Under Loyalty's Flag

by Gapeagle

Chapter 13: A Rare Opportunity

"Ya sure this is gonna work?"

"Of course, Rainbow."

Neon, Rainbow, and the rest of their attack squad rested high up in a tree. The faded pink sky had no sun as it had dipped under the horizon an hour or so ago. They all waited in the tall tree. Some of them sharpening their daggers and swords, others testing their wrist blades, and some just staring out in the distance.

"Cap'n Caramel's plans usually work," one mate said. "This is gonna go fine. The Assassins won't know what hit 'em."

Rainbow took the encouraging words with a grain of salt. She knew not to be scared, but her heart pounded anyway. Her fingers would not stay still and she kept shifting her eyes about, expecting a man in white robes to come stab them. However, no such man came.

"Caramel's not gonna take long to get out there," Neon explained. "We'll gonna have to time this right. Assassins may not expect us, but they'll look up and see us coming. We gotta get there when they think they're the ones springing a trap, otherwise, we'll fight them in the shadows where they have the advantage."

"So not too early, not too late," One female pirate chuckled. "Lot counts on us, huh?"

Neon nodded. "Yes. Once the tides change in our favor, the Assassins won't last long. Caramel's even got some crew members waitin' through the village and island for when the Assassins try to flee."

"Thinks of everything," Rainbow said.

"Experience teaches you stuff like that."

All their eyes went to the procession of pirates on the ground. Caramel and Zecora were leading a small band away from the Ragnarok. A young pirate behind them was holding the decorated chest they stole from the Royal Convoy. Caramel glanced up at them and then silently pulled his hood over his brown hair. Rainbow also spied Berry Punch among the group.

"We need them to get a head start," Neon told them quietly. "We won't go until they reach the spot where the deal will be made."

"Wait," one pirate spoke. "Isn't there a risk that they could be ambushed on the way there?"

"Not really. The Assassins think themselves smart. Since they know we are dealing with another, they would want to stay their blades until Caramel's partner reveals himself."

The group accepted this reasoning with quiet nods and grunts. Rainbow did this also, but then furrowed her brows at the next obvious question.

"Uhh, who is Caramel's partner?" she asked.

"A man named Ferris," Neon whispered. "I don't know much about him, but Caramel trusts him. We give him shards we find and he...well...hides them. We try to keep these magical items out of the Templar and the Assassins. So far Ferris has done that wonderfully, and he also pays us too, but not always. He is a generous man."

"I get ya," Rainbow nodded. "How many does he have?"

"A good amount, lass. A good amount."

"Neon," a pirate interrupted. "We should get going."

"Follow me then."

Neon started running from branch to branch. The agile pirates followed his example. Caramel and Zecora were long out of sight and so the only one who knew where to go was Neon himself.

Rainbow did not have trouble keeping up. Even the darkness, she could easily pick out the good branches from the bad. It was a little different using trees over the buildings she was used to, but her skills allowed her to traverse them well. She swung on vines, jumped from branches, swerved around trunks, and did so with expertise.

Like monkeys, they ran along the treetops. They grew closer to Caramel's spot and farther away from the village. Sepulcher was not a large island by any means, but Rainbow was finding it much deeper than she thought. The cleared out hills were being replaced by brush and weeds. Soon they had entered a thin jungle.

This also made the area darker as the sky's final light had disappeared and the trees became taller and thicker. Piercing the darkness was a couple of torches by the ground. No doubt this was Caramel and the meeting. Neon stopped on a tree and held up the rest of his squad.

He glanced back at them. "We wait a little longer. The Assassins are in this jungle."

Rainbow silently slid her blue hood over her. It was show time. They all seemed to hold their breaths. The thin light from the torches barely illuminated the pirates and dealers. She could see Caramel's hooded figure and Zecora's tilted frame. The man on the other side was thick and perhaps a bit fat. At the distance, she could not tell for sure where his body ended.

They could also not here their voices. Slight inaudible whispers came from their way, but nothing understandable. The time was coming close. It was so silent in the trees that they could hear each other's breaths and, of course, their heartbeats.

As they sat in the branches, they could slightly hear the rumbling of leaves in the trees closer to Caramel. In the darkness, one could barely make out the shapes of people crawling effortlessly through the trees. Rainbow thought she saw the white robes that the Brotherhood wore. She could have just been imagining it. Neon gestured at the squad.

"Steady," he whispered

The number of Assassins could not be counted. It could be three to a hundred and none would have a better guess. The Assassins crept to the edge of the trees and looked down upon the dealing. The pirates had to wait for them to be on the ground, as any fight in the trees against such trained fighters would be futile.

That moment soon arrived when the Assassin sprung from the trees and attacked the allies below. There were early casualties on the pirate's side as Assassins landed on some, stabbing them while doing so. With no hesitation, Neon ran forward, leading the squad to the battle. Rainbow pulled out her sword and skillfully navigated the branches until she was close to the fight. From there, she leaped out with her swords and fell upon an unsuspecting Assassin in white robes. Her swords buried deep into him and her feet pressed his body against the jungle floor.

"Bout time ya lads joined us!" Caramel laughed as he fought two Assassins at once.

"I always love a good fight!" Ferris laughed.

Rainbow was caught in the action immediately. The jungle had erupted into a large chaotic fight. Swords against swords, pistols against pistols, and wrist blades against wrist blades. The only light was coming from the torches were now on the floor, lighting any dead plants on fire.

A Sister in beige robes swung at Rainbow. She parried the attacked swiftly and knocked the Assassin sword away before finishing her with two swords through the gut. Another Assassin came by and tried to avenge his comrade. This next Assassin was much more skilled.

Sparks flew from their blades, letting them get quick visions of each other's faces. From his complexion, he seemed of Zebrican descent. Rainbow did not care how he looked as he continued his attacks. She parried him and then planted one of her swords into the soft soil. With a twist of her body, she used the sword as an anchor to swing her body. Before the Assassin could react, she had swung around and kicked him squarely in the chest, knocking him over.

"Forget the pirates! We must locate the chest!" a familiar voice commanded the Assassins.

"Rarity?" Rainbow looked around.

The Zebrican Assassin launched himself up to fight on. Rainbow pulled out her only pistol and fired at him, but to her own disappointment, she missed. With only a split-second to react, she chucked the pistol at him, hitting him in the head.

When he was stunned by the pistol lob, she swung her blades across him, slicing him open. With him done, she started to look around through the battle.

Caramel had already taken out five Assassins and counting. His maniacal laughter was heard among the violent commotion. Zecora was fighting with an Assassin of gold robes one on one, but she was only fighting with one arm as the other clutched her side as if she had a wound. With pirate bodies on the ground with the Assassin corpses, Rainbow could tell it was not going to be an easy fight.

She ran past some battles. Her eyes searched for the Bearer of Generosity. Rainbow started running around at high speed. An Assassin stood in her way, but he was fighting Neon. The young pirate put her swords in front of her and ran right through the distracted Assassin.

"Thanks, lass!" Neon yelled as she ran by him.

Rainbow said nothing to him and continued. She slid to a stop when she finally saw Rarity. The elegant Assassin was fighting a pirate and one of Ferris's men. The fight was not long as Rarity stabbed one in the chest with her Crystal sword and shot the other in the head with a pistol. With a smoothness only she could capture, she withdrew her blade from the pirate and then sliced open a pirate's throat as he stupidly rushed at her.

Rainbow then ran at the Bearer. Rarity had her back to the young pirate. When Rainbow was about to reach Rarity, the Bearer turned around and pounced on her. Her bright and carved hidden blade was touching Rainbow's throat before the latter even knew what had happened. Rarity's violent glare soon eased to a shocked expression.

"Rainbow Dash!" she gasped.

She withdrew the hidden blade and stood up. Rainbow was confused by the action, but would not let the advantage slip by. She planted her swords into the ground and acrobatically used them to spring her upwards and to force her single kick right into Rarity. The Bearer flew backwards and landed in the dirt.

"How dare you!" she screamed. "I showed you mercy!"

Rarity then looked at her superficial robes and gasped in complete shock. Rainbow's boots were muddy and now the mud caked her previously perfect robes. . Rarity's expression turned into a snarl like no other. The Canterlotian Bearer would not stand for this.

"Oh. It. Is. On!"

"Bring it!" Rainbow taunted.

Rarity jumped up and swung her Crystal sword at Rainbow. The pirate deflected the oncoming attack, but could not retaliate as Rarity summoned another Crystal sword. Duel wield versus duel wield. It was apparent that Rarity knew this style well as they both in a full clash and neither could get an advantage.

"You have improved since we last met, Rainbow," Rarity said.

"And you haven't at all!" Rainbow shot back.

"Is that your best comeback?"

"...No."

"You should work on it, darling."

As the battle raged on around them, they fought on. Rainbow's fancy tricks and agile moves could not get by Rarity. The Bearer's expert attacks and timing seemed useless against Rainbow's peculiar fighting style. So, like dancers, they bounced around each other and often met with hateful stares before separating their swords once more.

Rarity swung her blades, making Rainbow duck under them. Seeing an opportunity, Rainbow thrust her blades upward at Rarity's unprotected torso. It was about to work, but Rarity reacted quickly and kicked Rainbow's face squarely in the jaw, knocking her over. The pirate probably would have recovered quicker if it wasn't for Rarity's heeled boots.

"You can do better than that, my dear," Rarity chuckled.

A pirate tried to interupt them and charged at Rarity. Without any effort, Rarity sidestepped the attack and sliced open the pirate's chest. With a deathly grunt, he fell over into a large fern. The Bearer did not even glance his way once.

This made Rainbow pause. Why doesn't she do that to me? However, she did not stay on the ground long and sprung back to her feet. With a roar, she charged at Rarity and their blades met. Rainbow disengaged and swung her leg out and tripped Rarity over. The Bearer let out a grunt when she landed on the ground. Rainbow now had a clear shot at Rarity.

"Protect the Bearer!"

An Assassin came out of the battle and attacked the young pirate, giving time for Rarity to stand up. The Assassin was mad in his attacks, leaving himself open several times. Rainbow took advantage of this and parried his attack. She followed through with a sword through his neck. The blade was stuck in his backbone and she could not pull it out. She placed a foot on his head and used that to push the sword free out of the Assassin's body.

Rarity was not there when Rainbow turned around. Instead, she seemed to have found the chest that contained the shard. The young pirate knew there that the chest was empty and so grinned to see Rarity's reaction. The Bearer slowly opened it to see nothing was inside. With a loud, un-lady-like curse, she slammed the lid down and threw the chest away.

"We've been tricked! Assassins, to the woods!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

The Assassins immediately broke off from their fights and fled. Rarity stood up and was about to flee with them. Rainbow was going to make sure that she did not. With a quickstep, Rainbow dove at Rarity's legs, grabbing them. The Bearer was taken by surprise and she fell over.

"Oh please, let me go, you uncouth hooligan!" Rarity kicked at Rainbow.

The Bearer escaped from Rainbow's grip and stood up. With a indignant huff, she turned around almost walked right into Caramel's pointed sword. The captain started to chuckle as more pirates surrounded the Bearer of Generosity. Rarity lowered her head and sighed.

"Looks like we got ourselves a lady, lads," Caramel chuckled coldly. "A nice, pretty little diamond, I say."

Rarity lifted her hands in surrender. Caramel continued to laugh and pointed at one pirate. "You'll be the luck y lad to search her. Make sure she ain't have anything up her sleeves, or shirt for that matter. She's a Bearer, she's very valuable to us."

He then sheathed his swords and walked over to Rainbow, giving her a hand up. "Ya did good, lass. Glad ya and Neon helped us like that."

"Thanks, Cap'n," Rainbow panted. "Uh, where's Ferris?"

"Oh, he lost a hand. His men are already takin' him back to the village," Caramel answered casually and then spoke to the crew. "Loot the bodies. Take any of our fallen fellows back. We'll bury them on the hill. Oh, and take the Assassin robes, it's about time we make some warnin' signs out of them."

The pirates obeyed and started messing with the corpses. The lucky pirate had taken all of Rarity's weapons and was now tying her hands together. Rainbow could not hold a chuckle back and leaned on the Bearer mockingly.

"Looks like we're gonna spend even more time together," she laughed.

"I can't believe it..." Rarity shook her head. "I am a lady, a woman of elegance and dignity, now a prisoner to pirates! Oh this makes me mad. Your ship is probably infested with rats and most unclean. Dirt everywhere! You probably don't even cook the fish you catch! Such savages!" The pirate tightened the ropes. "Ow! Young man! Please be delicate! If you make my restraints too tight, my hands will turn an awful shade of blue. Ow! You do know who you are messing with, don't you? Ow! Do you even understand me? Are you that uneducated, you lowly, pitiful, uncouth, uncivilized, and unfashionable brute?"

The pirate merely responded with an affirmative grunt.

"I think you're be fine, Rares," Rainbow giggled. "Besides, it's not the rats you should be afraid of. There are worse things."

"Good heavens!" Rarity bought the lie. "What could be worse than rats?"

"You'll see," Rainbow nodded.

Rarity held a scared expression as the pirate led her away. Rainbow watched with a smile and wiped from sweat off her forehead. Her eyes were becoming heavy and she yawned. All the fighting took plenty of stamina and she was now tired. She picked up a torch that was on the ground and started whistling a tune as she walked back with the pirates to the Ragnarok.

~

Author's Note:

Comments

[badninja]

Wow Rainbow and Rarity got off on the wrong foot. I cannot wait to see how they become friends! Will Twilight be making an appearance soon?

[Gapeagle]

6854463 Most likely not. Rainbow and her first met in Ponyville AFTER Rainbow became the Bearer of Loyalty. So if she does appear, it'll be some time from this point.

But now, it's time for some Rares/Rainbow interaction.

[Iron Comet]

She fought a sword fight in Heels? That's serious skill there.

[Gapeagle]

6859579 She's Rarity. She's probably the only one that could do it. And with most Renaissance/early 1500s shoes, the heels were not that high like today.

But still, she's Rarity.

[Iron Comet]

6859614 True, I fight in Steel Armor circa 1300's and even in good boots its hard to maintain balance. Plus as you said, it's Rarity.