The Bug in The Cave

Chapter 4:Left Behind

Twilight Sparkle winced when she peered out of her cave the following morning, the stark contrast between the badlands in the rain and the badlands in the sun was shocking, to say the least. What had once been a dreary and largely-depressing landscape, had become hostile and threatening. The muted greys and dusty browns had become deep crimsons and fiery oranges, all of which rippled under the heat of the sun’s light.

Even from the shelter of her cave, she could feel the heatwaves rolling over her stiff, sore body, and she knew that stepping out into the light would be exceedingly unpleasant… but what choice did she have? “The expedition team hasn’t come back to find me, yet. Or if they have, they haven’t been looking in the right places…”

All through the night, Twilight’s sleep had been routinely disturbed by distant sounds. Every time, she had perked up her ears and hoped with all of her heart that it was the team sending out search parties to find her. Every time, she had been met with disappointment when the sounds came into focus and proved to be nocturnal animals calling to one another.

As she watched the sun slowly rising, Twilight’s mind was struggling with the options presented to her. “This cave is safe, or at least a lot more safe than anywhere outside. But it’s pretty out of the way from where the team was, and it’s not easy to spot. If I want to link up with the others and get out of here, I might have to leave the safety of the cave… but then I’ll be out in the open, and who knows what kinds of creatures I could bump into?”

Her mind wandered back to that odd creature she had encountered the previous night, and her eyes turned to stare at the resin that still clung to her injury. Thorax had been kind to her, even tended to her injuries, but he made it sound like the rest of his kind were not so hospitable. At least not the ones that had been traveling with him. “I’d want to avoid them if I bumped into any, then.”

She returned her attention to the desert and took a deep breath. Eventually, she made up her mind on her course of action and gingerly set off from the cave. The moment she was out of the shade, the hot air began to nip at the fur on her back, and the ground beneath her hooves burned with every step. She let out a few quiet hisses and squeaks, before eventually getting used to the pain.

She made her way back into the trenches that had sheltered her from the giant worm the previous afternoon — a Tatzlwurm, if she was remembering Thorax’s name for it right — and began to navigate them. Every so often, she would leap up to poke her head out and get an idea of her surroundings. The effort was proving tiring, especially under the searing sun. She was already sweating profusely and panting after only ten minutes of this.

All the while, she kept her ears perked up and attentive while her eyes focused on the path ahead of her, trying to retrace her steps. Every so often, a small desert lizard would skitter in her path before disappearing into some crack or cranny in the trench’s walls, or the sound of some unfamiliar scavenger bird shrieking in the distance would reach her and make her squat down out of primal instinct. A dusty breeze washed over her every so often, howling and whistling ominously between the stones and long-dead trees.

Eventually, she came out of the trenches and found herself back where she had landed when she had fallen. The impact marks left behind had blended back into the ground from the rainfall before solidifying under the scorching heat of the day, making it look almost like an ancient battleground. In a way, it kind of was. Except instead of a battle, it was a frantic chase of a predator after its prey.

“But this is good,” Twilight reminded herself shortly after a shiver ran over her at the memory. “I know where this is. I just need to get to high ground, and I can find where the first Tatzlwurm attacked the team! Then I can go after them!”