//------------------------------// // Forest of Deception // Story: My Little Background Pony: Friendship is Magic // by comicfan616 //------------------------------// Everyone was now very nervous. Not that they weren’t nervous before, given their location, but with two attempts on their lives, possibly by Nightmare Moon, no less, the common mindset was that it was only a matter of time before the next big crisis happened. They tried their best to hide it, but fear could be felt among everypony, and they were all aware that the others were feeling the same. It was Derpy’s turn to break the gripping silence as she moved closer to the Doctor. “So, Doctor, um…” she started, though she wasn’t sure what she was going to say. “Yes, Derpy?” the Doctor responded. “Um, uh…” Derpy struggled to think of something to say. She finally settled on a question. “What’s your home planet like?” She hoped the answer would take a long while to actually explain, keeping the silence at bay for that much longer. But the Doctor said nothing, like he was lost in thought. “Doctor?” Octavia said. “Are you all right?” “Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “I’m just trying to figure out how to best describe it to you all.” “Just describe it, then” Vinyl said. “No big words, no artistic license, or all that jazz.” The Doctor thought for a bit longer and spoke. “My planet is called Gallopfrey,” he started. “It’s many, many light-years away from this planet; you won’t find it on any star chart. Put simply, it’s absolutely stunning. The skies are a burning orange, the fields of the mountains are red and capped with snow. One of the most beautiful sights you’ll ever see, at least in my humble opinion, is the rising of the twin suns.” “Wait, two suns?” Bon Bon said. “What kind of pony has that much power?” “Well, remember what I said about your planet being the exception to what most races, even I, would call normal? Your planet is a geocentric system, with the sun and moon revolving around it and controlled by magic, the only one of its kind, I might add. But my planet, and pretty much every other planet in existence, is heliocentric; it revolves around the sun, or suns in this case, and its rotation creates the illusion of sunrise and sunset. “The most impressive part of Gallopfrey, however, has to be the Citadel, the seat of power over all Time Lords, surrounded by the glass dome.” “It sounds beautiful,” Octavia said. “It is,” the Doctor replied wistfully. “So, why didn’t you go there?” Derpy asked. The Doctor did a wild take for a second and turned to the pegasus. “What, are you saying you don’t want me here?” “No! It’s not that!” Derpy defended. “But if you were looking to take a break from your travels, why didn’t you just go home?” The Doctor paused again, although this time, it seemed more out of reluctance rather than searching for the right words. “Doctor,” Bon Bon started. “Have you been lying to us?” “It’s not like that!” the Doctor said nervously. “Not entirely, anyway,” he added quietly. He stopped walking, prompting the others to stop as well. “The High Council, back on Gallopfrey, we don’t always see eye to eye. The Time Lords are happy to just sit on their flanks all day and watch the universe pass them by. But I don’t want to just watch; I want to experience. I’ve gone on many an adventure. I’ve even made several close friends.” He stopped again. “Did something happen?” Octavia asked. Before the Doctor could speak, however, something caught everyone’s attention. No one could describe what had happened, and when they looked around, everything was as it should be. “Maybe we just imagined that,” Lyra suggested. “At the same time?” Vinyl pointed out. “It could happen,” Lyra defended, although she looked less than sure about it. “We’d better keep moving then,” the Doctor said. “We can deal with my story any day, but we have a world and a sun to save and the possibility of something out there makes me uneasy.” He was about to walk forward, but he walked into a tree. He rubbed his head and looked at the offending obstacle. And it looked back at him. The Doctor immediately moved back out of surprise. The tree had seemed to grow a face. It looked angry and had a mouth full of sharp teeth. “Okay, we won’t be going this way then,” he said. But when he turned around, he saw more trees similar to the one behind him. By now the others had turned and saw the same thing. They may have had different faces carved into the wood, but the message was clear: the ponies were doomed. “Lyra! Vinyl! Lights! Now!” the Doctor shouted. The two unicorns cut off the magic that allowed them to see. With any luck, the trees would also be blinded by the darkness. But there was no such luck. The outlines in the bark glowed a deep violet, not only relighting the area, but making the features on the trees much more frightening. No one could see a way out of this, so they took the only available option left: they screamed. Everyone was huddled together and screaming loudly, almost as if someone or something would hear them and help. Everyone knew that wasn’t likely, and screaming wasn’t going to do anything to trees, but their panicked states left them with very few solutions. Their screams were so loud, they could only hear one other noise. When they could make it out, however, everyone stopped screaming and turned. Derpy was on her back, rolling around with laughter. “Derpy!” the Doctor shouted. “Are you crazy?” “Sorry, Doctor,” she said, trying to keep the laughter contained. “It’s just that, you’re all scared of trees!” “Trees with faces that want to rip us to pieces!” Vinyl shouted indignantly. Derpy giggled some more. “No, they’re just trees. Look.” As she started laughing again, Bon Bon took very cautious steps toward the nearest tree. Strangely, its face hadn’t changed at all; it wasn’t moving, not even to blink or breathe. Feeling a little braver, she reached a hoof out and touched it. Solid bark. “She right,” she said. “The trees just have faces on them, but they’re not real.” “You were laughing at us because we fell for a stupid joke?” Vinyl said. “Then in that case,” Derpy said, “you’re not gonna wanna hear this part.” She struggled to suppress more laughs. “And what’s that?” Lyra asked. “I was really laughing because you were all screaming like little fillies!” She couldn’t hold back any longer and started laughing again. “Well, we are girls, Derpy,” Octavia defended. “No,” Derpy said. “I mean all of you.” The others realized what she meant almost immediately and turned to the Doctor. Some of them already had small smiles on their faces. “What?!” he shouted. “Me? I’ll have you know I have never screamed like a girl in my life! And again, it’s a very long life!” “Actually, Doctor,” Lyra said, “I never really did hear a masculine scream.” “Females have a higher pitch,” the Doctor pointed out, still defending himself. “The four of you outnumbered me.” Vinyl smiled mischievously to herself and stepped backward a bit. There was a branch near her and when she got close enough, she stomped her hoof down on it, causing it to break. The Doctor screamed almost immediately. It was short, loud, and high-pitched. The other ponies broke down in laughter. “Hey, now stop that!” he said. “Give me a break, I don’t scream often.” “Face it, Doc,” Vinyl said, “you could easily audition for the soprano section of the Royal Choir.” The laughter became louder at the joke. “Well, I admit I’m a…” Something came out of the Doctor’s mouth that wasn’t a word nor a real breath. “…a little bit, um…” The sides of his mouth started to stretch to the side. “…loud when screaming, but you… you don’t hon… honestly ex… expect me to…” Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore; he fell on his stomach, laughing all the way down. He had to admit the absurdity of it all: the only male of the entire group, and he could probably still beat them in a screaming contest. The laughing continued for a while, but by the time they had regained composure, they felt happier than when this adventure first started. The Doctor got up and walked to Derpy. “Thank you, Ms. Hooves,” he said. “I think we all needed that.” “You mean the laughter, or the screaming?” Derpy replied with a sly look on her face. The Doctor chuckled a bit. “Either way.” “I just have one question,” Octavia said. “How did these trees get like this? Not five minutes ago, these were just normal trees.” “Allow me,” the Doctor said. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started waving it around. “You know, I’m probably never going to get used to that,” Vinyl said. “Just take slow, deep breaths and you should keep your stomach in one place,” the Doctor suggested. “Wouldn’t it be easier to use that thing on the trees?” Lyra asked. “Normally, I’d agree with you,” the Doctor answered, “but, as I said, the sonic only reacts to objects that resonate with a sonic pulse. Wood does not resonate.” “So what are you doing?” Bon Bon asked. “I’m hoping I’ll find the cause by scanning everything else,” he replied. He started moving around almost frantically. “The air, the dirt, the rocks, anything that might produce a lead.” He was about to move again, but he suddenly moved back, like something was pulling him. “Oh now we’re getting somewhere. Come on, girls, allons-y.” He put the sonic screwdriver in his mouth and ran further into the forest. The others followed after him. His path was not as straight as anyone would have liked; every so often, he would turn as though the sonic was forcefully directing him. The really odd thing was that no matter where they went, the trees still had those frightening faces. After a several minutes of running, the Doctor finally stopped. Everyone could tell this was their final destination for two main reasons. First, the tree they found was the only one around that didn’t have a face. The second reason was the creature sitting on its roots. It looked humanoid, female in appearance, and was dressed in flowing garments that seemed to be made of plants. She also had a transparent look about her, like she was a ghost. But what really interested them about her was the fact that she was crying. The Doctor put his screwdriver away and approached the creature. She noticed the sound of his footsteps and looked up. “Who are you? And why are you here?” she asked. Her voice almost echoed. “I’m the Doctor,” he said softly. “And these are my, um, associates.” He indicated to the other ponies. “And who might you be?” “Just a dying dryad,” the creature replied. “One who wishes to be left alone in her final moments.” “Dying?” Octavia repeated. “Why?” “See for yourself,” the dryad answered. She pointed off to the side; a rather large branch was lying next to the roots. The side that was formerly connected to the tree indicated the branch had been torn off, which, given its thickness, was surprising. “A force like a dark cloud came here and damaged me,” the dryad continued. “It was dark magic, so the damage is too severe. I cannot even hold the branch to repair myself.” “But that’s just a branch,” Vinyl said. “What’s that got to do with you?” “Dryads are spirits that inhabit trees,” the Doctor explained. “Whatever happens to the tree happens to her as well. That’s why those trees grew faces to frighten us off.” “I have already been hurt,” the dryad added. “It is the way of the trees to protect us from further harm when nothing can be done. Whatever business you have in this forest, please take it elsewhere and leave me in peace.” “Hang on,” Lyra said. She walked toward the tree. “Maybe I can help. I know a reparation spell that might put the branch back into place and even destroy the dark magic.” She paused in thought for a moment. “But this could be tricky. Fixing two problems at once will be hard enough, and the tree is a living thing to boot. Vinyl, think you can lift this branch for me? I’ll need every ounce of power I’ve got into that spell.” “Sorry, Ly,” Vinyl replied, “but after that manticore gave me a good wallop on the head, my magic’s not so good right now. I could barely keep up the light spell.” “Figures,” Lyra whispered. “Okay then, Plan B.” She lifted the lyre from her back and held it in front of her.” “Lyra, what are you—?!” the Doctor started before one of the strings was ripped off the instrument by Lyra’s magic. Three more strings followed it, leaving the lyre with a small gap. She replaced the lyre on her back and went to work. She tied all the strings together to make one long strand. Then, using her magic to levitate the branch, she brought both objects to the spot on the tree where the branch had been torn. The branch placed itself on the tree and the string began to wrap around it, holding it in place. “Okay,” Lyra said to herself, “now for the tricky part.” Her horn glowed gold once again and the branch was surrounded by a similar aura. Lyra was visibly struggling as she continued to work the spell. Soon, though, the aura around the branch began to extend throughout the tree itself. The light from the magic grew brighter and brighter and finally stopped altogether. The branch was now connected to the tree completely; the tear was no longer visible and the strings that held it in place were gone. The dryad, who watched the whole scene with curiosity and fascination, glided up to the branch and touched it, even lightly pressing on it. “It’s gone,” she said. “The pain is gone. The dark magic is no more.” The dryad looked at Lyra and flew to her. She was smiling. “Tell me, little pony, what is your name?” “Lyra Heartstrings.” “Thanks you, Lyra Heartstrings. Your name will be remembered as a friend to all trees in the Everfree. If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to ask.” “Actually,” Lyra said, “we were on our way to a castle somewhere in this forest. Can you point us in the right direction?” “I can do more than that.” The dryad clapped her hands. The ponies could feel a low rumble and they were soon met with an astonishing sight: the trees were moving. Everyone watched as the normally stationary trees seemed to slide along the forest floor. They had even lost the faces that made them look intimidating. It was soon obvious, however, that there was a reason for their movement. When they stopped, they had created a clear path. “Follow this path,” the dryad said, “and the castle will be but mere paces away.” “Thank you very much, milady,” the Doctor said with a bow. “And thank you, Physician,” the dryad returned, “for bringing your friend in my time of sorrow.” After she finished speaking, she disappeared into her tree. The Doctor looked back at the other ponies. “Well, shall we?”