Forgot to put a gore tag. Just giving you a heads up here.
Steve, along with about thirty guards and Jean, marched through the Equestrian lands. They had been walking for a good hour and only took one rest. While they were going to attack, Steve wasn’t planning on having them take Discord down. He wanted them to serve as a distraction to divert Discord’s attention from the Elements of Harmony. He already made that clear to his troops. They continued to march, the town of Ponyville appearing on the horizon. Steve held up a hand. He turned to face the guards.
“Alright, we’ve arrived.” He stated. “Listen, I don’t expect any of us to make it out alive. Not unless we have a plan. So does anyone have any ideas?”
They stood in silence as some ponies put a hoof to their chins. Several opened their mouths as if they were to going to say something but, then, closed it.
“How did Discord take Equestria?” Stone asked.
“What?” Steve inquired.
“Let me elaborate, it’s quite obvious he didn’t use brute force. We haven’t lost any guards yet. So how did he do it?”
“He just came in and took it quickly.” Steve stated.
“Exactly.” Stone said. “He took it quickly.”
“So what are you thinking, Lieutenant?” Captain Armor asked. “He can still easily overpower us.”
“I think we should split up into groups of four. When he approaches, we run away.” Stone stated.
“Sir,” the Corporal said, “you’re a genius.”
“Okay, but can’t he teleport and catch us easily?” Steve asked.
“That’s why we split up. When he focuses on one group, the others can flank him, allowing the group he’s chasing to escape.”
Steve looked at the lieutenant and sighed.
“I hope this works. Otherwise, we’re screwed.” He said.
Steve walked alone through the streets of Ponyville. Just like he expected, there was chaos everywhere. Parts of the ground were floating, it was raining chocolate milk, the grass was pink, and several buildings were upside down. He sighed as he stared down the draconequus himself.
“Discord.” He said.
“Ah, Steve was it? I’ve awaited your arrival. Certainly took you long enough.”
“Well, the chaos you caused didn’t help me get here any faster. But now I’m here. Where are the elements?” Steve asked, getting straight to the point.
“No need to worry about them. They’re okay,” he paused, “physically, at least.” He said that last part under his breath.
“What did you do to them?” Steve asked.
“That doesn’t matter. You can’t save them. In fact, you can barely even save yourself right now.” They stated at each other for a few seconds.
“Alright, the prove it.” Steve said.
“What?” Discord asked.
“You heard me. Prove that you can kill me. Come fight me like a man.” Steve said, giving him a ‘come-at-me’ gesture.
“Your foolishness will be your demise.” Discord frowned. Steve flipped him off and began running in the other direction.
“Come and get me!” He yelled in a taunting tone. Discord reacted just how Steve wanted and charged at Steve. He flew at Steve with speeds that put Rainbow Dash to shame. Right before he made contact, however, he was knocked to the side by a black blur.
“Surprise!” Jean yelled. She hit him right in the face, knocking him to the side. The draconequus was in shock for a second, but eventually got back on his feet. Jean took off in the other direction. Discord got up and began to chase her. He was immediately sidelined by a barrage of magic bolts. One unicorn bolt wouldn’t be a problem, but the combined magic of four unicorns was enough to knock him off of Jean’s figurative tail.
“Enough of this!” He yelled, angrily. Bolts of lighting filled the sky. He teleported to the unicorns with a snap of his fingers. However, he was clobbered by four pegasi flying right at him. They knocked him off his feet and began flying away. Discord began to chase them down, but was stabbed right in the chest by Steve’s sword. The wound didn’t affect him much, as he could heal in a split-second, but it was enough to allow the pegasi to escape. He turned to Steve. Who was running away. Discord teleported in front of the crafter, but turned to Steve’s left. He blocked a barrage of magic.
“You really think I didn’t catch onto your pla-.” He was cut off by another barrage of magic hitting him from behind.
“No, we completely expected you to catch on.” Steve said. They all knew that Discord would not be able to attack them. If he tried, he’d get hit. If he stopped to defend himself, they’d run away.
“You think you’re so clever, Steve?” Discord asked.
“It wasn’t my plan, but go on.” Steve said. Discord smirked.
“Come with me.” He said. The draconequus snapped. In a flash, he, along with Steve, was gone.
Steve felt a bright light hit his face. He looked around.
“Where the fuck am I?” He asked no one in particular. He did get an answer though.
“Your home. Well, your old home.” A voice said. He looked around for the source, before finding it.
“Discord.” He said bitterly.
“Remember this place?” He asked. Steve finally took the scene in. They were on a platform above his old home of Ironopolis. He watched as the night set in. The monsters rolled into the town. Zombies, skeletons, spiders, and creepers abundant. Witches appeared in smaller groups. A raids-worth of pillagers, vindicators, and evokers filled the town. He watched as they started massacring the other crafters. He watched as Lilly got surprise attacked and killed. Alex held her ground fending off pillagers. He watched as Mitch ran through the town, looking for Steve while fighting monsters. Then it hit Steve. How did Discord know what happened? Even if he could access Steve’s memories, Steve didn’t see half of this stuff happen.
“How do you know this?” Steve asked.
“Because he told me.” Discord answered.
“Who?” Steve asked. The draconequus smirked.
“Herobrine.” Steve’s mind raced. Herobrine? How did this fucker talk to him.
“He and I had a little talk before you came.” Discord continued. “He told me all about you.”
Steve sighed. There was no point in furthering his inquiries about Herobrine. The information would be useless if he couldn’t get out.
“Why am I here?” He asked.
“Oh, yes. Finally, you asked.” Discord said gleefully. “Well, the girls were playing a little game, and you’ve distracted me for long enough, so I thought I’d let you play a little game.” Discord told him. “Remember what you did here? After all your friends died.”
“I ran.” Steve said solemnly. “I ran as far away as I could from my home.”
“Exactly.” There was a loud clang and a door with a bright, white light shining out of it opened. It was on the other side of the town. “You ran once, now do it again. I wish you the worst of luck.” He said before snapping and disappearing.
Just after that happened, Steve felt the floor underneath him open up. He fell into the streets of the town. He landed, taking some damage.
“Ow. That fucker already put me five hearts down.” He said. Upon hearing him, the monsters all jerked their heads to his direction. Steve equipped his helmet. Any other armor pieces would slow him down. He pulled out his shield and sword. The crafter stood motionless for a second. Several zombies creeped closer to him. He pulled out a potion of swiftness and chugged it. Steve charged at them sword raised high. He feinted to the right of one before pushing another back with his fists. He ran by them, focusing on getting out, rather than killing them. Several arrows came flying at him. He blocked one with his sword, before dodging one to his left. He quickly dropped and slid to avoid another one. Quickly getting back up, he sliced at a spider that tried to pounce on him, pushing it back. He sidestepped a potion that flew just right of him. A squad of pillagers charged from his right. He ducked under a few arrows before jumping up and slick by at the nearest one. While they were reloading, he ran right through them. A zombie to his left gave him a strong push that did some damage and knocked him off balance. He continued to trip while he ran, but was shocked to see a creeper coming from his right. He put up his shield and fell on his left shoulder. The shield took the blast and he got back up.
“Almost there.” He told himself. “C’mon Steve!” He yelled at himself.
He pushed through two more zombies. The crafter glanced back at the swarm of monsters right in his tail. Right before they could catch him, he dived through the door.
The first thing Steve saw was a blinding white light. He squinted a little, allowing his eyes to adjust. When he regained his vision, he took the scene in. He was back in Ponyville. Chaos still reigned throughout the town, but his friends were nowhere to be found. Just as he got up, he heard a loud scream.
“Ahhhh-.” It cut off at the end. He quickly ran to the source. Rounding a corner, he stopped in shock. All around, there were dead ponies. Some missing limbs, others with their horns and wings chopped off. Some had their heads taken clean off.
“No, no, no, no!” Steve yelled. He could take the gore, it wasn’t anything new, but he couldn’t take the pain of losing his friends again. “Please, not again.” Steve said.
He looked left and right. A familiar dragon was to his left. He ran over to her and kneeled beside her. He looked at his dragon friend. One of her wings was missing and her face was bathed in blood. Several of her teeth were no where to be found, and one of her bones was protruding from her knees. Steve held her claw.
“Jean,” he started as he sobbed, “I’m sorry.” She laid motionless as Steve continued to sob. Then he heard a voice.
“Steve?” Someone said. Steve looked around. “Steve is that you?” It asked weakly. Steve was still able to recognize it.
“Stone? Stone, where are you?”
“Over here.” He said. Steve looked to his right. Sure enough, Stone was there. He laid there, critically injured. His horn was cut clean off, along with one of his hooves. His sword was plunged right through his neck.
“Stone? What happened?”
“Discord.” Stone said, coughing. “He massacred us.” Stone told him. Steve knew there was no hope. It was only a matter of time before Stone died.
“Stone, it’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna take Discord down. In fact, I bet the elements are on their way now.” Steve knew that was a lie, but he was taught to comfort a soldier that was about to die.
“I hope so.” Stone said. He coughed again. Steve sighed.
“Farewell, Stone. You will be missed, but never forgotten.” Steve saluted, tears fell from his eyes.
Stone looked up and smiled back. He closed his eyes and breathed his last breath.