"Kaer Blathan, 30 miles ahead..." Gilded Lute read the sign at the foot of the forest, the brown path carved through it becoming less visible the deeper he peered in. There were many rumors of the Everfree, most proven true time and time again by weary travellers that lost their way more than once; Crazy cults, monster dens, and the ever popular Ursa Major all existed inside. There was one, however, that all the passersby he had passed on the way agreed on:

The Wolf of the Everfree doesn't exist. The young Bard wasn't sure what to believe, but he knew it was his sworn duty to uncover the truth like the wordsmiths of old did, in a much better time. Many forget the Bard was a warrior poet by trade, and not just a lute for hire, but Gilded Lute set out to change that, to bring back old tradition, albeit in his own unique way. Gulping down what he assumed was his heart, the stallion made the first steps into the forest, prepared for the worst. As he walked deeper and deeper in, those same eyes from earlier watched closely.

"Well, this isn't so bad!" He chuckled nervously, darting his head at the smallest of sounds. "Just a regular lovely walk in the most dangerous woods alive, no big deal!"

Suddenly, he heard a twig snap nearby. Panicking, he screamed and blindly ran off the paved dirt road deeper into the heart of the woods that all feared.

"PLEASE ANYONE HELP ME I'M GONNA DIIIIEEEEEE!" He screamed out. Frantically dashing throughout the ever thickening forest, Gilded Lute didn't see the sudden drop and tumbled dangerously down a small crevice and landed face first onto the ground with an unremarkable "ouch."

Recovering, he darted his head around for any sight of civilization. To his panic, there was none. Only dense foliage and ambient noises of a very active forest greeted him. Whimpering, he figured the best course of action was to find a nice shady spot to cry in and wait for Timberwolves to eat him. "Not even two feet in and you already gave up, Lute!" He exclaimed, sniffling. "Good job! Now your lute's gone, your miniscule reputation is in tatters, and what's worse is there's a mare looking at me like I lost a limb!" He bawled.

Wait...

Wiping his eyes, nothing but the brown color of mud greeted him where the mare once stood. "Oh great, and I'm even going delirious! Given my luck, it wouldn't surprise me if I accidentally inhaled some Poison Joke during my stumble." Shaking his head, Lute gave himself a quick slap. "What are you doing!? You're an official Bard now, it's time to start acting like it!" Getting up, the stallion wiped himself off as best he could and continued further in.

Despite his rather brief episode, Gilded Lute kept a brave face, his fear from earlier slightly suppressed by his need for adventure. As a young Colt, his parents would run rampant at the courageous pony that got into all sorts of trouble, only to come bawling out later. He didn't mind it however. It showed he still needed to grow as a pony, and becoming a Bard was the next step. They were warrior poets always on the move, going on perilous adventures, yet still gentle enough to craft a ballad that was tasteful to all audiences. It thrilled him to no end!

Despite his newfound courage, he still couldn't shake the eerie and frightening feeling of a pair of eyes on him. "Just the magic of the forest, that's all!" He reasoned. "Almost all the stories say it's got old magic buried deep in it's center." He passed a large tree, admiring it's gnarled limbs and twisted body. "The legends of this place talk about ancient artifacts and a crystal tree, once the source of power for the kingdom of Equestria." Just then a beam of light shone down through the canopies, reflecting off the wet wood of the old plant and making it look like the tree he just mentioned. "Harmony Gems and the Crystal Palace, I think that's what their names were." Placing his hoof on the wood, he sighed. "What I wouldn't give to see that right now..."

Suddenly, the tree began to groan and move, swallowing his hoof and slowly sucking him in further. The roots began to overtake his other hooves on the ground, anchoring him in place and putting an increasingly painful pressure on them. "Ah! H-help, anyone?!" He pleaded. "I'm becoming a tree!"

As if to answer, the body of the tree warped in front of him, revealing what looked like a cow skull wrapped in vines, it's head adorned with deer antlers. Slowly, the head moved forward, the limbs that trapped Lute before slowly lifting him up and connecting themselves to the head of the monster. A circle of crows broke through the canopy and began swarming around the area, adding to the terrifying appearance of the monster that now held him. Aside from the cow skull and antlers, the beast was deprived entirely of wood. The splintered and rotted appearance of its body was so similar to a Timberwolf, he wouldn't doubt it if the two were related somehow.

Slowly, vines began to wrap around the stallion, crushing every part of his body. "Agh! Please, anyone?!" The crows swarmed closer, pecking at the bits of his coat not wrapped by the vines and cutting him in the process with their sharp beaks. Suddenly, an outside force knocked the birds out of the sky and shook the monster holding him. In it's surprise, the creature groaned in an ungodly howl, tossing Lute like a ragdoll towards the very tree it came out of. Hitting it with a sickening crack, the stallion's vision went blurry and fell to the ground in a comatose lump. Fate had decided he would be only an observer to the scene before him, and what a scene it was!

To one side, the vague brownish green blob in his vision stumbled from another blast; It was the monster that grabbed him. On the other side was a very small lemon colored blur, one or two heads bigger than the average pony. He didn't know who, or what, it was but it had the speed of lightning. Where the wooden beast lumbered and swung, the other creature dodged gracefully and swiped at it multiple times. If he had a clear view of the battle, Lute was sure he would be impressed.

Suddenly, the sound of crows came back and this time, they were swarming near him! A gutteral roar came from the beast the blue was fighting, and within an instant the crows dove down and began to peck and cut him like vegetables to a knife. He screamed and the blood from his wounds leaked into his eyes, blinding him to the fight and unfortunately, to the beast's location. If he couldn't see he couldn't get away, though that would imply his spinal column was still in one piece, which the pain coming from his back told him the inevitable answer. Another rumbling beneath his possibly paralyzed body as well as the most horrific scream, and all went silent once more.

He could hear a rustling nearby, and in self defense, the stallion desperately kicked out towards the noise. His fumbling around was stopped by something soft and gentle yet also familiar.

...Hooves? he thought.

"Stay still, damn it!" A melodic voice from the heavens spoke. "I need to wrap some of your wounds."

"...Are you an Angel, sent to take me to heaven?" Lute spoke softly, melting at the soft touch of the mare bandaging his wounds.

"For a pony dumb enough to wander into the Everfree, you definitely sound like the exact opposite of what I'd expect." Flipping him over, the mare sucked in a pained breath. "That impact dislocated your spine, I'm going to have to set it."

"Yes, Goddess- wait, what?!" He exclaimed, squirming free from the pony's grasp. Wiping his eyes, he cleared some of the blood and attempted to see. What graced him was the face of a beautiful Pegasus mare, her Wolven eyes fierce yet gentle; her long brown mane framed it perfectly, only highlighting her features even more. He was speechless.

She, on the other hand, only rolled her eyes at his reaction. The mare further inspected his back further with her hoof, trying to feel if there were any other hidden breaks in the spine. Feeling only the dislocated column, she sighed with relief. "Only the one place, good."

Gently pushing down, She got ready to pop it back into place when a yelp of pain shot out of the stallion, him squirming away from her grip. "No no no! No re-aligning spines today! No thank you, I am perfectly fine walking-" He tried to stand up but the pain only got worse and he plummeted to the ground once more.

"Yes I'm sure, and the sky is green." She droned sarcastically. "Now let me set it, or you'll be a paraplegic for life, possibly even go blind."

"Well I think you're full of GYAHHHH!" His cries of pain could be heard all the way back to the village entrance.

"There!" She smiled, dusting herself off. "Now let's get you back to the forest entrance, and I'll collect some ingredients from this Leshen-" Looking down at the now fully unconscious stallion, she rolled her eyes and lifted him onto her back.

"It wouldn't hurt to let him recover first. I hope he likes meat..."

Author's Note

Another chapter in the same week?! I feel proud of myself :D

Now, if you read Destiny's Calling, you know I like to make decent sized chapters, not like these two small ones. That hasn't changed! I'm just peppering in some small chapters here and there while I think of the Contracts/big events for this story. More info below!

In this order, give or take a few, it'll consist of a recap(if necessary), a character reveal, then a foreshadowing of the next big chapter. Possibly, there will just be fun bits of interaction I'll throw in, as a sort of intermission!

I'm trying a new structure for this arc, hoping it sticks well! If not, I'm sure y'all will point it out XD

Anyways, if you like the story or have general comments/concerns, go ahead and let me know below. Other than that, give me a thumbs up or down. Either/or, I really don't care as long as you're honest.

Next chapter up soon, hopefully!