//------------------------------//
// Chapter Seven 
// Story: Three from the Forest 
// by Zodiacspear 
//------------------------------//


“Even a rediscovery is a new discovery of its own. – Unknown.

 

Chapter Seven

 
The foals made their way cautiously through the night-enshrouded woods.  What little moonlight that filtered through the forest canopy was obscured by the light fog that drifted through the trees.  A small breeze made its way through the branches, rustling leaves and bending branches.  The three tensed up at every sound.  Images of horrors, both real and made up, crossed their minds as they expected to be pounced at any moment.  The light of their crystals settled most of their fears, the soft glow illuminating the darkness and giving them confidence to continue on.
 
“The woods are a lot different at night,” Tourmaline whispered as she hovered above the other two.   “They’re spooky but… not.  I don’t know.”
 
Wanderer nodded in agreement.  “Yeah, I’ve never been in them at nighttime.  Mom wouldn’t let me.”
 
“Likely with good reason,”  Tormod said in a hushed tone.  “I know I sound like a coward, but I can only think of the stories I’ve heard.  We know the timberwolves are real, but what about the other things?”
 
“Maybe the tree spider is out there, keeping them away,”  Wanderer offered, privately hoping it was true.
 
Tourmaline smiled.  “That would be so cool. Especially if we could show him to everypony.”
 
Their mood lightened, they moved on for a while longer before resting.  After a quick snack and drink, they considered where to look next.
 
“So now where?” Tourmaline asked as she brushed a few leaves out of her coat.
 
Wanderer looked around the woods for a moment pensively.  “What way is back to town?”
 
“That way.”  Tormod motioned behind them with a compass-holding hoof.
 
Wanderer nodded and looked around again in deep thought.  The rational idea was to head towards the road and search there, but his gut was telling him to head further into the woods.
 
“We’ll go that way.”  He pointed in a direction away from the road.
 
“Why that way?”
 
Wanderer shrugged.  “I gotta feeling.”
 
Tormod raised an eyebrow at him.  “You have a feeling?”
 
He nodded once.  “Yep.”
 
Tourmaline’s eyes sparkled mischievously.  “Are you sure that isn’t the burritos you had for supper?”  
 
Wanderer flattened his ears at her.  “Funny.  Come on, you guys.”  He stood and started walking.
 
“Hold on,” Tormod said.  “Wanderer, can I borrow your knife again?”
 
Wanderer passed over the small knife, and the unicorn quickly carved a symbol into the bark of a tree.  After checking his compass, he finished carving.  It was a circle with a line drawn in it, pointing northeast.
 
Wanderer looked to the mark for a curious moment.  “Why do you keep doing that?”
 
“To let any who are following us know which way we’ve gone.  After last time, I figured we needed something like this.”
 
Wanderer snorted in approval.  “That’s smart.” 
 
Tormod grinned.  “I know.”
 
“Doesn’t happen often, does it, brother?”  Tourmaline gave him an impish smile.  Her brother flicked his tail in annoyance, and Wanderer couldn’t help but laugh.
 
“Let’s go, you guys,” he said.
 
As they continued to hike through the woods, Wanderer could feel his smile growing.  He enjoyed this, the exploring and discovering.  It reminded him so much of his heroine, Daring Do.  She was an adventurer and explorer who saw amazing things on an almost daily basis.  If she were here, he didn’t doubt she’d have already found the bandits and given them a good thrashing before dragging them and the stolen loot back.  She would come back to a crowd of cheering townsfolk and be hailed as a hero.
 
He wanted to be a famous adventurer just like her.  This walking in the woods at night made him feel… amazing.  Seeing new things he had never seen before made him feel alive.
 
He was pulled from his musing at a sound that had him looking to his left intently.  “Stop,” he hissed, searching the woods for the source of the sound.
 
The other two stopped and looked around quickly.  “What?” Tourmaline asked, her hackles rising.
 
He closed his eyes, listening to the woods around them.  “I thought I—“ His head turned sharply.  “Over there, I heard somepony cough.”
 
“Cough?” Tormod turned his head, trying to hear it himself.
 
“Hold on.”  Tourmaline flew above them.  She gasped and landed quickly.  “I thought I saw a light.”
 
Wanderer’s grin was instantaneous.  “Come on.”
 
The three crept closer towards the source of the light, their bellies nearly scraping the ground as to not make any noise.  The flickering light of a fire on the trees around them illuminating the way.  They could hear the muted sounds of coughing, snoring, and gruff laughter.  They put away their crystals and peered over a ledge.
 
Below, they could see a camp of about twenty rough-looking ponies.  They were dirty and unwashed, wearing weathered clothing of forest colors.  Most of them were asleep, while a few others were sharing a round of cider.  Empty casks of cider lay everywhere.
 
As the three watched, their eyes were drawn to a large brown-coated, black-maned, earth pony stallion who seemed to tower over his fellows.  A large battle axe lay over his back, and the three could clearly see his crossed-battleaxe cutie mark.  He and a few fellows were drinking over a card game before someone called him a cheat.  The large earth pony laughed before shoving over his accuser.  The rest of the thugs howled with laughter as the pony stumbled and spilled his cider all over himself, muttering curses all the while.
 
The foals ducked behind the ledge.
 
“That’s them,” Tormod whispered.  “The big pony must be the ‘Reaver’ you told us about.”
 
Tourmaline glanced over the ledge once, then quickly ducked back down.  “So we found them, now what?”
 
They both looked at Wanderer for an explanation but saw the colt was not paying them any attention.  In fact, he had a goofy grin on his face.  He and his friends had found an elusive band of thugs that even the Equestrian Guards couldn’t find.  The discovery had given him a new confidence in his abilities.  Even with a bad sense of direction, he could find anything if he believed in himself.  It was a truly wonderful feeling.
 
There was a brief flash of light that originated from his body, or rather from his backside.  The siblings gasped.  Wanderer tried to see what it was, but it was too dark.
 
“Tormod, a light please,” he quietly said with barely contained excitement.
 
The light illuminated their hiding place to where they could see Wanderer’s long, sought-after cutie mark—a blue spy glass.
 
“My cutie mph—“  he almost shouted before two different hooves slapped over his muzzle.
 
“Quiet,” Tormod hissed as he let the light fade.
 
Tourmaline peeked over the ledge and ducked back down.  “They didn’t move.  They haven’t seen us.”  She turned a wide happy smile to her friend.  “You did it, Wanderer, way to go.”
 
He smiled like a fool, wishing he could bask in the moment.
 
Tormod patted him on the shoulder encouragingly before looking at the camp again.  “All right, we found them.  We should head back and get the guards.”
 
Wanderer looked over the encampment and shook his head.  “Nah, we should try to find the stolen money while they’re all asleep.  We bring back the stolen loot and you both could earn your cutie marks too.”  He could not keep the joy out of his tone.  He scanned the camp carefully.  “Now where would they keep it?”
 
They watched the camp a while longer and grew more confident as the rest of the bandits sought out their tents.  Reaver remained at the table, but his head was bobbing in a silent snooze.
 
“Over there,” Tourmaline whispered.  She pointed at a partially concealed cave, its location given away by the faint glow of a torch.
 
Wanderer nodded.  “All right, lets sneak in there, get the loot, and get out before they know we’re here.”
 
An eager smile crossed Tourmaline’s face.  “They won’t know what hit them.”
 
Tormod nodded hesitantly. “Let’s go.”
 
They made their way down the ledge as quietly as they could.  Just as Wanderer was to pass between two trees, he was yanked back by his tail.
 
“Tourmaline, wha—“ he started before he found her hoof over his mouth again.
 
“Look.” She pointed.  About knee height, was a thin pale line. If she hadn’t stopped him, he would have blindly stumbled over it.  They followed the line to a nearby tree where a small crystal was suspended.
 
“An illumination crystal.  That would have lit up the whole area,” Tormod said, looking around for similar traps.
 
Wanderer smiled to her.  “Good eye, Tourmaline.”
 
She smiled in turn.  “Thanks.  We shouldn’t stop though.  I’ll keep looking for more.”
 
They carefully stepped over the line, and made their way towards the cave, hiding behind stacks of barrels and crates, and slipped into the cave unseen.
 

-0-

 
Torches hung on the tunnel’s walls, illuminating the cave.  After making sure they were not seen, Tourmaline led the way deeper, keeping watch for more tripwires.  They had only gone a short distance before they came to a branching intersection with three other tunnels.  They looked for any signs to see what tunnel went where, but found nothing.
 
“Now what?”  Tormod asked.
 
Wanderer looked between the tunnels thoughtfully.  “We can’t search each tunnel. We don’t have the time for that, and splitting up is never a good idea.”
 
Tourmaline peered at each tunnel carefully but didn’t offer any suggestions.
 
“I guess we take that one.”  Wanderer pointed to a tunnel to his left.
 
“Wait,” Tourmaline said softly.
 
The two turned to see her staring intently at the rightmost tunnel. “What do you see?” Wanderer asked, looking down the passage as well.
 
She narrowed her eyes at something.  She walked forward and examined the ground.  She dug around for a bit before lifting up a single gold coin.  The coin looked like it had been dropped and trampled into the soft dirt of the cavern.  
 
“Nice find,” Tormod said.  “How did you see that?”
 
She shrugged.  “I saw its edge sticking out of the ground.  If there is a coin here, maybe the rest is ahead?”
 
Wanderer smiled wide.  “Let’s go.  The loot has to be this way.”
 
As they followed the tunnel, Tourmaline couldn’t help but feel proud of herself.  Finding the coin had been a stroke of luck, as had spotting the trip wire earlier.  She was proud of the fact she had spotted them when her brother and friend had not.  It was just like the day she had found the freshwater pearl.  The pearl had helped her family pay off most of their bills, and her father couldn’t have been prouder of her.  While she was a confident filly—if cocky at times—she liked how it made her feel helpful.
 
They followed the passage until it ended at a door.  Wanderer tried to turn the handle, but it didn’t move.
 
“Locked,” he muttered and turned back to them.  “How do we get in?”
 
“Find the key?” Tormod suggested, his tone dry.
 
“Maybe I can kick it in.”  Wanderer brought his hind legs up to give the door a solid kick.
 
“Wait!”  Tourmaline hissed.  Wanderer stopped himself mid-kick and fell unceremoniously on his belly.  “If you kick it in, it could wake the bandits up.”
 
Wanderer picked himself up, grumbling and dusting himself off.  “How then?”
 
She looked at the door a moment.  “Give me your knife.”
 
He passed over the tool and she looked at the keyhole a moment, before sticking the knife edge into it.
 
“Do you have any idea how to pick a lock?”  Tormod asked.
 
“No.”
 
“Yet you’re going to try?”
 
“Yes.”
 
He face-hoofed, and Wanderer snickered.
 
After fiddling with the lock, she stood and tried the handle again, but it still didn’t turn.  “No good.  We’ll have to find the—“ She looked at the torch bracket near the door.  She flew up and grabbed a small iron key that had been barely visible. “—key.”
 
This time, both colts face-hooved.
 
They opened the door and slipped inside, Tourmaline put the key back in its place before closing the door behind her.  The three looked around the room in amazement.  Inside was the bandit’s treasure hoard.  There were bags of bits everywhere, each of them bearing the symbol of the Equestiran Treasury.  A large heavy wooden chest sat open, yet empty, nearby. Casks of cider and crates of foodstuffs were sorted out in stacks along the wall.
 
Wanderer shook with restrained joy.  “Ha!  We found it.  I can’t believe we did it.”
 
Tormod smirked proudly.  “Nice job, Tourmaline.  How did you know where to look?”
 
She shrugged.  “I just… I don’t know.  I just did.”
 
“Followed your gut, right?”  Wanderer asked her with a knowing smile.
 
“First the pearl, then the coin, the key, and now the lost money. You’re like a treasure seeker,” her brother half joked.
 
“Hey, that sounds special to me,”  Wanderer couldn’t help but laugh.
 
Tourmaline smiled along with him.  She felt elated.  Finding the lost money would no doubt help the town out of its financial troubles, and she knew the grown-ups would be happy about that.  It felt great that she was going to be helpful. The mix of feelings she felt, it was almost indescribable.
 
Another brief flash of light lit up the cave and both colts gasped in surprise.  In the torchlight, she turned to look at her flank.  It was now adorned by a trio of overlapping gold coins, her cutie mark had finally arrived.
 
“My cutie mph—“ she almost shouted before the two colts slapped their hooves over her mouth.  Silenced as she was, she pulled both colts into a fierce hug, tears of joy running down her face.  The two returned the hug. Wanderer was happy that he and his best friend had found their cutie marks together, and Tormod shed proud tears for his baby sister.
 
“All right, guys,” she said, breaking up the moment.  “Let’s get the money and get out of here.”  She wiped the tears from her face and looked at her new cutie mark with a happy smile.
 
“Right,” they said together and looked to the many sacks of heavy coins.
 
“How?” Wanderer asked.
 
Tourmaline looked at him in shock.  “It was your idea.  Didn’t you figure it out?”
 
“I… ah… didn’t think that far ahead.”
 
After a stunned moment, she whacked him upside the head.
 
He rubbed at the spot.  “I deserved that.”
 
“We need to figure this out. We can’t stay here,” Tormod said, his eyes darting towards the door.
 
“Maybe we could take what we can carry and point the way back for the guards?”  Tourmaline suggested.
 
Wanderer shook his head.  “We can’t carry it all, and the bandits will have taken the rest before the guards could get here.”
 
“Then how?”
 
Wanderer’s eyes settled on the open chest.  “Tormod, could you lift that?”
 
He looked to the chest with a troubled frown.  “I might, but I won’t be able to carry it for long.”
 
“How about making it light enough for me to carry on my back?  With your help, I should be able to carry it, and we’ll be able to take all the money with us.”
 
“Well, whatever we do, we—“  Tourmaline stopped at the approaching sounds of heavy hoof steps.
 
Their blood froze in fear.  “Hide!”  Wanderer hissed, and he and Tourmaline hid behind the large chest, while Tormod hid behind the large casks of cider.
 
Just as they hid, the handle of the door turned and in strode Reaver.  His bloodshot eyes swept the room before he smiled greedily at the bags of money.
 
“The lads did good. We can be livin’ off these spoils fer a year or more,” he said to himself.  “Though I’m thinkin’ the boss should get his share o’ the loot first.”
 
He began stuffing the bags of money into the chest, chuckling greedily to himself.  The foals dared not to make a sound as he shuffled through the room.  Wanderer shared a quick, frightened look with Tourmaline.  She looked back at him with a matching expression.
 
“’Ello, what’s this?” they heard Reaver say.  They tensed up even further, expecting to have been found out.  “What’s a pocket knife doin’ in ‘ere?”
 
Wanderer turned pale.  His knife!  He must have dropped it in his scramble to hide.  He mentally slapped himself for doing something so stupid.
 
With a grunt, the older pony looked around the room closely.  The two foals could hear him approach the chest, and their eyes widened.
 
A shout echoed from the hallway.  “Boss!”
 
The two foals sighed with relief as Reaver moved away from the chest.  “What’s the bloody problem, lad?”
 
“It’s the Equestrian Guard!  They found us!”
 
“What?!” Reaver roared.
 
“They tripped one of the light markers, but they were already on us before we could do anything.  The lads are fighting them off, but there’s too many of them!  What do we do, boss?”
 
“Gather the lads and show ’em a fight ta remember.  They ain’t takin’ our hard-earned loot without a fight!”
 
“What about you, boss?”
 
“I’ll be makin’ sure they don’t get it.  Go, lad!”
 
The other pony ran out of the room, and the door slammed behind him.
 
“Ye best be comin’ out now, ye buggers!  I know yer in ‘ere!”  Reaver shouted.  “Come out and fight like stallions, ye cowards!”
 
The foals dared not move, not even breathe.
 
Tourmaline and Wanderer fell back with terrified screams as the heavy chest lurched at them.  The heavy blade of an axe protruding out of the ruined wood showered them with splinters.
 
“I told ye I’d—“  Reaver’s rage-filled face turned to shock as he looked at the cowering foals.  “Foals?!  Bloody foals brought the guards on us?  Tried ta steal me treasure did ye? Come ‘ere!”  He reached for them.
 
On pure instinct, Wanderer lunged at Reaver, headbutting him full in the face.  Reaver stumbled back with a roar of pain and rage, clutching at his muzzle.
 
“Run!”  Wanderer shouted to his friends.
 
The three wasted no time in tearing across the room. Tormod threw the door open just as Reaver recovered.  The thug ran after them, but Wanderer kicked the stack of cider caskets and they fell on the enraged Reaver.  Stumbling through one of the casks, he lost his footing and fell through a full cask.  When he picked himself up, dripping wet with cider, he saw three foals fleeing down the  tunnel.

“You foals are dead when I get mah hooves on ya!”

The three foals ran for their lives, their hooves kicking up dirt as they fled down the tunnel.  They could hear Reaver chasing after them, his ragged panting sounding like a feral animal.
 
“We can’t let him catch us!” Wanderer shouted as the torches passed in a blur.

“You don’t say!” Tourmaline glared at him.  “We have to get outside. The guards are there.  They’ll help us!”

“Now it’s your turn to state the obvious!” Tormod snarked as they came upon the intersection of the cavern.

“Which way?”
 
The three looked around for a second before an enraged roar erupted behind them.

“This way!  Go!”  Wanderer led them down a tunnel, away from the pursuing Reaver.

Tourmaline glanced behind her and saw a pair of bloodshot eyes getting closer.  “He’s gaining on us!”

“Darn these little legs of ours.” Wanderer glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened.  “Duck!”

Pulling both of his friends down with him.  Reaver lunged overhead and went tumbling across cavern floor with a number of foul curses.

“Missed us!” Tourmaline taunted.

Her cocky attitude melted as fast as a candle in a bonfire as he glared hatefully at them.  “Cheeky brat!”

“The other way!”  Tormod yelled and the three took off again.

As they made it back to the intersection, they looked to the other tunnels.  “Which way is the way out?”

“I don’t know!” Wanderer said helplessly to Tourmaline.  “These tunnels all look the same to me!”

“Help!  Somepony, help us!”  Tormod shouted, which was quickly joined in by the others.

They heard shouting but none that called out to them.  “We’re in here!  Help us!”

“Got you!” Reaver shouted as he wrapped his forelegs around Tourmaline.  The pegasus screamed and squirmed, kicking furtively in his crushing grip.

“You let her go!”  Wanderer kicked at Reaver the same time Tormod hit him with a small bolt of energy from his horn.  This only caused the brute to grow even angrier and he threw Tourmaline at them.

“Ye brats might ’a brought the guard on me, but I’m gonna make sure ye learn that ye shouldn’t mess with others. Especially me!”

Wanderer pulled himself out from under his squirming friends and stood in front of them.  “I won’t let you hurt them.”

Reaver spat.  “Got some iron in ye, boy?  Yer a brave sot for standin’ up against me.”

As Reaver stalked towards them and Wanderer felt his legs go weak.  “S-Stay away! I mean it!”

Reaver laughed, and before Wanderer could react, Reaver had him pinned against the wall.  Wanderer squirmed under the grip and kicked at Reaver, but his legs were too short.

 “Be glad, runt.  If I had me axe, ye’d be tastin’ its edge.”  Reaver brought back his hoof to strike.

Wanderer’s face froze in fear at the threat and brought his forelegs up to cover his face from the blow.

“Get away from my son!” A cerulean beam took the thug square in the side, blasting him against the wall.  
 
Wanderer fell to the floor and saw his mother standing in the middle of the tunnel.  Her eyes blazed with a fury unmatched by anything he had ever seen, they were paled only by the fury of the magic that surrounded her horn.
 
“Mom!” he cried out.
 
His mother blasted the thug again as he tried to stand, and again, and every time he tried to stand.  When he finally did make it to his hooves, he looked up to see the face of a very angry pegasus stallion glare back at him only inches away.
 
“What’re ye goin’ ta—“ he managed before a fierce blow to the face put him down for the count.
 
“That was for laying hoof on my foals.”
 
“Dad!”  the siblings yelled in relief, limping their way to him.
 
“Tourmaline, Tormod, thank Celestia you’re safe.”  He scooped them up in a careful but relieved hug.
 
Wanderer’s mom was beside him, holding him tightly.  Her entire frame shook as she held her son.
 
“I’m sorry, Mom.” His voice cracked as he cried.  “I-I just wanted—“
 
“I know, Wanderer, I know.”  She finally looked at him, her face soaked from crying.  She looked at his face critically.  “He didn’t hit you, didn’t he?”  She glared hatefully at the unconscious form of Reaver.
 
“I can handle it, Mom,”  Wanderer said, putting on a bold facade.  In truth, he wanted nothing more than to hold on to her.
 
“Dad! Dad, did you see it?”  Tourmaline said, practically bouncing in place.
 
“See what?” he asked.
 
“My cutie mark!”  She hopped back and proudly showed off her adorned flank.
 
Her dad’s smile was instantaneous.  “Tourmaline, I’m so proud.”  He hugged her tightly, and Tormod joined in on the hug.  “I’m happy for you—and I’m glad you found it—but I really wished you would have found a safer way of doing it.”
 
Tormod stepped back and looked at the ground.  “We just wanted to help, Dad.”
 
His father ruffled his mane.  “I know, son.  Just… the gray hairs are growing faster with the worry you put me through.”
 
Wanderer looked at his mother, his fear taking a back seat to his excitement.  “Mom, I got my cutie mark too!”  He turned to show off his spyglass cutie mark for all of its glory.
 
Her smile appeared just as fast.  “You did!  I knew you would.”  She hugged him again.  

“You know you are grounded, right?” she asked in an eerily calm tone after the moment had passed.
 
“I know,” he said just as nonchalant.
 
“For the rest of your life.”
 
“Sounds fair.”
 
She chuckled and stood as the clanking of the armored guards preceded their arrival.