A large and dilapidated castle sat deep within a dangerous forest.
It was old.
Impossibly old.
And it was broken.
Several of its walls had collapsed and bright moonlight could be seen shining through various holes in its roof. Much of the furniture, paintings, and literature left within had not stood the test of time. Dust, cobwebs, mold, and rot were a common sight amongst its once hallowed halls.
It was a wretched sight.
Yet for all its many imperfections, it was no less imposing.
Some might've even said its decrepit appearance made it more so.
However, age had not rotted away all of the castle's secrets with its fetid touch just yet.
There was a time, long since past, when Equestria was a much darker and far more volatile place.
War was rampant and unending.
Prisoners were captured and killed on an almost daily basis.
It was a daunting time in Equestria's history, and there were many times where complete annihilation seemed to be just beyond the horizon.
But two sisters, through their bravery, loyalty, and passion, managed to overcome all the odds and pull their beloved nation from the brink of disaster time and again. Even when all hope was lost and their very own castle had been taken in a coup by the griffon-minotaur alliance, they still refused to falter.
They had made contingency plans years prior to the invasion.
One such plan included the construction of a bunker of sorts, hidden a few miles below the castle. It was here that the two sisters had bided their time, gathering their forces in secret and waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
The entrance, hidden away outside the castle perimeter, had never been found by the invading forces and - in the dead of night - the sisters, along with a few select soldiers, had slipped past defenses, slaughtered the occupants, and retaken the castle.
After some residual 'cleanup' following the reclamation of the castle, a very long and bloody war had finally come to an end.
The sisters stood victorious, hailed as heroes to the ponies of Equestria.
That is, until a civil war between the two sisters finally took its toll on the castle.
The older sister eventually claimed victory over the younger and, whether from grief or a desire for a new beginning, the older sister decided to abandon the war-torn castle and create a new capital on Mount Canterhorn to the north.
The bunker deep below the old castle remained, forgotten and untouched in the centuries that followed. Thanks to several enchantments made by the sisters themselves, every room, every hall, and every prison cell within the bunker remains as pristine as it was in ages past.
It is in one such room - the war room to be exact - that a sharply dressed unicorn stallion sat, nervously glancing anywhere but at the blank faced thestral mare in front of him. His blonde mane was disheveled and his normally immaculate white coat was matted in fear induced sweat.
The thestral in question sat behind a large desk at the back of the room, hooves steepled and gaze unwavering. Her slate grey coat and black leathery wings almost invisible in the dim light and her draconic icy blue eyes boring into the stallion seated in one of the many chairs surrounding the long table in the middle of the room.
"You've put us all in very bad position, Blueblood," the mare said after a few moments of silence. Her voice was as smooth as silk and as cutting as a razor blade.
Blueblood swallowed.
"I have ponies all over Equestria, from Manehattan to Appleloosa, carrying out their missions without fail or complaint. Whether it be information gathering, propaganda, sabotage, or recruitment, everypony I've sent out thus far has reported back successfully."
She rested her hooves on the desk as she leaned forward, her carefully neutral expression firmly in place.
"And then there's you."
"Please I-"
Blueblood.
Blueblood snapped his mouth shut.
Please refrain from speaking out of turn.
He felt an icy cold something gently wrap itself around his heart.
I am very upset with the current turn of events and I'd rather not have to take it out on you while you still have some use. Understood?
The terrified stallion nodded frantically, his wide eyed gaze locked on the thestral mare in front of him.
She hadn't moved an inch.
"Good."
The thing around Blueblood's heart released its grip and the stallion quietly sighed in relief.
"Now then," the mare leaned back in her chair as she eyed Blueblood critically, "I have a few... question I'd like to ask you regarding your utter failure in the task I had given you."
Blueblood said nothing.
"First and foremost," she began, "you were to seek out and capture anypony with the potential to aid us in our endeavors - and you were supposed to do it discreetly," the mare's brow furrowed ever so slightly as she spoke.
"Not only did you fail to capture the only target we could find in the city, but somehow, the parents ended up dead and now Canterlot is on high alert for the first time in centuries."
The sweating stallion squirmed under the thestral's increasingly intense gaze.
"I gave you everything you needed to get the job done efficiently, and you still failed. Why is that, Blueblood?"
Blueblood opened his mouth to reply but the mare cut him off.
"I'll tell you why, Blueblood," her brow furrowed further into a cold glare, "the reason you failed is because you decided it was a good idea to employ two psychopaths on the cheap and pocket the rest of the bits I had so generously donated for a professional."
The stallion's eyes widened as the icy grip on his heart returned.
"Oh yes, Blueblood," the mare said, her expression once again unreadable, "I'm well aware of how much of a scumbag you are. You don't even need the bits, as high up in the noble ranks as you are."
She slowly shook her head.
"I could've just as easily made you use your own bits," she stated, "but I didn't, because if I had, our all powerful Goddess of the Sun would've traced the deed right back to you, and then where would you be?"
She chuckled humorlessly.
"Most likely a smoking pile of ashes dumped in a trash bin somewhere."
Blueblood whimpered but still said nothing, keenly aware of the thing's hold on his heart.
"We can't afford this kind of attention, Blueblood - not when we still have so much to do. On top of that, we aren't monsters."
The stallion cried out as the grip tightened.
"These murders were a tragedy, and that poor filly is now lost and alone somewhere without anyone to look after her - something I plan to rectify once we've located her whereabouts."
The cold grip inside Blueblood finally vanished and Blueblood slumped over, breathing heavily.
"While I won't outright kill you for your insubordination, I fully intend to see to it that your punishment is extraordinarily painful," she leaned forward, steepling her hooves once again as she looked straight into Blueblood's teary eyes.
You will beg for death, Blueblood.
She ignored the horrified look on Blueblood's pale face as she leaned back and reached a hoof below the desk. She reached into a drawer beneath and pulled out out a small photo.
"Now, on to the next question," she said, tossing the photo on the table in front of Blueblood, "who is this colt and why do we have him locked in a cell instead of the filly I asked for?"
Blueblood turned to the photo in front of him.
It was a picture of an unconscious unicorn colt with light grey fur and a two toned navy and baby blue mane. The surroundings were to dark to see, but the colt was clearly bound in chains and wearing a magic nullifying ring around his horn.
He gulped nervously and looked back to the mare, who gesture for him to speak.
"F-From what I was told..." he stammered, "the c-colt is the target's b-b... brother - Shining A-Armor, I believe was his n-n... n-name."
"I see," the mare said thoughtfully, "and why was he brought here?"
"Well..."
He hesitated.
Blueblood.
"The two ponies I hired grabbed him when the target fled!" he cried in a panic, "they brought him to me and I had him brought here. I figured he was better than nothing! Please don't-"
"Silence, Blueblood. I'm thinking."
Blueblood shut his mouth abruptly.
The mare was quiet for a few moments as she contemplated the situation.
"Were you able to find out what his magical affinity is?" she asked after a minute.
Blueblood nodded shakily.
"A-Apparently, he has a strong affinity f-for Light Magic."
The thestral mare hummed to herself in thought, idly tapping the desk with a hoof.
"...I think we can still make this work," said slowly, "it may take some time, but..."
She nodded to herself and looked back to Blueblood.
"It's not ideal, but we can still use him - if for no other reason than to lure the target to us."
She stood up from the desk and trotted towards the door on the far end of the room.
"Red Storm, Fell Wind."
A tall maroon coated unicorn stallion and a dark green pegasus mare stepped out of the shadows behind Blueblood who yelped in surprise.
"Yes, my lady?" the unicorn replied in a gruff yet cultured tone.
"Whad'ya need, boss lady?" the smaller pegasus responded cheerfully.
The thestral mare glanced at them from over her shoulder, her teal mane falliing to one side of her face.
"Make sure the colt is given a proper room with food and drink if he needs it. You can release the chains, but keep the ring on his horn."
She trotted to the entrance of the war room and pushed the door open.
"And send that wretched stallion to the Black Room," she added, almost as an afterthought, "Tell Abela to keep him alive and intact. We still need him... for now."
She trotted out into the hall, ignoring the stalllion's pleas for mercy as the two subordinates dragged him back into the shadows.
"I just need a little more time," she muttered to herself, "a little more time and I can put somepony worthy on the throne."
She cast her determined gaze down the path ahead.
Just you wait, gramps.
I will blacken the cursed Sun.