Created for the Royal Guard survival CYOA on /mlp/, of the opening moments in the story.
 
As you wake up, spitting to clear your mouth of the dirt that fills it, you realize you are alone - your flight of fellow Royal Guards nowhere to be found.  
Considering your unit was being sent deep into the Everfree to deal with large numbers of creatures emerging from a reported portal near the gates of Tartarus, that doesn’t seem good.  
Perking your ears, you hear a distant but continuous thunder that is too sharp to be a storm. The battle must be already joined.  
Even as you check for any serious wounds, something goes shrieking overhead with an inequine, howling roar.  
Steadying yourself, you turn and begin to carefully make your way towards the distant sounds of struggle…