Adventure In The Solace Isles
It was another beautiful sunny day in the quiet little village of Ponyville. Not a single cloud in the sky as far as the eye could see. It was the kind of day that just makes a pony just want to take things slow and relax. That was with the exception of one pony, Twilight Sparkle.
Today Twilight was determined to have no interruptions upon her studies. She was to have a test in Canterlot tomorrow morning making this her last chance to refresh her knowledge on the history of Equestria.
“Spike” called Twilight as she paced around the library collecting books.
Spike was her assistant. He was a purple baby dragon with green belly scales to match his green spines. He was a good assistant always trying his hardest to be the best he could be at serving Twilight, but he often found himself in odd situations or in way over his head with the constant demands of Twilight’s strict schedule.
“I’m coming” responded spike from somewhere upstairs.
Twilight waited patiently at the bottom of the stairs levitating three books in front of her with her magic while Spike made his way down the stairs to her. One of the books She had chosen was about the history of the Era of Disharmony when Equestria was ruled by Discord a strange creature that embodied the spirit of disharmony. The second book which she held suspended between the other two was a detailed account of the Era of The Sun which began with the banishing of Princess Luna and Lasted until her transformation back from Nightmare Moon. The final book she had was of the time before Discord during a time known as the Era of Foundation during which the first three clans settled the land of Equestria.
“What did you need Twilight” asked spike once he had reached her.
“I need you to fetch me my copy of The Era of Desolation for me from upstairs”
Spike gave a salute before quickly making his way back up the staircase to retrieve the book Twilight had requested. Twilight was glad she had such a capable assistant, well usually capable and reliable. Some days it seemed like he was a completely different dragon. It was as if somepony was writing a story and could never seem to make up their mind about how they wanted spike to act.
Not allowing herself to dwell on the though Twilight settled herself on the floor and began to read from The Era of Disharmony. Twilight wound up so deep in her studies that she didn’t notice when Spike reentered the room.
“Here you go Twilight” said Spike setting his cargo on the ground.
Twilight jumped at the sound of Spike’s voice which had startled her out of her studies. Then she casually turned her head to examine what Spike had brought her. To her surprise there were two books on the floor. On the right the book she had requested on the Era of Desolation. But the other was unfamiliar to Twilight. It was a black book covered in a golden webbing design and was titled The Era of Displacement. Twilight was baffled.
“What is this” asked Twilight pointing a hoof at the strange book.
“It fell on my head when I went to get your other book” replied Spike “I know you didn’t ask for it but it looks like it’s old and about history so I figured you might need it”
Twilight flipped open the book no longer focused on The Era of Disharmony to find something astonishing. A piece of history she knew nothing about.
The Age of Displacement began at the end of The Era of Disharmony and continued until the start of The Era of The Sun. Little is known of this Era in the history of Equestria but the hoof full of documents recovered refer to an island known as Solace. A map recovered from an ancient ruin in the Badlands in southern Equestria depicts the island’s location as being just off the coast to the north of Las Pegasus. The map was also discovered alongside a few texts which refer to the island as an independent nation and homeland to the Griffons under the rule of King and Queen Xeron. Apparently for reasons still unclear Princess Celestia and Luna both refused to aid the island nation in a time of need leading to its untimely demise. However no evidence of any island has been found. So we are left to wonder what could have happened to the homeland of the Griffons and will Solace rise again.
“Spike” called Twilight forgetting he was standing directly beside her “oh sorry, can you go find me something about an island called Solace”
“Uh Twilight, you’ve read every book in this library like a hundred times, if there was something about this island you would’ve read it by now”
Spike did have a point she had read everything multiple times over. That’s why she was constantly sending to Celestia asking for new books.
“Well go upstairs and see if another mysterious book will fall on you” responded Twilight clearly desperate to get her hands on any kind of information about this Solace place.
“Twilight I highly doubt another book will just fall out of”
“Just go look for anything anyways” stated Twilight slightly agitated that Spike hadn’t yet complied with her orders.
“Oh alright” sighed Spike heading upstairs despite knowing that he wouldn’t find anything useful.
Just as Spike had left Twilight had a great idea. Maybe one of her friends knew about the Island. She decided she would head over to Carousel Boutique to talk with Rarity and maybe arrange a meeting with her friends there.
“Spike I’m going out” announced Twilight before stepping out the door not waiting for Spike’s response.
Twilight quickly made her way through town not even allowing herself to take in the wonderful weather for a moment, heading to the building where Rarity both lived and worked. It was a large building that looked like a compact cylinder outfitted in ribbons.
She entered through the front door to be met by two of her friends talking to each other. One was the white unicorn known as Rarity she had her purple mane done up in curlers as well as her tail. Beside her was the light yellow Pegasus aptly named Fluttershy.
“Oh hi Twilight” said Fluttershy in her normal soft voice.
Fluttershy was the embodied form of kindness. Unable to harm anything or anypony intentionally. This made her great at tending to the animals who responded best to a kind and gentle soul. However this made her an easy target for bullies during her early years and that coupled with her fear of heights has left her skittish and somewhat antisocial.
“Are you here for a little pampering like me and Fluttershy here?” asked Rarity
Rarity was a good friend who had a great eye for detail making her a born fashion designer. She is a hard worker, however her distain for any job that required getting dirty in any way had lead to many confrontations with Applejack and her more blunt approach to problems.
“I was wondering if either of you know of a place called The Island of Solace”
Fluttershy and Rarity both exchanged a puzzled glance before returning their attention to Twilight.
“I’m sorry but I’ve never heard of this Solace Island” replied Fluttershy staring at the ground.
“I’m afraid I cannot offer you any assistance either” said Rarity walking over to Twilight “I don’t know anything about any Solace Island, but I bet Rainbow Dash will she has flown all over Equestria and is bound to know more locations than we do”
“Well if you two see her could you get her to see me at the library” said Twilight “It’s urgent”
“Don’t worry Twilight” responded Rarity “If I see Rainbow Dash I’ll send her to you right away”
After talking to Rarity and Fluttershy explaining the book she had found about an entire Era of Equestrian history she had never even heard of before that morning Twilight headed home to read more into the strange book. If the book had been of anything other than history Twilight wouldn’t have even given it a read until she had taken her test for Celestia. But the fact that it was, and that she had never heard of it terrified her. Until that morning she was pretty sure she would ace the test, being as well versed in the History of Equestria as she was. But this new discovery changed everything.
She settled herself down on the floor and began to read.
The island of Solace entered into the Equestrian Empire of its own accord in the year 347 just after the Era of Disharmony ended. Their leader King Xeron was a rather large griffon who had united the island nation long before the Tribes of Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns settled the land Equestria. From what we have discovered so far, the island has four main settlements: the capital of Aeri located on the south side of the island, the city of Fauston to the west, in the center of the island is a large town called Icarus, and in the north is Ndar Point which was their main launching point to their colony in the northern ice wastes known as Bleak Shore. Around year 742 something happened in Solace which terrified the inhabitants of Equestria enough to where the griffons were banished from the country before all ties to the island nation were severed. It is unclear whether Princess Celestia or Princess Luna had anything to do with the banishing, or what caused the sudden hostility toward griffons living in Equestria. What we do know is that after this event griffons became scarce throughout the world and the most recent census listed only 371 griffons remaining in the world, with the majority living in Saddle Arabia. Because of this fact many conclude that the griffons who didn’t return to Solace fled to the fledging nation during the banishment period. It is for this great exodus that the era gets its name as The Era of Displacement. The strangest mystery of this era is the odd disappearance of the island in any records after the beginning of the Era of The Sun, it was as if they had just vanished from the minds of everypony in Equestria.
Twilight had been reading for about four hours her eyes never leaving the pages when a knock came on the door. Twilight finally allowed herself to leave the book to answer. She opened the front door to her home to be met by a light blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail.
“Hey Twilight” said Rainbow Dash upon seeing her friend “what did you want to see me for”
“Ah Rainbow Dash you’re just the pony I was looking for”
“Yeah, Rarity already let me know that, but why did you want to see me”
Twilight beckoned for her friend to come inside and led her to the book. She levitated the book and held it out directly in front of Rainbow Dash.
“This book refers to an island off the coast just north of Las Pegasus named Solace, It is apparently the homeland of the griffons”
“Well I’ve been that way a lot recently for Wonderbolt business” replied Rainbow Dash with a confused look on her face “and I’ve never seen an island up there”
“I don’t understand then” said Twilight dejectedly “the book clearly states that it should be there”
“Well, if you really want to know about something griffon related, you could always go try to ask Gilda” said Rainbow Dash trying to find a solution to Twilight’s problem “I mean that is if you can find her”
Twilight’s eyes brightened a little with the information that she had just been given. It was times like this that made Twilight happy to have such a great friend.
“Why didn’t I think about that, homeland of the griffons who better to ask then a griffon herself”
Twilight walked up to Rainbow Dash and gave her a gigantic hug which squeezed the air out of her. After about a minute Rainbow Dash managed to free herself from Twilight’s embrace.
“So do you have any idea where she could be?” asked Twilight
“Well she flew south when she left ponyville” responded Rainbow Dash “so I’d say she either went to Dodge Junction or Appleoosa, otherwise she left the country and flew into Taurus”
“Then I know where I’m heading” said Twilight “I’m headed to Appleoosa”
“But what about Dodge Junction?”
“Well” said Twilight “if you wouldn’t mind could you maybe check Dodge Junction so we can cover more ground faster?”
Rainbow Dash stood there staring at Twilight for a moment deep in thought.
“Well actually” she finally responded “I was thinking, that you and Pinkie Pie go to Appleoosa, Rarity and Fluttershy could check out Dodge Junction, and I could go look for this island with Applejack”
“Wow Rainbow Dash, that’s a really good idea” said Twilight pacing back and forth in the middle of the room “Could you go and get the others so they could meat up here, I’ve got a letter I need to write to Princess Celestia”
“I’m on it” stated Rainbow Dash giving a solute before disappearing out the door.
Twilight walked back to the pile of books on the floor. She picked them all up with her levitation magic and set them in a neat pile on the table to her right.
“Spike!” called Twilight
“Yes Twilight” called the little dragon making his way down the stairs to stand before his friend
“Spike I need you to take a letter”