The Everfree Forest is just as dark and foreboding as always. Normally you would be treading carefully, and you would even bring a knife or something just to be safe, but considering that you are, for all intents and purposes, completely incorporeal, you reason that there is little danger letting your guard down. When you aren't fearing death with every step you take, the Everfree Forest sure does look beautiful. Thanks to the late spring air and the fact that this forest operates independently from the input of ponies, there are many beautiful flowers and ferns growing on either side of the path. Of course, Twilight and Zecora taught you years ago that much of the flora in this forest is just as dangerous as the fauna, so you would never dare touch any of them, even in the state you're in.
You've always felt a connection to the Everfree Forest. Here, nature exists all on its own. Nopony controls the weather, and no one can tell the plants and animals what to do, or when to do it. It's the closest thing you'll find to home.
At least, that's how you used to feel. There is still a twinge of nostalgia walking beneath these canopies, but you no longer yearn for a life you've long since left behind. You don't have to feel homesick. Equestria IS your home.
Not long into your walk you reach Zecora's hut. Looks like she's still doing well out here. You walk around her abode, noticing that the path you had once made is gone. Whether that be due to this spell afflicting you or just years of neglect retaking it, you aren't sure. Either way, you're fairly certain you still remember the way to go. You feel your anxiety beginning to swell as you continue forward. If your hunch is incorrect, you don't exactly have a plan B.
Looking ahead, you see light breaking through the canopy. A clearing. Your clearing. You take one more deep breath and step into the light, closing your eyes to ensure that, whatever may or may not be here, you'll take it in all at once.
...
Nothing could have prepared you for what you see. Last time you were here, there was one massive tree in the center of the clearing, with fruits of all kinds growing off of it. Twilight and Spike apparently came to find you after not knowing your whereabouts, which led to an insightful conversation about your place in the world. You wanted the tree gone. You wanted to preserve the natural beauty of the Everfree Forest. But, after your dear friends helped you see things from a different angle, you realized that this One Tree Orchard has every right to exist here, just like you have a right to exist in Equestria exactly the way you are.
What you see is not the same One Tree Orchard. Instead, before you stands a mighty grove filled to the brim with plants and animals of all shapes and sizes. Shrubs, bushes, flowers, greenery, small trees, every plant you could possibly imagine fill the space. Upon them grows apples, bananas, oranges, cherries, peaches, grapes, lemons, fruits of all kinds as far as the eye can see. Throughout the clearing are phoenixes, deer, squirrels, foxes, possums, and so many other types of animals that this would be a dream come true for Fluttershy. And there, in the center of the clearing, stands the mighty tree, now towering above the forest around it. It is easily over 100 feet tall, and it's just as beautiful as when you last saw it. The setting sun paints the whole "clearing" in many beautiful hues of orange and yellow, and a sweet scent fills the air. This orchard of yours has grown into nothing short of a paradise.
And beyond that, there remains the simple fact that the orchard is still here.
As you walk into the orchard, you notice the wildlife watching you curiously. This catches you off guard, as they are the first creatures to actually notice your presence. Now that you've noticed that, you realize that the plant life growing here actually touches you. For the first time since you woke up, you're actually feeling something against your skin. You reach out to the leaf of a nearby fern, and you manage to grab it and give it a slight tug.
Here, you really do exist.
Even with the animals watching you, a sense of peace and comfort washes over you. It is like a warm embrace from the environment itself. You feel almost validated by it, like the orchard itself is welcoming you back. As warmth and joy flows throughout your very being, you continue towards the tree in the center of the orchard.
Standing at the base of it, you are reminded once again of the last time you were here. You were in a very different headspace then. A negative one. A place you would rather never be again. Looking up at the tree, it is like looking at an old friend. You smile as you sit down on the ground. You aren't sure why, but you feel like you need to meditate here again. It just... feels right.
As your eyes close, that feeling of being embraced becomes stronger. The smile on your face doesn't fade as you attempt to concentrate. Unlike usual meditation, you don't feel alone. Without thinking, you begin to speak.
"I'm sorry. All of that time I spent here, I did nothing but dump my negative emotions on you. I projected my own feelings onto you, and in doing so, I started to resent you. I thought that you didn't want to exist, that you didn't want to be an alien in this world. But... that was all me. I never bothered to consider how you feel. The truth is... you're a part of me. And I am a part of you. I get that now. I'm so, so sorry."
Without moving your body, you feel as though your consciousness is being hugged, and you attempt to return it. Tears roll down your cheeks as you simply sit there, taking it all in. What started as an emotional feeling slowly turns into a physical one, however, as you feel several entities lean up against you. You dare not open your eyes, but from the way it feels, you think the animals that were populating the orchard are starting to gather around you, embracing you just as you wish you could be embracing them. This morning, when you were still asleep and possibly being put under a spell, you thought you were at peace. You were wrong. Peace doesn't come from the nothingness of nonexistence. It comes from accepting that you DO exist, and cherishing every moment. Peace is knowing love. Peace is knowing how to love.
Peace is learning to love yourself.
All at once, you feel a strange sensation fill your head, as though an alien thought had been directly transplanted into you. It's like you taught yourself a new spell all at once. A strange set of motions and vocalizations fill your thoughts. You don't know what this is, or what it does. And yet, when you consider doing it, you swear that the now all-encompassing presence around you seems to nod. You smile once more and begin casting the spell.
It feels not too dissimilar to magical exertion, but... reversed, almost. It is as though you're being filled with an intense pressure, as though tons of energy is being pushed directly into every fiber of your being. Outwardly, you feel almost nothing, but internally, it is as though an extreme wind is washing over you, both so loud you couldn't possibly hear anything and yet, somehow, completely silent.
Then... nothing.