Bark Back laughed, "Ha! Even more food! I'll tell you what female: if you can land even one more blow on me, I'll fulfill our deal. But if you fail, you must tell me how you dodged my pounce before."
Twilight jumped right back into the fight, having much more trouble than before.
Every swipe she made missed wide, and every time she tried to close the gap she was left in the dust. Bark Back made no further attempts to strike her, instead maintaining his distance and allowing his opponent to wear herself out.
Twilight was getting desperate. She was tiring much faster than her opponent, and in a contest of speed and agility that meant failure.
Although she could just teleport again she was wary of doing so when he was likely already expecting her to do it again. She looked around her environment for anything that could give her an advantage.
"Perfect!" She ran towards the towering Timberwolf, but this time when he dodged, she kept running, straight through a hole left by the portion of the pack that was now occupied with holding their newest prey.
She could hear the surprisingly agile bounds of the wolf following her.
She ducked under the lowest branches and darted between the narrowest trees, attempting to put more distance between her and her opponent. Her plan was so far succeeding...
When the sounds of her pursuer's footfalls were all but in-audible, she dove into a bush.
She quickly flopped on her back and shimmied as much as she could in the soft dirt. Standing back up, she teleported into the tree that overhung directly above the bush.
Now all she had to do was wait.
And wait...
And wait...
...
...
... Ah! There he is!
The hunter was now the hunted. She watched as her prey sniffed her trail through the woods. She had made her path difficult, but not so unreasonable that he would lose her scent. He approached the trap.
Nose inches from the bush, Bark Back let his disfavor be known, “Come out female! You run from a challenge? You hide in a bush like a common hare? You disgrace your pack!"
His yelling actually made things even easier for Twilight, it allowed her extra time, and even cover-noise as she adjusted her position on the branch.
"I said COME OUT!" Bark Back shouted taking a bite out of the bush with his wooden-stake teeth.
Now!
Twilight jumped from the branch, falling paws first right onto the head of the unsuspecting wolf.
He reared back, and she tumbled off, falling harmlessly into the bush.
A choppy guttural sound filled the area. For a second Twilight was afraid that her decision to trick her way to the winning blow was a bad idea. That thought died though as the grumbling turned to uproarious laughter.
"-Gra Ha Ha! You tricked me well female! Fine! You win the deal! But please, tell me your name?"
"I am Twilight Sparkle." she said as she righted herself and dismounted the bush.
"Well, Twilight Barkle, I must admit, you truly had me fooled with your scent trail. Tell me, how did you climb the tree without leaving a scent on the bark? Surely you did not jump so high?" he nodded to her springboard branch a long ways out of reach, even for him.
"The same way I dodged you before," she goaded, “and it’s Sparkle.”
"Fine, a deal's a deal. Let's go back to my pack, and give you your prize." he turned and began trekking back the way he came.
Twilight followed close behind, not wanting to get lost. Although she was confident she could find her way back to, say, Ponyville by way of celestial navigation that required the use of the stars, and in the dense forest that would require climbing a tree. She could teleport again, but magical exhaustion, brought about by physical exhaustion, was quickly becoming an issue.
When the two reached their destination, Twilight was relieved to find that her friends were all still unharmed.
"Release the young ones!" Bark Back barked.
The ones holding Sweetiebell and Apple Bloom complied. The fillies scurried over towards Applejack.
"What about the others?" Twilight asked, watching the fillies cry into the legs of the still captured AJ.
"Our deal was for the pups only."
"You said-!"
"Our deal was for the pups only. I'm not going to offer up our entire food supply over a simple bet. You won my challenge and have your food, run along."
"But they're not-!"
"They are ours now; our food is none of your concern! Now run along!"
"Big sis!" Apple Bloom cried as she clamped around her big sister's leg.
"Apple Bloom, I need ya’ to go with Twilight." she pointed a hoof to the purple wolf, "She’ll take ya’ home."
"Big sis!" she cried as a wolf put a massive paw around her whole body. She cries as the wolf pulled her off, carelessly casting her aside. Tossing her before Twilight's paws.
Twilight had had enough.
Frustration, exhaustion, and distress she had only felt once before welled up inside her like waters against a dam. A dam that then burst.
The violet wolf exploded in a flash of crimson flame.
Fire licking around her body, she walked straight for the wolves holding Applejack and her friends.
The wolves bolted at the sight of an embodiment of their natural enemy. As beings of wood, a fear of fire was instinctual, but the fear they felt at the sight of the burning wolf was much deeper than that.
The infernal wolf began to glow a darker shade as the formerly captured ponies were lifted from the ground, surrounded by the same light.
In an instant the event was over as one last great flash engulfed the forest. When the pack managed to regain their senses, the fire wolf and the ponies were gone.
Safely depositing her floating friends on the library's reading couches, Twilight finally felt her body relax, relief washing over her before she passed out.
Back in the Everfree Pine paw approached his commander. "Sir? Was that...?"
"Yes, I believe it was."
"Then-!"
"Yes, tomorrow we'll find her."