The Crystal Vizier

Chapters

Answers and Questions
Justifications of Insanity
Breakdowns and Buildups
First Impressions
Conflicts and Complications
Death and Decay
'Immortality'
Shadows of the Past
Explanations and Unexpected Visitors
An Archmagus at Work
New Friends
Learning and Example
Stop #1: The Fall of Lordaeron
Chilled Tea
A Situation
The Truth
The Alicorn of Death
The Blade of the Damned
Forgiven
A New Addition
Gathering Shadows
Chasing Shadows
Stop #2: Naxxramas, Construct Quarter
'Questioning'
Frostbite and Shadowfire
A United Purpose
Praise the Sun
Life and Death
Hard Hitting Questions
Commander in Chief
Power
Stop #3: Raising of the Frost Queen
The First Judgement
On Dragons and Necromancy...
The Lich's Blessings
Interlopers
Progress
Old Friends and Old Enemies
The King's Return
Martial Law
War Crimes
Settling Down
A Talk Between Former Villains
When Former Colleagues Clash
Friends Lost
Talk Between Kings
Pillow Talk and First Meetings
The Baron's Outing
Warnings and Final Farewells
The Archlich's Visit
Wretched Acceptance
The Party
A Horrifying First Impression
"The Betrayer of Humanity... and Equestria"
'Gifts'
Conflicting Interests
Descent
Secrets
A Deal with the Devil
A Midnight Visit
The Collection
The Lord of the Damned
Business as 'Usual'
Judgement Delivered
"Requesting" Assistance
Bittersweet Company
Ancient Aggressors
Whispers of Madness
The Old Ones
The Lord of Uncertainty
The Truth Revealed
Misplaced Rage
Light in the Dark
‘Little’ Problems
The Children of the Night
The Immortal Mistress
Promotions at Breakfast
Introductions
A Short Reprieve
Analysis
Aftermath Conversations
Branch-Off Story

Answers and Questions

Almost immediately, the lanky stallion hit the floor, bowing to the royal couple.

"A t-thousand apologies, m-master..." Kel'Thuzad uncharacteristically whimpered, his frail and near skeletal skin and bones body trembling with fear and stress.

Shining was... perplexed, to say the least. One minute this stallion was threatening him and his wife, and the next he was cowering before him, his frail body looking like it would collapse at any moment. Shining frowned. This is not the stallion that Death told him of. It couldn't be. But... who else would name their child Kel'Thuzad?!

"Kel'Thuzad, I will ask once more... are you alright?"

Kel'Thuzad and Shining both snapped their gazes at Cadence, shocked to see her fear gone. She started towards the lich, but Shining stopped her.

"Cadence, what are you doing?" Shining whispered, shielding her once more from the stallion in front of them.

"I do not sense evil from this stallion Shining." Cadence said, her face a portrait of concern and steadfast determination. "Just fear... and hatred." Cadence reached up with a slender hoof, and stroked Shining's cheek lovingly. "He is afraid of you, Shining." The couple glanced over at Kel'Thuzad, who was still rigidly bowing in their direction, not a movement coming from his body.

"Cadence... he is a bad stallion." Shining said, continuing to stare at Kel'Thuzad, a look of impassive contempt on his muzzle. "He's helped kill... hundreds no, THOUSANDS of people on his world." Shining sighed, turning his gaze to his wife. "While I do not fully trust him... Death told me to summon him." Shining continued to stare the stallion down. "And as much as I despise recruiting a mass murderer... he is the only one who knows how to... teach me about..."

Shining turned his head slightly, looking to the devilish looking helm lying on the ground several yards away.

"That..."

So he has not ascended yet... interesting...

"I do however have quite some power over him." Shining chuckled, looking back at his wife, who gave him a stern look. "Okay, fine. Then how do you propose we go about the situation?"

"I propose that you start giving our guest some respect. No one is born evil, Shining!" Cadence exclaimed quietly, scolding Shining's, cold treatment of their... guest. "He doesn't feel bad, Shiny... just tired."

Shining looked back at the necromancer, and sighed once again. Cadence rolled her eyes, ignoring Shining for the moment, and trotted slowly up to Kel'Thuzad.

"Kel'Thuzad, rise." Cadence calmly said, walking as regally as she could towards the stallion. In truth, she was terrified. The stallion was a mess. Paper-thin skin that was missing in some places. Tall, spidery legs, connected to an emaciated torso. Fur a mottled, deathly grey. Shrugging it off, she settled down on her rump, a few yards from the emaciated stallion.

Cadence smiled warmly at the stallion, who for the first time in several minutes, looked up. For several more moments, Kel'Thuzad seemed unsure of whether to obey her.

Well... She seems to have significant power in the relationship...

Slowly, Kel'Thuzad rose to his hooves.

As he did, a crack like a gunshot echoed through the throne room.

Kel'Thuzad's right foreleg collapsed at the center, and bent towards his left.

He fell unceremoniously to the ground, his muzzle impacting the crystal floor with a dull 'thud'.

"Kel'Thuzad!" Cadence shouted, starting towards the crumpled stallion. Cadence's mind immediately flashed back to high school, recalling several ways to splint a wound. She always did have a thing for physical health class. She ripped a flag from its pole without a second thought, and brought it to her with telekinesis. As she tore the fabric of the flag apart to form some make-shift rope, another crack sounded through the room.

"Ah... much better."

Slowly, Kel'Thuzad rose once more, a dull blue glow surrounding his knee joint. He groaned once he was fully erect, and twisted his back slightly, sounding a series of crackles and pops from his spine.

"My apologies milady, I am not used to this body." Kel'Thuzad attempted a smile, his lips curling into the... alien expression.

Gods... has it really been this long since I have smiled?

"I... you..." Cadence stuttered, her face paling as she gazed at the torn and ripped flesh of his leg, the bone clearly visible through the torn scraps of fur. The flagpole and ripped flag fell with a 'clang', and she started hyperventilating. She jumped and squeaked as she felt a hoof place itself over her shoulders, but quickly closed her eyes and bent her neck under Shining's as he settled down next to her, accepting his embrace.

"I... am sorry, Lady Cadence..." Kel'Thuzad started, but was stopped as Shining held up his hoof.

"She'll be fine, Kel'Thuzad. She's just... frightened, is all." Shining Armor was quivering, almost unnoticeably so. How could a ANYPONY stand back up after that? It was... scary.

"My Lord, forgive me for asking, but have you ANY experience with necromancy?" Kel'Thuzad said, looking back over at the discarded Helm of Domination for the second time. Shining flinched slightly at the word. In truth, he had none. Well, besides what he had learned from battle strategies and ancient tomes of knowledge that King Sombra had locked away in his private quarters. He also knew that it was long banned in Equestria, and the penalties for it's use were severe...

"My King?" Kel'Thuzad inquired once more, snapping the stallion from his thinking. Shining quickly shook his head. The thin stallion sighed, and closed his eyes for a moment. The lich shuddered for a moment, then start shaking violently, yet his hooves anchored him the floor.

Were is it... were is it... ah... there.

Shining Armor for one, was confused. Him and Cadence stared at Kel'Thuzad as he had his... seizure, maybe? The ponies had no idea what the stallion was doing. Any attempt to communicate with him had led to failure, and he had made no sound despite the occasional grunt for the past five minutes.

Suddenly, the stallion in question cried out in victory as a massive pale white light engulfed him, and obscured his body. The royal couple shielded their eyes as the light grew brighter, and brighter, and...

Vanished.

There, next to Kel'Thuzad, was a small chest.

"My lord, if you do not mind, I would like to know something." Kel'Thuzad said, turning his attention to the small container next to him. He pushed the center of the chest in, and it unfolded into a small array of metal plates in a grid. Inside, a wide selection of items revealed themselves.

"Y-yes Kel'Thuzad?" Shining Armor asked. One of the objects in that chest was a... sword, maybe? It was small for one, but probably nothing more than a dagger to the stallion it belonged to. What bothered him was the dried blood covering the entire blade. The only thing he could make out through the dark brown coating were small lines of glowing blue. Kel'Thuzad turned to the stallion, and placed a small jar in front of him, using a small cloud of whitish-blue magic.

"What is your phylactery?" Kel'Thuzad simply said, sitting his rump back down unto the crystal floor.

"My... what?" Shining said, readjusting Cadence so that she could sit more comfortably under his chin. Kel'Thuzad sighed, and with a flick of his front left hoof, the soul within the jar floated slowly out into the open. The soul itself was... difficult, to describe. It looked like cooking oil that was poured into water. Alien, strange. It was wavy and chaotic, and a very dull green. From behind the soul, Kel'Thuzad waited patiently, his face a portrait of concentration.

"My Lord, the ritual you performed to retrieve me from the Twisting Nether required a magical object of extreme power, did it not?" Kel'Thuzad asked, slowly and VERY carefully slipping the soul back into the burial urn before gently sliding the lid back on. Shining nodded. "May I see it, please?" Kel'Thuzad asked, placing the urn back into the chest and turning back to the prince.

Shining gulped.

The Crystal Heart.

"May it wait until tomorrow, Kel'Thuzad? My wife and I are... tired, to say the least." Shining lied. He, for whatever reason, did not feel tired at all. Cadence on the other hoof, was snoozing quietly on his chest, the pink alicorn emitting a gentle snore every now and again. He wanted nothing more than to snuggle underneath the Saddle Arabian silk covers on his bed with his wife, but Kel'Thuzad was the current focus. The stallion in front of him was unfazed by his answer, and nodded slowly, stature correcting itself as he slowly raised himself to all fours.

"Of course, my liege. I, however, do need a place to... set up shop if I am to remain in your service." Kel'Thuzad said slowly, resealing the chest with a burst of arcane magic.

"Oh. Umm... you are welcome to use one of the guest rooms in the Royal Quarter, if you wish." Shining nervously said. He still did not fully understand the stallion, but he did trust him now. Sorta kinda trusted him. If the necromancer wanted to hurt him and Cadence, he would have already done it.

"Many thanks, my liege." Kel'Thuzad stated, slowly propping the chest in a stable position on his back. Shining chuckled lightly, the stallion's polite, if archaic way of speaking was reminding him of simpler times back in the guard, when he would have to 'escort' nobles that did not exactly see eye to eye with Princess Celestia out of the day court. He turned to slowly walk towards the door, but a dull scraping of metal on stone caught his attention. Kel'Thuzad had picked up the strange, evil-looking helmet that had replaced his crown when he had reawakened.

"Kel'Thuzad, what is that helmet?" He softly asked, lightly hoisting a half-asleep Cadence unto his back. Kel'Thuzad's gaze snapped to him, and he dropped the helmet. The metal impacted the crystal floor loudly, echoing through the throne room, and causing Shining to wince. As the echo faded, Shining asked a different question. "Kel'Thuzad, is that helmet... bad?" A glint of fear raced through the undead stallion's aged eyes. However, it was quickly replaced with a thick layer of questioning.

"It... can be." Kel'Thuzad hesitantly said, picking the helmet back up and staring into the eyeholes of the war helm.

"What do you mean, 'It can be'?" Shining asked, turning once again to face the lich. Kel'Thuzad sighed once again.

"It is used to, for lack of a better word, 'command' your armies, my liege." The stallion said, lightly placing the Helm of Domination on the chest on his back. "Do you mind if I... study it, tonight, my king?"

Maybe I can find out what drove Ner'Zhul and Arthas mad... and prevent it from happening here.

"Yes... you may." Shining said, turning towards the door once again.

Shining Armor stopped once more, turning to the stallion once again as he made his way towards him.

"Kel'Thuzad?"

"Yes, my king?"

"How are you not bleeding all over the floor?"

Kel'Thuzad chuckled, and gestured towards the door. "After you, my lord." Shining Armor was still curious, but trudged on, hauling his surprisingly light wife with him.

Kel'Thuzad and Shining Armor trotted down the long halls of the Crystal Palace for some time in silence. Several guards acknowledged their presence, but were slightly intimidated by Kel'Thuzad's seemingly unnatural smile and horrific appearance, and said nothing about him. Shining dismissed the guards from outside his and Kel'Thuzad's room, before turning to the lich one final time.

"Goodnight, Kel'Thuzad, and welcome to the Crystal Empire." Shining Armor said. The lanky stallion bowed once more, and thanked the Prince. Shining turned for his room, and pushed the heavy oak door open, and was greeted with the warmth of the fire in their hearth. Sighing, he lightly trotted in.

"My king... there is something I must tell you."

Shining Armor turned one last time, and looked at the stallion across the hall.

"I'm dead, my king. Undead, rather." Kel'Thuzad said slowly, as if hesitantly telling him this information. Shining's mouth opened slightly to retort, but closed as the stallion's eyes bored into his.

'Goddesses, he's telling the truth.'

"Goodnight, my king."

Without another word, the lich closed the door to both his chamber's, and Shining's. Still very much awake, but beyond mentally exhausted, the restless Prince climbed into bed with his beloved, curling protectively around her. He kissed his goddess gently on the top of her head, breathing in her heavenly scent.

"Goodnight Cady." He quietly said, curling around her tighter. Shining breathed out slowly through his nose, and closed his eyes.

Across the hall, Kel’Thuzad snorted to himself, turning from the two energy signatures of his new rulers.

Poor lad... he doesn't even realize it yet...

And as the moon reached it's peak over the Crystal Palace, the stallions knew no sleep.

Justifications of Insanity

As the door closed softly behind Kel'Thuzad, he turned slowly to the room that his... king, had given him.

He still couldn't believe that a unicorn was his king.

Was this a trick? An elaborate magical illusion? Had the gods seen it fit to punish him for his wrongdoings?

NO.

He would stay loyal to his king. He had to... he HAD to.

Kel'Thuzad snorted in annoyance, and gently threw the small chest on his back unto the bed. After this, he paused slightly, a small sense of fear shooting through his dormant nervous system. Shuddering, he craned his neck to look into the haunting gaze of the Helm of Domination once more. It was just as chilling as he remembered it, albeit more elongated in the front, presumably to accommodate a snout. A single crystal was inlaid above the eye-slits, still pulsing with necromantic energies. The chilling spires of the helm glinted lightly in the fire that seemed to burn magically in the hearth across the room, bathing the helm in a spectral glow.

Snorting once more, Kel'Thuzad tore his gaze away from the helm that had ruined his life...

NO!

I chose to go to him. I did.... no one else...

Shaking his head in thought, he hoisted himself unto the bed, his weight lightly compressing the soft covers. He turned his head to the box that sat on the end of the bed, waving his hoof to send the Helm off to a desk in the corner of the room, where it lightly plopped down unto the wood. With another wave of his hoof, the lich's safe box opened, and the items within were once again revealed.

Wow. This is it?

Is this seriously all his followers could smuggle out of Naxxramas?!

This... was hardly anything. All that was given to him were the bare essentials for basic necromantic rituals. He hadn't taken a good look when he had shown his king his Phylactery.

A few robes, which were useless to him in his current form, as he no longer floated or had a human like torso. Several jars of bone meal for construction of simple skeletal servants. A few dozen shards of saronite, seemingly outfitted with wards for energy storage, as they pulsed with magic. Several small shards of bone, stylized and carved into the shape of chess pieces (even a dead guy needs hobbies). His spellblade, Bloodsurge, which would be used for special or powerful resurrections and ceremonial purposes. And finally, his unliving eyes fixed themselves on the last object in the chest.

The royal burial urn of King Terenas Menethil II.

His phylactery.

Carefully, he lifted the urn from the chest, placing it in front of him. While quite dusty, his Phylactery was in pristine condition, the Lordaeron Royal Seal glinting lightly through the layer of brownish grey. He carefully lifted the urn once more, levitating it gently over to the desk, placing it beside the helm...

His eyes caught the Helm's again.

A whispered phrase rifled though his head...

Frostmourne... HUNGERS...

Gasping for meaningless breath as the runeblade flashed through his vision, the lich recoiled back, and slammed his head on the headboard, sending him to the floor in a heap.

He was quivering uncontrollably.

For a split second, he felt fear.

He felt anxiety.

He felt... confusion.

And by the splitting jabbing in his head, he could feel pain, though whether from the helm or the headboard, he could not tell.

There must still be some of Ner'Zhul's corruption over the helmet, then...

Ignoring the now dull ringing in his head, the lich hoisted himself to his hooves, and slowly approached the helm. As he did, a section of blanket, unknowingly caught around his back left forehoof, tripped him and sent him back to the loving embrace of the floor once more. Groaning as he snapped his neck to the right, he stood up, unleashing a hellfire of cracks and sickening crunches as his vertebrae realigned themselves.

I never thought I would say it, but I miss being a disembodied floating torso...

Chuckling angrily at his current dilemma, he attempted to reach out for the bedside with his hoof, only to miss and land on his face once more. Sighing as he snapped his now quite dislocated jaw back into its rightful place, the lich grabbed himself with a bout of arcane magic, and launched himself up slightly, landing on all fours without incident.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Is everything okay in there, sir?"

Damn. Housekeeping.

"Yes, madam, everything is fine, just tripped." Kel'Thuzad cursed himself after that. He REALLY needed to work on sounding convincing. The maid did not answer, so he assumed her gone, and turned to remake the bed.

"Would you like something? Some food or drink perhaps?"

Kel'Thuzad sighed, and rubbed his forehoof against his head. This maid could obviously not take a hint.

"No thank you, madam." Kel'Thuzad responded, a speck of aggravation evident in his voice. Again, there was no answer.

"A cigar or brandy?"

Kel'Thuzad was never a man to anger quickly. He did, however, have limits.

One of those limits was persistence after denial.

"I said... NO!" Kel'Thuzad roared, a bit of arcane power weaving into the puff of dust exiting his mouth, amplifying it considerably. The walls and floor shook slightly, and there was silence for another few moments. Kel'Thuzad listened carefully as he stood in silence. The clip-clopping of hooves quickly scurrying away told him that he was now alone once again. Turning once more to face the bed, his eyes trace the outline of a small, solid rectangle, hidden beneath a pile of his robes and sheets. Carefully removing and folding his clothes and bed away from the object, he was pleasantly surprised to see that his loyal followers actually did manage to smuggle something useful.

The Book of Medivh.

Laughing lightly, he reached for the book, and felt the power almost instantly hit him, surging through his lifeless veins like electricity. The lich shuddered, and quickly retracted his hoof from the tome, the power almost fizzling across the book's surface as he did.

Not yet.

He needed to look... normal, if he were to get anything done in this world. After all, being an abnormally tall, emaciated and deathly stallion is not exactly the smartest move in a world of creatures half your size.

Being a horrific, colossal skeleton with a blizzard following you everywhere was even worse.

Knock, knock, knock.

"What is it you want now, worm?!" Kel'Thuzad growled through his teeth, the air around his frail body dropping a few dozen degrees. He whipped around, and marched as regally as he could up to the door...

And quite literally blew it off it's hinges, the shattered remains of the hindrance to entry blasting into a thick layer of splinters and ice. The lich snarled, and approached the shape of the rather tall maid shrouded in mist and dust.

"Kel'Thuzad?"

.........

Oh gods...

"Y-yes... m-m-master?" Kel'Thuzad whimpered, his magical aura fading as fury was replaced with fear once more.

"Can I come in?" Shining asked, brushing a few shards of frosted wood out of his mane.

"O-of course, m-master..."

"Thank you." Shining replied. The prince entered the room, and quite quickly noticed Kel'Thuzad's eagerness to apologize. The lich bowed slightly, spewing forth another burst of apologies, as Shining entered his vision. Sighing, Shining Armor turned for a moment, and threw up a ward around the destroyed door.

"Master, I apologize sincerely, I expected... someone else..." Kel'Thuzad said, his eyes not leaving the crystalline floor as he did. Shining chuckled, trotting slowly over to the hearth, igniting somewhat brighter with magic as he stoked it. He turned to the lich, who was still muttering apologies in earnest, and gestured to the sitting pillow next to his. Kel'Thuzad's onslaught of worried speech stopped, and he looked questioningly at his king.

"My lord... you... are not upset?" Kel'Thuzad said, slowly standing up straight once more. Shining shook his head, and smiled at the lich, patting his forehoof on the pillow once more. Kel'Thuzad crept cautiously towards the pillow, and plopped unto the plush object, folding his hind and forelegs inwards towards his stomach, so he could be at eye level with Shining.

"Kel'Thuzad... what exactly did you do to get a sentence of nearly a millennia in the void?" Shining asked, his horn igniting as a cup of Germanian lager fizzled into existence next to him, the brownish fluid still foaming lightly.

"I... I imagine you know of my... murderous background?" Kel'Thuzad said, watching as Shining downed the entire glass. Shining smacked his lips as he set the glass down on the small table between them. The lich cocked his head slightly, confused...

Can he still taste?

"Kel'Thuzad?" Shining asked, his eyes on the stallion who had been staring at him for some time.

"Y-yes master?" Kel'Thuzad snapped, breaking free of the conundrum of thought he was trapped in.

"Yes, I do... but I also know that all you ever wanted, was to learn. You... you didn't choose... this, did you?" Shining asked, his face showing a slight tinge of sorrow for the undead stallion. Kel'Thuzad shuddered, once again reminded of the deal he had taken. The eternal damnation of undeath that was forever tied to his soul.

"No... I did not." Kel'Thuzad hung his head low, his muzzle just inches form the floor. He hadn't ever talked about this to anyone that had cared before. Was this what friendly interactions felt like? He couldn't remember. He was... 'friends' with Arthas, but he had not had a stable friend or companion in nearly a millennia.

"You did not want to kill all those people, then?" Shining asked. Kel'Thuzad looked at Shining for a moment, and grunted uncomfortably.

"Forgive me for assuming, master, but you are former military, yes?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his gaze wavering back to the fire once more.

"I am currently commander of the Royal Guard of Canterlot, yes." Shining said, a hint of pride poisoning his voice. Ignoring it, the lich looked back to him.

"And how much would you give to help your country, master? Your people?" Kel'Thuzad said, his voice cracking slightly on the last few words. "How much would you sacrifice to keep everything you love safe?"

Shining stopped for a moment as his mouth opened. He closed it, and looked back to the fire.

"I... I don't know." Shining said, finally.

"Master... I would have given anything. For my people... my king... my FAMILY." Kel'Thuzad proclaimed, steadfast loyalty painting his muzzle. "My king asked me to kill, so I did. I did not need to like it. It HAD to be done." Kel'Thuzad said, glancing back at the Helm of Domination, a faint whisper once again shooting across his eardrums once again.

Destroy them, Kel'Thuzad!

Naxxramas MUST NOT FALL...

"Kel'Thuzad, what did your king need thousands upon thousands of innocent people dead for?" Shining said, another glass of alcohol fizzling into existence in his magical grasp. Kel'Thuzad looked into the fire once more, tearing his vision away from the helm.

"He... WE, needed them dead. My people needed them dead..." Kel'Thuzad said, invisible uncertainty plaguing his voice. Shining shivered, unused to the shear brutality of the stallions mind. How could anypony want that many dead? Did his old master control him?

"Kel'Thuzad... are you remorseful for what crimes you have committed?" Shining asked, ready for another sociopathic answer to spew forth from the stallion. Kel'Thuzad stuttered for a few moments.

He's testing the mental chains of my position. Clever.

"I... am not sure." Kel'Thuzad said, feigning uncertainty. He new exactly what he felt from murdering his former friends.

Nothing.

Being stripped of clean of remorse and guilt made a Scourge lich's mind more focused for magical and strategic applications, yet destroyed most avenues for meaningful conversation.

"You... are not sure?" Shining asked, taking another long sip from his glass before setting it next to the first on the table between them. Kel'Thuzad took a deep, unnecessary breath, and turned to the stallion.

"My king, you have control over the Scourge. They are my, and now your people." Kel'Thuzad cocked his head to the Helm, nodding at it. "That... is your crown." Kel'Thuzad rose, and bowed low before the stallion. "I am your servant."

"I feel no remorse."

"I feel no guilt."

"I feel no pain."

"Unless YOU tell me I can."

Silence pervaded the room as both stallion's minds raced with emotion. Kel'Thuzad's face statue-like and stony, and Shining's betraying deep thought.

.........

Finally, Shining Armor rose from his cushion, and turned to the undead stallion.

"Kel'Thuzad..."

"I release you from your shackles to the Scourge."

.........

"W-W-What?"

Breakdowns and Buildups

Pain.

Agony.

Remorse.

Hatred.

GUILT.

Emotions the seasoned wizard had not felt in literal centuries all of a sudden were very real once again.

And he felt them all at once.

"Urkgh..."

With that, Kel'Thuzad collapsed.

"Kel'Thuzad!" Shining exclaimed, the prince leaped up from his cushion, yelling for the guards to fetch a doctor instinctively.

.........

He felt the pain of every person he had ever killed.

He felt the guilt of every murder he had ever committed.

He felt the agony of every single soul he had ever enslaved.

He felt hatred.

He felt anger.

He felt... sadness.

Despair.

Hurt.

PAIN.

For the first time in his unlife...

Pain.

So...

Much...

PAIN!

.........

Shining Armor stopped his frantic cries for a moment. It felt... cool. Cold, even. The unicorn turned to Kel'Thuzad, only to witness the slender pony... disintegrating? His flesh peeled slowly away from his alabaster skeleton, and not a drop of blood spilled. A mysterious wind took form, blowing the curtains and bedsheets from their rightful places.

With a shrieking howl, the room was engulfed in frigid winds, Kel'Thuzad little more than a skeleton now, some paltry scraps of fur and meat clinging to his otherwise bare form. Shining backed into his ward, frantically trying to rip the magical barrier down once he did. He found that the ward was unresponsive to his commands, and seemed to be... freezing?! He turned slowly back to the center of the room, and witnessed the last shreds of bone be ripped away from Kel'Thuzad's position. It was quickly replaced by...

"AGH!" Shining exclaimed. He fell to the floor, his horn smoking. His eyes flickered, then closed.

.........

For a split moment, Shining saw... horrors.

Horrors he couldn't even begin to imagine.

Brief flashes of a life dedicated to learning, no matter the cost...

The necromantic abominations and nightmares that were constructed and resurrected aboard Naxxramas...

The fall of the High Elven Capitol of Silvermoon, and the corruption of the Sunwell...

The Fall of the Lich King, and the destruction of Frostmourne...

He saw... a Crypt. A massive, sprawling crypt...

Above the crypt, a tower...

Below the tower, within the crypt... death...

So...

Much...

Death...

At an altar, deep underground, a monstrous figure worked tirelessly, zealously to achieve it's goals.

Even if you are gone, master... I WILL finish your work...

.........

Brought back to reality by a jolt of magical energy, Shining's spinning and terrified eyes darted towards the hearth once more.

A massive shockwave of visible arcane energy, a sickly grayish-white in color, rocketed towards the space in front of the fireplace from all corners of the room.

For a moment, apart from the trapped stallion's panicked breaths of frigid air, all that could be heard was the winter winds of the Frozen North battering the window pane.

"Hehehehe... HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Cackling, maniacal laughter roared through the room, sheer cold pervading the very air, wisps of frost clinging to any stray traces of warmth they found, snuffing them out without mercy.

With an audible arcane hum, the frost started to coalesce into a structure of ice before the hearth, so white with cold it wasn't even transparent.

Before Shining could even gather his thoughts, and perhaps even walk towards the sculpture, his vision was taken from him as the crystallized ice shattered into thousands upon thousands of peices, their small, sparkling forms quickly gathering into a storm of pain and cold.

A blinding blizzard engulfed the already decimated room, breaking furniture and ripping the stallion's very movement away from him, the storm far more powerful than even the one he had braved to escort Twilight and her friends...

Prince Shining Armor was not a coward.

Prince Shining Armor was not a filly, running at the first sign of trouble.

When the storm broke, those two facts were no longer true.

With a ghoulish and ear-piercing howl, a visible blast of cold rocketed away from the horrifying true form of the necromancer. When the magic hit him, the already battered Shining Armor was slammed into the side of his ward, the magic that had saved him several times now becoming his jailor.

Shining Armor, shaking the dizzyness from his head, looked up.

And up.

And up...

.........

He was... monstrous...

This was what Death had told the stallion of.

Long segmented robes of sickly and tattered purple cloth flowing down from a skeletal torso, blowing creepily in an unseen wind. Large, ivory claws adorned the end of two colossal, spindly arms. Rusted and frosted chains circled the lich's form, dancing along barely visible waves of cold.

The cold... oh sweet Celestia, the cold.

Never before had Shining felt this COLD.

Several moments passed, and... it's mouth opened. That terrifying, horrible mouth. Dagger-like teeth parted slowly with each meaningless and frostbitten breath. The lich's eyes flickered open, lidless sockets hosting two piercing blue eyes, scarlet red pupils darting back and forth across the frigid room.

The lich opened and closed his hands several times, testing them for the first time in ages.

With a sharp intake of air, he cracked his neck lightly, his eyes darting around he took once more, taking in the destruction his transformation had caused.

Eventually, the lich was satisfied with his examination, and turned to his ruler, the scarlet pupils settling on Shining's cowering form.

Author's Note

Kel'Thuzad's laugh is probably up there as one of my favorite bad-guy laughs of all time, by the by.

Points to whoever knows the last location from Kel'Thuzad's past.

First Impressions

Well... this is... bothersome...

His new master had KILLED him. Not permanently of course, death is not something foreign to the lich. Yet, he felt... everything.

He felt the pain of every second of it.

And he hated it.

It seemed... childish, to say that he hated pain. He guessed this was due to the fact that he had grown accustomed to an undead body. And, as any necromancer should know, undead don't physically feel much of anything.

Pain least of all.

Questioning some of the more sentient undead that had survived encounters with light-wielding priests and paladins in the Borean Tundra revealed that undead were not even pained by the Holy Light. Rotting and necrotic flesh just had... extreme sensitivity to it.

All pains aside, it felt good to be in his true form once again. The power that had been unavailable to him in his equine form was now once again at his metaphorical (and actual) fingertips. He looked down at his large, bony claws, forgetting what it was like to have fingers. He flexed each one experimentally, and was relieved he remembered how to. He could feel the cool chill of his soul chains, coiling and dancing in the cold mist that surrounded his magically constructed body. Shaking off his stupor of relief, he looked up at the room he was in. He looked to his left and right, glowing eyes surveying the damage his transformation and resurrection had caused.

Good god. I really did a number on this room, didn't I?

A light whimper caught his attention, and he focused his gaze in its direction, a quick scrying attempt ending in failure, most likely due to the intensity of the magic of his transformation. His eyes rested on his master's small, cowering form.

I... scare him? Oh... right. Undead.

Clearing his metaphorical throat, Kel'Thuzad aligned his torso up straighter, and spoke.

"Are... you all right, master?"

"Y-yes. J-j-just give me a m-moment." Shining said, his tired and quite wide eyes taking in the Archlich in all his glory. Shining slowly rose to his hooves, all the while his eyes glued to Kel'Thuzad.

"I take it I am more... intimidating, in this form then?" Kel'Thuzad chuckled nervously, a single wave of his claw bringing one of the slightly less frosted pillows to Shining, whom gratefully accepted the seat. Shining emptily nodded.

"H-How..." Shining began, choking on his words. "What... are you?"

"I am a magically constructed undead and immortal being, who's sole purpose is to protect and serve the Lich King, which just so happens to be YOU." Kel'Thuzad said, quite machine-like in his tone. Shining stared at the lich, his head spinning at the complicated yet rather informative information.

"I... you... what?" Shining said finally, his voice returning to his lungs. The lich growled, growing impatient at his master's obliviousness. "I told you, you're free." Shining said, backing further into the pillow below his haunches, attempting to get as far as he could from the unimaginable cold echoing in rhythmic, arcane waves from the lich's form. Kel'Thuzad stared him down for several moments before he sighed, the frosty vapors eminatting from him dissipating.

"I am a lich, Shining Armor. A being of incalculable and powerful energy, bound to the mortal realm through the use of your predecessor's magic." Kel'Thuzad said, hatred ever-so-slightly present in his cold voice. Shining squirmed slightly, but did not retreat when Kel'Thuzad lowered his torso to the ground next to the destroyed door, imitating a sitting position.

'Goddesses... Even at this height, he still beats Princess Celestia...'

"You are not a pony, then?" Shining asked, cursing himself for his half-minded thinking.

'Of course he isn't, stupid, he's from another planet!'

Kel'Thuzad, admittedly, was rather stumped by the question. While he was obviously not a pony at the current time, and was not born one, either...

He had still entered this strange world as one of them. Albeit, he looked to be nearly several weeks dead at the time. Regardless, he made up his mind on the matter, and responded.

The lich chuckled softly, looking down at the comparatively small stallion. "No, master. I am not a pony. I a... WAS, a human." Kel'Thuzad turned his skull back to the shattered hearth. "But... that was ages ago." Shining was... confused, to say the least. He had no idea what a... human was, but in the interest of finally learning about Kel'Thuzad's background, he clamped his muzzle shut.

"I was a mage. Born into a family of wealth." Kel'Thuzad said, reaching a claw forward, and shooting a gout of blue flames towards the hearth. To Shining's surprise, the wood caught instantly, crackling and popping away like it had never gone out to begin with. "My father was an established land owner in Quel-Thalas, and my mother was an Arch-Magus of the Kirin Tor." Kel'Thuzad said, waving his claw once more, the fire morphing in shape to resemble the Twilight Eye of Dalaran.

"What are the Kirin Tor?" Shining asked, relaxing somewhat, as the lich was not nearly as cold as he once was, and seemed to be docile enough.

"The Kirin Tor were the most powerful group of mages and sorcerers on the face of Azeroth." Kel'Thuzad said.

"Were?" Shining asked, looking up at the lich.

"Yes... were." Kel'Thuzad said. He coughed lightly, attempting to break the awkward silence that blanketed the room before continuing. "When I was of age, I enrolled in Dalaran Institute. I quickly excelled, but was... different, according to my instructors." Kel'Thuzad said, nearly devoid of emotion, per the usual. Shining gulped.

"H-How were you 'different'?" He said, eyeing the now normal fireplace, which still weirdly glowed blue.

"I was interested in ALL aspects of magic." Kel'Thuzad said, floating back up to his normal height, and moving over to the desk, which was strangely... undamaged. "Even the more... questionable aspects..." Kel'Thuzad lightly grasped his the burial urn as he spoke, rubbing the light layer of dust off of the silver inlay with a single ivory finger.

"Like necromancy?" Shining asked.

"Yes... necromancy was my chief interest. The power to control the life and death of my friends and enemies... it was an avenue that no one had ever fully explored." Kel'Thuzad said, his claw slowly lowering the urn back unto the desk. "Now... well, see for yourself." A glass jar of pale powder, about the size of the phylactery floated towards the lich, who then set it upon the desk. The top ignited with a sickening blue light, and floated off. A small handful of the pale white powder floated into the air, and slowly, it elongated into a more physical form. As the pale white substance began to morph into a more complex shape, Kel'Thuzad skillfully weaved the conjuration magic required for basic sentience into the quickly developing skull of the construct he was creating. As the structure became more and more complex, the lich retrieved more and more of the powder into it, concentrating on his craft for the first time in centuries.

"Kel'Thuzad, I don't think..." Shining was quickly cut off by the horrifying stench of decay, quickly snuffed out by the magic Kel'Thuzad was weaving. Gagging slightly, Shining looked up to witness the last of the construct materialize.

A pony.

Well, a pony skeleton, anyway.

"You created... a pony skeleton?" Shining asked, slowly getting up, his sickened face quickly morphing to one of curiosity. The stallion approached the skeletal equine, who's eye sockets flickered to life with a bluish glow, and turned to him. Shining gasped in horror as the skeleton started to move, turning to face him, before stopping and remaining still.

"Marrowfrost, greet your new master with respect." Kel'Thuzad said, the lich's arms lowering as the unused bone meal quickly returned to the jar. Marrowfrost nodded, and then swiftly bowed before Shining. Shining, unsure how to react, was about to respond to Kel'Thuzad, was startled greatly when the construct... spoke.

"Greetings, your highness..."

"It can talk?!" Shining exclaimed, jumping backwards as the raspy voice of the necromantic construct reached his eardrums.

"Yes I may, master. Lord Kel'Thuzad has reanimated me with the prestigious purpose of serving as a personal servant to himself, and yourself, if need be."

"I... I don't know what to say... Shining said, his mind racing. Not exactly with good things, but racing nonetheless.

"Master, Marrowfrost was one of my most trusted advisors and servants when I served your predecessor. He is loyal to the extreme, and can be trusted."

"Kel'Thuzad, I don't think it would look good for... Marrowfrost to wander around the Crystal Palace as... well, this." Shining said, turning to face the lich, who had crossed his arms over his chest in thought.

"Yes... I suppose that would be... unnecessary." Kel'Thuzad said, his right claw slowly tracing the contours of his jaw and chin ornament. He could always construct an illusion spell to mask his servant's appearance, but that would sap him of energy as long as he was in that form.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

A few swift thuds from the other side of the wall of frozen magic signified the arrival of a visitor. At a nod from Shining, Kel'Thuzad lowered the ward, and was horrified to have it reveal a half-asleep Princess Cadence. Quickly, Shining stepped in front of the doorway, partially blocking his wife's view of the room, and the undead beings within. Cadence opened her mouth to speak, but quickly wrapped her forehooves around her barrel, and fell to the floor, her wings curling around her to try and keep warm.

"Oh... right." Kel'Thuzad said, quickly shooing Marrowfrost into the bathroom attached to his destroyed room.

"What did you do to my wife?!" Shining exclaimed, quickly rushing forth and embracing her, rubbing his muzzle into her mane to comfort the distressed mare.

"My lord, the temperature in the room was several degrees below zero when you wanted the door opened..." Kel'Thuzad explained, weaving a small enchantment secretly into the air of the room, making it feel warmer than it actually was.

Hopefully just above freezing is warm enough...

"Cady... shh... breathe... I'm here." Shining cooed, still lightly stroking Cadence's back to sooth her, but she only started shivering once again once she glimpsed Kel'Thuzad.

"K-K-Kel'Thuzad?" Cadence whimpered, her normally determined attitude all but shattered by the terrifying appearance of the Archlich and the unimaginable cold of the room that he resided in.

"Yes, Lady Cadence, it is I." Kel'Thuzad said, his claws reaching behind him, an invisible blush of embarrassment flushing his alabaster face. With a sigh, Cadence fell forward, Shining only just barely managing to stop her descent towards the floor.

"Well, that went well." Shining chuckled, his hooves still lightly wrapped around his now unconscious wife, who had seen it fit to use his body as a landing pad.

"Well. That was... interesting, Kel'Thuzad, but I think I will retire for the night.

"Yes... I think that would be for the best." Kel'Thuzad bit his metaphorical tongue once more upon his master's intention of sleeping.

"Goodnight, Kel'Thuzad... PLEASE keep yourself and Marrowfrost confined to your room until I can... sort things out..." Shining said, hoisting his wife once more over his back, and making for the door across the hall. Kel'Thuzad nodded in understanding, his magic beginning to remake the wall of ice in the doorway.

"Of course. Goodnight, my king." Kel'Thuzad said, the magical ice blocking the small crevice that his voice had escaped from as he finished the spell.

If he can still taste... I wonder...

Kel'Thuzad turned back to the room, Marrowfrost's confused skull staring intently at him from bathroom. Sighing, he turned to his right, intent on studying the Helm, but stopped when he encountered a frosted over bookshelf. Reaching forward, he grabbed the first book he could, and read the cover.

The Battle of The Moon's Fall

"Well, I am going to be here for the rest of eternity..."

Author's Note

Well... Shining has been exposed to basic necromancy.

Cadence has been introduced to Kel'Thuzad in his true form.

Kel'Thuzad is officially back in business as an advisor.

Not bad... Not bad...

Conflicts and Complications

"BUT, M-MY PRINCE, I WAS TO ASCEND TO THE POSITION OF ARCHMAGE!" A rather proper looking unicorn stallion said, his eyes filled with a fury unmatched as he leapt forward, slamming his forehooves on the table.

Though no one caught it, Kel'Thuzad cancelled his shadow bolt, lowering the claw he was using to his side as the stupid stallion loudly, brashly, but peacefully asserted himself.

Shining, meanwhile, looked to the noble.

Fire Fight, his name was.

Yes, he remembered him.

He was one of the only members of the Canterlot Court to follow them to the Frozen North. He had promised him, hadn't he? The prince thought for a few moments, and then sighed before speaking.

"I-I'm sorry, Fire Fight, but Kel'Thuzad seems to have far more..." Shining began, but was cut off once again by the offending noble.

"AND TO AN OUTSIDER! HAVE YOU NO FAITH IN YOUR OWN KIND!?" The noble screeched, his flamboyant and... rather silly looking orange robes flailing around his form.

Again, Kel'Thuzad's impressive restraint barely kept his combat instincts from turning the increasingly aggressive stallion into a pile of rotted, half-frozen flesh.

"That is enough!" Cadence said, her voice echoing even without the aid of magical augmentation. "Fire Fight, you are to respect our wishes, please. We did not make this decision without thinking it through." The noble snorted, pushing away from the table and turning his back to the royals as he stomped angrily towards the door. Fire Fight stopped several yards in front of the door, and his horn lit up with sparks. The unicorn's talent for magic was established quite quickly, as he melted through the frosted doors with little trouble, the arcane fire spewing from his horn nearly white with heat. The stallion snorted once more, and stomped out of view down the hallway.

A pyromancer... and he melted my spell... impressive...

"Kel'Thuzad." Shining said, his voice returning to him after Fire Fight's outburst. The lich turned to him, and spoke.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Please, sit down." Shining said, gesturing to a seat next to him, his hoof wavering slightly. Even after his docile dealings with the lich, he still could not get over his intimidation factor. I mean, come on! He was nearly twice the size of Princess Celestia, for goddess' sake!

"My prince, as much as I would love to sit down, I cannot for two reasons." Kel'Thuzad said, his talons waving through the air as he explained. "One, my fellow members of the court are quite obviously terrified of my current... appearance..." He gestured to the rest of the table, and sure enough, most of the nobles were either hiding behind their plates, or ogling the archlich's gilded onyx ornaments from a safe distance. "And two, I have no... er... rump to sit upon..."

The second reason issued a light chuckle from some of the nobles, and a giggle from Cadence. The lich folded his arms behind himself, attempting to maintain his composure as best he could. The prince laughed, and patted the chair once more.

"I insist, come and sit." Shining said, his face a mask of kindness. Realizing that it would be rude and embarrassing for his master to refuse once more, Kel'Thuzad sighed lightly and sucked up his pride, before floating his way over to the table. He slowly lowered his torso into the chair, and stopped once his ribcage rested in it comfortably. The court started to slowly regain their appetite, regardless of the undead mage at the table with them. Attempting to break the awkward silence that had draped the table, Cadence politely cleared her throat, and spoke.

"Kel'Thuzad?" She asked. The lich turned his skull towards her, his eyes indicating he was ready for a question. "Exactly how old... are you?" Cadence asked, her voice filled with embarrassment and guilt for asking the question. It was obvious he was old, I mean, he was nothing but bones! Shining had told her last night Kel'Thuzad was undead, so... did he have skin at one point?

The lich coughed lightly, out of habit. He was not quite prepared for such a question. "My lady, you do know it is impolite to ask someone their age, do you not?" Kel'Thuzad asked, feigning offense, an invisible smile gracing his teeth. The lich chuckled in his mind. Shining coughed slightly to suppress a laugh, digging into a piece of toast, as Cadence frantically searched the recesses of her mind to come up with a reason.

She found one.

It was a very poor one, but a reason nonetheless.

"I ask because... you are going to be here a while. We would like to know more about you." Cadence said, beaming with genuine and over-exaggerated curiosity. The lich chuckled, before resting his hand on the table.

"Lady Cadence, I jest. You are as much my master as your husband is. My biological or chronological age?" The lich asked.

"Explain, please." Cadence asked, her interest actually piqued at the counter-question.

"Well, my biological age is fifty-nine. I was fifty-nine when I died, and I'll be fifty-nine until the end of time." Kel'Thuzad said, his explanation catching Shining off guard, the unicorn laughing out loud.

"Sounds like someone is desperately trying to hang unto their younger years!" Shining laughed, his chuckling cut off by Cadence, who elbowed him in the ribs, which got his attention on her. "Oh... I'm kiddin' babe, come on, relax." Cadence sighed.

Kel'Thuzad chuckled. "You misunderstand, my lord. I am literally unable to age past my fifty-ninth year. Undeath does that to you. You cant grow if you're dead.

"You're undead then, like a vampony?" Emerald Trot asked, her face actually lighting up with interest. The lich shook his head.

"No, I am not vampiric. And vampires are not even 'technically' undead. They have a disease that makes them rely on blood for nourishment and sustenance. Trust me, I've worked with some of the most powerful vampires in existence." Kel'Thuzad said, making Emerald Trot's head hang in disappointment.

"Soo... what about your chronological age?" Cadence asked, taking a small sip of tea afterwards. Kel'Thuzad turned his head to the pink alicorn, and spoke.

"I am nearly a millennia old, my lady."

Cadence choked slightly on the small cinnamon pastry she was nibbling on, and gawked at the undead wizard.

"A THOUSAND YEARS?!" She exclaimed, once her coughing fit was absolved by several firm pats on the back from her husband. The lich chuckled, and nodded.

"Yes, Lady Cadence. I am nearly one thousand years old." He smiled to the best of his ability, using several spells to curve the corners of his mouth to imitate the gesture. "And I thank you for the... friendly invitation. It has been a long time since I have been in the presence of such understanding individuals." Cadence nodded, smiling at the lich.

"You know, Shining was right about you. You really were... enslaved, weren't you?" Cadence asked, her face becoming a portrait of concern and sympathy for Kel'Thuzad. The lich looked back down to the table, his claws gripping it tightly as he shook slightly with anger.

"Yes... I was..." Kel'Thuzad says, releasing the frosted over sections of the table he was grabbing.

"We don't have to talk about it, if you..." Shining began, his voice betraying his thoughts. He wanted to know the rest of the story that was interrupted by his wife.

"NO!" Kel'Thuzad yelled, his claws ripping two large swaths of mahogany effortlessly away from the table as he rose from his chair. "I've spent far too long... far too long..." Kel'Thuzad muttered, his voice getting softer as he lowered his claws to his sides, the wooden chunks falling to the floor, shattering as they impacted.

"My lady... if you wish to hear my story, may we converse in private?" Kel'Thuzad muttered, his back turned to the table as he sulked. Only now had the idea of what he did... HIT him. He was feeling... guilt. So much guilt.

"Everyone, I would like to converse with my husband and the vizier in private, please. You are dismissed." Cadence said, raising herself from her chair to stand above the table.

"My lady, my prince... are you sure you are safe with that... monster...

"IF YOU SPEAK OF HIM THAT WAY AGAIN..."

"I WILL RIP..."

"YOU..."

"APART..."

The court was dead silent.

Slowly, every head in the room turned to the crystal prince, who's form was bent over the table, his eyes glowing a malevolent bluish glow. His teeth were bared, and his nostrils flared. In an instant, the monster was gone, and Shining Armor returned, his limp form hitting the table with a thud.

"SHINY!" Cadence screamed, getting up to check on her beloved.

Kel'Thuzad couldn't believe it.

The fool HAD put on the helm.

AND HE DIDN'T TELL HIM?!

Kel'Thuzad growled, and summoned up a mass teleport. He aimed his teleport to his chamber's, mentally thanking himself for his foresight. As he and the two royals evaporated into nothingness, he cursed himself for his blindness. His thoughtlessness. HIS STUPITY! He, the all powerful Archlich of Naxxramas, the Lichlord of the Plaguelands, was worried.

Well, my job just got interesting... and annoying...

Death and Decay

Marrowfrost was a good servant.

His master had told him on multiple occasions.

Nothing ever had filled his nonexistent heart with more joy than pleasing his lord. When the Archlich had asked him to create the rune circle, the former high elf was more than ecstatic. It had been his first assignment in centuries, and he was determined to complete it without fail. When he had finished the circle, and the master gave his praise, he had never felt more proud.

He felt useful again.

Wanted.

Needed.

NO!

Not needed... the master was a far better mage than he would ever hope to be. He was there for the sole purpose of convenience. While his master had more than once expressed his thankfulness for the revenant's simple-minded advice and conversation, he could not help but feel... obsolete.

That all changed when his rune circle was used by his master. And not just his master, his king and queen as well.

"Master! Are you alright?" Marrowfrost asked, jumping up from his prone position before a book upon the floor. His master whipped around, spitting a gout of arcane fire form his right hand, igniting the hearth instantly. He carefully shepherded the barely conscious Shining Armor and near-tears Cadence to a hastily constructed bed of pillows by the fire. Realizing to late that the room was still far too cold, even for an alicorn, Kel'Thuzad almost had a metaphorical heart attack when Cadence fell to the ground, her breathing somewhat irregular, presumably from stress on her lungs. He reacted on instinct, reaching for the bed before realizing that the covers were in tatters, a product of his transformation the night before. Growling, he tore a large section of his robe off, heated it to a cozy temperature, and smothered the two royals in it, their limp forms being settled by his magic inside of their little pillow fortress by the fire.

Breathing a superfluous sigh of relief, the lich floated hurriedly to his desk. He grabbed the Helm of Domination, before violently slamming it inside the chest upon the desk, locking it and pushing it underneath the bed, far out of view. The further his master was from that accursed thing, the better.

"Shiny..." Cadence whispered, her hooves curling around her husband's now unconscious form. Kel'Thuzad lowered his torso to the ground, sprawling his arms out, taking up a large portion of the empty floor in the process. He turned his skull to the two royals, comfortable with their current position. He noticed with an alarmed growl that his robes were now ruined, the vibrant violet frostweave flap he used as a shroud for his rulers now torn horribly.

"Lady Cadence..." Kel'Thuzad asked carefully, not wanting to anger his brooding mistress. The pink alicorn snuggled further into the robe-blanket and sighed, the side of her face firmly planted under her husband's chin.

"Yes?" She groaned, her strength sapped from exposure to the cold and the scare that her husband had given her.

"Do you like tea?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his form rising once more, the lich's hands folding behind his back.

"Yes." She said.

"Would you like some?"

"Please."

.........

COLD.

DARKNESS.

That was all Shining saw and felt.

He heard voices, distant at first, but becoming more clear the longer he listened.

A heavily distorted, horrifying voice, matched with a voice that sounded... familiar...

The endless darkness gained light, and he looked down at a prone... figure. He did not know what it was. Slowly but surely, he realized that this... creature, was in pain. He was bleeding from his knees and hands, and his face was gashed in several locations, red blood oozing slowly from the cuts. He heard the figure...

Beg.

Plead.

"Please... PLEASE..." The creature groaned, his face being pushed into the hard stone floor of the platform they were standing upon, creating more gashes in his skin.

'As my lieutenant, you will gain knowledge and magic to surpass your most ambitious dreams. But in return, living or dead, you will serve me for the rest of your days. If you betray me, I shall make you into one of my mindless ones, and you will serve me still.'

"I am yours... I swear it!" Kel'Thuzad sobbed, his ragged hair hanging down past his face.

The scene changed quickly, to a now robed Kel'Thuzad, prostrated before him, a knife slowly lowering itself to the aged... human's hands.

'Bloodsurge. The spellblade of a master necromancer. Use it well.'

"Thank you, my king. I will make use of it."

'Good. Now go. Rid Lordaeron of the living.'

"Of course, master, I will depart immediately."

Kel'Thuzad raised himself slowly, and turned, walking into the darkness at the edge of the vision.

The scene changed quickly once again. Shining was now in a room. A large... throne room, from the looks of it. In the center, the colossal form of Kel'Thuzad was unmistakable. He was busy reading, from the looks of it.

"We are nearly ready to strike back at your enemies... my liege." Kel'Thuzad said, his eyes averting from his reading to stare at...

Him...

The scene jumped quickly to a room in disarray. Corpses of... humans, littered the frozen ground of the room. Surrounding them, hundreds of bones.

"YOUR PETTY MAGICS ARE NO CHALLENGE TO THE MIGHT OF THE SCOURGE!" Kel'Thuzad roared, a volley of razor sharp icicles imbedding themselves into a human mage, who's limp body was devoid of life before it hit the floor in a pool of his own blood. A particularly brave or foolish human decided to attack Kel'Thuzad from behind as the lich was focused on another across the room, who was loosing arrow after arrow at the undead mage. Not even breaking his concentration on his wards, the lich reached backwards, grabbing the now quite terrified human in his frigid grasp. He snarled as he turned his head to him, the bearded man desperately trying to pry himself from the skeletal hand holding him.

"SCREAM YOUR DYING BREATH!" he shouted, the cold of his breath literally solidifying parts of the human's facial skin. The man screamed, before his face finally was shattered from the intensity of the cold, and a violent spray of slush-like blood exploded from his head. Dropping the now lifeless corpse, Kel'Thuzad reverted his attention to the remaining attackers, who were either frantically trying to hide amongst their fallen comrades, or bravely continuing to fight. He raised his hands slowly, a sickly bright red orb appearing between them in midair, before disappearing.

"Hehehehe... HAHAHAHAHAH!" The lich cackled. The ground slowly... decayed. Tiles ripped themselves apart, as if aging rapidly. Corpses rotted quickly, leaving behind meager scraps of flesh and bone. The remaining force of humans screamed in agony and horror as they... melted. Their skin fell from their frail forms, their strength leaving them quickly. Blood poured from ever pore in their bodies, and more pores were made each passing second, the accelerated rot destroying their tan skin, ripping and tearing it apart.

Finally, the last of the writhing stopped. Everything was dead. Except the barely scratched form of the Archlich, who surveyed the woefully unprepared group of attackers with disgust.

"The dark void... awaits you..." He whispered.

Horror.

Sickness.

Nausea.

Shining screamed.

He wept.

He flailed.

Kel'Thuzad... was a MONSTER.

Darkness.

.........

"I must admit, you make a very delightful pot of tea, Marrowfrost." Cadence sighed, snuggling further into her pillow, a crystalline cup of enchanted ice resting before her, a decent amount of mint-leaf tea still steaming within. The revenant bowed slightly, his bones creaking slightly as he did.

"Thank you, my lady. It is a favorite were I come from." He said, his nonexistent face beaming with pride.

"My lady, are you feeling better?" Kel'Thuzad inquired, now donning a traditional blue robe of frostweave. The pink alicorn nodded, ruffling her wings before taking another sip of tea.

"Yes, Kel'Thuzad, I'm alright. I just hope Shining wakes up soon. He's been shaking horribly this entire time..."

Author's Note

Well.

Who wants tea?

Marrowfrost can still make another kettle!

'Immortality'

"Ughh..." Shining groaned, his bones and muscles popping as he stretched his legs. He looked around, the only thing greeting his vision was the soft glow of the... hearth?

When had they installed a fireplace in the dining hall?

Why was it so dark?!

Where was Cadence?!?

Panicking, Shining attempted to get up, but was stopped by a soft groan of discomfort. He sighed in relief, and looked down to see his princess curled up next to him, her muzzle buried in her tail. He chuckled softly, using his magic to bring her closer, gently wrapping his tail around her smaller form. He craned his neck, kissing her lightly on the head, the alicorn cooing lightly in reply.

"What have we gotten ourselves into Cady?" he quietly asked his unconscious wife, her only reply to lightly turn in her sleep, one of her wings twitching once. He smiled, and rested his chin softly atop her head.

"You love her, don't you?" a familiar voice asked, much quieter than usual. Shining jumped slightly, but relaxed just as swiftly, realizing that the lich meant no harm. He turned his head towards the voice, and found the lich in the corner of the room, looking up from a book, his normal bright blue aura diminished greatly, the only thing remaining lit were his eyes. He nodded, his eyes drifting back to his angel, her mane, while disheveled at the moment, flowed smoothly down her shoulders, framing her beautiful eyes, which he would've given anything to see...

Anything.

Wait...

That book... he had seen it before...

His eyes darted back to the lich. His eyes were no longer on Shining, his gaze returned to strange tome he had in his claws.

But where...

Then, it all came back.

The horror, the voices, all came flooding back into his head, and he shivered, gagging as the blood-soaked floor of Kel'Thuzad's throne room flashed across his view. He yelled, and fell out of the embrace of his beloved, toppling over the floor, before landing on another pillow, which seemed to be strategically placed, as if someone knew he would fall, or collapse.

The stallion's blurry memories came back now, as well, images of the dining hall flashing across his mind. The terrified faces of the nobles as they heard him speak.

But he wasn't the one speaking.

The voice...

The voice that had come from... whatever was torturing Kel'Thuzad. But... he had... spoken with it. It had come from him!

"My king! Are you well?!" The undead mage asked once more, Lady Cadence and him leaning in over the entranced unicorn. His eyes seemed... Focused on something, as if he was watching something happen. A flashback, maybe? Or maybe a migraine. Arthas had suffered from those when he was not yet actually his king...

No, that can't be it. This stallion was his king. He had put on the helm. He was bound to it.

Which left flashbacks, or mirages. Not unheard of. Intense magical powers can overwhelm sometimes, resulting in paranoia, nausea, and mirages and illusions. Kel'Thuzad, however, had only read, not experienced. As a lich, pain was foreign to him, and as everyone knows, the real limit behind magical manipulation is your pain threshold. In short, how much energy can you channel before your body fails, or disintegrates? Thus, another inherent beauty of Lichdom.

"AH!" Shining finally screamed, scrambling as quickly as he could away from the duo. More importantly, the lich. He hit his head upon the bedside, and stood stock still, whimpering slightly as the lich floated away from him, quite obviously confused.

"Shiny..." Cadence whispered, attempting to soothe the distressed stallion, her form slowly creeping towards the unicorn. He sighed slightly, relaxing as his wife's form enveloped his in a hug, her gentle caresses and voice calming him immensely.

"STAY AWAY!" Shining screamed, his voice cracking terribly as he did, shooting an accusing hoof at Kel'Thuzad as he floated closer. Cadence jumped and yelped as he did, Shining's eyes starting to glow once more, though not nearly as bright as before. The lich stood still, bowing slightly.

He seemed... calm.

Too calm.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!" Shining screeched, frost starting to permeate his breath.

"My... my king..." Kel'Thuzad began, attempting to diffuse his monarch before damage was ensued. Already, the surrounding room was dipping in temperature, and the seasoned mage felt arcane power echoing from his master’s position.

"GODDESSES DAMN IT, KEL'THUZAD! I KNOW YOU KNOW!" Shining roared, the room somewhat shaking. Poor Cadence was on the verge of tears, smothering her husband tightly, hanging unto his barrel for dear life. The lich sighed.

"My lord..."

"JUST TELL ME! I'M SICK AND BUCKING TIRED OF ALL THIS BULLSHIT! JUST TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON..." Shining sobbed, his voice cracking on the last few words. His head fell, the blue glow cut off from view. Cadence continued to shush him, whispering gently to her beloved, attempting to soothe the raging king.

*Tink*

Shining Armor was no coward.

Shining Armor was no filly.

He started to cry anyway.

"My... king... you are plagued with the same curse and blessing that befalls me. Yet... you are a miracle! Necromantically speaking, of course." The lich said, his arms folding behind his back.

"You are undead."

"Yet... you are living."

"From the moment I realized this, I searched. For an answer. An explanation!" The lich shouted, his voice gathering strength.

"You can sleep, yet you do not tire."

"You can eat, yet you gain no sustenance.

"YOU CAN LIVE."

"Yet, you cannot."

"Kel'Thuzad... just tell me what's wrong with me!" Shining sobbed, his coat covered in small, frozen tear droplets. The lich sighed, trying to gather his metaphorical breath as it attempted to escape him.

"When you contacted... Death, was anyone present?" Kel'Thuzad asked.

"I was." Cadence replied, her hooves curling tighter around her husband, his hooves pulling her closer, desperate for any sort of comfort. The lich looked to her, then to Shining once more.

"My king... do you remember what I asked you last night?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his suspicions finally answered.

Shining nodded.

"Well... your phylactery is..."

"Your wife."

"Well... she's one of them, anyway..."

Shadows of the Past

"So... this is what you used to power the ritual?" Kel'Thuzad murmured, rubbing one of his bony fingers over his chin. The lich was... perplexed, to be completely truthful. He had not the faintest idea what this... 'Crystal Heart' was, but whoever or whatever made it, it was simply remarkable.

"Yes, I used it to power the ritual, but my wife used it to counterbalance the... side effects." Shining explained, an invisible blush radiating through his face, underneath his ivory fur. The lich raised a nonexistent eyebrow.

"What side effects, my king?" He asked, his form turning to look his ruler in the face. Besides the inherent... well, death of the individual, the effects were all positive...

Oh. His... privates.

Cadence rose her hoof politely, and opened her mouth. Kel'Thuzad quite hurriedly dispensed his understanding, and that he completely understood. She giggled awkwardly, and Shining looked like he had seen a ghost. The lich sighed, and looked back to the heart. A quick scrying process revealed it's makeup to him. He wanted not to pester his rulers with so many questions, seeing as he could quite easily find out the internal magical workings of it.

Well, relatively simple layout. Several pockets for stored energy, heavily modified. Energy amplifier, also quite common for external energy sources. Magical adaptation ward... interesting...

Whoever had made this... 'Heart', certainly knew what they were doing. The work inside was near-flawless, and the power echoing in healthy waves from it's core was awe-inspiring, even to the seasoned mage.

But...

Whoever made the Heart was not the last to modify it. A sloppy attempt at magical fusing around the edges of one of the containers signified that. Logically, the original owner of the device was long dead, which left a select few individuals who used or had access to it. Yet, for all he knew, the entire populace of the empire could have access to it.

"My king, who was the sovereign of this castle before you and your wife?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his interest evident, even through his echoing voice. Shining opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Cadence jumped in.

"Sombra..." She hissed, her eyes showing fury unmatched for the first time since Kel'Thuzad had arrived. "He enslaved the Crystal Empire, using dark magics to subdue and bend the population to his will, nearly one thousand years ago." Cadence explained. She went on to tell him of his corruption of the Crystal Heart, and his eventual defeat at the hands of the Royal Sisters. Her grimace turned to a smile as she continued. "He was defeated later by my sister-in-law and her friends just recently, using the powers of friendship." As his queen finished her tale, Kel'Thuzad could barely suppress a guffaw of laughter.

The Power of Friendship?!

HA!

Most likely an attempt at masking the power of these... Elements of Harmony, he had about the night before. Turns out this place was all too predictable, almost akin to a storybook fairytale.

"Did this... Sombra, have any form of magical powers outside of the normal spectrum for... your species?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his voice betraying his embarrassment. His queen shuddered, before his king stepped up.

"Forgive us, Kel'Thuzad, we have not really fully... recovered, from that ordeal." Shining spoke, wrapping a forehoof around Cadence. The lich bowed, and spoke.

"If the question tests your resolve so much, feel free to decline. You are my rulers, after all."

"Thank you for your consideration, Kel'Thuzad. But I will tell you of his magic." Cadence spoke up, shaky uncertainty plaguing her voice. "He used... some sort of shadow magic. It could block off the magical capabilities of other ponies, and caused great pain when they attempted to use their horns." Kel'Thuzad nodded.

Magical Silencing. Not common, but certainly not abnormal.

"He used a form of... animation, upon crystal. Made it almost seem... alive." Shining added, his stance growing more anxious when he made the connection that Kel'Thuzad did as well.

Well, not exactly necromancy, but animating rock and metal is not exactly... typical.

"Finally, he had an immense power over the elements of cold." Cadence whimpered, remembering her subjects horrified screams as the white blanket bathed the shield around the empire in darkness. Kel'Thuzad thought for a moment, coming up with nothing but a blank. How could this seemingly simple unicorn manipulate the Heart so easily? Whoever designed it obviously had security in mind as well, seeing as the power of Celestia and Luna themselves could not breach the curse Sombra laced it with.

A thousand years ago...

Wait a moment...

Kel'Thuzad whirled around, scanning the Heart once again, searching for something... off.

Something that didn't fit.

Something...

Like that.

One of the containers was hastily modified and redesigned to hold a consciousness.

A soul.

He turned to his rulers, his hands fidgeting around each other.

How do I put this... delicately.

"My king, my queen. Sombra was immortal, yes?" He asked, his voice fearing the inevitable answer. They both looked to eachother, and nodded slowly. The lich slowly exhaled.

"Master, I do believe that Sombra inadvertently saved your life." Kel'Thuzad began.

"W-WHAT?!" Shining exclaimed. "WHEN?"

"When I told you that your beloved was ONE of your phylacteries, I did not expect you to willingly accept this. For that, I commend you. However, this Heart has been used as a phylactery before." Kel'Thuzad stated, his arms folding behind his back. The Royal Couple's jaws dropped.

"WHAT?" They both asked.

"By who?!" Shining asked. Meanwhile, Cadence began to put the pieces together.

"Sombra... was undead?" Cadence asked, whimpered really.

"Yes, my queen. Your predecessor was a lich."

Explanations and Unexpected Visitors

"H...How is that possible..." Cadence whimpered, looking at the Crystal Heart. The Archlich turned his form towards Cadence, sharing her concern.

"I... I am unsure, my lady. What I do know is this, however. While your husband was successful in contacting Death, he would have perished had Sombra not used the Heart as a phylactery before him." Kel'Thuzad stated, claw gesturing calmly to the stallion next to his queen.

"Master... as much as I share your hate for this mongrel, he was the savior in this case. While you are a truly gifted necromancer, whether you like it or not, Sombra had remade the Heart into a vessel." The stallion solemnly nodded, his face devoid of emotions.

"After you passed on, the Heart pulled your soul in, trapping it within the chamber inside. However, as your wife was currently channeling her magic to avert the... consequences of full death, part of your soul must have somehow transferred through the Heart, into Lady Cadence." He explained, his claws gesturing to each component of the process as he did.

"If he was a... leech, is he still alive?" Cadence whimpered, hugging her side against Shining tightly. Kel'Thuzad chuckled.

"It's a lich, my lady. No, he is VERY dead." Kel'Thuzad assured, a grin of macabre kindness decorating his skull. Cadence sighed in relief, and released Shining, before walking up beside the Crystal Heart.

"So... does that mean I'm..." Shining began.

"Yes... you are... I am sorry, for whatever it is worth." Kel'Thuzad stated, his claws folding behind his back once more. Shining sighed, plopping his flank upon the crystalline floor, staring into the gemstone.

"Cady, I..." Shining began, looking to his wife, who's eyes were still glued to the Heart. She turned and stopped him with a hug. When Shining attempted to pull away, the princess only pulled him in tighter, her face scrunching up as she did, using all her physical strength to stay anchored to her prince. Finally, after what in actuality was several minutes of silence, she withdrew from him.

"Shiny... I love you. More than anything on Equus. More than the GODS THEMSELVES. I don't care what you are, or what you'll look like. I love you for YOU." She stated, her voice becoming more stern as she did, her face melting into a gentle, loving state at the same time. She pulled him in from the back of his head, pressing her lips to his, ignoring the undead mage in the room with them. Shining hesitated, but soon gave in to the warmth of his mare's mouth pressed against his own. The soft, silken fur of her muzzle tickling his lips as he kissed his wife. His princess. HIS QUEEN... He kinda liked the sound of that last one...

"Ahem..." Kel'Thuzad coughed, attempting to break the awkward silence that pervaded the room. The Royal Couple pulled away, Cadence breathing heavily. Shining, not winded in the slightest.

"I... apologize for my interruption, but I must finish my thoughts. It will not take long." The couple nodded once more, smiles present on their muzzles as they cuddled against eachother, Cadence's head propped under Shining's chin, against his neck.

"While you are not fully... dead, you still are limited by undeath." Kel'Thuzad said, his gaze turning to Cadence once more. "For instance..." He started, hesitant to release his thoughts into the verbal plane.

Oh gods... here we go...

.........

"You may not... sire children."

Time stopped.

One small fiber in the back of Cadence's mind snapped. Like a twig. All her life, she had wanted a foal. A foal to nurture, to love, to call her very own. And she wanted to have it with HER stallion.

Being told this... it was a knife in the heart.

"Wh-what?" She whimpered, her muzzle curling downwards. He mind scrambled to take control of her emotions once more. It failed in its conquest. Like a pheromone blitzkrieg, it stormed her brain, overwhelming every single emotion she felt with grief.

She had started hyperventilating, her eyes wandering to her husband, who had crossed the distance between them in the shortest amount of time required to reach his princess. She fell into his embrace, her eyes starting to water terribly. He held her as tightly as he could, attempting to squeeze the sadness from her assaulted body. He wrapped his hind legs around her as well, pulling them to the floor as Cadence started to wretch and wail her sadness away. He cradled her, soothing her with gentle brushes and squeezes from his hooves.

"Shh... Cady... I'm here, baby..." He crooned, his muzzle burying itself in her mane, attempting to console her in every way he possibly could. Her wails only intensified, her grip only strengthened. Shining's eyes turned to the Archlich, a look of mild sadness adorning his visage, as if he had... known.

Had... Had Death told him?

Nevertheless, the lich remained stock-still. As uncomfortable as he was, he was not about to leave his master's side.

Unless he ordered him to, of course...

"Continue, Kel'Thuzad."

"W-What?" He gasped, baffled at his masters... rather idiotic request. He wanted to ail his beloved with more... horrors?

"If you get it out of the way now, she'll be better off." Shining said, his hooves squeezing his princess tighter against him, her writhing body attempting to burrow as deeply into his embrace as it could. A particularly loud howl of anguish echoed throught the throne room, making even the hardened mage wince.

Hell hath no fury...

"V-Very well." He droned, his arms relaxing, cancelling his teleportation spell. He would see it through, even if it killed him.

And if what he read about Alicorns was true...

That statement might be literal.

.........

"For the last time, Rainbow, we aren't there yet!" Twilight shouted down the aisle, the Ponyville Express rocketing towards the Crystal Empire with incredible speed, courtesy of Twilight's spellwork on the engine.

"Ugh!" Dash groaned, her head slamming back into her seat, her eyelids drooping to a half-closed position, indicating her state of immense boredom.

"Twilight darling, why are we driving up to the Empire in this absolutely HORRID snowstorm?" Rarity complained, her usually flawless ivory fur bundled into the thickest (yet stylish) winter getups imaginable, he face the only part of her body showing. Twilight groaned, turning her head to look across the aisle, humoring the fashionista ONCE AGAIN.

"Because Princess Celestia fears for Shining Armor and Cadence's safety!" She exclaimed, unfurling a piece of parchment, emblazoned with a wax seal of the Celestial Sun. "She has been receiving numerous reports from distressed nobles of a new advisor my brother and sister-in-law have indicted into their council." She explained, her friend listening in on her words, excluding Rainbow, who was snoring obnoxiously in her seat near the front of the cart. "He has been reported, and I quote, as being 'generally horrific, cold, skeletal in appearance, and quite tall'." She finished, her friends looking at her with a large variety of expressions. Most were inspired by horror, others by curiosity. One in particular was one of happiness.

"OOH! A skeleton! Sounds spooky!" Pinkie exclaimed, her outburst eliciting a soft 'eep' from Fluttershy, who nestled further into her own large pink mane, attempting to find consolation in it's warmth.

"Pinkie, this isn't a game." Twilight berated, looking back out of the frosted window, her eyes just picking up the top of the Crystal Palace in the distance. It seemed... normal. Despite the freak blizzard, that is. While the weather up near the Frozen North was always... chillier, the blizzard that currently engulfed the outskirts of the empire could put one near Ponyville to shame, its ferocity cracking several of the windows of the train car as they traveled.

"So... anyone know any jokes?" Pinky asked, her usual jovial behavior eliciting a light laugh from the lavender unicorn, who turned to the pink earth pony, humoring her.

As she turned, the train car turned with her. A barrage of screams filled the train car, the candles inside of the braziers along the walls snuffed out from the icy gusts that swirled through the cabin from the now broken windows. terrified, and now in the dark, the six mares attempted to retrieve their footing, but lost it when the train car was tipped over, and slammed into the snow bank, off to the side of tracks. Twilight was desperately attempting to hold unto something, succeeding in grabbing hold of a chair that was still bolted to the floor-turned-wall.

'KRAAKOOOOOM'

A blinding light surged through the cabin, illuminating the quite terrified mares with it's intensity. Twilight panicked. She summoned up a teleportation spell, praying to Celestia they were close enough to the castle...

.........

"OOF!" Twilight exclaimed, her form landing atop of a writhing pile of bodies. Her friends, hopefully. As her vision cleared, she saw several things. One, they were no longer onboard the train. Two, they were in the throne room of the Crystal Palace. Three, she was staring into a scene straight out of nightmares.

A bloody and bruised Princess Cadence lay in a pool of crimson, her life fluid flowing freely from several gashes in her chest. Her brother was desperately trying to keep her awake, shaking her gently to keep her eyes from closing. She saw...

She screamed, drawing the attention of the... thing, that was leering in over them both, claws of white ablaze with a eerie blue flame. The prince and creature looked to her with an expression of confusion, her face turning from a violent snarl to a visage of untethered rage, her horn flaring before letting loose a blast of energy from her horn that could blow a boulder the size of a house apart. The volatile energy warped and rocketed throught the air, before impacting the creature's outstretched hand.

The impossible became possible. The dark violet orb fizzled and popped, before dissipating entirely. The creature snarled, turning his attention to the unicorn, her plans backfiring further and further by the second. Shining attempted to... stop him? The creature paid him little mind, or simply did not hear him, the blizzard that raged outside now flooding in from a massive, jagged hole in the wall. The creature's claw outstretched, and in an instant, she was... okay?

Yes... she was... fine.

Just... tired.

So... tired...

The last thing she saw before the cold covered her eyes, was the creature bending in over Cadence, his hands bathed in spectral flame once more.

Author's Note

Well... a defensive Mana Bomb maaaaaaaaay not have been the best tactical decision Kel'Thuzad has ever executed...

Other than a mild concussion and several slashes from flying chunks of Crystal, Cadence is fine!

I think...

An Archmagus at Work

Pain.

A sharp, stabbing sensation.

Quite uncomfortable to experience, especially when your body is riddled with it.

"Ugh..." Cadence moaned, her eyesight blurry at best and damaged at worst. She saw... shapes, one large, one small. She was not sure at first what they were, but as her vision grew less covered in blurs, she could definitely make out movements, indicating life. They were in the room with her, yet obviously did not register her presence.

Clouded voices were now registered by her eardrums, the sensation of speech upon her sensitive ears intensifying the pain that racked her body, and causing her to groan in agony, her head igniting with a headache. The two figures stopped conversing, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw them start to move towards her. She wanted to run. She wanted to shriek, she wanted to gallop, fly or teleport as far away as possible from this place. Her body, unsure of which she wanted more, convulsed, and she yelped with pain, her eyes growing even more blurred with tears of pain and terror. She felt a pair of hooves wrap themselves around her, and she screamed. She didn't care how much it hurt.

Wait...

Shiny...

She could recognize that scent anywhere. She sighed in relief, her burning lungs taking in more air to fuel her ailing body. She wanted to hug her stallion, wanted him to hold her, to cuddle her, to tell her everything was going to be okay.

A sharp whimper of pain escaped her lips, and her husbands hooves hurriedly retracted.

No. She wanted his hooves, no matter how much it hurt.

Damn this pain. Damn it to Tartarus. She mustered every shred of energy she had left in her system, and flung herself towards the shape of Shining.

.........

Pain.

.........

Twenty Minutes Earlier -

.........

"Cadence... Oh my goddesses..." Shining gasped, his breath still returning to him after the cataclysmic explosion that his wife had caused. The entire throne room was wrecked, pieces of broken crystal and woodwork littered the floor, and there was an absolutely massive hole in the east wall, the blizzard outside taking the opportunity to invade the previously comfy hall. Shining gasped as he turned to his right, to find the collapsed form of his wife. He leaned in to hold her, instinct telling him to comfort her. To protect her.

"SIRE! DON'T TOUCH HER!" Kel'Thuzad's deep voice shrieked over the winds that howled throught the throne room, already starting to cover everything in sight in a sheet of fine white powder. Shining retracted his hooves, his instinct telling him to cradle his wife, who's crimson blood was already seeping from several large gashes in her barrel and underbelly, coloring the bluish-violet crystal floor red. He knew he shouldn't touch her. Kel'Thuzad was right. The lich's presence was announced by the loud crackles of the bluish flame echoing from his claws.

"MY LORD! HOLD HER STILL! I'M GOING TO CAUTERIZE THE WOUNDS! SHE'S LOST FAR TOO MUCH BLOOD ALREADY!" the Archlich roared, the flames dancing around his hands crackling and popping with more intensity as he prepared the spell for release. Shining turned to the lich, who's presence offered some shield from the biting cold of the winter wind that howled around them. Shining nodded grimly, and looked back to his right, the pink from of his beloved still collapsed on the ground, the pool of red growing wider and thicker by the second. He slowly wrapped his hooves around her, using as gentle touches as he could, attempting to leave as many of the numerous cuts as he could open to the lich's vision.

"AGH!!!" Cadence roared, her Royal Canterlot Voice echoing through the wreckage of the chamber. A sick melting, frying sound reached Shining's ears, and he winced. Cadence was shaking, almost unnoticeably so, and he used a few gentle bursts of magic to rub her coat in an undamaged spot, attempting to keep her soothed as best he could.

Then the smell hit him. The smell of cooking meat. Of charred fur and burning flesh. He glanced back at the lich, who's gaze was fixated on a rather large cut adorning his wife's lower neck. He worked without emotion, without second-guesses. A good trait to have in these situations, Shining thought.

The lich's claws were stock-still, apart from the occasional flicker of movement from his thumb to redirect the small beam of white heat that was fired from his palm. The second hand was channeling a sort of miniature ice flow, coating another large gash on her barrel in a thin sheet of ice, cutting off the profuse bleeding. He grunted occasionally with strain, probably not used to using such precise aim and focus. Finished with the cut, me withdrew, and began on the next one, quickly melting the ice bandage he had laid over it. Cadence had fainted, whether from blood loss or pain neither of them knew. All they knew is that she was dying, and time was of the essence if they wished to save her. Shining turned his gaze to the largest cut he could see, a jagged canyon of spilt flesh running up her side, and focused. Slowly, a bubble of dark...

Blue energy?

Shaking his head, he refocused on his task. As he did, a blue bubble of energy warped into existence, covering the wound to the best of his ability and vision.

"AHHH!!!"

The stallion looked up and to the left, towards the source of the scream and stopped.

Twily?

What was she doing here?!

Unfortunately, Kel'Thuzad had also heard that scream, and quite obviously thought of it as a threat, his ice-laying hand quickly reaching up, just in time to stop a full frontal blast of violet energy, Twilight's magic crackling and popping in the air a few inches from his palm.

.........

INSOLENT WHELP! I WILL RIP YOUR SOUL FROM YOUR FROZEN HUSK!

Kel'Thuzad growled, the lavender newcomer testing his patience to the limit. He knew not who this unicorn was, and what she wanted, but shooting a tremendously powerful ball of pure arcane energy at his face while he was helping to save his queen's life, was not the best move. He sneered, and charged a frostbolt, aiming it at the pest's head. He released.

"KEL'THUZAD, STOP! THATS MY SISTER!" He heard his master hurriedly screech from beside him.

Damn it all.

Already the frostbolt was yards from his master's sibling's head, so he acted quickly. He could not cancel the spell, not enough time.

Or distance.

Quickly, he molded the bolt in mid-flight, the icy projectile feet away from turning the unicorn's skull into a brain-flavored slushy receptacle, chilled to perfection. The bolt arced around the stunned Twilight's head, wrapping around her and the unconscious ponies beneath her. The frozen ponies remained still in their hastily created ice block, and the lich smirked, momentarily proud of himself for the little stunt. Without a second thought however, the lich was back into his delicate surgeries, sealing his queen's flesh back together with small beams of necromantic flames and frost.

Shining's mouth hung open like a broken hinge, a gasp leaving it. His advisor had just silenced the most powerful unicorn in Equestria with a flick of his wrist. Were ponies really that weak when it came to magic, or was Kel'Thuzad just insanely talented?

He almost didn't want to know...

.........

Twenty Minutes Later -

.........

"My lady, please stop! Your injuries are still mending!" Kel'Thuzad said, worriedly gasping in fear, his queen's form catapulting towards his king, snuggling into his chest. The alicorn groaned in reply, and ceased movement, lying still on her husband's belly. Shining's eyes went wide, before he gently wrapped his hooves around her, careful not to disturb the stitches Kel'Thuzad had sown into her skin.

"Well. Okay then." Shining chuckled, letting his wife snuggle up on his chest, ignoring the blood that still matted parts of her fur. He turned to Kel'Thuzad, who had returned hesitantly to his work, slowly and safely thawing his master's friends from their icy prison. The lich grumbled something under his meaningless breath, and continued his work.

Several minutes went by like this, the icy confines of Kel'Thuzad's chambers deathly quiet.

"So... any idea why my wife caused an explosion?" Shining asked, his hooves gently stroking Cadence's back, careful not to disturb her right wing, which was apparently quite broken. Kel'Thuzad's claws stopped glowing, and he turned to Shining.

"I have theories, but some of them are quite outlandish..." the lich said, obviously perplexed. "What I do know is this. After I started explaining the benefits and downsides of undeath to you and your spouse, Lady Cadence's magical energy started to fluctuate beyond safety, presumably from stress or anger. I swiftly wrapped her in a ward that negates the effects of magic, but the runes powering it were quite quickly overpowered by your wife's impressive magical energy, and they shattered, causing an explosion of quite a large magnitude." the Archlich explained. Shining nodded, and went back to his cuddling.

Even then, my ward SHOULD have held. Something was giving her energy. Something far more powerful than me... I wonder...

Author's Note

Well... Now that's out of the way...

Anyone want a slushy?

(Mana Bomb's reversed effect is interesting, is it not?)

New Friends

A sharp breath of air burst through Twilight's throat, a shrill cough echoing through the room she was currently in. She scrambled to her hooves displacing the... bed sheets? Oh. She was in a bed.

Swiftly returning to her panicking, she yelped and whimpered in terror as her memories came racing back to her.

That... thing.

Cadence's broken body lying in a pool of life-liquid, her vibrant pink coat dyed crimson...

Shiny's attempt to stop that MONSTER, from... KILLING her...

That hit hard.

Sure, she was resourceful, and her and her friends were normally placed in dangerous positions...

But... that thing almost killed her. Snuffed her light out like a dying candle. Nothing had ever been that... blunt. Emotionless.

She shivered once again, wrapping herself in the silk covers of her bed. Her memories of the creature came flooding back now...

Long, flowing robes of blue...

Claws of white, sharpened to deadly points...

Sharp, dagger-like teeth, presumably used to tear meat.

PONY MEAT!

Wait... no. That doesn't make sense... calm down Twilight...

That portion of panic quickly subsided, however, as she realized the monster had lacked... skin. Flesh, meat, hair, just about everything that a living thing SHOULD have. This... creature, was merely a skeleton...

A very powerful skeleton...

She still couldn't believe it. The single most powerful LEGAL spell in the history of Equestrian Combative Magics, and this skeleton just... took it. Absorbed it. Nullified it. Destroyed her most powerful attack like a piece of wet tissue paper. Now, admittedly, she hadn't studied much of Equestrian Warfare, and mages like Starswhirl the Bearded had definitely come up with and used more refined, dangerous and devastating spells for combat. But seriously, that could have disintegrated a house! A HOUSE!

"Twily?"

"EEK!" She yelped, her brother's calm voice snapping her violently out of her daymares, the violet mare whimpering and flinging herself as far as she could under the warm covers of the bed she resided in. Slowly, she peeked her head up over the line of the covers, her brother's sympathetic face meeting hers.

"S-Shiny?" She whimpered, taking in his... different form. He... looked the same. But something was... off. Wrong. She shrugged it off, blaming it on her raging fears.

"Yeah, it's me Twily..." Shining slowly stepped forward, and hoisted himself up unto the bed, wrapping his little sister in a hug. She clung to him, shivering uncontrollably from a mix of cold and fear. He chuckled, nuzzling her mane before speaking softly.

"You okay, LSBFF?" He joked, running his hoof up and down her back, soothing the shaking mare. She choked on a few words, before a sigh came out of her mouth.

"Yeah... just... confused, I guess..." Twilight pouted, halfway between curious of the... creature, and terrified of it as well. She was... intrigued by it. While it had tried to kill her, she couldn't help but feel jealous of the creature's capabilities. She held the title of most powerful unicorn in Equestria! She was the Incarnation of the Element of MAGIC, for Celestia's sake! To be upstaged by a... skeleton... was kind of embarrassing...

"Sorry about... everything you saw..." Shining murmured, his muzzle buried in her mane. Twilight chuckled, and backed away.

"No problem, BBBFF. I was just... scared, is all." She smiled, cracking her neck and ruffling her mane, a few of the strands sticking to her scalp knocked free as a result. Shining laughed, and spoke.

"Yeah, I could see why." He smiled, and hopped off the bed, motioning for her to follow. She was... hesitant, but trusted her brother. She always did. Now was no different. She gently lowered herself down unto her hooves, her legs wobbling a bit as she attempted to regain her balance. "Hey, I want you to meet... me and Cadence's Vizier." Shining said, quite bluntly. Twilight looked at him, confused at the sudden change of topics, but then she saw Shining's face. Twilight's mouth fell like a busted hinge, and she started sputtering out every caution in the book. "Twily, I need you to trust me. Whatever the nobles have said about him, are wrong. he hasn't hurt a soul since he's been here, and the only reason he attacked you is because you kinda... sorta... were going to kill him..." Shining finished, his argument getting more ridiculous sounding by the second. He stopped and looked at Twilight, who was wide-eyed, and quite obviously terrified of Kel'Thuzad.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Master, are you in there?"

Speak of the devil.

"Yes, I am. What news do you have?" Shining responded, reaching for the doorknob despite Twilights attempts at stopping him. He finally shooed her away for a moment, and turned the knob, releasing the door from its position. With a blast of chilled air, the heavy oak door swung inwards, revealing the undead mage, his form taking up nearly the entire doorway. As he turned to Twilight's terrified body, wrapped up in the heavy blankets on her bed, he stuttered.

"Oh... I... Didn't realize you had... company, sire..."

"H-H-Hello... sir..." Twilight squeaked, her voice more quivering and quiet than Fluttershy's. The lich, without skipping a beat, folded one of his long, spindly arms behind his back, and bowed to Twilight, who blushed, quite obviously not used to having twelve-foot skeletal mages bowing to her.

"Greetings, my lady." the lich politely responded, turning to his king to report. "Sire, Lady Cadence is awake, if you wish to see her." He droned, his eyes still glancing at Twilight out of the corners of his sockets.

"Thank you. Twily, I'd like you to meet my vizier and good friend, Kel'Thuzad." The lich bowed once more. Twilight politely curtsied to the Archlich, and whimpered a small phrase.

"A-A pleasure, mister Kel'Thuzad..." She smiled, attempting to be as friendly as possible to the horrific being before her. Goddesses, he was so... cold.

"The pleasure is all mine, Lady Twilight." The unicorn winced at the sound of the lich's echoing voice uttering her name, but remained steadfast, and as quickly as she could, scuttled past the mage, following Shining down the hall. They walked and floated for a few moments in silence, the faint clanking of Kel'Thuzad's chains the only sound beside the occasional hoofstep.

"So... how long was I out?" Twilight asked, her muzzle facing to her right, at her brother. The lich behind her cleared his throat, scaring her, but she quickly hid her fear.

"A week and two days, milady." Kel'Thuzad said, his voice acting as if this was normal.

In his experience, she was beyond lucky. The necrotic energies that accompanied all his spells, regardless of what he did, had thankfully little to no effect on the six mares. Sure the ice would have kept them preserved, but he was expecting some blackening of flesh, loss of fur or hair...

There was none of that with their exposure to his magics.

"A WEEK!?" Twilight exclaimed, turning to the lich and accusingly pointing a hoof at him.

"Yes, Lady Twilight, a week. Be thankful you even woke up at all. You friend Rainbow Dash is still asleep!" He teased, floating slowly past the unicorns and reaching the doors to the grand suite, opening them. The doors opened to reveal an... interesting scene, to say the least.

Rarity, Fluttershy and a... another skeleton. Okay. They were engaged in a tea party of sorts, the skeleton pouring when they ran low on drink. Pinkie Pie was playing checkers with Cadence, who's form was prone upon the bed, several ugly gashes expertly stitched and bandaged across her barrel and sides. The two guards that were originally on either side of the door were... skeptical of the skeleton, but apparently had joined the tea drinking at some point since Shining's departure, their laughs indicating their enjoyment.

"KELLY, YOU'RE BACK!" Pinkie shouted, diving into the air and landing in a very startled Kel'Thuzad's arms. The lich chuckled, putting the hyper pony down at his base.

"Yes, Miss Pie, I have returned. Lady Rarity, how is frostweave treating you?" The unicorn looked over her shoulder, revealing a nearly complete scarf of frostweave cloth.

"It's incredible, darling! I've never worked with such a forgiving and soft fabric before!" The fashionista praised, going back to concentrating on her work. Shining had moved over to his wife's side, and gently nuzzled her cheek.

Twilight was speechless.

Her friends... were okay with this?!?

They had befriended a... a...

No. Breathe... Breathe...

This is going to be long week.

Learning and Example

"Okay, is everyone comfortable? I will only explain this once..." Kel'Thuzad said, his form taking up most of the bedroom. Shining and Cadence laid in bed, side-by-side. The girls were either crammed into the large loveseat in the corner, or resting by the fire. Marrowfrost was at his master's immediate right, and the Helm of Domination floated in a small arcane energy shield, to the lich's left.

"Yes, we're ready, Kel'Thuzad. Please, finish your story." Shining said, smiling gently as he cuddled with his wife. The lich nodded, and began his tale.

"As you all know, I am not exactly... alive." Kel'Thuzad chuckled. The room was filled with giggles and nervous laughter, and a straight up laugh from Rainbow. The lich sighed, and spoke once more. "I am a lich. An incredibly powerful undead being, created for the sole purpose of serving my king." the lich turned to Twilight, and gestured to Shining as he did. "Your brother, Twilight." The unicorn nodded, desperately trying to hold back the flood of questions and observations that were battering against the inside of her teeth.

"What exactly is a lich, darling?" Rarity asked, still enthralled with the ruined remains of Kel'Thuzad's old robes, which he had been kind enough to give her, seeing as he could not wear them anymore. Befitting her generous nature, she had taken it upon herself to make something for him, much to the lich's bemusement. She was currently working on an upper robe portion for the lich, who was quite grateful, and interested to see the outcome.

"A lich is an incredibly powerful undead creature, once a mortal who... wished to live forever." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his voice getting softer as each word exited his mouth. "Using vast arcane and necromantic energies, I was bound by Shining Armor's predecessor to a phylactery, an essential part of lichdom."

Several red lights and alarms went off in Twilight's head as the Archlich discussed his magically constructed body, particularly when he revealed that his major benefactor was necromancy.

Necromancy was illegal.

VERY illegal.

Princess Celestia had had the last known major necromancer executed nearly thirty years ago...

Without trial.

She HAD to know more!

"You never told me he was a necromancer, Shiny!" Twilight exclaimed, her voice betraying her giddiness, her form leaping up to excitedly hop around. The prince chuckled nervously, and spoke.

"To be honest, I thought it would be better if you hadn't known until now..."

"Are you insane?! Any form of magic is fascinating to learn about! Even the darker ones!" Twilight exclaimed, her body practically shaking with excitement. The lich raised a nonexistent eyebrow at that statement, his metaphorical heart swelling with joy.

Maybe I’ll finally have someone to talk to about... my craft. Maybe even... teach again. That would be interesting...

"I am pleased to see that you do not view my... art, as a necessarily evil magic, as so many others do." The lich chuckled, gazing at the lavender unicorn. "I would be more than happy to teach you a few tricks. After all, you're my master's sister..." The unicorn literally squealed with joy, jumping back unto the love seat, hugging her... suspicious friends.

"Wait a minute, sugarskull, ah thought necromancy was all evil stuff, like raisin' the dead, and corruptin' the livin'..." Applejack inquired, her eyes narrowing at the Archlich, who laughed a bit in return.

Another superstitious one...

"On the contrary, Miss Applejack. Necromancy is the magical manipulation of souls, blood and flesh." the lich said, matter-of-factly crossing his arms over his chest. He scryed over bodies and souls of the mares for a moment, searching for any form of illness or disease. He smiled, turning to Applejack once more. "For example. In approximately three days, you will fall victim to a cold, courtesy of the winter storm currently raging outside." The mares looked to eachother, and then chuckled at Applejack, who's face lit up red under her fur.

"You... I..." Applejack began, but was cut off by a raising of the lich's right claw.

"I may 'remove' the illness, if you wish." He offered, smiling smugly at the farmpony, who's jaw dropped, her form trembling under the lich's gaze. A nudge from Rainbow removed her gaze from Kel'Thuzad, and Rainbow spoke up.

"C'mon, Jackie. Your not chicken, are you?" She leered, a smirk of challenge present on her face. The lich chuckled lightly, and spoke up.

"I wouldn't joke, Miss Dash, you're next. You seem to like your alcohol a LOT more than it likes you... You have early stage kidney disease."

Silence.

The room erupted in laughter, even the guards on either side of the door chuckling lightly at the undead mage's observation.

"I... I... Heh..." Rainbow hid behind her wing, nestling further into the couch.

"Fear not, I may fix it. Quite easily, I might add." Kel'Thuzad said, his gaze returning to the pegasus, who nodded eagerly. The lich nodded, and one of his many soul chains reached out, grasping an unaware Rainbow Dash around the stomach, hoisting her up to his level. "Now, hold still... you may feel a slight feeling of nausea. Open your mouth please, as wide as you can.”

The pegasus carefully opened her muzzle, and to the dismay of her friends, the lich's claws started to glow.

"Are... are ya sure about this, mister Kel'Thuzad?" Applejack inquired, her stomach turning a bit as her friend's form floated in the air before the Archlich.

"Of course I am, Applejack. I wouldn't volunteer if I couldn't do it..." he chuckled. He turned to the rest of the room, who was looking at the pegasus and necromage with great interest and curiosity. "Those of you with weak stomachs may want to turn away. This can get... messy." The lich turned to the trembling Rainbow Dash, who's eyes were darting around for her friend's help. "Now... I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to hold still. It will not hurt. You have my word." the lich assured, his claw glowing brighter as he prepared to scoop the gunk out of her kidneys. She nodded, and shut her eyes tight.

She felt... a rubbing sensation in her belly, quickly rising up through her throat. She gagged, but otherwise remained still, the chain coiling tighter, but not too tight around her midsection as the mage worked. Her friends gasped, and Rarity gasped dramatically as she felt something come free of her throat. She opened her watering eyes to see...

"Ew... THAT was inside me?!" She exclaimed, the soul chain gently putting her down in front of the fire. The lich chuckled, and moved the dark black mass of bile, blood and infection over to the fire, were he incinerated it with a blast of arcane fire. The lich turned back to the room with a nod, and took note of everyone's disgusted or horrified faces. Except Twilight, who was busy jotting something down on a bit of parchment.

Good... she is not afraid to get her hands... hooves, dirty. She may have what it takes...

"Sorry that you had to see that. It is not exactly... safe, to destroy it inside of her." the lich looked down to Rainbow, who looked up at him. "Your kidneys are as clean as the day you were birthed. Please try to lay off the cider." he jested, smirking as he moved back to his central location in the room, the mares and stallion chuckling lightly at the pegasus' stunned expression.

"Now, may I continue?" Kel'Thuzad requested. The room nodded, eager to learn more. "Good. Now, Shining Armor is my lord, a powerful being known as the Lich King." he told them, looking to Twilight, who had her hood raised in the air. He rolled his eyes. "Yes, Twilight?"

"Does that mean that he is a... lich, too?" She inquired. The lich nodded, but spoke up to prevent the waterworks before they happened.

"However, he is not exactly... a common lich. Being the first lich that I know of to have two phylacteries likely has something to do with that." He explained.

"What exactly is a phylactery?" Twilight asked, her quill ready.

"A phylactery is what makes a lich near-unkillable, as their corporal form will regenerate if it is not destroyed. It is what effectively makes him or her immortal, in a sense." the unicorn nodded, not looking up from her notes. While she scribbled, he turned a hand to the chest that resided on the floor near Marrowfrost, and withdrew his phylactery from it, carefully levitating it in the air before the group.

"This is my phylactery. The burial urn of King Terenas Menethil II, last true regent lord of the Kingdom of Lordaeron." The mare's jaws dripped, and his gaze moved towards his ruler's, who nodded. He had the okay to restrain them for this part.

If he needed to...

"I was originally an agent of darkness, bound to the rule of the original Lich King, Ner'Zhul. He was a madman and master necromancer that wanted to destroy ALL life on Azeroth, my homeworld. I had heard his summons from my home of Dalaran, and wanted to... learn. About necromancy, about dark magic. About POWER. This is what I got..." He said, raising his boney hands before the mares, who's worried and sympathetic looks told him that he was still scot-free of judgment.

Not for long...

"I was pressed into service, but his foul magics made me believe that I wished it. That I wanted this... horror." He sighed, and looked to his king. "I was to spread the plague, a deadly bio-hazardous necromantic disease that ate away flesh, and REANIMATED after death." Lordaeron was eventually snuffed out by me and my comrades, the soldiers that had fought to defend their people, now our mindless servants."

With a flash, Kel'Thuzad opened a portal into his mind.

"Come if you wish, but remember that this is all memories. No harm will come to you here."

Shining helped Cadence up, and then hoisted her unto his back. Twilight sprang up from her seat. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash stayed put. Fluttershy was too busy cowering in Rarity's hooves to notice the lich. The lich nodded, and the four disappeared into the portal, the dull chiming sound of the hole in the fabric of reality the only sound left in the room.

They have no idea what I did... I... I hope I do not lose their respect...

Stop #1: The Fall of Lordaeron

The serene countryside of Lordaeron was always one of Kel'Thuzad's favorite places to read and study. Whether he was propping himself under a tree, or practicing on the nearly unlimited amounts of knolls and kobolds in the area, this placid forest outside of Stratholme was his favorite place in the world.

Well...

It WAS...

When he was alive...

With a resounding slice, a strip of air broke open in a small clearing just outside the gates of the city, and the small group of memory-travelers all but fell out, quite obviously not used to portal travel. The lich chuckled, floating out behind them before promptly obscuring himself in a bright blue light. The three ponies looked away, the light becoming bright enough to blind.

"Ah... much better."

It was Kel'Thuzad alright, but he sounded... different.

The ponies looked back at their guide, stunned to see him... shorter.

Much shorter.

And he had skin.

"Kel'Thuzad!" Twilight yelped, catching the old mage before he hit the ground with her back, the wizard having not had the practice of leg usage in nearly a millennia. The mage inhaled, oxygen entering his lungs again. He coughed lightly, and stood up, patting the soft fur of the equine that held him up in thanks. He stood up, using a nearby tree for balance, shivering when an unknown sensation hit his skin, protected only by his thin robes of violet fabric.

Gods, I forget what it was like to actually FEEL a breeze...

"Thank you, Twilight." He said, shaking his head to clear his mind. He quickly realized he was going nowhere fast with his unused legs, so he need support.

I doubt Twilight would want to help me anyway... even in this form I must be twice her weight...

Muttering an incantation, his walking staff materialized in his hand. This greatly startled Twilight, who was obviously interested in learning more about Azerothian magics and energies, seeing as she had already written a small paragraph on the subject in her parchment.

Gods, she reminds me so much of Jaina... always studying...

He looked up, brushing a stray lock of greyish-white hair out of his face. All but one of his superiors were quite obviously interested and or confused about his new look. The one who was not... perplexed him.

Had his master SEEN humans before?

He decided to make a mental note in the back of his mind, and pretended he had not seen it. He chuckled, bringing another gloved hand to grasp his staff with both hands, using it heavily for support.

"I forgot you have never seen a human before." He laughed. The mares shook their heads, and Cadence spoke.

"What exactly... is a human?" She asked, her head reaching up higher to see him in more detail. Kel'Thuzad rubbed his beard, trying to think of a... reasonable answer.

"Humans are the main inhabitants of my home country, Lordaeron. They are the basic form of sentient life on my planet, and differ very little from ponies in their day-to-day lives. Beside the obvious physical differences, of course." He chuckled, motioning for them to follow. They walked in silence for several minutes, Kel'Thuzad trying to remember the exact way that he used to take to get to Stratholme.

"It's beautiful here..." Cadence sighed, resting her head on Shining's neck. The lich hummed in reply, indicating his agreement.

"Yes... it was..." Kel'Thuzad sighed softly, holding his hand up, signaling his little group to stop, the soft crunching of leaves falling silent as he did. He looked to the left.

Right on time...

A small brigade of battered Lordaeron infantry marched past them, moving with a steadfast fortitude and loyalty that only the presence of royalty required.

The Crown Prince in question marched in the front of the platoon, his gloved hands clearly itching to grasp ahold of the blade Kel'Thuzad knew was under the dark cloak he wore...

"Kel'Thuzad, who are they?" Shining asked, gently helping Cadence off his back, setting her down in the shade. The mage huffed, tearing his gaze away from the Arthas and his troops. He looked over to his queen, and sighed. She was winded, panting quite heavily. Her bandages had already started to show the smallest patches of red along the stitched slices in her flesh.

She shouldn't be traveling like this... she requires something... smoother...

"Lordaeron infantry division. Prince Arthas Menethil's personal soldiers... back after an expedition to Northrend..." He finally responded to his king, grasping his staff tightly as he prepared his casting hand.

"Lordaeron... isn't that were you grew up?" Shining asked, sitting down next to the mage, who's hand was now glowing brightly with purple arcane energy.

"Yes... it was... ah... there we go..."

With a resounding pop, the mage ungrasped his hand, and the fabric of the air around him... flexed and rippled.

Then stopped.

Perfect.

After he had effectively frozen the world, he opened up his mind once more. From a sizable rip that in reality that emerged nearby, a large carpet issued forth, flopping unto the ground with a dull thud. The three ponies looked at him, quite obviously confused. The mage chuckled, gesturing for them to hop on.

"Kel'Thuzad... what are you doing?" Twilight asked, helping Cadence to stand up, gently shepherding her sister-in-law over to the carpet. The princess in question yelped in pain halfway there, and collapsed, whimpering in obvious discomfort and pain.

These wounds of hers should have been FAR overhealed by now, if what I have read about Alicorn physiology is even remotely true...

The wizard moved towards the carpet, his hands trembling as he lowered himself unto the carpet below him. The aged wizard sighed in relief, and proceeded to hold out a hand to help Cadence settle down unto one of the riding pillows adorning the surface of the craft. The pink alicorn gasped in pain, and fell unto her flank, a large blotch of red appearing on one of her many bandages, closer to her hindquarters. The mage reacted quickly, freezing a small pillow that was near him. He reached out, feeling the comforting temperature of the makeshift icepad cooling his mortal fingers.

"My lady, here." he offered the pillow to Twilight, who took it hurriedly from his grasp with her magic. She turned to Cadence, who was lying on her side, her breathing labored. Shining accepted the pillow from his sister, and VERY gently pressed it against the wound. The mare grunted, then sighed, the improvised cooling pad doing its job, apparently.

"My lady, you are unwell, might I suggest that we delay this venture?" Kel'Thuzad inquired, mentally preparing the process in which they would use to return to the physical world.

"No. I-I'm fine." Cadence twitched, her right hind leg shaking from the stress of pain. The mage sighed, then nodded.

"Very well. Let us be off then..."

The ponies sat and waited. Was their guide insane?

"Kel'Thuzad, are you... alright..." Shining started, but then stopped.

The carpet was floating. Only a few feet off the ground, but floating.

"Kel'Thuzad, are you sure this thing is... safe?" Twilight asked, latching unto his side, holding on for dear life as the carpet slowly ascended above the treeline. The transformed lich laughed.

"Yes, my dear. Perfectly safe." the Archmage chuckled, the carpet slowly floating towards the distant city of Stratholme.

"G-Good..." Twilight whimpered, her form slowly retracting from the mage's waist. She tried to redirect her focus on something other than her fear of heights for the time being. Sighing, she dared a peak over at the horizon, and was awed by the shear vastness of the valley they were over.

"This place is amazing! I've never seen so many mountains near a forest before!" Twilight exclaimed, making the Royal Couple and their pilot chuckle at her childlike antics. Kel'Thuzad's grin slowly turned to a frown, remembering the morbid purpose of his task.

It's time. They deserve the truth...

.........

"Yes, the Plaguelands were... beautiful."

With a snap of his fingers, everything went dark. A dreadful smog instantly filled the air, blotting out the sun's warming rays of light. The ponies gasped as the once vibrant green forest... decayed. Shriveled. DIED.

"Kel'Thuzad, what's going on?!" Cadence asked, a fear she had never known present in her voice. The lich sighed, speeding up the carpet as the forest below them finally lost its green entirely, the rotting ground now exposed for his passengers to see...

"THIS, is what happens when living things are exposed to the plague..." Kel'Thuzad proclaimed, his gloved hand gesturing to a town in the distance, where the small lights of a raging fire blazed against the nighttime sky. Bloodcurdling screams quickly filled the air as they passed over the town, the sound of clashing steel and creaking of wood also mixing within. The ponies held unto eachother as the archmage leaned the carpet downwards, descending rapidly into the chaos of the destruction of Darrowshire.

The ponies frantically bade the mage turn away, but the lich stood his ground, nearly forcing the ponies to bear witness to the horrors HE had set in motion. Shining was eventually filled with a sense of morbid curiosity. To put faces to the screams and a form behind the dying...

He opened his eyes...

To horror.

Slaughtered men and women littered the crowded streets of the small town, trampled underfoot by the dozens upon dozens of rotting human corpses ravenously tearing the still living townsfolk to shreds of their former selves...

Horrifying aberrations of flesh and bone cleaved their way through several men at a time, some of them using nothing but farming scythe's and sharpened plows as weapons, their titanic, stinking forms crushing friend and foe indiscriminately...

Skeletal mages let loose icicles sharp enough to pierce steel, the skeletons cackling in maniacal glee as they cut down retreating women and children, some of the corpses being LITERALLY pinned to walls by the frozen projectiles.

The undead soldiers, in his mind, where animals.

No, worse than animals, he decided, watching a near-skeletal undead soldier cleave a human woman down with his rusty sword, the violent spray of crimson bathing the skeleton's bones in their gory hue...

He wanted to look away.

Wanted to scream.

Wanted to choke.

What came out was a cry of rage.

Of horror.

Of ANGER!

He continued to watch the human's eventual deaths fold out. Down to the last, cowering child. He watched...

Death.

"This is the Scourge, then. THIS, IS WHAT YOU DID?!" Shining roared, the Lich King's teeth baring as he stood upright, the mares behind him crying and pleading for the nightmare incarnate to end. The mage turned to look at his monarch, a passive look of untethered, unbridled rage shooting through his aged, pale face.

"No."

"This is what the Betrayer of Humanity did..."

Author's Note

Darrowshire...

A morbid and twisted reminder of how dark the World of Warcraft can really be...

Chilled Tea

To his credit, Kel'Thuzad was aware of the Solar Diarch's presence far before the matter transference was complete. An energy signal far in excess of even Princess Cadence's was a pretty big hint, he figured.

Also to his credit, he expected to be discovered LONG before he did...

While he was powerful, a creature with the power to control a celestial body... he was not THAT powerful...

While I may not be able to keep her occupied forever, I will GUARANTEE permanent damage upon her body if she touches EITHER of them...

The Archlich snarled, his arms already bathed in frosty splinters of razor-sharp ice as their bodies started to materialize inside the room...

"Kel'Thuzad, NO!"

.........

Princess Celestia was... simple.

Even for an immortal, undying, regent of the sun.

She enjoyed music, dance, lounging in her sunlight.

She had a rather... unhealthy taste for wine and sweets, but her alicorn body kept the ungodly amount of calories it took to keep her body running at bay.

For the most part...

She sighed, looking back at her flanks.

She was quite worried, really. Her pupil...

And future fellow princess...

Had gone missing along with her friends... nearly two weeks ago...

While she knew that they were most likely in no real danger, the reports she had read about this... Kel'Thuzad character, were intriguing. And so she decided, for the safety of her subjects (and her own personal leisure), to investigate herself. Not something she normally did. Now, normally, this kind of situation would be a cause for a nationwide search for the Elements of Harmony. But, seeing as nothing interesting was happening in court, and Luna was already awake, she decided to take the day off. When she arrived at the Crystal Palace, everything was... normal.

Which was... odd. According to her reports from the terrified nobles she had seen, this newcomer was... dangerous, to say the least.

And at least twice her height...

She had decided to approach the situation diplomatically, seeing as reports had mentioned Shining and Cadence... hiring him...

"Interesting..." She droned, walking up to the large double doors of the Crystal Royal Suite. The alicorn tucked the military report back into her saddlebag, and knocked politely on the door. The resounding 'thud' echoed through the empty hall. Yet, despite the rather loud noise, no answer was given.

"Cadence?" she called, her feathers rustling a bit, the entire situation making her feel... uncomfortable. A faint rustling was heard, but other than that small, petite noise, nothing. Celestia was about to turn away, looking for a guard to question...

"Princess C-C-Celestia?"

Celestia stopped mid-step, turning back to the door, pressing her ear up against the wooden surface.

"Fluttershy?"

"Yes?"

"May I please come in?" Celestia asked, her interest heavy at this point.

Where were Cadence and Shining?

"Yes..."

"Thank you."

*Click*

"Fluttershy what... are you... doing?"

Inside the room was... different, than what she expected, to be completely honest. The entire group of the Elements were crowded around a small coffee table, the tea still steaming lightly from its kettle. A nice, wood fueled flame roared in the spacious fireplace, soothing the room with its gentle glow. A magical portal stood a few yards to the right of the elements, and the image was too heavily distorted to make out clearly.

The odd part was obvious.

Shining, Cadence, and Twilight were nowhere to be seen.

In there place, a skeleton sat at the coffee table.

A skeleton.

Now, normally, Celestia would have thought she was hallucinating, seeing as the construct was actually MOVING.

"Miss Celestia, I presume."

Well, and the fact that it talked.

"Princess, yes." Celestia replied, taken aback at the creature's... manners. The skeleton's hoof slowly rising to gesture to an open space on the loveseat.

"Care to join us? I put a new kettle on the fire..." he asked, his voice echoing, probably an amplification spell that allowed him to speak in the first place. The solar princess hesitated. She wasn't sure that this... thing, was the creature everypony back at Canterlot was talking of, but it did have respectable manners, let alone bad ones. She nodded, a gentle smile gracing her muzzle.

"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you." she replied, walking slowly towards them. The elements visibly relaxed, and Pinkie actually sighed, falling back into her seat with relief.

Well, whomever this... stallion is, he has obviously become a fast friend to them...

"Would you like some mintleaf tea, Princess?" the skeleton asked, Celestia slightly unnerved by the construct's... rather hollow eyes, save for the small, gentle pinpricks of blue light that glowed in the center of each socket. She shrugged it off, seeing as she might as well be polite to... him.

"Yes, that sounds delightful." she responded.

The skeleton nodded, and gently tipped the crystal teapot with his hooves, pouring the light brown liquid into the cup that Rarity had floated over to her coaster. From this close of a position, she could see... little lines draped across the equine's ribcage, almost like an intricate puzzle of some kind. Probably the spell keeping him together.

Now, Celestia had dealt with nearly every kind of threat imaginable. Countless attempts on her life have been made, and judging from the pulse still inhabiting her veins, they had all failed. She liked to think herself experienced. Seasoned, even.

She had fought dragons, demons, wereponies, vamponies, minotaurs, and wizards. ALL types of wizards...

Necromancers, she learned, are the most dangerous. Their control over life and death, and their ability to raise the dead are the most troublesome aspects, not including the arcane magics they already wielded with relative ease.

But, back to the point. Necromancers were the most unpredictable, unstable, and powerful mortal enemies she and her sister have ever faced.

By far.

And just by glimpsing the intricacy and expertise of the runes that were BARELY VISIBLE...

Whomever animated this skeleton was VERY good at what they did. The best she had ever seen.

.........

The moment he saw her, he acted.

"KEL'THUZAD, NO!"

Time slowed down for the mage, his combat instincts kicking into overdrive...

She draws power from the sun... every little hindrance counts...

A wave of arcane force flew through the air, smashing into the wardrobes on either side of the small windows in the room. They collapsed to their sides with a groan, effectively shrouding the room in darkness, save for the hearth. With another twist of his claws, the girls sitting around the Princess were in his grasp, their bodies flailing and their voices yelping as they were literally lifted by their own SOULS, and catapulted swiftly to the Archlich's back. In an instant, the shards of saronite that his loyal followers had gathered were surrounding Celestia, their razor edges each pointed at vital parts of her body, ready to strike with a flick of his wrist.

Next, the lich froze the princess' feet to the floor, the metal of her slippers providing an excellent anchor for his magic to work from. The lich then focused on removing her magic as best he could from the situation...

In short, he froze her horn, giving instant frostbite to the flesh that surrounded it...

Satisfied, he threw up wards around himself, and moved his bulk in front of his masters.

In this entire span, the word 'No', had just finished its travel from Cadence's mouth. Less than several milliseconds later, Celestia collapsed, her vision staggering from the monumental pain in her forehead. She yelped in agony when her body hit the floor, not moving.

Her four golden slippers were still frozen to the floor, cracks from the immense cold starting to appear on the metallic hoofware...

.........

Several seconds passed, and the lich slowly lowered his claws, not certain, but satisfied. He swiftly turned to the group behind him, and was met with... mixed results. Rainbow and Pinkie's eyes were wide, there muzzles hanging open. Rarity was hugging a hysterical Fluttershy to her chest, a look of sheer terror radiating from her eyes. Applejack was... lost. She had a look of 'Why?' adorning her muzzle.

Shining and Cadence's eyes were open wide, Cadence's mouth still open from her scream.

Twilight was already halfway past the lich's robes, tears of sheer terror flowing down her cheeks. She plopped down next to the mare that had literally been a second mother to her, nuzzling the barely conscious princess gently before sobbing hysterically into her ethereal mane.

Well... I was expecting a bit more of a fight...

Damn...

Author's Note

Turns out Azerothian Combat is a bit more intense than Equestrian, huh?

Ya done goofed, Kel'Thuzad. Hope you're happy...

A Situation

'What. Have. You. DONE?!'

Shining's mind raced a mile a minute, emotions he never even knew he had swirling through the his head.

Anger, hatred, CRUELTY.

A yearning lust for blood, a cry for more power. A HUNGER.

He had been fighting it. A part of him that had been within him since he put on that blasted helmet. Damn it. Damn it all to Tartarus. He knew that he shouldn't have. He knew he should have told Kel'Thuzad. But... something stopped him.

He liked to think of it as another side to him. A smarter side. One that didn't show itself often. More and more now, he felt it's presence. When Kel'Thuzad used his magics to... subdue his aunt/mother-in-law, his vision was... darkened. He saw nothing but stars, orbiting a sickening red light. A beacon of horror amongst a sea of space. A pool of blood amongst the comforting darkness.

'LIFE... SURROUNDED BY DEATH...'

Stop it! He was trying to think. More and more he had been experiencing things that he could not explain. A noise caught his attention, something... familiar. As if it had been with him from birth. It felt safe to be around. He welcomed it. But he hated it.

Something was begging to him. A pathetic voice at first, but it grew louder. Slowly, but ever so surely louder. It was replaced by a desperate, hungry voice, crying for power. Lusting for violence.

He was so tired. So... so... tired. He couldn't hold on anymore... He knew he needed to... but... he...

Darkness...

'HUNGER...'

.........

"KEL'THUZAD!"

Time slowed once more...

It had been nearly a millennia since he had last heard... him. His master...

Kel'Thuzad did not fear death. Never did. As a lich, he feared it even less than before...

Now, he felt fear. He felt the cold chill that permeated the room, outdoing even his own impressive magics. He felt the rumble of power surging from behind him.

Most of all, he felt pain.

"AGH!!" Kel'Thuzad cried, his torso swirling through the Royal Bedchambers like a ragdoll. He impacted the opposite wall with a sharp 'CRACK'. He collapsed, flat on his face with a groan, of pain or disbelief, no one was sure.

What the hell...

With another sickening slice, the saronite shards that Kel'Thuzad had used as a defensive perimeter released.

Upon him.

He cried in surprising agony as they shredded their way through his ribcage, and severed his left arm at the elbow. His mind fuzzy and his vision blurred, Kel'Thuzad reached up with his remaining hand.

"MASTER, STOP! FOR THEIR SAKE, NOT MINE!" the lich coughed as he attempted to levitate, the torn shreds of his robes ripping as his weight lifted itself off the floor. He didn't get far before another wave of force, this one far more powerful than the last, sent him back to his position. The impact separated several shattered ribs from his spine, the useless pieces of bone clattering to the floor beneath him.

Somewhere in the building blizzard, he saw... a flash. A blinding one. He grunted, straining his single working eye upon the source. The saronite shards that had turned upon him were now orbiting quickly around his master. Or what he thought was his master. He couldn't tell anymore. The lich strained, and rose.

"MASTER!" he bellowed, attempting to move his lopsided body towards his king.

If I could just... stop... him...

Something was tiring him.

.........

Now, before he had finally been defeated on Azeroth, he had the remaining cultists aboard the shattered remains of Naxxramas gather everything of importance, and slam it in his personal rune chest. They were ordered to hide it away.

Earlier on after Arthas' death, the lich had his followers gather anything and everything from Icecrown Citadel, and make a run for the mountains. His followers returned with several things of importance.

Lady Deathwhisper's Phylactery, along with several others, foolishly left intact by the crusaders.

A shard of the Frozen Throne, broken off when Arthas collapsed the platform.

Several unused bottles of plague, found on the ruined and bloated corpse of what they assumed was Professor Putricide.

Several Frost Wyrm Hatchlings, found cowering inside of the ribcage of their fallen mother, Sindragosa.

An untouched bloodwell, found surrounded by dead San'Layn.

The Shards of Frostmourne.

How the acolyte got them, he will never know. He overheard him boasting of how 'Easy it was to fool Paladins' and how 'Easily he had stolen them'. Whatever the reason, he had ordered the remnants of the runeblade thrown into the sea when they had commandeered the battered shell of Naxxanar, which was still left mostly untouched by encroaching Horde forces from the Borean Tundra.

He never liked getting things that he needed done by other people. This was probably one of those things he should have overseen himself.

He didn't.

He should have.

.........

Like a wildfire of blue, the room ignited with a sickly hue of it. The prince in question was currently levitating off the floor, the shattered remains of the runeblade shooting around him in deadly orbits, glowing white with cold. The lich cursed his stupidity. His blindness. His carelessness.

He had delivered the knife to the murderer. Freshly sharpened.

With a deafening crack, and a screech of pure necromantic energies, the prince...

Exploded.

"SHINY!"

Somewhere, the Princess of Love shrieked, her Royal Canterlot Voice echoing even over the deafening chorus of snow and ice, which still battered the room, forcing the occupants to hit the floor. The lich could feel his power waning, the injuries sustained by his magical body hemorrhaging energy like a faucet does water. With the last of his strength, he glimpsed the shards fly together, the unholy union of his nightmares coming to pass, regardless of his securities.

With a deafening crack, Frostmourne embedded itself into the ground before him, the runeblade as whole as the day the Burning Legion forged it...

I'm sorry, master... I failed...

Author's Note

Anyone who doesn't know the original lore of Vanilla Naxxramas will miss the reference with how easy it was to get the blade back intro the WRONG hands...

Damn Paladins man...

The Truth

Shining gasped as he awoke, the icy air soothing his dry windpipe. He coughed, blinking several times, only to be greeted by darkness every time he did. He looked down, only to find nothing. No hooves, no fur, no mini-Shining, nothing. He twisted his head, attempting to look around, looking for anything, anyone. He gave up after several moments, though. As far as he could tell, he was completely and utterly...

Alone...

'W-Where am I?' he thought, his voice echoing through his mind, the endless darkness unnerving him terribly.

'The Twisting Nether...'

'Kel'Thuzad?!' Shining whirled around, his consciousness seeing nothing but darkness in all directions. He was frantically spinning now, looking up to down, left to right. Anything to see at this point was better than nothing...

'Breathe, my king, the anxiety and paranoia will disperse, just a side effect.' Kel'Thuzad droned, his echoing voice hurting Shining's head, the sound reverberating infinitely across the endless black. The lich, rather immaturely, chuckled to himself. The first resurrection is always... awkward.

'A side effect of what?!' Shining's panicked voice echoed, reaching the lich's soul quickly. The lich chuckled lightly, most likely to alleviate the tension of the answer.

'Dying.'

'WHAT?!' Shining shouted, the sound hurting Kel'Thuzad's invisible ears, as he had recently been killed as well. The lich sighed, and replied to his King. 'I'M DEAD?!' the lich grimaced, and shushed him quickly.

'Master, all is well, I will explain everything... But first, you need to calm down, and tell me what you remember, please!'

Shining continued to panic, however. Was he really dead?! How long has it been since he got there?! H... He might never see his angel again...

Kel'Thuzad lightly growled in annoyance, and summoned up what little necromantic powers he had left.

This will be much easier to explain, face-to-face...

Shining's mind sobbing was interrupted by... a light.

A LIGHT?!

'NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO ON! I WANT TO GO BACK! I'M SICK AND TIRED OF ALL OF THIS! I just... I just want things to be the way they used to be...'

He closed his soul's eyes, praying to anything, anyone...

He didn't want to die.

'Calm down, my king!' Kel'Thuzad exclaimed, the stallion appearing before him inside of his personal chambers aboard Naxxramas, inside of his mind. While not the most comfortable, it was compact, and required little energy to retrieve...

"Kel'Thuzad... I... I don't want to be the Lich King! I want to go back to being just a regular old unicorn!" the stallion broke down, his eyes watering immensely before the necromancer's eyes, the mage cringing at his masters... sorrow.

"My king... I... I have not been truthful with you... I am sorry." Kel'Thuzad admitted, the blow to his pride hurting more than anything. He never wished it, it just... it was uncomfortable to talk about, even with someone he trusted completely. His king, while...inexperienced, had one thing that Arthas and Ner'Zhul never had.

Emotions.

He felt sorrow, he felt grief, he felt joy, he felt anger.

But... he forgave.

He had forgiven... a murderer.

A man who had nearly single-handedly wiped the entirety of AZEROTH clean of ANYTHING living.

A man who broke into his old home city, and butchered the inhabitants like pigs.

He had killed his friends, his colleagues, his FAMILY. All for one being.

The Lich King.

And there wasn't a damned thing he could do to stop it.

But, this man... this stallion, had given him... everything. A home. Friends. More compassion than he had ever deserved, and more. Even though he had only been in his company for a little over a month, this stallion had given him his life back...

He deserves the truth...

All of it...

.........

Before his blurred, tear-stained eyes, the world began to change around Shining. He saw...

That tower...

The one part of Kel'Thuzad's... story, that hadn't made sense...

The tower...

He remembered that tower...

From where?

"It's called Karazhan, Shining." the stallion turned his head, to met with the archlich, who floated silently behind him, free of the chains that regularly orbited his skeletal form.

"What... what happened here? Everything is..." Shining hesitated, trying to find the right word.

"Dead. Everything is dead, Shining."

Ah, that's the word.

"What happened?" the stallion looked around for the first time, taking in his surrounding for a moment, scanning the area with his eyes. They sat near a large, crumbled building, one of many next to the tower, maybe housing? To his right and left, rivers flowed around the tower, putrid with rot and decay. To his far left, a small cemetery was atop a small hill, at the base of a cliff...

The crypt...

"You have seen this place before, then?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his voice devoid of emotion. Cold, calculating even. The stallion nodded, his head spinning from nausea, which decided to hit him for a surprise attack, rendering him speechless at the moment. "Deadwind Pass, they call it. Always hated the place, myself..." Kel'Thuzad began. "It was once a wonderful little valley, in an age long forgotten." He continued, floating silently over to a crumbling wooden fence, resting his claw upon one of its posts. "It was all dead, when I first saw it..." he chuckled, turning his head to his king.

"But it didn't stay dead."

In a flash, they were inside it. The crypt. The massive, horrible, terrifying crypt.

The had teleported in on top of bones. THOUSANDS of bones. Shining gagged lightly, his hooves crunching and snapping the frail bones he walked on when he was beckoned by Kel'Thuzad to move towards him, down a narrow corridor.

"No one is quite sure HOW the crypts began, yet there are theories. One, it was an ancient burial ground for Night Elves, sentient humanoid creatures that had made their home somewhat nearby, in a large forest. Another stated that a powerful necromancer butchered and culled every living being that living within the pass, and dumped everything down here when he was done... Another states that the last proper owner of Karazhan, Medivh, Last Guardian of Tirisfal, was driven mad, and he butchered his family, his workers, his followers, and everyone that had lived in the tower..."

Shining, for one, was horrified. Not only did Kel'Thuzad... blatantly talk about such horrible things, he seemed to be somewhat boastful about the way he described it, the stallion getting more and more nervous the further they walked in.

"They were all correct." Kel'Thuzad turned to the stallion, stopping outside a heavily rusted wrought-iron gate. "Shining, I must tell you this. I am a necromancer. A VERY POWERFUL NECROMANCER. When I found this place, and its... inhabitants, I was overjoyed. A saw a new army for the Scourge. A saw a new respite for my FAMILY. I just didn't know just HOW many bodies were buried beneath Karazhan, Shining," the lich... sobbed?

"I resurrected them, Shining. Every single tormented soul inside of the damned, bloody crypt! Nay, the VALLEY! I set them free upon THOUSANDS of innocent lives, SHINING!" yelled the lich, the scenery changing swiftly to a view of... a world? A globe? Yes... a globe.

"Kel'Thuzad... how many did... you... raise?"

.........

"A quarter of a million... at least..."

"I killed them, Shining."

"I killed them ALL."

"Every single living thing... no army could stop THAT many..."

"I killed my homeland."

"And I... I liked it..."

Shining, backing away from the crazed lich, turned to the globe. A single skeletal finger from Kel'Thuzad's hand was pointed at one of the continents. Slowly, the lights from every city, town and village... died. Snuffed out. The continent then quickly turned the dark, dead grey of the pass...

"You... you killed... an entire continent..."

"Kel'Thuzad... I... I..."

.........

The stallion slowly stepped forwards.

He embraced the sobbing lich around the ribcage.

"You are forgiven."

The Alicorn of Death

Celestia was in pain. A LOT of it. The last thing she remembered before blacking out with Twilight crying into her mane, was... cold. So much frigid pain that it made her eyes water just thinking about it...

But...

To be honest...

It was kind of refreshing.

To know that you're not COMPLETELY invincible.

To know that you can still have your flank handed to you, even after a thousand years of experience...

While she definitely got off on the wrong hoof with this stallion, Kel'Thuzad...

Well, rather HE got off on the wrong hoof with HER...

She hoped that she would be able to rectify whatever tainted disagreements between them existed, if any.

After she mopped the floor with his sorry ass, anyway...

She had to uphold her image, after all...

.........

"How are you feeling, Princess?" Twilight said, for the umpteenth time in the last fifteen minutes. Celestia turned her head, painfully.

"Twilight, I don't want to ORDER you to relax. I'm fine, really." Celestia responded, pulling her protégé for a hug. The smaller mare was still... shaken, about what had happened to her brother. Yet, she was relieved when Cadence had told her that he would be back soon, safe and sound.

She had also talked to her about Kel'Thuzad, and his position as their Archmage and Vizier. While Cadence seemed absolutely thrilled to have him, not only as a colleague and protector, but as a very close friend, Celestia still had her doubts and concerns.

While Cadence had told her everything about him, INCLUDING his past, her assurances that he was tricked into performing these absolutely HEINOUS acts she accused him of, and that he had absolutely no intention of repeating his offenses, calmed Celestia. She loved her niece, almost as if she were her own daughter, and her ability to see the good in ponies has always made her envious of the young alicorn.

If he really has changed from... whatever monster he was before he was brought here... and Cadence is willing to let him be her bodyguard, basically... I'm willing to give him a chance to redeem himself...

"Auntie! How are you faring?" Cadence called from the hallway, her muzzle sticking into the guest room were she was currently resting. Celestia sighed.

"I'm fine Cadence, really I am... I just wish your friend would have started asking questions before shooting, is all." Celestia chuckled, her hoof reaching for her tea, which Marrowfrost had been kind enough to make for her, as a gesture of goodwill, on behalf of his master and himself.

"Sorry, Auntie... Kel'Thuzad and Shiny should be back soon. He can formally apologize then! He really is very nice once you get to know him... and get past his appearance..." Cadence sheepishly replied, still obviously embarrassed by her archmage's unprovoked restrainment of the solar goddess.

Oh yeah... she forgot.

He was a necromancer. An UNDEAD necromancer...

His immortality through undeath had unsettled her, seeing as she was naturally immortal, thanks to her alicorn lineage. But, thanks to Shining Armor's pseudo-undeath... she kind of had her hooves tied. While she had never formally OUTLAWED necromancy, it was generally greatly frowned upon, and rather difficult to study without some rather... taboo practices. Robbing graves and resurrecting the dead was not exactly the best first impression...

She had faced her fair share of necromancers, the most recent being a self-styled warlord who had gone to live in the mountains with his 'followers', nearly thirty years ago...

The stallion was a madman, obsessed to the point with death that he had decided to have himself resurrected after his own death, becoming a quite powerful revenant.

It had taken nearly several hours to for her to fight her way to the summit, where the madman was trying to resurrect a dragon. Even after defeating him, she was left with a rather... despicable taste in her mouth.

Necromancy was disgusting...

.........

Realizing that she had been in a rather uncomfortable position for quite a while now, Celestia fluttered her wings lightly, attempting to move slightly to the left, so she could lay down on her side.

"Mmmm..." Twilight groaned, quite obviously uncomfortable now.

Great. She fell asleep.

She loved Twilight. Loved her like a daughter, which she sort of became, once Cadence married Shining Armor (much to the solar alicorn's glee). Seeing her apprentice like this, curled up against her barrel like she did when she was a filly... it made her heart swell. She sighed, accepting her uncomfortable fate, and nuzzled the sleeping unicorn gently upon the head, eliciting a sigh of comfort from the mare.

Celestia was tired, once again. The constant headache her frostbitten horn gave her was very taxing on her energy, and even immortals need sleep...

Sleep...

.........

With a resounding explosion, and a sound of shattering glass, Prince Shining Armor slammed down into existence, a glaze of faint bluish-grey energy clouding from his body for a few moments, before dissipating. The court that was currently in progress was more than startled by their prince's sudden appearance, and even more startled as the intimidating form of Kel'Thuzad materialized behind the stallion, his form exploding from a block of ice with a screech of power and arcane magic.

"SHINING!" Cadence exclaimed, literally catapulting into her husband's outstretched arms, the lich grunting slightly in exertion, attempting to stop his wife's unnatural alicorn strength and speed.

"I'm here, baby, I'm here. I'm back." He chuckled, attempting to gauge his surroundings. The alicorn mare smothering herself against him was distracting to say the least, so he brought muzzle up to his with his hooves, and captured her lips. The mare quivered, and attempted to bring him closer, which he happily complied with.

When his wife started to push harder, and attack his teeth with her tongue however, he backed away, much to the mare's disappointment.

I'd rather not take my wife in front of the entire court... as much as I want to...

"Sire! You... you have wings!"

"What?" Shining turned to the lich, who's eyes were wide. "I do?" his head craned down to look at his back, and he gasped.

HE HAD WINGS!

Very large wings...

Dragon wings...

But still wings...

AWESOME!

"I HAVE WINGS!" Shining exclaimed, his face engulfed in a smile that could kill a lesser creature. He grabbed his wife, who had joyfully thrown herself into his barrel, her eyes watering.

She had her stallion back...

Forever.

Author's Note

If everyone is wondering what the screeches that the liches in this story make when they either transform or reform sounds like, find a clip of one of TESV: Skyrim's Dragon Priests exploding from their coffin. That is the sound they make.

Favorite lich in fantasy: Kel'Thuzad (Mannimarco, The King of Worms, is a VERY close second though)

Favorite lich form: Dragon Priests (THEY SCREAM AWESOME)

(Yes, I made Shining look like a living Invincible with a horn. It seemed logical.)

http://www.warcraftmounts.com/images/skins/wingedhorse.jpg

The Blade of the Damned

"Congratulations, my lord." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his echoing voice breaking the tender moment between husband and wife. The stallion released his mare, and turned to the lich. The crowd of nobles surrounding the couple and vizier had long since started stomping their hooves in applause, their prince reveling in his new status. The prince let his now much smaller wife down from their hug, and turned his bulk towards the Archlich.

"Thank you, Kel'Thuzad." he beamed, his face exploding with joy. The lich chuckled lightly at his master's childlike antics as he embraced his wife once more, the pink alicorn squealing in delight as he lifted her high above him, balancing on two hooves.

As much as I hate to break this up, Frostmourne's appearance is a problem that CANNOT wait...

"My king, I apologize for this interruption, but it is very imperative that we secure the blade..." the lich spoke, his form already floating towards the open doors to the throne room. Meanwhile, the prince had nestled his princess on his back, as the mare was now a little more than half his size. He sighed, and nodded grimly, following his vizier.

"Court is adjourned for the day, go home to your families!" the prince happily exclaimed, nuzzling his wife. He noted the already mostly completed wall on his way out, the prince smiling at the rapid reconstruction.

"My queen, have you... touched the sword?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his pace increasing slightly as he accelerated towards the Royal Bedchamber's large oak doors.

"No, we let it be... better not to mess with something you know nothing about, right?" she chuckled, the alicorn hopping down from her husbands back, stretching her legs. "What is it, anyway?"

Ugh... were to begin...

"It is called Frostmourne, my lady. A terrible, terrible weapon that was wielded by you husband's predecessors." the lich threw open the doors to the chamber, the small form of Marrowfrost galloping up to the mage as he entered. Kel'Thuzad noted the several wards and rune circles surrounding the blade, making a small mental note to praise his advisor for his foresight and intuition in keeping the blade untouched...

"Master, you've returned!" he exclaimed, bowing stiffly to the Archlich and his sovereigns. The lich nodded, waving his claw.

"Yes, yes, we can celebrate later. What of the sword?" the revenant nodded, and turned to the cursed blade, which was till embedded deep in the crystal floor, the tiles ripped up and cracked by the frigid cold that eternally dripped and seethed from the blade of the greatsword. The lich rubbed his chin with a single, long finger.

"I know of no safe way to move the blade..." the Archlich finally said, a rather annoyed tone poisoning his voice. Shining walked up beside the mage, and spoke.

"What was so... dangerous about this blade?" he asked, the brief description that the Archlich had given him a few moments before not sating his curiosity. The lich turned his head, grimacing invisibly at the alicorn's question.

"Frostmourne... was made by demons, to begin with. A very powerful group of demons, known as The Burning Legion. Back on my homeworld, they were constantly scheming to invade our world... the Lich King was one of their 'plans'." Kel'Thuzad turned to the royal couple, his eyes widening as he realized how much taller his master's new form was compared to his wife's. "The original Lich King, Ner'Zhul, was powerful enough at one point to go rogue, and Frostmourne was his weapon." he turned back to the blade, the unholy flames dimly burning within the eye sockets of the metallic ram skull adorning it glimmering off of the admittedly beautiful weapon.

"What was so horrible about it, Kel'Thuzad?" Cadence asked, her form leaning up against her husband, the princess still recovering somewhat from her injuries, her legs rather weak. The lich spoke up from his daze.

"It is a terrible conjoining of necromancy and metal... the perfect killing machine. The first of the runeblades, Frostmourne is said to mold itself to your mind, swinging and cleaving as it's master wishes. It is said to weigh nothing to it's wielder, and hits with the force of a tree to it's enemy..." he turned to his master. "My knowledge of it's properties is limited, however, as wielding it comes at a terrible price..." the lich turned back to the sword, nodding to Marrowfrost to lower the wards around the blade.

The construct nodded, and his hooves glowed white for a moment.

The unholy energy of the sword surged through the room, visibly fluttering the lich's robes, and making Cadence shiver from the cold.

"The blade is molded and bound to the Lich King, and the Lich King alone... anyone else who attempts to use the blade... are lost to it." the lich explained, floating slowly closer towards Frostmourne. "Their souls are trapped within, forever tormented and used to fuel it's unholy energies... every soul making the blade heavier to the opponent, and lighter to the wielder..."

The princess gasped, and whimpered when the ich reached out, willing to test his theory with his recently acquired life...

"Kel'Thuzad, wait!" Shining spoke hurriedly.

The bony contours of the lich's hand made contact with the pommel...

Besides the cold of the blade sizzling as his lukewarm hand touched it, nothing happened.

The lich sighed in relief, and grasped the sword with his claw. With a mighty magic-aided heave, the blade cut cleanly from it's crater, and weighed heavily upon the lich's arm.

"How... you just said... ohhhhhh. Very clever..." Cadence remarked, her smile making the lich's frozen, nonexistent heart swell with pride.

In truth, he was terrified that that wouldn't work. The prince looked back and forth between the lich and his beloved, obviously confused.

"What, how? Someone tell me!" he exclaimed, his voice making his wife giggle at his antics.

"Seeing as I have no soul... I may safely handle the blade... interesting..." the lich inquired, his left claw reaching up to lightly cup the underside of the blade. He kneeled down before his king, and spoke. "Your weapon awaits, my king..."

"Kel'Thuzad, are you sure this is... safe?" he asked, his form protectively shrouding his wife's. Kel'Thuzad chuckled.

"Only the Lich King may wield it, my king. YOU are the Lich King. It bows to your whim..." the lich explained. "Leaving it unclaimed would be a hazard."

The stallion nodded, and summoned up his telekinesis. He lightly grasped the hilt of the sword...

Clairvoyance exploded from his mind.

He could feel the weapon calling out to him, bonding with his body.

He could now visibly see the necromantic cold flowing forth from the blade, flowing through the air before dissipating...

He could feel the blade. He WAS the blade.

He grinned, and lifted it. Effortlessly.

With an exclamation of surprise, the king's eyes closed, flickering lightly. When he opened them, a light blue glow echoed in visible waves from his pupils.

The Archlich grinned.

Shining chuckled, a little darkly, and gently rested the blade over his shoulder...

The Blade of the Damned bowed to him now...

No one else...

HIM.

Author's Note

Whelp, the artist has retrieved his brush!

Rejoice! The King has returned!

Forgiven

Celestia awoke with a start, the sleep still clinging heavily to her eyelids. She raised he head and looked around, the blurry remnants of her nap clouding her vision. It was dark already, the lack of light flowing in from the window signified that...

WAIT, WHAT!?!

In an instant, despite her pain, Celestia rose, her usual serene walk replaced with a small gallop. She threw open the curtains blocking her view of the world with a flash of magic, ignoring the searing lance of pain that shot through her head as her healing horn was used...

"What?" Celestia said aloud, her disbelief well founded.

The moon was out.

More importantly... The sun was down.

"Princess..."

Celestia whirled around to find a half-asleep Twilight, hanging off the edge of the large bed, tangled quite firmly in a snaking pattern of blankets. The princess chuckled, and moved over to the bed. Twilight squirmed at the noise of Celestia's shoeless hooves' soft steps, and went back to slumbering peacefully, the unicorn rolling over once more, towards the center of the bed. She smiled, and gently nuzzled the mare before heading for the door, determined to find who had single-handedly lowered the sun in her absence of sleep. She gently pushed the door open, not bothering to put her regalia or shoes on.

If I'm on vacation, than I might as well be comfortable...

Not that any of the staff or guards would mind, anyway. And even if they did, what could they do? She was the co-ruler of Equestria, and the Princess of the Sun. She could do whatever she damn well pleased!

Chuckling to herself as she walked into the hallway, she squinted from the light, the bright braziers of... blue flame, illuminating the hall in a gentle glow.

Nice touch. Exotic...

"Lady Celestia."

Celestia turned, the familiar voice of Marrowfrost greeting her from behind. The alicorn smiled as she looked upon the stallion, his normal skeletal form mostly obscured by a robe of dark grey and blue, accentuated by bluish crystals hanging here and there. His skull was obscured by a cowl/helmet lined with a dark fur, accentuating his (literally) glowing blue eyes.

I have to say, whoever this Kel'Thuzad is, he certainly has interesting... clothing choices... I approve.

"Good evening, Marrowfrost." she bowed politely, a small smile adorning her muzzle, as always. The stallion followed suit, his movements quick and jerky, but still proper in their execution.

"Good evening, my lady. I was just looking for you, actually. Their highnesses and my master wish your presence in the dining hall, for dinner. I may tell them you are still not well, if you wish..." he clattered, his teeth making unnatural clacking noises as they smacked together at times, despite his best efforts. Celestia nodded, and lifted a hoof.

"Please, lead the way." the stallion nodded, and turned.

.........

As they walked through the halls of the Crystal Palace, the gentle clip-clopping of Marrowfrost's skinless hooves broke the silence constantly, the stallion even barely audibly cursing himself under his breath several times.

The poor thing... I wonder if he has any form of... mind augmentation. I find it hard to believe he wanted... this.

"Marrowfrost, may I ask you a question?" she politely asked, her head turning slightly to look at the revenant. The skeleton's head turned slightly.

"Anything, princess."

"Forgive me for asking, but do you ever... miss... uh..." she stuttered, trying to think of a way to put it nicely...

The stallion cackled a bit, his echoing voice somewhat disturbing Celestia.

"Life?" he asked, an invisible smirk stretched across his muzzle, the high elf chuckling in his mind.

"Y-Yes. I'm sorry I asked..." she said, a scarlet hue moving over her ivory muzzle. The revenant chuckled.

"It's fine, princess. I can understand things from... your point of view." he sighed.

Did he miss life? He couldn't tell. He had been so caught up with writing combat and arming reports aboard Naxxramas for his master that he had... forgotten...

"No... I don't think I do." he finally said, the skeleton clearly uncomfortable, but pushing through the conversation. The alicorn nodded, and spoke up again.

"Another thing." she inquired, her muzzle's scarlet coloring intensifying as she prepared her question mentally.

"Yes?"

"Marrowfrost is not your... real name, is it?" she asked, unsure of herself anymore. The revenant's brief descriptions of his experience with his master in the recent past confusing at best and horrifying at worst. For all she knew, they all had names as foreign as his.

The skeleton stopped in his tracks.

"No. No it is not." he chuckled, his mind racing for the first time in a while. Maybe... he would go by his true name again. Seeing as his new king had all but disbanded the Scourge by releasing his master, maybe...

"My name was... is Lal'theron Dawnspring." the elf's mouth felt... dry, after saying that name. He had not said or heard his name since he was raised into undeath, back when his master still taught at Stratholme. It was an honor to be ascended so quickly, and he had followed his master until the fall of Naxxramas during the invasion of Northrend...

"Well... Lal'theron. May I call you that?" the solar alicorn caught herself. Better not to assume.

Not exactly much easier to pronounce, but nicer, for sure.

"Yes, you may. You outrank me, after all. You may call me 'peasant' and I wouldn't mind." he chuckled, his hooves' clacking silenced by the carpet that led through to the throne room and dining hall.

Celestia laughed, and returned to silence, as they were fast approaching the door. As they stopped in front of the door, the revenant cleared his throat.

"Now, my lady. I have been instructed to introduce you as you walk in. Would you rather me do this, or enter more... casually?"

"Casually, please. I will take responsibility for your disobedience." she smiled.

"Thank you, my lady. You are most kind." he nodded in respect, and opened the door with a burst of white magic. The doors soundlessly drifted open, and Celestia walked into the room, followed by Lal'theron. He quickly closed the door, and promptly ran into the solar alicorn, who had not moved an inch, seemingly stunned by something.

Well. They weren't lying when they said he was... tall.

Celestia's eyes were glued to the seat across from her nephew, were a large figure sat/floated. His form was clearly skeletal, as Cadence had explained, but the sight of him still made Celestia's heart skip a beat. He was currently wearing a robe that hung down from his shoulders, the garments that Rarity had been working on the past few days seemingly completed. They hooked flawlessly into his ornamental pauldrons, and flowed down over his original robes, which were decorated by large sapphires that pulsed with ice and visible cold. The entirety of his form was covered in an aura of cold, and icicles hung down from the large tusks that protruded from his cheeks. His sharp teeth were parting constantly, quite obviously deep in conversation. The long, spindly arms attached to his ribcage were in motion as well, accentuating his story as he told it, the claws adorning them glinting in the gentle glow of the chandelier.

"Auntie! You're awake!" Cadence shouted, gently rushing forward from her seat beside her husband to embrace her foster mother. The solar alicorn replied in kind, embracing the jovial princess against her barrel.

"Come, you must be hungry, there's still plenty of food." Cadence nudged her still somewhat stunned auntie towards the table, where the alicorn sat beside Shining, who seemed... different.

"It is good to finally meet you in a less... hostile environment, princess. I must sincerely apologize for my unprovoked attack." the lich across from her immediately spoke, his claw clasping to his robed chest in a half-bow. The princess nervously chuckled, looking to her relative's for help. Shining answered the call.

"Auntie, this is our Vizier and good friend, Kel'Thuzad." he spoke. "He is... rather remourseful in his attack against you, and hopes that he will be able to correct the grave error in judgment. Celestia nodded, her lips pursed.

"Lord Kel'Thuzad, is it? I am humbled that you are so willing admit your faults and apologize. I accept. Cadence has told much of you, and if you have earned her friendship, you have earned my trust." she smiled. "However, seeing as you blatantly attacked me without warning, and on top of that, assaulted a monarch..." Shining and Cadence's faces turned from overjoyed to confused in a heartbeat, while the lich still listened intently, ready to meet whatever punishment he deserved...

"I challenge you to a friendly duel, once I recover. I must say, I have never met a more precise, polite and efficient mage in my long life. You have my respect. Let us hope this develops into strong friendship over the time we know eachother." the alicorn smiled, and reached forward with a hoof. The lich nodded, his unnatural mouth curling into a rather creepy smile. He reached forward, and gently grasped the princess' hoof, before shaking lightly.

He's... so cold.

"I thank you for your understanding my lady, and hope a quick recovery comes." he finished.

"Auntie..." Cadence spoke.

"Yes dear?" she turned to Cadence, who was now standing... beside... Shining...

"Shining, when did you acquire wings?"

A New Addition

"Shining, when did you acquire wings?"

"Just last night, actually." Shining said, rather matter-of-factly, a prideful smirk adorning his muzzle. Celestia's eyes went wide.

"Auntie, are you okay?" Cadence asked, her face showing concern for her foster mother. She stepped forwards, helping guide a still shocked Celestia to her chair once more, before rejoining her husband, the stallion draping one of his massive wings over the mare, comforting her.

"You... I... okay." Celestia sighed, leaning back. "Are you still... you know..."

"Dead?" Shining asked, his face matching that of his beloved, concerned.

"Yes. Dead." Celestia confirmed. Now that she looked at the stallion... he was FAR different than when she had last seen him. As an alicorn, she was always tall, and was incredibly strong and nimble, betraying the sensual form that her genes bestowed upon her...

Shining's form was... less hide, more show. He was easily taller than her, by a good foot at least. His mane, while still blue and teal, was beginning to dull, a few strands of bone-white hair already showing amongst them, one of the tell-tale signs of necromancy. The stallion's form rippled with muscle, his ascent into alicornhood definitely... improving his physique. Not that he was ever chubby or stocky, he was just more... built. Defined. The wings that adorned his back, however, was what scared her the most.

He had dragon wings, rather than the traditional feather-clad wings her and her sister were blessed with. While intimidating, the real fear behind them was their size. Their wingspan could easily envelop Luna, Cadence, and her, and still have room to stretch, if her quick calculations were correct. Even as he draped his right wing over Cadence, the appendage was still less than half open, Cadence covered comfortably by pale, lightly-furred flesh.

"Undead is a more proper term, my lady." Celestia turned to her right, snapped out of her daze. She saw nothing but the blue lower robes of the lich. She looked up, to be met with the mage's rather... sinister smirk. The lich looked down upon the solar alicorn, mentally preparing a silencing spell... just in case.

She may have my loyalty, being my master's superior... but I am bound to the Lich King... he comes first.

No matter the cost...

"Yes... Cadence did tell me you were... a... necromancer." Celestia said, her gaze traveling to the Lal'theron, who sat motionless at the table across from her, the revenant electing to watch the conversation from afar. The archlich chuckled.

"Yes, I am. If you wish me to explain myself, I can." he grimly replied, a serious look replacing the smirk that recently adorned his nearly expressionless skull. Celestia thought for a moment, pondering what to say. Necromancy wasn't OUTLAWED, but using it to extend life...

"Please, Kel'Thuzad." she smiled politely, her hoof raising to motion to the seat beside her. The lich bowed, before slowly, and rather humorously, lowering his ribcage into the chair.

"Now princess, what would you like to know?" he asked, a scholarly look adorning his face as his eyes dimmed somewhat. Celestia opened her mouth...

Then closed it slowly...

What did she want to know?

"How did you... come to be in the service of my nephew and niece?" Celestia asked, the question catching the archlich, admittedly, off-guard. He recovered quickly, to his credit, and spoke.

"I was... summoned by you nephew, as he had contacted and received his power from..." the lich turned his eyes subtly to his lord, who nodded lightly in agreement, the couple having retaken their seats at the table.

"Death."

"Oh, how is my brother?" Celestia's smile blossomed, happy that her brother had finally chosen to... pass on.

Several jaws dropped, only one of them not doing so.

Kel'Thuzad grinned, his calculations and theories playing out perfectly before him.

I had a feeling they may have been... related. Alicorns all have a driving force, an aspect of nature that they are connected to. His must have been death...

"Y-Y-Your b-brother is D-Death?" Cadence whimpered, the mare scrunching in beside her husband. Celestia chuckled.

"Not by direct blood, I meant brother as a metaphor. All alicorns are related at some point along the chain. Me and Luna are direct sisters. Thanatarius is my cousin by blood." Celestia explained, the shell-shocked alicorns across the table struggling to process the information.

"H-How did he... die?" Shining asked, his breath rushing back into his lungs. Celestia simply laughed.

"Thanatarius never died, he just... moved on. We never fully die." Celestia beamed.

"I... you... what?" Shining sputtered, the scrambled information the solar princess forking his way confusing him greatly.

"Oh... forgive me. I forget we do not teach this in modern schools. Thanatarius is old. VERY old. At least several thousand years my senior." she explained. "It would seem that he is ready to move on!" she squealed, her happiness alien to the beings that cannot understand kinship that spans millennia, and the joy that comes from hearing such news.

"Move... on? But you just said..."

"Not die, Cadence. Just... move on. To the next world. The next life..." she silently prayed for Thanatarius, wherever he was, wishing him a safe journey...

"But wait... if he's moving on..." Shining wondered aloud, finally putting the pieces together.

"He has chosen an alicorn to pass his power down to. You, Shining Armor." Celestia beamed, her heart overjoyed to have another PERMENANT addition to the Royal Family.

"I-I'm the Alicorn of Death?!" Shining exclaimed, raising his hooves to his muzzle, looking down at the lifeless appendages in shock. Celestia giggled, and continued.

"Judgment and Death, Shining. Thanatarius was... the final say. The last pony a questionable soul goes to when they die. The say between the Elysian Fields or Tartarus." Celestia beamed, the morbid task another fact of life to her, but a horrifying reality to Shining.

"B-But I don't want to be Death! I just wanted to stay with Cadence!" he panicked, his heart raising inside his dormant chest. Celestia just laughed once again.

"Oh, Shining, you'll never lose Cadence. Cadence is the Alicorn of Love. She and you have bonded many times before, according to history." she explained, her muzzle adorned with a gentle smile. "Now that you're both immortal, however, you truly never will lose her..."

"Ever."

Cadence beamed, squealing with joy as she hugged her smaller body against the stallion's barrel. Shining chuckled, embracing the mare, his wings wrapping protectively around her.

Kel'Thuzad sat back, all the while thinking. He had never been an overly religious man, but he did believe in some sort of afterlife. Learning that reincarnation is a fact in this... plane of existence, was not surprising. What surprised him were the implications.

If Celestia had known he was to ascend... why would... I must converse with Shining later this evening...

For now, the lich joined the celebration, thinking all the while...

Gathering Shadows

"Sh-she knew..." Shining shook violently, his colossal wings ruffling themselves.

If she did know... and let Cadence and I go through... THIS...

Kel'Thuzad floated nearby, the duo occupying the courtyard of the Crystal Palace, all entrances sealed off by a combination of frozen wards and straight-up walls of ice. The snow that was falling gently did little to faze Shining. According to Kel'Thuzad, he was nearly immune to cold and frost now.

Kel'Thuzad was sympathetic, of course. True immortality was far superior in most ways to the cursed blessing of lichdom...

While he had originally planned on telling his master directly after dinner, he stumbled across his sovereigns'... 'celebration', and decided to wait until the morning...

Morning turned to night, as Celestia's sister had arrived, complicating the scenario. She was skeptical of the Archlich, but was... more open to the idea of necromancy than her sister, seemingly interested in the field...

"My lord... I do not know for sure..." the Archlich began.

"Kel'Thuzad, I want you to take Frostmourne... and take it as far away from this Palace as you can..." Shining growled.

"The less temptation, the better..."

Kel'Thuzad had taught him what limited knowledge he knew of the sword, but the rest was closely guarded by his predecessor. From what they both could quite quickly realize, the Lich King and Shining Armor WERE two separate entities...

Whether they were anymore, remains to be questioned. Since his ascension into Alicornhood, the prince had still yet to experience one of his 'rages'. Kel'Thuzad was quite insistent on him avoiding stress from the night of the transformation, at least until he could study the Helm of Domination further.

Shining was... skeptical about the helmet, to be honest...

Every time he neared, or even walked PAST Kel'Thuzad's chambers, he literally FEEL the Helm calling out to him, begging to be with him...

It was enticing... but he had to wait. Kel'Thuzad had told him that it was likely fragments of the previous Lich King's souls inhabited the Helm, and that they might leap at the chance to have a body again.

As dangerous as it was to leave the Helm unattended... it was necessary.

"My lord, I do not think it is wise to...

"That is an ORDER, Kel'Thuzad..." Shining commanded. He hated being so... stern, with his archmage. He had been through more than Shining can possibly imagine. Any more stress upon him for the time being that could be avoided, would be.

"Yes, master. As you command." Kel'Thuzad bowed, and retrieved Frostmourne, which was impaled cleanly into a solid marble statuette nearby, a remnant of the Prince's rage upon hearing that his Auntie may be hiding quite crucial information from them...

"What of Lady Cadence, my lord?" Kel'Thuzad asked, drawing Bloodsurge from it's sheathe, before cleanly cutting a portal to a remote mountaintop in the distance. Shining looked back at him.

"What of her?" he asked.

"Will she take this well, if it is true?"

"She'll take it better than I will..."

.........

"YOU KNEW?!?!" the Lich King roared, the table's crystalline surface frosting over instantly, the braziers lining the walls of the dining hall extinguishing rapidly afterwards...

The alicorn sisters froze from momentary shock, and the Elements turned to their princesses

"Yes. I did. I will not hide it." Celestia proclaimed. Luna, on the other hand, was shocked to the core.

"Why would you not tell them, sister?!" Luna accused, her muzzle degenerating into a scowl of anger.

"I... I thought it best for them to..." Celestia shivered and stammered, the temperature of the room FAR below what it was when they entered.

"TO WHAT, FIGURE IT OUT ON OUR OWN?" Shining's nostrils flared, the Lich King's presence alarmingly apparent as a frigid wind howled through the large room, knocking plates from the table. "I DIED, CELESTIA! I WILL NEVER BREATHE AGAIN, BECAUSE OF YOU! CADENCE WILL NEVER KNOW MOTHERHOOD BECAUSE OF YOU! he hissed, the amplification of his voice distorting it greatly as the sentence drew on...

"Auntie... why?" Cadence sobbed, her thoughts scrambled and crushed to bits inside her head. The prince, however, roared in fury, launching himself forwards with one powerful beat of his massive wings. He impacted the solar princess square in the chest, the alicorn yelping as she was slammed into the ground behind her chair. A spout of crimson erupted from her mouth, the impact shattering and puncturing her lungs, the ribs surrounding them collapsing like twigs before a hammer...

Luna and Cadence quickly responded, attempting to pry the enraged prince off of their fellow princess. Shining, however, was unresponsive. With a furious snarl, the Lich King brought his right forehoof down upon the Solar Alicorn's muzzle, breaking it with ease, Celestia's once divine visage scarred and collapsed, blood exploding from her nostrils.

Time slowed down, and pain left his system...

All that stayed was fury.

With a battering storm of kicks, stomps, punches, and slams, Shining Armor went to town.

He snapped Celestia's long, spiraling horn like a stale soda cracker when one of his forelegs clipped it...

Celestia sputtered and coughed in agony as he slammed his back legs down upon her hips, smashing the normally unyielding alicorn bones to dust beneath his hooves, the sickening squelching of flesh and bone rending and tearing fueling his rage.

He tore her wings to shreds, the claws adorning his own ripping and carving their way through the soft, yielding flesh, splitting it into flaps of heavily bleeding skin...

In a final roar of utter fury and rage, he brought his forehooves down...

*CRACK*

With a sickening, blood-curdling screech of bone on bone, Celestia's skull caved in, the now lifeless alicorn slumping down, and lying still. Brain matter and bile flowed freely from her shattered head, pooling quickly on the crystal floor...

With a grin, he retracted his hooves, and folded his wings.

The LICH KING laughed, creepily at first, then it quickly morphed into a whirlwind of madness-induced guffawing, the blood of the solar alicorn still dripping from his ivory coat...

.........

Shining jolted upright, Cadence's slumbering from falling off of his barrel, yelping as she impacted the bed.

"Shiny, what's wrong?!" Cadence squealed, before she was crushed by the larger alicorn, his wings wrapping around the couple so tightly that it became difficult to breathe...

"Cadence... I... I... I killed her... I destroyed her..." Shining sobbed, retching horribly as he buried his muzzle in her mane, inhaling the comforting scent of his mate, squeezing her tighter. Cadence squirmed, and responded in kind, wrapping her forehooves around her husband's shaking form, comforting the prince with gentle words and caresses...

"Shiny... shh... I'm here, honey, let it out..." she cooed, ignoring the shortness of breath she was feeling, the male alicorn's embrace much stronger than usual, probably fear-induced...

Whatever nightmare he had had, it could wait...

She needed to calm him down first...

Chasing Shadows

"You're telling me my aunt has a second soul?" Shining asked, taking a swig from a bottle of Spurlin brand Lager, his father's Germanian side clearly showing. Kel'Thuzad nodded.

"Yes, my king. Would you happen to know why?" Kel'Thuzad inquired. Shining thought...

Luna was never one to study... darker magics, seeing as she was still somewhat... tender about Nightmare M...

Wait.

No...

The Elements...

Well...

From what Kel'Thuzad had read, the Elements of Harmony themselves were not ALL about friendship and kindness. They apparently acted as... funnels. Amplifiers.

All ponies had magic within them. Shining had learned that in the second grade. Unicorns were the only pony species capable of openly wielding it, however...

Barring alicorns, of course...

What if... Nightmare Moon DID indeed survive the... rather violent magical purge of Princess Luna's body?

What if that soul WAS Nightmare Moon, waiting to retake Luna and to attempt her coup once more?

.........

"Nightmare Moon." Shining finally spoke, startling the lich, who had been molding a perfectly spherical ball of compacted snow.

.........

Kel'Thuzad thought for a moment...

Yes, he'd heard of this... 'alter ego' of hers, but he had never taken it into much consideration...

According to documents he had found in the Royal Library, (which Cadence had given him UNRESTRICTED access to, much to the lich's joy) Nightmare Moon had been violently ripped from Luna, and banished...

Well, if what I detected within Luna IS Nightmare Moon...

The Elements of Harmony may not be EVERYTHING they are cracked up to be...

He had no doubt that the elements were powerful. Just being near the girls had signified that...

But if they had not FULLY purged Nightmare...

.........

"My king, retire for the evening. Tell Lady Cadence of our conversation, but tell not another living soul. I will handle Celestia." the Archlich turned to his king. Shining nodded. He trusted Kel'Thuzad not to... interrogate Celestia...

He silently hoped anyway...

"Very well... have I nice night, Kel'Thuzad." Shining then got up from the frosted-over bench, retrieved Frostmourne from it's cradle of snow, and with a single, gargantuan flap...

He was at his quarter's balcony already.

Maybe those wings aren't JUST for show after all...

Kel'Thuzad chuckled, and rose from the bench. He cracked his neck violently, sighing as several small strands of ice snapped and collapsed, relieving the pressure and allowing more open movement of his head once more. With a flick of his wrist, Bloodsurge was in his claw, and being swung downwards through the air.

"Maybe her sibling can shed some light upon the subject..." he droned to himself, floating through the bluish-purple portal, the entrance collapsing as the last of his robes flowed through them...

.........

Kel'Thuzad stood in front of the large doors, his claw in a fist and ready to knock. The guardsponies had grown rather used to his... nightmarish appearance at this point, and were quite happy to tell the lich the room that was housing Princess Celestia for the time being.

Kel'Thuzad growled quietly. He wasn't going to go anywhere if he didn't knock.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

.........

Nothing.

With a quick incantation, the lich had eyes on the inside of the room.

It turns out these crystals were quite marvelous at channeling magic, and finding a pathway through the wall for his scrying to enter was relatively easy...

What he saw inside suprised him, to say the very least.

Candles dotted the otherwise dark room, the gentle glow illuminating the crystal walls.

Well... to be frank. Marrowfrost was within, and the solar princess was as well.

Marrowfrost was atop her...

Giving her a massage.

Nope. Not tonight then...

Cancelling the scrying process in record time, the lich rolled his eyes. His assistant certainly had free will, and was capable of... emotions. But he had never expected to have his ward... courting one of his superiors...

"These are the situations that make me wish I could still enjoy a nice brandy..." Kel'Thuzad muttered, floating silently down the hall to his room.

.........

"Does Kel'Thuzad think, or KNOW Nightmare is... here?" Cadence worriedly asked, her small form curled up beside her husband, who's wings were draped over them like a blanket, the sheets lying unused beneath them.

Shining chuckled lightly.

"Cadence, he doesn't KNOW for sure, but if I had to guess, he is already hard at work trying to find a way to find out." he nuzzled his wife gently on the back of her head, gently kissing her mane. He loved when they cuddled like this. He felt... powerful. Protective. He was surrounding her, smothering her, and she loved it. He inhaled deeply, savoring his mare's smooth scent.

"Alright... I just hope Auntie Luna is okay... she's already gone through so much... I’d hate to see her banished again..." Cadence whimpered, nestling herself further under his wing, the loving heat coming from his massive appendage warming her better than any blanket...

Shining nuzzled her again.

"Don't worry about it, Cady. She'll be fine..." the prince was... admittedly not tired, but his angel was falling asleep quickly in his embrace.

And that was good enough for him.

Author's Note

Little short, but the next chapter is going to have a LOT of information in it...

Stop #2: Naxxramas, Construct Quarter

"So Twilight..." Kel'Thuzad began, pacing lightly across his makeshift 'classroom'. "Why would YOU like ME to teach you necromancy?" he asked, dead seriousness poisoning his echoing voice. The mare fidgeted in her seat, the small pile of parchment and notebooks crumbling slightly as the desk shifted.

"I... I would like to learn. For as long as I have remembered, all I've wanted was to learn..." Twilight began. The mare looked to her mentor, who was attending this class at her own request. Celestia smiled, and nodded gently, beckoning her to continue her little speech. "I've always had a passion for magic, no matter the background... illusion was one of my favorites..." she chuckled sheepishly, remembering the time she had manipulated Shining into doing her chores, cleaning her room, and making her dinner while her parents were away.

"Illusion is not easy... how trained are you in it's use?" Kel'Thuzad asked, generally surprised that such an innocent looking mare would delve into dark magics of that caliber.

Perhaps... she is not as innocent as I thought...

"I'm a novice at best, but that's besides the point..." Twilight breathed in once. "Magic itself is not evil. Those who use it choose it's use. Necromancy is as evil as destruction, if used for the wrong purposes." Twilight finished. The lich gawked in invisible shock at the young unicorn. His shocked face quickly turned to a grin...

"Well said, Miss Sparkle." Kel'Thuzad chuckled. "Now... I must warn you. Necromancy is an EXTREMELY controversial magical school, perhaps more so than nethermancy and demonology..."

"Can I trust you to not misuse the knowledge that I bestow upon you?"

.........

Silence.

.........

"Yes, you may." Twilight spoke, finally.

The lich sneered.

"And can I trust you to not judge me for what I show you or do in your company?" Kel'Thuzad inquired. Celestia's head jerked to the right at that question.

"Yes... you may."

"Very well..."

The lich snapped his brittle fingers...

And they teleported.

.........

With a deafening crack of ice, the three beings exploded from an ice block that had formed in the center of Naxxramas. The lich was the first to move, being immune to the impossible chill of the necropolis...

Ah... home.

"K-K-Kel'Thuzad... W-W-Where are we?" Celestia stammered, the shaking alicorn humorously wrapping her and Twilight in a conjured blanket of faux-fur. The lich chuckled.

"Welcome aboard Naxxramas... my base of operations when I served your brother's predecessor, Twilight." the mare, however, was too busy wrapping herself tighter within the solar goddess' embrace. The lich all but smacked himself for his stupidity.

"I apologize for the chill... not many living things ever came aboard my necropolis." Kel'Thuzad paused, and in a simple wave of his arms, the cold dissipated, the frigid chill of Northrend sucked clean from Naxxramas. The mares sighed, and lowered the blanket, which burst into flames upon reaching the ground. The archlich nodded, and turned towards the large opening hall of his citadel.

"Well... were to first?"

.........

The empty rooms of the Construct Quarter echoed with the hoofsteps of the ponies, and the occasional clinking sound of two of the lich's soul chains colliding, before correcting their paths.

"So tell me, Kel'Thuzad." Celestia began. "What did your previous master have you... do here?" she asked, rather uncertain of whether she wanted to hear an answer at all. The lich turned his head to the solar alicorn.

"Build an army." he said simply. With another snap of his fingers, the denizens of his acropolis as he remembered it materialized before them, scouting and guarding the halls of the necropolis. The mares visibly gagged once the putrid smell of undeath hit them.

"Kel'Thuzad, what exactly... are these creatures?" she shivered, walking slowly past a ghoul, who's ribcage was clearly visible behind several small strands of necrotic, decaying flesh.

"My army." he said simply once again. "Do not be alarmed, Princess... no harm will come to you. This is but a memory..." he reassured the goddess, who was quite distracted by the appearance of another ghoul, this one's features were surprisingly intact, beside the fact that his arms were mangled beyond repair, and his eyes were missing, a glow of bluish-yellow emanating from within his otherwise empty sockets...

Twilight, on the other hand, was already scribbling down notes on the constructs, the undead minions of the Scourge interesting her greatly, despite their horrific appearance and smell.

"Kel'Thuzad, what is the process used to... bind the flesh of these... 'soldiers' together?" Twilight politely asked, her quill at the ready to scribble. The lich stopped, and halted a patrolling ghoul, who bowed limply to the archlich.

"Mostly we used simple, long-lasting, heavy duty thread and needle to keep the constructs intact. But, as my resources grew, and my Thuzadin learned more advanced procedures, Naxxramas turned to heavy cauterization and necromantic mending. This kept the subject more agile, as string would limit the turning and twisting of some muscles, hindering movement on a more precise level..." Kel'Thuzad continued his explanation by referencing the tightly woven threads moving across the ghoul's back in a vertical matter, the ghoul's spine probably needing reinforcement at some point along the line...

"What exactly are your... Thuzadin?" Twilight asked, once she was finished examining the ghoul, who muttered something in a raspy voice, then continued on his route around the citadel.

"The Thuzadin were among the finest necromancers at my disposal. They were personally trained by yours truly, and were incredibly efficient in both battle and necromancy. In fact, the vast majority of them taught or studied in Naxxramas." he finished, coming up to the first major room of the Construct Quarter.

"So basically, they were your chief necromancers?" Celestia asked. The lich chuckled, turning his head to the alicorn as he froze a path across the stream of knee-deep plague that flowed in front of them. He shepherded them across the noxious flow, and spoke once they were across.

"No, princess. They were my generals. My commanders. My FRIENDS, even. Most had wanted to learn, same as I had, and were yanked into service as I was... damned by the might of the Lich King." he explained, stopping in front of the large hallway that he knew his Avatar of War would reside in.

"PATCHWERK! YOU MASTER CALLS!"

The room grew silent.

Boom.

Boom. Boom.

Boom. Boom. Boom. BOOM.

"Yes, Master?"

"Twilight, Celestia. Meet Patchwerk, my Avatar of War."

The mares, in short, were terrified of this... 'Patchwerk'. The construct of stinking flesh towered over them, reaching just under Kel'Thuzad's impressive stature. He was abnormally, haphazardly built, sections of flesh tearing away at places to reveal a network of... abnormally placed bones and muscle...

"Master, who is pretty horsies?" Patchwerk asked, a long strand of embalming fluid leaking from his rotting maw...

.........

"Kel'Thuzad, I thought you said that they couldn't see us." Celestia calmly asked, ready to destroy this... this... ABOMINATION, if it threatened her or her daughter-in-law...

"Only the ones that don't have the proper memory or IQ to remember you do... Patchwerk here was one of the first abominations created by the Scourge. I oversaw the construction and molding of him myself, as a matter of fact." the lich explained, gesturing towards the abomination. "Abominations are rather... atypical creatures, taking on whatever stature and figure that their task best suites..." Kel'Thuzad spoke.

"What did... Patchwerk do?" Twilight asked, still somewhat morbidly enthralled by the fascinating layout and build of the construct before them.

"Patchwerk SMASHES!" the abomination spoke, swinging a massive, rusted meat cleaver downwards upon a ghoul that had just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

In short, the ghoul all but EXPLODED from the impact of the knife, and chunks of decaying, rotting flesh and sinew were flung in all directions...

Including at the mares standing in front of the abomination.

Celestia and Twilight squealed as brownish, congealed blood splattered on their coats, the horrifying stink and texture of the substance making Celestia finally keel over and vomit unto the chilled ground. Twilight dropped her quill. She raised her hooves to her face, and screamed bloody murder, running around in circles, desperately scrubbing herself clean with whatever magic her scarred mind could muster...

The lich sighed.

Well... here was a good place to stop for today...

Author's Note

Not the best introduction to the art, Kel'Thuzad...

On the bright side, better to get the unpleasant parts out of the way first...

Patchwerk, patrolling his hall in Naxxramas...
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/wowwiki/images/6/67/Patchwerk.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100221020412

'Questioning'

It was late in the evening. Very late. Almost early, as a matter of fact. Shining Armor was marching his way towards his destination, several scenario's running through his head at once...

All of them ended in either and argument, or a fight.

Shaking his head, he snorted once, and continued on his way. He NEEDED to do this.

Cadence would be too... soft.

Kel'Thuzad would be too pushy and aggressive.

Celestia would likely flat out refuse.

'Knock. Knock. Knock.'

Which left him, naturally.

"Auntie, may I come in?" Shining called, his hoof still raised from his knock upon the massive oak door of the lunar alicorn's suite. A few shifting of covers were heard behind the sturdy obstruction, but nothing else. A few thuds later, his answer arrived.

"Yes... just let me get out of bed..." a grumbled voice sounded from within, much to the prince's delight. Kel'Thuzad had asked him to... 'question' Luna, before he started his first weekly lesson with Twilight. He told him to not DIRECTLY mention Nightmare Moon, but any information WHATSOEVER would be important.

Also, he asked him to carry and conceal... this odd little ice crystal...

He lowered the crystal, and tucked it away beneath the messy contours of his unbrushed mane. Surely Luna wouldn't mind, after all. They were family now, right?

"Shining, you may come in now, I am proper." Luna's commanding voice stated. He tightened the belt pinning Frostmourne to his left flank, and pushed the door open with a 'click'.

Luna was... for lack of a better word, a mess. She looked tired as all hell, and extremely grumpy, from what her eyes showed. They were half-lidded, and slightly glazed over. Her mane was in disarray, the normally elegant strands of ethereal hair sticking out in numerous directions, some of them somewhat drooping towards the floor.

"Auntie? Are you... feeling well?" he asked, cautiously moving towards the alicorn, who's face was obscured partially by her mane. Luna jerked upright, her wings revealing themselves...

She was molting...

Heavily.

Her primaries were all but gone, and the remaining feathers were in a state of disrepair, desperately needing to be preened.

"No, Shining Armor. I'm not." she finally said, a soft... sob, escaping her barely showing muzzle.

Luna was crying.

In an instant, Shining forgot his manners, his mission.

He trotted forwards, and embraced the... cold alicorn.

Her skin was like ice...

"Auntie, what happened?" Shining asked, his hooves wrapping tightly around the shivering alicorn. She just sobbed again, and collapsed forwards.

Unto him.

He yelped in surprise, and attempted to cushion her as best he could, hugging the surprisingly light princess against his barrel. She was wailing at this point, her eyes... dry?

She was crying, but no tears were falling.

"Auntie, please. I need to know what's wrong before I can help more..." he patted the distressed mare on the back, and sat up, slowly. She finally looked up at him.

"Auntie..."

Her eyes were bloodshot. Countless bags layered the distance between them and her cheeks...

She was bleeding lightly from one eye, her tear ducts having run dry long before he entered...

The flesh around her eyes was deathly pale, and swollen...

"Help... me..." she whimpered, collapsing back into his embrace. Shining, for one, was terrified for his aunt. She looked like a frickin' zombie for starters, and she was never one to not understand the importance of sleep...

"She... she won't let me... sleep..." Luna gagged, retching lightly. Shining nodded lightly, taking note for the first time the obscene amounts of whiskey around the room.

She was trying to drink herself to sleep...

"Who, auntie?" he asked, fearful for the inevitable answer...

"Nightmare... please..." she howled in pain. In sorrow.

"Auntie! I'm here! She can't get you..." he cooed, holding her tighter to his chest. She gagged once more, and vomited unto his chest, the fowl substance smelling terribly of alcohol and stomach acid...

"She... she won't let me sleep..." she gasped again, her dry lips cracking her voice terribly...

"Auntie... how long?" he asked, still cradling the princess's weakened body.

"T-Three m-m-months..." she finally sighed in relief, or agony, and collapsed.

Panicking, he picked her up, and carefully propped her between his wings, draping the massive appendages over her shaking form.

KEL'THUZAD!

.........

"Twilight, Celestia. I apologize for the... mess." Kel'Thuzad awkwardly chuckled, the lich closing the portal from Naxxramas behind him as he floated through into his chambers.

"I-It's quite alright, Kel'Thuzad..." Celestia chuckled. "I... I was just... disgusted. Appalled by what this... Scourge did!"

"I apologize for that to, my lady. I will not take you back there..."

"Oh, nonsense. If I've learned anything over my long life, it is to not judge a book by its cover..." Celestia countered, a kind smile draping her muzzle. "I'm sure that while this... Naxxramas, was dangerous and horrifying, we could definitely learn from its sciences... not matter how twisted they are."

The lich smiled, satisfied with her answer.

KEL'THUZAD!

The lich's facial expression changed from happy to concerned almost instantly, the roaring tundra that was his master's telekinetic voice echoing through his head.

Master, what's wrong?! What happened?!

BRING CELESTIA AND TWILIGHT TO THE THRONE ROOM! NOW!

The lich stammered, then replied, his voice dead serious.

At once, my lord.

With a 'swish' of saronite, the blade of Bloodsurge was finished it's path, a large jagged rift opening in its wake.

"Come, we are needed urgently in the throne room." the lich commanded, taking the princess by surprise. She nodded, and hoisted a confused Twilight unto her back before galloping through the rift. The archlich followed swiftly, praying that Nightmare was still within the confines of her host...

.........

"LUNA!" Celestia gasped, moving towards the horrible disarray of feathers and fur that was her younger sister. She registered her voice, a single, glassy eye shooting in her direction.

"S-Sister..." gasped the alicorn, a dry cough echoing through her body.

"Shh... I'm here, baby sister... I'm here..." Celestia craned her swanlike neck downwards, nuzzling the lunar alicorn gently. Her eyes darted towards Cadence, who's muzzle was buried in her sister's mane, her horn ablaze with magic, gently rubbing Luna on her sides.

"What happened?!" she asked, urgently. Shining stepped forwards.

"Nightmare Moon happened, Celestia..." he spoke, his face a bastion of anger and hatred.

Kel'Thuzad, in the meantime, decided to take a closer look at the ailing princess. He scanned her body, searching for the soul that he would ultimately need to remove.

He stumbled upon something... unexpected.

Well, well, well. Clever bitch...

"Master, Nightmare is fusing her soul with Luna's. We will need to act quickly if we wish to save her." he spoke, his claws glowing lightly with blue flame. With a subtle, almost imperceptible flick of his wrist, he suppressed the nerves needed for pain around her body.

If she passes... she deserves... peace...

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY SISTER!" Celestia snarled as she whipped around to face the archlich, a grimace of hatred and rage adorning her face for the first time in nearly two hundred years. Her mane lost it's rainbow hue instantly, and took on a more... primal aspect.

Fire.

Her mane turned into living, breathing, fire.

Her eyes grew orange and red with the blaze, and Shining quickly removed a cowering Twilight from the solar goddess' back with a swift pull from his telekinesis.

"CELESTIA, IF YOU DO NOT MOVE, I WILL SILENCE YOU, AGAIN!" Kel'Thuzad roared, his chains dancing more violently now, prepared to restrain and incapacitate if it came to blows. Celestia snarled once more, and a bolt of white fire shot clean through the archlich, faster than ANYONE could react to.

The royals gasped.

Twilight screamed.

Luna's eyes opened wider, a racking cough exploding from her muzzle, before her eyes shut abruptly.

The archlich chuckled darkly, looking up from the smoldering hole burned straight through his ribcage.

"Wrong..."

"Move."

"Nightmare..."

Clever bitch...

Frostbite and Shadowfire

"A-Auntie..." Cadence whimpered, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes once more. She gazed over the dormant remains of her aunt, and sobbed once, her form hugging her neck as tightly as possible, wishing life back into her...

.........

"I must say, I did not expect so many complications this time around..." Celestia laughed, her voice distorted and amplified. Shining grasped the hilt of Frostmourne, ready to hoist the runeblade into action if the need was desperate. "All of you naïve fools thought that the 'Elements of Harmony' could stop me?!"

Gone was Celestia, her soul suppressed and all but negated by the invading Nightmare Moon. Her unmistakable, booming voice shrouded the hall in darkness, the braziers that lit the room falling to pieces as the baritone of her laughs shook them from the walls with no difficulty whatsoever.

Kel'Thuzad had teleported Twilight and Cadence away during the villain's monologue. The mentally scarred Twilight would be little to no help in a fight against a goddess, let alone the mare she had known as a parent figure her entire life. Cadence would likely try to reason with the demon infesting the solar alicorn, and possibly escalate things further by being possessed herself...

No.

Violence, as much as Cadence would hate him for it, was the only option.

And if that meant ripping Celestia's body limb from limb to purge this demon...

Then so be it...

"Nightmare, I will give you ONE chance. You may leave this world now, PEACEFULLY." Kel'Thuzad boomed.

"Or die."

Nightmare looked to the lich, ignoring the prince for the moment, the stallion still hesitant on attacking one of his aunts, let alone one of his rulers.

"YOU were the most unpredictable obstacle of all, Kel'Thuzad..." she sneered, molten crystal hoofprints left in her wake as she strutted slowly towards the archlich, who's chains reacted violently when she grew close, the brittle edges of the rusted serpents lashing and swirling around Kel'Thuzad's robes, BEGGING to cut open the encroaching threat.

Not yet...

"You single-handedly forced my hoof. Impressive. For that, I will give you a quick death."

The lich nearly laughed at that, but snarled instead, his claws unfurling themselves, an ice bolt ready in one hand and a blizzard ready in the other.

"You thought your silly 'magics' would be enough to suppress the soul of an alicorn?! HA! Not even close..."

"You... have... nothing!"

"If I die, Celestia comes with me. Then Equestria will have NO princesses..."

Kel'Thuzad grinned.

She stepped right on it.

Below the Alicorn of Darkness and Fear, a simple rune crackled with arcane energy. Realizing her mistake, the mare tried to back up...

But it was useless. Arcane energy is far faster than mere organic reaction time. With the arcane tendrils of the rune wrapping around her legs...

There was a snap like a whip...

The three were gone.

Marrowfrost...

I release you from my service.

.........

With an explosion of ice and arcane energy, the lich opened his arsenal upon the alicorn, her form barely into this realm of existence, still fazing in from the teleport rune.

A frostbolt connected with the surprisingly durable skin of the alicorn's side, digging in only several inches. Two of his chains all but enveloped the demon with lashings of frigid and sharp metal, slicing bloody paths through the resilient skin and flesh of the alicorn it inhabited. With a quick muttering of incantations, and a single hand gesture, the air around them froze, a blizzard howling into existence around them for several dozen yards in every direction, forcing Nightmare to stay grounded.

Were she couldn't see a thing...

Using the ice and snow of the blizzard he conjured, Kel'Thuzad froze the forelegs of the dark alicorn to the ground. Nightmare roared in pain, the splintering and popping of ice far too cold for the goddess' body entering her flesh heard throught the field.

With a roar of his own, Kel'Thuzad launched an orb of frost from each hand, the swirling spheres of ice accelerating through the air towards the rooted alicorn, before bursting at the seams with icicles...

HUNDREDS OF THEM.

Nightmare screeched demonically in pain, her wings attempting to shield her face and neck, bloody swathes and holes punctured through the feathers and flesh of the once pristine limbs.

In pure panic and obvious desperation, Nightmare launched a trio of half-formed fireballs, glowing white with heat. The first and second missed the lich by several feet, and the third was intersepted by an incredibly well placed and crafted ward, Kel'Thuzad making a quick mental note to thank his ruler for his help, however small.

Nightmare, continuing to crumple under the vicious onslaught of snow and hail, was once again assaulted by the lich's arsenal, volleys upon volleys of frostbolts leaping from his gesturing hands, the black tinge of rot adorning his spells as his combat instincts leapt into overdrive.

With a muttering by the archlich, and an arcane hum that shook the air, a glaringly bright crack in the earth appeared below Nightmare. With a deafening boom, the skin all around Celestia's possessed body was scorched by shadowfire, the demonic invader roaring and screeching in agony as it's host's body melted before the pressing heat.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the alicorn made her move. With her eyes glowing with fury and malice as she channeled all of her host's and her own might into her horn, she cast her spell.

"ENOUGH!"

In a torrent of flames and shadow, the blizzard around her all but faded, and the lich was hit with a wave of smoldering heat, the gilded ornaments adorning him melting and cracking as he was catapulted across the field at the base of Canterlot mountain.

Kel'Thuzad slammed into a boulder that adorned the field, his right arm fracturing from the blow. He yelped out of instinct, swiftly returning to his full height. As another wave of heat rocketed across the field, the lich threw up a single ward, halting the worst of it in its molten tracks.

"You'll have to be quicker than that, Nightmare..." the Archlich growled, his arms bathing themselves in arcane splinters of frigid ice once more.

Snorting, Nightmare launched a ball of shadowy magic at his form, the archmage retaliating with a flurry of icicles, aimed at the alicorn's wings. Once again, the mage's projectiles hit heir mark, the wickedly sharp missiles ripping into the princess's body.

His massive form barely dodged the shadow bolt, however, the energies burning away some of his kilt's petals. Choosing a more simple approach this time, Kel'Thuzad teleported further away from the alicorn, launching volleys of shadow bolts of his own with both claws as he did.

Instead of attempting to use her host's wings for flight, however, Nightmare charged the lich once more, her feathery aings folded before her, a simple ward protecting their battered surface from major damage.

With a blistering alicorn charging at him, and his prince incapacitated by disbelief, he called upon the one thing he chose this field for. He summoned up the last of his energy, the blizzard and explosion admittedly draining him immensely. He slammed his hands to the ground...

"MINIONS!"

"SERVANTS!"

"SOLDIERS OF THE COLD DARK!"

"OBEY THE CALL OF KEL'THUZAD!"

.........

The ground shook with the power of the arcane wave, the trees and grass in the immediate vicinity all but disintegrating and decaying from the power of the spell.

The winds howled, frigid as the frozen wastes of Northrend.

The alicorn stopped her charge, in wonder of the lich's...

The ground shook...

And they obeyed.

.........

Kel'Thuzad was always interested in warfare. It was one of his favorite studies as a boy, still attending the Institute of Dalaran. When he left Dalaran, and founded the Cult of the Damned, he was given all reports as to what his necromancers and commanders did in the field. He was WRITING that which he loved to read.

One report, however, caught his wandering eye one morning. He squinted, the handwriting sloppy and faded...

'Scourge minions are relatively fragile and easily dismantled by surviving forces of the Nerubian Empire. Increased use of the soldiers that have fallen have given rise to clumsy and fragile minions, until the process reduces our force into naught but piles of necrotic, decaying flesh. A new strategy is needed for continued success.'

Thus, the staging of key battles began. The Scourge would target chapels, cemeteries, crypts, weakly defended villages, and ancient battlefields as holding points or command posts. The already considerable numbers of the Scourge war machine could be safely and reliably replenished with the amount of corpses held within these positions, overwhelming the enemy with sheer numbers and force.

When Kel'Thuzad was released from his bindings, and he stumbled across that bookshelf in his chambers...

One book caught his attention exclusively...

The Battle of The Moon's Fall.

The tipping point of the Solar and Lunar War. The initial defeat of Nightmare Moon. Fought on the field behind the Solar Capitol of Canterlot, the seat of power for Princess Celestia herself.

Solar Forces: 1,768

Lunar Forces: 792

Total Casualties: 2,558

Two survivors...

Kel'Thuzad knew those survivor's identities now...

And those 'casualties' would defend Equestria once again...

UNDER ONE BANNER...

Master... forgive me...

A United Purpose

The ground shook...

The winds howled like banshees, frigid as the cold wastes of Icecrown...

.........

And the soldiers of ancient Equestria obeyed.

With a deafening crack of necromantic energies, the ground cracked and twisted. Warped and collapsed.

Forms skittered from the fissures surrounding Nightmare like rats, obscured by the dark mists of raw, unchecked necromancy. Kel'Thuzad's grin only grew as more than a dozen more of these holes erupted from the ground around him. He cackled maniacally, his lust for necromantic exertion finally appeased as his minions surrounded the stuttering alicorn, their forms broken and twisted from a thousand years of rot and decay. Rusted armor and tattered cloth still hung from their husks, some unicorns still grasping broken spears and swords in their magical hold. Some bore the illustrious symbols of the sun, rounded and protective. Others bore the symbols of the moon, dagger-like and dangerous.

All held HUNGER in their soulless and putrid eyes.

Now, necromancy is a fickle thing. The more time you spend reanimating, the more time you spend open to attack. Likewise, if you spend more time, the stronger the minions or constructs become. This, however, does not include sentiency. If the Scourge were to spend all of their energy on intelligent minions, they wouldn't have had the 'endless' force of darkness that they had deployed. No, in reality, most of the Scourge's foot soldiers and minions were nearly brainless. They required constant instruction and supervision.

The soldiers he resurrected were as such. Brainless.

Bloodthirsty.

RUTHLESS.

With a single, pointed finger, he gestured to the alicorn, who's flaming mane had all but gone out with surprise and cold.

.........

"Kill."

.........

Like a swarm of angry bees...

They exploded forwards from all sides.

Nightmare Moon disappeared beneath a mass of red and black, screams of horror and frenzy issuing from the pile of writhing flesh and bone. Kel'Thuzad threw frostbolts the size of greatswords intermittently into the approximate center of the pile, sneering and snarling like an animal as they tore his minions to frosted chunks of necrotic flesh and bone. He cared not for the safety of his thralls. Necromantic constructs and zombies are tools. Shields. Better them than you.

When you have an army of nearly three-thousand undead, ravenous equines at your command, you can afford a bit of collateral damage. He stopped eventually, and floated backwards.

With a snap of his bony fingers, the roars and sounds of tearing stopped.

.........

"Cease."

.........

The zombies retreated from their blood-pile and clumsily formed up around their master, some literally missing limbs. They cared not for their own safety, or of their comrade's. Much like a feeding frenzy, they rip and tear without remorse.

Whether it be friend or foe. It made no difference to them.

"Are you done, Nightmare?" the lich boomed, floating slowly towards the alicorn, who was bloody beyond recognition, her once vibrant ivory coat scarred and torn with the gore of his constructs and her host. She weakly snarled, attempting to summon up a bit of magic, most likely to retaliate against his advance.

He humored her.

She launched a half-formed firebolt at his chest, which he caught with his hand, the fire sizzling away within his icy grasp. She snorted, spitting a few broken, bloody teeth upon the ground before Kel'Thuzad.

"N-N-Never..." she attempted to stand, the chorus of snarls and growls behind him telling him that his minions were still thirsty for violence. She stood defiantly towards them. The archlich laughed.

"You're all the same..."

"Filthy demons."

Nightmare snarled, her now pointed teeth clacking angrily at the lich's remark.

"You always think that you can one-up EVERYONE." he continued. "Who sent you, I wonder?"

"Kil'Jaeden?"

"Archimonde?"

"SARGERAS himself?" the lich mocked. Nightmare's visage turned from one of anger to one of confusion.

Or none of them... hmm...

"I know not of these... creatures, lich. All I know is that you cant kill me. YOU WON'T." she mocked, her pained strut of a walk up to Kel'Thuzad signifying her cockiness. "You won't repeat your mistakes, will you? Will you send another world into darkness by ending my life, AND Celestia's?!" she spat, her form barely reaching the lich's sternum, much to his amusement.

.........

"Hehehehehehe......"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"

She fell for it AGAIN?!

The alicorn stood upon a rune.

In one spell, Celestia's soul was in his grasp, the terrified goddess' consciousness entering his mind.

Kel'Thuzad! What happened?! Were am I?!

Hush. You are in my grasp. You are free once again. Now please, be silent now as I retake your body.

Nightmare's face went from surprised to pained in an instant, the alicorn's body screaming in demonic agony and horror as her mind... slowed...

She painfully looked down, towards the source of her pain...

Only to see chilled dollops of slush-like blood falling from a gaping hole in her chest, the blade of Frostmourne jutting nearly a foot from her barrel.

.........

"It... It... It's so... cold..."

.........

*Thud*

Celestia's body fell from the blade, lifeless. Shining withdrew the sword as she fell, the runeblade coming out as smoothly as it had entered. Frostmourne screamed and barked at the soul of Nightmare, her mind and consciousness imprisoned inside of the blade of the damned. Shining sighed in horror, Frostmourne clattering noisily to the ground. With a quick incantation, Kel'Thuzad moved the soul of Celestia from his hand to one of his chains, the goddess confused at first, but seemingly understanding her task. The now gentle chain curled slowly, carefully around the still warm corpse. With a small contraction, the body was floating before the lich, who had sliced a clean rift into the throne room, were Marrowfrost had hopefully revived Luna...

"Come, my king. Do not mourn your losses just yet..." Kel'Thuzad turned to the portal, floating slowly through as he did, his minions falling to dust and ash as he did. Shining shook his head, and gathered Frostmourne from the decayed grass nearby, before following his vizier through the portal.

Please let this work...

Author's Note

GOOOOOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! I HAVE RETURNED FROM MY LEAVE! LET THE STORY CONTINUE!!!!

The Crystal Lich

Praise the Sun

With a resounding *SNAP*, a portal exploded into existence next to the Crystal Throne. The ponies surrounding Luna turned their heads, only to gasp in horror when a bloody, lifeless Celestia greeted their sight. Cadence ran into Shining's outstretched hooves, the Lich King dropping the still bloodied Frostmourne to the floor. Kel'Thuzad gingerly floated past them, moving towards the group of guards and physicians surrounding Luna's body. The guards formed up around their fallen princess, the telltale sharpened black and purple armor of the Lunar Guard signifying their allegiance.

Kel'Thuzad stopped short of the group, and the chain inhabited by Celestia laid the corpse before them.

Don't hurt them, please...

Kel'Thuzad snorted at the request of the goddess, but was willing to give them a chance.

"Gentlemen, I admire your... devotion, to your ruler. However, I require her body. Please stand aside..." the lich asked kindly, uncharacteristically. The lead guard stomped his hoof to the ground, cracking it with the force of the blow, and fanned out his wings.

"We would rather DIE than let you touch her, you... FREAK." he spat. Kel'Thuzad bit back a retort.

And a frostbolt.

They're not making it easy...

The Archlich turned to his ruler, who was walking towards the commotion, Cadence under one of his massive wings. Frostmourne was once more pinned to his flank, the blade now curiously dry of blood.

"Captain Mistfang, let him pass." Shining eased. The captain turned to the prince, eyeing up the alicorn before scoffing rudely.

"We do not answer to you, Commander Shining Armor." he hissed. Kel'Thuzad's left middle finger twitched, an urge to rip the disrespecting guards head from his spine restrained. This... PIG, was obviously trying his damnedest to provoke a fight.

He didn't want to pick a fight with an lich.

He REALLY didn't want to pick a fight with an Archlich.

He ESPECIALLY didn't want to pick a fight with an annoyed, stressed, and tired Archlich.

"PRINCE Shining Armor, CAPTAIN." the Lich King hissed. The end of the sentence was punctuated by a deeper, throatier voice. The captain stuttered for several seconds, then sighed. He withdrew from the corpse, uttering a curse under his breath. His men followed suit, bowing to the prince as he used his wings to cradle the Lunar goddess' body before him. The trio marched from the room, making their way down the long halls of the Crystal Palace.

Kel'Thuzad reached out to his former servant, hoping he could still hear his thoughts.

Lal'theron, you may not answer to a necromancer anymore, but I hope you know WHY I released you.

Silence passed for several moments.

Yes... I do...

Meet me in Celestia's chambers.

Kel'Thuzad nodded, and spoke to his king.

"My lord, Marrowfrost will meet us in Princess Celestia's chambers. I suggest we move there. QUICKLY." the archlich boomed, his voice reverberating through the empty hall, Cadence having evacuated the palace shortly before they had returned. Shining nodded, understanding.

"Sure Kel." Shining turned at the corner, and moved towards the large twin master bedrooms that were reserved for the Royal Sisters. They approached the door emblazoned with the sun, and parted the door with magic. Shining handed Luna's emaciated corpse to another of Kel'Thuzad's chains, and turned to the Solar and Lunar guards that followed them.

They looked... terrified. Upset.

He knew Celestia and Luna chose their personal guards for different reasons... but to them, they were family. They likely saw their pseudo-mothers' deaths and mourned genuinely. He... he had to say something. He stood up as tall as he could, cleared his throat, and spoke.

"Soldiers! I know not why you joined the Royal Guard. I know not why you chose this profession. This DUTY. But I can guess..." Shining spoke.

"You wished to help protect our HOME. Our people. Like I did..." Shining's eyes tingled, unable to spout tears because of his... condition, but still able to feel the sensation.

"I know you mourn for our princess' deaths, and I do as well. But if you really wish to help us, find the BEST physicians and doctors you can, and meet us back here." Shining stopped, surveying his brief audience. They seemed... calm. Collected.

"Understood?" he asked, replacing the commanding tone of an officer for that of a friend. A fellow guard.

Family.

.........

"YES SIR!" they shouted, saluting the prince, before galloping off, their hoofsteps echoing away. Shining smiled, and turned inside, closing the door as he went.

.........

"My lady, my king. Please, set them on the blankets before the fire." the skeleton echoed, his voice crackling. The couple nodded to Kel'Thuzad, who as gently as possible set the bodies before the hearth. Kel'Thuzad had been thinking of this part for a LONG time...

It's the only way. Undeath will not suit them...

"Lal'theron, whenever you are ready." the lich spoke. Lal'theron's gaze snapped from Celestia's corpse to the necromancer several seconds later. He nodded.

It was time.

"My lady, my king. Before I was an advisor for Lord Kel'Thuzad, I was a priest. In an age long forgotten, my people prospered outside the limits of Lordaeron, in the beautiful land of Quel'Thalas." the revenant spoke. Shining nodded, Cadence turning her head in confusion.

"A priest of what, Marrow- Lal'theron?" Cadence caught herself.

"A priest of the Sunwell, my lady. In Quel'Thalas, the land was sustained and nurtured by the mystical Sunwell, a font of magical light that healed and blessed those who touched it's divine and holy waters..." the revenant looked down at this point.

"Then the SCOURGE happened..." Lal'theron looked to Kel'Thuzad. "HE happened..."

Cadence and Shining nodded, well aware of Kel'Thuzad's past.

"The Scourge under Ner'Zhul ravaged my homeland, and corrupted the Sunwell forever..." Lal'theron spat. Kel'Thuzad sighed. He might as well explain it, then.

"My lord, when your predecessor resurrected me into lichdom, he did so without the Lich King's influence. A near impossible feat for a Death Knight such as Arthas..." Kel'Thuzad gestured to Lal'theron. "Unless he used... a catalyst." Shining nodded, putting the pieces together in his head, one at a time.

"You... you corrupted the Sunwell?"

"Worse. I absorbed it. Harnessed it. USED IT. While I admit I am thankful for my blessing, I did not wish to corrupt such a pure... force." Kel'Thuzad admitted. He growled, furious with himself once again, and looked to Lal'theron.

"Lal, the day you saw me... you were livid. I remembered the times we had together, hunting Lynxes and Dragonhawks, practicing our magic lessons..." Kel'Thuzad laughed lightly. "I didn't want to... lose you." He sighed.

"Brother..."

.........

"WHAT!?!?!?" Shining and Cadence shouted in unison.

"Yes, Lal'theron is my brother."

"And I KILLED him."

"For my own... SELFISH reasons..."

"I made a mockery of your religion, Lal. I AM a mockery."

"I made YOU a mockery."

"FOR WHAT?!"

“A decade and a half of hollow, sentimental joy?!”

The lich sobbed, openly now. He floated angrily to the corner of the room like a child, and growled.

"Brother... you were not yourself..." Lal'theron began, beginning to come to his senses.

He had to remind himself still, that Kel’Thuzad’s only crime...

Was curiosity...

"BUT I TURNED YOU INTO A MONSTER! A BEING OF DARKNESS!" Kel’Thuzad roared, turning to the small undead stallion.

"I saved YOUR BODY!”

“But... but not your mind..." he sighed angrily, falling slowly to the bed. He hadn't felt grief like this in... ever.

Horrific, painful guilt stabbed his nonexistent heart.

"Brother... now is your time to give back.” Lal’theron spoke, resting his skeletal hoof on his half-brother’s pauldron.

“To... to make amends...”

“Save these... INNOCENT people!" Lal'theron pleaded.

"Let me have the power, Kel."

Kel'Thuzad wondered what it was like to die.

What it would be like to truly, finally die.

To move on to whatever hell he was destined for...

But then, Kel’Thuzad amirked, chuckled lightly for a moment.

He was no stranger to death.

"Alright."

.........

A bright light was all Kel'Thuzad saw.

Then the pain of having your body ripped to shreds assaulted his brain. As the last remnants of the Sunwell's power flowed into the waiting hooves of the priest, his vision dimmed.

.........

"I forgive you, brother."

.........

Darkness.

.........

Author's Note

NOW. Before you all start yapping that I broke the canon of Kel'Thuzad's backstory, he only ever has one up until AFTER the death of Medivh.

His backstory beyond that is fair game.

Life and Death

.........

Clawing.

.........

Tearing.

.........

Biting.

.........

Ripping.

.........

KILLING.

.........

With a jolt, Celestia swung upright, her face contorted in a painful scream.

"NO! PLEASE, NO MORE! NO MORE..." she screamed, begged even. An overwhelmed Cadence hurriedly galloped forwards and wrapped her hooves around her, crying tears of joy to see her foster mother return to the world of the living. Celestia calmed down slowly, perspiration drenching her divine visage. She darted her head to the left and right, only to see her chambers within the Crystal Palace.

Shining was here, smiling as his wife hugged the newly gotten life out of his aunt-in-law.

Luna was awake, barely. Her form was clearly weathered still, but capable of supporting life once more. She lied on her bed, likely resting from her resurrection.

Resurrection...

Oh.

Right. She had died.

Speaking of resurrection, she wanted to thank the one responsible before she collapsed from exhaustion.

........

And pain...

........

Kel'Thuzad was in the corner...

But he looked... different.

Were are his ornaments?

.........

Suddenly, pain.

LOTS OF PAIN.

From her niece's exertions.

"AGH!!!!" Celestia spasmed horrifically, her body reacting with every muscle available. She wound up on the floor, her head ringing from the impact, her eyesight blurry and unfocused...

"CELESTIA!"

Lal'theron...

Lal'theron channeled what little of the Sunwell's powers his brother had sacrificed he had left within him, and aimed it at the hastily cauterized wound adorning his friend's barrel. The wound, surprisingly, reacted violently.

VERY VIOLENTLY.

The alicorn shrieked once again, her Royal Canterlot Voice shattering the windows of the room, and making the occupants wince from the volume. Kel'Thuzad threw up a soundproofing ward around the mare's windpipe quickly, effectively cutting off her obscene volume, but not her oxygen intake.

"Ugh..." Kel'Thuzad groaned. His ears, while non-existent, were quite sensitive to sound. Loud noises and voices annoyed and agitated him.

One of his very few natural weaknesses.

Upon the Sunwell's energy hitting the wound upon Celestia's chest, the wound reopened fiercely, the dark decay of necrosis hinted slightly as the wound expanded. The solar alicorn whimpered now, pain quite obviously abundant in her body at the moment.

"Stop, brother! Frostmourne's wounds are not natural!" Kel'Thuzad boomed, smacking the revenant lightly away from the alicorn, plague magic's coursing through his arms. With a grunt, he attempted to redirect the necrosis to the princess' exterior flesh only.

"KEL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Shining roared, the Lich King's voice booming unnaturally once again. The lich was startled by the noise once again, his diminished power from the loss of the Sunwell's energy causing his weaknesses to become more pronounced. Kel'Thuzad growled, slowing the rapidly expanding patch of decaying, blackened skin that was spreading across Celestia's barrel.

"Keeping the necrosis from reaching her organs, master! I need something to redirect it..."

Kel'Thuzad's now solid blue eyes darted around quickly, finding only the skeletal forms of him and his brother, and the fleshy form of the collapsed Princess Luna.

No. She wouldn't survive...

Shining would never let Cadence do that to herself.

Which left one person.

Er... pony.

"Sire! Place your hoof upon her barrel! I have to redirect the flow!" Kel'Thuzad grunted, his weakened powers straining to hold back the infectious plague that Frostmourne's wound had caused. Shining looked to Kel'Thuzad. Then to Cadence. She was quite obviously terrified. Her entire form quaked, and was being held back by the struggling form of Lal'theron, who was attempting to console her as best he could.

She doesn't deserve to lose her a second time...

A single alabaster hoof placed itself against the crumbling chest of Celestia, the goddess' form quaking with pain...

"DO IT, THEN!" Shining roared, bracing himself for pain...

Kel'Thuzad roared, his fingertips literally starting to disintegrate from the magical overload. Slowly, the plague drifted to it's new host, enveloping Shining's left forehoof in the dark abyss of death and decay. Kel'Thuzad snarled, pushing more power into the channeling process as the rot got closer to Celestia's internal organs.

Well, I'd hate to die again... but I have to.

Kel'Thuzad growled slightly, and started to pour his vast arcane power into the spell. Slowly, his body began to unravel itself, the lich drawing the energy used to construct his magical body for his spell weaving...

Shining was pleasantly surprised that he felt no pain once the necrotic plague of undeath hit his flesh. Just... nothingness. A void of feeling. He looked down to his forehoof, watching the skin and flesh peel away from him, his white bones revealing themselves. He had hoped that the damage would be... minimal, but if it meant saving Celestia, he would gladly have his body stripped clean.

Kel'Thuzad's form was rapidly disintegrating now, the lich's magical body not designed for handling the sheer magnitude and damage of Frostmourne's powers. With a sigh, he felt the plague run dry, the quivering form of Celestia lying still. She was bloody, and had a rather ugly scar along her chest.

But she was alive.

Not many creatures can say they survived a mortal wound from the Blade of the Damned.

As the last of his body unraveled, Kel'Thuzad sighed in relief, shooting what little power he had left towards his king before he entered the void, ready for resurrection.

She... she will live. Keep her... warm...

.........

Darkness.

.........

Shining gasped as the plague dissipated, the ivory bone of his skeleton reveled up into his mid barrel, the top of his right foreleg already rotted away.

But Celestia was alive.

Cadence was happy.

And he felt...

Tired...

The prince collapsed, his bony forelegs clattering as he impacted against the crystal flooring.

Hard Hitting Questions

Celestia gasped in pain, the intake of breath into her lungs stinging like needles in her chest. She blinked, the light unusually blinding and piercing. For a few moments, she was... confused. For one, she wasn't in her room in the Crystal Palace. Rather, she was in a dark... cell?

"Glad to see you finally awake, Celestia..." a voice hissed, distorted heavily from an unknown magic.

Celestia turned quickly, expecting to find somepony, but was unsuccessful. She attempted to speak, only to cough violently, a glob of congealed blood exploding from her maw as she hacked away the pain that burned her lungs. The princess' eyes watered horribly, the pain emanating from her barrel becoming unbearable at this point. But, as soon as the pain started, it stopped, leaving Celestia gasping for breath, the coppery taste of fresh blood still coating her tongue.

"W-Who are you?" Celestia shivered, the unnerving silence annoying and stressing her greatly. The room was empty, save for the four walls that enclosed her. They were made of stone brick, and were etched in symbols she did not recognize.

"Well... that is a question, isn't it?" the voice mocked. "You seem to always think that YOU get to ask the questions..."

"You've sat upon your throne of power for too long, Celestia..." the voice chuckled darkly.

The solar alicorn opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted by another string of coughs, the burning, stabbing pain assaulting her lungs once more, blood speckling the otherwise clean floor with red. Again, the pain ceased, the mare falling to the floor with a 'thud'. She whimpered uncharacteristically, the pain unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She gasped, snarling with rage as she attempted to summon up her magic. With a stabbing sensation, she collapsed once more, a cry of agony flying from her lips.

The pain... nothing could describe the pain...

She had a headache now, too...

"Now... I'm going to ask some questions... you will answer them. Are... we... CLEAR?" the voice boomed, seemingly coming from every direction now. Celestia's head span like a top, both physically and mentally. This voice... whoever or WHATEVER it was, obviously had her in some sort of magical trap or psychosis, her body simply not responding to her command at most points. She would have growled in defiance, but it stopped that, to.

"Yes..." she whimpered, finally.

She had no other choice. She would play this... game.

"Good. Now we are getting along." the voice stated. "Now... the scenario is simple. Answer the questions. TRUTHFULLY. That is all that I ask. Once you are done, you are free to go..." the voice boomed, emotionlessly.

Celestia shivered, the room she sat in unimaginably cold all of a sudden. Her teeth chattered, before she responded.

"What happens if I don't answer truthfully?" she asked.

.........

"PAIN..."

.........

"Let us begin, shall we?"

"Did you know Shining Armor was to ascend to alicornhood. Yes or no will suffice..." the voice asked, unnaturally politely...

.........

"Yes."

.........

"Good. Did you know that he would ascend into lichdom as well?"

.........

"No..."

.........

"Did you send them to fight Sombra, aware of his ascent to this pedestal of necromancy?"

.........

"N..."

PAIN.

She screamed, the pain actually causing her to gag and wretch, her eyes watering horribly from the sensation. After what felt like an eternity of agony, the throbbing ceased, leaving the hardened mare sobbing upon the floor like a filly.

.........

"DON'T LIE TO ME." the voice boomed, quite obviously irritated with her ruse. She snorted, or attempted to, and sat back up, her barrel burning.

"Now, did you send SHINING ARMOR and PRINCESS CADENCE to fight Sombra, aware of his ascent to this pedestal of necromancy?!"

"YES!" she screeched, the pain coming back in echoing waves now...

"Good. Now, how did you know of his condition?"

.........

"L-Luna. She was... Sombra's lover. At one point..." she sobbed, the pain echoing away now, only to inevitably return later. "He... he wanted immortality. To be with her..."

.........

"Good girl. See how we get along when you tell me the truth?" the voice mocked, clearly enjoying this sadistic game.

.........

"Now... WHY did you not tell Shining Armor of his destiny?"

.........

"He... I..."

"CHOOSE YOUR WORDS CAREFULLY, PRINCESS..." the voice growled, the cell she resided rumbling with the volume and baritone.

.........

"I... I am not sure."

.........

Nothing.

.........

"Good." the voice said, simply. Calmly. It was appeased.

.........

"One more question, Celestia..."

.........

"Are you resentful for what suffering your 'games' cost him? What sorrow you bestowed upon Cadence?"

.........

"Yes."

.........

"Good."

.........

"Now, Celestia. You are given one question. Choose it wisely..."

Celestia thought hard on this one...

On one hoof, she would know the perpetrator responsible for assaulting and interrogating a monarch of Equestria, but on the other...

She would know who to fear...

Who to hide from...

.........

"Who are you?"

.........

"Heh... my name..."

"Well... I am known by many. The most pretentious would be the 'God of Death'. The most insulting would be the 'Jailor of the Damned'. The most accurate would be..."

.........

"The Lich King..."

.........

"Sleep tight, Celestia..."

.........

Commander in Chief

Author's Note

This chapter... has some naughty bits. Nothing to deem an M rating, mind you. Still, if this is not your cup of tea, the unnecessary part is at the end, marked by a star.

Sorry it took so long to get out, by the way. Severe writer's block mixed with a headache both yesterday and today killed my spirit.

Commander in Chief

"Shining?"

.........

"Ugh..."

.........

"Shiny..."

"Cadence..."

Prince Shining Armor opened his eyes groggily, the sleep still stuck to his lids as he blinked in his surroundings. The room was that of his room with Cadence, said angel laying across from him on the bed. At his utterance of her name, she lit up with joy, jumping across the bed and embracing him, his lips locking with her own, catching the alicorn off guard. His eyes shot open, attempting to make sense of the situation. But quite quickly that urge for reasoning died as he tasted the saccharine sweetness of his mare's mouth upon his. With a humming growl of approval, Shining flipped the princess over, her smaller frame impacting the mattress with a squeak. She moaned her desire to her stallion, her forelegs folding under her barrel. He gave another growl of playfulness at her position, and attacked the mare's muzzle once more, his hooves caressing her silky mane. He opened his eyes, looking into his princess' violet pools.

"Cadence..." he groaned, the mare looking lovingly up into his eyes, her hind hooves teasing him with their deft movements. Her ministrations fluttered across his belly, tickling the edge of his nethers with her soft hooves. He smiled in approval, leaning in for another kiss as his mare puckered her lips to meet his.

Wait.

W-Was that HIS hoof?!

He shook for a moment, wondering why there was a... skeletal hoof touching his wife.

At first, he though it was just one of his hooves, half-hidden by Cadence's mane.

But then he saw the bones.

Cadence gave up her puckered face, and looked up to see her husband hyperventilating. She reached up with a hoof, and gently stroked his cheek.

"Shiny? Are you okay?" she asked. The stallion looked to his mate, and nodded slowly, the remnants of last night's heroics sinking in.

He... he saved Celestia. He took the plague himself.

"Yah... yah I am." he sputtered, his skeletal hoof reaching up to his face for closer examination. The appendage was a deep, pure ivory in color, devoid of the pink of gore or the brown of rot. Completely clean, similar to Kel'Thuzad's. The bone continued up into his barrel, revealing a previously unnoticed array of bandages and padding across his chest and down his other leg, to the halfway point. Immediately, he exploded with questions.

"What happened?! Is Kel okay?! Is Celestia and Luna okay?!" he blurted out unexpectedly. Cadence sighed. She knew he would freak out, but having a husband more than twice your size pin you to the bed under his sheer weight definitely made it harder to placate him. She reached up again, pulling in his muzzle for another lip lock, silencing the stallion with her love. He resisted for a few moments, then melted, his immense weight all but collapsing on top of her. She groaned in discomfort, and pushed his lips away with magic.

"Shining... can't... breathe..." she wheezed, her face starting to turn a darker shade of pink already. Shining hurriedly sat up, spewing apologies. Cadence took in several deep breaths, her crushed lungs regaining their proper shape as they took in the oxygen. She coughed, and turned to her husband, smiling gently.

"Sorry, Cadence." he chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his fleshy hoof over the back of his neck. She giggled, and reached forward to bring him in for a hug, ignoring the thickly bandaged necrotic flesh of his barrel as it squished against her. He was about to protest her hugging his... injury, but he felt no pain, and she obviously didn't seem to mind. He instead sighed, and wrapped a single wing around her, cradling and shielding her from the world outside.

They could discuss matters later. For now, he just wanted to be with her...

.........

The chilled placidness of Kel'Thuzad's chambers was disturbed by the sudden intrusion of snow, seemingly falling from the ceiling. The room retained its peace for several more seconds, until an unnatural wind decided to whisk the crystals of water into a whirlwind, quickly coalescing into a large crystalline ice block. All the while, the burial urn sitting on the desk throbbed and shook with necromantic power, before finally lying still.

Silence.

Kel'Thuzad smashed out of his icy crystal, the Archlich reforming back into existence with a shrieking howl that more resembled the howling winds of Northrend than an organic being. He turned to the right and left, the familiar surroundings of his chambers within the Crystal Palace appearing before him as the spell finished it's reformation of his body, complete with onyx and gold once more. He looked to his right a bit further, the rune circle surrounding the magically suspended Helm of Domination glowing gently with blue energy. He shook his robes a bit, getting the excess frost and snow off of them, which fell gently to the floor, making a small ring around the lich's suspended form.

His mind turned next to the unexplainable return of his power, questioning the situation. He figured that he was to lose the majority of his power forever when he literally ripped himself apart to give the sizeable amount of the Sunwell's energy to his brother for the resurrection of Celestia and Luna. Turns out, he was wrong.

His ornaments' return was proof of that.

He of course had a theory, as always.

For one, he had always attributed his near impenetrable resistance to the Holy Light as a direct product of his resurrection, but he had never thought that he himself was holy or divine in any way. But, as recent evidence has seemingly stated, he may have more within him than he had originally thought...

Either way, he was glad to be whole again. The lack of his ornaments had left him feeling particularly vulnerable. Naked, even.

He happily stroked the manacle of frosted saronite and cobalt that surrounded his left wrist, and reached for Bloodsurge, the blade happily crying out at it's master's magical hold, the blade's runes shining brighter than normal.

Lady Cadence had likely put it in here after his "death".

He smiled, carving a simple portal to the palace library.

With a snap, the lich floated into the expansive room, the receptionist startled slightly at his appearance. She recovered quickly, of course, having seen the lich many times before. While he was... terrifying to look at, he really meant no harm, and was interested in Equestrian literature.

And that was good enough for her.

"Ah, Lord Kel'Thuzad. How pleasant it is to see you this morning." Sapphire Scribble greeted, gently curtsying to the lich as he closed the portal to his room behind him. The lich smiled to the best of his ability, and bowed low to the mare, his chains clanking and clinking as they protested the lich's stature.

"The pleasure is mine, Miss Sapphire." he greeted. The mare blushed, and talked once more.

"You flatter me. Do you have a book in mind, sir?"

The lich stopped midway through opening his mouth.

What did he want...

Ahh... yes.

"Anything on the Equestrian Monarchy, please." Kel'Thuzad requested. The mare nodded, and turned to the extensive hallway that was cut through the center of the library.

"Third hallway on the left, sir. Four sections down." the mare smiled, and pointed her hoof to the hallway in question. The lich nodded, and floated past Sapphire, the crystal pony shivering lightly as the cold emanating from his robes brushed against her. Kel'Thuzad looked extensively down the aisle, his undead eyes darting across the many books, lined up in perfect unison. His gaze caught a single book, slightly leaning to the side, contrary to its brethren. As he reached for the book, he stopped to look at it's title.

Perfect.

Equestrian Royalty Volume I: Revised for Modern Ages

The lich grasped the book in a soul chain, and sliced a portal to his room, eager to begin his... study.

.........

"Oh damn it all! Not a single DAMN sentence on royal succession... Or MALE alicorns, for that matter!" Kel'Thuzad growled, slamming the book with a 'whump'. He threw the book to his unused bed, the tome bouncing slightly on the frosted, slightly petrified covers. The archlich sighed, slumping backwards into the armchair of ice and crystal he had fashioned himself in his spare time.

Not having to sleep, as it turns out, can be VERY boring...

I wonder if Thanatarius predates recorded history... perhaps Celestia would know...

The lich's teeth cracked together in anger at the solar alicorn's mere memory. How could that... BITCH, do this to his master? To her OWN DAUGHTER!? If she weren't as stupid and superstitious as she is, his king would still be amongst the living! Lady Cadence was DEVESTATED when she was informed of her husband's infertility! The lich paused to chuckle.

She was angry enough to overpower one of MY wards. Now that... that was impressive.

Sighing, Kel'Thuzad turned to the side, his skull looking out over the light snow that was falling on the Crystal Empire, the sun having set several hours ago.

Shining was her prime protector. An advisor that should have been treated as FAMILY. Not to mention his betrothal to Cadence!

The lich snarled, launching a frostbolt infused with shadow at the opposite wall, the projectile digging into the wall several inches before fizzling out, and halting itself in the crystal.

.........

Wait...

The lich whirled around, a soul chain already holding the tome before him once again. He grasped the book in a single claw, and whisked through the pages faster than the eye could see. He stopped at a page.

In the event that both Celestial Princesses are unable to perform their active duties, the position would fall to Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire to take up the throne of Equestria. If she is rendered incapable as well, the position falls to...

The lich cackled lightly.

The Supreme Commander of the Royal Guard.

Well... time for a change in leadership then...

In a single move, the lich was up from his chair, and lowering the frozen ward over his doorway.

With his claws.

With a snarl of pent-up rage and anger, Kel'Thuzad exploded into view from the outer hall. A maid nearby shrieked in fear, and the two guards opposite the door to his sovereign's chambers yelped in surprise, several shards of frozen water smashing into the walls around them.

"Step aside, lads. I have urgent news for the king!" Kel'Thuzad floated forwards, intent on wrenching the door from it's hinges if need be. To their credit, the guards crossed their halberds in front of the lich's path, barring his entrance.

"I am sorry sir, but their highnesses asked to not be disturbed at the moment..." the guard on the left said, quivering lightly. Kel'Thuzad's skull turned nearly ninety degrees to the left, and a low chuckle echoed from his throat.

"Gentlemen. While I have the deepest respect for both you, and your jobs, if you do not move from the door this instant..."

"I will RIP the souls from your frozen HUSKS!"

With a dull thud, the right guard fell to the crystal floor, his halberd clattering to the ground beside him. The left guard quickly and jerkily bowed, and leaped away from the door, dragging his comrade with him. With a smirk, the lich burst into the room.

* ......... *

Well...

Shining was here...

So was Cadence...

The bed shook violently, the pink mare nearly buried out of view beneath the lurching form of his master, who's wings were flared to their near full extent.

"Um..."

"KEL'THUZAD!?!" Shining yelped, his wings falling to cover his beloved.

"I... I'll come back later..."

The lich hurriedly slammed the door on the awkward scene, turning back to his room.

"So, what were they doing?" the guard asked, still sitting next to his fallen companion. The archlich slowly turned to the crystal pony, an invisible blush adorning his skull.

"They were... BUSY..."

Power

"So, you're telling me that I am in charge of Equestria?!" Shining exclaimed, the alicorn having visited Kel'Thuzad after his... session with Cadence. The lich nods, still a bit shell-shocked from entering during his masters' intimate moment. Shining had assured him that no harm was done, but Kel'Thuzad was... hesitant to comment on it.

"Yes, my king. By Equestrian law, you are the ruler of Equestrian Empire for the time being." Kel'Thuzad proclaimed. "By law, a prince or princess must take over the throne in cases such as this. However... seeing as you are both the Supreme Commander of the Royal Guard, AND an ALICORN prince... you are directly in charge." Kel'Thuzad's skull turned to a grin at this point.

Hopefully he seizes this opportunity fate has given him...

"I... I... wait. Equestria is an imperial state?" Shining asked, never having heard his homeland be called such an archaic term. The lich nodded and explained, a glass of lager appearing before Shining's form, the bubbles still leaping from it.

"It wasn't one until about three years ago, my king. You of all people... ponies... should know that..." Kel'Thuzad cursed himself, the subtle changes in speech between Equestrian and Common still annoying him at times. Shining took a rather large swig of the throat-burning alcohol, and coughed lightly. As he thought, his archmage waited patiently, thinking as well.

Suddenly, it dawned on the stallion.

"The Crystal Empire." Shining said slowly. Kel'Thuzad looked to his master, and nodded.

"More like the Crystal Colony, in actuality." Shining stuttered at this comment, about to retort.

But he stopped himself short, realizing the truth. They WERE a colony. A free, happy colony, yes.

But a colony. Of Equestria.

"So... what now?" Shining said, nodding once more in understanding of his predicament. Kel'Thuzad looked to his king, somewhat caught off-guard by the question.

"My king... I cannot tell you how to run an empire. But I can offer some advice..." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his hand waving once to summon a sizeable quill and parchment. If his king wanted decrees written immediately, of course.

"I... what would you do?" Shining turned to his friend, fear and anxiety evident in his voice.

The boy is scared...

"Master..."

"Shining. Please call me Shining. And don't make me order that." the stallion smirked at the last bit. The lich looked to the stallion with wide eyes, before coughing once to clear his throat.

"Very well... Shining. If I were you, I would start by rewriting a few things in Equestria's laws." the lich stated. Shining nodded lightly, taking another warming sip of chilled lager.

"Like what?"

"For starters, outlaw necromantic study and practice by the public." Shining was about to argue his point, seeing as the lich had already started his lessons with Twilight, but he stopped himself. After seeing what a skilled necromancer can do at Canterlot field...

Perhaps that knowledge is best left to those who know how to use it responsibly and properly...

"Done. What else?" Shining asked, making up his mind at last. Kel'Thuzad nodded, waving his claw once, setting the quill in motion on it's own.

"Secondly, I would attempt to at least partially solidify your and Cadence's claims as prince and princess. Take irreversible control of an aspect of the empire. Celestia and Luna may mean well, but they have a bit of a... superiority complex. They will most likely attempt to reverse your changes, or bully you into agreeing with them." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his voice without regard for the princesses' input, thinking specifically for the time being.

.........

Like it or not, Kel'Thuzad was right. While they may give off the gentle and kind ruler vibes, Celestia and Luna were old. VERY OLD. A few hundred years Kel'Thuzad's senior, easy. They had a lot more experience running a country, and most likely did not trust him and Cadence fully...

.........

"Very well." Shining finally said. "I will assume supreme command of the Equestrian Military, even if it is currently only consistent of a few hundred stallions. I will speak with Cadence tomorrow morning, and arrange for her to become the head of a part of the empire."

"Very good, sir." Kel'Thuzad waved again, the quill scribbling down his thoughts magically.

"Also, I want to make the Crystal Empire the second capitol of Equestria."

.........

Ambitious... I like it.

The lich grinned lightly, the quill writing down several more jots of ink before bursting into arcane flames, leaving the finished parchment floating before him.

Henceforth, Crown Prince Shining Armor will assume full control over the Equestrian Empire until Princess Luna and Celestia's extensive wounds are healed, and their spirits rejuvenated to the point at which they may retake their thrones.

As a first decree, Prince Shining Armor has stated that the public use and study of the magical conjuration school of necromancy be outlawed utterly and completely, the only exceptions being observed or approved by Prince Shining Armor himself.

As a second decree, Prince Shining Armor will assume full command of the Equestrian Armed Forces, both at home and abroad. This decree will be irreversible by any future decree, and will be held even after Princess Luna and Celestia's return to power. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza will assume a title and role as well, when she and her spouse have chosen one.

As a third and final immediate decree, the Crystal Empire shall hereby be considered a second Capitol of the Empire of Equestria. Prince Shining Armor and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza will be considered the co-rulers of Equestria once the Celestial Sister's retake their thrones.

Regards, Royal Archmage and Vizier of the Crystal Court,

Kel'Thuzad

Author's Note

Sorry its so short again, but I wanted to get something out for the story, seeing as I have been absolutely swamped with Christmas this and Christmas that! Expect the next chapter to be of the newer length of 2,000+ words.

Anyways, Happy Holidays.

Stop #3: Raising of the Frost Queen

The archlich was tired.

Very tired.

Kel'Thuzad sighed, cracking the vertebrae of his neck with several loud pops, the stress on the magical bonds between the bones melting away as he did.

If I have to restrain myself that often in court, I may have to find a way to suppress my anger...

Maybe I can find a way to mimic qualities of my lesser brethren's... passiveness. For a small amount of time, of course. I rather enjoy being able to think and feel emotion...

The mage thought back to the accusing, provoking comments of the unicorn that had scolded his queen. Fire Fight, his name was, if his memory served him...

Ah... I stole his position as archmage...

Not that the comments were pointed at Lady Cadence in particular, mind you. These hateful words were directed entirely at his king, and to some extent, him. The pompous rat had insulted his prince's decisions of converting the Crystal Empire into another capital of Equestria. Mostly for reasons of territory and tax complications.

Greedy bastards are all the same...

Of course the noble chose the day AFTER his master had left for Canterlot to address his temporary citizens...

"If he chooses to prey upon Princess Cadence like an animal, then I shall treat him as an animal if he continues..." the lich growled to himself, approaching his room.

When he reached to his chambers, Kel'Thuzad was perplexed to find a magically singed hole in the icy "door" to his room. His quickly returned anger flared through him, his claws clacking slightly as their bony fingers crossed paths. His chains sliced cleanly though the obstructing remains of his barricade, sending shards of razor-sharp ice and frost in all directions.

IF THIS... PIG, IS IN MY CHAMBERS... I CARE NOT THE CONSEQUENCES...

He...

Will...

BURN...

Kel'Thuzad snarled, blasting his way through the last of the icy ward, before his chains flung ice in all directions, creating a fine mist of frost to make him appear more ominous...

He had an appearance to keep...

The lich's eyes darted through the room, only to find something that he had hoped his master would have dealt with first.

Twilight Sparkle.

The mare was currently oblivious to the mage's violent entry, skimming through a worn tome of a book as a cup of tea floated in her magical grip. Twilight was plopped down upon the paralyzed covers of his bed, and from a quick once-over by the mage, she some sort of ward surrounding her. She turned to the lich as she heard him sigh, watching his anger dissipate quickly, his flailing death-circles of brittle metal returning to their usual gentle rhythm of movement, flowing slowly over calm currents of icy cold.

Now... how to go about this...

Twilight was supposed to have gone home with her friends yesterday. AFTER she saw Princess Celestia. Shining had not told him of what she had said, but he had a few guesses on her feelings towards him now...

"Twilight... I'm sorry." is all that issued forth from the maw of the lich, his arms falling almost limply to his sides. His eyes dimmed, an indication that he had closed them, and he hung his head to the mare.

.........

He heard nothing but the shuffling of fur against frosted blankets for a few moments, but then heard the soft clacking of hooves on crystal flooring. They approached him, and the lich braced himself.

Whatever she did to him... he could take it.

Even if it means dying AGAIN...

.........

A light feeling of pressure surrounded Kel'Thuzad's ribcage, and the lich curiously opened his eyes.

.........

"Thank you..." Twilight whispered, the unicorn hugging tighter to the frigid ribcage of the lich, her emotional tears of happiness stinging her eyes as they partially solidified on their way out.

The lich sputtered for a few moments, wondering why he was receiving such affection from a mare who's second mother was all but MURDERED by him.

"Twilight... why? I killed her!" he gawked, the unicorn only increasing her strong hold over his bones, the ivory ribs creaking lightly from the her contact as they grinded against eachother.

"Because you saved her..." she sobbed happily, shivering lightly before somehow hugging even tighter, the pressure now starting to become uncomfortable to even the lich. "You didn't kill her... you killed Nightmare." Twilight said, pulling away from him, her fur partially solidified by the cold of his bones.

"But I DESTROYED her body!" he argued, hardly believing that a mare that close to Celestia would just forgive him for his atrocities this easily. Pelting her with frostbolts that could have obliterated lesser creatures, engulfing her in a blizzard that ripped frozen flesh from her body, swarming her with her undead former subjects, all before tricking her into getting impaled on Frostmourne, which almost ate her entire torso away afterwards!?!

Who forgives THAT?!

"But you saved her. And I am thankful for that." Twilight smiled, and came in for another hug. The lich didn't resist, but this time he at least warmed his bones into the upper forties, so the mare didn't freeze to death. The mare visibly relaxed as the enchantment ran through him, her fur slowly going down from it's raised state.

"Twilight... I... you... you're welcome." he finally said, giving up for the moment, before embracing the unicorn back, hugging her smaller frame to his gargantuan form. He smiled lightly, the lich feeling a sense of relief flooding his nonexistent veins.

Well... that went better than expected. It still doesn't fully answer why she is here, though...

"Twilight, why didn't you go home with your friends?" he asked softly, his form still enveloping the unicorn, who pulled away slowly at his question's utterance.

"I didn't want to miss our lesson! As disgusting- I mean, enlightening Naxxramas was, I would like to learn a little more about your worlds... practices." she sheepishly smiled, her forehooves crossing before her in an awkward stance. The lich frowned.

It is two days after our first lesson, isn't it?

"I... are you sure? Naxxramas has a lot more to show than just the Construct Quarter, Twilight." the lich argued, not wanting to move on from his old home's halls just yet.

"Yes, I'm sure it does, but can we perhaps... go somewhere else today?" she smiled, giving her a dreadful case of puppy dog eyes...

.........

Good thing he hated dogs.

Still, he didn't want to scare off his first apprentice in nearly a millennia, so a change of scenery wouldn't kill him for today. The little display with Patchwerk was... embarrassing, to say the least.

.........

"Very well, Twilight. I will give you one day of freedom. What do you wish to learn or observe? My mind and memories are at your command..." he snickered, mock bowing to the mare, who visibly relaxed at his answer, her body growing lax. She sighed, and thought.

"Can we see something... big?"

.........

"Elaborate, please." the lich asked, intrigued by her vague question.

"I mean something... powerful. A necromantic miracle! Something that dwarves the basics!" she asked. The lich rubbed his chin lightly with the sharp tip of a single finger, his memories flooding through his empty head like a wave of water.

The Wrathgate? No, to much death, not enough resurrection...

The first Fall of Naxxramas? No... I don't want her to see that.

Yet...

The Battle for Light's Hope CHapel?

No...

.........

Ah... the crown jewel of the Scourge...

Perfect...

With a move that startled the unicorn, who had gone back to reading her book in the meantime, Kel'Thuzad drew Bloodsurge, before slicing a straight path through the air before him, a whitish-grey portal exploding from the slash. The mare closed her book, and looked to him. The lich smiled, and gestured with both hands to the gateway. She gulped, nervous about being in another of his... memories.

She quickly shrugged it off with a stomp and a snort. She was the bearer of the Element of MAGIC. What good would that title be if she didn't know ALL types of magic? She gently trotted through the portal, the lich following her through the slash in reality quickly. As the last of his blue frostweave robes flowed through the gash, it collapsed with a sound of shattering glass, startling the mare.

.........

COLD.

VERY COLD...

Twilight shivered from the frigid, dry air of Icecrown, her fur not designed for the sub-zero temperatures of the glacier. Kel'Thuzad quickly conjured her up a cup of steaming honeymint tea, and a magically heated blanket, choosing a more natural remedy than a regulation ward for once. The mare nodded quickly in thanks, before being startled once more by the loud sound of crunching ice, immediately to her left.

.........

She looked up.

And up.

There stood a human that came halfway up Kel'Thuzad's frame, reaching up to his waist in height. The man did not breath, and his form stood stock-still, concealed by a set of armor unlike any Twilight had ever seen. It was near jet black in color, and covered in skulls and runes, all plated or etched in the mysterious metal. From the man's back, a long, ragged cloak of linen blew in the winds of the glacier, flapping silently. The man's face was almost completely obscured by...

The helmet!

She had seen that helmet before!

It was the Helm of... Domination?

This must be her brother's predecessor! The previous Lich King!

The man took another heavy step, his boots crushing any resistance out of the snow and ice beneath them with loud crunches.

"Kel'Thuzad, is that..." Twilight began, before he finished her thought.

"Arthas Menethil... The Lich King..." he grimaced.

Arthas traveled slowly, methodically past the duo, down to the edge of a sheer cliff nearby, emotionless. Twilight blinked lightly every few seconds, the constant snowfall of Icecrown crowding her eyelashes with white. The lich noticed this out of the corner of his vision, and teleported them closer to his former master with a snap of arcane energy, the mare yelping in surprise. She frowned up at the archlich, before looking back to Arthas.

The man slowly kneeled down, brushing away a thick layer of white snow with his bare hand. He gazed into the frozen ice beneath, as if... looking for something...

Arthas slowly rubbed the last of the snow to water between his fingers, and stood slowly.

"Kel'Thuzad, how does this..."

"Shush, child. Watch a master at work." the lich scolded quietly, anticipating the coming of the events he recalled so well. With a grinding of worn leather on metal, the man drew... Frostmourne from his cloak...

He gazed into the eyes of the ram head that adorned it, as if... fighting. Debating.

With a snap like a whip, the sword was level with the ground, the unholy strength of it's master holding it without waver. Twilight watched in amazement as the snow... changed direction. In a display of peaceful buildup, the gentle snowflakes swirled around the Lich King, almost framing him with their patterns of travel.

All to late, Twilight noticed something...

They weren't circling him.

They were circling the sword.

One by one, the snowflakes fused into the blade, bursts of dark blue magic echoing across it's surface, the runes etched in it glowing with necromantic power as they awaited their master's command. With a barely perceptible smirk, the Lich King slowly drew the sword down, the blizzard stopped, drained completely. Twilight was about to object to the mundane spectacle, expecting something... exciting.

In a move that took the mare by surprise, the man thrust the blade of the damned into the ice beneath him, an echoing smash of wind and ice almost rippling throught the glacier as the ground... shook? With a whisk of frigid wind that bit through the thick blanket over her body like a scythe through wheat, the snow surrounding Arthas blew away in all directions.

With another snap, They were atop a nearby rock, further away from the site.

Twilight stared in disbelief as the ice... broke. As if something was... breaking free? With a rippling smash, a claw the size of the Ponyville library exploded from the ice, before crashing down unto the ice nearby, chunks of frigid snow flying in all directions. With wide eyes, Twilight watched a massive form lurch free of the ice, growing with each passing second. Bones the size of trees hung from the construct's body, strips of preserved, decayed flesh strung in between a few like macabre works of art.

Twilight yelped as the ice near the rock exploded with movement, a massive protrusion smashing it's way to the surface of the frozen plane with an audible echo. A massive tail, nearly as long as some of the larger of Canterlot Castle's towers exploded past them, raining small chunks of ice and snow upon them.

Twilight barely noticed.

The form lumbered towards the cliff edge, tearing the rest of it’s gargantuan body free from the ice. It’s massive talons dug deep into the crumbling face of the glacier, tremors running through the millennia old ice. With a low, unimaginably chilling growl, the behemoth stretched a wingspan the size of Ponyville. The beast stood still for a moment, before leaping off the edge, it's decayed wings lifting it into the sky with several gargantuan flaps of necromantic power. In a flash, the pair was on the cliff edge.

.........

"How... how many..."

Kel'Thuzad smirked.

With a deafening, blood-curdling roar that shook the glacier violently, the dragon’s maw lit up with a blinding surge of necromantic power. Twilight covered her ears as a wave of sickly blue light erupted from the undead army below, the sea of necrotic flesh and decaying bone roaring to life with necromantic energies.

Twilight's flank plopped down into the snow.

Well, she wanted something... big.

Author's Note

I'M BACK FROM VACATION, FINALLY! I absolutely hated being away for so long, but my Pocono house had no internet yet, so I was forced to use my phone, which barely had enough connection to watch YouTube!

Either way, on with the show!

Sindragosa, Queen of the Frostbrood:

http://media.blizzard.com/wow/media/artwork/wow-wrath/cin-03-full.jpg

The First Judgement

Shining Armor's wings threw up dust from several feet away as he landed on the balcony to the guest room he was residing in. He folded the massive appendages to his sides, and adjusted the steel spiked circlet atop his head, the ornament annoying him terribly. He was goaded into wearing the crown upon his attendance of court today, much to his annoyance.

He preferred helmets, but a crown was more 'princely', according to Cadence...

Well, once the Helm of Domination is 'purified', maybe I can convince her to let me wear that...

As he trotted towards the drink cooler in the corner of the room, he took notice of the small pile of paperwork atop the desk as he passed it.

Dear goddesses I need a drink...

As he poured his lager, he looked to the right, his eyes darting around the familiar surroundings and furnishings of Canterlot Castle. He had spent his life trying to join the Royal Guard... now he was the leader of the entirety of the Equestrian military...

"Heh, not bad." he joked to himself. A sensation of wetness overtook his fleshy hoof, the alicorn's head spinning to the cup. "Damn it." he cursed his stupidity, the beer having long overfilled the rather small cup. As he reached out for a few paper towels from the bathroom, he stopped himself.

I wonder...

If you're dead...

His eyes narrowed in concentration, the liquid and cup all but disintegrating before billowing away in a burst of arcane fire and wind. The Lich King turned and trotted to the desk, taking the entire bottle of lager with him. As his massive form sat behind the humorously small table, he took a half-gallon swig of lager, two-thirds of the bottle disappearing down his gullet. He shook his head, the burning cold of the alcohol refreshing him greatly. Setting the cool bottle down on a coaster, he looked to the first order of business.

.........

Suddenly, Shining Armor felt... a presence. A sense of being watched...

"Hello?" Shining asked, his head scanning the room. As he turned further to the right, the room slowly grew... darker.

"H-Hello?!" a mare's terrified voice echoed through the room, startling Shining. He yelped lightly, the bottle smashing into the hardwood floor with a crash of liquid and glass. A mare's glowing blue form appeared before him, the pony sobbing horribly...

"HELLO?!" the mare called again, her bloodshot eyes turning and darting around the dark room, before settling on the alicorn. Shining was taken aback. The stallion got up from his desk, ignoring the crinkles and cracks as one of his massive hooves crushed the bottle further into the floor. The mare hurriedly bowed, sputtering apologies.

"Prince Shining, I-I'm so s-s-sorry!" she whimpered, her small form sinking into the ground further, the unicorn obviously traumatized and afraid. Shining stepped forward, before wrapping the mare in his wings, trying to comfort the pony before trying to talk to her.

"Don't worry. Hey, you're okay. You're not in trouble... chuckled, the mare forgetting her manners and burying her face into his bandaged barrel, ignoring the wet squishing of the necrotic flesh beneath the linen wrappings.

"I... I died..." she whimpered, her form shaking horribly. "My husband... he... he... he killed me. He was so angry about something... our son! Oh goddesses my little colt! He's barely older than two, your majesty!" the delirious mare was continuously rambling on, but that sentence alone set Shining's blood aflame.

Kill him... make him suffer...

For once, he agreed with the voice. For once, he was overcome by rage that he LET overcome him. This snake would not last the night...

"Hey... shh... I'll save your son, I just need you to tell me to who you are." he asked, the alicorn looking into the soul's bloodshot eyes, the mare nodding, her form still shaking horribly.

"I... my name is Sun. Sunshine Blaze... I live... lived in the lower city, house two thirty-eight. PLEASE, SAVE MY LITTLE COLT!" the mare's sudden outburst startled Shining, the stallion moving his head back a bit as the crackling voice assaulted his eardrums. He nodded in understanding, before moving his right hoof to her forehead, the mare calming down immensely. He spoke softly, unwillingly. Almost as if HE wasn't talking at all.

"Hush now. The Elysian Fields for you, my child..." the mare fell asleep in his forearms, a soft sigh of relief issuing forth from her...

The stallion looked to his right, Frostmourne's runes glowing brightly as it waited for it's master's touch. He reached out, the mare's form having disappeared shortly before he grabbed for his blade. Frostmourne sang it's unholy glee to Shining as he took it in his grasp, the blade clearly happy to be back with him. Shining got up, and with several long strides, he leaped off of the balcony, his wings unfolding into their colossal full size, the alicorn heading for the address, fury slowly building in his system.

Kill... him...

.........

With a rippling smash, the prince kicked the door down, his massive hoof all but blowing the door to pieces. Instinct kicked in, the necromancy that inherently flowed through his body pinpointing the two sources of life within the house.

One small, cowering colt hiding in a small room, probably a closet somewhere upstairs.

One stallion, a sense of regret mixed with rage coursing through his preying form. He was patrolling upstairs, holding some sort of weapon.

One...

One body, lying upstairs in a pool of it's own blood.

Rage overtook the stallion, his colossal form crashing and smashing his way up the narrow staircase, the prince ignorant to noise or caution. The moment he reached the landing upstairs, he saw him.

The stallion.

He was a rather normal looking stallion, but was covered in a shining liquid, the light not needed to identify it. He was carrying a shortsword in his magical grip his face in a grimace of rage. In a move that surprised Shining, the stallion roared a battlecry, before stabbing once. The blade entered the prince, the blade digging into his shoulder, the anger flaring even higher as a result of the attack. He roared, a demonic tinge plaguing his voice, as he drove Frostmourne upwards, the blade singing a dance of death as it flew through the air...

.........

The stallion's magical grip faded, the bloody shortsword falling to the ground with a clang of steel against wood. He looked down, the ram-skull of Frostmourne's hilt staring him in the face, small flames of blue roaring in the eye sockets. With a shiver, the stallion coughed and gagged in pain once, a deluge of slush-blood falling out from around the blade of the damned...

"Frostmourne... HUNGERS..."

Shining's voice was gone now, overwhelmed by the imposing presence of his alter ego. With a roar of necromantic power, the stallion proceeded to seize upon the sword, gushes of chilled life-fluid exploding from his barrel and mouth, his brownish-black fur beginning to whiten and grey as Shining growled, shoving Frostmourne several more inches into the stallion, the blade cutting through his soft flesh and bone like butter...

*SNAP*

The stallion's head went limp, his soul flowing free from his dormant body, entering Frostmourne without struggle. With a smirk, Shining withdrew the blade, the sword lifting free of his body without resistance.

"The dark void... awaits you..."

The body hit the floor with little noise, another spurt of blood exploding from his mouth and chest as he impacted the wooden planks.

Shining choked once, his mouth tingling as he finished vomiting on the floor, the alcohol burning his throat as he up chugged his stomach contest.

I... I can't do this...

On Dragons and Necromancy...

"So... what was that dragon, then? Who was he?" Twilight asked, the duo warping back into Kel'Thuzad's chambers with a 'snap'.

"She. That dragon was a she." Kel'Thuzad droned, shaking some of the excess snow from his cloak, the winter winds of Icecrown having caked him heavily in the substance. "Her name was... is Sindragosa." the lich unclasped his right hand, a bout of blue fire erupting from his palm, igniting the dormant fire with a series of pops and cracks.

"Who was she?" Twilight asked, her half-frozen form plopping down in front of the fire, the heat from the hearth soothing her deadened nerves back into life. Kel'Thuzad sighed, waving his arm once. A piece of parchment and a quill flew into his hands, where he proceeded to draw a small diagram, the unicorn straining her stiff neck to peer in on his drawings. Nodding, Kel'Thuzad showed Twilight his creation. On each of the five points of a hastily drawn star, there were names.

Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder

Nozdormu, the Timeless One

Ysera, the Dreamer

Neltharion, the Earth-Warder

Malygos, the Spell-Weaver

.........

"How much do you know about dragons, Twilight?" the lich asked, handing the small parchment to Twilight. The mare chuckled lightly, and looked up to Kel'Thuzad.

"Quite a bit, considering my little brother is one." she smirked. Kel'Thuzad razed a brow, and spoke.

"Your... brother... is a dragon?" he asked, not quite in disbelief, just surprise. Twilight nodded proudly, her magic pulling a small picture of him from midair, the small photograph appearing before her with a sizzle of arcane magic.

Maybe dragons are not as dangerous in this world as I thought...

The picture was of her and a small whelp, most likely less than a year old. They were cuddling, the drake having fallen asleep in her embrace.

Purple, huh? Should've figured, I guess...

"What is the young whelp's name?" he asked. In the meantime, he had swiped the page back from Twilight, continuing his notes on the five aspects.

"Spike... what is a whelp!?" she questioned, more than offended by Kel'Thuzad's rather derogatory remark. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, and held up his hand in apology.

"My apologies, Twilight. In my world, whelps are immature, newborn dragons who have a while yet to grow. I meant no offense." he spoke, scribbling the last jots upon the descriptions of the aspects and their powers. Twilight visibly relaxed, but did not stop her explanation.

"Spike is not a whelp, he is a drake! He's almost fifteen!"

.........

At that remark, the lich turned from his writing, staring incredulously at the unicorn.

.........

"Twilight, how old can dragons native to Equus get?" Kel'Thuzad asked, ready to launch into aggressive debate mode if she initiated. Twilight chuckled.

"Well over five thousand." she spoke proudly, feeling rather accomplished that her little brother would some day be bigger than a house.

"HA! You think five thousand is old, Twilight?!" Kel'Thuzad chuckled. He drew up a magical image before her of the dragoness that had rallied the Lich King's army. "How old do you think SHE was?" Twilight stroked her chin thoughtfully with a hoof, and spoke.

"Ten thousand, maybe?"

The lich stared back at her, a shit-eating grin plastered across his skull.

"Triple that."

.........

"WHAT!?!" Twilight gasped. A dragon that was thirty thousand years old?! How could something even live that long? Alicorns were magically bound to Equus, granting them effective immortality, but dragons were just like any other animal! "How could a mortal creature survive that long?!" she exclaimed, her brain overloading. Kel'Thuzad just laughed, and spoke.

"Simple. They're immortal."

"What?"

"Azerothian Wyrms are immortal, for the most part. The presence of the five dragon aspects assures that." with that, he referred to his list.

"Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder, is usually considered the queen of all the dragonflights, or clans. A red wyrm, she is known for her compassion and kindness, and projects these aspects upon her children, which easily number in the thousands. Her powers as the Life-Binder effectively make her the 'Mother Earth' of Azeroth, healing and mending the ground she walks upon."

Nodding, Twilight cleared her throat. "What exactly are the dragonflights?" Twilight asked, repositioning herself on her small pillow in front of the fire, a small notebook and quill floating from her saddlebag in the corner of the room.

"Dragonflights are the 'clans' of Azerothian dragons. There are five in total, one for each aspect. Alexstrasza is the leader of the Red Dragonflight, alongside her consort, Korialstrasz.

Always hated the bastard...

"Okay... what are the other dragonflights?" Twilight asked, her quill scribbling as she talked.

"We'll get to that in time." Kel'Thuzad said, reaching for his chart once more. "Now, Nozdormu, the Timeless One. The lord of the Bronze Dragonflight, he alone controls the ebb and flow of time. His position is one that many have desired, but his all-seeing and all-knowing vision effectively assures Azeroth's survival, as long as he lives..."

"So... he controls time?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, for the most part. He cannot directly interrupt or stop time, but he may alter the flow and ebb of time, creating alternate realities with the flick of his wrist." Kel'Thuzad explained. "Now... Ysera, the Dreamer. Sister to Alexstrasza, Ysera controls the Emerald Dream, watching over the growing wilds of Azeroth from her own personal dimension. She is the queen of the Green Dragonflight." Twilight stopped scribbling, and looked with a curious expression to the archlich.

"I thought you said Alexstrasza was in charge of nature?" Kel'Thuzad chuckled, holding a claw up to silence the unicorn so that he could speak.

"Forgive me, Twilight. I meant to stress that Alexstrasza is in charge of life, not nature.” Kel’thuzad spoke. “While the two may overlap occasionally, they are treated as separate spheres.”

Twilight nodded in understanding, going back to her note-taking. "Now... where was I... ah. Neltharion, the Earth-Warder. While Neltharion was originally a well-respected member of the five aspects, but after his corruption by the Old Gods, he turned on his brothers and sisters, plunging the Black Dragonflight and himself into a bloody war with the rest of dragon kind. A powerful and intimidating wyrm, Neltharion was in direct control of the shifting of Azeroth's tectonic plates, effectively making him the most physically strong aspect."

"What are... Old Gods?" Twilight asked, her voice hinting vague fear at the mere mention of them. Kel'Thuzad himself thought about them as well, and an idea flew through his mind, terrifying him for a moment.

I pray there are none on or within Equus...

"Old Gods... Old Gods are beings that inhabited Azeroth LONG before the aspects took power. They embody evil in every sense, and are ruthlessly violent and selfish, acting not for themselves and themselves alone..." Kel'Thuzad physically shivered, unnoticed by Twilight.

"So... they were basically gods before the gods?" Twilight asked. Kel'Thuzad nodded grimly, and shook his head violently, shaking the image of Yogg-Saron out of his mind. He brought his chart back up, and pointed to the last name on the list.

"Malygos, the Spell-Weaver. The effective king of magic, he is the head of the Blue Dragonflight. Him and his children guard and regulate the flow of ley lines through the surface of Azeroth. During the final years of his reign, he launched a war upon all dragonkind, his flight following him into combat without question. No one knows for sure his intentions, but many say he was driven mad."

"So... who was Sindragosa?" Twilight asked. Kel'Thuzad sighed.

"Malygos' consort, long before Neltharion's betrayal. You see, there is a place in Northrend called Dragonblight, the ancestral burial ground of all dragons. If a slain dragon is not laid to rest within it's holy embrace, their soul may never find rest. Sindragosa was flung into Icecrown when Neltharion did battle with the Blue Dragonflight. She died there, on that glacier, her soul descending into madness and hatred for all mortals, and she swore revenge if she was ever to return..."

Twilight nodded, putting the pieces together.

"So... how powerful was she?"

"As a living creature, she was the second most powerful mage on Azeroth, second only to her husband. As a frost wyrm... she easily equaled, if not surpassed an aspect, her frost magics dramatically increased by the unholy power of the Lich King." Kel'Thuzad explained, a hint of sadness plaguing his voice.

"Kel'Thuzad?" Twilight spoke, walking up to the lich, who was quite obviously distressed. Kel'Thuzad looked to the mare, accepting the embrace she was offering.

Damn... I had forgotten how comforting a simple gesture like a hug can be...

"Yes Twilight?" the lich responded, heating his bones once more, so the mare didn't freeze to death.

"Before you explained all of this, you mentioned that her name is STILL Sindragosa... what does that mean?"

"She is bound by the same rules as I am, Twilight."

"Which means..." Twilight spoke, once again putting the pieces together in her head.

"She is most likely trapped as I was, forever floating through the Twisting Nether, never finding rest amongst her kind..."

I need to talk to Shining when he returns...

I must speak with my king when he returns...

The Lich's Blessings

Celestia awoke with a start, nearly leaping up in her bed. As she straightened up, a certain revenant all but screamed in terror as the princess suffered a violent spasm, her legs and wings reacting as if she was running away from something. The stallion yelped in surprise, dropping his book and rushing to the princess' side. With a second yelp of pain, Celestia's barrel cramped up, and she fell to the floor beside the bed. She landed in a heap, crying out once more as her head impacted the hard crystal flooring.

"Celestia!"

"L-Lal?" Celestia coughed, her vision still blurry form the probable concussion she had just suffered. With a ringing head, she turned to see the hazy, skeletal form of Lal'theron standing over her. Sighing with relief, the skeleton craned his neck down to her level.

"Celestia... are you alright?" Lal'theron asked, gently nuzzling his 'marefriend' upon the snout with the tip of his skull. Celestia cooed at the cool contact, the sudden heat of pain dissipating slightly at the intimate touch of bone on fur.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine..." Celestia groaned, accepting the revenant's attempts to help her up. With a grunt of exertion, Lal'theron hoisted the goddess to her hooves, another few crackles and pops coming from the unused muscles of the alicorn. With a sigh of relief, Celestia collapsed back unto the bed, her chest stinging horribly.

Lal'theron joined her after he had cracked his neck, the weight of the goddess having knocking a few vertebrae out of place. With a sigh of contentment, Lal'theron laid down next to her, rubbing her back gently with his hooves, easing a few knots of muscle out of their petrified state.

For a few minutes, the odd couple just laid there, enjoying the... interesting embrace between life and death. Celestia's molting, disheveled wing slowly draped itself over the skeleton's form, the revenant rewarding the loving gesture with a soothing rub between the shoulder blades, resulting in a few more heavenly *cracks*. The alicorn murred slowly in delight, her rather... unusual 'coltfriend' causing her insides to melt with his magical hooves.

She had no idea what she saw in this... elf, but for once, she found that she could be herself around someone other than her sister. He was someone that she could trust...

That she could talk to...

I need to remember to ask Kel'Thuzad if I can... 'enlist' him for the royal court, back in Canterlot...

"Celestia, do you need anything? Water? Food?" Lal'theron whispered, the revenant's form sprawled across the bed next to her. Celestia's much larger form turned over, a groan of pained effort escaping her muzzle. A single violet eye opened towards the stallion, a small smile gracing her lips, causing one to invisibly drape itself across his own muzzle.

"Water, please." Celestia coughed, her throat suddenly feeling unnaturally dry and raspy. The revenant nodded, and threw his form over the other side of the bed, landing somewhat awkwardly on his hooves before recovering. The revenant looked back to the princess, chuckling slightly at the ridiculous posture she had adapted, her face all but buried in the pillows, her flank high in the air as she stretched.

What did I do to deserve her?

As Lal'theron closed the door behind him, Celestia's body fell back to the bed, several hundred pounds of divine equine smashing down unto the mattress, the frame creaking horribly. She breathed in and out with labored breaths, the stretching taking more out of her than she had anticipated. With a sigh, her swan-like neck strained around, looking at her disheveled and molting wing, the feathers sticking out in all directions. Deciding to forego preening for the moment, she directed her attention to her other wing, which was half covered in a thin sheet of... ice? As she squinted and moved in closer to the bandage of frozen water, she noticed for the first time the absence of any cold...

Probably Kel'Thuzad's work... ingenious...

The ice still seamed to soothe her torn wing's flesh, the nonexistent cold still preventing bruising...

*Knock Knock Knock*

The heavy rhythm of something hitting the opposite side of the door echoed through the room, startling the princess within. She calmed quickly, sending a strained pulse of magic out to smooth her mane to an at least acceptable texture. Satisfied by her appearance in the mirror across the room, she called out to whomever was on the other side.

"Come in."

.........

As the gentle *click* of the tumblers sounded, the door handle slowly frosted over, the shining metal obscured by the fog of frost and ice. With a silent swing, the door opened towards the intruder.

"A pleasure to see you awake so soon, milady..." Kel'Thuzad spoke, bowing as low as his stature would allow. As he did, he knocked the gilded onyx ornament from his skull, the wooden doorframe slightly shorter than he had anticipated. An invisible blush erupted across the lich's face, and he looked awkwardly up at the princess, who was trying her hardest to stifle her laughter. Kel'Thuzad muttered a hastily worded apology, retrieving his 'crown' from the floor without further incident, the heavy crest having put a rather large dent in the crystal flooring.

"I take it I was the first to wake up, then?" Celestia sighed. Her sister had been through so much...

Kel'Thuzad laughed a bit.

"No, princess. In fact, your sister had you beat by two days..." Celestia's eyes lit up at this, her head bowing to the archlich. Kel'Thuzad's posture corrected itself, standing at his impressive stature once more.

"I... I... thank you, Kel'Thuzad. Your help has been... invaluable, both to my sister, and me. I was skeptical about your past, and your motives, but after seeing what you've done for Equestria in your short time being here... you've earned my trust. I could think of no one else who could overpower both Nightmare Moon AND me in single combat." Celestia smiled weakly, the pain in her chest still making her somewhat miserable. Kel'Thuzad stuttered once, then bowed again.

"I... I am honored, princess. I only wish that I could do more..." he thanked, biting an insult down.

You may trust me, princess... but I do NOT trust you...

"No, you have done more than enough... well... there is ONE thing you could do..." she spoke, a silly smile adorning her face. The lich raised one of his brows curiously, coming back up once again from his bow.

"What is it, your highness?" the lich asked, the goddess' silence unnerving him slightly. Celestia snapped out of her daydream, coughing once to clear her throat.

"I was hoping that... you could release Lal'theron... me and him... we have gotten close on the short time we've known eachother..." she sheepishly stated, a blush adorning her visage. The lich's eyes widened.

I did not expect her to be so... forward.

"Your highness... you are alive because I set him free." Kel'Thuzad stated, much to the confusion of Celestia, who curiously frowned in his direction. "Lal'theron... he is my brother, your highness. In a selfish act, I chose to keep him with me... whether he liked it or not. He was a priest, a healer, back on Azeroth..." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his arms waving once to display a... humanoid. A rather tall one, with glowing blue eyes, and ivory white hair.

"Is... is that?" Celestia whimpered, her eyes squinting to take in her coltfriend's real form. Kel'Thuzad nodded.

"Yes, this is Lal'theron. My brother..." the lich coughed once, clearing his metaphorical throat. "I... as evil and twisted as I was at that point... some part of me didn't want to lose my only family left in that world..." he choked, invisible tears starting to bud at the corners of his eyes. "I... I wanted something to remember... something to cherish. What I gave him was worse than death. I gave him enslavement, for what? A small SHRED of happiness?" he sobbed, sitting down in the chair in the corner of the room.

Celestia was... stunned, to be frank. Not only was her suitor the BROTHER of her new friend, but he was forced into service?! Celestia opened her mouth to scold the lich, but stopped.

He was sincere, that much was clear, seeing as she had yet to see the hardened necromage and sorcerer break down like this... But she was still torn on whether she should be touched, pitiful, or disturbed. He resurrected his own kin... to be with him in a way that was appalling. Sick. He may have been acting out of desperation, seeing as he was a slave himself, but that changed little. He enslaved the soul of his BROTHER.

"Kel'Thuzad... I... I'm sorry. I did not wish for you to be assaulted by these memories..." the lich held up a claw, indicating his wish to interrupt. He cleared his throat loudly, and coughed.

"Celestia... Marrow... Lal'theron... he is head over heels for you..." the lich revealed, floating back up to his full stature. He mentally prepared himself before asking his question.

"Do you love him?"

.........

"Yes. I do. For the first time, I... I can be myself around somepony. Someone other than my sister of course. For the first time in my long, long life... I feel loved. Cherished." she finished, a tear of happiness rolling down her cheek. Kel'Thuzad thought for a LONG time. A long time. Nearly five minutes.

If... if my brother is happy... who am I to take that away from him again?

"Celestia... I wish you both the best. Know that while I love my brother, I realize that I cannot hold unto him forever. If he is in love... who am I to take that away?" Kel'Thuzad floated forwards, resting his arm gently around the alicorn's forehooves. "If it comes to it..."

"I would be proud to call you my sister." he smiled, his eerie complexion not bothering Celestia for once. With a squeal of joy, Celestia ignored her pain, and embraced the lich around the ribcage.

"Thank you..."

Author's Note

A little bit of feels for this chapter, before the bombshell drops.

Interlopers

"Ugh... finally." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his echoing voice reverberating off of the bookshelves of the Crystal Palace's Royal Library. He looked down into his arms, surveying the several tomes and books that he had taken from the shelves...

Basic Pony Anatomy and Nervous Systems

The Betrayal

The Elements of Harmony: A Magical Study

"Hopefully these will be sufficient for tonight... I don't want to keep Miss Sapphire up too late..." he spoke, turning the corner to the receptionist's desk, only to be greeted with a rather amusing sight.

Sapphire Scribble was out cold, the crystal pony's head propped up on a stack of books that she had arranged as a makeshift pillow. Chuckling, Kel'Thuzad snapped his fingers, teleporting the books to his chambers with a burst of arcane energy. He slowly floated up to the desk, and stood up straight. The archlich coughed once to clear his nonexistent throat, waking the snoozing librarian.

"Miss Sapphire?" Kel'Thuzad beckoned, his claws clasped behind his back in respect. Sapphire's head darted around, looking desperately for the source of her disturbance. Her eyes eventually settled on the massive form of the lich floating in front of her desk.

"Yes, Lord Kel'Thuzad?" the mare yawned, rubbing her eyes before attempting to stand a bit taller. The lich chuckled, and waved his claw in respect.

"I've found what I was looking for, madam. You are relieved." he smiled. The mare sighed, a hoof already pushing the small swinging door outwards, exiting her small booth. Sapphire nodded to him, and bowed, the lich mimicking her.

"Very well. Goodnight, Lord Kel'Thuzad."

"The same to you, Miss Sapphire..." he spoke, already pushing the tall door to the library open. The librarian yawned, and turned to begin the long process of putting out the many lanterns around the library, her form clumsily staggering around, quite obviously tired out of her mind. With a frown of empathy, the archlich waved his hand, the lanterns all snuffed out by a cold wind. The mare gasped in surprise at the sudden darkness, and looked to the door, only to see the last of the mage's robes flow through them.

The mare shook her head, and headed off to her bedroom off of the library.

.........

"Lord Kel'Thuzad!"

"Ugh... THIS fool..."

Kel'Thuzad slowly turned his form around, looking down to witness 'Lord' Fire Fight, accompanied by two unicorn stallions. The stallion wore a snarl on his face, obviously upset about something. With a stomp, he stopped before the almost comically larger lich.

I must admit, advising Lady Cadence to give him the honorary title of lord to placate his... 'ambitions', may not have been the wisest of decisions. The fool acts like a king now...

"Yes, Lord Fire Fight?" the lich spat, choking back an insult.

Several.

"While I don't normally associate or deal with... monsters, my prince has seen it fit to betray his own kind by letting one take MY rightful position in his court." he sneered, the chains swirling around Kel'Thuzad once again making his agitation known with their dramatically increased speed and violence. The stallion cleared his throat, and stood up more proudly, his excessive robes billowing ridiculously around his form. "I, Lord Fire Fight of the Crystal and Canterlot Courts, challenge you to a duel for the position of Archmage of the Crystal Court."

.........

"Really?!" the lich gasped, almost childishly excited. Finally, he would be able to teach this runt his place! The unicorn smirked, foolishly mistaking the lich's giddiness for fear.

"Yes, I do." he sneered, chuckling a bit.

"Right now?" Kel'Thuzad asked, slightly cautious. The fool had never been this... confident. Something was up.

"Indeed, Lord Kel'Thuzad. Outside, in the courtyard. NOW..." Kel'Thuzad looked at the stallion incredulously, thinking and mulling of his options.

Option A: Refuse, and give him a reason to mock me further...

Option B: Accept, rip him limb from limb. Blame it on instinct or fabricate a story...

Option C: Accept, and if the duel is open enough in it's regulations, incapacitate and humiliate with a mixture of pain and frost magic...

"I accept." Kel'Thuzad answered grimly, nodding to the 'lord'.

The stallion nodded to his affiliates, the two armored unicorns turning to lead them to the courtyard. The lich chuckled, choosing instead to draw Bloodsurge, cutting an ethereal hole to the courtyard, before beckoning his opponent.

"Certainly you would rather take a portal there, would you not, Lord Fire Fight?" he grinned smugly, bowing to the stallion as he turned to walk through the portal. Fire Fight walked past the lich, flicking him once in the face with his tail.

Deliberately.

The lich's jagged, sharpened teeth clacked together several times in fury, scaring the two stallions that accompanied his opponent into a light trot, the duo disappearing through the portal.

This... child, obviously does not know who or 'what' I am. Perhaps I should have a little fun with him...

.........

"Before we begin, what are the conditions, Fire Fight?" the lich asked, taking his position on the opposite side of the small, snow covered courtyard. Fire Fight turned to the lich, and responded.

"The winner acquires the position of archmage."

Figured...

"And the loser?" Kel'Thuzad inquired, lightly stroking an isolated soul chain like a cat. The stallion laughed, and spoke.

"The loser... the loser must leave the Crystal Empire. Forever." Fire Fight nodded, his stance hardening as he took his position, the armored stallions... taking up position next to him.

Figured...

"Really, LORD Fire Fight? Three on one? Where is the fairness in that?" Kel'Thuzad sneered. He was more than capable, seeing as he had, in his prime, taken down innumerable amounts of would-be lich slayers in Naxxramas. Three woefully unprepared equines was child's play.

"What happened to the 'mighty' Kel'Thuzad, huh?" Fire Fight laughed, beginning to channel a spell through his horn. "I thought you were a master! OR were you just posing to get MY job!?" Fire Fight barked in anger, launching a fireball directly at the lich's head, the necromage floating to the side with seconds to spare. The fireball impacted the palace exterior wall, exploding with an inferno as it did.

"You really need to work on your spell velocity, Fire Fight. I've taught farmhands that did better..." Kel'Thuzad chuckled darkly, his chains whirling around him, swatting two more hastily launched firebolts out of the air, the molten projectiles sizzling loudly before going out. The two other stallions had joined into the fight by now, one of them hastily firing arrows with a crossbow, the lich not even bothering to block them, seeing as he had no flesh to pierce, and felt no pain. The other was rapidly galloping towards Kel'Thuzad, a crystal halberd leveled at the lich's torso.

"I must admit, you handle yourself well for a monster, Kel'Thuzad..." Fire Fight snarled, another trio of fireballs launching themselves at the lich's head, arms, and torso. With a careful sidestep, Kel'Thuzad dodged two of them, the third frozen before him by a glacial wind, conjured by his left hand. With the finesse and grace of a ballet dancer, the lich whirled around, the frozen projectile that was inches from the ground plucked from the air by a single soul chain. Kel'Thuzad snarled, the reformed fireball hurling from his chain at the archer, who's distant form was seen leaping away from the projectile, the frostbolt exploding against the side of the palace, cracking the crystal.

With a roar, the archlich became acutely aware of the stallion that had charged him, temporarily ignoring the pyromage's insults and firebolts. Said assailant was midway to his torso, in midair, the gleaming crystal halberd singing it's destructive song, waiting to cut through the fragile bones of the lich. With a snarl, another of the lich's chains swung forward, impaling itself into the back of the stallion's head with a sickening 'squelch'. The stallion was stopped dead, the seemingly lifeless body falling to the snowy courtyard below.

"Y-You killed HIM!" Fire Fight screamed in rage, a massive fireball, nearly white with heat exploding from his horn's tip. With a sickening chuckle, the archlich teleported some distance away form the smoldering projectile, the fireball harmlessly exploding against the side of the crystal walls once again.

"They always assume... Hehehehe... HAHAHAHAHA!" Kel'Thuzad cackled madly, the impaled stallion's form rising rapidly. The stallion growled rabidly, before drawing his halberd once more, and charging the archer in the distance, who had at some point retrieved his courage, and had opened fire once more. With a yelp of disbelief, the stunned archer was forced to retreat, his former ally turned into nothing but a mindless, bloodthirsty beast. With a roar of anger, Fire Fight finally hit Kel'Thuzad, a particularly fast firebolt singing a sizable hole in the lich's new robes.

.........

"Heh. Nice aim. If I was alive, that MIGHT have killed me..." Kel'Thuzad spoke, slowly floating towards the stallion, who's desperate firebolts were getting weaker and slower, his magical reserves obviously nearing depletion. Kel'Thuzad grinned malevolently, the archlich swatting the pitiful magics away from him with his HANDS, the scalding firebolts sizzling away almost instantly from the cold touch of the lich's bone.

"I fired not a single spell, and I beat you." Kel'Thuzad sneered, yet another of his soul chains recoiling around, and scooping the now terrified stallion up. Kel'Thuzad dropped 'Lord' Fire Fight at the seven foot level, the stallion yelping before being caught by the frigid claw of the archlich.

"Now... about your banishment..." the lich pondered mockingly, stroking his chin ornament in mock thought. "Ah... yes. I've decided to let you stay..."

The stallion looked at the lich with disbelief, squirming even harder as the he tightened his grip, the icy bone encircling him form all directions.

"I have plans for you, Fire Fight..." Kel'Thuzad chuckled, retracting the chain from his mind-slave's head, the magical bond severing, leaving the stallion collapsed atop his friend, who struggled to get the larger pony off of him.

"W-What do you mean?!!?" Fire Fight whimpered. Kel'Thuzad dropped the stallion, and turned to leave.

"You'll see, Fire Fight, you'll see..."

This should be fun...

Progress

The rain poured down heavily over the alicorn stallion, his massive, lumbering form trudging through the muddy, half-paved streets of the lower sections of Canterlot. A sharp hiss of anger emitted from under the heavy blanket that he had taken from the house. A tell-tale sign that Frostmourne had frozen any stray droplets of water that had landed on it's unnaturally clean blade...

Cradled and shielded within one gargantuan wing, a small unicorn colt was nestled soundly, gentle movements the only thing telling the Lich King that he was still amongst the living. He had found the little guy nocked out, bleeding from his head in an upstairs closet, further up the hallway from the... altercation...

Shining snorted once, whipping his mane around, somewhat ridding it of the profuse rain water that had soaked into it. He... he never meant for everything to happen the way it did...

He was just going to place him under arrest. Take him to the dungeon, or straight to court! He didn't mean to... kill him...

A soft groan from the colt snapped him from his daydream, his soft movements betraying his peaceful slumber. Shining snorted, and quickly picked up the pace, his massive hoofsteps and immense weight cracking or outright shattering the ancient cobblestone paths of the lower city.

Shining's visage turned to a scowl, the alicorn remembering the utter cruelty he had seen in that... that... MONSTER'S eyes. Once his soul was within Frostmourne's clutch, he saw everything.

The stallion's maddening addiction to alcohol...

The tortures and beatings he had lain upon both his wife and child...

The sickening satisfaction that he had gained from slitting his OWN wife's throat open, several minutes before the prince had broken down the door and ended his miserable life...

Needless to say, his decision was made for him.

Twenty years in a small dark cell, with no one to talk to but the vengeful, angry spirit of the alicorn of fear and shadow...

Seemed fair.

Generous, even.

.........

Did I really just think that?!

Shining shook his head to rid himself of the macabre thoughts, looking up the street several dozen yards ahead of him, the sharp glow of the torches of the lower city guard barracks shining through the downpour of rain. He felt the little guy snuggle deeper into his side, desperate for warmth. Another small reminder of the precious cargo the alicorn carried. His dormant heart swelled lightly, the small colt's movements reminding him of when Twily was that small...

He finally stomped up to the guards, a small cough issuing from his muzzle to get their attention. The guards looked to the right, one of them leveling their halberd at the massive form of the prince.

"State your business, civilian." the earth pony grunted, obviously agitated with his position outside. Shining chuckled, lifting his head to the torch light. The stallion's halberd dropped to the pavement, and he bowed as low as he could to the prince. "I... forgive me, commander. I didn't know..." the stallion was stopped by the alicorn's voice.

"It's fine, soldier, no harm done. Now, may I pass, please?" Shining grunted lightly, repositioning his wing so that the colt didn't slip from his grasp. The guard hurriedly nodded, grabbing his weapon before opening the door with his hoof. "Thank you." Shining spoke, his form stumbling inside, a warmth he had forgotten existed blowing into his drenched visage. The guard nodded, and closed the door once more, the sudden appearance of his prince waking him up almost completely.

.........

"Ugh..." Shining groaned, the alicorn's massive form walking to a corner, before flopping down unto a spare mattress, startling the nurse on duty greatly as his gargantuan form crashed to the floor. The mare hurried over, the red cross surrounded by hearts adorning her flank... vaguely familiar.

"Your highness! To what do I owe the privilege?" she spoke, curtsying lightly to the comically larger stallion. Shining chuckled, shaking his head gently, relieving it once again of the heavy water and condensation that had accumulated.

"This." Shining said gently, unfurling the massive wing to display the small colt, his form still snuggled up against his relatively dry wing joint. The mare gasped, and ran off to a chest in the corner of the small room, pulling a heavy wool blanket from the container with her teeth. She hurried back over, stumbling a few times on the sheer volume of the blanket she carried. She grunted in exertion once she returned, flopping the large sheet over the colt's gently moving form, his body's shaking lessened greatly almost immediately. Shining nodded his thanks to the nurse, and bade her return to the injured soldier she was tending to.

"Ugh... what a night, huh little guy?" he whispered, looking down at the slumbering unicorn, his belly rising and falling gently with each intake of oxygen. Shining chuckled, and in a move that surprised even him, he nuzzled the small colt's mane, before flopping his own head down upon the small pillow at the end of the bed.

.........

Kel'Thuzad chuckled, a small wisp of soul struggling in his grasp, pried from the suspended helm before him. He leaned in to look upon the fragment, the soul's quiet wails of anger and hatred clearly marking it as a problem. With a burst of flame, the soul was gone, floating infinitely in the endless expanse of the Twisting Nether. Kel'Thuzad floated backwards, his hands shaking from the seemingly simple feat of attempting to dig through the Helm of Domination.

In reality, the helm's magical makeup was the most complicated array of magical barriers, amplifiers, and wards the lich had ever seen. It dwarfed the Crystal Heart's intricacy, and that had thrown him for a loop when he had first saw it, as well. He shook his head, the gentle thrumming that had started once he had entered the helm ending as he did. With a sigh, the archlich lowered the magically suspended helm into the chest below it, sealing it within the runed container until he had built up the strength to dissect it once again.

A gentle knock on his frozen ward alerted him, and he floated gently to the doorway, wondering who could be bothering him at such a late hour. Besides the guards, most of the mortals where long asleep by this point, barring some maids and Ma- Lal'theron. He shook his brother from his thoughts for the moment, and began the quick process of lowering the ward before him.

With fire.

As the last of the offending barrier to entry evaporated with a loud 'hiss', the archlich gazed through the mist upon his visitors. Two guards, escorting a rather large stallion between them, a magical suppressor ring bound around the unicorn's horn.

"It better be good, gentlemen. I may not sleep, but I need my rest." the lich explained sternly, a scowl present on his face. The guards fumbled with their words, clearly scared out of their minds by the undead mage.

"S-Sir... this stallion says he knows you..." the guard on the right said, gently gesturing to the stallion between the two. The stallion smiled, and bowed politely.

"A pleasure, archlich." the stallion spoke, in a voice that seemed oddly familiar.

Wait...

He called me archlich...

No one besides Shining, Cadence, and the Royal Sisters know of that title...

"Well, what are you waiting for, let him in!" Kel'Thuzad chuckled, a snap of his fingers incinerating the pitifully mundane and weak magical inhibitor around the stallion's horn. The stallion trotted politely past the Kel'Thuzad, sitting down gently upon one of the half-frozen armchairs in the lich's chambers. Kel'Thuzad then turned to the guards. "Was there anyone else with him?" the archlich asked, his arms folding behind his back. The guard on the left spoke up, with far more confidence than the first.

"Yes, my lord. He was accompanied by another, even larger stallion. A mute, by the looks of it. He understood us, but did not answer when asked questions." Kel'Thuzad nodded, looking down to the oddly large scabbard of black adorning the right stallion's side.

"Anything else?" Kel'Thuzad asked. The guard on the right nodded, and turned to his side, bringing forth the scabbard of... leather?

Interesting... its real leather...

"He was carrying this sword, sir." the guard explained. The archlich nodded, grabbing the... longsword, by the looks of it. The lich almost immediately recognized the bat-winged hilt of a runeblade, the single, lidless eye decorating the demonic pommel of the sword. Kel'Thuzad looked to the scabbard then, inspecting it closer this time, almost choking when he recognized the texture and look, even through his unfeeling hands.

Nerubian...

"Thank you, gentlemen, that will be all. Send the mute up to my chambers when you get the chance, will you?" Kel'Thuzad respectfully bowed to the guards, who bowed in return, gently turning to march off towards the entrance to the Royal Wing of the palace. The lich grabbed the sword with one soul chain, depositing the runeblade beside the stallion inside his room. He meticulously froze over the entrance to his chambers once again, adding a soundproofing ward to the process, as well.

"You haven't changed a bit, old friend." the stallion spoke, holding up a single grey hoof to the lich, blowing a long lock of white mane out of his face with a gentle gust of wind from his lungs. Kel'Thuzad turned to the stallion, and gently shook his hoof, recognizing the faint glow behind his eyes as he did. He also took note of the lack of shivering coming from the stallion, clearly indicating his suspicions to once again be true. Kel'Thuzad cracked an eerie smile, and sat down in another of his armchairs.

"It has been a long time..."

"Titus..."

Old Friends and Old Enemies

"So, you arrived in this world how long ago exactly?" Kel'Thuzad asked. Titus reached up with a single hoof, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm... maybe a few months ago? Its been too long... I can't tell. We've been wandering around the frozen tundra for FAR too long..." Titus sighed, his subtly glowing yellow eyes looking down at his forehooves in frustration. Kel'Thuzad snorted lightly in annoyance, turning his skull to the silent stallion in the corner.

The stallion, by Equestrian standards, was massive. Probably only a few inches shy of Celestia's height. He was a dark, sickly shade of grey, with patches of his scraggly coat falling out. A telltale sign of age...

Or undeath...

The latter, most likely, seeing as the stallion's dull, glassy eyes each glowed with an unholy pinprick of yellow energy, dominating the area in which a pupil normally sat. When he asked the guards who accompanied him to his chambers what they though of him, the two stallions replied with hasty comments on the pony's... willingness. While it followed orders without question, the gargantuan hulk of necrotic flesh and bone seemingly harmless, despite his grizzled and rough appearance. At closer inspection, Kel'Thuzad saw that the stallion was all but fixed in his current location, his form having not moved since his entry into the room. His eyes lazily drifted back and forth, surveying the chamber, but stayed mainly on the two of them.

"Kel'Thuzad?" Titus asked, leaning in closer to the lich. Kel'Thuzad snapped out of his thinking, turning to Titus.

"Titus, who is that?" Kel'Thuzad rudely gestured to the stallion off to the side, his rather... unintelligent eyes turning to the lich as he pointed at him. Rivendare laughed lightly, and looked to his accomplice, clicking his tongue across his teeth once. The stallion's ears perked at the simple sound, the light thuds of his weight echoing across the floor as he approached the baron. Rivendare chuckled as the stallion plopped it's flank down upon the floor next to him. Rivendare lightly brushed the stallion's ragged mane, the creature crooning at the touch, his muzzle pointing down towards the floor, letting his friend pet him gently.

"Deathcharger, say hello to Kel'Thuzad." Titus commanded, a smile across his face. Deathcharger looked up to the quite flabbergasted lich, his form rising to go and greet the undead archmage. Kel'Thuzad's eyes widened as the stallion butted his head gently into his ribcage, eyes closing in comfort at the cold of the lich's body. Kel'Thuzad chuckled lightly, his claw reaching up to gently pet the mane of the Deathcharger, a quiet nicker issuing from the feral stallion's muzzle.

"Did he arrive with you?" Kel'Thuzad asked, snapping his fingers once, a small bag of sugar cubes teleporting into the lich's hand. With gentle persuasion, the Deathcharger slurped half of the entire bag into his maw, munching happily away at the treat. Rivendare nodded.

"He awoke about an hour after I did, next to my runeblade." Titus explained. "So... how is our new master?"

"He... he is different, for sure. No where near as ambitious or violent as Arthas was. But here is the strange part..." Kel'Thuzad chuckled, the baron leaning in to hear better.

"He was already undead when I arrived."

The baron drew back at the knowledge.

"How so?" Titus half-whispered, brushing his hoof up against Deathcharger's mane, the undead stallion having traveled back over to him after devouring the rest of Kel'Thuzad's treat. Kel'Thuzad chuckled again.

"Lichdom."

"Really?!" Rivendare exclaimed, confused. Kel'Thuzad nodded, waving his arm once to bring the Helm of Domination from under his unused bed. Rivendare's face cringed at the sight of the helmet, and Deathcharger reared up once, a warning neigh escaping his primitive vocal chords.

"What... what are you doing with..." Kel'Thuzad stopped his friend with a single claw.

"I'm studying it. To make sure history does not repeat itself." Kel'Thuzad spoke. Rivendare rose a hoof in protest. "With our master's permission, of course." Titus lowered his hoof, and nodded. He seemed... disappointed. A few moments passed in silence.

.........

The two friends looked to one another in shock. They had just felt the passing of someone nearby. Too nearby for comfort, in Kel'Thuzad's case.

.........

"Did you just..."

"I felt it."

.........

In an instant, the two were up from their chairs, Kel'Thuzad's arms already engulfed in blue flames.

"Back away from the door, Titus." Kel'Thuzad warned, his arm flames heating to a near white intensity. With a snarl, the ice exploded away from the doorframe, the chunks of frozen water clattering to the ground everywhere outside the room. The stallion and lich rushed out, to be met with a sight out of Kel'Thuzad's figurative nightmares. One of the guards next to his master's room was struggling to keep a large gash in his neck from killing him, a spurt of blood exploding from his mouth and throat whenever he took a breath. His comrade was already dead, a dagger protruding from the back of his head, the steel blade having punched right through the helmet he wore.

Kel'Thuzad growled in anger, cursing his stupidity.

The door was shut tight.

Melted shut...

When I get ahold of that... MONGREL...

Kel'Thuzad quickly rushed forward, a single ray of necromantic flames exploding from his hand, knocking the struggling guard out, but sealing his throat. The lich slammed the door open with his sheer strength alone, and his glowing eyes darted around, looking for his queen.

"Move and she dies."

.........

"Fire Fight..."Kel'Thuzad turned his head nearly one hundred and eighty degrees to face him, the stallion holding his queen around the neck, a still-bloody dagger poised to puncture her throat. Cadence whined, but was silenced as Fire Fight pressed the dagger tighter to her skin, a small line of red trailing away from the tip.

*Click*

"Drop it."

Kel'Thuzad turned slowly to his accomplice, and grinned.

"You think I am intimidated by a stick, fool?! I AM LORD FIRE FIGHT!" the stallion scoffed. "NOW CEASE THIS FOOLISHNESS, OR SHE-"

There was a sound of thunder, and the left half of Fire Fight's head was gone. Cadence screamed as she was covered in brain matter and... green blood. Rivendare chuckled darkly, a rush of adrenaline exploding through his undead veins as he lowered his still-smoking flintlock, the Lordaeron Royal Seal glinting in the moonlight flooding in through the windows. The Fire Fight dropped the knife almost instantly, a single hoof coming up to stroke the missing part of his skull. He shuddered once, then collapsed, sending a small wave of liquefied brain and skull pooling across the floor. Cadence's screams had attracted several more guards now, the stallions and mares scrambling into the room.

Kel'Thuzad chuckled, turning to his friend.

"It's good to have you back, Titus."

Author's Note

Sorry for the extreme delay.

My grandfather passed away last weekend, and I have been... coping.

Thank you for your patience.

The King's Return

The small bunkhouse was quiet, save for the gentle breathing of the alicorn, and the magical fire in the hearth, crackling away. The nurse on duty sat in the corner, her form gently rocking the small colt her prince had rescued in her hooves. The little guy had woken up crying, and she didn't want to leave him to sob away into her prince's... oddly cold body. When she had carefully extracted the colt from his embrace, her hooves had brushed up against her ruler's sides.

They were nearly as cold as ice...

The nurse had simply shrugged it off as an alicorn thing, as his breathing was fine. The colt however, was freezing. The little guy had snuggled into her forehooves as soon as she had grabbed him, desperate for warmth. While he had not made a single sound besides the occasional whimper, the mare was more than content to smother the small pony with her love. With her gentle rocking, and gentle hums and purrs, the colt had fallen asleep within minutes in her clutch.

.........

Fear.

.........

In an instant, Shining Armor was upright, startling the nurse. The prince's eyes darted around rapidly in their sockets, attempting to find the source of this new emotion. His eyes were wide as saucers, and a cold sweat dripped down his muzzle.

"Y-Your majesty? Are you alright?" the nurse asked, still gently rocking the small colt in her forehooves. The undead stallion turned abruptly to the mare, his eyes wide with confusion. The mare recoiled at his gaze, the stallion's eyes boring into hers, seemingly desperate for the source of his awakening.

"Yes... I... I'm fine. Thank you." Shining weakly smiled, an invisible blush running across his pale face. Shining sighed, rising shakily to his hooves. He cracked his neck rather loudly in several places, feeling the dormant muscles and bones of his body realign themselves with a series of crackles and pops.

"Just... just a nightmare, I guess." Shining chuckled sheepishly. With a start, Shining's eyes grew wide with worry once more, the stallion frantically searching for his snuggle-buddy. The mare whistled quietly, gesturing to the small colt in her possession, the little guy suckling on his hoof peacefully. The mare grinned to him, and beckoned the prince back to bed.

"It's fine, your majesty, I have him. He woke up crying about an hour ago, so I rocked him back to sleep. I haven't had the heart to put him down yet, though." the mare blushed, a sheepish smile adorning her muzzle. Shining nodded, laying his head back on the pillow gently. He sighed in contentment, and closed his eyes gently once more...

.........

Fear.

.........

"CADENCE!!" Shining screeched, his massive wings flaring to their full extent almost instantly, the small table and bed near him exploding away from the alicorn's outburst. The nurse shrieked, and clutched the small foal to her barrel tightly as a sudden gust of frigid wind extinguished every candle and brazier in the small room. The colt was awake once more, balling his eyes out at the cold and dark of the chamber, snuggling deeper into the mare's embrace.

Shining, however, was being assaulted by a rather... demanding emotion.

He NEEDED to see his Cadence...

Make sure she is alright.

He knew not why he felt fear of this caliber, but all he knew was fear for her well being.

For her life...

.........

In a fit of energy and anger that surprised even the prince, he roared in fury, smashing through the wall into the street outside with a single powerful kick from his forelegs. The Lich King tore his way through the remnants of the crumbled wall, his body literally echoing with cold. The guards outside stumbled once, attempting to stop him, trying to get him back inside the barracks.

To stop him from reaching HIS wife!

He would have NONE of this... this...

INSOLENCE...

With a roar of necromantic energies, an explosion of blue energy rocketed the two guards away from the alicorn, the lich flaring his massive wings wide, before catapulting his gargantuan form several stories up into the cold air with an earth-shattering pump of his legs.

With a LITERAL roar this time, the Alicorn of Death flapped his wings twice, and was rocketing towards the snowy mountains in the far distance, where he knew HIS princess was.

Consumed by fear and anger, the Lich King summoned up his power...

And detonated.

.........

The gentle glow of a candle permeated the cool night air within the small house of the pegasus. She herself was lying in bed with her beloved, the gentle caresses of said stallion lazily stroking her back and flank. With a smirk, the stallion applied a bit of pressure to the mare's side, making her yelp into his neck.

"Really? Not funny..." she mumbled, her lips tickling her coltfriend's neck, causing him to chuckle lightly, wrapping his own wings around her in apology, the pegasus cooing lightly before pushing herself further into his light blue fur. The couple shifted lightly, the comforting cloud mattress soothing their minds into drowsiness...

.........

"Ugh... can you turn out the light, babe?" the mare groaned, an annoying flare of the stuff irritating her closed eyes greatly. The mare sighed as she felt her bed of equine muscle turn to check the small candle, before stopping.

"Uhh... it is off, Dashy." he stated. The pegasus shot her eyes open as the light became nearly blinding, even with her eyes closed, her coltfriend gasping in astonishment at something.

"Uhh... Dashy?"

"Yeah babe?"

.........

"You said you were the ONLY pegasus to perform the Sonic Rainboom, yah?" he asked, his voice in... disbelief.

Rainbow rubbed her eyes, looking to the small window next to the bedroom, and stopped.

A massive, greyish-blue shockwave echoed out from a colossal form streaking across the sky, a tell-tale sign of breaking the sound barrier. She flinched and yelped when the shockwave passed the house, a shrieking wind of frigid air blowing straight through even the weather-resistant cloud walls. The couple huddled together in disbelief and fear, an echoing roar of magical energies exploding from the form, bathing the surrounding valley in it's sickly blue glow.

In another flash, the figure was gone, it's trail of grey the only proof it was ever there.

.........

With a groan, Rainbow collapsed forwards, her face planting straight into her coltfriend's discarded flightsuit.

.........

Soarin' sighed, before doing the same.

.........

With an echoing smash, the Lich King crashed through the stained-glass window of his bedroom, the unmistakable form of Kel'Thuzad dominating the large chamber. On the floor, a pony lay in a pool of... green brain matter and blood.

Changeling...

With a snort, the prince folded his wings, and stomped up to the lich, his question cut short as he was all but commanded to listen to his king.

"Where..."

"Is..."

"My..."

"WIFE?!?!?"

Author's Note

Okay, I know its a bit short, but I've only just gotten back to writing again. My mourning for my grandfather has gone on long enough.

Time to continue the story...

(Soarindash FTW)

Martial Law

Shining Armor was pissed.

VERY pissed.

As he sat in his bed with his wife, who's quivering form was all but concealed beneath his massive form, his face was bathed in hatred. The stallion snorted, turning his head from the corpse of Fire Fight, the green blood and bile of the changeling having congealed already. Shining turned to his archmage and the stallion next to him, a growl issuing from his muzzle.

"Kel'Thuzad, I have an order for you and your accomplice." Shining half-growled. Kel'Thuzad raised his skull form the bow he was in, and looked questioningly at his king.

"Yes, my lord?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his scarlet eyes showing nearly as much hatred as his king's.

Perhaps even more...

"Anything, my liege." Rivendare bowed even lower, seemingly in reverence and worship. The Lich King grinned slightly, and spoke.

"As of right now, the entirety of this city is in lockdown. No one is to enter or leave the keep's grounds. I want all guards stationed in the palace to relocate to all possible entry points." Shining turned to Rivendare, and nodded. "Friend, I wish you to mobilize what little troops that are in the barracks, and perform house-to-house checks." Rivendare nodded, and turned to leave with another bow, his runeblade floating into his magical grip with a flash of purplish energy. "The common changeling lacks a soul. Check each and EVERY civilian. Those without souls..."

"Die." Shining spat, his wife quivering slightly in fear at the horrific and barbaric sentence. "NO exceptions..."

"Yes, my king." Rivendare turned and bowed one last time, before galloping off towards the entrance to the Royal Quarter. Shining turned to the archlich, a scowl still present on his face.

"Kel'Thuzad, I wish for you to take the corpse of this... MONSTER, and extort any information you can from him." Shining grinned somewhat evilly. Kel'Thuzad frowned lightly in order, before his brow curved upwards, along with his jagged teeth, forming a sinister, knowing grin.

"Use whatever is necessary to..."

"Persuade him..." Shining smirked, a darker, deeper tone accompanying his words.

"There is a dungeon space below the palace. Once you are finished, do what you wish with him." Shining spat.

Cadence's eyes emerged from the embrace of her husband for the first time, wide with shock.

"Shiny..." Cadence whimpered, nuzzling Shining's throat lightly to get his attention. Shining's gaze turned down to his wife, his gaze softening instantly.

"Cady, I don't want you to see this. Can you please trust me?" Shining asked. He knew her love of peace was strong, and she appalled decrees and orders regarding it's opposite, but she had to understand that being a ruler is not always as peaceful job.

"Shiny... please don't hurt them..." Shining stopped her speech with a single kiss to the nose, silencing her for the moment. He thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to accommodate her request. Cadence shuddered once, and then retreated back into her cocoon of pale, white-furred flesh.

"Kel'Thuzad?"

"Yes, my king?"

"Inform your friend that if any changelings wish to seek asylum or speak to us, he is to send them to us. Children are to be spared." Shining modified, his voice softening at the last of his sentence. Kel'Thuzad nodded once, bowing stiffly to his rulers.

"Of course, my lord."

Shining nodded. "You are dismissed."

"Yes, my king." Kel'Thuzad bowed once more, before his right claw extended to teleport the corpse of the fallen changeling to his quarters for preparation, the blood and brain matter disintegrating from view as he did. The lich then swiftly floated away, the door shutting behind him gently.

The second the archlich was clear of the door, Cadence sobbed into Shining's fur, the princess's near-death experience finally having caught up with her. Shining hugged her to his form tighter, trying to console his mate.

His princess.

His queen...

.........

The gentle clip-clopping of hooves on crystal roads echoed throught the small city block, the large group of armored stallions taking their positions next to each of the houses they were assigned to, Baron Rivendare having informed them of the houses they were to raid.

"Captain?"

Titus himself looked to his right, a comparatively small stallion saluting him stiffly, the young lad obviously scared out of his mind.

From what he'd heard, the Empire's 'soldiers' had little to no combat experience, and lacked proper military training and discipline.

In fact, the majority of he stallions and mares under him currently were the Canterlot regiment that had followed their prince and princess to the Frozen North.

Since that was the case, his ruler had told him to be a little...

Forgiving with them.

"Yes, lieutenant?" Rivendare asked, a single white eyebrow raising at the soldier's request.

"The men are in position. Shall I give the order?"

.........

"No. Let me..." Titus grinned, his form growing tense. He waited until his soldiers took up their positions at the houses around him, his own body pointed towards another down the block.

Then, he roared his proclamation to the cold night air.

"CHANGELINGS! A RING OF IRON AND STEEL SURROUND YOUR PATHETIC FAUX-LIVES!"

"BY ORDER OF PRINCE SHINING ARMOR, YOU ARE TO BE EXPELLED OR TERMINATED FROM THIS GRAND CITY!"

"GLORY TO THE LICH KING!"

"GLORY TO THE SCOURGE!"

With the last of the deafening exclamation, the soldiers breached the homes, the screams and guttural hisses of the changeling imposters echoing through the night.

Baron Titus Rivendare just roared in delight, decay already pouring from the unholy knight's form as he galloped away towards the house he had chosen for his own 'enjoyment'.

It was GOOD to be back...

.........

With a shuddering cough, the changeling awoke. With a pained gasp, Fire Fight found that he could not move his legs.

Any of them.

"Glad to see you finally awake, 'Lord' Fire Fight..."

"K-Kel'Thuzad..." Fire Fight growled, attempting to summon up his magic.

"AGHH!" the stallion groaned, the half of his face still intact splashing into a retched-smelling puddle of viscous liquid as he collapsed forwards.

"I believe you will find that you are quite... incapacitated..." the lich mocked plainly, emotionlessly, the cold of his face mere centimeters from the stallion's.

"B-B-Buck you..." Fire Fight growled, attempting once more to summon up his beloved magic, only to be met with monumental pain once more, the ringing in his ears signaling this.

"Hehehehe..." Kel'Thuzad chuckled, his form rising to it's full height once more. "Now... let us begin, shall we?" the lich mocked, his cold, lifeless eyes taking in the pathetic form of the quadriplegic stallion before him, said stallion's face planted into a puddle of excess embalming fluid.

War Crimes

The lich grinned again as his subject screamed for him, the flayed flesh of the undead stallion's sides indicating the source of the excruciating pain he was experiencing. Fire Fight, or whatever his name ACTUALLY was, was little more than a stumped torso with half a head at this point. In a bit for panic-inducing immobility, Kel'Thuzad had severed his fore and hind legs at the shoulders, leaving him basically helpless.

"P-P-Please..." Fire Fight wheezed heavily, his lungs quite obviously damaged from the abuse the lich had dealt him within the past hours. The changeling hacked and coughed horribly, before spitting up a glob of partially congealed green mucus and blood.

At the changeling's plea, Kel'Thuzad unclasped his hand, a large, thin icicle forming into his palm. In a swift, merciless move, the icicle was buried in the stallion's remaining eye socket, a fountain of slush-like blood pouring from the now screaming stallion's eye.

With a grin, the mage twisted, half-formed pleas for mercy still pouring from his muzzle, intertwined with spurts of blood. Snarling in pent-up frustration and anger at his prisoner, he pushed forwards with his unholy strength, the dagger-like tip of the icicle penetrating into his brain cavity, silencing the strangled cries for mercy. With a mighty heave, the undead mage lifted the mangled corpse of Fire Fight, and promptly stuck him to the crystal wall of the cell, using the icicle as a nail.

With a snort of annoyance, Kel'Thuzad turned away from his prisoner's corpse.

This is the FIFTH DAMN TIME.

In the beginning, he had simply asked. But of course, whomever had sent this changeling was quite sure of their abilities to NOT talk.

So, the torturing began.

Now, nearly fifteen hours later, he had gotten next to nothing on the changeling's motives, even after severing his legs, tearing off his wings, literally unscrewing his horn, flaying several cubic feet of skin and chitin from his body, and nearly frying him with a half hour dose of cold-fire.

As much as he hated to admit it, the first torturing process that he had performed in nearly a millennia was sickeningly refreshing. His last personal prisoner was a captured Argent Knight-Paladin, whom had broken after only the second resurrection.

He was quite pitiful, considering their devotion and discipline...

*Knock Knock Knock*

"What?!" an impatient and annoyed Kel'Thuzad roared, a yelp sounding from the opposite side of the wooden door to the dungeon.

"S-S-Sir... Prince Shining Armor requests your presence..." a timid-sounding guard whimpered from the other side. The lich sighed.

Don't know what I'm exactly supposed to tell him...

"Very well. Tell him I will be there momentarily..." Kel'Thuzad muttered, his tone betraying his annoyance with Fire Fight's resistance.

"B-But s-s-sir... I didn't tell..." the stallion began.

"That will be all!" Kel'Thuzad snapped, the guard yelping at the Archlich's booming voice once more, before galloping away from the dungeon. With the last of the guard's hoofsteps fading away form earshot, the lich sighed, before looking back to his... prisoner.

"Stick around." the lich darkly joked, the destroyed, horribly scarred carcass predictably not responding. With a single slice from Bloodsurge, a portal was opened to his master's location.

The throne room...

Kel'Thuzad mentally prepared himself for the trying mental task of ignoring the incompetent requests and demands of the nobles of the Crystal Court, before floating through the portal, into throne room. There, he found his rulers sitting atop their thrones, with a changeling prostrated before them, pleading for her miserable life.

.........

Wait... HER!

In a move with speed that surprised even the archlich, he threw a single chain forwards, the blade-like tip shooting in and out of her hooves, the holes used to lighten their insect-like bodies providing excellent leverage and position for a hogtie.

He had no idea who she was, but yet the lich felt nothing but fury when he saw her before his king and queen. With a whipping motion, the oddly large changeling was upside-down before him. Her eyes were bloodshot and watering, the deep pools of green actually showing genuine fear and horror at the sight of the lich's nightmarish appearance.

At closer inspection, her complexion was scarred and beaten, bruises of green matting her blackened, chitin-like skin. A patch of raw skin decorated the top of her head, near the middle of her mane. She whimpered, and the lich grinned evilly at her predicament, a low chuckle issuing from deep within his metaphorical chest.

"Kel'Thuzad!"

Kel'Thuzad turned to look at his queen, her firm address catching him off-guard. Lady Cadence had a look of sadness and concern decorating her face, yet his king seemed impassive to the changeling's plight, almost as if he wished the archlich to continue with his actions.

"Yes, my lady?" Kel'Thuzad asked, silencing the squirming changeling with a tighter grip.

"Let. Her. Go." Cadence droned, sternly. Shining turned to her, a look of utter disbelief plastering his face.

"Cady! This is the... the... BITCH that locked you up for two weeks! You would have DIED if you weren't an alicorn, Cadence!" Shining argued, a whimper of fear coming from the Archlich's prisoner, her form writhing desperately. "She brainwashed me, fooled everyone in Canterlot, and attempted to use me as a food source! And you want to just let her GO?!" Shining continued, his voice becoming deeper the further he went on.

"YES!" Cadence screeched. "She is not a threat to us, especially now that Kel is here... I at least want to hear her plea, Shiny..." Cadence looked to the changeling, who's form was now being relinquished to the ground with a dull thud, Kel'Thuzad dropping her beaten and bruised form to the crystal flooring with a *thud*.

"If I may, your highness, I wish to have a few words with her, first..." Kel'Thuzad requested, Cadence nodding hesitantly at the question. "Thank you." Kel'Thuzad smiled, before turning with a speed faster than he knew he could move, directly into the changeling's face.

"Know this, worm..."

"If you attempt ANY trickery on my watch, I will make sure you will never walk, talk, fly, or breathe again." Kel'Thuzad sternly voiced his thoughts, the changeling backing into the pillar he had her pinned up against as far as she could. She nodded, quickly, a few tears of fear coming from her eyes as the lich withdrew, floating back up to his impressive height.

"She's all yours..." Kel'Thuzad sneered, his form moving to float next to his master's throne. As he did, he noticed a barely perceptible smirk coming from his king's muzzle, the stallion obviously pleased with his intimidations.

"I... I... I... I cannot say I am sorry for what I have done..." Chrysalis droned plainly, a few tears of pain falling from her eyes as the heavy beating she had received continued to burn her body's energy. "I did it for my children. Nothing more, nothing less." Chrysalis took a few, shaky breaths. "But... I am sorry for what pains I have caused. I wished only to find a reliable source of food for my little ones..." Chrysalis looked carefully to Shining, who's massive wings were now flared in anger. "I never meant for anypony to die..."

"Well, they did. And their blood is on your hooves, Chrysalis." Shining glared daggers at the changeling queen, his eyes starting to glow light blue as his anger and fury continued to boil. "Fifty-eight stallions died defending their homeland from YOUR kind, parasite!" Shining barked, Chrysalis wincing at his insults before returning to her steadfast state.

"And how many changelings do you think DIED trying to take Canterlot, Shining Armor?" Chrysalis spat, the lich across the room a hair away from disintegrating her face with a blast of necromantic energies.

"Not enough, obviously..." Shining muttered, Cadence gasping at his animosity.

"SHINING!" Cadence gasped, her husband's animalistic attitude and behavior starting to worry the princess.

"Seven hundred thirty-three. I can recite each and every one of their names and ranks, if you wish." Chrysalis frowned, new tears starting to bud at the corners of her double-lidded eyes.

"That wont be necessary, Chrysalis." Cadence stopped her husband by interjecting before he provoked a fight that the changeling queen would obviously lose. "I believe in peace, in all ways, is superior to violence. I don't wish for our cultures and species to suffer needlessly from a personal vendetta between their rulers."

"I... I couldn't agree more." Chrysalis stated, still wary of the fuming prince across the room, the lich next to him eyeing her, but not showing any emotions whatsoever. "Which is why I have a proposition."

"Please."

"I humbly request safety and asylum for the shattered remnants of my hive. We number only in the few hundred. Our home in the badlands is obscured and disfigured and destroyed by civil war between hives after the failed invasion..." Chrysalis half-asked half-pleaded. "In return, I will do whatever you wish of me, whether that be execution or imprisonment." The changeling queen bowed slowly, her bruised body shaking horribly as she attempted to keep her balance.

.........

"I accept, on one condition." Cadence responded, after several minutes of silence. The princess stepped down from her throne, marching regally up to the injured queen. Kel'Thuzad's body grew tense as he prepared a frostbolt, the lich FAR from ready to trust the queen just yet.

"Anything!" Chrysalis pleaded, her eyes showing genuine, not faked concern for her children and subjects.

"We look at eachother as equals, not enemies." Cadence smiled gently. Chrysalis recoiled at the gentle touch of the goddess, her hooves helping her up to her full height.

"I... I accept." Chrysalis choked.

"Excellent. You will be given a small area in the northern district of the city to settle. If you, or any of your kind attempt to hurt or trick anypony, our deal is revoked, and you will be pushed back out into the snow." Cadence said, dead seriousness poisoning her voice.

"Also, I want to know why you sent an assassin to kill me if you sought peace, not war..."

.........

"Assassin? I sent no assassin."

Settling Down

"Take back that... that... LIE!" Shining roared, his eyes now glowing a deep azure blue, waves of cold echoing in healthy streams from them. The Lich King rocketed up from his throne, and in several long strides, Frostmourne was centimeters from Chrysalis' throat, the snarling prince begging for an excuse to push forward. Chrysalis, on the other hand, did not bat an eye at the aggressive move, her gaze monotonous and calm.

"It is no lie, Shining. I sent no assassin." Chrysalis boldly and calmly stated, seemingly angering the prince even more. Shining growled once, and pushed the tip of the blade up against the changeling's neck, even the gentle caress of the tip of the sword causing a small line of green to trail down form the point of contact, Chrysalis valiantly trying and failing to hide her race's weakness to cold.

"Kel'Thuzad!" Shining roared to his archmage, the lich startled by the intensity and deepening tone of his voice.

"Yes master?" Kel'Thuzad bowed, the past few minutes admittedly... scaring him.

Him.

Of all people...

Er... ponies...

I think?

"I want you to bring what's left of that mongrel up here. I want to see how brave our little queen is when her beloved 'child' is forked back over to her in a coffin..." Shining chuckled darkly, the blade of Frostmourne lowering ever so slightly from Chrysalis' throat, the queen taking the brief opportunity to speak her mind.

"Master..." the lich started, only to be cut off by their 'guest'.

"I have no reason to lie, Shining Armor. Why would I send an assassin? If I wished peace between our species, the murder of Equestrian royalty would definitely make that close to impossible." Shining's greatsword was once more pressed a little more firmly against the changeling's soft throat, the runeblade fizzling and popping form the warmth of her protective chitin.

"Lie again. See what happens." Shining growled, licking his lips, as if desperate to spill this mare's blood. Cadence seized the moment, and grabbed Shining with her magic, dragging her husband over to her, the changeling queen finally being able to breathe properly again without the fear of puncturing her throat on the unnaturally sharp blade of Frostmourne.

"Shining! What has gotten into you?" Cadence scolded, shielded her and her husband's face from view with her wings, the alicorn giving her husband a concerned look. Shining grimaced at her, before sighing, Frostmourne clattering loudly to the floor next to him.

Meanwhile, across the room, the archlich sat in quiet observation, his mind whirling and spinning.

Shining seems...

Aggressive... Brash...

Foolish...

Kel'Thuzad's jagged teeth nearly dropped as Shining whipped his head once, bringing a single hoof up to brush his mane out of his eyes...

The same way Arthas did with his hair when he was... stressed...

Damn it all...

Before another word could utter from anyone else, the Archlich's claw leaped upwards, a blunted frostbolt exploding from his palm with the speed of an arrow in flight. The projectile traveled nearly aster than the eye could catch, and hit the side of the prince's head with a 'clunk'.

Cadence gasped, and squeaked as Shining fell to the side, completely unconscious. The alicorn of death impacted the crystal flooring without a groan, and laid still. Cadence slowly turned to face the lich, his claw still outstretched from his spell. She coughed once to clear her throat, and strode ever gracefully past a stuttering Chrysalis, the changeling quite obviously confused.

"Kel'Thuzad?" she asked rather calmly, surprising the archlich. Kel'Thuzad hurriedly lowered his hand, turning to his approaching mistress.

"Yes, milady?" he bowed, attempting to be as respectful as possible, considering he just knocked his king unconscious...

"Would you kindly explain to me why my hubby is on the floor right now?" she asked, a concerned, not angry look covering her muzzle. Kel'Thuzad stuttered once, then spoke.

"Of course, milady. Your husband... well... he was not currently your husband. If my hypothesis is correct, a fragment of his predecessor revealed itself to me through his actions and emotions, albeit unknowingly. I incapacitated him to... prevent further hostilities and insults. I am sorry for my treachery and will accept any punishment you deem fit for this transgression..." Kel'Thuzad bowed deeply, ready to accept his scolding, or trip to the Twisting Nether.

Or maybe both! I've always liked to have a bit of variety in my life... er... unlife...

"I... I don't think that will be necessary, Kel'Thuzad. Could... could you just lead Chrysalis to her guest room, please?" Cadence sighed, a small smile once again decorating her muzzle. Kel'Thuzad nearly fell backwards in surprise.

"You... you are sure, my queen?" Kel'Thuzad asked, surprised by the alicorn's... kindness.

He just attacked his ruler and knocked him unconscious, for god's sake! Cadence nodded, lying down on the floor next to Shining's form, her wing reaching out to stroke his still body.

"Kel'Thuzad, these... episodes, HAVE to stop. I can't run a kingdom by myself. My husband needs to be able to take over at some points, and he cant do that if he goes ballistic every few days! I hate to be a bother, and absolutely loathe demanding things of ponies..."

"BUT YOU NEED TO FIND A WAY TO STOP THIS!!!" Cadence roared, the outburst of energy produced by her magically amplified command rocking the castle grounds, several shards of crystal falling form the ceiling above them, echoing as they hit the floor. "I DON'T CARE WHAT OR HOW LONG IT TAKES!"

Kel'Thuzad visibly flinched, the mare's outburst catching him off-guard. It was not often that the seasoned mage accidently showed weakness to anyone, even his master! The fact that his normally peaceful co-ruler effected him in such a way...

Made him immensely proud. If nothing else, his presence here had given the mare a tougher skin. The archlich grinned in personal delight, before quickly bowing stiffly to his queen.

"Of course, milady. Will there be anything else for tonight?" he asked, rising to his full stature once more. The lich's eyes darted to the left, and he snapped his fingers once, motioning for the changeling sitting nearby to come to his side. The queen growled, and several long, predatory lunges and strides, the insectoid equine was in his face, a slightly curved hoof yanking him down to her level by one of his chains with surprising force, the lich nearly yelping in surprise.

"Listen here, freak. I have no quarrels with you or your... cursed existence, but I will not tolerate being treated like a pet." the queen hissed, her eye's pupils elongating to form perfect slits.

"Are." the queen pulled tighter.

"We." Tighter.

"CLEAR?"

.........

"Heh... we're clear. But let me tell you something, Chrysalis..." Kel'Thuzad countered, a look of surprising calm covering his skull.

Ina single move, the lich had the queen hogtied and upside-down once more, her legs attempting to flail against the saronite chains that bound her to her captor.

"I have little to no respect for you, after what you have done to my friends. If it were up to me, your husk would be decorating the battlements of this keep right now. I could kill you four times over before Lady Cadence could even move. You would be little more than a pile of ash." Chrysalis whimpered now, his scarlet pupils boring into hers. She shivered from the cold of the lich's breath, his very presence chilling her to the bone.

"You have to earn your respect like everyone... everypony else did." The lich spoke. He then turned her right side up, the changeling yelping as she was dropped back to the floor. "Threatening an old man is definitely not getting you any points..."

Chrysalis snorted in annoyance, and sauntered off down the hall towards the entrance to the throne room, her walk more akin to that of a succubus than a monarch. A single guard looked her over as she passed, only to be hissed at by the changeling. The guard yelped in fear, dropping his spear before backing as far back into the wall as he could. The queen then started off towards the royal quarter automatically, obviously having been in the keep before.

Not surprising...

"Anything else, my queen?" Kel'Thuzad asked once more, turning to the couple, Shining still unconscious with Cadence nuzzling him gently.

"No, Kel'Thuzad. That will be all..." Cadence nodded to her archmage, who bowed in return. "Just... just make sure to solve this quickly, please." Cadence smiled.

"I will try my best, milady." Kel'Thuzad promised, bowing once more. He then turned from the royals, floating swiftly past the trembling guard to catch up with Chrysalis.

Author's Note

Finally, I'm back! I decided to take a small break, and punch out a few chapters that I will be posting approximately two days between them. A little off my plate, I guess.

Anyway, glad to be back.

A Talk Between Former Villains

Kel'Thuzad sighed as he followed the changeling queen through the halls of the Crystal Palace, her lanky form slinking past any guards that stood in her way, and straight up hissing a few of them out of her way. Now, Kel'Thuzad was a former villain himself, albeit a much more violent and sinister one, if he did say so himself. He sympathized little to none with Chrysalis, but he realized that, as a monarch, she wished the best for her people.

As the former second-in-command and sort of ambassador for the Scourge under Arthas, he realized the importance of security and resources. He was the one who oversaw the massive undertaking of the construction and maintenance of the saronite mines in the Borean Tundra. He was the one who organized the worship and reverence of Arthas by the Vrykul clans. He was the one who organized the ONLY peace treaty the Scourge ever honored. The combined efforts of the Twilight's Hammer Cult and the Silithid under the Old God C'Thun were particularly interested in the Archlich's destruction in the days after Arthas' ascension, but saw the encroaching threat of the peoples of Azeroth to be more of a threat, and agreed to a hastily constructed truce between them.

Though, his limited political experience would do little to slow the queen he currently pursued.

"Chrysalis!" Kel'Thuzad bellowed once more, floating quickly towards the changeling queen, whom had just disappeared around the corner of a wall, quite obviously trying to get away from him for some reason. With a huff of annoyance, the lich turned the corner, only to be met with an empty hallway. "Chrysalis, come out. I... I want to apologize for my actions."

Now, as a human, his eyes were limited by their age, and imperfection. Another blessing of undeath, in particular lichdom, was the fact that your magically constructed and maintained eyes were near perfect, able to see in the lowest light, and the notice the most subtle of changes in environment or characteristics of your enemies.

Despite these advantages, the changeling queen was no where to be seen.

"Sir... who are you talking to?"

Kel'Thuzad whirled around in an instant, his robes creating a gust of frigid wind as he did, chilling the small guard behind him.

Another blessing of lichdom. No legs help when skirmishing, and definitely helps turn the body without consequence.

The stallion trembled as the sorcerer looked down upon him, obviously questioning his sudden, but opportune appearance.

"What, you haven't seen her?" Kel'Thuzad asked, a small smile of disbelief decorating his skull. The guard shook his head quickly, his spear quivering in his hooves as he shook from the cold of the lich's very presence.

Poor lad, he must be new...

"Don't worry, lad. I won't hurt you." he chuckled, floating down to humorously look the stallion in the eyes, the lich's ribcage nearly touching the crystalline floor. The guard visibly relaxed as he did, and sat down on his flank, propping his spear up against the wall.

"No...I don't think I've seen her..." The guard yawned, shaking his head once.

"Tall, black, green mane, wings?" Kel'Thuzad raised an eyebrow when the guard shook his head once more, a look of utter confusion plastering his muzzle.

Kel'Thuzad sighed.

Well... I may be dead, but I noticed one thing about her that I'm sure other males would...

.........

"Flanks of a goddess?"

"Ohhhhhh... yeah her. Yeah, she ducked into one of those rooms over there. Seemed pretty distraught about something. Tears running down her face and all..." The guard sighed slightly, looking to the room that the queen had ducked into. "Poor girl... she's too beautiful to be crying like that..."

The lich rolled his eyes in their sockets at the guards corny remark, turning to float towards the door.

"Thank you, lad. That will be all." Kel'Thuzad smirked, a single chain coiling around his form towards the guard that was just about to reach the very corner that the queen had disappeared around. With a strangled yelp, the stallion was grasped by the hind leg by the frigid metal snake, and the guard's head turned to the lich, who had an impassive look on his face.

"I must admit, your skill in illusions and acting are by far the best I've ever seen." Kel'Thuzad complimented, the snake of metal recoiling back into orbit around him with a *snap*. "I'd expect nothing less for the queen of a race of shape-shifters."

The guard snorted, before turning a sickly green, and dropping the illusion around him. Where the guard once stood, the unmistakable form of Chrysalis emerged from a gout of green flame, her serpentine eyes flickering open as the last of the spell wore off.

"Damn. What gave me away, if I may ask?" Chrysalis asked, her form slinking over to the lich, who's arms crossed behind his back in respect. Unlike before, a smile decorated the queen's face. Obviously, she enjoyed her little ruse.

"Well, the first thing is that your eyes had a slight greenish tinge to them. Nothing that could be noticed at first glance, but it becomes quite noticeable when you stare." Kel'Thuzad explained, the queen nodding in understanding. It wasn't everyday that she got feedback on the quality of her disguises. "Secondly, you were not exactly... convincing, when you described yourself entering the room. You need more conviction. To sound more sure of yourself."

"Noted. Anything else?" Chrysalis asked, following the archlich as he floated towards the Royal Quarter. Kel'Thuzad looked to the queen, and chuckled, holding in a full laugh.

"Chrysalis, I don't mind sharing the fact that I'm a wizard. A very good one, at that." Chrysalis nodded, turning the corner of the hallway as they reached it, trying to keep up with the tireless pace of the lich. "My specialty, as you might have guessed, is necromancy. Or conjuration, whichever you prefer." Kel'Thuzad explained.

"Okay? Your point?" Chrysalis asked, the lich's cryptic messages not getting through to her. Kel'Thuzad laughed once more.

"My point is, I know the basic anatomy and the inner workings of most creatures." Kel'Thuzad explained, a grin growing on his face, much to the queen's dismay.

"In short, you forgot your stallion's balls, Queen Chrysalis." he chuckled, stopping in front of an unoccupied room next to his.

"I... you....... damn it." she blushed, the color of her chitin turning to dark purple on her cheeks. The door clicked open with a wave of the lich's left claw, and he floated aside. He bowed before her, and beckoned to the room with his right arm.

"Ladies first."

"Thank you. Why such the gentleman all of a sudden?" she asked, walking into the room, only to be greeted by the comforting sight of a warm fire, several armchairs, a huge bed, and a perfect view of the expansive courtyard.

"I just wanted you to know that what I said I think of you in the throne room is not entirely true." Kel'Thuzad explained, his form floating through the high door of the room. "While I do not particularly care for your treatment of my rulers, I know the importance of sacrifice and chances when it comes to ruling a nation. What you did was noble, in a way. Not many royals I knew back on my homeworld would be the first one to go deep into enemy lines, risking execution for their kingdom. You did what you did for your people, and I can respect that." the lich bowed in respect, the queen stammering in disbelief.

"I... I don't know what to say..." Chrysalis stammered. The queen sat down on her flanks before the fire, staring deep into it's comforting form.

"Oh, and by the way, I would avoid Shining Armor for the time being." Kel'Thuzad explained. "He is... under the influence of some very potent and powerful magics, and I fear next time I may not be able to hold back his blade successfully..." the lich explained, turning to leave the room. Chrysalis nodded, before something dawned upon her, and she stopped him.

"Wait!"

The lich turned to the queen, a look of questioning covering his face.

"May you please tell your guards to send my king to me?" she pleaded, a look of need decorating her face. "He should be already hidden among your guards. just send the word along."

"You have my word, milady..." the lich bowed once more. "Pleasant dreams."

With that, he closed the door to her chambers.

"It has been a long time... lich..." Kel'Thuzad looked to his left, towards the voice.

What he saw was the largest changeling he had seen thus far. He dwarfed the queen's size easily, and was adorned in gold-rimmed purple armor, most likely made of chitin. His voice was gravelly, and hissing in tone, and all too familiar.

"So... you're the king, then?" the lich asked, crossing his arms over his ribcage.

"You will regret tormenting MY QUEEN!"

With that, the colossal changeling charged, the warscreech of a Nerubian Underlord echoing through the halls of the Royal Quarter.

When Former Colleagues Clash

"DIE, SCOURGE SCUM!" the chitinous voice of the changeling roared, the unexpected and swiftly executed attack admittedly catching the archlich off-guard. Before the mage could even raise his arms in defense, his former 'friend' was upon him. With a sickening *SNAP*, the archlich was smashed into the wall beside Chrysalis' door, several of his ribs fracturing and falling to the floor as his body collided with the hard crystal. Anub'arak roared, and collapsed the archlich's sternum inwards with a single hoof, earning a yelp of surprise and reflex from Kel'Thuzad. Growling in more annoyance than anger, and with the help of his soul chains, the archlich pried the changeling stallion off of him, with surprising difficulty. With a sickening screech of bone on bone, he slashed Anub'arak once across the face with his right claw in a blind attack, knocking the stallion further away from himself to gain some metaphorical breathing room. Now in a battle stance, and recovered from the skirmish the lich hastily teleported several dozen yards up the hallway, towards the entrance of the Royal Quarter. Quickly raising a ward around himself, Kel'Thuzad awaited the former nerubian's next move.

The door to Chrysalis' door swung open, startling the males further into their defensive postures. The swift form of Chrysalis ran between the two of them, tears falling from her eyes. She hastily turned to her king, hissing and screeching in their foreign tongue. The great changeling's stance and visage immediately softened at the sight of his mate, and he moved slowly towards her, still wary of the archlich down the hall, whom had a readied frostbolt in either claw. The queen hummed her approval at her mate's arrival, a bug-like purring sounding from her throat as Anub'arak nuzzled her, positioning himself so that nearly her entire body was hidden from view.

Now, Kel'Thuzad had known the nerubian king for a long time, prior to his eventual third and final death, of course. He had known the infamous Traitor King as a ruthless and proficient fighter. As a skilled diplomat and fair ruler of an ancient and prosperous people. As a stalwart and hardened nerubian, not a gentle giant. Yet, that is what he had been reduced to, at the sight of his queen. The Anub'arak HE had known would have eviscerated one of his OWN queens before letting his opponent get away like this. Yet, here he was, once the proud and deadly Underlord of Azjol-Nerub, reduced to a purring mockery of the archlich's memories.

A startled-sounding yelp sounded from the queen, along with a screech of chitin-on-chitin. Chrysalis' mouth fell open like a broken hinge, and Anub'arak chuckled, his form lowering further unto her back.

"Um... Chrysalis?" Kel'Thuzad hesitantly asked, the lich having moved closer to the pair as they continued their... reunion...

The second the lich lowered his claws a centimeter more, the changeling king was already in the air, Chrysalis begging for him to stop the attack one more.

Should've known... bastard's nearly as dirty a fighter as I am...

Too smart for his own good...

With a mighty crash, and a roar of fury, the changeling's hooves collided with his ribs once again, another load *crack* signaling the severance of his spinal column. With a clatter of metal and cloth hitting crystal, the lich's robes fell to the floor, his form reduced to nothing more than a skeletal torso floating on a sea of cold. With awareness back on his side, Kel'Thuzad barely dodged a jab from the changeling's horn, the bladed chitin adorning it singing through the air as it passed his head.

"You want to fight dirty then, Nuby? Good..." the archlich chuckled, sending a flourish of shadowy bolts arcing towards the changeling, whom had retreated to regain his posture. The king barely dodged the majority of the shadow bolts, a few pinging uselessly against his thick armor. Not wanting Anub'arak to gain any more ground than he had already taken, the archlich threw down a few ice fields before him, before launching several more shadow bolts to keep the king busy.

"You will pay for what you did, Kel'Thuzad..." Anub'arak snarled, charging forwards once more, his bladed horn level with the lich's mangled torso. This time, however, Kel'Thuzad was ready for him, sidestepping as the changeling skidded past him, expertly slicing through the gap of his armor at the shoulder with a blade of hastily constructed, sharpened ice. The nerubian-turned equine roared in pain and fury, before bucking once, sending the archlich into the wall next to his own chamber's door. With a grunt of exertion, the mage lifted his destroyed body from the ground, just in time to avoid impalement by the bladed horn of Anub'arak, the armored chitin once again sailing by, inches from penetrating his skull.

"PLEASE! STOP!!"

"Lady Cadence?"

With a quick glance, the princess came into view, dragging a barely conscious Shining Armor behind her, suspended in her telekinesis.

That quick glance cost him.

With a triumphant snarl, the changeling penetrated the lich's skull successfully, the blade going up through the roof of his mouth, and out of the dome of his head, the headpiece atop it clattering loudly to the crystal floor. With a gurgling growl of sheer fury now, the archlich lashed out at the king, blades of brittle and rusted metal lashing the changeling form all sides, attempting to repel the attacker of their master. With his own hands, the lich reached up, and with a swift pull, and a twist to the right, a sickening crack echoed down the hall in either direction.

With a squelch of flesh and chitin tearing, the king's horn was ripped from his head.

"AGHH!" the king cried, a gout of green blood erupting from his wound, along with several pieces of twisted flesh.

With a crash, the changeling hit the floor, breathing labored, but stable.

The lich fell to the floor, the horn still stuck up through the top of his head. One of his eyes flickered slightly, before going out completely, the fight with the Underlord taxing him greatly. His energy and mana reserves were the lowest they had been since he had fought Nightmare, and it showed.

"You... Your mate... is... Anub'arak?!" Kel'Thuzad gurgled slightly, his hands reaching up to wrench the still-bleeding horn from his head. Chrysalis, however, was too busy nuzzling her mate, chittering and hissing once more.

"Kel'Thuzad! What is the meaning of this?!" Cadence angrily asked, her husband falling unceremoniously to the floor behind her with a grunt, seemingly forgotten for now. Kel'Thuzad slowly turned his battered and beaten form to the left, facing his queen. His strength was fading, fast. Already his other eye was flickering, on the verge of going out.

"Anub'arak... he attacked first... know him from... I... I... sorry..."

With that, the lich collapsed, his form disintegrating into nothingness as he directed the last of his energy into his master, hopefully speeding the recovery HE was responsible for.

Cadence looked hesitantly away from the deathbed of her vizier, to witness the look of grief and sorrow on Chrysalis' face as she nursed her mate's wound. The great changeling groaned, his wing gently opening from his side, to bring his queen in closer. Chrysalis immediately accepted the gesture, and was snuggled up within the larger changeling's form before Cadence could comment.

"Goddesses...what happened?"

Cadence whirled around, to find a clueless Shining Armor dizzily staring at the discarded robes of his friend, and the couple currently snuggling in the center of the hallway.

.........

For the first time since college, Cadence drank herself to sleep.

Friends Lost

Kel'Thuzad roared with excess anger and rage, throwing frostbolts and shadowbolts the size of greatswords around his personal hell, the high walls of his personal chamber aboard Naxxramas echoing with the bursting energies of the projectiles. With a final yell, his form was obscured in a blinding blizzard, his trademark psychopathic laughter reverberating along the cold winds of the spell. With a screech of overwhelming necromantic and arcane power, the storm dissipated.

Outwards.

The walls and wooden tables of his lair were beaten and battered, cracking and splintering with the sheer force of the explosion of ice and arcane energies. Lowering his hands, the lich turned to his throne, throwing his tireless body into it.

Even though he couldn't feel anything...

The spruce and ice throne had never felt so comfy...

That did little to suppress the rage he felt for his blindness and stupidity, however.

"GODS DAMN IT! OF ALL THE GODSDAMNED PEOPLE, WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM!?!?!" the archlich bellowed, his deep, echoing voice reverberating off of the battered and destroyed walls of the necropolis. With a snort, he conjured a refreshment table.

With a snarl, he unleashed a spell.

A single frostbolt destroyed the pristine oak table, the tall pitchers of wine and water exploding from the sheer cold of the spell. The bread and biscuits that accompanied the drinks decayed and cracked apart with the necromantic energies that were common in all of his spells. The small plate of assorted cheeses exploded everywhere, rotting and destroyed before they hit the floor. The plate of lamb chops went untouched by the initial blast, but quickly succumbed to rot and frost, the steam rising form it quickly dissipating to overwhelming mists of cold.

.........

The archlich felt better after his little temper tantrum...

For the moment, anyway...

I should have seen it coming. What with all my former... colleagues showing up. He was the first major servant of Ner'Zhul, for gods sake!

Kel'Thuzad clapped once, the room darkening, then illuminating at the center with magic. With a pop, the lich's personal library exploded into view, all manners of taboo, powerful, strange, and generally dark subjects contained within.

Despite the situation he found himself in, he wondered what Twilight's reaction to the bank of books that likely were the last of their kind. Their secrets lost to everyone but himself. His mind needed ease, and the surreal world of reading was most definitely a way to ease the mind.

She'd probably want to keep something... Maybe I shall bring her something back...

Kel'Thuzad always loved reading. Even before his nights blended into days, the lack of the familiar action of sleep admittedly causing him great stress and anxiety in the beginning of his unlife. When he was a boy, he would often spend hours in his mother's study, collecting all the knowledge he could into his young mind.

Part of me wishes she was still alive when I left for Northrend... maybe she would have been able to talk some sense into these old bones...

With a sigh, Kel'Thuzad grabbed a handful of his personal tomes, and retreated to his throne, fuming silently. He settled down into his imaginary paradise of peace and quiet, gazing over the four random titles he grabbed.

.........

The Cursed Beauty of Lichdom, By Grand Archlich Kel'Thuzad

Heh, Twilight would LOVE to have this one... pity she never will... lichdom is not for as free a spirit as hers...

With a chuckle, he thought over the outcome of such an act.

Her brother would most likely incinerate me...

He lifted the stack, and shoved the weathered book underneath it, looking at the tome atop the pile.

Building the Necropolis, By Obrahiim, the Traveler

HAH! Maybe this one... Obrahiim was a remarkable man. I always wondered where he ran off to...

With another shuffling of leather and paper, the next book was before him.

Secrets of The Netherstorm, By Anonymous

Never visited the place myself... though a comprehensive look at a land quite literally held together by magic would make an interesting gift...

Living with the Cold...

Kel'Thuzad's frozen heart sunk.

By Lady Jaina Proudmoore

I... I think I'll bring her this one...

The lich was still an archmage teaching in Dalaran when Jaina had started her lessons there. While Antonidas was her formal teacher, he had taught her a considerable amount about summoning and binding techniques. She also learned the basics of frost magic from him, later on. The two were close friends until the day he departed for Northrend. In fact, when he was leaving the city of magic, the young sorceress was one of the last faces he saw, before riding off for the shore, desperate to communicate once more with the voice he now knew as the Lich King.

She seemed... sad.

.........

"Kel'Thuzad!" Jaina yelled, her form hurriedly dashing after the elder wizard, his long, violet and golden robes billowing in the autumn winds of the Hillsbrad Foothills. The mage turned to the sorceress, his gaze softening at the sight of the young woman his student had become.

"Jaina..."

With a grunt, the aged wizard was embraced by the younger mage, a sniffle sounding from within his chest, the mage quite obviously disheartened by his departure.

"Kel'Thuzad, Antonidas told me you were leaving the Council! That isn't true, is it?!" she whimpered, her eyes showing actual concern for the wizard's rather sudden decision. With a sigh, Kel'Thuzad reached up to wipe a single tear from her face, Jaina's tears running even stronger down her face from the action.

"Jaina... do you remember what I told you when we started your lessons?" the wizard asked, a look of fatherly concern blanketing his face. Jaina gulped in between sobs, the usually steadfast and determined young woman broken apart by grief at the thought and sight of one of her friends leaving, possibly forever. She nodded quickly, another shiver of sadness running through her body.

"Magic... magic doesn't take sides. It chooses it's own path, but can be influenced by those who speak it's language." she smiled sadly, now understanding.

"This is about our rules, isn't it?" she asked. She had caught him in his study earlier that month, testing his primitive reanimation magics on rats. The elder wizard had pleaded that Jaina not tell a soul, to which she agreed.

"Yes. This is about the city's rules. I am no longer welcome within this city, because of my devotion to studying magic, of all things!" he huffed, a look of contempt covering his face as he stared up to the Violet Keep, at approximately the same spot as Antonidas' chambers.

Stubborn old fool... I'll show him.

"But... but..." Jaina tried to counter the mage's decision, trying desperately to dig through her grief-stricken mind to find a good reason for him to stay.

Kel'Thuzad silenced her pleas with an embrace. Jaina dove into his robes, her tears staining the enchanted cloth of the mage. With a gentle push, the young mage withdrew from his embrace.

"Jaina... I want you to keep something safe for me." Kel'Thuzad turned to his right, the staff that he held within his grasp the center of his attention. "This staff has been my friend for nearly thirty years, Jaina. Its seen me through thick and thin. Never once has it broken or shattered, and it's oak shaft has saved my skin from an Orcish blade more times than can be counted. But, she's an old war horse, and were I'm going, I'll need a walking stick, not a war staff."

"Kel'Thuzad... I..."

The wizard shoved the staff into her hands, the trembling mage clutching to it with an almost desperate grip.

"Take care of her for me."

Jaina sniffled once, nodding to the wizard as he hugged her once more.

"Goodbye, Jaina." he whispered, withdrawing from her embrace slowly, the sorceress whimpering once as he did, almost desperate to not see her friend leave the city forever. Kel'Thuzad remained steadfast.

He did not look back.

Not once.

.........

The lich sniffled lightly, images of his former apprentice flashing through his head. The next time he saw her, a frostbolt of anger and betrayal entered his neck, the necromancer seeing the sorceress' teary eyes for a moment as he took his dying breaths.

When he assaulted Dalaran with Arthas and Archimonde, he saw her once more. Galloping away from the city on horseback, a group of younglings and mages in tow.

He could have killed her.

Warned Arthas or the Eredar of her escape.

But he didn't.

As she rode away, he caught a glimpse of something glinting in her right hand.

His staff.

She had kept it, even after everything.

For a moment, the lich had regained lucidity. Enough to overlook the mage's escape.

Barely.

I... I never meant for her to die...

The last time he had seen her, or anything for that matter, was when he died for the last time.

At Karazhan.

In the crypts...

She had tried to stop him. To prevent his ritual to raise the army that awaited him within the crypts.

She finally broke through his wards as he finished the ritual.

The magic...

It tore her apart...

She was little more than ash when he turned to face her, a few paltry scraps of bone and robe still recognizable. Not that her death meant much at that point. The archlich was mad with rage and loyalty to his king. As the adventurers that followed her finally defeated him, he regained enough sanity to mourn for his old friend, however briefly...

He missed her...

.........

"Wait." he said aloud, the archlich's mind reeling back to the moment he started his lessons with Twilight, nearly a month ago today.

The question he asked her, and her response to it...

Magic itself is not evil. Those who use it choose it's use...

.........

That sealed it.

When he returned to the land of the living, he would test his theory.

As he sat it his mind, deep within the cold dark of the Twisting Nether...

He prayed to the Light for the first time in nearly a millennia...

Prayed for his friend back...

Author's Note

Now, before you all start yapping about the idea of Kel'Thuzad teaching Jaina along with Antonidas, the theory isn't too far fetched. They were both in Dalaran when Jaina first enrolled, so it would make sense that Kel would have taught her in a few classes. Also, Jaina was highly proficient with Frost magics, and Antonidas was a master of Arcane. Ever wondered who taught her the power of the cold?

Also, this IS an alternate universe.

Talk Between Kings

Author's Note

Okay, few things.

One, I apologize for the delay. AGAIN. Life has been throwing me a few curveballs the past few days, and as much as I wish it were not so, real life must come first. Horse life can wait.

Two, this chapter is... suggestive throught the length of it, due to Chrysalis' nature and the nature of changelings in general. Apologies for anyone made uncomfortable by this, but it is simply a chapter that must happen.

Three, hopefully the next chapter of Twilight's Lessons should be up soon.

Glad to be back,

Lich-Lord Krosis
Dragon Priest of Sorrow

Talk Between Kings

"So... should we so this... later?" Shining asked, watching the nerubian-turned-changeling lie in bed beside his queen. Said queen was... rather sensually caressing and smothering her king, making the whole situation...

Awkward, to say the least...

That and the fact that the changeling king was nearly larger than he was, or course. Shining wouldn't have admitted it lightly, but he rather enjoyed his new size, for several reasons.

One. Nopony wants to mess with a prince. ABSOLUTELY nopony wants to mess with a prince nearly the size of a small carriage.

Two. Shining was always a larger stallion, and liked to think that he was rather humble in his treatment of his inborn gift of height. His new stature not only helped intimidate and... persuade, but also allowed him to hold and cuddle his wife like a proper stallion should.

Three.

Well...

Cadence in particular seemed to like reason number three...

Nevertheless, the massive insectoid equine before him opened his eyes, to say the least.

"Nonsense. I was the one who invited you here, Lich King." Anub'arak droned, his eyes widening suddenly. Chrysalis growled lightly, before grinding the underside of her body against his side, resulting in an irritating *screech* of chitin on chitin. Both of the kings heads turned to the queen, her face lighting up in a vibrant purple blush as she realized the inappropriateness of the action she just committed...

"Chrysalis, can you not do... THAT, right now, dear?" Anub'arak slowly said, a gentle nuzzle from his nose gracing his queen's. She nodded quickly, a violet blush adorning her face, before retreating slightly further behind her mate's gargantuan form. That didn't stop her from continuing her allowed 'molestation' of her king.

.........

"Forgive me for asking, but is there a reason you are... um..." Shining stammered, quite obviously embarrassed by the queen's antics.

"What, can a queen not express her love for her king?" she mocked, her tongue flicking out to lick the outside of her lips, a rather forceful nuzzle to the injured king's back following the rather provocative gesture. Biting back an insult at the succubus' behavior, Shining instead turned to the much larger changeling for an explanation. Anub'arak sighed, before turning his obviously flexible neck to view his queen.

"Chrysalis, why don't you go get us some champagne? You always were rather insistent on me trying it..." he near whispered, the great changeling's chest rumbling as he cleared his throat afterwards. A look of brief confusion adorned the queen's face, followed by a knowing smirk of desire.

"Mmmm... that sounds delightful, Nuby... I'll be right back..." Chrysalis purred, her form relinquishing itself from his presence. She sauntered through the room, and made her way out the door, into the hall, her hips lurching left and right in a provocative motion. Anub'arak sighed in half relief, his great form creaking back into a more comfortable position as he rearranged his body.

"I apologize for my beloved's actions, my king. She... she is very protective of me, you see." he stammered, apologies clearly not something he gave often enough to have practice. "She was only trying to speed my recovery. Though... she may also be in heat, as well." he smiled sheepishly. This earned a chuckle and nod of understanding from Shining.

Being married to the Princess of Love meant a few things.

Cadence loved to help others find love, and as such, Shining became a sort of harbinger for that particular job. She was a firm supporter of all things loving and devoted in nature, and was quite vocal about this fact.

Also, it turns out being the Princess of Love also came with the second title of Lust...

Needless to say, Shining slept little to none for the first three days of their honeymoon in the Germanian Alps, and required a near two-day slumber afterwards.

.........

"So... what is it you would like to talk about, King Anub'arak?" Shining asked, his hooves fidgeting across the floor before him. Anub'arak's gaze snapped quickly away from Frostmourne's half-visible form, secured to Shining's hip. Shining turned to the blade, and then back to the king. "Oh... do you wish me to put this in my room, Anub'arak? If you are uncomfortable with it, I may move..."

"No!" Anub'arak stopped him with a wave of his hooves. "I... I must learn to deal with it's presence in my life once more. I cannot run from it any longer." Anub'arak clattered to his hooves, before lunging forwards slightly as he attempted to stand up straight.

"On the subject of my summons of you, my king, I would like to discuss my... allegiance." Anub'arak sighed, looking the stallion in the eyes.

"Your... allegiance?" Shining asked, unsure of the changeling king's meaning. Anub'arak chuckled, before explaining.

"My king, I am bound to you, the same as Kel'Thuzad is. Surely the lich had told you of this?" he inquired questioningly, his left eyebrow raising in suspicion. Shining shook his head, before talking.

"No, I was never informed of your existence, actually..." Shining admitted, seemingly to the changeling's surprise. "I've seen glimpses of... your kind, the Nerubians, but never was I given a name to match their leader."

Anub'arak nodded in understanding.

"Perhaps you remember this, then..."

With that, the changeling was engulfed in flames, the green tinge of transformation spreading over his body.

Slowly, the flames grew to nearly reach the top of the doorframe to the room, a great grinding and screeching of chitin armor sounding through the room. With a burst of illusion magic, the flames dissipated.

"Look familiar now, my king?"

Shining nodded, his muzzle hanging slightly open at the true size of his newest 'servant'.

Goddesses above... he's monstrous...

While Kel'Thuzad easily trumped the beetle in terms of height, in terms of sheer size, the Nerubian Underlord won out. Nearly twice his size, the massive insect's form was covered in dark purple and blue chitin, rimmed and gilded in ropes of gold. His jagged, insectoid mouth opened and closed slowly as he breathed, and the king's headpiece jangled metallically as he scratched behind his left... ear?

He scratched...

Those scythes of arms, straight out of a foal's nightmares, so deadly in combat, used for such a simple and harmless task. The stallion almost tried to stop the king. His attention was then drawn to the four, muscular legs that held the insect's body aloft. Each one was draped in the same armor as his body, and left sizeable dents in the crystal flooring form the king's weight.

"My king? Are you well?" Anub'arak inquired, his head cocking slightly to the left in confusion at his silence. Shining snapped out of his examination, before nodding quickly.

"Yes, Anub'arak. I... I'm fine." he lied. In truth, Shining Armor LOATHED bugs and spiders of all sorts, which was caused in no small part by the fact that he nearly married one. Regardless, the Lich King would need to suck it up, if he was to continue to see the king's presence throught the palace.

"My king, I can revert back to my..."

"That won't be necessary, Anub'arak. I... I'm just stressed, as all." Shining took a deep breath, before realizing something.

"Anub'arak?"

"Yes, my king?"

"Is there a particular reason you murdered my archmage?"

At this question, the nerubian's cheeks turned bright red.

"I... I could not stand to see him treat my beloved the way he did, regardless of his apology later on. I will accept responsibility for that, and assure you it will not happen again."

Shining nodded.

He's lucky Kel'Thuzad seems pretty lenient about dying every other day at this point...

As he opened his mouth to make a rebuttal, the changeling queen slammed through the door, holding a large case of Prench champagne in her magical grip. She smiled sheepishly, gently putting the small hoard of alcohol down at the foot of the bed, before rushing to her transformed king's side. She growled lightly, rubbing her flank against the nerubian's left back leg, earning a deep chuckle from the king, along with a gentle caress from his jagged claws, which once again betrayed their true purpose.

I can take a hint. Besides, I'm pretty sure Cadence is still up...

"I... I think I shall retire, for the night, then. Goodnight, Anub'arak."

The Underlord nodded in agreement, likely for different reasons.

"To you as well, my king..."

"To you as well..."

Pillow Talk and First Meetings

With a heavy sigh, the prince collapsed to his bed, the princess reading silently unresponsive to her husband's antics.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked without looking away from her novel. Shining muttered something into his pillow, a burst of magic erupting from his horn. Frostmourne lit up with the blue aura that had become the symbol for the prince's magical grip, and floated towards its pedestal, specially crafted by Kel'Thuzad himself. The lich had been VERY keen on the prince not being anywhere NEAR Cadence with the greatsword attached to him.

"Ugh..." Shining groaned, shuffling further up the bed, attempting to get his gargantuan body fully on top of it. Cadence lowered her book to witness a laughable scene. Shining was face-down in his pillow, his rump several feet into the air. His wings were lazily drawn to his sides, the one closer to her actually unfolded somewhat, sprawling out to cover her much of her own side of the bed.

"Tired, Shiny?" Cadence laughed, floating her book over to the nightstand nearby. She then flopped herself onto her side, her back and flanks pressed up against her king's underbelly. Shining took a few moments to respond, seeing as he had to dig his muzzle out of the fluffy pillows that kept him hostage.

"No, just annoyed." he admitted, sneakily grabbing his princess with one massive foreleg, before quickly lifting her. She squeaked in surprise, but stopped her struggles when she opened her eyes to come face-to-face with the same dorky colt she had fallen for all those years ago. The prince had used his unnatural strength to lift her atop his frame, their noses touching in an unspoken symbol of affection for one another. With a cocky smirk, the stallion leaned forwards, capturing his mate's muzzle with his own. The mare shivered at his aggressiveness, Shining usually waiting for her approval before initiating anything.

While she usually enjoyed her dominance when it came to their love life, having her hubby engage in the act was exciting.

"Ah! Shiny..." Cadence yelped, the prince quickly exiting their lip lock to nibble away at her withers, teasing the sensitive flesh with his probing teeth. Shining's smirk set her body ablaze with emotions, mostly those of the intimate nature. She wanted nothing more than to let her troubles and worries slip away into a night of loving passion with her husband, but business before pleasure.

As much as it pained her to interrupt her husband's advances, she had to know what the two kings had discussed.

Shining was enjoying himself, to say the least. Never before had the prince felt this... this... confident. Authoritative. Territorial, even. He felt it was his duty to protect and please his mate. He felt more aroused than he had since before his ascension.

So, when his princess groaned slightly, and pushed his bulky form away with a single, dainty forehoof, he felt panic unmatched.

Had he overstepped?!

Had he hurt her?!

UPSET HER?!

Whatever it was, he was ready for a scolding...

Or a night on the couch in the corner...

"Shiny? Are you okay, honey?" Cadence asked, her head cocked to the side. When she had literally pried herself away from her husband's affections, he had frozen. His heartrate, now nonexistent, was not the cause of concern. Shining had just started hyperventilating, and his pupils had shrunken to pinpricks of their usual size. When he started shaking like a leaf, the princess had to restrain her laughter.

He's scared of me?!

Cadence's adorable giggles brought the king down from his panic attack, his confusion evident in his face.

"Honey, you're not in trouble. I just need to know what you and Anub'arak discussed, then we can get back to our fun..." she slyly grinned, sensually grinding her body against his, causing a shiver of excitement to run through the large stallion's body.

For several moments, the prince stammered stupidly.

Then, something clicked in his head.

.........

"Anub'arak is still bound to me. He's undead, like me and Kel'Thuzad. He promises not to kill Kel'Thuzad again, and hopes that they can remedy whatever problems that there are between them. That's it."

Cadence spent several seconds stammering this time, her husband's rather abrupt and rapid explanation catching her brain off guard. She raised her hoof to ask a question, but the offending limb was quickly pushed back to the mattress by her husband's MUCH larger one.

"No. No words. FUN TIME." Shining growled playfully.

With that, the princess was pounced by her suddenly roguish husband.

.........

Kel'Thuzad was angry.

Well, more annoyed than angry, actually.

He had resurrected several hours ago, and had yet to tell his king. He needed time to think.

But, if anything is to be learned from the past, he had long stopped thinking.

He HAD to know.

With a grunt of annoyance, he slung his embroidered frostweave satchel over his skeletal shoulder. Throwing several items into it, including Jaina's frost magic spell book, he sighed.

This was it, then.

What will I tell her? Will she even remember me?

Shaking his skull violently, he rid himself of the thoughts. He'd thought enough. Any more, and he would stop himself from going through with the trip.

With a slice of saronite through air, the portal was made. From studying maps, he had pinpointed the approximate location of Ponyville, but was nearly clueless of the village's makeup and design, making the exact location of Twilight's residence a bit of a mystery to the lich. Shrugging to himself, Kel'Thuzad floated through the portal.

What's the worst that could happen?

.........

"AK! What the hell?!” Kel'Thuzad sputtered, the lich whipping around in confusion as copious liquid covered his chilled body. The substance froze bones together and inhibited his movement. When he was finally free of the sudden rainstorm, he turned around.

"Gods damn it all..." he spoke, his echoing voice traveling across the empty clearing quickly.

As he rid the last of the offending substance from his robes, the lich turned to his surroundings. Not much to be said. The small fountain he had teleported into decorated a large town square of sorts, spurting controlled streams of water into the surrounding miniature lake. The cobblestone and grass of the clearing were blanketed with a small layer of fresh snow, several small flurries still falling. The edges of the square were decorated with dormant food carts and booths, this part of town obviously used as a marketplace of sorts.

In the distance, the mage could make out the towering treehouse that HAD to be Twilight's library.

It was on the opposite side of town.

Damn...

"WOW... what are you?"

In an instant, the archlich was whirled around, a frostbolt ready to launch into the unsuspected pony's face.

His hand slowly lowered at the sight of the small group of foals he had probably just scarred for life.

"Uhh... hello?" the archlich greeted, his intimidating and horrifying presence probably scaring the children out of their minds.

He was soon proven wrong.

"Hi mister!" a small colt clumsily staggered forwards from his group, much to the dismay of his friends. His hooves were clearly not used to snow boots, seeing as the colt had stumbled several times in the few yards between them. A mishmash of brown and white fur decorated the young colt, and he spoke with a distinctively Gilnean accent, which caught the mage off guard.

"H-Hello, little one." the lich greeted, rather surprised at the hospitality of the small group.

"Well, howdy, mister! Welcome to Ponyville!" a filly in the back of the group greeted, much to the lich's surprise once more.

An awkward silence washed over the clearing, the only sounds to be heard being the gentle *clinks* and *clanks* of the lich's soul chains.

.........

"Say, do any of you know how to get to Ponyville Library, by chance?" Kel'Thuzad asked.

Before any of the other colts and fillies could answer, however, another voice piped up.

"I do! I live there!" a proud voice proclaimed. The lich's eyes scanned the small group, only to square on a small, lizard like being, purple in color.

Twilight's brother...

"Ah... Spike, I presume?" the lich greeted, his form slowly lowering to bow to the small whelp.

"Uhh... yeah. How do you know my name, sir?" he asked uneasily, quite obviously disturbed that this... thing, knew his name. The archlich chuckled, and raised to his full height once again.

"Come now, surely your sister has told you of me?"

Spike shook his head, his form visibly shaking in fear now.

"Well then, I believe introductions are in order."

"I am Kel'Thuzad. Archmage to your brother and sister-law, and vizier of the Crystal Court." he smirked.

This will be one LOOONG trip...

The Baron's Outing

Titus sighed, walking away from the Crystal Guard's barracks. It had been scarcely fifteen hours since he had arrived at the Crystal Capital, and he had already started regretting it.

Oh sure, he would have come eventually, if only inevitably to come and serve his new king...

He wanted to forget everything sometimes, just go back to the times before the fall of Lordaeron, when he would frequent the stables, feeding and caring for his living horses. When he would be actually able to FEEL the breeze run through his hair...

But no. Those times were long gone...

Titus stopped in his tracks to run a slightly shaking hoof across the bottom of his neck, feeling the small canyon of disfigured flesh traveling around it.

Long gone...

A laugh knocked him violently out from his reminiscing, his head rocketing to the right, facing the guard's bar.

Eh... why not? The guards deserve to know their captain...

Snorting once in amusement, the stallion turned his body towards the door, following the sounds of merriment and revelry that echoed from the establishment.

Now, at the height of his service to the Scourge in Stratholme, he had little to no personal time. Sure, he had nearly an entire, albeit undead-infested city at his disposal, but he had little to no meaningful relations with any of them, save Maleki, an aspiring student of his good friend, Kel'Thuzad. The man was a wreck, constantly wanting his station within the city to be spotless, as if he needed to impress him. He made sure that his robes were washed, his beard and hair trimmed... He even began going through the process of meticulously cleaning, repairing and even bathing his sector's ghouls and zombies.

Daily!

When asked why he performed the ludicrous and unsanitary task, he would usually reply, 'Just because the dead serve us, does not mean they should look dead...'

Other than his... questionable antics and horrendous case of mysophobia, the mage was an excellent necromancer. He never talked about much, other than his time on Scholomance, where he met and took a fast liking to Kel'Thuzad, who was then a human. The two apparently got along well, and it was when Kel'Thuzad had learned of Maleki's untimely death, several years after the Baron's death, that the archlich genuinely mourned for the loss of his friend. Quite the rare occurrence for the undead wizard.

Of course, this meant that Titus was there to... comfort him. The archlich, unlike other liches of the Scourge, was fully capable of displaying and acting upon emotions, as he had when the necromancer had died in Stratholme. He had called Titus up to his throne room, asking for... a friendly chat.

Not to discuss battle plans or stratagems, but to talk.

The two talked for nearly three days straight, talking about their lives in the Scourge, and how they sometimes missed their antics in Capital City or Dalaran when they were younger, how they missed their respective families. They were both quite obedient to their master however, so looking back on their marathon of a conversation was quite... hazy.

Maybe he would ask again, sometime.

"Hey, buddy. You alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Titus looked up to see several guards staring at him from their respective bar stools, the undead stallion having wandered into the establishment some time ago.

"Y-Yes! I'm fine. I'm fine." he uneasily smiled. The guards mostly shrugged and went back to their respective drinks or meals, ignoring the strange stallion.

"Titus, I presume?"

Another startling voice echoed from his rear right, and he darted around, instinct grabbing for his pistol. He realized his mistake, however, when he looked at the beautiful mare before him.

She was one of his master's... friends, if his memory served him well. Her wings and crown, however, told him quite a bit more.

"Baron Titus Rivendare, at your service."

He respectfully bowed, drawing his runeblade to ceremoniously place it upright before him.

Silence.

Giggling.

If the stallion could blush, his face would be cherry red. The mare was laughing at him.

"M-My apologies, your highness. I meant no offense..."

The mare rose a single hoof to silence him, the baron's muzzle closing. She smiled, patting the wooden seat next to her.

"Please, sit. I like to get to know the stallions and mares protecting my subjects."

Titus paused for a moment, but his chivalry eventually kicked in, and he nodded. Sliding gently into the cramped seat, he placed his gun and sword upon the table, to make his posture more comfortable for the both of them. The princess giggled, before offering a hoof.

In a manner befitting the prestigious rank of the mare, he kissed it.

"My word, such a gentlecolt..." Luna smiled, her eyes half-lidded, whether from desire or amusement, Titus couldn't guess. "But, as much as I enjoyed your gesture, I wanted a hoofshake..."

The baron raised an eyebrow, somewhat doubting if this mare was actually royalty.

"You... you want a hand... hoofshake?" he asked, unsure what to do. Luna giggled again, before grasping his hoof in her own, shaking them up and down.

"Princess Luna."

"I... a pleasure, your highness..." Titus nodded once more, a smile gracing his own muzzle. Luna smiled back, but it quickly reversed into a frown of concern, her muzzle hanging towards her drink.

"Is something wrong, you highness?" Titus asked. Luna looked up, a rather adorable pout adorning her muzzle.

"Now, I do not want this to be a prim and proper meeting. I want you to be yourself. I won't learn anything about you, otherwise."

"Y-Your highness..." Titus began to protest.

"Oh, and call me Luna, please." she smiled once more. "Please don't make me order that, either. I want this to be an enjoyable excursion, after all. Why else would I come to a bar?"

Titus looked her dead in the face for a few moments, unsure of what to do or say. Eventually, his gaze softened.

"Yes, your... sure, Luna."

.........

"So, you and archmage Kel'Thuzad knew eachother, then?" Luna asked, taking a small sip of her whisky, the burning fluid making her eyes water slightly. Titus nodded.

"You could say we were best friends, actually. Back when we were both human, of course." he chuckled, taking a rather sizable swig of his beer.

"What was he like before... well... that?" Luna asked. Titus thought for a moment, and laughed. "What?"

"Nothing, just never thought about how... smart he was. He was always smart, but he was a genius when it came to magic. Frost magic and Conjuration in particular." Titus looked back at his beer mug, watching the chilled fluid swirl. "Explains how effortlessly he took to Necromancy, like a fish to water."

Luna nodded, thanking the barmaid when she came back with another whiskey for her.

"He was always going on about how much he loved the snow when it was winter, how much he loved the falling leaves when it was autumn. He was a very... vocal guy, I guess. Always speaking his mind." Titus smiled sadly.

"What? Did something happen?" Luna asked him, her eyes holding genuine concern. Titus looked to her, and nodded grimly.

"The Sunwell happened. He took that harder than when his mother was killed in the First War..." Titus took another long drink from his beer. "The day he killed his brother. The day Kel'Thuzad the Archmage died. The day Archlich Kel'Thuzad was born, I guess. That, combined with the madness of the Lich King, drove him off the deep end." Rivendare sighed.

"He... he KILLED him?" Luna asked, shock plaguing her voice. She reassured herself that the actions were likely not his own, and that the Lich King was likely forcing him to, but the thought was no less... horrible. Titus nodded, and explained.

"As you likely know, he even resurrected his brother into a skeletal slave, trying desperately to fix his mistake. He never fully recovered from that, I don't think." Titus shivered, a chill running down his undead spine for the first time in a long time. "Do... do you mind if we don't talk about this, it makes me... uneasy..." Titus asked, looking to the princess.

"No! Of course not! I... I'm sorry for asking..." Luna panicked slightly, wondering if she had inadvertently overstepped. Titus shook his head, chuckling.

"Don't worry about it. It... it just makes me regret SO much more than I can handle at the moment." Titus admitted to his new... friend.

His first friend in nearly a millennia, and it was a magical pony princess.

Heh, wait till Kel hears about this... I'll never hear the end of it...

Warnings and Final Farewells

With a final, desperate kiss, Princess Cadence collapsed upon the prince, her dainty form slamming into him with surprising force. Not that Shining minded, of course.

After all, he was nearly three times her size now...

"Oh goddesses... I love you..." Cadence moaned, her mane and fur a sweaty mess, her tongue hanging limply from her muzzle. In an aggressive move, she attempted to attack Shining's face with her own once again. But before she could even reach his muzzle, she went limp, a sigh of appeasement exiting her open mouth. Shining chuckled, his eyes flagging, their 'games' finally catching up with his now nearly limitless stamina.

"Goodnight, Cady." he smiled down his chest at his princess, her form already gently raising and lowering with each peaceful breath. With a sigh, and a flick of his horn, a blanket draped itself over them, covering their rather large forms with it's coziness. His eyes slowly closed, the gentle caress of sleep finally embracing his mind.

.........

With a yelp, Shining fell to the stone floor, a somewhat plush carpet his only salvation from the unforgiving mineral.

"Ugh... what the buck?" Shining groaned, rubbing his head with a now... fleshy foreleg?! The Lich King rocketed up from his prone position, his massive wings helping to propel his form from the floor. With a few, nervous giggles, the stallion looked down at his form, the extensive bandages and gauze padding gone, replaced once more with smooth, ivory fur, as whole as the day he was born. His foreleg rose up to test it, the appendage pushing into the hardened, muscled flesh, albeit only a few centimeters.

"I'm guessing you're glad to have that back, then?"

Shining whipped around, his horn flaring with visible cold and frost, at the ready for combat. His eyes darted around the unusually dark room with haste, desperately trying to find the source of the voice.

"Don't worry, Shining. I'm not here for violence. In fact, congratulations are in order..." the disembodied voice proclaimed, a gentle echo accompanying it's every word. Shining, unconvinced by it's claims, did not back down from his battle stance.

"Celestia chose her guards well it seems. You are not one to back down at mere reassurances or words..." the male voice chuckled, accompanied by a *snap* of magic, echoing from the prince's right. "Perhaps a more... face-to-face approach is in order, then..."

In a flash, the room was illuminated by the soft glow of a wood fire, revealing the voice's master. A large, ivory stallion sat reclined in an armchair before the hearth, his form turned to Shining. His mane and eyes were a silvery-grey color, further cementing Shining's hastily formed identity for the mystery stallion.

"Th-Thanatarius?" Shining half-whimpered, his horn quickly extinguishing. The large alicorn nodded, a chuckle rising from his throat. With a single, spindly hoof, the former god beckoned Shining over, patting a large armchair in front of the fire, next to his own. Reluctant to trust the stallion just yet, Shining hesitated. Instead of the expected insistence by the alicorn, Shining was confused when the stallion shrugged instead, taking a sip from the glass within his magical hold. Sighing in comfort, the aging stallion leaned back in his chair, his glassy eyes gazing into the crackling form of the fire.

Shining's mind was desperately trying to process the situation. Not only was he supposed to be in bed with Cadence right now, he was once again talking to the literal GOD of Death. What threw him for a loop, however, is the alicorn's form. When he had met him the first time, in the instance of death he experienced when he attempted to perform the ritual, the god's form was nearly nonexistent. All that Shining saw of the stallion was a vague shadow, covered in darkness and robes of black.

What Shining saw before him now...

It literally did not compute with the Lich King that THIS was the stallion that had given him his blessed curse.

"Thanatarius?" Shining half-growled, his body shaking in anger at the stallion's actions.

"Yes, Shining?" Thanatarius replied, not looking from the hearth before him.

"Would you mind telling me why you sent me a former mass murderer and an evil helmet as a way of helping?!" Shining spat, his eyes starting to pulse with cold once more, lines of blue echoing in waves form his pupils. Thanatarius seemed unaffected by the sudden change of tone, taking another sip of his beverage calmly, before setting the glass down on the coffee table before him.

"Simple. I didn't."

.........

"W-What?" Shining whimpered, his mind's fury extinguishing at the news. "Then... then who did?!"

"I... I am unsure." Thanatarius snorted, chuckling lightly as he turned his head to the Lich King. "What I do know, is the fact that my little stunt has cost me..."

"What stunt? The fact that your actions ended up killing your cousins?! The fact that you nearly DESTROYED EQUESTRIA!?!" Shining roared, the old stallion's words upsetting him to no end. The stallions looked eachother in the eyes for a few moments, rage running through one, and fatigue the other.

"No."

"The fact that I let you live, Shining..." Thanatarius smiled sadly, his eyes watering somewhat.

.........

In an instant, the mind of Shining Armor shattered.

"What?"

"You butchered MY ritual, but I let you live anyway. So don't you DARE TELL ME WHAT I DID AND DID NOT DO!" the stallion screeched, a shrill cough exiting his throat as he finished. He coughed for several moments afterwards, a glob of partially congealed blood flying from his open mouth as he did, splattering to the ground before him, staining the ornate carpet. Thanatarius breathed deeply once, and sighed calmly.

"W-Why? Why would you let me live?" Shining blurted out, barely thinking at this point. Thanatarius looked at him, a sigh of sadness loosing from his muzzle. With a strained grunt, the alicorn wrenched himself from his chair, somewhat limping to Shining. Batting away the younger stallion's attempts at helping him, the alicorn stood up straight, a light tremor running through him as he did.

"Because you're family, Shining." he smiled, lifting a shaking hoof to place it on Shining's shoulder. "You've no doubt learned of your eventual ascension, yes?"

"Yes..." Shining confirmed.

"Well, you weren't destined for my position. I may have forced it upon you, in fact." Thanatarius admitted, a serious look decorating his muzzle. "In some ways, I cursed you. But, I think we can both agree that being with the love of your life is worth any price, no?"

"Of course! I love Cadence! More than life itself!" Shining exclaimed. Thanatarius nodded.

"Exactly my point. But, I've payed the ultimate price for this." he smiled sadly, turning to limp back to his brandy.

"I'm dying, Shining."

Shining sputtered lightly, following him to sit upon the chair he offered earlier.

"But... but... you're DEATH! You can't die!" Shining exclaimed, rather childishly. Thanatarius chuckled, turning to the fire once more.

"No, you are, Shining."

"But... but you're an alicorn! You don't die forever! Celestia told me!"

"I'm not dying forever, either. I'm just... passing on." Thanatarius downed the rest of his drink, shaking lightly as the fiery liquid ran down his throat. "And it's nearly time."

"Shining, as much as you've impressed me, I didn't bring you here to congratulate you. I've contacted you for a simple reason..."

Shining looked to the aging stallion, a questioning gaze adorning his muzzle.

"Just... just watch yourself, Shining. Whomever sent this... lich, and the helmet, clearly has a motive involving your downfall. Considering how you've lashed out at your friends for no reason, their plan may already be in action."

"But who?! Who wants me dead?!" Shining exclaimed. Thanatarius just shook his head.

"You're a smart stallion, Shining. Use your... assets, to find out..."

"What about Kel'Thuzad?! Is he trustworthy?!" Shining asked, in alarm, this time, seeing as the aging stallion's eyes were gently fluttering closed.

"He... he is an honorable man, Shining. He won't betray his king. Not that he would if he had to. You've given him his life back, Shining. What that helmet made him do..."

"Thanatarius! What about Celestia and Luna!? Should I trust them?!" Shining shook the dying stallion lightly, his own vision starting to fade, the dream collapsing as the former alicorn of death lay dying.

"They... they can be trusted. They have no reason to hate or dislike you, despite what the helm has been telling... you..." he gasped for air this time, his throat dry.

Is... is this what its like to die?

"Take... care of... my granddaughter, Shining..."

"She deserves... happiness... love..."

"Peace..."

The breathing stopped.

The dream collapsed, leaving a teary-eyed Shining plummeting back to his bedroom, desperate for his wife's embrace.

I will...

Author's Note

After much debate, I've decided on Christopher Lee for Thanatarius' voice.

RIP Lord Saruman, you will be missed.

The Archlich's Visit

"So... you are Rarity's sister, yes?" Kel'Thuzad asked, floated gently along after the small group of children, the only sounds beside their occasional laughter the gentle crushing of snow beneath hooves or claws.

"Yes, mister Kel'Thuzad. In fact, I helped her make your new set of robes!" Sweetie Belle chimed, hopping up and down in excitement. The lich chuckled at her antics, but winced as his ornamental headpiece shifted once more, the small colt known as Pipsqueak making himself more comfortable on his shoulders.

"Blimey! I can see the whole town form up here!" he exclaimed, his hooves gently grasping the archlich's horns like some sort of horrific bicycle. Sighing, the lich attempted once again to make small talk.

"Rarity made me a new set of robes? Why?" Kel'Thuzad asked. Sweetie Belle stopped, and turned to the colossal undead mage, a look of pure disbelief on her face. Kel'Thuzad returned her look, along with a hint of uncertainty.

"You don't know about Hearth's Warming?!" Sweetie Belle asked, her form shaking form both disbelief and the cold of the air around her. "How?!"

"Wait... you celebrate Winter Veil?" the archlich asked, immense confusion mixed with questions plaguing his voice. Spike took the opportunity to turn around, a look of disbelief adorning his muzzle.

"I don't know about this... 'Winter Veil', but we celebrate Hearth's Warming. It's the time of year when the weather is coldest, and ponies and their loved ones gather to exchange gifts and be together." Spike explained. Kel'Thuzad nodded slowly, processing the information.

Well, perhaps this book can be a... 'Hearth's Warming' gift...

"You seriously didn't know about it?! How? Hearth's Warming is the most awesome holiday ever!" Scootaloo exclaimed, her diminutive wings flapping excitedly as they propelled several feet into the air. Kel'Thuzad laughed, before explaining his thoughts.

"On my homeworld, Hearth's Warming is called 'Winter Veil', you see. I effectively celebrate the same holiday, just with a different name."

"Ohhhhhh. So you do celebrate Hearth's Warming?" Sweetie Belle asked, continuing their trek through the frozen streets of Ponyville. Kel'Thuzad chuckled once more, before nodding.

"Yes, Sweetie. I do celebrate Hearth's Warming. I guess I'll have to find you and your sister a gift, then." he smiled, gently putting the small colt down, his antics causing quite the annoying case of neck stiffness. Pipsqueak quickly ran to the front, his adorable form clumsily trotting through the snow, much to the lich's amusement.

"So, how much further to the library?" Kel'Thuzad asked.

"Maybe a few blocks, why?" Spike replied, stepping around a particularly large patch of ice coating the street.

"No reason." Kel'Thuzad claimed.

In reality, the lich was terrified. He didn't know much about reincarnation, or LEGITIMATE reanimation. These were more his brother's or a shaman's fields.

But he did know souls.

Souls never change, no matter the form.

For instance, his soul is the same it is now as it was nearly a millennia ago, when he was born into the mortal world of Azeroth.

If Twilight was Jaina in a pony's body, he would know.

But even if Kel'Thuzad was reunited with his friend, he had not the slightest idea what he would say to her. He didn't even know if she would remember him, for god's sake!

Yet, even if Jaina was Twilight, and she remembered him when he gave her the book, he wouldn't regret it.

If anything, no matter how painful it was, he would have closure.

Kel'Thuzad shook his skull, snapping himself out of his thoughts just long enough to see the pink blur of a pony rushing his torso.

"KELLY!" Pinkie exclaimed, ignoring the biting cold of the lich's body, before hugging her pink form tightly around his ribcage. Miniature panic attack aside, and the frostbolt in his left hand extinguished, Kel'Thuzad chuckled. The archlich humored her, wrapping a single massive arm around her, raiaing the temperature of his frigid body, as well.

"It's good to see you to, Pinkie."

"Have you come down to celebrate Hearth's Warming? You have to come to my party tomorrow night! The Cakes would flip!" Pinkie exclaimed, proposing the interesting idea to the undead mage.

Yeah, they'd flip alright...

"Thank you for the offer, Pinkie. But I think I'd rather celebrate with Shining and Cadence at the Crystal Capital." Kel'Thuzad admitted.

For a number of reasons, he was quite doubtful that the general public of Equestria would not exactly enjoy their colts and fillies hanging out with a centuries-old lich from another world, no matter how friendly he acted or was...

"Oh silly! Shining and Cadence are coming down from the Crystal Empire, too!"

Well... damn it. Guess a reality check is order, then...

"I... I guess I will be attending, then!" he laughed. Pinkie jumped and hopped around him for the next few blocks, cheering about how she had never had a 'leech' at one of her parties before.

He didn't have the heart, metaphorically and physically, to correct the party pony.

As the topmost branches of the treehouse that was the Ponyville Library came into view, an epiphany hit Kel'Thuzad like a brick.

It was 1:32 in the morning, and children were running around. Now, the archlich didn't know children too well, seeing as the Scourge was quite lacking in younglings, save Frost Wyrm whelps Plague Hound pups.

Despite the obvious terrifying psychological effect undead children would have on their enemies, Scourge necromancers and death knights were given STRICT orders to not resurrect or deface the corpses of children or younglings of any race or sort. When he argued the effects it would have upon their enemies, Arthas was curiously adamant about that particular rule.

Perhaps a relic of his Paladin teachings.

Regardless, even though he was still under the influence of the Scourge's foul and suppressive magics, he would never have been able to forgive himself if he would have allowed such atrocities to be committed by himself and his underlings and colleagues.

Anyway, back to the point. Children are usually not supposed to be running around in the small hours of the morning.

"Come to think of it, aren't you little ones out a little past your bedtime?" he smirked, the several youngsters turning in horror to his revelation. The group stammered heavily, attempting to find a good answer.

Seems even colorful ponies need their youthful freedom...

Although... maybe I can give them their gifts a little early... along with every child in Equestria...

"See... we... um... heh..." Scootaloo attempted, but was stopped by the archlich, the undead mage raising his hand. She lowered her head, ready for a scolding. What she got was a chuckle from Kel'Thuzad.

"Children, it may not look it, but I was once young. I understand the rebellion that comes with it." Kel'Thuzad smiled. Nearly all of them sighed, clearly thankful that the lich took pity on them.

"And, as for your Hearth's Warming gifts..."

With a snap of his fingers, the mage cast his spell.

Slowly, the frozen forms of snowflakes fell from the sky. With cheerful smiles on their faces, the foals and whelp began to run around, their mouths open to the sky, desperate to catch their frozen treat.

"Enjoy it, children."

It won't be leaving for a few weeks... I imagine the schools won't like me very much...

.........

With a single, heavy hand, the loud knocking of bone on oak door sounded through the night air.

"Coming!"

The distant sounds of hooves impacting wooden flooring steadily got closer, and archlich's meaningless breaths slowed.

Here we go...

With a metallic squeak, the door swung open, revealing the violet mare inside.

When Twilight opened the door, the last person she expected to see greeted her.

"Kel? What are you doing here?"

.........

"Jaina..."

Without another word, the lich embraced the mare.

"I... I'm so sorry, Jaina. I... I wasn't myself. I... I didn't mean to kill you!" Kel'Thuzad sobbed, squeezing the life from the unicorn's body, much to her confusion.

"Kel'Thuzad, who's Jaina?! What did you do?!" Twilight attempted to get words out of the unusually affectionate archlich, but all she got was more uncomfortable, Kel'Thuzad squeezing her harder to his ribcage as she attempted to retreat.

Everything screamed Jaina to him. Her unusually bright soul. Her eyes, for the first time, matched her deep intelligence. Her voice, confident and sure.

How did he not notice before?!

How did he not recognize her?!

"Jaina... its me. Kel'Thuzad!" Kel'Thuzad held the mare close, looking down to her confused face. "You... you don't remember me, do you?"

"I... Kel'Thuzad... what?" Twilight responded, her brain drawing blanks. Thinking quickly, the lich let the unicorn down. Grabbing a handful of snow from outside with one of his colossal claws, he hurriedly transferred it to his magical grip. With a few precise blasts of ice, a model of his old staff, built to scale, was before the mare.

"Where... where did you see that?!" Twilight gasped, falling back on her haunches in disbelief.

She felt... cold around it. As if she was bathed in ice water.

She felt... dead.

"You recognize this staff, Twilight?" Kel'Thuzad excitedly asked, to which the unicorn slowly nodded.

"Twilight... have you heard the name Jaina before?"

"I... I... feel like I have... but... I..." she stopped, looking down at her hooves.

"Jaina... I... I..."

The archlich looked to his right, his heart racing. With a flick of his wrist, the book was before Twilight.

"Kel'Thuzad... I... where?"

.........

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Jaina."

Tears filled the unicorn's eyes. With a heart-wrenching sob, the archlich prepared to be blasted to pieces. To spend another few days in the voids that was the Twisting Nether.

.........

Instead, he felt the pressure around his ribcage return.

"Happy Winter Veil, Kel'Thuzad."

Author's Note

Ugh...

Real life sucks.

Horse life is better.

Either way, Jaina is here!

Sort of...

Wretched Acceptance

The lich growled quietly in anger, his mad delusions passing as he approached Twilight's door. He sighed, floating up to the oak door, the small wrought-iron handle on the door frosting over from the chill of his presence as he raised his claw. At the moment his claw was poised to knock, he broke.

All at once, reality came crashing through his skull.

This... is ridiculous. Twilight can't... she... she isn't Jaina.

She can't be...

She's gone...

A sob exited the lich's mouth, catching the foals behind him off-guard.

She's gone... why did I ever...

"Mister Kel'Thuzad?"

A small hoof tugged on his kilt.

Kel'Thuzad looked down sadly, Pipsqueak's miniscule form meeting his gaze.

"Are you okay?"

The archlich's gaze softened at the colt's curious gaze.

"No. No I'm not, little one." Kel'Thuzad gently patted the small colt on the head, Pipsqueak pushing into his hand gently. "I'm... I'm rather sad, actually."

"Why, mister? You were so jolly on the way here!" he laughed as Kel'Thuzad scratched behind his ears. The lich thought to himself for a moment.

They... they wouldn't understand. I... I should leave.

I need to think...

"I... goodnight, children. I have to go now." Kel'Thuzad declared sadly. The lich turned to Spike, and lowered his torso to the ground, coming down to the whelp's level. "Master Spike, I have a favor to ask."

Spike cocked his head, as if to ask what it was.

"I need you to give this to Twilight. Its... its her Hearth's Warming gift." the lich explained, handing the small dragon the leather-bound tome, his hands trembling slightly.

"But... are you staying for the party?" Spike asked, his eyes questioning the lich's actions.

Damnit. He's right... I... I have to stay. At least until tomorrow evening...

"I... yes, I am." Kel'Thuzad crossed his arm behind himself, coughing once to clear his metaphorical throat. "I... I just need time to think, is all."

"Oh. Okay, well... I'll see you at the party, then!" he laughed, holding a small claw out to him. "It was nice to meet you, Lord Kel'Thuzad."

"Likewise, Master Spike. Likewise..." the lich trailed off, shaking the whelp's hand.

He's quite... mature for his age. Almost as if he isn't a child at all...

Maybe I need to read up on dragon biology...

"Goodnight, children. I will see you tomorrow night." the lich smiled sadly. A thought raced through his head.

"Oh yes, and I'd rather you not tell your parents of my being here. While it is legal, I do not think they would be very... accepting of me." he laughed, the foals joining him for a chuckle.

With that, he floated off, towards the large forest in the distance.

Towards peace and quiet.

"Mister!"

Kel'Thuzad whirled around, the small form of Pipsqueak scrambling after him through the snow.

"Yes, little one?" Kel'Thuzad lowered his torso somewhat, to talk to the foal on his level.

"Don't go into the Everfree! It's dangerous! There are Timberwolves, Cragadiles, and Hydras in there! They'll kill you!" Pipsqueak cried, his small form hugging to his ribcage, catching the lich off-guard. He chuckled, wrapping a singe arm around him.

"Don't worry, Pip. I'll be fine. I AM an archmage, after all..." he smirked, releasing the colt and turning to continue his journey into the dark woods of the Everfree, desperate for some thinking time.

I still have to think of gifts for several ponies, too...

"He'll be okay, right?" Pipsqueak asked, running back to his friends, and Pinkie, whom had returned with a box of fresh cookies from Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie laughed loudly at the thought, before confirming the colt's wishful thinking.

"Oh, silly! He'll be fine! He's a level skull!"

"The creepy crawlies in there are level forty, tops!"

.........

With a grunt of annoyance, the archlich fired another flaming blue projectile at the last of the timber wolves that were bold enough to attack him, the small pack having jumped him as he entered the forest. With a whine, and a sound of shattering wood, the beast collapsed, falling to pieces from the ferocity of the spell.

"Good riddance." Kel'Thuzad clapped his hands, floating over to the charred remains of one of the beasts, it's bright green heart snagging his gaze almost immediately.

"Hello... what have we here..."

The archlich bent down, grasping the still beating heart from the dead Timberwolf's caved-in chest. With a grunt, he twisted the heart, before wrenching it from the corpse with a spatter of glowing sap.

Interesting... might be fun to study sometime.

With a satisfied sigh, the archlich deposited the heart into his satchel, before floating onwards into the forest, putting a surviving wolf down with a small icicle between the eyes as he floated past the whimpering creature.

The lich sighed.

.........

How...

How... could I have been so STUPID!?!"

With a growl of anger, the lich threw a greatsword-sized frostbolt infused with plague at a nearby tree, the projectile catapulting through the air with surprising velocity and strength. With a *hiss* of triumph, the bolt connected with the comparatively warm tree, the bark cracking and decaying from the rot-infested frostbolt. With another snarl, he launched an orb of frost from his other hand, the projectile bursting at the seams about four yards away with hundreds of miniature shadow and frostbolts, peppering and shredding the forest in front of him for several dozen feet.

"She... she's gone. She's not coming back..."

"I... I killed her."

"I... MURDERED HER!!!"

With a howl of anguish and arcane energies, the lich ascended several feet into the air, his soul chains unfurling from his slender form, lashing around him in a tornado of metal and death. With a crackling smash, a blizzard erupted from his form, obscuring the forest in every direction with blinding white, clouded with the blackening rot of decay within the spell.

Trees withered, animals hiding in the underbrush nearby collapsed and shriveled from the power of the numerous spells orbiting the archlich.

With a final, desperate burst of fury and anger, the lich unleashed the plague.

.........

THE plague.

The plague that had single-handedly wiped his home continent clean of ALL life...

It wasn't out of spite.

It wasn't out of anger this time, no.

This was instinct kicking in.

Instinct that he had forgotten he had.

For just a brief, fleeting moment, the Archmage of the Crystal Empire was gone.

Kel'Thuzad, Archlich of the Scourge, had returned.

.........

"HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"

With a dark, glistening, blood-red bolt of magic, the ground was desecrated and torn to shreds by his potent magics. The trees nearby died instantly, what little bark left on them turning to naught but ash. The animals nearby rose from the dead, ravenous and hungry for enemies of the archlich. With a final, ear-piercing howl of unrestrained FURY, the lich’s form exploded with arcane energy, blue flames and waves of force exploding from his form in practiced, deadly waves.

With the addition of his potent arcane magic’s, the plague dissipated, leaving the husks of the former residents of the several acres of land surrounding him to fall to the ground, turning to ash quickly.

.........

Not a sound pervaded the clearing of blackened, barren dirt, the trees that once grew here non-existent...

No birds or wildlife sang the song of nature.

No... just silence.

Death...

.........

Jaina... forgive me...

Author's Note

FOOLED YOU!

You should have seen the looks on your faces!

(insert homicidal Kel'Thuzad laugh)

.........

Ahem. Sorry.

As for the story, I've had the timeline written out for awhile now, but the act of putting thoughts to paper is... draining for me. ADHD, and all that.

Anyway, no.

Jaina isn't Twilight.

Twilight isn't Jaina.

However, that won't stop Kel'Thuzad from taking and cherishing Twilight as his apprentice as he did Jaina...

Also, the picture that inspired the archlich's outburst:

http://www.powned.it/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/18020-kelthuzad-world-of-warcraft-1920x1200-game-wallpaper.jpg

PS: This next coming chapter is the official 'Starting Point' of the Twilight Sparkle's Lessons in Azerothian Magic timeline, btw. The first chapter begins just a few days after the party.

The Party

"So, do you come here often?"

Kel'Thuzad deadpanned to the shaking mare, her small, portly form shivering. From his body temperature, or the terror of his appearance, he didn't know. But, he did know two things.

One, she would probably remember an archlich if one HAD ever entered HER establishment.

Two, she had just asked the same question to him for the third time this hour.

"My lady, you do not need to keep me company, if you do not wish it." Kel'Thuzad smiled, attempting to sound as reassuring and friendly as a thousand year-old lich could. Mrs. Cake nodded, and nearly scrambled away from him, going to tend to another group nearby.

Chuckling sadly, the archlich gazed around the rather small front dining area, which had been refurbished temporarily into a winter wonderland, complete with giant candy canes and a refreshment table composed entirely of hardened gingerbread.

But he wasn't interested in the room, no.

Kel'Thuzad wanted someone to talk to.

ANYONE.

But, from the looks of it, the rest of the room, save a select few were terrified of him, even turning their backs to the archlich as if he wasn't there.

A small group of guards and ugh...

Nobles...

The small group surrounded the recently returned Royal Sisters. Lal'theron stuck to his solar partner's side like glue, a look of utter awareness CONSTANTLY adorning his seemingly expressionless face.

Kel'Thuzad knew his brother. He was intently eyeing these pathetic nobles and their petty squabbles to his marefriend and her sister.

Heh. As much as I dislike Celestia, I REALLY want Lal to marry her. Another undead prince would be quite the smack to the face for superstitious and snobbish nobles.

His gaze turned slightly, his scarlet pupils scanning the room for anyone else he knew.

Titus was sharing a drink nearby with a group of other ponies, a particular noble catching his eye almost immediately.

Mostly because he was half-glaring at him, wearing a look he had come to know well...

Ah... it's sickeningly refreshing to know that racism is still present, even in this happy little world...

With a smirk, the lich turned his massive body towards the group, floating gently towards them. As he approached, the stallion who's face was recently caught in a glaring fashion at turned to a smile.

"Ah. You must be Lord Kel'Thuzad!" the stallion jovially greeted, holding up a single hoof to the lich. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise, Prince Blueblood..." the archlich darkly greeted, his claw not moving to accept the snob's hoof. Blueblood chuckled nervously, his hoof falling back to the floor. Kel'Thuzad stole a glance back at Titus, who's face revealed that he was just as sick of the stallion as the lich was, and he had just gotten there.

Of course the archlich knew ALL about 'Prince' Blueblood. The stallion that Rarity was infatuated with, but when asked for a date, the snob was a pig, caring only for himself and himself alone.

While the lich was FAR from perfect, he liked to think of himself as a gentleman, and even when he was under Arthas' iron rule, Kel'Thuzad usually saved the extensive and brutal tortures for men, not women and children. In fact, the VERY few prisoners of war kept aboard Naxxramas were kept well fed, bathed, and cared for, despite orders to execute them if the ransom was not given.

The Scourge was, after all, an empire. Empires had expenses...

Anyway, the lich already loathed nobility, and the stallion in front of him reeked of narcissism.

No doubt he knew Fire Fight, either...

"Titus here tells me you are quite the archmage..." Blueblood smirked. "Care to show an example?"

Kel'Thuzad's expressionless face rose, joy blanketing his skull.

Dear gods... whatever I have done... thank you.

"What would you like to see, my prince?" Kel'Thuzad bowed, which seemed to please the snob. Blueblood chuckled.

Stupid fool...

"Anything will do. Just make it... different." Blueblood went back to drinking his wine, while waiting for the lich to choose his... trick.

Time to roast the pig, then...

Kel'Thuzad chuckled, muttering an incantation under his meaningless breath.

With a sickening squelch, and then a throaty gagging sound, the lich shoved a chain through the prince, the brittle metal exiting his mouth with a choke. Using portals, Kel'Thuzad had made a straight pathway through the snob's intestines, the stallion effectively impaled on the magical metal snake.

Harmless, yes. But INCREDIBLY uncomfortable...

With a kick of his hooves, and an outraged gurgle of spit and bile, the prince was lifted by the chains stuck through his body magically. The stallion was levitated to stare the lich in the face, the look of outrage adorning his muzzle being quickly replaced with fear.

"How about that magic trick?" Kel'Thuzad grinned, the stallion attempting to break free of the metal snake penetrating his entire body. "Let's get something straight, PIG. I am not a servant, a jester for you to gawk and laugh at. Got it?" he smirked. The prince nodded as much as he could.

"Good."

With a choking, sputtering gag, the lich yanked the chain out of the stallion's guts. Titus smirked at his friend's actions, and jumped to restart the conversation before the prince could further escalate the situation. As the lich turned his head to look for new company, he caught sight of a rather amused Rarity across the room, laughing hysterically as her friends tried to find out what was so funny.

Kel'Thuzad sighed in triumph, floating over to a group that included his master and new apprentice. They were currently exchanging hugs with an older looking stallion and mare, Cadence waiting her turn behind them, a smile decorating her muzzle as the siblings greeted the newcomers.

Ugh... their parents...

Putting on a smile, and warming his bones to room temperature if they wanted a hoofshake, or gods forbid, a hug, the archlich sped up, and thought up an excuse to butt into the conversation. As he approached, the father's muzzle took on an look of utter fascination. The mother's however, turned to terror as his massive magically constructed body approached.

"S-Shiny... behind you..." the mare squeaked, her form hiding behind her husband's. Shining turned to his archmage, and laughed, earning a chuckle from Kel'Thuzad as well at the awkwardness of the situation.

"Mom, dad. I want you to meet my good friend and archmage, Kel'Thuzad." Shining presented, with a raised hoof pointing towards the massive skeletal mage. Kel'Thuzad lost the smile, and took on a serious look for several moments, before bowing in respect to the duo.

"A pleasure." Kel'Thuzad's voice droned, earning another squeak from the mare. Night Light laughed, and held up a hoof to the archlich, catching him off guard with he friendly gesture. Gently, Kel'Thuzad accepted, shaking the comparatively small hoof with his claw.

"The pleasure is mine, archmage. Shining has told me quite a bit about you." Night Light nuzzled his mate, before gently pushing her out from behind him. She squirmed, attempting to stay away from the lich, but her husband's insistence forced her away from him, into the archlich's quite amused gaze.

Kel'Thuzad bowed to the mare, attempting to slink as low to the floor as he could, without looking ridiculous, of course. The mare blushed at the wizard's gentle and polite demeanor.

"I... It's a pleasure, Lord Kel'Thuzad..." Twilight Velvet whimpered, her form curtsying to the archlich. Kel'Thuzad chuckled in return to the mare's terror.

"My lady, I won't bite." He murmured. His skull curving into an eerie smile using magic.

"I... I'm sorry, Lord Kel'Thuzad. Y-You're just... so... so..."

"Scary? Terrifying? Haunting? Miss Sparkle, you'll have to try harder than that to insult me." he smirked, chuckles rising from the group. Twilight Velvet blushed intensely, her hooves pawing at the ground.

"Come on, darling. Let's go get a drink." Night laughed. He turned to a highly amused archlich, who was just holding back laughter. "It was a pleasure, Kel'Thuzad. We'll have to get to know eachother later." he bowed, followed by the lich's returning bow.

"Of course. Shining has told me that you are a magical researcher?" Kel'Thuzad asked.

Night Light nodded.

"Yes, I'm the head researcher of their Royal Highness' magical documentation force. We document magical anomalies and artifacts for study or restriction." he nodded. Kel'Thuzad smirked.

No doubt he'll want to study me, then...

"Well then, I better get the missus a drink before she faints." he chuckled, before being literally dragged away from the group, Twilight and Shining holding embarrassed looks on their faces.

"I'm sorry about that, Kel. Mom's usually... more open." Shining explained.

"Not a problem at all. I'm kind of used to it by now." Kel'Thuzad explained.

"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE! PRESENT TIME!!!!" Pinkie's voice screamed from behind the archlich.

Ugh... why does she always have to be so loud...

.........

The presents were all rather mundane.

Kel'Thuzad was starting to think that he may have gone a little overboard, but he reasoned with himself that it would help cement his trust by the locals, seeing as most of them saw him as a monster rather than a person, despite their ruler's insistence.

"KELLY! YOUR TURN!"

Well... time to shine, then.

With the small pink pony's introduction, the lich floated forwards into the small clearing in the center of the room. A mix of stares and glares took up the majority of the room as he did, but he pressed on.

"Thank you, Pinkie."

Kel'Thuzad then waved his claws slightly, a bluish flame echoing his movements, before forming a small box on the floor below him. With another flick of his wrist, the bow flipped open, the iron latch clanging as it did.

"Before we start, I would like to thank... all of you. I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am for your friendship and hospitality, but I hope these gifts suffice." Kel'Thuzad grinned, and chuckles rose from the room.

"Okay... Fluttershy." Kel'Thuzad droned, raising a long, slender object from the box, to the amazement of the crowd.

Had they never seen magical containers?

"Fluttershy, for you, I have a relic of my past."

Unraveling the long present, a large staff was revealed. Fluttershy herself was perplexed by item. A model of an elk's head decorated the top, but several large feathers hung from the shaft, as well.

"This is the last staff that I used before I... well... lost my legs." he chuckled, causing another few laughs to rise from the room. "Anyway, befitting your love of nature and animals alike, I present to you this gift. Journey's End, the last uncorrupted Twig of Vordrassil, the World Tree. While you carry it, animals and nature alike will not harm you. In fact, they will adore you..." Kel'Thuzad smiled, handing the near-weightless staff to the mare, who thanked the lich profusely before returning to her seat nearby.

"Rarity, you're next." Kel'Thuzad smiled, the mare excitedly trotting forwards to him. With a single hand, the lich levitated a ring before her, making her gasp.

"Kel... it's... beautiful..." she swooned, her eyes lidded at the sight of the ruby ring, the band of silver glinting in the hearth across the room.

"Rarity, to you, I give the Ring of Decaying Beauty. Once the life's work of an aspiring enchantress, it will freeze your body in time, forever immortalizing your image, so long as you wear it." Kel'Thuzad levitated the ring to the unicorn's horn, and Rarity froze up for a second. A shiver ran over her body, before her fur settled down, and she looked at herself.

"Darling... I don't feel any different..." Rarity smiled uneasily, looking up at the lich. He chuckled.

"Of course you don't. But you will keep this form until the day you die, so long as you wear the ring. In short, your beauty will never be marred by the ravages of time..." Kel'Thuzad bowed, only to be embraced by the unicorn, tears flowing from her eyes.

"Thank you for the gift, Kel'Thuzad." Rarity sobbed, quite obviously overwhelmed by the gift. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, embracing the small mare to his ribcage.

"You're welcome, my dear. Enjoy it." he smiled, watching the unicorn skip away to her friends, happily dancing in place. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught something, however.

He caught what was easily the most menacing and loathing glare he had ever received.

And he had been given MORE than a few.

The source, however, threw him for a loop.

The source originated from the diminutive form of Spike, his teeth bared in a growl.

Well... someone has a crush...

Filing a mental note to talk to Spike about it later, he moved on.

"Rainbow."

In a flash, the lich was face-to-face with the speedster, her form excitedly shivering. Kel'Thuzad laughed, before raising what looked like a blanket from the box. Rainbow lowered herself to the ground, but was quickly overtaken by the cloak, the lich pinning it to her magically. Before she could squirm, the cloak... warmed her.

Strangely.

It was like all cold was suddenly sucked from her body.

"Kel, what is this?" Rainbow asked, lifting the weightless cape up to his view. Kel'Thuzad laughed at her reaction before explaining.

"Rainbow, to you I give the Cloak of the Necropolis. An enchanted cape, it effectively makes you immune to the bite of the cold."

Kel could barely stop himself from laughing as Rainbow rocketed past him, flying out into the air outside to test it.

"Okay... Applejack." Kel'Thuzad hesitantly spoke, causing the country mare to trot forwards, form tense from being so close to the cold archlich's body.

"For you, Applejack, I have something... a little different." Kel'Thuzad claimed, his claw reaching into the box. He withdrew what looked like a hand axe, but was large enough to be a battleaxe to the pony. "I give you Death's Bite, the first and ONLY soul-bound axe. Forged by yours truly, it can cut through nearly anything, be it dead apple trees or timberwolves..."

"I... well... thank you, Kel." Applejack admitted. Her gift, while unorthodox, would be very useful...

"You're welcome, Applejack." Kel'Thuzad spoke.

Applejack went back to her friends, her rune axe in tow. Coughing lightly, Kel called the next pony up.

"Pinkie Pie."

"Ya, Kelly?" with a start, the lich whirled around, to finds the party pony behind him. Grumbling something under his breath, the lich reached into his box, pulling out a single thin stick.

"Pinkie, to you, I give a wand. A wand that can be used to conjure any pastry you can imagine. But only one at a time." Kel smiled. Pinkie being Pinkie, immediately tried it. With a wave of her new wand, a cookie the size of Kel'Thuzad's skull popped into existence before her, making her squeal happily before jumping to embrace him.

"THANK YOU!" Pinkie exclaimed, before running to take her cookie away, and return to her friends.

Kel'Thuzad turned to the last of the girls.

"Twilight."

Sheepishly, the unicorn mare trotted forwards, sitting before the massive form of the archlich.

"Twilight, that book I gave you is precious to me. I am sorry for not giving it to you in person, but I hope you accept it."

Twilight shook her head, chuckling quietly. She embraced the lich, causing Kel'Thuzad to embrace her as well.

"Happy Hearth's Warming, Twilight." Kel'Thuzad smiled, turning to the rest of the room. The mare nodded, and returned the phrase. Kel'Thuzad turned to his brother and the two alicorns next to him.

"Celestia, Lal'theron. For you, I have well wishes and a gift. Unfortunately, it is far from ready at the moment. I will get it to you at the earliest I possibly can." he smiled, causing his brother to laugh.

"Take your time, Kel. No rush." he said, cuddling close to his marefriend. Kel'Thuzad smiled at his brother's happiness, before turning to Luna.

"Luna, to you I give the Hammer of the Astral Plane, pulled from the depths of a structure outside of Ulduar..." with a heave, the lich placed the hammer before her, her eyes lighting up in wonder at the intricate gold and cobalt designs blanketing it.

"Thank you, Kel'Thuzad. It's beautiful." she assured, heaving it with a little difficulty into the air. To her surprise, it was surprisingly light once it was before her, and she swung it several times to test it, a hum of power following each swing.

Kel'Thuzad turned to his masters, ready to give his gifts to them.

.........

But something made his nonexistent blood boil.

Something he had hoped would not happen at such a joyous event. But alas, it had.

In a roar that caught the room off-guard, the double doors and windows were frozen over, sealing entrance and exit to the establishment. Titus must have seen it too, as he had his pistol pulled, and was scanning the crowd.

"Kel'Thuzad, what are... you..." Shining argued, quite obviously concerned about his archmage's actions. But he found he could not move his right foreleg properly.

The answer became clear.

Near his right jugular vein, a shortsword was impaled into him, probably blocking his bone's movement.

.........

With a heave, the Lich King drew Frostmourne, before joining his archmage and captain of the guard in searching for the assassin.

Author's Note

Well...

That's over.

Now, every gift besides Pinkie's and Twilight's actually exist in-game, and are drops from either Kel'Thuzad himself or his underlings.

A Horrifying First Impression

It didn't take long to find him.

A terrified pegasus, scrambling to dash up the stairs to the left of the door, his wings curiously limp at his sides. His hooves were clad in thick snow-shoes, and a fresh coating of half-melted snow adorned his body, indicating he had not been in the restaurant for long.

Ignoring the surprisingly tame commands to stop by both the archlich and prince, the stallion continued his panicked escape, fleeing further up the stairs to freedom.

Or what he thought was freedom.

In reality, the rather spacious windows were blocked by Pinkie's extensive Hearth's Warming Decorations.

"STOP COWARD! FACE YOUR END WITH DIGNITY!" Rivendare roared, his undead veins pumping adrenaline through his body. With speed that surprised the room, he galloped up the stairs, pistol and sword drawn, ready for combat. With a slice of saronite through air, the lich was floating through a portal, in hot pursuit of his colleague.

"EVERYONE STAY HERE!" Shining roared, his Royal Canterlot Voice nearly shattering the glass around the establishment. With a heave, and a small grunt of exertion, the alicorn snapped the small steel shortsword protruding from his shoulder like a twig with his muscles alone, the broken hilt and blade falling to the ground beneath him. With a beckoning hand absentmindedly waving behind him for his master, the archlich disappeared entirely from view through the portal, Shining heaving his greatsword through the opening as he followed Kel'Thuzad in pursuit of his captain.

Cadence attempted to follow, but was left behind before she could blink, the portal closing with a snap.

Shiny... be careful...

.........

"TITUS!" Kel'Thuzad bellowed, his magic scanning the surrounding rooms for life, or any sort of animation for that matter.

"Keep looking, Kel. I'm right behind you." Shining confirmed, his presence overwhelmingly accentuated by both his lichdom and alicornhood. Kel'Thuzad nodded, the only sound besides the hoofsteps of his master the screams of panic downstairs, and the distant shouts of the baron ahead of them, still commanding the pegasus to stop.

Always the first to run to action and combat...

A scream of pain alerted the lich, and his scrying was interrupted.

Violently.

With an echoing snap, and a shattering of bone, the lich collapsed, the large form of his equine friend atop his ribcage, a large gash running along his face.

"Fucking changeling..." Titus snarled, spitting a jagged tooth from his maw, a small spout of brownish blood accompanying it. At the stallion's statement, the lich turned his head rather irregularly to witness the small form of a changeling dart into a room to the left, at the end of the hallway.

"I'll kill the bastard..." Rivendare proclaimed, raising shakily to his hooves, his runeblade raising to point down the hallway towards the changeling's temporary safe haven. When the death knight attempted to walk forwards, however, he grunted, a splintered foreleg bone exploding from his shattered leg's side with a sickening gout of congealed blood.

"GODS DAMN IT!" he swore, his hoof reaching to grasp the bone out of instinct. Kel'Thuzad chuckled at his friend's predicament, but quickly shook it off.

He had a changeling to catch...

"Rivendare, stay here, that's an order." Shining commanded, the stallion marching angrily through the gap between the fallen stallion and archlich. Rivendare attempted to stand once more, but once again fell. With a sigh of defeat, he collapsed to his side.

"Yes master." Rivendare groaned.

"Kel'Thuzad, with me." Shining ordered, the lich floating back to his full height quickly, his arms igniting with blue flames.

"Sire, he may be armed..." Kel began, before Shining snorted, interrupting his thought.

The white stallion looked back to the lich, a grimace of utter rage having formed on his muzzle.

"Oh... I hope he is..." Shining chuckled, Frostmourne poised to strike at any would be attackers.

The stallion and the archlich stopped in front of the sealed door at the end of the hall, the changeling's heavy breathing heard from within.

"It'll be no fun otherwise..." the Lich King smirked, smashing the door inwards with a hoof the size of a dinner plate.

Kill... him...

.........

With a dark chuckle, the stallion entered the darkened room, frost seeping from his body in waves, his eyes glowing a deep blue once more.

Kel’Thuzad frowned, his continued scrying detecting...

Three presences?

"Master... I advise against..." with a yelp, the lich was catapulted backwards, his skeletal form smashing into the wall outside the door. Before Kel'Thuzad could react, the door was sealed by a thick sheet of ice. With a snarl, the wizard was attempting to rip the wall down, but was surprised when his arms... flickered?

He... he cut off my power...

"How... did..." the lich began, but exhaustion overtook him, his form collapsing to the floor, unable to move.

"I don't need input, Kel'Thuzad..." the Lich King echoed, his eyes squaring in on the changeling, once more in his pegasus form.

"My prince... please... I can explain!" he sobbed, his form slinking backwards into a corner of the room, tears of fear fall from the shape-shifter's eyes. The alabaster stallion growled, the temperature of the room lowering drastically as the cowering stallion already started to shiver from the cold. Walking slowly forwards, the Lich King ignored the stallion's pleas, the air around them becoming more and more difficult to breathe, the very moisture in the air starting to crystallize.

"My... my lord... they told me..." the stallion began. With another chilling growl, the stallion was above the Lich King's muzzle, his neck being slowly crushed by the iron grip of his necromantic magics.

The Lich King guffawed loudly, the entire building shaking from the noise and intensity of his magics. Slowly, yet ever so surely, the stallion was decaying. His body was rotting under the advanced and horrifying necromantic energies flowing freely from the king's dark visage, and whatever wasn't rotting, was freezing.

Not frostbitten, FREEZING.

SOLID...

"My prince... they... they told me it would..."

"THEY LIED..."

"P-Please..."

.........

*SNAP*

With a roar of annoyance, the Lich King slammed the rotted and half-frozen corpse before him to the ground, shattering it into pieces of necrotic and quite dead flesh. With a smirk, and an almost blissful shiver, the bastard's soul was gone. Doomed to the same fate as so many before it.

"FROSTMOURNE... FEEDS..."

.........

Panting heavily, Shining released the runeblade, his magical hold faltering as he knelt to the ground to catch his breath. With weary, now permanently glowing blue eyes, he examined the mess that was formerly his assassin.

"Oh... my goddesses..." he muttered, the pool of brownish and red blood pooling at his hooves, several chunks of liquefied flesh still frozen nearby, floating in the pool like some sort of horrific soup.

Shuddering, he turned to leave, dragging Frostmourne behind him. As he did, he took in the room he had murdered the stallion in.

Painted dragons lined the walls, and several large plush ponies and other creatures adorned the soft carpet he tread upon.

He chuckled.

Quite the turn from what the room was meant...

For...

.........

A small crib was in the corner, the blankets draped over it frozen nearly solid.

Dead silence pervaded the room, not a single whimper coming from the bed.

As the stallion slowly fell to the ground, one leg at a time, he wept.

"I... oh my gods..."

I... I killed them... I murdered them...

A bony claw draped itself over his shoulder, and he looked back, his tears blurring his vision.

Kel'Thuzad knew instantly.

He brought the stallion in for a hug, which he graciously accepted.

.........

"Shining... I killed them. Understood?" Kel'Thuzad sternly proclaimed. Shining withdrew from the lich, his head shaking back and forth rapidly.

"No... Kel... I wont let you..."

"UNDERSTOOD?" the lich pressed, his eyes boring into his king's.

.........

Shining relented, his muzzle falling at the archlich's sacrifice.

"Yeah..."

Author's Note

HOLY CRAP.

Finally back from blacksmithing camp, almost a week and a half later...

So... yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting so long, but I wanted to at least get something out tonight.

"The Betrayer of Humanity... and Equestria"

Kel'Thuzad's form floated on the precipice of the cliff overlooking the vast tundra, his segmented robes fluttering in the glacial winds of the Frozen North. He gazed over the barren landscape, surprised by how much it reminded him of... home.

Northrend.

Icecrown.

As much as he hated being a slave to Arthas, his favorite memories were of wandering the frozen wastes of Icecrown, before the scarring of war and slaughter brought an end to the peaceful surface of the glacier. He had spent the last few years of his life in that tundra, training under the spiteful and abusive Ner'Zhul before his departure for Lordaeron.

Of the two, he always preferred Arthas. While he was stupid, brash, and arrogant at times, he was actually quite enjoyable to be around. Sylvanas was a bore, always secretly sulking about her forced resurrection, and most of the other necromancers or commanders were either too busy with their duties, or were too afraid of the lich to approach him for a chat. So he spent many sleepless nights around a fire with Arthas, talking about life before the Scourge, and told the young prince battle stories about the First War. Yes, Arthas was... a friend.

Well, before he ascended to the Frozen Throne, and absorbed Ner'Zhul's soul, anyway...

But, even after one of his only friends was seemingly gone, Arthas seemed to be more... lenient with him. He was the only person that could give the Lich King brutally honest advice on a plan or stratagem, without his soul being ripped from his body, anyway.

Regardless, he attempted to the end to guide his king to the best of his ability...

.........

He swore that he felt the last blow connect with Arthas' back, shattering his spine from the force, before knocking the Helm of Domination from his head as he toppled to the ground. He was marshaling the remainders of the Scourge forces in the lower regions of Northrend, to attack the crusade from behind.

He knew not his relationship with the Helm, or whether he was tied to it somehow, but he felt Arthas take his last breath.

In truth, he was... conflicted.

By that time, he was all but driven by rage to avenge his master...

But he also saw this as an opportunity to be... free.

Finally.

Utterly.

.........

He still ordered the counterattack.

The Scourge, while battered, were far from depleted.

One thing that kept the undead above the living was stamina.

They never tired.

Never slept.

He left the Four Horsemen with direct orders.

Retake Icecrown, and recover the Helm of Domination.

He was to travel to Karazhan to make use of the crypt's... resources...

.........

Only now, after talking with his life-long friend, Baron Titus Rivendare, did he realize the scope of their attack, and just how successful it was.

Icecrown Citadel WAS retaken.

All inside were slain.

Highlord Tirion Fordring was among the first to fall.

He was mighty, according to Titus.

But he fell like grass before a scythe, the old and tired paladin succumbing to the sheer magnitude of the Scourge forces attacking the comparatively pathetic and weathered force from behind, effectively trapping them within the Citadel.

Muradin Bronzebeard was next, hopelessly trying to stem the swarm at the end of the hall to Lord Marrowgar's chamber with a handful of wounded and sickly soldiers.

Garrosh, Son of Grommash Hellscream, was slain by Rivendare's own blade, the orc having been wounded beforehand in a skirmish while taking the citadel.

Once they reached the Frozen Throne... they found... her...

Jaina...

Jaina was seen trying to ferry the few squires and soldiers she could through a hastily constructed portal to Dalaran. She took a blast of necrotic magic to the back as she entered the portal.

.........

Only now did he know why a hastily structured and warded ice wall easily kept the Archmage at bay...

She was wounded...

.........

Kel'Thuzad snorted, looking up to the large full moon.

"I... I'm sorry, Kel."

"It... it wasn't your fault, Shining." Kel'Thuzad responded, looking slightly to the left, the huge stallion making little to no sound as he slowly trotted to his side, sitting down next to him. "The Helm is to blame for your actions, not you." he added.

"I know..." Shining kicked the snow bank they stood upon lightly, disrupting the peaceful pile of frost. "It keeps telling me to... to..."

"Kill?" Kel'Thuzad finished. Shining nodded, shifting lightly to take Frostmourne from it's enchanted leather ring, a gift from Kel'Thuzad to make it easier to keep on him at all times.

With a grunt of exertion, the stallion telekinetically impaled the blade into the ground beside him, the sword obviously happy to his eyes.

It seemed... weird.

Normally Shining hated carrying weapons on his person, and before Frostmourne would more likely than not carry a small ceremonial dagger or shortsword instead of a full blade.

But Frostmourne... Frostmourne was different.

For once, he almost felt like the blade... understood him. It wasn't a malevolent and evil presence, constantly egging him on to commit violent and unspeakable acts like the Helm of Domination. It was a friend, a loyal companion that accompanied him everywhere nowadays. When he was dealing with the struggles of running a kingdom, or was just generally stressed during paperwork, it's heavy weight and cool touch on his side provided... comfort.

"You've grown attached to the blade, I see." Kel'Thuzad chuckled. Shining turned quickly to Kel, an invisible blush gracing his white face. His face quickly turned to panicked, as if he was afraid of the lich intervening, taking his blade. Kel'Thuzad just chuckled.

"It's all right. No harm can come to the Lich King when using the weapon." he smirked as the prince sighed in relief. "Besides, Frostmourne is more than content to be back in it's master's hands... er... hooves. Taking it away from you would cause much more harm than good."

Shining nodded, thinking back to the stallion he had murdered barely three hours before.

"Kel'Thuzad?" Shining asked, his ivory muzzle turning to his friend.

"Yes?"

"He... he wasn't... evil, was he?" Shining asked. Kel'Thuzad winced at the question, but recovered quickly not wanting to keep the prince waiting any more than necessary.

.........

"No." Kel'Thuzad sighed, his mouth opening just barely to utter the word. "No he was not. He wasn't even a changeling, either..."

Shining nodded.

"How... how did you..." Shining began. Kel'Thuzad turned quickly to him.

"His blood wasn't green." Kel confirmed. "When a changeling dies, it's illusion powers seem to... freeze. Thus, it will keep the form it's in post-mortem, but will still have the inner organs and flesh of a changeling." he sighed.

"I... he told me that they told him... something." Shining began. Kel'Thuzad turned his body to the stallion, quite obviously asking for more information. "He said... they told him something."

"I see..." Kel'Thuzad responded, already deep in thought.

While many would probably benefit from having a monarch assassinated, the peculiar circumstances of both parties involved in the attempted murders of both his king AND queen alarmed the lich. Whoever was behind them, they obviously were a skilled magician or sorcerer, as they had been able to mask both the presence of a changeling...

.........

"And a revenant..."

"What?" Shining asked, his muzzle looking up from the valley of snow and ice.

"The stallion you killed, he was already dead." Kel'Thuzad explained. Shining looked to the mage with obvious confusion, before the lich sighed in minor annoyance.

"Shining, when you killed him, did he have a soul?"

.........

"Yes. Frostmourne... stole it." he sheepishly explained. Kel'Thuzad nodded, theories and questions racing through his hollow skull.

"Shining, did you notice if he breathed or not?" the necromancer asked.

"Yes, he did. I choked him with powers I've never used before..."

Kel'Thuzad nodded, his eyes lighting up with interest.

.........

For once, he was stumped.

He could never imagine not recognizing a simple necromantic creature.

If it was necromantic in nature, he would have either seen it, or felt it. Whomever was behind this... creature, he applauded their brilliance. They had stumped possibly the most knowledgeable necromancer on both Equus AND Azeroth...

.........

Unless...

"His soul was artificial." Shining came to the conclusion on his own, which surprised the archlich. Kel'Thuzad turned to the stallion, a question on the tip of his metaphorical tongue as Shining continued.

"When Frostmourne... stole it, it felt more... more..." Shining began, attempting to find the right word.

"Hollow?" Kel'Thuzad sighed.

"Yes. Fake, hollow. Synthetic, even..." Shining explained. Kel'Thuzad continued to crank his mind's gears, but that grinded to a halt when he realized the implications of Shining's previous words.

"Shining... have you..."

"Yes, Kel'Thuzad. I've killed with Frostmourne other than tonight and Nightmare, what of it?" he snapped, catching the lich off-guard at the hostility in his voice. Shining glared at his archmage, before sighing, a breath he didn't know he was holding blowing out of his dormant chest.

.........

"I... I'm sorry Kel'Thuzad. For everything." Shining began, his eyes boring into the lich's. Kel'Thuzad shrugged.

"It's not your fault, Shining." he breathed in and out shakily turning to look out over the valley once more. "I've been a murderer for a looong time, Shining."

.........

"And a liar..."

"Kel, I did it, not..."

"Shining, for once, I have an order for you." Kel'Thuzad boldly claimed, his form turning to face the stallion. Shining looked surprised for a moment, before smirking, bowing to the lich.

"Very well, your majesty." the stallion joked, much to the amusement of the lich.

"Henceforth, I killed those foals, Shining. You have your entire life ahead of you. You have a beautiful wife, a loving family, and friend's that would sacrifice anything for you."

Kel'Thuzad clasped his hands to his chest.

"Me included. You've given me my life back, Shining." Kel'Thuzad reached forward, grabbing one of Shining's hooves, which he clasped in his hands.

"Don't throw away your life for an old man." he smiled. Shining nodded, obviously deep in thought.

Kel'Thuzad cracked his neck, turning to look to the horizon, where the sun was just peaking over the mountains, bathing the valley in it's serene glow.

"Now... enough talk of murder and sorrow." Kel'Thuzad laughed, Bloodsurge already slicing a path to the throne room of the Crystal Palace. "Go home and sleep with your wife. We will talk of this... stallion, at a later time."

Shining nodded, retrieving Frostmourne from it's icy position, before marching past his archmage.

Kel'Thuzad sheathed Bloodsurge, preparing to follow.

Of all the crimes I've committed, all the lives I've helped to end... this was by far the worst.

He sighed, turning to float through the portal, his mind drifting to several hours ago, at the party.

To the scene that would stay with him to the grave.

.........

A sobbing, hysterical mother once again stood before him, two lifeless, horribly decayed pieces of blackened and brownish flesh cradled in her forelegs, wishing life back into them.

For the first time in a long time, Kel'Thuzad hadn't known what to say.

'Gifts'

Cadence grunted, the cold sting of the needle entering her flesh hurting more than she had originally planned.

"Cadence! I'm sorry... I didn't me-" Shining's worried rant was halted by his mare's lips, the princess carefully aligning her body so as to not disturb the syringe currently sticking from her left foreleg. She withdrew, a smile present on her serene face.

"It's fine, Shiny." she giggled. "I was just never a fan of needles..." she sighed, the princess moving slightly to allow her husband to reach the small device embedded in her skin. With a nod, and reassuring nuzzle, the stallion pulled back on the plunger.

With a subtle, almost unheard whimper, Cadence watched as the small syringe was filled with blood.

"Are you sure about this Cadence?" Shining asked, carefully pulling the sterilized needle out of his wife's foreleg, wiping the small droplet of blood away from the already nearly healed wound, her alicorn cells rapidly reconstructing and rebinding the separated flesh with ease. Cadence shook her head, attempting to slow her anxious breaths as it came free, the red liquid within sloshing gently against the sides of the glass tube. She nodded slowly, a small smile across her muzzle.

"Yes, Shiny. I'm sure." she gently took the ounce of blood from Shining's magical hold, kissing him on the nose as she did. Shining shook his head slightly, following the mare to his archmage's chambers. The stallion sighed, following his wife down the hall, towards the dungeon, and his vizier's now permanent quarters.

The young prince had given the mage the option of moving out of his rather cramped... office.

No idea why he wanted to live... er... dwell in the dungeon...

But whatever makes him comfortable...

.........

Over...

Under...

Over...

Under...

Over...

Under...

Over...

Under...

Over...

Under...

......

"GODS DAMN IT ALL!" Kel'Thuzad berated himself, pulling the small instrument gently back out through the small hole. His form was hunched over a dimly lit table, a small candle burning gently on the side of his work.

Sewing never had been one of his strong suits...

Especially since his ascension to lichdom, which replaced his hands with sharpened claws of frigid bone.

Turns out bones aren't too good at gripping small and delicate instruments.

Maybe I could get some verses in Equestrian telekinesis. Rarity seems to be quite adept at sewing using it...

Sighing, he set the thread and needle down, and turned to look at his rather... bare quarters.

His laboratory, as he would call it, was less than adequate for a mage.

It was woefully inadequate for an undead lich with decades of experience in warfare and magic...

But nevertheless, he jumped at the chance for more metaphorical breathing room when his king presented his gift to him. His new quarters consisted of a huge portion of the GARGANTUAN dungeon complex beneath the palace.

In the laughably small FRACTION of dungeon that he currently occupied, he had placed his meager belongings.

In the corner opposite the large, reinforced door, he had placed an improvised enchanting surface on a discarded table, complete with several shards of ice and crystal, modified for external energy and soul storage. The rather controversial Scourge practice of weaving souls into weapons to empower them was surprisingly accepted universally as the main enchanting process in Equestria several centuries before the archlich had even arrived.

Granted, enchanters were far and few in between on Equus, seeing as the last major equestrian enchanter was Starswhirl the Bearded, who preached the use of souls in enchanting.

The more I delved into Equestrian enchanting and conjuration, the more dark and morbid it became...

I'm really starting to think that Equestria is not nearly as peace-loving and innocent as Celestia has said...

Especially since Lady Cadence gave me a stack of paperwork to do...

Not that I mind the work. I actually enjoy the distraction from my daily activities of... almost nothing...

I just could've lived without the knowledge that more than a third of the empire's trade and monetary gains were due to the extensive and 'exotic' brothels that were in place near the city's center plaza...

Shaking the rather... enlightening report from his mind, the mage turned to his quarters once more, turning to his wall of weapons and trophies.

While he wasn't the most proud advocate of his achievements on Azeroth, especially after his death, he had collected, undisputedly, the most extensive collection of dark and otherwise morbid artifacts known to him.

His eyes flicked across his weapons and armor, smiling at the hazy memories. When you get to his age, memories begin to start to blend together. Regardless, his eyes eventually flicked to the section of items displayed behind an array of wards and curses that would literally disintegrate anyone who was foolish enough to reach for the items that would most likely kill them anyway.

The Last Spellbook of Medivh...

As much as I regret my actions, I do not regret killing Antonidas. The stubborn old fool was the bane of my existence. If that idiot wasn't stuck in the past, I would never have left Dalaran, killed Jaina, and I might have even learned to combat undead more effectively!

The lich's eyes flicked left.

Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian...

Heh. Couldn't believe my luck when I came into possession of the head of one of the greatest staves ever made...

Couldn't believe my EYES when a mage came strutting into my throne room several years later in Northrend, brandishing Atiesh like a trophy...

Once again, Kel'Thuzad's scarlet pupils flicked left.

Thori'dal, The Star's Fury...

Yanked from the corpse of a blood elf attempting to attack the ground forces below Naxxramas. Fool was killed by an archer...

It seems even a bow with arrows made of starlight couldn't save him...

This time, the lich looked down.

On a pedestal near the center of the wall, sat one of his most prized possessions.

The Skull of Gul'dan...

Found on the body of a warlock that decided to resurrect himself as a person next to him exploded with frost during the second invasion of Naxxramas...

Sighing, he turned back to his work, the needle gently moving throught materials before him once again. He thought as he worked about the massive size of his current residence, the initial size baffling him. Even Icecrown Citadel had nowhere NEAR the size of a dungeon as large as the palace's.

Shining had briefly explained when he decided to move down there that Sombra had liked to keep a large amount of his citizens as...

'Practice.'

For what, the lich wasn't sure, but he could fathom a few guesses.

One, Sombra had been mentally unstable BEFORE his ascension to a, quite frankly, mentally taxing form.

Lichdom, while beneficial for the most part, still comes with that teensy, weensy little detail...

You're dead.

He always seemed to forget that some people don't like to be dead...

Kel'Thuzad, however, was never happier to devote even more time to his studies and duties, his lack of a need (and capability) to sleep, eat or drink fueling his endless quest in search for knowledge.

He was, after all, a wizard.

Wizards and sorcerers alike desire one thing over all else...

Knowledge.

Either way, Sombra was likely not mentally prepared for the idea and reality of being basically trapped inside your own rotting body. He likely turned to more... cruel and unusual punishments to amuse him, as a dead mind is still a mind.

Minds need entertainment.

Two, Sombra was rather cruel to begin with. From what Kel'Thuzad could find, he was born into a family of poverty, but was recognized by a passing mage for his talent with magic, and was whisked away to a life of grandeur and lavish living.

Probably didn't help his ego, either.

His third theory was that Sombra used the citizens he executed to draw the Royal Sisters to him, as he was severely limited in power by his jerry-rigged phylactery, the Crystal Heart.

The lich laughed, shaking his head for a moment.

When he first saw the Crystal Heart, he had to applaud Sombra's intuition. The device was a natural phylactery, and the vast arcane energy it emitted was likely boosting his already considerable powers to greater levels, perhaps even in excess of an alicorn.

Still, Kel'Thuzad realized quite quickly how dangerous the Crystal Heart could be as a phylactery.

The ascension to lichdom is, for the most part, an extremely volatile and caustic ritual. The vast arcane energies required to grasp and then bind the soul of a living thing to an object, something the gods obviously did not intend for it when the shaped humankind, is the easy part.

Having the necessary knowledge to infuse the necessary necromantic energies into both yourself and your phylactery, and then nullify them to a point so they don't dissolve your body completely however, is quite another story. If done incorrectly at ANY point, the ritual could release magics that could easily kill both you and everyone around the phylactery.

PAINFULLY.

While he was still under the control of Arthas' Scourge, he oversaw many of the rituals. Their success rates were very much dependent on the competence and quick thinking of the necrolytes or possibly other liches involved, otherwise the would-be newcomer to lichdom could be reduced to naught but a pile of ash and bone.

Sometimes less...

He thought that the process was streamlined to the point that it could no longer be improved upon.

Perfected.

He was pleasantly surprised when he realized he was woefully wrong.

While accidents regarding necromantic rituals were quite common, and usually deadly, an accident during an ascension ritual was quite rare.

So rare, in fact, that only two were ever recorded by his hands...

He was present for one of them...

.........

The crackling energies of the machines decorating the main hall of the construct quarter of Naxxramas whirred and buzzed as Kel'Thuzad floated through the space, the sentient crew members of his necropolis sending him a stiff salute, and the more brainless ones haphazardly bowing to him.

He payed them little mind.

That is, until, the explosion occurred.

With a deafening boom of necromantic energies and power, the air surrounding the back corner of the expansive room warped and sizzled with magic, disintegrating several necrolytes and undead servants or soldiers completely.

Immediately, he whirled around, the aged wizard's combat instincts kicking into overdrive as he threw a ward up around himself, and prepared a frost and shadow bolt in either clawed hand. As his undying gaze turned to the explosion point, preparing to be met with whatever had quite foolishly blown its way into his necropolis, he stopped. With a snarl, he lowered his hands, floating towards the lightly coughing necrolyte at the center of the blast, who's hair had all but been singed from her scalp, a few white hairs still managing to stay attached. As he approached the seemingly oblivious girl, he took note of her rapidly decaying skin, a tell-tale sign of necromantic infusion into a living being.

As he stopped before her, she shivered in fear as her eyes opened to the sight of the citadel's master, his gaze boring into hers.

"What is your name, girl?" Kel'Thuzad growled, his fist unclenching and clenching as the girl stammered a few more times, her words escaping her.

"E-Eola, master..." she stammered, her decaying form quickly kneeling before the lich. Kel'Thuzad grumbled, looking around for the first time at the damage her little... experiment had caused.

Several ghouls were the only survivors of the necrotic blast, one of them literally blown in half, his torso dragging itself towards the citadel's master, obviously wishing for aid. In a rare bout of mercy, the archlich severed the necromantic bonds within the cretin, it's form groaning, before falling to the ground and disintegrating completely.

Several abominations had waded through the small stream of plague and embalming fluid, the brutes obviously wanting a fight, their stupid grins and rusted cleavers betraying their thoughts. Patchwerk had already made his way over to the lich and his underling from the hallway to the fleshworks, the hulking goliath of decaying flesh and bone standing beside his master, awaiting orders.

All in all, the girl had destroyed several important projects, and had possibly ruined months of preparation and necromantic rituals.

Whether she had succeeded in making herself a revenant, however impressive for her status as a necrolyte, was irrelevant.

She had to die. He couldn't be seen as being... soft.

"Any last words or requests, necrolyte?" he growled, his arms already bathed in icicles, ready to unleash themselves into her mortal flesh. She looked up at him, and without fear this time, shook her head.

"No, archlich. I am ready to join the master." she solemnly admitted, hanging her head once more.

"Very well..." Kel'Thuzad droned, his next action so quick it could have not happened at all. With a flick of his wrist, the icicles were flying through the small gap between the two.

Without a groan, the girl was dead, her body slumping to the left a bit, before propping itself up on a partially large icicle that protruded from her side.

As the lich turned to leave, however, he stopped.

Her soul had visibly just traveled to a small urn on a desk nearby.

Without a word, the lich began the summoning ritual.

Within minutes, the girl was back before him, albeit skeletal and floating.

She had managed to ascend herself...

"I... I honestly don't know what to say..." Kel'Thuzad genuinely remarked, the smaller lich bowing once more at the chance of having a second chance.

"Master, may I have permission to speak?" Eola spoke, her voice unchanged other than the trademark echo of magical vocal chords.

Kel'Thuzad could not think of a reason to not let her.

"Permission granted, necrolyte."

Eola rose at this, her height impressive, but still small compared to his.

"I joined the Cult of the Damned to learn magic, archlich. Ever since I was a little girl, all I've ever wanted was to be able to throw fireballs, change my friends into sheep..." she sighed, her eyes betraying her anger. "But the mages... the mages in Dalaran said I... didn't seem... 'promising'..." she spat.

"Yes... we were rather picky of our students." Kel'Thuzad admitted. Eola looked up to him.

"Yes, but you, YOU gave me a chance, master! I didn't care about any of this Scourge nonsense! I wanted to learn... I just wanted to learn..." she... sobbed?

"Girl... you have emotions?! You can still feel grief? Anger? Hatred?!" Kel'Thuzad shook the smaller lich, her eyes opening wide at the archlich's questions.

"Y-Yes?" she answered, little more than a squeak escaping her.

For a long while, the only sounds in the large chamber were the clanking of chains colliding around the archlich's body, his mind spinning.

Finally, he spoke.

"Eola, I would like to offer you... a chance." he spoke. Eola jumped at this.

"Yes, master?"

"I will teach you whatever it is you wish to know." Kel'Thuzad explained. "Teach you the pros and cons of magical undeath..."

"But in return..."

"You will teach me how you managed to resurrect yourself... AND keep your emotions..."

Eola immediately bowed as low as she could.

"Master, it would be an honor!" she exclaimed. Kel'Thuzad sneered, gesturing for her to rise.

"Then rise, Lady Eola Deathwhisper... we have much to discuss..."

.........

Arthas found her before long. He stripped her of her emotions, but he did leave anger and cruelty.

She resided in Icecrown from then on, ruthlessly teaching chosen disciples the craft HE had taught her.

Kel'Thuzad never really forgave him for that.

He took one of his only... friends, from him. Turned her into a monster...

.........

Sighing, he turned back to his original thoughts.

All in all, the modifications made to the Crystal Heart by Sombra were not designed for lichdom. Merely to hold a soul.

Fortunately, he was able to repair and reinforce the rather sloppy addition to the heart.

Had he not, the powerful fragment of the Lich King's soul would likely have eroded and shattered it eventually.

A careful application of arcane magic by the archlich smoothed out the edges of the jagged addition to the heart, and guaranteed it's safe and effective use as a phylactery. Kel'Thuzad had his doubts that anyone would ever even attempt to destroy the Crystal Heart, but it never hurt to be cautious.

A scream alerted him, and as he turned, he saw Lady Cadence falling into her husband's arms, her form limp. Shining himself had a look of disbelief on his face.

Silence for several moments...

.........

"Kel'Thuzad, is there a reason you're sewing skin?"

Author's Note

I am terribly sorry for the extreme delay, and hope that I may continue the story uninterrupted by life.

Jobs combined with further blacksmithing schooling have kept my hands relatively full, and with the release of Legion, I may be slowed by the awesomeness.

(Still got my fingers crossed for Kel coming back. DK campaign is AWESOME!)

Hopefully, I may continue the story regularly now, as ive returned for blacksmithing courses for the time-being.

Regards,

Lich-Lord Krosis
Dragon Priest of Sorrow

Conflicting Interests

Kel'Thuzad watched the two stallions from his corner of the small bar, his magically constructed eyes blinking once or twice to clear their imperfections. The two delinquents were busy heckling a smaller crystal mare, who was just trying to enjoy a drink at the bar, along with a few of her friends from the looks of it. Typical bar scenery.

The grey elderly earth pony cracked his neck, growling in annoyance at the jeering mocks of the two stallions across the room.

From what he'd heard, the mares were exotic dancers at a club nearby, and were followed by these two wastes of oxygen after their shift had ended. While the archmage was... Not exactly a fan of their careers, the mares didn't deserve this treatment. Besides, a centuries old lich whom was tricked into murdering his entire home continent didn't have much wiggle room to judge other's life choices...

Regardless, had he not been in some seriously hot water with his monarchs, he might have intervened, but he was strictly told by his prince to await him at the bar near the fountain in the main square.

But his rather small amount of patience was rapidly wearing thin at the young and brash colts who were disturbing the relative peace of the small inn.

Kel'Thuzad thought back to the events of the past few hours, his mind racing through the memories of having to explain... well, that he had technically purchased the flesh and skin legally. As the vizier and archmage of the Crystal Court, he was rightfully entitled to a substantial sum of bits at the end of every week, nearly three fourths of which he did not accept, for a multitude of reasons.

One, he didn't need to eat. He didn't need to drink. He didn't need to bathe. He didn't need to sleep.

He didn't need much of anything, in fact, seeing as his thirst for knowledge was sated for the moment by the vast library within the keep, of which he had unrestricted access to.

Two, he felt that the amount was ludicrous for what little he did. His activities and their total expenditures while on Equus had come to grand financial total of seven hundred and fifty bits, almost all of which was used to buy enchanting supplies from the bazaar near where he currently sat.

Three. He felt as if he was... obligated to donate what could not bring him any comfort to those less fortunate. In fact, the lich spent the better part of two nights a week choosing which families in the Crystal Empire would receive how much of his salary.

After all the lives he helped to ruin, all the families he literally tore apart, it seemed like it was the least he could do to help start... making amends.

Even if it was on another planet entirely...

Anyway, Kel'Thuzad had to tell them that he had purchased the small patch of skin, along with a new jar of embalming fluid and some linen at the local medical school. The place was of recent construction, and he had only learned of it's existence when he had recently heard reports from Titus that the guards were seeing... things, near the new building.

Apparitions.

Presences.

Ghosts, for the more necromantically impaired.

The lich was more than a little surprised that the entirety of the building itself was constructed on top of some sort of primitive mass burial ground, the frozen earth several dozen yards below the surface of the school filled with bones, most of which were easily several thousand years old. Yet... no one except him seemed to know this. While the staff and doctors were quite aware of the hauntings occurring, they were clueless of their origins!

How several hundred bodies (a rough calculation, mind you) had gone undiscovered for so long was beyond him.

While Kel'Thuzad didn't mention that part to his king and queen, he did set up a few magical suppression runes around the school, nullifying and trapping the alarming amount of surprisingly docile specters around the property until they could be... dealt with...

I will have to do some... digging in the area. See if I can set them at peace if anything is binding them here...

Or perhaps learn of their allegiances...

As for his reasons to own the skin, he had reluctantly told his rulers that he was in fact... well... creating a body for his brother.

Magical flesh and bone were only temporary, so simply conjuring up a body would not do.

No.

He owed his brother a somewhat normal life after all he had been through, and while he cared little to none for his choice of a lover, he respected his brother, and had learned that making an enemy of Celestia...

Means making an enemy of her entire extended family. Besides, they had eternity to repair their... faulted relationship. Giving her something to cuddle that at least acted and looked alive would hopefully help repair the sizable cracks in their past.

Hopefully they only cuddle until I get this done...

That also reminds me of the complications and awkward conversations I will need to have, in order to properly... equip him...

"What, you got something to say, jackass?" hoofsteps approached the wizard, his thoughts cut short as a single hoof smashed onto his small table, shaking the small glass of rum he had ordered to seem normal. Kel'Thuzad said nothing, a light growl masked with a shrill cough his only response.

Damn, I've been staring at him this entire time, then? I really must remember to blink every now and again...

This form, while flawed and exceedingly misleading, was primarily his Queen's idea. She had mentioned the idea before, but the lich was only using it just this night to assume the rather simple disguise in the midst of his 'crimes'.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, man!" the quite obviously drunken stallion roared, his other hoof violently pushing the wizard. Kel'Thuzad's eyes darted upwards, an incantation barely whispered under his breath. With his assailant foolishly close to him, he was unable to see the rest of the bar, but could see that the mare's sitting at the bar were now arguing with the stallion's comrade, his smaller form rearing back to hit one of them in the muzzle with his right foreleg, a sickening snap and yelp accompanying it.

That did it.

In an instant, the stallion all but hugging the now very morally infuriated archlich was gasping for air through choked breaths as his body was lifted from the table, his windpipe being slowly and methodically crushed by Kel'Thuzad's potent necromantic magics. Unaware of his friend's predicament, the other stallion had proceeded to grab another of the mares, and was slowly making his way towards the restrooms behind them, her form desperately trying to leave his grip.

In a single move, the lich threw up a small ward around the remaining mares, and snarled as he launched a single frostbolt at the fiend's right shoulder, the icicle connecting and carrying the now heavily bleeding stallion towards the wall, were it nailed him to the wooden surface with ease. For the second time in an alarmingly short period, he felt his natural, charismatic nature melt away, and it revealed the frigid, blistering cold of the madman he once was...

The archlich, still in his diminutive and humble stature, levitated slowly into the air, two ropes of his soul chains connecting together in front of him, ribbons of potent arcane and necromantic magics sizzling and warping the air around them as they lashed out, swiping the choking unicorn twice, breaking a fair amount of his ribs as a result. The stallion yelped once with what little breath he could muster, his gurgling cry drawing the attention of the rest of the bar's patrons. For a moment, the mare's whimpers of fear and the stallion's groans of pain were the only sound in the small room.

With a low snarl, Kel'Thuzad realized that he recognized the both of them. The brawny, pigheaded unicorn assaulting his table was none other than the mercenary that less than a week ago attempted to slice him in half with a halberd. His friend, the smaller unicorn, was the archer.

How appropriate...

Fire Fight's 'lackies'...

A quick, imperceptible flick of his right forehoof, and it was confirmed that they were both quite alive, and not changelings.

Shame... I was hoping to dish out some proper justice tonight...

"You should know better than to insult your elders, boy." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his eyes starting to echo waves of cold as his illusion threatened to collapse under the magical stress of his arcane power.

"B-buck you..."

Kel'Thuzad smirked evilly.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

The archlich grabbed the unicorn before him with one of his frosted chains, and wrenched him closer, a shriek of pain leaving the stallion's muzzle as his shattered ribs grinded together from the tightening of the frigid snake.

"You don't remember me, do you?"

The stallion, rather admirably, shook his head, his face a grimace of rage and pain.

"Hehehe... Fire Fight definitely didn't pay you NEARLY well enough to fight me, did he?"

.........

The stallion's muzzle went pale.

"N-no... please... not... not again!"

The stallion broke down, his cries of terror at the thought of being controlled once more shattering his bulwark of spirit.

"Cease your sniveling, worm! You brought this judgement upon yourself!" Kel'Thuzad snarled, flinging the unicorn over near the bathrooms, his shattered body landing before his friends writhing form. Kel'Thuzad lowered himself to the floor, his hooves gently hitting the stone as he trotted slowly forward, the air around his warping and now sizzling form growing several dozen degrees colder as a result. The archmage stopped before them, his rage leaving him quickly as he realized what he had done.

I... what am I doing?

With a wave of his hoof, the stallion that was pinned to the wall clattered to the floor alongside his accomplice, his shoulder's puncture wound still frozen shut.

"Please... we... we didn't know he was... was..."

"A monster..." his accomplice choked, his breaths slow and labored. "Like that... demon that attacked Canterlot..." Kel'Thuzad snorted.

What to do with these... these...

Mortal wretches...

Kel'Thuzad shook his head lightly, his murderous intent silenced.

"Demons, are we?!"

The stallions and lich turned to the door to see Shining, Titus, and a very angry Anub'arak. Kel'Thuzad bowed, and his king spoke.

"Kel'Thuzad, what's going on here?" Shining asked, his tone more... confused than angry. Kel'Thuzad rose.

"My king, I... they..." his words stumbled. Anub'arak snorted, marching past the prince, his gaze fixed on the two stallions lying in a heap near the restrooms.

"If you think I'M a demon, mortal... you really don't want to see me when I'm angry..." Anub'arak chuckled darkly, his insectoid eyes staring unblinking into his prey's...

With a roar, the changeling was engulfed in flames of green, his chitinous, gravelly laughter growing deeper as he revealed his true form. Kel'Thuzad attempted a silence, but his magic fell short.

The transformation was too far along.

With an ear-piercing screech, the underlord let out a war cry, one that was all too familiar to Kel'Thuzad and Titus, but new to the prince. With a grinding sound of chitin on chitin, his claws unfolded. His maw, alight with blue magic and stinking of rot and decay, Anub'arak chuckled.

Kel'Thuzad shook his head. He had heard the screech many times, of course, by both the mouth of Anub'arak and his underlings, yet he couldn't fathom why he would use it now.

Then he remembered what the screech meant.

It was a death screech.

An executioner's call.

The last thing an enemy combatant supposedly heard at the claws of a nerubian...

.........

He was going to kill them.

Why, he couldn't know.

But he was going to kill them both.

.........

With a snarl, both scythes lurched forward.

Author's Note

Greetings, readers. After an unfortunately long and stressing delay, I have returned. While little more than the blink of an eye for me, I often seem to forget how much time means to mortals. I will be updating the story at least weekly from now on, so here's to being back in the swing of things.

I've found my spark again.

In regards to the story, Kel'Thuzad seems to be starting to understand his situation a little more now, doesn't he? The longer the Helm is unsatisfied...

The worse off things will be...

Good to be back,

Lich-Lord Krosis

Dragon Priest of Sorrow

Descent

With a blood-curdling screech, the Nerubian's claws lunged forward like an arrow in flight.

Anub'arak knew not why he was doing this. His master, while still the Lich King, the being that had irreparably scarred his past, present, and future, he was far from the cold, ruthless tyrants that Ner'Zhul and Arthas had been. He showed his starved and freezing people compassion, and while his hostile acts against his queen angered him, he understood how it felt to be... controlled...

The final stages of his existence on Azeroth were filled with hatred and anger towards the Scourge... but what really hurt was his dubbing of "The Traitor King" by the living remnants of his kingdom. Not that he was able to save them, anyway. Azjol-Nerub fell long before Arthas ever set foot in Northrend, by his claws, no less.

When he finally was killed, deep under Northrend, he thought himself finally freed of his shackles. That he would have some semblance of peace in the afterlife...

He was wrong.

Ner'Zhul, in his cruelty, had bound him to the Lich King.

Eternally...

His anger with his eternal service, along with these... mongrels' derogatory language towards both him and his beloved...

It snapped his fragile mind.

Thoughts flooded his mind of his life before the Scourge...

Before his corruption...

Before his third and final death, deep below the Argent Arena...

.........

He realized now that nothing could change his fate.

Nothing was worse than what had already been done to him.

To his people.

He was resigned.

.........

For the first time in a long time, he was about to kill.

Kill for his master...

Kill...

"FOR THE SCOURGE!!!"

With a screech that literally shattered and cracked windows up the entire block, his claws sank into the cowering stallions. With a bellowing howl, the nerubian King reared back on his hind legs, his colossal size nearly reaching the ceiling. With his prey still impaled on his scythes, he let out a triumphant screech, letting all around him know that his king's justice had been delivered. With an echoing slam, he crashed back down to all fours, his scythes reaching under each other to rid them of the offending bodies adorning them. With a swift slash, both stallions were bisected cleanly down the middle, the momentum also propelling their bodies to the floor with a sickening 'squelch', and a splatter of red and organs.

Smirking in sickening satisfaction, Anub'arak turned to his master, expecting the stallion to congratulate him on a job well done.

.........

Shining shivered as Frostmourne barked at him from his side, it's anger at missing out on two new souls quite apparent.

The Helm had warned him of this happening.

It told him that death was naturally drawn to the position he currently filled.

That he should get used to it.

Sickeningly enough, he was finally starting to believe it.

It had predicted and foreseen every event, good or bad, since his ascension to alicornhood, and he had fought it every step of the way. He couldn't imagine that he would have done even HALF of the things the Helm had foretold, but here he was, feeling oddly... satisfied.

He had wanted those two stallions to die...

Didn't he?

.........

"My king?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his liege having not responded to the rather brutal and disgusting act that Anub'arak had committed.

"Yes, Kel?" Shining inquired, his muzzle turning to his archmage, whom had taken the time to fully revert to his true form.

.........

Kel'Thuzad was floored. His king was acting as if it didn't even happen! That he had not just seen two (admittedly dimwitted) stallions get torn to pieces by a giant beetle! His frantic thinking, however, would have to wait.

"Kel'Thuzad, bring these two to the dungeons, please." Shining calmly spoke, gesturing to the two corpses littering the floor. His voice was just loud enough for his archmage and captain of the guard to hear. "Bring them back, and wait for my arrival."

.........

"Sire... I..." Kel'Thuzad started. Shining whipped his head back to the lich, his eyes starting to echo their streams of frost more erratically. "Shining, with all due respect, have you lost yo---"

"That is an ORDER, Kel'Thuzad..." the Lich King spoke, a demonic twinge tainting his voice. The lich stuttered once more, but the death knight beside him was quicker to his words.

"Of course, my king." Titus bowed once, before grasping one of the bodies in his magical grip, awaiting the lich's creation of a portal to the dungeons. Kel'Thuzad, still stunned beyond words at his king's decision, obliged his colleague, and retrieved the other corpse, quickly disintegrating any leftover blood that coated the floor. With a quick glance back to the bar as he traveled through the portal, he saw his king approaching Anub'arak.

.........

"My king, I... I am sorry for my outburst..." Anub'arak started. Shining stopped him, his hoof raising to silence the great nerubian.

"We will speak of this at a later time, Anub'arak." Shining spoke sternly. "Return to the palace. Sleep with your mate."

"Y-Yes, master." Anub'arak stammered, his gargantuan form moving surprisingly quickly as he made his way out the door. With a loud buzzing noise, the king was in the air, his wings carrying him off to his room's balcony.

With the last of his underlings gone, the prince approached the bar, where the three mares and barkeep where cowering. With a gentle smile, he handed the barkeep a large sack of bits.

"For the floors." Shining stated, before turning to walk back to the palace himself. Neither the barkeep or the mares responded.

Shining grunted, his eyes staring coldly forward as he trudged through the light layer of snow covering the crystal pavement. The Helm's whispering had ceased for the moment.

For the first time, he had followed its... advice.

And it was right.

.........

"Sire, I'm sorry, BUT HAVE YOU LOST YOUR DAMNED MIND!?" Kel'Thuzad roared to the alicorn as he entered the dungeon, locking the heavy iron door behind him.

"Inside voice, Kel. I'm not angry, so you shouldn't be either." Shining said, taking a seat on one of the cushions that the lich had laid out for his arrival. Kel'Thuzad opened his mouth to retort, but closed it soon after, letting out a heavy sigh.

"You're right. Forgive me, Shining. I'm just a little... confused..." Kel'Thuzad stated, his form floating over to his throne opposite the chair, before letting himself fall into it's embrace. Shining nodded, his eyes flickering to the left to see the Helm, floating in it's magical suspension field.

For the first time, he had to literally stop himself fro walking over, and attempting to put it on.

Kel'Thuzad frowned as Shining's form lurched, before settling back into it's cushion, his breathing noticeably heavier.

"My king?" Kel'Thuzad inquired, starting to get up. "Are you well?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm fine." Shining quickly assured, his nervous smile confirming the lich's suspicions.

"It's the Helm. Isn't it?" he asked, his arms folding behind his back as he rose. "It's call is louder, yes?"

Shining nodded, his breathing somewhat stabilized.

"It... it told me to do what I did back at the bar, Kel." Shining turned to the lich, his eyes wide, and panicked. "It... it's been right about everything! Celestia and Luna's death, Nightmare Moon, the changelings... everything..."

"Sire... have you listened to it before?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his form floating closer. Shining's eyes darted to the archlich, his head nodding.

"I... I hear it all the time now." Shining broke down, sobbing slightly. "It... it wants to be with me, Kel. It wants me to... to..."

"Kill?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his brow softening at his friend's breakdown.

"YES!" the Lich King shouted, his voice distorted, if only slightly. "But... but it won't say what..."

"Shining... I... give me a week." Kel'Thuzad requested, his form rising.

Shining nodded.

"But after that, I'm putting the damned thing on." Shining confirmed, his form rising to leave the room. The door creaked slightly in protest as he opened it, his head turning to look at his archmage once more.

"Oh, and keep them down here. At least until i figure out... what to do with them." Shining ordered. Kel'Thuzad bowed slowly, nodding.

"Of course, my king. Have a pleasant night."

"Goodnight, Kel." Shining spoke, his form disappearing behind the closed door.

.........

"Cadence?" Shining asked, his wife currently laying on top of him. Said princess groaned, opening a single eye to look at her husband.

"Yes, Shining?" she asked, her voice tired and slow.

"Am... am I a good husband?" Shining asked, his head looking down to watch his mate's eyes open wide, before closing as she crawled up his barrel to plant a kiss on his lower chin.

"Best husband I've ever had..." Cadence jokingly stated, her form relaxing once more. Shining, unsatisfied, moved slightly, wrenching another groan from his wife as she was disturbed yet again.

"I'm serious, Cady. Do I... make you happy?" Shining asked, his mind still lingering on the night's events. Cadence, now more awake, rolled off of her princely bed, before igniting the lamp on their bedside, illuminating them in a light orange glow. After this, she gave a gentle smile, and wrapped herself around her husband's neck, nuzzling into the area just under his left ear.

"Happier than I've ever been..." Cadence cooed, her breath tickling the prince's ear, causing him to chuckle before falling back to the bed, extinguishing the light and carrying his wife with him. After a few more tender minutes, Shining sighed, looking into the eyes of the angel he had been blessed to have married.

"Do you trust me?" Shining asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Cadence, without hesitation, responded.

"With my life, my knight in shining armor..."

Author's Note

Any and all lines that the Lich King makes from now on will be as SUCH...

Secrets

The echoing march of the small platoon of Lunar Guard accompanying the two princesses reverberated off the long halls of the Crystal Palace.

Cadence was angry.

Only now that her aunt was here was she learning about a supposed 'incident' at a bar near the square three nights ago. The reports that Luna's informants had given to them were startling, sure, but what really angered her was that nobody told her about the deaths of the two stallions. At the hooves, er... claws of Anub'arak no less!

"Cadence, are you alright?" Luna asked, her niece's look of enragement alarming her. Cadence's eyes darted to hers, her gaze softening only slightly, her face still in a pout as they approached the heavily warded and reinforced door to her archmage's chambers.

"Yes, auntie. It just doesn't make any sense, though! Kel'Thuzad has been down here for almost a week now working on Shining's helmet, and hasn't come out for anything! He would have had no time and reason to be in a bar to begin with!" Cadence shouted, their little convoy finally reaching the large oak and iron door, Luna scoffing once.

"Like it or not Cadence, your vizier was present for the events that transpired at the bar. Unless you know of another twelve foot tall skeleton in robes?" Luna smugly stated, her eyes darting to gaze upon the enchanted door.

Stars above...

She had to admit, she was impressed. The door to his laboratory was more heavily warded than the door to the Canterlot Palace vault! It most have taken hours of concentration to lay these wards down! While she knew that Kel'Thuzad was... experienced, she had never seen...

"You may come in, if you wish." Kel'Thuzad's voice droned from the other side of the door, sounding as if he was standing before them. Luna huffed, her hoof pushing the now nearly weightless door open, the hinges not even creaking in the slightest, despite being more rust than iron. A bone-chilling wave of cold washed over them, Luna unable to suppress a shiver or two. Cadence, however, seemed quite used to it, trotting in once the door was opened all the way.

Inside, Kel'Thuzad's immense form was unmistakable, his hands busy fiddling with something on a long oak table in the corner of the room. Several skeletal ponies wandered around, dusting, cleaning, or bringing the archmage something trivial when he required it. As the small group entered the dungeon, the constructs all turned to them, bowing stiffly as a gesture of subservience. Unnerved, but not broken, Luna continued on her way towards the lich, his form now turned to them, already in a bow.

"Greetings, your highness." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his form rising as Luna finished her polite curtsy. "Such a pleasant surprise to be visited by not one, but two princesses..."

Cadence giggled, rage seemingly gone for the moment as she came up to Kel'Thuzad, her form leaping up into his ribcage to give him a hug. Kel'Thuzad faltered little, their little ritual having been the norm for him since his promotion to their vizier. While it was... interesting, to say the least, Kel'Thuzad enjoyed the little interaction, her cheerful demeanor warming his cold bones, if only for a short while.

"Sorry for not coming to visit Kel, I've just been really busy lately." Cadence beamed as she withdrew down from the embrace, her wings flapping once to soften the landing. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, his hands retreating behind his back.

"It's quite alright, Cadence. I've been... busy as well." Kel'Thuzad stuttered, his eyes turning back to Luna. "Now then, what can I do for you, princess? I doubt you came all this way just for a casual visit..."

Luna nodded, her eyes turning to her flanking guards, their eyes keenly watching the skeletal guards that she herself had just noticed. Two massive earth pony skeletons guarded an extensive wall of artifacts and scrolls, each gazing right back at the unexpectedness party.

"May we speak privately, archmage? My reason being here is quite... sensitive, in nature." Luna asked, her eyes dartin back to the constructs around the room, the laborers performing their tasks as if nopony else was in the room.

"But... we are alone..." Kel'Thuzad droned, gesturing around in confusion. Luna gawked, but before she could retort, Captain Mistfang interjected.

"You will refer to the princess as 'your highness', necromancer..." the thestral growled, his fanged mouth and slitted, predatory eyes bared. Once again, before Luna could speak, she was interrupted.

"Mind who you speak to, pup. I'm quicker and more dangerous than you think..." Kel'Thuzad sneered, Mistfang growling more rabidly as a result, the thestrals around him showing signs of aggression as well at the commander's actions.

For a third and final time, Luna was interrupted, but this time, by action.

Before she knew it, their little group, save for Cadence, whom had been whisked behind her archmage, was surrounded. The two massive earth pony skeletons had retrieved long, rusted spears from beside themselves, brandishing them along with wall shields that covered nearly their entire frontal form behind rusted steel and rotten wood. The constructs had also done their part, wielding several swords and hand axes from seemingly nowhere, their soulless eyes staring down the offending party.

With a chuckle, the archlich moved forward, his massive form towering over the outnumbered group.

"It is unwise to provoke a spider in it's own web, captain..." Kel'Thuzad coldly stated, his eyes centered offending bat pony, who stood before him, wings valiantly flared to their full extent to protect his princess. With a chuckle, the Lich returned to his full height, the chains that were violently orbiting him returning to their placid dance around his torso.

At the unspoken command, the constructs surrounding them lost all aggression, sheathing their weapons and returning to their duties, the two larger guards lumbering back to their positions across the room.

"Now... is there something you needed, your highness?" Kel'Thuzad playfully mocked, his scarlet pupils watching the flustered captain beside the alicorn seethe with barely withheld rage.

Luna finally interjected, her form properly putting herself in front of her small platoon.

"Yes, archmage. Please, forgive my captain. He can be a bit... overprotective, at times." Luna spoke, a disapproving glare directed at Mistfang.

"No harm done, princess." Kel'Thuzad chuckled, gesturing to the small ring of half-frozen pillows nearby, in front of his throne. "You must be tired from your journey. Please, sit."

Nodding politely, the lunar alicorn trotted forwards, picking the largest pillow she could find as the lich before her settled himself in his chair. The moment her flank touched the fabric, she had to surpress a Yelp of surprise.

Stifling a chuckle with a superfluous cough, Kel'Thuzad sucked the cold from the pillows before him, leaving them room temperature.

"Now then. Where were you three nights ago?" Luna asked, her guards setting up a defensive barrier of equine muscle and armor behind her, still wary of the constructs. Kel'Thuzad raised one brow, and answered.

"Per my king's request, I ceased my duties for the night, and awaited him at a bar that he frequented near the square." he slowly answered. In an instant, Cadence's fury had returned. With an echoing slam, and a metallic 'thud' of saronite on pine wood, Kel'Thuzad's skull was slammed against the back his chair, audible cracks emanating from within his magically constructed skull.

"Why was I not informed of this, Kel'Thuzad?!" Cadence barked, her muzzle mere inches from his skull now as she yanked him down to her level by the top of his sternum with her telekinesis.

.........

Kel'Thuzad was floored. His mind, while usually nearly unrivaled in combative prowess, was drawing blanks. Never in a thousand years would he believe he would be tossed around by any other being besides his king.

Never in another thousand would he have suspected Cadence, usually the most kind pony he had ever met, would be the one doing it.

"My... my queen..." Kel'Thuzad stammered, only to have his eardrums shattered by his monarch's voice.

"ANSWER ME!" Cadence roared, even Luna, who's anger was legendary, visibly flinching at the unyielding volume of her niece's Royal Canterlot Voice.

"My queen... I assumed Shining had told you..." Kel'Thuzad spoke softly. Cadence glared at him for another few moments, before his sternum was released, and he staggered to his full height once more. Cadence, still in momentary shock, stood still, her muzzle pointed to the floor. "I apologize for any... repercussions... my actions have caused. I will assume full responsibility for my part in the incident."

"NO!" Cadence roared, her eyes tearing slightly as she looked fiercely up to her archmage. The lich put his hands behind his back, their fingers interlocking. "I... I apologize, Kel. I... I don't know what came over me..." Cadence whimpered, her flank plopping back down unto her pillow.

.........

Once again, Kel'Thuzad's mind swirled information around, trying to figure out the cause for his queen's outburst.

While he knew Cadence had every right to punish him for his role in the crimes his colleague had perpetrated, he also knew Cadence.

She wasn't the type to physically punish, or even punish at all. In fact, in the several months he had known her, she had yet to give out one punishment to a criminal that resulted in jail time.

No. Whatever had caused her outburst of overwhelming anger was magical in design.

He was sure of it.

But he couldn't figure... out...

His scarlet pupils darted around the room, trying and failing to find something that would influence emotions...

Of course! How could I have been so STUPID?

His eyes were squared directly on the Helm of Domination, still sitting on the table in the corner of the room where he left it.

If she has, quite literally, a piece of Shining inside of her... I wonder if that piece would be affected by the Helm's presence...

And in turn... affect her...

"Where are they, Kel'Thuzad?" Luna spoke, her face a grimace of calm rage.

"I beg your pardon, princess?" Kel'Thuzad spoke, his mind-searching interrupted by the question.

"Where. Are. They?" Luna asked once more, her patience at his games growing thinner by the second. Luna stood up, her mane beginning to billow more dramatically around.

"Where are what?" Kel'Thuzad asked, genuinely confused. Luna snorted, but her captain stepped forwards once more.

"The bodies, necromancer! Where are the bodies of the ponies you killed?!" Mistfang growled. Fed up with the rude and ignorant fool, the lich's soul chains grabbed the thestral by the throat, midsection, and wings, disabling all movement for the equine, except for fruitless struggling.

"What have I told you about manners, parasite?" Kel'Thuzad growled, his pupils boring into the slitted eyes of his captive.

Fear flashed across the thestral's face for a moment, but dissipated quickly.

"Kel'Thuzad! Put him down right now!" Cadence roared, her usual demeanor of asking first obviously having returned. Kel'Thuzad scoffed, his eyes turning to his monarch, the chains binding Mistfang tightening. His eyes flashed across Luna on the way.

She seemed... calm. Unnaturally so...

She knows...

"My lady, while I apologize for my role at the bar, I will not apologize for neutralizing a national threat." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his eyes turning once more to the now stunned Luna.

"What are you talking about, Kel'Thuzad?" Cadence asked, her eyes following his to look at her aunt, who's head was hung in shame.

"Auntie?"

"I'm sorry... Cadence." Luna spoke, her form shaking as her eyes seared up slightly. Forgetting her confusion, Cadence ran forwards to embrace her auntie, her wings wrapping around her fellow princess to help comfort her.

"They're vampires, Cadence." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his eyes moving to the other thestrals in the room, their teeth bared and weapons drawn. His attention moved to the still struggling Mistfang, whose eyes shared unbridled rage at his accurate assessment.

"They all are..."

.........

After the group had left, Kel'Thuzad sat alone in his laboratory, staring into the emotionless sockets of the Helm of Domination. The princesses had hesitantly agreed to let bygones be bygones, after a long and tense debate.

Kel'Thuzad would not reveal the true nature of the agility and vitality of the Lunar Guard, and Luna would ignore the bodies of the two stallions that were killed a the bar that currently rotted in the dungeon of the Crystal Palace.

"You're one to talk about keeping secrets, Kel'Thuzad..." an echoing voice sounded. The archlich snorted, turning to the alicorn, her flank already upon a pillow behind him.

"I don't need your ridicule right now..."

"Nightmare..."

A Deal with the Devil

With a shuddering, wet cough, Stern Staff awoke, his eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room he was in. His head was thrumming violently, his eyes swimming for a moment before normalizing, the thrumming cutting away to silence.

He was about to call for help when his chest ached, an unknown substance blocking his windpipe. As his coughing spree ended, the hindrance to normal breathing surfaced, the stallion coughing up a sizable amount of a viscous, clear liquid. Shuddering once as he spit up a few more dollops of the tasteless substance, the stallion sighed, resting for a spell, before attempting to sit up.

Failure.

With a groan, his body clattered to the floor once more. Gathering his thoughts, he attempted to at least... remember...

No...

All he remembered was...

Pain. A lot of it.

He was attacked by that... that...

Monster...

At the bar...

Then... darkness. Cold.

"Ah, you're awake. Excellent." an echoing voice he knew all too well droned to his right.

Stern flicked his stiff neck in the direction of his captor's voice, attempting to find where that... that... monster, was hiding. It didn't take long, as the lich was currently floating across the cell from him, seemingly appearing from nowhere.

"Whe-" Stern started.

"He's safe. Your brother is safe." Kel'Thuzad stated, his form moving slowly towards the stallion, whom reacted by attempting to stand.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Stern cried out, his voice cracking as his unnaturally... dry windpipe strained itself. Kel'Thuzad stopped about five feet away, towering over him. Attempting to stand once more, Stern grunted in exertion as his hind legs refused to move.

"Oh, apologies. I must have forgotten to reattach the nerves..." with a wave of Kel'Thuzad's hand, and a snap of magic, he was capable of powered movement once more, his form springing up to gallop to the far end of his cell, the lich staring motionless at his antics. For a few minutes, the stallion caught his breath, eyeing the undead mage across the room.

Of course the lich was lying when he told his captive of the rookie necromantic mistake he made. A scared subject is more likely to listen to propositions.

And the proposition his king had given him to give the stallion was anything but appealing...

To the average being, of course.

"K-Kel'Thuzad, right?" Stern asked, his body curled into a defensive stance. Kel'Thuzad nodded, bowing slightly in a form of respect.

"Correct, Stern Staff."

"H-How do you know my..." Stern started.

"Name? My dear boy... I know a lot more than that, I assure you." Kel'Thuzad stated, his arms folding behind his back. "I know you and your brother were orphaned at the age of six and eight. How you ran away from that hellhole of an orphanage. How a passing mercenary crew took you both in, and trained you..."

Kel'Thuzad took the opportunity to float ever closer as he told the startlingly accurate story of the stallion's life.

"How old were you when you took your first life, hmm?" Kel'Thuzad asked, genuinely interested, as his scrying of their souls only revealed so much.

Stern Staff looked at the lich in a mix of horror and disbelief.

"How old was your brother when he saw you kill?" Kel'Thuzad prodded.

"You... how dare you!" Stern Staff accused, a burst of anger giving him false courage. His form took on a more aggressive pose, and he snorted once, his eyes showing nothing but hatred for the lich and his questioning.

Well... his brother is clearly the soft spot, Kel.

Of course he is, why do you think I mentioned him?

With a snap of his fingers, Kel'Thuzad severed the necromantic bonds lacing through the undead stallion's spinal cord, shutting off movement once more.

With a startled yelp, Stern fell to the ground once more as his legs failed, his face hitting the cold stone floor of the cell.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Already threatening the man who saved your life."

Heh. Liar.

Shut up, Nightmare.

"What do you mean?!" Stern Staff bellowed, his voice cracking. "I'm stuck in this prison cell thanks to you!"

"If it weren't for me, boy, you would still be in two pieces on the floor of that bar!" Kel'Thuzad growled, wrenching the paralyzed stallion up to his face with one of his soul chains. At that, the stallion's face changed.

Realization flashed across his muzzle, then fear, then understanding.

"I... I'm..." Stern Staff muttered, his eyes wider than saucers.

"Dead. Or undead, rather. Congratulations." Kel'Thuzad stated flatly, his claw waving once to reattach his bindings. "I could have let you rot, Stern Staff. I could've left you to die at the claws of King Anub'arak, which was well deserved, with your track record of a life..."

"The murdering of an entire village of Gryphons just to avenge ONE of your mercenary comrades..." Kel'Thuzad began, his claws waving through the air for dramatic emphasis. "The hiring of a guide that graciously offered to take you to a sacred and hidden temple in the Saddle Arabian desert, only to murder him and steal the gold and silver offerings within." Kel'Thuzad continued, his tone softening slightly.

"OKAY! I get it! You could have left me to die, but why didn't you then?!" Stern spat, his hoof coming up to wipe away a bit of the substance that he had coughed up earlier from his mouth. "What is this shit, anyway?"

"Embalming fluid. I trust you'd rather not have rotted any while I worked on you?" Kel'Thuzad stated with a smirk, his eyes darting to the puddle of the substance nearby. "I can see that it didn't agree with you very well, however..."

Stern Staff gagged again at the information, dry heaving twice to attempt to rid himself of the substance. The lich chuckled over his antics.

"The reason for you resurrection, however, is far simpler than you think." Kel'Thuzad stated, wiping away the excess formaldehyde pooling around the stallion with a burst of arcane power. Stern Staff glared at the necromancer, scoffing once.

"What, to serve you? To be your... your... puppet?!" Stern laughed, stomping the cobblestone floor once. "I'd rather rot in Tartarus, freak."

Biting back an insult, and a murderous outburst, Kel'Thuzad chuckled darkly.

"Well, half of both of your predictions are true, boy." Kel'Thuzad sneered. With a slightly exaggerated retrieval of Bloodsurge from it's sheathe at his hip, the lich sliced a portal into existence before Stern Staff.

Showoff.

Shut up.

Through the portal, the harsh and biting cold of Northrend blew into the cell, chilling even the undead stallion's bones. With several, heavy hoofsteps, the Lich King entered the room through the magical doorway, a heavy cloak of black wool flapping around his gargantuan form. Frostmourne was pinned to his side, the blade seeming more... sinister, for some reason to Stern Staff.

"Hello, Stern Staff." Shining spoke, a gentle, if sinister smile decorating his muzzle. Stern Staff scrambled to his hooves, before bowing quickly to the stallion, his form still shivering from the influx of winter winds.

"Greetings, your majesty..." Stern Staff spoke, his head looking up slightly. Shining nodded once, turning to the lich behind him, who's form was also bowed in respect. After a moment, Kel'Thuzad rose, his portal closing behind Shining with a magical 'snap'.

"How is he?" Shining asked, eyes glancing back towards the stallion, who's body was still prostrated before him. Kel'Thuzad chuckled slightly.

"Decent. Still a little feisty with me over the whole bar incident." the mage turned to the corner of the room, expecting his accomplice to make her appearance at any moment...

With a snap like a whip, and a brief wind that blew out the two torches in the cell, the shadows in the corner of the room moved towards the floor, bending and warping. With a sigh of appeasement, Nightmare Moon stepped away from the shadows billowing around her, Stern Staff yelping once in alarm at the sight of her. Smirking, but ignoring the stallion's... delicious fear at the moment, she instead bowed respectfully to her... master.

Shining snorted, but kept his composure. What possessed Kel'Thuzad to resurrect her was beyond him, but he also stated that since her soul was currently under their control, she had little choice in the matter. Regardless, while she was obviously best known for her past deeds, he had picked up a few things on diplomacy from Cadence.

Provided she did her part, and assisted in Equestria's greatest interests, he was willing to let her walk amongst the living.

Unbeknownst to the living, of course.

Her reputation for terror was well deserved.

Even her very presence seemed to permeate the very air around them with darkness.

The only non-common sense condition were that she stay within eyesight of Kel'Thuzad, whom had fashioned her small 'prison' onto the robes Rarity had made him for Hearth's Warming. It actually looked pretty good, too. A small blue crystal, accentuated with what Kel'Thuzad told him were Nerubian markings of power.

Shining had to give it to Kel'Thuzad for his ingenious plan on trapping her, though. As furious both he AND Frostmourne initially were about being tricked with the fake soul Kel'Thuzad had placed within Celestia for Frostmourne to steal, having an alicorn that could tell them the innermost fears of others seemed...

Well, too useful to pass up, really.

"Good evening, my king..." Nightmare spoke, a small echo accompanying her voice as she rose from her bow, a surprisingly gentle smile across her muzzle.

"And to you as well, Nightmare. How did his brother take the offer?" Shining inquired, turning once more to the stallion before the three immortals. Nightmare chuckled darkly, her form gliding towards the revenant before her, wisps of shadow and jet-black smoke billowing away from her lithe, imposing body.

"He responded surprisingly well, Shining." Nightmare spoke, her predatory gaze sizing up her next victim.

"Has he agreed to the conditions, though?" Shining asked, turning to his archmage to see if he knew. Before Kel'Thuzad could speak however, Stern Staff interjected.

"What have you done to him!?" he barked, Kel'Thuzad raising his hand slightly, his gaze turning deathly cold as he stared down the disorderly stallion. Like a dog being threatened with a whip, Stern submitted, returning to the floor in a bow.

He had learned his lesson.

"He suffered little, Stern Staff." Nightmare spoke, barely above a whisper. With a nearly lustful purr, she was next to the revenant's ear in a flash, her movement through the shadows faster than the eye could see. "And if you're a good little colt, you want have to either..."

"Nightmare, enough." Shining ordered, sitting down before the still prostrated stallion. With a slight growl, Nightmare retreated, Stern letting a breath he didn't know he was holding leave his chest.

"My prince... I... I don't know..." Stern Staff started, only to be interrupted by Shining, the prince holding his hoof up to silence him.

"Stern Staff, I’ll be perfectly transparent with you." Shining spoke, his voice more... plain, than anything else. "The Gryphonian Empire wants you and your mercenary friends dead. While Anub'arak may have finished YOU, your party is still out there somewhere."

"So... you want me to give up my friends?" Stern spoke, his head looking up, only slightly. Shining chuckled gently, his smile becoming more and more... sinister.

"No, Stern Staff."

"I want you to lead a small force to them..."

"And kill them."

“All of them...”

.........

The unicorn shook at the thought, his former comrades shooting through his mind for a split moment.

"And if I refuse?" Stern Staff asked, his form shaking slightly, the cold that was somewhat absent returning quickly.

"Hehehe..." Shining chuckled, his voice... deeper.

"A hundred years inside of the Frozen Wastes within Frostmourne, Stern." Shining got up, chuckling still, before walking over to the stallion nearly half the size of him. "If you thought the stories of Tartarus were bad... imagine this."

"No light."

"No sound."

"Just dark..."

"Dead..."

"COLD..."

Shining withdrew from the stallion, whose eyes were wider than before, his entire body refusing to stand still.

"In return for your service, you will be rewarded with the prestigious honor of being the first of my Royal Guard, and be allowed to 'live' until you decide to end your contract." Shining spoke, returning to the recently made portal to the throne room, Kel'Thuzad already sheathing Bloodsurge.

“You have twenty-four hours to decide, Stern Staff.” Shining spoke, his form turning to aknowledge the stallion for he last time.

“Think about it...”

.........

"Your majesty!" Stern blurted out, the alicorn turning to acknowledge him, his first hoof already through the portal.

"Yes?"

.........

"I... I accept."

“I... I will serve.”

Stern Staff shook as Shining’s features seemed to... darken.

Or maybe it was just the room...

"Very well, Stern Staff."

Shining, in several long strides, had drawn Frostmourne from his side, and had placed it upon the shoulders of the stallion before him, it's azure runes glowing brightly.

.........

From this day forward, you shall wield the unyielding and brutal power of the cold...

Arise, my chosen knight...

And serve your lord and master...

.........

Shining shook his head, a sinister grin decorating his muzzle as he sheathed Frostmourne, the stallion before him rising to his hooves. Stern opened his now permanently blue eyes, blinking the foreign chill from them in the process.

"We have work to do, my Death Knight..." Shining spoke, his voice more... gentle, now.

As if he were a father guiding his son.

With a hoof gesturing to the portal, which Kel'Thuzad had modified to move them to the Armory, Shining followed the Death Knight through, nodding once to Kel’Thuzad as he passed him.

He... he did it himself...

Kel'Thuzad closed the portal as they disappeared through it, Nightmare looking at the lich inquisitively.

"Kel?" Nightmare asked, her hoof waving in front of him, trying to snap him from his daydream.

"I... I was supposed to change him, Nightmare." Kel'Thuzad turned to the alicorn, his face and tone... worried.

Something the alicorn was, up until this point, quite sure that the archlich could not physically show.

"We have to hurry, Nightmare." He spoke, moving towards the cell's door.

"The Helm can't wait any longer..."

A Midnight Visit

"I'm sorry, what?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his eyes narrowing at his king's... rather bizarre request.

"Please, Kel?" Shining pleaded, his head and neck just barely sticking into his archmage's quarters, the murmuring of several other ponies behind the prince signifying they were not alone. "My dad is here on a documentation visit, and I kind of told him about your little... collection."

"What did you tell him about my little collection?" Kel'Thuzad asked, slightly peeved that his ruler and friend was such an idiot sometimes. Shining bit his bottom lip slightly, a look of guilt blanketing his muzzle.

"I miiight have told him that it was a vast collection of magical artifacts from another world..." Shining began, his gaze turning upwards to sheepishly stare at his archmage.

"And?" Kel'Thuzad inquired, seeing the second half of his ruler's request being withheld.

"I also miiight have told him he and his colleagues could... um... see them?" Shining asked, puppy dog eyes adorning his sockets.

Well, I see it runs in the family...

The lich sighed, grasping his enchanted door to open it just a bit further, peering out at the small group. As Shining had said, his father Night Light, as well as several other stallions were outside, all murmuring quietly to themselves.

"Alright, Shining." Kel'Thuzad relented, his posture straightening itself as he cracked his neck loudly. "Just... let me say a few things, first..."

"Of course, Kel." Shining nodded, opening the large door inwards, revealing the archlich to the small group of researchers. Night Light, having seen the undead mage before, walked forwards, eagerly shaking Kel'Thuzad's outstretched hand.

His colleagues, however...

They reacted differently.

The one on the right, a grey unicorn with a jet black mane, refused his handshake with a scoff, and eyed the lich warily from a distance.

The smaller one on the left, however, was not as courageous. The diminutive light blue earth pony bowed low, shaking like a leaf.

Well... at least I won't have trouble from him...

"Good evening, archmage!" Night Light jovially greeted, his forehoof excitedly shaking the lich's claw up and down. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, returning the gesture with equal enthusiasm. As much as he preferred his true form to a false one, the well... 'unfriendly' sight of his skeletal appearance sent many ponies packing.

But not Lord Night Light. He was oddly... friendly with him. Even more so, it seemed, because of what he was. Regardless, it was nice to see racism was not engraved into the brain of every citizen of Equestria.

"A good evening indeed, Lord Light. To what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight?" Kel'Thuzad spoke, his years of sweet talking and manipulation admittedly making exchanges like this... easier, to say the least...

"Well, as you know, the last time we spoke, I told you I was her majesty's..." Night Light began, only to be rudely cut off by the grayish unicorn behind him, the stallion rudely butting his way into the conversation, and group by pushing past his colleague, attempting to pass the lich by, and enter the room.

.........

Kel'Thuzad's temper flared, his every magically constructed MOLECULE screaming to rip the insolent whelp's skin from his body.

NO!

No...

Calm, Kel.

Calm.

"Might I ask where you think you are going?" Kel'Thuzad inquired to the darkly colored stallion, a sheet of ice blocking his advances towards the door. The stallion scoffed, his mane billowing around his head as he turned to regard the archlich.

"I came here at my colleague's insistence, archmage." the unicorn snorted. "I refuse to see why we can't come inside. Unless of course you have something to hide?"

Kel'Thuzad's mind roared with rage. Who the hell did he think he was?!

This is one of the things he hated about nobles. Always thinking themselves better than others. Kel'Thuzad's rage subsided momentarily, and his anger free sight allowed him to notice the small badge on the stallion's dress coat.

The Imperial Mage's Guild...

Kel'Thuzad sneered, his skull masking the facial gesture behind a smirk.

Ahh... these buffoons...

I was beginning to wonder when they would send the next 'researcher'...

"Not at all, Lord..." Kel'Thuzad inquired, his claws crossing over his ribcage.

"Count Onyx." the unicorn huffed, his agitation out if not getting a significant rise out of the undead magus more than noticeable.

With a symbol of utmost, yet mostly hollow respect, the Archlich bowed low before the noble, the equine's ego obviously appreciating the subordination as his muzzle adopted a smirk instead of a scowl.

For gods sake, Kel. Just marry him already...

Kel'Thuzad's poise in his rise to full height after the bow was interrupted rather rudely by his... ugh...

'Companion'...

Nightmare, for your own sake I suggest you shut it. I have more important matters to attend to.

Aww... you're no fun...

Like it or not, it was... refreshing to have an assistant and confidant at his disposal once again.

Even if he would never forgive himself for his brother's death and enslavement, he missed the sometimes mindless banter something with a mind of it's own can provide.

"Now, I suppose that you would like to see my collection then?" Kel'Thuzad smirked, Night Light and his more diminutive companion nodding eagerly. Count Onyx seemed to be... less than interested.

"Well, please come in, then." Kel'Thuzad invited, his barrier melting into nothingness as the equines approached. Almost immediately, the stallions stopped in their tracks, the small army of skeletal workers, assistants and guards turning their blue eyes toward them, passively acknowledging their presence for a mere moment before carrying on their duties.

"Archmage, I don't mean to be rude, but isn't... erm... necromancy illegal?" Night Light spoke slowly, his form slightly shaking as he turned to view the lich. Kel'Thuzad nodded, a low chuckle emanating from his nonexistent throat.

"That is correct, Lord Night Light. However, when you read the fine print, your son is actually the final word on the matter for every individual." Kel'Thuzad turned as his king shut the door behind them, a nod of acknowledgement following his gaze. "Seeing as a large portion of my life and all of my unlife was spent studying and perfecting the art of necromancy... I can say without a doubt that I am the most knowledgeable mind on the subject you will ever meet."

Night light nodded, a gulp accompanying the turning of his head to the extensive wall of wondrous artifacts, the two colossal guards on either side still eyeing the intruders warily. Kel'Thuzad, obviously unfazed, floated slowly towards the wall, waving a single claw once.

"Leave us." Kel'Thuzad spoke, the two massive earth pony skeletons bowing stiffly almost instantaneously before collecting their spears and lumbering away. Satisfied with the now expansive space, his guests moved into the void that the gargantuan constructs left, eager to see the collection in full.

"Lord Kel'Thuzad, I don't mean to pry, but where exactly did you find... well, all of these skeletons?" Night Light spoke, his flank gently lowering onto a set of pillows his son had just retrieved for the group. Kel'Thuzad turned to his king, whose nod gave him permission to tell the truth.

"Well... the majority of the skeletons here are of Equestrian death row prisoners. They are... extracted from graveyards in Canterlot, Fillydelphia, and Manehattan, before being discretely sent to the Crystal Capitol for reinforcement and resurrection." Night Light's muzzle softened slightly at that, his gentle smile returning.

Count Onyx, on the other hand, was far from calm.

"What gives you the right to dictate what is done to our kin's bodies after death, necromancer?" he spat, one hoof brushing his mane out of his face. "While their actions may have cost them their lives while they were amongst the living, they have an expectation of respect after their punishment has been carried out."

Once again, Kel'Thuzad was a breath away from removing this pompous noble's head from his shoulders, frozen in a silent scream. Instead, after his anger dissipated, he chose the logical route.

"Well, Count Onyx. I don't suppose you have another, less controversial source of bodies, do you?" Kel'Thuzad slowly inquired, his skull lowering to the unicorn's level to breathe frosted air into his face. The noble scoffed in revulsion, turning his attention to the prince behind him, a silent plea for help accompanying his gaze.

Shining stood stock-still, a single eyebrow raised at Count Onyx's behavior.

"I thought not. As a necromancer, I know better than anyone what the afterlife dictates." he lied through his teeth.

As often as he worked with body and soul, he knew little to none what happened to a soul after it left this world. While he was once a believer in the Holy Light, he quickly found that religion, while comforting to some, was not his forte.

He preferred logic.

Reasoning.

He despised variables and holes in theories, and the Holy Light left a lot. Hell, if he were to revisit religion, and was still into sacrificing innocents, he would more likely worship an Old God!

Those, he knew, were VERY real...

But, he had a noble to educate, so he cut his thinking for the time being...

"Count Onyx, how long on average does a pony corpse take to rot?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his hands grasping themselves in front of him, the brow of one eye socket raised in the unicorn's direction. Count Onyx stuttered for a moment, before clearing his throat. He was obviously caught off guard by the lich's question, and was quickly attempting to survey his mind for an answer to said question.

"Umm... several years, perhaps?"

"Incorrect." Kel'Thuzad's attention turned to his king, whom he prayed was paying attention to his brief lessons on necromancy the two had shared.

"Shining?"

At the mage's words, the alicorn snapped back to reality, his gaze shooting from the corner of the room, were the Helm of Domination still floated in it's many wards.

"Umm... It takes... eight to twelve years." Shining successfully remembered...

Well, half of the answer anyway...

"Kel'Thuzad, wouldn't those variables vary drastically depending on biome, weather, and temperature?"

Kel'Thuzad turned, the voice of the diminutive Earth Pony next to Night Light finally gracing them. Kel'Thuzad smirked, a subtle nod moving his skull.

"VERY good..." Kel'Thuzad praised, his hands clasping together in front of his ribcage. "Now, I hate to assume, but you are probably a doctor, or biologist, correct?"

The light blue pony nodded lightly, his fear returning somewhat as he extended a single, shaky hoof.

"Sturdy Splint, at your service." he nearly whimpered, his fur standing on end as the frigid claw of the lich wrapped his hoof in bone. "Forgive me for asking, but... how do you keep your bones so... clean? A corpse's bones, while certainly the last thing to decompose, weaken over time, surely if what my colleague has told me is true, you would have had to replace your entire skeleton by now!"

.........

"Very good question, mister Sturdy..." Kel'Thuzad chuckled.

"Let me show you."

With little flair or extravagance, the Archlich grasped his upper left arm in his right claw, and snapped it with a loud *crack*.

Everyone except Shining turned to look at the mage with disbelief, the prince's attention once again stolen by the incessant whispering of the Helm of Domination.

"Now, come closer, please." Kel'Thuzad beaconed, his right hand keeping his arm from falling completely off. With great interest, Sturdy Splint and Night Light gathered in closer to the undead wizard. With a grunt of exertion, the lich's fractured arm laid itself down upon the table next to him, sparks of arcane power still leaping from his wound.

"Now can you tell me why I don't have to?" Kel'Thuzad asked the two stallions, his gaze more of a teacher's than a predator's now.

"These... these aren't bones, are they?" Sturdy Splint asked, his muzzle slightly agape from the lack of pain the lich was currently feeling.

Or showing.

"No, mister Sturdy, they aren't. In fact, the only real, material objects on my body are my ornaments, my robes, and my spellblade. Every single part of my physical being is made up of arcane energy." Kel'Thuzad explained, his hand removing itself from his fractured arm to show the complex net of arcane threads and runes laced across the inside of his upper arm.

"Fascinating..." Night Light spoke, a single piece of parchment and a quill emerging from his saddlebag. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, holding up a hand as if to stop the stallion.

"Lord Night Light, if you are this interested in my magical make up, I may write up all that I know for you if you wish..." Kel'Thuzad proposed, his intact arm raising into a pointed finger, directed at a skeletal Pegasus behind him. "Minion, bring me an inkwell, a quill, and four pieces of parchment."

Without a stutter, the equine bowed, his wings splaying out to his sides as a sign of subservience. With clacking, unnatural noises of bone on cobblestone, he went to retrieve his master's requests.

"Why must you address them so... rudely?" Count Onyx whined, his form scrunching further up at the willingness of the skeletal servant. Kel'Thuzad sighed, his chains displaying his agitation by whirling slightly faster around his form.

"I address them rudely because they don't have emotions." Kel'Thuzad muttered, retrieving a small iron-bristle brush from his work table several feet away. Another wave of his hand, and a small jar of salt water was at his side.

"Just because they don't have emotions doesn't mean that they weren't once ponies, necromancer!" Onyx lashed out, his anger boiling over at the appearant abuse of his former countrymen's remains.

Kel'Thuzad sneered.

"Correct, Count Onyx. They were once ponies. But they now lack the higher cognitive function to even speak. The average pony corpse, if not cremated, spends nearly eight and a half years rotting away in a small wooden coffin, six feet under the ground!" Kel'Thuzad roared, his own anger breaking through. "What use is the skeleton after the flesh has fertilized the soil?! Bones can take hundreds of years to decompose, Onyx. Thousands if the biome is dry enough!"

"But that doesn't change the fact..." Count Onyx attempted to interject, but was swiftly cut off by a single frozen chain slamming down upon the unnocupied chair next to him, shattering the wooden furniture with ease.

"That what?!" the archlich roared, his anger at this sniveling worm's medial concerns skyrocketing. "That they were once ponies?! Well, they aren't anymore! They are the hollow remains of prisoners long dead! They don't even have souls, Onyx!"

Count Onyx watched on, seemingly unfazed as his anger slowly simmered higher.

"They are constructs, fool!" Kel'Thuzad mocked. "They are expendable..."

With a flick of his attached hand, a nearby skeleton was before him, floating him a sea of frost.

"Lifeless..."

With a slowly tightening grip, the lich slowly crushed the construct down to dust, the skeleton not caring in the least.

"Tools..." Kel'Thuzad finished, releasing his grip to let the fresh mound of bone meal fall to the ground, faint wisps of frost still seeping from the pile. With a grunt of satisfaction, the lich turned back to his desk, and the severed magical arm upon it.

Without another word in the subject, he dove back into his procedure once more, dabbing the iron brush in he salt water, before running it across the stump of his left arm. Night Light and Sturdy Splint both watched on as the mixture of iron and salt water activated the runes and spells weaved throught the bone, and slowly, but ever so surely, the bone melded to it's counterpart, which the lich had moved into position.

"Why a iron brush, archmage?" Sturdy Splint inquired, his vision captivated by the small display of bone remaking itself anew. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, sliding the jar of salt water over to the two unicorns.

"Because iron and salt water are the closest to blood."

.........

"W-what?" Night Light shivered, his gaze moving to look upon the lich's visage.

"When my former master remade me into... well... this..." Kel'Thuzad gestured to his skeletal appearance. "The process required blood to shape and form my body. Since blood is not readily, or ethically available... I've had to improvise to repair myself..."

"If you are done with your little 'lesson'..." Onyx huffed "I'd very much like to we these 'precious' artifacts you've collected..."

Alright Kel. ONE minute.

Thank you, Shining. It will be over in half that...

With a subtle whip of his hand, the Archlich's victim was suspended behind him by his hind legs, his head several feet above the ground. Another mutter of incantations, and his pitiful attempt at a counterspell was snuffed out like a dying candle.

Before Night Light and his assistant were even aware of what was going on, the massive skeletons were once again upon them. With surprisingly gentle force, they pushed the two other stallions away from their quarry, their spear tips leveled at the exposed throat of the dangling equine.

"You know, Count Onyx, you are the second disrespectful pup I've had to put in their place this week..." Kel'Thuzad chuckled darkly, his two chains wrenching the stallion higher, a single ivory claw unfurling to draw a line down his soft throat.

"U-unhand me this instant!" Count Onyx yelped, the severity of the situation finally reaching his stunned brain. Admirably, he was performing better under the lich's terror-inducing intimidation than most had in this world.

"Shining! Do something!" Night Light whispered quite loudly at his son, the alicorn turning to his father.

"Don't worry dad. He won't hurt him..."

He wouldn't DARE...

Shining shook his head, the echoing voice thrumming through his skull, his father shaking him lightly to once again gain his attention.

"I... I have contacts in the Crystal Court, monster!" Count Onyx halfheartedly threatened. "Y-you'll be sorry for this!"

At that, the archlich let out a sinister chuckle, snapping his fingers to move the spears of his guards closer to the stallion's neck.

"Nothing you do to me can possibly compare to what suffering I can inflict upon you..." Kel'Thuzad spoke, wrenching the stallion's muzzle ever closer to his face as he did. "I can't breathe, sleep, eat, drink, or die..."

"It is wise not to insult one who has nothing to lose..."

Kel, enough.

With a dark chuckle, the lich let the stallion down. With a clattering series of bones rattling together, the guards once again moved off, as if there was never a security threat at all.

"Now... If we are done with the interuptions, shall we?" Kel'Thuzad invited, floating towards his wall of trophies, the stallions in tow.

The Collection

"Now, where would we like to begin?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his claws slowly grasping together behind him. Sturdy Splint and Night Light were in absolute awe of the intensely powerful magical artifacts behind the lich. Even through the several, highly resistant wards the archmage had cast, they both could feel the raw arcane energy pouring from the weapons and ornaments.

And seeing as Sturdy Splint was an earth pony, that was saying something.

"How about that, Kel. Don't think you've shown me that one." Shining broke the ice, pointing to a large, heavily charred two-handed maul, the blunt weapon still smoldering with magical heat from whatever damaged it.

"Ahh... a good choice, my king." Kel'Thuzad praised, admittedly forgetting he had such a weapon in his position.

It's not every day you receive the weapon of an elemental lord...

Even if you took it from the adventurer who claimed it...

The lich shook his head, gazing in on the maul.

After you killed him...

Shut up, Nightmare.

With a mighty heave, the maul rested in the claws of the archlich, who offered it to the prince's magical hold. With a sizzling roar, the weapon ignited with runes made from molten elementium, the hammer sucking in tremendous amounts of oxygen to fuel it's reignition after so long.

"Gentlemen, I give you Sulfuras, the Hand of Ragnaros the Firelord." Kel'Thuzad proudly proclaimed, Shining giving the weapon a few swings to test it's weight. With each swing, the runes adorning the spiked maul roared with fire, the heat noticeably raising the temperature of the air around them several dozen degrees already.

"Forged from elementium, and inscribed with literal magma, and enchanted by the Old Gods themselves, it's master craftsmanship is undeniable." Kel'Thuzad proclaimed, reaching for the hammer tentatively. Shining nodded, relinquishing the ancient weapon to his archmage. With another magically aided heave, the lich retrieved the maul, before brandishing the large weapon with both claws, calling a nearby skeletal minion to his side.

"Minion, hold your ground." Kel'Thuzad ordered, the skeletal pegasus obeying without question as the lich lined up his swing. When the archmage delivered the killing blow, it shattered the construct's magically reinforced skull with ease, the bones blackening and collapsing from heat.

With a series of pops and crackles, the carbon within the skeleton froze, then solidified. Where the construct once stood, a small pile of volcanic obsidian remained, glinting lightly in the fire that still leaped across the surface of Sulfuras.

"Impressive, archmage." Sturdy Splint commented, moving slightly closer to inspect the smoldering volcanic glass. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, propping the maul back upon it's pedastal.

"Thank you, doctor." Kel'Thuzad spoke, floating back to the center of the wall, eager to showcase the next weapon. With hesitance almost pitiful, Sturdy Splint pointed to a crooked and gnarled staff propped up against the wall.

"How about that one, Lord Kel'Thuzad?" he shivered, the physician obviously not used to just above freezing temperatures. Kel'Thuzad turned, looking with slight hesitance upon the wicked device.

With a quick wave of his claw, the staff was within his grasp, little more than a long wand to him. He chuckled, snapping his fingers once at the subtle nod of his king, the alicorn watching closely.

"This, Sturdy Splint, is the Undeath Carrier." Kel'Thuzad explained, a large rat fizzling into existence in his opposite claw, already wriggling and squeaking from the cold of the bone. "Created and enchanted by one of my Thuzadin, it is a genius combination of necromantic utility and raw arcane power."

"If any of you are squeamish to decomposing bodies, you may want to look away..." the archlich warned, no one but Count Onyx taking his advice, his form turning to face the opposite wall as the mage slowly pushed the rodent into the glistening green ball within the staff's spell receptacle.

"While unsightly to look at, the powers that even an untrained necromancer could wield with this staff are truly remarkable..." Kel'Thuzad began, the rat's skin and flesh rotting and peeling back to expose the muscles beneath. "While far more useful in an artisan's hands, the staff's design allows the user to reliably and safely reanimate any reasonably sized creature they wish, creating a basic thrall."

As the lich finished his explanation, the desiccated rat turned to the group of stunned onlookers as he put it on the table next to him.

"Minion, retrieve the inkwell and quill from the opposite end of the table." Kel'Thuzad sternly commanded, the rat not hesitating in the slightest when it scurried to the opposite side of he table, pushing the inkwell slowly but surely to the archlich with the flat of it's forehead.

"How does the staff actually work, archmage?" Count Onyx spoke up, seemingly intrigued by the undead rat. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, his form turning to place the staff back upon its pedastal.

"That, Count Onyx..." Kel'Thuzad sneered, looking into the curious stallion's eyes. He knew the Imperial Mages Guild sent him now.

"Is confidential." the lich sneered.

Not that you would even know the first thing about necromantic reanimation...

With a scoff, the stallion turned to the prince to his left to object to the barring of knowledge, but was quickly persuaded not to, what with said alicorn giving him a very stern look indeed.

Before the noble could interject once more, Night Light spoke up.

"What about that urn, archmage?"

As the lich whirled around, he had to silence himself, both physically and magically, the mere mention of his anchor to the mortal plane sending his racing mind into overdrive.

"I... That is my phylactery, Lord Night Light." Kel'Thuzad explained, gazing at the burial urn, frozen behind runed and warded ice, which was behind the impressive wards guarding the collection to begin with.

"Forgive me for my lack of knowledge, but what exactly is a 'Phylactery'?" Night Light asked, his eyes fixed on the silver inlays of the Lordaeron Seal upon the urn.

"Well... It is an essential part of lichdom, to start with. It is what a lich would use to... 'bind' his soul to the mortal plane." the archlich explained, floating slightly closer to the urn, subconscious worry lacing through his body.

"So... your soul is in that?" Sturdy Splint asked, Kel'Thuzad nodding lightly in response. Count Onyx, obviously wishing to interject, scoffs once more.

"So you cheat death my being dead... clever..." the unicorn stated, gazing longingly at the small urn.

At the mere mention of death, Shining was whirled around, staring daggers through Count Onyx, the noble recoiling as the eight foot alicorn leered down at him.

"He doesn't 'cheat' Death, Onyx." Shining growled, obviously starting to get irritated with the noble as well.

"Death cheated him..." the stallion grimly stated, looking to the lich.

"A-as I was saying..." Night Light nervously chuckled, his son's behaviour... unnerving him. With a snort, Shining withdrew from the stallion, his head snapping to the Helm of Domination once more, the whispers becoming louder.

"So... What exactly does putting your soul in a jar... do?" Night Light asked, his eyes meeting the archmage's once more. Kel'Thuzad thought for a moment, trying to think of a way to easily explain this to someone... somepony that has never practiced necromancy before.

"Lord Night Light, what do you know of necromancy?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his form relaxing as he waited for the typical response. Night thought for a moment, then responded, sounding very unsure of himself.

"Necromancy, from what I know, is an ancient and dark form of conjuration, originally created by the unicorn race, back when it was still made up of nomads and barbarians from the North." Night Light paused, looking to Kel'Thuzad for approval, but receiving only a blank stare as the undead mage waited for him to continue. "It focuses primarily on resurrecting and controlling the dead, and is almost unanimously frowned upon in modern Equestrian society, seeing as it defaces corpses of the dead, and mocks life as we know it."

.........

"Spoken like a true scholar, Night Light." Kel'Thuzad admitted, his own expectations... exceeded. While his master's father had labeled his craft as a form of 'dark magic', and was generally negative about the whole idea, he still provided a well thought out answer that illustrated the wrongful use of the magic perfectly.

Besides, he could not blame the Equestrian people for their views.

Especially since every Equestrian necromancer he could find in books and folklore was usually evil...

Regardless, the unicorn was just going off of what he knew, and what the public was allowed to learn about necromancy, and by some extent, conjuration in general, was limited.

Very limited.

"Thank you, Kel'Thuzad." Night Light spoke, turning back to gaze lightly at the urn.

At that point, Count Onyx spoke up once again.

"What about that one?" he smugly asked, pointing to his right...

.........

Directly at Frostmourne, neatly impaled into a block of runed and warded ice in the corner.

While in his laboratory, the lich had requested his master keep the two pieces of the Lich King's arsenal away from each other. He did not want nearly a full month's work to be for nothing due to some unforeseen complication.

"I... I... my prince?" Kel'Thuzad stammered, the worm's forward attempt to see his king's runeblade admittedly catching him off guard. Shining jumped, his gaze once again jerking from the Helm of Domination, the whispers clinging to his mind quieting themselves once more.

"It's alright, Kel." Shining confirmed, his gaze now fixated on the runeblade as he called out for it. With glee, the runeblade lit up, it's azure runes glowing brightly, nearly humming with necromantic power as it's master retrieved the bastard sword from it's icy prison.

"This, Count Onyx, is not part of MY collection, but my prince has given me permission to discuss it's... properties." Kel'Thuzad stated. With interest seemingly pouring from the unicorn's form, Count Onyx waited, gazing at the sword as it levitated gently in it's master's grip.

He seems awfully... fixated with Frostmourne, Kel...

I noticed too, Nightmare. Perhaps this is the true reason he was sent to the Empire, then...

"This, gentlemen, is Frostmourne." the archlich explained, the prince flipping the blade to stand upright, the tip of the saronite blade cracking and shattering the cobblestone floor for several inches around it.

"Forged by the Burning Legion, and the first of the runeblades, Frosmourne blows every other weapon or artifact in this room out of the water in terms of sheer power."

"What makes it so powerful, archmage?" Night Light asked, his form starting to shiver from the cold pouring from the runeblade. Kel'Thuzad sighed, the stallion's question... provoking memories.

Memories of what this blade, at it's full power, could do.

Memories he may well have forgotten, they were so long past.

"Lord Night Light... I... there are no words to describe the horrors this blade can inflict. I have seen this blade rip the souls of living things apart." Kel'Thuzad stated, his logical response leaving him, his true thoughts on what the sword was capable of.

"I've seen it turn a kingdom spanning nearly half a continent, nearly by itself, into a wasteland. A wasteland where the dead walked the earth. Where the very air is poisonous to breathe for too long."

"I've seen it fell hundreds... nay... THOUSANDS of men, women, and children..." Kel'Thuzad shuddered, reliving the infant Scourge's conquest of the Northeast Kingdoms all at once.

"No one save the Lich King can wield it." Kel'Thuzad sighed, his memories starting to flood back, remembering the moment he was introduced to a young Prince Arthas, playing with Jaina and Prince Varian Wrynn in the Dalaran gardens. In hindsight, it was nearly impossible to fathom had he not known what the future held that this young man would become the most feared and deadly figure in Azeroth's history.

"Kel'Thuzad?" Night Light asked, the lich's silence starting to unnerve him. The archlich recoiled violently out of his daydream, the chains around his body swirling ever so slightly faster, clanking together.

"I... I apologize for my mind drifting. It has been a long time since I've thought about these things." Kel'Thuzad sheepishly admitted, returning to his previous thought train.

"Anyway... those other than the Lich King that attempt to wield the blade are... lost to it. Their souls are devoured by the blade, trapped within a void worse than Tartarus." Kel'Thuzad finished, his body relaxing as he finished his explanation. For a moment, there was silence, the only sounds the echoing clacking of bones banging together from the servants wandering the room.

"That's all well and good... but what is so special about the sw-" Count Onyx was interrupted by the darkening of the room, and an echoing hum as the blade still held upright before them roared to life, the entirety of the runeblade igniting with azure energy. The ram skull adorning the hilt seemingly bellowed in outrage at the insolence of the worm's insults, it's eye sockets exploding with blue flames. With a snap like a whip, the darkness around Onyx... grew?

"You meddle with powers you cannot possibly understand, mortal..."

Count Onyx jumped, the cold air around him suddenly feeling... tighter, more constricting. With shaky breaths, he looked up to the muzzle of the prince before him, the alicorn's frosted breath pushing gently from his nostrils.

"You seek power, yes? Influence, maybe?"

"You will recieve nothing but suffering, Onyx..."

With a panicked gaze, the noble turned to his comrades, the unicorn nearly crying out in fright as he saw that his colleagues and the archmage had vanished. They were swallowed by the darkness now gripping him tighter, the air surrounding him almost painfull to breath now.

An impossibly low chuckle brought him back to the alicorn's gaze, the Lich King removing Frostmourne from it's upright position, pointing the tip of the blade at the count's face.

Tears of fear were starting to flow from the unicorn's eyes, their surfaces crystallizing from the cold of the runeblade before him.

"Tell your superiors that there is nothing for them here..." the ivory stallion spoke, slowly moving towards the count, his eyes sparking brighter as azure waves of necromantic energy pulsed from his sockets.

"Tell them they seek death..."

With a whimper far more than pitiful, the unicorn collapsed to the cobblestone floor, darkness finally taking him.

.........

Kel'Thuzad shook his ruler heavily, the alicorn and unicorn across from him having been locked in a staring contest for nearly two minutes.

"My king?!" he tried once more, his friend's father helping him in shaking the stallion this time.

"Shining!" Night Light exclaimed. At that, Shining recoiled out of his trance violently, Frostmourne clattering to the floor below as he did.

"Kel? Dad?" Shining asked, looking from one to the other, obviously confused by their rough treatment.

"Ugh..." Count Onyx uttered in a low, wheezing groan. Without another sound, he fell like a ton of bricks to the floor below, the archlich turning slightly to view the motionless noble. With shaky breaths, the lich turned to his ruler once more, who's muzzle was contorted into one of fear as he remembered his warning to the count.

"Tomorrow?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his mind racing with possibilities, nearly every one of them bad.

"Tomorrow..." Shining confirmed, his muzzle even more pale than usual. With that, the alicorn was once again drawn to the Helm's soothing whispers, his gaze floating to the corner.

Tomorrow...

The Lord of the Damned

"Make sure that all of the armaments are secured on the wagon, Ice Sliver."

"Yes, archlich..."

With a jerky bow, the skeletal servant trotted over to the large covered wagon, inspecting the small arsenal that the archlich had acquired from the Crystal Guard's armory.

With his king's permission, of course.

"Kel!" shouted a nearby voice, the undead mage turning to witness Titus, still armoring the small platoon of constructs he had to work with. While not anything near saronite, the crystalline armor of the Crystal Guard was protection enough for the skeletal soldiers, seeing as their simple forms couldn't feel pain anyway.

"Yes, Titus?" Kel'Thuzad responded, floating over to the baron, the minions still scrambling around the courtyard stopping in their tracks to let the mage pass.

"I'm almost done here. Has Anub'arak prepared the site for our arrival?" Titus growled, attempting to finish latching the last few pieces of armor to a particularly small skeletal unicorn. Without missing a beat, the archlich whirled around, his eyes scanning for a minion to redirect.

"You, minion!" Kel'Thuzad shouted, a small skeletal pegasus turning to acknowledge it's master.

"Seek out King Anub'arak, and tell him that the preparations are nearing completion." Kel'Thuzad commanded, watching the construct gallop away into the keep. Before long, however, the courtyard's bustling activity resumed, and the lich was back to his routine of keeping everything going smoothly.

Nothing can be left to chance here...

Kel'Thuzad's scarlet pupils darted to the right once more, watching Titus command his constructs into a phalanx formation.

But a backup plan is never a bad move...

While he doubted that the constructs would match up to trained fighters, their lack of pain or hesitation in battle would hopefully even the playing field.

"I hope it doesn't come to this, Kel." the alicorn spoke, his eyes watching the emotionless skeletal soldiers march towards the wagon to retrieve their weapons.

"I hope so as well, Shining." Kel'Thuzad turned to his friend. "But we must be ready for the worst, if it does come to that."

Hopefully the Helm is ready...

If not... well... gods help us...

.........

Prince Shining Armor trudged through the knee-deep snow, his dead skin tightening against his dormant muscles as the cold of the Frozen North seeped into his unfeeling flesh. Beside him, huddled under his folded right wing, his beloved trotted gently alongside him, attempting to escape the brutal cold as best she could by burrowing deeper into his side.

Ahead of them, through the densely packed winds of ice and snow, Anub'arak led the party, using his colossal true form to crush and then bulldoze the frozen snow on the mountain trail out of the way.

Between the prince and the nerubian king, Kel'Thuzad, Titus, the constructs, and his newest knights, Stern Staff and Silver Bolt marched, their new armor's clanking drowned out by the relatively harsh winds battering the mountainside.

Kel'Thuzad had decided on the distant mountaintop for several reasons.

The first was that it was remote, and had little chance of introducing unnecessary complications.

The second was for magical reasons, as the mountain itself was located on the intersection of two ley lines. This would provide him, and if need be, Lady Cadence, with more amplified and refined sources of magical energy.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the lich wanted to stay the HELL away from Celestia.

While he trusted that she had good intentions, and was of generally sound mind, the small vial of Discord's blood that she had given him earlier that week to study in the aftermath of Hearth's Warming had... troubled him.

That and the little... incident the night before...

Regardless, saronite had a nasty tendency to erode the sanity of living things around it, unless properly treated by someone who knew enough about the strange metal's properties.

Gods only knew that a goddess with the power to LITERALLY move the sun would be quite a foe indeed if she decided to go off the deep end...

.........

They were deafening, now.

The whispers that the prince had heard since Shining had ascended, since he had taken up Frostmourne, were now howling, awful screams.

Never in his darkest, lowest thoughts could he have imagined the horrors they nailed into his brain.

With near unrelenting force, they hammered the past deeds of his predecessors into his conscience...

.........

He had watched Ner'Zhul, in his desperate bid for redemption in the eyes of his people, doom himself into damnation.

He had watched the slaughter that the spiteful and deranged old orc had perpetrated against the Nerubian Empire during the War of the Spider.

He had watched King Anub'arak fall on the battlefield, only to be resurrected, and then rip his own forces into tatters of sinew and carapace.

He had watched Kel'Thuzad, in his search for knowledge, travel to Northrend, only to be tortured and all but forced into service, the Lich King binding his soul to him for eternity.

.........

He was appalled by the images assaulting him, the memories of the former kings flooding into his head. But still, despite his mental pleas for mercy, they continued.

.........

He had seen Kel'Thuzad's last moments among the living, Prince Arthas Menethil nearly shattering the old man with several vicious, rage-induced blows with his warhammer.

He saw Arthas, in his desperation, slaughter the people of Stratholme, only to have to slaughter his citizens again as they rose from the dead.

He saw Arthas chase Mal'Ganis into Northrend, casting aside everything to try and save his people.

He saw the young paladin retrieve Frostmourne from it's icy pedastal, casting away his hammer, and leaving his wounded friend for dead as the runeblade ate away at his mind and soul, stripping him of his humanity.

.........

Shining gagged, his muzzle scrunching up as he imagined the terror his citizens must have felt as the prince slaughtered his father in cold blood, turning the undead loose on Capital City.

"Shining, we have arrived."

"Huh?!" Shining snapped violently out of his daydreaming, the words of his predecessors fading in intensity, if only for a moment as he acknowledged his vizier.

The party had stopped atop the mountain, nearly all around them obscured by blinding white, save for a few dull beams of light piercing the vale.

Shining looked behind him, the worried face of his wife... troubling him.

What if he couldn't control it?

What if he too was consumed by the hatred...

The agony...

The cruelty...

For a moment, he considered waiting another few hours, so Kel'Thuzad could send for his sister and her friends...

For the Elements of Harmony...

Just in case he...

He lost control...

.........

"My king, your crown awaits..."

Kel'Thuzad floated before him, his outstretched hand offering the Helm of Domination to him.

.........

No...

They... HE couldn't wait any longer...

"Thank you... Kel'Thuzad." Shining spoke, his eyes boring into the empty sockets of the great helm.

.........

Before he could even think about it, the Helm was sliding down the sides of his head, the cool metal surprisingly soothing to the alicorn prince. Instead of hyperventilating, he chose to hold his meaningless breath, the inside of his body completely dormant as his crown slid into place with a satisfying 'thunk'.

The whispering screams died to silence...

And the Lich King pushed a wave of crystallized air from his lungs.

.........

"Shining?" Kel'Thuzad asked.

Silence.

.........

"I... I understand everything now..."

.........

Clairvoyance erupted from the void, filling the Lich King's head with knowledge at last.

Knowledge he never even knew he needed.

He understood... EVERYTHING.

He saw the thousands, nay, tens of thousands of glittering presences surrounding them. The innumerable amount of living or long dead animals or ponies that littered the surrounding valley and mountains. To his rear right, he saw the towering beam of pale white light that signaled his majordomo's presence, the undead mage seemingly oblivious to the stallion's glances, for some unknown reason.

In the far distance, Shining could make out the spires of the Crystal Palace now, the snow and frost no longer clouding his eyes.

Eyes...

Somewhere, he could feel his eyes opening.

No...

Not HIS eyes...

Deep beneath the Crystal Palace, in the dungeons, his eyes and ears awaited his command without waver, the skeletal servants in his archmage's quarters responding with appearant glee at the mental presence of their master.

So... THIS is what Kel was talking about the when he said it was for controlling my armies...

As he gazed around the room, he took note of...

Goddesses...

Far beneath the surface of Equus, he saw... darkness.

Darkness so black it sapped the light from his vision...

Like a whirlpool, it spiraled through Equestria, echoing from...

Canterlot...

Suddenly, like a switch was thrown, the Lich King took over.

Closing his mental vision for the moment, as he had done hundreds of times before, the alicorn's vision darkened.

Turning to the small group, his eyes ignited with cold fire, echoing waves of necromantic energy flowing forth from his eyes. His queen, whom had retreated from his side after he had donned the Helm, was currently watching him, her form somewhat hidden behind Kel'Thuzad's robes.

She had a smile on her face...

"Cadence..."

"Shiny?" the pink alicorn responded, slowly creeping towards her husband, the Lich King's gaze following her as she moved from behind her archmage. "Is... is that you in there?"

The Lich King snorted, the very surface of his fur wafting with cold as he stepped forwards, enveloping his princess in his colossal wings before anyone could react.

With a series of popping and crackling, the alicorns started to freeze.

Kel’Thuzad was already muttering incantations, his claws alight with arcane energy as he prepared his...

His...

"Kel'Thuzad..."

The lich cancelled the silencing spell he was channeling, and cautiously responded.

He’d never felt so... empty.

Hollow.

"Y-Yes, my king?"

"I have a task for you..."

"For all of you..."

"Anything, my king." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his words now seemingly leaving his mouth of their own accord.

With an echoing crack, the earth below them shook.

VIOLENTLY.

Even Anub'arak was staggered by the ground's quakes, the mighty nerubian choosing to hover with his wings to escape it.

Then Kel'Thuzad felt it. He felt the arcane magic in the air start to BOIL in preparation, the ground warping and stretching as the Lich King channeled every SPECK of magical energy for miles around into his spell.

The blizzard had died down by now, the alicorn ripping the last of the ice from the air to fuel the channeling.

In the distance, the archlich saw a light. A pinprick of energy that slowly grew into a massive crack in reality, obscuring the valley behind it from view.

Never in his life or unlife had he felt such... power. Such energy weaved into magic far beyond his comprehension.

With a deafening boom, the crack widened.

The blast would have killed them, de-atomized them even, had his king not protected them from harm with a shield of azure energy, the ward covering the entire mountain peak.

"Kel'Thuzad..."

The shape of something Kel'Thuzad never thought he would see again began to emerge. A monstrous, gargantuan war machine that he would have rather forgotten.

That he wished had not just appeared into such an innocent, uncorrupted world...

"Yes... my king?" Kel'Thuzad answered, his eyes turning to witness his king and queen, locked in an embrace within the Frozen Throne.

"Build me an army worthy of Icecrown..." the Lich King boomed, his eyes piercing into his archmage.

Kel'Thuzad stuttered, and turned to his comrades.

All of them were bowed before his rulers...

So he joined them.

With that, the blizzard started up again, Naxxramas' gargantuan shadow looming over the congregation.

Author's Note

I apologize once again for the extreme delay, but my unlife has been spiraling out of control for the last few months. I promise to continue writing, but I will not promise dates...

Business as 'Usual'

"Make sure to get all of them!" the undead mage bellowed, overseeing the frozen dig site. Upwards of several dozen constructs, some humanoid, some equine, were tirelessly picking away at the permafrost, attempting to find the one key ingredient for any Scourge military force...

Bodies.

Here and there, the frozen carcasses of ancient unicorns peeked through the rock and ice, the main objective of their little venture into this gods-forsaken valley. According to his king, there were burial mounds all over the mountain, remnants of the ancient tribes in the far north that refused to assimilate into Equestria after Celestia and Luna defeated Discord.

"AND DO NOT DAMAGE ANOTHER ONE!" Kel'Thuzad roared, watching an overzealous high elf skeleton take a large chunk out of an ornate stone sarcophagus.

.........

Part of the archlich wanted to stop this madness.

To implore that his king see reason.

.........

Or to at least know why he was creating an undead army once more...

’We do this for the good of Equus, Kel'Thuzad...’

Kel'Thuzad jerked to attention from his rather lazy stance, shuddering as his king reminded him that he was always listening, cold affecting his unfeeling bones for a split second as he shivered.

’I... I'm sorry master. I just wish that I...’

’That you what?’

’That I knew why we're doing this. Titus and Anub'arak won't step up and ask, and I would appreciate knowing how serious the circumstances are...’

’An unimaginable evil threatens us, Kel’thuzad.’

.........

’An evil that has revealed itself to be the architect of my suffering...’

‘I... see...’

‘So this... evil, is what brought the Helm to Equus?’

‘Brought me?’

.........

‘My king?’

.........

Kel’Thuzad grumbled to himself, his king falling silent for the moment.

With a deafening ‘CLANG’ of metal on hollow stone, and a ‘CRASH’ of said stone to ice, the archlich turned once more to the high elf, his pickaxe having smashed through yet another sarcophagus, plunging the pick into the skull of an unfortunate unicorn skeleton.

“STUPID FOOL!” Kel’thuzad roared, floating over to assess the damage done. The construct, while incapable of fear, was most definitely aware of it’s master’s displeasure with it’s actions, it’s head hung in shame.

Peering into the unearthed container, the lich was displeased to find that the skeleton’s skull was all but shattered, well beyond simple repair.

He would need to fashion a new one, or find a replacement.

And that would require time.

Time that was valuable at the moment. He had seven more digs to oversee over the next few days, not helped by the fact that he was one of two actively searching for corpses.

With an aggravated growl, and a rare show of physical force, the archlich launched the construct into the rocks on the opposite side of the dig site with a single swipe of his claw, shattering the primitive skeleton into several dozen pieces.

With a snarl of pent-up frustration, Kel’Thuzad tore the broken skeleton to pieces with his magic, it’s shattered body condensed into a pile of bonemeal, which was then collected into a jar at his hip.

“Well... at least he provided the means to create a new skull...” Kel’Thuzad grinned, turning to view the dig once more.

.........

Titus grunted in exertion, swinging the titanium hammer at a bar of simmering saronite. All around him, newly awakened Scourge smiths worked with what metal they had, making new weapons for his master’s army.

Little had been left on Naxrammas after the Argent Crusade was done with it. Anything of use had been salvaged during their push to Icecrown, everything else left to rot or rust inside the necropolis.

Seven meat wagons, all in ‘pristine’ condition.

Several chunks of raw saronite, hidden in a compartment in the Military Quarter.

Three petrified Gargoyles, currently being used to ferry corpses from Kel’Thuzad’s digs.

Twenty seven unclaimed runeblades, one of which Stern Staff’s brother, Silver Bolt, took as his own.

Hoarfrost, he called it.

Fitting, seeing as he and his brother were gifted with the power of frost by his king.

At the mere thought of another runeblade, Rotfang barked at him from his flank, the sword attempting to gain his attention. Shushing the blade with his mind, the death knight turned to the sounds of hooves on cobblestone floors. His eyes were met with an approaching skeleton, the earth pony bowing in subservience.

”The wagons are ready, Lord Rivendare...” the construct droned, his head rising to look the baron in the eyes. Titus grinned, nodding once as he gestured to a nearby smith to take over his project.

“Excellent.” Titus spoke, walking towards the entrance to the Military Quarter, where the arcane teleporter onboard Naxrammas was located. “Tell knights Silver Bolt and Stern Staff to meet me at the encampment.”

”As you command, Lord Rivendare...”

Titus checked his ammo bag at his flank as he approached the spire at the center of the necropolis, making sure he had shot to spare for his mission. Nodding once to himself at the significant weight of the saronite balls in the frostweave pouch, he then checked his powder horn, which he found to be more than adequately filled.

A shame that the crusaders saw it fit to raid my quarters when they stormed Naxrammas...

As he shuddered at the familiar feeling of teleportation, he chuckled to himself.

I wonder if Equestrians have discovered black powder...

.........

Anub'arak growled in frustration, a worker drone informing him of yet ANOTHER cave in. No one was trapped in this one, thankfully.

Or killed...

Drones could be replaced, of course, but it was one more body to recover, and...

And one more death to report to his queen...

All around the monarch, his workers toiled away at the hard rock far below the Crystal Empire. Chunks of rock were moved from the digging sights by drones like ants, lines of changelings pouring through the relatively small cavern like clockwork.

"My king?" the drone inquired, the massive changeling having not responded to the news, besides a low growl. Anub'arak snapped his gaze to the worker before nodding once, his anger dissipating admirably quickly.

"Very well. Reinforce the area as best you can, and continue with caution." Anub'arak spoke, looking down at the map before him, the aged parchment taken directly from the Crystal Keep's library.

We are close...

While Kel'Thuzad had told him of the burial crypts, he failed to mention that they were several stories below the surface, encased in hardened crystal formations. His drones had found the first crypt, but the ancient subterranean structure was... empty.

Picked clean of any bodies or valuables.

His workers reported hoofprints in the dust layering the ancient ground within the burial chambers, so crypt robbers were most likely to blame...

But...

These crypts weren't designed to be opened.

EVER.

No entrances, no exits, sealed upon completion.

So who...

A violent quake shook the cavern, rocks falling from the ceiling above the changelings, and shaking the king from his thoughts with a growl.

"TELL THOSE IDIOTS TO BE CAREFUL!" Anub'arak roared, his citizens visibly flinching at the chitinous voice that echoed through the cavern.

"I'd rather NOT have to explain to my king why half the damned empire fell into the earth..."

.........

Cadence was cold.

Despite the roaring flame that currently occupied the hearth before her, her form still shivered from the feeling.

She missed Shining...

'I haven't left yet, you know...'

Cadence chuckled at her husband's playful quip, her body already warming at the demonic voice that wailed through her ears.

"I know. Doesn't make me miss you any less, though." She pouted, the alicorn's form slumping further into his embrace. The male alicorn chuckled, wrapping a hoof around his mare before resting his head atop hers.

He knew that this brief moment of simplistic bliss would not last, and the Lich King knew that he would need to return to the Frozen Throne before long.

As it was, Kel'Thuzad was probably already wondering why his monarch had stopped speaking to him.

But for know, 'he' would spend what little time he had with his mare, the alicorn snuggling the skeletal construct he controlled closer to her before the fire.

All the while, however, the darkness beneath Equus grew... darker.

.........

Nightmare scoffed at the idle prattling of the Canterlot Night Court.

She sometimes wondered how Luna did it.

The peasant currently speaking was sternly proclaiming that vandals had destroyed his produce cart earlier that day, ruining an entire harvest of cabbages in the process. What the crazed stallion wanted the crown to do about it was beyond her, but the alicorn in the throne just... listened.

While this animated earth pony weaved his tale of sorrow, the Princess of the Night sat atop her throne at the end of the throne room, a serene smile adorning her muzzle.

.........

She still didn't know why she had possessed the lunar goddess.

Come to think of it, she didn't even remember what she had done before the initial possession.

All she knew was... rage. Anger.

She knew nothing except the name she had given herself, and the seething hatred she had for her 'sister'.

She saw the happiness her sis... Celestia brought with her sunlight...

.........

And it made her SICK.

After her 'death' at the hands of Kel'Thuzad, however, she felt a lot of that hate... vanish.

The old wizard... understood her. Or at least respected her.

.........

With a barely audible growl, the alicorn of darkness faded back into the surrounding shadows as the changing of the guard brought a unicorn soldier close to her position.

All the while, as she sat in her dark corner, she watched Luna's court.

Nightmare was skeptical of her importance in this whole ordeal.

She was instructed to observe the Royal Sisters and their inner circles, and inform Kel'Thuzad if anypony of importance left Canterlot.

While she doubted much would come of her work, she welcomed the chance for more freedom, granted specifically at her master's request to her king.

Also, she knew that any disobedience would result in her losing what little trust her and the archlich had built between them.

She...

It pained her to admit it, but she didn't want to lose the lich's friendship.

.........

I'd better check on Celestia...

Luna's going to be busy with this idiot for a while...

With a light chuckle, Nightmare dissipated from her hiding spot, melting away into the darkness within the walls of Canterlot castle.

Author's Note

Back to basics...

Judgement Delivered

Blood.

Gore.

Sinew.

Baron Titus Rivendare laughed to himself as another of the pitifully armed mercenaries fell to his blade, Rotfang growling to him as it tore a bloody canyon through the front of the mare's barrel, her lungs lacerated as she fell to the snowy earth before him.

A pinprick of pressure hit the unicorn's side, a sense of emptiness filling his chest. Titus' head turned swiftly to his injury, parrying another blade as he turned, a brutish-looking earth pony wielding a claymore as if it were nothing. With a crack of flint on steel, and a deafening bang, a jagged, misshapen hole was blown through the offending stallion's neck. The barbarian didn't even get the chance to react to the pain lancing through his throat before a mangled orc skeleton slammed into the stallion's side.

With a guttural growl, the construct ripped into the mercenary's ribcage, tearing and clawing with it's sharpened hands.

Rivendare smirked at the display, the thrill of battle rushing through his dormant veins. Nodding once at the construct's actions, Titus again turned to face his injury...

And a large arrow crushed the side of his jaw, the shaft splintering into his neck after the tip embedded itself.

Disoriented, but not defeated, the death knight growled rabidly, a coil of necrotic energy exploding from Rotfang's runed blade, aimed at the nearby archer.

Already in the process of retrieving another arrow, the archer, a scrawny-looking pegasus, turned just in time to receive the death coil, the greenish-black projectile billowing a cloud of devouring mist over his lower body.

Rivendare didn't witness the death, another blade deflected by a hair, but he confirmed it from the gurgling, half-formed screams of pain coming from the decaying stallion's throat...

.........

Silver Bolt grimaced as his newly acquired blade severed a foreleg from one of his former comrades with a spray of chilled blood, the dying stallion silenced as his throat was sliced by another slash.

All around him, the sounds of battle roared through the small camp, the white snows of the frozen north, pounded near flat to the ground from constant hooves crossing it, was stained with blood. The clashing of steel and the occasional 'boom' of his commander's odd weapon echoed over the howling winds blowing through the camp.

A warcry got his attention, snapping out of his thoughts just fast enough to dodge to the left, the blade of a longsword slicing a shallow cut through the thick cloth gambeson he wore under his mail, the links rattling and shaking as they separated. With another snarl, the gryphon swung the longsword once more, Silver deflecting the blade with his own. The longsword slid down the runeblade, embedding into the snow below them.

Taking advantage of the lowered weapon, Silver shoved his new sword into the gryphon's abdomen all the way to the hilt, a gurgling howl accompanying the attack. With a squelch of blood and flesh parting, the unicorn removed the sword to the left, the saronite blade cutting the gryphon apart easily, butchered intestines spilling from his belly.

With a clattering of bones, Silver Bolt darted his head to the left, watching a large unicorn smash one of the constructs that they had brought with them to pieces, the bones shattering and splintering under the iron warhammer the warrior wielded in his telekinetic hold.

With nary a second glance, the arbalest at his side was raised and fired, the cobalt bolt sailing across the small clearing before embedding itself up to the fletching into the unarmored temple of the unicorn, the equine's telekinetic hold fizzling out as his body fell to the snowy earth.

Satisfied that the stallion was no longer a threat, Silver Bolt turned to the slowly dying battle, determined to see this macabre task through to the end...

.........

Stern Staff growled rabidly as his saronite poleaxe’s blade cleaved its way through one of two mercenaries that scrambled out from behind a tent nearby, their fear quite apparent. One fell easily, his neck ripped open by the otherworldly weapon the novice death knight wielded. The other, a pegasus mare, jabbed several times with her spear, one attack connecting with his lower left foreleg, ripping through his thick cloth armor and into the skin of his limb with ease...

Stern Staff didn’t even feel it.

As his poleaxe found it’s mark, the stallion roared his bloodlust to the sky as he ripped his weapon the rest of the way through the unfortunate mare’s torso, her body falling in two jagged pieces to the bloody ground before him.

Movement caught his eye, and his weapon’s hilt was raised just in time to stop the descent of a large battleaxe. The blade of the weapon dug into the oak handle, the langets the only thing keeping the weapon from digging itself into the death knight's neck.

With a roar of rage, the unicorn shoved the gryphon's weapon off of his own, the stallion rearing up on his hind legs. The gryphon recoiled his axe, winding up a swing at Stern's exposed stomach.

With a whip of his own weapon, Stern Staff slashed upwards with the opposite end of his poleaxe, the saronite spike slicing the gryphon's own exposed stomach up to the sternum, hooking underneath it. With a growl, the stallion lifted the mercenary off the ground, throwing the bleeding gryphon to the ground before him, the spike of his poleaxe entering the soft flesh underneath the gryphon's beak.

Withdrawing the spike, the death knight whipped around to find his next opponent, the fluttering of a nearby tent flap catching his eye. With a smirk of bloodlust, the death knight marched into the large tent, expecting to dispatch another foolish mercenary.

In an instant, his bloodthirst ceased.

A unicorn mare, obviously heavily malnourished, turned to the light that the parted tent flaps let in, a look of fear decorating her small muzzle.

Stern Staff lowered his weapon, if only slightly, and took in her features more clearly, the sound of steel clashing on steel flushed out of his mind.

Her coat, while once a vibrant light teal, was caked with mud and grime, the substance matting down her fur. Her mane fared better, but was still obviously in tatters, the silvery-blue locks framing her dark purple eyes, which showed the absolute terror of a mare long abused. Around the base of her horn, which was splintered lightly at the tip, a arcane inhibitor ring was fastened, seemingly sewn into the scalp around it.

A quiet rasp shook the death knight from his observations, only to realize his target was speaking.

“P-please...” the mare begged, her entire form dropped to the cold dirt floor of the tent in a desperate plea to spare her life. “H-have mercy...”

Stern Staff stood stock-still for a few moments, the unicorn’s mind running through his options.

On one hoof, his commander had ORDERED him to slay every last living thing in this camp. Down to every possible prisoner, as well.

Failure to comply gave him the risk of exile within Frostmourne.

And from what Rivendare had told him of the blade... that was not an option.

On the other hoof, this mare was prostrated before him, begging for her life with every last breath she had in her tired, beaten body.

And while he would likely have taken advantage of this before his death... he found his mind... clearer. More focused...

Logical...

.........

With that, his poleaxe was lifted, the mare’s pleas becoming more desperate as she crawled through the mud towards his hooves, wrapping her forelegs around them in a desperate attempt at life.

Unfazed, with his blade lifted high above him, Stern Staff let the weapon fall, pushing on it as it did to speed the poleaxe’s descent. He closed his eyes, unwilling to look her in the face as he snuffed out her already dying candle.

He prepared himself for the sound.

The sound of flesh seperating from flesh.

Bones snapping. Blood spurting from veins and arteries as his blade sliced through them...

But it never came.

His eyes slowly opened, only to be blinded by the telekinetic grip the ripped his weapon from his own.

’I know this one...’

‘She will accompany you back to Icecrown, my knight...’

“But... my king...” Stern Staff said aloud, but was silenced as an overwhelming feeling of crushing darkness and fear encircled his mind, forcing the breath from his lungs as he kneeled, the blade of his own poleaxe poised to slice his head from his shoulders.

’That was NOT a REQUEST, Stern Staff...’

‘Remember whom you serve...’

Stern Staff nodded lightly, his breath returning to him as he stood, his weapon relinquished once more to his hold.

“O-of course, my king.” he shakily replied to his lord, the mare below him obviously confused at the antics she had just witnessed.

With a snort of renewed purpose, the stallion adjusted his helmet, and turned for the entrance to the tent.

“Stay here.” he spoke, his armor scraping together as he parted the flaps, the sounds of battle reigniting in his head as he did. With the fortitude only a death knight could wield, the stallion stood guard outside the tent, watching the battle die down in the camp.

Inside the tent, the mare watched the stallion leave, her whispering voice drowned out by the screams of the dying, and the roar of the tundra around them.

“T-thank y-you...”

Author's Note

More bodies for the master’s army...

"Requesting" Assistance

When she tore into the half-frozen loaf of bread like a mare possessed, Stern Staff almost recoiled at her ferocity.

The small, feeble mare before him moved a lot quicker than he expected. Surprising, considering she resembled a skeleton with skin and fur draped over it.

Between mouthfuls of bread, the mare almost sobbed in what Stern Staff hoped was happiness, but he couldn’t be sure.

While the evidence that she was kept as a slave for his old comrades’... desires, was overwhelming, he had also never seen her before.

His last visit to the encampment was less than two weeks ago.

The mare before him had been starved for a month.

At the least.

The last of the sizable portion of bread disappearing down her throat caught his attention, along with the mare looking at him, her weary, tear-filled orbs piercing his own.

“T-thank you...” she cried, bowing low to the ground, literally grinding herself into the mud in an attempt to get lower. Stern Staff fidgeted with his hooves awkwardly for a moment, unused to such praise.

“You're welcome.” Stern plainly said, a simple smile decorating his muzzle.

The second he moved to grab the small iron plate the bread had been on, she yelped, recoiling into a nearby corner, her eyes showing intense fear at the quick move.

“I’M SORRY!” she cried, tears streaming down from her eyes, adding to the mess of mud that already caked her visage. “PLEASE!”

“Hey, calm down, I just wa-“ Stern began, only to be cut off by the next outburst, the mare curling even deeper into herself.

“I DIDN’T MEAN IT!” she sobbed, wretched, and wailed her absolute terror away, her muzzle buried in her forelegs, body collapsed before him like a whipped dog.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!!!"

"PLEASE DON’T HURT ME!!!"

.........

Stern Staff was dumbfounded.

For the few minutes that he had known her outside of the battle, the mare was the most docile, quiet pony he had ever met.

But when he attempted to take that plate away from her, she reacted like an animal long abused, backed into a corner.

While she continued to cry, Stern Staff removed his helmet, letting his messy, blood-matted mane down, shaking it a little to give it some bounce back. After laying his weapon and helmet on a cot nearby, the stallion kneeled down to her level, her form scrunching up further into herself. Her horn fizzled and popped in a futile attempt to overwhelm the inhibitor currently sewn into her scalp around the horn, prompting the stallion to try to stop her before she injured herself.

"Hey! Stop trying to use magic!" Stern Staff scolded, perhaps a little too loudly, as the mare did not respond. "You're going to hurt yourself!"

Again, the mare did not respond, the stitches around her horn starting to bleed heavily, impotent arcane energies leaking from her horn's base.

"Stern, go check on the meat wagons."

"General!" Stern turned quickly, his commander’s sudden entrance accentuated by a lower, more gurgled speech. Stifling his shock at seeing the baron’s fractured jaw and punctured throat, Stern nodded, his stare somewhat distant.

“Sir, do... do you need help?” Stern asked, disbelief evident on his face. Rivendare chuckled, a few spurts of brownish, congealed blood spurting from his neck wound.

“No, Stern Staff. I’ve received FAR worse than this...” Titus explained, looking behind the death knight at the mare cowering in the corner, obviously terrified of his appearance.

“Now...”

“Go check on the meat wagons...” the baron insisted, jerking his head slightly to the right to usher the younger death knight away.

“Yes, sir.” Stern saluted, looking back at his charge one final time with a slight tinge of remorse.

Goddesses... what happened to her?

As the tent flaps cluttered closed, Titus turned to the mare, a low, gurgling chuckle sending more droplets of brownish blood to the ground. Her eyes literally glowed with fear at this point, her cries becoming more... shallow.

“Please... I... I didn’t...”

With a dull, hollow ‘thud’, the mare fell, unconscious, to the muddy ground before the death knight, his magical grip tightened around a wooden club.

“Hopefully you’ll stay that way until we get back, my dear...” Titus chuckled, a gurgle following his every word, a rope levitating itself over to her at the baron’s whim.

“Wouldn’t want you to get any bright ideas...”

“From what my master has told me, you can be quite the inconvenient annoyance, Miss Lulamoon...”

.........

Four hundred and thirty-two bodies.

Not a bad first haul, but they were out of bodies that were stowed on Naxxramas.

All together, their ‘Unlimited Force of Destruction’ was only around two thousand strong.

And most of them were quite limited in intelligence.

Kel’Thuzad had spent the better part of three hours pouring over the several hundred bodies before him, all laid out on individual runed frostweave shrouds. As he inspected them, he muttered incantations, warding the spine, legs, and skull of each skeleton to give the bones more protection against damage, however slight.

Nearly the entirety of the Construct Quarter’s main floor was occupied by them, and the archlich was checking the dormant skeletons one final time for any imperfections or abnormalities.

As he reached the final row of bodies, a skeletal pegasus flew into the room behind him, his hooves clacking against the floor as he bowed before the master of the necropolis.

“Master, our lord requests your presence at the Frozen Throne...” the construct droned, his glowing blue eyes staring up at the lich. Kel’Thuzad nodded, waving his hand to dismiss the construct, who flew away without another word.

Satisfied with the bodies before him, the lich cleared his throat, his arms already bathing themselves in arcane power as he began muttering further incantations, the magic in the air starting to simmer and blacken as he continued.

With a crackling of necromantic power, the necromancer threw his hands into the air, his booming voice bellowing out over the long dead unicorns.

“WARRIORS OF THE FROZEN NORTH!”

“YOUR FEROCITY WAS LEGENDARY!”

“YOUR HATRED, UNRIVALED!”

“NOW IS THE TIME TO USE THEM!”

“DEATH HIMSELF CALLS FOR YOUR AID!”

“BONES LONG DORMANT...”

“RISE!”

“RISE AND SERVE YOUR MASTER!”

Mists of raw, blackened, unchecked necromancy flooded the room, clinging to the fallen warriors with ease.

With a clattering of bones grinding and creaking, rabid growls filled the tall room, the Scourge’s first soldiers in a millennia roaring their appearant glee at being awakened.

Just as Kel’Thuzad began to smirk, however, a whip of arcane energy whisked him away, faster than he could blink.

.........

After he had gotten over his initial shock, Kel’Thuzad swiftly turned and bowed to his master, the dark silhouette of an alicorn glaring down at him from behind the unnaturally blue ice of the Frozen Throne.

”I apologize for yanking you away from your work, Kel’Thuzad, but this is a matter that cannot wait...”

Kel’Thuzad rose to his full height, clasping his claws in front of himself.

“Of course, master. What is it that you need of me?”

"The workload that I have dropped upon each of you is immense, and the profits of said labor are..."

"Underwhelming...

A cold chill ran down Kel'Thuzad, his form trembling at the prospect of failing his king.

"M-master..." Kel'Thuzad started, before a crackling smash caught him off guard, his arm instinctively rising to cover his face from the explosive force before him.

"I was not done speaking, Kel'Thuzad..." the Lich King spoke, his ivory coat wafting visible cold now that it was free of the Frozen Throne. The lich nodded shakily, his arms grasping together once again.

"While you have successfully recovered every possible body in the valley, as I ordered..."

"Our forces are... insignificant."

.........

"Which is why I need your help..."

"My friend..."

Kel'Thuzad somewhat relaxed at that, the thought that Shining was still... there, calming him. The archlich prostrated himself before the alicorn, his robes splaying out behind him to attain an illusion of kneeling.

"Of course, my king." Kel'Thuzad spoke, conviction returning to his voice. "I live to serve."

"Good..."

.........

"Then be still..."

Without another word, the Lich King broke through the powerful enchantments surrounding Kel'Thuzad's mind like they were paper.

Unable to react other than a strangled gasp of surprise, the archlich's body froze up, the king's potent magics paralyzing him as the alicorn poured through every memory he could find.

"If we are to win this war..."

"We will need more support..."

.........

The Lich King exhaled a frosted breath as he finished his speech to his servants.

"Lords and Ladies of the Frozen Wastes, you have your instructions..."

"Now... go."

As the Lich King's form reclined back into the Frozen Throne, the massive, horrific, skeletal forms before him bowed, their spindly arms already channeling teleportation spells.

All the while, from his king's side, Kel'Thuzad watched as each of his brethren popped from existence, their missions having begun.

His mind, however, raced with possibilities.

Just how powerful was his master?

Arthas had never been able to read his mind, let alone literally PILLAGE his brain for information and memories...

While Ner'Zhul was capable of reading minds at the height of his power, and forcing his will upon others in the vicinity to influence or cut off most motion...

Shining had done that... plus more...

.........

All the while, the Lich King chuckled to himself from within the reformed Frozen Throne, his friend's thoughts amusing him greatly.

Bittersweet Company

Kel'Thuzad grumbled to himself aboard Naxxramas.

While he enjoyed working with minds that actually knew what they were doing when it came to necromancy, his colleagues were not the most... talkative.

Nearby, Balzaphon poured through every magical tome and scroll at their disposal, attempting to find something... anything that could give their forces an edge on an Equestrian battlefield.

The newer lich was definitely the least talkative of all his brethren, and was more of a scholar and researcher than spellcaster. While his findings and experiments on soul propulsion and stabilization were instrumental in keeping Naxxramas in the air, his company left much to be desired.

Now that the liches of the Scourge were freed of their... monotonous demeanor, they effectively were restored to their former selves and personalities.

This, however, brought out their flaws, as well.

For example, Balzaphon was quite easily absorbed into his work. This helped with productivity, but eliminated any chance for the two to really... coordinate. Connect.

The smaller lich across the room was perhaps the only being he could think of in his entire existence that possibly trumped his love of reading.

Well, besides Twilight.

Maybe.

Maybe...

.........

Maybe...

Not having to sleep, eat or drink gave Balzaphon a distinct advantage, after all...

They each droned on in their work, the younger lich across the room muttering under his frosted breath as he scanned a page with a single finger.

With a sideways glance, the archlich realized he was reading an aged tome on crystal magics.

Kel'Thuzad sighed, closing his tome with a satisfying 'wump'.

Balzaphon didn't even flinch.

As the archlich floated out of the small chamber off of the Construct Quarter's main floor, he wondered how Titus and Anub'arak were dealing with their old colleagues...

.........

Zarod cackled to himself as the arcane roared through his skeletal body once more, a simple incantation bestowing false life upon the relatively undamaged equine corpse before him, the newly arisen soldier bowing before the lich in subservience.

"Report to Lord Rivendare for outfitting, minion." the master summoner commanded, a single bony finger pointing towards the death knight, who was currently drilling several newly arisen initiates, their prowess in battle showing promise.

Out of the corner of his glowing blue eye, the lich spotted the only living thing in the camp scurrying back to her tent, a loaf of bread in her makeshift cloth saddlebag.

Zarod bit back an insult at the mare’s cowardly behavior.

He had learned his mistake the first time...

His king had made it EXCESSIVELY clear that should any harm come to her, the perpetrator will answer directly to him.

He had no idea what his master had seen in the stupid girl, but all that he saw was weakness and fear...

A lancing pain shot down his spine, darkness seeping into his vision as he doubled over from the unfamiliar sensation.

'Think all you want, master summoner...'

'Just remember what it means to act...'

Zarod croaked, his hands clenching the packed snow before him in pain, the overwhelmingly apparent presence of his king roaring through his mind.

"Y-yes... m-m-master..."

"F-forgive my lack of v-vision..."

'Sniveling will not save you from me, Zarod.'

'Your emotions were a gift...'

'Do not make me rip them from you again...'

With that, the lich was released from his master's hold, the necromancer gasping as he rose to his full height once more. Nearby, a few death knight initiates snickered at Zarod's misfortune, their forms lazily lounging on some barrels of iron ore.

Zarod growled, a frostbolt exploding from his palm to impact the ice and snow before the soldiers, their snickering dying down quickly as they cowered before the lich, shards of ice and snow raining down on them.

"Get back to your training, mongrels!"

With a stiff salute, the death knight initiates galloped back to Baron Rivendare, the stallion obviously displeased with their actions.

With a growl, the lich retrieved a large, half-frozen mass of flesh and bone from a nearby meat wagon's collection bin.

Abominations were always his favorite construct to create.

The abomination was like a canvas, capable of becoming anything that the necromancer could think of.

Whether it be a gargantuan, stinking machine of destruction, or a small, compact killing machine, abominations were open ended...

With an arcane-amplified chuckle that shook the encampment around him, Zarod began to rip and meld the pile of flesh into the form of a monster...

.........

"Have you located the next crypt yet, lich?" Anub'arak passively asked, pouring over the tattered map before him.

Amnennar growled, his attempts at scrying once again interrupted by the nerubian-turned-changeling. Biting back an insult, the lich swallowed his pride, getting punished by his king not high on his list of priorities.

"I'm trying, my lord. The crystal around us reflects magic back towards me..." Amnennar cancels his channeling for the moment, his gaze turning to the shapeshifting monarch. "Every time I attempt to renew my scrying spell, I am blinded by arcane feedback."

Anub'arak nodded, a disappointed, but understanding frown adorning the changeling's muzzle. As he turned to survey the large cavern their excavation was taking place in, another rumble shook the cavern.

With a deafening roar of crystals grinding together, the left part of the cave collapsed, the only thing saving the king and lich from utter annihilation being the quick thinking of Amnennar, the skilled cryomancer freezing the ceiling above them.

“Gods damn it!” Anub’arak roared, his gravely voice roaring over his surviving soldiers and workers. All the while, Amnennar pulled every speck of magic at his disposal into his spell, attempting to solidify and fortify the ceiling further.

“Captain, report!” Anub’arak demanded to a particularly large changeling, whom had just bolted into the room, parts of his chitin torn and missing.

“My king, our forces are under attack in the central corridor!” the changeling soldier choked out, his green blood pouring from his wounds.

“By who?!” Anub’arak questioned, looking down the darkened, crudely dug hallway.

“I... I don’t know, my king!” the changeling grunted, his form slumping tiredly against a crystal formation nearby.

“They... they came alive!”

.........

“WHAT?!”

A guttural growl echoed down the corridor, causing even the hardened changeling king to shiver lightly, the shrill voice echoing off of the crystal walls.

”UNSLAAD KROSIS!”

Author's Note

Little bit of a short one this time, couldn’t find a good place to cut it off earlier or later, so this is the best I can do.

PS: Yes, those liches are confirmed not to be dead.

Or at the very least we never destroyed their phylacteries.

PPS: Draugr are awesome.

Ancient Aggressors

Abrakkar growled as he tore another ancient warrior asunder with his bare hands, the undead warlock's claws shredding the paper-like skin of the revenant. Nearby, his infernals scorched the ground and walls of the corridor ahead of them, preventing or hindering any further aggressors...

And obliterating any that managed to survive the felfire.

From behind him, fireballs scorched the air as they picked off any further undead, his imps cackling with glee at the prospect of killing for their master.

The old orc hadn't felt this alive in centuries.

When his king had dispatched him and Lord Rivendare to the Crystal Capital to deal with the underground attack, the lich was beyond excited.

He had been aching for a fight, his last having been at the foot of Icecrown Citadel, where he had fallen at the hands of the Argent Crusade.

Formidable warriors, to be sure.

And now that he had his emotions back...

The orc relished the thrill of battle that roared through his nonexistent veins for the first time in centuries. Since before his death alongside his chieftain, Ner'Zhul, he had been a hollow shell of his former self, twisted and corrupted by Kil'jaeden's foul magics.

For the gift of being able to feel this rush again...

He could never repay his new king. And so, to the ends of his existence, he would serve his new ruler.

Snorting as another roar of undead fury echoed through the chamber, the orc turned to face his next opponent, his bloodlust spiking once more.

Readying a shadowbolt in either claw, the lich chuckled, his eyes squaring on the next rush of undead.

And as long as his king offered him the glory of battle...

He would relish it...

.........

Barking orders over the roaring and screeching of changelings and undead unicorns, Baron Titus Rivendare fired off a spray of saronite pellets from his pistol, the majority hitting their marks in the swarm of desiccated fiends approaching them from deep within the crypt.

When Kel'Thuzad had told him and his knights that an attack was occurring in the Crystal Capital, he wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

"AAV DILON!"

A roar accompanied the strange phrase, an ancient steel warhammer nearly flattening a changeling drone to the ground, it's wings still twitching. Attempting to avenge his now deceased comrade-in-arms, Titus roared a battlecry of his own, swinging at the desiccated unicorn. To the baron's surprise, the ancient warrior blocked an overhead swing from his runeblade, the death knight's reckless attack nearly punished as a frostbolt embedded itself into the undead unicorn's neck.

"They're intelligent... fascinating..." Amnennar observed, launching frostbolts from each of the fingers on his left hand, cutting down hordes of the undead before they even reached the front line.

"Less talk, more fight, Amnennar! Keep them away from the entrance to the crypt!" Titus spat, parrying another ancient, yet well-kept blade, driving his weapon through another unicorn warrior. The lich nodded to himself, a mental note to discuss this with Kel'Thuzad filed away.

Nearby, Titus heard the thudding of more coffins breaking open, and he cursed to himself, the distraction allowing another warrior to decapitate an initiate to his left.

"How many of them are there?!"

Titus' head darted to the left, a nearly overwhelmed Silver Bolt barely holding back his assailants, the two initiates and three worker drones that had accompanied him in his defense fallen around him.

As the baron prepared to order more soldiers to the front line, he realized that the right flank, while holding better than the left, was nearly overtaken as well, Stern Staff and an initiate barely holding back the onslaught.

Titus sighed to himself.

As much as his current state of being would argue, he hated performing necromancy.

But, seeing as the majority of his forces were depleted, and Amnennar's significant lack of knowledge on the subject, and Abrakkar being quite occupied with his side of the crypt, it fell to him to replenish their forces.

Summoning up the power that his king had bestowed upon him all those years ago, Titus grunted in exertion as he pinpointed the bodies nearby that were capable of achieving undeath. Rotfang growled in ecstasy as he channeled his unholy powers into the runeblade, a roar of necrotic power exploding from Titus' form with a caustic haze of death and miasma, coiling bolts of necromantic energy weaving their way to their hosts.

Slowly but surely, the fallen rose.

.........

Chrysalis snorted in rage and defiance as the soldier that had informed her of her hive's plight urged that she not intervene. With a sickly, glowing haze of magic, the changeling queen teleported to the entrance to the dungeons, the door to Kel'Thuzad's laboratory already open.

Inside, the skeletal servants had taken up a defensive perimeter around the large hole in the wall off to the right of the room, the two massive earth pony skeletons using their wall shields to obscure the majority of it from view. Behind them, Lady Eola Deathwhisper muttered incantations under her meaningless breath, the bones of the constructs glowing brighter as she reinforced them.

Deep under the earth, now that she was closer, she could hear screams...

Screams of pain...

Screams of the dying...

.........

Her children's screams...

In a blindingly bright flash of rage-induced arcane power, the changeling queen was rocketing down the hallway, ignoring Eola's pleas to stop.

.........

A screech of utter ANGUISH echoed through the crypt, the deafening sound causing the struggling force to turn to witness it's owner's arrival.

Chrysalis bore down on the undead with all the fury of a mother protecting her children.

Her form, now gargantuan and unrestrained, seemed to morph and alter as she moved, her shapeshifting causing her legs to protrude nightmarishly into spikes. Bolts and flames of raw, green magic leaping in droves from her twisted horn as she tore her way past the Scourge forces, eviscerating her way through the crypt like a rippling, malformed spider, with a continuous, BLOODTHIRSTY screech. Her form, while now bigger than her king's true form, was remarkably fast, darting from target to target as she used her reshaped body as a weapon to crush, slash, and incinerate her way deeper into the crypt.

.........

"Holy shit..." Stern Staff spoke, watching as the changeling queen tore her way deeper into the crypt, ignorant to the insignificant biting of the undead gnats surrounding her.

Titus could barely manage a nod himself in disbelief, his blade entering the neck of a struggling undead soldier, whose lower body was mangled beyond movement.

Silver Bolt, whose front right foreleg was injured, but serviceable, limped forwards into the baron's view.

"Should we follow her, sir?" he asked, the baron opening his mouth to speak, before he was cut off by the hissing voice of the nerubian king from behind him.

"Let her deal with that section of the crypt..."

Anub'arak chuckled sadly, glimpsing around at the devastated changeling corpses littering the crypt.

Through their mental connection, he could hear nothing but screams of pain and anguish from his queen.

"She... she can handle it." the changeling king sighed, watching the green flashes of light and echoing screeches from deeper within the crypt.

"Forgive me for asking, sir, but why is your queen down here at all?" Stern Staff asked, helping a wounded initiate to her hooves.

.........

With another glance to his fallen children, the great nerubian snorted.

"They made her angry..."

Author's Note

Don't mess with Momma Bear.

Game over, man.

Whispers of Madness

Chrysalis growled in sadistic delight as she tore her way to the ends of the crypt, the last of the undead unicorns putting up an admirable, but futile defense against the changeling queen’s unpredictable and vicious assault.

Kill them... Kill them...

Punish the slaughterers of your children...

Her anguished brain played that message on repeat as she destroyed the undead, the changeling queen going all out in a way she hadn’t done in centuries.

Even her attempted takeover of Canterlot saw her use a relatively tame amount of magic to overpower Celestia, though she had a feeling the goddess made flesh was holding back for her subjects’ safety.

As the last of the warriors fell to the ground with a low, wheezing moan, the changeling queen smirked. The last of the fiends had fallen, and so her bloodlust was sated...

For the moment...

.........

How could they let this happen?

Chrysalis let out a small, shuddering sigh, her form returning to it’s regular state as she began to feel the immense pain of losing her so many of her children.

When her king had told her that Shining Armor had ordered him to excavate the tombs below the surface of the Crystal Capital, the queen was excited at the prospect of work for her people.

Anub’arak had told her they would be compensated for their efforts, and that they could use the area to create a new hive after the bodies were exhumed for... whatever it was Kel’Thuzad had planned for them.

But after this... debacle, she was furious. She understood that the process of tunneling led to some accidental deaths. This was natural for a hive, and something she had learned to accept centuries ago.

But to have her children slaughtered by these... things...

She felt nothing but hatred for her new... friends...

Against her better judgement, she had let her workers, her brood, her children, work for a monster.

What else would so casually throw away lives like spent matches?

.........

Kel’Thuzad growled, his laboratory’s conversion into a temporary military checkpoint annoying him without pause as a crystal guard scurried by him, obviously terrified of being stationed at the mouth of the tunnels that led under the Crystal Empire.

“Permission to speak, master?” an echoing voice to the right of the archlich inquired.

Kel’Thuzad sighed, his former student’s insistence on honoring his title of archlich annoying him.

“Eola, while I may be your superior, that doesn’t mean that we’re not equals.” Kel’Thuzad turned his body to the smaller lich, her form already rising from a bow.

Eola nodded, bowing her head in slight shame.

“Apologies, Master.” the female lich droned, her eye sockets meeting his. “It is... difficult, to adjust to our new... relaxed ruler.”

Kel’Thuzad chuckled, his claw gently patting Deathwhisper on the shoulder, her visage brightening visibly, albeit only slightly.

“It is alright to be respectful, Eola.” the undead mage spoke. “Permission granted.”

“Oh... so... why exactly ARE we digging underneath the capital?”

“Bodies, Eola.” Kel’Thuzad simply stated. His claw waving once to bring a map from a nearby table over to them.

The parchment was old. Very old.

Easily several thousand years.

“Each of these dots below us are vaults, supposedly left by ancient unicorns that used them for burial purposes.” Kel’Thuzad explained, the vast network of burial chambers and passages enrapturing his fellow lich’s attention.

“Fascinating... even the Vrykul never made tombs this large...” Eola whispered to herself, her teacher beckoning for her to follow him into the tunnels below them, passing the ever-vigilant skeletal guards to either side of the passage, their stiff forelegs raising once in salute, but falling back into formation the moment they passed.

As they entered a large chamber, the archlich nodded at his apprentice’s observation.

“I know... which makes me think that...” Kel’Thuzad began, only to be cut off by the sight of Titus and the rest of his knights, carting their fallen out on stretchers from the battle below the citadel.

“That what, master?” Eola inquired, watching the aged wizard’s eyes follow the bodies into an antechamber to their left, the bodies numbering at least in the several dozen.

“That they weren’t JUST for burial purposes...” Kel’Thuzad finished, crossing his arms as they stopped to regard the room.

While the chamber was most likely built to house changeling workers during their excavation, it had quickly been... repurposed, seeing as Abrakkar and Amnennar sifted through the remains, seeing if any were worthy of immediate, non-reinforced resurrection.

Judging from the lack of resurrected, few if any were...

“Kel?” Eola whispered, barely audible, reaching up to gently place a claw on the archlich’s pauldron. The elder lich turned to his former apprentice once again, regret blanketing his face.

“I’m sorry, Eola. I must leave you now.” Kel’Thuzad bowed to the young mage, the female lich returning the gesture. “Lord Rivendare is expecting me...”

“I understand, master. What would you have me do in the meantime?” Eola asked, rising from her bow. Kel’Thuzad heard the shuffling of further hoofsteps up the tunnel behind him, turning to witness yet another few bodies being carried out of the crypt.

“See if Abrakkar and Amnennar need any assistance with their work. If they do not... then...” Kel’Thuzad thought, his mind racing for something that the young lich could do...

“Return to Naxrammas and await further orders from our king.” Kel’Thuzad said, a gentle smile adorning his usually stern visage.

“But... master... surely there must be something...” Eola protested.

“Eola, you have worked nearly nonstop for the past two weeks.” Kel’Thuzad explained, putting his hand on her cloth pauldron. “While I know that we no longer need most things that mortals do, our minds still need rest, young one.”

“But... but master...”

“Take a break, Eola.” Kel’Thuzad sternly spoke, his gaze boring into his apprentice’s. With a superfluous sigh, the younger lich nodded once, turning to go check on her companions’ work.

Kel’Thuzad sighed, a light chuckle leaving his magical throat as he watched Eola hesitate to tap Abrakkar on the pauldron, the orc turning to regard his fellow lich once she finally mustered up the courage to do so.

’What am I going to do with that girl?’

“Lord Kel’Thuzad?”

’Ugh...’

Sighing, the archlich turned to give Stern Staff his attention.

The stallion still was clearly not used to the lich just yet, his previous experiences at his claws clearly scarring him. He carefully fidgeted from hoof to hoof as he waited for the lich’s answer, and he still flinched when he turned to regard him.

“Yes, Stern Staff?” the lich inquired, his gaze flickering to his immediate right as he heard a stream of apologies flow from his apprentice’s mouth, Abrakkar waving the girl away with a stream of orcish curses. The female lich sighed, going to help her other fellow mage, Amnennar actually welcoming the help, from the looks of it.

“Umm... could I get some help with this?” Stern Staff nervously asked, lifting up a quite clearly injured foreleg, the flesh around the knee torn and ripped by what seemed to be blunt force trauma.

The lich paused, seemingly taken aback by the question. But try as he might, be could not see a logical reason to deny the request, seeing as his brothers and sister were busy at the moment, and Titus was nowhere to be seen.

.........

“Of course, Stern.” Kel’Thuzad smiled, the gesture... unnerving the stallion. Why would he choose to be so... accommodating all of a sudden? The archlich conjured a simple frozen surface, gesturing for the stallion to raise his hoof to the makeshift table. Without further words, the lich was at work, weaving blood magics through the air to reattach flesh, and several small tentrils of bone meal from the jar on his belt to repair bone.

“Forgive me for asking, my lord...” Stern Staff hesitated. “But... why did you seem so...”

“Happy to help?” Kel’Thuzad asked, not looking up from his work. To be honest, he should be furious with the stallion. This menial work was FAR beneath him in terms of rank...

But something about this stallion’s arrogant, blunt demeanor seemed... familiar.

He relished the thought of further observation, so he agreed to repair his mostly superficial wound. But of course, this dimwit wouldn’t understand that, so he thought up another reason that was, in his mind, equally appropriate.

“Because it has been a looong day for me, young one. Something as menial as basic necromantic mending is just what I needed to give my brain a much needed diversion, if only for a moment.” Kel’Thuzad finished, the last of his magics binding the skin above his knee together.

“There we are, good as new.” Kel’Thuzad nodded, looking slightly up to regard the stallion’s face. Seemingly forgetting his fear for the moment, Stern Staff happily smiled.

“Thank you, my lord.” the death knight bowed, turning to walk away, before the lich stopped him with a chain curling around his hind leg.

“Before you go, Stern Staff... I have a task for you.” Kel’Thuzad spoke, seriousness once again dominating his tone. The newly knighted unicorn turned to the lich once more.

“A-Anything, my lord.” Stern Staff bowed, awaiting his instructions.

“I need you to go and find King Anub’arak for me. Tell him it is urgent.” Kel’Thuzad commanded. With just a nod, the stallion turned and galloped away, further into the tunnels to find the changeling king.

“Seventy-six, Kel.”

“Grown soft on me, Titus?” Kel’Thuzad turned, looking upon his friend. The stallion shot him a rather spiteful glare, beckoning for the lich to follow him into the depths of he caves.

“It’s not the body count that upsets me, Kel. It’s my recklessness.” Titus explained, turning left after about three hundred feet to enter the catacombs that the battle had taken place in. “I should have been more cautious. Should have prodded first, not stabbed...”

“It cannot he helped, Titus. You did the best with what you had." Kel'Thuzad spoke, taking a look around him at the architecture of the crypt.

“Gods above...” Kel’Thuzad spoke, the amount of desiccated and recently dead corpses within the crypt nearly blocking a few corridors, the undead warriors certainly having put up a good fight before their second deaths.

Wrenching a moderately damaged corpse before him, the archlich studied the creature.

They were quite large.

Compared to modern Equestrians, anyway.

Most Equestrian stallions never broke the seven foot mark, but the majority of these ancient unicorns broke it with ease, some even scraping eight. Muttering a few incantations, and several tendrils of blood magic, the lich attempted to recreate what the colossal pony would have looked like in life.

Skin reattached to skin. Hair and fur grew out.

Bones snapped into their proper places as ligaments strengthened.

The stallion’s form grew with muscle and fat, the bulky unicorn’s body reminding him heavily of a shire horse from back on Azeroth.

“How long could you do that?” Titus asked, his eyes slightly widened at his friend’s magical restoration. The lich shrugged.

“It was actually one of the first things Ner’Zhul taught me about blood magic.” Kel’Thuzad explained, freezing the joints of the stallion, so that it could stand on it’s own, before setting it down to look at it. “Using blood magic, you can effectively de-desiccate a corpse, but doing so is... rather situational.”

Titus nodded, a glimmer of movement from deeper in the tunnel, along with the sound of sobbing alerting him of the changeling queen’s return from the depths of the crypt.

Kel’Thuzad chuckled, about to comment on the queen’s rampage.

But before the lich could even begin forming words, the changeling had speared Titus through the skull, his friend’s corpse lifelessly hanging by one of his eye sockets.

Kel’Thuzad, shocked for only a moment, blasted the changeling further back into the tunnel with a wave of arcane force, forcing her to drop the deceased death knight, before erecting pillars of ice and snow around her, to which he bound his chains as a sort of magically reinforced fence.

A chittering growling caught his attention, the matriarch glaring and snarling at the lich with utter hatred.

Even more troubling, however, was the trio of pitch-black, oily tentacles erupting from her carapace.

’Damn it all...’

The Old Ones

Titus gurgled and gasped as he awoke once more, his eye socket still hollow from the changeling queen’s unprovoked attack. With a start, he instinctively reached for Rotfang, who growled along with him as he realized he had been killed.

“Are you alright, Titus?” Kel’Thuzad asked, the lich holding a claw out to the newly re-resurrected death knight. Titus nodded, another growl leaving his throat as he accepted the assistance with a hoof, his one working eye squaring in on the still snarling and snapping form of his assailant, trapped behind warded chains and ice.

“How long was I out?” Titus hacked, spitting a glob of congealed blood from his maw to clear his throat, the attack clearly having left some unseen internal damage. The roof of his mouth felt filleted, so he assumed the attack had gone deeper into his head than he thought.

Kel’Thuzad sighed, turning once more to the changeling monarch, who’s fangs were currently bared as she continued her hissing and screeching at the pair from behind the barrier the archlich had hastily constructed.

“Less than two minutes. You weren’t that far gone.” Kel’Thuzad spoke, his eyes still squared on Chrysalis. More specifically, however, the tentacles sprouting from her back, in between her wings. They thrashed and swung about, the changeling queen seemingly ignorant to their presence.

Gods and goddesses above...

They... they are here, then...

“My my my, Chrysalis... what have you gotten yourself into...” Kel’Thuzad sadly chuckled, moving in on the changeling queen. Her form reminded him of a cat as he approached, her form hunched down as if to pounce upon him, hisses and guttural noises still streaming from her muzzle.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY QUEEN, NECROMANCER?!”

Kel’Thuzad barely sidestepped a strike from the great nerubian, who’s colossal true form had somehow been able to sneak up on both of them unannounced. The archlich growled, frost seeping from him in waves as he turned to the monarch currently assaulting him.

“CALM YOURSELF, YOU OVERGROWN ANT!” Kel’Thuzad snapped, viciously lashing out in frustration with the remaining five chains he had circling him, slamming the nerubian king into the wall behind him, dazing Anub’arak enough to where he knew he wasn’t a threat.

“FOR WHAT REASON WOULD I DO THIS?!” Kel’Thuzad ranted, throwing frostbolts into the walls around the crypt lord in his anger like a child.

The deep, roaring voice of the lich startled the newly re-risen death knight, who hadn’t heard the aged wizard truly lash out at someone in centuries. With a snarl of pent up aggression, the lich growled, freezing the underking’s lower limbs to the floor, before using two of his remaining chains to restrain him further, echoing cracks heard as his armor ground against the stone of the wall, crushing the aged material to dust under his weight. The mighty ruler was stunned beyond words or action at the unexpected, over the top reaction to his rage.

At least from the now seemingly calmer wizard, anyway.

“Now... what to do with you...” Kel’Thuzad pondered aloud, whirling around and crossing his arms as he got closer to the entrapped queen, her snarling becoming more rabid as he approached.

Her actions now didn’t seem... aggressive. As if she were a wounded animal backed into a corner, which contradicted her behavior minutes ago, when she killed the death knight behind him in an unprovoked attack.

“Chrysalis, can you hear me?” Kel’Thuzad asked.

A swift snap with her jaws was his answer, her fangs clamping around one of his chains in an attempt at escape, to no avail.

“Release me, lich.” Anub’arak growled from behind him, the sound of chitin scraping against stone heard as he attempted once more to escape his bindings.

“And why, my dear friend, would I do that?” Kel’Thuzad sarcastically remarked, turning to witness the great nerubian’s fruitless struggles.

“Because I wish to speak with my queen.” Anub’arak droned, seemingly unaware of her vicious and unresponsive behavior.

Kel’Thuzad pondered the situation before him.

Now, he knew that the Nerubians were, at one point, servants and worshipers of the Old Gods. In fact, according to a published research project conducted by the Kirin Tor in Silithus, all insects were, at one point, created by or served the Old Gods.

The archlich was skeptical, seeing as the vast majority of the insects on Azeroth were harmless, and everything he had seen that was related to Yogg-Saron of C’Thun was monstrous, hideous, or some combination of the two in comparison.

“Your queen is under the influence of powerful dark magics, Anub’arak.” Kel’Thuzad spoke. “You and I both know what the Old Gods are capable of...”

“But you’re asking me to release you so you can speak with her?”

“Yes.”

Kel’Thuzad sighed, flustered that the nerubian was so adamant. Normally, the lich would like nothing more than to watch the nerubian king attempt to reason with the corrupted changeling queen, if only for the sake of learning more about those under the influence of an Old God...

But his king had specifically told him that he was not to build more bad blood with his colleagues. According to him, they needed to work together if this threat that his king spoke of was to be defeated.

.........

“Very well.” Kel’Thuzad droned, snapping his fingers to retract the chains and shatter the ice binding Anub’arak. Kel’Thuzad looked behind him, nodding to his friend to be ready for the worst.

Titus took several steps back, the death knight drawing his runeblade and cocking his pistol.

A scrambling of hooves over broken stone got his attention, the three remaining soldiers under his command revealing themselves from behind him.

Stern Staff stood beside his commander, his poleaxe’s spear tip leveled at the two changelings. A quick nod to his superior confirmed he was ready for the worst.

His brother, Silver Bolt, quickly yanked his arbalest from it’s holster, drawing the bowstring and settling his cobalt bolt into the arrow track. He aimed it at Chrysalis, her snapping jaws closing to hiss in their general direction.

The newest and last remaining addition to their party, Helga Frostwing, readied her runeblade, the Griffon shaking slightly at the clearly powerful foe before them. Silver Bolt gave her an encouraging smirk, lightly tapping the initiate on the shoulder with his hoof for reassurance.

Titus nodded to his underlings, before turning and nodding to Kel’Thuzad.

“Are you ready, Anub’arak?” the archlich spoke, his mind racing with the multiple ways this could end.

The first, and most obvious end, was that Chrysalis was feral. Corrupted by the Old Gods and beyond salvation. They would have to kill her, and if his king commands it, resurrect her.

The second, which he was prepared for in equal measure, was the outcome where Chrysalis was capable of being cleansed of the foul magics inhabiting her.

The third... well...

He would call upon his king’s aid.

A last resort, obviously, as he had only ever called upon his master for his direct assistance twice. Both times were when he was overwhelmed by the forces of the Argent Dawn in his throne room aboard Naxxramas.

.........

“I am ready, Kel’Thuzad.” Anub’arak replied, his eyes frantically searching for any sign of intelligence in his queen’s wild pupils.

He saw none.

A weak, shuddering breath echoed from his mouth as the archlich dispelled his barrier.

My queen... forgive me...

I... I will try to make this...

As painless as possible...

.........

The moment the chains recoiled and ice shattered, the nerubian lunged.

The queen, with her feral mind, obviously foresaw this, as she attempted to resist the attack, but obviously did not expect the sheer amount of strength this creature held within it’s gargantuan frame.

The underlord screeched a mournful howl as he snapped his jaws around the changeling queen’s neck, his mandibles pulling her to him as he tore into her esophagus.

Chrysalis roared in rage, her form flickering and shattering at the seams. Her crazed brain desperately attempted to think of a form to escape it’s current plight, but as the great nerubian lifted a single scythe above him to end her suffering, the changeling queen’s hate... vanished. As if something had... withdrawn it from her mind.

“N-Nuby?” Chrysalis barely got out through chokes of blood and bile, her king’s teeth shredding her throat.

A moment later, her world went dark.

.........

Anub’arak shook with rage unending as he took in the sight before him.

His mate, his queen...

Dead by his claws...

While he knew a changeling monarch was near impossible to kill, and that she would return in time...

A single, choking sob wrenched itself free from his maw, still stained with the blood of his beloved. As he collapsed before her form, which was already cacooning itself in mucus for repairs, a single thought ripped itself through his mind like a roaring fire.

Revenge.

Revenge against the horrible, malignant beings that had done this.

”You shall have it, my friend...” his king consoled.

.........

For the first time in his long servitude... he welcomed the Lich King’s voice.

The Lord of Uncertainty

Luster Point snorted, his face turning to glare at the disguised changeling next to him. It had been nearly three months since he had been killed. Since this vile, conniving creature next to him had slain him in cold blood with a quick stab to the back of the head.

“Keep moving, Fire Fight.” he ordered, the transformed changeling in front of him whipping his head around to stare him in the face, a look of intense fear nearly dripping from him.

“Y-Yes sir. I... I just needed a moment...” Fire Fight stammered, a nervous, involuntary twitch accompanying every other word. He hurriedly continued his brisk pace, a slight limp in his back right leg.

A product of his time at the claws of the archlich, no doubt.

Impressive, seeing as his body was reportedly in pieces before his resurrection.

Luster Point looked up at the expansive ceilings of Canterlot Castle, his mind racing.

When he swore an oath to protect and serve his prince and princess when they left for the Frozen North, he would never have imagined that his service would involve him breaking his vows to the solar princess he once served.

Yet here he was, an undead soldier in service to his prince (now king), transferred back to Canterlot under the guise of a lowly maintenance worker in the castle. His assignment was vague, but his purpose was to be a sort of sleeper agent, to await further orders from his lord.

The promise of being able to see his family again after his assignment was more than enough reward to compensate his efforts. Not to mention the fact that he was literally allowed a second chance at life.

But still...

He just wished his partner in crime wasn’t the pony who had snuffed out his life to begin with...

.........

Nightmare snickered internally, barely silencing herself as she watched from her shadowy corner of Celestia’s chambers as a distraught Prince Blueblood got turned down by his precious ‘Auntie’.

He had asked the solar alicorn for another increase in his already generous allowance, which was of course denied rather swiftly, seeing as he had squandered what he was given this week on finery and dining.

“But auntie...” Blueblood whined, stamping his hooves like a child. This got an audible snicker, but not from her. Her master’s brother walked into view, skeletal hooves clacking against the marble floors of the sun princess’ bedroom.

“I said no, nephew.” Celestia tiredly said for the third time. The solar alicorn looked quite different than she normally did, seeing as her eyes were nearly obscured by bags, her lack of sleep as of late showing. Her wings were unkempt and messy, feathers misaligned and crooked, not yet preened for the day’s court.

But the most glaring difference was her mane. The usually vibrant aurora of colors was marred by sleep deprivation, it’s colors visibly darkened and greyed from stress.

“Don’t you have anything better to do, Blueblood?” Lal’theron poked, stepping up to stand by his almost comically larger marefriend. His form was mostly covered in ceremonial tapestries and robes, but his face was still visible, which the prince quickly recoiled at, disgust clearly visible on his muzzle.

“Auntie, why must you insist on... that... thing, being here?” Blueblood complained, discussions of his allowance now gone from his head.

The solar princess sat in shock for several moments, not exactly sure what to say, the unprovoked insult clearly scrambling her mind. Her face contorted from rage, to sadness, to stress, but eventually just settled on shock. Lal’theron, however, was quite passive about the remark, not seeming to care in the slightest.

Suddenly, seemingly without a single ounce of remorse, a cracking slap of metal-clad hoof on bone echoed through the solar alicorn’s chambers, Blueblood’s limp body slamming into the bookshelf several feet behind him, out cold from Celestia’s slap. Her hoof slowly fell to the floor below her, a spatter of blood decorating the golden slipper adorning it.

Silence for several moments...

Celestia let out a single, distraught, whimpering cry.

"W-what have I done?" Celestia choked, her eyes wide as she took in the still form of her unconscious nephew. The blood from his obviously shattered nose poured from his nostrils, staining the brilliant orange and yellow carpet red. Lal'theron rushed to Blueblood's side alongside his companion, his magic probing the still prince's body for a pulse. The revenant let out a sigh of relief as he turned to his marefriend, whose tears were now flowing freely from her eyes.

"He's fine, Tia. just knocked out..." Lal'theron consoled, lifting the prince in his magic, before carefully giving him over to the solar alicorn, who's visage softened immediately.

“Oh... thank goodness...”

Celestia sniffled once, accepting her nephew’s limp body, before a switch in her brain clicked, and it was as if this was a natural occurrence. Her serene smile returned, her mane regained a bit of its usual vibrant coloring, and even the bags under her eyes seemed less oppressive.

The monarch turned to the door to her room, walking out of sight of Nightmare, Lal’theron following behind her.

That’s it!?

No attempt to console, nothing?

Nightmare was a bit perplexed already by the seemingly alien reaction by Celestia, but the way she shrugged it off...

Something was wrong...

VERY wrong...

An echoing slam caught her attention, the alicorn returning her gaze to the...

Lal’theron was staring right at her...

RIGHT at her...

Lal’theron’s eyes dimmed to empty sockets, his head straightening on it’s bony neck.

With an echoing rumble that shook the walls, and a presence that darkened the room to near pitch black, Lal’theron spoke with an oily, eerily calm voice that wrenched itself from the back of Nightmare’s memories...

A voice that was clearly not his own...

”Hello... my child...”

.........

”Did you think you could... hide from me?”

Nightmare’s thoughts went blank, and her form felt ooze-like, like she were made of molten lead. Her voice came out in a stammer.

“W-who are y-you?” she shivered, the mare’s innermost fears, fears she didn’t even remember she had, racing to the front of her mind.

For once, she was the one feeling fear...

”It is... troubling... that you do not remember...”

“Your master...”

With a force that felt neither magical nor physical, Nightmare’s form was restored as she was wrenched from the wall like a rag doll, and thrown to the ground before Lal’theron, invisible limbs that felt like living tar holding her down to the marble floor before the revenant.

“What a-are you?” Nightmare whimpered, the fear of the creature before her feeling so... raw, to the alicorn.

Like opening an old wound.

Even if she couldn’t remember what exactly was speaking to her, it’s power and influence was so... familiar...

”I am the force... behind all living creatures...”

“The force that influences the winds of uncertainty...”

Lal’theron leaned down to the struggling mare, his eyes igniting with a ghastly, haunting yellow.

”I... am... chaos...”

Author's Note

Gonna try smaller chapters again to try to get my juices flowing better.

The Truth Revealed

The various undead denizens and workers of ‘Icecrown’ scattered out of the way of the archlich as he made his way to the peak of the Frozen Throne. Kel’Thuzad had not directly seen his master since his brethren had been transported here via his memories, and frankly, he wasn’t sure what to expect of the alicorn.

When he had been forced to his ‘knees’ by his king when he needed to access his mind for information, it reminded him in several ways of the way Ner’Zhul had forced him down when he first met him face to face.

Except... worse.

It was as if his very mind was sapped of it’s ability to think.

With Ner’Zhul he could beg, but if Shining decided to force him down again...

He could, for all intents and purposes, make him enjoy it...

Bend his mind around his fingers... er, hooves.

The thought terrified him.

“It shouldn’t.”

Kel'Thuzad looked up, to witness something he had never seen Arthas do in his presence, if ever...

Shining had taken off the Helm...

“My king... I... how...” Kel'Thuzad stammered, his mind drawing blanks as to why his friend was able to resist the Helm’s call.

When the alicorn chuckled, and moved towards him, the lich attempted to start another question.

Shining stopped him with a hug. Kel'Thuzad flinched at the unexpected affection, before slowly closing his arms around the prince, his mind racing.

“Thank you, Kel.” Shining said as he withdrew, his horn igniting and retrieving the Helm from it’s pedestal of ice nearby. Once it was secured under the alicorn’s cloak, the lich responded.

“F-for what, Shining?” Kel’Thuzad asked, genuine confusion evident in his tone.

“For staying by my side.” Shining simply stated, a small smile on his muzzle.

“I... It was my pleasure, Shining.” Kel’Thuzad stated, a light chuckle escaping him.

“Now... Shining, how did you take off the Helm?” the archlich questioned.

At the undead wizard’s question, the stallion’s visage turned serious quickly.

“We have a LOT to discuss, Kel.” Shining grimly stated, a hint of uncertainty plaguing his voice. The archlich nodded, his mouth closing for the fist time since the hug.

“To the palace, then?”

“Yes, my chambers please.”

.........

With an arcane pop, the pair exited the portal, stepping into the magically heated chambers of the Crystal Palace.

Before he could even speak of the... odd gathering before him, his queen had rocketed to his king, embracing him in a full body hug, bringing him to the ground in the process.

The rest of the guests in the room were quite stunned by their arrival.

Around a small crystal coffee table, quite a few familiar faces sat.

Queen Chrysalis, parts of her body still raw and light green from her injuries. She was currently holding a small crystal teacup in her magical grip, giggling at the affection being portrayed by the two royals beside the archlich.

Not to mention the love she was probably basking in from it...

Next was Twilight Sparkle, who was currently getting up from her chair to help smother her brother in affection.

Last was a clearly embarrassed Eola, her skeletal form replaced with an illusory one, a lanky, snow white unicorn mare with a pale blue mane.

.........

Now, normally the archlich wouldn’t be confused in the slightest about the gathering, but several aspects about the group did concern him.

For one, Chrysalis wasn’t disguised. And as far as he knew, Twilight’s last encounter with the changeling queen was... less than amicable.

The second aspect of the situation that was confusing to the wizard was that Twilight seemingly did not care that the mare across from her was quite clearly undead.

Or her observation skills are not as great as I originally thought...

But no, the main reason the archlich was so confused was what the group was wearing.

His queen was currently wearing a set of purple and gold armor that was clearly not intended for her lithe frame.

Or her wings...

If his memory served him correctly, Kel’Thuzad recalled that the armor used to belong to his king, back when he were the size of a normal pony. She was wearing a padded purple silk robe underneath the armor to give herself a bit of cushioning, and the bulky armor looked, quite frankly, adorable on her. Her mane was done up in a single braided ponytail down her neck, and a small silver diadem adorned her forehead, her horn holding it atop her head.

Twilight was wearing exactly what he would expect her to wear, but not of the appropriate gender. She wore a stylized wizard’s robe and stereotypical pointed hat. She also wore a surprisingly realistic faux beard, even if it did hang below her muzzle, clearly not attached properly.

Chrysalis wore a rather revealing silk outfit, similar to what one would see a dancer wear at a risqué bar or speakeasy.

Figures...

His fellow lich’s garb, however, is what REALLY surprised him.

She wore a simple set of iron armor, a horned spectacle helmet adorning her head. The armor looked... surprisingly well fitted for her, considering he had never seen her wear anything similar before...

“H-hello, m-m-master...” Eola whimpered in a combination of fear and embarrassment as Kel’Thuzad’s gaze lingered on her.

“Hello... Eola...”

Peering over at he table they were seated around, Kel’Thuzad some sort of board game, several game pieces and dice strewn about the crystal tabletop. In front of where Twilight was seated, there was a small divider, presumably to hide something from the other players.

“Eola, what is it you are doing?” Kel’Thuzad asked, confusion plastered across his usually expressionless face.

“We’re playing Ogres and Oubliettes... master...” Eola stammered, removing her helmet to let her long mane billow around her muzzle, partly obscuring her eyes from view.

As if a switch was thrown in his king’s brain, he stopped cuddling with his wife and sister, and immediately started barraging them with questions.

“How far are you into your campaign?!” Shining exclaimed, totally betraying the supposedly serious nature of their reason to be here.

“We’re not too far in, Shiny, but didn’t you say that you had something you needed to discuss, first?” Cadence questioned, still hugged close to her prince.

Kel’Thuzad raised a brow, staring at the alicorns.

Can... can she speak to him?

As if the switch was thrown back, Shining nodded grimly, getting up from the floor with his wife. He sighed, before turning to Kel’Thuzad.

“We should have a seat...”

The archlich sighed as well, nodding in agreement.

.........

The archlich was surprised that his king was okay with Twilight staying to hear the conversation between rulers, but he knew better than to question him.

Around the same small crystal table, the small gathering sat.

Anub’arak and Chrysalis occupied a loveseat to the right of the archlich, and Twilight sat with Cadence and Shining across from him. Titus chose to stand by the door to the small chamber, and Eola sat to Kel’Thuzad’s left.

Shining’s gaze had not left the table in front of him for several minutes, before he spoke, looking up to his archmage and friend.

“Now... first and foremost, Kel’Thuzad...”

“Would you lie to me?”

Kel’Thuzad felt every eye in the room shift to him.

“M-my king... Shining...”

Kel’Thuzad took a deep, meaningless breath.

“I would never attempt to intentionally mislead you, my friend.” the undead wizard smiled. “Even when my previous king was committing the most heinous and cruel acts, never once did I attempt to deceive or trick him.”

“My loyalty is to the Lich King, and no other... you know this.”

.........

Shining's stance softened immensely.

“Well then this situation just got infinitely more serious and complicated.”

“What has happened my king? Say the word, and I will see to a solution immediately.” Kel’Thuzad spoke.

“There is no easy solution to this problem, my friend...” Shining spoke, a look of sympathy taking over his muzzle.

“Kel’Thuzad...”

“You never had a brother.”

.........

“W-w-what?”

Author's Note

The plot thickens...

Misplaced Rage

All at once, it was like a magical haze was lifted from the archlich’s mind. The arcane recoil of the spell stripping itself from his mind made his teeth chatter audibly, his form locking up involuntarily.

’Illusion magics...’

’Correct, my friend.’

“H-how did you find out?” Kel’Thuzad stammered, his mind still racing as his body regained it’s normal functions.

“When I put on the Helm...” Shining began, only to be cut off by an exclamation of anger.

“YOU PUT IT ON?!” Twilight interjected, a look of shocked fury adorning her muzzle. “YOU TOLD ME YOU WOULD WAIT FOR US TO BRING-“

“The Elements of Harmony, yes Twilight, I know.” Shining nodded apologetically, placing his front hooves on Twilight’s shoulders, only to have them shrugged off by the lavender unicorn. She sighed angrily, looking up at the much larger stallion.

“What if something bad happened, Shining?” Twilight asked, a questioning glare accompanying her.

“Twilight, I...”

“What if you couldn’t control it?” Twilight continued, tears of fear flowing from her eyes, now. “I’ve seen what the Lich King can do, Shiny...”

“Twily...”

“Don’t ‘Twily’ me! You could have hurt somepony! You could STILL hurt somepony!”

“Twilight...”

“This is an insanely powerful magical artifact from another world, and you just ‘put it on?!’”

”Twilight Sparkle!”

The room shook from the thundering growl of the Lich King’s voice, the very uttering of the words seemingly lowering the temperature considerably.

Twilight helped, shaking like a leaf. Shining’s eyes pulsed with cold, echoing streams of azure magic flowing freely from his eyes.

“S-S-Shining...” Twilight whimpered, sinking further into the seat she occupied, the archlich realizing too late that he had never showed her any instance of the Lich King actually speaking.

Shining snorted, shaking his head a little. The Lich King got up from his seat on the couch, turning to his sister.

”Do you have ANY idea what it’s like to have your brain hammered on like a drum, sister?” Shining droned, a serious glare boring into his sibling’s eyes.

“S-Shining...” Cadence started, trying to pull on the alicorn prince’s foreleg.

She was ignored.

”Do you have ANY idea how frustrating it is to wake up from a full night’s sleep, and feel no different than when you laid down?” Shining continued, Twilight shaking from the cold pervading the room.

“C-Celestia was right...” Twilight softly spoke, tears flowing from her eyes.

Shining stopped his advance towards the unicorn at the mention of the Solar Alicorn, his angry gaze turning furious.

”About what, sister?” Shining asked, a growl in the depths of his throat.

“That the Lich King is a monster!” Twilight shrieked, sobs exiting her muzzle after her burst of courage. “She told me about the nightmare she had!”

”She told you of that little dream, did she?” the Lich King mocked. ”Did she tell you what she did, Twilight? What she admitted?”

Twilight looked up at her brother, her sniffling stoping for a moment for a steadfast shake of the head.

“She told me... that the Lich King tortured her... that she had never felt pain like that before.” Twilight spat, her own magic starting to flow forth involuntarily, the wind in the room starting to pick up from the emotion induced arcane force.

”She tortured herself, sister.” Shining spat back, the pulsing necromantic waves of energy flowing from his eyes intensifying. ”She tortured herself when she chose to torture her own flesh and blood.”

“What are you talking about Shining?” Twilight asked. “Princess Celestia has always looked out for us! Looked out for you!”

The Lich King chuckled at that, the room shaking violently from the arcane force of the alicorn’s mirth.

”She knew I would ascend, Twilight. She knew that I was to ascend the moment she met me.” Shining growled, ice cold arcane magic forcing itself upon his sister, sniffing out her own powerful magics like a dying flame when she attempted to push him back.

”She knew I was to ascend, and all she had to do was say something. ANYTHING.”

Shining growled, the room further diving in temperature as the alicorn of death vented his frustrations.

“S-Shining...” Twilight gasped, the very air surrounding her starting to become difficult to breathe. The sheer, dominating force that her brother’s telekinetic hold exerted on her was immense, unfathomable.

In all her dealings with magic users, whether it be duels or friendly sparring matches, never had she felt such power woven into another’s magic...

And Twilight had sparred some of the most powerful ponies in existence!

”But she had to play her little games...” Shining spat, tightening his grip even more, but stopped when he saw the fear in his sister’s eyes.

His baby sister...

His... his LSBFF...

’It isn’t her fault, master.’

Shining’s gaze flicked to the archlich, whose face was neutral at the moment.

’Don’t punish her for her teacher’s mistakes.’

“Shining, please! You’re hurting her!” Cadence shrieked, tears of her own starting to trickle down her face as she hung onto his side, her desperation breaking through the blind fury that clouded his mind. The alicorn prince looked down at his princess, and his gaze softened.

The Lich King’s unyielding grip faltered, and then fizzled out.

Twilight gasped for a breath she didn’t know she was holding, and looked up at her brother with fear reignited. Shining let out a loud sigh, his own breath catching up to him as he got ahold of himself.

All the while, Kel’Thuzad was unsure how to proceed with the situation.

His master was clearly not fully merged with the Lich King yet, but definitely seemed to be the overwhelmingly dominant personality, as he had seen no signs of either Ner’Zhul or Arthas in his mannerisms.

Then again, for all the archlich knew he had wiped the Helm clean of his predecessors. ‘Reset’ the Helm, in a way.

His thoughts were broken by the soft whimpering of Twilight as she got up from her chair, her mind clearly not working as it should in her fear of her brother.

Normally, he would assume she would go to his queen for support, seeing as much of her foalhood was spent with Lady Cadence. But seeing as the alicorn was currently openly sobbing into the fur of his master, Twilight moved onto the next possible comfort.

Him.

The mare buried herself into the lich’s arms and up against his robes, the centuries old wizard simply cradling her as one would a cat or small dog. He heated his bones to a toasty room temperature, and reached for a nearby blanket to wrap the mare in.

He knew not where this internal instinct to protect came from, but he was thankful for the strange impulse.

When his master attempted to get closer to the mare in his arms, the archlich held out a single spindly arm.

“Master... please give her a moment.” Kel’Thuzad pleaded with his friend, the alicorn stopping in surprise, but nodded after a few seconds, hanging his head as he retreated to the next room over.

Kel’Thuzad made a subtle head movement to Titus and Eola to follow, and without a word, they trailed their monarch.

Kel’Thuzad flinched as he felt the pressure of another nudging his arm, but relaxed when he looked down into his queen’s distraught face.

“Kel... was that Shiny?” Cadence sobbed, clearly shaken by the incident. Kel’Thuzad nodded softly, something telling him to reach out and brush his unused claw along her mane, down her back.

“I believe so, Cadence.” Kel’Thuzad murmured, his queen’s visage falling further at the news that what her husband had just done could not be blamed entirely on the Lich King.

Although a large portion probably could be.

“He... he has been under much stress, Cadence.” Kel’Thuzad spoke softly, continuing to slowly pet the pink alicorn. “I’m not even sure he has slept.”

“K-K-Kel?” whimpered the lavender mare in his grasp, peaking up at him through the blankets and robes surrounding her.

“Yes, little one. What is it?” Kel’Thuzad asked the unicorn.

“Pl-please help him...” Twilight begged. “Don’t let him... don’t let him hurt Celestia.”

“Please.”

“Little one... I... I will do everything in my power to help your brother.”

“I promise.”

Light in the Dark

Shining Armor sobbed into the sink in front of him, the tingling, biting feeling of tears flowing down his face hounding him. Reminding him of the confrontation with his sister he had just retreated from.

“I... I yelled at her... threatened her...”

You put her in her place, boy.

Shining growled, crushing the crystal sinks sides into powder with his hooves as a lash of mental power made the old orc inside his mind collapse with a groan. The other consciousness in the alicorn’s head chuckled lightly, helping the shaman to his feet.

Good shot.

Shining smirked, the other prince’s compliment helping to lighten the mood.

He liked Arthas.

Well, at least what was left of Arthas.

When Kel'Thuzad had told him of the possibility that the remains of the other Lich Kings inhabited the Helm, the alicorn was expecting a more... evil pair of presences. When he first put the Helm on stop the mountain, the former prince of Lordaeron all but praised him for finally listening to the two former Lich Kings.

Instead of the evil he was expecting, he got a pair of... acquaintances?

It was difficult to call them even that.

A pair of echoes of lives past, capable of limited conversation, all at his will.

He could have purged them from existence, finally allowing some semblance of peace to whatever remained of his predecessors.

But something told him to keep them around for a while.

Even if they were an annoyance every now and again, the old orc and young prince were invaluable advisors to consult on things that only three beings had ever experienced.

Being the Lich King, that is.

“Sire?”

Shining sniffed once, clearing his throat before turning to the death knight at the cracked door to his bathroom.

“Yes, Titus, what is it?”

“Forgive me, but Kel’Thuzad said that he needed you in his laboratory immediately.” Titus hesitantly relayed.

Shining nodded once.

“Thank you, Titus. Take a rest, my friend.” Shining commanded, hints of a friendly smile inching across his muzzle.

“Thank you, my king.” Titus bowed, before turning to leave.

Shining Armor nodded once as his captain left the room, his horn sparking briefly before he was suddenly inside his vizier’s chambers. He looked around, searching for any sign of his archmage.

The several skeletal servants before him bowed in subservience, stopping whatever task they were assigned to show their respect for their king.

“Shining Armor...”

Shining Armor’s blood boiled at the voice coming from behind him.

The alicorn prince whipped around, restraining himself as his instincts roared for him to impale Celestia on Frostmourne before she could attempt to restrain him.

The restraint came out in a significant, unnatural lurch, accompanied by a deep, rumbling growl.

Calm yourself, Shining. You and I both know that she is of no threat to you.

That doesn’t make me hate her any less, Arthas.

“Shining Armor... is that you?” the solar monarch asked, a concerned expression blanketing her muzzle. A brief shiver ran through her as the room shook as the Lich King growled once more, the room’s temperature plummeting.

”Celestia...”

The solar monarch shivered as the memory of her nightmare resurfaced, her stance faltering ever so slightly as she attempted to fight through the cold.

With heat.

A flickering light enveloped the tip of her horn, and all at once, the room rose quickly in heat, pushing away the oppressive and biting cold.

Curiously, the Lich King did not attempt to stop her.

”Where is my archmage?” Shining growled, his temper subsiding as he got control of himself.

“Comforting your sister, Shining.” Celestia sadly said, trotting over and sitting down on a half-frozen pillow that was laying near Kel’Thuzad’s throne. Shining nodded, his eyes dimming as the necromantic power flowing from them receded.

“What do you want?” Shining snapped, his normal voice issuing forth from his pale muzzle. Celestia visibly relaxed at this, the prince filing away her apparent fear.

“I’ve come to... apologize, Shining.” Celestia spoke, her head dropping.

“For everything...” Celestia shuddered, her eyes beginning to tear up.

“I’m sorry that I’ve cost you and Cadence your chance for foals...”

“I’m sorry that you... died.”

“I’m sorry for the mental anguish you’ve gone through over the past months.” Celestia sobbed as she looked up at the alicorn prince, a look of passiveness adorning his muzzle.

“But more than that, I’m sorry for how I’ve failed Cadence.” Celestia whimpered, her head falling again as she shook.

“I’ve known of your apprehensions about being with... with somepony that will inevitably outlive you.” Celestia admitted. “I’ve known about them from the day you met Cadence.”

“And yet you allowed us to suffer with this knowledge?” Shining spat. “The knowledge that Cadence would stay forever young, and was doomed to watch me wither away?”

“Shining Armor, do you not think that I’ve suffered the same curse?” Celestia inquired, looking up at the prince with tears glistening in her magenta eyes. “Do you not think that I’ve lost ponies and loved ones to the sands of time?”

“Immortality is a curse, Shining Armor.” Celestia sadly looked up at her nephew.

“Be grateful that you have somepony to share eternity with.”

With that, Celestia broke down, collapsing before the Lich King with a dull thud. Her wretching sobs shaking her frame as her mane drooped down around her, it’s colors fading with her sadness.

Shining Armor didn’t know what to do.

While he had every right to hate Celestia... he couldn’t bring himself to truly hate her.

This is a mare that had lived for thousands of years, caring for her little ponies when they needed her.

This is a mare that had lost her sister to darkness for a millennia.

This is a mare that had taken in his sister as an apprentice.

This is a mare that had introduced him, probably knowingly, to Cadence.

This is a mare that for all intents and purposes, was his mother-in-law.

Yet he had never pondered what exactly her experiences with immortality were...

.........

The taller alicorn lifted the solar monarch to her hooves, embracing her once she had looked up at him.

Celestia shook from the contact, before sobbing into his barrel, letting her wings fall limply to her sides.

While he would not forgive her anytime soon...

They had eternity to sort out their problems.

So with a sigh, the alicorn of death wrapped his wings around the crying mare, comforting her as best he could.

‘Little’ Problems

Amnennar shook his head to help clear his mental fatigue as he finished the preparations on the final initiate’s body for resurrection.

The lich had been working for several days to repair the bodies of their first batch of death knight trainees in this world from their run in with the undead below the Crystal Palace, and his finishing felt quite liberating.

’I have finished with my task, master.’

.........

Amnennar was perplexed, as it usually did not take his king this long to respond.

Perhaps he was preoccupied?

’Good work, Amnennar. You may rest for a while, but stay below the Crystal Palace for now, I am currently entertaining... a guest in Kel’Thuzad’s chambers.’

’As you command, my king.’

Amnennar nodded, turning to leave the repurposed room off of the main tunnel leading into the crypts. His free time meant studying the undead unicorns more, and nothing could sound better to the lifelong scholar and frost mage than detailed note taking at this point.

“Excuse me, mister?”

The lich sighed.

“Yes, what is it?” Amnennar responded to the voice, preparing to instruct a minion or worker on what to do. He did not look away from his destination. His temporary study, a small alcove of the main excavation chamber, complete with a simple table, covered in scrolls.

“Are you an angel?”

The undead frost mage stopped.

Now normally, a high pitched, squeaky voice was fairly common in reanimated minions.

In ones that could speak, anyway.

This resulted from some complication during death or resurrection, and was easily, if superfluously prevented. As long as the minion could fight and kill, their voice was of little consequence.

However, minions did not usually mistake an undead wizard for an angel.

Amnennar slowly turned to the voice, and froze up in confusion.

Before him sat a small colt, wreathed in shadow. The youngster was somewhat transparent, and was currently standing with his head cocked slightly, obviously pondering what the lich was.

’Master?’

’Yes, Amnennar?’

’We may have a bit of a problem...’

.........

’What kind of problem?’

.........

Celestia shivered from a sudden gust of cold as she followed Shining into the depths of the recently carved caverns beneath the Crystal Palace. The prince had explained that the Changelings under Queen Chrysalis had dug the tunnels to excavate for some old burial crypt that was supposedly below the capital.

“How long have you hidden the fact that you and Cadence allowed the Changelings to settle here from me, Shining?” Celestia calmly asked, the first words that she had uttered in nearly an hour as the alicorns descended into the tunnels carved into the stone and crystal below the palace.

“Nearly two months.” Shining admitted, his eyes glancing to the left to regard the alicorn next to him.

Celestia nodded.

“I’m assuming negotiations went relatively well, then?”

Shining opened his mouth to speak, but closed it with a small smirk.

”Swimmingly, princess...”

Celestia yelped in surprise as the massive insectoid equine to her left made his presence known, dropping his camouflage as they approached.

Shining chuckled, but remained unfazed by the massive changeling’s appearance.

“Thank you for meeting me here, my friend.” Shining smiled, turning to his fellow ruler to speak.

“Celestia, this is King Anub’arak, co-leader of the swarm currently residing in the Crystal Empire.” Shining Armor explained.

Celestia, having composed herself somewhat, respectfully bowed.

“A pleasure, King Anub’arak.”

The great changeling’s ceremonial purple armor groaned slightly as he bent over to bow in return.

“Likewise, Princess Celestia.”

’My king, while I appreciate you coming to my aid, I would implore that you move with haste.’

Shining audibly sighed.

’Yes, Amnennar, I know. We are on our way.’

“My king, what has the lich spoken of?” Anub’arak asked with a raised brow.

“Kel’Thuzad is down here?”

Shining bit his lip, shooting a glare at his fellow king. Anub’arak’s visage fell visibly as he realized what he had said.

“No... no he isn’t.” Shining turned to the princess, a look of concern blanketing her muzzle. “Did Twilight tell you of the Helm?”

“The Helm of Domination, yes?” Celestia responded.

“Yes, the Helm of Domination.”

The saronite great helm levitated into view from under the undead alicorn’s black linen cloak, Celestia unconsciously shivering as she could finally put an image to the words.

Long, pointed spires of deadly sharp metal adorned the top crest of the helmet, a macabre reminder that this horrifying artifact was a crown as well as a piece of armor.

A single azure crystal, situated above the slot for the alicorn’s horn, pulsed with visible cold and frost, permeating the air around it in a white fog.

While it looked delicate, seeing as the cheek plates were ribbed and incredibly thin looking, from what the solar alicorn had been told, it was nigh invincible.

“Did she tell you what it does?” Shining asked, Celestia seemingly breaking out of the trance that the helmet’s appearance had put her in. She shook her head slightly, still somewhat wary of the Lich King’s crown.

“Well... it is used to command my... people, for lack of a better word.” Shining explained.

Minions is more like it, to be honest...

“And what people do you command with this... helmet?” Celestia asked.

Shining simply lifted the Helm above his head, carefully slotting his spiral horn into it’s opening, before slowly sliding it down into position atop his head.

Shining shivered once, before his eyes opened once more to reveal the azure spheres they had become.

With a snap like a whip, the Lich King’s spell was cast from his horn with an eerie blue flash, the bodies in the next room over stirring as their false life was restored.

Celestia turned to the noise, gazing in at the massacre she had not noticed until then.

She witnessed the blood-matted and foul smelling Death Knights return to the world of the living with a simple spell.

”Those under the banner of the Scourge are my people, Celestia.” Shining droned, slowly walking forwards, beckoning the solar monarch to follow.

Celestia, still in a bit of shock at the blatant practice of necromancy on her subjects, confronted Shining Armor.

“Who were those ponies, Shining Armor?” Celestia sternly asked. Shining Armor snorted once.

”Enemies of Equestria.” he spoke with little emotion. Celestia scoffed, turning back just in time to see the last of the undead soldiers pull themselves to their hooves and claws.

“They seem like normal citizens to me, Shining.” Celestia pointed out, before she was suddenly backed against the wall, the massive alicorn’s quick movement surprisingly nimble for his size.

”My loyalties are to Equestria, Celestia... he droned, the air around the pair starting to become somewhat painful to breathe. ”You and I both know that.

“Who w-were they, Shining?” Celestia resolutely inquired once more, the cold permeating from her fellow deity starting to unnerve her.

”A mercenary group, responsible for horrific atrocities against all of Equus.” the Lich King informed, gesturing to the small group of death knights that now prostrated before them, their simple steel armor grinding and clanking as they did.

”They serve me now... until their crimes are paid for.” Shining snorted, a flash of his horn teleporting the small group of his knights to Naxxramas. Celestia gawked.

“Even if they were criminals, what gives you the right to use them like this?” Celestia questioned, her magic pushing the Lich King’s oppressive cold back a little as her own arcane energy flared.

”Celestia... I’m warning you...” the Lich King growled, pushing back with carefully measured force.

“Just because you’re the Alicorn of Death, that doesn’t give you the right to use our citizen’s bodies like this!” Celestia pleaded. “They aren’t toys, Shining!”

”They aren’t just bodies, Celestia.” Shining snorted.

”It wouldn’t be a punishment if they weren’t there to feel it.”

Celestia’s muzzle dropped.

“You... are they themselves?” Celestia inquired, anger forgotten for the moment.

Shining nodded once, removing his crown as the anger faded from him.

“They are as close to living undeath as you can get, according to Kel’Thuzad.” Shining spoke, levitating the Helm out of view under his cloak.

“Think of it like the death penalty, but you still actually serve your time.”

“That... well...” Celestia attempted to think of a counter, but the strange wording actually made a dark sort of sense.

Sire... please hurry. The situation has escalated!

The Lich King sighed angrily, turned towards the hallway before him, and stormed off in the direction of his underling without another word.

Celestia and Anub’arak followed swiftly behind, the solar alicorn more confused than ever now.

“Shining! Wait!” Celestia called out, the alicorn in front of her turning a corner up ahead.

“Where... are... you going?” Celestia asked, her eyes wide at the scene in front of her.

About a dozen foals, all shrouded in black mists, hung onto the barely visible form of what looked like another lich.

“What...” Celestia began.

At her voice, the foals’ heads immediately darted to her, scrambling off of their skeletal playground, all chanting with glee.

“Auntie Tia! Auntie Tia!”

“We missed you, Auntie Tia!”

“Where have you been, Auntie Tia?”

“Where’s momma Moon?”

“She promised she would come get us!”

“Can you make it bright again, Auntie Tia?”

Celestia’s heart shrank, her breathing seized up.

“Children...” Celestia fell to her knees, one of the foals, a small unicorn filly, trotting up to her. Tears were beginning to form at the corners of the goddess’ eyes .

“Auntie Tia? What’s wrong?” the filly asked, hugging the long, swan-like neck of the alicorn, her own tone betraying sadness.

“Aren’t you happy to see us?”

“I...”

.........

The alicorn sobbed once, wrapping the small filly in her wings, before speaking.

“Of course I am, Nightgleam.”

“I’d thought I’d lost you...” the goddess spoke, wrapping the rest of the foals in her wings with Nightgleam.

“I’d thought I’d lost all of you...” Celestia repeated, gently nuzzling the foals to her.

Shining Armor, Anub’arak, and Amnennar just watched as the solar monarch doted on the foals as if they were her own children.

Needless to say, Shining Armor was beyond confused.

The Children of the Night

Celestia’s heart couldn’t take it.

She laughed.

She wept.

She was nearly overcome with the emotions surging through her, the undead trio in the hallway beside her and the children all but forgotten.

Shining Armor watched on in slight shock as his former ruler turned mother-in-law snuggled with the shadowy colts and fillies. His mouth opened and closed several times, but words refused to exit.

’Kel’Thuzad, I need you below your laboratory.’

’Forgive me for asking my king, but for what exactly?’

’I need your... expert opinion on something.’

Silence for several moments.

.........

’Twilight and Cadence are requesting that they accompany me.’

Shining Armor audibly sighed, his muzzle dropping as he realized that the Scourge’s presence on Equus was likely soon to be discovered.

“Buck it.” Shining muttered to himself.

’Very well. Just tell them to prepare themselves. They may not like what they see.’

’Thank you, my king. We will be there shortly.’

Shining Armor looked back upon the sun goddess as she cuddled with the foals, their inky black forms crawling all over the large alicorn.

Now, Shining Armor was never the greatest at magical identification.

Unless it was about wards or arcane shields. Then he could give you a thesis on kinetic energy displacement and arcane absorption enchantments that would make Twilight proud.

However, despite his limited knowledge, he was fairly certain that the dozen or so foals currently climbing over his fellow alicorn were cursed.

.........

Amnennar watched the solar alicorn and her supposed nephews and nieces with a gentle smile adorning his usually expressionless face.

If the undead ice mage had a weakness, it was children.

He had volunteered at a Lordaeron orphanage after the end of the First War when he was younger, and he quickly realized that besides dutifully studying, children brought him a not inconsiderable amount of joy when he was around them.

Something about their playful innocence and youthful idiocy was immensely charming to the lich, and he was quite glad to see that this world’s children were quite similar in their mannerisms.

As the youngsters swarmed their apparent ‘Auntie Tia’, one of the colts, the first the lich had found, broke off from the group, approaching the lich.

Celestia’s gaze followed the young equine, a questioning look adorning her muzzle as the colt trotted up to the lich, and embraced one of the mage’s kilt pedals.

“Thank you, Amanar.” the little colt spoke, his adorable mispronunciation making the lich’s nonexistent heart swell. Amnennar chuckled, floating lower so that the colt could actually look him in the eyes.

“Whatever for, little one?” he chuckled, gently petting the colt’s mane, wisps of shadow flowing through the lich’s fingers.

“For being our guardian angel.” the little colt responded, hugging the clawed hand in front of him.

“For bringing Auntie Tia back to us.”

“Y-You’re welcome, little one.” Amnennar chuckled, the solar alicorn’s fears seemingly put to rest as she let the lich and colt’s moment progress unhindered.

“Tell me, lich. What is your name?” Celestia asked, her visage now adorned with a gentle smile once again as she rose, the shadowy children huddled close to her under her wings.

The colt ran back to his auntie, and the lich rose to his full height before bowing low before the monarch.

“Amnennar, your highness.” the skeletal mage answered.

“Well, Amnennar, you have my thanks for finding these foals.” Celestia donned a motherly smile, before nuzzling the closest foal to her, the small filly known as Nightgleam reciprocating the gesture with a little giggle.

“They are very dear to me and my sister.” Celestia explained, her muzzle rising to view the undead wizard before her once again. Amnennar nodded.

“I can see that clearly, your highness.” Amnennar chuckled. “But it was more them that found me.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed in slight alarm.

Her head darted to the foals huddled beneath her.

“What were you all doing down here?” Celestia calmly asked, before immediately, a thestral colt responded.

“When Momma Moon left us, she wanted us to be safe!” he exclaimed. “So she had us stay with Mistress Yao!”

.........

“Mistress Who?”

.........

“So who are these adorable little bundles of joy?” Cadence asked. Two pegasus fillies rode on her back, giggling and raving about how pretty their new ‘Auntie Candy’ was.

A gaggle of three colts, two unicorns and one thestral, rode atop Shining Armor’s back, their cheers of ‘faster’ goading the undead stallion forward with a slight chuckle.

“Well Cadence, do you remember what I told you about what happened after Discord was defeated the first time?” Celestia asked, Nightgleam and another small unicorn colt asleep on her own back, snoozing between the elder alicorn’s wings.

“You said that there was a cleanup period, with you and Aunt Luna as rulers of Equestria, right?” Cadence replied. Celestia nodded.

“A cleanup period of about two years, actually.” Celestia remarked. “These little foals are...”

Celestia shuddered, her eyes growing slightly sterner as she looked at her niece.

“While Discord was never outright violent with his powers, his antics were definitely far from safe...”

“So these little foals...” Cadence concluded on her own, her muzzle dropping.

“Are the orphans of ponies that Discord’s magic...”

Cadence held up a hoof, resting it on her adoptive mother’s shoulder.

“It’s ok, auntie.” Cadence spoke, concern for her adoptive mother blanketing her form. Celestia nodded sadly, smiling at her niece.

“Y-Yes... well...” Celestia cleared her throat. She craned her neck to gently muzzle the sleeping foals on her back, their forms stirring lightly, but other than an ear twitch from Nightgleam, they lay still.

“When Luna and I rose to power, we had a small orphanage built within the castle grounds, up in Canterlot.” Celestia smiled. “We would make it a point to visit almost every day...”

“We played with them...”

“Read to them...”

“Sang to them...”

Celestia took a deep breath, looking down at the foals who walked amongst them.

“But... one night, there was a fire.” Celestia wrenched the words out of herself, pain evident in her voice.

“We still to this day don’t know what caused it...” the solar alicorn whimpered slightly, whipping her head around to check on the foals still on her back, as if she expected them to be missing.

“But... but... the foals were gone.” Celestia craned her neck down to the colts and fillies around her, giving each of them a little nuzzle. “No bodies, nothing.”

“Just... gone.”

“Lulu... Luna took it harder than anything I’ve ever seen affect her.” Celestia explained, looking up to her companions. “She didn’t come out of her room for a month, Cadence.”

“Auntie... I’m so sorry...” Cadence strode forward, wrapping a foreleg around her foster mother. Celestia accepted it with gratitude, the conversation clearly dredging up feelings that she would have preferred not come up again.

“It’s okay, Cadence.” Celestia smiled, withdrawing from the hug.

As the group continued on, turning into the crypt off of the tunnel, Shining Armor reached out to his vizier and underling.

’So? Are they cursed?’

Kel’Thuzad’s head turned slightly to look at the foals currently riding his king’s back.

’Oh, they’re cursed alright. But with a magic that I do not recognize.

’Really? I thought it was a hex.’

Kel’Thuzad turned to Amnennar, shaking his head slightly.

’No, a hex would be purely malicious. Curses almost always have some ulterior motive to them... another piece, as it were.’

’Can you remove it?’

’Possibly, but not without examining it more closely.’

Kel’Thuzad smirked to himself.

’But I can attempt to see through it.’

’Do it, then.’

With that, Kel’Thuzad muttered a slight incantation, allowing his magically constructed eyes to see through curses.

He nearly stopped in his tracks, before he forced himself to keep moving forward.

The foals were... well...

They weren’t undead, but he hoped to whatever higher power there was that they could no longer feel pain.

All of them were suffering from severe wounds, the blackened and charred flesh surrounding the raw sores decorating their coats indicating burns as the primary source of injury.

The worst of them had exposed bone, the ivory color of them charred black by the intense heat of what Kel’Thuzad assumed was the fire that Celestia had described.

One filly was missing the majority of her face, the blackened bone of her skull staring up at her ‘Auntie Celestia’ with a twisted smile on the intact side of her muzzle.

One colt was all but skeletal, his head and most of his forelegs untouched by the flames.

“Kel’Thuzad?”

The wizard snapped out of his observations to witness his queen’s concerned muzzle staring up at him.

“Y-Yes, my lady?” he shakily responded, trying to ignore the fact that one of the fillies riding Cadence was missing her lower jaw, the scorched remnants of her tongue flopping limply as the curse helped her to form coherent speech.

“Are you all right?” the pink alicorn asked. “You’ve been very quiet.”

“Never better, my lady.” Kel’Thuzad spoke. “Just lost in my thoughts.”

His queen seemed to accept the answer, as she didn’t pry further. She turned to watch Twilight start to sketch one of the impressive rock carvings on one of the sarcophagi that was intact from the battle.

’Well? What do you see?’

Kel’Thuzad turned to his king.

’See for yourself, but try not to react.’

Kel’Thuzad muttered another of the incantations, directing the spell at his friend.

Shining’s eyes grew wide as he looked around quickly, visibly recoiling as he looked back at the colts riding him.

’Are they alright?’

’They obviously don’t feel pain, so for the most part, I would say yes.’

Shining nodded, looking forwards as he attempted to ignore the horror-show all around him.

’Well, hopefully this ‘Mistress Yao’ can answer some of our questions...’

’Indeed, Shining...’

Kel’Thuzad watched Nightgleam nuzzle into the back of Celestia’s back, the small filly’s raw, furless muzzle rubbing across the solar alicorn.

’Indeed...’

The Immortal Mistress

“Children, where are you going?” Celestia chuckled, the foals atop her back hopping down to join their siblings in their run towards the end of the crypt.

“Mistress Yao wants to meet you, Auntie Tia! Come on!” an energetic pegasus colt named Proud Spire shouted, flapping his shadowy wings with glee as he galloped off after his siblings.

Celestia giggled at the colt’s adorable behavior, looking up from the colt to see... to see...

“Why are you all so... dark?”

Gone were the vibrant, happy colors of her little foals.

In their place, inky, shadowy blackness issued forth from their little forms.

Celestia’s millennia old heart dropped.

Just like Nightmare Moon...

Panic overtook the solar goddess at even the mere thought of Nightmare Moon.

As her mind attempted to comprehend this, the foals continued onward...

Straight through the carved stone wall at the end of the crypt corridor.

“Children! Wait!” Celestia scrambled away from the others, their shocked expressions betraying their thoughts.

“What’s wrong with them?!” Cadence shrieked, looking up to her vizier. “Why are they so... dark now?!”

Kel’Thuzad frowned with concern, looking down at his queen.

Had she not been able to see them for what they really look like?

“They... they’re cursed, my queen.” the lich admitted. Cadence gasped, rushing over to her foster mother, attempting as well to stop the children.

Twilight, to her credit, attempted several times to grab them herself, but all of her attempts were curiously unsuccessful in even hitting the foals.

It was almost as if they weren’t solid anymore.

Celestia’s failed attempts to grab the smoke-like forms of her foals with her magic were beginning to be accompanied by shrieks of panic, as the last few foals approached the wall, seemingly unaware of their ‘Auntie Tia’.

“NO!” Celestia cried out, watching the last of her children gallop cheerfully through the solid stone wall before them, ignoring her desperate pleas as if they didn’t even hear her. Her mind fizzled as the immense backlash of losing sight of the foals, even for a moment, wracked her brain.

“Come back! PLEASE!” Celestia wailed, her centuries of experience with loss forgotten in an instant as she reared back, slamming her hooves into the... unnaturally stout stone wall with a crack of enchanted gold on rock. Even with her monumental alicorn strength, the surprisingly sturdy wall only cracked slightly.

After several more increasingly weak blows, the alicorn slumped to the floor, her form shaking uncontrollably as her despair built.

Was it all a dream?

Did she just imagine them?

It had been nearly a thousand years since she had last seen them...

She... she didn’t want to lose them again...

She WON’T lose them again...

.........

“Auntie! It’s ok! We’ll get them back!” Cadence shouted, attempting to get through to the inconsolable princess, her hooves hugged tightly around the solar goddess. Twilight joined her, attempting to soothe the crying monarch with her own caresses.

Celestia’s cries shook the crypt, chunks of crumbling, millennia old pieces of stone falling from the surrounding walls. The Royal Canterlot voice echoed horrifically in the relatively small space, paining the organic ears of anyone who had them.

Anub’arak looked to his king for orders, his hooves pawing at the ground before him as the solar alicorn made him flinch from the volume of her cries.

Shining just stood in disbelief, staring at the wall at the end of the crypt that the foals had disappeared through, his mind’s gears clearly grinding away to think of some explanation.

Amnennar, curiously, was consoling the crying goddess along with Twilight and Cadence.

Kel’Thuzad was just annoyed.

Ignoring the distressed cries of his master’s fellow alicorn, he attempted to map the area around them with a quick series of spells.

As usual, the crystals around them blinded his scrying efforts temporarily from the arcane feedback rebounding into him.

While the refined crystals that made up the buildings and palace of the Crystal Empire were easily subjected to magical use, be it scrying or otherwise, the unrefined minerals below the surface were quite the opposite.

The crystals that made up the majority of the ground below the empire were remarkably resilient to magical scrying, something that Kel’Thuzad found rather fascinating when he had decided to study the strange mineral one sleepless night.

It’s natural makeup was unlike any material the seasoned archmage was familiar with, it’s properties quite astounding.

Every single sample the archlich could find of the seemingly ordinary mineral was naturally warded against magics of any kind.

Try as he might, the archlich had not been able to come up with a solid explanation for the phenomena, but he had theories.

One, whatever Sombra had done to the Crystal Empire to banish it from existence for a thousand years had left some sort of arcane residue on the crystals around and beneath it. A spell of that magnitude, regardless of the skill of the mage, would have some side effects.

Two, it was a result of the Crystal Heart’s... aura, for lack of a better word. The artifact seemed to resonate with some type of powerful arcane energy that Kel’Thuzad, for the unlife of him, could not identify.

Cadence had suspected what he was detecting was ‘Love’, which would make sense, given that his queen, his king, and the artifact were clearly linked magically.

However, if the Crystal Heart was emitting an obscene amount of... ‘Love’, that would fall under the Equestrian magical school of Illusion, as it would clearly manipulate emotions in it’s vicinity.

Which it did not.

At least not his.

Kel’Thuzad winced as he continued his searching, the echoing wails of Celestia making his head shake, his scrying efforts interrupted once again as the crystals behind the wall crackled and ground together from the volume of her cries.

Wait...

I wonder...

Kel’Thuzad placed a single claw to the stone wall before him, a muttering whisper exiting his maw as he cast another spell. The arcane pulse rushed from his palm, impacting the wall before him with a resounding ‘pop’.

The echoing cacophony of crystals and stones sang through his head, before they stopped dead at an arcane barrier, about three feet through the wall.

Resonance... of course!

Kel’Thuzad smirked, the surprisingly weak illusory wall crumbling before him as his magic grasped a piece of the arcane lattice , and pulled.

The wall collapsed quickly, some of the group yelping as the stone and crystal fell before them, the magically constructed faux-material crumbling to wisps of arcane smoke, before ceasing to exist entirely.

Kel’Thuzad looked back to the shocked group, a smirk present on his face.

“Come along, princess, your foals await.” the lich spoke, his form already turning to follow the pitch black path before him.

As he turned, the air grew heavy with... fog?

With a sweeping, yet eerily calm wind, white filled his vision. An intense mist, akin to what someone would expect on a dreary day at a dock, filled the room, his vision obscured greatly almost immediately.

Kel’Thuzad summoned up his magic, a blistering wind of his own blowing the offending mist away from himself, clearing the surrounding... soil?

He swiftly turned around, only to find his companions had vanished from sight, even though they were only several feet away from him at the time of the wall collapsing.

The archlich narrowed his eye sockets, turning back around.

Something was playing with them...

.........

Shining stood stock-still in the mist, his eyes darting around, looking for any sign of his comrades amongst the mist that swallowed the group just after his archmage tore down the false wall.

He felt soft soil beneath his hooves, but other than that, there were no landmarks to be seen within the mists.

An illusion no doubt, but easily the most impressive one the seasoned battlemage had ever seen.

Narrowing his eyes as he sat down upon the soil below him, he cleared his throat.

“Hello?”

Silence.

“Miss Yao?”

Silence.

Sighing in frustration after several more minutes of silent waiting, the alicorn closed his eyes.

’Kel?’

’Master! Where are you?’

’Inside some kind of illusion, I think. Easily the most impressive I’ve seen.’

’Mist everywhere? Soil beneath your hooves?’

’Yes. I take it you’re in the same situation?’

’Yes, my king. Something is toying with us.’

Shining sighed aloud once again, opening his eyes to look around again.

While he wasn’t expecting a blade to be pressed to his throat, he must admit he reacted much more quickly than he thought he would.

The alicorn jumped back, using his magic to push the blade away.

A singing swipe from the curved, slender blade swung past his face, the edge just barely missing the end of his muzzle.

The prince growled as he flared his wings to their fullest extent. With a flap of the massive appendages, the surrounding area was cleared of mist.

She was tall for a mare, about the size of Cadence, a long, spiraling horn protruding from her forehead. The conical spike poked through a dense sea of oily black mane, the texture seeming almost saturated. It was done up in a loose ponytail, but much of it also lazily hung from the front of her head.

Her fur was an incredibly light blue, nearly white, and like her mane, was glossed over and seemingly wet.

Her eyes shone with a scarlet hue, a stark contrast to her rather light coat.

Wrapped around her form was the loose form of a light grey kimono, tied off near the center of her torso with a simple white obi sash. Her expression was one of seriousness, but not necessarily hatred.

“Speak your intent, alicorn.” she spoke with a thick neighponese accent, her curved steel sword leveling itself into a battle stance before her.

Putting aside his anger at being attacked, Shining spoke, his webbed wings folding themselves at his sides.

“Miss Yao, I presume?”

The mare paused, her form relaxing somewhat.

“Yes... Yao Finhoof, of the Neighponese Isles.” Yao spoke, her blade lowering even further as she spoke, her guard seeming to lower.

“Prince Shining Armor.” he spoke, holding out a hoof the size of a dinner plate. Yao’s muzzle dropped in shock, a small squeak issuing forth from her muzzle as she threw herself to the ground before the alicorn of death.

“I apologize profusely for my aggressive behavior, your majesty. It has been a long time since I have had visitors, and I mistook you for somepony else.” Yao spoke, her sword clattering to the rocky soil below them as she let it go from her grasp.

Shining chuckled awkwardly, lowering his hoof.

“There is no reason to apologize, Miss Yao.” Shining’s remarked, the situation going a turn he did not anticipate.

“I am the one who intruded upon your home, and for that, I apologize.”

Yao looked up, shaking her head vigorously in disagreement.

“No your majesty!” she exclaimed. “I am the one who has intruded upon yours!”

Shining opened his mouth to respond, but decided to let the matter go.

“How did you get down here?” Shining asked, offering a hoof to the neighponese unicorn. She hesitated, but eventually accepted the large appendage, a nod of thanks accompanying the gesture.

“I... how long has it been since Sombra banished the empire?”

Shining, without skipping a beat, responded.

“One thousand and two years.”

“Then I have been down here for just about that long.” Yao explained.

Shining gawked slightly, but closed his muzzle and nodded.

Weirder things had happened lately.

“Forgive me for asking, but... how are you...”

“Alive?” Yao giggled.

Shining nodded, sheepishly pawing at the soil below him.

“I am one of the few on this world cursed to never grow old, your majesty.” she chuckled, the mists around them clearing slightly more as she sat down.

“I am, for the most part, immortal.”

Shining nodded, her scarlet red eyes seeming far more logical now, as no pony he had ever seen had naturally red eyes.

“I came here following a group of foals wreathed in shadow.” Shining Armor spoke.

“Have you been watching them for somepony?”

“Ah... the little ones are to blame, then.” she smiled, turning her head as she got up, retrieving her blade as she walked to her left. The mists parted for her, revealing a small cottage, built into the side of a cliff, the peak of which extended far into the mists above.

A large, gnarled tree with flowering buds hung over the simple home, showering the area around it with light pink flower petals.

“I was tasked with watching the little ones by my former master, your highness.” Yao explained, gently pushing open the swinging wooden door to reveal the inside of the cottage.

Inside, wrapped in blankets of varying size, were the foals as Shining had seen them without the curse.

They slept peacefully upon small wooden bunks, even though their little bodies should have died long ago from the injuries currently ailing them.

“How... how are they still alive?”

“They... they are cursed as I am, but to a greater extent.” Yao admitted, her form growing tense as she nuzzle one of the small ponies, their rustling soothed by their caretaker’s touch.

“As long as they slumber, they live.” Yao explained, inverting her sword to sheathe it quietly at her side with her magic.

“So the foals I saw...”

“You saw them as they should be.” Yao motioned to a small alcove of the hut, a simple table flanked by sitting pillows her destination.

“The curse... the curse on them was placed to save their lives, your highness.” Yao spoke, gently sitting down upon the pillow before her, the prince following suit on the opposite side of the table.

“It allows their dreams to become physical, to an extent.” Yao explained.

“By whom, might I ask?” Shining inquired, the mare across from him levitating her sword over to a rack near the door.

“Nightmare Moon.” the mare stated, rather plainly.

.........

“What?”

Promotions at Breakfast

As the sun rose over the mountains of the Frozen North, a single ray of light pierced the frosted over window of Kel'Thuzad's chambers.

"Damn sun, always preferred the moon... less bright." Kel'Thuzad winced, his claw lighting up with a bluish aura as he added another layer of ice to the window, obscuring the bright ray from view. The lich sighed, and went back to his book. The tome detailed the Equestrian monarchy, and the special attributes of the mystical 'Alicorns'. According to the book, the Alicorns are also linked to a unique driving force of nature, immortal, and possess incredible speed, agility, and strength.

Princess Celestia and Luna, Rulers of the Sun and Moon... Interesting...

They are a combination of all three pony sub-races, and thus are linked to all thing that each are attributed. Earth Ponies seem to be the only race that are without a form of natural defense, lacking the flight of a Pegasus, or the magic of a Unicorn. Pegasi are known, of course, for the set of wings they possess, which enables sustained, powered flight upon the species. Unicorns seem to be the only form of pony capable of effectively harnessing arcane energies, channeling it through the conical horn that protrudes from their foreheads.

Next to Kel'Thuzad, a small pile of books had grown over the many hours of placid reading. The lich had been up all night. Not for the addition to his already considerable memory banks, but because of the peace and quiet it could give.

Then again, he didn't have much of a choice about staying up...

"Master, I have finished the rune circle." Marrowfrost droned robotically. The undead stallion had been recently outfitted with an enchantment that made his voice more refined, as Kel'Thuzad had grown tired of attempting to decipher his dry and scratchy voice.

"Excellent, thank you, Marrowfrost." Kel'Thuzad said, the book in his hands slowly levitating back to the bookshelf, along with the small armada of other literature that mimicked it. The skeleton bowed, and went back to his bathroom, presumably to fascinate himself with the toilet once again.

The lich sighed, and floated swiftly to were the rather complicated rune circle was drawn, complimented with several candles. It was a summoning rune, primarily used as the exit point of a teleportation spell. Channeling a simple matter transference spell, he released the glowing ball of greyish light at a pillow on the bed. In a flash of blue flame, it vanished. Smirking, the lich looked down at the center of the circle drawn out on the floor. In the middle was a still smoking pillow.

An effective waypoint, should I ever need to retreat or travel quickly...

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Yes?" Kel'Thuzad growled, turning his skull to see the faint outline of a pony behind the sheet of frozen magic that served as his door for the time being.

He hated company. Especially mortals. As fragile as their simple, fleeting lives were, they always insisted on taking their time with things.

However, seeing as this entire world is mostly comprised of sentient equine beings... he would need to get over it.

"Lord Kel'Thuzad, their majesties Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence humbly request your presence in the dining hall for breakfast." The pony on the opposite side of the ward called, slightly muffled by the ice.

Kel'Thuzad stared blankly at the miniature glacier before him for several moments, his jaw hanging open.

They... wanted... HIM.

A horrifying, twelve foot tall, centuries old skeletal sorcerer from another world, who hadn’t had a single CRUMB to eat since he died nearly a millennia ago, to come to breakfast?

Well... if my king demands it...

"Very... well. Tell them I will be there in a moment..." Kel'Thuzad said, reaching his claw out to his chest, which still sat on the bed.

Oh, damn it all. My manners will get the best of me some day...

"But... my lord, do you need an escort?" The pony asked, probably one of the many guards that they had passed last night. Kel'Thuzad chuckled, and replied.

"No, I passed the hall last night with my lord when we returned to our chambers." Kel'Thuzad lied.

He had not the faintest idea where the dining hall was located in this labyrinth of a castle. But, if the book he was reading is true to its words, the archlich’s scrying should be able to spot an alicorn's energy signature from miles away.

"Oh... very well then." the guardspony replied back, seemingly disappointed.

As the lich turned away from the sound of hooves marching away, Bloodsurge floated into his grasp, blade still coated in dried crimson. While the lich was not a fan of melee combat, the usefulness of his spellblade was undeniable.

Besides, he enjoyed having the shortsword at his side. Ever since he had lost his legs, he had no need for a staff, so a small, enchanted dagger or blade was the next best thing for amplifying spells.

"Marrowfrost, you are to remain in this room. Is that clear?" Kel'Thuzad ordered, slicing downwards swiftly with Bloodsurge, the blade cutting through the air, before bending and warping into a distorted picture of what Kel'Thuzad hoped was the dining hall.

"Very well, my lord. Try to enjoy it, you are spending the rest of eternity here, after all." The skeletal stallion chuckled, before stiffly bowing, and walking back into the bathroom to continue his... 'notes'.

'WHOOSH'

'GURGLE GURGLE'

The archlich rolled his eyes, cursing but thanking his advisor's fascination with such menial things like plumbing. Turning back to his portal, the lich sighed, sucking up his pride, before sheathing Bloodsurge in the scabbard attached to his robe and floating through the portal.

Perhaps Marrowfrost is right. I might as well try to enjoy myself... What's the worst that could happen?

.........

"Are you sure about this, Shiny?" Cadence worriedly whispered to her mate. They were seated in their usual spots at the head of the long table, and several other court officials were seated as well, curious about their prince's rather sudden addition to their council.

"Where's that confident and stalwart mare from last night, honey?" Shining chuckled, taking a small bite out of a piece of Prench bread. The prince was not at all scared about the court's reaction. In fact, he was counting on it. Since the purification of the Crystal Heart, and the death of King Sombra, the court officials had been scrabbling over each other, clawing at any seat of power they could get there hooves on. While they listened when he spoke, and heeded his princess, he knew they did not exactly... like him. Or Cadence.

Getting a colossal skeletal undead monstrosity on his side suddenly looked a lot more beneficial than he had originally thought. Intimidation works nearly just as well, or better, than discipline. Cadence had not exactly seen eye to eye with him on his proposal to introduce the lich to the council, but Shining was fairly certain that the necromancer wouldn't harm a soul... unless he told him to, of course.

"My prince, are you sure you do not want to reconsider this addition? I mean, we already have more than enough divisions of power...." Lady Emerald Trot spoke, her posh Prench accent annoying Shining to no end. Shining held his hoof up to cut her off, before continuing.

"No, I will not reconsider. And I will not hear any more of it, understood?" Shining scolded, his face dead serious. The mare bowed lightly before sitting back into her chair, a sigh of obvious annoyance escaping her lips. Shining shook his head and sat back down from his aggressive stance. These nobles are more ungrateful than the ones in Canterlot!

Kill... them... ALL...

Shining jerked to a stiff pose as the phrase raced through his troubled mind, spilling his glass of water in the light spasm. Cadence turned quickly to him, and questioned him with a face of 'are you alright'? Once he got his breathing back under control, he turned to Cadence, and nuzzled her gently on the side of the muzzle. As the nobles finally appeared to be settled, the room grew cold. Very cold.

With a snap like a whip, an arcane slice appeared in the air off to the right of the table, and a massive, bony hand reached out to widen it. Shining felt Cadence's shivering from a mile away, and wrapped his left forehoof around her, providing some warmth, which she eagerly accepted by nuzzling further into his side.

As cold as he was the previous night in his... 'servant's' presence, Shining found the cold less... overwhelming now. With a barely audible snort, he shook his head, turning his attention to the undead mage's arrival.

By the time he looked back at the portal, Kel'Thuzad was already in the process of closing it. With a sound of vacuums being filled once more by air, the portal closed, Kel'Thuzad turning to his rulers, settling into a low bow.

"Greetings, master. I came as quickly... as... I could?" Kel'Thuzad stammered. In an awkward silence, the aged wizard took in his surroundings for the first time.

He had definetely found the banquet hall, seeing as nearly a dozen ponies, including his rulers, who both sat at the head of the table, stared up at him from their breakfast.

"EEEKKK!"

"AAAHHH!"

"ENOUGH!" Shining roared, a trick he learned from Cadence. Turns out the Royal Canterlot Voice was somewhat easy to replicate, should you know the proper spell. The room shook from the vibrations of the shockwave, and the entire room grew silent.

For a moment.

"Master... should I... go?" Kel'Thuzad questioned, his claws folding slowly over his ribcage.

"WHAT IS THIS MONSTROUS CREATURE?! GUARDS! GUARDS!" A portly crystal stallion yelped, his outburst causing another panic amongst the nobles.

"Kel'Thuzad, do you know a spell for locking doors?" Shining calmly asked, his wife clinging to him tightly as she took in the lich with more attention.

"Yes..." Kel'Thuzad said, his claws raising at the two doors that gave access to the large room. With a blast of concentrated frost, the door cracked and popped, then petrified. Frost built up on the crystalwork around the large mahogany doors, and the large, metal knockers all but shattered from the cold, effectively sealing the group inside of the dining hall.

For nearly a minute, the dulled thuds of the guards outside of the room trying to break down the now frozen doors echoed through the hall, frightening the nobles, and admittedly Cadence to a certain degree.

Though with an encouraging nod from her husband, and a gentle nuzzle to speak up, Cadence remembered their purpose here today.

"Now that that is settled..." Cadence calmly began, her voice amplified slightly by magic.

"LET US GO, MONSTER!" A more courageous stallion finally leaped upon the table, pulling an ornate longsword from the sheathe on his side. The archlich turned slowly to the noble, a gentle wave of his right claw ripping the sword from the stallion's pitifully weak magical hold.

Without another word, Kel'Thuzad slowly but methodically closed his claw, the intensity of his white magic enfolding the sword growing brighter... and brighter, before a loud crunching of metal on metal is heard, along with the ear-piercing sound of glass shattering.

Smirking, the archlich returned the longsword to the noble, depositing the small pile of frosted metal flakes on the table before him.

"Now. SIT DOWN, AND HEED YOUR PRINCESS!" Kel'Thuzad roared, his echoing voice reverberating off the walls. The stallion whimpered, shaking like a leaf as he fell back into his chair, silent as a mouse. "Please, continue my lady." Kel'Thuzad bowed slightly, and waited patiently for Cadence to continue.

"I... I would like to introduce..." Cadence began, her voice stuttering heavily from a mix of fear and the cold, before she was cut off by Shining.

"Kel'Thuzad, you are hereby promoted to the prestigious title of archmage of the Crystal Court. You are also to begin work as me and wife's personal advisor. Our vizier, if you will." Shining finally blurted out, happy to get the thought out in the open at last.

The lich's skull brightened in what Shining assumed was a smile as he bowed low to the both of them once again.

"I... I am honored, my king. I hope I will not disappoint." Kel'Thuzad spoke, his robes billowing out around him as his form reached lower to the floor.

"Now, I wish all of you to respect our wishes, and Kel'Thuzad's position. While he may look... different, he is still a living being, and deserves the proper respect as one."

Kel'Thuzad caught his tongue at that, inwardly scoffing at the idea that he was 'living'.

This will be a long existence...

Introductions

For the longest time, he had known only silence.

Silence, and darkness.

Quite the contrary to what most of his former colleagues in Dalaran theorized. They imagined the Twisting Nether to be an infinite realm of possibilities, a place where the laws of magic and physics are null and void. A state of being were even the Titans themselves were but tools of creation!

But no.

Kel'Thuzad was most upset at this fact when he had first arrived in his dark, boring, prison of a world. He had been so close. Just a fraction of a second more, and that pitiful excuse for a mage would have been naught but dust in the wind. But the warlock HAAD to have a soulstone ready, and he HAAAD to shoot a chaos bolt at his back, tearing a hole through his corporal ribcage, and he just HAAAAD to kill him.

Not that he could complain, no. He would need a mouth for that. And a body for that mouth to be attached to.

For nearly a millennia, this had been Kel'Thuzad's life. Or unlife, rather.

Being bound to the eternal being that was the Lich King had its perks and downfalls. On the upside, Kel'Thuzad never slept, drank, ate, or even rested for that matter. He was immortal in a sense. Bound to the realm of eternity by a simple spell. The downside was quite obvious.

He was dead.

Not in the undead sense, either. He actually has been legitimately dead for eight hundred and thirty-three years, twenty-one hours, and seventeen minutes. Hey, even if you are dead, you have to have something to do right?

A man has to have personal values if he has spent eight centuries alone in the cold dark of the realm in-between worlds.

Kel'Thuzad was a simple man, and never complained much. He could not tolerate three things, however.

For one, he never liked gnomes. Not that he had anything against them as a people, he just never liked the way they walked.

Two, he was a strong believer in loyalty. He believed traitors to be disgusting and vile perversions of the common man.

And three. He was absolutely terrified of dogs. He always preferred cats.

Kel'Thuzad's mind-talking was interrupted by a disturbance from his immediate right, a glowing silver light, about three feet across, and hovering in place, parallel with his soul's view.

Strange...

He slowly willed himself towards it, not caring at this point in the danger of touching something glowing within a realm of infinite and total darkness. What's the worst that could happen, death? Pfft. He was not a stranger to death.

The moment his vision was obscured by nothing but dull silver, his vision went dark once more.

Well, so much for that adventure.

He was hoping to actually have something to do for the first time in his own personal hell. He was just about to get into another angry bout of mind-cursing when he felt... a disturbance.

No, a suction.

He attempted to smile with his nonexistent face. He knew that feeling of pressure, of magical fluctuations that signaled matter transference.

For the first time in nearly nine centuries, Kel'Thuzad mentally jumped for joy.

He was teleporting.

To where, he was not sure of. But if he was teleporting, that meant one of two things.

One, he was free. Finally able to move on to the coveted state of true death, away from the pesky nothingness of the void.

Or two, the far more likely answer, the Lich King was back.

He was kind of caught on both of the choices at his disposal. On one hand, he would be back at his master's side, striking terror and horror amongst the ranks of the living. On the other, he would be... free. After all the countless years of waiting in limbo, he would finally be able to move on to the next state of existence. Maybe even see some of his old colleagues again!

Hopefully they have forgotten about that little incident with the Book of Medivh...

And the sacking of Dalaran...

And the murder of Antonidas...

He felt his soul being stretched further and further across the endless blackness. He could hear the familiar popping and crackling of magic in his ears. Giggling childishly to himself at the simple magic trick of matter teleportation, he exclaimed joyfully once again in his mind as the magic cracked, and he could see...

Light!

By the gods, it had never been so... beautiful...

Light...

Light...

"Hello?"

...

Light doesn't talk.

Damn it all.

He was back to liv... unliving...

"Are you okay, sir?"

"Yes, yes, I'm quite alright. I've been dead before."

"..."

"Hello?" Kel'Thuzad asked, groggily opening his eyes to glimpse his surroundings for the first time. What met his eyesight was no surprise. Dark, high ceilings, light blue ambiance that only saronite metal could give. Yep. Icecrown Citadel. No doubt about it.

"Did you say... dead?"

The voice was echoing from his right. But moving required effort, and one disadvantage of being resurrected after so long was a terrible case of stiffness of the bones. Kindly, he beckoned the feminine-sounding voice towards his eyesight.

"Would you please come over to my front dear? My back isn't what it used to be."

While he may have to rip the soul from their body, he would remain polite and courteous until the fact.

"Oh! Um... sure."

A second, more masculine voice.

Great, two of them...

The feminine and masculine voice presumably started towards his vision, but he heard something he found peculiar. The footsteps were not... natural. As if made by a claw or hoof on hard flooring. Tauren, maybe? Draenei? Worgen? The creatures enter his vision as he thinks, and... perplex him.

Equines?

Maybe I've been gone longer than I thought...

I wonder if time moves slower in the Twisting Nether...

"Greetings, Lord Kel'Thuzad. I humbly bid you welcome to the Crystal... EEEEEKKKKK!" The pink one says, probably the mare in the relationship, as she quickly retreats behind the ivory... unicorn.

A unicorn.

Whelp, should have seen this coming. I'm still undead. Undead equals ugly by mortal standards. And, to top it all off, I probably have to kill twice as many mortals now...

"Honey, calm down... Shh... shh..." The masculine one says, presumably the stallion, moving his body protectively over her, comforting his mate.

"Hi-His skin... oh my goddesses..." The pink one whimpers, hiding her lithe body as best she could behind her stallion.

"Well, what did you expect. I'm dead." Kel'Thuzad chuckled, coughing slightly at the end of the his little cackle, clearing the dust from his dormant chest. Turning his head so that he could see straight, he takes another moment to survey his immediate surroundings.

Okay, maybe not Icecrown Citadel...

He was inside some sort of... throne room, probably, seeing as there was an ornate pair of chairs towards the far side of the hall-like room, and tapestries of some sort of heart, purple and thrumming with stylized lines of what he presumed was energy. Near the center of the room, an ornate rune circle is drawn, stylized with a glowing dust of some sort.

Well well well. They can practice magic. Advanced and ancient magic.

"Kel'Thuzad, are you alright?"

The white unicorn snapped the necromancer out of his little surveillance, the Archlich's attention on him.

"Yes I am. I told your... mate, that I am quite alright, thank you." Kel'Thuzad snapped, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Then, something dawned on him.

How did they know his name?!

How did these pathetic, squishy mortal creatures know his name?!?!

"How do you know my name, creatures?" Kel'Thuzad says as he shakily rises to his...

Hooves.

He had hooves.

Interesting...

"I was told to summon you, Kel'Thuzad." The white unicorn says, standing up and striking a defensive pose before the tall, lanky stallion.

Once again, there was silence.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Archlich cackled maniacally, attempting to clutch his chest/barrel with his left forehoof. The unicorn looked onwards at him, unfazed by the chilling laughter. He stomped his hoof an snorted in annoyance. Looking back down at his would-be hosts, Kel'Thuzad settled down to the point of erratic chuckling, and after several seconds more, silence.

"Apologies. I have been dead for a while. It has been a long time since I have felt amusement." Kel'Thuzad then stumbled his way over to the couple, staggering several times, but regaining his balance before he fell. He slowly lowered himself unto his flank, and sighed.

"Now... give me a good reason I shouldn't rip your pathetic mortal bodies apart." Kel'Thuzad slowly said, staring down at the stoic unicorn, and the now terribly quivering... pegasus/unicorn? The two equines were silent for the most part, except for the pink one's excessive whimpering.

Good god. Had the girl never seen necrotic flesh before?

Kel'Thuzad scanned the room once more, while also scanning for any anti-magic wards. Never could be too careful. Next came external energy sources. These creatures, while small, seemed to be more than capable of magic. When he activated the spell in the back of his mind, the feedback from the surrounding area blinded him momentarily. Wincing a bit from the intensity of the energy and it's close proximity, he threw up a thin ward, protecting him somewhat, but making his fur glow slightly...

Fur.

He had fur.

The source was, unexpectedly, the small and fragile looking mare cowering under the unicorn. This small... Pegacorn... wielded more than enough power to be a match for the weakened and fragile lich. But for all of her ludicrous arcane might, she was afraid.

Why?

Another snort from the unicorn brought Kel'Thuzad back to reality once again, the scrying process fading from his mind as he shifted back to his own vision.

"Kel'Thuzad, as your king, I order you to stand down." Shining ordered, once again stared stoically at the tall earth pony, slightly unnerved at Kel'Thuzad's brutal, yet effective intimidation methods of silence and graphic explanations. The Archlich was silent for a while. He stared at Shining for a while, then calmly stared at the terrified Cadence, who's head was barely visible over the back of the larger stallion, who was hunched over her protectively. The Archlich was about to retort, when a glint caught his eye. He turned his eyes slightly to the right, and stopped.

For the first time in his entire undead existence, he felt short of breath.

There, in the middle of the room, was a discarded Helm of Domination.

No wonder this... pony was able to summon him...

He... he had taken up the throne.

And like it or not, for the rest of his eternal life, he was bound to serve the Lich King, no matter the cost.

And this unicorn...

This pathetic, squishy, fragile unicorn...

Was the Lich King.

Well... damn.

Author's Note

All rights go to their original owners.

For the record, Kel'Thuzad is voiced by the amazingly talented Michael McConnohie for this story, as his voice is far superior to the raspy re-voice they gave him in Wrath of the Lich King.

A Short Reprieve

Silence.

As they flew through the aftermath of the burning city of Stratholme, all the group could hear...

Was silence.

"Kel'Thuzad..." Cadence whispered, her form barely visible behind her husband, who had wrapped both her and Twilight in a protective hug. The latter mare was shaking, her notes long since abandoned, lost to the agony she had seen.

"Yes... my lady..." Kel'Thuzad answered, his voice soft. Never before had he felt this... cold. Depressed, even.

"I'm sorry..." She whimpered.

"For what... this?" the lich gestured to the eternally burning buildings that they flew slowly in between, slowly making their way towards the city's center. "You have nothing to do with this... chaos. destruction. It was MY doing... I could have stopped it... should have seen that... that... that evil bastard's ruse when I arrived in Northrend..." the lich looked back at his passengers...

Warm...

Soft...

He was being hugged by a pony princess.

He had forgotten the warm comfort of an embrace. A handshake, even.

It was... amazing...

He was done. They had seen more than enough... for today...

No doubt my king will wish to see the rest of his... legacy, at some point in the future... but we have eternity, and Twilight and Lady Cadence have suffered enough...

"Lets go home, then. I have relived more than enough for one day..." he said, gently hugging the sobbing alicorn to his chest, attempting to collect as much warmth as he could, before he was back to the simple, unfeeling life of a lich.

"Yes... I believe that would be for the best." Shining proclaimed, the stallion glaring at Kel'Thuzad. He knew he shouldn't be angry at him. He couldn't. He had literally NO control over what he did. But watching his wife comfort that... mass murderer...

It made his cold blood BOIL.

He had already seen... EVERYTHING. The night when he... killed Kel'Thuzad, he saw the entirety of the lich's life, and more. It sickened him to even think a man as... twisted as Kel'Thuzad was could even function...

He always had to remind himself...

He had no control...

.........

Before they knew it, they were back in the Crystal Palace. Back home. Shining wanted nothing more than to curl up with his wife, to tell her he loved her. To hold her. Protect her. But... something more... stressing... came first.

"I must say, Mister Marrowfrost, I have never had a more delightful cup of tea in my life!"

"And I've been around a LONG time..."

Author's Note

A short little chapter before the storm... a reprieve, if you will...

Analysis

"Thank you for dinner, Cadence, it was quite delightful." Celestia remarked, whipping her muzzle delicately with an embroidered napkin.

"No problem, Auntie. Its the least I can do, after all we've put you through..." Cadence's visage took on an image of concern, but Celestia merely laughed it off.

"Nonsense. The fact that I was able to come and visit in the first place was a treat. Luna arriving was just an added bonus. She rarely ever enjoys herself, and this was an excellent way to change that." she smiled, grinning at the blushing lunar alicorn across the table.

"I do thank you for the invitation, Cadence. It was... most enjoyable to eat amongst family again..." she smiled, digging into another piece of crumb cake, the dessert having been brought out after the lengthy feast beforehand.

"It was nice to see you again, auntie. I haven't seen you much since the wedding." Cadence replied.

Kel'Thuzad watched all of this from the corner of the room, pretending to read from a book.

Something was... off.

His lord, for one, had stayed in his chambers, claiming to be sick.

Now, Kel'Thuzad wasn't stupid.

He may be overly flamboyant and arrogant at times, but he wasn't stupid.

His survival of the Fall of Naxxramas TWICE signified that on its own...

That Argent Priest was quite easily corrupted... and ironically proved to be a more formidable lich than most...

Nevertheless, it didn't take a genius to deduce that his lord was lying. In fact, it was quite brazenly obvious.

For one, while he was an alicorn now, and held some life within him once again, he was still a lich.

Liches are undead.

Undead don't get sick.

Well... almost never get sick... Resurrection Sickness is a bother...

Apart from that, his queen seemed... scared. Of what, he was not sure. But something was frightening his ruler, whether subconscious or not.

He didn't know much about his bindings to the Lich King, but he knew that he was capable of feeling... unease when his master did... much like when he felt Arthas' surprise from his defeat in the Eastern Plaguelands...

He knew not whether this enchantment stretched to Lady Cadence, but it seemed likely.

Kel'Thuzad was concerned as well...

His queen's rather direct connection to his king might have had something to do with that.

He had never felt it, but a lich may supposedly feel when his phylactery is in danger...

He wondered if a living phylactery would feel the reverse?

Only one way to find out...

"My lady, I was wondering if I may retire to my chambers for the night? While I may not sleep, I am able to rest, and Marrowfrost tends to get into trouble when I leave him alone for too long." Kel'Thuzad lied through his teeth. His assistant was very capable of occupying himself, and had been more than capable of doing so in the past, but he needed an excuse. Lady Cadence giggled, and replied.

"Kel'Thuzad, you don't have to ask. Of course you may. Thank you for joining us for dinner." Cadence smiled.

"Thank you, my lady. I bid thee a good night." He turned slightly to face Celestia and Luna, and bowed once more. "Goodnight, your highnesses. It was a pleasure." he remarked, actually truthful this time. Celestia and Luna, while immortal and peace-loving, were VERY interested in Azerothian customs and traditions. He had had a particularly entertaining time explaining equine's roles on Azeroth, as well...

"The pleasure was all mine, Lord Kel'Thuzad. While you may look... different, I believe myself to be an excellent judge of character. My nephews are lucky to have you as an advisor and close friend." Luna replied, politely inclining her head to the Archlich. She blinked once, and turned back to her sister and niece.

Wait...

Kel'Thuzad saw... something. A glinting light that arced slightly off of the alicorn, and disappeared from sight once he focused on it. Bowing once more, and wishing them all a good night once more, the lich floated for the exit, scrying the room one last time, just to be sure.

Five souls...

Lady Cadence.

Princess Celestia.

Princess Luna.

A portion of his master's soul, sharing the same vessel as Cadence's.

And a fifth, unknown entity, sitting at the table as well...

Emanating from Luna's position...

He would need to read up on her again...

Maybe the Royal Library would have a few tomes on the dream-walking alicorn...

.........

Shining Armor was frustrated.

He grunted in exertion as he swung Frostmourne effortlessly through the air, the blade singing its song of death as it cleaved a clean path straight through a log of oak, set up in the courtyard. The log didn't even feel solid. Just another cubic foot of air. It thudded heavily against the marble pathway, the cleanly cut portion of wood already frosted over from Frostmourne's frigid blade...

He had told his wife of the... HORRIFIC dream he had had...

She told him the very same thing that he feared she would say...

'It was only a dream...'

But it wasn't!

It felt way too... real... legitimate.

He gagged at the memory of the feeling of Celestia's divine blood caking his massive hooves, the look of sheer terror on her face as he...

MURDERED HER...

Something had caused that nightmare...

From what he could tell, the problem wasn't related to his new... status.

Frostmourne was content to be back in it's master's clutch once more, and the Helm seemed placated to the point of silence...

He didn't want to risk being in the same room as his mother-in-law...

Not yet.

Cadence had been understanding, and she had gone ahead without him, taking Kel'Thuzad in his stead.

Kel'Thuzad...

Master?

Shining gasped in surprise, the lich's voice startling him more than it should have...

He stumbled slightly, Frostmourne falling with a gentle 'thud' into the light snow on the grass...

A popping sound echoed from behind him, followed by the familiar sound of a spell dissipating. The prince turned to the lich, questions almost visibly leaking from him.

"Master, we need to talk."

Shining nodded.

"Let me get some lager..."

Aftermath Conversations

"Well... That escalated quickly." Lal'theron sighed, watching the still twitching form of Celestia grow still as he weaved the soothing lights of the Sunwell over her wounded chest. The wound had shrunken and healed to the point of a small scar, but even the powers of the Naaru can only do so much. She would carry the scar for the rest of her eternal life.

Cadence nodded grimly at the High Elf's assessment , her eyes scanning her husband's... editions. She was quite obviously shaken up, seeing as her beloved had had a third of his flesh rotted away to save her foster mother, who had almost died.

Again.

"Lal'theron, w-what happened to Shining?" Cadence stuttered, her breathing irregular, sadness mixed with concern lacing her voice. Lal'theron looked to his king, watching the stallion's still form intently.

"I... I am unsure of what EXACTLY happened to him..." In all honesty, he was telling the truth. He knew that the plagues and diseases that Frostmourne could deliver were unmatched by any other, but even the plague that assaulted his... 'marefriend' took him off guard. He had heard reports from the higher ups of the Cult of the Damned that their master had kept a 'trump card' for himself, but the rate at which it ate away flesh and sinew... it was horrifying to think this was used upon the innumerable amount of casualties that were inflicted during the Fall of Icecrown Citadel...

"Likely a plague of some kind, brought upon by Frostmourne after I attempted to heal the wound." Lal'theron shuddered. Cadence nodded, nuzzling her husbands form as he slumbered peacefully. The curse of undeath could be seen as a blessing in this case. The amount of flesh the necrosis had devoured would have killed a living being, regardless of the region. Even his master... BROTHER. Even his brother was overcome by the act of just MOVING the disease.

"How could Frostmourne... know that..." Lal'theron stopped her politely, a wave of his hoof sending a message of calm. The revenant trotted up to a tea set that was adorning a table by the fire. He calmly conjured up some water, and poured it from the leather flask into the pot to boil, before gently placing it above the fire, which was stoked once by him to reawaken it.

"Lady Cadence... Frostmourne is not just a sword. The blade feels what the master feels, just as any other runeblade does... but Frostmourne... Frostmourne is special." Lal'theron folded his legs inwards, gesturing for the alicorn to sit beside him, next to the collapsed form of her husband and Celestia. "It was crafted by demons, to start. But Frostmourne was meant to be... for lack of a better word, 'vessel' for the Lich King, not just a weapon." Cadence nodded, gently stroking Shining's unkempt mane with a few feathers from her right wing. "The blade, along with the Helm of Domination, was meant to contain the Lich Kings power. To channel it." the revenant hesitated, looking for his queen's permission to continue, his glowing blue eyes questioning the alicorn silently.

"Lal'theron, I am more than ready to discover the truth behind these... happenings, however dark or twisted they are... Shiny is uncomfortable talking with me about it, and Kel'Thuzad is hesitant, but you know some information, don't you?" Cadence's face was one of concern, not anger, letting the High Elf's fears rest. He nodded sagely, looking back to the fire.

"Yes."

"Do you mind telling me?" Cadence asked, not commanded. The revenant was used to the cold unfeeling leadership aboard Naxxramas, not the caring, loving friendship of is current rulers. He definitely liked the latter more, but he was still hesitant to speak out of line.

.........

"No."

.........

"Begin were you want to, I'm not going anywhere until I have my answers." Cadence declared smugly, a grin adorning her face. The revenant chuckled. He DEFINITELY liked this form of leadership more.

"Well... from what I have heard my brother and Shining discussing, there may be more than two phylacteries binding your husband to the realm of the living. That, combined with the blood of an alicorn, is what gives him his... vitality. Undead cannot normally sleep, eat, drink, or breathe." Lal'theron interrupted his own sentence to take the pot off of the fire, the small receptacle squealing it's preparedness. He gently poured the steaming liquid into a cup, and moved it slowly towards Cadence.

"So, there may be more than the Crystal Heart and me?" Cadence asked, nodding in thanks for the cup, before sipping it lightly, shivering as the warmth flowed through her, heating her stressed body. Lal'theron nodded.

"They believe that the Helm of Domination, which is what gives the Lich King his command over his undead legions, may be one as well, which may attribute to your husbands... strange outbursts. The last two Lich Kings were driven mad by the power of the Helm. Kel'Thuzad believes there may still be fragments of their souls corrupting the Helm." Cadence nodded.

"So, Shiny is being mind controlled?" Cadence asked, uncertainty plaguing her voice. Lal'theron shook his head.

"It's unlikely that they could take full control of Shining, but they may definitely be influencing him. In times of stress or endangerment, your mind opens up to avenues of assistance subconsciously. ALL ASSISTANCE." Lal'theron cleared his metaphorical throat, and continued. "When Shining is angry, for instance, the souls may attempt to influence his actions. This may have been the cause of your husband's and Kel'Thuzad's deaths when Frostmourne reforged itself using the Lich King's power."

"So... does that mean... Nightmare may have taken over Auntie Celestia's body when she..."

.........

"Yes... that... wait."

Lal'theron thought back to the events in the throne room. he was in the back, near the throne, but he saw Celestia's attempts to keep his brother from Luna. She had seemed... distressed, yes. But Nightmare was bound to Luna. And Celestia never touched Luna...

Wait. Yes...

Yes she did!

Nightmare had established a link to her when she nuzzled Luna! It all made sense...

But... why stop there?

What stopped her from body jumping across the room?

"She needed a soul to latch unto." Lal'theron spoke, startling Cadence, who had been deep in thought herself. She sipped from the teacup, and spoke.

"So Nightmare body hopped to Auntie Celestia from Auntie Luna, and took over her mind because she was angry?" Lal'theron nodded. He was no master mage like his brother, but he knew enough about magic to know that the idea seemed plausible.

It would seem Nightmare was quite the necromancer herself, then. Being able to control ones own soul... WHILE dead...

That was SERIOUS power...

"So Auntie is safe?" Cadence asked. Lal'theron looked to his queen, and smiled to the best of his ability.

"Yes, milady. Celestia is safe."

Though she may still be hiding more than she is telling...

Branch-Off Story

As of today, all of Twilight's lessons in the macabre and forbidden will be written in another story, in an episode-like fashion. Said story will be updated intermittently with The Crystal Vizier. I've decided to do this for a number of reasons, mostly because of the randomness of the lessons, and their timings.

This story will allow me to more freely illustrate Twilight's training and lessons, without the constant threat of losing ground on The Crystal Vizier.

Expect the story to be up soon!

Regards,

Lich-Lord Krosis

Dragon Priest of Sorrow