Still so Far

Flora and her daughter ran. They ran like tartarus itself was chasing them.

Because it was.

Behind them a great fire raged, swallowing everything in it's path. It scorched the trees until they burned and popped, and heated the rain that poured down on them. It charred the leaves of all the the plants, and filled the air and sky with thick smoke.

The animals were long gone. Sensing the fire, they had long left or hid from the coming inferno. Amissa and her mother were alone, running for their lives through living burning destruction.

"Mama, it's too hot!", the foal cried as her mother carried her.

"We'll be okay." Flora reassured her daughter, "We just need to make it to the river."

She tried to act certain, but she didn't know how much more either of them could take, nor how much further she had to go. Her heart pounded and her breathes were labored from the smoke and heat. She would have taken flight if not for the thick canopy above them.

The heat on her coat made her feel as though she too would burst into fire at any second. She knew Amissa couldn't be fairing any better.

She pushed on.

There was no other choice. She had to. They would either make it to the river, or be consumed.

A loud cracking sound rung through the forest.

Amissa looked to see what was happening. "Mama, look out!", she shouted as a tree fell burning into their path.

They were trapped.

Flora looked up to the hole in the treetops, but it was too late. The fire had caught up.

She found a low spot in the ground. "Hold still Amissa. Whatever happens, stay still." She held her daughter tight to her chest, and wrapped her wings around her.

Amissa cried as her mother held her "Mama!"

"It's okay. I have you." She lay there. As the fire burned her feathers and fur, she held her daughter safely in he grasp.

~~~~~

An eternity had passed.

The rain fell, and cooled as the fire moved away.

The sun could be seen through the clouds.

Amissa struggled against her mothers grasp. "Mama?"

Her mother barely moved.

She pushed her way out from under her mothers embrace, and screamed.

"MAMA!", she looked down at her mothers burned form, "Mama! No!"

"Amissa," her mother stirred and looked at her, "you have to keep moving..."

"Mama, please! No!" Tears began to pour down her cheeks as she knelt by her mothers side. "You have to come with me.", she begged.

"I can't... You have to keep moving..." Flora could barely speak as she struggled to hold up her hoof and wipe away her daughter's tears. "You can still make it to Equestria... Go... You have to keep going..." Her hoof fell limp as she closed her eyes, and gave in to the pain she had been fighting.

"No! Please!" Amissa looked around in panic. "HELP! SOMEPONY! PLEASE!"

There was no response.

She continued to cry out, but the burnt out remains of the forest blanketed her shouts with silence.

She was alone...