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// We Set Out From The City 
// Story: Her Eyes Reflect The Stars 
// by Lynwood 
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Dear Diary,

This is my first entry in my new trav Should I start with 'Dear Diary'? Maybe 'Dear Journal'? Is that better?

Dear Journal,

No, I like 'Diary' more. Sorry, Diary. I'll try again.


Dear Diary,

This is my first entry in my new travel diary! I bought it as we were leaving the city today. I had the idea to record our expedition in a more personal light than the research logs. It can hardly fit, though― my travel saddlebags are packed to the brim because we packed so much stuff! 

I plan on keeping entries for the whole trip. I think it'll be fun to go back and read it afterward and remember all of my experiences! Maybe I can publish it, but I'd certainly have to revise...

I'm so excited! We set out headed due west. It was the first time I'd been outside the city proper in ages, and I forgot how big the walls are. The guards didn't give us trouble, though. They were very relaxed. I guess there haven't been any incidents in a while.

The other side of the walls was unnerving. As we walked over the drawbridge, I looked down in the trench. All the old bodies are still down there because it's hard to clean them out. My granpap grandfather used to talk about how bad it smelled when he was a colt, but I thought it was fine. Old-timer stuff, I guess. Still, there're a lot of bones down there. A lot of bones. Good thing the ponies who built the trench had the good sense to line it with stone. And make it so deep.

We only got a few hours in before Steady Compass and Four Score got in an argument about our route. Wait, I should write down our little group.

Steady Compass: Our navigator. She's an earth pony and a cartographer!
Four Score: He financed the trip in the first place. He's a unicorn archaeologist, like me! We've been friends since school.
Quick Quill (me!): Archaeologist. I also dabble as a historian.
Auburn: The pegasus bodyguard we hired. She doesn't talk mutch much, but she has a pretty sharp-looking spearzapper. Snazzy!

Anyway, Steady and Score were arguing about the route. They agreed that we should stop by the Mountain City, but Steady thought that we should go south, through the desert, and follow Horseshoe River through the swamp. Score said that we'd have better luck going north, around Foal Mountain, pass by Shade Hollow to the coast, and go south from there. They argued for hours and never reached an agreement, and now they're sitting on opposite sides of the fire, not speaking to each other. 

Oh, nevermind, Steady just went into the tent.

They also never asked me what I thought for that matter, which I didn't like, or Auburn, though I doubt she would have cared. (She hasn't payed paid attention to most of our conversations.) I think that Steady probably knows what she's talking about. She is a cartographer, after all. She took one look at the map I bought and began crossing out all the various old roads and bridges that were out and added a few new ones, too. She really knows her stuff.

Auburn is telling me to put out the fire now, so it looks like that's all for today.

Signed,
Quick Quill