//------------------------------// // Equestrian Geography: The Sea of Song // Story: Ink Blot's Unassorted Encyclopedia of Absolutely Everything // by Nevlamas //------------------------------// Beyond the Crystal Mountains, north of modern Manehatten and east of the Crystal Empire lies the Sea of Song, one of the major oceans of the known world. It spans from northern Equestria to the frozen wastelands, past the stony island of Griffonia and further still, stretching far and wide into the unknown eastern regions. In the past, several pegasus expeditions have tried to cross the treacherous waters in search of what lies beyond, but thus far none of them have been successful. It is currently unknown if the Sea of Song has an eastern coast. To the west, the ocean is bounded by a towering line of harsh and ruptured cliff sides. When the tide rises, hollows and caverns in those cliffs soak themselves full of sea water; later on, as the ocean retreats, the water then trickles out again, causing a veritable chorus of gurgling noises that can be heard from miles away. It is this strange phenomenon that has given the Sea of Song its name. At least that’s the scientifical explanation. Those in need of a less mundane approach will be delighted to hear that it is not without an alternative, however. Both pegasus explorers and citizens of the Crystal Empire have been known to tell stories of mystical lights shining among the storm-tossed waters at night, and of ethereal, heart-rendingly beautiful chants rising from beneath the ocean surface. While established researchers frown upon the mere thought, whispers of a Sea Pony kingdom beneath the waves still persist amongst the population. Whatever the truth may be, only a handful of people have seen the fabled sea for many years. A couple of small settlements once dotted the barren landscape between the Crystal Empire and the Singing Cliffs, but since the Empire’s disappearance a thousand years ago, these communities have all been abandoned, one by one. Descendants of those villages still live scattered around Equestria today, and a few of their original inhabitants still serve in Princess Luna’s Night Guard. While those individuals carry the memory of their old home with them, the Sea of Song itself remains as it ever was: nobody’s land, wrapped in solitude, salt and the otherworldly duet of water and stone.