As I followed King Aspen through the Everfree Forest, watching the plants magically make way for us as we passed, I let my mind wander.
I first assumed that following the deer would devolve into an awkward silence, or perhaps the two of us would talk about what the plan is to explore the manor.
Instead, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the familiarity of this walk.
"It's just like in Ghana..." I whispered to myself, watching the Parrot-shaped figment of my imagination nod in agreement, a smirk on his beak.
"By now, Albatross would complain about his sweat sticking to his ass," Macaw said, his form walking beside me as we both followed the deer, his body passing through the plants as if he wasn't physically there.
Mostly because he wasn't.
A small breath of air exited my nose as I snorted at the image.
It's been five-and-a-half years since Ghana. Around four years since I left Avian and began studying Nautical Science in Florida. And nine months since I found myself in this new body.
"Did you say something?" Aspen asked loudly as he tilted his head backward, his eyes still looking forward as he walked deeper into the forest.
"No, I was just reminded of the past," I told him.
"The past, hmm?" The deer reoriented his head, "The past is wonderful, isn't it?" A tired chuckle left Aspen's lips, "All the good things in your life can be found in the past. The love of a wife, the warmth of a child, the joy of a family... Ahhh, my past truly was wonderful..."
I remained quiet as the deer sighed tiredly.
"What about you, Platinum? What do you think of the past?" He stopped walking, forcing me to stop as well before he turned to look at me, tired green eyes staring into my glacier blue.
"I-" I paused for a moment as I asked myself the same question.
What do I think of the past?
"I think the past is not something worth dwelling on," I answered the king, staring into his unblinking eyes.
"Explain." He told me.
"Well..." I licked my lips as I thought my words over, "I'm a big believer in the idea of free will, that there's no such thing as fate, and that every decision a person makes comes from themselves." I explained to the deer, "There isn't some almighty being that sets us on our path, an outside influence that is forcing us to do certain actions instead of others. Every decision I make is my own, and after I take it, all responsibility for the results that would occur from said actions is on me." I leaned my shoulder against a nearby tree as I continued to explain.
"I think that the past is a..." I tried to find the correct words, "The past is a prison. It's a chain that keeps us bound to actions and outcomes that have already occurred. And to dwell on it only leads to questions such as What if I tried something else? or What if someone else were in my situation instead? Outside of learning from my past mistakes in order not to repeat them, I don't think of the past. I'd rather focus on the future. On questions like What should I eat for dinner? or What cool one-liner should I say before killing Chrysalis? Actual important stuff, you know?"
"..." King Aspen stared at me in silence, the Heart of the Everfree around his neck glowing with pale red magic as the forest resumed clearing a path for us to walk.
I held the old deer's gaze, refusing to look away, as if this was some sort of royal staring contest.
"...What's a one-liner?"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" I joined Macaw in laughing at the unexpected reaction.
"Children these days..." King Aspen scoffed as he resumed his trek deeper into the forest.
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Prince Bramble smiled with giddy excitement as he opened the window to his bedroom, his small antlers glowing with a deep, earthy brown aura as he asked the ground far below him to create a way for him to climb down from his room.
The ground shook momentarily before stilling once more.
"Oh, come on, please?" Bramble asked, his horns still glowing, "I'll water you when I return, I promise!"
The ground shook a bit more before stilling once again.
"Fine, I'll plant you some flowers," Bramble told the ground with a roll of his eyes.
As if in response to the deer's words, several green vines burst out of the ground and climbed up the side of the castle, reaching Bramble's window and giving the young prince a way to climb down.
"Thanks!" Bramble told the vines as he climbed most of the way down before leaping off and landing on his hooves, an excited smile on his face as he turned to look at the back walls of Thicket, where his secret exit was, only to stop as he felt a tap on his shoulder.
Turning around, Bramble found the head of a small green vine waving in front of him. Bramble rolled his eyes as his horns began to glow once more, the voice of the plant entering his mind.
"Yes, I'll bring Dahlia for you, don't worry," the prince said with exasperation in his tone, "All the colors I'll be able to find, yes,"
The vine wiggled as if hugging itself before it lowered back into the ground, and the other vines that made up the Prince's escape followed suit.
"Note to self," The prince whispered to himself, "The plants around the castle are needy."
Without waiting around anymore, Bramble began his daring escape from the City, sneaking through alleyways and ducking underneath low branches.
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"Should we stop him?" Captain Blackthorn of the City Guard spoke up as he watched the son of his king try to sneakily exit the city.
"Let him go," Captain Portunes of the Royal Guard told him as he watched the prince dive into a bush, his antlers still visibly poking out, before he rolled out of the bush and jumped up a tree, his small stature hiding his amazing athletic ability, trained by years of running around the forest.
"Calvin," Blackthorn turned to a small orange bird, "Go follow the prince, keep an eye on him."
The small bird chirped before it flew off to follow Bramble.
"And come call us if he gets into trouble!" Blackthorn yelled before the bird turned a corner and disappeared from his view.
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After two hours of walking through the foliage, King Aspen stopped as the woods opened up.
"Wow..." He heard Prince Platinum speak behind him, but he wasn't focusing on the Unicorn.
In front of his eyes lay the remnants of what was once home to one of the most important families in Pony history.
It was a large clearing where the grass refused to grow higher than his ankle. Piles of ruined bricks where buildings once stood were strewn around, most of them washed away and pelted by the rain, yet no plant life grew on them.
All around him were ruins of houses that the Everfree refused to touch, as if afraid of disturbing the many souls sleeping beneath this cursed ground.
And in the center of the clearing, still standing despite the time that past, stood a mansion.
Standing three stories tall, the walls of grey bricks made way for an angular, dark brown roof, a large hole sitting in the middle of the roof where the building seemed to collapse in on itself.
In the corner of the roof were the broken remains of what once must have been a chimney, now little more than a lump of broken masonry.
The wings of the manor have collapsed into rubble, turning what once must have been a beautiful work of medieval architecture into a square of bricks and rubble.
"Must have some powerful magic protecting it." The Pony Prince said as he moved up to stand beside him, "This building should be all rubble and dust, the fact that it's still standing proves it." An appreciative whistle left the Unicorn's lips.
"Let's go." King Aspen said as he began walking towards the manor, and to the gaping hole in the wall where the entrance to the manor once stood.
"Woah, hold on," King Aspen stopped as Blueblood Platinum grabbed hold of his shoulder, "It's getting late, and there's obviously magic at play here." The Unicorn pointed out.
"I say we make camp here outside, and begin exploring tomorrow morning," Blueblood said, "Or we can make our way back to Thicket and start our search tomorrow once we've-"
"We'll set up here." Aspen interrupted the prince, the Heart of the Everfree around his neck starting to glow, as a tent made of vines and leaves began to grow around the two royals.
"If you say so..." The Prince said, "I'll go look for some food for us to-"
King Aspen let out a breath of concentration as his magic guided the Heart of the Everfree in ordering the forest around him. If he didn't have the Heart, he'd have to use his magic to ask the forest, try to convince it to assist. With the Heart, he could skip the conversation and simply take control of the forest.
A small fruit tree, barely taller than the Pony prince, grew out of the soil outside the tent. The tree twisted and bent as it spread out its branches, leaves beginning to grow on it with rapid speed as the tree climbed higher and higher, spreading wider and wider, before it covered both royals and the natural tent with a willow-like veil of leaves. Small flowers began to grow along the branches of the tree, their petals spreading and twisting before pulling back into themselves as they balled into bulbs and began to take the shape of small berries, visibly growing in size before reaching the size of a plum, a shiny red skin covered the plum-sized berries.
Aspen reached out a hoof, the tree moving to drop a fruit in his grasp. The king took a bite, and nodded.
"Juicy, Sweet, rich with nutrients." The king spoke tiredly before he wiped a stain of juice from his beard as he turned to look at the stunned Pony Prince, "These fruits have enough water and calories to keep us going for a while."
Blueblood Platinum closed his mouth as he blinked in awe at the sight that just occurred before his very eyes.
"What fruit is that?" He asked after a moment of staring at the willow-like fruit tree.
"I have not named it yet," Aspen said tiredly before he looked at the sky, watching the moon begin its climb through the sky beyond the veil of willow leaves.
"What do you mean you haven't named it? What about the name that other people gave it?" Blueblood's eyes began to widen as he stared at the Deer King with a newfound respect.
"No other creature has named it either," Aspen said simply as he plucked another fruit from the tree, the Heart of the Everfree glowing as the tree replenished its fruit, "The forest just created it for the first time."
Blueblood stared at the king, stunned, watching as the old deer finished his second fruit before crawling into the tent and lying down on a soft bed of freshly grown grass.
"You just invented a new species of fruit..." Blueblood said blankly, receiving a grunt from the deer.
Prince Blueblood stared at the Heart of the Everfree, the magical artifact that gave its wielder control over the Everfree Forest, and he uttered two words.
"Holy Shit."