Author's Note

In which Harbinger does some gardening. So I have a couple of confessions to make, one is that I've only watched the show up to season four and don't really have a way to watch it past that since Netflix stops on that season. The second is that I haven't watched the show in almost a year. So given the Au nature of this FIC a lot of changes are going to be made that would make it pretty non-canon after that point as around season four was when I started writing this FIC.

I must also ask your opinions on something, how should I handle Zecora? She's an interesting character that I think Harbinger would be interested in meeting, but I am incapable of rhyming to save my life. So should I come up with a reason for her not to rhyme, or just not include her, I'm honestly at a loss. If the first option, I would like to hear your suggestions, as the only reasons I can think are she does it on purpose to fuck with the racist ponies or something about Harbinger's kitsune nature just auto-translates for them.

Also, just to give you guys some clarification, harbinger can run almost sixty to seventy miles an hour for prolonged periods, so at full sprint the trip between Haven and Ponyville is probably around a hundred to a hundred and twenty miles when the forest isn't shifting around them.

Like always I love your comments, so please do say your piece.

Ameliorate

Ancient wood groaned as the gates of my walled home opened, the rusted metal screeching as I used them for the first time since I had discovered the abandoned town. The trip back from the village had been painful and long, what had been a two-hour long journey at full run had taken me almost seven at the hobbled jog I had managed on the way back. Dawn had broken by the time I made it to my little haven in the forest, and the relief that I felt upon seeing it nearly caused me to collapse with exhaustion. The trip had at the very least proven some theories that I had about my own biology.

Mainly, I did have a regeneration factor, it wasn't exactly superhero level but it was still doing its job. By the time I had reached my home, which I had taken to calling haven in the short term, I had healed a large chunk of my wounds. Wounds to the flesh had been the first to go, the gash on my arm and all of my bruising had healed within the first hour after the fight. My tongue, on the other paw, had taken almost two. The broken and bruised jaw had taken the longest to heal, having rather painfully shifted back into its correct shape almost six hours after the fight. My ribs were still healing by the time I had managed to flop down under my willow and pass the hell out.

I awoke sometime midday, I managed to catch myself before I went to stretch. I took my time, slowly uncurling my body and straightening out. My ribs were still sore, but from what little I could tell they were no longer at risk of puncturing anything and seemed to have mostly mended. My stomach growled in protest as I decided to wait a little before eating, and in part I agreed with it. It felt like I was starving like my stomach was trying to eat itself. Most likely this was because of my regeneration, such a process probably took quite a bit of protein and other nutrients to sustain itself. While I'm sure there's a medical reason for not eating after such an ordeal, my reasoning was pretty simple. I had gotten my ass kicked over a frying pan, and I was sure as hell going to use it.

Thankfully, I had taken to collecting firewood as I roamed about the forest and had a significant pile. I didn't bother with tender or making the pit look pretty, simply tossing three decent-sized deadwood logs against each other and hitting them with a weak blast of foxfire. Without much aplomb, I set to make what in my head was an omelet. Six of my recently acquired eggs, a bit of milk, the last of my boar, and some varying edible vegetation I managed to forage later and I had a workable breakfast. It seems silly, but I think that singular meal did more to heal my mental state than any licensed therapist could have at the time.

I ate slowly, taking time to savor the first proper meal I've had since coming to this world. As I ate I made some mental list in my head, I hadn't managed to find anywhere to get seeds while in the town, meaning I would have to make do with what I could harvest from the plants in the forest. Meat would be easier since I could hunt for now, in the long term I could make a small fenced-in area and try my luck with capturing rabbits or almaraj. I could try to capture some deer as well, but I wasn't sure how I liked the revelation that there was an entire nation of sapient ones. Eating one or two that I managed to catch was one thing, keeping a few and breeding them when one had the possibility of popping a sapient Bambi out was another.

Soon I would also need to start building myself a home, I had thought about building myself a cabin or some other surface dwelling, however I remembered reading about a few spells that could shape stone and manipulate living wood and had gotten it in my head to live up to my new form and build a den. An underground den could be expanded, and in my head at least, significantly cheaper on resources than something I would have to build out of wood or stone. I figured I could place it in between the roots of the giant willow and make a hobbit-styled door or something similar. That was a little ways away however and for now, I would settle with what was within my capabilities, which meant planting things.

Eventually, I finished my omelet with a satisfied hum and washed the pan in the river. Looking at my options the best way to start was to go out and see what I could find and bring back. I started by scavenging along the river, my luck it seems would be on my side today as I found a large batch of currants and a single juniper bush. Taking my time I harvested about half the berries and slowly began the process of digging them up and replanting them within the walls of Haven. A bit more searching netted me several sprigs of wild mint, something I was quite happy about as wild mint is decently easy to grow. I also took the time to start collecting the decent amount of ryegrass that was growing inside the wall. Wild rye might not be the best grain, but I could use it to make bread and porridge.

I couldn't help but smile to myself as I worked, today would mostly be gardening and preparing for later projects. The prospective day of simple hard labor was an honest comfort in my head. I kept a garden on the roof of my bookshop, so the familiar actions of making another within the walls of Haven was a welcome change from the chaos and pain I had been dealing with the last few days. I knew it was only a momentary reprieve as I would soon have to make my way back into the forest proper both to hunt and to gain an understanding of all that was around me.

Dusk had fallen by the time I had completed my self-assigned task, a yawn escaped my maw as I grilled the last bits of almaraj and cube fruit together on a wooden skewer. Today had been a good day, soothing on both my mind and soul. Perhaps it was a bit presumptuous of me, but I like to think that things were getting better. Another yawn escaped me as I curled up in a ball, letting my tails fall over my eyes and muzzle as the crackling of the fire lulled me to sleep.

I woke up cold and wet, another rainstorm had settled over the forest, not as bad as the one that had followed my raid on the village but still a decent downpour. While I did grumble a bit about the rain, I still took the opportunity to bathe, quickly making use of the lavender-scented shampoo I had nicked from the general store. The rain would be annoying but I still needed to hunt today as I was out of meat. I waited for the rain to settle a little before leaving and setting off to the east following the creek. I had gone in that direction before but only a few short miles to forage but no further. Keeping near the water would increase my chances of running into bigger prey and decrease the likelihood of getting lost, something that was still very much a threat despite the time I had spent here.

My hunt was starting off well, barely a hundred paces up the creek and the first of today's prey showed itself, a small herd of deer was drinking at the water's edge. There were twelve of them, I focused on one of the males I was not an expert at identifying pregnant animals so it was better to avoid the female ones entirely. Rather than lose out on getting anything by trying to sneak up and catch one, I decided to use my magic and fired a series of magic bolts at its back legs. The deer's legs snapped and it fell, I quickly lunged across the terrain. My teeth sank into its neck and I twisted, snapping its neck between my jaws. It was a medium-sized deer and would last a normal person a while if rationed, unfortunately, I was a fox that weighed by my estimate at least seven hundred pounds, so maybe two days if I mixed in fruits and vegetables.

There was no need to bother skinning it, only to remove its guts, as I would eat everything else, including the hide. I took some time to remove the head entirely and let the blood drain for a bit before stuffing the corpse in my bag. Eventually, I would build a smoker but for now the bag worked to preserve my food well enough. I quickly washed my paws and mouth in the river and began my hunt again. Two more deer and a couple of rabbits would be enough for another week, after a few more hours I found and killed another deer and several almaraj before my bipolar luck flipped again.

I had been stalking a deer through a small clearing, I was so focused on my prey that I had not noticed that the sounds of the forest had stopped. I prepared the bolts of magic and was about to cast them towards the deer when a large scaled head slammed into my side. My world twisted as my paws left the ground and something twisted around my torso with extreme force, causing me to spin in midair. I landed with a crack as I impacted against a tree, the air in my lungs being forced from my body. I decided to roll almost immediately after hitting the ground, the pain causing me to grit my teeth and snarl. I was thankful that I had learned my lesson in never staying where I landed as a gout of acidic vapor melted the underbrush and dirt where I had been lying.

With a groan, I tumbled to my feet as a loud hiss echoed throughout the clearing so loudly that it made my ears flatten to my head. Snapping my head towards the sound, I felt my blood run cold and my eyes open wide in shock. A long fifty-meter serpentine body, two large arms tipped in deadly-looking claws, sharp-looking spikes and scales on a dragon-like head. I loved mythology and often turned several lesser-known myths into DND encounters. The moment I locked eyes with the red-slitted pupils of the lindwyrm I knew I was screwed. More so since it seemed to take more to the fantasy and DND version over its mythological counterparts if the acid breath was anything to go by.

The serpent reared its head back and lunged, I dodged to the side and watched as its head slammed into a tree, shattering it like it had been struck by a cannonball. Two swirling balls of blue fire launched from my tails and slammed into the side of the beast doing little but scorching its scales. The lyndwyrm's tail whipped around and I had the barest forethought to leap in the direction it was going as to lessen the impact. The trees and dirt blurred as I was launched through the air with extreme force, a splatter of blood being spat from my mouth. I hit the ground and rolled, managing to somehow stop on my feet. I didn't bother trying to fight, taking off from my position as a globule of acid splashed against my back. The pain was immense and I screamed as it ate through my armor and flesh, but I kept running. There was no doubt in my head that if it caught me I would die.

A game of cat and mouse commenced then, unfortunately I was the mouse. My lungs burned as I dodged between trees, jumped over multiple blasts of acid, and sharply turned to dodge every lunge. The serpent hounded my paws for almost twelve minutes after the initial encounter. The beast only gave up the chase after I got a lucky strike as it missed a lunge and I managed to tear an eye from its socket with my claws. I managed to put a significant amount of distance between it myself by leaping over a small chasm towards what appeared to be the ruins of a small castle or keep. Keeping my ears perked and with a severe limp I hobbled towards the entrance, staying in the forest right now would likely end badly and the chase had caused me to lose sight of the river.

The ruins were surprisingly intact, the great hall had a bit of rubble here and there but was otherwise as clean as a ruin could get. A strange pedestal that somewhat reminded me of a planetarium sat in the center of the great hall, further behind it a small pair of curved stairs led up to two separate thrones, one was shattered but had bits of gold and marble mixed within its rubble. The second throne was mostly intact seemingly made of silver and obsidian. "Something to do with the two pony rulers then? They would fit the motif, but why is it out in the middle of the forest, the ponies avoid this place like the plague."

I grabbed some of the loser pieces of obsidian and gold from the throne area, I had use for both. Still keeping alert I moved on to a doorway to the side of the night throne, it stretched out into a large and long hallway with multiple windows that had long since lost the glass that resided inside. The first two rooms had collapsed with time, and the third I came across seemed to belong to a trusted advisor or some other important figure, the remnants of a desk and a rather large bed decorating the mostly empty space. The hallway took a sharp right and seemed to connect to a mirrored hallway that probably exited near the day throne, a staircase led up to a second-floor though there was a door on the opposite side of the spiraling stairs.

Gently nudging the door open I risked a glance inside, the room appeared to be a kitchen space with two connected storerooms, most of the room's tables and shelves were long corroded and destroyed but I managed to pilfer some legitimate silverware and a cauldron. The storerooms had little that was of notice besides a small metal chest, upon trying to open it I found that it was locked. With a shrug I put the chest in my bag and continued onwards up the stairs, it would have to wait till I found a way to make some rudimentary lockpicks.

The upstairs was in even worse condition, most of the rooms were completely collapsed, and the first intact room I managed to find was a small treasury. It was almost entirely empty besides a few silver coins here and there, and a small gemstone that I think is a garnet. Moving further I found what was probably servant quarters if the small hall filled with individual small rooms was anything to go by. The third room caught my interest, a large intact bed, desk, and several bookshelves with intact books decorated the room, and a small planetarium sat spinning in the center of the ceiling like a chandelier. If this wasn't a mages room then I wasn't a fox.

Despite my curiosity I didn't bother going for the books first, no The first thing I decided to do was curl up on the dusty but still comfortable bed and rest, there had been a steady trickle of blood from my mouth ever since I had taken the lindwyrm's tail to the side. My experience with previous injuries so far has proven that they healed faster when sleeping and when in the presence of the blue flowers. I was thankful that I had taken to carrying some in my bag for emergencies. Spreading a fine layer over the bed I curled up on myself with a grimace before letting the flowers sooth me into sleep.

Blinking, I observed my surroundings with a calm eye. I was dreaming that much I could concur from the way everything was slightly blurred, little wisps of color surrounding the permanence of objects. I was still in the bed, but it was no longer covered in flowers or dust, and the room itself was well-kept. My attention was drawn to the window that looked out over the courtyard, flashes of color and sounds of battle echoing throughout the castle. I stared down at the battle that raged below, blue armored threstrals fought with gold armored pegasi in the skies, while similarly armored ponies fought in the courtyard itself.

What drew my gaze the most however was the battle of Titans happening higher in the sky, two beacons of light were fighting. One was the color of the son, golden and harsh. The other was the moon, blue and soft, they fired beams of energy that often missed and tore swathes of forest and ground apart. Their battle raged even as the two armies below stopped fighting and sought cover for their own safety. I was startled as I noticed the grey unicorn in wizard robes watching the battle beside me, a long flowing beard covered much of his lower face but I could see the sadness in his eyes as he watched the battle at my side. The unicorn seemed to sigh and then with a glance in my direction spoke, "I know not what your nature is fox, but as a fellow aspect, your magic screams to me, restrained by your lack of knowledge. The password to the shelves is Clover, use what you find there wisely, do not repeat the mistakes of those who came before you."

I stared wide-eyed at the apparition and was about to respond when a shockwave rumbled the very air, turning my eyes widened in awe and horror as the moon was eclipsed in a yin-yang of energy fed by two beams from what I now realized were the alicorn sisters Celestia and Luna. A shockwave tore from the event, ripping apart trees and buildings alike, i saw a few of the more unfortunate ponies below vaporize as the window in front of me shattered and I was thrown against the far wall, there was a flash of pain and then I woke gasping. My eyes shot to the window where the unicorn had stood but there was no trace of him.

Lightly stretching on the bed I checked to see how badly my wounds still hurt, my internals were still sore but no longer felt like I had eaten caltrops. My back was missing a swath of fur and the flesh was still raw and covered in blisters but the musculature was no longer exposed to the air. My armor still hadn't mended itself and a large portion of my lower back was still exposed. Still, it was better than being dead and I didn't even want to think of the damage I'd have taken had I not been wearing it. Grimacing slightly I stepped from the bed and approached the window, my mind tracing what I had seen in my dream over the overgrown courtyard. I wonder what did more damage to the small settlement that used to surround the castle, the sisters, or the forest.

Remembering the old unicorn's final words I moved over to the bookshelves, only now noticing the transparent film of energy that covered them like forcefield. Reading the labels proved them to be books I would gladly take an interest in, things like Arcana Theory: Old Tricks for Young Mages , and Language and Magic: A Comprehensive Guide to Runes . Perhaps one of the most interesting of the titles was Threads of Magic: A Spell Crafters Guide . There were other titles on the shelves but none as interesting as those three. Looking at the wards that were stopping me I stood straighter and with force said the password.

With nary a sound the ward collapsed in a soft shimmer an influx of air causing the ambient dust of the room to spiral between the shelves. A part of me pondered why the password was clover, maybe a favorite snack of the mage after all clover was decently nutritious to grazing animals. With an appropriate amount of reverence and caution I lifted the ancient tomes from their resting place and placed them in my bag. I also couldn't help but ponder what the unicorn had said about being a fellow aspect, and how he had mentioned others that had come before me. Could it be that I wasn't the first to be displaced in the way I was, or did he know something about me that I wasn't privy to? I mean how was I supposed to avoid the mistakes of others if I didn't know what those mistakes were?

I took a little while longer to rest, letting my back heal a little more. Standing with a sigh I began making my way back down to the great hall. Thankfully the second floor had been high enough that combined with the slightly elevated position of the castle I had managed to spot the river and knew its general direction, I had no wish to stay outside the walls of Haven longer than I had to and it was already near afternoon. Some part of me did want to stay in the probably haunted castle to see if I could discover any more secrets, the rest of me acknowledged that lindwryms were supposedly cruel and vindictive and the longer that I stayed outside of Haven's walls the longer it had to track me down for taking its eye.

Finding the river I quickly began following westward toward Haven, I ran so the serpent would have less time to catch my scent. The creatures were supposed to have a decent amount of sapience so it was unlikely this would be our last encounter. I would have to kill the beast if I wanted to be anything resembling safe while staying inside the forest, it was a good thing then that with my recently gathered stores of food, I could simply stay within Haven's walls and study my magic books. My best bet would likely be spells that caused extreme cold, while lindwyrms showed some resemblance to dragons they were closer to serpents in the fact of biology. Lightning spells would also be useful for bypassing the natural toughness of its scales.

The sight of Haven's tall marred walls brought my thoughts to a halt, relief washed through me at the thought of being behind its wards. "Home, sweet sweet home."

Everfree's P.O.V

She frowned as Harbinger rested within his haven, his encounter with the lindwyrm had concerned her. She was glad that he had begun to carve his own little niche in her forest. While she could not speak, at least in a way he would understand, she was still happy to have him around, besides the little forays the outsiders sent into her lands she had little in the way of entertainment. She frowned slightly, when had the fox become welcome. He was an outsider too, wasn't he? No, she supposed he wasn't, he had managed to survive her dangers and had even made himself home within her trees. Part of her wondered if she should test his resolve, no the lindwyrm would be his test for now.

It was clear to her now that he did not call the interlopers friend, both times he had ventured into the lands beyond her control he had returned bloodied, both with the blood of others and with his own. She had felt Magic's touch but for a moment while Harbinger was inside the castle of the two monsters. The aspect hadn't shown himself in almost nine hundred winters and she couldn't help but wonder what he had wanted with her fox. Still, perhaps if Harbinger managed to kill the serpent she would show herself to him, it had been a while since she had interacted with another aspect, the last had been discord, and that had only been for a few minutes at best. So, yes even if she couldn't speak it would be nice to have him around, perhaps she could even entice him, he did owe her seven children after all.