The Totally Awesome Guide to a Deadly Forest of Death

by TDR

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Spike, Comedy, Profanity, Shining Armor, Violence, Anthology, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 5008

A definitive Guide to the Everfree Forest and other notable things, as written by the Sparkles.

Also know as Encyclopedia Everfree and the Moon Dog Almanac, this story contains chapters and exerts from the book written by a one Princess Twilight Tuesday Sparkle, with assistance from Baron Rahs Sparkle, Sir Spike Sparkle, and Emperor Shining Armor Sparkle.

A collection of observations and research notes brought to you by the Puppyverse Sparkles.

Published 2021-07-07 21:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2022-09-04 14:19:42 UTC

Foreward

Foreward,
By Princess Twilight Tuesday Sparkle.

Greetings gentle reader and welcome to the Encyclopedia Everfree.

No, don't bother checking the cover again. I KNOW what the cover says, but it only says that because I lost a bet with my younger brother and was forced to allow the name that currently mars the cover of this otherwise informative tome.

Please however, do not the name dissuade you. All information within this tome is factual and has been brought about through countless hours of research and study of the countless flora and fauna of the fabled Everfree Forest.

As an added bonus to that however the tome has been expanded to cover a number of other creatures and individuals of note that have been of interest to the collective minds of Equestria in the past few years.

While there will be information on such things as Poison Joke, Parasprites and Hydra, There will also be chapters devoted to such things as Moon Dogs, Changelings, and Nox-Cal, as well as notable individuals such as Prince Sombra, Princess Sunset Shimmer, and other persons of note.

Another point of protest from myself is that there is no real order to the entries.

I assure you that this is not my doing as I had set up a perfectly orderly pattern for the book set by genus, subspecies and given name.

However as a … punishment for a certain experiment involving poison joke, which was completely not my fault, all of the chapters were shuffled around and given to the publisher to publish, as is.

And another note is that I am NOT a Princess, that is simple the given name I was forced to place within this book due to a slightly less grievous experiment which upset my house.1

Despite all of these complications, I assure you this tome is of the highest quality. It's information is the pinnacle of all research conducted on the environs of the Everfree Forest.

Dear reader, make yourself comfortable, sit back, relax and have yourself a nice warm drink as you peruse this fine tome at your leisure.

Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Tuesday Sparkle.

Foreward by Sir Spike Sparkle

Hey, Sup.

This is Sir Spike Sparkle.

Just call me Spike.

I named this book.

Isn't this cool?

So Twilight said I should write a forward like what she wrote and I was like, nuts to that, and well here we are.

So anyway my parts in this book are pretty mild to be fair, most of the research was done by the others with me as support, but I was also the one that most often said,

'Hey, maybe you should stop poking the twelve story bear made of stars with a stick.'

Of course no one listened to me, but I did manage to stay back enough to gets some interesting attack patterns and heck I might even stat up some of the things in here for O&O.2

If you don't know what that is your missing out, see you have one guy, or girl doesn't matter, who takes a group of , well the best is four, through a adventure and.......

Right I was just told I shouldn't be trying to sell somebody elses books in my book, but still check it out.

Anyway Don't worry about Twilight's complaining, we worked pretty hard on this book and it's a good read so... enjoy I guess.

Okay, Bye.

Foreward by Baron Rahs Sparkle.

What you are about to read is true,

The names have been left the same because no one is truly innocent.

My name is Rahs Sparkle
Baron, Rahs Sparkle.

While what you are reading my be presented as fact and statistics, contained within this tome are tales of heroics, tradigies, the joys of life and love, and the sorrow of death.3

You will read of Kings and Queens and the horrors brought about by war, and the love that can be found on the battlefield.4

You will read of lost sons, secret affairs, tortured creatures, and things that survive even death itself.5

Of gods and monsters, both foul and fair of troubled minds and those cursed.6

But fret not readers, for while the things you read here are absolutely true, take heart in knowing that many have happy endings, or are things that shall not trouble you, and if for some reason they do, this guide shall very well perhaps save your very life from that which may harm it.

So take note readers, take note and remember the warnings and the contents of this book, for this knowledge could serve you well in the future.

And as we all know, the future is where we shall spend, the rest of our lives! 7

Foreward by Emperor Shining Armor Sparkle.

Right okay. So I just say my name here, right.

Okay, I'm Emperor, Shining Armor Sparkle.

And .. here's a book I helped with.

Okay is that it? Am I done?

What do you mean I need more, Spike I only helped out with a couple of these entries.

...

Well yeah I guess Changelings and Crystal Ponies are pretty big entries but still.

…

Well okay my time as a member of the six sixty sixth did help flesh out some things , but isn't this Twili's book?

…

Well I guess if all of you are adding into it.

…

No, I'm not against being in a book, it just seems kinda weird to me. I mean you and Twili are doing all the writing and me and Rahs are just adding our own take on things. I don't really feel like I contributed much more than the idea to shuffle the chapters to punish Twili, but...

Well I suppose so, right. So what else did you need me to say?

What do you mean you were writing all that down?

Spike!

1 We added Seshat in here a bit late as she hasn't been with us for long.~Spike
2 Ogres and Oubliettes was created by Tactical Studies Rules, and the current editions are owned by Orbsah.~Editor
3 No it doesn't.~Twilight.
4 Okay. Some of this is right~Twilight.
5 Sadly, I will admit it does have all that.~Twilight.
6 Screw it, I give up. He's doing what he wants now.~Twilight
7 Okay at this point he just started cackling like mad, and I'm not writing that down.~Spike

TDR Presents

No matter what the Sparkles say, I'm the one writing this.

A collection of Puppyverse information.

The Totally Awesome Guide to a Deadly Forest of Death

White Heart Cherry Tree.

Twilight Gets a Puppy
Totally Awesome Guide to the Deadly Forest of Death
By TDR

White Heart Cherry Tree.1

Names: White Heart Cherry Tree, Dragon Sneeze Trees, Dragons Bane, Those Stars Damned Weeds2.

Habitat: Currently ONLY, the frozen north, Site D, though they can be grown in any climate that would support standard cherry trees.

CR: 03

Type: Magical Plant4

The history of the White Heart Cherry Tree goes back to the formation of the Crystal Empire, back when the Empire truly was an Empire, and not just a city called the Crystal Empire that was renamed and used to be called Constantanopal.5

While true origins of the trees are lost to history, the records from the early years of the Crystal Empire that survive mention that there were constant dragon attacks on the empire6. It was mentioned that the dragons seemed to avoid some of the southern fruit farms, despite attacking everywhere else.

An investigation showed the tree that would eventually become the White Heart Cherry had irritating effect on the dragons that came near it while it was budding in the spring.

The druids of the Empire were instructed to try and bring out that irritation further to something that might drive the dragons away year round.

The early magi must have thought it would be something like pepper spray is today. However the end, the druids produced something that turned out to be much worse.

After years of selective growing and cultivation The White Heart Cherry Tree was grown almost exactly as we have seen it today.

The tree was tested by having the pollen spread over a large area where some rich bait for the dragons was placed.

The result was quite effective. The documentation of those early tests is faded and practically illegible, but the result was clear. The moment the dragons came into range of the scattered pollen they began showing a clear allergic reaction and those that didn't die when they fell out of the air, or blasted by violent sneezing from one of the others in their flight, retreated.

With the tests successful, the trees were planted every where in the Empire. The cherries themselves were sour to the point of being inedible, but the trees flowered and produced pollen nearly year round after their first budding with one production of their 'cherries' in early fall.

As said, the cherries of the tree are complete inedible, though they can be used as a fuel source. The oils of the fruit are quite flammable and if the pit it removed can easily be used as a fire starter that works better than most tinder.

If the pit is not removed however the cherry acts more like a small bomb when exposed to flame, the fruit bursting open violently and spreading the oily interior of the pulp around in a ten foot radius. The pulp and oil of the fruit tends to cling to everything, be it flesh, fur, or any thing else surrounding the area. The oil also floats on water and will burn even if submerged some how until the oil is consumed. In fact the only thing the oil will not burn on is the tree itself, which quickly lead to the cherries store rooms being made out of the wood of the tree.

At the time the flammable nature of the tree was deemed acceptable to keep the dragons back.~Twilight

From a tactical standpoint this thing is a mess. While the tree is immune to burning itself down if the cherries all caught fire the tree could detonate with the force of something like a Dragon Slave. Add in that the main reason it was grown was to deal with creatures that regularly spit fire, and you understand what I mean about it being a mess.

How it helped the Empire at all is something a couple of the older gods probably know about, but none of them really care to talk about it. Particularly the dragon god Bleu, she got pissy when we asked about it, apparently she was friends with the one dragon who sneezed himself to death that we know about.

Despite all that, the pollen of the tree was quite effective as even in storms the rain does little to dampen the effects.

While the dragons did stop raiding and simply avoided the areas where the trees grew, the Empire itself didn't last many years longer as a massive... spanning... ,well, empire, and the memories of the trees purpose faded as the years went on. Eventually the farmers started culling the trees as they were dangerous and used the scant good growing land that the Empire had access to after it fell.

The dragons however ,didn't forget.

Bleu took advantage of this lapse in the trees and set out to destroy them utterly. If not for the intervention of Equestria, and Princess Celestia in particular, the trees would likely be fully extinct, and the Empire itself destroyed completely.

This of course launched the conflict between Princess Celestia Solaris and the Dragon Goddess Bleu Scale that lasted until only six hundred or so years ago.7

While no trees remained, a few farmers had saved seeds of the tree and eventually those were put into storage until they were recently uncovered after the Crystal Empire returned.

Honestly if I had known the seeds were going to cause as much issue as they did I would have had them destroyed.~ Shining Armor.8

The modern day state of the trees is a tale of woe and pain that most could only dream of. Just when life had found a way against all odds to beat back the final curtain of oblivion, the black void of no return surged for the once more, with vengeance in it's cold uncaring eyes. Entropy seeking to strike down everything, quickened it's advance on this small spark of life.

With the return of life, the suffering of untold numbers came about. Their voices wailing in pain and horror as the cause of it once more tried to gain a claw hold to drag itself screaming from the great beyond.

Life was again put under assault and culled until only a thread of it's former shining existence remained.9

But fear not gentile readers, for where there is life, there is hope.~Rahs

I am unable to properly put together the words, to say how much I hate these things.10~Spike

1 I hate these things~Spike
2 Usually this name is accompanied by a great deal of cursing.~Twilight
3Unless you're a dragon then it's closer to 10 to 15.~Shining
4Have I mentioned I hate these things.~Spike
5Because you can't go back to Constanopal, it's been a long time gone.~ Rahs
6No real surprise given the buildings and the ponies that lived there were pretty much gemstones that screamed.~ Rahs
7 More information on this conflict in the entries on Bleu Scale and Princess Celestia.
8 You should have, have I mentioned how much I hate those trees? Cause I hate those trees.~Spike.
9 Pretty much there are only three left in a secure green house in the Crystal Empire along with a number of other dangerous plants. We call it Site D. At some point Twilight will probably want to put it in the book too.~Shining
10 Yep Still hate the damn thing.11~Spike.
11 WE KNOW!!~Rahs, Twilight, Shining

Bleu Scale

Twilight Gets a Puppy
Totally Awesome Guide to the Deadly Forest of Death
By TDR

Bleu Scale

The dragon goddess known as Bleu Scale is the current reigning God of the Dragons. It has taken a good bit of study to find information out about her and most of this information gathered on her is either from her own words or that of other gods so all of it should be taken with a measure of disbelief unless proven other wise. While this guide is designed to be a definitive source of information we can only record what we are told or have discovered and given some of our sources some of this information may be suspect.

To get to Bleu scale we need to reveal a little about Dragons as a whole, though there will be a chapter devoted to them given how many actually live in the Everfree.

Dragon's have existed since a time before Ponies evolved to their terrestrial forms. They have largely remained unchanged feeding of gem stones and various metals as well as some meat as their primary diets. The first Dragon Lord came about as those early dragons of superior skill and strength claimed large swathes of land as well as any living in them as their own.

Massive territories were carved out and fought over and the first Dragon God rose from these Lords and ruled over all of them.

There is a large swath of time, still before ponies even took their first steps onto land that there is no information on. Either plague or war greatly reduced the number of dragons, allowing for other smaller creatures to grow in power and thrive.1

Approximately four thousand years later a new Dragon God rose to prominence and sought to claim all the lands lost by dragons with the rise of mammals. The Dragon gods name was Forgescale.2

Forgescale ruled for an unknown amount of time before his daughter Bleu gathered a collection of dragons and drove him out. Forgescale was then later banished into another realm by Starswirl the Bearded.3

During this time Bleu became a god herself of the Wind and Lightning. She has minors in Storms, Dragons, and Gemstones as food. As a Goddess of Lightning she can supplement her flame breath with an electrical discharge, and effect not shared by her children oddly, though Spike does have a varient of a breath weapon and it was mentioned Torch does as well, but not what it is.4

She has three known sons with Spike, Dragon Lord Torch, and her 'youngest'8 Char. She has claimed that she may have other children out there, but she hasn't seen them in a long time, though it is a big planet and she is not what one would consider, 'the best mother'.

Bleu and Celestia had a long running feud that spilled over from their early days though neither of them want to explain what it was about.9 Both of them say it is over despite Bleu's amusement at tormenting Celestia still.

Currently Bleu has no static residence though she has a preference for making her home in high places and clouds.

Bleu has one ability that while it is hard for other dragons to preform, it is not impossible, and this sets her apart from nearly all other dragons beyond her being a Dragon God.

Bleu has the ability to change her size. Thus far only four varied sizes have been noted, A house cat sized, tiny form, a pony sized form, a house sized form, and a mountain sized form. There is no real indication if these are her only sizes.10

She has informed us how this trick is preformed and Spike has started to learn it , though neither of her other sons has the willpower, in Char's case, nor the interest in Torch's.

Dragon Greed growth is a documented phenomenon, one where the dragons size can change depending on how large their hoard is, and all dragons have a hoard of some sort. However they have to consider their hoard to be such or they do not grow.11

Bleu has learned how to abuse this and has several various hoards and at will considers some, none or all of them part of her hoard thus allowing her to change size12

Spike has been experimenting with this ability and has managed some success having isolated a part of belongings in a way that allows him to grow a little.13

At current, Bleu like many other gods has given up control of her race to another leader and simply sits in the background poking her nose into it as her interest dictates.

One such event was the return of the Crystal Empire, the discovery of a Witch Wolf, and the return of Forgescale in all three instances, she arrived ready to destroy the problem. All three times she held back at another s request, likely saving Ponyville, and the Crystal Empire twice.

According to Princess Celestia she is not known for her restraint. She has shown subtlety however , both in leaving Spike with Celestia to raise and for supporting the Changeling Queen in secret when she returned. Also despite being a supporter of sending Princess Luna to Tartarus at first she agreed with Princess Celestia's judgment and actually changed her vote at the Council meeting.

Bleu Scale is currently a known ally of Equestria, but not a staunch supporter as King Kaz and some other nations are.

There is a little more on the Dragon God Bleu Scale in the dragon chapter of this book.

1Whatever this event was the only information we have on it is from the God of Time White who is quoted saying “It will be a very bad time had by all.” end quote.~ Twilight.

2 Also known as Forgescale the Terrible, Forgescale the Red Death, Forgescale the Ash Bringer, Forgescale the Death Wing, Forgescale the Thunder, Forgescale the Playa, Worst Grandpa ever, That Asshole Forgescale, Oh no not him!!, and ARRRRRGHHHH.~Spike

3 This is an unfortunately proven thing as Aria has pointed out that it was indeed Starswirl that forced them through the mirror. So it seems something he boasted about was indeed true. Granted this last bit was explained to me by Princess Luna, and she seems not to like the guy very much.~ Rahs

4 I bet it's cotton candy breath Ooh oooh no, sprinkles so he can top his ice cream~Pinkie Pie5

5 How did Pinkie get a notation in this book?” Twilight fussed.6

6“It's Pinkie Pie.” ~ Rahs7

7“Duh”~Spike.

8 Due to the rather claws off nature of Dragons, they may some times lay eggs and then ignore them for hundreds of years before they hatch. The age of a dragon therefore varies as some Dragons count their whelps age from the point the egg is laid and others from when the egg hatches. Bleu does both seemingly at random. So Spike is older than Char as he was laid first, but not older than Torch who was the one who hatched first of the three despite the fact Spike has several hundred years on him as an egg.~ Twilight

9 This sort of statement usually means what ever it was about was stupid and they feel embarrassed about it.~ Shining Armor.

10 She assured me it is not. ~Spike.

11 Hence why I'm not ten stories tall with all the minis and game books I have. Plus being raised as a pony helps limit that.~ Spike.

12 She refused to even give a minor location as to where these hoards might be. ~ Twilight.

13 Mostly a couple of signed comics I sealed away. I was getting real tired of being older than most of the foals at school yet still smaller. Plus Applebloom seems to like it.~Spike.

Parasprites.

Twilight Gets a Puppy
Totally Awesome Guild to the Deadly Forest of Death
By TDR

Parasprites.

Names: Parasprite, Devourer bug, Eat Flies, Lunch,and 'Ugh'

Habitat: Mostly dense forests, though there are known variations adapted to cities, deserts and underwater.

CR: .1 for a single one and a 4 or five depending on swarm size

Type: Tiny magical pest

The vermin known as a parasprite can be described as a tennis ball sized furry creature with small dragon fly like wings, four small legs with exceptional gripping power, and large expressive brightly colored eyes. Their bodies are covered with a surprisingly soft layer of fur that has been noted as being any color from pastels all the way up to near neons.1

Internally the parasprite is little more than a small nerve cluster and rudimentary spine connecting the eyes to the wings. The rest of it is a little muscle for the legs and the remaining 90% is all stomach which doubles as it's reproductive organ.2

The soft cooing sound it emits is little more than the rumble of it's stomach

The main drive of Parasprites seems to be to eat and reproduce. Tests conducted have shown that if the parasprite eats double it's own body weight it will produce another parasprite. For something this small one would think that that might take a while due to size limitations, though with no bones to speak of the parasprite can unhinge itself and devour something nearly four or five times it's size in one gulp. The implications of this are terrifying when you compare the average size of a foal to the size of a parasprite.

Thankfully for ponies everywhere the parasprites don't seem to be interested in eating anything that could fight back in the slightest, the nature of the parasprites build shows that even if they decided to eat a mouse, that mouse would have time to chew it's way out, thus killing the parasprite, and that is if the mouse allowed itself to be swallowed without killing it's attacker in the first place.

The fact they are so frail means they are of little threat to anyone physically.3

However this does not mean they are not dangerous. A single parasprite can become a swarm in less than fifteen minutes if given a large enough supply of food. Several smaller communities have been stripped bare of all crops and food stuffs by a swarm in the past and required aid from the crown simply to make it to the next day. 4

The danger of these creatures is not just a threat to Equestria as there are known variations of them all across Equss. Due to this numerous counter measures for the creatures have been created from warding spells, to militia's designed to combat the threat of a swarm.

There is good news however, if a swarm is successfully warded off the parasprites paltry memories will remember that they were driven away from this location and will avoid it for at least a few years due to the odd shared genetic memory they have.

Another thing of note is that they will avoid what they consider known predators for even longer.5

Of which complete eradication of this pest species is not an option as despite their actions they are a prey species for a large number of creatures and thus have a vital part in the food chain.9

A census is taken often by the 666th Guard unit to monitor the levels of parasprite infestation in various forests around Equestria. If the numbers are too high the Guard tries to move some predators from lower numbered areas in to curb their growth before a swarm occurs.12

Through their efforts Equestria ha not had a swarm erupt in several years, and other nations are beginning to adopt this strategy, most notably the Griffons in recent years and Neighlantis.15

One of the strangest things about parasprites is the most common method to remove them.
Polka music.
Studies have determined no reason for why this works or why it is ONLY polka music that works.

When the music is played all parasprites within range of hearing it16 line up and follow after the player with little hops continuing on after it until the music stops or they themselves become too tired and pass out.17

This method however has it's draw backs as the swarm will often return to where they were lead away from unless they are lead to another area with lots of food to distract them. It is usually advised that if the music method is used that at least half the swarm is killed before they are led away to ensure that those left will remember enough to avoid the area for longer.

1 They also taste like various flavors of bubblegum based on the coloration Which is weird for a lot of reasons.~Rahs

2 This should not be physical possible, though numerous tests have proven that yes it very much is. ~Twilight.

3 A notable exception to this are Breezies, who are magically weakened while they are out of their home, and parasprites are one of the major threats to breezy migrations when they still happened. ~Twilight.

4 Another major issue is if you are camping or on a Guard training exercise you need to make sure your food is secure in something that they will not eat through like hardwood or metal. We learned that the hard way in basic training. Having to forge for food in the middle of an unknown location while the Drill Sergeant slowly eats a doughnut in front of you is torture.~ Shining Armor

5 Currently my siblings are both considered to be ancestral predators of the dang things and thus Ponyville has remained Parasprite free for several years. ~ Spike 67

6What ? They are tasty.~ Rahs

7 I find this insulting that they consider me such just for a bit of science. ~Twilight 8

8 This I find funny, more so that she doesn't know why. ~Shining Armor

9One of these species is the Crystal Dragonfly a sub species of giant dragonfly that migrated tot he frozen north and was adopted by the Crystal Empire for pest control. The species was thought extinct until the return of the empire, though breeding stock was low, though careful conservation the species has moved from Extinct, to Extinct in the wild, to critically endangered to simply endangered as of the time of this printing. ~Shining10

10I had to stop Shining here because he was going to go on and on about them given he is one of the driving figures in the restoration of the species. There will be more on them in a later entry.~ Twilight 11

11 That my sister had to stop someone else from going on a lecture should say something~ Spike

12 It is of note that at the time of this writing the last great damaging swarm was caused by PETA in Manehatten, something that particular branch has yet to recover from financially, and that all other divisions have distanced themselves from.~Rahs 13

13 I didn't even know they had divisions I thought they were one big group. ~Spike 14

14 More on PETA in another entry, as they do count as a threat, even if if it a stupid one. ~Twilight.

15 Why Neighlantis adopted this strategy was confusing at first until it was found out that there is an aquatic subspecies of Parasprite that is physical identical though it replaces it's wings and legs with fins.~ Twilight

16Which gets on my nerves as they have no auditory receptive function at all. ~Twilight

17 My studies have shown that if the music continues they will continue as well as soon as they wake up. I wished to continue the experiment to see how long it would go before they would be unable to continue but after three days of nonstop polka music my brothers destroyed both the record and the player before Rahs ate the test subject.~ Twilight 18

18And we will do it again in a heartbeat!~ Rahs