Of the Earth and Flora
A young Earthpony stallion trot across a stone slab that lay over a stream, placed there by somepony long before. The sound of his hooves tapping the bridge reverberated through the woods around him. The sound swiftly faded into the brisk white fog where most trees hid.
The pony took pause atop that makeshift bridge and let out a deep sigh. He'd lost track of just how far he'd wandered and his legs grew weary. He may as well be walking in circles for all he knew. He resigned himself to this thought and took a rest where he stood. The stone was wet with dew from the cold winter air but such things never bothered a hardy creature him.
It would usually be such a perfect thing, the woods bathed in fog on a lovely winter's day. Everything was still, save for the water that rippled just below. However, he was blind to such majesty for he was hopelessly, hopelessly lost. After a few moments, he found himself sprawled across his back, tail flitting side to side in frustrated rumination.
"Why me?" He pointed one hoof lazily at the white sky above and let it balance there. As he spoke whispers of his breath could be seen escaping upwards. His focus pulled down from the sky to look at his plain, boring hoof and he grunted. "Stupid thing."
His limb fell back down to his side once more, the defeated stallion was a proud sort but alone he was free to ramble. "All I'd need is a pair of wings... a Pegasus could fly out of here in no time." Such ideas invaded his mind often. "or what about a horn? Some boffin from Canterlot must've made a pathfinding spell." Feeling rather cheated he let out a loud, pained groan. Like every hoofstep before, his cries disappeared into the unfeeling forest.
The stallion lay pondering his handicaps for a good time more, the temperature dropping further and further. Even Earthponies knew the brush in winter was a dangerous place to be. Then, suddenly his ears flicked at the sound of shuffling leaves. In mere moments he was standing alert once more, gazing deep into the miasma before him.
However, it offered little answer. The stallion was about to write the noise off as nothing until a dark blurry figure began to emerge from the mist. He readied himself, trying to dig his rear hooves in but finding little purchase on the slippery slate. He waived that task though when the figure revealed itself.
Stepping up to the edge of the bridge was a mare. A rather fair Earthpony with a hazy blue coat that darkened towards the fetlocks. She wore a soft smile; eyes faintly hidden behind a long, ash mane that swept behind the ear. As he looked closer he could see the natural blue of her eyes and the charcoal freckles that dusted her face. Against the misty background, it was almost picturesque, a sight that threw that stallion off kilter for the shortest of moments.
"Hey, sorry about that you spooked me fierce. I didn't expect to find any other pony out here... thank Celestia I did though." He explained, letting himself ease a little.
"Oh it's no bother, I didn't mean to dadder none." Her voice was naturally graceful, ending with a gentle giggle. "Where be my manners? I'm Cherry Coldfall."
The stallion's goals were put aside for the shortest moment and he tilted his head, looking rather puzzled.
"Now what you be doing way out here? T'water nearly a-vroze." She shook her head in mock disappointment. "You'll be ailen by morn."
He rattled his head clear and took a step towards the mare. "I wish I wasn't out here, this fog's gotten me lost; I've been wandering for hours." He allows himself a smile though. "Do you know the way out of here, somewhere I could get some cider maybe?"
He was only met with another, admittedly sweet, giggle. "Gwain for the zider are you? A girt stallion like you should be able to find it a mile off! You know the way!" She smirked gaily.
His smile quickly broke as he let out a groan. "Look, love, if I knew the way out I wouldn't be discussing it with you now would I?" He turns from her and starts down the path once more. "Could you please just lead me out of this Luna-forsaken place?"
She hesitates, watching him trot off for a moment. "You don't?" Her brow furrows and her tone, still soft, loses its jovial edge. "Surely you glene with me?"
He stops in his tracks, turning on a dime to glare back at the mare. "And if you're not going to help at least stop talking like that, we're not at some pre-banishment ren-faire!" He was calmer before she even showed up, being lost in quiet was peaceful at least. Misery does not indeed love company it seems.
Coldfall just stood in shocked silence, the gentle breeze that moved her mane the only motion. After what felt like minutes she began to trot forward and past the stallion. "I'll help your leave. Come; 'fore the evenèn sets in."
The next hour passed in painfully awkward silence. Not even the picturesque forest eased the tension that hovered above the two. The stallion had many questions that fluttered about his head and occupied most of the time they walked. He'd look toward her as if to ask something but he never did, just turning his eyes back towards the road that got ever more worn.
"I... do apologize." Coldfall started suddenly. "I'ven't spoken with a pony for many a moon." She didn't turn to face the stallion and when he tried to glance over, she only looked away.
Luckily for him, he's Equestrian and some odd-speaking ponies were not exactly the oddest thing he'd seen. So instead he just nodded gently, continuing to plod along through the ever-darkening forest.
"and please don't dand- anger but I must ax. Are you really so lost?" she asked again, quietly.
He took a deep breath in, filling his lungs with cold sobering air. Then a deep breath out, exhaling a cloud that carried away the annoyance that had flared. "Yes. How do you know the way out anyway? What are you doing out here?"
She glanced about the forest and took in what little she could see through the haze that trapped the two. Quickly, her gaze meandered back to the stallion at her side. "I bide here, you could say. I often rale - sorry 'walk' - these woods. It's nice." She smiled again and it was honest. Small but genuine to the core. A private smile she reserved only for the talk of nature. "and no pony of our ilk needs a map out in t'woods right?"
"I do. Evidently." He responded dryly. It was fast, but he was already regretting talking with his 'guide' again.
"Annan? What schools be teaching Earthponies?" A moment of distress eeked its way into her voice before... in a moment her eyes lit up and her smile doubled. "I must show you zummat!" Despite the fog, despite the dense trees, roots, and slippery dew she bounded off the path and through the brush. With little other option, the stallion behind is forced to follow.
He couldn't see her, but he could hear her. It wasn't long before their run came to end at the edge of a deep blue pond, shrouded in mist. It was surrounded by pansies and honeysuckle colouring the banks. All the while lush green grass and moss-cloaked pebbles glistened with dew. The air was rich with intoxicating petrichor. Perfectly quiet but still radiating with life.
Coldfall stood at the precipice of the water, looking over her wither as the stallion approached. "We've not far to go now 'an I'm sure you kan find the way now. If you'd zit for a spell." She turned to face the stallion fully now who was standing watching a few paces from the water's edge. "We earthponies be a special breed a-course."
He opened his mouth as if to respond but only silence followed. His rather sarcastic retort fell dead as he watched Coldfall approach. Every hoofstep left a new budding flower in its wake, seemingly springing up in real time as if trodden in reverse. He'd seen growth magic before but never one so effortless or fast. Even the petals themselves looked so much more colorful than usual. His less-than-subtle gawking did not go unnoticed.
Coldfall wore that same peaceful smile again. "Now what if I zaid you did 'appen to know a-ways about this forest. You just don' know that you know." In the quiet that followed, she softly held a hoof to her lips to preserve it. Then, in a near whisper, she continued. "Tell me you feel that too?"
The stallion shook his head, travel-worn mane flicking side to side. "Nothing but the wind." It was true. The thick fur upon his hide took the edge off but the chill breeze still found its way into his ears and around his snout.
She let out a velvety giggle into her hoof. After a short pause to think she took another stride forward, advancing right into the stallion's space without a care in the world. Then she took one of his front hooves between her own with practiced delicacy and pushed it firmly down. "What do you feel now? You're all a-muddle: so focus. You feeling my 'ooves, what else?"
The mysterious ways of the mare did irk the stallion, to begin with however her demure figure, soft but well-used hooves, enthusiastic smile and clear magical talent won him over in the end. He figured he dug this far down and in for a penny for a pound. He focused, really trying to feel what she could be rambling about. Ignoring her touch he wondered lower. "There's grass... under me, it's scratchy. Sort of." He stated with uncertainty.
"Good! Good." Coldfall said with poorly hidden glee. " 'an what you feel under zat?"
"Under?" He cautiously pushed his hoof down harder. The grass scratched back in kind and the soil caved a little. However, there was something else. Something unlike any other feeling. It wasn't sharp or dull; wet or dry; tingly or numb but it was there.
"Ay, now don't be pushin' for it. 'ave it come to you."
He did just that and the feeling in his hoof now was tenfold, almost overwhelming. Like taking shades off on a sunny day it was a rush of sensation. "There's something under there! It's... it's alive. But I don't-"
"Be the roots." She said matter-of-factly, but the look on her face was one of pride.
"Just the roots?" He responded. It was almost disappointing.
She hummed the affirmative, squeezing his hoof just that wee bit tighter. "Jus' like 'ow Pegasi can beat their wings and be all a-rush with magic on the ayre. Or 'ow Unicorns can know the magic we can't and know it in their 'orns. You're feeling nature there, the magic o' life itzelf. Now 'ave ago." She then released his limb and took a step back.
At first, there was nothing. It was like every day, just the usual touch against his frog. Then with a deep breath and some focus, he tried not to touch, but to feel like she urged before. Subtle to begin with, but that same vibrant sensation started to stimulate his front hoof and work its way up his leg. All he had to do was listen and the grass talked, telling a story of the intricate root network below.
Coldfall watched on with pride, like watching a foal take their first steps. "Don't move your 'ooves none, 'ave a go toward me voice." She whispered as if not to break his focus.
It took him too long to parse what she meant but then it clicked. To trot towards her would be to feel the grass in but: as above so below. He felt out the roots at his hoof and tried to probe forward, letting the plants ahead speak through the ones before. The overwhelming sensation was magical and rather fun. So he continued out and towards the mare.
Then, just as he could sense the flowers near where she stood, the trail stopped. When he glanced up to see the issue Coldfall only stood with a smirk. At her front was a gash through the dirt she evidently had kicked up. "I think you be a natural."
The stallion mirrored that smirk before letting out a hearty chuckle. "It's something else, that's for sure." After the novelty started to fade his face tightened a little in thought.
Seeing the look on his face she took a wild guess as to it's meaning. "You be findin' life now so you can find where it ain't right?" Pause for effect. "Like a farmer's drongways? Ponies 'ouses?"
He didn't need to respond to that with words. Only an attempt. This time he closed his eyes and listened to the flora once again. It took time to become truly present. Stood there in the woods with the wind gently blowing his mane and tail aside. That time he got around the gash in the dirt and made it to the flowers. It was hard for him to explain but they 'sounded' different than the grass. Every plant was so vibrantly unique to one another. The trees' presence in the magical network was overwhelming, those lumbering hunks of ancient life whose roots explore endlessly.
It was indeed endless in front so he tried sweeping his search right, left, and all around. His snout scrunched up in focus as he tried to speak with his rear hooves and listen in kind. With every limb connected every sensation in the woods felt so real, so close and tangible; even with his eyes closed. He wasn't missing the forest for the trees, he felt like the forest. It was fun. That was until it stopped and all he could feel was swaths of little roots and tiny leaves. It was the background noise of grass, so quiet in compassion to the song of the wild woods.
Only an open plain could leave such a sensation, one whose paths would no doubt lead home. His mediations stopped, and his eyes opened with renewed resolve. When he tried to tell the mysterious mare of his success; all he caught was the sight of her pale flank disappearing into the brush, tail trailing along behind.
He had been following her for a while now and he knew he was gaining ground. Every time he stopped to scry again he could sense the grass being rhythmically depressed up ahead with each fall of a pony's hoofsteps. This game of cat and mouse continued for a while and they both knew that soon they run out of woodland.
When he finally reached the elusive mare she wasn't where he expected. He came across quite the large rocky outcropping upon which Coldfall stood. She looked down from atop the cliff and waved in a way that was unfairly cute. She almost looked smug. The outcrop itself was streaked with ivy and a few more hardy plants sprouted from its surface. That was the only real texture to its smooth walls making any attempt to climb a challenge. When he went to round the obstacle she called down for him to wait.
"How's about you come right up?" She called from the top, her head poking over the precipice. Her loose mane hung overhead her and framed her face; her ashy mane backlit by the slowly setting sun. Then, she started to push her weight forward, moving further over and over the edge. The moment before she tumbled down her front leg stepped off into the air. Instead of rolling head-over-flank, her hoof found purchase on one of the rock-dwelling plants. It somehow held her weight perfectly.
Naturally, the rather headstrong stallion took that as a challenge. He reasoned that if he could pull off the scrying he could pull off that. With a mighty huff, he dashed forward, kicking up dirt with his sudden gallop. With practiced ease, he kicked off the ground and made contact with the rock. One more buck on the slippery, vertical surface boosted him a little further skyward. He was sure he'd make it to the same patch of plant life but it was not be and he started to grind back down the stone's surface. In his panic, he reached out for one of the trails of Ivy by his side.
When his hoof came into contact with it he could suddenly feel all of it. Just like before when pathfinding but this was instant, unconscious. With a distressed curse he squeezed his eyes closed and waited for the impact - but it never came... and he could still sense the length of the ivy. But it was stronger, closer. When he dared a look he was dangling with the plant coiled about his hoof many times, holding him firm.
"Alright?" Coldfall said from her perch.
"Yeah... yeah, I think I am." He replied. It started unsure but slowly grew into a sense of confidence. His face dropped back into one of focus as he stood against the wall, still suspended on his makeshift rope. A wave of doubt washed across his face as he looked up at the distance left to climb.
"You've got it, I know that well. Like a Unicorn thinks a way about their problems and a Pegasus flies for a different way about it; we keeps a firm upper lip and rough it. 'tis an easy thing just try again."
Then, he carefully cut loose and started for a small patch of pink flowers that bloomed from a tiny crag. In doing so he tried to work his newly found magic; like a musician playing a new piece. The flowers responded, and soon he felt a soft bed of petals that his hoof now rest upon. He cautiously put some weight down and they met that force, enough for the heavy stallion to pull himself up with ease.
The rest of the climb went easy, only a few strides later he had clambered to the top. All was well, bar the scuffs across his coat from the near-miss before. Once he threw a foreleg over the top Coldfall happily helped him mantle the final stretch, grabbing his forelegs and pulling him up. She was surprisingly strong.
A silent thank you was given and they continued on their way. Soon the trees gave way to a well-trodden path. Just down the road, the trees broke and the remains of the sun shone freely onto the field at its end. He sighed resolutely and gave one final look to Coldfall. "Well, end of the road. Thank you... for helping me out of here I guess. Mainly for the help with these things." He struck a hoof against the path a few times.
"Aye, s'what I do. Always right to 'elp a fellow Earthpony find their roots..." Coldfall took a moment to find the words before she let out a small sigh. "Suppose I'll be gwain then." The confidence she had while talking about her craft had waned now and she idly scratched a hoof in the dirt.
"I'll swing by with some cider sometime eh? Won't have any trouble finding you here now." He gave a knowing smile before saying his final goodbye and trundling off down the path. Celestia's sun was just creeping below the horizon now and the cold was setting in. The sky was stained a deep rust red and it bathed the clear field with its hue. It was freeing for he knew it wouldn't be long till he found a sign pointing home.
There was just one more obstacle: a time-worn fence that needed hopping. A clear line between the wild and the tame. As he took his final steps out of the canopy's shade he took one last glance back down the path. Coldfall was gone. A sign was tied to the fence with a now rotting cord. It read: 'Welcome to Coldfall Woods. Protected land since 1500 BCE.'
The years passed by quickly, as they so often do and the stallion found himself resting at home by the fire in the early evening. His ears perked to the sound of the front door opening and a set of tiny hooves trotting on floorboards. "Hey, Squirt! How was school?"