Dark Fragments

Strummer opened his eyes, once again to an unfamiliar setting. He sat up and looked at his surroundings. He was in a forest, but it was different than the one on the island. Here, the trees were bigger, and he could hear the wildlife all around him. He didn't feel tired at all, as he did the last time he awoke. And this time, he remembered everything. The war, Stark Kairos, the Alliance, Princess Celestia being captured, everything. He jumped up, trying to figure out where they were. He was going to have to fly above the trees to get his bearings.

Torrent and Lance had woken up at the same moment as Strummer, who were also looking around.

"How many times am I going to wake up in some random place?" asked Torrent, "This is getting ridiculous!"

"Well, look on the bright side," Lance replied, "did you get your memory back? Because I did."

Torrent paused for a second, "Yeah, I did, actually! But, where are we now? It seems like we're in the same situation as before, only we got our memories back."

"Yeah," Strummer replied, "I'm gonna fly up above the trees to get an idea of where we are. Then we might-"

"Shhhh! do you hear that?" Lance exclaimed. Strummer stopped talking. It sounded like yelling and screaming. "It sounds like it's coming from over there!" he pointed to the right from where Torrent was standing.

"I hear it," replied Torrent, "it sounds like... a battle or something."

"I'm gonna check it out" said Strummer, "you guys stay here." and he flew above the clouds and headed towards the west.

Torrent chuckled "He really thinks we're just gonna stand here and wait for him to come back?"

"Well, he's out of luck if he's going to think that!" replied Lance,  and they galloped in the direction Strummer flew.

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It didn't take long before Strummer was looking upon the scene. He looked at the fires erupting out of the ground, the arrows flying through the air, the makeshift bunkers on both sides of the clearing. and the stallions that were fighting each other, their weapons gleaming in the sunlight, their yells and screams were deafening. Except, some of them didn't look like ponies; they looked bigger, and had wisps of smoke rising off of them, they were as black as the night, with their red, soulless eyes and dragon-like wings. Strummer recognized them as wraiths created by Stark, the Alicorn that defeated Celestia.

Suddenly, Strummer was being pulled to the ground. One of the wraiths had seen him, and was pulling him down with its magic, its empty eyes staring at him. The wraith let out a high-pitched screech, and the other wraiths in the immediate vicinity looked over and saw Strummer, and began to pull him down with their magic as well. He desperately flapped his wings, trying to break free of the hold the wraiths had on him.

Suddenly, a plume of fire engulfed the wraiths. They screeched in pain as they were being burned to a crisp, dropping their weapons and falling down to the ground. the magical hold weakened and faded away, but Strummer had been flapping his wings fast enough that one of them popped out of place, and he fell to the earth. He hit the ground with a thud, and got the wind knocked out of him. He sat up, gasping for air and looking around. He felt lightheaded, and his vision was blurry.

Then a voice brought him back to his senses. "Strummer?"

Strummer looked up at a red unicorn with an orange mane. His horn had smoke rising off of it, and he assumed that that was where the plume of fire had come from.

"Firebolt?" Strummer said, still trying to catch his breath.

"How are you... Where did..." Firebolt looked awestruck at the sight of the blue pony.

"What? What's the matter?" Strummer asked, he had now caught his breath and was staring at Firebolt in confusion.

"you... You're supposed to be dead!" replied Firebolt.

"What are you talking about?" Strummer said, "We need to get out of here!"

Firebolt got over his confusion and helped Strummer off of the ground. "you're right," he said, "Crimson! where are you?" he shouted over the noise of the battlefield.

There was no answer.

"Crimson!" yelled Firebolt.

"I'm here!" yelled a gray pegasus who came flying towards them. He had a black spiky mane and tail, with red dragon-like eyes. His katana was dripping with blood.

"we need to get out of here! I found Strummer!" said Firebolt.

"Strummer? That's impossible!" Crimson replied, "We saw him get-"

A wraith appeared behind Crimson and swung its sword at him, but Crimson dodged it, and sliced open the wraith's chest with a quick swing.

"We can't leave now!" yelled Crimson, "We're winning!"

Firebolt looked worried. "But if Strummer is here, then that means..."

Crimson's eyes widened. "Buck, we need to leave, now!"

They started to gallop to their bunker, but were stopped by a voice behind them.

"Good evening, everypony!"

They whirled around to a sight they all dreaded. Stark Kairos, standing over the dead body of one of the soldiers, grinning wickedly, and his eyes cold and heartless.

Stark twirled his dagger in the air, it's blade menacingly sharp. "Look who's back in the game!" he said, " I was beginning to miss the quarrels we used to have, Strummer," he looked around, "but where are your 'friends'? Did they not want to join the party?"

Strummer stood motionless. He was trying to figure out a way to escape, and he needed some kind of distraction.

Stark frowned, "It doesn't matter if they're not here," he said, "I still get to kill you. You have no weapon, and you're probably weak after awakening from the Island of Dreams. The perfect opportunity for me to solve a few of my problems!"

Stark gripped his dagger and started to advance on Strummer. He walked slowly, savoring the fear he saw in the three ponies' eyes.

Firebolt  stepped forward. "Enough!" he exclaimed, "No more games!" fire flew from his horn and engulfed Stark. The fire was blistering hot and could've killed anything it touched. It lasted for what seemed like minutes, and Firebolt, who ran out of energy, stopped the flow of his magic and fell to the ground, panting.

But when the fire died down, Stark still stood there, a shield of magic surrounding his body. He laughed hysterically, and looked straight at Firebolt, with a menacing smile on his face. "You really thought that would work?" he said, and threw his dagger into Firebolt's shoulder.

Firebolt yelled in pain, as he gripped the dagger, trying to pull it out. But it stayed in his shoulder, his blood gushing out of the wound. Crimson swung his sword at Stark, but he parried it with his horn. Stark kicked Crimson in the face, knocking him unconscious. Stark pulled his dagger out of Firebolt's shoulder, and continued to advance towards Strummer.

"This is too much fun!" said Stark as he swung his knife at Strummer. He dodged it, but a gash appeared on his face. He panicked as he tasted the blood that flowed out of the cut.

This seemed to make Stark ecstatic. "It's not very often I miss, but it's a thrill when I do!" He said, "I just wish I-"

Stark was stopped when a morningstar smashed against his face. The impact was hard enough to throw Stark to the ground.Strummer looked over at the pony he recognized as Mordekaiser. The black pony with dark crimson eyes and a thousand scars that riddled his body had saved Strummer.

"Go!" he yelled, "Now!"

Stark stood up, and felt his face with his hoof. The strike had made three deep cuts on his face. "You're going to wish you hadn't done that." said Stark, with an edge in his voice.

"Strummer? Where are you?" Torrent's voice echoed around the field.

"Torrent! We need help!" yelled Strummer. He picked up Crimson, and was backing away from Stark and Mordekaiser.

Torrent and Lance ran up to them, and saw Stark, Mordekaiser, Crimson, and Firebolt.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Lance.

"I need you guys to help Firebolt! He's hurt!"

Torrent and Lance rushed over to Firebolt and helped him stand up. He moaned in pain, and his face was getting more pale by the minute.

Stark slashed at Mordekaiser with his dagger, but he parried it and swung at Stark with his morningstar. Stark knocked it out of his hand and dug his dagger into Mordekaiser's side, The knife cutting through his armor like butter.

Mordekaiser grunted in pain as Stark kicked him to the ground. He raised his knife to deal the final blow, But Lance kicked the dagger out of his hand, and bucked him in the face. Stark growled in anger and tackled Lance with his hooves at his neck, strangling him. Lance choked as he fought to pry Stark's hooves away from his neck.

'I have to do something!' Strummer thought to himself. Then he saw Crimson's katana lying on the ground and picked it up. He looked at it, then at Stark, and held it above his head, and swung the sword with all of his energy at Stark.

Stark howled in pain as the sword cut from the base of his neck down to his stomach. He let go of Lance and staggered back, gripping his bleeding side. Then he saw Strummer holding the sword, with his blood dripping off of it.

"Next time," he said, "I won't be so easy on you." There was a flash of light, and Stark was gone.

Strummer dropped the sword and looked back at the other ponies. Crimson had regained consciousness, Torrent and Lance were applying pressure to Firebolt's shoulder, who looked pale as a cloud, and Mordekaiser stood up, gripping the spot where the knife had got him. The wraiths were retreating, and the warriors were cheering in triumph. But Strummer felt only dread, the experience with Stark was horrifying, especially since he didn't have a weapon to defend himself with.

"We need to get Firebolt back to headquarters" Mordekaiser said, "Heaven will know what to do."

Strummer looked at Firebolt, then at the bodies of those who died in the battle, and then he remembered just how terrible war actually was.