Thorn and Azalea stood in the Everfree canopy. The two were perched on the thick branch of a tree that gave a clear path to the neighboring trees and their branches. Thorn reveled in moments like this, time spent with his little sister. Time when he could teach her techniques he had learned as a fawn himself. Now he was going to teach Azalea a skill he liked to call ‘canopy running’. It was a simple enough concept that used the thicker branches of the canopy as a means to traverse the forest much faster. The problem was that this technique required an extreme situational awareness, knowing where the next branch to jump to was and whether the branch was strong enough to support your weight.

While Thorn was concerned for his sister’s health, her constant progress in traversing the forest floor in the last three weeks had enforced the idea that she could handle the basics for now. Although, he made a mental note to tell his sister not mention this training session to mother, lest her wrath be brought to bear upon him for teaching his sister such a dangerous technique and for skipping out on his meditation under the Great Tree. However, with his sister’s competition so close he rationalized that anything he could teach Azalea to give her an edge would be worth one missed meditation and the scolding that would no doubt follow.

Until then, Thorn worked to find a simple path he could show Azalea that wouldn’t be too hard to traverse and would show off the basics of moving through the canopy. A few of the paths were traversable to him, but would be too difficult for Azalea. One offered a decent straight path, but a few of the branches looked a bit too thin to support two deer at once. With a little more searching he found a route that seemed to fit the bill. The path was between several trees with a decent amount of thick branches that wouldn’t give out with some added weight and had the branches close enough to each other that Thorn could quickly and easily help his sister if she slipped.

Content with the chosen route, Thorn gave Azalea a small nudge to get her attention and pointed out the route. “We are going to go to the that tree over there.” He said, pointing to their end destination, “I just want you to watch me and copy my movements. Okay?”

Azalea gave a nod and donned a confident smirk, knowing she was ready to face the challenge head on. “I understand.” she stated with with exuberance.

She definitely inherited father's confidence. The buck thought with an amused smile. Looking forward towards the trees he dropped his stance so that his haunches were compressed like a spring. Azalea watched him with undivided attention, taking mental notes. Aiming himself toward his desired destination he put a little bit of force into launching himself forward. He’d barely hung in the air for more than a second or two before he landed solidly on the second branch. After checking his footing quickly, he turned to face his sister.

Azalea was looking on with anticipation. Her hooves were stamping the branch she was occupying with excitement and glee. Thorn chuckled at her overall enthusiasm but knew that he needed Azalea to be focused and serious for this. He cleared his throat to get her attention and let his expression turn stoic. Azalea got the message and ceased her giddied stamping. With a few mental estimations, she focused herself and worked to replicate her brother’s movements. She assumed the same position that Thorn had before and put some force into her hind legs as she launched herself toward the branch Thorn was occupying. She managed to make it to the branch but missed her footing. Instead of landing squarely on her fore hooves, the hooves skidded over edge of the branch causing her chest to collide with the branch, knocking the air out of her lungs. Thorn winced, knowing the pain of having the air knocked out of his lungs, having experienced it many times before when he was learning to traverse the canopy. He quickly helped his sister to a standing position and allowed her recover. The fawn nursed her barrel and coughed as she worked to regained the lost air. "Not bad. You overshot it slightly, but, hey, not bad for your first time" The buck assured while rubbing the fawn’s back. "Do you want to try again?"

Azalea finished refilling her lungs and looked to the next nearest branch. She furrowed her brow recalling what she had done before and how to correct herself. "Yeah, but can you go first again?" She asked with determination in her words.

Thorn noded and eyed the next branch. Again, he assumed the position and kicked off with his hind legs. Within a second, he landed forehooves first before the back hooves met them, all the while Azalea watched with a discerning eye. She saw how Thorn had angled his hooves preemptively before landing so his momentum would allow for his weight to balance him once he landed and halt any forward movement. Azalea made some mental notes of how to adjust herself, and she got into the launch position and eyed her target. Replicating her previous jump she put some power into her hind legs and launched herself into the air and towards the next branch. Thorn was still turning around when Azalea landed directly next to him, landing perfectly without a slipping this time.

Thorn's eyes widened and his ears went to full attention. His heart nearly stopped at the fact that his sister had jumped without his supervision and dark thoughts of things that could have happened crossed his mind. He lowered his gaze to his sister who was happy that she managed to correct her previous mistake; however, her happiness was quickly extinguished when she caught sight of her brother’s obvious dissatisfaction.

“Don’t do that again.” Thorn said in a stern voice making it clear he wasn’t happy and Azalea visibly shrank under his gaze.

“I-I’m sorry. I-I just-” ,The fawn stuttered, realizing what she had done had caused her brother to worry. Tears started to well up in her emerald eyes and Thorn realized he may have overreacted. He knew his sister was gung ho with everything she did. He berated himself for not considering this and made sure to correct his own behavior before continuing with training. Once he had his fears and concerns under control he addressed the fawn in a calm but serious tone, “This is a very dangerous technique, Azalea. If you slip and I don’t have time to react, you could get hurt. Badly.” He lowered his head to get within reach of the fawn and nuzzled the side of her head. “I’m not mad. I just don’t want you to get hurt. So, from now on, I want you to wait until I give you the signal to follow. Okay?”

Azalea wiped away the tears in her eyes and nodded without saying a word.

Thorn smiled and gave his sister a nudge. He offered to continue the training and with a quick nod from his sister, the two deer resumed their practice within the canopy.
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Further into the Everfree, a large willow tree stood tall and isolated from the other trees. But unlike the other trees this willow was adorned with several windows, a balcony, and a simple wooden door. This was the home of Thorn and Azalea. Within the home, resided Venus, an older doe that had long entered her matrion years and it was visible on her coat that was a faded brown with areas of grey becoming apparent in some areas; however, the one area that had not faded was the white patch on her barrel that held the shape of a venus fly trap. Much like the thorny outlines on Thorn’s barrell or the flowery accent on Azalea’s it signified their unique connection to nature itself.

Currently, Venus was busying herself with chores around the willow she called home, as she awaited for her children to return. As she went about tidying up she mulled over how fortunate she was. Having an athletic daughter who was a potential contender for this year’s Chase and a son who was receiving training from the Druidic Circle and a senior Guardian so that he might one day become a Forest Guardian, himself. All-in-all she couldn’t be happier, except that she had recieved word from some of the local wildlife that Thorn had skipped his meditation training to help Azalea. While Venus didn’t disapprove of Thorn wanting to help Azalea become a better runner, she did have an issue with the fact that he was helping her when he was suppose to be honing his connection with the forest and the Great Tree. She knew she needed to reprimand Thorn and she had every intention of seeing it through, yet she couldn't bring herself to be angry. Since she, herself, was always busy tending to the willow as well as tending to the various carnivorous plants of the Everfree, she rarely had time to help her daughter with training for the Chase. The fact that Thorn had taken up the role of his own volition, eased her burden, if only slightly.

Soon enough, the sound of two sets of hooves on the wood floors marked the arrival of the siblings. Venus could hear some hushed voices coming from the living room and went to meet them. Thorn was clearly whispering something to Azalea when the mother doe entered the room. The second the two noticed their mother’s presence they immediately ceased any conversations.

“Hi Mom! We’re home!”, Azalea greeted with enthusiasm as she went to give her mother a hug.

Venus smiled and leaned down to hug the fawn and nuzzle her lightly, “So you are. How did your runner training go?”

Azalea smiled while her small tuff of a tail wiggled back and forth. "It went great! Thorn said I'm really improving!”

Venus looked to Thorn with an inquisitive look, “Is that so?”

Thorn smiled proudly, “Indeed, she actually made it to the clearing before me. Had to use the canopy just to catch her.”

Venus turned and gave Azalea a proud hug, as she squealed in delight, “Ooooh, my little flower! You’re going to be great! Just be sure to keep on training and doing those exercises I told you about, okay?”

Azalea giggled and flailed a bit as she was embraced but managed to give an affirmative, “Okay.”

Venus released her daughter and looked to Thorn with a playful smile, “I take it that she has earned a reward for her efforts?”

Thorn caught on to the suggestion, returned the smile, and nodded.

Azalea saw the gesture and began to bounce on her hoofs with a wide smile plastered on her muzzle.

Venus couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's antics, "Okay, okay. How about you go get the mangos in the kitchen and cut them, while I talk to your brother. They should be in the bowl on the table."

"Okay!" the fawn replied as she bounced her way into the kitchen.

With the fawn out of earshot, Venus turned to her son. "Thank you for helping her, Thorn. I wish I could do it, I really do. It's just-"

Thorn stopped her with a hoof on her shoulder, "It's okay, mother. I know you're doing your best to help around the forest and it keeps you busy. I don't mind helping Azalea with her runner training. With all the training and meditation, it feels nice to spend time with her."

Venus sighed, "I know you do, and I am grateful. But you can't neglect your training. It's an amazing honor to be selected to be a Guardian of the Forest. You can't squander it."

Thorn flinched, he knew his mother would discover he had skipped his daily meditation, but he did not think she would have found out so quickly. "You found out about that?" He asked sheepishly.

Venus gave her son a knowing look, "Even in the clearing I can still tell what you two are up to. I thank you for helping your sister, but not at the expense of your training. Help Azalea but after training, not during. Understand?" She finished with a stern look.

Thorn couldn't bear to look his mother in the eye after that last statement. He chose to hang his head and nod, knowing he'd been caught, "Yes, mother. I understand."

Venus' stern look melted into a motherly smile. She raised her son's head with a hoof so his antlers were up high and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Thorn."

Thorn returned the hug, as Azalea returned with a plate of freshly sliced mangos balanced on her head. The rest of the day was spent with the three deer feasting on mangoes and telling of the day's events.
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Meanwhile on the outskirts of Ponyville, the resident animal caretaker, Fluttershy, finished her evening chores of taking care of the various animals around her home. She had just finished feeding the many birds that resided within the branches of her home when a lone Everfree Robin came to perch on her back.

Fluttershy noted the small bird on her back and greeted him with a kind smile, "Oh, hello Mr. Robin. How have you been?"

The bird responded with various chirps and chortles that seemed only intelligible to Fluttershy.

"Oh you spoke with the nice mare in the forest again? Good to know she is faring well. I can't imagine how she survives so deep in the Everfree. She must be very brave."

The bird again chirped in response.

"Oh, her children are doing well also? That's so nice. I'd love to meet them, but...I just don't think I could make the trip. Nopony has been that far into the forest." The lone caretaker shuddered a bit at the prospect of going so deep into the forest. "Anyway, I still have some seed left if you want some."

The bird nodded in approval and proceeded to feast on the remaining seeds until his stomach was full and plump.

Fluttershy couldn't help but smile. While much of her work went unappreciated by other ponies, she always took pleasure in how every animal was always content at her cottage. She walked into her cottage with the robin to hear more of the strange mare and her two children who resided within the Everfree.

Author's Notes:

Taking my time with this story since it is my first story written in third person. Please leave comments and concerns below, I'm always looking to improve.