Blueblood and Rarity were making their way through the jungle, lead by the small bird whom they instructed to help them find a way to the top of the volcano. They had been trekking for almost an hour and they felt no closer to reaching their destination, which worried them immensely since they didn't know how much time they had before their pursuers caught up with them.
"How much further?" Rarity whined, much to Blueblood's annoyance.
"Just a moment, Miss Rarity. I ask our guide. Though I hope you have a bird to equestrian dictionary on your hooves." Rarity rolled her eyes.
"You know, darling, they do say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit."
"But the highest of intelligence." Blueblood countered. Rarity was about to say something, but she was interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach.
"Oh, dear. I shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning." Blueblood chuckled.
"Be glad we weren't the ones becoming breakfast." But Rarity wasn't listening. She was staring up at a few fruits at the top of a tree.
"Those fruits sure look appetising right now."
"I'm sure they do." Blueblood agreed. "Too bad they're out of reach for our magic. If I still had my bow, I could snatch some for us. I could have even taken out that drone at the beach before it reported about us."
"I have to say, you are indeed a very skilled archer." Rarity complimented, hoping to ease the tension between them. "The way you reached for an arrow to take out the drone even though you lost them was almost like a reflex move." She then let out a chuckle. "One would even say you could use a bow before the toilet." Rarity froze when she heard the prince let out another series of laughs, but this time, it was genuine and joyous. "Did I say something funny?"
"No, it's not that." Blueblood shook his head. "It's just that... my mother said the exact same thing too." He finished with a soft smile. Rarity couldn't help herself. She had to coo at that adorable sentence.
"Oh, that's so sweet!" She squealed. "I never would have taken you for such a passionate archer with a sweet side." Blueblood completely forgot about himself and for the first time since his parents died, he began to speak completely openly with somepony who wasn't Golden Platter.
"It was the first thing my father taught me." He began. "When I was a foal, I always asked them to read the stories of Robin Hoof to me before bed. I wanted to be just like that when I grew up and my father saw it right away so he began to teach me."
"Robin Hoof, huh?" Rarity asked with a teasing look. She was familiar with those tales as well. "I can just imagine you running around the palace with a green hood and a toy bow. You know, I remember a pony once ordering a costume very similar to that from me. He wanted to dress like Robin Hoof during an archery contest in Canterlot. He actually ended up winning and won a golden bow as a..." She suddenly froze in place as her eyes widened in realisation. Blueblood did the same, only his eyes widened with worry.
"It was you..." She whispered. "That was the same bow you used against our attackers on the yacht." Blueblood didn't say anything. He just stood in one place, unsure of how to react. "But... But how? That unicorn was a perfect gentlecolt and a genuine model of sophistication and good manners, while you are..." She stopped for a few moments to find the right words, but all she could say was "...not." Blueblood sighed.
"I am a prince of Canterlot, Miss Rarity. Parading around with an arrow and making mares melt with smoldering smiles is not what is expected of me. I have a reputation to keep up. The reputation of both my family and the Canterlot elite." He explained.
"And what reputation is that?" Rarity demanded angrily. "Being insufferable jerks who look down on everypony else?" Blueblood shrugged.
"Pretty much. I don't like it anymore than you do, but at least you can walk away from it anytime you want. I have no choice but to live up to my family name." Rarity did not agree with him.
"Darling, you don't have to let your family's past decide who you are." She argued.
"It's not just my family, it's everypony else in Canterlot." Blueblood replied. "Kindness, generosity and compassion are seen as weaknesses by them. And they are like sharks. Once they smell an ounce of blood, they mercilessly strike." Rarity wanted to argue again, but this time when she opened her mouth only a fit of coughs came out, much to Blueblood's concern. "What's wrong?"
"My throat is a little dry." Rarity answered. "Not too surprising, it has been a while since I last drank. We should find some water suitable for equine consumption." Blueblood didn't know if they had the time, but he was feeling rather thirsty himself.
"Well, the island has wildlife and that means there must be freshwater somewhere." He said before looking up at the canary they were following. "Perhaps our little friend up there can help."
As if on cue, the canary chirped down at them before altering its course. Blueblood and Rarity followed its lead and they soon heard the sound of a waterfall nearby. The bird lead them over a hill and the two ponies found themselves standing alongside a small cove.
The crystal clear water cascading from the cliff above was enough to send Rarity running forward with reckless abandon and greedily lap up the water as it fell. Blueblood picked two palm leaves from a nearby tree and used his magic to roll them up into cones. He handed one over to Rarity, who took it with a sheepish smile before the two resumed their drinking in a much more sophisticated manner.
After they quenched their thirst, Rarity pulled out her needle and quickly turned the leaves into two watertight flasks which they filled and put away for later use.
"Ah, I feel refreshed already!" Rarity sighed in contentment. "I'm ready to continue our quest to the top of the mountain."
"It was surprisingly refreshing indeed." Blueblood agreed as they left the cove and resumed their walk towards the volcano. "And now that your throat has been dampened, Miss Rarity, it is your turn to open up for me."
"My life is an open book, darling." The fashionista replied. "What would you like to know?"
"Well, from what I have seen about your work, you have always been inspired by the heroes of Equestria. Pray tell, what is it that captivates you about them so much?"
"Apart from the obvious?" Rarity replied. "They are such powerful and mysterious figures and they have been doing everything within their power to be an inspiration for us. But I think where my inspiration began way before any of them have announced themselves to Equestria."
"Is that so?" Blueblood asked curiously. "How?" Rarity's expression melted into a soft smile. This was one of her fondest memories to recall.
"When I was a little filly, I was ambushed at school by a group of bullies. They stole the dress I'd been working on for a school play. And that's when she showed up."
"Who showed up?"
"Her name was Applejack. She was the daughter of a couple of farmers who lived near my hometown. She saved me from them and she was so..." Rarity struggled to find the right words. "It was indescribable. She moved so fast and she was so strong. Two of them grabbed one of each of her forelegs but she just threw them away like ragdolls! And then she was on their leader in a blink of an eye. She only stopped when her brother arrived and pried her off of them!"
"That sounds quite unbelievable." Blueblood commented before stopping and raising a hoof to his chin. "But then again, so does everything else we've seen and heard these titans perform. Do you think she might be one of them?"
"Well, I always believed the resemblance between her and Supermare is uncanny." Rarity admitted. "But I don't think so. I can't imagine a godly being such as her living the simple life of a nameless, faceless farmmare."
"I suppose you're right." Blueblood shrugged before walking on as Rarity continued her story.
"Anyway, ever since she saved me like one of those superheroes, I've been fascinated by them." She admitted before she let out a chuckle. "And my dream has been..." She suddenly stopped as she raised a hoof in front of her mouth. Blueblood looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Has been what?" Rarity let out a nervous laugh before waving off the prince's curiosity.
"Oh, never mind. Let's just carry on." She replied as she pranced in front of Blueblood.
"You raised my curiosity, Miss Rarity." Blueblood inquired with a teasing smirk, much to Rarity's further embarrassment.
"Please, Prince Blueblood. It's so silly." Rarity pleaded, but the prince was having none of it.
"Now, now, Miss Rarity. I have told you about my foalhood obsession with Robin Hoof. I think you owe me an embarrassing story about your own youth." Rarity sighed in defeat.
"Very well, just please don't laugh too hard." She pleaded. "You see, I know it's impossible, but... I've been dreaming about becoming their personal stylist." She finished, closing her eyes and waiting for the inevitable ridicule. But it didn't come. If anything, Blueblood was impressed.
"Wow! Now that's what I call an ambition!" Blueblood laughed in wonder. "Most fashion designers would settle on making clothes for nobles and royalty, but not you! No, you have your sight set on gods!" Rarity actually found herself laughing along with the prince. She never thought of it that way.
"You know, now that you've told me about the royal facade you have to put on in the court, I think I understand where your distrust of them comes from." Rarity deduced. "You also wear a mask to conceal your true nature." Blueblood nodded.
"You never know what lies beneath a mask. A pony like me who's vain, unpleasant and inconsiderate in public might actually be a decent, misunderstood soul."
"And a pony who is selfless, humble and generous in public might have ulterior motives." Rarity finished for him. "Pardon me, but I don't think you're right about them."
Blueblood was about to reply but he never got the chance. Out of nowhere, Rarity let out a piercing shriek and jumped up into the air. Blueblood was so surprised that he fell on his flank and Rarity fell right into his front hooves, looking like she'd just seen a ghost.
"What's wrong, Blueblood asked in concern. Rarity raised a shaking hoof and pointed forward.
"Sn... SNAKE!" Blueblood looked into the pointed direction and saw a large brown snake lying in their way, looking up at them and hissing. He rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come on! They are more afraid of us than we are of them."
"I find that hard to believe!" Rarity shouted. "MAKE IT GO AWAY!" Blueblood sighed and used his magic to pick up the snake and move it out of their way. He put it down behind them and it immediately slithered off into the undergrowth.
"There." The prince calmed her as he gently put her down. "Are we free to move on?" Rarity's chest was still thumping, but she tried to calm herself.
"I apologise if I lost my nerves a little." She chuckled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. "But, you just demonstrated far more gallantry and manners than you did back on the yacht. I know you don't like showing it, but for what it's worth, I like this Blueblood considerably better than the one from yesterday." Rarity told him genuinely and before Blueblood could respond, she planted a peck on his cheek, causing him to blush and stiffen as his eyes widened in surprise. "Thank you, Prince Blueblood." She said kindly before walking past the still stunned stallion who put a hoof on his cheek.
"You're..." He stuttered, unsure of what to say. "You're welcome, Miss Rarity."
Eventually, the two ponies finally reached an opening in the wall of the volcano. Blueblood ignited his horn and peeked inside. He saw rock formations on the other side that seemed like they'd be able to support their weights and there were enough of them that they'd be able to make their way up to the top by using them.
He squeezed himself through the opening and carefully pressed his hoof down on the rock. It didn't budge so Blueblood beckoned to Rarity to follow him. They slowly crawled up the rocks but as they progressed with no problem, they became careless and they almost paid the price for it.
Blueblood jumped onto the next rock which proved to be less stable than the rest and gave way under his weight. The prince's life was only saved by Rarity's quick reflexes who managed to grab onto his mane. This stopped the fall and gave Blueblood enough time to grab onto Rarity's hoof and the mare pulled him up into safety. Suffice to say, they were much more cautious for the rest of their way up to the top.
"My stars!" Rarity marveled as she got a glimpse of the view. From up here, she could see just how big the island was. The jungles, the tall mountains, the waterfall they just took a drink from. It was all breathtaking. "You know, under different circumstances, I'd say this would be a perfect place for an actual date." Blueblood raised an eyebrow.
"On an unexplored island, sleeping in a cave and being hunted by wild animals and assassins?" He asked drily.
"You know what I meant!" Blueblood rolled his eyes.
"Of course." He then surveyed the surrounding area himself. His mind was already working on ideas of how to make use of their environment against the mercenaries that were coming after them. In order to set up their ambushes, they should know which way their enemies were attacking from.
And for once, luck seemed to be on their side, because as he was looking around, he saw the mercenary fleet appearing on the horizon. Rarity got a little discouraged when she saw how many ships were heading their way.
"Their numbers seem to be greatly overwhelming." She said nervously. "Our chances don't seem very good. They will see our tracks. They will find us easily."
"Oh, I'm counting on it." Blueblood smirked. "They will walk right into our traps. Besides, we handled ourselves perfectly well on the yacht until Bloodsport showed up and this time we're ready for them. They don't stand a chance." He then looked at the mare who seemed very unsure. "Don't sell yourself short, Miss Rarity. I saw your moves back on the yacht. You're far more capable than any mare I've ever seen. Even some stallions. You'll be fine." Rarity appreciated the praise but she still looked uncertain.
"I don't know, darling. I have managed to handle myself against a few of those brutes, but it seems we're dealing with a small army this time."
"We don't have to face them all." Blueblood reassured her. "We're just gonna find a way onto one of their ships and commandeer it for our way back to Equestria. The jungle shall keep us concealed until we reach the shore and attack. If only I had my bow with me. This would be so much easier." Rarity heard the prince's wish and smiled.
"Well, as it happens, Prince Blueblood, I have a little surprise for you." She then pulled out the makeshift bow Blueblood fabricated for himself from behind her, much to the stallion's astonishment. "I wanted to thank you for your attempt to protect me from the panther at the shore, so I have collected the remains of your weapon and managed to fix it up."
Blueblood took the weapon into his hoof. Rarity had managed to string it together in the middle where the panther bit it in half. It was indeed completely fixed up except for one tiny detail. It didn't have a string. No worries though. That was an inadequacy Blueblood could easily rectify.
He used his magic to pull out a few pieces of hair from his tail and tied them around the top and bottom of the bow before giving them a firm pull to see if they would hold. To his satisfaction and Rarity's amazement, they did.
"That is quite resilient hair you have there, darling." She said, greatly impressed.
"The wonders of Canterlot mane and tail gel based on a secret recipe." Blueblood smirked. "Amazing craftsmareship, Miss Rarity, but I'm afraid without proper ammunition..." Rarity quickly silenced the prince by levitating his quiver full of makeshift arrows in front of him.
"You didn't think I'd forget about these, did you?" She smiled confidently.
"Never mind." Blueblood replied before taking the quiver and putting it on his back. He then glanced back towards the beach where the mercenary ships had already reached the shore. "Well then, Miss Rarity, would you be complicit in some payback?" Rarity just smirked and cracked the hooves on her front legs in response.
"I'm looking forward to it, your highness."
The first mercenary trooper had already set his hoof on the island's soil before the sun reached the top of the sky and immediately began searching for clues about the whereabouts of the two targets. He was followed by several more surveying the island they just found.
"Check it out!" An earth pony stallion said in awe. "How come this isn't on any of our maps?"
"We're pretty far from the mainland." Replied a pegasus mare. "The oceans are littered with undiscovered and unexplored islands. No pegasus would last flying so much and I guess no sailors dared to venture this far out."
"Makes sense." The stallion replied. "Look at those huge jungles! I suppose air reconnaissance is a no go."
"Affirmative." The pegasus nodded. "We wouldn't see a thing from up there beneath those trees. We're gonna have to proceed on hoof."
"Wonderful." The earth pony said sarcastically. "We can only hope they didn't make it too far into the jungle and we'll only have to identify the remains."
"No." The leader of the group, a unicorn stallion cut in. "Bloodsport said the prince is a capable explorer and survivor. We have no reason to assume he's dead." The earth pony shrugged.
"Yeah, right. The only thing those royal types are capable of is wasting the country's money. I don't know who's stupid enough to put out such a big hit on that waste of space, but he must have royally pissed him off." He said, chuckling at his own joke. The unicorn was about to reprimand his comrade for questioning their leader, but then something caught his eyes.
"Hey, look over there!" He pointed on the ground and his comrades looked to see two sets of hoofprints leading into the jungle. The earth pony let out a whistle.
"Now that's a sign if I've ever seen one. What did I tell you? Only one of those royal types would be dumb enough to leave tracks like that. Ten bits say they've gotten only a few minutes in before something tore them apart." The unicorn then called over a few more troops.
"Alright, ponies, get your weapons ready! I doubt we'll need them, but better safe than sorry." He ordered, prompting his troops to pull out various heavy weapons like assault rifles and shotguns. Before they headed into the jungle, a lanky unicorn turned back to the tracks and used his magic to whirl up enough sand to cover them up.
"There. I think we'll be enough to handle those two." The leader raised an eyebrow.
"Let me guess. Bloodsport offered a bonus for the ponies who bring the targets to him." The other unicorn shrugged.
"Maybe." He grinned. “If it makes you feel any better, the bonus is still pretty big after we divide it by eight. Get my meaning?” The leader chuckled.
“Sounds good to me. Alright, we track them down, ice them and share the bonus from the boss. Will that work for all of you?” The troops nodded and headed out into the jungle. It was rather easy to follow the hoof prints but it became increasingly hard to tranverse the jungle terrain. The undergrowth was becoming more lush with each step they took and the trees and vines were also becoming harder to get through.
They had been trekking for about twenty minutes before they finally gave in to their exhaustion and stopped to catch their breath. The leader of the group turned to address his troops, but he suddenly realised that there were now only six of them. He also quickly figured out that it was the lanky unicorn who was missing.
“Where is Bean Pole?” The others looked around but none of them could locate the unicorn in question. A short earth pony stallion shrugged.
“Probably just stopped to take a leak. Should be catching up with us soon.” The leader frowned.
“Well, if you think so, go and get him for us.” He then turned to a buff pegasus mare. “Go with him and don't come back without that idiot.” The mare growled in frustration but it wasn't like she could argue. She stood up and followed the little earth pony.
“Thanks for pissing him off, Short Stuff.” She complained after they were out of earshot, smacking the short stallion on the back of his head. “My hooves are almost falling off. Let's just find Bean and get back to the others.”
They began their search for their missing comrade but it soon became evident that it was not going to be as simple as Short Stuff predicted. They could not call out to him since that would alert their targets to their presence. But where the hay could he have gone without anypony noticing?
A loud thud grabbed their attention coming from a few meters away. They instinctively grabbed their weapons and turned around but there was nothing there. They carefully made their way towards the direction where the sound came from but they still saw nothing.
The mare suddenly felt something hard and metallic beneath her hoof. She looked down to see that she was standing on Bean Pole's weapon. The calm demeanor of the two mercenaries was now officially turning frantic as they stood back to back with each other. Something was toying with them.
They heard another thud coming from next to them. They jumped and looked down to see that this time it was a helmet, the same kind of helmet they were wearing. They shared a nervous glance before looking up and what they saw nearly caused them to drop their weapons.
The stallion they were looking for was hanging from the tree above them with his hoof attached to a rope dangling from the top. The mare snapped out of her terror first and picked up her weapon, pointing it around in an attempt to locate whatever it was that did this. She was interrupted by Short Stuff's increasingly heavy breathing, which she tried to ignore for a while, but eventually it became too distracting.
“What the hay is your problem?” She snapped, turning to him. The stallion said nothing, he just raised a shaking hoof and pointed up at something.
“There's... there's something in those trees...” His partner turned to look up at the trees he was pointing at. When she did see something move, she raised her weapon but she didn't get the chance to shoot. An arrow was fired at her out of nowhere, knocking the firearm out of her hooves and sending her tumbling onto the ground.
Short Stuff managed to pull himself together enough to try and help his comrade, but before he could do anything, something burst out from beneath the leaves and grabbed him by the shoulders. The mercenary couldn't even scream before his attacker locked her limbs around his neck and threw him over her shoulder, slamming him right onto the pegasus mare who was just about to recover and knocking them both out.
The assailant then picked up the bodies and dragged them away while the figure in the trees turned towards the small gathering of the five remaining mercenaries nearby. They didn't seem alerted by what just transpired so he needed to get their attention in another way. Five of them was a lot more than he can manage on his own and he didn't want to waste the element of surprise while he still had it. Fortunately, he already had a plan.
Using the branches, he was able to make his way to another tree directly above the rest of the mercenaries. He reached up to his face to touch the mask he was wearing and breathed out, releasing a strange clicking sound. That did the trick. The mercenaries all jumped up and looked around in an attempt to find the source but to no avail.
He then jumped back to the branch behind him while still making that clicking noise to make it sound like the source was moving away. His calculations worked as the leader sent out another two troops to check on what it was. All he had to do now was lure them into the trap and his partner would take care of the rest.
The two ponies below just kept following the noise, completely unaware as to what they were walking into. Once they got closer to the trap their hunters had set up, they were greeted by the same sight as their comrades before them: their unconscious bodies hanging from a tree above them.
One of them was a pegasus so he could fly up to them in an attempt to cut them down. The hunter frowned. This he could not allow. He reached behind himself and pulled out an arrow from his quiver and tied a hard rock onto its head before loading it into his bow. He let the arrow fly and hit the pegasus right in the wing, causing him to crash into the ground and fall right into a deep hole covered by leaves and branches.
His partner screamed in shock as he took a step back from the hole and he backed into another figure standing behind him. He slowly turned around just in time to see the figure spin and lift its hind legs to deliver a powerful kick and send the merc flying right into the hole. Five down, two more to go.
The two figures slowly and silently approached the remaining three mercenaries, determined to make short work of them. The archer pulled out three more arrows and aimed them at the mercenaries' weapons, managing to take out all three of them with a single shot. The mercenaries were so stunned by this that they had no time to react as the other, feminine figure burst out from between the trees, kicking the pegasus mare in the muzzle with enough force to put her to sleep.
Of course, being a unicorn meant that the leader was far from defenseless with the destruction of his weapon. He ignited his horn but he had another arrow coming his way from the archer that hit him in the flank, causing him to lose focus from the pain. He pulled the arrow out but the damage was already done. He found that his magic completely left him.
“Don't bother!” The archer exclaimed as he emerged from behind the tree, revealing himself to be Prince Blueblood wearing a hooded suit sewed together from leaves. “Anti-magic arrow. Its effect lasts for over twenty-four hours.” Blueblood distracted the unicorn for just enough time that his partner, the ever graceful Rarity, managed to tackle him and knock him out.
All that remained now was the large earth pony, but he would prove the most difficult opponent yet, especially now that he was aware of their presence. The stallion threw his busted weapon at the mare, hitting her in the head and knocking her to the ground. He then stood up and headed towards her before rearing up on his hindlegs to stomp down on her, but then he took an arrow to the knee from Blueblood, causing him to collapse.
“Hey, meathead! That's no way to treat a lady!”
“Oh, like you're one to talk!” Rarity retorted before literally sweeping the behemoth off of his hooves.
“Hey, I thought we agreed to let bygones be bygones!” The stallion yelled back to her as he fired an arrow at a loose tree branch hanging over the earth pony's head, severing it from the tree and making it fall on top of his head, finally ending the skirmish.
“Don't think you'll be getting off the hook that easily, mister!” Rarity scolded him, poking his chest. “You still have a lot of making up to do for me before I even consider forgiving you!” And with that, she took off into the direction of the beach. Their little bird who has been observing the battle from afar flew down and gave Blueblood an encouraging look before flying off after her, while all Blueblood could do was sigh and follow them.
They were about halfway there when they encountered another group of mercenaries, but thanks to their camouflage that Rarity made, they were able to hide between the trees before they spotted them. They counted about five of them and they were confident they would be able to sneak past them with no difficulty.
That was until they noticed a rather troublesome fact. Namely, the seeker drones floating above their heads. Even if their camouflage would be able to fool their normal vision, they probably could still detect their heat signatures and if Blueblood took them out from afar, they would immediately know where they were and the entire army would be onto them within a minute. They needed to get them out of the way. Luckily, the solution literally presented itself.
The canary flew at the drone closest to its friends and blocked its camera with its body. Two mercenaries below the drone heard the chirping and looked up to see the disturbing animal messing with their equipment. One of them aimed his weapon at it, but before he could fire, Rarity and Blueblood snuck up behind them and pulled them into the bushes where they were swiftly incapacitated.
The commotion did not go unnoticed by their comrades who went to check on them. When they reached the bushes, Rarity burst out of them, grabbing two of them before yanking off their helmets and smashing their heads together. Meanwhile, Blueblood shot two arrows tied together with a vine, tying up the last remaining mercenary and leaving him helpless, allowing Blueblood to knock him out cold.
The two shared an impressed glance with each other. They were getting used to how surprisingly skilled the other pony was, but no matter how many times they saw it, it never ceased to amaze them. They were sanpped out of their thoughts by a creaking noise coming from beneath them, which turned out to be one of the mercenaries' transmitters.
“HQ to Delta Leader, requesting status update!” A voice said on the other side. “A damn bird is obscuring the view of our drones in your sector and we've been hearing some disturbances from your side.” Blueblood and Rarity shared a nervous glance, unsure of what to do. If they won't get a response, they'll know something is up and send out more troops. But Blueblood soon realised what an invaluable opportunity just fell into their hooves. He turned on the transmitter and raised it to his mouth.
“This is Delta Leader, everything's clear here. Just a few animals rustling around in the undergrowth, but we've scared them off.” He said, trying to disguise his voice as much as he could and praying the deception would work.
“Understood.” The voice replied, much to their relief. “Continue your patrol. HQ out.” Blueblood smirked and put the transmitter away.
“What are you planning to do with that?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I just found a way to book a ticket to one of their ships far easier!” He announced proudly. “Let's get going!”
They retreated back into the cover of the vegetation – much to their displeasure. They realised it as a necessity, but as two ponies of their status, they still hated getting themselves dirty – and in a few minutes, they finally made their way to the beach. As they predicted, several mercenary ships have been docked near the coast, but getting onto one of them would prove a difficult task as the beach was full of dozens of mercenary troops. This was where the transmitter Blueblood took would come into play.
“This is Delta Leader!” The stallion spoke into the comm. “Targets located in our sector! I repeat, targets located! They are heading west! Requesting backup!” Their plan worked. In less than thirty seconds, most of the troops had left the shore towards the direction Blueblood had lead them to, leaving only a couple of them on the beach.
The two looked at the ship closest to them. They could no doubt fight their way over to the vessel, but they needed to be swift about it, if they wanted to avoid the remaining mercenaries and raise the alarm. They looked at each other in uncertainty, not sure if they should make a run for it, but eventually realised that they had no other option. It was now or never.
Blueblood and Rarity burst out of the bushes and ran at the patrolling mercenaries as fast as they could. Rarity tackled one of them on the ground and quickly knocked him out, before launching herself to a second one who rushed to his aid. She somersaulted forward, pulling his body along with her and threw it forward, knocking a third one off of his hooves.
One of the mercenaries pulled out his transmitter to ask for backup, but before he could open his mouth to speak, a speeding arrow knocked it right out of his hoof. He turned to see Blueblood running at him and smashed him across the muzzle with his bow before turning to two more mercs and firing two arrows into the barrels of their guns just as they were about to open fire. The firearms exploded in their hooves, knocking them back on the ground.
Blueblood then heard the clicking of another gun and turned to see another mercenary aiming his weapon at Rarity. 'Oh, no, you won't!' He fumed in his head before pulling out another arrow and shooting the weapon out of the soldier's grasp. Rarity then ran up to him and uppercutted him in the chin, sending him into the air. Blueblood then shot an arrow at him, piercing his armor and pulled the vine that was attached to the arrow.
"Get over here!" He yelled as he tugged at the vine with all his might, pulling the soldier towards the ground. The impact was enough to knock the living daylights out of him and clear the path between them and the ship. The ramp was still attached to the deck, which they could use to board the vessel and then pulled it up to prevent their enemies from following them.
"Up there!" Blueblood said, pointing at the bridge towering above them. "If we could get up there, I'm sure we could turn this ship around and hightail out of here!"
"And just how do you propose we do that?" Rarity questioned. In response, Blueblood simply pulled out another vine arrow and shot it at the radio antenna at the top of the bridge. He then tied the vine attached to it to the mast they were hiding behind and gave it a firm pull.
"Alright, it looks like it'll hold."
"Hold what?" Rarity asked nervously, not really liking the implication she was getting. Blueblood didn't answer, he just wrapped his front legs around the vine before doing the same with his hind legs and began to crawl up towards the bridge. Rarity stated in disbelief.
"You cannot be serious." Blueblood looked down at her.
"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears." He said before continuing to climb. Rarity sighed in defeat before following his example. They were about halfway up to the bridge when Blueblood heard the mare call out to him.
"Look down." Blueblood stopped for a second, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"That is a rather odd and might I add inadvisable suggestion in our current predicament."
"No, I'm serious. Look down!" Rarity hissed. Blueblood finally willed himself to do so and finally understood why Rarity was so adamant for him to look down. Below them, there were every single member of foalnapped staff who accompanied them on this ill-fated cruise, lying on their stomachs with their front legs over their heads as the mercenaries kept walking around them with their weapons.
"We have to help them!" Rarity insisted. "We are the reason they are here in the first place. Well, come to think of it..." Blueblood cut her off with an irritated groan.
"Mostly my fault! Yeah, I get it. Listen, all we have to do is take over the ship and then they'll be freed. So let's just keep moving and..." He was interrupted by a loud snapping sound that caused his eyes to widen.
"What's wrong?" Rarity asked in concern. Blueblood looked up and saw that the vine they were climbing was starting to give way and that could only mean one thing.
"You... might want to close your eyes." Was all he could say in a defeated tone before the vine completely snapped and the two ponies started falling. They managed to grab onto the vine in front of them and they found themselves falling towards the window of the ship's bridge. They crashed through the windows, knocking the two mercenaries stationed inside off of their hooves and they found themselves standing right in front of the ship's control panel.
"Wow." Blueblood said bluntly, unable to believe their luck. "I never would have thought I'd say this but... this couldn't have possibly failed any better."
"Couldn't it?" Blueblood and Rarity jumped and turned to see Bloodsport standing in the door with a huge blaster in his hooves.
"Oh, fiddlesticks!" Blueblood groaned in annoyance.
"My client told me you were a slippery one, Blueblood, but I didn't expect you to get past all of my troops like that." The mercenary leader said as he slowly walked over to the prince, pointing his weapon right at his face. "But at least I won't have to pay a bonus for any of them for bringing you to me. Now what do you say we skip the defiant hero speech and you just let me take you home to him?" Blueblood didn't respond. He was desperately trying to come up with a way out of this situation. But Rarity beat him to it.
The fashionista just about had enough. This thug interrupted her date - lousy as it may have been - chased her half across the ocean, hurt a lot of innocent ponies just to get to Blueblood and made her crawl across a dirty, filthy, muddy jungle. She let out a furious roar and ran at Bloodsport so fast that he didn't even have time to switch his aim at her and tackled the stallion with her full strength, which was enough to send the two falling out the window, right onto the deck.
The other mercenaries on board heard the commotion and quickly ran for the aid of their leader. Two of them helped Bloodsport up while the others aimed their weapons at Rarity. The situation just further grew Rarity's anger and despair. It made her want to... want to...
Rarity opened her mouth and let out the loudest wail she ever had in her life. The mercenaries immediately dropped their weapons and covered their ears, but Bloodsport had enough composure left to use his magic and make himself two ear covers that blocked out all noises out of the parts in his saddlebag.
He took aim at Rarity, but the scream won the mare enough time to run up to Bloodsport, wrestle the weapon away from him and throw it overboard.
"Now, let's see how you handle yourself without your fancy toys!" She snarled, throwing a punch at Bloodsport, but to her shock, the mercenary easily blocked it. He then pulled a knife out of his belt and slashed at the mare, but she managed to jump back just in time.
"I think you'll find I do it quite well." He replied, adopting a combat stance. "You think I would have become the most sought-after mercenary in Equestria if I wasn't also capable in hoof-to-hoof combat?" Bloodsport then launched a counter offensive with the knife, forcing Rarity on the defense as she backed away to avoid the slashes.
While Rarity was busy with Bloodsport, Blueblood searched around the bridge to find the way to launch the ship. To his frustration, he found that the control panel was locked and needed a key. He searched the bodies of the two knocked out mercenaries but to no avail.
"Damn!" He cursed, smacking his hooves down on the panel. "What to do now?" He looked around for anything useful and his eyes fell on a radio lying on one of the panels. That gave him an idea. If they couldn't escape, they could at the very least call for help. He picked up the radio's microphone and began dialing between the frequencies.
"Come on! Find it already!" The prince grumbled, trying to locate the right frequency. After a few seconds of dialing, the static sound finally cleared. "Yes!" He cheered in triumph and turned on the microphone. "Equestrian Coast Guard, please respond! This is an emergency broadcast, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, sir! What's the emergency?" Came the raunchy reply.
"We are under attack! We're on an unmapped island somewhere far out to sea! Can you pinpoint our coordinates?"
"Already have." Blueblood wiped his forehead in relief.
"Please send as many Royal Guards as you can! They have royal hostages!"
"Don't worry, sir. Help is on the way." Blueblood put the microphone down and was about to go and assist Rarity, but then he saw something on the horizon. Either the help he called for had arrived very early or he was seeing things because he could swear he was looking at a speedboat heading his way at breakneck speed.
But as the boat got closer, he realised that neither the coast guard, nor the Royal Guard would ever be able to afford that luxurious and fast piece of seafaring technology. As the boat got closer, he tried to look at its driver but all he saw was a pony dressed in a dark cloak.
Before Blueblood could get a better look at him, an arrow burst through the window, missing his head by mere inches before impaling itself in the metal wall of the bridge. By the time Blueblood looked back, the cloaked figure was winching his way up the rope attached to the arrow and jumped through the hole in the window, kicking Blueblood in the chin and making him fall over.
The prince groaned in pain as he rubbed his chin and slowly stood up. He was surprised to see that his attacker was wearing an almost exact replica of his Robin Hoof costume, only his was pitch black and a the hood was covering his eyes and the upper half of his face. But even more shockingly, he was holding Blueblood's golden bow. Before the prince could question that, the cloaked figure beat him to it.
"I knew that ape, Bloodsport won't be able to kill you." He groaned gruffly, loading another arrow into the bow. "As the old saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself." Blueblood managed to avoid the arrow by rolling out of the way. He loaded an arrow of his own, but his opponent quickly did the same, bringing the two to a deadlock.
"So you're the one who put that hit out on me." Blueblood said as the two began to circle around the room. "If you're such a skilled assassin yourself, why bother?" The Dark Archer scoffed.
"I have much better things to do than chasing you. No matter how badly I wanted to put an arrow between your eyes myself. But it looks like I'll get my chance anyway. And at least now I won't even have to pay these imbeciles." He fired his arrow at Blueblood but the prince managed to knock it away by shooting his own.
Before he could reload, Blueblood ran up to him to surprise him with a close range attack. At first, he managed to catch the Dark Archer off guard as he clearly didn't expect that, but he quickly recovered from his shock and easily knocked Blueblood back with a shoulder bash.
The prince fell on the ground with a hiss of pain. The Dark Archer was clearly a better hoof-to-hoof fighter than him it seemed so he needed to keep his distance. The Dark Archer loaded another arrow but Blueblood spun around as he got up and bashed him across the face with his bow, making him miss his shot.
Blueblood took advantage of the stallion's momentary loss of balance and snatched all the arrows from his opponent's quiver, sliding them into his own. The Dark Archer only noticed this after he recovered and reached for another arrow, finding it empty.
"You're out." Blueblood smirked cockily. He loaded another arrow before firing it, but the Dark Archer began to twirl his bow around in his hoof, knocking the arrow away. He then began to advance on Blueblood, forcing him to jump back and take cover behind the panels.
Back on the deck, Rarity was still doing her best to avoid Bloodsport's knife attacks. She did a backflip and kicked the knife out of the stallion's hooves and with the same momentum, she wrapped her hind legs around his neck and tried to throw him over herself.
But the stallion proved much heavier than she anticipated. She couldn't lift him and he grabbed her hind legs, immobilising her. The more Rarity struggled to free herself, the tighter he held onto her. In response, Rarity tightened the grip of her hind legs around the stallion's neck.
As the pressure became harder, the stallion began to choke and lose his balance. This finally gave Rarity the opportunity to force him onto the ground and she kept choking him until he passed out due to the lack of oxygen.
Once it was over, Rarity looked down at the ship's open cargo hatch where the hostages were being held. With all the mercenaries aboard incapacitated, they were now safe. She then ran up the stairs leading to the bridge, ready to chew Blueblood out on not helping her against Bloodsport, but when she got up there, she saw that the prince currently had his hooves full himself.
He was crouching on the ground behind one of the control panels with an arrow ready in his bow before jumping up and shooting it at a dark clad figure in the middle of the room, but the figure merely knocked the arrow away with his own bow.
"We can do this all day, Blueblood." The figure snarled. "You will run out eventually." Being the ever generous soul she was, Rarity decided to help the prince out. She charged at the Dark Archer and punched him in the face as he turned around.
Blueblood took full advantage of this and fired another arrow, but the Dark Archer recovered in time to avoid it. The arrow flew past his head but it was still close enough to scratch the side of his face, leaving a deep and highly visible wound. The Dark Archer screamed in pain as Rarity threw him over her shoulder and slammed him against the wall. The two ponies then cornered the downed stallion.
"Give up!" Blueblood yelled at him, loading another arrow and aiming it at him. "Your mercenary friends are beaten, you're out of arrows and it's now two against one! You've lost!" The Dark Archer looked up and saw that the rope he used to winch his way up to the ship was still there. He quickly formed his escape plan.
"Not quite yet." He replied as he reached behind his back and pulled out a smoke bomb. "This is merely the half time whistle." They saw what he was about to do but they had no time to react. He slammed the bomb down on the floor, filling the entire room in thick smoke. Blueblood and Rarity could only cough as their opponent made good his escape.
"Rest assured, we'll meet again soon." He said before using the golden bow to down the rope back to his speedboat. By the time Blueblood and Rarity recovered and looked out the window he left through, all they saw was his boat speeding off into the horizon.