The old Continent
Every Tribe from the Earth ponies up until the Thestrals speaks of a Land in the Sea, far to the west where their Ancestors came from under the orders of a powerful ruler, that the way back had been barred by the sea itself and that they were all left to fend for themselves, they also agree that this abandonment brought upon fights between the tribes and that their Long Lasting conflict was a result of this. legend has it that this old Land Held wonders beyond belief, that the Pony tribes were working together to Keep the very world turning, the wind blowing and the tides moving. No one has seen or heard of them, but the phenomenon of the unending storm in the west remains, Icebergs and sharp rocks only add to the danger. As a result no ship ever leaves towards the west, it is until today not possible to tame the storm or control it, nor is there any way to protect a ship from ist effects, any seafaring vessel would inevitably sink. i loathe to admit it, but this secret i can never hope to uncover
~ Starswirl the Bearded.
Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed as she put the book down.
Ever since she had been assigned by Princess Celestia to find out as much as she can about the old Land she had submerged herself in her books, only to find that even the most accurate books only knew legends and Sailor Songs about it.
She had been in the royal Archives for hours and all she had was the direction westwards over the sea and a storm surrounds the continent blocking it off the rest of the world.
There were a few mentions of an Empire as old as creation itself but nothing tangible enough to call it knowledge.
She was frustrated.
"Princess Twilight? Are you here mylady?" The voice of a thestral guard pulled her out of her Dilemma.
"Over here, what is it?" Twilight couldn´t for the life of her figure out why a night guard would call her to lunch with the princesses.
"Princess Celestia requested your presence at the dinner table, your highness, she said she had something important to tell you."
"Oh okay i´ll be right- wait, dinner? Oh no i forgot the time again!" Twilight quickly gathered her notes before leaving for the Dining room, leaving only a thestral that stood slack jawed at how fast she could move when in a hurry.
At the Dining table Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were just engaged in conversation when Twilight entered.
"-we have literally no idea what would await them and you insist on them doing it alone?" Princess Luna apparently had doubts about her sisters decision."
"Sending more, or heavens forbid Guards with them might lead to terrible misunderstandings, the ship Crew will be adequate for this, i trust them all, to not start anything there." Princess Celestia spoke in her usual calm tone until she noticed Twilight.
"Ah, Twilight, so nice of you to join us, your Research has gone well i presume? you were very engrossed in it."
"Good evening Princess, I´m sorry, but my Research yielded nothing useful at all, only the General direction and a few old myths." Twilight hung her head, thinking she had failed the princess. Her ears perked up when she heard a chuckle.
"You have learned everything there is to learn then, very well. The truth is, even me and Luna know next to nothing about the old continent, we were only foals when we left."
"Wait! You were there? It´s real?"
"Yes, we were Born there, at least we were told. we had the title of princess Long before Equestria even existed." Celestia takes on a sad tone as she speaks of the earliest part of her Long life.
Twilight´s curiosity was of course at ist fullest now,
"The old Empire... are your parents there then?"
"We do not know, Sparkle. It has been Long before we even formed thought that we left, our caretakers told us a bit and all we know is indeed preserved in the old manuscripts, however they always refused to tell us where our parents were or why we had to leave the old Empire.
We literally don´t know why we were brought to this continent with the colonists, anything is possible, perhaps an attack maybe a revolution.
All we know is, that behind us a barrier, made of a neverending storm blocked off any way back.",
Princess Luna was beginning to raise her voice, apparently neither liked even thinking about it. The subject of their beginnings was apparently uncomfortable to them.
"Oh, of course, i´m sorry. But, uh, why did you want me to look into this?"
"Because a few Sailors from West Shore told me, that the winds surrounding the barrier have calmed, that means the storms of the barrier itself are no longer there and a ship can reach the old continent now." Celestia said, sounding almost giddy.
"We have reason to believe that the Empire, unless it vanished with the millenia, is looking to reach out towards the rest of the world, we wish to know what they really want, and ,if possible, to reconnect with the ponies from there." Princess Luna added.
"This is a diplomatic Mission, and one i have to entrust to a princess, and a group of trustworthy ponies.
I can´t risk sending an escorted Diplomat as that could be viewed as an Invasion, but a Group of ponies that can look out for each other can probably speak to them without seeming threatening.
That is why i was hoping that you and your friends could...",
Celestia trails off but makes her intentions clear enough to understand.
"This is... quite an honor your majesty. I´ll have to ask my friends about it, when was it planned to leave?"
"The Ship is almost ready and the Crew is prepared, in two weeks it sets sail from West Shore. Towards the lost Continent."