Rarity's current situation was a complete mystery to her. Was she dead or alive? Was she dreaming or awake? Was she floating through the endless ocean or was it just her soul leaving her body to ascend to the heavens? She couldn't tell. She suddenly felt something take a hold of her right foreleg and pull her forward. At first, she assumed that this was either the angels yanking her into the hereafter or a predator of the seas taking a hold of her still living body to devour her and she would rot away in it's stomach, her body never to be found.
But then she felt the sensation of floating going away and the welcome feeling of dry land beneath her came back. She felt a pressure on her chest which was followed by a pair of lips touching her own in an attempt to breath life back into her. Their effort was rewarded. Rarity let out a series of coughs as she ejected the water from her lungs. This answered her first question. She was alive. By some miracle, somepony must have found her and pulled her out of the water to resuscitate her. Probably a passing boat. That meant they would take her back to shore and by tomorrow, this whole trip would seem like nothing but a bad dream.
But she began to question that possibility when she felt that she wasn't lying on the wooden floor of a boat but sand. She was never one to refuse a trip to the beach, but given her current circumstances, that was the last thing on her mind. A few minutes later, she finally found the strength to open her eyes. At first, she got second thoughts about her earlier reassurance about being alive as all she saw was darkness. But when she turned her head, she saw the waves washing the shoreline and the tall trees lining up in the background. The cold reality of the situation finally dawned upon her. She had become marooned on a desert island!
"No..." She muttered as panic began to overcome her mind. "No, no, no! This cannot be! This cannot possibly happen to me!" She screamed as she sat up. "Of all the things that could happen, this is the worst possible thing!"
"Ah, good. You're awake." The voice of a stallion said, snapping her out of her dramatic episode. Rarity turned around to see the rather charmless Prince Blueblood sitting a few meters from her next to a campfire and messing around with some sticks. The events that lead up to Rarity's current situation quickly flashed before her eyes and needless to say, she was not happy to see the pompous jerk again.
"You!" She shrieked before getting up and marching over to the stallion. Blueblood seemingly didn't concern himself with what was coming and kept focusing on his sticks. "This is all your fault! It's not bad enough you have gotten me out here to get abducted by those scoundrels, now you have gotten me stranded on this Celestia forsaken island as well! Worst of all, with you as my only company!" Blueblood paid her no mind. He just kept working on whatever he was doing and completely ignoring the mare, much to her frustration.
"Don't you dare ignore me!" Rarity shouted in outrage. "After everything you put me through tonight, the least you can do is listen to my tongue lashing and take it like a stallion! What could be so important that you ignore a lady like me for it?!"
Blueblood finally acknowledged Rarity by giving her an unamused look before pulling out an extremely crude makeshift bow and shooting out an arrow made of another stick. The arrow pierced through several fruits hanging from a tree nearby. He then yanked the arrows back by a string he tied to them and pulled the fruits down before catching them with his magic and levitating them back to the pair.
"Here." He offered her. "You used up all of your energy before you passed out in the water. You have to regain some."
Rarity was overwhelmed by embarrassment. After all the things that happened on the yacht, this kind, considerate behavior was the last thing she expected of him. Normally, she would have rejected anything offered by this stallion, but half due to her embarrassment and half due to knowing that he was right, she took the offered food and sat down next to the fire and began to eat.
Blueblood did the same. A few fruits would not even begin to make up for the calories she lost in the water, but it was a start. Blueblood quickly finished off his fruits and Rarity noticed that he gave her far more than he himself ate. Another gesture of unexpected kindness. But then again, maybe the prince just didn't want to eat any more of a meal he considered beneath himself than he needed. Yes, that must have been it.
"Do you know where we are?" Rarity asked once she calmed down a little. Blueblood sighed.
"It's hard to tell. I don't remember any islands being marked on any map this far out to sea." He then looked up at the sky. "Can't tell from the stars either since there aren't any visible. And since this place is as far from any civilisation as it gets, that can only mean it will rain soon." Rarity's eyes widened.
We should find shelter then!" She exclaimed. "I've put far too much work into my mane to have rain ruin it!" Blueblood rolled his eyes.
"Well, you got your priorities straight." He muttered, but not quietly enough.
"You're one to talk! I'm surprised you had the tremendous willpower to lower yourself to these fruits or didn't expect me to drag your worthless flank to dry land." She scoffed. Blueblood glared right back at her.
"In case you haven't noticed, we're stuck in the middle of the ocean away from anything or anypony and have no means of escaping! There is a time for royal taste and squeamishness and this is not one of them!" He yelled at her.
Rarity opened her mouth for a witty comeback that never came. As much as she hated to admit it, the prince was right so she couldn't do anything else but go back to eating her fruits. Suddenly, she heard a weak chirping sound coming from next to her. She looked down to see a small yellow bird, a canary from what she could tell standing next to her, looking up at her with hungry eyes.
The fashionista smiled softly and broke off a small piece of the last fruit she was eating before offering it to her guest. The bird jumped back at first, inspecting Rarity's hoof suspiciously, but when it saw that the approaching limb meant no harm and even offered it food, it jumped onto it and began to eat.
"Still, you're right about one thing." Blueblood continued as he finished carving more arrows for himself. "We're gonna have to find shelter. The only problem is, we don't know anything about this island. Exploring it during the middle of the night could be dangerous."
Before Rarity could say anything, loud and persistent chirps interrupted her. The bird she just fed flew up to the mare's head and began to chirp to her as if trying to tell her something. She didn't seem to understand so the canary started tugging on her mane.
"Ow! That is quite enough! What are you doing?!" She demanded, feeling rather silly when she remembered that a bird wouldn't be able to respond. It seemed to understand her however and flew a couple meters away before turning back to her and beginning to chirp again. Rarity's eyes widened in recognition.
"You want me to follow you?" She asked. The bird flew away again and Rarity got up to run after it while Blueblood watched in bemusement.
"Are we taking directions from birds now?" He asked, completely dumbfounded. "Well, I suppose it at least knows its way around the place." He shrugged before running off after the mare.
They made their way through a lush jungle, struggling to get across the mud, vines and clouds of insects. The bird made sure to stop every once in a while to let them catch up. Eventually, it lead the two ponies to an empty cave that looked just big enough to give them shelter. As expected, Blueblood was less than impressed by the implication.
"Well, that's what I get for following a bird." He groaned. "Not exactly the kind of accommodation fit for a prince." Rarity frowned.
"Maybe not now, but all it takes is a little creativity and a sense of style to make a home out of even the unlikeliest of environments." She said before looking around. She saw a fallen tree, a couple of bamboo plants and several palm leaves hanging from another tree.
With a smile, she ignited her horn and began working her magic, both figuratively and literally. Within a minute, a makeshift wooden bed with bamboo legs tied together with vines was lying inside the cave. Rarity then pulled a pair of scissors, a needle and a ball of string out of nowhere, greatly surprising Blueblood.
"Where did you get those?" He wondered.
"A self respecting fashion designer who cares anything about her reputation never goes anywhere without these." She answered. She then began sewing the palm leaves together into a blanket and levitated it onto the bed before looking down at her torn dress. She sighed sadly.
"I'm so sorry, darling. You deserved so much better but rest assured, your sacrifice will allow me to live." She said before raising the scissors and began cutting away at the dress. She then took the needle and turned the piece of fabric she just cut off into a pillowcase and filled it with leaves. She then cut off the rest of her dress and repeated the process to make a much bigger case full of leaves, this time for a mattress.
"And there you have it!" She announced in a sing-song voice. The stunned Blueblood could only watch in astonishment as Rarity slowly laid on the bed to try it.
"Well, it's not as comfortable as the one back at Carousel Boutique but it will suffice." She said. The canary that lead them to the cave flew into the headboard and chirped.
"Oh, of course, darling!" Rarity smiled at it. "I wouldn't forget to repay you for your kindness!" She used her magic to bring forth another bamboo construct that resembled a perch complete with a small bowl already full of some fruits for her new friend. The bird accepted it quite gratefully and appreciatively as it flew down on it and began to doze off.
Rarity followed its example by snuggling under her makeshift blanket. She took one last leaf and pierced it with her needle on both ends and tied some more string to its back to turn it into a crude sleeping mask which she then put on her head and laid down onto the pillow.
"Nighty night!" She said with a yawn before turning onto her side and falling asleep. Blueblood looked down at her, still in wonder about how quickly she set things up. But even more noticeable was that Rarity had completely ignored him during her little home improvement episode and he had nowhere to lie.
He understood it of course. It was her way of getting back at him for his treatment earlier tonight. Well, Blueblood could play that game too. He would head out and look for shelter on his own and see how Rarity handles herself on her own once she wakes up. He was just about to carry out that plan, but he was interrupted by the sound of a lightning strike that made him jump.
He looked out the cave and saw the rain already coming down heavily. With a sigh, Blueblood had little choice left but to use his magic to gather the leaves that remained from Rarity's work together into a pile he could lie on. And for the very first time that night, he found himself sharing the exact same sentiments as Rarity. They would need to find a way off this island as quickly as possible.
He was about to fall asleep, before a violent fit of coughs erupted from his throat. They were so loud that even Rarity and the canary were stirred up from their sleep.
"What is it?" She asked with far more concern than this jerk warranted. But Blueblood's pride was far greater than to reveal something weakening him to anypony.
"Nothing. Good ni..." Before he could finish, another fit of coughs interrupted him. Rarity got out of her bed and went over to the prince to check on him. When she tried to place a hoof on his forehead, he tried to slap it away, but he was too weak for it. When she touched him, she gasped.
"Nothing?! You're burning up! You must have gotten a cold from the sea water. With a fever like this, you won't make it through the night. Especially in this ghastly weather."
"I'll be fine." Blueblood groaned in both irritation and exhaustion. "Just leave me alone and go back to sleep." But Rarity was having none of it. Awful as the prince may have been, she was not about to let him die.
"We're gonna have to bring your fever down. Some herbal tea might do the trick but it's not like I can go shopping on this island." She then looked out the cave entrance and put a hoof to her chin in thought. "I wonder if I might find some herbal plants out there though." She then turned to the canary. "Do you think you can help?" To her surprise, the bird nodded and flew out into the night.
While it was away, Rarity went out and gathered some wood and stones to build another campfire inside the cave to keep Blueblood warm. She got inside just before the sound of thunder signaled the arrival of tropical rain.
After Rarity got the fire started, she took one last piece of wood and broke it to pieces before reconstructing it into a cup with her magic. She then levitated the cup outside the cave to fill it with rainwater.
The canary soon returned with several berries and plants carried in its beak and legs. Rarity inspected all of them, smelling the plants and tasting one berry. The plants smelled familiar. She smelled them everytime she entered her favourite spa in Ponyville. And the berry also tasted bitter enough to be medicinal.
Not wasting any time, she put them into the cup before mixing them together and boiling it over the fire. She then took the cup to the prince who was still rather adamant to refuse any help, but when he smelled the steaming beverage and he felt his nostrils becoming cleaner, he finally gave in.
He took the cup into his own telekinetic grasp and started taking slow sips of it. He winced after the first one as the drink tasted positively awful, but he said earlier that this was not a time to be picky and he had to stick to it.
When he finished the drink, he already felt it taking effect. He felt the fever beginning to go down as he started to fall asleep. When Rarity heard his snores, she moved him to the bed she made for herself and tucked him in. He needed all the warmth he could get and he should be fine by the morning. But now where is she going to sleep?
She looked back at the pile of leaves Blueblood gathered for himself and let out a defeated sigh. Lacking the energy to make any more adjustments to the cave, she simply laid down and prayed the warmth of the fire would help her fall asleep.
"Never let it be said that Lady Rarity is not generous." She muttered before closing her eyes.
The next morning, Blueblood awoke to a strange, tickling sensation rubbing his stomach. It was a brief feeling that repeated itself on a minutely basis and he probably wouldn't have bothered himself with it, but after the umpteenth time, it became too much for him to ignore.
He opened his eyes and saw the little Canary friend Rarity made last night fly up to him and snatch one of the leaves he was lying on away from under him and flew out the cave. He had no idea what was going on but when he looked around the cave, he saw that Rarity was nowhere to be seen.
All Blueblood knew was that he was feeling much better and completely revitalised, but he wasn't ready to get out of bed just yet. Wait, bed? Wasn't it Miss Rarity who had made a bed for herself last night while he was sleeping on a pile of leaves? She must have traded places with him to aid his recovery last night.
A pang of guilt and shame washed over the stallion. After everything he put her through last night, not only did she save his life with her herbal tea but she also gave up her considerably more comfortable resting place for him. He had to repay her somehow and he felt like doing everything he could to aid in their escape from the island would be a great start.
'And then, perhaps I could take her on a real date where I'm not just having fun with her..' He thought but then he shook his head. 'No. She will probably never want anything to do with me again.' He remembered sadly. 'A pity. Not only is she beautiful, but she turned out to be a generous soul too. I really ruined things this time.' He got out of the bed and went to search for the mare.
There was only one place where she could be and when Blueblood exited the cave and saw the giant cloud of smoke emerging towards the sky from the beach, his theory was proven correct. He rushed towards the beach where they washed up last night and saw the campfire spot he made blazing with huge flames.
"What in Celestia's name are you doing, mare?!" Blueblood shrieked as he ran up to Rarity. The mare merely glanced back at him with a blank expression.
"Good morning to you to, your lowness." She replied sarcastically. "I can't believe I'm saying it but it's a good thing you're here. The remainder of your vest could fuel the fire more and generate more smoke." She ignited her horn and was about to peel off the torn blue coat Blueblood was still wearing, but he interrupted her just in time.
"Have you lost your mind?!" Blueblood screamed as he cut off Rarity's magic with his own. "Stop this at once!" He then created a barrier around the fire to cut it off from the oxygen that supplied it.
"I should be asking you that!" Rarity shrieked, trying to stop the prince, but surprisingly, his magic proved stronger. "You are destroying our signal to any potential rescuers!"
"Rescuers?! I think you mean our potential killers!" Blueblood corrected her with just as much panic in his voice. "Have you forgotten that there are professional assassins out there hunting for us?! You might as well be painting targets onto our flanks!" Rarity stopped. She did not think about that, but she wasn't about to lose an argument against him.
"Onto your flank perhaps!" She retorted. "With your ghastly behavior, I am more than certain it is only you somepony would put a hit on!" She then smiled mischievously. "Why, if I would lead you to them, they might even share the bounty with me." Rarity managed to obliterate all goodwill that Blueblood amassed for her with that one sentence.
"Oh, here we are!" He snapped at her, turning to her with such fury in his eyes that for a brief moment, Rarity became genuinely terrified and even backed away a little. "Yes, I suppose that would be the easiest for you! Why bother with the money bag would be husband you can mooch from when you can hoof him over to assassins, right?!"
Now it was Rarity's turn to be angry. All throughout her life she did nothing but work hard for both her advancement on the social ladder and for the sake of others. Every single dress she made was made with nothing but love and care for those who Rarity knew would be wearing it and she wanted to be known and respected among the equestrian upper circle for them and not because she managed to get a rich husband.
The reason she was eager to date Blueblood was because she thought he would be a perfect fit for a sophisticated lady such as herself but clearly she was wrong. His money was never of any importance to her. He was insultingly presumptuous, but apparently Rarity herself also had a rather poor judge of character for ever believing he was the kind and sweet considerate stallion she envisioned for herself. If this was what the upper circle stallions were all like then she will go out of her way to avoid them for the rest of her life, but first, she was gonna give this jerk a piece of her mind.
"How dare you?!" Rarity countered with equal fury as she pushed her muzzle right up against Blueblood's. "I am not a gold digger! Every piece of money I've ever earned was through my own work! I've worked my hooves to the bone to get where I am in the fashion industry! To become a respected mare and be accepted into a higher social circle! My choice for a partner was motivated by nothing else than the search for true love!" Blueblood's response was a series of hysterical laughter as if Rarity just told her the best joke ever. It actually frightened the mare a little to the point of backing away with a nervous look.
"That is a good one, miss Rarity!" He yelled at her with a glare. "Do you have any idea how many times I've heard those exact same words?! From how many mares?! And as naive as I was when I was younger, I even believed it at the first few mares! You are all the same!" Rarity quickly overcame her momentary shock and glared back right into his eyes.
"We are all the same?! Let me tell you that you're no better than the other one track minded lowlifes who just wanted to take me to bed after only a few hours! You all want the same thing and then leave every mare heartbroken!"
"Don't talk to me about broken hearts!" Blueblood yelled. "I've shed far more tears than any mare deserves the first few times I was deceived!"
"Oh, you poor soul!" Rarity gasped with mock pity. "Let me play you a sad song on the world's smallest violin." She said as she sat down and rubbed the tips of her hooves together. This only increased Blueblood's anger.
"Why you... UNFEELING SHREW!"
"JUDGMENTAL OAF!"
"HYSTERICAL HARPY!"
"MISOGYNISTIC STALLIONCHILD!"
Blueblood opened his mouth for another comeback that will forever be left unsaid because the quarreling duo was interrupted by the snapping of a branch from between the trees. Blueblood and Rarity turned to see the bushes shake as a large black shape began to approach them with a low growling sound. The two ponies backed away with dread once they realised what they were looking at was a large black panther making its way towards them.
Blueblood became frozen on the spot as the predator began to size them up, but from the corner of his eye, he saw that Rarity was already beginning to back away and was about to make a run for it. He was very tempted to allow her to contribute to the circle of life while he made good his escape, but insufferable as the mare may have been, even she didn't deserve this fate. He reached out slowly and pulled her back by her tail.
"Never run from a big cat." He whispered to her. "You're basically inviting them to chase you."
"So what am I supposed to do?! Just let it tear me apart?!" She demanded in panic. The noise was beginning to entice the panther and Blueblood had to stand in front of Rarity before it could pounce.
"We're gonna have to look more intimidating to it." He said as he drew an arrow and loaded it into his bow. Rarity was surprised. The stallion she was ready to strangle just a minute ago just stood between her and a deadly predator to protect her. First, he pulled her out of the sea after they fell off the yacht and now this? Where was this 'Knight in shining armour' attitude during their date? If he didn't infuriate her so much with the way he treated her then, she would be so in love with him now. Rarity had to slap herself to abandon that line of thinking.
'No, Rarity. He is still a rude and pompous stallion. Just because his dashing looks hide the heart of a lion... No, bad Rarity! Bad!'
The metallic glint of the arrow did make the panther back away a little. It had never seen a weapon like this after all. But after Blueblood merely stood there for a few moments without firing, it began to regain its courage and advanced towards the duo.
"What are you waiting for?!" Rarity shrieked. "Shoot!" Blueblood didn't actually want to do it. He didn't have the heart to hurt the creature, so he only shot an arrow into the sand in front of it, hoping that it would be enough to scare it off. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work. The beast momentarily stopped, but when no further attack came, it simply swiped the stuck arrow away.
"Nice work." Rarity commented sarcastically. "All you've done is make it angrier."
"Yeah, that might have been a bad idea." Blueblood added before reaching for another arrow. But before he could even place it into his bow, the panther leapt forward and tackled him onto the ground.
Rarity screamed and covered her eyes as the panther's jaws came forward, but Blueblood pushed his bow forward and intercepted the deadly set of fangs. Not for long though, as the wood snapped under the pressure, but Blueblood still had enough composure to pick up one of the pieces and smack the panther in the face with it, forcing it to back off.
'Note to self, if I survive this, make the next bow from tougher material.' Blueblood thought before picking up the other half of the broken bow and tossing it to Rarity. The two began to swat the sticks at the panther in a desperate attempt to drive it off, but it was of no use.
The predator managed to snatch the sticks away, leaving them completely defenseless against its deadly jaws. As a last resort, Rarity yanked the quiver from the stallion's back and threw it at the beast. She managed to hit it but it dealt no visible damage to it. If anything, it made it even more eager to rip them apart. Rarity's eyes welled with tears as she resigned herself to her fate.
"Oh, please no." Blueblood remarked on a far more deadpan tone than their situation would have allowed.
"Oh, be quiet!" Rarity snapped at him, smacking his shoulder. "I'm about to die on this Celestia forsaken island in a horrible way, my body will never receive a proper funeral and will serve as food to this animal, but worst of all, I will die with you! I am allowed to cry if I want to and in my last moments, that's all I want to do!"
And cry she did. Rarity let out a series of wails so loud and piercing that it made Blueblood drop to the ground, flatten his ears against his head and cover them with his hooves. But even that did barely anything to protect them against the sonic attack they were receiving.
'It's like my eardrums are tearing themselves apart!' Blueblood thought as he rolled around on the ground helplessly. 'Merciful Celestia, please make her stop!' And apparently, Blueblood wasn't the only one with such sentiments. As soon as it heard the loud cries the mare was emitting, the panther immediately backed away. It kept observing its prey from afar for a few more seconds, waiting for the noise to die down and give it an opportunity to strike again, but it didn't look like the pitiful mare would cease her wailing anytime soon. Eventually, the predator let out a frustrated roar and retreated into the jungle before its hearing suffered permanent damage.
Even though his eyes were half shut, Blueblood still managed to see the whole thing and was unsurprisingly astonished. Never in his life did he ever think he would be glad to hear a mare cry, but it looks like his life was actually saved by it this time. Now if only she could stop screaming to the heavens.
He thought about tackling her to the ground to shut her up but he was so close to her that he was certain he would go deaf if he removed his hooves from his ears. In the end, he resorted to using his magic to shut her lips closed and silence her. Rarity turned to glare at him but her anger paled in comparison to the surprise she felt upon still being alive and the panther being nowhere to be seen.
"Where... Where did it go?" She wondered.
"It appears your crying just saved our lives, Miss Rarity." Blueblood complimented, unusually kindly. He tried to sound as appreciative as he could, but Rarity saw through it right away. The nervous smile on his face said it all. It clearly said 'I'll be good, just please don't do that again'. Oh, she was going to have some fun with him from now on.
"It did, didn't it?" Rarity mused. "Well, I suppose that makes us even for pulling me out of the sea."
"Of course, Miss Rarity. Whatever you say." The prince quickly agreed, but the point was quickly made moot when the two ponies heard a loud, buzzing sound coming from behind them. They turned to see a round, metallic object floating above them observing them from the air. Rarity was confused, but Blueblood quickly realised what was going on.
"Looks like I spoke too soon." The prince said, slapping his forehead. "I forgot about Bloodsport's mercenary group still being after us. That drone no doubt also sensed your scream of death." The drone quickly identified the two ponies as the targets its users were looking for. Blueblood reached behind his back to pull out an arrow and take it down before it could report to them, only to remember that he no longer had his bow and arrows.
"Cursed muscle memory." He groaned before the drone submerged into the water and disappeared from sight. "Now we're in for it."
"What are we gonna do?!" Rarity panicked, her previously gained confidence from driving off the panther instantly evaporated. But Blueblood managed to keep his cool.
"Well, the way I see it we have two choices. We can stay here, waiting for them to come and take us, or we can prepare for them." Rarity raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"How?"
"The last time, they had the element of surprise on their side. They ambushed us and we were unprepared for them. But this time they will not be so lucky. This time, we'll be ready." Blueblood said in determination, eager to get some payback on their attackers. "Our best option is to turn this island into - for lack of a better word - our home field."
"So what you're saying is, we should go and explore the island?" Rarity asked. Blueblood nodded.
"Exactly. That will give us the advantage we need." Rarity noticed a glint in the prince's eye. A glint of excitement, eagerness and vengeful desire. It was a bit frightening, but at the same time, strangely attractive. "Yes, they will be lost when they first arrive but we will know every twist and turn of this place. They will wander around aimlessly and lost, right into our traps. The hunters will become the hunted."
"You're awfully confident in your plan's success, Prince Blueblood." Rarity pointed out skeptically. "Despite the fact we are not at all acquainted with this island ourselves." Apparently, Blueblood was indeed awfully confident because he just smiled knowingly down at her.
"Miss Rarity, have you ever taken a look at my cutie mark?" That was a much more personal question then their current relationship warranted, but nevertheless, Rarity took a look at the compass decorating the stallion's flank.
"I have. What about it?"
"I'm a born explorer, Miss Rarity." He announced proudly. "Give me a few hours and I will know any environment like the back of my hoof." He then looked up towards the sky over the island. "Let us hope a few hours will be enough. I'd say we should make our way up there to get a good look at the island." Rarity turned around to see what the prince was looking at and the color drained from her face when she saw the towering volcano.
"All the way up there?!" She whined. Blueblood shrugged.
"Well, if you'd rather stay here for those mercenaries to find you, be my guest." He said before walking off into the jungle. Rarity heard the chirping of her canary friend from above who gave her an encouraging look and pulled at her mane slightly, as if telling her to follow the stallion. Rarity took a look at the open sea before deciding that Blueblood was right. They couldn't stay here.
"Wait for me!"
Bloodsport was becoming more and more impatient. But even worse, so was his employer. As he expected, the pony who hired them wasn't particularly pleased that they managed to lose the prince's body. At least until they managed to confirm his death. Once they were certain of that, they'd be more than content to toss it into the ocean. It wasn't like anypony would miss him.
The unicorn mercenary always forgot just how vast and unexplored the oceans were. His patrol ships, divers and underwater drones have been at it for almost a whole day and they've found nothing. Bloodsport was beginning to give up hope they'd ever find him and felt really tempted to just abandon the search, but the potential payment for this job was just too big. And he really needed the money to continue caring for Magic. Every bit he earned he sent home for the caretakers of his legless little brother and the money on his account was beginning to run out rapidly. No pun intended of course.
The mercenary was sitting in a room full of computer screens on the mothership of his mercenary unit and surveyed the camera footage of every underwater drone and diver who were currently searching the surrounding waters in search for the bodies of the two ponies that got away. He was about to doze off from sheer boredom when he heard a sharp beeping sound coming from one of the screens.
Bloodsport groaned in irritation when he realised he was getting a video call from his employer, no doubt requesting an update on how the mission was going. Pressing the answer button, Bloodsport was treated to the image of a shadowy stallion popping up on the biggest screen in front of him.
"Bloodsport, any luck with finding our friend and his latest conquest?" He asked with a distorted voice. Bloodsport had no idea what he was trying to hide but the stallion was very mysterious. This was how he contacted him when he first hired him and he never saw his face. Not that he cared, as long as he paid what did it matter who he was?
"We're still searching. I will let you know when we find anything." The mercenary replied, wanting to cut this talk as soon as possible.
"If you find them, you mean." The shadowy pony corrected. "I'm beginning to wonder if you were the right pony for this job. I heard that you were the best but I didn't think the best would allow Prince Blueblood of all ponies to get the better of them like that." Bloodsport's ire began to rise but he couldn't show it in front of his employer.
"It was an accident." He defended himself. "He caught me off guard. It won't happen again."
"It better not, Bloodsport. Don't underestimate him again. He may look like a helpless idiot but he's a crafty one. He survived falling into the underground caves beneath Canterlot Castle and he found his way out when he was just a foal. So imagine what he's capable of as an adult." Bloodsport was curious as to how his employer knew this, but before he could ask, the door was slammed open and one of his troops entered.
"Sir, we found them!" He reported to the surprise of the ponies at both ends of the screen.
"Well, that is joyous news indeed." The shadowy pony said. "I shall leave you to it then, Bloodsport. And this time, no foul ups." He emphasised before ending the call. Bloodsport didn't much like being bossed around like that, no matter how much his employer was paying, he was handling his assignments on his own terms, but he had more important concerns right now.
"Where are they?"