Prince Sugar Hoof of Equestria

Birch wasn't somewhere he knew, it was unlike anything he'd ever seen. There was no nature, only metal, fabric, concrete, and plastic all around. He could see the night sky through a window nearby, along with numerous chairs clearly meant for non-treants to sit in. Taking a step onto the carpeted flooring, he couldn't help but be aware of how foreign the magic here was. There wasn't even a scrap of life magic nearby, and considering what had been done to the planet's core, he was beginning to think he wasn't even on the same planet.

What's worse, is that he couldn't feel Sugar Hoof anymore. He had been cut off from his main source of sustenance, his king, and his dad all in one go. He kept his giant wooden fingers scraping against the wall as he moved through this strange location, noting how empty and sterile it was. After a few seconds, a bathroom was found and he decided to investigate. The bathroom smelled like copper, though no copper could be seen. The walls and floor were clean to an absurd degree, not even a single speck of dust was out of place.

His mind grew restless as he passed a corner in the bathroom, the only sound being the noise of the leaves on his body rustling, and his giant tree-trunk footsteps. As the corner was passed, he just briefly saw Sugar Hoof walking to the opposite corner, where he just was. Birch broke into a run as he followed Sugar Hoof.

"Master!" He shouted, but upon turning the corner again, Sugar Hoof was nowhere to be seen. No hoofprints, no nothing, it was as if he hadn't just moved past here.

It was then that he heard the gurgling. He just barely had enough time to look at what made the sound when suddenly, he began to burn. His body was rapidly set on fire, the dry wood and leaves being a natural kindling for it. Birch let out a mighty roar of agony as he ran towards what had injured him.

His assailant was a horrible pus-ridden flesh scab given sentience. Four tongues oozed a steaming substance from his makeshift mouth as his hands burned with pyromancy. Despite being on fire, Birch slammed his mighty arms into the creature's head, knocking him down, and he sent another volley of fire into Birch's stomach. The treant however, stomped onto the creature's head, and soon he was no longer a threat. With his enemy defeated, the magic began to die out as the flames ceased to burn.

Birch's bark had burnt until it was splintered, all the leaves that made up his head and beard were gone, pressing his burnt claws onto his chest, he felt extreme sadness as he witnessed wood break off from it. Something in that fire had disrupted the natural magics that held him together. Not only was he weaker, his very magic has been weakened. His soul had been made lesser as a result of this fight.

He had no time to stop though. Where there was one opponent, there is often multiple, and now fully aware of the dangers that may be behind every corner, he ventured deeper into this place. Moving less firmly, he felt sick, though the pain was starting to fade. Which no, wasn't a good thing. He should be in agony right now, Birch knew this. The only reason he wouldn't be in agony is if his very senses were dulled. Which couldn't be the case, that creature was a pyromancer, it wasn't someone capable of soul magic.

Though come to think of it, if the creature was a pyromancer, why hadn't Birch felt the presence of magic in the vicinity? Just where had the creature come from? At least he seemed like he was the only one. He couldn't see or hear anymore, thankfully. If just one had taken him down so low, he feared what more of them could do.

Birch found a staircase and slowly trudged his way down it, feeling fatigued. He had figured that it would lead to the basement or outside, he was half right about the outside part. Instead of feeling concrete under his trunks as he saw out the window earlier, he instead felt mud. He began trudging his way away from whatever building he was in, and once he was out of it proper, he turned around to see that the building was gone. He was alone, outside in what looked like a swamp.

Sugar Hoof was in the distance and Birch called out to him, "Sugar Hoof!" But Sugar Hoof disappeared.

"Follow me, Birch." Sugar Hoof said with an echo.

Birch trudged towards the sound of Sugar Hoof's voice, not giving any thought to the why or how of what's been happening.

"This way, Birch." Sounded from behind the treant, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"I just came from that wa—" Birch tried to say, but was stopped as a powerful migraine came out of nowhere and he clutched his head.

"Birch, keep up!" Sugar Hoof shouted, and the treant followed, but soon the same thing happened again.

Sugar Hoof would call from one direction and then from the opposite direction whenever Birch got too close. If he walked too far, migraine, if he refused, migraine, if he tried to go elsewhere, migraine. The headaches grew stronger with every time they happened and Birch eventually learned that the least painful way was just to do whatever Sugar Hoof said.

"This way, Birch." Master said, Birch obeyed.

"Over here, Birch." Master said, Birch obeyed.

It felt like hours, but eventually, Birch stopped caring about time.

He found his soul weakening further, his magic field grew smaller as it was beaten into submission by this strange force that surrounded him.

"Treant, follow me." Birch would forget his name over the course of a few hours. Everytime he has an independent thought, he'd be hit with another migraine. He was treant, he was a thrall, summoned by a life wizard, his master. He had no personality, he was just there to obey.

Treant would not return to service though. He would return to Equestria soon, but the world would not know him. He'd look just like any other tree among a vast forest. None but Sugar Hoof would remember Birch, the Lord of the Treants.