After his encounter with a furious equine, Lee was now facing his new reality; he no longer believed he was dreaming. He wandered aimlessly through the woods, not knowing what else to do.
"I've been abducted by a talking horse, I'm starving, and I probably have to sleep outside tonight… Can things get any worse?" He thought. A cold raindrop landed on his head, he looked up to see a drizzle had started to fall.
"Of course it can" he groaned.
A morbid thought entered Lee's mind; cold weather and rain might lead to hypothermia. He knew his light jacket wouldn't provide enough protection from the elements. An idea then popped into his head. As mist descended around him, Lee began gathering long branches. He then painstakingly built a small tent-like shack , similar to one he had seen on the show "Man vs. Wild". His feet stuck out of one end when he lay down inside. Lee shrugged "It will have to do…" He got out of his structure and admired his work.
"Not bad, not bad…" He remarked
"Now, time to make a fire" he said picking up two sticks.
Meanwhile, Twilight and AJ had begun to plan on how they were going to catch the human on the loose.
"I think a trap is the best method" Twilight said.
"I gotta agree, the varmint is too fast to catch on hoof"
"We can use this as bait" The lavender one levitated the phone out of her bag.
The two of them entered AJ's barn grabbing a net, rope and tent steaks before trotting towards the Everfree forest looking for a good place to set up.
"Hey Twi, what exactly are we dealing with?" AJ asked
"It's called a 'human'. Before yesterday, I thought they were just myths. I never thought I would have the opportunity to see real one." Twilight said enthusiastically
"What all can you tell me about this here 'human'?"
Twilight scratched her head "Well, my knowledge is limited, but I do know they are related to monkeys, they are social animals, and they have an IQ similar to ours."
"So this thing is really smart huh?" the Farmer inquired
"I assume so, he was able figure out how to escape both of us."
While the two ponies searched for him, Lee was hunched over an un-lit pile of camp fire wood, rubbing two sticks together trying to make fire. He had his jacket splayed out in order to keep the wood dry.
"If Bear Grylls can do it, so can I" He grunted
After thirty long minutes an ember formed, carefully he lowered the ember into the pile and soon a small fire how formed.
"Yes! I might actually make it through the night!" he cheered. "Now time to find some food"
Lee didn't realize it, but his fire's pillar of smoke could be seen for miles. Two ponies in particular witnessed the smoke.
"You think that's him?" AJ asked, gesturing toward the smoke
"It might be worth checking out" proposed Twilight
When the two arrived at the source of the smoke, they found an empty camp site.
"The fire is still burning, we must have just missed him!" AJ said, annoyed.
"Ok, we'll set up here" decided Twilight
They had just begun assembling their "human trap" when Lee returned from an unsuccessful food gathering trip. He saw them first and froze, then quietly backed away into bushes. The two ponies talked away, oblivious that their target was only twenty yards away listening to every word they said.
"Applejack, are you sure this will work?"
"Of course sugar cube, this is the same kind of trap I use to catch any other varmint, this trap is just a lot bigger."
"Remember; this is the only human in all of Equestria, so it's vital we keep him unharmed"
After tightening a few ropes and covering their ploy in leaves, the two retreated to a safe distance and began waiting for the human to show up. Their trap consisted of a series of ropes, a trip line and a large net with Lee's phone placed in the middle.
"Very clever" Lee thought.
Fog began to roll in and the rain started to pick up. Despite the fact his phone was useless here, Lee still wanted it back. Using the fog as cover, Lee crept closer to the trap up, then stood up. He knew they could see him now. Twilight and AJ looked on in anticipation, waiting for Lee to spring the net. Lee carefully stepped over the trip line and picked up his phone, he was relieved to see it still worked even after getting rained on. He then stepped back over the line, he could faintly hear the two ponies talking.
"Why hasn't the trap sprung?!" Twilight sharply whispered
"Quiet! I think he can hear us." AJ said
Lee pocketed his phone and was about to sprint away.
"He's gonna get away!" Aj warned
when Twilight emerged from her hiding place.
"We just want to talk" She pleaded
Lee kicked the leaves covering the trap away, reviling the net.
"Then why are you using this?" Lee said snappishly.
Twilight sighed. "Look, I'm your only hope of getting home, if you just calm down and come with me, we can figure this out."
Lee remained silent, he had a confused look on his face.
"Forget it Twi, there's no reasoning with this thing"
Lee looked up to see the same equine which chased him off before.
"You can get me out of this place?" Lee finally said to the unicorn.
"I can try" Twilight said optimistically.
"Try? You either can or you can't. Now, which is it!" Lee replied with a mix of fear and anger in his voice.
"CLAM. DOWN. There's a good chance I can get back to your world, but you have to trust me."
Lee sighed, "Alright, let's go"