//------------------------------// // Rivals // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// “If what you want is a fun fight then I’ll be more than happy to give it to you,” Rainbow Dash said as she flapped her wings and rose to meet Godfrey in the sky. They were both flying slightly south as well to keep up with the Heart of Azure as it slowly sailed on. “Rainbow Dash, are you crazy?! Get down here and stick with us!” Daylight Gleam yelled up at her. “Daylight is right, you don’t need to do this,” Gilbert said. “Gehahahahaha!” Godfrey loudly laughed over them, even holding his stomach. “See? Just like I said. They don’t get it.” He lifted up a talon to wipe a tear away from his eyes and grinned at his brother. “Gilbert, she wants to fight too. She wasn’t fine with the way things were settled back there, just like me. Doesn’t matter if it’s dangerous or dumb—that makes it even more exciting, right?” Rainbow Dash found herself grinning as well. “Yeah, you’re right about that. I wasn’t about to just abandon my friends for it or anything, but the fact that you came to me? Finishing our fight sounds real good to me.” “He’s dangerous, Rainbow Dash! We should just deal with him together or force him to go back!” Daylight frowned angrily. “There’s no reason for this, we’re not at his mercy, he threw away his sword, and he doesn’t have his ship to threaten us with!” “Yep, all true,” Godfrey nodded. “I mean—I could still handle all of you by myself anyways though. But you’re not good sport aside from my new friend here so it just wouldn’t be much fun. And that’s the key thing you’re still not understanding, unicorn. Fun. So what if you don’t need to do something? Stuff you don’t need to do is usually the most fun of all! That’s practically what my entire time as a pirate has been about! Rainbow Dash gets it, even if she might not agree on what I find fun. That’s why she wants to fight again.” “And to knock your block off and down a peg. That’s another big reason,” Rainbow said to him. “And you wouldn’t find that fun too?” Godfrey smirked. “Well… good point,” Rainbow laughed a little back at him. “It’s also the challenge too. Pushing myself, beating someone tough, competing. Proving to myself and everyone else that I can beat you. You better believe how badly I need to do that after things got cut off the first time. That’s something you understand too, isn’t it?” “Oh yes. Nothing’s worth doing if it doesn’t make you sweat and push yourself further than you ever thought you could go,” Godfrey nodded. “So here I am. All alone, no weapon either this time, just to fight you one on one. My brother and his friends can be the peanut gallery. You up for it?” He balled up his talons and raised them in front of his face. “Didn’t I already say I was?” Rainbow Dash raised her hooves and got ready. “Are you serious right now?!” Daylight threw her hooves out in disbelief. “Daylight, enough, it’s clear that Rainbow Dash isn’t going to back down from this challenge,” Gilbert said. “Her heart beats too strongly.” “B-But will she be okay?” Senax asked. Rainbow Dash looked down at the merpony. “I promise I’ll be fine. I’m awesome. And I’m about to show this griffon he’s way out of his league.” “There we go… that’s just what we’ll have to accept,” Breakwater sighed, concern still written on his face. “Ughhhh!” Daylight yanked on her mane and sat down in frustration. “Then let’s get this started right now!” Godfrey shouted and shot towards Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash!” Senax yelled. “Be careful, my brother will not hesitate to kill!” Gilbert shouted. “I’m aware!” Rainbow shouted back and inhaled as Godfrey got within range to attack. He had range on her for sure thanks to his longer limbs and combined with his aggressive nature naturally he threw the first punch. It was as fast as any punch she had ever had to dodge in her life, Godfrey wasn’t pulling any or messing around at all, and it was aimed squarely at her jaw. He wasn’t just some common thug or ruffian, overextending himself, being too eager, leaving himself open, this was a griffon who knew how to fight and had trained his body intensely to be able to attack with the blinding speed he could. She could see the experience he had gotten from his pirate escapades in his eyes and the way he moved. Even then—no simple exercise or training could explain all of it. He had to have been naturally stronger and faster than most other griffons to be able to have comparable speed to herself. Gifted compared to others just like she was with her fellow pegasi. With the powerful muscles she knew he had, his punches certainly packed more of a wallop than the strikes from her hooves ever could. Blocking directly or taking one to the face was way out. Countering, parrying, and outright dodging were her only ways to win. So she flitted back to let his balled up talon sail across her muzzle, wind from the force and speed of the blow ruffling her hair. There was no opportunity for her to counterattack as his other fist came at her in a straight jab—aimed at her midsection. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings and flew above it entirely, now over his head. They could both fly and she had absolutely no intention of not utilizing her wings and the three-dimensional space to its fullest. That was her favorite way to fight. She knew that after all her adventures, nothing beat an aerial battle. Godfrey still desired to keep on the offensive and not give her any moment to rest so he flew right up from underneath her and made two more speedy punches at her body. Thanks to their size difference his two talons alone almost took up as much area as her entire body. It was tough for her to dodge attacks with such width that were delivered at such intense speed. So instead of letting him set the tempo, she kicked one of his talons with her back leg before it fully reached her, diverting it slightly, and then fully twisted away from his other punch before flitting off with a powerful flap of her wings and creating some more distance between them. “Nice!” Godfrey congratulated as he turned to face her with a grin, not bothered at all by her dodging and getting away from him. She bit her tongue to keep from saying “Thanks” and instead shrugged her shoulders. “Come on, that was easy.” “Hah, so it was, so it was,” he nodded. “Gotta change that though. After all I can’t have you keep thinking that you’re out of my league. So enough with the simple stuff. Forget the boxing lessons, forget playing around and just throwing a few punches your way. Let’s fly. Then we’ll see what you think.” “Someone hates being underestimated,” Rainbow grinned. “Oh come on, don’t even try and pretend that you wouldn’t hate it too,” Godfrey grinned right back. The griffon pirate then took a deep breath, his chest puffed out, and he fully opened his wings to show off his impressive wingspan. Rainbow Dash tensed up and steeled herself for whatever he was going to do next, confident in her own speed and reflexes to not be worried. At first he merely rose up slightly to gain a little more height over the Heart of Azure. Down below on deck the others continued to watch him and Rainbow Dash both, wondering what the temporary pause in the fight meant. Then with a dizzying speed that even impressed her, Godfrey flew in a ring over the ship like he was trying to form a griffon tornado. His body became a golden blur as he built up more and more speed. Probably all just to show off. And just as quickly he ended his circular flight and came shooting towards Rainbow Dash with enough force to create a small blast of air that ruffled the sail of the Heart of Azure below, his powerful fist pulled back and ready to shatter her skull. But with just as quick movements as his own, Rainbow Dash shot up higher into the sky, becoming a blue blur and leaving a rainbow trail behind. Godfrey’s fist ended up hitting nothing but empty air—however, he didn’t stop or seem to be bothered by Rainbow’s dodge. Godfrey flapped his wings and flew up after her, matching her speed at once. The two of them were like twin rockets flying in the sky. Cones of air were created around them due to the great force and speed they were flying at. The pirate soon reached her altitude and flew right beside her, this time not attacking just yet, content to merely fly with her and leave hurricane-force winds billowing behind them. Rainbow Dash looked over at him and found him to be grinning right at her even as they fought for dominance and “first place” after the fight had apparently turned into an impromptu race and flying competition. His talons reached ahead of her hooves for a split second before Dash once again pushed ahead, this happening back and forth practically every second. Surprisingly, she found herself grinning right back at him. Getting slightly ahead of him again, Rainbow Dash suddenly banked to the left, turning so sharply and so quickly a lesser flier would’ve never been able to follow and probably would’ve just hurt themselves trying. She watched Godfrey out of the corner of her eye the entire time to see how he would handle it. And he matched her turn so effortlessly, complete with even a slight blast of wind from his wings, it made her nod her head in acknowledgment. Her heart was pounding in excitement as the flying battle continued. I can’t believe it, but he’s actually just as fast as me. Rainbow thought as she and Godfrey remained head to head with each other. A sudden sharp bank to the right, then the left, then down, then up, the two of them blasted all across the sky like that at speeds that most pegasi and griffons couldn’t even dream about. Two blurs leaving behind a rainbow and golden trail respectively. It would’ve been even more impressive to see in full daylight instead of the graying darkness of the approaching night, but even then they were colorful and noticeable enough. Rainbow Dash turned into a diagonal dive towards the ocean that Godfrey matched, the both of them pulling up at the last millisecond and getting their feathers just slightly wet. Godfrey then did a series of loops that Rainbow Dash followed—the g-forces from it being intense but still manageable for the two of them. Once they were done with that, Rainbow Dash went into a tight corkscrew and Godfrey almost seamlessly melded into it, the two of them spiraling around each other and making a double helix in the sky. Rainbow pushed herself even harder, to fly even faster. And she found herself happy to see that Godfrey actually kept up. He managed to push himself to fly even faster too and the two of them still kept neck and neck with each other. The both of them were at the peak of flying ability, both speed and maneuverability. Their race to nowhere, full of sudden turns, continued on. Down below, the crew of the Heart of Azure gawked up at them. None of them had ever seen anyone or anything fly like Rainbow Dash and Godfrey were right now. “The way they’re pushing each other is incredible… pegasi and griffons shouldn’t be able to fly like that,” Gilbert said. “I’ve seen some impressive feats of strength and magic in my life but yeah, this is something else,” Daylight nodded. Rainbow Dash and Godfrey suddenly shot up together, both of them aiming for a gray cloud directly overhead. Going vertical at high enough speeds to make tornado winds blush they soon burst into and through the cloud at the same time. At the exact moment they did that, Godfrey came at Rainbow Dash with another punch ready. She grinned, she knew he was going to try that. Despite the speed and accuracy of his punches she was still confident that she could dodge any he threw. It was coming right at her head and Rainbow Dash’s wings were already in the motion of pulling her away. But as Godfrey’s balled up fist reached the apex of its swing, he opened it and spread his talon wide, the sharp claws at the end of it now reaching for her. Rainbow’s eyes opened in surprise and worry and she forced herself backwards as fast as she could. Luckily it was just enough to avoid his claws rending her face. Unluckily the small pouch she was carrying around her neck got torn to pieces. The shredded remains of Gold Jackpot’s gift to her falling down to the ocean. “Oops,” Godfrey smirked at her. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. “So it’s going to be like that?” This time it was her who blasted towards him, not letting Godfrey keep attacking. Rainbow sent a blue hoof that was nothing more than a blur at his face. Then another, and another, and another as Godfrey dodged and dipped around her strikes. Fighting him… more than any of her other fights on this side of the world, it reminded her of her fight with Sia’Lorna at the north pole. But Godfrey was far stronger and faster than she was. This was no mere sporting event either. A lot of her attacks came close to hitting him but in the end he was still able to dodge and parry all of them. Despite the fact that unlike with his punches it was unlikely that a single solid blow from her would be able to knock him out or anything. Rainbow Dash tried something a little flashy and spun in the air, stretching out her wings and swiping her tail at him to distract him and maybe get him to blink when her feathers dragged across his eyes. Then coming around from the spin she lashed out with her back legs and delivered a kick to his chest. Wham! The solid sound and feeling of her hooves striking his muscular chest made Rainbow Dash grin. Godfrey was pushed back slightly in the air and Rainbow immediately turned to bring another barrage of punches at his face. She had to stop when she saw him grinning in anticipation at her with his own fist already pulled back—looking no worse for wear after her kick. “What a light kick,” he mocked and punched her in the chest. Rainbow Dash at the last second crossed her front legs over her chest so they could take the brunt of the blow. Even then she was knocked down dozens of feet through the air and her legs screamed in pain. Her bones were shaking inside them and they felt heavy—almost numb. One punch almost broke my legs, are you kidding me?! Rainbow Dash felt a drop of sweat go down the side of her head. While Godfrey came at her again, Rainbow Dash lifted her hooves but found they wouldn’t stop shaking. She was forced to dart around like a fly avoiding his onslaught and occasionally kicking out with her back hooves to try and knock some of his punches away. “Not hurt are you?” Godfrey laughed. “Y-You kidding?” Rainbow said, putting on the best front she could. Thanks to being smaller she was still slightly more maneuverable than him and when he threw out another wide swing she flew around it and kicked him in the side, getting a grunt from the griffon. She flew over his back to the other side and kicked right at his wing joint, getting another grunt and twitch from the pirate. But when she went to move away, Godfrey’s talon lashed out and grabbed her leg that had delivered the kick. Before Rainbow Dash could do anything else he swung her around and threw her as hard as he could. She went spinning away from him and it took a second for her to stop herself and readjust. By the time she did, Godfrey was right there. A strong punch to her gut knocked the wind out of Rainbow Dash. But Godfrey was overconfident. He didn’t expect her to be able to retaliate after a hit like that. While he was grinning and expecting her to drop from the sky, Rainbow Dash backflipped in the air and kicked him in the chin as she went, then continuing to flip a little to put some distance between them. Her stomach hurt tremendously and she was having trouble breathing when she finished, but at least she hadn’t passed out. Godfrey was rubbing his chin. “Alright, nice job again. But I think you’re feeling it a little more than me.” “Don’t count on it,” Rainbow Dash frowned and forced herself to raise her aching hooves. A sharp stab of pain in her stomach made her double over but she quickly straightened herself back out. “I’m not letting you torment and chase my friends.” “Then let’s-” Godfrey didn’t get to finish his sentence as another griffon slammed into him from below. “Gilbert?!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “I’m here to help!” Gilbert announced, grabbing Godfrey and punching him in the head. Godfrey snarled at his brother and quickly tore Gilbert off of him, a talon squeezing his neck and holding him away. “Don’t make me laugh, Gilbert!” “Ack!” Gilbert coughed as Godfrey squeeze his neck harder. Rainbow Dash started to fly towards them but another stabbing pain in her stomach forced her to stop and grab it out of reflex. “Erghhh...” “Well then, if you really want to do this-” Godfrey pulled back his fist and got ready to punch his brother. This time though, he was interrupted by a bright powder blue light coming from below. Godfrey’s eyes widened and he let go of his brother, flying backwards with a quick flap of his wings to avoid the beam of magic from Daylight Gleam. It went right through the air where his head had just been. Looking down he could see her horn lit up and the unicorn well ready to fire another blast at him. “Tch,” Godfrey clicked his tongue. Rainbow Dash ignored the pain in her stomach and flew over to help steady Gilbert, who was still coughing. “You okay?” “Y-Yes… I’m sorry, but when we saw you get hit again...” “I guess that’s it then. I suppose I should be getting back to my ship anyways,” Godfrey shrugged. “Fine by me, since I was winning.” Rainbow Dash glared at him. “You-?!” “Gehahahaha! It was just me up here, Rainbow Dash, but you had to rely on your friends.” Godfrey laughed. “Another time, Rainbow Dash. It’s a big ocean, but we’ll be seeing each other again. That’s a promise.” He pointed at her. “It was a lot of fun, consider yourself having acquired a… rival while you’re out here. Fighting, or flying, I can’t wait to challenge you again.” With one last mocking “Heh!”, Godfrey turned and started flying away at high speed. Going back north to the Three Spears. Rainbow Dash watched him go with an annoyed glare and soon she and Gilbert both descended back down to the Heart of Azure. They cradled each other thanks to the injuries Godfrey had given them. When they touched down, Senax came up to check on Gilbert while Daylight with a face that was a mixture of apologetic and irked walked up to Rainbow Dash. “Look—I know you’re probably annoyed Gilbert and I interrupted back there but-” A raised hoof from Rainbow Dash silenced her. “Thank you. I’m not going to get mad at you for helping me. I… needed it.” That hurt to admit. More than the physical injuries she had received. “We’re friends. Friends help each other out.” Rainbow Dash sighed and walked to the back of the ship—past the quiet Captain Breakwater as he sailed on. From there, with the others now staring at her back, she looked to the ocean north of them and narrowed her eyes, frowning. She stomped a hoof on the deck and clenched her jaw tightly. “Darn it...”