The Ghost Stag of the Forest
One cold winter afternoon, Bambi and his friends were playing in the forest.
Thumper the Rabbit was looking a bit concerned. Bambi noticed this and went up to his friend to see if anything was wrong.
"Is there something troubling you, Thumper?" he asked.
"Nothing really," Thumper replied, "It's just I've been hearing talk about a stag that I've never heard of."
Bambi suddenly became curious, "A stag you've never heard of?" he asked.
"Yep," Thumper said.
"Well what was this stag's name?" Flower asked as he and Faline walked up to them.
"Well," said Thumper, "From what I've heard, this stag's name was Rocky."
Bambi, Flower and Faline looked at each other in confusion.
"Rocky?" asked Bambi, "I don't know who that is."
"Maybe we should ask your father about it," suggested Faline.
Bambi, Thumper and Flower agreed. So the four friends went up to the Great Prince's den and found him resting inside. The Great Prince saw his son and his friends approach with curious expressions on their faces.
"Is something trouble you?" the Great Prince asked.
"Nothing really Dad," Bambi answered, "But can we ask you something?"
Bambi's father smiled "By all means, Bambi," he said.
Thumper then spoke up, "You're always leading the stags in the forest, so you must know most of their names right?"
The Great Prince was surprised about this question but he gladly answered "That's right, why do you ask?"
"Well Sir," said Flower, "Thumper has been hearing talk from your fellow stags about a stag that we've never heard of before."
"What was his name?" asked the Great Prince.
"Rocky," answered Thumper.
Bambi's father suddenly blinked and felt a cold shiver in his spine as he looked at the little rabbit, "What did you say his name was?" he asked nervously.
"Rocky," Thumper repeated, "Do you know who he is?"
"Oh yes," said the Great Prince, "Rocky used to live in this forest."
The Great Prince then told them his story.
"Rocky was about the same age as me, like you and Ronno, Bambi, Rocky was a bully to me, always picking on me and calling me names, luckily your mother was always there to cheer me up. Rocky only picked on me because he was jealous of the fact that I was the prince. As we grew up, Rocky and I still didn't get along, also, because of Rocky's rude attitude, the animals in the forest didn't trust him at all. I remember seeing him on the meadow, he always seemed very distant and never wanted to mingle with any of the other stags after he became untrustworthy. 'I deserve better!' he used to say. Things only got worse on the day I became the Great Prince. On that day it was a horrible stormy night, when I became the new Great Prince, taking my father's place, Rocky's jealousy and hatred for me only got worse and as a result, he ran at me on my post and tried to kill me. I managed to fight him off with my antlers in order to prevent him from doing so, but he then pushed me over again and got ready to pounce his hoofs on me with the animals watching in horror. Some say Rocky was laughing as he was about to kill me, but he wasn't laughing when he got what was coming to him."
Bambi's father paused impressively.
Bambi, Faline, Thumper and Flower were now feeling uneasy.
"What happened?" asked Flower.
The Great Prince sighed, "As Rocky was about to kill me with his hoofs, he was suddenly struck by lightning. The bolt had just missed me, but as for Rocky, there was nothing really left of him, not even a trace of his blood or even fur. As the years went by, Rocky was quickly forgotten. Not even my herd of stags ever talk about him. But, they do say that sometimes when the moon is full and the fog is really thick...the ghostly shape of a stag can still be seen and his sadistic laughter can still be heard. It is said that Rocky's Ghost still haunts the forest, forever refusing to leave."
Bambi and his friends were speechless.
"So Rocky is still out there?" asked Bambi.
"Yes son," his father sighed, "as a ghost."
Before any of the children could say another word, the fog came down and the clouds moved to reveal a full moon.
They all looked up and around, the Great Prince gulped "Uh oh!" he said.
Just then the air felt icy cold and the kids all went into the Great Prince's den and all snuggled up against him shaking in fright.
"Can you sense it?" asked Faline who was scared and now had tears of fear in her eyes.
"Sense it?! I can feel it!" replied Bambi.
Before any of them could say another word, they heard footsteps, followed by an evil sadistic laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"IT'S ROCKY!" cried Flower.
The kids were all scared, but the Great Prince held firm, "Stay here!" he said bravely as he got up.
The kids watched the Prince walk out and stand just outside his den in the fog. Bambi and his friends then became stunned as out of the fog came the ghostly white figure of a stag that look almost like the Great Prince himself, only he had sharp teeth and had beaming red eyes of an evil demon. This thing was none other than the Ghost of Rocky. Rocky smirked at the Prince showing his teeth and staring at him with his evil demon eyes.
"HELLO PRINCE!" Rocky bellowed, "WE MEET AGAIN!"
Bambi's father held firm and didn't back down and showed no fear in his eyes, "Hello Rocky," he replied.
Rocky smirked at the Prince and in his demon voice he said "I'm surprised that you remember me!"
The Great Prince sighed bravely, "Yes...I remember you, I never forget the day you lost your life to a lightning bolt during an attempt to kill me."
Rocky grunted evilly before turning his head to Bambi and his friends who were in the den, staring at him in shock.
Rocky smirked evilly at Bambi, "I see you've been busy!" he said to the Great Prince.
Bambi was scared, but he soon found the courage to speak, "So the rumours and stories about you...are true!"
"Ah, so you have heard of me!" smirked Rocky, "And yet, you never knew I was out here, I am the Ghost Stag of the Forest!"
"I know why you're here Rocky!" said the Great Prince firmly, "You're here to try and finish what you started!"
"Indeed!" said Rocky, "And soon I shall have you sent to Hell!"
"Oh no you won't!" replied the Great Prince, "You should know by now that you are not welcome in this forest!"
Rocky began to growl.
"Don't you dare think you can scare me!" said the Great Prince firmly, "I'm not frightened of you! You were always a horrid stag! What happened to you was your own fault, and I don't pity you for it! You never have and you still don't have my sympathy!"
"I don't want your sympathy!" growled Rocky, "I want my revenge! And I saw the way you treated your son when he first came to you and it was beyond forgivable! You never really knew how to be a real prince or father! YOU HEARTLESS FOOL!"
Bambi gasped, he did not like hearing his father being insulted. Bambi felt his courage build up and he walked out beside his dad.
"You'd better get lost before you make my dad really angry!" the Young Prince said bravely.
Rocky then smirked, "So you have guts too!" he said.
"You don't scare me either!" Bambi said firmly, "If you even think of taking my father away from this world, I won't allow you too!"
Rocky suddenly fell silent as Bambi showed he wasn't scared anymore.
"Dad told me all about you!" shouted Bambi, "You tried to kill him for NOTHING! AND IN THE END YOU ENDED UP GETTING YOURSELF KILLED IN THE PROCESS!"
Rocky suddenly glared and growled even more viciously than before, "Shut up! SHUT UP!" he shouted, "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MY DEMISE! YOUR FATHER TOOK AWAY WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MINE! I WANTED TO RULE THE FOREST BUT YOUR HEARTLESS FATHER TOOK THAT PLACE AWAY FROM ME!"
"I TOOK NOTHING FROM YOU!" shouted the Great Prince, "MY FATHER WAS THE GREAT PRINCE AND THAT IS WHY I AM THE PRINCE NOW!"
"MY DAD WAS WORTHY TO BE THE ONE TO LEAD THE FOREST!" shouted Bambi, "AND YOU WILL NEVER TAKE MY DAD AWAY FROM ME! NOW I SUGGEST YOU MOVE ON, LEAVE, AND NEVER COME BACK!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rocky bellowed loudly as cuts split open on his face with blood trickling down from them. Rocky's loud bellow scared, Faline, Thumper and Flower, Bambi and his father didn't back down but the loud voice had scared them too.
"I WILL NOT REST OR MOVE ON UNTIL YOUR FATHER IS DEAD!" shouted Rocky, "AND ONCE I'M FINISHED WITH HIM, I WILL FINISH OF THIS WHOLE FOREST AND LEAVE IT TO BURN TO THE GROUND!"
"I WON'T LET YOU!" shouted Bambi's father, "NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY, I WILL FIND A WAY TO DEFEAT YOU!"
"YOU WILL NOT STOP ME!" shouted Rocky, "I WILL SOON END THIS MADNESS AND SEND YOU TO HELL!"
Bambi then bravely stomped his foot down and it somehow made the sound of a lightning strike, the sound gave Rocky a horrible scare and the ghost jumped back in fright as Bambi glared coldly at him.
Rocky growled as blood trickled from his eyes, mouth and the cuts on his face, "CURSE YOU!" he shouted, "CURSE YOU BAMBI!"
At that point, Rocky vanished.
Bambi, his dad and friends all still felt shocked but they soon felt uneasy and they knew that this was not the last time they would see Rocky.
The next day, Bambi, Faline, Thumper and Flower told the rest of their friends and Friend Owl about Rocky's ghost, they were all shocked.
"Holy cow!" said one of Thumper's sisters.
"Are you sure you weren't seeing things?" asked another.
"We're not kidding!" snapped Bambi, "We know what we saw when we saw it!"
"You losers are just going bonkers!" said a voice.
They all looked over and saw Ronno, Bambi's bully walking up, "What you told them was a pathetic story that you made up!" he said smirking.
"It is not a made up story!" snapped Bambi, "We know what we're on about! We saw Rocky's ghost last night!"
"Oh please Young Prince!" teased Ronno, "There's no such things as ghosts!"
"You'd better get lost before I lose my temper!" said the Great Prince sternly walking up.
Ronno then glared and walked off. Ever since Bambi had begun living with his father, teasing the Young Prince would be a mistake, even in front of his own father.
"Thanks Dad!" smiled Bambi.
Bambi's father smiled and walked up.
"Bambi?" said Thumper's mother, "Are absolutely sure this story wasn't your imagination?"
"I know it wasn't our imagination!" said Bambi, "Look, I know it sounds crazy, but my dad was there too!"
"Yes," said the Great Prince, "My son and his friends are telling the truth."
The animals were now in awe.
"Dad, we can't let Rocky continue to haunt the forest, he needs to be stopped!" said Bambi.
"Agreed," said the Great Prince, "And I think I know how!"
"How?" asked Thumper.
"Well last night I discovered that he had a weakness to the sound of lightning that came from Bambi's hoofs last night!" the Great Prince explained.
"What do you mean Sir?" asked Faline.
"Well," began Bambi's father, "When Rocky is near, stomping hoofs make the sound of lightning, I think that's his weakness. So if I can get close enough to Rocky, I will stomp my front hoofs as hard as I can and make a loud rumble of lightning, and then hopefully it will defeat him for good!"
"That's suicide Sir!" said Flower worried.
"It's our only chance to stop his haunting forever!" said the Prince bravely, "Don't worry, I can do this!"
That night, the moon was full and the thick fog came down.
Flower was in a part of the forest by the river. He was feeling a little scared, but he was determined to show Rocky that he wasn't afraid.
Flower waited for a few minutes when suddenly he heard an evil sadistic laughter.
"WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Oh no it's Rocky!" cried Flower.
Flower was right. There was Rocky, looking more evil than last night. His eyes still beaming with red and his whole body was covered in bleeding cuts and his sharp teeth grinning from both sides of his mouth.
"PREPARE TO MEET YOU DOOM!" he shouted as he ran for Flower.
Flower ran for it with Rocky chasing him from behind.
"YOU WON'T CATCH ME!" cried Flower.
"FOOL!" said Rocky, "YOU FORGET, A GHOST CAN FIND YOU NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO!"
Flower ran quite a distance until he suddenly realized that it had gone quiet. He stopped for a moment and looked back, Rocky was nowhere to be seen.
"He ain't fooling me!" Flower said bravely, "I know he's still onto me, I have to warn Thumper!"
So Flower met up with Thumper and told him what had just happened.
Before Thumper could say a word they heard Rocky's laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"It's Rocky!" said Flower.
"And so it is!" agreed Thumper.
Just then Rocky appeared running through the trees, "YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!" he bellowed.
"RUN FOR IT!" cried Thumper.
The two friends began running with Rocky following from behind.
"THE TIME HAS COME FOR ME TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED LONG AGO!" the ghostly stage bellowed.
"BACK AWAY!" shouted Thumper as he hopped along through the forest with Flower running beside him.
They then ran through some thick fog and stopped when it went quite again. They looked back seeing Rocky wasn't there again.
"I think we lost him!" said Thumper.
"No I'm sure he's still onto us!" replied Flower.
"Then let's go warn Bambi and Faline!" suggested Thumper.
Later they found Bambi and Faline at the Great Prince's den.
They all waited before hearing Rocky's running sound coming in closer.
"He's coming!" cried Faline.
"So I can hear!" replied Bambi.
"We have to lour him to the meadow!" said Flower.
The four friends began running towards the meadow hearing Rocky on their tail. The four friends hurried across the meadow and hid in a log on the other side. They all looked outside on the meadow, but Rocky was nowhere to be seen.
"Do you think we lost him?" asked Faline.
"No, I can hear him running this way!" Bambi answered.
They could all hear the sound of Rocky's feet running in their direction. But then they heard another stag running from the opposite direction. Then jumping over the log they were hiding in came Bambi's father, the Great Prince himself. He was running faster than he had ever gone before and heading for the meadow.
"You four stay put and leave this to me!" the Prince said bravely, "Rocky's now madder than he used to be! In fact he's so made that he'll have no idea what's about to happen to him!"
(The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Soundtrack - And He Shall Smite the Wicked 2:19)
Rocky was then seen heading towards the meadow looking sicker than ever.
"I AM NOT GOING WITHOUT TAKING THE FOREST'S PRINCE WITH ME!" he bellowed evilly in his evil smirk.
Bambi's father saw him coming and began running even faster and Rocky did the same thing.
The two stags began heading straight for each other.
"I WON'T LET YOU TAKE ME ROCKY!" shouted the Great Prince, "YOUR HAUNTING ENDS TONIGHT AT THE HOOFS OF THE GREAT PRINCE OF THE FOREST!"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK PRINCE!" replied Rocky in his evil demon voice, "YOUR DEATH HAS FINALLY COME AT THE HOOFS OF ROCKY, THE GHOST STAG OF THE FOREST!"
Both stags were about to make contact but the Great Prince stopped and then stomped his hoofs really hard on the ground and then Rocky heard a really loud sound of lightning. Rocky's cuts began to get bigger and then Rocky began to break up.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Rocky then blew up into dust and the Great Prince stood there tall and brave.
(Music ends)
The Great Prince then watched the dust vanish into thin air, "Goodbye and good riddance!" he said quietly before walking away.
As he headed back to the trees he sighed, he didn't care if what he just did was right or wrong, he just knew that this had to be done to end Rocky's reign of horror and evil.
Bambi's friends spent the night with the Great Prince, they were all still scared from what they had been through. They all hoped that they'd never see another ghost again. Their spooky troubles were over and they all knew that this was the last time that they'd see Rocky, the Ghost Stag of the Forest.
THE END