Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Preparations

Coral Sea stood in front of the great stone map, her hoof placed on it as she looked at the sprawling recreation of the Grand Ocean with a smile on her face. Her eyes roamed over the various islands before they stopped on the Sarrarocco Archipelago. Her home. The place discovered by her ancestors and turned into a brilliant and thriving civilization.

“For years I thought I was just going to live a life as pointless and meaningless as my predecessors. Child of Ponyseidon… I was so happy when I heard you had come here. It was a sign. Now I can finally do something with my life,” Coral Sea closed her eyes and pressed her head against the map.

A magical glow came from deep within it…

---

After a long ride through the Archipelago, on multiple different Manta Ferries, the group had finally made it all the way back to Blue Coral Island. They got off at the beach with Gilbert and Breakwater still carrying the heavy chest and the important map safely tucked under one of Rainbow Dash’s wings. They didn’t plan on staying here for long, probably just one more night before going back to their ship and sailing away. That was why now they were walking back on the path to the Saffron Inn.

On that path, surrounded by trees, Rainbow Dash took a few looks around to make sure no one else was around before turning to the others.

“Okay, I’ve been holding it in until we got back here, but I don’t trust that mare. Not one bit,” Rainbow Dash frowned.

Daylight Gleam grimaced slightly. “I don’t either to be honest. Anyone that would spy on and deceive us like that just can’t be trusted completely—or at all.”

“I think she cares about the Order at least. I mean, I know I’m not the best judge of ponies but I think she’s well-meaning...” Gilbert shrugged. “And remember what she said? Even if she did have an ulterior motive what would she even be able to do about it? If the Necklace is at the Lost Isle of the Lizard People then by the look of it it’s completely on the other side of the Grand Ocean. Unless she had her warriors follow us or something there’s no way she could—what? Steal it from us? What would even be the point?”

“I mean, yeah, you’ve got a point too, Gilbert,” Daylight sighed. “I just don’t want us caught off guard.”

“I’d like to believe in her. But I just don’t. It’s my gut feeling,” Rainbow Dash said.

Breakwater also had to admit to a certain displeasure when it came to the High Priestess. The Order wasn’t as simple as he thought. There was a hidden side to it, maybe not exactly a bad side, but a darker one. It was also really, really, weird to think that he had literally danced with the High Priestess herself. That was surreal. He shook his head and looked over at Senax. “What do you think, Senax?”

Senax though didn’t respond, her eyes were looking down on the ground while a depressed aura hung over her head.

“Yo, Senax!” Rainbow whistled.

That startled the merpony enough to look up and she saw the others looking back at her expectantly. “S-Sorry… I was just thinking. I just… did Ponyseidon really enslave the ponies of the ocean? My people always thought he was a benevolent leader, we never had a reason to think otherwise… what if… what if he was evil?”

Daylight and Gilbert shared a brief sad look before the unicorn stepped forward and put her hooves on Senax’s shoulders. “Senax. None of us can even begin to speak on that. We just don’t know, but what we do know is that you—and the other merponies still in East Glade—are all good ponies. You don’t need to dwell on what happened in the past. What you’re doing, what you want, isn’t wrong. Regardless of what Ponyseidon might have done, all you want is to go home.”

“I...” Senax sniffled as tears started to build at her eyes before she rubbed them away and nodded a few times. “Thank you, Daylight.”

“Nothing to get all depressed about,” Rainbow said and patted her on the back. “If we really gotta face something in the future, well, let’s leave it for the future. For now we’re all still on an awesome adventure to help out our friend.”

“Let’s get back to the Inn so we can just relax and get some dinner,” Breakwater said to her.

“Alright, t-that sounds good,” Senax agreed.

“And we’re off! I’d love to try that restaurant that’s right there in the Inn...” Gilbert said and swiftly started walking back down the road.

Daylight rolled her eyes. “A breath of positivity...”

The group made their way back to the Saffron Inn with a more positive atmosphere around them. Though there was a lot hanging over their heads, they were going to take things as easily as Rainbow Dash did. In the end they were all still together and you couldn’t change what happened in the past anyways. Well, not in a good way according to Twilight at least. Now with the stuff that needed to be said already said, they could relax for the rest of the day and then get themselves a good night of sleep. Since they were looking at a few days of travel back to Malkonrik the comfortable beds in the suite of the Saffron Inn were even more inviting right now.

As was its restaurant. And thanks to the treasure chest gifted to them they had even less worries about money now. The amount of coins in there was more than they could ever spend out on the Grand Ocean. It made them curious about how rich the High Priestess and Order in general was. Did she have a massive amount of currency for every Kingdom and major island out there?

Rainbow Dash didn’t care, neither did Breakwater really. He just saw it as a great boon to get top of the line supplies once they returned to Malkonrik. They’d probably stay at Ballast’s for a day max and then set off again for the Lost Isle. While Rainbow doubted they needed to hurry to beat anyone else there, all of them were going to be super eager to go after turning up with nothing in so many other places.

This wasn’t just some baseless rumor or a story about random treasure. The Sarraroccons and the High Priestess really knew where they had to go next.

Rainbow Dash was excited.

---

A meal at the restaurant.

A night in the Saffron Inn’s best room and best beds.

A farewell to the friendly mare who was always there at the desk.

A walk back through Blue Coral Island.

A stop at the dock and the sea cave where the Heart of Azure was moored.

And that was it. Their time at Blue Coral Island was about to be over. Their time at the entire Sarrarocco Archipelago was about to end. It had been an interesting experience, but they had to get back on track. The good food, good accommodations, and friendly ponies would be missed, but Rainbow Dash and Daylight especially weren’t going to miss all the spying and secrecy that had gone on.

“Oof,” Gilbert huffed as he lugged the heavy chest of coins into Breakwater’s cabin. “I’ll say, that’s quite heavy.”

“At least we know it isn’t counterfeit,” Breakwater said as he helped the griffon slide it against the wall.

“Not going to have to move it again either,” Daylight said.

“All the leftovers can be your retirement fund too,” Rainbow grinned at the captain.

“I’m not that much older than you...” Breakwater frowned.

“Seriously? You’re closer to like twice my age than not.”

Senax meanwhile returned the bundled up Horn of Listening to its usual place in its own chest. Now all their valuables were safe and secure. Aside from their newly acquired magical map, which Daylight Gleam was once again holding and looking at. Her own horn was lit up with its powder blue glow as she analyzed the parchment and tried to figure out anything she could about it.

“There something weird about the map?” Rainbow Dash asked her.

Daylight raised an eyebrow in response. “No more than any enchanted map.”

“Right. Stupid question.”

“I can’t really figure out how it works but I’m not really an expert when it comes to magic,” Daylight said and folded the map up.

“We’re in for a long trip to the Lost Island by the look of it though,” Senax said.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “No big deal, getting back to Malkonrik is almost half the journey, right?”

“A little less,” Daylight said.

“Still not a big deal. I think we’re all used to traveling for a long time on the ocean by now,” Rainbow said.

“True enough,” Breakwater said. “And speaking of that, we might as well pull up the anchor and get out of here. I think we’ve been here long enough.”

Rainbow Dash flexed her wings and grinned. “You know what the first thing I’m going to do the moment we get away from Blue Coral Island is?”

“Sleep?” Gilbert sarcastically suggested.

“Pff—no. I’m going for a long, fast, awesome, flight. I’m going to blow away any clouds up there, you guys won’t even be able to see me. My wings really, really, need that after all the time stuck on the ground. Or on those ferries. Seriously. Like, I still got a ton of exercise and stuff anyways but nothing even compares to getting to fly through the sky. I’m going to be up there for hours,” Rainbow Dash looked up, imagining the blue sky, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

The next few minutes were spent going over everything on the ship to make sure nothing was missing or out of order, checking for any damages, checking the sail, and then once that was all done they finally pulled up the anchor. Thanks to the natural currents of the sea cave, as soon as the anchor was up and they were untied, the ship started drifting its way out on its own. Breakwater stood at the helm for the moment and safely brought his beloved ship out into open water once more.

Outside it was still bright and early. Warm and happy, the ponies at the dock from the port authority even waved goodbye as the Heart of Azure began to leave Blue Coral Island. Despite some… misgivings about the truth of the port authority, Rainbow Dash and the others decided to smile and wave back too.

They were still in the waters of the Sarrarocco Archipelago for now though so Rainbow was going to wait for a bit until she shot up into the sky. Once they passed those outlying rocks she’d take to the air without a second thought. And after flying out on her own for a while she could come back and challenge Gilbert to a race, or go cloud-busting, or scout far ahead on their way back to Malkonrik, or anything that took her using her wings. As long as she was flying with the wind in her mane she’d take it. Everyone else onboard looked happy to be out here again too, even Senax after she had dealt with her feelings and worries yesterday.

Coral Sea might have been right that this was just a new beginning, not an ending. There was a long way to go.

But at least they had a real direction now. Rainbow Dash always knew that something like that, that kind of certainty, helped when it came to being on an adventure. A real, solid, lead and a mystical lost island that perhaps no one else had been to in ages. Yeah, that was something that kept them in good spirits and strengthened their will to get this done.

“Thinking about something, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash blinked and turned her head towards Senax, the merpony standing right beside her. “Oh. Not really. Just… excited I guess.”

“Me too,” Senax said and looked far ahead at the ocean and the horizon beyond. “You know I think you were right about, well, everything here. Relaxing at first, and not trusting the High Priestess. But… but even though I’m not going to let it get to me, if what she said about Ponyseidon is true I want to get along with her. I want to fix things. The Trident isn’t something I care about but maybe we can use it to make things better for everyone here on the Grand Ocean. Or if not, then make sure it can never be used to harm anyone again.”

“It’s one of your people’s ancient treasures…” Rainbow started.

“Yes. Yes. But I’d rather see it destroyed than used for anything bad,” Senax sighed. “Like how… like how Ponyseidon must have used it.”

“We’ll figure it all out. Don’t forget, I’m here to help. And I never let my friends down,” Rainbow grinned and threw a leg over her shoulders.

Senax smiled. “I know. Thank you. It’s just that I really want to believe in her too.”

“Then believe in her. I won’t complain. Be as optimistic as you want, Senax. You deserve to be,” Rainbow said.

“Hmm, I suppose that at least makes it easier to stay in a good mood.”

“Sure does.”

In less than an hour the Heart of Azure had left the waters of the Sarrarocco Archipelago behind entirely. With a single loud hoot, Rainbow Dash rocketed up into the sky.

Comments

[redmar]

The High Priestess does seem to have an ulterior motive but it doesn't have to be anything sinister. I suspect that the Trident isn't the only artifact that is still in Merlantis but also some that Ponyseidon stole from the enslaved people.