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[Whitetail Wood] The Mystery at the Moss-Covered Cottage


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Trillium was trotting along a sun-dappled path, humming softly to herself, a basket full of cookies attached to the side of her small saddle. Later, in the summer, the trees leaves would fill in a lot more and this part of the woods would be in deep shade. But this time of the year the leaves were small, and the spotted light was so fetching on her pelt. It was the perfect day for a "chance" encounter. The pale green pony had brushed her coat, mane and tail until they gleamed, and put a fresh trillium, the flower she was named after, behind her ear. She was in a great mood, joyous and playful. She knew that the stallion she was secretly in love with, her very good friend River Birch would be checking on the new birch cones among the trees. SO she was conveniently wandering this part of the woods, with of all things the very cookies he loved most of all.

She heard some twigs snap nearby, so she looked up. On the crest of the hill she saw a dark shadow that resembled a stallion.

She whistled.

The figure did not respond.

"Oh, River Birch, I know you're just tryin' to fool me, but I know it's you, so you can just stop it right now" She called out in an amused tone, rearing up playfully. "If you don't, I'm not making you cookies anymore!"

She broke into a gallop and nimbly dodged tree roots that crisscrossed the path to greet her friend. Trillium froze, mid-gallop. This pony wasn't River Birch, not at all. This stranger was huge, dark and strong, and Trillium was just a little afraid!

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"Ahhh" Valoren Seeker sighed happily. Standing here in the woods amongst nature felt great!! He had to admit that he was rather suprised he was able to get some time to come out here and relax. For the longest time, he had been training and training and training!! It was like a never ending circle. He had to in order to keep up being Equestrias Number one fighter, and protector. Still. it felt great to finally get some relaxtion time, condersing what he had been doing latelty. Blinking as he felt someone bump into him, he turned around and looked. Spotting another pony who...looked scared, he smiled warmly "Hello their. Im Valoren Seeker, Fighter and Protector of Equestria".

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Trillium was about to bolt the huge black pegasus introduced himself in a gentle, calm voice. He said he was "Fighter and Protector of Equestria", she was a little puzzled. Certainly nopony around here was looking for a fight!

"Oh! Well, it is sure is nice to meet new faces! My name is Trillium, and I work in these woods, planting things and taking care of the spring flowers", she said, smiling and extending a hoof. "So, you're a fighter and the protector of Equestria... is someone in the neighborhood in some sort of trouble? I grew up in these parts and know almost everypony here, so I'd hate to hear that there was some sort of trouble!"

She looked up. This stallion had nice eyes.

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Grinning, he said "No ones in trouble. Least I dont know if anyponys in trouble". Smiling softly, he said "But its up to me to help them whenever they are in order to keep the peace. Nodding towards her, he said "I came through here after doing some training in order to relax for abit, when I stopped to admire the scenary. I guess I musta been here for awhile cause I didnt here you call out my name or anything like that".

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Trillium nodded in agreement "Uh-huh! This is the best place in all of Equestria for clearing your head and relaxing! And especially for admiring the scenery!". She returned his grin with one of her locally famous mile-wide smiles. "Not that I'm biased or anything".

"Have you ever been around these parts before? If you haven't I'll gladly give you a tour!" she said, prancing just a little, clopping her dainty hooves on the hard packed dirt. "Oh where ARE my manners, I have a basket full of cookies here, would you like one?" Trillium held open the basked and offered him one.

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Smiling, Val nodded "Thanks. Id like a cookie". Taking one slowly, he gently bite into it, enjoying the chocolatey taste of it as it rolled around on his tounge. Grinning at the taste, he responded "Sure!! Id be up for a tour since I dont really know these woods that well. Since Im more of an outsider/traveler pony". Walking next to her, he smirked "This outtghat be pretty fun, dont you think:?

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"Yep!" chirped Trillium. She absolutely adored giving other ponies a tour of "her" woods, and the foothills surrounding Canterlot. "It sure as sugar will be!" She thought for a moment about what the best route to take would be, to maximize the highlights of the area. "I have it! We'll take this route through the woods, around the foothills, to the base of so you can see the waterfalls. They're wonderful to splash in!

"Just lemme know if I yap too much and bore you with all the flower talk along the way."

They began their journey though the woods, Trillium pointing out the mundanities as only a true local in love with their hometown could. "This rock marks the boundary of what used to be the limit of where ponies cared for the woods many generations ago. As you can see it extends all the way to Ponyville in that direction, and Hoofington in the other. Beautiful, well-cared for woodland with manicured paths and closely tended flowerbeds for all of the woods! Oh and this tree, see under this tree is where I planted my very first Trillium bed that gained me my cutie mark! And this path leads to just the most lovely little grove of Lilacs, but we can hit that on the way back. Oh, Val, look at this plant, it's really rare in these parts. It's called a pitcher plant!" She continued chattering about the woods, pausing quite a bit for Valoren to show polite interest.

She suddenly stopped and stamped impatiently at what first appeared to be nothing at all. "Oh DARN it.", she cried. "Those stupid ants are at it again!" She looked up at Valoren, and then to the line of dark brown ants on the forest floor. "They're moving seeds to areas they are not supposed to. They do this all the time, but since I can't talk to them, I have to try to entice them to stay elsewhere with sugar." She reached into her basket and grabbed a cookie that was already broken. Then she crumbled and spread it in the underbrush, a more appropriate place for flowers to grow. "That oughta hold them until tomorrow, though".

She put her face close to the ground and pouted at the tiny insects. "I will deal with YOU little brats properly later." Suddenly, she had an idea that would enable her to not only get to know this nice new friend of hers better, but maybe, just maybe, make River Birch a little jealous in the process.

Trillium jumped up and turned to Valoren Seeker, eyes shining. "I know! We can go back to the village for dinner after we see the waterfalls! Please say you'll have dinner with me! I can invite my friends and we can make it a really fun "welcome" party for you. You can stay in our guest house while you are on vacation if you want, even!

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Valoren was shocked!! And abit touched really. He had just met Trillum and yet here she was, offering to allow him to stay with her for awhile. That was..really nice of her. Blushing lightly at the kind offer, he nodded softly "S..sure. Id like that". Smiling shyly at her, he siad "I mean, I know we just met and all but...". Smiling at the idea of having dinner nad meeting more friends, he grined "Sure!! Id love to".

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"Oh pish posh! Don't think anything of it. You see we ALL have guest houses, all my friends and I that is, but we never have the opportunity to to have any GUESTS. Anyone who passes this way is always going to Canterlot, so they never stop to see our village for more time than it takes to pass through. And we work SO hard to make it pretty. But you don't exactly seem like the type that would be comfortable in Canterlot...", She let out a small giggle, "no offense, so even if you declined, I'm not sure if my friends and I would take "NO" for an answer."

So let's get a move on! Trillium exclaimed, "Giddy-up!", and began skipping off in the direction of the waterfalls.

(edited to change the text color)

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Smiling softly as he folowed the excited pony, he couldnt help but wonder why she was so eager to have him as her guest. Was it because she truly wanted to be friends with him? He had to admit that sounded like a lovely idea raelly, to be friends with her since..well, he loved making new friends. But somethign was telling him that something was up. He didnt know why.. As they entered the village, he smiled "This certaintly looks liek a nice place. Very pretty like you". Realzing what he just said, he blusehd as he said "I mean...uhhh...". Where in the world did THAT come from??

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Trillium looked at Valoren straight in the eye, she blushed for a moment, but was way too confident to let it rattle her"Pretty? You think I'm pretty? Why thank you", she beamed, "Too bad certain other ponies I know don't see it", she added, a little sadly. "You see, I have this friend. A very good friend, he is, but he just doesn't see me "in that way".. She frowned before continuing.

"I know!" She perked up "You're a boy! Maybe you can give me some pointers?"

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Valoren stared as he blinked several times. She was asking him for how to attract guys?? Man, she was in for a disppoitning revelation. Blushing, he responded "Err, Ive never really..been around other mares enough in order to...develop a relationship. Any that I do meet is usually on my travels throughout Equestria, and I only stay with them for a short time. I befriend them just like any other pony but...Im sorry. Looking apologetic, he siad "I dont have any advice on how to attract others".

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"Oh, Hmmm. Darnit. I hope you don't mind me complaining to you, but you see I have this problem." she looked up at Valoren and smiled a little. "I have this friend. His name's River Birch, and he's actually who I thought you were in the woods when we met. I was bringing him his favorite cookies. We're good friends and all, but, I dunno. I maybe want to be more than friends. I mean, all my closest filly-friends are married or even have foals already!" She stamped a little impatiently, much like she had with the ants. "It's just so frustrating!"

Trillium shrugged. "Sorry! I promised to take you to the waterfalls!".

They cantered further down the path, which was getting wider now. Looking up they could see the white turrets of Canterlot, and volleys of water spilling out of various aqueducts at the base that anchored the gleaming city to the side of the mountain. Below, the valley was shrouded in a rainbow mist. Trillium had not been here in a long time, so she squealed joyously "Follow me!" and broke into a full gallop to play in the splashing water.

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Chuckling weakly at the giggling pony, he couldnt help but notice that when she was happy and hanging out, she had the attitude of an ecentric filly. It was kinda amusing actually. But, this guy that she was brining cookies too. Where was he if he was supposed to be here? Werent they really good friends? Raising a brow at wanting to have a family, he thought "I guess shes the type who belives in happily ever afters. Shame I cant have the same attitude". Looking down sadly at the thought, he rememberd that the last time he had been in love, the pony had broken his heart and left him. He wanted to love, but was afaird to be hurt again. Following her into the shallow waters, he smirked "Arent we abit old for this kinda stuff".

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"You're only as young as you feel", Trillium laughed, and continued splashing in the cascade. Noticing his downturned expression she added, "And that frown makes me think you feel like you're about a million years old!"

She shook the water off her pelt, starting at the withers and briefly encasing herself in a misty rainbow all the way down to her haunches before stepping into shallow end of the pool again.

"You know", she said, seriously, looking Valoren straight in the eye, "My friends tell me that I might be too much of an optimist sometimes, too cheerful, and too carefree. But one thing they never fault me is my ability to listen to a friend in need."

Suddenly her eyes widened with alarm. There was a high-pitched , continuous screaming coming from the direction of the village.

"I have to get back to see what's going on! You can tell me what's wrong along the way!"

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Letting out a playful laugh as he was splashed, Valoren shook his mane wildly to get the water out of it, as he gave her a lopsided grin. "Heh, I guess your right".

Hearing her ability to help out a friend in need, he blushed as he started "We..well, its just been a long time since Ive ever been in lo..".

He halted when he heard the scream. Rushing to keep up with her, he thought "What happened"?!

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The duo galloped furiously towards the village, and the screaming did not stop the entire time. Trillium has a sinking feeling that she knew what was wrong at this time, so picked up her pace. By the time they reached the gates both ponies were dry.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she rounded the town pump and saw a tiny Peryton, only knee high to a mare, screaming her name at the top of her itty-bitty little lungs while stomping the bits out of the flowers that had been carefully planted there. Anypony who didn't know better would think the little thing was being tortured. "Trillium TRILLIUM TRIIIIIIIILLLLIUUUMMMMM! Is mean MEAN MEEAAANNN!" the little deer-like creature was yelling. A pale-grey pony with dark grey hair was unsuccessfully trying to silence her, or at the very least reduce the damage to the flowers. Other ponies in the village looked on, slightly amused.

The Peryton stopped and tried to slink away when she spotted the green pony. She knew she had been caught.

CHOTCHKIE! Trillium yelled, a thing which she rarely did, "What DO you think you're doing?" The Peryton bolted for the woods.

"Oh my!" Trillium said to Val, flustered, "I AM so sorry about that. What a welcome to town this must be, and on your vacation, too! That was my, erm, I guess foster daughter? I found her in the woods when she was just a newborn fawn and raised her. " her voice got a little louder, and she looked pointedly towards the woods where she knew Chotchkie was hiding in some bush, "And she's been told a million time she has to go find her real parents. It's not that we don't love her, it's just that living here is not good for her!"

She looked around to everyone who was now staring at her and her companion. Her tone of voie changed to its normal softer tones.

"Hi there everypony! This is Valoren Seeker! I met him in the woods, and he's going to visit with us for a little while."

All the ponies in the village began to talk at the black pegasus at once.

"Val, I think your troubles are going to have to wait until this mob gets done introducing themselves", she giggled.

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Valoren looked back and forth between all the talking in a paniced stated as he thoguht to himself quickly "Too many ponie!! C..cant talk to all at once". Contiutibng to stare as they chated, he tried speaking. "Err umm...greetings. Im...Valoren Seeker, an Adventurer/Protector of Equestria. I came here because I err..met your frined Trillum and well...its very nice to meet you all". Smiling weakly, he said "You all seem very err..frienddly, and hope to make as many frineds as possible umm..here".

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Trillium motioned to her friends frantically with her front hooves. "Now now, everypony, don't crowd the poor guy!" she said, laughing. The dark red streak from her hair had fallen across one of her eyes. "He'll be here for a little while, and he's staying in my guest cottage. And you can all get to know him at our bar-be-cue tonight!"

The village ponies stared asking him somewhat more coherent questions, but still faster than he could answer.

"What's it like being a tough warrior?" Asked one small blue colt with a tomato mark, admiringly, taking a boxing stance with his front hooves.

"Where are you from, though? Where do you call home?" an older stallion with an onion cutie mark remarked, looking proudly and contentedly at his garden.

A dark pink unicorn with a primrose cutie mark filly eyed him up admiringly, eyes lingering on his flanks, "Are you single?" she asked, saucily. Several other young mares and fillies giggled.

"How do you know Trillium?" a pale grey stallion with a leafed twig with an odd shaped fruit on it said, rather icily.

Another sunny yellow pony with a snowdrop cutie mark added "What's on the menu?"

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Smiling, Val tried to answer to the best of his ability. Turning to the blue colt, he explaiend "Well, it feels good to achive it through hard work, but Im nowhere near the end of becoming the best Protector. I have a long way to go before I become that good". Tunring to the older stallion, he explained "I used to be from Cloudsdale, but I left along time ago. My home is wherever I wander now". Blushing at the question of hte young filly, the colt Val blushed in response "Err, thats a question Im not really umm..well, yeah but uhhh". Moving on before he blushed any further, he blinked at the icy response as he said "Well, I bumped into her on the roads when I was walking. We met, and she offered me a place to stay really". Blinking at the question from the sunny yellow pony, he said "Errr...tacos"?

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Trillium gestured to her friends and neighbors again. "Guys! Don't crowd him!" , the mare said sternly and dragged the pegasus away from the crowd towards the one-and-a-half room thatched cottage in her backyard. "Sorry about that. They mean well." She felt bad having to apologize yet again for the actions of her friends.

The sunny cottage was circular and mostly one room, but had a pie-slice cut out of it that held an in-ground teak-lined soaking tub. Various grasses and edible flowers grew from wicker planters that lined the windows, both inside and out. The main room was small, just big enough to hold the bed, an end table and a bookshelf filled with romance and mystery novels, with a few plant guides mixed in. There was a small chest for linens at the foot of the bed.

There was a shallow, furry indentation on the coverlet, and some faint muddy hoofmarks on its bleached surface. Trillium sighed and grabbed the end of it in her teeth and pulled it off the bed. "You just relax and make yourself at home, and I will remake the bed. If you want to take a soak in the tub, just move the rocks on the ledge. The spring will fill it up. Towels on the shelf in that room, salts in the glass jar."

She looked around the room as she finished replacing the coverlet, noticing more signs of a tiny intruder. She really should have locked this place up when it wasn't in use. Chotchkie really did need to learn to fend for herself.

"I will come get you after we have the food all set up!", she added before going back out the door. She didn't notice the tiny face peering from out from under the bed.

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Going over towards the bath, he sighed as he slowly stepped into the warm bath. Sighing happily at the feeling it brought to his tired hooves, he slowly began to wash himself. Being out on the road all the time, training, fighting and going into danger did make one abit messy looking. As he washed his mane, he sighed as he sat down looking up at the celing. He couldnt help but wonder if thier was some sort of game hapening. He believe in kindness, but for such kindess to offer to stay with them for awhike...something semed...off.

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At the sound of the large pegasus slipping into the tub, the tiny peryton that had been hiding under the bed made her move. Chotchkie snuck out from the dust ruffle, sniffed the air for a moment, and peeked out the window to make sure that Trillium was otherwise occupied.

She quietly snuck into the steam-filled tubroom and slinked to the edge of the tub until she was suddenly eyeball to eyeball with Valoren Seeker.

"Who are you, and what are you doing with MY Trillium?", she growled, trying to sound menacing. But tiny deer with high-pitched voices are scarcely menacing.

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  • 3 months later...

A hungry feeling~

Came o'er me stealing~

And the mice were squealing~

In my prison cell~

And that auld triangle went jingle-jangle~

All along the banks of the Royal Canal~”

Monty cheerily cantered out of rhythm with the rather somber tune that he was singing. The Sun was shining through the leaves of the treas, leaving their shadows to play tag all over the road ahead. A small breeze blew, causing the aspens to whisper their secrets into the open sky.

Oh! To start the morning~

The warden bawling~

'Get up out of bed, you! And clean out your cell!'~

And that auld triangle went jingle-jangle~

All along the banks of the Royal Canal~”

Monty carried the same butchered Connemara accent that he had when he was on his way to the Running of the Leaves. It just seemed that there were an innumerable amount of Connemara songs to be sung, and Monty seemed to be trying to sing them all.

Oh! the screw was peeping~

And the lag was sleeping~

As he lay weeping~

For his girl Sal~

And that auld triangle went jingle-jangle~

All along the banks of the Royal Canal~”

His saddle bags seemed to be holding something rather heavy this time and his cart was no where to be seen. Monty aimlessly wandered on and off of the beaten path in a generally southerly direction. He was making his way back from Trottingham where one of his contacts resided. Every once in a while Monty would have to go check up on his friends and make sure that they still remembered him and that they were doing well.

On a fine Spring evening~

The lag lay dreaming~

And the sea-gulls were wheeling~

High above the wall~

And that auld triangle went jingle-jangle~

All along the banks of the Royal Canal~”

While Monty may have been traveling back to his home and shop in Hoofington he still had a small pit-stop to make for the evening. The forest had been all a twitter about the wonderful flowers in the small town of Solstice Heights Foothills. Now Monty considered himself rather well traveled but he had never heard of this teeny town. Apparently it was nestled on the trail from Ponyville to Canterlot in a shady glen of trees.

Oh! the wind was sighing~

And the day was dying~

As the lag lay crying~

In his prison cell~

And that auld triangle went jingle-bloody-jangle~

All along the banks of the Royal Canal~”

Monty finally came upon the flagstone path that defined the edge of Solstice Heights Foothills. His hooves clopped on the hard surface as he picked up his pace to a gallop into the center of town. Seeing a Zebra must have been quite a shock to the ponies from this small town, let alone one goofily galloping into their town square. He skid to a halt just short of the town water pump, which seemed to be sitting right in the middle of the entire place. He looked all around himself, taking in the sights, sounds, and even smells of the quaint place. It was so much different than Hoofington. There were flowers in bloom and bees busily working to keep them pollinated. And, OH, a cherry pie was sitting out on a window sill to cool.

Monty couldn't help himself, he wandered slowly towards the flowerbed underneath the window which held his prize. He was hoping to not draw any more attention to himself than he already had. He was just about to stuff his muzzle into the pie as a rather pale and grey stallion walked slowly by him and shot an icy glance Monty's way. Monty responded with a winning smile, causing his right ear flop over limp. He then slunk back to the center of town and plopped his flank down on a bench and slumped over to one side and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes for a bit. This place was just so peaceful and cheery that he couldn't help himself. He had been walking for a long while after all, a short nap wouldn't hurt.

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  • 2 weeks later...

At the sound of singing, the tiny preyton quickly ducked away from her intended target, giving him time to run off into the woods.

Chotchkie recognized that voice. The accent was all wrong, and singing was off-key and horrible, but the voice definitely belonged to that zany zebra out in Hoofington, the one that the peryton had basically bullied into giving her candy when she was last in that area. His store was filled with curiosities, both considered mundane (but interesting to the nosy little dear-beast) and fantastic (which of course the ill-mannered and ill-cultured peryton ignored), and Chotchkie kind of sort of in the back of her tiny brain remembered spilling a secret that made Monty's eyes light up excitedly and promise to come visit. if only she could remember what it was.

She darted out of the cottage and on to the flagstone path. She ran on under dappled light towards the center of town, where she'd heard the singing coming from. She spotted the garish purple suit that clashed with the more subtle woody tones of his stripes on a nearby iron and wood bench, surrounded by bright poppies. "Ohhh. You're asleep. I'll SHHHHHHHHHHH", she stage-whispered to Monty, while scrambling up the wooden planks of the bench and settling herself on the curved back, her hooves resting on his stuffed saddlebag that was resting next to him. Every now and then he would yawn in his sleep, causing his ear to flop down. Every time his ear flopped down, Chotchkie would bat it back up with a hoof, much like a kitten would. After a few minutes of this activity she found herself dozing in the bright, warm sun that was bearing down on them. Sleep came, gently nestling her in its embrace...until it apparently dropped her face first into Monty's saddlebags...

Dozens of romance novels poured out, and the peryton landed with a yelp on her back in a sea of schmaltz covering the flagstone path. In a panic she realized that ALL the books were Hyacinth Hills novels, and remembered exactly what it was that Monty had been interested in. Trillium's deep dark secret! And Chotchkie had to do everything in her power to keep the maniacal zebra from finding out the truth!

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