The Lost World

The Lost World

Chapter 4

By: Bairiko

It had been one year since the end of the Chaos Wars, and Luna and myself had dedicated ourselves to repairing the damages done to Equestria under Discords reign. We had been discussing possible consequences of his chocolate rain when a messenger arrived from the western coast...

Equestria, 1 AD.

Deep in the heart of central Equestria, almost hidden away by the forest surrounding it there sat a small town built around a partially constructed castle. Great flashes of light lit up the nights sky, while joyous music flowed through the streets, and every stallion, mare and foal was out celebrating the one year anniversary of their liberation. Towns and villages all across Equestria were celebrating, but none could compare to the festivities that took place here. For it was here, on the site of this village that two brave sisters fought with and defeated Discord, the tyrannical Lord of Chaos with the Elements of Harmony, encasing him in stone and freeing Equestria permanently.

It was for this reason the town was named 'Everfree'.

Pushing through the joyous crowds of villagers, an Earth pony messenger galloped as fast as he could towards the gorge that sectioned off the castle from the rest of the village. As he approached the stone bridge, four guards stepped in his path, but upon hearing his report, they escorted the stallion towards a half constructed tower to the left of the main atrium.

Climbing the circular steps leading up to the room, the stallion thought of what he had seen and what he was going to tell the two new princesses. By all rights what he was going to present the countries saviours and newly crowned rulers was ludicrous, but it was what he had seen and what he had been told to repeat, so he would.

Passing the two unicorn guards at the top of the stairs, the chocolate brown stallion took a moment before approaching Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the Alicorns talking to a small group of Pegasi about some remaining effects of Discords magic.

"News from western Equestria!" He said, bringing all attention in the room to himself, "Scouts at the ocean report that they have returned." He paused at the worried look on the Princesses face. "And they are not alone this time."

About a week after my sister and I defeated Discord we began to receive reports from the west. They spoke of small ships, not of any known design. They would come in close to land, but once a pony got near they would sail away instantly. My sister and I worried they were some remaining force of Discords out to do us harm for their masters defeat, playing tricks on ponies minds. Thankfully however, these sightings only lasted for a few days before they disappeared. We had thought that they were indeed a leftover effect of Discords chaos magic that had faded and left it at that, but we also had the coastal towns and villages be slightly more wary of the ocean, and to send word the moment they returned, if they ever did.

Princess Celestia was worried. There was no way this was some remnant of Discord, it would have faded away to nothing long ago if that were the case. Her armies could still be called upon if need be, rested after a year of peace but still veteran after a decade of war. But at what cost could there be if this was a resurgence of Discords followers? She asked if the messenger was sure.

"I am as sure as I can be m'lady, for I saw it with my own eyes." That gained the undivided attention of both Princesses in the room. "I had been spending the day on the beaches outside the village of Vanhoover with some friends when I saw a glint of something in the water. When I looked one of these odd ships streaked close to shore. It seemed to notice us however and sailed away, but that was not what had my friends and I worried. On the horizon we could see glimmers off of more ships, larger ships, and they seemed to be sailing towards us! We galloped as fast as our hooves could carry us to tell the Mayor. He told us to tell you immediately, and that they would send another messenger if anything changed."  He managed to get out in one breath, stopping to inhale, he noted the anxious looks of the Princesses. "This was three days ago your Majesties."

"Do you have any idea about their intentions Mr..." Luna asked as she stepped away from the table to stand beside her sister.

"Oh, so sorry your Majesty, my name is Alson. And I'm afraid I don't know what their intentions are." Alson said, nervously looking around the room. That was when Princess Celestia spoke up.

"Come, we will see to this personally." Celestia strode from the room, followed shortly by Luna and Alson. The Pegasi, forgotten about and with their meteorological concerns briefly put on hold, looked to each other and shrugged their wings before flying out through a not yet constructed wall to enjoy the festival.

We traveled throughout the night on board one of our chariots, and arrived at Vanhoover a few hours after I had to raise the sun. At the time Vanhoover was not the large port city it is today, but a small inland village. The return of the unexplained ships understandably put the population on edge and dampened the celebrations. When we had arrived at the town hall, the Mayor told us villagers had been keeping close eye on the new fleet bobbing out at sea. Our guide offered to take us to the observation post and we agreed. This was to be our first contact.

The village of Vanhoover was a humble little village, built up along the White Rock River leading to the ocean. Although it was rather unassuming when compared to Everfree, the village had seen an increase in population to suit its fledgling port facilities. The village could never have expected the visitors it would soon be receiving however, as the chariot carrying Princesses Celestia and Luna touched down on Mane Street. The villagers were eager to see just who was arriving, and stepped out from their homes to see. Princesses Celestia and Luna walked down the street, Alson at their side as the villagers all stopped, bowed, then cheered for their Princesses when they arose.

"Welcome! Welcome your Highness's to our humble town." A canary yellow Earth pony stallion said from the doorway to the town hall. He gestured with his hoof towards the door, "Please, let's talk in private your Majesties."

After the Mayor had ushered the Princesses into his office, he introduced himself as Mayor Honeybee. He also didn't skirt around the edges of the issue. "I take it your Majesties are here because of our... guests?

"Yes, we swore to our subjects when we took the throne we would defend them from any threat." Princess Celestia stated matter-of-fact. "We don't know if these ships are a threat, but we will be here either way."

For the next half an hour the Princesses spoke with the Mayor about how the village was dealing with their newest guests. It seems the villagers have prepared themselves to either come under attack and flee, or stay and be the hosts to anything that arrives.

"The locals have been bringing in reports every two or three hours or so." Alson said, leading the Princesses and their guards down towards the beach where he had sighted the ships, their plan now being to get to the observation post. An hour of walking later they arrived at a rocky outcropping that jutted about one hundred pony-lengths out into the ocean. At the end of this outcropping stood a hastily constructed wooden gazebo. When the Princesses entered the gazebo, they found two unicorns manning a fair sized telescope pointing out over the water. The unicorns bowed before allowing the princesses use of their tools.

"You were right Alson, there are quite a number of them." Princess Celestia said as she looked through the telescope.

Visible through the telescope were slightly over one hundred ships, ranging in size from the small, fast boats to large galleons. They bobbed serenely in the ocean waves, clustered about with the larger ships near the middle. Occasionally one of the small scout-like ships would sail away from the group and come closer to land. Whenever one did this Celestia could see strange, bipedal creatures staffing the vessel. They would look through their own telescopes towards the Princesses position as their boat sailed past, before zipping back towards the main fleet.

Each vessel flew various flags, either for signaling or identification the Princesses did not know. There was one flag they all had in common however. A thick crimson band with a blue strip in its middle took up the left hoof third of the flag, while the other two thirds were comprised of a white field. In the middle of the white field was a silver crest shaped like a shield with a white star in the middle. Two crossed swords stood behind the shield while a picture of an anchor sat below it. The flag of their navy perhaps?

For hours the Princesses observed and were observed by the ships as they bobbed in the ocean. Alson excused himself to go back to the village, wishing the Princesses luck on his way out. Questions as to why they were there went unanswered as nopony knew for certain. Possibilities ranged from an diplomatic escort to a colony fleet. As the hours ticked by however it became apparent nothing was going to happen today. When the sun was low in the sky and twilight was beginning to form one of the unicorns who had been there originally spoke up.

"Pardon us your Majesty, but we were wondering if you were going to be staying in Vanhoover?" The unicorn, a pale purple mare with a silver mane, asked nervously. The Princesses were their rulers AND celebrities, and Vanhoover was still a small village. "That fleet hasn't done anything for the last three days, I'm willing to bet they will still be here in the morning." Looking outside, Luna noticed twilight was fast approaching. She and Celestia made note of this, then agreed to stay in Vanhoover to observe the vessels further.

The Princesses stepped out of the gazebo, ready to perform their celestial duties. One years worth of practice allowed the Princesses to perform this duty without a flashy ceremony, but the power needed was substantial and still highly visible. Unseen by either Princess, or the other observers who were busy watching the light show, the fleet out at sea could see the display as well. A flurry of flags shot up and down the flagpoles, relaying messages back and forth. When the Princesses finished and excused themselves to return to the town, nopony noticed the ships as they were silently maneuvering into a line, quietly raising hatches along the sides from which thick black tubes extended.

A scant year of peace was all our ponies knew at the time. One year in which to be happy before months of misery. This is where our story gets dark my little ponies. You will not find what happened next in any textbook, because what happened is not something either party wanted remembered.

Princess Celestia was dreaming, but of what she could not say. Before her stood a lavender Alicorn mare, a mare she felt she should know. When this mare looked towards her Celestia felt a massive swelling of pride, but pride of what? The apparition squealed out her name and galloped towards her, but just before contact was made the world exploded in sound and light.

"GAH!" Celestia jumped out of the bed the Vanhoover mayor had given to her, cries of alarm and distress echoing in her ears. The impossibility of a purple Alicorn swiftly forgotten when Stalwart Sword, her captain of the guard burst through the door.

"Princess! We need your help, something is happening down at the shore!" Stalwart shouted, turning around and galloping out the doors, his armour clacking at the motions with the Princess hot on his heels.

"What has happened sister?" Luna asked, charging through the doors of her own room.

"It's those ships! Something is hap-" Stalwart was cut off by another distant explosion of sound, like the rumble of thunder from the direction of the beach. "Somethings happening," He tried again. "One of the observers came back badly wounded, shouting something about dozens of small ships breaking off from the fleet, then the observation post just evaporated around her." The guard captain and Princesses had emerged from town hall by the end of the explanation and were running down the road, cries of alarm still ringing around them as yet more thunder sounded from the beach.

"Captain, I want you to take two pegasi and scout out what's happening on the beach, I want a physical description of our new enemies and what they may be capable of. Then send a messenger back to Everfree to rally the armies. I also want you to have the rest of your section help with evacuations." Celestia said, knowing deep in her heart that her fears were true, these strange vessels were a threat and were to be handled as such.

"Your Majesty, what about Vanhoover?" Stalwart looked around the village, mindful of the fear in the villagers eyes.

"Dozens of boats could carry hundreds of soldiers Stalwart, and we don't know what else they might have on board." Celestia said, steely eyed but with remorse in her voice. "The beach is an hour away by hoof, and they may want to set themselves up before they do anything else. I would say we have two or three hours to evacuate the village." As Celestia finished, she encountered the mayor, so she and Luna set about helping evacuate the town and provide moral support for the scared villagers.

"Yes your Majesty." Stalwart took wing and headed off to find the rest of the guard section that accompanied the princesses. He found them flapping through the air towards the beach but headed them off with their orders. Two privates accompanied the captain towards the beach while one corporal flew back towards Everfree. The others flew back to the village to offer their services to the mayor or captain of the town guard.

"Come on lads," Stalwart began, "The Princesses want to know what's going on down there, keep above the clouds and don't do anything stupid."

As the guards drew near to the beach, the sound of thunder fading from their ears. It was replaced by the sounds of marching hooves and shouted orders. Oh no, did they send the village militia out? Stalwart got his answer as he and the other two perched themselves on a cloud, overlooking the beach-turned-battlefield.

The beach was wrecked. Holes cratered the beaches and treeline, while the rocky outcropping where the gazebo once stood was gone, shards of destroyed wood floating in the water. Along the beach itself smaller lifeboats had been run aground, most likely originating from the fleet at sea, and definitely the origin of what else stood on the beach.

Those can't be Humans can they? Stalwart thought, They're just an old Minotaur myth!

Below, standing about on the beach were about two dozen bipedal soldiers, standing off from the main army further down to the left. Chain mail shirts and leather armour covered them while spears and axes rested in their hands or on their belts. The guardscolts watched as the fifty lightly armed and armoured town militia charged towards the invaders, not noticing reinforcements advancing down the beach as well. The invaders seemed confused at first, almost like they weren't expecting what was in front of them.

This confusion vanished as the two forces collided, the more solidly built Earth ponies bowling over the taller but slightly more top heavy invaders. The Earth ponies spun on their front hooves and bucking the next line of invaders with all their might, their steel horseshoes demolishing anything they contacted. The soldiers quickly fell back, grabbing the shoulders of their wounded and dragging them with them. The militia also pulled back, reforming themselves and rejoicing in their small victory. At least half the enemy was wounded or dead, with only four casualties of their own. Reveling as they were, they didn't notice a far more dangerous adversary form up beside them until it was too late.

Where the first group of men had been lightly armed and armoured, they had also been simple scouts. The thirty odd soldiers who now faced them from the side were encased in steel plates that gleamed in the moonlight, tower shields on one arm and deadly swords or spears in the other. These were human heavy line infantry, and a charge against them would have been suicidal. The heavily armoured soldiers began marching forwards to the beat of drums, closing the distance between themselves and the guards. Raising their shields high and thrusting their spears forward, the wet night sand slowing their moves but not breaking their rhythm. The town guards began to back away, and this is where they met another problem.

The survivors of the scout group had reformed in record time and had been reinforced before meeting up with regular infantry, and while the native militia had been ogling the heavies they had quickly ran around behind them, cutting them off from their escape. Heavily armed soldiers marching from the left flank, scouts holding the rear, regulars to the right of them and the ocean to the front, the guards were trapped. If they charged the scouts again they might have had a chance to break through, but without the element of surprise on their side their casualties would have been heavy. They couldn't swim for safety without abandoning their weapons and armour, by which time the marching heavies would be upon them. Charging the heavies was simply out of the question, as was attacking the regulars. They were surrounded.

Humans, that is what they called themselves. A chance encounter with the Minotaurs years before had given them status as a myth and gave us a name for them in those early years. An intelligent race and very good with their hands, a skill they needed. Very few amongst them had the ability to wield magic, though almost all of them had very high resistances to it. The armies we faced were the results of their Emperor wishing to expand his influence beyond his shores. The battle of Vanhoover was Equestria's first tactical loss.

Stalwart couldn't watch anymore, he had to act. The impulsive actions of the town guard had gotten them in trouble and now it fell to him to get them out.

I did not fight with the princesses against Discord just to see us fall now! Stalwart thought as he turned to his two companions, both also veterans of the war. "Looks like it's up to us. Two of us will maneuver around behind those lights and hit them from behind, hard. While the third gets the militias attention and tells them to charge as well, hopefully the confusion should let them escape without getting chewed up too badly. We don't have any time to waste so LETS MOVE!"

Stalwart jumped from the cloud, his squad-mates following behind him. As they approached the closing circle around the militia, Stalwart signaled the soldier to his left. Stalwart and the guard on his right dropped below cloud cover and barreled directly into the exposed backs of the scouts, taking them by surprise and taking down a number with their wing mounted blades. The guard who had broken off from the charge alerted the militia, who saw the chaos break out and took their cue, charging against the scouts once more.

Of the fifty town militia who first attacked, only thirty survived. The Royal Guard had also lost one of their own in the attack. Stalwart lead the survivors back towards the village proper, having sent the other surviving Royal Guard ahead to report what happened. Twenty one. We lost twenty one ponies back their, yet how many did they lose? Not enough either way. Stalwart thought to himself.

"After the first battle we had to abandon Vanhoover. The villages militia had fared surprisingly well, but as more and more humans landed it became obvious we could not hold the village." Princess Celestia paused in her story, looking around at all the shocked expressions before her.  "We couldn't hold any of the villages afterwards either, for as long as we had to rely on the militia we stood no chance. When the armies were reformed and rallied however, that is when we went on the offensive." Celestia finished this leg of her story.

"P-p-princess?" Celestia looked over and silently squee'd when she saw Twilight huddled up beside Rainbow Dash, clinging to her like a pony lost at sea does a life jacket. Rainbow looked confused and slightly flustered by the unicorns actions. Fluttershy had fainted at the first mention of death, while Applejack, Rarity and Octavia didn't look very pleased either. Only Shining Armour, Spitfire, Soarin', Daring Do and surprisingly enough Pinkie Pie seemed to be unaffected. Lyra was hastily scanning a book on mythology (Mystical Mungo's Massive Miscellanea of Mythical Monsters) looking for any hints at these Humans or Minotaur mythos. "We're going to MEET these creatures?" Twilight squeaked out.

Celestia sighed internally before smiling gently. Sometimes it's easy to forget just how pacifistic Equestria has become, the idea of war and death is so alien to them. "Please do not worry my faithful student. I had the opportunity to speak with the human Emperor almost two months ago, and he guarantees our safety in his lands." Twilight seemed to calm down at this, letting go of Rainbows arm. Rainbow had a slight blush on her face as she shook out her arm to get the blood flowing again.

"After all dear sister, we did handily defeat them in the end." Luna said, stepping out from behind her sister and scaring the daylights out of everypony present, Celestia included.

By Faust Luna! Did you really have to do that? Celestia thought to herself, fighting to keep her face calm and serene even as her heart beat at almost rainboom speeds. "Hello Luna, so glad you could join us."

"The pleasure is all mine. Tia." Luna said, the slight smile and very faint undertone in her voice making it clear she was not going to let Celestia live down being scared so easily for some time.

"As I was saying, If anypony wishes to leave now that would be fine. For anypony who is still willing to come make peace at your homes and businesses. We shall be taking an airship over the Western Ocean to the Lost Continent, although the proper name for it would be Terra." Celestia said, before beckoning to her sister. "Luna will be ruling in my stead during this journey. But I must warn you all now, this journey is expected to take three or four months in total."

Luna took over from here. "If thou still wishes to come, please return to the castle by this time next month. Be prepared for anything, but please do not be paranoid. May your adventure be a success. And with all this in mind, this meeting is adjured!"