Someone is hunting down Revenant! The Simulacrum travels to Equestria to stop the threat, but the Young Six end up with him. The worst part? All of this is happening on Nightmare Night!
Created as a 2020 Halloween Special!!!
The Syndicate, the proud host of the Apex Games, has hired an unknown bounty hunter to eliminate Revenant. But because he can't be stopped by any physical means, this masked hunter must find a powerful weapon in order to completely eliminate the simulacrum. However, what the Syndicate doesn't know is that Revenant is already three steps ahead.
With the location of the weapon marked in Dimension X45-D9A (Equestria), Revenant travels there to find and destroy this powerful weapon before the bounty hunter can use it to defeat him. But there is one small problem. The Young Six placed their hooves in places they shouldn't have, and now they are stuck in the same situation as Revenant, running for their lives! The worst part? It's all taking place during Nightmare Night!!!
With ghosts and ghouls around every corner, along with fear and shadows creeping all around the night, Revenant and the Young Six have a lot to do if they wish to get out of this mess without anymore problems.
This takes place after Apex Legends - Season E, hence the reason the Legends are known throughout Equestria. However, no knowledge of the past story is required to understand this one.
This takes place just before Season 7 of Apex Legends.
The Syndicate, a big name in the outlands and the proud host of the Apex Games. They search far and wide for those worthy to compete, finding and recruiting those who show great potential. However, just because someone makes it into the Apex Games doesn't mean they are a friend to the Syndicate. In this case, they are the enemy.
Revenant was a 300 year old simulacrum who was brainwashed and turned into a robot with specific orders to hunt down bounties in the name of the Syndicate. However, once Revenant regained his memories, he swore vengeance against the Syndicate for taking his humanity and making him do things he never wanted to do.
Ever since then, Revenant and the Syndicate have been at war.
Recently, Revenant had gone and looked for his source code, the one thing that could stop him from living as a simulacrum. The Syndicate found out about this and were angry, knowing that if they lost Revenant then they would lose big money from the Apex Games. So in order to stop him, Kuben Blisk, founder of the Syndicate, had hired a bounty hunter of his own to hunt down Revenant and stop him from finding the source code.
10-24-2734, Syndicate H.Q. - Talos
Located near the bottom floor of the facility, a hooded man sat on one end of a large conference table, lightly swirling a glass of raspberry lemonade in his right hand. Being the only one in the room at the moment, he took a sip of the beverage and leaned over with his left hand stretched out in front of him, picking up some newspapers. He held it up to eye level and scanned through the contents, stopping once he saw a picture of Revenant on the front page.
“‘New Champion: Revenant.’ Huh, so you are the one that the Syndicate fears.” The hooded man chuckled beneath the cover of his cloak and took another sip from the glass. “And the recent champion nonetheless. Good, good, I like a challenge.”
The steel doors slowly opened up from behind. The man looked over his shoulder to find Kuben Blisk approaching the table with some confidential details hidden within a manila folder. The leader of the Syndicate sat down on the other side of the conference table, getting a clear view of the hired agent. Blisk pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it against the table, tossing the bud away and into the trash beside him. He then stared at the hooded man with a stern look, keeping his eyes locked on him at all times.
“So, you are the bounty hunter I hired?” Blisk inquired.
“Depends-” The hooded man replied, downing the last of his raspberry lemonade. He gingerly set the glass down on the table. “-who’s asking?”
“I am Kuben Blisk, founder of the Syndicate and head of the Apex Games.”
“Ah, so you are indeed the one who hired me.” The hooded man leaned his head closer to Blisk and rested his arms on the table. “If my memory serves me well, you have a simulacrum in need of termination. Correct?”
“Close, very close.” Blisk waved his hand over the center of the table and out came a hologram of the killer robot. “This is Revenant. He has been snooping around in places he shouldn’t have, so much so that we fear that any further disturbances of his will greatly affect the income of the Apex Games.”
“Ah, you guys and your money.” The hooded man chuckled silently.
“I’d keep your mouth shut unless you don’t want the money I promised for you!” Blisk shouted, pointing his finger towards the bounty hunter.
“Aye, no hard feelings, Blisk. We all have our reasons.” Blisk rolled his shoulders and regained his composure.
“Anyway, we have come to the decision that we must stop him before he can get his hands on the source code.” Blisk stated.
“Source code?”
“Confidential.”
“Got it.”
“All you need to know is that Revenant is a threat and must be stopped at all costs.” Blisk turned to look at the hooded man.
“All right, I got plenty of weapons that can take down this robot.” The silhouette of a grin appeared from under the shadowy cover of the cloak.
“Ah, but no mere weapon will do.”
“Beg your pardon?” The hooded man inquired.
“Revenant is not an easy target. If you destroy his metallic body, there are hundreds more ready to take his place.” Blisk snickered. “So unless you want to fight an army of them, I suggest you wait for me to finish.”
“Yes, sir.” The man said. Blisk snapped his fingers, changing the hologram to display what appeared to be a medallion.
“This is the Medallion of Aporrófisi, an ancient weapon used before you were even born. It is able to take the life force out of anyone unlucky enough to be on the receiving end, and turn them to stone. This will give you the ability to stop Revenant.”
“Cool, I like me some high-tech equipment.” The man said, clasping his hands together as he tapped his fingers with interest. “Where can I find this medallion?”
“It is located in another world, Dimension X45-D9A, or what the locals like to call Equestria.” Blisk said, informing the bounty hunter. “ This isn’t the first time we have stepped foot in this dimension, Revenant has already been there before. You will travel there and retrieve the medallion. Only then will you be able to stop Revenant.”
“Alrighty. Anything else you need me to know before I begin?”
“No. Just bring him to me once he is turned to stone and then give me the medallion. Once that is complete you will get your reward. Besides that, you are allowed to bring along any other tools that you need to complete the mission.” Blisk said.
“Understood.” The hooded man said, standing up from where he sat and approaching Blisk. The man held his hand out. Blisk grabbed it and shook hands, settling the deal. “I will get the simulacrum and bring him to you. Count on it.”
“I sure hope so. Your reputation precedes you. It would be a shame if you lost to a mere robot.” Blisk said.
“Oh, don’t worry about me failing-” The bounty hunter pulled down his cloak, revealing his face. He had a mask over his mouth with the symbol of a spartan, and goggles with red lenses on them that enhanced his sight. “-they don’t call me Gladiator for no reason.”
The two walked out of the conference room and headed up to the warping station, where the bounty hunter would be sent to Equestria in order to begin his mission. The stakes were high, but Blisk knew he picked his accomplice well.
Friendship School was finally over, and just in time. The festivities of the evening were just around the corner and all the young fillies and colts had a lot to do before the moon arose to mark the start of Nightmare Night! With the students exiting the school, they all made their way back home to get themselves ready for the big night.
The Young Six had made their way through the Everfree Forest to get back to their treehouse. Though the forest was usually a very scary place on its own, the annual holiday always made the place seem even more horrific and frightening. Yet even through all of that, the group of younglings made it safely inside the treehouse, giving themselves plenty of time to prepare before they went to Ponyville in search for all the best sugary delectables.
While most of them began to hang up decorations that fit the spooky theme that Nightmare Night brought with it, Yona had not been feeling like herself. Throughout the whole day she had been very easily startled and shaken up about little things. She sat by herself for a while, hoping to bring herself out of this fearful mindset. Though the others had noticed long before now, Sandbar finally took the time to try and help Yona. The earth pony made his way to the yak’s side and sat down beside her. Yona saw Sandbar approach him and she frantically turned away from him. Sandbar flinched away, concerned by Yona’s odd behavior.
“Yona, what’s wrong?” Sandbar asked, giving off a friendly smile as he spoke.
“Yona don’t know what Sanbar talking about. Yona just fine.” The yak replied, keeping her face turned away from him.
“Yona, you and I both know that you aren’t yourself. You have been so frantic all day, and you aren't usually this scared during Nightmare Night.” Sandbar said.
“Yeah, you are usually never scared.” Gallus added. The blue griffon dropped everything he was doing and joined in on their conversation.
“You’re like a stone brick.” Smolder said. Soon all of the Young Six were joining in on the conversation.
“Guys, give her some space to process this!” Sandbar said defensively, placing one hoof on Yona’s shoulder while using the other to tell the others to back away from her. The rest of the Young Six complied, taking a few steps back in order for Yona to process her emotions. He could tell that Yona was beginning to feel overwhelmed with so many pairs of eyes looking at her all at once.
“Yona… *sniffle* Yona sorry. Yona know friends are just trying to help Yona.” Yona said, turning her head back to look upon her friends. They all showed great sympathy for the yak, enough to where Yona began to feel brave enough to tell them the truth behind her strange acts.
“You can tell us anything, Yona. We are always here to help.” Silverstream said.
“Ok, Yona tell friends everything.” Yona took a deep breath before continuing. “Yona had nightmare. Yona was in water, but water kept filling up. Yona was scared that Yona would drown. Right before nightmare ended, Yona wake up to see Yona ok. Yona could not get over bad dream, so Yona stay quiet all day. But… Yona still get glimpse of nightmare, which scares Yona. That is reason why Yona so jumpy.”
“Really? All of this for a lousy-” Gallus let out a distressed wheeze, unable to finish his sentence after getting punched in the gut by Smolder. The orange dragon glared down at the griffon, silently signaling for him to keep his beak shut. Gallus nodded with a fake smile, gasping for air once his lungs allowed it.
“We are very sorry to hear that, Yona.” Ocellus said, feeling sorry for the poor yak. “But it is just a bad dream, nothing you should dwell on too much.”
“She’s right, Yona.” Sandbar said, comforting her with a pat on her back. “And don’t forget, we are your best friends! We are always here to stand by your side and help you when you feel down.” The yak turned to Sandbar and gave him a loving hug, thanking him for his kindness and compassion.
“Yona feeling better now. Yona make sure not to ruin friends’ fun night out.” said Yona, giggling to herself.
“There we go, Yona. Just took a bit of courage!” Silverstream shouted with joy.
“Alright, now with that out of the way, what are you guys gonna dress up as?” Gallus asked. Everypony cheered in excitement, ready to start the night off right. But there was one thing that passed by everypony's agenda. The entire group of young friends felt their hearts drop all at once. Their faces said it all.
“We forgot to get costumes!!!’ Silverstream exclaimed.
“What are we gonna do? We can’t go up to ponies and ask for candy looking like… ourselves!” Ocellus shouted.
“Guys, girls, calm down!” Sandbar shouted, gaining the attention of the others. “It’s not all that bad. We just need to go somewhere that sells costumes and get a few of them.”
“But can we do it before Nightmare Night starts?” Smolder inquired.
“The moon isn’t even close to rising yet. We have plenty of time to go get some costumes.” Sandbar explained.
“Well then, what are we waiting for!? Let’s get a move on!” Gallus shouted, pushing everypony else out of his way and exiting the tree house. The others, all giddy with excitement, followed closely behind the griffon as he took flight. “Last one with a costume is a rotten apple!”
The Young Six all ran to town in search of a costume that would make them look absolutely terrifying in order to ensure that they all got the best and most candy they could. But before they could even step foot outside the Everfree Forest, Yona and Sandbar heard some twigs snapping from their right. They froze in place and flicked their heads in that direction, looking for the one responsible for such ominous sounds.
“Hello? Anypony there?” Sandbar said, continuing his search. The two kept their eyes peeled for anything that moved; wherever Sandbar wasn’t looking, Yona made it her mission to check there. The others caught note of their absence and quickly turned around to go find them. They soon saw them staring off into the distance.
“Uh, guys! Ponyville is that way!” Smolder shouted, pointing a finger towards their destination. “What are you even doing?”
“Yona and I could’ve sworn that we heard something or someone walking through the Everfree Forest.” Sandbar explained.
“It’s probably just a timberwolf.” Gallus suggested. “Now unless you want to be its next meal, I insist that you follow us to Ponyville. We are looking for costumes, which by the way was your idea, remember?”
“Right… yeah, I know.” Sandbar said, shaking his head and following the others to town. Yet even as he walked, he never took his sight off of the forest. He knew something was lurking in there, he just didn’t know what.
Then there was another snap.
Everypony heard it that time, but they thought the same thing. Just another timberwolf. But their journey soon came to another halt once Silverstream was heard screaming. The others turned to her and ran to her aid.
“What’s up with you?” Smolder asked.
“T-T-There really is something in the forest! Look over there!” The hippogriff pointed towards a shadowy figure. It didn’t look like any pony they’d seen before, but it did look scary nonetheless.
The creature was tall and lanky compared to a pony, and its intent for traveling through the forest was… unknown. The Young Six all panicked and got down to the floor when they saw the creature flick its head towards them. They all hid behind the cover of the nearby bushed, praying to Celestia that the creature didn’t see them. For all they knew, it saw that they were watching it, but if so it wasn't enough for it to approach them. Soon they all heard the creature walk away, giving them the clear to stand up. Once they got up on their hooves, paws and whatnot, they all glanced over at each other, finding it difficult to process the recent events.
“What was that?” Ocellus inquired.
“I don’t know… but it looked familiar.” Sandbar admitted, recognizing the shape of the creature, but unable to relate to anypony he knew.
“We can’t have Nightmare Night with a strange creature in the forest!” Gallus said.
“What are you gonna do, Gallus? It’s the Everfree Forest for crying out loud. Anything could be in there. Just let it go in peace and leave it to its own way of life.” Smolder said, crossing her arms and shaking her head.
“And just let it prowl around in the forest? I don’t think so. I am gonna get to the bottom of this!” With that, Gallus jumped over the bushes and ran into the forest in the same direction as the unknown creature.
“Gallus, are you crazy!?” Smolder shouted, running after the griffon.
“Wait for me, guys!” Silverstream exclaimed, not even thinking twice about going into the Everfree Forest and regrouping with the rest of her friends. Leaving only Sandbar, Yona and Ocellus, the three friends all flicked confused and fearful expressions to each other.
“What do we do?” Ocellus asked.
“We go after them.” Sandbar said.
“What!? Is Sandbar crazy?” Yona exclaimed, going against the earth pony’s choices.
“We have to. They are our friends, we can’t just let them walk in all by themselves.” Sandbar said.
“But what if we get hurt in there… or worse?” Ocellus said.
“What if they get hurt.” Sandbar replied. “We have to go help them. It may be dangerous, I know, but those fools got in this mess, so we have to help them get out of it.” Sandbar hopped over the bushes and landed in the tall grass on the other side. “Follow me if you wish, but I am gonna get them out of there.”
“Wait for Yona!” The yak hopped the bushes and chased after Sandbar, wanting desperately to get this whole thing over with. Ocellus shuddered where she stood and whined.
“Ugh, you guys are a bunch of idiots!” The timid changeling went into the forest to join up with the rest of her friends. All six of them were now in the Everfree, chasing after this unknown creature. The forest was already known for having such a plethora of scary monsters, and pairing that with Nightmare Night, they were just asking for trouble.
The Young Six were truly in for it now. All of them found themselves in the dark, shadow covered lushness that was the Everfree Forest. It would be false to say that they weren't even a bit scared, but they stayed determined to find this creature. Of course, Sandbar, Yona and Ocellus didn't exactly want to do this by choice, but they were loyal to the others, so they followed closely behind wherever they went.
Gallus led the others through the forest, sometimes having to push away the leaves hanging down from the trees. The feeling the six creatures felt while they walked through the forest, while varying to some degree, all correlated with one main sense: fear.
The sunset that began to fade behind the horizon created less light for the six friends to work with, thus making the forest seem darker and creepier than it already was. The sounds of the timberwolves howling in the distance could be heard echoing all throughout the Everfree, sending chills down each of their spines. The wind had also picked up speed, making the branches on the trees rustle and shake, creating a very eerie atmosphere for the Young Six to work with. And to top it all off, some of them could've sworn they saw the face of the notorious Nightmare Moon stalking them in the shadows.
"S-S-Sandbar… Y-Y-Yona know friends will keep Yona s-s-safe, right?" Yona inquired. The poor yak had been consumed with fear, making her slowly drift off into insanity.
"Don't fret, Yona. There is nothing to be afraid of." Sandbar said with courage, hoping to share some of it with Yona. But even after saying that, the earth pony wasn't completely convinced. There was always the feeling that something was out to get them, it was after all what made the Everfree Forest so notoriously spooky in the first place. "Besides… the sooner we find this thing, the sooner we can get to Ponyville."
"Why are we even looking for this thing?" Ocellus asked, her teeth chattering as she spoke. "I don't suppose you have thought about the possibility that it is hungry. If that's the case then we might be next on the menu!"
"Would you guys grow a spine and toughen up!?" Gallus snapped at the others, annoyed by their premature attitudes.
"Woah, settle down. We don't need to start turning on each other." Smolder said, trying to calm the griffon before he turned what could be a simple conversation into a giant argument.
"Well why are they here anyway?" Gallus asked, glaring at Sandbar. "I didn't ask for backup!"
"No, Gallus, you didn't." Sandbar stood tall and defiant, standing up against the stubborn griffon. "But we are your friends, and you must understand that we are only here because we care about you and we don't want you to get hurt."
"It's true, Gallus." Ocellus stepped in to back up Sandbar. "We don't want you doing something you might regret. Let's just leave this place. The sooner we get to Ponyville and pick our costumes the sooner we can start getting candy!"
"Oh… I get it now." Gallus snickered, holding his paw up to his mouth. "You guys are scared!"
"A little-" Sandbar pressed his hoof against Ocellus' mouth before she could finish.
"No, we aren't. There is nothing to be afraid of." said Sandbar.
"Man, this is cute." Gallus said with a mocking tone. "We take a couple steps in the forest and you are all acting like a bunch of little ponies. Ah, the shame that you must feel when we come out completely safe and unharmed. Don't worry, I won't run it in too much."
"Watch it, Gallus." Sandbar muttered angrily behind his clenched teeth. The two creatures stared down upon each other, a slight anger and annoyance toward the other bubbling up inside them. While Sandbar and Gallus glared at each other with anger, the others could tell that something was watching them, and they all felt it at the same time.
"Okay, boys. Enough of your fight for dominance." Smolder said nervously.
"Y-Y-Yeah, come on. Let's get out of here before someone gets hurt." Silverstream pitched in.
"Ah, come on, not you too!" Gallus shouted. "Girls, there is nothing to be afraid of, nothing will… uh…" The griffon stopped in place, tensing up as fear gripped him by the scruff of his neck. While he got carried away, he felt himself bump into something strange. Something… metallic. While he tried guessing what it could be, the looks on the others' faces only filled his soul with horror. Swallowing nervously, Gallus gingerly turned around to meet face to face with the one he made contact with.
The fear portrayed on Gallus' face was insurmountable.
Standing tall above the little, blue griffon was a robot made up of wires and metallic covers. Its red and black body glowed in the darkness, striking fear into all six of the young creatures. Its eyes stared into their souls without mercy, and its narrow, long, metallic fingers seemed to almost reach out and grab them, as if to claim another victim.
It was as if the legends of the Everfree Forest were coming true. The Young Six stared at the robot for what felt like an eternity, feeling too scared to decide whether to run away or fight it. Nothing happened for a moment, silence falling over the forest… that is until Sandbar found himself recognizing the robot. He soon gained enough courage to confront it.
"H-H-Hi there, mister." He said, unknowing where to take the conversation from there. "Do you… remember us?"
Those words alone changed the feeling of the scene. The robot cocked its head to the side, as if it were thinking to itself. The rest of the Young Six all looked at the robot, the fear embedded within each of them slowly fading away. They too came to realize that they had met it before, as its physical appearance rang a few bells in their heads. The robot then placed its hands together like that of an evil being. An ominous, frightening laughter came from the robot's voice module, sending another chill down the Young Six's spine.
"Ah yes, the Young Six. Or what I like to name you, the delicate skin suits." The robot let out a terrifying sigh of relief, placing its hands on its hips. "I remember you all too well."
“Revenant, is it?” Silverstream asked, lowering her guard once she realized that the malicious simulacrum was being rather compliant with them and their questions.
“The one and only.” Revenant knelt down to meet Gallus at eye level. He lifted his metallic hand and planted it firmly on top of the blue griffon’s head. Gallus barely held in a whimper as Revenant began to frighteningly pet his head, which only brought back the fear he managed to cover up. “It has been a while since our last adventure. Remember when I almost snatched you up?” Revenant cackled once more. “Ah, the memories.”
Gallus could not find the courage to speak to the simulacrum. They all knew who he was and what he did to those unfortunate enough to cross paths with him.
“What are y-y-you doing h-h-here in Equestria?” Ocellus inquired.
“What am I, a lifeless robot with the soul purpose to take the souls of the deserving, doing here in this loving, heart-warming world of yours?” Revenant spoke with a soft tone. “I am afraid that is none of your concern.”
“You plan on hurting somepony, don’t you!” Sandbar shouted, realizing Revenant’s foul intent. He struck a fighting pose and stood his ground. “I won’t let you hurt anypony, Revenant. Not now, not ever.” Revenant laughed out loud, mocking the earth pony for his foolishness.
“Calm down, skin suit. I am not here to hurt any… pony.” Revenant said, patting Gallus on his check a couple times before standing up. Gallus immediately took that chance to get away from Revenant and regroup with the rest of his friends. “Believe me, if I was then you’d already be dead.”
“Then why have you come here?” Silverstream asked, confronting the simulacrum. “And why are you in the Everfree Forest of all places?”
“I would tell you, girlie girl, but again… none of your business.” The ignoble robot turned away from the Young Six, clearing a path further into the forest. But before he continued his journey, Revenant glanced over his shoulder. “You skin suits should leave right now. There is evil nearby, and as much as I like seeing death, I don’t want any of you to suffer because of what I have brought upon your peaceful world.”
“Evil? Revenant, what are you talking about? What did you bring to Equestria!?” Smolder shouted, throwing out rapid fire questions at the simulacrum.
“None. Of. Your. Business. Leave this place now!” Revenant stormed off through the nearby bushes and into the shadows that consumed the forest, the only sounds left to be heard being the wind paired with Revenant’s metallic footsteps diminishing as time went on.
The abrupt absence of Revenant left the Young Six once again by themselves in the middle of the Everfree Forest, only this time they were stuck with even more questions than before they arrived.
“So… is no one gonna say anything about what just happened?” Silverstream said, her voice fluctuating wildly between a whisper and a scream.
“What is there to say?” Ocellus replied. “Revenant is loose in the Everfree Forest. I don’t think that there is much we can do about that.”
“But what if he plans to hurt somepony?” Smolder inquired.
“I don’t think that is his intent.” Sandbar stated. “I think he is telling the truth.”
“What!? You believe that crazy robot!?” Gallus exclaimed, baffled by the earth pony’s crazy statement. “Did you even see how he was treating me!? He stared at me like he was gonna eat me!”
“You are right, Gallus. I know how he can get at times.” Sandbar paused mid-sentence, making sure he chose his following words wisely. “But Revenant did have a point. If he really did want to hurt us then I don’t think that we would still be standing here unharmed.”
“True.” said Ocellus.
“Revenant also said that there was evil lurking around Equestria.” Smolder stated, recalling the words of the simulacrum. “What do you think he meant by that?”
“Yona have no clue. Yona just as confused as friends.”
“Well then, what are we gonna do about Revenant. Are we really just gonna let him run around like that?” Silverstream asked.
“Maybe he is right.” Sandbar stated. “This isn’t our business. Let’s just go to Ponyville and start looking for costumes. If anything else happens involving Revenant then just tell somepony about it. Princess Twilight will be sure to take it into her own hooves if need be.”
“Sandbar’s got a point. The princess can do a whole lot more than we ever could.” said Ocellus.
“Okay then, let’s get going.” Smolder added, beckoning for the others to join her as she led them towards Ponyville.
Their journey was soon put to a halt.
Standing in front of them was another creature similar in size and shape to Revenant, but overall looked completely different compared to the simulacrum. The creature was dressed in a large, black cloak that traveled all the way down to its feet. Upon its face was a pair of red goggles and a mask with the symbol of a spartan, a symbol which the Young Six were unaware of.
The Young Six were immediately compelled by fear to freeze in place, as the mere sight of this new creature made him seem a lot more threatening than Revenant.
“You know of Revenant?” The man asked, standing tall and intimidatingly over the young group of creatures. He stared directly at the earth pony, who was standing in front of the rest of them. Even though the man’s eyes were covered by the red lenses on the goggles, Sandbar could feel the man’s pupils figuratively penetrating into his flesh with his intense stare. Sandbar looked back at him with a fearful expression swept over his face.
“Uh… I… Oh, I mean, uh…” Sandbar couldn’t find the right words to speak.
The man slowly approached the earth pony with each step emitting a sense of malevolent intent. After some time to go over things, it was obvious that this man was the one thing Revenant was talking about when he spoke of “evil in Equestria.”
“I will ask you one more time, young pony.” The man spoke with a dark and cruel tone. “Do you know who Revenant is?”
Whether it was all of the fear being expelled from within him, a strong sense of courage demanding to battle against this threat, or perhaps just simple idiocy, Sandbar glared straight back at the man with a stern and stermined look, on his face. And with one big breath…
“I won’t let you hurt him.”
The man chuckled to himself, surprised by the amount of bravery that the young earth pony had just displayed. However, this only made things worse for them, and they all knew it.
“Well then, I am afraid I have no choice.” The man pulled his hands out from behind the cover of his cloak and revealed two daggers held tightly in his grasp. The Young Six all trembled before the human the second they caught eye of his weaponry.
“Woah, wait a second! We can talk about this!” Smolder shouted, hoping she could get the man to cooperate and bargain for something besides their lives.
“You wouldn’t hurt a couple kids would you?” Silverstream inquired, wanting nothing less than the same for herself.
“I am sorry-” The man said, holding the daggers out towards them. “-but anyone who is a friend of Revenant is an enemy to me, and as such, you must be eliminated.”
“Please, d-d-don’t do this to us. We don’t w-w-want any trouble.” Gallus said, stumbling over his words as he spoke.
“Nothing personal… just policy.”
The man raised his weapons above his heads, ready to attack the Young Six. The group of creatures all gathered together, unable to determine whether they should run away or fight this beast. Their senses were in overdrive, unable to come to a conclusion due to the insurmountable fear their minds were going through. As the blade of each dagger glimmered in the newly found moonlight, each of the six turned their heads and closed their eyes, waiting for their imminent demise.
“Get away from them, Gladiator!!!”
The Young Six opened their eyes, looking over to their right to find the man tackled to the ground. Revenant was on top of him, pinning his arms behind his back in order to give the young creatures enough time to escape.
“Go now, skin suits! I can’t hold him off for much longer!” Revenant shouted, motioning for the others to flee the scene before the man could break free. The Young Six all nodded hesitantly before running away like their lives depended on it… which it did.
Stepping over fallen trees and broken branches, the group of six ran as far as they could away from Revenant’s location in order to ensure their safety. At one point Yona tripped over a lonely vine, but easily recovered with Sandbar’s help.
The group soon came across a dark and gloomy cave, which they thought would be perfect to at least get some time to breathe, if not hide from the killer. They all entered the cave one by one and took shelter from the forest’s malevolent elements. Once safely within its walls, the Young Six sat around each other in a circular formation, giving themselves a break from all the running.
“Who was *pant* *pant* that guy?” Smolder said, mostly to herself, as she knew that the others were just as oblivious as she was.
“Why did he try to hurt us?” Gallus said, catching his breath. “You know what’s a better question, why did Revenant save us?”
“I don’t *pant* I don’t think Revenant and the other guy are exactly best friends.” Silverstream assumed based on her limited observations.
“Whatever he is, we have to tell Princess Twilight! She would know what to do.” Sandbar stated.
“Guys, quiet.” whispered Ocellus, but none of the others could hear her.
“What!? We can’t leave this place! We might meet up with him yet again, and I know for sure that we won’t have Revenant save us a second time!” Gallus exclaimed.
“Guys, please stop talking.” Ocellus said, this time a little louder. But alas, her desperate pleads were still not enough to capture their attention.
“Oh, and what, let him hurt somepony else?” Sandbar shouted.
“Shut it!!!” Ocellus exclaimed, her voice cracking a bit as she hit a new level of volume. The others immediately shut their mouths and glanced over at the enraged changeling who had been trying to warn them about strange footsteps that came from just behind the cave walls. The others soon heard it and sat still in their respective spots, preventing themselves from making any kind of sounds.
The footsteps echoed all around the cave, and sounds only got louder and louder, notifying the Young Six that whoever was the cause of such noises was only getting closer. Ocellus and Yona let a small whimper escape from their mouths, to which the others exchanged angry glances towards them.
A shadow soon swept over each of them, the origin coming from the cave entrance. Paralyzed with fear, they gingerly turned their heads in the direction of the shadow, hoping and praying that the killer hadn’t found them. The silhouette of a tall human stood in front of them, nearly making them all scream and panic. But thankfully they gave themselves enough time to realize that it was only Revenant.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Gallus exclaimed. A collective sigh of relief was heard from the Young Six. The red simulacrum entered the cave and sat down beside the other various creatures.
“You skin bags just don’t know how to stay out of trouble, do you?” Revenant said, holding his finger out in front of him and pointing to each individual as he spoke. “I warned you about Gladiator, and now look what happened.”
“It’s all Sandbar’s fault!” Gallus shouted, pointing the blame at the innocent earth pony. “If he didn’t force me to enter this accursed forest in the first place then none of this would’ve happened!”
“Hey, you were the one who quite literally jumped into the forest! We only followed you to help protect you!” Sandbar said in defense of himself and the others.
“Well, if you didn’t tell us that you saw something strange in the Everfree Forest then none of this would’ve happened!” Gallus replied, flaring his nostrils and furrowing his brow. The griffon and pony pressed their foreheads against each other, staring down one another in anger.
“Ugh, and I thought humans were the idiots.” Revenant said, chuckling under his synthetic breath.
“Well you aren’t exactly helping the situation, Revenant.” Gallus said, backing away from the pony, the two exchanging dirty looks before completely getting over the argument.
“I saved your life, thank you very much.” Revenant stated. “Not even a simple thank you? Wow, maybe I should’ve left you to die.”
“No, not at all. He doesn’t mean that!” Sliverstream said in a panicked tone, not wanting to anger the murderous bot. “We all very much thank you for what you did for us.”
“There we go. See griffon, gratitude isn’t that difficult to give.” Revenant said, leaning his metallic back up against the rock wall behind him. “So I take it that you skin suits are gonna stay here for the night?”
“No way, we are planning on heading over to Ponyville to get some costumes before the start of Nightmare Night.” Smolder explained.
“Heh… you really want to step foot in a forest with a bounty hunter on the loose? And all for what, candy?” Revenant said.
“Well, no… but yes…?” Silverstream said.
“You skin suits won’t even last a second against Gladiator, believe me.”
“But we can’t stay in the forest forever!” Ocellus whined.
“Yeah, Yona and friends must leave Everfree at some point.” Yona added.
“Who is this Gladiator guy, anyway?” Gallus asked.
“I’m on a mission.”
Revenant and the Young Six all turned around to find Gladiator standing just outside the cave entrance. He held a detonation device in his hand, his thumb levitating over the big red button in the middle of it.
“Gladiator, you don’t plan on getting rid of us so soon, do you?” Revenant said, taunting the bounty hunter. “We were having so much fun. To let it all go right now is such a waste.”
“Oh, I don’t plan on destroying you just yet, Revenant. Not until I get my hands on the medallion. Only then will I truly be able to stop you and your plans.” said Gladiator.
“Then what do you intend to do with that?” Revenant asked, pointing towards the detonation remote.
“Oh this?” Behind the mask, Revenant and the Young Six could see the image of an evil grin on Gladiator’s face as he spoke. “This will just give me enough time to find it.” The man pressed the red button. “See you soon, Revenant.”
The walls of the cave began to shake, bits and pieces of rocks and dirt crumbling to the floor. With one last victory laugh, Gladiator watched as the cave entrance was closed off by the debris of the explosion, trapping the simulacrum and the poor creatures inside the cave.
“Don’t worry, Revenant. I will be back, but this time I will not be so nice.” Gladiator walked away from the collapsed cave, proceeding towards the marked destination on his radar.
In the cave, Revenant and Gallus attempted to move away the large rocks that blocked their way out, but the weight and size of said rocks were just too much for them to overcome. Revenant punched the wall of rocks in anger, his metal fist clinking against the stone.
“Oh no, we are trapped!” Silverstream exclaimed.
“No… really?” Revenant said sarcastically, glaring over at the hippogriff. “You didn’t realize until now!?”
“How do we get out of here?” Sandbar questioned.
“Do I look like I have any ideas?” Revenant replied, crossing his arms as he stared at the rock clump with disappointment. “I don’t know how we are going to get out of here.”
“You’re a robot, aren’t you?” Gallus said. “Can’t you just use your hands to mine a way out?”
“Heheheh… were it so simple.” Revenant lowered himself to the ground and sat up against the pile of rocks.
“We can’t give up! There has to be another way out of here.” Ocellus said, hoping that she was actually right.
“You are free to look around, no one is stopping you.” Revenant said, picking up a rock and throwing it across the way.
The Young Six all split up and looked for a way out, but there was nothing that could prove to be of help, just one big dead end. They were trapped, and they knew it. With nothing else to do, the Young Six all regrouped with Revenant and sat in a circular formation, staring at the floor as they thought about all the fun things they were gonna miss out on because of their misfortune and arrogance.
“Hey Revenant.” said Sandbar.
“... What do you want, skin bag?” Revenant replied with a sigh.
“Can you tell us about why you are here and why Gladiator wants to harm you?” Revenant perked up and stared at the earth pony. “I know, I know you said that it isn’t our business… but what else do we have to lose?” The simulacrum pondered the thought in his synthetic head. The pony was right, he really had nothing to lose with telling them the truth behind the matter.
“... Very well, skin suits.” Revenant beckoned for the Young Six to gather around him. “I suppose that you deserve the truth.”
All the creatures, still trapped in the cave, circled around a small stack of wood that the Young Six gathered along the walls. Smolder used her fiery breath to ignite the wood and start a fire as a means for some much needed warmth and light. As the Young Six all gathered around the simulacrum, Revenant began his storytelling, starting from the beginning of it all.
“It all started just a couple weeks after me and the other legends left Equestria the first time we came here, the first time I met you skin suits. I was busy working with Loba to find my source code, the one thing that keeps me "alive" if you will, when all of the sudden I got a message from Blisk. He tells me to forget about the source code before I get into big trouble. Being the insubordinate fool I am, I refused his warning and went to go after the code anyway. That is where I messed up one too many times. Blisk found out and took the source code before I could get it for myself. After that, Blisk knew that I was a threat to his economy, so he hired Gladiator.
“Gladiator is a special bounty hunter who had once been a part of the Syndicate’s detective squad for forty years. His skills are admirable, and he won’t let anyone or anything beat him. After being promised thousands of credits for my capture, Gladiator has spent a week looking for a special weapon located here in Equestria that can stop me.”
“What is the weapon and what could possibly be found here in Equestria giving the user such power?” Gallus inquired.
“It is the Medallion of Aporrófisi, an ancient artifact that was crafted to banish evil long before Celestia and Luna’s reign. It gives the wielder the power to steal the life force out of any living being, and not only that, but it turns their physical form into stone.”
“Why does Gladiator need it to defeat you?” Smolder asked.
“I am a simulacrum, which means that I cannot be defeated by any means physically, otherwise I’d come back as another version of myself. But with the medallion, Gladiator can take my life force and trap it in the medallion, preventing me from dying or coming back in another body. That is why I must find this medallion before he does. If the Syndicate gets their hands on it… there is no saying what they will plan on doing with it.”
“That’s terrible, Revenant.” Silverstream said. “I mean, I know that you have done some pretty bad things yourself, but even you don’t deserve something like that. No one should have their life stolen from them.”
“Maybe in your eyes, skin bag.” Revenant replied. “But to them, I am merely just a tool. A puppet waiting to have my strings pulled. To them I am nothing.”
“Don’t say that, Revenant! You are not just a tool, and you are most definitely not a puppet.” said Sandbar. The simulacrum looked over at the pony with a deadpan expression. “You have changed, I know you have. You went from a murderous death machine to being the only robot I know who has a heart… well, figuratively… and maybe Pathfinder was the first… look, the point is that we know that you are not the robot you once were. You can change, and you have. You are not a tool, not anymore!”
The words that came out of the earth pony’s mouth almost made the simulacrum feel something bubble up inside of him… something he hadn’t felt in 300 years.
“You really think I can beat them?” Revenant said to Sandbar. The pony nodded, the others doing the same soon after. Revenant chuckled to himself. “I don’t know if it's just a weird day for me, but you skin suits have given me hope.” Revenant stood to his feet and looked the Young Six in the eyes. “Let’s find that medallion and kick Gladiator’s… butt.”
The Young Six cheered and rejoiced, happy to see Revenant back to his determined self. With that out of the way, the seven of them all got back to the rocks pile, ready to dig their way out of the cave. Lining up side by side, Revenant gave the go and soon each creature was working together to pull away all of the rocks that blocked the cave entrance.
One by one, the rocks were slowly but surely decreasing in numbers, giving them all a sense of hope to escape the caves. However, they soon stopped their hard work once they felt the ground shake underneath them. Revenant held his hands out to his side in order to maintain balance while the others grouped up with each other.
“Earthquake?” Revenant asked.
“Not likely. The Everfree Forest isn’t known for having earthquakes. This is something else.” said Smolder.
“Then what is it?” Sandbar wondered.
Just then, the cave walls behind them burst open, revealing a steady stream of water that began to flood the cave. They were all in a state of panic by that point, even Revenant. Everyone, pony, simulacrum and all began to hasten their labor, working faster than ever in order to remove the rocks before they would drown. The team was hard at work, using their teamwork to pick up the pace.
All of them… except Yona.
While the rest of her friends were busy working to stay alive, Yona had been consumed with fear, as the situation began to remind her of something she never wanted to experience again. The cave flooding with water reminded her of her nightmare the night before, and right now, it was as if that nightmare was becoming her reality.
Every creature, big and small, worked their butts off, desperate to break out of the cave before the water consumed them. The water level was now up to their knees, and it, along with their anxiety was only building up from there.
“Keep digging, skin suits. I may not need to breathe, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to.” Revenant said, using his long, metal claws to grab hold of the bigger rocks while the Young Six pushed away the smaller ones. They all did their fair share, spending no time slacking off. All except for Yona, who was cowering in the far corner of the cave, slowly watching the water levels rise. At one point Sandbar began looking around for the yak, only to find her by herself. The pony ran to her side, wondering why in Equestria she wasn’t helping them escape the cave.
“What are you doing, Yona!? Come on, we need to get the heck out of here!” Sandbar shouted, tugging against Yona’s hoof with his own.
“No! Yona don’t want to move. Yona too scared to move.” She replied.
“But… why?” Sandbar said. He knew that screaming at the yak wasn’t going to make matters any better for the both of them, so he tried to choose a different approach, lowering the volume of his voice and trying to understand what was going on through Yona’s head.
“Yona too scared. Yona don’t want to drown.”
“Yona, you are not going to drown.” Sandbar said calmly. “None of us are going to let you drown. But we need your help if we wish to all make it out of here alive.”
“But… Yona can’t do it. Yona too weak.”
“Yona, please.” Sandbar stopped talking and just stared at her with big beady eyes. He couldn’t keep this up, he knew that he was now being of no help. All he could do know is hope that the yak would help them with their cause. Yona replied with nothing but a sigh.
Sandbar looked down to find that the water had gone up to their necks. There was no more time to waste. Sandbar left Yona to go regroup with the others. About half of the rocks were pushed away, but if they were to continue at the rate they were going at, then it wouldn’t matter how far they got. They would drown.
Moving more frantically and sporadically, Gallus and Revenant used all their strength to push away the rocks while Ocellus, Silverstream and Smolder helped roll them away from the pile. Moving around became a lot more difficult with the current water level. Ocellus being the shortest one in their group was the first to begin floating on the water.
“Ah! Guys, I can’t touch the floor!” Ocellus screamed, waving her hooves around to keep herself above the water’s surface.
“Don’t worry, skin suit! We are almost there!” Revenant shouted. Sandbar ran to their aid, but he and Smolder were soon next to be lifted off the ground. Leaving just Revenant, Silverstream and Gallus left to push the rocks, the team was now full throttle, working with every bit of energy that could muster.
For those who were unfortunate enough to begin floating on the water, they realized the cave was almost entirely flooded in. Only a hoof’s worth of space was left for them to breathe. They paddled and paddled, keeping their heads above the water and preventing themselves from drowning.
Sandbar looked over at Yona, who had also begun to be lifted off the ground due to the height of the water. The earth pony locked eyes with the yak, seemingly accepting their demise.
“Sandbar… Yona sorry!” Yona shouted to her pony friend.
“It’s ok, Yona. *gasp* No hard feelings.” All of the sudden, Sandbar fell beneath the water’s surface, going deeper to the bottom of the flooded cave. Yona screamed out for Sandbar, but the lack of light prevented her from even catching a glimpse of the pony.
In time, Gallus and Silverstream were forced to breach the surface, as the water level was too much for them to fight through. With the Young Six now stuck with almost no room left to breathe, Revenant was the only one left to remove the blocks. His naturally heavy body made it easy for him to stay on the ground, but removing the rest of the rocks still proved to be a challenge.
Yona called out for Sandbar another time, but there was still no sign of him. Yona began to cry out for help, but the rest of them knew that there was no one nearby to save them.
“Yona, just face it. We’re doomed!” Gallus shouted.
“There was nothing we could’ve done.” Smolder added.
The group of friends breathed their last, the water reaching the top of the cave and completely flooding it on all sides. Yona looked down below the water to find Sandbar’s body laying across the ground. No signs of life showed from him. Yona teared up and shouted for him, swimming down to the bottom and reaching out for her pony friend. She was soon able to touch him with her hoof, but something was wrong. His body felt cold and lifeless. Yona began to cry, thinking that he drowned because of her lack of aid. There was no hope of escaping, and now no hope of being with Sandbar anymore. All hope was lost.
Or so it seemed.
Yona perked up to find Revenant dealing with the last layer of rocks. The yak knew from there that breaking through that layer would grant them safe passage out of the cave. It was their only hope. Planting her hooves firmly on the ground, Yona charged full speed towards the rocks, using every fiber in her body to gain enough momentum to ram through the rock wall.
“Come on, you dumb rocks! Get out of my way!” Revenant shouted, looking back and finding all the creatures fully submerged in the water, holding their breaths for dear life. He flicked his head left and saw Yona charging at the rocks. With no kind of warning, Revenant jumped back and watched as Yona’s horns smashed into the rocks.
The entrance to the cave was open once again, and the water was flushed out of the cave, spitting out Revenant and the Young Six with it. The seven creatures were washed up onto a patch of tall grass, freed from the cave’s clutches. Each of them gasped for air, taking every second to fill their lungs with the much needed necessity, with the exception of Revenant… and Sandbar.
Yona got to her hooves and ran to Sandbar, sitting down by his side. Yona picked up Sandbar’s body and held him in her forelegs. She placed her hoof along his neck. No pulse.
“No, no, no!!! Sandbar live! Sandbar must live! Yona make sure Sandbar survive!” Yona began crying out to her unconscious friend, begging him to show any sign of life. The others all saw the event take place, they themselves rushing over to help the poor pony.
“Sandbar, wake up!” Ocellus shouted.
“Come on, dude! Wake up!” Smolder exclaimed.
“Snap out of it!” Gallus pleaded.
Yona placed Sandbar’s body on the ground and began to give him CPR, hoping that it would be enough to force the water out of his lungs. However, no matter how hard she tried, it just wasn’t enough to bring him back to them. After a few more heavy presses, Yona stopped what she was doing and simply stared at Sandbar.
The pain and guilt that Yona had felt for her friend was just too much for her to bear. Tears slowly trickled down her cheeks as she watched his body grow colder by the second. His fur began to shift to a grey, his life slowly fading from his body. The others couldn’t hide their pain either, as tears soon fell from their eyes as well. They knew right then and there that they had lost a member of the Young Six.
Revenant watched as the pony’s life faded away from his body. There was one idea he had planned. He turned to his left and pulled out a special, metal skull from his side pocket. Pushing inward, a large totem appeared before him, taking full physical form once the process was complete.
The simulacrum put the skull back in it's respective pocket and placed his hand on the totem. The totem took effect, turning Revenant's metallic body into nothing but shadows. Once fully corrupted by the totem, Revenant made his way over to the unconscious pony.
The rest of the Young Six all looked at Revenant with a hint of fear as they gazed upon the shadow-version of the simulacrum. Once Sandbar was in reach, Revenant dealt down and used his claws to open his eyes manually. Then soon following, with a voice no louder than a whisper-
"Boo."
Sandbar's face went pale as day as he screamed at the top of his lungs. The jump scare he got from looking at Revenant in his shadow form was just enough to get him to expel the water trapped inside his lungs. A couple coughs later and the pony was back to his normal self, color and all.
The Young Six all sighed in relief and gave Sandbar a passionate hug, expressing their gratefulness and gratitude to Revenant for bringing their friend back to them.
"How do you feel, Sandbar?" Smolder asked.
"I… *gasp* I never want to go in another cave ever again!" Sandbar shouted. The others got a good chuckle from his reaction, even Revenant had a moment of laughter to himself.
"Oh good! Yona so happy that Sandbar okay!" Yona shouted with glee, gripping the earth pony tightly as she gave him a big hug.
"Yeah… glad to be back." Sandbar said, struggling to talk with the amount of pressure Yona was applying. Their hug soon ended, leaving Yona and Sandbar blushing.
"Yes, lover boy. Let's not forget that the yak did almost nothing to help us escape the cave." Revenant said, shaming Yona for her incompetence. Yona knew she was of no help. She hung her head in shame. "Listen here, skin suit, if you don't help out next time that happens, I will personally…" Revenant couldn't make himself finish the sentence. He knew there was no reason to threaten the yak, not now. They were all safe and sound now, so there was no need to bring up the past. "*sigh* Just be more helpful next time, got it?"
"Y-Y-YEAH, Yona g-g-got it!" Yona said, intimidated by the simulacrum's gestures.
"Good-" Revenant closed the totem and shifted back to his normal, metallic self. "-now let's go find this medallion before Gladiator gets there first."
The team dusted themselves off and began to devise a plan to find the medallion before Gladiator could. But just when things started to go their way, lightning struck from above, giving the Young Six a jump. Revenant giggled slightly at their reaction, the others joining in with their own laughter. They laughed the night away… until another lightning bolt lit up the sky.
Standing right in front of Revenant, face to face, was a timberwolf. The simulacrum gingerly stood up and stared down at the wooden creature. Neither of them made any sudden movements, taking the time to study each other. Revenant knew that the timberwolf was hostile, as it let a low growl rumble from its throat.
The Young Six grouped together and hid behind Revenant, keeping their distance from the timberwolf. But that didn’t matter. Three more timberwolves came in from different directions, prowling around the group of young creatures and circling them, almost like they were discussing over who would be the first to perish.
“Ummm… you skin suits wouldn’t happen to know anything about taming these things, would you?” Revenant inquired, slowly backing away from the timberwolf standing in front of him. The timberwolves began closing in on the group, shortening the distance between them and their meal.
“I don’t think that’s even possible.” Gallus replied, his legs shaking where he stood.
They were eventually packed tightly together. The timberwolves had gotten close enough to where their warm breath could be felt hitting against their prey. No pony knew what to do by this point. Just when they thought they were out of all the danger, the Everfree Forest proved yet again why it was widely considered the scariest place in Equestria. The low growls from the timberwolves increased in volume, and the others knew that it could only mean one thing.
Time to eat!
Out of nowhere the timberwolves began to whimper and whine as if they were in pain. The Young Six and Revenant looked at each of the timberwolves, watching their bodies contort and lock in place, their bodies fighting against some unknown threat. Within seconds, green orbs of light escaped each of the timberwolves, hovering in the air above each of them respectively. The group looked down once the orbs had escaped their bodies, only to find that the timberwolves had been turned to stone.
The group of friends along with the simulacrum were all left with confused looks, (except for Revenant who couldn’t make an expression even if he wanted to) processing the events that just took place.
“Uh, what?” Gallus murmured.
“Why are they stone?” Smolder inquired.
“And what are those green lights above their head?” Ocellus added.
While the Young Six did their best to figure out what this phenomenon could mean, Revenant already knew the answer. He realized that the green orbs that were extracted from the timberwolves were their life forces. If they were stripped of their souls, then that could only mean one thing.
He has the medallion…
“Looking for this, Revey boy?” Everypony turned around to find Gladiator standing menacingly behind their backs. The bounty hunter held the medallion in his fingers, dangling it and swinging it side to side like a hypnotizer. “You didn’t really think that you’d make it out of here alive, did you? And look where your incompetence has led you… with the lives of six young animals at risk, all because of you.” Revenant stepped out in front of the Young Six.
“Leave them out of this, Gladiator! They have nothing to do with me.” Revenant shouted. “This battle is yours and mine alone… not theirs.”
“But, Revenant! We can’t leave you here!” Gallus said.
“We can’t let you get hurt!” Sandbar shouted.
“Leave now, skin suits. This is not your fight.” Revenant stated, forcing the Young Six to leave.
“But…”
“Now!!!”
The Young Six took the simulacrum’s words to heart and ran away as far as they could, leaving Revenant and Gladiator by themselves in the forest. The two bounty hunters circled around each other, keeping the other in their sights at all times.
“So, you plan to turn me into stone?” Revenant asked, throwing taunts at the masked man.
“Nothing personal, just orders that I must complete.” Gladiator replied. “Who were those creatures, anyway?” Revenant flicked a mean look at Gladiator.
“You lay a finger on those creatures and I will kill you.”
“Oh don’t worry. They won’t be a part of this.” Gladiator pulled out his dagger and held it in hand. “You on the other hand… I don’t think you’ll like where you’ll be in fifty years, trapped in stone and all.”
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.”
With the medallion hung around his neck and out of harm’s way, Revenant set his totem down on the ground just outside of Ponyville. With haste, the Young Six all touched the totem and watched as their bodies were turned into ghostly shadows once again.
“Aww yeah, this is sick!” Smolder said, lifting her blackened hand and waving it around.
“Alright, skin suits, listen up!” The young group of creatures all turned to face the simulacrum as he gave his speech. “I will let you run around town for an hour to get candy. When that time is up, you will be returned to your normal forms and the totem will be destroyed. Until then, your job is to get as much candy as possible.”
“Thanks so much, Revenant! It’s nice to know that you are letting us do this for free!” Ocellus said, loving the design of her new body.
“Free?” Revenant glanced over at the changeling, who returned with a fearful gesture.
“Did I s-s-say something?” Ocellus inquired.
“This is not free, girlie. No, this comes at a price.” Revenant said with a chuckle.
“Ok, what’s the catch?” Gallus asked.
“When everything is said and done, you each have to give me half of the candy you collected over the course of the night.”
“What, you are crazy!?” Silverstream said.
“Hey, if you don’t want candy then that’s fine with me.” Revenant said, crossing his arms and shaking his head.
“No, we do want candy!” Sandbar said, looking over at the others. “Right, guys?”
“Ugh… fine.” Smolder said reluctantly.
“I guess it’s not that bad.” Gallus murmured.
“Good. Now you skin suits go have your fun.” With that, the Young Six all scurried into town, ready to get their scary on! “Remember, one hour then back here with my candy!”
While Revenant waited for the young creatures to return, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were seen strolling around town in their own costumes. Revenant caught note of their presence and stared at them from a distance. As if they felt something watching them, Rarity and Sweetie Belle both turned and saw Revenant’s red eyes glowing in the darkness. Revenant laughed and held a finger up to his mouth, gesturing for them to keep quiet. Rarity and Sweetie Belle screamed and ran away, giving Revenant a good laugh.
When the hour was over, the Young Six came back with buckets full of candy. Revenant clasped his hands together and approached them, eager to get his hands on his share of sugary delectables. They all reluctantly gave him their fair share candy, piling it all into one big pillow case they found in a nearby trash can. Once done, Revenant tied the pillow case closed and hung it over his shoulder. Just like the simulacrum said, the totem broke down seconds later, returning the Young Six to their original forms.
“Well, that was fun while it lasted.” Sandbar said, looking around at all the candy he got.
“Ooh! Yona got chocolate bar! Yona's favorite candy is chocolate bar!” Yona shouted, holding the sugary treat high above her head.
“Well well, it seems my work here is done.” Revenant said. The simulacrum looked down at his arm and activated his transportation device, setting the coordinates back to Earth. Soon following, a portal opened up behind him, ready to take him back home.
“Thank you for everything, Revenant!” Smolder said, waving goodbye.
“Yes, thank you so much, Revenant!” Gallus shouted shortly after.
“You skin suits stay out of trouble next time, got it?” Revenant said, walking to the portal while keeping his eyes on the Young Six.
“We will, Revenant! Take care of yourself!” Sandbar shouted in reply.
With that, Revenant stepped through the portal and the interdimensional wormhole closed just as he passed through to the other side. The Young Six were sad to see their scary robot friend leave so soon, but they knew that he was where he belongs. And who knew, maybe one day they’d see each other again. It was only a matter of time.
~
Crypto was hard at work, searching for the data that would help him find out where Revenant had run off to. He typed with haste on the keyboard, searching every file and every document for clues. Just when things seemed hopeless, a portal opened up to his right, nearly frightening the hacker. Revenant stepped through the portal and placed his metal feet on the floor of the Apex Games Base. He looked around at his surroundings once the portal closed. He was happy to be back.
“Where the heck have you been!?” Crypto shouted. “The Syndicate is looking all over for you! Do you even care about-” Revenant threw the pillowcase full of candy towards Crypto, landing just in front of him on the desktop.
“I got you and the others some candy if you want any.” Revenant said, heading towards the door.
“Revenant, did you hear me!?” Crypto shouted. The simulacrum turned around and stared at the hacker with a deadpan expression. Crypto wanted answers, but he found himself too tired to confront Revenant, at least for now. He took a second to breathe before continuing. “*sigh* It’s good to have you back, Revenant.”
“Good to be back.” Revenant replied, heading to his room. Suddenly a thought appeared in his synthetic head, forcing him to quickly turn around and meet with Crypto once more. “Oh, and Crypto, there is a special medallion on the top of all the candy. If you can just do a couple scans on it.”
“Medallion? What are you talking about?” Crypto inquired.
“Oh, nothing. Just make sure the Syndicate never gets their dirty hands on it ever again.” Revenant stormed out of the computer room and down the hall, leaving Crypto packed with questions. The hacker reached into the bag and pulled out the green and silver medallion, analyzing it for himself.
“So, mister medallion… what makes you worth my time…?” Crypto threw it into the scanner and opened up the necessary applications to thoroughly examine the medallion and its capabilities. “What is it about you that makes Revenant so cautious?”
Blisk was found in the lounge of the Syndicate base, drinking some iced lemon water while he waited for Gladiator to return. He had seen that the bounty hunter’s teleportation device had been activated with a course set for Earth, so his arrival was to be expected sometime soon.
In the blink of an eye, the portal opened up. Blisk stood up with his beverage in hand, waiting to hear all about the mission. But while he did see Gladiator come through the portal, it wasn’t exactly the same as how he planned their meeting to be. Once the portal closed, Gladiator was spit out and onto the floor, his body lifeless and encased in stone.
“What the… what is this, some kind of joke?” said Blisk. The old man looked down and found a note attached to the back of Gladiator’s head. Blisk swooped down and snatched the note in his hands, reading through the writing that covered most of the parchment.
“Dear Blisk, it’s Revenant. Did you miss me? No? Aww, that’s too bad. Listen, your buddy here gave me and my friends a hard time tonight. Normally I would hunt you down, but I got candy as a reward for all my struggles, so I will let this one slide. I even brought you a gift of your own: a statute for your own personal decor. Pretty cool, right? Hahaha! Happy Nightmare Night, skin suit!”
Blisk shouted in anger and crumbled the parchment up into a ball, throwing it across the room in sheer frustration.
“You may have beaten me this time, Revenant. But rest assured, you will never get your dirty claws on that source code. The battle may be over, but the war is still coming!”
