A Natural Nature Guide

Sunset Shimmer hurried back to the Sapphire tent. No one was around—except for Spike, who was still asleep. Sunset jostled his shoulder, trying to wake him up.

He murmured in his sleep. “So many squirrels.”

“Spike!” shouted Sunset Shimmer.

He startled. He yawned. He looked around. “Ah, man, I was having the best dream,” he said. “Wait! I’m in the middle of the woods. That dream could be a reality.” He rubbed his paws together, imagining a day of chasing squirrels.

“Before you run off, do you have any idea where Twilight could be? I really need to talk to her.”

“What happened?” Spike was suddenly concerned. “Did she do that lifting-things-off-the-ground thing again?”

“That’s just it,” said Sunset Shimmer. “I don’t know if it was her. But if it was, we need to deal with it head-on.”

Spike’s nose wiggled. He sniffed. “I can track her down.”

Meanwhile, far off in the forest, Twilight was trying to summon her courage to return to camp. But she couldn’t calm down. She paced back and forth near the pond. “Keep it together,” she told herself. “Deep breaths. You are not a monster.”

“Nope,” announced Timber, appearing beside her. “It’s just Timber.”

Twilight tried to pull herself together. “Oh, hi,” she said as casually as she could. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you.” Timber grinned at her.

“O-oh,” Twilight stammered. “I just… went on a… nature walk. I got a little lost.”

“Let me show you the way,” said Timber. “I’m kind of an expert at these woods. I’ve lived here my whole life.”

They began walking along a trail, side by side.

“That must have been nice, growing up at camp,” Twilight said, trying to make conversation.

“Yeah, although it has its downsides. When I was younger, I wished we’d sell this place so we could live in town like normal people.”

“Really?” Twilight was amazed.

“I was ten,” explained Timber. “I really wanted to hang out at the mall.” He smiled shyly. “I’ve never told that to anyone. You must be special, and not just because you have a tree branch in your hair.” Timber gently reached over and pulled a small twig from Twilight’s purple locks.

Twilight blushed. “How long has that been there?”

“Not long,” answered Timber. “Just the whole time we were talking.”

Twilight playfully hit him on the shoulder. “Why didn’t you say something?”

He shrugged, laughing, and Twilight joined in. It was so easy for her to be with him.

They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t hear footsteps coming toward them. They didn’t even notice Sunset Shimmer and Spike, his nose glued to the ground.

“I guess we could help Twilight deal with the magic stuff a little later,” Sunset Shimmer whispered to Spike.

“Don’t want to interfere with the magic that’s going on right now, am I right?” He held up his paw, and Sunset Shimmer slapped it in agreement.

“What did I say?” barked Spike happily.

Maybe Twilight Sparkle wasn’t in as much trouble as Sunset Shimmer thought.