Eight
Year 504
Scootaloo
My spear arm wavered. Discord? The very same Discord spoken of in Xekora's legend, the terrible demon that Celestia, Luna, Xekora and the six heroes of old had to all unite against to defeat more than five hundred years prior? THAT was what we were up against now? Had the seal placed upon him by the royal sisters and original Elements finally broken...?
But as I thought about it, it started to make some kind of horrible, sickening sense. Celestia was dead. The Elements of Harmony had changed hands. Why then would the seal still work? The answer was simply, it didn't. Discord was free, and the leader of The Order. Now he had the Elements, and Luna was only mortal again. How the hell could we hope to stop him now?
And there was no doubt in my mind that the demon standing before us was Discord. There was nothing human about him: in addition to one hand being like a claw, the other holding the Blade of Blood almost looked like a morphed paw off of some kind of huge cat. His face was strangely elongated and covered in some kind of short, mud brown fur, and the only normal hair he possessed was a black Mohawk running down the length of his head and into his cloak, and a snow white goatee. He had two mismatched horns atop his head, one like an elk's, one twisted and blue, and had a single large fang sticking out from the bottom-right of his mouth, making his humored sneer all the more vicious and animal. What got me most were his eyes; the pupils and irises were as blood red as his sword, and the whites were in fact yellow. They sparked with a glint of insanity and unmitigated dark power.
"Ah, I see someone managed to preserve my memory all this time and tell the young generations of my power. Celestia did love her censorship, so that means... It was either you, my dear Luna... or that meddling elf, Xekora. But I digress, the point is that you remember me, and therefore remember the price of losing my game."
Luna was in shock, unable to speak, and Sweetie Belle's steady arm was the only thing keeping her upright. Discord's laugh was ever-present, and he seemed to derive enjoyment from her fear. "The price of course... is exile. When you lost years before the civil war, you were sent to wander the earth, only saved by the good graces of the Elements of Harmony. But I'm not one to drop my end of the bargain, and when you defeated me next, you banished me from the world entirely, fair and square. But Celestia seemed to have inadvertently taken up my mantle of chaos after violently seizing the throne from the previous Queen Platinum, and caused you to lose once again, and you were once again exiled, this time sealed away within the world, almost like myself. Now the game has begun anew, and it seems you have lost, dear Luna. You surely must know what happens next..."
I had had enough by that point. I hadn't the slightest idea what I was doing, but I sure knew I had to do it. Spear hefted over my shoulder in a battle-ready state, I stepped forward and between Luna and Discord. I said nothing, but my message was clear enough: 'Back off'. Bolstered by my move, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle stepped into formation behind me, katanas crossed and arrow notched and pulled back, ready to fire.
"No!" Luna objected, choked up with tears of pure fear. "Friends, get back! You mustn't get involved in this!"
"Ah, you've made some friends in these short five years." Discord commented, a new light in his eyes. "How nice. And it seems they are even willing to share in your defeat."
"They are innocent!" Luna screamed. "I know you will not spare us, but please let them go! They have no part in this sick game of yours!"
More horrible laughter followed. "No part? My dearest Luna, there is no longer such a thing as having 'no part' in my game. The entire world is my stage, and all people ever living are players. And those who are not with me... Are invariably against me. And your friends here, the 'Crusaders' was it? They appear to be against me. Unless you four would rather be with me..." He extended a claw in invitation, a dark offer not one of us even thought about taking. "No? Well then, that's that. And you shall all share in Luna's punishment."
With a maniacal grin, Discord leaned down and placed his hand on the ground, which began to smoke with dark resonance. From the earth arose four shadowy figures, with shiny black shells in place of skin, and haunting green eyes. The Elements of Harmony, floating above Discord's head, lowered towards these creatures, and they all four reached up to catch them at once, two receiving one Element, the others receiving two. As the stone spheres touched the hands of these blank forms, the creatures began to morph and change, colors erupting and shifting positions and dimensions adjusting slightly. They began to slow a moment later, once again taking definite shape...
They were almost exact replicas of the four Crusaders, save for the demonic grin on each one's face. The one that was supposed to be me sneered at me, shrugging with an Element in each hand.
Discord stepped aside from the doorway, allowing the doppelgangers to pass into the castle proper. He chuckled, still standing at the door, hand outstretched in mock welcome. "I might go after them were I you, children." he said. "Soon as they escape the castle, the will begin tromping all over the city in plain sight of everyone, before vanishing alongside my men. But in the end, the choice is yours. Ta-ta, Crusaders!" With that, he stepped back into the wall behind him, a mass of darkness swallowing him whole and leaving no trace of his presence, save the lack of six stone spheres.
The four of us exchanged stunned glances, and we knew we were in serious trouble. Those clones were going straight for the gates leading outside, and if they were seen leaving with the enemy... Everyone who saw would think it was us, and we'd have to hide for our lives. A single stunned, fearful nod was all we needed to jump into action and take off running after ourselves.
The halls of Eclipse castle were a wreck. All around us was evidence of Discord's bloody charge through to the vault: mortar and brick torn to pieces as left lying on the path, fires burning from misfired spells... bloodied bodies of countless royal soldiers. We didn't have the time to give those brave men and women a proper honorable pause, but I made a point of nodding to each as we passed, promising that they would be laid to rest soon. First, we had to try and finish what they died starting.
Soon the four of us turned a corner into a large, high-ceilinged hallway, at the end of which was another turn that led into the grand entryway. We were just in time to see our shadow selves round the corner, only fifty or so yards away. A very small sense if relief filled my mind; we weren't too late. We had almost caught up with them, and we had a legitimate chance to stop them and save ourselves. Weapons at the ready, we ran faster than ever after the clones, bursting fourth into the entrance hall only a moment later.
I collided with the ground a second after that. The spear brandished by my doppelganger had been held just below my line of sight, an obvious trip trap that I had managed to miss in my haste. I rolled spryly to my feet, ready for battle, the rest of my team on the other side. But to my dismay, I saw that it was only mine and Sweetie Belle's clones waiting for us; Luna's and Applebloom's were making a break for the exit.
"Scoots, move!" Sweetie Belle barked at me, dodging around her own copy. "We'll fare better if we aren't trying to top ourselves. Luna and Applebloom can handle us, let's go get them, quick!" A furtive glance back showed the two girls nodding briskly, swords drawn. Luna had called upon Xekora's weapon, the great dark-powered sword he was never seen without, and held it with semi-confidence.
I nodded back to them, out of options, and told myself that Applebloom could cover the less-skilled princess. I followed after Sweetie Belle in a rush, as she followed the two remaining doppelgangers. They were almost to the door, while the two of us had only just reached the stairway down, and for a moment it looked like we weren't going to make it... until we both charged a quick burst of magic, wind and light, and launched at them with all our combined strength. The clones were tripped up by the sudden attack, and fell to the ground with a satisfying thud.
Sweetie Belle and I took the grand stairway three steps at a time in our rush to catch up, and my spear was already on its downward arc when Luna's copy was getting to its feet. It hadn't let go of the Element tucked under its arm, but blocked my attack easily with its other. Its ebony wings flared out behind it, allowing it to retain its balance and get back on its feet. Beside me, I saw the Applebloom clone had recovered as well, while Sweetie Belle was doing all she could to pump it full of arrows and light.
I spun around on my hand and kicked the feet out from under Luna's clone, then leaped to my feet and went for a kill shot by jabbing my spear straight down. The doppelganger rolled away a split second before being impaled. My spear stuck fast in the somewhat explosion-weakened tile, but I kept the clone busy with a blast of wind that sent it crashing into the wall, while I worked on getting my weapon free.
The other two clones rushed past from behind us, followed by the beaten and weary figures of Applebloom and Luna. Before Sweetie Belle and I could react, all four copies were back on their feet and out the door. Eyes huge with panic and adrenaline, Sweetie Belle snapped everyone out of their daze by yelling: "Come on! We aren't finished yet! They only just left, we still have a chance to stop them!"
I shook my head clear, having frozen up for a minute, and yanked my spear from the ground. I felt for my other two companions: they were scared out of their minds and obviously just wanted to rest, and I could relate to both feelings, but that simply wasn't an option anymore. If we stopped, we were as good as dead. If we kept going, at least we had a chance.
With a single hoarse but determined battle cry, I brandished my spear and led the way out the doors, followed closely by the rest of the group. The night sky was a mess, with smoke and embers dwarfing the stars, and I knew that the Order had been busy in our absence. All around us we could hear the cries of terror from the people of Eclipse City, people distraught over the destruction brought on by these four lone demons, but my full attention was on the backs of the four clones several paces before me. They may have been fast, but they were mindless creations of darkness, while the Crusaders'
all too human fear and determination kept us going even faster.
Slowly but surely, we began to gain ground once again on the doppelgangers, turning corners sharply and never losing sight of our targets. Soon we were almost on top of them, and I was about to launch a gust of wind at them... Until they decided to screw logic and run straight up the wall in front of us, instead of making a turn. I cursed myself angrily, realizing that they were creatures of darkness and were not bound by the same rules that applied to humans. Without a word, Luna launched herself into the air after them, to continue the chase on the rooftops.
"Don't just stand there!" I said while looking around the street we now waited upon. "They're still heading in the same direction, just up higher now. We'll follow on the ground running parallel to the buildings." I took off back the way we came for a few yards, then turned a tight corner into another side street. Overhead, I could see the tiny figures of Luna and the four copies leaping across the rooftops in their deadly chase, and subconsciously began charging a blast of wind magic in my free hand. As soon as I got the chance to fire and send them crashing down, I'd take it.
I had to skid to a halt a moment later, as the figures above had disappeared from view. Did they turn a corner and I missed it? I thought, growing closer to panic. A few agonizing seconds passed as I tried to figure out what to do, what a good leader would do in this situation, but the answer was soon given for me. From the rooftop above, a lone figure dropped like a stone, wings dragging behind her, and I had to leap forward to keep her from colliding head-first with the ground. Luna had been knocked unconscious while chasing them, blood flowing from a wound atop her head and several others elsewhere on her body.
It only got worse from there. I watched helpless as the clones jumped to the next roof, and realized with a jolt of horror that four more black-cloaked individuals were there waiting for them. All eyes in the city must have been on that rooftop, watching the Crusaders hand over the most powerful weapon in Equestria to these terrorists. Tears stung my eyes, tears of anger and defeat. I felt absolutely useless. Why is this happening to me? Why can't I fly up there and stop them? Why did I have to be born with these stupid broken wings?
I was able to do nothing but cradle Luna's unconscious body and watch in despair through my tears as the eight figures above vanished in a huge mass of darkness, carrying what might have been our last hope with them, and leaving the four of us suspected criminals that couldn't possibly defend themselves.