//------------------------------// // Chapter four The Arbor susurro is revealed. // Story: The great tree // by Thestoryteller //------------------------------// The Arbor susurro has three forms. The Spade of Nature, The Water of Nature, and the Scythe of Nature. Words from the first book. Soon the white glow in Fluttershys eyes began to fade away and she began to slowly sail to the ground. She groaned as she held her hoof up to her head hoping to stop the pounding noise in her head. She then looked up to see that the four deer smiling warmly at her. "Why are you all smiling?" Fluttershy asked. "Becuase my dear, you are now officially the Arbor susurro." Fallwood said. "Tell us, how does it feel?" "Like hundreds of bells are going off inside my head." Fluttershy groaned. "You'll get used to it, now we must get you ready for your appearance." Winterwood said. "Appearance?" Fluttershy repeated. "Yes appearance, when you present yourself to all the deer in Whitetail and show them that you are the Arbor susurro." Springwood explained. "Oh." Fluttershy said her pupils dialing down in fear. "Something the matter?" Winterwood asked. "I...kinda...have...stage fright." Fluttershy said while rubbing the back of her head with her hoof. "Fluttershy I know you might be scared." Thorn said as he placed his hoof on her shoulder. "But you can do this." "Hey deer council, is it alright that we stick near Fluttershy when she makes her appearance?" Nightwing asked. "If it will help her out, then I will not stop you." "Wonderful, now Fluttershy you get changed into something decent for your appearance while Thorn and I get changed as well." "O-okay." Fluttershy mumbled as she followed Springwood and Winterwood into another room. "Come on Thorn let's go get us something nice to wear." Nightwing said, nudging Thorn to follow him. "Okay." Thorn replied. "Are you nervous Fluttershy?" Winterwood asked as deer designers took measurements of her body. "Well...a little to honest." Fluttershy said. "May I ask why?" "Well a lot of it has to do with me becoming Arbor susurro." "Don't worry about that, you'll do fine I know it." "You sound a lot like Nature." "Wait you saw Nature? You saw our Goddess?!" Winterwood asked "Well...um...y-yes?" "What did she look like?! Was she a golden deer like the First book described?! Was she a beautiful doe like we all thought?! You have to tell me!" Winterwood yelled as she got right up in FLuttershys face. "Um...y-y-your a bit to close." Fluttershy said meekly. "Oh. Sorry got a little carried away there, Also I can't know of what Nature looks like. For her vision must be the only thing we see." "To be honest she looked a lot different than what the First book described." "Ah! No, no, no, I did not just hear that! Lalalalala!" Winterwood yelled as she covered her ears with her hoof. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell." Fluttershy said quickly. "Ignore my sister, lets get back to the question at hoof?" Springwood said. "Why are you are nervous? Anydeer would be thrilled to be Arbor susurro. So why are you?" "Well...it's...it's because I'm not a deer. I'm a pony. And what if the Deer don't accept me as their Arbor susurro? What if they all hate me? What if they all will throw me out of Whitetail and forbid me from their religion? What if-" Fluttershy began to ramble but was cut off by Springwood putting a hoof in front of her mouth and shushed her. "Nonsense, true there will be some that will not agree with you being Arbor susurro. But they will adjust in time. For it is Natures decision. And we cannot question her judgement." "Your right I need to be brave." Fluttershy said as she raised her right hoof in the air. "Miss Fluttershy, please put your hoof down so we can put on the dress." A designer said. "Oops. Sorry." "My sister is right Fluttershy, you mustn't let fear overcome you, if it does you will not be able to be Arbor susurro." Winterwood said. "Thank you. Thank you both." "All done Miss." A designer said as she put a large mirror in front of her so she could see the dress. "Oh...my...goodness." Fluttershy said in awe. Meanwhile in the hallway Nightwing and Thorn were waiting outside the balcony door for Fluttershy. "I can't believe you deer actually have pony armor." Nightwing said as he admired the golden armor he was wearing. "Our armor comes from you ponies, we just melt it down and shape it for us deer so we can wear it." Thorn said. "I can see why you'd want pony armor, what with the material being enchanted. But what do we get out of it?" "We give you some of our valuable items, such as seeds, fruit, and cloth." "Yeah I guess that makes sense." "Um...hi guys." A shy voice said. Nightwing and Thorn turned around to see Fluttershy was wearing a light green dress that covered her body, a long faded white cape that was attached to the neck of the dress, and a ring crown with white flowers what on her head. Her mane and tail were well brushed and she was wearing shoes made of leaves on her hooves. "Woah." Both Nightwing and Thorn said in unison which caused Fluttershy to blush a little. "I look silly don't I?" Fluttershy asked. "Well that depends, do you want my opinion? Or Thorns?" Nightwing asked. "Um...both?" "Very well I'll go first. Fluttershy...you look a little silly in that dress." "What about you Thorn?" "You look amazing." Thorn said. "Thanks." Fluttershy said with a slight blush. "Okay we have gathered all the deer, there outside. Is Fluttershy ready?" Fallwood asked as he entered the room. "I see that she is." Fallwood said once she saw Fluttershy. "You ready to make your appearance?" Nightwing asked. "Yes, I am." Fluttershy answered. "Well what are we waiting for lets go." Nightwing said as he opened the door. But then, just as Nightwing had opened the door, everything froze in it's place. It was as if time itself had stopped. "What?" Fluttershy questioned as she looked around. "Hello again Fluttershy." A familiar voice said. Fluttershy turned around to see that the voice belonged to her Goddess, Nature. "Nature! It's so good to see you again." Fluttershy said with excitement. "It is good to see you to my dear Tree whisperer." Nature said. "Are you the reason that time has stopped?" "No, a friend of mine is doing that. I came to see how you are doing and I wanted to see you at your appearance." "Nature...I don't know if I can do this." "Why ever not? You just said that you were thrilled to be Arbor susurro. Why are afraid again?" "Because...because I'm worried that I'll never see my friends again." "Why do you think that?" "It's just that if I'm Arbor susurro, that means that I have to stay here and rule Whitetail. And if I'm so busy doing that then I'll never see my friends again." Fluttershy said as her head dropped and tears began to swell in her eyes. "Fluttershy listen." Nature said as she lifted Fluttershys head with her hoof. "It is true that you won't see your friends that much, but that doesn't mean your friendship will end." "But what if I don't see them again?" "Trust me Fluttershy, I know that your friendship will not end. In fact, when this is all over it will be stronger than ever." "What do you mean, when this is over?" "When the deer accept you as Arbor susurro of course." "Thank you nature. You truly are a wise Goddess." "Thank you. Now go out there and show them that you Arbor susurro." As time began to flow again Nature looked down at the ground with a sad look on her face. 'If only I could tell you.' Nature thought as she disappeared. Meanwhile outside the great tree Summerwood was in front of the doorway with a large crowd of deer in front of him. Summerwood cleared his th "Buck's and doe's!" Summerwood shouted to the large group of deer that were in front of the great tree. "It is with great pleasure that I inform you that our Goddess Nature has chosen an Arbor susurro!" The crowd of deer stomped the ground with their hooves giving off a clapping sound. Each clap that the deer made was fueled with their excitement. Their claps continued until Summerwood raised his right hoof, signaling that the clapping be ceased. "Now I'm sure you all want to see her right?" Summerwood asked. The whole crowd yelled a yes in response. "Well I guess we have our answer. Come on out now." The doors opened and Nightwing, Thorn, and Fluttershy walked out of the door. "Deer. Meet your Arbor susurro." Summerwood said. The whole crowd went dead silent each had a look of shock and disbelief on their faces. It was is the crowd thought, 'this is our Arbor susurro? The one who is our savior?' Fluttershy's head dropped in shame. Her greatest fear came true, she wasn't accepted by the deer. "Excuse me?" A young a high voice asked. Fluttershy lifted her head up to see a young fawn with tiny antler nubs on his head. "Are you the Arbor susurro?" The young fawn asked. "Y-yes." Fluttershy mumbled. "Why are you a pony?" "Because I was born a pony." "No, I mean why did nature choose you to be Arbor susurro?" "I...I don't know actually, she didn't tell me." "Well if Nature chose you to be Arbor susurro, then does that mean that you will protect us no matter the cost?" "Of course I would." "One last thing, I have a gift for you." The fawn said as held out his hoof. Fluttershy looked to see the fawn was holding a seed. "Can you plant this and make it bloom?" "I-I can try." Fluttershy said as she took the seed from the fawn and dug a small hole with her hoof. She then planted the seed in the ground and buried it in the dirt. Then she closed her eyes and waited for something to happen. She then heard gasps come from in front of her. She opened her eyes to see that where she had planted the seed was now a flower with green and pink pedals. She looked to the fawn to see he was bowing. She looked to the crowd to see they were doing the same. "All hail the Arbor susurro." The fawn said. "All hail the water of Nature." "All hail the Tree whisperer." The crowd said in unison. "May she guide us on the path of life." "Amen." They all said. (Minus Nightwing.) Fluttershy looked down at the colt. Millions of thoughts ran through her brain as she thought of what to say what to do. Then she knew. "Rise my dear followers." Fluttershy said. The deer complied and rose from their bows. "I hope that I can be a good Arbor susurro and lead you all on the path of life." Fluttershy said and then looked down at the fawn. "And thank you, young fawn, for believing in me." "No problem Arbor susurro, I'm happy that you are leading us on the path of life." The fawn said. "I will admit it'll take some time to get used to a pony being the Arbor susurro." "I can work with that." "Alright everydeer it's time for us all to leave the Arbor susurro alone, she has much to do." Summerwood said. The crowd began to disperse and Fluttershy, Thorn, Nightwing, and Summerwood all headed back to the Great tree. Unknown that someone was scowling at them. "Unbelievable." A buck deer, with brown fur, one full grown antler instead of two, and blue eyes said. "What's unbelievable general Thicket?" A buck deer with brown fur, full grown antlers, and brown eyes asked. "What's unbelievable is that 'pony'." Thicket said, putting venom on the word pony. "Thinks she's the Arbor susurro." "But you saw the flower bloom, it shows that she is the Arbor susurro." "Did you see the bat-pony that was with the Pegasus?" "Yeah, so?" "Then you should have sensed that he is a Shadow knight, creatures that can control lunar magic." "So?" "So, the bat-pony could have used his magic to make the flower bloom." "Well as convincing as that sounds, what about the color of the pedals?" "He could have used a color change spell as soon as the flower was going to bloom." "By Nature...your right. But why would the ponies want to be the Arbor susurro?" "To deceive us. Ever since Nature created the deer and ponies from dirt we have always been enemy's. Now one of them is posing as our savior and is trying to deceive us. We cannot let this stand!" "What are your orders Commander Thicket?" "We must gain more deer that will follow our cause. We will need them to attack those that will defy our cause." "Yes sir, I shall gather as many as I can." With that the deer soldier ran off to begin his mission. Leaving Thicket alone in his office. Thicket closed his eyes and began to say a prayer. "Hail Nature, the protector and Light in our darkest days." Thicket said as he began his prayer. "Nature I call upon you to give me one of your gifts. Give me the gift of strength. Let me have the strength to destroy my enemy and restore order to our way." Thicket then looked up at the wood ceiling above him as he finished his prayer. "Let me by your scythe, so that I may cut down the weed that will plague your garden."