//------------------------------// // Godfrey Goldenwing // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// “Thank you, Gilbert. As your brother it really does warm my heart to know that you’ve kept up with my exploits. Gehahahaha!” Godfrey laughed as he continued to hold Breakwater in his threatening grip. “Seriously?!” Rainbow Dash threw her hooves up in frustration. “I thought you were cool, Godfrey!” “Sorry, Rainbow Dash. I had fun drinking with you that night but hey—what are you gonna do?” He mockingly smirked at her. “To be honest I was trying to scope you out and see if you had anything valuable at first, but that was a bust. Then you just became a fun pony to trade stories with, geha! I like you, but knowing who you are there was no way you’d join me on my ship once you learned who I was. Just rotten luck you had to join up with my brother and his friends instead and wind up as my enemy.” “Grr—Let Breakwater go!” Rainbow Dash demanded, stomping a hoof down. “I’ll think about it,” Godfrey chuckled before looking over at Daylight Gleam. “And if it isn’t the unicorn. I’ve got a bone to pick with you after that mirage trick you pulled last time.” Daylight gulped and took a step back. “Keep that horn dark if you don’t want Breakwater’s blood on your hooves,” Godfrey threatened. “Heh. I knew that you’d see The Scourge tailing you well before we got in range to use our cannons. And then you’d just try sneaking away again. So I flew up and out of sight to come aboard personally this time. Now my ship will be here soon and I can take you with me. Until then let’s all be nice and friendly while I’ve got Breakwater here.” “Don’t kid around with us, Godfrey. You don’t take prisoners,” Gilbert said to him. “Gilbert, Gilbert, Gilbert,” Godfrey shook his head. “You’re my brother, and killing you is the one line I don’t want to cross. But I will if you make me. And can’t you see that this is a good will offering? I wouldn’t know half as much about Merlantis and Ponyseidon’s treasures if it wasn’t for your friends. So I’m willing to let you live on The Scourge—in chains to be fair—until we’ve found those treasures.” “Your word floats as well as an anchor,” Gilbert shook his head. “Take your offer and shove it. Senax and her people deserve to have their home and artifacts back,” Daylight said. “Is that right? You’ll say the same thing, merpony?” Godfrey raised an eyebrow at the frightened Senax. Senax was shivering and hesitant, but shortly after she nodded. “Y-Yes. We won’t let you have the Trident. I know that’s all you care about… b-but you wont get the Necklace, the Horn, or be allowed to ransack my ancestral home either!” “Heh, you tell him,” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Hah!” Godfrey laughed at their defiance. “You know what? I’m glad you’re all showing some backbone! Getting anything so easily… without any struggle? Without a fight? It’s boring. That’s not why I came out to the Grand Ocean.” “Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him and smirked at the large griffon, an idea forming in her head. “You know, I get that, Godfrey. Where’s the fun in doing something if there’s no challenge to it? Adventures, races, treasure hunts, it’s boring if you don’t have to fight or push yourself for any of it. I think you and me see eye to eye on that… so I’m just a little confused about something.” “What would that be?” Godfrey asked, genuinely curious. “Why would you do something so lame as take a hostage so we can’t even fight back?” Rainbow pointed at Breakwater. “Your brother makes you sound pretty tough. So what’s the deal? Didn’t think you could take us all in a fair fight? Instead of hiding behind a hostage, how about you act like a real griffon and show me what you’re made of.” Godfrey looked down at her with a grin still on his beak while her friends also stared at her, clearly aware of what she was trying to do. Suddenly the large griffon threw his head back and brayed with laughter. “Gehahahaha! That’s good, Rainbow Dash!” He narrowed his eyes in amusement at her. “You’re right, I don’t find much fun doing this. No challenge or anything to celebrate when winning like this. Oh sure, I have no problem being as merciless and cruel as I feel like, don’t underestimate me there, but hostage taking is still pretty boring.” His expression darkened and he strengthened his grip on his cutlass. “But I know you’re just trying to egg me on into doing something stupid. You’re a little behind though—since I already planned on making things more exciting!” As soon as he finished speaking and before the others could even react, Godfrey jumped down with Breakwater still in his grip. He took his cutlass from the Captain’s throat and threw the earth pony directly at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow’s eyes widened as the heavy body of Breakwater smashed into her and knocked her over. Gilbert gasped with a start and went over to help the two of them up while Senax completely froze up in fear. Meanwhile—Godfrey went straight for Daylight. “You’re not using that troublesome magic today—or ever again!” Godfrey grinned and swung his cutlass in a wide arc at her head. Daylight Gleam’s breath caught in her throat as the sharp blade came at her. Her horn glowed powder blue but she didn’t have any time to actually use a spell. On reflex, she stepped back half an inch just as the cutlass blade reached her. A spurt of blood arced through the air and splattered on the deck next to them and Daylight cried out in pain while collapsing to the deck. “Daylight!” Rainbow Dash and Gilbert yelled. “Hah!” Godfrey grinned and lifted the cutlass up, blood dripping from its edge. “I-I’m okay...” The white unicorn sat up, pushing herself away from Godfrey with one hoof while her other covered her forehead and left eye. A shallow, but profusely bleeding, cut had been made on her forehead right above the left eye. “Good job not getting the top of your head lopped off. Where would the fun be if things ended so soon? Now stay down and let me teach my brother and your other friends a lesson,” Godfrey sneered. “You-?!” Rainbow Dash couldn’t even finish her own sentence as she flew at the griffon pirate in a rage. Gilbert flew right after her and Breakwater ran as well, Senax had managed to get over her immediate fear and made her way to pick Daylight up and keep her safe. Godfrey flicked the blood off his cutlass and then flew towards Rainbow Dash to meet her midway. She wasn’t expecting him to just charge directly at her or move so swiftly. His cutlass came swinging at her head, the speed and sharpness of the blade cutting through the air was audible, and Rainbow Dash barely ducked under it—she prepared to lunge at his chest only for him to swiftly bring the cutlass back down at her in an overhand blow. This time she jumped to the side right as it came down and smashed into the wooden planks of the deck. She thought he might’ve accidentally gotten it stuck there and she jumped at him, pulling her hoof back to sock him in the face. Godfrey though effortlessly yanked the cutlass loose and brought his arm swinging at her again. She was inside the range of the blade but he was still able to slam his closed talon and the pommel of the sword into her side. “Guh!” Rainbow Dash coughed at the heavy hit and was sent flying backwards towards the mast of the vessel, the wind temporarily knocked out of her. At the same time, Gilbert had jumped at Godfrey while Breakwater tried to attack him from the side where he wasn’t holding his cutlass. A swift kick from Godfrey caught Breakwater in the chest and knocked him back into the wall right under the helm. While with his free hand he reached up and grabbed Gilbert by the throat—stopping him cold in midair. Rainbow Dash looked up as she rubbed the already bruising spot on her body. Wincing in pain she could see right there just how different the two brothers actually were. There were similarities to be sure, the green coloring of their headfeathers and golden sheen of the rest of their feathers for one, but Godfrey’s size and strength truly put Gilbert’s to shame. His thick arms, broad chest, and large head were a marked difference from Gilbert’s lithe form and narrow face. Godfrey gave a brief snort of amusement and headbutted Gilbert with possibly enough force to break bone. He dropped his brother to the deck as Gilbert twitched in pain, and then turned his eyes to Senax and Daylight. “Soon cannon fire is going to rain down on this pathetic little boat. All I need is to take the merpony with me and I don’t care what happens to the rest. You’re out of luck,” Godfrey said. “Stop, Godfrey!” Rainbow Dash yelled at him. “Didn’t you say you wanted a real challenge instead of just picking on helpless ponies? I’m still here!” “Hero of Equestria you may be but you don’t seem very special,” Godfrey shrugged. Rainbow Dash grinned. “Oh yeah? Want me to show you just how wrong you are? Come at me. See if you can keep up. Cause I’ve dealt with way worse things than some griffon-turned-pirate who thinks he’s hot stuff.” “Don’t, Rainbow Dash! He’s-” Breakwater said before Godfrey interrupted. “Really then? If you want to decide which one of us is just talk then that’s fine with me,” Godfrey smirked and pointed his blade at her. “So come on, Rainbow Dash, show me what you can do.” “Heh. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. But let’s move somewhere with a little more room, huh? Unless you’re scared to not have any hostages around to threaten,” Rainbow said and flapped her wings, ascending up a few feet and getting ready to shoot off into the sky. “Gehahaha… not at all,” Godfrey chuckled and flapped his large wings to join her. “Cool. Let’s do this,” Rainbow narrowed her eyes at him and with one powerful flap of her wings she blasted up into the sky, creating a whirlwind of wind that ruffled the others on the boat. She went high above the mast—seeking to draw Godfrey far away from the others. She wanted to be able to move freely and not have to worry about accidentally doing any damage to the Heart of Azure. In an instant she was a hundred feet up above the ocean and ready to fight. The pain in her side was nothing that she hadn’t felt before, she took a deep breath and prepared herself. Looking back down she expected to see Godfrey making his way towards her. What she got instead was a griffon barreling through the sky at such high speed he was practically upon her already. Godfrey had a wide grin across his beak and his cutlass was held out and ready to slice through her once again. What? Rainbow Dash thought as she saw him right there. He was a lot faster than she expected. Though considering how he entered earlier… he must’ve been a very powerful flier, she was underestimating him. She just didn’t expect anybody, pony, griffon, dragon, to be able to fly as good and as fast as she did. “Hah!” Godfrey yelled and swung his cutlass right at her neck in an attempt to cut her head off all at once. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and flew backwards a step to avoid it completely—though she could still feel the wind from the swing pass right by her. “Good dodge! I would’ve been disappointed to be honest if you died already,” Godfrey taunted. “Thanks...” Rainbow Dash frowned at him and rubbed her neck. “So it’s really got to be this way I guess.” “I aint complaining,” Godfrey shrugged. “I enjoy a good fight too… but not with someone who I thought could be a friend.” Godfrey nodded. “I suppose that’s the difference between us then. Cause I don’t care about that one bit.” He lunged forward with his sword, swinging at Rainbow Dash with wild abandon and trying to cut her to ribbons. Slashing and slicing from every direction—his cutlass and arm were a total blur. Any other pony might have been overwhelmed or unable to follow his movements. But Rainbow’s eyes were top-notch, and her reflexes were even sharper. The speed of Godfrey’s attacks were impressive and surprising, but Rainbow Dash was still able to keep up with and react to them. It didn’t matter to Godfrey though that he hadn’t been able to cut her yet, a happy grin was still on his face. A slash to the face, to the neck, her wings, horizontally, vertically, diagonally, he pressed the attack continuously and forced Rainbow to keep flying backwards as she juked and dodged the deadly cuts. “Come on, Rainbow Dash! Where’s that spark? Where’s that dynamic spirit you were showing me? Stop just dodging and flying away and try and do something!” She ducked under another slash going right for her head and shrugged. “Alright.” With almost blinding speed she shot away from his sword, catching him by surprise, and flew around to his unguarded left. She extended a leg out and tried kicking him in the head right as she flew by, her wings propelling her at high speed. Godfrey’s just as sharp eyes still caught her though. He flew out of the way and Rainbows hoof and body went flying past him. Trying to counter, he turned and brought his sword towards her in a wide slash but Rainbow was already flapping her wings to shoot up and over him. She flew in a loop and tried to get beneath him but Godfrey flew backwards and dropped down at the same time to keep level with her. This time though, Rainbow Dash still didn’t let him stay on offense. She could see his muscles tense in his arms and wings—he wanted to come at her—and with him having a weapon he probably thought she would want to keep him at bay instead of getting in close. Well, Rainbow Dash wasn’t about to let strategy or common sense stop her. She rocketed straight at him to keep him off-balance and not let him keep this fight going at his pace. She could see the brief look of surprise as she came at him before it switched back to amusement. He liked that she wasn’t a coward, that much was certain. Godfrey brought his cutlass up as she flew at him and aimed to practically cut her in half lengthwise with his latest slash. Rainbow Dash minutely adjusted her flight. The slightest change in her wings, just barely twitching and moving them up, carried her over his blade at the last second. Her hooves only barely cleared it and she almost got her entire belly shaved of hair. But she still avoided being cut. And now she was once again in prime position to knock his block off. Rainbow Dash’s hoof came up, aimed right between his eyes. Godfrey’s reflexes turned out to be extraordinary as well though—Rainbow’s hoof was but an inch from hitting him when he moved his head out of the way. She just barely managed to nudge his hat. As she grit her teeth in frustration she became acutely aware of his balled up fist coming at her in retaliation. Rainbow flapped her wings backwards and scooted out of the way of his powerful hook, which practically blew a just as powerful gust of wind into her face, but that left her open to a stab from his cutlass. She couldn’t maneuver or adjust in time. Godfrey’s right arm shot out at her, the cutlass gripped tightly in his talon, its blade going right for her exposed midsection with a thrust that could surely skewer through armor and chain-mail. “Die!” Godfrey yelled as the blade went right into her and Rainbow Dash’s body bent and doubled over, her head swinging down. From below, those on the boat saw the shadows of the two silhouetted by the sun connect. “Rainbow Dash!” Daylight Gleam screamed in horror. “Hah,” Godfrey smirked… and then blinked as the smirk fell off his face. “Huh?” “Grrr...” Rainbow Dash raised her head, a vein throbbing in her neck and her angry eyes glaring right at him. Right at her stomach where Godfrey had tried stabbing her, her hooves were clasped against the broad sides of the blade—stopping it a hair’s breadth from hitting her. She had only barely sucked in her gut and bent back enough to avoid it impaling her. Every ounce of strength she had was being put into her front hooves to stop the cutlass. Her muscles trembled and rippled in struggle with Godfrey’s. “You think that’s gonna work?!” Rainbow yelled and flipped backwards. She yanked the cutlass away with everything she had and kicked his talon with her back hooves all in the same movement as she flipped. Godfrey grunted from the kick and released his grip on the sword as Rainbow Dash managed to tear it away from him. She didn’t stop there, tossing the sword behind her and throwing it end over end to the ocean below where it landed with a splash and sunk down beneath the waves. Rainbow grinned. “What are you going to do without your-” A heavy fist smashed into her face and sent her spinning around before she came to a wobbly and dizzy stop. Rainbow Dash blinked a few times—her vision blurry—and rubbed her head. “That’s what I’m going to do,” Godfrey smiled. “That was my favorite sword by the way.” “M-Makes sense...” Rainbow shook her head to try and get over the double-vision. He was just as strong as he was fast, that single punch almost floored her. Godfrey raised his dukes and got into something resembling a floating boxing stance as the two faced off in the sky. “Come on, come on, I’m plenty used to fighting like this too.” “I bet,” Rainbow scowled and rotated her jaw, finally feeling okay to move again. She made a few jabs with her hooves to loosen herself up before taking a deep breath and getting ready to move in. “Rainbow Dash, forget about it!” Breakwater yelled from below, interrupting them. “His ship is getting closer, they’ll be able to bombard us soon!” Rainbow Dash looked past Godfrey briefly and saw that his large galleon was indeed closing in on them. She didn’t need the spyglass anymore to make out the dark details of the ship. “Tch.” “Oh? Gonna just run away?” Godfrey taunted her. “Come on, there’s no reason to fight anymore right now! He can’t take us all down quickly enough with you here now and he knows it! He’s just stalling for time now. Get down here and Daylight can help get us to safety!” Breakwater told her. “You’re not going to be able to lose me with the same trick again!” Godfrey shouted down to them. “I know you’ll be stopping at the Three Spears, you can’t get away that easily. Your mirages and illusions aren’t perfect, on a clear day like this I can still see the trail your boat leaves in the water.” Gilbert then flew up from the Heart of Azure. He was flying a little sloppily after that headbutt, but he still reached the two of them and floated right next to Rainbow Dash. “Fly back to your ship, Godfrey,” Gilbert said to his brother. “Gehahahaha! Or what?” Godfrey laughed. “The Scourge will fire on you. Maybe I don’t care if you all go down with your little dingy. Maybe I can find the Trident myself?” “No—he’s right. The fight was fun, Godfrey, but it’s over for now. I’m not going to let myself get caught up in something dumb like this while my friends are in danger,” Rainbow said, shaking her head. A part of her wanted to taunt him, tell him that he couldn’t win now without his sword and against all five of them at once, but that would probably have the opposite reaction. “You still want a challenge? Come back later, but right now I’m making sure we get to those islands safely.” A grin split Godfrey’s beak as he kept his fists raised… before lowering them and shrugging. “Meh, alright. We’ve still got you dead to rights. Even if you disguise your ship so we can’t fire on you we’ll still find you at those islands. That’s a promise. It was fun getting to see you all again, heh.” He laughed and turned around flying away quickly towards his large ship. He looked over his shoulder at Rainbow Dash. “Especially you, Rainbow Dash!” She frowned as he left, his golden wings flapping hard in the air. “That’s not the word I would use...”