Unbroken

TRAITOR

As always, silence reigned supreme in the grand Library of Canterlot. In a dark corner of the place sat Prince Blueblood, searching for a way. He would find one. It might take a very long time, but he would find a way.

She opposed him. She was in his way, working behind his back, undoing his machinations. When he quietly removed restrictions and laws to protect workers, she quietly put them back. When he found ways to turn ponies against her, she quickly won them over once again. With Celestia in the way, Blueblood's power could not grow. Her policies were good to her ponies, but bad for his own goals. He had to remove her from the equation.

He knew that no cell could contain the avatar of the sun, that no binding could hold her. He knew that he could never turn her ponies against her faster than she could win them back. He could not reveal her corruption, for she had none. There was only one way to remove the ruler of Equestria: through that most dangerous of methods: he had to destroy her. He had to match her power and overwhelm her with his own. He had to overpower the sun itself, find something stronger.

And so Blueblood had come here, to the greatest library in Equestria, chasing ancient legends and long-forgotten tales.

He had found nothing of use. There were hints of things, references to ancient powers. The Elements of Harmony. The Crystal Heart. The Rainbow of Light. The Smooze. Useless, all of it. Certainly, these were all powerful, but none of them could be twisted to his will.

Blueblood was almost ready to give up on his search when he found a reference to something else. One book on dark magic mentioned an artifact, long hidden away, called the Font of Shadow. It was said to grant incredible power to one who could master its power, at an unspecified cost. In the wrong hands, the author claimed, the Font could wreak havoc upon the land. This was the power Blueblood needed. The Font of Shadow would be his, if only he could find it.

Changing the focus of his search, Blueblood looked through historical documents, searching for irregularities. If the Font were discovered, surely Celestia, with her burning hatred of dark magic, would have acted on it. Finally, he found it. Well over a thousand years ago, there was a mine deep beneath modern Canterlot which inadvertently tunneled into some natural caverns. After an expedition into the caverns, they were sealed away by Celestia's order, without explanation. Records of the expedition itself were missing entirely, but references to it indicated that something was discovered down there.

It had to be the Font of Shadow. Blueblood was certain of it.

Looking at more recent records, he saw that the mine had been quietly closed a few years ago at the directive of Princess Luna. The reason given was that it was undermining the ground beneath Canterlot. Looking at geological surveys, the mine was not only on the other side of the mountain, but far enough below Canterlot that there shouldn't have been a problem. However, all surveys of the central part of the mountain were strangely missing, despite records of such surveys having been made. The princesses were hiding something deep inside the mountain.

Blueblood stood. He knew now what to do. He would find the Font of Shadow, he would take its power, and he would use it to destroy Celestia. The pony strode from the library, satisfied.

Assembling a team was an easy matter. Few ponies wanted to work for the abrasive noble, but he had enough bits that they agreed anyway. Everypony has a price, and Blueblood could pay it. Ponies with experience in caves. Unicorns with powerful light spells, and strong earth ponies to carry supplies and equipment (and otherwise be ignored, of course).

☾

He took his team of five ponies down to the base of the mountain, a few weeks later. The gate to the old mine was rusted and locked; he blasted the lock with a bolt of magic and had another pony push the gate open. The mine itself was small and cramped. Blueblood was thankful for his foresight in bringing the unicorns along; the place was pitch dark inside. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped.

A discarded map revealed the location of the cavern. When a rockfall blocked the way, he ordered the earth ponies to clear it away. Many hours passed before Blueblood's team reached the caverns.

Emerging finally from the cramped tunnels of the mine, the ponies found themselves in a decent-sized cavern. There was a hint of light from one end. Blueblood told a unicorn to investigate. When she returned, she reported that there was an entrance to the surface in an adjoining cavern.

Blueblood cursed. "All that wasted time in the mines waiting for the earth ponies to clear rocks, and we could have gotten in right here."

One of the two earth ponies said to the other, "No amount of bits is worth dealing with the prince. I'm out of here." He dropped his pack and walked out of the cave. Blueblood never saw him again, and didn't care.

The rest of the ponies had quickly set up a base camp at the entrance. Night was approaching, and the ponies (except Blueblood, who hadn't been doing any work) were tired. They flatly refused to move on that night.

☾

Prince Blueblood woke up. His bedding had been entirely unsatisfactory, it had been difficult for him to get to sleep, and his hooves hurt from all the walking, but he tolerated the primitive conditions. The Font of Shadow had better be worth it. Looking around, he saw that he was the last to awaken, and that the other ponies had begun without him, almost completely ready to get started. Breakfast was waiting for him, as it should have been.

Then he saw what it was.

"Oatmeal? Are you crazy?"

☾

Blueblood peered through the darkness. Before him, it stretched on endlessly, like a well going down, down, down, forever into the depths of the mountain. The light from his horn extended only a few feet, only a few precious feet of light to push back the darkness all around him. The pathetic earth ponies had abandoned him early on, and the unicorns had turned back as well. His promises of gold were ignored, his threats of retribution leading to no better result. Like it or not, he was alone in the darkness.

To his left, he thought he saw a light, a reflection in the consuming blackness which surrounded him. And then it was gone, just as quickly. Blueblood shuddered. Had he seen something? Was it his imagination playing tricks on him? He wasn't sure.

He picked up the pace of his steps, and hurried onward.

Blueblood noticed that the cave had a downward slope. He was descending, not only going deeper into the mountain, but deeper underground as well. Then he saw another glint of light, gone, just as quickly as the first, but this time to his right.

Blueblood kept walking. His eyes darted this way and that, but the unicorn kept walking, onward, ever onward and downward into the deepest reaches of the mountain.

A flash. Eyes! He was sure of it! Something down here was watching him, something in the dark. Blueblood kept moving, but he was trotting now. He wanted to get out of this cursed cave, which he became increasingly certain was watching him, eying him with malice in mind, before it could swallow him up. The darkness! The eyes!

☾

Blueblood found himself before a wide, raised basin of water, ornamented with all manner of creatures of darkness carved into the solid piece of stone from which the room and the basin were wrought.  Bats, spiders, and things he couldn't identify. A few of the carvings even looked like some unholy combination of pony and bat. The carvings were incredibly detailed, incredibly lifelike, almost as though-

"Halt, intruder."

Blueblood whirled, loosing a blast of arcane energy at the voice. A voice cried out in surprise, then pain. He heard something hit the rock of the cave floor, then silence reigned once again, save for the sound of his own heavy breathing. The darkness beyond his horn's light was so intense he could almost touch it.

He peered down into the water in the basin. His horn's light could not penetrate the inky darkness of the liquid, for he soon realized it wasn't water at all. The liquid was some oily substance, seeming to swallow up any light that touched it. This must be the place which he sought. The Font of Shadows.

Suddenly unsure, Blueblood hesitated. What power did this liquid hold? What-

"Do not desecrate the Font!" angry voices called out. "Step away!"

Blueblood wasn't sure if the angry voices were real or just in his mind, but he didn't intend to stick around to find out. He bent down over the pool, and drank deeply of the liquid within.

☾

The darkness was within him. It breathed as he did, as one. Blackblood looked around him, and smiled. The power was his now, his to control and his to command. The darkness around him no longer impeded his vision, and he strode outside the room with confidence. There was shouting behind him, sounds of panic and rage. With a thought, a shimmering barrier of blackest night appeared behind him. Blackblood strode on as the shouts turned from anger to frustration. His power was absolute. Nothing would stop him now.

Blackblood strode from the cave into the light, his hooves trailing wisps of dark energy. The sun-loving faces of the ponies would tremble before his power. He cloaked himself in darkness, a cloud of night moving through the afternoon sun. Ponies screamed in fright, and he smiled. Celestia would die this day.

Silently, he marched onward. Nothing and nopony stood in his way and survived. Guards panicked and fled their posts at the castle gates. He broke them down with a bolt of dark energy far more powerful than the one he had used before his rise to power. Nothing opposed him as he broke down the doors to the throne room.

"Celestia! Your time has come, and you shall die this day!"