Tree House chapter 1

>The wind is picking up
>It seems it is playing a strangely creepy tune on all the leaves and branches.
>It is getting even colder in already chilly forest of Everfree. Thick clouds are filling all of the little sky patches, rarely visible through dark forest cover.
>All on their own
>And It creeps you out
>But the thought that it frightens you makes you even more angry.
>Oh you are angry.
>Positively infuriated right now.
>You are also a purple unicorn. Twilight Sparkle to be exact.
"Who does she think I am?"
>The truth always hurts.
>Like a stone caught in a boot under the hoof. You try to ignore it. But eventually you will stop and get it out. But it won’t be sooner than your hoof is too sore to walk on.
>Especially when you are in a whole lot of pain already.
>Not yet ready to accept the truth, though.
>And thus you are even madder.
"Treating me like... Like a little filly! Like a cripple!"
>Kicking a particularly thick branch with your hoof brings a momentarily relief as a loud knock echoes several times from the forest.
"I'm not a cripple! I can take care of myself thank you very much!"
>Yes you are a cripple. At least for next month or so you can't even lift a feather with your magic.
>Burnout is a very unpleasant experience. Very painful. Not physically, no. But mentally – yes. No enemy of yours deserves this fate.
>Maybe it’s somewhat like losing your flight to a pegasus. Probably Dash can actually relate to what you feel and she was not just saying that to make you feel better.
>You tried to convince yourself, that this is just a month long winter wrap up. A new experience and a way to try living like a real earth pony.
>And failed miserably.
>You are on the verge of tears again.
>And then you scream in frustration again.
"Was it so hard to make some potion and just make it better? But noooo, we would try to melt your brain with more rhyming and criticizing! As if I don't know how stupid i am already"
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>You were not stupid though. Just tardy and inattentive while creating a safety measures checklist.
>And pretty reckless to not give Spike this checklist to read 3 times through.
>At least his hide is not even scorched. It’s a good thing you have a fireproof assistant. And a fireproof basement.
>You stand for a second and try to sniff the smell of your slightly burned mane again.
>Yes, sure, the smell is long gone, and the only thing you smell now is the wet moss around you. But still it’s somewhere on the back of your mind. Tickling your nose. Burned hair will always be a very painful association for you.
>The train of thought comes to a full stop as you suddenly become aware of your surroundings.
>Apparently for the last hour or so you have been walking of the path to Ponyville in random direction.
>No idea where you are.
>No idea where to go.
"This is just... dandy."
>You groan in frustration, the dark forest answering with his own much more scary groan, echoing from multiple sides. You felt a little better, all things considered.
>Need to focus and get home
>You look at the sky to see where the sun is.
>There is no sun. In the cracks between the thick branches you can see only clouds.
>The moss is all around the trees so you don't know where south is too.
“Well thanks you very much summer camp! You sure gave me a lot of useful hints on finding my way through forest"
>As you say it a loud crack shudders your very gut just as a bright flash of light illuminates the surroundings.
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>Immediately a hiss of rain brings your mood to an even better state.
>You are getting pretty sarcastic.
>One last drop that fills the glass of your misery is that Zecora actually told you so.
>You just were so stuck up and willing to not show your weakness that you decided to go through the forest yourself anyway.
>Even though she was pretty adamant that it will be raining soon and you should stay with her for the night.
>Oh well. Now you are getting progressively more wet every second. And you have no idea where you are and how to get to Ponyville. Or to Zecora's for the matter.
>You should really apologize tomorrow.
>If you find the way home, that is.
"Not "If", Twilight! When! Stay positive and everything will come out outstanding."
>Don't really trust yourself at this point.
>But you will manage.
>Time to start walking - standing at one place is not helping the cause at all.
>You concentrate and try to cast a simplest compass spell.
>Just a glowing needle that points to north.
>You don't feel anything.
>The horn doesn't even glow. Just a dead bone awkwardly stuck on your forehead.
>The sensation is still horrifying, something you had nightmares about. Probably every unicorn had these nightmares. But you are used to the feeling already.
>It's been two weeks since the accident.
>You will be able to do basic magic in a month or so.
>You should expect full recovery in two months.
>Doctor Gentle Breeze told you that you are very lucky and the consequences could have been a lot more severe.
>Such a nice mare. You think that some long academic discussions about the recovery techniques, horn structure and burnout mechanics overall was the only thing that kept you sane.
>And all the support your friends gave you for sure.
>But even the bestest get well party can’t instantly heal a burnout.
>It appears that potions can’t help with that too. And Zecora doesn’t even know which way to start as there aren’t exactly a lot of unicorns in Zebrica.
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>She offered you a meditation technique though. Might as well try that in your free time.
>You have got a LOT of free time right now. Princess insisted that you do absolutely no research right now and consider the period a recovery vacation.
>Your legs keep moving at a slow pace.
>The ground is slowly turning into an icky mess.
>You think that Rarity would not be even able to handle that. You are a strong mare - and just 15 more minutes and you will be home.
>Comfy and warm.
>Under your favourite blanket with a nice book.
>But now you walk.
>You try keeping a straight line, but that's not very possible in the Everfree.
>This forest grows in the most ridiculous manner you can think of.
>You can't even walk relatively straight - you constantly have to go around the fallen trees and particularly huge spiky bushes.
>The storm over your head is not helping the cause too.

>You don't know how much time have passed.
>Probably couple hours.
>You are dirty.
>Tired.
>Can't do any magic.
>Lost.
>But you force yourself to move
>Need to find a cave or any kind of shelter.
>Can't build one - you don't have magic and have never been a pony scout.
>You are on the verge of losing all hope and just falling to the ground where you stand.
>The only thing stopping you is that it's really dirty.
>Kind of a lot dirtier than everywhere.
>It looks like someone dug a whole lot of ground and just dumped it here.
>There is a small hill of relatively fresh ground.
>A huge tree grows right from the middle of the hill.
>Who in the right mind would be digging so much ground in the middle of the everfree?
>And where is the hole?
>Your eyes wander higher and register several things at once.
>It have stopped raining.
>There is a huge concrete structure over just kind of… sitting on the tree.
>Several meters above you, still covered in dirt that supposedly fell of it to the ground.
>What is directly above is supposedly a basement. But if there is a basement there should be something on top.

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>You move back into the wall of rain again to have a look at the building from the side.
>Sure enough it’s a house. On top of a tree. Well, not exactly on top, it seems fused with the tree altogether.
>And the windows are lit.

>This was not an ordinary treehouse
>It wasn’t even an ordinary house – the windows were way bigger than normal, and the sheer size of it indicated that it was inhabited by something bigger than a pony.
>Or that a pony in there was very weird.
>It’s weird how it doesn’t belong here at all. It looks pretty simplistic. No decorations, no signs of any sort. And the size makes it look out of place.
>That, and the fact that it’s clearly not built on this tree.
>The concrete base with dried ground leftovers is is indicating that the house once stood on solid ground.
>Some of the tree branches stick out of the walls and the roof
 >You come to an only logical conclusion – it’s a house of some really powerful magician, who is traveling with his own house… and somehow miscalculated the position and ended up on a tree.
>Not the worst outcome of the teleportation error, that’s for sure.
>Well at least the creature inside has the concept of guests. In the pile of mud lying under the house you can see a mailbox. Can’t make a mistake there – you have almost the same looking mailbox back at home in your tree library.
>That’s pretty funny actually, how now there is another tree-related house in an area.
>You begin to shiver as the rain washes through you again.
>Oh well, can’t drag the inevitable. Need to cry for help before you freeze to death or drown in this sodding rain.
“Hello? Is anybody home? I got lost in the rain and really need your help!”
>How do you get in anyway? You can’t really fly or teleport now.
>You won’t need to figure that out if no one answers though… Probably you can wait for the rain under the house – it’s the driest place around.
“Hello? It’s really cold out here and if I can’t come in can you at least give me a direction of Ponyville?”
>No answer yet.
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>Well so much for trying. Probably the owner is just not hearing you over the rain.
>Need to scream louder. You take a deep breath, but never release the scream as the door opens from inside and a rope falls down from it, hitting the wet ground with a smack.
>”Hold on to the rope, I’ll pull you in”
>The owner was looking directly at you from the porch.
>And he was not a pony

>You are Twilight no longer
>And you had a pretty decent day all things considered.
>Damn solar panel is giving you trouble. You are trying to fix it for couple hours already – but you don’t seem to catch what’s wrong with it. The wiring seems all right but it just refuses to work properly.
>Oh well. At least 3 other panels are working fine. Unless another bird will try to build a nest on them. Damn this abomination had a sharp beak. Breaking the anti- glass is not a simple feat.
>The batteries are charging at a minimal rate now – as the sun is blocked by a thick layer of clouds.
>However this minimal rate is still abnormal. With the sun so active here you are surprised you haven’t become full black skin yet.
>You were ready for a rainy day though and the batteries are charged enough to feed all your needs.
>Birds and ants never lie about weather. Nor does your barometer.
>You’ve been in Equestria for around about two weeks already
>For the first few days you didn’t even know it was Equestria.
>A few very busy days – finding a water source, clearing the mess of the branches inside your house. Clearing some branches on top to allow easy access to solar panels.
>Deconstructing the bloody device and hiding the parts in the basement.
>Which is now 3 meters off the ground so you are not sure that you should call it a basement any more.
>Inventarisation
>And finally some scounting around.
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10 days ago:
>This water is fucking great!
>God that’s the tastiest water you have ever tried.
>Seriously it’s so clear and cold it’s intoxicating.
>Yes, yes, should boil it first, don’t know what kind of bacteria is swimming in there.
>But it’s just so good!
>The plastic bucket is with you. Still have some water in the cooler – but that won’t do. Need a stable source.
>Regretfully the hose you have is at least 200 meters short – so no water pump right now. Especially because you don’t have an actual pump. Seriously, full basement of electrical and mechanical stuff your father liked to dug through so much – and no simplest water pump.
> You reach the brook happily waving  the bucket around
> Small hatchet in the other hand, charged tazer in your pocket. It drained the solar charged batteries like a total bitch, but it’s something that can save your life in case this forest is not as friendly as it looks.
>You always dreamed about an actual pistol, but father hated weapons and only let you have a tazer to defend yourself.
>Wish you had a machete, the bushes around the brook are overgrown and cutting them with an axe is not that comfortable.
>You start swinging an axe. Not sharp enough for small branches it just breaks them without cutting.
>After half an hour of frantic swinging you are swetting like… well like a lumberjack you are right now. So that’s pretty logical.
>You look at the results of your work with satisfaction though.
>Where thick bushes were blocking the path to the brook there is a clear way.
>Satisfied, you begin stripping down to get a really really cold bath.
>” Peculiar creature at the brook, Like nothing I have seen you look”
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>Got to admit you’ve almost tazed her the second you saw a hooded creature silently stepping out of the bushes.
>But the recognition hit you like a truck.
>And everything kind of clicked in place.
>She even thought for a moment that the stupor you got into was a “pretend dead” reaction of a harmless creature.
>Appeared that she heard the noise of the house appearing from nowhere, and observed me for 3 days to make sure I’m not a danger to her.
>I wasn’t showing any kind of dangerous behavior so she decided to approach.
>Greeting new neighbors is hospitable. And your house was just a 30 minute walk from her hut deeper into the Everfree.
>And after a minute of complete shock you regained your composure and made what was possibly a first friend in the new world.

>The biggest difficulty was playing a fool.
>You’ve instantly decided against telling any living being about your knowledge of the cartoon.
>So you’ve showed no knowledge whatsoever about the part of the world you are in and just told Zecora that you are from far away where your people live in seclusion and have never even heard of Equestria.
>Local shaman was great to talk with. Once you showed her your house and told that you got here by accident with no means of coming back – she instantly got all sorry and supportive.
>Luckily she was not asking for details. Not sure if I’d come up with something viable in such a short notice.
>Let’s keep it “an accident” for now. It technically is.
>Later that day you got a whole lot of herbal tea in your system as well as a whole bunch of survival tips to handle the Everfree.
>It appears that the life here is not as dangerous as depicted by ponies in the cartoon.
>A lot less dangerous than tropical jungle for instance. The weather is normal here as well. At least normal to you.
>And you have a few survival guides at home.
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>The plants are close to the ones on Earth too, so the berries and mushrooms are a valuable addition to the ration. As are
>Speaking about trees you are now living on one.
>Seeing how a thick branch is sticking out of a plasma screen on your wall you feel lucky you aren’t a goddamn Pinocchio right now.
>Not yet done cutting all the branches that go through your home.
>At least they make a good fuel for your fireplace.
>And a decent decoration.
>You continue staring at the wiring of the solar panel remembering your first two weeks in the new world, the hiss of rain soothing and calming.
>The scream from outside you hear is not so calming though.
>The voice you instantly recognized.
>The voice of the one and only overpowered magical personal student of a living goddess.
>Twilight motherfucking Sparkle.