Sugar Hoof the Wizard Colt

by Furenstein

Life Magic, Born of Fear

Gilded Spear and I stood outside the Everfree Forest and I wondered where I should start.

"It'd probably be easier to peel off the life magic by the edges and work our way inward." I said, thinking over my plans.

His legs shook slightly as he looked deeper into the forest, sweat formed on his brow.

Walking closer to a tree so I could begin my work, I said, "If you were afraid of the forest, you should've mentioned something before we left."

He shook his head and said, "I-I'm not scared. I'm a member of the royal guard."

Thunder rained down suddenly, and Gilded Spear jumped backwards. "AHH!" He screamed.

Looking up, I saw the two royal guards who flew us down here, still attached to the chariot, fly away from the storm cloud. They laughed and shouted, "Have fun, wimp!" Gilded Spear growled as they flew away.

"Those two seem fun." I said, grabbing the first tree in my magic.

"Bunch of jerks." Gilded Spear grumbled, but he still remained a sizeable distance away from me.

"Shouldn't you be standing closer, in case I try to escape?" I asked.

"Uhhh..." He started, putting his hoof on the back of his head. "You could've escaped earlier... Yeah, the ring around your horn didn't even work, you could leave anytime you want." He said.

I looked at him with eyes that said, 'Are you serious?', and he finally moved a bit closer.

"Besides, I'm supposed to be defending Equestria, that includes you, I'd imagine."

He scoffed, "I don't need some baby pony to keep me safe." I glared at him and picked him up in my magic.

"Sugar! Sugar, I was just kidding, put me down!" He said frantically, trying to get away as I held him on the opposite side of me, further into the everfree forest.

"If you happen to see anything approaching, say something so I can handle it." I said, finally able to return to my work.

---

About an hour into the job, I looked back at my lack-luster progress. We were on the western side of the forest, and behind me, a line of trees stood out from the rest. The grass beneath looked ridiculous, as if a child had drawn it. The grass outside the Everfree was akin to a fern, while the grass inside the everfree was similar to killarney, and in the line with the trees I had cured, the grass was an emerald color.

"Hey Sugar Hoof, you feel like taking a break anytime soon?" Gilded Spear shouted over to me, still contained in a bubble of my magic.

"Take a break? I've only just started." I explained before moving on to the next tree.

It was more time-consuming than anything, I could've just ran through quickly and started changing everything, but I wanted this to last. Not the time working, mind you, but the forest. It had been so long since I had fulfilled my duty as a life wizard, instead of farming, instead of fighting, we created.

The next tree's bark grew a healthy and light brown as the grass turned an emerald green. I was enjoying myself, doing simple labor that felt both natural and right was pleasant to experience.

Gilded Spear noticed the small smile on my face and said, "At least you seem to be enjoying yourself."

"I haven't done this type of stuff since I was still in school." I said as I moved on to the next tree.

"So this... 'life magic' stuff, is the same as everfree magic?"

"Yes, I'd suspect that in the center of the forest, we'll find the source of all this life magic."

"What do you think the source is?" He asked.

"Probably a tree or a well ... or a staff. It would have to be something stained with life magic after decades of use from a practitioner to warrant all this." Another tree cured.

"And how come you can still cast magic even while you have a magic-nullifying ring on your horn?"

I saw no reason to lie further, they already know from my blunder at breakfast. "Life magic comes from the heart, and a horn is just a naturally formed wand or staff. It helps with aiming one's magic, but has nothing to do with access to magic."

"How do you know all this?"

"No, no, it's time for you to answer a question." I said, looking at him in the bubble, "Those two stallions, are they 'repeat offenders?"

He sighed as he looked down, "It's not just those two, everypony at the barracks make fun of me for being weak or slow... or afraid."

I did notice that Gilded was a bit smaller than the other royal guards I had seen. "You're just a recruit still, you need to give it some time, practice, train, and move up in the ranks." I explained as I finished another tree.

"I know, it's just... what if I can't do it?" He said, his ears lowered at the thought.

"You can, I'm sure." If the other guards were any indication, being a royal guard didn't require much in the way of strength or intellect.

"You think I can?" He asked, ears raising.

"I know you can." I said and he smiled.

"Thanks, Sugar Hoof."

We stayed in silence for a few more minutes after that.

---

Goldie and Rain stood before Princess Celestia in the throne room of Canterlot, she looked fearful in thought. "And you're sure, a few thousand of them?"

"The caverns were massive, your majesty, there must've been well over ten thousand of them down there." Rain said.

"I just wish I understood why he did it, Princess. Why free us while pretending to be a slave himself?" Goldie asked, remembering being moved in a cart surrounded by treants with the other slaves on their way to the macintosh hills.

"A good question, I will have to ask him about his exploits myself later." Said the solar Princess, as she levitated up a map and drew a circle at the exact spot where Rain and Goldie said the treant caverns were.

Comments

[GlitchyFox]

hey look! it seems the ponys are going to be the ones this time who make matters worse.

[shance]

11315126
I mean if they talk to him first? Everything can be avoided, war normally isn’t the first response for them so they have high chances to not fck it up.