Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Three Spears

“That… that is certainly a very fair question to ask,” Daylight Gleam nodded.

“Yeah I never exactly got a copy of the itinerary,” Rainbow Dash flatly looked back at her.

“I suppose it’s another thing we forgot to clue you in on,” Gilbert said.

“Then perhaps instead of you continuing your maritime lessons with Captain Breakwater, he can come down here and fill you in on exactly where we’re going—as well as the other important islands and places in the Grand Ocean. He has quite a few maps,” Senax said.

“It’d be useful. I only ever got vague directions and saw a map that only really went as far south as the coastline of The Hundred Kingdoms. If he’s got a map of the whole ocean, then hit me with it,” Rainbow said.

“I’ll get him now. See the rest of you later,” Senax smiled and left the cabin, both to get Breakwater and to take his position at the helm.

“Actually I also wanted to get some fresh air and go for a glide,” Gilbert said. “I’ll come back around dinner time but for now the salty sea air calls to me.”

With a polite salute he sauntered out of the cabin as well, leaving the two ponies behind.

Daylight shook her head. “That clown… always trying to sound poetic about everything.”

“Heh,” Rainbow snorted.

The pony from Equestria took the short moment to walk behind Breakwater’s desk and to one of the back windows on Heart of Azure. Orange sunlight from the late afternoon sun as it went lower in the sky washed over the ocean water. It gave such a contrast to the blue ocean and the now dusky orange sky, Rainbow Dash almost didn’t want to stop watching it. It certainly was an obstacle for her to travel through, but compared to the snowy ice fields of the north, the hot desert, and the muddy swamp, this was just beautiful. Beautiful and alive.

And somewhere below those waters was Senax and her people’s ancestral home. Rainbow Dash couldn’t wait to see it too. That would be a great accomplishment, helping Senax and the other merponies, wherever they were, get back home. That was something Rainbow could be really proud of on this journey. Then she’d get back on her way south and probably get into the last leg of her journey pretty quickly. After all from what she knew of Griffonstone’s geography, the Dragon Lands, and the ocean south of Equestria, she was able to generally place where she was on this side of the world now and there wasn’t any gigantic walled off “True South” like there was True North. There should just be water until the south pole itself.

Flying past that and she’d be… practically home.

Rainbow Dash turned around and raised an eyebrow at Daylight Gleam. “You didn’t have anything to do?”

“Not really,” the unicorn shrugged. “And I figured I could help answer questions you might have or flll you in on things Breakwater might gloss over. I’m a relative newcomer to the ocean as well. He might forget that not everything is obvious to you.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

A second later and the door to the cabin was thrown open by Captain Breakwater, who strode on in and gave Rainbow Dash a questioning look. “Senax told me you had a question about our trip?”

“Yeah—namely how I have no idea where we’re actually headed,” Rainbow said.

Breakwater frowned and glanced at Daylight. “None of you told her?”

“We kind of forgot,” Daylight shrugged.

Breakwater rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Let me get a map.”

Now it was his turn to walk over to his chests, of course a different one than the Horn of Listening currently resided in after Senax put it back, and started digging through them. In a second he pulled out a large, rolled up, parchment and brought it over to his desk. When he slammed it down and unrolled it, it covered the entire desk and then some, the edges of it dangling off the sides.

“There we go,” he said.

Rainbow Dash took her first look at it and was immediately struck by the sheer size of the Grand Ocean compared to other places she had been. The Great Camel Desert wouldn’t have covered half as much area as this ocean. And thankfully, the map was not only much bigger but also far more detailed than the map Early Riser had shown her in Clay Tower. Longitudinal and latitudinal lines separated the map into even squares, cities and islands were labeled, hoof-written notes on weather patterns and phenomena were scrawled across it, and the geography of the islands were also drawn in. The very top of the map, showing the southern coasts of The Hundred Kingdoms, was three-quarters land with water going up to the far east and far west of the coast, likely bordering the disputed lands as well as the edges of the continents on the other side of the world. Her side.

Speaking of that, on the left and right edges of the map, showing the west and east, there were landmasses. Cliffs. Going up and down most of it. On the west side of the map, there was only a small break in that land to the south, where the ocean continued between what must’ve been the bottom of Griffonstone, or perhaps the Dragon Lands, and the south pole. On the east side, to the north and south of the cliffs labeled on the map, the ocean continued on further to the east. Which if Rainbow Dash remembered right, that meant it should continue into the North Luna Ocean and South Luna Ocean.

The bottom of the map was covered in white ice to signify the south pole. Meaning her earlier assumption was correct. Nothing was blocking her off from traveling there when this adventure was done.

“Big place...” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Certainly is. I was floored when I first saw this too,” Daylight said. She pointed to the cliffs on the west side of the map, about halfway up them. “See this spot? That’s right where Senax lived, and where I spent some time at. It’s a small town called East Glade that was built in the desolate mountains east of Griffonstone.” She smirked. “But thanks to what side of the world we’re on it’s to the west now. Just like how this-” She pointed to the cliffs on the east side. “Is the very furthest edge of what you and other Equestrians would know as the Undiscovered West.”

“Wow...” Rainbow Dash was still taking it all in.

“Yeah, yeah, look however long you want,” Breakwater said and pointed at a part of the open ocean south of the Malkonrik coast. “Right now we’re just about here.”

Rainbow Dash looked, seeing that they were still in a wide open spot with seemingly no notable islands around. They were maybe halfway between the port and a cluster of three small islands directly south of it. From where Breakwater was pointing, it looked like they were going towards those islands.

“Is that where we’re headed?” Rainbow Dash pointed at them.

Breakwater nodded. “That’s our first stop on this trip, yep. That trio of islands is called the Three Spears. It’s three narrow mountains that shoot straight up out of the water. There are a few lagoons and coves scattered around them, some small beaches, but not much livable land. However, there are some fresh water springs that drip down from the tops of the mountains, making it a popular stopping point for ships to restock on freshwater at. However I picked us a time to go there that no major shipping vessels or companies should be stopping there, so we might not see anybody else. Tropical fruit grows there too so we can get our fill of that as well.”

Rainbow Dash licked her lips. “Nice.”

“I’ve been there a couple of times now as well with Breakwater. Hope you like coconuts,” Daylight smiled.

“Should just be an uneventful stop. We’ll drop anchor in one of the coves and stay there for a day to stretch our legs and resupply. I can teach you mooring and unmooring procedure too,” Breakwater said.

“It’ll be nice for you to see your first island in the Grand Ocean too. Call it a special occasion,” Daylight said.

“Yeah. But we’re not just going there then? It’s just a stop along the way for wherever the next possible location you’ve heard Senax’s Necklace might be,” Rainbow asked.

“That’s right. Our actual destination is a place called the Sea Lion Reefs, to the southwest of the Three Spears. It’s a series of, well—reefs, shoals, and atolls in a relatively shallow portion of the ocean populated mainly by foraging tribes of islanders. They move from small island to small island across the seasons, avoiding storms, with no permanent buildings of any sort. Lately a rumor has come from other ships visiting the reefs, the locals have mentioned seeing an ancient looking treasure chest stuck underwater in the central reefs. We’re going to see if it might be just what we’re looking for,” Daylight explained.

“It’s a longshot, but...” Breakwater shrugged.

“At this point we really can’t pick and choose,” Daylight said.

“The good thing again is that the Sea Lion Reefs have never been a… wealthy place. So we at least wont have to worry about pirates or too many prying eyes. Hopefully,” Breakwater said.

“Got it,” Rainbow nodded. “So where are the Reefs on this map?”

Breakwater pointed to a set of small ring-like islands and rock formations (that may have signified actual reefs) a little southwest of where the Three Spears were. They were drawn so thin and narrow that Rainbow was surprised anyone could live there at all. Appropriately, the blue paint used to color the ocean was a much lighter color around it as well then most of the rest of the ocean.

“There you go. The reefs and sandbars all around it make it tough for bigger ships to travel through it as well, so there’s another reason for why I’m not expecting much other traffic,” Breakwater said. He rubbed the back of his neck. “And while we’re here… I’ll let you know about some of the other important places on the ocean. Though most it’s doubtful we’ll ever travel to them.”

“Hit me with it. No offense but if I have to learn anything, I think it’s more fun to learn this kind of stuff than what side of the ship is called what,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

Breakwater snorted. “Fair enough.”

With a stretch and a yawn, Breakwater prepared to give her a crash-course on the great islands of the Grand Ocean. “Okay… well first of all, you see this island that looks like a shark tooth?”

Rainbow Dash looked at the large triangular island he was pointing out. It sat in the southwest area of the ocean, pretty much right in the mouth of where you would need to go if you were traveling south of Griffonstone. “Yeah.”

“That’s the aptly named Sharktooth Island. It’s a den of pirates and thieves—we won’t be going there,” Breakwater scowled and then pointed over to a crescent-shaped island. It was almost as south as Sharktooth Island but more in the mid-east of the ocean. “And this? This is Bosche.” Breakwater shook his head in disgust. “Ugh—the less spoken about them the better.”

Bosche… that sounded familiar but Rainbow Dash couldn’t remember from where. She stared a bit at the crescent island, from how it was drawn she could tell it was mostly mountains with very little flat land. “Okay.”

“Now a nicer place...” Breakwater moved his hoof to a series of islands, several dozen, that were only a little south of the far west coastline of The Hundred Kingdoms. “See this? It’s the Sarrarocco Archipelago. Directly south of Alth-Verika-”

“The alcohol kingdom?”

Breakwater rolled his eyes. “Yes. That one. Anyways, the Sarrarocco Archipelago is overall one of the most heavily populated countries south of the Kingdoms. It’s ruled by a religious order called the Sarraroccons. Obviously. They’re… I wouldn’t say they’re either unfriendly or friendly, but the archipelago itself is a nice place to visit. Great for trade, great weather, great waters, you can even own land and have a home there even if you’re not a native. The religion’s priests mostly keep to themselves and don’t proselytize or push their religion on other inhabitants or visitors. There are a few islands off-limits to non-natives, sacred islands or something, I dunno, but overall it’s a good place with a lot to see if you’re a tourist. Heh, you know the natives don’t even use boats there? They travel around on the backs of giant Manta Rays. You’d never believe it until you see it.”

“Sheesh, now you’re making me really curious...” Rainbow said.

“Me too,” Daylight said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up there at one point. The Sarraroccons have been there a long time, they probably have a lot of old legends and stories too. Some that might pertain to Merlantis,” Breakwater shrugged. “Now there’s this place too-”

Breakwater pointed to a dark strip on the map, mostly southeast of the Three Spears but the northern tip of it just barely reached them as well, it wasn’t an island but a long and narrow part of the ocean with storm clouds and whirlpools drawn on it.

“That’s the Strip of Storms. From north to south it’s a narrow strip of ocean that constantly has stormy weather. Scientists and sailors have been studying it for years but nobody knows for sure why it’s like that. Makes travel a pain in the flank. If the treasure Senax is looking for isn’t at the Sea Lion Reefs we’ll probably have to travel back and forth around the Strip of Storms a couple of times as we navigate the ocean.” He scratched his head. “There are of course many other islands here in the Grand Ocean, but nothing I think I really need to tell you about right now. Some of the old legends like the Lost Island of the Lizard People might be important… but it’s called a lost island for a reason. Couldn’t point it out if I wanted to.”

“Okay,” Rainbow Dash nodded a couple of times. “Now which one is Rum Haven?”

“East Light. That’s the island. Rum Haven is just the city on it. And it’s this one,” Breakwater said and pointed to a small island on the east side of the map, almost at the cliffs of the far end of the Undiscovered West.

“And just to let you know—if we come up empty at the Sea Lion Reefs, the next island we’re going to is called the Smoking Island,” Daylight said.

“Why’s it called that?”

“It has an active volcano on it.”

“Oh. Sweet.”

Breakwater sighed. “Yeah, most ponies avoid it because of that. But we’re not most ponies now, are we? Either way just because it’s active doesn’t mean it’s going to erupt anytime soon. Here-” he pointed at a medium-sized island just east of the Strip of Storms. “That’s the Smoking Island. There are also old rumors of some kind of “golden treasure” or something like that that can be found there. Other treasure hunters who have gone there have all come up short… or didn’t come back.”

“We can’t exactly allow ourselves to be dissuaded though,” Daylight shrugged.

“Not at all,” Breakwater agreed.

“It’s still possible we don’t even have to go there. But I can’t afford to rely on luck after how long we’ve been here,” Daylight said.

“I’d welcome the opportunity to treasure hunt on a volcanic island anyways,” Rainbow Dash said. She looked at the icy bottom of the map. “So that’s the south pole then, huh? Nobody lives there?”

“Not that I know of. I’ve sailed far enough to where you start seeing icebergs in the water, but I haven’t gone ashore there. If there is any sort of civilization living all the way down there then they don’t trade or sail up north,” Breakwater said.

“Guess I’ll figure it out in the future...” Rainbow trailed off.

“Anyways-” Daylight said. “I think it’s actually close to dinner already. If you don’t mind I’ll go let Gilbert and Senax know?”

“Go right ahead. Teaching Rainbow Dash here more about sailing can wait till after dinner I suppose,” Breakwater said.

“Great,” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “So when are we getting to the Three Spears anyways?”

“We’ll be there in two days.”

Comments

[redmar]

Interesting information about the ocean.

[Mini-Joe]

This story is SO COOL!!!

[TheCommunistDog]

Thunqi