Ask a druid and his apprentice

[Forest Storm]

Greetings, I'm Forest Storm, the last surviving member of the ancient Druid Brotherhood of Equestria. Until recently, due to some circumstances, I was very secretive about myself and didn't even want to reveal my name. But the situation has changed, so now I can give you any information you need.

(picture by @Windy Breeze)

Hey, I'm Tree Song, the druid's apprentice! I have a lot to say about us, but I think it's better if we do it in the form of answering your questions, so ask away!

(OOC: No rules this time, I'm pretty confident the people here are well behaved and will not do anything bad...)

[Ice Princess Silky 11,052]

*Happily squees and trots in place with excitement -- probably not the wisest thing to do in the presence of a pony that had isolated themselves due to special circumstances but she simply couldn't contain the sincere excitement in her heart* 

Hi there, Forest Storm! *Her eyes would light up from the first name alone as it was absolutely plant-related which was her passion*

So many questions! But let us begin with something small...

When did you first hear the calling to follow the path of the Druid? 

[Props Valroa 26,237]

Where do the druids come from and what is their role in the world? 

[North Star 4,544]

Hey there Forest Storm and Tree Song  

So you're nature-loving ponies! What's your favourite plant? :3

[J.J 918]

Are you Druids that use Earth Pony magic? Is that why you have returned? Do you shape shift? And if so what animals can you become/are your favorites to be?

[Forest Storm]

1 hour ago, Princess Silky said:

*Happily squees and trots in place with excitement -- probably not the wisest thing to do in the presence of a pony that had isolated themselves due to special circumstances but she simply couldn't contain the sincere excitement in her heart* 

Hi there, Forest Storm! *Her eyes would light up from the first name alone as it was absolutely plant-related which was her passion*

So many questions! But let us begin with something small...

When did you first hear the calling to follow the path of the Druid? 

Well, my youth was pretty "stormy", I'd say. I wasn't as calm as collected as now, I was pretty impulsive and adventurous, to put it lightly. At some point I joined a group of bandits who were robbing ponies traveling through the forest, and I helped them by using my lightning summoning ability. One time, we attacked a carriage that we thought contained a treasure, but instead it turned out to be some innocent foals, and I almost killed them with my lightning... At that point, I understood what I was doing was wrong. I left the bandits, and started to walk aimlessly through the forests, unsure what to do with my life. That's when I met my teacher, who made me who I am now.
 

1 hour ago, Props ValRoa said:

Where do the druids come from and what is their role in the world? 

The Druid Brotherhood was founded in the pre-Celestial era by ponies studying the forces of nature and the means to control them. After that, the new druids were always trained by existing ones, like I do now with Tree Song. Our role is mostly to gather information. For countless years we traveled the forests of Equestria in search for any sings that something was out of the ordinary. Which usually means someone is using magic to do something bad, and we should prevent it. Using magic always leaves traces. Most ponies wouldn't notice them, but a trained druid can detect them. There were many instances during Princess Celestia's reign when my predecessors and I warned her about a villain who was going to attack, which helped her maintain the peace during that thousand years period.
 

40 minutes ago, abrony-mouse said:

Hey there Forest Storm and Tree Song  

So you're nature-loving ponies! What's your favourite plant? :3

For me it's the old, big and strong trees. I admire them.

Despite my name, I like flowers the most. Even the most common ones like daisies and sow thistles are very beautiful in my eyes.
 

10 minutes ago, Spook Conundrum said:

Are you Druids that use Earth Pony magic? Is that why you have returned? Do you shape shift? And if so what animals can you become/are your favorites to be?

Druid magic is different from unicorn magic, and earth ponies, due to their connection to the nature, are the most likely to have this kind of skills. There were some pegasus and unicorn druids, but most were earth ponies like us.

The druid abilities depend on their individual talents. Neither I nor Tree Song can shapeshift into animals, but some of the druids in the past were able to do it.

Edited October 22, 2022 by PawelS

[Sir Hugsalot 8,649]

Most curious, I haven't met druid ponies before! 

And since my curiosity is one that is never to be satisfied I will just ask one question at a time to each for now to avoid overwhelming the both of You 

So, Forest Storm! What are Your tasks as a druid in Equestria? Aside from finding traces of malevolent magic that You already discussed in a nice detail? 

And Tree Song! What is it like being an apprentice to a druid? 

[twilightlicious69 627]

Hey Tree, how did you become Forest's apprentice?

[Forest Storm]

8 hours ago, Sir Spooksalot said:

So, Forest Storm! What are Your tasks as a druid in Equestria? Aside from finding traces of malevolent magic that You already discussed in a nice detail?

As I said before, it's mostly about gathering information. We take note of anything that we find out and could be useful in the future. Most of the time it's about animals and plants, since we travel through the forests, but we also visit the cities sometimes, so we do have some knowledge how the civilization works.

Also we will help anypony in need. From the herbs we find we make potions that can cure various illnesses, and we sell most of these potions, but we also carry some of them with us to be used in case of emergency. We do not demand payment for helping the poor ones.

[Tree Song]

8 hours ago, Sir Spooksalot said:

And Tree Song! What is it like being an apprentice to a druid? 

It's pretty hard work as there's a lot of stuff to learn, but it also very satisfying, I can see my abilities improve almost every day. Also it gets quite lonely sometimes, we can travel for many days without meeting anypony. So when we visit a settlement, I tend to mingle with the locals a lot to compensate this.
 

7 hours ago, Rainboomer Zap said:

Hey Tree, how did you become Forest's apprentice?

I grew up in a little village at the edge of the forest. I liked that place a lot, because of my love of nature. But my parents had to move to Manehattan to find a job, and I was too young to live on my own so I had to move with them. I didn't like living in the big city, so right after finishing the school I moved back to the village. But I wasn't really sure what to do, so I had a similar situation as my teacher: I wandered through the forest, searching for a purpose in life, until I met him. History repeats itself, I guess.

[Sir Hugsalot 8,649]

On 2022-10-23 at 11:14 PM, Forest Storm said:

As I said before, it's mostly about gathering information. We take note of anything that we find out and could be useful in the future. Most of the time it's about animals and plants, since we travel through the forests, but we also visit the cities sometimes, so we do have some knowledge how the civilization works.

Also we will help anypony in need. From the herbs we find we make potions that can cure various illnesses, and we sell most of these potions, but we also carry some of them with us to be used in case of emergency. We do not demand payment for helping the poor ones.

Thank You for the response! But here's the question about druid magic - where does it come from? I understand that it's one that can manifest itself in any race that's there, but it still doesn't look like something common, given how most of us never met a druid before! Is it something You're born with? 

On 2022-10-23 at 11:25 PM, Tree Song said:

It's pretty hard work as there's a lot of stuff to learn, but it also very satisfying, I can see my abilities improve almost every day. Also it gets quite lonely sometimes, we can travel for many days without meeting anypony. So when we visit a settlement, I tend to mingle with the locals a lot to compensate this.

How did You encounter Forest Storm first? How did Your abilities begin to manifest? Or did You simply decide that becoming a druid is Your calling? 

I myself have some unusual abilities related to the plantlife and found that I can control it to some degree with my music!

[Forest Storm]

1 hour ago, Sir Spooksalot said:

Thank You for the response! But here's the question about druid magic - where does it come from? I understand that it's one that can manifest itself in any race that's there, but it still doesn't look like something common, given how most of us never met a druid before! Is it something You're born with?

Unicorn magic is an external force that the pony can conjure and focus with the horn. Druid magic, on the other hoof, is the ability to channel the existing forces of nature. You need to have a natural talent to do something like this, and it occurs more often with earth ponies because of their strong bond with the nature. In many cases these abilities are untrained, so these ponies can do something unusual, but without fully realizing their potential.

Edited October 25, 2022 by PawelS

[Tree Song]

1 hour ago, Sir Spooksalot said:

How did You encounter Forest Storm first? How did Your abilities begin to manifest? Or did You simply decide that becoming a druid is Your calling? 

I myself have some unusual abilities related to the plantlife and found that I can control it to some degree with my music!

My abilities started to manifest when I was a filly, before moving to Manehattan. I liked to walk through the forest and sing softly to myself. At some point, I realized that the trees sing back to me! That was so unexpected and unusual! That's when I got my cutie mark. At first I didn't understand what they were trying to tell me, but later I started to learn their language. As I said earlier, I encountered Forest Storm much later, after finishing school and moving back to my home village.

Your abilities sound interesting, tell me more about it!

Edited October 25, 2022 by PawelS

[Sir Hugsalot 8,649]

18 hours ago, Forest Storm said:

Unicorn magic is an external force that the pony can conjure and focus with the horn. Druid magic, on the other hoof, is the ability to channel the existing forces of nature. You need to have a natural talent to do something like this, and it occurs more often with earth ponies because of their strong bond with the nature. In many cases these abilities are untrained, so these ponies can do something unusual, but without fully realizing their potential.

That's interesting!  I may have something like that, only I've never put much thought into it! I am not considering it as a path for me, at least for now, but is there any sort of age gap when accepting potential apprentices for druids? 

17 hours ago, Tree Song said:

My abilities started to manifest when I was a filly, before moving to Manehattan. I liked to walk through the forest and sing softly to myself. At some point, I realized that the trees sing back to me! That was so unexpected and unusual! That's when I got my cutie mark. At first I didn't understand what they were trying to tell me, but later I started to learn their language. As I said earlier, I encountered Forest Storm much later, after finishing school and moving back to my home village.

Your abilities sound interesting, tell me more about it!

I haven't fully learned to understand my abilities well and my... application of them is quite erratic. But generally plants seem to react to my playing, flowing with the rhythm, so to say. Flowers seem to be able to open their petals even if they're hidden in the shadow. It doesn't go far, but maybe it's because I never practiced it much! 

[Forest Storm]

11 hours ago, Sir Spooksalot said:

That's interesting!  I may have something like that, only I've never put much thought into it! I am not considering it as a path for me, at least for now, but is there any sort of age gap when accepting potential apprentices for druids?

As far as I know, I'm the only druid in Equestria, and I'm not accepting any more apprentices, sorry about that. But if we meet, I can give you some tips how to develop your abilities.

[Tree Song]

11 hours ago, Sir Spooksalot said:

I haven't fully learned to understand my abilities well and my... application of them is quite erratic. But generally plants seem to react to my playing, flowing with the rhythm, so to say. Flowers seem to be able to open their petals even if they're hidden in the shadow. It doesn't go far, but maybe it's because I never practiced it much! 

This sounds really cool and pretty similar to my ability! Well, in my case the plants react with singing a song that only I can hear, so it's not that spectacular, but sometimes I can acquire important information from them.

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

What is your spirit animal? Other than.

Also, do you do mushrooms? And how much.

[Forest Storm]

16 hours ago, They call me Loyalty said:

What is your spirit animal? Other than.

Also, do you do mushrooms? And how much.

I'm not sure if it's the spirit animal you're talking about, but we are friends with the Peryton that guards the depths of the Everfree Forest.

Spoiler

OOC: It's the one from the "Ponyville Mysteries" series of books (not comics).

We do gather some kinds of mushrooms, and use them for our healing potions.

Edited October 29, 2022 by PawelS