"Grey! Get up!"

I was awoken by the sound of Watchful yelling at me. Throwing my eyes open, I looked around for any immediate danger, but found that it was just me and him.

"Watchful, what's wrong?" I asked him, still on alert for any problems.

"We need to leave now! The beast might come back any moment!" He yelled at me.

I looked at him confused.

Beast? Is he talking about Frost? Speaking of, where is that mutt?

"Come on! I think it claimed you for it's next meal. It was laying over you when I awoke, but wandered off not to long ago. We need to move before it's too late!" He frantically told me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, noticing movement behind him. "I think it's a little late for that." I said pointing to the movement.

He turned to where I pointed in time to see Frost emerge from the bushes. Watchful shrieked, covering his head and ducking down to make himself as small as possible. Frost ignored him, walking up to me and nuzzling against my chest. I patted her head, smelling blood on her. Apparently she had gone out to find breakfast. I looked back at Watchful to see he was in no better condition then last night.

"Watchful, close your eyes and breath. I don't need you passing out on me again, considering I don't know where to go from here." I told him

He did as instructed, but was still hyperventilating. I motioned for Frost to stay put, and walked over to place my hands on his shoulders.

"Listen to me," I began, "you are not in danger. You have nothing to be afraid of. Breathe. No one is going to hurt you. You will see your family again. Breathe."

This seemed to do the trick, as his breathing began to steady. He was still breathing hard, but had managed to cool himself off enough to look at me.

"How?" He asked. "How did you tame a beast of legend? It unheard of."

Frost growled at this, glaring at Watchful. I stepped between them, and glared at Watchful myself.

"I did not "tame" her. Frostbite found me long ago when I was lost. If the memory serves me correctly, she was the first friend I ever made. You'd be wise to show her respect." I warned him.

He nodded, gulping as he turned to Frost. She had stopped growling, but was still staring daggers at him.

"I-I-I'm sorry for any disrespect I may have caused you." He said.

Frost huffed, turning her head away from him.

"Good enough." I said, looking to the sky. The sun was high above us. "We have quite a bit of daylight left till nightfall. Shall we wait to move on."

Watchful stared for a moment. Shaking his head, he recomposed himself.

"No. At this point we're far enough from any settlements to avoid running into stray wanderers or guards. We should eat and leave, unless you need to rest." He told me.

"Very well, lets get moving as quick as possible." I responded.

Taking care of the necessities, we returned to the path. Watchful was wary to be around Frost, but managed to keep his mouth shut. We walked for about an hour before Watchful turned off the path and walked towards the forest.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"We need to divert from the path here. You'll notice this tree is slightly discolored from the rest. It's the marker for the path leading into The Grove." He said.

I saw that the tree he referred to was indeed darker than those surrounding it. I followed him straight into the forest for about 50 steps till we came across a different path. This one was hidden by the trees above us, cutting off sunlight, and there were leaves littering the ground. I began walking alongside Watchful once more, Frost trailing behind us.

"Now be careful, this path is laced with traps to keep out unwanted guests." He warned

"Traps?" As I asked, Watchful grabbed me, pulling me back as a snare snapped up at my foot.

"Yes, traps. They are capable of breaking limbs." He noted, setting the sprung trap back into place.

"Right, so how will I know to avoid them?" I asked, fearing I may loose a leg if I am not careful.

"Look for piles of leaves and discoloration on trees. Those are where the traps are. If you're unsure, just follow behind me." I said.

I nodded, looking back at Frost. She had an unsure look on her face and began whining at me.

"It's alright Frost," I assured her, "Just stay behind me."

She hesitated, but began to follow. We continued along this path for a while, carefully stepping around the traps laid across it. We eventually came to an open clearing, sunlight peaking through the gaps in the trees. Watchful came to a halt in the middle. I walked up to him and he turned to me once more.

"This is where it'll get interesting. Hopefully Princess Luna's message has reached them, or we may have trouble." He told me.

There was a rustling at the other end of the clearing, and five figures emerged. They were threstrals like Watchful, but appeared to have on tribal based garbs. They advanced on us, but halted upon spying Frost behind us. Some of them looked ready to run, but the center one looked curious from what I could tell. I turned to Frost and motioned her to come to my side. She did, sitting beside me as I placed a hand on her back, turning to our new arrivals. The fear turned to pure shock, and the center one stepped forward revealing an aged threstral. The threstral looked to be a mare, with grey fur and white hair and tail.

"Watchful Eye." She stated, her voice croaky but calming.

"Grand Elder." Watchful greeted her, bowing as he did so.

She turned to look at me. "Is this the one our princess wrote to us about?" She asked.

"Yes." Watchful replied.

She walked over to me and Frostbite, bowing slightly to Frost once she was in front of us.

"An honor to be in the presents of the great Amarok, and a pleasure to meet the one Princess Luna has asked us to prepare for." She greeted us.

Frost nodded towards her, and I bowed myself. "Who do I have the honor of speaking to?" I asked her.

She rose with a soft smile, "I am Demisha Nightwalker, Grand Elder of The Grove, but please, call me Demi."

"I am known as Grey Sword, I assume you are aware of the situation before you?" I said.

"I'm afraid we only knew of your arrival. We are unaware as to the reason you have been summoned to our home." She told me.

I was shocked to hear this. Looking at Watchful, it seemed he was just as uneased by this information as well.

"That can't be right Grand Elder, surely you were told more." He said.

"I'm afraid not, her instruction was to prepare for a guest of her's." Demi responded.

"Perhaps it was a mistake to come here." I stated.

"Nonsense! Any guest of the princess, especially one who can walk along the legendary Amarok, is welcome here." She offered.

I looked back at Watchful to see he was as unsure as I was.

Might as well, we're already here.

"I hope you are correct Demi." I told her, dropping my hood and stepping into the light.

As soon as I did, Demi gasped. The others present threw themselves onto the ground. I assumed that they had done so in fear, until I realized they were all on one knee bowing to me.

That's... not what I expected.

Watchful looked as confused as I was. I turned back to Demi to see a twinkle in her eye, one that reminded me of my grandmother.

"So it's true... the stories are all true!" She exclaimed.

"Stories? I'm sorry but what do you mean?" I asked her.

"I will explain, but not here. Come, it is time you came to the grove." She told me.

She turned, walking back to where she had come from. I looked to Watchful to see him shrug, before tailing after her. As we walked, many of the threstrals that had been present tried approaching Frost, attempting to touch or pet her. She growled at all of them except for one. The one she didn't growl at managed to place her hand upon Frost's back, before petting and hugging onto her. Frost merely shook the threstral off, causing them to giggle. The voice was high and bubbly, leading me to assume they were a mare. Other than this, we walked mostly in silence. We came to a bend, and as we did one of the threstrals moved forward towards vines that were blocking our path.

"Welcome to The Grove." He said, a deep rumbling voice escaping from him as he pulled back the vines.

I was amazed by the sight before me. The trees here reached high, higher than I would have expected. There were platforms and bridges crossing from tree to tree. Houses had been constructed against the trees, both on the forest floor and on the platforms. The air here smelt strong of natural plant life, and the lack of sunlight made the air cool. Threstrals were moving to and fro, also donned in tribal dress, building and helping utilize the supplies for construction. Young children were running along the bridges, flying across the expansion of nature and construction as though it were a playground. There were a plethora of lanterns strung about, all giving off a soft blue and purple glow. The colors blended with the forest to give the whole scene a serene feel.

"Wow..." Was all I could say.

Demi chuckled beside me. "I'm glad to see your impressed. We've worked hard to make this place feel like home, and are overjoyed to have you."

I nodded to her, taking in the scene before me once more. Looking up, I saw the forest blocked out the sky fully, but the tops of the trees sparkled and glistened as though there were stars here.

"How is that possible?" I asked, pointing at the ceiling.

"That is thanks to the starflies." Demi told me, "Similar to their cousins fireflies, starflies give off a light light mimicking that of stars. They can't survive in sunlight, as their bodies are very fragile and susceptible to heat. They produce a pollen that can be used for medicine, and in return, we threstral give them a safe home away from the harsh light of the sun." The male threstral told me.

One of the starflies floated down to me. Holding out my hand, it landed on me and dimmed its light. Moving it closer to my face, I saw that it looked exactly like a firefly, but appeared to be made out of pure membrane making it see-through. It flutter off, leaving a thin film on my hand.

"That film is part of their saliva. It can be used as a sweetener for food or compressed into a pure form of mana restoring potion." The younger mare threstral said.

"That's amazing, but while I know Demi I don't know the rest of you." I responded.

"Oh, my children sometimes forget their manners." Demi spoke. "This is my eldest son, Thorn Pincer," She gestured to the bulky one who had opened the vines and spoke. He had grey fur and black hair and tail, and looked to be in his early 20s. "this son is Hardened Hooves," She gestured to a slightly thinner threstral. He had black fur and bronze hair and tail, and looked to be in his teens. "my youngest boy, Clever Wit," This one was shorter than the rest. He had silver fur and dark grey hair and tail, and was a child around 10-12. "and my daughter... Midnight Star!"

I turned to see the mare she yelled at cuddling against Frost. She had black fur and midnight blue hair and tail. She looked to be in her mid-teens, probably 15-16. Frost was currently nuzzling against her, clearly enjoying herself. I cleared my throat to get their attention, and Frost shot up attempting not to look at me. I shook my head with a smile, amused by my companions actions. Turning back to Demi, I saw her rubbing her head with a scowl on her face.

"I apologize for my daughter. She's a rambunctious one." She said with a tired smile.

"No need, I'm sure Frost doesn't mind the extra attention." Frost shot me a glare for saying this, causing me to chuckle.

"Well then, I've completed my part so I shall be off. Good luck to you Grey, hopefully we'll see each other again soon." Watchful said.

"Not staying for the banquet? Who are you, and what have you done with Watchful Eye?" Demi asked with a sly smile and a playfully accusing tone.

"I know, all of tartarus must be freezing over! But I promised my family I would not be gone for too long and I wouldn't want to worry them." Watchful responded.

Demi softened her smile at this. "I understand Watchful. Thank you for bringing Grey to us, we'll take it from here."

With a nod, Watchful returned to the forest path leaving me with new company.

"So, what now." I asked.

"Now, we'll go have a feast! To celebrate you coming here." Midnight exclaimed.

"A feast for my arrival? Isn't that a bit much?" I asked.

Thorn chuckled at this. "It would be a bit much, but it's not just for you. We're also celebrating the return of our beloved princess of the night. You just happened to arrive in time, so you will become part of the celebration." He told me,

I shook my head. "That's not neccassary. I wouldn't want to take away from this event." I told them.

"Oh I'll have non of that! You were invited here by the princess herself. You would be adding to it, not taking away." Demi assured me.

"Come on then, we're going to be starting soon!" Cleaver exclaimed, his voice high and full of energy.

We made our way to the center of The Grove. Many threstrals stared at me curiously, a few back away in fear. Whether that was from me or Frost I wasn't sure. Some greeted me with simple hellos as I passed. Approaching the center, I saw the base of the tree had been carved out, making for a large meeting hall of sorts. There were threstrals of every shape and color roaming about inside, but the commotion all but came to a halt as we walked in. All eyes were on us as we made our way forward. Once we reached the end, we turned and Demi addressed the group before us.

"Everypony! I would like to introduce you to our special guest for the evening! This is the one our princess has asked us to prepare for, Grey Sword!"

Many of the faces lit up at this, the threstrals began muttering among themselves at this news. Though some were unconvinced, stepping forth with scowls on their faces.

"How do we know this is the one Princess Luna has asked us to house? This 'Thing' and its beast could easily lead to the death of everyone here!" One of them exclaimed.

Demi frowned at this, "Morning Star please, he was accompanied by Watchful Eye himself as the note proclaimed he would be. We also know of the stories from our princess about not all humans being blood hungry beasts!"

"That doesn't prove anything!" Morning Star argued, "This human could be no better than the rest, and that story was never proven to be true! It's all speculation!"

"Then why don't you take your Princess's word for it."

All heads turned to the source of the voice. Standing in the opening was a tall dark blue alicorn. She was easily 6'6ft, wearing a regal dress and jewelry. She had dark blue fur, and her hair and tail looked like a piece of the night sky itself, flowing in a non existent breeze. She had a powerful air about her that threatened to destroy anything or anyone to close to her. Her face showed her authority. Immediately, everyone began to bow to her, telling me who she was. She made her way up to me causing Frost to growl at her. I hushed her, turning to the royal before me.

"Princess Luna I presume?" I asked her.

"Indeed, and may We say it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance sir..." She began.

"Grey Sword, your Majesty." I finished for her.

"Grey Sword, again, a pleasure. Now my little ponies, was there not a celebration to be had?" She asked, a smile upon her face.

Cheering rang out around the hall, as the threstrals began serving food. Luna turned to Demi and greeted her.

"We would like to join this celebration, Grand Elder." Luna spoke.

"Of course your Majesty. We would be delighted to have you." Demi told her.

Taking our seats, the feast began. The threstrals began conversing among themselves, and I turned to Luna.

"So why is it you asked me here your highness?" I asked her.

"We felt this location to be safest for you. I'm sure by now you've learned of the worlds history involving humans, so I wanted you somewhere We knew you would come to no harm. We can discuss further why We have brought you here, but for now let us enjoy ourselves and feast!" She exclaimed.

I nodded to her, turning to the palette before me. It was filled with all kinds of fruits, veggies, and even a few cuts of meat. Before I could touch it, I felt a thump resonate across the table, and looked to see Frost had laid her head on the table and was giving me "the eyes". Sighing, I threw a roast to her, watching her happily catch it and begin eating. Turning away from her, I saw Luna staring at Frost with wonder.

"An Avarok. You managed to befriend an Avarok." She stated.

"Yep, Frost and I found each other quite a long time ago." I told her.

"That is a story We will have to hear." She stated.

We continued to eat until, we were stuffed. Then they brought out dessert.

Author's Note

If you need a better idea of what The Grove looks like, think of Kashyyyk or the forest moon of Endor from Star Wars.

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