Spike was gone. He was gone, and Twilight had caused it.
She had to do something about it, and fast.
She tried to focus her energy again, but the magic fizzled out of her horn weakly. She cursed herself, "Oh no, Spike was right; I really should have rested!"
Frantically, she leapt out of the pile of books she was in, and rushed outside. "I need to get the girls, Princess Celestia, — everypony! I just hope he can manage without me..."
Meanwhile, Spike was flipping out. "Where am I?! I–I'm in the place that spell showed!"
He turned on the spot several times, frantically scanning for any immediate threats. When none presented themselves, he took a few deep breaths to steady his nerves. "Okay, Spike," he told himself, "you won't be of any use if you start panicking. Just stay calm, and find someone to ask for help."
He trailed off as he continued to look around. Now that he was actually paying closer attention, he could tell that the grass immediately round him was shorter than the surrounding grass, as if he were standing on...
"A path!" He exclaimed. The path extended off in two directions; one branched deeper into the forest, the other led out of it. However, Spike could see that, past the thicker side of the forest, the castle from the vision barely poked out above the treeline.
Thus, Spike had a dilemma. "On one claw, I could head for that castle, but risk getting lost; on the other, I could head out of the forest, but risk losing who knows how much time walking around it..."
He weighed his options carefully, then ultimately made his decision. With an aura of confidence, he began to trek deeper into the forest.
That confidence quickly faded, however, when he was met with the crushing realization that he had, indeed, gotten lost amongst the branching trails.
"Oh, for Celestia's sake!" He cursed himself, sitting down on a toppled log. "Why can't I do anything right? I let Twilight keep studying, tripped into the spell, and now I'm lost in some stupid forest!"
He balled his fists in frustration, holding back tears. "Why am I such a failure...?"
He sighed, and was about to continue forward, when he heard something. It was faint, but he heard it nonetheless:
A voice.
Thankful for this fortunate turn of events, he got up and followed the sound towards its origin.
As he approached, he began to make out what the voice was saying. "...know that he wants us to find a companion, but did he really have to send us out into the middle of Kokiri Forest?!"
A second voice, this one female, replied, "C'mon, Hamzah, all the others have found their companions; even Ephai!"
The first voice returned, obviously disdained at the mention. "Ugh, don't remind me, Nuha. But seriously, how are we meant to find someone out here?"
Spike was now able to see two colored lights – one dark blue and one mauve – being cast over some trees in the distance. He quickened his pace, eager to find someone in this unfamiliar world.
But in his excitement, he tripped over a tree root, and crashed to a stop on his face. "Ow..." He muttered through the dirt.
"What the–?" the male's voice said in bewilderment, spurring Spike to look up.
What he saw was not what he expected: two winged orbs of colored light – the same colors he'd seen being cast over the trees – hovered above him. Even though Spike couldn't see their physical bodies, he could tell that they were staring down at him in amazement.
"Well, I'll be..." the mauve one – the male, surprisingly – mused. "Maybe that ol' Sprout was on to something..."