My vision began to blur, everything was becoming quite lucid, objects in my peripheral sight beginning to blur and my mind being accosted by a stinging pain, as I found my stamina waning, an indescribable fatigue plaguing both my mentality and my vitality.

Ahead of me heralded not much promise of sanctuary; nothing but an endless dirt road mingling with puddles of mud and strewn flecks of logs.

The sunlight has dwindled down, or more specifically, it was obstructed by a miasma-like, haunting billow of darkened, shady clouds lingering above this forest. Drops of rain persisted in unrelenting torrents, pelting the entire forest in cascades of water, much of the exposed dirt were layered with a shallow pool of rainwater.

The ambiance was pervasive with the thunderclaps of the storm, occasional shrieks of blinding lightning could be heard as the winds became turbulent.

Leaves, twigs, and a myriad of other things that aren't quite ingrained to the ground were flung into miniature whirlwinds, flying adrift aimlessly as the rain seemingly worsened by the second as the drops of rain become more heavy and began to pour more rapidly from the skies.

"Dammit..." I craned my neck, shooting a glance back, not easing up my pace as I sprinted, blurring through the doused foliage and numerous greenery of this verdure. "Just how long do they intend to pursue me?!"

Indeed, within a mild distance, I could see dotting light within the horizon; torches of wicks kindled with a lingering, luminous orange flame accompanied with myriad equine silhouettes. These are persistent bastards; for every mile I placed between them and I, they compensate by increasing their pace twofold!

Nonetheless, I couldn't resist smiling, a grin-like expression embellishing my face as I ran. 'Why?' In a short distance laid recumbent was a fallen over log, seemingly have yielded to the weather and has fallen down. With resolve, I bolted towards it, leaping onto it with a huff. 'Why is it that I'm smiling? I could potentially die, for crying out loud!'

Jumping off the log, I dove into the air. Mid-jump, I swiftly turned around, shooting a menacing demeanor at the log that I just jumped off. Summoning another orb of magic beside me, I hurled it towards the log, its immolated body leaving a spiral trail of embers as it flourished towards the decaying piece of lumber.

Igniting in violence rivaled to that of an explosion, the log was sundered by flames, purplish fire licking away its integrity. Despite the rain, the flames did not sate nor faltered; my magical flames didn't even flicker at the tempest's seemingly perpetual squall.

Landing, I spoke to myself as I resumed running, wasting no time, "That should barricade them away for a while..." I pondered to myself, my eyes rolling upwards as I audibly thought to myself as I sprinted, "What was I questioning myself for, again? Ah; yes. 'Why am I smiling?'" I chuckled at myself.

'Certes, I must be considered a maddened individual for simply smiling at my predicament?' My heart thumped against its cavity; I could even feel it within my throat, my mind and other body parts have indulged in adrenaline--couldn't even feel the pain of running, say, several miles now.

'This raging nature of my heart, this mind addled with adrenaline, this... this excitement I'm feeling. I smiled even more waywardly. 'Who can blame me for liking this? Sliding across the mud, I went underneath a forked, spiny log. Regaining my composure, I stood up and sprinted once more.

"Haha! Ha!" I laughed. "The living folk has it all!"

I titled my neck to the side, peering through the vastness of obstructive, vining plants. Through the collage of shadows and ivy, I could spot several lights of torches running by me, keeping a consistent pace with me. I too shot another glance to the other side, seeing the same menagerie of plant life accompanied with the same lights of torches running through them, obscured heavily by the misty darkness.

"Oh... bother." I picked up the pace, the winds parting at my speed. "Don't even dare try to flank me, you curs."

A flash of lightning cleaved through the clouds' darkened mantle, spouting a brilliance throughout the forest. There, at this time span, the pursuers running alongside me were illuminated.

I bit my lip in tension as I saw their cloak-clad figures running along side me--the only thing obstructing them from directly confronting me were the vast flora and trees cutting us off. The brilliance of the lightning dissipating in a mere fraction of a second, the darkness veiled my pursuers once more, as well as the forest.

The dirt has melded and deformed as squalling torrents of raindrops fell from the firmament, dousing much, if not all, of this forest. Thunder growled and snarled within the blotting nimbi, their merciless assault.

I panted and wheezed, heavy breaths profusely exhaled from my mouth, a lucid feeling lodged back in my head as I stumbled about in a staggering stupor, wobbling uneasily as I trudged upon the blotting earthen roadway of this forest. Discomfort writhing in my stiffened, fatigued legs, I walked to the side, approaching a tree.

"Ugh... Dammit." I cursed underneath my breath as I tilted my head down in both weariness and pain. "I don't think I can go another inch--might risk fainting." I wheezed a bit more, spitting out the stray drops of rain finding their way into my mouth, the rain's melancholy giving me a despairing chill as my hair billowed at the jarring winds.

Suddenly, another flash of lightning speared through the dusky atmosphere, its searing brilliance bringing much light once more. Around the corners of my eyes, within the entangling spirals and embraces of vines, I could see the silhouettes of ponies shifting and making their way to me towards the left and right corner.

"Alright." I sighed as I summoned forth three more orbs beside me. Sending them in a tempestuous fashion, my surroundings, save for the exception of the area ahead of me, were engulfed in a purple inferno. Soon enough, I could hear startled cries from deep within the groves of trees and ivy. "Risking fainting it is, then."

I started to sprint forwards once more, my head hanging high, suspended brazened against the harsh wafts of winds. I sprinted further and further, the terrain seemingly unchanging; trees stretched for acres, shrubbery battered by the squall were everywhere still, and I couldn't find the damned exit of this forest.

"Ugh!" I cursed out loud, my words ringing through the winds like a knell, "Just how big is this damned forest!?" I harshly closed my eyes as a lone raindrop pelted against it.

"Ow-" I cut myself off as I just flared my eyes open, my vision perceiving a very, very large cliff ahead of me. "Wha- agh!"

I panicked as I noticed that I was approaching it alarmingly fast--and judging by how wide it is and how I could even see a fair enough portion of landmass beyond it, I'd say, should I fall off it, my chances of surviving the fall is slim to none.

Stopping just in time, my acceleration halted abruptly, however, I still slid through the muddied mire of this forest, causing me to panic as I let my jaw go agape in astonishment.

"Oh! Come on! No- no! No!" Pushing back the mud before me with my two frontal paws, I attempted to slow down my slide. Despite my struggle, my slide only slowed slightly.

Just as I approached the very tip of the edge, I closed my eyes in pensiveness, preparing myself mentally for the fall that I'm about to endure through. Of course, I was more or less curled up into a ball of fur as I coiled my four tails around me, their wet fur seemingly giving me an iota of comfort.

Suddenly, I noticed that I wasn't falling at all! Quite, quite; I was stilled and was relatively motionless upon the muddy ground. I shot one eye open, inspecting my surroundings.

Spotting it within a mere split-second, I saw the end of the cliff, causing me to widen my eyes. I was just an inch away from the very edge of the cliff, my slide only lingered just enough for me to appear as if I was going to fall off.

"Phew... looks like a long way down. How sadistic may fate be for it to torment me like that..." I peered below it as I stood up, taking a few cautious steps away from it. The ground was quite, quite far from where I stood--in fact, the trees below this cliff looked nothing more than grass. "Ugh." I shivered as I stood back from the edge, turning my face towards where I came from.

Suddenly, my pupils shrunk almost twofold their original size as I saw what has emerged from the foliage and trees behind me--a large crowd that bordered near army-size of ponies cloaked in black garb were staring at me with contempt and raw ire. I could even feel the anger emanating from them.

"Eh-heh..." I feigned a smile. "Now, look, I am aware that I may or may not have injured one of your own, but-"

"Enough of the meaningless preambles." One of the stepped forward, setting himself mere feet away from me. "The location of the shrine- our expedition leader told us you know where it hides! For the sake of Equestria, give us that, and we might pardon you for your maltreatment against us."

I went aghast for a second, my face turning pale, a cocktail of emotions riling up within me. 'Huh? They haven't found the shrine? Perhaps... perhaps it was placed under some sort of illusory magic made to conceal it? Also, what does he mean to convey by 'the sake of Equestria'? Regardless, I must find a way to slip out of this precarious situation.'

"Maltreatment, huh?" I cocked a haughty look at this pony. "You're the ones who are chasing me for hours on end! Can't you leave a prim fox alone?"

"Don't ploy a ruse against us," he talked firmly. "Are you not the one who stole from our head member?"

"Wha-" I glanced down upon my neck, spotting the pendant that the pony I scorched earlier gave me. "Hey! I didn't stole this!" I clutched it tightly in my paw, displaying it to him. "He gave it to me!"

"Regardless, you assaulted him afterwards," he simply replied.

"Ugh. It's because he was-"

"Enough of this!" He placed his head high, a faint emanation of magic flowing from his horn. Vanishing in a display of glittering lights, he reappeared within the midst of his peers who have crowded up and blocked the only entrance back into the forest.

"We had enough of your stalling," he stated, his voice somewhat inaudible due to the distance and the rampant rain still ongoing in the skies. "I've decided that we shall find it without you!" He turned his glance to his colleagues. "Everypony, have her be dealt with!"

Soon enough, they lined their heads at me, their horns sporting a threatening cascading glow at their tips. They formed in a line formation as they lined up their sights towards me.

Fidgeting a bit at the suddenness, I too summoned my own magic. Manifesting within the air, three orbs orbited around me as I began to take a stance, reining my magic into my whim as I aimed at them.

"I'd say you should revoke your hostility towards me and leave me alone." I shrugged as I felt the tension rose up.

"And I'd say you keep your tongue still as we burn you away." The, presumable, leader of the cloak-clad ponies began to line up a shot as well at me, forming light within his horn. "Let loose, my comrades!"

Responding to that as a forewarning, I nimbly sidestepped. Soon enough, the volleys of pillar-like lights began shooting through the winds, crashing into the ground that I once stood upon.

I took a swift glance back at the ground, noticing charred marks and lingering embers flecking the desolation it has induced. Unsettled by the pure devastation they've wrought, I too let loose the tether holding back my magic, the three orbs around me began hurling themselves towards my foes.

The orbs bombarded them, dissolving into a frenzied inferno as they impacted against the ground. Soon enough, within the onslaught, I could hear pained wails from their side.

"Give up!" I yelled out to them. "You're only going to get yourselves hurt."

"Such insolence," I saw the leading pony stand up as he spoke that, his eyes brimming with magic as they let out a faint glow. Sizzling, his magic began to ripple through the atmosphere.

'Oops. I think I uttered that out a bit more snarky than I intended it to be.'

His entire body engulfed in magic, he darted at me at an incredible speed--he seemed to be nothing more than a blur as he reared towards me.

Out of panic and in the heat of the moment, I summoned another magical sphere just in front of my head, hoping somehow that it would protect me against his assault.

Soon enough, he made contact with the sphere. He seemed to have noticed his own recklessness and began to slow down, but his momentum nonetheless sped him towards me.

I widened my eyes as the sphere began to go unstable, letting loose a damning radiance. I stepped back once more, nearing myself the edge of the cliff. However, the sphere detonate, destroying the frame of the cliff and as well as engulfing the pony unfortunate enough to have tackled against it.

Soon enough, I felt the sensation of falling as I began to descend, the cliff crumbling into nothing more than charred fragments and hazing dust. I felt my perception of time as I began to fall; the raindrops, gusts of winds, the streaks of yellowish lightning in the skies--they all began to slow down.

As I fell towards the earth below, I felt groggy. Incredibly groggy.

My vision went dark as I closed my eyes, my mind still coursing with a barrage of raw emotions.