Author's Note
So, by popular demand, here you all are: a full fledged story based on The Broken Treaty, to which this takes place immediately after. You'll be happy to know I'm already half way done with Chapter 2.
Now for an important side note:
PLEASE READ!
Hello, friends. Most of you know this, but I'll be putting this in new updates once per story: back at the beginning of March, my Great Grandmother died. She was the woman who raised me and who I have lived with all my life. We all miss her dearly, and the only solace I take in the timing is that it happened before the Coronavirus shut down funerals.
Its been a couple weeks since the funeral, and I'm doing...better, thanks in large part to friends and family. After a week or two, I started writing again, obviously. Between everything going on, I needed an outlet and, well, to be blunt: writing is what I do. I didn't feel like showing my face on the net for a while, so I now have a small back log of chapters saved up, made at previous advice from some friends. I'll post one or two chapters a week, as to try and keep ahead of everything.
Now, here's the big news: I have no job, chiefly because I was always worried about leaving my grandma alone for most of the day. My life for the past few years has resolved around just making sure she's okay, gets her pills, the bills are paid up, we aren't in debt, etc. After the initial shock and sting of her death passed, one of my chief worries was that I'd end up homeless before I can find a job. Thanks to the amazing support of many fans contributing on my pat-reon and GoFundMe, I should be able to keep the house for at least a month while I job hunt. Given everything going on in the world, I deeply appreciate the help. Left over money from the funeral insurance, if it comes in soon enough, could keep the whole place going for a couple more months.
As I've always said, I will never hold updates hostage or anything like that. I will continue to post for as long as I am able, when I am able, with what I have. If you are willing and able to contribute to my pat-reon or GoFundMe, I deeply appreciate it. If not, I understand- especially with the gravity of everything going on. Regardless, I hope my stories can bring a bit of joy to everyone during these times of trouble.
I hope you all are doing well and handling the Coronavirus as best you can. Take care, be safe, and thank you all for everything.
Gathering the Legions
Rose Dusk breathed deeply as she watched her children drink from and play in a literal lake of chocolate. Hours ago, the absurdness of her surroundings would have overwhelmed her. A checkerboard landscape, floating islands, flying fish, and other such oddities were the basic background to a thousand and one impossible things: A cat-dragon of clay and a Timberwolf King playing chess with pieces that were alive and faintly screaming, a volcano that had rivers of purple flowing up it's side and down into it's hole, a band of jackalopes making music on adorable tiny instruments while riding a snake with two tails and no head.
All of this and more was present in the Anarchy of Discord. But all of that seemed tiny in comparison. Not to the civil war, the twisted Alicorn queens, or even just knowing her children were safe. Oh, that relieved her, yes, but there was something personally bigger she was trying to come to terms with.
She had died.
There were no two ways about it. She felt the awful, burning pain as the flaming arrow pierced her body. The indescribable agony as her brain tried to process the sensation of her pain receptors being destroyed from the pain before death had claimed her. The moment of her children witnessing her death seared into her mind as her eyes melted away from the magical heat.
And then it was all gone. The pain, the heartache, the fear...all just vanished. It might have been her manner of death, but she wasn't sure if she had been in a white or black void, just that she was floating. That she was going, somewhere. She arrived, briefly. She could hear a tiny voice calling her. A voice she had never heard, but felt so right.
A voice that called her Mother.
It was something, somepony tiny embracing her, welcoming her. Most embraces were described as warm, but after what she endured, she was so happy it felt soft and cool, like the autumn breeze.
That was when Lord Discord had brought her back. Back to this broken world, back to her children. The voice called out to her, telling her goodbye. It was a happy goodbye on those lips, but it brought tears anew to her eyes every time the memory of it reached her ears.
"What pegasus filly doesn't know how to fly?"
Rose Dusk was jolted out of her memories, wiping her tears away as she turned to the voice of her savior. Discord stood near her children, her eldest daughter flying after free-floating balls of chocolate while her second daughter pouted as her underdeveloped wings failed to bring her off the ground, the only male of her progeny giggling nearby and hopping into a ball of his own. He was smiling, but it was empty even before he looked at her. Without warning, he looked down at the ground. "Keep them entertained, will ya?" he asked to no one, his shadow suddenly jumping off the ground to salute him, to her children's awed alarm.
While the shade whisked around the youngsters, the draconequus floated over to the mother of three, who bowed lowly. "My Lord, t-thank you again for protecting us," she said gratefully, trying to keep her hysterics under control.
Discord smiled coyly at that as a pair of high-back chairs formed under them, accompanied by a dining table. "Let's be fair, I hardly protected you. I just, fixed you," he countered with a hint of apology to his voice.
"R-right. I suppose I should be even more grateful for being brought back," she said nervously, trying not to make eye contact and offend him.
Discord said nothing for a moment, studying her intently, weighing what to say and when. "What happened, Rose Dusk?"
Rose Dusk winced at that very weighty question. "I don't know," she admitted with a shuddered. "I was nothing more than a mother, and before that, a chariot puller. All I know is what we commoners perceived. The sisters grew tense and estranged," she explained before growing pensive and meeting his eyes for the first time. "How did you know my name? I never gave it."
Discord smiled mysteriously. "I needed a name when I told the Grim Teratorn whose soul I would snatch back."
"Grim Teratorn?" she repeated, feeling light headed. "So, I was really-?"
"Dead," Discord confirmed bluntly. "Owing someone your life is rarely as literal as this, I'd say."
"I-I'm grateful, Lord! Just-" Rose Dusk tried to assured, only for a raised claw to silence her.
"Resurrection isn't a trick I advertise, but I understand, Rose," Discord promised patiently. "You're in shock. Spiritual Shock to be exact. It'll fade overtime, the world feeling so off balance and unreal. Mortal souls are rarely used to returning to their old bodies."
"Spiritual...shock?" Rose Dusk repeated slowly, looking down as an empty feeling came over her. "Was that real then?"
The question wasn't at Discord, he knew, and didn't acknowledge it. "Not to mitigate your need to come to terms with your death's undoing, but we've drifted off topic," he informed, getting her attention once more as she sat fidgeting in her chair. "What else was going on in Equestria?"
"What else?" she repeated, blinking without comprehension.
"Before Celly and Lulu decided to try being edgy, evil drama queens," Discord clarified, his dark tone marring his jovial words. "Rebellions, famines, anything?"
Rose Dusk made a noise of understanding, furrowing her brow as her mind tried to recollect a time when the world seemed sane. "I had a brother and friends in the guard. They told me things, back then," she explained with a faraway look in her eyes. "Pri-princess Luna had grown more and more reclusive, and there were less and less attending her night court. Everypony-everypony among the nobles was hounding P-p-princess Celestia about crops. Droughts. Plagues. Medicine. There were many problems, all in the northwest."
"The northwest?" Discord repeated with a scowl as pieces of a puzzle began to form.
"I don't know why. All I know is that it involved Bugbears and Griffons. After that, the solar Princess was never the same," Rose Dusk answered solemnly before shaking herself out of a trance, looking meek before Discord. "I-I'm sorry that I'm not of much help, Lord. I...I...I..."
Discord quickly and quietly put up a barrier, making it look like they were just talking still. Those brats already saw their mother die today, they didn't need to see her crying in his arms. He grimaced as he held her. Caring, kind, shoulder to cry on? He was none of those things. He didn't comfort crying mortals, male or female, young or old. He was sometimes the reason they cried. But there was only so much he could watch without pitying. This mare had well exceeded the threshold needed to earn his sympathies, so he bit the cork and tried to deal with it.
"I'm so useless!" she yelled out into his fur between sobs of grief and hopelessness. "I could barely save my children before I died! I can't help the one who brought me back! I couldn't even br-bring my baby into the wor-world safely."
"She loved her mommy."
Rose Dusk stopped short as those words reached her, slowly looking up at him. "What?" she breathed, barely a whisper.
Now it was Discord's turn to not make visual contact, looking off to the distance out of the corner of his eyes. "The brat you were hugging before I brought you back? I guess you didn't hear her after she said goodbye. She was trying to tell you she loved her mommy. She was-" Discord paused to glance down at her glistened, desperate eyes, and grunted. "She was sorry she wasn't strong enough to stay with you and her siblings."
Rose Dusk slid off him like a ton of bricks, staring right through his torso as he released her. "A baby girl? I-I didn't even have time to make sure before we had to flee. I just knew she wasn't-" she stopped herself as a sorrowful smile came to her face. "It wasn't her fault."
"She knows," Discord assured, giving her a pointed look. "But then again, so do you. And seeing as I didn't have to pull any of your brats back, I'd say you did a good job getting them to safety," he mused offclawedly.
"I'm still not very useful to you, My Lord," she remarked, her tone lighter now.
"More than you'd think," Discord replied wryly before his expression softened. "So, who are the rest of your brood?"
Somehow, that sounded less insulting than she thought it should. Regathering herself, she looked out to see her children playing tag with the god's shadow. "W-well, the girls are the red ones. The oldest is Anemone, with the black and purple mane. She's always flying and loves making little rain clouds. I think she hates being dry. Z-zinnia is the grumpy one. She got some defect her father had. Her wings won't be the right size until puberty. I-it'll hurt a lot, it did for hi-him. Sh-she's always the stubborn one, the pessimistic one. Always scaring little Ran Unculus. No idea how he ended up with a coat of brown, but he got my light red mane at least. He's always hopping, for some reason. He cares more about jumping than flying, and he's good at it," she explained with a distant, wistful smile before wiping away her tears. "A-apologies, I'm rambling now."
"No, no. I asked for an introduction and I received a marvelous one," Discord waved off, grinning while nodding to the youngsters. "Why don't you go join them while I get to work setting up a nice little home for you?" he advised.
"I-I'd like that, Lord Discord. If y-you need anything- well, I imagine you'll just summon me if you do," she said with a nervous, thankful smile as she gingerly took flight to her children. By some magic of Discord or another, the fatigue of childbirth, fleeing to these lands, and more was all rapidly vanishing from her system.
If she had looked back, she may have noticed the dark figure that took her place as Discord's conversation partner. "You already knew her children's names, didn't you?" Sombra predicted keenly. "You just wanted to keep her attention on the children she still had, and not on asking if you could bring back the one she hasn't."
Discord hummed in confirmation, crossing his arms. "With the state she's in, telling her no could destroy her, in a sense."
"Yes, but then, isn't that what you do, Lord of Chaos?" Sombra countered with a smirk.
"Flippers, you have very poor survival instincts," Discord warned with a scowl.
"No, I just know the line separating your annoyance from your wrath," Sombra retorted with a snort, his smoke-like mane flowing in the wind. "So, Luna fell to her darker powers. I'm not surprised. The self-righteous have a habit of being the most self-conscious about how others perceive them," he murmured thoughtfully.
"Something broke Celestia," Discord stated solemnly. "That mare was made to endure. Luna's corruption, the hardships of Equestria, the enemies. She could have endured all that, but something happened in the mix that overwhelmed her, put a chink in the armor that was her resolve. Everything just fell apart after that. She lost hope in something out there, Sombra, and it killed her will to keep going on as the Princess she had been."
Sombra grunted as he glanced away. "Must you make me feel pity for the sun-wench?"
"Celestia? Yes. Daybreaker, buck no," Discord answered with annoyance.
Sombra eyed him for a moment. "Do you know what happened, after meeting her?" he asked suspiciously.
"No," Discord answered without hesitation, glancing off to the north. "Just a feeling I have."
Sombra hummed. "That probably means Luna is the more stable one right now. Or whatever title she made up for herself."
"Perhaps," Discord acknowledged. "We're not allying with either of them."
"Oh trust me, I agree! Likely not for the same or right reasons, but I wholeheartedly endorse a policy of being pure enemies with the alicorns," Sombra assured with a vicious smirk. "That said, Daybreaker might be the one we need to put down first."
"You underestimate those two, Sombra. Even in hatred, they are sisters. Now that I've refused Daybreaker's offer, each of them will never accept having their sister beaten but by their own hoof," Discord assured.
"Logically, the best strategy would be to wait them out and let them kill one another," Sombra noted.
"Yes, but that'd be logical," Discord countered with distaste.
"And boring," Sombra agreed with a hint of bloodlust in his crimson eyes. "So, what's the plan, Lord Discord?"
Sombra or Flipperhoof, he never thought he'd enjoy seeing such a terrible look upon the Lord of Chaos's face.
Timeskip
No one knew the true population of Anarchy. No country bothered to check or care how many inmates were sent there by other nations, and even if Discord permitted them to scout out his lands, it'd be impossible to tell between the many chaos-creations and inmates warped into entirely new forms.
So it came as a great surprise to the unwilling residents of this chaotic land when they all found themselves teleported into a great crowd. Thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands, with a single gap down the center of them. Some were pony, others weren't. Most were still recognizable as their born race, but many had been warped and twisted into one thing or another. A stallion with a face half made of sand. A dragon with hooves. A chimera that could have been any number of things.
Before them, seated upon his horned throne on a hill, was their warden: Discord the Draconequus.
Alarm bells went off in the heads of every inmate. Discord was almighty, if he wanted to deliver a message, he'd need only speak and all of Anarchy would hear his decree. To bring them all together, at a single place?
And that look in his eye, that scowl upon his snaggletoothed maw.
Something was very wrong.
As if a switch was hit, Discord grinned and held out his arms in welcome. "Scoundrels, sinners, and scum of the earth! Welcome to the first ever Court of Anarchy!" he greeted, but his jovial tone comforted no one. It was never meant to. "I'm sure you're all desperately confused about why I took time out of your lovely sentences for this little get together, so I'll cut right to the heart of the matter," Discord stated before, literally, reaching into his own chest to pull out his still beating heart.
They didn't flinch, not a single one of them. He casually crushed it with a sickening squish. But it wasn't blood that gushed from that organ; it was something else, something strange.
It was images, moving images in a semi-liquid form. Or perhaps like a solid mist? They all ceased trying to make sense of the sight as it washed over them.
They saw, and they knew. They saw the meeting of Discord and Daybreaker, the twisted shell that had once been Princess Celestia, and knew there was war in the world, in Equestria.
"There, now we're all up to speed," Discord said with a humorless smirk. "I happen to be in need of an army. Who's in?"
There was a tense silence as uncertainty ran over the crowd. "What's in it for us?!" someone in the back called.
Discord's smirk grew. "You get power, from yours truly. After all, I can't send you out there completely helpless, can I? Some of you get payback, as I'm sure many resent one or both of the sisters for throwing you here. If you don't, you'll probably want payback for what is happening or will happen to your homes," he mused before his grin grew positively manic. "But most importantly? Everyone that joins and survives this war gets a Pass."
And just like that, he had everyone's complete attention and interest.
"That's right folks. A one time, complete "get out of jail free" pass for all those willing to step up to the plate that manage to survive," he assured as they looked about themselves uncertainly. "Oh, I understand. You're looking for the catch. There's always a catch with me. And there is," he admitted, steepling his fingers as he looked out over them. "You don't get sent here for nothing, folks. Most of you are indeed scum: murderers, con artists, traitors, kidnappers. Rapists," he summarized as they all gave him wary looks. Casually, he held out his hands, gesturing to both sides. "Those on my right, there's no catch. You're all the ones who I know can, if you truly wish, control yourselves if given the chance. But you on the left? I know otherwise. You can't stop. It's like an impulse, an itch that never stops," he explained, smirking at the very uneasy second group. "So I'm giving you what you can call a gift or a curse, depending on your view. If you accept, I'll remove those little impulses that FORCE you to do such...terrible things," he elaborated, smirking coolly. "Long story short, if you end up back here, you'll truly have only yourselves to blame this time around."
Mixed reactions were amongst the crowd; Fear, excitement, horror, hope.
"Everyone else can go back to your regularly scheduled punishments until when and if you decide to join up in my little Discordant Crusade. But you know what they say: The earliest lions get the bigger prides," Discord added in cheekily. "So, I'll ask one more time, who's in?"
The Battle of Baltimare.
Even before it began, everypony with enough intelligence knew it would be one of the most heavily recorded events in future history books covering this war. If the army of Daybreaker could take it, they regained access to the Celestial Sea, but if Nightmare Moon's forces held strong, they could keep their solar enemies from flanking them. To say nothing of the supplies that could come and go from the port or the access to potential allies.
Defending the city was General Starless with five thousand Lunar soldiers and a small fleet composed of five warships. The city was well fortified while the river and sea were their own form of defense as well.
Invading was Admiral Smoke with an army of four thousand Solar soldiers and two warships, along with three thousand militia and eight trading ships rearmed for war.
The battle started unconventionally and secretly. Hundreds of militia and the false trade shipping had snuck in as refugees and merchants. At first light, they attacked, catching their lunar enemies off guard. With the defenses bypassed and compromised, the soldiers of the Nightmare had no choice to engage in a grudge battle, trying to put down the infiltrators even as the main enemy army flew and charged upon the river to attack the city walls.
And all the while, an unlikely pair watched from upon the hill as the battle unfolded. "The Sisters aren't coming," Sombra stated knowingly.
"This is just north of Anarchy's borders," Discord retorted, legs crossed upon his horned throne. "I suppose my warning worked too well."
"How do you want to handle this?" Sombra asked, his stoicism hiding his eagerness to join the fight.
"I'll take the north and the sea. I'll leave this mess in your capable hooves, Flippers," Discord answered with a grim hum.
Sombra snorted as the Master of Chaos vanished like mist in the wind. He turned about to lay his eyes upon what was just beyond the hill, laying in wait: the Five Legions of Anarchy, and their captains. Most were lucky to retain most of their original shape and form. Truly, it was a monstrous, disfigured horde. Perfect for striking fear into equally fearsome enemies.
Let it never be said that Discord the Draconequus was stupid.
"Your orders, Commander Sombra?"
Sombra smirked. It wasn't quite the same as being called king, but it had a good ring to it.
"Greld," he addressed to the griffon with wings made of glass shards and eyes that oozed an unending stream of orange sand, with a long and snake-like tongue to finish it off. "Take the Troglodyte Legion and bleed the air out of both forces. Hit and run them until they don't know friend from foe."
The thief gave a war screech with a crooked smile upon his beak. "With pleasure, Slave King."
Sombra ignored his old title as he looked upon a pony that was now a mockery of an Alicorn: butterfly wings in the shape of bat wings, bull horns made of timberwood, and cinder blocks for hooves. "Pound Stalk. Take the Donnybrooks across the river and do what you do," he ordered ominously.
The once-pony only grunted in acknowledgement, stamping his concrete hoof once with a thud.
Sombra shook his head at the talented brute before moving on to what had once been a Kirin, but now seemed to be some vaguely draconic-equine made entirely of small leaves, with yellow peppers for eyes. "Blessed Fruit, set up the Bumbershoots behind Stalk's legion. Tend to and protect our wounded. Put down any of theirs that gives you too much trouble."
The mare, or he believed Fruit had been a mare, nodded in understanding. "Lord Discord has instructed me briefly yet thoroughly on how to suppress the madness in the Flare Ponies," They answered, with an echoing voice of both sexes.
Sombra nodded back in acknowledgement before looking at- himself. "Dewlap," he scolded briefly, his likeness replaced by a solid black mass in the shape of a diamond dog, with pure white eye holes and a mouth as the only descriptive details. "Take the Codswallops down the river and find a way inside or onto the walls. Once you do, I leave it to your discretion to inflict the most damage with the least effort."
The smile was likely more intimidating than the dog intended it to be. "I have some ideas," he said with a devious snicker.
"And finally," Sombra grinned as he craned his head to look up at one of the only unchanged member of their group. A hulking bipedal with horns, cloven hooves, and one great eye. "Arimaspi, take the Cattywampus Legion to...tend to the Solar Army. I'm sure Lord Discord will be most pleased if you do."
"What about you, Commander?" Dewlap asked with a suspicious stare.
Sombra chuckled unnervingly. "I'm not sure. Depends on where this Admiral Smoke and General Starless both are, and who I can find first," he answered whimsically before frowning. "Oh, and before I forget?"
All five legion captains jumped or stepped back as a great, black scythe appeared from the shadows and impaled itself on the ground in front of Sombra. "Anyone thinking to pull some stunt and become a deserter answers to me, and then Discord. Do we have an understanding?" he addressed the entire army, his voice carried by their very shadows. They all remained silent until Sombra glared, "Do We Have An Understanding?!"
"Yes, Commander/Sir/Sombra!" the cries of affirmative, from fear or determination, met his ears.
"Good, now let us begin," Sombra ordered as he vanished into smoke and shadows.
Silence reigned for only an instant before the cyclops let out a great war cry, charging off with his soldiers chasing at his back. Greld snickered as Dewlap shook his head. "Keep an eye out for us," the silhouette-dog requested to the glass-griffon, before treading off to the east with his own share of underlings.
"Fruit, may we never have to meet before this is over," Greld nodded cheekily to the mass of leaves before taking flight with the only purely airborne legion.
Pound Stalk and Blessed Fruit shared a silent look before beginning their march.
Sombra watched keenly from the shadows as the plans started to unfold. Discord would do his part. How was the only question, with endless unimaginable answers. Now it just depended on how well this band of thieves and misfits managed to work together, even if just as a loosely organized horde.
The smoke of battle and from Daybreaker's army in general gave the Umbra plenty of cover with which to move about in with his shadow powers. True, making a grand and terrifying entrance was appealing, but he needed to confirm a few things for himself.
Lowering himself down a trail of smoke, avoiding the various pegasi with ease, the dethroned King of the Crystal Empire found himself watching as the solar army attempted to besiege the walls, at least the height of five ponies. The lunar defenders outside the wall had long since retreated inwards or been dealt with. The minions of the burning queen tried to assail the walls with siege ladders, their pegasi overhead trying to aid in securing a foothold.
The lunar ponies were valiantly attempting to throw them back: pushing off ladders, chucking spears, letting loose flurries of arrows. Yet the intruding forces amongst them were obviously keeping their efforts from becoming unified. At the sky was the only place Sombra could see where both sides were truly even, the lunar pegasi and batponies taking just as many runs at the solar army as their counterparts did of their ground allies.
It was the recipe for a long and grueling bloodbath between both sides. Without some sort of miracle, it would be a pyrrhic victory regardless of the winner.
If these were the only two armies involved, that is.
Still, Sombra scowled to himself as he studied the soldiers of the pony that once called herself Celestia. There were more than a few hundred that were like the ones he had seen with Daybreaker: fire-empowered and in varying degrees of animalistic wrath. However, a majority of the army was just ordinary soldiers. Loyal, but many were certainly confused and scared.
What had the sun-wench done to these ponies? His magic subdued a victim's will, it didn't warp them halfway into being a beast.
Saving such questions for later, he watched carefully for anything unique among the invading army. Something that would give the general away without being too obvious. A different design to the helmet, an extra coloring...something.
He felt his ire grow as he saw a hoofful of pegasi flying low to the ground, to and from a small forest to the west. Smoke was truly a coward, not even willing to be close to the battle. His mind flashed with the image of a snarling, demented Daybreaker and wondered if killing him here wasn't too kind of a fate instead of facing his burning queen in defeat.
The sound of a battle cry and stampeding limbs brought his attention to the south, seeing Arimaspi charging across the river with his Cattywampi while Greld's Troglodytes swarmed forth like a flock from Tartarus.
Feeling his choice was made for him, Sombra vanished from the field
Meanwhile
Admiral Smoke was enjoying the scene playing out before him, his armies clashing with the Lunar defense. Meanwhile, he sat from the forest in protective observation. He was not a warrior, his portly unicorn form giving that away with ease, but his mind was fine tuned for strategy. His plan was perfect in theory, seeking to cripple their foe's naval defenses while using the infiltrators to cause havoc so that the main army might advance unmolested, and bleed the Lunar forces. Ideally, they would get a foothold, but even if his forces had to retreat, the defenses of Baltimare would be crippled and depleted enough that at least one weak point should reveal itself.
The Burning Ponies, or Pyronies as some called them, certainly gave an advantage, each being worth at least three of their enemy's soldiers.
Yes, it was much better from him to command and direct from the flanks.
"Admiral! A new force has appeared, from the south!" a pegasus member of his personal guard informed urgently as he landed quickly.
"Whatever are you talking about, soldier?" the beige coated stallion asked with a scowl as he walked southward, gazing passed the trees. There was indeed a large force charging to the battle, both from the land and the sky. Too far to make out distinctive forms, but they didn't appear to be ponies. "Impossible, we couldn't have missed that many enemy soldiers and there's nothing to the south!"
"Except-" the head of his guard started, freezing as a troubled thought came over him. "Could the Draconequus have decided to join the war?"
Smoke paled at that thought. "Discord? Here?" he muttered in dread. "If it is so, this battle may be lost, and the queen will have to know."
"Trust me, she is aware."
Smoke and his two guards turned around in shock, just in time to see a dark unicorn materialize with a red horn, his great scythe swinging to slay the only three other soldiers at once. "King Sombra?" Smoke recognized, his mouth running dry.
"I see my visage is still known and feared. Tell me, Admiral, how long have I been imprisoned?" Sombra asked with an almost coy smile.
"You were...you were defeated twenty years ago!" the pegasus exclaimed in shock. "How are you even here?"
"Hm? Did the Alicorns leave my fate unknown?" Sombra asked with some genuineness. "Still, twenty years imprisoned in Anarchy..." He mused.
"Anarchy. So, the Lord of Chaos is behind this," Smoke realized, forcing a small smirk. "I never expected you the type to serve, King of Slaves."
The admiral fell silent, sweating profusely as he found the blade of the scythe pressed against his throat.
"Was that supposed to rile me?" Sombra inquired with an unamused tone, his fanged mouth giving a yawn of boredom as he removed his weapon from the solar officer. "Well, I believe I have wasted enough time with a coward like you. Dispose of him, gentlestallions."
Smoke scrunched his brow, only to grow horrified, turning as his pegasi guard leapt at him with sword in hoof, his guard captain barreling at him to keep him from fleeing. Both of their eyes solid green.
Sombra chuckled at that as he turned his attention back to the battle at hoof, the screams of the cowardly admiral serving as lovely ambient music to his dark heart. The cyclopes and his Cattywampi were tearing into the Solar invaders, the most monstrously formed overwhelming them with shock and might. Above, Greld's Troglodytes weaved in about the sky-battle, taking combatants by surprise before diving out. Lunar and Solar soldiers fell like sprinkles of rain. Dewlap was no where to be seen, so the Codswallops were probably on task. And the Donnybrooks had set up a defensive line that both kept the ponies from fleeing west and also protected the healing and supporting legion of Bumbershoots. Blessed Fruit's legion healed the injured, friendly or otherwise, while hurling and otherwise supplying poisonous and magical bombs.
It was rough around the edges, but everyone was playing their parts. He chuckled as he watch Pound Stalk march back and forth behind the protective line, waiting for an enemy to try and break through. Unlike Smoke, he wasn't hiding. He was waiting. Waiting for a foe that could compromise the line, to order them to break and let some enemies through, allowing him and the other heavy hitters of Donnybrooks to put them down. That was what he did, stalking and pounding.
Sombra allowed his scowl to return as he saw the fight for the wall become more desperate between the forces of Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker. The Solar forces were now trying even more urgently, not only to defeat their Lunar foes but also to escape the monsters coming for them. Without a leader, the army of the sun would destroy itself or break apart to flee, allowing the lunar ponies to refortify their position.
"I suppose it's time to cut the head off the other snake," he mused, turning his attention to the mind controlled soldiers. Or rather, soldier. More pegasi messengers had returned while he watched the battle, but he paid them no mind as the two thralls dealt with them, the captain falling victim to a one taking a dying, desperate bite out of his neck; that just left the pegasus. "Listen to me, foal," Sombra ordered, knowing that his victim was fully aware beneath the dark magic controlling him. "You will stay here, you will watch this battle, and when I set you free, you will flee to tell your Sun-Wench what has happened here. And tell her that "My Master Is Coming For You."
Sombra laughed maliciously as he sensed the pegasus shake beneath the mental bonds. While he didn't particularly love the idea of his image being repainted as Discord's lapdog, he'd live with it if it fostered fear in their enemies. Besides, if his pride could survive being a LITERAL lapdog for a month, it could survive this.
Besides, regardless of who was really in charge, this was turning into a promising partnership.
With that done, he turned into a shade once more, soaring through the battlefield. He weaved passed a scorpion-bull being pinned down by many ponies from both sides, dodged an eight legged stallion with mouths for hooves as he devoured an lunar archer, and flew over a mist of laughing-vomit gas.
He could have done more. He thought he probably should. But Discord had made it clear he wanted this battle to belong to the legions more than either of them. He wanted to bloody their various limbs. Sombra supposed that made sense, having to keep reminding himself that an army without mind control was a lot different than one made entirely with mind control.
Besides, if he trust Discord to do nothing else, it was to win.
Refocusing himself, he flew up the wall and materialized in mid-jump, descending upon the soldiers of the sun and moon, cleaving limbs and heads with a flurry of blood. One unicorn turned to rush him with a horn bright with an offensive spell, only for the horn to be cut off with a single cleave, the staff of the scythe sending the pony falling off the side, down into the chaos of the battle.
He glanced down, behind the wall for anything of note, and was pleasantly impressed. There was a command center here, and unless he missed his mark, the good general was glaring up at him.
Sombra vanished into mist as an arrow soared by where his head had been and impaled another lunar warrior in the shoulder. He reappeared on the table of the command center, scythe impaling into it as almost every pony jumped back. Everypony save her: ash gray coat with midnight blue mane, the batpony glared up with yellow slit eyes full of restrained wrath. "I've come to challenge General Starless."
"And who challenges me?" she asked, holding up a hoof before the soldiers could foolishly try to engage him. "You don't appear to be one belonging to the Burnt Hag."
Sombra almost smiled at that. "Sombra, former King of the Crystal Empire, First Commander of the Legions of Anarchy."
"Anarchy?" Starless repeated, her face becoming a stone mask to hide and contain the fear within. "So they weren't kidding when they said an army of monsters. I don't suppose Almighty Discord has any interest in aiding the Queen of Stars?"
Sombra smirked. "Discord defeated the Alicorns when they were united, why would would he care to aid one of their corrupted shells against the other when he could simply take it all?" he questioned rhetorically, laughing as she glared on-
-until he blocked an arrow with a strike of shadow magic, giving a flat look to the bold and foolish archer who was quacking in her hooves.
"Enough!" Starless called before anypony else did something stupid. "What incentive could I possibly have to even attempt taking you on alone, Commander?" she asked with a scowl.
"I suppose a prize should be offered as motivation," Sombra mused thoughtfully. "Very well, General Starless. Defeat me and all survivors of the Lunar Army will be free to return to your queen in shame."
"How is that a prize?!" another pony shouted in outrage.
"Do you know nothing of Discord? None, not even I, could escape his lands without him allowing it. Do you really think any of you would fare better?" Sombra challenged to all present.
Starless held his gaze for a moment before addressing her subordinates, never looking away from the Slave King. "Quarterdeck, you're in charge now. Do everything you can to hold this wall."
"But General-!" the stallion in question protested.
"If I keep this one busy and the Chaos Lord hasn't taken the field yet, we at least have a chance against whatever army they have fighting the Solar ponies," she interrupted sharply as she stood firmly and dawned her silver helmet. "Very well, Commander Sombra. I accept your challenge."
Author's Note
Okay, and here is the second chapter, fresh off the file. Hope you all enjoyed it, the opening salvo on Discord's entry for this war, which is also a test for his legions. And yes, they all have silly names. He had to have some fun with this!
It's probably pretty obvious what each Legion's roles are, but I'll clarify more after the Battle ends next chapter. And Sombra is right at home on the battlefield.
PS I have an original fic on my patreon now called Among the Amazons, the first chapter is free.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/akumakami64
https://www.patreon.com/Akumakami64
