The Lorax and all references and characters contained within are copyright of Dr. Seuss. My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic is copyright of Lauren Faust and Hasbro. I own nothing and am earning no money from this fan project.

First note: Anyone guess his name? His first name? I did actually have someone guess his name and get the 10 points (yay, Bellechat!), but for those of you who are wondering, I chose the name Rhett for him. And before you groan and roll your eyes - it's amusing it rhymes with Brett and Chet, but that was not the sole reason for choosing it - in fact, it was a very small part of it. I wanted something not used often, but still recognizable. I have always been a Gone with the Wind fan and when I wanted a romantic first name for Onceler that started with R, Rhett was a natural first choice. I considered other names as well, but that was always my favorite. Beyond that it means 'advisor', which is appropriate since he imparts his wisdom to Ted later on. So now you know. :)

Second: Wow...so this has been a journey. I'm not certain I will do another fan fiction and if I do, I'm probably done with the Lorax. But I enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Comments are appreciated if you'd like to leave them.

Epilogue – The Forest

There are many legends now surrounding the Truffula forest. Chief among them, the tale of a bossy little guardian spirit and an innocent soul corrupted by greed. Different versions have been told, but never is there a mention of a unicorn named Rarity, because after so many years, the real story has been boiled down to little more than a children's fable.

I know the truth because the story, like the guitar I now hold in my hands was passed down in my family from my great-great-grandfather who heard the story from his adopted grandfather, who was, of course, the Onceler in the tale.

Newcomers doubt the story's authenticity, but those who have lived in Thneedville and the surrounding areas long enough know that if you wander deep into the forest, you'll not only see dense areas of Truffulas with animals playing among them, if you know where to look you may even see the moss-covered remains of an old building, occasionally come across a pipe and then something will catch your attention. If you know where to go, you'll find an old pile of stones that still seems to be cared for with a single word written on it: UNLESS.

On either side of this stone pile are two other stones, both inscribed with the name: R. Onceler. One of them has three Truffula trees carved into it and the other three diamonds. Because the legend got it wrong – there were two Oncelers – one who turned the other's heart from greed with the element of generosity. That is the truth of the story. Want more proof? Look no further than this valley, this oasis of tranquility and beauty a stone's throw away from the modern city.

A tree falls the way it leans…and grows with whatever it's given to start out with. The seed, the tree that started it all was given with one thing and one thing only, a valuable something that still seems evident in the amount of trees in the forest, which I hear numbers more than they used to. And that, my friends, is generosity.

~Fin~