//------------------------------// // Why Everyone Hates Bosche // Story: Rainbow Dash Around the World // by MagicS //------------------------------// “A slave run? You’re telling me these guys have come all the way out here to enslave the locals?” Rainbow Dash asked as she kept her eyes on the steadily approaching vessel. “It’s what Bosche does,” Breakwater said. “They raid other islands and sometimes even the more vulnerable Hundred Kingdoms. For food, valuables, and slaves most of all that they then put to work doing hard labor on their ships or back in their own country. They’re a slave country. Bosche is a relatively large island but it’s a rough place that was never supposed to support such a large population and society, it bred a culture of greed and selfishness as the ponies from there started to spread out and search the rest of the Grand Ocean. Slaves brought back there get put into mineral mines, or work on building ships at port, or become servants for wealthy Boschese.” “A country of wicked ponies,” Gilbert said with a slow shake of his head. “They’re not just simple pirates or have only one ship like Godfrey either. They have a full regimented navy with many ships. It’s why despite being the most hated country in the Grand Ocean no one has managed to do anything about them,” Breakwater said. “Now that you mention it I remember seeing a sign on a bar back in Malkonrik saying “No Boschese Allowed”. So that explains that I guess,” Rainbow snorted. “Not an uncommon sign in the Hundred Kingdoms,” Breakwater nodded. “Boschese ships have given us trouble in the past too. Despite technically not being pirates they act the same way that Godfrey or other pirates would when they come across small ships like ours. We’re just another target and group of potential slaves to them,” Daylight said. “So what do we do?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We can’t just let them go and enslave the ponies here!” “I concur,” Breakwater said. “Even if we didn’t need to ask around we certainly can’t let Bosche get away with this.” “At least they only brought one vessel out here on this run. Obviously they didn’t expect much resistance from the locals,” Gilbert said. “Even if it’s just one ship it’s going to have a full company of soldiers onboard. And they’ve definitely spotted us so its not like we can sneak up on them or anything,” Breakwater said. “The Boschese won’t be convinced to just leave either,” Daylight said. “There’s not going to be any bartering or persuading when it comes to them. If they’re out here at the Sea Lion Reefs then they’re here for slaves and nothing else. And we’re just going to look like five more slaves to them.” Senax shuddered, her hooves tightening around the wheel. “S-So what do we do? We’re completely outnumbered…” “Well what are we dealing with?” Rainbow Dash asked. “They’ve got trained soldiers, but so what? I’ve fought soldiers before. What weapons do they fight with? I’m still the one in the dark here. Fill me in and I’ll come up with something.” “They don’t have cannons at least—not on these types of Junks. Black powder is difficult for Bosche to manufacture, so they mostly have ballista’s on their ships,” Breakwater said. “Ballista?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Think of it like a giant mounted crossbow.” Rainbow Dash snorted. “Great. Well, that’s easier to dodge and deal with than a cannonball being shot at me…” “Their soldiers wear leather armor and chainmail beneath for protection. I always thought it sounded kind of crazy to wear that kind of stuff at sea. If you fall overboard there’s no way for you to swim and stay afloat with that stuff weighing you down. But apparently they’re either too stupid or too fearless to worry about that,” Breakwater shrugged. “As for personal weaponry I think they mostly fight with spears and other polearms. A Junk like that should have… 20 to 30 soldiers on it. And the rest of the crew won’t just sit around if it comes to a fight either.” “Alright… only that many? I was almost scared for a second,” Rainbow Dash grinned. Breakwater frowned. “You’re not thinking of fighting them all on your own like you were with Godfrey’s crew, right?” “Of course not, heh.” Rainbow Dash’s grin widened and she winked at him. “I know the value of teamwork.” “So what’s the plan then? It seems like you’ve come up with something,” Daylight asked. “Well if they’re after slaves then they’re not going to just fire at us and attack us, right? They’ll want us to surrender peacefully so we aren’t injured or killed.” Rainbow shrugged. “That’s right,” Breakwater nodded. “So if they’re coming after us… let’s slow down and make it easy for them,” Rainbow said. “That’s how we can take them by surprise. I’ve got a few ideas on how to deal with them…” "A moment, please,” Gilbert interjected. “But won’t their ship also be carrying a number of slaves already? What do we do about them?” “That’s true. If they’re out here to catch more slaves I doubt there will be too many onboard that one so they could make room for soldiers and the ones they plan to catch, but there will definitely be some on it. Probably servants forced to do the tougher, more menial work on deck. We’ll just have to rescue them and bring them onto the Heart of Azure while dealing with the soldiers.” Breakwater said. “And drop them off at the Reefs I suppose,” Daylight sighed. “That’s really the best we can do for them…” “It’s already a vast improvement over being stuck on a Bosche ship,” Breakwater said. “Very true. We shouldn’t forget that,” Gilbert nodded along. “So do I stop us here then if we’re not going further into the reefs?” Senax asked. “Yeah!” Rainbow Dash shouted before Breakwater could answer. “I’ll tell you all what we’re going to do—now it’s time for us to get ready and kick some butt!” Vessels in the Bosche Fleet did not have individual names. They were given mere number designations to keep the various captains and other sailors from developing attachments. The Junk sailing to the Sea Lion Reefs in search of slaves was #152 and it was commanded by Captain Calhoun, who answered directly to Admiral Bin’Tavy, the highest voice and most decorated officer of Bosche’s navy. What was a routine raid had changed slightly when word came from their barrelpony in the crow’s nest that a ship had been spotted ahead of them. They weren’t expecting any others to be here at the Reefs, but Captain Calhoun merely saw it as a pleasant surprise when word came back about the size of the vessel. Junk #152 boasted a regiment of 24 highly trained and well-armed soldiers, such a small vessel couldn’t hope to compete with the Boschese soldiers under his command. And besides them there were a dozen other members of the crew and a dozen slaves onboard working as deck hooves. There was surely nothing to fear from one small ship. That’s why Captain Calhoun was still relaxing inside his personal chambers, where the scent of tea and incense hung in the air. His elaborate red and black uniform fit him snugly and the silk, embroidered, coat he wore over it dropped down to his brown fetlocks. A monocle sat over his right eye to help his vision, while a red dome-shaped cap fit over his head and let his orange mane fall down the backside of his head. In his hooves he held a teapot that he poured the pungent drink from and into a ceramic cup. The leaves were some of the highest quality that a Boschese could find, only the Admirals and higher nobility could get better. Steam came up from the hot beverage, he put his nose above the cup and inhaled deeply to take in the wondrous scent. But before he could lift the cup and take a drink, a light knock came to the door of his chambers. A single knock and no more. Captain Calhoun’s eyes narrowed in annoyance, but in the end he grabbed a bell on his table and rang it—the sign for the visitor to come in. A young stallion came in, his head bowed in respect, eyes never once leaving the floor, and he stopped ten feet from the Captain’s table. “A thousand pardons, Captain, but I bring news from the Commander on the vessel that was spotted.” “Oh?” Calhoun smiled but did not even look at the stallion. “Yes, Captain, the vessel has stopped and dropped anchor in the water’s close to the Sea Lion Reefs. It seems they are waiting for us to reach them. The Commander believes they wish to surrender peacefully and without loss of life. We’ll be upon them in only five minutes, he asked that you come to facilitate the capture of the vessel and whomever may be aboard.” “Excellent then!” Calhoun chuckled to himself and rose from his desk, momentarily putting his tea time on hold. “We haven’t even reached our true destination and things are going even more splendidly than planned. You are dismissed, report to the Commander that I will be with him shortly.” “Yes, Captain,” the stallion made a sharp about face and left. Still not having once made eye-contact with his Captain. As soon as the door closed, Calhoun reached for his tea cup and took a small sip. He could at least have that much. And a moment later he was walking out on deck, head held high and chest puffed out, the very model of a Boschese Captain. The ship under his command was coming to a stop in the waters, the various workers and slaves in charge of the rigging and sails slowing it down. His lip nearly curled when he saw a couple of manacled slaves out of the corner of his eyes but he restrained himself. As Captain he was above such things. Overhead a large net full of barrels was being moved from one side of the ship to the other, while more ropes ladders and winches allowed practically any pony to crawl up and down the masts and sails. It always brought a smile to his face to see so many working in unison to keep a ship functioning. All for the glory and wealth of Bosche. There were also six deadly ballistas, three on each side of the Junk, which were kept in excellent working condition. Currently the three on the port side were manned and pointed at their quarry. His soldiers were gathered up in three lines of eight, all of them wielding spears they kept pointed up to the sky. They stood in the middle of the ship, facing to the port side where they were now coming up alongside this other small vessel. All of them were motionless and expressionless, perfect soldiers of Bosche who obeyed their orders without question or hesitation. Commander Grigor was standing beside the soldiers and he swiftly walked over to his Captain and saluted as soon as he noticed his approach. “Sir!” Grigor said. Like Calhoun he wore the same red and black uniform, but without the silken overcoat. “What do we have, Commander?” Calhoun asked. “Small recreational vessel, looks like something for personal travel, I spotted four on deck. Right now they’re all waiting at the side of their ship for us. No weapons, but one is a unicorn and another is a griffon, and the third one is… some creature I don’t recognize, but it looks vaguely like a pony. The fourth appears to be the captain of the ship by the look of him, just an earth pony.” “Well let’s say hello then,” Calhoun smiled. Junk #152 came to a full and complete stop and one of the slavers pressed a lever on deck that released its heavy anchor into the water. They were now right next to the other vessel, it right off the port side of their ship, completely dwarfing it in both size and crew. Calhoun stared across the barely ten feet of water between the ships and smiled at the unfortunate prey that had crossed their path. At least they were smart enough to not try and fight, but they didn’t seem very afraid of the Bosche ship right next to them. As he looked he noticed that they all wore rather serious and calm expressions on their faces. Perhaps they didn’t fully realize the situation they were in and thought they could talk or barter their way out of things? He noticed that there were four barrels sitting on the deck next to them. Valuables of some kind that they thought they could use to appease them? He kept his disarming smile on his face anyways, no need to frighten them and potentially get anyone injured or killed, a future slave was no good dead. His eyes momentarily drifted to the strange, female he was fairly sure, creature standing with the others. Her narrow face, webbed ears, and spiky green mane was an unusual sight. Perhaps she could be more valuable because of that? It was an enticing thought. “Greetings,” Calhoun said across the water. “I take it you realize who we are and that’s why you’ve decided to surrender to us without a fight?” “That’s right. I’m Captain Breakwater of the Heart of Azure, and we all knew better than to try and fight against a Boschese ship,” the earth pony said. “Very good, very good,” Calhoun nodded. “Are you aware of what comes next then? I would like this to go as smoothly and comfortably as possible.” “Actually I was hoping that perhaps we could give you something—as a gift—and you’d let us go on our way,” Breakwater said. Ah, there it is. Calhoun thought. So many thought they could simply give tribute and avoid ending up in chains at the end of it. It was always so amusing. He figured it might be fun to play along so he kept smiling as he allowed the earth pony to continue. “And what do you have to give us then?” “Rum. Four barrels of it, the finest you can get from Rum Haven. We were coming here in the first place to trade with the locals,” Breakwater slapped a hoof on top of one of the barrels. “It’s… it’s all we’ve got. Honest.” He nodded to the griffon. “Gilbert here can fly em right over to your ship and then we can both go our separate ways. No fuss.” Calhoun brought a hoof up to his chin and looked at his Commander, faux thinking it over. “Well that sounds like a fair proposition. Have your griffon bring them over.” As “Gilbert” did so, Calhoun’s eyes roamed over the two mares on the boat. The unicorn had an attractive face, though marred somewhat by a small scar over her eye and a hardset frown. She would still likely be a good catch just for being a unicorn. The other one he still didn’t know what to make of, but he was certain some wealthy noble would find her interesting when he brought her back to Bosche. The griffon, under the watchful eyes of the patient soldiers, unloaded all four barrels of rum onto the deck, right between Calhoun and Grigor. He then flapped back to his ship to stand beside his friends. “Ah, although I most certainly prefer the pleasant taste and aroma of tea, I will enjoy sampling this rum as well,” Calhoun said as he rubbed a hoof over the top of the nearest barrel. “So that’s it then? You’ll let us go now, right?” Breakwater asked, gulping in nervousness. The sudden act of fear from a pony who looked so certain and calm earlier amused Calhoun. Perhaps he realized what was coming next? “Well… I’m afraid that rum isn’t all you have for us. Despite what you may think,” Calhoun smirked. “Now. I think you would like to do this the easy way. You will lie down, you won’t move or resist, and my soldiers will come onboard your vessel to affix shackles to your limbs. After that-” “After that nothing,” Breakwater interrupted and rolled his eyes. By his sides the griffon and mares smirked. Calhoun paused, mouth open. Commander Grigor looked surprised and he was certain a few of the soldiers even reacted, frowning and blinking in confusion or anger. “Excuse me?” Captain Calhoun narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice dangerously, the veneer of affable politeness and charm totally dropped. Breakwater narrowed his eyes right back at him. “You’re not getting anything today, you Bosche scum.” Rainbow Dash was inside of a barrel. She was cramped and uncomfortable, but it was all part of the plan and so far it was going well. These Boschese guys hadn’t been suspicious about the barrels at all. Maybe if one of them had carried the barrels they might’ve noticed, but with Gilbert placing them down they had no idea. And if he had placed the barrels in the right order then she should be right next to the Bosche captain or whoever was in charge of the ship. Rainbow Dash kept a smug grin on her face as she heard the muffled conversation going on. She was just waiting for her signal to act. “-you Bosche scum.” “How dare you, you insignificant insect! Your boat will be nothing but ash as we-!” “Yeah, whatever, RAINBOW DASH! HE’S RIGHT NEXT TO YOU!” Before the Bosche Captain could react or wonder what the hay Breakwater was talking about, Rainbow Dash stood up and pushed the lid off of the barrel. Yep, Gilbert and Breakwater had done their job. She was grinning right in the face of a startled, monocle-wearing, pony. She could hear the gasps and shouts of several other ponies as they began to move into action, but she was acting first. With the lid still in her hooves, she clocked the monocled pony in the back of the head with it, grabbed him by his coat, and flung him overboard. That was a satisfying splash. “Captain!” Another uniformed pony on the other side of the barrels yelled. Rainbow Dash now looked at him, the soldiers, and the other ponies on deck. She noticed that all the soldiers and the others in uniform were earth ponies. Maybe all Boschese were? That made things a little easier for her. The three ballistas here were also now being aimed at Rainbow Dash, with the gunners behind them looking tense and uncertain. They probably knew they couldn’t actually fire, it was too dangerous to do something like that while aiming up and down your own deck. They were liable to hit each other from where Rainbow Dash was anyways. The soldiers themselves had lowered their spears and were in the process of already forming up to attack Rainbow Dash when their commander spoke up again. “Get her! Don’t let that pegasus get away!” The soldiers glared at her and took a step forward when Rainbow Dash grinned and started shaking her hoof. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, you might want to go rescue your Captain first, cause I’m pretty sure unconscious ponies can’t swim too well.” The Commander gasped in horror and turned to shout at the other Boschese on deck. “Deck hooves! Rescue your Captain, jump in and save him now!” As soon as those orders were given, Rainbow Dash saw a bunch of other stallions run across the deck of the Junk to the port side, jumping off and into the water. Even the ponies at the ballistas on this side jumped off and in. None of the soldiers moved to do so however, they would’ve had to remove their armor and chainmail to dive in as well. “And soldiers!” The Commander continued. “Kill that pegasus! Kill them all!” “There we go,” Rainbow said and fully hopped out of the barrel right as the first group of soldiers came at her. Four soldiers shot towards Rainbow Dash and swiftly thrust their spears at her without any extra words or warning. Rainbow Dash just as swiftly grabbed the barrel she came out of and used it as a shield. When the four spearheads stabbed through one side of it she flipped the barrel over and twisted it around, yanking the spears out of the soldiers’ grips and then tossed the barrel and spears into the water behind her as well. The now weaponless soldiers didn’t recklessly press the attack against her though, instead they smartly stepped back as a new row of six soldiers came at her. Rainbow Dash dove behind two of the barrels of actual rum to avoid the spears from the soldiers. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Half a dozen spears stabbed into the wooden barrels and were withdrawn and just as quickly Rainbow Dash heard the rum inside start gushing out. There goes the rum… She sighed. Quickly jumping to her hooves, she kicked the two barrels towards the soldiers. The barrels fell over and started to roll across the deck, the Bosche soldiers though were quick on their hooves and not about to be tripped up by some simple barrels rolling at them. The ones in the back moved to the sides to avoid them entirely and the six who had attacked Rainbow Dash simply jumped over them with spears in hoof. But they didn’t account for all the rum that had leaked out. Their hooves slipped on the wet deck and the six soldiers collapsed in a messy clump. Rainbow Dash flew forward and grabbed a few spears away from them before they could react, flying up in between the two masts of the ship and then chucking them into the water on the opposite side of the ship. She then purposefully dropped down right in the middle of the soldiers. They all turned and formed a circle around her, the ones still with spears pointing them at her. “Come on. Show me what you’ve got,” she said to them. “Get her!” The Commander shouted. But as soon as he finished speaking, a griffon slammed into him from behind and knocked him to the ground. Then Captain Breakwater came up behind two other soldiers and charged into them, tackling them to the deck as well. They had all been focused too much on Rainbow Dash they had forgotten about the others. Everyone was working together as distractions to help each other, because the moment that Gilbert and Breakwater intervened, the other soldiers took their eyes off Rainbow Dash. With quick speed she blindingly shot towards the nearest one and yanked his spear out of his hooves before twirling it around and smashing the shaft into the side of his head. The soldier let out a pained yell and was knocked into the soldier next to him while the others turned their attention back to Rainbow Dash and came at her. Breakwater and Gilbert already had to back away from the couple of soldiers that came at the two of them—not as able to handle themselves against sharp spears like Rainbow Dash was. The Bosche Commander at least was down and groaning on the deck, unable to give out orders and help direct the troops. It turned into a two-pronged fight with most of the soldiers facing off against Rainbow Dash and a few others facing off against Breakwater and Gilbert. Rainbow Dash could tell by looking at her opponents and how they hadn’t panicked or broken after what happened that they were indeed serious warriors compared to most she had fought. They moved carefully, coordinated, and kept their spears trained on her. No one was attacking out of turn or trying to get any glory here. They were simply following their orders to kill her. The armor they wore was also going to make anything but a strike to their head practically useless—even with the spear she was holding, since she had no intention to fatally stab anybody. Without any sort of exterior sign or even a whistle, three soldiers came at her with their spears aiming at three different parts of her body. Rainbow Dash jumped up—and immediately had to deal with a spear being thrown right at her head from another soldier. She sucked in a breath and backflipped in midair, letting the spear harmlessly sail past her. Her ears perked up as the sound of another spear coming at her, and very closely, reached them. She spun and flapped up, just barely avoiding it, and flew behind the nearby mast. Which was then impaled by another thrown spear. “Okay. These guys know how to fight,” Rainbow Dash said to herself as she stood in momentary cover. The sounds of shuffling hooves came from around the mast and Rainbow frowned. “Can’t let them surround me.” She flew out low to the deck with the stolen spear still in her hooves, flying around the right side of the pillar and going towards one flank of the soldiers. It was obvious with how many attacks and weapons they could throw at once, she needed to stay on offense and not let them gang up on her or press her into a corner. The speed she came out with surprised the nearest soldier but he still brought his spear up in time to block the swipe she made at his body. He then brought the tip of his spear down at her weapon and cut the pole in half right between her hooves. Two other soldiers came up beside him as Rainbow Dash held the two ends of the spear in her hooves. She threw the blunt end as hard as she could directly at the center soldier and was rewarded with a painful sounding crunch as it nailed him in the face. He fell over backwards while the other two went to her right and left and now tried to stab her with their own weapons. Rainbow Dash sucked in her gut and jumped up, letting both spears just barely go under her, before stomping down hard on their shafts when she came back down and pressing them to the deck. The spearheads snapped off and both soldiers backpedaled as Rainbow chucked the other half of the spear she had at the soldier to her right. He squeezed his eyes shut as he prepared to meet a gruesome end but all he heard was a thunk and barely felt something around his leg. Opening his eyes he looked down and saw she had thrown the half-spear through his leather armor around his leg and pinned him to the deck. Rainbow Dash then picked up the snapped off spearheads and twirled them around while the rest of the soldiers all formed up back in front of her. She flapped her wings and hovered in the air so she could move at a moment’s notice, looking from soldier to soldier to see what she had to do next. A grin split her face as she realized how well this was going and how much fun she was having. “I’m going to teach you guys a lesson,” Rainbow said to the soldiers and flew at them. And meanwhile, near the aft cabins on the starboard side of the ship, the slaves of Bosche huddled together, frightened. They wore shackles on both pairs of their legs where the front ones were also connected by another chain to a heavy collar resting around their necks. At any moment they could be ordered around to do something, perhaps even fight against these ponies, if one of the Bosche sailors remembered they were there. Something shot out of the water and landed on the deck behind them with a splash. The startled slaves turned around and almost yelled out in surprise to see a strange pony-like creature standing there, water falling off her like from a glass sheet. “Shh! Don’t alert the soldiers, we’re here to rescue you,” Senax said to them. She glanced down at the shackles on their hooves. “Where are the keys to your bindings kept? Are there any other slaves onboard?” Before the slaves could respond, one of the Bosche deck hooves still onboard noticed Senax and came running over. “Hey! What do you think you’re-” It looked like he suddenly ran into an invisible wall, his face scrunching up. And then something equally invisible smashed down onto the top of his head before grabbing him and throwing him overboard. The slaves just blinked in confusion until Daylight Gleam phased into existence, rubbing her forehead. “And I already have a headache,” the unicorn sighed. Rainbow Dash roared and knocked an incoming spear away with the two spear ends in her grasp, deflecting it towards the body of another soldier coming at her who was forced to break off his attack. She jumped over the soldier directly in front of her and kicked him in the back of the head to make him stumble forward while two more soldiers came at her from the right. Rainbow Dash twisted between their spears and flipped the weapons she held in her hooves over, jabbing them into the throats of the soldiers as she passed them. Another soldier leaped at her and swiped his spear at her face. Rainbow Dash blocked it with her broken spear ends but it still knocked them from her hooves and the tip of his spear almost dragged across her face, instead just shaving a few hairs from her mane. The soldier kept up the attack, bringing his spear back around and making several quick and short thrusts at her to keep Rainbow constantly moving. Every attempt she made to grab or knock away his spear was met with failure as he quickly pulled it away each time. She had to jump back and fly up momentarily to avoid him and keep the others from surrounding her while she was occupied. The fight had been going on for a while now, but neither she nor the soldiers were showing any signs of exhaustion. A quick glance showed Gilbert and Breakwater were fighting back to back against the recovered Commander and a couple soldiers. She was worried, but she had faith in them. Two spears were thrown up at her that she had to dart around but then two soldiers linked their hooves together and a third jumped on them, together they acted as a springboard and launched the soldier straight at her. He had his spear held over his head and angled down at her, looking to spear her like a fish. She moved her head to the side to avoid getting stabbed but he still crashed into her and they both fell to the ground. It ended with him on top of her but she quickly fixed that by bucking him in the gut and throwing him over her head and into the side of the boat. Once she hopped back up to her hooves Rainbow Dash practically threw herself at the remaining soldiers still fighting against her. The fight became an intense melee of one pegasus inside a group of increasingly agitated and aggressive soldiers. Her hooves and wings a blur as she struck out at them while an impenetrable flurry of spears came striking at her from every angle. Rainbow Dash was like water as she avoided the spears but so many of the attacks she made against the soldiers were also blocked or dodged. It wasn’t like fighting even Godfrey’s pirates, these soldiers were all well-trained and knew the basics of hoof to hoof combat at the least. Rainbow Dash’s speed and experience with fighting larger groups at once were her only advantages. But strong advantages they were. Throughout the entire fight the number of soldiers capable of standing on their hooves was whittling down, and Rainbow Dash was working hard to make that number zero. But as some time dragged on, some of the soldiers she had taken down at the start of the fight were getting back up. Tough ones they were. Always trying to regroup and gang up on the fast pegasus. So she went into overdrive and grabbed another dropped spear, spinning it around and using the blunt shaft end to knock out a few of the nearest soldiers. Her speed, which was already impressive, became something that the soldiers could barely even react to at all. She practically became a whirlwind on deck. Getting into such a perfect state where every spear thrust coming at her looked like it was moving in slow-motion. It wasn’t until she parried one last strong thrust aimed at her head and walloped the opposing soldier that she realized she didn’t have anymore opponents. He stumbled about on his hooves before collapsing and it left Rainbow Dash there alone in a circle of defeated Bosche soldiers. She let out a deep breath and dropped the spear, looking over to see Gilbert and Breakwater had knocked out the Commander once more and were locked with two last soldiers. Rainbow Dash was about to run over to them when- “You! You think you can get away with what you’ve done?! Do you have any idea who you’re insulting here?” Rainbow turned around to see the Captain she had previously thrown into the water back on deck. He was soaking wet and his monocle was left swaying by its chain under his face. His face was absolutely twisted with rage as he glared at her. “Yes and yes,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Pathetic insect! Bosche will not stand for this! Do you know what sort of enemy you’re making today?” The Captain repeated to yell. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and started walking towards him. “I already said yes, didn’t I?” “S-Stop! Stay where you are!” The Captain nervously backpedaled and pointed to the other side of the ship. “Look, see the situation you’re in now!” Rainbow Dash followed his hoof and frowned. Over by the aft cabins a squad of deck hooves that had come back out of the water after rescuing their Captain had joined with a few soldiers she lost track of. Together they faced off against a group of slaves and Senax that had tried rescuing them, pointing spears at them. “Hah! So what are you going to do now? I’d recommended stepping away from me or your friend and those slaves will be killed. You vile brute, what’s it going to be? You can either take your anger out on me or rescue them, haha!” He smugly grinned and folded his hooves in front of his chest. A blue hoof smashed into his face, chipping his teeth and knocking one clean out. “Eh… huh?” The stunned Captain grunted as he wobbled backwards. Through shocked eyes he looked at the pegasus before him. “W-What are you doing?” “Both. You told me I could either save them or beat on you. I chose both. That’s what I’m doing,” Rainbow Dash said and suddenly tugged a rope that was tied to her back leg. That rope pulled another that was connected to a winch on the Junk’s rigging, pulling a knot apart and sending the net full of heavy barrels crashing down to the deck. Not only did all those barrels smash right through the top deck and punch a hole into it, at the same time, ropes that had been tied to the back legs of the deck hooves and soldiers threatening the slaves and Senax pulled them up as the barrels came down. They were all yanked up quickly and dropped their spears, hanging and swinging upside down, totally helpless. A lot of them yelped and shouted in fear and surprise, trying to free themselves. The slaves meanwhile just stared up at them in wonder. Captain Calhoun gawked in disbelief. “H-How did you… w-when did you?” “By the way-” Rainbow Dash cut him off, the Captain trembling away from her. “I’ve got a message for you to deliver to your superiors.” “Huh?” “I want you to tell them that they have no idea what kind of enemy they’ve made,” Rainbow grinned. “You get that, right? Tell them that they should stop doing what they’re doing—not like I think they will, but still, that’s what I want you to do. If I ever cross paths with another Bosche ship doing stuff like this? Your fleet is going to end up one ship less at the end of the day. And if I ever find you personally again on the ocean doing this? You’re not getting out of it with just one lost tooth.” “G-Got it! I got it!” Calhoun swiftly nodded. “Good. We’re tossing all your weapons overboard and taking your slaves now. And then it’s your turn to get lost,” Rainbow said. “F-Fine…” Calhoun gulped. Rainbow frowned and tapped her hoof to her chin as she looked at him. “Hmm…” “What is it...?” Calhoun tried backing up but Rainbow Dash laid a hoof on his shoulder and grabbed his silk coat. “Was just thinking. I knocked one tooth out of your mouth,” her eyes narrowed and her grip on him tightened. “But does that really send enough of a message to your superiors?” “N—Wait!” Rainbow’s other hoof smashed into his face again. And again and again and again, pulling him back each time by his silk coat after every punch. Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! At the end his face was a mess and his smile was missing half its teeth. She finally let him go and he crumpled in a heap to the deck, groaning in pain with teeth and broken bits of teeth scattered around him.