//------------------------------//
// Drastic Action 
// Story: The Crystal Wolves (Rewrite) 
// by Roran Dreamon 
//------------------------------//

'To think that this room once held nothing but my boredom during hours of listening to nobles complain about their problems to the princesses, a ball during the Summer Sun Celebration, my knighting as the Warden of the Wilds, Sombra's coup attempt and his downfall all started in this very room.'

'And now here I am, standing at the foot of the throne with nothing but myself, my captain of the crystal guards, ten reliable crystal guardpones on standby, and my wife looking at me like a piece of meat...at least that explains why I felt a shiver run up my spine a few moments ago...'

Looking at my throne I first saw nothing out of the ordinary, every piece of crystal is in place as it should be, its color remains its ever pale blue palette, still the same size, nothing out of place. But when I kept looking at the throne I noticed that the key centerpiece crystal at the very top of the throne directly above where a headrest would normally be, it is pulsing slightly, humming with a foreign magical signature that wasn't there before. The magic in that crystal has been there for untold centuries, long before Celestia and Luna were even placed on the throne, the crystal ponies said some other race once ruled these lands before dying off but that is just a legend they tell each other but I know that the throne was made of the same arcana crystal that the Crystal Heart is made from, both pure in form and stature and are powered by positive emotions for the greater good of a kingdom.

What the people here don't know is that the crystal heart and the throne are corruptible, almost as seen with what Sombra has done to my friends when he froze them in place along with making the throne pitch black and sharp with the area surrounding it just as black.

The Crystal Heart and the Crystal Throne are not just symbols of power for the Crystal Empire, they are also powerful artifacts, artifacts that I have...kept my eye on for countless years as well as studied them and I must say, there are some thing that must not be known by the general public let alone those that once sat next to the throne or grazed the heart with a light touch.

Placing my hand on a hoof rest on the throne I watched as the throne reshaped itself to better fit my body shape and for a moment I could only smile and ponder as to why the throne would do such a thing before remembering some text I have read in a book before having it destroyed to prevent that particular knowledge from being found out by a certain alicorn.

'...artifacts of olde will one day return to the world and with it the power of the world itself...'

And somewhere in this damnable palace is one such artifact.

"Skolas, although it is not my place to question you but I do not think the Crystal Heart is in here. This was the first place we checked and we could not find any type of hidden compartments other than the hidden passage behind the throne." Bastion said as he trotted up beside me, looking at the throne just as it finished shifting into a shape that would fit me perfectly.

Turning around to face my captain of the guard I waved a hand at the throne while my hand was pointing at the one crystal at the top of the throne that was humming with resonance.

"Tell me Bastion, what do you see different about that crystal sitting right on top of the throne?"

"I see...hmm...well this is odd...the crystal is some sort of resonating switch. With the correct type of magical resonance being used in tandem with the crystal it will open a secret passage that has been created with magic...how strange that I have never seen that before up until just now..."

"Exactly, you have to be actively looking for it to even notice it and even then you have to know the right magic to even have any kind of effect on the resonance crystal. Observe closely because I am only doing this once." I said just as I turned back to face the throne as I lifted one of my arms and pointed a hand at the crystal and for a moment nothing happened.

But in that split second my hand erupted into a sphere of black and green as it bled into the air around it, wisps of green and black flames licking at everything around it before fading away into nothingness. The sudden appearance of the corrupted-looking sphere of magic made the crystal guards take a step back before standing their ground, their weapons at the ready, seems like their training to take out beings that have been corrupted by black magic or have been overloaded by the natural magic of the world is finally kicking in.

With my black magic ready to be discharged I focused my mind on the target of my choice, the resonance crystal and flung the devouring essence at the crystal and it immediately was absorbed into it, turning its color from its pale translucent color into a pitch black gemstone with glowing green waves emanating from its core.

The black gemstone started to hover over the throne and for a moment I thought that was it was going to do but instead it started to rotated in place before pointing itself at the center of the room and shot out a beam of green energy at the floor for five seconds before slowly falling back down and landed back onto the throne, its dark color vanishing completely as it returned to normal.

Unfortunately the same thing cannot be said about the center of the room.

"And that is the right type of magic to use." I said as the center of the floor in the room slowly began to open up in a circular fashion. I don't know where one would hide such a hidden compartment in a normal castle, but seeing how magic was involved in the creation of this particular hidden section then where this could have been hidden doesn't matter. Although I would love to have a few of these for myself, I wonder if I should have a secret pool or maybe a hidden bedroom so no one can interrupt me when I really need to rest.

As soon as the center of the room stopped moving we saw that in its place was a flight of stairs spiraling down into what I think is the basement of the palace. Looking down at the flight of stairs I saw that it would be a while to reach the bottom without jumping down the middle and freefalling but seeing how the guards and Bastion can't do that, I guess I will have to go with them down there.

"So who wants to go down the creepy dark tunnel first?" I asked and for a moment there was nothing but silence and when I looked up and away from the hole I saw that all eleven ponies were staring at me.

'Well, shit.'

With that said I made my way down the flight of stairs, Bastion following right behind me who was then followed by the ten guards behind him.

The twelve of us slowly made our way down the stairs and with each step we take I saw that the bottom was not getting any closer to us, my guess it was something that Sombra did to make those going down the stairs give up on hope and go back up the stairs. I don't know why but this guy has some serious skill in annoyance seeing how he has created what looks like an infinite staircase.

I wonder, if I jump in the middle will I fall forever or hit the bottom?

'Lets find out!'

Without looking back at those following me I took a step to the right a little too far and immediately felt the onset of gravity and started to fall into the abyss below. The fall into the abyss wasn't as bad I had thought, it wasn't even that deep of a trap because after five seconds of free falling I eventually found the bottom and as soon as I hit the ground it didn't even leave a dent in the ground, just a soft thud and an echo and that was it.

Dusting myself off after hitting the bottom I saw that there was nothing down here, well nothing besides the long flight of stairs that now clearly only goes three stories down and that Bastion and the crystal guards are in the middle of the stairs trotting in place.

Now that is a hilarious use of dark magic, a curse that alters your perception of reality around you that makes you think that you are making progress even though you are not.

With me at the bottom I saw the reason why Sombra used dark magic to hide this passageway, he and a door down here and that it was being powered by a dormant corrupted crystal gem. Obviously this is a trap but to know exactly what I am dealing with I would have to either trigger the trap myself or have someone else spring it for me, and seeing how they are still stuck up there I might as well get them out of that trap before possibly placing them in another.

Looking at this trap now I realized that this has been here for a long time, six years to be exact. I don't know when Sombra had the time to even have this area constructed let alone even have the privacy to enter the throne room to get here in the first place but seeing how this trap has been waiting for six years he must have been planning his little coup attempt far longer than I had anticipated or even realized. Seems like Sombra was in this race for the throne for the long haul, I wonder if he has any more of these traps just waiting for someone to trigger hidden away somewhere...

Raising my arm at the section of stairs where Bastion and the rest were currently at, my hand glowed for a few seconds with black and green energy before fading just as quickly as it appeared and just in time as well as I watched Bastion and team resume their trot down the stairs, acting like nothing happened. I wonder what their expressions will be when I tell them that they have been trotting in place for the past thirty minutes while I was watching them the entire time?

Once they made it to where I was standing they looked up and saw that instead of seeing nothing but a pinprick of light showing where the throne room once was, they instead saw that they could clearly stare at the ceiling but without being able to see the chandelier sitting above the hole. Bastion was shaking his head in shame, I was laughing like an asshole, the guards were in varying states of shock and surprise and lastly I was laughing like an asshole at their misfortune.

"Having a good laugh there eh Skolas?"

"Yes, in fact I am having a good laugh. I can't believe that we all fell for an optical illusion that was placed on the entire staircase." I said as we turned away from the staircase and was now looking at what appears to be a simple wooden door with a black gemstone embedded at the top of the frame.

An obvious trap if I have ever seen one, right next to a shiny golden idol at the end of a hallway or my favorite, a candy bar underneath a box with a stick holding it up with a piece of string attached to it.

"So Skolas, if the stairs was nothing more than optical illusion what do you think this door will be?"

"No idea, we have to test it with someone to see what it is. I guess I will do it because dark magic has less of an effect on me and I fear what it would do to the rest of you." I said as I stepped toward the door, sadly the door has an idea of its own.

The somehow and without any reason moved from where it was rooted to on the wall and started slide around the wall. Now I know that the correct method to corral the door and figure out what is on the other side is to station guards on either side of it and plant my swords above it so it would not be able to escape but sadly that plan was put on hold when one of the guards managed to grab the doorknob with a hoof and twisted it but as soon as he touched said knob he got blasted in the face with black magic.

For a moment I thought it killed him because he immediately fell to floor like a sack of potatoes but I was proven wrong when he got back up and was acting as if nothing happened. That is until he opened his eyes and started to scream at the top of his lungs.

"Somepony hold him down!" "I got his legs!" "I got his hoof!" The voices from several crystal guards came and went as they bumrushed the screaming guard but what I didn't know was that the magic that the affected guard would spread onto anyone that would touch the affected.

One after another the crystal guards started to scream out not in pain, but in terror, like they are facing their worst fears right before their very eyes and that they can't fight it.

Wow Sombra, dick move, made a curse that showed the affectee their worst nightmares and they can't even resist it. Gotta remember how this is done, might find a use for this later in the future.

As I watched this all unfold I saw out of the corner of my left eyes Bastion use his magic to grab one of the screaming guards and managed to yank him away from the rest of the chain, the guard in question was still screaming but it was lowered to a much more manageable level. The guard in question slowly came back to reality and started to shake in fear as her body refused to move from her place on the floor.

I don't know what she was afraid of but all I could make out from her mumbling and fast talking was 'alone', well it looks like someone is afraid of being alone or being left alone, abandoned. If this keeps up then I will have to send all of them out for a mental evaluation to see if all of their marbles are still present.

One after another Bastion and I started to remove the affected guards from each other, the curse hitting them breaking as they are removed from the chain of idiots. Seriously, why the hell does this keep happening to me? Why do these damn ponies keep touching things that doesn't belong to them? First it was Luna touching my shrapnel launcher, setting it off and nearly burning her wings off, then there was Sombra reading Grogar's journals, Celestia touching the same journals for a second before setting them on fire, Celestia again but this time poking me while I was sleeping and I fell on top of her, and lastly Forge sneaking up on me and poked me in the back with an unmentionable object that I will never speak of ever again.

When it was just the lone guard who was still holding onto the knob as if it was rail preventing him from falling to his untimely demise, I decided to handle this one while Bastion tended to the addled and shuttering ponies.

Grabbing the pony holding onto the doorknob I was immediately zapped by the black stone and was facing my worst nightmare.

For all of one second before the spell broke on me.

"Really Sombra? You create a trap that plays on your worst nightmare and you thought that it would work against me?" I said as I removed the stallion's hoof from the knob and pushed him aside before opening the door before quickly plucking the black stone from the doorframe and walked through the threshold to see what lies on the other side.

Growling at the trailing parade of guards picking themselves up, the removal of the black gem has cut the connection of the curse with its victims thus saving them from its power while also at the same time leaving them shaking in fear from its lingering effects.

When I stepped through the door I was expecting some sort of barrage of arrows and javelins to be shot at me because the door was successfully opened. What I was not expecting was to step off the side of a fucking second staircase leading upwards.

A staircase leading upwards, that is somehow outside.





The train ride to the northern region of Equestria is a boring affair for almost every single pony present. Six mares sitting at a table all huffed out in boredom as the lone dragon on board rolled a pair of dice on the table before moving a set piece around the board before picking up a paper card and in a bored manner read what was written on it before placing it back down and move his piece to the other side of the board, directly to jail.

Letting out a sigh of boredom one of the guards that was standing besides the door slowly starts to lower his head against the side of his spear, and after a few moments he started to snore quietly, falling asleep while still standing.

"How much longer till we get there?" Spike said as his head slumps onto the table.

"I don't know Spike, the Crystal Kingdom was located far to the north. So far north in fact that the train will only take us so far before we will have to disembark and continue on hoof." Celestia said as she looked up from her book '101 ways to make Cake by Head Chef Gustav' to look at Spike before returning to her book.

"Ugh this is so boring! Why can't something exciting happen right now instead!" Rainbow Dash shouted from her spot near the table as she slumped back in her seat, snorting a tress of mane from her face.

And with the magic word said, the train suddenly came to a screeching halt, the wheels halting all at once as the screeching sound of metal on metal forced all of the ponies inside of the train to cover their ears lest they bleed from being ruptured by the sound alone.

When the ungodly sound finally stopped along with the train coming to a complete halt, Rainbow Dash silently muttered to herself to never wish for something exciting to happen ever again, or until extreme boredom sets in. 

"Hey! Somepony is out on the tracks! You! Get off the bloody tracks already! Come now move it!" The conductor shouted as everypony on board the train slowly pulled themselves out from their seats and steadied themselves from the sudden stop.

"What the hay is going on out there?" A guard said as he opened a window and stuck his head out to see what was happening outside.

And what the guard saw astounded him, standing directly on the rails was a lone pony wearing a cloak and hood, the howling winds going on around them was doing nothing against the lone pony besides making the cloak rustle in the wind.

"Hey you! What in Celestia's name are you doing out here! Identify yourself now!" The guard shouted at the pony just as several more guards stormed off the train to surround the mysterious pony in question.

Seven guards got off the train and after a few moments surrounded the cloaked pony, spears pointing at said pony as they circled around to prevent any avenue of escape.

"I will not ask you again! Identify yourself!"

"You are trespassing on sovereign land, leave now and go back to Equestria." The mysterious pony said in a flat and even tone, none of the guards were able to tell which gender the pony was due to it sounding so androgynous.

"That is it! You are coming with us!" The lead guard said and for the moment all eyes was on the lone pony in the middle, the six mares that was bored out of their minds were now looking out of the windows as well as their little dragon friend, Celestia and Luna was also watching but they had stepped off the train to see what was going on.

As soon as one of the guards took a step towards the unknown pony, it sprung into action, pulling out a small yellow crystal before throwing it at the ground and in an instant it exploded with a loud bang and a bright light, both blinding the equestrian guards and those nearby while at the same time deafening them in the process.

The lone warden pony took the chance and took off into the blizzard, losing the guards in the white flurry of snow and was out of sight in mere moments while the equestrians tried to remove the disorientating dizziness all the while the mares inside were rubbing their eyes from the bright flash of light.

Luna shook her head at the sight of the guards failing to apprehend a lone pony in the middle of the blizzard, fully knowing that they would have failed in their task to capture said pony. Celestia on the other hand was having a bit of a hard time believing that her guards were so easily defeated by a lone pony wearing what looked like nothing but a hooded cloak.

"But...how!? I felt no magic from that pony and yet it was still capable of using a thunderclap spell to escape? How!" Twilight shouted as she stared in star struck awe at the spot where the lone pony used to be standing.

"Quiet casting and fast casting...and here I thought that only the battle mages of Ancient Equestria could do such a thing but to see it before my eyes. And to think that they last few remaining ones are here in the Crystal Kingdom..." Celestia said as she trotted over to her guards and helped them get back onto their hooves, a few are still holding their heads as the ringing in their ears still rages on.

Trotting to where the lone pony was once standing the moon princess used a hoof to wipe away the snow, looking for anything that could give her a clue as to what happened and when she saw the dull yellow crystal fragments she immediately knew who they were dealing with. And just as quickly as she found the fragments she buried them beneath the snow, the knowledge of this gem was all that is needed for what she was about to tell her friends and sister.

As soon as she returned to her sister's side she nudged her with a wing and nodded back to the train, the silent messaged received Celestia nodded back and helped her disoriented guards back onto the train and after a few moments it began to move once more towards their objective in the north.

Once everypony was on board and sat down, Celestia and Luna took their seats besides their students on their opposite side and discussed what has just occurred.

"Well it would seem we are on the right trail towards the Crystal Kingdom, if that crystal pony was of any indication." Celestia said as she ruffled her wings of any loose feathers before relaxing into her seat.

"Yes, and a warden at that." Luna said as she looked outside the window, the blizzard was still going strong, resulting in them being slowed down by the sheer force of it.

"Wardens? Who are they?" Twilight said as she looked at Luna, a small notepad and quill now hovering beside her.

"If We can remember them correctly, they were or in this case are the Crystal Kingdom's elite soldiers, trained by an old friend of ours and seeing how We was able to talk to him through the dream realm We can tell that he is still alive, although a bit displeased with the news that We told him on being frozen for nearly two thousand years." Luna said as she snuggled herself into the sofa, the soft plushness slowly lulling her asleep but she kept herself awake for the sake of and answering any questions that might be asked.

"Oooooo and just who this friend of yours?"
"Is it an old flame that you are hoping to reignite?"
"Oh or maybe is it an old friend that you wish to reunite with after being gone for so long?"
"Is this friend of yours cool?"
"Well tell us!" 

Luna was assaulted by questions and for a moment she sat their shocked at what was asked but in an instant she was back to her old self and started to answer each question with a smile.

"My old friend is Skolas and he is...well he isn't from around these parts and sadly no he isn't an old flame although my chance with him came and went I highly doubt I would ever get a second chance with him. And yes We do wish to reunite with him, it has been far too long since We have truly spoken to each other. We would hope so that our friend is cool, if it wasn't for him then many of the advances we have made would not be here if it wasn't for him." The lunar matriarch said as she laid her head down onto a pillow, letting the train rock her back and forth to sleep but was pulled away from it all when she felt a hoof poke her side a few times before pressing deep into her flank.

"Luna, did Skolas say anything that is happening within the kingdom? Is Sombra on the loose or is he trying to deal with it on his own, as usual?" Celestia said as she looked at her sister, there was fear in her eyes and for a moment Luna also saw the fear shift into something far worse, the fear of losing their friend forever.

"Yes sister, Skolas did say something...but for the life of me I don't understand why he is acting paranoid all of a sudden. Usually he is always so composed and sound, not this paranoid mess that was standing before me in his dreams." Luna said with a huff, glaring at her sister for keeping her out of doing her duties as a dream walker and protecting her ponies from the occasional nightmare.

"Is it because he was trapped for so long that his mind couldn't handle being alone for so long?" Twilight said as she adjusted herself in her seat and leaned against the window and glanced out of it for a moment before spotting the lone pony that had escaped for the slightest of moments before it vanished from her sight by being absorbed into the blizzard.

"What is it Twilight? Did you see something out there?"

"I just saw the pony that escaped the guards just now!"

"Where!?" Rainbow Dash said as she got up from her seat and started to fly to a window before being pulled back down.

"Simmer down there Dash, Ah don't think ya should go out there right now. The cold will freeze your wings solid an I rather not see you flop to the ground and that we are already on a train headin' north so just sit back down." Applejack said, not even looking up from her spot on the sofa.

"But I could catch the little spy and-"

"And what? If that crystal pony could escape from seven guards while surrounded what chance do you have?" Applejack said as she went back to trying to fall asleep, her rainbow headed friend let out a snort before frowning and crossed her hooves before staying in her seat.

Little did they know that the pony that they let escape was indeed one of the wardens that was sent out with those few crystal ponies who volunteered, and as the lone warden waited for his two companions to meet him he started to set up the warning beacon with the kit he was given before his departure.

When the other two arrived they questioned what was going on until they saw the beacon was fully set up and with a single hoof pressing down on the center of the enchanted gemstone it lit up like the sun and shot a ball of red light into the sky, punching through the blizzard before exploding in the air.

The three looked up at the sky before looking at the horizon, expecting to see something deep in the blizzard only to see nothing, but after a few minutes of waiting a red dot in the beyond lit up before it too shot up into the sky.

The warning has been sent out and it has been received by those closer to Providence, now it is only a matter of time before the city itself can be warned and the proper response be made.

With the girls and the rest of the guards now resting within their train their ride further up north soon came to an end when they felt that they were slowing down and before long they came to a complete halt in the middle of no where with a raging blizzard going on.

"Why did we stop?"

"Because Rainbow Dash we are here, the tracks could have gone only so far with how much time we had to lay down the rails." Twilight said as she got up and crawled off the sofa before grabbing her saddlebags and put it on before snagging her scarf and earmuffs from the coatrack and placed the scarf around her neck and her favorite earmuffs on her ears before trotting off the train.

Once she was off the train she was soon followed by her friends and the royal guards, Celestia and Luna got off at the same time as Shining Armor and Princess Cadance trotted off behind them. Everypony is wearing winter-related clothing and other means of keeping warm as they got into formation, the royal guards surrounding the six mares, baby dragon, the celestial sisters, the captain of the royal guards was leading the formation while Princess Cadance stood between her aunts.

When every single pony was ready for the long march to the heart of the Crystal Kingdom they all began to trot a t a brisk pace, the royal guards have their eyes peeled for any more signs of the warden ponies, if one was able to easily escape capture while surrounded then who knows what else they might be capable of doing.

Luna knew of what the wardens are capable of doing because she saw them in action several times, including the razing of Griffonstone and the slaughter of High Talon Ridge, and she must say that if the solar or lunar guards ever fought against Skolas's wardens, the guards would lose because they are so out of practice as the changeling invasion proved it several times over.

Celestia on the other hoof for the life of her can't remember anything about the wardens nor could she remember exactly why the wardens are so powerful or so prepared for any situation.

"So how far away is this place exactly?" Pinkie asked as she bounced slightly in the snow, the snowflakes landing on her nose as she blew them into the air only for them to be blown away into the blizzard.

"If the weather doesn't let up...a few days at most and if the weather does give us a clear sky than only a few hours at most." Luna said as she looked at the horizon for a moment to see a lone pony-shaped figure disappear beyond her sight.

A warden was watching their every movement, and it knew where they are.

"Sister."

"Yes Luna?"

"They know we are here."

"How do you know?"

"Because if I know Skolas the most out of any pony out there besides his wife...he would have sent out his eyes and ears as soon as he came out of the stasis spell."

"So how many of his wardens are watching us?"

"From what I saw earlier...just one."

"Just one? Pfft we can easily capture one pony, especially in this blizzard!" Rainbow Dash said as she flapped her wings and started to fly only to be pulled back down to earth by her friend.

"Dash, we told you this already, you can't fly in this weather without freezing your wings solid!"

"Oh come on Twi! It is just a short flight to the mysterious pony! That is all that I am asking!"

"No means no! I swear one of these days you are going to bite off a lot more than you can chew!" Twilight said and for a moment she thought it got through her friend's thick skull but sadly that isn't the case this time.

With the flap of her wings the rainbow-headed pegasus took off and took chase after the lone pony in the distance, much to the distress and displeasure of the ponies she came with. 

"Hey get back here!" The group of ponies heard before losing sight of her, the blizzard concealing her as she faded away into the distance.

If only they knew what kind of trouble she is going to get into.





I don't know what is with Sombra but he has a strange obsession with stairs...stairs and cruel pranks.

I wonder where he gets this from?

Holding onto the edge of the staircase I let out a series of unkind and unspeakable words out in anger as I tangled over the side like a worm at the end of a fishhook.

'I am getting far too old for this shit...and just how old am I anyways?'

"Skolas! Are you okay!" I heard Bastion yell me as he came galloping towards the edge before stopping himself from going over the ledge along with me, he skidded to a halt and was looking down at me as I looked down at the ground beneath us.

Right below me was the city of Providence, which is strange because every time I look at the damn palace from the outside I never saw these stairs so he either has an invisibility spell on the entire thing or they are so well built that they blend in to the side.

"Yes Bastion, I am fine...just wondering how I never found these stairs whenever I am outside going for a stroll." I said with a bit of snark thrown into my voice, I don't know why but I am starting to realize that Sombra is a bigger asshole than I am. I just get things over with and my grudges don't last long, Sombra on the other hand just loves to drag things out all the while taking his grudges presumably to the grave.

This guy seriously needs to get laid.

"Oh, okay. Was just wondering if you need me to pick you up but it seems like you got this one, I will go back with the guards back to the throne room and wait for you to finish with your hunt for the Crystal Heart." The captain of the crystal guard said and just before he could turn around I stopped him as I pulled myself up.

"Leave two of your guards with me, in the event something traps me I could still send a message out on my failure or my success, whichever of the two comes first for me." Please give me two of your more competent guards, I don't need any the stupid ones like the ones who touched the door when we told him not to or the few that grabbed him even though they saw the black magic aura was clearly on him.

"Fine, just make sure that they don't get hurt. I rather not send all of my guards to the infirmary today so make sure that those two come back to me in one piece and not screaming from some madness inducing spell.

Nodding his head at my request he calls out to anypony who is still standing and didn't touch the cursed guard and three hooves raised into the air. He picked two of them told them to follow my lead and to not get hurt or to do anything stupid, stood at attention and agreed with him before following me out the door, standing right behind me as I looked up the curving flight of stairs.

Staring back at the two crystal guard ponies behind me, I recognized the pair, Orange Rivet and Frothy Brew, and they looked as competent as a pair of stooges. These two somehow barely passed the requirements to even join the crystal guards and yet they still somehow manage to both fuck up and unfuck up their situations they get in. Someone up above must really love these two idiots cause I sure as hell don't.

"Alright you two, stay behind me and whatever you do, do not touch anything until I tell you to. Do you understand all that or do I need to say it in a much slower manner."

And so began our march up the winding flight of stairs. I honestly don't know why would Sombra would even create such a thing, I mean I know he hates stairs because he used to complain about them all the time! What made him change his mind?

I wonder...




Flashback




Standing at the top of a flight of stairs was a dark unicorn wearing a flowing red cap, a grin firmly plastered on his muzzle as he raises his hoof into the air, a strange cylindrical object is on his hoof.

Ever so gently Sombra placed the cylindrical object on the ground and with a gentle nudge from his hoof the object tilted over the side before bending in such a way that it was acting like a gelatinous beast.

"What comes down stairs, alone or in pairs, it makes a slinkity sound! A spring a spring a marvelous thing! Everypony knows its slinky!"

"Sombra, what are you doing?" I said as I looked down at him from the third floor foyer, the unicorn in question was standing right beside the metal toy before it slinked on past him.

"I uh...nothing?"

"Uh huh...right...and I am going to pretend I didn't see you playing with that foal's toy just now." I said before snickering to myself and walked off, having a report to deliver so I went back on my merry way, ignoring the fuming stallion at the bottom of the stairs as he screamed obscenities at me as I left him alone.




Flashback Over




'Oh, right, I totally caught him playing with that slinky a few years ago. Who knew that he actually loved those things so much that it would make him create so many flights of stairs?'

Letting out a snort of hot air the three of us began our ascending climb up what I can only hope and pray to be nothing less than a flight of stairs four stories high instead of an infinite staircase leading to heaven.

I was hoping for this climb upwards to be quiet with nothing to hear but our footsteps and our breathing but unfortunately the two guards that came with with me are complete and utter chatterboxes.

"So Orange Rivet, you got any plans for once this is all done and over with?"

"Well I know that I am planning to go down to the Retching Manticore for a few pints of ale, maybe find a nice mare to have some fun with, you know, the usual thing I do at the end of my shift. What about you?"

"Well when I am done with my shift I am going to go home and be with my wife."

"Ah yes, I forgot that you are married, you are not allowed to have fun with the boys anymore hehe. You've been whipped!"

"No I have not! It is just that I have responsibilities at home, I just can't go around having a drink with my buddies when my wife needs me at home to watch the foals!"

"You have foals?"

"Yes, I do, two of em and both are a hooffull."

"Really?"

I let out a loud groan as my eyes rolled up into my head, for a moment I wanted nothing more than to just jump off the side of the building and land head first just to stop hearing those two talking about their daily lives. I am not their therapist nor their buddy, I do not need to hear any of this right now.

"Can you two talk when this is all over? I need to concentrate on spotting any traps or pressure plates on these stairs!" I turned my head to shout at the two guards and for a moment I thought it was working but then I was interrupted when my foot struck something and I nearly fell forward and eat shit but I caught myself when my arms grabbed onto something that just so happened to be the top of the palace.

'Huh...I figured this would have taken us longer, seems like the stairs aren't cursed...'

"Is that what I think it is?"

"I thought it was just a myth and that it was those two alicorns that was keeping the blizzard away from us?"

"Well you are both wrong, it took years of meticulous research, trial and error, and a few failures but what you see before you is no myth nor the work of two alicorns. This is the work of those that came before us all during the reign of Discord, the Crystal Heart and with my knowledge and the assistance of several powerful unicorns we managed to recreate this sacred relic and gave it to the other towns and villages to both protect them from the hostile weather and the savage beasts that lie beyond the walls."

"Are you sure this this the Crystal Heart and not just a trap?"

"I don't know, I have to get close to it to see otherwise it might as well be a fake that has been rigged by a curse." And with that said I looked around the top of the palace, there was nothing up here but the Crystal Heart resting on a pedestal, the eight prongs on top of the palace pointing skyward and myself with the two guards.

It looks to easy to get, there has to be some sort of catch.

Taking a cautious step towards the heart I expected to be fired at me or some spell to be casted on the heart to teleport it away or a fireball to blast an unwary intruder. Instead nothing happened, there was no teleportation, no fireball, no spell of any kind, just me, the two ponies behind me and the floating heart on a pedestal, what could possibly go wrong?

Well a lot can go wrong actually...

First I stepped onto the raised floor where the heart was located and as soon as I grabbed the heart several things happened at the exact same time. A cage made out of black crystals sprang out of the ground, surrounding me in the process, then my guards panicked and started to bang their hooves on the cage and they were sucked into it when the cage opened up partially, then off in the distance I saw a red dot glare brightly in the sky and I knew exactly what that was because it wasn't the sun due to it being behind me at the moment.

"Well...this fucking sucks...thanks for not listening to everything I just told you two idiots. Not only did we get trapped in here but now I can't send either of you two to go back down the stairs, get Bastion, come back up get us out of here but noooooo. You two tried to play the hero and bang your hooves against the cage and instead of leaving a dent you instead got just as captured as I did. Thanks for screwing up." I said as I banged my head against the bars in anger, seriously do these ponies even think before going into action?

"Sorry boss." "Sorry sir."

Shaking my head at them I turned my attention back to the heart and for a moment I thought it was a fake but when I placed my hand on it I felt it zap me before stopping. Me being me I touched it again but this time instead of zapping me it just stopped rotating until I took my finger off of it as it resumed its rotation.

"Hmm...I wonder..." And with that wonder in mind I grabbed the heart and for a moment I thought that my plan won't work due to interfering dark magic but instead I managed to teleport the crystal heart out of the cage and onto the floor. I do not understand why that happened but now I have a new idea.

Flaring the darkness into my hands I placed each hand at a different point on the black crystals, forming a rough square shape before pumping my brand of darkness into the two corrupted pillars and for a moment nothing happened but that was immediately changed when the crystals themselves reverberated and started to crack and crumble before outright exploding outwards.

But just as they exploded outward the two guards immediately left the prison cell and it sealed itself up right behind them, leaving me inside and alone. Fucking typical...the guy rescues the idiots in distress and he gets put into a trap...whats next? A damn dragon kidnaps the prince charming and the damsel has to rescue him?

Staring at the two guards who are on the floor outside, blinking at me as they stare at where they once were I instantly got an idea.

"Orange Rivet, Frothy Brew, go downstairs and tell Bastion that we have found the Crystal Heart, just pass it back to me, I can use it to both break myself out of here and also destroy any other remaining curses that reside within the palace."

"But umm...we were told to bring the heart immediately to its cradle if we ever find it."

"And you would leave me up here? Alone and trapped?"

"I am sure you would be able to think of something."

"If you leave me up here I will send you two on on deep range patrols to the farthest reach of the empire for the next five years." And with that threat said the two immediately did as they were told and handed the heart over to me.

With the heart in my hands I concentrated on tapping into its power and for a moment I was able to glimpse into it and I saw eternity before succumbing to its strength. The power of the Crystal Heart was coursing through my veins and for a moment I felt invincible! I felt like that nothing could possibly stop me! I could do anything that I can set my mind to!

And I set my mind to getting myself the out hell out of this stupid cage! Slamming my upper hands against the crystal cage the magical boost I have received from the heart broke the bars holding me explode into a black mist. Unfortunately the part where all the curses on the palace are lifted, the only thing it did was helped me escape but that is all that is needed at this moment.

Looking down at the two guards who are staring at me in awe as I gave off a godly aura of light blue energy waving off of me and their jaws were on the floor before they pulled themselves together and galloped back down the stairs to tell Bastion the good news while I took a short cut.

And by shortcut I mean jumping down the flight of stairs and landing one flight beneath the other before stopping at the door leading back inside to the throne room. I beat the two guards to the door by several minutes and when they finally caught up to me they were huffing and puffing and looked like they were about to collapse from exhaustion.

Seems like they are still suffering from the stasis spell, being stuck in place for a thousand plus years that was immediately followed by moving after being stationary for so long. Either muscle mass has shrunk or they are just unused to doing so much in such a short amount of time.

Going down than going back up I returned back to the throne room, Crystal Heart in hand and when I took the last step back into the throne room I saw as every single pony that was in there, Bastion, those that got zapped by the cursed door, Glittering Quill, Forge and several other guards and wardens that were patrolling the halls at the time were all looking at me.

Well, they were looking at the damn heart than they were looking at me, small victories I guess.

"Is that...what I think that is!"

"Yes Forge, it is what you think it is. Damn thing took a while to find."

"And its about damn time this thing goes back where it belongs. To the front gate!" I said before marching out the throne doors and down the stairs to the foyer at the bottom. There was a few servants and guards waiting at the bottom of the stairs, even a few random ponies were milling about in the foyer but when they saw me cradling the crystalline heart in my hands they immediately started to stomp their hooves in jubilance and joy. The mere sight of their beloved Crystal Heart has been found and is returning back to where it returns is making every single pony that sees it burst into tears of joy.

'I guess when it went missing for that entire year all the way to now must have really put a lot of strain on them, an artifact so powerful that not only controlled the weather to form an almost literal 'Garden of Eden' that allowed things to grow here faster, in greater amounts and also for some reason are crystalline in appearance but still retain their juicy insides. I am so glad I found that artifact locked in the grubby hooves of a frozen necromancer.'

Walking through the front steps of the palace I stood at the center of the palace directly beneath it and with the pedestal now raised and waiting for its long awaited missing piece to be returned I placed it down and watched as it started to spin slowly in place an inch off of the rune-etched crystal surface.

For a few moments it just floated there, slowly rotating on the pedestal but when the crystal ponies started to see what the commotion was all about and saw the Crystal Heart with their own eyes, they all got emotional, happy and crying their eyes out in joy as they started to cheer at the return of their precious heart.

And in that moment it glowed the bright shade of blue I have ever-





The equestrians have set up camp for the night, they have been trotting for well over five hours and with the blizzard growing in intensity they have decided it was best to hunker down for night. It was when they finally got their camp set up did their missing friend returned, no worse for wear other than her wings are stiff and are partially frozen and steaming in anger.

When they asked her what happened she said that the pony she was chasing led her into a trap and that the pony knocked her out and left her in the snow with a warning that if she keeps this up than this would be seen as an act of war against the Crystal Empire.

The color was drained completely from the faces of every single pony present.

She was promptly chewed out from almost every single pony present and to only make matters worse she wouldn't be able to fly for a while due to her wings being frozen and had to be warmed up again.

Sitting around a campfire the ponies talked to one another, a few still were chewing out their foolish friend for making such a brash and almost costly rushed decision.

"We can not believe you Rainbow Dash! Not only did you ignore what Twilight Sparkle has told you but you also have failed to think of what could happen if things went south! Equestria hasn't had a war in well over a thousand years and you almost started one by chasing a that warden as far as you went! What were you thinking!" Luna shouted as she placed a marshmallow on a stick and placed it over the fire, her eyes glaring at the foolish mare.

If looks could kill than Rainbow Dash would have been erased from existence in an instant.

"I thought I could catch him! Get him to answer some questions, it wasn't like I was going to hurt the little coward or nothing!"

"Rainbow Dash, if that warden wanted to he could have killed you without batting an eye. They are trained to kill any threat that might make its way to the Crystal Kingdom, be they feral beasts or sentient beings they will be put down, and put down hard if they resist."

"R-Really? But ponies don't kill other ponies...right?"

"Rainbow, you have to understand that back then it was a different time. We were under the constant threat of the monsters that stalked our lands while at the same time from persisting raiding parties from the griffons, diamond dogs and even the minotaur's at the time. We were constantly living in fear and if it wasn't for Skolas we would not be here right now, the kingdom would have been conquered by the griffons and we would have all been slaves to them and back then we were not as powerful as we are today." Celestia said as she took a sip from her tea cup, the tea kettle was steaming from its place near the fire as she looked at her sister, trying to see she could try and calm her down.

"How come I haven't heard any of this before? None of this was in the history books back in Canterlot and I read through them all!"

"Because dear Twilight it wasn't recorded. Anything that we had on the Crystal Kingdom was lost when Sombra ousted us from power." Celestia said with a sigh, she could not believe that back then she was bested by a simple unicorn with access to magic she would never dream of ever learning let alone using it against a fellow pony.

With that answer said the bookworm nodded before going back to roasting her marshmallow.

Off in the distance while they were all busy chatting away a blue flash went up in the sky as it went unnoticed due to the raging blizzard but as the flash ended a wave of light rushed towards them and in an instant the fires were put out, plunging the camp into darkness and with it caused panic as ponies started to put the fires back on just as the blizzard around them started to die down and fade away.

"What the hay was that?" Applejack said as she looked around and noticed that it was still considered day time, the blizzard was just blocking out the sun to the point where they couldn't see it.

"It would seem that either somepony was manipulating the weather to the point that the blizzard got out of control or somepony managed to stop the blizzard, either of those two choices doesn't sound good because of how much magic or wingpower it would have required to do such a thing." Shining Armor said as he stood up and looked around, trying to see what has changed around them only to see what has happened.

The wave of light removed the blizzard that was around them and with it came the sun and decent weather.

"Woah...would you look at that..." Shining Armor said as he pointed at the horizon, a massive sight to behold was just beyond his hoof.

"What is it big bro...ther...oh...sweet...Celestia..."

"Indeed, Luna."

"We have returned." Luna said, a sad smile on her muzzle as she looks at the sight of the capital of the Crystal Kingdom, Providence, and it was a sight to behold.

But what marred that sight was the banners that has long replaced the banners of the sun and the moon.

It was the banner of a house that Celestia and Luna approved of after the war with the griffons.

"So...it would seem he has defeated Sombra."

"Yes Celestia, it would seem so."

"The House of Wolves now sits upon the throne...I never thought I would see the day when he would take the throne."

"Who are you talking about Princess Celestia?"

"I am talking about our old friend...I hope he is willing to listen to reason, the Crystal Kingdom needs to return to the fold and join Equestria in peace. Both nations have much to learn from one another and it would be nice to see him again after being gone for so long." Princess Celestia said as she put down her tea cup and stood up, the capital was several miles away and from where she was standing she could just barely see the wall surrounding the city let alone see the shimmering dome surrounding it.

'It has been almost two thousand years since I last saw this place...I am now finally home. I just hope the ponies here can ever forgive us for leaving them behind.'





Being blinded by a bright flash of light was not something that I wanted to happen to me today but with the amount of power that was coursing through my veins early I can say that it was a decent trade off, if only I could keep that power for a bit longer.

Pulling myself off the floor I saw that the world around me has become a hell of a lot more brighter, the ponies were sparkling and they looked a hell of a lot more adorable then they previously were. That is including Forge because when I got back on my feet I was immediately swept off of them when she tackled me to the ground and started to kiss me.

"Forge do give your stallion a break from your affection, it would look like you are killing him with your hugging." Glittering Quill said with a laugh as she trotted past me and towards the Crystal Heart, eyeing it for a few seconds before smiling to herself and trotted back to my side as my wife continued to crush me with her weight.

"Oh push off Quill, he isn't complaining and besides, he needs a reminder of my love, don't you schmoopy boo." Forge said with a smug smile on her face, oh the humiliation...she could have said anything, ANYTHING! But no, she had to say the one thing that I know that easily emasculates me.

"Schmoopy boo?" Quill said with a raised eyebrow and for a moment I saw Forge smile at me before talking to our assistant.

"Oh god please kill me!" I shouted while trying to wiggle free, it would seem that the ponies that are all sparkling and crystalline are much stronger than their normal counterparts.

"Well Quill, I call him that because of what he is capable of doing with that tongue of his when we kiss and our...other favorite activities." Forge said with a shit-eating grin while I was bashing the back of my head against the floor in hopes of getting brain damage so I never have to hear this conversation again.

Before this conversation could get any worse we all heard something galloping right at us. Lifting my head to see who it could be I saw that it was Warden Branding Iron, it would seem that he is severely out of breath, as if he has been running for hours on end without a break.

"High Warden Skolas...I-I have news to tell you!"

"What is it Warden Iron?"

"The exiled princesses! They are marching this way with a century of guards and what looks like civilians as well!" The warden said as he fell over, exhaustion finally creeped its fingers into him and took him down. Seems like he earned his rest and then some, an extra tankard of hard ale for this stallion.

Casting my gaze at Forge I watched as her smug grin turned into one of partial anger and annoyance. Poking her underbelly with a finger she got off of me and helped me before I turned around and motioned for her to follow me as I walked toward the bulwark protecting the city from the outside world.

When we got to the wall we ascended the stairs and stood at the top, overlooking the rolling green fields with the snow melting all around us, and off in the distance, several small lines of smoke rising.

"Forge."

"Yes schmoopy boo?"

"I hate it when you call me that, you do know that right?"

"Of course, I say it because I love you and I like it when you get all flustered when I say it in public."

"You are a troll."

"And you suck eggs."

"Well I wouldn't say eggs...but I do suck on something alright."

"Up here?"

"Oh gods no, it is not even night time and I didn't even reroute the paths of the guards so they don't find us! You are unbelievable sometimes you do know that." I said in mock horror, Forge just looked at me with an unamused flat stare before bumping me with her flank.

"Duh, and besides, with those two exiles coming home we will have all the time in the world to make them uncomfortable and hopefully send them back to wherever they came from so they can leave us alone."

"I doubt that it would be that easy Forge." I said as I recalled that Luna would probably play along while Celestia would just ignore our attempt to get them to leave.

"So should we get Quill involved?" Forge said as she patted my back with a hoof before grabbing a rock that was on the raised section of the wall and chucked it over the side.

"I think she will be involved whether or not we bring her into it. You and I both know that she has a score to settle with Celestia." I said as I recalled the fit of anger she had when she entered Celestia's room and started to trash the place.

"Oh, right, that...well may the Old Gods have mercy on that poor mare's soul."

"Indeed."

"Sooo...wanna have some fun?" Forge said with a smile as she got into a pouncing posture.

God damn it Forge you are insatiable sometimes.

Rolling my eyes I conked her at the back of her head before stepping away from her for a moment to collect my thoughts.

Sadly my thoughts were broken when my wife tackled me yet again.

I swear she will be the death of me sometimes.