Forest Fire

Glowing green eyes looked down at Spitfire from a wooden face. Each time the creature exhaled, a foul blast of air -- It smelled of damp, rotting wood and mold -- struck the pony. Sharpened stakes showed as they were bared in open wolf-like jaws.

Watching the timberwolf, Spitfire began to move. Not taking her eyes off the creature, she slowly backed away from it. As she did, the creature held still, watching her intently. She tried to keep herself calm and controlled as she continued. It was doubtful she would be able to defend successfully stop the creature if it attacked her, so her best chance was that it did no such thing. It seemed unwilling to move while she was watching, and if she moved slow, it hopefully would not chase her.

The plan did not work as well as Spitfire would have liked. It let her get quite a distance from her without moving, but the timberwolf was not letting her escape completely. When she got fifty feet away from it, the creature began to move forward, keeping its eyes on Spitfire.

Is it toying with me? she wondered as she continued to move back. After nearly tripping over something, the mare found she had no choice but to look away from the timberwolf. She was in a forest with unsteady ground, and an area she was not familiar with after all. If she wanted to get out -- and not break a leg -- she was going to have to look away from the timberwolf and at where she was going.

Seeing no other choice, Spitfire turned around and walked slowly away. She refused to stop, wanting to keep moving at a steady pace. Every chance she got she would take a glance behind her. Each time she did, she hoped that the creature would be gone. Each time she did, she still saw the thing was following her.

Despite herself, she began to walk faster. It was not a conscious plan. In point she wanted to keep moving slowly as long as she could. Actually what she wanted was for the timberwolf to stop following her, and was reaching the point where she was beginning to wish it would do something, even if it was to attack. Instead, this being followed was making her become tense and nervous. Without meaning to, she began to move faster and faster until breaking out into a full galloping run.

The timberwolf chased after her. It ran quickly, having the advantage with longer legs and familiarity of the forest. It wove through the trees and cleared brush easily, quickly catching up toward its prey.

Spitfire had the advantage when it came to speed and agility since she was smaller and a Wonderbolt. It did not give her much in the hope of escape, but it did give her more time to try and come up with something else to try. Catching sight of a cave, she turned and started running for it. Given all that had happened, she thought it likely that there was something inside, but hopefully it would not be as much of a threat as the wooden wolf that was chasing her.

Had she looked back, she would have noticed that the timberwolf had stopped. It let out a growl, but stayed back where it had stopped and stared at the mare running for the stone opening. As it was, she did not slow down until she was inside, feeling the cool damp air encompass her. Only then did she look back to see the timberwolf staring at her from where it had stopped. Seeing an option of going deeper or leaving, Spitfire decided to go deeper into the cave and see if there may be another way out.

After walking a while, the cave got darker. Spitfire stopped to let her eyes adjust, although it did no good. Not being able to see, the mare continued to walk. Once again she moved slowly, slipping a hoof forward to check the path ahead for obstructions or drops. It was not fully effective, which she learned when her head struck a stalactite.

As she continued deeper, she noticed that she was able to make out some details. Not everything as clear as she would like, but some of it. The detail was enough to make it so she would not have to worry about walking into things. It also meant that there had to be a light source somewhere.

She saw the source of the light, and stopped. There in front of her was a large glowing shape.

Curled up on the floor of a cavern was a form shaped like a bear. It gave off dark blue light like the night sky, and like the night sky, there were a few points of stars twinkling in its form. The creature was curled up, head resting on its forelegs with its eyes closed.

The sight sent a mix of emotions through Spitfire, equal parts relief and fresh anxiety. Relief because the creature was asleep, meaning it was not an immediate threat. At the same time, it being asleep made her nervous. If it was anything like an actual bear, then waking it up would make it very cranky. As such, if she woke it up by accident, it would probably tear her apart.

So she either had to sneak past a sleeping giant glowing bear creature, and try to risk getting by without waking it, or go back the way she came and have to face a timberwolf that she knew wanted to kill her. Given the options between the two, the threat of death with the possibility of escaped seemed a better choice than having to try and outrun certain doom.

Moving carefully, Spitfire pressed herself against one of the walls of the cavern. She took a deep breath, held it, and started to follow the wall around the slumbering creature and try to find another way out of the cave. The mare tried to move as quickly as she could without making any noise. She had no idea what would wake the thing up, and the sooner she escaped the sooner she could breathe again.

Finding her way out of the cavern of the sleeping creature, she let out a sigh of relief. She started to move faster, glad that was behind her. She then stopped at what she saw before her now.

Not only was there a larger cavern, there was a larger creature in it. It looked similar to the one she had just left behind. The biggest difference was just that, it was bigger. The bear like thing she had seen in the previous area was larger than a timberwolf the same way as a regular bear would be to a normal wolf. The creature that she now saw was so massive, it could pick the other one up like a foal. It was also darker, more of a deep purple than the blue, and had more stars in its form.

The bear-like creature was dangerously sharp. It had claws that were as long as her body from nose to tail. There were also massive fangs, nearly the same length, protruding down from its jaw. Above it were a pair of bright yellow eyes.

Eyes that were open and staring right at her.

Spitfire froze as she saw the creature was awake and watching her. Her heart slammed in her chest as she forgot to breathe. It was hard to figure out what to do. Simply hold still would not work, she would have to move. Could she run? The thing had no need to even chase her. It could just reach out with one paw and either smash her from the size, or slice her into three equal sized pony pieces. Were she to go back, she would have to sneak past the sneaking creature again and then some how make it past the waiting timberwolf.

Seeing little other choice, she only went with the one option she saw. Slowly she began to walk again. Her eyes glimpsed at the creature from time to time as she moved, watching its reaction. It made her feel a little more relaxed when she noticed that the bear-like animal was following with its eyes, but otherwise staying still. The mare had to keep reminding herself to move slowly, to resist the urge to run.

As Spitfire moved past the massive purple bear-like being, she felt relief began to grow as she noticed that it did not follow after her other than with its eyes. The walk took longer than with the previous, but she soon reached another opening. The mare braced herself, expecting a larger cavern complete with a larger creature in it.

Fortunately, neither happened. There was a lot of space, enough for the creature she had just left behind to fit through it comfortably, but there was not another one that was of even greater size waiting. Hopefully all the monsters were now behind her.

Now she needed to find a way to get out of the caves and back to civilization. Using the remnants of light she got from behind her, she looked around, trying to find something that would indicate which way to go. One of her ears gave a twitch as she felt the air blowing against it.

The feeling was nice, then sent a realization through her mind. If she felt air blowing against her, that meant there was a wind. In order for that to happen, there had to be a way for air to be moving into the cave. So if there was a way for the wind to get in, then maybe it was enough for her to get out. Especially since neither of the creatures she had seen could possibly fit through the entrance she had used.

Spitfire let her mind enter a calm, zen-like state. It was a state that she used when she was flying. Her thoughts were subdued as she opened her senses wider and let her subconscious and instincts have greater control. It allowed her to respond to any minor changes in the weather and wind before she even realized it. It worked better without the outfit, which made her a little grateful that she had taken it off. Unfortunately, it also worked better when she could have her wings spread wide, so having to keep them against her put her at a disadvantage.

Having comfortably achieved her zen-like state, Spitfire began to walk through the cave. She continued to keep her pace slow, making sure the ground in front of her was safe as she went. With growing excitement, she followed the feeling of fresh air against her fur. The excitement grew as it became easier to see.

Soon she could see the way out. A grin spread across her mouth as she sped up, moving faster and faster. Spitfire nearly ran out of the cave in her excitement, then stopped just before she left. The mare looked out, making sure that there was nothing outside for her to see that could be a new threat to her.

Seeing nothing, she left the cave behind. Feeling a little safer, Spitfire continued on, hoping to find some indication that she would get back to civilization soon.