A whole new world; a long way down

This was terrible.

Absolutely

The.

Worst.

Possible

Thing.

I had to wear a saddle bag full of chicken feed.

Okay so maybe it wasn't all that bad but I just got my wings working and now they was pinned against me by this bag and it was driving me nuts.

Frowning as I shook my head and took a deep breath knowing I wanted to help Fluttershy and it wasn't my place to whine just because I had to stop doing what I wanted and do what I knew was right, and right now that was helping a certain yellow mare catch up on the chores I had prevented her from doing because I had needed her help with my wings.

Turning my head and taking hold of the scoop with my teeth I hummed one of my favourite songs around it as I hoofed the gate open to the chicken pen making sure I pushed it closed behind me with a careful kick.

Now I will be the first to admit that the only time I have ever seen a chicken when it wasn't sitting on my dinner plate was when I visited a farm as a kid, even then all I remember was the smell of pig muck and even then thankfully that memory faded into the childhood haze of memories, but as I stood in the same place as the chickens I really noticed how pointy their beaks were and just how sharp their talons looked now there was no barrier separating us.

Swallowing the phantom lump in my throat I nervously continued my wordless tune turning my head and lifting the flap of the saddle bag with the scoop, plunging it into the grain and lifting the now generously laden scoop back out as I turned my gaze back in front of me.

I almost dropped the grain everywhere when I saw all the chickens had lined up in front of me neat as you please and I suddenly felt very vulnerable and exposed taking an involuntary step back as I shook out some grain onto the ground hoping the offering of food would break the uneasy tension.

It did.

In an explosion of clucking, squawking and feathers some probably mine, the flock of feathered fiends swarmed me landing all over my back gripping with their nasty little talons into my coat, covering my eyes with one of my forelegs as turned my head peeking over as I realised my mistake.

I had left the bag open and the bounty it contained within had proven too tempting a prize for the chickens to resist.

With an angry shout I bucked shaking the fowls off my back the last determined hen however was clinging to my mane and wasn't letting go, so with an annoyed grunt I gave a hard nod of my head causing the surprised bird to flop upside down dangling by my hair in front of my face.

Gritting my teeth on the handle of the scoop I snarled at the white feathered chicken narrowing my eyes, I had enough of this.

"Let go of my mane of else its KFC for you" hissing the words out at the bird who wisely let go dropping to the ground and bolted straight for the coop squawking.

I knew that in Equestria there probably was no such thing as KFC but if a chicken was to have an indescribable mortal fear of anything then it would be the Colonel and his secret spices.

After a few shuddering breaths I slowly regained my composure looking up to see the chickens were now pecking at the grains that I had scattered during the avian assault and were seemingly content to continue scratching at the ground instead of mobbing me.

I almost fell flat on my face as I tried to walk towards the gate, my legs having locked up from the shock of the past few minutes tottering back on all fours I moved my legs feeling the woodenness fade as I reached the gate my stride quickly regaining its speed if slight inelegance as I pulled the gate open and backing out tugging it shut with a tug.

Making my way around the side of Fluttershy's home I caught sight of her a few brightly coloured birds flying around her musical humming and chirps of the birds reaching my ears as got closer, deciding it best to to scare the shy mare I gave a quiet cough as I stood a few steps behind her.

The twitch of her ear alerting her to my presence she turned the smile on her face swiftly faded as she saw me though for the life of me i had no idea why.

"Uhm I fed the chickens like you wanted me to" an uneasy grin spread on my face as a look of horror spread equally slowly across the pegasi's face.

"Oh dear what happened to you?" her hushed tones made my blood run cold as her eyes quickly ran over me.

"Wait what?" I said as I quickly looked first down at my self before turning my head and getting a proper look at myself after the chicken incident.

I was a freaking mess.

My coat was a disheveled mess dust ingrained into it small spots of dried blood showing from where the chickens had been less than gentle in their actions stray chicken feathers were stuck randomly into my coat and tail and I was pretty sure that last hen got a good chunk of my mane too.

Looking back to Fluttershy who now had somehow managed to have what appeared to be a medical kit in front of her.

I was never one for being fussed over I nervously laughed waving a hoof at Fluttershy taking a small shuffling step backwards feeling increasingly uncomfortable with her attention.

"Eh heh its uh nothing really its my own fault really I left the feed bag open and they kinda uh jumped me is all, I'm fine really" as I fixed a queasy grin on my face.

I didn't feel that bad and I was pretty sure any damage was purely superficial although it seemed Fluttershy wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"But you got hurt by my chickens because you wanted to help me" she matched my backwards step with her own forwards step a cotton swab dancing up and down with each word as it stuck out from the corner of her mouth.

A flash of white in the corner of my vision drew my attention as I turned my head curiosity over riding my sense of discomfort at a certain mares insistence of medical ministrations.

It was a chicken, and if my eyes don't deceive me it was the same damn chicken that hung from my mane earlier!

Then I realised with a start that the chicken had got out because I must not have shut the gate to the chicken pen properly.

I groaned watching as the chicken vanished into the forests treeline almost as soon as I had spotted it.

Turning back to face Fluttershy raising my hoof and giving a solemn shake of my head to halt the mare.

"Fluttershy please stop, one of your chickens got out because I screwed up there is no time for that right now" I turned pointing my hoof to the forest, before she could respond I shrugged off the saddle bag of chicken feed letting it fall to the ground with a thud I barely heard as I ran towards the trees hoping to catch the bird.

"Oh my, Cloud wait that's the Everfree forest and uhm, oh" or at least I think that's what she said her voice quickly fading away drowned out by the pounding of my hooves and the rapidly growing distance between us as I passed the first trees.

The light level dropped as rapidly as my speed as I slowed to a walk my head swinging side to side as I scanned the low lying vegetation for the feathered fugitive.

After a while I couldn't help but feel a familiar sort of tranquility descend over me as memories of my childhood days spent happily wandering in the woods that lied outside the town where my parents lived.

For the first time since my en-expected arrival in Equestria I felt like I was in my own element, although I had to admit that back home the trees weren't nearly so gnarled old or twisted or the canopy being nearly so densely packed that it was almost possible to belive that night had crept upon me while I wasn't looking.

I soon lost track of time after a while as I realised with a start that as I turned around to see that I was good and lost the route I had taken being utterly erased from my sight, too late I knew now how stupid I had been acting the hero and charging off into what I now knew to be the Everfree forest, a place that if memory served correctly was a wild place full of creatures both magical and fantastical, and although I knew there was nothing from my own world to measure myself against here and now I felt like nothing more than a small fuzzy blue snack to those denizens of the forest.

With those terrifying thoughts running through my mind I nearly jumped out of my skin as my world was torn apart with a primal blast of raw sound, looking up through a rare break in the canopy cover to see a sky thick with dark threatening clouds hanging low and heavy in the sky overhead.

The flash of light that tore across the sky lancing downwards into the distance sent dancing motes of multi-coloured spots of blindness floating across my vision, so i was unable to see the first few drops of what rapidly became a raging downpour that drenched me in an instant.

Staggering blindly out from under the clearing to seek shelter beneath the trees, I half fell half sat onto the ground beneath a tree leaning against the bough of my shelter trying to rapidly blink away the lightning glare that floated across my sight each blink causing the bolt to flash and fade like a cheap reproduction each flicker a weaker more diluted ghost fading from my eyes.

As I sat there shivering under the tree passing the time until the rain ceased creatively cursing the chicken that had made what had been a great day into a nightmare, sighing to myself as I turned and looked at my waterlogged wings.

Lifting my wings felt like they were made of lead instead of the light aerodynamic pinions of beauty, with nothing better to do I began slowly flapping my wings shaking out fat droplets of water out helping to slowly dry them as well as helping me to work the woodenness out of the movements.

After what felt like an eternity the rain stopped almost as suddenly as it had begun, thankfully in the time that I had been waiting my wings were ruffled but for the most part they were dry unlike the rest of me that had left me shivering and if it wasn't for my fuzzy new me I would probably be facing pneumonia.

After rising from my impromptu shelter I stretched out the stiffness in my joints and continued on my journey no longer caring if I found the chicken instead caring only to find a path or another pony that could help me, anything was better than being lost forever in this place.

After a bit more time of me working my way through the forest probably getting more lost in the process I began to feel a chill running up and down my spine this having nothing to do with my now mostly dry condition, stopping I looked around studying my surroundings trying to ascertain what was making me feel so uncomfortable.

Frowning I continued on my way randomly picking my way through the trees and foliage I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched and the feeling only grew with every step I took until it almost felt as though whoever or whatever was watching me was trying to burrow through my shoulder blades with their eyes.

The sound of a snapping twig was the last straw as I turned around angrily glaring at a large bush where I belived the sound had come from.

"Alright I have had enough of this I know you are there so stop following me and show your self" I yelled at the shrub glaring daggers at where I assumed my would be stalker was hiding.

After a moments shaking and rustling the bush revealed a goat head that gave a rather anti climatic bleat that made me feel utterly stupid for confronting the animal.

Raising a hoof to my face I chuckled to myself shaking my head at letting my fears get the best of me, however it seemed the bush was far from done shaking as it shook violently followed by a heavy thud I felt rather than heard through my hooves.

Looking nervously back towards the bush my eyes fell upon heavy tan paw that flexed revealing sharp black claws that tore into the ground, as I forced my eyes to travel higher following the heavily muscled contours of the paw and up past a equally massive shoulder to the viciously toothed maw of a lion as it gave a deep throaty snarl its eyes narrowing as I met its gaze.

I felt rooted in place my body fighting all concepts of escape, I had never even been to a zoo before and yet here and now I was face to face with a lion.

Another growl issued from the left side of the bush as it shook again followed by another heavy thud as another limb settled on the ground, this one however was a heavy dragons arm covered in thick crimson scales with five thick black claws just as long as viciously sharp as its right counterpart.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me" I groaned as the reality of what was in front of me finally clicked.

A chimera of all things, why couldn't I get a nice monster or even better a plain old goat for Celestias sake.

With a wordless shout I turned around and ran as fast as my four legs would carry me darting around trees and jumping bushes in my frantic dash to get as much distance between my self and a creature I had only read about in books as a kid.

A cacophony of brutal roars from the chimera broadcast its displeasure at my rapid departure giving chase even from my head start and the distance however small it may be I could feel every one of its footfalls as it gave chase.

My heart was deafening in my ears as I pushed my equine body to its limit jinking and weaving  around the trees as I ran ignoring the low hanging branches as they stung my body in my desperation to get away, a panicked glance over my shoulder showed no sign of my mythical persuer which almost gave me hope that I was safe now and could stop running for my life.

The splintering creaking and groaning of the trees behind me dispelled my hope as the chimera tore its way back into my sight as it shunted trees with its massively muscled frame, shaking the larger trees and up rooting some of the smaller ones great gouges appearing in all as the beast propelled itself with mighty sweeps of its claws.

I was a fuzzy blue dot at that point as my fear elevated itself to pure soul numbing terror my vision narrowed itself to the next gap in the trees, a flash of grey the first break in the blur of green I had seen and the first destination I had been offered was reason enough to steer my self in that direction.

Breaking the treeline I skidded to a halt as I discovered the grey object I had glimpsed past the trees was nothing more than a cliff.

"A dead end, great" I croaked shuddering to myself at my poor choice of words as I moved to the edge of the cliff peering down in hope of a small drop and my freedom.

Fate it seemed had it in for me as not only was there a considerable drop but there was even jagged rocks down there too, wonderful.

Turning around I warily watched the treeline wincing as the shaking tree tops swayed and trembled at the raw violence of the chimeras passage and more so that it seemed I may well be on the receiving end its wrath.

I stood there trying to stand ready to face my fate and although I knew that my mane was disheveled and my coat was covered in burrs and thorns and that after my frantic dash through the woods I could barely stand as my body paid the hefty toll, but after all I had been through I refused to simply keel over and give up without giving it my all.

The dis-harmonious roars of the chimera was all the warning I had as the beast leaped clear of the forest landing on all fours with a heavy boom that sent tiny cracks crazing out from beneath its claws splintering the rock with its sheer mass.

This was the first time I truly saw how big the beast was, a mountainous wall of muscle, scale, tooth and claw big enough to easily crush me by simply placing a claw on my head and leaning.

It regarded me with suspicion its many heads all studying me from their own respective angles, the goat head seemed almost comical with the savage look fixed on its features, however the ferocity of its neighboring heads snarling and growling erased any humour in the situation strained as it already was.

What I didn't expect was the gout of flames that burst forth from the chimera, not from the dragons head but from the goats as it laid a carpet of flames to its left and right completely blocking any hope of escape that I may have had.

"Oh come on you breath fire too?!" I yelled at the monster feeling cheated that it was capable of breathing fire as well as its immense size and power.

In what seemed an almost imperious manner the goat sneered at me snorting out a puff of embers and sparks at me, making me flinch back taking a half step back.

In that moment, as my right hoof moved down and failed to connect with anything except thin air I felt my blood run cold as dropped backwards.

In hind sight trying to back away from something while on a cliff edge over pointy rocks was not one of the smarter things I have done in my short time here in Equestria.

Dangling from the cliff edge by my fore-hooves I slowly slipped backwards my hooves failing to gain purchase on the cliffs surface, looking up into the many eyes of my hunter as the chimera gazed down at me that same sneer spread across its idiot face, one thought dominated my mind over ruling all the others muttering it under my breath.

"I freaking hate chickens"