Chapters Chapter 1: An Unexpected Visit
The Lost World
Chapter 1
By: Bairiko
"Oh Celestia! Pray tell, why art thou still in bed? Surely you would be awake by now to raise the sun," At the inexcusably loud voice of Princess Luna, Celestia jumped out of her bed and stared blankly at her sister.
"Not now Duster...those Gryphons can... tail feather... waffles..." Came the mumbled reply from the ever graceful Princess Celestia, Sovereign of Equestria, who proceeded to fall on her side with a crash, snoring softly amidst the soft fibers of the carpet.
"Come now Tia, time to wake up," Luna said while trotting over and opening the curtains of Celestia's balcony and stepping out, "Equestria and the world need your morning sun after all."
Spread out below Luna could see Equestria in the height of winter, the streetlights flickering across gilded towers and snow covered houses in the hour or so left before dawn, the light not quite managing to reach the top of the castle walls leaving the guards patrolling them in shadows. At the edge of her vision she could just make out the snowy roofs of Ponyville to the south, bordered by the infamous Everfree Forest just beyond it, still menacing even under layers of white. If she looked west she could see the great cloud columns of Cloudsdale floating serenely above the winter wonderland below. Far to the east stood the metropolitan city of Manehatten, though the Lunar princess couldn't see it from where she stood.
"And what a lovely morning it is," She stepped back from the view at the sound of a pony pushing themselves up from the floor behind her.
"Luna, what have I said about shouting in my bedroom?" Asked a very disheveled Celestia as she walked slowly towards her personal coffee pot. "A-a-and about n-not opening m-my window in w-w-winter!"
Amidst the soft laughter of her sister Celestia made her morning coffee and, with a glowing flick of her horn the balcony door was closed again and a new day began over Equestria. The sun promising a bright if somewhat chilly day for some happy foals to play in the snow.
"Come now Celly, winter was once thy favourite time of the year. Surely you would love to see it at sunrise?" Luna said from behind her hoof, trying to muffle the giggles still coming for managing to scare her sister.
"No Luna, winter is your favourite season, not mine. Now, can I help you with anything?" Celestia, contrary to what most ponies would think, was not a morning pony. So being woken up in such a manner by her dear sister wasn't what she considered to be a good start to the day.
As Celestia was putting on her golden accessories and sipping her morning coffee there was a knock at the door. "Princess? Are you awake my lady?"
No, grouched Celestia, the sun raises itself naturally and all I am is a shiny figurehead. "Yes Duster, I am awake, you may come in," she said in her practiced calm and motherly tone.
At the invitation the doors to the room opened and in walked a plain tan coloured Earth pony mare with a black mane. Feather Duster was Celestia's personal assistant, even though she had only been employed at the castle since the fall. When she saw that both Princesses were in the room she immediately bowed down.
"Good morning your majesties, had I known you were busy I would have come back later," Feather Duster said while looking out the window. "But I must remind you your Highness that the Sun Court is due to begin in three hours. Breakfast will be waiting for you when you arrive at the dining hall. If you would follow me please," At this Feather Duster turned around and walked out the door.
"Well, she seems to be rather quick and to the point does she not sister?" Luna looked back at Celestia in time to see her down the last bit of her coffee before slipping on her crown.
"Well come now Tia, time waits for no immortal!" Luna giggled while trotting forward with her sister following behind.
And so the Royal Pony Sisters ate their breakfast together, sisterly banter echoing through the halls. But the time came to begin court for the day so Luna wished her sister a good day before trotting off to bed.
I hope Luna is adjusting as well as she says she is, she rarely appears in public nowadays, but I guess the Night Court is her realm after all. Celestia thought while sitting on her throne, waiting for the first patron to enter.
She didn't have to wait long as shortly after the guards opened the doors at the far end of the hall, admitting one young Pegasus stallion. Once he realized Celestia was watching him his dark blue wings began twitching nervously at his sides as he walked slowly to the base of the throne and dipped into a respectful, if shaky bow. After Celestia beckoned him to rise he began the first of many court requests of the day.
On the other side of the castle Luna trotted along towards her quarters, Feather Duster at her side. Every time they passed a window that looked out over the city Luna would notice Duster stop and gaze out. When Luna looked she saw families either walking along or playing in the park. After a few seconds she would sigh and trot back up to the Princesses side.
How odd, thought Luna she seems distracted by something, but what? Family matters maybe?
"Here we are your Majesty." Duster said, breaking Luna's train of thought. Sure enough they had arrived outside of Luna's bedroom, the two bat-winged Night-guards rigid and unmoving on either side of the door. They snapped to attention and gave a salute when they noticed their Princess walking towards them.
"So we are, thank you for accompanying us Mrs. Duster." Luna said before a yawn overtook her. The guards moved to open the doors but a dark blue magic opened them first. "We wish you a fine day today, good night." And with that the Patron of the Night moved into her room, ready to let the world of dreams into her mind.
Lunch came and went with no problems for Celestia, although she did receive another friendship report from her student, Twilight Sparkle. Celestia smiled as she read about her students latest adventure with her friends, but secretly she couldn't wait for the day Twilight would send her a letter revealing she had finally found her special somepony.
Maybe she is just nervous about it, it wouldn't surprise me. She is a grown mare who has just started making friends. Maybe she is just now noticing stallions for the first time? Thought the Princess before chuckling. Or maybe, just maybe, even mares?
The afternoon court proceedings were just as uneventful as the morning, a hoof-full of civilians coming in to pitch ideas, ask for favours, or even just to say they've seen the Princess in person. Then there were the nobles who were trying to one up themselves in the eyes of Celestia and Luna, in the end however they were just making themselves look foalish.
After Celestia's revenge against Luna for this mornings wake-up call, which included among other things a bottle of itching powder, two litres of hoof polish and a dental drill both sisters met up and walked towards the dining hall once more.
As Celestia and a still very shiny Luna ate a dinner of honey roasted eggplant with a dessert of rose petals, Philomena flew in through a window and perched herself on one of the guards heads and cooed happily at Celestia.
"Oh, hello Philomena. Enjoy your day flying about and playing with everypony in the snow?" Celestia said happily upon seeing her pet phoenix. In truth Celestia knew the playful phoenix had most likely been playing pranks on unsuspecting ponies while playing with the local foals, a habit she developed while Twilight was living in the castle. She was answered with a mischievous caw from the magnificent bird.
"Tia, I must say it still amazes me the patience thy guards have with that bird. Philomena landed on his helmet and he didn't so much as blink!" Luna said. She had seen this same guard run out of the barracks yelling bloody murder last month at the sight of an admittedly rather large spider resting on his pillow.
"Corporal Thunderhead here has been dealing with Philomena almost his entire career, I honestly don't think there's anything she can do that would get to him anymore." Celestia said while offering the bird a bowl of seed. Philomena fluttered off of the corporals head and landed on her outstretched arm, pecking hungrily at the seed.
"Still sister, you would think he would at least flinch." Luna tried to get the phoenix to climb onto her hoof but earned a peck for her troubles.
"Come now Philomena, be nice." After this light scolding, the phoenix chirped unhappily before hopping onto Luna's once more outstretched hoof, where she sat unhappily until Luna started to lightly scratch the back of her neck. "That's better, but dear sister after a while of the same thing it stops affecting you. That and I think Thunderhead's actually asleep." If one were to listen closely they could in fact hear light snores coming from the under the corporals helmet.
"Tia, tell me, do you still keep that box of false insects I got from Ponyville in your room?" Luna asked with an evil grin, a grin that soon spread to the rest of the ponies and one phoenix in the dining room.
And so the day came to an end. The princesses lowered the sun and raised the moon. Philomena flew back to her personal coop in the loft of Canterlot Castle Tower, Feather Duster returned to her home in the city, and a certain corporal went to bed in the barracks with the promise of Princess Luna guarding against any nightmares dinner may have given him.
Princess Celestia had just finished a reply to Twilight's earlier message, subtly implying she would love to hear more of how her relationships with her friends was progressing. She had just sent the letter and was climbing into bed when a knock came from her door.
I wonder what Duster could want right now, Celestia thought, Isn't she at home by now? "Enter."
Instead of the expected assistant the door opened and a Unicorn Royal Guardscolt stood before her. "Princess, your presence is being requested by Professor Neigh."
"Oh? What could the good professor want at this time of night?" Celestia was confused. Although he sometimes taught math and science up at the School for Gifted Unicorns, Professor Bill Neigh's main duties were tending to the Royal Vault built into the mountain Canterlot stood on.
"I do not know your Majesty, although he said something about one of the artifacts...glowing." The guard gulped nervously. Many of the artifacts stored in the Vault were laced with powerful and potentially dangerous magics, having one glow for any unexplained reason was no laughing matter.
All traces of tiredness and confusion vanished from Celestia's face at those words. "Go and alert Princess Luna and have her be ready for an emergency, let's hope it doesn't come to that though." She said before disappearing in a flash of golden light. The guard stood there confused for a moment before galloping towards Luna's quarters.
A bright flash of light illuminated the courtyard at the back of the castle and Princess Celestia stepped towards a set of large, but plain oaken doors, about five pony-lengths wide and ten tall. The two Unicorn guards at the sides and the two Pegasus guards at the top saluting her as she approached.
"You Majesty, the professor is expecting you in the main chamber." The guard on the left said, before signalling the two Pegasi at the top and the other unicorn. The Unicorns grabbed the two halves of the door with their magic and slowly pulled them open, meanwhile the Pegasi at the top waited for a minute. They each nodded to each other before the right hoof one walked into a guard shack and started winching up a portcullis that had been revealed behind the massive doors. Once that obstacle was out of the way the Princess trotted down the newly revealed hallway.
All these crystals really are lovely in the moonlight. Celestia thought as she passed by the walls carved from mammoth pieces of crystal. It does worry me that Chrysalis knew about just how resistant they are to magic.
The crystal walls were indeed almost immune to the effects of magic, which was why the Vault was built in among them in the first place. The crystal could stop even an alicorns magic if used right, which the Changeling queen somehow managed to learn, using the many caves among the mountain to hide Princess Cadence. She even tried to dispose of Twilight Sparkle among them during her failed invasion the year before. It was these properties that made the caves perfect for storing all the most dangerous magical artifacts, keeping them safely in a location where any magical event wouldn't hurt anypony.
At the end of the hallway there was a sharp right turn, followed shortly by a gentle left turn that slowly descended towards the heart of the mountain. At the end of the hallway there stood a massive vault door through which the largest of the artifacts could be moved, but off to the side was a smaller entrance for ponies and the not-so-large artifacts. It was through this side door the princess entered the Canterlot Royal Vault.
"Oh good, you're here your Highness." Celestia looked to her left and saw Professor Neigh approaching her. The older grey stallion was a genius when it came to magical sciences and was one of the ponies the princess hired to teach Twilight when she was a filly. "We don't know what happened, but one of the other scholars said she noticed a crystal begin to glow that wasn't glowing before." The professor said while adjusting his glasses.
"Professor, if it is just one crystal that's doing nothing but glow, why summon me here?" The slight confusion from earlier was beginning to return to the princess.
"If only it were any old crystal your Majesty, but this crystal is secluded from the rest of the collection and placed under a protective glass cover. Come, it's stored in the back of the vault."
What could he mean? The princess thought as they passed countless magical artifacts, some of which looked harmless such as enchanted kitchenware and a surprising number of brooms. And the more obviously dangerous things like the newly recovered Alicorn Amulet. The amulet had been stolen by a corrupt scholar almost a century earlier and had vanished until just recently, turning up in the hooves of one Trixie Lulamoon in Ponyville. The only crystal that matches his description is... Oh.
They entered into a small, almost empty side room. The only contents of the room was a small wooden box decorated with silver leaf. From the glass pane on top a soft blue glow could be seen.
"Here it is your Majesty, the Comm Rock. Do you know why it has such an odd name your Highness? ...Your Highness?" But Prof. Neighs question was ignored as sure enough the one one crystal Celestia never expected to see glow was glowing. Almost unassuming in its small shape, no bigger than an average rock one would find on the beach, the crystal glowed with a shimmering blue light while resting on a plain velvet cushion under a sheet of glass.
"Thank you for showing me this Professor, you are dismissed." Celestia said while lifting the glass with her magic.
"But Princess, is this thing dangerous or-"
"You are dismissed Professor, I shall handle this." At this the professor walked back out the door. After it closed the Princess let her magic touch the crystal resting before her. Instantly her mind was filled with a flash of blue.
"Good evening Princess." A voice Celestia hadn't heard for years sounded just behind her, making her freeze up for just a moment. "I'm sorry that it's been so long since we last had a chance to catch up, but this isn't a social call. Princess, we need to talk."
The Lost World
Chapter 2
By: Bairiko
From the desk of Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia of Equestria,
To whomever receives this letter, you have been chosen to attend a very important meeting with Myself and my sister, Princess Luna in the capital city of Canterlot one week after Winter Wrap-up. Your presence is not required but would be greatly appreciated as the skills and experience you bring would be greatly beneficial to this meeting and what it entails. As this is a classified meeting I will not be sharing the nature of the meeting just yet.
Enclosed you will find one ticket voucher. Present this to the train conductor/airship captain for a ticket directly to Canterlot.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
Spring had just begun in the town of Ponyville. The weather pegasi were working hard to make sure the sun was shining as much as possible, warming the land for the ponies who lived there. All around you could see smiling ponies, singing birds, and blooming flowers.
Rarity adjusted her hat as she trotted down the road from her boutique, a set of saddlebags on her back and a large suitcase behind her floating in her magic. She was on her way to the town library to meet up with some of the girls before setting off to Canterlot.
"Hey Rares!" Rarity stopped and looked in the direction of the familiar voice.
Coming down the road towards her was Applejack, her trademark stetson resting on the back of her neck instead of on her head and a pair of almost empty saddlebags strapped to her back.
"Good afternoon Applejack. I see you are packing lightly." Rarity said, waiting until the farmer caught up with her before carrying on.
"Of course, we're only goin' up ta Canterlot fer a meeting aren't we?" Applejack said, giving the full saddlebags and floating suitcase of her friends an odd look.
"I do hope so but I would like to stay for the day as well. If we are only there for a meeting, that would mean we might be able to explore the city!" Rarity had stars sparkling in her eyes at this. "I hope Twilight might be willing to play tour guide again, we didn't exactly get the chance to explore the other times we were there."
"Oh no, hold it right there missy!" Applejack gave Rarity a mild glare. "Ah ain't gettin' dragged along on one of yer frou-frou shoppin' trips. If we do explore Canterlot ah want it to be something fun for all of us."
Awe. but watching you and Rainbow Dash browse high fashion would be almost too funny, Rarity thought to herself, chuckling lightly. But I digress, the trip would be a great deal more fun if we found something we all enjoy.
"Say, have you seen RD or Pinkie?" Applejack asked as they approached the town centre.
"I believe Rainbow said she was going to help Fluttershy finish a few things." Rarity said, looking towards their treehouse destination. "She also said Pinkie was busy and that they would meet us at the station."
The two mares walked side by side into the heart of Ponyville, on their way to meet up with their dear friend Twilight.
As the library got closer they saw Twilight talking with Spike at the door to the library. The young dragon seemed to be arguing with Twilight over something.
"Come on Twilight, you know you have everything already, we went through five separate checklists just to make sure the first checklist was right!" Spike huffed, glaring at the checklist floating in front of him.
"Spike, this is important! The Princess said she wants us because of our skills! I have to make sure everything is perfect for this!" Twilight was almost yelling as she checked over the brand new checklist to check to make sure the other checklists checked the first checklist right.
"Twilight darling, we got those letters almost two months ago!" Rarity said, trotting up behind the fidgeting lavender unicorn. "Please don't tell me you're panicking again?"
"Yeah, Ah don't think the library can handle much more o' yer fits." Applejack said, shuddering at the memory of the ride she and the rest of the girls had to go on when Twilight made the library jump higher than the tallest building in Ponyville.
"Oh, hey there girls. You don't have to worry about me, I'm fine!" Twilight said, a bit too fast to be believable.
"Come now Twi, the Princess did say we didn't have to go, so it cain't be all that important." Applejack said, rubbing Twilights back.
"Of course it's important AJ! The Princesses don't summon ponies for no reason whatsoever! And it's about a classified subject no less!" Twilight snapped, throwing Applejacks hoof from her back.
"Twilight, come here for a minute if you would." Rarity ushered the anxious unicorn over. "Alright Twilight, just calm down. Remember that breathing trick Cadence showed you? Breath in, breath out." Rarity helped Twilight through the motions.
"Breath in!" Twilight said, bringing her hoof to her chest. "Breath out." She stretched her hoof in front of her. "Just breath in, breath out."
After a few seconds of this, Twilight was visibly calmer. Spike took this as his chance, "So, does this mean we don't need this new checklist?"
"No Spike, we don't. And sorry girls, I don't know what got into me there." Twilight said, looking sheepishly at the mass of checklists in the dragons claws.
"Eh don't worry about it sugarcube, it's all fine." All the girls knew that Twilight could be perfectly calm and collected most of the time, but if there were ever the chance of disappointing Celestia Twilight could go almost completely insane trying to fix it.
"Are you all set to go Twilight?" Rarity asked. Twilight only had a small set of saddlebags on her, most likely filled with parchment and notes on anything she could think of that the princesses might need.
"I'll be fine, after all I used to live there, I'm sure I can still get anything else I need from my old room at the castle." Twilight started to walk away, but stopped when Spike spoke up.
"Hey Rarity! Do you need any help with your bags? I could give you a hand easy!" Spike scrambled over and tried to grab the saddlebags off Rarities back.
"Oh no you don't!" Spike was levitated off the ground before he reached Rarity and floated back towards the library. "You said you'd watch the library, and you couldn't help any customers if you're dragging bags back and forth to the train station." Twilight stated.
Spike was about to argue when a pristine white hoof shushed him. "I'm perfectly fine Spike, but thank you for being such a gentlecolt and offering." Rarity said with a smile. "Now, why don't you go back inside? I'll be sure to get you a large sapphire while we're gone."
Spike nodded once and headed back into the library. The three mares set off towards the train station once again.
The three mares were chatting about how their days had been as they approached the train station. Applejacks brother, Big Macintosh had done practically all the chores for her so she could make the train. Rarity had finished a custom suit for a well to do pony in Manehatten and had to turn down another offer due to the meeting. And Twilight had picked over practically every book in the library to make sure she had the answer to any question that popped up while in Canterlot. When they entered the station proper however a pink blur slammed into Rarity, knocking her hat off her head, where it landed on the pile of limbs below.
"Ohmygosh there you girls are! I was wondering when you would arrive but since I only got here like five minutes ago I didn't have to wonder long but now that you're all here I can finally give everyone their 'We got invited to the castle for a super important meeting' cupcakes! I baked them myself this morning which is why I couldn't come with you-" Pinkies rambling was cut off by a cyan hoof crammed in her mouth, but despite this she still continued to try and talk.
"Sheesh Pinkie, we've been here longer then you have." The owner of the hoof, Ponyvilles own Rainbow Dash, motioned towards herself and the pegasus behind her. Turning to the others she said, "What took you guys so long? Me 'n' 'Shy have been sitting here for half an hour already."
"Uh, Rainbow. We're on time, so you were here early." Applejack said, glancing at the clock while Rainbow popped her hoof out of Pinkies mouth and wiping it off on her pair of light saddlebags.
"Oh, well, it's alright Rainbow." Fluttershy, the butter-yellow pegasus said from behind her pink mane, "If you hadn't been there to help, we might have been the ones half an hour late."
"I'm sure you would have been just fine by yourself 'Shy, but does anypony here know when the train leaves anyways?" Rainbow ask while swooping back to her seat across from Fluttershy.
"We'll go ask." Twilight, Rarity and Applejack went and got in line behind a mint green unicorn mare at the ticket counter, but not before Rarity grabbed her hat from Pinkies head and stuffed it in her saddlebags.
She looks oddly familiar, Twilight thought, looking at the mares lyre cutie-mark. I swear I've seen her before.
"Lyra dear!" Rarity said, stepping in front of Twilight to talk to the unicorn. "It's so good to see you again darling. How is Bon-bon doing?" Something clicked in Twilights head at the name.
I know I've met her before, Lyra...Lyra Heatstrung? Before Twilight could think further, the mare turned around and smiled at Rarity.
"Oh! Hey Rarity! She's doing just fine thanks, but what are you doing here?" The unicorn, now identified as Lyra looked around, like she was just now noticing the other patrons.
"I've been summoned by the Princess!" Rarity gushed. "Oh this is so exciting, I mean I've met her before, but this is the first time the world wasn't in danger it seems."
Lyra looked confused. "Wait a second, you've been summoned by the Princesses as well?" She floated a very familiar looking letter from her shoulder bag. "You didn't happen to get one of these did you?"
"Why yes darling, you mean to tell me you've been summoned as well?" Rarity read over the letter, confirming it was the same as the one she and the others got as well.
Before Lyra could say anything, they were interrupted by a shout from behind them.
"Ah-ha!" Twilight exclaimed. "I remember you now! You're Lyra Heartstrings! We shared a Philosophy course back in Canterlot. You majored in Mythology and its effects on world history." By now Twilight was back in front of Rarity, talking to Lyra face to face. "I didn't know you lived in Ponyville now."
"Oh hey Twilight! Yeah, I originally came here for the Summer Sun Celebration back when Night Mare Moon was still an old ponies tale." Lyra chuckled, "But it's amazing how things change huh? I met up with a really old friend who moved here years ago. Yeah, me and Bon-bon go way back." Lyra paused with a far off look in her eyes.
Rarity and Twilight exchanged looks. "Uh, Lyra? You were summoned by the Princesses as well, right?" Rarity lightly tapped Lyra on the shoulder.
"Huh? OH!" Lyra jumped, a blush on her cheeks. "Sorry about that, but yeah it was strange. When I got this letter about a month and a half ago, I couldn't believe it!" Lyra started hopping in place, grinning hugely. "Not many other ponies can say they've been summoned by TWO separate princesses!"
"Uh, girls? We're at the end of the line ya know." Applejack had been standing there awkwardly the entire time, unsure if she should say anything until she noticed the ticket stallion glaring at them.
"Oh goodness! We are SO sorry to have kept you waiting dear sir." Rarity said, smiling nervously. "But can we get three, wait no, four tickets to Canterlot please?" Rarity presented the stallion with her ticket voucher, followed shortly by Twilight, Applejack and Lyra. "We can talk more on the train Lyra."
"Next train leaves in ten minutes ladies, just so ya know." The cream coloured stallion said, handing over the tickets and tearing up the vouchers. "Please be ready on the platform."
Fifteen minutes later all seven ponies were sitting on the train, waiting to get under way to Canterlot.
"So did anypony think to grab a snack or something or are we gonna have to buy some food from the train?" Rainbow Dash looked around at the girls.
"OH I KNOW!" Pinkie shouted before diving under Fluttershys seat, earning a terrified squeak from the timid mare.
"...uh, okay?" Before she could carry on, Pinkie reappeared from under Twilights seat with four tubs of ice cream and seven bowls. She hoofed over a bowl to everypony present and started dishing out the ice cream.
"...Okay, this works too I guess." The weather mare said before forsaking the spoon and diving right into her ice cream. "Train food is so expensive."
And with that the train pulled away from the station, steaming along the tracks towards the mountains and Canterlot at beyond. None of the girls knew what they were being summoned for but they all started talking about potential topics for the meeting. At least they were until Twilight noticed something peculiar about the bowl she was eating from.
"Uh, Pinkie, where did you get some of MY bowls from?"
Finally! A few days all to myself. Spike thought to himself as he finished cleaning up the library. Twilight had left about half an hour earlier and Spike set out to do all his chores now so he could do whatever he wanted in the meantime.
Hehe, she can't get mad at me for eating ice cream all day if she's not here now can she? Spike casually walked into the kitchen, taking all the time in the world before popping the freezer open and reaching in to grab one of the tubs of ice cream Twilight kept there.
But there wasn't any.
"OH COME ON!"
Chapter 3: Assembling the Party
The Lost World
Chapter 3
By: Bairiko
As the train pulled in to Canterlot station, seven mares stood out from the crowd. After depositing the remains of the ice cream in the trash, Lyra spoke up.
"Well, that was a fun ride girls, but I wanna go check up on family before I head anywhere else." Lyra began trotting off into the crowd. "See you at the castle!"
Before the remaining six stood the city of Canterlot proper, capital and seat of government for the Kingdomof Equestria. The marble walkways and stone buildings glinting in the light of the afternoon sun. Rarity was instantly drawn towards to fashion district, but before she could get anywhere Twilight called out. "Alright girls! The Princesses would want to know we're here now, so lets head for the castle."
Of course, little miss egghead would want to go check in with teach first. Rainbow thought, flying slowly alongside the purple mare. I have to admit though, she is pretty diligent in that.
It didn't take them long to reach the gate, but it would have been faster if Rarity didn't have to stop and window shop every couple of stores. After showing the gate guards their summons letters they were escorted to the throne room doors. From there they could expect to see the princesses. What none of them expected however was just who was also waiting. Just outside the door, talking to one of the guards was none other than the Crystal Prince, Shining Armour. At the sight of her BBBFF Twilight squealed and galloped full tilt towards him.
Oh this is going to be good. Rainbow smirked to herself, watching the distance close between the white stallion and the purple mare behind him.
But before she could reach the stallion, she slowed down and started to sneak up behind him. Once she reached a certain distance she began charging up her horn.
Okay, this is different. Rainbow watched as two flashes of light happened in quick succession, one behind and one in front of the stallion.
"HI SHINY! " Twilight and Pinkie Pie, surprisingly enough, shouted at the top of their lungs.
Shining Armour yelled out and jumped back, instinctively throwing up a shield spell around himself. As he was charging up a counter-spell he stopped at the sound of laughter. Looking up he saw his little sister rolling around laughing her flank off, her friends doing much the same behind her. "Oh ha ha, very funny Twily." Shining grouched.
"Oh Celestia was it ever!" Rainbow managed to say between laughs.
"I got you GOOD Shiny!" Twilight stopped laughing long enough to ask, "But what are you doing here anyways? Aren't you supposed to be in the Crystal Empire?"
Shining grumbled a bit, but walked over and rustled his sisters mane. "If you must know the princesses wanted to talk with me and some other ponies about something." Shining looked around, noting how everypony was looking at him funny. "Is there something on my face?"
"Oh come on!" Rainbow shouted, "How many ponies are the princesses getting in on this?" Rainbow dug out her own copy of the letter and showed it to Shining Armour. "So it's the six of us, you and Lyra so far. Who else could there be?"
"If you would come inside, we can wait and see who else responds to the summons." A new voice spoke up behind Rainbow, startling her and making her jump into the air.
"Oh, so sorry miss, didn't mean to startle you." The new pony, a plain tan Earth pony mare said as she stepped out from under Rainbow Dash.
"Hey what was that for?" Rainbow asked indignantly, glaring at the new mare.
"I'm sorry, but my name is Feather Duster, personal assistant to Princess Celestia. But please, just call me Duster. The Princess said to be on the look out for anypony carrying one of the letters." Duster said, looking around at the ponies present.
"Alright, apology accepted for now." Rainbow landed next to Twilight.
"Now then, let us try this again. Welcome everypony, and thank you for coming. Would you kindly follow me?" Feather Duster asked as she turned around and walked back inside the throne room, glancing out one of the windows.
"She seems a bit, iunno...off? Don'tcha think Twi?" Applejack looked over to see the lavender mare giving the door an odd look. "...Twi?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry AJ. Yeah, I didn't know the Princess got a new assistant." Twilight said.
"She seemed nice enough to me." Fluttershy spoke up from the back of the group.
"Well, let's not keep the Princess waiting!" Rarity said as she trotted after Duster into the throne room.
On the other side of the doors stood the throne room proper, but with a large set of tables lined with snacks, clearly set out for the invitees as they waited for their numbers to fill out. Seated at the throne was Princess Celestia, who smiled at the mares as they bowed down. After they rose some of the girls went and got some snacks, headed by Rainbow Dash. Meanwhile Twilight trotted up to the Princess.
"Princess! It's so good to see you again!" Twilight said while giving the Princess a light nuzzle.
"Twilight Sparkle, it's good to see you again as well." Celestia said, returning the nuzzle. "How have you and Spike been?"
"Spike's been doing really good, although his dragon greed is still a bit hard to deal with at times, and I've been doing just fine." Twilight said with a smile.
"That's quite good to hear Twilight, if anypony can handle a young dragon I believe it to be you." Celestia said, smiling at the purple unicorn. "Now then, why don't you tell me how things in Ponyville have been?"
As Twilight was talking about the latest happenings in Ponyville, Rainbow and Fluttershy were talking near the punch bowl. "So when are you going to tell them?" Fluttershy asked softly.
Rainbow, who had not been expecting that, tried to stammer out a response, "Hu-bu-wha-" She looked around, "Fluttershy! " she hissed, "We agreed not to talk about it after this morning."
"I know Rainbow, but don't you think that you would feel better with it off your chest?" Fluttershy whispered back. She had been thinking about the conversation she and her oldest friend had while Rainbow was 'helping' her this morning.
This gave the cerulean Pegasus pause. "Well...maybe, I dunno. I said I'd tell them when the time comes." Fluttershy nodded and went to sit at one of the far tables.
And so the six mares and one stallion passed the time, waiting on the other invitees. Shining Armour was talking to an old guard friends Twilight was talking to the Princesses, Applejack and Rarity were arguing over some trivial thing with Fluttershy trying to mediate, Pinkie Pie egging them on and Rainbow Dash was left to brood in the rafters.
A little while later Feather Duster announced the arrival of two more invitees. In walked Lyra who bowed toward the Princess before trotting over to talk with Rarity once more, and a slate grey Earth pony mare with a black mane and a purple bow-tie, who dipped elegantly into a bow and trotted over to sit at the table opposite Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash gave her a brief glance before flying down to Rarity.
"Hey Rare, you know who she is?" Rainbow asked, looking towards to new pony, who Rarity couldn't take her eyes off of.
"I can't believe Octavia Philharmonica is here! She's only one of the biggest names in the Canterlot Classical Music and Culture scene!" Rarity was nearly hyperventilating.
"Oh hey, I remember her!" Pinkie giggled as she hopped up to the two. "She helped play the Pony-pokey at our first Grand Galloping Gala! You remember that right Rarity?"
"Wait, you made her play the pony-pokey ?" Before Rarity got her answer, Feather duster peaked in yet again to say another two invitees had arrived.
NOW they start arriving. Rainbow thought, having been waiting for almost an hour by now.
The door opened and two Pegasi walked in, one, a yellowish orange mare, and the other, a light blue stallion both bowed towards the Princesses, before a loud squeal drew their attention.
"Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! Spitfire and Soarin' are here?!" Rainbow squealed, before remembering where she was and looking sheepish. Soarin' and Spitfire exchanged a nod, Soarin' grabbing an apple fritter while Spitfire walked over to Rainbow.
"Well well well, if it isn't Rainbow Dash, again." At Spitfires more authoritative voice, Rainbow instinctively snapped to attention. Habits learned at the Wonderbolts Academy are hard to break.
"Good to see you still remember your training Cadet." Spitfire surprised Rainbow with a hoof-bump. "It's good to see you again Rainbow, I see you and the rest of the Element bearers were summoned as well." She said while looking at the group of mares present.
"Hehe, yes ma'am, so uh, hows the team been?" Rainbow asked the first thing that popped into her mind.
"Been doing alright, just got back in town from a show in Stalliongrad." Spitfire looked conspiratorially at Soarin'. "And some of the team have set up a betting pool to see if Soarin' finally asks out your friend Applejack, though you didn't hear it from me,"
Spitfire laughed lightly at Rainbows confused look, before Soarin' trotted up and gave Rainbow a hoof-bump of his own.
A couple of minutes later Feather Duster announced the last guest had arrived, and then something very unexpected happened.
In through the door stepped a mare almost nopony believed actually existed, her tan pith helmet and green shirt the stuff of fillyhood dreams. The tan Pegasus swept her greyscale mane from her dark pink eyes before bowing to the Princesses.
"Oh...my...Celestia." Rainbow Dash was slack-jawed. "Yo-yo-you're Daring Do! Adventurer Extraordinaire!" Rainbows wings started twitching spasmodically, being in the presence of the Wonderbolts was thrilling enough, but being in the same room as one of her newest heroes? Rainbow pitched to the side and almost fainted. Almost, fainting is most certainly not cool.
Twilight wasn't fairing much better.
"But, you're a story character, you can't be real! Nopony can do what you've done!" Twilights right eye started twitching and strands of her mane popped up.
"Oh really?" The legendary explorer remarked, looking around at all the looks she was getting, although she seemed to bask in the attention. "Just like nopony can take on a god of chaos and the physical manifestation of a deities nightmare and win right?"
The sound of Princess Celestia clearing her throat got everyponies attention, putting an end to the brewing confusion.
"My little ponies, meet Dr. Daring Do. She's not only a prominent cultural figure but the head of the Archaeological and Ancient History board of professors at Manehatten University." Princess Celestia smiled at all the shocked ponies, though the beaming Daring Do giving her a slight chuckle.
The Princess continued, "Now then, down to business. Thank you everypony for coming, the meeting will begin as soon as Ms. Dash wakes up."
The Princess lead her guests to a seldom used conference room at the centre of the castle. Once the last of the ponies entered the room and arrayed themselves around the table the Unicorn guards cast a soundproofing spell on the door.
"So, I bet you're all wondering why you have been summoned here are you not?" Princess Celestia looked about, but nopony dared lift a hoof. "No one? Alright, but let me ask you this then, can anypony tell me about the Lost Continent?"
That got a reaction, Daring Do lifted her hoof and when the Princess called upon her she said, "The Lost Continent? That's a supposed landmass far to the west isn't it?" The Princess nodded. "Yeah I've heard of it, everypony has, some lost world that no pony's ever explored. I personally don't even think it's real."
"Oh? Then what do you think it is then Dr. Do?" Celestia asked kindly.
"I think it's just a legend, something thought up to scare little fillies at camping trips. An unexplainable land that no creature has ever explored? That's impossible." Daring sat back, looking somewhat proud of herself. "Someone would have made it back if it was real."
"Princess, I heard a different story." Everypony stopped and looked at Fluttershy, who shrank back slightly but continued none the less, although growing slowly but steadily quieter. "I heard it's not that no pony tried to go there, but everything that did was never seen again. Gryphon, Minotaur, Zebra, they all tried..." By the time she was finished she was practically under the table.
"That's ridiculous." Soarin' said from between Rainbow Dash and Spitfire. "If all the other races have tried, surely they'd have succeeded right?" He looked up at Princess Celestia. "Right?"
"All legends have a grain of truth to them guys." Lyra piped up from the back of the room. "It's what makes them so believable."
"Ms. Heartstrings is correct my little ponies, it is real, and everypony here can have the opportunity to accompany me there if they wish." At the Princesses statement, everypony stopped what they were doing.
"Wait wait wait, you mean it really IS real?" Daring asked, looking incredulous. "And we get to go there?!" The tan explorers enthusiasm was cut short however by an accented and cultured voice.
"If I may interject." Octavia said, for the first time since she arrived. "There is most certainly a reason the Princess has asked us to accompany her there, despite what the legends say."
"Yes, thank you Ms. Philharmonica. The Lost Continent is real, yes. And yes, every creature who has tried to go there has never returned, but that is about to change. The purpose of this meeting is to see who, if anypony, would be willing to accompany myself and a group of guards to make contact with this lost civilization, as well as provide a bit of history behind it."
Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Princess, did you just say a lost civilization?"
"Yes Twilight. The Lost Continent is home to its own species, and with that species comes its own society." Princess Celestia looked at the bewildered faces of Twilight and Daring Do. "Though, I must ask this now. Who here would be willing to join me?"
"You can count me in Princess!" Was Daring Dos exclamation. Twilight, Rainbow and Pinkie Pie joined in with just as much enthusiasm. Lyra jumped at the chance to study a living myth. Rarity and Applejack were a bit more subdued, but agreed none the less. Fluttershy agreed after some gentle prodding from Rarity. Spitfire and Shining Armour also joined, though Shining first said he would have to ask his wife, which earned him a laugh from everypony present. Soarin' however had to decline, stating family obligations and the fact that the Wonderbolts needed someone in charge. But it was Octavia who made the surprising announcement.
"Your highness, while I am honoured to be asked to accompany you, I must say there is one slight problem here." Octavia said. She looked to the Princess who gave her the go ahead. "I must say you have chosen quite the company of explorers you Majesty, but you are missing a contemporary culture representative. I would like to believe I am here as a 'traditional' figure, but that leaves popular culture open." By this point everypony present was looking at her, surprised. "If I may make a suggestion, one I wish I did not have to however, I believe one DJ PON-3 would be our best bet." Octavia said the name with some distaste, like she couldn't believe she had to suggest the idea.
"Wait wait wait, are you suggesting we get THE DJ PON-3 here?" Rainbow asked, bewildered and excited at the same time. "She's so awesome!" Dash said, pressing her hooves to the sides of her face at the last part.
"Interesting suggestion Ms. Philharmonica. Do you think Ms. PON-3 would be available?" Princess Celestia asked, smiling gently when she saw the look in Octavia's eyes.
"Yes, I believe she would be. As to whether or not she would come is up to her." Octavia stated, looking off towards the side. "Although I must say that her actual name is Vinyl Scratch your Majesty."
"Thank you, I'll have a message sent to her straight away. Now then, down to business." Celestia said before looking around the room.
"Can anypony here tell me what the Terran-Equus Compact was?" Princess Celestia asked, not honestly expecting an answer. When no one raised a hoof, Twilight looking even more confused than ever Celestia continued. "I'm not surprised nopony knows about it. Please let me explain. The Terran-Equus Compact was the first treaty between the newly reformed Equestria and a group of survivors at the end of the Chaos Wars."
"The Chaos Wars Princess? But that's when you and Princess Luna beat Discord with the Elements of Harmony." Twilight recited like she was reading it from a textbook. Mostly because she was reading it from a textbook she took out at the mention of the compact. "There's no mention of anything called the Terran-Equus Compact, or a special group of survivors."
Princess Celestia gave her number one student an amused look before her face darkened. "That's because that was one of the agreements made. Though it is not a pretty story, please let me explain..."
Chapter 4: Whispers of the Past
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!"
Chapter 5: The Western Winds
The Lost World
Chapter 5
By: Bairiko
"I can't believe this!" A stallions voice said in the darkness. "This is almost too good to be true."
Glowing on the desk in front of him was a shimmering image, a magical recording taken hours earlier during the Princesses 'secret' meeting. The stallion grinned as he remembered paying off that janitor to swap out one of the crystals of the chandelier that hung in the conference room with a 'new' one. Celestia may have thought that using this 'rarely used' room for all her secret meetings was clever, but he thought otherwise. This new crystal was a passive magical scanner set to transmit everything it saw and heard to a recording crystal in his study.
The recording was currently showing the end of the impromptu history lesson, Luna having just startled everypony in the room, Princess Celestia even gave a minor jump he noted. Celestia is leaving the country in Luna's hooves while she takes the Elements with her on a suicide mission? The grin on his face intensified, The Master will be pleased.
The stallions attention was caught by something else going on in the recording. Princess Celestia had just called out for her student and had given her a book, Fitting, before the last pony left the room, ending the recording and letting the darkness return to shroud him once more, his ice blue eyes twinkling once before vanishing in the shadows.
"Twilight? Might I see you for a minute?" Celestia said as they both approached the door. "There is something my sister and I wish for you to have."
The lavender mare stopped and turned around, letting her friends and fellow new adventurers (not counting Daring of course) carry on ahead of her, their excited and nervous voices walking off while Luna wandered off towards the gardens. "Yes Princess?"
Floating in Celestia's golden aura was an obviously very old ring bound book with a cover depicting swirling stars. That design seems familiar, but where have I seen it before? Twilight's eyes widened as she remembered. She had to ask. "Princess? Is that what I think it is?"
Celestia smiled. "Yes Twilight, this is one of Starswirl the Bearded's journals and I think you'll find its contents to be useful." She floated the book over to the stunned mare and began walking down the hall. "Just promise me you'll be gentle with it, it is very old."
The Princess had to suppress a giggle as Twilight gingerly took the one and a half millennia year old book in her magic, floated it in front of her and opened it as she trotted beside her. The page she opened it on was a very detailed sketch of a bipedal creature in armour. This must be a Human! But I thought they invaded after Starswirls era? She looked towards the Princess, closing the book softly.
"Starswirl was a very powerful mage Twilight." Celestia answered the unspoken question. "It's not uncommon for unicorns of his calibre to survive well past others of their age." She smiled at Twilight's uneasy look, "Although a certain amount of willingly cast spells are needed in order to achieve that."
That's a relief. She thought about the potential of staying young while her friends grew old all around her and shuddered. "But Princess, why are you giving me this?" She asked, gesturing to the book.
"Because Twilight, though it is almost definitely outdated it is also the only 'text book' on their civilization we have available." The Princess said as the duo reached a corner, finding the rest of the Ponyville gang waiting for them. Dash spoke up when Twilight stepped around the corner.
"Took you long enough Twi. Er, no offense your highness." She added on when Celestia rounded the corner as well.
"None taken Ms. Dash." The Solar Princess smirked when Twilight gave the brash pegasus a stern glare, the acrobat giving a sheepish shrug of her wings.
As the six mares and one royal walked down the halls, Celestia noticed they seemed even more reserved around her than normal. Perhaps I was a bit too forward in assuming they would all come along. They each have their own lives to live.
"Well my little ponies, this is where I must leave you now." The Princess said as they approached the castles main gate. "Please consider what you have learned here today, but remember that the choice is always yours and yours alone. My sister and I will not fault anypony who wishes to stay." With that Celestia broke off from the group and trotted back towards the throne room. The Ponyville Six wished her a good day as she left, before stepping through the gates and beginning the trek towards the train station. Rarities wishes to explore the city were forgotten amidst what they learned.
"Hey Twi, what's up with the book?"
The six mares were sitting in a train car on their way home to Ponyville, the sun being very low in the sky by now. Almost as soon as they were on board Twilight had pulled out Starswirls journal and was in the process of translating the ancient script. She perked up at Applejacks tired, quiet voice.
"Huh? OH! Hi AJ, sorry. The Princess is letting me borrow one of Starswirl the Bearded's journals!" Twilight said with a giddy voice.
"Huh?"
"He has almost everything in here, from the design of their armour and ships to schematics of their biology and tactics. Did you know that Equestrian cannons are all based off of captured Human weapons? Same with our ship designs." Her voice lost its giddiness however, taking on a nervous tone. "These are all his studies and observations of the Humans from when they invaded Equestria."
"Easy there girl." Applejack said. "That was well over a thousand years ago. Ah don' think they're gonna be the same as they were back then." She trotted over and peaked at the page her friend was currently on. "Uh, what's that?"
The page was showing another highly detailed sketching of a human male, and it was obviously male. The sketch showed the man naked with four arms and legs outstretched in what was most likely a demonstration of their range of motions. "It's a human AJ, that's what they look like. Here's a picture of what one of their soldiers looked like back then." Twilight flipped back to the page she originally opened back at the castle.
This picture showed an armour clad human female standing beside a flag pole and a basic pony sketch. The human, identified only as 'Standard Bearer', was wearing a thin metal cuirass and plates over her shins, thighs and forearms. On her hip rested a short sword, while propped up against the flag was a crossbow. At her feet was her helmet, a metal bowl with a chain mail skirt around the back and a thin metal piece that probably went over her nose. This humans face was visible, just like the mans, revealing a flat face, smallish nose and eyes and longish hair that covered where her ears would be. Beside her the pony sketch, most likely there for scale, only came up to slightly above her hip.
The flag shown was different from the one described in the Princesses story. Instead of the anchor beneath the crest a spear was placed vertically behind the shield, augmenting the diagonally crossed swords. The detail of the sketching made it almost photograph quality and left little to the imagination.
"Hehe, Ah can see why you'd be a bit nervous there sugarcube, they don't look like they mess around." Applejack whispered, scratching her mane behind her hat.
Twilight looked around, curious as to why Applejack was whispering and saw that most of the girls were either asleep or very nearly sleeping. Rainbow Dash was curled up on her bunk, sound asleep and snoring softly, Pinkie Pie was staring out the window at the night time countryside. Rarity and Fluttershy were leaning against each other, both sleeping peacefully. Lyra, who they had caught up to at the station was still looking through her mythology book, though it was clear she wouldn't be awake much longer at this rate. It was then Twilight felt a rush of fatigue through her being, bringing out a big yawn.
"Git some sleep sugarcube, ah'll wake everypony up when we get closer to Ponyville." Applejack pointed towards her bunk opposite Rainbow, as Twilight's own bunk was full of books and other baggage. Twilight nodded and thanked the apple farmer.
What is with the universe and putting me next to Rainbow today? Twilight though as she climbed into Applejacks bunk. First she sat beside me on the train ride to Canterlot, then she sat beside me IN Canterlot and now I'm sleeping across from her? Twilight was out like a light a few seconds later, but not before one final thought crossed her mind. Though the way she's sleeping right now is pretty adorable.
The Princesses story seems ta have everypony spooked. Applejack thought to herself as she resumed looking out the window, ignoring the ancient journal that was left open on the seat in front of her. If there was to be any danger whatsoever the Princesses woulda never even thought about goin' With that final thought, Applejack watched the countryside streak past her window as the train rumbled on into the night.
"Spike! What are you still doing up?" Twilight asked as she entered her treehouse later that night.
"Waiting for you of course!" Spike got up and waddled over towards his surrogate sibling and caretaker, noticing the journal floating beside her. "Hey, what's up with the book?"
"This?" she asked as she floated the book up to her loft room. "It's...nothing. The Princess gave it to me at the meeting today."
"If it's from the Princess it's something!" The dragon tried to climb the stairs after the book but got caught when Twilight teleported him back in front of her. "C'mon Twilight, you never hide anything from the Princesses so just lemme see!"
"Spike, it's confidential." He gave her a flat stare.
"So in other words it's Princess Celestia's latest list of suitors out to get you." That got a reaction, a ferocious blush spreading over the young mares face as she remembered those incidents.
A fair number of Canterlot nobles had petitioned the Princesses for the right to court her after Shining Armour had married Princess Cadence, convinced that marrying her would not only gain them Celestia's personal student but also elevate their prestige in the monarchy. A similar, larger incident happened after the return of the Crystal Empire as nobles decided they could gain even more land and influence there if they married the sister-in-law of the Crystal Princess.
"So it is!" Spike concluded at Twilights not-answer. "You gotta let me see this one Twilight! I wanna see what Blueblood is up to this time." Spike went to run up the stairs once more but Twilight caught him yet again.
Twilights blush had been fading, but it flared up once more as she remembered the self centred Princes ridiculous advances. He had been so sure that a few pleasantly veiled threats and bribes and a bouquet of flowers would have been enough. "That's not what it is Spike, it's a special project the Princess wants me to go over before we leave."
"Leave? We're going somewhere?"
"No Spike. The Princess is getting the Elements together for a diplomatic mission, but I'm going to need you to tend to the library while we're gone." Twilight said as she deposited the rest of her bags at the foot of the stairs before trotting into the kitchen for a quick snack.
"Seriously Twilight? Why do I never get to go anywhere with you girls?" Spike asked from the doorway.
"Because we'll be gone for a number of months to see a group of potentially very dangerous creatures who have been isolated for well over a thousand years." Twilight deadpanned, levitating a box of foals cereal beside her. "The Princess only wants a certain number of ponies to know about and go on this trip right now Spike, by Tartarus I could get in trouble just by telling you this. So you're not allowed to go."
"Okay fine, sorry." Spike said as he backed up.
"It's fine Spike, and like I said, you need to stay behind and maintain the library. I'm sure Rarity would even let you help take care of the Boutique as well." Twilight chuckled at the look on Spikes face before she dug into her cereal. As she lay in bed shortly afterwards her thoughts stuck on how much fun she could have in the coming months, or how much danger depending on the circumstances.
"Mornin ya'll! Ah'm back." Applejack greeted her family the morning after returning from Canterlot. She took a seat at the table across from her sister and grandmother.
"Mornin." Was Big Macs response from the kitchen.
"Mornin' sis!" Applebloom replied.
Granny Smith let loose a loud snore.
"How was the trip sis! What did th' Princess want with ya anyways?" Applebloom excitedly asked. Big Mac came in bearing a platter of waffles on his back, a bottle of syrup on his head which he set on the table before poking Granny Smith awake. Everypony took the opportunity to dish up before Applejack answered.
"Well, the thing is you see, the Princess ain't dun with us yet." Everypony at the table stopped and looked at her. "The Princess wants me 'n' the rest of the girls to go on some expedition with her."
"What do you mean?" the little yellow filly asked before gasping. "Do ya mean yer gonna go on an adventure like Daring Do?!"
"Hehe, eeyup ah guess ah am, and no you are most certainly NOT coming with us!" Applejack fixed her sister with a glare only siblings could provide when she saw the young filly preparing to ask a question, neglecting to mention that she had in fact met the legendary pegasus explorer.
"Awe come on AJ! This could be mah only chance to get mah adventurin' cutie mark!" Applebloom fixed her sister with a full blown attack of the puppy dog eyes, tears and everything. Applejack could only stand up against it because she knew about what the natives were capable of.
"No way no how AB, this is some Royal endeavor er diplomatic thing, not something fer a lil filly like you ah'm sad to say." Applejack finished her waffles before she stood up. "Besides, Rarity isn't gonna let Sweetie Belle go either, and RD would fly Scoots back herself if she found her, so don'tcha think it'd be best if Big Mac taught you a little more about the farm while Ah'm gone?"
She had just rinsed her plate of the crumbs and leftover syrup when Granny Smiths raspy voice made itself known. "Wait jus' a minit there girl." She called. "Jus' how longs this whole thang suppos' to take?"
Applejack cringed. She knew her grandmother wouldn't be happy to learn half the farms hardest workers were going to be gone for almost all the growing season. Ah don't absolutely have to go, but ah can't leave the girls all by themselves there, she thought to herself. "About four months she said, give'er take a week."
"Four months?! What do ya mean four month?" Granny Smith cried out. "Ah cain't have you gone fer four months!"
"Granny, I know that's a long time an all, but this is something the Princess wants!" Applejack said to her grandmother as she trotted back into the dining room. "You can't just deny th' Princess! And besides, th' rest of the girls are no doubt gonna go and ah can't just leave them to it."
Her grandmother was insistent however. "There ain't no way ah can afford t' have you gone fer that long AJ."
"An' Ah can't just leave the girls to it by themselves Granny."
It would take Applejack the rest of the month to talk Granny Smith into agreeing, although the Apple Family matriarch was still none too pleased about it after the fact.
"Good morning Angel." Fluttershy said as she fluttered down into the kitchen. "Did you sleep well?" She asked as she started preparing his favourite breakfast.
Angel gave her a flat stare. The last time he got spoiled like this for no reason he had spent the next few days running from an incompetent dragon.
"Angel, I think I need to talk to you." The butter yellow pegasus was always far more open around her animal friends. "I'm going to be leaving again in a month, and I won't be back until fall." She looked over at the unamused rabbit. "I was wondering if maybe you could watch the house and all the animals during then?" She hid behind her mane a bit. "If that's alright with you at least." Angel pegged her with a carrot.
"Please Angel Bunny?" Fluttershy squeaked. "I promise I'll do whatever you want for a month afterwards." She managed to dodge the next carrot.
"I can even get you some help." Another carrot.
This went on for a few minutes, Fluttershy offering something and Angel throwing carrots. Finally the butter yellow pegasus had had enough.
Fluttershy stamped her hoof as hard as she could (a harder-than-average tap) to gain the spoiled and very displeased rabbits attention.
"Enough of this please Angel!" She yelled (in an average conversational tone.) "This is going to happen either way mister. One way gets you in trouble, and the other gets you my gratitude." Angel threw another carrot.
In the end, Fluttershy would end up needing one liberal application of scoldings and The Stare to get her pet rabbit to co-operate. He was a little more receptive of the idea however when Cheerilee even offered to have her class look after them as part of their school science activities, which Angel was both relieved and highly skeptical about.
3 weeks later
"Ten minutes! Next stop Canterlot!" The train conductor shouted. Six mares were once more present on the Ponyville train platform, each with their own amount of friends and family members present to see them off. The groups chatted amiably in the late morning sunshine as it glinted off the colourful paint job of the train cars. Off to one side of the platform the three Apple Family siblings were talking over their plans for the seasons ahead one last time.
"Alright Big Mac, all the main work 'round the farms already been done, and Ah'll be back long before harvest. You just need ya to tend the trees and we should be jest fine."
"Eeeyup." Was Macintosh's only response, Applebloom grinning at her sister while talking with the other crusaders. Granny Smith was nowhere to be found however, though Applejack wasn't surprised after how her month had gone.
"Ya'll be safe now y'hear?" Big Mac wished his sister well on her apparently classified adventure.
Applebloom jumped up to hug her neck. "Be safe, love ya sis!"
With one final family hug Applejack collected her bags and climbed on the train. Down the platform one lavender mare was going over some final checklists with her number one assistant.
"Twilight, we've been over this list every day since you first wrote it up two weeks ago!" The young drake was looking over the four hoof long list and counting the numerous tick marks in each box.
"I know, and I'm sorry Spike but I'm just so worried!" The nervous unicorn was trotting in place with all her pent up energy, but one look from Spike made her stop. She grinned sheepishly before going through her breathing exercise once more.
Twilight levitated her saddlebags onto the train carriage in front of her before turning around and giving her number one assistant one final hug. "This is it for now then huh Spike?"
"Oh stop being so dramatic Twilight, the Princess tells you one story and you get all 'the end is nigh' on us." Spike said with crossed arms.
It was true, three weeks had not dismissed her apprehension, even after reading through Starswirls journal, though she had to constantly remind herself that these were humans from one thousand years in the past. Visits with and from her friends had been of some help, especially Rainbows enthusiasm. But despite it all Twilight could not help the feeling there was something wrong about the trip.
With one final wave of hoof and claw Twilight and Spike parted ways, Twilight climbing on board and taking her seat across the aisle from Applejack while Spike went to talk to Sweetie Belle and Rarity.
Meanwhile a chromatic pegasus was giving one final letter to the town mailmare, Ditzy Do. "Make sure this gets through alright?"
"Not a problem Rainbow Dash!" The wall-eyed pegasus, affectionately referred to as 'Derpy' by some, said with a salute before taking Rainbows letter and placing it with the rest. "Who's it to?"
"My dad..."
"Oh..." Was all the bubbly pegasus had to say when she heard that. "Should I put it where you wanted the last one?" She asked tentatively.
"Yeah, that'd be fine Derpy, thanks." Neither pony said anything else as Dash climbed onto the train, Ditzy didn't comment as she flew off to deliver the letter.
Fluttershy noticed this and instantly knew what was going on, though she didn't say anything. She knew how close Rainbow Dash was to her father. He was probably the only other pony she had ever been one hundred percent honest with. She was the same way with her animal friends.
She placed her luggage on the train before turning to her ever present rabbit companion saying, "Alright Angel, remember what we agreed on,"
Angel nodded before glancing around quickly. When he was sure nothing was watching he darted his head in and gave Fluttershy a gentle nuzzle. Despite how he acted at times the little rabbit loved his caretaker and only wanted what was best for her. Fluttershy sighed happily as well.
Unfortunately for Angel, one other pony had seen their little exchange. Pinkie Pie was watching from her own seat on board the train. She had been the first to board as the Cakes and the twins had gone to visit relatives in Trottingham for the last month, making for a very lonely send off indeed. But that was alright with the pink mare, she had already sent a letter explaining everything about what happened at the meeting. The baker couple had been set to return in a few days anyways so leaving the shop closed a day or two should be no problem.
No, the only problem the pink mare could think of was what if the Twins started to miss her? She might as well have been their sister or aunt or something. And what if a new pony arrives? Then who'll be there to greet them? Pinkie thought. Should I stay and leave the girls? Or should I go and miss the new pony?
While Pinkie was having her loyalty crisis in the train Rarity was speaking to her parents, Sweetie Belle and most recently Spike.
"You sure I can't come with you Rarity?" Now it was Sweetie Belles turn to try out the puppy eyes, with just as much success.
"Yes Sweetie Belle, we've already been over this." The fabulous, exasperated unicorn sighed.
"You sure? " Now Sweetie Belle broke out the sad puppy look.
"Now Sweetie Belle," Her mother said. "We've already said we're taking on the cruise with us, leave your poor sister alone."
"Okay..." Sweetie sighed
"Alright." Spike said. "So is it still alright if I watch the boutique Rarity?" Spikes eyes gleamed. Any chance to impress upon the snow white unicorn was a good chance as far as he was concerned.
Rarity was about to reply when the conductor called out "All aboard!" Instead she nodded as she levitated her luggage onto the train.
"Yes Spike, the key to the door is hidden under the bush to the left of the store." Spike gave her a blank look. "You'll know it when you see it."
With one final family hug Rarity parted ways with her sister, her parents waving as they ushered the young unicorn away. Rarity boarded the colourful train and took her seat. The six mares all looked around the car at each other, most wore faces of uncertainty, nervousness, but most of all, excitement for the coming journey. The car filled with the voices of the six girls as the train pulled away from the station, rumbling off once more for the mountainside capital.
As the train pulled in to the Canterlot station several hours later the ponies on board were treated to a spectacle. Standing on the platform was a section of Royal Guards in full armour. They watched as seven mares disembarked, were intercepted by the guards and led off to Celestia knows where. They didn't know that these seven mares were on their way to a very important event hosted by the Solar Princess herself.
The guards arranged themselves around the group as they walked along, Twilight leading with Applejack and Rainbow right behind her, Pinkie and Lyra taking up the rear of the group.
"Sir? Might I ask where we are headed?" Rarity asked the guardscolt beside her after she floated her luggage along.
"Airship docks ma'am."
"Oh, well. Do you know what will be happening there?"
"Can't say for certain ma'am."
"Well that's not very helpful." Lyra said from behind Rarity.
"Well it is a secret meeting remember?" Rainbow said.
"True enough darling." Turning to the guard she apologized. "So sorry to have bothered you sir."
Silence reigned once more as the mares and guards continued down the street. Eventually the glittering streets of Canterlot city proper faded away as they reached a gentle downward slope leading towards the cliffs. A few minutes later a sign appeared above that read "R.E.N.G.A.C Base Canterlot"
"Uh, Twi? Whats rengac mean again?" Applejack asked when she saw the sign.
"It means Royal Equestrian National Guard Airborne Cavalry." Twilight said. "It's the branch of the military that handles everything that flies, from pegasi to airships."
"Oh, alright. Ah take it that's where we're meetin' the princess then?"
Twilight nodded as the guards led them through the gates. Beyond there was the hustle and bustle of a small town, the staff ponies running back and forth fulfilling various duties among the base buildings. A line of barracks in the back, the parade grounds in front and the docks themselves hanging over the cliffs alongside other buildings and facilities built into the mountain side made it clear this was an important facility. Three zeppelins floated serenely at the dock, two smaller vessels and one larger one. The guards led them towards this larger zeppelin.
"Zephyr , fitting." Twilight mumbled when the name came into view.
The zeppelin in question was a large wooden and silver affair, its semi-reinforced envelope approximately one hundred fifty meters long and painted a dull silvery grey. Painted on both the front and rear was the Equestria flag. The gondola hanging below would have looked as is somepony had used the balloon to pluck a ship from the sea were it not for the propellers at the back and steering fins hanging off the sides. Painted on both sides of the plain wooden hull was the ships name, Zephyr.
Standing at the base of the dock ramp leading up to the good ship Zephyr stood Princess Celestia, the rest of the expedition members, a hoof full of guards and someone who could only be the ship captain. The captain, a dark blue pegasus stallion was speaking with Princess Celestia, Daring Do and Shining Armour when Twilight and company arrived.
"Ah so this must be the last of your little group eh Princess?" The stallion said with an obvious Vanhooverite accent when he took notice of the new arrivals, "Welcome then. My name is Captain Zephyr and I'll be your pilot for this trip. Don't mess with my ship and we'll get along just fine." His blue eyes twinkled as he grinned, "And no, the ship isn't named after me, I'm named after the ship."
With that he turned back to talking with Daring Do and Shining while Princess Celestia turned to speak with Twilight, the other mares wandering over to the rest of the group.
"Twilight! It's so good to see you my most faithful student." Celestia said as she nuzzled the smaller unicorn.
"Hello Princess, is everything ready?" Twilights voice was a mix of anxiety and enthusiasm.
"Yes Twilight, I believe we're all ready." Celestia smiled, though it drooped slightly. "Although I don't see Spike here, is your number one assistant not accompanying us?"
"No? I thought this was a secret expedition?" Twilight asked confused. "I left him to take care of the library instead."
"Secret? I never said this was secret, though granted I didn't tell the nobles exactly where we were going." The Princess glanced towards the city behind Twilight and the easily noticeable spires of the castle.
"Really? I thought the whole 'secret meeting' thing meant the entire thing was confidential." Twilight said.
"Oh." Celestia chuckled, "I can see how that would give you the idea. True I never said it was a secret, I never said it wasn't either. Thank you for your concerns and keeping it need-to-know, even if you didn't exactly need to." With that the Princess turned and walked back towards the main group, who had all gathered at the base of the dock. "Come along Twilight, let us go speak with the others."
Twilight followed behind her teacher, the suns mid afternoon light gleaned off anything metal it touched. As they approached the group Twilight noticed a small group of new ponies as well. While Soarin' was no longer in the group he was instead replaced by a pearl white unicorn mare with an electric blue mane and tail. This new mare was chatting animatedly with both Octavia and Rainbow Dash. Twilight guessed that this was this DJ-PON3 Octavia had suggested and Rainbow was a fan of. Off to one side was a group of ponies Twilight didn't recognize.
Those must be the crew. Twilight thought.
The ships crew was made up of about a dozen stallions and two or three mares, each a different colour but almost all pegasi. They were all chatting away happily, obviously all very familiar with each other. Both them and Twilight watched as the captain climbed up on board to address the crew from the railing, accompanied by Princess Celestia.
"Alright everypony gather round!" Captain Zephyr shouted, getting everyponies attention and silencing all talking. Once his crew had gathered around he continued. "Alright fillies and gentlecolts, we got us a long journey ahead of us! Princess Celestia herself has chartered us to fly her and her little group out west, and I don't know about you but I kinda want to do good for her Majesty!"
The crew members glanced nervously towards the Princess, but at her nod they belted out a loud "Hurrah!"
"Now I'm not one for speeches boys and girls," Zephyr continued, "But I will say I don't think her Majesty could have chosen a finer vessel or crew if I do say so myself! So let's get out there and show them how it's done!"
With that everypony took wing and flew to their posts on board. One mare taking up position at the top of the boarding platform, right on board the vessel while others flew to various postings aboard.
Princess Celestia nodded to Zephyr, after which he flew up to his own post at the wheel of the ship. Celestia nodded to the assembled mares and stallions still on the ground.
"Come along my little ponies. Time to see the ship that will ferry us back and forth." She called down before turning around and vanished from sight.
"Well, this is it!" Rainbow Dash said as she looked at all the ponies present. Ten mares, one stallion and a section of guards looked back at her. She nodded to herself and casually walked down the dock. Casually being nervous forced steps, though she relaxed when she noticed first Twilight, then the rest of the girls following behind her. She even became truly confident when the whole group followed behind.
"Welcome to the Zephyr. " The mare at the end gave a friendly wave, her golden mane shimmering in the sunlight, her coat a dull silver. "My name is Aurora and if you ever need anything be sure to let me know!" She smiled at everypony, before stepping aside and letting them pass. She then trotted alongside Rainbow and Twilight. "Please, allow me to show you to your quarters."
Almost an hour after each mare had boarded and settled in, Twilight was standing at the bow, looking over the great Equestrian plains spread out before her. The Zephyr had taken off with no hassle, escorted away from the city by the Royal Guards who would be her compliment. She could see a great distance of the west, wind blowing through treetops far below and the patchwork of farms easily visible. On the horizon was a thin strip of blue.
We'll be arriving over the western ocean soon. She thought. West, onwards into the unknown. Possibly into danger, but definitely into the history books. The lavender mare chuckled at that. Correction, even further into the history books.
"Yo Twi!" A loud, scratchy voice broke Twilights train of thought and made her jump. "Whatcha doing out here?" Rainbow Dash appeared beside Twilight.
"Hi Rainbow, just thinking." The melancholy in her voice sailed right over Rainbows head.
"Ha, when aren't you?" Rainbow chuckled. "Anyways, Princess Celestia wants to see us down in the map room in a few minutes. See ya there!" With that the blue pegasus dipped out of sight over the railing, no doubt flying back to the front of the ship.
Twilight sighed to herself as she turned around. As she was trotting towards the door leading below decks one thought crossed her mind.
"Where IS the map room?"
Twilight found herself walking through the bowels of the airship, lantern light flickering off the walls as she grumbled about the lack of directions Rainbow had given her. She had to ask a crew member for directions to the map room. The burly black stallion seemed confused at first before telling her she was closer to the boiler rooms for the ships steam engines than she was the map room, so he pointed her in the right direction.
Shouldering through the door, Twilight saw her five best friends seated around a table with Celestia at the head. Apparently this would be an Element exclusive meeting.
"Twilight, my most faithful student." Celestia giggled. "I take it you got lost?"
Twilight gave a small glare to Rainbow, who smiled sheepishly and mouthed 'sorry!' before saying. "No Princess, just took the scenic route."
"Well, in that case I hope you enjoyed your walk." The solar monarch grinned. "Anyways, I was hoping you might be able to share what you learned about Humanity?"
"Of course!" Twilights eyes sparkled, all her friends groaned. They knew Twilight was about to go Teacher on them.
"But first Princess, I was wondering." Twilight cut herself off as she lifted Starswirls journal out from under the desk. "Did Starswirl mess up at the end of his journal?"
Celestia floated the ancient book over to herself and flipped to the end, curious to see what Twilight meant. "You mean the dictionary?" She asked.
"Yeah, I don't know why but it just doesn't seem right." Twilight said.
Celestia smiled. "Yes, Terran isn't exactly an easy language to speak or to learn. More so when attempted in that order."
"Princess? You can speak their language?" Twilight asked. When she had tried she had been sure she mangled the words.
Celestia just smiled before opening her mouth. The words that came forth were just as guttural and alien, but with a strange stopping quality about them, though at the same time clearer. The Princess spoke for a few seconds before stopping and looking at her audience. "I said 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.'"
"That's their language? Jeez, I see what you mean Twilight." Rainbow said.
"My word, what a harsh sounding language!" Rarity said.
"Yes Ms. Belle, I suppose it is." Celestia said. "The humans did say once that Equish sounded like we were singing to each other."
"Do you think you could teach us a bit Princess?" Twilight asked. "It would be helpful if we could understand what they're saying after all."
"That is true." The Princess looked over Twilight and company. "Very well, I'll teach you the basics over the next week. Would you care to start tonight?"
And with that the Zephyr carried her passengers and crew on into the setting sun, golden sands slowly appearing far beneath her hull. The voyage had begun, lessons were about to be learned, and the world would forever change now with the inclusion of a new intelligent species.
Chapter 6: First Encounters
The Lost World
Chapter 6
By: Bairiko
The next morning Twilight stood on the rear deck, enjoying the sunrise behind the Zephyr. A soft glow was coming from the window of the cabin directly below her, normally the captains quarters but serving as Princess Celestia's room for the journey. Twilight stood there, enjoying the morning as the early morning mists rose up from the ocean below, glistening in the new light as the clouds, sparse as they were, floated gently by as they mixed with the smoke from the airships boilers.
The language lessons last night went about as well as she could have expected. Though one thing was certainly surprising. Of all the ponies present, Rarity was the one to pick up the language the fastest, only needing to go over a sentence or phrase a few times with the Princess before figuring out how it worked. Behind her was Twilight herself, then Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie.
"Oh!" A startled squeak came from behind her. Twilight turned and saw Fluttershy slowly walking up behind her. "I'm sorry Twilight, I didn't know you would be up here," Fluttershy said.
"Good morning Fluttershy," Twilight said as she stepped aside, letting the timid pegasus move in beside her.
The two mares stayed like that for a number of minutes, just enjoying the sunrise with a friend.
"So Twilight," Fluttershy started, "Do you have..." She ended with a mumble and a blush.
"I'm sorry?" Twilight leaned a bit closer.
"Um, I was wondering if you were looking for a special..." Fluttershy was blushing hard.
"Didn't quite catch that Fluttershy."
"Um, I'm sorry, never mind." Came a squeak from the almost scarlet Fluttershy as she quickly tried to scurry away.
"Fluttershy," Twilight started, "You know you can tell me anything or ask me anything."
"I-I know Twilight, b-but I-I'll try again later." Fluttershy squeaked once more before fluttering back down below decks.
"Okay?" Twilight said, dragging it out before turning back to the sunrise. "Well, that was weird. I wonder what she meant by if I have a 'special' something?" Twilight asked aloud.
A few minutes passed before Twilight noticed something strange. She leaned over a bit and took a closer look at one of the Zephyr's smoke clouds.
It was brown.
"What a very strange way to start the day." Twilight mumbled.
And the day didn't get better from there.
"Pinkie Pie! What're ya doin'?!" Applejack shouted.
"What? I'm trying to make hot chocolate." Pinkie said innocently. She was coated head to hoof with cocoa powder and coal dust.
"With an engine boiler?" Twilight asked incredulity. The three mares were standing in the engine compartment of the airship, watching as the pink party pony threw another lump of charcoal into the burner of the back up steam engine.
"Ha! You just said it!" Pinkie exclaimed with a little dance, "It's a boiler so I can boil water all I want! You want some hot chocolate?"
"Pinkie, how are ya planning to boil water in somethin' meant to turn it to steam?" Applejack asked.
"Well duh! By not letting it get hot enough to boil it all away silly." Pinkie reached her head into the boiler, earning gasps from the other two mares, and pulled out a dainty looking white kettle. "Yeah, you want some."
"Uh..." Before either mare could fully say anything, Pinkie had shoved a mug full of scalding hot chocolate into each of their hooves.
"Drink up! Just don't tell Rarity I used her kettle please." Pinkie then downed her entire mug in one go, steam escaping to the air when she next opened her mouth. "Hmm...Tastes kinda funny."
One cup of odd tasting hot chocolate later, Twilight was standing outside of one of the cabins on board, Aurora the pegasus greeter stood beside her.
"They still in there?" Twilight asked.
"Yup."
"Still going at it?"
"Yup."
"How long have they been in there?"
"Since last night."
"Think they'll stop anytime soon?"
"Nope."
"Uh huh. Well, have fun with this." Twilight turned around, walking away from the door to the cabin, the sounds of a muted but very heated exchange still noticeable even after she changed decks. "When they do finish, tell them breakfast will be ready shortly." She called over her shoulder.
Why would Octavia suggest bringing Vinyl if all they're going to do is argue and fight? Twilight thought.
Breakfast was a simple affair, apple-cinnamon porridge and toast with tea. The mess room of the Zephyr was awash in conversations as the new adventurers, Royal Guards and crew members all enjoyed their morning meals.
Octavia and Vinyl arrived last, ruffled and red-faced with Octavia's bow untied and Vinyls sunglasses upside down, just in time to dish up the last of the porridge. They then sat across from each other with pointed glances between them.
Daring Do, Spitfire and Shining Armour were chatting in the back. Daring was telling a tale of how she managed to find the ruins of some ancient fort down in the Minotaur Islands a few years ago that didn't follow any known design scheme. Spitfire was talking about some of the more memorable occurrences in her time as Wonderbolts captain, and Shining Armour was talking about the Equestrian Games that recently took place in the Crystal Empire, and the pride of the Crystal ponies when their teams took home their first gold medal.
Pinkie Pie was sitting on the opposite end of the table from Rarity, who was gossiping with Lyra. Applejack was nursing a cup of coffee in the corner of the room, watching everypony. And a still flustered looking Fluttershy was talking with Rainbow Dash, who looked slightly disappointed.
Twilight was walking over to join her friends when Captain Zephyr and Princess Celestia came in, having eaten their breakfast in the Princesses quarters. All conversations ceased.
"Alright everypony," The captain started, "Figured I'd tell you now. We've got our route all mapped out and we should be arriving at our destination in only a few days time!"
"Uh, Cap?" One crew member asked. "Where exactly are we going?"
"That is a good question Chef," Zephyr stated, "Well, time to drop the bomb, we're on our way to Terra!"
Silence.
"'Course you'd all know it better as the Lost Continent." The captain said, eyes twinkling with mischief.
More silence.
Twilight, who had joined her friends by now, looked back and forth among her friends before looking out over everypony else present.
A hoof full of guards and crew members looked confused, but the majority of them looked scared. "Uh, so we're going to the Lost World right?" One guardscolt asked.
"Yup." Zephyr stated.
"The land that has a habit of killing anything that goes there right?" A different guard asked.
"Yup."
"So, where are we actually going then? Saddle Arabia?" The first guard asked with a laugh.
"Nope, we're going to the Lost World."
"Uh huh, well I'm done here then," One crew member said, "I don't feel like gettin' killed just yet."
"My little ponies," Celestia stepped in, "We are on our way to the Lost Continent yes, and yes it does have a less than stellar reputation. But that is one reason we're going there."
"But your Majesty, you said it yourself that there's nothing there!" Another guard shouted, before realising he had shouted at the one pony who controls the sun. He bowed down so fast and deep his golden armour clanked against the wooden floorboards.
Celestia smiled. "Yes, I know I said that, but times have changed my loyal guardscolt."
Twilight and her friends watched as the Princess had to reassure her guards that no, this was in fact not a suicide mission, but a political one, though it was obvious nopony really believed her.
It took some time to get the guards and crew to come around to the idea, and only after the Princess promised their safety. There was still some grumbling, but what could go wrong when you have a Wonderbolt, a full section of Royal Guards plus famous guard captain, a famous explorer, the Elements of Harmony and the princess of the sun on your side?
Eventually breakfast finished, almost everypony filing away back to their duties. The girls stayed behind for a bit and chatted amongst themselves.
"I said I was sorry Rarity," Pinkie pouted from across the table.
"Yes Pinkie, I heard you," Rarity said, "But saying you're sorry doesn't instantly fix a problem dear."
"Well it should! I didn't mean to forget about your kettle," Pinkie said as she cast a glance towards the blackened, misshapen mass of porcelain on the table between them.
"The fact still remains that you did," Rarity stated, "And that you didn't even ask if you could use it in the first place."
The fashionista then turned back to speaking with Applejack, "As I was saying, Lyra and Bon-Bon are wondering..." She stopped talking when she noticed a stallion approaching.
"Uh, miss Rainbow Dash?" He asked when he arrived. Rainbow raised her hoof for the stallion. "The captain wants to see you on deck please."
"Uh, okay? What for?" Rainbow asked as she stood up.
"Something to do with the clouds ma'am," He turned around and beckoned her with a wing, "Follow me please."
Rainbow glanced around the table at her friends as she stood there, shrugged, and set off after the crew member.
Afternoon came, and with it the first real complication of the trip.
"The storms getting worse Captain!" The pilot yelled. The sparse cloud cover of the morning had thickened up considerably throughout the day despite the efforts of some of the crew, Rainbow Dash, and even a few of the guards. The clouds were uncannily resistant to the pegasi's attempts at moving them as they piled up around the airship. Eventually a storm had started up and pelted the Zephyr with chilling rain and less than ideal winds.
That was fine, the crew could handle a bit of unruly weather. And so the Zephyr sailed on. By mid afternoon however the storm had gotten far worse, with harsh cross winds shoving the airship about and rough patches of turbulence shaking her like a foal does their favourite toy. Only a hoof full of ponies remained on deck and all of them lashed to something sturdy and preferably nailed down, Captain Zephyr and the pilot being two of them.
"Raise altitude, try and get above the storm," The Captain shouted over the roaring gales, his blue wings slick with rain where they stuck out from beneath his yellow slicker as he was illuminated by lightning flashes, "And watch out for thunderheads, the last thing we need is a lightning strike!"
"Aye Captain!" The ship creaked and groaned as the engines kicked in to high gear, struggling to push the ship up through the clouds surrounding it as one of the few non pegasus crew members used his magic to adjust the buoyancy of the balloon.
Below decks everypony had been in for the ride, groans of discomfort coming from almost every cabin.
"Ergh, how much longer till the ride's over,"
"Stupid balloon, stupid storm, stupid porridge,"
"This is even worse than those roller coasters on Poney Island,"
One cabin however at least had a conversation going on in it. The Element bearers had gotten back together to practice their Terran after Rainbows return, but the storm put a stop to that rather fast. Instead a collection of six almost sea-sick mares sat around a table in varying states of misery as the floor shifted slightly and the sensation of rising came over them.
"Twilight, can't you just -like- magic the storm away or something?" Rainbow inquired from where she hovered, trying to avoid being tossed around by the rolling cabin floor.
"As much as I want to Rainbow, I don't think I can," Admitted a slightly green-faced Twilight. "Even if the floor wasn't bobbing...rolling... Hurp!" Twilight was suddenly a lot more green in the face, though thankfully she managed to recover before anything bad happened. "Ugh, hey wait, I think I know a spell for sea-sickness," Twilight lit up her horn as she tried to remember the spell.
"Uh, how much longer is this storm gonna last?" Applejacks muffled voice asked from where she had her head resting on the table.
"Now I know how migrating birds feel," Fluttershy muttered.
"Shouldn't be more than a few hours Fluttershy dear," Rarity said as she rested her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.
The moment her hoof made contact however everypony was suddenly thrown hard to the side, sending Rainbow crashing into the table and everypony else to the floor with a flash of light.
And with their ascension came the second complication.
A sharp left crosswind hit the front half of the balloon at almost the same instance a powerful right wind hit the front of the ship itself, throwing everypony to the deck hard. The Zephyr groaned as she listed dangerously, almost rolling over, crates, ropes and an unlucky unicorn pony fell from her side before she managed to right herself. Luckily the rope tying the pony to the deck held firm and he managed to pull himself back on board.
"Argh! Celestia damned wind!" Zephyr shouted after picking himself back up. "Status?"
"Can't really tell so far Captain, and we won't be able to until the weather stops being so crappy!" the pilot shouted as she stood back up as well.
"Oh for fu- thank you," Zephyr groaned, "Try and get us above the clouds a little faster please!"
Sunlight shimmered along the expanse of clouds, sparking golden rivers to form along the surfaces and casting shadows deep where one cloud met another as silver sparks flashed through in the late afternoon sun. the calmness of the upper atmosphere completely oblivious to the storm raging below, the sounds of muffled thunder and lightning emanated from under the cloud cover as the sun began its slow descent to make way for the night.
A bulge formed nearby, stretching the clouds and draining their rivers of the golden light that flowed in them. Wispy tears in the surface let the sounds of the storm break through as the Zephyr forced its way above the cloud layer, rain water cascading off her sides as her hull and balloon gleamed in the new-found sunlight.
"Alright first things first!" Captain Zephyr shouted, "Set her down softly, then somepony check for any damages to the hull, supports, balloon and passengers!"
The Zephyr landed on the clouds surrounding it with a soft 'puff' as pegasus crew members started emerging from the bowels of the ship. With practiced efficiency they scoured the hull and balloon, finding all the damages one could expect from a storm. Anything that had been on deck that wasn't nailed down was either missing, broken, or no where near where it had been left, one of the guiding fins was bent and a minor tear in the balloon that was easily fixed and of no concern.
But what was concerning was the massive crack running from the rear of the front support beam almost halfway through, a nasty looking gash in the metal that spelt trouble.
"Uh, Captain! We got a problem!"
"Ugh, did somepony get the number of that cloud?" Rainbow Dash groaned. When she got her hooves back under her she tried to stand back up, but a squeak from under her caused her to look back down. A pair of aquamarine eyes stared back up at her.
"Oh, hehe, sorry 'Shy," Rainbow stood back up and helped Fluttershy to her hooves as she looked around the room. Whatever happened topside sent all the mares flying, so Rainbow flew over and checked up on each of them. Though the table Rainbow crashed into was a write off, thankfully nopony was hurt...
"Ow, Spike did somepony see which way the bunny who clocked me one ran?" Twilight was laying against the cabin wall with a nice sized bruise on her head and eyes slightly off-kilter when Rainbow helped her to her hooves. "Hehe thanks Rainbow!" She giggled as she threw both arms around Rainbow Dash's neck and hugged her tight.
"Uh, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked, "You okay there?"
"Never better!" Twilight took two steps away from a blushing Rainbow Dash and fell to her side, "Ow... Okay, I've been better."
"Alright then," Applejack continued, "Rainbow, help Twilight to the clinic-thingy, Ah'll sort things out 'round here."
Rainbow stood there for a minute before she managed to fight the blush off her face and help Twilight to her hooves once more, the giggly mare leaning on her as she started walking towards the sickbay. A slight shudder ran through the vessel, making Twilight giggle more and babble nonsensically while snuggling into Rainbows side, making the blue pegasus blush harder.
Eventually the pair reached the sickbay, joining a line of other ponies. Octavia was standing outside the door with a bruise on her leg, Lyra had a black eye, and one unicorn stallion had a nasty looking rope burn and bruising around his middle. Ouch, wonder how he got that? Rainbow thought.
"Alright," Another unicorn stallion with a thinning mane said as he stepped out, "Everypony please state the nature of your medical emergencies." He looked around as everypony listed off what was wrong.
When everypony had finished he beckoned towards Dash and Twilight. "Alright, Miss Dash and Miss Twilight, Nurse Airheart will see you two," He beckoned the stallion forward, "And I'll handle you."
Rainbow Dash and Twilight were sitting in one of the small examination rooms, Rainbow looking over all the posters and Twilight poking at something while giggling, when a creme coloured mare peaked her head in. "Oh, hello," She said, stepping in fully to reveal a pair of creme wings and a cutie mark of a red cross with feathers in the corners, "I'm Nurse Airheart, the second medical officer on board, now what seems to be the problem?" She asked with a smile.
"Well, I'm fine," Rainbow began, "But my friend took quite a hit to the head during the storm and she hasn't stopped giggling or trying to hug me since." She finished with a slight blush.
"Hmm," The nurse walked over to Twilight and glanced at her head, noting the large bruise on the side. Twilight noticed the mare staring at her and slid closer to Rainbow. "Well, I can safely say she has a small concussion, but was she trying to cast a spell at the time of the incident?"
"Uh," Rainbow scratched her head, "Yeah, I think she said something about a sea-sickness spell or something."
"Alright good, the doctor can easily fix her concussion," The nurse said, "But the reason behind her strange behavior is that when she bumped her head she must have messed up the spell," She saw Rainbow giving her a look, "Now when somepony messes up a spell that is supposed to have a minor medical effect on them, it can backfire in an effect known as Magical Intoxication and have the same symptoms as alcohol. Again, the doc can fix that easily enough, but Miss Twilight is going to have a headache for a little bit from the concussion and all the regular symptoms of a hangover."
"Alright then, no loud noises, lots of water and darkness, got it!" Rainbow smirked.
"Yeah, I guess that works too, now please excuse me for a minute while I fetch the doctor," The nurse said as she stepped out, leaving the prismatic pegasus with the drunken, giggly unicorn.
"I am afraid I don't see the problem here Captain," Celestia said as she observed the front support of the ship as a small team of ponies worked. They tried in vain to weld the crack shut before resorting to welding on scrap bits of metal in an effort to take some stress off the fracture.
"It's a problem Your Majesty because if that support breaks, the Zephyr will only be able to move in one direction," The Captain made a gesture with his wings, "Straight down. So unless you can guarantee that Terra has a dock that can fix this I'm afraid this trip's over."
"I am more than confident the Terrans can accommodate your ship Captain," Celestia said, "But I want to know if we will be able to make it there."
With a sign, Zephyr stated, "Yeah, we can make it so long as the weather is good and the repairs hold,"
"Then that is what we shall do Captain," The Princess stated.
The dark blue pegasus sighed. "Fine, but you owe me one your Majesty," He turned back to the work party, "Hear that boys? Make sure everything's good to go!"
"Aye, aye sir!"
When night time came the Zephyr was once more in the air and continuing its westward journey.
"Hey Twi, you okay in there?" Rainbow whispered from the door to Twilight's cabin into the darkness.
"Ergh, yeah I'm fine, thanks Rainbow," Came Twilight's weak and muffled response. The doctor had managed to cure the bruising and all the main effects of the concussion, but Twilight was unprepared for the headache to follow.
"Need a cup of water or anything?" Rainbow asked.
"Sure," the cerulean pegasus gave her a cup and a straw, letting Twilight drain the cup in one go before refilling it and putting it in sight on the mares nightstand, "Thanks Rainbow."
"Not a problem Twi," Dash grinned, "And if you need anything else, just let me know," The pegasus turned around and was about to leave when she was stopped by Twilight's voice.
"Hey Rainbow?" Rainbow looked behind her and saw Twilight looking at her, "Sorry if I did or said anything weird earlier," the lavender unicorn grinned sheepishly.
"It's fine Twi, you were just a bit more giggly and," Rainbow blushed a bit, "Hugged me a lot, is all,"
"Oh," Was that a blush on her face? "Well, thanks Rainbow, good night,"
"G'night Twi,"
Rainbow gently shut the door to the cabin behind her and trotted off, but she didn't go to her own room just yet. Climbing the stairs to the open air Rainbow spread her wings and leaped from the ship.
The moonlight shone bright as the Zephyr sailed through an ocean of silver clouds, golden points of light flickering on the bow, stern and all along the sides as candles burned in cabins and in lanterns. With the stars twinkling far above Rainbow was left to glide in peace with her thoughts. She thought of the trip, she thought of her friends and family, but most of all she thought of Twilight.
Why would Twi blush like that? All she did was be a bit more huggy than normal. Rainbow thought, Maybe she's embarrassed to have hugged me so much? The pegasus scoffed, Yeah right, more likely it wasn't a blush. But, what if she actually was?
For over an hour the chromatic pegasus flew alongside the ship, occasionally swooping over or around the vessel in thought before alighting on top of the balloon. There she sat for a number of minutes, admiring the stars before a voice behind her caught her off guard.
"Oh, I didn't expect to see anypony else up here," Rainbow jumped and looked behind her. Standing not so far down the balloon stood Aurora, the greeter and helper. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," She waited a few seconds for a response, then noticed Rainbow staring at her. "I take it you haven't seen me in the moonlight before?"
"Whoa," Was all Rainbow Dash could say.
Rainbow wasn't expecting what she saw. When she had first met Aurora the mares mane looked like strands of gold in the sunlight while her coat were a dull grey, but now in the moonlight the situation was reversed. Her mane was now an unremarkable pale yellow while her coat looked like liquid silver had been brushed over her as it gleamed under the moon.
The other mare giggled, "Yeah, I get that a lot," She walked over and sat down at the edge of the balloon near Rainbow. "You know, if the Captain finds us up here we can get in a lot of trouble right?"
Rainbow laughed, "Yeah, I kinda figured. But what he doesn't know can't hurt him." She took another look at the almost glowing mare beside her, "I can see why your parents named you 'Aurora' now."
Aurora looked down at herself before looking at Dash's mane, "And I can see why you got named 'Rainbow'." She giggled.
The two mares sat in silence for a few minutes, one watching the stars and the other the moon, before Aurora spoke up again.
"So might I ask what you're doing out this late at night?" She asked without taking her eyes off the moon.
"Huh? Oh, just doing a bit of flying,"
"In other words you've got something on your mind and were just trying to think," Aurora said with a knowing smile.
"Well that too but- Hold on," She looked over to the silver mare, "How'd you know that?"
"Why do you think I'm up here?" She said as she looked back up towards the moon, "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to though, I'll respect your privacy if you respect mine,"
And with that silence returned to the night, the two mares sitting out under the stars until the cold and their own tiredness drove them back to their beds.
It was the afternoon of the fifth day and the Zephyr hadn't encountered any other problems on the way. The sun was glowing behind a thin curtain of overcast clouds, something every pegasus on board was watching like a hawk, just in case. Twilight had spent the last few days going over Starswirls journal with the rest of the girls to get acquainted with Human history and to get a bit further into their language. Progress had been unfortunately slow however, even with the Princesses help.
Rainbow Dash was just returning to her cabin after a chat with Daring Do, whom she still couldn't believe was both real and on board when she heard a fateful yell from above deck.
"Land, ho!" A crew member shouted. All conversation ceased as everypony present, Rainbow Dash included, galloped to the front of the ship.
There, on the horizon, grey bluffs extended far above the ocean. Waves were crashing against the cliffs and seagulls flew about as the airship approached Terra, land of the unknown and home of the Humans.
"I can't believe we're actually here," Rainbow looked behind her, seeing Twilight approaching the railing. "I just wish I had a telescope,"
The Zephyr continued on its approach as first Princess Celestia, then the rest of the expedition members made it on deck, everypony chatted excitedly, fearfully, or both.
A few minutes went by before Fluttershy noticed something disturbing, "Um, excuse me but I think I think something's wrong," Everypony kept talking. "Uh, p-please, I think it might be i-important," She looked around as everypony ignored her before noticing Captain Zephyr watching her. She gave him a pleading look from behind her mane.
"Quiet!" Zephyr yelled. The chatting all along the deck fell silent.
"Princess," Fluttershy whispered, "I think I hear something."
The silence all around the deck turned tense as everypony finally noticed a low rumbling noise. The cold grey cliffs of Terra suddenly became a lot more imposing.
"Captain," The Princesses tone was harder than average, the same she had used when speaking of Discord. " I want somepony to go below decks and bring the contents of the box marked 'Arrival' in my quarters here immediately." The Solar Princess said. "And bring us to a stop."
"You heard her!" The dark blue pegasus shouted. "Aurora! Go grab whatever is in that box. Pilot! All engines stop!" The dull silver mare darted through the doorway, streaking past crew members and guards who were working their way above to see what all the commotion was about.
Celestia spoke once more, addressing everypony present. "All pegasi are to remain in close proximity to this vessel from now until further notice."
By now the low rumbling had grown louder, and was definitely coming from the clouds above the fabled continent.
"I'm going up there." Rainbow said. She leaped from the deck and spread her wings wide, but was stopped short by a lavender aura surrounding her.
"Rainbow Dash what are you doing?" Twilight warned. Her gaze was narrow but one of concern as well. "You heard the Princess, stay here."
"Twilight come on!" The cerulean mare grumbled. "If it's dangerous I wanna know about it."
Twilight set the mare on the deck, but kept the glow surrounding her there just in case. "If it is dangerous the worst place you can be is away from the ship Rainbow."
The Zephyr groaned, engines kicking into reverse to bring it to a stop faster. The ship came to the desired full stop a few seconds later as Aurora galloped back on deck with a folded piece of cloth. And just in time.
"I think I see something!" Somepony yelled, silencing Rainbows retort.
Two dark silhouettes were moving in the clouds overhead, visible only for a second or two at a time before fading away again. The rumbling was coming directly from them as they seemingly circled the Zephyr from on high.
"I want two pegasi to go stretch this out over the top of the balloon." Princess Celestia ordered, holding out the piece of fabric Aurora gave to her out. "Then I want them back on deck immediately afterwards."
Two of the Princesses guards took the fabric from her and unfurled it, revealing a large flag, a flag Twilight recognized but was slightly different once more. The bands of crimson and sapphire were the same, as was the star and shield crest, but that was it, no spear or anchor. Just the starred shield with crossed swords.
As soon as the stallions left the deck, a new sound accompanied the rumbling. A distant whine heralded a terrifying sight as the two silhouettes dove from their cloud cover and streaked towards the ship. The stallions scrambled to fulfill the Princesses order as they snapped the fluttering flag in place over the balloon, pulling it taut as the new craft approached.
Twilight and Rainbow stood there, spellbound, at the sight of the newcomers as they broke off from their dive and streaked down past the ship. Twilights actual spell faded, but neither of them noticed. Twilight was the first to comment on what they were seeing, saying, "It's ingenious."
The new aircraft were of a design she had never even heard of before. A propeller mounted at the front to pull it through the air and wide wings to provide the lift were visible as the undoubtedly metal skinned aircraft pulled up hard from its dive. Against the backdrop of the ocean far below the aircraft's strange elliptical shaped wings were in full view.
"Princess? What are they?" Applejacks nervous voice asked from somewhere on deck.
Celestia took a moment before answering, watching the second aircraft circle the Zephyr . "Those are airplanes Applejack, and they are one of the many reasons this continent remains unexplored."
The plane circling the ship was painted mottled dull grey and white on the bottom of the fuselage. The top was painted a darker grey motif, though the nose, just behind the spinning prop, was painted in the visage of a snarling manticore. Two large pipe like protrusions were jutting out of the wings near the body, but it was the bubble of glass set above and slightly behind the wings that drew Twilights attention.
The pilots compartment Twilight thought. Though the distance meant she couldn't see anything definitive, everypony present knew this was their first contact with a live human.
Twenty minutes of mutual observation passed, the Zephyr once again under way as the two new airplanes circled above, before the first problem occurred. A long, low groan came from above everyponies heads, causing everypony on deck to look up.
"Oh ponyfeathers."
Lunar One: A day in the Life
The Lost World
By: Bairiko
Chapter 7
Two days had passed since Celestia and company had left and, contrary to what some nobles had thought, Equestria wasn't teetering on the edge of anarchy or, thank Faust, a cultural revolution.
How can Tia stand this? Luna thought as the last petitioner of the morning stood in front of the throne. The noblepony before her prattled on about some dispute over a vineyard near Las Pegasus. Apparently a group of vines had grown over the nobles manor wall and now he had deemed the middle class earth pony who owned the vineyard should cede that part over to him. We didn't know a pony could be so petty,.
"So as you no doubt see your Majesty," Luna glanced at the copper coloured unicorn stallion, "It is for these reasons that I feel you should grant ownership of these lands over to me, so that no further problems and damages arise," The noble finished with what he surely thought was a winning smile.
The earth pony, a young stallion coloured not to far off from the grapes that adorned his flank, stared incredulously at the noblepony, "So, my grapes grow a bit over the fence and mess up your little flower garden, and I have to give you ten acres of my families land in return?"
"It is fair compensation, those flowers were of a rare northern variety that are very hard to grow this far south that cost me quite a fair amount of bits," He practically sneered at the other pony.
Luna looked between the two ponies and, before they could start arguing for the third time, asked, "Pray tell, what type of flowers were they Mr. Garnet?"
"Moon Roses your Highness," the noblepony, Garnet, answered.
"Moon Roses?" Luna blinked, then she smiled, "Moon Roses happen to be a personal favourite of ours," At that, Garnet smiled as well, the copper unicorn turning a triumphant smirk towards his adversary. "However," His smile drooped, "We happen to know that Moon Roses grow well anywhere there is plentiful moonlight, and what better location than a cloudless desert?"
"Wait your Highness, does that mean he's been lying this whole time?" The earth pony, Green Leaf asked.
"What? No! I would never lie to royalty!" Garnet looked horrified at the very thought.
"Thou say a fair sum was paid for these seeds, did thou not research them beforehoof to see if they truly were as rare as implied?"
"Er, no your highness," He glanced over to Green Leaf, "The merchant showed me a book describing the flower that said they only grow well in colder regions,"
"Yes, a common misconception considering their natural habitat is in the north," Luna stated, "As they are easy enough to regrow, I do not see how forcing a vineyard to cede property is in anyway beneficial,"
Now it was the earth ponies turn to smirk triumphantly. "But," Luna continued, "We can not justly sit upon this throne and ignore everything presented to us," She looked towards the noble, "Thy petition to have land confiscated and ceded to thee is denied, however," She turned to the earth pony, "Thou shall have to remove the offending vines at thy own expense, upon completion We ask thou to make sure nothing more comes of this. We decree this matter resolved and dismissed."
Neither pony looked pleased with this decision, but they accepted it none the less as they bowed deeply and trotted out. The guard outside could be heard announcing the closing of court, amid a chorus of displeased voices. Luna looked out one of the windows over the garden, wishing she could have spent the last four hours amongst her own gardens which, among others, included her own patch of Moon Roses.
"Was my ruling fair Duster?" Luna asked after the final pony had left the throne room. Though they all tried to hide it, she knew each petitioner who had visited her, noble and commoner alike, had been at least a little bit intimidated by her.
"Every bit as just and fair as your sisters m'lady," Feather Duster said.
"Come now Duster, surely thou have more to say than that?"
"No your highness,"
Something is wrong with her, Luna thought as Feather Duster once more looked out a nearby window. Every day, at nine in the morning, the lunch hour, and three in the afternoon she looks out any window she can over the city, why?
"Are thou well Duster?" She asked, but the tan mare didn't respond. "Duster?"
"Huh? Oh! I'm sorry your Highness." Feather Duster said, "Pardon me?"
"We had asked if thou were alright,"
"I'm fine your Majesty," Duster said, smiling slightly, "Now then, on to lunch?"
Luna regarded her for a few seconds, trying to figure out what was wrong before a quiet grumbling reminded her of her hunger, "Very well, what is for lunch today?"
"If what the chef told me is right, a lovely salad with oranges, feta cheese and sunflower seeds," Feather Duster started walking towards one of the side entrances for the throne room as she spoke over her shoulder, "Lunch will be served in your private dining room in half an hour,"
Luna sighed.
The afternoons of the weekdays saw court closed, allowing Equestria's rulers a chance to deal with governing the kingdom. Luna found herself seated once more in the throne room of the castle, this time at a desk hidden away behind the throne as she dealt with the paperwork necessary to keep Equestria running.
The gryphons want another change done to the trade agreements? Luna thought as she re-read the letter from the Gryphon Ambassador. For centuries Equestria and the Kingdom of Gryphus had been on positive, if sometimes tense terms, but sometimes the Gryphons liked to push their luck.
The smell of ink was in the air as Luna levitated her salad bowl over to her, picking away at what remained as she drafted a fifth response to the Gryphon Ambassador.
"Um, your Majesty?" A voice from behind her asked. Luna looked over her shoulder and saw one of Celestia's Royal Guards looking at her, looking sheepish.
"Yes guardscolt?"
"Uh, Prince Blueblood is demanding he see you Princess," He said.
Luna didn't look to impressed, "Tell the good prince that court is closed for this day and he should try again on the morning," She said.
"That's just the thing your Highness, we tried that. Hes ignored us and is--" The guard was cut off when the doors to the throne room were thrown open, the prince marching between them and glaring triumphantly at the guards. He barely bowed when Luna stepped from behind the throne to watch him.
"Auntie Luna!" He said, flashing a winning smile at the alicorn, "How have you been?"
"We have been well nephew," Luna replied evenly, Why does 'Tia insist on letting Blueblood and his family believe they are of kindred blood to us? "Now, we feel the need to remind thee that court is currently not in session. Pray tell, what doth thou have to say that could not wait until the morrow?"
"Please auntie, surely you don't think the regulations governing court for the common riff raff apply to the Noble Houses do you?" Blueblood asked, looking askance at the idea.
Luna fought to suppress a sigh. Blueblood had one of the most privileged upbringings attainable for a pony simple because his family was thought of as being related to the Royal House. This lead to the prince growing accustomed to getting what he wanted, and almost always at the expense of the lower classes.
"The rules set by our sister encompass all classes nephew," Luna said at length, "Including thee. Now then, since thou hath already interrupted our work, what was it that thou wished to talk about?"
"I was only wondering where dear aunt Celestia has gone," the white stallion said, "The other nobles and myself also wish to know how long she would be gone for,"
"Our sister has gone on a political trip, to where and for how long she would not say," Luna said in return.
"Yet she took the Element Bearers with her?" Blueblood laughed softly at the look on Luna's face, "Come now auntie, when six national heroes vanish, alongside our beloved princess leaving inexplicably ponies tend to put two and two together," The way the prince said it sounded as though he couldn't believe Luna hadn't thought of that, "So what I really want to know is if whatever auntie Celestia is doing is dangerous, as she needed the Elements with her,"
"We shall say it again, we know not where Celestia has gone, nor do we know why she has brought the Elements with her," Luna replied, "However, we are more than confident that they are under no threat lest Celestia would have asked our assistance on the matter,"
"Hmm," The snow white prince thought for a second, then seemingly came to a conclusion, "Well, thank you for your time auntie," He dipped into another half bow before turning around and trotting back towards the throne room doors.
Luna was just about to sit back down when his voice drifted back to her from the door, "I wonder though, why she chartered an airship, one known for traveling to dangerous regions in the past, to fly west? Some sort of lost land maybe?" Luna looked back over, noting the princes blue eyes staring right back at her. "I seem to recall a legend about that area, something about a land of death to the west," He grinned, "Surely auntie Celestia couldn't have gone there, could she?" With that, he left, his golden tail being the last thing seen of him as Luna sat there wondering just what he knew.
A new worry had taken hold in the mind of the Night Princess as she sat waiting for Celestia to lower her sun.
Blueblood knows something, Was her conclusion, How he knows and what he knows however remain to be seen, She glanced around the balcony she was sitting on as the cool night air blew around her.
Finally the sun began to set, Luna perked up as the sun approached the horizon as she set about raising the moon. The waxing crescent rising high over Equestria as the nations night life set about the towns and villages, a new cultural aspect Luna was fascinated with. The night was no longer a time to be feared, but a time to relax and have fun with friends, something Luna had wished for one thousand years ago and was now a reality.
No more is our night evil and wicked, The thoughts of Blueblood forgotten, Luna watched the city as ponies trotted too and fro in the glow of the streetlamp, This is what our night was meant to be, She smiled at the sounds of laughter and music, tempted to take flight and observe it all more closely.
But alas, she couldn't. Now that the moon was floating serenely overhead Luna turned her back to the city below and trotted back into the tower. A nation does not govern itself after all,
The Lost World
Chapter 7
By: Bairiko
Twenty minutes of mutual observation had passed, Twilight was taking rough notes and calculations on anything she could get her hooves on about the planes that circled overhead, leaving piles of paper and scrap laying all around her. A scientist with a new subject can get a lot done in twenty minutes.
Another variant, She was jotting on a piece of scrap paper, of their crest is visible on the 'tail' and undersides of the wings of these 'airplanes', bringing the known total to four. These include the earlier mentioned spear of the army, anchor of the navy and bare standard version of their flag, where this new version is the crest encircled by a pair of stylized wings. Representative of their Air Cavalry perhaps?
She looked up at one of the circling planes and squinted to try and make out any further details, Colouration suggests a type of camouflage, further reinforcing the idea that these are military in nature as the paint on the underside makes the craft hard to see against the clouds. Wing shape suggests...
Any further contemplation however was cut off by a long, low groan from overhead, drawing everyponies attention.
The repairs and reinforcements to the storm-damaged front support had proven insufficient, the crack yawning wide and far beyond what the metal could support. Groans and creaks emanated from stress cracks as they slowly formed along the main break.
"Oh ponyfeathers," Came a curse from nearby, Captain Zephyr was glaring at the injury to his ship like his gaze alone could repair the gash. When it didn't he looked towards the Princess and gave her a slight shake of the head, the Princess answering with a nod.
"Alright ponies!" He shouted, "Everypony who can fly, grab somepony who can't, then prep the ship for an emergency water landing!"
Immediately after his order Twilight yelped as she found herself plucked from the deck, strong cyan arms wrapped around her barrel as they flashed over the railing of the ship. At the sight of the ocean far below her she tensed up, emitting a squeak that would have made Fluttershy proud, and heard a stifled giggle from above. When she looked up she saw Rainbow Dash's signature mane fluttering in the breeze as she carried Twilight away from the now descending airship, her eyes shining as she gave the scared unicorn a reassuring smile.
Twilight glanced around, seeing each of her fellow adventurers being carried away by a pegasus. Fluttershy was carrying Pinkie Pie, something that didn't seem to strain the demure pegaus at all. Daring Do had Rarity, who was clinging to the adventurers neck with as much strength as she could muster. Spitfire had Applejack resting on her back as she flew off the ship, the farmers forelegs wrapped around Spitfires torso in a reversal of Twilight's current position. Princess Celestia was carrying Shining Armour in her magic as the guard turned prince flailed helplessly in the aura. Lyra, Octavia and Vinyl were carried by pegasus guards.
Twilight cast a quick spell on herself and directed Rainbow towards a large cloud floating nearby, signalling towards the others to follow. As they approached she cast the same spell on every non-pegasus there and settled on the cloud safely. From their new vantage point they watched the events that transpired next.
The Zephyr , free of any earth-bound non-crew members began descending, her pegasus compliment zipping about her frame with practiced efficiency as they stripped off the guiding fins and replaced the wide air propellers with smaller naval ones. When they had finished the airship truly looked like a sea vessel hung from a balloon as she approached the waves below.
What had originally been intended as a way to take pressure and stress off of the damaged support however became the catalyst for what happened next.
The seas were a bit too rough, and the airship came down too fast, for when she hit the water a horrible Snap! filled the air. The Zephyr had come down in the trench of a swell right when the water began to rise once more, pushing the airship back up as the weight of the balloon came down. The crack, which had formed from opposing forces on the sides of the vessel, was caught at the wrong angle of forces above and below, shearing it in half.
A gout of water burst upward as the balloon crashed across the deck, forcing the bow temporarily underwater as the weight settled. Listing precariously to the side, pegasus crew quickly jumped overboard and into the skies while unicorns hastily set spells into motion to salvage what they could. Captain Zephyr could be heard shouting orders even from Twilight's vantage point on the clouds.
Slowly but surely the airship regained equilibrium as the bow popped back up from the ocean and pegasi swarmed the balloon, deflating it slowly and in concert with the unicorns still on deck. The support system proved too unstable and damaged so, despite efforts, they were forced to jettison the entire ensemble. The steel framework kicking up a fine mist as it splashed into the ocean, sinking out of sight as the pegasi folded up the salvaged balloon over the air-turned-sea ship.
The human aircraft had not been idle either, pulling away sharply when all the pegasi emerged from the ship, before continuing their circling at a safer distance. Once the airship hit the water however, and it became clear something was wrong, the plane with the manticore motif swooped low over the ponies seated on the cloud, startling them with the loud roar of its engine before wiggling its wings and flying off over the ocean. The other, undecorated plane continued to circle overhead unabated.
"What was that for?!" Rainbow shouted at the retreating craft as she lifted off the cloud, "Why're you running off now huh?!"
"Rainbow..." Twilight warned, "We still don't know what it's doing or what it can do, so please sit back down,"
"You saw it though," Rainbow said, "It just ran off and left its buddy here to watch us, who knows what could happen next,"
"Precisely," They both looked over their shoulders. "You don't know what it is doing, so why follow it?" Princess Celestia was saying. "Following something that is potentially dangerous to an unknown location is a foolish mistake miss Dash," She smiled, "And I believe it is getting help,"
"It had better be," Captain Zephyr said as he alighted on the cloud nearby. "This trip hasn't exactly been kind to my ship your highness," He said in a reserved, but still clearly angry tone.
"I understand your frustrations captain," Celestia said, "I am sure that the Terrans will be able to make any repairs necessary to your fathers ship, and I will personally pay for the cost as well,"
The pegasus blinked, "Well, thank you for your generosity your Highness, but we still won't be able to go anywhere for a few hours yet," He turned to gaze down at the ship bobbing in the ocean, gouges of wood missing from the bow and all sorts of other damages to her deck. "Unless that thing flew off to get a tugboat at least,"
"Well, at least we've got ourselves a cloud!" Lyra shouted from the back of the group as she hopped up and down, "Clouds are cool,"
"Yeah, I gotta admit this is pretty fun," Vinyl said as she bounced in place, the cloud acting like a giant trampoline.
"Vinyl, do stop that," Octavia said from beside the bouncing DJ.
"Awe, you're just jealous cuz you can't bounce with a stick in your rump Octy,"
"Yes Vinyl," The grey mare deadpanned, "I want you to stop jumping around like a foal and shaking everypony around because I have a stick in my rump,"
Vinyl and Lyra both stopped and looked around, noticing that indeed their bouncing had shaken the cloud and caused a few ponies to fall to their bellies. "Oh, hehe oops?"
"Anchors away!"
The ships anchor chains rattled as they shot overboard, following the two anchors as they crashed into and below the waves.
"Status?" Captain Zephyr asked as he paced the ship, watching aircolts turned sailors and the ship carpenter as they repaired the damages done.
"A bit of surface damage to the deck, a fair bit of flooding in the lower levels and the loss of our flight ability," Aurora listed off as she followed behind him.
"Could have been a lot worse," The blue stallion said, "Bilge pumps are already going I assume?"
"Yes Captain,"
"Alright, send somepony up to tell those Canterlot fillies and the Princess they can come down out of the clouds now,"
The deck was mostly cleared of splinters and the damaged wood was largely replaced by the time the girls returned to the Zephyr .
"My notes!" Twilight yelped as soon as Rainbow deposited her back on deck, galloping to where she had been seated at the bow of the ship. Predictably, all of the papers were either missing or ruined. Twilight plopped down on her rump and stared out over the water.
"Uh, Twi?" Rainbow said as she walked up behind the sulking mare, dodging splinters of wood and pools of water left on deck, "They're just notes, you can re-take them easily enough,"
"But they won't ever be the same," Twilight lamented as she observed the torn, soaked and ruined notes that were left.
Rainbow just gave the unicorn an incredulous look before trotting off, muttering "Eggheads..."
"No no no no NO!" Vinyl shouted as she galloped towards the entrance to below decks.
"And just what is the matter now Vinyl?" Octavia asked as she followed behind the white unicorn.
"Ship...water...flooding...RECORDS!" Vinyl squeezed out as she threw her full weight into trying to open the door. Octavia just stood there watching and trying not to laugh.
Oh Vinyl, only you would get so worked up over getting your records wet, She thought. Wait, isn't my cabin right beside hers? And there was flooding, which means... Oh sweet Celestia "MY CELLO!"
Now the poor door had the full weight and strength of a unicorn and earth pony pushing against it.
"They uh, do realize the door opens outwards right?" Daring Do asked from off to the side.
"Nope," Lyra answered from beside her.
"Should we tell them?"
"Nah, they'll figure it out eventually," Lyra chuckled, "And besides, this is funny to watch,"
"Thank Celestia we're off that cloud," Applejack said as she took careful steps on deck, "Give me some solid dry land any day,"
"Silly AJ," Pinkie chirped as she bounced over to throw a hoof over Applejacks shoulder, "We're no where near solid dry land, we're on a ship bobbing in the middle of the ocean and the only dry land is a hundred meters underwater or way over there!" Pinkie pointed a hoof at the cliff face in front of the ship.
"Pinkie dear, you're not helping," Rarity said. Pinkie stepped back and looked over at the pristine white unicorn, who pointed back at Applejack.
The farm mare was almost as green in the face as Granny Smiths coat, and the way she waved back and forth was almost like she was just now registering the gentle bobbing of the ship. With a final woozy glance around, she let out a soft *hurk* and galloped to the railing. The noises that followed made both mares cringe.
"Oopsie daisy," Pinkie said. She walked up beside the sick mare and said, "Hey Applejack, you alright?"
"O-oh my!" Came a soft squeak from behind them. Fluttershy landed softly beside Rarity and looked towards the orange mare leaning over the railing. "What happened?"
"Pinkie Pie made Applejack seasick," Rarity answered, cringing again at the sounds the poor mare was making and going slightly green herself. "I-I think I'm going to go sit down now," She said as she trotted off, magically levitating Vinyl and Octavia off the door and opening it. The two suspended mares glanced at each other before racing through the newly opened portal, followed by a chuckling Lyra and Daring Do.
Fluttershy glided forward softly and after gently moving Pinkie out of the way, apologizing while she was at it, sat Applejack down beside the railing. She reached into a small bag hidden away under her wing and withdrew a small root.
"Here Applejack," She said softly, "This it should help you,"
Applejack just looked at the root in front of her before turning away. "Uh uh uh," Fluttershy admonished gently, "Just put it under your tongue and suck on it, it should help," The orange mare nodded and did as she was told.
A few minutes later Applejack looked much better, Fluttershy smiled and helped her to her hooves before escorting her back down towards the mess hall for a drink.
Two hours had passed since the Zephyr was forced to land in the waters off the coast of Terra, and the ponies were just about ready to get underway once more. The circling human aircraft had left an hour ago, much to Twilights displeasure, and neither it nor the manticore painted one had returned.
A loud blast of sound startled everypony on board. Twilight jerked skywards from where she was retaking her earlier notes for the last half hour and looked around.
"There! Over to the left!" Spitfire shouted. Twilight looked over herself and froze. Where the airplane that had circled overhead had been ingenious, what she saw now looked impossible.
Lumbering towards them was a large dark grey mass of steel easily twice as long as the Zephyr and moving twice as fast as she could. The knife like prow slicing through the waves as she approached,
The ship, no doubt human, pulled sharp to starboard, bringing the full length of the vessel to bear as she came alongside the pony ship about two hundred meters away. Where the Zephyr had the bridge located near the rear of the ship, the large superstructure of the human ship was near her bow. Behind that three large smoke stacks billowed dark grey smoke into the air as a complex system of sparkling wires ran about, far above the heads of the human crew members lining the rails.
They're just like us, Twilight observed as she looked beside her. In the amount of time in between the blast of noise and now, every single pony on board had lined the railing, pegasi floating in the air above them. They've probably never seen a ship like ours, just like we've never seen a ship like theirs, but what are the purposes of those things? She thought as she looked at about five raised and two semi raised platforms spread along her length, each with a metal box and pipe like structure jutting out.
At her rear stood the confirmation of what Twilight thought. A lone flag pole stood and there, fluttering gently in the breeze, flew the flag the Princess had described in her story, crimson and sapphire bands alongside the crest complete with the anchor.
Then something strange happened. Another loud noise burst forth, then a voice spoke.
"What did you see walk down Greatwood Avenue seven year ago?" A heavily accented voice shouted in broken Equish from the human ship.
Princess Celestia smiled from where she stood three ponies down from Twilight before she yelled out in Terran. Twilight could barely understand what she was saying. "Three pink hydras!"
"Welcome then to you, and welcome to Empire!" The same voice, female sounding Twilight thought, shouted back.
The sun was setting behind the cliff face to the right as the Zephyr found herself steaming as fast as she could behind the human vessel, now known to be a 'cruiser' named the INS Westmarch . The aircraft with the manticore motif had returned shortly after the cruiser had arrived and was now flying oblong circles around both vessels as they plowed through the waves.
Celestia had flown onto the human vessel half an hour before to talk with the human captain before returning the the Zephyr . She now sat with the six elements in the map room once more, talking with them about what she had learned.
"The Westmarch , as she is known, is captained by a fine woman," She was saying, "Both her, her ship, and the aircraft were ordered to watch the coast for us and to escort us to either port, if we arrived by ship, or directly to the capital if we arrived by air,"
"So we'll be arriving at a port soon?" Applejack hopefully asked, still slightly green in the face.
"Yes Applejack, by this time tomorrow we will be on land," The Princess said. She chuckled when Applejack grinned in relief as she slipped the ginger root back under her tongue.
"You said they were ordered to watch out for us?" Twilight asked, "So they knew we were on our way here?"
"Yes Twilight, I did mention I had spoken with the Terran Emperor did I not?" Celestia said.
"Oh yeah, you did," Twilight chuckled nervously.
"No need to be nervous my faithful student," The princess said, "Sometimes it's easy to forget some things," The Solar diarch glanced around at the assembled ponies before adding, "Now then, I need to go share this news with the others, I'll see you all at breakfast in the morning?" Every pony nodded, so the princess excused herself to go meet with the others.
Rainbow Dash stepped out into the fresh night air hours later, Lunas moon shining bright as the crescent above illuminated the night. She glanced around and saw exactly what she expected to see, Twilight Sparkle sitting exactly where she had been earlier in the day, doing the exact same thing as she took more notes on what she could see of the Westmarch .
"Twilight?" She called out to the lavender unicorn, who didn't respond. "Yo Twilight!" She yelled. Still no response. Undaunted the cerulean pegasus flew over and landed right beside the occupied unicorn. "Don't you think you should be in bed? It's like, one in the morning!"
"Is it really that late?" The unicorn asked as she tore her gaze away from the dark silhouette of the ship before them.
"Yeah," Rainbow looked over the sizable pile of notes beside the unicorn, "How long have you been out here for anyways?"
"Clearly longer than I thought," Twilight said as she stood up, her back popping multiple times as she did so and earning a relieved sigh from the mare. "Can you believe it though Rainbow?" She said excitedly, "We're finally here!"
"Uh, weren't you scared of them for the longest time?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight looked a bit sheepish as she turned away. When Rainbow followed her gaze she saw the purple mare watching the stern of the Westmarch as the Terran vessel steamed along. They watched the small silhouettes of the occasional human sailor flit about on board in the light cast by the moon and the ships own running lights.
"I guess I was wasn't I?" She sighed, "I guess I was just worried. They had been exiled for over one thousand years, so I just couldn't help but wonder what they had done to deserve such a punishment," She looked over at the chromatic pegasus, who had turned to listen to her fully, "But now that we're here, and to see even this small example of what they have done in the meantime," She stopped as her hoof waved over the human ship and the sky above, where the airplane had been circling before nightfall.
"They have aircraft designs we could never have imagined, and ships made entirely of metal that still somehow float," She quietly said after a short pause, "What else do they have hidden away in their land? What is the history that lead to all this? What will ponies do now that the Lost Continent is no longer lost? Humans now that they're free from their exile?" Twilight sat on her haunches as she fell silent once more.
Rainbow Dash just stood their deep in thought. In all honesty she had thought of a few of those questions as well, and if she had the others certainly had as well. She looked over the Westmarch once more before looking up towards the moon. When her eyes fell back on the lavender mare beside her, she smiled.
"Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see won't we?" She said before poking Twilight in the ribs, "Come on Twi, up and at em, it's a bit too late at night for this kind of deep thinking," Twilight looked up at the moon and nodded, her lavender aura encompassing her latest collection of notes and sorting them into a pair of saddlebags that sat nearby. She was surprised when Rainbow Dash walked over and picked up the saddlebags for her.
"Come on Twi, I'll walk you to your room," Dash said in response to Twilights questioning look. She dipped into a playful half bow at the unicorns giggle, "Lead the way,"
Twilight giggled again before she let loose a big yawn, "Why thank you kind ma'am, just this way," She turned and, with a flash of magic, the door off the deck popped open, allowing both mares to walk through before another flash closed it tight.
Neither mare noticed, by some coincidence, the almost glowing figure on the rear of the Zephyr overlooking their little exchange. "Ah to be young and in love," Celestia said with a gentle smile.
Twilight couldn't believe her eyes.
Earlier in the morning the Westmarch had lead the Zephyr through a wide straight farther along the coast to the south, which the ships had passed through under the imposing over watch of more aircraft and two impressive facilities with massive metal tubes carved into the cliff faces overlooking the water.
The sun shone brightly that morning as the two ships had then entered into what could only be a massive bay or inland sea, with islands spread out here and there ranging in sizes from small to large. A hoof full of other ships could be seen sailing in the sunshine, some truly sailing while others driven by prop.
Another hour of sailing, complete with strange looks from the other vessels directed at the wooden sail ship without a sail brought the ponies to a nearby port facility, and this is where Twilights eyes would run afoul with her as they came in to the port itself.
Where the ship leading them was big by pony standards, this ship seemingly under construction at the port was simply huge. Twice as long as the Westmarch , which herself was twice as long as the Zephyr , the ship had a skeletal superstructure in the middle and behind one completed, immense platform supporting a metal box that could serve as a house if need be. From this metal box, three massive metal pipes extended over its partially completed twin in front. A similar situation could be found behind the central tower, with one completed platform overlooking a partially completed one.
There is absolutely no way that thing could possibly float, Twilight thought as she examined the largest ship she had ever seen more closely. Although those metal tubes seem to be a common occurrence here, some kind of weapon? She shuddered at the thought of what kind of weapon needs to be so large.
"Woah," Was all Rainbow Dash could say.
"Yes, an impressive sight," Princess Celestia said as she walked over to lean on the railing. "Unfortunately we won't have long to admire it, a train is waiting for us once we get on land, so might I suggest you girls go and collect your bags?"
When Twilight had returned, saddlebags resting on her flank, she was greeted with the sight of all her co-adventurers crowded before a gangplank. Twilight pushed her way to the front of the group to see what was happening and, when she did, gasped softly at what she saw. Speaking with the Princess was a human, the first human Twilight had ever seen up close, and she was awestruck.
He was standing there, almost eye level with the princess at around eleven hooves tall, dressed in some kind of khaki coloured uniform not unlike a royal guards dress uniform with a peaked hat perched on his head. Around his waist he wore a black leather belt with a loop extending over his left shoulder with only an oddly shaped pouch on his right hip, and brown boots which his pant legs were tucked into. Rarity did not seem enthusiastic about the uniforms colour choice however as she too observed the human and his two companions.
The two other humans on board were dressed similarly to the first, with some key differences. Where the first had a peaked cap resting on his head, these two wore some type of steel pan helmet and more pouches hanging from a harness around their shoulders. Instead of their pants being tucked into their boots they had strips of fabric wrapped tight around their lower legs, streamlining them and splattered with old mud stains. Most concerning however were the two spear like weapons resting against their shoulders, butts resting in the palms of their hands as they hung at their sides with a knife like blade pointed skyward over their shoulders. They stood with spines straight as they listened to their well dressed companion speak to the Princess, eyes being the only thing that moved as they watched the ponies lined up before them.
"Ah, here is the last one now," Twilight heard Celestia say as she looked over at her and smiled. "We are all here now Colonel, and we are ready when you are,"
"Very well, as I have said my companions and I shall escort you to the train station," The human responded before nodding to his companions, "From there it is a simple trip to the Capital, so if you would please follow me your Grace," He stepped back and bowed deeply before he turned on his heel, saying something to the two other men on deck with him as he walked off the ship. They saluted and stepped to either side of the gangplank and waited.
"Come now my little ponies, our trip is almost complete," Celestia said, "These gentlemen are going to be escorting us to the train that will take us to the capital city," She said as she stepped easily between the two human guards, who did not move at all except for their eyes following the Princess.
Everypony else glanced back and forth amongst themselves, unsure what to do. Finally Spitfire took it upon herself and trotted after Celestia. Again, the guards did not move. Shining Armour followed behind, stopping in front of one to observe his stance and clothes before Vinyl poked him in the flank to get moving. Eventually all that were left on board were Twilight herself, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, who was trembling at the sight of the spears and the leather she had seen.
"Come on Fluttershy, it's not all that bad," Rainbow said to the butter yellow nature lover, "They're just guards, if anything I'd feel safer knowing they're sending their own guards to watch us," She tried to prod Fluttershy up with her nose, but it didn't work. "Hey Twi, help?"
A lavender aura erupted from Twilights horn, followed by a similar one around the pink haired pegasus that lifted her off the ground and floated her down the walkway. Rainbow followed just behind her feathered companion, saying a quick thanks to Twilight as they went. Now all that was left on board were the two humans, Twilight, the ships crew, and the hoof full of royal guards Celestia had left behind to watch the ship.
Twilight started down the gangway herself and was mildly surprised when the two humans followed behind. Something about two obviously armed humans following her was slightly intimidating for the young mare, so a sigh of relief escaped her lips when her hoof stepped off the wood and onto solid ground for the first time in a week. And it looked like she wasn't the only one relieved as Applejack was laying flat on her belly a short distance away, ponies and humans alike giggling at the mares pleased face.
Applejacks relief didn't last however as Princess Celestia ushered them along, her personal guard flying slightly off the ground and around the group while half a dozen more humans formed a circle themselves. Each was dressed exactly the same, but now their spears were in their hands, blades pointed downwards as Twilight noticed that they actually rested just under yet another metal tube.
"Princess," She said, "What exactly is with all these metal tubes? I just don't get it,"
The princess glanced down at her pupil before responding. "They call them guns my faithful student, think of them as being more advanced versions of the guards cannons," She said.
Twilights eyes widened once more. The cannons of the Royal Guard were their most prized, and feared, weapons. Expensive to build, only the royally funded guards and the City Guard of the richer towns and cities could afford them, they were also considered to be one of the most dangerous non magical weapons in Equestria. And the humans had so many? Of more advanced versions? To the point where a common guardsman had one?
"B-but Princess!" She said, "Where-how did they get so many? And if that's true," She remembered the massive tubes at the straight, and the ones on the ship under construction, the smaller ones on the Westmarch and the ones on the airplanes from the day before. "If that's true, their military makes ours look like a laughing stock," She concluded sadly.
"Perhaps, but I prefer to think of it like this," Celestia said as she rested a wing over the smaller mares back, "We have magic, they do not. And the Equestrian military doesn't need to be big or advanced because Equestria is peaceful, and always will be. There has not been a war in Equestria for almost a thousand years Twilight," The lavender mare didn't seem convinced. "And if it makes you feel better, if things go well at the capital, the humans will be our allies, and their military will never be a threat,"
The sound of a steam whistle cut through the air as the ponies approached the station. The train they approached looked very similar to the one the girls had ridden out to Appleoosa years before, though the engine looked much more streamlined.
Ever since the ponies had left the port area humans had been staring at them. Men would stare uncertainly until they saw the soldiers nearby, while women would have to restrain their children from running over. But most strange Twilight though was that whenever eyes would land on the Princess, their fear would vanish and a look of astonishment would flash over their eyes. Hushed, almost reverent whispers of Solestia would drift over as some men would bow deeply, or women curtsy graciously.
There were others however. Some of the Terrans would glare menacingly at the Equestrians as their hands drifted over similar pouches as the first humans, though instead of resting on their hips they would hang about their thighs, from which gleaming metal grips could be seen. Pointed glares from the soldiers however put an end to that.
"All aboard! Express line to Kings Reach!" The conductor shouted. Everypony glanced around uncertainly, all except three. Rarity smiled as she floated her luggage towards the train to the astonished looks of nearby humans, while Twilight was frantically scribbling yet more notes as she walked. Celestia just smiled and translated what he had said before the procession arrived at the train.
The Colonel stepped forward and, after a few words and some pieces of paper exchanged with the operators, glanced back and nodded to Celestia.
"This is it my little ponies," She said, "Our next stop is a day away, so please try and get comfortable,"
With one final glance back over the sea behind her and the milling humans between them, Twilight nodded to herself and followed her friends and co-adventurers on board the train.
Five minutes later, and one last whistle, the train set out carrying her first foreign passengers into the noon day sun.
The Lost World
Chapter 8
By: Bairiko
The train whistle chirped twice as the locomotive pulled out of the station, bound for the Capital and all the sights along the way.
The Zephyr bobbed lazily in the sunlight as Captain Zephyr listened to the train, standing where he was at the base of the gangplank amidship, he observed his latest port of call. Human sailors in white flat caps and white belted blue uniforms carried on their business, some of them stopping to stare at the Equestrian ship and her crew and guards, an action that was returned in kind. Across the water on the other side of the port the massive bulk of the ship under construction dominated the attention of some crew members while the Westmarch , her duties completed, slowly turned about and sailed from the harbour.
"Alright, now what?" Aurora asked as she too watched the crowds from beside the captain.
"Well, now we either head back to Equestria and wait for word from the Princess, or we wait here,"
"No, I meant about the ship," Aurora said as she looked behind her, the jagged edges of the front support still visible even under the canvas tarp tied over it and the two rear support docks naked at the sides of the aftcastle.
Zephyr's eyes widened as he remembered what the Princess had promised to do, leaping off the ship and flying high above her, he watched the retreating column of smoke that marked the train, carrying with it the only ponies who could understand and speak the native language.
When the captain landed once more, he was understandably angry.
"She lied!" he yelled when he landed, "So much for helping out eh princess?"
"Come now Captain," Aurora said, placing her hoof on her captains shoulder, "If anything this just means when she gets back she might be more willing than ever to help out,"
"I don't want to cheat a Princess Aura," He said as he settled down, using the crew nickname for the radiant mare.
"And you wont be, she did promise after all," With that the pegasus mare turned and went back towards the door to the bowels of the ship, "Come on, let's go have a cup of tea, or coffee if you prefer," She amended at Zephyr's less than pleased look.
A few minutes later they were sitting in the Captains quarters, Zephyr behind his desk with Aurora in front, sipping tea and coffee. Aurora had been in this room many times before, everypony had. Captain Zephyr was known for always leaving his door open and inviting crew in to just talk. None the less she took the opportunity to look around once more.
A cot against the far wall served as the captains bed, though because it was slightly larger than most cots on board it had been used by Princess Celestia for the last week. Portraits of ships at sea and in the air hung on the wall behind it while more personal photos sat on the desk, depicting a young colt Zephyr on the deck of a ship, grinning like mad wearing an over-sized pearl white cap while an amused navy blue stallion stood to the side. The picture window behind him framed a violin case in the light of the sun while various nick-knacks and mementos from all the travels the ship had sat on shelves, ranging from a toy top from the Minotaur Republics to a sword from the Gryphon Kingdoms.
The desk itself was an antique mahogany masterpiece left over from the Zephyr's previous captain, the stallion pictured and Captain Zephyr's father. The blue stallion seated behind the desk however looked none too pleased at their current situation.
"Well," Aurora said, "At least you can tell your old man that you almost sank his ship while one of the Princesses was on board, while on your way to a lost land populated by hostile, mythical natives that have been isolated since the time of Discord. Oh and the Elements of Harmony were on board, and Daring Do. Who else can say that?"
Zephyr glanced up and quirked an eyebrow.
"Okay, so maybe I could have phrased that better but you know what I meant,"
"Ha, yeah I do, but oh well, we'll talk to her when they get back from whatever they're doing," Right when he finished talking a wisp of golden smoke whisked into the room and materialized into a scroll in front of them, dropping onto the desk.
"Or not,"
Two sharp whistles rang out as the train departed from the port side station, away from the ocean and the Zephyr and into the heart of the Lost Continent. Twilight was standing in the doorway glancing around when Celestia asked her if something was the matter.
"Princess? Aren't there going to be other passengers?" She asked.
"Not on this train Twilight," Celestia said, "This train is reserved just for us,"
Twilight nodded as she recalled looking over the train. It had five cars, plus the engine at the front, the coal carrier behind it and the caboose at the back. She quickly picked up her luggage and followed the princess into the front most car. Besides the startling similarities between this train car and Equestria trains, Twilight could still notice the subtle differences.
As she walked down the hallway she noticed the car was compartmentalized instead of one big open room. The front half that she had stepped into serving as a sort of sitting room with a bank of individual rooms taking up the rear half. Twilight took note that there were only four of these rooms on this car.
Dark wood paneling was the main decoration, intricately carved and detailed with stylized patterns along the walls, inlaid with gold, with a red carpet running under hoof. Lighting was provided by a series of crystals, suspended in brass casings along the walls at even intervals which glowed constantly, never too bright in the sunlight, but bright enough in the shade and darkness of the cabins.
"Uh, Princess?" She said, "There's only four rooms,"
"So there are," The Princess said as she glanced at the doors. She looked back and smile, "I'm sure there would not be a problem if you were to 'bunk up' with a friend is there?" Though her smile was calm, her eyes sparkled with mischief, which quickly changed. "I believe I will take the room on the far end, I'll leave you girls to come up with sleeping arrangements, I believe I have a letter to write," With that the Princess stepped into her claimed room and shut the door.
Twilight glanced around the room at the other five mares who were in this car, the others having gone off to the other cars. "Alright then, who wants to sleep where?"
Rainbow Dash looked a bit nervous. I wonder if there's something wrong with her? Twilight thought worriedly. She's been acting so strange this whole trip, what is she nervous about?
Rainbow was just about to say something, when Pinkie Pie cut her off. "Ooo ooo I know! Twilight and Rarity should totally share a room, and Flutters and Dashie too! That means me and AJ are together," She rambled, "That way all the unicorns and pegasuses and earth ponies are with each other, wouldn't that be fun?"
Before anypony could protest the mad pink mare had shoved each of their luggage into their new rooms, threw her hoof over Applejacks neck and, despite the farmers objections, dragged her into the middle room and slammed the door.
"...Okay?" Twilight said. "Well, I guess that solves the sleeping arrangements, unless anypony has any objections?"
There were none. And so the remaining mares settled into the sitting room at the front of the car, forgoing the human chairs in favour of pillows taken from their rooms, chatting away about anything that came to mind, ignoring the sounds of a miniaturized party coming from the middle room.
"So tell me Twilight," Rarity said about an hour later, "What do you think of our little expedition so far?"
Twilight glanced around the train a bit, taking in the foreign, yet familiar designs before she responded. "I'm not actually sure Rarity. I mean yeah, this is probably the greatest discovery in the history of Equestria since the Elements of Harmony, but you saw that 'airplane' and the ship. They're very advanced, but so far all the advancements we've seen are in military equipment. Not even the Gryphons military is this advanced," She sighed. "Don't get me wrong, this is amazing, but also kind of worrying,"
"I know what you mean darling, I mean did you see those uniforms?" Rarity shuddered, "The only decorations were stylized buttons and that badge on that ones cap. Even our own guards are better dressed than that,"
"Perhaps they prefer functionality over appearance?" Twilight offered.
"Either way, ya gotta admit those planes were pretty cool," Rainbow joined in, "Although they were kinda slow,"
"M-maybe they were just keeping pace with us?" Fluttershy said, "That one with the manticore paint flew off rather fast,"
Rainbows eyes glittered and a grin grew on her face, but before she could say anything Rarity cut her off. "I don't think they would be willing to let you race one of their planes Rainbow, especially if they are military in nature,"
"What made you think I wanted to race one?" Rainbow challenged, but flat stares from everypony present, including Fluttershy made her blush, "Yeah yeah okay, so maybe I did, still couldn't hurt to ask right?"
"No, it wouldn't, but I wouldn't hold your breath though Rainbow," Twilight said.
A few more minutes passed in comfortable silence before the door to Applejack's and Pinkies room burst open, a cloud of confetti pouring out before a dazed and confused Applejack. She stumbled her way over to the table and plopped down between Twilight and Rarity before letting her head hit the table with a dull *thump.*
"Now why did y'all just leave me in there?" she asked, not raising her head.
"Because they knew it was a 'New Roommate Party' just for us silly!" Pinkie said as she materialized right beside AJ, startling everypony.
Twilight excused herself shortly after as the conversation turned to Pinkie offering to throw similar parties for each of them, and everypony else trying to talk her out of it.
She sat by the window nearby, gazing out it at the scenery below. The terrain had been almost completely mountainous as soon as they left the waterfront, but now the train was approaching the far end of the mountains and Twilight was patiently waiting to see the landscape beyond. She wasn't disappointed by what she saw when they did.
As the train rounded one last corner, a wide expanse of flat lands spread out before her, golden stalks of grass waving in the breeze sparsely broken up here and there with massively tall trees. A river flowed in the distance, creating the illusion of a band of silver running through a golden plate studded with emerald trees. A small village sat nestled at one spot where the river bent into a U shape, three bridges just barely visible crossing it, though the rest of the village was not very visible at this distance.
Twilight glanced towards the front of the train, trying to follow where the tracks went to see if they would be going into this flat plains area, but the tracks seemed to hug the mountain exclusively. She smiled none the less, content to sit and watch the scenery. The train hugged the mountain for hours, and while the scenery changed from plains to forests eventually Twilight grew bored, so she instead went to her new room with Rarity at the farthest point from Princess Celestia's room to settle herself in for the night.
Princess Celestia hasn't stepped out of her room all day, She thought as she lay in her bed, brushing up on some Terran after the groups nightly learning session. Her door creaked open, a small sliver of light slipping in followed shortly by a pristine white unicorn.
"Darling, you just missed some of the guards bring in dinner, but I managed to save a bit for you," Rarity said as she levitated a platter of salad and a sandwich onto Twilight's nightstand. "I swear, I have never seen two ponies pack away that amount of food as Applejack and Rainbow Dash did," She chuckled slightly.
Twilight thanked her fellow unicorn as she bit into her sandwich, watching as Rarity went through the long process of getting ready for bed. She had finished shortly after Twilight had finished her meal and climbed into her own bed.
"So, are you excited?" She asked.
"About what?"
"We're arriving at the capital tomorrow, and it is about time as well," Rarity said, "We've been 'on the road' as it were for over a week now,"
Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it has taken us a bit to get here, and I can't wait until we get there,"
"Yes, well if I am to look my best for meeting with this 'Emperor' I should get some sleep, good night Twilight dear!" Rarity said as she pulled her face mask down and curled up under her blankets.
Twilight stared at her oddly for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders and laying down herself. Thoughts plagued her mind however as she laid there, and a few minutes passed by. Right when she was finally about to fall asleep, Rarity announced her success with a startlingly loud, and completely unladylike snore. This is gonna be a long night...
Meanwhile, in the room closest to Celestia's room, Rainbow Dash lay on her back gazing at the ceiling. Fluttershy noticed this and quietly asked, "Are you okay Rainbow?" When the rainbow mare didn't respond, she tried again a bit louder.
"Huh? Oh, hey Fluttershy, 'sup?" She said.
"I asked if anything was wrong, you've been staring at the ceiling for a long time,"
Maybe that Iron Will thing did help her, she's being a lot more forward, Rainbow thought. Should I lie to her? One look at Fluttershys teal eyes however convinced her that that would be a bad idea. "...Yeah, I guess,"
"You want to talk about it?" Fluttershy asked. When Rainbow kept silent Fluttershy took a wild guess, "It's Twilight isn't it?
When Rainbow flinched, Fluttershy knew she had guessed right. "It's just, I was meaning to tell her on the way over here," Rainbow admitted, "I mean it could have been like 'Hey Twilight! I really like you, wanna go catch dinner at a restaurant in a brand new continent, because how memorable would that be?'" Rainbow mimed the motions with her hooves while keeping her voice low. She then slouched down against her pillow, facing the wall, "Yeah, like that'd ever happen,"
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked when, after a few seconds, Rainbow didn't continue.
"Exactly that," Was her only response. A couple of minutes passed, and Fluttershy's courage didn't last long enough to look deeper into it so she let the matter drop. She was just curling up to sleep when Rainbow's soft, scratchy voice wafted over to her ears, "I'll probably just tell her when we all get home. No point in getting both of us all worked up during all this,"
Silence once more descended in the room, as both ponies came to a silent, mutual agreement to let this matter go for now. What neither pony knew however, is that alicorns have very sensitive hearing, and that one certain alicorn was none too pleased with this turn of events.
Two sharp whistles rang out as the train departed from the port side station. In the car directly behind the first, the rest of the expedition members were just settling in and coming up with their own sleeping arrangements. Spitfire and Shining Armour were sitting peacefully at the table, Vinyl and Octavia were talking near the bank of rooms, and Lyra and Daring were staring out the window at the passing countryside.
A small sigh was heard, Spitfire glanced over at her newest roommate and said, "You know Captain Armour, you've been pretty quiet this whole trip. Something wrong?"
Shining Armour perked up from the book he was reading and glanced over. "Huh? Yeah everything's fine I guess. And you know you don't have to call me 'Captain' anymore right? I retired a year ago,"
The golden pegasus chuckled. "Whatever you say Captain," Spitfire sat up straighter in the uncomfortable human chair as she looked over at the stallion. "But no, seriously, anything wrong?"
"Just worried is all,"
"Mind if I ask why?"
"It's just... I don't know a bunch of things I guess. I mean where are we exactly?" The stallion gestured at the train around them. "We're on a train. A train in some country nopony has ever heard of before, and basically on the other side of the world from Equestria. Right now my wife should be hosting the reception for the marriage of a Crystal Noblepony friend of ours while I'm all the way out here doing who knows what for whoever," He sighed as he looked around for a cup of coffee, "Princess Celestia could have explained all this a bit better,"
"That's not just it is it?" Spitfire said as she slid a cup of tea to the white stallion.
Nodding in thanks, the stallion took a small sip before replying,"...No. But I'm not really sure what it is myself. I don't really want to say much until I'm sure myself,"
"That's alright Captain, if you ever want to talk I'm right here," Spitfire said as she finally got fed up with the chair, kicked it away and sat on the carpet.
Shining Armour just watched the fiery pegasus for a few moments before adding, "What, nothing wrong for you?
"Hmm, besides those chairs? None that I can think of," Spitfire said as she glared at the wooden chair, with its seat and arm rests clearly not meant for pony use. "The only thing I gotta worry about is if Soarin's actually ready to be in command of both the team and the academy. If he isn't then the coach is likely to find somepony else who is until I get back,"
Meanwhile Vinyl was talking to Octavia. Well, kinda.
"Honestly Vinyl, why would you even want to 'spruce up' a train car we'll only be in for one day?" The pale grey mare asked, regarding the small pile of posters sticking out of the DJ's saddlebag.
"Because you didn't let me on the boat ride over here," Vinyl responded easily, "Now out of the way Octy, these posters ain't gonna hang themselves!" Vinyl then dodged around Octavia easily enough before slipping into the left hoof room of the train. Years of partying giving her a strange and subtle grace when it came to moving around ponies. Almost as soon as the door closed, the tell tale build up of one of the DJ's signature songs filtered through the passage.
"Vinyl..." Octavia growled as she followed the white mare into the room.
"Those two bicker and fight just like an old married couple," Daring remarked.
"Not really," Lyra said from beside her, her ears perking up a bit, "Although it wouldn't surprise me really,"
"What do you mean, you think those two could actually get together?" Daring asked.
"Why not? Sometimes opposites attract, just look at me and Bonny," A loud smash was heard from the middle room and the music cut out sharply, "Although... I'm not really sure with those two,"
The door opened up and a smirking Octavia trotted out, leaving a grumbling Scratch to pick up the pieces of some unidentified machine and try to piece them back together. Octavia joined Spitfire and Shining Armour at the table and helped herself to some tea, so Daring turned back to the window leaving Lyra to begin her lyre practice. Soon the car was filled with a gentle melody, which suited the view from the window perfectly.
Nighttime arrived hours later and the situation hadn't changed very much. Vinyl had rejoined the group some time ago after barely managing to repair her device, and sat glaring across the table at the grey earth pony. Lyra had finished her practice but had kept on playing anyways, occasionally taking a request or two while Daring had stayed near the window, taking a small amount of notes in a small notepad tucked in one of the pockets of her shirt. Shining noticed this and asked what it was.
"The next book in the series isn't going to write itself," The explorer said with a grin, "But it does need some materials beforehoof,"
"Hey, does that mean we're all going to be in your next book?" Vinyl asked excitedly.
"That depends on you,"
"Awesome!"
And so the train rumbled on, into the night. The next morning, Twilight awoke early and glanced around tiredly. Rarity had thankfully stopped snoring at some point during the night and now rested peacefully with her mask over her eyes. Jeez, she never did that during any of the slumber parties,
Twilight stepped out of her cabin and had just sat down at the table with a bowl of oatmeal when she felt something off. Or rather, what she didn't feel. The rays of light from the early morning sun were casting solid, unmovable shadows, and the train no longer felt like it was rumbling along merrily.
Instead, it felt like they were slowing down.
With a gasp, Twilight realized they had arrived.
The Lost World
By: Bairiko
Chapter 10
With wind whistling loudly in her ears, Rainbow Dash soared. High above the clouds of Equestria she flew, the sun glinting off her flight goggles as the great blue ocean of the sky stretched on all around her. Her pink eyes scanned all around her, spotting what she was looking for. A lone cloud, tinged purple, marked where she had to go. The pegasus tilted her wings slightly and glided in the clouds direction.
Far below her a large gathering of ponies watched her intently, scrutinizing her every move and wondering just what she was going to do. She needed to deliver for her audience, after all they had paid good bits to come out and see the newest potential Wonderbolt perform. It didn't help that seated off to the side was a panel of veteran Wonderbolt judges. They too would be watching her, judging her, evaluating her, and the pressure was intense.
Rainbow loved every minute of it.
Behind her she knew her fellow trainees were waiting their turns. Rolling easily to her left the cyan pegasus let her wings angle downwards, turning her forward flight into a shallow, then steep dive. Speeding blindly towards the ground Rainbow was fast approaching Rainboom speeds, but it wasn't time for that just yet she reminded herself. Slowing herself slightly, Rainbow Dash waited just long enough before beginning her routine.
The Buccaneer Blaze, the Fantastic Filly Flash, tight loops and dizzying spins, Rainbow Dash threw every trick in her arsenal at the assembled ponies. Everything was going perfectly for her, so she allowed herself one quick glance to gauge the reactions she was getting.
The crowds were going wild, colts and fillies cheering loudly as their parents let them stand on their backs. Rainbow briefly wondered where they got wigs like her mane from, but dismissed the thoughts.
Nearby her friends were just as ecstatic, if not more so. Pinkie Pie looked absolutely mad with excitement, Fluttershy was jumping and cheering. Rarity and Applejack were both waving a massive banner with her name and picture on it. But Twilight was nowhere to be seen. Rainbows smile drooped slightly, but she didn't let that get to her, after all she had a crowd to amaze!
The judges weren't fairing much better. Spitfire, in her academy garb, was staring slack-jawed and wide-eyed at the aerial display, her shades having fallen from her face. Soarin' was jumping around much like one of the audience ponies with Fleetfoot while Rapidfire was emulating Spitfire.
Her high confidence boosted, Rainbow plowed through the rest of her routine before rocketing back up and perching temporarily on the purple cloud. Smiling brightly she took a minute to catch her breath, before leaping from the edge and dropping once more.
This time, she didn't bother slow down.
A ring of light, every colour of the rainbow expanded from around her as she broke the sound barrier, the Sonic Rainboom enraptured her audience even further. Using her rainbow trail, Rainbow Dash capped off her performance with one final tribute to her friends, drawing in the sky a diamond, butterfly, balloon, apple and finally, a six pointed star.
When she finished, she cast one more glance towards the judges. They each held a solid 10 in the air above their heads. Setting herself down on the field, Rainbow Dash finally took notice of the roar of the crowd and the frantic applause.
Then she saw her. Twilight herself was walking towards her, laughing and smiling brightly. When she reached the cyan pegasus she threw her arms around her neck, hugging her tight. Best. Day. Ever! Rainbow thought before Twilight pulled back, staring her in the eyes. Her mouth opened slightly as she leaned forward.
"Rainbow Dash," She whispered, "WAKE UP! "
"Wake up wake up wake up!" Twilight yelled, bucking the door open and peeking her head into the cabin. Poor Fluttershy launched herself from her cot up into the luggage racks above, leaving only her quivering pink tail as any indication of where she was. Rainbow bolted right out of bed and stood at attention before her tired mind woke up enough to realize what was happening.
By that time Twilight had already been and gone, her shouts intermingling with the clatter of her bucking another cabin door open, followed by the sounds of Applejack and Pinkie Pie being roused awake. Rainbow Dash stepped out of her room and looked around before her eyes fell on Twilight once more.
Or, more appropriately her purple backside as she stuck her head into Celestia's room. Rainbow blushed slightly when she realized where her eyes had inadvertently gone as she tried to hear what Twilight was saying to the Princess. Twilight pulled her head out of the doorway and glanced at her assembling friends, shooing towards the front sitting room. She then turned towards the door separating the two train cars and stepped through, no doubt going to retrieve her brother and the others.
"So how'd y'all sleep last night?" Applejack asked, sitting down with a mug of coffee in her hooves.
"Like a rock!" Pinkie exclaimed, helping herself to a bowl of porridge heaped down with brown sugar. She took her bowl over to the table and sat close beside Applejack, who looked like she was about to fall asleep again at any moment.
"Could have been a lot worse," Rainbow remarked, "It'd been better if it was a cloud though,"
Rarity mumbled something about 'too much jostling' as she fiddled with her mane. She had in front of her a bagel and a cup of tea, spreading some jam on one, floating a honey covered one to Fluttershy.
A few minutes later the train came to a full stop, leaving Rainbow, the rest of the girls, the newly retrieved second group and Princess Celestia to stand before the doorway. Glances through the trains windows had shown they were in an enclosed train station, with one window staring at a wall directly beside them and the other looking out over the abandoned station.
"Well my little ponies," Princess Celestia turned to her subjects and smiled, and with a flash of golden magic the door was open. "Welcome to Kings Reach, capital city of the Empire of Greater Terra," She stepped through the doorway.
"Well, this is it huh?" Rainbow Dash muttered before grinning, "You all ready for the history books?" The cyan pegasus winked and followed the princess through, followed shortly by the rest of her friends.
The station was enormous.
When the group of ponies had first stepped off the train they quickly realized they were the only travelers at a platform. The Princess lead them down a wide hallway, her golden shoes clacking in the bright illumination of the crystal light fixtures. Signs in Terran directed the twenty something equines towards the main hall of the station where their breath was taken away.
With the roof of the station easily being three stories off the ground, the giant circular chamber was just as beautiful as it was empty. Rarity didn't even try to hide the fact she was ogling the intricate golden carvings in some ornamental pillars or the murals and mosaics tastefully placed throughout the station. It seemed that each of the seven other platform hallways had a different theme to its decoration, ranging from beautiful forest scenery at the western-most platform to depictions of the beach and oceans directly behind the ponies, using the coloured lights from stained glass windows up high to accent themselves.
"Whoa Nelly," Applejack sighed, "These humans sure don't hold anything back do they?"
"Yeah, themselves,"
"What do you mean Rainbow?" Twilight turned to who had spoken. The cerulean mare hovered between Applejack and herself.
"Hasn't anypony else noticed that, besides those soldiers and a hoof full of ones at the docks, we haven't seen a single human?" Rainbow Dash twirled around indicating the abandoned station. "It's really weirding me out here,"
"Ya know, she has a point" Shining Armour walked up behind his little sister, "I didn't even see anypony in the train engine,"
"Yeah, where is everyone?" Pinkie suddenly looked a lot more suspicious.
Quiet fell across the station at that, everypony glancing around at the doorways. For minutes the ponies waited in the station, eventually wandering off to examine the building while Princess Celestia watched.
This is it. Beyond those doors lies the Sun Herself, and I'm going to meet her.
Approaching the entrance of the Grand Hub Terminal from down one of the main roadways of Kings Reach, Captain Ian Frost took note of the city guards manning roadblocks, keeping curious civilians from approaching the station. The station itself was unoccupied at the moment and all trains scheduled to run too and from the capital had been postponed.
The station was the central hub of the empire, with lines running to and from every province capital on the continent and numerous smaller branches to smaller towns and cities. It was from one of these southern coastal towns that the Goddess of the Sun herself arrived in. By the gods, I'm actually going to meet her.
Taking a moment a moment to ponder this, Ian looked himself over. At almost forty five years old some considered the tall barrel chested man too old for field work in the Imperial Guards, though through years of hard work he consistently proved them wrong. Adjusting to the lack of the familiar weight of his rifle and straightening his white uniform, he turned to the five other members of the Imperial Guard unit sent to retrieve the 'Princess' and her entourage.
On the furthest left stood the towering form of Corporal Mathias Stonehouse, the squads machine gunner. The somber, blue eyed giant from the northern province of Aurora stood a full head over the six foot captain. Beside him was his assistant Private George MacDonelle, the young brown haired Heartlander was almost power walking to keep pace with his companion. Besides an added satchel, he was clothed similarly to the others.
Beside the two was Mathias' opposite in both build and purpose. Corporal Nickola Greymoor, the lone woman of the group, was a native of Greatwood Province, and her skills with her scoped rifle were something to be feared. She walked along the road like a jungle cat at rest, her pretty features marred only by the bored look in her brown eyes.
The squad's two other riflemen walked nearby. The twins, named Micheal and Robert Motierre, were identical in almost every way, from the jaunty angle of their helmets to their neatly trimmed mustaches. Indeed the only distinguishing factor was Roberts grey eyes compared to Micheal's emerald ones.
The squad was observing their surroundings as well, watching the eyes and hands of civilians at the roadblocks who in turn watched them in awe. Their faces never showed any emotion, but he knew they were thinking much the same thing he was. Each man was dressed in a similar uniform to his own, though with a soldiers helmet and a steel breast plate each, stamped with their name, rank and unit. They carried their rifles with the well practiced easy of an experienced soldier, though Mathias was carrying his weapon at an angle so the pan magazine on top was in a comfortable position.
Arriving at the gateway Ian returned the salute the guard gave him and slipped through the door. The white uniform of an Imperial officer and silver breastplates of the Guards garnered respect from civilian and soldier alike who knew what their presence meant. This wasn't just any crime or other inconvenience, this was something important.
Octavia's ears quirked, She was examining a batch of leaflets near the door, trying to make heads or tails of the illegible writing when the sound of a door opening and closing drew her attention. "Did anypony hear that?"
"Hear what?" Twilight looked up from a small transit map she had found behind a desk.
"It sounded like a door opening--" As soon as she said that, the main doorway beside her creaked open. Octavia yelped and backpedaled towards the centre of the room.
In through the door walked half a dozen humans, dressed similarly to the soldiers who greeted them on board the Zephyr though with the addition of a silver breastplate. They watched the ponies as they gathered near the Princess, before the officer in a white uniform stepped forward.
"You are Princess Solestia, yes?" His heavily accented voice surprised most ponies present, though the Princess smiled and stepped forward.
"I am, though I prefer Celestia ," She turned and beckoned towards the group of equines behind her, "And these are my companions Mr..."
"Pardon me your Majesty," The soldier spoke in a tone of voice that reminded Twilight of a bored professor delivering a lecture, "I am Ian Frost, Captain of the 2nd Imperial Guard," He and his men then bowed before the Princess and her companions, an impressive thing considering the size of one of them. "My men and I have been asked by the Emperor to escort you and your entourage to the palace,"
"Very well, please lead the way," With that, Celestia turned to her little ponies and gave them a calm smile, before following the Captain.
Approaching the doorway at the end, Captain Frost knocked then spoke through the gap before the door opened fully. Stepping out into the open, Twilight was presented with her first view of Kings Reach.
What immediately surprised her was just how similar it was to Manehatten. Wide cobblestone roads ran between red brick buildings, Wooden signs hanging over sidewalks denoted the business with a stylized picture, while glass windows displayed the goods and services offered within. Each street was blocked by guards and almost immediately a gasp went up among the crowds of Terrans who had gathered to see what was going on.
"This answer yer question Rainbow?"
Trotting after the captain, another group of humans arrived to form a circle around the ponies with the captain and princess in the lead. Twilight blushed under the stares of the humans, who were whispering among themselves and the guards at the roadblocks. Some even appeared to be praying.
The guards led the ponies down the road, marching at an even pace to let the ponies trot comfortably. Twilight was whipping her head back and forth, taking in as much of the scenery as she could, noting everything on a small piece of parchment that floated by her head. She could hardly wait! One quick look at her friends faces, and even the faces of the other in her group, showed much the same feelings.
After a week of traveling they were finally at their destination. And everypony couldn't wait to see what happened next.
Few legends are far reaching enough to affect all the species that inhabit the world. The few notable examples almost always come from the Pony nation of Equestria. The legend of Night Mare Moon, the tyrant Discord and his reign of chaos and the myths of the Elements of Harmony are known all throughout the world. But there is also another, far darker myth. The legend of the Lost Continent.
Laying far off the western shore of Equestria is a mass of land no creature has ever explored, though not for lack of trying. Expeditions from the Gryphon Kingdoms, the Minotaur Republics, the Zebran tribes and even adventurous ponies have tried to map out or claim portions of this land over the centuries, but none of them have ever returned. This has garnered different reactions based on who one asks.
When asked why this happened, the zebras would say the region is sacred and should be left alone. The minotaurs would say that only the strongest would survive the hazards, and that so far none have been strong enough. Gryphons would argue that there must be some sort of magic protecting the land from outsiders and that only when the time is right could others visit. But the strangest answer comes from Equestria itself in that the princesses refused to comment on it. Their only comment is hundreds of years old from shortly after the land was first 'discovered', saying nothing but death awaits those who go there.
And so, to every cartographers chagrin every map has a large empty spot in the middle of the ocean, begging to be explored but lethal to all who try.
But they say nothing lost stays lost forever, and with the return of Princess Luna and the reappearance of the Crystal Empire many can't help but wonder if the time has come to explore this lost world.