Lone Wolf of Equestria; Battle for the Crystal Empire

by JNKing

Chapter 4: King Sombra's Greatest Weapon

Applejack stood in front of the podium that would soon contain the Crystal Heart. All around her, the Crystal Faire was in full session. Ponies laughing and talking, led on by Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The only problem was the lack of the Heart. Twilight had carved a new heart out of crystal, and they kept it draped with a bright blue sheet, but it didn’t stop curious carnival-goers from heading right towards the one place they didn’t need to be yet.

“So, how ya’ll feeling?” Applejack greeted one crystal mare as she approached. “Having a good time?”

“The best I’ve had in over a thousand years,” the mare replied happily, the stutter in her voice gone.

“Well, that’s good,” Applejack replied. “Gotta renew that spirit of love and unity if yer gonna power up that Crystal Heart, right?”

“I sure would like to see it before the ceremony,” the mare noted, her hoof itching for the sheet containing the fake heart. “It’s been so long…”

Applejack quickly got in her way. “Oh, I hear ya, but uh…” Applejack’s eyes darted from side to side before she pretended to wipe sweat from her head. “Phew! Getting a little toasty out here. Bet you’d like to cool off with a little Crystal Empire nectar.”

The mare gave Applejack an odd look, but reluctantly walked away. Applejack gave a small sigh of relief, before noticing two more crystal ponies walking towards the heart curiously.

“Uh, you tried the Crystal Empire fritters yet?” Applejack asked, heading them off, “Made from a traditional Crystal Empire recipe. You’re gonna love em!”

She got them to leave, but more ponies seemed to pop up, all heading for the Crystal Heart.

“Uh, I hear there’s a joustin’ match about to start!” Applejack yelled loudly, “You don’t wanna miss that!”

A few of the ponies whispered excitedly and scampered off, but not all of them. Applejack hunched over in frustration.

“C’mon, Twi,” she hissed, “These Crystal Ponies are more curious than a cat.”

#

Twilight and Spike followed after Logan as he sniffed through the castle grounds.

“Okay,” Spike muttered, “I get that Logan’s not entirely on our side. But… why’d you pick me for backup? Not that I’m complaining,” he added quickly.

“Because he managed to hold off Applejack, Rainbow Dash and myself when he bit Celestia. And back then, he was hurt, was barely using his magic, and didn’t have two years of experience on the outskirts,” Twilight whispered. She gave Spike a meaningful glance, “You know that I think of you as a friend, right?”

“Of course?” Spike said nervously.

“Well, he probably still thinks that you’re just a servant or something,” Twilight whispered, indicating Logan, “If it came down to a fight, maybe he’d be more reluctant to go up against you. Though,” she added, “If we’re really lucky, it won’t come down to that.”

“I hear you guys whispering,” Logan snarled. Both pony and dragon flinched and halted in their tracks. “Care to share?”

Spike and Twilight exchanged a glance.

“I was… just curious about where we were going,” Spike said.

“Right,” Twilight added. “And I think I might know where Sombra hid the Crystal Heart.”

Logan tilted his head, his ears flicking. “I’m listening,” he said.

Twilight turned back towards the castle and headed inside, followed closely by Spike and Logan.

“The castle?” Spike asked, “Really?”

“The king would’ve been counting on the fact that no pony would dare come looking for it here,” Twilight reasoned. “They’d have been too afraid to even try.”

“Use of class segregation,” Logan muttered, glaring up at the castle, “How human-like.”

Yet, as the dragon, pony and wolf searched room to room, they found nothing.

“It’s gotta be here somewhere,” Twilight muttered. “It’s just gotta be.” She glanced back at Logan. “Keep an eye on him, Spike,” she added in a low whisper.

“Two eyes,” Spike replied with a thumb up.

As they entered into a long throne room, with an ominous looking throne at the back, Twilight put her head down, mumbling to herself.

“If the empire is filled with hope and love,” she recited, looking up at a familiar looking crystal at the crest of the throne’s backrest, “Those things are reflected across all of Equestria. If hatred and fear take hold…” She looked up, smiling in realization. “Of course!”

Logan and Spike turned to her. “You have something?” Logan asked.

“No,” Twilight admitted, though the grin didn’t fade from her face. “Because this isn’t King Sombra’s castle.”

“But, isn’t this where he lived while he was in power?” Spike asked.

“She means that he stole it,” Logan said, “Probably from the Queen who first ruled over the Empire.”

“Well... yes,” Twilight admitted. “In a sense.” As Logan tilted his head in confusion, Twilight flared up her horn. But it wasn’t the same purple aura of her usual spells. It was a dark black.

As her spell hit the crystal above the throne, a long shadow stretched over the room. As it passed over Logan, the floor suddenly disappeared from under him. Logan let out a howl of shock as he disappeared, tumbling down a long spiral stairwell.

“SPARKLE!” Logan roared between grunts of pain as he disappeared down the stairwell.

Twilight shut her magic off in shock. “OH MY GOSH!” she yelped, “Logan?”

The sound of falling grew fainter, followed by a massive CRASH that billowed up from the bottom.

“Logan!” Twilight screamed, “Can you hear me? I’m so sorry! I didn’t…”

“Quit your blubbering!” Logan’s voice shot up defiantly from the stairwell, “I’m not dead yet!”

Twilight sighed in relief. Spike’s eyes just darted between the revealed staircase and Twilight.

“Not that I’m not happy Logan’s okay, but…” Spike waved his arms at the crystal, “How?”

Twilight glanced up at the crystal and gave a nervous giggle. “Just, uh… just a little trick Celestia taught me.”

Spike glanced down at the stairwell. “We shouldn’t tell Logan that,” he said.

“Agreed,” Twilight replied. She leaned down over the stairwell. “Logan!” she called again. “Can you see what’s down there?”

“Yeah!” Logan called back up. “Crystals. And plenty of them.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I mean, how far down does it go!”

“Pretty far,” Logan replied.

Twilight briefly looked up with a deadpan look of irritation.

“There’s a door here,” Logan said, grabbing her attention again. “I think it might lead to the Heart.”

“Don’t do anything yet,” Twilight said. “We’ll come down and join you.”

Logan didn’t reply. As Twilight started to head down, a distant boom rattled the room. Twilight nearly lost her grip on the staircase.

“What was that?” she asked.

Spike raced over to the nearest window, and peeked out. The shield was tinted in both pink and baby blue, and yet the whole thing was flickering. The smoke outside was smashing against it, and a low growl echoed through the room.

“YEESSSSSS…”

Twilight flinched at the deep, slithery voice.

“Cadence’s magic is fading,” Spike said, “We’ve got to go, now!”

Twilight nodded, pulling Spike onto her back, and together, the two raced down the spiral staircase, Twilight being careful not to tumble down the same way Logan did.

“Logan, we’re running out of time,” Twilight said, “Do you know where the door leads to?”

There was no answer at first.

“Logan?” Twilight yelled. “Did you go through the door without us?” She shared a nervous glance with Spike.

“Should I have brought armor or something?” Spike asked.

Suddenly, they heard a voice.

“No… I… how… I can’t be…”

“Logan?” Twilight asked.

The response was a blood chilling howl. A howl that Twilight had hoped to never hear again. She increased her speed, and skidded as she suddenly reached the bottom of the stairs. The bottom was a simple circular room, with an ornate black door right next to the stairs.

In front of the door was Logan. His paw was on the door, almost glued to it. And Twilight felt her heart shatter at how broken he looked. He was still howling, his tail tucked and ears flat, but his eyes… something was very wrong with his eyes. They were bloodshot, red dominating his pupils.

“L-Logan?”

His howl turned into a scream. His head bent, pressing against the door as he wailed in pure agony. Twilight saw a crystal above the dark door, glowing as Logan’s wail increased.

“Logan!” Twilight yelled, trying to yank him from the door.

But the second she touched him, the door he was leaning against opened, throwing them both forward.

She found herself in a wasteland. The sky above was red, and the grass around them was dead.

Logan was on his knees, with dead wolves all around him. Twilight recognized the red cloak and dark visage of his mother, along with a muscular wolf that shared Logan’s eye shape. She even saw a red female wolf with messy hair and teal armor, her eyes wide and unseeing.

“NOOO!” Logan howled, laying by her side “I failed you,” he whimpered, his head on the red wolf’s body.

“Logan,” Twilight mumbled, reaching out for him.

But when he turned to her, the rage in his eyes was like nothing Twilight had ever seen.

“You did this to me!” he snarled. His face was bestial. He looked like a timber wolf.

“I…” Twilight stammered, trying to back away.

“All you had to do was let me go!” Logan shrieked, his eyes turning a horrifying mixture of red and green. “YOU MURDERED THEM!”

“I didn’t,” Twilight protested, “Logan, please!”

But Logan lunged. Twilight screamed, shutting her eyes as he smashed into her, and hurled her into darkness.

As Twilight came to, she found herself back in Celestia’s throne room. Celestia was there as well.

“P-Princess Celestia?” Twilight stammered, “But…”

“What are you doing here?” Celestia asked. Twilight backed up at how cold her tone was.

“Uh… I don’t know,” Twilight admitted, “Logan, his…”

“Oh, yes, the Lone Wolf,” Celestia said, a cold smile flitting across her face, “You said you wouldn’t let him fall to darkness.”

Twilight felt her heart freeze up at the absolute hatred in Celestia’s eyes. “I did,” she stammered, “I mean, I tried, but…”

“Oh, you tried?” Celestia asked, “So, that excuses all the lives that have been lost?”

“Wh… lives?” Twilight squeaked.

“You failed, Twilight Sparkle!” Celestia boomed at her, “And look what that failure has wrought!”

She blasted at one of the glass windows. It briefly showed a visage of Twilight falling to Sombra before the glass shattered. And Twilight covered her mouth at what lay outside.

Canterlot was on fire. Ponies fought either against ponies fitted with cybernetics that turned them into horrifying cyborgs, or wolves; massive wolves like Logan. The wolves poured over the guards, the ponies shrieking as they disappeared, either under the hooves of the cybernetic ponies, or down the gullets of the massive wolves.

“I don’t understand!” Twilight exclaimed. “The test!”

“Assuming we all survive this,” Celestia said, “You can be quite assured that you won’t be continuing your studies with me.” Celestia put a wing to her head and sighed. “Truly, I was mistaken to place so much faith in you.”

Those words struck at Twilight’s heart like a knife. She fell to her side, staring in horror at the carnage that lay before her.

“Twilight!” a voice shrieked, distant and muffled. “Twilight!”

She looked around, desperately looking for the source. Then she saw him.

Spike was rushing through the battlefield, dodging cloven hooves and sharp teeth. He looked up towards her, and he saw her lock eyes with him. She briefly saw that his eyes were an odd shade of green. But she dismissed it; his eyes were always green.

“Spike,” she called, waving her hoof. But as he started to race towards her, one of the wolves caught him. Twilight shrieked as more wolves set upon him. But they didn’t kill him. No, as Spike struggled in their grip, they began to drag him away towards the wolf territory.

Twilight stamped her hoof and raced for the exit. But as she reached the door, it was burst open for her. Wolves surged into the throne room, hurling something blue into the room. Celestia and Twilight backed up, as Twilight screamed at what had landed at her feet.

It was Rainbow Dash, her eyes wide and unseeing.

“No,” Twilight whimpered, clutching at her friend’s body, “No!”

“An Element of Harmony,” Celestia bemoaned, “Gone!” She glared at Twilight, “All because you couldn’t follow a simple order!”

“Take it easy on the girl,” Logan said. And yet… it wasn’t Logan. His voice was cracked and demonic.

Twilight looked up through tear stained eyes as Logan – and yet, not Logan - walked through. His body was pure red and black, and glistened with lightning.

“Not only has she lost her fake pack,” he snarled, a lightning bolt forming in his paws. “But she just became an orphan.”

Twilight’s eyes widened.

“Celestia!” she screamed, but the bolt crashed into her before she could stop it. Twilight gagged as the lightning stabbed into the alicorn, and she hit the ground like a sack of bricks. The Princess of the Sun drew her last breath as Twilight backed up, her chin trembling and her eyes wide and disbelieving.

"This can't be real," Twilight whimpered. "This... can't be real...!"

“Twilight!” Spike’s screams echoed from the window, “Help me!”

Twilight’s eyes briefly darted to the window, but Logan blocked her way.

“You shouldn’t worry about him,” the demonic wolf said. “You’ll be joining your dear princess soon enough.”

“Logan, please,” she whispered. "You wouldn't do this!"

Logan looked down. Doubt did briefly glow on his face. But then he doubled over with a pained cry. And Twilight saw purple magic glowing around his eyes. When he spoke again, it was in a new voice. A voice that could only belong to one unicorn.

"He can," Sombra purred. "And he will."

“Sombra?” she stammered.

“Very astute, girl,” The King’s voice whispered, “Thanks to you, the wolves were more than susceptible to my 'aid.' Revenge is truly a sweet dish, is it not?”

Pain flickered again across Logan's face, as he reluctantly walked towards her, another lightning bolt forming in his claws. Twilight fired up her horn, but tears blurred her vision and her legs trembled in fear. This couldn’t be real. She couldn't fight him! She couldn't even concentrate on anything other than her vague hope that this was a trick. A nightmare conceived from Sombra's dark magic.

But she couldn't figure out how were they supposed to wake?

Author's Note:

So... I took a few liberties with Sombra's Door to Nightmares.

Hope it still works for you guys. I'll also try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Comments

[Element of Power]

...
Well damn.

[Teraunce]

Those were some wonderfully horrifying liberties you took.