Evergreen Heart

Chapter 4
Zebras and Soul Containers

I 'awoke' for lack of a better term, the next morning when the first rays of sunshine penetrated the gloom of the Everfree forest. It wasn't really sleeping that I did though. I believe it's closer to entering a state of suspended animation in order for this body to preserve energy during the night time. As a side effect my mind pretty much blacked out for a time. Well at least I didn't suffer any nightmares. The past twenty four hours had been traumatic enough to give a person nightmare fuel for years.

Of course this is all speculation on my part. I'm no scientist by any stretch of the word. So this is all guesswork based on what little knowledge I do have. Plus there is magic involved, and where magic is involved the laws of conventional science are pretty much thrown out the proverbial window with an anvil tied to them. After which it falls upwards at a fortyfive degree angle. But I digress.

The suns rays revitalized me some, but I felt... I guess thirsty. It's not exactly the same feeling, yet it was familiar enough that I knew what to look for. So after basking in the morning sun for a few minutes more I decided to go and find a source of water. I retraced my steps from the previous day until I came upon the small pond where I thought I saw that Cragadile. Said creature was nowhere in sight so I guess I was mistaken after all. I stared at the clear pond wondering how I was going to drink from it. I had no mouth or stomach so how would I....

The answer was so bloody obvious that once it came to me I face-palmed with a loud groan. I'm pretty much a walking tree, and how do trees absorb water. That's right doofus, use your freaking roots! I promptly stuck one of my legs in the water. It's pretty much like drinking through a straw. Or several straws at once in this case. I couldn't really taste the water, but it felt incredible as it slowly worked its way through my vines and to my core, carrying much needed nutrients. As I drank I began to sprout several fresh leaves and even a few flower buds. I'll come back to those later.

At last I had drank my fill and it was time to move on. I decided to explore the Everfree some more before making a second attempt to meet with the citizens of Ponyville. That way if things went pear shaped and I was forced to flee an angry mob I would at least know my way around. Now you might think I'm overreacting and that the ponies were unlikely to come after me in an angry mob, but after seeing those two torch and pitchfork happy stallions in Appleloosa's Most Wanted I'm not taking any chances. Paranoid? Maybe. But I'd rather be paranoid than on fire thank you very much. Just because I look like a walking pile of kindling doesn't mean I have a desire to be burned.

Anyway, I decided to head east and see what I could discover. Bad reputation and dangerous wildlife aside the forest was actually quite beautiful, in a savage sort of way. And filled with every kind of flora imaginable. Some mundane, others highly magical. To my new vision this created a spectacular light show. Those plants that were rich in magical essence glowed dim and bright in all the colors of the rainbow, and even a few colors the human eye can't see and for which I have no names. Each magical aura is different too. Some pulse like a heartbeat. Others appear as a fog or smoky tendrils. Some even twinkle and dance like fireflies. It was enrapturing, and if I still had human eyes I probably would have shed a tear.

As I moved along I noticed a slow but steady increase in Para Sprites. That's when the weirdness began. The ones I encountered yesterday pretty much left me alone. But these ones decided to follow me. They kept buzzing around me like little winged planets orbiting the sun. The sun in this case being me. Some even started to perch on me. By this point they were becoming a nuisance since their numbers began to obstruct my vision. Then they started to nibble on me. Stripping the leaves and moss straight off my body. I began to flail about trying to scare them or swat them away but they kept coming. I was really beginning to dislike Equestria because this was the second time in two days that something from this world tried to eat me. But this time I wasn't so helpless.

I learned something new that day. I learned that I had a far more versatile magic of my own than I had previously thought. Because when my frustration with the Para Sprites reached its peak, my core unleashed a pulse of magic that spread throughout my body. The flower buds that had been growing on me suddenly burst into full bloom, and from them emerged the mother of all venus fly-traps. A dozen bulbous heads filled with thorn like teeth on flexible vine like stems shot out and chomped down on any Para Sprite within reach with a loud crunch. Potent digestive acids broke down the mangled remains into a rich nutrient slurry in moments and my body rapidly absorbed it. And you know what's the most disturbing part about it all? They were abso-freaken-lutely delicious. Like giant winged skittles. I must have eaten over a dozen of the little buggers before the rest of them got wise and scrammed. Serves em right for trying to eat me.

Their work done, the fly traps retracted back into their buds. I stared at one located on my forearm and wondered what else I was capable of. I would have to experiment with my abilities in due time.

******

It was Close to high noon as I made my way down a particularly dense part of the forest when I suddenly felt a strange resistance. One minute I was walking along piecemeal, the next it felt like I was wading knee deep through peanut butter. My core vibrated as I sensed a strong magical barrier pushing against me. I looked about trying to find the source of this strange magic, and after some time I found it. Hanging from a tree branch was a fetish. A small wooden mask painted with bright colors and decorated with beads and feathers. It was emanating a powerful compulsion telling me to turn away and leave. I tried to go around it rather than try and push through its field of influence, but as I tried to circle around I came across another and another. Each overlapping with the previous one, forming a protective circle across a wide area. Left with no other option I decided to push through them. It took every ounce of willpower, but eventually I managed to move past them and resume my path. That's when I ran into a familiar Zebra.

She appeared before me as if out of nowhere, and when I looked past her I could see the tree that served as her home in the distance between the bushes. Of course, I should have realized that those fetishes belonged to Zecora. In hindsight they were obviously meant to repel the dangerous creatures living in the Everfree.

“Though I have never seen the likes of you, know I won't simply let you through. If invade my home is what you dare, you will find me well prepared.” She said to me with narrowed eyes.

Ah yes the rhyming thing. I always liked Zecora, and I wish she had a bigger role in the show, but the rhyming thing tended to get a bit old once the novelty of it wore off. Well if I was ever going to make friends with the locals I might as well start with her.

“I apologize for intruding upon your home uninvited. I mean you no harm.” I said while bowing to her.

“Spirits often mix their words with lies, to trust you blindly would be unwise.”

Okay not off to a great start.

“I assure you, I'm not a spirit.”

She gave me a hard glare.

“Do not try deceiving me, what else could animate a tree. In this forest only one thing moves the wood, and it is never any good.”

“I take it you speak of the Timber Wolves? We met, and I do not like them one bit. What exactly are they anyway?”

“Ancient woodland spirits driven mad by a curse. Their hate so strong they will not disperse. Their malevolent purpose to end for good, the life of any who enters this wood.”

“Well I'm not sure what I am. But I'm certainly not some ancient mad spirit hell bent on killing everything I see.” I said while holding up my hands in a placating gesture.

“I did not have any choice in what I became. I'm still unsure as to exactly how I became what I am. But the last thing I want is to bring anyone harm. I am alone in this world, and I would rather make a friend than an enemy.”

She seemed to mull over my words for a while before finally saying: “If your intentions are truly benign, then I welcome you to this home of mine.”

“Must you speak in rhyme? I mean no offense but its a little confusing at times.”

“I do not, but to be fair, I like how it gives me a mysterious air.” she said with a chuckle.

“Well would you mind speaking without the rhymes with me miss..?”

“Zecora is my name oh mysterious guest, and I will honor your request. Let us speak plainly.”

I nodded my thanks to her and followed her back to her home. I had to shed some of my bulk in order to fit through her door. Perhaps It would be a good idea to adjust my form later to fit in better among a society of small sapient equines. I put that thought on the back burner for the moment since Zecora was addressing me.

“So what do I call you, oh mystery tree?”

“My name is... well it used to be Aeron, but.... I'm not sure it suits me anymore.”

“And why prey tell would you say so, Aeron?”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

“Let me explain what happened as far as I understand it.”

And so I explained everything that happened to Zecora while she prepared tea for herself. She offered me some too but I declined, instead asking for a simple bowl of water I could absorb. I told her how I ended up in this world against my will through means I did not understand. I told her of my confrontation with the Timber Wolves, and how it led to my death. And how I found myself trapped in this new form upon awakening, having been pulled from deaths doorstep. I made no mention about the My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic show and how this world was nothing more than a cartoon in my home dimension. That was knowledge that benefited no-one at the moment, and could lead to a potential existential crisis. And I so didn't need to deal with that right now since I was barely hanging on to my own sanity. Anyways, she took it all in stride, never interrupting me. When my tale was done she sat there for the longest time with her eyes closed, probably mulling it over.

“The story you tell is hard to believe. Frankly I have never heard its like before. Yet I do not sense deception in your words, so I will choose to believe you. But I fail to see how that makes you unsure about your name.” she finally said.

“That was the name of my old self. But that's no longer who and what I am. Aeron the human died in the woods the other night. I am me and yet I'm not. All that's left of me is my mind. And I don't even know how that is possible.” I answered, feeling relieved that she believed me.

“By all accounts I should be dead.” a shudder went through me as I said so, causing my leaves to rustle.

Zecora sat quietly for a moment more before she answered.

“It sounds to me almost like a soul transfer. Like those who practice the forbidden arts of necromancy perform. They take their living soul and place it in a phylactery. A vessel for storing the spirit and its life force. Tell me Aeron, where does your spirit reside within that hulking body?”

Her words hit me like a hammer. Necromancy? God I hope not. As any fantasy novel will tell you necromancy is bad shit to be dealing with. But since I'm pretty sure I'm a living... thing.. and not an undead of any sort. We could probably rule out necromancy for the moment.

“I think it resides in my core.” I said hesitantly.

“And what is this 'core'? Where do you keep it?”

I instinctively placed a hand over my chest, suddenly feeling very defensive.

“Might I take a look? I promise no harm will come to you.”

After a moments hesitation I nodded. This was Zecora we're talking about. She's a healer, she wouldn't intentionally harm me. Knowing that seemed to soothe the protective instinct I felt. I focused on my form and my chest began to writhe and twist. Vines and bark retracting until it was completely open.

“This is most peculiar indeed.” She said after looking inside my chest.

“What does it look like?” I asked her.

“You mean you do not know?” she asked. I nodded.

She moved into the back room of her tree house, only to return with a mirror. She held it up before me so I could have a look at my core for the first time. I had to resist the urge to face palm. Because the core of my being and the apparent container for my mind and soul was a fist sized 'Horse Chestnut Burr'. I swear the universe has a twisted sense of humor. It was round and spiky and emitted a greenish blue glow that pulsed like a heartbeat. A spiderweb of thin roots and vines grew from it and snaked their way outwards throughout my entire form. Every time it pulsed, tiny motes of light would shoot along the roots and vines like nerve impulses. It was almost hypnotic to watch.

“That's...me?” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “That's what I've been reduced to?”

“How very curious.” Zecora said. “It is much like a Timber Wolf's heart, only bigger and alive. And I sense none of the malicious entropy that they emit.”

“Entropy you say?”

“Indeed. The Timber Wolves are spirits of rage and decay. It is why their forms emit such a stench. Their own entropic energy causes their forms to slowly rot from the inside out. This is why their bodies are made of only dead wood, and their cores are rotting and black, covered with mold.”

A wave of disgust went through me. Yet even more reasons to hate those filthy things.

“Yours on the other hand is healthy and alive, and indeed very much flourishing.” Zecora continued.

It certainly looked healthy as far as I could tell. Still it was strange and not a little bit unsettling to find that everything that made me, well.. me, was stored in such a small and vulnerable looking seed.

“I also sense strong magic from within.” said Zecora. “But it is wild and untamed, like the Everfree itself.”

I nodded as my chest slid closed once more. Even though I knew she would not harm me I felt infinitely more at ease with my core safely hidden behind several thick layers of bark and vine. I almost felt naked while it was exposed. Quite ironic if you think about it.

“I noticed that I have some peculiar, abilities. Yet I seem to only be able to control a handful of them consciously. Like reshaping my form. Others seem to happen instinctively. Mostly when I get upset” I said.

“Perhaps with discipline and time you will be able to learn how to control all that you are and all you can do. Right now you are very much like a newborn, unaware of your full potential. Perhaps with self exploration through meditation you can explore your wild magic. I could show you a technique or two. I offer to you the hospitality of my home for the time being while you master that which I can teach.” Zecora replied whilst she sipped her tea.

I mulled over that for some time before finally answering her.

“I would appreciate your help greatly. As I said I have no friends in this world and the thought of wandering the woods alone while finding out who and what I am and what I am capable of is... not really all that appealing.”

Humans are social creatures after all, and even I with my introverted personality craved companionship.

“T's not exactly true what you say, for you have surely made a friend today.” she smiled at me with a twinkle in her eyes.

I felt a strange warm sensation in my core, it took me a moment to realize It was gratitude.

“Thank you Zecora, for showing me such kindness and hospitality. I hope I will be in a position to pay you back in kind someday.”

I extended a fist to her and she lightly bumped it with her hoof. The Equestrian equivalent to a handshake.

“You are quite welcome, my friend.”