Rainbow Dash Around the World

by MagicS

Navigating to the Unfindable

“So how do you feel about having a ship named after you?”

“You know how I feel.”

“I dunno, think you’re kind of lying to your heart.”

“No, I’m pretty sure that’s not what’s happening at all.”

“Suuurrre. You’re totally not crying on the inside to have such a good friend who cares about you so much that he’d name his life’s work after you.”

“I will punch you.”

“Bwahahahaha!” Rainbow Dash laughed uproariously at how annoyed Breakwater had gotten from her teasing. “Lighten up, dude!”

“Unlike you I’m not the type of pony with such a huge ego that I want something that important named after me. I wish he could’ve come up with something more simple, or fitting,” Breakwater sighed.

“The Explorer, The Vagabond, Trench-Diver, Pony Leviathan, The Depth Breaker...” Gilbert started prattling off random ideas.

“The Ponyseidon,” Senax added and then huffed a breath of quiet discomfort.

“Who cares what it’s called? The important thing for a vessel like that is if it actually works and can be mass-produced. Can you imagine all the places it could get to? All the spots, the trenches, and the caves on the ocean floor it could discover and explore?” Daylight Gleam said, an oddly interested twinkle in her eyes. “Just thinking about it is actually bringing the old treasure-hunter me back to the surface...”

Gilbert raised an eyebrow at her. “Was that a pun?”

Daylight blushed. “Absolutely not.”

All of them were at the helm of the Heart of Azure, less than a full day into their trip to the Lost Isle. Rainbow Dash’s teasing had been relentless, as expected. It was just her way of passing the time right now since she didn’t want to stray too far from the ship now that they were going somewhere new. The good news was that so far it was looking like the weather would be on their side for at least the first leg of their journey. Clear skies and calm waters were all any of them could see as they sailed southeast across the Grand Ocean.

They were pretty happy about that, but Rainbow Dash was still alert to the possibility of other problems. She didn’t trust that High Priestess and wouldn’t be surprised if she was somehow spying on them even now. She also didn’t like the fact that they hadn’t seen Godfrey in a while and knew it was only a matter of time before he showed up again. She knew they were getting closer to Bosche’s homeland than ever before with where they were going and was concerned that meant there might be more Boschese Junks around that they could run into. This trip wasn’t a vacation—as happy and positive as they all were to be making it.

But “alert” didn’t mean sitting in the crow’s nest with a frown on her face as she spent the whole time staring out at the ocean for any signs of trouble. Rainbow was still enjoying her time with her friends. She knew Senax and everyone could use that. Maybe she could still race Gilbert in the sky, or Senax in the ocean, or play some games with all of them too.

If everything went well it would still be a while before they arrived at the Lost Isle after all.

Rainbow Dash grinned at Daylight Gleam as she finished thinking. “Well anyways, has that map gotten any smaller? We’re sure that’s how it works?”

Daylight levitated it up with her magic and stared at it intently. “It hasn’t changed much since we checked at Ballast’s but it has changed.”

“Crazy,” Breakwater shook his head. “Never heard of an enchanted map like that.”

“The High Priestess did seem to be well-versed in magic, it does make me wonder what her full capabilities are...” Gilbert murmured.

“Her magic was mostly illusions and tricks to me,” Rainbow Dash snorted.

Daylight shrugged and folded up the map. “Doesn’t really matter what else she might do. The map works and it’s taking us right where we need to go.”

“I sure hope so,” Senax quietly said.

“Well, you know I don’t trust half of what that mare said but I don’t think she was lying when it comes to the Necklace really being there. She’s just got her own reasons for sending us to it,” Rainbow said.

Senax frowned. “I really still want to be optimistic about her and her intentions...”

Rainbow winced. “Yeah, I know, and I’m usually the one saying to keep optimistic out here. It’s just… a feeling. My gut’s pretty trustworthy after all the places I’ve been to and the ponies and other creatures I’ve met.”

“It’s my fault in the first place for being the one who wants to trust her and what she’s done for us the most but… I can’t stop worrying either. I believe in her. I’m telling myself that, but I also can’t stop thinking about the anger I know is inside her. The anger directed towards Ponyseidon… and maybe his descendants,” Senax said.

“If anyone hates you and your tribe just for being his descendants they’re wrong,” Daylight said. “I met your tribe, you’re all good ponies. It’s silly to hold onto hate like that.”

“I would add that if they hate you for any reason they’re wrong,” Gilbert smiled.

A grin tugged up Senax’s lips and she rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”

Rainbow Dash actually had an introspective look on her face, her mind going back to her time in the True North. Blizzard, Karkona, their followers. She breathed deeply and smiled. “I know how powerful anger can be, how long someone can hold onto it and pass hate down from generation to generation. But I know it can be broken too. If we need to, we’ll get through to Coral Sea and the Sarraroccon Order too.” She patted Senax on the back. “And yep, no one could hate you after getting to know you.”

“Thank you too, Rainbow Dash. Knowing what you’ve accomplished… it really does fill me with the belief that we can do anything out here,” Senax reached up and briefly squeezed Rainbow’s hoof.

“You’ve all just gotta be ponies—and griffons—brimming with confidence,” Rainbow nodded a few times. “And if we work together as friends then we really can do anything!”

A groan came from her stomach right after she finished her proud declaration.

Breakwater scoffed and grinned up at her. “I think that means it’s time to eat first.”

Rainbow Dash coughed and lowered herself to the deck with the others, one of the few times recently she stopped using her wings. “Yeah that doesn’t sound too bad right now.”

“Aside from the fact the food isn’t good,” Daylight said before glaring over at Gilbert. “Besides yours. Which the rest of us don’t eat.”

“It’s not my fault that dried meat can taste very good while being very practical to take on a long trip,” Gilbert shrugged.

“Look, in a few days we’re going to stop at another island just like I said and get some better food. For now just grit your teeth and eat your hardtack already,” Breakwater said. “I’ve eaten more of this stuff than any of you and most of the time I was eating stuff even worse back when I was younger. If you can eat what we’ve got now without any complaints I’ll even let you buy a big cake when we dock.”

“Works for me!” Rainbow said and immediately zipped down to head inside the cabin for food.

Daylight rolled her eyes. “Let’s go eat...”

---

Water Forest was an island slightly southeast of The Smoking Island that they had all been to earlier. Not as far east as East Light or as far south as where the Lost Isle should be, but definitely getting closer to that quadrant of the ocean. The reason Water Forest was named as such is because hundreds of years ago, seismic activity caused the middle of the island to partially collapse and turn into a large lagoon. The forest that used to grow there became buried by the ocean’s waters and was now a decently popular tourist attraction. That also caused a fair amount of ships to also be traveling in and out, so the island worked well as a trading hub too.

The island was now mostly one big ring with canals leading into the middle lagoon and a bigger landmass on the far eastern side that was covered in larger mountains and rock formations. The western side still had plenty of flat land for ponies to build and farm on, and that’s where most everyone docked. That’s where the Heart of Azure was now, floating alongside one of the docks, safely tied up while her crew stumbled around the port town of Water Forest looking for food.

“Can we actually find cake here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked around the busy bazaar they were in. Unlike Malkonrik and other places that had more permanent buildings, this place was mostly filled with tents and small wooden shops. “I’m sure they have their own bakeries and stuff, but just saying...”

“I think we can… last time I was here I’m pretty sure I remember seeing stuff like that,” Breakwater said as he pushed through the crowd with the others. Only Rainbow Dash was flying out of the traffic right now, the narrow streets, just dirt, were densely crowded with all sorts of ponies.

There were multiple areas of the bazaar instead of just one big main street but it just made everything more confusing to them as each and every shop was completely different from what was next to it. And they didn’t really plan to stop here for long or anything, they wanted some good food and to get right back out. While it may have been a fun place to visit on a normal occasion they were all far too enamored with getting to the Lost Isle as quickly as possible.

“Even if we can’t find cake there’s definitely going to be plenty of fresh fruit,” Daylight said as she looked around. “I’ve already seen watermelons, cantaloupe, grapes, and pineapples.”

“And our Malkonrik coin is good here?” Senax asked.

Breakwater nodded. “Oh yeah, with all the traders that come through here, any money from the Hundred Kingdoms is good.”

“Then that was a truly useful gift from the High Priestess,” Gilbert nodded.

“I still just wish it wasn’t so crowded here right now,” Daylight grumbled as she was jostled by a few other ponies walking the opposite direction.

“There’s not a lot of space here so the whole town gets squeezed into this one area, and the bazaar is the busiest place in it,” Breakwater said. There really wasn’t any open space at all to maneuver around in. “Just keep your eyes peeled for cake shops… or cake tents.”

“Do we want to get cake from a tent?” Rainbow asked.

“Do you want to have some or have none?” He asked right back.

“Honestly if those are the choices I’m not really sure...”

“Why don’t we split up? There’s plenty of other food besides just cake we wanted to get while we were here,” Gilbert suggested. “We can just go, grab what we want, and meet up at the Heart of Azure. I for one am thinking about looking for a fish monger.”

“You know that’s actually a really good idea, Gilbert. I don’t think any of us need to worry about being mugged here either,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yeah, just try not to get conned by any unscrupulous merchants,” Daylight frowned.

“Absolutely no promises!” Gilbert smiled.

“Ugh,” Daylight shook her head.

Rainbow Dash ignored them and looked at Senax and Breakwater. “So we all splitting up for our own stuff or do you two want me to stick around?”

“You can go look for whatever you want,” Breakwater said. “Like you were saying, Water Forest really isn’t a dangerous island.”

“I think I’d still prefer to stick together with you at least,” Senax said to Breakwater.

The Captain nodded. “Well that’s fine with me. What say we all meet back at the Heart of Azure in two hours? And I promise I’ll have that cake.”

“Roger,” Rainbow saluted and sped off elsewhere without a second word.

“Guess we should follow her example,” Daylight shrugged and let herself be carried away by the crowd.

“And I’m assuming fish mongers will be closer along the water,” Gilbert nodded before also taking to the sky and flying off.

When it was just the two of them, Senax looked over to Breakwater and smiled. “Let’s see what we can find. I hope they have carrot cake.”

It was pretty much two hours on the dot that the assorted crew members returned to the Heart of Azure with their newly acquired wares. Daylight Gleam had fruit, Gilbert had fish (purely for himself), Rainbow Dash had cookies, and Senax and Breakwater had brought back two cakes, one chocolate and one lemon cake. Senax looked dismayed for some reason that the other three didn’t know about.

“Guess we’ve got the good food now for the rest of our trip,” Rainbow said as she put her stuff down on the deck, just keeping it there before either moving it to the cabin or the hold. “How much longer will it take us to get there now anyways?”

“Well uh, judging by where the island looked to be on the map I’d say at least three more days of sailing from Water Forest,” Breakwater said.

“Why not check the map again? It has to have shrunken down a lot by now,” Daylight suggested as the group walked inside of Breakwater’s cabin.

Senax hummed and went over to one of Breakwater’s chests. The chest full of coins was there as well as the one holding the Horn of Listening. “You’re right, it might look a lot different now.” She opened up the chest and quickly pulled out the rolled up map, grasping it by the edges and opening it she took a peak at what it had to offer.

Rainbow Dash and the others also went up right next to her to check it out.

It had indeed changed. The northern, southern, and western sides of the map had shrunken in considerably and most of the Grand Ocean had vanished entirely from the map’s surface. The quadrant they were in was magnified and much more detailed, they could see the shapes of several islands and the currents around them that weren’t visible before. The single spot showing the Lost Isle of the Lizard People was also more pronounced. As was the mystical fog and whirlpools drawn around it.

Rainbow Dash decided to state the obvious as she looked it over: “We’re getting closer.”

Comments

[redmar]

It's good that they are making progress. Getting to the Lost Isle will be difficult though.

[TheCommunistDog]

Hmm