Rainbow didn't fly very fast. She could fly very fast, of course. It was thrilling to do so. The wind in her mane and her fur. The adrenaline rush from the speed. The thrill of achieving a death-defying stunt. All of it was what she loved; what she lived for. She guessed it was the closest to the thrill of using magic for a unicorn; natural, sure. But at the same time, truly breathtaking.

However, she couldn't exactly do that here. For one, she didn't know what to expect. She didn't see anything, but that didn't mean anything. Flying predators, dragons, pirates. Even if she knew for certain there was nothing, she still had to go slow. She didn't have a set destination in mind, and flying at her usual speed was both tiring and made her hungry. She could afford both in the safe and food-rich Equestria. But out here, wherever here was, she had little food and no definite safe space. So, she flew slowly for her; still fast enough to produce a faint trail, bust slow enough to conserve energy.

However, at the moment, she saw nothing in the immediate vicinity. No rocs, hungry dragons, not even a flock of birds. So, she looked down. Just to see anything that might be familiar to home.

Trees stretched on forever, a sea of green below her. They were unlike the ones of home; these were tall, with dark-trunks and thin spins instead of traditional leaves. Interspersed with the swathes of forest were small clearings. They were host to all sorts of things; a cluster of rocks, a few bits of shrubbery, a pond. Sometimes just a clearing with nothing but grass and bare dirt.

One thing that was also plentiful in her immediate area was the presence of mountains. Most were far off, large gray silhouettes on the horizon, sticking out like craggy, grey fangs. However, besides the one she had just come from, a few mountains broke up closer. None of them had snow adorning their tips like those one could see from Ponyville, the peaks completely bare. These ones reminded her of the mountain she and her ex-friends had faced the dragon on about half a year back. Dark grey, craggy, with only small trees and clumps of rocks marring its face.

A few clouds now began to appear in the sky, seeming to appear from out of nowhere. However, these weren't like the clouds back home. These ones weren't so uniform and also appeared to be a lot thinner. At first, she wondered why exactly this was the case: They're clouds. Shouldn't they look the same as those back home, like the mountains? Both weren't living things, so shouldn't there be little variation in them. Then, she remembered why they looked like that; the weather factory. They were produced, and out here, there was no factory. For all she knew, there were no pegasi. So, these must-have formed on their own.

She had been flying for hours. The sun had begun to go down on the horizon, turning the sky from blue to a dark, burnt orange. She knew she couldn't fly for much longer, even if she had flown slower then normal. She had fallen asleep while flying once, and it had not ended well. She needed a place to set down.

Her first instinct was to find one of the bigger clouds to rest on. It took a little looking, but she did find a decent-sized cloud. She set down on it as smoothly as possible, legs prodding the surface in test. After a few seconds, she set down fully...and fell right on threw it.

A few flaps later, she had recovered and looked up at the cloud in anger. She tried again, three times. And she failed, three times. Ok, she thought. I can't stand on the clouds here. Better I know that now than later. But, where do I go now?

She had recently left behind most of the closest mountains, which were at least twenty miles or so back. The sun would fully be down by the time she got back to the nearest one. However, she didn't entirely trust the forest floor just yet. Besides, it would be more likely to offer decent shelter, like the cave she spent the first night in. So, her mind made up, she turned around and flew towards the nearest one.

It was by far the smallest of the ones she had flow near, yet it was still quite large, with its peak cresting the now thick clouds. She flew around the slightly lower down parts, looking for a place to sleep. Then, she spotted it, another cave like the one she had been in. Flying down, she stopped just outside. Smiling to herself, she prepared to enter when, from behind, she heard a loud snarling.

Turning around, she found herself face to face with easily one of the strangest creatures she had ever seen. It was a small, spindly little creature, with dark grey, leathery skin, and piercing, almost glowing yellow eyes. It stood on only two legs like a minotaur, its other limbs seeming to be used for grabbing or some other type thing, also like a minotaur. Despite its bipedal nature, unlike a minotaur, it stood with a distinctive hunch, making it appear to be much smaller than it actually was.

For a second, the two of them just stared at each other. Then, the thing snarled and lumbered toward her, using its arms to push itself forward faster. Rainbow spun around on her forelegs and bucked it. Hard. It flew into a rock, and she heard a large *crack* as it hit it. It twitched slightly a few times, then simply stopped moving altogether.

Then, she heard a lot of snarling, much like the one the thing had made. It came from behind her, in the cave. Turning around, she saw the darkness of the cave entrance illuminated with a multitude of yellow eyes. Then, they came out; dozens of them at least, all snarling, growling and howling as they race toward her. So, she did the only thing a brave pegasi like her could do to keep their pride:

She shot off the ground like a spring and flew down the mountain as fast as she could. Seeing what was in the caves, she decided to take her chances with the forest. She could use something to eat anyway.

Apologies for the kinda crap chapter. I knew I needed a bit of a transition, but I didn't really know how to do it. I know my plan for part 2, so that should be better. Thanks for the support!