Day 1 of the new commission.
I have worked for the princess before but I get the feeling this will be very different. I have been craving an assignment like this one and she finally gave me the kind of team i’ve been needing. A trip into the Everfree forest, that mysterious place only a short distance from the Royal capital. She couldn’t have made me happier if she had tried. She warned me to be wary of the many dangers but I scoffed at her. After all it was my wife’s job to worry for me while I filled in all those blanks on the map. It was what I was born to do and by my name I won’t rest until every blank space on my maps are filled.
Of course, I really wouldn’t be anything without my trusting team and my training. Having Princess Celestia’s knowledge of the heavenly bodies and her disciple Star Charter available to help in learning how to guide my way was certainly a blessing. I have certainly received a blessing. Star Charter really needs to loosen up more or else she won’t get any more friends past me and Gentle Soul. Ooooh, Gentle Soul has reacted quite well to the news. She knows how much this journey means since the Everfree has never even been attempted to be mapped before. How she worries about me though. Right after she congratulated me for the assignment she began to panic about all the dangers, rumors, and magic in the Everfree. I can’t help but chuckle when she is so concerned about magic and other mysterious threats when more often than not a calm head can get me through whatever dangers we have faced.
Red Liner is always helpful with those. I don’t think he realizes it but it’s like his cynical view of all things magical has saved both our lives far more often than not. My dear Gentle, she dares not speak the same hope I keep, that this time Red Liner can be defeated and she won’t have to deal with his fury when I get upset. The past few years he has been far closer to the surface. I have even see him in my reflection inside a puddle from the rain. I have long since grown accustomed to his presence and enjoy upsetting him further by goading him along. Gentle of course is my rock. If I did not have her perhaps I would have fallen to the cynicism and hate he holds so dear.
The rest of my team would have checked me though. My friend, the big, burly, Large Scale. He likes viewing my maps but he certainly can’t read my more detailed maps. Sometimes though his common sense helps me handle all the different problems that require a simpler solution. Recently when me and him go to see Star Charter she keeps acting reserved with me and they might think I haven’t, but I have certainly noticed how they are spending more time together. I hinted to him that maybe he should stay and let his “royal connections” care for him. Working for the princess, he assured me our boss would want him out here to take care of me.
Kill Joy has an agreement with me on what to do just in case Red Liner takes control. He has served me faithfully and as much as Gentle has her reservations about it, a professional sellsword is a great thing to have when out in the unknown. He sometimes enjoys his job too much but I prefer his skills and lack of hesitation compared to what other sellswords have. I hope he finds himself a wife sometime though so maybe he softens up to some of the rest of us.
Finally, there’s the zebra that I met a few years back when I stumbled across her camp. She gave up her ancestral name when she left her people wanting to instead travel the world with me and bring back the blessing of knowledge to her people. Even though they will never have her back she still insists that she does this for her people. Her knowledge of herbal remedies and tricks have done amazing things for us all in the past.
A pleasant surprise is that Celetia has told Star Charter to come with us on this trip so that she can more accurately learn the stars over the Everfree Forest. She also insisted to me that I help her with making friends with the rest of the group. The Princess seemed rather surprised when I told her about my suspicions regarding Large Scale and Star Charter. She will be an extremely useful add on to the team with her ability to navigate by the stars. She has taught me but she seems to have an almost spiritual connection with the stars. I still believe she can find her way better at night then she can during the day.
Even better than her usefulness though is that it will be a great reminder of when Large Scale and I started travelling because she accompanied us to teach us to navigate using stars and how to chart them so I could bring them back. I really don’t see enough of her since Gentle Soul and I got married and I started travelling farther away. I look forward to tomorrow when I get to start my dream with a team that is the best a stallion could ask for.
And yet… I can’t help but have a bad feeling about Red Liner. He seems strangely happy about this trip even though most of the time he’s yelling at me to stop risking our lives. Not like I ever listen but it is still best to pay attention to the self-destructive voice in your head. I get the feeling he expects us to find the same thing I do; a cure to this damn curse. And he probably plans to turn it on me. I swear now, tonight, that I will finally be rid of this bastard.