It was only a few hours after Twilight and Fluttershy had left, when they started to feel noxious, "Why is this happening?" asked Shy, fighting to keep her lunch.
"It is the swamp, the gasses it releases are less toxic the closer to the ground we go," Twi replied, looking for an opening in the treetops to land through, "so we need to land soon." She was still scanning the trees when she saw a small opening, pointing it out to Shy they both began their descent.
Upon landing, Fluttershy got a uneasy feeling, like they were being watched, probably because they were, and not just by simple predators either, she knew they were vicious ones that would take advantage of her weakness as soon as they got the chance, so she tried to stay near Twilight without seeming pathetic. "I don't think I like it much here." She said, burly refraining from stuttering in fear. "I really hope we can get through the swamp soon."
Twilight grimaced at that, then she began, "Yeah, about that, just past this swamp, there happens to be a dragon breeding ground, and I don't think you would much appreciate their welc--" Just as she was about to finish that statement, she stepped into the first part of the swamp, in which happened to be deep enough to nearly fully submerge Twilight instantly. Fluttershy slightly giggled at the look on Twilight's face, but then heard a deep growl from within the swamp, and following it was an odor far worse than that of a Timberwolf breath, and that's saying something.
Shy gulped, realizing they were in a lot more trouble than she had originally anticipated. She helped to pull Twilight from the pool of slimy water, and cowered behind her, and, though hesitantly, continued to follow her through the swamp. Aside from all the creepy sounds and murky water the swamp brought with it, there was a lot of interesting critters, beetles the size of ones hoof, mosquitoes that you swear to Celestia could suck you dry in one gulp, and, above all else, birds, lots and lots of birds, large, small, and medium, though mostly large, and not too friendly looking. Some of the birds had multiple colors, some of them not so colorful, like this one that took a particular liking to Twilight's horn, it was jet black, sleek, and very proud looking, almost like that of the Phoenix Celestia owned, put, instead of fire, it seemed to be producing smoke, but not a lot.
"It's a Shade Hawk, they thrive on that of darkness, and prefer to nest very near a magical source, but not just any magical source, it has to be a strong one, likely this Shade Hawk is just effectively bathing in the magical presence of my horn. Regardless, they are harmless toward ponies like you and I, but are very proud animals." Twilight said, paused for a little while, and then added on, "Curiously though, they are very rarely seen, so this is quite a treat, and they only go to places they feel are safe, or that they could escape from easily, so for now, we know we are in little to no danger."
"Wow, I never knew about these beautiful creatures, but wont these birds get sick from the gasses the swamp lets off?" she asked genuinely curious about it, though seeing as most of them are magical, its is very unlikely.
"Well Fluttershy, this gas is of a magical origin, and since these birds are magical in and of themselves, they repel it from themselves, I mean sure I could repel the magical gas from myself with my magic, but then we would get hopelessly lost, since I cannot do two spells at one time, especially since this tracking spell is a mid level spell, and so is the repelling spell." She finished, almost sounding disappointed in her own abilities.
They continued on in silence for a few more minutes, when the Shade Hawk decided to fly away, though it seemed to be in a panic, noticing this Shy clutched close to Twilight, who at that point realized that they were completely surrounded. The way the creatures surrounded them in a circling motion reminded Fluttershy of what Timberwolves do when hunting, but they do it from a far, so she did not understand what these creatures were up to, that and these ones did not smell of the breath that she was so used to smelling. The longer they sat there the more Shy felt like screaming, then one of the creatures pounced, only exposing its fur temporarily. Fur? Shy wondered what kind of a creature it was exactly, they were perfectly silent, and they didn't appear to be hunting for the kill, no, they wanted Twilight and Fluttershy alive for some reason.
As the unknown creatures tried to corral Twilight and Fluttershy, Twi decided she was going to try to step out of line, but the moment she did, a black furred paw with razor sharp claws swung at her, burly missing her, thus making her jump back into the allowed path. "Well I guess we are going this way." Said Twilight, not liking the fact, but going along with it, although, Shy knew exactly what kind of creature was being the predator, and she didn't care to be caught between this kind of hunt, as they only see it as a game. Cats, large black cats, and being caught between them feels like being a ball of yarn, just a toy. A toy to sink their claws and teeth into. "Leopards." Said Twilight, "They only see us as new toys that are trying to get away, like mice to be battered around."
That confirmed Shy's fears, it looked like there was going to be little chance to get out of this, and if they did, they would be lucky, but only if. So not only did they get themselves caught in the middle of a swamp full of toxic over time gas, but now they were the mice in the middle of a game of cat and mouse, but, with four cats, to one mouse. Things didn't look to good, and Shy wanted out.