That night, I packed some things in preparation for a journey. I was lucky that Eclipsa was not in the room right now and really wondered what I would have to do if she was here. I didn't want to argue with her on anything in regards to my decision right now.

I grabbed a few essentials that would help in my journey - some food, water, and a few other things. I really prepared for a very long trip to the northernmost reaches of Equestria and hoped that whatever I would find up there could help out with this situation.

I glanced back towards the bed and thought about the friends that I made that I would be leaving behind. I was sure to miss them, but I couldn't ask them to risk their lives for me. They just met me, after all, and it's not like they wouldn't be able to replace me with another pony. I sighed once more, then left the room and carefully guided my way out of the school. If Headmare Twilight or anypony found out that I was trying to sneak out of the school, this whole operation could be compromised.

I exited the school and looked back to it one last time. I nodded, making a promise to return and keep Mom proud with my progress. Turning back, I determined which way was north and began leaving Ponyville in that direction.

It's sure to be a long journey, I thought, but I'll do anything for Mom.

I left through Ponyville's northern entrance way shortly after starting my journey and found myself on a path that appeared to head in the general direction Canterlot was in. I noticed a branch in the path and saw a sign at the center of it, going over to read it.

"Canterlot, to the right," it read, "Unicorn Range, to the left."

I thought about my options that were in front of me and decided to come up with something that was logical. Canterlot was located high in the mountains on one of the sides while the other path went down through plains and a field. I smirked slightly, deciding to travel down the path on the left, bypassing Canterlot all together and towards Unicorn Range.

It was very late at this point and I was beginning to wonder if I should call it a night and wait until morning before continuing on. There was just one little problem: I had no idea where exactly I was or how safe it was around this area.

Better to be moving than a sitting duck right now, I concluded, you can always rest in the morning, Astral. Wait until you can see before doing something like that.

I nodded, then looked up towards the stars as I continued to walk along the path, wondering about a lot of different things. I wondered when I would get to this destination, what would happen when I did get there, how dangerous all of this was, if I was doing the right thing, and about how this could get me in so much trouble back at the school. Regardless, if there was a slim chance that I could help Mom, I was willing to do whatever it takes to make things right with my family. I shuffled my bags a bit, continuing on down the path.

The sun started to rise and bring in a new day after a few more hours of walking. I yawned a little bit, but pressed onward for my sake. I took in the surrounding scenery and found solace in them. A bunch of trees with some new leaves growing in on the branches, some small critters waking up and scavenging the area for some food, and a crisp, morning breeze that really tickled the spine in a way that felt really good.

I looked down and saw a squirrel come out from the comfort of its home and look for some nuts. I grabbed one from one of the higher branches and offered it to the squirrel, smiling at it as it sniffed my hoof.

"There, there, little one," I smiled, "it's okay. I got that for you."

It sniffed my hoof a little bit more and watched as it took the nut from it and run back towards it home. I giggled quietly to myself, then continued walking down the path for a little bit until I heard my stomach growl at me. I raised a hoof to my stomach and rubbed it softly, trying to calm it down, but that only made it growl at me some more, as if it were demanding food.

I rolled my eyes playfully and rested up on the side of the path for the time being. Taking my bags off from my back, I reached inside one and pulled out some fruit from inside. I took a bite out of a golden delicious apple and savored the taste, looking down and patting my stomach again.

"Happy?" I joked as I swallowed the bite I took.

I took out a few more bites of the apple, looking around the area once more. I glanced up towards the sky and saw that there were overcast clouds up ahead. I wondered if it was just an overcast or if there was some rain that was going to be associated with it.

"We shall wait and see, I guess," I said, taking another bite out of the apple.

I watched as the clouds moved towards me, picking up speed slowly.

A couple of hours more had passed while I was walking down the path. Unicorn Range was a beautiful place that had a bunch of large rolling hills throughout the landscape. I looked up and saw the clouds that were present had now gotten darker. I looked towards the hills and saw the wind leave its mark along the grass. Thunder could be heard up ahead and so I decided to search for some shelter in case there were to be rain sometime shortly.

Spotting a small opening in a nearby cave, I started to approach it slowly so that I could shelter myself and keep myself somewhat dry. I felt a couple of drops of rain fall from the sky and proceeded to pick up my pace towards the cave. I didn't like it too much when my mane or my beanie got wet, so I tried my best to get to the cave before a potential downfall occurred.

The thunder boomed again, following closely to some lightning that pierced some of the clouds a bit. I ran towards the cave entrance and felt that I should defend myself from in there rather than take a slow approach from the outside. Another drop fell from the sky and landed on my hoof as I moved quickly out of the stormy area.

As I entered into the cave, I lit my horn up and brightened it up significantly. The cave was empty and relatively small, as the back end of the cave could be seen from the area I lit up. I took my bags off and rested them along the side of the rock formation, taking a seat myself on one of the higher placed rocks after making sure that it was clean. I looked out of the cave entrance and saw that it started to rain a little bit more steadily. I rolled my eyes a bit, then pulled out the map again, planning on what I should do following the conclusion of the storm.

"Depending on how long this storm could last," I said out loud, hearing my voice echo in this small cave, "I could make my way towards either Galloping Gorge or the area underneath Cloudsdale next…"

I then looked towards my bags and began wondering of a different idea. Eventually, I was going to run out of supplies at some point and felt that it would be best if I recuperated at whatever town was along the path. Technically, the next town would be Cloudsdale, but the problem with me trying to restock myself there is that I can't reach Cloudsdale since it's up in the sky and only Pegasus ponies could walk on clouds, as far as I knew.

"Can't get more things there," I determined, looking around the map to a different place.

I spotted a town over towards the west of Galloping Gorge and wondered exactly how far it was from here. There was a small opening in between a couple of hills of Unicorn Range that led straight towards a town called Vanhoover.

I scratched under my chin lightly, "I could stock up there in Vanhoover and…" I paused as I looked closer to the map, "Are those…are those train tracks?" I followed the markings along the map and smiled, "They go straight through Galloping Gorge and up to where I need to go! This is great! This will definitely make my trip a lot less risky and much shorter."

I then followed the markings and noticed that they ended at the top of the map. I began wondering how far the tracks actually went for since, based off of the map of what was beyond Equestria, the destination was beyond the Frozen North, and, with a name like "Frozen North," I could only imagine just how cold it was. I started thinking some more and decided to go on a detour towards Vanhoover, hoping that I could find and purchase a heavy snow coat there. The coat I had was suitable for Whineysota, but I was willing to bet that the Frozen North was nothing like Whineysota's weather.

I yawned slightly, watching the rain fall outside the cave. Thunder roared very loudly again and wind blew into the cave. I hugged my bags, warming myself up a bit, as I sat on the rock and watched the rain coming down. The rain came down at a sharp angle and was hitting the ground so hard, it bounced back up and came down again. I took out a banana this time and took off the peel, taking a part of the banana off and snacking on it.

I giggled quietly to myself, "After this storm blows over, I'll split this cave. What do you think, Mr. Peel?"

Not receiving an answer back from the inanimate banana peel, I rolled my eyes playfully, taking off another portion of the banana and eating that as well. I waited patiently for the rain to blow over, staying dry in the cave in the meantime.

I'll be able to resume this journey soon, I thought, hoping deep down that I would be able to see Mom again.

I thought about the last time I saw Mom and started to shake a little bit. I really did think that this was my fault and, had I really put my hoof down more adamantly, none of this would have happened. I sighed a little bit, then took off yet another part of the banana and ate it.

If only I could've been there when she needed me most of all, I wondered, then I could've helped her overcome or nurse her back to normal. How could this happen to me? Why now? Why couldn't it happen to my father?

Secretly, I'd hoped something would happen to him, but nothing too drastic. He didn't need to desert my mother and myself the way he did. I yawned a bit, then ate the final portion of the banana peacefully. I licked my lips a bit, savoring the taste of the banana and gazed once more out of the cave, trying to take my mind off of Mom.

Easier said than done, Astral…