The Winding Northward Road

by Rambling Writer

Day 38

Woke up early this morning, said my goodbyes to Skydale and her friends. Still forgot to get the name of the mare I stayed with. (Curses.) Thought a bit about trekking south on my own, then wussed out and took the train out of the north.

Hey, snow is cold. I don’t like the cold.

Going southwest, not southeast; I want to take a different way home. What’s the point in just going over the same ground I already went through earlier? Not much. I went out to see Equestria, and I can see the things I already saw, or I can see new things. You bet your tail I’m going to go see new things.

There was one point today where the train had to stop briefly because of a big snowdrift across the tracks or something; I didn’t hear the announcement clearly. I thought a bit about going to the front and trying to see how they’d clear it, but we were on our way before I made up my mind. Probably just unicorns, but I still would’ve liked to see it.

Got off the train at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Small town called Sarsaparilla. Picked up a map of the area; there’s something called Galloping Gorge not too far south of here. Thinking I’ll go there next. Don’t even know what it is.

Moving south. Cold, but it’s not snowing, so I can live with that. The environment’s kind of like a really sparse forest; there are trees, but they’re not all that close together. Barely cover the sky at all. They’re mostly pines, but they’re different types of pines, so trying to eat the needles from one tree will get you a tasty snack but trying to eat the needles from another similar-looking one will get you a sharp needle jabbing you on the inside of the mouth. Testing the pointyness of each tree before I eat it. I’m getting better at recognizing which tree is which, but I’m just being sure.

Feels weird to be leaving the Crystal Empire; I felt big and important when leaving Lareindo, but now it’s just kind of “eh”. Like it’s something I’ve done a thousand times before. I haven’t even stopped in that many towns or cities. Probably just getting used to traveling and not staying in one place for long. Hope I don’t get too restless when I get back home.

On the road again,

My journey halfway over,

I keep str

Silently s

I can’t stop. Not now.