A kingdom bursting with life and happiness was filled with golden days especially for a maiden and her family. But one day her father had to leave on business and the maiden wished only for his safe return. The father was touched by his daughter's words and promised himself he would gift her with something as sweet as she.
As the father traveled, a storm happened and he was force to seek shelter and by luck had managed to come across a castle. The father entered the castle grounds and to his surprise the storm had ended upon his arrival and was overcome by the beauty that the grounds displayed especially the gardens and the flowers within it. The roses however were the most beautiful as the father approached them, finding one that smelled the sweetest reminding him of his caring daughter and the promise he had made for himself. So without a thought he plucked the rose from the bush.
Suddenly a dark shadow overcastted him and he turned in fright.
"Thief! How dare you steal from my gardens!"
Tim Botsford flinched at the outburst of the finely dressed blond boy with a pony-tail pulled back and fell on his knees to beg for forgiveness.
Stu Hopps jumped at the sight of the red fox scowling at him with his canine teeth showing. Making the old rabbit quiver in fear and threw himself down to the ground and shook as he pleaded for his life.
Mr. Shy was shocked at the creature's appearance, it was unlike any creature he ever met, in fact he was like a combination of animals put together and that made him even more intimidating making the pegasus shake.
Tom Dupain was stunned to see a young man dressed in black noble attire with a mask and cat ears on his head.
The young man angrily said, "You dare to take one of my favorite roses from my garden?"
Tom replied, "My apologies, sir, I meant you no harm. I didn't know that these roses were cherished so much."
"Well they are and now I must ask for payment."
"Yes, I'll do anything you ask. But I must return home soon to my daughter, for you see I made her a promise that would return safely and it is the reason I took this rose so I could gift her."
The teen's gaze softened and uttered, "Daughter? How old is she?"
"Fourteen, sir."
"Fourteen…" he muttered under his breath.
Tim said, "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize that these roses belonged to someone!"
"That has got to be the most idiotic excuse I have ever heard in my life! Can you clearly not see a castle before you?!"
Tim gulped and told him, "Please! I am very sorry this had happened! I only wanted to give the rose to my daughter, Becky!"
The boy's anger seemed to dim before smirking, "A daughter you say?"
Stu sputtered, "Please don't kill me! Please! I need to get back to my family!"
"But you stole from me. Some punishment must be made."
"Please, just let me see my family one last time and then I'll return and you can do whatever you wish of me!"
The fox pondered on it.
Mr. Shy stammered, "P-please, don't hurt me… I didn't mean to steal from your garden."
The creature glared and shouted, "You take me for a fool?!"
"N-no! Of course not!" he offered the rose back, "Please, take it back!"
"It's too late for that! Now you must pay!" ominous clouds surrounded him as his eyes glowed and he looked like he was about to strike.
The pegasus begged, "Please, I was only getting the rose as a present for my daughter!"
"Your daughter, you say? Well, if she wanted the rose, then she should come here to pay the price!"
"No! I could never! And she didn't even ask for the rose, this was all my doing! Please, just me let return home so I may say goodbye one last time!"
The creature's wrath seemed to have lessened as he thought it over.
Simultaneously all four said, "I will strike a bargain with you."
With the fathers looking on in surprise.
The mysterious noble told Tom, "You say you have a daughter that's fourteen? I myself am but a year older, so I'll offer you a chance to redeem yourself by asking your daughter to take your place in repaying the deed done."
Tom gasped and couldn't think of asking his daughter to do such a thing.
The noble continued, "But if she does not come then you must return within the week, is that understood?"
Tom nodded, "Yes."
The fox said to Stu, "If I do let you go then do you swear that you will return no matter what consequences await you?"
Stu could see the sharp teeth of the predator and knew what the consequences were but as long as he could see his family one last time then that's all that he cared about. He stated as bravely as he could, "I swear. I will return no matter the consequences."
The boy spoke to Tim, "If I let you go back home, then you must ask your daughter if she would be willingly to take your place but if not, then you return here and face your fate." he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threatened, "Do I make myself clear?"
Tim gulped and nodded frantically making him let go.
The creature towered over Mr. Shy he listened to what he said.
"You will come back within one week after you say your precious goodbyes because if you don't, I will hunt you down and drag you back here! Do you understand me?!"
The pegasus stuttered, "Y-yes! I understand! I will come back! I promise!"
"Good." he pointed to the side, "Now get out of my sight!"
Once the father had agreed to the terms he quickly got out of there.
When he returned home that night, his daughter was overjoyed to see him making him happy too as he had managed to fulfill his promise to her and yet the maiden noticed sadness in his eyes and wondered what happened. He then presented her with a rose much to her surprise but then was even more surprised by how he got the rose in the first place. Horrified to learn that her father must go back to such a place she wished she could dispose of the rose knowing it was her fault that her father must now suffer for such a small crime. Fearing the worst, the maiden decided she must act and go her in father's place without him knowing.
For that one week the father spend thinking these would be his last days with his family. But on the eve of the last day, the maiden stole out of her bed with the still fresh rose beside her. She quickly and silently made her goodbyes to her family and left the house. As she wondered how she was going to find the castle, much to her shock the rose then floated up and led the way for her.
The maiden was in awe of such splendor upon entering the castle grounds until she remembered why she had come and braced herself for the inevitable.
The castle doors opened for her and she went in.
Judy called out, "Hello? Is anyone here?"
A voice sternly replied in the shadows, "Who are you?"
"My name is Judy and I have come to take my father's place."
The cynical voice spoke back, "Why? Why would you do something so foolish?"
She retorted, "It's not foolish! My father only took the rose because he was thinking me at the time! If you want to talk about foolishness then I suggest you rethink about condemning someone for so little."
"Oh really? Then answer me this, how would it feel knowing that one of the very few things you treasure in this life were suddenly taken from you, would you not be upset and angry?"
Her expression softened a bit and humbly answered, "Yes… I would be…"
Becky looked around the castle's main hallway to see the many portraits of a boy her age hanging on the wall.
Suddenly a haughty voice said, "Well, well, this is a most fortuitous outturn. I didn't expect for the man to send his daughter after all."
She frowned and retorted, "My father doesn't know I'm here, I came of my own freewill."
There was a pause and then the voice said in disbelief, "You sacrificed yourself for your father?"
"Yes, because he shouldn't have to be punished for stealing a rose at my expense so whatever you're going to do, just do it."
Marinette wandered around the hallway for some time until a voice spoke up making her jump.
"Please, do not be frighten, I am honored that you have come."
Trying to find where the voice was coming from, she questioned in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"Your father didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"Amazing… Truly amazing…" was all the voice could utter.
Fluttershy walked around the foyer and was surprised by the many strange and oddly designed artifacts that were on display.
"How very interesting…" she softly said before yelping in fear when a deep voice replied.
"They are, aren't they?"
She looked around in fright trying to see where the creature her father described to her was. She timidly asked, "W-where… where are you?"
"That's not important, what is important is that you tell me what you are doing here instead of your father, or else why would you be here?"
"I…" she tried to sound brave even though she was feeling anything but, "I've come to take his place because if you're going to punish someone then let it be me."
The voice was stunned to silence.
"I thought so… Now let me ask you this, what do you think I'm going to do with you?"
"I don't know." Judy replied.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, because as much as I know you are a fox and the natural enemy to my kind, I know that if you were as vicious as my father said you were, you could have just eaten him then but you didn't. You let him go to his family and that tells me that you had no intention to harm him, but if I am wrong then at least I was able to spare him and return the love he gave me by taking the rose."
"A rose for a rose…" all four voices said.
"What?" the girls questioned.
"That's what you are." the voice told Marinette, "To your father you were a rose and therefore deserved a rose and I can see why." he said with affection.
Marinette gawked at this.
"Come, it's getting late, I will show you where you are to sleep."
"I don't… understand…?" Becky said.
"It's simple, you are a rose and since I've lost the one your father took, I get to have his rose now instead! It's perfect!" he released a chuckle.
Becky didn't like the sound of that.
Fluttershy was surprised by the voice's revelation.
"It's so obvious! You are a rose! How befitting!" he laughed, "Well, my new flower, let us make sure you're comfort with your stay…" you can hear the smirk in his tone.
"Oh dear…" she gulped.
"You think I'm a rose?" Judy asked not sure if she should be flattered or not.
"Well obviously, there's a reason your father picked a rose if it was for you. And for that I have no desire to keep a rose like you here so you may go back home."
Judy was taken aback by his dismissal and scowled, "You mean to tell me… that you went through all this trouble only for you to be dissatisfied by what you are given instead?"
"And what of it? I give you a chance to leave this place and yet you refuse, I don't understand that."
"Because it's a matter of principle, sir. I am willing to fulfill the promise my father made to you and I intend to stay until then." she said with defiance.
There was a pause before he inquired, "You are certain you will do this?"
"I am certain." she stated.
"Even though you know I am a fox?"
She took a deep breath, "Yes."
There was another pause and then a sigh, "I don't know why, but I will grant your wish even though I know it's foolish."
A small smile played on her lips with her saying, "I thank you, sir."
"You are a strange rabbit."
She kept smiling, "I get that a lot."
The maiden still could not see who the voice belonged to but he was able to guide her to a room in the castle that was made for a princess. The voice told her he would see her tomorrow evening but in the meantime she may go anywhere she liked in the castle before then and just like that the voice was gone.
Then another voice came, one that the girls recognized from the waking world.
"Girls…" Cecilia's voice filled the air while their surroundings changed around them and they were all together in a light purple void.
Becky was the first to speak, "Cecilia? How…?"
"You just experienced a dream of fantasy, my dears. The Forbidden Forest is known to explore the forbidden desires of one's mind and soul."
The girls felt themselves going warm at the thought.
Fluttershy uttered, "Forbidden… desires?"
"Yes… Desires that you wish to deny but I must warn you, as you go deeper into the forest the desires will only grow stronger by the day."
Judy demanded, "Then why did you send us here?!"
Marinette agreed and demanded too, "If you knew the forest was only going to do more harm than good than why-"
"Because, in the forest you are untouched by the evil that plagues this land and also the forest is a great challenge to overcome and will make you stronger by the time you will face the dark wizard."
Fluttershy voiced, "There's something I don't understand, why did I dream of Discord's cruel self? I could not see him but his voice… it sounded exactly like when me and my friends first met him…" she shuddered, "And I did not like that one bit."
Becky added in, "Yeah, I heard Tobey's voice and he sounded exactly like he did before slowly turning over for the better…"
Judy said, "Nick was his sarcastic and condescending self… That was something I didn't need to hear again."
"Sounds like I had the better dream, even though I heard Chat's voice dripping with flattery like it always does and it bugs me constantly."
Cecilia spoke again, "Ah, what you heard was the flaws of those you are rescuing and that you are willing to look past those flaws for their sake. A desire you all seem to share. The reason you could only hear their voices was simply because of the distance that is currently between you and them with the darkness shrouding them from your view."
The girls made worried glances to each other with Judy asking, "And you're sure that the forest will help make us stronger for when we confront the wizard?"
"Yes."
Marinette asked with a nervous chuckle, "Um, I don't suppose you can give us another map then? The last one got destroyed in a storm…"
Cecilia replied with sympathy, "I'm afraid I cannot. Just as dark magic cannot reach you, light magic too is prohibited in the forest…"
Becky slowly reasoned, "So… not only is does the forest show your hidden desires but also that magic is not allowed in there?"
"That is correct. The Forbidden Forest is a sacred place and must be treated as so. Which is why you can't see me right now but I can still talk to you through your dreams."
"So what should we do without the map?" Fluttershy questioned.
"Just keep going straight until you've reached end of the forest. There you will find the village, and from there ask for Cyrus and he will tell you how to get to the swamplands, does that help?"
The girls agreed and thank her.
"Very well, then I shall leave you be and wish you all the best, though I know you'll do fine… Farewell."
And just like that her voice was gone and the girls woke up.