//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Of Druids And Ponies 
// by Crackshot 
//------------------------------//

He watched carefully from a nearby tree as his quarry ventured further into the forest, no doubt tracking it’s own prey. ‘Disgusting creatures,’ he thought to himself ‘they have no respect for life of any kind.’ He waited until the creature was in prime position, then sprung his trap. He raised his hands sharply, causing a wall of vines to emerge from the dirt, cutting of his prey from it’s desired route. He dropped from his perch, traditionally offering the other being a chance at life. “Hold, orc! I know your purpose here, and will not allow it, as this forest, and it’s creatures, are my druidic charge! Turn back now, or feel the wrath of Gaia!” he yelled at a volume which insured he could be heard. He held his staff at the ready, in case his warning was not heeded. However, it would not be enough, as the orc turned to him, at the same time swinging it’s large axe for his head. He rolled back, then took the form of his namesake, a wolf, and charged the foul creature. He bit at the orc’s ankles, causing it to yelp in pain, and then dodged another blow from it’s axe and went for the throat. However the orc was smarter then he thought, as when he was about to bite down on the beasts jugular, it slid a knife between his ribs, and directly into his heart. ‘NO! I REFUSE TO DIE WITHOUT ENSURING THE SAFETY OF MY CHARGE!’ he thought, as with one last act of defiance, he tore the into the jugular he currently held in his mouth, and jerked his head to one side, tearing the orc’s throat completely out. He spit it out before returning to his human form. He attempted a healing spell, but knew it would not work, as his wound was to grave. Before he met his fate, he whispered a prayer to his goddess; “Gaia, do not mourn my death, as I served you well, all I ask, with my final breath, is that you bless the place where I fell…” he could feel his life slipping away. And then he felt nothing.

Then he awoke, to his surprise. ‘what foul sorcery is this?’ he thought. He pushed that thought away, and checked himself for wounds and to make sure he had all his belongings. His wound had healed, and he still had his staff and his armor. Calmed by this, he turned to asses his surroundings, which yielded different results. He knew the place he was in to be a forest, but not the one he was in when he fought the orc. ‘strange,’ he thought ‘this place… emanates evil… like there was a great battle here, years ago.’ he stood, and decided it best to find a place to rest. He walked in a random direction, collecting dead wood along the way, until he came to a cave. ‘well, this will do for now. I’ve slept in worse places’ he thought to himself, and began setting up camp.
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Near the outskirts of the everfree forest, twilight sparkle and her friends had gathered at flutter shy’s hut to see how she’d been. It had been quite some time since any of them had seen her, and they had found it best to go visit her. “Oh no, I’m quite fine, really. Angel’s been sick for the past week, so I had to stay here to take care of him. But you’re all welcome to stay here for a while…. That is…. If you want to..” fluttershy said, with her characteristic quietness. They all settled into talk of the past week, and how they’d all been since the battle against discord. Rainbow dash was just starting another exciting, albeit overly exaggerated, story of how she performed death defying stunts, to the amazement and wonder of all of ponyville, when twilight and rarity both felt it. A powerful wave of magic, emanating from the forest. “you alright sugercube? Ya’ll  don‘t look so good.” said applejack, her voice thick with concern. “sorry girls, we’re gonna have to cut this short, I just felt a huge wave of magic coming from the forest, and I should probably go investigate it.” said twilight, to the woe of all her friends. “well if yer goin into the forest, we should probably all go with ya, we’ll find whatever it is faster with more ponies.” twilight nodded, and the six left the hut…. With the exception of fluttershy. “I think I’m going to stay in here…. That is…. If it’s alright with you…..” she said, he fear of the forest very obvious. “it’s alright darling, we understand, you stay here and we’ll let you know how it goes.” said rarity. And with that they departed, though if any of them knew the turn their search would take……. After they reached the very border of the everfree forest, twilight spoke up, “alright, rainbow dash, you fly above the forest and see what you can find, rarity, applejack, you two search form here, forward and to the left, go back to the hut if anything happens, pinkie, you’re with me. Everyone got it?” “yeah!” said rainbow dash as she flew off “yep” said applejack, “yes” said rarity, “oh yay!! Me and twilight are gonna go all spec. ops. On this shit!” said pinkie, as everypony who was there just stared at her, then brushed it off as pinkie being pinkie, and the search began. The search had been going on for about an hour when applejack asked; “so rarity, what’d ya think we’re gonna find out here?” “oh, I have absolutely no clue, but it has to have the magical power of princess celestia to have cause such a powerful shockwave.” then, before she could respond, a nearby tree fell, and would’ve fallen directly on top of rarity had applejack not bucked her out of the way. However, this caused the limb to fall upon her hind legs, breaking them both and pinning her to the ground. “GO GET HELP!” applejack screamed to rarity, who galloped away to find the others. A few minutes passed, and she no longer had the strength to stay awake, so she slipped into blissful unconsciousness.