UNLESS: A STORY ABOUT TREES

UNLESS: A STORY ABOUT TREES

Chapter 1: What and Where

BEEP….BEEP….BEEP….BEEP!

Mustering all the strength I could, I raised my hoof and slammed my alarm clock off. Instantly the beeping stopped, and my mind began to slip back into the perfect world of sleep and dreams.

“No, you need to get up!” screamed the voice at the back of my brain.

With a groan, I slowly raised myself up; making the covers slip off me and onto the lower end. I blinked my eyes, trying to get the morning crust out of them. I also took the time to give them a rub, which helped clear my vision.

Of course, the sight was still the same. My bedroom; the only place in the house that I felt truly myself. It was reflected in the fact that everything in this room was of my own choice.

The walls were a clear blue color, with a ceiling simple white. Kinda like the sky….or so I’m told. The floor was cluttered with old clothes, old homework sheets, and a few other knick-knacks. I’ve tried cleaning it before...but it almost seems pointless. It’s only going to get dirty again anyway.

Slowly, I stretched out as I lowered my body towards the ground. A successful touchdown and final crack of the bones was the official mark of the start of my day. The only thing left to do was open the blinds.

So, not really wanting to move my legs, I spread my wings and floated towards the window.

Oh, didn’t I mention I was a pegasus? ….No? Well now you know.

I landed before the window, and used the tips of my wings to pull the shades back. Instantly light flooded into my room; illuminating everything...as well as blinding me.

But once the whiteness was gone, I looked out at the many house that made up my neighborhood. It was the second largest one in Ponyville, the town I live in.

It was a nice town; almost as big as the city of Canterlot that I learned about in school. Of course then I ask myself “Why isn’t it called Pony City?  Or Ponyopolis?” But hey, it’s been the name for years; why change what’s not broken?

“SOUP’S ON EVERYPONY!”

The noise came from downstairs, probably meaning she was up already. And that probably meant that the other two would be up soon enough. After all; nopony missed breakfast in this house.

So, I stretched my wings and bolted to the door. It swung open with wonderbolt speed, which I matched as I raced over the railing and down the stairs.

I made a quick turn on the second perch as I flew down the remaining stairs. After that it was only a quick turn left before crossing into the dining room. The table was already set for four; and I could smell breakfast being cooked in the kitchen to the right.

Landing quietly, I took my seat at the table as the oven timer went off. The sound of pots and pans being moved about reverberated into the dining room.

“Almost done,” I called. It may have sounded bad, but I only just realized how hungry I actually was.

“Just a minute,” was my reply. And true to her word, it only seemed like a minute later that I heard the sound of approaching hooves.

I looked back towards the kitchen as a yellow earth pony with a bright red mane and a pink bow around the base of her tail walked through the doorway. She had a large pot of sweet smelling food balanced on her back; a skill she’d perfected over the years. Of course, I also took notice of two other things.

One was her cutie mark; a piece of wood shaped like an apple, with a paintbrush coloring it red. Apparently she’d gotten it while fixing an apple peeler, which I guess made sense. But that wasn’t the most interesting thing about this mare.

Atop her head sat a very battered, worn-out light brown stetson hat. It was the most distinguished part about her; she wore it everywhere she went. Heck, she even SLEEPS with that hat; the only time she lets it go is when it needs to be cleaned. But whenever I asked her why that hat was so important, she always gave the same answer: “I’m not sure….but that doesn’t mean it’s not important.”

As you could probably tell, I stopped asking a long time ago.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said as she placed the pot in the center of the table. “I hope the royal highness Dusty will forgive my lateness.”

Dusty….one of the stupidest names a pony could ask for. Why I’d been named that was beyond me….but whenever it was mentioned, it meant I could shoot back.

“Only if head-chef APPLE BLOOM will promise not to do it again!” I said in my most “Canterlot Upper-Class” voice I could muster.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, then set about pouring the creamy breakfast into the four bowls. “I thought you said you’d finally call me MOM now? I thought you were over this “not my family” nonsense?”

“I am,” I replied, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t joke around anymore.”

Yeah...I should probably explain this before I go any further.

If you couldn’t already guess, Apple Bloom wasn’t my real mother. That’s right; I’m adopted. I never knew my real parents, and had spent my early childhood in an orphanage. Boo hoo, waterworks, now let’s move on.

I spent three years in that orphanage before Apple Bloom and her husband (my new dad) came to adopt a foal. After looking over each one available, they finally chose me. And ever since, I’ve been a member of their family.

Thankfully, I was spared thinking about it for too long since the sound of approaching hooves met my ears. I turned towards the doorway, and saw two stallions walk in. The younger was was orange with a purple mane and a spotlight/top-hat cutie mark. He gave my head a pat as he walked behind me and took the chair to my right.

The other stallion was older; by about 15 years. He had a brilliant orange mane with streaks of grey running through it. His coat was brilliant amaranth, but it was starting to show age too. His cutie mark was a large green apple with a light-green middle. He also had a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose, and wore a black and white diamond sweater-vest.

“Morning Tender….Morning Big Mac,” said Mom as she finished filling the bowls. She took the seat across from Tender Taps (my adoptive dad) and next to Big Mac (my adoptive uncle). “You ready for today hun?”

Dad sighed, then gave a small nod. “We’ve been practicing for weeks, but today’s our first big rehearsal.” He took a small sip of his breakfast before letting out another sigh. “I just hope it’s enough.”

“It will be,” replied mom happily, “nopony else in town has the dance and musical skills that you do. Everypony will be talking about this play for weeks!”

“Let’s just hope it’s good talk, and not criticism,” he replied.

“EEYUP,” replied Big Mac before returning to his bowl.

I took the chatter as the okay to start devouring my bowl of mush. Like always, it had a sweet apple-cinnamon taste to it. Of course, most of our meals did. After all, we were the “Apple” family.

“Dusty, I’ll need you to run into town today. We’re out of cooking oil, and I need some for dinner tonight,” said Mom.

“But I was going over to Jet’s today; he just got a new speedometer and I want to see how fast I am!”

My reply was one of her signature “say anymore and you’re dead” faces. I looked sourly down at my now empty bowl, “Fine.”

Dad finished his bowl, stood up, and gave mom a peck on the cheek. “Alright, I’m off. I’ll see you all tonight.”

“I’ll make sure to save some dinner for you,” said Mom. Dad nodded before grabbing his saddle-bag and heading out the door.

“That stallion works too much,” said Big Mac.

Mom sighed, “I know, but it’s what he loves doing. It’s the same for the rest of us.”

Making sure nopony saw me, I rolled my eyes. Mom and Uncle Big Mac didn’t really have jobs that were that stressful. My mom worked as a home decorator/repair pony. She was really good with her hooves, and usually finished a project earlier than expected.

And you’d think my Uncle Big Mac (being a strong stallion) would be working someplace where there’s a lot of heavy lifting. But “NNOPE”, he works at the Ponyville Library as the head librarian.

When I asked him why, he said “it’s quiet….I like quiet”.

Of course, given his life, I could expect that. You see Uncle Big Mac didn’t actually live with us; he lived with his wife Cheerilee and their two teenage sons. Right now their house was being fumigated, which is why they had to leave for a while. Aunt Cheerilee was staying with her parents, while my cousins decided to rent a hotel room between themselves.

As such, it just meant there was more family to go around.

I took my empty bowl, placed it on my back, and said “may I be excused?”

“Alright,” said Mom, “but then head out to the market. I need that oil pronto!”

I rolled my eyes, then nodded and headed towards the kitchen.

***

Once my dishes had been washed, I grabbed some bits and my saddle-bag before heading out the door. Once I did, I was met with the same sight I’d always seen; fake.

Everything around me was fake. That’s not to say I was in a virtual world; it meant that nothing around here was organic besides the ponies.

The houses, the road, the grass (which was simply patches of green metal), and even the trees were all manufactured.

Don’t bother asking why, because 1) I don’t care, and 2) Nopony knows. Not a single pony in this town knew why we were the only things in this place that wasn’t made of metal, plastic, concrete, or rubber. It had been like this for years….so you get used to it after a while.

Besides, the ponies around me didn’t seem to care. They went about sleeping in their hammocks, playing Buckball, and just enjoying the day. So, as I see it, why care at all.

I spread my wings and took to the air, flying over the many houses that made up our section of the “town” (cough….city….cough). I could see almost everything from up here, up until the edge of town.

That’s where the DOME began.

The dome was….well….a dome. It covered our town; for the sole reason of protecting us. It was made completely of magic, and was sustained by the large magical generators that ran along the town border.

As for what was on the other side….danger. That’s what we’ve been told since the beginning; that what was outside would kill us in minutes. That’s why nopony lived outside of town, and why we don’t hear about other towns in Equestria.

We were all that was out there….and yet ponies still don’t care. They’re still living, so why care if others are/aren’t outside the dome. And honestly, that’s what I thought too. (Yeah, go on and hate.)

By now I was approaching the market; a sprawling section of town where anypony who could make something had set up a stand. The crowds were big, but I was able to find a landing spot near the center. Ponies crowded around me as they rushed to collect the fresh ingredients needed to make whatever they wanted. And by fresh, I mean potions that can become mush, glop, or whatever else you want to call food.

I started pushing my way towards one of the vendors, who was selling every assortment of cooking oil you could imagine. Of course, this made him popular, and it took me a while to finally reach the stand itself.

“What do you need?” he asked in a scraggly voice.

“Regular cooking oil,” I replied.

He shifted around before the counter before pulling out a glass bottle of oil. “Thanks,” I replied as I took the bottle and gave him the required bits.

I was just about to take to the air again….but that came to a pause very quickly.

“ATTENTION CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!”

I looked up towards the dome, and saw a large airship passing over. It was as long as five buckball courts, and was painted blue with golden letters on the side spelling out “PEACE IS KEPT INSIDE THE WALLS!”

I already knew who that ship belonged to; the mayor.

“YOUR MAYOR HAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE. SO PLEASE PUT YOUR HOOVES TOGETHER FOR….THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!”

A few ponies around me began to clap….but the rest just shrugged. I was of the latter; Mayor Trixie was a somewhat mixed bag. Some of her policies weren’t too bad, but others really seemed to push the already known info; Stay Inside The Dome.

“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE,” I looked back up at the airship, “THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE IS HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT IN TWO DAYS TIME, A STATUE OF ME WILL BE DEDICATED AT THE CENTER OF TOWN. IT IS TO REPRESENT ALL THAT I HAVE DONE TO PROTECT THIS TOWN, AND I WISH FOR ANYPONY WHO CAN MAKE IT TO COME….WHICH SHOULD BE ALL OF YOU NATURALLY.”

“NOW I MUST GO! AND REMEMBER, SAFETY IS KEPT INSIDE THE DOME!”

The speaker went dead, leaving an eerie silence over the crowd. But soon ponies began going about their business again.

Really it was just another brag speech from Trixie; she did this at least a few times a month. Usually she’d say something great about herself, then expect everypony to cheer for her. But after a while, the thought just kinda leaves your head.

Still, I needed to find an open space to take off in. So I entered the flow of ponies heading towards the center of town. It was a wide circle; with vendors and other businesses stationed around it. At the center of the circle was a green metal patch with fake trees and benches. A large tarp sat in the very center; clearly covering Trixie’s statue until two days from now.

I left the crowd behind me and headed towards the open area near the statue. A few foals ran around this area, but overall it was clear enough to take off. I spread out my wings, ready to take flight, when….

BAM!

A large mass crashed into my side, sending me sprawling towards the ground. I felt the mass follow my descent before landing right on top of me.

“Ouch….what happened?”

I turned towards the voice….and found an earth pony mare with a light harlequin coat and light amaranth with light vermilion mane lying on me. Her cutie mark was a heart with the trunk of a tree at the bottom of it. Her mane looked like drag locks, and it was covered at the top by a floral bandana.

“Wow….that was a far out wipeout.” She looked over at me, showing off her light grayish purple eyes. They shined in the artificial light….and I swore my heart skipped a beat.

“My apologies fair stallion, I did not see you in my path.” She slowly got off of me, then held out a hoof to help me up. “My name is Tree Hugger, what may I call you?”

I felt my brain become blank for a moment; a mare was actually talking to me! “Uh….my name is Dusty.”

Tree Hugger took in a deep breath, then smiled as she exhaled. “Awe, Dusty. Such a wonderful name….and a matching aura to boot!”

“Uh….aura?”

“Yes, Aura!” she replied happily. “It’s the living energy that flows through every living being! You can tell a lot about somepony by looking at their aura.”

I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about….but I didn’t care. I just let her talk while I just looked at her. (It’s what my dad did when he was dating mom.) It was only when I took a slight look down that I noticed a number to books lying on the ground.

“Oh, did you drop these?” I didn’t wait for a reply before I began to gather the books off the ground.

“Ah, it seems they fell out of my bags when we collided,” she said before joining me on the ground. I gave her a stack of books before reaching towards one a small distance away.

This one was open, and I stopped when I saw what was on the page.

It was a tree. But not like the ones here; ones that are plastic and fake. This one was real. It was part of a chart, which showed the tree growing out of the ground and into something huge!

“What’s this about,” I asked, not taking my eyes off the book.

Tree Hugger walked over and looked at the chart. “Oh, it’s the most radical thing in the world; the aging cycle of a tree.”

She sat down beside me and pointed at the chart’s beginning. “A tree starts out as a seed, then grows into a sapling, and finally into a giant wonder. Nothing like these depressing fake trees.”

So there were actually non-artificial trees! Ones that weren’t made in factors? But if that was true, then why weren’t there any real trees around town. Surely somepony had to have one if they actually existed.

“If real trees actually exist, where are they?”

Tree Hugger sighed, looking sadly down at the ground. “Alas, I do not know. For years I have looked for a real tree, but nothing has come up.”

She grabbed the open book and placed it in her saddle-bag. “Sadly, I must take my leave.” She held out her hoof, which I guessed meant she wanted to shake hooves. So I took hers in mine and shook as softly as I could. “Until we meet again Dusty...which I hope we do.”

She gave me a wink before turning around and walking into the crowd of ponies around the circle. That left me stairing at where she’d stood, unable to move thanks to the thoughts in my head.

“That mare was...strange….but also super hot!” Although I doubted a mare like her would be interested in a stallion like me. But that wasn’t the only thing I was thinking about.

“Real trees actually existed; ones that grow and live like us! But if that’s true….why didn’t I see any? Where could they have gone?”

I decided to shelve that thought until I got home. So I stretched my wings and took to the air, heading for home.

***

The rest of the day went surprisingly fast; which was a shock given the lack of things I did today. My trip to Jet’s lasted only thirty minutes, since then HE had to do his own chores.

After that, my day was mostly spent reading in my room. Occasion trips to the kitchen were made, but mostly it was reading. It only ended when mom called that dinner was ready.

“Dinner” turned out to be the same thing as breakfast; grey glop that tasted like cinnamon-apple. The only thing different about the whole deal was that dad wasn’t home; he was still overseeing practice of his musical.

“So, Dusty, anything interesting happen today?” asked Mom. She had on one of those “trying to start a conversation” smiles, which I’d learned to distinguish from regular smiles.

“Well….actually something did happen.” I turned my head towards her. “And I actually have a question; do you two know where I could find a real tree?”

Mom and Big Mac’s faces turned surprising; like they’d never expected to hear something like this.

“Dusty, we already have trees. Just look around anywhere,” she replied.

“I’m not talking about fake trees, I’m talking about real ones. You know, that grow out of the ground.”

Mom uncertain face didn’t change, and it looked like she was trying to form an answer. “Uh, really? You want a dirty lump of wood that doesn’t do anything? What’s that got over the trees around town?”

I didn’t know, that’s why I wanted to find one and figure it out. “That’s what I want to know,” I replied, “so, do you know where I can find a real one?”

“Afraid not,” Mom looked over at Big Mac, “what about you bro?”

“Nnope.”

I sighed; my parents and uncle usually knew everything I had a question to. But the one time I actually really wanted answers, they had nothing to give me.

“Well….I’m done. Can I head back upstairs?” For some reason, I wasn’t feeling very hungry anymore.

“Alright, just clean your dishes before you hang up.”

I grabbed my bowl and headed into the kitchen. Once it was clean, I put it away and headed towards the stairs. But before I could start walking up, I head something.

“PSST!”

I looked over, and saw Uncle Big Mac poking his head out the living room doorway. “Come on,” he said before ducking back into the room.

Not knowing what this was about, I walked inside the room. Uncle Big Mac was sitting on the couch, and waved me over to sit next to him. Once I’d taken a seat, he sighed.

“You want to know about trees?”

It was fair to say I was rightfully surprised. Uncle Big Mac usually said one or two words. It was uncommon for him to speak a full sentence!

“Uh, yeah….do you know where I can get one?”

“No,” he replied. “But I do know a pony that could.”

My attention nearly shot through the room at the thought; a pony who could get me an actual tree! “REALLY!?”

Big Mac nodded, giving off a slight smile. “She lives far outside of town; and is the only one I know who knows what happened to all the trees. If you want one, you need to talk to her.”

Okay….now I was confused. “Wait, outside of town? But nothing can survive outside the dome; that’s what we’ve always been told.”

Big Mac waved me off. “All a fib; and I should know. You can survive outside the dome; it’s just nicer to live in here.”

“But how am I even supposed to get outside?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know. That’s something you’ll have to figure out on your own. If you really want a tree, I know you’ll find a way.”

Big Mac got up, patted my head, then headed out of the room. Leaving me with a whole new brain full of information.

“Ponies can survive outside the dome….and the only pony who knows about trees is outside.” It seemed ridiculous….but Uncle Big Mac didn’t seem like he was joking. It was something that he very rarely did….and not even something this dangerous.

“If going outside is the only way to get a tree….I’d better find a way to get past the dome.”