Sunset

He had no idea how long they were moving, how many days he had been away from Ponyville. All he knew was that they were farther and farther away from their home. Mountains, hills, plains, snow, and darkness they passed and no one in the little-blackened cart knew where they were going. Some cried, some screamed for help, some banged their head on the walls of the cart, angry and confused. Brownie Button sat in the back, not saying a word, watching out a little knothole in one of the walls. All he could tell was that the days were passing, and they were further and further from Ponyville.

On this particular day, Brownie found himself feeling very faint and tired. He had stayed awake all those nights, not even getting a wink of sleep. But that gave him an idea. He scooted over to a shaking orange coated, white-maned stallion, whose name he learned was simply Orangesicle.

“Hey… Orange! Psst! Orange!” Brownie said, poking the shaking earth pony with his hoof.

“W-wha?” Orangesicle said, looking at Brownie with a sad look in his eyes. Brownie smiled tiredly.

“I have… a way… to save you all…” Brownie said, feeling faint after a small burst of hope

Soon, Brownie had formulated a plan between all the ponies in the cart, and they were ready to execute it. Brownie laid down, and let a little spittle run down his dark red and horribly untrimmed beard. He closed his eyes and went limp. Then, Orangesicle yelled up at the ponies pulling the cart through a little window

“Dude! This guys dead! He’s limp! He’s dead! He’s stinkin’ up the place!” Orangesicle called out through a little window in the front of the cart. The ponies pulling the cart pulled over, and Brownie and the other nine ponies in the cart heard the hoofsteps of ponies coming to open up the cart.

“Get ready,” Brownie whispered, and the rest of the ponies pulled themselves into a stance, holding wooden shanks they made from splinters off the floor of the cart.

A soldier opened up the back, and five of the ponies in the cart burst out. The ponies jumping out shocked the soldiers, and they were kicked aside by the ponies. The escapee ponies galloped away, hoping to find a town they could seek refuge at. With the adrenaline pumping through their bodies, they could run for miles.

But as Brownie Button was trying to sneak out of the cart, one of the soldier ponies pushed him to the ground, and started shouting into his ears:

“Oh, so you're trying to escape too, aren’t yah? Well, you aren’t getting anywhere. You’re staying with us and going to the camps, you pathetic little mare.” Brownie was shoved to the ground and the beating started.

The soldiers smacked Brownie around, bruising and bloodying him. All Brownie was able to do was protect his abdomen from the punches and kicks. Tears fell from his eyes, and his glasses were shattered by the blows. They pulled at his beard and his mane, jerking his head around. Brownie felt the kicks inside him too, his foal wondering what was going on. He wrapped his hooves around his middle, and let his legs get bruised up and bloody. Blood dripped from his forehead and flanks, his cutie mark a large bruise.

“So, you were the one who instigated all this?” A soldier yelled in Brownie’s ears.

“Well, would you like to know.” Brownie shot back, spitting on the pony. That resulted in Button being smacked across the mouth, and the beating continued.

“This is what happens to ponies who dare defy King Sombra and his plans.” A soldier laughed, and kick Brownie in the gut. Brownie gasped, and kicked away the ponies. He got back up on his hooves and glared at the soldiers, who were laughing at him.

“Ok. You guys have had enough fun,” a larger soldier announced, which ceased the others laughs, “Load up the ponies and lets get going. Mud doesn’t like a late delivery.”

“Yes sir!” The soldiers straightened up, and prodded Brownie back into the cart alongside a few more ponies that didn’t escape. The door was shut, and the cart kept going up the mountains.

Soon, the cart stopped after a rocky climb, and the back door was opened up. Darkness was replaced with more darkness, and it took Brownies foggy eyes a bit to adjust.

When his eyes focused, a gasp escaped his chest.

Brownie looked out and saw the horror beyond the cart. Ponies were being beaten by other ponies, and many ponies cried out in pain and fear. The darkness of the sky seemed even darker now, and the mountains cast an evil shadow on the area. Brownie looked at it all, horrified and scared. Then, he felt a rope tightened on his neck and felt himself getting tugged out of the cart and into the middle of the camp by a masked, armored soldier. He kept looking around and saw the other ponies that were in the cart were being dragged into the middle alongside Brownie.

The ponies around Brownie were nervously murmuring, pale and scared. A taller unicorn trotted up to them and stood up on a box in front of the group of terrified ponies. The pony had a dark blue coat, with a light green mane, matted with dust and mane-gel.

“Hello, ponies…” The Stallion said, looking down at the disheveled ponies with piercing green eyes, “May I be the first to say, Welcome to the Dark Skies Slave Camp.”

“Where are we!?” A little grey colt cried out, grasping the leg of a maroon stallion.

“Well, you’re in the middle of nowhere little colt.” the stallion said with a booming laugh. He paused, then said, “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Crystal Mud, the pony looking over this dear camp.” He said proudly.

“Where are the mares?” Brownie Button asked hesitantly.

“This is an all-stallion camp,” Crystal Mud said, with a smirk, “There are no mare camps. They are just taken to the Crystal Empire, and well, you know.” he said, with a wink.

“You little piece of filthy-” Brownie lunged at Crystal Mud, but was pulled back by the stallion at the end of his rope, and Brownie dropped to the ground in a heep.

Crystal Mud hopped off his box and trotted up to Brownie. He put his face up to Brownies and smirked.

“You’re sure a feisty one. I’ll have you sent to the mines here, then you can use all the energy up.” He paused, and said, “I can break any stallion, and that means, I can break you.”

“You won't get away with this.” Brownie panted, as he was being held to the ground, “Goldie Sugar will come for me. I know that.”

“We’ll see about that.” Crystal Mud said with an evil smile as he used his murky green magic to pull out a tranquilizer gun from the box, and shot Brownie with it in the thigh.

He trotted away, leaving the soldier stallions to bring the slave ponies to their hut homes.

“I can break any stallion, and that means, I can break you.”