Footsteps approached the clearing, moving in time with a hummed tune. No growth impeded the approaching figure. No creature molested her beyond a bluebird roosting atop her bandana. She looked up at it fondly without dropping a beat. She only let the music stop when she was a few steps away from the center of the grove.
Tree Hugger did not see the grove the way others did. Ever since Sunset Shimmer began a truly new age, Tree had found her vision changing. The auras of life and emotion that she had barely glimpsed before became more and more prominent, slowly overtaking the physical world. And here, those auras had taken a turn for the truly surreal. It had been a good thing Applejack had asked her to come now. It had been easy to the coax the pale purple off of the red-green lattices of the plants and rebalance the simple auras of the park's residents, but given more time, Fluttershy's skill might have improved beyond Tree's limited experience.
Tree considered Fluttershy's material shell, a small tree whose trunk curved in a way that suggested it had been carved in the shape of a young woman some time before. The face made it clear that it hadn't simply grown that way, still retaining most of its features, though these too had lost some of the fine detail. Its aura was... worrying. Stretches of it had decentralized into a red, vegetative state, especially along the roots and higher branches. Thin veins of that unhealthy looking purple branched out of the main body, some creeping back out to brush against the other auras in the area even as Tree Hugger watched. The rest was diffuse, a pale, ochre cloud only vaguely connected to the head region.
Taken all together, Fluttershy's chakras were... unraveling. There still was a Fluttershy, at least for now, but she was losing herself to the physicality of her current state. Worse, she was enjoying the sensation of that loss far too much to stop.
"This," said Tree Hugger, "will be an interesting journey for the both of us." She put a hand on a suggestion of a shoulder, trying to spool Fluttershy's essence back into her form. It was slow going. Not only did Tree have to work against Fluttershy's wishes, there was only so much she could do without some kind of foundation to brace against, for lack of a better phrase. Applejack would've helped, but she'd promised not to come back, and her integrity was too fundamental to her self for Tree to ask her to betray it.
After Tree Hugger has rewound as much of the girl as she could, she said, "Fluttershy? You there?"
A rustling sound made Tree Hugger pull back in time to see Fluttershy's eyelids finish opening, revealing eyes far greener than normal. Fluttershy gave a creaky smile, flecks of bark falling off of her face. "Tree Hugger," she said dreamily, pink splotches blooming across her aura. "How lovely to see you. What brings you here?"
"I was asked here by an emissary of the Maiden-Goddess."
Fluttershy took a moment to reply. "Maiden-Goddess?"
"She'll probably become a Mother-Goddess at some point, but she's still a little young for that, you know? Point is, she asked me to come here because none of your other friends can reach you. You're in too deep."
"Too deep into what?" The pink reddened and spread.
"Your magic comes from a twist in your throat chakra, Fluttershy, not your root. Your soul is tied to the air. It's cool that you want to get in tune with other life, but right now you're suffocating yourself. You gotta let yourself breathe, you know?"
"I'm sorry, but I just don't understand what you're talking about." Fluttershy yawned. A crack spread from the right edge of her mouth to the base of her ear. "I have everything I could need here. Sun and soil and..." She gave a sleepy little giggle, her orange flaring. "Hummingbirds."
"Your friends are worried about you, Flutters, and that includes me. Your aura is barely tethered to your material form. Your journey shouldn't end here."
When Tree Hugger had first seen Fluttershy after the grand change, she'd thought she'd needed to refine her understanding of her aura vision.
Fluttershy blinked, not a speck of understanding in any part of her. "Where else would I go?" She shut her eyes. "Please, just let me go back to sleep. I was so comfortable."
There had been something there that had made no sense.
Tree Hugger took a deep breath. "If you do not know, then I will show you the way." She turned her body, pointing her left shoulder at Fluttershy and planting her right foot behind herself. It sank into the soil. Grass reached out and wrapped around it, holding it in place.
A strange depth to her aura, as though there were more to her than most people.
"Tree Hugger?" Fluttershy's eyes fluttered back open. "What are you doing?"
When Tree Hugger saw Applejack and Sunset Shimmer, she finally understood.
"Haaammm..." Tree let her left foot sink into the ground as well.
Between the orange-purple farmer and the humanoid constellation, there had been a link.
"I... I can tell you're doing something."
And with it, many other links flowing through the emotional energy-space that connected all life, including some leading into this very grove.
"Haaammm..." Other voices seemed to join hers in the mantra.
Seven girls. Seven chakras.
"Please, tell me wha—"
A single superconsciousness. A single place where Tree Hugger could stand as she drew Fluttershy back into herself.
Tree Hugger swung her body, driving her right hand into the bark around Fluttershy's throat.
"Grkl."
The mantra went unspoken. Nature itself thrummed with power instead. The muscles in Tree Hugger's arm, shoulder, and back bulged. Wood strained, then splintered. The emotional spectrum briefly went kaleidoscopic. With an almighty heave, Tree pulled Fluttershy out of her wooden cocoon and, with gentleness in sharp contrast to that heave, onto the loam.
"Wha... wha..." Fluttershy's aura spiked red, her eyes darting about, her body thrashing like a fish on land.
Tree Hugger held her until she went still, passed out from hyperventilation. Once Tree made sure Fluttershy was stable, she turned back to the tree that had held her. "Sorry for the rough treatment. I know it wasn't your fault." A careful arrangement of its life pathways ensured it would survive the extraction.
That done, Tree wrapped Fluttershy in the bathrobe she'd brought with her and carried her out.
I must rescue my closest friend.
THROAT PUNCH!!!
That's not hugging! That's not hugging at all!
derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/3/2/1100277__solo_fluttershy_solo+female_suggestive_cute_smiling_simple+background_looking+at+you_bedroom+eyes_spread+wings.jpeg
Annoyingly, the only picture I can get of Fluttershy and a Lewd sign...
***
Tree Hugger! Yeah!
I guess Unicorns-Aspects have twists in their Brow Chakras...
Where do Earthers have their Twists?
... Avatar Chakra attacks possible??
7588416
Nature is not just the green of growth.
It is the blue of water.
It is the yellow of sunlight.
It is the violet of the night.
The indigo of sky.
The orange... which is only rarely explained.
And the red. The red of blood.
All things in balance.
Well, they needed someone who didn't overthink things and they got it. Now....the epilogue.
...That was really good
7588442
I guess that's Tree Hugger's Aura Vision... So:
SunApple Ship? What is Purple?? ... Do you have a link to what color means what? Or did you create the associations yourself?
7588460
The only ship I see is Friiiiiiiiiendship!
No seriously that's probably friendship, nothing too intimate.
As to Applejack's color... well. I put up links over in the Tree Hugger Group.
7588460
I've added a link to the thread in question to the author's note. Sorry for not doing so in the first place.
Ah! When in trouble, bring in the expert.
Magical healing throatpunches. Only with FOME.
Whew! Tree hugger barely got her out, Fluttershy was losing her humanity and becoming more and more darker in a way.
With hwos he controled Pinkie Pie.
Tree Hugger is best pony.
7588397
Hey, man. Whatever works, works.
7588416
It's a special one-handed throat hug, used only by the greatest hugging masters.
7588441
Given the context, I'd say that's an entirely appropriate lewd sign.
The root chakra, of course.
Also:
I can confirm that no Sunjack/Appleset was intended. The bonds between those two are friendly and harmonious, but not romantic.
7588521
Can I quote you on that?
7588587
Even when she isn't a pony. Possibly especially then. I think we're bordering on a koan.
7588658 Tree Hugger is the best everything.
7588669
Tree Hugger would seriously contest that statement, it sounds dangerously unbalanced.
Holy Cheese on Rye, this just makes me want to read more about Chakra Master Tree Hugger
7588521
7588658
Actually I've seen magical healing throatpunches before. Granted, that was in an Exalted/Mass Effect crossover and ran on COMPLETELY different mechanics.
The church of TD teaches, if you have a problem, PUNCH IT.
7589561
I think I've read that fic. I didn't spend terribly long at it, having never played the mass effect series and only having a passing knowledge of exalted at the time. That's the one where femshephard survives her lithobreaking and ends up naming legion "wuffles" instead, wasn't it?
7588658
Go ahead!
7590023 Huh? Okay, now you got me curious, got title of that thingy?
7590319
Glorious Shotgun Princess
7590329
Much appreciated. That's bound to be hilarious and/or epic
Tree Hugger Hyuuga clan confirmed.
Holy fucking shit, I have never before seen (nor, honestly, really wanted to see) badass chakra-wielding Tree Hugger but that was awesome. :D
Criticism of story as a whole: Tree hugger seems to come out of nowhere. I guess this might just be me not being all that read up on all the Oversat stuff.
Good thing: let's just grab your neck and tear you out of a tree, that works.
-GM, master of red gemstones.
9609206
Fluttershy and Applejack do meet with Tree in Oversaturation, though I admit that there's little to no foreshadowing at work here.
And yes, the One-Handed Throat Hug definitely gets results.
Something tells me if she isn't turned back to normal soon, she'll be like that way permanently!
Thank goodness she's back to normal!