**Author's Note**
This chapter has a little bit if travel in the beginning. Just for some flair I added two maps with a drawn on travel trail at the end of the chapter. You can scroll down to look at them first or you can wait to reach the story first. Either is up to you. They are just for fun to give you a lay of the land.

The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Ch 52 – Into the Woods We Go

- Far to the Southeast from Ponyville -

“Hey, who knew that this river would take us not only passed Apploosa but also right near the Pie family’s rock farm?” Rayne asked as he held onto the little boat so Zecora could climb off without getting her hooves wet. “The land out here sure is barren for a place with a river running through it.”

After helping the stallion to pull the boat up shore his traveling companion sighed before giving him a warning. “You say that now, but you may soon wish for barren land. For where we are headed, you might find more wildlife than you can stand.”

“Ha, ha. Okay, I get it.” Rayne answered quickly as off in the distance he could see an almost solid green horizon ahead of them. As they traveled across the dry and rocky sands that lead up to the dense forest ahead he started to question his response though as the silence between them made him feel guilty. Rayne lowered his ears and said to her, “Hey I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. I want you to know that I do take this seriously.”

“Is that so?” Zecora asked to him, clearly not feeling ashamed at milking his apology a bit. "You say that, but your actions could have fooled me though." She gave him a smirk playfully rubbing it in as she chided him.

“Okay so clearly I hurt your feelings." Rayne chuckled as he could tell he was being teased. "I didn’t mean to. Look, I know this is going to be different. Everything we’ve hunted so far we have managed to get alone so I could take it in a one on one fight. There isn’t really a lot that can stand against me anymore in a situation like that. And yet, I’ve come too far to get cocky about my abilities now. Especially when we are going to be up against something I've never faced before. Timberwolves are pack hunters... the chances of us catching one alone is pretty remote. And I can’t just beat one into submission. It would simply fall apart and reform.”

‘Which is exactly why I am coming with you, in case you bite off more than you can chew.” Zecora said proudly patting a sack of smoke bombs which she had specifically prepared as a deterant for Timberwolf attacks.

They didn’t even pause as they walked right into the thick treeline of the Timberwolf territory. “Yeah but babe, we’re basically hunting velociraptors...” Rayne thought silently to himself. “And you aren’t the guy from the last movie. You’re the hunter from the first movie.”

As soon they had proceeded far enough into the woods that the ground seemed to soften Zecora turned to him with an insistent voice. “But are you certain about your plan? Maybe I could-” She pleaded but the stallion immediately growled at her so fiercely it made her eyes go wide and her ears flatten.

“NNOOO!" Turning back around in front of her now he practically snarled out, "We are NOT using you as bait in here!” He roared and she looked to him in surprise to see what looked like anger in his eyes. "Now do it..." He commanded and stared down at her adamantly until she complied.

Without any further question Zecora nodded and moved to do as he had previously instructed to her earlier. They both began searching the ground for where the dirt was particularly soft until a damp mud patch was finally located. After taking a minute to slather herself in as much mud as possible Zecora then wrapped a mask over her muzzle to cover her breath. "Is this good?" She asked him and wasn't surprised to see him shift into his panther form at that moment.

He sniffed around her and frowned as if he wasn't satisfied. But despite his expression he nodded and said, "It'll have to do. You said that unless we hear them howling, that their smell would be the first indicator... Correct?” The zebra nodded and watched as her boyfriend quickly began climbing up into the canopy. “Stay where I can see you! Move slowly and hide if you hear a sound.” Rayne ordered sternly but Zecora did as she was told knowing that he was just scared for her being in a place like this.

- The Timberwolf Territory -

Traversing these woods was like nothing that Rayne would have expected from Equestria. The further in they got the more it seemed like something out of a Daring Do novel instead of the happy land that Rayne had seen from the TV show. Everything was hot and wet giving a slick shine to the surface of everything that looked like eyes watching from every direction. Loud cries from birds and creatures unknown echoed throughout the thick rainforest making it hard for even the panther’s ears to decern from where they originated.

From up in the trees to down sneaking between the foliage Rayne and Zecora had devised a series of clicks and whistles to quietly get each other’s attention. Several times the panther had to climb down to leap Zecora over a river of quicksand that there seemed to be no way around from. In other cases there would be a gap in the canopy and Zecora would have to scout a path for the large beast to sneak through. All the while they had to avoid other dangers from cliff drops hidden by plant overgrowth to wild birds or monkeys alerting the entire rest of the forest to their presence.

It wasn’t until they reached a section of the rainforest that grew particularly dark that the panther noticed his zebra companion below suddenly freeze. He had just begun to question why they had not encountered a Timberwolf yet or at the very least heard their howling. But as Zecora suddenly froze where she stood Rayne looked around as his every sense hightened on end.

Rayne clicked and whistled but his girlfriend didn’t move. Creeping slightly ahead to look down at her face he saw her eyes spread wide as if she were terrified. “Zecora!” He whispered down but still his companion did not move. Rayne’s eyes carefully searched the path she had traveled. He saw no poisonous flowers or anything that might have stung or paralyzed her. But as he bent down to observe more closely that is when his nose picked up a new scent he had not noticed before. It wasn’t sweet like something that might be used to lure prey in. It wasn’t a putrid like he expected the Timberwolves to smell like. It was different, it was specific, it smelt like iron.

Dropping from the canopy Rayne quickly pulled Zecora close to him and placed a paw over her muzzle so that she wouldn’t scream. Together they looked down seeing how the plants before them were slathered in red. Rayne eyes scanned about but this was the only path onward which was covered in a thick smearing of blood. Mumbling and struggling in his grasp while she held onto his arms Zecora looked up fearfully to Rayne now and pleaded to him with her eyes. Releasing her muzzle she quickly pulled the cover from her snout and whimpered, “Rayne I’m scared! Please I’m scared! I want to go, I don’t want to be here, I thought I could handle this but I was not prepared!”

“Shhh, shhh. It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Rayne whispered trying to comfort her. But in truth he was distracted by how fearful his lover had become. She was shaking to the point that he almost couldn’t hold a grip on her. The look on her face was filled with so much dread that his sympathetic heart almost pulled her back through the forest right then and there. “Easy now, hush love hush.” He whispered while desperately wanting to get her heartbeat under control. Thinking quickly his mind jumped to a song from one of Johnny Depp's movies. “Nothing’s gonna harm you… not while I’m around. No one’s gonna hurt you, no one’s gonna dare...” He sang softly, only paraphrasing the lyrics as he was too distracted to remember them properly at that moment.

“No, no, no, no! No! No! NO!” She screamed as her eyes darted back and forth between the trees. “Something is watching...” She stammered breathlessly. “I can feel it Rayne, something it watching us… right now...” Her breath fell always almost like the calm before the storm. She suddenly froze within his arms without moving a muscle.

“Okay that’s it." He finally stated. "Nothing is worth putting you through being scared like this. I’m getting you out of here babe.” Rayne told her and then took a step back preparing to drag away from the bloodied trail in front of them.

“CRACK!”

“Shit...” Rayne growled as a large splintering of wood could be heard nearby at the very moment that he had started to move them away. First there was one, then there had been another, and then several more could all been heard coming from the area just ahead. “It was a trap… the trail through the forest bottlenecks here between the cliffs and the quicksand. This is their hunting trail...” Rayne whispered realizing the situation that they were in.

“Oooohhhh nnoooooo…!” Zecora cried as tears quickly began to stream down from her eyes. “Can we-

“Shhh!” Rayne hissed to her as his feline ears could hear what Zecora could not. They were already circling around behind them. Instantly the putrid smell they had been searching for was all around them. Rayne sniffed and recognized it immediately. The Timberwolves didn’t give off some magic stench. It wasn’t just the decay of driftwood or some feral odor. It was the smell of rotting meat from them feeding. It was nkthing more than them being covered with the gore of their kills without cleaning themselves after. That is why the Timberwolves were rumored to smell so foul.

“HOOWWWWWWLLL!” One of the wolves cried from nearby and then suddenly there was an orchestra of feral crying in every direction. At each howl the zebra flinched in Rayne’s arms as if she were being lashed and her body was jolting in response.

“Just listen to me...” Rayne whispered fiercely into her ear. Quickly but spastically she nodded her head showing that she could hear him. “When I say, I need you to jump. Not forward, not backward. Don’t go anywhere except for right here. But I need you to jump upwards... away from the ground... as high as you can. Do you understand?” She nodded again with a whimper. “Do you trust me?” Almost violently Zecora nodded now as she cried harder hearing their howling creep closer and closer. “… Now!”

Rayne yelled as he let go of the zebra. Raising to her back legs Zecora bucked up from the ground throwing herself as high into the air for as long as she could hold it. Just then the panther slammed a paw into the soft rain forest dirt and a broadening plate of solid obsidian expanded outward all around them. Spanning six feet, then twelve feet, then nearly twenty feet out before stopping all of the grass, trees, and even a few rocks were cut from their base. What was left was a flat surface of solid black rock with shrubs and branches collapsed down upon it.

“Ahhhh- AHHHHHH!!!” Zecora screamed in fear as without their tree cover to hide behind she saw they were surrounded by no less than a dozen Timberwolves spread out in every which way she looked. Quickly the panther rose up on all fours and growled menacingly while the smaller zebra buried herself between the cat’s legs as best she could. “Baby, we’ll be fine!” He called down to her while feeling her twitching with fright underneath, no doubt envisioning a very gory death for them both. “Babe, listen to me! I will protect you!”

“AND WHO WILL PROTECT YOU?!” She screamed as she saw several of them closing in to pounce now.

Rayne’s eyes watched carefully to see which of the wolves intended to jump at them first. “Heh, well this is it. I guess Zecora and I really are like Beauty and the Beast now. It’s time to see if I have what it takes to protect my Belle from the wolves...” And at that moment that panther heard a growling from behind his shoulder.

- Back at the Castle of Friendship -

"Hmmm. I got that express delivery from the Crystal Empire... but why haven't I been getting any normal mail lately?" Twilight asked in confused as she closed her mailbox and proceeded back inside her castle. “Phew, what a day!” She sighed with relief as she collapsed into her seat around the friendship table. One by one each of her friends made their way from the Friendship School to Twilight’s castle to spend an evening together with friends before heading home for the night. “Preparing those mid quarter evaluation exams was really a lot more tiring than I expected. But I’m sure that all of the students will appreciate the hard work I put into them.”

At this a Rainbow Dash just slouched over into her seat exclaiming, “Twi, the only pony who ever gets excited about tests is you.”

“Oh well, and maybe Ocellus.” Fluttershy added with a giggle.

“Seriously?” Dash asked. “Heh, I pegged her for a little egghead… uh, all changeling jokes aside of course.

To this Rarity giggled a little as she waited for Spike to return from the kitchens with drinks for all of them. Pinkie was next to speak up saying, “Well you know, Silverstream always seems excited whenever I throw a pop quiz in the class.”

Applejack spoke next as she crossed her hooves and said, “Yeah, that’s because your quizzes always involve baking somethin’ that they get to eat after they’re done.”

“Oh who doesn’t like a good baked good Applejack?” Starlight called out from down the hallway as she appeared along with Spike while levitating a platter of glasses and a serving pitcher. “Hi everyone. I was thirsty so I decided to lend your boyfriend a hoof Rarity.” The group all smiled as Spike went around passing out the glasses as well as a tray of crackers and cheese to go with their drinks.

Now they all gave a heavy sigh in relaxation together. Fluttershy did her best to ignore that Spike and Rarity were cuddling but she was making the attempt to not let her personal feelings get in the way of her friendship with them. After a moment Twilight clinked her glass and smiled to them all. “It’s nice to just hang out for a bit. No work, no dangers to Equestria, no students… just my friends. I-”

“So what’s the problem that you want to discuss with us now?” Rainbow Dash asked rather abruptly.

“HEY! I was saying that I appreciate time spent with you all WITHOUT there having to be anything wrong!’ Twilight yelled but then her ears fell flat when Applejack quickly spoke up as well.

“Yeah, you were. But that don’t still mean that something isn’t bothering the princess of anxiety… oops, I dun mean friendship.” She corrected herself but everyone snickered as they knew it hadn’t been a mistake.

Twilight cross her hooves and then raised her chin. “Fine, it’s true. But you don’t have to make it sound like I don’t still appreciate my time with you girls.”

“Oh, nopony thinks that.” Fluttershy said sweetly and then they all waited for the princess to proceed.

“Alright so what I wanted to talk to you all about is kind of, more of, an admission of guilt.” Now the others looked around curiously and even Rainbow Dash sat up properly in her seat. “I regret to announce that since our visit to the Crystal Empire… I am officially the first of us to fail in a friendship mission.”

Now there were loud gasps from all around and Rarity had almost dropped Spike out of her lap before catching him just above the floor. "Surely you're joking dear!"

“Wait, you?! Fail at a friendship mission?! Come on!” Dash yelled in disbelief.

Flutter nervously called out next. “Oh no, it’s just so hard to believe. I mean, you are so good at friendship missions. Maybe if we go back there we can find the ponies and try again?”

But to this Twilight shook her head. “That’s just the thing. I never even found out who my friendship mission was supposed to be about!” At this point she went on to explain how she allowed herself to be distracted with the meetings once they arrived. Then also about how Discord said her cutie mark had moved along the map but then shattered. “So I never even found out what happened. And it would seem that the friendship problem no longer exists. Whatever it was that happened, it’s like I missed my only chance to stop it and now it’s too late.”

“Twilight...” Starlight said with concern as she walked over to place a hoof on her mentor’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry. But please, remember that just because one mistake may have happened doesn’t mean you aren’t still the very best at what you do.”

To this everypony nodded and Twilight managed to give a weak smile even as her head was bowed. “Yes but also remember, even a single friendship in our world can sometimes mean the difference between success and disaster for everypony.”

Starlight frowned for a moment remembering her battle across time with the princess. “Yes, that’s true. But we also have a small army of friendships now to make sure nothing like that ever comes to pass.” This seemed to finally give the princess some peace and Starlight returned to her seat after seeing Twilight give an honest smile.

“Alright well at least one of us seemed to have some good luck during their mission.” Twilight announced as her spirits seemed to lift. “Applejack, would you care to share with us all about your record breakingly fast friendship mission in Tartarus?”

Now everypony seemed to perk up with excitement as Applejack sat mid bite of a cracker and looked around to them all nervously. “Uh, no-mf?” She mumbled half spitting her treat out onto the table by accident.

Several of her friends looked confused by this but Dash was first to shout, “Oh come on! You went to TARTARUS! Even if the others would let you slide on this you know that I definitely won't. So let’s have it!”

Clearing her face of crumbs and then quickly washing her throat clear with her drink Applejack now looked to her friends uneasily. She didn’t understand why but she realized she was having a hard time remembering exactly what had happened. “Well uh, you see.”

“Go on Applejack.” Even Fluttershy was encouraging her now. “I’m sure it may have been scary but we’ll all listen to you.”

Giving a gulp the orange mare now tried her best. “Well the reason why the map seemed to have sent me down there… it had to do with reforming a villain, I guess you could say.”

Just then a loud cackling came from above them as Discord suddenly materialized. “Ohhh? What’s this? Do my burning ears detect my friends talking about a reformed villain?” The cheeky smile on his face was as plain as day but it quickly turned sour from Pinkie’s next comment.

“Welllllll… You are A reformed villain but I don’t think that you are the one that we were talking about.”

“WHAT!?” Discord shouted in disappointment. “But I thought I was your signature turn around bad guy! Who else in Equestria could make such a claim?” Suddenly an upset clearing of her throat was heard from Starlight. “Oh please, you hardly count.”

“Hey!” The unicorn shouted angrily.

Stomping her hoof onto the table Twilight quickly said, “We’re getting off topic here and I would really like to hear this story. So please Applejack, would you continue? Who was it that the map sent you to Tartarus to reform?”

For some reason not a single one of them had expected it as Applejack looked solemnly to her friends and said, “It was for Tirek.”

‘WHAAAAA?!” They all shouted with shock and fear. Even Discord shared in the exclamation while looking to Applejack with disbelief.

Almost standing in her chair now Twilight spoke out with concern. “Now wait a minute. I’m all for reforming shady characters and giving second chances to ponies who deserve it… but then there are a select few that even I might not be willing to give a second chance. Tirek is one of them and Applejack that is a very, very short list!”

“But it’s true ya’ll, that’s what happened!” Applejack proclaimed.

“Whoa, whoa.” Dash raised her hooves now. “Okay now the map sending you to reform him is pretty messed up but that’s one thing. However you actually managing to get him to do it is another. Are you saying that you REALLY got TIREK… Big bad red goat guy… To change his ways?”

“Well, that’s sorta what happened.” Applejack mumbled.

Twilight was leaning clear over the table now as she asked, “What do you mean sorta? Tell us what-”

But she didn’t even get to finish as Starlight suddenly interrupted with a breathy realization. “It was Rayne… wasn’t it?” Now all of the others except for Twilight gave her a look of confusion. Ignoring this Starlight continued by saying, “The only reason why you were able to accomplish your task was because he was with you, right? Or, was this only possible to do in the first place because he was there?”

“Well now that you mention it… yeah.” Applejack admitted.

Stomping his feet onto the center of the table Discord yelled out, “Okay, hold it! Hold on! Hold everything! Just what is going on here?!”

Sitting back down now Twilight announced, “Before we all left for the Crystal Empire Starlight had hypothesized that Rayne might be responsible for the strange activity that the cutie map has been having lately. We didn’t want to say anything because we don’t want to wrongly accuse Rayne of something and cause a mishap with him being a pleasure pony. But still, this is all just speculation even if it does seem to be the most likely case. So AJ, please. Tell us what happened.”

None of the others interrupted anymore as Applejack told them what she remembered. Her and Rayne traveled there together. Instantly it had been the stallion’s idea that they were there for Tirek. He went up to do some taunting and fast talking to remind Tirek how terrible it is to be imprisoned there. At first he was against reforming but then before they could leave he seemed to not want to pass up the chance for freedom after all.

“Freedom?! You set Tirek free?!” Twilight screamed feeling terrified at the thought.

“I- don’t think that might have been a good idea.” Pinkie sighed uneasily.

“No, no ya’ll. It wasn’t like that. Rayne talked Tirek into becoming powerless first before he could go. He was talking about him having to give up his magic permanently and then returning home to where his people come from. Rayne thought it might be a gesture of good faith to Tirek’s community and that maybe we could have little centaurs taking lessons at the school with us.”

Dash crossed her hooves sounding unconvinced. “AJ, it sounds like you got suckered.”

“Seriously.” Discord added.

But that was when Twilight waved them off. “Listen, bringing other cultures together in peace and friendship is an admirable goal. But we don’t know anything about where Tirek came from. They could all be as bad as him as far as we know. Also, how can we be sure that Tirek gave up his magic or even that it would be permanent?”

“I… I don’t know. Rayne seemed to trust him. I-” But at this Applejack pulled her hat off of her head and looked down now feeling as if she had allowed something terrible to happen.

“Um, excuse me!” Rarity chimed in much louder than was necessary. “Can I just bring one more thing to everypony’s attention?” Now they all looked to her surprised as it sounded like she were admonished them all. “Am I the only one realizing how unfair we are being to Applejack?!” Now the orange mare looked up to her friend curiously. “I’m sure that we aren’t getting all the details here because we are all too busy being shocked by this news. But I am also sure that AJ did the best that she could given the situation. Can we all please stop talking to our friend as if she is the criminal here instead of that distasteful Tirek?”

After a moment they all sighed and realized Rarity had been right. One by one all of her friends, Discord included, apologized to Applejack and they took a breath to steady themselves. “Okay so...” Twilight said more calmly now. “While this is hard to stomach, let me just ask one thing. When you were done did your cutie mark glow as if your mission had been successful?”

“Yes Twi, it did. I promise you.” Applejack pleaded.

The princess just raised a hoof for her to stop. “No, you don’t need to do that. I believe you. And I believe in the map." She paused there to allow Applejack time to process and smile with reflied. Then continuing on Twilight said, "Now call me cynical if you need to but I just don’t trust this.” The others nodded while also adding in their own comments that it was Tirek they had mistrust for and not Applejack. “Listen, even if Tirek has reformed that won’t make him perfect over night. No offense Discord but even you had a slip up or two and this was well after you had changed your ways.”

“Eh, none taken. You are absolutely right.” The Draconequus replied.

Continuing on Twilight announced, “I want to know what happened afterwards. I know it’s been days so he might be difficult to track down. But I want Tirek found. I want to know what he’s been doing and if he has any plans on going back on this… deal that was made. We might need to send somepony to investigate at Tartarus to see if we can find exactly where he went.”

But before anypony could even react it was Discord who loudly chuckled and said, “Oh pu-lease! That’s easy! Here!” And then he reached down to the floor. Suddenly Twilight’s castled looked as if it had snapped up like a window shade. Now they were all sitting together on the floor in the heart of Tartarus.

“Ahhhh!” Fluttershy screamed toward the dark and eerie surroundings while the rest of the group gave disapproving glares to their chaotic friend.

“Discord! You can’t just teleport ponies to Tartarus without warning them first!” Spike yelled angrily but Rarity blushed at how he was standing in front of her protectively now.

Waiving a claw and a hoof together Discord sighed, “Okay, I apologize. But since we are already here we might as well make the most of it. Look, there is Tirek’s platform and chain. Hmm, empty… just as Applejack said.”

Twilight was still upset but then she went over to inspect the platform while casting a few spells to see if any dark magic was detected. It was about this time that Cerberus charged over sensing intruders in the prison. But no sooner had he arrived than did Fluttershy squeel happily and rush over to scratch his chin. “Ohhhh hello again you cutesy wutesy! Who’s a good big boy? Huh? You are! Yesss! That’s right, you are!” She cheered as she quickly got the beast onto it’s back and wagging his tail excitedly.

“Hmph, some guard dog.” Dash laughed and Applejack chuckled along with her.

Continuing on Fluttershy now asked, “Excuse me but could you please tell us if the prisoner Tirek was released from here?” Cerberus’s three heads barked and nodded. “And you saw this and you allowed him to go?” Again there was another set of positive barking. “Was it really because Tirek agreed to the idea of giving up his magic in exchange for his freedom?” A third set of barks came from the dog heads now.

“Woooooowwwie!” Pinkie shouted. “Rayne really did it then!”

Rarity just laughed and hugged Spike tightly. “It’s like I said ladies, Rayne can do anything.”

To this Twilight rolled her eyes and sarcastically announced, “Yeah, so maybe he did manage this somehow... but that’s not somwthing you're going to convince me of Rarity. And besides, Tirek still has the potential to be dangerous. We still need to find him.”

“ON IT!” Dash yelled and looked like she was about to speed off.

“WAIT! Where are you going?!" Twilight yelled but then saw as the pegasus point towards a dragging mark on the ground.

Dash yelled out saying, “Listen, this is obviously Tirek’s trail as he dragged himself out of this cave. Even though it’s a few days old these marks in the dirt look pretty deep. I can track them faster than any of you and maybe, just maybe I can find him before the trail ends. And yeah, yeah… I’ll be careful and I love you guys but there isn’t any more time to waste!” With that she sped off before any of the others could protest.

Twilight felt an arm wrap around her as Tartarus suddenly seemed to melt away and everypony found themselves back in their seats in Twilight’s castle. “Don’t you worry. I’ll keep an eye on her to make sure she stays safe. I may not know where Tirek has gone but I won’t lose track of our Rainbow Dash no matter how fast she flies. I promise you.”

“Thank you Discord, I trust you.” Twilight told him.

The Draconequus appeared asif he were going to respond but then blushed as Fluttershy surprised him with a tackling hug from behind. "Ohhh well aren't you just the super best friend of the day! Thank you Discord!"

- - -

-

Author's Notes:

Okay so I'll go through the references first before the review.

I had fun making a Jurassic Park reference here. The "guy from the last movie" refers to Chris Pratt who in Jurassic World trained the Velociraptors and befriended them. The "hunter from the first movie" refers to Bob Peck who played the guy who thought he knew what he was doing but wasn't prepared for what he was in for. He is the one who says the line, "Clever girl." Before he dies.

So for those who didn't catch it, when Rayne tried singing to Zecora he was using lines from the 2007 movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Ooh, so Twilight isn't getting any local mail? I wonder why not? In fact, wasn't something to this effect already mentioned before? What could it mean?

DUN-DUN-DUUUUN! The mane six have found out that Tirek is missing! What's going to happen?! Is Rayne's luck finally about to run out?

Okay just as a reminder, none of the art in this story is my own. The map of Equestria is from the app game and the map of southern Equestria is from the comics. But I did draw in a red travel trail just to show the path that Rayne and Zecora took to get to the Timberwolf territory.

And speaking of which... what did you think? I want to say that I was playing on Zecora's natural instincts as an equine here. I wasn't trying to make her a pansy, she is a tough and brave mare. But she truly felt trapped and afraid once they were surrounded. And I hope you enjoy the thrilling climax coming in the next chapter.