Shadows of the Revenants

by MegaCartmanX

Chapter 5: Let's Enter the Shadows

The battle was on. Gladiator and Revenant charged at each other, wrapping their arms around each other once they collided. Gladiator got the better position and threw Revenant onto the ground, pinning him between his chest and the dirt beneath them. Gladiator raised his dagger and jabbed it straight towards Revenant, but the simulacrum got a clean jab against Gladiator’s chin, smacking against his mask and stunning him. Revenant got just enough time to roll out from under and free himself. Both of them quickly got to their feet and put themselves back to where they started.

“I underestimated you, Revenant.” Gladiator said, flipping his dagger around with his fingers. “You prove to be a worthy opponent.”

“Not so bad yourself. It’s too bad you chose to be with scumbags like the Syndicate.” Revenant replied.

“Yeah, but at least they are paying me to defeat you.” Gladiator and Revenant ran at each other once more, resuming their battle.

~

Meanwhile near the border of the Everfree Forest, they Young Six were pushing through the last couple shrubs before they would set foot in Ponyville. While they were excited to be out of the forest and back on track with all things Nightmare Night, each of them couldn’t help but worry that Revenant wasn’t going to make it.

“I am scared for him.” Silverstream said while pushing away a large leaf with her paw. “I mean I know he is strong and all, but I just don’t know if he can beat Gladiator. That guy seemed to know every move we were going to make.”

“Yeah, I feel the same way.” Sandbar replied. “But we have to obey his orders. He knew we would only get in his way. Maybe we should’ve helped him… or maybe this is better.”

“Sandbar, why can’t you ever just make up your mind?” Gallus scoffed at the earth pony.

“Gallus, what has gotten into you!?” Smolder shouted in annoyance.

“Yeah, you have been a real jerk to Sandbar!” Ocellus added.

“Me!? What about Sandbar!? He is the one who can’t seem to make up his mind!” Gallus exclaimed. “Maybe if he had at least half a brain then we wouldn’t have gotten in this mess. But no, Sandbar had to act like some sort of brave and courageous hero!”

“I did what had to be done, Gallus!” Sandbar snapped. “I didn’t ever want to go into the Everfree Forest, but you jumped in anyway! We tried to tell you to turn around and go back, but you were acting so insubordinate and belligerent! You only wanted to do what you wanted, you didn’t care about what we wanted!”

“Oh, and I’m sure that you, being our protector and all, did a great job leading by example and following me instead of leaving me and letting me do what I wanted to do.”

“That is not what a friend does!” Sandbar’s face was beet red by this point. “I did everything I could to stop this from happening, but you were stubborn about it and kept putting us in danger!”

“Why do you even care about what I do? Why can’t you just let me be alone?” Gallus shouted.

“Why are you so ignorant?” Sandbar snapped back. A moment of silence fell over the six friends. Gallus could not seem to come up with a comeback to Sandbar’s question. “Why is that, Gallus?” Nothing came out of the griffon’s beak. His determined spirit began to crumble. “Why!?” Sandbar shouted.

“Because I am scared!!!” Sandbar’s enraged expression immediately changed to that of pain and sympathy for his friend after he heard those words. He never thought that fear would be his reason for acting so careless.

“What do you mean, Gallus?” Sandbar inquired in a softer tone.

“I… *sniff* I had always been known for being a scaredy-griffon. It had been that way for all my life, and everyone, even my own family laughed at me for it.” Gallus lifted his paw and wiped away a tear that trickled down his cheek. “When we saw that creature in the Everfree Forest, I thought… I thought maybe, just maybe I could find it and prove to them… prove to everypony that I am not easily scared and that I am a warrior. But… I see now that all I have done is prove that not only am I scared, but that I also put others in danger because of my fear.” Gallus took a second to catch his breath after crying a bit. “I am… so sorry. *sniff* I never wanted this to happen to you guys.”

The Young Six all cuddled around Gallus and hugged him, showing their sympathy for their friend. It was by that point they truly understood why Gallus was acting so strange, and it wasn’t like they wouldn’t have done the same with a backstory such as that.

“It’s ok to be afraid, Gallus. Everypony has a fear of something.” Sandbar said, pressing his head against the griffon’s chest. “I ain’t exactly the bravest pony in Equestria. I too find myself easily scared at times.”

“Me too, Gallus.” Smolder admitted. “I know I try and act tough, but I have my fears just as well.”

“And you know how I can be.” said Ocellus with a giggle.

“I am so sorry for putting this on you guys and ruining Nightmare Night. Can you ever forgive me?” Gallus looked up at each of his friends.

“Of course! Yona and friends always forgive Gallus.” Yona said.

“We are always here for you, Gallus.” Silverstream said. The group ended the hug, giving Gallus some space to himself.

“And Nightmare Night is far from over.” said Sandbar. “The moon has barely grazed over the horizon. If we hurry then we can still make it with time left to get candy!”

“Yeah, all is not lost!” Ocellus said.

“But… what about Revenant?” Gallus said. “I still can’t help but feel like we need to help him. He has done so much to save us… we owe him this.”

“True… he has done a lot for us.” Silverstream said. “But what can we do? We are just a couple school-aged creatures.”

“How can we fight something like Gladiator?” Smolder wondered.

That’s when it hit the griffon like a brick. He recalled the words the Sandbar spoke of. “Everypony has a fear of something.” He knew then and there that they had a chance, a real chance to defeat Gladiator and save Revenant yet.

“Guys, I have a plan!” Gallus shouted.

“You do?” said Smolder.

“Yes I do, but it involves everypony in order for it to work.” Gallus held his paw out in front of him. “No more solo work, only teamwork. We either do this together, or not at all.”

“I am with you, Gallus.” Sandbar said, placing his hoof on top of Gallus’ paw.

“Me too!” Ocellus replied, adding her hoof to the pile.

One by one the creatures all stacked their hooves, paws and such on top of each other’s and agreed to follow Gallus’ plan of action. The plan was set into motion and the creatures all learned their part. It was only a matter of time before they would find out if it would actually work.

~

Revenant was on the ground, beaten by his bounty hunter adversary. Gladiator stepped towards the wounded simulacrum, ready to complete his mission.

“I told you, Revenant. You were no match for me.” said Gladiator. “You may have 300 or so years of experience, but unlike you, I am still mortal, and with that privilege I have bested you in combat.”

“You may have beaten me… *cough* but just know this.” Revenant sat up with his arm covering his wounded side. “If you hurt a single creature in this world once I am turned to stone, I will find a way out and I will make sure that you never step foot in this place ever again.”

“These creatures are none of my concern.” Gladiator pulled the medallion out of his pocket and held it out towards Revenant. “You, however, are my main target.” The magic from within the medallion charged up, ready to take Revenant’s soul. “Farewell, simulacrum.”

The trees rusted from above the bounty hunter. He looked up to the skies, knowing that someone… or something was nearby. He placed the medallion back in his pocket and switched it out for his dagger. He held it up to his chest and took a stance, searching for those who watched from above.

A sudden thud came from behind him. Gladiator turned around and found the shadowy image of a dragon. He knew that it was only one of Revenant’s animal buddies, so he wasted no time in rushing at it, dagger in hand. However, the bounty hunter soon stopped dead in his tracks once he discovered that it didn’t look anything like the orange dragon from before. Instead it took the form of a shadow ghost.

Gladiator stumbled backwards, bewildered by the bizarre creature. But he felt himself bump into something else. He rotated on his heels and saw another shadow being, only this time it was a hippogriff. He let out a scream of panic and ran to the right, only to see that more shadows were closing in on him: a yak and an earth pony. He shifted to the left, but saw even more shadows: griffon and changeling.

The fear stricken bounty hunter couldn’t even begin to fathom what was being displayed in front of him. He never believed in ghosts before, but this was the first time he actually questioned his philosophies. As the shadow creatures began to close in on him, Gladiator frantically searched around for something that could fight against these ghosts, but nothing of aid came up.

“S-S-Stay back, beasts!” Gladiator shouted. “You hear me!? Stay back!!!” Gladiator looked around the area for a way out, when something of interest caught his eye. The bounty hunter spotted Revenant’s totem just behind a small tree stump. With an evil grin hidden behind the cover of his mask, Gladiator lifted his dagger and threw out straight towards the totem. The weapon connected with the giant contraption, penetrating through the metals and forcing it to collapse.

With the destruction of the totem, the Young Six lost their shadow cover and their true identities were revealed to the bounty hunter. Noticing that they had been discovered, the six friends all rushed to each other, grouping together in a defensive formation.

“So… you really thought that you could outsmart me?” Gladiator cackled aloud, his voice echoing throughout the Everfree Forest.

“Uh… I mean it almost looked like we did for a second.” Smolder said, laughing nervously to herself as she pressed her claws together.

“I must confess, using fear to beat me. That was almost enough to do it… but unfortunately for you, I know who taught you that little trick. I know who likes to use fear to win battles.” Gladiator turned his attention towards Revenant. “And let me just say that I am over it!”

“No, don’t do this to them. They are just kids!” Revenant shouted, crawling over to the Young Six.

“Enough!!!” Gladiator shouted. “I have had it with you stubborn creatures! You will not stop me anymore!” The bounty hunter reached in his pocket and pulled out the Medallion of Aporrófisi. With anger in his soul, he held it out in front of him and charged up the magic. “You wanted to help so badly, huh? Well now you are gonna get what you deserve!!!”

“No!!!” The magic from within the medallion was shot out of the ancient artifact, the beam flying straight towards the Young Six. Each of them were forced to watch as the condensed magic slowly approached them, as if time slowed down for this one moment. Revenant got to his feet and jumped in front of the group of friends, sacrificing himself for their safety.

The beam connected with Revenant’s body, spreading across his metal body and engulfing him in a green aura. Revenant fell to the floor, contorting and twitching as the magic consumed his life, turning him to stone in the process. Gladiator simply watched as the simulacrum fought against the power of the magic. He let out an enormous laughter, knowing that he had won the battle and completed his mission.

Or so they thought.

Revenant chuckled at the bounty hunter and got to his feet. The green aura that once consumed him faded away, leaving the simulacrum unaffected in every way. Gladiator was baffled by the outcome of the magic artifact, wondering what went wrong.

“Impossible! That should’ve done the trick! Why didn’t it work!?” Revenant snatched the medallion from Gladiator’s grasp, waving it in front of the bounty hunter in a taunting motion.

“Uh, did you even read the directions?” Revenant said, looking Gladiator dead in his eyes. The bounty hunter shrugged his shoulders, oblivious as to what Revenant was trying to say. “The medallion only works on living beings, you fool.” The Young Six all smiled with joy, happy to see their robot friend alive and well. “I am a robot, my friend. I have no soul.” Revenant held the medallion out towards Gladiator.

“Woah, wait a minute, Revenant. We can talk about this! You don’t need to do that to me!” Gladiator shouted, pleading and begging for forgiveness.

“Why should I? You never gave us the same chance.” Revenant said.

“Urgh, I would’ve gotten away with this if it weren’t for you meddling creatures!!!” Gladiator shouted.

“Ah, fear. I love this part!” Revenant shouted, laughing at the pitiful bounty hunter. “Now hold still.” The magic was shot out at Gladiator. The bounty hunter shouted in pain as the magic aura stole his life force and turned it into a floating red orb, turning his body into stone along with it. Gladiator’s life force was then sucked up into the medallion, forever stuck there unless someone was to free him.

“You did it!” Smolder shouted, praising Revenant for his efforts.

“Hey, I couldn’t have done it without you guys!” Revenant replied, giving the Young Six a slow clap of appreciation. “But I thought I told you to run away.”

“You know how we are, Revenant.” Sandbar said. “We don’t like obeying orders.”

“So it would seem.” The group all laughed to themselves, happy that things were finally back to normal. “Hey, how did you even get my totem?”

“Yona found skull. Yona use it to make totem so Yona and friends could turn into ghosts and scare Gladiator.” Yona said with pride.

“Which by the way, I think that this is yours.” Gallus handed Revenant his totem-making skull. Revenant snatched it up and placed it back in his pocket.

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to steal?” Revenant said jokingly.

“Yes, but we didn’t steal it. You dropped it.” Silverstream said.

“Consider it more of a finders keepers kinda deal.” Ocellus added.

“Well, at any rate… thank you, skin suits.” Revenant said.

“Woah, Revenant thanking us?” Smolder said with shock. “I never thought I would hear something like that in a million moons!”

“Good, cause this is the only time you will hear it come from me again.” Revenant said. “Anywho, with this skin suit out of the way, I think I can finally go home and relax.”

“Ooh! That means that we can finally go to Ponyville and begin Nightmare Night!!!” Silverstream shouted with glee.

“But… the moon is almost high above us. It would be too late to get costumes and still have time to get candy.” Sandbar said, kicking his hoof against a rook in disappointment.

That is when Revenant had an idea. He looked in his pocket and found his totem skull. He figured that if the Young Six didn’t have any costumes for themselves, then maybe he could make some… alternatives.

“Hey skin suits.” Revenant said, beckoning for the young creatures to gather near him. They complied and ran to his side, wondering what the simulacrum wanted with them. “I guess I owe you something for saving my life… so I have an idea for you guys.”