A young man lost in the hilly embrace of a mountain sleeps the night away under a knot of tree roots. When he wakes he will find himself thrust into a strange new environment, the Everfree Forest. With only his pack and his experience as a Boy Scout to aid him, he must survive, make sense of his surroundings and with some luck, ultimately find his way home. What does one do after wandering beyond the edge of the map? And better yet...

What if you are not alone?

I have been reading fan fiction here for a while and wanted to give something back.
My first fiction ever so constructive criticism is welcome. Fair warning, it takes a while for me to write a chapter so expect gaps between updates.

[Hiatus notice: As of 10/1/2022 this fiction is on hiatus so I may focus on other projects and items, will resume at a later date.]

Rated teen for strong language

Awesome cover art by Carnelian. Seriously, the guy has major skills with how fast he drew this up.

and of course ALL CHARACTERS / REFERENCES BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. “MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC” IS OWNED BY HASBRO

NO PROFIT WAS MADE IN THE CREATION / DISTRIBUTION PLEASE DONT SUE ME OR ANY PARTY THAT DISTRIBUTES THIS WORK (unless they try to sell it, then by all means go nuts)

Another one of Pinkie's parties is winding down, and Dash sits alone in the corner. She feels another knot tightening in her chest, clenching harder by the second. She just can't seem to make it go away, not alone.

Expanded from an entry into one of the Quills and Sofa Speedwriting group's contests, with the prompt "Spurred to Action"

Thanks to Zontan and Petrichord for some proofreading and feedback.

Celestia and Scootaloo are homeless in a Ponyville alleyway together. They like to talk about things.

These are the things they talk about.

Note: The crayon scribbles of a plot is done, but the ride never ends story still updates.

The sequel to this story: Sweetie Belle and the Quest for Knowledge is now available!

When Sweetie Belle finds a mysterious artifact of a now lost civilization, how will she come to terms with the wealth of knowledge it provides? It says it can be ignored, it says it will never try to influence her, but can an artifact of such power really be so harmless?

Book I of III

Prologue and Chapter 1: Thanks to TheOtherSideOfFluttershy for pre-reading and editing.
The whole story: Thanks to RaylanKrios for editing.
Chapter 4: Thanks to AuthorGenesis for editing.
Epilogue:
Thanks to Malefactory for editing.