Rainbow Dash followed her allies as they trekked toward Tarik's camp, to once and for all end their struggle.
Rainbow followed their lead, as they weaved around dangerous routes, avoiding known habitats of dangerous jungle cats, and the trails of Tarik's recon groups.
"Everything is going well so far..." Etine whispered to the group, "At this pace, we will arrive by day's en--" He halted his voice, his ears perking to a nearby rustling.
"Down!" Y'tieq commanded. Etine, T'kraf, and Y'tieq quikly dove into some nearby foliage. Jideo placed his hoof on Rainbow's back and gestured his head toward a nearby bush. The two quickly leaped into the brush. Rainbow watched in silence as a group of six furious looking zebras walked past their hiding place, no doubt searching for the lost company, with which, Rainbow remembered, they would find false evidence of her death. Etine gestured to the group once the search party was far enough away.
"We need to arrive at Tarik's camp before news of your death reaches him." Etine said, looking away. "Which means that we have precious little time, so we need to move now." Etine started off, and the others followed. About an hour later, Y'tieq stopped the group.
"We need food. Etine and I will go off from the path to search." Y'tieq said. "Jideo, T'kraf. You both know how this works. If we don't return in ten minutes, you continue without us." Jideo and T'kraf nodded as Etine and Y'tieq departed.
"So I guess we have a few minutes to talk then." Rainbow said, turning to her two remaining allies.
"Yes." Jideo confirmed, "So Rainbow... I've been meaning to ask. Where will you go after we're done here... If we win..." His ears drooped and he looked down as he said the last part.
"I'm going to go back to Ponyville. And Jideo... I promise, we will win." She said, taking Jideo's chin in her hoof and lifting it, bringing his eyes to hers. She gave him a smile. He returned it.
"Ponyville?" Jideo asked. Rainbow nodded. "My sister lives near there, in a forest. You might know her."
"Zecora?" Rainbow asked, her head tilting to one side.
"Yes!" Jideo confirmed, perking up. "You do know her!" Rainbow smiled wider. The two of them turned their heads toward T'kraf, to find that he was looking away, his constant frown adorning his face.
"T'kraf..." Rainbow spoke up. T'kraf's ears perked and he turned toward her, though he said nothing. "I've been meaning to ask, and, I hope you don't find it too intrusive, but... What did Tarik do that caused you such pain?" Rainbow looked sympathetically into his eyes. He opened his mouth. Jideo looked over, having not heard T'kraf speak in months.
"I-I... He..." T'kraf started, his voice low and raspy, "He burned my house to the ground, and killed my wife and children right in front of me..." His voice trailed off, returning to nothing as he closed his eyes and looked away. Rainbow watched a tear roll down his cheek as his face held a look of deeper sadness than Rainbow had ever seen before.
"I'm... So sorry..." Rainbow said, feeling tears begin to swell in her eyes as well.
"You did nothing. Tarik is the only one to blame, and for it, we will make him pay." T'kraf said, wiping his face of tears as he looked off into the distance. He seemed to force back his emotions, leaving him with only hatred for Tarik. Perhaps that was exactly what they needed at that point, however.
Rainbow looked at T'kraf questioningly, not sure what to think of his supposed control of his emotions. She was about to speak up, yet was stopped by Jideo, who reached a hoof out and touched her shoulder. She looked to him as he shook his head.
"Rainbow..." Jideo said as Rainbow looked at him. "When this is over... Would I be able to come with you?"
"Back to Ponyville?" She asked, tilting her head.
"Yes. I miss my sister so much, and she tells me all the time of how nice it is there. So much different from the rainforest. So much better." Jideo said, looking down, yet bearing a smile on his face.
"How exactly do you and Zecora talk?" Rainbow asked first.
"Two enchanted stones. Each of us has one, and we can speak to each other through them. I left mine back at the camp, though." Jideo explained. Rainbow nodded. "Do you think you could do it though? Could you bring me back to Ponyville with you?"
"I'll try." Rainbow said, looking into Jideo's eyes and smiling. Jideo smiled back.
"Rainbow..." Jideo spoke up, "May I... May I kiss you?" His ears drooped as he blushed. Rainbow blushed as well.
"Yes. You may." She said. They closed their eyes as their heads drifted ever closer, their lips pursed, prepared to embrace on another.
"Flirt on your own time you two!" Y'tieq called out as he and Etine emerged from the brush. Rainbow and Jideo leaped back in shock, each blushing as they avoided eye contact. "Here." He threw a small portion of greens to Jideo, T'kraf, and Rainbow. They each quickly downed their rations and started on the path again.
The group reached the outskirts of Tarik's camp after about two more hours of walking. They rested within some bushes just overlooking the camp. Y'tieq addressed the group.
"Alright. Now we just need to wait for that recon company we saw earlier to return with evidence of Rainbow's death. We'll go from there once that happens." Y'tieq said. His tone suddenly dropped, "You may want to say your goodbyes now. We won't have much time after we begin."
Jideo looked at Rainbow, and she returned his gaze.
"Rainbow... In case this goes south... I just want you to know that I--" Jideo was cut off as Rainbow moved her hoof to his mouth.
"I know, Jideo. You healed my wounds, and you were a real friend to me in my worst time of need. Ineed you to know that I feel the same way." Rainbow said, smiling at Jideo. He smiled back at her. Once more, their heads drifted ever closer, their eyes closed, their lips pursed , each prepared to feel one another, to feel each other in ways that--
"Hostiles spotted!" Etine said loudly, snapping Rainbow and Jideo out of their action. Etine was watching the camp diligently through a pair of binoculars. He observed carefully as a group of six zebras ran into the camp, carrying the evidence left on the corpse. He saw as the zebras approached Tarik and presented him with the evidence.
Tarik took the bits of Rainbow Dash in his hooves and looked at them questioningly. He nodded to his pirates before departing into a shack behind him.
"I think he bought it." Etine said, turning to the group. "Now we must only wait until night, so we may begin the attack. Rainbow..." He turned to Dash.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"When we go in there, there will be a lot of death, and a lot of blood. I need you to be ready for that." Etine said, looking deep into Rainbow's eyes. She took in a deep breath.
"I think I can handle it." She replied after a brief pause.
"Think, or know." Y'tieq questioned, his voice very stern.
"Think." Rainbow replied, turning to Y'tieq, standing her ground. Y'tieq sighed, annoyed, and turned his gaze toward the camp. She turned to Jideo for reassurance.
"Listen." Jideo spoke up, "Tarik is the one we're after. Let's try to keep casualties to a minimum, alright?" His voice was very steadfast and determined.
"He's right." T'kraf said, shocking the entire group, "Tarik must pay. Not his soldiers. Him." T'kraf was looking angrily and determinedly toward the camp. Etine nodded in agreement.
"Rainbow." Jideo said, drawing her attention. "I brought this with me. You should take it." Jideo withdrew a decorative blade from his saddlebags. The handle of the blade was decorated to look like fire, spewing forth from the hilt, which was shaped like a dragon head. Te blade itself appeared to be a sharpened dragon scale, brought to a point at the end, as well as sharpened on both edges.
Rainbow shuddered as she took the blade in her hoof. The realization of what was about to happen began to set in as she looked at Jideo, a vision of fear in her eyes. He looked back at her reassuringly.
"We all must make sacrifices to attain our goals..." Jideo said, looking deeply into Rainbow's eyes. "When things start to get crazy in there, just remember to stick with us, and follow the flow." He held a stern look on his face.
Rainbow felt that phrase bounce around in her mind...
Follow the flow...
She looked deeply into Jideo's eyes, and then she recognized them. They were the exact jade green eyes from her dream. Rainbow smiled widely as she embraced Jideo in a hug. He jumped slightly at her sudden embrace, before calming himself and hugging her back. She looked up, and saw the blue cored moon rising above them.
"It it time." Etine said to the group. "Leave your bags here. Take only your blade." He instructed.
Rainbow picked up the decorative blade that Jideo had given her. Jideo picked up her broken machete from the ground and approached her back. He used it to knot the back of her mane around.
"In case you need it." Jideo said. "How are your wings?"
"I can feel them getting better. Shouldn't be too long now." She replied, not turning her gaze from the camp in the distance.
"We must move now." Y'tieq commanded. The rest of the group nodded in agreement, as they silently descended the hillside and approached the encampment. "From here on out, no speech unless it is a direct emergency." He said. The others nodded.
The group silently made their way from cover to cover, avoiding being sighted by Tarik's pirates. Soone enough, however, they encountered a pirate they could not pass. His back was to them, and he was unaware of their presence, but there was only one way around him...
"I am sorry, Rainbow..." Etine whispered into Dash's ear. He silently drove his knife into the pirate's neck, holding a hoof over his mouth. The pirate released muffled screams as he bled from his neck. He soon fell down and began to spasm for a moment before going entirely limp. His eyes were open and empty. Rainbow shuddered in fear as Etine dragged the body back and hid it behind them. Rainbow approached the body and brushed her hoof over his eyes, closing them. Etine nodded apologetically.
The group pressed on, quickly yet silently approaching Tarik's shack. They stacked up beside the door, each of them holding their blades. Etine nodded to the group and silently opened the door. The five slowly crept into the shack and saw Tarik sitting in a chair, his back to the door, and to them.
The group was watching Etine carefully, awaiting his command. Just as he was about to signal Rainbow Dash to dispatch him, a blade flew from Tarik's position and caught Etine in the neck. He grasped at it, gasping for air. As he clawed at the blade, he dragged it down, opening the wound further. As his last gasps of air escaped, and his blood flowed freely both into and out of his neck, his eyes rolled back into his skull as he fell to the ground and ceased movement. They all looked toward Tarik, who had turned around in his chair and had a line of numerous pirates behind him.
"You really thought this plan would work, didn't you!?" Tarik asked, his voice just as mocking and cynical as Rainbow remembered.
Tarik's left eye was nearly entirely closed, there now being two scars going vertically and horizontally across it. All that was visible within the socket was a deep black orb. He held a look of disgruntled aggravation on his face as the looked at the remaining members of the group.
"You. The rainbow one. Come forward." Tarik commanded. Rainbow hesitated. Three pirates apprehended Jideo, T'kraf, and Y'tieq. "Do as I say or they all die."
Rainbow sheepishly approached Tarik.
"I see you've found my fan club." Tarik said, winking at T'kraf, who shot him a menacing look. Tarik pouted. "I must say... It was quite clever, trying to fake your own death to fool me. I wouldn't have thought of doing that myself. How are your wings, by the way?"
"Better. You're lucky I can't use them right now." Rainbow said, looking angrily into Tarik's eyes.
"Careful now... Don't say something you'll regret." Tarik said, pointing toward Jideo, T'kraf, and Y'tieq.
As soon as Tarik returned his gaze to Rainbow, Y'tieq sprung into action. He quickly flipped the pirate holding him, taking his weapon. He threw the blade at T'kraf's captor, dispatching him, and quickly spun around and kicked Jideo's captor frightfully hard in the head. Y'tieq picked up the final captor's blade and charged at the line of pirate's behind Tarik. He killed all of them in a blur of a moment, standing triumphantly over the final victim. He looked at Tarik and began to charge. Once he reached Tarik, Tarik quickly leaped from his chair, causing Y'tieq to land face first in it. Tarik spun around bucked hard at the back of Y'tieq's head, crushing in the back of his skull, and causing a spurt of blood to fly at Rainbow, splattering across her face. Rainbow looked on in terror before she felt her sanity slipping.
Rainbow jumped at Tarik, catching him off guard as she pinned him against the wall. She moved her hoof back toward Jideo, who promptly threw the decorative blade to her. She caught it and moved it to her mouth, glaring at Tarik the entire time. Tarik, for the first time since Rainbow had known him, held a genuine look of controlled fear in his eyes.
Tarik moved a fore hoof to his back, gripping a blade. Rainbow saw him do this, and promptly sliced up his leg with her blade.
"AAAAHHHH!" Tarik shouted as he began to bleed from his wound. He dropped his blade to the ground, leaving him unarmed and incapacitated. Rainbow stared furiously into his eyes, which for once looked truly afraid and in pain.
"Do it, Rainbow!" T'kraf yelled, "Finish this!"
Rainbow stared at Tarik, their eyes locking. Rainbow clenched the blade within her teeth, letting out an audible crack from the handle. She raised her head as the blade shined in the light from the one torch in the room, bearing Tarik's reflection within it. He closed his eyes tightly, awaiting the end. Rainbow glared at him once more, before...
*Cha-clang*
The blade audibly hit the ground as Rainbow looked into Tarik's opening eyes.
"I'm done. No more blood. No more killing. No more death." She declared, afterwards turning to face Jideo and T'kraf, who was looking at her furiously. Tarik looked at her thankfully and apologetically, breathing heavily. Rainbow released Tarik from her grasp and walked over to Jideo, embracing him.
"NO!" T'kraf exclaimed, tearing the broken machete from the back of Rainbow's mane. It released flawlessly, slicing through her mane. He charged at Tarik, who defensively picked up Rainbow's blade from the ground in front of him. Tarik tilted his head completely sideways, and trusted upward as T'kraf leaped at him. T'kraf drove his blade downward into Tarik's back. T'kraf severed Tarik's spine with his blade, causing death near instantly, while T'kraf had a blade driven through his gut.
T'kraf began bleeding out quickly atop the dead Tarik, their blades still deep within one another.. T'kraf looked up.
"I-I'm sorry..." He choked out. He coughed up a fair amount of blood before going completely limp atop Tarik.
Rainbow embraced Jideo tightly. The two of them just stood there, holding each other tightly among the remains of their friends and enemies. Everything around them was death, but they had survived. They had made it. They were alive.