//------------------------------// // 10- Into the Wild // Story: Follow the Wind // by FrostTheWolf //------------------------------// Follow the Wind- Into the Wild Point of View: Alex         It had been only ten minutes since we started running for our lives and by now… barely anything has changed. I couldn’t even fly because I did not know how to use my wings for anything and right now, we were screwed six ways from sunday given our current situation. Chloe and Tao didn’t even had anything to contribute to trying to help us escape as they were still arguing over what to actually do. Honestly, if I actually had any good ideas, I would actually try to say something to them in order to get them to stop fighting each other.         Have you tried hitting it really really hard?         Brain, that would sound like something my brother would say when we’re facing each other in Super Smash Bro’s.         Right… And remember the time where you’ve never beaten him.         I stopped running at that point and planted myself into the ground as I began to channel lightning into my claws. Making a fist as I threw it forward and struck the dragon that was chasing us in the muzzle. The impact launched him far enough to collide into the other side of the ravine as I stared at the results.         “... Holy sh*t, that actually worked.” I said to myself as I looked back at Chloe and Tao. Who were just as equally surprised as I was. But it seemed like the Dragon on the other end just shook it off, roared… and then decided to fly away.         “You think that it decided to leave us alone?” I asked them as I turned around and began to walk over to where they are. Tao’s response was just a slight shake of her head while Chloe had a bit of a more… in depth response         “Either that, it went back to get some friends or cry to it’s mother.” Chloe replied to me as I saw her fox like tails shift a little. “I rather not stick around to find out which one is right.”         “Amen to that.” I said to them. “It would be easier if I actually figured out how to use my wings. Then I could actually fly and see if any problems are coming from a mile away.” They nodded in agreement, only followed up by asking me about how I was able to control my electricity. All I needed was a lot of concentration, focus and picture what I was going to do inside my head. Even though what I actually pictured in that moment was me punching Raven next time I see him, this was a suitable alternative for right now.         “Okay, maybe we should focus less on figuring out our abilities and find someplace to use for shelter…” I was no boy scout, but given our situation, we needed to survive. There were three things that we needed right now since there was no nearby towns for miles. Food, water, and shelter. Simple as that. I would go on and think that we would need to forge some tools in order to survive, but two of us didn’t exactly have claws or hands to hold onto them… Speaking of which. “Where did Tao go?”         “I think she went off into the forest at the edge of the Badlands to hide from the dragon we were running from.” Chloe told me. No wonder Tao would try to skedaddle off to somewhere without trying to tell us. That was kind of a habit of hers back home when it came to hanging out with us or looking around in a store or at the mall. Well, at least it was good to see that some things never change… for the most part. “But I’m actually a little bit worried about where she ran into though.”         “Oh?” I asked her. “Why’s that?” That response just got a raised eyebrow from Chloe followed by a paw to her face shortly afterwards.         “Great… I almost forgot that you have no idea what the Everfree Forest is,” She groaned as we began to walk. “The Everfree Forest is a dangerous forest where many vicious creatures that hunt ponies and other species like us call home. Some include Manticores, Chimera’s, Timberwolves and other creatures that… aren’t really so friendly.” All I could do in that moment was just raise an eyebrow in confusion. Some clarification on what she was talking about would be nice right around now.         ‘What is there to clarify about? She’s talking about creatures that could possibly kill you or eat you alive.’         And how exactly do you know that, brain?         ‘Think of this… In the Everfree Forest, it’s kill or be killed.’         Gee… thanks for the grim reminder. I just hope that Tao didn’t get herself hurt in there-.         “Hey guys, over here!!” Both of us soon looked at one another to turn towards where we heard Tao’s voice come from. Only to see her with… wait, is that a wooden puppy?         ‘No, it’s a timberwolf pup.’         So let me get this straight, brain… When you mean Timberwolf… It’s an actual wolf made of Timber? That’s the weirdest thing… ever… of all time.         ‘Not my fault… There’s a tree in your way.’         Wait wha-. SMACK! “Oww!! MOTHER OF GOD-!” I screamed, falling backwards onto the ground as I heard Tao laugh her head off at my stupidity. Only to have the small pup that she was carrying actually come over to me and lick my forehead.         “Aww… I think he likes you…” Tao said to me as she wiped the dirt off my forehead, “Hey Alex. Maybe you should give him a name?”         “Wait… We’re actually keeping it?” I asked her, the only thing that I saw as a response was a nod of her head. “Well, if that’s the case… I’m going to call him Kevin.”         Both Chloe and Tao looked at me with a confused expression on their faces once I said that. “Kevin? Seriously?”         “What? When Sheldon Cooper on the Big Bang Theory got some cats, he named them off of the scientists of the Manhattan Project. For me, I’m naming him Kevin because Kevin Garnett used to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA.” I explained to them, only for Tao to facehoof herself.         “No wonder your brother thinks sports is your addiction. He told me you named both of your cats off of Sports Teams.” Chloe sighed, reminding me of Charger and Capital back home.         “Hey, when we had a coin flip, he picked heads and I picked tails. It landed on tails, so I got to call the shots.”         “...... Your family is weird.” Tao sighed as she looked at us. “Come on, we still got a ways to go before the sun goes down.”         “Do you even have a plan of where to stay? Because I don’t think any of us want to be here with the possibility of getting eaten.” I told them, trying to convince them to use their heads a little. But what I heard next from them just made me question what we were doing… again.         “Oh we’ll just try to find the hut that Zecora lives in.”         “Who or what the hell is a Zecora?” I asked. It sounds like something you would hear when on a Safari trip in Africa.         “She’s a Zebra that lives in her hut in the Everfree.” Chloe told me. Okay, really now? Zebra’s? How much more weirder can this place even get.         ‘More than you would think.’         Oh shut the hell up, brain. You’re not helping our situation here. I followed both Chloe and Tao to wherever we were suppose to be going, only thinking in the back of my mind that something seemed to be watching us as we walked toward a clearing in this godforsaken-.         “Alex, stop!!!”         I immediately halted, noticing a patch of flowers that’s in front of me and both Chloe and Tao on a nearby ledge. “Oh come on, please don’t tell me that you are scared of a patch of flowers. Seriously?” I told them, groaning a bit as I let out some of the electricity building up in my scales.         “Alex, those aren’t flowers. That’s Poison Joke.” Chloe snapped in an insistent tone as she growled a little. “Bad things happen if you try going through that stuff.”         “How bad are we talking about here?” I asked. “I get the fact that there’s Poison in the title, but come on. They’re just flowers-.”         “Listen Asshole, if you don’t want yourself getting screwed over more than how you are right now then listen… Think of it like this… If you fall into that… You’re going to either not be able to fly, your powers will short circuit… or you will have a sex change. If you DON’T want any of those, back up and get your scaly ass over here NOW!!”         Good lord, who knew Chloe could get so vicious? Well, I rather not get screwed over more than once, so I better take her advice. Backing up and listening to them, I retraced my steps and joined them along the edge as we carefully scaled it… However… Everything was going fine until I felt myself loosing my footing and falling over, blacking out as soon as I hit the ground with the last thing I saw being blue flower petals. Some time later…         Oh god, my entire body felt strange as I finally started to come around to my senses. I could just barely see Kevin looking at me as he was barking a little and trying to lick my face. It was during that time though that I could hear a bubble sound… Like a Cauldron or-.         “I see you are finally awake, quite a fall you had to take.”         Okay, who said that? I tried looking left and right to see where the voice could be coming from, but all my senses were blurry… Matter of fact, what the hell is wrong with my voice? Anyhow, when my vision was fixed, I turned to the left to see someone different-.         Oh god, it’s that Zebra shaman lady that Chloe was talking about… Please don’t tell me that she drugged me while I was asleep. “You have been through quite an ordeal… Tell me, how do you feel?” The only thing I can let out was a painful groan in that instance, since I was hurting all over and my body felt like sh*t. “I see, well your friends are helping me get some things to arrange… So you can accommodate to your sudden change.”         Wait what? Looking around, I finally turned to look at myself in the mirror…… Oh my god this can’t be happening. That was when I remembered something that Chloe told me earlier during her rant. “If you fall into that… You’re going to either not be able to fly, your powers will short circuit… or you will have a sex change.”         Once I realized exactly what happened… There was only one thing I could do… Scream. Point of View: Raven         After having to tell Shining Armor our story, all three of us began to wait for the storms to die down. Of course, how long that would be may be a different story. We had spent most of the time waiting out the storm and trying to make sure that we didn’t freeze to death out here in the cold. Sure we might’ve had the logs in the fireplace, but who knows how long that would last for until they burned out. It was like an invisible timer… that kept ticking. Tick… Tick… Tick…         “Hey Raven?” I heard Shay ask as I looked at him. “Why does the wind outside sound like screaming?”         “I… don’t really know what to say, Shay. I’m not sure why myself.” I said. “Maybe you’re just tired. We probably all need some sleep right now.”         “That’s a good idea. Things might clear up once the sun rises.” Shining Armor added to that as he trotted over and grabbed an old pillow from a sofa before laying on it. I myself found a spare stocking hanging above the fireplace and let Shay get all cozy in that as I walked towards the door of the cabin. Listening to the wind… Listening to the screams in the wind.         Because by morning… there was one thing they need to do to find the Crystal Empire… Follow the Wind. End Chapter 10