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The Retirement Home / Stuck in Applewood?
2015 Jan 26, 18:49:31
I went to take the train from Cantermore and ended up in Applewood. The portal that is present does not work however so I seem to be trapped there for the time being. Is there any way I can get out of there?
2
Video Games Archive / Blizzcon 2014! Share Your Thoughts
2014 Nov 07, 17:04:27
Hey all! Blizzcon 2014 began today and I felt it was necessary to create a discussion about it. So like the title says, let's talk about what we're excited for or what we're looking forward to! I have good feelings for Overwatch, it looks great!
3
Original Characters / Roots the Earthmender
2014 Oct 28, 20:48:48
UPDATE: Made a new OC and her story intertwines with Roots'!
Hey all! I felt like sharing my OC, so here is Roots!
Image One:
Image Two (Without cloak or staff, side view):
Image Three: (15 Years Of Age)
Name: Roots
Gender: Male
Race: Unicorn
Age: 24
Occupation: Earthmender
Home: White Tail Woods
(Previous was Ponyville and Canterlot)
Appearance:
Roots has a brown coat the colour of chestnuts and dark forest green hair, giving him a rather earth-like appearance. His mane is about shoulder length and almost constantly tangled, but fortunately his droopy hat covers most of it. He also has a beard and hopes to grow it as long as possible someday. When he travels to a city or town, most ponies who remember him have nicknamed him "Tree Beard" because of his appearance, which he doesn't mind at all. His eyes are rather unique for they switch between two colours depending on his mood. Light blue which reflects his positive emotions, and a dark crimson red which reflects his negative emotions. He tends to carry with him a wooden staff and also wears an old burlap cloak. The cloak carries with it many memories of his past...
Cutie Mark:
Three green maple leaves (closer view)
Talent:
Unique connection with nature, Healing
Hobbies:
Reading, Writing, Going for walks at midnight, Practicing his magical abilities, Creating new types of tea
Personality:
Roots is a calm and patient pony who does his best to keep his negative emotions such as anger and hate under control. Although still considered young by most scholars, Roots is known to always give words of wisdom to those who need it. He is friendly towards most ponies, but he does not wish to affiliate himself with those he suspects of being bad. It is very hard to get on his bad side, but give it enough time and you'll see the side of him he tries so very hard to conceal. He is always on the search for more knowledge, wanting to learn more about those around him, the world, and even himself. He always puts others before himself and would gladly risk his own life if it meant saving one life or many others, although he hopes he doesn't have to do that anytime soon. He doesn't mind living a life of solitude, but like many ponies he can get lonely and always loves to have a good conversation, especially if he and somepony were drinking tea by a fireplace while doing so.
Abilities:
Roots' primary abilities are communicating with nature and healing, but he does not heal others yet. If he were to try healing them now, he would probably cause leaves to sprout on their body (which he hopes would not be painful). No, his healing currently involves the healing and protection of the environment, such as the forest he currently lives on the outskirts of, but it is not limited to only that forest. It's strange how a Unicorn such as himself has a strong connection with the land like that of an Earth pony, although it's slightly weaker. His magic allows him to openly communicate with nature, learning their secrets and history while in return he helps them stay healthy, safe and alive. If he is ever lost, he only needs to speak with the animals or even the trees to help him find his way.
Origin: (Warning: It is long!)
Roots was born in Ponyville, a small and quiet town at the time. His parents, Willow Seeker and Summer Burst, owned a small dairy farm on the outskirts of Ponyville where Roots spent most of the younger portion of his life. Willow was an Earth pony while Summer Burst was a Unicorn. Although their farm was not as popular or as big like farms such as Sweet Apple Acres, his parents enjoyed what they did and they were able to live comfortably with the profits they made from selling various dairy products.
It wasn't long until Willow, his father, decided to teach Roots the art of dairy farming when he was just three years of age. Roots learned respect, discipline, and most importantly, how he should always be caring and compassionate towards others, especially towards the land and the animals. Willow did his best to teach Roots, despite him being a Unicorn, and was surprised when Roots began to show some type of connection to the land, but it wasn't in the art of farming. Instead, Roots was interested in the trees and the animals that didn't speak. The cows always had something to say, but he wanted to learn about the owls, about the squirrels, anything that involved the natural world.
Roots continued to help out at the farm to keep his father happy, but eventually he turned five which meant he was old enough to attend the local school. Roots at first didn't want to go and Summer Burst had to drag him there personally, but it was worth it in the end because Roots immediately loved it. As a gift for successfully completing his first day, his mother stitched together a burlap cloak just for him. At the school he met other colts and fillies his age, but he was more interested in school than friends. His teacher noticed that Roots mostly kept to himself but he was passing the lessons with ease. His teacher contacted his parents one day about this and they decided that Roots needed to make some friends, so they decided to set up a play-date with one of the other students as a surprise.
On the day of the play-date, Roots was introduced to the colt that would become his best friend, Iron Cloud. Iron Cloud was a Pegasus and at first the two were rather awkward around each other. Iron Cloud was more military minded compared to Roots, but they eventually discovered that each of them had something the other needed. Roots used his knowledge to teach Iron Cloud who was struggling in school, while Iron Cloud taught Roots how it was important to have friends, since a good friend would always be there by his side in his time of need. Iron Cloud also taught Roots how to stand up to those that would wish him harm. The two continued to get along until it was time for Roots to go home, but strangely his parents didn't arrive at the time they said they would. Thinking that this was a test to show his maturity, Roots waved goodbye to Iron and walked home.
The sun was just sinking beneath the horizon, but he sensed that something was wrong. It was eerily quiet as he approached his house and he found that the front door was ripped from its hinges. He began to panic and ran inside, calling out for his parents. He eventually stumbled across them in the kitchen, but both were badly wounded and his mother was unconscious. His father noticed him and told him to get as far away from the house as possible before the creature returned. Roots refused his father's wishes.
"I'm not going anywhere!" Roots cried. "I won't leave without both you!" Tears began to run down both sides of his father's face as shadows suddenly began to converge in front of Roots, creating a monstrous figure. The room grew cold and Roots was able to see his own breath, even though it was late spring. The monstrous creature laughed when he saw Roots stand up as tall as he could, his horn glowing a light blue like the colour of his eyes. Roots tried to levitate a barrel to throw at it, but he was knocked through the walls of his home by the creature and landed outside.
"W- why are you doing this!" Roots shouted. "You- you big monster!" The creature laughed again as he floated through the hole in the wall and inched closer to him. It was then that something snapped within Roots, causing his eyes and horn to glow a dark crimson red. The very land itself heeded his call, the grass somehow being able to ensnare the creature while the trees behind him rose from the ground to assist him. The shadow creature at that moment experienced real fear for the first time and quickly dissipated and retreated into the Everfree Forest in the distance. Roots was breathing heavily and looked at the house to find that his father had seen everything. The glow faded away and his eyes turned light blue again, causing the grass to resume its normal state and the trees returned to their previous positions. Roots' cutie mark then suddenly appeared, depicting three green maple leaves before he blacked out, having exhausted himself.
The next couple of days were a blur for Roots since the authorities had to investigate how his mother and father received their injuries, as well as the damages to their home. His mother stayed at the hospital for she had fallen into a coma, and the doctors didn't know how long she would be like that for. His father, having seen Roots' magical ability, decided that Roots would attend Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Roots was excited and saddened at the same time, since he would be leaving the ponies he knew behind, but his father surprised him by saying that Iron Cloud had decided to enlist at the Canterlot Military Academy, so he wouldn't be alone. Roots would always remember the one thing his father told him on the day he had to take the train to Canterlot.
"Your influence over nature simply boggles my mind Roots, it was something your mother and I definitely did not expect," he said. "Even though the cutie mark is something to be cherished, remember that the cutie mark doesn't entirely make you who you are. It's what you do, and what you say that does. Goodbye my son, and good luck." It would be a few years before Roots returned to Ponyville again. With only his suitcase and the cloak he held dear to him, he boarded the train, wondering what he would find in the royal city.
Upon arriving in Canterlot, he was immediately escorted to the school by a couple of Royal guards who had been expecting him. Since it was his first time in Canterlot, Roots wanted to go explore, but it felt very strange being in the city. It was nothing like what he was used to. They eventually arrived at the school and Roots quickly found out that he had to do some type of test in order to be accepted. At his age, everything in the school looked huge to him, but that would eventually change as he grew older. He was soon brought before three older looking ponies who carried with them clip boards. The Royal guards then left, leaving Willow alone with the three ponies.
"So, are you the colt we've been expecting?" the middle one asked. Not knowing what else to do, Willow quickly nodded. "Let's get started then Mr. Roots," the middle one continued. "As you may or may not know, you must past the test we give you in order to be accepted into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Are you ready?"
Roots rubbed the back of his head and nodded once again. "Yes ma'am, I believe I am," he replied. The three ponies turned and whispered to one another before facing Roots again.
"As your test Mr. Roots, we want you to do one simple thing. Hatch this owl egg," the right pony said. A cart was pushed into the room by a different pony and stopped just before Roots. On top of the cart surrounded in hay was an owl egg, its shell was a brilliant white.
"You have two minutes Mr. Roots," the left pony said. "Prove your worth." An hourglass suddenly appeared in front of Roots and he watched as the sand slowly began to trickle from the top to the bottom. At first Roots just stood there, fearing that he would run out of time before he had a chance to do anything, but he took a deep breath and he began to concentrate on the egg. His horn began to spark and glow light blue and he slowly began to lift the egg.
"Thirty seconds remain," the middle pony said and she wrote something down on her clip board. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Root's face, but he didn't panic and continued to concentrate. He felt something shift inside the egg and he used the opportunity to at last shatter the shell, revealing an owlet.
"And time, well done Mr. Roots," the left pony said. "Cutting it a bit close, but other than that, I vote that you pass." He looked over at the other two and they nodded in agreement.
"Mr. Roots, welcome to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns," the middle one said. "You may keep the owl as your pet as a gift or you may give it up for adoption, what will it be Mr. Roots?" Roots looked at the owlet to see that he was looking around the room through his barely opened eyes, already beginning to explore his new surroundings and Roots knew immediately what his answer was.
"I'll take him." Roots quickly named the owlet Wise Ears and the two became inseparable. For the next twelve years, Roots did his best to balance his time with school and his social life. They were some of his best and worst years of his life.
For the first three years he had heard nothing from his father or anything about his mother's condition and set aside a few days off of school to see how they were. School had left him rather busy which made him unable to visit during the holidays. Even though he was eight, he felt much older than what he was, having passed his classes as the third best student. When he returned to his farm, he found that it had been abandoned and was now used as a shelter for all types of small critters. He was surprised at how fast a house could fall apart over the course of three years. Confused as to why this was, he tried to communicate with one of the squirrels, only to roughly understand that his father was driven away by something, but they do not know anything about the whereabouts of his father. Roots knew that his father surely wouldn't have left Ponyville without his mother and immediately went over to the hospital. It was there that he learned his mother had suddenly disappeared a few months ago, much to the disbelief of the hospital workers.
Roots couldn't believe his ears and he tried his best not to show how worried and upset he was in front of the workers. He wondered why he was not notified sooner and he asked if they knew anything about the location of his father, but all they told him was that he had vanished one day without a trace shortly after his mother had disappeared and hadn't been seen since. Roots returned to his old home to say goodbye to it one last time before his horn glowed a dark cimson red, letting his negative emotions take hold of him after keeping them under control for so long. He let the critters escape first before commanding the land to swallow the house and the barn, causing it to vanish into the land without a trace.
For the next six years, Roots continued his studies, having slowly shut himself off from the outside world to all except Wise Ears and his friend Iron Cloud who had graduated from military school and had already enlisted in the Canterlot Royal Guard. Roots had not forgiven his father for abandoning Ponyville and leaving his mother behind, but he still missed him and his mother very dearly. He often made trips back to Ponyville, sometimes to study or to just walk around. He never stayed for very long though.
Roots never stopped practicing communicating with the land, usually sneaking out of the city at midnight and listening to the stories that the plants and animals had to tell him and Wise Ears. It was especially great when he could at last fully understand Wise Ears, which had led to many strange but mostly funny conversations. Wise Ears also gave him advice sometimes, although the usefulness varied greatly.
In his twelfth and final year at the school, Roots had finally turned seventeen and was pursuing a degree in the magical art of healing, although it had more to do with mending nature instead of healing ponies. Iron Cloud had been relocated to serve in Cloudsdale, leaving Roots and Wise Ears on their own. After yet another successful year, Roots graduated at last and immediately set out to do the one thing he had secretly been preparing for. To find his father and his mother.
He went from place to place in Equestria, eventually finding a random stick along the way and shaped it to be a walking stick, his first staff. At last, after a year of travelling, he found out that his father was last seen to be in the Everfree Forest and Roots didn't hesitate to go there. The Everfree Forest was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He was told to never go in there and for good reason. The land felt chaotic, unstable. He knew that if he tried to communicate with it, he would not like what he would find. He eventually found his father wandering the ruins of an old castle, but it wasn't his father that he knew twelve years ago. No, he sensed that he had been possessed by the shadowy monster from so very long ago.
In the battle that ensued, Roots restrained himself, wanting to free his father of the shadow's influence and maybe even find out where his mother was. Unfortunately the shadow's influence was much too strong and he battled the creature that was his father from the Everfree all the way to the White Tail. It was there that Roots was forced to use his full power, but his eyes remained light blue while the land heeded his call. He successfully sealed the shadow monster and his father into a tree in the center of the forest, but he wasn't proud of what he had done. His father now had to suffer the shadow monster's taint for as long as the tree lived. The battle had also drained Roots of his power greatly, and the land refused to heed his call when he tried. Roots did not know whether or not this was punishment for what he had done, but nevertheless he accepted the loss. He was relieved that he still retained his ability to heal and communicate with the land and animals.
For the next seven years, Roots, now known to most as "Tree Beard", has kept watch over the forest, ever so slowly regaining his control over the land and making sure that nopony else would ever have to suffer because of the shadow monster. If it ever began to corrupt its surroundings, Roots made sure to purge it since it was his job as an Earthmender. He formed his second staff from one of the branches of the tree that he had sealed his father in, and he kept it as a reminder of the burden he now carried. His burlap cloak that was made by his mother so many years ago also had its final adjustments made so that it fit him perfectly. He had been adding onto it ever since he received it.
Roots now resides in his cottage on the edge of the White Tail Woods, hoping that one day he would soon see some old friends and make some new ones, as well as discover other ponies who are like him. He hopes to one day free his father from his curse, since Root knows that there is still some of him left, fighting the shadow. He also believes deep inside that his mother must be still alive out there... somewhere.
On one of his trips to Ponyville, he accidentally bumped into somepony new that would be able to help him... and that somepony was a mare known as Rose Wind.
Hey all! I felt like sharing my OC, so here is Roots!
Image One:
Spoiler: show
Image Two (Without cloak or staff, side view):
Spoiler: show
Image Three: (15 Years Of Age)
Spoiler: show
Name: Roots
Gender: Male
Race: Unicorn
Age: 24
Occupation: Earthmender
Home: White Tail Woods
(Previous was Ponyville and Canterlot)
Appearance:
Roots has a brown coat the colour of chestnuts and dark forest green hair, giving him a rather earth-like appearance. His mane is about shoulder length and almost constantly tangled, but fortunately his droopy hat covers most of it. He also has a beard and hopes to grow it as long as possible someday. When he travels to a city or town, most ponies who remember him have nicknamed him "Tree Beard" because of his appearance, which he doesn't mind at all. His eyes are rather unique for they switch between two colours depending on his mood. Light blue which reflects his positive emotions, and a dark crimson red which reflects his negative emotions. He tends to carry with him a wooden staff and also wears an old burlap cloak. The cloak carries with it many memories of his past...
Cutie Mark:
Three green maple leaves (closer view)
Spoiler: show
Talent:
Unique connection with nature, Healing
Hobbies:
Reading, Writing, Going for walks at midnight, Practicing his magical abilities, Creating new types of tea
Personality:
Roots is a calm and patient pony who does his best to keep his negative emotions such as anger and hate under control. Although still considered young by most scholars, Roots is known to always give words of wisdom to those who need it. He is friendly towards most ponies, but he does not wish to affiliate himself with those he suspects of being bad. It is very hard to get on his bad side, but give it enough time and you'll see the side of him he tries so very hard to conceal. He is always on the search for more knowledge, wanting to learn more about those around him, the world, and even himself. He always puts others before himself and would gladly risk his own life if it meant saving one life or many others, although he hopes he doesn't have to do that anytime soon. He doesn't mind living a life of solitude, but like many ponies he can get lonely and always loves to have a good conversation, especially if he and somepony were drinking tea by a fireplace while doing so.
Abilities:
Roots' primary abilities are communicating with nature and healing, but he does not heal others yet. If he were to try healing them now, he would probably cause leaves to sprout on their body (which he hopes would not be painful). No, his healing currently involves the healing and protection of the environment, such as the forest he currently lives on the outskirts of, but it is not limited to only that forest. It's strange how a Unicorn such as himself has a strong connection with the land like that of an Earth pony, although it's slightly weaker. His magic allows him to openly communicate with nature, learning their secrets and history while in return he helps them stay healthy, safe and alive. If he is ever lost, he only needs to speak with the animals or even the trees to help him find his way.
Origin: (Warning: It is long!)
Roots was born in Ponyville, a small and quiet town at the time. His parents, Willow Seeker and Summer Burst, owned a small dairy farm on the outskirts of Ponyville where Roots spent most of the younger portion of his life. Willow was an Earth pony while Summer Burst was a Unicorn. Although their farm was not as popular or as big like farms such as Sweet Apple Acres, his parents enjoyed what they did and they were able to live comfortably with the profits they made from selling various dairy products.
It wasn't long until Willow, his father, decided to teach Roots the art of dairy farming when he was just three years of age. Roots learned respect, discipline, and most importantly, how he should always be caring and compassionate towards others, especially towards the land and the animals. Willow did his best to teach Roots, despite him being a Unicorn, and was surprised when Roots began to show some type of connection to the land, but it wasn't in the art of farming. Instead, Roots was interested in the trees and the animals that didn't speak. The cows always had something to say, but he wanted to learn about the owls, about the squirrels, anything that involved the natural world.
Roots continued to help out at the farm to keep his father happy, but eventually he turned five which meant he was old enough to attend the local school. Roots at first didn't want to go and Summer Burst had to drag him there personally, but it was worth it in the end because Roots immediately loved it. As a gift for successfully completing his first day, his mother stitched together a burlap cloak just for him. At the school he met other colts and fillies his age, but he was more interested in school than friends. His teacher noticed that Roots mostly kept to himself but he was passing the lessons with ease. His teacher contacted his parents one day about this and they decided that Roots needed to make some friends, so they decided to set up a play-date with one of the other students as a surprise.
On the day of the play-date, Roots was introduced to the colt that would become his best friend, Iron Cloud. Iron Cloud was a Pegasus and at first the two were rather awkward around each other. Iron Cloud was more military minded compared to Roots, but they eventually discovered that each of them had something the other needed. Roots used his knowledge to teach Iron Cloud who was struggling in school, while Iron Cloud taught Roots how it was important to have friends, since a good friend would always be there by his side in his time of need. Iron Cloud also taught Roots how to stand up to those that would wish him harm. The two continued to get along until it was time for Roots to go home, but strangely his parents didn't arrive at the time they said they would. Thinking that this was a test to show his maturity, Roots waved goodbye to Iron and walked home.
The sun was just sinking beneath the horizon, but he sensed that something was wrong. It was eerily quiet as he approached his house and he found that the front door was ripped from its hinges. He began to panic and ran inside, calling out for his parents. He eventually stumbled across them in the kitchen, but both were badly wounded and his mother was unconscious. His father noticed him and told him to get as far away from the house as possible before the creature returned. Roots refused his father's wishes.
"I'm not going anywhere!" Roots cried. "I won't leave without both you!" Tears began to run down both sides of his father's face as shadows suddenly began to converge in front of Roots, creating a monstrous figure. The room grew cold and Roots was able to see his own breath, even though it was late spring. The monstrous creature laughed when he saw Roots stand up as tall as he could, his horn glowing a light blue like the colour of his eyes. Roots tried to levitate a barrel to throw at it, but he was knocked through the walls of his home by the creature and landed outside.
"W- why are you doing this!" Roots shouted. "You- you big monster!" The creature laughed again as he floated through the hole in the wall and inched closer to him. It was then that something snapped within Roots, causing his eyes and horn to glow a dark crimson red. The very land itself heeded his call, the grass somehow being able to ensnare the creature while the trees behind him rose from the ground to assist him. The shadow creature at that moment experienced real fear for the first time and quickly dissipated and retreated into the Everfree Forest in the distance. Roots was breathing heavily and looked at the house to find that his father had seen everything. The glow faded away and his eyes turned light blue again, causing the grass to resume its normal state and the trees returned to their previous positions. Roots' cutie mark then suddenly appeared, depicting three green maple leaves before he blacked out, having exhausted himself.
The next couple of days were a blur for Roots since the authorities had to investigate how his mother and father received their injuries, as well as the damages to their home. His mother stayed at the hospital for she had fallen into a coma, and the doctors didn't know how long she would be like that for. His father, having seen Roots' magical ability, decided that Roots would attend Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Roots was excited and saddened at the same time, since he would be leaving the ponies he knew behind, but his father surprised him by saying that Iron Cloud had decided to enlist at the Canterlot Military Academy, so he wouldn't be alone. Roots would always remember the one thing his father told him on the day he had to take the train to Canterlot.
"Your influence over nature simply boggles my mind Roots, it was something your mother and I definitely did not expect," he said. "Even though the cutie mark is something to be cherished, remember that the cutie mark doesn't entirely make you who you are. It's what you do, and what you say that does. Goodbye my son, and good luck." It would be a few years before Roots returned to Ponyville again. With only his suitcase and the cloak he held dear to him, he boarded the train, wondering what he would find in the royal city.
Upon arriving in Canterlot, he was immediately escorted to the school by a couple of Royal guards who had been expecting him. Since it was his first time in Canterlot, Roots wanted to go explore, but it felt very strange being in the city. It was nothing like what he was used to. They eventually arrived at the school and Roots quickly found out that he had to do some type of test in order to be accepted. At his age, everything in the school looked huge to him, but that would eventually change as he grew older. He was soon brought before three older looking ponies who carried with them clip boards. The Royal guards then left, leaving Willow alone with the three ponies.
"So, are you the colt we've been expecting?" the middle one asked. Not knowing what else to do, Willow quickly nodded. "Let's get started then Mr. Roots," the middle one continued. "As you may or may not know, you must past the test we give you in order to be accepted into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Are you ready?"
Roots rubbed the back of his head and nodded once again. "Yes ma'am, I believe I am," he replied. The three ponies turned and whispered to one another before facing Roots again.
"As your test Mr. Roots, we want you to do one simple thing. Hatch this owl egg," the right pony said. A cart was pushed into the room by a different pony and stopped just before Roots. On top of the cart surrounded in hay was an owl egg, its shell was a brilliant white.
"You have two minutes Mr. Roots," the left pony said. "Prove your worth." An hourglass suddenly appeared in front of Roots and he watched as the sand slowly began to trickle from the top to the bottom. At first Roots just stood there, fearing that he would run out of time before he had a chance to do anything, but he took a deep breath and he began to concentrate on the egg. His horn began to spark and glow light blue and he slowly began to lift the egg.
"Thirty seconds remain," the middle pony said and she wrote something down on her clip board. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Root's face, but he didn't panic and continued to concentrate. He felt something shift inside the egg and he used the opportunity to at last shatter the shell, revealing an owlet.
"And time, well done Mr. Roots," the left pony said. "Cutting it a bit close, but other than that, I vote that you pass." He looked over at the other two and they nodded in agreement.
"Mr. Roots, welcome to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns," the middle one said. "You may keep the owl as your pet as a gift or you may give it up for adoption, what will it be Mr. Roots?" Roots looked at the owlet to see that he was looking around the room through his barely opened eyes, already beginning to explore his new surroundings and Roots knew immediately what his answer was.
"I'll take him." Roots quickly named the owlet Wise Ears and the two became inseparable. For the next twelve years, Roots did his best to balance his time with school and his social life. They were some of his best and worst years of his life.
For the first three years he had heard nothing from his father or anything about his mother's condition and set aside a few days off of school to see how they were. School had left him rather busy which made him unable to visit during the holidays. Even though he was eight, he felt much older than what he was, having passed his classes as the third best student. When he returned to his farm, he found that it had been abandoned and was now used as a shelter for all types of small critters. He was surprised at how fast a house could fall apart over the course of three years. Confused as to why this was, he tried to communicate with one of the squirrels, only to roughly understand that his father was driven away by something, but they do not know anything about the whereabouts of his father. Roots knew that his father surely wouldn't have left Ponyville without his mother and immediately went over to the hospital. It was there that he learned his mother had suddenly disappeared a few months ago, much to the disbelief of the hospital workers.
Roots couldn't believe his ears and he tried his best not to show how worried and upset he was in front of the workers. He wondered why he was not notified sooner and he asked if they knew anything about the location of his father, but all they told him was that he had vanished one day without a trace shortly after his mother had disappeared and hadn't been seen since. Roots returned to his old home to say goodbye to it one last time before his horn glowed a dark cimson red, letting his negative emotions take hold of him after keeping them under control for so long. He let the critters escape first before commanding the land to swallow the house and the barn, causing it to vanish into the land without a trace.
For the next six years, Roots continued his studies, having slowly shut himself off from the outside world to all except Wise Ears and his friend Iron Cloud who had graduated from military school and had already enlisted in the Canterlot Royal Guard. Roots had not forgiven his father for abandoning Ponyville and leaving his mother behind, but he still missed him and his mother very dearly. He often made trips back to Ponyville, sometimes to study or to just walk around. He never stayed for very long though.
Roots never stopped practicing communicating with the land, usually sneaking out of the city at midnight and listening to the stories that the plants and animals had to tell him and Wise Ears. It was especially great when he could at last fully understand Wise Ears, which had led to many strange but mostly funny conversations. Wise Ears also gave him advice sometimes, although the usefulness varied greatly.
In his twelfth and final year at the school, Roots had finally turned seventeen and was pursuing a degree in the magical art of healing, although it had more to do with mending nature instead of healing ponies. Iron Cloud had been relocated to serve in Cloudsdale, leaving Roots and Wise Ears on their own. After yet another successful year, Roots graduated at last and immediately set out to do the one thing he had secretly been preparing for. To find his father and his mother.
He went from place to place in Equestria, eventually finding a random stick along the way and shaped it to be a walking stick, his first staff. At last, after a year of travelling, he found out that his father was last seen to be in the Everfree Forest and Roots didn't hesitate to go there. The Everfree Forest was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He was told to never go in there and for good reason. The land felt chaotic, unstable. He knew that if he tried to communicate with it, he would not like what he would find. He eventually found his father wandering the ruins of an old castle, but it wasn't his father that he knew twelve years ago. No, he sensed that he had been possessed by the shadowy monster from so very long ago.
In the battle that ensued, Roots restrained himself, wanting to free his father of the shadow's influence and maybe even find out where his mother was. Unfortunately the shadow's influence was much too strong and he battled the creature that was his father from the Everfree all the way to the White Tail. It was there that Roots was forced to use his full power, but his eyes remained light blue while the land heeded his call. He successfully sealed the shadow monster and his father into a tree in the center of the forest, but he wasn't proud of what he had done. His father now had to suffer the shadow monster's taint for as long as the tree lived. The battle had also drained Roots of his power greatly, and the land refused to heed his call when he tried. Roots did not know whether or not this was punishment for what he had done, but nevertheless he accepted the loss. He was relieved that he still retained his ability to heal and communicate with the land and animals.
For the next seven years, Roots, now known to most as "Tree Beard", has kept watch over the forest, ever so slowly regaining his control over the land and making sure that nopony else would ever have to suffer because of the shadow monster. If it ever began to corrupt its surroundings, Roots made sure to purge it since it was his job as an Earthmender. He formed his second staff from one of the branches of the tree that he had sealed his father in, and he kept it as a reminder of the burden he now carried. His burlap cloak that was made by his mother so many years ago also had its final adjustments made so that it fit him perfectly. He had been adding onto it ever since he received it.
Roots now resides in his cottage on the edge of the White Tail Woods, hoping that one day he would soon see some old friends and make some new ones, as well as discover other ponies who are like him. He hopes to one day free his father from his curse, since Root knows that there is still some of him left, fighting the shadow. He also believes deep inside that his mother must be still alive out there... somewhere.
On one of his trips to Ponyville, he accidentally bumped into somepony new that would be able to help him... and that somepony was a mare known as Rose Wind.
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