Chapter 13: Swamp Bash
At Talos' volcano, some Gorilla Lurkers had tossed Celestia and Luna in a cage while a few more tossed Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry in another one as they each grunted in pain. Pakku, Bumi, and Iroh were in some separate cages of their own as well.
"We have the prisoners you've requested, King Talos." One of the Gorilla Lurker soldiers said as Talos approached Celestia and Luna's cage with a sinister smile.
"Ah, Celestia and Luna, I presume? And I couldn't have wanted to meet the White Lotus Clan leaders Pakku, Bumi, and Iroh. Especially the royal family of the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart." Talos question with a mocking smile as Pakku, Bumi, Iroh, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry glared at the Demodragon angrily. "I honestly was expecting more for you to take my guards down, but it seems as though you were too blind to see what was coming at you."
"You can skip the taunting later, Talos." Pakku said sternly. "We all know who you are. The Lord of the Demodragons."
"We all are aware of your plan when the Solar Eclipse begins when you unleash the Dark Eco onto this world." Celestia said while glaring at Talos with venom in her voice as the Demodragon King chuckled deviously.
"Well, I can't exactly awaken the Dark Eco yet. For that, I need all of the powers from the Eco crystals. And the only thing I am aware of is an alicorn stallion trying to ruin everything with his family and friends helping him." Talos said, referring to Chase. "You're all lucky you weren't that badly injured if he found out about this."
"And with them dealing with Celtic was bad enough, now you're dragging Chase into this?" Shining Armor asked angrily.
"Patience, you stallion." Talos said to Shining Armor sternly. "Once Chase brings me the Eco crystals, the Great One will release the Dark Eco and this world will be consumed by my curse for all eternity. This time, no one is going to stand in my way to rule Equestria."
"You won't get away it, Talos!" Cadance said with determination. "Chase, Twilight, and the others will come for us and stop you!"
"Oh, I hope Chase tries this one. I really do." Talos said as he cracked both his hands together with a sinister smirk. "After all, there isn't any mortal that can defeat a Demodragon. Many have tried, but they all met their fate to the end."
Talos then left the room to prepare the next phase for his plan when the Solar Eclipse begins very soon.
(Scene changes)
Meanwhile at the swamp, Sokka groaned in pain as his vision was pure black while trying to wake up. Once his vision was clear, Sokka noticed that he was tied up to a pole as he struggled to break free.
"Good, you are finally awake." Aguila's voice said, making Sokka turn to see him and the other Demodragon generals.
Standing beside them were Babak and Brutter as they smirked at the pegasus stallion. Needless to say, Sokka was in shock of seeing the four Demodragon stallions though.
"So you guys are Talos' generals of the Demodragons, aren't you?" Sokka asked with a glare.
"You have it right, Sokka." Aguila said with a devious grin, shocking Sokka in the process of learning his name. "Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am General Aguila, the others are Gato, Mono, and Serpiente."
"And by looking at yourselves, you guys would've aged a bit back when you were trying to take out this part of the world." Sokka said with disdain.
"Lucky for us, Demodragons don't age." Gato said with a smirk. "And we hope your friends will put up a better fight than you."
"We'll see about that when they come for me!" Sokka said as he tried to break free from the ropes before he stopped to take a breather while the Demodragon generals looked at him for a moment with glares.
"We don't have time for this. Do it now, Babak and Brutter." Aguila ordered as he, Gato, Mono, and Serpiente took their leave for another direction to the swampy area.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do, pony boy. We're gonna see how this experiment works when you won't fly." Brutter said as he approached Sokka with a hypodermic needle filled with Dark Eco, which caused the pegasus stallion to shake and gulp in fear.
"No." Sokka squeaked in fear as Brutter slowly approached him. "Uh, can we discuss this like rational buddies? I have a really sensitive fur coat when it comes to needle shots."
"Don't worry, this won't hurt… much." Babak said sinisterly.
"Listen, guys. I'm not Twilight or Jade, but if you hold on a sec, I can give you a small demonstration about my flying ability so… you can skip the whole Dark Eco injection thing." Sokka said with a nervous chuckle as Brutter approached him without blinking and grabbed him by the chest, causing the stallion to yelp in fear as the Gorilla Lurker growled at him. "Cool?"
(Scene changes)
Hiking through the swamp, Chase, Jade, Sunray, Trini, Antonio, Grazer, and Clay were making their way down a path that would lead them to Sokka.
"Ugh. You know, guys. I know normally Rarity wouldn't want to join us, but right now most of this marsh here is gross." Trini said as she shook some mud off her hooves.
"If Sokka is here as well as the Yellow Eco crystal, then we gotta find them before the Lurkers do." Chase said fully unaware of Sokka's situation as Jade taps her medallion to let the magic hologram screen appear in front of them.
"It looks like we're on this side of the swamp in a quicksand pit area." Jade said as she gestured to the spot they were at and to another section showing the sea side of the swamp. "And if I'm right, the Yellow Eco crystal should be on the other side close to sea. Maybe Sokka must be there too."
"Then let's get him out of here before the Lurkers do something horrible." Antonio said while twirling his nunchucks around a bit before putting them away.
"Assuming he's survived the worst." Clay said as he had a concerned look on his face.
Grazer sniffed the air for any scent in the area before he stopped and turned to his friends.
"Even so, we must be careful." Grazer said with caution as the seven continued onward. "We have no idea that we are the only ones in this place."
As they continued onward, something scurried in the shadows and the sound of a twig snap was heard, causing Chase to look around to hear where that noise came from before they entered a cave, walking through it.
Once they made their way through the cave, they had arrived outside and continued to walk down another trail. But then another twig was heard snapping offscreen, making Antonio turn to see something scurrying off in a thorn bush.
"What was that?" Antonio asked as the others turned to see what he was looking at.
"It's just a thorn bush, Antonio. Let's just keep moving." Clay said as they kept moving forward.
Soon enough they came into a clearing as they looked around cautiously for any sign of Lurkers or Sokka. But just as they stopped in the middle, a shadowy figure zips past in the shadows of splintery wood, getting the others' attention as they swiftly turn to the source.
"Okay, something tells me we're not alone here." Chase said while eyeing the clearing with a glare when a few thorn bushes moved slightly, making the group turn to the source.
As they prepared themselves for what was coming at them from the bushes, a rodent Lurker jumped out as it squeaked.
In its appearance, it was a small Swamp Rat Lurker that had red-orange fur, having beedy yellow eyes and appendages growing over its jawline typical to the Lurkers. It was also wearing a collar around its neck just like the Gorilla Lurker soldiers.
The seven looked at the rat with bewildered looks.
"Aw, look at you, aren't ya cute? You want a tail kicking, little fella?" Sunray said in a baby voice as he approached the Lurker rodent while his family and friends looked at it with bored looks, thinking it didn't scare them. Sunray gestured with his right forehoof for the rodent to come and get it. "Oh yes, you do. You do. Come on, I'm gonna drop-kick you to hurty town. Come on, little guy."
The Swamp Rat Lurker growled before it immediately clamps its teeth on Sunray's hoof, making him scream in pain as the others yelp with wide eyes while falling back a bit. Sunray was wrestling with the rat and punched it a bit.
"Get off of me, you little monster!" Sunray shouted as he kicked the Swamp Rat Lurker into another thorn bush. He groaned as he clutched his right hoof in pain as it had a bite mark on it. "Okay, that was different.
Suddenly, Grazer sniffed something in the air before he looked around to see that a large group of Swamp Rat and Gorilla Lurkers entered the area as Antonio saw this as well
"Look out, guys! It's an ambush!" Antonio cried out as he and his family got on the offense.
"Oh, great. Because this wasn't scary enough like the last arena fight." Sunray said as he glared at the group of Lurkers.
"Let's try and take them down so we can find Sokka." Chase said as he lit his horn, stood on his hind legs, aura hands replacing his front hooves, dished out his katana swords, and got into a fighting stance while holding them in his hands.
Sunray, Trini, Jade, and Antonio followed his lead while using their magic, aura hands replacing their front hooves, stood on their hind legs, and dished out their respective weapons. Clay took out his kusarigama while Grazer growled at the Lurker soldiers.
Then the soldiers charged at the heroes, who did the same as Chase performs a double dragon kick at two Gorilla Lurkers and one of them was sent flying over the arena right into the spot where Sokka was being held captive by Brutter and Babak as it landed face first on the ground.
The three turned to him before Babak jumped on a platform to see the Elite Ninja, Clay, and Grazer fighting off the other Lurker soldiers.
"They've found us." Babak said as he jumped down to join Brutter and Sokka.
"No kidding, but good thing Aguila has the other Lurkers digging up the statue." Brutter said as Sokka turned to him in surprise.
"W-what statue?" Sokka asked, now scared by the minute.
"We've found the Great One and we're taking it back." Brutter said. "As soon as Talos releases it, the Dark Eco will be ours."
Sokka was shocked by this.
Back with the Elite Ninja, Clay, and Grazer, they continued to fight off the soldiers as the dragon-turned-Wingquin swats a few Swamp Rat Lurkers aside as well as tail whipping a few Gorilla Lurkers down.
Chase dodges a few punches from a few others before he spin kicks them down.
Jade uses her tessen fans to knock away a few Swamp Rat Lurkers away before blocking an incoming punch from a Gorilla Lurker soldier and kicks him aside.
Sunray slams a kick to another Gorilla Lurker soldier and uses his sais to whack a few more away by the handles.
A few other Swamp Rat Lurkers were charging at Trini, but she front flips over them and back kicks them aside before punching another to the fence.
Antonio charges at a group of five Gorilla Lurker soldiers as he whacks them aside with his nunchucks and back kicks two Swamp Rat Lurkers down.
Clay backflips away from an incoming punch from a Gorilla Lurker and ducks down to avoid a bite from a Swamp Rat Lurker before using his kusarigama to whack a few soldiers away. Suddenly, a tongue grabs him by the back of his right hoof, catching him by surprise.
He turns to see a frog Lurker creature with a green skin color, spikes sticking out of its body, wearing typical Lurker diaper clothing, spurs on the jaw level, and a collar around its neck.
Then a large group of them came in along with a new group of Lurker Toads.
In their appearance, they had a purple skin color, spurs on the jaw level line, and large yellow eyes.
"Oh come on, are you kidding?" Clay shouted as he forcefully pulled his hoof back, making the Frog Lurker launch itself at the Earth Pony stallion, who punches him away with its tongue letting go.
"These guys just keep on coming! We'll never make it out of here!" Trini exclaimed in alarm, noticing the other Lurkers.
"Then we'll have to use an element to get out of here!" Chase said as he turns to Antonio. "Antonio, you got an Earth Element power to get us out of here?!"
"Yeah, but it will also send most of the soldiers over the fence with us!" Antonio said as the soldiers stalked slowly towards the heroes.
"I don't think we have much of a choice! It's now or never!" Clay shouted as Antonio nodded before he used his Earth Element.
With his aura empowered hands in the air, Antonio slammed them both to the ground, creating a shockwave that sends most of the Lurkers away a bit before a large pillar sprouts out beneath the Elite Ninja, Clay, and Grazer. The seven screamed loudly as they were flown in the air before landing outside of the arena where Sokka, Brutter, and Babak were at.
They groaned in pain before they noticed Sokka tied up.
"Sokka!" Jade said in relief.
"Guys!" Sokka said with a smile. "Yes! Finally! Help me get out of this!"
"Let him go, guys!" Chase demanded as he and the group got back up while glaring at Babak and Brutter, who both chuckled tauntingly at the weak threat.
"You ponies don't stand a chance against us." Brutter said with a smirk as the other Lurker soldiers jumped down in the scene getting ready for another round. "Within mere hours, the Solar Eclipse will begin so King Talos will release the Dark Eco soon enough."
"Then I guess he'll be too busy to protect you dumb dirty apes!" Antonio said teasingly as he and his family lit their horns, stood on their hind legs, aura hands replacing their front hooves, dished out their weapons, and got into fighting stances.
"Why you-" Brutter said, insulted and angrily as he pointed at the seven. "Destroy them!"
The Lurkers charge at the heroes, but Jade was quick to react as she used her Water Element to send a watery wave at the soldiers, knocking them back as Sunray ran up to Sokka.
"Hold still, buddy." Sunray said as he used one of his sais to cut Sokka free and the pegasus stallion flapped his wings a bit before retracting them back.
"Thanks, Sunray." Sokka said as he and Sunray joined in on the battle.
Chase kicks two Lurker soldiers aside before sending a phoenix punch at a Swamp Rat Lurker as Grazer swats two Frog Lurkers aside and whacks some Swamp Rats away.
As the eight continued to battle against the soldiers, Trini took notice of Brutter and Babak running into another direction away from the fight.
"Guys, we got some runaway monkeys on the loose!" Trini shouted as Babak and Brutter disappeared into another cavern.
"We don't have time for this!" Sunray shouted as he and Grazer bash their way through the Lurker soldiers with the others following from behind.
Eventually, they ran right after Babak and Brutter as they tread through the cavern and out the other end. But what they saw shocked the eight with their own eyes.
There were a dozen Mine droppers with Gorilla Lurkers operating them as ropes were seen pulling something off a tar pit.
"What are they doing?" Jade asked in surprise.
"I don't know." Chase replied back.
The Lurkers begin pull the ropes up as something big was being pulled out of the tar pit which no one can see exactly.
Antonio then took notice of Babak and Brutter heading over to Celtic, Aguila, Mono, Serpiente, and Gato.
"Guys, there's Celtic! And he's got the Demodragon generals Kon told us about!" Antonio said, directing his family, Clay, and Grazer to see it.
Suddenly, Antonio even saw Babak holding something in its right paw. It was the Yellow Eco crystal as it glowed a little brightly.
"And they've got the Yellow Eco crystal!" Antonio said in surprise.
"We gotta get that away from them! Grazer, see if you can slow them down a bit." Chase said as he turned to Grazer, who turned back to him.
"I will do what I can to get the crystal." Grazer said as he flapped his wings and zoom towards the Lurkers operating the Mine Droppers.
That's when some growling was heard as the seven ponies turned to see the other Lurker soldiers charging at them.
"Oh, sure, leave the big fella to take care of getting the crystal while we deal with these guys!" Sunray exclaimed in annoyance.
"We just gotta buy Grazer some time and keep these Lurkers busy." Chase said as he and the others went into battle with the other Lurkers.
Eventually, Grazer came in and jumped on one of the Mine Droppers as he let out a massive roar as the Lurkers approached him. Celtic, Aguila, Gato, Mono, and Serpiente saw this as they glared at the renegade Wingquin.
Then half of the soldiers tried to attack Grazer, but he swats them aside and tail swipes the other Lurkers down. He then spots Babak holding the Yellow Eco crystal and charges at him.
One of the Lurkers tried to chain Grazer down, but he grabbed the other end and swung the soldier around a bit before tossing it away.
Babak had a crossbow armed and fired a few arrows at Grazer, but he dodged them as he flew behind the Gorilla Lurker soldier, landing behind him.
This made Babak gasp in surprise as he turned just in time when Grazer grabbed him and pinned him down and grunted in pain from the renegade Wingquin's grip. Grazer then grabs the Yellow Eco crystal in his talons and flew off.
"No! The crystal!" Babak shouted as he was about to go after Grazer when Aguila stopped him while using his wing to block him.
"No. Let them continue on so we can begin the next part of our plan so Talos can reawaken the Great One." Aguila said as he smirked at Grazer, who was flying down to help his friends.
"He's right. All we do now is let those fools fall into our trap once they head for Talos' volcano." Celtic said in agreement.
Chase, Jade, Sunray, Trini, Antonio, Clay, and Sokka continued to fight off the other soldiers as best as they could, but they just kept on coming.
"Just keep fighting, you guys!" Chase said as he spin kicks two Toad Lurkers aside and punches a Gorilla Lurker aside.
"Yeah, but what's taking Grazer so long?! We can't hold them off for long!" Jade cried out as the seven ponies were then surrounded by the soldiers.
Suddenly, Grazer came in and swatted the Lurker soldiers away as he roared out viciously.
"All Lurkers, fall back! Now!" Celtic called out as the soldiers turned and ran off to join him and the Demodragon generals.
Once the soldiers had joined them, they began to operate the Mine Droppers to carry the huge object covered in tar.
Chase saw Celtic and glared at him angrily as the unicorn stallion smirked at him gloatingly. The Lurker blimps were then out of sight as the seven ponies turned to Grazer.
"Buddy, did you get the crystal?" Clay asked with concern as Grazer smiled back in reply.
"I barely made it alive, but it was worth it." Grazer said as he showed the Yellow Eco crystal and it glowed a bit as the seven ponies smiled at this.
"Alright, way to go, Grazer!" Antonio said with a happy grin when purple electricity surged through Chase again as sparks of energy appeared around him before it stopped as he groaned in pain.
"Guys, we gotta hurry." Chase said with concern. "If Talos' curse is complete, I'll be lost."
"The Solar Eclipse is going to start pretty soon too." Jade said with concern as she looks at her watch and it made her scared. "We've only got twenty four hours before it begins."
"We've gotta get back to Twilight and the others before the Dark Eco begins to plague Equestria. Including Chase." Clay said with concern as Chase gave a determined look.
"Then we gotta hurry and get back to them. But right now, we still gotta deal with Klaww and get through the mountain pass." Chase said with a firm look. "Come on, guys. Let's go."
Without hesitation, the eight began to head back to Rock Village to find Twilight and the others. But as they kept on walking, Chase noticed the sun going down while the moon was slowly rising up.
The sight of it made him concern for this before he and the others continued onward back to their friends.
Author's note: Hey guys,
Here's chapter 13. I did my best on it with a danger coming the heroes' way eventually. I'll be back soon enough to write the boss fight the Elite Ninja and their friends will have to go up against Klaww. I hope you enjoy this one, it's not much, but it's worth it.
Peace out!