//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Battle of Ponyville Pt. 1: Devourlord Revya vs. The Mane Six! // Story: Soul Nomad and the Equestrians // by Devourlord //------------------------------// *More Epic Chapter Opening Music (Read title while song plays)* ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Soul Nomad and the Equestrians Chapter 5: Battle of Ponyville Pt. 1: Devourlord Revya vs. The Mane Six! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ "The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man." - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Canterlot Castle, Royal Library The Canterlot Royal Library was considered to be one of the greatest in Equestria, if not the known world. Containing books from everything to Alicorns to zebras, there was nothing that the library didn't have. Well, almost nothing. The Mane Six and Spike were scouring the library for any information on the current threat to Equestria, and finding less than what they expected. Spike was darting from shelf to shelf, the countless times he had re-shelved Twilight's library had allowed him to quickly scan the countless rows of books, grabbing ones that looked promising and delivering them to Twilight before going back to repeat the process in a different section. Twilight herself had torn through book after book, but she had become frustrated at the lack of information on the current threat. "Ugh! This is hopeless!" she groaned as she levitated and skimmed through four books at the same before placing them down on the other side of the table. "None of these books say anything about this creature!" "Yeah, well..." Rainbow Dash said sitting on top of a book shelf. "I don't want to say I told you so, but... I told you so." "Not helping Rainbow." Twilight said, annoyed at the situation. "Well maybe if yah got off yer flank and helped look, we might actually find somethin'." Applejack called out to Rainbow. "But I did look!" Rainbow said defending herself. "It's not like there's a book that says 'The Big Book on Destructive Creatures That Blow Stuff Up.'" "Well, ah bet ah could find something on the creature before you could." "Is that a challenge?" Rainbow asked, her competitive spirit ignited. "Yup, unless yur scared of losing." "You're on AJ!" Rainbow said leaping from her perch and flying to the nearest shelf to continue her previous search for information. Twilight sighed and shook her head in disbelief. "Turn a tedious and boring task into a competition and Rainbow Dash will do anything. I should probably remember that for a later time." she thought to herself. While the friends were still looking, a guard entered the room and cleared his throat loudly. "Oh, hello." Twilight said looking towards the guard. "Do you need something?" "The Princesses have requested your presences in the Throne Room, immediately." the guard said solemnly. "Oh?" Rarity asked. "What ever for?" "They didn't say, but apparently it's of the upmost importance you go see them." "We'll be right there." Twilight replied. She turned around to face the others. "Okay everypony we-" she stopped short at the sight behind her. There was what looked like a wall of books about the height of about three ponies tall. She could hear Applejack and Rainbow Dash arguing on the other side. "Ah got more than you did." "No way! I got way more than you did!" "No ya didn't!" "Yeah I did!" Twilight, who was aggravated enough at not finding anything useful during this trip to the library, really wasn't in the mood to listen to a "Did Not, Did Too" argument and used her magic to pull the two ponies through the wall of books, causing it to collapse into a pile. "You two can figure this out later, but right now, Princesses. Throne Room. Now." Twilight said releasing Rainbow and AJ from her telekinesis. "Fine." they both said at the same time. The rest of the Mane Six quickly filed out of the room and headed off to the Throne Room for a meeting with the Princesses. Canterlot Castle, Throne Room "So, we don't have a choice anymore do we sister?" Luna asked Celestia as the two of them stared at the stain-glass windows depicting the various triumphs of the forces of good over evil. Celestia sighed and shook her head. "No, we don't Luna." Celestia said solemnly. "As apprehensive as I am, they're going to have and go defend their hometown. Asking them not to would be cowardly." The door to the room opened as the Mane Six and Spike entered the room. "You wanted to see us Princesses?" Twilight asked. "Yes..." Celestia replied. "We have grave news to share with you." "What is it Princess?" Applejack asked, "Thanks to a recon team we sent out earlier, we've discovered the direction the mysterious creature is headed in." "We've discovered that he's headed towards...Ponyville." Luna finished. "WHAT?!" the Mane Six yelled out together. "He's going to tear the town apart!" "What about Sweet Apple Acres!?" "My boutique will be ruined!" "He'll kill all the innocent animals!" "Now everypony calm down." Celestia said sternly. The room instantly fell silent. "I know I said before I didn't want you six facing this creature yet, but seeing as the loss of life would be massive, and the town also being your home, I will permit you to pursue this creature..." "Alright! Let's go kick his sorry flank!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "However." Celestia continued, silencing Rainbow. "Since time is of the essence, I shall teleport you all back to Ponyville. I want the six of you to confront the creature, but attempt to not engage in combat with him. You may do battle with him once Luna and myself retrieve the Elements of Harmony and send them to you." "Understood Princess." Twilight said. "Alright, I wish you all the best of luck." Celestia said charging up her horn. "You're going to need it." A flash of light later and the Throne Room was empty save for the two Princesses. "Do you think they can handle him?" Luna asked. "I hope so Luna, I hope so..." Equestria, Outskirts of Ponyville The dirt path leading to Ponyville was silent, save for the clomping of leather boots. The animals had hidden and watched as the red-haired terror of Equestria strode past, his presence instilling fear and terror in the small creatures. Revya didn't really like the world he found himself in that much. It was too colorful and full of weaklings. Nothing really seemed enough to threaten him and those he had fought left him feeling unsatisfied. Revya had also discovered his relentless hunger for souls was returning once again. He sniped a few unlucky animals that failed to hide from him with some bolts of dark energy from his hand and consumed their souls but felt only a small increase in his power. It also did help sate his hunger for the time being. Devourlord Revya: Level increased from Lvl. 2,461 to Lvl. 2,485 "More...I need more..." he muttered and closed his eyes to search for more powerful souls. He felt a large number of souls just a mile or so ahead and some of them were rather strong. Revya smirked insanely and continued on the path towards the town, where a showdown between human and pony would soon occur. Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library A flash of light engulfed the inside of the library, leaving six disorientated mares and a baby dragon in its wake. Turns out long range teleportation tends to do that to those who aren't used to it. Twilight shook the dizziness from her head and immediately ran to the window to survey Ponyville. The town seemed peaceful enough. Ponies sat at the outdoor café chatting and enjoying their lunch. The marketplace was busy with ponies engaging in hardcore negotiations for food and other goods. Derpy flew from house to house delivering the mail and small fillies and colts were playing a game of tag. "Okay, it looks like he isn't here yet." Twilight said turning to her friends. "So we're just suppose to sit around and wait?" Rainbow asked. "Until the creature shows up, Rainbow." Rarity replied. "Then we're suppose to stall for more time until the Princesses send the Elements to us." "Oh, so we're suppose to have a nice conversation with him?" Rainbow asked sarcastically. "Maybe ask him not to kill us?" "That sounds like a good suggestion." Fluttershy said timidly. "No, the first thing we're going to do is warn the town about the creature and have them hide indoors until we handle the situation." Twilight said to the others. "But the most important thing is that we need to keep everypony calm. We don't need the whole town running around in a hyped craze." Twilight continued. "Applejack, you go warn your family at Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie, you go tell the Cakes and warn the area around Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy, you can go warn the animals around Ponyville. Rainbow Dash, you can keep a lookout for the creature, but remember not to bother him. Rarity and myself will warn the area around the library and the market. Everypony got what we need to do?" "Sure do." Applejack replied. "Look for the creature, got it." Rainbow said. "And not fight him." Twilight reminded. "Yeah, yeah I know." Rainbow replied. "I'll go warn the animals right now." Fluttershy said leaving the library. "I'm on it Twilight!" Pinkie said bouncing out of the room. "Alright, let's go Rarity." Twilight said to the white unicorn. "What about me Twilight?" Spike asked. "You can come with us Spikey." Rarity replied. "Sounds good to me." Spike replied as the entire group exited the library. With the group split up, it took very little time at all for the entire town to learn of the impending danger that loomed before them. Before long every door was locked and barred, every window shut and boarded up, the market was closed and every doormat mat removed. The ponies met outside the library after the town was warned. The only one missing was Rainbow Dash, who was still on lookout. "So how did everything go girls?" Twilight asked the others. "Mah family's hidin' in the cellar at the farmhouse and is safe. Ah also grabbed mah lasso" Applejack replied. "The animals have hid far into the Everfree Forest away from Ponyville, Twilight." Fluttershy said happily. "The Cakes are hiding in the cellar of Sugarcube Corner and everypony else is hiding inside their homes." Pinkie said smiling. "And the market is cleared on our side." Rarity finished. "So all we have now is to wait for Rainbow to tell us if she sees the creature." Twilight replied. "Ah just hope she listens tah what ya said Twilight..." Applejack said unsure of Rainbow's status. "TWILIGHT!" The ponies looked up to see Rainbow hurtling towards them, and barely slowing down enough to make a clean landing. "Rainbow, what happened?" Twilight asked worriedly. Rainbow gasped for breath and looked up at her friends. "He's here." Ponyville Revya had finally arrived at the town that he had sensed a mile back. His bloodlust was roused at the thought of another slaughter, but as he walked into the town, Revya noticed that something was wrong. The entire place seemed empty. Walking into the town square, Revya didn't see a soul in site. A tumbleweed randomly rolled past him. "Where the hell is everyone...?" he muttered looking around. Not wanting to search, he focused his power and reached out around him. Nothing. Not a single soul. But then he felt it. There were six very strong souls up ahead. They made the guards he killed earlier seemed like insects. "Well, it's about time..." Revya said walking forward towards the source of the souls. Ponyville, Outside Golden Oaks Library "He's here? The creature?" Twilight asked Rainbow. "Yeah, I saw him walking around the town square. He was probably looking for ponies." Twilight turned to Spike. "Spike, I want you to wait in the library. We don't want you getting caught in the crossfire." "Alright Twilight, just be careful." Spike said as he retreated into the library. "Ah can't wait tah make that varmit pay fer what he did tah Appleloosa." Applejack said angrily. "Remember AJ, we're just suppose to stall for time." Twilight reminded Applejack. "Yeah, ah know but-" Applejack was interrupted by the clomping of boots ahead of them. Revya turned a corner and paused at what he saw. It was a group of six ponies standing together facing him, and none of them looked happy to see him. Doing a quick look he saw that the group consisted two unicorns, two pegasi and two ponies with neither horns nor wings. The pegasi were a butter colored one with a pink mane who looked very nervous and the other was a cyan blue one with a rainbow mane who looked pretty angry. The earth ponies were a pink one with a curly darker pink mane and an orange colored pony wearing a cowboy hat with a blonde mane tied in braids who looked PISSED. The other two were a white unicorn with a somewhat stylishly curled purple mane and the last one, whom Revya assumed was the leader of this band of misfits since she stood ahead of them all, was a lavender colored unicorn with a dark purple mane that had a pink streak running through it. Twilight on the other hoof looked at the creature who apparently had been causing all the havoc and chaos across Equestria. He looked no older than 18, with a head of red hair. Just as Bronze Mace had described earlier, the creature had a sleeveless collared red button-down shirt on and what looked like a leather toga of sort that was trimmed with gold. He also wore a pair of leather gauntlets that went up past his elbows. His pants were white and baggy and stopped just above his ankles and on his feet were leather shoes as well. Twilight also noticed the long black sword at Revya's side, the one he no doubt used to cause all of this tragedy. It gleamed dangerously and seemed to just absorb all the light around it. But the thing that terrified Twilight the most about this creature was just his presence. The aura of death and terror she had felt earlier was magnified ten-fold with Revya actually standing right in front of her. The two sides stood in silence for a few moments each eyeing each other up before Revya finally spoke up. "Who are you suppose to be?" he asked. The ponies looked surprised that this creature had actually asked them a question and didn't just start trying to kill them like he had apparently done with everything else he had come across. Twilight stepped forward and spoke up first. "I am Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia." she said, proudly putting a hoof to her chest. "There's that name again." Revya thought to himself. "Celestia." "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria!" Rainbow announced. "I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie said bouncing up and down. "I'm Rarity." the white unicorn said. "And who gave those horribly ugly clothes?" Revya gave Rarity a blank stare. She was about to fight him and the only thing on her mind was how ugly his clothes were. "Who knew ponies had an idea about fashion?" he thought to himself. "...or clothes in general for that matter..." Twilight gestured to Fluttershy, who was hiding behind Rarity. "This is Fluttershy." The orange pony with the cowboy hat and braided mane stomped forward. "And ah'm Applejack." she said. "Ya varmit..." she muttered quietly. "Who are you?" Twilight asked. "If you have a name that is." "...Revya." the Devourlord replied simply. "Revya?" Rainbow asked her friends and Revya. "What kind of name is 'Revya'?" "It's better than Rainbow Dash." Revya taunted. "Hey! My name is awesome!" "Enough!" Twilight yelled. "We know your here to attack Ponyville, but this is where your reign of terror ends." "Oh really? Why's that?" Revya asked with amused curiosity. "Because we have friendship on our side." Twilight announced proudly. "...What." Revya asked flatly. "Our friendship has allowed us to overcome every obstacle we've come across." Rarity called out. Revya stood dumbfounded for a moment. Of all the things he had seen and heard today, that one really took the cake. These ponies had apparently defeated threats to their kingdom before with nothing more than friendship. No violence, no bloodshed, and apparently, no death. That was where Revya had to draw the line. "...heh heh heh heh heh..." he chuckled. "Heh he ha ha ha ha ha...!" The ponies gulped at hearing that laugh. It was the same one that they had heard during the memory spell a few hours earlier. "he HA HA HA HA HAH he HAH HA HA ha AH HA AH HA HA HAH!" "Hey!" Rainbow shouted to Revya. "What's so funny?" Revya finished laughing and chuckled out his reply. "And I assume you're going to defeat me with this so called 'friendship'?" "That's right." Twilight replied firmly. Revya merely shook his head in disbelief. "...That would have to be one of the most stupid things I've ever heard ever in my life, and I've put up with some really stupid crap in my time. Friendship is for weaklings who think they need others." he responded smugly. "Hey! Our friendship isn't stupid!" Rainbow yelled to Revya. "Yeah it is." Revya replied. "Heh, friendship, what a joke." "I'll show you!!!" Rainbow said flying at Revya. "Rainbow, no!" Twilight yelled vainly. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Victory: All enemies defeated Defeat: Hero defeated -Commence Battle- ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Devourlord Revya: Lvl. 2,485 Twilight Sparkle: Lvl. 563 Pinkie Pie: Lvl. 347 Rainbow Dash: Lvl. 412 Applejack: Lvl. 513 Rarity: Lvl. 317 Fluttershy: Lvl. 303 Revya stood calmly with his arms folded over his chest as Rainbow approached. He raised his left arm as Rainbow got closer and once she was just in front of him, he casually swatted Rainbow away. Rainbow went flying to the left as she bounced once against the ground and slammed through the front of a building, causing the front part to collapse. The rest of the group could only look on in shock seeing Rainbow being easily repelled by Revya. "RAINBOW DASH!" Twilight yelled and turned to Revya in anger. "I guess this means we have to fight him..." "This is gonna be fun..." Revya chuckled darkly. "Compared to those guards, you should be easy." The rubble of the building exploded out as Rainbow flew at Revya again. "Eat this loser!" Rainbow said swinging her hoof at his face. Revya left hand shot up and caught the hoof, stopping Rainbow dead in her tracks. "Too weak." Revya muttered. His right hand curled into a fist and them slammed into Rainbow's stomach, knocking all the air out of her. Applejack galloped up to Revya and immediately bucked him as hard as she could in his stomach, only for it to do nothing. Applejack got a kick to her stomach in return sending her tumbling back to the others, with Rainbow being flung after her. Revya drew the Onyx Blade from it's sheathe and took his fighting stance as the ponies watched the sword ignite with black flames. "Alright..."Twilight said. "Let's all attack him at once." "Sounds good..." Applejack coughed out, shakily standing up. Rainbow flew up above the field of battle to look for an opening as the others charged forward. Pinkie reached behind her and pulled out her Party Cannon and aimed it at Revya. Pulling the string, Pinkie launched cakes, balloons, streamers and various other party supplies flew at Revya who simply slashed through all of them. Revya charged forward and swung his sword and launched a wave of dark energy from the Onyx Blade at Pinkie who just barely managed to leap out of the way. The Party Cannon was destroyed in the process by Revya's attack. The Devourlord suddenly lurched forward and planted a strong kick directly into Pinkie's face, sending her skidding across ground before ending in a crumpled pile. Rarity and Twilight took a further back position and began fire bolts of magic at Revya. Revya turned and blocked them with the Onyx Blade, occasionally swatting a few away that managed to get past his defense. Seeing Revya was busy with Rarity and Twilight, Rainbow saw her chance to attack and flew the human once again. "She really doesn't quit does she?" Revya thought as he glanced in Rainbow's direction. "Well, let's see if I can ground her." Revya watch the next magic bolt head towards him and using the Onyx Blade, swung his sword and directed the bolt of magic towards Rainbow. The bolt struck Rainbow in the face, causing her to crash to the ground. As Revya prepared to launch his next attack, Fluttershy suddenly darted in front of him. "YOU!" she yelled in his face. "YOU LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!" However as Revya looked up at her, her anger suddenly melted away and in its place, fear took hold. Staring into Revya's cold eyes, Fluttershy could see the power that radiated from them. His eyes were like that of a demon. They looked empty and hollow but behind them she could see they burned with sadistic insanity and a bloodlust that could never be satisfied. She was so focused on his eyes, she failed to notice Revya swing the Onyx Blade around and was struck in the jaw with the hilt of the sword, sending her tumbling away. "This is starting to look bad." Twilight thought worriedly to herself as Fluttershy was knocked away. "It looks like he's not even taking us seriously. He's just taking us apart like we're nothing." "Ah've had it with you, ya no good varmit!" Applejack yelled charging at the Devourlord. She turned and bucked him again, only to feel her hooves collide with the Onyx Blade. She barely managed to pull away as she felt Revya's counter swing grazed her side, leaving a long shallow cut in its wake. "Why are you so fired up?" Revya asked swinging the sword at Applejack's head, only to miss as she ducked under the blade. "Why am ah so fired up?" Applejack asked harshly. "You killed half mah family!!!" "When did I do that?" "When ya destroyed Appleloosa!!!" Applejack yelled back. "Oh..." Revya muttered. "Heh heh heh...well that sucks for you doesn't it?" AJ grit her teeth angrily and charged at Revya. "AH'LL KILL YOU!!!" "You can try." Revya remarked as he charged at Applejack. Applejack reared back to buck him again, but Revya had caught on to Applejack's tricks. He sidestepped her attack and stabbed forward with his sword towards her side. Before the sword made contact, a pink bolt of magic from Twilight struck Revya in the face, causing him to stumble back. "Oh, right. I forgot about those two..." Revya thought rubbing his slightly burned cheek. The two unicorns glared at the Devourlord as he looked back at them. The rest of the group came over and joined Twilight and Rarity. "...Okay...he's a lot tougher than he looks..." Rainbow told the rest of the group. "We've got to try and get that sword away from him." Twilight said to the others. "If we do that, we might have a chance to actually hurt him." "Ah'm on it Twilight." Applejack said grabbing her lasso. Applejack threw the lasso towards Revya and managed to catch on Revya's right wrist. "Ha! Ah got ya!" Applejack cheered. "Actually..." Revya said smirking. "I got you." He yanked the rope and sent Applejack hurtling towards him. He cocked back his left hand and punched AJ square in the jaw as she approached, sending her crashing back into the library's outside wall. Revya ripped the rope off his wrist and ran at the group again, looking to finish them off. Thinking quickly, Twilight decided to take matters into her own hooves and charged at Revya as well, while beginning to charge up her horn with magic. "I've got to stop him now before he hurts anypony else." she thought to herself as the distance closed between the two combatants. Revya pulled back the Onyx Blade and thrust the sword forward, aiming for Twilight's head. Twilight dodged the stab and slid in close to Revya with her horn pointed right at his chest. "What the-" Revya began to say. Twilight finished charging up power into her horn and unleashed a massive blast of magic point blank into Revya's chest. A huge explosion erupted from the area as all of Ponyville was shook to it's foundations as the attack continued. As the dust settled Twilight noticed Revya wasn't in front of her anymore. He was laying in a pile of rubble that was once a building. Twilight collapsed to the ground as the others ran over to her. "It's...over..." she panted out. "That was AWESOME!" Rainbow cried out. "You showed that brute!" Rarity replied. "It was all 'BOOM!'" Pinkie said leaping in the air. However, a noise began to echo out from the rubble. It was a sound that they didn't want to hear again. That insane laughter. The Devourlord rose to his feet as he chuckled darkly. "That tickled." he sneered. "...You've got to be kidding me..." Rainbow said unbelievingly. "That's...impossible..." Twilight panted out. "I put everything...I had...into that attack..." "My turn." Revya said smirking as he raised the Onyx Blade over his head. The sword charged up with a large amount of power and Revya swung the blade at the group, sending a massive wave of black energy surging towards the group. "Oh." Rainbow said. "Buck." Applejack finished. Twilight attempted to summon a force field but couldn't find the strength needed to create one after have used up most of her magic in her last attack. The wave of energy slammed into the ponies, every one of them yelling in pain as the attack barraged them with Revya's dark power. Twilight could practically feel the sheer levels malevolence and darkness that rippled through the attack. Eventually the attack stopped and the group fell to the ground, beaten and burned from the brutal attack. The area was a mess with black flames licking the ground and most of the windows were blown out from the pressure of the blast. "That's it? You're finished? What happened to all that big talk about 'friendship'?" Revya asked mockingly. "How pathetic..." "This is bad..." Fluttershy whimpered out. "Twilight..." Applejack asked weakly. "Tell me ya got a plan..." "I...I don't know..." Twilight panted out. "He's too...strong...it's no wonder the Princesses didn't want us going after him..." Revya raised his sword once again and pointed at the group again as it blazed with black fire. "I'm going kill you losers just for wasting my time." he smirked. Inside Golden Oak's Library The entire library was a massive mess. Most of the books had been knocked off the shelves, a few pieces of wood had crumbled from the ceiling and the ground was covered in broken glass from Revya's last attack. Spike was cowering fearfully under a table that shielded him from most of the debris. "I wish I could do more than just sit here like a coward." Spike thought bitterly to himself. "But...Twilight is probably right. I would just get caught in the crossfire...and probably end up dead...or worse..." He gulped at thinking about the possible consequences. Out of nowhere, another flash of light engulfed the inside of the library and in it's place was a large light blue ornate chest. Spike glanced around nervously and creped out from his hiding spot to approach the chest. Opening it, he saw six golden pieces of jewelry. "The Elements!" Spike said in awe. "I got to get these to Twilight and the others." Scoping up all six at the same time, Spike ran to the upstairs' window and looked out upon the sight that laid below. Back outside with Revya and the Mane Six The Mane Six could only lay fearfully watching Revya charge up what would probably be the killing blow for them. "Oh sweet Celestia." Twilight thought fearfully. "He's going to kill us!" "Time to say night night!" Revya said manically as the sword's flames blazed stronger. Before Revya could fire his attack, Spike's voice came from above them. "Twilight!" The ponies and Revya looked up to see Spike holding the Elements of Harmony in his hands. "The Princesses just sent the Elements! Here!" Spike said tossing the jewelry down to the ponies. The ponies seeing the Elements quickly rose and put them on and then faced Revya. "Okay girls..." Twilight said. "We've probably only have one shot at this, so let's show Revya what our friendship can really do." "Yeah!" Rainbow cheered. "We're gonna give ya what fer!" Applejack said angrily. "Let's do it!" Pinkie cheered. "Okay..." Fluttershy said quietly. "Let's hit this brute hard!" Rarity cried out. Revya lowered his sword at seeing this. He was confused at the sight on these ponies seemingly finding their second wind but quickly got over it. "So you have some fancy jewelry, big deal." Revya sneered at the ponies. "It's not going to make a bit of difference against me." "Yer gonna eat them words ya monster!" Applejack said. "AJ focus." Twilight called out to her. Elements of Harmony: Lvl. 2,455 The group closed their eyes and began to focus the Elements' power while Revya stood with an expression mixed between amusement and confusion. "What the hell are they doing?" he thought to himself. "They're just standing there..." The wind began to pick up as the group began to rise into the air. Twilight's eyes suddenly shot open glowing pure white as the all Elements glowed with power. "Oh look they're putting on a little light show for me." Revya chuckled at them. The Mane Six didn't respond as the Elements' power built up more and more before a shockwave of rainbow energy surged out followed by a rainbow surging from the group and soaring high into the air above Ponyville. "Okay...that's one hell of a light show..." Revya admitted. "But I don't really see what that's-" Revya was cut off as the rainbow fell over him. It felt like he had just been hit by a load of bricks tied to the front of a speeding train. The Devourlord suddenly felt a enormous surge of pain ripple through his body and his head. His body felt it was on fire and his dark soul raged against the purity of the attack. Revya yelled in pain and felt his knees buckling against the power of the Elements. However, Revya began to focus and began pushing back against the Elements' power with his own. It was an epic struggle as Revya's inner darkness very gradually pushed back the Elements' magic. After what seemed like an eternity, the attack ended and Revya dropped to one knee, panting heavily. The Mane Six couldn't see what was happening but assumed the attack had worked as Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow and Fluttershy collapsed to the ground and passed out from the strain of using the Elements in such a weakened state. Twilight managed to stay conscious for a moment longer and smiled weakly seeing Revya drop down before losing consciousness. Revya wasn't in much better shape. His entire body was racked with intense soreness. His head pounded with a splitting headache and he clutched his chest as his black soul burned fiercely in his chest against such a powerful blow. It hurt to move but very gradually he rose to his feet. "I'll...kill...you...losers..." Revya snarled as he attempted to lift the Onyx Blade up, but found himself lacking the strength to do so. He could barely raise the sword off the ground. "Ugh..." he muttered. "Whatever...I can just kill them later...maybe after a much needed nap..." Revya turned away and looked around briefly for a means of escape before spotting the Everfree Forest nearby. He began to trudge towards the forest and, after some difficulty, sheathed the Onyx Blade. As silence fell over the area, Spike peeked very slightly out the door after Revya had left and looked around at his unconscious friends. "I'd better get them inside before that maniac decides to come back..." Spike said quietly as he walked over and began moving Twilight inside the library. 10 minutes later in the Everfree Forest Revya trudged sluggishly through Everfree Forest, using the trees as means to steady himself. His head still pounded with a brutal headache, his chest burned like a bonfire, and all he really wanted to do was hopefully sleep it off. "Those damn ponies..." he muttered. "I would've killed them if it didn't hurt to move so much. They won't get so lucky next time..." As he stumbled along, something caught the Devourlord's eye. He saw what looked like an abandoned castle. It was rundown, crumbling and overgrown with vines and weeds but it seemed like his best and only option for means of a place for a safe recovery. Revya staggered towards the castle as quickly as he could and entered the structure. He looked around the entryway and picked a random door in the first room and found himself in a somewhat impressive bedroom. There was a large bed in the corner and various pieces of wooden furniture laying around on the floor. Old books were scattered on the ground and looked like they hadn't been touched in hundreds of years. Revya untied the Onyx Blade's sheathe from his outfit and let it fall to the ground with an echoing rattle as he walked up and collapsed on the bed. It only took moments before he finally allowed himself to fall asleep. But as Revya would soon learn, the Elements of Harmony hadn't let him go unscathed. His dark past would soon begin to come back to haunt him once again...