Nature.
I always felt attracted to it. It fascinated me with its relentless beauty and hidden logic. Fillies of my age all played with dolls while I was running around the meadows and forests surrounding my hometown, trying to learn the name of every plant, insect, and bird I could find. Oftentimes, I returned with small bruises and at least one beetle biting my muzzle. I slowly became "the weird one" in the eyes of my peers. Not that I cared about it that much, my curiosity and thirst for knowledge were far more important. My curiosity grew with every new fact I learned, just like another piece clicking into place fuels your effort to finish a puzzle.
Time went on, and I moved from stuffing my head full of terms and basic facts to seeking something more advanced. Something that’d go beyond the scope of ordinary textbooks and their black and white view of our grey world. The deeper and deeper I went, the more I discovered how many of the simple facts we were taught were either completely wrong or simplified so much the bits of truth in them were twisted beyond recognition.
I was now led to thinking of causes and consequences, acquiring new insight on things that many ponies think they know. For example: How many times have you been told that a chameleon precisely changes its colour to whatever is around it? And do you think it’s really true? Have you ever seen it yourself or read a proper treatise on it? No? Then let me tell you it’s not as simple as you think.
I stood at a crossroads: I could either spread the truth about the natural world, or I could keep everything my books and mentors taught me to myself. I’d love to choose the first path, however, nopony was willing to listen to me anymore. Apparently everyone around me was just annoyed by my weird interests and scientifical remarks. So what, I told one posh filly that the ambergris in her perfume came from the gut of a sperm whale. That was just a fact, it was not meant to humiliate her! On the other hoof, now I’m glad it did humiliate her.
Still, I refused to give up my crusade of spreading knowledge. I hoped to find something that would show everypony that biology was not just about pointless boning up on terms and names. Naïve younger me. I was rummaging through every library I could and nose-diving into any book that had at least something to do with nature. There just had to be something that’d help me find common ground with other ponies. The result? I seemed even weirder than before. I started doubting myself and hid away among dozens of dusty old books.
A few tomes in particular managed to reignite the spark of my curiosity. They were written in some long unused language, but I managed to get my head around it. These books were the magna opera of many researchers of the Classical era, the time when the Castle of the Two Sisters bustled with life, and the knowledge of ponykind was in full bloom. Many things and places have changed since then.
Many places, including the feared Everfree Forest, which now slowly takes over the ruins of the once mightiest castle in all of Equestria. Unlike us, the ponies back then tried to understand why the local weather and nature were so independent. They knew every plant, creature, and drop of magic that at least once touched the ground of the Everfree.
At the same time, I moved to the more central parts of Equestria and was confused by what I found. Back at home, just south of the plains of the Frozen North, we were used to at least a little feral animals and semi-autonomous weather. But here? All the wild animals were almost domesticated, used to having picnics and parties with ponies. The only place that seemed normal to me was the "Celestia forsaken" Everfree I have read so much about.
It took just a few--more or less dangerous--trips to this place and a meeting with one of the most exotic and friendly creatures I ever met, a certain zebra, to make me and my companion settle down in this forest. And here we are, trying to bust the ancient myths about the dangers of the Everfree.
May the knowledge trapped on the pages of this journal be your guide through the Everfree Forest.