As far back as I can remember I've been surrounded by the trees in the Everfree Forest. I never knew anything about the world beyond those three trunks and I never really thought that there was anything else that existed outside of the forest. In the protection of Everfree I had everything I could possibly need. Perhaps that is why I never saw the reason to try to leave.
I lived alone for fifteen years before I ever met another pony. No pony else had ever come through the forest before - not that I had ever seen. I suppose I must have had parents at one point in time like every pony else, but I have no memory of ever meeting them. Being on my own had never really bothered me. I never went insane, I did not create an imaginary friend, and I did not feel the need to try and seek out some pony to spend time with. I enjoyed the silence and never wished for anything different.
As much as I loved it back in the Everfree Forest I cannot pretend that life had been perfect there for me. Predators roamed the forest with me and many of them would have loved to take a bite out of my flank. There were also lots of deadly plants mixed in with the edible vegetation as well. One wrong move and I could have gone belly up after just a mouthful of berries. It took careful research to learn what was okay to eat and what was not.
I learned a lot of things during those fifteen years of isolation. I learned how to fight for my life, I learned how to make a shelter during the rainy seasons, I learned how to just sit and wait. I also learned many things that other ponies do not seem able to lean, such as how to accept that some things are just out of your control.
Just like I had no control over the turn my life would take during my last day in Everfree Forest.
The day had started out a lot like any other day for me. I woke up early in the morning, spending some time to just lie there and watch the sun creep up in the sky. Sky watching was one of my favorite activities to do since it always helped to keep me calm and was a good way to pass the time. After a while I had gotten up and went in search of something to eat.
For the last few weeks I had made a comfortable home in a small clearing in the forest. There were many berry bushes around for me to munch on when I had first arrived and so far no other creatures had tried to give me trouble in the clearing. However, I had just about cleaned off the berry bushes and I never liked to stay in one place for too long; doing so made you an easier target. So instead of filling my belly with the last of what the clearing had to offer me, I set out to find a new area.
As I trotted along, my ears began to twitch as a strange new sound reached me. I stopped for a moment to listen closer, my eyes widening. I remember just how shocked I had been to hear the voice of another pony, hardly able to believe my ears. In fact, I almost thought that I had finally started to go crazy.
Carefully I walked through the trees to follow the voices. After a while I was able to hear what they were saying, although I could not see them yet.
"Come, on Big Mac!" a female voice sighed. She had a bit of a twang to her voice that played nicely with my ears. "We gotta be goin' faster than this! I need to get these roots and I need 'em fast so we can get out of this cursed place!"
"Alright." This speaker sounded male. His voice held a twang to it just like the female's but it was deep and slow.
I managed to get close enough so that I could hear the two of them walking along the forest floor, rustling the brush around them noisily. I frowned, wondering why on earth the two of them would be making so much racket. Did they not know that the more noise they made the more likely they were to draw a predator?
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, a low growling could be heard. A timberwolf. I gritted my teeth together and poked my head out to see a lone timberwolf creeping out from between the trees. It's green eyes glowed faintly and were fixed squarely on the two ponies walking around. My stomach churned. Timberwolves were not easy to deal with. Sure, they were easy to injure, but they could reassemble themselves and often hunted in packs.
The two ponies froze as they saw the timberwolf. They both seemed shocked, not saying a word. But it was too late. This wolf had set its sights on them and being silent now was not going to help them.
My head spun as I tried to think of a way to help them. Now, I'm no hero and I've never claimed otherwise. But these were the first ponies I had ever met in my life, and I was not about to watch them get eaten.
I noticed that so far no other wolves had appeared to join the first. This struck me as odd, since they normally hunted together. Then I saw that this timberwolf was very thin and looked pretty weak. It was sick, I realized. This timberwolf was sick and had been abandoned by it's pack.
This knowledge changed everything; if I had not picked up on it in time, I never would have acted the way I did.
Without any thought, I dashed out from my hiding place and ran head first towards the timber wolf. The clopping of my hooves got it's attention and it turned it's glowing eyes on to me. It got out a pitiful growl before I rammed my shoulder into it's side, hitting the creature with all my strength. As the wolf flew back, it reached out towards me with one of it's claws, managing to scrape it across my chest and cut me deep. That was all that the creature could do before it flew back and slammed into a tree trunk, bursting into a cloud of smoke.
My cut burned white hot on my chest, but I ignored it as I turned to face the two new ponies. They seemed frozen in fear, confused by what had just happened. I jerked my head towards them and shout out the first word I had ever spoken before.
After saving the two ponies from the timberwolf, the three of us had ran for dear life. At first I had led them through the forest, darting and dashing through the tree trunks. After a while my chest began to pain me terribly and the two other ponies over took me, still running as if a pack of timberwolves were hot on our hooves. I had nowhere else to go, so I followed them all the way out of the Everfree Forest.
Once we had left the forest the two ponies had collapsed, panting. The pain in my chest was horrible, but I was too busy taking in the world outside of the forest to even really notice it. Everything had seemed so much brighter without a canopy of leaves hanging overhead. Colors were more vibrant and for some reason I could tell that no predators hunted in this area. Wherever these two ponies had taken me, it was certainly a safe place.
"Where . . . Where are we?" I asked them breathlessly.
The female pony glanced up at me with a confused look. "We're in Equestria, hon. Where else would we have ran to? This is our home after all, and yours too I would imagine."
I shook my head at this and the girl only seemed to be even more confused. She continued on with various questions that I could not answer, and after a while I lost the ability to even understand her. The world seemed like it was fading away before me and I dropped to my knees as it became harder to stand. Then everything around me went black.
~
When I woke up, I was in a sunny little room curled up in a firm yet somewhat cozy bed. The young pony girl I had met in the forest was at my bedside and she gasped in excitement.
"Oh good, you're finally awake." Her eyes danced with excitement. "I'll go get Granny Smith."
Before I could say anything the young filly was up and trotting out of the room. I could not help but smile at her eagerness, but my good mood quickly faded as I looked about the room. It seemed comfortable and homey enough, but it was such a big difference from the forest I was use to. I glanced up and was a little sad to see a solid roof over my head instead of a leafy canopy. How was one suppose to watch the stars as they fell asleep?
In a few minutes the young pony was back along with the male I had met in the forest. A wrinkled old pony clopped into the room slowly behind them. They all seemed friendly enough. After all, if they had wanted to hurt me I was certain they would have done so before then. But I was still very uncomfortable being around so many ponies at once.
My anxiousness must have showed, because the old pony chuckled. "Calm yourself, child. You've been through quite an ordeal but you are safe here." She glanced over at the two ponies from the forest. "I hear that you saved my Applejack and Big Mac from a timberwolf in Everfree Forest. If it were not for your bravery, they might not have come back to me."
"It . . . I wasn't brave," I had mumbled underneath my breath.
Applejack shook her head fiercely so that her mane flew all about. "That's not true! You ran out and killed that nasty old timberwolf! You hit it so hard it burst into dust. Even though it hurt you, you stillmanaged to run all the way back here to Equestria with us." She scraped at the floorboards with one timid hoof. "You're a hero."
I shook my head at this, but did not protest. There were other things I wanted to know first. "So . . . What is Equestria, exactly?"
The question had earned me a round of strange looks from all three of the ponies, and led to a bunch of their own questions about me. That was how I ended up telling them about my life in the Everfree Forest, how I was born there and grew up there without any pony to look out after me. I could see that the information shocked them, but at the time I did not understand their surprise. After all, what was so wrong about living in the forest?
"Well then," Granny Apple drawled slowly, "since you don't have any pony to look out after you, why don't you stay with us for a while?"
And that was how I came to live with the Apple family for the next three years. I had to stay in that bed for a few weeks while my chest healed, but after I was all better old Granny put me right to work. I would be out in the orchards with Applejack and Big Mac harvesting apples, along with helping with various repairs around the farm.
Life was good for me there, and I ended up learning a lot about the world of Equestria. Still, I could not help as though something was missing from my life. I had a good home and the Apple clan treated me like I was a part of their family, but I just could not imagine spending the rest of my days there. A part of me missed the adventure of living in the hazardous forest, having to put my life on the line and testing my skills every day. The easy life was great, but I quickly learned that it was not for me.
I did my best to put up with the safe but dull life with the Apple family. But there came a day when I was no longer able to ignore the side of me that craved adventure.
"Big Mac?" The two of us had been out in the apple orchards that day, filling baskets with apple that had just reached the peak of ripeness.
"Yup." He drew the word out slowly like he always did.
"Do you ever feel like there is more to life than just working the farm?"
"Nope."
The answer made my heart sink a bit, but I quickly pushed that off to the side. After all, Big Mac had always struck me as a pretty simple type of pony. He was the type who really appreciated the small things in life and not much really seemed to bother him. I doubt he ever thought of anything other than working on the farm until the day he died.
I reminded myself of all of this in order to gain a bit more courage to continue on. "Well, I've been thinking of doing more than just staying here with all of you." I paused, waiting for a reply of some sort but never got one. "I mean, I really appreciate your family being so accepting of me and helping me out these past few years. But I've wanted to see more of the world."
Big Mac just nodded silently. He trotted up to the trunk of one of the trees and slammed his back hooves against it. The tree shook violently, raining down apples all over the ground. Still in silence he picked up the apples one by one and threw them into a whicker basket.
I was just about to give up on the subject when the red pony drawled out, "Well, you seem to think adventure is fun. And if you think leaving will help you find adventure, then I guess that's what you should do." He paused and gave me a soft smile. "We'll miss ya, bud."
Later on that week I was all packed up and ready to head out. I had already explained myself to Granny Smith and Applejack, letting them know why I felt like leaving would be the best thing for me. Granny seemed to be fine with it just like Big Mac was, but Applejack did not seem very thrilled with me leaving. In fact, when it came for me to head out Applejack refused to see me off. I saw the young pony as a little sister and I knew she saw me as an older brother, so I could understand why she would be upset with me.
While I was wanting to leave for adventure, I had very little idea of where I would be finding this adventure. The only places I had ever know were Everfree Forest and Ponyville, the rest of the world being a complete mystery to me except for in books. I debated heading back into the Everfree Forest, but in the end I decided that I did not want to revisit a place I had already been to. I decided just to go wherever the road happened to take me.
I trotted along for who know how many days until I began to smell the salty scent of the ocean. Checking a few road signs told me that I was close to the port city of Baltimare. This excited me greatly and I picked up speed so that I arrived in the city just before nightfall.
After a bit of roaming I was able to come across a small inn near the ports. I rented a room for the night and joined the rest of the patrons down in the dining area for a late dinner.
The dining area had been filled with colorful characters. They were a rowdy group, but everyone seemed friendly enough. After a bit of asking, I learned that the inn was mostly filled up with the crews from various ships that had just docked for the night.
"It must be so amazing to be able to sail around the world," I sighed happily to a scruffy looking pony with an eye patch. "Being able to meet so many different ponies, seeing so many different places. I would give anything to be able to join a ship crew."
The pony next to me chuckled. "Well, it just so happens that I have an opening in my own crew. One of my mates won't be able to join me on our next adventure, and I'm in need of an extra pair of hooves to help out on deck." He smile warmly at me, offering me one of his hooves. "If you're still interested, I'd be more than willing to take you on."
I stared down at his hoof for a good minute, trying to make sure that this was not a dream. "Yes, I would love to!" I took his hoof in both of mine, shaking it vigorously as I continued to thank him throughout the night.
Two days later I set sail with a crew of ponies that I did not even know, but that did not matter to me. I was just so excited about being on my way to adventure that I did not care about the ponies around me. I was leaving behind the only life I had ever known, and I was surprisingly alright with that. A part of me knew I would be returning to Equestria one day, and when that day came I was going to be a better pony.
I was on Captain Stargazer's ship for a good five month before we ever saw land again. Many of the other crew members began to complain about the long journey and their longing to see other ponies besides the ones on the ship, but I was perfectly happy with everything. It was wonderful knowing that we were headed somewhere new, some place that I had never laid eyes on before. Every night I went to sleep anticipating our destination and when it did not come my excitement was only heighted all the more.
There was plenty of work on the ship to be done. Having spent years on the Apple family's farm I had no problem doing the grunt work that had first been assigned to me. I would peel potatoes, scrub floors, and empty bathroom pots without any complaints. It did not take long for the Captain to see my potential, but I never got to move as far up in the ranks as I would have liked. Captain's first mate, a scruffy pony known as Keg, did not like me too much and the two of us ended up in a heated debate more than once. This made it impossible for the Captain to give me a high rank while still keeping the peace on board, but at least I was able to graduate from grunt work.
I started to work up on deck, helping out wherever I was needed. At this time I began to talk more with the rest of the crew. They would tell me about their lives, their families, how they were hoping for a few years of hard work on the ship and being able to easily retire early on. A few of them asked me about my life, about why I was here on the ship with them. All I could do was shrug and tell them that I just wanted something to do, somewhere to go. I could never answer their questions about my family or where I grew up. The Apple family taught me just how strange it was for me to have grown up in Everfree Forest and told me to keep my past a secret to keep things simple. So that was exactly what I did, but it made me feel a little empty inside.
I had never really given much thought to family. I suppose that the Apple clan was the closest thing I would ever come to having one. After all, I knew nothing about my mother or my father or why I was left to fend for myself in the forest. Hearing about everyone else's family made me feel as though I might have missed out on something when I was growing up. I did my best not to dwell on the subject, though it was hard not too when everyone else kept bringing it up.
Some times I would lay in my bunk late at night and think not about the family I never had, but about the family that I could have. I would imagine meeting a sweet young pony, one that was gentle and loving but could also handle herself if trouble ever came her way. I would imagine us dating for a bit before asking her to marry me. Then we would be married, buy our own little house out away from people, and have a few children - two colts and one filly.
It was always a silly thing to imagine, I knew that. But it was still something that I would always go back and think on when I was feeling down or bored.
One morning I had slept in earlier than usual, dreaming about my future family once again. In the dream I was teaching my children how to fight, showing them how to kick up their front hooves and attack a pretend enemy. It was a silly dream, but one that I was enjoying when some pony decided to start shaking my bunk.
"Hunter! Hunter, get up!"
I groaned and rolled to look over the edge at one of the crew members. He was bouncing up and down a bit, his excitement so great that not even my glare brought him down.
"We've seen land!"
Those three words were all I needed to shake off the remains of my dream and bolt out of my bed. I trotted up the stairs behind the other crew member up to the deck. It seemed as though the entire crew had the same idea as us. Everyone was hanging off the edge of the boat, eager to get a peak at the new land we were about to land on. I joined them, squinting my eyes to get a better look. So that was the land where griffons lived.
"All right, men!" Captain Stargazer shouted. "Get your eyes back in your heads and your hooves back to work. I know it's been a long journey, but that's no reason to get all excited. It will still be another week or so before the ship can reach the docks."
The rest of the crew all muttered and slowly shuffled back to their jobs, but I remained at the side of the ship for just a bit longer. Deep in my heart I felt as though I was finally going to accomplish what I had always wanted. I was finally going to find a new adventure.
