I was 16 when I was recruited. That was the law back then. I remember Amore’s face when she saw me, a singular crystal pegasus. I still had the slightly metallic fur and the gemstones that grew out of my skin, but I was and still am a pegasus. I was almost instantly made into one of her bodyguards on that fact alone. I had no experience, I had been at the palace for no less than half an hour. Yet still I was made her bodyguard.
At first I was excited. It was one of the most honourable things you can do, guard a princess. At the time I didn’t notice the way she looked at me, like I was something to breed for my “rareness”. At the time all I knew was what I saw on the streets. A kind and caring mare who always wanted the best for her ponies, even if there were still those who suffered under her. Those poor Umbrum did nothing to deserve what happened to them. But many of us just went along with what Amore said.
It didn’t take long for me to see her true self. She was incredibly manipulative with her words, or maybe it was the fear of broken bones that made ponies believe her. I learned quickly what her other side was like. I’m a fast walker and I was walking next to her shoulder to shoulder. She didn’t like it. She broke my leg so I walked slower and at her flank. That was when I realised why most stallions that went into the army rarely returned. We didn’t have the highest death rate though.
If you walked down the street back then you would see two different races. The crystal ponies and then these unicorns called Umbrum. They were giants, taller than Celestia I believe. They all look the same if you look from a distance. Dark grey fur with pitch black manes. Their hair floated in a way, at least when they’re healthy it did. The only colour on them were there horns, eyes, hooves and the claws on their back legs. Adults came in almost every colour, only the foals were green. But it was just their eyes. they had four hooves which changed through puberty along with the rest of the colour growing in. Adorable, but off putting since there nearly the size of a full grown pony.
They only got curious about the settlement being built on their territory. Yet apparently Amore saw the giant ponies as work horses. I remember my dad owned a few, they became slaves effectively. The pair lived in our basement. I believed I asked them one day, I had taught them ponish before-hoof, if they would have helped us anyway. Apparently they come down from the North for breeding season, and that they would have helped out with farm work while they were there. But Amore chose the hard way.
They had their neck and legs wrapped in chains. Many worked the farms while their owners relaxed. I know the two dad owned did that, we were only a small farm so we didn’t need many of them. I thought it was normal to have one or two. But then Amore took me down to hers. I don’t remember the exact number, but she had far more. They were in the worst condition I had seen.
They were skin and bones, which was common but worse in her cells. They sat in their own excrement as their cells were never cleaned. Being creatures of dark magic and just unicorns in general, it was common practice to have their horns sawn of and the wound nailed so it couldn’t heal. To make it worse Amore drenched their chains in acid so the chains rubbed down the skin and muscle. I can remember the smell and the cries.
Even though we as guards and the other workers in the castle were beaten and abused we still knew we got it better. It got worse though. There’s a Colosseum a few miles away hidden in the crystal mountains. The stallions were taken there and were thrown in to face off southern monsters. Typically Timberwolves, ursa’s or other chimera beings. They had to get from one end to another. Many ponies saw sick enjoyment over them being ripped apart, there silver blood flying everywhere. I never did. I’m not a fan of the sight of blood, even if it is sparkly and silver.
There was one time when I was guarding the carriage that Amore was sitting in. Pulled by two of the umbrum. Their harness were lined with nails that dug into them, especially the breast collars. They were too broken and numb to act up, they would only be whipped hard in response. At one stop one tried something, the stallion had bent his neck around and attempted to take a chunk out of Amore. His partner had to do the rest of the pulling by herself for the rest of the day. His body was left on the side of the street.
Amore had strict rules. I had to be up before her every day. She usually got up at six which I was able to be up and at the door waiting for her. But there were many times when I wasn’t there. She had broken a lot of my bones the day before. I can’t remember why, my brain blocked it out. But I was walking slow and struggling to breath so of course I didn’t make it. As I didn’t show up on time, I was denied food, water and my, albeit short, breaks for the day.
It was like that for years. I forgot most of it under the trauma and pain I received from it. for me it got worse on a personal level. One day my food tasted rather off, next day I woke up sleeping next to Amore. She…violated me for my “rare” genes. I’ve never let it down and it wasn’t even my fault. Thankfully she never got anything out of it. The chefs gave me my meals straight from the window after that, I even watched them prepare it. it never happened again, she tried though.
Amore had a thing for breeding actually. The stallions that went into the Colosseum often died. So the mares were breed like farm animals. Amore had a few brood mares. One in particular was particularly resilient. She had a foal from her days of freedom. A colt to be precise. She never let him leave that cage with her. Amore breed the life out of her but that mare sacrificed those foals to keep her own. Umbrum have a five thousand year life span so foals would be magically aged up so they were “useful”. That’s what her bred foals would get. They would be dead by the time the next competition came around.
During one trip down there something drastic happened. The mare still spoke her language but she had learnt ours. I can still her the harsh “no” in my head when Amore asked her to give up her foal. So Amore tried to force him away. It happened so quickly. One moment Amore had four legs, the next I was dragging her out the cage a front leg short. They ate away at that leg that had hit them so many times. The pleasure on their faces as food finally entered their stomach.
It all ended eventually though. At the Colosseum a particularly large event was taking place. They managed to get their hooves on a full grown manticore for the colosseum. Many died. But one stallion, he still had some form of muscle. Scars from the chains were laced over him but he had muscle. In his blue eyes I could see something different. He slaughtered that manticore. “How much do you reckon they’d want for him?” I heard Amore say just before he let out a bellowing howl. They had planned a whole revolution without us knowing. Havoc would be an understatement for what followed. Many on both sides died and I remember flying above it all. Watching shadow burst out from buildings and red and silver blending together. I watched Amore take the heart and use it to cast them away. It was as if someone just flipped a switch and everything was calm. But in the distance I remember seeing one lone black figure, a relatively small one sprinting over towards an old willow.
We were sent out on lookout the next day to make sure all the umbrum were gone. I went straight to the willow. I found him there, cowering in the roots, I recognised him as that mare’s foal. Still covered in his own waste. My heart broke for him. He just lost everything and I know it caused one hell of a wave of grief later. I did the only thing I knew what to do. I couldn’t leave him he would be found by another guard and bought to his death. So I took him to an orphanage on the outskirts of town. I could remember overhearing the mare that ran the place say she refused to give any foals to those who owned umbrum. So I knew I could trust her to keep him safe.
I didn’t see him for another twenty years.