“Imposter?” I echoed back,

Why would these creatures consider me an imposter?

These weird, forest dwelling, fairy-like, nature focused creatures.

Oh.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself, imposter?” The deer demanded,

“I’m sorry!” I bowed my head, “I didn’t realize there were actually forest spirits here!”

“Hmph,” the deer began smugly, “That’s better.”

“It’s just, I needed some way to hide my identity,” I began,

“Uh-huh.”

“We were in the forest, and it was all we could find,”

“Right.”

“It seemed like the best idea at the time,”

“Cool.”

“if I’d known there were actually…” I trailed off and looked up at him,

“Really?” He was just nodding along, his eyes focused on my body.

“Are you even listening?!”

“For sure,” He made eye contact with me, and blinked a few times, “I mean yes! Yes!”

I facepalmed, “Look, all I’m saying is I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Well that’s too bad.” The deer said, “But I don’t care about all that, I just want to know what you’re gonna do to make up for it.”

I just stared at him. Of course I was willing to do something to help make amends, but now I was less inclined to actually do so. This guy needed a serious attitude adjustment.

“Uh… I could apologize again,”

“Once is enough,”

“I could pay you.”

“Money’s boring.”

“I could do something for you.”

“Like what?”

“Is there anything you’d prefer?” I asked, trying to keep my tone level.

“Marry me.”

“No.” I’m not ready for that type of commitment just yet.

“Give me a piece.”

I’ll give you a piece, a piece of my mind. “Absolutely not.”

“Stay here forever.”

“No.” I grit my teeth, “Is there anything else you would have me do? Preferably something that doesn’t involve my body?”

“Hmmm…” The deer thought for a moment, putting a hoof to his chin, “Nope!” He said with a smile.

“Really?” I asked, “There’s nothing you can think of? I could go outside of the forest, I could talk with the ponies, I could…” Well that’s all I could think of, and that’s assuming this guy couldn’t leave the forest to begin with.

“Hmmmm……” He really drew that one out.

“Oh, would you please stop tormenting her?” A new voice called out,

The breeze picked up a bit, bringing with it a bunch of leaves and flower petals. Strangely enough, all the green lights in the area seemed unaffected. A moment later a much taller deer stepped out of the foliage, which almost seemed to bend out of her way. I say her because of the voice, but this one had antlers as well, with vines, flowers, and moss growing from them. Her coat also shined brightly, and almost seemed to have a green tint to it.

The grass where she stepped was taller than the grass around it.

With such a regal appearance, I felt I had no choice but to bow.

“But mom!” The first deer complained, “She pretended to be us, and she’s trespassing!”

Again with the she stuff. I suppose it didn’t really matter, and that correcting every assumption would be a hassle.

“That does not mean she is yours to do with as you please.”

“Um…” I spoke up, “Would it still count as trespassing if I was led here by one of the… uh…” I pointed to one of the green lights, I had long since lost the one that guided me. “Those things?”

“Is this true?” The doe asked,

That sent the sprites in a jumble, and after a few moments of panicking, one flew up to buzz in her face.

“Verywell, but that does not change the fact that you have alerted the ponies to our presence”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“It’s really bad!” The deer piped up,

The doe held a hoof in front of him, “I would imagine that both good and bad implications will come from this, but the fact remains that you are at fault here.”

“Well, I want to apologize, but it doesn’t seem like there’s anything I can do.”

“You can totally marry me!”

Again the deer was shushed, “Actually, there is something you can do in regards to your preferences.”

“What is it?” I finally stepped out of the pond,

“You hail from the land between the forest and the volcanoes, correct?

I think that’s where the gem deposit was, “Uh, yes.”

“And that troupe you were with was there to scout the location?”

“That’s right. They said that the lord of the land wants to construct a mine there.”

“That is troubling.”

“How so?” I asked,

“Assuming the ponies will take the shortest path to those lands, they will quite literally cleave the forest in two.”

I grimaced, “Does that mean half of the forest will die?”

“Not necessarily, but it would still cause problems, and that is something we cannot risk.” The doe explained,

“I think I’m getting what you’re saying." I nodded slightly, "You want me to do something about the road the ponies are building through the forest.”

“By any means necessary.”

“That’s a lot to ask,”

“Which is why you will be compensated in addition to being forgiven.” The doe said,

“Compensated?” I repeated,

“Yes, should you succeed, we will restore your arm.”

I glanced at my stump with wide eyes, “I can get my arm back? But how will you get the crystal back from the dragon?”

The doe paused for a moment, “Ah, you misunderstand. Returning your original arm is out of our means, but replacing its function is not.”

“Oh…”

“And as a show of good faith, we will replace it now.”

“Now?” I asked,

“Now?!” The deer asked,

“Indeed,” The doe pushed him forward slightly,

He grumbled a bit, but moved up to close his eyes and focus. Immediately, roots burst forth from the ground, growing upwards as they converged in front of me. Seeing plants grow so fast was awe inspiring, and I could only watch as the tendrils weaved together to form what almost looked like muscles. Slowly, it took the shape of a hand, and the rest of the arm started forming behind it.

It stopped at the elbow, and with a slight peek from the deer, it shifted to match the shape of my stump. When it was done, the roots supporting it lifted it up to my height and presented it to me. I looked at it hesitantly, but the doe just nodded, and I carefully placed my stump against it. More roots sprang from it, snaking their way up my arm and hugging it tightly. Thankfully none actually dug into the crystal, as that would’ve likely caused my whole arm to shatter.

I held it still for a moment, and the deer started grunting.

“It’s…” He began, squeezing his eyes shut. “It’s not working.”

“Curious.” The doe said, “Allow me,”

She held up a hoof, and the roots around me started to glow green. The ones on my arm took on a more refined shape, and the lattice holding it to my shoulder doubled in complexity. Again I held it still, but I wasn’t feeling anything, and I couldn’t move it either.

“Oh.” The doe said, “It would appear that you are incompatible.”

The roots disconnected from my stump, quickly receding back into the ground.

“Which means?”

“Restoring your arm will be much more difficult than once thought.”

“How will you do it then?”

“We might not be able to.”

I sighed, my shoulders dropping, “Well… Thanks for trying… I guess… Is there anything else I can do?”

“There may be one or two smaller things, but you will not be rewarded.”

“But mom! What about the ponies?” The deer asked,

The doe sighed, and looked me in the eyes, “Will you still help us with the ponies even without a fitting reward?”

I thought about it for a moment. The problems between the forest and the ponies had nothing to do with me, I was just caught in the middle of it. As a self-proclaimed denison of the forest however, if things began to escalate, then I would immediately be sought out, putting my true identity at risk.

“I… will try.” I began, “But I might need some help.”

Plus, acting as an arbiter was on my to-do list.

“Thank you.” The doe bowed slightly, “What assistance will you require?”

“I want to continue to pretend to be a forest nymph, it’ll give me a reason for opposing the road, and I can act as a representative for the forest, but I can’t just keep applying mud and finding flowers everyday.”

“I understand, you need help keeping up appearances. Then we may still be of use to you.” The doe beckoned with her hoof, and a dozen or so sprites gathered around, “What did she look like as a so called 'nymph'?”

A few drew closer to buzz in her ears.

“I see.”

…

“What color?”

…

“Where?”

…

“How much?”

…

“Anything else?”

…

“My, how clever.” She looked over to me, “Verywell, hold still, this will only take a moment.”

She planted both hooves on the ground, and in a flash of green, all the grass around me shifted, large patches of it ripping themselves out of the ground, topsoil and all. They began closing in on me as if to swallow me whole. It was a bit frightening, but I did my best to hold still, even as my face was covered. The blades of grass then shifted and twitched across my body, weaving together and wrapping around it, holding the entire ensemble in place.

Two eye holes formed in the piece across my face, and I got a glimpse of the dirt shifting and wriggling as the roots receded into it. Pieces then began crumbling away as it smoothed over, turning a slightly lighter color as more roots showed through and blended in. A moment later, various leaves and vines began sprouting outwards, coiling and trailing their way almost exactly the same way we had placed them before. Larger stems grew from my arms and legs, flattening out and gaining a rugged appearance as they aligned themselves with my limbs. A couple vines snaked their way into my hair, quickly blooming into several different flowers as a bit more dirt was carried up into it.

“It is finished,” the doe concluded,

I immediately ran over to the pond to check my reflection. I never got a good look at my first disguise, but this one looked good, really good.

“Woah…”

“Honestly think she looked better before,” the deer said,

“How long will this last?” I asked, ignoring him,

“As long as you remain near the forest, the plants will live, but do water them every once in a while.” The doe explained, “It will also attempt to repair itself when damaged, but do not expect it to come back from anything grievous.”

“I- Thank you,” I bowed again, “And I will try my best.”

“Um… Before you go.” The deer began, shuffling his feet. “Might I have your name?”

“No you may not.”

The doe smiled, “May I know your name then?”

“Phosphophyllite.”

“Phosphophyllite…” She repeated, “I wish you luck, and thank you.”

I turned to leave, only to realize something. “Oh yeah, what if I need to come back here? I doubt I can just find my way back that easily.”

The doe chuckled, and held out a hoof, “I suggest you ask a Breezie.” One of the green lights fluttered over to her… palm?

“A Breezie?” I held my hand out, and another green light zipped over to land on my palm, “They’re kinda cute.”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

“...Cute…”

”Cute, cute.” The one in my hand spoke,

I raised my hand, allowing it to take back off. It hovered in front of my face for a moment, then shot off to join the others. I then walked over to my belongings, gave my cloak a hard shake, put it on, and grabbed the flower pouches.

“Is it okay for me to take this many flowers?”

“As long as they do not go to waste.”

I nodded, then turned to leave through the same spot I entered the glade from. Just as I was about to step through the foliage though, I thought of something else.

“Hold on, what’s stopping me from just leaving?” I asked,

“I do not believe you would do such a thing,” the doe answered, “but since you are curious. You do not wish to part with any pieces of yourself, correct?”

“Uh, yeah-”

Snap

I looked down, watching as a root tendril slithered away with one of my toes in its grasp.

“I trust this will be enough to keep you here?”

“Y-Yeah…” I muttered,

I should really stop asking stupid questions like that.

“Then until next time.” The doe ended with a smile.

I gave the pair a final wave, then stepped through the thicket. I was then back in the forest proper, and with a quick check behind me, there was only more forest.

How, cool, was, that?!

I ventured into a forest, met with fairies-Breezies, talked with forest spirits, got an improved disguise, and a quest! I can't believe I got to see actual fairies! This is like a dream come true! I feel like this is the type of thing I would be geeking out over the entire time, but actually experiencing it firsthand was so much different! You have to be careful with your words; never give a fairy your name. I don't know if the same rules applied to magical plant deer and Breezies, but it seemed close to reality, or fantasy.

Fantasy, reality... There wasn't much of a difference between those anymore, at least from my point of view. This was real, not some sort of game, there were very real implications and consequences for my actions. If I failed here then another piece of me might be gone forever, plus whatever other things that may come from my meddling. It was a little worrying.

But it was hard not to be excited at the same time.

I began walking with a skip in my step as I made my way through the forest.

The forest…

I looked around, none of my surroundings looked familiar.

“Uh oh.” Was I lost?

Okay, no reason to panic, it wasn’t like I could die out here, but if I wanted to make it back in a reasonable amount of time, I would have to get my bearings. I could just start heading in a random direction and hope I find something, but if I remember correctly then the forest was pretty large, and if I picked the wrong direction, I would end up back at the gem deposit or someplace I’ve never been before.

Looking up through the canopy, I tried to get a gauge on the sun’s position. I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it before, but I think it set in the direction of town. That would make it… West I think. The only problem was that the canopy was thick, I couldn’t really see the sun, and I think it was about noon anyway.

I was lost.

There was another option however.

“Um… Breezies?” I called out,

It took a moment, but a couple of the green sprites filtered out of the forest around me.

“Could… Could one of you help me back to town?” I asked,

”Town, town.” One of them fluttered closer, this one was oddly familiar, “Follow, follow.”

“Thank you,” I bowed my head,

And we were off, heading in supposedly the right direction to town. The Breezie weaved through the trees and foliage with expert precision, while I lagged behind a bit, unable to keep up. Like before, my cloak kept getting caught on random things, and the Breezie had to double back a few times to stay in view. It took a few tries, but eventually we found a good pace.

Not long afterwards we stumbled upon a few patches of picked flowers, and I started recognizing features of the area.

“This is far enough.” I announced, “I can find my way back from here.”

The Breezie shuddered, then flew up into my face. ”Pretty, pretty.”

“Thanks, you’re pretty cute yourself.” I smiled,

With a squeak, the Breezie did a few loops in the air.

“So much for that promise though.” I looked down at my foot.

The Breezie gasped, “Sorry, sorry!”

“I’ll get it back,” I gave a half-hearted laugh, "Hopefully..." I added on, “but maybe in the meantime, you could help me.”

”Help, help!” It bobbed up and down again, “Phosffft… Phosphpbpb…”

This time I actually chuckled, “Just Phos is fine, goodbye now.” I waved,

I swear I could see a tiny little limb wave back, and a moment later, the Breezie shot off back into the forest.

With a small sigh, I clutched the pouches tighter, and began retracing my steps. I quickly noted how less dense the forest was in this area, and despite struggling before, I could make my way through with relative ease now.

It didn’t take long to reach the area I started from, and hear a familiar voice calling my name.

“Phos! Phos!” Indigo shouted, “Where are you! I swear, if you quit just because of some forest work then-”

“I’m here!” I interrupted, pushing my way out of the brush, “And I got your flowers!”

“There you are!” Indigo glared at me, “It’s been hours! What have you been doing?!”

She stepped closer, and got a better look at me.

“Woah… what happened to you?”

I looked down at myself as well. In reference to earlier this morning, I looked completely different, even from under the cloak. I also had the hood down to prevent it from catching on too many things, my new face was on full display.

“I uh… got lost.” I said, “And I… found a job.”

To Be Continued…

Author's Note

Formatting can be a real beast to wrangle. I originally had the Breezie dialogues spread across the page in a wave-like pattern. This was to simulate them being all around Phos as they speak. Unfortunately, Fimfiction doesn't like that, and trims excess spaces and indentations. I could put five spaces instead of one between words and it would look the same. In fact, I just did that for the last sentence. So for now, we'll just have to make do with oscillating sizes. At least I can do more than just the given sizes, you can put any number in the range 0.5 to 2.0.

Aint that neat?

I assume that's to limit how big or small you can go.

But limits are meant to be broken.

♦☻♦