Rainbow Dash was bored.

She sat at a white table in the Canterlot Library. She looked at Little D as he paced back and forth in front of a very large map of the world he had hung in front of the library’s large bank of windows. He held his green book out at arms length as he tried to find his home.

“Ugh,” Rainbow groaned and pulled at her face boredly. “What’s taking you so long?”

“Things like this take time, Rainbow, and I’ve only been searching for...” He taped one of the silver buttons on his black glasses. “Oh, it’s been an hour already, huh?” Rainbow Dash groaned again and let her head fall onto the desk.

“This. Is. So. Boring!” She punctuated each word by hitting her head into the desk.

“Hey, hey, hey,” D said without even glancing back. “Don’t give yourself a concussion just yet. I still need you for when we find my old place.”

“Well hurry up and find it then,” Rainbow moaned. “This is way too boring.”

“Yeah, you’ve said that that a couple times already,” D said, finally turning around to look at Rainbow Dash. “You do know that you’re free to help me at anytime, right?” Rainbow Dash groaned in response and slowly got out of her chair. She walked down to Little D.

“What do you want me to do anyway?” Dash asked tiredly.

“Just help me try and find Epona’s Isle on this map.” He pointed to the large map in front of them. “I didn’t think it would take this long to find a single island, but...” He glared at the map. “There are, like, a ton of islands in the world.”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the map and noticed that, it was, in fact, dotted with Islands large and small.

“Now, here we are.” He pointed to a landmass at the left side of the map. “And there is everything else.” He made a wide gesture to the entire rest of the map. “Epona’s Isle is somewhere in there.”

“Really?” Rainbow asked boredly.

“Yes, really. Now what I can’t figure out is,” he waved a hand at the map. “Where the hell is it?”

“Oh is that all that was tripping you up?” Rainbow asked sarcastically.

“Give me a break, ok? I have no idea of what the hell I’m looking for.”

“What makes you think I have any idea of what to look for?”

“You have fresh young eyes, RD, maybe you can see something I can’t,” D moaned helplessly. “I hate maps!”

“Calm down D, we’ll take care of this.” She turned and faced the map. “It’s just gonna take a while.”

“At least I have someone who can join me in my misery.”

“Yeah.” D and Rainbow stood together in silence for a few more minutes before Little D spoke up.

“This sucks.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One Hour Later
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Little D rubbed his tired eyes. “What the hell is it with this journey?” he asked himself. “First I had to read every book in a library, then I had to read every history book in the Canterlot Archives, and now I’m stuck here looking at maps.”

“Quit yer whinin’,” Rainbow spat. “I’m stuck doin’ this too.”

“Yeah, I know you are.” D looked at the map hanging on the wall. “You wanna take a break?”

“A break sounds nice,” Rainbow agreed.

“Well, wanna just wander around the gardens for a while? The fresh air oughta’ do us some good.”

“Sounds like a plan.” The pair walked outside. The smell of clean air and the singing of birds washed over them.

Little D took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Oh man that’s the stuff.” He stretched his arms above his head with a groan. “I can’t wait ‘till I’m done with all this researching crap.”

“I know whatcha’ mean,” Rainbow groaned. “I’m not used to being cooped up like this.”

“Me neither,” D nodded and started down the library’s stairs. “Been a traveler just about all my life. Just stopin’ in a town every once in a while for some company, ya’ know?”

“Really?” Rainbow asked as she followed D down the stairs.

“Yeah,” D nodded. “It gets lonely out there.” He lead the way down the white gravel path.

“How so?”

“Well,” D thought for a minute as he escorted Rainbow to the gardens. “For the most part its just wandering around aimlessly and washing up in random towns. I try spreading the word of Death and people pass me off as a crazy cultist. Of course, it isn’t true, but it never stops a large group of fools committing suicide because they got the message all turned around.”

“They did what?”

“Hey it’s not my fault. I very clearly stated that Death isn’t a murder-loving monster that feed on the souls of the the dead and that he should instead be considered a powerful omnipresent being that is simply doing his job. No clue how the ‘suicide makes Death happy’ message came out of it, but, whatever.” The pair continued along the path in silence and soon found themselves in the Canterlot Gardens.

“Dibs on that tree!” shouted Rainbow Dash. She zipped up to a nearby tree and settled down on one of its branches.

“What are you doing?” D asked with a smirk.

“Relaxin,’” Rainbow replied casually.

“In a tree?”

“In a tree,” she confirmed and closed her eyes. “Come back in an hour or two and we can get back to work.”

“How can you stay up there that long?”

“I’ve had years of practice D. I kinda’ mastered the art of Tree Napping.”

“Uh, alright then. But if you fall out, I’m totally sayin’ I told you so.”

“Yeah, yeah, just get outta here will ya’? You’re takin’ up my napping time.”

“Sorry, I’ll be leaving now.” D turned and walked deeper into the gardens. “Sure is nice in here.” D smiled and took off his glasses. “Man, I get so tired of wearing these damn things.” He closed them and put them in his breast pocket. “Still, I should count my blessings. I’ve come so far in just a few short days. I can’t believe I’m already well on my way with this journey. Already got the first leg of things done to boot.” He smiled up at the sky. “I’m starting to think that things are going to work out just fine.”

“That is definitely not going to work out just fine.”

“Beg pardon?” D looked around for the voice.

“What do you mean it’s not going to work? It’s totally fine.”

“That’s what I’m sayin’.” D turned to his left and narrowed his eyes. He quickly pulled out his glasses and put them on as he crept toward the voices.

“No, it ain’t fine,” the voice of an older man scolded. “I’ve been workin’ in these gardens before yer pappy was even born.”

“I know that Gramps, but believe me when I say that this thing works wonders,” replied the voice of a younger man. Little D followed the sound of the voices into a clearing. There was an old man who had a well trimmed gray beard and wore a pair of old overalls, a faded yellow stained shirt, muddied black work boots and an old beaten straw hat.

“That new fangled machine ain’t worth the scrap it’s made out of,” the old man said bitterly.

“Look, Gramps, I know you don’t like change, but sometimes its for the best,” the younger man said kindly. He was dressed in a ratty blue hoodie, blue jeans, and blue sneakers. His blue hair was cut short and he was standing in front of what looked to be a bulky push mower. “Look, you’re getting older, you can’t deny that, but you can’t keep using that old push mower anymore. This gasoline powered one works way better.”

“I don’t care if it’s powered by Celestia’s sun! I don’t like that thing. Its way too noisy. It’ll scare the animals away and make everything smell like Manehatten.”

“What the hell are they talking about?” Little D asked himself. “That heap of junk there?”

“Gramps, yeah, it might smell bad, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work, I mean, take yourself for an example.”

“Watch it.”

“All jokes aside Gramps, I’m just worried about you is all. Thats why I bought this thing in the first place.”

“Oh I know,” the old man said, his tone softened. “I just don’t think it’s best for the garden.”

“Would you at least like to try it out?” the young man asked. “You just gotta turn this key here.”

“This one right here?” the old man walked behind the machine’s handles and turned the key. Suddenly the a loud roaring erupted from the machine as smelly black smoke billowed out of the top. “Son of a--,” the old man quickly turned off the mower and glared at his grandson. “I told you this would happen! Look, all the birds were scared away!” The old man pointed to an enormous flock of birds fleeing the garden.

“Look, I know it’s not the quietest machine, but it’ll really save you a lot of time!”

“I don’t care how much time you think I could save. Look around kiddo. You think this can be done with a powered machine? Every inch of these gardens is taken care of by me using my push mower and a pair of hedge clippers. I don’t need no heap of junk messin’ up the lawn.”

“But I-”

“No buts. Honestly, you kids these days are too dependent on your new fancy technology. You just need to learn how to appreciate relying on the older models.”

“Older...models?” Something about that struck D hard. “Wait a minute. Wait just a damn minute here.” He put a fist to his chin and thought for a moment before his eyes lit up with a stroke of brilliance. “I’m an idiot.” He turned and ran away from the clearing. “I’m an idiot!” He stormed through the bushes and soon found himself at the tree Rainbow Dash was sleeping in. “Yo! Rainbow! We gotta get back to the library right now!”

“Can’t. Too sleepy.”

“You can sleep later! I think I got a great lead so wake up!” Little D slammed his fist into the tree, causing half of the leaves, and Rainbow Dash, to fall out in a heap of the ground.

“Hey what was that fo--,” Little D picked her up and slung her over his shoulder before she could finish her statement.

“Be mad at me later. We’ve got more important things to worry about right now.” D began running up the white path towards the library. “The map. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. I’m such an idiot.”

“What the hay are you talking about?”

“I had the maps all wrong Rainbow, it’s been over four thousand years since I’ve been home, and with all the wars and land disputes the world has seen it’s more than likely that Epona’s Isle is something completely different now.”

“Wait, you’re how old again?”

“Gonna guess around four thousand and four thousand twenty three and a half.”

“Really?”

“No, well, yeah, ok, the first part is right but I’m just jokin about that last part, but that’s not the point.” Little D sprinted up the stairs of the Canterlot Library and threw the door open. “I’ve been using a newer map when really I should have been using one that’s four thousand years old or so.” D tossed Rainbow Dash into a nearby chair and ran towards a long set of tall filing cabinets. He landed a punch on the side of the row of cabinets and a long drawer shot out. “Gotta be a map in here.” Little D began frantically searching through the cabinet. He slowly pulled out a large roll of worn, brown parchment. He carefully unrolled it and smiled. “Bingo!” He threw to map at the large window and used his magic to pin it up. “Alright Rainbow. Eyes open and look for anything that could possibly be Epona’s Isle.”

“Got it.” She lept out of her seat and flew up to the very top of the map and began scanning the land masses. Slowly she lowered herself down towards the bottom of the map in her slow search for the Isle. When she reached the bottom she shuffled a few feet to her left and began her slow ascent. She repeated these steps at least a hundred times, each repetition growing more and more tedious. “Ugh, D, are you sure that you’re usin’ the right map here Lil’ D?” She waited for a response and greeted only by silence. “Lil’ D?” She turned and saw D floating about halfway up the map. A grin plastered on his face.

“Three thousand, huh?”

“What was that?”

“Three thousand miles. Thats how close my old home is from here.” He shakily pointed to a spot the map. “This is modern day Manehattan right here,” D pointed to the eastern coast of Equestria where a single strip of land jutted out. “And just a few inches to the right; my home.” Rainbow Dash looked at a large island.

“Woah. It’s huge.”

“Yeah,” D was quiet for a moment. “Let’s go.”

“Huh? Go where?”

“It’s way too far to fly there. We’ll have to get a boat from from Manehatten and drive there. I’m not gonna lie, Dash. Once we get out to sea, the marine life gets a little bit, er, hostile.”

“Oh yeah? Well no dumb fish is gonna stop me from helping my friend.”

“Thank you, wait a minute...‘Friend’?”

“Yeah. You’re my newest pal. Why do you seem so surprised?”

“Well, given the circumstances and the very short amount of time you’ve even known me I just thought that--”

“What? Did you think that we would all hate you or something? We don’t even know you.”

“Exactly my point. You don’t know me. I showed up out of the blue and I was greeted with nothing but smiling faces. I mean, sure, some of you girls were screaming on the inside but most other people would have tried to run me out of town the second I stepped foot in the front gate.”

“That’s because we’re not like everybody else. We’re different. Sure, you kinda had to explain that you’re basically a demigod on an all important mission from Faust herself to prevent the end of the world to make us trust you, but you’re my friend now and I know the others feel the same way.”

“Even Applejack?” D asked skeptically.

“Well...”

“Regardless, are you positive the others trust me?”

“One hundred percent!” Rainbow smiled and gave D a big thumbs up.

“You...you really mean that, don’t you.”

“‘Course I do. Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

“I don’t believe it. Heh. A-heh heh.” D began chuckling softly, then it erupted into a roar of hearty laughter. He lowered himself to the floor, sat down, and continued to laugh. “By Faust She really means it! Ra-hah-hah-hah-ha!”

“Hay! Just what are you laughing at?”

“It’s, heh heh, it’s just that. Oh Faust gimmie a minute.” Little D took a shaky breath and tried to calm himself. “Ok. It’s just that it’s been ages since anyone trusted me like that. Even Celestia didn’t trust me right away. It took years for her to even consider warming up to me.”

“Yeah, well, I just trust you and I know for a fact that the others do too. Even A.J. trusts you.”

“She just has a profound hatred of me.”

“Hate is a pretty strong word, D.”

“Yeah, but it’s apt. In any case it just really means a lot to me to hear you say that you trust me and that you consider me your friend.” Little D sighed deeply. “Now come on. We got a train to Manehatten to catch.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile In the Manehatten Sewers
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A lone figure sat against a filth-covered wall. The sun shone down through a grate above him and through it, the roar of traffic and the aroma of a thousand different food carts wafted in. The young man dressed all in brown sat with his eyes closed.

“Is he gonna be alright?” a voice asked.

“Of course he is,” another voice confirmed. “He’s been through worse.”

“Yeah, but that attack was just so sudden.”

“Under normal circumstances, I would agree, but you have to remember that he was pushed in front of a train by some robbers.”

“I suppose so.” The first voice was quiet for a moment. “I hate it when he does that. It’s so scary.”

“I know it is, Numb Nuts. John hates it just as much as we do.”

“Ungh. Pork chop sandwiches.”

“And speaking of Johnny. Looks like he’s awake.”

John weakly opened his eyes. “I did it again, huh guys? How bad was it this time?”

“Check the paper.”

“What paper?” John looked at his hands still caked in dried blood. In his left hand he clenched a newspaper tightly. He slowly opened his and and read the headline aloud. “Forty seven dead in train car massacre.” He chuckled darkly and stuffed the paper into his jacket pocket. “This always happens. Just when things start to go smoothly I do something to fuck everything up.”

“Johnny, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Spare me that bullshit. I killed all those people. The blame goes on me and me only.”

“John.”

“Whatever. Now’s not the time to be all mopey. Little D needs my help. I can just feel it.”

“So you’re gonna make your super cool intro next time?” Numb Nuts asked, making John smile.

“Nah, but I got a few things I need to pick up.”

“Like what?”

“Well, first of all, I need a rowboat, a record player, some speakers, and a rain slicker.”

“What for?”

“You’ll see.”

Author's Note

I've been watching too much One Piece lately...~Yo Yoi!~