Lyra's Voyages 2: On Strange Tidesby Prince_StaghornChaptersPrologue: To Adventure!Ali-whata-corn?The Biggest Thing In The SeaLemuriaThe Mines, the Mahars, and the MorulakFight in the ArenaThe First EmpireEscapeEpilogueJaws... and Tentacles... and One Easily Aggravated WhaleMusicPrologue: To Adventure!PROLOGUE Shortly after the Nightmare Moon incident, a young unicorn began wondering one thing: If Nightmare Moon was real, then how many other “legends” could possibly be real? What if Bighoof or Night Flyers or Pine Devils or even Yahoos were real? So she set off to find others who thought like her, who would understand her way of thinking. Her roommate did not truly approve of this, but that did not stop the unicorn from seeking others out. Soon, she had gathered a team of cryptic enthusiasts from the town of Ponyville, and they grew into a group who called themselves “The Equestrian Cryptid Research Foundation.” The group grew and expanded, and by the re-emergence of Discord, they had a base in every major city in Equestria. By the re-emergence of the Crystal Empire, they had split into several groups, including the Equestrian Society for the Discovery of Lost Countries, the Foundation of Cryptic Botanists, and of course, the Equestrian Cryptid Research Foundation. They welcomed all, changelings, ponies, donkeys, cattle, even a few griffins and diamond dogs. All were united by their belief in the unknown. After a new princess was crowned, the founder of this massive following went to Celestia herself for political recognition and to ask for proper funding for all the research being done. Much to the unicorn mare’s surprise, the princesses agreed, and all the groups were officially labeled as part of the Equestrian Historical Society. It was only a month after this that the unicorn was called on her first big expedition. Her name is Lyra Heartstrings, and this is one of her stories. … Lyra had recovered well enough from the various things that had happened since her first voyage, though the whole "Tirek Incident" was somewhat a pain to remember. However, she still had that taste for adventure, and that was more than some sagittarius could defeat. Which was why she was happy to hear about her next trip: the Island of Echidna. Part one of the trio of islands known as the Nightmare Isles, Echidna was not a welcoming place, with the only flora being silvery moon grass and a few pomegranate trees, near-constant cloud cover, and the remains of a long-erupted volcano visible from all parts of the island. The islands inhabitants consisted of one-eyed cyclops ponies, giants, harpies, chimeras, and other creatures that would seem equally at home in Cirrus. To top it off, the island was a short distance away from the island of Tartarus. Nevertheless, Lyra was excited. She would be meeting royalty, after all: Princess Medusa. And while this wasn't a cryptozoological trip, instead focusing on ancient artifacts, it was still a chance to get out of the normal humdrum of Ponyville. *** Lyra had packed essentials: toothbrush, hairbrush, bag of trail mix, her journal, and her hoody. Traveling with her was a certain wall-eyed pegasus. Ditzy had wanted to come, believing her experience treasure hunting with her sister* would help. While many rumors circulated about the mare's intelligence, Lyra knew Ditzy was fairly brilliant, and could teach at Canterlot University if she wanted to. However, following her retirement from the treasure hunting game, she had settled for the simple life of a mail mare and a single mother. Not that she didn't still go on adventures, of course.** "So, Ditzy, you excited?" Ditzy smiled. "Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mail mare, but it's good to break out of the daily grind once in a while. I mean, unless you're a Formian or a Bumble, then you don't have much of a choice. You know, since they can't break out of the daily grind because they have a hive mind and can't really think on their own, except the queens. Well, and Bomber Formians. You have to wonder why evolution gave them the ability to think freely, since they have to be living bombs. It's just horrible to think about!" Lyra stared. "Ditzy, I'm sorry, but you lost me halfway through that." Both looked at each other, then laughed. *** Waiting for them in Appleoosa was an earth pony mare, greyish-purple, with a purple mane and a slate blue smock. Maud, as almost always, had a neutral expression on her face. Maud was relatively new to Lyra's list of friends. They had met over a fossil exhibit in a Canterlot museum, and had begun chatting, Lyra talking about the creatures, Maud talking about the geological processes which had happened after those creatures had died. From there, a friendship had blossomed, as unlikely as the pairing seemed. Lyra didn't care. Maud's neutrality balanced out Lyra's rambunctious nature, and Lyra's fun-loving attitude countered Maud's stoic neutrality. Lyra didn't claim to know a lot about the higher concepts Discord occasionally spouted out***, but she felt she and Maud might be... "soul-neighbors", much like her and Bonbon. After a small greeting, it was onto an airship to a city outside Equestria: Bardingburgh, the capital of Concordia. On the trip, Lyra took out her journal. Day 1... Author's Note *Daring Do **Thanks to Doctor ***Discord had, upon seeing the two, started singing: "When your heart feels all pale, like a diamond's set sail, That's a Moirail... That's a Moirail!" Ali-whata-corn?Day 1... I can't believe I'm actually going to Concordia! You grow up hearing about the place, but actually going there? That's SO COOL! I mean, Concordia's so different! It's just a lot of vast plains, valleys, mountains, and canyons, and the cities are HUGE! The wide spaces are a sharp contrast to the Everfree Forest covering most of the continent. The airship's moving along at a good speed, and we're crossing the border now. In the distance I see a massive gathering of storm clouds. Ditzy spoke up. "That's Storm Valley. Under those clouds is a huge valley surrounded by mountains, except for one pass. It's full of dinosaurs! And some of them are intelligent, but they're not nice." *** When I got off the ship, I saw beings I had only heard about. They were winged ponies, with tan fur, lion-like paws and tails, and golden eagle eyes. Sphinxes! They were all dressed in armor, and all were staying stone still. Between them was a mare I had only read about in history books. She was as tall as Princess Luna, dressed in brown dragonleather battle armor, pink with an electric blue mane, and three blue lightning bolts on her flank. The three of us bowed before Firefly, Princess of Concordia*. From that angle, I could see the stump on her forehead where Tirek had cut off her horn in battle so long ago. "So, you're the ones who are heading over to see snakebutt?" She reminded me a lot of Rainbow Dash. I nodded. "Well, come on, then!" She smiled and began trotting off. we followed, Maud having to go out of her normal walk in order to keep up. As we followed Firefly, I saw more sphinxes, along with two other creatures in good numbers. [One was a pig-sized type reptile, with a parrot-like beak and a small crest, resembling a Protoceratops. These were called Bix, and mainly worked as librarians and scholars. The other was an alicorn-sized reptile, bipedal, with a hard, domed head. In appearance, it resembled a Pachycephalosaurus. These were called Grekk, Ditzy informed me, and were actually very smart.](https://www.fimfiction.net/group/199698/the-known-world/thread/104837/races-sapient-dinosaurs-updated) None of that, however, compared to what was waiting on the boat for us. She was a sea-green mare with a white mane. Her short, slightly curved horn was gold, and her wings were folded at her sides. However, her back legs were mechanical, attached to a harness/belt around her dolphin-like tail. I had never seen a pony like this! She smiled and offered a hoof. "Ocean Wave, head of the Concordian Cryptid Researh Foundation. You must be Lyra Heartstrings." Numbly, I nodded and shook her hoof. Firefly smiled. "Well, I'll leave you all to go. See ya soon, O-W!" "See ya, Stella!" Firefly bristled, but smiled and flew off. Maud was, surprisingly, the first to bring up what i was thinking. "I've never seen a pony like you before" A straight-to-the-point statement. Typical Maud. Ocean Wave took no offense and smiled. "I'm an Alimaricorn." Ditzy spoke. "An ali-whata-corn?" "A Sea Alicorn. No, I'm not royalty, my parents were kelp farmers. I'm just here to join you on this little adventure." I finally spoke. "So, how rare are alimara... alamaro... sea alicorns?" She tapped her chin, thinking. "Pretty rare. We're nomads, and we mostly stick to open ocean, since shallow water is where you land folks tend to use your nets. We're not that good at magic or flying either." I absorbed the information. Of course, I knew alicorns weren't as unique as many thought. There were three alicorn princesses in Equestria, one in the Crystal Empire, two in Concordia, one in the Black Isles, one in Henosis, and a Prince in Haissan, who was Celestia and Luna's little brother, but those were the extent of current alicorn royalty, not counting Celestia and Luna's other two brothers and parents, or Twilight's daughter Nyx. Besides them, however, alicorns were common in Los Haygas, and could be found in good numbers in several places across the globe. What's more, besides alicorns, there were also the multi-winged, single-to-tri-horned Buraq of Khaan and the bat winged, one-horned Isomnequi. And now there was the Alimaricorn before me. (HA! I knew i'd get it right!) This promised to be interesting Author's Note *Well, ONE of the Princesses. Her mom, Rosetta, was the real head of the country The Biggest Thing In The SeaDay 3... Before I continue, I feel like I should give you an idea of our makeshift ship. Aspidochelone, or Jasconius are light brown whales with green algae on their finless backs. They typically live in the middle of vast oceans, where they normally live off plankton. They are normally docile creatures that don't attack sapients, however when provoked they can easily destroy a ship with a single flip of a flipper. Fortunately, there aren't many things that can provoke a Jasconius due to their huge size and tough skin. While these whales usually travel alone separate from their own kind, they are accompanied by an ecosystem of creatures that live a symbiotic life with them. Most of the creatures are parasites that live off its blood, but there are however two that stand out the most. One of them are the kujata, large bull-like amphibians that live on the back and eat the parasites there. The other are the falaks, large snake-like fish that live underneath the belly and eat the parasites. While both of them mostly serve to eat the parasites away, they can also provde the whale with some much needed assistance in more areas. One particular area is taking down huge prey. While Jasconius are capable of taking down huge prey with their large mouths, it usually not enough to overpower some like the kraken. However with help from kujata and falaks acting like small foot soldiers, a Jasconius can take prey on like a fully manned battleship. With the combined effort of the kujata's strength to subdue hazards like waving tentacle, the shocking ability of falaks to slow down prey, and the overall might of the whale itself, large and very resistant prey can be taken down. A single day had passed since we had lost the ship, and our alimaricorn companion was still nowhere to be seen. I hoped she was alright. The Captain was resting by the side of the whale, fishing as the massive beast drifted along. Maud and I had settled into grazing the damp, bitter algae from the back, and Ditzy was actually diving into the waves to catch fish*, swimming like a dolphin to catch them. The kujata watched us warily. The Captain had already taken one of their number, but hadn't found the frog-like flesh appealing. He ate it, nonetheless, and used its bones to fashion various objects. The thing about being on the back of a giant whale: there's no shade. We spent our days near the sides just so the spray could keep us cool, moving onto the whale's back at night. Day 6... I could barely believe it when Ditzy said she spotted land, but looking into the distance, I saw the distinct outline. The problem would be swimming that distance. Luckily, we didn't need to. The water was pink with krill close to the island, and the Jasconius followed its stomach. It slowly turned and headed for the swarm. Baby kujata, like red, calf-headed, ten-eyed, eight-flippered seals, raced ahead of it. As soon as we were sure we could make it, we jumped. Maud hung onto the Captain, while I grabbed Ditzy. The two carried us to shore. It wasn't Echidna. The steaming jungle made that perfectly clear. I couldn't tell what island this was. The whale had bypassed Echidna's coordinants three days ago. We were somewhere southwest of it. Something washed up on the beach. A certain individual I thought we would never see again. Ocean Wave looked beaten and haggard, but she was still alive. AND she had somehow grabbed mine and Maud's bags!** It turns out, after the feeding frenzy, she had been following the whale, but could not get close enough to board due to the falaks under the whale's belly, and couldn't fly because of our bags. She had tiredly swam at a safe distance, though a shark had managed to get his teeth on a wing, recieving a mouthfull of feathers and a hoof to the nose. We were just glad to be together again. But now we were on an unknown island with no way to get off. Now what? Apparently, charging headfirst into the jungle. "Storm's comin'," the Captain explained. "Don't want to be down on the beach when it hits." We followed him, finding a cave for the night. camp was made, safe food was gathered, and we had a fire going. An hour past sunset, the storm hit, and we were settling in for bed. I was soon asleep. *** I woke up when I heard the whispering. "Hyrana fel kas?" "Sask! Berstak far kin!" I opened my eyes. A hairless white form was bent over me. It had large, bat-like ears, red eyes, and large, blood-draining fangs. I screamed as loud as I could. The others woke, and the things... ponies... darted back into the recesses of the cave. I caught a glimpse. They had no horns or wings, and had three toes: a hoof that touched the ground, and a curved claw on either side. We ran out... except for the captain, who had his throat torn out. What sort of hellhole had we stumbled into? Author's Note *Read Peace at Last for an explanation. **Waterproof, so nothing would get wet. LemuriaDay 7... I don't know how long we ran. The Captain I never learned the name of was dead, it was storming, and we were in unfamiliar territory, and a bunch of blood-sucking sub-ponies were probably hunting us. (Huh, it just occured to me that those ponies had three toes on each foot. That places their presence on the island back to at least the Oligocene...) We rested in a tree. Ocean Wave and Ditzy had wings, I had my "Hooves to Hands" spell, and Maud... well, I have no idea how she got up there. The storm soon passed, and the sun filtered through the branches. Below me, a distinctly non-feathered dromaeosaur* was foraging in the leaf litter. It was 8 feet long, colored deep red with black stripes. Its prehensile tail was studded with small scutes. I recognized it from a book. Obsidianychus helveticus, a Blackstripe, from... I couldn't remember, but it was an island of some sort. This one was wounded, limping heavily. I heard the footsteps before I saw the beast that was hunting it. 20 feet long. Jet black. Seven horns. Covered in purple scutes. A blood red mouth, studded with white teeth. It wasn't a tyrannosaur of any kind, as its arms showed. It was as if someone had directly attached the beast's hand to its elbow. This was an Abelisaur, one of the great southern giants of the Cretaceous. It snapped up the raptor, turning around and leaving. We got on the ground and headed the other way. The large predator saw us, but didn't do anything. Why would it? It already had food, so why waste the time and energy on such smaller prey?** It became apparent we were in a saurian-dominated ecology as the day progressed. This also allowed me and Ocean Wave to guess the size of the island, based on the creatures.*** "Those sauropods**** have to weigh at least 24 tonnes." I looked as we walked. The tan and green plant eaters were browsing on leaves. Each one was very large. I nodded. "So we're on a landmass at least as big as the Crystalline Raj."***** "Yes. But only one land in these parts matches that size. That would mean we're on..." We entered a massive clearing... and stared up at the towering, megalithic ruins, built untold millenia ago. I knew my lost civilizations. Shetlantis, Mu, the Civilization of the Elder Things... and the oldest of all. The information and journals I had read over came back as I said its name. "Lemuria..." *** Lemuria is a large island located between Hosstralia and the Unnamed Southern Continent. it contains a fair population of extant dinosaurs, as well as several non-native mammalian life forms, including a species of hemophagic three toed equines called the Morulak, who we had met on our first night here. However, Lemuria is also home to many different civilizations, such as the Quintaglio (sapient tyrannosaurs located on the southern half), the Mahars (sapient pterosaurs who stay by the sea), and the Horibs (mammal-like reptiles who roam the jungles). But the ruins we were looking at belonged to what might have been the first empire in the world: the Lemurians themselves. This was an incredible archaeological find, much more than what we could have found on Echidna. Lemuria had barely been explored, and the Lemurians were believed to be extinct, unlike their neighbors, so the ruins were a historian's dream! I was so excited, I didn't notice we were captured until I was grabbed in a pair of scaly talons and lifted off. *** I awoke in an open space. behind me was a large, winged creature, bright green with an orange crest and a tooth-filled beak. In front of me were smaller winged forms, reddish, with white heads and long tails. I recognized them. Out of all Lemuria's inhabitants, these were the only ones who made regular contact with other lands. Mahars. They stared at me, their black eyes full of ancient intelligence. I felt as they stared at me, figuring me out. /Why are you here, Hoofbeast?/ The words were in my head, in a hissing, ancient, and distinctly female voice. Mahars had no ears, and made no sound, communicating on an entirely telepathic level. Thankfully, this was communication only, and Mahars couldn't read minds. /Well?/ I had no choice but to explain my situation. They stared, and I could tell they were reading my lips. Two of them kept looking at the third, and it became clear she understood what I was saying, and was acting as a conduit between my verbal language and her companion's telepathic language. When I finished, they had a "private" conversation, looking at each other and "talking". /Your story matches that ot the other three, though at least the grey one with the crooked eyes was able to tell us directly without need of a translator./ Huh. So Ditzy was partially telepathic. Who knew? /For trespassing on the Forbidden Land of the Dragon Kings, you four have been sentanced to fight for your lives and freedom in the Arena in three days. Until then, you will be slaves in the mines./ My mouth hung open as a Morulak shackled me and led me away. Author's Note *a "raptor" dinosaur, of which there are 40 known species currently living, most of which have feathers. **Dinosaurs are just animals. Giant carnivores aren't going to abandon an 8-foot raptor carcass just to go after a much smaller, harder-to-catch pony. ***Islands tend to have smaller animals than the mainland. The bigger the island, the less small the animals. ****"Long Necks" *****Which has a good native population of elephants, the Khaan kind, not the Zebrican kind. The Mines, the Mahars, and the MorulakDay 8... Being put to work in the mines wasn't easy. Nor was the knowledge that in three days I'd be fighting for my life in an arena. Frankly, this sucked. The mines were well lit with a mix of torches and sunstones, which helped keep some of the more dangerous predators away due to the light, though there were still the bugs, among other things. Said "other things" were explained to us via pictures. Giant flesh eating worms, leeches as big as dogs, a crab-shrimp-thing with two brains called a Deodath, and something called a Zemadar. We worked tirelessly. Maud did the best, thanks to her rock-farming background, not even needing a pickaxe, simply using her hooves to smash the rock. At the end of our first shift, we were allowed to walk around, escorted by two Morulaks, Paj and Ghak. I was able to find out a lot about the Mahar culture on what breaks we were allowed. The Mahars believed they were not from "this World" in a technical sense. Instead, they believed they came from "the world below", a massive place they called Pellucidar. They said the sun always stayed in one spot there, and landmasses and bodies of water were reversed there, making it, in a sense, larger than this world. Of course, I had heard ponies who believed in the so-called "Hollow World" theory, and some eccentrics who even claimed to have gone there and brough back proof. Said "proof" was always the dung, tooth, or claw of a known saurian species. The fact the Mahars believed it gave no credence, and was probably nothing more than a relict creation myth. Mahar society was ruled by the females. I only saw one male, a massive white creature who spoke in broken telepathy and seemed to have trouble with pronouns. Browsing their libraries, I found the ancient Mahars had selectively bred themselves for large, stupid males and smaller, more intelligent females. The males were kept as basically genetic "livestock", more or less only useful for supplying the material the females needed to produce eggs. Males weren't even given the same name as the females. The females were called "Mahar" whereas the males were called "Mazak". It went even further in that the single male I met was simply referred to as "Male 12235", as opposed to our prosecutor, the female Sol-ta-to. Mahars could live for centuries, but spent up to three days sleeping at a time. The Morulaks were more difficult to figure out. Whereas I had met Mahars outside Lemuria and learned their written language there, in addition to there being no spoken language barrier, I had to start from scratch for the Morulaks. However, their language was clearly derived directly from Ancient Equine, giving me a slow understanding as the days went. *** Day 11... I had been making slow progress on figuring out our blood-sucking captors. Paj and Ghak had become less like jailers and more like babysitters over their time with us, and had helped us in learning the language. Ditzy picked up on it the fastest, and acted as a translator. The Morulak's ancestors were Mesohippus who had been brought to Lemuria as slaves for the Lemurians. Some of these slaves had been bred into the Morulak in order to keep non-altered slaves in line. However, when the slaves overthrew the Lemurians, the Morulak fled into the caves, forming their own society, waiting out the time as the Mesohippus became extinct due to various civil wars. Paj explained this was the story, and though his kin were long-lived, no Morulak alive today was alive when this happened. Each Morulak "Colony" consisted of three castes: Breeders, Colony Guards, and Hunters. Paj and Ghak were Hunters who had been caught by the Mahars, and were basically only higher-ranking slaves than me and my companions. Breeders, Paj explained, were tall females who were doted on by the entire Colony, and had the easiest life, breeding with whatever lucky stallions they wanted and getting the first choice on every kill. Other mares within the Colony were allowed to breed, but it was uncommon. Colony Guards were bulky stallions who stayed around the Breeders, protecting them from any threats. Ghak also said they were horribly stupid and uptight. Hunters made up the majority of the Colony, and went out to gather food every night. When a Colony became too large, it split, with several female hunters becoming the Breeders of the new Colony. The new Colony would often keep an alliance with the old one, and would come to their aid should they fall under attack. The Morulak worshipped the stars, seeing them as the campfires of all who had gone before them. Though the Morulak did not cook their food, they used fire for warmth. That was the start and finish of Morulak culture. They had nothing more to say. We enter the arena to fight for our freedom today. As we were led away, though, Paj and Ghak looked regretful. Fight in the ArenaDay 11... I didn't know what we would be put up against in the arena, but I was more than outraged when Ocean Wave and Maud were taken to a seperate arena. The arena was a giant stadium with a closed top, with several arpetures big enough for a Mahar to fly out. There were bleachers, but in place of chairs, each Mahar sat on her own large boulder. The entire arena was silent. A score of Morulaks heralded the arrival of the Mahar's queen. Physically, I saw no difference between her and the rest of her kind. She flew to the highest boulder, then sat, watching. Twenty Mahars flew to the center of the arena, and then the music began. But it was music without sound. The "band" began waving their tails and heads in synchronized movements, occasionally taking steps to one side and then the other, forward and then back. The performance went on for about fifteen minutes before falling still. The Mahars in the stands began beating their wings and thumping their tails on the ground until the entire stadium shook, applauding. They fell silent once again as the performers began a new piece. *** Ditzy and I were sent in, each given a spear, then left alone. The gate rumbled open. Ditzy gripped her spear. With a screech, a Thipdar ambled out. Upon noticing us, the pterosaur rose and screeched at us, balancing on two legs. This was the dominant aerial predator of Lemuria, resembling a Pteranodon, save for the fact it had teeth. This beast was domesticated by the Mahars as a hunting animal. And now we were its prey. It spread its wings to their full length, thirty feet from tip to tip, and took to the air. Ditzy had a slight advantage. She was smaller than the thipdar, thus more maneuverable in the air. I was grounded, though. The beast swerved through the air, beak open and ready to grab me*. Ditzy dive-bombed it, knocking it off course, causing it to recalibrate to avoid hitting the ground beak-first. It landed, then began shuffling towards me at a fast pace.** I held my spear in my magic, but the pterosaur reared and batted it away with a wing. Ditzy rammed into its back, knocking it onto its stomach, and I ran. How had this happened? I should have been back home by now, having lunch with my friends, feeding my monkey, Shift, playing my... My brain began working thanks to the stress. My lyre! Of course! The Mahars might not have ears, but the Thipdar did! But my bag was back in my barracks where I had been kept. Seeing Paj and Ghak watching, I yelled out what I could in my limited Ancient Equine-derivative language I had learned. They ran out. The Thipdar regained its footing, hissing menacingly. I just had to live until they got back. Author's Note *Despite what you may see in movies, Pterosaurs are built in a way that they can't grab and carry things through the air with their feet, save for a few more abbarent forms. **Once again, save for a few abberrant forms, Pterosaur were not made for walking, instead shuffling like an octogenerian pony in a long cloak. The First EmpireWe were chained together and forced to walk through the jungle. We didn't stop for anything. However, our captors were fairly interesting. They weren't dinosaurs, or any other type of archosaur*. They were green-scaled dragons, roughly alicorn sized, with tiny, useless wings. Each one walked bipedally on two bird-like legs, and they were all armed with rapier-like blades and shields. The shields were magic, generated from a small crystal on a bracelet worn around each dragon's arm. I had no idea what these creatures were, or where we were going. *** We came to a large river, with a vine bridge stretching across... except it hadn't been built. Rather, it looked like it had been grown into place. Large orange creatures floated in the water, sort of like squids, except supported by two natural buoys, a large organic sail rising up from the back of each cephalopod. Swimming among them were scaly beasts like finned gorillas with seahorse heads, eel tails, and, strangest of all, an organic cannon growing from each shoulder. They all seemed natural, but they couldn't be. At least, not without heavy selective breeding over a LONG period of time. We were eventually led to another ancient Lemurian city... except this one was in relatively good shape... I suddenly had a good idea who our captors were. LYRA'S EXPOSITION TIME! 65 million years ago, the Cretaceous Era ended, a meteor wiping out most of the dinosaur species (and giving birth to the first 30 draconequi). Before then, several sapient dinosaur species had roamed the world. With their extinction, a new intelligence rose. A certain species of dragon began crafting tools. They began progressing, and by the Oligocene, they took to the seas, building an empire, exploring and conquering, even taking back captured slaves, a three-toed equine race known as Mesohippus. The dragons began to carefully breed their livestock, creating weapons and transports, and they selectively bred a fraction of their slaves, creating the Morulak. However, what pure Mesohippus remained rose up against their draconian masters, overthrowing them. The dragons hid, and faded into myth, known only under one name. Lemurians. *** We barely talked as the Lemurians led us into the city, but the dragons watched us from everywhere. We wouldn't be escaping easily. We were led to a large building, then shoved inside. I had to give these dragons credit, since these quarters were better than those given to us by the Mahars. Night was falling, so for the first time in days, we settled down in the cots, and fell asleep Author's Note * the superfamily to which dinosaurs, birds, crocodiles, and pterosaurs belong. EscapeWe were not the only prisoners of the Lemurians. Sharing our cot was another rock enthusiast, a royal guard, and a hunter. The geologist was a Quintaglio named Tor-Afdool. He was typical of his kind: an 8-foot tyrannosaur, covered in a soft green down, with pure black eyes. He was the only one who spoke Equestrian, and while he and Maud got along, they were polar opposites personality-wise. Kik, the royal guard, wasn't even a native, but a Kothrah, a sapient dromaeosaur from Zebes. Covered in black feathers, he was stoic and quiet. Finally, there was the Horib. Resembling a large upright lizard in a black leather jerkin, he kept to himself, hissing at anyone who approached him. The Lemurians didn't make us do anything, simply keeping us in a large complex, guarded by creatures called Monseer Hounds. These "Hounds" were amphibians, looking like slimy, hairless dogs with the head of a snakehead fish. We were basically trapped, no way out. The walls were metal, meaning Maud's skill with rock was useless. They were too high for Ocean Wave to fly over, and the Lemurians had clipped Ditzy's primaries, leaving her grounded. To top it, the metal used was Maginite, commonly used in the magic-cancelling cuffs used by the Royal Guard. As I said, trapped. *** Days passed. We were in our quarters, and Afdool was talking about something. "Why haven't we seen any actual Lemurians in here?" Ditzy suddenly blurted out. Afdool absentmindedly waved his hand. "Because I'm in here. If I see one, I'll just slip into Dagamant." Dagamant, I had gathered, was basically an instinctual rage felt by most Quintaglios.* It was territorial instinct amped up to 11. Any Quintaglio entered within 10 paces of another, and they became mindless animals bent on killing the intruder. Lemurians looked enough like them to trigger it even without "invading territory", so naturally the Lemurians wouldn't risk it. I briefly wondered how everyone not aware of my situation was faring with my absence. ~ Princess Medusa had informed the Equestrian Diarchs, as well as the royalty of Concordia, of the failure of the archaeologists to reach her country many months ago. After much discussion, the combined Echidnaean and Concordian Royal Fleets had been dispatched to search for them. Now, after having found and tracked the path, Captain Agrippa of Her Majesty Medusa's Royal Guard carefully led his squad through the jungle. The greying Cyclops surveyed the area around the river with his one eye. his goat-like horns glowed, and his sword slowly was slowly unsheathed. He began marching across the bridge. ~ We heard the fighting before we saw it. The sounds were horrifying, but finally I saw our saving angels. Harpies from Echidna. Odd equines, with bird-like wings and pony heads, but no forelegs. They screeched as they dived at the Hounds, pummeling them with the hard hooves on their hind legs. However, it was no harpy that landed in front of us. "Sorry we took so long," Firefly said. "Those Echidnaeans are really bad at directions." Author's Note *Stemming from a now out-of practice religious ceremony. You see, a special order in the Quintaglio Priesthood are known as the "Halpataars", or "Bloodpriests". In order to prevent overpopulation, a Bloodpriest was assigned to devour seven out of every eight Quintaglio hatchlings a day after they hatch. The Bloodpriest first goes into a trance, then dons a purple robe and enters the nest; there, he chases the hatchlings and eats all but the fastest, strongest one. Now, this had a semi-Freudian consequence. Imagine: you spend the first few days with your siblings, peaceful and calm. Then, the first time a stranger enters your territory, seven of you are eaten. Now, imagine this process happening over thousands of years, producing more aggressive offspring each generation. When it was found the bloodpriests were the CAUSE of Quintaglio territoriality about 100 years ago, it was decided that, rather than hatchlings, seven of every eight eggs would be eaten. the "New Quintaglios" and their descendants are distinctly less territorial. Afdool happens to be of the older generation. EpilogueWe managed to escape with little difficulty thanks to the Concordians and Echidnaeans, and it was decided we could re-schedule the visit to Echidna. Good. I'd had enough adventure for now, and frankly, I was ready to be back home. ~ The various prisoners of the Lemurians were returned to their respective homes, and the Lemurians themselves had re-learned that equines were not pushovers. The body of Captain Cornelius S. Seadog* was never recovered, though his arm was found on the beach. It was given to his closest kin, and is now worn by his youngest son. Paj and Ghak earned their freedom from the Mahars. The two, inspired by a certain unicorn mare, managed to get a place in the Concordian navy, specifically Firefly's own galleon. The two now spend their days working at night, but sleeping in the bowels of the ship during the day, and have been dubbed the official "rats" of the ship. Ocean Wave, Maud, and Ditzy returned to their normal lives, but still keep in touch. And Lyra returned home, climbed up the stairs, and promptly collapsed in her bed. THE END [youtube=vOinUtRY8Eg] LYRA'S VOYAGES: ON STRANGE TIDES Author's Note *Salty Jaws... and Tentacles... and One Easily Aggravated WhaleDay 2... Nothing but open ocean for miles around, no land in sight, the wind blowing the smell of salt in my face. It was magical. Ditzy rode the wind with the seabirds, Ocean Wave leapt in the waves made by the bow, having fun with a pod of two-finned Rhinoceros Dolphins. Maud stayed in her cabin, since sea air made her uneasy. The captain was a grizzled old diamond dog with a mechanical arm, which he said he lost to a Sea Tooth, a giant reptile that occasionally came up from the depths. We didn't speak much. We had left the kelp forests of the Emerald Sea behind, and were now heading southwest through the Great Pelagic Ocean, straight to Echidna. There wasn't much life to be seen. *** A few hours passed, and I take that back. The boat was surrounded by small silvery fish, thousands of them, stretching for miles. It was beautiful... The massive form of a Western Megalodon burst through the school, briefly towering over our boat before sinking down, and the beauty turned to horror. To the port side, tentacles exploded through the surface as a kraken joined other predators in the feast. The dolphins and seabirds that had followed us took off to get their share, avoiding the larger predators. Maud had by now come out to look. A killer whale sized dolphin leapt over the boat. It was a phantasmal green, with glowing stars in its hide. I stared in wonder. "A Delphin... but that means..." More Delphins swam through the fish, and it wasn't long before we saw their parents. A massive blue, star-studded form rose up, spraying a fine mist from its blowhole. More Cetus rose up, a large scarred male guarding them and the Delphins. You see, like the Ursa or Lupus, Cetus have a juvenile and adult form, starting out as Delphins, then later aging into the sperm whale-like Cetus, which were very protective of their young. A single other whale was visible: a Jasconius, big enough to be mistaken for a small island, especially with the algae covering its back. We had sailed into a gathering of predators, even if the Jasconius was a baleen whale, and we were all in something small and fragile. The Kraken decided Delphin flesh would be more filling, and grabbed one that strayed too close. The squealing creature was dragged under. The scarred bull Cetus noticed, as did the rest of the pod. they charged, the resulting wave tipping the boat. THAT had the unfortunate effect of making it look like a wounded whale, and the wounds caused to the bull as he fought the kraken stained the water red, mixed with the blue of the kraken's blood. The Megalodon smelled it, and must have thought our boat was its target. Fifty-three feet of shark rose at full speed from the depths, its jaws sinking into the boat and sending me, the Captain, and Maud over the side. Not knowing what else to do, we swam towards the Jasconius. Climbing atop the giant whale, we watched, helpless, as our boat was demolished. Ditzy alighted next to us. Ocean Wave was nowhere to be seen. "What now?" The Captain spoke. His voice was a gruff, harsh bark. "We make camp. These things don't dive unless you're stupid enough to light a fire on their back, so no fires. You all can eat the green growing on it." Maud seemed unfazed by this turn of events. "What about you?" The diamond dog pointed. A small herd of red beasts was ambling across the whale. They resembled cows, but had eight legs and ten bright blue eyes. Kujata, giant amphibians who picked parasites off the whale's back. So long as it kept him from getting hungry enough to turn on us, I was okay. Now we could only see where our ride would take us. As I found a spot to sleep, I could only hope Ocean Wave was okay. This hadn't gone the way I wanted. MusicI dodged another stab from the Thipdar's beak. Ditzy prepared from another divebomb. But the reptile had learned her tricks by now, swatting her from the air, then pinning her to the ground. The Mahars in the stands began thumping their tails, sure the match was about to end... when something hit my head. My lyre was there, at my hooves. I wasted no time, quickly plucking the strings in a soothing melody. The pterosaur paused, then began swaying to the rhythm. I began advancing, and the Thipdar began backing away. Once it was in its pen, I closed the gate, then stopped playing. Silence. Then a single thump, followed by the whooshing of wings. Then another. Then another. Soon, the entire stadium was shaking from the applause. I had done it. *** We were released... right outside the city, into the jungle, leaving us no choice but to keep walking into uncharted territory. None of us were happy about this, but it was better than being slaves, so we began walking. *** Day... something... I don't know how long we walked through that jungle, but we barely slept, so the days were a blur. Then Ocean Wave said that one thing that should never be said. "Well, at least it can't get any worse." A massive CRACK! split the sky as it began raining. There was a tramping of three-toed feet. Swords were pointed at us, shields of magic energy protecting their wielders. We were captured again Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter!
Prologue: To Adventure!PROLOGUE Shortly after the Nightmare Moon incident, a young unicorn began wondering one thing: If Nightmare Moon was real, then how many other “legends” could possibly be real? What if Bighoof or Night Flyers or Pine Devils or even Yahoos were real? So she set off to find others who thought like her, who would understand her way of thinking. Her roommate did not truly approve of this, but that did not stop the unicorn from seeking others out. Soon, she had gathered a team of cryptic enthusiasts from the town of Ponyville, and they grew into a group who called themselves “The Equestrian Cryptid Research Foundation.” The group grew and expanded, and by the re-emergence of Discord, they had a base in every major city in Equestria. By the re-emergence of the Crystal Empire, they had split into several groups, including the Equestrian Society for the Discovery of Lost Countries, the Foundation of Cryptic Botanists, and of course, the Equestrian Cryptid Research Foundation. They welcomed all, changelings, ponies, donkeys, cattle, even a few griffins and diamond dogs. All were united by their belief in the unknown. After a new princess was crowned, the founder of this massive following went to Celestia herself for political recognition and to ask for proper funding for all the research being done. Much to the unicorn mare’s surprise, the princesses agreed, and all the groups were officially labeled as part of the Equestrian Historical Society. It was only a month after this that the unicorn was called on her first big expedition. Her name is Lyra Heartstrings, and this is one of her stories. … Lyra had recovered well enough from the various things that had happened since her first voyage, though the whole "Tirek Incident" was somewhat a pain to remember. However, she still had that taste for adventure, and that was more than some sagittarius could defeat. Which was why she was happy to hear about her next trip: the Island of Echidna. Part one of the trio of islands known as the Nightmare Isles, Echidna was not a welcoming place, with the only flora being silvery moon grass and a few pomegranate trees, near-constant cloud cover, and the remains of a long-erupted volcano visible from all parts of the island. The islands inhabitants consisted of one-eyed cyclops ponies, giants, harpies, chimeras, and other creatures that would seem equally at home in Cirrus. To top it off, the island was a short distance away from the island of Tartarus. Nevertheless, Lyra was excited. She would be meeting royalty, after all: Princess Medusa. And while this wasn't a cryptozoological trip, instead focusing on ancient artifacts, it was still a chance to get out of the normal humdrum of Ponyville. *** Lyra had packed essentials: toothbrush, hairbrush, bag of trail mix, her journal, and her hoody. Traveling with her was a certain wall-eyed pegasus. Ditzy had wanted to come, believing her experience treasure hunting with her sister* would help. While many rumors circulated about the mare's intelligence, Lyra knew Ditzy was fairly brilliant, and could teach at Canterlot University if she wanted to. However, following her retirement from the treasure hunting game, she had settled for the simple life of a mail mare and a single mother. Not that she didn't still go on adventures, of course.** "So, Ditzy, you excited?" Ditzy smiled. "Yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mail mare, but it's good to break out of the daily grind once in a while. I mean, unless you're a Formian or a Bumble, then you don't have much of a choice. You know, since they can't break out of the daily grind because they have a hive mind and can't really think on their own, except the queens. Well, and Bomber Formians. You have to wonder why evolution gave them the ability to think freely, since they have to be living bombs. It's just horrible to think about!" Lyra stared. "Ditzy, I'm sorry, but you lost me halfway through that." Both looked at each other, then laughed. *** Waiting for them in Appleoosa was an earth pony mare, greyish-purple, with a purple mane and a slate blue smock. Maud, as almost always, had a neutral expression on her face. Maud was relatively new to Lyra's list of friends. They had met over a fossil exhibit in a Canterlot museum, and had begun chatting, Lyra talking about the creatures, Maud talking about the geological processes which had happened after those creatures had died. From there, a friendship had blossomed, as unlikely as the pairing seemed. Lyra didn't care. Maud's neutrality balanced out Lyra's rambunctious nature, and Lyra's fun-loving attitude countered Maud's stoic neutrality. Lyra didn't claim to know a lot about the higher concepts Discord occasionally spouted out***, but she felt she and Maud might be... "soul-neighbors", much like her and Bonbon. After a small greeting, it was onto an airship to a city outside Equestria: Bardingburgh, the capital of Concordia. On the trip, Lyra took out her journal. Day 1... Author's Note *Daring Do **Thanks to Doctor ***Discord had, upon seeing the two, started singing: "When your heart feels all pale, like a diamond's set sail, That's a Moirail... That's a Moirail!"
Ali-whata-corn?Day 1... I can't believe I'm actually going to Concordia! You grow up hearing about the place, but actually going there? That's SO COOL! I mean, Concordia's so different! It's just a lot of vast plains, valleys, mountains, and canyons, and the cities are HUGE! The wide spaces are a sharp contrast to the Everfree Forest covering most of the continent. The airship's moving along at a good speed, and we're crossing the border now. In the distance I see a massive gathering of storm clouds. Ditzy spoke up. "That's Storm Valley. Under those clouds is a huge valley surrounded by mountains, except for one pass. It's full of dinosaurs! And some of them are intelligent, but they're not nice." *** When I got off the ship, I saw beings I had only heard about. They were winged ponies, with tan fur, lion-like paws and tails, and golden eagle eyes. Sphinxes! They were all dressed in armor, and all were staying stone still. Between them was a mare I had only read about in history books. She was as tall as Princess Luna, dressed in brown dragonleather battle armor, pink with an electric blue mane, and three blue lightning bolts on her flank. The three of us bowed before Firefly, Princess of Concordia*. From that angle, I could see the stump on her forehead where Tirek had cut off her horn in battle so long ago. "So, you're the ones who are heading over to see snakebutt?" She reminded me a lot of Rainbow Dash. I nodded. "Well, come on, then!" She smiled and began trotting off. we followed, Maud having to go out of her normal walk in order to keep up. As we followed Firefly, I saw more sphinxes, along with two other creatures in good numbers. [One was a pig-sized type reptile, with a parrot-like beak and a small crest, resembling a Protoceratops. These were called Bix, and mainly worked as librarians and scholars. The other was an alicorn-sized reptile, bipedal, with a hard, domed head. In appearance, it resembled a Pachycephalosaurus. These were called Grekk, Ditzy informed me, and were actually very smart.](https://www.fimfiction.net/group/199698/the-known-world/thread/104837/races-sapient-dinosaurs-updated) None of that, however, compared to what was waiting on the boat for us. She was a sea-green mare with a white mane. Her short, slightly curved horn was gold, and her wings were folded at her sides. However, her back legs were mechanical, attached to a harness/belt around her dolphin-like tail. I had never seen a pony like this! She smiled and offered a hoof. "Ocean Wave, head of the Concordian Cryptid Researh Foundation. You must be Lyra Heartstrings." Numbly, I nodded and shook her hoof. Firefly smiled. "Well, I'll leave you all to go. See ya soon, O-W!" "See ya, Stella!" Firefly bristled, but smiled and flew off. Maud was, surprisingly, the first to bring up what i was thinking. "I've never seen a pony like you before" A straight-to-the-point statement. Typical Maud. Ocean Wave took no offense and smiled. "I'm an Alimaricorn." Ditzy spoke. "An ali-whata-corn?" "A Sea Alicorn. No, I'm not royalty, my parents were kelp farmers. I'm just here to join you on this little adventure." I finally spoke. "So, how rare are alimara... alamaro... sea alicorns?" She tapped her chin, thinking. "Pretty rare. We're nomads, and we mostly stick to open ocean, since shallow water is where you land folks tend to use your nets. We're not that good at magic or flying either." I absorbed the information. Of course, I knew alicorns weren't as unique as many thought. There were three alicorn princesses in Equestria, one in the Crystal Empire, two in Concordia, one in the Black Isles, one in Henosis, and a Prince in Haissan, who was Celestia and Luna's little brother, but those were the extent of current alicorn royalty, not counting Celestia and Luna's other two brothers and parents, or Twilight's daughter Nyx. Besides them, however, alicorns were common in Los Haygas, and could be found in good numbers in several places across the globe. What's more, besides alicorns, there were also the multi-winged, single-to-tri-horned Buraq of Khaan and the bat winged, one-horned Isomnequi. And now there was the Alimaricorn before me. (HA! I knew i'd get it right!) This promised to be interesting Author's Note *Well, ONE of the Princesses. Her mom, Rosetta, was the real head of the country
The Biggest Thing In The SeaDay 3... Before I continue, I feel like I should give you an idea of our makeshift ship. Aspidochelone, or Jasconius are light brown whales with green algae on their finless backs. They typically live in the middle of vast oceans, where they normally live off plankton. They are normally docile creatures that don't attack sapients, however when provoked they can easily destroy a ship with a single flip of a flipper. Fortunately, there aren't many things that can provoke a Jasconius due to their huge size and tough skin. While these whales usually travel alone separate from their own kind, they are accompanied by an ecosystem of creatures that live a symbiotic life with them. Most of the creatures are parasites that live off its blood, but there are however two that stand out the most. One of them are the kujata, large bull-like amphibians that live on the back and eat the parasites there. The other are the falaks, large snake-like fish that live underneath the belly and eat the parasites. While both of them mostly serve to eat the parasites away, they can also provde the whale with some much needed assistance in more areas. One particular area is taking down huge prey. While Jasconius are capable of taking down huge prey with their large mouths, it usually not enough to overpower some like the kraken. However with help from kujata and falaks acting like small foot soldiers, a Jasconius can take prey on like a fully manned battleship. With the combined effort of the kujata's strength to subdue hazards like waving tentacle, the shocking ability of falaks to slow down prey, and the overall might of the whale itself, large and very resistant prey can be taken down. A single day had passed since we had lost the ship, and our alimaricorn companion was still nowhere to be seen. I hoped she was alright. The Captain was resting by the side of the whale, fishing as the massive beast drifted along. Maud and I had settled into grazing the damp, bitter algae from the back, and Ditzy was actually diving into the waves to catch fish*, swimming like a dolphin to catch them. The kujata watched us warily. The Captain had already taken one of their number, but hadn't found the frog-like flesh appealing. He ate it, nonetheless, and used its bones to fashion various objects. The thing about being on the back of a giant whale: there's no shade. We spent our days near the sides just so the spray could keep us cool, moving onto the whale's back at night. Day 6... I could barely believe it when Ditzy said she spotted land, but looking into the distance, I saw the distinct outline. The problem would be swimming that distance. Luckily, we didn't need to. The water was pink with krill close to the island, and the Jasconius followed its stomach. It slowly turned and headed for the swarm. Baby kujata, like red, calf-headed, ten-eyed, eight-flippered seals, raced ahead of it. As soon as we were sure we could make it, we jumped. Maud hung onto the Captain, while I grabbed Ditzy. The two carried us to shore. It wasn't Echidna. The steaming jungle made that perfectly clear. I couldn't tell what island this was. The whale had bypassed Echidna's coordinants three days ago. We were somewhere southwest of it. Something washed up on the beach. A certain individual I thought we would never see again. Ocean Wave looked beaten and haggard, but she was still alive. AND she had somehow grabbed mine and Maud's bags!** It turns out, after the feeding frenzy, she had been following the whale, but could not get close enough to board due to the falaks under the whale's belly, and couldn't fly because of our bags. She had tiredly swam at a safe distance, though a shark had managed to get his teeth on a wing, recieving a mouthfull of feathers and a hoof to the nose. We were just glad to be together again. But now we were on an unknown island with no way to get off. Now what? Apparently, charging headfirst into the jungle. "Storm's comin'," the Captain explained. "Don't want to be down on the beach when it hits." We followed him, finding a cave for the night. camp was made, safe food was gathered, and we had a fire going. An hour past sunset, the storm hit, and we were settling in for bed. I was soon asleep. *** I woke up when I heard the whispering. "Hyrana fel kas?" "Sask! Berstak far kin!" I opened my eyes. A hairless white form was bent over me. It had large, bat-like ears, red eyes, and large, blood-draining fangs. I screamed as loud as I could. The others woke, and the things... ponies... darted back into the recesses of the cave. I caught a glimpse. They had no horns or wings, and had three toes: a hoof that touched the ground, and a curved claw on either side. We ran out... except for the captain, who had his throat torn out. What sort of hellhole had we stumbled into? Author's Note *Read Peace at Last for an explanation. **Waterproof, so nothing would get wet.
LemuriaDay 7... I don't know how long we ran. The Captain I never learned the name of was dead, it was storming, and we were in unfamiliar territory, and a bunch of blood-sucking sub-ponies were probably hunting us. (Huh, it just occured to me that those ponies had three toes on each foot. That places their presence on the island back to at least the Oligocene...) We rested in a tree. Ocean Wave and Ditzy had wings, I had my "Hooves to Hands" spell, and Maud... well, I have no idea how she got up there. The storm soon passed, and the sun filtered through the branches. Below me, a distinctly non-feathered dromaeosaur* was foraging in the leaf litter. It was 8 feet long, colored deep red with black stripes. Its prehensile tail was studded with small scutes. I recognized it from a book. Obsidianychus helveticus, a Blackstripe, from... I couldn't remember, but it was an island of some sort. This one was wounded, limping heavily. I heard the footsteps before I saw the beast that was hunting it. 20 feet long. Jet black. Seven horns. Covered in purple scutes. A blood red mouth, studded with white teeth. It wasn't a tyrannosaur of any kind, as its arms showed. It was as if someone had directly attached the beast's hand to its elbow. This was an Abelisaur, one of the great southern giants of the Cretaceous. It snapped up the raptor, turning around and leaving. We got on the ground and headed the other way. The large predator saw us, but didn't do anything. Why would it? It already had food, so why waste the time and energy on such smaller prey?** It became apparent we were in a saurian-dominated ecology as the day progressed. This also allowed me and Ocean Wave to guess the size of the island, based on the creatures.*** "Those sauropods**** have to weigh at least 24 tonnes." I looked as we walked. The tan and green plant eaters were browsing on leaves. Each one was very large. I nodded. "So we're on a landmass at least as big as the Crystalline Raj."***** "Yes. But only one land in these parts matches that size. That would mean we're on..." We entered a massive clearing... and stared up at the towering, megalithic ruins, built untold millenia ago. I knew my lost civilizations. Shetlantis, Mu, the Civilization of the Elder Things... and the oldest of all. The information and journals I had read over came back as I said its name. "Lemuria..." *** Lemuria is a large island located between Hosstralia and the Unnamed Southern Continent. it contains a fair population of extant dinosaurs, as well as several non-native mammalian life forms, including a species of hemophagic three toed equines called the Morulak, who we had met on our first night here. However, Lemuria is also home to many different civilizations, such as the Quintaglio (sapient tyrannosaurs located on the southern half), the Mahars (sapient pterosaurs who stay by the sea), and the Horibs (mammal-like reptiles who roam the jungles). But the ruins we were looking at belonged to what might have been the first empire in the world: the Lemurians themselves. This was an incredible archaeological find, much more than what we could have found on Echidna. Lemuria had barely been explored, and the Lemurians were believed to be extinct, unlike their neighbors, so the ruins were a historian's dream! I was so excited, I didn't notice we were captured until I was grabbed in a pair of scaly talons and lifted off. *** I awoke in an open space. behind me was a large, winged creature, bright green with an orange crest and a tooth-filled beak. In front of me were smaller winged forms, reddish, with white heads and long tails. I recognized them. Out of all Lemuria's inhabitants, these were the only ones who made regular contact with other lands. Mahars. They stared at me, their black eyes full of ancient intelligence. I felt as they stared at me, figuring me out. /Why are you here, Hoofbeast?/ The words were in my head, in a hissing, ancient, and distinctly female voice. Mahars had no ears, and made no sound, communicating on an entirely telepathic level. Thankfully, this was communication only, and Mahars couldn't read minds. /Well?/ I had no choice but to explain my situation. They stared, and I could tell they were reading my lips. Two of them kept looking at the third, and it became clear she understood what I was saying, and was acting as a conduit between my verbal language and her companion's telepathic language. When I finished, they had a "private" conversation, looking at each other and "talking". /Your story matches that ot the other three, though at least the grey one with the crooked eyes was able to tell us directly without need of a translator./ Huh. So Ditzy was partially telepathic. Who knew? /For trespassing on the Forbidden Land of the Dragon Kings, you four have been sentanced to fight for your lives and freedom in the Arena in three days. Until then, you will be slaves in the mines./ My mouth hung open as a Morulak shackled me and led me away. Author's Note *a "raptor" dinosaur, of which there are 40 known species currently living, most of which have feathers. **Dinosaurs are just animals. Giant carnivores aren't going to abandon an 8-foot raptor carcass just to go after a much smaller, harder-to-catch pony. ***Islands tend to have smaller animals than the mainland. The bigger the island, the less small the animals. ****"Long Necks" *****Which has a good native population of elephants, the Khaan kind, not the Zebrican kind.
The Mines, the Mahars, and the MorulakDay 8... Being put to work in the mines wasn't easy. Nor was the knowledge that in three days I'd be fighting for my life in an arena. Frankly, this sucked. The mines were well lit with a mix of torches and sunstones, which helped keep some of the more dangerous predators away due to the light, though there were still the bugs, among other things. Said "other things" were explained to us via pictures. Giant flesh eating worms, leeches as big as dogs, a crab-shrimp-thing with two brains called a Deodath, and something called a Zemadar. We worked tirelessly. Maud did the best, thanks to her rock-farming background, not even needing a pickaxe, simply using her hooves to smash the rock. At the end of our first shift, we were allowed to walk around, escorted by two Morulaks, Paj and Ghak. I was able to find out a lot about the Mahar culture on what breaks we were allowed. The Mahars believed they were not from "this World" in a technical sense. Instead, they believed they came from "the world below", a massive place they called Pellucidar. They said the sun always stayed in one spot there, and landmasses and bodies of water were reversed there, making it, in a sense, larger than this world. Of course, I had heard ponies who believed in the so-called "Hollow World" theory, and some eccentrics who even claimed to have gone there and brough back proof. Said "proof" was always the dung, tooth, or claw of a known saurian species. The fact the Mahars believed it gave no credence, and was probably nothing more than a relict creation myth. Mahar society was ruled by the females. I only saw one male, a massive white creature who spoke in broken telepathy and seemed to have trouble with pronouns. Browsing their libraries, I found the ancient Mahars had selectively bred themselves for large, stupid males and smaller, more intelligent females. The males were kept as basically genetic "livestock", more or less only useful for supplying the material the females needed to produce eggs. Males weren't even given the same name as the females. The females were called "Mahar" whereas the males were called "Mazak". It went even further in that the single male I met was simply referred to as "Male 12235", as opposed to our prosecutor, the female Sol-ta-to. Mahars could live for centuries, but spent up to three days sleeping at a time. The Morulaks were more difficult to figure out. Whereas I had met Mahars outside Lemuria and learned their written language there, in addition to there being no spoken language barrier, I had to start from scratch for the Morulaks. However, their language was clearly derived directly from Ancient Equine, giving me a slow understanding as the days went. *** Day 11... I had been making slow progress on figuring out our blood-sucking captors. Paj and Ghak had become less like jailers and more like babysitters over their time with us, and had helped us in learning the language. Ditzy picked up on it the fastest, and acted as a translator. The Morulak's ancestors were Mesohippus who had been brought to Lemuria as slaves for the Lemurians. Some of these slaves had been bred into the Morulak in order to keep non-altered slaves in line. However, when the slaves overthrew the Lemurians, the Morulak fled into the caves, forming their own society, waiting out the time as the Mesohippus became extinct due to various civil wars. Paj explained this was the story, and though his kin were long-lived, no Morulak alive today was alive when this happened. Each Morulak "Colony" consisted of three castes: Breeders, Colony Guards, and Hunters. Paj and Ghak were Hunters who had been caught by the Mahars, and were basically only higher-ranking slaves than me and my companions. Breeders, Paj explained, were tall females who were doted on by the entire Colony, and had the easiest life, breeding with whatever lucky stallions they wanted and getting the first choice on every kill. Other mares within the Colony were allowed to breed, but it was uncommon. Colony Guards were bulky stallions who stayed around the Breeders, protecting them from any threats. Ghak also said they were horribly stupid and uptight. Hunters made up the majority of the Colony, and went out to gather food every night. When a Colony became too large, it split, with several female hunters becoming the Breeders of the new Colony. The new Colony would often keep an alliance with the old one, and would come to their aid should they fall under attack. The Morulak worshipped the stars, seeing them as the campfires of all who had gone before them. Though the Morulak did not cook their food, they used fire for warmth. That was the start and finish of Morulak culture. They had nothing more to say. We enter the arena to fight for our freedom today. As we were led away, though, Paj and Ghak looked regretful.
Fight in the ArenaDay 11... I didn't know what we would be put up against in the arena, but I was more than outraged when Ocean Wave and Maud were taken to a seperate arena. The arena was a giant stadium with a closed top, with several arpetures big enough for a Mahar to fly out. There were bleachers, but in place of chairs, each Mahar sat on her own large boulder. The entire arena was silent. A score of Morulaks heralded the arrival of the Mahar's queen. Physically, I saw no difference between her and the rest of her kind. She flew to the highest boulder, then sat, watching. Twenty Mahars flew to the center of the arena, and then the music began. But it was music without sound. The "band" began waving their tails and heads in synchronized movements, occasionally taking steps to one side and then the other, forward and then back. The performance went on for about fifteen minutes before falling still. The Mahars in the stands began beating their wings and thumping their tails on the ground until the entire stadium shook, applauding. They fell silent once again as the performers began a new piece. *** Ditzy and I were sent in, each given a spear, then left alone. The gate rumbled open. Ditzy gripped her spear. With a screech, a Thipdar ambled out. Upon noticing us, the pterosaur rose and screeched at us, balancing on two legs. This was the dominant aerial predator of Lemuria, resembling a Pteranodon, save for the fact it had teeth. This beast was domesticated by the Mahars as a hunting animal. And now we were its prey. It spread its wings to their full length, thirty feet from tip to tip, and took to the air. Ditzy had a slight advantage. She was smaller than the thipdar, thus more maneuverable in the air. I was grounded, though. The beast swerved through the air, beak open and ready to grab me*. Ditzy dive-bombed it, knocking it off course, causing it to recalibrate to avoid hitting the ground beak-first. It landed, then began shuffling towards me at a fast pace.** I held my spear in my magic, but the pterosaur reared and batted it away with a wing. Ditzy rammed into its back, knocking it onto its stomach, and I ran. How had this happened? I should have been back home by now, having lunch with my friends, feeding my monkey, Shift, playing my... My brain began working thanks to the stress. My lyre! Of course! The Mahars might not have ears, but the Thipdar did! But my bag was back in my barracks where I had been kept. Seeing Paj and Ghak watching, I yelled out what I could in my limited Ancient Equine-derivative language I had learned. They ran out. The Thipdar regained its footing, hissing menacingly. I just had to live until they got back. Author's Note *Despite what you may see in movies, Pterosaurs are built in a way that they can't grab and carry things through the air with their feet, save for a few more abbarent forms. **Once again, save for a few abberrant forms, Pterosaur were not made for walking, instead shuffling like an octogenerian pony in a long cloak.
The First EmpireWe were chained together and forced to walk through the jungle. We didn't stop for anything. However, our captors were fairly interesting. They weren't dinosaurs, or any other type of archosaur*. They were green-scaled dragons, roughly alicorn sized, with tiny, useless wings. Each one walked bipedally on two bird-like legs, and they were all armed with rapier-like blades and shields. The shields were magic, generated from a small crystal on a bracelet worn around each dragon's arm. I had no idea what these creatures were, or where we were going. *** We came to a large river, with a vine bridge stretching across... except it hadn't been built. Rather, it looked like it had been grown into place. Large orange creatures floated in the water, sort of like squids, except supported by two natural buoys, a large organic sail rising up from the back of each cephalopod. Swimming among them were scaly beasts like finned gorillas with seahorse heads, eel tails, and, strangest of all, an organic cannon growing from each shoulder. They all seemed natural, but they couldn't be. At least, not without heavy selective breeding over a LONG period of time. We were eventually led to another ancient Lemurian city... except this one was in relatively good shape... I suddenly had a good idea who our captors were. LYRA'S EXPOSITION TIME! 65 million years ago, the Cretaceous Era ended, a meteor wiping out most of the dinosaur species (and giving birth to the first 30 draconequi). Before then, several sapient dinosaur species had roamed the world. With their extinction, a new intelligence rose. A certain species of dragon began crafting tools. They began progressing, and by the Oligocene, they took to the seas, building an empire, exploring and conquering, even taking back captured slaves, a three-toed equine race known as Mesohippus. The dragons began to carefully breed their livestock, creating weapons and transports, and they selectively bred a fraction of their slaves, creating the Morulak. However, what pure Mesohippus remained rose up against their draconian masters, overthrowing them. The dragons hid, and faded into myth, known only under one name. Lemurians. *** We barely talked as the Lemurians led us into the city, but the dragons watched us from everywhere. We wouldn't be escaping easily. We were led to a large building, then shoved inside. I had to give these dragons credit, since these quarters were better than those given to us by the Mahars. Night was falling, so for the first time in days, we settled down in the cots, and fell asleep Author's Note * the superfamily to which dinosaurs, birds, crocodiles, and pterosaurs belong.
EscapeWe were not the only prisoners of the Lemurians. Sharing our cot was another rock enthusiast, a royal guard, and a hunter. The geologist was a Quintaglio named Tor-Afdool. He was typical of his kind: an 8-foot tyrannosaur, covered in a soft green down, with pure black eyes. He was the only one who spoke Equestrian, and while he and Maud got along, they were polar opposites personality-wise. Kik, the royal guard, wasn't even a native, but a Kothrah, a sapient dromaeosaur from Zebes. Covered in black feathers, he was stoic and quiet. Finally, there was the Horib. Resembling a large upright lizard in a black leather jerkin, he kept to himself, hissing at anyone who approached him. The Lemurians didn't make us do anything, simply keeping us in a large complex, guarded by creatures called Monseer Hounds. These "Hounds" were amphibians, looking like slimy, hairless dogs with the head of a snakehead fish. We were basically trapped, no way out. The walls were metal, meaning Maud's skill with rock was useless. They were too high for Ocean Wave to fly over, and the Lemurians had clipped Ditzy's primaries, leaving her grounded. To top it, the metal used was Maginite, commonly used in the magic-cancelling cuffs used by the Royal Guard. As I said, trapped. *** Days passed. We were in our quarters, and Afdool was talking about something. "Why haven't we seen any actual Lemurians in here?" Ditzy suddenly blurted out. Afdool absentmindedly waved his hand. "Because I'm in here. If I see one, I'll just slip into Dagamant." Dagamant, I had gathered, was basically an instinctual rage felt by most Quintaglios.* It was territorial instinct amped up to 11. Any Quintaglio entered within 10 paces of another, and they became mindless animals bent on killing the intruder. Lemurians looked enough like them to trigger it even without "invading territory", so naturally the Lemurians wouldn't risk it. I briefly wondered how everyone not aware of my situation was faring with my absence. ~ Princess Medusa had informed the Equestrian Diarchs, as well as the royalty of Concordia, of the failure of the archaeologists to reach her country many months ago. After much discussion, the combined Echidnaean and Concordian Royal Fleets had been dispatched to search for them. Now, after having found and tracked the path, Captain Agrippa of Her Majesty Medusa's Royal Guard carefully led his squad through the jungle. The greying Cyclops surveyed the area around the river with his one eye. his goat-like horns glowed, and his sword slowly was slowly unsheathed. He began marching across the bridge. ~ We heard the fighting before we saw it. The sounds were horrifying, but finally I saw our saving angels. Harpies from Echidna. Odd equines, with bird-like wings and pony heads, but no forelegs. They screeched as they dived at the Hounds, pummeling them with the hard hooves on their hind legs. However, it was no harpy that landed in front of us. "Sorry we took so long," Firefly said. "Those Echidnaeans are really bad at directions." Author's Note *Stemming from a now out-of practice religious ceremony. You see, a special order in the Quintaglio Priesthood are known as the "Halpataars", or "Bloodpriests". In order to prevent overpopulation, a Bloodpriest was assigned to devour seven out of every eight Quintaglio hatchlings a day after they hatch. The Bloodpriest first goes into a trance, then dons a purple robe and enters the nest; there, he chases the hatchlings and eats all but the fastest, strongest one. Now, this had a semi-Freudian consequence. Imagine: you spend the first few days with your siblings, peaceful and calm. Then, the first time a stranger enters your territory, seven of you are eaten. Now, imagine this process happening over thousands of years, producing more aggressive offspring each generation. When it was found the bloodpriests were the CAUSE of Quintaglio territoriality about 100 years ago, it was decided that, rather than hatchlings, seven of every eight eggs would be eaten. the "New Quintaglios" and their descendants are distinctly less territorial. Afdool happens to be of the older generation.
EpilogueWe managed to escape with little difficulty thanks to the Concordians and Echidnaeans, and it was decided we could re-schedule the visit to Echidna. Good. I'd had enough adventure for now, and frankly, I was ready to be back home. ~ The various prisoners of the Lemurians were returned to their respective homes, and the Lemurians themselves had re-learned that equines were not pushovers. The body of Captain Cornelius S. Seadog* was never recovered, though his arm was found on the beach. It was given to his closest kin, and is now worn by his youngest son. Paj and Ghak earned their freedom from the Mahars. The two, inspired by a certain unicorn mare, managed to get a place in the Concordian navy, specifically Firefly's own galleon. The two now spend their days working at night, but sleeping in the bowels of the ship during the day, and have been dubbed the official "rats" of the ship. Ocean Wave, Maud, and Ditzy returned to their normal lives, but still keep in touch. And Lyra returned home, climbed up the stairs, and promptly collapsed in her bed. THE END [youtube=vOinUtRY8Eg] LYRA'S VOYAGES: ON STRANGE TIDES Author's Note *Salty
Jaws... and Tentacles... and One Easily Aggravated WhaleDay 2... Nothing but open ocean for miles around, no land in sight, the wind blowing the smell of salt in my face. It was magical. Ditzy rode the wind with the seabirds, Ocean Wave leapt in the waves made by the bow, having fun with a pod of two-finned Rhinoceros Dolphins. Maud stayed in her cabin, since sea air made her uneasy. The captain was a grizzled old diamond dog with a mechanical arm, which he said he lost to a Sea Tooth, a giant reptile that occasionally came up from the depths. We didn't speak much. We had left the kelp forests of the Emerald Sea behind, and were now heading southwest through the Great Pelagic Ocean, straight to Echidna. There wasn't much life to be seen. *** A few hours passed, and I take that back. The boat was surrounded by small silvery fish, thousands of them, stretching for miles. It was beautiful... The massive form of a Western Megalodon burst through the school, briefly towering over our boat before sinking down, and the beauty turned to horror. To the port side, tentacles exploded through the surface as a kraken joined other predators in the feast. The dolphins and seabirds that had followed us took off to get their share, avoiding the larger predators. Maud had by now come out to look. A killer whale sized dolphin leapt over the boat. It was a phantasmal green, with glowing stars in its hide. I stared in wonder. "A Delphin... but that means..." More Delphins swam through the fish, and it wasn't long before we saw their parents. A massive blue, star-studded form rose up, spraying a fine mist from its blowhole. More Cetus rose up, a large scarred male guarding them and the Delphins. You see, like the Ursa or Lupus, Cetus have a juvenile and adult form, starting out as Delphins, then later aging into the sperm whale-like Cetus, which were very protective of their young. A single other whale was visible: a Jasconius, big enough to be mistaken for a small island, especially with the algae covering its back. We had sailed into a gathering of predators, even if the Jasconius was a baleen whale, and we were all in something small and fragile. The Kraken decided Delphin flesh would be more filling, and grabbed one that strayed too close. The squealing creature was dragged under. The scarred bull Cetus noticed, as did the rest of the pod. they charged, the resulting wave tipping the boat. THAT had the unfortunate effect of making it look like a wounded whale, and the wounds caused to the bull as he fought the kraken stained the water red, mixed with the blue of the kraken's blood. The Megalodon smelled it, and must have thought our boat was its target. Fifty-three feet of shark rose at full speed from the depths, its jaws sinking into the boat and sending me, the Captain, and Maud over the side. Not knowing what else to do, we swam towards the Jasconius. Climbing atop the giant whale, we watched, helpless, as our boat was demolished. Ditzy alighted next to us. Ocean Wave was nowhere to be seen. "What now?" The Captain spoke. His voice was a gruff, harsh bark. "We make camp. These things don't dive unless you're stupid enough to light a fire on their back, so no fires. You all can eat the green growing on it." Maud seemed unfazed by this turn of events. "What about you?" The diamond dog pointed. A small herd of red beasts was ambling across the whale. They resembled cows, but had eight legs and ten bright blue eyes. Kujata, giant amphibians who picked parasites off the whale's back. So long as it kept him from getting hungry enough to turn on us, I was okay. Now we could only see where our ride would take us. As I found a spot to sleep, I could only hope Ocean Wave was okay. This hadn't gone the way I wanted.
MusicI dodged another stab from the Thipdar's beak. Ditzy prepared from another divebomb. But the reptile had learned her tricks by now, swatting her from the air, then pinning her to the ground. The Mahars in the stands began thumping their tails, sure the match was about to end... when something hit my head. My lyre was there, at my hooves. I wasted no time, quickly plucking the strings in a soothing melody. The pterosaur paused, then began swaying to the rhythm. I began advancing, and the Thipdar began backing away. Once it was in its pen, I closed the gate, then stopped playing. Silence. Then a single thump, followed by the whooshing of wings. Then another. Then another. Soon, the entire stadium was shaking from the applause. I had done it. *** We were released... right outside the city, into the jungle, leaving us no choice but to keep walking into uncharted territory. None of us were happy about this, but it was better than being slaves, so we began walking. *** Day... something... I don't know how long we walked through that jungle, but we barely slept, so the days were a blur. Then Ocean Wave said that one thing that should never be said. "Well, at least it can't get any worse." A massive CRACK! split the sky as it began raining. There was a tramping of three-toed feet. Swords were pointed at us, shields of magic energy protecting their wielders. We were captured again Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter!
