Angelbunny spent two whole minutes waking up. When he finally finished, he looked around and then up at me. I was so happy, Angelbunny must have recognized me! But then he shook his head and kicked the base of my trunk and bounded off…
Angelbunny did not come back for couple hours and I started to wonder what he could be doing back at the cottage. But just as I started thinking about that, I started hearing cries coming from my cottage. Oh no! The animals, they haven’t eaten! They must have been starving, I got so worried…I didn’t know what to do…
I had never felt so helpless and ashamed in my life. Here I was, celebrating becoming a tree that I forgot all about the animals that depended on me. The same animals that were the reasons that I wanted to be a tree in the first place. I wanted to become a tree to help and be with my animals forever and here I was, unable to even feed them. I started crying inside my trunk.
I cried for so long but then I saw Angelbunny coming back up the path to my cottage and he had my Unicorn friend, Twilight, with him! I probably missed Angelbunny leaving because I was so busy crying but now I was delighted! Good Angelbunny, you're so smart, thinking to bring Twilight over. Soon the cries of the animals died down and Twilight left. She was muttering something to herself but my hill was too far from the path to make it out.
A couple more hours passed and I started to calm down. Surely if Twilight kept coming to my cottage, my animals would be alright? I told myself that is exactly what that meant. My friends would never let my animals get hurt. I looked out again and took in the scenery.
Did you know that the winds is just as alive as a pony or a tree? I didn’t know that until that day. I stood on my hill and just listened to the breeze. It felt its way through my leaves and I heard its breathing and whispers. It told me about the weather and where it has been. It was amazing. The wind told me that it was going to rain later. It carried me and the other trees that message that the Pegasus ponies were bringing clouds over from Cloudsdale to water all the new plants Spring had brought.
But then I heard a noise and looked down in front of me. Angelbunny was back and looking up at me. Did he now realize it was me? I watched him circle me and examine me. Minute after minute ticked by. Angelbunny then stepped in real close and started sniffing my bark. He must have smelled something there because he jumped back and looked at me with wide eyes.
I yearned to yell at him that it was me! That I was now a tree! But I couldn’t…because I was a tree. But that is okay because Angelbunny figured it out by himself.
He must have been so confused. He just kept circling, and sniffing, circling, and sniffing as if he was not convinced. Finally he stopped and looked up at me again. Just then, the wind whispered to me its warning again and this time I felt my leaves start to bunch up all on their own as if trying to create shelter. It was like an instinct. Angelbunny saw what my leaves were doing and immediately ran off back to the cottage. At first I did not understand why but then he came back with my umbrella in his mouth. He managed to get it open and propped it against my trunk.
It was then I realized that trees have a larger role than I first thought. I always knew animals could read nature and always seemed to know what the weather was going to be like before us ponies knew but I never thought I’d be making those signs myself! Trees were not only shelter and a source of food for animals and insects but they also were signposts to help tell the animals the weather. Amazing! Angelbunny saw what my leaves were doing and knew it was going to rain so he brought me an umbrella. Oh, Angelbunny you are so sweet and I love you so much.
Angelbunny went back to the cottage and it started raining. I stood there taking it in. It felt wonderful. It was like an invigorating shower and a delicious drink combined into one. The umbrellas that Angelbunny brought me didn’t last long, and fell over and blew away rather quickly towards the Everfree forest. But that was okay, it’s the thought that counts.
Not only was the rain so wonderful but the rain brought me my first animal visitors. A tree’s leaves are usually spread apart to try to catch all the sun but when it rains, leaves bunch up to catch the rain to drink. When the leaves bunch up, it also makes for good shade against the rain for anything under it. The shade isn’t perfect but anything under me will be a lot less wet than anything that is out in the open.
The birds started coming a few minutes before the rain started. They chirped around my branches and leaves, looking for the best places to settle. It felt wonderful having all that life on me. I felt the first of the insects moving in my bark and on my branches. Ohhh, I wonder what kind of butterflies will come from eating my leaves? I also hoped that some of those birds would make their homes in my branches. How nice it would be to wake up every day to a bird’s song. That was all I could imagine as the storm ran its course. I couldn’t wait to have some residents move in to my branches and nooks! Just like I have always dreamed!
As the rain started to peter out and the skies started to clear, some of the birds started leaving and it made me a little sad but who was I to force the birds to stay? They have their own places they need to be too. Besides, there were still the birds that decided to stay with me. I looked out towards my cottage (is it still mine now that I’m a tree?) to see if Angelbunny was going to come out to greet me. He must have been busy because he did not come but I saw my umbrella. It was torn up by the bushes and part of it was stuck there and the rest was probably scattered through the Everfree forest by now.
Oh dear, I didn’t mean to make such a mess.
While I was looking out towards the forest I also saw Twilight coming back up the path to my cottage. I assumed she was coming back to feed my animals again. She is such a good friend. What I didn’t realize was that she brought all my other friends with her too. I still wasn’t used to being able to see in all directions at once so I kinda gave myself a head (tree? bark?) ache. It took me a moment to refocus but then I saw Twilight had come back with Spike the Dragon, Rarity (my other Unicorn friend and fashion expert), Rainbow Dash (my childhood friend from Cloudsdale and the fastest Pegasus in Ponyville, maybe Equestria), and my two Earth pony friends Applejack (the best apple farmer in all Equestria) and Pinkie Pie (the greatest party animal there is).
Why were they all here too? I didn’t have that many animals at the moment…
Oh my, it is getting late. I know that since I am a tree, I don’t actually need sleep, but it is hard to break a habit I have lived with all my life…sorry. I’ll tell you why all my friends were there tomorrow. Besides, this isn’t really a story I’d like to tell right before bed…