Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

How Many Pegasi Go Sailing?

Rainbow Dash woke up the following morning in an alleyway spread like a pancake over a pile of rolled up rope and surrounded by other junk and garbage. She shivered in the cold morning breeze and sat up, rubbing her pained head. Sighing in annoyance she reached up to the pouch around her neck to make sure her one gold coin was still there. Thankfully it was, so she at least had something good going on. But she had gotten way too carried away having fun with Godfrey last night. It was awesome getting to meet with and trade stories with him, but she probably could’ve spent the time learning about the Kingdoms and the Grand Ocean instead. Obviously he would’ve known a lot but now he was already gone. The coin was her one prize for the night of carefree fun. She wouldn’t squander it or this new day now too.

She hopped off the makeshift bed she had found in this back alley and got her bearings. Looking up at the sky it seemed like it was probably still early morning, but it was overcast and didn’t look great out. Combined with the natural cold breeze from the ocean and she ended up shivering a few more times. She was still in the seedier part of the port too, so it was probably a good idea to head back out of here. Hangovers weren’t new to her, she’d walk it off.

Her hoof naturally came up to feel the solid gold coin in her pouch. Might as well get the intended use out of it and make herself feel better. She needed it if she was going to take on the rest of this day.

---

In a much nicer part of the port, Rainbow Dash was chowing down on a healthy breakfast and staring out the front window of the restaurant and towards the wide open ocean. A stack of pancakes with syrup and butter, a bowl of hot oatmeal, a slice of cantaloupe, and a nice glass of ice water was what she was using to get back in shape for the day. No more beer for a while.

She was already feeling a lot better as she slowly ate her breakfast in the busy restaurant, it did a good morning business as a lot of sailors got to work bright and early, and pondered on what to do next. The ocean had a lot out there, she knew that for a fact after talking to Godfrey and hearing from others. But she couldn’t just fly out there the same way she did with the Great Camel Desert or True North. It was a huge place and if she ran out of steam somewhere in the middle of nowhere, then that was it. Nowhere to land, no water to drink, she was done. She probably at least needed to have a map of the ocean to know where to go—even if that made the adventure slightly lamer—or have a boat, or be traveling on someone else’s boat.

“Should’ve asked Godfrey if he had a map. Or where the closest inhabited island is,” Rainbow said as she chewed on a piece of her pancakes. Since there was likely going to be gaps between islands too large for her to fly over in one go without getting tired though, traveling by boat was probably going to be a necessity in some way or the other.

Rainbow guzzled down some water and sat back in her chair, rocking back and forth on its legs. It was more exciting to just fly out there and figure things out for herself. But she wanted to be smart, and maybe prove she had grown a little, since the last few times she had just dashed ahead. So for the ocean she’d come up with a plan, or an itinerary, or at least some way to travel it in a safer way. There was still bound to be plenty of adventure out there, and ponies that needed help or villains that needed defeating. She didn’t have to be stupid about it.

The problem though—was that she was now completely broke again. And if she wanted to not be stupid about this she was going to need to get some more money first instead of shooting off south into the wide open ocean. Getting some good food now was definitely the right way to spend Godfrey’s gift, but now she really needed to be looking ahead some more.

“Better get looking for what I need then...” Rainbow said. She then looked upon the delicious food she still had to eat. “Right after I finish breakfast.”

Rainbow Dash finished off the rest of her breakfast—practically licking the various plates clean since it may be a while until she has such a nice meal again. And with that done her objective was now to either learn more about the ocean or surrounding Kingdoms. If she could at least get the name and location of an island south of here she could potentially fly out to it as well. Maybe even ask around for any rumors of disturbances, or conflicts, or even if there’s any kind of lost treasure or myths like that Old Diver guy was talking about. She didn’t care about the treasure itself but the finding it part would probably be a nice adventure.

But. She was likely going to need money most every place she went. Godfey being a sailor who had been all over and using the same kind of gold coin here was proof enough of that. It was probably a bad idea to just start out poor and empty-hoofed at every island she traveled to and she really couldn’t expect to rely on the generosity of strangers forever.

“So a job. Any kind of small job here to get a little bit of money,” Rainbow said to herself. “Or take a shortcut and get a job on one of the ships in port to begin with. Find one that travels all over the ocean and sign up… if they’ll take me.” She frowned. “Who’s going to let a pegasus with zero-sailing experience onto their ship where they need to ration fresh water and food?”

She dragged a hood down her face. “Ugh, nobody, that’s who. Maybe if I’m lucky someone will need a strong pair of wings or something… but I seriously have no idea what kind of work or jobs even need to be done on a big sailing ship!”

Rainbow Dash shook her head and stood up out of her chair. “Or I could forget all this and randomly wander around until some adventure comes and smacks me in the face. That’s happened before.”

Still, she wanted to be more proactive and not passive when it came to getting things done. That was why now that she was finished with her breakfast she was going to do some research on what she’d need to do to get sailing on her own. So her first order of business was walking up to some of the sailors that were eating breakfast here as well. They noticed her approach and stopped to stare at her with harsh, wind-blown faces. One of them had a tattoo of an anchor on his upper front leg.

“What do you want?” One of the sailors asked her as Rainbow stood in front of their table.

“Well… I’m new to this place… and new to ocean travel. I had a few questions about sailing and some general ones about the Grand Ocean,” she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.

“Out with em then,” the tattooed sailor said.

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Alright, well first of all, how far away is the nearest civilized island? Can I get there in a day or two by flying?”

The sailors just looked out her for a moment.

Then broke out into raucous laughter.

“Y-You pulling our legs, lady? Do you have any idea how big the ocean is?” The tattooed sailor asked.

“Apparently she doesn’t!” Another laughed.

“I said I was new, didn’t I?” Rainbow said with an annoyed shrug.

“Heh,” the tattooed sailor grunted and shook his head. “The nearest islands here from Malkonrik’s coast that aint just some mound of sand and a few palm trees is four days away. The weather can turn at a moment’s notice too, there are pirates ready to prey on smaller ships or lone ponies on you as well. Trying to get anywhere in the Grand Ocean just flying on your own? Might as well be signing your own death warrant. Even if you’re a good flier, those small little islands are mostly uncharted and difficult to find on purpose. Take it from an experienced sailor, you can’t fly across the Grand Ocean.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. She wanted to tell him that she was an experienced flier, and she could probably handle herself way better than any pegasus he knew, but there didn’t seem to be a point to that. “Okay then… next question. Where can I get a boat?”

---

She found herself at a small public marina going off the pier, between some of the larger docks. A circular building was constructed right on top of the water with a wooden bridge leading out to it. Behind it was a long dock with a number of berths for smaller boats. Rowboats, and small sailboats meant for just one or two ponies, some not even covered to protect against the elements or at most with only a very small interior or lower deck you could go into. If she had to sail on her own, these were the only kinds of boats she could use. Everything else would take too much work she didn’t know how to do.

Even this was stretching it.

Rainbow Dash walked through the front door of the building and looked around. The walls were covered in paintings of ships and the ocean, anchors, ropes, and other equipment scattered around for decoration, and even a few model ships in glass cases stood on stands. The floor was surprisingly covered in a blue carpet as well and not just left as bare floorboards. In the center of the building sat a circular desk with a tall earth pony stallion behind it.

He stood up from his seat the moment she came in and put his hooves on the desk, greeting her with a big smile from behind a pair of reading glasses. “Hello, hello! Welcome to Happy Deals Boat Sales and Rentals! How can I help you?”

“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash grimaced as she walked up to his desk. “I was wondering about your prices. I’m looking for a boat just for me, don’t need anything big or extravagant.”

“Well we have a number of personal boats, is it a purchase or a rental you’re looking for?” He asked.

“Uh, purchase,” Rainbow said. She somehow doubted she’d be able to return any boat she took from here.

“Well our smallest rowboats go for 50 gold coins. They’ve got plenty of room for storage and supplies and they’re guaranteed safe outside of the deep ocean. Our sailboats are larger and more expensive at 250 gold coins, but each one at least has a small below decks area,” he told her.

“Uhuh,” Rainbow Dash nodded along. “So if I wanted to buy one now, but didn’t have the money, what sort of payment plans do you offer?”

“Ahahahaha!” The stallion started laughing and laughing, smiling as he shook his head at her and even slapped his hoof against the desk a few times. While Rainbow Dash just stood there with an uncomfortable grin on her face his laughter continued on and on. All the way to the point he even started crying a little. “Hahaha… haha...” He slowed down and reached up to wipe the tears from his eyes. “Ahh… get out of my store.”

---

“We don’t need another mouth to feed. Specially not one who doesn’t know aft from bow,” the salty Captain Peg Leg said to Rainbow Dash after she tried to see if she could get a place on his large merchant galleon.

“Come on, dude,” Rainbow Dash frowned and tried to persuade him. “I’m a quick learner, I’m in great shape, and I’m the best flier you’ll ever see. You couldn’t just use a scout or something?”

“We already have pegasi onboard that can do that. And these nifty little things called telescopes to see far away. Stowaways get thrown overboard too for that matter,” Peg Leg scoffed, trying to intimidate Dash into not doing anything dumb. “Besides, it’s only stallions allowed to be part of the crew. They don’t need mares distracting them from their duty.”

“Ugh! Is every big ship going to be like that?” Rainbow Dash asked, throwing her hooves open in exasperation.

“Every commercial one,” Peg Leg nodded. A leery grin then came to his face as he looked her up and down. “Of course… if you really want to come aboard that badly, then maybe I can let you be my personal cabin mare. The crew doesn’t need any distractions, but being the captain gives me some special privileges. What do you say?”

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.

---

After kicking Captain Peg Leg right where the sun doesn’t shine, Rainbow Dash had to fly away to avoid any reprisal from his angry crew. She was now lying on her back, on the roof of one of the port’s buildings, staring up at the sky with a frown on her face. She was briefly at a loss as to what to do next. There was definitely a lot going on in the Hundred Kingdoms, on their coastlines, and out in the Grand Ocean. But she couldn’t for the life of her figure out how to get to any of it.

“Can’t just give up though. Even if I didn’t get up to any adventuring out here I’d still need to fly over the ocean just to make it back home,” she said. “Tch, and I’m not throwing in the towel yet either. I’m not a quitter.”

The day had already turned over to noon though and she hadn’t really made any progress. She had learned a few things—but they were mostly about how out of luck and incapable she was. At this point her best idea was still looking for a temporary job or ship she could work on. Maybe something a little more small time than one of the big trading vessels.

“I don’t even have money for dinner or a place to stay tonight again…” Rainbow Dash sighed and closed her eyes. The place she had eaten breakfast at this morning was good though, maybe she could offer to clean tables and wash dishes for a few days as payment for food. And sleep in a broom closet or something.

Since there was still so much daylight left though she didn’t want to go back to the restaurant just yet. That was her fall back plan. The port was a big place and there was still more to check out, if she came up empty by evening, then she could see what washing dishes for a living was like.

Comments

[redmar]

Peg Leg deserved that reaction from Rainbow Dash completely.

[TheCommunistDog]

Smack!