Broken Reigns

PROLOGUE

Long before the Reign of the "Two Sisters", four Alicorn Princes rose to lead the ponies of old through the hard times of prehistory. The first of these four was Ambros, "Prince of Crystals". The Second Solar Flare, "Prince of Rays" who through magic tempered the heat of the Sun. The third Sagitarius, "Prince of Navigation, and Harvest" who moved the stars so that ponies may find their way. Then finally the forth Tempest, "Prince of Storms" whose magic finally broke the never ending natural disasters that ran rampant through Equestria. Most legends would have you believe Equestria was always a paradise, but history has forgotten what truly was. The ponies of old were nomadic, traveling within herds through lands far and wide. These times would not last forever as they learned, as societies rose ponies found themselves exiled from the lands they had once grazed freely.

As the herds one by one were exiled they found themselves slowly settling in the one land that had not been claimed, a vast desert broken only by mountains, as well as a forbidding forest on its border. Their common interest in survival however did not last long and the ponies soon broke into three tribes. The Unicorns followed Ambros to the North which would one day become The Crystal Empire, the Pegasi followed Tempest to his home in the Clouds which would become Cloudsdale. The Earth ponies much to the relief of Solar and Sagitarius spread to the wind to tend to the land.

With much effort and collaboration, soon Solar had tempered the rays of the sun so that vegetation would not be scorched. Sagitarius kept the stars from wandering in the sky, so the earth ponies would know when to harvest. Tempest had soothed the land to stop the perpetual dustbowl, and dirt devils that roamed. Ambros through a partnership with Tempest brought the necessary water from the sea, and while Tempest captured the water through clouds Ambros would save the salt to preserve the harvest.

Soon under the four Alicorns' the land that had come to be known as Equestria flourished. But Ambros the wisest of the four had growing concerns of what the future would bring. The recent memories to him, of being driven from other lands grew as did the harvests. The Unicorns that followed him began to live in the failed crystal constructs he created, his experiments to find a way to amplify magic to protect their land consistently were a failure in his eyes. With every season new envy of their paradise would bring challengers across their borders. Each time the four princes managed to drive them away, that was until "he" had arrived. Discord master of chaos had come to Equestria when he had learned of a land of order and peace. The four Alicorns' try as they did were unable to defeat Discord, the only thing that worked was a sleep spell cast by Ambros to sedate him until a more permanent solution could be found.

CHAPTER 1: Heart of the Mountain

"Ambros, it's time to get up."

He groggily lifted his head to meet the young filly's voice, before turning to the window to see the Sun only now beginning to peak over the horizon . "Five more minutes Harmony, the Sun hath not even risen yet."

"I know Master but you requested an early start to your last day as ruler of the Crystal Kingdom."

He rose from his bed of pillows ever so slightly before stretching out his front legs and raising his hind quarters to let out a monstrous yawn, "fine Harmony, We are up." Harmony scrunching her muzzle clued him into the fact that he had used the Royal "We" again, "I mean, I am up." It was a hard practice to break he had ruled the Kingdom for what seemed like eons, but with his reign quickly approaching its end, he had informed his young apprentice Harmony to help break the habit. The reason for the quickly approaching change in leadership was simple, his experiments in crystal warding and protection magic grew in complexity with every season that passed. As his Kingdom grew so did his responsibility to the crystal ponies that lived there, it was unfair of them to be burdened with a leader who simply saw their needs as a distraction from more important processes. Just who was this pony that would take the reins of leadership? None other then his apprentice and adopted daughter, Harmony's older sister.

"Harmony, what is first on our schedule." The young equine beamed him a big smile, usually associated with something he would scoff at.

"At 7:30, you will meet with the delegation from the three tribes to provide counsel on the new trade agreements."

"New trade agreements," he moaned "what was wrong with the old agreements?"

"Master the new trade talks will focus heavily on creating a universal currency within Equestria, rather then on the goods for service practices that continue to be a damper on trade."

"That was a rhetorical question Harmony."

She blushed before simply replying with "Oh". He glanced out the window one last time, it would still be an hour before the shadow on the Sun dials would be half past the seventh hash.

He glanced back at his young Unicorn apprentice, "let me get ready I'll meet you in the Great Hall after."

After he had finished getting ready Ambros departed his chambers at the top of the Crystal Palace, and began the descent down the staircases that would lead to the Great Hall. Even though he would soon no longer rule, the soon to be ruler of the Crystal Empire afforded him the luxury of staying if only to legitimize her rule. As he entered the Great Hall he saw that Harmony and himself, would not be the only ones in attendance for breakfast. At the head of the table sat the future head of the Empire Princess Platinum, his apprentice sat at the far end of the long table creating a rather comedic gap between them.  He paced halfway down the table before taking his seat in the exact middle between the two, he had learned by now not to show favoritism to his apprentice in front of the Princess. The Princess felt her younger sister Harmony undeserving of the Honor of being his apprentice. "Up early this morning are we?" The Princess said as she nodded towards Ambros.

"Indeed your Majesty, an Alicorns work never tires even if he does."

"Oh don't be so grim Ambros, it's a beautiful new day."

Ambros chuckled before responding, "It certainly will be once the Sun sets on my Empire, and rises on yours". After a few seconds of pause he spoke again "Platinum, I know your reign doth not start till tomorrow, but I have an errand to run before your coronation. Is there anyway I could have you fulfill my duties for the day?"

She simply laughed "Have I not been picking up thy slack for the last five years, what is but one more day?" Ambros simply chuckled but it was true. Had it really already been five years since he had found, and adopted the two orphan Unicorns? The rest of the meal passed by in relative silence as Ambros reminisced, and while he finished his meal of oats. When he was done he got up, bowed to Platinum nodding to Harmony that he was ready to leave.

As Ambros stepped out of the Crystal Palace his eyes met with the circle of crystal runes he had placed years ago across the ground, yet another unfinished project he thought to himself. The entire Crystal Palace had been built to Ambros's specifications, no one knew the real reason for its creation save for Ambros himself. The entire Tower was essentially an amplification platform, on a large enough scale that the power of whatever magical construct Ambros placed would spread it's magic far across the land as well as protect the Empire. Secrecy had been needed only for the reason that Ambros himself had not until recently found a magic worth spreading to the ends of Equestria, and feared another might attempt to place a construct of their own. Even the crossroads that lay beneath the castle were in fact magical ley lines meant to funnel in magic from the crystal ponies, in recent years he had begun to suspect that his own creation was the reason for the decline in Unicorn birthrates within the Empire. Which led to his final and most important precaution, the runes placed upon the ground would only ever accept the first device placed to amplify. But that was all about to change, recently Ambros had rediscovered a long lost shrine, where a powerful magical crystal resided capable of becoming the centerpiece of his device. Conveniently it would also double as a great Coronation gift for his adopted daughter Platinum.

"Ambros, what is this errand that you must run?" a look of apprehension on her young face told him everything he needed to know.

"Don't worry Harmony, I have no intention of leaving you behind while I have all the fun." He lifted his wing and motioned for her to come close to him, as she did he wrapped his wing around her and cast the teleportation spell. With a loud cackle and buzz of electrified magic, the scenery of the Crystal Empire was replaced with a blur of purple and blue. As the teleportation spell faded she did a quick glance around her before whispering.

"Honestly Father, must you always keep me in the dark before casting spells." He laughed as he unwrapped his wing around her and tucked it, the smile on his face was wide he loved bringing her along on these trips. It was the only time she relaxed enough to call him father, perhaps out of respect for her sister who still remembered their parents.

"So why are we out here, I don't see anything that stands out". He simply raised his hoof to point to the side of the mountain that stretched to the heavens before him, he watched as his daughter scanned the mountainside. Her coat was a soft blue like the summer sky, and her mane was interwoven with pink and yellow.

She turned to him puzzled, "Do you mean that small outcropping between those waterfalls?"

He smiled before responding "That outcropping was a shrine built long ago to honor the old gods of ponies, before we realized what we were worshipping was just the sun and the moon. It's name is Canterlot."

She shot him a weird look, "Why would a shrines name be Canterlot?"

"You'll understand Harmony once we enter the Crystal Caverns."

As Ambros approached the base of the mountain with Harmony he began to scan the ground in front of him, it wasn't long before he found what he was looking for. He turned over the small unassuming rock on the ground, to reveal the symbol of the intertwined Sun and Moon etched on the bottom of the stone.  He began to channel his magic into the stone, and as he did it began to hover and hum before flying straight into the rock face embedding itself. As the stone stopped drilling into rock, a large portion of the rock face before them began to whirl to life, spitting stones in every direction including towards the hooves of the two ponies. While the stones finished laying themselves out in a path in front of them, the entrance to the cavern began pouring out the light from the crystals within.

He turned to Harmony made a small gesture with his head towards the entrance and said "After you." Following closely behind his apprentice, Ambros lit his horn with magic as they passed the threshold into the caverns. He saw his young companions jaw drop at the vastness as the cavern continued on even after the light from his magic dimmed. He saw her scanning the cavern before finding the shallow staircase carved from crystal that wrapped around  the entire cavern wall.

She turned to him, "Surely it would have been faster to teleport to the top before climbing all these stairs."

"There are some traditions Harmony, that not even I dare break." While part of what he said was true, it really was in fact the enchantments at the top that would send them back to their original teleportation spot that made the climb necessary. "Of course if you want to just zip on up there, that means all the less time we get for just us."

She pondered for a few moments before responding, "I guess taking the stairs won't be so bad."

"Father is something bothering you?" Her question caught him off guard as they started their ascent.

"It has been many years since I have been here, perhaps its just a bit of nostalgia."

"You never talk about the past Father, I feel sometimes that I know nothing about you".

He didn't answer right away as he had just about tripped over a rather shallow step "Well, what would you like to know?"

"For starters what does your name mean, I've never heard any like it?" He laughed rather abruptly causing Harmony to shoot him a questioning scowl.

"To tell you the truth, it's not my real name."

The statement caught Harmony so off guard that she had halted on the stairs "I don't even know my own Father's name?"

He had now stopped to, and looked her in the eyes for what he was about to say. "Ambros was a name given to me by foreigners in the lands we once roamed, it means something and in time I will tell you." He sighed, "But for now would you be happy knowing my real name?" She simply nodded, "It's Ember Sparkle that was the name my parents gave me. I was born in the winter, and for the first few days of my life they had to keep me close to the fire because of how sick I was." He laughed before continuing "As my mother put it, I had been their little ember they kept from the fire to keep their hearts warm." As he thought about it they were some of the oldest memories he had, but in all this time they were still very vivid.

"Do you still have any living relatives?" The smile that hadn't left his face the whole time with Harmony vanished, she saw it fade and knew the answer. Without turning to her this time he cleared his throat before echoing the thought he had long had to her.

"I had brothers and sisters, and they had kids, and then their kids had kids. After a few ages, I had extended family everywhere. Longer then it should have taken Harmony, I realized that we are all family." For awhile they trotted up the staircase in silence before Harmony once again broke it.

"I thought Alicorns didn't get sick." He knew now was the best time to tell her, but he hadn't expected her to start this conversation.

"That's because I was born a Unicorn." This time she stopped like lead weights had been placed upon her feet. "If you stop every time you learn something new about me Harmony I'll grow old before we reach the top, the shrine isn't called Canter-lot for nothing."

She gasped "Can you grow old to?"

"No" he laughed, "It was a joke."

The rest of the climb continued in relative silence, he wasn't surprised Harmony had just taken in a lot of new information. She probably wondered even now as they grew closer to the exit to the caves, what other mysteries her adopted Father kept. He had never intentionally hid anything from either of the sisters, but it wasn't often that he had the time to just talk about anything other then magic or affairs of the Empire. It had been even less fair to the older sister who never had the opportunity to accompany him on trips like Harmony did.

The light of the Sun shown through the exit to the caverns ahead, signaling the end of their long ascent. This time however in his eagerness, he didn't let Harmony take the lead. As they broke out from the shadows of the caverns into daylight, the light blinded him and he couldn't help but stop and wait for his eyes to adjust. When they finally did he found the reason for their journey right where he had left it so many ages ago. The outcropping that had looked so small from the base of the mountain had been deceiving, as a whole town could have been built upon it with room left to spare. Two waterfalls flanked himself and Harmony on either side, crashing noisily before rolling off the cliff. But before him was the Crystal Heart, still as beautiful and flawless as the day he first laid eyes upon it. Two statues were parallel with the heart itself, to the left a statue of the crescent moon, and on the right a statue of the Sun with wavy rays emanating off it. As he drew closer to it Harmony followed behind him. The temple that had once been here had long since crumbled, the ground around the two statues and crystal heart were littered with toppled pillars and stones.

Harmony broke the silence and his fixation, "It's beautiful, but what exactly is it"?

"That Harmony is the Crystal Heart, my first crystal creation. You wanted to know more about me, and this Crystal heart is as good as any place to start."

He took a few steps closer to the heart till he could reach out it and touch it. He didn't however, but instead took a seat in front of it. He turned towards Harmony, and with his wing beckoned for her to join him. She hesitated at first probably concerned that he would cast another spell without warning her, but before long she joined him. Wrapping his wing around her as she sat down he turned to her and said, "Don't worry I'm not going to teleport us anywhere. But this story is best told with a little magic." Where to start he thought, a few seconds passed as he gathered together his fragmented memories for the story he would tell.

"Long ago Harmony, I, Ember Sparkle was a Unicorn like yourself. A novice at magic, and a nomad travelling the lands with my family and my herd. Those years were beautiful and dear to me, but they were harsh. As I was the only one in my herd, who had not obtained a cutie mark. I tried endlessly at every skill we had back in those days, but I failed at every task I undertook. Unable to carry my own weight, the other members of my herd began to bully and eventually hate me. The herd eventually deciding to cast me out, rather then deal with the disasters that followed in my wake. Only one pony joined me in exile, my Mother. But without the safety of the herd our grazing spots were limited. It was not long before my mothers age, and our extreme situation took a toll on her health. When her strength could carry her no further we took shelter in a forest. Realizing my mother was not long of this world, I ripped branches off trees, tore dirt from the earth, and pleaded with the Gods to take my meager offering in exchange for her life. They did not respond, and as her life slipped away I channeled all my magic into the offering that I had placed on top of a rock. Before I knew what I had done the light faded from my magic to reveal this Crystal Heart, I knew immediately that it wouldn't save my mothers life. But with the paltry amount of magic I still possessed I channeled the hope and love for me that my mother had into the crystal. If I needed nothing else, I needed my mothers love." He sighed before continuing, "She died not long after, but not before seeing what I had become. In the end my Mom saw me become an Alicorn, although she did not understand it she said she loved me and that I had made her proud."

Harmony for the first time interrupting his story, leaned her head against his chest. A stream of tears rolling down her cheeks as she spoke, "Father I would have never guessed you were an orphan to." He tried to fight them but the tears flowed anyway, the last thing he had wanted from this was to make Harmony cry. For awhile they sat there holding each other, as they cried a river for each others lose.

As he and Harmony wiped away the last of their tears, he turned once again to the crystal and continued.

"With my mother gone and her love in tow, I was filled with a new sense of purpose. If I could create something to save love, there was no reason that I couldn't spread it. With my new wings I searched high and low for my old herd, eventually finding them on the outskirts of the desert that would one day become Equestria. They greeted my return with open hooves when they saw the fantastical new creature I had become. For a time things were great, I forgave their transgressions against me and shared my love through the crystal heart to them freely. But soon things would change, the summer crossing through the desert was particularly harsh that year. As the thirst began to set in they once again turned against me. They started to blame me, claiming the gods had grown jealous, and angry of the love I possessed. Of course their solution was to offer up the Crystal Heart to the Gods, so that they to may be appeased with the love. It was not a choice that I made willingly, in those days I to thought that perhaps I had angered them. So we made a detour on our course to the only way shrine that existed in Equestria in those days, this one."

He paused sensing Harmony had a question, "Father what about Solar Flare, could he not cool the Sun in those days?"

He simply smiled before answering her question, "No he couldn't, he was not yet born."

"So what happened next?"

He returned his gaze to the crystal, "I was not yet ready to leave my mothers love behind, so I stayed with the priests of the shrine till winter. After that I rejoined my herd outside Equestria. I did not return to the shrine until now, and in time slowly forgot it's location save for being a tall mountain in a desert. It wasn't till I told Tempest about the Crystal last time we met, that he informed me that he had seen it in passing but never investigated."

"Well you've heard the story now, but would you like to see what the crystal is capable of?" She smiled and nodded excitedly, he turned back to the crystal and shot a soothing yellow ray at it. The crystal began to whirl and twirl and radiated the warmth of love back at him. "What your feeling now Harmony is the love I have for you."

She opened her mouth paused and said, "it's beautiful beyond words, I love you to."

"But I believe it is just the beginning Harmony. One day soon you'll surpass even my abilities, and graduate from your studies under me to go on to create even greater things then I can possibly imagine." She was about to say something but he stopped her, "Lets take the Crystal Heart and return to the Kingdom before your sister misses our presence."

At there return to the Crystal Kingdom he sent word for Platinum to join them. It was not long before she emerged from the castle, she seemed pretty ticked from the look on her face. "Ambros, I imagined your errand would take a tenth of the time..." her words trailed off as she caught glimpse of the Crystal heart. "What is that Ambros?"

"Well my daughter and soon to be Queen, it is your coronation day present. I have decided to give it to you early, so that we may do this together." With that he gently levitated the crystal to the center of the circle beneath the castle, two crystal prongs locked the hovering Crystal Heart in place and he turned to her. "It may not seem like much right now, but I'm sure after tomorrows ceremony you'll understand."

"You didn't have to give me anything Ambros, but thank you it's beautiful."

After that Ambros bid farewell to his daughters, departing for his study atop the Crystal tower for the rest of the day. As he entered the study the smell of rich mahogany and dusty tomes filled his nostrils. He surveyed his little slice of heaven with fondness, he felt far more comfortable here then atop the Crystal Throne. The room was small and circular, a small desk centered to his right beneath the room's singular window, and the rest of the circular room lined with bookcases. Many of the books upon the shelves were one of a kind, mostly written by himself to chronicle ages of research. He turned the lock on the door behind with the magic of his horn. His eyes rested upon a singular statue placed upon one of the more barren sections of the bookcases. He trotted closer to and flicked a small amount of magic at the horn of the Unicorn statues head. A bit of light shot from behind one of the sectional bookcases to the right of the statue informing him the warding spell had fallen, with that he reached out with his right hoof pushing in on the bookcase. It pivoted inwards before sliding behind the other bookcase to reveal a small room. There in the center of the room on a stone pedestal beneath a glass lid lay his greatest masterpiece, far exceeding that of even the Crystal Heart. He levitated the lid, and slid the small crystal with one hoof to rest on the other. The small tear shaped Crystal that rested upon his hoof to any other may have seemed just a bauble, especially in a entire Empire of crystals. But it was no mere gem, of that fact he was quite sure. He thought about it quite often ever unsure of just how to tap into it's full potential, or for that matter just what it would become when he was finished. But soon he thought it could feed off of the amplified love of the Crystal Ponies, and he may be one step closer to solving the riddle of his greatest creation. But for now he thought there's a coronation bright and early tomorrow to prepare for.