The Badlands
Revenant led the mane six this time on the mission. It had been a while since he led a mission but his years of being a knight trained him well. There weren’t any obstacles for them to traverse, just a long trek to their destination. As they continued to the Diamond Dogs hideout, the private discussion he had with Princess Celestia before getting on the airship played back through his mind.
“Revenant, I need you to do something for me on this mission.” Princess Celestia asked him.
“Anything you’re majesty.” Revenant replied. He felt obligated to say that now that he felt he was a citizen of Equestria.
“I know how much Twilight cares for you. She’ll go out of her way to look out for your safety. This is why I need you to not only take care of yourself, but most importantly take care of Twilight. I know this may seem a lot of me to ask of you but Twilight is practically a daughter to me…do you understand?”
“Princess Celestia…it will always be my honor to protect Twilight. She means everything to me and I’ll defend her from anything, even if it means my own life.” Revenant promised Princess Celestia.
“Hopefully it won’t have to come down to that…” Revenant muttered to himself.
They traveled for nearly half an hour before reaching a ledge that overlooked the Diamond Dogs hideout. The mining cave they used was guarded by several dogs and more were seen continuously coming in and out of the caves with carts full of mining equipment and gems. They could see multiple tunnels that went into the mine. They all knew that there were going to be complicated pathways and that this one could take a while.
“Listen up, since we’ll be in enemy territory and avoiding detection all communication will be through telepathy until otherwise. So if you feel as though you need to say anything now would be the time to speak up.” Revenant addressed the girls.
Revenant could Pinkie Pie wanted to say something.
“Pinkie say it now…”
“Pickle-barrel cumquat.”
“……………what?” Revenant asked with confusion.
“You’ll never figure her out Rev…I’ve tried.” Twilight said to him remembering her failure of studying Pinkie Pie.
Revenant shook his head and had Twilight give her friends telepathy once more. Revenant then had Levia create illusions
of herself and sneak into the carts to give them a view of the hideout. Levia made three clones and then infiltrated the hideout. They waited ten minutes before Levia sent a message to them. She informed them of her location and that it was clear of any dogs.
“Thanks Levia, we’ll be there soon.” Revenant responded. “Alright Twilight ready?”
She nodded and put on the necklace. She used her teleportation spell and in a few seconds they were in the Diamond Dogs hideout. Twilight felt as though she barely had used her magic at all, the effects of the necklace already took into effect.
“So do you know where to look for the weather elements?” One of the girls asked Revenant.
“Possibly…if I’m correct the first one may still have a small trace of my magic in it. If that’s so then I should be able to locate it.” Revenant replied.
Revenant then concentrated and tried to search for the elements with his magic. It took him a couple minutes before he got a fix on it.
“Got it…follow me.” Revenant addressed the group.
They began their descent into the mine. They had to be careful not to be spotted by any dogs patrolling the area. Revenant led them down the route that would have the least amount of guards; unfortunately it would take longer to get to the weather elements. He would rather take a longer route to elements then to be spotted and have all the dogs chase after them. Pinkie Pie spotted a mine cart that they could use to ride further down into the mine. Revenant considered the idea but Rarity argued against it since she knew it would mess her mane up. Her friends let her know that she was going to get dirty no matter what, and with a whimper Rarity agreed with everypony. They hopped in the cart and went further in the mine cutting a good fifteen minutes of searching. Revenant used his magic to see if any dogs were around.
“Alright…it doesn’t seem there are any dogs around.” Revenant thought to them all.
“Then can we talk now…this telepathy thing is really getting tough.” Applejack informed him.
“Yeah we should be good to talk now.” Revenant broke the silence.
“Phew I thought I’d never get the chance to talk. This was just like the one time when we first met Zecora and we all thought she put a curse on us. Funny thing too cause I had a song about it and what happened…..” Pinkie Pie rambled.
“I think you may have made a bad call there Rev.” Fefnir whispered to him.
“Eh let her be. We should be fine now that we’re….” Revenant stopped feeling a pulse of magic flow through him.
He stopped in place and began to look around frantically.
“No…no that can’t be…there’s no way…” He spoke out loud to himself.
“What…what is it? Are there dogs on the way?” Twilight asked him.
“No....none of you feel this pressure right now?” Revenant asked the girls. They all shook their heads as well as the ponysprites. “Uh oh…then this is it.”
“What is it Rev? What’s got you all worried?” Levia tried getting through to him.
“We….we’re right by their supply of abyssal magic.” Revenant replied while searching for it with his magic.
“Wait it’s here?! How can you tell?” Rainbow Dash asked him.
“Remember girls, Revenant has a connection with the abyss, he is one of the few if not now the only one who can sense it.” Sage explained.
“Then what do you propose we do about it?” Rarity asked him.
“Not ‘we’ but ‘I’.” Revenant answered her.
“You aren’t planning on doing this by yourself?” Twilight asked full of worry.
“I need to destroy their supply now while I can.” He answered her. Revenant then turned to Sage. “Sage, we aren’t too far from the weather elements either. Go down the south tunnel until it splits up into a three way intersection. After that go west and you should be able to get to where they are storing the elements at.”
Sage didn’t really like where Revenant was going with this. Sage felt a small tear form in his eye to see how Revenant was turning out to be like his dad.
“No, I’m going with you. We didn’t come this far just to separate. We'll do this together and return home together.” Twilight told him.
“If Twilight is going, then I’m coming too .” Rainbow Dash added.
“Me too…” Fluttershy threw in with a bit of bravado.
“No…I can’t have you girls come with me this time. I don’t want any of you getting near any abyssal magic.” Revenant answered them.
“We’ll be fine. We have the Elements of Harmony remember?” Twilight said pulling out hers.
“I…I can’t take that chance. Sure the Elements of Harmony may be powerful and pure but the abyss is a whole different thing on its own. No pony truly knows how it works and I can’t take the risk of having any of you being corrupted.”
“What about the time you saved Twilight? You said you brought her in with you so shouldn’t we be fine if you’re with us?” Applejack asked.
“This time is different. There is a high concentration of it and I can only protect a pony from a small amount. I should be fine if I go alone…but if you girls come with me….you could all be exposed and then….” Revenant grimaced at the thought and turned away from them. “Sorry, it has to be this way.”
The girls looked at each other trying to think of a different solution. They turned to the ponysprites for anything but Levia and Fefnir had nothing. Their only hope was Sage. They figured he would have something that could change Revenant’s mind.
“*sigh* He’s right.” Sage said with a heavy heart. “We’ll take care of the weather elements and then….”
“I know…you’ll come back for me.” Revenant said. “But know this…if things go wrong and you have the weather elements. I need all of you to get out and save yourselves.”
“What about you?” Twilight fearfully asked.
Revenant looked at her sadly and she knew what he was going to say.
“No…I….I won’t allow it! Not after everything we’ve been through!” Twilight began to cry.
Revenant walked over and embraced her to help ease her fears.
“Then how about this…promise me that you girls get out of here safely with the weather elements…and I’ll promise to meet up with you girls so we can all go home?” Revenant asked her.
“You…you promise?” Twilight asked through her tears.
He lifted up her face to look into her eyes. He dried off her tears and kissed her.
“I promise…”
“Alright then…” Twilight said rubbing her eyes. “C’mon girls let’s go. Sage lead the way.”
Sage nodded and led the girls down the tunnels. Twilight looked back hoping that Revenant would keep his end of the promise. Revenant waited until he saw they were out of view. He sighed and used his magic to locate the abyssal storage. Once he found it, he abyss walked to its location.
The tunnel he entered was already lit as though it was used frequently. He then ran down the tunnel for five minutes before coming to a door. As he went to open the door he could feel the abyssal magic on the other side.
“This is it…I can feel it. But how am I going to…” Revenant thought but then saw something by the door. He went over to see a box of dynamite in a cart ready to leave. “How reluctant…guess some dog forgot about to deliver it. Guess that small mistake will be their demise.”
Revenant found some rope and wrapped it around the box. Afterwards he grabbed the rope and began to drag the box up to the door. He took a deep breath and opened the door. He entered a large chamber that was well lit and looked like someone’s workspace. As he dragged the box, Revenant saw a bunch of notes on the table scribbled with information. It didn’t bother him and he continued across the chamber to find another door. He opened it and saw stacked upon each other various abyssal artifacts.
“Jackpot.” Revenant said with a smile.
Revenant brought the box in the room and unloaded the dynamite. He strung them together and had them all primed. Afterwards he pulled out the detonator and carried it out of the room. Revenant stopped by one of the tables and was ready to push it when something or someone caught his attention.
“Now we can’t have you blowing all of that up. Do you have any idea what will happen if you do that?” A pegasus in a lab coat approached him from the shadows.
“Professor Windston…I figured this was going too smooth.” Revenant glared at him.
“The one and only. So, mind telling me why you plan on blowing up everything?” Professor Windston asked Revenant.
“Isn’t it obvious…?”
“Well yeah…I just want to hear what your thought was on all this.”
“Since you want to know…I’m going to destroy your supply thus destroying the dogs’ hideout.”
“So you plan on killing all these dogs here hmm? I got to say that’s pretty dark even by my standards.”
“Don’t worry…the mutts will have their time to escape…as well as my friends.” Revenant explained. “They should be getting the weather elements about now and leaving shortly.”
“Oh you mean…” Professor Windston began to speak while reaching into his lab coat. He then pulled out three artifacts. “These weather elements?”
“What the….that’s impossible I sensed them in a different area.”
“Hehehehe….what? You think I didn’t anticipate that? I’ve dealt with you in the past Revie boy so I kind of learned a thing or two.” Professor Windston cackled. “What you sensed was a decoy…your precious friends and your lavender princess are heading right into a trap.”
“No…you vile creature…” Revenant glared. He began to feel the darkness rise up within him. “I’m going to make you pay for the crimes you’ve committed.”
“And here comes the knight talk…look pal cut the whole justice thing okay? I heard it the first time and I don’t want to hear it again. Besides, I’m sure you’d like to hear what’s in store for your friends huh?”
Revenant glared at him with ravenous eyes. Professor Windston saw the look in his eyes and smiled.
“Oh come now, enough with that look. I know the fallen knight wishes to save his pretty lavender princess but you need to stop the villain first, at least, that’s how it goes in my stories.” Professor Windston taunted.
“Enough talk, have at you!” Revenant shouted before charging Professor Windston.
The mane six and the ponysprites entered what looked like a throne room. It was lit by several torches and the throne was decorated with gems that sparkled with the light. They searched around for the weather elements and found that there was nothing.
“They’re…They’re not here!” Fluttershy feared.
“That’s impossible; Revenant said that they would be here.” Rainbow Dash argued with her.
“Unless…”Sage thought out loud.
They heard the door slam behind them and lock. They turned around to see three dogs and a hulking
Rottweiler behind them. Sage’s fear just came true.
“So I guess the pegasus was more useful than we thought.” The Rottweiler said.
“Who…who are you and where are the weather elements!?” Twilight demanded.
“The crack-potted professor has them. If things are going as we planned, then that azure pony should be fighting him about now.” The Rottweiler laughed.
They all were shocked to find that they had walked into a trap. No weather elements and they were separated. The mane six weren’t afraid though, they knew as long as all of them worked together then nothing could stand up to them. The Rottweiler saw them getting ready to fight and got excited.
“Yes…this should be fun…” He said as he pulled a mace off his back. “I am Shinook and welcome ponies to your defeat! Now go and beat these ponies!”
“With pleasure…Spot, Fido…let’s settle the score!” Rover addressed his comrades.
They gave him a smile as a reply and faced their opponents. The Diamond Dogs and their boss then charged the mane six. The mane six and the ponysprites moved out of the way of the initial attack. Shinook led the charge and swung his heavy mace with ease. The girls knew that getting hit with that could possibly mean the end for them. Fido and Spot coordinated their attacks to target a single pony and then quickly back off. Rover would find blind spots and strike them and switch to his next target. The mane six were having trouble holding out. The Diamond Dogs were fighting with a lot of coordination this time. As their leader would use his heavy strikes to disperse them and keep them separated, the other dogs would move in and attack those who were alone. The girls found their moment to break away from the dogs and regroup.
“Dang…they’ve gotten really strong since the last time…” Applejack said.
“Not that strong though…there’s no way we’ll lose to them.” Rainbow Dash argued.
“It’s not that the dogs are strong, but they have something we have to worry about.” Sage addressed them. Twilight assessed the situation and knew what had to be done.
“Girls we have to target Shinook.” Twilight told them.
“Are you crazy Twilight? With that big thing he’s swinging around, we’d be sent across the room.” Pinkie Pie asked her friend.
“I’d have to agree with her on this…if he gets us it’s all over.” Rarity agreed.
“That’s just it though…if not for him, what chance do the other dogs have?” Twilight asked her friends.
“I see now…take out the one who is carrying the team and the rest don’t know what to do…I like it.” Fefnir praised Twilight.
“Then what are we waiting for, let’s do this!” Levia pounded her hooves together. She quickly sent a message to Twilight of what she was going to do and how she should follow up. Levia then had some ice magic form around her and create multiple illusions of her.
“LEEEEVIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA FFFRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSTT!!!!” She screamed as she charged with her illusion.
The dogs were confused of which one to hit and tried getting them all. Each one disappeared with a small frost explosion until one was left. Levia charged full speed covered in ice and made direct contact with Shinook’s head. As she bounced off, Twilight teleported in and shot a strong magic bolt knocking him down. The dogs stood there confused that there leader had been knocked down.
“What are you standing around for…get her!” Shinook barked.
The dogs quickly jumped at Twilight but she teleported back to her friends. The dogs collided with each other and tried to gain back their balance as they stood up. Twilight’s friends stood there with their jaws dropped at what their friend did.
“You see girls…we can do this. We just have to work together.” Twilight said to her friends.
The rest of the girls then looked upon their opponents with determination and began to turn the tide. Fefnir went with Fluttershy and they both charged head on into the dogs. As Fido and Spot tried to stop her, she quickly swerved out of the way and jumped off Rover’s head and went for Shinook. He swung his mace at her but thanks to her wings she flew out of the way. Rainbow Dash saw the gap and dashed into him getting several strikes. Shinook backed off and allowed his dogs to have a chance. As they charged, Pinkie Pie and Rarity kept them at bay long enough for Applejack to buck one of them and have the rest collide into each other. Shinook was by himself now. The girls attacked him and would dodge every time he swung his weapon. They understood now that his weapon was powerful but heavy which made him slow. As they fought the other dogs would try and interfere but Levia would pull up illusion to distract them and Rainbow Dash with Sage by her side would fly by and create a gust of wind to push them back into the wall. Shinook was able to take their attacks well due to his size but he eventually fell and was bested by the ponies.
“Im…possible…” He muttered as he dropped his weapon and fell to the ground.
“Boss!” The Diamond Dogs shouted.
“It’s over Diamond Dogs. We’ve beaten you and now we’re going to save Revenant and get out of here.” Twilight said to them.
“We’ll see about that.” Rover said.
Rover, Fido, and Spot pulled out abyssal pendants from their coats. As they put them on, the abyssal magic circulated around them and transformed them into feral beasts. The surge of power sparked dark magic to fly in multiple directions. As the dark magic was controlled by the dogs, they began to charge to the mane six. Their charge was ceased when an arc of dark lighting hit the dogs. The girls looked to where the source was coming from to see Shinook holding out a crest. The crest drained the Diamond Dogs of their dark power and returned them to normal.
“Boss…why…” They asked as they fell.
“Whoa what just happened?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“It looks like their boss doesn’t care much for his own troops, only his own safety.” Applejack said feeling disgusted by Shinook’s actions.
“No more…no more playing around.” Shinook said as the dark magic began to flow through him. “I will not lose to a bunch of ponies!”
Shinook stood up and felt the power surge through him. One abyssal artifact could make any creature go feral but the crest took in three of them. Shinook pressed the crest to his chest and it attached itself to him. The power of the abyss flowed through him and he grew with power. Not much as in size but in ferocity. He lost all form of looking like a dog, but now transformed into a monster. Shinook let out a dark roar that sent the ponies back creating a gap. He saw his mace and snapped it with his paws and charged at the ponies. He was faster this time and more dangerous. The girls would barely dodge a claw from Shinook but would feel the after-effects of the abyss magic lingering by. The magic alone hurt them but if they go hit by Shinook, it was going to be a lot worse. As Shinook swung madly, he began to create breaks in the walls and the floors. Fluttershy and Fefnir tried assaulting him but he simply brushed off their attacks and got a good strike on them. He sent both of them flying into a wall.
“Fluttershy! Fefnir! Are you alright?!” Twilight called out to them.
“We’re…fine….Twilight…” Fluttershy strained to get up.
“Twilight watch out!” Fefnir shouted to her.
Twilight turned to see Shinook hulking over her. She tried to flee but was too late. She got hit a couple of times and then thrown across the room. Rainbow Dash quickly flew to her friend and caught her.
“Ow…that one really hurt…” Twilight groaned.
“Hang on Twilight, we’ll get him.” Rainbow Dash assured her friend.
Rainbow Dash nodded at Sage and Applejack for the next attack. Rainbow Dash led the charge with Sage and Applejack in her tailwind. Shinook readied himself and tried to attack Rainbow Dash. She knew it was coming and did a somersault to dodge it. Sage flew past the monstrous dog’s head with the speed setting Shinook off balance. Applejack charged in and rammed the dog sending him back onto the ground. Rainbow Dash flew in to finish the assault. Shinook reached out and stopped Rainbow Dash.
“No way…” Applejack muttered.
Shinook then used Rainbow Dash as a club and smacked Applejack sending both the girls back. Sage saw and did what he could to keep the dog busy. Shinook tried to stop him and failed and resorted to his dark magic. He would shoot them from his mouth like fireballs, but Sage knew how to deal with this from experience. Levia saw her chance and had Rarity and Pinkie Pie follow her. Levia used her illusion magic to create multiple illusion of Pinkie Pie to bounce around Shinook confusing him. Sage broke off and joined Rarity with an attack. Rarity got her blows in but Shinook retaliated with a massive roar that sent her and Sage away.
“No…Rarity…Sage!” Levia called to them.
Shinook targeted a distracted Levia but Pinkie Pie would hit him and keep bouncing with her illusions. As she bounced she would get in an attack but Shinook had enough. He filled his paws with dark magic and pounded the ground creating a shockwave that sent Levia and Pinkie Pie back and breaking the illusions. Shinook looked around for any new targets and targeted Fluttershy. He got on all four and charged at the pegasus who was frozen with fear.
“Fluttershy No!!!!” The girls screamed.
Shinook unsheathed his claws and pounced. To his surprise he felt something blocking his path and was sent back. The girls then saw that Fluttershy’s element was on her and a magical shield protected her. They then saw that they all had their elements.
“Let’s wrap this up.” Twilight told her friends.
With the Elements of Harmony, the mane six fought back. They felt revitalized and stood a chance against Shinook. As he hit the girls, a magical shield would protect them. However it did not give them absolute protection. They would still feel the brute force of the attack and the pressure on their bodies but it gave them the chance they needed to fight back. After doing a series of consecutive attacks, Twilight teleported the girls away from Shinook giving them a good distance from him.
Twilight’s eyes began to glow with magic and the girls felt the power of the Elements of Harmony. Magic began to build up around them. They intended to end the fight. Shinook didn’t want to take any chances and roared at the girls with abyssal magic. The magic lashed out at the mane six but the Elements of Harmony protected them. The mane six then shot out a beam of pure magic at Shinook. The bright light engulfed the dark being and burned away the abyssal magic from him. After the light faded, the towering beast fell and the girls stood victorious over the Shinook and the Diamond Dogs.
“We…we did it…” Fluttershy muttered.
“Yeah…we did…see I told you girls…we’d win…” Rainbow Dash panted.
“That was amazing!” Levia flew up to the mane six. “Is that the power you girls have all!? That was so awesome! Everything looked bad for you girls but then you started to fight back against Shinook and then you…”
“What my little sister is trying to say is that what you girls were great and that we’d never seen anything like it.” Fefnir said silencing Levia.
“I must say that magic…what were those elements called again?” Sage asked the mane six.
“They’re called the Elements of Harmony. It’s known to be the most powerful magic in Equestria that brings peace to everypony. Each of us represents an element through our friendship.” Twilight explained to Sage.
“I see…I never thought that it would be able to do that to abyssal magic though…” Sage then felt an epiphany. “Could it be…that we may now have something to fight against the abyss?”
Before anypony could consider his thought they felt an explosion of magic. The girls looked around to see if everypony was alright. Twilight felt the magic and knew what was going on.
“Girls we need to go to Revenant now.” She said to them.
“Wait that was him that did that?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Yes…that was his magic. I felt it…I think he may be in trouble let’s go.” Twilight said to her friends.
The mane six and ponysprites then followed Twilight. Twilight wanted to get to where Revenant was last so she could teleport to him without wasting much of her magic. As she ran, she hoped that everything was going to be all right and that they could all go home together.
I wonder how Revenant is doing? Well let's find out shall we...to the next chapter