//------------------------------// // Moving Forward // Story: Mare Do Well: Raining Of Fire // by ShadeJak //------------------------------// “Leo… I seem to recall you getting blasted by lighting and falling to your death last I saw you.” Mare Do Well said coldly as she glared at the large griffon. “What can I say, Mare Do Well? I got better.” Leo replied with a chuckle as he raised his prosthetic arm and clenched his metal claws into a fist. “You really think you can stop us?” “Stopped you before.” Mare Do Well said, approaching. Immediately, Captain Ironclaw and his guards burst in, promptly attacking and attempting to subdue the recruits that had filled the audience. Though the guards were more skilled, the recruits greatly outnumbered them, making it more of a challenge then it otherwise would have been. A few took advantage of the chaos and fled out the doors before any of the guards could catch them. “You three! Secure the exit! Don’t let any more escape!” Ironclaw ordered as he engaged two more Rebirth members, knocking one out with a sleeper hold and then punching another in the face before dealing with the last one. The three that the captain had spoken to nodded and flew over to the exits, taking on any who attempted to leave. The captain turned and looked at the Phoenix, spreading his wings and flying at him. Before he could reach him, however, two more Rebirth guards attacked, knocking him to the ground. The Phoenix regarded him for a moment before looking over at Mare Do Well and Leo. Mare Do Well glared at the costumed griffon and prepared to charge at him, only for Leo to grab her with his prosthetic claw. Mare Do Well locked eyes with the Phoenix, who tilted his head sideways in a smug manner as though he were amused by her. Raising up his foreleg and snapping his claws, a pair of guards standing either side of him threw down a pair of vials, filling the area around them with smoke. The sound of flapping wings was heard and they were gone. Mare Do Well struggled to get free and pursue but was flung aside by Leo. The pegasus tumbled across the ground and looked up at her adversary, who slammed his prosthetic claw into the stage and tore out a board, then flew straight at her, swinging it. Mare Do Well rolled out of the way then turned and bucked her hind legs, smashing the wood apart then jumping into the air, tossing a pair of flash bombs. Leo swatted them aside right before they exploded and grinned. “Good, I was hoping you’d put up a fight!” Leo said, pressing something on his prosthetic limb’s shoulder and the claws suddenly receded, and a short sword flipped out like a switchblade. Spreading his wings, he took to the air and flew at her. “Oookay, that’s new.” Mare Do Well muttered when she saw the blade. Leo swooped at her, swinging his blade. Mare Do Well weaved out of the way, dodging the attack and flying straight up, flinging another flash bomb his way. Leo swung his blade again, knocking it aside and advanced further on the costumed pegasus. “Not like Cloudsdale, is it?” Leo said with a laugh, thrusting his arm forward and the blade shot out on a cable. “WHOA!” Rainbow barely moved out of the way in time, but cried out as she felt a sharp pain as the tethered projectile grazed her side. She was glad it hadn’t hit her wing or she’d not be able to stay in the air. The sprinklers finally began to let up and she glared at the wet griffon, who sneered at her before pulling his prosthetic limb back and the blade promptly retracted back into place. “That’s gonna cost ya.” She flew straight down at the griffon, avoiding the swing of his blade and slamming her hoof into his face. The griffon’s head jerked to the side and he swatted her back with his prosthetic. The impact of the metal appendage against her carried enough force to knock her down to the ground. Looking up, Mare Do Well saw him descending towards her, landing over her and aiming the blade at her neck. “Definitely not like Cloudsdale.” Leo said, drawing his foreleg back and preparing to impale the costumed pegasus. Before he could, however, Captain Ironclaw lunged at him and swung his fist, knocking him over. Leo tumbled a bit, then stuck his blade into the stage to anchor himself. The cyborged griffon snarled at the captain, who stood defiantly next to Mare Do Well. “Leo, right?” Ironclaw asked. “I remember you, who knew you’d move up from some lowly thug in Eagleopolis? “What can I say, Ironclaw? Know the right griffons, get the right outcome.” Leo replied with a smirk. “Thanks to our new leader, we’ve gone from activists with dreams of glory and reforming the status quo to a genuine threat, wouldn’t you agree?” “Not for long.” Ironclaw replied. “Take a look, your punks are all caught, or have fled by now. Your time’s up, Leo!” The larger griffon laughed. “Funny, I’d say the same for you, in give or take fifteen seconds.” He said, pulling a remote from his bomber jacket and pressing the switch as he took to the air. Rainbow shuddered and looked at Ironclaw; both knew what the griffon meant by those words. “Twilight! Get in here now we need a barrier!” Mare Do Well ordered into her comm link as Ironclaw rushed over to where Lightfeather was laying. “My apologies for this, ma’am.” The captain said, scooping her up and gesturing to his guards to grab the other captives. Leo grinned and flew straight for the boarded skylight, his prosthetic aimed forward like a battering ram and smashing right through it and flying off into the night, laughing. A second later Twilight teleported in. “Get everyone grouped around me!” Twilight ordered. Mare Do Well and the griffon guards, along with the captured Rebirth members and the freed hostages huddled together as Twilight focused her magic and a shimmering pink barrier surrounded them with two seconds to spare before powerful explosions went off everywhere in the warehouse. After a short while when the smoke cleared and the debris stopped raining down on them, Twilight ended her barrier spell. “Well, that was close!” She said with a small smile. “They got away.” Mare Do Well said, glaring in the direction she’d seen Leo fly off to. The Phoenix had escaped her as well; who knew where he’d gone to now? “Exactly…” One of the Rebirth recruits muttered with a smirk. “You may have disrupted this rally, but we will still win. Our capture will do nothing but inspire others! This is just the next step, it’s far from over!” “Yeah! Your establishment is done for! The fight may be yours but the war is ours!” Another said defiantly. Mare Do Well approached and hit him as hard as she could with her hoof, knocking him out. Shooting a glare at the other recruit who’d spoken, Mare Do Well smiled under the mask when he cowered slightly. “Your boss can’t hide from me forever. I’ll find him, and when I do, he and every last one of you associated with him will suffer in ways you can’t imagine, and that is a promise.” She hissed, getting in the face of the shaking griffon, who nervously nodded in response. Turning and approaching Twilight and the Captain, the costumed pegasus lowered her head. “They’re right about one thing though… Twilight, this is far from over.” she said. “I’ll take Councilor Lightfeather back to her home.” Ironclaw explained. “Mare Do Well, Twilight; return to the palace and inform Prince Loken of the outcome. The rest of you, bring these pieces of trash to the station and return the other hostages home. Afterwards we’ll meet up and do a search for any sign of the ones who escaped, and where the Phoenix and Leo could have gone.” “On it. Ready, Twilight?” Mare Do Well said, looking at her friend. “Ready, Mare Do Well.” Twilight said. Focusing her magic, the two were gone in a flash of light. ~ Mare Do Well collapsed on the throne room floor the instant she and Twilight reappeared, several griffon guards rushing over. “Get Prince Loken. He wanted me to report as soon as the job was done and I gotta speak to him.” Mare Do Well said, standing back up. The guards looked at one another, nodded, and one flew off down the hall. “Will you be alright?” Another guard asked, noticing where Mare Do Well had been grazed. “We can get the nurses down here at once if you need anything...” “Won’t be necessary, I’ve been through worse.” Mare Do Well said. “Thanks, though.” “Just leave that to me.” Twilight replied. “Will take a little time, though. It looks like he nicked you good… you got quite an adrenaline flow, there.” “Well that’s because I’m me, Twi.” Mare Do Well answered with a laugh, feeling exhaustion begin to overcome her now that the fight was well over. At that moment the guard who had left earlier flew back into the room. “The Prince will be down shortly.” He explained. “Here.” Twilight said, exposing where Rainbow had been hurt. The unicorn’s horn glowed, as did the wound and Twilight focused on a healing spell. “How’d this even happen?” “One of their bosses, he was seriously armed.” Mare Do Well replied. “He’s some griffon I fought before, back in Cloudsdale. His name’s Leo, he was working right under Gilda at the time. Thought I killed him shortly before Gilda beat me. Apparently I didn’t do a good enough job at it…” She muttered, shaking her head. “Got this crazy prosthetic with a sword in it and tried to chop me into cold-cuts.” “A griffon with a weaponized prosthetic? This I have to hear about!” Prince Loken said with an amused chuckle as he entered the room, announcing his presence. “Well, seeing you two are still alive, I take it the operation went well?” “Yes and no, highness.” Twilight said. “We managed to save some hostages they captured, including Councilor Lightfeather.” “They abducted one of the members of Parliament?!” The Prince asked, eyes wide and rather astonished. “Lightfeather… please tell me the poor thing’s alright!” Mare Do Well nodded. “She is. So are the others. Your plan worked, mostly.” “Mostly?” the griffon asked. “Several of them, including the Phoenix and this griffon, Leo got away.” Mare Do Well replied. “What?! They got away? AND Leo’s been confirmed as alive?” Loken asked, shocked. “We thought he had perished in Cloudsdale.” “As I told Twilight here, so did I. Clearly he didn’t.” Mare Do Well said. “He’s serving the Phoenix now.” “Doesn’t surprise me.” Loken said. “I read the records on the griffons captured and confirmed in the incident at Cloudsdale. He was dreg and boss of a gang of low-class activists from Eagleopolis who’s been in and out of jail a few times. Guess he got mixed up with Gilda’s plans for a chance to be something bigger then that.” The prince shrugged. “And from the looks of things he got his wish after all, but he’s a still a felon in the eyes of the Griffon Empire.” “Well, I already plan to make him and his boss pay for what they’ve done.” Mare Do Well answered. “Understand, as I see it, this escape was… too easy for them. The Phoenix was way more prepared then we expected. Not just capturing a member of Parliament, but he had the place rigged to explode like either as a seriously overblown finishing act… or he was expecting possible interference from us! We got a lot of the Talongrad recruits, but the big players are still out there.” Twilight explained, finishing up on the pegasus’ wound. “I see…” The griffon answered, rubbing the chin of his beak. “Then there’s a chance this whole rally had the ulterior motive—“ “To lure me into it!” Mare Do Well said, feeling better now that she was healed up. “…And obviously expected me not to come alone for them to have set the place to blow like that if they were planning to kill the hostages first.” “And Councilor Lightfeather was the one captured. Whoever arranged that has to have known a way to capture her covertly… and your father mentioned how they’ve managed to anticipate a lot of moves attempted against them.” Twilight said. “Highness, there’s a chance that the Phoenix has someone in league with him in the Parliament.” Loken looked shocked. “Twilight Sparkle, forgive my… astonishment… but that’s a very serious accusation we can't just throw before them with only hunches and theories. They and my family may not always see eye-to-eye but I doubt any of them would go so far as to endorse the actions the Rebirth have committed.” “What about Swiftwing? He’s been trying to get this crackdown going; maybe he’s exploiting all this to get more power?” Mare Do Well asked. “I saw how he acted, he has that look to him, like he really wants to get his way. Maybe not working with the Phoenix, but… I dunno, maybe tipping him off somehow so he can show up your attempts at stopping him.” “…Which involves the kidnapping of a Parliament Councilor?” Loken asked, cocking his head at the costumed pegasus. Mare Do Well walked up to him. “You brought me here to help you with this, your highness, and I’m trying to!” She said, not sternly but attempting to get her point across in the most respectful way she could. “What if she was meant to be some kinda tragedy to get more support for his crackdown?” “…Which would give him more control, and probably enough support to challenge your family alone.” Twilight added. “It sounds crazy, and again a very extreme accusation even for a griffon like him.” He ran his claw through his feather fringe. “For all we know, the Phoenix is trying to put these kind of seeds of doubt in us!” The Prince sat on his haunches, and sighed, scratching his head. “But if by chance you’re right… we’ll need to get a close watch on him and get proof. I may have just the solution on where and when we can do that, and the means to lure the Phoenix and his bunch out of hiding.” He said. “What’d you have in mind?” Mare Do Well asked. “Well, with my sister Nessa’s return, we’d originally had planned for a gala tomorrow night, sort of as a welcome-back celebration. She is the immediate heir after all so it's kind of a big deal she made it back home safely.” Loken explained. “Publically, it’ll also serve as a means to tell the Rebirth, and our subjects that we will not be intimidated even by a group of unified revolutionaries. The high-profile griffons will be there. The shadier types that the Rebirth tends to attract would not be present, so it’d be impossible for them to slip in undetected with guards outside and among the guests watching for any sign of them. The Parliament will of course be required to attend due to their status as the highest public-appointed officials in the Griffon Empire.” “With what happened to Lightfeather, we can justify a close watch on the Councilors, especially Swiftwing given he's been the loudest voice among them.” Twilight said. “The Canterlot guards who accompanied us will gladly assist there.” “The event was originally gonna be held here at the palace. But for obvious reasons we’ll relocate it to the Griffonheim Plaza on the plateau to the west of here. But we’ll need security on me and my family as well…” Loken explained. “Twilight, I want you to stay close to my dad and sister, understand? I wouldn’t doubt the chance the Rebirth would try something, but we have to pull this off if we want the chance to apprehend them. As soon as trouble shows, please bring them back to the palace at once. And Mare Do Well?” “Yes?” The costumed pegasus asked. “You mind being our main force at handling our enemies?” The griffon asked, he could have sworn he saw the grin form under Mare Do Well’s mask. “Just try and stop me. I won’t let anyone get hurt.” She said with the cocky tone Twilight knew Rainbow to have when things were going her way. “Well good, then you wouldn’t mind me as your escort, provided you can get something less… conspicuous to wear.” He said, lifting up Mare Do Well’s mask and smirking in amusement at Rainbow Dash before lowering it back down. “You’re going to need to be on alert. The royal family’s practically the centerpiece so this will be a workable excuse to keep you close by as well, where you’ll get a full view of the event.” “I won’t let you down, highness.” Mare Do Well responded with a salute of her hoof. “I certainly hope not. Honestly, we’re on quite a gamble here, win or lose, no in-between. You two get rest. It'll be an even bigger matter we're dealing with tomorrow.” The prince said, turning and leaving the way he came, followed by his guards. As soon as the prince was gone, Mare Do Well collapsed to her haunches, staring straight ahead as if in quiet contemplation. “Rainbow? That was quite some confidence right there. I admit, I’m a little worried as to how this could turn out but it looks like it’s well-thought out.” Twilight said. A moment passed, and her costumed friend remained silent. “Uhhh, Rainbow?” The unicorn asked, calling her friend’s name again. “Twi… what’s that trick Cadance taught you on handling pressure again?” Rainbow asked. ~ “I’m pleased that enough of you made it out. For a moment I was worried I’d have to send for more from Eagleopolis prematurely.” Leo said, his prosthetic leg making a loud clank as he walked past numerous Rebirth members of varying shape, size, and ranking in the halls of a once-abandoned, fort from the wars built into the side of the lowest plateau of Talongrad that had come to gain a deserving title known as ‘The Dregs’. Even the city guard rarely ever ventured out here, given the less-then-admirable elements that prominently lived in this part of the capitol, and the political unrest had done nothing to change that. A few hours had gone by since the rally, and Leo had been anxious to gain news for their next move. “Our leader should be arriving shortly.” A flap of wings was heard, and the large griffon turned to the window, where the cloaked, masked griffon now perched. “Oh look, there he is now!” He said. “I trust everything is ready?” The Phoenix asked. Leo felt a chill run down his body; though he couldn’t see the Phoenix’s eyes, he could feel the glare all the same. “Of course, boss! Lightning gauntlets, grenade supply, we're good to go!” Leo said with a grin. “Just lookin’ for my chance to give Mare Do Well another beat-down for all that she's cost me!” “You’ll have your opportunity. Eventually.” The Phoenix replied, briskly walking past him and sizing up the griffons that had filled the room. “An event like this gala is, I'm sure you've noticed, more then a simple welcome-home party for royalty, or even a means of keeping the more influential members of this decadent society complacent in the face of the glorious happenings that are soon to occur?" "It's meant to draw us out." Leo answered. "Good to know any fool can see they’ve all but outright extended us an invitation.” The masked griffon replied, approaching one recruit, a younger one who quickly began to tremble. The Phoenix regarded him for a moment and raised his claw to straighten the recruit’s posture before turning his attention back to Leo. “For that, we will... attend. Make immediate contact with our more reputable supporters, I will expect nothing less then absolute success in bringing our message forth tomorrow night. We will demonstrate to them that the Rebirth is inevitable, however it will not in the way the the royals or the Parliament would anticipate...” The griffon raised his right claw. "To Rebirth!" "To Rebirth!" Leo and the many recruits cheered in unison.