Prologue
The Tree
Prologue
Inspired by This and This
I am an old tree. I stand high atop a hill, and I’ve stood here for an uncountable number of years. I have a story, about how this little town, and orchard around me came to be, and what I have experienced year after year, as I stood here.
Before I tell you of that, let me tell you about trees. Trees can become very old, certain hardwoods grow and stand for decades, and centuries. The older trees, like me, see it all. We watch as other life changes, grows and is destroyed. I have witnessed an immense amount of history.
When I was but a sapling, there was one other life form here, before ponies. They were large bipedal creatures. They could build towers of stone and glass. They cut down my brothers, but left me. I watched, as each day, more and more creatures wandered around the small field they had left me in. The creatures stayed for a few years, and as they stayed, I grew. I think I was, here, 25 years old.
Then the world ended for them. It happened in a bright flash of light. One of the great glass towers fell, and encased me in stone for days and days. Then I decided to move the stones, so I grew. I grew and my branches pushed away the rocks, and once they fell I felt the outside again. It had been dark within the rocks, only small rays of light would hit my leaves. I thought I would die, but I didn’t.
I stood there for so long, the rest of the large towers broke and crumbled away. The rocks that were left behind, were pounded on by rain, and wind. Then the sun would heat them up, and the clouds would cool them off, and over the course of many years, the rocks crumbled to dust. Then the dust blew away.
I would have crumbled to dust too. But the rocks protected me from the bad light that had destroyed the bipeds. I was sad that they were gone. The bipeds. I remember one of them, a little girl, would always sit under my shadow, and look at books. One year she came with another person. A boy. They carved their names into my trunk. It hurt at first, but I didn’t mind. The girl said this was her favorite spot. That made me happy.
“Come on, Andrew!” She said.
“I’m coming!”
“Right here we are! My favorite spot! Under this tree.”
The boy looked up at my branches...
“Nice place for a picnic.”
“Yeah I know. I love this tree, I read under it a lot.”
I love this tree, she’d said. That was nice of her. But she went away when the bad light came. I don’t think she was saved by the rocks like I was.
After the rocks turned to dust and blew away, more trees began growing. Their roots met mine sometimes. Then we would talk. I told them stories about the bipeds. They called me the Heart of the forest.
That is the highest honor among us. The Heart is the center, the leader. The Heart doesn't have to be in the literal center though. He or she has to be the spiritual center. Normally the oldest tree is the Heart. That must have been why they picked me.
We stayed like that for a long time, just a big forest. I lost a few branches and a bird decided to make his home in my branches. I liked the bird, he spoke of far, far away places. He gave me even more stories to tell my brothers and sisters.
Then there was a fire. Many of my trees died, my kingdom burned for days. During that time, I was somehow safe. Very lucky for a tree.
After my kingdom was in ruins I mourned and shed my leaves. For years I did that, growing back the leaves only to shed them once more. Then, the bird’s daughter returned. She bore news of an old forest, one that had been part of mine. She said they still called me their Heart. That made me happy, and my mourning ended.
I stayed like that for many years. As time passed, the ground shifted, and what was once a field turned into the hill I stand on now. A few more years passed and, in this time, odd things began happening...
The rain changed. Originally it was water, clear and pure, but then it became the milk of cows, tainted by sugar and the dead cooked seeds of cacao plants. The clouds’ feel shifted as well. They turned from pure water to sugary fluff. Many corn plants began dying, their seeds popping before they could sew them into the ground.
The chaos continued like this for a few months. Plants began starving from lack of real rain, animals began dying because we, trees, could not do our duty and make food. The world slowly declined. I remember one point I heard of a clearing in the forest. A clearing! Clearings are formed when a part of a forest can’t support itself! Clearings are mass murder, and, at that point, I knew this phenomenon was not natural. I felt so angry that I wished to take action. I am a Heart, the most powerful being on the planet! I could erase this disharmony in a moment! Alas, I was young and, as the ponies say, foalish.
I thought taking action was unnatural, so I resisted the urge, for I am a tree, and we are sedimentary. Our job is to watch, and watch I did. As I did, my prayers were answered. A new race arrived to save this land. Ponies.
There were two of them, both were winged and horned. They harnessed an ancient power, a fusion of the bipeds’ old technology and their magic. They used these powerful items to encase the creature that was causing the chaos in stone.
It reminded me of the light and the bipeds. I began feeling unhappy, but the alicorns, as they were called, cheered me up. After they sealed the creature away, one of them, the one who claimed to rule the night, made a deal with me.
She said that, as long as we provided food, and as long as we never took action against their subjects, they would care for us as their own. They made promises of fresh water once a week and fertile soil for us to grow in. I agreed to the deal, but I made sure she left the ancient forest alone. It was a sacred place. It should not be changed. I also made sure that only ponies of the earth retained a magical connection with the land. Ponies of the earth are the most sturdy, their bodies could handle the immense power that came with becoming close to nature itself.
Luna kept her promise. She built an entire city in the sky to bring water to the trees and plants. They dubbed it ‘Cloudsdale’. Under the ponies’ rule, the land outside the forest began to prosper. New cities were built, water and food was given to all.
New forms of life took shape inside the Everfree, as my forest was called. Flora and fauna evolved together. I remember hearing about one specific plant, Poison Joke. It had magically changed its pollen to prank the ones that came in contact with it. The plants became infamous among the zebras.
A few hundred years later, the alicorn, Celestia returned, bearing sad news. The older alicorn told me her sister had been corrupted due to being neglected by her subjects. She asked me and the other trees to take action and grant her sister a boon to save her. She asked us to cure her of her spite. I refused. The trees do not take action for the benefit of only one creature...
The older sister asked me what she was to do, and so I told her a prophecy; I can bend the rules a bit for a friend.
“But, old tree, what am I to do? If you and the trees will not take action, how will I go on?”
“I... will... tell you... a prophecy.”
She looked up into my branches with hope.
“Luna...has become... the Mare in the Moon.”
I summoned the powers of the forest and looked far into the future. I watched as ponies, six of them, saved the night mare from herself. But that is not the only time line I saw, the others showed the great nation falling to eternal night and other horrors I dare not say.
“On the longest day... of the thousandth year... the stars will aid in her escape... and she will bring about... night time eternal.” ‘Or not.’ I added to myself.
I would have told her that, but I am a tree, I am supposed to sound mystical and ancient. I have an image to retain, you know. But Celestia accepted what I said, and so she went and waited.
I continued my life. I stood tall and listened to the stories that the birds would bring from the other trees. They would tell stories of hunts and chases that animals would get into, and tell me about how the carnivores would starve one day, but feast the next.
Years passed like this, until Celestia came back again. She came asking for the land on the outskirts of my forest. But she did not come alone, she came with ponies, and she bore so many gifts. She was so formal and nervous when asking. I wasn’t very surprised by the display though, I am the Heart of a forest that is older and more powerful that her. Even if a small forest, like the Whitetail Wood, took action, they would be able to overwhelm her easily.
But I am the Heart of the Everfree. I am the most powerful being on the planet. I think she was just nervous about angering me, and yet I consider her my closest friend.
“O Great Heart of the forest. I ask a favour of thee! Please allow my little ponies to make their home on your fair lands. In retur-”
I started chuckling at her unnecessary speech.
“...Are- are you laughing at me?” The white alicorn responded after a few seconds of silence, completely caught off-guard.
“Of course! You...are...my oldest friend! It would be... an honour... to allow your ponies... to stay here! Hah! No gifts... are necessary, your display was... more than enough!”
As I said this, her face lit up bright red in embarrassment.
“I-um, thank you.”
I just continued laughing.
Slowly I calmed down, and reached out my mind.
“Please... take the land... but, be wary of... the forest.”
Celestia nodded and turned to her subjects.
“Come with me, my little ponies,”
I watched as she trotted away, still chuckling at her antics...
------------note------------
I haven't the slightest idea where this is going; when you are insane, like me, you need an outlet for your insanity. This is my outlet and so I present to you, The Tree!
The Tree
Chapter 1
My forest is one of great power. We have creatures that are unknown to pony kind, magical anomalies that others think are legends, and abilities to create things that would seem impossible had it not been for magic.
Magic. What a wonderful yet terrible thing it was. It could define you, as it had done me and my not so little forest, or it could destroy you, as it had done to creatures like the scourge known as Discord.
I remember one of the few times the forest had used magic, the one time the trees had taken action. It was only a few weeks after Celestia had returned and asked for my land. The ponies that she had said could live in my domain angered the forest. They angered us by cutting down trees on the outskirts of the forest.
It was horrifying from what I heard. They, the ponies, came lugging large bladed devices. They would stand on either side of a tree, and then cut it down by using the blade to saw away our trunks.
The forest had watched as their brothers fell, at first just one, but then two, four, eight... Our numbers kept dwindling until they had created another clearing. Then as if to insult the forest, they began cutting the bodies of the fallen, slicing them into thin pieces before us. They used the pieces to build a small ‘house’.
The scene was gruesome, stumps, stumps everywhere. I couldn’t believe the rage I felt at the ponies. Celestia and her sister had lied! The ponies did not treat us like their own! They had just murdered a group of trees!
Though I was angry, I think I understand now why they did what they did. That’s why I still regret my decision to act to this very day. I remember exactly what I did when I got news from my bird. I asked her to deliver a message to the council, that we were taking action.
The council. Its creation was quite abrupt. The trees had made a push for it to be implemented as soon as I had been disconnected from the physical forest itself. After all, how do I, when I am disconnected from what I rule, rule over my subjects?
The construction of the council is quite simple. All its members are represented separately by type. Each group of trees has one sole tree that speaks on the group’s behalf. All of them report their decisions to me.
I may have, originally, felt insulted at their creation, but over the years I found their input to be invaluable. So invaluable in fact that I urged other forests to create such entities. Whitetail Woods is one of the select few that have chosen to adopt my model.
The bird left to deliver my message. As she did that I mustered up all the power I could, every once, and then I shouted. I mustered all the vile hatred I felt into one single word. I called her to my domain demanding she listen to me.
“Celestia!”
I could feel the earth shaking from the sheer power of the Voice. The shout wasn’t just mine, it was the forest’s. All the trees had lent me their Voice for the summoning. In all honesty, my summons most likely sounded like howls to all the ponies but the princess. But that was to be expected. I am a tree, I only speak with those I deem worthy, much like a dragon.
Dragonlords, they are called. The ponies that can speak with them. The ones that can speak with us, trees, also have a title among the others. Insane.
It is understandable. Only one pony, other than the two sisters, could speak with trees. He was called Starswirl the Bearded. Quite a name if I do say so myself.
Celestia, as you may have guessed, heard my summons. After all, it’s not everyday that a tree shouts, let alone uses the Voice.
I remember her face when she arrived. She looked stricken with fear. Rightfully so I might add, considering she had just awakened Everfree’s anger.
“I...I come to respond to your summons, gre-”
“I...have not...the patience...for this, Celestia.”
I was not using the Voice anymore, I had scared her enough tonight. It was more important that she understand what has happened than fear whatever action I choose to take.
“Of course. I apologize.”
“You...have broken...your pact.”
She looked up in surprise. “How? Rain and soil have been provided!”
“You...have desecrated...a sacred...place.”
Celestia walked up to my trunk and placed a hoof on it. I remember understanding what she was doing, a memory sharing spell. The princess wanted to see my trees’ graves.
I began focusing intently on the graves of my subjects. I then began focusing on each one of the deceased, showing her memories and thoughts that had been given to me about them. Then I showed her my most inward part. My personal connection with each one of the dead.
When she pulled away, water was falling from her eyes. She too was mourning. So interesting, these ponies. Rather than shed leaves to mourn, they shed water.
The princess apologised for what had happened. She sat underneath me and hugged my trunk. I think she was attempting to show compassion, or understanding. I had seen other ponies do something similar. Hugging, they called it.
I knew she understood though, she saw things from my point of view.
“Leave me...”
She looked into my branches.
“But I... Of course,”
As she walked away, I spoke
“I... forgive you! But know...this! Next time... the... forest... will not be... so forgiving.”
Celestia nodded.
“Thank you, Tree.”
I simply rustled my branches.
That night I instructed the council to take indirect action, they fought back for a moment, but then they understood. They understood the bond I shared with the ponies, and the bond that the earth and trees share with them magically...
“Shall we... burn their homes... to the ground?”
“Let us flood their fields... starve them to death!”
“Obliterate them.... from existence... entirely.”
“What... does... the heart... think?”
I felt the roots of the forest, and conveyed my disappointment. I then asked the saplings to bring a message to the council.
“I wish to express... my disappointment. We are trees... not warriors. Be civil... breaking another’s branches...is cruel.”
I remember the council's reaction. The Oaks, majestic and powerful, agreed with my statement. They felt that violence would just lead to chaos and unrest. We do not want to be like the creature known as Discord. A war was not what the trees wished for. The Maples however, did not understand. They felt action should be taken to destroy the ’enemy’. Yet out of all the trees, the compromise was made by the Pines...
“NO! We must...destroy...them! Let them...suffer...as we did!”.
“Leaving them...is best! We...should not...take action!”.
The quiet voice of the Pines went unnoticed by the two shouting trees, but all the others, the ones who listen to the council and make the decisions, heard their suggestion.
“Do not fight...It is not our way” they said. “Take measures to prevent...Trees prepare, and reflect...not react and trigger...”
This is the request that was sent to me. Create a way to prevent the ponies from cutting down the trees.
And so I created the Timberwolves. Inspired by my oldest friend’s royal guards; the timberwolves were saplings that had been gifted a wolf’s body. When a predator would die, the forest would take away their spirit and release it to the other plane.
A tree would then begin to grow over the body, converting it from flesh and bone, to wood and stalk. A sapling, one who wished to serve, would come before the council and be gifted the body. When they transfer over, their magic gives them the abilities to move the wood of the body, and so control the timberwolf.
But it was not that simple. Trees are not meant to take action alone, and so each sapling was gifted a spirit or ghost. When the sapling was not serving, the spirit was free to use the body to their will.
I remember the first time Timberwolves protected the trees. It was from a pony, a small green one, from the clan that cut down my subjects.
She had entered my forest in search of food, and had ended up finding the Zap Apples.
Their shouts had echoed through our roots, “Our fruits! They are being stolen! Stolen!”
Now, Zap Apple trees, when in fruit season, are able to do many unusual things. Among them is the ability to speak and warn everything around them. They do not shout for any simple reason and so their shouting was something that was renowned and listened to.
As soon as news of the filly taking apples reached the council, they dispatched the timberwolves, so that they may test their might.
I remember watching the wolves chase the pony out of the forest. One of them was in perfect position to kill, but he restrained, knowing that I would be unhappy at his decision.
As the filly was chased out of the forest, she ran to her home, and banged together plates of metal to create sound and attract the attention of her family. The wolves were prepared to rip them to pieces, and in all honesty, I think they would have had had it not been for me.
I had sent lines of power ripping through the ground at an incredible pace and the wolves had felt it. They stopped and looked at them as if the lines themselves were me. They could feel my commands to be calm, and that I would unmake them if they were to disobey. I told them to halt their attack and leave. They followed my instructions reluctantly but without question because of the fear I induced in their minds.
Though the timberwolves are useful assets, they are quite unpredictable.
When Celestia heard of the events of that night, she approached me. She was blistering with fury.
She shouted at me, using an imitation of the forest’s Voice.
“How dare you try and hurt my ponies!”
I calmly waited for her to continue her onslaught of words but the verbal brutality never came. Rather, she stood and stared at me, as though disappointed.
Though I am older than Celestia, and perhaps even wiser, her disappointment still hurt me. Being my oldest friend and equal, she was the one I looked to for approval, the one I looked for in times of need. But now, I had angered her.
“I...apologize...Celestia.”
“We had a pact.”
“Yes.” I acknowledged.
“Why would you break it?”
“We...did not.”
She stared at me for a moment, then slammed a hoof into her face. “Please, explain to me how, by doing exactly what you said you would not do, you stayed within the bounds of the agreement.”
“Our actions... only had... a permanent effect... on the forest. Your...ponies were not...affected.”
‘Directly, anyway.’
Celestia stared at me. “You still understand that it’s wrong, do you not?”
I shook my branches.
Of course, Celestia didn’t understand...with her being a pony and all.
Though it was wrong, it was the only way to keep my subjects happy and I know Celestia would have done the same had it been necessary. The trees had been itching to take action as soon as they had realized what had been happened near the fields. I explained the problem to Celestia, telling her why the trees wanted to take action and what exactly we did.
I explained how we summon the wolves, and how they are only partially under our control. I told her of how they were only protecting the forest and the zap apples, and by the end of our conversation, we had struck another deal.
The timberwolves would now help ponies, so long as they didn’t enter the forest. Whenever the zap apple trees would prepare themselves to bear fruit, the timberwolves would howl, to tell the ponies that harvesting time was coming. The ponies would, in return, leave the zap apple trees in the forest alone.
In return, Celestia stated that she would ask the ponies to grow an apple orchard. Although she decided to add a catch on to my end of the deal as well. Any plant that may be dangerous, should be kept within the forest. If they are not, she would cut them away. However, if ponies enter my forest, they are a part of the hunt, and the Timberwolves have freedom to kill.
At the time, I hadn't the slightest idea what an apple orchard was, and so I had blindly agreed, trusting the mare’s judgement.
I remember feeling giddy as a sapling when I saw the ponies watering and planting apple trees everywhere. I watched as they planted each seed and created an artificial forest. When I sent news of the deal to the council, their reactions were quite similar to mine.
The apple orchard in question still stands today. They, the ponies, call it “Sweet Apple Acres”. I loved watching the saplings grow up and the mare that was chased by the timberwolves with them.. In her later years, she took to talking to the trees and naming them.
I remember the first time one of the trees talked back. She had named the tree Melvin.
“Would you like some more water, Melvin?”
The mare poured a can of water at the tree’s roots.
“There ya are...So nice out today, don’t you think?”
“I sure do. Thank you... for the water.”
The green mare sprung to her hooves and looked wildly around.
“Who said that!?” she questioned.
Melvin laughed. “I did.”
The mare looked at the tree and slowly walked around it.
“Umm...hello? Who are you?”
“You... don’t know? You... named me!”
“Melvin?” she quietly asked.
The tree rustled its branches in response. The mare, unfortunately, did not understand that action meant “yes”.
She continued walking around the tree hoping to find something or somepony that could have produced the sounds she was hearing. After about fifteen minutes of this, the green pony simply left.
I remember laughing as the young tree asked if he had somehow offended her.
These ponies are so odd. They get angry when you defend your forests from their axes, but then, when you don’t, and they cut away a portion of the forest, they simply plant more trees in the place they cut down the originals from.
Sometimes, I wonder if Celestia has a death wish...
Editor’s notes:
I guess she’s too busy molesting and trolling her subjects to even wish such a thing. A shame really. It would be an honor to fulfill said wish.
Alas, if only she molested trees...
Ah, an old tree can dream, can it not?
Author's notes:
My editor is insane.
Yeah this one took long to write.
But I have been able to come up with tons of ideas.
The Mane six will make their appearance in the next chapter.
Questions, ideas, thoughts below. Please? I get lonely...
-Corvo
