Chasing the Lost

Twilight stood on the same ridge, overlooking the same fields, holding up a small yellow jewel.  She groaned as it glistened in the sunlight.  “How am I supposed to know which way to go if I can’t detect anything?  I’m one-hundred percent positive the teleport worked.  I should be within a few hundred miles at most!”

A rustling nearby caught her attention, but she didn’t turn to face it.  Her ear flicked and her eyes slid to the side, but she couldn’t quite make out the source.  Then, she felt a slight pressure on her saddlebag and whirled around, accidentally flinging away the rabbit that had snuck up on her.  When it thudded against the ground, she gasped.  “I’m sorry!  I just... I thought... I don’t know what...”

Before she could finish apologizing, the terrified lagomorph scampered away.

She drooped slightly, stashed the jewel back in her bag, then looked up into the sky and hardened her gaze.  “Analysis paralysis.  There’s a time for thinking, and there’s a time for doing, and if I’m not getting a reading here, then that just means I need to go elsewhere,” she asserted, nodding to herself.  She closed her eyes and twirled in a circle for a few seconds before coming to an abrupt stop, holding one hoof pointing out in front of her.  The sun was climbing up on her left.  “South... err... North it is, then.”

Being alone, she wasn’t embarrassed by her mistake.  She didn’t need to explain to anypony that where she was from, the sun rose in the East.  She also didn’t need to convince any such ponies that she was sane.  For a moment, her solitude was a boon.

It wasn’t long before she frowned, sad to be leaving Oakvale behind.  She felt a pang of disappointment that she hadn’t handled the bunny well either, but she shook herself out of it and settled into a brisk canter, roughly North.  There was no sense dwelling on what didn’t matter going forward.  The air was warm, but a stiff breeze reminded her to double check her bag.  The blanket, and the coat, were snuggled into the main pouch.  She nodded to herself again and carried on marching toward the steeper hills at the valley’s edge.  If she could keep her current pace, she’d reach the foot of one by nightfall.

As the afternoon wore on and the sun gradually traced a path over and around her, Twilight moved steadily and quickly, filling herself with the singular goal of keeping her hooves in motion.  Her shadow grew long, and she blinked in surprise when she found herself at her destination with time to spare.  Had she really zoned that far out?  She had just committed to action rather than analysis, but still... to completely space wasn’t like her.  There wasn’t a lot of time left before dusk, and she still needed to pick out a place to rest.

Again, she blinked in surprise to find herself at the top of the hill just as the day ended.  She followed her own directions on autopilot, not even taking notice of her actions as she had been setting up a small campsite.  Only when the fire was burning brightly did she snap to attention.

“Get a hold of yourself, Twilight!  Stay calm, stay focused, but stay attentive.  You’re probably just having a hard time adjusting to...”  She swallowed a lump in her throat.   “To being alone.  You were fine back in Oakvale.”  The fire crackled at her as the temperature continued to drop, and Twilight scooted herself closer to it.  She plucked an apple from her bag and took a bite.  It was a good apple.

Applejack...

Twilight blinked back a few tears and tossed the apple aside.  She didn’t feel very hungry anymore.  Reaching back into her saddlebag again, she pulled out the thick blanket.  The coat stayed in place, perhaps for use another day.

Wooly, off-white fabric rolled out into a large rectangle—easily large enough to accommodate three ponies—and Twilight found herself staring into the cosmos.  Though it would rise earlier than the last few nights, the moon was still absent.  Nonetheless, the stars twinkled beautifully.  She briefly regretted not having her telescope with her to study a whole new sky before realizing she’d curled up underneath the blankets without thinking.  She should have felt very worried by all the vacuous, unconscious things she’d done that day, but without another thought, she drifted off to sleep with more ease than the night before.