Hello to any reader, this is my first story I've made so don't expect it to be amazing.
This story is dark and does contain some gore but not a lot.

Please criticize about things you don't like.

I'll mainly use the author notes to explain some things that might have been unclear in the chapter.

This story deals with a lot of military sort of stuff but I'm not in the military so if I get something wrong please tell me, same with anything else that I get wrong

"I was just a little filly 6 years of age about 50 miles southeast of the crystal empire when King Sombra attacked. My people had no chance against his army of enslaved crystal ponies. Not one pony escaped the attack and we were enslaved ourselves."

"Hey, at least no pony was killed right." said a bright orange pony with a faded yellow mane

"I wish that were true."

"Oh... I'm...sorry to hear that" the two of us just sat for a while until I broke the silence.

"I guess your story of how you were captured is about the same?"

He replied "yeah about the same except my town is about 90 miles to the west...close to Galloping Gorge."

The stallion said "the names Thunder Forest...what's yours?"

"My name is Lunar Aurora."

"Must be cool being a unicorn."Thunder Forest said.

"Yeah but we don't have the strength of you earth ponies."

We fell silent when we both heard hoof steps approaching. A masculine stallion with a light grey coat and dark grey mane rounded a corner and approached us, he was a I noticed his badge as brigadier general, his low and slightly scratchy voice spoke out " have you two spotted anypony?"

Then I spoke "No sir, we have not spotted anypony in the vicinity."

The General then said "good I don't want to kill any more ponies for King Sombra...Just wish I could go back and fight for Celestia."

Thunder Forest blurted out "If Sombra finds out about you saying that he'll kill you on the spot with his dark magic...I herd he knows some spells that causes a slow and incredibly painful death"

The general replied "I know what he will do, it's dishonorable to fight against your own nation...you two want to escape Sombra's grasp?"

Thunder Forest quickly said without thought "HELL YEAH!"

I hesitated thinking that if I were to say yes, I would be killed on the spot but I decided that evening if I was, I would rather die than work for Sombra. "yeah, I'm in" I said gently nodding

The General then responded "well I used to live here in Fillydelphia...before the war, so I know this place like the bottom of my hoof. but I can't do it alone, what do you say?"

I said "I'm definitely in."

While we were walking through the empty streets of Fillydelphia the general said "In case you were wondering my name is Wind Breaker."

Thunder Forest said "Good to meet you Wind Breaker."

We all quietly walked through the empty city for quite a while until Wind Breaker spoke "I know a good resting spot nearby this area."

Thunder Forest said "yeah...I could definitely use a break right now, my legs are killing me."

We approached a large house and Wind Breaker sighs with a small smile and says "this used to be my home when I was a young colt. we can rest here for a while."

We entered the home and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust like no pony has been here in years.

Wind Breaker said "well it's not exactly like I remember it with all this dust."

"Its better then the place we were stationed at." I said

"If I remember correctly the guest rooms should be upstairs and to the left" said Wind Breaker.

Thunder Forest quickly started climbing the stairs as he said "I hope I get to sleep somewhere more comfortable than a stone ground."

When he got to the first door to the left he slammed it open and threw himself on to the bed with a sigh of relief and quickly fell asleep.

I opened the next door and approached the bed, I climbed in it and I was in its soft embrace.

Then I found myself in a more familiar home and pones "mom...dad y...your alive?" they didn't show any hint that they noticed I was here. Then one of Sombra's slaves burst in through the door and had a spear.

My mother started yelling at the pony and approached them. The pony jabbed at my mother and a pool of blood formed around her hooves.

My father punched the crystal pony with all his strength which caved in the ponies skull. My father rushed towards my mother and lifted her head.

my father spoke with her but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

When my mothers head grew limp and her eyes slowly fell shut He slowly stood up, walked over to the crystal pony and took the spear lying next to the body.

Then he just walked to the still open door and looked behind himself and said something. he then exited through the door and later I heard screams of pure rage from I can only guess my father mixed with other screams of terror. eventually the screams of rage abruptly ended.

I looked to the left of me and saw...I saw myself...but as a little colt at the age of 4 or 5 looking just as shocked as I was.

Then two more crystal soldiers entered and slowly approached young me.

Then my (colt me) horn began to glow with magic and an aura started to envelop both of the ponies and started flying but they were earth ponies and suddenly they flung violently and smashed into the walls and ground.

My ,again colt me, eyes began to glow white and mane and tail turned into a flowing indigo aura with what looked like stars inside it.
It looked familiar I think I've seen it in an old book a bit before Sombra.

"HEY WAKE UP! COME ON THERE ALMOST HERE!"

I jerked my head up and just sat there still in shock but I snapped myself out of it and saw Thunder near the bed looking like he just saw a ghost. "whats going on?"I said still very tired.

"WIND BREAKER BETRAYED US AND GOT A PATROLLING SQUAD OF SOMBRA'S SOLDIERS COMING HERE RIGHT NOW TO CATCH US!"

My eyes were wide open after Thunder told me what was going on. I quickly got up and we went down the stairs but I tripped and tumbled down the stairs. "COME ON GET UP!" Thunder yelled

He opened the front door and rushed outside and I followed after I got up. "oh no" Thunder said

I turned to look where he was looking and saw a group of 13 crystal solders and a grinning pegasuses named Wind Breaker."RUN!" I yelled

We both turned and ran in the opposite direction of the squad.

Then one of them yelled "HALT!"

Then Wind Breaker called out "there's no hope of you two escaping, just give up."

Then two unicorns in the group teleported in front of us.

I levitated a nearby rock and threw it at one of them with great force. The rock hit the pony I was aiming for, they fell and stopped twitching shortly after.

I picked up another rock and threw it at the other but he quickly teleported a few feet away so the rock would miss.

shortly after the other unicorn's horn started to glow and shot a spell at Thunder. he grew limp and fell to the ground with a loud thud

While watching thunder hit the ground I forgot to watch where I was going and tripped on the body of the lifeless unicorn.

The others quickly caught up to me and one tried to jab a spear at me but I tore it out of his hooves with my magic and tried to keep them back but they surrounded me and occasionally struck out at me covering my body with painful cuts and bruises.

I used my magic to teleport out of the circle and making sure they don't surround me again.

Suddenly one charged at me and I positioned the spear pointing towards him but he didn't stop and the blade went through his throat and spine.

Another one charged and I used my magic to throw him back but put too much force into it and sent him flying through a brick wall. As they were looking at the new hole I quickly turned around and ran, soon after I felt a sharp pain travel throughout my back and the unknown force locked me to the ground.

"You thought I was actually going to help you escape? This was all just a test of your loyalty towards King Sombra...and unfortunately you failed."

The pony talking turned me onto my back and as I thought it was Wind Breaker, surprised he didn't break my back with that dive. "Now both you and your petty little friend here will be killed by the hooves of Sombra himself."

I managed to get a hold of a brick from the crumbled wall with my magic but he noticed my horn glowing looked up and caught the brick and bashed me in the head with it.

As I gained consciousness I heard that the rattling of a wagon then I was tossed in the air and realized i was chained up in that wagon.

I lifted my head, which was still in pain from that brick, I looked around taking in my surroundings and the first thing I notice is the corpse of a unicorn with small chunks of a rock stuck in there mangled face. the next thing I notice is two other corpses, the entire cart was filled by pool of blood, and then I finally notice Thunder Forest also chained up "you're alive?" I asked

"Why did you...oh...no that was just a spell to make me lose consciousness. hit my head pretty hard though."

"Yeah I saw...felling ok?"

"Bit of a headache but otherwise I'm fine...how about you?"

"Back still hurts from Wind Breaker doing a dive."

"Ouch, that must have hurt."

I sat up and looked around and saw a tall crystal building in the distance "well there's the crystal empire. guess we don't have much longer to live."I said

"Hope our death isn't too painful... why did Wind Breaker have to do this?"Thunder said

"After you were knocked out by that spell he told me it was all a test to see how loyal we were."I responded

We watched as the crystal empire's new walls made from black crystals grew closer until we got to the gates.

The wagon was pulled through the city, most of the previous buildings have been demolished and replaced by barracks,
training grounds, and infirmary's, the ones that still stand were repurposed for food storage and other things.

The wagon pulled to a stopped and somepony opened the back of the cart. He then said"Get out." both me and Thunder complied to the pones demands "Follow me to the dungeons...you will remain there until Sombra decides what to do with you two scumbags."

We followed the pony to the dungeons without any complaints because we knew if we complained we would be given a more painful death.

Unfortunately I witnessed the death of a pony that never stopped complaining and I still remember her violet coat and a purple
with a...kind of hot pink stripe down her mane, I think she was another unicorn. The way she screamed gave me nightmares for the next few days.

When we got to our cell the escort threw us into the cell, slammed the door shut and walked away. Thunder's ears were angled towards the direction the pony went, after we couldn't hear there hoof steps anymore Thunder was immediately at the door trying to tug it open

"Thunder there's no use, those bars will not budge no matter what you do."

"What about magic? I think that should do something."

"I'm not that strong of a magic user."

"You crushed in a fully grown stallion's skull in with a single throw."

"Of a rock, rocks are not soft...you should know that cause you've used one as a pillow for a week straight, not to mention all the complaining"

"You can at least try." Thunder mumbled

"Fine" I tried to channel all my magic to my horn to make it as powerful as possible. My horn started faintly glowing my magic formed into a ball near the bars but for some reason it was much harder than I remember. Then the magic sphere fizzled out and so did my horn "that's strange"

Thunder asked "what's wrong?"

"I...I can't use my magic." then i noticed the thing gripping my neck wasn't only to limit my mobility with more chains but there was a small socket with a gem in side it and it had a small but tough magic shield protecting it.

"And they put a collar on me to prevent the passage of magical energy...that's just perfect." I said sarcastically

"Well that ruined the plan I made"

"You already had a plan?"

"Hell yeah, I don't do anything without a plan"

"What about opening a pickle jar?" I asked sarcastically

"Hey...pickle jars are hard to open with hooves" he snapped back

"Well what's the new plan?"

"Don't have one. maybe after a while I can make a new one...say, you got any dental floss on you?"

Then I noticed somepony standing outside the cell with a white coat and mane which gradually changed into an icy blue towards the tips and had a lieutenant general badge "h...how did you...use any magic...wi...with the collar." they were in absolute shock I just hope they
were too shocked and didn't hear us talking about plans. then they started walking away but stumbled and almost fell but caught them self.

We sat for a bit making sure they didn't get the guards. "What was the spell you were conjuring up anyway?" Thunder asked

"It was a bomb...I was going to to put a magic shield up to contain the explosion, focus it around the bars and to muffle the sound"

After several days and several failed attempts, but never caught except for that one time.a pony walked up to the cell door, unlocked it and opened it "it's time for your judgement...follow me.

We were escorted to a large room where King Sombra himself sat high above us on his fancy chair. The pony shoved us into two separate cages, the cold steel sent a shiver down my spine. Then a blinding light shined on both of us so we couldn't see Sombra anymore.

"My lord" I turned to see who was speaking and sure enough it was Wind Breaker "I found these two trying to escape in the city of Fillydelphia."

Then a deep and menacing voice spoke "Why didn't you deal with them yourself?"

"We...well my lord the unicorn here is stronger than he appears...he managed to kill one of the unicorns in the squad and two other soldiers...lavan show the lord."

A pony with a shiny black mane and coat with what looked like cracks of seeping lava and with the badge of a Brigadier general threw down a bag and out spilled the unicorns corpse, two other ponies approached both with a large bag. They more gently laid the bags down and took out the other two bodies.

"There is some evidence of what they did my lord." Wind Breaker later stepped down from a small pedestal in the center of the room when he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Then the pony that we saw outside our cell a while ago stepped up and spoke "My lord, the unicorn is much stronger than any other I've seen...he was able to use magic with the collar on...only something you, Celestia, and Luna are able to do...But fortunately his magic still faded"

"Thank you for the information Arctic Blizzard"

There was a long pause as Sombra decided "I charge them guilty of two counts of attempted escape and three counts of murder"

Wind Breaker looked at us with the most maniacal grin on his face but also a face of shock after hearing what Arctic Blizzard said

"There Punishment shall be...