Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Empty Hooves

Rainbow Dash looked over the side of the canoe she was in to see a myriad of colorful fish swimming about in the shallow waters of the reefs they were traveling over. They were making good progress, Leilani telling them that it shouldn’t take more than five minutes now to make it to the northwestern atoll the other ponies were at. She couldn’t wait for a couple different reasons. It would be cool to see the surfing and maybe do some of that herself and they might also find one of the treasures that Senax was looking for.

Breakwater, Senax and Daylight were staring straight ahead while Gilbert was helping himself to the meat of a coconut. Rainbow had already finished hers. Around them they also already passed several more sandy islands and rock formations that were covered in yet more Sea Lions. Who loudly brayed at them as they passed.

“Those big guys ever try and bother you?” Rainbow Dash asked Leilani.

“No, they make a lot of noise but they know not to attack us islanders,” Leilani smiled.

That was good enough in Rainbow’s book. Now if they could only get far enough away from them to avoid the smell...

“Look there!” Senax suddenly called out.

Rainbow and the others looked ahead to see Senax pointing at an upcoming beach where several large waves were rolling into it. They could see ponies gathered along the sands, watching and waiting. Rainbow thought she saw several out swimming in the waters or paddling along on top of boards. Seems they had found the right place. It was interesting to see though, after being through a big storm she kind of identified huge rolling waves with bad weather. But here the sun was out, nobody was worried, it was warm, and everything just looked plain nice.

When they got closer they could hear excited shouting and cheering from the ponies. Their canoe still had to land on the side of the atoll though, otherwise they’d end up going right through those rough waters and the waves might knock them over.

“This is your stop! Those ponies getting ready to surf over there are the ones you need to talk to!” Leilani happily pointed them out, despite it being obvious to them already.

“Thank you for everything,” Breakwater said as he and the others hopped out of the canoe.

Leilani shook her head. “It’s nothing you need to thank us for, goodbye now! I hope you find what you’re looking for!”

She and the other island ponies waved as they pushed their canoes off the sandy beach and went back to paddling wherever it was they needed to in the first place. Rainbow Dash waved to them and then flapped her wings to start hovering over the sand—she was tired of sitting still. Even if she still had to stay with the others she at least wanted to be flying while doing it.

“Okay! Let’s go talk to those ponies and find that treasure chest!” Rainbow Dash grinned. “And uh... if we’ve got time then maybe we’ll go surfing afterwards too!”

“Of course...” Daylight rolled her eyes.

“Come on, we could use some fun,” Rainbow said.

“Well I suppose after what we’ve been through that is true,” Daylight allowed.

“See?” Rainbow grinned. “Now come on and let’s say hello already!”

The crew quickly made their way over the hot sand, although without her hooves touching it, Rainbow had no idea about the heat, and to the large gathering on the beach. Many driftwood tables and long chairs had been set up, some with great palm leaf umbrellas hanging over them. It seemed to be a gathering entirely of brightly painted locals who were happily chatting with each other and sharing drinks held within hollowed out coconuts and pineapples. Towards the water, Rainbow Dash saw many ponies running out with boards held on their backs, diving into the water and swimming out towards the crashing waves.

Naturally as they got closer to this large surf party, quite a few of the locals came out to greet them with happy smiles and even offerings of drinks.

“Hello! Nice to meet you!”

“Who might you be? How’s your visit?”

“Come for the surfing?”

“I love your mane!”

That last one was mostly directed towards Rainbow Dash.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet all of you as well,” Breakwater said as a crowd had already formed around them. “We’re here looking for something and we heard that you ponies might be able to help us out.”

“And we might want to come surfing after, if that’s okay,” Rainbow Dash added.

“Yeah... that too,” Breakwater shook his head. “Anyways, we heard the rumor about a sunken treasure chest in these parts of the Sea Lion Reefs. If it’s no trouble, are there any ponies here who can take us to where that treasure chest is located? We’d be very grateful to you.”

One of the older stallions, possibly a tribe leader like Kai, standing around them smiled and called out to the crowd. “Makoa! Come forth and greet these visitors!”

Another stallion pushed his way through the crowd and stood before the crew. He was young, just a teenager, with his head painted red and his body painted a very bright orange. He puffed out his chest and smiled proudly at Rainbow Dash and the others. “Hello! So you are in search of the treasure chest me and my brothers found?”

“That’s right,” Breakwater said.

“Hah! I expected some ponies to come around and ask about it one of these days. Word has already traveled far, has it? Please—come with me and I will take you to the reef where it can be found! We should move quickly though, I have surfing to do later!” Makoa said.

“Sweet!” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Things are moving pretty fast. If you’re a surfer then maybe after we find the chest we’ll just come back with you and hang out?”

“Of course! You’d be welcome to join with us and surf if you want,” Makoa said. “Let me gather my brothers and we can get our canoes together now. That sunken chest isn’t far from here.”

Rainbow turned to the others and shrugged. “Any objections?”

“Can’t say so, this is actually turning out pretty well for us,” Daylight said.

“I must say I agree. The locals are a joy, far more polite than at most kingdoms we’ve visited on the Grand Ocean,” Gilbert said.

Senax on the other hoof looked anxious but hopeful. “I just... I just don’t want to get too excited. I’m glad things have gone so easily but... too much optimism might make things worse if the chest isn’t what we’re looking for.”

“It’s all good,” Rainbow Dash threw a hoof around her shoulders and tugged her in close. “We’ve got this.”

---

They were now canoeing out on the far western side of the Sea Lion Reefs, the crystal clear water below revealing a jungle of coral reefs growing from the sand. Rainbow Dash could see the entire ecosystem of the reef, from the coral, to the sea urchins and anemones, to the starfish, clams, eels, fish, octopi and sharks. There was so much life down there, all so colorful and so electric with movement. Rainbow Dash couldn’t even begin to name all the different kinds of fish she was seeing. That’s what she needed Fluttershy for right now. Idly she stuck her hoof into the water and was surprised by how warm it was, even with the tropical climate and warm air she wasn’t expecting that.

Three other small canoes were paddling along with the one she was in. Gilbert and Breakwater each having their own with two of Makoa’s other brothers while Senax and Daylight shared the canoe being driven by Makoa himself. The brother Rainbow Dash was with was a pony with red stripes painted down his body by the name of Kawehi. He was older than Makoa but still younger than Rainbow Dash by at least a couple of years.

And she noticed his eyes darting over to her every now and then but she was simply choosing to ignore that.

“I’ve been meaning to ask-” Daylight suddenly spoke up from her canoe. “But if you’ve known about this treasure chest for a while now, why haven’t you opened it up? Even if you don’t care about any treasure that might be inside it, aren’t you just curious?”

All eyes turned to Makoa as he smiled at Daylight and Senax. “Ah, a good question. It’s true that any treasure inside surely holds no interest to us, but yes, normally we’d be curious enough to at least open it up for fun. However, the treasure chest resides in a very deep pool in the reef, too deep for even our best divers to reach if they held their breath. My brothers and I only saw it by chance when competing with each other, we did not come close to reaching it ourselves.”

“We have tools that could help us retrieve the chest but why bother?” Another brother, Noa, said. “No one has cared enough to, and so it stays undisturbed.”

Daylight turned her head to Senax. “It’s a good thing we have you then, otherwise we’d have to go back and get some ropes and hooks of our own to get the treasure chest out of there.”

“But will it not also be locked?” Gilbert asked.

“Surely any lock has rusted by now, the wood must be rotted too, it can’t be difficult to open,” Daylight said and glanced at Breakwater. “Right?”

“Well if it’s a metal chest then maybe not... but the lock itself should be able to be bashed open easily enough with a rock if you can find one down there, Senax. That’s if nothing else has happened to it,” Breakwater said.

“I’ll figure it out somehow,” Senax nodded.

Only a couple of minutes later and their canoes came circling around a certain pool of water in the reefs. Rainbow Dash only had to glance at it to know it was different. From above it looked darker, showing off that the ocean floor was deeper than its surroundings. It was like some sort of hole in the ocean. The water as well wasn’t quite as clear, the coral and rocks below becoming much blurrier. There wasn’t any current or any waves, so they were able to stop their canoes and just float there, everyone aboard them now peering down into the blue hole.

“It’s at the bottom, nestled in the rocks on the north side. It looks dark from here but believe me when I say you won’t miss it during the daytime if you know what to look for,” Makoa said. He looked at Senax. “You have a way to get down to the bottom?”

Senax smiled. “I can breathe underwater. As you can see from, well, the rest of me, I’m not exactly a normal pony.”

“Breathing underwater? Haha! Something that would be of great benefit to us at the reefs!” Makoa and his brothers laughed.

Senax blushed. “Y-Yes, as a merpony it’s aided me quite well...”

Rainbow Dash flew from her canoe and came to pat Senax on the back. “You got this. I bet I could swim down there pretty far with you if you want my company?”

“No thanks, when it comes to swimming I’m the expert in our group. I can reach the treasure chest on my own,” Senax shook her head. She put her hooves on the edge of the canoe and looked into the deep pool of water. Before anyone could say anything else, she had dove off and started swimming down immediately. The others watched her as she went down, her slick yellow scales reflecting the light pretty well and allowing them to see her even as she went deep into the pool.

“Is she going to be alright?” Rainbow asked the others.

Breakwater just grinned as he watched Senax descend. “Don’t underestimate Senax’s swimming ability.”

Down in the warm tropical water, Senax’s paddle tail and streamlined form enabled her to easily dive towards the bottom of the pool where the treasure chest sat. Her eyes were designed to perfectly see in the water like this—it was as clear as it would’ve been for any of her friends above water. Her yellow hooves reached out towards the rock and coral walls of the blue hole she was traveling down, steadying herself and also checking to see how deep she was going.

It was always so calm and perfect to be under the water like this for her. Natural. Right. She almost felt sad knowing she’d have to come back up to the surface. Having lived so long in a place where she couldn’t really enjoy the ocean or being underwater all the time, it was almost intoxicating whenever she did spend time like this.

A few small fish swam by her face and she continued to go down, keeping her mind on the treasure chest. Regardless of what it contained, she’d have to go back to the surface anyways. Breathing through her gills she was certain that she had already gone deeper than any pony could’ve reached. It was darker around her but not so much that she couldn’t see, just as Makoa had said. She passed by a few lobsters hanging out on the rocks and then went deeper still, her hooves pushing through the water with a powerful breaststroke while her tail paddled behind her and propelled her. Bubbles from a large clam opening up came jetting up through the water, Senax passed them by and spiraled towards the sandy bottom of the pool. More and more colorful coral around her gave way to rocks and the circular hole started to spread out and break apart.

Senax passed into a hole of solid rock and sank down to the sand below it, having reached the bottom, and took a look around as her hooves landed on the sand. It felt almost like walking to her, maintaining her buoyancy through some sort of natural and automatic means that even she didn’t quite understand. Her eyes roamed to where the brothers said the treasure chest would be sitting and sure enough, there it was. Nestled up against the rock with seaweed clinging to it and sprouts of coral growing around it. It looked like it had been there for ages but at the same time, seeing it up close, Senax couldn’t imagine it came from as far back a time as Ponyseidon or in the early days of when the Merpony’s were driven from their ancestral time.

It looked old, but not that old.

Still, it was possible that someone had still found the necklace or trident at a later date and put it inside this treasure chest. Senax wasn’t giving up on that hope just yet.

She walked over to the treasure chest—it was bigger than she expected. Big enough where she could’ve crawled inside and laid down inside it. As she looked around it she didn’t see a lock on it, but looking down at the sand under it she saw the rusted remains of a lock, all broken up and bent, half-buried in the sand. That didn’t bode well for its contents.

Senax frowned and reached towards the lid of the treasure chest. She put her hooves on it and tried prying it up, but unsurprisingly it was a little rusty and didn’t want to budge. This was the moment she actually needed Rainbow Dash or Daylight’s magic for. But they couldn’t come down here. So Senax put all the strength she had into prying this thing open. It wasn’t locked, there was nothing holding it down, she knew she could do it.

Finally she felt it move, the top of the lid barely cracked open and more bubbles came out. That seemed to be just what she needed as with a muffled grunt from herself, Senax pushed the entire lid of the chest open and let it clatter against the rock behind it.

With expectant eyes she looked inside it-

-and saw a mere bed of sand and dirt resting on the bottom of the chest. It was empty.

Senax felt the dismay crawl up her body. Even though it was expected, it was still disappointing. Another dead end. Another nothing. Another rumor and location they could check off their list. It wasn’t the end—far from it—but it was yet another pointless trip they had made. The more things turned out like this the more pessimistic she would get, even though she didn’t really want to become like that.

She didn’t bother putting the lid back down. Instead leaving the treasure chest open like that so anyone in the future could see it was empty. It would probably be better that way.

Walking back out to the center of the sand and the pool, Senax looked up to the surface. She bent her legs and jumped from the sand, starting to swim back up.

Comments

[redmar]

Hopefully they will at least find a clue to where they can search next.

[RoboRed]

Eh, darn. But of course it couldn't be that easy.

[TheCommunistDog]

Your treasure is at another reef!