It took a much longer time to wake up, that both drained and overloaded her with myriads of things. She slowly woke herself up, gently tugging and checking on things, categorizing them slowly and carefully as she rechecked her new connections. That was a boon for certain, too much of one, that could've killed her were she not used to such things, she's glad her body forced a shut down though, it had very quickly stemmed the flow of the rebounding magics going back and fourth... at the cost of her being covered in plant life and her grove triple in size. Fuck.
Welp, guess she's getting those wolves in quicker than she thought, needs something to protect said grove, for now the wolves would do, perhaps she'd even change them a bit, Fey Wolves do almost anatomically work the same, save for the fact they have flesh underneath all that bark and magic. Working and incorporating that little bit though would be a non-issue for her, especially since in such a magic-heavy environment they'd be perfect. She just needs to glow things up a little, which means more studying and the finding of something biolumenesent in this world that she could work into being something compatible... maybe if she got out of bed first...
She gently nudged the mosses and clovers covering her, them peeling apart like curtains for her as she slowly crawled her way out of the plant-made bed. Stretching on all-fours first before getting up into a bipedal stance and stretching out upwards, a pleased hum leaving her. She sensed out things around her, refamiliarizing herself with everything, she definitely noticed the tallness of the trees first off, and how they very slowly got shorter as it went away from her sleeping area, blending into the area as if if was just a hill making the area look big as opposed to the tree-lining height changing. Still. It was day when she passed out. It had been several before she had woken up according to her internal clock. She sighed. That was still a very visible change in topography, enough to be noticed by locals, especially if they had good view of the forest from where they lived.
She hated sentient company most times. She preferred her animals and plants, and her alchemy. But she sensed one edging her territory, and coming into it that piqued her interest. To actually define any kind of edge was impressive given how seamlessly things blended, to edge it meant that noticed it. To cross it, while foolhardy, was something else to say about their curiosity... or their stupidity depending on how they interacted with things.
Delilah moved through the trees like a wraith, barely a sound other than a barely audible unsettling hiss, the trees swayed in an unseen breeze, and while her white skin stood out, she made sure to very slowly circle into the beings location, using the plants to sense out their form.
She felt the keratin of hooves gently brush plants away or hold them, bushes and mosses they touched felt slightly furred hide, a straight upright mane, and a furred neck with something cool on it. She crept closer, trying to sense what sort of thing it might have been, the plants at her hooves felt it more often, but she couldn't sense them being particular hurt, cut, or plucked, simply observed. She eventually got the taste of gold from a plant, and her head tilted at that. It was painting a picture of sorts, an equine of sorts, some gold on them, a mane like that of a zebra or donkey's.
She decided she didn't mind this one so long as they've only observed. She decided to make the first move, and revealed herself behind them, stalking towards them slowly and quietly, before a very brief curious purr left her to announce her presence.
Zecora had noticed the rapid growth of the Everfree, this making her wonder if something like a Hydra had taken a permanent nap nearby as to create such a ruckus. She sensed something nearing, something curious but still hostile. She had chosen to simply observe the plants, noting how some seemed to very subtly ghost across her body with a purpose, she almost didn't notice it were it not for her mane being touched. She pulled away, and almost startled when a purr sounded out above and behind her. She slowly turned, wary of where she stepped, before finding the legs of a beast of some kind. She slowly looked up, and could sense and see a multitude of things. She spoke softly but confidently.
"Blind one of this biome, a witch who has given great boon to the lands I call home, what is the reason you have come?"
Delilah already liked this pony. She rhymed somewhat, she got a pleasing feeling from this pony or donkey. She could tell they were shorter than the average horse, or a donkey for that matter but she was willing to give the benefit of a doubt for that one given she was in a new reality. She answered after some observation.
"To balance things. Why do you edge my territory?" Her voiced carried a double layered ethereal tone to it, one coming out smoothly, the other a barely whispered hiss of a voice.
"To see what has caused a commotion, the local flora and fauna were all in motion. Ingredients rare suddenly prospered, and things hard to find have all been fostered. To you I owe my most recent local brew." Zecora gave a small bow to the creature in front of her, a gesture of thanks.
Delilah liked that rhyming much better this time. It was entertaining and pleasing to the ear. She nodded her acceptance to the request.
"I will drink. If you would show me to your home, if it is in this forest I will gladly roam."
Zecora's ears perked at the rhyming and she smiled a bit and nodded.
"To not invite you I feel would be grave, out of your grove I ask you to go, since you are accepting, a hand on my back will guide you to home."
Delilah let a tendril out, it moving down to pool on the small of the mare's back.
"Delilah Wolfe Everwood is my name." She decided introductions were in order.
"Simply Zecora will do for me." The mare was pleased.
"Then Delilah would do for me as well."
There was silence for a while, neither of them feeling awkward, but simply content with the words they've already shared. They walked, or in one case; trotted, at a decent pace to the tree-made-house/hut. Delilah could sense the wavering hostility of the forest, things calmed around her as if it was a bubble, a bubble of calm, while it separated what it went through, it only came right back together behind her as she drifted by. She did not feel eyes on her, but rather it was simply agitation of everything around her, and she was not appreciative of this, but she could tell it was not the pony she was travelling with at fault, but rather the destruction others had brought traveling through here.
She slowly shrunk herself as she made her way after Zecora, attempting to fit in the Hut but smacking face-first into the short doorway. She huffed against the hut, giving it the flattest look she could muster before nudging her way under the doorway and going through it. Tentacles coming out to gently and carefully feel around before finding a cleared out spot to sit in and rest, tendrils coming back from their exploration and off from the mare's back.
"If I may be so bold, what is your species? I quite literally cannot tell aside from you being an equine of some type. Given your sentient the hairstyle would gleam nothing given others style their hair or manes I assume."
"Zebra. And you assume correctly." She dug around for a couple bowls, finding wooden ones, and going over to the cauldron in her hut, dipping out two bowls and gently nudging her hand with one.
"Nature's brew for me and you."
Delilah nodded her thanks, pleased with the insightfulness of the apparent zebra shaman or witch in front of her with what she had brewed. She grabbed the bowl carefully, cradling it in her claws and letting her mouth open to take a sip, testing the flavors of everything, and then biting her tongue, her blood mixing with the brew before it healed itself and she drank much deeper from the bowl, powers allowing her to get a much more intimate feeling for everything put into it, including herself, and she hummed appreciatively. Hairs of about every animal, spores of various fungi, all types of herbs, mushrooms, seeds, sprouts, and ever bark or shavings from trees or particularly dense bushes, most of it a very very fine powder that gave the stew a rather thick texture, especially the ground hairs and the fungal spores. What chunks were in it were the soft sproutlings or the paper thin boiled down shavings of other plants. Definitely a forest-friendly brew for a witch, alchemist, forest-deity, or well-practiced shaman. The fact it was a bit magic dense was helpful as well.
"I thank you for this lovely brew. To have something so full of home brings me so much hope." Delilah smiled a bit, licking her teeth. Despite their sharp thin nature she was completely omnivorous, and if anything their slightly serated nature helps her break down plant fibers easier and scrape seeds cleaner.
"My territory you may chart, but I warn you to stay away from its heart, though things may grow aplenty, if it's a fight you don't want you will find many. Make no mistake this is not a threat, simply nature warning you where you may tread."
Zecora was definitely glad for the warning and the compliment on her brew, nodding quickly.
"My thanks I give to you, I may not ever know how to repay you." Zecora worried about catches, she could definitely sense something with the creature in front of her, and she didn't want to take chances of being rude on accident.
"I will speak plainly, if only because rhyme-speech is semi-difficult, I am a practiced alchemist and witch, but shamanism I have only dabbled in. There's no need to repay me, if anything I have already repaid your generosity in the way of a warning. You are good calm company, and you try to give back what you take from what I sense, keeping you alive is in my interest, and not in my way. It's hard to find those truly in-tune and I best not waste it or the opportunity to make a possible friend. We may speak more on that later. But for now, may I kindly ask for another bowl, in exchange for information?"
Zecora nodded once more, taking a bowl in hoof and dipping into the cauldron, scooping more out, this time watching her eat with interest, ear perked forwards... Then promptly flattening when she noticed the biting of her own black tongue and the dribble of black blood... they perked up again however upon seeing the brew change to an even greener hue, and her drinking it gratefully.
Delilah quickly downed the next bowl, purring for the slightest of moments before tilting her head slightly in Zecora's direction.
"Adding elk or moose horn, the horn, not the moss or fur, to a brew like this at a higher temperature, and if the bone is ground up, creates a great potion that can heal large bone wounds, so long as things are set properly, the potion can handle the rest. If... Let's say you broke a leg and hoof, floating bones in a way, you'd be alright in about a day or two's time after drinking the potion given your much smaller stature. Over drinking it simply causes extra nail, claw, or hoof growth for a while and your body stores the rest for healing and repair later on. Sometimes nature's brew, has great healing properties when certain parts are added in, but other times, can be a great and deadly poison, be wary of what you mix this with... I think with that I'm going to leave though Zecora. You are, pleasant company, but both my need and want for socializing is a rather low one, I bid you a good day, and as most things from where I come from say, keep running."
Delilah barely let the zebra get a word in edge-wise that last bit, before she had reported away. No flash of light, barely a disruption of air, no pop, as if she hadn't existed in the first place...
"...She accidentally stole my bowl." Zecora's ears went a little flat but she smiled little, finding it more than amusing. She hopes it will be invitation to see her sooner.
Delilah tilted her head at the bowl in her hands.
"Well fuck me sideways I have to socialize later."