Prologue: Morning Has Broken
Shadow and flame. That was all he could see, feel, and hear. He could see the fire dance around him like young souls celebrating their youth, stretching far above him into the crevices of the dome. The cavern seemed to stretch on for miles into a soulless oblivion, while the ceiling only appeared to be a few hundred feet above him.
This cavern, or hell as he liked to call it, had been his home for a millennia.
If there was any area that did not have fire in its presence, there was darkness. He could feel the all too familiar heat that would viciously torment and disintegrate any mortal being. He could hear the flames crackle around him like a lonely fireplace in the dead of winter. He could even taste the spare ashes that he would accidentally inhale every so often, mockingly reminding him that he still had a tongue.
But none of that mattered to him. The only thing that had any meaning to him now was time. Any other being would have forgotten the very concept of time if they had spent nearly a fraction of what he had in this prison.
But not for him because unlike the darkness and fire, time was his only friend. It was time that reminded him of what he held very deeply... his memories. It was the one thing that kept him from losing his sanity.
Time also reminded him that soon, he would be free.
He focused his attention upwards towards the magical barrier that encased the dome. The barrier served only one single purpose; to make sure he could never escape this hell. While the cavern was still devoured in darkness and heat, the barrier would still pulsate a dark green aura at the apex every few minutes, taunting him with its presence. But he had noticed that the pulsation had been losing its luster for centuries, and he knew that it had become a hollow replica of what it once was.
He then looked at his legs and paws that were outstretched before him. They were nearly covered in chains that securely held him down to the earth. In fact, everything from his neck, mane, torso, back legs, and tail were shackled. These chains also shared the same objective as the barrier and they served their purpose well... but their time was coming to an end. In their prime condition, the chains would have appeared to be created from pure platinum mixed with arcane magic. But now, he observed, that they had lost their tautness that they once had thanks to the slow decay of time. They also seemed to appear rusty in the dim lighting of the fire.
He knew that after eons of waiting, his chance had come.
Closing his eyes, he began his meditation. He started losing communication with all of his senses as he tapped into his latent power, for he was not trying to gather strength. He was focusing to release it. He had been anticipating this moment ever since he first became imprisoned in this pit, for he knew that even the power of the Gods themselves could not be infinite. He knew that there was only one reality that was universally infinite.
Pain.
And only he had felt nearly every single aspect of physical and emotional pain. No single individual had ever felt soul crushing sadness, blind rage, and pitiful regret like he had... but he would not allow these instances hamper his ambition, or break him like frail china falling on rock. There was too much at stake for him to break then, and he surely wasn't going to crack now.
As he laid bound to his chains, deep in his concentration, a dark cobalt circle began to form around his body on the ash ridden floor. The light emitting from it began to slowly penetrate the darkness. As the minutes passed, the dark cobalt circle began to pulsate along with his heartbeat, growing in intensity and brilliance with each beat. A blue magical aura began to mist out of his body like dry ice in the middle of a sweltering hot day. As the mist grew in quantity, a small and dense blue ball began to form in midair. The sphere hung listlessly in the air but like the circle below it, the ball began to pulsate with his heartbeat and it grew in power as it synched to the rhythm.
The ball of pure energy suddenly positioned itself above the center of his body and it began to glare even brighter. The mist surrounding his body slowly circled around him and as it condensed, the mist started to form within the circle and travel only upwards until it reached the spiraling cobalt ball. He was now covered in a physical cone of pure magical energy.
The light emitting from his magic banished any traces of shadow that once occupied the dome. Even the swirling mist that created the cone was now spinning so fast it nearly extinguished the flames that were nearby.
Then, he opened his eyes.
All at once, there was an explosion of energy that rocked the arena sized cavern. Any flames that had withstood the winds beforehand were extinguished, and the tremors pulsating from the cone were now sending lone stone pillars crashing down around him. The ash that littered the floor started to swarm around him and transform into a whirlwind of gray and cobalt.
While he observed the power he unleashed, he could feel the heavy burden of the chains slowly ease off his body. He then looked before him and he saw that the bondages that held him down were slowly disintegrating into a fine dust.
He knew he had his magic to thank but it astonished him how fast they were destroyed within his barrier of power.
The chains snapped and for the first time in eons, he began to stand. As he continued his ascent, the feeling of rigid muscles and the sounds of popping joints filled his senses. He desperately wanted to stretch and alleviate the discomfort and pain that racked his ancient body, but he knew that this wasn't the time.
There was still work to be done.
He glanced upward unto his final obstacle, and with much grace, he slowly lowered into his pouncing stance. His breathing then became very laborious as he gathered the last of his strength. The cone that surrounded his body began to shine even brighter while the pulsation grew in speed and intensity.
It appeared that a literal twister of magical aura, with a wind speed that rivaled a hurricane, now completely occupied the colossal vault.
With as much conviction as he could gather, he pounced straight into the air with his paws and claws outstretched before him.
He shot through the cavern like a bullet on a windless day, and his speed only increased as the distance between him and the apex of the dome rapidly closed.
Then he made contact.
Within a millisecond, an explosion of mixed magical energies began to collide and they fought for dominance as hundreds of green and blue lightning bolts struck the dome below him. The collision itself caused massive stone slabs to break away from the roof of the cavern and fall to the floor below him.
The barrier would not submit, but neither would he.
With one final push, he released an earth shattering roar that shook the very foundations of the cavern. He was now exerting all of his strength into his magical offense, praying that his seemingly interminable imprisonment was nearly over.
He was right.
In an instant, the barrier submitted to his will and snapped. With the barrier gone, he shot up into the ground like a knife through hot butter.
Seconds turned into minutes and minutes seemingly turned into hours as he flew through solid bedrock. He dared not to guess how far underground his prison was if his ascension was taking this long.
After what seemed like a lifetime, he suddenly felt no contention against his shining cobalt shield. Deducing that he had broken to the surface, he stopped his ascent and lowered himself to the ground with his shield intact.
He was trembling with anticipation. It had been too long since he had felt the coolness of the earth between his padded toes, or heard the whispers of the wind pass through his ears and fur. In truth, it felt somewhat like a dream to him. His life had been robbed from him for so long that it almost seemed surreal that he was about to feel freedom again.
With the cone still clouding his vision, he released his magic to finally see the world again and...
It was still dark out.
He took in his surroundings, observing that he had emerged on top of a hill. The small area of earth consisted of evergreens located to his far right, and tiny but plentiful patches of wildflowers in front of him and to his left.
In reality, however, he was not focusing on any of those trivial details. Because for the moment, he was too busy feeling.
He could finally inhale fresh air again. Instead of breathing in ash or venomous gas, he could smell the scent of the wildflowers and the rustic aroma of the evergreens that he had seen. He could finally feel a faint breeze pass throughout his magnificent, midnight black mane and timidly run through his equally black fur. He could also sense the cool dew under his paws that sent him slight goose bumps throughout his body. And judging from the nip in the air, he assumed that spring had just sprung.
He was finally free.
He turned to the east and, as if on cue, he saw the sun slowly rise to greet him and the forest-ravaged valley that lay below him while the moon entered its descent along with the stars that faded out of existence.
As he continued to view the countryside, he slowly began to make out what appeared to be a grand metropolis resting upon the side of a mountain. But the city looked so miniscule to him, he assumed that he must have been at least dozens of miles away from it.
The distance did not concern him, but rather, it was the forces he sensed within that city that caught his attention. For he knew those powers... from a time long past.
Hmmph, so they actually survived... And even he made it through...
Not wanting to revisit dusty memories, he returned his attention back to the forest and figured that for now, he would remain here in the isolated woodland where he could start planning again.
He may have been imprisoned for a millennia, but his campaign was about to be reborn.
In an instant, he transformed into a black fog and vanished into the wind.
Morning had broken for Equestria, and now... it was the dawn of a new day.
