Memories of the Fallen

Black murky clouds cover the dusk sky over the Badlands. A castle made of stone connects atop the highest mountain there, ruled by the god of chaos himself. He sits about twenty feet from said castle on a lower area on a large, throne-like stone. He sighs contentedly, sticking his chest out with pride as he gazed at his accomplishment. All of this land was his, and soon enough he will be controlling perhaps even the griffon kingdom. Two mares he had brainwashed are catering to him hand and foot.

“What a fine day for chaos, wouldn't you say ladies?” he sighs whimsically.

"It sure is, master Discord," moans the mint colored mare.

"Indeed, master Discord," groans the grey one. Discord looks over at a pony covered in a large cloak, a hood covering her eyes and mane. She stood on a large boulder about ten feet away that peaked over Macintosh hills, her gaze fixtures on a far away place.

"Are you feeling the chaos?" he smirks

"Yes master Discord..." she murmurs. Discord pouts and leans onto one arm.

"You really need to lighten up. It's been over ten years and you still stand there like a statue."

"Sorry master Discord."

“Could you at least get me a pillow? These stone chairs are a disaster for your back,” he groaned in slight pain, his long, snake-like body stretching as his joints cracked loudly.

“Yes, master Discord,” the mare mumbled and took flight towards the castle doors.

Just then, Discord catches a small group of ponies headed right for their grounds. He spat out a magnifying glass from his mouth strangely, and looked into it. It provided a perfect closeup, as if looking through binoculars. Through them, he saw a familiar dark gray stallion with black and green hair, with his comrades.

“What's this?” Discord questioned, a small but curious smirk on his face. The cloaked mare paused to look over her shoulder, catching sight of them as well. She landed once again and caught up to Discord. The chaos maker could only grin, as he found his source of fun for the day.

“We have guests! Oh it's been a while since we've had company!” he waves his hand, and a large group of shadow ponies appear in front of them, some donning wings while others have horns. Their bodies seemed almost as if they were a dream, their silhouettes waving and altering like water. Their only physical differences are the sets of horns or wings protruding from each one. They all stand in line and salute their master. Discord waves at them and smiles bashfully.

“Oh you,” Discord giggled with red cheeks, “Make sure our guests are... entertained.”

Charcoal and Scootaloo stand in front of the castle entrance with four other pegasi and unicorns. She looks at him and repositions the feather launcher in her hoof.

"You think we may be able to stop him?" she looks at the castle, a bit intimidated.

"We've come this far, and weeks of scouting showed that he was alone the whole time he was holed up in there." Charcoal stamps his hoof onto the ground. "If we're going to put an end to this, we have to do it now." The six of them began their trek up the mountain-like stones which used to belong to the dragons during migration. Trotting through the steep cliffs, the ponies could feel the dark ambiance thicken as they get closer to their destination. A loud boom echoes from the outside as lightning strikes near their position and the clouds darken as thick fog rolled in. Scootaloo jumps a bit and looks around.

"Yikes! That was close! I didn't know weather changed that quickly now." she observed. As she struggled to see through the fog.

"I don't think it was the weather..." Charcoal grunted, gritting his teeth.

"Right again, Charcoal Shift." chuckled a dark, familiar voice, with which they could not pinpoint the source. There was a childish laughter, followed by another, and another. The sounds begin to mix and form an ensamble of laughing children that messed with the group's psyche. The fog thins out a bit and the small group were confronted with two rows of what seemed to be ponies covered in a thick, dark aura. Charcoal stands firm, though nervous, as the rest of them take a short step back.

"What the hell are those things?!" Scootaloo shook.

"You like them? They're my own personal brand of shadow ponies," a voice echoed.

"Still a coward after all these years, aren't you?" The dark stallion smirks.

"Au contraire my little pony, I'm just playing a little game. It's like chess, only I have more pieces."

"And you think that can stop us?"

"Well it's certainly intimidating your little soldiers."

Charcoal turned to see the rest of them shaking slightly. However, Scootaloo starts to chuckle, and slowly builds to a loud laughter.

"What's so funny? Did I miss the joke?" The voice sounded a bit perplexed

"I'm not shaking out of fear." She grins "I'm shaking out of anticipation." The orange pegasus pointed her feather launcher at the large group of shadow ponies and fired off a round. An orange feather shot out of the large barrel and stuck to the ground right in front of them. There was a short silence, followed by laughter from the opposing team.
"Boom..." Scootaloo whispered as the feather begun to shine and detonate in front of the shadow ponies, killing two immediately and leaving a few others injured. The rest began to charge towards the six of them. Charcoal brushed off the first one that flanked him from the left and took down the diving pegasus with his mechanical leg. He quickly grabbed the distracted pony by the neck and chucked it towards a few others, knocking them off their hooves. Scootaloo's wings spread and she jumped up and hovered in the air, scoping out any shadow pegasi and taking them out with a shot from her launcher. The rest were able to hold their own, but were easily outnumbered. Two of the shadow ponies pinned a unicorn and had the others beat it senseless. A yellow pegasi began to clash with the enemy, only to have her wing clipped and sent spiraling into the ground, leaving Scootaloo in the air to fend for herself.

“Raindrops!” The other pegasus, Cloudchaser, yelled as she runs to the hurt pony.

“I'm fine, I'm fine,” Raindrops grunted as she rubbed her clipped wing. The two turned to see shadow ponies surrounding them with wicked grins, closing in. A blue unicorn caught sight of this and casted his magic, sending the shadow ponies away from his teammates. He rushes to them and he sees they've already gotten their hooves on the two. They were alive, but badly injured.

"I don't know how much longer this is gonna last, Charcoal!" Scootaloo yelled, picking off any shadow pegasi that dared to go airborne.

"What are you talking about? We're handling ourselves just fine!" He grunted, jabbing his broken horn into one of the shadows and tossing it across the battlefield.

"We are, but not the others!" As he was blocking an attack, Charcoal looked back to see one of the unicorns dead, both pegasi injured, and the last unicorn heavily surrounded while he was protecting the two that were still alive. The dark grey stallion knocked him off guard, sending him backwards a bit. He quickly gets to his feet and bucks the shadow that was trying to attack him, sending him flying back about five feet. His days working at the orchard had come through in the end.

“Damn,” he tisked under his breath, watching the three ponies get bombarded by their enemies.

"Scootaloo, change tactics. Protect them!" He gallops and tackles through the shadows, knocking them aside. The unicorn looks at him with relief, but his expression changes to shame and he lowers his head.

"You did what you could, Pokey. Just put a shield around the three of you and back me up."

Discord yawned and tapped on the arm rest. He was getting quite bored of the show, and wanted something more thrilling to happen. He snapped his claws and a bowl of cotton candy appears on his lap.

"I didn't think the tables would turn on them so quickly. It's a shame." he sighed.

The same hooded mare from before stepped up. "Allow me to take care of them master Discord."

"Well, that'll liven things up a bit. Take care of them, and be sure to bring back the dark one, and the pegasus will you?"

"As you wish master Discord." she gallops quickly into the battle. She looks at the two ponies guarding the rest of the group and chuckles. They managed to fight off most of the shadow ponies and only a handful are left. As they spot the hooded mare, they back off and line up in front of her in rows of two. Charcoal looks up and cringes.

"I already wasted my stamina dealing with these guys, and now there's another?" He huffed

"I'll make this quick." The mare lowered her head and sped forward. It was as if her hooves never touched the ground as she appeared behind the dark stallion and kicked him towards the center of the hall. Scootaloo returned fire with her feather launcher, but she disappeared before the feather exploded.

"Where the heck did she--" The pegasus was cut off by a swift hit to the back. She spiraled out of control and crashed next to Charcoal. They both look up to see the mare hovering in the air. She lands in front of the ponies covered in the shield and starts to pound on it with her hoof.

"Figures..." Charcoal stumbles to his hooves and rushed towards her. She sidesteps and kicks him back across the hall.
The shadow ponies dash past the the grounded ponies and begun to force their way through the shield. The unicorn grunts and tries to hold his stance.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up..." Pokey groans. Both Charcoal and Scootaloo jump up, the dark stallion charging forward while the orange pegasus provides covering fire from the back. The mare deflects the feathers and pushes back Charcoal once more. Pokey buckles under the pressure and the shield fades, giving the shadow ponies the chance to overwhelm them. Charcoal tries to fight his way through as the wounded trio are torn limb from limb by the shadows, screaming in pain. The hooded mare grins as she toys with the distressed stallion and tosses him back and forth by his tail. Scootaloo couldn't get a clear shot as she tosses him across the rocky field and uses him as meat shield. The screams dull to a murmur, and then a cold silence. The shadow ponies back off to reveal the maimed group, covered in blood and their joints bent in all the wrong places. Charcoal grits his teeth and tries to stand, but being tossed about finally wore him out.

"Have fun with them, but keep them alive, master Discord wants to deal with them first hoof." The mare smirks.
Discord laughs as the two ponies are beaten senseless and leans back onto his throne. The hooded mare returns with the two of them chained by their hooves and dragged across the floor. Both are covered in cuts and bruises and Scootaloo is unconscious from all the trauma.

"I have brought you the two that you have requested." The mare spoke.

"Very good. Remind me to reward you later, after I deal with them that is." he looks at them and grins evilly. Charcoal looks up and spits a bit of blood from his mouth.

"This isn't over Discord! You and I have a score to settle!" he roars.

"My, still holding that grudge I see? How long has it been? I've lost count."

"You're gonna pay for this... You're gonna pay!" Charcoal struggles with all his might to try and break free from the chains. Discord shakes his head and sighs.

"Ah the young and the restless..." he swipes at his chest, cutting two gashes into the stallion's chest. He grunts in pain as his blood spills onto the ground.

"This is why I have my throne outside." Discord shrugs. He releases Charcoal's chains and lifts him up by his mechanical leg.

"I love this new attachment you put on yourself." He glances at the workings of the metallic leg and proceeds to crush it within his claws. The leg short-circuits and becomes useless. He drops the semi-conscious pony to the ground and sighs in satisfaction.

"Take them to the dungeon. I'm going to enjoy torturing them." The hooded mare grabs the two of them and drags them off to the dungeon below.