The Legend and the Discovery
The old Continent
Every Tribe from the Earth ponies up until the Thestrals speaks of a Land in the Sea, far to the west where their Ancestors came from under the orders of a powerful ruler, that the way back had been barred by the sea itself and that they were all left to fend for themselves, they also agree that this abandonment brought upon fights between the tribes and that their Long Lasting conflict was a result of this. legend has it that this old Land Held wonders beyond belief, that the Pony tribes were working together to Keep the very world turning, the wind blowing and the tides moving. No one has seen or heard of them, but the phenomenon of the unending storm in the west remains, Icebergs and sharp rocks only add to the danger. As a result no ship ever leaves towards the west, it is until today not possible to tame the storm or control it, nor is there any way to protect a ship from ist effects, any seafaring vessel would inevitably sink. i loathe to admit it, but this secret i can never hope to uncover
~ Starswirl the Bearded.
Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed as she put the book down.
Ever since she had been assigned by Princess Celestia to find out as much as she can about the old Land she had submerged herself in her books, only to find that even the most accurate books only knew legends and Sailor Songs about it.
She had been in the royal Archives for hours and all she had was the direction westwards over the sea and a storm surrounds the continent blocking it off the rest of the world.
There were a few mentions of an Empire as old as creation itself but nothing tangible enough to call it knowledge.
She was frustrated.
"Princess Twilight? Are you here mylady?" The voice of a thestral guard pulled her out of her Dilemma.
"Over here, what is it?" Twilight couldn´t for the life of her figure out why a night guard would call her to lunch with the princesses.
"Princess Celestia requested your presence at the dinner table, your highness, she said she had something important to tell you."
"Oh okay i´ll be right- wait, dinner? Oh no i forgot the time again!" Twilight quickly gathered her notes before leaving for the Dining room, leaving only a thestral that stood slack jawed at how fast she could move when in a hurry.
At the Dining table Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were just engaged in conversation when Twilight entered.
"-we have literally no idea what would await them and you insist on them doing it alone?" Princess Luna apparently had doubts about her sisters decision."
"Sending more, or heavens forbid Guards with them might lead to terrible misunderstandings, the ship Crew will be adequate for this, i trust them all, to not start anything there." Princess Celestia spoke in her usual calm tone until she noticed Twilight.
"Ah, Twilight, so nice of you to join us, your Research has gone well i presume? you were very engrossed in it."
"Good evening Princess, I´m sorry, but my Research yielded nothing useful at all, only the General direction and a few old myths." Twilight hung her head, thinking she had failed the princess. Her ears perked up when she heard a chuckle.
"You have learned everything there is to learn then, very well. The truth is, even me and Luna know next to nothing about the old continent, we were only foals when we left."
"Wait! You were there? It´s real?"
"Yes, we were Born there, at least we were told. we had the title of princess Long before Equestria even existed." Celestia takes on a sad tone as she speaks of the earliest part of her Long life.
Twilight´s curiosity was of course at ist fullest now,
"The old Empire... are your parents there then?"
"We do not know, Sparkle. It has been Long before we even formed thought that we left, our caretakers told us a bit and all we know is indeed preserved in the old manuscripts, however they always refused to tell us where our parents were or why we had to leave the old Empire.
We literally don´t know why we were brought to this continent with the colonists, anything is possible, perhaps an attack maybe a revolution.
All we know is, that behind us a barrier, made of a neverending storm blocked off any way back.",
Princess Luna was beginning to raise her voice, apparently neither liked even thinking about it. The subject of their beginnings was apparently uncomfortable to them.
"Oh, of course, i´m sorry. But, uh, why did you want me to look into this?"
"Because a few Sailors from West Shore told me, that the winds surrounding the barrier have calmed, that means the storms of the barrier itself are no longer there and a ship can reach the old continent now." Celestia said, sounding almost giddy.
"We have reason to believe that the Empire, unless it vanished with the millenia, is looking to reach out towards the rest of the world, we wish to know what they really want, and ,if possible, to reconnect with the ponies from there." Princess Luna added.
"This is a diplomatic Mission, and one i have to entrust to a princess, and a group of trustworthy ponies.
I can´t risk sending an escorted Diplomat as that could be viewed as an Invasion, but a Group of ponies that can look out for each other can probably speak to them without seeming threatening.
That is why i was hoping that you and your friends could...",
Celestia trails off but makes her intentions clear enough to understand.
"This is... quite an honor your majesty. I´ll have to ask my friends about it, when was it planned to leave?"
"The Ship is almost ready and the Crew is prepared, in two weeks it sets sail from West Shore. Towards the lost Continent."
The Ship, the Crew and the Voyage.
It had been two weeks since the plan was set, the preparations were finished punctually and the town of West Shore was looking on in excitement that their greatest Seafarers were selected to escort the Princess into a completely new continent, Exploration like this was the dream of any foal that loved the sea and many became sailors in hopes of such an occurence. The Crew of the "Reconciliation" was no exception to that rule and they were all too enthusiastic to show princess Twilight and her friends their Gratitude.
Rainbow Dash of course enjoyed the Attention immensely: "Heheh, that´s more like it, they´re carrying us on their Hands, actually..."
"Rainbow Dash, you will not make These gentlecolts carry you. You have a healthy pair of hooves to walk onboard yourself." Rarity immediately pulled her out of those ideas. "It is quite nice of them to be carrying all our luggage though.", she said while looking over to a sailor that was struggling under the weight of her things and finally had to call a Unicorn for help.
"Y´all just had ta bring half yer Boo-tick along didn´cha? Poor fella almost got crushed there." Applejack decided to join the conversation "Take a look at my stuff in comparison, light travelin´ Sugarcube."
"Ummm, I think it´s really nice of them to do all this for us, but aren´t they a bit... scary ?" Fluttershy watched a few of the older sailors on board from behind her mane, getting a good look on several scars they had gotten from the sea."
"Hehee! you worry too much Fluttershy, These guys are cool, they look like pirates, no wait, pirates were scary, huh i guess they are kinda scary with their frowny faces and their rougher coats and their-" Pinkie Pie continued talking but without making a noise, courtesy of Twilight Sparkle´s spell.
Twilight herself decided to introduce them all to Salt Herring, the captain of the ship, and the stallion responsible for accomodations.
"Thank you for your help in this, and thanks to your Crew as well for helping with our stuff."
"HAHAHA! Don´t ye worry yer highness, honor is all ours, the first sailors in such a Long time ta travel there. that be a mark of honor no one kin ever take from us again. Speaking of marks, yer friend needn´t worry about the scars on our Mecklish `Matrosen´, the lads have a funny way o´ talkin but they´re meek as Baby seals, right nice guys, they jus´don´t smile enough." Salt Herring laughed, bellowing across the Deck.
His First Mate, a unicorn mare that seemed the polar opposite of the captain approached:
"Kapitän, everythink is onboart, ve are ready to depart on your Befehl."
"Aye, Möwe, give the order.
"Aye aye, Kapitän! Vorbereitungen fertig?"
(for the sake of english speaking readers, translation is in These brackets: preparations finished?)
"AYE!"- "Kurs klar?"
(course clear?)
"AYE!" the Pegasus crow up in the nest replied.
"Leinen LOS!"
(CAST OFF)
Quickly everypony sprang into Action, the workers on the Pier opening the knots Holding the ship in place, while the Sailors hoisted the sail up on the mast, letting the ship pick up Speed. Within a short amount of time, giving a true Testament to the Crews nautic abilities, all preparations were finished and everyone who wasn´t at their Posts took the opportunity to boast about their greatness to the guests on board. a few had quickly figured out how to talk to which of them.
"And i tell you, Pinkie lass, you ain´t seen jolly till you´ve been at the Pub of West Shore when the Traders return, they´re in a great mood and invite everyone on them. Bless the whole lot of them." a crewman stated, certain that he had to defend the most glorious celebrations of West Shore
"And i Keep telling you, you haven´t had a Party till you had one of my parties, and believe me , you would have one now if twilight had allowed me to bring my Party cannon."
"Miss, i know apples are your specialty, but i tell you storing them dry does in fact NOT help, if you must preserve them Keep them just barely above freezing temperature, i have brought apples along on every voyage and they were always godd to the last day."
"Now listen here mister, ah´ve been around apples as Long as ah live an´ they don´t take kindly ta cold. Lemme guess, they tasted kinda stale after th´first week?"
"well, yes, but we can´t store them any different without the whole stock going bad." the barreler and Applejack could probably go on like this the whole day.
Meanwhile Rainbow Dash was busily bugging the crow.
"You know, Managing a whole Crew to put together a Tornado ain´t an easy Task. Even someone as awesome as me almost didn´t make it."
"Um himmels willen, halt endlich die klappe. wenn der Tornado das Schiff nicht gefährdet interessiert er mich kein Stück."
(for heavens sake, just shut your trap already. unless the Tornado endangers the ship it doesn´t interest me a bit.)
the crow couldn´t help a tiny smirk as Rainbow Dash was quiet for a second, before replying.
"Tja, dann interessiert dich das, was da hinten auf uns zukommt, wohl auch nicht?"
(Well, then i guess that Thing approaching us from back there, doesn´t either?)
(The gray mare with the miniature Dragon on her back and the bubbles cutie mark? no, not really.)
Rainbow squinted her eyes but had to admit, her sight was no match for the Pegasus stallion in the crows nest
(That would mean it´s Derpy, why is she bringing Spike here though?)
(Ask her.) The Crow was clearly not interested in her staying any longer.
With a huff, Rainbow Dash spread her wings and flew over to the small dot shortly before the coastline. As she closed in it was indeed Derpy, clearly tired and really with spike hanging on for dear life.
"What are you doing here?"
"*huff puff* Special Delivery, one Baby Dragon to princess Twilight Sparkle." Derpy was barely keeping in the air.
"Uh, Spike, mind if i take over here, i think Derpy Needs a break."
"Please do, no amount of breakneck flight can possibly compare to Derpy in a hurry."
Rainbow Dash pulled Spike off of Derpy´s back and took off, leaving Derpy to let herself spiral down to West Shore to rest up and get back to ponyville, also vowing to not take on rush orders ever again.
It had been a mostly uneventful trip after Spike was brought on board, of course on a wooden ship the crew was a bit wary of Dragons but it quickly became a non issue when they heard a few stories about the single noble dragon in Equestria.
For days the sea was calm, the wind strong and the captains mood was great. They had a few days previously lost sight of Equestria and were now looking west to find the Fabled continent.
"Mizz Sparkel? The Captain wants to talk with you." First Mate Möwe called to the princess, having thankfully quickly caught on to dropping the title.
"I´ll be right there!" Twilight replied, leaving her cabin. She still couldn´t believe how great everything was going, she didn´t even have to face her biggest worry, seasickness, yet. As she walked by some Crewmen, the Pegasus crow and the navigator unicorn she caught a bit of their conversation, they sounded worried.
"Und ich sag dir, auch wenn ich keine Wolke sehe, einen Sturm spür ich immer bis tief ins Mark, da kommt ein richtig großer auf uns zu." The crow was apparently really sure of something. the Navigator not so much:
"Dir wird da oben wohl allmählich die Luft zu dünn, aus heiterem Himmel kommen keine Stürme, wenn du ne wolkenfront findest, können wir drüber reden."
"Du bist immer noch ne unverbesserliche Pfeife, aber bitte, wenn du glaubst mehr über das Wetter zu wissen als ein Pegasus behalten wir den Kurs bei, wenn wir aber absaufen und uns danach als Geister wiedersehen verprügel ich dich bis in alle Ewigkeit." Whatever it was, the crow was upset about it, as he immediately took of into the nest and sat there in a huff.
"Excuse me, is there a Problem?" Twilight cautiously asked the Navigator.
"No, ma´am, our crow is imagining a storm, but there would be signs if that was true. He wanted me to Change the course into a four days detour. He´s been on board since he was sixteen, but he still pouts like a Little colt when he doesn´t get his way."
"Was he wrong before?" Twilight continued.
"Haha, of course he was, once he yelled iceberg when it was really the much anticipated Land ho. another time he yelled pirates at a bunch of Zebra Trader canoes. He always assumes the worst, is kinda a Mecklish Thing." the Navigator assured her.
Her worries forgotten for the Moment Twilight continued to the captains quarters.
The Captain himself was slouched over a few maps, muttering into his sizable beard and grumbling incoherently. As he noticed Twilight he waved her over.
"Aye, Miss Sparkle, we are now inside the storm barrier. From here on it´s an unknown distance left till we get to see land, and at this very Moment, everyone aboard is going down in history. Not a cloud in the skies, still a strong Tailwind, it´s like we´re blessed. the Thing is though, there should be icebergs around here. modern ships withstand storms no sweat, but they could´nt enter due to those. Suddenly it´s all clear, too clear, something ain´t right, lass."
"The crow mentioned that he felt a storm coming earlier, a big one he said."
"Aye, the lad has had false alerts before, but i´m inclined to believe him, he was never wrong about the weather we should prepare so-"
He was interrupted by the ship´s bell ringing panickedly
"Storm, get the sail down, quick!"
"Whot? when in Typhons Name did that all happen?"
Outside the storm was raging fully, somehow out of nowhere the tides grew bigger than the ship, the crow barely Holding onto the mast as it swayed around, the Crew making a valiant effort to safe both mast and sail by getting the latter down.
"Segel reffen! Beeilung, wenn eine starke böe kommt sind wir den ganzen mast los!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" another Gust of wind had finally cracked the masts strenght, it along with the crows nest, the crow and five crewmen flew off.
"Verdammt, alle mann unter deck, Schotten dicht und wenn ihr gläubig seid, beten."
"Come on Miss Sparkle, it´s too dangerous on deck. The poor lad was right after all, this is a big one, bigger than we can hope to weather."
Everyone still onboard hurried below deck, making sure to Close and bar the doorways.
Under Deck things were looking only marginally better, the waves were tossing the ship about and the lanterns, thankfully not filled with oil, were shaking wildly. Pinkie Pie´s hair was deflated when she noticed the missing crewmen, in fact, that hung in the room the heaviest, the Navigator gazed longingly to the Portion of the mast that was below deck, no doubt blaming himself for not changing the course.
Things were about to get worse though, the ship was rocking wildly now, acting more like a bull at a rodeo than a sea vessel and finally the Hull breached, letting water in, a last wave had picke the ship up and was tossing it, thankfully towards what almost looked like land.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Twilight awoke again, she noticed that they were on shore, and that apparently her friends, the captain, the navigator and six of the Crew had made it. the others were nowhere in sight and even though the sea was calm now it was clear what happened to them.
They were alive and well, and even at their Destination, except that they had no way back now.
Author's Note
If you feel you should correct me on the Segment between the barreler and applejack, i honestly didn´t look up how it really is.
And yes, Rainbow dash speaks mecklish (german), she convinced herself that all great Flyers of the past did that.
Also, aside from the first few examples, all text in brackets here is in mecklish, i avoid typing all of it so i don´t scare everyone off.
Twilight and the captain had after some time finally managed to get the remainder of the Crew together, as well as a proper look at their altogether Situation.
One which didn´t serve to improve the captains mood:
"The mast, crow, and the four best sailors blown away, the cook along with the lion´s share of our rations gone to the fishes, the rump shattered, the Navigator completely out of it, and first mate Möwe along with the majority of my crew nowhere to be found. Ain´t gonna lie to ye lasses, this ship ain´t sailing home."
"How could it go so wrong so fast? it was hardly five minutes from a perfectly sunny, and clear sky to a storm the likes of which hasn´t been seen in centuries." Twilight attempted to grasp the Situation.
Rainbow Dash chimed in.
"Weather doesn´t normally come out of nowhere and a storm like that would send it´s warning signs miles ahead. maybe something hid the signs from us."
"In any case we can´t go back, me an´the Crew will see to findin´a good spot to set up camp an if the legends are true the ancinet civilization of this place might be able ta help. Maybe you there, colorful lass, could take a look around?" The Captain spoke up again.
"That sounds like the best idea at the Moment." Twilight agreed. "we´ll all look if we can find some form of shelter at least."
With that plan set, the Groups fanned out. The crewmen quickly found a cave, dry and spacious enough for them. and Fluttershy and applejack managed to identify some edible fruits at a nearby forest, pinkie taste tested them first and seeing as she seemed no more or less odd than usual it was probably safe.
"like he would go for such a cheap shot." she said, much to the Confusion of the Crew.
Rainbow dash had taken flight once she got the Feeling in her wings back. and was over the forest, when she spotted something that was definitely interesting, she double timed it back to her friends as fast as she could.
"you gotta see this, or i´m not gonna believe what i saw." Rainbow Dash nearly pulled Twilight along.
"Could you at least tell me what?" twilight was beginning to regret agreeing to check out her findings.
"Well, you tell me, we´re here. Does this look like it belongs into the forest?"
"No, no it doesn´t. that belongs on a ship, and not just any ship, that´s our mast! The wind must have been incredibly strong if it carried it all the way here." Twilight looked around, to find plenty of branches broken where it must have crashed down. the sail was ripped up, probably when both the wind and the weight of the mast were fighting over it, no trace of the Crew though... hold that thought there were hoofmarks from at least one Pony, leading to the west.
"One of the Crew must be alive, and went that way, rainbow, could you...?" Twilight began, but trailed off when the Cyan Pegasus had already gone out of earshot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She hadn´t gotten too far when she found the very same crow of the Reconciliation that had warned them about the storm, collapsed on the ground.
"Sweet Celestia! Hey! you still with us?" She yelled as she rushed over to check for a pulse.
She was rewarded with spluttering and coughing.
"Dorf... westen... kann nicht... mussssssss..." he had apparently been straining himself too hard to even get as far as he did, because he hadn´t even finished the sentence when he was already drifting out again.
"Just... just hold on, i´ll get you help." Rainbow shot off, thankfully bumping into twilight, who had been following the tracks as well.
"Twi, i found him, he´s just a bit further, please stay with him while i get help."
Before twilight had even gotten a word in the Pegasus was already gone again. With a small sigh she picked up her own pace, hurrying over to the place Rainbow pointed out.
She knelt down next to the crewman, his injuries seemed not too dangerous but being flung around while clinging to the mast for dear life had probably exhausted him.
"Don´t worry, help is on the way." she kept talking to him, hopefully keeping him awake just a bit longer
"Ugh, the Ship, out of danger?" The crow of course didn´t know how bad it was.
"Save your strength for now, you´ve earned it." Twilight thought it better not to shock him right now.
"West, i spotted a village to the west before i crashed. it´s the only place with a whopping huge Floating Crystal in the middle, you can not miss it, princess." his talking slowed along with his breathing, he was almost out cold.
"Thank you, you really are the best spotter in equestria." Twilight reassured him.
"Here they are, c´mon lads, move it." It was another crewmember, two of them had accompanied Rainbow dash back with a stretcher.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once everything had been sorted out and the Crow was back with the rest of them and watched over keenly by the navigator, the captain called them together.
"Aye, Lads an Lasses. the first two good News of the day, ol´ Sperber will be fine as soon as he´s rested up and he did his part too, he spotted the first signs of natives, Inland from here, is a town from what he said, tomorrow the princess an´her friends will go there ta hopefully get help. Spike an us will stay here and hopefully get an answer from the princesses soon."
As Spike had told twilight, he managed to save a few empty scrolls as well as his writing Utensils and immediately sent a message to the princesses.
"So, the best we can do now, is hope for the inhabitants of this continent to be friendly." Twilight spoke up.
"what happened on the way here was terrible, we have lost many good ponies just to get here, we will find a way back and we will not let their sacrifice go pointless."
"Hear Hear!" the Crew gave their rough affirmative. before settling down to rest.
"Shucks, Twi, yer growin into that crown o yers." Applejack commented before she too went to sleep.
"just the appearance i Need to Keep."Twilight mumbled to herself as she laid on the remnants of a hammok serving as a makeshift blanket.
"just the appearance."
Author's Note
typing late at night, probably not the best idea, but, whatever.
