//------------------------------// // Daughter Forest // Story: Winter's Dusk // by SubaruGeki //------------------------------// Rainbow Blitz awoke around an hour before dawn. The blue pony yawned and headed to the bathroom. After taking care of his needs, he lazily headed back to his mattress, catching a few glimpses of Dusk sleeping peacefully in his sheets. It was then that he heard something, a noise coming from outside. The pegasus went to the window and saw that it was snowing abundantly and strong blizzards were blowing. He chuckled inwardly. The strange snowstorm had at last arrived. But there was something else that caught his attention. Out there, in the middle of that unpleasant weather, a single mare was standing, facing the library. Then a beautiful song suddenly echoed in his ears, its melodies so mesmerizing that they fully caught his attention immediately. The stallion’s eyes got smaller and his mind fell in a trance. “Rainbow Blitz, come to me…” the singing voice demanded. Gulping, the blue pony could do nothing but comply. He opened the window and dashed immediately outside. Little did he know that the blizzards’ noises and the sudden cold air penetrating the room’s atmosphere served to wake up Dusk Shine. The unicorn rubbed his eyes and looked around to see what was going on. “Oh for goodness’ sake, Blitz, close the window!” he yelled as he pulled the covers all over his trembling body. “Blitz, did you hear me?” he repeated, but once more got no answer. “Blitz? Are you in the bathroom?” He got up from the bed with the sheets covering his body and headed to the bathroom only to find it empty. That meant one thing, his friend had left. But where could he have gone before dawn? And why did he not have the common sense to close the window behind him? Tired of the low temperature, he went to shut the gates of glass which allowed the unwelcomed winter to disturb the peace of his comfy warm room. Before closing them, he took one last look outside and to his shock he saw Rainbow Blitz following a strange white pony to the Everfree Forest. “Oh no, Blitz!” Dusk Shine jumped in shock. He quickly rushed to his wardrobe and put on one of the winter jackets Elusive had gifted him with last year. Then he grabbed the mythology book and galloped downstairs as quickly as his hooves allowed him. But it was no use, as soon as he opened the door; there was no sight of the two. Instead, the powerful winter winds pushed him back, as if nature did not want him to jump to his friend’s rescue. Dusk Shine fell on his back and dropped the book which landed opened at a page depicting a beautiful mare in a wedding dress. The stubborn unicorn got up and was about to try once more to leave the library when his attention got caught by the book’s contents. He grabbed it and began reading: “Daughter Forest – She is an evil genius of the forest, a terrifying entity from pony mythology. Sometimes she appears as a young mare, other times as a really old mare with a long mane reaching the ground, endlessly sobbing in the forests; she can auto metamorphose upon her own will. Whenever she wanders she awakens the forest’s winds, and she mostly laughs in sinister guffaws or she cries guffawing, other times she just yells or croaks. She wanders at the edge of the forests, luring lost travelers.” Dusk Shine tried recalling that faint image he saw from his room. The one which Blitz was following seemed to resemble the one drawn in the book. Hoping that was the creature, he kept on reading: “Daughter Forest appears as an aggressor of stallions, especially shepherds. Metamorphosed as the marefriend who remained home, she comes to the young stallion that is alone far away from the village and she attacks him, she rapes him. When he opposes or discovers her to be an impostor, the young stallion is punished: the demon lifts him and throws him over the stones or in pits, she makes him ill, or she kills him. She also makes those walking down apparently known paths get lost, luring them with an incredibly touching song, she kidnaps or switches newborn fillies under their mothers’ eyes or she turns animals ill.” The purple stallion paused for a moment, horrified by the danger his friend was in. If it were any other Element of Harmony, he would have most likely been worried for them. But this was Rainbow Blitz, that clumsy showoff who rarely knew what manners were, but who was also patient enough to get into books. He was also the only one of his five friends who stood by his side even when they didn’t have their usual meetings. The pegasus always tried to find some time to hang out with him and thus he got to understand the introverted unicorn’s way of being better than anypony else. And he was so handsome, no matter how much the bookish pony tried telling himself otherwise. Blitz had gotten his way into Dusk’s fantasies for quite some time, much to his dismay. Dusk Shine didn’t bother that much with matters concerning sexuality, especially his own. The only thing he did know was that his parents expected him to be a perfect son, one that would study very hard and become a respected pillar of their society with a stable job, his own house and a wife with some kids. Yes, those were the goals set for him by those who raised him and he never thought deeply about them. Did he actually want all that? If yes, then why was a stallion the subject to his rather inappropriate fantasies? The wind’s noise from outside awoke him from his thoughts. The purple pony mentally criticized himself for wasting time and resumed reading the book. The research data had finished and what was left was an origin story for the creature. “Once upon a time there was a beautiful mare that got lost in the forest and night caught her. Now, she did not go to sleep, she kept wandering to find the path that would take her back to the village. After some time, a stallion dressed in black came to her and told her to follow him because he would show her the path. But he took her in a stone house. There he spoke something that could not be understood which took away her mind and changed her face. Then he took away her clothes and let her out in the forest, but she could no longer return to the village and she remained to wander only in the forests and whoever she meets, she only causes harm upon and takes away their health. She sucks their soul, she changes their face or she kills them. This is how Daughter Forest was born.” Dusk stopped and looked outside with a melancholic stare. He never would have expected to actually feel sorry for one of those creatures. It seemed that the evil chain of curses kept on through time, creating monsters out of even the most innocent. If only there were a way he could liberate that tortured soul. He continued reading, the next fragment being a rumor spread throughout villages in the northern parts of Equestria: “Once upon a time there was a stallion that had a wife from a neighboring village. She was highly proud, like morning dew. The poor stallion was living with his sheep far up in the hill. But his darling always visited him every night. And they spent time together night by night. He was very happy and why would he not be? What the poor stallion didn’t know was that the one coming to him night by night was not his darling. And, as he was making love to her, one time he put his hoof on her back. And he felt it was like a pan. Then he got afraid and he ran away from there with his sheep, because that was Daughter Forest.” Unfortunately for him, that was the last thing on Daughter Forest, the next page tackling another monster. That was it, no chant to stop her, nothing. His hopes began to lower, making way for the burning stings of utter despair. Dusk Shine angrily tossed the book on his sofa, an atypical behavior for someone like him, and he simply rushed headfirst into the windy weather outside, cursing himself for wasting time. Using his horn, he created a protective aura that did not allow his body to feel the extremely low temperatures. But he knew that was temporary and he had to act quickly. Making his way to the Everfree Forest, he was surprised to see hoofmarks in the snow, though the rampant snowfall was slowly making them disappear. He began to follow their path which led to the forest as he expected. Somewhere else, in a glade deep in the woods untouched by the snowstorm, Rainbow Blitz sat on a log. The white mare ceased her singing and she hugged him from behind, her hooves playing through his blue fur, making their way from his neck to the lower regions of his body. The pegasus began to sweat and his wings gradually grew into a boner. He had longed for those tender touches that were the prelude to the actual pleasure. And yet, after being with a few mares, it was the first time he was the passive one. He shook his head, trying not to think much of that. What truly mattered at that point was the pleasure, or at least that was what he thought. The white mare pushed him on his back and leaned on him, her mouth bestowing kisses upon his body, gently lowering just like her hooves. Blitz closed his eyes and gave in to the boiling sensations of his body. It all felt so good. “Blitz!” a familiar voice shouted. The pegasus slightly awoke from his trance and turned to the source of the voice only to see a worried Dusk Shine who had just arrived there, his protective aura now gone. It was then that it flashed back in the athletic pony’s mind: the warm room, the massage, the helpless Dusk, that peaceful face. For some strange reason, he grabbed the mare and pushed her off him. Little did he know that that would turn out to be a huge mistake… The mare’s facial expression changed from seductive to angry, her white fur and skin shifting to grey, her face beginning to reveal scars, her teeth morphing into fangs. That was the true face of Daughter Forest. She immediately grabbed the pegasus and threw him against a tree. Then she tried lashing at him to cause him more harm, but a blast from Dusk Shine’s horn threw her back. “Leave him alone!” the unicorn growled with a threatening voice as he positioned himself to both face the creature and shelter his friend. The monstrous mare got on her hooves and prepared for another attack, but she was taken by surprise when the menacing look in her opponent’s eyes changed into one of compassion. “Daughter Forest, please, it doesn’t have to be like this.” Dusk spoke with a caring voice, causing the mare to lower her guard out of curiosity. “I know what happened to you, I know how you got cursed, but there is a way to break it.” “There is none!” she spoke normally for the first time in thousands of years, shaking her head. “At first I also thought that, but then I realized something, something that popular culture could not grasp. The reason you’re causing this harm to all other ponies is because you want to take away something from them just like you also lost something. You attack stallions mostly because it was a stallion who took away your freedom. Am I correct?” Daughter Forest closed her eyes and shortly nodded. “And yet the reason I wear this bride dress given to me by Mother Forest is because I wait for the one stallion who will survive my seduction and join me.” she confessed. “You hate stallions and yet you still want one by your side. Such conflicting emotions…” Dusk Shine replied, mentally recalling the passive aggressive replies he would usually give to Blitz back home whenever he bothered him. “I have been alone for such a long time. I just want to find my home.” Daughter Forest said with a small tear falling from her eye. “Everything will be alright.” the librarian made his horn’s shining cease. “I promise I’ll help you if you can trust me.” “I’m sorry…” the mare looked at him with a sorrow filled expression. “But the curse will last for as long as I live. I, I can’t control it anymore.” More streams of tears began swelling down her cheeks as she let out a demonic growl and jumped at Dusk, pinning him to the ground. The terrified stallion looked into her eyes and saw the struggle she was facing, a losing battle. He tried to get up but he couldn’t, her strength was too great for his fragile body. Fearing that after she was done with him, Blitz would be next on her list, Dusk sighed and resorted to his horn’s magic. A blast threw Daughter Forest off him. The mare floated in the air for a few moments, but when she saw the unconscious Rainbow Blitz she used her powers to switch the inertia and fly towards him. As she was just a few feet away from her victim, a large purple ray pierced the left side of her body. Physical pain, she felt it again after so long. Her skin began to burn and slowly detach off her body which was at long last giving in to time’s cruel passing. Putting on a smile, she closed her eyes, at last being freed from the prison she was condemned to live in for eternity. “Thank you.” she whispered. In a matter of seconds she was no more. Dusk Shine stopped his attack and breathed heavily. Then he walked to his unconscious friend and collapsed next to him, his hooves holding him close by his side. Rainbow Blitz suddenly opened his eyes and saw that he was being held in a tight embrace by none other than his bookish friend. “D-Dusk?!” he burst. “Just shut up.” he shortly replied. “What happened?” Blitz ignored his demand. “I almost lost you, that’s what.” Dusk tightened his hug, his eyes getting slightly wet. “Gee, thanks for coming after me, I suppose.” “No need to thank me, I’d have done it no matter what, anything for a friend.” “I guess Friendship really is Magic, eh?” But it was not just Friendship that made Dusk Shine go that extra mile. It was something else, something that had been building inside him for so long, something that was begging to be let out. “Not just Friendship, Blitz.” Dusk shook his head, loosening his grip a bit. “Then what?” the pegasus asked. “This.” In the next moment Dusk’s lips united with those of Blitz. The blue stallion’s eyes widened, he obviously being taken by surprise. But the purple unicorn didn’t care anymore. After everything that happened and seeing how their lives were under constant threat, he might as well have opened up about his emotions then and there before it was too late. Dusk Shine finally broke the kiss. Now that his desire had been satisfied, he waited for the disgusted reaction of his friend or to be judged for what he had done. Instead, Rainbow Blitz just grabbed his face with one hoof and said: “Gee, I never thought you’d feel the same.” “Eh?!” Dusk interjected. “Yeah, I kinda found myself being attracted to you the more I got to know you better.” Blitz admitted, his cheeks slightly reddening. “I just never knew if you were, you know…” “Even I am not sure what I am. All that I know is that I cannot imagine a life without you.” “You know what’s strange? Me neither.” Now it was Rainbow Blitz’s turn to pull Dusk in a hug. “My egghead…” he whispered happily, stroking the unicorn’s mane. Meanwhile at the opened library, a dark purple hoof picked up the mythology book, a hissed voice resounding in the living room: “Everything is going according to plan, kehehehe!”