Applejack and Fluttershy have been together a long time. They have a lot in common, including a mutual love for Everfree. The forest is their home. It had been for centuries, and it would be for as long as they lived.
Or rather, that's what Applejac...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
There was something unsettling about the edge of the forest. Everything was different. There were still birds singing, but few other animals could be seen or heard. Even the trees seemed wrong; they were all spaced too far apart. What kind of forest had all of its trees so far apart? There were patches of deeper forest that were also sparse, but out here, everything looked barren. It was no wonder Granny Smith always warned Applejack to never come out here when she was a fawn; if she were attacked out here, she'd have nowhere to hide.
But Applejack wasn't a fawn anymore, she was a full grown doe. If she were attacked – not that anything was likely to attack her, especially in present company – she'd be able to handle herself well enough. It didn't make her feel any better about things, though. Applejack was a deer; she was large as far a deer went, which wasn't very far, and she had an orange coat. She had white fur on her underside, and white spots along her back. She had a yellow streak of hair going from the top of her head down the back of her neck. Applejack was a deer, like so many others, and the deer belonged in Everfree. It was her home, it was where she had been born, and in 457 years, she had never once considered leaving it. She knew the forest as well as anyone ever could, and not just by sight. She knew its sounds, she knew its smells, she knew how it felt. And this? This did not feel like Everfree.
Not that she could show any sign of that, not to Fluttershy. Although the deer had made their home in the forest, Fluttershy was a part of Everfree. As the forest had grown, so too did its magic. And when the magic grew strong enough, Fluttershy was born from it. She was the forest's chosen protector, and she felt a much stronger connection to it than even Applejack ever could. And unlike Applejack, that connection extended to all of Everfree, not just the deeper parts. Telling Fluttershy that part of the forest felt unnatural would be like Applejack telling her that she was unnatural.
