The Battle of Manor Del Toro

by Auto-Buscus

Chapter 3: The Plan

"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?"

"Now we're getting somewhere." Brawn replied. "Alright Tob, you're up."

"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.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the update being way later than I wanted. Last few weeks have been crazy. I'll try to get more chapters out in good time in the future but no promises.

I've got a Christmas fanfic project that I need to work on, so updates won't be as frequent as I'd like but hopefully still won't take as long as it has for this one. Thanks for your understanding.

The song in this chapter is a reference to ‘Let me make you Proud’ from Tangled the Series.

Comments

[Auto-Buscus]

11400244
Awesome! I’m hoping that this new take on him will be well received. Thanks for the support

[Skyfire Storm]

11412683
No worries man, I've been a bit behind with reading lately but I'm really eager to get back to this story