Heart of the White Tail Woods

by Vinn

Into the Trees

She had never really doubted that something would go wrong. It had been three months since Applejack had sat in the warm, lively centre of Ponyville, listening to Rainbow Dash’s exuberant description of some recently formulated aerial somersault (involving a Cumulonimbus cloud, three buckets of paint and a flowerpot). Such a new trick, she had said, would be the one that would put her in the history books. There was no room for failure.

Trotting along a path leading westwards out of the town, the athletic but vastly more down to earth apple farmer was not shocked to find herself en route to the newly constructed hospital specialising in pegasus flight injuries and other mild afflictions. It was to be found beyond the White Tail Woods near the estuary of the river. The staff had been delighted to accept into treatment the disappointed Rainbow Dash with her plethora of broken wing bones. Applejack had agreed to go and pick her friend up after she had gotten better, mostly due to the fact that the sky-blue daredevil and flyer extraordinaire had spent the duration of the train journey there unconscious and, as such, apparently had no idea where she was in relation to her hometown.

Having given herself three days for the journey, Applejack had gotten in contact with a few family members living along the railway line running along the edge of the White Tail Woods. Unfortunately, the train service here was cancelled due to a recent storm which had brought down dozens of the native oaks onto the rails. Thankfully, these relatives would provide her with a bed for the night, assuming she worked everything out correctly and got to each of them before it was too dark.

Already, Ponyville had disappeared from sight and the daylight had faded slightly into a gentler hue, more at one with the deepening blue that greeted the horizon. It was around this time of the evening that Applejack would occasionally glance upwards to check if the first stars had begun to cast their gaze upon the tired landscape. Nature was ever alive for her. Her family had always depended upon it, and it had always provided for her. She had a relationship with the earth, the sky, the wind and the trees which she had never really tried to put into words, because she did not need to. Now, the breeze had begun to pick up, and it washed through the leaves of the forest ahead as though a lullaby were being sung to the swaying branches and the deeply rooted trunks in the rich soil.

She needed to look out for a light to the left of the road that wound along the steep watershed of the valley below. All she could see ahead was the looming darkness of the woods which gripped onto the side of the hill and beckoned downwards into their own mysterious realm.

The White Tail Woods were undoubtedly the safer of the two forests that played a significant role in Ponyville life (the other being Everfree). Each year, as the summer drew to a close and the holiday season approached, the ‘Running of the Leaves’ would help bring down some of the loose dead leaves on the branches. This was more a tradition than anything of practical value. Although it did help somewhat with the transition through Autumn, a large portion of the woods would have to rely on the winds to bring down their deceased souvenirs of the past season. The event itself, which was to take place in two months, happened on the eastern side of White Tail. Applejack knew this area well, but to get to her destination, she had needed to venture beyond this familiar territory.

As it was, she was a little confused by the route which had seemed so simple on the map. She hadn’t taken this map with her as, not only did she want to remain without any sort of burden, but it was too large-scale to be of great use during the journey itself.

I cannot let myself get lost so early on and embarrass myself in front of Aunt Brioche. She’ll get worried, too…

The fleeting rays of the sinking sun which occasionally peeked through the rocky angles of the distant Canterlot Mountains would soon be insufficient for her to even keep the railway line in sight. It ran parallel to the road for the most part, but occasionally veered into the trees. Without this in sight, she had no way of making sure she was keeping to the correct route.

Breaking into a canter, she worriedly analysed the slopes of the hillside, looking for familiar landforms she would have seen as filly visiting her aunt. However, the uncontrolled spread of the foliage from the White Tail Woods meant that the landscape was virtually unrecognisable.

Applejack sped along the road, which had now diminished into little more than a dirt track. As she did so, she desperately searched for something that would jog her memory and tell her where she was. She passed a small lake, a huge boulder split in two, an ancient-looking beech which had fallen down and even what looked like the ruins of an old building. The blackness of the forest began to merge with that of the sky as the shadows, still dancing in the breeze, faded. She was getting tired already. A branch split under her hooves. Something moved in the corner of her eye. An owl hooted. She tripped. Something creaked. A smell of berries. A distant humming. A gust of wind. A light.

Relieved, she slowed down again and took a moment to catch her breath. It was dim, but the unmistakable glow of a welcoming shelter was visible through the trees. She had ventured a little too far north and would have to clamber down the slope into the outer edges of the woods. She thought she could even smell the pleasant waft of baked apples, drifting in the wind and intermingling with the ever-present scent of deciduous forest. Perking up considerably, she made her way carefully down the side of the valley and into White Tail. The Canterlot Mountains, which she had used as a reference point, were no longer visible through the thickets. She still felt a little disorientated and even somewhat disquieted by the fact that she had managed to almost get totally lost.

Beyond the trees to her right, Applejack could see the outline of some gentler hillocks. As she made her descent, she caught sight of the ghostly waxing moon appearing behind these small slopes. It cast a powerful blue light upon the canopy of the woods below. It also, however, provided some comfort with its illumination.

The light she was approaching was slightly obscured by the branches now, but she continued along in the same direction. Now, the air was filled with the sounds and smells of the night. Being a pony of strict routine, it was a time when she should have been asleep. As such, she was anxious to get to her aunt’s cottage as soon as possible. The thought briefly ran through her mind that there didn’t seem to be any apple orchards about, but she quickly banished it, keen to simply get to safety.

The woods were becoming gradually denser, and she was having to slow down in order to avoid tripping on the maze of roots below, visible mainly thanks to the moonlight. Now she had to keep her eyes on the ground in order to pick her way through the undergrowth. She wanted to try to arrive at her aunt’s in one piece (as opposed to covered in scratches) so it wouldn’t seem as though she had gotten so lost. The ground was covered in branches and twigs, so she was making quite a loud noise as they got crushed under her hooves. She didn’t associate these woods with anything particularly nasty like Timberwolves, but she couldn’t be sure, so she tried to be at least somewhat discreet. Then, briefly glancing up, Applejack was met with a bad shock.

The light was gone.

That can’t be good. Where the hay did it go?! There’s no way I could have gone too far…there was still a little way to go when I last checked…Oh Celestia. Right. Backtrack.

Looking behind her, it wasn’t obvious exactly where she had come from. She had the moonlight as an indicator of her orientation but the fact that its light was slowly moving meant that the woods she had been walking through for the past fifteen minutes now looked slightly different.

Well. I’d better get outta here and see if I can spot that light again from the hillside…

Applejack took a step back towards where the edge of the woods must have been.

It all happened in an instant. Something moved in the twigs below and caught her hoof. It jerked her to the side and she suddenly found herself thrown off balance. She cushioned her head with her forehooves as it crashed into the ground, and then she suddenly flew upwards, receiving the various scratches she had hoped to avoid as she came into contact with the nearby trees.

Opening her eyes, she found herself upside down with one of her hind legs somehow attached to a thick branch. She was swinging back and forth, the disturbed leaves now settling down on the ground below.

The ground! I’m several yards off the ground! What in the name of...Seriously? What sort of thing lives in these woods that’s big enough to be trapped by this? Dangit!

“Uhh…Aunt Brioche? Is this yours? Heh. I’m gettin’ awful dizzy here!” shouted Applejack in a nervous tone.

“Auntie? Ya there? Could ya help me down?! This sorta hurts you know, and seems dangerous!” she added to her previous exclamation, which had been met with silence.

She swung around for a minute as the blood rushed to her head. Then, she was shocked to hear a quiet, high-pitched voice come out of the darkness.

“Brothers, the time has at last come! The age of judgement has arrived and those that doubted us shall soon fear us.”

This announcement seemed to be met by a very quiet cheer. It reminded Applejack of Fluttershy.

“Is that you Auntie? Heh! How your voice has changed, and how…anarchic you seemed to have become!”

“Silence, prisoner. Friends, this enormous monster shall lead us to victory against the oppressors that drove us deeper into this great forest! We shall use its great strength to conquer!” continued the squeaky voice.

“Aw shucks, I ain’t really done much conquerin’ before…Could you show yourself?” asked the precariously positioned earth pony.

“Are you blind, huge beast? We are right in front of you.”

“Wha—oh my…”

Having mostly been peering around the upside-down woods, looking for these mysterious tree-dwellers, she was very surprised to spot a large group of tiny insect-like figures standing on one of her front hooves. They were all no larger than a flea.

“We have spent many years constructing a device powerful enough to catch a monstrous thing such as yourself, great predator,” the leader continued. “Now, our task is complete, and all that remains is to tame you in order to harness your power.”

“Uh…I hate to disappoint and all that, but I’m just an earth pony. Nothin’ more, I ain’t got much power, ‘cept when it comes to applebuckin’ that is! Your ‘oppressors’ don’t happen to be a field of apple trees do they?” she chuckled.

“Friends, cut it down and lead it to the stronghold!”

“Wait! Now just hold on…I’m just lost in these woods…have you seen a house with—argh!”

Applejack tumbled to the ground, thankfully landing on a pile of leaves that been put there. She looked around for the hoard of tiny insects and spotted them circling around her. She got up.

“Beast! You are trapped! Attempt to leave and we shall stop you with our spears! Brother, throw a spear as a warning.”

She felt a tiny tingle on the side of one of her front legs.

“Uh...”

“Stay with us and we shall spare your life, monster!” shouted the leader.

Maybe if I humour these guys they’ll help me find my way again…

“Yeah! Heh. Take me to your leader…or whatever it is I’m supposed to say,” said Applejack, trying to hold back her laughter.

The small beings began to move very slowly towards a tree trunk a few yards away. As they did this, Applejack kept her eye on them to avoid stepping on any by accident as she shuffled forwards.

It took several minutes, but they eventually arrived at the trunk of a towering oak, covered in moss and with a web of roots encircling it. After a few more minutes, in which she could just about make out a few of the insects going into some tiny opening in the bark, a slightly larger one, roughly the size of a small tack, emerged onto a luxurious-looking leaf.

“Oh, beast of the White Forest, bringer of destruction and master of death,” belted out this larger insect she assumed was their king. “We have summoned you in the night as we approach the full moon, such that you may wreak havoc upon the world of the outsiders. We have lived alone in these woods for hundreds of generations, planning our revenge upon the fiends that cut down our homes and forced us deep into these dangerous lands.”

“Cut down your homes…are you talkin’ about my Aunt Brioche? She came here over 50 years ago to set up her orchards—” said Applejack.

“Cease your infernal interruptions! We do not fear you. The oppressors will, however!”

“Oh now listen here. There’s been a terrible misunderstandin’ here—”

“As our revenge, we shall not only obliterate the oppressors, we shall bring doom to all who live in this mortal world, and then all the lands on the planet shall be ours.”

“So, cuttin’ to the chase here” interjected Applejack once more, “y’all are takin’ over the world.”

“And you shall be instrumental in our operations!”

“…and I thought Rainbow’s trick was ambitious…”

“What was that, beast?”

“Nothin’. I was…preparin’ myself…for the…conquerin’.”

“We seem to have made good progress with this great demon!” shouted the king to his people. “It shall not be long, my subjects, until our conquest begins! Now, however, we must all gather in the sacred circle for our prayers to the moon god, such that our plans may lead us to glorious victory! Beast! Beware: should you dare to flee us as we pray, you will be stopped by the Great River that surrounds our mighty city.”

“Great River?”

The small insect made some sort of odd pointing gesture towards a tiny stream of water nearby, which barely made any noise as it trickled through the leaves on the forest floor.

“Right,” said Applejack. “I guess I’m stuck here, then.”

At this point, the entire group of minuscule beings began to congregate around a small pebble in the middle of a roughly circular collection of twigs. Applejack watched as they formed a tight group and began doing various strange dances, with the king at the centre.

This has got to be some sort of joke.

As the tiny warriors and their leaders did their thing, she took the opportunity to look around the forest. It was becoming clear to her that they were much too small to help her get very far at all, and they had other plans for her. The moon was now fairly high in the sky, which was visible through a small clearing in the canopy. The blackness was well illuminated by the moonlight and the gentle twinkling of the tapestry of stars in the heavens.

Suddenly, an owl made a loud screeching noise, giving Applejack a significant fright. She leaped backwards. Realizing the danger of this, she tried to steady herself but encountered a thick root, leading her to trip over. As she plummeted towards the surprised wannabe conquerors, the only thought that passed through her mind was “uh oh.”

The crash broke the quietness of the woods into pieces.

She lay on the ground, totally silent. She was sitting on the ‘sacred circle’.

“Uh…sorry ‘bout that!” she said anxiously, after about a minute.

No reply came.

“Are y’all okay?”

Still nothing.

I’ve done it haven’t I.

She slowly got up. Then, she looked behind herself at the sacred circle. She quickly looked away.

Eeyup.

Brushing herself off, Applejack tried to get to grips with what had just happened. She looked up and down the tree but there didn’t seem to be any more of the super-intelligent bugs. As she feared, they had all gathered in the same place.

I wonder if my friends will think any less of me if I tell them ol’ Applejack accidentally wiped out an ancient civilisation. I guess “the beast” turned out to be too powerful for them. No, don’t laugh! They may have been downright evil, but they were livin’ things nonetheless. Ughh…I hope I don’t have to explain this to anypony.

She was remorseful, but utterly baffled at what she had just experienced. As she moved away from the home of these deceased warriors, stepping across the Great River, she wondered what she would have to do now. It occurred to her that it was already very late, and she had basically gotten completely lost. If she went back out of the White Tail Woods, she wouldn’t arrive at the hospital in time to pick up Rainbow Dash and she’d probably just fly south to Las Pegasus, rendering the whole trip pointless.

She wandered onwards a bit, using the moon for navigation, but soon found her head throbbing with the familiar feeling of utter exhaustion. The breeze continued to caress the leaves overhead, but the sounds of the forest began to become duller and less pronounced. She lay down on a small patch of grass in a clearing. She heard something move about in the bushes. More creaking branches. She even thought she could hear the distant sound of bells chiming in the seamless calm of the night.

And with this thought in mind, she fell asleep.

Comments

[Superswag420]

Very descriptive, I like it!

[Dusty Sage]

When I was younger and perhaps fiercer, I was rooting for Gulliver to stick it to those irritating little Lilliputians. Nice to see that Applejack was more fortunate.

[Vinn]

1132068

Woops! I haven't even read that but it now does occur to me that I have sort of stolen the concept. I was more basing it off the race of tiny beings in The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy that wage war against the planet Earth but, in a terrible miscalculation of scale, end up having their entire fleet devoured by a dog upon arrival.

I have quite a limited imagination, but someday I shall think of something original!

[Dusty Sage]

1134879

Your imagination can't possibly be any more limited than mine. And anyway, there are, you should pardon the expression but this is the way they explained it to me in college, only about seven basic plots.

[Vinn]

1134939

Yes, I read the book called "The Seven Basic Plots". It was interesting in terms of identifying a similar structure for all stories we tell, but I think literature extends so far beyond the basic plotline in terms of what it can reveal and explore that writing is truly a wonderfully diverse artform.

We do so much more than just entertain with stories nowadays.

[Dusty Sage]

1135145
We try our best, anyway. An analogy from another art form: all those songs with the same four chords. They don't actually sound alike until you play them in rapid succession and they start to blur.

And besides, with everybody writing about the horrors of the Everfree, there aren't enough White Tail Woods stories, so you get extra credit for that.

[Vinn]

1135301

Yes I had heard about that too! I think on that level though it's mainly music that is meant to entertain and appeal to the general masses. Unfortunately that part of the music world is becoming more homogeneous (source: http://www.prefixmag.com/news/pop-music-getting-louder-more-boring-says-study/67583/) rather than expanding in variety. It's only a small portion of music though thankfully.

As for the subject matter of my story, I wanted to look at two things that I felt were a little more open to interpretation than others: Applejack and the White Tail Woods. I could probably have just bashed off some Appledash and rolled in the views, but the woods appeal to me for some reason and Applejack seems a little less flat than all the other characters. I figured I'd do something a bit challenging for my first time doing any sort of proper creative writing.

Many thanks anyway for your comment - you've made a newbie happy by reading his stuff!