//------------------------------// // The Wandering Island IV // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// A vast, floating, metropolis spread across the waters south of Meer. The brief descriptions from Breakwater and Alfonso didn’t do it justice. It was strange to see some of it float up and bob regularly while other parts stayed steady, the larger rafts not as easily swayed by the relatively calm waters here. The outskirts of the artificial island was mostly taken up by smaller rafts and platforms with all sorts of little shacks built on them or just left completely open—but mainly there were a lot of little berths and places for ships to dock at, along with a couple of miniature lighthouses. The truly outrageous part about this “Wandering Island” though was the interior. The rafts and platforms got more and more crowded and closer together the farther in one went until it became a cramped and claustrophobic mess of random and misshapen buildings that followed no code or style or had the same building materials. Whatever floated and stayed up seemed to be all that mattered. It was almost some kind of insane cross between a junk heap and a city. There were a couple of places Rainbow had been to on her journey with very “utilitarian” and cramped mechanical looks to them. But of everywhere else she had seen in the world, this place most reminded her of a Klugetown with smaller buildings. She hoped it was friendlier than there. There was one other particular aspect of the Wandering Island she noticed too, a lot of the buildings had windmills on top of them, and a lot of independent platforms were entirely dedicated to holding up big windmills. She figured that made sense, you got plenty of wind out here and you could use those to generate power easily, or grind stuff in mills. The more she looked she also saw that there were a lot of water wheels dipping off the sides of some rafts, probably all having the same purpose. The ponies here probably knew how to make the best of what they had and then some. As the Heart of Azure made its way towards some of the outlying rafts where a lot of other ships were docked and tied up, Rainbow Dash flew down from the crow’s nest to chat up Breakwater. “So we’re really going to just have to explore this whole place and ask if anybody’s seen a trident?” She asked him. “Unfortunately, yes. You can see for yourself that there wasn’t much planning or forethought put into this place. Things just popped up where they needed to go and where they wanted to go. There are some places that are pretty heavy with shops, traders, and merchants, but in the end they’re still scattered all over the island,” he answered. Rainbow Dash looked at the raft they were coming close to stopping at, it seemed kind of exposed. “Are we going to have to leave someone here to guard the ship?” “Heh,” Breakwater chuckled and shook his head. “Naw, no need to worry about that. The Wandering Island isn’t some lawless place where anything goes. Not a pirate den or anything like that you know? They’ve got their own system here and plenty of security. Every ship that docks is safely watched over.” Considering how unprotected the ship would be—just sitting out and floating in the open water—they had better be. “If you say so.” “I wouldn’t let us leave something like Senax’s Horn of Listening behind without anyone to watch it if I wasn’t sure,” Breakwater shrugged. “Fair enough. I mean you definitely know the place better than me.” “Well let’s say if we do get robbed, again, or the ship just gets flat out stolen then I owe you a drink.” “Eh, deal.” Breakwater then brought their ship in to one of the open berths on a larger raft meant for ships to dock at. They were separated from the ships next to them by lines of buoys all roped together and floating off from the main raft. The side of the raft was covered in rubber tubes to allow the Heart of Azure to gently “bump” into it and come to a stop. Right after that, Breakwater whistled and Gilbert rolled up the sail while Daylight and Senax dropped the anchor over the side. The anchor of course wouldn’t reach the ocean floor this far from the coast but it would steady the ship and make it not move around as much in the water. Once they were done and in the berth, a group of ponies from the raft wearing life-jackets and red badges around their necks came in with a series of ropes, throwing them up aboard the Heart of Azure so they could tie it in place and safely secure the ship. The five of them got to that just as quickly, tying ropes around the various metal loops on the Heart of Azure just for that purpose. And it was done, they were now docked at the Wandering Island. Seeing they didn’t need a gangplank or a ladder, the other ponies backed off and let Gilbert and Rainbow Dash fly the others down to the raft. “Greetings, any goods to declare?” One of the ponies asked and stepped forward. Breakwater shook his head. “Nope, we won’t be offloading anything. Just looking and I guess you could say exploring too.” “Alright, do as you will, we get plenty of visitors just stopping by. What’s your name and the name of your vessel?” The pony asked. “I’m Captain Breakwater and she’s the Heart of Azure.” The pony nodded and sharply whistled to one of his coworkers. The new beckoned pony pulled out a strip of red paper with the numbering “11-B” on it and quickly scrawled on it with a black pen before hoofing it over to Breakwater. Now under the 11-B it also had his name and Heart of Azure written down. “That’s your identification proving you are who you say you are and that the ship belongs to you. Do not lose it,” the first pony stiffly said. “Believe me, you don’t want to go through that trouble.” “Thanks, and yeah, I’ve been here before so I’m familiar with it,” Breakwater said. “Just take it as a reminder then, and enjoy your visit to the Wandering Island.” The pony gave them all one last nod before he and his coworkers stepped away and got back to doing other business. “Hopefully we will,” Senax whispered quietly from behind. Rainbow Dash looked back and gave her a comforting grin. “Come on, we totally will. You gotta believe, Senax.” The merpony smiled at her. “I suppose you’re right.” “Anyways, where do we go first? Straight to the biggest and busiest part of the island?” Daylight asked, her eyes looking towards the metropolis in the center. “I want to go there just because it looks interesting...” Gilbert said. “We’re not here to sight-see Gilbert. We’re back on a mission,” Daylight frowned at him. “Well that is where we’re going to check first anyways,” Breakwater said. “It’s just the most likely place to find what we’re looking for… even though it could end up being like trying to find a needle in a haystack.” “Sounds fine with me. If it’s going to take some time to find that trident then let’s get started as soon as fast as possible!” Rainbow said and already floated up above the others, flapping her wings like a bumblebee. “Come on!” Daylight grinned. “Right behind you.”