The Flower of the Forest CH1

>You’re on your way to the Everfree Forest after Zecora came to you requesting help with something.

>Well, not really requesting your help so much as she mentioned it in passing. Then you bugged her until she told you all about it.

>What can you say? Ponyville is a lot slower than Canterlot...

>Gotta pass the time somehow.

>Strange white flowers began appearing in the Everfree Forest recently, and it’s your job to look into them.

>Sure, you could ask your friends to get the samples for you, but it’s early in the morning and you would feel bad.

>And, well, you have Spike with you, so what could go wrong?

>As if responding to your thoughts, he lets out a frustrated groan from atop your back.

>"Why do I have to come with you if all you're doing is getting some stupid plant, Twilight?" he asks, trying to find a comfortable position on your back.

>You roll your eyes.

"We're just going to go in, grab a few samples, and then get right back out," you say with a hint of annoyance. "And it's NOT stupid," you add.

>"Sure," he sighs, fatigue and a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

>You feel bad for him as he pouts on your back.

>Your horn glows, and the weight on your back lifts as you levitate him face-to-face with you.

>He huffs, crosses his arms, and closes his eyes, avoiding eye contact.

>You sigh.

"Spike," you say, feeling bad once again, "you’re here to protect me if something goes wrong!"

>He opens a single eye, looking directly at you.

>"You want me to protect you?" he asks in disbelief.

"Yeah,” you say. “You're the strongest baby dragon I know! Nothing can get past you, especially not some scary forest beast."

>His surprised expression fades, a new-found resolve apparent in his eyes as he straightens his body and raises his right arm in a salute.

>You smile, and place him on your back again.

>You want to get in and get out, that much was true, but you only made Spike come with you to keep you company.

>Not that you would ever tell him that.

>The rest of the walk there was uneventful, but pleasant.

>Ponyville sure is peaceful in the morning.

>You stop at the entrance to the forest, mentally steeling yourself for what could be ahead.

>You should be safe as long as you were quick, but the Everfree Forest is, after all, a mysterious place.

>That much was made apparent during the Nightmare Moon days.

>"You okay?" Spike asks as you stand by the entrance, saying nothing.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," you quickly respond, a little embarrassed.

>You shake your head, trying to hide the fact that you were lost in your thoughts.

>It seems to work, and Spike says nothing more.

>You begin down the trail that lead through the forest, remembering what you came here for.

>It should be a quick trip.

>If your sources are correct, you should only have to walk about ten minutes in, split down the left of the path, and walk another ten minutes before you reach your destination.

>The flowers are odd, that’s for sure.

>From their description, they’re nothing special.

>But, they are known only to this forest, and only began appearing just recently.

>All you have to do is grab a few samples, then head back home and begin the fun.

>You want to test it under certain stimuli to discern its effects, attributes, and living conditions, and maybe find a reason as to why it's so rare—

>Your thoughts are interrupted and you’re brought back to reality by a startled yelp.

>It’s Spike.

>You turn to your side to see what’s wrong.

>His gaze is frozen at a fixed point ahead of you.

>You follow his stare.

>Some grass, a few trees, and in a small clearing was a group of pale white flowers.

>Wait...

>Those are the flowers you came here for!

>With an accomplished grin, you trot over to the flowers, picking one with your magic.

>"Twilight, it's dangerous!"

"What do you mean? This is what we came he-"

>You jump, startled, as a groan comes from directly in front of you.

>The patch of flowers rustles.

>Your eyes widen and you look slightly ahead to see... something.

>And it’s moving.

>You stand your ground.

>Spike has other ideas, however.

>He runs, aiming for a tree to the far side of the clearing.

>He stops in his tracks as you grab hold of him with your magic.

>"Twilight?" he barely struggles to get out between rapid breaths, his eyes wide.

"Yes, Spike?" you respond as you bring him back to his original position.

>"WHAT WAS THAT?!" he screams, any hint of calmness long gone from his voice.

>You quickly hush him, not wanting to disturb the creature, partially for your own safety.

“Calm down! You don’t even know what it is yet. Any kind of predator wouldn’t give his presence away like that. Probably just a rabbit or something. Think of it, Spike! A whole new flower species!”

>Spike visibly calms down.

>You use the silence as an opportunity to get a better look at the creature.

>The sight that presents itself to you, is, to say the very least, astonishing.

>It definitely isn’t a rabbit.

>A beam of morning sunlight escapes the thick canopy the trees make and lands directly onto the clearing.

>There’s a patch of the white flowers all around the clearing, but towards a tree to the side, there is a thicker concentration of them.

>And in the middle of that lay an odd creature.

>You've never seen anything like this.

>It has four limbs, much like a pony, but they’re completely devoid of hair.

>Instead of hooves at the end of each limb, it has claws, much like Spike’s, though they seemed longer and more dexterous.

>The skin itself is a frosty white, unmatched by even the flowers surrounding it.

>As your eyes moved up the creature, you take notice of the fact that it’s wearing clothing, if only just a little.

>The creature has a long white dress, but aside from that you couldn't see any other form of clothing.

>The dress is torn in a few places.

>Your eyes move up once again, reaching its upper body.

 >Bandages cover its head, leaving only its mouth exposed.

>Around where you assumed to be the eyes, the bandages are stained with a deep crimson.

>Your eyes widen and you look away from the bandages, but in doing so you notice one other thing.

>There are several fresh cuts and scratches on its body, as if it had been thrown around quite violently.

>That would explain the holes in the dress and quite possibly the groaning.

>This thing’s hurt, and from the looks of it, badly.

>"What is that thing?" Spike asks in a whisper, breaking your train of thought.

"I... I don't know, but whatever it is, it's injured," you say just as surprised as he, but concerned nonetheless.

>The creature begins to stir once more, making Spike nervous.

>Silence.

>You and Spike are either too scared or too confused to say anything.

>A sound fills the air.

>Crying.

>It’s light, but heartbreaking nonetheless.

>The creature is curled up in a ball, hugging itself and crying.

>It begins to shiver as a cold morning wind passes through the clearing.

>You contemplate your choices.

>What do you do?

>You could leave it.

>No.

>It’s scared and in pain. You can’t just leave it to suffer.

>You could help it.

>But that might prove to be dangerous as you're not sure how it would react.

>Before you can decide, you see Spike stepping closer to the animal.

>He inches toward the creature, but as he gets close, he steps on a branch, releasing a loud crack.

>The crying stops and the animal shudders, obviously startled by the sound.

>It slowly uncurls from its ball and raises its bandaged head.

>You see dark hair in the spots where the bandages don't cover.

>The creature’s mouth opens and a high-pitched scream emanates from it, echoing through the forest.

>It scrambles to its hooves— er, feet, you guess.

>You now confirm it to be bipedal, but that is the last of your thoughts as it stands, frozen in fear.

>It backs away, stopping only after it bumps into a tree.

>Spike takes a step forward and the creature frantically looks around for a way to escape the green and purple baby dragon in front of it.

>Spike pouts.

>"Why are you scared? I won’t hurt you..." he hesitantly replies, offended by the way the creature reacted to him.

>The creature violently shakes its head, not believing a word Spike says.

>You figure Spike’s method of slowly approaching it and talking isn’t going anywhere and begin cautiously walking towards the creature yourself.

>Its head follows you, watching your every move as you get closer and closer.

>Wait a minute.

>Watching.

>How could this thing see with those bandages over its eyes?

>You push the thought away as you notice something.

>The flowers immediately surrounding where it stands aren’t white.

>They’re yellow.

>As if on cue, the rest of the flowers in the clearing take on the same color.

>Before you have time to act, the flowers glow and a light powdery substance releases into the air.

>It covers you.

>No, that’s not right. It doesn’t just cover you.

>It focuses on you, not touching Spike in the slightest.

>You try to move out of the way, but can’t.

“P-paralysis...?” you mutter before falling to the ground.

>Spike doesn’t notice and takes another step.

>One step too close, it seems.

>The pale ape turns around and runs, letting out another scream as more of the powder is released.

>It runs away unsteadily, its coordination likely messed up from the injuries.

>The creature trips on a root protruding from the ground.

>Just as it’s about to hit the ground, Spike runs behind it and stops it.

>He moves the creature to the side with all of his strength, just enough to not fall.

>”Phew,” he sighs, relieved.

>The creature lies still, its mouth still open in shock.

>Panting for breath, Spike doesn’t notice the yellow powder heading for them.

>When he does notice, it’s too late and neither of them could move if they wanted to.

>The three of you are completely motionless as several minutes pass.

>You ponder the connection between the mysterious being and the flowers, but your train of thought derails as you feel something crawling up the side of your head.

>As it makes its way closer to your face, you panic.

>Before long, you have a large millipede resting on your muzzle, looking straight into your eyes with a hellish glare.

>Every single leg on the creature leaves a horrifying tingling feeling down your muzzle, towards your mouth.

>Your mouth opens, but just as the scream begins to leave your mouth, the insect enters.

>Bad decision.

>Jumping up, you spit it out and run as quickly as you can away from the monstrous bug.

>Once you reach a satisfactory distance away, you stop and catch your breath, using your hooves to rid your tongue of any traces of the insect.

>And then you realize.

>You have control of your body again.

>...Oh.

>An embarrassed blush forms on your cheeks as you face-hoof.

>After regaining your composure, you head back to the clearing.

>Your horn glows as you remove the powder still lingering in the air.

>With that taken care of, you make your way to the two still on the ground.

>Seeing that at least Spike was awake, you smile.

>You can’t really tell with the other one though, seeing as how its eyes are covered.

>You walk over to Spike and chuckle.

“Lounging around on the job, I see?”

>You know he can’t respond, but you see the anger in his eyes.

>Chuckling once more, you move to the creature on the ground.

>As you get close, it does nothing, leading you to believe it’s unconscious.

>You take this opportunity to look it over once more, the injuries still covering its exposed limbs.

>You frown.

“You okay?” you ask, still not sure if it can hear you.

>It lets out a short, high-pitched squeal that reminds you of Fluttershy.

>Yeah, it can hear you.

“I’m not going to hurt you, you know.”

>No response.

>Your horn glows for a bit and the creature flinches and tenses up.

>You imagine the calmest and soothing feeling you can manage and project it onto the animal.

>It noticeably loosens up and finally begins to relax.

>You smile.

>You pick it up with your magic and place it on your back carefully.

>To your surprise, there’s no resistance.

>Oh wait, paralyzed. Right.

>Getting used to the weight, you walk towards Spike uneasily, making sure to hold the creature on your back with your magic.

“Time to go home,” you say with a reassuring smile on your face.

>You pick him up, but refrain from placing him on your back.

>Making sure they’re both secure, you head back to the path you came from.

>Oh, you almost forgot.

>You pick a flower with your magic and continue on your way.

>The walk is slow and uneventful.

>Pretty soon, you find yourself at the edge of the forest.

“Almost there,” you sigh in relief.