Rainbow and Fluttershy were backed in a corner as two terrifying… Actually, that wasn’t correct. It was one terrifying pony and one terrified pony who greeted their presence. The terrifying one gave a frustrated grunt.
“You’ve caused enough trouble.” The one that spoke was a stallion unicorn. His coat was a light brown while his hair was short, tied back, and grey. Eyes were orange, and he looked a bit taller than the other pony. It looked like there was a yellow ring wrapped to the center of his horn. He had a Cutie Mark that appeared to be three pairs of Bits, half of them bent in half. There was also a single bag to his side.
“W-Who… ar-r-re y-ou…?” The pain Fluttershy felt from asking that question made her squeeze her eyes back shut. Rainbow placed a hoof in front of Fluttershy’s face as an act of defense.
“Almond didn’t complete his part of the task. So we had to take over.” He motioned his hoof towards himself and the pegasus behind him, who flinched backwards and ducked her head in fear.
The pegasus looked very dark. She had a pure black coat with hair adorning two different colors half and half, dark green, and dark blue. Her eyes however shined a bright yellow, making it very distinct from the rest of her body, especially with them pulsating like that. It looked like her mane and tail were a bit on the long side while smooth. Because of her colors, her Cutie Mark was difficult to see, but it seemed to have specifically two black ‘X’s that were parallel to each other. An odd type of Cutie Mark.
But nothing was more odd than the way she seemed to behave. Her eyes were trying to focus on Rainbow, every so often switching to Fluttershy, then back to Rainbow frantically. Small whimpers were escaping her mouth. She looked so nervous and scared, like her life was at stake.
“The name is Renard Strike. And you-” the stallion pointed a hoof to Rainbow as he spoke, “-if you know what’s good for you, you will stand down and surrender yourself. You're not causing anymore trouble."
Rainbow could feel Fluttershy’s painful and heated moans breathing behind her hoof. She didn’t know what was going on, but it was a bad time for it to happen. Fluttershy needed help, and now these ponies were here to take her away from Fluttershy.
Rainbow turned her eyes to look over her options. The only exit was behind those ponies. Fluttershy was in no condition to move so she had to be carried out. But if she was carried out too fast, it could really hurt her.
And then there was that book. Rainbow didn’t know what Fluttershy was reading, but it sounded too important to leave behind. The two other ponies were eying her carefully, so she had to be subtle with her own eye movements. She noticed something about how the floorboards were set, and remembered how unstable they felt.
The stallion, Rainbow learned as Strike, struck his hooves into a stance and pointed his horn towards them. “If you won’t come, we’ll take you by force!” That was when the yellow ring around his horn started glowing. Was it possible that that ring could amplify his magic?
Fluttershy releasing another painful moan caused Rainbow to snort. She had to act now. When she saw the spark from Strike’s horn, she slammed a hoof against one end of a floorboard. The force caused the other end to fly up, which is where the other two ponies were standing. Strike’s horn fired, but the sudden shift underneath his hooves caused his aim to go astray. The blast struck the wall behind his target and pierced right through it. He and the other pegasus yelped as their bodies went flying over Rainbow and Fluttershy.
As they went flying, Rainbow lashed her tongues towards the journal, closed it, and pulled it into her mouth, swallowing it. She then grabbed Fluttershy with her head and placed her on her back. When the other two ponies crashed down, she dashed out.
“Argh! They’re getting away! X!” When the pegasus heard Strike call out to her, she gasped and quickly righted herself up. She saw the other two escaping and flew after them.
Rainbow heard Strike's call to the pegasus. Was her name really X? Either way, she saw X shaking as she flew towards them with quick speed. Fluttershy’s face was next to her, moaning in pain. If she didn’t pick up her speed, X would catch up. But if she went too fast, it could really hurt Fluttershy.
Rainbow had no choice. She had to abandon the path if she was gonna get away from these ponies. Just before X caught up with them, she turned a tree and ran deeper into the forest. X had to stop when they took that turn, eyes shrinking at the direction they went.
“They can’t get away like this! Come on!” Strike yelled as he passed X and followed the direction they went. X had to grit her teeth, moaning fearfully before her wings took her to follow them.
Rainbow tried not to look back, swerving left and right as she ran. By abandoning the path, more trees and vines were in her way. She had to focus on what was in front of her. A shallow cliff came to her path and she jumped. But when she landed, the ground squished down on her, making her almost stumble. Using her wings to settle her balance, she continued on.
Unknown to Rainbow, the ground she stomped on was a mighty tiger rudely awoken from its slumber. It growled fiercely ready to charge, but another pony came crashing down on its head. Strike didn’t stop after jumping off and continued chasing Rainbow. When the third pony flew over its head, the tiger released a furious roar, causing X to yelp as her body was pushed roughly against a tree, backside and upside down.
X screamed with her limbs flinging in all directions seeing that tiger charge for her. Her wings zipped her away from the trunk, making the tiger slash its claws against its bark, ripping it apart. She quickly pushed herself against a tree branch as it lunged at her. Letting go made the tiger’s face meet with this branch, knocking it away while X scurried out of there, gasping harshly.
Rainbow could feel Fluttershy’s forelegs squeezing harder around her. She glanced an eye towards Fluttershy to examine her condition. It seemed like she was trying to fight the pain she was feeling. Seeing this made Rainbow cringe, unsure if she should go faster and risk more pain on Fluttershy.
Suddenly, Rainbow heard a beam firing in the distance. It passed right by her, targeting one of the trees up ahead. The beam sliced right through its trunk, causing it to collapse. Yelping, Rainbow slowed down just enough for her to jump over it as it crashed in her path. She looked behind, seeing Strike firing more beams passed her that was aiming for the trees.
Rainbow growled after being convinced on what to do. Only more pain could follow Fluttershy if they were caught. Another tree fell down from Strike’s blast, and she rushed under it before it crashed. Strike fired another one. This one, Rainbow almost prepared to jump over, but then saw what it held. She tried slowing herself to a stop as it crashed down, then heard Strike getting very close to her.
“Come here!” When Strike dove for the tatzlpony, Rainbow turned a ninety degree angle, causing him to miss. He gasped seeing a giant web in his path connected from the tree he just knocked down. Unable to stop, he was caught by the web. At the same time, He noticed a giant spider in front of him, fallen on its back. It righted itself up in a haste, screeching a venomous drool at Strike in an angry fashion.
“AAAHHH!” He screamed and used his magic to pull some nonstick spray, which he used to free himself from the web. Before the spider managed to latch onto him, he hightailed it out of there.
Rainbow took a quick look behind. For a brief second, she could see X in the distance flying towards them while her teeth was gritting in a panic with every tree she got near. Fluttershy’s gasp made Rainbow look ahead of her. There was a large swamp coming up in her path. Steeling her nerves, she decided to tread it. When she got one step just before touching the swamp, she lept and spread her wings.
A large splash came from the swamp, followed by a vicious growl. Rainbow’s hooves suddenly met contact with ground, stumbling her balance. She and Fluttershy screamed at the top of their lungs at the sight of a large cragadile emerging from the swamp. Before Rainbow could recover her balance, she was struck by the bottom of its tail, being flung straight ahead and deeper into the forest. Fluttershy cried in pain from that smack.
When that cragadile appeared X screamed and flailed her hooves in front of her, trying to stop her flight. She tried to move away from it, but it barely managed to snap at the tip of her wing, causing her to tumble towards the ground. The force of its breath when it growled at her made her whimper terrifyingly after finding herself backed up against a tree. It opened its maw wide at her, making her scream.
But before it could close in, a magic beam fired at its face, pushing it away. It came from Strike.
“Come on!” he yelled as he ran passed the cragadile. While it was distracted, X took flight once again, getting herself out of range from that monster before it could snap at her again.
“Ohh… O-Oowww!” The moans of pain coming from Fluttershy were getting bad. Rainbow managed to recover from her daze and continue running. But she was panting heavily now, barely able to turn her head to examine Fluttershy’s condition. It was not looking too good. Fluttershy’s hooves were losing their grip around her neck. Even worse, carrying Fluttershy for this long, as well as all this running, was starting to take its toll. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could go on, least of all, how much more Fluttershy could take.
If things could get any worse, they just did. Rainbow’s ears picked up the sound of distant howling. Timberwolves seemed to be up ahead. Fluttershy was in no condition to keep this up.
Rainbow decided to stop and look around for a place to hide. She had to set Fluttershy down now. Looking around, she noticed this area was infested with trees covered in thorns. Surely there was a good spot somewhere. Looking behind her, she couldn’t see any signs of Strike or X. That Cragadile must’ve launched her far.
Rainbow saw a small opening covered in… actually it looked like it used to be covered in bushes, but was torn apart. Luckily they weren’t spread too far apart. All she had to do was set Fluttershy down and pull the bushes back together. She started by setting Fluttershy down in the center where a few sprouts would cushion her fall. It didn’t stop her from moaning in pain due to whatever illness was ailing her.
But when she was about to bring the bushes together, she heard hoofsteps approaching fast. When she looked, it was already too late. Somehow, Strike and X had managed to keep track of them and catch up.
“Don’t move!” Strike said as he took his stance and readied his horn. This was not looking good. Rainbow didn’t move, but her eyes desperately scanned the area for some sort of way out. She had to protect Fluttershy no matter what. But the only thing she could focus on was the way X was shivering next to Strike like that. It seemed like she was in an even bigger panic than Rainbow was at the moment.
Rainbow’s nose scrunched. There was a new smell that filled the air, a terrible one. Suddenly, X screeched in terror, making Strike flinch. That was when Rainbow froze on the spot. She knew that smell. It was a smell that anypony would notice from a mile away. Turning her eyes from left to right, she saw them. Timberwolves, three on one side, two on the other, surrounding them all.
Strike hastily charged his horn from the ring and fired a beam at one of the timberwolves, making X gasp. The timberwolf just opened its maw. When the beam reached it, it chomped right at the beam, completely dissipating it as if it was lunch. All five timberwolves’ attentions shifted to Strike and X.
“N-ngh… No…” Strike was now shivering and backing away. The timberwolves started growling. It was then that X screamed in terror and turned tail out of there. “X! Agh!” As Strike called out to her, the timberwolves roared and started charging for them. Immediately, Strike yelped as he had to turn tail as well.
Rainbow’s eyes widened as they ran away. Her breath was still held as her nerves tightened. She only saw four timberwolves chase them. The fifth one’s growl could be heard right next to her to the left. Slowly, she looked to it.
The timberwolves glowing green eyes stared menacingly, practically piercing into her soul. Any sudden movement and this beast would strike. Could this thing detect Fluttershy’s presence? Rainbow didn’t want to take that chance. She had to protect her, no matter what.
The timberwolf stopped moving, stopped growling. Its expression changed drastically. Looking at Rainbow like this gave it a flashback, a terrifying one. That flashback was seeing a massive tornado that sucked it in and tore it limb from limb.
Rainbow saw that the timberwolf was suddenly backing away. What was going on with it? Its eyes seemed to turn fearful while its ears... somehow... drooped. And then, it ran away, in the direction the other two ponies went. She was confused, unsure if she could relax or not.
Of course she couldn’t relax. Her nerves came back full force as she thought about Fluttershy’s condition. She went back to check. Fluttershy was still moaning in pain, eyes squeezing, body shivering, and face red. Rainbow brought her head down to Fluttershy’s level. Even from here, she could feel that steaming breath.
“Fluttershy… Fluttershy!” Rainbow’s voice cried out Fluttershy’s name, desperately asking her to hang in there. If she didn’t do something, Fluttershy wouldn’t make it. But she didn’t know what to do. It didn’t matter that she got Fluttershy to safety. It was all for not if she couldn’t get Fluttershy some help.
“R-Rain-bow…” Fluttershy’s voice choked out, desperately trying to speak. It pulled Rainbow’s nerves in all directions as she listened carefully to Fluttershy’s words. “The… f-f-flow-wer…” There was a pause as she struggled to breathe. “I… n-need the… flow-er…”
The flower. What flower was she talking about? Maybe the ones near that camp they went to earlier? But how would that-
Rainbow’s mind suddenly went haywire when some words echoed in her mind. These words weren’t from the mare she heard in her past. They were from Clang.
”If anything had happened to me, return to this flower they said.”
Rainbow was backing away as she started gasping in fear. What did this mean? Whatever it meant, she couldn’t think on it now. It was time to act. Fluttershy needed help. And if that flower would do the trick, she had to get Fluttershy that flower.
Fluttershy… she was in no condition to be moved anymore. Rainbow moved the bushes back together to cover Fluttershy, hoping that would keep her safe while she rushed to get the flower. At least without Fluttershy, she could move a lot faster. But that wasn’t the only issue.
Rainbow looked in the direction of the camp. In the distance, she could hear the growls of the ferocious creatures that lurked within. There was no time to waste. She had to go in there, and fast. Her ruckus would surely awaken and attract those creatures towards her path. Nevertheless, she flew, and she flew faster than she ever did in quite a while. Nothing else mattered to her except for one thing.
Save Fluttershy at all costs.