Clack.

King Aspen sits upon his throne, idly tapping a hoof against the side. After the construction by Iron Will had been driven out some months ago, Thicket has found an era of peace. Aspen knows this is good, and doesn't wish harm upon his subjects, but the quiet is more chilling than chaos.

Clack.

Only one issue lies unresolved. Three days have passed since the young colt Cioccolato arrived, yet not a word has returned from Canterlot to find him a pony family. Already, Bramble has tried to teach Cioccolato the ways of the deer, but whether from omen or nerves, King Aspen cannot accept his presence.

Clack.

The palace doors open, and King Aspen plants his hoof on the floor. He looks up, a bloodsoaked pony collapsing in. Under the deep red stains, he can barely recognize Cioccolato, and barely stops himself from rushing towards the colt. Forcing himself to a regal trot, Aspen questions, "What has happened to you, young Cioccolato?" Ciocco looks up, squinting to keep the blood, leaking from his scalp, out of his eyes.

"An attack- hydra! Captain Blackthorn is still-" Ciocco doesn't finish his explanation before collapsing to his side. Aspen barely catches him, the still wet blood staining the King's legs.

"Hydra?" wonders King Aspen, steadying Ciocco, "Where is it? What happened to Blackthorn?" He wipes away a streak of blood from Ciocco's lips, and Ciocco continues, strained,

"North, he was taking me on his northern patrol, but he lost his spear in the river. We followed it into a cave, but we didn't know it was some creature's home."

"Is it coming this way?" asks Aspen, and Ciocco shakes his head. Aspen looks up at the guards at either side of the door. "Guards, what are you waiting for? Fetch the doctor at once!" The guards straighten their stance, and one dashes off to the town below. Aspen feels the heavy, tense breaths of Ciocco lighten, and carefully removes his support. Unseen by King Aspen, a tuft of deer fur falls from Ciocco's tongue.

The Truth: Two Hours Prior

Cioccolato followed the Captain of the Thicket Royal Guard, Blackthorn, along the northern reach of the Everfree Forest. He could hear the nearby river, which ran downstream of the spot his mother died. Prince Bramble had encouraged him to accompany Blackthorn on his morning patrol of the forest, though Bramble did not come himself. Ciocco repeatedly got lost in the forest far too easily, not yet able to discern the routes in the forest, but Blackthorn put up with his jagged pace while they neared the forest's edge.

Blackthorn was a dark brown buck, with a tan patch from his underbelly to his muzzle, just below his muted amber eyes. He traversed the forest in a red helmet and cuirass, a spear attached to the latter. As the two approached a large, mossy rock, Blackthorn stopped, sniffing the air. "Who is hiding here?" he demanded, "You may have tried to disguise yourself from the senses, but not well enough." A small laugh echoed as a pale yellow doe trot out from behind the rock, cutting between Blackthorn and Ciocco. Blackthorn narrowed his eyes, asking, "Azalea, what are you doing out here?"

Azalea laughed again, louder and hyena-like. Once a fellow guardsdeer, she had been kicked out for behavioral issues, mainly picking fights with Blackthorn in a one-sided rivalry. "Aren't you tired of parading the little pony about?" She asked, trotting closer, "I can take him off your hooves." She was just a meter from Blackthorn, who glared back at her with a mask of disinterest.

"I may not like him," muttered Blackthorn, "Bramble does, and that is all that matters." He didn't flinch as Azalea spat upon him.

"Why are you so worked up over what that royal fawn cares about?" asked Azalea. Suddenly, no longer with slow, careful movements, but with a lightning maneuver, she tore Blackthorn's spear from his side, drawing a thin cut against his muzzle as it whipped about in her hoof. Before Blackthorn could do much more than flinch, Azalea drove the handle of the spear into his shoulder. "Predictable as ever, BT!" she taunted.

Blackthorn instantly took the chance Azalea foolishly gave to lunge, antlers first, at her. "Cioccolato, get your sorry flank out of here!" shouted Blackthorn, as Azalea barely blocked his antlers with the spear. Ciocco dashed towards the sound of the river, but Azalea forced Blackthorn's head against the mossy rock, disorienting him, leaving Azalea to pursue Ciocco rather than continue against her "rival."

More familiar with the winding forest, it was no difficult task for Azalea to catch up to Ciocco. She knew Blackthorn could be just a moment behind, but the riverside would help her make quick work of Cioccolato. No, the river would not be necessary, Ciocco stood breathing, completely at her mercy for a surprise attack. She threw Blackthorn's spear, a perfect aim to the back of the head. Indeed, it would kill the pony vermin in an instant, and then her final fight against Captain Blackthorn could begin in earnest.

Ciocco crouched down to drink from the river, and the spear landed in the water, splashing against his face as it embedded within the streambed. Azalea yowled, lunging forth in irritation. She closed the distance to Ciocco in seconds. She slammed her hooves against Ciocco's head, hatred blazed on her eyes as she forced him under water.

The first second, Ciocco had ample time to hold his breath. The next, he was submerged. The third, Azalea removed a hoof, and Ciocco tore himself above water. The fourth, Azalea brought enough strength down on one hoof to submerge him again. The fifth, Azalea pried open Ciocco's muzzle. The sixth, Azalea came flying into the water.

Blackthorn had made it to the riverside, easily surprising the occupied Azalea. His attack forced her into the river current, but she dragged Ciocco alongside her. Blackthorn tried to reach for Ciocco, but the rapids quickly swept him away, and all he could do was run alongside the river, hoping for a rock or fallen trunk to halt his downstream drift.

There was no such obstacle, and a waterfall was coming up already. Worse, it fed into a cave with only a thin, slippery ledge above the water on his side. Blackthorn watched Ciocco and Azalea fall, the latter breaking her fall and skull on an outcropping at the base of the waterfall, but the former landed on a shape he hadn't seen, extending out from the cave.

Covered in scales, what appeared to be a giant snake awoke, irritated. It rose, Ciocco sliding safely onto the far bank. As the rest of the creature left the cave Blackthorn recognized the true nature of the creature that had been disserviced. Seeing the many heads, he knew it to be a hydra.

Blackthorn noticed his spear dislodge from the riverbed, and he waited, hoping the hydra would not yet attack. The speed of the river suddenly felt a tenth of what it had been, and the hydra looked upon Cioccolato. It roared, and one head dove towards Ciocco. Just as one of its sharp teeth cut into Ciocco, its attention was taken as Blackthorn finally threw his spear. The hydra roared again as the spear poked an eye before falling against the ground. The hydra reached above the waterfall, trying to clamber up towards Blackthorn. Thankfully it was slow, but that didn't stop Blackthorn from worrying as he tried to lead it away.

Ciocco was alone, save for the unconscious, dying Azalea, who slipped off the rock, and washed up near him, under the cave entrance. Ciocco stepped towards Azalea, examining the bleeding tear in her head, then the smaller gash in the side of her abdomen. 'Well, I'm about to die anyhow,' reasoned Ciocco, 'At least, I feel that way. I'll just try a bit.'

Ciocco took the spear from beside him, and pried out a chunk of cervine flesh from Azalea's abdomen, dropping blood across the ground. He could now see within the gap, and was intrigued by the muscles, ribs, and the liver, the last of which appetizingly reminded him of a beet in its color, save for the pasty stretches that lined it.

Finally, Ciocco decided to break a rib to get to the liver. He hacked away at the bone, which finally gave way after a couple tries. He hadn't noticed the beating, but somehow realized Azalea's heart had finally stopped as he finally pulled out a chunk of liver. He licked the morsel, finding it sweet, but not overbearingly. The intensity came from a taste not like any grass, vegetable or fruit he knew, but closer to the earth itself, yet he liked it. He tried to bite into it, but the effort it took was becoming frustrating, and he dropped the morsel, now drenched in Azalea's salty blood.

He nearly panicked as hoofsteps approached. Blackthorn had returned, just outside the cave. "Cioccolato! We need to get you back to Thicket! If you can get over here, I might be able to pull you up!" shouted Blackthorn. Warily, Ciocco stepped from the cave, and Blackthorn gasped. "You can move, looking like that?" wondered Blackthorn. Ciocco didn't respond, only approaching to be pulled up. Blackthorn did so, pointing in one direction. "I'm sorry, I can't go back yet. Just keep on that way." Ciocco nodded, and shambled southward, Blackthorn glancing, worried, towards the area he had just come from.

Cioccolato has spent two hours in the Thicket medical center, and a deer has just arrived. Blackthorn shows new scratches, but Ciocco only has one worry. When no deer was around Ciocco and Blackthorn, the former finally asks, "Have you told anyone about what happened?"

"Not yet," admits Blackthorn.

"Don't" suggests Ciocco, "Let's change it around, we don't need to leave Azalea's memory sour."

"I don't believe there's much to sour that she didn't already, but I can play along. What do you have in mind, kid?"

"Well, for starters…" Ciocco begins to weave a narrative that ignores Azalea's attack, but neither Blackthorn nor any deer who will hear realize that it hides an even darker truth.

Author's Note

Sorry that the description of his meal kinda sucks, I haven't actually eaten deer.