Nightmare Equestria

The sun began to set over the dark compound, the sounds of slaves working in the corn feilds carried by the morning breeze. Every now and then, the sound of a cracking whip, followed by a sharp cry of pain could be heard. Most of the slaves were earth foals, teens or mares as the stallions usually worked in the mines and quarries, however there were still some males working there, under the blistering heat of the sun. The slaves worked hard and dared not complain for fear of punishment, weeding and digging, checking for and picking the ripe corn. They did whatever they were told to, no matter what. None of them looked for means of escape, as the feilds were surrounded by tall gaurds and sentries, mostly well paid unicorns skilled in magic. Besides, the punishments a runaway slave could face were the most severe of all, and a pony was better off not even trying; for the safety of not just themselves, but everyone they knew and loved.
One light grey young teen pegasus with a dark mane was also working in the corn field that day. He yawned from fatigue and he heard his stomach growling in hunger. Nopony had been fed for a week because a young pink filly had accidentally put a mouldy corn cob in the shipment the week before. Nobody had seen her since the gaurds took her away for punishment. Sighing, he pulled at another weed, but it was weaker than he had thought it would be, and he pulled harder than he should have, causing him to bump into another pony working behind him, who glared angrily with glassy eyes.
"Watch it Rumble" He snarled, not daring to raise his voice more than a hiss.
"Sorry Snails" Rumble whispered meekly.
He watched as Snails angrily turned away from him, sighing again. He remembered when everypony here had been happy, before they were all sent to this horrible place. They had all been there for about three years, and had been forced to grow up incredibly fast. They were in their first year in high school when they were sold as slaves, and were now nearly fully grown. Rumble wondered what it would have been like for them all if this had never happened.
He looked out to the horizon as the moon began to climb in the sky. He heard the gaurds and sentries call in the slaves for the night, but for a second he ignored them. He thought he saw something between the line of trees, but before he could register what it was, it had gone. He stared at the tree, and subconsciously felt himself drifting towards it, but all of a sudden he heard shouting behind him, and a large unicorn gaurd bransishing a whip landed in front of him, blocking his sight of thr trees. The gaurd then tackled Rumble to the ground, who cried out apon feeling his ankle twist and sprain. Then the the unicorn proceeded whip him many times all over his body. Rumble whimpered in pain an the weapon carved cuts and welts into his tender flesh, scarring his skin with painful cust and bruises. He refused to sob however, and tried to show as little weakness as he could as the vicious beating continued. Finally the gaurd stopped and glared down at the shaking, panting pegasus.
"Join the rest of the group. No food for any of you. You'll join me on night watch for a week" He growled.
"Yes sir" Rumble said, slowly standing and limping towards his friends, not daring to look back.

Three figures silently watched them leave from the shadow of a clump of trees. They had all been at the farm since daybreak, scouting the area and gathering as much intel as they could. They had watched the brutal scene unfold in front of them with a certain level of indifference, for they had witnessed scenes much like this one many times before, and even more much worse. They were thankful to the Princess for all she had done for them, and hated to think what their lives would have been like if they were not so fortunate and were happy to work for her. Seeing the ponies they loved abused in such ways was a sad but necessary occupational hazzard, but they were proud of the job they did. They watched the gaurd and colt leave suspiciously, not daring to move.
"We're lucky he didn't see us" One of the figures said quietly, its voice high pitched and barely a whisper.
"Yeah. That would've made things alot more difficult. Y'all know the plan, right girls?" Another said quietly with a thick southern drawl.
"Of course." Said the third confidently wih a swish of its mane. "We've went through it once more before we left. "
"Great" Said the one with the southern accent,as the last of the slaves and sentries dissapeared into ther small mud huts. "Make sure to be ready when I call the signal. "Split up."
The other ponies followed her order without any form of objaction or hesitation, and one by one they snuck away into the night.

Rumble inwardly cursed as he trudged through the cornfeilds in the dark, his eyes drooping. Throughout his life as a farm slave he had managed to survive on little sleep, but he was already low on energy due to not eating for that week, not to mention working all day, and his reserves were sinking low. He was all too aware of what happened to ponies that fell asleep on patrol however, and even more aware of the hulking unicorn guards behind him wth bullwhips, knives, lassos and goodness knows what else. Not to mention the swords. His scars were still fresh, some still bleeding and his bruises showed against his skin. He did not want another beating. Every now and then he stumbled and fell, as his left fore hoof was badly sprained, and it was a struggle to walk on it properly. As the moon steadily rose, and as he limped on in silence, Rumble began to wonder how much longer he could take it. He looked at the sentries walking next to him, and opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Suddenly, Rumble saw the shadow of a pony, zip between two boulders, and he stared in shock. Then, to his right, he saw a yellow flash streak by him, but ony for a second. He glanced back, unsure, but at the same time accidentally put his bad hoof on the ground and tripped, crashing to the ground. Rumble lay there for a second, winded, and recoiled as he was kicked by one of the sentries, who glared at him maliciously.
"Get a grip you worthless peice of trash. Get up" The gaurd snapped, flashing his whip. Rumble attempted to stand, however he stumbled again, looking round wildly dazed and confused as he saw another flash, this one orange, dart through the corn.
The gaurds grinned at his defiance and raised their whips as if they had been waiting for an excuse to use them. With sickening enthusiasm, they began to whip Rumble, again and again, enjoying the way his screams cut through the cool night air. Rumble was in much more pain than last time, for not only was his skin still tender from his last beating, but the gaurds had tied glass and razor blades to the ends of their whips. Rumble curled into a ball and squeezed his eyes tight wishing for it to stop. He heard a whistle cut clear through the night air and suddenly, he felt the whipping stop, and he looked up.

The guards were listening, and so Rumble perked his ears up and listened too. He heard a muffled cry, followed by a threat and another muffled scream.Then Rumble saw the gaurds relax as another whistle could be heard. The gaurds sighed. Rumble heard one mutter:
"That means false alarm." His companion nodded and the two advanced on the colt once more. Rumble once again felt he sting of the whip, but this time he felt less pain than usual, but the feeling was replaced by the burning feeling of anger. Slowly, he rose against the beating, his blood soaked fur clinging in matted clumps to his body, and he placed his bad hoof forward, taking an attack stance. He wanted to be brave like his brother, he wanted to fight. However, to his dismay, the gaurds did not become overcome with fear; they laughed. One took out a knife and slashed at his leg, and the pegasus crashed to the ground. He stared up at the guards in horror as one of them grinned.
"I've been waiting a long time for this you miserable worm."

Just then, Rumble saw the orange flash again, and the corn rustled. This time, the gaurd saw it to and he looked up. Rumble saw the yellow flash dart behind the two unicorn guards and Rumble gasped. The gaurd glared and yelled as loudly as he could.
"Show yourself" As if in response, the colt saw another flash, but he had not seen this one before, as this one was pure white and seemed to be very fast. There was then an abrupt whistle from behind them, and the white flash jumped into veiw from in front. It was obviously a unicorn as it was using magic to hold a long, slender steel sword with a gold hilt and some sort of blue gem in the hilt. The actual pony was wearing a gold and silver helmet and a tail cover however, and so Rumble could not make out any distinct features, but he knew she was a mare. The mystery unicorn launched herself in the air, jumping high, slashing the sword at the gaurds. Effortlessly she dodged each attack the gaurds threw at her, and seemed to move with unending graceas opposed to the bumbling gaurds that were taken by suprise. She released a high pitched cry slashing at one of the soldiers, striking his eyes and blinding him, and whilst he was distracted used the sword to slice the leg of the other gaurd at the knee. Then not hesitating the unicorn ran the sword through the sentries chest, and turned to the other. Swinging the sword high and bringing it down under the ponys kneecap, cutting the limb clean in half.
Then, the unicorn looked at Rumble, who gulped nervously…and she darted off into the corn field once more, followed by the orange and yellow streaks.
"What the…" Rumble mumbled and he took off after them, towards the huts where the slaves and gaurds lived. When he finally did reach the huts however, he saw that all the sentries were killed, lying in pools of their own blood in their beds. Fearul, Rumble checked the small hut where all the slaves lived, but everyone in there was peacefully asleep. Confuses, Rumble saw the orange flash again, and decided to follow it again. He was still slow, tired and achy however, and so his progess through the corn was slow. Finally he found himself at the farm house where the slave owner lived. Rumble gulped. Slaves were forbidden from entering unless given an order that required them to enter the premises, but Rumble swallowed his fear and opened the door. Inside the house was a little dissapointing, as it was simply decorated in a beige colour scheme and old rustic style. The house itself was not Rumbles concern, however. Quietly, he trotted through the old cottage,and his ears perked up as he heard a muffled cry followed by a gurgle. He sneaked closer to a bedroom door, and that's when he heard the voices.
"Great job with those sentries back there." Said somepony said quietly, but happily.
"Thankyou" Another pony said, trying to be quiet as well. "You two were amazing too."
"Aww shucks. That whistle was louder than I expected it to be" Said one with a thick southern accent.
The three continued to congratulate one another, and Rumble attempted sneak closer to the door in an attempt to look, but in doing so, he alerted the attention of the white pony. All she saw was his nose sticking out behind the door, and she realised whoever was out there couldn't see in yet. Using her eyes and hooves, she alerted the others, and also told them to be quiet. When Rumble did finally get his yes round the door, he was greeted by three swords all pointed at his nose. He gulped again. Loudly. Then, to his surprise, one of them sighed in relief.
" Oh thank goodness. It's only Rumble"

Rumble was surprised that they knew his name, and was also surprised that, apon glancing around, the three were all mares. One was orange, one was yellow, and the other was the white pony he had seen earlier. He also noticed the slave owner murdered in her bed, blood seeping from the wound in his back. Rumble tried to look at the faces of the ponies, but each was wearing a helmet. The colt looked at the swords, wich looked expensive and intricately made. The white mares was slendre and silver, with a black and gold gilded hilt. The other two were made in the same style, but the orange ponies sword was red black and silver, and the yellows was blue black and silver. Each had a moon on the hilt, and the yellow and orange ponies had to use their mouths to hold them. Rumble was afraid to say anything, but it seemed clear the ponies wouldn't hurt him, so he ventured for a question.
"How…how do you know my name?" He asked. The ponies in the room all glanced at each other, and the white mare began to remove her helmet. Rumble gasped as he saw the pony in front of him, one he had never expected to do something like this. He stared in disbelief at her grinning face, her beautiful, beautiful face. He could almost hear her laughing at him although she said no words, it was clear she found this amusing. Words failed him as he stared in shock and admiration at the pony he used to know way back when equestria was a nice place to be. Finally, he found his words.
"Sweetie Belle!?" He choked and the mare chuckled. Rumble watched as the ponies behind Sweetie Belle also removed their helmets. It was Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.
He couldn't belive how much they had grown up, and he couldn't help acknowledging the fact that they had grown into their teen years well, each beautiful young mares now. Sweetie Belle was the picture of grace and beauty, with a slender body and a beautiful curly pink and lilac mane and tail along with sparkling green eyes. Rumble had seen her fighting skill and did not underestimate her however. Scootaloo had a raw, rugged beauty about her and her orange coat and purple mane looked windswept. With a lean, athletic build and a confident grin, she reminded him of Rainbow Dash. Scoots' purple eyes seemed to spark with zeal and fervour. Applebloom had a stockier, more muscular build, and she looked very strong. Her sunset eyes bored into his, and he saw strength and determination in her steady gaze. He scanned all three of them, impressed.

Apple Bloom noticed him staring grinned at the colt, then turned to her companions, putting her helmet back on.
"Alright y'all, we gotta finish up here." She called to her friends.
"Wait…what?" Rumble asked.
Apple Bloom sighed. "We three work for Princess Luna." She said in her southern drawl. "One of our jobs is to liberate the slaves and then deliver them to her. She'll take care of you, and declare you free ponies again."
"But arn't you sort of slaves too?" Rumble asked, and the three of them laughed,
"No. We are the three highest ranking officers in her Royal Guard. We are free to back down at any time." Apple Bloom chuckled.
"And besides, we're loyal to the Princess. We won't ever back down. We'd die first." Scootaloo said defiantly, stamping her hoof.
"And Luna is against the slave trade." Sweetie Belle assured him. "So you coming with us?"
Rumble seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
Sweetie and Scootaloo both put their helmets on, and Applebloom glanced at Rumble. She knelt down and told him to climb on her back. She explained that, in his condition, she didn't expect him to be albe to get very far, and Rumble was forced to swallow his pride and allow her to carry him. Once he was safe and secure, Apple Bloom let out a short whistle and the three mares charged forwards in a small V, all perfectly keeping in pace with each other. He looked at the mares as they ran, admiring their determined expressions and the small smiles as they tore through the corn field. Suddenly, Scootaloojumped in the air, managing a surprisingly graceful front flip, then using her wings to glide to the ground, hitting it
running. They ran to the huts with the slaves in, and it had clearly been longer than Rumble had originally thought as the sun was already rising.

The once slaves were all awake, milling around in confusion, the atmosphere a mix of fear and anticipation as they inspected the huts where the bodies of the sentries and gaurds lay. They watched, uncertainly as the three mares ran towards them, some backing away slowly, pressing their flanks against the mud walls of their homes, protectivley hugging their families close as if willing to protect them. Apple Bloom and her companions skidded to a halt in front of them all, giving little hops and skips of excitement that somewhat ruined their professional demeanour. They hastily explained the station, Sweetie Belles eyes darting around and Scootalooss wings giving little flutters and twitches. Rumble didn't know why the three of them were so agitated, and then noticed that Scoots' wings were now fully grown, and wondered if she could fly now.
He was ripped from his daydreams by an angry question;
"Why should we trust you? How do we know we aren't just going somewhere worse?" Shoe Shine called from the back.
"You can trust your old friends. We wouldn't hurt you, not ever. Plus, you don't have to come with us, although I trust you know you're all enemies of the Solar Empire now." Sweetie Belle said
Carrot top stepped forwards, her orange coat scarred with cuts and bruises, and her eyes dull and listless. She looked at the hopeful mares in front of her, then back to her friends cowering against the mud huts. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak.
"I've always been an enemy of the Solar Empire." She said quietly, but defiantly.
Scootaloo cheered, and one by one, slaves began to join their group, saying they would join them on their perilous journey to the Lunar peace lands, where rouges fled and Celestia had no control. Apple Bloom smiled triumphantly at Rumble, who shared her smug gaze.
"Ok everyone. Rest up for the journey. We leave at Dusk!" She called, earning a cheer from her new companions.

A few hours later, the three mares were huddled beneath the shadow of a rock, debating fiercely bit as quietly as the could. It seemed there was a few small problems that needed resolving, but neither of the three could agree on a solution.
"How many are we dealing with Sweetie?" Apple Bloom asked, just a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"Twenty three. Four stallions we know: Lucky, Bues, Bayleaf and Baritone" Sweetie Belle confirmed. "Ten around teen foals, all within three years either side our own age, incliding Snails, Featherweight, Rumble, and Berry Pinch."
"I wonder where the rest of our class are." Scootaloo murmured.
"The remaining are mares." Sweetie Belle continued "We know three. Carrot top, Daisy, Cloudy Quartz. The rest are ponies from other towns."
"More than usual are friends this time." Apple Bloom said, and Scootaloo narrowed her eyes.
"That's great and all, but how do we get them across the border? Twenty three is a lot to smuggle. I didn't expect so many to agree to come this time." She said, fiddling with her sword. The group was silent, each trying to think of ideas.
"Most of them are earth ponies…and Rumble can't walk in his condition." Sweetie pondered, but Apple Boom offered to carry him. After much aruing about eather or not this would impede her abilities as a fighter, eventually the other two gave in and allowed her. They began to discuss where they were going. They knew they were between the Blue Mountains and Baltimare, so if they travelled south west to ponyville, then skirt around that, avoiding it as much as possible, they could cut across he river and head straight to the frozen north. There a snow team would be waiting to lead them through the frozen wastelands to the meadows where their camp was.

Satisfied, the three lay dow their heads to sleep, knowing they would need all the sleep they could possibly get for the days that lay ahead.