A fanfic in The Weedverse, it depicts the adventures of Shēdo, a diamond dog from Dig Dag's tribe who flees from him, and ends up finding a talking sword named Limey. Set before events in Venenum Iocus. She decides to set out on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against him with Limey's assistance, and ends up carving a bloody path through the fringes of Equestria.
Tropes:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: The sword that Limey is bound into. It goes straight through a diamond dog's chestbone and spine without any real resistance while in the hands of a pup.
- Alliterative Title
- Always Chaotic Evil: Limey describes Beholders as this, while encouraging Shēdo to destroy their eggs.
- Annoying Arrows: Averted, one comes very close to killing Shēdo before Conifer locates Cranberry, who is able to help.
- Ass Shove: Accompanied by loud complaints by the shoved (Limey), due to the disgusting nature of a troll's backside.
- Badass Boast: One Shēdo doesn't plan, being inspired by the Ink and laden with Foreshadowing of her future:Shēdo: THE BLACK HOUND COMES FOR YOUR HEADS! ALL OF YOU ARE BAD DOGS!
- Big Sister Bully: Celestia's previous attitude towards Luna is referenced.
- Black Magic: Cranberry describes green magic (such as Limey's aura) as almost always malicious.
- Blood-Splattered Warrior: Shēdo fails to get all the blood out of her coat before falling asleep after her first fight.
- Book Dumb: Shēdo had little opportunity for study under Dig Dag's tyranny, despite Minori's efforts, so can't count higher than three, amongst other things.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Shēdo picks up a case of this.Shēdo (in narration): Yes, it was just one pony, and one pony mattered.
- Clingy Macguffin: Shēdo isn't able to let go of Limey during their first meeting, and Limey makes it quite clear that he'll follow her.
- Crystal Ball: The Seeing Stone Shēdo retrieves for Chromium can be used to see the past, and was made by Terra Firma, Chronos, Pale and Eternity.
- Deep Sleep: After nearly dying, Shēdo sleeps for a week, during which she also acquires some memories not her own.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Limey has narrated for several powerful beings, including an alicorn named Eternity, a young Luna, and the brothers Chronos and Pale. As a draconequus, he's potentially quite powerful, but Chronos and Pale in particular are almost certainly magnitudes above him.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Shēdo isn't really aware of just how large and powerful she is, leading to interesting shifts in her description between her own thoughts and those of others, and her attempts to be friendly sometimes being taken as threats. It leads to a largely uneventful journey through the wilderness.
- Dreaming of Times Gone By: Shēdo begins doing this, starting with the Deep Sleep noted above. She learns that earth ponies and diamond dogs were meant to work together, and gives herself a divine mission to reunite them. It's almost certainly a result of her developing Enshrinement.
- Evil Former Friend: Celestia was Limey's friend, and is grieved by what has become of him.
- Exposition of Immortality: Limey, while recounting his history, casually describes narrating for a "crybaby blue alicorn filly", almost certainly a young Princess Luna.
- False Friend: Limey tries to convince Shēdo to give him up because he believes himself incapable of not being this, but she refuses, even when he claims to have had friends he betrayed in the past.
- Foregone Conclusion: In Venenum Iocus Tarnish and Maud kill Dig Dag and put Minori in charge, with no sign of Shēdo, making her quest moot.
- God Is Dead: The Nameless One claims that all the Diamond Dog gods are dead, presumably including the vengeful Black Hound that Shēdo is attempting to appease.
- Gods Need Prayer Badly: Shēdo is told in a dream that the old Diamond Dog gods died when the Dogs forgot about them. While Conifer is skeptical, this matches what is known about deities in The Weedverse.
- Gone Horribly Right: Celestia's attempt to save Limey from her elders became this, by banishing him beyond their reach, she unleashed a powerful weapon of chaos on the world.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: If Limey is to be believed, Celestia's attempt to bind Limey into a sword and turn his power to good. He got away before the process was completed, leaving him able to act with impunity and with all the advantages of being a magical sword. According to Celestia, Limey's present state is this, but for a different reason. The binding was originally his idea, using stolen magic to allow him to contribute to the war effort, but the elders interrupted his binding into the sword and tried to stop it. He defended himself, killing one of them. They removed his ability to self-wield and began tearing him apart, but Celestia was able to banish him before they could destroy him completely.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Limey's narration reveals an intense jealousy when Shēdo is readily accepted by the ponies in Rusty Rail.
- Hamster-Wheel Power: Rusty Rail uses a two-pony powered wheel to pump water.
- How Many Fingers?: After Shēdo takes a nasty hit to the head, Conifer tries this. He's satisfied by the answer (three), despite only holding up one hoof. It's not like Shēdo can count normally.
- I Choose to Stay: Shēdo leaves Rusty Rail far quicker than Conifer would have liked, and flees in the middle of the night, to Defy this, as she believes she must continue her journey to satisfy the Black Hound, and knew that the longer she stayed, the harder it would be to leave.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: All the chapter titles refer to the events of the chapter, and refer to Shēdo as a "bitch".
- Inhumanable Alien Rights: Limey was experimented on by Celestia's elders, justified by them needing to understand the Draconequus threat and him being to weak to resist. Celestia considers herself morally superior to them because she instead attempted to befriend him, and was punished for it.
- Interactive Narrator: Briefly discussed, when Limey is telling Shēdo a (rather exaggerated) rendition of her adventures, and she interrupts due to the wound she tooknote becoming infected.
- I Shall Taunt You: Limey being an actual weapon doesn't stop him also contributing to a fight in other ways.
- I've Come Too Far: Shēdo believes she is irrevocably lost in the mire of vengeance, but Cranberry disagrees.
- Kill It with Fire: The toilet troll is defeated when Shēdo sets it on fire, as otherwise it regenerates.
- Lemony Narrator: Limey is one in-universe, something that got him sealed in a sword by Celestia. At least, according to him. According to Celestia it was his idea, a way he could contribute to the war effort despite his weakness and the distrust of Celestia's elders.
- Magical Eye: Shēdo has heterochromia, and in her mother this was a sign of Second Sight, but she does not share the giftnote .
- Mundane Utility: Like all diamond dogs, Shēdo is a very good digger, which comes in handy when a cellar needs digging.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: Shēdo following this confuses Braeburn and Sheriff Silverstar, as she brutally kills the males of a Diamond Dog tribe, but spares the bitches and pups.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Despite Chromium's efforts, he hasn't managed to teach Conifer about personal space.
- Poisonous Friend: Limey uses the narration to describe himself as this in "A bitch has questions", though it's hinted at earlier on. He was trying to push her into becoming a violent warlord, rather than the heroic path she could walk. At the end of the conversation, he decides to release his hold on her, in the hope she might be able to overcome his mistakes and become the hero the world needs.
- Real Dreams are Weirder: Shēdo dreams of a place made from paper, including her own body, and where a nameless paper pony told her about the gods, and how she wants Shēdo to make the Diamond Dogs better. Conifer dismisses it as wish-fulfilment dreaming, but the nature of the messenger (a nameless alicorn) is significant to readers of other Weedverse stories note , and implies the message is genuine, as Shēdo has no other reason to dream of that particular creature. Conifer later also dreams of the paper alicorn, and this time it's Cranberry who is skeptical of the highly symbolic dreams.
- Riding into the Sunset: Limey attempts to Invoke this for Shēdo, but it doesn't go well.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Shēdo sets off on one after acquiring Limey. It's interrupted when she returns to her home to find Dig Dag dead by what she believes to be divine retribution, so she sets out to destroy all "Bad Dogs" in the name of the Black Hound. Cranberry attempts to dissuade her, if not from hunting down evil, to at least doing so to save people, rather than take revenge. Once Limey releases Shēdo, Cranberry begins to get through.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: Conifer, when being chased by a troll.
- Spot Of Tea: Raven's first solution to Celestia's distress.
- Stealth Pun: Limey is a hand and a half heavy broadsword about 5ft long, and is good at chopping, but can also be used to stab, making him a bastard sword.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: A not uncommon feature of Limey's narration.
- Talking Weapon: Limey.
- Unreliable Narrator: Unlike many Weedverse stories, this has an explicit narrator, who is a bound draconequus in a sword. In particular, his retelling of his origins is highly suspect.
- Wire Fu: Shēdo begins fighting like this, Lampshaded by Longhaul.
- Wretched Hive: Dodge City Junction is referenced, but Rusty Rail is actively attempting to Defy the trope. Or so they claim... They are suspiciously friendly, but don't attempt anything more malevolent than attempting to convince the heroes to stay, out of concern for them.
- Vomiting Cop: Both Braeburn and Sheriff Silverstar while investigating Shēdo's aftermath.
- You No Take Candle: Lack of education means that Shēdo sometimes talks this way.
