• Published 11th Mar 2018
  • 2,152 Views, 284 Comments

A Compass to the Soul - CartoonNerd12



Rainbow Dash has always want a life at sea but not in the way she thought. Tormented by her past, she tries to move on with her life but nightmares and memories keep reminding her what she had. Will she ever be free from her shadows?

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Marooned

On a deserted island miles away from any civilization, there lived an assortment of ponies and creatures alike. The beings had made a home for themselves on the island and were fairly content. The island was actually run by a draconequus by the name of Discord. For years, beings that were either lost at sea or shipwrecked ended up on Discord's island. At first, the draconequus wasn't thrilled by the number of creatures ending up on his isle, but he soon grew to like them and enjoyed their company.

Most of the creatures that came here were actually trying to escape oppression and prejudice since many countries looked down upon species that were different from them. Thanks to Discord's island, they had found sanctuary and planned on staying there forever. As for the ponies that ended up shipwrecked, they searched for ways to get off the island.

One particular stallion named Thunderlane was working on a raft that ponies before him had been working on. But since so many ponies keep ending up on the island they had to keep making it bigger for everyone to fit on.

Thunder was about to tie a vine around two bamboo rods when he heard a loud hollow noise that scared him making him messed up on the vine making the rods fall to the ground. He turned around to see his little brother Rumble holding a conch shell and he glowered at him.

"Rumble! How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me like that?!"

Rumble snickered, "Sorry, Thunder, but it's funny watching you jump like that!"

Thunderlane frowned, "Need I remind you I'm trying to help get us off this island?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not like we have much of a home to go back to…" the colt's face sagged.

Thunder's eyes soften and he brought his brother closer, "Hey… we'll find a new home soon enough…"

"Well why can't we just stay here? I actually like it and I got friends that need me."

The stallion made a small smile, "I'm glad you think so, but eventually you're going to get tired of this place and will want to leave."

"No way!" he flapped his wings up, "This place has everything! I'll never want to leave!" he flew off making his brother shake his head and went back to work.

Rumble flew above the many huts that were close to the lagoon and spotted ponies and creatures going about their day mainly gathering supplies or working around their huts. The creatures he saw were a minotaur, a griffon, a changeling, a yak, a couple of mules, and a tall brown cat wearing a red frock coat that walked on two legs.

He flew closer to the cat to which the being greeted him with a smile, "Hey, Rumble!"

The colt smiled bright at him, "Capper!" the two exchanged a quick shake.

The cat questioned, "And where is my little troublemaker off to today?"

"Gotta meet with Pip, Skeedaddle, and Button Mash at the waterfall."

"Give them my regards then. I myself need to get to a game and I can't keep my friends waiting."

Rumble started off again while saying, "Bye!"

Capper waved the little pegasus off and went into a hut where two stallions and a dragon were sitting at a makeshift table. He apologized while taking his seat next to the dragon, "Sorry, I'm late, gents."

A light orange pegasus with blue hair said, "No problem, we were just about to begin," he turned to the other stallion, "Right, Big Mac?"

The stallion replied, "Eeyup."

The dragon whose name was Spike took out a deck of cards and started to fold them. He eyed the cat, "Remember, no cheating."

Capper placed a paw over his chest and dramatically said, "You wound me, Spike! Whenever have I cheated in a card game?"

The others gave him looks that clearly said they were not buying it.

"Well if you don't believe me, you can always check my sleeves."

Spike sighed, "I rather not mainly because I don't want to see what other tricks you have up your sleeve."

Capper rubbed his paws, "Then let's get this game started then." he grabbed his cards and the others did the same.


Rumble finally made it to the waterfall where his friends were.

Skeedaddle voiced in concern, "We really shouldn't be here, we were always told we can't go past the waterfall into jungle territory."

Rumble pointed, "Come on, Skeedaddle, you know it's only a matter of time before our families finish that raft and we'll never get another chance at this."

Pip agreed, "He's right you know."

Button held up a vine rope, "And I really want to catch one of those monsters we keep hearing about from the grown-ups."

Skeedaddle shook, "A-are you sure that's a good idea? I heard how they attacked some teenagers when they went past the waterfall. Why else would it be forbidden for us to go over?"

Pip said, "If you really don't want to go, just say so."

Skeedaddle gulped and sweat went down his forehead, "N-no, I'll go."

Rumble flew up, "What are we waiting for, then?" he zipped to the other side of the waterfall while his friends stepped on stepping stones to get there.

When they made it, they checked around their new surroundings and jungle noises could be heard making Skeedaddle quake.

"This is the other side of the waterfall?" Pip questioned, "It doesn't look so bad."

Rumble scoffed, "No doubt the grown-ups made a big deal over it so we would stay close to the camp."

Button nodded, "I think you're right. My parents are always protective of me and it can be so annoying!"

Skeedaddle motioned, "But surely they have a good reason why, because we are on a deserted island and it can be scary sometimes especially when the storms come, I'm always afraid the island will sink because of that!"

Button stated, "That won't happen."

Pip mentioned, "Besides, it would have to take a really big storm and a tidal wave to do that."

Rumble inquired with doubt, "Who told you that?"

"No one, I read about it in a book about the legend of Coltlantis, it got sunk by a tidal wave!"

Skeedaddle was shaking even harder now, he never thought about that until it was brought up.

Button started walking, "Come on! We're wasting time!"

Rumble agreed, "Right, we need to hurry before they realize where we're gone." He went ahead, taking the lead.

The colts had walked around the jungle terrain for a while and were starting to feel bored.

Button complained and threw the vine rope on the ground, "This is boring! I thought for sure a monster would've shown up at this point!"

Pip sighed, "Me too."

Skeedaddle suggested, "Maybe we should go back now?"

Rumble yawned, "I'm starting to think this whole thing was a bust, yeah, let's go back."

They started to go back but then they realized…

"Um, which way is home?" Button asked.

The boys looked around and realized how everything looked the same around them. This time, Skeedaddle wasn't the only one who was nervous.

Rumble nervously said, "It's no problem, I can fly up and find the campsite." He went up but when he was above the treetops there was no sign of activity just trees. He gulped and went back to face his friends, "Okay there's a slight problem…"

"What?" they asked him.

He hung his head shamefully, "We're lost."

Panic overwhelmed them and they began to shout, unaware they woke up a nearby cragadile from its slumber and it went toward the boys. The colts' backs were turned before they heard a snarl and they slowly turned around to see the creature! They screamed and clung onto to each other as the cragadile was about to attack until a dark figure swooshed in and quickly wrapped vines around the animal especially around the snout and legs, making the monster fall straight to the ground.

The figure addressed the colts, "You boys were lucky I was nearby in the first place." He stepped into the sunlight's rays, he was a light blue pegasus with light green eyes and a dark mane that was sleeked up and his clothes were worn and tattered.

The colts made uneasy smiles with Rumble saying, "Um, hey, Soarin…"

Soarin made a disapproving frown.


Thunderlane yelled, "What were you boys thinking?!"

The colts and Soarin were back at the campsite where everyone gathered around to see the public scolding.

Love Tap added with anger, "You could have been killed!"

The colts hung their heads and couldn't look at their guardians directly in the eyes.

Thunderlane pointed, "There's a reason we tell you to never go past the waterfall! You're very lucky that Soarin was there to save you!"

Love Tap motioned, "You should thank him."

The boys turned to their savior and muttered, "Thank you, Soarin…"

Soarin made sad eyes, "It's okay, boys, but I hope you learned your lesson from this…"

"Yes, sir..." they uttered.

Skeedaddle said, "We'll never do that again."

Thunder stated, "Now there's the matter of your punishment…" he and the parents went into a huddle and their voices become muffled.

The colts were nervous especially after they heard Cranky tell his wife, "I hope it's something fitting, if they were our kids I wouldn't hesitate to spank them and give them extra chores." They gulped from that.

When the grown-ups got out of the huddle they faced the colts with stern expressions. Thunderlane started, "Since Soarin was the one that rescued you, it's only fair you pay him back by helping him with his duties around the island."

Soarin gapped and stammered, "Now wait a minute…"

Thunder motioned him over and the pegasus went as Thunderlane uttered under his breath for him to hear, "Just bear with us on this. The boys need to be taught to take responsibility for their actions and to keep out of trouble but also if they do end up getting into trouble in the future, you can help teach them of how to get out of it by themselves."

Soarin pondered on this and the words made sense.

Thunderlane added, "You're the only one we trust with this and the boys do look up to you already so we know they'll listen to you."

Soarin looked at the hopeful glances of the parents and with a sigh, he told them, "Alright. I'll do it."


Soarin was in his hut that night before he lit a lantern and went out into the darkness. He found himself at the waterfall and went into the cave attached to it. Once inside he eyed the bundles of straight lines scrawled on the walls, before he reached the end and took out a piece a chalk and added another line to the wall.

He sighed, "Another day, Rainbow Dash…" he laid a hoof on the cave wall and his forehead shortly joined after. It had been two years since he was marooned on this island. Two years since he last saw his love… But she remained ever fresh in his mind as he refused to forget what she looked like with her lively bright colors in her mane, the fire that sparkled in her dark pink eyes, and of course her soft blue coat to match the sky that befitted a Pegasus like her.

The last time he saw her was when they were exchanging their goodbyes before he boarded on his ship…


Soarin and Rainbow Dash stood in the harbor at the bottom of the gangplank, they faced each other with somber looks for the longest time until she spoke, "It's not going to be the same without you…"

"I'm gonna miss you, Dash…"

A crewmember from the ship shouted, "Sir! We're ready to cast off!"

He shouted back, "I'm coming! Just give me a few more minutes!" he turned back to his fiancée with a heavy sigh, "Well… I suppose we should say… goodbye…"

She lifted her hoof up and he touched it with his hoof. They stood there for a moment before she said softly, "Goodbye…" and slowly she leaned in to kiss him.

That one kiss said it all, telling him she was his as he was hers and that's the way it was going to stay.

It was bittersweet when he parted from her and slowly made his way up to the ship all the while looking back at his beloved. Rainbow kept looking at him as he went on.

Soarin gave the orders to raise the anchor and the ship began to sail away. The distance grew more between the lovers, making it harder to see each other until the ship was past the horizon and they couldn't anymore. But little did Soarin realize then that it would be the last time he would ever see of his bride-to-be.

It was all a blur for Soarin when the typhoon hit unexpectedly. All he could really remember was the overcast sky that eventually turned a shade darker and the rain began to fall with it growing heavy, the wind picked up at a rapid pace and the waves grew around the ship making it unsteady so the crew couldn't hold their footing. Soarin had a hard time steering the helm with his body growing weaker by the second. He couldn't see anything through the downpour.

Suddenly the massive cyclone flipped the ship over and everyone fell into the raging sea. Soarin tried to keep his head above the water and held on to a piece of the ship. Overwhelmed by exhaustion and turmoil, he blacked out.

Soarin slowly opened his eyes and in a haze he wondered where he was. The last thing he remembered was being in the middle of the ocean during a typhoon, now he was in a bed in some kind of hut.

A voice suddenly said, "Hey! He's up!"

Soarin turned to the source of the voice and to his shock, it was a large cat walking on two legs! The creature was standing by the doorway when another voice said, "Really?!" and a big purple dragon with green spines appeared next to the cat.

The lieutenant was frozen in fear and his mind was racing, I'm hallucinating! I have to be!

The dragon and the cat slowly made his way to him.

"How are you feeling?" the dragon asked.

The cat added, "If you can't speak just shake your head yes or no."

Soarin didn't know how to respond and when he opened his mouth it felt dry. He tried to utter a word but when it came out it sounded like a grunt and ended up shaking his head.

The dragon commented, "Poor guy. You've been through a lot haven't ya?"

The cat motioned, "Permit us to introduce ourselves, I'm Capper and my companion here is Spike. And from the look of disbelief on your face when we first entered this room you've never seen creatures such as us before, have you?"

Soarin shook his head.

Capper continued, "I'm not surprised, you ponies are unsure towards other species that you don't know how to deal with them."

He wanted to shake his head again but what the cat said made sense, so he hung his head.

"Hey, I'm not trying to put you down. It's just every pony that's ever washed up here had the same reaction as you did."

Soarin's eyes widen.

Spike took over, "That's right, you're not the only pony here. Now…I bet you're wondering how you got here, right?"

The pegasus nodded.

"We found you on the shore and you were burning up so we got treatment for you as soon as possible."

Capper told him, "You were asleep for three days, we were starting to think you would never wake up."

Spike poured a glass of water from a pitcher on a nearby stand and offered it to the shipwreck soul. Soarin took it and gulped it down realizing how thirsty he was. Spike poured another and handed it to him, "Here, have another one."

He nodded in gratitude.

Later, Soarin got better to the point he was able to talk again and he told Capper and the Spike who he was, what his rank was, and what happened before they found him.

"Whoa." Spike voiced, "You were in a typhoon?"

"How did you survive?" Capper questioned.

"Honestly, I have no idea… I just remembering falling overboard and blacking out, next thing I knew I was here in your company."

Spike gestured, "Oh! I almost forgot," he took out a compass and held it up, "We found this next to you."

Soarin gasped and grabbed the compass. He examined it then sighed in relief before clinging it to his chest.

Spike and Capper exchanged looks before the cat inquired, "I take it there's something special about that compass?"

Soarin replied, "More than you'll ever know."


Soarin went to a small hole in the cave and pulled out a box, he opened it and took out the compass. He turned it over to see the inscription, With this, you will always find your way to me…

He uttered, "I will, Dash… I promise…