Gen 5: Luna – Chapter 8: Arriving in Appaloosa Plains

I rolled down the window and let the warm winds gently stroke my cheeks. As we drove through the fertile landscape my short black hair flew backwards and danced with the wind. I noticed that the air outside the car didn’t smell of combustion gases as it did at home. Instead, it smelled of nothing.

Big fields, in colors I didn’t even know existed in the wild, stretched as far as my eyes could see. A house or two and pens with horses, cows and lambs swooshed by my window as we drove by. I took a deep breath and was caught with an urge to scream out loud. I felt happy.

Mom stopped the car outside a big riding centre and I got out with nervous steps. The ground beneath my heavy boots was sunny, warm and dry. It probably hadn’t rained in a while. For the second time in only a couple of hours I took a deep breath and felt the fresh air travel through my lungs. It was as though the air itself fixed something within me that I didn’t even know was broken. It smelled remotely of shit here by the centre but I didn’t mind. The air was still far from as smelly as home anyway. Besides, shit smells a hundred times fresher than combustion.

The sign leading towards the path to the house said Bloomsville Equesterian Centre and the realization about me staying here for several weeks this summer hit me like a truck. Amaaaazing.

The house heaped up like a white castle in front of me. It looked as though it had been recently painted. My eyes hungered for more and greedily devoured their surrounding. A white house with blue corners, apple trees with ripes, a big stable with an attached pen, a dressage ground, a dark haired woman carefully petting a dark bay horse. And a guy of my age with long blonde hair, working with spreading hay in the horses pen. It was all so beautiful.

“Luna?” mom said and I understood that she must have asked a question, which I, for some reason, never heard.

“Huh?” I replied without looking at her. I just couldn’t stop looking at all that other stuff. It was a strange feeling. As if I belonged here.

Mom never asked that question again but still managed to get me to move from that wonderful spot on the yard. We were shown to a room at the second floor where we would stay during the upcoming weeks. “Laila will stay in the room next to you” the woman who showed us to our room said. I had no clue to who Laila was but I figured she must be one of the other riding students.

“Why don’t you go check on the horses?” mom asked once we had finished packing up. It was probably what I longed for the most at this moment so I happily agreed. I couldn’t understand that I was going to be here, at this amazing facility and in this amazing town for my entire summer.

The doors in to the stables were made of strong wood and I had to push harder than I first thought to get them to open. A loud squeak was heard as they swung open.

It was lighter than I had expected it would be in the stable but I quickly realized that the reason was the windows at the back. The front of the stable had lacked windows completely. The smell inside the stables hit me right as I stepped through the door. It was a mix of shit, fur, hay and horses. I instantly loved it.

I took a quick look around, counting to six horses in total. None of them were white as Silver but they were all incredibly beautiful. They are such magnificent creatures, horses. I slowly walked up to one of the stalls to read what the horse’s name was and to take a closer look.

“Cottage Son” I read out loud and slowly traced my finger along the carved wooden sign. Within the stall stood a dark bay Holsteiner. His eyes were dark brown and something about the way he looked at me told me he was an energetic little ruffian.

“Hey there Cottage” I said and stroked his muffle. He nudged against me and I understood that he was not only energetic, but also a social one and that he enjoyed this kind of attention.

“He’s a beauty alright, but come ‘ere” a voice said from further down the stable. It caught me by surprise since I hadn’t seen anyone in here when I first came. “Come on then, I’ll show you who’s the best star of ’em all” the voice continued, a bit more impatient now. I looked towards the sound and saw that the blonde guy I had seen earlier was standing at the furthest stall, petting a mare.

I let Cottage Son sniff my hand quickly before I started moving towards the boy and the mare. My steps echoed against the cold cement and I almost felt as though I was intruding, even though I knew I had every right to be here.

“This is Sailing Light” he said once I was close enough. His voice was a bit trailing and he had the most lovely countryside accent I’ve ever heard. “She’s the best darn mare I ever met” he continued.

“And why is that?” I found myself resisting his words, his charm and his entire personality. There was something about him that dragged me towards him, but I wasn’t going to let myself unshield that easily. Because of this, my words came out rather harsh.

“Well you see, Sailing is…” his voice trailed off again. “She ain’t like them rest. She’s the most promisin’ horse we have but plumb stubborn she is. She have to have it her ways, y’know? Well, I like that.”

“Hm” I mumbled, not really knowing what to answer.

“Who are you, by the way? I don’t recollect you from any of them pictures.”

“Pictures?” I wondered and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re one of them students, aren’t you?” his voice was impatient again. I didn’t like that he talked to me like that, like I had trouble understanding or something.

“Yes” I answered short.

He sighed and asked in an exaggerated slow way and forced himself to avoid the accent, “T-h-e-n w-h-o a-r-e y-o-u-?”

I wanted to dislike him but there was something about him that I liked, even though he had the worst attitude I’ve encountered in a long time. I decided to switch tactic and play it nice and friendly. “I’m Luna Lord and I’m sorry but I don’t know what pictures you’re talking about.”

“There we go. Luna you say, hm? I remember you. Good-lookin’ gal. You had long brown hair, didn’t ya?”

I nearly choked, right there on the spot. This guy just said my name and good-looking in the same sentence. That was certainly a first time. I felt my cheeks turn red and I smiled. Way to go Luna, act like a little school girl. Hopefully, I managed to gather myself before he noticed, “I did. But I grew tired of it and cut it. And colored.”

He mumbled something but I couldn’t hear it so I just stood quiet and looked at Sailing Light in her stall. “You ain’t lookin’ like them other gals now” he stated after a moment.

“Which gals?” I couldn’t help but to make fun of his accent but I immediately regretted doing so.

“Them riding girls comin’ here for the summer. I’ve been ‘ere many years now and I never seen someone look like that.”

I didn’t know what to reply. I wished there was more of the new Luna in me, that it had changed my personality as well. I wanted to be able to talk to people without looking stupid. Why was it that I always felt so shy and nervous around others?

“Oh, that’s right” he said after a while and I looked at him questioning. “There’s another like you comin’ this summer. I didn’t like her from the picture. Looked quite mean actually. You better stay off her back, y’know. Nyx is her name.”

I laughed because if there was something I knew how to do, it was to stay off someone’s back. Practically what I’ve been doing my whole life. “That’s funny?” he wondered.

“Nah. But I remember that, I’ll stay away from Nyx.” I started to walk away from him, feeling like we were done now. I didn’t like this feeling of curiosity and interest growing within me and I needed some space from this guy.

“I’m Brick!” he shouted after me. “And remember to choose Sailin’ tomorrow, will ya? I don’t want any of them others ridin’ her. Okay?”

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“Welcome to Bloomsville’s Equesterian Centre” the dark haired woman greeted us the next morning. There were five of us girls standing before her. “I’m Molly and I’ll be your teacher during these weeks. You’ll learn to love and hate me, that’s for sure.” She had a joking tone and I thought to myself I would probably love her more than hate her.

“Along with my nephew Brick, who you all will get to meet soon, I’m running this place. We breed Holsteiners. You probably already know that they are known for their jumping capabilities. Although, they can also make very fine dressage horses. Here at Bloomsville, we train them for both. Later on this summer, you will all get to choose a way to go with your individual training, be that jumping or dressage. But first of all, I would like you all to introduce yourself. Tell us your name, your riding experience and why you decided to come to Bloomsville this summer. We’ll start by you on the further right.” Molly pointed at a red haired girl who looked rather nervous. Probably just as I looked to be fair.

“Me? Oh. I’m Laila Issac. I’m from Riverview… I’ve been riding for about two years now. I’ve mostly trained jumping, but I look forward to try dressage as well. I decided to apply here because I felt that I needed a new challenge in my riding.”

“Alright. Hello Laila, I hope we can provide that extra challenge. I’m sure we’ll find a way.” Molly said and then looked at the next girl in turn.

“I’m Emeralda Greenwood. I’ve always loved horses but we could never afford riding lessons before. I worked hard to be able to come here and I really, really look forward to it. I hope that I one day can be a well-known dressage rider.”

“Hello, I’m Tansy Thane. I’m here from Appaloosa. I’ve tried riding once or twice and I really look forward to learning it from scratch. I’ve applied three summers in row and now I finally got in.” The girl next to her, who hadn’t introduced herself yet, snorted before she begun her introduction:

“I’m Nyx Montigo. I’ve never done any riding and I don’t know if I even look forward to it. I’m here because they thought that would be good for me. A way to get me on a new track, they said. We’ll see, I suppose.” The girl, who I understood must be the other one like me, looked angry and irritated. I would indeed do best in avoiding her, I realized.

And suddenly it was my turn. I had no idea what to say and it felt like the others’ eyes burnt holes in me. I blushed and hurried to start speaking, “My name is Luna Lord, I’m from Twinbrook. The first time I saw a horse I knew I liked them. They’re incredible as friends. I’ve never ridden, though. It’ll be fun to learn.”

“Alright, welcome again all of you” Molly said and smiled. “I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun together. Now, I think it’s time for you to meet our horses. Brick will bring them here, one by one, and introduce them a bit. After that, you’ll get the chance to choose the horse you wish to ride this summer. We’ll help of course since we have an eye for seeing which horse will fit which rider.”

Brick led all the horses in one by one and gave them all a short introduction. He didn’t say anything about Sailing Light being the most promising horse or his personal favourite. Instead, he said: “Sailin’ Light here, she’s a stubborn one. She can be a darn good jumper but she needs good handlin’ and can be quite grumpy. She wants things her way, y’know.”

When all the horses had been introduced no one picked Sailing Light as their favourite. Except for me, I mean. I don’t know why I did it. I didn’t intentionally intend to. But then, I felt it as though I already had a connection with her, since I was the only one knowing that she was the most promising of them. That she was the best star of ’em all.

I was handed Sailing Light, of course and the first thing that happened when I tried to close up to her was that she stomped frustrated in the ground and nibbled for me. It scared me and when I looked towards Brick he just smiled widely and winked. Just great, fudging great.

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I’ve had the honor to use some sims from other simmers in this chapter. As follows:

• Laila Issac by Arrowleaf
• Nyx Montigo by TheNay83
• Tansy Thane by ZephyrGirlSim