//------------------------------// // Day 4: A Mountain Climb // Story: The Great Equestrian Journey // by Dashie04 //------------------------------// I can’t believe it, I actually got 2 hours of sleep last night! Anyways, Long Hike here, writing another day in my Great Equestrian Journey. Wait, I just thought of the name of my journal! If I don’t make it back before summer’s over, I might be able to title this journal something catchy, and sell it so that I won’t be teaching again. Come to think of it, I never booked a substitute professor, or told the university that I might not be coming back. I should’ve done that. I’m in a slightly better mood today, my head still hurts, my vision’s blurry occasionally, wait... \ It turns out my glasses weren’t on properly. That explains the blurriness, also, there’s probably terrible bags under my eyes that are interfering with my wonderful forest green coat. I’m so tired... I heard a song like that once. By some little band called The Beatles? I think the last of those guys died out a few years ago, actually. Oh well, now that my preliminary rant is over, it’s time for me to examine the map. I take the map out of my backpack and examine the next challenge. It appears to be a mountain range that looms in the distance, which Ponyville is beyond. Looking up, I can see that there is, in fact, a mountain range right ahead of me. It also looks like the pegasai planned for rain today, given the dark clouds and high cloud concentration. Just climbing a mountain range when it’s probably going to rain today. What could possibly go wrong? — Long Hike from the future here, a lot can go wrong, never tempt fate in such a careless way. Otherwise... well, I’ll let you read for yourself. — Staring at the mountain range for a while is starting to make me a little dizzy. I swing my head down to the ground, giving myself a mini-headache and almost essentially headbanging my glasses off my face. I can only imagine going to an optometrist and stating that the reason my glasses are broken is because I listened to Metal music. You see, this is why I stick with New Wave. Anyways, I remember the possible forecast, and really wish I remembered my hat in that Baltimare hotel. Whatever, the past is in the past. So anyways, I traveled across the tracks yesterday, I think... ~~~~~~~~ Yes, had to check my journal real quick. I did cross the train tracks, I actually didn’t write too much yesterday, must’ve been in that strange delirious state that I’m starting to recover from. I blink slowly and then shake my head to wake me up. I can’t dally around anymore, to the mountains I go. ~~~~~~~ Well, I had to take down the tent first. I start walking again and examine my surroundings. A small desert is to my left, and the train track curves into a different mountain on my right, but straight ahead looms the mountains. Just a mile ahead, actually. I’ll see you there. ~~~~~~~ Sorry for the absurd amount of breaks today, I’m just feeling in a spotty mood. I’m sorry, that joke was terrible. Anyways, I stand at the mountains and slowly breathe in. Ponyville wouldn’t be right on the other side of the mountains if they weren’t unscalable, right? Well, I survey around to see if there’s a way up. There appears to be little crevices in the rock, not what I’m looking for, but it’ll do. I put my hoof in one of the crevices, lose my balance and fall backwards almost immediately. I may not be old, but I’m still old enough that I don’t want to deal with this stuff. It also does not help my insane pounding headaches. To top it all off, I hear some thunder from right behind me. I mean, Thunder’s a good song, but not a good thing to hear when trying to scale a freaking mountain. I squint to try and pick out the best way up. Pitting my hoof in the first crevice, I secure my backpack on my back and start to climb up. Keeping my balance this time, I find another crevice... Only for a burst of thunder to knock me down again. This was not going to be any easy task. Powering through with resolve, I hook my hooves in the crevices and start climbing up as fast as I can. I look up and see the mountain towering over me. I probably should’ve taken a look to see how tall it was. Preserving my stamina, I start to slow down. I start to feel drops of rain trickling under my backpack and making me quite uncomfortable. I shake my body to pull myself out from the discomfort that puts me in. I almost lose my balance in the process, but I still feel marginally more comfortable. Putting my hoof carefully in a another crevice, I wonder why I didn’t bring climbing equipment. I probably underestimated the height of the mountain, which somepony in my profession shouldn’t even do. I’m a Geology Professor for goodness sakes! The rain is slowly coming down faster. Dear Celestia, I hate how fast pegasus rain happens. Like, they’ll give you little hints of the forecast, the good news is that it’s usually consistent, and then they’ll drop it on you without hardly any chance for preparation! The rain is really coming down now, and unfortunately, I’m looking up. Luckily, I have two things pf glass in front of my eyes known as glasses that prevent water from pouring into my eyes. Unfortunately, they are still transparent (or translucent, because I have nothing to clean them with), and they are fogging up. They can only protect my eyes for so long. I’m blind as a bat without glasses. They actually help me see, my eyesight just gets very blurry without them on. I’ve been standing still for a while, so I’m about ready to fall asleep. I mean, we can sleep standing up. But I shake myself out of it, and shake myself dry in the process, saying that I can take a nap when I reach the top. There is no fleeing from this uncomfortable rain. It’s getting under my backpack and my skin. I really hate Pegasi weather. I’m still climbing, but I think I’ve found a rhythm of finding crevices and putting my hoof them. The only way to stay awake is to keep moving and forget about the rain. In case you haven’t noticed, that isn’t very easy to do. I keep inquiring myself on why I didn’t bring climbing gear. I should’ve looked at the map harder. Well, when I make it to Ponyville, I’m definitely getting climbing gear. I don’t know if the Undiscovered West is going to have mountain ranges. It could be all mountain ranges for all I know. ~~~~~~~~~~ It’s 1 PM, I think. Climbing isn’t exactly very interesting. There isn’t anything I can tell you that hasn’t already been stated. The climbing is tough, my hooves are getting chipped, and the rain is getting progressively more irritating with every hour. Ikm also hungry, but my backpack is on my back, and I can’t reach it without losing my balance and breaking my neck. The good news is that I’m almost to the top, I’ve just got a couple more crevices to go. However, my minor dizziness is only getting progressively worse with the harrowing lack of oxygen up here. It’s getting harder to see, and while this mountain is tall, it doesn’t exceed the clouds, the rain is still very much present. Putting my hoof into that second-to-last crevice, I keep telling myself that I’ll have the best sleep of my life when I reach the top. I put my hoof into the last crevice, and pull myself up! I just feel like I scaled Mt. Everhoof. I don’t care where my sleeping bag and tent are, I just want to fall asleep. Thankfully the rain seems to be letting up, so let me just update my journal. ~~~~~~~~ The sun has finally come out, and I’m about ready to sleep. I realize I should probably get to where there’s more oxygen, but I don’t really care. I stumble to a place where I can rets my head. I can reach Ponyville tomorrow. -Long Hike — Long Hike from the future here, I did get to Ponyville the next day, not the way I expected. I slept on some loose soil, and well, you’ll see what happens next. —