Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Burning Escape

It was only moments ago that the sky above the Smoking Island was a mere ashy gray from all the smoke wafting from the top of the volcano that gave the island its moniker. An ominous look, but not dangerous. Now it was as colorful as a raging fire and infinitely more dangerous. Fire filled the sky, fire and molten rock, burning ash, pyroclastic flows and waves of lava rolled down the volcano itself. The eruption column was already going higher and higher, smashing through the previous cloud covering the island. Its dark form would reach miles up eventually, becoming a frightening warning to every nearby island and ship. Bits of burning rock, either huge chunks of solidifying magma or pieces of the volcano’s exterior that had been blown off, were flying through the sky, shot miles in every direction. Deadly meteors that would destroy everything they rained down on. The powerful volcanic eruption was amazing to see, almost awe-inspiring despite the horror and destruction it also represented.

Rainbow Dash, Daylight Gleam, Gilbert, Senax, and Breakwater were almost frozen when it erupted. Mesmerized. Unable to tear their eyes away from the fire and lava billowing into the sky. Time had seemed to slow around them, there was no sound but a ringing in their ears. That changed when another shockwave reached them and a blast of wind knocked the five of them away to the south. Rainbow Dash tightened her grip around Daylight’s barrel and flapped her wings to recover, pulling up and steadying herself. Gilbert did much the same, an exhausted groan coming from him as he dealt with the weight of two ponies.

“W-We should probably fly to the ship now!” Daylight said.

Breakwater nodded. “Yeah, no more standi—er—hovering, around!”

Rainbow Dash gulped as she looked up and saw hundreds of burning rocks shooting like fireworks and bombs across the sky. A lot were already falling to the jungle below, or had impacted the other mountains and exploded, starting fires and carving deep scars wherever they hit. They covered so much distance that the Heart of Azure was already in danger where it was docked. And more and more would be falling down around her and Gilbert as they flew to try and escape.

“Yeah. We’ve gotta go,” Rainbow said and glanced at Gilbert.

He gave her a swift nod and the two began to fly at full speed again—leaving the erupting volcano behind even as the lava and pyroclastic flow pouring down it finally reached the ground and began spreading towards the jungle. The trees erupted into flames before the lava even actually hit them, the heat powerful enough to do that. But any forest fire was smothered quickly by the tidal wave of lava itself as it simply rolled over the jungle. The landscape was being utterly changed, Rainbow Dash had no idea what this island would look like after the eruption was over but it certainly wouldn’t have a jungle anymore. A molten and melted slag of rock, the other mountains were burning and crumbling with the volcano as well.

Despite her going full throttle towards where the Heart of Azure was hopefully still docked, she couldn’t help but look over her shoulder and watch as the eruption continued to play out. Ash and lava were still being blasted from inside the volcano and into the sky. It hadn’t let up for a moment. How big would this eruption be? How much of the sky would become covered by ash and later have it start falling down like snow? The colors of fire had completely spread to the rest of the clouds that had already covered the island and soon many more molten and flaming rocks fell through them, finally having reached the apex of their arcs before coming back down to the ground.

“Uh oh,” Rainbow Dash said as dozens of those molten missiles came falling towards her and Gilbert.

---

Godfrey couldn’t help but laugh as he saw the volcano explode and begin pouring its raging, burning, contents into the sky. To think they all really came here right before this happened, it was a laughably insane coincidence. His ears hurt a little bit from the initial few explosions but thanks to a quick escape from the temple he was more or less fine. The lava was starting to spread across the island as the clouds in the sky turned to fire, he kept flying south towards his ship as lava missiles began to rain down on the island with more frequency.

“Hah… I almost couldn’t hope for anything better,” he grinned as he had to fly out of the way of one such missile that explosively landed in the jungle below. A raging inferno was birthed from it—rather unnecessary in his opinion, since the entire jungle was just going to be destroyed by the lava and pyroclastic flow anyways. “Never thought I’d be outflying a volcano in my life.”

Looking to the south he could see the coastline coming up, he was heading right for where The Scourge was.

If it was even still there. Despite the fear he instilled in his crew it wouldn’t have surprised him at all if they had pulled up anchor and started to leave the moment the volcano had started to erupt. If not sooner. Things hadn’t been so fortuitous for his crew lately, so he couldn’t really blame them if they did leave. He would still find and punish them though if that was the case.

That was another fun thought.

It was also possible that some of the burning rock ejected from the volcano had reached The Scourge. Godfrey only had to look into the sky to see how many were flying for miles and miles into the distance. Some arcing into the ocean and others going even higher and further over the horizon. The Scourge was a relatively small target though so the likelihood of it actually being hit was pretty low. They just had to get out of here before the lava and everything else started pouring off the cliffs and into the ocean, or any other quakes triggered a tidal wave or something like that.

Another flaming boulder from the sky was dodged and Godfrey laughed.

“You know what, I got it now! That’s why the animals are all gone!” He kept laughing to himself as the obvious revelation finally stuck out in his head. “Where are my animal instincts then? I couldn’t even tell a volcano was about to erupt, gehahahaha!” He actually ended up wiping a tear from his eye thanks to the amusement directed at himself.

“Ahh… shame about my brother and the others though. Messy way to go,” Godfrey shook his head, a grin still playing on his beak.

He looked behind him at the erupting volcano again and raised an eyebrow. “Of course… if any group had the fortune and ability to escape from an erupting volcano… could they have? Gilbert, Rainbow Dash, did you get lucky enough to get out of there before the whole thing blew?”

While still flying forward, his sharp eyes scanned across the rest of the island behind him, looking over the now partially burning hills and jungles as he tried to spot anything colorful flying through the sky. It was certainly quite the chaotic inferno, and for once he didn’t have anything to do with all the destruction. Funny how he had chased them through the strongest and biggest of storms and now ended up here where the exact opposite kind of natural disaster was going on. They always knew how to give him a good time. He didn’t know where exactly their ship was docked though, they could be flying somewhere completely out of sight, or behind the mountains. But he still didn’t want to give up his search for them.

“If they are alive, am I going to be happy or annoyed?” Godfrey thought. “Hm… happy. Definitely happy. The fun can’t end like that, not with something else interrupting.”

His eyes kept roaming and roaming until finally he saw what he was looking for. A rainbow dot flying to the west side of the island.

Godfrey smiled wildly. “Hah! They really made it! If anyone could do it I knew you could, Rainbow Dash!” He started laughing some more, happy to see that they were okay and still flying for their lives. And completely certain that they’d make it out of this okay. “Next time… oh I’m really looking forward to next time now.”

There was still the rest of the escape from the island that she and her friends would have to pull off, much like he himself still had to. But Godfrey was confident in their chances even as he watched falling rocks and lava start to fall towards them like a meteor shower. With one last grin he stopped watching the fading rainbow and turned his eyes back south. It would be just a minute before he reached the cliffs his ship was docked under and then he could have them head out for safe waters before renewing the chase for Rainbow and the others. Already was he bristling with excitement at the thought.

However as he got closer to the cliffs the sound of billowing flames and falling objects became louder. Godfrey looked up and saw dozens of meteors coming down in his and The Scourge’s direction. If Sea Shanty and his crew hadn’t gotten the ship at least partially repaired (or had left) by now then they could be in trouble. Those meteors would be all over the ocean right off the cliffs of the Smoking Island and in just a few short moments.

“Tch,” Godfrey clicked his tongue and picked up the pace, blasting faster towards his ship.

When he reached the cliffs he saw that The Scourge indeed was still right where he left it, but the crew seemed to be panicking quite a bit. All across the deck he could see ponies scurrying about, some of them outright arguing and fighting with each other while some of them attempted to get into the longboats and lower them to the water. A few had even flat out jumped over the sides and were beginning to swim away. Seems some had wanted Sea Shanty to pull up anchor and leave.

The central mast obviously wasn’t fixed either.

A quick glance to the sky showed that the meteors from the volcano wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon as well. This was not looking good.

Godfrey came in for a quick landing, right next to Sea Shanty who had been in the middle of arguing with some of the other pirates. His heavy talons thwumped down onto the deck and he looked at his first mate and the others with a frown. “Seems like a lot has happened in the short time I’ve been gone, but there’s no time for any of that, now that I’m here we can pull up the anchor and go.”

As he said that, only a few hundred yards away a few flaming globs of lava and burning rocks crashed into the ocean and the cliffs on the island’s southern coast.

“See what I mean?” Godfrey said.

“T-That’s the problem, Captain!” Sea Shanty said with fear in his voice and on his face. “I had been trying to get the repairs to the ship done, but we found that there was more damage to the ship than we thought! A lot of the crew became unruly and when the eruption started they tried to leave before things were ready and now we don’t even have the wind with us—at best we’re just going to be drifting around the island! I-I’ve been telling everyone that we couldn’t leave in the longboats without you b-but the mutineers almost outnumber us now and-”

“I get the situation,” Godfrey cut him off. He looked around the deck of his ship, seeing panicking ponies who hadn’t even realized that he’d returned. And some who had but who were still trying to lower the longboats and get away.

“What are we going to do, Captain?” Sea Shanty asked him.

Godfrey looked up at the sky, the flames that had painted the clouds red, orange, and yellow were spreading further. More meteors would be coming down at any moment.

“Well I know what I’m going to do,” Godfrey shrugged as he spread his wings and flapped them a couple of times to rise over the deck.

“C-Captain?” Sea Shanty called up to him.

“Sea Shanty, I’ve had a really fun time being captain of The Scourge, and I hope you’ve enjoyed your time as part of my crew. But now we’ve got to part ways it seems. Good luck on your own out there!” He said as he swiftly started flying away from The Scourge.

The former First Mate continued to stare after him, his jaw hanging open, and all his legs aside from the wooden one feeling weak. The chaos and fear on the main deck increased tenfold as even the loyal pirates who had seen and heard what was going on flew into a blind panic as they tried to escape.

It suddenly felt hotter though and a bright light was coming from above. Sea Shanty blinked and looked straight up at the fiery sky. Several burning, molten, balls of rock and lava were coming down right at The Scourge. There were a lot of yells, there were a lot of pirates who covered their heads and curled into balls, there were a lot more who jumped off the sides and into the water. Sea Shanty didn’t do anything like that. He merely stood there in a daze as the deadly fireballs smashed into the deck of The Scourge and exploded with fury.

A second later, the gunpowder and explosives held belowdecks in the galleon ignited and the huge vessel was blown to pieces.

---

Fire covered rocks and molten lava rained down around Rainbow Dash and Gilbert as they carried their friends to the Heart of Azure. They had been dodging dozens of these hazards and it wasn’t looking like that would change anytime soon. Ahead, Rainbow Dash could see the ocean itself becoming a fiery mess as the meteors fell into it, boiling the water around them and even keeping aflame for some time. Directly below her now she caught a glimpse of the small outpost they had visited earlier, a fireball had torched the small farms and most of it was nothing more than a series of craters.

“Well we’re almost there at least...” Rainbow Dash said as she flew with Daylight down to the ocean. She looked over her shoulder at Gilbert and the others and yelled: “Not much farther to the harbor!”

“Please let my ship still be there,” Breakwater grumbled.

Rainbow Dash briefly locked eyes with Senax, or to put it more accurately she looked at Senax while the merpony’s glazed eyes stared into the distance. She would need medical attention as soon as possible but they had to get to safety first.

“It’ll be there, it’ll be there, it’ll be there...” Daylight Gleam started to repeat endlessly from underneath Rainbow.

More meteors came down around them that Rainbow Dash and Gilbert flew between as they descended closer to the jungle trees to give themselves a little more space. The fires that had already sprouted up from the jungle were much easier to avoid than the missiles coming down overhead. Rainbow Dash led the way and she could see the edge of the island coming up ahead, the small dock they left the Heart of Azure at should be visible in just a second.

Gilbert came up alongside her and the jungle gave way to the rocky harbor that they had landed on the Smoking Island at.

And the Heart of Azure, so far still unmolested and not on fire, was sitting in the water waiting for them.

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash shouted and put all the extra strength she had left into her wings, shooting right to it.

“Thank Mother Ocean for that...” Breakwater wiped his brow as Gilbert also flew in.

“I think I will,” Gilbert nodded.

Together the two let go of the ponies they were carrying as soon as they were over the deck and Gilbert gingerly landed to carefully pull Senax off his back and set her down by the mast. Breakwater ran towards the helm while Daylight and Rainbow Dash sped over to the anchor. Nobody needed to say anything, they were all well aware of their tasks for getting away from this island. As soon as the anchor started to get pulled up, Breakwater turned the wheel sharply to starboard and tried to turn the ship around so they could get out of the harbor.

The anchor clattered onto the deck and Rainbow Dash flew up to the sail along with Gilbert, together the two of them untied it and let it fall open, waiting for the ship to fully turn around and be aimed west before they started flapping their wings into it to push it along. Meanwhile, Daylight Gleam climbed up to the crow’s nest and hopped inside, keeping her eyes on the sky and her horn lit up and ready for use. She wasn’t sure if she had the magical power to actually shield them from or knock away one of those meteors, but she was going to do her best to try if one was coming right for them.

“We’re on our way out!” Breakwater yelled as the Heart of Azure began to sail away from the Smoking Island.

“I don’t know if we try to dodge the rocks and lava or do we just go as far west as possible?” Gilbert said to Rainbow.

“Just go as far as we can. We’re not anymore likely to get hit if we just keep going straight or not,” Rainbow replied.

“It’ll be miles before we’re a safe distance away...” Daylight said as she continued to keep her eyes peeled.

“We just have to stay positive. Hard part’s over, we’re almost safe,” Rainbow said.

“If that was me saying that you’d say I was tempting fate,” Gilbert said.

“Well… let’s just forget about that,” Rainbow bit her lip.

The five friends stayed quiet after that for a while longer, the sounds of the volcano more than enough background noise. Lava soon poured over the edges of the island, completely smothering and erasing the jungle before depositing into the ocean. Within a few minutes the actual eruption had ended but smoke and ash continued to rise and latent fireballs that had been shot farther and higher than most now peppered the ocean. Through that all, the Heart of Azure sailed away.

Comments

[redmar]

Even without his ship Godfrey remains a threat but it will be more difficult for him to find the Heart of Azure. I hope Senax will be okay.

[RoboRed]

Just when you think the guy couldn't hit a new low. Sucks for the crew to go out that way, even if they were complicit in Godfrey's wrongdoings.

I'm not sure how he's gonna get out from this on his own but hopefully he'll be out of the way for a long time.

[TheCommunistDog]

Well i mean at least a bunch of pirates died