A Trail Leading Home

by Hades Shadow 92

Prologue

-- Prologue --

Equestria, a land of harmony and friendship. A place where anypony could live in happiness and peace. But ponies often forget that nature is not always under their control, and the creatures that dwell inside are not all cute and cuddly. Forests, swamps, and mountains span across the land, and ponies tend to avoid these areas out of fear of the unknown. But, not all ponies.

This story begins in the plains of central Equestria, Canterlot Mountain looming over the horizon. Canterlot Castle, standing beautifully as the sun was starting to lower in the sky, coming to the evening. The vast open plains were a sight to behold as the breeze rolled through the grass, giving off a delightful smell of fresh country air. Off in the distance, a forest could be seen. Thick and tall trees, gives the forest a dark haunting appearance. Along the dirt path, leading south, was a wagon loaded with all sorts of personal belongings. Two beings could be seen moving along towards their new home.

“Daddy, are we there yet?” A small unicorn filly asked, from the wagon being pulled along the trail by a unicorn stallion.

“Almost there sweetheart, don’t worry,” The stallion said, to his little filly. He could tell she was tired and ready for their long journey to be over.

The unicorn stallion was Trail Blazer. He had a dark blue coat, bordering on purple, with a silver mane. His eyes were a deep blue, with an ash gray stetson was sitting comfortably on his head. His cutie mark was that of a book with a compass on the cover. His coat was matted with sweat due to the long journey, but he continued on, knowing they must’ve been close to their destination.

The adorable filly in his wagon was his daughter, Comet Trail. Her coat was a lighter shade of blue with a mane of silver like her father, only with a violet pink streak in it, done up in braids. She had green eyes and no cutie mark as of yet. But Trail knew that she would get her mark eventually, all ponies did.

As the two ponies kept moving along the dirt road, Trail took note of the terrain around them. The grassy plains were a significant change to their last home in the southeastern swamplands. Though times might have been rough, he did earn enough bits to buy their new home.

“Daddy, I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see our new home,” Comet said, as she bounced in excitement from inside the wagon.

“I am too sweetheart, our lives are definitely going to change for the better,” Trail said, smiling at his daughter’s enthusiasm.

Trail felt guilty that Comet never truly had a home for more than a few months. His job required that he move all across Equestria, and it was hard on Comet. Trail had to tutor her on his own, or hire some occasional tutors who he would meet on the job. Finally, Comet would have a chance to go to a real school, and hopefully, make some friends.

Comet had gone her whole life not knowing many colts and fillies her age. Her closest friends were Trail, and some of his closest friends. There was also her grandmother, but she rarely got to see her due to his job. He hoped that this new school would be welcoming to Comet.

Trail looked off to the forest that had been on his mind since it came into view. The trees were dark and foreboding, giving it an almost haunted look, but it would take more than scary trees to discourage him. He had heard many rumors of that forest, and the fact that it was so close to a settlement made him nervous.

“Are we going to explore that forest, Daddy? It gives me the creeps,” Comet said, looking to the forest as well.

“I agree, honey, but if we’re gonna stay here, I’ll need to write another book,” Trail said not taking his eyes off the road.

Trail was starting to feel some fatigue from all the traveling they had been doing, but he knew that their destination was only a few more miles. He could make it into town, and have Comet in their new home before dinner if he kept up the pace. Perhaps they could pick up something to eat when they got into town. He was gonna be too tired to cook, that’s for sure.

The terrain was changing from plains to hills as they continued down the path. Comet had gotten one of her sketchbooks out, and started sketching the landscape around them.

“Already starting on your sketches honey, can’t wait till we get there huh?” Trail said, smiling at his daughter over his shoulder.

Comet stuck her tongue out at her father playfully, “I’m bored, and this place looks too amazing for me to wait,” she said, as she found her pencils in her saddlebags.

Trail chuckled at his daughter’s playful behavior, “Well I’m sure you’ll make a whole new collection of masterpieces by the time we get settled in,” he said before Comet poked him with the eraser of her pencil.

Comet smiled, “You think the other students at my new school will like my drawings Daddy?” she asked, looking a bit nervous as her tail swished back and forth behind her.

Trail looked back at his daughter and laughed, “of course they will, sweetheart, you have such an amazing talent for art,” he said, giving encouragement to his filly.

Comet giggled again, and went back to her sketchbook. She opened it, ready to start on her next sketch before she frowned, “wait, this is one of my older books,” Comet said, putting the book back into the cart and looking around the contents.

“Daddy, where are my new sketchbooks?” Comet asked, sounding frustrated as she tried to find what she was looking for.

Trail looked back at his daughter with a smirk, “I’m not sure kiddo. You’ve got enough books to fill a library.”

Trail laughed and received a book to the back of his head, curtsy of Comet, as punishment. Comet kept digging, looking for her new sketchbooks.

“I know I have some, we bought them before we left the marshlands,” Comet said, determined to find her prize.

Trail looked back to his filly again, “Did you check your saddlebags sweetie?” Trail asked, giving his daughter a smile.

Comet stopped in her search, and her head slowly turned towards her saddlebags, a blush forming on her face as she moved towards them. Opening the bags, she found what she was looking for, and her embarrassment only grew. She chuckled nervously and tried to avoid her father’s smirk.

She then sighed, and her shoulders slumped, “They were in my bags, thank you, Daddy,” Comet said, her voice having a slight bit of sarcasm as she admitted to her mistake.

Trail chuckled again, and turned his attention back to the road, his filly had more than enough teasing for now.

Comet sat back in her original seat on the wagon to begin her sketches, her face focused on the page with intensity.

Floating out a canteen from the cart, Trail took a swig of water, enjoying the chilled liquid running down his throat. He offered it to Comet, but she waved it off saying she wasn’t thirsty, but Trail knew she was too focused on her sketching to care about hydration.

As they continued down the path, all of the sudden, something crashed into the tree just ahead of them. Trail saw this and quickly made his way over to see what it was. To his surprise, it was a gray pegasus mare with a blonde mane.

“Miss, are you ok?” Trail asked after unhitching himself from the wagon. Comet was beside him in a moment to check on the mare.

“Yeah, I’m ok. Just caught a breeze and lost control is all, nothing unusual,” the mare said, getting up and looking at us. Now that Trail could see her eyes, he noticed that she was wall-eyed. She had a few twigs stuck in her mane now, but no bruises or scratches. Trail had a hard time believing that she crashed into a tree and had no injuries whatsoever.

“I’ve never seen you before, are you new around here?” The mare asked as she dusted herself off. Trail noticed she was wearing a uniform with a bag full of letters, a mail mare he assumed.

“We just arrived, are we close to town?” Trail asked, looking in the direction they had been going.

“Oh yeah, you can see the town as soon as you get over that hill,” the mare said, pointing to a large hill blocking the view of the path.

“Thank you, my name is Trail Blazer, this is my daughter Comet Trail,” Trail said pointing at his daughter, who smiled at the mare, but hid behind her father just a little.

“Nice to meet you both, my name is Ditzy Doo, but ponies like to call me Derpy too,” Ditzy said extending a hoof to shake, which Trail gladly accepted.

“What’s the town like Miss Ditzy?” Comet asked, having gotten back into the wagon.

Ditzy smiled, “Oh it’s the best town in Equestria, no doubt about it. Everypony is really friendly.”

Comet giggled in excitement, and Trail was so happy to hear that statement. He went over and hugged his filly, which she immediately returned.

Ditzy smiled warmly at the family, “Well, I gotta finish up my route, see you around,” she said, taking off into the air.

Trail hitched himself back to the wagon, and moved at a greater pace knowing that their goal was so close. Comet quickly jumped back into the cart, and didn’t even pick up her sketchbooks due to her excitement. The wagon bumped a little more than usual as Trail picked up the pace, eager to see their new home. As they came up the hill, they caught sight of what they had been traveling to see.

The town was beautiful, colorful houses all around the center building, stretching far around the landscape. The view from the hill was breathtaking, a sight that they would remember for all their lives. Trail looked around to see all the place had to offer. He saw an apple orchard far off on the outskirts, and was impressed with the number of trees he could see, knowing that there was more over the hills that he couldn’t. A small schoolhouse was on the edge of town, but Trail knew that something so small wasn’t the school that Comet found in that flyer.

But two structures stood out the most, a castle made entirely out of crystal, looking as if it had grown out of the ground like a tree. And another building also made of crystal, with a very familiar symbol on the front entrance, surrounded by a moat. The sight of these structures made Comet squeal with excitement. She was practically bouncing in the wagon. She would be spending a lot of her time in one of those building for sure.

“Well, what do you think of our new home, sweetheart?” Trail asked, looking over his shoulder at his filly.

“It’s even better than I imagined it would be, Daddy,” Comet said, her joy evident in her voice.

Trail was impressed with the sights, and he had a feeling that the ponies would be warm and welcoming to his family.

“Well, come on kiddo, let’s see what this Ponyville has in store for us,” Trail said starting down the hill towards the town.

Author's Note:

Hi guys Hades here with a new story.

I've had this one in the head for a while, and finally decided to share it with you all.
I hope you enjoy it.

Hades

Comments

[Asolem2]

“I am too sweetheart, our lives are definitely going to change for the better,” Trail said, smiling at his daughter’s enthusiasm.

Well, if you're going to Ponyville then you're lives are definetly going to become... interesting

Ditzy smiled, “Oh it’s the best town in Equestria, no doubt about it. Everypony is really friendly.”

Does Spoiled still live there ?

[Quiznak]

As they continued down the path, all of the sudden, something crashed into the tree just ahead of them. Trail saw this and quickly made his way over to see what it was. To his surprise, it was a gray pegasus mare with a blonde mane.

Ok, this right here is really awkward to read...

[Noobblue]

This is a very well done exposition/intro chapter.

This is exciting.

I just read a really good exposition chapter

That doesn't usually happen..........

Excitement.

[Darksoul85]

Great opening to your story

[Hades Shadow 92]

11315017
Thank you, I hope you enjoy the rest

[f0st3r21]

Starting out in a later season and with best background pony. Nice.

[BirdsBooksBrownies]

This has been on my TBR list for a while now and figured why not check it out. A couple of very minor typos in this chapter, but they don't affect the flow that much, and given this is almost a decade old, I am not terribly picky. The main issue for me personally, and this could just be a taste thing (so absolutely nothing personal) some of the exposition is a bit telly, Trail did this, Trail said that. Again seeing as this is the first chapter that was written so long ago, I'm definitely going to keep reading, but if you ever decided to go back and polish things up, those are my observations.

---

Otherwise, onward to see what Ponyville has in store for our two new friends, Since this is later in the show, hopefully Comet's new school mates don't have a pre-reformation Diamond Tiara type amongst them, as they would almost certainly zero in on the new kid either to try and persuade them to join the "cool kids" or they'd see a newb who needs to get put in their place.