"Why does Zecora's hut have to be so deep in the Everfree?"

Apple Bloom whispered the question to herself, as she feared something in the trees might hear her. All around her, the black limbs of the Everfree Forest twisted and whirled. In the darkness, they looked like things that had been moving, but then stopped for fear of being seen by her. It only made Apple Bloom surer that something was watching her.

She had gone along the path many times to visit her zebra friend, but on this day, a fallen tree had blocked her usual route. She knew of at least one side trail, but somewhere along the way, she'd gotten turned around. A little ball of fear in her throat told her she was lost, and it was becoming harder and harder for her to choke it down.

"It'll be fine," she told herself. "Any second now, I'll see the backside of Zecora's hut and then everything'll be fine."

But the more she walked, the more lost she became, and the more it sounded like she was fooling herself. That feeling of being watched got worse. The gazes of hundreds of eyes she imagined out there in the forest were like pinpricks over her skin, and those pinpricks were making her antsy. With every step she took, the urge to bolt grew.

"Okay, Apple Bloom," she told herself, "it ain't over yet. Just think! What're you supposed to do when you get lost in the woods? Didn't Big Macintosh say somethin' about that once?"

[i]If ever ya get lost in the forest, Everfree or otherwise, don't keep movin' or you'll just get more lost. Hug a tree and call for help instead. Eventually, somepony'll hear ya and they'll come find ya.[/i]

That sounded like good advice. Except that the first tree she looked at was not one she wanted to hug: it was covered in thorns. The next one was wrapped up in a vine that looked like poison ivy. The third one was slimy to the touch. It sure didn't help that every single was black and loomed up over her threateningly.

"Help!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Even if she wasn't really hugging a tree, she might still be able to attract somepony's attention. "Help, somepony! I'm lost!"

She attracted attention, all right. To her left, the brush rattled, and cold fear shot through her.

"Z-Zecora?" she mumbled. The bushes rustled again, and without a second thought, she took off, galloping as fast as her little legs could carry her, crashing through twisted branches and tangled vines, until she'd forgotten what it was she was running from, or running to, or what she was even doing in this forest in the first place.

When at last she realized that running wasn't doing her any good, she stopped in a small clearing filled with glowing blue mushrooms, and plunked herself down on the mossy forest floor.

"I just wanna go home..." She hiccupped and tears slid down her cheeks. She didn't want something else to come crashing out of the bushes at her, but she couldn't stop herself from crying at the hopelessness of her situation. If anypony had actually heard her, it was likely they'd get lost in the forest, too. And then they would call for help, and somepony else would come and get lost looking for them. If that kept up, all of Ponyville would be lost in the Everfree Forest, calling out for help and shaking the bushes, only to get spooked and run away again.

The thought of all those ponies lost in the same place made her giggle. She sniffed and scrubbed the tears from her cheek.

[i]Even when things look really dark and hopeless and awful, just remember: if you can laugh, you haven't lost hope![/i]

"Thanks, Pinkie Pie," Apple Bloom whispered to herself. "It still doesn't change the fact that I'm lost, though. I don't even know how long I've been out here."

She looked up to the sky, but all she could see were dark branches overhead. Time passed differently in the Everfree Forest, where sun and moon could not be seen through the tangled trees, and there was no way to tell what time of day it was, or how long it had been since she'd first set hoof in the forest.

"All right, Apple Bloom, think. Ya ain't gettin' out of this by doin' nothin'. If ya keep runnin', you're just gonna end up more lost. So the thing to do is plunk down right here, just like Big Macintosh said."

There was a roar somewhere in the distance, though it wasn't distant enough to prevent her skin crawling in fear.

"Okay, maybe not [i]right[/i] here..."

Her stomach growled, echoing the roar that had just sounded elsewhere in the forest. Apple Bloom giggled softly at the noise, and the giggling helped calm her fears so she could think easier.

It was time to take stock of her situation. Looking around the clearing she was in, she saw nothing but those glowing mushrooms.

"I bet these ain't eatable," she murmured, and reached out to sniff one. As she did so, it started to glow brighter. She stepped back, curious, and then reached out again with a hoof. The blue glow got brighter again. With a smile, she nipped one up with her teeth and held it pointing forward. It shone ahead of her like a flashlight, just bright enough to cut through the gloom.

Its stem was also woody and tasted like dirt. Apple Bloom made a note to find something else to eat.

Still, having figured out a way to make the Everfree less scary gave her a sense of pride. With her head held high, she trotted off to find another clearing, one with food, to fix her first problem.

Finding food in the Everfree Forest was a matter of knowing which plants were edible and which weren't. She was certainly no expert yet, but Zecora had taught her a lot about the plant life near her hut, and Apple Bloom was quickly remembering the lessons.

[i]When tasty berries you have seen, you eat the red, but not the green.[/i]

Apple Bloom slowed as she caught a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. A large bush, taller than she was, sported little diamond-shaped berries, in many different colors. The simple rhyme made it easy. She plucked a few of the red ones off the branches and popped them into her mouth. They were a little tart, but tasty nevertheless, and soon she had eaten all the ripe red berries she could find, leaving the nasty green ones and questionable blue ones behind. It wasn't enough to fill her stomach, but better than leaving it empty.

"All right, that's food. Now it's time to, uh..."

She looked around herself, trying hard to focus on the situation at hoof. This clearing was smaller than the last one she had been in, but it was more open, too. The trees weren't quite so leering, and the surrounding plants were mostly bushes, many of which she could see over into the forest. A good line of sight deeper into the Everfree would be important to keep herself aware of any lurking dangers.

"Okay," she said to herself, "this doesn't look like a bad place to stay the night. I guess." She said the last part a little fearfully, glancing out of the corner of her eye in case something might be watching her.

She planted her glowing mushroom in the middle of the clearing and considered her options.

"I should get some wood, maybe. I could make a signal fire!" She blinked, and then shook her head. "On second thought, that's not a good idea. I'd more likely burn the whole forest down. But with wood, I could, uh..."

[i]Apple Bloom, you always gotta remember, the most important thing in life is your home and your family. If you're ever in a jam, don't forget to call on us first, okay?[/i]

Her family. Apple Bloom knew Applejack would especially be worried about her. Her older sister always fretted something fierce whenever she got in trouble.

Thinking about Applejack got Apple Bloom feeling sorry for herself again. What she wouldn't give to see her older sister again, to have her right here, right now.

But AJ was right. Home was the most important thing, and if Apple Bloom was going to survive the night, she needed to make herself a home here.

Quickly, she began coming up with a list. "Wood, and leaves, and sticks, and bark..."

She traced pictures in the dirt as she thought of things to find, and that quickly turned into a sketch of a lean-to as the idea became more clear to her. If she placed it against one of the larger trees ringing the clearing, it would be enough shelter to keep her warm and, hopefully, safe, during the night. She thought it was night, anyway, or getting close to it. She picked up her mushroom and set about looking for any materials she could use to make a shelter.

Finding wood in a forest was not hard; the real trick was getting pieces that could be put together as a structure. Apple Bloom didn't have any tools, and if she spent the evening tearing bark off of trees with her teeth, she would be looking at a night of pain from a sore mouth.

She looked around for anything that could help her. A scattering of rocks in the area could be made into tools, perhaps, but that would require getting vines and branches, which she needed tools to gather! She was going nowhere fast and this endless cycle of problems was making her dizzy.

"Think, Apple Bloom!" she yelled. Then a bit of advice came to her, something that Twilight Sparkle had told her and her friends once.

[i]You girls are always getting in over your heads! Listen, if you ever run into a problem that seems overwhelming, try and break it down into smaller problems first. That way you can have a bunch of little successes, and each success will make you feel like you can conquer the next! Maybe that can help you think things through the next time to you decide to go water skiing...[/i]

Apple Bloom took a closer look at the rocks. Some of them were flat and shiny, and had broken in very neat ways. She thought she recognized them.

"I bet it's flint!" she cried. Flint would make an excellent cutting edge, and without her needing to shape it into a tool first. Excited, she picked up a good-sized piece and whacked it against one of the larger boulders sitting nearby. After a few good hits, it had flaked into a thin, sharp blade that she could easily hold in her mouth.

With her new cutting tool in play, gathering wood was no problem at all. She even started humming to herself while working, forgetting all about the big, dark, scary trees surrounding her. She lost herself in the work, notching branches, positioning bark slabs, using an old hollow log for a major support and making sure everything fit together just right.

Moving the building blocks of the shelter around made her feel like a big pony, like she was in control of an otherwise hopeless situation. She felt responsible for the first time in her life. Most of all, she felt a huge sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when her lean-to had been completed. She gazed at it, smiling, seeing small places where she could have improved things, but deciding it wasn't worth fussing with anymore.

She was, after all, extremely tired now.

She scampered into the shelter, taking care to reposition a mat she'd woven from moss and vines to cover and hide the entrance, and not a moment too soon. From nearby came the heavy sounds of footsteps -- [i]large[/i] footsteps -- and something big and hungry sniffing the air.

Apple Bloom shrank back into the comforting shadows of her new little home. Through a gap in the mat of vines, she could see a large timberwolf. It must have picked up her scent while she was working! As it sniffed around in the clearing, she realized that all she had to protect herself now was the little flint knife she'd made. She could only hope that the camouflage of the shelter would be enough to keep the wooden wolf from discovering her.

The timberwolf drew closer and closer, circling the clearing with its nose to the ground. Every time it passed her shelter, Apple Bloom shrank back from the wall, fearing that this would be the last pass and she would have to face its snarling fangs in her lean-to.

But the crash of the wolf through her wooden hut never came. With a short grunt, the timberwolf bounded off into the forest, on a path Apple Bloom realized was the one she'd been gathering wood on earlier. The wolf must have gotten confused and followed the wrong scent! Apple Bloom was ready to celebrate, but she kept her excitement in check. It was always possible that the beast could circle back for her later. She had to keep herself at the ready and be prepared for any intruders, and that meant remaining alert and vigilant until the coast was clear.

Instead, she fell asleep. The search for building materials, not to mention all the frightened running and having to hide from the timberwolf, had worn her out completely and there was nothing she could do to keep herself awake. It was a peaceful sleep, with a happy and peaceful dream, broken only when by a very familiar voice calling her name.

"Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom!"

"Applejack?"

The voice of her sister sounded very far away, yet it was a sound that she had thought she would never hear again. There was no way she could mistake it for anypony else.

"Applejack!" she shouted, emerging from her lean-to. "I'm over here!"

"Apple Bloom, I found ya! Quick, girls, follow me!"

Apple Bloom followed the sound of shouting and galloping hooves growing closer and closer. Before long, Applejack, her friends, Big Macintosh, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Zecora broke through the foliage and they all met in a clearing. Apple Bloom was so happy to see them all, she couldn't decide who to hug first. Thankfully, Applejack saved her the trouble and swept her up in a tight hug.

"Oh Apple Bloom, I've been so worried about you!" she cried.

Apple Bloom sniffed. "I'm sorry for makin' ya worry, Applejack! I was goin' to Zecora's but I got sidetracked and then I got lost and..."

"What's this?" Twilight Sparkle interrupted. She was studying the lean-to.

"Oh, that..." Apple Bloom suddenly felt embarrassed, having her work observed so closely. "It's nothin', really. I just knew I'd have to stay out in the forest a while, and so I put it together so I'd have somewhere safe and dry to sleep." She got a little more excited as she added, "And the whole reason I got it done is because I remembered all the advice y'all gave me before!"

Applejack smiled at her sister, pride streaming from her face through the tears of happiness. Sweetie and Scootaloo came over and hugged Apple Bloom tightly.

"We go worried when you didn't show up at the clubhouse," Sweetie Belle explained.

"I totally did an aerial search and rescue," Scootaloo boasted, her lie obvious to everypony, "but the trees were too thick to see through."

"So then we organized a [i]real[/i] search and rescue," Pinkie Pie exclaimed, hopping up and down. "We got your sister and your brother and your friends and our friends and Zecora..."

"Your friends all rushed, in your time of need," said Zecora, cutting Pinkie off. "You are truly a lucky pony indeed."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed.

"I'm so glad you're safe, Apple Bloom," Applejack said. "And I'm mighty proud my little sister is resourceful enough to look after herself in a scary, dangerous place like this." A little more harshly, she added, "But don't think that means you can just go wanderin' off into the Everfree Forest on your own again. I'm gonna be keepin' a close eye on you from now on!"

"Don't worry, AJ," Apple Bloom laughed. "After what happened to me today, I don't think I'll be comin' back to the Everfree Forest for a looong time! No offense, Zecora."

"Nevermind that," said Scootaloo suddenly.

"Look at your flank!" cried Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom untangled herself from her friends and looked. There, on her flank, where before had been nothing but blank yellow fur, was a picture of a little house. It was a log cabin, with smoke rising from the chimney. Above the door, she could just barely make out a little picture of a heart with a tiny apple stem and leaf.

"I got..." Apple Bloom couldn't breathe. "I got my cu..."

The words wouldn't come out. She started to cry, in relief and in happiness, as everypony gathered together and hugged her tightly. Then, together, they made their way out of the Everfree Forest.