//------------------------------// // 15. The Chase. // Story: Orchestrated Chaos // by ReFro //------------------------------// Low branches and thick underbrush closed in around Chloe as she fought her way past several smaller bushes and deeper into the heart of the forest. Twisting vines and numerous branches seemingly reached out to grab at her hooves as she passed, while the thornier vines kept getting snagged in her fur and mane, impeding her movements with each new step. The sickening smell of rotting flesh had finally faded when the wind shifted. It blew the opposite way through the foliage, causing the wet filly to lightly shiver upon reaching a small clearing. Thin slivers of moonlight pierced through the dancing leaves high above, taking her attention off the path for a brief moment. An unseen root caught her front hoof, sending her tumbling towards the ground with a yelp, landing face first in a pile of dirt and leaves, a few of which stuck to her still damp face. The wind picked up again, howling through the trees and blowing large strands of hair in her face, adding insult to injury. A cacophony from the leaves far above drowned out all other sounds for a moment, causing the moonlight to skitter and dance all around as it fell through the small openings in the treetops. With a groan, Chloe muttered under her breath, slowly getting back to her hooves and brushed the debris and hair off her face while swiveling her ears backward, scanning the surrounding area for any hint of the mares. There was nothing to be heard, save for the sounds of the forest itself. Huh, did I really get that far ahead of them? Turning in place, the young mare glanced around for any glimpse of light from the older mares’ lantern, but only the moon-lit trees and shrubs caught her eyes. There was no sign of the pair anywhere as the wind started to die down, leaving the forest feeling a lot more foreboding now that the adrenaline was wearing off. The voice inside of her head, which had been catering to her fears and insecurities, was gone now as well, leaving her alone with her thoughts in this creepy forest as she wondered why in the world she ran off in the first place. Running away on a whim wasn’t like her at all. Never before had she been this irrational, or this compulsive, but then again, she had never been turned into foal and transported to a new world before either. Chloe huffed, irritated at her lack of forethought as she sat down and looked around again while gently rubbing her sides to remove some of the foreign debris that had gotten tangled up in it and to feel a few of the light scratches that had been acquired in her haste. From this small clearing, the dim outlines of trees was all that could be seen all as she thought to herself, trying to figure out what way she had come from, but everything looked the same no matter what way she looked. This is just great… Way to go, Chloe. Way to run away from a nice meal, warm shelter, and a bed just to get lost in this maze of twisting trees. And for what? Just because you suddenly freaked out, thinking that those folks were going to harm you after how kind they have been towards you? Well look where that got you, lost at night in a huge forest, bravo! You do remember seeing this forest earlier on the walk to the farm, right? It goes on forever, and who knows what could be lurking in here, not to mention how scratched up you got us already. I mean, I know you don’t like this body swap horse-thing, but it‘s our body after all, and you should take better care of it. Now get back up and get us out of this mess you got into. Oh, and try to keep us out of the hospital this time, okay? The wind started to pick up again, though not as harsh this time, but it was still enough to send a cold chill down Chloe’s spine even as the heat from the day lingered. Moving her gaze upwards and peering through a small opening in the canopy, she noticed that the stars were now gone, replaced by a blanket of clouds that crept over the treetops. A moment later, the last rays of moonlight faded as well, leaving her in a veil of darkness, unable to see more than an arm’s length away as she turned around in place, completely disorientated now that even the heavens had abandoned her. “This is just,” the filly scrunched up her nose, “freaking peachy!” she said with a growl, stamping a hoof into the ground accompanied by an annoyed snort. It took a few moments, but her new, larger eyes adjusted to the dark. Slowly, the outlines of trees and shrubs became visible once again as she took another look around, hoping that there would be some clue as to what direction the farm was in. After a few minutes of searching, to no avail, she gave up. Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen as panic started to set in. “HELP!” Chloe desperately shouted out into the darkness, her voice echoing through the tightly packed trees. All the surrounding insects stopped making noise when they were so rudely interrupted, only to pick back up after a few moments of silence later. “Fuck,” she muttered under her breath, letting out an annoyed sigh. “HELP! ANYONE! LITTLE FILLY IN DISTRESS HERE!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, ears desperately scanning the surrounding area, searching for any sound that could possibly be her ticket out of here. It was dead silent as the last sound of her echoing voice faded into the distance. The insects had stopped momentarily after the second outburst from the filly, only to return to their chittering, seemingly mocking the cries for help with their renewed sound—It was like a dagger had been shoved in her heart as the feeling of despair sunk deep into her chest. Why would they give up on me so quickly? Probably because of all the trouble I have caused them so far. But still, who would just let a child run off into the woods alone at night? Not like they really just let you though, you did sort of run away on your own, so don’t put the blame on them for your stupidity. Rolling her eyes at the sarcastic thoughts, she started walking in a random direction, hoping that it would lead her back to the apple orchard. A barely visible branch almost hit Chloe in the face as she shoved her way in between two bushes. She had become just as lost in her thoughts as she was in this forest it seemed. Would they have really given up searching for me already or was there something— A loud thunderclap rolled over the heavens, interrupting her thoughts as another cold gust of wind whipped her mane into her face. Looking up to the sky, a cold drop of water landed on her muzzle, splashing her in the eye. “Oh, that’s lovely,” she sarcastically stated into the darkness, rubbing the irritated eye to get the water out. Her nose wrinkled as she caught a whiff of rotting meat floating on the wind again. “That’s just what I needed now, rain. I was just starting to dry too… and why does it smell like a slaughterhouse out here? Yuck!” The annoyed filly stuck her tongue out at the offending smell before starting to weave through the woods again as the single droplet of rain quickly called its brothers, turning it into a downpour. The storm raged on above Chloe’s head, lighting lit up the sky as thunder boomed all around the heavens every few seconds, not caring one bit about the young mare below who was now soaked to the bone and shivering. Her wind-battered mane was plastered to the side of her face and refused to go anywhere but there, no matter how many time it was moved. Every so often, the wind would shift and one could almost taste that offensive, rotting smell as it came and went with the changing wind, but each time it popped up, it was stronger than the last. Her mind went back to thinking about where it could possibly be coming from and why it was getting more and more potent. There have to be some dead animals or maybe some carnivorous plants around here somewhere. I know there are a few species that smell like this to attract bugs, so that has got to be it, I hope. But do they have plant life like that here? Chloe shrugged and pushed the thought into the recess of her mind, there were more pressing matters to attend to at the moment, like how she was going to get out of here and not face planting into the ground again. Though a mud bath at a spa would be nice after all this... The path the miserable filly was traveling, if you could call it that, had turned into a muddy mess; there were rain slicked roots and leaves everywhere that she had to watch out for. Visibility was at an all time low at this point, only a few feet in front of her could be seen at best and that was only when a sudden flash of lightning would light up the area for the briefest of moments. All this made traveling through the woods very tedious and treacherous to say the least and, on more than one occasion, Chloe had lost her footing to an unseen root or leaf-covered hole. At this point, she was actually very thankful for having the body of a quadruped as four legs worked wonders in this kind of situation. It was kind of like having four-wheel drive in a vehicle back home; slip with one hoof and no problem, the other three keep you stable, if you were quick enough to react. But, on the other hand, being covered from head to hoof in fur in a cold downpour was not very pleasant. Also, having a tail helped out a little with being able to balance, but as water-logged as it currently was, it was more of a hindrance than anything, sticking to her hind legs while she walked, the occasional too hard of a tug on an errant strand of hair was painful too, almost like plucking a stubborn eyelash but at the top of your ass. More than ever, Chloe just wanted to be back inside the small farm house with the other three that had been kind enough to take her in; no cold rain, no blinding wind, and definitely no smell of rotting meat making her want to vomit. Okay, what the hell? This is getting a bit ridiculous. She stopped to look around as the stench was now too overwhelming to ignore. Her curiosity was getting the better of her at this point and she really wanted to find out what was causing it. Now was a good time to poke around anyways, the rain was currently at a lull, so seeing in the dark was a tiny bit easier as the outlines of trees and other things a little ways out were now visible without the aid of random lightning flashes. Sniffing the air, her nose picked up the scent; it was strongest over to her right, in the direction of a large, gnarled bush several feet away. Cautiously, she crept towards the source of the putrid smell as another flash of lightning lit up the surrounding area. The flash of light reflected off a set of large, almost glowing green, eyes that definitely didn't look friendly. These were not the eyes or a deer or another type herbivore, oh no. These were the eyes of a meat-eating predator. With a muffled gasp, she started slowly backing away as the eyes followed her every movement. A deep, low growl emanated from the bush. Whatever it was that was in there rustled the leaves as it started to emerge. Its large, wood-like head started to poke out from between the leaves, looking menacingly in her direction. What the fuck is that thing?! Its head looks like it’s just a bunch of sticks all mashed together in the shape of a wolf’s head! Sheer terror swept over Chloe as the shape and size of the beast began to assemble in her mind, setting all her hairs standing on end. Her entire body began to quiver and tingle as it called upon her fight or flight response. With her ears splayed backwards and head down low, she took a shaky step away from the emerging monster, not daring to take her eyes off it as it revealed itself. Whatever this thing was, the rest of its body was just like its head; it was a massive body composed of different sized sticks, interlocking together to form a coherent, wooden shape, a shape that closely resembled a wolf. The wind picked up as the lull in the storm subsided, causing it start pouring, once again making things hard to see. No, no, no! This can’t be happening! As the frightened filly slowly backed up, another low growl came from her immediate left, causing her to gasp and jump slightly from the sudden sound. A quick glance confirmed what was feared; there was a second wolf-like creature in the bush directly to her side. Her ears laid flat on her head, letting out a pitiful whimper as her tail tucked in between her legs as she kept slowly backing up, glancing in between the two pairs of glowing, green eyes. There was no time to think as the two wooden wolves lunged an instant later, their large, wooden teeth bared, ready to sink into her young, equine hide. A loud, shrill shriek echoed through the forest as Chloe took off running in the opposite direction. The sound of the wolves snarling and chomping their teeth rang out in her ears, just mere inches behind her flank, filling her with a level of fear that she had never experienced before. Thunder cracked in the sky as the small filly darted back and forth on the slick forest floor, her hooves slipping and sliding all over the ground as they tried to find purchase against the rain-slicked mixture of leaves, rocks and mud. The way in front of her was barely visible as the wind howled through the trees, whipping the rain into her face, making her vision blurry and her eyes sting. Snarling filled her ears as she dodged bushes, low limbs and whole trees alike, they were still right on her tail, somehow able to keep up even though their bodies were magnitudes larger than her own. Where she had to dodge the bushes and lower limbs, they just barreled right through them with reckless, animalistic abandon. The pounding of her little heart burned on the inside, feeling like it was going to break though her skin and fall out of onto the ground if she didn't slow down soon. Heavy breaths, burning lungs, and stinging eyes; there was no way she could keep this up for much longer. She just didn’t have the stamina or the proper technique of running as a pony yet to be doing a marathon through the woods. Panting hard and out of breath, Chloe had to slow down; her body just couldn’t keep up this break-neck pace any longer. A quick swipe from her assailant’s paw was all it took to send the filly tumbling to the ground with a pained yelp, knocking her head against a tree trunk, and causing her vision to go all cloudy as the world started to spin. With a throbbing pain in her head and a large gash on her hind leg, she scrambled to her hooves and dove to the side just a heartbeat before one of the large beasts bit down where she was. Their large maw had a good sized chunk of the tree in it, spitting it out while the other one rushed towards her. Time was running short for Chloe. Either she found a way to outsmart these wolves or face becoming their late night snack in the next few minutes. There was something up ahead of her that she could hear closing in fast as it barreled through the forest, but her real concern was still right behind her as she fought through the pain, running towards the fast-approaching sound, hoping above all else that it was something friendly and not another one of their wolf buddies coming to eat her. Besides, given her size, she wasn’t even sure she would even be filling for one of these massive creatures, let alone three of them. Out of the corner of her eye, there was a quick blur. One of the wolves had ran up alongside her and was getting ready to pounce. Hah! Like I am going to let that happen! Adjusting her trajectory at the last moment before the wolf leapt at her, she darted behind a small tree, causing it to plow right into it. Much to her surprise, its head almost looked like it exploded in a puff of dust and fell to pieces from the impact. Holy crap! Are these things really that fragile? There wasn’t much time to ponder this thought as the remaining wolf swiped at her leg again, but this time she saw its body shift before the attack so there was just enough time to jump out of the way. Only, the landing wasn’t too great. Her two front hooves landed on top of a slippery, leaf-covered rock, sending her falling to the muddy ground with all four legs stretched out as she slid to a messy stop right below a small rock outcrop. Every inch of her entire body was, without a doubt, now completely covered in mud. There was just enough room under this rock for Chloe to quickly scoot under and stay just out of reach from the wolf’s flailing claws that were trying hard to get at her. She did her best to catch her breath and calm her beating heart. Oh God! That was too damn close! A deep baritone voice in the distance shouted out, and she knew instantly who it belonged to and shouted back immediately. “HELP! I’M OVER HERE! GET THIS DAMN THING AWAY FROM ME BEFORE IT EATS ME!” she belted out, mustering all her strength to do so, her voice cracking from the volume as she glanced past the wolf just at another bolt of lightning lit up the sky. “OVER HERE!” she shouted again, seeing the silhouette of the stallion, who was just beyond the bush line behind the wolf. The beast stopped its incessant digging to glance over its shoulder, but it was too late for him to react before two large hooves connected with its head, smashing it between them and the large rock. Splintering wood went everywhere as a result of the force that was behind the large stallion’s kick, causing Chloe to shield her eyes and cough a few times from the resulting dust. A moment later, the headless body was violently kicked to the side to make way for the drenched stallion to lie down and look under the outreaching rock with a big, goofy grin on his face. After finally locating the runaway filly he had been looking for, he spoke something to her in a soothing tone. Tears of joy streamed down her face as she crawled out from under the filthy rock, latching her arms around his large neck as she cried into it. As Pa slowly sat back onto his haunches, he cradled the trembling filly in his fore legs, gently nuzzling her cheek for a moment, but frowned, seeing her injured leg.