//------------------------------// // Some Villains Are Simple // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// “They stopped in one place for a while but started moving again, sir. We’re almost on top of them,” Astral Comet said as he stood in front of the Ziz’s viewpoint with his horn slightly glowing. The sandstorm obscured everything that could be seen by eyes, but magic sensing was a different matter altogether. While most of his subordinates had been a little worried about flying directly into the sandstorm, Shining Diamond knew there was no danger. He was correct too as the Ziz’s engine and propellers were powerful enough to make the large blimp easily slice through the storm. It only slightly had any effect on the blimp’s flightpath and Shining Diamond was easily able to adjust. “Good! I bet they’ll be surprised when they see us. Let’s hope they’ve gotten to the Crystal Sea already,” Shining Diamond grinned as he manned the wheel. “If they haven’t we’ll have a good enough idea of its location anyways,” Whitesheet smiled. “Yes, yes, our victory is close at hoof. I can almost taste it!” Shining Diamond cheered. And at the back of the bridge, Supernova paced back and forth. Small sparks continued to dance around her horn. “Okay, so we’re going in the right direction, but this storm still hasn’t let up at all. Is that a problem?” Rainbow Dash asked Miss Valentine. “I have no idea. I’m not an expert on this, I just know more than you,” Valentine replied. “Oh, that’s reassuring,” Rainbow sarcastically rolled her eyes. “Just stay positive, okay? I have a good feeling about this,” Daring Do said. Unfortunately they were still in the middle of a sandstorm with dust and sand being blown constantly at them. And now at the slightly changed angle they were walking it was closer to just blowing right into their faces. If anything the winds seemed to get more intense too and neither Rainbow Dash nor Daring Do were flying at the moment. They knew there had to be a break in the storm somewhere but it hadn’t been found yet and now the storm was slowing them down even more. “That stupid camel statue better not be wrong, or fake or something,” Rainbow Dash said. “I doubt it was. Did you see how it wasn’t even damaged after all these years in the sand? There must be something special about it,” Daring Do said. Rainbow frowned and tried to squint through the veil of sand. She couldn’t even really see any shadows or shapes beyond it, in fact it was a miracle that light was even able to reach them at all down here. She clicked her tongue, it was a pain but she had been through worse. That was the pure and absolute truth. She could get through this too. “Come on! We’re not letting this stupid sand beat us!” Rainbow tried to pump up her friends. As they pushed on it was kind of like someone was right above them pouring buckets of sand on them. Or perhaps into fans blowing into them. Rainbow Dash had enough of snow to last her a lifetime, she had now had enough of deserts and sand as well. The only real positive to traveling through this storm was that it blocked most of the oppressive heat coming from above. If it didn’t, the three of them would probably be cooking on some rocks already. Rainbow Dash still had no idea how Valentine lived while wearing all that black. At least she had switched her black vest for green canvas. Crazy pony. “There can’t be much further to go, it just isn’t possible!” Daring Do said over the howling winds. Rainbow squinted ahead again and though it may have been her eyes playing tricks on her it looked like things got brighter up ahead. “I think you might be right!” “I hope,” Valentine grumbled. “I’m pretty tired of this!” “Yeah you and me both!” Rainbow Dash called right after her. “Forget it though, we just need to keep going dead ahead. I think I can see past the veil!” It wasn’t just her now either, both Daring Do and Miss Valentine were able to notice the change. It filled them with renewed hope and vigor as they joined Rainbow Dash, all of them practically leaning on and supporting each other, and pushed towards the light beyond the storm. The sand was still smacking into them with the pinpricks of pain that accompanied it, but it didn’t dissuade them. Now they were almost there. To Rainbow Dash, it almost felt like pushing your hoof past a waterfall. You felt all that water cascading around you but then it parted and there was nothing but empty air on the other side. That was how it was now, except it was a wall of sand being blown through the air that she was moving through. With a final push the three practically jumped out of the storm... and fell right onto the hot sand in front of them since the wind was no longer blowing into them. “Ugh!” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Well that’s a perfect finish...” Valentine said as she spat out some sand. “You guys... look,” Daring Do said. The others looked at her and saw her staring straight ahead, Rainbow and Valentine then followed her gaze and saw that they were no longer in the middle of a raging sandstorm. Instead it really was like they were inside the eye of a hurricane or something. It was a calm spot with clear skies and the walls of the storm were miles away in the distance. That wasn’t even all. Beyond the dunes, obscured by one particularly tall sand dune, part of the desert was glowing. White light that steadily pulsed from the surface of the sand blanketed what looked like a massive portion of the inside of the storm. If the light was any indication, the Crystal Sea was aptly named. “Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash said, she grabbed Miss Valentine and tossed her on her back (much to the startled surprise of the scarlet mare) and pulled up Daring Do before flying off to the top of the large sand dune in front of them. “Wait for me!” Daring Do shouted and flew after her. They came to a stop at the crest of the large sand dune and Valentine quickly hopped off of Rainbow Dash. “You didn’t need to... woah,” Valentine said as she looked out at the desert past the dune. “Yeah. Woah,” Daring Do agreed and Rainbow Dash just nodded wordlessly. Softly glowing white crystals spread out before them across the entire desert. The crystal formations just grew up out of nowhere and were so dense you wouldn’t have been able to walk in-between them at all. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of crystals growing from the sand, many of the formations were the size of a wagon or more. It was truly spectacular and it was right there in front of them. They had found it. The Crystal Sea. “Wow. This thing’s actually here. I was always kind of wondering to be honest,” Rainbow Dash said as she scratched her head. “I didn’t think it would be so... huge. “Sea” really wasn’t an exaggeration,” Miss Valentine said. “It’s pretty incredible. A great find,” Daring Do said. “Yeah, I-” Rainbow Dash started but then paused, her ears twitching. “You guys hear that?” “Hear what?” Valentine asked. Rainbow Dash frowned. Now that they were out of the sandstorm she could hear other sounds better, and the raging winds of the storm were being interrupted by something. She turned around and looked at the huge wall of sand and dust that they had just emerged from. “Uhhh, why is there a giant zeppelin coming out of the sandstorm?” The others looked up and saw it too. A huge airship was pushing through the last barrier of sand and wind that kept the Crystal Sea secluded. The massive vessel soon cleared it entirely and cast its shadow down at the sand while continuing to move forward, on a beeline for the center of the Sea. Miss Valentine growled and narrowed her eyes in anger. “It’s him. It’s Shining Diamond.” “How’d he get here?!” Rainbow Dash asked her. “He must have been following us,” Daring Do suggested. “Somehow, some way, he’s probably been following us for a while.” “Fine then,” Valentine said. “We were going to have to deal with him at one point or another. I hate to say this, but I want you to carry me up there again, Rainbow Dash, the three of us can-” “Hold on!” Rainbow Dash said and pointed at the blimp. “I think a door just opened up on it... someone’s coming out.” “Beautiful! Simply beautiful!” Shining Diamond said as he looked out at the Crystal Sea. “It’s even more amazing than I imagined...” Whitesheet said from beside him. “Uh, sir?” Astral Comet said, pointing at something else down on the ground. “The Red Hornet and the other two are there.” Popcorn, Sand, and Velvet Hooves came up to take a look beside him. Sand looked back at their leader. “It’s true, sir! They’re all down there!” “Well we knew that was coming,” Shining Diamond shrugged. “It’s why we brought dear Supernova along for the ride.” He grinned. “And this is your moment isn’t it? You were waiting for the opportunity to take care of that rainbow pegasus, so go fulfill your job with me and do it!” There was no answer. “Supernova?” He looked over his shoulder and saw nothing but an empty bridge behind him. Whitesheet blinked. “I believe she already left, sir.” “Did she remember to take a parachute?” Supernova stood on the small steps leading up to the hatch she had just opened on the side of the Ziz. Her narrow face peered down at the sands of the desert. Crystal Sea? She couldn’t possibly care less. The only thing that mattered to her was that blue, rainbow-maned pegasus sitting down there. Supernova saw her. She saw her target and a breath of relief left her lungs. It wasn’t over yet. Failure wasn’t an option, she had to finish things this time. With a single step she jumped from the blimp. Falling at high speed towards the sands she lit up her sparking horn and fired an explosion directly in front of her. The shockwave from the blast buffeted her and slowed her decent slightly. Again and again she fired explosion after explosion to slow herself down and briefly push herself up to avoid smashing into the sand like a boulder. Hundreds of feet she fell through the sky like this until the sand was right in front of her. A final, extra large explosion, blew up her landing zone and she dropped down into the fire and smoke, landing without a problem on the burning and melted sand. Taking less than a second to stand up straight and get her bearings, Supernova walked out of the smoke and confronted Rainbow Dash and the other two. They were a mere twenty feet apart and the trio of pegasi were standing together against her. Supernova’s horn sparked, but she didn’t attack just yet. And meanwhile, Miss Valentine’s head slowly turned to Rainbow Dash and she leveled her with a withering glare. Rainbow Dash bit her lip and chuckled nervously, shrugging at the scarlet mare. “M-My bad?” “We can’t fly off and attack Shining Diamond with her here,” Daring Do said, tensing up and getting ready to take off as soon as Supernova looked like she was going to attack them. “Actually you can,” Supernova suddenly said, spooking the other three. Valentine narrowed her eyes at the deadly mercenary. “I beg your pardon?” “I don’t care about you other two. I don’t care about Shining Diamond or whatever any of this is. If the two of you want to go fly up there and leave Rainbow Dash with me? I’m not going to stop you. I’d welcome it,” Supernova said, her eyes burning a hole into Rainbow Dash the entire time. “We’re not going to just leave Rainbow Dash alone to fight some crazy mare trying to kill her!” Daring Do shouted. “Yes you are,” Rainbow Dash plainly said while staring right back at Supernova Daring Do looked at her like she was crazy. “What?!” “This is my problem. I don’t know why she wants to kill me in the first place, but this is something that’s never involved the two of you. I’ll deal with Supernova. You two go up and stop Shining Diamond,” Rainbow told her. “No way, Rainbow Dash. We all saw what she can do, I’m not leaving you to fight her alone,” Daring Do shook her head. “Someone needs to carry Valentine,” Rainbow said and pointed at their scarlet friend. “Or are you just going to let that guy who you’ve been trying to stop this entire time get his way?” She grinned at Daring. “Trust me. I’ve handled worse than this crazy mare.” Valentine put a hoof on Daring Do’s shoulder before she could challenge further. “Let’s do it, Daring. We have a job to do, and Rainbow has hers.” “But...” Daring looked at the determined faces of her friends, at the evil glower of Supernova, and at the flying blimp above them. Finally, she sighed in defeat. “You better be okay. I can’t believe I’m running out on you again.” “Heh, don’t sweat it,” Rainbow Dash cracked her neck. “I know how this pest works, I’ll be fine.” Supernova’s eye twitched and a spark shot off her horn. “Don’t count on it.” Daring Do bent her legs and Miss Valentine climbed on her back, the latter giving Rainbow Dash a grin. “Have fun down here.” “I will. Try not to finish Shining Diamond off too quickly,” Rainbow said to her. “You two...” Daring Do shook her head and flew up, giving Rainbow Dash one last look of dismay before she flew up towards the blimp. Rainbow Dash watched them go for a second before turning her attention to the yellow unicorn staring her down. Rainbow’s eyes narrowed and she extended her wings, ready to blast off at full speed. Supernova stood her ground while sparks and crackling energy gathered about her horn, waiting to be unleashed. Both were waiting for the other to make the first move here under the hot sun.