The Winding Northward Road

Turns out Galloping Gorge is inhabited. Sparsely inhabited, I haven’t seen any towns or villages, but there’s small groups of ponies living here, usually not more than four at a time. Makes a lot of sense, actually; right next to water, plenty of, quiet (relatively speaking, see yesterday), out-of-the-way. Just the right kind of place if you want to be a little alone. Not for me, but can totally see the appeal.

Not much change in the scenery (Galloping Gorge goes on a lot farther than I thought), but ~~met~~ briefly ran into plenty of ponies. Here’s some of the more interesting ones:

• Carrara, a pegasus who carves rocks she picks up from the riverbed and sells them at a nearby town outside the gorge. Pretty small, but beautiful. Decided to buy one once I was convinced it wouldn’t break in my bags.

• Storm Shelter, a unicorn who offered to waterproof my stuff with magic once he heard what I was doing (for a small fee, of course). I said sure. It worked, but I would’ve appreciated it if he didn’t test the waterproofing by immediately chucking my saddlebags in the river.

• An Earth pony who chased me off her land with a paring knife the moment I was within fifty feet of her house. What’s with the psycho hermits who don’t put up “keep out” signs?

• Cadastra, another Earth pony living out here with her family. Got a husband (he was out getting food when I came around) and two fillies. She’s a cartographer; says she keeps track of state and regional boundaries in these areas or something. Offered me a map of the area, but I already had one.

• Windlass, a pegasus with a really thick accent (I think she might be from around Inverness) and several mounted crossbows on her lawn. None of them were armed, but there were enough to make me nervous. I asked her why she had all the crossbows, and she just said she liked studying them. She offered to show me one she’d been working on, but I’d already stayed a good while and had to leave.

So yeah. Met plenty of people on my way. Still in Galloping Gorge, but I think I’m getting near the end of it, with the terrain leveling off. Based on the map, continuing on my current route should take me right over the Unicorn Range.

~~Look at all~~

The lonesome ponies

Living out here aren’t lonely;

They just want their space.

“Lonely” and “alone”;

~~Not the same, quite dis~~

Not the same, but quite distinct.

It’s how you react.

Do you need others?

~~You’ll be lonely if you’re alo~~

~~On your own is loneliness.~~

~~Simply being lonely~~

Simply being on your own

Will make you lonely.

If you don’t need them,

~~You won’t get l~~

You won’t ever get lonely;

You always have yourself.

Alright, but I feel like it’s missing something.