By Octavia Melody
"Are you OK, Tavi? I don't think slapping your head like that is healthy."
"I'm perfectly fine, thank you. I...I don't know what else to do."
I slapped myself again. My forehead was bright red from the numerous times I had done so. The day was barely here and it had been far too long. The constant prattling between Discord and Pinkie was on edge with unbearable. The two of them were clearly made for each other in their inherent insanity. I ended my self-punishment for a few seconds. During that time, I saw the Bearer of Kindness return from the campsite with a worried look.
"Uhh...The horses are gone." She said meekly. I had to replay the words in my mind to fully hear her.
"Eh, no biggie, we can walk there." Vinyl shrugged.
"Does that mean we're going on a hike? I love hikes!" Pinkie jumped in excitement.
"Gah..." I returned my palm to my face.
"Miss Melody, are you going to be so serious this whole time? Vinyl's told better of you." Discord pouted as he snaked by me.
I did not answer his question. He continued to pester me by shrinking in size and wrapping his body around me. The fur mixed with the scales tightened itself around me. Not enough to hurt me, but enough to restrict all movement. His goat head was right in front of me. His grin was that of confidence and mischief.
"Tsk, tsk." The demon clicked his tongue. "Miss Dash and Miss Scratch have such exciting personalities. You are so stoic...and boring. You're only determined for revenge. Have I mentioned that's petty and worthless? Don't get me wrong, it creates Chaos, but it's expected of people these days, so the amount of Chaos is miniscule."
"What are you getting at?" I deadpanned.
"heheh, what I'm getting at, Miss Melody, is that you need to liven up. Unlike me, your time in this world is limited. I can't imagine a mortal who doesn't to live her life the fullest. Hmm...It seems there is one right before me."
"What do you know about living? You're a demon, a monster bent on Chaos and destruction. You neither know Life nor Death."
Discord tilted his head away in Laughter. I had never heard him laugh so hard before. This attracted the other's attention. Vinyl, who was holding her ruined mask, cautiously walked up to us. The demon continued to guffaw loudly. His grip around me lessened as he unwrapped himself. Tears streamed from his eyes like waterfalls. It was obvious these tears were from his sheer amount of Laughter.
"Hahah...Haha! Hehe hoho! Haha! I love this. A 'demon' you call me? Please! I'm no demon, Miss Melody. I am more! I'll always be more. I know Life, I've survived Death. I've fought him and won! I'm not bent on Chaos. I AM CHAOS! Chaos Incarnate! Do you think I was like this always? Huh? Don't make me laugh more. You Assassins and your vain goals. You Templar and your hopeless ideals! Listen now, all of you. Watch and you shall see that you are fighting amongst gods. Gods that were just as mortal as you."
He snapped his fingers. The sun went over the horizon in seconds. The moon replaced it for only another second before disappearing and being replaced by the newly risen sun. During that time, the moment of darkness, something changed in the demon. When the new sun rose, he was no longer his mixed up form, but that of a young man. The man was handsome and well-shaped. His hair was a long black and his eyes were bright red. His clothes were of a brown nobleman garment. He held a red cane textured with the scales of his tail. He smiled at all of us with his usual grin. His teeth were of a perfect white.
"Well," His voice was the same. "Now you see. Demon? No, I am a man. Though I prefer my other form, this is how I get through the world unnoticed. Unlike the Two Sisters, I prefer to my keep myself secret. It's more fun that way. Now, we should get going to Baltimare. Don't want to keep Miss Dash waiting."
"Uhh..." Vinyl rubbed the back of her neck. "We kinda don't have horses. It's gonna take some time to walk there."
Discord rolled his eyes. "I guess I'll make sense this one time."
He snapped his fingers. Instantly, we all were in the air, falling. I could see Vinyl and Fluttershy waving their arms in a desperate attempt to fly. Pinkie was cheering with joy as she fell, like all this was amusing. Discord was nowhere to be found. The wind rustled past me as I fell. I decided to look down. A city was below me, but not too far down. A Bay was to the left of me, a forest to the right. A tall building was closing in on me. I grimaced and braced myself for impact.
"Damn you Discord!" I yelled.
Wam! I hit the edge of the clay building and tumbled towards the street. I hit another building on my way down. I finally hit the ground with a roll. The sand and stone was not a very soft. Some of the sand got in my hair and I shook it to clean it out. My back and arms ached horridly. I looked around. Fluttershy landed on top of a fruit stand. The owner was in shock and simply stared at her. Pinkie was in a ditch, but looking rather happy. Vinyl was caught in a clothesline above us all. She struggled to get free, but in vain. Discord gently floated to the ground holding an upside down umbrella. He spun his cane around and walked by us while whistling.
"Welcome to Havanna....Wait...No. Welcome to Baltimare, ladies!" Discord stretched his arms out to the city.
"Discord!" I yelled. "Why didn't you teleport us on the ground?"
"Tavi!" Vinyl answered for him from her clothesline. "He's gonna say 'that would make too much sense.' Stop asking such stupid questions."
"Stupid? I'm the only logical person in this party! You are th..."
"Hey you! shut ya cocksuckin' mouth! I'm tryin' to think here!"
My head turned to the unfamiliar voice. Who would say such nastiness? I saw one short woman in cyan Assassin robes staring back at me from a stool in front of a bar. All the hair that escaped her hood was a different color. Her magenta eyes stared at me with as much viciousness as Twilight. Two oddly shaped swords rested on her back, both handles were on the same side. The pommels had thin chains that connected to a part of her robes. Her arms were bare up to the wrists. Seven sashes held up her robes, each a color of the rainbow. I sighed as I knew who she was.
"Yeah, that's right! You shut your mouth. Good girl." Rainbow returned to what she was doing before my interruption. It appeared to be a game of chess with a burly man.
I stood up and shook the sand off my robes. The city was hot under the bright sun. The armored parts of my apparel began to sweat. This was no cool Canterlot, but even more hot than Appleloosa. Though, there was a nice sea breeze from Horseshoe Bay. I walked over to the Bearer of Loyalty. She paid no heed to my approach. Her focus was on the chess game before her. She was black and I could tell she was losing, badly. The burly man had at least six more pieces than her, and unlike her, still had his queen.
"Gonna give up, lass?" The burly man mocked.
"Shut it you, tryin' to think." Rainbow answered.
Rainbow grinned and moved her only bishop some spaces. I was not the best at chess, but even I could tell it wasn't a smart or even useful move. The man chuckled and took out her only knight with his queen, putting the king in check. Rainbow's face faltered. She would be placed in checkmate in the next move.
"I hate losing..." She muttered.
"Pay up." The man extended a hand over the table.
"Here's ya damn money!" She threw a bag of bits at him and then proceeded to flip the table on him. The chess pieces went flying into the sand and the man fell to the ground. The other patrons of the open bar stared at the commotion with indifference before going back to their drinks and conversations. Rainbow turned around and faced me. The Bearer was indeed short. So short that she only reached my bosom. Now, I was of average height, thus she was the height of a child. I imagined her next to tall Fluttershy, she probably would only reach the Bearer of Kindness's lower torso. The Bearer of Loyalty inspected me without care before walking past me. She was more interested in Discord, as should be expected.
"Hey, Dissy, finally got a team with ya?" She asked the man.
"Heh, indeed, Miss Dash. Are you ready to depart?"
"Naw, not yet. Maybe I'll show ya around the city. It's better here than most think. C'mon."
Rainbow gestured for us to follow. "So, what's ya names? I know you Fluttershy and Pinkie, but you two, uhh...Miss Gray Robes and Crazy Blue Hair."
"I'm Den Master Octavia Melody, this is my friend, Vinyl."
"Pleasure to meet ya. I hope you two have sea legs. Have you ever been on the waters?" Rainbow walked backwards as she spoke. Her mood was completely different than at the bar.
"Well...No. I have not." I answered sheepishly. "In fact, I've never seen the ocean."
"I haven't either." Vinyl said. To my surprise, she was still holding her mask.
"Heh, greens. So, who wants to capture some Empresses?" She asked excitedly and rubbed her small but calloused hands together.
"Not so loud, Rainbow, someone might hear us." Fluttershy told her fellow Bearer.
"Pfft." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Do ya see any Guards around? Eenope. This place is liberated, 'Shy. Liberated it myself. That Governor Mare is living outside the city and the true freedom fighters live inside, as it should be. All that those Two Sisters can do is send Shadowbolts, (who suck) and the Templar send their Wonderbolts. Nothing hard."
My eyes looked at her upon hearing about the Wonderbolts. "The Wonderbolts are here?"
She nodded. "Yeah, they don't do much. I think they're trying to get some ships and leave for the Labyrinth Isles. Funny thing is, that's where Celestia is at the moment. She went there after the Crystal Republic invaded those days ago. I think they're following her."
I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. Spitfire had not killed my friend, but she was still Templar and she still inflicted much harm upon Vinyl. My eyes glanced at my friend. She was caring to her mask, trying to fix the gaps in it. Was revenge still necessary? If Vinyl had not appeared, I probably would go all out to kill the traitors, but now, my will for their deaths was lessened. My whole purpose to being in Baltimare was for the Wonderbolts, but now I had a new mission. One I was forced to do and one I had to do. Maybe I could do both? Finish the Wonderbolts and capture Celestia and Luna. Capturing Celestia...Just thinking that now gave me chills. I became an Assassin to aid this land, but now, I was going to betray. Was that how I will be remembered; as a conspirator against the Two Sisters? Was I even an Assassin anymore? I didn't like to think so. Then what and who was I working for or doing? Discord? Twilight? The Empire? Myself? Vinyl? I did not know.
"Yeah, yeah. I get you. Don't have to keep tellin' me. Geez." Rainbow said to no one.
"Get used to that ladies. Rainbow is much more relaxed about speaking with her Element." Discord told us.
With my thoughts no longer on myself, I turned to the city for entertainment. There was no place more full of scum and villainy than Baltimare. Every alley held scowls from muggers and ruffians. Bar fights were at every bar and tavern. Pirates shuffled about with scantily dressed women under their arms. Mercenaries gambled on the street corners. Thieves pilfered fruit stands and pick-pocketed their neighbors. Rainbow turned a blind eye to all of this. Fluttershy grimaced at the events around us. Even Pinkie looked concerned. Vinyl held the same apathy as the other Survivor of Chaos. Discord danced around to a tune we could not hear.
"Bearer." I asked Rainbow. "Who is in charge here if the Governor is gone?"
Rainbow chuckled. "No one! See? That's what's great about this place. There ain't shite to tell ya what to do. Every man and every woman leads themselves. The only thing I ask of them is to return their Loyalties to the town. They can aid their city all they want without a government. And they do."
"Does not seem that way to me." I uttered as I witnessed a mugging.
"Takes time to get used to it." The Bearer shrugged. "Oh, shut it. I'm not talkin' with ya." Rainbow scowled to her Element. I think?
Discord suddenly stopped and checked his pocket watch. A pair of spectacles appeared on his face as he inspected the time. He gasped loudly. "Oh no! I am late for a very special tea party with the Queen! Arrivederci!"
Discord's body disappeared and his clothes fell to the ground. Three crows unburied themselves from the clothes. They were each a different color. One red, another brown and last one black. They squawked at each other indignantly before flying off. They continued to attack one another while flying in the distance. We watched the scene with little awe. His clothes were left in the sand as we continued towards the Bay.
"Discord seems nice..." Fluttershy barely broke the silence.
"He can be. But most times, guh..." Rainbow moaned and stuck her tongue out to show her displeasure.
"I think he's fun. What's more to like?" Vinyl asked.
I shook my head. "He could be a little more reasonable. He left us with no clear directions."
Rainbow tugged her own robes. "That's where I come in. Ya see, I've dealt with Discord longer than all ya combined. There couldn't be a better leader of Chaos than myself. I'm a rogue privateer that knows the Labyrinth Isles like the backstreets of Manehatten. Celestia is somewhere in those Isles, and we'll find her. My ship, the Ragnarok, is getting supplies before we head out. Might be a couple of days before we leave. All you need to do is be ready when I call ya. You can stay in Fort Moonlight on the hill. We converted it into a Den of sorts. Ol' Big Mac will like to have some company. Maybe Maud too."
"Maud? Where is she?" Pinkie asked and grabbed the small Bearer.
Rainbow was surprised by Pinkie's speed. "Uhh....She should be at the Stone Bridge Bar. She needed some crew for her ship."
With that, Pinkie ran off at full speed, bumping into several pedestrians. Rainbow stood there in confusion before shaking her head. Vinyl took our pause to rest her arm on my shoulder. She was eating an apple that she did not have moments ago. Even stranger was the fact that her mask was in perfect condition. It appeared to never be harmed. Fluttershy silently walked over to Rainbow.
"Uhh....You said she was getting a crew. Does she have her own ship?" The Bearer of Kindness asked.
Rainbow smiled at this. "Oh yeah. The Brotherhood ain't a one ship fleet. We got five. Maud's got the biggest though, not sure how she got it. She gave it the worse name too. Boulder. Who names a ship after a rock? Rocks sink!" The Bearer waved her arms with wildly.
I did not remember much after that bit about Maud. All I really remembered was walking around the forsaken city and all of its sand and palm trees. The Bearer of Loyalty showed us about the city. She showed us some landmarks and areas of interest. Pinkie found us later that day and took Fluttershy away to meet her sister. Vinyl and I rejected her offer politely and thus we were left in Rainbow's care. However, this did not last long as she wandered to a local tavern when the sun went down and got as drunk as could be while still conscious. The other patrons found the Bearer amusing in her pathetic state. Because of her size, the others saw her more like a doll and toy than a human. Her constant giggles indicated that she did not mind. Vinyl and I kept an eye on her while discussing the day in whole.
"I can tell we are about to meet more sane individuals tomorrow." I said to Vinyl with utmost sarcasm.
"C'mon Tavi. If they weren't sane, they won't be fun. See? We're all working under ol' Discord, why not have some fun with it? Much better than following Twilight, am I right? Or Rarity for that matter.
I looked at her curiously at these words. There was some bitterness to them. Vinyl had always been on the Bearers' side, but now seemed to have distaste by even mentioning them. Well, except for Rainbow of course. Usually I was the one who complained about taking orders, not Vinyl. Vinyl had always done her duties, even reluctantly. My expression made her lean back in her chair.
"Oh, ya can't be like that. You know what I say is true."
"I see. It's just weird, that's all. Before all this, I never thought such things could exist. Discord, the Bearers, the Crystal Heart. We live a fantasy realm, Vinyl. It was so much simpler when I was a cellist."
"Yup. Back when I forged with the old man, he told stories about Sombra, the Two Sisters. Magic, voodoo. You know. I didn't think any were true. Heh, that's what the Creed is about."
I nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Rainbow fell off the table she was dancing on, to the enjoyment of the spectators. She tried to get up, but her intoxication prevented that. She placed a hand on a bench and pulled herself up.
"I'm alright! A'ight. I'm a'ight. hehe!" She slurred.
Two men and a Zebranian woman walked into the tavern. They saw the Bearer and scowled. The two men picked her up by the arms and dragged her away. The Zebranian scolded her loudly.
"O Captain of the Seas, why indulge yourself in crooked fantasies?"
"Le' me go! Ya scumbbie berstars!" Rainbow yelled at them.
Vinyl and I stood up and chased after them. They were strangers and we couldn't allow harm to our drunken ally. We exited the tavern and followed the group down the sandy road. Rainbow cursed at them the whole way. The two men finally dropped her on the ground. When Vinyl and I reached them, she was vomiting all over the sand and rocks.
"Two days Cap'n! Two bloody days! Ya couldn't even do that. What would Caramel say?" A man chided the Bearer.
"Damn ya! Don't ya dare use Caramel agains' me! Never! I'll...I'll have the nine on ya for that!" Rainbow screamed between her vomits.
Rainbow collapsed on the ground and began sobbing helplessly. The two men crossed their arms and shook their heads. The Zebranian woman sighed and turned to us. Her face was full of frustration and disappointment.
"You Assassins see clearly, this Captain needs help dearly." She spoke in a steady rhythm.
Rainbow, the infamous captain of the Ragnarok, was crying and pawing at the sand. The tears from her eyes seemed to have no end. I did not know whether to pity her or scold her. She was a Bearer of Loyalty, a leader in the Assassin Brotherhood. No person meant to be drunk on a corner of a street. The Bearer clutched her head and began thrashing about.
"Shut up! Stop talkin' to me! I don' want to hear you. Never! Get out of my head, ya bloody shite!" She rolled about like her head was exploding. Her veins bulged out with the pain she was going through. The two men and the Zebranian only watched. They had seen such things before.
I placed a hand on one of the men's shoulder. "Can't you help her? She looks like she's dying."
"Naw, Miss. Best thing to do is wait 'til the pain knocks her out. Once that happens, we drag her on board and wait until she wakes up. Heh, she's always in the worst of moods after a night like this."
Rainbow grabbed a palm tree and tried to pull herself up. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry ya hellish bastard! Why...Why did ya pick me? Gah!"
The Bearer stood up and ran some distance before falling face first into the ground. She did not stir upon landing. The two men picked up her small body from the sand and carried her away. The Zebranian woman stayed behind. She ran a dark hand through her mohawk. She placed a hand on the sickle like sword on her hip and faced us again.
"Too many nights have ended this way, if only we found a way to keep her from the fray."
With that, she turned to follow the men. Vinyl looked at me with worry. Even as a Survivor of Chaos, she was still surprised by all this. I returned her gaze with the same concern. We were thinking the same thing.
"Should we follow them? I asked, already knowing the answer.
"Hell yeah, we should."
Vinyl placed her mask on and sprinted to catch up with them. I followed my friend closely. The light from the moon guided us in the unlit streets. I wanted to erase what I had just witnessed, but the curiosity of it all intrigued me. These men were going to lead us to the Ragnarok. A ship of legend already. Though, as of late, I was not sure if I could the same about her captain. Maybe there was a side to this I didn't know. As always, I was willing to find out.
~