Fluttershy’s endurance wasn’t holding out as well as she hoped. Thanks to that illness, her strength hadn’t recovered enough to handle running for this long, let alone fast enough to catch up with the tracks she was following. Each pant came out progressively harder with every step she took. The worst part was, with the constant rustling and growls she could hear nearby, it was difficult to follow a safe path.
“I must… *pant* go… *pant* f-faster-r…” Fluttershy spread her wings in an attempt to fly. She took a few flaps, but she was having difficulties putting enough strength in them. A few more flaps and she was able to take flight. Only a second passed before her flight went back to the ground. Another attempt was made. This one lasted longer but dangerously made her wobble.
“Unnh… mm… ack!” Fluttershy’s wobbling caused her wing to clip against a tree. She tumbled and rolled back to the ground, stopping face first in the dirt. A muffled moan escaped her as she lied down like that for a few seconds. When she took her head off the ground, she slowly shook the dirt off her face, feeling defeated.
“Oh… I’ll never catch up to them…” Before she could think of anything else, she heard something massive rustling through the forest and moving fast. “Ah! What’s that?!” Her heart went into overdrive, making her hastily pick herself up in fear. Looking towards its direction made her eyes shrink. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it was approaching her. All she could do was scream and turn tail in an attempt to outrun it.
Fluttershy couldn’t get two steps before the beast emerged with a mighty roar. Only four more steps were possible before the beast latched its claws on her. A loud scream escaped her as she was flung upwards by the beast. She flailed her hooves wildly, unable to escape the inevitable fate that would happen. It came too fast for her to react.
But her fate took a change when she found herself landing on something soft. Whatever she landed on was still moving quickly, and the roaring was still there. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes. What she landed on, was a very familiar looking manticore, running quickly through the forest. Was this the same one she remembered?
The manticore suddenly stopped in its tracks, causing Fluttershy to fly off its back. That sudden stop made her yelp as she landed on her flank. When she looked up, she was met with another roaring manticore, differently colored from the one she was riding. Her eyes shrunk. These two manticores were doing battle with each other, and she was caught in the middle. When they both roared, she shot herself up with her wings and held both hooves out towards them.
“WAAAIIIT!” Fluttershy yelled, and then excelled a few pants. “Please! Can we settle this in another-” She got interrupted by a huge roar in her ears. It came from… the manticore that was protecting her? Claws latched onto her body, picking her straight up. “W-w-wait!” The manticore only responded with a few growls, a few growls she could understand.
And then… Fluttershy let out a loud scream. The manticore threw her as hard as it could through the forest. She covered her face from the fierce wind blowing on her. Her body was thrown faster than she could ever fly on her own. It gave her such a fright, thinking she’d slam into one of the trees. There were silent roars and poundings from the manticores. That was the last she heard from them before her distance brought her too far to hear them.
It was difficult to understand through their rage, but Fluttershy could somewhat understand what their growls were saying. The one that was trying to attack her sounded like it was arguing that a prey had gotten away. And from what she heard from the one protecting her, it sounded like the attacker was a friend or relative.
Pride. That must've been what was going on. With that thought, she opened her eyes.
Fluttershy found herself flying very fast through the woods without her wings spread. Somehow, her path had no trees or branches in her way. She was gliding through this forest as if those trees weren’t there. But perhaps that was because, the trail that she was following had them pried apart, whether from toppling trees over or ripping bushes and branches off. Magical scars could be seen from some of them. It was like the manticore was listening in on her dilemma, while it had problems of its own.
It was a scary sight. Fluttershy gulped. Up ahead, she could see that the trail was starting to change directions. Slowly, she spread out her wings to attempt to take control of her flight again. The very moment she did, she yelped as she lost control. She reared too far to the left and nearly crashed into a tree. Rearing to the right caused her attitude to severely drop. Flapping her wings caused her to go too high. This one, she couldn’t fix in time.
“Ahh!” Fluttershy made contact with one of the branches, causing her to tumble down. She bounced and rolled along the floor, releasing painful ‘oomph’s’ along every bounce. When she came to an abrupt stop, sharp pain stung all across her body as she lied there face first. Stutters escaped her breaths. With all her strength, she resisted crying and tried to get up.
“I-Is this… the pain… Rainbow Dash… always endures?” Crashing was indeed a very painful experience. Fluttershy thought she felt the worst of it. Things only got worse. Something was slithering along her body, something large. She could feel it slithering under her, wrapping around her body. The hairs on her coat and mane straightened out from her fear. All she could hear was its hissing.
All this was noticed at the same time Fluttershy managed to bring her head up. Her eyes had opened, immediately being met with another pair of eyes. It was swirling with two colors and glowing, belonging to a large snake that gazed into her soul. The glow tamed her nerves into a still state while its body coiled around her body. Her own eyes were swirling and glowing in synch with the snake, making her one with it. She held her mouth open with her tongue stuck out, no pain, no struggles, and a calm breath. With her soul tamed, the snake opened its jaws wide, moving towards Fluttershy, who had no idea what her fate entailed. No danger was felt, just inviting.
For some reason, the snake stopped moving. The invite was halted and the color vanished. Fluttershy shook her head as the hypnosis lost contact. She regained her sight and composure, releasing a questioning hum as she looked at the snake.
The snake was cold stone, and the grip it had on her had loosened before it froze like this.
“Ah! What happened?!” Before she realized it, she looked at the top of the snake’s head, meeting the eyes of another snake perched on top of it. Actually, that wasn’t right. She quickly noticed the change of color and shape on its body. “Oh no!” she yelped and looked away, realizing the chicken like face that it had. It was a cockatrice, and she looked directly at its eyes.
But for some reason, she didn’t turn to stone. Realizing this, she peeked an eye towards the cockatrice. Her nerves were released, noticing that what she looked at was the cockatrice’s eyes, but they had been closed.
“Huh? But why would…” Fluttershy noticed that the cockatrice was smiling. Something dawned on her. “Wait a minute! I know you!” The cockatrice nodded as she continued to talk. “You’re the cockatrice I met when I was looking for the girls!”
Another cockatrice made itself present that was pulling on her mane. Fluttershy looked at it, noticing it was quite bigger than the one in front of her. It was its mother, as well as a few children! And it was pulling her out of the stoned snake’s grasp. She gave a delightful giggle towards them.
“Thank you so much!” Fluttershy said as they were taking her back down. Her eyes turned to the tracks again. “I need to get going. If I don’t catch up to those tracks-” She interrupted herself with a gasp. “I must hurry!”
Fluttershy made a dash to follow the tracks once again. She soon realized her hooves weren’t making her move anywhere. In fact, they weren’t even touching the ground. She realized her hair was still being tugged on by the cockatrices. They never finished setting her down and were now all flying her along the path.
“Oh… well, okay. If you insist.” They flew faster than she could run, but not exactly faster than she could fly herself. After her previous accident, she didn’t trust her flying skills in this forest. But they seemed capable.
The keyword was ‘seemed’, because a few minutes after flying, the hoof prints’ path went to a hill. When they reached it, they stopped to look down the path. Multiple skids could be seen going down the hill like a slide. No doubt they all went down there. But while they were examining the hill, something snapped at them.
“Ahh!” Fluttershy screamed as she felt gravity take her down that hill. She barely managed to see what happened to the cockatrices. It was a snap trap hidden among the trees. One of the cockatrices got snagged while the rest fled away. With the snap trap having no eyes, they could do nothing to defend themselves from it.
Fluttershy was plummeting and rolling down the hill, unable to stop herself. A collection of ‘oomph’s and ‘oww’s escaped her with every bounce and roll. Twigs pierced into her coat, dirt kicked up, and all the spinning made her disoriented. One of her bounces felt oddly soft. It made her bounce one more time in the opposite direction before she came to a stop.
“O-oww…” Something groaned. Fluttershy heard a few things scamper off. She half thought that that groan came from her after all that pain she suffered. It was bad enough she was suffering all this pain in the first place, but the thought made it even worse with the fact she was suffering it after taking pain killers. This was really bad for her health.
Her inner health was probably the last thing she should be worried about right now. Something was growling angrily in front of her. When she looked up and saw its vicious drooling teeth, she yelped. A full grown blue leopard bracing its head was in front of her. She could only guess that it was bracing its head because she landed on it.
“Ahh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” The leopard roared at her fiercely, spitting drool at her and blowing her mane backward. She covered her face with one hoof and whined in fear. But then she heard another growl. It wasn’t from another monster. No… This one was from its... stomach.
Fluttershy opened her eyes and gasped. A thought came through. As soon as the leopard snapped at her with its jaws, she moved out of the way, making it hit the cliff behind her. She hurried to her bags and searched through them frantically releasing desperate huffs with every item she moved. The leopard recovered from its crash and had its eyes on Fluttershy. It’s growl made Fluttershy gasp again. Closing her eyes and looking away, she grabbed her bag and thrusted it towards the leopard, releasing a single item that was inside just as the leopard opened its mouth again.
The item she threw was the jackalope she found two days ago that didn’t make it. She tossed it towards the leopard, hoping that would make it stop. There was a chomp. A second passed before another chomp sounded. The chomping then turned to chewing. Every chew echoed in her ears, making her heart beat faster. When the cringe-worthy chewing stopped, she peaked opened her eyes.
Fluttershy saw the leopard swallow, then turned its eyes to her again. Watching it slowly walk to her made her shiver as she took steady breaths. It seemed to have calmed down. A gentle growl was emanating from it. When It closed the distance, she could feel its breath. She carefully lifted a hoof towards its head.
“I’m sorry for hurting you,” Fluttershy said as her hoof made contact. It made the leopard’s growl grow slightly louder. “I didn’t mean to. It was just an accident.” She began rubbing the spot she landed on. The growling was slowing down. Careful motions and soothing words seemed to be having their effect. “I was just trying to find my friend. But I slipped down that cliff and fell. I tried, but I couldn't stop myself from falling. Can you forgive me?”
Fluttershy stopped her motion for the moment. Her heart settled seeing that the leopard’s growling had stopped. Its eyes were no longer ferocious or predatory. In fact, it responded by licking Fluttershy along her cheek, a long, salivated lick that pushed her upwards while saliva splashed all across the ground, some soaking her coat. She could only giggle.
“Aww! Thank you for your understanding!” Fluttershy looked back to the path again. She noticed there was a second path, looking fresher than the one she was following. It looked like it was created by a smaller animal, one that just recently fled the scene quickly. Her ears dropped, realizing the scampering she heard earlier must’ve been that animal. Which means, her distraction caused this leopard to lose its prey. Maybe it was more mad about that, but she hoped she made it up to the big fella.
“I need to go!” Fluttershy said. “If I don’t follow those tracks, my best friend will be…” She gasped at the thought of what could happen. “I must hurry and find her! Celestia knows what’ll happen!”
Fluttershy rushed to follow the path again. Her thoughts made her never have the chance to look at the leopard again after that lick. She hoped it was alright now, for she wasted enough time already. But now she felt her body going numb. The painkillers were probably starting to have their full effect. Even though it was making her move quicker, it was worrisome for her health.
But not as worrisome as the rapid steps quickly approaching her. When she turned her head, she saw the leopard catching up to her fast. She gasped, not having enough time to react. The leopard lifted and tossed her up with its head, making her yelp as she found herself landing on its back. One second she was running, the next moment, she found herself riding on a leopard. It gave off a roar as it followed the path.
“Oh d-dear... T-Thank y-y-you,” Fluttershy stuttered as she held on tight, finding it difficult to stay on the leopard. “But… could you…” She was about to ask it to slow down. But this was the speed she needed if she was ever gonna catch up to them. “I-I mean, faster, if you can, please!”
It was almost a regretful decision when the leopard’s speed increased. Many trees zipped by, somehow avoiding contact with either of them. She found it very difficult to stay on, but she was managing. This speed was far faster than she could fly, especially in this forest. Every twist and turn the leopard made caused her to yelp, fearing a crash that could happen at any time.
“I... m-must hold on… for Rainbow Dash!” She forced her eyes shut so that she can focus on just her grip. The piercing sounds of trees and branches passing by still penetrated her ears. Using her wing tips, she tried plugging them, but they could still be heard. If only those painkillers could’ve numbed her hearing. There was no way she was ever taking them again.
After some time passed, Fluttershy began noticing a smell. Before she could get a good whiff at it, the leopard suddenly rushed to a halt. The sudden stop made her lose her grip and fly off the leopard.
“Waah! Oof!” It was a rough landing, but not one she couldn’t handle. She picked herself up and looked back to see why the leopard stopped. The leopard was looking down at something, shaking in fear. There was a piece of wood lying on the ground. Looking around, she noticed that similar pieces of wood scattered the area. And then there was that smell… Fluttershy knew that smell.
Timberwolves.
The leopard cried and ran away from the area, leaving Fluttershy behind. Fluttershy looked behind her as well as the rest of her surrounding areas. Multiple piles of wood belonging to the timberwolves decorated the place. There were magical scars on tree trunks and pegasi feathers strewn about. Something must’ve gone down here, but there was still a trail further ahead.
“I must be close!” she said. She knew that had to be the case because the breath of the timberwolves still lingered. Grunting, she continued running to follow the path. They couldn’t be much farther. At least, that’s what she hoped.
As she ran, a massive chill ran through her features. It made her release a fearsome stuttered gasp. The more she followed the path, the greater the chill became. She wasn’t sure why, but it felt like something really bad was about to happen. Whatever it was, it only meant she had to get to them now.
______________________________________________________________________________
Further ahead the forest, three ponies stood in a clearing, or actually, a rather cramped clearing. It was a clearing that only formed due to the battle that took place here. Timberwolf parts, fallen tree trunks, feathers, and strands of coat hair scattered the area. A burnt out campfire was set at the center of the clearing. The fallen trees were the source that fed the fire.
Rainbow and the other two ponies were at the edge of the clearing. They had been discussing things for a while. The longer the conversation went, the more Rainbow’s heart ached. She really didn’t want to do this, but she believed it was for the best.
Neither pony noticed, but a fourth pony eventually arrived at the scene. It was Fluttershy, gasping internally, yet harshly when she saw them all. She could hear them all still talking.
“So now you understand the kind of danger that you are,” Strike stated. Rainbow only replied with a nod. “A wild predator that feasts on other ponies, bringing harm to them with every breath you take.” X was carefully approaching Rainbow while carrying something in her mouth. Her bright yellow eyes shook as well as her face. Rainbow was looking at her with a frown, but she made no attempt to move away.
Fluttershy gave a hurtful gasp as she noticed what X held. It was a leash. She quickly attached it to the collar Rainbow was wearing, and then flinched back while holding the leash in her hoof. At that moment, Fluttershy learned she was right. Rainbow really was turning herself in.
When the leash was placed, Rainbow looked X in the eye. Even now, X was still a bit shaky and breathing carefully. Looking at her eyes though, it seemed like something was on her mind. Her bright eyes stared into hers for a long period of time, not really focused on anything else. The more she stared, the more her breath sounded curious. For a moment, they turned to Strike slowly. They then turned back to her looking a bit more curious.
“Be happy why don’t you,” Strike suddenly started. “Pretty soon, you’ll never be a danger to anypony anymore. And you’ll never have to hear from-”
“WAAAAIIIT!!!”
All six ears raised at the sound of that yell. It made Rainbow’s heart twist as everypony turned to the source. Her teeth gritted as she saw her. Fluttershy was here. She should be happy to see her. But she wasn’t. The only thing she felt... was worry.
She didn’t want to see Fluttershy here.