History of Camp New Hayven - PLEASE READ PRIOR TO JOINING

[Moxie]

The History of Camp New Hayven

As the armies of the dark alliance began to stream out into the cities of Equestria, many ponies fled their homes to escape the horrors of war. Running of their own free will into the wilderness, many pony families chose to put their fate into the hands of nature rather than be subjected to the treatment of the ruthless armies that ravaged their homelands.

Never having to have had to provide for themselves off the untamed land, the ponies who fled into the depths of the wild faced new hardships they never thought they would have to encounter. Basic essentials were no longer readily available. Finding shelter, food and water were now an endless source of exertion. Safety was no longer a pleasure to be taken for granted as the ancient laws of the natural food chain picked back up from where it left off. Countless died in their attempts to survive within weeks of entering the unforgiving wilderness; many died within months from malnutrition from trying to live off harsh forest plant life unfit for pony digestion while others, tactfully keeping to groups, were systematically picked off by unrelenting predators.

However, a small percentage managed to find luck to last long enough to keep them alive until they happened upon a small nomadic herd of Earth ponies that roamed the wilds of Equestria.

This migrant group of earth ponies had gone generations living off the land and providing for themselves without the need for communal city life. Their beliefs and personal commitments to trusting that the land would provide for them, however primitive they were, proved to be beneficial in the long run for the small herd. Knowing the land, what to look out for, and where to find the essentials of life allowed the earth ponies to go unaffected while armies drained city resources and took control of Equestria’s assets. As refugees stumbled upon the nomadic group, they were welcomed and were protected by a herd who hardly knew their name. Seeing the rising need for help from more and more refugees, the leader of the herd, Genesee Rover, set aside the herd’s beloved lifestyle of humble peace and opened their ranks to take on every kind of pony in need. Having provided displaced ponies invaluable lessons in survival, in many cases the herd ultimately saved the fleeing ponies’ lives, leaving many eternally committed and loyal to the generous herd that had taken them in.

As time went by, the earth pony herd took in each and every refugee they happened upon and their numbers began to grow dangerously high. In order to be safe, the herd needed to stay inconspicuous to remain hidden from the new regime. Unwilling to turn any pony away, the herd’s leader Genesee Rover turned a hopeful eye northward to a hazy and foreboding mountain range. If they were going to create a safe dominion for ponies to flee to, they needed a secure home to hide in where their numbers could safely grow, a place where nopony else wanted to go…

Lore of the Smokey Mountain Range had been passed down for generations. The black smoke that surged and waned by the tall mountain tops spurred many speculations, but none so widely believed than the legend of the dragon that slumbered within the mountain’s core. Genesee knew the tale well; it had been one of his favorite bedtime stories to hear of the dragon that held the fabled caverns of the Smokey Mountains. Now, in his herd’s time of greatest need, his thoughts had become filled with the promise of sanctuary in that auspicious bedtime tale.

Giving up the cherished nomadic life his herd loved, Genesee led his loyal migrants towards the place that they would settle down as their final homestead. Within days the Smokey Mountains rose up to greet the weary travelers. Though many of the ponies knew the ominous legends, their trust in Genesee’s actions held their loyalty and carried them with him as he drove them on and ascended into the hazy foothills. After days of trudging over challenging terrain and through knotted forests, the trees suddenly gave way to reveal a sight the ponies had both dreaded and dreamed of. The mother mouth of the Smoky Cavern yawned open from the mountain’s side before them. What laid in its depths was the mystery that Genesee had bet their salvation and very lives on. There was no turning back now.

Assembling a small team of brave explorers to follow while leaving the rest of the herd to lay in wait from the cover of the woods, Genesee resolutely led the way into the deep cavern. Against what the stories had led him to believe, the black smoke was in fact not actually leaking out from inside the cave. Instead, the dark smog hung farther up the mountain’s slope; a promising sight. Upon proceeding further into the cavern, the small team began to realize step by step that the cave system cut far deeper into the mountain then they had ever imagined. Unable to detect any sign of danger, let alone a dragon, within the stretch of cavern the team managed to explore, the ponies returned to the rest of their herd with news to celebrate.

Genesee’s risk had paid off. The displaced ponies’ trust in the vagabond leader had been well founded. They had discovered an abandoned cavern big enough to shelter their growing herd and then some, with the protection of a threatening legend to deter the enemy and allow them the best chance of remaining undiscovered.

The herd took to their new lives in the caves with enthusiasm, many just happy to be alive with shelter over their heads and the predators of the forest held at bay by sheer, protective walls of rock. Pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies alike quickly set to the task of building a new home together, and with the leadership of Genesee, they soon had tasked out all the duties a community of ponies could need and had laid out the framework of their new haven.

Proud of his diverse herd for enduring all that they had been through and vowing to do everything in his power to keep them safe, Genesee saw a future in the caves that promised the peace that he dreamt of for them. The new camp leader, being characteristically nonviolent and ever-conscious of his herd’s well-being, felt the crafting of weaponry to be conflicting to his group's quest for a safe future, and was put far below the advancement of their camp’s safeguard. As a result, weapons and offensive training were a low priority as Genesee focused the camp's efforts towards building out the cavern’s depths and protecting it with the help of camouflage and defensive spells.

However as the months passed and their numbers increasingly grew with each wave of refugees recovered by scouting patrols, the passive principles the camp was founded on began to crumble. With each new face, news came of more cities being crushed by the enemy as more and more ponies lost loved ones and everything they had ever cared about. Opinions began to sway as anger built towards Tenebris and his armies, and after awhile Genesee found it impossible to reason against the construction of weapons and preparations for battle. With a heavy heart, and to some ponies’ displeasure, Genesee gave in to the desires of the majority of his camp and approved the development of weaponry and implementation of mandatory battle training.


Years since, the camp has only grown larger and has continued to adapt to the changing feelings of the camp member’s. Though the camp is not exactly what he had envisioned when he first laid hoof inside its felicitous walls, Genesee remains a dedicated leader with many supporters, but his hesitance to participate in war preparation leaves him unfavored by more militant minded ponies.


Today, Camp New Hayven is home to over 200 refugees. Everything in it is either hoof-made or salvaged. The collective efforts and knowledge of ponies all across Equestria with various skills and talents has gifted the camp with makeshift domestic luxuries. A library has been built through the collection of old world items carried in by ponies from across the land or scavenged from nearby city ruins by scouts. Food is gathered and cooked into more tempting meals during communal dinner time. Light has been extended throughout the secured caves using a finely crafted system of angled mirrors that reflects and recycles light throughout passages and large chambers within. Linked together by long corridors of interlocking caves and crevasses, this ancient system extends far into the core of the mountain range, giving the camp ponies plenty of room to grow. Openings to the outside are limited to two large cave entrances: one grand gate and main entrance to the South, and one lower opening to the west naturally guarded by an unpredictable underground river that carves its way through the cavern and gushes out the west gate.

The full expanse of the cavern system is yet unknown. As the camp continues to grow into the mountain, new chambers are discovered, explored, and made safe for camp expansion. Food and resources are found within the forests that creep up slope towards the main camp entrance and advised boundaries have been marked out with hidden markers only trained campers could recognize.

As the camp grows, more and more rules become necessary to ensure their secrecy. Currently, members are strictly limited to staying within designated boundaries unless given permission by Genesee or by Primary Role team leaders. Ponies are forbidden to leave camp after dark without the required approval by Genesee, and camp fires and torches are required to be doused by nightfall if a pony remains outside the cave or near its entrance. Ponies are required to fulfill at least one primary role within camp, and must participant in rotating secondary roles for the betterment of the camp and its member’s safety. These rules have all been put in place with the protection of the camp members in mind, and though some would not agree with the severity of some of the rules, they are expected to be followed as a respectful member of Camp New Hayven.





Ready to join the camp? Or have you already been in camp this whole time?


If you want to join camp life, start thinking about just how long your pony has been a member. Were they recently picked up by a camp scouting team? Have they been apart of camp for 3 months? From the very beginning? And what roles have they become a part of within camp?

Once you've planned out your history, please make sure to check out the Map of Camp New Hayven to get a sense of your new surroundings as well as read through Camp Regulations to build out your camp profile and select your camp role!