"We sail on."
These words rung through the hardened boards of the ship. Rainbow prepped the cannons that rested on the dies of the main deck. The Ragnarok quickened with a strong breeze and the distant masts of the enemy ships approached. Wisps of thick fog passed them by as they skimmed the water.
"We gotta be quiet lads!" Caramel yelled. "Once we get into the fog, keep ya eyes peeled. We'll catch 'em all by surprise."
The crew became alive with motion. Rainbow raced around, making sure everything was in place and everything was ready for a fight. The swords on her back rattled with her movement. Her heart stirred with every second. They were not only outnumbered, outgunned, and outclassed, but they were doing all of this on the captain's desire to go and "kill something."
The fog became thicker. Everything became quiet. Some small gunboats for the Royal Convoy sailed about, oblivious to the pirate ship in their midst. The sails were lifted and the Ragnarok slowed to a snail's pace. Caramel made every turn of the ship a precise and silent one.
The masts of the Equestrian frigates could be seen above the fog. And above all those masts was the towering ECS Solaire. The ship was almost identical to Luna's ship, only it had yellow sails with Celestia's Sun on it and the wood was brighter in general. Giant mortars could be seen poking out of the main deck and rows upon rows of cannons lined the thick sides of the monstrous vessel.
The pirate ship snuck by some more gunboats under the fog. Rainbow and most of the crew were crouching next to the cannons, thinking that hiding like that would prevent the ship from being spotted.
"How can you tell which frigate is the right target?" Zecora asked in a whisper.
"The treasure frigate always has a special flag." Caramel answered. "It's that one over yonder."
The eyes of the crew followed his finger to a large Equestrian frigate that had a large yellow flag that differed from the Empire's usual bluish purple one. The symbol of the Sisters was in the middle of the flag.
"Watch the ships on the left, Captain!"
Rainbow's eyes turned to see a gunboat sailing towards them. It could be barely seen in the ever thickening fog. Caramel turned the ship away and the sails were dropped to gain speed. Fortunately, the gunboat was not sailing directly at them and they left it unaware of their presence.
"We can't be hidden forever. Once we are spotted, no doubt it would be over." Zecora grumbled.
"What we need is to reach the treasure frigate when she's alone or far away from the others." Caramel ignored her. "We won't fire a shot at her."
Rainbow blinked in confusion but held her position. Some of the escorting frigates were not far away as the sides of the ship could be seen. She was astonished they had not been spotted. She could only assume that the Equestrians thought them as allies and not the rogue privateers they were.
"We'll get close to the frigate, but not too close. Then, we swim to her." Caramel continued.
He turned the wheel to angle the ship towards the treasure frigate. The massive ECS Solaire was rather close to the treasure frigate, almost making it seem like she was leading the frigate about. The Ragnarok floated to her quietly. The crew watched apprehensively as they went around a escort frigate. The helmets of the Royal Guards on the ship could be seen. Their bright crests made their silhouettes odd compared to their armored bodies.
"Something's on this ship..." Caramel whispered. "It doesn't make sense for an Empress to guard it herself."
Caramel too his hand off the wheel and let the treasure frigate pass in front of them. The Empress's ship was on the other side of the frigate, thus giving the pirates just a little more camouflage. Once they passed, the main sails were brought down to give the ship a little boost and they followed tightly behind them.
"We have to hurry, the sun is getting more powerful and will lift this fog in fury." Zecora stated.
"We gotta distract Celestia..." Caramel huffed. "Any torches about?"
At these words, the crew began to scramble about, getting lamps and torches that were ready for land exploration. Caramel let go of the wheel and Zecora took over the steering duty. He walked over to the crewmembers who had gathered the objects he wanted.
"Zecora, get behind the ECS Solaire. Alright lads n' lasses, we'll gonna set that monster ablaze. We'll need our most agile member to go up the bowsprit and throw these at the ship."
All eyes fell on Rainbow when he mentioned "agile." Caramel chuckled and gave the young woman a bottle of rum and he lit a torch. She took the torch from his hand with a frown. Her heart was still pumping fast, but she was doubting that this method would work.
Rainbow turned and ran over to the bowsprit. She jumped over the mortar and onto the long poll that extended from the bow of the brig. They were so close that to the conqueror class ship that Rainbow could see the individual boards. As she went farther on the bowsprit, the harder it was to keep balance on the rocking ship.
Rainbow took one look back at the crew that watched her. Caramel motioned her her to keep going, a grin actually appeared on his dark face. She took a deep breath. It was going to be a hard throw to reach the ship. She turned around and kept going to the end of the bowsprit.
When she reached the tip, she stood up. The Ragnarok was so close to the Solaire that Rainbow could see one person on the ship that was different from the rest. This person was taller than the rest. Rainbow could tell that the person was a woman with bright colorful hair and she was leaning over the railing, gazing absently over the side of the ship.
"That's the Empress..." Rainbow whispered to herself.
The Empress, in her white radiant gown practically glowed through the fog. Her beautiful face distracted Rainbow from her task. She had never seen the Empress in person. Her hair, her pinkish eyes, and her delicate skin was clear despite the fog and distance.
"Still only a rich fool..." Rainbow growled and took up the rum bottle.
Celestia turned and looked right at Rainbow. She did nothing but raise her long brow. Rainbow's heart jumped and she threw the bottle at the ship, making it break and pout its flammable liquid on the wood.
The Empress seemed confused by the action. She then shook her head slowly and was clearly chuckling, though Rainbow could not hear it. The young pirate threw the torch at the rum, setting it ablaze. At this, Celestia jumped as she saw the flames spread. Instead of running to the crew, she ran to the railing closest to Rainbow.
"What are you doing, girl?" Celestia barked softly.
"Deal with that first and I'll answer later." Rainbow replied.
A blinding light engulfed Rainbow's eyes, turning everything white. This disoriented Rainbow greatly and she lost balance, falling right into the water. She still could not see anything as her eyes burned. She swam upwards until she was above the surface. The world slowly returned from the white abyss that it was moments prior.
"Miss Dash!"
A flying rope smacked her in the cheek as she treaded the water. Her eyes darted to the rope and then to Caramel who was holding it from the brig. She instinctevly took hold of the rope and was dragged back to the ship.
"What....What happened?" Rainbow asked.
"A light from heaven wrapped itself around you." A pirate told her. "Then you fell."
"It's Celestia's doing." Caramel growled. "C'mon! We have to go before they take the fire out."
The crew scrambled about to their positions as Zecora turned the ship away from the monster. The rising flames from the Solaire lifted the fog away and replaced it with black smoke. The treasure frigate stopped and watched the fires.
The Ragnarok swung around and floated to the distracted frigate. Caramel secured the belts that held his weapons as several crew members walked over to him. Rainbow secured the swords on her back and joined the group. Caramel gathered them around and instructed them.
"While they watch their Empress's ship burn, we'll sneak up from behind. Stealth is needed, lads. I'll get the captain, you get any sod who would be trouble. There's something on that ship and we'll get it before they even know what hit them."
The group nodded in understanding. Caramel walked over to the edge and without a word, dived into the water. Neon followed by several other members until Rainbow jumped in with them.
They all popped their heads above the water. Caramel led them to the frigate. Neon swam off in a different direction with some other men. Rainbow followed Caramel to the ship.
"How did that happen?"
"The Empress is in trouble!"
"She can handle it."
"What in Tartarus happen to start a fire?"
The voices of the Royal Guards on the ship could be heard as Rainbow climbed the ship with Caramel. He held a dagger in his mouth and his powerful arms pulled himself up the wet boards. Rainbow followed quickly as her trained muscles let her easily scale the vessel.
When Caramel reached the railing, he gestured for the others to halt. Then he gestured for them to reach the railing. Rainbow saw some indecision in the captain but did as she was told. She placed a hand on the railing and looked over. All the heads of the Equestrian sailors were watching the ECS Solaire.
Caramel pointed his finger at two Guards. Rainbow understood what he meant and she pulled herself over the railing silently. Another pirate followed her over. She crouched down and slowly approached a Guard. He was completely distracted by the fire and stood still for her.
Rainbow was right behind him when she pounced up, covered his mouth, and slit his throat with a knife. The man fell on her and she slowly lowered him to the deck. The other sailor that Caramel pointed at was taken out as well in a similar fashion.
The rest of the pirates pulled themselves over. Rainbow could see Neon's group picking off Equestrians and lowering them to the deck. Caramel went right to the unsuspecting captain. The pirate took the dagger out of his mouth, kicked the captain's left calf, making him fall forward. Caramel took hold of the captain and placed the dagger at his throat.
"We have our hostage." Caramel smiled.
The Equestrian captain struggled, but he was no match for Caramel's strength. Rainbow drew her swords in preparation for a fight. Neon's men picked off the other Equestrian sailors that were close to the railings. In no time the frigate was lined with pirates and the crew members on board were still unaware.
"Hey!" Caramel shouted.
The Equestrians turned to see their captain being held with a knife. Most of them drew their swords instinctively until they realized just how many pirates were on board with them. After they grumbled some curses, they lowered their weapons.
"Ya a bunch of good lads." Caramel grinned. "You all know why we're here. So you let us take ya goods and no one else has to die. If any of ya try and stop us, your captain is gonna be sent to Tartarus."
"How dare you!" The Equestrian Captain snarled. "Who do you think you are?"
"Just a man and crew setting the world right." Was the reply.
Caramel then dragged the captain down the forecastle to the main deck. The Royal sailors could only stare at him with hatred. Rainbow followed closely behind and she was not sure what exactly to do. So she simply held her swords up menacingly, or as menacingly as one of her size could.
"Usually I'll just ask where the gold is, but I know this ain't no ordinary convoy. So what's ya hiding?"
"Go to Hell!"
"Not yet." Caramel brushed it aside. "Now, I'll ask again. Where is the shard?"
The captain gaped at him. "How do you know...."
"Answer me dammit!"
"My quarters, underneath my desk."
Without a word, Caramel threw the captain over to Rainbow. This took the young pirate by surprise, but she recovered and held a sword at the captain's neck. It wasn't as formidable as Caramel's tight hold, but the same threat of death was retained.
Caramel stomped over to the quarters and forcibly kicked the door opened. A moment of silence was present after this. As the flames still soared upwards from Celestia's mighty ship, all eyes were on the open door. After some sounds of rummaging was heard from inside, Caramel appeared once again with a small engraved box.
"This is a mighty find." Caramel grinned. "Don't you ever think it's just the only thing we're taken from ya. Neon, you take your men and get the gold. Royal guys, stack all your weapons in the center my the main mast. Dear captain, give me ya helmet."
"My helmet?" The captain blinked.
"Yes. I want your helmet."
The Equestrian Captain slowly took his purple crested helmet off and the chucked it over to Caramel, who caught it with his free hand. He chuckled as all the weapons were gathered by the main mast. He was in a much better mood than before. With a small hop he laughed.
"Throw all the weapons overboard. These guys don't need 'em!"
"Really?" Rainbow inquired. "We could use them."
"Maybe, but do you really wanna haul all of them to the ship? Besides, these are men under the Empresses, any way to screw them up is a good way to screw them up."
"Whatever you say, captain..." Rainbow shrugged.
And thus, all the Equestrian weapons were cast into the dark sea. Neon and his men came up from below deck with small chests of gold. It was far less than what Rainbow had anticipated from a ship coming from the Labyrinth Isles.
"Now, we shall let you boys go on your merry way, once we back to our ship of course. Rainbow, cut their flag down."
Rainbow nodded and ran to the main mast. She sheathed her swords and took a deep breath. The flag was high above her and almost lost in the rising fog. Before her was a hook used for lifting cargo to the storage deck. She knew a trick Caramel taught her and she took hold of the hook and released the trap that held it there.
The pulley system lifted her halfway up the mast before she let go of the hook. Without hesitating, she climbed up the mast, grabbing the ropes that surrounded it and pulling herself up.
The fog was now underneath her and the bright sun reached her eyes once again. It was only then she realized just how thick the fog was. It was like an instant change from night to day and her eyes were far from prepared for it. With her eyes squinted she reached the crow's nest. The fire was still raging on the Solaire. Did we just beat the world's largest ship? After asking herself this, she shrugged and climbed up to the flag.
Celestia's ship was still a tower compared to where she stood, but Rainbow did not care about that. She climbed the flag pole until she was even with the large decorated piece of fabric. The Equestrian flag, depicting the the symbols of the Sisters being joined as one, flapped peacefully in the high breeze.
Rainbow drew her sword and cut it down. She watched the flag fly off into the distance before hopping back down to the crow's nest. The sails of the Ragnarok approached swiftly as the getaway commenced.
"Gotta get back down there..."
She walked over to the edge. It was a long ways down. However, it was not long enough for her. She ran over to the other side of the nest and then sprinted back. Her powerful legs pushed her off the edge Her arms were spread-eagle and the air rushed by her head. The water she was aiming for was far below and it did not seem to come closer.
Without an ounce of fear, Rainbow moved her arms to a point in front of her. The air around her became so loud that she could not hear anything. Her eyes could barely open with the force that was being placed on them.
The water suddenly approached rapidly and she held her breath. Her eyes closed and she felt the water form around her. The next moment she found herself submerged. She turned her head upwards and swam back up to the surface.
"Gah!" She gasped for air.
Once her head was above the water, she saw Caramel's beloved ship next to her. She swam over to her and began to climb it as it sailed rapidly on. Her mind was still a little shook up from the high dive, but she climbed the side of the ship successfully.
The crew cheered as she pulled herself over the railing. Zecora was at the wheel, steering the ship away from the Royal Convoy. Caramel ran over to Rainbow with a broad smile on his lips.
"Ha! What a dive, lass! I thought there was a rainbow over yonder, but alas! it was only you. You sure make the sky pretty with ya colors."
"Hehe....Thanks?" Rainbow coughed.
"That was pretty epic." Berry nodded.
"Way to go, Rainbow." Neon laughed. "Best part, we got what we wanted.
Caramel nodded. "Indeed. Now we sail to the Labyrinth Isles with some goods for the people there."
"Good to have the happy Caramel back." Rainbow laughed.
"Some raidin' will always bring me back, kid."
~