Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS


Almost as Bad

The Heart of Azure drifted along the calm waters of the Grand Ocean only a few miles from its destination of the Sea Lion Reefs. The vessel was a little beaten up looking, and its sail hadn’t been unfurled yet, but it was still afloat. It had made it through the sudden storm with only minor wounds to show for it. The same could be said of its crew. They were most certainly tired—exhausted even—but everyone was okay.

Part of the reason why the sail hadn’t been opened again was because they wanted to take it slow for a bit. They needed the extra rest before they actually landed and dropped anchor at the Reefs.

It was ironic to Rainbow Dash as she laid down on the bowsprit, she had been aching to get there for days and yet now when she could actually see land on the horizon showing her they were close, she really just wanted to take a nap for a few hours. Flying out there in excitement was simply not happening today. Her eyes blinked a few times, her lids heavy, the strips of land in the distance still just that—strips. She couldn’t really tell anything else about them except some spots were darker and some spots were lighter than others. No tall buildings or any mountains or hills she could see, it all looked really flat.

Made sense cause these weren’t normal large islands, just reefs, rocks, and atolls with some trees on them.

Rainbow Dash blew a tired breath out her nose and closed her eyes for the moment. Close to a nap.


Dear Journal.

We just got through a monster of a storm. It was quite the event, we were sailing and drifting for hours through it before it finally let up and now we’re back on course to the Sea Lion Reefs. We’re quite close now, I know how antsy Rainbow Dash has been for us to finally get there. But we’re all so exhausted after fighting through the storm. No one is in a hurry at the moment.

I myself am tired and would like to have something to eat, but I can wait till we arrive.

The powerful rains and winds did a number on Rainbow Dash and I as we flew over the ship to try and protect it from the worst of the storm. Even then the Heart of Azure looks like it has taken quite the beating after going through the heart of that storm. Everything is wet, drenched, and looks almost torn up by wind. We’re lucky lightning didn’t hit us, nor that any large wave washed over us. My wonderful friend Daylight did a good job of protecting us as well.

She is of course also exhausted, her horn has been taxed considerably over the past week. She’s simply not used to having to exert herself and use magic that much. Right now she’s resting right next to me in the hold while I write this.

She told me no, she doesn’t want to write an entry as well. Oh well.

At least it’s finally nice out again. Very nice out, warmer too. I think in a few hours we’ll be “docking” at the Reefs. Hopefully we find what we’ve been looking for.


“You see how much clearer and shallower the water already is compared to where we had just been sailing?” Breakwater asked Rainbow Dash as he pointed over the side. “You can actually see the bottom already.”

Rainbow Dash looked down and saw he was indeed correct. Now that they were a mere hour, maybe less, from arriving at the Reefs, things had changed considerably. A tropically warm breeze was in the air, the waters were a clear light blue, and she could see the sands below them along with all kinds of colorful fish and even the occasional sea turtle or eel. The sky above was an equally clear blue with a very bright sun beaming down on them. No more storms to worry about for now.

“In a second we’ll get to some of the shoals and underwater reefs and rock formations that make it impossible for larger ships to travel further, but we’ll be fine,” Breakwater said.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Rainbow said.

She looked down across the deck, seeing Senax at the wheel but not seeing Gilbert or Daylight Gleam. The both of them were down below in the hold, resting. Looking back beyond the bow, she could make out more of the “islands” ahead. There were clearly a lot of palm trees out there along with other tropical plants, seeming to rise practically right out of the sand because the various little sandbars and atolls were so flat. It all covered a much wider area than the Three Spears did, which were just a trio of large but secluded islands with nothing else around them. From what Rainbow Dash could see about the Sea Lion Reefs they covered a very large area—made up of numerous, hundreds, of tiny little islands and reefs scattered in these tropical waters.

Any signs of civilization couldn’t be seen yet. Because the locals apparently roamed around the Reefs they very well could’ve been entirely on the other side at the moment. Rainbow certainly didn’t see any small boats out there, or any ponies surfing. But it was possible they were still a little too far away for her to actually see that kind of stuff. As good as her eyes were.

Rainbow Dash stretched, her body a little sore from the awkward position she had been lying in earlier in the day. Her eyes glanced up to the crow’s nest—her usual spot—and she nodded to herself.

“Well, I’m gonna go rest up there again. Maybe see if I can see anything better from up there too,” Rainbow said.

“Get as much rest as you need. Soon I’ll be taking over the wheel again to guide us through the reefs, I’ll call you down once we’re ready to drop the anchor.”

“Can do,” Rainbow saluted and flew right up to the crow’s nest. She plopped down and curled up inside it immediately—deciding that she could take another look when they were actually closer. For the moment some shuteye still sounded better. Her mane, tail, feathers, and coat were all ravaged by the wind. Thought she didn’t care much for appearances, she had to admit that this was one of the few times where she actually wouldn’t have minded having a comb to fix herself up… or let Rarity fix her up. Even though that mare would definitely go overboard.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and let it all out in a big shudder. “I’ll find a mane stylist on the atoll...”

Down below, Breakwater walked up and down his ship, inspecting the deck, inspecting the sides, it didn’t look great to him but nothing was especially badly damaged. A short check up at Ballast’s next time they visited the port of Malkonrik would easily get the Heart of Azure looking as good as new. That was one of the benefits of using a smaller ship, it was easier to fix and spruce up. At this point he had no idea when he’d be back at Malkonrik though, or if the current crew he was traveling with would be with him. This job—this adventure—had turned out to be far crazier than he ever expected it to be.

Making his way back to the helm, he walked up and smiled at Senax. “Hey Senax, I’ll take over from here since we’re getting close to the reefs.”

“No!” Senax shouted in surprise, making Breakwater flinch and take a step back.

The merpony blushed and nervously chuckled. “Ehehe… I mean… can you just guide me instead? I’d still like to be the one steering the ship. I-I want to learn more, and get some more practical experience. I mean what if you’re sick one day and only I can take over?! Or what if—um—something else happens! I simply want to be useful, and well, I can’t if… you know I-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Breakwater waved his hooves around to calm her down. “It’s alright, Senax. You want to keep steering then alright, I’ll guide you through the reefs and shoals. Just be careful and attentive, okay?”

“Thank you… s-sorry,” Senax smiled.

“Nothing to apologize for,” Breakwater patted her on the shoulder. He raised a concerned eyebrow at her. “You know… no one thinks you aren’t useful right? We all appreciate you, we wouldn’t still be doing this if none of us cared about or respected you.”

“And that’s why I need to make myself more useful. To pay back everything you’re all doing for me,” Senax said. “So long as I have this I can at least feel like I’m contributing instead of just letting everyone else carry me along. If something happened to any of you while we’re out here searching for my home… out here because of me… I just couldn’t...”

“It’s alright. We all get it,” Breakwater affectionately squeezed her shoulder. “Now come on, show me what you can do with this ship.”

The Heart of Azure slowly made its way towards the Sea Lion Reefs, going with the current and carefully navigating the masses of underwater rock formations, reefs, and the sandbars that peeked out just past the surface. Halfway through that, and both Gilbert and Daylight Gleam came out of the hold to join the others. The unicorn took a big yawn and waved to Breakwater and Senax before walking towards the bow while Gilbert stepped over to the starboard side of the ship and looked into the clear waters there. He seemed to be intently following the fish that looked tastiest to him.

“Never been to a place like this before,” Daylight said from her position by the bow. She reached up and touched her horn, the extra appendage still a little sore. At least it looked like a far more relaxing place than where they had just been so hopefully she could go without using her magic for a day or two.

Gilbert saw a stingray swimming through the rocks and sands in the water below their ship, and he also thought he saw the tell-tale tentacles of an octopus as it retreated into its den. “My, such an extravagant variety of sea life.”

“Don’t jump overboard and try to eat anything right now!” Daylight called back to him.

“I was merely admiring them, not thinking about eating them!”

Daylight rolled her eyes and turned around to smile at Senax and Breakwater. “How much longer before we actually get somewhere we can land and meet up with the locals?”

“Thirty minutes maybe?” Breakwater said. “Of course we may have to explore the atolls and reefs on hoof for a bit.”

“I’ll be happy to fly out and search for the locals,” Gilbert volunteered.

“I imagine Rainbow Dash would be too,” Daylight said and looked up at the crow’s nest, thinking the pegasus had to be up there if she couldn’t see her anywhere else. “Gilbert, will you go and wake her up? She must be asleep again.”

Gilbert shot up to the crow’s nest and peered inside to find that Rainbow Dash had indeed fallen asleep inside it. “Wakey wakey, Rainbow Dash!” He loudly said while poking her flank.

Rainbow’s eyes shot open quickly and with an annoyed glare directed at the griffon she sat up. “Thanks, Gilbert. Are we there?”

“Just about. The two of us may need to go flying on some reconnaissance duty to find the locals soon, so I woke you up for that.”

“Oh. Alright then,” Rainbow shrugged. “I’m up for that.”

“For now we’re still sailing, but just keep that in mind!” Gilbert said and dropped back down to the main deck.

Rainbow Dash now once more had the time to peer ahead at the large series of atolls and flat sandy islands spread out before them. There was a lot more to see now and she could make out the details of the larger ones. Some even had an impressive amount of vegetation (still mostly palm trees) on their interiors that blocked her from seeing further. She thought she might have seen a few small leafy huts on some of the larger islands, meshed in with the threes, but she couldn’t tell for sure. Turning her attention to the ocean she took appreciation of how calm the waters still were even now with so many little islands and rocks to disrupt them. There must’ve been something extra missing right now for there to be waves that ponies regularly surfed on. Maybe it was the wrong season or time of day, or just the wrong side of the Reefs.

Out of boredom, she turned around and looked at the waters to the east behind them, not expecting to see anything.

And yet, the unexpected still kept happening.

Rainbow Dash blinked to make sure she was seeing right and then squinted her eyes to make sure that—yes—there was indeed something coming up behind them. A dark object going the same direction they were. She frowned, worrying that somehow Godfrey had gotten back on their tails, and she grabbed the spyglass to open it up and look through. She was temporarily relieved to see that it definitely wasn’t The Scourge. Whatever ship this was, it was something different entirely. It looked different from anything else she had seen on the ocean or docked at Malkonrik.

It wasn’t as large as The Scourge but it was still considerably larger than the Heart of Azure. Long and narrow, with a low-swung appearance and two masts with sails reaching up out of it. The sails themselves were oddly ribbed and triangular. And the color of the ship really got her attention. It looked like it was made out of some kind of dark, ebony, wood that made it as black as the night, while the sails were a threatening deep red color. On the higher mast there was no flag of any sort, but instead a long piece of red fabric that trailed in the wind.

“What the?” Rainbow Dash said to herself and frowned, flying out from the crow’s nest with the spyglass and going right down to Breakwater. “Yo!”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Something the matter?”

“There’s a ship coming from behind, looks like they’re going to the Sea Lion Reefs just like we are. It’s not Godfrey but it’s kind of weird looking. Not sure what’s up with it,” she tossed the spyglass to him.

“I’ll check it out,” Breakwater said and turned around with it, looking out over the stern. Senax wanted to look as well but she was too busy on getting them through the shallow waters.

“There’s a ship behind us?” Daylight asked as she and Gilbert joined the others.

“Yep,” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Breakwater’s checking it out right now.”

A sharp intake of breath from Breakwater grabbed their attention and they all looked to him.

“That’s a great find you’ve made, Rainbow Dash...” Breakwater quietly said as he lowered the spyglass.

“Uh… is that ship bad news?”

“Not as bad as Godfrey, but almost,” Breakwater’s face was an angry frown as he stared across the ocean at the dark vessel. “That’s a Boschese Junk.”

Bosche,” Daylight’s eyes narrowed as she spat out that word like it was poison. Gilbert and Senax looked just as mad.

“Bosche...” Rainbow Dash repeated. “I remember that. It’s an island country to the south, you showed me on your map.”

“That’s right. And that Junk is just one of hundreds like it that sails the Grand Ocean. All part of the Boschese Slaving Fleet.” Breakwater told her.

Slaving?” Rainbow Dash grit her teeth. That word sent a cold spike into her heart.

“You heard me right,” Breakwater sighed deeply. “Our luck really is bad lately, we’ve gotten to the Sea Lion Reefs just in time to intercept a Bosche slave run.”