In the depths of the southern swamps, in areas where no living pony had tread since long before the time of Celestia, a young deer breathed heavily. This deer- -his name Havier, after an unfortunate accident cost him half of his staghood- -stood on the edge of the darkest depths of the forest, the area where the murk of the swamps shifted into a mossy hill overgrown by profound and ancient trees- -trees that to his eyes were more terrifying than majestic, with their gnarled trunks covered in moss and lichen that looked far too alive.

His opinions, he knew, might well have been greatly affected by what he knew dwelt within. He could almost feel the ancient evil and power emanating from that dark and foreboding place, and all his deer instincts told him to raise his tail and run away- -but unlike so many of his kind, he was a soldier, a member of a long line of proud defenders of the forests- -and loyal to the end to the Queen that dwelt before him.

Havier adjusted his ironwood armor, making himself look as presentable as possible, and slowly stepped forward toward the dark opening to the grove. As he did, he felt them watching- -the eyes of the forest, the mindless creatures of impossible ancientness- -and he moved even faster.

Inside, it was impossible to know the true nature of the structure he had entered. Inside the trees and beneith the ancient, mossy stones, the ground sloped and fell at random, and with the canopy overhead it was impossible to tell if he was moving into a cave, or up a hill. There was no true way to know if he was indoors in some way, or still outside. One thing was clear, though- -he was in the depths of nature that terrified even him.

Creatures surrounded him, but they were not like the creatures that dwelt outside. The animals he was familiar with were soft and relatable, like rabbits and fieldpiece and birds- -but these things were strange and alien; things with aggressive fangs or numerous clicking legs, or eyes that, like his own, reflected in the darkness.

Many of them, he knew, were profoundly dangerous- -small things that traveled in great numbers, tamed ages ago by the breezies to serve as their defenders and now leant to the Queen. Just a single bite from a crystal-star spider contained enough poison to kill one hundred deer.

In time, he found his way through the winding paths to a great opening shrouded with vines. Guarding it were to massive does. Each of them had luminescent green eyes and skin that was hardened in parts into tough shells- -indicating that they were both werewoods.

Havier gulped- -even though he knew them to be the most devoted of the Queen’s guards, the smell of timber seemed to emanate from them. He knew that they would not hesitate to tear him apart if he made even a single improper move.

“I am Six-Point Commander Havier of the Clear-Creek tribe,” he stated, clearly, and without emotion.

“Yes,” growled one of the wearwood deer. “Queen Vale is expecting you.”

They stepped aside, and the vines to the throne room retracted, and Havier was allowed to enter.

His eyes took a moment to adjust to the light of the room. He had become accustomed to the darkness of the twisted corridors, but this room was well lit by bioluminescent fungi that crawled across the walls, pouring out a strange blue light that seemed to carry as tiny, fluttering particles.

In the center of the room stood a throne made of wood and the bones of countless ponies. In it sat a pony, her coat a sickly, corpse-like yellow. Her glaring eyes were red, without pupils or retinas, and her wings were far larger than any true Pegasus, to the point where they were held behind the back of her throne, their tips lying against the ground. Each one was larger than the rest of her, and they framed her with yellow feathers.

Two figures remain waited on either side of her. On her right stood a bipedal creature in tattered yellow robes, its face covered with a strange mask and a heavy iron collar with a broken chain around its neck. Though its mask had no holes for eyes, Havier immediately knew that it was watching him, and everything, waiting- -and he understood that behind that mask was something far too horrible to comprehend.

On the bored-looking pony’s left, in his own throne, was a draconequss, his snake-like body lounging inverted in his chair. He was repeatedly snapping his claw, and with each snap the chair would change into a new form- -a great wooden chair, then one made of stone, then a beanbag, a commode, and one made seemingly out of iron swords. That creature- -Discord- -was equally as dangerous as his rival and nemesis on the yellow pony’s left, and Havier suddenly felt terribly nervous.

The yellow pony looked down- -or at least Havier reasoned that she did; with pupil less eyes, it was impossible to tell exactly where she was looking.

“Oh deer,” said Discord, slithering off a gaudy plastic lawn chair and wrapping his lion-arm around Havier. “Well, it seems we have a visitor. A venison visiter. Verily, a very venison visitor visiting voracious Vale. And look at that rack! Are you trying to make me jealous?” Discord ran his hand through his own horns, which had suddenly become much larger, as if he were trying to compensate.

“Discord,” said Vale, putting her elbow on her arm rest and her head on her hoof. “At least let him do that adorable deer salute.”

“My Queen,” said Havier, performing the salute in question. “Six-Point Commander Havier of the Clear-Creek tribe.”

“Six-Point? What happened to Twelve-Point Commander Stone Hart?”

“Slain, at the hoofs of a pony assassin. I am now war-chief of the Clear-Creek tribe.”

“I am sad to hear that,” said Vale. She did not look sad, of course- -she had faced so much death in her eternal life that it hardly bothered her anymore.

“You made her sad,” whispered Discord, pulling Havier closer and smiling- -revealing that his teeth were far sharper than Havier would have expected. “You know the rule. If I see one tear…”

“Discord,” said Vale. “Let the poor deer speak. Or, rather, let him answer what I ask.” She stood, her great wings lifting behind her and trailing behind her as she stepped down toward Havier, who stiffened at attention on her approach. The way she moved was terrifying, as if she were not whole. Ponies, perhaps, would have thought her beautiful- -but to a deer, she was a ghastly perversion of a living being, a true and terrible monster.

“Yes, your…your majesty?”

“Tell me,” she said, smiling, revealing several sharp fangs. “And please, feel free to be honest with me. What was Stone Hart doing anywhere near ponies?”

“We are your military,” said Havier. “We moved to defend the forces of Nature from- -”

“NO,” said Vale. Havier instantly felt the stare of her horrible, reflective red eyes staring into his very soul, crushing him from within. “You are not my military. The cervine division is meant to be scouts, not soldiers. You never fight. I assumed that was clear.”

“But- -my Queen- -”

“Ah ah ah,” said Discord, waving an eagle-claw finger. “We don’t disagree with her. Not ever. Unless you want to be part of the chair.” He snapped his fingers, and a convincing deer-skull appeared as a cup holder on Vale’s chair.

“I would never do that,” said Vale, smiling in a way that made Havier wonder if she were lying. “But he is right. The war is fought by the Forest. When I need soldiers, I have the gohh sentinels. None of my friends should need to die for this fight- -not a single deer.”

“But we must protect ourselves from the encroaching pony fascists. Our water, our village- -destroyed by miners and loggers- -”

“He just did it,” sighed Discord. He raised a hand in front of Havier’s face, making sure that the deer was able to see the contents- -a single walnut. “I suppose he will need to be…corrected.” He crushed the single walnut in his claw, and Havier felt his rear legs instinctively clench together.

“No, no,” said Vale. “If he wants to give his life to a pointless cause, then I will allow him, as much as it breaks my heart.”

“Pointless?” cried Havier, his rage suddenly overcoming his fear. “How dare you call the plight of my people pointless? We are dying, our land, our people- -they are being destroyed while you sit here and watch.”

“Well, I’ve had enough of this,” said Discord, producing a lobster-shell cracking tool. “Hmm. Not really my thing…maybe I should ring Gell…”

“Let him speak,” said Vale firmly.

“Ponies never stop,” continued Havier. “They keep coming, bringing nothing but death and poison! Our Forest falls to their onslaught as they take more and more, taking the trees and replacing them with steel and waste! And what have you done? Do you even care, pony?”

The smile vanished from Vale’s face, and Havier immediately knew that he had gone too far- -but he would not retract what he had said.

“I am not a pony,” said Vale. “I never have been. I never shall be. And what do I do?” She leaned closer. “The land your ‘tribe’ lived on was claimed by me seventy years ago, and it will return to me- -if you had only waited instead of trying to fight.”

“I will not sit by and allow my deer to die. This is why- -this is why I have come to declare that the western deer nation is seceding from your control.”

“So, what? You intend to fight ponies? With wood and spears? Against machineguns, lasers, magic, equidroids, Thebe- -do you even know what the world of ponies looks like, how much more powerful it is compared to you?”

Havier realized that he did not. He had only ever seen the invaders, and the machines they brought with them- -but he knew nothing of the world that they came from, the world that could spawn such abominations. He recalled the death of Stone Hart- -a powerful stag, the war-chief of the tribe, who had charged into the fray, his horns lowered for defense- -only to be torn asunder effortlessly by the glowing horn of a pony.

“I am your protector,” said Vale. “Because I am powerful- -because together, we are. You do not need to put yourself in danger, Havier.”

“I am afraid I cannot do that. Please. You must understand- -by our honor, we cannot allow you to fight the battles that are ours.”

“Let him leave,” said a voice. Havier jumped, and the instinct to run almost overcame him. His eyes darted around the room, trying to find the source of the voice. Then he saw a pony appear from the shadows. For a moment, his fear-filled mind believed that they had been infiltrated, or that perhaps Vale truly was conspiring with the enemy, and that she would not allow him to leave alive. Then he realized that the pony was unusually gaunt, and its coat dirty and greenish. From its back, it was sprouting moss and strange, gnarled twigs tipped with tiny, featherlike feelers that waved continually without a breeze.

Havier was shocked by the sudden appearance of a gohh- -or, as he understood it, a being infected by the gohh. Nodeer knew what the gohh actually looked like, aside from many-eyed shambling masses of moss and fungoid growth that shunned the light- -but he knew that they were more ancient than ancient, having existed for longer than even they could remember, and he knew what they were capable of.

“His nation is small; weak,” said the gohh. “Far smaller than their pride…they will die, or they will return, or we shall win.”

“But at what cost?” said Vale- - not to the gohh, which had no real mind, but to Havier. Then she turned her attention to the gohh. “And why have you come here?”

“The children,” it said. “The children have witnessed.”

“What have they seen?”

“Aberration.” The voice echoed throughout the room, coming from unseen things in the edges of the darkness- -and Havier realized that there were so many of them; or it was more than that. The palace did not just contain them, but, in some part, it was them.

“Wow,” said Discord. “That is terribly creepy.”

“Something met,” said the gohh, “not of this era. Out of time…wrong. Time traveler.”

“Time traveler,” repeated the voices, and Havier nearly fainted as he saw the skeletal faces of the blind, long-dead infected turn toward him from their mossy prisons.

“He didn’t happen to be green, did he?” said Discord. “Because, between you…you all…yins…y’all…I know that guy.”

“No. Blue. Like the Maker or Ruins. Traveled with Order.”

Havier did not understand what the gohh was saying- -and doubted that it understood either.

Vale sighed. “And just when I thought I would finally have a quiet day.” She turned around, momentarily fluttering her wings, and nearly revealing her cutie mark. Havier looked away- -he knew the stories concerning those unfortunate enough to be stared at by that particular pair of eyes. Vale returned to her throne, and Discord took his place on the rocking chair beside her.

“Tell your nation, Havier, that I reject their succession. Perhaps if Stone Heart still lived…but I do not trust you.” She nodded to the gohh-pony.

“Sentinels have been sent,” it said. “The children will protect.”

Havier was horrified. In his mind, it had all gone so smoothly- -he would tell Vale of his nation’s succession, and she would acquiesce, perhaps saying something about a heavy heart- -but instead she was sending troops to occupy them, to pull the deer back into her eternal empire.

“You can leave if you want,” said Vale. “But to all those who cannot chose…they shall be defended.”

The gohh stared blankly, and then returned to its shadows- -to where something unseen was waiting for it.

“In case you didn’t realize it,” said Discord, whispering, “I think you got her really rustled. It might be wise to leave.”

“N- -no,” stuttered Havier. “Not until- -”

He was once again met with Vale’s piercing stare, and found himself bowing- -and leaving.

As Havier left, he felt himself shaking- -both from fear, and from rage. As he moved deeper into the empty darkness of the palace, however, he found himself wondering why. He was distantly afraid- -because he could not remember why he had come to this place.

Then, in a moment, his mind vanished- -and the other mind within him rose to the surface. His eyes glazed over as the Incurse within him deactivated his mind, asserting itself as the dominant personality. It shifted its internal systems, identifying an appropriate encryption code, and condensed the information it had observed- -and then transmitted across space to its benefactor: to Thebe.

Havier blinked, wondering why he had suddenly stopped walking. He shrugged off the slight disruption in his walk- -and realized just how glad he was to have survived his encounter with one of the most feared- -and most loved- -ponies in all of Equestria.

Vale sighed as she leaned back into her throne against her long, luxurious wings. “That there even has to be a war…” she said. “So tiresome…and so painful. My heart weeps for them.”

“The deer, dear?” said Discord.

“For all those who trust me as their caretaker. Such a burden…and now the gohh seem to be nervous too.” She sighed. “It just keeps getting worse. Will this ever stop?”

“Of course it will,” said Discord, wrapping his wife in a hug. “At the very least, when Thebe nukes us all.”

“Oh, Discord,” said Vale, taking him in her arms. “Let her try.”

“She never would. But wrapping his wife in a hug. “At the very least, when Thebe nukes us all.”

“Oh, Discord,” said Vale, taking him in her arms. “Let her try.”

“She never would. But you know what I know- -that we’re on the winning side of this. I don’t pick losers.”

Vale smiled and hugged Discord tightly. They embraced for a moment- -and then Vale opened her thighs. Gently, but with more than adequate firmness, she moved Discord’s head lower on her body, until it was between her legs. She moaned as she pushed his mouth onto her.

“Oh, Discord,” she groaned. “Tell me I’m soft.”

“You are,” said Discord, momentarily extricating himself. “You are the softest pony of them all- -and you taste like strawberry cheesecake. Which, actually, you might want to see a doctor about. But…are you sure we should do this here? With that thing watching?”

“Him?” said Vale, looking up to the Yellow King. “He doesn’t even have real eyes…and, to be honest, it turns me on if somepony watches us.”

“Oh,” said Discord, raising an eyebrow. “You certainly aren’t shy, are you?”

“Shut up,” said Vale as she pushed Discord back into position. As Discord began his husbandly duties, Vale spread her great wings, and covered them both with her downy feathers.

As the demon queen of the swamps squeaked with pleasure, she planned her course of action. She would need to find this time traveler herself, to confirm what the gohh were so frightened of- -and if it was something that Thebe had acquired, some kind of new soldier her cursed magic had forged, Vale would kill it personally- -if she could just find it.

There was no way that she could be aware that, thousands of miles away, a metal-coated biped with a pair of glowing white eyes had just entered the farthest perimeters of her Forest.