Chapter One
It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing. Rainbow Dash was putting clouds in position, Applejack was bucking apple trees, and Fluttershy was tending to the animals. Rarity was designinga beautiful silk gown, and Pinkie Pie was being Pinkie Pie. Everything was joyous.
What the happy residents of Ponyville didn't know, was that someone was sad deep in the Everfree Forest. No, Zecora was fine. It was a little colt by the name of Cascade who was unhappy.
Cascade's dull green eyes blinked open as the sounds of the day creatures echoed through the forest. Stepping out of his den of sorts, he yawned. Yes, he had a den! It was a dip in the ground, with a bit of ceiling. And his bed was pretty much the softest leaves he could find splayed out on the ground.
Well. It was time to find breakfast. He was taller then most colts and fillies, making it a bit easier to find fruit in the trees. But, since half of the fruit was poisonous to ponies, he stuck to berries found on the shrubs.
After successfully finding some edible crimson berries, he returned to his shelter. This was his daily routine, you see. Wake up, find breakfast, eat, stay in the shelter until dinner, find dinner, eat, sleep. Everyday.
But today he was feeling. . .Risky. The main reason he stayed in the den was because of the scary creatures that lurked in the forest. Sure, most of the extremely dangerous ones came out at night, but still. Better safe then sorry!
But today that changed. Pushing his filthy brown mane out of his eyes, he popped a few berries into his mouth before striding out of his home.
Let's take a peek at his history, shall we? When he was just a newborn foal, his parents decided they didn't want him. They wanted a filly, not a colt. So they dumped him into the Everfree Forest, leaving him there to die. Not the best parents, if I do say so myself!
But a pack of timber wolves adopted him, raised him. Until he got seperated from the pack. Go figure. So he found his shallow dip, made a schedule, and BAM! Here we are today.
Grabbing his hat, scarf, and his little bag connected to a stick, he set off. Where he would go, he didn't know. But nowhere too far from the den! His eyes scanned his surroundings, alert and cautious.
After a bit of walking, he found a pond. It was small, and as he touched the surface of the water with the tip of his hoof, he discovered it was quite chilly. But who cares? He was extremely thirsty, and why not take a bath?
He swiftly quenched his thirst before wading into the water. The coldness of the liquid made his fur stand on end, and he used his front hooves to scrub the dried mud off his dusty brown coat.
After his little bath, he picked up his stuff and continued on his way. Where to next? He had never been north before; just west! What if he saw a hostile dragon? Or maybe. . .Just maybe. . .His pack?
That's when he wandered into a cave. With a sleeping manticore. Just great. And when the creature's big golden eyes fluttered open, he became paralyzed with fear.
But this manticore, like his pack, was different. It scooped him up, snuggled the colt close to it, and fell asleep. And the softness of the lion fur made Cascade sleep, too.
The Cutiemark Crusaders pushed through the Everfree Forest, giggling up a storm. They chattered about seeing Zecora's latest potions and flowers and herbs. Oh, it would be so cool!
Then, things went wrong. "Scootaloo, are you sure we're going the right way?" Apple Bloom asked, staring nervously at the Pegasus filly. Her fellow crusader had a bit of a problem with directions!
"Of course we are!" Scootaloo replied, flapping her wings once before folding them against her sides. In reality, she had no clue. But she was too headstrong to admit that!
Sweetie Belle just sighed. Here we go again. She thought bitterly, then stopped in her tracks. "Let's just rest here." She suggested, sitting on a rock and opening her backpack.
As the other two grudgingly sat on rocks of their own, the white unicorn searched for snacks in her backpack. Finally, she produced a bag of trail mix and popped a red M&M into her mouth. "Why don't you try some of the trail mix I made and packed? It's really good!" She said enthusiastically.
The orange filly just used her wings to hover just above the ground. It had been something Scoot had worked on, and she fluttered over to her backpack. And Apple Bloom just shook her head, signaling she wasn't hungry.
Sweetie frowned, but ate the rest of her bag. Why couldn't Scootaloo and Apple Bloom just get along? It would be easier if Babs Seed was here, but that was not the case.
"I say we start movin' along." Bloom declared, looking at Sweetie then Scoot. She was not going to just sit around!
That's when they heard snoring coming from a cave nearby. But they just moved along, in fear of the snoring was an ugly, nasty creature.
What they didn't know was that there was a colt in there, nestled into a manticore. But, hey, they were not going in there! Well, not now.
Until it started raining, of course. And those three fillies were not about to get wet! Heck to the no! And that's when they stared at the colt.
Cascade's mute green eyes fluttered open, his vision a bit fuzzy. What could he see? Three forms, one white with purple and ink and green, one orange and purple, and one yellow and red. And as his vision cleared, the first reaction he showed was....
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT THE!!!!!!!!"