The Secret of the Everfree
One thought had been nagging Fluttershy since the whole ordeal wherein Zecora contracted that most mysterious and terrible of diseases known only as Swamp Flu. The thought had taken root when she’d first learned of the malady’s symptoms and the low survival rate of those who contracted it. The thought had grown stronger when she’d seen Zecora in the final stages of the sickness, when trees limbs with fully sprouted leaves had begun to emerge from the zebra’s flesh.
That had been days ago. Only now did she find that she had mustered the courage to venture into the Everfree Forest to see if that awful idea in the back of her mind had any basis in reality.
She left at noon, hoping to draw comfort from the sun shining brightly overhead. She’d asked for no accompaniment, no ponies nor animals. When she thought about it, she decided that she was just too afraid that her idea would bear fruit. If what she believed was true…
Well, the fewer ponies that knew, the better.
And besides, she was probably just being her same old overly-frightened self. It was a preposterous notion, this idea of hers. She had really not asked anypony to come along because she didn’t want to look foolish in front of them when they didn’t find anything.
These thoughts did little to comfort her as she trotted deeper into the Everfree Forest. She shivered as the huge branches above seemed to stretch out on their own and blot the sun from the sky. Soon she was lost in a dimness through which she could only just make out the trail before her. She continued on with a steady pace, unsure of her exact destination, but knowing the direction in which she had to keep moving; towards the dead center of the Everfree Forest.
It felt like she walked for hours. She made frequent stops to replenish and restore her strength with the snacks and water she’d brought along in her saddlebags. She basked in the ambient noise of nature all around her, the chattering of small mammals and the chirping of birds. A light breeze blew through the trees, making the branches rustle and causing small leaves to fall. She continued on with only the slightest hint of trepidation, the smallest nagging voice in the back of her head reminding her that she had never been this deep into this most ancient grove.
She nearly ran head-first into the tree.
It was a sturdy oak, the trunk reaching all the way to the distant canopy of the forest and beyond. It was clearly very old, but still quite sturdy and showed no signs of disease or rot. Even the bark was unblemished, showing no signs of wood-peckers or other creatures.
Unblemished… save the carved words.
Fluttershy examined the ancient words, imprinted so deeply into the tree that age had not affected them in the least. They were still as evident and readable as they’d been on the day they’d been put down, which must have been so many years ago;
Here we live without the royals,
Here we share each other’s toils,
Here we work our magic spells,
Here are houses and watery wells,
Here we live where none can see,
Here we remain forever free.
Fluttershy touched a hoof to the last part of the carving. Forever free. The terrible idea returned to her mind. Didn’t this discovery just make it more plausible? Could it be that a group of ponies had come out into the wilderness to live free of the Princesses, and…
No, she couldn’t let her imagination run wild. She’d had the thought and now she needed proof. Some old carven words were hardly compelling evidence of the awful concept that had come to mind when she looked upon her afflicted friend.
Undaunted, she continued on past the tree.
She came upon a grove of trees taller and older looking than any she’d encountered thus far. Here then was the very source of the Everfree Forest, the patch from whence the whole of the woods had sprouted. She was awed for a moment at the very idea that she was in the heart of Equestria’s last untamed wilderness.
When she’d had her moment, Fluttershy began exploring the trees closer. Each of the largest trees was surrounded by a ring of stones that must have been placed there by the tribe of ponies who had made this place their home. No doubt it was part of some ancient ritual whose details were now long forgotten. She found the remains of what might have been a well once, now long buried and dry. Now possessed by an incredible curiosity, she looked beneath stones and dug small holes in the earth. Perhaps she would find some bauble, a foal’s toy perhaps, that she could bring back with her as proof of her incredible discovery.
She was pulled from her reverie by the idea. That awful, terrible, idea that had come to her mind at her friend’s bed-side and driven her out here in the first place. She turned to one of the stone-circled trees and approached it carefully. Her hooves crunched long dead leaves as she moved closer. Slowly, nervous about what she might find, she reached out a hoof and began to scrape at the untarnished bark of the tree.
At first, she saw nothing but wood beneath. She sighed in relief.
Then she saw it. And then she screamed.
She fell away from the tree and landed flat on her back. The dead leaves were thrown into the air all around her and they floated down, filling her vision with a shade of blue and orange that she had become all too familiar with in recent days. She brushed the long dead plants from her face and bolted from the grove, almost tripping over the circle of stones. They truly were placed in perfect circles. Like decorations.
Or like the foundations of long rotted away houses.
Yes, Fluttershy now knew the secret of the Everfree. She knew of the tribe who had come into the woods to live free and alone. She knew they had encountered a plant unlike any other they’d seen. She knew they’d been afflicted, and by the time they realized they were doomed, there was no way they could send for help. She knew now the source of the Everfree Forest’s magic, how it was able to grow and remain wild despite Equestria’s best efforts.
Now she knew the truth… and she could never tell anypony.
As she bolted past the carven inscription, the only epitaph this lost tribe would ever have, she swore to herself that she would never tell anypony about the lost grove and the ruined village. She would tell nopony about the source of the Everfree’s power.
She would go to her death without telling a soul about the glassy, long dead eye that had looked back at her from just under bark of that ancient and incredibly old tree.
