Heart of the Forest

by Krickis

5 – Forgotten

---

Chapter Five
Forgotten
⠀

⠀

At least nothing ate them while they were asleep. That had been half of what kept Applejack tossing and turning through the night, despite how pleasantly soft the bedding she had made for them was.

But if that had been half of the reason, the other half was simply the many things she had on her mind. If she wasn’t debating if she was doing the right thing by being in White Tail Woods, she was wondering what Fluttershy was up to. None of the answers she came up with gave her any comfort.

The morning light came as a relief. Although she was often up before the sun, she had decided to wait until it was fairly light out before getting up. The last thing she wanted to do was risk getting caught by something in the dark when sunrise was around the corner anyway. But morning came with nothing more fierce than Discord’s constant snoring, so she set to looking around for breakfast.

It wasn’t long before she had found something sufficient. The woods were plentiful with plants, berries, and nuts that she recognized as edible. It was nice to know that if she could avoid becoming food, she could find some food of her own easily enough.

Rather than eating anything as she found it, she tucked everything away in her pack and brought it back to where they had made their impromptu camp. Discord was still snoring, so she nudged him. “Rise and shine, you old coot.”

He awoke with a start, looking around wildly. His eyes eventually settled on Applejack, and he fixed her with a silent glare.

It seemed that he actually liked mornings less than he liked everything else. “Good morning to you, too.”

Discord’s answer was a grunt, which he followed up by rolling over and resting his head again.

“Nope! We’ve got a busy day ahead of us, and I’m not spending it sitting around here. So let’s get up and get some food in us, then we can go find Sungrove.”

Discord just grunted again.

Applejack sighed. She had tried to be nice about it, but if he wasn’t going to cooperate, then she had no other choice. She tapped the barrel on her neck and poured some elixir on the ground. Closing her eyes, she willed the grass around her hooves to return to the way it had been before she had caused its sudden growth. A gentle rustling sensation around her hooves told her that it had obliged.

At first, she thought Discord had slept through the whole thing. When she opened her eyes, he was lying on the hard ground in the same position. She was about to take more drastic measures when he finally sighed. “That was uncalled for.”

Applejack smirked. “Well, you could’ve gotten up when I first tried waking you.”

With yet another sigh, Discord finally rose to a sitting position. He didn’t bother to move much aside from that, however.

After the night before, Applejack was no longer willing to leave her companion if he slowed her down. He had saved her life, and not just from the spiders. Although she hadn’t recognized the danger at the time, she had nearly walked into a plant that could eat her alive. Even if most of the woods were relatively safe, Discord could identify the things that weren’t, and he was resourceful if they got into another tight spot.

But even with that in mind, she wasn’t keen on waiting for him. While Discord stared off into space, Applejack began eating. A real home-made meal sounded amazing, but she didn’t have the time or resources to make anything like that, so she just stuck to eating the foods she found raw.

Once Discord noticed she was eating, she slid the bag over to him. Without a word, he rifled through it to find something for himself. Applejack had no idea what kind of foods ponies ate, but she was sure she could find something else if nothing she had was suitable.

It seemed something was, at least. But rather than pulling out any of the foods she’d collected that morning, he chose one of the apples she had brought from her family’s orchard.

“Uh, fair warning, those are a little sour.”

“Of course they are.” Discord took a bite then continued to talk as he chewed. “They’re crabapples.”

Applejack smiled, and they finished eating in silence. She doubted either of them were completely satisfied with the meal, but it would be sufficient to give them the energy to start their day.

“I don’t suppose you had some sort of magic-induced dream telling you where Sungrove is?” Discord asked while they finished eating.

“No, but we gotta be getting close by now,” Applejack said, more to try and appease her own worries than because she believed it.

Discord stroked his beard as he thought for a moment. When he spoke, he also seemed to be doing it for his own benefit. “Although a small handful of ponies claim to have been to the ruins of Sungrove, nopony seems to know its exact location, so it must be deep in the woods. White Tail Woods isn’t quite so large as the Everfree Forest, so I’d speculate somewhere near the center; surely, the outer regions are too well explored for anything to be hidden away there. At a normal walking speed, and factoring in time for breaks, I would assume it would take… six days to walk through the woods.”

“Six days!?” Applejack grimaced. That was far more time than she had been prepared to dedicate to this trip.

“Yes, but if it’s near the center, then we could reasonably expect to cut the time in half – provided you’re taking us there in a direct path, of course.”

“That’s still three days.” Applejack shook her head. “And then there’s the return trip to think about… Maybe we should just turn back.”

Discord gave her a horrified expression. “You’re… you’re joking, right?” He didn’t wait for an answer before continuing to lambast her. “We could have died, in case you didn’t notice! And now you just want to turn around!? I’m not prepared to have risked my life for a day stroll through the woods!”

“Yeah, but…” Applejack turned to look back, away from the direction the woods were trying to guide her towards. “Fluttershy’s coming back to Everfree today… If we don’t find it soon, then there’s no point. I… I don’t even know if I can make the return trip in time as is.”

“We’re more than half a day into the wood already, so –”

“I know that!” Applejack’s abrupt outburst caused a bird above them to fly away. “I know that this whole thing was a bad idea! I didn’t think it through, and it probably won’t do any good anyways! I just…” The weight of everything slouched her shoulders and pulled her head down. “I’m just a stupid deer who got an idea bigger than herself and ran off without thinking…”

Discord was silent. Applejack suspected her outburst was too emotional for him. She sighed and turned towards him. “Look, I’m real sorry I got you caught up in this. I never meant –”

“If we’re going to have any shot at getting there today, we’d better get a move on.”

Although Discord stood up, Applejack remained where she was. “You said that it was impossible.”

“I said no such thing.” Discord frowned at her, as if he was offended that she would interpret his words that way. “I gave a speculation. And while it is a good speculation, it was by no means anything definitive. And…” Discord looked away from her. “I, er, may not have had all the knowledge I’d need to really give a good answer. My skills with magic are second to none, and my knowledge of biology and botany place me near the top of those fields. But I find certain facts to be less useful than others and… I may have just been guessing at the size of White Tail Woods. Who knows? It may be much smaller than I thought.”

Applejack got up as well, albeit a bit reluctantly. “So we could actually get there today?”

“Anything’s possible.” Discord’s ear twitched and he frowned. “And even if I guessed the size right, I’m not exactly as good at on-the-fly calculations as a certain colleague of mine…”

It was clear that admitting he could be wrong about something did not come easily to Discord, but it really did a lot to lift Applejack’s spirits. Her plan may still be pointless and poorly thought out, but it seemed she might at least be able to see it through for whatever it was worth.

“Come on,” she said, picking up the bag and leading the way. “It’s this direction.”

Discord followed along beside her. “Don’t suppose you could ask the woods if it knows a shortcut?”

---

The walk was at least more pleasant than it had been the day before. Applejack was unsure whether that was more so because of Discord or herself. Sure, Discord was still an irritable grouch, but Applejack just didn’t seem to mind anymore. It was hard to say if that was because he had improved in some small way, or if Applejack was just more willing to accept him for what he was.

Even their conversation shifted. Previously, he had been the one to ask most of the questions, while Applejack had mostly tried to keep things as minimal as possible. But now, she was asking about his life just as much as he was about hers, and she was finding it much more interesting than she thought.

He lived in Canterlot, which was the pony capital city. He had already told her that he was a professor at a school for magic, but she learned it was the school for magic. Ponies travelled from all over Equestria to study there, and its resources were top of the line.

In addition to teaching, Discord worked alongside Princess Celestia as a royal researcher. That’s what brought him to White Tail Woods; he had been planning on conducting some sort of study before a much more interesting opportunity quite literally came bounding toward him.

And despite her initial hesitation, Applejack was glad she did. It wasn’t just that he had proved himself useful, although he certainly had. She genuinely began to enjoy his company. It wasn’t long before she started reconsidering her stance on showing him around Everfree.

And, of course, it was nice to not be left alone with her thoughts. Whenever they would hit a lull in the conversation, she wound up back to the same thoughts. Thoughts of Fluttershy, and if she was finding the outside world as exciting as she had hoped. Thoughts of her family, and the hope that they hadn’t noticed her absence. Thoughts of herself, and that she still didn’t know what she was doing.

But there was something else as well. Not so much a thought as a feeling. It started as a small thing, but then it grew. It was difficult to place, and Applejack knew she wouldn’t be able to describe it. It didn’t matter; it felt like something she dare not put into words.

She did her best to not think about it. She’d turn the conversation elsewhere, never letting it die for long. She even took to telling Discord about her family without his asking, just to have something to talk about.

Still, as they walked, the feeling ate at her. It grew to the point where conversation stopped drowning it out, and she began to realize something that scared her. The feeling wasn’t bad, exactly. No, it wasn’t just that it wasn’t bad, it was a good feeling. Not a pleasant one, not by any means. But it was right, and it was just. And yet, it hurt. And the more they walked, the more it hurt. It was a good feeling magnified until it was terrible.

Applejack was so caught up with it that she hadn’t noticed the conversation stopped until Discord finally spoke. Once he did, she knew that they hadn’t said a word in a long time. “We’re close, aren’t we?” There were none of his usual mannerisms in his tone. None of his playfulness, none of his irritation, scarcely any emotion at all. His voice was solemn, and it was hesitant.

And when Applejack answered, she found her voice sounded the same. “Yeah. Yeah, we are. You can feel it too?”

Discord hesitated a moment, then answered slowly. “Magic is often misunderstood. Or to be more apt, it is often not understood at all. Indeed, we have never been able to figure out where it comes from, or why it concentrates. We sometimes label it good or bad, light or dark, but this is not exactly accurate. Magic is neither good nor bad, magic simply is.” Although he spoke like it was neutral, he narrowed his eyes and his tone grew darker as he finished. “And here, we’re being overwhelmed by it.”

More silence, and Applejack realized it was not just the two of them. The whole woods were silent here. There were no animals in the treetops or on the ground. There were no birds flying above them or calling in the distance. The wind itself seemed to know better than to intrude in this place.

“Applejack,” Discord said quietly. “Why did the deer leave White Tail Woods?”

That was a question Applejack wished he wouldn’t have asked. “Something terrible happened. I wasn’t born yet, but my parents were there. They told me that something we call the Shadow came from the sky. It was terrible and it was big enough that it could block out the sun. It came, and it killed, and it destroyed everything in its path.”

“And what happened to it? Was it stopped? Did anyone ever witness it leave the woods?”

Applejack shook her head. “I… No one really knows. Our queen stood against it and stopped it from pursuing us, but she was never seen again.”

Discord closed his eyes for a moment. “So then the last place it was seen was…”

Applejack stopped in her tracks as she realized what was before them. “Sungrove.”

There was no mistaking it. Applejack had never seen Sungrove, but even in its current state, she would never have thought she was looking at anything else. The forest still had not completely reclaimed the land, with trees remaining in the same places that she was sure they must have been for eight hundred years.

There were still houses supported by massive tree trunks, although most of them were falling apart. Bridges between houses had partially collapsed, leaving them hanging to the ground. Lights lay scattered about, with no deer magic to power them any longer. What must have once been a well-worn path through the city was barely recognizable with the underbrush. The city had changed, and yet it remained, frozen in place by something greater than itself.

And all at once, Applejack knew that her feeling was not the same as Discord’s. It was nothing as simple as an overabundance of magic, although she didn’t doubt that was true as well. It was something he could never feel, and it did not come from inside Applejack.

It came from around her. It came from the trees, and it came from the grass. It came from Sungrove, and it came from the woods. It was all of the longing and all of the joy from this place.

It had been so lonely, but now she had returned.

It was welcoming her back to her home.

And it did not want her to leave.

They stood in silence for a while, taking in the ruins of the once-great city. It was Discord who eventually made the first move. “Well, nothing’s going to happen if we just stand around here.”

He resumed walking, making his way into the city, but Applejack hesitated. The feeling coming from Sungrove was overwhelming, and it terrified her. There was no telling what they could expect, and she was prepared to leave without finding out.

But then she thought of Fluttershy. Honestly? She knew that this expedition probably wouldn’t change anything between them. But if Applejack stopped here, if she wouldn’t even make the attempt to do anything she could to hold onto her, then she didn’t deserve to have someone so wonderful in the first place.

Slowly, she let her hooves follow after Discord, into the ruins of Sungrove. They remained on the ground; none of the buildings they passed looked like they would support their weight. Everything was either destroyed by the Shadow or by the passage of time. They walked aimlessly, each of them keeping their thoughts to themselves.

It was hard to see Sungrove in the state it was in. If she closed her eyes, she could almost see it as it once was. A noble city, equal to Thicket in every way, with hundreds of deer making their lives within it. Over here, a farmer was talking with a customer. Over there, a family was teaching their youngest fawn not to stray too far from the city.

But when she opened her eyes, it was all gone. And while most of the deer survived and made a new home for themselves, the woods had been left abandoned. There was just Applejack. Only one deer in eight hundred years.

“Did you have a goal in mind upon reaching the city?” Discord asked, shaking Applejack from her thoughts.

Applejack took a deep breath. While Sungrove was part of her history, it was not the reason she was here. “When Queen Hawthorn stood against the Shadow, she did it with a relic called the Emblem of Anqa. That’s what I’m looking for.”

“And since the queen was alone when she died, there’s no way to tell where it could be.”

Applejack nodded. “She never left Sungrove, as far as anyone knows. But I don’t know where in the city she could have been.”

Discord looked around them, taking in the scope of the city. They couldn’t see its entirety. “This could take a while. I suppose the best we can hope for is to find the remnants of some grand battle. Although considering the state of everything, I’m not convinced we’d recognize it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of too…”

But without any other lead to go on, they searched. It wasn’t long until they could only see Sungrove in all directions, with no sign of the rest of the woods outside. Still, they searched. Sometimes it felt like they were back at places they had already been, but then they’d always find something they hadn’t seen before, and the search would continue.

As they searched, Applejack explained what the different buildings would have been used for. From the houses to the workshops to the store rooms, the style of the city was remarkably similar to Thicket. It was clear the deer resisted change, even after so many years.

Among all of the other buildings, one stood out. It stood taller than any other, and even damaged as it was, it was clearly the most elaborate.

“Let me guess,” Discord said as they saw it in the distance. “That’s where the queen would have lived?”

“Yeah, that’ll be the royal palace.” Perhaps as a testament to its expert design, it was only half ruined. From the ground, it seemed that time had barely touched it, as the half that was missing had clearly been torn off.

“I see.” Discord considered the building carefully. “And more useful for us, it’s easily the highest point in the area. From up there, we’d be able to see all of Sungrove.”

That made sense, but Applejack wasn’t sure that would be a good thing. “I’m not sure we can get all the way up there. Not to mention we don’t know how sturdy it is.”

For perhaps the first time since they had arrived, Discord showed a sly grin. “Why, Applejack my deer, it’s as if you’ve forgotten whom you’re travelling with. I’m certain I’ll be able to get us out of any trouble we find ourselves in.”

Even though Applejack had seen his magic firsthoof, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to so willingly trust it with her life. But she also knew searching on the ground wasn’t getting them anywhere. “I suppose we would get a bird’s eye view up there. If there are any signs of that battle, we’d see them for sure.”

“Too right you are.”

With a destination in mind, they kept a steady pace as they approached the palace. Discord eyed the spiral ramp that led up the massive tree with skepticism, but Applejack simply started walking up it. At least it felt solid while they were still near the ground.

“Would it be too much to ask for side rails?” Discord asked as he eyed the open side nervously.

“It’s wide enough,” Applejack answered. “Just stick close to the tree if you’re nervous, and don’t do anything stupid near the edge.”

“My deer, if you thought I’d do anything else, then you’re more foolish than I had thought.”

Applejack looked back and laughed. Discord had his body pressed firmly against the tree as he walked, even though the platform was wide enough to fit three deer side by side. “I take it you don’t care for heights?”

“I just don’t see the utility of living in the trees,” Discord said, ignoring the question completely. “You make it so easy to access your homes, so it’s hardly protecting you from anything.”

“It’s not about protection, although it would be a challenge for a full-grown timberwolf or something to get up one of these ramps.” Applejack frowned, unsure of how to explain. “I guess the main thing is that the trees were already here. You’d have a tough time finding a clearing large enough for a whole city this deep in the woods.”

“Then you could make one. I think the woods would do just fine with a few less trees.”

Applejack knew he wasn’t going to understand. “That’s not our way. Deer aren’t above the forest, we’re part of it. We take care of it, and in turn, it provides for us. It’s about living in harmony.”

“Harmony…” For some reason, Discord seemed amused by the word. “To each their own I suppose.”

At least the ramp was mostly complete. Discord resolved the issue of the few gaps in it by teleporting them across with his magic. Applejack hated the sensation, but unless they suddenly found themselves able to fly, there wasn’t anything that could be done about it.

It took them to the top well enough, and they cautiously walked into the entry hall. Nothing they had seen outside had prepared Applejack for what they found.

“My word,” Discord said as he walked in. “This is nothing short of remarkable.”

While the entire city seemed to have been affected less by eight hundred years than one would have expected, the inside of the palace seemed to have been abandoned only recently. If it were not for the heavy layer of leaves, dirt, and other debris that had blown in from the tree, Applejack would have sworn that someone had to be maintaining it. Where it was not broken, the wood was still sturdy and retained its coloration, as if the elements had not touched it at all. There were tapestries hanging that were only slightly dirty, and not at all faded. Although the opening caused by the damage should have allowed rain in, providing the perfect environment for mold and mushrooms to grow, there was nothing of the sort.

Discord tentatively knocked on the floor, before outright stomping on it. “This is as sturdy as the day it was built. I’m officially impressed now. You deer must know something we ponies don’t when it comes to building things to last.”

Applejack walked to the center of the room. “This shouldn’t be possible. Everything here is older than I am, and none of it was cared for.”

“How long do deer live for?” Discord asked.

Applejack immediately knew why he was curious. It was the same thought that was on her own mind. “It’s not common, but we can live to nearly two thousand years. You don’t think…?”

Discord looked around, then spoke loudly. “Er, would there happen to be anyone home, by chance?”

It was possible, if very unlikely. No one knew what had happened to Queen Hawthorn after everyone else left, as her orders had been very specific. Everyone was to get to safety and assume the worst for her. But what if she had survived the fight? What if she had survived, but then had never left Sungrove?

“Queen Hawthorn?” Applejack called nervously. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what could have become of someone left alone for so long.

There was no answer. They stood quietly in the entry room, and Applejack knew they were both afraid to explore further. But for all the time they waited, there was still no answer.

“Hmph.” Discord eventually grew tired of waiting and approached a door. He did not immediately go through it, however. “Even if she could have survived the years, I would be correct to assume she’d require food and water, like anyone else, yes?”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Applejack approached the door beside him. “And we had to teleport across gaps on the way up here, so we know that a deer couldn’t get up or down on their own.”

“Exactly, so unless she had someone bringing her supplies, there’s no way some half-crazed deer is lurking in one of these rooms.”

“Definitely not. And since the deer stopped associating with other species around two hundred years before we left Sungrove, I don’t think she had any pegasus or griffon friends that could’ve done something like that for her.”

“And even if she did, they’d be long dead since they don’t live as long. Plus she would’ve sent them for help, of course. So we have nothing to worry about.”

“Yup,” Applejack said. “Nothing at all.”

They still stood staring at the door, neither one wanting to be the first to open it.

“Well, we came up here to get a better view, and we got that on the ramp up,” Discord said.

“Yeah, you’re right! And I didn’t see anything, so we might as well just go back down now.”

“Indeed.” Still, neither of them moved. “Back to wandering the city aimlessly, even though it will be dark soon…”

“Yeah…”

Discord looked back to the door. “Oh, we’re being ridiculous! There is nothing here!” His horn lit up and the door in front of them swung open, revealing nothing at all. “We’re here now. It wouldn’t hurt to have a look around, and, let’s be honest, we’re staying in Sungrove tonight.”

Applejack couldn’t dispute that. Light faded early among the woods, and the houses of Sungrove would give them shelter. As much as she had wanted to be back in Everfree by nightfall, there was no hope for that. “You’ve got a point.”

“Since nothing could possibly climb up here with the broken ramp, and given that this place is in immaculate condition, this is clearly the best place for us to stay.”

Again, he had a point. Applejack sighed. “Well then, I guess we should explore the place if we’re gonna be sleeping here…”

Just as it had looked from the outside, the first room they came to was empty of everything except decoration. The same was true for every room. Although everything that wasn’t lost in the attack seemed to be in almost perfect shape, there was also no sign that any of it was still in use. In fact, the thick layer of dust covering everything suggested that their fears had been just as groundless as they rationalized them to be.

“No staircase,” Applejack observed once they had explored everywhere they could reach. “Must have been in one of the rooms that didn’t make it.”

“I suppose we could just call it a day,” Discord said, although he didn’t seem too pleased with that idea.

“Think you could teleport us to the next floor?” By this point, Applejack’s fears had subsided, but she still wanted everything checked over.

“Without knowing what’s at our destination? That’d be a fine way to teleport directly into a bookshelf. Having your insides rematerialize around a solid object is a very messy way to go.”

“Point taken.” Applejack had a better idea. She looked around for a moment, then gestured to a hole in the ceiling. “You can levitate stuff, right? Think you could get me through that hole?”

Discord examined it for a moment. “Should be easy enough. Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

A red aura surrounded her, and she floated into the air. Applejack hated flying, even with Fluttershy, but it was only a short distance. And for his part, Discord was gentle enough. He carried her at a comfortable speed, slowing down slightly when he reached the hole to better maneuver her through it.

Although she knew he could get her through just fine, as soon as her forelegs were through the hole, Applejack set her front hooves down and pulled herself up the rest of the way. She took a moment to calm her nerves from the flight, then took a look around the room and screamed.

“Applejack!? What’s wrong!?”

Applejack found herself staring at another deer, who was lying motionless on a bed. She was a doe, whose fur was white and cream-colored. Although Applejack had never seen her before, there was no doubt who it was. Her son had inherited her looks, after all.

“Applejack? Dammit, I’m coming up there!”

After a few more moments of ragged breathing, Applejack calmed her nerves enough to try speaking. “Queen Hawthorn?”

The other doe remained still, and Applejack knew she wasn’t sleeping. Like everything else, she looked as if the passing years hadn’t been so much as a day, but there was no doubt that she had long since passed away.

Applejack almost didn’t notice the sounds of Discord below her as he fumbled with something. It became much harder to ignore once he himself was climbing through the hole, however. His horn was lit as he climbed through, but it went out once he was firmly on the second story. Something fell to the floor below, but he ignored the crash.

“What is it? Are you okay? Is there – oh.” Discord noticed the doe on the bed. Neither Applejack nor Discord spoke for a moment as he took in the sight.

Without a word, he walked over to her. “What are you doing?” Applejack asked.

Rather than answer, Discord placed a hoof against her neck. “There’s no pulse.” He removed his hoof. “Granted, that was pretty obvious considering all the noise we’ve made.”

Applejack took a step closer, then another. “She looks like she was alive only yesterday.”

Discord gently moved one of her forelegs and shook his head. “That is not entirely accurate, I’m afraid. There is no rigor mortis, nor any signs of bloating. She looks like she was alive earlier today.”

Applejack’s mouth fell open. “There’s no way… You’re telling me that she was up here alive the whole time we were coming here?”

“Doubtful, but to be sure…” Discord placed his foreleg along her torso for a moment, then removed it. “She’s cold. Her blood has not been flowing in some time. After death, the body stiffens during rigor mortis. This starts before the body goes cold, but it’s only a temporary state. However, by the time that passes, the bloating should have started, with even less pleasant stages of decomposition after that. I can only speculate, but I do believe she’s been dead a long time, with whatever is preserving this place keeping her from decomposing.”

Although she found it a little unsettling how casually Discord could talk about that given the circumstances, his scientific view helped ground Applejack into reality. If nothing else, it helped ease the feeling that Queen Hawthorn was going to rise at any moment.

“This has something to do with that magic you were talking about when we got here, doesn’t it?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, of that I have no doubt. Although I won’t claim to have any idea as to the exact nature of what we’re seeing. Insofar as I’m aware, no one has ever seen anything quite like this.”

Applejack couldn’t keep staring at her, so she turned her attention elsewhere. She found her interest in exploring the rest of the palace had left her completely, so she almost just jumped back down to the floor below, but something caught her eye.

A golden necklace sat on a bedside table. Applejack wasn’t quite sure, but she thought it seemed to glow slightly. It was subtle, though; perhaps it was just the way the setting sun was reflecting off it. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the light coming in through the windows had nothing to do with the way the necklace shined. As if that wasn’t enough, it also seemed to have a subtle tug on Applejack, compelling her to take a closer look.

Approaching it to get a better look, Applejack saw that it was a short length, with a wind-like design engraved onto the band. In the center, there was a pendant in the shape of a bird, with each of its wings connecting to the band. She had never seen the necklace, but she recognized the pendant.

“Hey, Discord?” Applejack turned to find him still studying the queen. “Is there any chance this is where all that magic is coming from?”

Discord crossed the room to take a look at the necklace. He examined it by sight, then held his horn against it. The necklace and his horn both glowed for a moment, then he stepped away. “No, this seems to be an ordinary necklace. Why do you ask?”

Applejack looked at it again, and couldn’t help but think he was wrong. There was more to it, she could feel it. “This is what I came for. It’s the Emblem of Anqa.”

“Really? You’re certain?” Discord looked it over once more, but seemed to find nothing new of note about it.

Applejack pointed to the bird. “I didn’t even know it was a necklace, but that symbol there. That’s the emblem.”

Discord stroked his beard. “So I see. But could it be possible that there’s something else with the same emblem?”

Applejack reached out and touched the necklace. It sent shivers through her body. “I’m positive. This is it.”

Discord considered it for a moment more, then smiled. “Well in that case, why not try it on?”

“What?” Applejack’s head wheeled around to face him. “I’m not just gonna wear it!”

“Why not?” Discord jerked his head toward Queen Hawthorn. “She won’t mind, I assure you.”

Applejack frowned. She had come to find the emblem, but not to take it for herself. “I’m getting out of here. Staying up here’s giving me the creeps.” She picked up the necklace with her mouth as carefully as she could and tucked it away in her pack. Once she was satisfied with its safety, she walked across the room and jumped back down the hole.

There was a chair lying sideways on the ground, and after just a moment, a red aura surrounded it. It floated to the ceiling, where Discord climbed onto it, then it floated him back down. He grinned as he dismounted. “I must say, I do prefer livelier company.”

Applejack rolled her eyes and walked over to a window. The sun was already setting, which meant that it would certainly be dark once they were below the trees. “So what are we gonna do for the night?”

“I’m not going down that ramp in the dark,” Discord said, causing Applejack to smirk. “While we still have a little light, we should find a room with no holes that we might roll into in our sleep, and then make ourselves as comfortable as we can.”

“Suppose that’s a fair plan. I think I remember a good one over here.”

“Don’t suppose your plant trick will work again tonight?”

Applejack laughed. “Afraid not.”

---

Deep, labored breaths fill my lungs. It pulls me out of the slow, steady breathing of a deep sleep. It is not often I am called to rise.

When was the last time? I can not recall. Time muddles together, lost in the haze of semi-consciousness. It is not often I am called to rise, and so, I rise slowly.

How many are there? Four. There are four of them. Too often it is forgotten that these are my woods. It does not matter. I will remind them, and they will never forget.

Three are foreign. They knew not what they do. But it does not matter, for I will find them, and they will learn these are my woods.

The last of the four is familiar. But at the same time, she is different. She is not from these woods, but at the same time, she is. Ah. Another of them. Are you lost, little doe?

It is too often your kind forgets. I have reminded them before.

Oh? I was mistaken. There is a fifth. Why had I not noticed you sooner, little one? I see, that is why. You are another Heart. Very peculiar. But you have strayed from your lands. These are mine, and even you will be made to remember that.

It is not often I am called to rise, and so, I rise slowly.

But still, I rise.

---

Comments

[Twilight_Crow]

Ah, so Fluttershy and our griffon friends are already looking for AJ in the forest. And something unknown, or more like someone, is going to make this adventure a lot more interesting.

Good chapter mate, lots of mystery! And good to hear you are ok.

[Krickis]

8421655
Everything I planned for chapter five wound up being 15k words, so I decided t split it into two chapters, which had the upside of leaving me with this fantastic cliffhanger Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and you’re right that things are about to get a lot more interesting in the next one

[Ice Star]

Okay what the heck that ended ominously

[Summer Sketch]

Ohhh that's cool 🤩

[Krickis]

11438021
Hehe glad you moved onto this fic, I'm really happy with this one