Baron Barber has messed with the wrong stallion. Singer Case and the gang must rise to the occasion and take him down on his home turf.
A Crime Lord has emerged after the the Princess of Friendship assumes the throne. A stallion who once thought his life and legacy was safe, finds it being threatened once again. He must defend what he loves, and perhaps find what he thought was lost.
Manor Del Toro is home to a rough group of characters, and it’s so isolated that not many outside of it believe it to be real, but as our pony friends find out, it’s very real and very dangerous. As much so as the ruthless Baron Barber who rules the barriers with an iron hoof.
Destruction, chaos and utter confusion. The scene that had unfolded that fateful day was unprecedented, and most unwelcome. Amidst the busted walls of what once was 'Golden Record Entertainment, Incorporated', the empire ran by Manehattan's Great Star, Golden Record himself, were dozens of scared employees and the ponies responsible for the attack.
Golden Record was a tall white Pegasus stallion who had a golden colored well kept mane and a moderate length tail with a cutie mark resembling a microphone with a Golden star behind it. He was famous in Manehattan, not only for his music career, but also his business as the owner of his own record label and other various ventures he oversaw his his tower of business.
He looked in horror as the cronies responsible for the attack on his establishment bore down upon him. Why were they doing this? He had a deal with their boss! No pony was to be harmed. Unless... no! They couldn't have known... something that he had kept hidden. They'd finally figured out that he'd had it in his possession.
Golden pondered what he'd do. This was a weapon that even he wasn't allowed to mess with, but was trusted to guard by the pony he knew as a father. He looked down at the weapon in question that he held in his hooves, it was a sword that had a retractable blade so he was holding the handle of it, trying desperately to keep them from losing it. But there was one thing that he held priority over this. And that was the safety of his own son.
Just then, as he hid behind his broken desk in his half destroyed office while struggling to keep his composure, he entered. His son, Singer Case had arrived. Though he didn't come to fight, merely to make sure his father was alright, he had little choice.
"Record!" he called out to him. "F-Father!" He'd shouted out again with a hint of hesitation in calling him as such, as he'd only recently gotten to know him over the course of the last year or so, but the fear of danger had brought it out of him. "Are you okay?"
Record turned to see Singer looming at the entrance to his battered office. This was not good. He weighed every option, as one of his adversaries, a black Pegasus stallion who had a white muzzle, yellow streaks in a white mane and tale, and a cloud with a lightning strike as a cutie mark, who was wielding a metal rod with two large taser-like attachments on each end was lunging toward him.
"Singer! Get out of here! Take this and run!"
He threw the retracted handle of the sword to his son and climbed up on his desk to block the aggressor's charge by catching him during his lunge and pushing back with much resistance, killing the momentum the dark Pegasus had gained in his charge. But it wasn't enough. The other Pegasus quickly regained himself and forced Record back, making him fall to the ground. It appeared to be the end as the dark Pegasus raised his rod in preparation to strike Record. He flinched and screwed his face in preparation for a painful end...
But something happened! Something that he hadn't expected. The rod was blocked. Not feeling the impact of the rod on his body, he looked up to see that his son, slightly smaller than he was, but seemingly strong was holding his own against the black Pegasus stallion as their weapons maintained their locked positions for but a moment.
"Leave my father alone!" Singer shouted angrily. The blue Pegasus stallion with a red mane and tail, bearing a cutie mark much like his father's, only it was a microphone with a cut-short cord.
"Thunder Clap doesn't take orders from little silver-spoon fed brats like yourself!" The aggressor had finally revealed his name. He growled in an attempt to scare off his new challenger. But the scared yet determined Singer growled back in defiance, only further angering Clap.
"Clap, leave him!" Record pleaded. "I'm the one that you want!"
Clap just chuckled and turned and looked at his partner before turning back to look in Singer and Record's direction. "We're not here for you... we're here for the sword, and any other little knickknacks you've been hiding in your vault! We know you have them! And Baron Barber gets what he wants!"
"I don't know who that is and I don't-CARE!" Singer said shoving back with his full weight against the sword. What he didn't expect was the blade of the sword began to glow yellow with a measure of heat emitting from it. Singer's burst of energy powered the sword and the resulting blast from it sent Clap careening out the already broken window.
Singer was shocked, but quickly regained his composure and didn't dwell on it. Normally he would have started celebrating, but his foe was far from done as he angrily flew back up to face him, pointing his hoof at him furiously.
"Big mistake!" Clap screamed.
Singer, forgetting himself in the moment, felt an adrenaline rush and proceeded to charge at Clap with the sword and the two began an intense battle in the air as Singer lunged out the window and the two locked weapons with each other once more.
"Singer! Stop! You're in over your head!" The injured Pegasus pleaded for his son, but was interrupted by the dark grey unicorn who had joined Clap. A blast to his right shoulder had stopped him in his tracks. He now had some pony to worry about. He grabbed his now aching shoulder with his left hoof and glared angrily at the unicorn. "You son of a-Aaaaaaaargh!"
The unicorn hit him again, this time in the face. This caused him to wince in pain. He tried to open his eyes. "Sh-Shaw... what is the meaning of this?"
Shaw, the dark grey unicorn, who was wearing a black trench coat, had a black slicked back long mane and medium length tail, as well as a moderately shaven goatee, stood over Record and chuckled quietly.
"It's like Clap said... what Baron Barber wants, Baron Barber gets..." he lit his aura of his horn and began to set fire to the office, and looked down at Record. "And what he needs is you off the streets!"
Record pushed himself back in order to try and get away from Shaw, but he knew it was futile. All he saw, as he was backed up against the wall, was the unicorn looking right at him with a smug smirk with his horn ablaze, and was then hit by his beam of magic. It knocked him out cold.
"What an unfortunate turn of events..." Shaw said to himself with a half grin on his face. Almost as if he got a little bit of joy in what he was about to do. "My father will not be pleased. The sword has chosen its wielder. An unfortunate loss...for now."
………………
Singer and Clap hovered in the air, staring each other down. Singer had no idea what he was doing, but this Clap guy made it personal by attacking Record and destroying everything that he'd worked for. He wasn't about to let him take the weapon that his father had protected, even if he had no idea why he was in possession of such a thing.
Clap made the next move by swinging his rod at Singer's head, which he had blocked with the blade. It was one of the things he'd known from taking martial arts training as a colt. He'd never dreamed he'd have to use this again, but here he was. He was faced with a skilled adversary. The advantage, however, wasn't all with Clap. Singer quickly realized that his weapon was superior to Clap's lightning rod, so he used all of his might in every swing. He found himself playing defense for quite a while, which was fine. It gave him a chance to size up his opponent and look for a weakness.
However in his analysis, he let his guard down and the lightning rod struck him and he fell down but was safe as he had landed on a conveniently placed mattress. Opening his eyes, he saw Clap was bearing down upon him again. This time, he was ready.
Singer spread his wings and launched himself upward before Clap could make contact, and ended up slamming into the mattress, sending him bouncing up and forward into an open sewer manhole lid being held up by an unsuspecting construction worker pony.
His quick thinking paid off. He watched as Clap slid down into the manhole, his rod falling down with him, and to add insult to injury, the manhole shut back after a splash could be heard.
Thinking he had won, Singer began to walk away, but the manhole cover quickly shot back up behind him. He turned around quickly to face his rival once again as Clap angrily shot out of the sewer, with his weapon, now disengaged (fortunately for him, otherwise he would have been electrocuted when he fell down there) but his rod was now wet and wouldn't work.
"Alright, Brat-"
"My name is Singer!" he shot back.
"I don't give a crap apple what your name is..." Clap screamed. "I'm kicking your flank!"
Clap lunged at him again with another full frontal attack and in full force. Singer was taken aback, and quickly tried to dodge but Clap was able to knick him on his right side before he could successfully avoid him.
He fell to the ground, and grabbed his now red and bruising side. He'd be ready next time. Singer got back up and darted up into the air with his wings, as he saw Clap coming again. He was able to miss him this time. Okay, Singer thought, just remember what his friend Violet (who's father was a martial arts instructor) had taught him.
While still hovering in the air, he got in a stance and kept his eye on his enemy's movements. What he noticed was that his attack was very unguarded. He was clearly confident enough in himself that he'd actually finish the job. Singer would use that against him. He dodged a couple more advances before turning around and facing Clap again. This time, he was in for it.
Singer waited for him to come back again, and got into position. Drawing ever closer, Singer knew he had to time this right. He lifted his right leg and BAM! Perfect hit! Singer had successfully landed the blow and kicked Clap in the face. Albeit harder than he intended. Clap hit the wall of a nearby alleyway and fell into a dumpster. Way to take out the trash, Singer thought to himself.
Having given the ponies below quite a show, they cheered loudly and excitedly for him. Singer's career had been relatively short up to this point, but he had began to make a name for himself in the entertainment business. But maybe he also had a future in the fighting ring. He pondered the possibility for a second before feeling a throbbing pain in his back hoof... maybe not professionally, he conceded.
He hovered in the air and dutifully bowed to the crowd. He had the sheath that the sword was in around his body, and he placed the sword back inside it to hopefully not garner too much attention towards it.
Any elation he'd had vanished in an instant when he heard an explosion coming from his father's building. He turned around in that direction to see that even more of the building had been damaged and had been engulfed with flames.
"NO!" Singer screamed in terror as he flew into the direction of the broken building. "No! Record!"
As he got closer, he was stopped by some Manehattan police officers and firefighters.
One of them, the Police Chief Blue Streak, a large built dark grey earth pony, had some of the pegasus officers stop him and bring him down to safety. He whistled at Singer with his horn as he saw him trying to fight to get loose of their grips.
"Listen boy, stop! You can't go in there!" he warned. "It's not safe!"
"You don't understand, Record is in trouble!" Singer protested in desperation. "My father needs me!"
Blue Streak's expression grew somber. With a forlorn demeanor, he looked Singer in the eye and broke him the news.
"I'm afraid that Golden Record has been lost. He was in the part of the building where the explosion happened and we have yet to find any remains... I'm sorry, son..."
Singer's heart felt like it dropped. It couldn't be! No, it couldn't happen this way! Tears had began to form. Singer fell defeated on his knees... "I didn't even get to tell him..." His eyes welled up even more in tears, and he buried his face into his left foreleg and just sat there. The officers allowed him to remain there and uncomfortably continued on with their jobs.
His aforementioned friend, Violet had arrived on the scene and came to comfort him. She was a light purple pegasus mare, with a medium length, well kept mane and tail, violet in color, hence the name. Around her neck was a gold necklace with a heart shaped compartment on it, that Singer had given her for her birthday recently. She hugged him when she reached him.
"Hey, its okay" she comforted. "I'm here."
He returned her hug and held her tight, muttering the words softly to her, "I love you..."
Those words rang in her ears, but not out of horror. But relief... she'd felt a certain way about him for many years, and she was almost brought to tears by this. Perhaps this was the opening she'd been waiting for. But it would have to wait, this was no time for that. He needed just for her to be there.
"I love you, too" she whispered. "Don't worry, whatever happens out of this, we will face it together."
They weren't there for very long before another figure had joined them. A welcome and unexpected presence.
Followed by a few armored royal guards, the appearance of the benevolent ruler of Equestria herself appeared.
"Princess Celestia?" Singer said with his puffy red eyes, as both he and Violet simultaneously remembered to bow.
"Hello my little ponies" she addressed them. "That was quite a display. And that sword, I haven't seen that sword in a long time." She paused, but quickly continued. "I have a proposal for you, if you would be inclined to consider it."
Singer stood at attention, and nodded dutifully. He had no idea why Celestia had been in town, but she had fortunately been there to witness everything, and she had seen what she needed to. What she proposed was about to change Singer's and Violet's lives forever.
………….
Clap, defeated, trudged slowly down the street as he waited for his strength to come back to him so he could fly. He caught some strange looks from passers by, but he paid them no mind at all. All he cared about was getting the buck out of there.
He chuckled lightly. Looking up into the sky as rain clouds began to form above.
"One day, Singer... you're going to regret ever crossing me."
Seven years had passed, and much had changed over that long period of time. Things were much different not only in Singer's life, but all throughout Equestria. When Princess Celestia had approached him all those years ago, it hadn't been very long since Princess Luna had been freed. Equestria had faced a plethora of different threats over the years in the forms of Changelings, Discord's return, King Sombra at the Crystal Empire, Tirek, the Pony of Shadows, The Storm King and various other entities. Now, Equestria had been seemingly in a new era of peace.
Singer had been very surprised when he'd learned that the Princesses, Celestia and Luna, were stepping down and the newest Princess, Twilight Sparkle the Princess of Friendship, had taken over completely as Equestria's new ruler.
Now, this change had brought on a new development in Singer's life. When Celestia came to Singer seven years ago, she'd come to him with a proposal that quite frankly was big to process in the moment, but Singer had proven capable of performing the task, and he accepted. Celestia, having had previous knowledge of Singer's father's possession of not only the sword, but other artifacts that he'd collected over the years. These artifacts had been put into Record's care for safeguarding by one of Celestia's oldest and well thought of students. A unicorn by the name of Nelrim the Noble, who had served under the Princess fifty years prior.
Nelrim had been a student of Celestia's fifty years predating Twilight Sparkle. He was, like Twilight, very intelligent and very well mannered and respected. Good at heart in every way, but wasn't as powerful in magic. What he lacked in power, he made up for in craftsmanship. He'd constructed the very blade that Singer now had in his possession. It was built using ancient schematics of a more regal sword that had been forged even before Celestia and Luna had been born. Nelrim had a passion for finding ancient Equestrian magical artifacts that had been made by minds far more clever and powerful from the distant past.
He was also a pony with a big heart. He'd come across Golden Record as an orphaned foal after a fire in Canterlot destroyed his family, and raised him as his own. And with that, shared many of his secrets with his adopted son. However, it became clear that Record had his own ambitions, and Nelrim allowed him to pursue them. For he knew that his Pegasus son could never truly wield such power like he could, as well as the fact that Record was his own pony with his own dreams and Nelrim didn't force it upon him. But as he got older, and began to build his musical empire, Nelrim would come to him seeking help. Nelrim's enemies were hot on his trail and he needed somewhere to hide his work. So he'd gone to the stallion that he'd raised.
Record, who had felt an obligation to his adopted father, offered to keep his findings hidden however he saw fit. While Nelrim's work had been preserved, unfortunately the unicorn himself wasn't so lucky. He'd been killed by his enemies a few years after leaving his findings and work in Record's care. Record had done what he could and used his resources to not only hold them in hiding but to search for the artifacts that he'd not found yet.
Being that Singer was next in line after his father's disappearance, Celestia had explained all of this to him and given him the choice to continue the duty of guarding and seeking these artifacts out for himself or handing everything over to her before the vile ponies who had come after him could claim them.
Singer, knowing not really what would lie ahead, felt dutifully that it was his responsibility and accepted the task. And was given a royal seal to signify that he was under the order of Celestia herself. Singer, being an avid admirer of the great ruler himself, relished the opportunity and took it with great honor.
Without saying, there was also the responsibility thrust upon him as taking over his father's business as the new leader. And while he did so, balancing both aspects of his new life, he wouldn't do it alone.
Violet, his best friend since they were both six years old, had been there by his side. Over the last seven years, they were a formidable team. Violet had been Singer's assistant before the incident happened at the now completely rebuilt tower that housed the record label. She had become the new C.E.O. of the company and was in charge of keeping everything running, especially in her husband's absence when he needed to go off on special assignments.
Singer continued to be the face of the company, helping make the big decisions, while also doing performances in various areas. He didn't record new songs and put them on the charts near as much as he did before he took over because he was more focused on running things the way Record had run them. He was hooves on in working with the artists that was under their label when he was able to be there. When he wasn't off on his other endeavors.
Though, recently, Singer had not been getting letters from Celestia. Which was to be expected, given the fact that Celestia had retired from her role as Princess, and Twilight had yet to reach out to him. He'd never met Twilight before, but he'd heard good things about her. He'd hoped to continue his relationship with the crown under the new management. But Singer understood that he was probably not at the top of her priorities while she was undoubtedly being given a plethora of information to deal with as she was still new to her role as ruler. He'd hoped to maybe make a friend in her as he had with Celestia for the past seven years.
So, while that aspect of his life was lacking recently, he'd recently had been able to give more time to his company and to another important aspect of his life... his friends and family.
Speaking of Violet, not long after Singer had been given the assignment by Celestia, he'd realized how important Violet was to him and with Celestia as a witness to it, he asked Violet to be more than just friends. And to his pleasant surprise, Violet had been more than happy to agree, kissing him on the spot. The Princess of the Sun was overjoyed in the moment for them and would keep tabs on both of them during the remaining time of her reign.
Well their love grew and grew over the years, and not more than a year after they began dating, they got married.
As Singer sat at his desk in his office, daydreaming and reminiscing on the past, he moved his hoof past his countless items on his desk (action figures and and random trinkets and such) and picked up the picture from their wedding and looked at it with fond memories. She'd looked beautiful in her wedding dress, and stunned him to the point where he almost couldn't get his words out during their vows, but he'd muscled through it and said 'I do' and the rest was history.
Singer then turned his attention to another picture on his desk. A picture of his and Violet's daughter as a newborn foal. Melody Lillian Case, or just Melody, was now three years old, and the apple of her loving father's eye. While she looked a lot similar to Violet in her looks, save for her color in which she took more after Singer's own mother, being light blue with a blonde mane and tail, she was beginning to exhibit many of Singer's internal attributes like his adventurous spirit, bravery and independence. He smiled while looking at her picture, proud of the pegasus filly she was growing into. It already would be another year or two before she'd be ready for school. Something he wasn't sure he'd be ready for, but knew he'd have to deal with either way. His baby filly was already growing too fast for his liking.
As he sat there daydreaming, he'd been snapped out of it when he had a guest walk into his office. Violet walked in looking at her notepad, wearing her red framed reading glasses. Singer couldn't help but see this as "hot".
"Well hello beautiful" he flirted. "What brings you to my office?"
Violet giggled at this and pushed her glasses up her nose slightly and looked at him, smiling. "Oh, just business as usual. Although, I do have a break coming up and I'm feeling extra lonely. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to help me with my...longing for cuddling?" She stumbled over herself. "Ack! I messed that up terribly. I'm sorry, my mind and my emotions are not on the same page. I can't even flirt right."
Singer got up from his desk and wrapped his forelimbs around her as she sat down in the chair in front of his desk. "I got the idea, babe. Don't worry." He winked at her, getting a blush out of her. "That's because you work so hard and do such a great job as a mom. I don't blame you for being a little frazzled from time to time. But that doesn't make it any less hot."
"Well, you certainly do know how to make me feel better. I needed to hear that." She nuzzled him.
"Hey, I mean it. I wouldn't be anything without you. This company wouldn't be where it's at without you. I'd be lost if I didn't have you with me. I love you Violet. That's why you're my best friend."
"And you're mine." She kissed him passionately. "I love you, too!"
They embraced for another minute or two before letting up. "But I take it that's not entirely why you came to see me."
"Right, that's correct. I'm here to remind you that in a couple of hours, you're due to leave on the train to Las Pegasus. Buckshot's big race happening and you're due to perform the pre race ceremonies."
"Ah yes, I'm packed and ready to go and I got the three extra tickets for the train. You sure you don't want to go?"
"I'm sure. From what you've told me about LP, I'm not sure I'm keen on making that trip. But I'm sure you and the others will have fun. And remember, no gambling or other stupid things like drinking."
"We will, but I'll be missing you and Melody the whole time. And don't worry, gambling and drinking are Buckshot's and Brawn's thing. I'll never understand the appeal, but whatevs. As long as they don't try to involve me."
Violet laughed. "Well, drink plenty of root beer for the both of us then."
"I will. I'd bring you back some cheese fries, but let's be honest, they wouldn't make the trip back."
"No they wouldn't." She said, kissing him goodbye. "You'd probably best get on your way. Rounding up the others will probably be a task in of itself."
"Sure thing. I'll be back before you know it. Love you, honey!"
"I love you too. Don't worry, everything is in capable hooves."
"I know they are." He smiled warmly at her as he turned to leave.
……….
Well, Singer wished he could say that rounding up his friends was a fruitful and painless venture, but there were a few snags. The two other stallions of the group were the more painful of the three to get into shape.
Fives, who had taken time off of her job as a police officer, was one of the friends Singer was rounding up but she was packed and waiting on him. Fives was also the daughter of the Police Chief of the Manehattan PD, Blue Streak, and was expected to be orderly and punctual. She was a dark grey earth pony mare with a standing up black mane with a white streak going up the middle, and a short tail of the same color. Her cutie mark was similar to her father's. It was a police badge. She worked hard to carry on her father's reputation as a by the book, and proper pony who did things by the book. Though she wasn't without her own mischievous side to her when she wasn't on duty.
Singer had made it to Marsh Street, where Fives took residence in one of the houses and as mentioned previously, was waiting for him.
"So, you got the easy one out of the way first, eh?" she remarked as she saw Singer showed up without the others in tow.
"That and I figured you could help me whip the others into shape because I just know they are going to make us wait on them for a bit, as at least one of them probably procrastinated on their packing." Singer replied.
"Not on my watch" Fives smirked. "I'll make sure that they're ready to go on the double!"
"I thought you were taking the day off, sarge..." Singer remarked.
"The Orderly take no breaks, my dear friend."
"Well that's good then. Because we are in a hurry to get there early."
"What are you waiting on slow poke? I'm already half way there!"
Fives waved to come on, and Singer followed her, hovering with his saddle bag on him, and his earth pony friend the same. They needed to hurry down a couple of blocks, making sure not to jaywalk in front of any wagon or carriage pulling ponies. For Singer especially, in fear that his off duty officer friend would still try to give him a citation.
They'd made it to Copper Street where Comet was living in an apartment. Singer, deciding against going into the building and up an elevator to his floor, choosing instead to fly up to the third story of the seven story building and knock on Comet's window.
Comet, who had been scrambling to get his stuff put together at the last minute, saw Singer at the window and came over and opened it.
"Hey! Sorry Sing. I know I'm running a little behind, but I was just making sure I had all my snacks in order."
The yellow unicorn stallion with his white blue streaked mane and tail (in a bit of a mess of its own), found the last of his things he was taking and teleported outside. His cutie mark was a comet with a tail streaming from it.
As he stood next to Fives, and as Singer hovered gently but quickly down to them, he winced as he knew Fives was going to make a remark.
"And you say mares take forever to get ready, ha! I was ready fifteen minutes early and you were fifteen minutes late!" Fives smirked as she rubbed it in.
"I couldn't help it! I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I've been waiting for this trip to Las Pegasus for a while now! The gambling, the mares, the food... it's been my dream come true to go there!"
"Sorry Comet, no gambling on this trip. You remember what happened last time." Singer reminded him, while raising his right eyebrow.
It was a day Comet would rather forget. He'd almost bet Singer's house because he was so in over his head. Fortunately, Singer had been able to step in and put a stop to the whole thing before Comet got buried by his ambitions. But at the cost of putting a little bit of a dent in Singer's savings, too.
"Right... yeah not trying that again."
"You're fortunate Brawn didn't really take advantage of you like he could have, or I'd still be paying him."
"Well..." Fives stepped in. "Speaking of ol' Big Orange, we better go wake him up."
"Right. Fortunately, we're just down the street from it." Singer said, leading them onward to Brawn's apartment building just half a block east of their direction.
Once they got there, Singer again flew up to his window but pushed it up and open this time. Brawn had been asleep, much to Singer's dismay.
"Really, Brawn?" he said, not bothering to be quiet. "I can always count on you to be a big lump..."
Brawn turned over, irritating his step brother even more. Singer let out a growl in frustration.
"Alright ya big galoot, time to do this the hard way..."
Singer pulled the sheets that he had been laying on until Brawn fell off the bed. The impact of him hitting the floor finally woke him up.
"Singer? You better have a good excuse for..."
"Yo, Brawn! We need to get to the train station early!"
"Aw crap, that's today?!?"
"Yeah!" Singer said with a little bit of an attitude.
"CRAP!" Brawn shouted again.
Brawn kicked it into high gear and put his saddle bag together.
"Alright, alright I'm coming!"
The sleepy earth pony was orange in color with a black mane and tail. His mane had been slicked back with hair gel. And his cutie mark was that of a dumbbell. He was struggling to get himself together for a minute, but once he finished styling his hair and finished getting his necessities together, he'd be good to go.
"Sorry guys, I got my days mixed up." Brawn said as he joined the others with Singer in tow.
"It's fine. We actually have about an hour until we need to be at the station." Fives said with a smirk.
"WHAT?!? Then why were you rushing me?" asked the sleepy earth pony, befuddled.
"So we'd actually make it there on time" Singer said with a light chuckle. "Besides, it wouldn't kill you to show up early for something once in a while."
"Well that also means we have time to goof around while we wait on the train!" Comet exclaimed.
"It's what you do best" remarked Fives.
"Beats being Miss Captain Killjoy" retorted Comet.
"Will you two stop flirting and come on?" Brawn said as he began to follow Singer off. "Singer's going to leave you all in his dust. Seriously, you two argue more than Singer and Violet and they're married."
"Stop accusing us of flirting, you big brute! I would never date some pony as irresponsible and careless as Comet!" Fives snapped as she followed behind her stallion friends. "Besides, he flirts with every mare he sees."
"Gee Fives, you're beginning to sound like you're jealous." Comet sniggered before remembering what she'd said in the first part of her statement. "Wait-irresponsible? I'm totally responsible!"
"Then why does Singer and myself always have to bail you out anytime you get yourself into a mess?"
"Because you're good friends... at least Sing is, anyway."
"Oh please, if I wasn't a good friend, I'd just let you crash and burn. You need me, idiot."
"You're so cocky, you snob!"
"Will you two knock it off?!?" Singer shouted, finally growing tired of the bickering. "Come on you guys, we're supposed to be having fun but y'all are arguing and we haven't even made it to the train station yet!"
"Yeah, you lovebirds shut up until we get to Las Pegasus!" Brawn remarked.
"Seriously, Brawn?" Singer said facehoofing himself.
"Alright, alright. We'll all stop talking." Brawn conceded.
Singer only rolled his eyes and pressed on with the others in tow. Unbeknownst to him, Comet and Fives were bumping into each other the whole time, continuing to bicker in silence.
Once they reached the train station a few minutes later, Singer trotted up to the ticket window and showed the pony working there the four pre-paid tickets he had and they were waved through. Once they made it through security, they were cleared to board the train.
Singer and Comet took one pair of seats by the window and Fives and Brawn took the other across the aisle.
"Hope Buckshot doesn't mind a few rowdy fans in the stands for his big race." Comet said.
"I'm jealous. I wish I could join you up there." Singer said. "But alas, part of the trip is for me to perform at my obligated time, so that's what I'll do. 'Slaving away' on stage for a bunch of crazy sports fans instead of enjoying myself."
He'd chuckled at the end to indicate he was joking. Comet picked up on it and decided to continue the conversation.
"You and Serenity always knock it out. I still look back and think it's weird you two used to date."
"Yeah, it's been almost eight years. I'm glad we're able to work together professionally in spite of that. We're better friends now than we were prior to us dating. And I'm glad she and Buckshot are doing well together."
They were referring to Serenity Sound, a unicorn singer who Singer worked with early in his professional career. They'd started out as friends working together and dated a while before Singer and Violet started dating. They had a falling out after both wanted different things, and just found themselves in a toxic relationship but after a while apart, they reconnected and now he and her will still friends, and Serenity and Violet had become friends as well. Buckshot and Serenity had started dating a year or so after she and Singer broke up, and they'd been together ever since.
Singer leaned against his window and looked out, as he recounted his memories of all that had happened and looked forward to what was to come.
He listened as Comet started going on about his plans to do at the race. Singer admitted, that he was excited to get there himself. He hadn't seen Buckshot in a while, and he was looking forward to performing one of his favorite songs for the pre race ceremonies.
……………………….
Once the train had arrived in Las Pegasus, Singer was eager to get to course that the race was being held at. He and the others exited the train, and Singer could hardly contain his excitement. The others seemed pretty pumped too. Comet and Brawn had gone to the merchandise tents to get some stuff to show support of Buckshot.
They bought teal t-shirts with Buckshot's logo, which consisted of his cutie mark (two checkered flags crossing each other) and his number, being Forty One. Both were proud of their purchases and walked side by side with sunglasses on to show their style. Their swagger filled strutting had been interrupted when they saw what Fives was wearing.
Fives, although Buckshot was her friend as well, decided to mess with her companions and buy a shirt from "The Windshear Tent", which consisted of merchandise for the father/son duo of Rush and Blurr Windshear, who she also kind of liked. Her shirt was grey and had "Team Windshear" written on it as well as the numbers Twelve for Rush, the father of the duo, and Twenty Eight for Blurr, the son of the duo.
As she strutted past the stallions, they took notice.
"Fives, what the hay?" Comet said.
"Way to be a troll." Brawn said.
"Hey! I'm free to pull for anypony I wish! And I happen to think one of the Windshears are going to pull it today." Fives said, asserting her position on the matter. Though, she still maintained her snark as she loved screwing with Comet and Brawn was just a bonus.
"Fine. Whatever, Buckshot is going to wipe the floor with your precious Windshear Pegasai." Comet said crossing his front legs in a pouting stance.
As fun as this was to watch, Singer had to go.
"Well guys, I'll see you after the race." Singer said. "I've got to go meet with the entertainment committee."
"See ya, Sing!" Fives said as she turned and continued to fuel the fire. She kept it up by quoting career stats.
He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned around when he thought he saw a dark colored pegasus staring at him, but saw nothing when he did a double take. Singer paid it no mind as he flew off.
"Agh! It's just pre-performance jitters. I haven't seen that guy in a long time. Surely I've nothing to worry about."
………………………
When Singer had made it to the front stretch of the fourteen turn course, he bee-lined it toward the stage in front of the grand stands. There, his usual singing partner and friend, Serenity had been waiting.
"Well it's about time!" She said with a smile and gave her longtime friend a hug. "I was afraid that you'd forgotten!" The red unicorn mare with a radiant blonde mane and tail released Singer from the hug and raised her eyebrow playfully. Her cutie mark was similar to his, only it was a musical note with a microphone beside it.
"No way! I just left Comet, Fives and Brawn around the merchandise area. They were having spirited debates on who's winning today."
"Well we all know who's winning today!" She said as she turned her face towards the mentioned stallion, talking to some fellow competitors in the background. "That gorgeous HUNK OF A STALLION!" She shouted the last four words to get his attention.
It worked. He nodded to the other pegasai he was talking to and made his way over to them.
"Singer, you son of a goat! It's great to see ya!" Buckshot said, wrapping him in a bear hug, not unlike the one Serenity had given to him moments earlier.
This pegasus stallion was teal in color. His mane and tail was brown. The mane was tall and stood up like a bush. His tail, like Singer's was shortened in length.
"Hey Buck! Ready to watch you whip up on them today!" Singer greeted, giving him a hoof bump.
"Thanks, bro! I think this is the year that the Las Pegasus GP will finally have Buckshot Speed gracing victory lane!" He said, putting his sunglasses on. "Finally going to beat the Windshears and make a statement for the rest of the racing season!"
"They're tough, but I have no doubt you'll be there in the end for sure."
"Well I gotta get to the competition meeting! We're fixing to go green soon!" Buckshot said, looking at his watch. "Gotta go!"
"Knock em dead babe!" Serenity said as she waved off her stallion.
"I'm happy to see you're doing well with him. It's great to see you two have been together for so long."
"Yes, life on the road is daunting at times, but we're managing. And it's much more worth it when we get to spend the nights together! How are you and Violet doing? Oh and little Melody too?"
"Fantastic! Violet is my rock. I couldn't live without her. And Melody is just growing and becoming a sweet young filly. She just turned three a while back. Violet already wants to have another one."
"Great news!" Serenity said with a knowing smile. "I'm sure she'll keep working on you for that."
"Undoubtedly." Singer chuckled. "Anyway, are we final on our song of choice?"
"Sure are! We're going to set the mood for this race!"
"Case and Sound! You're on in five!" Shouted a backstage worker pony in the background.
"Hey! If you ever decide to tour again, you should really join my band. 'Case and Sound' sounds like a rad name!" Serenity said bumping Singer with her elbow.
"I'll keep that in mind" chuckled Singer. "I'm not sure I'm quite ready to return to my touring days, though. I've got other things in the background now."
"Understood. But hey, we always did make a great team and if you change your mind, door's always open."
"Noted!" he returned.
"Fender, Bostich!" She shouted to a red pegasus stallion with a guitar and a green earth pony with drum sticks. "Let's get in position!"
The stallions complied and at a orderly pace. Singer and Serenity took their places in front of their microphones and prepared to start.
The multitude of race fans in the stands cheered as Singer and Serenity's group were introduced by the host on stage, and the spotlights shown on them.
"Three, two, one..." Fender mouthed as he started to play his guitar for the opening riff.
Serenity led with the first part of the song.
"I’m Equestrian made
Apple pie in the shade
My mama taught me wrong from right
I was born in the south, sometimes I have a big mouth when I see something that I don't like...
and I gotta say it"
Singer stepped forward as Serenity stepped back, and took his turn.
"And we've been trav'lin this road for a mighty long time
Paying no mind to the signs
And where this neighborhood's changed
It's all been rearranged
We left that dream somewhere behind"
They then sang in unison.
"And sometimes you're gonna crash
Baby you were screaming it's a blast, blast, blast
Look out babe you got your dark shades on
Every pony's looking for a way
To get real gone
To get real gone
To get real gone"
Fender, the guitar pony joined them both at the microphones for the...
"UH!"
As Fender took his harmonica out to play the harmonica solo of the song, ponies began to notice dark clouds forming above the stage, and a lightning bolt headed right towards Singer.
The music was immediately disrupted, and Serenity tackled Singer to move him out of the path of the lightning strike.
"Thanks, Reni..."
"Don't mention it, dude..." She said exasperated.
The thunder in the dark cloud grew more intense as the lightning also picked up.
Singer looked up and could make out a figure in the cloud walking on it, kicking parts of the massive cloud to keep it up.
"Looks like we're experiencing some in-climate weather patterns! Not ideal for racing conditions!" The villainous pegasus, known as Thunder Clap announced. "Too bad too!"
"Thunder Clap!" Singer shouted.
"Singer Case!" Clap roared. "Just the idiot I was looking for. You didn't think you'd really seen the last of me did you?"
"What do you want?" Singer shouted, glaring at his old foe.
"Oh, you know exactly what I want. And I'm going to tear this place apart, but by bit, pony by pony until you give it over to me! So what will it be?"
Singer stood there, shaking. Trying to think of what to do. This was definitely not something he'd expected to be dealing with today. His past had returned to haunt him. It had officially begun.
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."
"So let me get this straight..." Fives said with her right eyebrow raised speculatively. "You're saying that this cat..."
"My name is Tob" the talking feline threw in.
"...Tob knows how to get to this 'Manor DelToro' and you're just going to trust him and climb into his zeppelin and go Celestia knows where?!?"
"That about sums it up..." Brawn said.
They'd stuck around the stage area to regroup and plan their next move. When Brawn had reunited with them, he'd had Tob in tow walking up behind him. Obviously Fives was confused. Comet hadn't said much. And Buckshot and Serenity stuck around for a few minutes and let Buckshot recover from getting knocked out by Thunder Clap, they appeared to be unfazed by the cat's presence.
"Brawn, buddy... think about it. How do we know that we can trust him?"
"We can't afford not to... every moment we waste, Singer's life is being threatened more and more. Plus, Tob didn't want to help at first, I had to talk him into it."
"It's true, Miss Fives" he said ashamed. "But I understand how it feels to lose someone, or to have someone in danger. And I've been to DelToro... it's not a good place. Any help I can be here, well, it will be an honor."
"No ulterior motives?" Fives questioned.
"I never said that. I'm also in because I'm in the mood fer a little bit of payback! Your friend isn't the only one that bloke has hurt and he won't be the last as long as we sit on our rumps and let it happen."
"Granted, so you know where to find him. Big whoop! I'm sure this DelToro place, if it's run by this Barber guy will be fortified and crawling with henchponies who, I'm willing to bet, outnumber us at least fifty to one!"
"I like those odds" Brawn said with his chest puffed out confidently.
"Brawn... come on. Think rationally here. We can't go gallivanting into this DelToro all Willy Nilly. More ponies will be unnecessarily hurt."
"THEN WHAT DO YOU SUPPOSE WE DO THEN, HUH?" Brawn said, losing his cool. His frustration was evident and Fives' reluctance to take action was really making him even more mad. "Do we just sit here and let whatever twisted things those bad guys have planned happen? I thought Singer was your friend!"
"Don't take that tone with me!" She snapped back, showing her anger in the moment as well. "Of course I don't want to sit and do nothing. I care about Singer's safety too, you know! But we need a plan!"
"Well I certainly don't hear you coming up with any plans. How are we going to explain to Violet that Singer's just gone and we didn't do anything to help?"
"That's not what I'm saying either! Just ugh...give me a minute here..."
Fives hit her face with her hoof. It was like arguing with a brick wall. She knew that this was a terrible idea, but at the same time she didn't really know what else to do. Brawn had a valid point. She didn't have a plan either. Just what do you do in situations like this? She paced and sighed for a few moments before she stopped and faced Brawn again. Her facial expression appearing to be one of conceit.
"Okay, fine. Let's hear what Tob has to say. Maybe he can help us. He escaped from there once, right? Maybe he knows a way we can get in without being detected... and if his information is helpful, we go from there alright?"
"Roight..." Tob said as he pulled out a map of the place. "This here is a map of the entirety of 'Towne DelToro' in all its disgusting glory... To the north here, is Manor DelToro... that's where the big boss, Baron Barber lives... that bloke has hench ponies out the wazoo livin' in the lodgings surrounding the mansion."
"Woah, not to derail this conversation or anything, but... how'd you get a map of this place?" Brawn inquired.
"You'd be surprised what a little stealth and an insane amount of luck can get ya." He winked.
Tob pointed his cat claw downward on the map to the southern part. "This is the part where his captives, slaves, whatever you want to call them, all live. These awful worn down lodgins that not even me Uncle Charley would enjoy livin' in. Now, I ain't sure how big a priority yer friend, Singer is it? How big a game he is to Barber, so if he's lucky, he'll either be chained up and workin' and livin' in them worn down houses, er he's in the lower chambers...the dungeon... of the Mansion... where most of his biggest priority captives never get seen again."
Fives nervousness returned. She looked over the layout. One thing that they had going for them was that this place was huge, plenty of potential hiding spaces, and yet somehow it was able to stay concealed all this time? She found this odd.
She also noted that there were wide open spaces on the map due west, probably signifying open fields, which she could only assume that an isolated place would need to plant the crops they'd need to survive since going into town wasn't on their itinerary very often. She'd also made note of an oddity about the town's layout. A structure that resembled an arena... what the hay would they need an arena for? She didn't dare let her mind travel down that rabbit hole because a sadistic crime lord like that could only use such a structure for so many things, many of which probably weren't good, and she was certain that it wasn't used for a private hoofball field.
"Where exactly is Towne DelToro located?" she asked, finally. "How is it that hardly anypony knows where it is?"
"It's in the heart of the Everfree Forest..." Tob said in a somber tone, pausing a bit before he said it. Truth be told, while he was aching to go back and give Barber a piece of his mind, it wasn't lost on him that he'd have to return to the dreaded Forest with its many dangers and perils just lurking about to claim any who dare enter therein. "It being there is why so many have had trouble finding it in the past..."
"I have a cousin who lives in Ponyville, who's told me all sorts of things about the Everfree Forest. If what you're saying is true, we have more than just whatever lies in DelToro to worry about... we have The Everfree Forest and all of its perils! I really think we should go to the royal guard with this! They're much more qualified to handle situations like this one."
"Pah!" Tob scoffed. "From what I've heard Princess Celestia's guards have been lookin fer this place fer years and never could find it. If you think they're going to believe you, or me fer that matter, you've gotta be cookoo!"
"There's got to be a better course of action. What do you think, Comet?" She looked around and suddenly noticed the absence of their unicorn friend. "Comet?"
"Where'd he go?" asked Brawn. "I knew he was being awfully quiet."
"Why don't you go find him, while we continue to talk this out?" Fives suggested.
"Fine... but you'd better be ready to hit the sky once I'm back. Because I'm not waiting much longer, and I'm going after those scumbags..."
"Just hurry!" She commanded. "As you said, time is of the essence! We need to get this going."
Brawn nodded his head as he left the area they'd been talking in and left to go retrieve Comet.
________________
The stallion in question had gone off with Buckshot and Serenity, who like him, had been stressed out and angry about everything that had transpired and needed some time to cool off. He wasn't keen on sticking around for the arguing that was going on amongst Brawn and Fives, so he'd followed them into town. Buckshot decided to take all his stress out on a nearby arcade game where you dance and try to land your hooves on the right arrows to score points. Serenity joined him shortly after.
"This is such a great stress reliever, you should give it a try, Comet!" Serenity said as she was pulling off some impressive hoof work with her coltfriend, dancing to a song called 'Stamp on the Ground'.
"I'm good..." Comet said in a morose fashion.
"Don't worry, Spangler" Buckshot said, addressing Comet by his last name while his eyes remained locked on the screen. "We're going to figure out where those jerks took Singer and then, they're going to pay."
"We?" Comet said, sounding surprised. "Look, I appreciate that, but it's my fault that he got captured in the first place, this is my mess and I've got to figure out a way to clean it up on my own."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Serenity protested as her and Buckshot's game had come to an end. She hopped off the platform next to Comet and placed her hoof on his shoulder. "Singer is our friend. And we do this together."
"But what about your show?" Comet asked her and then turned to Buckshot. "And your race?"
"It's being postponed until next week. And even if I miss it, there will be other races. Serenity's right, dude. We want to help."
Comet smiled at them warmly. He nodded in agreement. But then turned around. "Can you guys excuse me for just a moment? I need to go outside to clear my head for a bit."
"Sure, we will head back to the track stage in the mean time. Meet you back there?"
Comet nodded in agreement.
"Cool!" Buckshot said, following Serenity. "See you over there."
Comet walked out of the arcade area and turned course for a nearby park where there was a pond. It was relatively quiet, save for some traffic noise nearby. But other than that, the park was beautiful. The grass was green, and every pony who was there seemed to mind their own business. This would be the perfect place for him to clear his head.
As he sat there with his thoughts, he'd remembered what a friend Singer was to him. How he'd been there for him a lot of the time and helped him become a better friend to ponies around him. He sat down at the edge of the pond and looked at his reflection in the water. As background music began to play, he found himself doing something that normally would be reserved for his singing pegasus friend, but he found himself in the lamenting mood. As he stood off to himself, his own personal bubble became dark around him as in his mind he was alone with his thoughts. He began to sing to himself.
"Maybe I make things a mess,
And yes you'd be right to have doubts in me
Still though, but nevertheless
You've always stuck things through with me
Just this once
Let me come through for you
In the way that I want to
Let me make you proud
Let me make you have faith in me
Let me prove the mistakes I used make are all in the past
I will save the day
And go back home triumphantly
And I long for the look of surprise
when you see your friend rising
At last
The pride in your eyes
When you see your friend rising
At last"
As Comet sat there, wondering what might happen next. What he and his friends would do, he couldn't help but shed a few tears. He normally didn't cry out in public, but this was one of the outliers. In his eyes, and burning inside of him, a new sense of determination began to rise up in him.
"Singer's never given up on me. I can't give up on him!"
With more conviction, Comet's words grew stronger as he continued to sing.
"Let me make you proud
Let me make you have faith in me
Let me give you a reason to believe
that I can stand tall
And when I return
And I'm more than I thought I'd be
I'm looking forward to the pride in your eyes
When you see your friend end rising at last
The pride in your eyes
when you see your friend rising
At last"
He'd only taken a moment to breathe after pouring out his emotions when he suddenly was grabbed by two orange hooves.
"Comet! We need you back over with the others, pronto! I think we have a way to get Singer back! We found someone who can take us there!"
The earth pony stallion was noticeably exasperated from trying to find him in a hurry.
"And you're just now telling me this?!?" Comet said. "We need to get going now, dude!"
"Come on then, you moron! Everypony is waiting on you!" Brawn said as he galloped off with Comet in tow right behind him.
_____________________
The group had relocated to the docking area where the zeppelin that Tob had in his possession was docked once everypony had gathered together again. Comet, Buckshot and Serenity were informed on what was going on, and Comet at least, seemed to be pleased with the progress they'd made.
The docking area was massive with many air ships being docked over a several hundred deep cliff with long and sturdy docks holding them into place. Brawn looked over the edge, which prompted a quick warning from Tob not to do that as it could result in dizziness and falling over the edge. He stopped himself before said dizziness could take effect.
"Great! So when do we leave?" he asked.
"As soon as me shipment of supplies is ready ta go" Tob said. "Can't go raiding a Crime Lord's lair on an empty stomach, no?"
Brawn, who'd in particular, had been one of the parties who was hungry, eyed the chest full of foods. "You said it, Tob."
Tob had picked up on this and with a toothy grin, tossed the hungry stallion an apple. "Here ya go, mate!"
"You're alright, Tob. Thanks!" He said as he took a bite out of the apple.
Comet had ignored that exchange and had been standing over by Fives, who had a letter addressed to Violet in her hoof, about to hand it over to the mail pony.
"This is urgent. Please make sure it gets to 'Golden Record Entertainment' as fast as you can, please!"
"Yes ma'am" the unicorn mare said as she placed it in her express mail pouch. "It's going to be there very shortly. Have a great day, now!"
Comet exchanged worried expressions with Fives as they both turned towards the zeppelin, as the mail mare left them.
"Are you sure telling Violet about this right now was a wise move? She's going to be worried sick." Comet said.
"She needs to know. I don't like it anymore than you do, but if somepony I loved was in danger, I would want to know." She countered. "Even you..."
Comet slightly blushed. "Me?"
"Yeah. Look Comet, we may not get along an awful lot, but over the years, your friendship means as much to me as anypony else's. I just wish that it didn't take incidents like this to bring us together. I really don't want to think about you or any of my friends getting hurt."
"Same. I only tease you because I like you... I mean..."
They both blushed. Comet collected himself. "I mean, well you know. You're my friend and you can take it and dish it out, too. You're fun like that... that's...that's what I meant to say..." Good save, he thought to himself.
"Likewise, kid." Her blush was still slightly evident, but she too played it off. "I can always count on you to liven up the party."
"Aw come on, do ya have to call me kid? I'm like a whole three years younger than you." He snickered.
"Think of it as a term of endearment" she grinned as she shoved him. "Look at us, talking about hurrying up, we'd better get aboard the zeppelin."
With that, the gang all loaded up and walked on the boarding stairs and boarded the mighty vessel. It was quite smaller than a lot of the other zeppelins, which must have been by design as smaller vessels tend to be faster. Plus, Tob being a smaller bipedal cat, the smaller the better for him to pilot said vessel.
"Welcome aboard, me hearties!" Tob proclaimed as the gang marveled over the ship, and subsequently taking their seats in the covered passenger portion of the ship right behind the control area where the feisty feline sat in his chair, pushing buttons. None of them had previously been aboard anything like this, so the experience was new for them. Tob fired up the engines, all of them working quite well. And then he took a big swig of one of his bottles of his 'Spicy Milk', "And awaaaaaaaaaaaay, WE GO!"
The zeppelin left its docking spot and began its ascent into the air. Every pony aboard, marveled, especially those without wings as this was as close to flying as they would ever get. The thrill of the takeoff was riveting. Especially for Serenity, who just couldn't stop laughing.
As they finally got to the point where they were in stable air, and could coast the rest of the way, they were now safe to unbuckle themselves and marvel at the sky.
"Wow" Buckshot said. "I mean, I know I get to see the sky a lot, being a pegasus and everything, but seeing it while not having to flap my wings is super cool."
"Now I can definitely see the appeal." Serenity said as she nuzzled to Buckshot's side. "I might have to go ask the princess of friendship how I can get my own pair of wings."
"Yeah good luck with that..." Brawn remarked.
Buckshot and Serenity ignored this and made their way to the front of the ship. They'd seen a movie about a ship on the ocean and the two main love interests had gone to the front of the ship and stood their together, with the mare proclaiming she was 'King of the World'.
Almost completely accurate to the scene, Buckshot stood behind Serenity and held her up as her front legs were stretched from side to side, and she proclaimed: "I'm King of the World!!!!" With the corny flute music playing in the background of both their minds, as the wind made both their manes flow.
The others watched this with a hint of cringe in their facial features. Comet being the first to make a remark.
"That was THE most corniest thing I've ever seen..."
Tob didn't say anything, he just sat in the pilot's chair laughing his tail off at the whole thing. While the lovestruck couple remained in their moment, the others turned their attentions elsewhere.
Comet went down below deck to see if he could find anything interesting, he wasn't really in the mood for all the lovey dovey nonsense going on up on deck.
"Be sure not to pull any levers or push any buttons down in the engine control room!" Tob shouted at Comet as he saw him heading down.
"Don't worry, I won't..." Comet replied back, kind of annoyed. Even Tob was treating him like a kid. He wasn't fond on being reminded that he was the youngest in the group.
Fives noticed that Brawn was looking troubled as he sat in his passenger chair slowly taking bites of another apple he'd gotten from the food chest. This couldn't be any harder for him to sit back and wait, as Singer was his younger step brother. She'd felt bad for getting into it with him earlier. She decided to take a seat next to him.
"Hey, you okay big guy?" She asked with concern.
"As well as I can be, I guess..." Brawn replied. "Sorry about earlier."
"Me too. But something else is bothering you, isn't it?"
"Yeah it is. You see, I don't know if you've noticed, but in spite of everything that we've learned over recent years, about me and Singer not being actual blood related brothers. It did hurt for a while, but then I realized that it meant even more to me to keep him safe. I wasn't the best big brother growing up, but I want to be. I want to make sure he's always being watched over. Because he's the only brother I've ever known and I don't want to lose him."
"I completely understand. I went through those same emotions when my little brother decided that he wanted to go into the family business like me and my dad and train to eventually join the Manehattan PD. Part of me is excited but the other part knows how dangerous this job is and I want more than anything to make sure he stays safe." Fives took a small picture out of her saddlebag as she carried on the conversation. The picture of her father, mother, herself and her brother had depicted them together when they took Fives' brother for his first day of police training.
"So you get it, then. He's my kid brother and my responsibility. I feel the burden to protect him. Something that I've failed to do."
"I know. And I'm going to do everything I can to help you. Don't feel like you're alone in this, Brawn. We're here with you."
"Thank you" he said as he grabbed her and gave her a bear hug.
"I'll let this slide just this once" she said squirming a bit in his strong grip, not usually a fan of sudden bodily contact.
Brawn released her, and felt a bit of warmth in his heart knowing and having the reassurance that he truly had friends on his side. Darn it, he thought. Singer and Violet were rubbing off on him. He just chuckled as he thought, and noted Fives was still smiling too.
"I feel like we could have done more when those guys attacked us." Brawn admitted, suddenly returning to his sombre worrying state.
"We did all we could. They saw we had the most strength, and they rushed us more than the others. Same applies to Comet and his magic ability."
"I know. It's just that Singer has almost always been able to hold his own, so I assumed everything was going to be fine and I let my guard down and he was taken. I just wish I'd been able to help and back him up more."
"Ifs and buts aren't candy and nuts, Brawn. We can't look back on the what-if's and 'shoulda dids'. We need to focus on how we can help him now."
"Good point, Fives."
"Say, Tob?" Fives asked, addressing the pilot feline. "How much longer do you think we will be flying?"
"Eeeeeh, I'd say with the damage this doohickey has, probably a few hours."
"Thank you" she returned. Given how little they knew about the situation, Fives hoped that would be enough.
________________
Singer's consciousness came back hours later. He'd been knocked out, and unaware of anything that had happened since the big fight. He knew what was going to happen when he blocked Shaw's blast towards Comet, so this came of little surprise to him. He just hadn't mentally prepared himself for this.
He found himself bound in chains and he appeared to be in a cell. Where he was, he couldn't tell though. All he knew is that he was in trouble. His thoughts raced through his mind as he regained his strength. He slithered over to the back wall of the cell he was in and climbed up on the bench that was there.
He had no idea how long he'd been out or what was going to happen to him. His thoughts quickly traveled to his friends.
Brawn, he thought first. He could only imagine what his big lug of a brother was going through. Brawn had recently developed a stronger sense of protectiveness over Singer. Singer had appreciated Brawn being more caring as his brother. They were in a better place than they'd ever been. The revelation that they were step brothers rather than blood, only strengthened their brotherly bond.
Next, his thoughts dwelt on Fives. He really wasn't sure what her reaction would be to this. She could be hard to read at times. But Singer figured that she was probably keeping everyone else's hooves on the ground, and trying to maintain order. Trying to keep panic from breaking among the group.
He really wasn't sure if Buckshot and Serenity would be still around. He wouldn't blame them if they didn't. They had things to worry about. He knew where he stood with them and they didn't owe him anything.
Next, he thought about Comet. Oh man. He didn't want Comet to blame himself. Though in truth, Singer had wished Comet had listened to him. But he couldn't be mad. He'd hoped he was doing alright and not blaming himself. Singer just hoped that if he was about to be taken out of this life, that his family and friends remembered him fondly.
Lastly, his thoughts dwelt on Violet. His first friend, best friend, first true love. How much he longed to be by her side. He missed her cute adorable face and her adorkable demeanor. As well as his daughter, little three year old Melody. He wanted to see her grow up. His heart began to beat faster as he continued to let their images flash in his mind. Not only them, but his parents as well. And his business and employees.
He stood up angrily at the very thought of having it all taken away from him like this. Out of anger, he hit a rock with his front right hoof, causing it to fly into the bars of the cell and make a ringing noise. He angrily huffed his breath as he stomped around in the cell. He suddenly realized though, that he needed to calm down. Getting angry wasn't going to help anything.
His ears twitched when he heard the door of the dungeon area he was in swing open. He became worried that he made too much noise and attracted unwanted attention. Singer quickly grabbed the nasty soiled blanket in the cell and lie down on the ground, covered by the blanket.
He could hear hoof steps heading down to where he was, and it was getting closer. He opened his eye to see if he could recognize who his visitor was. He'd never seen this pony before, but the unicorn stallion took off his cloth mask he was wearing, revealing a white unicorn with a blue mane and tail. Both had been well kept, and he bore a friendly smile on his face, and his dialect definitely sounded of Canterlot. Not that he'd ever been there, but Singer knoew a Canterlot accent when he heard it because Canterlot ponies regularly made trips to Manehattan.
"Can I help you?" Singer said, trying to at least be polite to this guy.
"No, good sir. But I can help you." The unicorn said with a light whisper. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Cobalt Blades of Canterlot. I've been here for nearly two years..." he looked around before he talked even further to make sure he wasn't being listened to. "As a double agent" he said with a whisper. I work for Celestia's royal gaurd."
Singer looked puzzled and was rightfully so, very suspicious of this. His puzzled demeanor became more evident in his facial features as the stallion went on. Compared to how he'd been treated thus far, Singer knew better than to just trust this guy right away. However, he didn't really have any options right now, so he'd figure he'd hear him out.
"Ah, I sense a hint of doubt. Completely understandable. Being taken to a strange place by some strange threatening characters and the first pony you actually talk to here is acting nice and telling you that he's on your side. I totally get how this looks, but..."
"How do I know you won't backstab me and make my situation worse? Even if you are here to help me. I'm all but certain my days are numbered if I don't get out of here. Why should I trust you?" Singer replied to him in a whisper, trying to keep his voice down.
"I believe that we could be of mutual benefit to each other. We both want out of here, we both can't stand Barber, and if I'm being honest, you don't have much of a choice. Me? I could continue to play this game I've been playing for the rest of my days if I want to. But I'm really sick of playing his games. When I heard that he actually brought you here, I just knew I had a chance."
"Wait, you know who I am?" Singer asked curiously.
"Indeed. You're the son of Golden Record!" Cobalt exclaimed. "He's such a great stallion. You must be proud to be his son."
"I'm sorry, what? Okay dude you better just back up right now! This isn't funny anymore!" Singer began to become visually upset. Bad feelings were rising up in him and he began to lose his temper.
"Did I say something wrong?" Cobalt asked, obviously confused.
"I'll say!" Singer raised his head tears forming in his eyes. "Golden Record is dead... I never got to tell him what a good father he'd become in my life, or that I no longer held his absence for the most of it against him. I've had to deal with that pain for five long years! And there you go bringing it back up!"
"Oh..." Cobalt said, falling silent for a second before he was able to collect himself. "It actually makes sense, now that I think about it."
"I don't know what kind of game you're playing..."
"Singer... there's something you should know."
Singer braced himself. He was dreading what he might say next until he actually said it.
"Golden Record is alive... and he's been here for those long five years."
Singer stood there, suspended in disbelief. He couldn't say anything or do anything else in that moment but let the thoughts flow through his mind. In his mind, he began to connect the dots. No body had been found, and there was no trace of anything after the fact. Singer hadn't thought of that as a possibility but now, he began to question everything.
"I'm sorry, I think the some of Barber's guards are coming. I'll try to visit you later tonight." Cobalt said as he put his cloth mask back on and made himself scarce. The hoof steps he'd heard were getting closer. Dread filled Singer's mind as the door began to open.