Oh Deer

A mysterious visit...

I've never seen a deer like him before. I felt a slight unease as he constantly peered into my eyes, but also... a strange sense of understanding, like he empathized with me. We walked together silently into an abandoned hut not too far away from my home,

"Where are we going?" I asked. He didn't answer, and he continued walking. I still followed him as my curiosity bested me. Upon entering, the hut was dark and deprived of light. Albern Reh lit the room with his magical antlers. His eyes glowed an eerie pink. I found a seat, facing him. He wore a slight smile as he continued directing his gaze in my direction.

"I have been wanting to visit you for much time..." His voice sounded soft, ghostly, yet wise,

"I have watched from afar, I have observed," he paused for a moment, "I know."

I looked away from him, my heart felt hasty,

"Know what?" I asked softly. I felt his looming presence as each minute went by. He paused for a moment, gazing at the ground momentarily before he faced me again,

"Of your pain."

I said nothing. I've never seen this deer before. What did he want from me? What did he see? I said nothing, staring back at him, trying to see if I could catch a blink at some point.

"I have come for two reasons, little deer," Reh said. I didn't appreciate his use of "little deer" too much, but I held in my frustration and gestured to him to keep talking.

"I must warn you of an impending Timber Wolf attack," he started,

"I've warned many deer by now, at least a hundred. I do not know of their whereabouts, but I hope they've listened. Some didn't."

"May I ask why you're doing this?" I asked.

Reh nodded slowly, almost empathizing with my question,

"Our race had hid away during the Great Pony-Deer war."

I said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

"At the same time, we have abandoned your deer-kind amidst the war. The link between your deer and our deer had severed."

He stood up, I flinched. He walked past me and gazed out the window, the dim, blue-tinted moonlight shined through the window, and onto his ghostly, pale face,

"Since then, our race had shared an immense guilt upon abandoning your deer. So, in turn, we vowed to watch over your kind, to protect them, to try and help them."

I faced him. My uneasiness never lessened, but I tried not to think about it as I tried to listen to him. He faced me again. The moonlight reflected on his face in such a way that only a few facial features were discernible. Of course, his glowing, piercing eyes remained just as bright. They almost appeared to be floating by themselves in the darkness,

"So... is that it? You're just warning me about a wolf attack?" I asked,

"I'm... quite aware of them, I don't really need your warning,"

He nodded, shutting his eyes, slowly returning back to his seat in silence. When he opened them again, I almost gained whiplash from the juxtaposition of his piercing eyes to the dark room.

"Twenty of your tribes had been... exterminated... by timber wolves," he said. I sensed a slight bit of annoyance in his tone of voice, but It could have just been in my mind.

"All that remains in those tribes are... left overs, if you will," his voice got shakier,

"I warned all of them."

I heard him sigh, and I thought I could catch a glint of a tear trailing down his pale face. But, perhaps it was just the moonlight shining on his face again,

"Do you know why they are here?" he asked softly.

I was confused by the question, "what do you mean 'they'"?

He paused for a moment, and continued to speak,

"The wolves were brought intentionally, my deer."

"Well... yes... but they were brought on accident," I started,

"Ponies brought them here, because they thought this was the Everfree Forest."

Reh remained silent for a moment. He slowly shook his head in disagreement,

"The ponies must have convinced your kind to grasp on a truth... that... in itself couldn't be farther from the truth." He stood up, sighing as he turned his rear at me. I felt like I could breathe again as the ghostly shimmer of his magenta eyes let go of my focus. I glanced at the floor, then, I faced him... or his rear. He looked over his shoulder, his magenta eyes got a hold of me again, this time, I felt my eyelids open against my will,

"They must have told you their truth," Reh turned around, still maintaining eye contact with me as he approached me. I felt myself stand up involuntarily. My legs stiffened in one spot. The bright light impaired my vision, I felt my body grow numb, I felt my eyes burn, I felt my heart pound in a quick tempo. I tried to speak, but my mouth refused to move,

"Your race won the war."

I could only hear his voice in an endless, burning, pink void.

"Your race won their land back."

"The ponies even signed a treaty, encouraged by the Princess of the Sun."

"But, many moons later, the ponies continued to grow in numbers."

"They expanded outward, colonizing further. Eventually, they would build a large, ever-growing system of railroads. They connected their pony establishments to one another, cutting the trees, shrinking the forests."

"In actuality, you never won."

"I know of the steam-carts. I know of the wolves. They spread like a plague throughout your land, to lower your numbers. Just to make it easier... for them..."

"It is no mistake that the wolves are here, my deer. The only mistake is what your race chose to believe for all of this time."

I returned... from... wherever that was. My eyes still burned, they felt singed, worn out. I felt my breath fatigued, my legs felt wobbly, I crouched down. I still felt a numbness in my soul. I darted around, where was he? He left, he's gone. I need to breathe. I need to shut my eyes. I need to breathe. I feel my eyes burn as tears stream down. I cough, I sob. I need to breathe. I'm covering my eyes, What he said isn't true. It isn't, I need to breathe. Instead, I'm sobbing. Why am I sobbing if it's untrue? My stomach feels raw, I need to breathe, I want to sleep. I want to breathe.