The Nebula Mountains: Ch.1 A New Home
The Nebula Mountains
Ch.1 A New Home
Equestria, its fame knows no boundaries. The mere mention of its name sets off marvelous visions in the heads of those who can hear it: The land of harmony and joy. The place where dreams come true, bonds are made, and friendship lasts forever.
Few, however, know of its neighbor to the north, most perhaps mistaking it for a mere geographical feature of its borders. And even fewer know that, despite its proximity to the idyllic nation, it does not share the same heartwarming qualities.
The Nebula Mountains. A small, independent nation that lay to the far north of the peaceful and harmonic lands of Equestria, all but concealed within the mountain range of the same name. Here, in this cold, unforgiving piece of the Earth; ponies, bat-ponies, dragons, and even diamond dogs all live together in what could best be called “an unstable peace.”
For the inhabitants of this land, life could get difficult, to say the least. Most were still struggling to rebuild after a failed invasion that ravaged the lands ten years ago, conducted by the marauders from the Badlands nearby. The war took many lives, left families ripped apart, and even destroyed great portions of the environment that used to sustain the population. Those who survived now have to make do with what little they have left, and try to get by. In order to survive at all, they all had to accept a hard simple truth:
Life. Sometimes, it just hurts.
Sometimes it hits all of us with a sucker-punch that could break a stone wall. It hits like a curveball that hits you in the face, breaks your nose, and leaves you on the ground bleeding and crying, both from the pain and from a sense of failure on your part.
Sometimes life hits you so hard that you cannot stand back up on your own. Sometimes, you need the help of friends to get you going again.
Sometimes, you just need to start again altogether. Move to a new place. Get a clean slate.
Such was the case of four childhood friends living in these very mountains. They have all seen enough times just how bad life can get. How hard your landing can be once it hits you and throws you to the floor.
All that remains to them is finding a way to get back up.
small apartment complex
“So, are we all in an agreement?”
The unicorn mare looked at the other three people in the small room. She had a three purple-tone mane and blue fur, and wore her usual outfit of a neon-blue shirt and a pair of jet-black shorts that cut off at the middle. “Usual” as in “all that she had left intact.” Her nerves kept her hands tugging at the edges of her pockets, and she bit her lip as she waited for a response.
“Well, I don’t have any better ideas,” the red and gray dragoness that was leaning against the wall replied. She wore nothing special either, just a simple dark red t-shirt and gray pants. She crossed her arms and turned her head toward the window to stare at the view outside. A thick fog obscured the noon Sun, capturing most of its light as it shone down upon the rooftops on the mountainside, holding the town hostage in a constant grayish haze. It was all the illumination these empty husks would get today. “Just about anything is better than this dump we call home.”
“I have to agree with you guys on this one,” the bat-pony mare added. She sat on the floor on the opposite side of the room, hugging her knees against her chest. Like most of her kind, her mane was a midnight-blue combined with a light-blue fur. What distinguished her, however, was that she wore bright colored clothes, as opposed to the “dark on dark” combinations most bat-ponies seemed to prefer. She was in her roughed-up pink t-shirt and a pair of sky-blue pants. Her preference, however, was slowly turning into a constraint one as well.
The three females now turned to look at the fourth member of their group, who was sitting on top of an old desk propped up against the wall, staring at the fine piece of woodwork silently. He was wondering why someone would bother to fit such a large object into a room as tiny as this one, until the silence finally made him raise his head, and he realized that all eyes were on him.
“Well... I do agree with you guys but... I have just one question: Where do we go?” the light-brown diamond dog asked. He had a silver and blue star-shaped necklace with a black trim hanging around his neck. He wore a black and blue sleeveless jacket and a pair of baggy blue shorts. Both were rather worn and dirty, the telltale signs of the work he did all day, every day.
The other three looked at each other, struggling to come up with an answer. When they came up with nothing, they collectively sighed, and went back to staring at the floor.
One suggested going to the Griffon Kingdom, but that idea was shot down by the dragoness when she reminded her friends that its inhabitants do not take kindly to dragons of any kind. Another one suggested that they should go to Sarvarian, but that was quickly turned down by the rest of the group, since they did not have nearly enough money to go there. One by one, every idea they managed to force out ended up being shot down. They were running out of options. Outside, that small dose of sunlight they were granted now began to retreat, letting the darkness slowly seep back into the town.
The unicorn mare sighed again, bumping her fist against the wall in frustration. At this rate, they will have spent another day without doing anything. Just another group of helpless youngsters, stranded in this barren, worthless land that was forsaken by hope a long time ago.
In the midst of her sorrow, she tried to escape the reality of their situation and find comfort in a pleasant memory. She thought about her parents. They way they always tried to comfort her. The stories they used to tell her when she was just a filly and could not go to sleep at night. She gave a sad smile. Sometimes, she still replayed the ones she could remember in her mind, finding them to be just as soothing as they were back then.
Her eyes lit up. “Hey guys,” she said. Her friends looked at her. “Why don’t we go to Equestria?” She felt her spirits rising, a touch of hope now entering her mind. She remembered all those stories her mother told her about that magical world guided by love and friendship. The warmth she felt when she imagined living under a bright Sun, guided by a princess who would not withhold it from any of.
“Hmm… Equestria… Why does that sound so familiar?” The diamond dog said, mostly to himself.
“Rave, isn’t Equestria that land that is mostly dominated by ponies?” The dragoness asked. “The place where they fear dragons? You know, like me?” It was a rhetorical question. She could almost hear the elders as they told her about the place’s view on dragons. One could not even hope to be allowed to fall asleep within it.
“Yeah. I think I heard something about them not liking my kind either,” The diamond dog added. He remembered being told by his father that Equestrians do not take kindly to carnivores.
“Plus all of the rumors about bat-ponies would make it hard for me to move around, even at night,” The bat-pony mare said, remembering what the others in the bat-pony colonies had told her about Equestria.
The unicorn mare named Rave frowned, thinking hard about a way to convince her friends. “Well, yeah... I have. But, honestly: do we really have much of a choice here?” She asked her friends. “Sure, things could get a little complicated over there, but do you really believe it would be any worse compared to this?” She motioned her hands around the room to emphasize her point.
Her friends looked at her, then back down at the floor, nodding silently as they recalled their knowledge of the neighboring land. They all heard the same stories: Lush, green forests, clear blue waters, more than enough fertile land to live off of, and more career opportunities than one could ever wish for. It always sounded so incredible, so much like a mere fairy tale compared to the reality that they knew. And yet, the temptation was always there, growing stronger every day, and the very thought of turning down such a good opportunity seemed foolish the moment one took a good look at the wasteland around them that they called “home.”
Seeing the looks on her friends’ faces, Rave smiled. She already knew what their response was going to be. “So... when do you guys want to leave?” she said with a smug grin.
The diamond dog was first. “Give me three days, or so…” he said. “There is some stuff I need to do first.” He decided to ignore the fact that Rave believed she had already convinced them into going with her.
“Same here,” the dragoness said with an unreadable look on her face. “I have a few loose ends I want to tie up before we go.”
“Me too,” the bat-pony mare said, getting up off the floor.
“Okay. It’s decided, then!” Rave said, now becoming increasingly enthusiastic as she started to gather her stuff. The group slowly filed out the door one by one, gathering outside before the entrance of the apartment complex one last time.
“Let’s meet up at the train station in Nenufar in three days,” she told them. They nodded, and with that, the quartet dispersed into the evening.
The next morning, outside the apartment complex...
Rave and her diamond dog friend stood beside a dead tree, waiting for their other two friends who were still (supposedly) busy packing. Neither of them had said a single word since exchanging hellos, and now just stood there, motionless, gazing silently at the near empty town half-obscured by the morning fog. A cold breeze made them both pull their coats tighter over their bodies, sighing from the discomfort.
The bored diamond dog pushed himself off of the tree he was leaning on and walked in front of the apartment to give it one last, long look. He could still remember the day he found his way into this dump of a place. How he and his friends struggled to make a living here, and how many times the building found a way to fuck with them.
“Well, I can say this much: it has been one hell of a ride,” he said while staring at the run-down husk of concrete and steel. “A long, nine year ride…”
He scratched the back of his head. “You know, I think I’m going to miss this place…” A sad expression appeared on his face, and he closed his eyes, looking like he was about to cry. Moments later, the charade evaporated into a smug grin. “Wait! No, I’m not.”
Rave laughed. “Oh, come on, Fang! It wasn’t as bad as you’re making it sound,” she said. Her old, battered duffel bag hung from her shoulders, the same one that she had been carrying around for almost ten years now.
Fang looked back at Rave with a mischievous smile on his face. “Oh yeah, we did have some good-times in this place, didn’t we?” he said. “Hey, remember that time a bug found its way into your ear while you were asleep?”
It was a rhetorical question, of course. Rave could never forget that night, and Fang knew that all too well. She was shaking violently at this moment just from the memory of it, staring daggers into his friend as she struggled to calm herself down
“I thought I told you to never talk about that ever again!” Rave shouted at him at the top of her lungs, then began tugging at her ears awkwardly. Fang doubled over, laughing at the mare’s reaction.
“All these years have passed, and she’s still twitchy whenever she remembers that. Hilarious!” he thought.
Just then, the bat-pony came out through the entrance of the house, carrying a small traveling bag.
“Yo, Nightfall! Over here!” Fang called out to her. Nightfall turned around upon hearing his voice, and calmly walked over to her friends. “Whoa, Nightfall, I haven’t seen you in that outfit in a while,” Fang said as he looked over his friend. She was no longer wearing her bright colored clothes, and instead wore a dark-blue, long sleeved shirt, a pair of jet-black pants, and on top of her head was a pair of indigo goggles. Fang and Rave recognized the look immediately. The only times she would dress like that was when she left to visit the bat-pony colony.
“Well, I did say I have things to finish, and I intend on finishing them,” Nightfall said, knowing that she did not need to explain the details. Fang, however, still looked like he had more questions, so she quickly tried to get the attention off herself.
“So, uh... Rave... where are you going to be for the next three days?” Nightfall absentmindedly asked her. She then gasped, already wishing she could take back what she said. “Umm… wait. That non-”
“You don’t have to apologize, Night,” Rave said with an awkward smile on her face. “I told you guys what happened because I trust you. We all have things that need to be done before we leave, and I’m no exception.” She frowned as she looked at her watch. “And we could finish those things a lot sooner if a certain dragoness would hurry up. What could she be doing, anyway?” Rave asked Nightfall. She was about to answer when the entrance to the building burst open again, and out walked the dragoness in question.
“Hey Blaze!” Fang called out to her. “You mind telling me how come you're the last one to come out, and yet you’re supposed to be the fastest among us?”
“Because I am faster than you,” Blaze said with a smug grin. “You guys got all of your stuff out, right?” she asked the rest of her friends.
Setting down her bag, Rave went through her stuff one more time just to make sure she did not forget anything. “Well, I have all of my equipment with me,” she said. “Or... what’s left of it, anyway. All of my sample music, blank CD’s, and some clothes. Yeah, I think I have all of my stuff.” She sealed the bag again once she was finished.
“I have my guitar, sketchbook, clothes, and my necklace on me,” Fang said with a bored tone. “That should be everything.”
“I think I’m all set, too,” Nightfall said. She adjusted the bag on her shoulders to give her wings more room to move. “Why are you asking?”
“Oh, no real reason…” Blaze said with a cold tone in her voice. She then produced a switch of some kind from her pocket. Nightfall was about to ask what the device was when Blaze activated it.
The device began to emit a loud beeping noise. The next moment, they were all nearly blown off their feet by an earth-shaking explosion that ripped apart the building behind them. Burning debris rained all around them as they struggled to regain their balance, the loud boom temporarily deafening the stunned quartet. For an entire minute, all of her friends just stood there in shock, staring wide eyed at the dump they used to call home going up in smoke. Blaze, on the other hand, could barely contain her joy as she watched the flames dancing across the ruins of the now obliterated structure.
Fang was the first to snap back into reality. He grabbed Nightfall, Rave, and the still cackling Blaze, and bolted down the street as fast as his legs allowed him. He found an empty alleyway and quickly decided to hide himself and his friends there. Panting from the sudden exertion, and thus unable to speak, Fang just stared at the insane dragoness, who was now doubled over on to the ground, laughing so hard that she was holding her sides.
“Ahahaha! I wanted to do that for years!” Blaze exclaimed, then went on with her psychotic laughter.
“Are you insane?” Fang shouted at the dragoness. He quickly peeked out of the alleyway, noticing a detachment of the Nebula militia converging on the scene of the explosion.
“Blaze, of all the crazy things you’ve done over the years, that was by far the craziest.” Nightfall said, still struggling to comprehend how Blaze was able to set up the explosives in such a short time.
“Like I said: I’ve wanted to do that for years,” she replied with a devilish grin.
“Ugh… You are the craziest dragon to have ever cursed this place,” Rave said, her face buried in her palm.
“Yeah, I am. So let’s get going while the going is good,” Blaze said, then calmly began strolling out of the alleyway and down the street, heading toward the train station. The others looked at each other, giving confused looks, then just shrugged, picked up their stuff, and went after their insane companion.
The walk was short, but to the four friends it felt like it took an eternity to get there. All they could think about was the journey ahead of them, which would most likely take days, if not weeks. They did not even dare imagine that it might take any longer. Getting to Equestria should not be that difficult, after all.
First things first, however. They arrived at the train station minutes later, where they were to say goodbye to each other before disbanding for the next three days. Fang was the first to pick up his bag after the last of the hugs, goodbyes and wishes of good luck had been exchanged. He just gave a sad smile, looking at each of his friends one last time, then sighed, turned around, and began walking out of the square before the station, heading toward the forest nearby.
He knew this day would come. He had been preparing for it mentally for weeks, confident that he would be able to handle the situation. Still, right here and now, he just wished he could have more time.
His friends watched Fang depart with a great deal of concern, noticing his hesitant stride and sluggish motions. They remembered how, over the years, Fang has revealed to them why he was no longer a member of his pack. It was quite a tale, to say the least.
After less than a dozen paces, he stopped. Blaze shook her head, unable to just stand by any longer. She walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile. Fang turned his head to look back at her, and gave a painful sigh.
“You're going back to them?” Blaze asked, even though she already knew the answer.
“Well… I can’t just leave and not say goodbye now, can I?” he replied. “And besides: I need to see her one more time…” His face went blank as he stared off into the distance. “I still have to pay her back for all of the things she had done for me.”
With that, he lifted his bag onto his shoulders, returned his friend’s smile, and began walking toward the forest again. He did not halt this time.
Rave ran past Blaze, stopping a few feet away from the edge of the woods. “Don’t forget to be at the Nenufar train station in three days, okay?” She called after the diamond dog. Fang merely lifted his arm and stuck out his thumb in response, not even turning around, and continued to walk deeper into the forest, soon disappearing among the densely packed trees.
Rave trudged back to the rest of the gang. “You guys think he’s going to be okay?” she asked them, worry laced into her voice.
“Are you kidding?” Blaze bumped her shoulder. “It’s Fang we’re talking about here! I’m sure he wouldn’t do anything too idiotic.”
The energetic dragoness then stretched her limbs and gave a long yawn. “Well, I guess I’ll see you guys at Nenufar, then,” she said. The others just nodded, and she unfolded her wings, flapping them hard to propel her into the sky at a mighty speed. Before long she was but a bright speck on the dull, overcast sky, heading northeast. They all assumed she was on her way toward the coast.
Rave and Nightfall now stood alone, silently pondering their fate in front of the train station of their nameless town.
“Hey Night,” Rave said, still looking up at the sky. A smile tugged at her lips when she noticed a patch of light-blue standing out in the grayish haze. “You think we’re going to be friends forever?”
“I don’t know, Rave…” she replied with a sigh. “I don’t know what the future holds for us.” She looked at her friend, noticing her thoughtful gaze. “Why do you ask?”
“I don’t know,” the pony replied. She stared at the ground now, kicking her hoof idly. “I’ve been thinking about what’s ahead of us, and... It’s just… You guys are all really important to me, and... I don’t want our friendship to end…” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Ever...”
“Rave,” Nightfall said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I can assure you: We will never stop being friends.” Then, before Rave could have a chance to react, she suddenly pulled her into a tight hug. Rave gasped, not expecting such a reaction, but her apprehension was short-lived. She leaned into the embrace, enjoying the warmth that the bat-pony shared with her. It made her smile, reminding her of the hugs that her mother used to give her when she was just a filly.
After a few more seconds, Nightfall finally broke their embrace. A bit sooner than Rave wanted to, but she did not complain.
“Well… I’ll see you at Nenufar,” she said. “Take care!” With that, Nightfall opened up her wings and took to the sky, heading southwest toward the bat-pony lands. Rave was now all alone, stranded in the nameless town without her friends. Silently, she picked up her bag and walked up to the entrance of the train station, pushing the heavy double doors open to get inside. She tapped on the glass of the ticket office, knocking the old stallion behind it awake, and bought herself a ticket.
As the train pulled up, Rave got up from the bench she had been sitting on and swiftly climbed on board. Upon finding herself an empty seat, she leaned back on the worn, dirty cushions, and as the train began to move she stared out the window, giving the nameless town what she hoped was one last, long look.
It was not much to look at. The fog obscured most of her vision, and what little remained in sight was no more interesting than the bare rock surface of the mountains surrounding them. Even so, the miserable sight of the near empty houses and streets could not make her forget that it was the place she and her called “home” for the last ten years of their lives.
All the times they laughed, played; learned, grew; yelled, argued, fought, and loved. All these memories, these moments of her life kept swirling around in her head, stirring up her emotions. And now, as the group prepared to depart these lands, they were all to be left sealed away in this place, forever.
Rave closed her eyes as she leaned on the bag in her lap, and sighed. A single tear forced itself out of her eye, slowly trickling across her face. She thought she was supposed to feel happy, or at the very least relieved, but that sensation never came. She looked back out the window, noticing that the town was no longer in sight, and thrust herself back into her seat, staring ahead blankly.
She herself had one last visit to take care of.