Twilight and her friends sat bored in the room of a treehouse that was the humble abode of another one of Pooh's friends. His name was Owl and, apparently, he had the capabilities and the equipment to figure out what was written on the note.

"Tar? Jar?" Owl question as here studied the note with a magnifying glass. He pull the loose honey off the paper with a pair of tweezers.

"Oh, far!" he exclaimed.

"Have you figured out what it says yet?" Spike asked dully.

"I sure have, my scaled friend,” the brown owl said, clearing his throat. "Dear Pooh" it begins. "Worry about me." "I'm going far away." "Help!" And the note is signed "Crem-flummin Bobbin."

Owl checked the words again and laughed to himself.

"Oh, ho, ho, ho. Christopher Robin."

That got the group’s attention. They stood up straight, realizing the true reality of the situation.

"Christopher Robin?" Rabbit asked.

"Gone far away?” Piglet asked in surprise. “Oh, what a frightful thought."

"And it sounds like he's in danger, too,” Twilight.

"You think something kidnapped him?" Rarity wondered with concern.

"Oh, no," Fluttershy whimpered.

The Mane 7, Tigger, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Piglet all walked over to Owl's lectern. Pooh stayed put, as if he was unable to comprehending what he just heard.

"Wait! Why? When? Who authorized it?" Rabbit asked angrily, jumping onto Owl's lectern.

"Where will we get the strength...to go on without him?" Tigger sniffled, hugging Rabbit tightly.

"What should we do?" Spike asked.

"Well, we don't know what exactly happened to him or where he even is," Twilight stated "I don't what we can do."

"Well, we have to do something," Rainbow interjected.

"RD's right. We have to find the poor kid," Applejack added.

"Christopher Robin,” Pooh’s voice distantly quivered.

The others looked to see the despondent bear staring out the window at the large tree with a sorrowful look.

"My very best best friend,” he said wistfully, turning away from the window. "It simply cannot be. Whatever will I do?"

"Oh, Pooh," Twilight walked up and put a hoof on his shoulder.

"I wonder, Pooh, if...if perhaps u-u-until Christopher Robin gets back...um...I might possibly be your...best best friend," Piglet stammered.

"Yeah," Tigger sobbed. "And when Piglet gets sick of you...we can take over."

He pulled Eeyore into a bone-crushing hug.

"Exactly. We’re all here for you, Pooh," Twilight comforted.

"Yep-yep-yep! Forever and ever!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Oh, thank you,” Pooh said. "But you already are the very best of my best friends."

The Pooh and Pinkie came around for a big group hug, crushing Eeyore even more.

"You see, you and I can do anything," Pooh loosened the group hug, causing Eeyore to flop to the floor. "But only Christopher Robin and I could do...nothing."

Pooh lowered his sad in depression, Piglet did the same.

"Have some faith, Pooh,” Applejack comforted. “He's prolly out there looking fer a way home, too."

“My thoughts exactly,” Twilight concurred. “Though, that does call into question why he’s missing in the first place.”

Pinkie hoisted Eeyore got back up, giggling as she did so. Tigger looked on.

"Have a piece of positivity,” the party mare said, shoving a cupcake in Eeyore's mouth.

"Poor guy. His very little brain is half gone with grace,” Tigger whispered to the donkey.

Eeyore didn’t say anything. Just boring an exhausted expression as cupcake frosting dripped from his mouth.

"Hey, I don't see you acting like a genius," Rainbow went face-to-face with Tigger.

Just then, a triumphant laughed echoed throughout the house.

"Ah-ha! I've discovered where he went," Owl chuckled, wiping his magnifying glass. "An O, another O, and... [gasp] Oh, my."

In the midst of Owl’s grim discovery, an altercation was boiling between Rainbow and Tigger.

"I mean it's not like you can read or anything," the angered pegasus jabbed at the rambunctious, stuffed animal..

"Dash, simmer down will ya,” Applejack said.

"Oh, I'm sorry that Tigger insulted Pooh," The blue pegasus said crossly.

"Uh, I didn't really mean anything mean by that,” Tigger defended.

"You just said he had a small brain!” Rainbow yelled. “Seriously, do you not think before you speak.”

“Reminds me of a certain somepony,” Applejack murmured.

“What was that?” Rainbow asked angrily.

"Honestly, Dash, I think you're blowing this out of proportion," Rarity said calmly.

"You're one to talk, Ms. I-cry-whenever-something-mildly-inconvenient-happens" the Element of Loyalty scoffed.

Rarity gasped, clearly offended.

"Now is not the time for arguing," Twilight interjected.

“Oh, so you want to talk about being over-dramatic?” the fashionista asked angrily.

“We’re not devolving this into a petty argument, you two,” Applejack got in-between Rarity and Rainbow.

“Stay out of this, AJ,” the cyan pegasus growled.

"Um, girls," Fluttershy said, but the rest of the Mane 7 were too distracted by the argument to hear or realize what was going on.

What was going on was Owl running around the house, barricading it.

"What is it, Owl? Where is it?" Pooh chased after him.

"Somewhere bad, I fear," Owl locked the door.

"How bad?" Pooh asked desperately.

"On a scale of one to ten..." the cryptic bird closed the curtains turning the entire room pitch black "It's not good."

"Hey, who turned off the lights?" Pinkie asked.

Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity were finally calming down as Owl lit a candle

"He has gone to S-C-H-O-O-L. [gasp] Skull," Owl said fearfully.

"Skull?" Pooh asked in confusion, Piglet shrugged. "What sort of place is that?"

"Well, from the very sound of it, one can tell it's a most forbidding and faraway place," Owl said with the note stuck to his wing.

He finally got it off and handed to Pooh. Owl began checking over his feathers, grooming away the sticky honey.

"Wait, what did he say?" Twilight was too busy quelling Rainbow and Rarity's anger toward each other to hear what Owl said.

"Apparently, Christopher Robin is in some place called Skull," Rabbit filled in.

"Skull? What kind of place is that?" Spike asked.

"I don't know. I never heard of such a place," Rabbit replied curiously.

"Then we must help Christopher Robin," Pooh said boldly, handing the note to Piglet. "Help him get back...to here. And us. And me."

"He's right. We have to find Christopher Robin,” Twilight said authoritatively, turning to the three argumentative mares. "So, please stop arguing.”

Rainbow lowered her head in shame.

"You're right,” she said solemnly. “I'm sorry, Tigger. I'm sorry, Rarity."

"Apology accepted,” the fashionsita said as the two hugged it out. “And we’re sorry to you, too, Applejack.”

“Yeah, we’re sorry for forcing you into this,” Rainbow added.

“That apology is accepted as well, girls,” Applejack smiled warmly.

The three mares shared a friendly and apologetic hug.

"Then it's a quest, is it?" Owl laughed. "That's the spirit. Oh, the nobility of it."

"Okay, so we know where he his, but how to do we find were this "Skull" is?" Rarity asked.

"Shouldn't be that hard, right?” Rainbow stretched her wings.

“We’ve barely been here for a day,” Spike pointed out. “How can you be so confident on this?”

“C’mon, Spike. It’s just woods as far as the eye can see,” the pegasus opened the blinds slightly. “I mean, if we’re looking for a place called “skull,” then I don’t see how this could be difficult.”

"Oh, it's a long and dangerous journey through the Great Unknown,” Owl dug through a bookshelf, fishing out a quill and bottle of ink. "Of course, you'll need a map."

"D-d-d-dangerous?" Piglet stammered, lifting the honey-stained paper off of him.

The gang walked up to Owl's lectern as he began constructing map.

"The Great Unknown?" Twilight asked.

"Yes! The part of the Hundred Acre Wood that nobody has gone to before," Owl explained.

“That’s…kinda unnerving,” the alicorn said in an unsure tone.

Piglet jumped onto Eeyore and lifted himself onto Owl's lectern.

"Oh, Owl,...you wouldn't suppose we'd meet any, uh...Heffalumps?" Piglet said hesitantly.

"Say, what?" Applejack asked in confusion.

"Oh, thank you, I nearly forgot. Herds of Heffalumps," Owl chuckled. "Down here I fancy, in the...southeast corner of the far west portion."

Piglet lost his balance and tumbled off of the lectern and into Fluttershy's hooves.

"What’n tarnation is a Heffalump?" the farm pony asked in curiosity.

"No one knows. They've been a legend as far as I know," Rabbit explained.

"Are those things dangerous?" Fluttershy asked.

"M-m-more than you can imagine," Piglet stammered timidly.

"W-w-what about W-w-woozles?" Tigger asked nervously.

"Woozles! Wonderful!" Owl exclaimed as he continued drawing.

"Jagulars?" Pooh asked with unease.

"Hoo-hoo, just a dozen or three. Here, there and yonder,” the excited bird scribbled down labels and paths on the parchment. “Not to mention the fabled...chuckle Skullasarus."

Owl drew on and on, creating a brand new map. The gang all huddled together for comfort. All of them were clearly frightened.

"S-skulla...s-sarus?" Tigger sputtered.

"S-surely we can take t-them on. Right, T-Twilight?" Spike asked fearfully.

The young princess was about to replied, but then cautious side of her reawakened. She looked at Spike with unsure eyes.

"M-maybe, but I think it's best we hope we don't run into those things,” Twilight covered Spike with her wing. “For all we know, we’d be helpless against them.”

"Should we really be this worried? We've gone against some dangerous creatures before,” Rainbow argued.

"Yeah, but this is a different world, Rainbow,” the alicorn reminded. "We have no idea what those creatures are capable of."

"Y-y-yeah, they’re d-dangerous and s-s-scary,” Piglet whimpered.

Fluttershy squeaked in fear. Owl could see the fear plastered all over their faces.

"Oh, come, come, come,” he flew over to them. "Without a monster or two it's hardly a quest. Merely a gaggle of friends wandering about."

Owl brought them all for a side hug, much to the others’ discomfort and unsettlement.

"Okay, you’re not making this better for us," Rainbow grumbled.

"I would prefer a wonder with friends than a quest that has monsters," Rarity whispered, her tone basically summed up what everyone was thinking.

"Hoo-hoo-hoo, how I envy you," Owl said excitedly. "Not everyone has the chance to face the unspeakable terrors of the Great Unknown."

"I salute you. And those of you doomed to never return, I salute you twice," Owl called out.

"Gee, thanks for that," Rainbow called back sarcastically.

"Doomed to never return?!" Rarity asked in fear.

"That ain't gonna happen, Rares. We'll all make sure of that," Applejack said confidently.

And with that, the gang was off on their new adventure.

To be continued

Author's Note

Sorry this was a shorter chapter today. I couldn't really mash this part with the prior one, but I did the best I could.