The two pegasai stood there for a moment locked in on each other. Singer glaring at Clap. How could he have the audacity to show up here of all places and open up old wounds? Singer's demeanor went from frightened to angry real fast. His posture changed from shocked to one like a territorial dog would have.
"You have a lot of nerve!" Singer shouted angrily.
"Give me the sword, Singer" Clap said sternly. "I will not ask again! And it's going to get a lot of ponies hurt. If I have to repeat myself, I'll make sure to extend the hurt to you tenfold!"
"Your empty threats don't scare me, Clap! I beat you once, and I'll do it again!" Singer pulled the weapon in question out once again. After a while of not using it, Singer had hoped he hadn't put himself in this bad situation without checking himself first. Fortunately for Singer, the weapon worked as well as it ever did, as he used his wing to grab it out of his saddle bag and rolled it down his front leg to grab it. He reel the blade from its hilt and the blade lit up in its hot yellow hue.
Unfortunately for our pegasus friend, he would immediately find that Clap had not come alone and quickly found himself surrounded by various ponies in cloth masks and trench coats. No doubt to hide their identities.
Singer looked around him. His friends who were on stage had rightly made themselves scarce. He would have told them to anyway. But now... this didn't look good for him. When Clap jumped down from his thunder cloud of death and stood mere feet away from where Singer had been standing, he knew he was in trouble.
"Remember what I said the first time we met?" Singer nodded no to Clap's question, which made Clap growl in annoyance. "Well then allow me to remind you... 'What Baron Barber wants, Baron Barber gets!' And I'm taking that sword with me. With it without you attached to your it. And I'd prefer to take it without you."
The peril of the situation was not lost with Singer, but what choice did he have? He felt something rise up in him. Something that he hadn't felt in seven years... not since that fateful day. His body tensed, his teeth gritted. He grabbed the hoof of one of the masked ponies that was approaching him and turned him on his back using a move that he had learned from Violet, who in turn knew martial arts and taught him herself. Singer grabbed his hoof and applied the appropriate amount of force and the pony in question was rapidly turned over and around on his back. Singer looked down at his first victim as the pony had appeared to have the wind knocked out of him.
"So... I see you've chosen the hard way. I was kind of hoping you would." Clap said with a chuckle as he pulled out his new and improved lighting rod, complete with rubber grips in the middle, and this one appeared to be made of a higher grade of metal. He stuck the pointy, untasered end into the ground and lifted his hoof and pointed at Singer. "Bring him to me..."
Singer, still holding his sword into place, got himself in a defensive stance, retracted the blade and hid it back in his bag, and readied his hooves.
"Your move" he said, coyly.
Another one of the hoof ponies attacked. This time, unlike the earth pony that attacked before, this one was a unicorn. He charged at Singer and shot at him with his magic blasts.
Singer dodged, used his wings to fly into the air and dodged some more before using a round house kick to the unicorn's face, effectively knocking him out. He watched as a few pegasai emerged from the group and came after him all at once. There were four of them. But apparently they weren't as well trained as Singer had been because Singer was able to grab the first one, swing him into the second one and kicked third pony, knocking him into the fourth pony in line, causing all four pegasai to fall to the ground.
"This is a bit too easy, Clap! You sure you got this?" Singer taunted.
Clap just stood there and confidently chuckled with a smirk and looked up at Singer. "You really think you've won? I'm just getting started!" Clap used his lightning rod, aiming it at Singer and sent a blast of electricity up at Singer, who could not avoid it.
Singer, once hit, quickly found himself writhing on the floor as the electric bolts ran their course throughout his body. Singer winced in pain, and desperately tried to get up. His mind went back to that day when Record had told him to just take the sword and leave. Him choosing instead to use the sword and fight Clap. His arrogance had once again got him into trouble. He could only watch Clap and his ponies drawing closer to him as he lie there. This situation was far from ideal and now Singer seemingly was about to pay the price for his error in judgment. He tried to move but found it difficult at that moment. This was bad...
…………….
The stands grew quiet as the clouds engulfed the air above the stage. Comet, Brawn and Fives had been sitting and continuing to argue about who was going to win the race. But soon they, like every pony else there had their eyes locked onto the stage as the presentation in the form of a dark storm cloud covered the stage where the track was.
Comet set his eyes upon what he could make out as a pony standing on the storm cloud as a bit of a flex of power. It didn't take him long to remember that Singer was still down there. Especially when he locked eyes onto the pegasus as he stood there facing the pony responsible for the disruption.
Comet became enraged and he jumped up on his hooves, prepared to act. He then jumped onto the heads of those who sat in front of him and skipped downward across the sea of heads getting griped out by every pony he stepped on, until he began to lose his footing and was forced to teleport the rest of the way down. Any ponies who were still in the stands by this point had begun to flee due to the fact that they appeared to be in danger. This was good. Less of a chance for a mess with every pony leaving.
Fives had been the second to act but she did so more sensibly than Comet and had just used the aisles to get down there. Brawn had been along behind Fives as she lead the charge to save Singer.
As Comet made his way via teleportation, and Fives and Brawn caught up to him on their own hooves, they reached the stage in time to see Singer fall after being in a brief fight with the hench ponies after which he'd been held down by Clap, who had suddenly put his back hoof on Singer's throat.
"Come on! We gotta get him out of there!" Comet exclaimed as he jumped on the stage and proceeded to charge at Clap and his forces.
"Looks like we've got company, fellows" Clap said, noting Singer's friends charging. "Let's open up the welcome party..."
Soon the other ponies had engaged Comet, Fives and Brawn. Fives and Brawn were doing their part by keeping a good portion of the hoof soldiers at bay. Brawn throwing haymakers at these less than stellar fighters, while Fives stood back to back with him, throwing her own punches and kicks. But the situation turned sour quickly as more were seemingly coming out of the woodwork. And with them quickly advancing on their positions, they began to be overwhelmed.
As they held their ground, Comet locked eyes on Singer, who had been pinned down by Thunder Clap. Comet wasted no time and teleported over to where his pegasus friend was being held and with a fierce fight in his step, he blasted Clap with his horn, knocking him back. He'd been able to stun Clap this time, but his adversary would be better prepared next time. He took the opportunity to place his hoof on Singer's shoulder and teleport him as well as himself away from the stage and into the grassy area in one of the turns of the course.
Clap quickly regained himself, and frustratedly grabbed his lightning rod. He bolted up into the air, trying to find Singer and his inter-loafing friend.
As Singer and Comet hid behind a mound of earth that hid one of the turns on the race course, they took an opportunity to catch their breath. And in the case for the former, a moment to dry heave as he'd not been used to teleporting like that.
"Thanks for the save, Bud... but in the future, maybe give a little bit of a warning before you teleport me?" Singer complained, trying to ease his stomach.
"Sorry Sing, gut move." Comet said unrepentantly with a smirk. "But you have to admit, that was pretty cool."
He burped a bit for relief before it finally came. "Yeah, cool... wooo..."he sighed. "But I guess we better help Brawn and Fives."
"On it!" Comet said with a flash as he popped away from where they had been standing and went to aid his earth pony friends.
As Clap continued to look from the sky, he began to narrow his search. That unicorn had given him a clue when he seen that Comet had joined the earth ponies in combat with his hoof soldiers.
"Pathetic, you just can't get good help anymore..." he muttered to himself.
"You said it."
Clap's eyes widened as he turned to face his addressor. The pegasus racer, Buckshot Speed had snuck up on him, hovering in place while glaring at him.
"Beat it, fly boy! I'm not here for you. You best get lost before you get hurt!"
"I don't know what your beef is with Singer, but any pony who messes with Singer, messes with me!" Buckshot said as he pushed Thunder Clap, and in turn infuriating him.
"Okay then, new order of business: KILL YOU, and THEN grab that dopey show pony!" His face became grimaced and off putting.
"Uh oh..." Buckshot said, before remembering who he was. "You're going to have to catch me first, ya wing nut!" He zipped off in another direction, and Clap gave chase.
This had bought Singer some time to regroup. He took the opportunity to rejoin his friends after they had beaten up the remaining hoof soldiers.
"Too easy..." Brawn remarked, dusting himself off. "This is why you don't challenge Brawn! You'll end up beaten to a pulp." The orange earth pony stallion boasted as Singer reached them.
"Looks like Buckshot is distracting Clap. We'd better figure out some way to take him down or some pony is really going to get-" Singer was cut off before he could finish what he was saying, due to being hit by a crimson red unicorn blast, coming seemingly out of no where. This one came from some pony Singer had seen only once before. Singer was hit and pushed back onto his back, lying on the ground as he held his left shoulder.
"Poor fool! Did you really think it was going to be that easy?" The dark grey unicorn said as he trudged toward them. "Funny... this was just the way Record looked before... well, you know."
Singer's anger grew even more intense. His eyes locked onto the unicorn's. He hadn't caught his name but he knew who he was. He'd tried to avoid thinking about what had happened seven years ago, but he couldn't help but put the pieces together at last.
"You..." Singer said with a cold growl. "You took him away."
"Correct" he chuckled sinisterly. "And now I'm going to do the same to you..." His horn ignited once again.
Buckshot had landed behind him, unaware of what was happening in front of him until he looked up. He had thought he'd bested Clap, but in the shock of seeing the unicorn inching towards Singer, he paused. He thought about charging, but he was quickly dispatched by Thunder Clap as he came up behind him, suddenly and administered a shock from his lightning rod, making him convulse on the ground for a brief moment before he fell unconscious.
The screams of of Serenity, who had been hiding behind the curtains this whole time, could be heard as she witnessed her coltfriend take a shocking fall.
"Serenity! Get out of here! Take Buckshot and go!"
"I've got a better idea..." the unicorn said as he eyed the red unicorn mare. His aura surrounded her and pulled her to him. She tried to grab the ground with her hooves but to no avail. He levitated her towards him, grabbed her and held her hostage. "If you don't want to see this fine specimen of a mare hurt right in front of you, I suggest you come quietly."
"Shaw, that's not why we're here..." Clap interjected. "We've got Singer right where we want him, time's a wasting!"
"Shut up Clap! We were here for you to capture this buffoon and the sword, and you've failed on both fronts. I guess your probation will continue. You pathetic weasel of a stallion! You will be dealt with back at base. Now do what I say and grab a bag for our unfortunate guest..."
"Yes, I'll come quietly" Singer relented, breathing frantically. "Just please... let her go."
Clap hit Singer on the back of the head, and pushed him to the ground. Singer, defeated, lay there for a minute as Clap was ready to apprehend him. "Now let Serenity go..."
"I'm a stallion of my word..." he released the unicorn mare, allowing her to scurry off to the side and check on her coltfriend, who had yet to wake up.
Shaw chuckled and shared looks with Clap, who looked somewhat disapproving at Shaw's methods. Shaw said nothing further to Clap as he motioned for him to hurry and capture him.
Suddenly, the dam had broken. Comet, who was forced to stand to the side and hold back, couldn't any more. Enraged, he picked Shaw up with his aura and tossed him into the bleachers. He shot Clap with a blast from his horn, hitting him in the chest and sent him careening back.
Comet helped Singer up onto his four hooves. "Now that was awesome!"
"Yeah, but I don't think we've seen the end of it" Singer said. And no sooner, Shaw burst from under the seats. His eyes red with anger and horn glowing.
Comet, ready to defend, ironically went into the offense and fired a shot before Shaw could. Only this time, Shaw held his defense with a shield. As Comet continuously fired upon Shaw, he only proved to be wasting his energy.
"Comet! Stop! You're going to tire yourself down!" Singer warned, but Comet ignored.
Comet responded to this, only by lunging forward and charging what was intended to be a buildup to a huge magic blast.
"Comet don't do it!" Fives shouted, but to no avail.
As the overzealous unicorn got closer, Shaw let down his defense and fired a blast towards Comet.
It was almost like everything was happening in slow motion. Comet's confidence had began to fade with every centimeter closer Shaw's blast drew into him. The blast had been impressive, and powerful. He knew he would be out for a while once it hit him. He closed his eyes and prepared for impact until...
He was suddenly pushed out of the way by the very pony he'd been fighting to protect. Singer had flown right in front of Comet in the knick of time, taking the blow for him. Comet would land on his back and witness what came next, helplessly lying on the ground.
The impact hit Singer hard. Hard enough to render him unconscious. The blacked-out pegasus was sent flying back by the impact, and right into the opportunely placed large nap sack that Clap had readied to obtain the target.
Brawn tired to fight back in resistance, but Shaw just threw him to the side, and would do the same for Fives' advances. It was over, they'd won.
Comet, collected himself, but a little too late. By the time he processed what was going on, the terrible two along with the newly reawakened hoof soldiers, were following Clap and Shaw into a portal opened by the latter. Comet hit the ground with his hoof in frustration and let out a scream of anger and defeat.
The aftermath had left Brawn, Fives, Serenity and Comet sitting there, dumbfounded at what had happened. Moments later, Buckshot awoke from his unconsciousness, dazed but alive, and suddenly full of questions. All that went unanswered by his friends as they all sat there in disbelief. What were they going to do now?
…………………
Defeated, Brawn had taken his troubles to a nearby bar. He didn't know what to do. His brother had been taken, and all he could do at this time was drink? Normally, he'd be doing it to celebrate something, but right now he just needed something to make him get over the anger he felt. And this would just have to do.
As he sat there wallowing in self pity, he tipped the bartender and drank a glass of hard cider. A little bit light compared to what he was used to, but he didn't know what else to do.
But apparently this caught the attention of a particularly interesting individual, who'd been sitting at a nearby table. The individual in question was a brown bipedal cat, but go appeared to be intelligent enough to talk on his own. Come to find out, bipedal cats were common on the areas outside the edges of the kingdom of Equestria.
"Oy! Ello there, bloke. Ya look like ya just lost your best friend." The cat said. He was a brown cat, wearing a red vest, had the hair on his head all scruffy like a bed head, his whiskers were all bent and he had what appeared to be a glass bottle of milk in his paw.
"You could say that..." Brawn said. "Who are you, anyway?"
The cat bowed slightly as he introduced himself. "I'm Tob Tunafast. Short for Toblerone Tunafest."
"I didn't know cats could talk."
"Eh... only certain kinds. Like meself. What's got ya all glum, chum?"
"You don't want to hear what all's wrong, okay? It's all wrong. I'm sure you got bigger fish to fry."
"Eh, not really. See I just escaped from this terrible place... Manor DelToro. I had been held there for months before I finally found a way to escape. All I had to do was steal ol' Baron Barber's zeppelin! Ha ha! That old bugger never saw it coming!"
Something clicked in Brawn's mind as he said that. Baron Barber? He'd remembered that Singer had mentioned him before several times in the past, he had a lead! He perked up and picked up Tob and held him up to his face.
"You mean, you know where Barber is?!?"
"Oy! Invadin' me personal space, mate!"
"His cronies took my brother! You know where he is?!?" He noted Tob's angering in his features, and he put him down on the barstool next to him.
"Aye! I know where it is, but you couldn't pay me to go back there! That place is for the birds, and even birds would have a heck of a time likin' it there!"
"Come on! You might be our only shot of getting my brother back!"
Tob shook his head and turned his back.
"Come on, Tob! You're my only chance at finding him... Ah don't make me say it... Please?"
Tob was conflicted. His big heart couldn't bare the thought of someone else being stuck there. But at the same time he was worried for himself too. But he had something in common with Brawn. His love for his family. He mentally put himself in Brawn's position. He didn't know Brawn, but he could tell desperation when he saw it. He turned back around and faced the big earth pony.
"I must be out of me bloomin mind..." Tob said. "Aight! I'll help ya. Maybe with a big lug like yerself, I might stand a chance at some revenge! I'm in!"
"You're a lifesaver, dude! But uh... don't tell my friends that I begged for help. They'd never let me live it down."
"Say no more, mate! Friends, eh? Nice to know we have backup."
"Yeah!" Brawn shouted excitedly. "So when do we start walking to this DelToro place?"
"Mate!" Tob shouted. "Did ya miss the part where I said I have a bloomin zeppelin in my possession?!?" He dangled the keys in front of his face.
"Dude, that's so freakin cool..." Brawn exclaimed. "Wait until the others get a load of this."