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Three From the Forest

by zodiacspear

Chapter 1

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"Sometimes, the most difficult thing an individual can do is starting something new." – Unknown.

Chapter One

It was a perfect day to sleep in, as one young colt thought groggily. The sun had begun its slow ascension into the sky as dawn broke, and the first rays of light fell over Greensborough, bathing the entire town in a warm, ethereal glow. He had woken up when the sunlight fell across his face as it streamed through his window. The warmth of his bed and the pet cat sleeping peacefully on his shoulder convinced him that sleeping in would be the best possible thing. The colt pushed the long strands of his gray mane out of his eyes and looked around for a tired moment. With a yawn, he snuggled deeper with his pillow, and both he and his cat sighed contently.

That was, until the door to his room opened, and in stepped a unicorn mare. Her coat was the same auburn color as his, though her mane was a curious mix of navy, white, and red that ran down to her tail in three solid stripes.

"Wanderer, get your rump out of bed. I've been calling you down for breakfast for ten minutes now." The unicorn glared at the colt, who was still attempting to sleep.

The colt lazily lifted his head from his comfy pillow. "Aww, mom, can't you let me sleep in? I'm tired."

She went about picking up a few things off of the floor with her magic. "If you didn't stay up all night reading Daring Do books, you'd get all the sleep you'd need." She finished tidying up. "Now come on, breakfast is ready."

"I can't."

"You can't?" She looked back to him with a raised eyebrow. She fully expected him to pull the "I'm not feeling well" excuse.

"Chewie is holding me down," he answered, looking to the sleeping feline on his shoulder. The cat merely stretched one paw out and flexed his claws into the blanket before tucking it back in to cradle his head.

The mare gave her son a flat stare. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. He's got me pinned down and I can't move."

"Move the cat, Wanderer."

"I can't. If I move him, then I'll disturb him, and that would be cruel of me." Wanderer smiled inwardly, thinking himself clever.

A cerulean aura surrounded the cat, lifting it and promptly dropping it to the wooden floor. The cat landed on its feet and stretched, giving the mare a dark glare.

"He's disturbed. Now get up," his mother said flatly and trotted out of the bedroom.

Wanderer thought to stay in his bed anyway but found his blanket lifted off of him and tossed aside by the same magical aura. Without his warm blanket, the cool air caused the colt to shudder.

"Up!" his mother shouted from the hallway as she descended the stairs.

Wanderer sighed as he knew his warm, comfy spot was no more. He sat up on the side of his bed and yawned, looking at his cat, who stood nearby, grooming itself.

"Whole lot of help you were," Wanderer muttered, brushing the tangled locks of his mane out of his face. The cat continued to groom, silently ignoring the colt's grumbles.

Wanderer hopped out of bed and looked out the window of his room. He saw many of the lumberjack ponies making their way towards the lumberyards, each one chatting or laughing at some joke their fellows made. A number of merchants pulled their carts behind them on their way to the market, and he couldn't help but smile a bit.

The town of Greensborough was a thriving community of earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. Much of Equestria's timber was said to come from the oak forests surrounding Greensborough. The earth ponies and unicorns worked to fell the trees while the pegasi kept the persistent cloud cover and fog from the village.

With a grunt, Wanderer left his room and went down the stairs to the kitchen. He saw his mother was finishing setting the table for the two of them. She idly hummed a tune to herself as she set a plate of biscuits, a bowl of pepper gravy, and a bowl of persimmons for breakfast.

The colt reached out to grab one of the biscuits and looked to the bottom and saw the underneath was slightly blackened.

"BBBs again, Mom?" he asked.

She looked at him curiously.

"Burnt-Bottom Biscuits," he explained, showing her the biscuit with a wide, humored smile.

She glared at him dangerously.

He wisely took a bite of the biscuit. "Best you've ever made," he said quickly.

She rolled her eyes at her son's sarcasm. Such a trait ran thick in their family; it was almost considered a sign of affection.

The two ate their breakfast together as the house cat ate from his food bowl nearby.

"You gotta work today, Mom?" he asked as he helped her clean the table of dishes.

She nodded. "Yes, but I will be done in time to walk you home from school." She filled the sink with hot water.

Wanderer huffed and grabbed a towel to help her. "I can walk myself home, Mom. I'm not a little foal anymore."

"Last time I let you walk home alone, you ended up in a lumberyard all the way on the other side of town," she said dryly, though she did smile faintly at him.

His cheeks turned a brighter shade of red. "Aww, Mom, that was, ah, that was…" He couldn't come up with an excuse that didn't sound silly.

She chuckled warmly. "You've always have had a bad sense of direction, Wanderer." She levitated the dishes to him so he could dry them.

"Not true. I managed to find my way to the post office on my own. That day you asked me to send those letters," he said defensively as he put the dried dishes away.

"You left home to do that in the morning and didn't make your way home until dusk." She looked to him curiously. "Where did you go anyway?"

"I thought I was going in the right direction for the post office, but I found the train station instead. I turned back, thinking I went the right way, and I found town hall," he muttered. "But the point is, I found it… eventually." His ears and eyes lowered as he spoke.

His mother chuckled, and wrapped a forearm her colt affectionately. "Don't worry, Wanderer. You'll grow out of it one day. You just need to be patient."

"Like with my cutie mark?" he asked with a faintly dry tone, glancing at his blank flank.

"Especially for your cutie mark. You can't rush these things." They both finished cleaning the dishes and hung their towels to dry. "Did you know that Greensborough is going to host the next Summer Sun Celebration?" She collected her bag and started stuffing it with supplies and lunch for the day.

He smiled wide. "No way! When did that happen?"

"It was announced yesterday while you were in school."

"Didn't Cloudsdale host the last one?" he asked as he moved a piece of string around for his cat. The cat leapt and pounced at the tantalizing bit of string.

She nodded, using her magic to tie her tri-colored mane into a braid. "Yes, and Princess Celestia chose Greensborough for the next one."

He looked to her in excitement. "That means I'll get to see the princess. That will be so cool! I wonder if she is as tall as everypony says she is?" The cat snagged the string with his teeth and started giving it a proper mauling.

She smiled inwardly. "You will find out next summer." She tied her saddlebags up and placed them on her back. "Now, go get your saddlebag. I'll walk you to school on my way to work."

Wanderer nodded, and collected his bag from his room. As he walked towards the door of their home, he had the feeling that he was forgetting something.

His mother raised an eyebrow at his expression. "What's wrong, Wanderer?"

"I don't know…" His eyes widened all of a sudden. "What day is it, Mom?"

"Friday." Her brow furrowed at him.

"The?"

"The eighth."

His eyes widened further. "Uh oh," he thought to himself.

His mother looked to him expectantly. "What did you forget?"

"I didn't forget…" he said evasively.

"Wanderer." She gave him an unamused look.

He sighed and gave up trying to be sly. "I have an assignment due."

She sighed. "Well, you'll have to finish it when you get home. When is it due?"

"Ah…today," he said rubbing at the back of his head.

She simply stared at him with shocked, flabbergasted eyes.

"I love you, Momma," he said in a pathetic attempt to save himself.

The ensuing lecture echoed across the town, startling birds for miles around.

-0-

Wanderer sat dejectedly at his desk in the classroom of his one-room schoolhouse. The teacher prattled on about equations, figures, and other things that were really boring. It wasn't that he didn't like to learn—he loved it in fact—but he always preferred to learn by doing hooves-on work rather than listening or reading about it. Mixed with the teachers droning voice and the fact that his ears were still ringing from the lecture he had received from his mother a small headache was forming. He slumped and let his forehead rest on his desk with a faint thud.

Unfortunately, that was when the teacher paused.

"Is my class that boring to you, Wanderer?" the teacher asked dryly, pushing his black-banded glasses back up his yellow muzzle.

Wanderer sighed. Instead of being embarrassed, he figured he would just roll with the situation. "No, Mr. Leaf," he said, still not lifting his head from his desk.

"Perhaps you would like to demonstrate to the class how to solve the first equation?" The pegasus gestured to the chalkboard. A number of math equations were written out, waiting to be answered.

Wanderer stepped up to the chalkboard, and after a moment's study, he answered the equation.

"Very good, Wanderer." Mr. Leaf nodded in approval. The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. "Alright, class, see you again on Monday," he called after his rapidly diminishing classroom.

He looked at Wanderer as the colt finished collecting his saddlebags. "Are you feeling well, Wanderer? You don't look so good."

He rubbed at the side of his head. "Mom gave me another lecture this morning about being responsible. I guess it got kind of loud," he muttered.

"I think the whole town heard it, Wanderer." The teacher smiled in good humor, which Wanderer returned. "She is right, however. You do need to start remembering to get your assignments and responsibilities done in a timely manner."

Wanderer sighed inwardly. "Not another lecture…"

"But I will make a deal with you. I'll let you turn in the assignment on Monday, and you will start doing your work on time from now on, deal?"

"Yes, Mr. Leaf, I'll do it," Wanderer said quickly, happy to get a second chance.

The teacher smiled. "Alright, I'll see you on Monday."

Wanderer stepped out of the schoolhouse and saw that his mother hadn't arrived yet. Most of his classmates had already gone home. A few were playing on the playground, but he had no real desire to join them. Before he went to bed last night, he had been reading the latest Daring Do book and had fallen asleep during the scene where she had been forced to flee a crumbling temple, a long sought after treasure in hoof. How could he possibly go play on the playground when there was so much excitement waiting at home for him? It was Daring Do, the most awesome adventurer ever! He had to find out what happened with the temple. Such excitement could not be delayed by a swing set or slide!

He grudgingly sat down on the stairs that led into the school and waited for his mother to arrive. As he waited, his thoughts began to wander, mostly on his book at home, but also on the assignment.

"Ugh, how can I think of school when I have a whole weekend to do it?" he asked out loud. Some things have priority, and school work was not on the top of the list. He waited an hour for his mother to arrive, but she didn't show up. It was not uncommon for her to run late; a patient might have required her to stay and help out, or it could have been any other number of things that happen at a hospital. Whatever the reason, the waiting was driving him nuts.

A bored sigh escaped his lips before a thought occurred to him. Why wait for his mom? He was certain he knew the way back home from school—he had walked it many times with her before. Surely he couldn't get lost on such a beaten path. Besides, he could prove how responsible he was by showing her that he could take care of himself. The more he thought on it, the more he liked it. He absently wondered what a cutie mark in responsibility would look like, and there was only one way to find out!

With a smile of confidence, he gathered his saddlebag and charged down the path towards home.

Of course what seemed like an hour to Wanderer was, in truth, only fifteen minutes. No sooner had he charged down the path, did his mother walk around the school building looking for him.

-0-

As Wanderer confidently trotted down the streets, he kindly responded to those who greeted him. He noted his favorite eatery, a restaurant named Colton's. Maybe if he proved to his mom how responsible he was, he could talk her into dining out.

As he went, his thoughts drifted again. He had planned an excursion into the local woods for the weekend, to a part he hadn't been to before. It was still one of the places the locals considered safe, but he privately hoped to find some of the creatures that were rumored to live in the woods. The dangerous ones of course. Who looked forward to finding fluffy bunnies or cuddly something-or-others? He had always wanted to see timberwolves or other creatures that nopony else had ever seen before. He knew it would be dangerous, but was safe ever exciting? No, it wasn't. His role model, Daring Do, never did anything safe. It would have made for very boring stories.

As Wanderer's mind rambled on, he was pulled back to reality by a loud, shrill whistle. He jumped five feet straight into the air, his boyish voice cracking in surprise. He looked around in confusion—the whistle had sounded like a train's. He saw a train rolling into the station and watched as its passengers began to disembark.

"Wait… If I'm at the train station, then…" Wanderer facehoofed. He had gotten lost again. He knew that he'd never live it down once his mother found out. His eyes widened. If his mother found out, he would be in no end of trouble.

He sighed but knew he wasn't too badly lost; his home wasn't too far from the train station. If he were to make it home before his mom, everything could still work out.

He wasn't sure why, but a few ponies disembarking from the train caught his eye. One was an older gray pegasus stallion, about the same age as his mother. He quietly snickered at the thought; if he was as old as his mom, he had to be ancient. He was followed by two young ponies. The first, the one to catch his eye, was a blue-green pegasus filly with a teal-colored mane. The second was a rust-colored unicorn with an orange mane. Wanderer also noticed the two foals lacked cutie marks too.

Before he could think more on them, a shout from behind froze his blood instantly. His eyes shrunk to mere pinpoints as he recognized the voice.

"There you are!" his mother said from behind him. Her face wasn't angry but disappointed with him. "What were you thinking?"

"Mom, I—" he started until she took hold of his left ear with her magic and dragged him along behind her.

"You and I are going to have a long chat, buster," she said as she lead him down the street.

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