The Hag, the heroes, and a few other things

by Amaranthine Thought

Breaking Harmony 4

It was three days since Discord’s visit and my fish experiment had gone… oddly. Some talking sea serpent with purple scales and red hair (a full head of hair and mustache. Very strange) lived in the river and had proven most aggravating. Never met such a conceited beast in all my days, even if it did give me a fish when asked.

The fish had proven to be difficult to clean, and a struggle to eat. Didn’t taste good either. It seemed this body was strictly meant for plants only, but at least I hadn’t been in agony from daring to eat it.

The next day, I had been collecting herbs in the woods to replenish my own stocks when I heard barking and howling and screaming. The screams of children.

I dropped everything and ran through the woods as fast as I could, uncaring of the plants that whipped at me as I ran. I burst into a clearing filled with wooden wolves.

They were the same size as a normal wolf, around my new height. Bark and wood made up their forms, plants growing on them and glowing green eyes on their faces. Even their teeth were no more than sharp points of wood, and they growled at me. Geistermen. The Everfree had geistermen living in it and the stupid forest had never realized it.

I screamed “Heel!” Anyone else would have been savaged, but I was a hag. I held authority over these beasts, unthinking creatures that only existed because of the woods.

They cowered at me, the Everfree reinforcing my authority over them. “Go!” I yelled. They scattered and I finally saw their victims.

Three tiny ponies, about a quarter of my own size laid against a tree. One was yellow with a red mane and tail with a torn red bow in her hair. One was orange with a purple mane and tail, two tiny wings protruding from its back, feathered and the same color as its coat. The last was white with purple and pink running through its mane and tail with a simple spiral horn rising from its forehead. They were badly hurt and I hurried to them.

Two of them barely breathed, very badly hurt by the geistermen. The third, the yellow one, was better, but not by much, and looked up at me with weak eyes. I saw the soul reflected in those oversized orbs. I noticed that they looked like myself, at least somewhat, but far smaller. They were children.

I made a soothing noise as I picked each up in turn, humming a few lullabies. I continued to hum as I carefully transported them back, feeling their blood staining my coat and their heartbeats growing weaker with every moment.

With the greatest haste I could manage without harming them farther I returned to my cottage, my own heart beating hard. I had already lost so much, I… I don’t think I could have withstood another loss, even if I didn’t even know who or what they were. They were children, and that is all that mattered.

I laid them upon my bed and called the forest. I needed its help, its life, and now. I could feel its desire to just grant me the power needed, but it was bound to require payment. It returned with the cost and I hesitated. It was high, perhaps more than I would be willing to pay despite its rather odd nature. A life for a life or something dear was the normal exchange. That price wanted me to… not do something.
Until all three were fully healed I was not to go near the crystal tree or interfere in its effects.

I was saving that place! I had to keep up my effort! Without my protection the Everfree would return to that broken helpless forest I had found myself in originally! The tree might even regain its lost strength and I would need to start again! I didn’t even know that these creatures had been the ones screaming! Perhaps human children had been screaming and I missed them, and I was taking care of animals by mistake?!

My mind raced with reasons to not accept before I slapped myself (hooves hurt far more than hands I found out). They were children! I saw the light of a soul in all three and no animal had a soul. And I was debating letting them die because I didn’t want to stop fighting. I felt like a foolish idiot.

I accepted the cost, the power filling me before going to them.

If one looked closely a green mist settled over the three. Their injuries lessoned under its administrations and their strength increased so that I might remedy their injuries without them dying during recovery. Their wounds shut and they stopped bleeding, but they were still very hurt. Just not hurt enough to die on me.

By now all three were asleep, a minor blessing as I cleaned their wounds and dressed them. I produced a simple poultice from what I had, using up my stock of healing plants, eventually covering every injury to prevent disease. The orange one had a broken wing, the left one, and the yellow had two broken legs, left front and right back. I set them, asking the forest for as much knowledge as it had and praying that I didn’t cripple them with my ignorance (I had seen a horse once before, and at a distance. I had no idea what they were supposed to be like normally).

With that taken care of I moved to my table. I suspected that I had discovered some spinach in the woods and the fillies would need a healthy meal to speed their recovery. I gathered my ingredients and set a pot of water over my warmer, (a tiny metal pot with a flame within, like a tiny oven) and dropped the leaves within. Then I watched and waited.

---

The plant hadn’t been spinach; the water turned purple and the leaves burned up. It did make an oddly delightful tea though. At the first groan I jumped up and hurried to the bedside.

The yellow one was trying to stir awake. I had taken the foresight to try to prevent movement on their part, lest they reopen their injuries. It was obviously in pain; I would need to get something for that.

“Hush now.” I said in my best calming voice, “Everything is fine, just stop moving.” I gently laid a hoof on her side and tried to hold her still.

“Ho… who… there.” She, I realized by the voice, murmured weakly as she clenched her eyes shut in pain. “Sis..? It hurts…”

They could talk. That was… lots of things really, but I had seen and heard of odder things and besides; I was a colorful pony and I could speak. Really, it only made them more human in my eyes.

“I know it hurts child, just hold still.”

I returned to my shelves and looked about. Many of my plants had numbing properties in the correct dosage; otherwise they were just poisonous. I did have some parashroom left; not only would that render her pain free, but it would also hold her still, possibly for several days.

I decided against that and selected the simpler thorn vine, boiled and stored in a chest. Once boiled it lost the ‘horrible bleeding death’ part of its nature and became very effective at preventing pain for some time. It was good for wounds and setting bones, preventing the patient from feeling pain for about a day, and I was very experienced at not over or under using it. Even numbing could be dangerous if I used too much and too little is ineffective, but I had used it often; about one foot of vine would do for them.

Feeding her the nasty thing was another trial. I had to chew it up for her and then spit it into her mouth. The less said about the taste the better and she did not appreciate it either. The taste or my method. I repeated the action with the other two as well; I couldn’t feel my mouth and they were still asleep and would also be in pain, so why not?

“gah ta slee.” I managed with my numbing mouth. Shaking my head I cautiously laid myself next to the bed, ready to respond to any call for aid, or an attempt at movement. The thorn vine’s poison would last all day, and the mouth problems would fade in an hour.

She did not take my advice and stayed up, trying the entire time to speak and only producing gibberish and mumbling. By the time an hour was up I was annoyed and upset; the little thing didn’t seem to know the meaning of ‘keep still’, especially now that it wasn’t in pain.

“Cut it out you little wriggleworm! I’m trying to rest and you’re up there mumbling and twitching when you should be sleeping!”

“I can’t!” She yelled with a slight accent. I just figured that the numbness lasted longer with her than me, “I’ve gotta see if th others are O.K!”

I had placed her at the end, and she did face away from the other two. I sighed. I should have anticipated that.

“Fine. Hold yourself stiff and take a breath.” I instructed. She did so then with one quick movement I flipped her over. She calmed upon seeing the other two, but grew concerned at their sight.

“Sweetie! Scootaloo! Are ya’ll all right!?”

The other two twitched and murmured as they woke. I felt like screaming as they also began moving.

“Applebloom…?” the white one murmured, either ‘Sweetie’ or ‘Scootaloo’, I wasn’t sure.

“Where are we?” asked the orange one, a rough voice convincing me that this one was male. Again, only saw a horse once. There are stories of course, but no bard goes into great detail about the hero’s mount.

“I dunno,” Applebloom, the yellow one was Applebloom, said, “but this nice person’s helpin us.”

“Hi!” chirped the white one upon seeing me.

“I should have gotten the parashroom.” I muttered looking at the three squirming bodies. They could only barely move and they were doing their best to make sure that their injures burst open again.

“Hold still!” I shouted at them, getting them to cease. “You are all very hurt and need to hold still!”

“But I don’t even feel as bad as I do when I fall off my scooter.” Remarked the male.

“What did happen anyway?” asked the white one, “Why do we look like mummies?”

I growled slightly. “You all got savaged by geistermen and I only barely prevented them from making a meal of you three. Why were you all wandering in the woods anyway? Don’t your mothers tell you the tales? Or are you looking for your deaths?”

I knew I had made a mistake instantly. The white one stiffened and teared up at the mention of her near death. The other two twitched at the mention, but both began gently crying at the mention of mothers. Apparently at least two of them were orphans of some kind.

“Spirits curse it…” I said, felling guilty. I don’t like making children cry.

“Come on now,” I began in a soothing tone, “You are alive, getting better, and I can tell you the tales if you want.”

They did perk up a bit, but not by much. “But first, tell me about yourselves, I want to know more about the…” I tried to think of something to cheer them, “brave explorers of the Everfree.” I hazarded.

That got them happy again. Seemed like they liked that idea.

I soon learned about them. Sweetie Belle was the white horned pony who lived with her sister, a ‘fashionista’ (whatever that is), in a place called Ponyville which was just outside the Everfree. Applebloom, the yellow pony, worked on a farm (some kind of massive garden I thought at the time) with her sister Applejack, her brother Big Macintosh, and her granny, Granny Smith. No mention of her parents.

Scootaloo was as forthcoming as the fey with their secrets. She (they told me, got a cheap giggle at my and her expense) lived in the town, enjoyed riding her scooter with ‘awesome tricks’, admired someone called Rainbow Dash, and was friends with the previous two. Absolutely no mention of family of any kind.

All three were a part of their own self-created group, ‘the cutie mark crusaders’ or ‘CMC’. Which spiraled into them telling me the tales of their attempts to get cutie marks without ever telling me what in creation was a cutie mark. They had… many adventures in their short lives. Honestly, I was somewhat surprised that any of them were still alive with a few of those tales.

“Yours is a bit weird though.” Remarked Scootaloo, earning her a glare.

“What’s a bit weird?” I asked her.

“Your cutie mark.” Applebloom said.

I hesitated. “What’s a cutie mark?” I asked them, trying and failing to figure it out on my own.

All three fell silent and looked at me like I was mad. We must have stared at each other for several minutes. At last Sweetie Belle spoke up again, “The mark on your… flank miss… nice person.”

“You can call me grandmother. Or Hag, doesn’t matter which.” I told her as I swiveled my head to look at my tattoo. The colors were nice, and the design was odd, but I didn’t really care. It was no scar at least.

“See?” asked Applebloom, “What does that mark mean?”

“Mean?” I blinked, “It doesn’t mean anything. The thing is a brand I got from… doing my job.” They didn’t need to know about my fight with the crystal tree.

That confused them which confused me more. “But what job do you do?” Sweetie Belle asked me, head turning slightly.

That was a good sensible question. Especially when considering their… varied… tales of adventure, and one I had heard before from many others.

I chuckled, “I’m a hag girls. And a hag is an old woman who lives in the woods and helps people.”

“Like Miss Zecora!” Applebloom said.

“She never told us she was a hag.” Scootaloo remarked.

“We never did ask her though…” Sweetie said.

Zecora was on odd name, but not any stranger than Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo or Applebloom or Rainbow Dash or any other one the girls had brought up. They were all very strange to my ear and I wondered what culture would cause names like that. Spirits, Scootaloo sounded like childish gibberish to me.

I had the feeling I could use that bit of information about Zecora later and stowed it away.

“That’s enough children.” I said, “Now rest. You need to recover and I need to find dinner. Stay in bed, especially you Applebloom. You can’t feel it now, but two of your legs are broken; move wrong and you may never walk again.” She seemed very concerned at that.

At least Applebloom was still in bed when I returned. The other two were sprawled out on the floor, the thorn vine wearing off early and leaving them in too much pain to move. I sighed and scooped them up before depositing them back in bed. Activity would have lessened the length of time that the vine would numb them. I should have known that they would do that considering their personalities and the stories they told.

“Hi Miss Hag!” called Applebloom as I trotted over with her friends, “Do yah got any food, cause I’m starvin!” I noticed that she was holding very still. I wondered if I had overly scared her with my comment about never walking again.

“I’m too hurt to eat…” Sweetie mumbled.

“I’d like some orange juice please.” Scootaloo said.

All three thought I was an inn apparently. And what was orange juice?

“You are all getting the same thing: these herbs I dug up.” I produced the plant, roots and all. “Healthy for injured children.”

All three eyed it with distaste. “Miss Hag?” asked Applebloom.

“If you are going to ask if you can skip it, the answer is no.”

“Why do yah keep saying things like ‘children’ or ‘people’? We’re fillies an ponies, not children an people.”

A cultural thing I figured. Their names were rather strange and they were ponies which would make their words more normal than my own… The other two seemed deep in thought at her remark, implying that my own words were uncommon or unheard of here. A simple thing to remedy at least. They would be with me for some time and I did need to make them feel at home.

I realized that I was planning for them to stay, when before I was planning to move them away as soon as possible. I worried for a moment, unsure why I was feeling like that, but calmed soon. I liked having them, and I liked taking care of them. I feared what might come of it, but I felt fulfilled caring for them. So I decided I would keep them, at least until they healed.

“Just the way people, ponies talk where I’m from. I can get the hang of it in a few days if you’d like, make this place a little more like home for the three of you.”

Scootaloo nodded happily, but the other’s eyes widened hugely. “Home!” they both cried before descending into yelling over each other and writhing to get off of the bed. They were going to break open every new scar and Applebloom was going cripple herself with that behavior.

They weren’t any calmer when I tied them to the bed to prevent them from moving. They were going to kill themselves acting like that. “Calm down!” I yelled, getting them to stop shouting as I began knotting the rope, “You!” I pointed at Applebloom, “Tell me!”

She took a deep breath. “I’ve gotta get back to th farm afore Applejack an Macintosh an Granny get worried about me!”

I turned to indicate Sweetie Belle, finishing their bindings. “I need to get back to tell Rarity, that’s my big sister I told you about, and tell her that I’m all right! She must be really upset by now!”

Scootaloo seemed nervous for some reason as I looked at her. “Well?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter! My family isn’t worried!” she said rather… quickly. The other two seemed not to notice her slight fear or the oddity of her words, but I did.

Either she lived with parents that didn’t care for her, or she lived alone. I didn’t press her on the issue; she seemed ashamed of what she was hiding and I wouldn’t embarrass her in front of her friends.

Turning back to the plant I began preparing it for dinner (rip leaves off and cut roots off, then boil everything into stew). “I will go and tell your families about you. None of you are in any condition to travel. I’ll leave in the morning, so I want you to get your minds together and tell me what you want me to tell them. Make sure to tell me where they are too, might not be able to find someone…”

“Somepony miss Hag.” Sweetie helpfully told me.

“Somepony based on familial ties.” I continued, giving her a smile, “But you all are eating this plant before I go to bed, even if I have to shove it down your little throats.”

They managed to give me an accurate account of where I had to go, who I had to talk to, and what I should say. For children… fillies, they rather bravely ate the weed I had gathered. I tried a bit; it was bitter and disgusting such that I wouldn’t eat it if given the choice.

For now, my bed was taken by them, so I settled on the floor, preparing for aches in the morning. It was late at night, and I was exhausted. Fortunately, they got the hint, and accepted going to sleep with me.

“Good night Miss hag.” They chorused.

“Spirits keep you and the fey hate you.” I muttered unthinkingly.

“What does that mean?”

“Go to sleep, it means nothing.”

“But what’s a spirit?”

“Or a fey?”

“It’s late, go to sleep.”

“But.”

“Sleep!”

---

I was up as the sun rose. The first time I had done so, since I preferred to sleep in. The sun practically jumped into the sky. It went from horizon to sky in moments, and I could track its motion. That was less than calming and I retreated back to my hut, fearful of the strange sight. A lot had told me I was far from my normal home, but seeing that… I knew that I was somewhere else.

The girls were still asleep as I ate breakfast. A good thing, they needed sleep to recover. I draped a blanket over them, made sure that their bindings were tight enough to prevent escape and movement, but not tight enough to cause injury and headed out.

I collected some of my herbs and flowers on my way, dropping them into the sack draped on my back. Always a good idea to bring gifts to new places or people or ponies after all.

It took me a few hours to get to the edge of the woods and I was disheartened at the sight. Without my protection the Everfree was returning to its former state rather quickly. The new growth was weak and scrawny compared to the woods just past it. I bid it farewell and cringed at the slightly choked reply; it could feel the changes being inflicted upon it and was terrified. I couldn’t help it despite my desire to save it once again; I would break the deal and the girls would pay the price.

Ponyville rose before me, the bright colors and thatched roofs unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. An odd place to be sure. Colorful ponies flocked in the streets, not a one looking like a warrior, and not one of them looking like they could handle a fight. Large open spaces, goods in the open with a population mostly made of females…

I wondered how it hadn’t been raided to the ground already as I made my way to the… what was it? Big round building… thing Sweetie had told me about. The Carousel Boutique! That was it, Sweetie’s sister lived in a shop of some kind called the Carousel Boutique. Like I was saying, in my land Ponyville wouldn’t last two days before other, stronger towns would take everything.

The town was filled with oddities. I stopped before a giant gingerbread house and stared. For a moment I thought fairies made their home in the town, but dismissed my fears. Fairies are tiny, and the structure was large enough for the ponies to be inside it. A bright pink mare with a mass of pinker hair for a mane saw me from inside it, but didn’t approach beyond waving at me. She seemed a bit sad.

A different crystal tree rose before me as I continued, angular in its branches, and purple in color. I stopped to regard it. It had a touch of the same essence as the tree in the Everfree. I wondered if the pair were related.

This one lacked the strange power, but they were very similar outside of the purple version being much bigger and having a door built into it. Windows and a balcony were present as well, suggesting something lived in it. I stared for a while before moving on.

I found the building Sweetie had described fairly easily. It stood alone and was quite… eye catching to say the least. It was round and rose to a point like a large tent. It was many shades of blue and white and purple, a bell hanging over the front door.

I headed to the door and noticed a note pinned to it. It had an elegant flowing script that my eyes couldn’t make out easily.

“Closed… personal reasons… see Twilight Sparkle for information.” I read, squinting to make out the curly words. It did not say where I might find whoever Sparkle was. The girls had mentioned a Twilight in their tales, so I thought that maybe the two might be the same pony. If I couldn’t find her, I could ask the girls for directions.

“Hi there!” came an exited happy voice from behind me.

I turned and saw the same pink mare I had seen earlier. Both her mane and tail were curled and despite the chaotic nature were not masses of tangles. She smiled and seemed excited, but there was a strain to her that I could see.

“Are you new to Ponyville? My name’s Pinkie, Pinkie Pie! It’s great to meet you!”

I grew concerned. She was rather obviously pretending at happiness and I worried for her if she felt that pressured to appear happy. And for myself, in case that she was hiding a sinister side and that was why she was tense.

“Thank you Miss Pie, but I have no need of a welcome.”

“Oh…” she said, deflating.

“But you can tell me where I can find a Twilight Sparkle? I need to speak with her.”

She perked up and gave me an actual smile that was far smaller than before. “Twilight lives in the giant castle, see it over there?” she pointed at the crystal tree in the town.

“Thank you.” I said, moving toward it. I stopped for a moment, sighed and walked back.

“Do try to feel better. Sadness does not suit you.”

She gasped, surprised I had noticed. Then she looked down at her hooves before looking up again and she smiled at me, “Thank you. I needed that.”

“Just doing what’s right.” I said. I patted her on the shoulder, “There is always something to be happy about. Find something that makes you happy.”

“I will! And when I find it, I’ll find you and give you the greatest party you ever had!” She headed off, determination in her eyes. “Thank you again!” she called as she left.

I smiled. It really wasn’t so bad to be near people again. Even if they were ponies instead of humans.

I headed back and knocked on the door to the odd tree. A small drake opened it, with purple scales and green spines, standing on his hind legs. It was somewhat plump, fat little tail balancing it, large green snake-like eyes looking at me. Tiny claws were on its hands and feet, its tail ended in a flat triangle, and its spines and tail point were soft and rounded.

“Not accepting visitors right now.” he said to my dumbfounded face. “Um… are you O.K?”

“I was looking for a Rarity?” I said in a dreamy tone, forgetting why I was there for a moment. A hatchling! A real dragon hatchling! Right there less than a day’s walk from my home! The things I could accomplish with his scales, his spines, his blood, his bones… the possibilities were endless! Flesh for potions to make a man able to uproot a tree with his bare hands! Blood and bone to make salves to cure even the greatest burn! Bits of him were worth an entire town if I couldn’t find a use for them elsewhere!

Still, he was a hatchling, worth little as compared to how big he would be in a few years, and somepony else had to own the little guy. Somepony taught it to speak and answer the door; that was not normal dragon behavior. I wondered if I might be able to convince them to part with him. After I finished my tasks of course. I wasn’t about to forget my promises.

“About Sweetie Belle?” I finished in a far more normal tone.

“Oh! Right this way!” he said, holding the door for me. He lead me through a vastly oversized interior before opening the door to a room with the lower-half of a tree lit with wisps of color hanging above a round table. The roots of a tree to be specific, one that had been very big and very old. Seven thrones were around the table, each one white marble and bearing a design on their backs.

There was a white horned pony with a purple mane in the room, though she didn’t fully match the picture Sweetie had supplied. She had told me her sister was elegant, with her purple mane and tail curled and her white coat kept in peak condition. This pony had gone on a hike, fallen down a cliff into the bushes and mud and failed to clean herself after returning. There was even a stick in her hair. The colors matched even if the appearance didn’t, as did the cutie mark: three diamonds.

“Rarity?” I asked hesitantly, not sure that I had gotten the right pony, “I have a message from Sweetie Belle?”

It was as though she transformed before my very eyes. Her head snapped up, her mane frizzed, the stick thrown some distance as it did so, and her eyes widened in… hope? Desperation? I’m not sure and she put her face far too close to mine in an instant.

“You found her!? Is she safe? Where is she? Oh! I’ve been so worried!”

At least she calmed as she spoke, gaining far more self-control until she seemed a more normal sort.

“Yes… could you move back please? I like my space.”

“Oh! I am terribly sorry dear, but please, you must tell me!”

Once she was sufficiently away I took a breath. “She sends her apologies that she cannot be here and asks that you don’t worry about her. She has been hurt by the beasts of the Everfree, but she is recovering at Zecora’s home. She cannot be moved now, but she will be able to be moved in a day or two.”

My lie sailed right past her. I had always had a talent for lying (helped me to spot other liars), and she hadn’t been looking for dishonesty. The tension flowed out from her and she sat down, sighing in relief.

“Thank Celestia. And thank you Miss?”

I almost told her my name, but stopped myself. Discord might learn of it, and that might be bad. Best to keep up the new name I decided. “Hag.”

“Miss… Hag…” She seemed to not like my chosen name. “Have you heard of the others? Applebloom and Scootaloo? Little fillies about this tall, a yellow earth pony and an orange pegasus, Applebloom has a red bow in her mane?”

Surprising. She was concerned over other people’s families? I had expected her to go off to wherever Zecora’s place was without a second thought. As I wondered at this two other ponies entered, one purple the other orange.

The purple one had a dark blue mane and tail, purple and pink streaks running through both. She had two wings and a spiral horn, a pink star for a cutie mark, surrounded by five white points. The orange one looked like myself, lacking extra features. She had a blond mane and tail, her mane kept in a ponytail with red bands, and a strange hat sat on her head. She didn’t seem to have gotten much sleep recently.

The orange one must be Applejack, Applebloom’s older sister, I decided. The hat tipped me off. A ‘Stetson’ as Applebloom had called it. At their entry Rarity perked up and waved to them.

“Girls! Over here! Miss… this wonderful mare knows where the girls are!”

Yep, she really didn’t like my chosen name.

“Yah know where my little sis is?!” cried Applejack, her voice telling me Applebloom hadn’t had an allergic reaction to the thorn vine as I had suspected; Applejack sounded just as odd. “Can ya tell us where?”

I nodded. “All three of those fillies were injured in the Everfree and are being watched over by Zecora. They are hurt, but recovering nicely. Applebloom tells you not to worry about her, she’s fine. They are recovering from being mauled by wooden wolves very nicely and a few weeks and Applebloom might even walk again!” I said cheerfully, smiling.

In my land, such injuries would suggest the child was god-touched if they wandered the woods unattended. A child in the woods was far more likely to become a meal for some beast, be taken by the fairies, or come back lacking limbs if they did come back. The fillies had been badly hurt, but had gotten off very lightly in my opinion.

Applejack’s face turned ashen at my words, as though I had told her Applebloom had died. The other two weren’t faring much better either and I looked about, confused.

“Is… is something wrong with that? Would it be better if she didn’t?” I asked, looking between them in turn.

“No, no it’s all fine really.” lied the purple one, waving her foreleg and failing to meet my gaze at all. She was really bad at deception. “It’s just that they are a bit more hurt than normal. We hadn’t expected something like a broken leg.”

What exactly is wrong with these ponies? I thought. A broken leg amongst creatures with four of them was a rare injury? The lifestyle those fillies had led made broken legs the worst thing to ever happen to them? It was slightly shocking to hear that from her.

“Then I’ll be off.” I said, “I have my own business to attend to…”

The purple mare nodded as I walked past her, “Thank you so much for your help! I’m Twilight, this is Applejack, and that is Rarity, who you seem to have met already. I am sure that we’ll see each other again miss…”

Not if I could help it they wouldn’t. “Hag.” I called over my shoulder to see Rarity wince, Twilight hesitate and Applejack look up with a questioning eyebrow. I was wondering if hag was some kind of insult. It would explain the odd looks I kept getting.

Whatever the case I hurried back to the Everfree. My lie might not last too long.

So why did I tell them that the fillies were at Zecora’s place? you might ask.

Many reasons I’d respond.

First, the fillies needed good capable care and I was certain that those ‘never heard of a broken leg’ ponies couldn’t provide better than myself, but that had been determined after I had lied so it wasn’t really a reason.

The second was that I did not want anyone or anything to know where I lived without making absolutely certain that I wanted them to. I wanted to live out the last bit of my life alone and in peace, and being the hero of a tale would only drag many to my doorstep. Many that I might fail to save, like I didn’t save my people before… I wasn’t going to be relied upon only to fail someone, or somepony, ever again.

The third: those fillies were my best source of information of this place. They knew the culture and layout of the area around me while I did not. It would be foolhardy to lose them just yet.

And last is that I may have been thinking of something else at the time. I had failed my own people, slaughtered to the last. Maybe I was trying to atone for my past mistake by helping these three. I might have been seeing and hearing many, far too many, childish faces and voices in them. In saving them, I might have felt like I was saving all the others I had failed to save. Maybe I was lying to myself and that was exactly what I was doing and thinking. Because that’s what I was doing and thinking.

I was in the woods and returning to my cottage when I heard a piercing shriek from nearby. At a guess, that was either Rarity or Applejack discovering my lie. I ignored it and gathered some blueberries that I stumbled upon; the girls would like a treat.

---

“But why!?” wailed Rarity as she was supported atop Rainbow’s back. She was near inconsolable over my deception.

Not that they had been particularly distrustful of me, but the little note on Zecora’s door on her home in the Everfree declared that she was off visiting family, and would not be back for many weeks. It put severe doubts on the truth of my words to say the least.

The revelation of my deception confused and hurt them, particular Rarity and Applejack, their younger sisters missing. Rainbow Dash, who viewed Scootaloo as her younger sister and the previous two as close friends, even began hating me.

“I don’t know!” yelled Rainbow, “But why didn’t Applejack known that Hag was lying?”

“I were tired an upset an hopin fer good news.” Applejack said, downcast and tired, "An I was more focused on 'Applebloom might walk agin' ta pay much attention ta where she was."

“Everypony is just feeling a little tense, and I am sure that Hag must have had a good reason for this.” Twilight said.

“What reason is there to lie about my beautiful little sister’s fate!” Rarity said. “Who would even do such a thing!? What if she’s hurt, and afraid, and…”

“That’s enough Rares!” Applejack yelled, “My little sis might be hurt real bad and you’re jus..!”

“Girls! Calms down!” Twilight interrupted, interposing herself between the pair. “We will find the girls and they will be alright, alright?” Twilight looked back and forth. There had been an odd tension over the group recently, particularly Pinkie who was far less bouncy than normal. And Rainbow was right, Applejack should have seen right through my lie. They all wondered why she hadn’t.

“And when we find Hag, I’m going to buck her over town hall!”

“She’s an old mare Rainbow.”

“Then I’ll knock her over or something. I HATE when old ponies are mean! You can’t do anything or you’re the bad guy because they’re old!”

Comments

[Wolfren]

Oh, that desperation! The anger! Hag better hope the forest, the wendigo, and the second spirit can keep her safe from the mane six, especially after they see the tree.
Also, are you using information from a mythology dictionary? Because if so, I would like to read it to learn more about Hag's abilities and make some theories on what is going on.

[Amaranthine Thought]

8167822

To the best of my knowledge, a hag stems from nordic mythology, as well as Baba Yaga, in some of her forms. On the other hand, most of what is there is my own creation, which may or may not relate to actual myth.

edit: you can ask me, and I'll do my best to fill it in. There is no book that contains the information you seek.

[Wolfren]

8167985 Wow, you never cease to amaze.