Twilight Gets a Puppy
Totally Awesome Guide to the Deadly Forest of Death
By TDR
White Heart Cherry Tree.1
Names: White Heart Cherry Tree, Dragon Sneeze Trees, Dragons Bane, Those Stars Damned Weeds2.
Habitat: Currently ONLY, the frozen north, Site D, though they can be grown in any climate that would support standard cherry trees.
CR: 03
Type: Magical Plant4
The history of the White Heart Cherry Tree goes back to the formation of the Crystal Empire, back when the Empire truly was an Empire, and not just a city called the Crystal Empire that was renamed and used to be called Constantanopal.5
While true origins of the trees are lost to history, the records from the early years of the Crystal Empire that survive mention that there were constant dragon attacks on the empire6. It was mentioned that the dragons seemed to avoid some of the southern fruit farms, despite attacking everywhere else.
An investigation showed the tree that would eventually become the White Heart Cherry had irritating effect on the dragons that came near it while it was budding in the spring.
The druids of the Empire were instructed to try and bring out that irritation further to something that might drive the dragons away year round.
The early magi must have thought it would be something like pepper spray is today. However the end, the druids produced something that turned out to be much worse.
After years of selective growing and cultivation The White Heart Cherry Tree was grown almost exactly as we have seen it today.
The tree was tested by having the pollen spread over a large area where some rich bait for the dragons was placed.
The result was quite effective. The documentation of those early tests is faded and practically illegible, but the result was clear. The moment the dragons came into range of the scattered pollen they began showing a clear allergic reaction and those that didn't die when they fell out of the air, or blasted by violent sneezing from one of the others in their flight, retreated.
With the tests successful, the trees were planted every where in the Empire. The cherries themselves were sour to the point of being inedible, but the trees flowered and produced pollen nearly year round after their first budding with one production of their 'cherries' in early fall.
As said, the cherries of the tree are complete inedible, though they can be used as a fuel source. The oils of the fruit are quite flammable and if the pit it removed can easily be used as a fire starter that works better than most tinder.
If the pit is not removed however the cherry acts more like a small bomb when exposed to flame, the fruit bursting open violently and spreading the oily interior of the pulp around in a ten foot radius. The pulp and oil of the fruit tends to cling to everything, be it flesh, fur, or any thing else surrounding the area. The oil also floats on water and will burn even if submerged some how until the oil is consumed. In fact the only thing the oil will not burn on is the tree itself, which quickly lead to the cherries store rooms being made out of the wood of the tree.
At the time the flammable nature of the tree was deemed acceptable to keep the dragons back.~Twilight
From a tactical standpoint this thing is a mess. While the tree is immune to burning itself down if the cherries all caught fire the tree could detonate with the force of something like a Dragon Slave. Add in that the main reason it was grown was to deal with creatures that regularly spit fire, and you understand what I mean about it being a mess.
How it helped the Empire at all is something a couple of the older gods probably know about, but none of them really care to talk about it. Particularly the dragon god Bleu, she got pissy when we asked about it, apparently she was friends with the one dragon who sneezed himself to death that we know about.
Despite all that, the pollen of the tree was quite effective as even in storms the rain does little to dampen the effects.
While the dragons did stop raiding and simply avoided the areas where the trees grew, the Empire itself didn't last many years longer as a massive... spanning... ,well, empire, and the memories of the trees purpose faded as the years went on. Eventually the farmers started culling the trees as they were dangerous and used the scant good growing land that the Empire had access to after it fell.
The dragons however ,didn't forget.
Bleu took advantage of this lapse in the trees and set out to destroy them utterly. If not for the intervention of Equestria, and Princess Celestia in particular, the trees would likely be fully extinct, and the Empire itself destroyed completely.
This of course launched the conflict between Princess Celestia Solaris and the Dragon Goddess Bleu Scale that lasted until only six hundred or so years ago.7
While no trees remained, a few farmers had saved seeds of the tree and eventually those were put into storage until they were recently uncovered after the Crystal Empire returned.
Honestly if I had known the seeds were going to cause as much issue as they did I would have had them destroyed.~ Shining Armor.8
The modern day state of the trees is a tale of woe and pain that most could only dream of. Just when life had found a way against all odds to beat back the final curtain of oblivion, the black void of no return surged for the once more, with vengeance in it's cold uncaring eyes. Entropy seeking to strike down everything, quickened it's advance on this small spark of life.
With the return of life, the suffering of untold numbers came about. Their voices wailing in pain and horror as the cause of it once more tried to gain a claw hold to drag itself screaming from the great beyond.
Life was again put under assault and culled until only a thread of it's former shining existence remained.9
But fear not gentile readers, for where there is life, there is hope.~Rahs
I am unable to properly put together the words, to say how much I hate these things.10~Spike
1 I hate these things~Spike
2 Usually this name is accompanied by a great deal of cursing.~Twilight
3Unless you're a dragon then it's closer to 10 to 15.~Shining
4Have I mentioned I hate these things.~Spike
5Because you can't go back to Constanopal, it's been a long time gone.~ Rahs
6No real surprise given the buildings and the ponies that lived there were pretty much gemstones that screamed.~ Rahs
7 More information on this conflict in the entries on Bleu Scale and Princess Celestia.
8 You should have, have I mentioned how much I hate those trees? Cause I hate those trees.~Spike.
9 Pretty much there are only three left in a secure green house in the Crystal Empire along with a number of other dangerous plants. We call it Site D. At some point Twilight will probably want to put it in the book too.~Shining
10 Yep Still hate the damn thing.11~Spike.
11 WE KNOW!!~Rahs, Twilight, Shining