“I can’t believe it…” Indigo eventually muttered, “I don’t want to believe it.”

I looked at her strangely, “We’ve talked about this before. What makes it so shocking now?”

“Because I’m staring right at a Breezie!” Indigo exclaimed, “And not only that, it touched you, and spoke! This goes against everything known about Breezies as a whole!”

“It doesn’t seem that strange to me.”

Indigo snorted, “That’s rich coming from you.” She didn’t take her eyes off the Breezie, “Is it…? Can I…?” She took a step forward and reached a hoof out,

The Breezie fluttered back a bit,

“Maybe if you ask nicely.” I suggested,

Indigo glanced at me, then squinted at the Breezie for a few moments. “They aren’t magical wisps…” She realized,

“It’s…” Fletch was doing a much similar action, “Kind of cute.”

“That’s what I said. Now are you two done gawking? We have a job to do.”

“Ugh, you sound like the captain,” Indigo rolled her eyes, “Fine, but I want to ask some questions later.”

“Are there more?” Fletch asked,

“A lot more.” I answered, “But this one is all we should need.” I held my hand under it.

It bounced and bobbed, a shower of sparkles falling down.

“We need guidance back to the… glade? Wherever you took me last time.”

“Ack!” The Breezie buzzed and spiraled in the air. “No ponies, no ponies!”

“What?” I asked, “Why?”

The Breezie muttered to itself for a second, then flew up to my face, “Rules, rules.”

“Are you sure?”

“Um, um. No, no.”

I looked over to Fletch and Indigo, “Can you check?”

“Check, check.” The Breezie bobbed up and down, then shot off into the trees.

After a moment of silence, Fletch spoke up, “What was that about? I couldn’t make out any of that.”

“I don’t think ponies are allowed in the forest.”

“We’re in the forest right now.” Indigo said,

“I meant the inner forest.” I reiterated, “They’re pretty against letting outsiders in.”

“Why were you let in then?”

“That’s…” I trailed off, “A really good question, I’ll have to ask.”

“What about us?” Fletch asked, “What if we can’t get in?”

“We’ll see if I can vouch for you. You are helping me after all.”

“And if you can’t?” Indigo demanded,

“Then I’m sorry for dragging you all the way out here.”

Indigo huffed, “As long as I’m getting paid,”

“Yeah…” Fletch grumbled, “Same.”

A few moments later, a bright green light came zipping back through the forest. Again, it almost smacked me in the face, but managed to steer itself away enough to latch onto one of the flowers dangling from my hair. It pulled itself up, then crawled over to my brow to look me in the eye. When it was this close, I could almost make out its face, but all I really saw was a pair of antennae, and a wicked hairdo.

“No ponies, no ponies.”

“That’s a shame.” I sighed, turning to Fletch and Indigo as the Breezie took off from my face.

“What did they say?”

“No ponies.” I relayed, then looked at the Breezie again, “No exceptions?”

“No excsss… No excepshh…”

“No exceptions.” I continued, “Sorry guys.”

“Welp.” Indigo promptly sat down and opened up her bags, “Good thing I brought these along, here.” She handed Fletch a couple of pouches and a trowel,

“Aw…” Fletch kicked the dirt, “I hate foraging duty.”

“I’ll try to be quick,” I assured, “but…” looking up through the canopy, I got a rough idea of where the sun was, “if I’m not done before noon, then… go back to town, or if you go earlier then leave me a sign.”

“Got it.” Indigo said, she was already focused on the plant life around her, “Have fun with your forest friends.”

“I’ll… try…” I nodded slowly, then turned to leave, the Breezie disappearing through the foliage ahead,

With one last glance towards Fletch, I gave her a small wave, and pushed through the bushes as well.

♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦ ♥ ♦

Upon arriving at the glade, I was met with a rather unpleasant sight.

“I’ve been waiting for you~”

I'll let you guess who it was. He was laying on his side, head propped up on a hoof, and a rose in his mouth. The grass around him had taken on a much softer texture, and a few pink flowers had sprouted in a circle to act as a border for the ‘bed’.

“No thanks.” I walked past the deer.

“Wh-” He sputtered, spitting out the rose and standing up, “Why not?”

“I’m not interested.”

“Not even a little bit?” He pouted,

I just looked him up and down. A magical forest deer was pretty interesting, but a magical forest deer with his personality was not. Looking closer, I could see his coat was brushed, and the leaves on his antlers were trimmed. He really went all out on this, especially since he only had so much time to prepare. I might not be, but he was definitely interested.

In my body.

“Where’s your mother?” I asked, “I need to speak with her.”

“I didn’t hear a no~”

I crossed my arms and shifted my stance from one leg to the other. I was almost envious of Indigo and Fletch at this point.

“Hmph,” The deer turned his head away, only to immediately go back to looking at me. “You’ll have to wait. She’s busy, so at the moment it’s just you and me.”

“And the Breezies,” I noted, “Could one of you please go tell her that I’m here?”

“No wait!” The deer tried, but it was too late, and nearly half of the green sprites around the glade disappeared into the forest.

The deer jumped into action, stamping his hooves across the grass and scuffing the line of flowers. It all quickly reverted back to how it was before, with the grass shrinking back to single blades and the flowers closing up and slipping beneath the ground. I just watched the display with a raised eyebrow, and not even a second after it was all put away, the wind picked up.

“Ah, Phosphophyllite. Welcome back,” The doe announced as she stepped into the glade.

I bowed my head. “Thank you.”

“I hope you have brought good news.” She continued, but as she stepped over where the ‘bed’ was, she paused, looked down at the grass, then glanced at the deer.

He was standing completely straight and avoiding eye-contact.

“I… have…” I said slowly, “I spoke with the official overseeing the construction of the road, he is willing to change the plans to go around any important areas as long as it is sufficiently necessary.”

The doe blinked, and they both stared at me for a moment.

“Oh, that is… When I said by any means necessary, I did not expect a compromise.”

“I-” I pressed my lips together, “I-I thought it would be the best option.”

“Then please explain your thoughts, if you would.”

With a nod, I continued, “Given the impressions I got, stopping the construction would only work for a little bit, a temporary solution, and doing so would cause the ponies to retaliate. They most likely have more than enough resources to… deal with the forest, but they would much rather spend that on a short detour than um… war.”

“Hmm…” The doe thought for a moment, “I understand your reasoning, I would rather not enter a conflict myself, but this ‘detour’ you speak of, I do not believe such a thing is possible. There is no alternative route through this forest.”

“What do you mean?” I tilted my head, “Can the ponies not just build around your… home?” I pointed to the ground, “Is this place in the road’s way?”

“No.” The doe answered, “There is nothing directly in the path of the road, I have walked the steps myself.” She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, “Perhaps I should have educated you more on the nature of this forest.”

She put a hoof forward, and the grass in front of her rustled as it grew upwards. I stepped back a bit, watching as the triangle shaped patch rose to my knees. Then, on one side, a couple mounds of dirt were pushed up with roots, while the other receded in an almost grid-like pattern. A couple Breezies fluttered over to hover above the grass, and I stared at it for a moment, trying to understand what it was.

“Is this… the forest?” I asked, pointing at the grass, “And that’s the town and the… gem deposit?” I pointed at the grid and dirt mounts respectively.

“Indeed.”

“Oh…” I circled the map a bit,

The forest was massive, at least compared to the town, and shaped like a big, long triangle. The border with the volcanic lands was relatively straight, but the one with the town was curved inwards, and it looked like part of the town was set in it. It made sense, there were buildings right up against the treeline, and as the town expanded it would slowly creep into the forest.

Going off of the town being in the West, the base of the triangle was in the North, with the tip extending way down South, progressively getting thinner. Any hopes of just moving the road South were quickly dashed, as the town itself was almost at the Northernmost point, but the base of the triangle was too wide to go around it. Cutting straight through really was the best option.

“So currently…” I muttered, “The road is going to go through here?” I traced a straight line from the town to the deposit.

“I believe so,” the doe responded, tapping her hoof.

The grass parted to represent the road.

“And what’s in this area that’s at risk?”

“It is not so much as any one place, as it is the area itself.” The doe explained,

“Huh?”

“Perhaps it would be better to show you.” She tapped her hoof again,

The grass shifted as a bunch of flowers sprouted from below, quickly blossoming into a slightly smaller, and more rounded triangle.

The doe paused, “Pink?”

A cough came from the side, and we both glanced at the deer for a moment. He quickly averted his gaze.

“Anyway,” the doe continued, “these flowers represent the true forest.”

“True forest?” I echoed,

“Indeed, it is where the accumulated life energy of all the beings of the forest resides.” The doe explained,

“So cutting into it would be… very bad?” I asked,

“Extremely bad!” The deer spoke up,

“Without a doubt,” The doe continued, “And as you can see, there is no room for this detour.”

True to her words, the true forest also extended quite a bit down South, too much to circumvent. Even if the ponies were to go along it exactly, it would probably be better to go around the forest as a whole when travelling that distance. The North wasn’t looking much better, with part of the true forest reaching further West than the town did. This would really complicate things.

“But you said that the forest wouldn’t die if the road was built.” I began, “So what will happen?”

“It…” The doe trailed off.

She remained silent for a long time, enough for me to pull my attention away from the map. For the first time since meeting her, she looked genuinely lost. Some of her usual regal demeanor was still there, which at least kept her looking dignified, but even I could tell she was thinking hard.

“I do not actually know.” She eventually said, “Any damage to the true forest will be harmful, but I have no knowledge of experiencing anything like this before.”

“Hmm…” I gazed back down at the map again, the pink flowers had parted out of the way just like the grass, leaving a thin stretch of soil across the ground. “What is the damage? Just cutting down trees?”

“In essence, yes. Many trees hold a great deal of life force. Should they be felled, all of it will be lost.”

“And there’s no way to prevent the damage?” I asked, weaving a finger through the parted plants.

The doe watched my actions for a moment, staring intently at the stems of the plants. She nodded slightly, “It might be possible to reduce it, but the issue still remains with the splitting of the forest.”

I idly scratched at my temple, “Can you keep the two sides connected at all?”

“...Maybe… but the road will still interrupt the flow of energy.” The doe said, “No matter how carefully it is placed,”

“Mm,” I muttered. This wasn’t looking good, if we couldn’t figure this out, then things might take a turn for the worse. But with one side being unwavering in their goals, and the other being unable to change, we were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I focused on the forest as a whole again. With the road cutting straight through, the forest was almost cut in half. Of course it wasn’t an even split, but there was still a decent amount of true forest on each side, with the Southern end drawing the short end of the stick. Any living thing would have a hard time living after being cut like that…

“Hold on…” I began,

The forest wasn’t just one living thing, it was a collection of multiple.

“Could each half survive independently from each other?” I asked,

The deer sputtered, while the doe did a double take.

“That is-!” The doe stopped herself, holding a hoof to her chin,

“Impossible!” The deer began, “Inconceivable, ludicrous, absurd, insane! We can’t just make one forest into two!”

The doe held a hoof in front of him, and he blinked at it, before staring up at her with wide eyes.

“Theoretically, both sides could survive on their own.” The doe began, “but each one would need their own keeper.”

“Well there are two of you, right?” I asked,

“Indeed, but that is what I am worried about.” The doe sighed, and she moved her hoof to set it across the deer’s shoulders, “I had hoped to send him off to cultivate his own forest when he was ready, but that might have to wait.”

“Mom? What do you mean by that?” The deer asked, “Am I not going to go start another forest somewhere?”

“Well that depends,”

“On what?”

“What do you want to do?” The doe asked, “Do you want to start something new, and leave this behind? Or do you wish to stay, and help maintain what is already here?” She crouched down so that she was almost eye level with him. “I believe you are ready for your own journey, yet this kind soul has offered a solution to our problems. The decision is up to you.”

With her gesture to me, I gave a small wave. Not to sound pretentious, but this was pretty entertaining, though it wasn’t like I was going to call attention to it or anything. So I just sat back with a smile, waiting for their decision.

The deer looked pretty unsure, which made sense. If his mother was planning on sending him on his way, then this was a long time coming, but to be suddenly given a choice… It’s hard to imagine exactly what he might be thinking, or which option is the best. I honestly didn’t know, my experiences showed that starting again somewhere else allowed for entirely new things, but at a heavy cost. On the other hand, staying put would allow you to remain with those familiar, though you might be restricted by your environment. In my case, I was so restricted I could hardly do anything.

Our eyes met for a moment, and the deer pursed his lips.

“What would you do?” He asked,

“M-Me?!” I stammered out, “I don’t know how to manage a forest!”

“I know that.” He rolled his eyes, “I meant which would you choose.”

“Oh... I uh… I’m not sure I can answer that.”

“Please?”

“You are the one that proposed this idea, I would like to hear your input as well.” The doe added,

“Um…” I glanced between them for a moment, clutching my stump, “I’ve… left a lot behind, but... it’s too early for me to regret it... I know I’ll never see my family again, and I doubt I’ll ever get to do some of the things I enjoyed most before, but I do think where I am now is better. I had long since convinced myself that what I had wasn’t worth much, but now that I’m here… I’m a little worried that maybe it wasn’t the right choice.”

My spiel wasn’t exactly lightening the mood, and the deer started to frown.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is: make sure you know what you’re leaving behind.” I concluded, “But thankfully, by the sounds of it, you don’t have to make that decision right away.”

“I don’t?” The deer asked, mainly looking towards his mother,

She just tilted her head towards me.

“If you were originally going to go off on your own,” I continued, “Then you can see what it’s like to manage the other half of the forest first, and make your decision then.”

“This is true.” The doe began, “You will be able to experience overseeing the forest on your own, but I will still be within reach if needed.”

“Oh, then…” The deer paused for a moment, scratching his chin with a hoof as he looked around the glade. “I think I’ll stay, at least for now.”

The doe exhaled a staggered breath and smiled, “Then I will begin making the preparations immediately.” She stepped away, turning to me, “And thank you, Phosphophyllite. I do not know what we would have done without you.”

“Happy to help,” I bowed, watching as the doe turned to leave.

She was leaving.

“Oh wait!” I called out, “There’s something else!”

She stopped.

“Um… I need… proof.”

“Proof?” The doe asked,

“Yeah,” I nodded, “It’s all well and good that we managed to figure things out on this end, but the pony official doesn’t trust me enough to just go through with it. He wants something to prove that the forest is its own… entity, and that I’m a part of it.”

The doe levelled her gaze with me, looking me up and down for a moment, “Is my handiwork not proof enough?”

“No.” I groaned, “He wants something substantial and irrefutable. I was thinking that maybe one of you could come along next time I went to meet him.”

Her expression tightened, and a chill wind filtered through the glade as the canopy above seemed to block out more of the sunlight.

“I realize you do not know what you ask, but that is something that neither of us can do.”

“W-Why?”

“It’s forbidden!” The deer exclaimed,

“Abandoning our stations for any reason will cause irreparable damage.” The doe clarified, “To willingly distance ourselves from our origin goes against our very nature. There are, of course, exceptions,” she gestured to the deer, “but any separation between us and the forest will become permanent. We cannot accompany you outside of this domain.”

“Oh…” I muttered,

“I wish I could help you more in this matter, but it is simply not possible.”

“Is there nothing you could give me that would work instead?”

The doe sighed, “Those ponies and their materialism… No, if my craft was not enough before, then there is nothing I can give you. It appears as though this pony official is looking for something charged with the very essence of the forest itself, and that is something not easily acquired nor given. Although…” She thought for a moment,

“I don’t think he wants to keep it or anything.” I added,

“I am aware,” The doe dismissed, “Though there might be something that suits your needs… Verywell.” She nodded, turning to the deer, “Take Phosphophyllite to the sanctuary, select something from there and bring it to this official pony of yours.”

“The sanctuary?” I asked,

“The sanctuary?!” The deer exclaimed,

“Indeed,” The doe turned to leave again, “In the meantime, I will make preparations for the separation of the forest.”

“Won’t the road already do that?” I asked,

“If there is the option to minimize the damage, then I will gladly take it.” The doe answered, “and there is much ground to cover.”

She lifted a leg to walk through the foliage again. She was leaving, which meant I was going to be left alone with the deer for who knows how long.

“Wait!” I called out again,

The doe stopped, and I could see her face twitch slightly before looking at me, her gentle smile almost completely gone.

“Sorry, but there’s one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“Why aren’t ponies allowed to enter this part of the forest?” I asked,

“They are exploiters.” The doe answered simply,

“What?”

At my lack of understanding, she sighed and turned to face me again, “Whether they are in groups or as individuals, it is their very nature to exert their control over their surroundings.”

That sounds extremely similar to how someone might describe humanity.

“Their actions are not usually destructive, but their mere presence is enough to cause concern among the spirits.”

Not that similar though.

“Their attunements vary wildly, but the natural order is always under pressure regardless. It is not wise to simply let them trespass wherever they please.”

“So why am I allowed?” I asked, “What does that make me?”

“You are not a pony.” The doe answered,

“I feel like I’m similar enough.” I admitted,

“Perhaps mentally,” the doe pointed a hoof at my head, “but in regards to your attunement..." She leaned forward to inspect me closer, "You are mute. The spirits do not feel one way or the other about you, you are simply neutral, so there is little discourse from your presence here. Whether you take advantage of this position or not is up to you, though of course that will affect the spirit’s opinion of you.”

“Huh,” I muttered,

“The earth spirits do seem to speak highly of you though.” The doe concluded,

“Huh?” I wondered, “Does that mean I can shape the earth like you do with plants?”

The doe actually chuckled at this, “No. You may be able to inspire a small change, but I imagine that will take no small amount of convincing.”

“Convincing the earth spirits?”

“Precisely,”

“Do you know where can I find them?”

The doe pointed at the ground.

“Right.” I averted my gaze for a moment, but my curiosity quickly got the better of me, “Are there earth spirits like you?” I asked,

“Hmm…” The doe thought for a moment, “I do not know, but if you wish to find one, then I suggest searching for a place surrounded by the earth.”

“So underground?” I guessed.

My first choice would've actually been a mountain, but something like a cave made much more sense. I guess that would be something to look out for when travelling.

“I give no guarantees,” the doe began, “but I will still wish you luck in that endeavor. Now I must take my leave, I hope that you will find adequate proof.”

And with that, the doe disappeared into the forest, leaving me alone with you know who.

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

How does magic work?

I think this is a question that a lot of authors struggle with when creating and describing magic systems. For me, I like to think that magic is just another form of energy. How that energy can be used however, depends on the device and method used. Unicorns have their horn and spells, pegasi have wings and cloud-walking, and earth-ponies have the earth.

Then there are the spirits. Wild, ancient entities that inhabit the very elements themselves. I won't say much more than that.