Chapter 6: Escape

One month has passed since Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Cadance and Shining Armor, escaped. In that month they have gathered together a rebellion, comprised entirely of ponies from the Empire that managed to sneak out of the mines. Thanks to Spike working on the inside they were able to get some secret intelligence on troop movement, along with arms and armor. Applejack and Shining Armor have been working on a plan to escape the Empire, and today may just be their red letter day...

"So, how's that anti-shield spell coming along you guys?" Shining Armor asked as he walked past Rarity and Cadance, seeing an exhausted look on their faces.

"It's going o-" Rarity said, suddenly vomiting all over Shining's hooves, making both him and Cadance yelp in surprise. Rarity made a gagging noise before sprinting away towards the bathrooms, which were really just some holes in the ground. In confusion Cadance ran after her, worried that their magic training might have taken to heavy a toll on Rarity. Shining watched in surprise as Rarity nearly jumped into the toilet hole, her vomit nearly leaking out the side of her face by the time she got to it.

"What's wrong with her?" Rainbow asked as she hovered next to Shining, who was surprised by her sudden appearance.

"I have no idea what's wrong, but what are you doing here?" Shining asked, shooting a glance over to the weapons area, where Rainbow had been told to stay at as much as possible so that she could help the citizens of the Empire with their weapons. As Shining watched he say a rather frail looking stallion attempt to swing a spear in front of him, nearly slicing another stallion's throat in the process. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before breaking into a fight, taking up the entire area.

"I was going to use the bathroom, but..." Rainbow sighed as she flew over to the fighting stallions, pulling them apart quickly, and just in time as they were about to roll onto the short swords that Spike had been working on. After chewing them out and pushing them away from each other Rainbow flew towards the bathroom. Shining turned away from the bathrooms and went looking for Applejack, who had gone off to check on Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

"How are things going over here?" Shining asked as he entered the main tent, having a scroll tossed at his head, "What was that for?"

"Didn't you read the sign outside?!" Applejack shouted, throwing another scroll at Shining's head. He quickly ran outside and looked for the sign, finding it on the ground next to a rip in the tent.

Do Not Enter. Secret Activities Underway

"Secret Activities?" Shining asked himself, looking through the rip in the tent. Inside of it Applejack was bathing in her gemstone tub, which Spike had somehow stolen from the castle. Knowing that she deserved a bath after having worked hard to help everyone stay hidden for an entire month Shining walked away from the tent, looking for Spike as he was supposed to come see them today.

"Hey Shining!" Spike shouted as he came running from the edge of the camp, an scroll in his hand.

"What's that?" Shining asked as he met Spike halfway, extending a hoof to shake Spike's hand. Spike quickly gave him the scroll, which had Celestia's seal on it.

"How did you get this?!" Shining asked loudly, his jaw nearly hitting the ground as he checked the seal for authenticity. It was real, it was Celestia's seal...

"I climbed the castle a few nights ago to get a good view of our exit route, when this, and a few other scrolls, came to me". Spike quickly pulled a few more scrolls from inside his bag, which Shining quickly took and read them. After reading through all the scrolls Shining looked up at Spike happily and ran towards the main tent. He ran to the main table despite Applejack's angry shouts at him for entering the tent again, but he quickly shut her up with the scrolls Spike had given him.

"Celestia knows what's going on, and she says she sent the train to the station so we can get back as soon as possible!" Shining said happily, catching Applejack off guard. She quickly read the letters, and was about to go round up the rest of the girls when a loud bell rang from inside the castle.

"That's our signal, time to go!" Spike said quickly from the door to the tent before he ran off to check on Rarity, who he just noticed was bent over one of the toilet holes. After some quick last minute checks Shining Armor and Applejack followed after him, the entire group heading to the exit point. At the expected time the barrier weakened, and with a strong blast of magic from Shining Armor, Cadance, and Rarity, the barrier was broken, although it was only a small isolated area, so only they were able to get out. After they escaped the barrier slammed shut again, and when they turned around the Empire was gone, already covered by the blowing snow.

"Well, let's get to that train station, come on people" Shining Armor said, stepping ahead of everypony else, using his shield spell to protect them from the harsh winds and snow. After nearly an hour of walking they made it to the station, finding the train nearly completely covered in snow. They all climbed on and Shining Armor used his magic to melt the snow, turning his shield spell into an area heater.

"Let's get this thing moving!" Spike said loudly as he shoved two handfuls of coal into the furnace, igniting it with his flame breath. As the train began to move the group could hear a loud growl come from where they came from, which meant only one thing. Sombra knew they had escaped.

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"TWILIGHT, WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Sombra shouted angrily as he burst into Twilight's room, using his magic to pin her against the wall above her bed. Twilight looked at him blankly, her eyes filled with a quiet sadness. Sombra created a sword out of magic and held it to Twilight's throat, making her whimper.

"What. Did. You. Do!" Sombra said slowly, pushing the blade up against Twilight's chin.

"I didn't do anything!" Twilight cried, the blade cutting her slightly. Sombra let her fall to the bed, throwing the sword into the bed next to her head, cutting a small amount of her mane off, making her cry. As Sombra left the room the sword disappeared, and Twilight curled into a ball. Ever since the "wedding" she has been kept in this room, completely isolated from everypony, powerless and weak. Twilight moved to look out her window, which Sombra had locked so she couldn't try to jump from the balcony. As she looked outside she felt a strong force coming up from inside her, and she ended up vomiting on the window.

"Why..." Twilight whimpered as she walked back to her bed, throwing her bed sheet at the vomit to cover it up. Now that her bed sheet was on the floor she had nothing to cover herself up as she curled into a ball, crying quietly to herself, hoping that her friends were doing better than her. Spike had managed to break into her room a week ago and tell her that they were going to escape. It was her that told them that Sombra weakened the shield everyday at noon. Now she could only hope they would make it back to Canterlot before Sombra got rid of her.