As the group made their way towards the Golden Oaks Library, Thorn did his best to answer some of the questions the fillies were asking him. He found them oddly pleasing as their energetic personalities reminded him of his sister. I hope she is doing okay. Thorn thought, Her and mother must be worried that I did not arrive this morning. Once I take care of answering the alicorn’s questions, I’m heading home.

“So, ya can use magic? What kinda spells do ya know?” The yellow earth pony filly asked. If he remembered correctly, she had introduced herself as Applebloom.

“Deer magic is what we refer to as Druidic magic. It focuses on plants and making them grow or change, that and communication with wildlife.” Thorn explained simply.

The white unicorn filly then chimed in with exuberance, “Hey, that’s kind of like Fluttershy’s special talent. She talks to animals all the time!”

Thorn cocked an eyebrow as he turned to look at the pegasus leading the group. “Is this true?”, he asked with general curiosity.

Fluttershy jumped a bit at the sudden attention causing her answer to be a bit more bashful, “Oh...um...yes...but it’s nothing special.”

This time, Scootaloo chimed in, “So not true! She takes care of, like, all of Ponyville’s pets and animals, plus the animals that come from the Everfree Forest.”

Thorn’s other eyebrow raised to meet the other as he had a new found interest in the pegasus mare. It almost sounds like she’s a deer. Definitely sounds like a warden that checks on the animals and beast near Foraoise.Must be some kind of coincidence. The buck rationalized.

“Oh really, it’s nothing special.” Fluttershy retorted with a slowly growing blush.

“I beg to differ.” Thorn countered. “As much as the natural order must be maintained, it’s cruel to leave any animal to suffer in any state. Caring for any animal is doing a great deed of kindness.”

The mare’s growing blush suddenly turned into a rosy glow from the praise. She wasn’t sure what was eliciting such a reaction but she definitely didn’t want anypony (or deer) to notice. As she strategically moved her mane to cover her face, Fluttershy started to wonder why such praise from Thorn was so much nicer than when Scootaloo had mentioned it. She pondered the thought in silence as the group continued on. Scootaloo mentioning that Fluttershy was just being very humble. After that, the questions continued as before but were halted when they made it to their destination.

While Fluttershy and the three fillies made their way to the library’s entrance, they noticed that the deer they’d been walking with had gone oddly silent. When they turned, they found Thorn sitting on his haunches staring dumbfounded at what he saw before him.

“Um...Thorn? Is...something wrong?” Fluttershy asked in concern.

Thorn didn’t respond audibly, but his mind was burning. That’s a treehouse...a deer created treehouse! Why is it here?! They don’t know about deer but they have one of our buildings? WHAT IS GOING ON?! Thorn continued to stare as his mind attempted to rationalize what he was seeing. However, his train of thought was derailed when he felt something poking his side. He looked to find the white filly unicorn, Sweetie Belle, looking concerned for the buck. “Mr.Thorn, are you okay? You were sort of staring at the library for a while.”

Thorn had to reassess his surroundings, he noticed that there were looks of concern and worry on both the fillies and the mare. He shook himself of his thoughts and put them towards something more productive than just sitting in place and asking questions he couldn’t answer. Instead, he’d focus on asking a certain alicorn the questions he couldn’t answer in the hopes she could.

“Yes, yes I’m fine.” He turned to look back up at the the library before him, “Just found another question I need to ask.”

Princess Twilight Sparkle had been having a rather uneventful morning. After being discharged with a minor concussion and receiving treatment, she went home and had written down a letter to her fellow princess and mentor, Princess Celestia. She hadn’t gotten far into the letter when Spike made her get some rest. However, her day took an interesting turn when she received a knock at her front door. To her surprise she found her good friend Fluttershy, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the creature from last night standing behind all of them.

Thorn’s calm broke as soon as he saw the alicorn. While he felt fine around the fillies and Fluttershy, he still felt anxious about the alicorn. Especially since she had a very large smile on her face that seemed to be focused particularly on him. However, it didn’t last very long as she shook herself of the smile and focused on her present company. “Hey girls...and um...uh...”, the princess trailed off as she wasn’t sure how to refer to her new guest.

“He’s a deer!” Sweetie Belle answered with exuberance.

Twilight’s eyes enlarged and a small twinkle could be seen in her eyes. However, remembering her position, she gave a polite cough and bowed before the deer. “Well, while I couldn’t say so last night, I’d like to properly say on behalf of Equestria and Ponyville I’d like to welcome you properly.”
Thorn was put off by the odd courtesy but offered his own bow. “I’m...uh, honored. Fluttershy informed me that...you...wanted to talk to me?”, the buck said with apparent trepidation in his voice.

Twilight wasn’t sure why the deer seemed so uneasy until she remembered Fluttershy mentioned he might have equinophobia. She wasn’t entirely sure why but she was a bit curious to find out. “I did. I was wondering if you’d be willing to answer some questions. As long as you feel comfortable, I don’t want to force anything upon you.” she stated in a very calm and nonhostile tone. Twilight was grateful that she received a bit of training in diplomacy and leadership. Seemed like it might come in handy today.

Thorn took a few deep breaths as he mentally tried to calm himself. They’re not bad...if anything they’re...extremely friendly. This alicorn...Twilight, seems just as nice as the others. If the fillies were anything to go by, she’s just curious about me. See what she wants, answer her questions, and see if you can’t get some questions answered yourself. With his nerves calmed a bit and a simple plan he addressed the alicorn. “I would like to speak with you as well. I feel this could be enlightening for both of us.” The buck still sounded nervous, but it seemed it had subsided a little.

Twilight stepped to the side and made a gesture for the group to enter. “Please come in, we can talk more inside.” The group obliged and once they were all inside, Twilight closed the door and went to join the group. The deer and Fluttershy were sitting to her left while the CMC were still investigating the deer. Twilight took up a position across from the group.

“So, I believe proper introductions are in order. My name is Twilight Sparkle, recently appointed Princess of Friendship.”

Thorn nodded in understanding and gave a bow, “My name is Thorn, son of Venus and currently a Guardian-in-training.”

Twilight got very interested at the mention of the “Guardian” title and pulled a piece of parchment and quill from a nearby desk. As she levitated the quill and parchment to eye level she addressed the deer with a growing excitement, “Would you mind explaining what that means? Sorry, just I’m very curious to hear about your culture.”

Thorn was still surprised by the ponies’ open curiosity, but he still couldn’t shake his anxiety of being in the same room as an alicorn. “It...it means I’m a defender of the forest. I’m charged with protecting the plants, the trees, and the animals of the forest. My ultimate charge is to protect the Great Tree and the royal family.” Thorn responded attempting to hold a calm demeanor.

Twilight listened and wrote as the deer spoke, but stopped at the mention of the Great Tree. “Great Tree? Is that your leader?” the alicorn asked with continued interest.

Thorn rub the back of his neck as he thought how best to explain the relationship between the Great Tree and the deer. “It’s...Well...Yes...and no.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow.

“The Great Tree is more like a teacher. It taught the first druids how to use their magic to heal and manipulate the foliage of the forest. King Fir and Queen Pine are our leaders.”

The rest of the group listens with undivided attention, Twilight was still scribbling notes when she remembered what the deer had said, “Wait! You can use magic?!”

Thorn nodded. “Guardians are trained in druidic magic, as well as physical combat. If we are to defend the forest we have to use everything at our disposal.”

A small glint appeared in Twilight’s eye at the affirmation of a new type of magic. This was going to be at least be worth a small thesis paper! Feeling giddy at the prospect of learning something new, Twilight had to mentally restrain herself from squealing. “Could...could I see a demonstration?”, Twilight asked with obvious glee in her voice and features.

Not that the deer minded, but...when this pony got excited...it was a bit scary. Thinking about it though, maybe he could use her exuberance to learn a thing or two himself. “I will oblige.” Thorn started. Twilight started to let out a small “Eeeeeh!”, when Thorn finished with, “on one condition.”

Twilight’s excitement quelled as she contemplated what the deer might want. What would he want? I don’t know enough about his culture to know what they value (other than plants). Diplomacy? No, he said they have a king and queen. They’d handle diplomacy if they’d even want to talk. If they’re like Thorn...diplomacy could be a bit complicated. Twilight tapped her chin in thought but ultimately surrendered to simply asking what the condition was.

“I’d like to ask you a question, Princess.”

Twilight blinked a few time, her ear folded against her head and she blushed in embarrassment. Of course, he’d have a few questions. It was silly to think he wouldn’t be curious about ponies as well. “Of course, but you don’t have to call me princess. Twilight is just fine. So, what do you want to know?”

“Ok...Twilight. I’ll be honest, I knew about ponies before I came here...” He looked a bit perplexed as he continued, “But since I’ve been here, my knowledge seems...off.”

Twilight, Fluttershy, and the fillies all cocked their heads. The five seemed to share the same thought, Off, how?

Twilight spoke first and addressed the question lingering in the ponies’ minds, “How is it off?”
Thorn let off a sigh as his ears folded back, the story alone was a bit sad to recall. “There is an old fawn’s tale about ponies. It tells about an alicorn princess that used her magic to force the animals of the Everfree to run wild. Deer have a deep connection with the forest and we care for the well-being of the plants and animals that reside within. The idea that we couldn’t help our friends...it’s a very disheartening. Despite our best efforts, the deer couldn’t call the animals. No spell could calm them, no vine could hold them, and even our best animal experts couldn’t break them of their trance. It was only with the help of a great force that the princess was banished and order was restored alongside her pony minions.” As he finished the tale, he looked around and gauged the reactions of those around him. Fluttershy and Twilight seemed conflicted for some strange reason, but the fillies seemed more pensive.

“Say, don’t that sorta sound like the stories ‘bout Princess Luna when she was Nightmare Moon?” Applebloom asked her friends, a little too loudly.

Thorn turned to toward the filly with a look of pure horror on his face. “A-a-are you saying...t-that the story...is true?”

The two older mares were a bit more cognizant of Thorn’s current state of fear and tried to stop the fillies from making it any worse. However, the three innocent fillies answered before either mare could intervene. “Well, yeah. But Princess Luna isn’t like that anymore.” Scootaloo added in.

“Yeah, she really really nice and cares for everypony just like Princess Celestia.” Sweetie Belle concurred.

Fluttershy and Twilight looked to Thorn, uncertain on how the buck would take the new info. By the look of things...not well.

“S-s-she’s...st-still around?” Thorn asked with his heart beating in his throat.

The fillies nodded innocently. “Is that a bad thing?”, Sweetie Belle asked.

Thorn put on an uneasy smile, “N-n-no. Of course not.” Internally, Thorn was attempting not to panic.

“Ahem, anyway,.” Twilight said in attempts to get things back on track, “What does this have to do with your question?”

Thorn blinked as he tried to remember his train of thought before it was derailed. He was glad to be off the topic of the other alicorn. He’d rather not know anymore about her lest his nightmares be fed more fuel. “R-right, sorry,” he said bashfully. “I assumed that ponies were a myth, but...I just noticed something that has some extreme implications. I’m hoping you could maybe elaborate.”
Twilight nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

Thorn leveled his gaze on the alicorn, “Where did you get this tree?”

Twilight flinched. What does that have to do with the story? Twilight looked to Fluttershy. Fluttershy shrugged before answering, “Um...this tree has been here long before Twilight ever arrived. I...mean...I’m pretty sure it’s been here for as long as Ponyville has.”

Thorn’s brow furrowed. It’s just as old as the town? That can’t be! That would mean deer helped to build this. WHY?!...Unless. He turned his gaze back towards the alicorn, having reached the only logical conclusion. “This treehouse...this is deer architecture. Deer homes look like this.” Thorn said as he motioned to everything around him. “If this treehouse has been here since the town’s formation, that means at some point ponies and deer must have intermingled.”

All present gasped at first before Thorn held up a hoof to silence everypony before he continued, “Unless, there is another reason this tree could have come to be here.”

The group was silent, hypothetical scenarios ran through each pony's’ mind. What was the library’s origins? There weren't many ponies alive who could attest to when the library was...wait. A small yellow earth pony filly had an idea of one pony who might know. “Hey! Mah Granny might know! She was here when Ponyville was founded! She’ll know when the treehouse was built.”

“Are you certain?”, Thorn asked the filly.

The little filly smiled broadly as she nodded, “Ah’m certain. She said so herself on Family Appreciation Day.”

The filly’s confidence left little doubt in the buck’s mind. “Might I meet your grandmother later?”

“Ah don’t think she’d mind. She really likes talkin’ about those times!”

Thorn gave his thanks and turned back to speak with Twilight, “I suppose that covers my questions, for now. As per our deal, I will show you druidic magic.”

Twilight beamed with excitement as she readied her parchment and quill.

Thorn closed his eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. His antlers began to radiate a pristine emerald green as he put his focus on the floor. If this was a home made by deer, then he should, in theory, be able to manipulate it. Sure enough, the home began to resonate with the sound of wood creaking and groaning. The ponies in attendance glanced around as they attempted to determine what Thorn was doing.

“EEEP!”, erupted from Fluttershy as the wood beneath began to rise and take shape. Small thick roots snaked into a flat bottom. From the base, larger and wider roots came out to connect with a rising backrest that came around to almost hugging the pegasus, but stopped half way around. When Thorn was finished, he let his magic subside. The product of his magic revealed a wooden chair with a half crescent backrest that had a slight incline to allow for lounging.

Fluttershy blinked as she observed her new chair. The Crusaders also observed the new furniture along with an ecstatic alicorn. “Oh...oh my. This is...quite nice, and comfy.” Fluttershy announced, eliciting a small smirk from the buck. He wasn’t aware why his cheeks felt so warm so suddenly, but the praise felt soothing to him.

“Th-thank you. I’m used to making chairs for my family. I’m glad you like it.” Thorn responded with a small smile on creeping on his face.

The Crusaders looked at the deer and mare with quizzical looks that soon turned into knowing smiles. they look at each other to confirmed that each member had deduced the same thing. “Y’all seein’ what Ah’m seein’?” Applebloom inquired.

“Oh, yeah. Too obvious.” Scootaloo concurred.

Sweetie Belle merely nodded with a smile, that screamed approval.

“Amazing! I’ve never been able to manipulate the library like that! You said you can do this with other plants as well?” Twilight interjected as she inspected every inch of the wooden chair and writing notes feverishly.

“Hey, Twilight! What the heck are you doing down there? You’re making a lot of noise!” a new voice called out from upstairs.

Thorn cocked an eyebrow as he looked toward the source of the voice, “Is there someone else here?”

“Yes, my assistant, Spike. I forgot that he was taking a nap.” Twilight responded a bit sheepishly, embarrassed that she had forgotten her assistant’s presence. “He’s probably going to be down in a second. Just a forewarning, though. He’s a dragon.” She stated as a precaution, before making a small correction, “A baby dragon, though he’s small..”

Thorn wasn’t sure how to feel about this information. He’d heard of dragons and their prized hoards of treasure, but he was long warned that so long as he left their treasure alone they’d leave him alone. Other than that he’d never actually seen one. Although, he did remember one time when a dragon took up residence in a nearby mountain and his snoring caused an awful smoke to billow out. That was a bit worrisome but otherwise not that bad. Compared to ponies, a baby dragon couldn’t be so bad...right?

Sure enough, a small purple and green scaled dragon came down the stairs, rubbing his eyes of sleep and yawning. “What is with *yawn* all the noise?” The dragon asked as he continued to descend staircase. When he reached the bottom of the staircase he finished rubbing his eyes he took note of the present company. “Oh hey, Fluttershy, Sweetie Belle, Apple*yawn*bloom, Scootaloo.” Then he turned to the newest member, “Hi...uh.” He rubbed his eyes again and confirmed what he was seeing. His expression shifted to an incredulous look, as he looked to Twilight. “Twilight, I don’t think giving a pony more horns makes them better at magic.”

This caused a fit of laughter and giggling from the fillies and Fluttershy, but a bit of an annoyed looked from Twilight. Thorn rubbed his antler’s a little self-consciously at the comment, his ears falling back against his head a bit. They’re not horn sized at all. They are just the right size for my age. If anything five points is a little advance.

“He’s not a pony with multiple horns! He’s a deer.” Twilight corrected her assistant.

Spike turned back toward the new creature with a confused look, “A deer? Are they a type of pony?”

“No, Spike. If anything they’ve been here as long as ponies.”

Spike placed a claw on his chin and approached the deer with a discerning eye. He walked around the deer a full three hundred sixty degrees, inspecting the deer as he went. The dragon gave a few “Hmmms” and “Huhs” as he continued his investigation. When he finished going inspecting the deer he was standing in front of him with his arms crossed and a pensive look on his face. “So...he’s like a pony, but bigger horns-”

“Antlers,” Thorn corrected with annoyance in his voice.

“Uh, antlers, right. So like a pony, but a bit taller, thinner, and with antlers?” the dragon asked for clarification.

Twilight looked a little unsure, “In a way I guess, but I don’t know enough to be certain.”

Spike’s pensive look broke as he turned back to the deer again. With a small smile, he extended his clawed hand out to the deer, “Well, the girls seem to like you. So you must be a pretty nice guy. I’m Spike. Nice to meet you.”

Thorn looked at the extended claw and extended his hoof to meet it. “My name is Thorn. A pleasure to make the acquaintance of a dragon.”

Spike puffed his chest out a bit in pride as he shook the deer’s hoof. The comment having a wonderful effect on the young dragon’s ego. “Thanks. Soooo, what are you doing here?”

“I was...‘brought’ here by your friend, while on patrol last night. I had originally intended on heading home, but...some things I’ve noticed compelled me to answer some inquiries from the Princess, as well as have some questions of my own answered.” Thorn responded, causing Twilight to blush in embarrassment.

“In my defense, I did have a small concussion.” the princess defended herself.

“It’s...okay. It was a bit...nerve wracking, but...I can see no harm was intended from it.” Thorn said in a consoling tone. “Although, I admit, I still feel a bit...uneasy around ponies.”

The fillies were confused by this statement. “You’re scared of ponies? You didn’t seem scared of us.” Sweetie Belle stated.

Thorn smiled a bit at this. “It’s because you three remind me of my sister. I’m certain you are the same age as her.”

The fillies got an odd wide-eyed expression on their faces as they all asked in a unified voice, “Does she have her cutie mark!?”

The buck was blinked. This was a new set of words he’d not heard yet. “What’s a cutie mark?”

Before the Crusaders could balk at such a strange question, Twilight stepped in to explain. She turned to the side so her right side was clearly visible. She then motioned to a set small stars with a large central star that adorned her flank. “This is a cutie mark. It’s a representation of a pony’s special talent. Mine represents my love of stargazing and my magical abilities.”

Thorn nodded in understanding before looking at the small fillies who didn’t seem to have cutie marks. Then he looked at Fluttershy’s cutie mark, three pink and yellow butterflies. “What does your mark mean?” Thorn asked the mare. Again, the mare’s face turned a rosy pink as she responded, “Uh...it uh...represents my love of...animals and...uh... hmmm...could you please stop looking at my flank...please? It’s embarrassing.”

Thorn’s blush soon matched Fluttershy’s as he quickly averted his gaze and began to apologize feverishly for staring. Twilight blushed a bit herself when she realized she had asked a male to openly stare at her flank. She figured now might be a good time to progress the topic before it got too awkward. “Sooo...do deer have anything like cutie marks?”

Returning his gaze to the group, he pointed to the white portion of his barrel. “Well...we do have our patches. Most deer have a unique design on their barrels that usually is associated with their name or their abilities.” Thorn lowered his hoof and using some of his magic produced a small wooden twig from the floor of the tree. With a little-added magic, a multitude of thorns erupted from the twig. “My patch refers to my ability to produce thorns on any plant. My mother’s patch resembles the mouth of a venus flytrap, but she can’t use magic. However, she is an expert dealing with carnivorous plants.”

Applebloom added an additional question, “What about yer sister? She have her patch?”

Thorn chuckled a bit, “All deer are born with their patch. Sometimes it’s hard to determine what one’s patch is or what it represents, but it’s something that each fawn has to figure out eventually.”

“Sounds like a cutie mark in a way. Usually, it takes a moment of clarity or a revelation for a filly or colt to get their cutie mark.” Twilight said with a growing smile. “Ooooh, this is so exciting! A new species, new culture, and new magic! EEEEEH!”

Thorn giggled a little at the un-royal squee that came from the princess. By comparison, she was nothing like the king or queen. Maybe it was because she was so young or maybe her fervor for knowledge. He remembered the fillies mentioning another princess, Cele...Celesta? No, Celestia. He then found himself questioning who was the leader of these ponies. He was aware they had three princesses. Did they all rule at the same time? That had to get complicated.

“Well, if you want I’d be willing to answer more of your questions on our way to see the little one’s grandmother. I’m still curious about the origins of this library.” Thorn stated. “Once I have the answer, I’d really like to get back home. I’d like to ask the Great Tree about all of this.”

Twilight tapped her chin in consideration, “Sounds fair, I’m sure your family misses you.” Thorn nodded in affirmation. “But...could I ask another favor of you?”

“Uh...what do you want?”

“Do you think you could talk to the Great Tree about me...maybe...speaking to it?” Twilight asked with pleading eyes.

Thorn was caught off guard by the question. It was a bold favor to ask. His duty required him to protect both royal members and the Great Tree as well. Disregarding the fact that an alicorn walking through the kingdom would either spark outright fear or general worry, he wondered if the Great Tree would even speak with her. The Great Tree was a teacher for the Guardians and Druids, but it wasn’t unheard of for the tree to talk with regular deer who had questions or wanted to be trained in the Druidic ways.

“I...” the buck started with an extreme amount of uncertainty. “I...I can’t guarantee the Great Tree will agree...but I’ll...see if it is receptive to the idea.”

Twilight beamed with glee as she bounced on her hooves, “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!”

With that settled, the group with Spike now included, made their way toward Sweet Apple Acres to inquire about the origins of the Golden Oaks Library.

Author's Notes:

Hey y'all. New chapter is here! Thanks for reading and enjoying. I would like to ask a small favor though. I'm having doubts about my writing with this story, and I could really use an editor and/or co-author. If anyone is interested, please PM me. I need someone who is good at writing in the third person and can give input about the story. I want to ensure the story is at the quality it should be and supply you guys with a good story.

Finally, big shout out to Kelthan-Dragon for supplying the cover art!