It was cold and the mosquitoes were eating Fluttershy alive. She’d tried begging them to stop biting her, but they wouldn’t listen. She’d tried to light a fire to keep the bugs away, but it had rained hard the night before, raising the water level to cover the flame geysers the swamp was named for and drenching any available firewood.
She’d sent Angel to look for dry kindling, while she pitched camp on one of the few patches of solid ground they could find, but he wasn’t back yet and the night was almost falling. She tried calling him, but she was never really good at that, and she tried lighting the fire again so Angel could see the light to find her, but without dry kindling, the wood wouldn’t burn. What if he got lost in the swamp and couldn’t find his way back in the dark and got eaten by some hungry animal who lived in the swamp? She could go looking for him; but what if he came back when she was gone and then he went looking for her and really did get lost? What if… he’d finally decided to go back to Ponyville?
Fluttershy shook her head at the thought; he was never meant to have come with her in the first place.
She’d tried to slip quietly out of the cottage and leave without anyone knowing, but when she got to the front door, Angel was there waiting for her. He’d tried to persuade her to stay and be strong, but when it was clear that she wouldn’t leave, he hefted a few bags of his own that he had already packed and insisted on coming with her.
She had wanted a new start, in a new town where nothing reminded her of home; but he refused to leave her and Fluttershy couldn't deny that he'd been a huge help to her on their journey… and now she’d sent him out to be cold and hungry and alone in the middle of a big stinking swamp full of dangerous animals. She needed to go look for him… maybe just a few more minutes.
Fluttershy sat back down and hugged her coat closer around her, trying to stave off the hungry mosquitoes. She knew that each of them only wanted one bite, and what was only a little bit of blood for her would mean so much more to one of these mosquitoes who were just trying to feed their families; but little bit by little bit by little bit, and they kept coming, never having enough and Fluttershy felt like they were draining her dry. She’d given enough!
There was a terrible howl of something out in the swamp making Fluttershy flatten into the ground, trying to hide. It seemed to go on forever, though it probably wasn’t really all that long and the sound didn’t come any closer. Maybe whatever was out there had just cried because it was startled, and deep down that big scary monster was really just as scared of the dark as she was and had just been startled by a mouse. But what if had eaten the mouse, and it was roaring out in delight. What if instead of a mouse it was Angel?
Fluttershy waited, and tried calling out softly for Angel, but he didn’t answer. By rights they shouldn’t even be in this swamp anymore; Angel had wanted to pass straight through to the Cajun village, but Fluttershy had said she’d wanted to take a long detour to look for the rare Coonkatta bird. Really, she'd just wanted to delay getting to the village because she’d promised herself when she set out that as soon as she got to any form of civilization she’d write a letter to someone in Ponyville, explaining why she’d left. There was a splash near Fluttershy causing her to jump and spin to see a red, humpbacked, creature splashing around in a puddle. It almost looked like – “Angel!”
Fluttershy ran over to where her friend was bleeding, but when he looked up he dropped the little bag he’d been carrying, hopped past her like he always did when he didn’t want to be hugged, picked a cloth out of Fluttershy’s bag and began wiping off the large red splotches that were clinging to his coat, while Fluttershy fretted around him. “I-is that blood?”
Angel nodded his head.
“Are you hurt?”
Angel shook his head.
“Then… why are you covered in blood?”
It took several minutes for him to explain, partially due to Angel's reluctance to explain and partially because of Fluttershy’s constant interruptions; but it seemed Angel had found a wounded Chimera out in the swamp. He tried to help it, but it didn’t want his help so he left it… but he found some good kindling.
A low whine of pain echoed from across the swamp, reminding Fluttershy of the cry she’d heard earlier. She asked Angel if that was the direction he’d found the chimera and he nodded. Fluttershy turned; she didn’t want to go out into the swamp again, but the thought of that poor chimera all alone wouldn’t rest... and so neither could she. “M-maybe I could just go and see if it’s changed his mind about help.” Angel shook his head, “I’ll be back.”
Angel rolled his eyes, but that didn’t try to stop her as Fluttershy got up and flew cautiously over the thick flora. There was still enough light to see by, so if the chimera did want help, there would still be time to help it back to the campsite before the sun had truly set. It took her less than a minute to spot the wounded chimera, but took her more than five to gather the courage to approach it; not because she believed the chimera itself could be dangerous anymore, but because of what had been done to it.
With three heads to keep watch, brute strength, and the ability to breathe fire, very few things would ever attack a chimera except another chimera when the big males fought over territory; or a band of pony hunters from the Cajun Village who were more scared of the misunderstood creatures than they should be. Fluttershy had been prepared to see claw marks, third-degree burns, broken bones, machete wounds, poison darts, gore marks from goat horns and bites from all three heads of another chimera; but she wasn’t prepared for this:
The tigress’s left jaw utterly shattered and then had the skin on her neck split from her cheek to halfway to the shoulder had been cut open in one clean slice. In any other creature, this would have been fatal, but the snake had wrapped itself around the tigress head and Fluttershy felt sure that if it came away, the tigresses would simply fall apart altogether. The snake itself hadn’t fared much better with its fangs broken into stubs and its eyes simply snatched out. The goat, who was the only head that hadn’t been brutalized, was doing its best to breathe for all three of them, its face twisted in pain.
Fluttershy crept forwards. Whatever monster had done this was far too precise to have been another chimera and too brutal for even the worst of ponies. Whatever had attacked it hadn’t killed the chimera for food or even crippled it to eat later as some creatures did, and the blood splotches showed the chimera hadn’t moved far from where it was attacked, so this wasn’t about territory. She couldn’t imagine the creature that could have done this, or why; but what if it was coming back? The goat head caught sight of Fluttershy, and looked at her with pleading eyes full of tears, “H-hellp usss.”
Fluttershy was by its side the next instant, taking off her traveling cloak and offering it to help stem the bleeding from the tigress’s neck while trying to get a better look at the tigress’s injury. She’d only seen a wounded chimera once before at the Fillydelphia zoo where two males had gotten into an argument. The loser had survived the initial encounter but died two days later due to the fire glands in the tiger’s throat rupturing. Now, however, the presence of leaking fire was ominously absent, as if the fire glands had been torn straight out.
“You poor, poor chimera;” Consoled Fluttershy softly as the coils of the snake loosened slightly, allowing Fluttershy to apply strips of her cloak over the open wound. “What happened to you?” The goat head tried mumbling an answer, but it was buried underneath too much agony for any meaning to be clear. “It’s OK;” Soothed Fluttershy, “You can tell me later. For now, you’re going to need stitches to close your neck and some antiseptic to make sure it doesn’t get infected. I have these things in my medical bag not far from here. Stay still and I’ll be back in a few minutes; I’ll fix you up and then take you to my campsite where you can relax near a nice warm fire that will keep the bugs away.”
The goat head nodded weakly and Fluttershy darted back to her camp. It would be dark in less than an hour and there was a lot to do before then; fortunately, she had Angel to help her. She was never sure where he'd practiced, but back at the cottage, she’d decided that if Angel had been born as a pony, or if the Equestrian medical board was less racist, Fluttershy was certain Angel could have made a wonderful surgeon somewhere. Whether it was giving a needle or holding someone still so she could bandage them, she knew he could be counted on, even if he did lack something when it came to bedside manners.
When she got back to the campsite, Fluttershy was amazed by how much it had changed. The pile of damp firewood she’d collected with Angel earlier had erupted into a huge roaring bonfire towering several times the height of Angel who looked very pleased with himself. She knew he’d said he found good kindling, but that wood was soaked through, so unless he’d found a large jar of oil she couldn’t begin to guess how he’d built it up so fast. Angel looked up at her from where he’d been cleaning the last traces of blood off his fur, smiled with his little rabbit face, and pointed to the carrots, parsnip and marshmallows he had roasting over the open fire.
“There’s no time Angel,” hushed Fluttershy, quickly collecting her medical bag; “The chimera you found needs our help and is willing to accept it now; let’s go.” Angel heaved a loud sigh, stood up, and then made a show of sitting back down heavily and folded his arms in front of him. “Angel.” Said Fluttershy sternly, “Now.” Angel gave a grumpy snort, looked longing fully at his marshmallows and then jumped onto Fluttershy’s back who sped back towards the wounded chimera; mentally preparing herself for the grueling task ahead of her.
The chimera raised its goat head at the sound of her wings, a trace of a hopeful smile gathering for a moment before being replaced by a look of sheer terror. It let out a bray that Fluttershy would hear for hours afterward, bolted upright and went dashing away from her, trailing what was left of her cloak behind it. Fluttershy tried following it for a short way, but even with its injuries, the chimera was too fast and had soon vanished without a trace.
She hovered mid-air, bewildered, and then the thought stabbed through her heart that the only thing that could have caused that reaction was if the chimera had seen the monster that attacked it, to begin with. She spun around; ready to run away from the terrifying monster that must be behind her. She searched the swamp and the sky around her… but there was nobody there.
Author's Note
I do apologize for being so inactive these last couple of months. Long story short there are some minor edits I need to make to Storm of Secrets before I can continue with Limits of the Horizon, and what I expected to be a simple and fast edit became a teeth-pulling experience and I ended up taking a siesta from writing to give some much needed focus to school, (and I also discovered a new computer game 
).
I can't promise when LOTH and Forsaken will start updating again, but I hope it won't be too long. This was an idea I came up with a few days ago and figured I'd see where it went, without waiting to link it in as a satellite.
Enjoy!
