//------------------------------// // Followed // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// It was morning, Rainbow’s internal clock was telling her that, but you wouldn’t really be able to tell just by looking outside. It wasn’t quite as dark or cold as the middle of the night, but the cloudy sky before dawn kept things dim and probably would still even well after the sun fully rose over the horizon. Everyone was still awake and alert on deck. They were about to approach the first whirlpool. Gilbert stood directly at the bow of the ship, training his sharp griffon eyes on the water and fog ahead of them so he could see anything coming as fast as possible. Rainbow Dash was in the crow’s nest, doing much the same thing from a higher vantage point but also watching the waters next to them to make sure they were carefully gliding by each whirlpool. Breakwater of course was at the wheel, his hooves tightly bound around it to control the Heart of Azure as deftly and perfectly as possible, all to the direction of Senax next to him. Senax was holding the map gifted to them by the High Priestess, where it had now shrunken down so much that practically all it showed was the Lost Isle itself and the obstacles around it. A little glowing dot that represented their ship was moving closer and closer to its borders. Daylight, lastly, was on Breakwater’s other side and watching over everyone and everything else in case there was a problem. “We still good?” Breakwater asked Senax. “Yes,” she nodded. “The first whirlpool will be on our port side in a moment, if you stay straight we should safely pass right by it.” “Can’t see it at all,” Breakwater muttered. Daylight nodded along with that statement. The fog that fell over the ocean was thick and heavy—an impenetrable wall that showed no signs of lifting. This was no simple natural fog like what existed around parts of the Sarrarocco Archipelago. Rainbow Dash bit her lip up in the crow’s nest, impatient and anxious, wishing they could go faster but knowing they really couldn’t. A minute passed by and her ears picked up a new sound coming from her left, Rainbow Dash looked down at the water, looked out as far as she could see into the fog. Which was barely anything. But even then she could still make something out if she squinted. The waters were rough and white, swirling down into a vortex just twenty feet away from them at most. It wasn’t the biggest whirlpool she had seen but it was fast and dangerous. If they accidentally drifted any closer it was likely that its pull would start to affect them and draw them in. “I see it!” Rainbow Dash called out. “There’s a whirlpool just right off the port side! We’re okay though, I don’t think we need to worry about it.” Senax glanced down at the map once more to double check. “It’s… accurate. I guess the map really does work.” “Good,” Breakwater wiped some sweat from his brow. “So where’s the next one going to be?” “To starboard—but closer than the last one so we need to drift port slightly,” Senax said. “Already on it,” Breakwater said and ever so slightly adjusted the wheel so the rudder would carry them where they needed to go. While he did that, the others kept focus on their jobs and Senax intently watched the map. The island on the map—the Lost Isle of the Lizard People—existed in full detail. A long island, much longer than it was wide, covered the majority of the map. Like a stretched oval shape with a jagged natural coastline, it could’ve passed for one of any hundreds of islands out on the Grand Ocean. But it was theirs. And now Senax could examine everything about it, for the map showed the topography of it completely. The western side of the island that they were closer to looked flatter, with mostly wide open areas but of course some hills and rock formations, along with cliffs along most of the west coast. It had some forests and rivers coming from the eastern side but lacked the dense vegetation of a true jungle. She guessed the western side of the island was mostly grasslands looking at it. The middle of the island though looked like a dense jungle, a huge expanse of green vegetation with several blue rivers running through it. Most of the island’s land was taken up by that jungle. The eastern side was completely different, it was several large mountains all clustered together, with high cliffs making up the east coast. The rivers of the island clearly ran downhill from the mountains to the rest of the island. Not a single flat or observably livable spot existed on those eastern mountains. Senax examined the island as best she could, they’d probably want to land somewhere on the west coast by the look of it, or the southwest side. Overall the island was probably larger than the Smoking Island was in total land area but its narrower shape made it hard to tell for sure. She wished the map also showed any settlements that might be on the island but it didn’t. Or there were simply none there. She hoped that wasn’t the case. For now though she still had an important job to do, the whirlpools weren’t going anywhere and it was up to her right now to safely guide them through them all so they could reach the island in the first place. Senax took a deep breath to calm herself down and continued relaying directions to Breakwater while the Heart of Azure plowed onward through the fog. They had a long ways to go. The wind was still a little hectic but at the very least it wasn’t raining anymore. As if their minds were linked, Rainbow Dash leaned over the crow’s nest to speak to them. “Hey, this wind might be trouble if it picks up, I don’t want it blowing us into a whirlpool you know? I’m going to try and do what I can about it.” “Shouldn’t you be staying up there and watching the water for us?” Daylight asked. Rainbow shook her head. “The map’s proven to work, you just need to follow it. I’ll be more help on weather duty.” “Go ahead then if you think it’ll help,” Daylight shrugged. “We’ve still got Gilbert watching out for us.” “I’ll handle things!” Gilbert shouted from the bow on cue. As Rainbow Dash flew into the skies around the ship, Daylight turned to Senax. “How many more whirlpools do we need to sneak by anyways?” Senax checked the map. “Five or six—but the fog will stay thick for a while afterwards, it only looks like it clears up very close to the coastline of the island.” “What a pain,” Daylight shook her head. “Nothing we can do about it, things are going alright so far so let’s just hope it doesn’t get any worse,” Breakwater said. As the Heart of Azure kept making its slow trip through the fog and around the dangerous whirlpools, Rainbow Dash now flew from side to side of the ship, doing her best to dampen the wind around them. While she was able to keep it from blowing them off course for the moment, she couldn’t really do much else or even clear the fog. It had become clear to her very quickly that there was some kind of magical enchantment on the weather around the Lost Isle. Not only because of its perpetual existence but because the wind came from every direction and changed on a seeming whim. Whoever had done it, it made it impossible for just one pegasus like herself to get rid of it. Even though the rest of the ocean around here was bright and normal and the currents of the ocean and wind were pulling against this stuff it just didn’t budge. Rainbow Dash wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. It had to be some really powerful magic to keep it up around an island as big as this. While it didn’t remotely compare in size or power to the hurricane she had flown through in the True North, that was a special occurrence. She doubted there was another giant pegasus doing this. Still, all her job had to be right now was making sure Breakwater could steer the Heart of Azure straight. Finding out what was behind this weird magical weather could come later. It would be a pain to leave this place again once they finished up and got the Necklace. Hopefully the inhabitants of the island could help them out or something. Although Rainbow still had no idea how their meeting with them would go. There was a lot they didn’t know and what they did know was reliant on the High Priestess having told them the truth. Naturally Rainbow Dash had a few problems with that point. “I think we’re about maybe halfway through the fog and whirlpools!” Senax shouted from the helm, loud enough for both Gilbert and Rainbow Dash to hear over the winds and the noise of the raging whirlpools themselves. “Good to know!” Rainbow shouted back. She caught sight of one of the whirlpools they had just passed, bigger than the last one, it gurgled and violently churned, seemingly alive and angry that they had safely gotten away from it. Rainbow wondered how deep the water was here. How deep would these whirlpools pull them under before they stopped? Rainbow shook her head. Moot point. They were never going to have to find out. A strong gust of wind came from the east ahead of them now, feeling like it was trying to push them away from the island. Rainbow Dash only let it blow through her mane for a second before she got on the task of getting rid of it. Below her Gilbert held his wings up to block his face and peek through them as best he could. While technically there shouldn’t be any danger right off the bow they weren’t taking their chances with it. Rainbow now flew directly in front of the ship and flapped her own wings against the incoming wind, diverting it to the sides and pushing it backwards. Wind from the front wasn’t as problematic as wind from the sides, but they didn’t need things slowing them down or messing them up any worse. After a little while the wind died down and Rainbow Dash patiently waited for the next gust to start up. No time for her to rest. “This is really getting frustrating, the fog isn’t letting up at all,” Daylight said back at the helm. “Is it just going to lift suddenly out of nowhere and we’ll be able to see the island?” “I imagine it’ll be like passing through a wall of clouds or something,” Breakwater said. “The map hasn’t changed since we moved into the fog,” Senax said. “It hasn’t gotten any smaller, the only thing moving is the dot representing the Heart of Azure. I don’t think it’ll be much longer until we’re safe.” “If that’s the case then I guess I’ll owe the High Priestess an apology,” Daylight muttered. “You didn’t say anything to her,” Breakwater glanced over. “Not directly.” Senax cleared her throat. “Just so you know, there’s a whirlpool coming up directly in front of us and I’d like us to not sail directly into it. So if you could take us starboard, Breakwater?” “Right,” Breakwater refocused on the wheel. “I’m sure Gilbert would’ve seen it coming in time...” “The hard part will be over soon, just think of that,” Senax said. “I’m thinking of how nice it’ll be to see the sun again,” Daylight said, looking up at the sky. And so it was that the Heart of Azure and its crew worked through the mystical fog and whirlpools that surrounded the Lost Isle of the Lizard People. Rainbow Dash and Gilbert were as alert as hawks out for the hunt, and the navigators back at the wheel sailed and directed them all to safety… A dinghy with a small triangular sail cruised through the choppy waters of the ocean, directly into the fog the Heart of Azure had gone into not long ago. The small vessel was more like a canoe or lifeboat than anything else, barely big enough for a single pony or other creature to stand in. It wobbled about in the tough waters, at the mercy of the wind and currents completely now, but it had served its purpose. Godfrey looked up from it and smiled. He narrowed his eyes as he saw the barest hint of a shadow in the fog—the shadow of the vessel he was pursuing. “Don’t need this anymore,” he said and opened up his wings, cracking his neck before lifting off and letting the dinghy drift off on its own. “I hope you’re ready.”