Paradise Found

“Will that be everything?”

Rainbow Dash stole a glance over her shoulder at the shopkeeper as she stuffed a stack of protein bars into her backpack. “Yeah, I’m good,” she said, then straightened up to dig into her pocket.

The wizened old stallion behind the counter idly scratched at the coarse stubble under his chin while the pegasus counted out the bits. His head tilted in curiosity. “I can tell you’re not from around these parts. You on an adventure of some kind?”

“Huh?” Rainbow asked, then remembered what she was wearing. The khaki cargo shorts, button-down shirt, hiking boots, and pith helmet did sort of make her stick out like a sore thumb, especially in a little resort town like this. “Oh, right…”

The shop pony said nothing. He only smiled and waited for Dash to continue.

“Yeah, it’s kiiiind of a long story,” she said after a moment. “I’m looking for a friend of mine. She’s out in the jungle, see.” Her arm waved behind her in no direction in particular. She paused to set the bits on the counter and shoulder her backpack.

The pegasus looked up to see the stallion was still staring at her. “What? Okay, so the outfit’s a little tacky. I put it together for a Daring Do cosplay a couple years ago, but all the gear works!” She tugged a compass from one of her many pockets to show him.

The stallion only chuckled goodnaturedly. “Hey, I won’t judge. You go find that friend of yours. Best of luck, and come back any time!”

Rainbow Dash grunted noncommittally and took her leave. She wasn’t here to make new friends, but to find an old one.

Outside the general store, Rainbow Dash eyed the beach marking the edge of the line of luxury resorts. This was definitely not the island Gilda described, but if the hastily drawn map she’d smuggled out of the castle was right, it was the last one along the way. Not even she could fly a straight shot out that far into the ocean. Island hopping was the way to go.

The pegasus readjusted the straps of her backpack until her wings were out and free to move. I wonder if Gilda’s island has beaches like this? she thought to herself. No time to dwell, however. There’d be plenty of time to catch some rays once she’d gotten the closure she wanted.

After a few stretches, Rainbow Dash crouched, then sprang into the air. Her wings unfurled and effortlessly propelled her skyward. The scenic beach ringed by charming hotels rapidly shrank behind her. It was time for the moment of truth. Was the island real?

Hours seemed to feel like days to Rainbow Dash. Maybe it was the fatigue burning through her body. Maybe it was the rate at which she was going through protein bars and the water in her canteen. Either way, looking at nothing but an endless sea as far as the eye could see got old really fast.

Rainbow Dash grunted in irritation as she alighted on a nearby cloud. It was flimsy, but just able to support her. She took the opportunity to work the kinks out of her sore wings as she consulted her map once again.

Art had never been the pegasus’ strong suit. As such, her hand-drawn map of the South Celestial Sea and the island chain just south of where Gilda’s island should be was sloppy at best. In her defense, Rainbow Dash didn’t know how long Twilight would be gone while she was copying from the Friendship Map.

It’s gotta be there. I saw it, she thought as her eyes traced over the sloppy lines of her target. It had only appeared when she set the journal down on the edge of the map. It was almost like a glitch, shimmering pixels in a broken hologram. It was hard to see from the way it flickered in and out, but it was there, and she was going to find the real thing.

With a sigh, Rainbow Dash packed the map away and tested her wings. “Just one more hour,” she said aloud, “If I come up with nothing after an hour, I’ll turn around.”

One hour became two. Two hours became four. By the time the Sun began its descent to the western horizon, Rainbow Dash decided it was time to stop screwing around. She only had just enough food and water to make it back to the closest island. It was time to turn around.

Rainbow Dash sighed in disappointment. After three days of flying from one island after another, this was where her journey ended. Oh well, guess that journal was full of it after all.

It was in that moment, as the pegasus banked to the left, that she caught it in the corner of her eye. A patch of land sat far below in the distance, all alone in a still sapphire sea.

Rainbow Dash’s attention snapped to the distant island, and she scrutinized it with an intensity she usually saved for reading Daring Do books (and writing Daring Do fanfiction). She hardly noticed that she’d turned toward it until she realized it was looming larger.

As she got closer, she picked up more and more features. It was a lush jungle island with sandy beaches. Quickly, Rainbow Dash scanned for more features she remembered from the journal. There! A wall of cliffs. And hiding just behind the clouds, a mountain rose from the trees. Its stoney face was dotted with green plantlife like mold on an old piece of bread.

That has to be it. Rainbow Dash thought. Hope and giddiness swelled in her chest, and a smile spread on her face. Her throat tightened as she got close enough to pick out individual trees. Gilda could be here! Is she still alive?

Finally, at long last, Rainbow Dash could get the answers she needed. If there was no griffon to be found, and this wasn’t the island after all, at least she could rest here before plotting a course back to civilization. And if Gilda was here? Well, then the real work of bringing her home would begin.