After their near-death experience at the gorge and the Skullasaurus, the gang of friends continued their mapped searched for Christopher Robin. As the day began to come to a close, however, a heavy fog rolled in through the mountainous biome making it incredibly hard to see ahead. Rabbit, especially, struggled to figure out which we to go, but with all the fog, it was impossible. He contorted the map pieces in every possible configuration, trying in vain to get a sense of direction.
"I know we went over this way...And I came across..." Rabbit said to himself "But then I...I lost my way over...And if I don't...I know..."
"Might you know which way Christopher Robin is from here, Rabbit?" Pooh interrupted.
"Do you even know where to go?" Twilight asked cautiously.
"Uh, well... Uh, I mean the..." Rabbit looked through the map at every angle, trying to get even a sliver of an idea where they were.
He looked back at the group with a reassuring grin then back at the map with an anxious grimace.
"There's this way, of course." Rabbit turned right and walked a couple feet then stopped. "Not that it's the right way."
He walked back to his original position.
"We obviously want to go this way." He walked straight forward then stopped again.
"Though that way's further than farther and nearer than not." Rabbit walked backwards.
“Darling, you’re not making any sense right now.” Rarity whined.
"Umm, Rabbit?" Fluttershy asked with concern.
Rabbit looked around, thinking long and hard of what to do next.
"Although we can't rule out this way." He turned left and walked a couple more feet.
"Do you know where to go or not?" Rainbow asked in frustration.
"Rainbow." Applejack hissed angrily.
Rabbit stopped. His ears drooped to the back of his head.
"Now, if Christopher Robin was here, what would he say?" Rabbit walked back to the others. "Well, he'd say..."
...
"That Rabbit can't function in this humidity." Rabbit yelled in despair. "It's not his fault. This fog isn't even on the map. And that...that Rabbit is just not smart enough to know where to go or...what to do."
“Whoa nelly. Ah wasn’t expecting’ him to just explode like that.” Applejack said
Rabbit sat on the ground sobbing, hold his hands to his head. He was upset and frustrated with himself for letting things get as bad as they were.
"It's okay, Rabbit." Twilight came up to his side. "We've all had times where we don't know what to do. That doesn't make you any less smart."
"Oh. Christopher Robin says "At a time like this all I have to do is remember." Pooh chimed in, patting Rabbit's shoulder.
"Remember what?" Rabbit asked.
Pooh put a hand on his head, trying to remember what else Christopher Robin said.
"I forget." He said flatly.
Twilight and Rabbit gave him a deadpanned look.
"But it's something like... you're smarter when you're pink." Pooh chuckled. "Does that help?"
"Ooo. I must be a genius." Pinkie bounced up and down.
"No. I don't where we are and where we aren't." Rabbit stood up and walked forward with his head down. "And I haven't known for hours. I've failed us all."
"Oh, Rabbit." Twilight said softly. “Surely we can figure out where we are without the map.”
The others, unfortunately, didn’t share Twilight’s optimism.
"I believe I have as well." Pooh put a hand on Rabbit's shoulder.
"Wh-What?" The alicorn sputtered. "You guys haven't failed. Far from it. We can't just give up now."
"Twilight, the map isn't helping us, not in this fog." Rabbit said dejectedly. "We have no idea where we are or where we should go."
"Let's face it, without Christopher Robin, we don't have a chance of finding Christopher Robin." Tigger sighed.
"But...guys…" Twilight tried to say.
"Twi, ah think they kinda have a point." Applejack came up to her friend with a shivering Spike on her back. "We've been walkin' and seachin' for almost a whole day with a phony map and, worse still, we still haven't found Christopher Robin. We've ran ourselves ragged."
"I haven't been this exhausted in...forever. And it stopped being fun a while ago." Rainbow admitted. “Plus, some of are friends almost died. I mean, I wasn’t fast enough to save them. They only survived from a muddy swamp.”
“Don’t remind me.” Rarity eyed her ruined mane.
“It might be sounding crazy coming from me, but, I’m starting get my doubts about this mission, Twi. And that’s saying something.” Rainbow finished.
"It’s been downright detrimental and terrorizing for some of us." Rarity said solemnly.
"We’re still being chased by that Skullasaurus." Fluttershy whimpered.
Twilight looked among her friends. They were all tired, cold, dirty, and upset. She probably looked like a mess herself. Tears began forming in her tired eyes.
"I'm sorry, girls. I wish it didn't have to be like this." Twilight lowered her head in guilt. "But, this was our mission. I don't think we can leave until we complete it."
“That’s what I was worried about, too, sugarcube.” The orange earth pony breathed slowly.
The rest of the Main 7 looked down in sorrow. Twilight took Spike off of Applejack's back and cradled him, trying to keep the baby dragon warm.
"S-S-So c-cold." He shivered quietly.
“I know, Spike. You’ll be okay. I promise.” Twilight reassured.
Pooh looked up and spotted a large cave in the distance within the fog.
"Perhaps we might rest in there until this mist is mostly...mistless." He suggested.
Twilight gave a defeated sigh.
“Better than standing in the fog.” She said
"Not much else we can do, anyway. Lead the way, Pooh." Applejack said.
The others followed after Pooh to the cave.
"End of the road." Eeyore said monotonously. "Nothin' to do. And no hope of things getting better. Sounds like Saturday night at my house."
"Alright, Eeyore. We get it" Rainbow grumbled.
It had been a few hours. It that time span, Applejack and Tigger made a fire pit where they got a fire going. By now, most of the gang was fast asleep, surrounding the makeshift fire pit. The dimming light of the dying flames was enough to help them sleep cozily. Twilight and Rarity sleep on either side Spike keeping the cold-blooded dragon as warm as possible. Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Eeyore, and Piglet all slept together with them.
Rabbit slept nearby against a rock using the thin map as a blanket. He shivered and maneuvered in his sleep trying to cover his entire body with the parchment, but it wasn't easy considering it was just two flimsy pieces of paper. Rabbit finally got warm and comfortable enough to sleep soundly. That was short-lived when he heard what sounded like horrible growling. He shrieked in fear and turned to where the noise was coming from. It turned out to be Tigger and his loud snoring. Sometimes he would giggle and lightly paw at the air. Rabbit glared at him indignantly. He muttered to himself and pulled the map back up over himself, trying to got back to sleep. All of a sudden, Tigger's tail unraveled over his chest and smacked Rabbit in the snout, waking him back up. He grumbled to himself changed position so he way facing away from Tigger. Tigger's tail unraveled again and grabbed Rabbit's ear pulling back hard until it slipped out of its grasp causing it to smack back into the back of Rabbit's head. He glared daggers at the sleeping Tigger. His tail unraveled again and again catching Rabbit's nose. The tail pulled back against rabbit's snout. His nose jiggled as Tigger's tail slipped off of him and coiled back up. Rabbit opened his arms a ready to smack Tigger's tail. It unraveled over him again, but Rabbit was too slow and the tail coiled back up in time which ended up with Rabbit slapping himself in the face. He shook his head, ridding himself of the dizziness.
“Hey, Rabbit.” Twilight’s voice sounded.
Rabbit turned to see Twilight carefully making her way over to him.
“Oh. Sorry, Twilight. I didn’t mean to wake you.” Rabbit apologized.
“I couldn’t sleep. I just have too much going on in my head right now.” Twilight lamented. “Guess you couldn’t sleep either?”
Twilight sat down beside the vegetable farmer.
"You could say that." Rabbit eyed the snoring Tigger. "I thought you were keeping Spike safe."
"Don't worry. Rarity and Fluttershy are keeping him warm for me." Twilight looked down in guilt and regret. "I feel as if I failed my friends. This isn't the first time we've done this and every time someone always ends up hurt or in danger. Whether it’s because of an oceanic storm or having to fight a half-psychopath, half-angel with a sword.”
Rabbit was bit surprised at those kind of details, but he shook his head and sighed.
"Twilight, you haven't failed. If anything I was the one who failed, I'm the one with the map for crying out loud." Rabbit shuffled the map to emphasize his point.
"Yeah, but." The purple alicorn sighed. "I'm a princess and one of my most important duties as a ruler is to keep everypony safe. And I haven’t been able to keep any of you safe. I couldn’t save piglet from the butterflies and I couldn’t save you all from dropping into the gorge. If I can't keep a handful of my friends safe, how can I expect myself to keep an entire kingdom safe?"
Twilight began to sob and sniffle quietly. Rabbit put a hand on the teary-eyed alicorn's shoulder, doing his best to comfort her.
"I may not be able to relate to you, Twilight. But you can't let a few bad experiences taint your own expectation." He comforted. "There will be instances where you won't be able to do anything. You can't control everything that happens. I was having trouble with my harvest back home. As frustrated as I was that some of the produce wasn’t ripe enough to pick, I understand there’s not really much to control that. Those kinds of experiences are part of life. They help you learn things."
Twilight looked back up at Rabbit.
"Thanks, Rabbit. I really needed to hear that. It just feels like it's been nothing but perilousness throughout this entire journey." She said.
Another was heard in the distance.
"I've tried to find you, Christopher Robin." The voice belonged to Pooh.
Rabbit sighed wistfully.
"I know, Pooh, I'm sorry. You'd have find him by now if...if I hadn't..." Rabbit turned to see that Pooh wasn't with them in the cave.
"Pooh?" Twilight said.
"Pooh Bear?" Rabbit called out quietly.
The rabbit and alicorn looked over to the mouth of the cave to see Pooh with his jar of honey in-hand wondering about on the mist-covered terrain.
"I've looked all the places you weren't. I just can't find the places...you are." Pooh said to himself.
Rabbit and Twilight walked to the entrance of the cave, watching Pooh walk around. They watched as Pooh walked up a rocky slope where an old tree stood at the top.
"I only know that you are where I am not." Pooh said gloomily. "And...where am I? I wish you were here to tell me. Perhaps if I were to wish...very, very hard.
Pooh fell asleep against the tree, holding the honey jar close to his body. Rabbit and Twilight walked up to him silently. Rabbit sighed sadly while Twilight felt tears running down her cheeks.
"Rabbit." She hiccupped. "Will we ever find Christopher Robin?"
"...I don't know, Twilight. I want to keep trying to find him, but I just have no idea how to." Rabbit sorrowfully.
The purple alicorn sniffled.
"He means so much to Pooh." She said.
"I know. He means everything to all of us; Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and myself. But Pooh has always had a special bond with Christopher Robin."
"Oh, Pooh. If only there was something I could do to fix this." Twilight sobbed
Rabbit pulled the map off of himself and laid them on Pooh Bear to keep him warm in the foggy and frigid air. He kneeled down and put his hand on Twilight's shoulder in an attempt to comfort the crying alicorn. He looked up into the sky hoping, wondering if Pooh's wish would ever come true.
To be continued.