Those boat ponies had one thing right; our future was not here in Nocturna. There was no way we could continue to survive in this wasteland. It was as if the well that fed us didn’t just dry up, but vanished entirely. The rivers that once provided us with water were now bone dry, and our fields no longer yielded crops. The unicorn thestrals could force the plants to grow with magic, but it was a net loss. They used more energy to grow the plants than the plants provided. We couldn’t sustain a population on that plan. We needed new fields.
I gathered every map of Nocturna I could find, and poured over every inch of ground. Everywhere I looked, I could only see greater perils. The forrest to the south was filled with beasts and predators. To the north lay only ice, a far worse climate than where we were. To the west was only the sea. It seemed as if we as a species were trapped, doomed to go extinct in a geographical cage.
“Do you need anything, Crow?” Comet was standing at the door, still gaunt, but he looked as if he had energy from some food.
“I need a plan. We can’t stay in Nocturna, but we have no where else to go.”
“It is quite disparaging. Too bad we can’t just go back to Equestria.”
Equestria? I didn’t see that on the map. “What are you talking about? I’ve never heard of such a place.”
He chuckled as if I’d made a joke, though he quickly realized I hadn’t. “Don’t you remember from mythology? The land of bounty, where ponies could control their destinies, never needing to worry about a shortage of anything.”
“Sounds like a filly’s tale.” I wasn’t in the mood for stories.
“They say that the thestrals were banished from Equestria, because we couldn’t live in harmony with the ponies of the day, whatever that is. Supposedly it’s just over the Hadrian Mountains.”
That time I really did chuckle. “You and I both know there’s nothing over those mountains. It’s an empty abyss.”
“Well, nopony has come back to say otherwise. But you never know.” With that, he left, going back to his duties.
It was a silly thing to even comprehend. Equestria was a metaphor for paradise, and nothing more. Only colts and fillies would believe such tales.
As the night dragged on though, the thoughts of Equestria kept creeping back to the front of my mind. Every time I tried to find a real solution, it was struck down by some terrible danger, and that mythical land came back as a better alternative.
It shouldn’t have been that far away either; the mountains were within flying distance of the capital, so theoretically, an expedition over the mountains would take no time at all.
There was a good reason nopony had ever come back though. Supposedly, the winds reach speeds faster than any storm, and could hurl a pony miles from the mountain. Even pegasi thestrals are tossed around by these zephyrs.
Why not? The risk of me not coming back versus the reward of sustaining our species didn’t seem like a choice at all. I didn’t even bother to pack any supplies. I summoned two pegasi and a chariot, and I was off to the Hadrian Mountains.
When we arrived at Point Nebula, the highest established base on the mountain, I began to ascend the mountain on hoof.
One of the pegasi guards called out to me. “Sir, are you really going over the mountains?”
“You needn’t worry about that. Just get comfortable here. If I don’t come back, then there is no hope for our race.”
The walk up the mountain was arduous. As the air thinned out, I found myself struggling just to breath, but I couldn’t stop. This could be our only chance for survival. If it turned out to be myth, then I would just have to join the boat ponies.
Minutes turned to hours, and inches turned to miles. Every step I took didn’t seem to bring me any closer to the summit. I kept thinking that there must be another way, someway I just hadn’t figured out by looking at the maps. I wanted to turn back, and try to find a plan that wasn’t based off of ancient mythology. But I’d tried doing that, and I came up empty. This was our only hope for survival.
After hours upon hours of hiking, I made it to the summit. Behind me was Nocturna, a doomed land dotted with abandoned farms. Before, supposedly, lay a land of plenty. At that moment though, it was covered by a thick fog. I began to descend, but as I did so, I felt a tremendous gust force me off of the peak, sending me hurtling towards the earth below. I panicked, but only briefly. I’d pulled myself out of worse situations than this. With a little magic, I was able to force myself back against the cliff face, turning my plummet into a controlled slide.
I began to tumble, endlessly it seemed, down the steep cliff face. My fall was broken occasionally by less steep faces, though it wasn’t enough to rid me of the pain of falling on bare stone.
Eventually, I came to rest on a ledge, just above a group of stalagmites. It was only luck that had stopped me then. As I stood myself back up, I looked out over the ledge, and I saw what no thestral had seen in generations.
Before me stretched a lush green land. Not just green from fields, but from orchards, woods, and meadows. I could even see cities, bright with light, dotting the landscape. Looking closer, I could see fields where ponies had obviously tended. Rows of corn and apple orchards spanned for miles.
I could have stared at it for eternity, marveling at the bounties that lay before me. But nopony else knew. I had to go and tell them that Equestria was going to be our land, our new home. I remembered what Comet had said as well. ‘They say that the thestrals were banished from Equestria, because we couldn’t live in harmony with the ponies of the day’ . If that part of the myth was true, like Equestria itself, this land wasn’t just necessary for the thestral’s survival, it was our birthright.