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                   Equestria's Wanderer                    
                    -by MapleSomething-                    
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                 Chapter 1 - Introduction                  
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Chapter 1 - Introduction
Some ponies say that it's impossible to travel the world, some say that some die along the way, that it takes immense courage to even begin to accomplish such a task. One pony, all it takes is one pony to fulfill the task that only the best could accomplish. Could he do it?
Ring.. Ring.. Ring..
The massive golden bell atop the Appleoosa schoolhouse chimed, echoing throughout the entirity of the town. Small fillies and colts of all colors flooded into the once-maroon painted building, dozens of hoofsteps plodding upon the wooden floorboards. Everypony quickly scurried towards their wooden desks, a small apple carved on the front of each one.
"Alright fillies and colts, shall we begin?" A petite unicorn stood up from her oak desk and made her way to the center of the large room, looking upon all fourty students, each one looking up in attention. The teacher's light pink coat shone in the bright light of the window that stretched throughout the entirety of the right wall. Happily trotting to the chalk board, she pulled a tassel that hung down to reveal a map of Equestria, every city, mountain, river, lake, plateau, and famous landmark labeled. Most of the students groaned and complained in distaste but one student instantly perked up as the teacher continued to talk. Enthusiastically letting out a small squee, the entire class looked at the pastel yellow colored pony, sighing at his excitement.
Hours passed, every single filly and colt had essentially zoned out at this point while their teacher continued rambling on with her lesson. But still, that one pony, the yellow-coated, blue-maned, always enthusiastic colt was scribbling down his notes in a composition notebook, the wooden pencil gripped firmly in his teeth. By this point, he had memorized all of the major landmarks, every region, physical feature, you name it, this small pony has it memorized.
But there was one thing the teacher had not taught today with those 6 hours of lecturing, what the lives of the ponies were like in every city. That's what was the most intriguing to the colt, how others went about their daily lives, what was different between everypony other than just appearance.
Ring.. Ring.. Ring..
The dismissal bell chimed as all thirty nine ponies swiftly made their way out of the old schoolhouse, eager to get back home where a loving family awaited them, or perhaps a fresh meal. But the yellow colt stayed back, he packed up all of his possessions, pushed his glasses up, and moved his poofy light blue hair out of his Emerald-tinted eyes. Making his way up to the teacher, he nervously asked such a simple question. "Excuse me, Mrs. MLA, how long do you believe it would take one pony to travel across Equestria?"
"Travel across Equestria, you ask? Well it'd be impossible, it's impossible to travel such distances especially in something as short as a lifetime, Barter." Her horn glowed a lime green as her aura picked up a broken piece of chalk. She carefully drew an image of Equestria as its known at the moment, circling where they resided, in Appleoosa.
"We are here, correct?" Barter nodded his head lightly. Now with force, the pink coated professor circled the entirety of the planet she had just drawn. "And you want some pony to travel all of this?! That's just utter blasphemy! It could never be done! Unless teleportation was involved of course, but nopony has used that spell in ages."
"Thank you Miss MLA, I really appreciated the lesson today," Barter held his head down, attempting to choke back his tears, distraught at what his teacher had just said to him.
"Impossible! That cannot be! Nothing is impossible, heck, Starswirl confirmed it himself. I'll show her, one day I'll travel the world, I'll show her things she has never dreamed of seeing, even better, I'll see them for myself."
The colt rambled on to himself, slowly making his way along the dirt pathway until he reached his home. "Ma! Pa! Guess what! I'm going to travel the world!" Barter shouted through the doorway as he entered. He had received no response, "Ma! Pa!?" He searched every room, his parents were always there when he had gotten home, where could they have gone? The colt searched up and down, room to room, nopony, the small rustic-themed home was completely barren.
The small pony's next instinct was to wait, so he sat. And sat. And sat. About an hour passed until the old creaky door had been shoved open. "Barter!" His mother galloped in, squeezing her child as tight as she could, tears streaming down her face. "I'm glad you're safe."