Shadows in the dark

Chapter 8

Green Trees slammed his pickaxe against the hard rock wall. Sweat beading his forehead as he took a few seconds to catch his breath. All around him, Crystal Ponies repeated the same pattern. But none of them dared to stop. Even for a one minute break. They all knew that their "king" disliked it when they weren't working. Under the circumstances of severe punishment by the Obsidian Guard.

Green Trees swung the pickaxe again. His right her flickering when he heard hoofsteps coming in his direction. He quickly pulled and swung his pickaxe again as the black armored stallion walked by. A cold, merciless look in their crystal eyes. What had once been friends and neighbors were now transformed into ruthless soldiers to the dark king. Dark armor completely hiding their bodies and clanging each time they moved. The guard walked by. Examining each pony to see if they were working.

Green Trees felt the other stallions hot breath brush against his short mane as he looked over his shoulder. The armored stallion gave an approved nod and resumed his inspection. Green Trees sighed a soft sigh of relief as soon as the stallion was further down the tunnel and out of his sight. He'd been having to endure this labor for over a year. Since Sombra had retrieved the Crystal Heart and reclaimed the Crystal Empire. Not only that, he had a mate that is just as sinister as him.

As soon as they were sure that the guard wouldn't be back for another while, Green Trees and the other ponies with him dropped their pickaxes and huddled together in a small group.

"Are you guys ready for this?" a gray crystal stallion whispered lowly. "We've been planning for this for months. This could be our one chance in stopping Sombra."

"W-what about the queen? Twilight Spar-Terror." a mare, Amber Leaf, asked hesitantly.

The stallion, Ash Hooves, sighed gravely. "From what we've seen, she's beyond saving. The nicest thing we can do is put her out of her misery."

Green Trees raised a hesitant hoof. "A-are you sure you wanna go with this? I mean... It's not gonna be easy sneaking into the castle. Pluse this is King Sombra we're talking about. The one who personally snuffed Shining Armor.

Ash Hooves suddenly narrowed his crystal eyes at the other stallion. "Don't tell me you're thinking of backing down now, Green Trees. We've been planning for this for months!" He then daggered his pale gray eyes into Green Tree's pale yellow ones. A serious expression on his worn out face. "Do you want to have to work in a mine for the of your life while that son of a bitch is busy fucking his wife every other day?"

Green Trees tensed a bit and bit his bottom lip. Finally, he shook his head. "No." he sighed. He really did miss his freedom. He missed the days where he was able to walk freely without constantly being watched or in chains. He missed the good old days when King Sombra was more of a decent unicorn than a tyrant king. "Let's do it, then." he said.

...

The Earth Pony stallion grumbled to himself as he made his rounds through Mine 7 again. Clearly bored with having to check on slaves every five hours just to make sure they were behaving. The first section of the tunnel went well. The ponies were doing exactly what they were suppose to do. The second section of the tunnel was also doing good.

Green Trees and the others waited patiently for their turn. Casually swinging their pickaxes like they've been doing for the past year or so. They soon heard the sound of clanging armor and Green Trees clenched his teeth tightly. The guard entered their part of the tunnel with a fierce, yet glazed over look in his eyes. The stallion passed Gray Hooves.

In a quick movement, the crystal pony swung his head and struck him in the back of his neck. The guards eyes widened with shock as he let out a surprised gag. The others soon followed; swinging their pickaxes down mercilessly on their former neighbor and friend until they were sure he was dead. It affected them greatly because of the fact that they just murdered one of their own. But this was a cruel world they lived in now. Plus they weren't the same pony anymore.