//------------------------------// // Rumor // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// In the three days since they had all won a good deal of money from gambling, the port of Malkonrik had started to more or less return to normal as word got out that the situation in Ullsorth had settled down. Ships now regularly sailed in and out, tourists walked the streets, and businesses were booming once more. In Ballast’s shop, the Heart of Azure floated in dock, as good as new. A brand new sail was currently rolled up on the mast, ready to be opened when the group set out once more. The only problem was they still had no idea when they’d set sail again. Despite the amount of traffic going in and out of the port there was no news that interested them. Merlantis, the Necklace, nobody had anything to say about them. They were still stuck in a rut with nothing to go on—almost getting antsy enough to choose an island or spot on the ocean at random and sail out there just to see if they could find anything. Rainbow Dash at the moment was standing at the pier with her hooves and chin resting on the wooden railing, staring off into the blue waters of the Grand Ocean. A few new ships were getting ready to dock, maybe just one of them would have what they were looking for. “So bored...” Rainbow Dash muttered. None of her friends were even with her right now, all of them looking for their own leads or just spending their time at Ballast’s. She should probably be a bit more proactive too but three days of this had drained her. A long clipper ship was coming into harbor now from the east and it caught her eye because of the unusual flag it was showing. Not some unpleasant jolly-roger like Godfrey’s or a plain red flag like Bosche ships, this flag was a long piece of cloth waving in the air with the end cut into a pair of triangles. It was a deep blue color and it had the emblem of a pink rose on it. She didn’t know if that was a company’s flag or perhaps a symbol of one of the other Kingdoms, but it stuck out to her all the same. Since they were looking like they were going to dock nearby, Rainbow Dash decided to wait around for them. Once any ponies onboard came ashore she could ask if they had heard any rumors pertaining to the Necklace or just knew anything about Merlantis and Ponyseidon at all. She knew very well though that she was still in for a bit of a wait, Breakwater had taught her how long docking and unloading procedure could be on a ship that size. So Rainbow Dash flapped her gums and lazily watched the ship come in, waiting and waiting and waiting. At least the weather was nice today and they had plenty of money to eat some good food—her stomach full of blueberry pancakes testified to that. When the clipper had finally reached the long dock it would be using she saw its anchor drop down into the water and its crew got to work furling the sails. Of course after that it was still nearly half an hour where they were just talking and milling about on deck before they did anything else. Rainbow Dash slowly felt her brain shutting down as the rest of her body went limp and she barely managed to keep her eyes open. A deep exhale through her nose and she practically looked like a despondent Basset Hound as she rested her chin on the railing. She didn’t know how long she was watching, all alone up at the pier, until the ponies on the clipper dropped a gangplank to begin walking down to the dock. “Finally. Sheesh.” She took her chin off the railing and walked over to stand by the walkway that led up from the dock to the pier and street. Just waiting for them to walk by so she could say hello. There were only a few who left the ship while the rest stayed onboard, three earth ponies now walking up towards where she was. One of them she’d bet her life on was the captain—he wore a heavy white coat and a large white and golden hat. The other two looked like officers of some sort, also wearing nice white outfits but no big fancy hat. They weren’t paying any attention to her at all as they walked up to the pier, probably thinking she was just some random tourist looking at the ships and the ocean. That changed when she grinned and waved at them the moment they had walked up the steps from the dock. “Yo!” Rainbow Dash happily greeted. “How was sailing?” They seemed slightly surprised by her greeting but thankfully they weren’t rude enough to just ignore or dismiss her. The captain and his officers stopped and he dipped his head slightly to her. “Sailing was good, young lady. We’re also quite happy to be here at Malkonrik, we were worried things would still be a little too chaotic to dock.” “Yeah, they got that sorted out pretty quick,” Rainbow laughed internally. She let her eyes briefly glance at their ship’s flag once more before raising an eyebrow at them. “So you guys aren’t from here? I’m kind of new to the Grand Ocean and I didn’t recognize your flag.” “Ah—we’re a trading vessel licensed to the Queen of Evergarden. If you don’t know, Evergarden is the Kingdom a few down east from here, past Ullsorth and Tyne.” He shot her a questioning look this time. “Were you just curious or was there something else on your mind? I’m sorry but we have a restriction on who we can do business with in the other Kingdoms.” “No, no, it’s not a business question really. Sorry to hold you up here but I have something quick I wanted to ask about,” Rainbow said. “You’re not really holding us up, we aren’t really in a hurry at the moment. But what would you like to know?” The captain asked. “Just wondering if you guys know anything—or have heard any recent rumors about—Merlantis and the Necklace of Ponyseidon?” “Ponyseidon? I remember learning that name back when I was in school but...” the captain shrugged. Rainbow Dash snorted. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. Wasn’t expecting much.” “Didn’t he have a Trident too?” One of the officers asked. Rainbow and the others turned to look at him, making him blush slightly. “Well uh… that’s what I remember learning. Merlantis was his home right? My dad taught me about all the old legends like that...” he said. “Do you uh… do you know anything more specific?” Rainbow hopefully asked. “Actually it’s cause of those legends that I remember something I heard at the last place we stopped before here. I was busy so I couldn’t really look into it myself or nothing, but I remember hearing ponies talking about a merchant who owned some sort of impressive one-of-a-kind Trident,” he explained. “And where was that?” Rainbow Dash practically jumped at him and grabbed him by the coat. “Where did you hear that?” “It was at the Wandering Island, just off the coast of Evergarden.”