//------------------------------// // Mystic // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// It wasn’t even two minutes after they arrived at the beach of Black Sand Island that something came out of the fog and “sailed” up just right off the shore. A Manta Ferry with a single pony at the front to direct the large creatures pulling it. He didn’t look like a normal driver, instead he had the same black cloak and shady appearance of the other servants that had met them. When Rainbow and the group walked forward, the pony lowered his hood to reveal a similarly dreadlocked and shell-woven mane as Fair Drift. The platform of the ferry slowly drifted and turned in the water so it was directly against the beachhead and they could walk onto it. “I am Ill Wind,” he spoke in an accurately sickly voice. “Please come aboard and I shall take you to Pink Salt Island.” Rainbow Dash looked at the others and raised an eyebrow. Senax nodded back to her. “Okay then,” Rainbow said and made sure she was the first to walk aboard the ferry. When all five of them were on it, Ill Wind raised his hood once more and had the Mantas start to swim away from Black Sand Island and into the fog. Rainbow Dash, Senax, Breakwater, Daylight Gleam, and Gilbert stood together on the ferry. They didn’t know where Pink Salt Island was or how long it would take them to get there, but the anticipation was burning inside them. It’s not like they had any real privacy but they still decided to turn their backs to Ill Wind as they talked with each other. It was hours later now and he hadn’t spoken another word, they had just quietly been going on and on through the water, passing several other islands already but with no indication of how far they still were from their destination. Rainbow Dash and Daylight were naturally a little suspicious, they had no real way of knowing if they were actually going to see the High Priestess or not. Senax too was nervous, but more just stressed out and incredibly anxious at the possibility they could get some answers about Merlantis. “So how much can we really trust this?” Rainbow asked. “I would say not at all but it’s not really a matter of trust at this point,” Daylight frowned. “It’s a matter of us not having any other options.” “Despite… some disconcerting things… I’d still like to mostly trust in the benevolence of the Order at this point. If they had wanted to do something to us they could’ve by now,” Breakwater said. “In the end the choice to go forward is still up to Senax. That’s something we’ve all settled on well before this,” Gilbert said and looked over at the merpony in question. “Are we still going forward with this?” Senax looked between the four of them, seeing a mix of excitement, curiosity, apprehension, but most of all—trust and loyalty on their faces. She nodded. “Yes. We’re going to do what the letter says and hope for the best for now. That’s all we can do.” “That works for me,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “We can take anything that comes at us anyways.” Daylight smirked. “That’s right.” “Then I suppose all there is to do now is relax and enjoy the sights. Pink Salt Island has to be coming up eventually,” Gilbert said. “Too bad there’s nothing to drink on this ferry,” Breakwater said and then glanced at Daylight. “Though one of us has been doing enough of that lately.” “Oh shut up,” she glared back at him. For the next couple of hours the ferry ride continued like normal through the waters of the Archipelago. They never came across another ferry, or boat, it was like they were the only ones traveling through the Archipelago right now. Or perhaps they were in an area that simply saw no other traffic than what the High Priestess allowed. Before long the sun had begun to drift down—only a few more hours of daylight remaining. Rainbow shot a questioning glance to the others and only received a few shrugs in response while Senax looked ahead in the direction they were going. “We are almost there,” the voice of Ill Wind came from the front of the ferry. It practically startled the others into jumping after how silent he had been. “Great,” Rainbow said, frowning. “Lead the way.” In the distance, after only a few short minutes, a new island appeared on the water. Small, flat, and green, those were its most notable attributes. The Manta Ferry they were on was taking them to a small white beach on the eastern side of the island, a dark wooden dock that looked like it could service only one boat at a time went out from it. Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes and looked as best she could at it and the island, so far not seeing any other ponies there waiting for them. What she could see further on the island though was a complex of buildings with white walls and shiny red rooftops. To Senax, Daylight, Gilbert, and Breakwater it reminded them a bit of the shrine on Blue Coral Island, but there were more buildings and even a bell tower placed in the middle of them. None of the buildings were especially big or tall aside from the bell tower but the place could’ve comfortably housed upwards of fifty ponies with all sorts of extra facilities. The closer they got to the island, the slower they went, almost as if Ill Wind wanted to disturb the waters around it as little as possible. But at last the Mantas pulling the ferry came up by the side of the dock and Ill Wind had them stop before turning and bowing down low to the five of them. “Please, you will be met by others who will take you to the High Priestess’s domicile.” “Thank you,” Senax said and walked over to the dock with the others. Together the five stood right in front of it. “Guess this is it?” Rainbow shrugged and hopped off the ferry and onto the dock, reaching a hoof back to help Senax onto it. The merpony graciously took it and soon all five of them were officially on Pink Salt Island. Ill Wind and his Manta Ferry, without another word, started swimming away and left them behind. For a moment they watched him go before turning to look down the dock and the stone path past it that led into the island’s complex. No ponies were coming to greet or guide them yet. “Do we just go walking on our own?” Gilbert asked. “I don’t think they’d have any right to be mad at us if we wandered on in,” Rainbow said. “If they’re not going to have a welcoming committee it’s their own fault.” “There must be more servants that will come, for now let’s just go ahead,” Senax said and started walking to the stone path. “You heard her,” Daylight said and followed behind. Along the stone path they passed a garden of wildflowers and a small creek that looked like it might have encircled the entire temple grounds they were now walking into. They had to pass under a wooden archway painted red and came out in the middle of several buildings all with perfectly straight paths going to and from them while the grass had been torn up and the dirt covered with pearly white gravel. Occasionally there would be a small maple tree in a planter dotting the grounds, or a small pond, but that was it. Things were completely still and quiet as well. “For such an important figure I’m surprised this island isn’t… grander,” Gilbert said. “Maybe the Order is against that kind of thing,” Breakwater shrugged. “Maybe the High Priestess just needs a quiet and out of the way island like this.” “Still, there have been castles and mansions I’ve seen that put this place to shame,” Daylight said. “Yeah, me too,” Rainbow nodded. Senax was looking around for any sign of where they should go or which building might actually house the High Priestess. She was about to speak up when they all heard the sound of a door sliding open and closed from somewhere. Their heads turned to the southern buildings as the sound of hooves clattering over stone came and soon two black-robed servants appeared. Though they could’ve cut right through the gravel, they took the much longer route of sticking with the stone paths until they were right in front of Senax’s party where they bowed their heads low. “Greetings, please follow us to the High Priestess,” they spoke in unison. And of course without waiting for any sort of response they turned around and began shuffling back from where they came. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and shrugged at the others before she started following. “Better just do it.” “I suppose,” Senax said and went with her. The five of them now all had to walk closely (and slowly) behind the servants since they never strayed from the path. Daylight raised an eyebrow at the gravel as they walked, holding back from making a snide remark about if it was sacred gravel or something. The servants took them to the middle of the grounds—inside of what looked like a courtyard flanked by two long rectangular buildings and facing a much larger building situated at the southern edge of the entire complex. It must’ve been where they had come from to begin with. There was a familiar sliding wooden door in the center of the building while the walls around it were covered in heavily stylized water-color paintings of fish, whales, other sea animals, waves, and islands. “That where your High Priestess lives?” Rainbow asked the servants. “Yes,” both responded. And that was all. Once they reached the door the servants opened it up and led them inside. The interior was actually very similar to the dojo on Black Sand Island, with hardwood flooring, and a simple ascetic. So far there were still no other ponies around. The front room also simply led right to another door, and then another, and another, doors were constantly being opened and shut behind them as they traveled further into the building. Rainbow and the others couldn’t imagine that this was all there was to the building, there had to be more rooms, more passages, that they weren’t seeing. But for now the servants were just leading them through small, seemingly pointless, rooms. Until, at maybe the twentieth doorway, they opened it and an entirely different world appeared. It was like they had stepped out into the jungle of the island, plants crawled up the walls, trees stood around with their branches and leaves reaching the ceilings, flowers grew right up from the vine-covered floor. And a heavy, fragrant, smoke hovered in the air. The two servants walked to the side and kneeled down, out of the way, with their heads bowed and touching the green floor. “Please, continue.” The five shared a few confused looks but eventually a shrug won out and they started walking through the jungle room. It was quite big, lanterns and dangerously open candle flames were illuminating it but they provided no more light than to make things dusky inside thanks to the smoke. Rainbow took a deep sniff of the air as she walked and realized what the smoke was. “Incense… I’ve smelt something like this before. And it’s… coconut-scented,” she said. “Really? To me it smells like flowers,” Gilbert said. “I’m smelling lemon,” Daylight said. “I smell the sea,” Breakwater added. “I just feel woozy...” Senax said as she rubbed her head. “The smoke is too thick… it just smells like… everything.” “Welcome.” The group paused at the sound of the intruding voice and the heavy smoke in front of them lifted to reveal a pony shrouded in shadows, standing between stacks of lit candles, ferns, and incense sticks filling the room with the acrid smoke. The more the smoke cleared the more they could see of the pony and tell they were wearing a heavy black robe like the servants. But that voice had been distinctly female. And oddly… familiar in more than one way to all of them. The light from the candles grew stronger and the shadows started to retreat as well until the pony was no longer obscured by anything. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak up. “Are you…?” A yellow magical aura pulled the pony’s hood back to reveal the peach-colored face of a young unicorn mare. Rainbow’s age at most, with purple eyes and a wavy sand mane that was full of seashells. Dropping the robe from her body entirely they could also all see the whirlpool Cutie Mark on her flank and how her tail was just as full of seashells. “I am Coral Sea-” she said. “High Priestess of the Sarraroccon Order.” Her eyes roamed over them one by one before they stopped on Senax and she smiled. “It is good to see all of you here. I have been waiting for this moment for some time.” Rainbow Dash frowned. “Well it could’ve happened a lot sooner if you let it.” Daylight shot her a glare. “Rainbow, that isn’t helpful.” “It’s true though,” Coral Sea smiled. When the others looked at her with a bit of surprise she even giggled. “I take no offense at your words, I’m not nearly as stuck-up as you might expect from one in my position.” “You’re quite a bit younger than I expected as well,” Gilbert said as he scratched his beak. “The previous High Priestess died young, so I took the position earlier than expected. And I do apologize for how long it took for you to be invited here, but I needed to learn all I could about you. I needed to see what you were all like myself before I spoke with the merpony on what the Order knows. Personally,” Coral Sea smiled again, but there was a strange edge to it. “You… what do you mean by that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What I mean is this is not our first time meeting. To ascertain the true nature of the ones searching for Merlantis and the treasures of Ponyseidon, I appeared before you several times. First-” Coral Sea’s horn lit up and a small bag was pulled out of her discarded robe. She opened it and threw it into the air—where its contents of a sparkling crystal powder came raining down, mixing with her magic and creating a bright white explosion. Once the light had died down and the others were able to blink their vision back to normalcy, they saw a different, but familiar, pony standing there. A pink mane in a bun, a grey coat, sea blue eyes. “First I appeared to you as a grumpy pony of the port authority, refusing you entrance to Blue Coral Island.” Coral Sea said in the guise of Sugar Candy. “To see how you would react to such obvious rudeness and disrespect, and whether you would be disheartened, or perhaps even aggressive.” Her horn flashed again and her appearance changed once more to that of a younger pony with emerald eyes on an orange face. “Then I appeared to you as a young shrine maiden, to check your curiosity and knowledge of the Order and see how you would treat one in the Order.” Coral Sea then smiled at Gilbert and changed again into an older mare with a harsh face. “And to you, griffon. I appeared alone to see how honest and genuine you were, and see if you would stick up for your friends and what you believe in.” “And to you, unicorn-” Coral Sea said before turning into a plain-jane middle-aged mate with thick glasses and a curly orange mane. “I wanted to see how you would deal with your quiet vacation being ruined, to see if you could still be friendly and kind to strangers.” A grin to Breakwater and she transformed into Chrysanthemum, the mare he had danced with. “For you, Captain, I wanted to see if you were just a chauffeur helping the others out just because it was a job, or if there truly was more to it.” “And as for you, strange pegasus that only so recently came to our ocean,” Coral Sea said before transforming into a snow white mare with a black mane. “I wanted to see if you were truly as open of a book as you appeared.” With a lingering chuckle, Coral Sea turned back into her true self. “And what I discovered was that you are all exemplary creatures. You passed every test. Whatever you want, I have no doubt you are searching for kind, selfless and benevolent reasons. I am sorry for spying on you like this.” “No you’re not.” The words cut through the atmosphere like a knife and everyone turned to Rainbow Dash. She narrowed her eyes at Coral Sea. “You’re not sorry about spying on us at all. You did it before and you kept doing it here, even though you didn’t really need to.” The others didn’t know what to say, but a grin came to Coral Sea’s face and she nodded. “You are far more perceptive than I originally thought when it comes to ponies. You’re right. I’m not sorry about it. This is all far too important to the Sarraroccon Order. I don’t feel bad for what I’ve done, even if it was a betrayal of your trust. But the truth is that it’s in the past. Let us all be completely honest with each other now then. I told you that I don’t take offense to any of your words so I hope you won’t be too offended by what I’ve done either.” “So wait-” Daylight frowned. “That spiel you gave us as Citrus Smile? About the High Priestess never leaving this island? None of that was true?” “All I said to you then is what’s commonly believed by most in the Order and living in the Archipelago,” Coral Sea winked. “And if you were able to put yourself up as a fake pony on the port authority… the Order controls more of the Archipelago directly than most ponies think...” Breakwater muttered. Coral Sea just shrugged and fluttered her eyelashes. “Maybe.” “What-” Senax started, briefly having trouble speaking before opening up again. “Just what exactly have you called us—me—here for? What do you know about Merlantis? I don’t care that you spied on us again, I just want to know.” Coral Sea calmed down and looked at Senax with but a small smile on her face. “You are a kind one—child of Ponyseidon. That is something I am certain of. And because of that I have decided to tell you everything. There is much for you to learn.” She turned around and started walking away, deeper into the jungle room. “All of you, come with me into my private chambers, your quest is not at an end—but it has reached a new beginning.”