Author's Note
I Followed Them
When I saw the cloud of mist from my breath, I would have killed somepony to get a cigarette.
I got off work late. I remember thinking to myself that if I had got off on time, that I wouldn’t have to be walking home in the snow. But now there was at least one inch on the ground, and the streets were only lit by dim candlelight outside of Ponyville General. I was in a pretty low way at the time, I think it was 11pm? Not that it really matters. I lost a patient that afternoon. It all went so fast. I got on shift, and started by giving them their test results. It… wasn’t good news. Then I remember how strange it felt that the mare was laying in bed and then just the next minute, the room was empty.
The staff kept telling me all day that it wasn’t my fault. That a patient will slip away every now and then. But I’m ‘Nurse Redheart’. I might as well be a doctor. I would be, if I had the degree. Sorry, you don’t care about that.
I was late because there’s a lot of paperwork to do when a patient… well, you get the picture. And all I had waiting for me at home was some leftovers and an empty bed. I guess that’s why when I was entranced by these hoofprints in the snow.
They were fresh, and I remember thinking to myself that it was so strange that there were tracks in such fresh snow, so late at night. I looked back to see where they could have come from, but they seemed to extend past the hospital. I could see a mental image in my head of a casual passerby that shifted their eyes away from the lair of death and sickness that I call my second home.
The hoofsteps kept going as I was walking home. And I needed to get my mind off of work. So I watched the hoofsteps as I walked home. I found myself walking in their imprints, like it was a game. Then I thought I was being rather silly, so I walked beside them. I tried to imagine what kind of pony had those hoofprints. They were likely a mare’s, or a rather light on their feet stallion. Perhaps a pegasus? I felt like I was a detective in some sort of crime show drama. And that as I approached my home the prints would lead directly into my house. I chuckled at that thought.
I looked around at the still, silent night with the snow falling ever so gently. I was wondering what a pony could be out doing at a time like this. I figured they must be like me, simply off work. The steps shuffled slightly, seeing a ever so slight drag in their movement. Labored. Maybe they had a bad day like me. And that was a sobering thought. I wasn’t alone. Some pony out there was also having a bad day. Perhaps if I followed these prints, they would lead to a bar, where a possible new friend was sitting alone, staring glumly into a cider that was about to lose its fizz.
Or perhaps I was wrong, I remember thinking that the steps weren’t quite even. The pony wasn’t even on their hooves. Maybe they were heading to the pharmacy to get something to relieve a sprain. Or perhaps stomach cramps were buckling their movement just ever so slightly.
However, I reached my street. All I needed to do was take a right, and I’d be leaving this imaginary friend I had built for myself. I felt a bit like a child who was called inside from playing while there was still light in the day. I turned in place, and saw the door to my quiet little house.
I have no idea what possessed me to keep following those prints. Maybe it was that I felt like it was some sort of light-hearted game I had made for myself. I don’t really have an exciting life. Well, outside of the hospital, anyway.
So I set off on the trail, feeling partly like a creepy stalker and partly like some sort of detective. I don’t think it was for a few more streets that I realized I didn’t know what I would do if I ran into this pony. I would probably watch them trail into a house that was just getting ready to turn out the lights. Then wouldn’t I be the weird one?
Or maybe I’d be so focused on watching the path that I’d run flat into the flank of the pony I’d be following. Then I’d awkwardly have to say “Sorry, wasn’t watching where I was going,” and meekly shuffle off. Of course, then I’d have to find a whole weird way of circling around back home and it would just be really awkward. I was about ready to stop all this silliness and head home, realizing that I was doing something stupid when realized I hit the edge of town.
The hoofsteps just kept going.
And I began to get worried. Why were these hoofsteps walking out of town this late at night? The world was getting dark and the path was becoming harder to follow. Luckily there’s enough ponies that live remotely that there’s still lamp posts that go out for a few miles. I think it was about then that the snow stopped and the moon opened up.
The air was freezing, and my hooves were going numb. But I was getting too curious. Too worried about these steps. This mystery pony I’ve never met.
The steps turned right.
I stopped when they changed direction so suddenly. If the moon hadn’t come out and illuminated the snow covered ground, then I would have never seen it. I followed at a brisker pace. This wasn’t the path. This was beyond weird. Because once you got this far out of town…
I stopped.
The tracks bunched together. The pony spun in place right in front of me, as if unsure where to go. What to do.
I looked just beyond the tracks. There was only air.
I was standing just before the edge of a cliff. Or, more accurately, at the top of a ravine.
I froze in place. Tears welled in my eyes. I couldn’t understand why the tracks ended here. Or, I guess I didn’t want to. I gritted my teeth. My whole body ached for the soul that I built up in my head. This pony I didn’t even know.
But, I had to look.
I think it was only worse when I did recognize the face that the moon illuminated at the bottom of the ravine. My missing patient. I can still see the way her hooves... bent. And a fine layer of snow. But I was so sure. And I was so... Hurt isn't strong enough. I thought I could save this pony.
I think that's what hurt the most, Officer, was that she still had a chance. I didn’t tell her she was going to die. Sure, things looked bleak, but… I don’t know. They tell you in school that some patients can't be saved. I just didn't think...
Sorry. this was... way more than what you wanted.
That’s how I found her body. Is there anything else I can tell you? If not... I think I need to lay down.
