I remember the night well. I was only 15. It was a cloudless night in the Crystal Empire. The stars shone brilliantly in the sky. My parents and I were sitting outside of the castle where, my father showed me the constellations and my mother told me their names. He was on guard that night.
"Mama, what's the name of that star?" I asked, full of curiosity. She was a librarian in the Royal library and she knew everything there was to know about the night sky.
She smiled and replied. "That one is called 'the Moon's Guide'. Can you guess why?"
"Because it's closest to the moon?"
My mother nodded. "It's said that the star was put in the sky to guide and protect the moon on its journey across the sky. And it's also there to protect us."
"Like daddy does?" That made her laugh. I loved my mother's laugh. It always seemed to brighten even the darkest nights.
"Yes, just like daddy does." She turned to my father and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "And he does an excellent job of it. Now it's time for little fillies to get to bed." I kissed my daddy good night and trotted towards the door and up the stairs. My mom followed me.
We were half way to my room when it happened. The alarm went off. I panicked and ran up to my room as fast as I could. My mother ran after me. We could hear commotion down stairs.
She turned to me and whispered breathlessly, as she stuffed a pack. "Go, escape through the window and fly to safety. We will meet you at the train station tomorrow morning." She gave me a pack and I slung it over my shoulders. She headed towards the door.
"Where are you going?" I asked, fearfully.
"To see if daddy's okay." She pecked me on the cheek to say goodbye and before I could say a word, she darted out the door and left me. I had no choice but to escape out the window.
I spread my wings and flew as fast as I could towards safety. Only when my wings could fly no further, did I look back at the castle. But the only thing I saw was a black cloud of dark magic surrounding the castle. When it cleared a little, I saw ponies fighting till their last breath against soldiers clad in black armor and head pieces with a visor that no pony could see through.
But the one thing that haunts me to this day, was a pony with a coat, black as midnight, a red horn, and green eyes that seemed to pierce the night. He froze anyone in his way and put a helmet on them. The helmets seemed to glow a green aura. They were now under his control.
I was about to fly away, when I saw my parents. My father's leg was wounded and my mother was running to him. I saw the black stallion walk up to them. He formed black crystals from the ground and used their magic to enslave my parents, just like everypony else. I could see my father struggling against the mind control. But to no avail. The stallion with green eyes walked away continuing onto the next pony.
I was to frightened, horrified, and confused to watch any longer. My head was spinning and tears were flowing down my cheeks. My brain switched to auto pilot. I flew without thinking. I flew as fast and far as I could away from the castle. The wind and slow started to blow faster and harder. My mind was such a blur, I couldn't see in front of me.
All of a sudden, I slammed my head against something hard and for a moment I was in agonizing pain. I could feel myself falling through the air. Then everything went dark.
I woke up the next morning with a massive headache. At least I think it was morning. The sky was black. Not dark, but black. Like a velvet blanket of sheer blackness shrouded everything.
It looked like I was in a cave. There was a fire lit. It cast shadows on the cave walls. I looked again and I saw one shadow that wasn't mine. Sitting next to the roaring fire, was a pony in a cloak.
"Who are you?"
"A friend." His voice was deep and trusting. But after what I had seen last night I wasn't sure who to trust.
"How do I know you're a friend." I inquired. He took off his cloak to reveal a scared face and a cutie mark that a Crystal Empire guard wore. His mane was a dark blue and he had to be at least 20 or 21 years of age.
"I'm assuming you escaped last night when King Sombra attacked." He asked me. I nodded my head, assuming that the dark pony I saw last night was this 'King Sombra' that he was talking about. "We need to get to Canterlot to tell the Princesses what happened. This is a huge issue. And all of our troops are either dead or captured. Do you understand?" I nodded my head again without asking what he meant by 'huge issue' or 'dead or captured'. "We need to fly south-south west for a day or so till we get there. And we need supplies for the journey." I looked around for my pack and saw it next to the cave wall. Thankfully it didn't fall off during my accident. I looked in it and I had about three bread rolls and a bottle of water.
"Will this help?" I asked. He grinned and nodded.
"That will help. And I guess it will have to do. We'll leave when you head feels better."
I stopped him. "What's your name?"
He turned around and answered. "I'm not really anyone. I'm just a guard."
"Then that's what I'm calling you. Guard."
"Ok. And what's your name?" Asked Guard.
"I'm not really anyone. I'm just a Crystal Pony." I said, mocking him.
"Then that's what I'm calling you. Crystal." He said using my sass against me.
Usually I would say something smart and quipy. But my head hurt like a mountain fell in top of me, so I laid my head down next to the fire and closed my eyes.