin' for ya, so you may end up with more injuries before the day is done."

Could it get any worse?

"Finally..." she said, "... Even though the docs think you'll be healed enough within a week ta return home, they don't suggest you try anything particularly taxin'... such as manual labor... for at least two months..."

Big Mac mouthed the words 'Two months' silently.

"Now Ah know that sounds bad!" she began. "But! Because y'all saved a Princess, an' nearly died, a lotta ponies are offerin' their support, both financial and volunteer work, ta help us make up the difference!" She grinned a bit. "Rumor has it somepony's in line ta get honored when he's well enough to stand before a crowd."

The stallion let out a soft grunt. He supposed getting honored was alright, long as ponies didn't make a big fuss.

"Well, Ah gotta run home..." said Applejack. "Ah'm gonna tell everypony y'all woke up. Expect lotsa visitors today." With that, Applejack turned and trotted towards the exit, stopping to turn and wave and smile at her brother before leaving.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

What a strange past couple of days this has been.

***

True to her word, Applejack had told everypony of Big Mac's waking up.

And he was pleasantly surprised by how many ponies had come by to visit him.

Some of them were slightly more obvious. The ponies he played cards with made sure to come by and give their well wishes - while he expected Caramel, Snowflake and Lyra kind of surprised him. He considered them friendly acquaintances rather than friends before, but judging by their accolades and no shortage of teasing, he supposed they really were friends? Of course, family came by, and much as Applejack had promised, Granny gave Big Mac a healthy slap on the back of his head (which doctors had asked her not to do again) and teased him about how marrying a princess could bring a lot of status to the Apple family. Even his old friend Cheerilee popped by and gave him well wishes.

Then there were the less-than-obvious visitors. All of Applejack's friends came by, excluding Twilight herself who Applejack had informed him had been asked by the staff to remain in her room until they could confirm she was healthy to move around. Pinkie had given him a cake, which he truly loved - given it had applesauce in the icing, he supposed that he would love it. Rarity had promised to make him a dashing new tux when he was healthy enough to get fitted for it. Fluttershy, in an uncharacteristic display of openness, hugged and thanked him for saving her friend.

Then there was Rainbow Dash.

She simply stared at him for a few minutes. He didn't know what to make of it for a bit, before she punched him in his least injured shoulder (which still hurt like the dickens) and told him if he ever did something that stupid again she would lay him out. He could tell she probably still wasn't fully over the rejection, but she seemed to be taking it better than he had expected.

He even got some visitors that he was barely familiar with, if at all, visit him. He knew the Cakes well enough, but didn't know they considered enough of him to visit him in the hospital. They had baked him a dozen 'hero cupcakes', which had red icing and small toothpicks with little flags with his cutie mark on them (they had told him Pinkie Pie made the little flags). Mayor Mare appeared to tell him about the support the farm was going to receive as thanks and the heroism of his deeds and the plan they had to have a celebration in his honor (Pinkie Pie was going to plan a lot of the actual 'celebration' part of the deal) and, much to his surprise, he even got a visit from Princess Celestia herself, thanking him for saving her student. (He wondered if Pinkie Pie had a hoof in that too?)

When all was said and done, the ponies stopped pouring in and he was finally left to his own devices. He turned his head to face out a nearby window, staring into the sunset. It was a beautiful sight, really. He would have preferred to be standing on a hill on the farm and enjoying it as it was meant to be enjoyed, true, but he supposed that for the next week, this was the best he could do.

"Hello? Big Mac?"

He turned to look towards the entrance to the room. Standing in the doorway was none other than Twilight Sparkle herself. She was wearing a hospital gown, as was fitting he supposed, and she was in a wheelchair, to help conserve her energy, pushed in by her number one assistant, Spike the Dragon, who had only a bandage around his head for his troubles (he was informed that when he had kicked the doors open, the dragon had been standing in the way - he still felt somewhat guilty about that.)

"Hi" he said with a nod. Spike pushed her chair into the room and brought her close to the bed, then stepped to her side and smiled up at him, waving. "Sorry fer the door, Spike..."

Spike waved a claw. "It's alright, Big Guy. I'd apologize more about letting Miss Smartypants get burned up than I would by hitting me with a door." The dragon grinned and crossed his arms. "I'm probably the single most durable thing in Ponyville! Even tougher than you!"

Big Mac supposed he couldn't argue that to a creature who wasn't bothered by lava baths and having pins stuck into his scales.

"I wanted to say thanks for saving me, Big Mac..." said Twilight. She still sounded tired, though she seemed to be in better condition than she had been in the past few days. For all she had been through, she only seemed to have a broken leg and a scrape on her head, so she wasn't doing so badly.

"'Twas nothin'" he said with a nod.

"No, it was something" she said, shaking her head. "... I have to be honest. It wasn't a surprise that you'd hurry to help get me to a hospital when I was just suffering from a poison bite... but that you risked your life to save me?" She smiled a bit and nodded. "That... shines pretty bright in a list of good deeds."

Big Mac would have shrugged if his shoulder weren't in such terrible condition. "Anypony woulda done the same."

Twilight shook her head. "Not just anypony. The fact you were the first to charge in says a lot... to be fair, Applejack said she was about to do the same thing, but you beat her to the punch..." she let out a small giggle, and shook her head. "What you did was... amazing. And I will never forget that."

The stallion couldn't help but smile at her kind words, and offered a gentle nod.

It was then that Twilight gently leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, much to his own surprise. Spike seemed to gag at the sight, which elicited a smirk from Twilight herself.

"I think a kiss for a hero is fair, right?"

Big Mac blinked a few times. "E... eeyup?"

The alicorn nodded. "We'll leave you to rest up then. Spike?" The baby dragon nodded, happy to end anything sappy before it became a problem to his poor young mind and turning the chair around, pushing Twilight out of the room, and leaving Big McIntosh to his thoughts. He sat there alone, staring at the doorway. Reaching a hoof up to rub his cheek, he pondered on recent events for a moment.

To get a kiss from a girl (albeit an innocent cheek kiss), all he had to do was save a girl from spider venom, fling her out a door, and have a house fall on him and nearly kill him?

He shrugged.

He wasn't sure if a simple kiss on the cheek was worth having a house fall on him... but he'd still do it again all the same if he could. At this thought, he chuckled and shook his head, laying back down and staring at the ceiling.

Heck, he'da done it again without the kiss.

That was just the kind of pony he was.

"Ahem."

Big Mac didn't want to look. He figured if he didn't it might go away. But he had to. Slowly, he brought his head up to look out the door and see none other than Granny Smith staring at him. She pulled, seemingly from no where, her old wedding band from when she herself had been proposed to and waved it around. Big Mac groaned and rolled his eyes. "How did ya even know ta be here?"

"That there pink friend of yers said somepony was gonna get a hero's kiss, somethin' about feelin' butterflies in 'er belly, warmth in her heart, and shakin' like a leak. Ah came on a hunch."

"Granny... Ah almost died..."

"An' Ah'm almost dead! Want me ta ask her for ya? Ah'll ask her for ya! Bend on mah knee n' everything, tell 'er you'd be honored to have her as part of the-"

"Granny!"

Author's Note

As I said in another story...

I love portraying Granny Smith as this sort of old lady who badgers her grandchildren (particularly her grandson) about marrying and having kids. It amuses me far more than it really should.

A Hero's Honour

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville.

The sky was blue, there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Everypony in town was gathering near town hall - this was an event that had been in the making for the past two weeks, after all. Ponies left and right were mumbling and talking about the situation, some not entirely aware of what was even being celebrated, others enthusiastic, especially those who had been there to witness the spectacular event. It had been the talk of the town ever since, after all. A podium rested on the stage, with ponies milling back and fourth trying to make sure everything was set up.

Around town, there were banners and posters announcing the event - the recognition of a hero, a celebration of his bravery, as well as the well-being of a beloved townspony, and a celebration of life in general.

Mayor Mare stood, dressed in her usual collar and glasses, across from Twilight Sparkle just off stage. Twilight Sparkle wore her crown - none other than the famed Element of Magic - a pair of regal horse shoes, and a ruby hanging from a gold cloth around her neck.

"Ladies? Gentlecolts? May I have your attention please?"

Everypony stopped to turn to face the mayor of Ponyville, who had taken the podium. Twilight trotted to the side of the podium and took a seat, staring out at the crowd. She had seemed to make a complete recovery from her ordeal - she didn't even seem to need a splint for her wing anymore. Mayor Mare cleared her throat to make sure she had as many ponies' attention as possible. "Ponies? Listen up!"

Everypony stopped and looked to the stage.

"We apologize for the delay, but it seems our guest of honor has yet to arrive. Please bear with us while we wait for him?"

***

"Oh Big Mac, stop bein' a foal an' jus' go on up to the stage!"

Applejack groaned as she spat on her hooves and pressed down on her brother's mane, much to the disgust of Rarity. "Dear, you know there are better and more proper ways to brush a mane..." she levitated a brush from her saddlebags and pushed it through the orange hair, until it was perfect. "There!"

"Ah dunno... th... there's lots of 'em, an' they're gonna be lookin' right at me..."

"Now? Of all times, ta get stage fright?" Said Applejack with a scowl. "Big McIntosh, Ah know yer shy, but ya've never had a problem with big crowds long as they wasn't pryin'. What's so different this time?"

"They are pryin'..." gulped Big Mac. "Ah'm gonna be in front of everypony, they're gonna all be starin' at me.... " If Big McIntosh was to be honest... he had never been on a stage before in his life. At least, nothing that wasn't competitive. When he was in a rodeo or performing some other competitive sport, he could distract himself; now he was going to be horribly aware that everyone was looking at him.

Judging him.

"Ah promise, Big Mac. Big Mac? Lookit me." Big Mac let his eyes look to his sisters'. She stared at him with a look of pure caring and kindness - a love of a sister for her brother. She smiled to him. "It's gonna be alright."

He nodded a bit, taking a deep breath. "Alright... alright... Ah'm.... Ah'm gonna do it then..."

Applejack smiled. "Good. Now get on out there, 'hero.'"

"Indeed! If anypony deserves this, it's you!" chimed Rarity.

McIntosh nodded and took another breath to steel his resolve.

***

Mayor Mare sighed, staring at all the ponies. "Is he coming? Did we get any word of any kind that he might be late...?"

"No, Mayor Mare" said an aid; a pink pegasus with a blue mane. "Maybe he's just having trouble getting here? Maybe... wait... is... is that him?" The mare nodded her head behind the mayor.

Mayor Mare turned around and sighed in relief. "Oh thank goodness, he's here."

The red stallion slowly made his way towards the two mares. The splotches of missing hair in his coat had begun to grow back, although at present was little more than fuzz that made him seem just a darker shade of pink than actually being red in some spots. He hadn't dressed up at all, really; the greatest extent he went being that he was wearing a green bow tie - it was mostly a stand in for his yolk, which he could not wear due to the strain he was told it would put on his neck and withers. He still had casting on some of all but his front left leg - Applejack had begged him to let her push him in a wheel chair, but he would not have it. The last thing he wanted was to look week in front of everypony in Ponyville. The doctors had even said he should be able to do it, so long as he didn't push himself too hard.

He had to admit, his whole body ached with almost every move.

He was told that would go away eventually too, but it didn't help it right now.

"Everypony is waiting for you, McIntosh! Let's get you up on that stage and ready to recieve your praise!"

"Eeyup..."

McIntosh followed the mare at a slow, steady pace, as she climbed up the stairs and made her way towards the podium. He took a seat to her side. Applejack had soon arrived with their grandmother and Apple Bloom, taking seats to his side, each giving him silent praise and congratulations. Looking to the other side, McIntosh saw Twilight in a more formal getup than she usually dared to wear, seeing Spike by her side, as well as a white-coated unicorn stallion with a blue mane, a pink alicorn princess, a dark-blue coated unicorn stallion, and a white coated unicorn mare.

"Everypony! May I have your attention?"

The chatter among the crowd grew quiet.

"Thank you."

Mayor Mare cleared her throat and looked out over the crowd of ponies. "Citizens of Ponyville. We are gathered here today to honor one of our own. In recent years, Ponyville has been said to be a home of heroes - a place where ponies of greatness are born, and shine among Equestria. Indeed, I dare say that the pony we are here to honor today exemplifies this belief. A pony who threw himself into harm's way to save our very own Princess Twilight Sparkle. The pony we are honoring, however, is not a member of the Fire Department, or of the Royal Guard... no... he is an every day pony, like you or I, who went above and beyond expectation.

We are here to give our thanks to, and honor, McIntosh Apple of Sweet Apple Acres."

The crowd began to stomp and cheer - Big McIntosh blushed a bit at the sight of so many ponies shouting for him. He could even see a sign in the crowd that said 'We Love You, Big Mac!' He also saw a sign saying 'Big Mac for Mayor', though he didn't think that was right at all - not only did he not want to be mayor, but he didn't want to take the job of the existing mayor, who was doing a spectacular job.

He also saw a sign that said 'I Heart Muffins'. Had no idea what that was about.

"Now, before we continue with the proceedings, a few ponies wanted to share their thoughts on our newest hero, beginning with Prince Shining Armor." The crowd began to cheer as the Mayor stepped to the side of the stage, taking her seat right next to Twilight Sparkle. The white unicorn stallion stood up and trotted towards the podium, sitting on his haunches and clearing his throat.

"Thank you, Mayor" said the stallion as he turned his attention to the crowd. "And thank you, Ponyville." He gave a nod and seemed to pause to gather his thoughts.

"We all hear ponies talk about other ponies and call them heroes. We hear the word so often, we never seem to bother ourselves with the meaning of the word. But what is a hero? What makes a pony a hero? Is it a random act of kindness? Is it a feat of strength?" He seemed to smile a bit and shook his head. "I think it's both... yet neither. A pony who donates to charity might be a good pony... there is no arguing that... and a pony who feeds the homeless is a kind soul, nopony will debate that either... but... at least in my eyes... a hero is somepony who goes above and beyond what is asked of them. A hero is a pony who puts themself in very real danger to save somepony else. A hero is a pony who puts themselves at risk so that another might live. A hero stands tall, fights fear, and does courageous things that most of us wouldn't even dream doing."

The stallion turned to McIntosh. "A hero is this pony. McIntosh Apple."

"Imagine the look on my face when Princess Celestia had sent us a message saying my sister had not only fallen ill, but had been trapped in her home while it burned. I was so scared that my Princess had to remind me to finish reading the letter!" Everypony chuckled a bit at this, although McIntosh could see clearly there was no joke in what Shining had said. "I was shocked to read that another pony had saved her, and that he himself was in danger. From what I was told, they didn't think you would make it at first..."

Big Mac was surprised to hear that. Nopony told him any such thing. He turned to look at Applejack who smiled nervously - she would have to explain that to him later.

"... Due to my obligations to the Chrystal Empire, I was displeased that I could not thank you as soon as I had heard you had woke up. While many ponies here think of you as a savior of a Princess, a national hero, and an icon, I think of you as the stallion who..." He seemed to stop. Big McIntosh wasn't sure but... was he... crying?

"... who saved my little sister." His lips trembled. He slowly seemed to regain his composure, coughing a bit and shaking his head. "Ahem... in one act of bravery... you protected so much more than you know. Saved so much more than you could imagine. McIntosh Apple, as far as I am concerned you are more than just a hero. I personally see you as a friend that I have yet had the pleasure to get to know better."

Everypony stomped their hooves in applauds as the Prince moved towards the large farm stallion, offering a hoof. The two shook hooves, and with that, Shining Armor returned to his seat, to be replaced by Twilight Sparkle herself, who smiled out to the crowd as they silenced themselves.

"I've seen a lot of things in my very short time in Ponyville..." began Twilight as she considered her thoughts. "I've faced down tyrants, I've combated spirits, and I've even gone to Tartaurus and back - literally!" Everypony chuckled at this. "... But... I never imagined a point where I couldn't save myself. Where my friends would not be able to help me. Where I was truly and utterly powerless. And when I was caught in that building, with the smoke filling my room... I honestly thought I was done for."

Everypony seemed to become more somber.

"Imagine my surprise when I heard somepony shout my name." She smiled a bit, looking towards McIntosh, then back to the crowd. "Hope had come back to me... and at the same time, I felt guilty. I had forgotten that this is a world full of brave ponies. Unsung heroes, just waiting to be noticed. Ponies who nopony assumes, who have the hearts of heroes, who would do great things at a moment's notice. This stallion not only saved my life... he reminded me of the power we all have. The courage we can all know if we dig deep."

She turned to him. "McIntosh Apple. You are an inspiration to all of us, and to myself. As a Princess of Equestria... it is my honor to bequeath upon you this medal of heroism. Please, rise."

Big Mac watched as a royal guard approached the stage and handed her a pillow - on that pillow was a golden medal, and on that was a pony holding a spear, rearing up. He stood up and approached her, suddenly feeling the weight of the situation shift oddly as Twilight Sparkle took it in her hooves, rather than with her magic, much to McIntosh's surprise. He lowered his head, and she slide it over, carefully. As she drew her hooves back, he raised his head and looked down at the gold medal hanging from his neck. The entire crowd went berserk with cheers and shouts. Big Mac looked to them and smiled a bit.

So this is what it felt like to be a hero?

"And now, I do believe it is our guest of honor's turn to speak, if he'd like?"

Big McIntosh had to speak now. There was no way he couldn't. He nodded and stepped towards the podium. The crowd quieted down and he looked out at all the faces - some familiar, many not-so-much. He pondered upon his thoughts for a minute, wishing he had pre-made a speech.

"... Ah'm sorry that Ah ain't got no speech prepared... never was good at talkin'... so Ah hope nopony minds if Ah wing it?"

A few chuckles, but not of the kind he feared before.

"... Ah'm just a simple farm colt. Ah never had any dreams of grandour, of becomin' a hero, of savin' the day an' becomin' a house hold name..." He smirked and shook his head. "Most Ah ever thought about doin' was gettin' a college education..." he stopped for a bit and seemed to consider himself again. "... Ah dunno... Ah suppose that Ah even surprised mahself. Even to this day Ah tell mahself how incredibly stupid what Ah did was, an' how incredibly lucky Ah am to be alive to give this speech." A few more chuckles. "... Ah had good folks who taught me that bravery is not somethin' a pony does when he's not afraid. Courage ain't somethin' you wave around like a stick. It's bein' afraid, an' doin' it anyway. It's knowin' what yer doin' might not work out, and goin' with it because you know if you don't... somepony's gonna have to pay."

He sighed a bit and looked up to the sky. He could picture them smiling. "... Ah dunno if Ah think of myself as a hero... and Ah'm certain Ah'm more foolish than brave... but at the end of the day... to see so many smilin' faces... to see how many ponies are so happy that I done what Ah did..." He blinked a few times and smiled again. He let one tear escape him, though his expression did not change. "Ah'm fairly sure Ah'd do it all over again."

With that, the entire crowd burst once more into cheers and stomps of approval, even louder, if possible, than the previous go. Twilight Sparkle approached Big Mac, who held his hoof out to shake hers, but instead she went past it and gave him a hug. 'Sure is affectionate ain't she?' He didn't mind though, he kindly returned the gesture. He received hoof shakes from what he found out to be her parents as well, who expressed their gratitude for his kindness and thanks for his efforts (his mother even telling him how handsome he was, which he admitted made him blush a bit).

The crowd dissolved into various directions to enjoy the food that had been catered by none other than Sugar Cube Corner, with Pinkie Pie bouncing around joyfully cheering and singing. He wasn't much for parties himself, but he did enjoy the free food. He let his mind wander about the events of the day, the events of those crazy few days, and other matters of importance.

All in all... it has been a good month.

***

"Well, how does it feel, Mister Hero?"

"Hm?"

"To be a hero?"

Six ponies sat around a table, cards in hoof, eyes on cards. "Ah dunno. Good?"

"Just good huh?" said Lyra, smirking. "Not fantastic? Not awesome? I mean, ponies are practically gonna worship the dirt you trot on for a while now. Surely that's gotta give you SOME kind of ego boost?"

Big Mac put a hoof to his chin. "Hmm.... nope."

Lyra shrugged. "Tell ya what, if I was considered a hero, I'd be milkin' that baby for all it was worth. I'd get a hat that said 'Hero' and get T-Shirts for my friends that said 'My best friend nearly died saving a Princess and all I got was this lousy shirt."

Big Mac chuckled and shook his head. "Can't ya do that anyway? After all, you'd get to wear it."

The unicorn hummed. "Good point. I'll get right on that next morning."

"All in"

"Looks like Caramel is ready to lose."

Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "Big Mac, I wanted to say something."

"Hm?"

"I wanted to apologize for the uh... thing that happened that day."

Big Mac quirked a brow. "... What thing?"

Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "You know... the thing..."

Big Mac hummed. "Nnnnooooooo Ah'm not really sure Ah follow..."

Rainbow blushed. "You know...." she lowered her voice hoping the others wouldn't hear. "The kiss..."

Big Mac grinned. "Told y'all she kissed me."

"Well, I'm out twenty bits..." said Lyra.

"So am I..." said Snowflake.

"Woo! I'm forty bits richer!" shouted Caramel.

Lyra stuck her tongue out. "Enjoy it while it lasts. I'm sure those will be MY bits by the end of the night."

Rainbow Dash's jaw hanged open. "Wh... what do you... what's going on!?"

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm just gonna say it. We all thought you had a crush on Applejack. We were pretty sure when Big Mac told us you speared his face with your tongue he was just trying to defend your heterosexuality, but I guess he was telling the truth. Honestly, I didn't think we'd ever learn, then you just offer Caramel's victory on a silver platter."

The pegasus mare sighed and hung her head, before grinning and realizing there was a way to turn the attention. "So! How's things goin' with Fluttershy, Snowflake?"

The larger Pegasus seemed to stiffen up. "Uhh... she's cute and all... but I think she just thinks of me as a friend. Either that or she is woefully unaware of my advances..."

Rainbow Dash let out a loud laugh. "Yeah! Sounds like her. You might have to be blunt, otherwise she'll just think you're just being nice."

Caramel grinned. "Oh you poor souls. I'm the worst player at cards maybe, but I'm the only one of us who's dating. It seems I win at life."

"I think I read somewhere once that ponies who throw about their relationship statuses as some sort of victory tend to have insecurity issues... is everything alright with you and your marefriend?"

Everypony turned to look at the newest member of their little group. Twilight Sparkle looked around at everypony else over her cards, which levitated in a magical field. "Uhh... er... what?"

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Egghead."

Big Mac shook his head. "Twilight, ya gotta remember, Caramel takes pride in his relationship with his marefriend..."

"Darn straight I do!"

"It's all he has!"

"Darn s- wait a minute..."

Everypony broke into laughter, save for Caramel, who stuck his tongue out and stared at the four aces in his hoof. "Yeah yeah, I lose every time, I get it..."

Author's Note

Altered the ending because after posting this I had a better idea. :D

Epilogue

The sound of birds chirping filled the air and the space between trees. Nature in harmony. Harmony in nature. Animals doing what they did, unabated by pony civilization. They didn't pay much heed to the four ponies trotting down the road. Well, two ponies trotting - two riding in a cart.

"Ah'm really glad we decided to come back here..." said Applejack, staring forward into the wood, her mind racing.

"Eeyup" said Big Mac. His injuries had almost completely healed by this point - he still had a slight limp, and was still kind of sore, but he figured with a little more time that would be gone as well.

"Ah still don't see why Ah couldn't bring mah friends!" shouted Applebloom as she peaked over the cart at her older siblings. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders love explorin'!"

Big Mac smirked. "We had enough trouble with seven of us last time. Besides, this is a family trip."

Applejack smirked and looked back at her younger sister. "Besides, we promised you we'd let y'all have a slumber party in yer tree house when we get back."

The youngest apple crossed her forlegs and pouted. "Yeah... on th' farm..."

"Come now, 'Bloom..." said Big Mac, smiling. "Y'all know it's a mite dangerous out here. You don't wanna wander off an' get bit by Blue Sage, do ya?"

"No..."

"That's what Ah thought."

Eventually, the group reached their destination, and they took it in for a few minutes. Rarity's tent was still here, although it was a filthy mess and was crawling with bugs. Big Mac's little tent lay in tatters nearby, and several bags lay across the earth, long since picked of their remaining cargo and the snacks they once carried. "Well..." said Big Mac, "We're here." Big Mac helped Granny get out of the cart as Apple Bloom hopped down. The four ponies trotted away from the transport and made their way to their destination before stopping and staring down.

Applejack reached a hoof into her saddlebag and pulled out a rock, and smiled.

"... Ah reckon this was a long time in the makin', don't you?"

"Eeyup..."

Applejack gently sat the stone into the dirt.

The four ponies sat in silence for a bit.

"You two belong together... ah'm just ashamed we didn't do this sooner... " Applejack sniffled at her own words, letting only one tear escape her.

Big Mac patted her shoulder. "We never had the time. Not yer fault, AJ."

"Nope" said Granny. "Y'all had to pick up the slack. Ain't yer fault. Jus' the way the world works sometimes."

Apple Bloom sighed. "Ah wish Ah coulda known 'em..."

Her sister pulled her into a hug and sighed. "Me too, Apple Bloom... me too..." She smiled to her sister lovingly. "But know this... when ma was carryin' you... Ah swear, she glowed with a happiness Ah had never seen in her before... an' Pa... he loved an' cherished you more 'n life itself... he considered you the last great gift from the pony he loved..."

The four ponies turned to appreciate the scene before them.

Two rocks, side by side. One bigger than the other. The smaller rock held the name of 'Clementine Apple', and the larger one had inscribed in it 'Alexander Apple.'

"Who knows..." said Granny. "Maybe some day y'all will bring yer foals to this very same spot."

"Eeyup..." said Big Mac.

"Mmhm..." said Applejack.

The four ponies simply stood over the two rocks, bowed their heads, and returned to their wagon, leaving the stones marking the names of their loved ones to bask in nature.

After all.

It was such a beautiful day.

END

Author's Note

Well, this is it! I hope you liked the story folks! I certainly had fun writing it!