The Lost City of Equalantis

A loud whistle followed by the slow build-up of mechanical momentum set the train in motion towards the southern region of Equestria. And there was going to be plenty of time to reflect and think as they made the journey to as far as the locomotion would take them. For several hours, they rested and enjoyed the views of the landscape passing by.

Sitting in the corner of their cabin, Twilight had the map sprawled out on the seat next to here, as well as a saddlebag full of relevant texts she had packed for the journey.

"Don't you think packing books was a bit unnecessary, darling?" said Rarity.

Twilight briefly found herself more amused than annoyed at Rarity's question, since the mare herself had packed at least ten different outfits for herself. Twilight gave her a quick roll of her eyes and a small smile in response. "I'm reading about the area the map appears to be guiding us."

She had the attention of everypony now. "Apparently, the Southern Celestial Sea has had its fair share of mysterious disappearances in the past. Many sailor-ponies and pirates of times past became lost in the sea in sudden weatherstorms."

"Pssh, nothing I couldn't take care of," said Rainbow Dash, arrogantly.

"Maybe so," Twilight continued, "but that's not all that's weird about it. There's an ancient legend that attempts to explain the mysterious phenomena which says that the disappearances are due to more than just natural weather accidents."

"Like what?" Pinkie Pie interjected. "Pirates? Ghosts? Aliens?"

"No," replied Twilight. She paused for dramatic effect. "The legends say that long ago, there was an ancient race of ponies that inhabited an island in the Southern Celestial Sea, and on that island was the entirety of their civilization. It's been said that they held great technological powers, even more advanced than the feats of science and engineering we've accomplished today."

"What kind of technology?" said Rarity.

"Nopony is entire sure," Twilight continued, "but there have been rumors of course. Things like flying machines, advanced medicine, biological enhancements, communication through the air..."

"What's so special about flying or communicating through the air?" Said Rainbow Dash. "I can do both." She stopped for a moment. "Nevermind, carry on..."

"Um...what kind of biological...enhancements?" asked Applejack.

"I don't know," said Twilight. "All of these things are just rumors passed down for generations. Nopony really knows how true they are, if at all. It's not even determined if they ever existed. And if they did, they disappeared."

"So..." Fluttershy gently raised her voice, "where did they go?"

"Nopony knows for sure," said Twilight, "but it's been theorized that the island sunk below the ocean's surface and their civilization was lost in the process."

"That's hogwash," said Applejack, "an island don't just disappear overnight."

"Maybe if it was cotton candy," said Spike as he noticed Pinkie Pie grabbing more than a hoof-ful of h'orderves from a nearby food cart.

"Well," continued Twilight, "it is just a legend after all, but I thought it was interesting. There's often a grain of truth to most ancient stories and legends."

"Pardon me for being a tad obtuse," said Rarity, "but what good is an X in the middle of a sea on a map going to do if we want to find it?"

"I thought the same thing at first," Twilight explained, "but it appears that this map possesses magical properties. It's very subtle, but I've noticed a small shift in perspective as we've been on the train. It appears that the closer we get to the X, the more detailed the map becomes."

"Well ain't that neat," said Applejack.

"Quite," added Rarity.

"Mmmmmm," said Pinkie Pie, who had just taken a bite of a sugary confection.

Several more hours passed as the train traversed further through the landscape until they had reached a small port town near the southern peninsula. The voice of the conductor came over the intercom. "Attention, everypony. We will be reaching the end of the line shortly. Please collect your belongings and prepare to disembark. Thank you."

As the train came to a stop, everybody grabbed their saddlebags and left the train to set hoof on the outdoor cobblestone station. The air was warm and wet, and a salty sea breeze blew ferociously towards them. Further down towards the waterfront was a small village and a dock in the calm bay. They made their way down towards the dock and set hoof on the old, creaky boards. The soft sounds of lapping water and gulls permeated the air as they walked down the aisle with extravagant boats on either side.

"So which boat did you rent?" asked Rarity. She was eyeing a particularly exquisite and stark white sailboat with elegant sails and a glossy finish.

"Turn around," Twilight replied.

Behind them was a simple wooden sailboat with slightly tattered sails. It wasn't very big, but it would suffice for the seven of them. A simple wooden steering wheel was located on the bow and a square opening on the floor was located on the stern, presumably for storage and sleeping.

"I should have figured..." said Rarity as she began to board the boat with everyone else, climbing up a steep wooden plank onto the top.

Fluttershy watched her hooves carefully as she climbed up the plank with water on both sides beneath her. She wasn't particularly scared of water, as she could always fly away if she needed to. It was rather the things under the water that scared her most.

"So you think we can wear eye patches and stuff?" Asked Rainbow Dash, rhetorically of course. "I've always wanted to be a pirate."

"Argh, me matey!" said Pinkie Pie, shaking her hoof and closing one eye.

"Alright," said Twilight. "We're gonna need everypony's help to keep this ship sailing smoothly. Dash and Fluttershy, you two will be in charge of the sails. Make sure they stay aligned and working properly. Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you will be in charge of navigation. As for you and I, Applejack, we'll cover anything else that needs doing."

"Aye aye, captain!" said Pinkie Pie.

"What about me?" asked Spike.

"You can swab the poop deck," joked Rainbow Dash. Spike gave her a raised eyebrow.

Twilight gave Spike a real answer. "Keep an eye out for anything interesting. We'll need to have someone in the crow's nest to spot things from far away."

"You got it," Spike gladly replied as he climbed up to the crow's nest.

"Here Rarity," continued Twilight as she levitated the map in her direction, "you hold onto the map and let us know if anything interesting happens, okay?"

"Aye aye," Rarity replied in a laughably odd accent.

"Everypony set?"

Everypony nodded.

"Alright," said Twilight Sparkle. With the salty winds blowing in her face, staring out over the endless ocean before them, she raised on hoof into the air and shouted four words that she'd been waiting to say for hours. "LET DOWN THE SAILS!"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy let loose the ropes holding the sail together in a small roll at the top of the mast. With the soft sounds of rippling fabric falling downwards towards the floor of the ship, they suddenly surged forward away from the bay as the wind caught the sails. Within seconds, they were already fairly far away from the shore and heading out into the open waters of the Southern Celestial Sea.

"This is amazing!" said Rainbow Dash, who was flying by as the ship bounced through the waves splashing beneath the bow. Fluttershy had quickly put her hooves on dry planks, wanting nothing to do with flying over open water.

"A little bumpy, I'd like to add," said Rarity just as the boat crashed over another wave, the map remaining stationary in the air above her.

Applejack stood with both hooves on the steering wheel of the ship, her eyes focused and unwavering. "Doin' the best I can, Rarity!"

"Oh, it's nothing a pony can't get used to," said Rarity.

A faint noise came from far above them in the crow's nest. "Hey, there's a telescope up here!" said Spike.

Several uneventful hours passed as the view of the shore behind them faded away beyond the horizon. Now the water truly filled their views in every direction. Everypony but Applejack who was steering the ship and Spike who was keeping an eye out had surrendered themselves into the small hull near the back of the ship.

"How's the map, Rarity?" asked Twilight.

"Everything looks normal to me."

The map had zoomed further in, and the coastline was barely visible on the northern side. In every other direction was, presumably, open waters.

"Oh, um...maybe there is something. What's this symbol supposed to mean?"

"Symbol? What symbol?" replied Twilight. She rushed over to her. "Is it the X?"

"No, it's some sort of blob with squiggly marks coming off of it. Really, whoever made this magical map had no sense of artistic direction."

Twilight looked at the map. "Rarity...how many squiggles is that?"

"...Eight, I think?"

"I hope that isn't what I think it might be..."

Pinkie Pie chimed in with her usual optimism. "Maybe there's a squished spider stuck on the paper?"

Fluttershy and Rarity's faces became disturbed, both for similar but different reasons. The mellowed voice of Applejack came from outside. "Uhhh, everypony should probably come out here now!"

Outside, the weather had become cloudy and the winds were blowing colder. "What is it?" said Rainbow Dash. "I can't see anything!"

"Something was in the water over there!" Spike replied from atop the crow's nest.

"Well where did it go?"

Dash's question was promptly answered by the sudden impact on the left side of the ship, sending a splash of water spraying over top of it and over everyone on the deck. Moments later, eight large tentacles rose into the air on both sides of the ship and began to thrash about in every which direction.

"Coming down!" Spike yelled in complete fear as he jumped from the crow's nest. Twilight caught him with her magic before he hit the deck.

Twilight set him down on the deck. Things were about to get serious.