“You... uh... you sure you don't need help up there, kiddo?” Rainbow Dash asked, her neck tilted upwards.
“Nah, I've got it!” Nick clung to the mast, several feet above the central hull of the Swan Song. The ship was steadily cruising eastward with a gentle breeze. “Besides, I won't be up here for long!”
“You sure? I've got wings, y'know!”
“I just gotta make sure the structure is handling the wind just fine!”
“How much force can this thing handle before we'd have to... I dunno...” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “...lower the sail to keep it from ripping apart or something?”
“So long as we don't sail into a typhoon, she should handle herself just fine! I built her out of tough stuff!”
“Considering you built this heap before your pussyhooves entered the K.M.C.A., I'm inclined to believe that,” Sinrar grunted from where he sat on the edge of the cabin, hunched over a stretch of maps.
“You know what? I'm thinking I might stay up here a little while longer,” Nick grunted. “At least it'll keep me out of range of some moron's cane.”
“Heh. Suit yourself.” Rainbow said. “Just don't get sunburnt.”
“No promises. It's a soothing breeze anyways.” Nick continued his inspections, humming casually to himself.
Rainbow Dash trotted across the central hull. While Twilight hovered overhead, she squatted by Sinrar's side and squinted at his illustrations. “So... uh... how's the charting going?”
“Shhhhh!” Sinrar hissed, adjusting his beret. “Don't interrupt genius!”
“Dr. Dude, you've been at this for three hours now.”
“And yet you had to remind me...” With a sigh, the old professor used his tight wing muscles to grip a pen, drawing a thine line across a splotch of sea. “Mrmmmfff... the cobwebs are damnably annoying when they want to be. If only my old walks across the campus could have cleared my head more.”
“Want me to kick you in the head really hard?” Rainbow asked with a smirk.
“Rainbow...” Twilight quietly chided.
“That'll get the cobwebs right the buck out!” Rainbow added, winking.
“You would love nothing less, would you, harpy?”
“For serious, Professor.” Rainbow squatted next to him, staring at the map. “How goes it? Are we about to run into any anals or something?”
“It's atolls you illiterate buffoon.”
“I-I knew that!” Rainbow's voice cracked. “I was testing you! No reason to be atoll about it... er...”
Nick giggled up above.
“You stupid youth and your stupid youthisms...” After a breathy sigh, Sinrar leaned back and pointed at the map. “We've gone further south than I had anticipated.”
“So?” Rainbow shrugged. “We can make up for it.”
“That would be most beneficent.”
“Oh? Why's that?”
“Because the last time I traveled out here, several privateers of ill-repute sailed this patch of turbulent ocean just to the southeast of our location. They liked to lay claim to a barren archipelago where they stored their illicit coral supplies.”
“Can't you—like—get coral from just about anywhere?”
“Have you not heard my energetic exclamations these past two days, harpy?” Sinrar grumbled. “There are dirty souls out here who like to abuse the substance. It has a radical effect on the equine nervous system when ingested in just the right quantities.”
“Okay. So... there are some dudes we gotta avoid,” Rainbow said. “Considering you saw them here at one point, I bet it's safe to say that was two generations ago.” She winked. “What are the odds they're still around now?”
“For once, I do not know if you are being serious or simply poking fun at me again.”
“A little of Column A and Column B?”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Cute. You are certainly tres sassy when out on the move.”
“It's a living.”
“I bet.” Sinrar drew a line across a patch of islands. “All in all, it'll probably be nothing. There are some shallow reefs that we should attempt avoiding.”
Rainbow nodded. “Shouldn't be a problem.”
“After that, it's going to be three days of open ocean at least.” Sinrar squinted at her. “I certainly hoped you packed something to read.”
“No, but I'm sure I can deal.”
“I brought plenty of books.” Sinrar managed a wrinkled grin. “You could try scouring one of my genius treatises.”
“Ehhh... I dunno, old timer...”
“Oooh!” Twilight grinned wide. “I'm down for that!”
Rainbow held her eyes shut. She sighed through clenched teeth. “I'll... think about it.”
“Indeed... you shall think about it... eh?” Sinrar smirked, glancing back at his maps.
Rainbow squinted at him. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“Only that you strike me as the most curious mare.”
“Cuz of the wings and the curious tales of the West, right?”
“Oh, I'm sure you have curious tales, alright,” Sinrar said. “And so does your friend.”
“... … ….who? You mean Nick?”
“Non. I mean your other friend. The one neither the larva and I could see.”
Twilight did a double-take.
With a straight face, Rainbow muttered, “I don't follow you.”
“Don't be an imbecile... even an adorable one,” Sinrar grumbled. “At first, I thought you were a coral huffer like the rest of the ruffians who get sunbleached outside and under the skin. Those are dime a dozen skin flakes of the ocean... neither here nor there. Bah! But then I saw your... Val Roan artifact, and I heard your Queen. Heavens above, if that doesn't convince me of a much larger world...”
“We live on a magical plane, Dr. Dude,” Rainbow said. “Crazy things happen.”
“Right. And a lot of that craziness evidently happens to you.” Sinrar squinted her way. “Just how is it that you have an innate compass for where you need to go next? For where the next Seed is?”
Rainbow fidgeted. She glanced out the corner of her eye at the shimmering beacon of Yaerfaerda. “That... would take an awful long time to explain.”
“We have an awful lot of ocean to explore.” Sinrar raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to spend all of that time talking to us... talking to phantoms... and talking to both?”
“Look, Professor, I've told you enough so that we can help each other with—”
“Rainbow,” Twilight softly said. “They're sacrificing an awful lot to help us with our quest.” She smiled delicately. “Maybe it would be a nice thing to share the truth about... y'know... me.”
Rainbow sat in place, ears twitching.
Sinrar saw it. “Do the voices summon you once more, harpy?” He smirked. “Perhaps you'd care to share an audience?”
Th-Thap! Nick landed on the central hull. “Whew!” He let go of a length of rope and smirked. “What are we talking about, huh?”
“It... it...” Rainbow's nostrils flared. She glanced at Twilight, then at Sinrar and Nick. “...it can wait.”
“Can it?” Sinrar muttered.
“Uh huh.” Rainbow flapped her wings. “Keep your eyes on the map, and I'll keep my eyes on the ocean.” She hovered up and flew ahead of the ship with a confused Twilight in tow. “When and if we have to... we'll discuss whatever changes have to be made to the chart.”
Nick watched Rainbow fly ahead, then turned to look at Sinrar. “What was that about?”
“Hrmmff... predictability,” Sinrar said.
“Huh?”
The old stallion adjusted his beret and drew a few more lines across the map. “You know... for a mare whose head has every color of the sky, our new friend doesn't like to share much.”
Nick shrugged. “I think she's just fine.”
“You would think that.”
-Spirit
5915152
Well, Dashie might be able to dispel any stormclouds with enough warning. She does have her weather magic back, after all.
Not entirely sure why rainbow's being so reticent about just twilight when it's not like she's made an effort to hide her conversations, but alright.
5915157 But it's total foreshadowing. I put that bemused face toward Nick, because he just had to say it.
5915165 Ai, you beat me to it.
You're gonna have to come out with it eventually, Rainbow. Seriously, what's there to hide about sharing info on Twilight and the Yaerfaerda symbol? I'm sure they'll understand. (Even if they might guffaw for a little bit)
Also yay, drugged-out angry pirates. I'm almost certain that we won't be seeing them anytime soon...
Proof that Pegasi are awesome.
You poor pony.
And now we have drugs. Why not seaweed?
5915173
Instead, we find a depressed lonely pony sitting around a dead fire moaning about why "the coral was always gone"
so, the two tag-alongs get to see Dashie in battle soon?
cuz I'm so hoping they strayed a little too far south
5915189
If we get a pony Jack Sparrow in this book, I will eat my figurative hat.
Nick was pulling a Jack Sparrow for a moment there, up on the mast.
i.ytimg.com/vi/dvdrCPr3gDQ/maxresdefault.jpg
Ohh, this Sinrar is sharp, eh? I'll be curious to see what happens when our little Dashie finally decides to properly broach the subject.
5915189
5915204
I think I literally giggled when I saw the chapter title.
Now we just wait for the inevitable encounter with pirates trippin' balls on sponge.
Skirts will inevitably drag out Rainbow telling anyone about Twilight. I mean, look at what he pulled in Appledashery with Rainbow using Joe to hide her paralysis.
check them quads
5915173
What do you think the odds are that at least one of the coral pirates will be sympathetic, mutiny, and then captain his own ship while following the Swan Song, turning Nick into an admiral? Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Rainbow Dash didn't get a small fleet- the Swan Song won't work with twelve.
5915228
Now this would be hella' interesting.
Sea gangsters, ahoy!
5915228
Which means several more new named characters!
Gee, Ankou and Scythe could both be good names for a pirate or pirate vessel, as they're both related to the reaper...
the possibilities...
Meh. Since magic is back, Rainbow could just redirect any storm that comes their way.
5915228
Sinrar turns into a navigator for pirates, led by Captain Swan Song, and Nick becomes captain of the Davy Jones. And still can't get a girl.
5915228
I like where you're going with this. Hopefully our benevolent(mostly) overlord will see fit to make this happen.
5915237
I'm inclined to agree. Maybe we could get him a nice jacket with gold trim.
5915246
I'd tell you that good things come to those who wait, but I got a named character about ten chapters after I started really whining about it and generally being a pest(still feel bad about that, sorry Skirts) so Idunno. Both would be nice names for either a pirate or his boat.
5915260
...now, THERE's a thought. What if Nick's old gf went pirate? She'd surely be a dashing, roguish captain to command the hearts of her followers. Unlike Nick, who has all the inspiring authority of a duncecap. And then, of course, Rainbow Dash will proceed to steal his gurl, and Twilight Spookle will facehoof repeatedly for the next twenty chapters.
5915277
I wholeheartedy support and/or endorse this idea. Hilarity will ensue.
5915169 Heheheh.
5915277
Rainbow will inevitable ruin every single one of Nick's attempts at flirting.
5915173 I think she's afraid of pulling more ponies into her crazy adventure. She doesn't want to have to say goodbye again
Yay, Pirates! Someone give us a pirate-y tune!
5915207 Thank you!
Neat. Hey, IC! I'll bet you can't find a way to get Rainbow high on that stuff!
Cryptic Sinrar is cryptic.
And once more, the site's video embed hates me, so here's a Link. (Sea what I did there?)mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-3193605-3-748207__safe_solo_rainbow%20dash_crossover_cosplay_the%20legend%20of%20zelda_link_artist-colon-joycall3.jpg
Edit: With help from the marvelous Sharp Quill, I will endeavor to conquer the embed once and for all. Here goes:
5915337 I don't know what the problem is. Works for me:
[youtube=w0IPkWMBZGk]
"How goes it? Are we about to run into any anals or something?"
Not with this author, Dashie!
Try RagingSemi.
"You could try scouring one of my genius treatises."
Eugh... some things just need to be addressed.
My auntie Rasp was a hooficurist. When she got too old to run her salon, she got into academia and I had to scour her treatises quite often.
When folks get too old, sometimes they just can't wash themselves any more...
Get a sponge and get crackin', Dashie! You don't wanna be on board with a stinky Sinny, do you?
5915347 Like I said, it just hates me. Must be jealous of my roguish good looks.
5915354 This is the tag I used: [ youtube=w0IPkWMBZGk ] (without the spaces, of course)
img.pokemondb.net/artwork/jynx.jpg
Love the title of this chapter I know it's going to be a while before Dash tells them anything, but I really hope she doesn't wait till after things go bad.
5915363 Problem solved. Thanks, Sharpy!
I have a feeling you all commenters just spawned ponynapping drugging pirates within a three chapter radius of the Swan Song.
Nah, I joke. They were there already, it's not like you can miss them with all their fore-shadows.
Yeah, none at all.
Rainbow Dash sure is trying hard not to develop a working friendship with Nick and Sinrar. Guess she doesn't want to get too attached like she did with the crew of the Noble Jury. I guess that will change with time.
Ah Wind Waker... it was my first 3D Zelda. I never finished it though. Got right up to collecting the pieces of the Triforce and just ended up saying "fuck this."
I still have the disc and the memory card with my save on it. I just don't feel like setting up my Wii,cause that would mean unplugging one of my xbox's.
Dash is gonna have to do some weather patrol later if the chapter's title means anything.
5915277
I am now picturing Swan as a tomcoltish pirate captain like Tetra.
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
Ahhh, the nice part of having an insane weekend (I got to eat lunch with xjuggernaughtx!) is getting to catch up on 10,000 delicious ):( words.
Welp
Rainbow, just tell them about Twilight. You'll have to sooner or later.
5915246
5915264
I mean, you bugged and then became someone fancy, sure. But I didn't bug and became Jerrio, Master and Commander of the Sex Crater. And really I'd say it's hard to beat that.
Yes, Dashie. You will once again run into the annals of history. And yes, Twilight will start saying "Hey, listen!"
Im wondering if the First Seed, that is apart from The Blight, will happen to have a group of kids exploring it, The Goonies, or a group of kids exploring it, Solaris, or a group of kids exploring it, Famous Five, etc?
Yaay, Pirates, Typhoons, Dark Water.
Anyone have some coral?
I only want an ounce for the weekend.
Times like this I wish your version of Dash was bi sexual....I think her and Nick would be adorable, plus they are already on a ship....just saying.
5915353
I like the new avatar. I'm assuming it's your character?
5915953
*clears throat*
5915750 I think you underestimate how long IC can draw something out.
I have a feeling that all of these secrets Rainbow is keeping won't come to light until the worst possible moment.
5916422
Thank ewe! I found it on Deviantart, all I did was crop it.
It's my current stand-in until I get something unique.
5916422 You got something in your throat Fawful? Anyway, good luck with your dark basements and scrolls, I'm going to LEAVE THE CRATER AT WILL as your great leader feels the urge to do sometimes!
Which in great leader speak means I can tell you're going to complain at me, so I'm gonna go hang out with the turtles.