Next chapter, sorry for being a troll last chapter but I just couldn't resist. There is a lot of juice in this chapter, hope you enjoy.
Dark clouds rolled over the skies of the former Crystal Empire. Bodies and blood flooded the streets in a scene of unending death. Discord stood pitched up on the roof of Sombra's throne room. It delighted him to see such chaos befall the so called 'Land of Harmony'.
"Discord!" Sombra yelled. The lord of chaos slithered into the throne room where Sombra sat with an elaborate dark crown over his head. Four Mordras stood at either side of his throne, not that he'd really need guards to defend himself. He also had the heads of Rubios and Emeralda placed on pikes at the entrance.
"Yes?" Discord asked as he snapped his fingers and a cloud of cotton candy appeared above his head. He dug into it and began eat it.
"I believe some congratulations are in order." Sombra said as he stood up. Discord gulped, in every story he ever read the bad guy's lackey always got killed when he was supposed to be rewarded for his help.
"What do you mean?" Discord asked trying his best not to sound scared.
"I would have never accomplished any of this without you, so in return, I shall grant you anything your heart desires." Sombra said.
"Really?" Discord asked relieved.
"Indeed." Sombra said.
"Well lets see I have about everything I would want." Discord said as he began to use his fingers to count. "I've been set free from stone, I've been given all this glorious chaos, what else could I possibly-OH YES!"
"What is it?" Sombra asked.
"I want Celestia," Discord said. Sombra was disappointed, he wanted to be the one to kill Celestia but he was a pony of his word.
"Very well, when Equestria falls I will have her head placed on a silver platter and brought to you." Sombra said.
"No, not dead." Discord said. "I want to make her my slave." Upon hearing these words, the gears in Sombra's head began to turn as a dark plan formed.
"Of course! Why did I not think of it before?" Sombra said.
"Think of what?" Discord said as he finished off the cotton candy cloud.
"I was originally just going to enslave Princess Luna, but why not enslave ALL the royalty?" Sombra said laughing.
"Two things: How are you going to defeat FOUR alicorns and two, why the interest in Luna?" Discord asked.
"All answer those in order." Sombra said. "Cadence is weak and she will be no threat. Celestia and Luna are only powerful when together, separated they will fall. The biggest threat is Astro and even he will fall."
"How will he fall?" Discord asked.
"You shall see." Sombra answered. "As for Princess Luna, we have quite a history together."
"Quite a history?" Discord asked confused.
"You are familiar with the tale of Nightmare Moon are you not?" Sombra asked.
"Yeah so what?" Discord asked.
"Lets just say they left out some minor things in the story." Sombra said.
"Like what?" Discord asked.
"You shall see, you shall soon see." Sombra said as he watched his army gather over the horizon. Once I have the alicorn amulet, I shall become a god once again! You could never have stopped this Faust!
"Autumn, are you alright?" Rarity asked her lover.
"No, I am NOT alright!" The stallion harshly replied. "My little brother is DEAD!"
"It wasn't your fault!" Rarity said trying to calm him down.
"How would you feel if Sweetie Belle was killed and you weren't there to help?" Autumn asked. Rarity was speechless, if anything ever happened to her beloved sister she would never forgive herself.
"I suppose I would feel the way you do." She said.
"I need to be alone." Autumn said as he got up and stomped away so hard his hooves put holes in the ground.
"Oh Autumn." Rarity sadly said.
"HIYA RARITY!" A blob of pink that appeared out of nowhere said causing the fashionista to fall over in stark terror.
"Oh my! Pinkie Pie! Please do not sneak up on me like that, you know I have a low tolerance for surprises." Rarity said dramatically.
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said as she she saw Autumn stomping away. "What wrong with him?"
"His brother didn't make it, he is devastated." Rarity said drooping her head down.
"Oh thats so sad!" Pinkie said sniffling. She remembered how crushed Applejack and Applebloom were when they thought Big Mac was dead. "I know what would cheer him up!"
"Pinkie darling, I don't think he is in the mood for cupcakes or a party right now." Rarity said trying not to sound mean.
"But who doesn't love parties and cupcakes?" Pinkie asked.
"Did somepony say 'cupcakes?" Blitz asked as he ran out from nowhere with a smile beaming on his face.
"You bet I did Blitzy!" Pinkie said pulling out a tray of Blitz's favorite treat, red velvet cupcakes. Rarity just sighed as Pinkie and Blitz began to gorge themselves with the sweets.
"RARITY!" A voice called out. Rarity's ears perked up as she heard the voice. She lifted her head and saw her sister trotting towards her.
"Oh hello Sweetie." Rarity said hugging her sister. "How are you doing?"
"The doctor said I'll be fine." Sweetie said. She had just been released from the hospital after the Mordra had choked her. She had heavy bruises under her coat on her neck. Rarity was enraged that some monster had hurt her sister.
"Whats wrong sis?" Sweetie asked noticing Rarity's sad expression.
"Nothing its just, Autumn is very upset over his brother." Rarity said.
"Are you okay though?" Sweetie asked. "He didn't hit you or anything did he?"
"Heavens no! Autumn would never lay a hoof on me! I just feel so bad for him." Rarity said.
"Do you want to grab something to eat? It would take your mind off everything." Sweetie said. Rarity was going to object until she realized ever since Sweetie had finished school and moved onto a singing academy, the two hardly talked anymore. She also remembered how much Sweetie tried to get her attention when she was a filly and how Rarity rarely made time for her. Rarity decided to make time to spend with her sister.
"That sounds lovely." Rarity said as two made their way to a nearby diner. The two began to talk about each other and how their lives were going, they eventually got on the topic of Spike.
"I still can't believe Spike is a COLT-II." Sweetie said.
"As do I, I can't believe Spikey-Wikey is all grown up!" Rarity said.
"You know he had a huge crush on you when he was younger." Sweetie Belle said.
"Yes I was quite aware but I knew it would never last." Rarity said.
"What do you mean?" Sweetie asked.
"Don't get me wrong, Spike is a very sweet and kind dragon but it was only a childhood crush and they never last." Rarity said. "When I was a filly, I had a crush on former captain of the guard at the time, Captain Chivaly. Beside, Spike has found a new pony."
"HE HAS!?" Sweetie said out of concern and worry as she slammed her hooves on the table. Her outburst brought the looks of several other ponies in the diner.
"Well I say." Rarity said chuckling.
"Sorry bout that, but who is the pony Spike likes?" Sweetie asked.
"Is it really that hard to tell? Rarity asked Sweetie rhetorically as their food arrived and they began to eat.
Big Mac had been spending most of his time with Luna. Truth be told, he did miss bucking apples at Sweet Apple Acres. He missed the crisp smell of the apple trees, he missed the soft, brown dirt, he missed watching the sunset from the farmhouse. Someday he promised himself that he would return to his home. He turned to see Luna sleeping soundly. She was the Princess of the Night so she was awake all night and slept throughout the day. Big Mac smiled as he exited her bedchambers. He needed information on this Sombra and he knew exactly where to go. He ran out of Luna's corridor and headed for Celestia and Astro's corridor. Even though he could run on two legs, he was faster on all fours. He saw COLT-II's guarding the entrance to the private chambers, not that Astro would need any protecting.
"Can I help you sir?" One of the guards asked.
"Is the Prince here?" Big Mac asked.
"He is busy right now and-"
"Let him in." Astro said from inside. The two guards nodded and allowed Big Mac access. Big Mac entered and was impressed by the room. There were portraits of Celestia and her family that dotted the room and there was an exquisite bed where the sheets appeared to be flowing like waves. There was a fireplace and adorned above the mantle was Astro's COLT armor.
"Wow." Big Mac said.
"Big Macintosh, to what pleasure do I owe this visit?" Astro asked.
"Oh." Big Mac said bowing. "Ah needed some info."
"On what exactly?" Astro asked.
"This Sombra fella and his lackeys." Big Mac said. Astro sighed as he used his magic to lock the doors and windows to the room.
"Big Mac are you familiar with the story of creation?" Astro asked.
"Sumwhat, mah ma and pa told me stories about how Faust created the heavens and Equestria." Big Mac said.
"There is more to it than what you were told." Astro said. "In the beginning when Faust created the world, she created the race of alicorns in her image. She had given the alicorns jurisdiction over all other life on Equis: The griffons, the dragons, the zebras and so forth. The alicorns purpose was to help the other creatures and teach them harmony. To do this task, the alicorns were given massive amounts of power such as control of the sun and moon. For a time it was peaceful and all the races truly coexisted but good things always come to an end."
"Why, what happened?" Big Mac said.
"Faust allowed free will to the alicorns and there was one who rebelled." Astro said. "Give you one guess who."
"Sombra." Big Mac said.
"Yes, Sombra was once an alicorn. Legend says he was the most powerful and beautiful of all the alicorns. Sombra was blinded by power and felt that he should be in charge since he was the most powerful being in the universe second to Faust. He incited rebellion among all the alicorns save only six who remained loyal to Faust. Faust blessed the six alicorns with the elements of harmony and they easily stopped the rebellion and as punishment, Faust took all the alicorns who had gone against her and stripped them of their power and immortality. She split their wings and magic and they became the three tribes of Equestria."
"The unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies." Big Mac said.
"Faust allowed the six alicorns who were loyal to her to rule over Equestria. These six alicorns included my parents, Celestia and Luna's parents, and Cadence's parents. Faust was merciful and allowed Sombra to live and keep his magic but he was stripped of his wings and cast down to Equis and was never to enter the Immortal Pastures unless he redeemed himself. He was still blinded by anger and instead of simply repenting, he attempted to take over Equestria for himself. He used his supernatural powers to create the spells which turned ordinary creatures into Darklings and Mordras. He manipulated the griffon kingdom into doing his work." Astro said.
"Is that why the griffons attacked us?" Big Mac asked.
"I believe so, Claws Von Griffon was a direct descendant of the griffon king who swore allegiance to Sombra." Astro said. "The six alicorns used the elements to obliterate Sombra's armies but they all perished in the process. Since Sombra survived he led the three tribes of Equestria astray inciting hatred and chaos in the land. Faust again was merciful and sent the daughters of the loyal alicorns, Celestia and Luna, to defeat him and allow the three tribes to set aside their differences and they united in the holiday we call."
"Hearths Warming Eve." Big Mac finished. "But ah thought the wendigos caused all the hate."
"The wendigos fed off the hate, Sombra created it." Astro replied.
"Ah'm just curious though, where did Discord come from?" Big Mac asked.
"Discord was originally created by Faust to act as a prophet for Equis after the alicorns fall from grace. His unique anatomy was to show that all the civilizations in this world could live in harmony since he contained a part of each creatures anatomy on his body."
"What happened to him? Why did he turn bad?" Big Mac asked.
"With Sombra's corruption in the world, the ponies, griffons, dragons, zebras, and all other races viewed him as a freak of nature due to his physiology. They shunned him and hated him. Discord, out of spite, used his powers for chaos and disharmony. Celestia, under the guidance of Faust, was forced to seal him in stone which was preserved by harmony so whenver there was great disharmony, the seal would break and he would escape. All the violence and chaos in the war broke the seal which is why he roams free."
"Wow, ma and pa never told me that." Big Mac said.
"It has been buried by time, it was believed after the coming of Celestia and Luna that harmony would forever be restored but we were wrong." Astro said.
"So that why Luna became Nightmare Moon, because his evil influenced her." Big Mac said. Astro did not have the heart to tell Big Mac the real truth behind Luna, Nightmare Moon, and Sombra. Records said that Luna had helped Celestia stop Sombra but that was only to cover up what really happened. It was actually Celestia who had stopped Sombra all by herself but Astro decided to keep that whole story to himself.
"Just one more question." Big Mac asked. "How come you were never mentioned in any of those old stories?"
"You know that the Mordras have all the powers and abilities of the COLTS right?" Astro asked.
"Eeyup." Big Mac said.
"When the Mordras laid waste to the land, no warrior could ever defeat them in combat. The great wizard of our time, Starswirl the Bearded, had recreated the magical augmentation spells Sombra had made. What nopony realized was that the magical augmentations spells are the greatest form of dark magic. My father decided we needed super soldiers of our own and I volunteered. The methods Colonel Striper used were the same ones written down by Starswirl." Astro said.
"You mean you were-" Big Mac began to say.
"Yes, I was a COLT all those years ago." Astro said before sighing. "Sorry, this is a hard thing for me to talk about."
"If you don't wanna talk about it, ah understand." Big Mac said.
"No, you deserve to know the truth." Astro said. "I was a COLT but it was a double edged package, I got all the powers but I also had dark magic in me. I know you are familiar with the COLT rampancy?"
"Eeyup." Big Mac said.
"Due to the dark magic of Sombra flowing within the COLTS, they are vulnerable to its power and they can become mindless killing machines. Just like the mordras." Astro said.
"So thats why Deadeye was talking all freakishly when he went rampant! He was being possessed by evil! That also explains the voices we all heard in our heads." Big Mac thought.
"When I found out the griffons had allied with Sombra, I snapped and I killed one." Astro said sadly. "I had known Celestia for quite a while and we were in love but when she found me, she was scared of me. Her parents tried to subdue me and in my anger I became fully rampant and became Black Soul. Due to Sombra's dark presence in me I lost my immortality and my magic. I was sealed away under Canterlot for a thousand years until I was released to help aid in the war against the griffons. The thousand years I was sealed caused the effects of the magical augmentations to wear off so I lost my powers so I had to do COLTS training all over again but I was still evil."
"Ah thought the COLT augmentations were permanent." Big Mac said.
"They are only permanent when you only live for one hundred years." Astro said. "They are temporary spells but normal ponies die long before the spells would ever wear off."
"Ah understand, thanks for tellin me all this." Big Mac said.
"Mac, I really should be thankin you. Your sister and her friends were what saved me from eternal damnation." Astro said.
"An you saved mah sister from getting impaled by a spear." Big Mac said recalling the Hearths Warming Eve when Gore attacked Ponyville and Astro fought to the death to protect the ponies there.
"You should be proud of her, she has grown into a great mare." Astro said.
"Ah am." Big Mac said. "Ah am."
Hot damn this one took forever! It took me a long time to come up with that backstory and tie it all together into one solid story. It is 3 am right now and I am very tired so if you see a large plothole or error in this chapter, please PM me so I can fix it. Again I apologize for my trolling last chapter.R&R!
"There are no atheists in a foxhole."