A Crystal Revolution

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Rally
Chapter 2: The Aftermath
Chapter 3: The Meeting
Chapter 4: The Hearth's Warming Rising
Chapter 5: The Prison
Chapter 6: The Great Escape
Chapter 7: New Tactics, New War
Chapter 8: An Eye for an Eye
Chapter 9: The Exchange
Chapter 10: Reprisals
Chapter 11: Harsh Punishments
Chapter 12: Preperations
Prolougue

Chapter 1: The Rally

Shattered hurried across the small street lined with rickety and unstable houses to a small tavern on the corner of a row of houses. A decrepit sign above the door reading The Strong Stallion Inn, the paint forming the sign was peeling, small flecks of it even crumbling off as the sign swayed peacefully in the breeze, the sound of it's long neglected chain creaking as the sign moved being the only noise that filled the lifeless street.

As Shattered pushed the door open he saw his comrades who would be following him to the Rally most prominent of all was his brother Steel Defiance sat proudly at the head of the table his arms crossed as an empty ale tankard sat in front of him, a Picket Sign much like his brothers resting against his shoulder. His brothers Vermillion coat and Red and yellow mane was burning brighter than the candles lighting the run-down tavern.

"Where the Hay have you been, Brother?" Defiance questioned a little too aggressively to Shattered Dawn's liking.

"Just making the rounds Brother," Lied Dawn, in reality he had actually got his hoof caught in a gutter whilst cleaning his roof yet he was far too prideful to ever admit that especially to his elder brother, "Regardless are you all ready to move out?"

"Very well I've got a friend with a cart who will take us to the rally location, let's go."

After they had all clambered into the cramped cart they set off. The journey was fairly uneventful aside from when the cart in front of them was seized at the second checkpoint they passed on their way into the City Centre. Eventually after what had felt like an eternity of the carts wheels creaking endlessly on poorly maintained cobble roads they arrived at their destination. Almost tearing his way out of the cramped and enclosed cart just to be able to move around Shattered accidentally pushed a large stallion named Emerald Impact out of the car. Crashing face first into a puddle the ponies still in the cart burst into laughter guffawing at the once Viridian pony as now his coat was stained with lines of brown.

Acting on instinct the hulking Emerald Stallion grabbed Dawn by the collars until Defiance sprang out of the cart seizing the initiative in the confusion and instantly forming a wedge between The massive Green Pony and his much smaller albeit still strong brother.

"Both of you calm down, right NOW!" Screamed Defiance as he tried however much in vain to prevent any semblance of conflict within the protesters .

"Sorry boss, but this Bucking Idiot pushed me," Mumbled Emerald as he tried to look as convincing and innocent as possible.

"Is this true Shattered?"

"Brother I swear it was an accident I-" but before Shattered could go on one of his much famed tangents he was interrupted by a surge in activity by the protesters as each one began to force their way towards the newly erected barricade outside of the city center in order to keep the ponies of the proletariat out. As the tension heightened Emerald Impact barged his way back into the cart in an astonishing display of Irony and Defiance leapt into the cart in one graceful move however as he thrust out his hoof to hoist his younger sibling into the cart, Shattered was pushed away by a seething tide of Protesters being forced ever closer to the wire mesh barricade, which stood at roughly the height of three ponies and was topped off with barbed wire coiling itself down the entirety of the fence in order to prevent any pony from trying to climb the fence.

However this wasn't as effective a deterrent as the Equestrian soldiers thought it would be as many of the demonstrators attacked the fences with an almost animalistic desire to see them be brought down however as Shattered was pushed ever closer to the fence he got a better view of the defenders. There were rows upon rows of Equestrian troops each one fully clad in their ornate white and gold uniforms with massive peaked caps adorning their brows, however behind them stood the more numerous and ubiquitous Crystal Empire auxiliaries, regiments formed of primarily crystal ponies looking for a way to further their social status by military service they stood clad in Olive Drab uniforms with little ornamentation save for a badge with Shining Armour's crest-a purple shield inlaid with a pink star and topped with three smaller stars.

But soon an all too familiar sound ripped through the protest like a tsunami wave, and as Shattered looked up he saw a young foal barely old enough to be able to hold one of the picket signs crumple to the floor blood oozing from a hole left in his flank. As Shattered recoiled in horror at the young foal lying in the mud bleeding out more shots rang out, and soon that foal wouldn't be the only casualty of the day...

Chapter 2: The Aftermath

He crawled out from behind the cart's wheel only after he had double checked if there was still any pony around.

Shattered nursed his wounded forearm as he moved out into the desolate field. Where once it was occupied by a united force of ponies using peaceful means to accomplish noble goals, they had all scattered leaving behind them at least twenty dead, and those were just the murders Shattered had witnessed.

He looked around and all he could see was mud occasionally painted Crimson with the blood of his fellow countrymen he began to limp through the field occasionally giving out a weak cry for help. As the fire from his wound soon began to spread through his body, a paroxysm of pain swept through as he smashed his wounded foreleg into a wheel spoke sticking out of the side of another overturned cart he had used for balance.

"Hello, Anyone there!" A voice faintly recognisable to Shattered called through the mist. Shattered tried to reply but could only manage a small almost inaudible croak.

"Helloooo Anyone, please," Came the call again this time Shattered, much to the lament of his broken body, put all his effort into screaming out to the voice in the shadows.

"H-help Me... Please," cried Shattered as he lay in the mud with blood seeping through his clothes and leaking on to the ground.

"Shattered, Brother Hold on!" Shattered now realised the voice of his older brother Steel Defiance, his voice however had lost the stern edge it had at the start of the rally and was now filled with sorrow.

When Steel emerged from the shadows and saw his brother lying in a heap holding a wounded leg, covered in mud and blood it was all he could not to cry however even for a stallion such as Steel Defiance it was hard not to let himself begin bawling.

"B-brother you're crying," Croaked shattered as he lay there helpless letting a soft chuckle escape him. He had only ever seen his brother cry once, and that was during the reign of King Sombra when the King's very own secret police had raided the rebel headquarters, which at the time their parents had been giving the rebels information. That was the last time they ever saw their parents, neither brother would even be able to recall what their parents looked like if they didn't have their family photo which was taken only a mere few weeks before their parents were taken.

As small wet streaks began to line Steel's face he picked up his brother and as gently as he could slung him over his shoulder. "Hang on Dawn you'll be home soon," said Steel Defiance with all the strength he mustered.

Defiance's trek halfway across the slums of the Crystal Empire was not easy, not only did he have the weight of his injured sibling bearing down on him but he also had to avoid rubble that lined the streets from what was obviously an Equestrian foray into the slums. No building was left untouched, even the checkpoints had obvious signs of conflict, yet more insidious still was the absence of life, there were not even any Equestrian soldiers to be found, only death, decay and the sound of gunfire in the distance were present.

As Steel returned back to the Strong Stallion he threw the door open and found a family huddling in one of the booths and their comrades at one of the other tables. Immediately Steel rushed over and placed the shattered form of his brother on his table. "He needs help, fast" choked Steel through a sheen of tears and ash sticking to his face.

Immediately they set to work on helping his maimed brother, and after about an hour passed most of which consisted of Steel moping around one of the tables in the rear of the tavern whilst he occasionally went over to check on the ponies operating on his brother. Eventually Emerald Impact took the seat beside Steel and with a mournful told the once proud Stallion the news of his brothers impromptu operation.

"I'm afraid his injury has left, well...H-he's in a coma from the blood loss," Emerald said almost choking on every word.

"When will he be back with us," Steel said with a hopeful expression despite the fact that tears still persisted to stream down his face.

"I-I Don't know for sure," Emerald once again said with a quiver in his voice.

With that Steel buried his head in his hoofs....

Chapter 3: The Meeting

Steel was wearing a long grey overcoat and a flat cap as he moved down to the docks. A meeting was to be held between all those who organised the protest, it's message clear, If the Equestrians won't leave us through peaceful methods, than violence is the only solution they have left. The courier had come the the Strong Stallion in the dead of night asking around for Steel Defiance he had then given him the leaflet that announced the meeting, who could know that one leaflet would decide the fate of an empire and possibly cause an all out civil war.

The docks were not in their usual hustle and bustle, now they were barren with not a soul in sight with the exceptions of the occasional rat scurrying along one of the piers and the the two crystal ponies guarding a small manhole at the base of the road that led back to the slums.

"Sir!" said both the guards almost in unison, bringing their hooves to their heads in salute. Both of them wearing overcoats and flat caps similar to Steel's, however over their coats they wore many munitions pouches, field glasses and other such paraphernalia of war.

"I'm not your bloody commander, just a stallion fallen on hard times," Defiance spat shrugging off his new apparent responsibility as a military commander.

As he proceeded down the ladder he was greeted with even more guards all of them equipped in the same "uniform" as the ponies upstairs. After they had judged him to be clear, he was allowed to proceed down the hallway he came to an antechamber, made out of the same grey coloured bricks as the rest of this sewer-turned-bunker, it was relatively unfurnished save for a few wooden benches lining the walls of the antechamber and a large metal door at the far side of the room.

He headed through the large door at the far side of the room pretending not to notice the large amount of wounded crystal ponies lining the benches. When he entered the much larger Auditory he saw the large table in the center and took his place at one of the chairs, they were old wooden things, their craftsmanship was shoddy and the wood used to make them was obviously cheap. However they would have to serve.

"Steel good to see you, I heard about your brother, I'm ever so sorry," said Ornate Winter, an aristocratic Crystal Pony who had secretly longed for the liberation of the Crystal Empire, he had funded the rebels against King Sombra and was now funding the rebels against an even greater menace. However he was still distrusted by many of the ponies of the underclasses as he wore a crystalline coat compared to the unadorned coats of his fellow ponies.

"Thank you Winter it's been a tough week, but I think we may pull through," replied Steel, still sounding uncertain despite a hopeful look on his face.

"Gentlemen please," White Blizzard leader of the the Crystal Ponies who live in constant squalor, always under threat from Equestrian guns, "Now Steel we all give you our condolences, but there are more pressing matters for us to attend to."

Blizzard began to thumb through the folder he had under his arm, his white coat glittering in the torch. Blizzard himself was of mixed descent, his father being a tried and true Crystal Stallion but his mother however was an Equestrian.

Which had proved to be a bigger boon to Blizzard than a con as many of the guard trusted him for the sole reason of his mixed parentage.Finally he produced a poster which bore the words that whilst being inevitable, they still made Steel's heart sink.

"We have waited long enough, this document is the first of many that will seal our destiny," he passed the the sheet to the stallion sitting to the right of him and then continued, "This document contains the orders all those Crystal Ponies who are still loyal to our cause to report to their local armouries,"

"Have you gone raving mad Blizzard!" Ornate Winter blurted out, "Too much blood has already been shed, and now you want to start a bucking civil war!"

"How has peace worked for us so far, Why don't we ask Steel that?" with that Ornate Winter stormed out of the auditory, once the door slammed behind him Blizzard picked up where he left off, "I am proposing that we arm and train a corps of volunteers, these brave mares and stallions shall form the ever beating heart of our new republic, they shall be called....The Crystal Resistance Army."

As he finished there was an unbroken tension that sprang up in the room. Steel imagined there to be bickering and arguing but everypony sitting at the table remained quiet, each and every one of them knowing that while this was not an easy decision, it had to be made for the good of the Crystal Empire and all her citizens.

Once more Blizzard broke the silence, "The first military operation of our new Republic will be a strike at the heart of Equestrian hold over the Empire, The Crystal palace..."

Chapter 4: The Hearth's Warming Rising

The city was smothered in a thick blanket of fog as the column made their way down the street. Their rebel's orders were clear, take the palace or die trying. Steel knew every Stallion and Mare under his command had volunteered willingly but he couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt as he led his men to the slaughter.

Unlike Equestrian Regiments or any of the Crystal Regiments they marched to battle with no drum to herald their coming, nor did they wear any uniforms only taking with them the bare essentials needed for the coming battle; field glasses, rifles, extra munitions and the like.

Every pony in the Column was wearing a grim and dour expression, they were all aware that not everypony would be going home after the coming battle. As they made their way towards the city centre they all witnessed the destruction carried out by the first wave of rebels as they made their foray into the Equestrian territory. Smashed buildings, burnt out carts and the corpses of both rebel and loyalist alike lined the streets, rot had already begun to set in on some of the corpses.

As they passed out of the slums they crossed over a massive stone wall that once served as a symbol to the divisions between the upper and lower classes, it had keeled over causing large chunks of concrete to litter the avenue. The column pressed on taking note of the myriad of decorations garnishing the houses that had belonged to the Equestrian settlers, today was a special day for them, today was Hearth's Warming Eve.

Finally after what had appeared to be hours of endless trekking the massive Crystalline palace in the center of the city came into view. What was once the gem of splendour surrounded by a hive of opulence, was now burning with rebels poking out of almost every window and standing on every balcony whilst the Equestrians and Loyal Crystal Ponies had formed a barricade surrounding almost the entirety of the pearly spire.

There was only one position the Equestrians had not thought of posting soldiers to, it was a small alley that led to the steps of the palace and from there into the palace itself. The attack itself had started smoothly for the rebels however when Shining Armour and Princess Cadance weren't in the palace things went to hell...fast.

As the column of twelve ponies drew closer to the alleyway the sounds of the battle began to get more ferocious, artillery shells exploding and the sound of rifles backed by machine guns grew louder. When the drew to the alley Steel Defiance finally turned around to look at his sullen group of freedom fighters.

"Go one by one, heads down and move fast, I don't want to have to tell your families any bad news," Steel ordered with a new found assertiveness he had gained after he was place in command of his very own column of fighters.

"Sir what do we do once we reach the building?" questioned a light blue Stallion, having to raise his voice over the constant drone of the enemy's machine guns.

"Wait in the central lobby, I will depart last, if any pony is wounded on the way up it will fall to the next pony running to drag him there. Any other questions?" Steel's question was treated as if it were rhetorical by the group and after a brief pause the first stallion began his mad dash to the stairs of the massive Ivory tower.

The first stallion arrived at his destination relatively unharmed however the second pony who made the dash came under light fire, but that only served to usher him to his destination faster. The third pony wasn't so lucky as soon as he began his journey he almost immediately intercepted a bullet in his leg, collapsing instantly. At least he was lucky enough to be able to pull himself behind a piece of fallen masonry to shield himself from any further hail storms of bullets.

The fourth pony took this as his chance to save his fallen comrade, but as he made his run he came under a shower of bullets and after taking on multiple wounds collapsed near his comrade, only this time the fourth pony was dead.

After bearing witness to such a grisly spectacle it did much to undermine the morale of the group of once courageous group of rebels. Yet they soon had no choice but to run when a cart chock-full of Equestrian soldiers, every last one wearing an expression that showed they lacked any semblance of mercy towards traitors.

"Run, go,go,go, RUN YOU BUCKING IDIOTS!" bellowed Steel as the group sprinted with a speed that would put any Wonderbolt to shame.

When the ragged and exhausted group finally stampeded through the door to the palace a cobalt blue mare, one of the few mares who had signed up for service in the new paramilitary approached him, with a terrified look on her face.

"S-sir three of our stallions were wounded on the way up and, a-and two, two are no longer with us," she said with the unmistaken fear in her voice, the kind of fear that only comes around in somepony after they have seen battle for the first time in their life.

"Thank you Private," Steel Defiance said not truly knowing the rank of the mare that stood before him, or even if they had any real ranking system, "Ponies we have taken many casualties getting here but our orders still remain, we are to take the Crystal Heart, trust me, I wouldn't have accepted this mission if I didn't think we could pull it off."

As the rag-tag group of rebels made their way through the burning ruins of the palace in which only tyrants had previously resided beginning with the palace's builder King Sombra and now the Royal couple who had almost completely destroyed the Crystal Pony way of life.

Finally they came to the podium on which the Crystal Heart was kept, where once there were no walls, opening the base of the palace to the rest of the city centre there were now crudely assembled barriers of fallen masonry and upturned carts. The barricade, much like the rest of the palace, was littered with the broken bodies of it's fallen defenders.

Steel Defiance slowly proceeded forward knowing that whatever the outcome it would still bring them a step closer to winning their revolution. As he kept moving towards the shrine that bore the heart it seemed to have some kind of psychic effect on him as his thoughts began to race through his brain.

Steel their lying.... Came a female voice inside his head that almost made him recoil out of sheer terror. Assuring himself that it was just the nerves he began to edge closer. Steel the voice came again, this time he thought of his wounded brother and almost managed to reach the shrine, until he was interrupted by what seemed to be the loudest noise he had ever heard in his life.

"STOP YOU TRAITOR DOGS!" a thick equestrian accent shrieked at his column. When he looked saw the barricade in ruins and what seemed to be an entire battalion of Equestrian troops standing at the rupture their artillery had created, at their helm stood a gaunt and bulking Equestrian officer.

"Oh Buck!" Steel Defiance Whispered to himself.

Chapter 5: The Prison

It's always the damn informers! Steel thought to himself as he was shoved into his cell at the massive cobbled together prison, only being constructed recently, it could barely hold a third of all the prisoner's taken during the Rising.

The Rising itself had of course failed, not due to the rebels poor funding, not due to the rebels lack of arms, but due to a select few mares and stallion who held their coin purses in higher regard than their allegiances and sold the rebellion. Giving in detail, the names and locations of many rebel arms depots, recruiting stations and, most crippling of all, the details on the rebel leaders.

Steel looked around the dreariness of his cell, he knew his brothers in arms were suffering in the tiny communal cells, with dozens of prisoners being forced to share a single cell. He let out an audible sigh, despite the fact that the only soul that would ever hear it would be the rats he could occasionally hear scurrying inside the wall.

The only reason he had ever been allowed the luxury of his own cell because he had been deemed; A Threat to the National Security of Equestria and all of Her Dominions. He spat on the title, a threat, all he had done was lead a column of some of the bravest ponies he had ever known into the gaping maw of hell.However no amount of pleading with his guards would convince them of the fact that he was just a lowly soldier, no more, no less.

After another uneventful day of wasting away in his cell waiting for the inevitable, his door ripped open violently, smashing against the wall behind it. "Get up rebel dog, todays going to be a very special for you," spat a prison guard Steel had seen on numerous occasions, most notably when he beat one of the rebel ponies to death after he refused one of the brute's orders.

"Oh, great you, you know I haven't eaten in what seems like an eternity, could you bring me some of those apples you Equestrians all seem to find so alluring!" Steel retorted, Steel knew the guard couldn't kill him, it would spoil his coming trial, but what Steel didn't count on was the guard pulling an apple out of his pocket and forcing it down Steel's throat, immediately quelling any other sarcasms that Steel would spit at the guard.

I'll get you for this Dog, Steel thought as the group of guards dragged him down the hall finally throwing him into the courtyard. When Steel finally surveyed his new surroundings, he saw that this was no trial, this was something far more dubious....

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Shining Armour surveyed the courtyard from his balcony at the far end of the massive yard. He looked down at all the scum that had swarmed into the courtyard to see their leaders finally put down.

Shining Armour had taken massive pride in his victory over the cursed hordes of rebels. Sending word all throughout Equestria even sending emissaries with the good news as far as Saddle Arabia. Soon all his work would bear fruit, the apex of his military achievement was about to be shown to the world in the form of the summary executions of the rebel leaders.

He glared at the forlorn group of men lining up for their own deaths, with an arrogant and prideful smile smeared across his face. His blue mane fluttering in the wind along with the Equestrian flags that decorated the walls of the courtyards. Finally the crier took his place on the podium beside the gnarled wooden stake.

"For crimes against Equestria, the Crystal Empire and the royal couple. You are all hereby sentenced to death by firing squad. If any wish to deliver a eulogy, please do so now." He yelled struggling to be heard over the howling of the wind, as if it mourned as well for the passing of the rebels.

"Aye, I have one," came one of the leaders, "This applies to all of us men who shall meet our fate, not only here but also in the struggle for the liberation of the Crystal Empire," he took a brief pause and continued his speech, "Let no pony write our eulogies, let no pony say we rest, let no pony say we died with a cause, until our Northern land joins with the rest of the free nations of the world!"

His diatribe was met with cheers from the ponies on the other side of the divider. Their indiscriminate chanting eventually condensing into one unified chant; the chant of The Proletariat Rises.

Finally the guards had enough and dragged the particularly talkative pony, drove a rifle butt into his chest, tied him to the post. The officer in charge of the firing squad gazed up at Shining Armour. Shining Armour gave a small nod and soon the officer bought his raised sword down through the empty air causing the squad to fire. The stallion's corpse crumpled almost immediately, two guards untied him and dragged him down to the morgue.

Shining Armour was ecstatic at the death of the orator. He gave a loud cheer as the orator's body was dragged into the building. Shining Armour once more reclined back into his chair on the balcony and thought to himself, today shall be a fun day.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Steel Defiance gasped as he saw one of his fellow rebels being dragged off limp and lifeless. As he looked at those rebels lucky enough to be behind the barrier, he gazed upon the face of White Blizzard. Blizzard had a smug look on his face, he knew as well as any pony the Equestrians wouldn't dare harm him, his mixed parentage secured that.

"Lucky bucker," Steel murmured to himself.

Soon after the guards brought forth a pony whose legs had been taken from him, realising he couldn't be executed in the normal fashion the Captain of the firing squad barked for someone to bring him a chair. After what seemed to be an age a scrawny-looking guard came from inside the prison building and produced a rotted wooden chair.

The Captain, eager to make up for lost time, had the poor stallion tied to the chair and wasted no time in bringing his saber down, soon after the shots rang out from the squad, and the chair fell backwards. It was only then that Steel noticed that there was only one last rebel pony standing between him and death.

Steel gulped as he brought his eyes up to look upon the balcony in which Shining Armour was delighting in his victory.Finally when it finally came to him he realised he would not go quietly. He straightened his back when they called his name, and despite every fibre in his being yearning not to, he took a deep breath, and faced his comrades on the other side of the divider.

"Brothers and sisters, I know our situation is dire but always remember-They can jail us, they can shoot us, they can even conscript us and use us as cannon fodder against our own brothers. But, But we have a weapon more powerful than any in the whole arsenal of their entire Equestrian Empire! And that weapon, is our refusal, our refusal to bow to any order but our own," The guards had clearly had enough and began moving towards Steel, once more he buried his fear and continued with his fiery oratory, "Our friends from Equestria want to shut me up, but I want each and every one of you to send them a message. If they shut me up which one of you will take my place?"

With that the crowd of rebels burst into cheers of we will and We will never be silenced. As the crowd was filled with a sense of renewed vigour they began buzzing with movement, many of them beginning to throw rocks and stones over the divider, hoping to hit any unwary Equestrian guard.

In the midst of all the chaos Steel Defiance felt a sharp pain smashing into his ribcage, causing him to collapsed to the ground almost immediately. The dull pain spreading from his torso only being exacerbated further as the guards forced a bag over his head and dragged him back into the building...

Chapter 6: The Great Escape

Emerald impact unloaded and reloaded his rifle for what had seemed to be the hundredth time in the short journey by cart.

"You lads know the plan, right?" asked their commander, Iron Bulwark. A stallion who had lead a group of rebels to moderate success in the rising, even managing to evade capture on numerous occasions.

"Aye, you've been going on about it since the cart bleedin' left!" came one of Iron Bulwark's original subordinates, a rebel named Crimson Hazard, he sat there with a slightly irritated look on his face, primarily because he was garnished in an Equestrian uniform.

Emerald looked down adjusting the many buttons, pockets and ornamentations on his uniform, whilst he hated being forced to wear the uniform of the enemy he would be willing to do a lot worse than sacrifice his pride if it meant any chance of their rebellion succeeding.

As the cart drew ever closer to the barracks-turned-prison the rain began to intensify into a full-blown monsoon. He felt a small wet streak of rain caress his chin, looking up he realised that the rain had penetrated the canvas roof of the cart.

When at last they arrived at the barracks their plan was set into motion, two stallions would wait beside the cart in case of emergency whilst the others posed as guards in order to carry out their orders. The plan itself was not infallible however and each and every stallion and mare risk a great amount by signing up.

Emerald himself was left with his orders, steal a dossier containing information on all of the rebels who had defected during the rising and free Steel Defiance, his old commander and friend. Emerald knew this was not going to be easy however and had already said his goodbyes to his loved ones in case anything were to happen.

His squad proceeded into the building and after being checked by the guards they were cleared through. When they came across where the records Equestrian were kept, they had only to convince the guard to let them pass and they would have completed their first objective.

"Stop, I need your name and unit!" the guard said in a bored tone.

"Hello, I am commander Skye of Celestia's own second Equestrian Fusiliers," Emerald said in an over exaggerated Equestrian accent. However this was enough for the bored turnkey, and after an audible sigh he let them enter where the records were kept.

"By Tartarus," Emerald said as he looked around the room, the shelves were stuffed full of leaflets, packets and dossiers all full of information, "we never stood a chance."

Emerald then proceeded through the cramped room, moving through the maze of filing cabinets and shelves until he came to what he wanted, the third drawer down on a massive blue filing cabinet, the name plate read 672-Contingency plan Alpha. He drew open the cabinet and was thoroughly surprised that it was almost empty, with the exception of one small file.

He grabbed the file, stuffing it haphazardly underneath his coat. He and his men then left but not before their squads sapper, a mare by the name of Burning Inferno left behind a small surprise for the Equestrians in the shape of one of the rare fire crystals, that when left at room temperature for too long will explode in a fiery blaze and immolate almost everything in it's path.

As they once more made their way down the Prison's dreary halls they couldn't help but overhear the shots ringing out from the courtyard and the chanting that was coming from the inmates. When they did arrive at the entrance to the courtyard Emerald turned to face his squad.

"You all know what to do, Inferno you will give the signal to dump the cache of weapons to the prisoners," she gave a small nod in reply and then he continued "the rest of us will have to drag Steel out, remember to put the bag over his head, the entire mission could depend on it."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Steel Defiance wriggled his hands around their bindings, from what he could tell, Shining Armour wanted to spare him the firing squad and instead send him to the noose. The bag they had shoved over his head had left him dazed and writhing in pain. However he could still tell he was in a cart, if not for the familiar sound of wheels going over uneven road he would be completely lost.

After the cart had departed the Prison he had heard an explosion sound from inside the building. It was followed by the sounding of rifles and machine-guns, once more the cacophony of war sounded out over the Crystal Empire. He had formulated a few theories over how the prisoners managed to pull of such a large scale attack from within the prison, however he was only left more confused when he began to consider all of the different variables and possibilities.

After what had been possibly been the longest journey by cart in his life, he was dragged into a building and after hearing the door slam and lock his heart sunk. Finally they ripped the bag off of his head, which sent him spiraling backwards as the light almost burned his eyes.

Eventually his eyes managed to adjust to the light, he looked around the familiar room of the upper floor of the Strong Stallion Inn. He then saw crowded around him a column of Rebels with Iron Bulwark and Emerald impact at the head of the group. However they were all dressed in Equestrian uniforms.

"What the buck!" Steel Defiance said his head still spinning and his side still in pain.

"Happy to see us boss?" Emerald Impact asked in a sarcastic tone, while reaching a hand into the inside of his uniform, "If your not happy to see us, you will be happy to see this."

Steel Defiance thumbed through the brown folder, finding inside it not only the names and locations of many Equestrian informers, but also their plan that would crush the rebels once and for all. After rigourously checking almost every detail in the folder Steel Defiance finally looked up.

"What resources do we have at our disposal?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

"Well, just the weapons we have with us, a single cart and this safehouse," Emerald Impact said a look of despair on his face.

"Very well," Steel Defiance then looked up at the men, with an all too familiar look on his face and with a sigh he continued, "I want letters distributed to both the ponies under the employ of the new Equestrian regime and all current rebels who have evaded capture, warning that any and all further collaboration with the forces of oppression is now punishable....by death."

" But sir, that m-means-" Iron Bulwark stuttered until he was interrupted by Steel Defiance.

"It means we will be the ones having to do it, I know it's almost too much to ask and if any of you have any second second thoughts you may leave, I won't think any less of you if you do," when not a single one of the rebels left, Steel Defiance continued, "No one, good."

Chapter 7: New Tactics, New War