[RIOT EVENT, OPEN] The Downtown Barbecue

Kroll was watching over the injured members of his squad when he heard the pegasus call out for help. Turning to see that some of the guards under his command were preparing to take aim at the approaching mare, the captain moved swiftly to intervene, signalling them to stand down and let the pony approach.

"Ma'am, I must have you speed slowed down more." the captain called out to the pegasus as it got closer to the rooftop, keeping his crossbow aimed at the ground so she wouldn't perceive him as a threat. "How do you need assistance?"

Meanwhile, the squads that Aella had been sent to retrieve were in the process of packing up their equipment and moving back to the roof where the others were waiting.

The mare followed the order and slowed down to a hover, because they could clearly hear her from where she was.
"Something is killing ponies in the gas! It isn't you, everyone we rescue keeps talking about a beast with glowing red eye's! And because of the gas we can't do anything! You have to help!" the mare cried, unaware that the planned ambush was now being diverted to try and clear the gas as much as possible.
"The last pony said he was attacked somewhere over there!" the mare cried again, pointing a hoof in the direction of the last known place of the 'Beast'

Shade watched with shock how her lover had to fight himself to not attack her, and only noticed the wind picking up when Scrapper's attention was caught by the pegasi causing it. Shade found it to be a blessing and a curse at the same time. On one hoof, she could finally take off the mask completely, probably making it easier to deal with Scrapper. On the other hoof, they lost their cover. But at the moment, the unicorn didn't care. She pulled off the mask, the residue of the smoke still burning but bearable compared to Scrapper going completely insane, and carefully approached him. "Scrapper, look at me!" she commanded as firmly as possible, though there was a touch of insecurity and fear she couldn't keep out.

Hijinks noticed the red eyed pony attacking Shady. At least it was not attacking her, so she considered that a plus. Since she was not in danger, she decided to continue looting the sleeping ponies. Oh, that pony doesn't really look comfortable, his neck is all wrong. Silly sleeping pony.

Uh oh, plot twist! Turns out red-eye is Scrappy, which is obvious from all the yelling Shady is doing. Hijinks considered that a negative.

It was at this point Hijinks felt a nice and welcome breeze. Yay! The gas is mostly gone so Hijinks can breathe again! That's a plus!

But then she noticed that the cause of the wind was pegasus ponies, who will probably be pretty angry. That's a negative. Hijinks lost count of the score, but she calculated it was in the so-so zone. So Hijinks decided to just sit there on the ground and watch whatever unfold. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a (mostly) fresh cookie that she found yesterday. 

So Hijinks is sitting there, surrounded by sleeping and/or dead ponies, nomming on a cookie while watching the red-eyed pony and black mare do whatever it was they were doing. And she was smiling, cause she had a cookie and cookies make you smile.

Kroll peered over the edge of the rooftop and into the streets below, looking in the direction that the mare pointed. "Ma'am, we won't be able to move down there until it clears up further." he says as he redirects his attention to the pegasus.

"I'm making preparations to call in medical teams to get injured out of here and to the hospitals. If you can guide them to the ones you've saved when they arrive, that would be a huge help." the captain says with a sigh before giving the mare before him a sympathetic look.

"We'll do what we can to deal with this 'Beast' you speak of, but please understand that this is something we just can't rush blindly into." he says before quickly directing his attention to two of his soldiers, shouting at them to go send for medical teams. Looking back at the pegasus, the tercel continued. "I can send four of my guys over to where you are tending your wounded to provide security. They'll keep you safe, if you wish for our aid."

Aella landed on the roof in a small cloud of gust, the extra squads landing behind the large griffoness.

"Got them sir"

Feral watched the gas lower and disappear.
Eventually he took the gasmask he was wearing off and took a long, deep breath. However, shortly after that, his attention was brought back to the mare. Once again addressing the name Scrapper.
His first action was to pick her up by the neck, but ended up bringing her to the ground in the attempt. Both hooves pressing against her neck, blocking all air from getting in.

'We love her, don't you recognise that? WE love her, and you're bloody hurting her!'

Came a voice from within his head. And that voice wasn't wrong, he hadn't recognised at first through the fog, but now that he saw her, Shade, he just froze. After a few moments, he slowly got off of her once he realised he was slowly choking her in his grip. A look of surprise clear on his face, Shade was the whole reason he was allowed freedom. He wanted to find her, protect her, make sure she was safe from everything that was happening.

And he had hurt her, and tried to kill her. Even though neither of those things happened, they still had an impact on Feral. He started to take a few steps back, surprise turning into an apologetic look as his eye's began to dilate.

--Griffon Rooftops--

Upon seeing more griffons arrive, the mare was tempted to try and ask again now that there was even more of them. But she knew he was right, whatever was down there wasn't to be messed with.

"Any help right now would be better than nothing, it'll probably show everyone what kind of a mistake they've made when their enemy comes to their aid..." She said in reply, she then began to fly back to the medical rooftops.


--Streets--

As the pegasi continued their work, many scared survivors were pulled from their hiding places and to safety. And the pegasi tasked with clearing the fog were making impeccable progress, as they naturally should. So much progress that Team 2, the one clearing out Shade's area, noticed the red glowing eye's looking up at them.

"W-what should we do!? That's the thing... the.. pony!" one called out to his companions.
"Look at all the pain he's caused! We can take him if we all go togeth-!" Another yelled out in reply, trying to rally the other 29 members of her team. Before being cut-off.
"NO! look around him! There's no doubt they thought they could do the same! Let's just... keep doing what we're doing. The gas is almost cleared here!" Came from the voice of reason. As much as they didn't like it, it was true. And so they continued to clear the gas, not caring if griffons told them not to.

Shade had never been one to be easily overwhelmed. Caution and secrecy gave her the advantage of the first strike, and her quick reflexes normally did the rest when things didn't go as planned. Now however caution had alredy been thrown out of the window as she got too close to Scrapper, and her reflexes came only half-heartedly. Scrapper was slower than usual, she could have avoided his assault... but for what use? She had seen enough proof that the pony she loved was still in there, fighting against the beast he had turned into. If he couldn't win this fight, Shade would have lost him anyway. And if Scrapper was lost... then she might as well die right here and now. Aside from Scrapper, there was nothing in life she would miss. All the misery would finally come to an end.

And so there was little resistance when he thing that looked like Scrapper tried to grab her, just enough to make them fall, with the earth pony towering over her. Choking her. She tried to push his hooves of, but Scrapper was stronger hand heavier, while Shade was quickly losing the last bit of motivation to save herself. All she did was staring back at him, tears already running down from her eyes. Then he suddenly backed off.

Shade's first breath was followed by a coughing fit, her throat strongly proteting against the unfriendly treatment. It only held for a moment until Shade rushed up to her hooves and faced the earth pony. He was... looking sorry?Yes, there was no mistaking it, he felt guilty about what he had just tried to do. And yet, this still wasn't Scrapper... or was it? It was his body, but right now he was more acting like a dog knowing that he's done something terribly wrong. Still the same beast that had raged through the riots?

No new tears were coming, but there were already enough present, as she looked at the other pony accusingly. "You're not Scrapper. Who or what are you?" she demanded to know, not able to feel much else than contempt at whatever she was addressing at the moment.

Kroll watched his dispatched guards follow the pegasus back to the rooftop she came from, waiting until they were halfway there before turning back to the rest of his soldiers.

"Alright, I need three of you to go to the hospital and get a medical staff mobilized so they can start treating the wounded here. As for the rest of you, continue on as overwatch, and definitely keep an eye out for this 'Beast' that mare was talking about. Looks like some pegasai are trying to air out the streets down there, so use that to your advantage." ordered the captain to guards and soldiers around him, watching the ones he pointed to carry out his instructions before turning to Aella and three other guards.

"Alright, you three get ready to come with me. We're going to start making our way down to the street level to try and look for any survivors that need help. Let's hop to it." he commanded.

Hijinks was disappointed to find that cookies don't last forever, and the once tasty treat had been reduced to nothing but tiny crumbs that blended into the filth that covered the floor.

Cookies aside, Hijinks was tired of waiting. If the pegasi recognized her, she would probably get a firm talking to and maybe even a time out if they were in a bad mood! Standing back up on all fours, Hijinks casually strolled over to where Shady and Scrappy were doing their drama thing, managing not to trip on any bodies along the way. When she reached the couple, she greeted both with a hearty "Hello!"

"Shady! This place ain't safe!" She warned her, "Why, I almost tripped on at least two bodies this past minute. I could have been seriously hurt!" She chuckled.

She looked at Scrapper. For him, no words were needed. Instead, Hijinks reached into her bag and pulled out a small piece of candy, which she offered to the weird pony with red glowy eyes. It was a breath mint.

He didn't know what to do, or to say. Even though couldn't speak, the voice in his head kept telling him to listen, listen to the black mare in front of him. Unfortunately, she wouldn't get an answer. He couldn't speak, so what could he do? How could he tell Shade anything?

His rapid thought process was interrupted by the words of a filly. Whom he simply watched, watched as she approached them, watched as she spoke and watched as she offered him something.
Compared to everyone else he had beaten to death, and scared away, he felt no need to do either of those things to the filly. She didn't deserve it. The young don't deserve his wrath.

He looked at what the filly was offering to him, a treat. The voice told him it was just a mint, no harm in it. Normally, strangers and their offerings were to be rejected, but the voice in his head said it was fine. Most likely out of worry that he would lose it and attack her, but he wouldn't do that anyway.

He took a step closer and leaned down a little, slowly taking the small treat the filly held to him. He would appear friendly enough as he put the mint in his mouth. Hell, he might actually need it.

The pegasi that were clearing the streets and had sight of Shade, Hijinks and the 'Beast' had decided to stay as far away as possible. They did have a job to do but they couldn't go down and help any pony near the creature, so they went around and tried to finish clearing the gas in a different direction. They all felt helpless having to avoid one pony, with a group of their size. The griffons would have to deal with it now, they certainly can't. Not with the easily visible amount of bodies lying around, alive or otherwise, with the clearing of the gas.

The other groups were having much better luck, however that luck was still pretty daunting. They had lifted so many out of the gas and to the safety of the rooftops they had to start using neighbouring buildings and their interiors to house the wounded. Many wounded with their own medical skill patched themselves up to their best degree and did their best for others as well. The main enemy was just the blunt bolts and the left over gas effects, but some were so badly hurt by whatever was down there that they might die even after escaping.

A few where still expecting an ambush on the Griffons, but those who knew it had been called off for rescue effort were pretty happy. And regretful that they lost their own logical thoughts. Beating griffons won't take a single riot, that much was clear. Which left even more surprise when Griffons themselves arrived to aid them. Protection wasn't much visually, but when your scared and want to be protected from something you can't beat, it was a welcome sight. Even if they held a bad spot in many victims hearts.

No answer. Did he even comprehend what she said? He certainly seemed to think about it. Or was that Scrapper, distracting the beast in his head? He didn't attack the filly either, and generally seemed calmer. "Can you talk?" Shade decided to ask after a short while. "If not, just shake your head."

Aella nodded at Krolls command, jumping from the rooftop and gliding down to street level. The griffoness pulled the sheath from the end of her polearm, letting the steel shine in the hazy half-light. She wanted a word with whatever was causing all the damage on the street.

Feral looked back to the black mare, and shook his head in response. He couldn't talk, but he could understand.

That was all you could ask for in somepony like him. Though, he was still angry. Still hateful of those around him, with the exception of two. He still wanted to kill the next thing that came into his line of sight, griffons, ponies, it didn't matter. He wanted to kill the deserving, and as far as he was concerned, at this moment, only Shade and the filly next to him were free from this.
Every pony around him was part of a riot based on hatred. They caused pain to those around them and spread fear along with their actions, taking homes and lives from others who did not feel the same way they do, they deserved this.
Griffons, though some have good intentions, have a bad past of violence to everyone they consider 'Weak'. They hurt simple passers by for fun and steal when they please, though those that did were the simple guerillas hired to act as a city guard, they deserved this. They deserved to know how it feels to be weak.

Though now, he has something else to do amongst the killing.
Protect Shade.
That was the voices command, one he also agreed with.

Hijinks clapped her hooves together with excitement. "Oooo he understands us! Quick, do the dance that Sapphire Shores does when she sings It's what she deserves." Hijinks bobbing head up and down, playing the tune of the song through her head. "oooh, oooh, It's what she deserves. Something something yeah." Now that Hijinks thought about it, she really couldn't remember the words to that song. It's been ages since she has listened to any real music, and that just gave Hijinks the best idea ever.

"Oh! I just got the best I-De-ah! Us three could make a group like the ponytones, or was it ponytunes? Can't remember, anyways we should do that... Oh wait, Scrappy doesn't talk at all. Don't worry, I'll find somepony and it'll be great!" Hijinks reassured them before running of in a random direction for no apparent reason. If there was a person writing this, he or she may just be looking for an opportunity to make Hijinks run into a certain white griffon like she was doing at that current moment. How convenient.

Hijinks masterfully weaved around the bodies that littered the street. Once again, Hijinks thought of how dangerous this scenario was because of these trip hazards. She was not deterred however because she's a super duper dare-pony!

As Hijinks spotted the white griffon in the distance she sped up. "Heeeeeey!" She yelled, jumping up and down to make herself more noticeable. As she finally reached her target, she continued bouncing up and down on the spot in a hysterical manner. "Hello!WowyouaresuperwhiteandfluffythatIwanttopetyoumynameisHijinksbutdon'ttellnopony!" Hijinks stopped bouncing to take a deep intake of air.

Kroll watched Aella start her descent to the streets below before motioning to the three guards he selected to follow suit. Upon touching down, the captain ordered the rest of his squad to start searching for any survivors in the area and to start securing the area for the medical team once they arrived.

As the tercels dispersed, Kroll pulled his rifle from its sheath on his back and began to make his way towards Aella, not wanting her to risk facing the Beast alone. As he made his way towards the hen, the captain watched a purple filly bob and weave through the bodies that littered the street and race towards the griffoness before coming to a stop before her, jumping and talking at a barely comprehensible speed.

It seemed more like an annoyance than a threat, but the tercel kept a firm grip on his weapon as he came to a stop beside Aella, trying to stay focused on the red-eyed being in the distance instead of the noisy purple blur in front of him.

Upon seeing the griffons land, most of the observing pegasi began to continue their task and flew off to another area to clear out the now thinning gas. Though a couple stayed and kept observing. They weren't sure how a few griffons can take something that looks like it has so much strength, but even if the griffons were unsuccessful they'd like to know the outcome, so they can warn others if need be.

Aella stared blankly at the fast-talking blue pony as she translated the blathered Equuish.

"I... fluffy?"

She frowned for another moment before reaching out and patting the pony on the head.

"You stay out of way. Good pony" She said in a disjointed and heavilly accented butchery of Equestria's language

Hijinks gave the white griffon a deadpanned look and responded in a monotone voice. "Woof..." That was dog speak for no.

Bored with fluffy white, Hijinks turned her attention to the new griffon. The newbie was ignoring her and looking at something else, which Hijinks thought was very rude of him. "HEY! LISTEN! HEY!" She jumped up and down frantically trying to block the griffon's vision of whatever it was that he was staring at.

Shade simply ignored the filly, keeping her eyes and thoughts on Scrapper... or whowhatever he was at the moment. Only when the filly left did she throw a look around, and didn't like the situation they were in. It wouldn't take long now until they had griffons all over them, and especially Scrapper was in danger then. "I suggest we get out of sight and figure out this mess once we're in safety. Follow me please", Shade said, turning to the nearest street leading away from this whole mess and watching Scrapper for a reaction.

'Go with Shade' was his command.
But the filly had drawn his attention towards the Griffon's. Despite his other half's protest and urge to make him follow Shade, he was getting more and more visibly angry.

In an attempt at keeping them out of danger his other half tried again to get his head back in the right setting, and it showed through Feral's sudden ability to speak again. "I'm gonna kill every last one of you pricks!" he yelled in the Griffons general direction, while directly afterwards looking at the ground while holding his head.

"I'll kill you bastards -- EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" He yelled again as he lifted his head and yelled into the sky, and then began a mad dash straight towards the Griffons, with the intent on literally, killing every one of them.

Aella heard the yell and frowned, not understanding its meaning, but understanding the rage behind it. She turned in the direction of the noise and braced her polearm against the ground, ready to ward off an attack.

Kroll swore quietly as he saw the maddened pony start charging at him and Aella, stretching his wings out slightly. "Aella, we need to move back." he whispered harshly, trying to keep both the troublesome filly and the oncoming stallion in his line of sight. "Try and move the little one out of here, I'll keep this fellow busy until she's somewhere safe."

Raising his rifle 3/4ths of the way in Feral's direction, the captain took a step back and arched his wings, waiting for the stallion to come closer. While he was skeptical that the rioter would be capable of following up on his threat, the tercel was not in the mood to take any chances.

Feral kept charging. His target was the white griffon, she was the first one he seen.
His intention was as before, get close, beat up whoever he didn't like. However, his other half didn't miss Kroll, who was in a position that would cause a lot of harm should it be ignored. Suddenly, Feral switched his target and began sprinting towards Kroll. His already gain charge speed got him there quickly as he planned to use his whole body to knock Kroll to the ground, screaming in rage as he approuched.

Aella swung the shaft of her polearm around as the pony ran past her, aiming for the stallions legs with the length of hardwood

Hijinks stopped her bouncing as she heard the roaring, death threats and overall bad manners. She turned around and saw Scrappy charging at her griffy buddies. Hijinks responded to this by jumping behind the white griffon.

"Save me, Fluffy!" She cried in fake terror. She wasn't actually scared, cause Scrappy was such a nice pony. No way would he attack her.

"STOP!" Shade called after not-Scrapper as he stormed away, his intentions clear from the first moment. It was suicide. Or a way to get caught, which might be better for Shade, but definitly worse for Scrapper himself. Shade could not let either of it happen, so she stormed after him, pulling her hood up and deep into her face again. Unfortunately, he was faster.

"YOU'LL GET YOURSELF KILLED!" She didn't know if he even heard her, or if dying meant anything to him. If he was anything like Scrapper (it certainly didn't seem like it) he probably thought he was invincible. But apart from shouting, what was there to do right now?

One of the griffons began to raise a gun at not-Scrapper.

That's what she would do. Help him survive unharmed, if she couldn't stop the battle. Her horn began to glow as she reached out for the gun. The distance was closing quickly, but it was still quite far, and so she couldn't apply full force, but at least she was hoping she could throw the aim off enough if she pulled in the right moment. The griffon was aiming below the earth pony, and seemed prepared to take flight any moment. He was planning to shoot not-Scrapper on the way up. Shade was prepared to pull the nuzzle of the rifle to the side as soon as the tercel launched. But he might notice the soft blue glow on his weapon before that.

Kroll was in the process of raising his rifle at the oncoming stallion when he felt something tugging at the length of his weapon, as if someone had tied an invisible rope around its barrel and was trying to pull it to the side. Looking down at his firearm, the tercel's eyes widened slightly as he saw the faint, blue glow that had started to encompass it. Magic. Taking a few steps back to buy him some time from the charging rioter, the captain swiveled his head as he tried to spot the interloper. He could see a dark figure not too far away, but at the rate the charging rioter was going, there was nothing Kroll could do but brace himself for what was about to come.

"Aella!" he shouted at the hen ahead of him. "Get that filly out of here and help the guards keep the survivors safe. We need to--" the captain's order was cut short as the stallion rammed into him, knocking him roughly onto the cobblestone street.

Aella's swipe did nothing to prevent Feral's charge, as it was just knocked out of the way from the speed he was going and his lack of pain sense.
Upon successfully reaching his target, he immediately ripped the weapon from the floored Griffon's talon without much care and threw it away. It's not like he did care how he did it, he just wanted to give the Griffon no defence. In an attempt to react before the Griffon had a chance to, he threw a hard swing at the Griffon's head.

Whether it connected or not didn't matter, when his brain had the time to process the words the Griffon said before he was rudely cut off. 'Protect the filly and the survivors' He was protecting the deserving rioters, even though they killed some of his own troops. His intentions were good, he was fighting to help others. He was undeserving.

Feral immediately backed off from Kroll, visibly 'trying' calming down again.

Aella turned and grabbed Hijinks, tucking the small pony under her arm before leaping into the air. She settled on a nearby rooftop and placed the Filly on the sloping tiles before signaling the Guards to clear the area non-violently. She turned back to watch the scene on the street below, tensed and ready to intervene if needs be.

Hijinks yelped as she was suddenly grabbed by Fluffy but she otherwise showed no protest. Once she was on the roof, she joined Fluffy in looking over the destruction that the riots caused. It was breathtaking and she realised how somepony could enjoy watching watching the world burn.

She moved her gaze over to Scrappy, Shady and the grey griffon. "Mmm, I put ten bits on the duo. That is if they even fight."

She tried yelling really loudly at the three. "Fight! Fight! Fight!" It would be interesting to watch.

Kroll grunted as he hit the ground, shocked at how fast the stallion managed to reach him and knock him over. As his weapon was ripped from his claws, the captain tried to raise his forearms up to defend himself only to receive a sharp blow from the pony, causing him to smack his head against one of the many cobblestones that made up the street he lay on. The tercel groaned as his eyes fluttered open, his vision full of stars as one claw instinctively moved towards the back of his head to check for blood while the other remained raised protect himself from further attack.

Wincing he felt his talons touch the blood-matted feathers that sat over his head injury, Kroll took a quick moment to asses the situation before him. He was relieved to see that Aella had managed to carry the erratic filly off to somewhere out of harm's way, but was surprised that the maddened rioter that had just knocked him to the floor and punched him in the head had backed away. Did it have a change of heart? Or was it merely waiting for the him to try and stand up before attacking once more? The captain wasn't too sure, but he wasn't willing to take any chances. Not with the lives of others at risk. 

Not taking his eyes off the Equestrian before him, the captain slowly and shakily rose to his feet, ignoring the blood that had begun to trickle down the back of his head as he calmly drew out his tonfa, gripping its handle firmly. "You do not want to escalate this, Equestrian." Kroll said in a firm tone to Feral, doing his best to ignore the throbbing pain in his head. "You can still leave this place with your life; stand down and you and your ally will be spared. This is your only chance and warning, use it wisely."

"Listen to him, or I'll knock you unconscious myself and drag you off", Shade supported the griffon's advice, coming to a halt near Scrapper, while keeping a respectful distance from the guard. Scrapper had talked again, so there was a chance he'd listen. Shade couldn't tell how good this chance was. Neither could she tell if the griffon had any deceit in mind, and fixed her hooded gaze on him. "That is, of course, only if we can leave with our freedom, not only our lives. Otherwise a fight will be inevitable."

Aella considered swooping down to attack the pony that stood near her handler. Kroll seemed to have things under control though, so she stayed put for now

Kroll gave the new pony a half lidded glare as he tightened his grip on his tonfa. He didn't know who this newcomer was, or what relation she had to the stallion she stood alongside, but the fact that she was ordering the captain to let the rioter go free was enough of an issue.

"While you may not have committed any crimes to my knowledge, Equestrian, the stallion beside you has." uttered the tercel in a flat tone, shifting his stance slightly. "To allow him to go free would be an insult to those he has harmed, not to mention a gross violation of my duties."

Kroll paused for a moment as he felt a sudden sharp pain from his head injury, causing the tercel to shudder and jerk his head to the side slightly before taking a calm breath, refocusing his attention on the mare and stallion before him.

"I would also like to advise you that you are in no position to threaten me, Equestrian. You are surrounded by skilled combatants that are standing by on my orders, and they will  not sit idly if you choose to instigate; do not test us, you will fail."

Gritting his beak as he felt the pain in his head slowly ebb away, the captain's muscles tensed with anticipation as he spoke, his calm tone carrying a hint of impatience. "I will not repeat myself again. Stand down."

Feral stared at Kroll, eye's twitching every so often as he processed his words. 

'Run! Grab Shade and run!' A voice in his head commanded. He wanted to, but he was so ready to kill the deserving that he didn't want to leave. 
"NO! Nonono NO!" He yelled as he hit himself in the head to try and silence the voice. That wouldn't work however, because the command kept being told to him regardless of his response.

'Yeah, yeah right. You don't really care about yourself, I get that. But if a fight starts here, right now, Shade will die! If you don't run you'll both die!' The voice said.
Suddenly, Feral stopped what he was doing and looked back at Kroll, then to the Griffons on the roof. The voice was right, he couldn't take the risk.
He quickly turned around and ran towards Shade, still running on his hind-legs, he grabbed her as he ran by regardless of her response and started sprinting in the opposite direction compared to the griffons, taking the earliest turn into an ally when one was available.

The griffon's answer settled it, and much to Shade's expectations. She'd have been surprised if they let Scrapper go just like that, and was already trying to figure out how to best escape, while her lover hit himself. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad sign, but when he lifted her up moments later, she decided to take it as a good sign, and quickly got on his back. Good thing she was a lightweight, and a good deal smaller than him.

But a successful escape was going to be difficult. They certainly already had several crosshairs on them. Here on this open road, it was a pretty concerning problem, and even if they managed to get better cover against the crossbows, they'd have to deal with flying pursuers in uncomfortable numbers. But cover first, or they might not even reach the side streets.

Unfortunately, the only sufficiently large objects lying around where the fleshy, bleeding ones. Not very tasteful, and relatively heavy, but there wasn't any time to be picky. Goodby magic reserves, Shade thought as her horn blazed unusually strongly to lift up two bodies and drag them along as Scrapper ran, only moments after they had started. From their left and right they'd be very hard to hit, and Shade watched out behind and above them for griffons who could get a good shot, prepared to send her shurikens out and distract them from actually shooting.

Kroll watched the crazed rioter rear up onto his hind legs and screech like a maniac before charging at the mare, scooping her up in his forearms as he runs off, somehow managing to maintain a perfect balance of forward momentum and balance. The guards on the rooftop didn't hesitate to start launching a volley of arrows at the escaping pair, but remained rooted to their positions to keep the streets secure for the medical team that was bound to arrive at any moment.

After giving himself a moment to realize that what was unfolding before his eyes was not in fact a result of his head injury, the captain sprung into action, moving in a staggering sprint to retrieve his rifle. However, by the time the tercel was able to reclaim his firearm, the ponies were gone, having disappeared into a nearby alleyway. Seeing that the targets were gone, Kroll dropped down to one knee as he felt a surge of pain from the wound on the back of his head. As he knelt to ground one of the guards under his command came up to him.

"Sir, the Equestrians are getting away!" the guard said in earnest as he quickly glanced over the condition of his leader. "They couldn't have gotten too far at this rate, I can scramble a team of three and go after them if you wish."

Kroll shook his head as he pushed himself off the ground with a pained grunt, using his rifle as a leaning post. "No, no...let them run away. They'd be fools to try and instigate things further elsewhere in the city, but we'll need to stay alert in case they do. In the mean time, we need to keep this area secure; medical teams should be here any moment now..."

((Continuation for Shade and Scrapper: https://mlpgriffonkingdomsrp.rpg-board.net/t1022-what-lies-within-syron-scrapper-maybe-scintillance#15709))

Aella swooped down from the roof and landed next to Kroll, keeping her head on the swivel in search of potential threats.

"Sir, are you allright?"

Hijinks watched her two friends run away, it was utterly bizarre and hilarious because Scrappy was somehow running on two legs.

When Aella flew off the roof of the building that they were on, Hijinks realized she had no way of getting down. Or did she? Getting up, Hijinks decided to wander around along the rooftops in search of a way down and maybe even enjoy the scenery a bit. Burning cities always look pretty.

Kroll nodded in response to the hen's inquiry, grimacing as he does his best to ignore the painful throbbing of his head injury. "I'm fine, Aella, just fine." he grunted as he turned to see the medical team round the corner and start making their way towards the wounded civilians the guards have been keeping an eye on.

"About damn time..." the captain growled as he pushed off of his rifle and made a beeline towards the leader of the medical team, a bespectacled unicorn with two saddlebags bulging with supplies. After giving the Equestrian a brief chewing out, Kroll turned away and started making his way back towards Aella, signaling to the guards nearby and on the rooftops to form up. Once they had all gathered around, the captain pointed at the tercel who spoke to him earlier.

"You. Take four guys and stay here with the medical crew. Keep them safe and stay alert for any signs of trouble. The rest of you will come back to Headquarters with me; take a quick rest and fix your gear if you need to. You did an outstanding job here gents, keep up the good work."  

As the four guards chosen to keep watch peeled away from the rest of the group, Kroll started making his way back to Headquarters, signaling for his troops to follow. "Come along now, boys! This town isn't going to unfuck itself!"

End of thread


Characters: Silver Lining, Hijinks, Harmless Fun, Scrapper T. Ferrous, Shadowstrike, Scanion Blackwing, Void, Kroll, Aella Eversor

Summary: A large group of rioters riot through downtown with the intent of burning down the train station. Silver Lining, the leader of the rebellion, along with a couple of bodyguards, tries to convince them all to leave which she half succeeds at.
An assassin attempts to kill the leader of the rioters and succeeds in wounding him. Shadowstrike, upon spotting the assassin, chases after her but finds herself in trouble which prompts Scrapper into a murderous fury, killing several rioters.
After Kroll and his griffons drop the bombs of non-lethal gas, the rioters panic. Kroll eventually confronts Scrapper and Shadowstrike but the two manage to escape. Kroll and his troops manage to restore order in this part of the city.