Blueberry's hooves crunched quietly on the hard dirt path as he walked, short legs making his hooffalls fast and frequent. The dark blue earth pony's hide contrasted the surrounding bright greens of the sunny forest, short blue violet mane bouncing lightly as he trotted easily along the road.
His friend, Tumble, walked alongside him, the slightly taller colt setting the pace with his longer stride. He had a white coat, tainted slightly brown by the dust the two kicked up, the tip of his long blonde tail catching the worst of it.
"Okay, so, say Miss Blossom came into the bathroom while you were taking a piss, right?" Tumble said with an impish grin. "Then she comes up to you and just kisses you on the mouth, like with her tongue and everything. What would you do?"
"Ew, her tongue? I dunno," Blueberry said with a grimace.
"Yeah, then she starts moaning your name like 'oh, Blueberry!' What would you do then?"
"Dude, I dunno. Run home? Tell my mom I guess?"
"Tell your mom?" Tumble said with a snicker. "You wouldn't like, kiss her back? What if she started clopping herself? 'Oh, Blueberry! Unh, yes!' You wouldn't even, like, pop a boner or anything?" He lidded his eyes most of the way and made a show of making out with the air. Blueberry just smiled and shook his head.
"Dude, she's our teacher. I ain't gonna pop a boner if all I can think about is homework."
Tumble laughed, but was cut off as they neared the shortcut trail. He stopped, chewing on his bottom lip. Blueberry continued until he reached the trail then turned around.
"You coming or what?" he shouted back. Tumble walked forward hesitantly, stopping again at the trailhead. "So? Gonna pussy out?"
Tumble sighed. "You know I don't like walking past that tree."
"We already walked past lots of trees, though," Blueberry said mockingly.
"You know what I mean," Tumble said. "Come on, let's just take the road. The trail sucks anyway."
"Aww, poor widdle filly scared of getting her hooves dirty?" Blueberry teased, then pranced in place with a mock expression of exaggerated worry. "Oh no! I got mud all over my pretty little girly hooves!"
"Buck you. It doesn't take that much longer to take the road anyway. A-and you don't like that tree either. So have fun walking past it by yourself," Tumble said with a stomp of a forehoof to punctuate his point.
Blueberry's mocking grin fell away as the thought did worry him. "Maybe I will just to prove there's nothing to worry about. And I'll be back home before you even get to Vanhoover."
"Fine."
"Fine."
Tumble took a step away on the road, then sighed. He turned around and met Blueberry's gaze. "Okay, fine. But let's just... go past it fast this time. No bucking around. Okay?"
Blueberry smirked. "Is da widdle filly scared of a widdle twee?" Tumble hit his friend on the shoulder in reply, eliciting a giggle from him. "Okay, fine, we'll go fast. I gotta be home early anyway."
Blueberry stepped into the forest and led the way along the small path. While it was a bit overgrown, it was still clear enough to follow without getting lost. After several minutes, the forest opened up on their right, offering a clear view of a large oak tree, its thick branches twisting outward from its large trunk as if hungrily reaching for prey. Blueberry didn't know what it was about the tree that made him so uneasy. It seemed to simultaneously call out to him and demand his attention, while also putting an inexplicable fear into him that made him want to flee. Curious as always, he slowed as they passed by, earning a frustrated growl and shove from Tumble behind him.
"Hey!" Blueberry yelped.
"Go! You said fast," Tumble said.
"Fine," Blueberry conceded and broke into a quick canter. He sped it up to a gallop even after passing the tree's creepy aura, running along the trail playfully as Tumble kept right behind him. Not long after, he stopped, smiling as he caught his breath. "Fast enough... for ya?"
"Yeah," Tumble said with a laugh, though whether it was from relief or the playful chase, he wasn't sure.
The walk into Vanhoover was uneventful. Both colts emerged from the forest on the outskirts of town and headed to the nearby pharmacy. A bulletin board with some ads and a missing foal poster was just inside the front entrance. Blueberry looked over the ads, seeing if anything interesting was for sale. A trashed-looking scooter was the only mildly eye-catching thing, which he quickly dismissed. He went up to the counter where nopony was around and rang the service bell.
"Coming!" came a feminine voice from the back. The pharmacist's expression brightened when she came out and saw the two colts. "Oh! Hi, Blueberry. How's Satin doing?"
"My mom's fine, Miss Herbal Balm," Blueberry said.
"Getting better, I hope?" she asked with a smile.
He nodded. "She's been walking around some, so yeah. She should be back to normal in about a month. That's what the doctor says, anyway."
"Good! That's great to hear," she said, fiddling around with some boxes on a shelf. "Ah, here we go." She placed a box on the counter, then wrote something in a ledger. "All right, same as always. She just has to take one spoonful a day before bed. And this might be the last time I see you."
"Thanks," was all he said, turning around to leave.
"Oh, boys?" Herbal Balm called, getting them to turn around and listen. "Can you take a look at that missing filly poster on the wall and try to remember her face? Just in case she ends up in Trotter's Dale. Her mother came in yesterday to hang that up and the poor dear was in bits, asking about her daughter."
"Oh... that sucks," Blueberry said lamely, Tumble nodding along. "Yeah, we'll check it out."
"Thank you. Have a nice day, and tell Satin I said hi!"
Blueberry lifted a hoof in acknowledgement and stopped at the bulletin board. The filly on the poster was a unicorn, probably a little younger than he was. She was a faded pink with a strawberry mane, striped with dark purple streaks. Underneath the picture, he noticed that it said her name was Berry Jam. Unsurprisingly, she had no cutie mark yet, as Blueberry himself didn't either.
"Dang, imagine being missing," Tumble said unhelpfully.
"Yeah. Like, having to survive in the woods or whatever. Where would you even sleep?" Blueberry wondered. Satisfied that they had her face committed to memory, the two left the pharmacy.
"She was kinda cute though, right?" Tumble asked.
"Miss Herbal Balm?" Blueberry asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, jackass, the missing filly."
"Her name is Berry Jam," Blueberry said, hitting Tumble on the shoulder playfully. "Jackass."
"Fine. Berry Jam. Cute, right?" Tumble asked.
"I dunno," Blueberry answered noncommittally. "She's missing. Who cares if she's cute?"
"Yeah but if we find her, maybe she'll give me a blowjob!" Tumble laughed.
"Dude, is that all you care about? Ever since you got your cutie mark, I swear. Makes me kind of hope I never get mine."
"Hey, I can't help it."
"Yeah, but a missing filly? That's kinda bucked up."
"Don't tell me you weren't thinking it."
"I wasn't thinking it," Blueberry stated flatly.
"I mean, if you're gay, that's fine, I just-"
"Tumble! I'm not gay. Just, not everything is about sex."
"Yet."
Blueberry sighed. "Yeah, yet. And hopefully never, for me."
"Pfft, whatever. Hey, where are you going?" Tumble asked when he saw Blueberry turning away.
"Uh, home?"
"The road's this way," Tumble said with a slight whine. "Dude, come on, I don't wanna take the trail again, for real."
"Have it your way," Blueberry said, continuing toward the trail.
"I'm really not going with you this time, for real."
"Fine."
Tumble growled. "Buck you. I hope it eats you or something."
Blueberry had a strong urge to turn back and accompany his friend, but the urge to not bow to his fear was even stronger. He expected Tumble to catch up and follow him, but he never did. He really had meant it when he said he was taking the road, it seemed.
Blueberry's small steps were hurried as he progressed along the trail, in many ways anxious about seeing the oak tree again. As he neared it, he slowed down, as if preparing to sneak up on it. He was glad he did, for when he rounded the corner, he saw a pony standing at the base of the tree. He nearly jumped out of his skin, but quickly regained his composure and quietly backed up. He slipped into the forest and crept slowly along it to get closer to the tree while remaining hidden. Crouched among dense creepers, he parted the foliage carefully to watch.
The pony at the base of the tree was a unicorn that Blueberry recognized. He had a light ashy gray coat and a medium length black mane whose strands ran in straight lines down the side of his neck and head. He was Trotter's Dale's town spellcaster. Blueberry didn't know him very well, but had seen him around town enough to recognize him.
Sable Spark seemed to be talking to the tree. Blueberry strained to hear, but couldn't make out his words, just that he sounded angry. Why would he talk to a tree? Blueberry thought. He was sure there was something strange going on, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
After a few minutes, Sable Spark looked around on the ground and seemed to be picking things up. Whatever they were, he placed into his saddlebag and said a few more words at the tree, then left toward Trotter's Dale.
Blueberry waited several minutes longer to make sure the unicorn would not return, then walked out of the bushes. His heart was galloping in his chest as he approached. The large oak tree looked no different than the last time he had seen it. It also felt the same; it seemed to have an unnatural air about it, demanding his attention while also filling him with the desire to get away from it. He pressed forward, closer to it, until he was standing where Sable Spark had been, next to the trunk. He reached a hoof out and pressed experimentally against the bark. Part of him was disappointed to feel nothing but what one would expect from touching a tree.
"Hello?" he said, feeling a bit silly. His mind was suddenly inundated with formless thoughts. Loud colors exploded in his head, hearing and seeing nothing yet feeling some kind of sensory overload. The expectation of harsh cacophonous noise caused phantom pain in his ears and brought on the start of a real headache. He instinctively covered his ears, which oddly seemed to help, and cowered, whimpering. Whatever it was, it seemed to come from multiple directions at once, and continued assaulting his thoughts for nearly a minute. Eventually, he felt it die down enough to uncover his ears. The clearing was utterly silent. He was panting, fear and curiosity burning in him as he looked up. He shivered as a gust of wind blew past him, not at all feeling chilly on the warm afternoon, and he wondered why it felt so significant.
Inside Blueberry's mind, something clicked, and he suddenly realized what was wrong with the tree. He looked around, and every other tree was swaying gently in the breeze. The oak tree was not; it was as still as a statue. He stared hard at it, straining his eyes for any kind of movement. Any twist, bend, sway, or flutter that might prove him wrong. Nothing moved. Its leaves, certainly hanging up where the wind was blowing through them, seemed unaffected by it. The whole thing felt horribly unnatural, like some otherworldly beast that might choose to ensnare him and drag him inside its hungry belly.
The desire to flee finally won out and as he ran, the noisy thoughts filled his mind again, dying down as he put more distance between himself and the tree. He began crying as he galloped onto the trail, certain the tree wanted him to come back. It was calling for him, and the scariest thing was that part of him wanted to listen. Adrenaline-fuelled, he tore blindly around corners, needing to get off of the trail and back onto the road. Just as he rounded a sharp corner, he came face to face with Sable Spark, nearly running right into him. Blueberry's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as he realized who he was looking at. He stiffened, eyes wide and panting, feeling and looking as though he had just been caught stealing cookies from the pantry.
"Whoa there, young one. What's the matter?" Sable asked.
"I, um... nothing, Mister Sable Spark... uh, sir," Blueberry said, not feeling very convincing.
"It was the tree, wasn't it?" the unicorn asked suspiciously, but with no hint of anger in his voice. He seemed concerned.
"Y-yeah," Blueberry said, looking down. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he assumed it would be bad.
"Blueberry, right?" Sable asked. The colt nodded slowly. "You seem frightened to see me. Did you see me at the tree?" He nodded again. "Then you probably thought I have something to do with it. Well, that's not entirely untrue. The real reason I was there is that I've been studying it for some time now. That tree is not safe. There is some kind of powerful dark magic surrounding it. You should stay on the road. This trail can be dangerous for foals like you, especially with that strange oak tree. Can you do that for me, child?"
Blueberry nodded dumbly, expecting to have been reprimanded or something, but Sable Spark just seemed concerned.
"Good," Sable continued, "let's get back to Trotter's Dale. I assume you were out getting medicine for your mother again?"
Blueberry nodded again and swallowed the lump of worry that had built up in his throat. The two made small talk as they walked to the road then began following it. It wasn't long before they arrived at the little village they called home, Trotter's Dale. Sable escorted Blueberry home, even coming up to his mother's room with him to tell her where he had been found.
"You went off the road?" the light brown mare said from beneath her blankets, then coughed. "I don't care if it is faster, it's not worth putting yourself in danger, Blueberry." She coughed again.
"I know, mom. I'm sorry," the colt said, downcast.
"He's promised me he won't do it again, though. Isn't that right, Blueberry?" Sable said, laying a hoof on him. It made him really uncomfortable.
"Yeah, I'll stay on the road next time." The hoof patted him. Stroked his mane in a way that felt more like brushing a bug off than reassurance. Either way, it was unsettling, and Blueberry suppressed a shiver.
"Well, Miss Satin Mane, I suppose I should be getting back home. May you recover quickly from your illness," Sable said, turning to leave.
"Bye, Sable Spark," Satin Mane called, followed by a cough. "Thanks for bringing Blueberry home!"
The young colt couldn't look his mother in the eye as he spoke next. "Sorry, mom... I, um, brought your medicine." He pulled out the box and opened it, revealing a bottle which he placed on the table next to her bed.
"You really have to be more careful," she said.
"Yeah, I know!" he said, somewhat frustrated.
Satin Mane sighed. "Wanna help me take my medicine?"
"Okay," he said softly. He grabbed the bottle and opened the lid. Using a spoon that was sitting on her night stand, he scooped out a spoonful of the wet mixture of crushed herbs and held it to her mouth. She took it gratefully and tried to swallow as much as she could at once, but needed to swallow twice.
"Bleh," she said. "Drink of water, please?" Blueberry nodded and hurried off to fill a glass with water, bringing it back up to her. He tipped it gently into her mouth and she sipped until she held up a hoof, indicating she had had enough. He set the glass on the table next to the medicine bottle. "Thank you."
"Yeah, you're welcome. I should go, uh, do homework I guess." She simply nodded, smiling at him.
"Blueberry," she said just as he was about to leave. He turned, mild annoyance bubbling up again as he expected her to tell him to be careful again. "I love you."
"Oh, um, love you too, mom."
He went to his room and worked on his school work. Distracted as he was by thoughts of the day, it took him much longer than it would have normally.
He went to bed early, but couldn't sleep. He wanted to tell Tumble about what had happened and wondered if his friend would even believe him. His mind was too busy trying to piece everything together as he tossed and turned. By the time he did get to sleep, it was later than his normal bedtime.
He dreamt of trees with twisting branches reaching for him as he ran away from them, mind full of their loud, clear echoing voices.
"Come back..."
