Manehatten, Rainbow Blaze's apartment: 1931
Exactly five years on, (Give or take a few odd months) and Rainbow Blaze now at the ripe age of twenty one years still hadn't forgotten his encounter with the legendary infamous beast known as the Kraken and it's destruction of the USS Barracuda and the massacre of the late ship's crew. Oh sure, it had never been seen since then, but that didn't mean it wasn't still out there lurking somewhere beneath the surface of the seven seas. Rainbow Blaze was sure of it in fact! And nopony could or would be able to convince him otherwise. Although, that didn't mean it stopped other ponies from trying. Take for example one Grape P. Vine, a fellow member of the group known as the Gun Club, of which Rainbow Blaze was also a member.
"Oh come on, Rainbow, you've been hunting that thing for the past five years like Captain Ahab and his great white whale!" Grape argued passionately to his friend and master, but to little if any success like all of these arguments of this type had gone even as the eighteen year old Floridian pony muttered something to himself resembling "Yeah, Ahab... And look how that turned out..." in a disgusted tone of voice.
"Hey, I think I probably am providing the world a great service by ridding the oceans and surrounding seas of that thrice be damned beast!" Rainbow Blaze shot back and Grape sighed to himself and rubbed his temples with one of his hooves. Sometimes, he supposed it would be easier to just try and go to the moon than argue this with his master. He understood that need to avenge one's shipmates but he guessed Rainbow might very well one day drag himself and his whole crew into the jaws of Tartarus in his quest.
"Besides, I provide jobs to those who want to sign up and score the catch of the century!" Rainbow Blaze continued only for Grape to provide a quick retort.
"It's the middle of the Great Depression for crying out loud! Ponies will take any job, no matter how stupid!" He argued but once again his concerns were brushed off as if he were talking to a brick wall instead of a pony.
"Hay, that thing probably has gone and died of old age by this time. If the stories go back as far as they do, that creature is probably getting up there in years..." Grape mused only for Rainbow to get in his face and snarl "No, it is STILL alive, I can feel it. Only way that thing is dying is by my hoof and harpoon."
Suddenly a new pony joined them, as evidenced by the hoofsteps and the opening and then the shutting of the door. It was Fancy Pants, a fellow member of the group known as the Gun Club and their main source of funds. Their "honeypot", as Grape often snarkily called him.
"Gentleponies, cease this argument at once. It is folly and to be honest I have something else that could focus your attentions of you'd just hear me out." Fancy's cool and crisp English accent clashing quite well with Grape's own southern one.
Grape leaned over to the late thirty-something year old pony and whispered "If you're here to offer suggestions on something else to hunt, don't you bother. You'll be ignored." He grumbled with a roll of his eyes.
Fancy smirked before replying.
"Not with this I think. Tell me gentleponies, have you ever heard of the lost city of..." Fancy waited till their interest was appropriately peaked before continuing. "...Neighlantis?" Fancy finished and was greeted with raised eyebrows from both of his friends. Of course, who hadn't heard of the famous lost city? Rainbow was the first to scoff, followed by a noise of disbelief from Grape Vine.
"Wait, don't tell me you've actually found this lost city? Emphasis on "Lost" remember?" Rainbow Blaze laughed and Fancy could only chuckle in response.
"Not I, but I did find somepony who just might be able to lead us to it... In fact it was only just a few short days ago, in this very city!" Fancy proclaimed...
Manehatten University, a few days before...
Now, to understand the meaning of Fancy's words, we must turn back the hands of time to the first of those few days and travel to Manehatten University, the place of where many great ponies got their degrees and went out to make their way in the world. Others stayed, simply to teach. But our hero is not a teacher, although she very well could be if she put her mind to it. She's a student, around Grape Vine's age and goes by the name of Twilight Sparkle.
"Okay, before we begin, I-I just have to remind you all no talking during my lecture o-okay?" Twilight asked nervously as she practiced her report on Neighlantis down in the University's basement, a slideshow behind her with a projector to project it. Twilight took a deep breath before saying."L-Let's begin shall we?"
"Say there was a city, a great one with technological and architectural advances far beyond ours, even today. To give you an idea of what the city might have been like during it's golden age, here is an artist's impression of it." Twilight said before advancing to the first slide, only to accidently show a picture of her as a filly trying on glasses for the first time. Twilight blushed, she didn't know as to how that got mixed up in there.
"L-Let's move on shall we?" She stammered before finding the right picture, a beautiful piece of artwork depicting the lost city as it might have been. There were gleaming spires resembling but not quite Greek design, and a grand temple in the middle of the city as ponies walked in the streets. Then she showed another piece of artwork, of the same city falling into the seas and being swallowed up.
"Then, there was a great disaster, nopony knows what kind, but one that sent this city into the abyss below." Twilight said sadly with a shaking of her head before she went through several more slides showing the many possible locations theorized about Neighlantis's location before holding up a journal.
"Now, there have been many expeditions to find this lost city but all have failed this far. However, I b-believe with the help of my father's journal I just might be able to be the first to find this city and p-prove it exists!" Twilight exclaimed, confidence filling her. She just hoped she had that very same confidence when she gave this lecture for real in a few minutes. With great gusto, she gathered up her things and ran upstairs to the history classroom where she hoped to give this exact same report to her history teacher, Written Script.
Sadly, when she got there she was in for a surprise. Class was already letting out, a hour early in fact! With a confused expression on her muzzle, she walked up to Script.
"W-What's going on, I thought class was supposed to be starting!" Twilight exclaimed only for Script to reply to her in a mock confused tone "You sure? Maybe your watch is off."
Twilight's eyes narrowed. She couldn't believe this, and yet now that she thought about she shouldn't have been so surprised. She knew exactly what had happened.
"How much did you take?" She growled. She knew the head of the University, Spoiled Rich must have bribed Script to move up the class. Spoiled had always had it out for her and her "nonsense" theories.
Script looked ashamed of himself and hung his head before replying.
"I'm sorry Twilight, but money's tight and-"
Twilight however was having none of it and she snapped "Oh yeah, if you were really sorry, you would haven't accepted the bribe and got your money some other way." before she walked off with her head hung low in sadness...
Twilight say on the front steps of the University sobbing to herself. Not again! It was always like this, with everypony mocking her and never giving her a chance to at least try and prove her and her father's theory. She remembered each and every name they called her.
"Foolish filly!"
"Head in the clouds!"
"Over-thinker!"
She thought she would have gotten used to it by now, but the names and accompanying rejections always hurt when they came. The afternoon rains had come, and they were pouring. Twilight was just about to pack up her things and head home for the day when suddenly a big black sedan pulled up alongside the curb. It was obviously of expensive taste, so in this day and age it certainly stood out. Then, the door opened and a pony with a dark grey coat and a dark indigo mane stepped out.
"Twilight? I have somepony who'd like to talk to you." The pony said, he was about her age if she had to take a guess.
"Why should I go with you? Oh, I get it!" Twilight suddenly laughed bitterly as a conclusion came to her mind. "This is too much, let me guess... The pony who wants to talk to me is Spoiled Rich. This is all going a bit far to mock me and my crackpot theories isn't it?" Twilight snarled and the newcomer laughed nervously but shook his head.
"Hardly. Got the gender wrong for one thing. Just get in and come with me. You'll see." The pony replied before gesturing to the car and Twilight nervously stepped in as the pony introduced himself with "Oh, by the way... Name's Ender." and a smile.
Twilight found herself led out of the sprawl of Manehatten and into the forests somewhere outside it where the car suddenly pulled up to a huge manor home. Now Twilight was really confused, where was she and who wanted to meet with her?
She only grew more confused when she was led to the manor's library where a fire crackles in the hearth and a white coated pony with a blue name sat with his back to her reading "Moby Dick" at a desk. Suddenly the pony turned to face Twilight and her jaw dropped. She knew that face!
"U-Uncle F-Fancy Pants?" She stammered out in disbelief and he nodded.
"So sorry for all the theatre, but you know me. Besides, these matters of which we want to speak best be spoken in private. Ender, leave us." Fancy said and Ender left the room as Twilight sat down in a nearby chair with a eyebrow raised.
"What matters?" She asked and Fancy gestured to her father's journal with a "May I?"
Twilight gave it to him, more confused then ever.
"You know what these matters are, they're the same thing both you and your father have been trying to prove for years now." Fancy began and his niece's eyes widened as she realized even as Fancy continued on. "You'll have to excuse my language but Tartarus, I've been trying to do the exact same bloody thing as well even if those sods won't hear a word of it."
Twilight gaped at her uncle even as he took a sip of wine. She never knew this about her uncle!
"Your father and I... Even if we were never related by blood we might as well have been. I supported him in his darkest days. But alas, with funds running low and his... advanced age things never came to pass. Your father never did see our dream come true." Fancy said sadly as Twilight raised a eyebrow.
"Where are you going with this?" She asked and Fancy answered almost at once as a smile came back to his face.
"I'm mounting a expedition, the wheels are already in motion. All we need now is a guide." Fancy said as he gripped Twilight by her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes.
"Are you with us, or against us?" Fancy asked and Twilight hugged him in a excited manner before replying.
"What do you think?"