The sun grows dim, as though hidden behind the clouds. I feel concern as my visions grow increasingly uncertain. I feel as if deer I have known from fawns are no longer the same, as though replaced by some evil spirit.

The state of the Dreamer and the Lover grow more dire, as now the dream shows them razing the world in their battle.

I can only pray to the Mother that I am wrong

— Silverleaf, Cervyderian Shaman

***

I gazed at the room we had been given, a pair of bunks set back into a small alcoves on the curved outer wall. The floor showed the growth rings of the tree we were in clearly, but they were smooth in a way that tools couldn’t have made. There wasn’t a single sign interference with the natural growth of the wood, not from the simple doorway and windows to the table in the center of the room. Even the bowl holding some wild fruits and nuts showed no sign of artificial make.

Twilight was at one of the beds, running her hoof over the windowsill, lost in thought. I turned to Janess.

“Thank you for providing these rooms,” I said. “I hope that we’re not intruding on your business.”

The doe patted the comment away. “Nonsense,” she said. “This place is always open for wilders and their charges. Please make yourselves comfortable. Pine said that you’re heading for the Glenn, and you’ll need your rest. You won’t find much on the barges.”

After she left, I turned to find Thea already rooting through the basket, pulling out nuts and setting them aside.

“Thea,” I warned. “Don’t hog the nuts. They’re for all three of us.”

“Yes, yes,” I sighed. “Flew two days non-stop trying to keep up with a train. Do you forget what we were doing when we met?”

I can’t sleep on clouds, she shot back, cracking what looked like a pistachio open with her beak. I shook my head and went over to Twilight.

“It’s just like my room,” she said, turning back to inspect the walls and ceiling. “This whole tree was grown specifically to serve as a dwelling for travelers! Can you imagine what this could mean? Trees housing ponies and still bearing fruit? It could be the answer to housing issues in some of our larger cities! And maybe we could regrow the Golden Oaks!”

“Yes, I know the Oaks was destroyed and the roots dug up to hang in the main hall.” She spun to face me, the look in her eye one I knew well. She was excited. “But we could take a cutting from it and meld it into a new plant! Make the old a part of the new!”

“You act as though it’s already a given that you could get a new sapling from the deer,” I cautioned. “Don’t forget we haven’t even spoken to those in charge yet.”

“I know,” her wings were rustling in excitement. “But being here, the smell, the feeling! It’s like I’ve gone back in time.”

“A little.” Twilight looked at me. “They still feel a little uncomfortable, don’t they?”

I looked away. The sound of a Phoenix cracking open hulls was a welcomed break to the silence.

“I’ve gotten used to them,” I admitted. “But even after holding the throne for a short while, they still feel heavier than I care to think. It’s cost me a lot, Twilight, and I’ve yet to see any sort of gain.”

“Because there isn’t a way to get rid of them,” I sighed. “And honestly, I’m not going to give up on responsibilities just because I dislike them. It’s just sometimes, I wonder what it would be like if I never had them.”

Moonlight shone in, filtered heavily by leaves. The beds were incredibly comfortable, more so than I would’ve thought. The blankets were a thick silken material, woven from threads spun by a moth that lived deep in the forest. I’m sure Fluttershy would’ve loved to have seen one.

I rolled over and looked at my companions. Thea was perched on the rack that had held our blankets, head tucked under a wing and emitting a small whistle that I’m certain was snoring.

Twilight had dropped off into a sleep faster than I thought she would, a peaceful smile on her face as she snuggled into the blankets. I smiled as I looked, reaching up and touching the spot on my chest where my peytral would’ve rested. It hung over the edge of my bed, but it wasn’t the piece of armor that I was thinking about.

It was my wife. The light in my mind was dim, but still present and I could faintly feel the worry that sifted through her mind under everything else. We were too far to actually speak to each other, but I pushed love and reassurance into our bond, hoping it would help her rest. She needed it.

We were boarding a barge in the morning. I wondered just what kind of craft it would be. Airships were a familiar mode of transit in Equestria, but in the heavily forested lands of the Cervids? I laid my head on the pillow and closed my eyes.

It was long and tall with a raised rear deck, a polished wood and metal binnacle set just to the side of a wooden wheel. Long sweep oars were showing through openings along the middle of the deck and its hull was traced throughout with vine and leaf engravings.

“Yes,” Pine said as he ran a hoof through his tousled mane. “I admit it will be cramped, but a larger ship wasn’t available.

“Larger?” I squeaked. I looked at the craft again. “That must be forty lengths long!”

“How does it move?” Twilight asked, already at the boarding ramp. “There’s nopony at the oars.”

“We use the oars for minor corrections and docking only,” a grizzled Peryton buck said. “The current or the ereons move us through the water.”

The buck gestured for us to follow as we moved to the tail of the ship. I didn’t see anything unusual until the Peryton slid his hoof into the water. A moment later, a long tapered tail rose to the surface and gave a lazy sweep before submerging again. I took an involuntary step back, wings fluffing in surprise.

“The Ereons feed on the barnacles and other life that tend to form on the keel of our boats. In return for providing them food, they help push us upstream.”

“Seawing is right,” Pine said. “And his bond with this particular Ereon has been fostered over three decades.”

We loaded the ship and I couldn’t help but notice that just forward of the raised deck was an open section of the hull, a very furred and whiskered face poking up out of it, reminding me of a chubby otter. Seawind barked out some orders to the hooffull of crew and the lines were cast free and the landward oars unshipped. As we reached the center of the river, the grizzled Peryton laid a hoof on the head of the creature and nodded. The Ereon’s head withdrew and with a slight surge, the barge crept it’s way upriver.

Rain dizzled down as we traveled the first day. Most of it had been damp and I was feeling the drag that rain usually had on me. I was always sleepy and not in the best of moods. My wings may make water slide away much like a ducks, but my mane soaked up the light mist like a thirsty pony. I spent most of my time under the canopy at amidship.

Twilight, however, was constantly talking to Seawing about our method of locomotion. If she had paper and ink, she’d be writing notes and likely annotating them with her own observations. She seemed livelier than normal, well rested and wide awake. When she came to rest with me midday, she was humming a tune.

She shook her head. “I don’t really remember any dreams, though I slept like a foal. The feel, the smell, all of it was so soothing. I’m not sure I’ve slept that well in years.”

I chewed on my lip. I don’t know why, but as she got more and more excited, I felt more and more on edge. I missed Sunshine, but I had gone on matters of state before, while my horn healed. And we weren’t under any sort of detainment, so it wasn’t that.

Twilight caught my shiver. “Are you cold? I could grab you a blanket from the stores”

I shook my head but before I could elaborate, a small Virtung called out a word in the Deerkin’s language and moved towards the fo’c’s’le, opening a doorway to reveal several small trees in a deep brown soil. The branches were laden with flowers and small fruits.

“Meal time,” Pine said as he came to us. “Something to keep strength up for the crew and warm all of us in this damp.”

The Virtung that had opened the door stepped inside, the vine-like design on her legs coming to life with a bright blue glow as her hooves touched the soil. As she reached a tree, she touched a hoof to its trunk and began to hum a wordless song.

And the fruit began to bloom as she sang, soon reaching ripeness, the smell of citrus soon reaching my nose as they started being picked. As I was given one, I was amazed by the density of it. The dark orange rind had red undertones to it and felt like the one a watermelon had. I peeled it and found a soft pink interior with a few dark orange pits nestled into the center. Biting into the meat revealed it to have a spicy and sweet taste, a hint of orange and apple in the undertones. As I ate, I found I was starting to feel warmer as the spiciness of the fruit worked on me.

“This is amazing!” Twilight said, gazing at the fo’c’s’le as the Virtung sang a few more notes to sprout more blooms onto the tree she had harvested. “I don’t even know any Earth Ponies who can speed up harvest times! Oh, I hope they give me a chance to talk to some of their farmers, think of the advances we could make in feeding ponies! I wonder…”

I tuned out her continued string of wonderment as my eyes started to droop again. Rain made me sleepy and I couldn’t stave it off anymore.

“Maybe we will, Twi,” I slurred sleepily. “I think I might take you up on that blanket now, though.”

“Why are there so many ships on the river?” I asked Pine. “Is this normal traffic for your people?”

“No,” he said. “The seriousness of the crises requires a convocation of clan elders. Elders from every village have been arriving for days now. They will decide the best course of action.”

“Are those common?” Twilight asked. The rain had finally dampened her spirits a little, if her decline in exuberance was any indication.

“This will be the first I have seen in my lifetime,” the Virtung said. “The first in nearly a hundred winters. They are rare since they require travel for all our members from the outlying villages to attend, and some can take several weeks to arrive.”

“They can’t communicate their wishes with that speaking wood?” I asked. “Surely that would be easier than traveling so far for a single meeting.”

“The word-wood can only allow one-to-one communication. One wilder to a Tender.” He shook his head sadly. “It would not allow them to experience the entire meeting. It would be repeated by the Tenders and then information may be lost. No, it is better this way, though the journey may be long.”

I sighed. “I suppose. I guess it’s just simpler. Are there any rules we’d need to know before we arrive?”

Pine looked at me. “Outsiders are not allowed in the convocation. It is a long held tradition. Even I will not be allowed in the halls until a decision is reached.”

“Then how are we supposed to help?” Twilight asked. “If we don’t even know what it is we’re supposed do, we can’t make a plan!”

“We are not allowed into the halls during the deliberations,” Pine said. “But we will be called in before they cast their votes. It is law that any involved be present for what might impact their lives.”

He turned as one of the crew called his name, leaving me and Twilight to ourselves. I looked at her and gave a crooked smirk.

It had been raining for four days straight, alternating from light mists to heavy deluges with no relief in-between. I couldn’t remember the last time my mane had been dry. Even Twilight’s cheer had been exhausted around the same time her bangs started permanently obscuring her vision.

“Not normally, no,” Cersi said as she gave her wings a fluff before resting under the canopy that had been spread across most of the middle of the deck. “We’ve been known to have freak storms in the borderlands, though. It’s nothing we can’t handle. It’ll cut out when we reach the Glenn.”

“We can, but mostly to keep things from getting dangerous,” Cersi replied. She settled down and began preening her wing. “The farther out we go, the less we do. Nature will run its course and we should stay out of it’s way when we can.”

“Little of both, actually.” She spat out a shredded feather. “Our magic is strongest when we’re near the Grove, where our Ancestors lay. As we go farther, it weakens some, so we try to use it less frequently. We still stall horrible storms and keep it mostly calm, but once in a while it gets a little out of control. If it keeps up when we get to the Glenn, I’ll be going up with other Perytons to weaken the storm.”

I gave my wings a glance as she talked. There were a few feathers that could stand to be adjusted, but I decided against it for now. My wings were a draggled, soaking mess at the moment anyways.

“And how much longer will that be?” Twilight asked, pushing her bangs out of her face. Again.

“Maybe an hour or two. I can’t wait to get there!” The doe licked her lips. “I can almost taste the roasted honey walnuts. Oh, I hate leaving but the return is always so delicious.”

The mention of walnuts made me glance towards where Canterlot would be. I had sent Thea off shortly into the trip with a message to Celestia and Sunshine. Knowing the small Phoenix’s speed she had likely arrived by now and was resting before returning. The point of light in my mind was dimmer than ever, even comparing it to when I first truly started noticing it.

“I can’t help it,” I sighed. “She’s pregnant and I’m going off on my own again. She’s going to worry about me and I’m going to worry about her. It’s part of why these wings annoy the buck out of me. I never know when I’m going to get called off for some matter of national security.”

“I know the feeling,” Twilight agreed. “Fluttershy trusts me but always worries. It seems like, for some reason, ever since we returned the Elements we haven’t really done much as a team anymore. I mean, yeah, there was Starlight’s village after the map formed, but it’s been one and two pony missions since then. At least if you don’t count the Storm King’s invasion or the war in the Crystal Empire.”

“No. Yes…Maybe?” She sighed and flicked her ears in annoyance. “It’s not that I miss the danger, but maybe I miss the time spent with my friends and I’m always being needed elsewhere now. And with the school, I’m worried that my time will be even more restricted. But I also know it’s a vital thing, something that I feel we need more of.”

“But sometimes you miss the days when you could spend a day lost in a good book and the world didn’t hang in the balance?”

She laid her head down on her forehooves. “I miss the days when I could start a good book. I don’t think I’ve had the time to read more than ten since we gave back the thrones.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I said. “How exactly do you read so fast? It looks like you barely look at the page before flicking to the next one.”

“Oh! It’s a perceptual dilation spell I learned when I was a filly.” She sat up. “It speeds up my visual recognition time so I’m actually reading it in what seems like minutes to me. It’s been so helpful with research and cross-referencing, but it took a while to get used to.”

“When I’m using it, everything else tends to slow to a crawl, visually. Sounds also distorts a little too. It was so disorienting the first time, I actually fell over onto my lunch and…uh…”

The sun had actually come out and its warmth beat down on the deck, lifting our spirits and giving us a chance to dry.

I looked forward as crew took to the oars to guide us up to another stone quay that was much more massive than the one in the tiny village we had boarded in. Five slips ran down both sides of the dock, some with similar ships berthed in them, others empty. A large stone archway stood beyond the dock area, set into a large wall of vine, roots, and earth.

“This way,” Pine said as he hopped off the boat. “I must present you to the Triumvirate and then arrange for your quarters.”

And immediately stopped dead in my tracks. I had been amazed by the way the village had looked, but it was nothing compared to what lay before us. Trees that dwarfed anything in Equestria loomed overhead, easily as wide around as the Tower of Duty at the Royal Palace. In the higher branches I even saw balconies and skybridges criss-cross between trees. And the streets stretched endlessly into the forest, dotted with vendors of all kinds.

As we walked forward, I was surprised by how well lit it was for such a thickly wooded area. Looking up, I saw that the limbs of the trees didn’t hang over the road more than a little. The way the limbs were arranged, they would likely take the brunt of the rain but allow the most light in they could. I also started to pick out the clumps of phosphorescent moss we had seen both in the village and on the boat.

As we walked, we passed several small squares, each with a fountain as its centerpoint. And capping each fountain was a carved stone bearing an eye held aloft by vines. I made a mental note to get a closer look if I could.

Deeper and deeper we went, eventually coming before a tree so wide it could have held the entirety of the Twilight’s castle within its trunk. The dark red bark was weathered and thick. I almost thought t that I could see a wizened old face in the patterns.

All around the tree were slender saplings that resembled ash, but were a darker color. Each had a deer stationed at them, wearing robes of deep blue with gold trim. No matter what way they were — standing, laying, or leaning — they never left contact with their assigned tree. A few were staring off in the same distant way that Pine had when he had used his word-wood in the bailey of Canterlot Castle.

“They are the Tenders,” Pine said quietly. “They tend to the Grove of Ancients and to the Elder Trees. Theirs is a highly respected duty.” He gestured towards an opening in the tree. “We are expected.”

We stepped inside and I was amazed by the layout of the interior. There were seats arrayed in an amphitheater layout, looking upon a bench with three raised podiums facing it. There were three ways in from the exterior and what looked like curtained chambers behind the podiums. Pine stood before it, with Cersi and Ganymede taking place on either side of Twilight and I.

After a moment, the curtains parted and out strode a buck much larger than Pine, his antlers bearing leaves and vines woven in a much more elaborate pattern than the Virtung had worn to the dinner barely a week ago. His robes were a deep crimson, the golden embroidery shining in the soft lighting of the chamber. He was followed by an elderly Peryton buck and an even older Virtung doe, both clad in the same crimson robes. They all sat behind their respective podiums and gazed down at us.

Pine shuffled a little and I saw Cersi’s wings fluff a little. I instantly tensed, almost feeling the surprise drifting off them.

“My Lord Dunford, I was not expecting your return to the bench,” Pine said, his voice somewhat stilted.

“Situations have dictated my return,” the buck rumbled in a voice like rocks grinding together. “Since the untimely disappearance of Lady Ivy in the last attack.”

I felt the worry waft from the Virtung as keenly as if I had touched him and activated my empathy geode. He bowed his head and nodded to the others, greeting them as Lady Rubicon and Lord Cirrus.

“I must protest!” he exclaimed. “They are under my ward and promise of safe passage.”

“Which has been concluded with their arrival,” Dunford growled. “It is now in our agreement that they be placed somewhere they can be watched and kept from escaping with their magic.”

I saw what looked like rings of stone, with runes carved into them, floating in some of the guard’s magic.

“Inhibitor rings?” Cersi spat. “They gave their word and came of their own free will! There is no precedent for this treatment!”
“There has also been no cause for ponies to be in the Glenn before. For the public safety I feel it would be better with this measure in place.” Dunford gestured again, giving the guards the order to proceed.

I shied away from the ring at first, remembering the time Celestia had shown me one. Hotheaded as I was, I slid it on and tried casting to prove my strength over it.

As the ring slid on, I felt it tighten around the base of my horn and everything felt numb, as though some of my senses had been dampened. Even the connection with Sunshine felt distant. Everything felt heavier and my limbs sluggish.

As we were led away, I saw Pine’s face harden before he turned and stalked off, Cersi and Ganymede following close behind.

Trials of A Princess

by Rose Quill

6 Cervyderian Triumverate