5. Practicing
Dear reader,
I have seen a day, a night and a morning here in Equestria, and I have to say, the mornings are quite beautiful here. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the grass is still wet from the morning dew… Oh, yes, we were lost. But as soon as we found the sun shining through the trees, we followed the road and came at the edge of the forest where there was a fork in the road: one continued back to Unicorn Range, one continued to Vanhoover, one to Tall Tale, one to the Smokey Mountains and one to Galloping Gorge.
We are resting in the grass beside the fork now. We ate some wild apples and berries Wing Noir found. I continued practicing my magic by lifting branches. When they were well into the air, I could slowly lower them, point towards the dirt, and write big letters in them. That went pretty well, but when I lose concentration, I let them drop. That is normally after a minute. Lifting several branches is just like that, but then even shorter. Funny enough, writing with my horn is easier than with sticks. I am writing with magic now, and it goes surprisingly easy.
I just picture the movements in my head, and then the quill follows them. Wing Noir says that isn't normal writing at my age already with my horn. So considering the fact that I am here for just two days, I guess my special talent could be very well this. However, when I try to lift my notebook and then write in it, it doesn't work very well. I just can't focus so long on two different things, I always let them drop. It is annoying me beyond my wits. But I guess I have to have patience, or find out what I'm doing wrong. But we have to move now.
We have made up our mind, or rather, Noir did.
Yesterday, he said that he had some relatives living in Vanhoover, so I hope he knows what he's doing.
6. Stranger
Dear reader,
We have stopped again now, this time for lunch. We didn't talk much, again. I still tried to make some friendly conversation, but he only answered with single-syllable words or gruff answers. So I just tagged along behind him. I guess he regrets having asked me to go with him now.
I just hope I soon discover how I can make him a bit happier.
Oh, and, before I forget: 'we' means 'three ponies' now.
Here you go:
Just before we stopped for lunch, we met a stranger. He was walking faster than we were, coming right at us. I got scared and walked up to Noir. I whispered: "Noir, there's somepony coming towards us."
He nodded, and when I was behind Noir again, he glanced casually over his shoulder. It was a dark grey unicorn stallion, with crimson manes and tail. I wondered why he was going so fast. Wing Noir slowed down to walk next to me, on my left.
"Don't worry, he's probably just passing by," he whispered. But he should realize. Kids, at our age, alone on the road… We could get robbed, or something!
You know, it might be a bit stupid, but it was only afterwards that I realized why he was walking on my left. I think it was to protect me. He was a bit older and bigger, and he was on the road for much longer. Letting me walk on the right side of the road, so that nopony could walk on my other side, and putting himself between me and the stranger, was pretty smart.
Maybe we are friends after all, and not just travelling colleagues.
Wing Noir glared at me, as if he had read my thoughts. Okay, never mind. The stranger was coming closer now. He would be with us at any moment. We could hear his hoofs stomping against the dirt road very clearly now. I swallowed.
"Hey, kids! What are you doing here, alone, in the middle of nowhere?"
Oh boy.