There was a stench in the air that made the pony trudging through the undergrowth of this forsaken forest all the more intolerable. Yet, he pushed on no matter how much he might complain or curse for the alternative is much worse than some scratches, dirt, or the potential of being eaten by one of the locals- the loss of his magic.
As the last true heir of the Blueblood line, and descendant of the greatest unicorn ruler, Princess Platinum, he had a certain if unspoken duty to survive if only for the preservation of this old Equestrian legacy.
“For aunty and country…” he mumbled to himself.
He winced as his hoof sunk further into the muck, and felt something rub against his once pristine white hoof, but it mattered little in the grand design the future had laid for the young prince as the world he knew was consumed by a magic eating monster - another black rose from his aunts dresser.
How he wished his aunts could be here with him as he struggled to not use his magic else that monster might find him. It already got his escorts, and through sheer luck and cowardice he’d managed to slip away into the overabundance of bushes and barbed flowers as it sucked the magic from their very bodies. Flight was too strong and even though the sun and moon remained frozen in the sky he could still hear that sickly laughter spilling from the sides of its mouth, and shuttered as he looked behind to make sure it was all in his head.
Only the watchful eyes of the forest were there, watching and waiting to see what this strange pony of power was doing in the forest granted to them by the Old Ones.
This routine continued for a long time as the hanging sun and moon remained where they had been dragged to before their caretakers lost control, but the rightful inhabitants of the forest knew it was night- they followed the unceasing pony as his pace sputtered to a near crawl. This wasn’t by choice as the prince heir been on the move nonstop since fleeing that wretched being, and his hooves had grown stiff and sore from the constant excursion. This was the most physical activity the poor stallion had to endure in recent memory, save making preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala every year despite the terrible taste it always left.
He may act according to his station, but even the young prince could only tolerate so much.
Throbbing pain in the frogs of his hooves and bone splitting torment of his worn legs hindered his progress for many steps, yet he stumbled forward hoping to find anything that could be used for shelter, but it was as if the very forest was against the outsider. The forest was deprived of noise save for the crass crushing of hoof breaking sticks, or the stiff curses he gave out as he the pain was enough to bring tears to his very eyes, but the fear of being found was the sole conditioning needed to walk till he dropped.
He would change direction, but not of his own accord for he would burst through a bush only to find a wall of them on the other side forcing the aching stallion to change direction and follow the row of bushes until the same thing happened further down the new path. The prince knew he was being directed, but to where he hadn’t the wildest idea, but splitting hooves be damned if he were going to drop now in defeat! Even underneath the sickly canopy of skinny branches and dead leaves the half sunlight still lit his way only, they only added tears for his beloved aunts as he could only guess what had happened to them in the castle.
“Another sorrowful reason for my needed survival. A royal that can still perform feats of magic will be needed in the future.” He told himself this to further separate himself from the guilt nibbling on his very soul. It made the physical pain appear to test his resolve rather than be inflicted because of his lack of character.
It was by the fourth change in direction did the pain finally subdue the prince, and with a soft groan (being all he could muster) collapsed onto the moist ground covered in sparse patches of moss barely able to grow on the damp mud. The cold affected Prince Blueblood very little as the physical exhaustion and pain from an unknown amount of travel overran every feeling in his body, and he could do little more than groan trying to alleviate some of that discomfort.
‘Oh Equestria, my love, see your son where he lies, for he will remain!’ The prince thought as his classical upbringing brought with it a comfort from a simpler time from his youth; an era so to speak, when all the unicorn had to worry about was learning the tutored knowledge provided to him, and acting in a way that not only conveyed his inherited right, but proved he would be a worthy successor of the family name.
Laying in the mud didn’t grant the young prince any sense of pride a noble like himself should have, for what pride was there to keep when one is to die in the mud alone? Reflection can be both a wondrous and terrible thing for the wandering mind in its final moments…
“It had always been depicted as a painless, and often quick affair, yet I can feel everything but the comfort of its embrace.” Or so the young prince assumed as the toll of his force marched through one of the most treacherous terrains in Equestria.
In olden times before the breakup of the realm into provinces governed by the elected mayors of their respective largest city, the country was divided amongst the noble houses with his own taking ownership of the lands around the old capital- this very forest. It was why he had chosen to flee through the Everfree using old maps that depicted the ancient roadways once used for trading with the rest of the country, but somehow it didn’t occur to the young prince that many magically disciplined guards might attract the beast.
They had all paid for that carelessness, and now his prestigious line is coming to an end in the very center of their domain, but the fact saddens him little as he found some humor in the symbolism of it- ended by the very thing he sought to rule. His upbringing had many such examples of this metaphorical symbolism to draw comparisons from, and in these troubling times of uncertainty found the parallels a mild comfort as he laid in the cold mud. The tired prince had to busy himself because the usually talkative forest was silent, and growing up around the castle had taught the unicorn to fear the quiet for it could mean a number of things often dangerous to an heir apparent.
He raised his head and even noticed that earlier breeze was missing as he maneuvered his ears listening, but even the unspeaking trees held their voice as they waited for the inevitable build up the forest was creating. No longer was the mud the ideal place to rest, and with great strain the prince pried his cold, and matted fur out of the mud just to stagger a short distance before collapsing into its embrace once more. The nonstop flight through the forest had exhausted him far too greatly to be of any real threat to the first creature that should stubble upon him, and even the trepidation of that inevitable encounter couldn’t shake his refusal to use magic.
Prince Blueblood should have strived to survive, and use what magics he could summon in his defense, but the fear of that monster centaur finding him ruled that option out for good; instead he found himself crawling along the mud, and even as he found the slimy cool sensation jarring for one of his social standing, the idea of covering his body in the mud if it might conceal him from potential predators grew in popularity.
It never happened of course.
‘Where are they? Where are they!’ Blueblood shouted to himself as he slowly crawled along the ground, failing to note he had missed the gradual transition from mud to rough forest floor. He looked up, and sighed when the trees had moved during his crisis and further blocked out blood orange sky as if to further isolate him from the wider world.
‘The forest is trying to get me.’
The forest was in fact trying to get the unicorn, for it tolerated little that wasn’t born, or molded to live within its unlawful ground.
He tried to rise to his hooves once more, and this time managed to ignore the pain long enough to move about eight hooves away before his cracked, and now bleeding hooves forced him back to the ground. The shock and pain elicited a yelp from the prince, and he forced himself to crawl along the ground once more. Exhaustion mixed with pain ended any chance of continuing and with fear in his heart, he forced himself off the dangerously path into the thicket of prickling bushes to conceal himself for a moment.
Blueblood didn’t have to look to know he was bleeding for he could smell it and feel the tender area along his back and sides marking the bushes’ assault against him. For this meant the more terrible creatures lurking would become aware of his presence in due time making his peril all the more dangerous. It was during this mental worry when he heard that snap.
Now he was alert. Blueblood’s heart was beating dangerously loud as if to make up for his lack of breathing while urging him to flee was too strong, and he desperately fought to keep still and hidden. So frightened was the young prince, he didn’t even move his ears while trying to listen for the danger…
‘It’s closer!’ He mentally scolded himself as he the faintest squelching of a limb sinking into the mud told the forest around it was there now.
The need to use his magic was great, but that fear of being discovered kept him still and from cursing the predicament of being hunted by one of the local beasts; Tirek or a monster, which was better he wanted to ask himself, but agreed both were equally just bad for his health. He almost gasped as the squelching of limbs trekking through mud faded to the crunching of gravel and compacting dirt as the creature was obviously following his trail, and it would be a matter of when he was discovered and eaten.
OH! How he dreaded what the future brought, for he was tired, his cracked hooves throbbed from the earlier excursion, but above all he was terrified of using his magic else the mad centaur come rampaging through the Everfree for him. The best he could do was stay put and pray to Harmony and its workings he would escape notice. So he remained still listening as the creature advanced further along the path that led ever nearer, that he began worrying if he might die from heart palpitations then any actual attack.
The prince was so worried of potentially being caught that he had missed the stillness returning to the forest until another branch, a bit closer this time snapped in two causing the Blueblood to slip up and cry out in fear. It was too late when he noticed the grievous error, and was nearly set to run with the most unusual voice called out to him, zapping any will of his to flee- the terror had faded.
“Please be mellow, and don’t bellow. I came to say hello.”
The voice was unlike anything Blueblood had ever heard in his life and carried an air of confidence he believed his aunts could only possess, for the mare(based on the voice) traversed these wild lands with no regard for her own safety. Surely, the radiance that carried each syllable preluded an unseen skill of great ability only derived from a great lineage.
“Yes. Hello.” he stiffly responded as a bit of fear for the forest still remained. His heart began beating faster when voice answered back with a much softer pitch than before, just barely above a passing whisper. The mystery mare had still managed to hear his pathetic greeting.
"Hello indeed, and good tidings. Now, shall we seek shelter, or will you keep hiding? If you don't wish to come, I will abide, but I would greatly prefer to be inside."
He couldn’t help but ponder her strange, song-like speech for he had never heard anything of the like before, and this new wonder intrigued the poor prince long enough to earn an impatient stump from the mare and a declaration she would take leave if he continued his folly. Not wanting to let this wonder escape spurred the battered, and exhausted prince into action, forcing the unicorn to bloody his coat more as he failed to maneuver through the barbed bushes in his plight to see the strange mare. He always had a weak spot for mares one often found in common society, for the ones of his standing were blander than the castle’s color scheme of white and off white. Yet, her song-like questioning blinded Blueblood from asking important questions along the lines of ‘Why was she in the middle of the Everfree Woods alone?’
Blinded by his fascination with this mysterious mare, the prince crawled through the bushes earning a great many more cuts than before, yet he felt none of them as he kept his eyes open, and muzzle up trying to peer through what little openings he could for a glimpse.
He found none, but squealed in surprise when his hooves broke the thorny divide and felt a slim pair of rough hooves wrap around his cracked and blooded hooves. With some effort he felt himself being dragged forward and this time he lowered his muzzle so his horn would penetrate the thicket first…
“Forgive me! I’d assume you were well, but I failed to account for how you fell. Tonight let me make amends for my carelessness, your wounds I shall mend. Quickly though! The beast within these woods does stalk, and no longer will I dally with talk. ”
Blueblood had barely looked up to see this strangely hooded, but confirmed mare before she turned toward the path he had originally traveled down. To his continued shock and amazement the very forest left her alone and appeared to welcome her as she trotted by- vines and flowers reaching toward her like they might for the morning sun. This inaction didn’t last long as an instinct urged the injured stallion to follow the mare, and in this unnatural forest of lawlessness, the prince found the idea intriguing rather than the standard back in Canterlot. All the mares that might have/had chased him amounted to little more than store cutouts with two lines to describe their personality…
‘Waaiiittt.” He whined as he picked himself up, and desperately tried to keep up on cracked hooves.
With a prospective guide leading the way, the prince’s journey through this extremely independent, and arguably unhinged gathering of trees on the entire continent progressed as smoothly as an injured pony on the run could make. In between his limping, and haggard breathing Blueblood did what he could to steal glances of his agile, thin framed guide forging the trail some four pony lengths ahead, and the mystery this mare represented- an elevated being sent to save his poor soul.
Whoever this pony is, Blueblood knew his gratitude for the mare would never be enough even if she decided to turn down any offered show of this appreciation. His upbringing insisted he correct the debt thrusted upon him if only to prevent becoming indebted to a foreign party; this sense of preservation screamed for the prince to figure a way out of his debt, and yet he wanted to wipe the slate clean for his own personal reason then a fear of owing somepony a few favors.
He wanted to thank the mare for saving his life, and possibly learn of the origin of this mysteriously captivating creature.
“Ease your worried thoughts, for we are near my abode. Splintered hooves are no good to you or I, but I commend you for keeping with your guide. it’s not easy keeping stride.”
Very similar narrations had slipped off his guide’s lips with an ease he never heard before, but how could they not?
Her song-like speech had an airy quality to them that might ruffle a few pegasi feathers for how easily she seemed adapted to the sky, or nature itself. His painful hooves throbbed, but he continued ignoring them as he watched with wild fascination as the mare made the very forest part for them simply by walking, and they in return, would gradually alter themselves to allow this marvel of a pony to slip through.
She never needed to ask nor force a bush aside leaving the hurt, but mesmerized prince stunned at the compassion they two entities had for the other to breed this mutual respect- he was envious. The only pony he might stretch a limb out for to make such a comparison would be his ‘cousin’ and he meant that loosely, Cadenza, yet she too was aligned with the guiding light that consumed all royalty. The flame would eventually come for him as well in the end, but somehow he had avoided that terrible fate presently, and pondered his own demise in the spaces between the schedule that led him. Until this very moment, the prince hadn’t felt the need to worry about factual matters, and even now he felt a sort of glee as he mind and soul drifted toward the cloaked mare in front of him once more.
Now, she had stopped next to large tree and laid her forehead upon its flaking grey bark in a manner Blueblood recognized as a pony fed up with the constant distractions of one's own life, but her posture reflected none of this stress.
“The tree urges caution, for hunted we remain. In turn I urge speed, that we may avoid even greater pain.” She warned him as she looked to her right and like before, proceeded down the opening that wasn’t there before. “Hurry on, be quick! We’ve tarried too long, and our path grows strict.”
Blueblood followed as best he could, and was genuinely grateful not only for her assistance, but the forest for allowing him to pass mostly unmolested. She would almost phase between each bush, or around each tree with so little movement his guide appeared to be trotting through them. As a unicorn he knew this wasn’t true, but the way she spoke and treated woods left many questions open to interpretation. Their trek off the path and into the actual woods didn’t feel any faster, but he wisely kept his concern to himself knowing she could disappear from sight and leave him to his fate.
Nopony would know where the prince is, or if anypony even cared to know when the walking disaster of a centaur roamed Equestria. So he tried to take his mind off of such thoughts and decided to engage with his guide in hopeful conversation.
“As a pony of my upbringing, I need to apologize for putting the burden of myself onto your back, but I am eternally grateful all the same and will repay my debt in due time.” He stated with as much regal a pony could given his level of exhaustion and pain, and to his, liking she responded without a hint of annoyance or anger.
“You and I are not so different.” His guide started and paused to listen to the forest around them before continuing at a reduced pace. “ For my upbringing made me less indifferent to another’s plight, for who am I to seek flight? I very well might be the one grounded all for leaving you astounded. That my friend, will only lead to dead ends.”
The way she spoke left Blueblood more complexed with each syllable, and it wasn’t because of the rhyming way she spoke, but the strong urge to speak truths. Even in rare moments he could speak to one of his aunts, they were always guarded and never forthcoming with their emotions to any but the one’s known as the Elements. He’d always felt a ping of jealousy for the treatment they received as none of his attempts to bond with his morning loving aunt bore any fruit save to muddy her opinion of himself further.
He gave up after the Gala where he tarnished one of the Element’s gowns for the evening, and both of the sisters had scolded him for it. It was a painful lesson to learn, but his father and mother had been right in leaving the princess alone to their own deeds while they focused on their own. So, call him eager to hear more of this truth she preached for good reason.
“If I can be so brash as to suggest this is a normal day for you? You move and act with little regard to a forest many would die from fright after setting hoof in, let alone becoming lost. ” he haggard a response just as his guide began once again forcing him to breathe between his gritted teeth as she picked up the pace.
"Ahhh, but for an otherwise dull day it is already quite strange. Usually I must wait for the rainy season for such an interesting exchange." She sung her response, but this time turned her head to look back at the struggling prince, and from the brief action he caught his first true gleam of coat coloring- a black muzzle all alone in a sea of ashen grey.
His mind sprinted with this exciting new detail for he had never seen a color combination back in Canterlot, and the very uniqueness of it allowed his mind to wonder, and wonder it did. This escape gave the injured unicorn a chance to focus on something more important than his splintered hooves for a time. How long, Blueblood couldn’t tell for the sun and moon still hanging in the air where his aunts had left them before…
“Where are we going?” he suddenly blurted out once he realized he hadn’t the foggiest where he was being led to, and only now did the mysticism surrounding the strange mare began to falter. Even as the mare sang an answer in that rhyming scheme she used, Blueblood felt none of the mystic behind it.
The trek finally came to an end after an unknown length of time when the hooded mare slowed to a trot, and with careful instructions commended the prince to follow her every move as they entered a thicket of bushes not unlike the one he had hid in before. The big difference here was how the very thorns felt dull to the touch as they rubbed in between his fur and onto his bare skin, and to his amazement came out the other side without any further injury.
Blueblood stood still as he took in the glade before him, and began noting its signs of habitation: a house carved inside a living tree, small garden, a drinking well, and maintained surroundings. The mare trotted into the opening with no regard for any potential attack, and once she reached the door did she turn around and waved him forward with her black and ash grey hoof.
Having grown up in perhaps the wealthiest house in Equestria and close proximity to the princess had left the prince accustomed to a high maintenance lifestyle that was a stark contrast to what he was witnessing now. Though he wasn’t opposed to a significant downgrade unlike his fellow nobles, for he had developed a very lenient view on the conditions of the less privileged, but it was the type of house that worried him. He knew a few tall tales of rogue magic users during his short time on this planet, and there was no way his guide could hide the fact she was a witch.
“A witch! I’m saved by a witch!” he worriedly thought as he hobbled his way toward the door.