It's always the damn informers! Steel thought to himself as he was shoved into his cell at the massive cobbled together prison, only being constructed recently, it could barely hold a third of all the prisoner's taken during the Rising.
The Rising itself had of course failed, not due to the rebels poor funding, not due to the rebels lack of arms, but due to a select few mares and stallion who held their coin purses in higher regard than their allegiances and sold the rebellion. Giving in detail, the names and locations of many rebel arms depots, recruiting stations and, most crippling of all, the details on the rebel leaders.
Steel looked around the dreariness of his cell, he knew his brothers in arms were suffering in the tiny communal cells, with dozens of prisoners being forced to share a single cell. He let out an audible sigh, despite the fact that the only soul that would ever hear it would be the rats he could occasionally hear scurrying inside the wall.
The only reason he had ever been allowed the luxury of his own cell because he had been deemed; A Threat to the National Security of Equestria and all of Her Dominions. He spat on the title, a threat, all he had done was lead a column of some of the bravest ponies he had ever known into the gaping maw of hell.However no amount of pleading with his guards would convince them of the fact that he was just a lowly soldier, no more, no less.
After another uneventful day of wasting away in his cell waiting for the inevitable, his door ripped open violently, smashing against the wall behind it. "Get up rebel dog, todays going to be a very special for you," spat a prison guard Steel had seen on numerous occasions, most notably when he beat one of the rebel ponies to death after he refused one of the brute's orders.
"Oh, great you, you know I haven't eaten in what seems like an eternity, could you bring me some of those apples you Equestrians all seem to find so alluring!" Steel retorted, Steel knew the guard couldn't kill him, it would spoil his coming trial, but what Steel didn't count on was the guard pulling an apple out of his pocket and forcing it down Steel's throat, immediately quelling any other sarcasms that Steel would spit at the guard.
I'll get you for this Dog, Steel thought as the group of guards dragged him down the hall finally throwing him into the courtyard. When Steel finally surveyed his new surroundings, he saw that this was no trial, this was something far more dubious....
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Shining Armour surveyed the courtyard from his balcony at the far end of the massive yard. He looked down at all the scum that had swarmed into the courtyard to see their leaders finally put down.
Shining Armour had taken massive pride in his victory over the cursed hordes of rebels. Sending word all throughout Equestria even sending emissaries with the good news as far as Saddle Arabia. Soon all his work would bear fruit, the apex of his military achievement was about to be shown to the world in the form of the summary executions of the rebel leaders.
He glared at the forlorn group of men lining up for their own deaths, with an arrogant and prideful smile smeared across his face. His blue mane fluttering in the wind along with the Equestrian flags that decorated the walls of the courtyards. Finally the crier took his place on the podium beside the gnarled wooden stake.
"For crimes against Equestria, the Crystal Empire and the royal couple. You are all hereby sentenced to death by firing squad. If any wish to deliver a eulogy, please do so now." He yelled struggling to be heard over the howling of the wind, as if it mourned as well for the passing of the rebels.
"Aye, I have one," came one of the leaders, "This applies to all of us men who shall meet our fate, not only here but also in the struggle for the liberation of the Crystal Empire," he took a brief pause and continued his speech, "Let no pony write our eulogies, let no pony say we rest, let no pony say we died with a cause, until our Northern land joins with the rest of the free nations of the world!"
His diatribe was met with cheers from the ponies on the other side of the divider. Their indiscriminate chanting eventually condensing into one unified chant; the chant of The Proletariat Rises.
Finally the guards had enough and dragged the particularly talkative pony, drove a rifle butt into his chest, tied him to the post. The officer in charge of the firing squad gazed up at Shining Armour. Shining Armour gave a small nod and soon the officer bought his raised sword down through the empty air causing the squad to fire. The stallion's corpse crumpled almost immediately, two guards untied him and dragged him down to the morgue.
Shining Armour was ecstatic at the death of the orator. He gave a loud cheer as the orator's body was dragged into the building. Shining Armour once more reclined back into his chair on the balcony and thought to himself, today shall be a fun day.
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Steel Defiance gasped as he saw one of his fellow rebels being dragged off limp and lifeless. As he looked at those rebels lucky enough to be behind the barrier, he gazed upon the face of White Blizzard. Blizzard had a smug look on his face, he knew as well as any pony the Equestrians wouldn't dare harm him, his mixed parentage secured that.
"Lucky bucker," Steel murmured to himself.
Soon after the guards brought forth a pony whose legs had been taken from him, realising he couldn't be executed in the normal fashion the Captain of the firing squad barked for someone to bring him a chair. After what seemed to be an age a scrawny-looking guard came from inside the prison building and produced a rotted wooden chair.
The Captain, eager to make up for lost time, had the poor stallion tied to the chair and wasted no time in bringing his saber down, soon after the shots rang out from the squad, and the chair fell backwards. It was only then that Steel noticed that there was only one last rebel pony standing between him and death.
Steel gulped as he brought his eyes up to look upon the balcony in which Shining Armour was delighting in his victory.Finally when it finally came to him he realised he would not go quietly. He straightened his back when they called his name, and despite every fibre in his being yearning not to, he took a deep breath, and faced his comrades on the other side of the divider.
"Brothers and sisters, I know our situation is dire but always remember-They can jail us, they can shoot us, they can even conscript us and use us as cannon fodder against our own brothers. But, But we have a weapon more powerful than any in the whole arsenal of their entire Equestrian Empire! And that weapon, is our refusal, our refusal to bow to any order but our own," The guards had clearly had enough and began moving towards Steel, once more he buried his fear and continued with his fiery oratory, "Our friends from Equestria want to shut me up, but I want each and every one of you to send them a message. If they shut me up which one of you will take my place?"
With that the crowd of rebels burst into cheers of we will and We will never be silenced. As the crowd was filled with a sense of renewed vigour they began buzzing with movement, many of them beginning to throw rocks and stones over the divider, hoping to hit any unwary Equestrian guard.
In the midst of all the chaos Steel Defiance felt a sharp pain smashing into his ribcage, causing him to collapsed to the ground almost immediately. The dull pain spreading from his torso only being exacerbated further as the guards forced a bag over his head and dragged him back into the building...