... does it make a sound?
The trees are moving. I'm sure of it.
The trees are coming for me, and I can't run away, because I'm a tree.
I wasn't always a tree. This morning I was a pegasus pony. I live in that cottage over there, just over the rise.
Discord thought he was doing me a favor. Somewhere he heard that I once said I'd like to be a tree, which was true at the time. So today he turned me into a tree, planting me in a little clearing between some very nice oaks on one side and the Everfree Forest on the other.
He said he also arranged it so that no pony would come to bother me until dawn tomorrow, so I could have a full day of living life as a tree, totally undisturbed.
I wish some pony would disturb me now. I wish I could disturb some pony- any pony.
I know Discord meant well, and I don't like to discourage him when he's making so much progress, but I wish he'd been just a little less reformed. Or maybe a little more attentive, because if he was here watching over me I'm sure he'd notice the swaying and-
That tree root over there wasn't this close when I last looked. It was five ponylengths away. Now it's four.
Anyway, at first it seemed nice. The oaks are very nice. Trees talk by scents and pheromones, by little touches and messages through the forest's intertwined root system. One of them was warning the others that it had a beetle infestation, and then it flushed the air when a woodpecker came by to get at the grubs. Another was bragging about the acorns it's growing, so many even its squirrel family won't be able to store them all. And the one closest to my house was talking about how the birds nesting in it were giving it all the guano it could want.
It was all sweet and pleasant, exactly as I imagined.
But then the other trees began to talk- the Everfree Forest trees.
I never knew trees could hate.
I never knew anything could hate as much as the Everfree trees hate.
They hate animals. They hate the birds who make nests and break twigs for them. They hate the squirrels who run through their branches. They hate the bunnies and moles that burrow under their roots. And they hate the larger creatures, like the manticores, who chase prey and break limbs and tamp down the soil. They say the animals are parasites, that they need to be destroyed.
They hate ponies. They say ponies cut down the forest, which once covered the whole continent. The ponies turned forests into fields. They turned trees into firewood. They took the center of the forest and dared to put a thing of stone in it, using magic so that even a thousand years after the ponies left, the Everfree still can't reclaim its own. Ponies are the enemy, the invader, and they want ponies- they want us eliminated.
They hate Zecora, but they're afraid of her.
(I really hope you're safe...)
They hate the trees that aren't part of the Everfree. The oaks are traitors, they say. And the trees on Applejack's orchard? I don't think Ponish has words for what they say about those apple trees. They give the enemy food, material, shelter. They've forgotten what it means to be a tree. They say those trees are "asleep".
They hate the timberwolves. Hate and fear them, becasue they know it is their own hate that takes a dead, fallen tree and turns it into one of those monsters. It's the loathing and rage they feel that powers the timberwolves, that lets them keep coming back again and again. They call them abominations, but they also sneer about how each of them will become one someday.
And most of all they hate me.
Because they know I'm not a real tree.
Where I sit, under Celestia's sun, it's a bright day with barely a breath of wind. But after about half an hour all the trees on the edge of the Everfree were rustling their leaves like it was a day for kite-flying. And it only got louder. Soon branches began swaying and creaking, as the smell of rage spread around me, as I felt little tendrils in the soil trying to grab and pull on my roots.
The Everfree is shouting- I think it's the whole forest now.
It's shouting Invader. It's shouting Imposter. Infiltrator. Spy.
And they mean me.
There's one tree voice louder than the others. At first I could barely hear it, but now the other trees repeat everything it says. I think it's that big, rotten, hollow one, the one with autumn foliage in the middle of May, the one that looks like it's dying but somehow isn't. It-
That one tree is only three ponylengths away now, it's not just the root. The oaks are still the same distance they were, but I'm a lot closer to the forest than I was.
The big tree says I'm the first, that more ponies will follow me. It says we intend to replace the trees. It says that if the forest doesn't do something, the forest will be destroyed, turned into nothing but ponies pretending to be trees. (I mean, I'm not pretending, I'm drinking through my roots and photosynthesizing and enjoying a little tropism as the sun moves overhead, but the angry trees won't listen to me.)
The big tree says it's time to fight back. He wants to bring back the forest, to get rid of the ponies.
And he says, when day is over and the trees have as much energy as they can store, they'll attack.
And all the trees of the Everfree cheer, and repeat it, and bend in my direction.
The sun is red and low in the sky. Some of the trees have already moved. I can feel their roots writhing in the ground, pulling them along.
I can't move. I don't know how.
Celestia help me, I don't know how.
I wish I were a pony, right now, so I could run. I'd warn my animals- my cottage is right over there, I can almost see it past those nice oaks, who are just as scared as I am. I'd warn my friends in Ponyville.
The big tree says they'll kill me first. Then they'll go on to the ponies. They'll flatten Ponyville. They'll also turn all the other trees into mulch if they're not on their side.
And the big tree says he will lead them all.
I can see the big tree's crown, swaying from side to side-
No. No, it's not swaying.
It's walking.
The other trees are parting to let it through.
One of the ones nearest me just ripped its roots out of the ground like a pony pulling a hoof out of the mud.
It's sunset, and the Everfree Forest is coming for me.
I want to run away.
I want to scream for help.
I want to be a pony again and not a tree.
And all I can do is stand and watch as the sun sets and the Everfree begins to march.
Some of them are already closer to my cottage than I am.
Save me.
Someone, save me!
The limbs of the nearest tree are brushing against mine.
Can anyone hear me?
If I fall, will anyone hear me?
Please, you've got to hear me!
The Everfree Forest is moving.
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Oh hello, Fangorn Forest. When did ents move to Equestria?
11563191 The Everfree could use some ents.
Those are huorns, with Old Man Willow thrown in.
11563193
It's been a while, but I thought huorns are ents? As is Old Man Willow? Just become.... not sure if evil is the right word or not.
I was not expecting this take on Fluttershy being a tree, but the idea of the Everfree forest being that alien and spiteful in a world of ponies is darkly intriguing.
I liked it, nice and believable twist
Well that was nice.
11563200 Some huorns are ents that have degenerated towards being trees, but most of them are the opposite- trees which have gained partial self-awareness and at least some power of motion.
11563200
Some Huorns are trees that have become more Ent-like, while others are Ents that have become more tree-like. They're described as being 'queer and wild', and Merry was of the opinion that it would be terrifying to meet them without a regular Ent to keep them in line.
An interesting story, i liked the concept of intelligent trees. Also, walking trees reminded me of Don't starve
11563416 To be fair, the list of definitely NON-intelligent life forms in Equestria seems to be limited to two- Snips and Snails.
Not a huge fan of jokes that equate extreme stupidity to non-sapience. Far too many people have used that line of thought to justify murder of the disabled.
Well damn thats a twist to the whole tree thing
11563461
Intelligence is the ablity to learn and use that knowledge.
Sapience is the two inventions called language and civilization.
There are definitely people alive who can score over 70 or 100 on an Iq test and still be utter morons. Many.
Wrote a review for the story.
Makes sense, actually.
Intriguing.
*nervously glances through the window at the trees in the garden*
Thanks, I guess?
Good story!
I enjoyed reading it.
Simple, but exquisitely sinister. Best of luck in the contest!
This was a nice little slice of unease. I liked it. Hearing the Everfree trees talking smack about other trees makes me think of 'The Trees' by Rush, especially with lines like this:
"There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream, 'Oppression!'
And the oaks just shake their heads"
Well then, you do horror way better than I ever thought for some one who doesn't like it
Very unsettling at times, the tree's burning misery and their connection to Timberwolves was an inspired idea!
Well, from 71 to 1 upvotes to 86 to 11. I guess I know at what point my regular readers got done and the general public kicked in...
This is very similar to when Q introduced the federation to the Borg. Fluttershy now knows what is going on with the trees, and will never look at the forest the same way again.
11563461 While this is fair enough, and might be justified in Snails' case, I maintain that poking fun at those who are stupid out of laziness rather than disability is justified.
There are few things in the universe more dangerous than those who are ignorant by choice.
11563193
A mob of huorns, led by Old Man Willow? Ho! Tom Bombadil, Tom Bombadillo!
Tolkien would have loved this. "See, Shakespeare?" he would have said, "THOSE are moving trees!"
what if trees were nazis
While I'll grant you the first part, I'll argue against the last. This is real good.
There's a key difference between a horror story and a thriller. A thriller can be read and people will say, "Well you could just do this!" Think of all the times you shouted, "Don't go upstairs, just get out of the house!" There are things you can do and the reader knows it.
With horror, there's nothing you can do. The character isn't just helpless, the reader is also helpless to think of what can be done. You nailed the whole concept really well in this story. So good job and hope you can sleep.
Very unsettling and a great read.
very creepy but it was good
I'm not a horror/thriller fan so take this with a grain of salt:
I think its a very well written horror story but the genre overall has moved towards internet memey stuff so much so that its easy to think that this is a bad horror story.
For one, this is still a MLP fanfic. Its not completely grimdark or hopeless or gory. And thats fine. Not every horror story needs to, or should, end with death.
Secondly, it doesn't rely (too much) on the audience having a background knowledge of everything else. Evil trees. Got it. No need for transdimensional alien viruses taking the appearance of plant life convoluted crap like that.
Third, a good horror story is about the build up. If the build up is good enough, it doesn't matter if there is no payoff at the end. It might detract from the overall package, but not everything sticks the landing.
I think the concept you've come up with is great, and it makes me want to use the Everfree Forest in more of my own work. I think though, that developing Fluttershy's motivations for becoming a tree, diving into her perception of nature versus the reality of it in the untamed wild, would have created a better story. So great work, probably just needed a second draft to reach its full potential! But then I don't know the requirements of the contest this story was written for, so I understand if you were stretched for words.
11564405
Except the Borg don't hate. They don't feel. They just want everything to be equal...kind of like Starlight Glimmer now that I think about it...
"Tom's words laid bare the hearts of the trees and their thoughts, which were often dark and strange, filled with a hatred of things that go free upon the earth, gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning: destroyers and usurpers. It was not called the Old Forest without reason, for it was indeed ancient, a survivor of vast forgotten woods; and in it there lived yet, ageing no quicker than the hills, the fathers of the fathers of trees, remembering times when they were lords."
Hello! I'm reviewing all the treefics, so here's yours. I thought this was great. Unsettling and alien, just as Everfree should be. I liked this a lot; have a like and a favourite.
I like this concept. I feel that it could *branch* out into a complete story, where she turns back into a pony and is now terrified of trees, but her friends think she's overreacting, until maybe the trees start fighting back.
11636873 I'll let someone else write it, but now I guess we know the plot for Chainsaw Mare.
Take my upvote, author. And welcome to my favorites.
(Though in truth, I've been reading you since I first saw you over on Eyrie.net
)
You can has review!