//------------------------------//
// Back to the Chase 
// Story: The Mask of Despair and the Face of Hope 
// by Wings of Black Glass 
//------------------------------//

“Good morning, mares.”  Compared to yesterday, and even last night, Sable was quite cheerful.
“Somepony’s in a good mood.”  Glimmer grumbled, stretching in the morning light.
“I had a restful night.”  First, he nodded towards Fluttershy, and then Sable’s eyes swiveled over to me.  “I take it everypony slept well?”  He winked at me.   Heat rose to my face; he knew I was eavesdropping last night!  None of the others seemed to have seen it.  “The Changelings have generously provided breakfast for us.”  Then he turned to leave, and one by one the others all followed him out.
“I hope they have pancakes!”  Pinkie bounded out, already bouncing with energy.
“Twilight, are you alright?”  Fluttershy hung behind.  “You look a little flustered.”
“I’m fine!  Fine, all fine!”  I laughed nervously.  “Nothings wrong!  Breakfast!”  In a hurry, I left the room before Fluttershy could inquire further.  It took me several minutes to get my composure back, and luckily the others were more interested in their food than my embarrassment.  Thorax joined us for the meal as we planned what to do next.
“So what do we do now?”  Applejack was the first to bring up the subject after we had mostly finished the meal.
“I can send out some scouts to see if they can find the thief.  Would that help?”
“You might as well.”  Starlight sighed.  “Although I doubt they will find anything if the thief has been on the move all night.”
“Even if they haven’t, we can’t track them anymore.”  Rarity wiped her mouth clean.  “With all the harsh terrain out here there’s plenty of space to hide.”
“Unless…”  Sable backed away from the table a few steps.  He concentrated, casting his tracking spell again.
“Ha, Jackpot!”  Dash leaped into the air as Sable’s spell pointed resolutely in a single direction.  Fluttershy and Rarity applauded.
“I guess it was worth another check.”  He deadpanned.
“Quick, my map!”  I jumped up into the air so that I could see the arrow from directly above.  Spike hurried back into the other room and returned quickly with the map in claw.  Sable obligingly held very still, so the arrow didn’t waver.  He must have also realized we could lose the trace at any moment.  I took the map from Spike and placed it beneath Sable’s spell, centering the arrow directly over the changeling hive.  I used my own spell to locate north and adjusted the map accordingly.  Thank Celestia I brought a high-quality map.  I had just enough time to memorize the bearing before the arrow lost its mind and spun uncontrollably, blinking out as Sable dropped the spell.  “I got it. I got it!”  I landed and immediately began to trace out the route the thief could have been taking, the map still on the floor.
“How did you know that was going to work?”  Questioned Thorax.
“I didn’t.”  Sable shrugged.
“The thief probably doesn’t know we can track him at all, let alone that the spell could be blocked.”  Starlight took over the discussion when it came to magic, I was busy, barely paying attention to them as I worked on the map.
“So he wouldn’t know to keep the Amulet close to the fragments!”  Applejack finished the thought for us.  Starlight and Sable both nodded.
“Yay for pure luck!”  Pinkie bounced across the table, pulling a confetti popper out of her mane and setting it off, right in Sable’s face.  “Whoops, sorry.”  Glitter covers his face, and paper streamers hang off his horn, and he frowned towards her.  I brushed the confetti off the map and brought it up to the table.  Everypony crowded around to see.
“He’s gone west.”  I jabbed the tip of my hoof along the path I thought the thief was taking.  “Probably staying away from the train tracks to avoid being seen.”
“There are a few small towns out that direction, but nothing big.”  This from Applejack.  I visualized the line from the changeling hive again, there was a single town which it crossed, far out near the edge of Equestria.
“So what’s he doing out there in the middle of nowhere?”  Wondered Dash.
“Maybe that’s where he lives?”  Suggested Fluttershy.
“Rampant speculation will get us nowhere.”  Sable stomped hard on the floor to get their attention.  “We should set out immediately.”
“Sable is right.”  I nodded.
“Get your stuff.  We’ve got a thief to nab!”  Dash was the first to zip back for her things.  A glance at the others revealed them all in high spirits, especially Sable.  He caught me looking and grinned confidently.
“I can’t help but think we’ve got him now.  I would bet my life this ends well for us.”





“So, why did his arrow spell work again?”
“I think what happened is the thief had to rest at some point and wandered outside the range of the anti-magic effect, and Sable got lucky on his timing.”
“That’s probably what happened, but we’ll never know for sure.”