"Why? Why did this have to happen?" Spike barked as he ran deep, into the woods. "How could they have left without? Why didn't they realized I was gone? Why didn't they wait for me to come back? Why didn't Twilight just call out for me?"
The young dog's mind was so full of questions, he could hardly think right. He was so confused and disoriented that he didn't where he was going, until it was too late. By the time he came to a stop, he looked up to see the woods around him are dark and dense with tall thick trees that stretched high, with little to no ray of sunlight piercing through.
"Oh no." Spike whimpered. "I'm a lost dog! And I'm even more lost, in a dark, dark, scary, wood!" he said in fright, as he looked around him, tucking his tail in between his legs, while darting his head to the left, then to the right, anticipating for something to jump out at any moment.
Spike has only been in the woodlands, at least once before, when he went to Camp Everfree, with Twilight and friends. But since he was left behind, without Twilight or any of the Rainbooms for protections, the young dog feels more vulnerable than lonely. His ears twitched in every directions at the sound of a twig snapping, or leaves rustling. It could be the wind, but in a land that is populated with wild animals, the little dog didn't want to take any chances.
"Who-who!" an owl hooted.
"WHO'S THERE?!" Spike barked in fright, startled by the bird. Then a nearby bush started to shake violently, "WHAT'S THAT?!" after a few moments, the bush finally settled down and became calm again. "Must've been the wind," Spike said to himself in hopeful reassurance, "At least, I hope that's all it was." with that, the little dog resumed his trip through the woods, searching for a way out, or perhaps find his way back the way he came from.
"How do I get out of here?" he asked himself. "All these trees look the same...UGH! And scary!" he said, taken aback by a tree with twisted barks that resembled the face of a vicious monster.
Just then, he heard a growl, followed by a couple of barks in the distance, "Huh? Dogs?" Spike barked, feeling his hope rejuvenated and elated to know that there are some other dogs close by, meaning there might be some people too. He turned his head in the direction of the barkings, and his hope immediately diminished to see a the bulky outlines of several large shadowy dogs on the horizon, with piercing yellow eyes to add the ferocity of their appearances.
Wolves.
Even though they are technically dogs like him, Spike knew better than to confront them. He had heard about wolves from Twilight and Fluttershy, on how they are bigger than an average dog, how they are vicious and territorial, and that they can rip a little dog like Spike to shreds.
Not taking his chances with the wild dogs of the woods, Spike decided to go the opposite direction of them, to avoid running the risk of becoming their next meal. His furs stood on end, with his ears perked up in alarm and fright to the sound of the wolves's haunting howls, which sent chills down his spine to the tip of his tail.
'What is it with wolves and their howlings?' Spike thought in fright. 'I hope that wasn't their call for dinner. And that dinner being me.'
Speaking of dinner, Spike's stomach growled loudly, which beckoned him to find food, or he wouldn't last the night.
The sun's light slowly disappeared over the trees, as large dark clouds covered across the sky, dimming the lights. Thankfully, Spike had found a bush of edible blueberries, which he didn't waste a second to eat. Blueberries are, after all, one of the only foods a dog can eat, which includes raspberries, blackberries, and a few others. Spike remembers how Twilight would often sneak a few foods for him, whenever she was having dinner with her parents and her brother, Shining Armor.
Speaking of which, as Spike continues to eat his meal, he couldn't help but think sadly of Twilight. Nothing would make him more than happy to be back home, with Twilight's loving arms wrapped around him, holding him close to her beating heart, cuddling up close in their nice warm bed.
Once he was done eating the bush clean of blueberries, Spike moved onto the next bush of blueberries, then another, until at least, he was certain he was full to his content. And just in time, when a drop of water came falling from the sky and splashed onto his nose.
It was raining.
The rain started small and light at first, before it started to grow heavier and heavier with every passing seconds, until at last it became a downpour.
"Great," Spike groaned, as he got up on his feet and walked through the woods, looking for shelter from the rain.
Looking at his surroundings, Spike took notice at how most of the woodland animals were already on the move to escape the rain. He looked to the left to see a mother duck leading her ducklings to their nest, hidden somewhere in the thickets, by a river. He turned to the right to see a mother quail leading her own chicks back to their nests, all the while holding her wings out to protect her children from the rain.
The sight of the families made Spike even more sadder, because they all reminded him of Twilight and her care.
A looked and saw a squirrel rushing past him, but Spike wasn't in the mood to chase squirrels. So he watched as the squirrel races across the woods, before climbing up a large tree, and made its way into a little hole, where its home is located. Shaking his furs, Spike hurried through the woods to find shelter for the night. He looked ahead and spotted a large crevice in a stone wall, and made an immediate dash for it. Unfortunately, when he got to the crevice, he found out for himself that it was already occupied, by a family of raccoons.
Sighing in dismay, Spike resumed his search, before coming to the base of a large pine tree, with its branches and leaves stretching out, serving as a makeshift umbrella. Tired, and cold, Spike curled himself up into a ball, ready to sleep for the night, when a cracking of lightning bolt startled him awake when it hit the top of the tree, shaking its whole barks, crackling with electricity.
Never hide under a tree, during a rainstorm.
Scared fully awake, if not half to death, Spike kicked his legs into a sprint, escaping the lightning bolt's shock from the tree.
"YIPE YIPE YIPE YIPE YIPE!" Spike barked in blind panic, as he brushes his way through tall grasses, bushes, splashed in puddles, startling most of the animals awake, before finally coming to a stop, upon crashing into a large garbage can.
"Huh?" Spike looked up, to see a garbage can, sitting on the side of a trail, "A hiking trail!" he exclaimed, looking before him was a clear path that leads him, somewhere outside of the woods. "And if there's a hiking trail, then that means, there's a way out of the wood! I've found the way out!" another crack of lightning startled the young dog into knocking down the garbage can.
With another crack of lightning, Spike didn't waste a second and dived in, successfully finding shelter from the heavy downpour.
"Well, it's cozy," Spike said to himself, as he got comfortable. "And it's a little...ooh! Hamburger!" he licked his lips together, as he dines in on a half-eaten hamburger that was thrown into the can. Most likely from a hiker who had passed by earlier. But it didn't matter for Spike. At least he had found someplace to stay for the night, with something he can eat for dinner.
Just then, there was a rustling sound at the entrance of Spike's makeshift den, beckoning him to look up, seeing a raccoon was intruding in the can, "Hey, get out!" Spike barked, startling the raccoon. "Go get your own place to sleep!" Spike quickly regretted for his sudden outburst, when a wolf suddenly perked its head up, from behind the bushes, having heard the young dog's barks. "Uh oh."
The wolf quickly turned its head in Spike's directions, in which the little dog immediately retreated into the trash can, burying himself further in the rubbish, hoping to hide himself from the wild dog. From beneath the piles of dirty papers, wrappers, and all sorts of garbages thrown in the trash can, Spike looked up in dread as he watched the wolf approaching closer and closer to him, sniffing the ground as if it was picking up his scent. Spike whimpered in fright, as he could her the wolf growling hungrily, baring its fangs to add the ferocity of its appearance. Spike dug himself deeper into the can, until he felt himself backed up against the wall, as the wolf finally puts its nose into the entrance, where Spike could feel a gust of warm air blowing across the top of his head. Taking his chances, Spike whimpered as he took a quick peek, seeing the wolf's eyes were blood red with hunger.
AAA-ROOOOO!!!!
A howl was heard in the distance, to which the wolf immediately ceased what it was doing, pulling its head out from the trash can, and it stared off in the direction the howl was heard from, before it decided to forget about Spike and the trash and headed off in the direction of the howl.
"Phew," Spike breathed a sigh of relief, and he collapsed into his bedding, relieving himself from all the adrenaline and excitement he had experienced.
As the rainstorm continued to pour down through the night, Spike cuddled up in his makeshift shelter and fell fast to sleep. Tomorrow will be a brand new day.
Meanwhile, in Canterlot
After a long drive from the charity fair, the girls had finally arrived back in Canterlot city, just in time to meet Cadence and Shining Armor at the city's hospital, with their new daughter, Flurry Heart.
Afterwards, Applejack drove the RV back to Sweet Apple Acres, where the girls all treated themselves to an Apple Family feast.
"Phew, it's great to be back home again," Applejack said in relief.
"There's no place like home!" Pinkie Pie chirped. "Home sweet home!"
"I hear ya, Pinkie," Rainbow said in agreement as she drank a cup of apple ciders. "I can't wait to see my favorite Tank again!"
Twilight was the last one to leave the RV, when she picked up Spike's kennel, "Hey Spike. Wake up. We're home," she shook the kennel lightly, though she soon became more perplexed upon not getting a response, "Spike? Spike? Hello?" upon a closer look, she was distraught to find, "SPIKE'S GONE!"