Spiders and Magic: The Kesshōkage of The Crystal Empire

Chapter Ten

Challenge Accepted

“So let me get this straight?” Umbra asked as she watched Nanako’s clones gather everything related to King Sombra and make a pile in front of her and the celestial being. “Other than killing Sombra and the guards he was controlling, you’ve never taken the life of anyone else before?”

“Yeah, Sombra and the guards were my first kills, and they weren't environmental kills.”

“So you’ve never been in an actual fight where you fight against someone?”

“I mean I used puppets to improve my fighting skills if that counts?” Nanako asked as the unicorn shook her head. “Okay, then yeah. I’ve never been in a fight against someone. A lot of the time when I do try to kill someone, it ends up missing and hitting something else, causing a chain reaction that gets them killed due to the environment. Of course, that was back when I was in my teens.”

“Right…speaking of, how old are you?”

“...You can keep a secret, right?”

“Who am I going to tell? It’s not like anypony in this kingdom doesn’t have their share of secrets that they haven’t told anypony else.”

“Hm, suppose that’s fair. If you want to know how old I am, I suppose I can tell you given how I can trust you. But I’m about nine-hundred-fifty years old.” She answered which took Umbra by surprise.

“...You’re joking, right? How the hay are you that old but still look so young?”

“Chakra fruits that I’ve obtained from god trees on uncolonized planets. They’re able to help us evolve and live longer. Been eating them since I was twenty and I have to say, the results are…intense..”

“Okay…and how does one obtain said chakra fruit?”

“Through the god tree. You see, my clan plants what we call a ten-tail sapling. Ten-tails are creatures made out of chakra that act as the seedling stage in the life cycle of a god tree. They’re used to assist in our evolutionary process by harvesting chakra and genetic data from planets we invade. They’re driven by instinct to devour chakra and will eat anything they encounter until they consume a family member of the Otsutsuki clan.”

“Wait, so you guys offer yourselves as a sacrifice to a monster that eats everything?” asked Umbra, causing Nanako to nod. “What kind of sense does that make?”

“Well upon eating one of us, it triggers their evolution into a god tree. Upon taking root, the god tree will start absorbing the chakra and blood of all living beings dwelling on the planet.”

“So basically kill off a family member to get a chakra fruit? Sounds like something my father would do.”

“Yeah, but I doubt your father has a means of bringing himself back to life.”

“You mean like how you did with that human?”

“You would think that, but no. You see we have means of escaping death by planting a karma on a host that we can use to be reincarnated.”

“Karma…as in good and bad karma for all the stuff a pony does?”

“No, Karma is something that my clan developed as a means to be reborn once they’re consumed by the ten-tails, or if they are killed by someone. Once a Karma is placed on a person, the member takes over the host’s body and returns for the fruit.”

“And what happens to the host of the Karma you guys place on them?”

“Anything about them, their life, their memories, their personality. Are replaced by the person that the Otsutsuki member has taken over.”

“And you do this to innocent beings?”

“Heaven’s no, I only do it on criminals and murderers beyond redemption. I may be part of a family of monsters, but even I have my morals and values thank you.”

“...You know what, that’s fair. A bit bucked up, but fair.”

“Anyway, for me to get the ball rolling for my way of godhood, I had to make a lot of deals with higher members of the family. I would be their sacrifice for one hundred years in exchange, they would not stop me from doing my own thing so long as I don’t go against the family. A pretty good deal if I do say so myself.”

“That’s good and all, but sacrificing yourself must have hurt, right? I mean you were eaten alive by that…monster sapling thing, right? So how can you maintain your senses after experiencing something like that?”

“I have a goal, and I want to see it through to the end. I want to reach the level of godhood to see if there’s a better path than the sacrifice of other civilizations from other planets. For each planet I go to that has some form of plant, animal, or environment rich in chakra, I’m on set closer to reaching it.”

“So you continue it out of morbid curiosity?”

“Yep, and I’m going to keep going until I reach that second plane of existence.”

“....Geez, you are something, you know that?”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Wait, if your family member left you alone, how did you manage to get the fruit without their assistance?”

“Oh, I found a loophole around it. By using cells from a man known as Hashirama, an exiled member named Kaguya, and my own, I was able to recreate the body of an Otsutsuki member. That way I don’t need to use a family member or place a Karma on a random person and feed them to the sapling.”

“And it worked?”

“After the second time, it did. The first time didn’t go so well, but I was able to seal the sapling away inside me when it went on a rampage.” She said which caused Umbra to raise an eyebrow at her. “What? There’s always room for error when testing something like that.”

“I get that…but…I can only assume that the god tree is big, right?”

“Yes, if left alone and absorb everything from the planet.”

And I can assume the sapling is big as well?” She asked, to which Nanako nodded. “How are you able to seal something that big within your body?”

“...I could go into detail, but I’m sure it’ll fly over your head. So I’ll make it simple in layman's terms. Sealing jutsu is like shrink magic. I can make someone small and place them within or someone else. If that makes sense.”

“So you have a planet-eating monster inside you? Don’t you think that’s a bad idea?”

“I placed a lot of seals on my body to make sure it doesn’t escape. Someone would have to know Jutsu to release it onto the world. So until I can figure out how to give it sentient and cooperate with it, it’ll be used as a means for my endless supply of chakra to draw upon.”

“If you say so,” Umbra said before noticing the clones finishing gathering the remains of Sombra’s belongings within the room. “I take it you’re planning on burning all this?”

“That would take too long,” Nanako answered as she clapped her hands together for a moment before pulling them away to reveal a white cube. “Reducing it to nothing on an atomic level is a much better way to make sure it’s gone.”

(Crystal Empire)

(Entrance)

“For Celestia’s sake! Will you let us in!” yelled Rainbow Dash as she was face to face with Amber.
“And I’m telling you, jerk, that you’ll have to wait until Queen Nanako gets here. So shut up and sit down somewhere nice and quiet.”

“Don’t you even know how we are, or at least know who Cadence is?” Rainbow Dash asked as she pointed a hoof at the pink alicorn, who waved at the earth pony awkwardly. “You know, the true ruler of the Crystal Empire?”

“Again, with all due respect, I’ve never heard of you or Cadence. Even if she was the true ruler of this place, we already have a new ruler. And that ruler is Queen Nanako.” Amber said before turning around and flicking her tail at Rainbow Dash’s nose, causing her to recoil back from the pain she felt. “Now, I advise you to sit down, shut up, and wait until Poison Cross returns.”

“Why you little-”

“Rainbow Dash, we're not here to cause trouble or start a fight,” Peter said after quickly moving in front of the cyan pegasus. “We’re here to save the ponies from King Sombra as Celestia asked us to.”

“Who is dead, mind you? I was there when Queen Nanako fought against the mad king and was reduced to nothing with that weird cube magic spell of hers.”

“Yeah right. Even if that was true. How do we know your new ruler isn’t as evil as him?” Rainbow Dash said as it caused the earth pony to glare at her.

“....Just for that, you guys can leave and come back tomorrow. Enjoy the trip back home to where you came from.” Amber said as she was about to leave, only for Rarity to quickly move in front of her.

“Wait, please. I know Rainbow Dash can be a bit…inconsiderate and brash at times, but we do mean it when we say that we’re here to help you all.” She said, causing Amber to snort in annoyance.

“And like I said before, we don’t need help. The problem’s already taken care of thanks to Queen Nanako, so you’ll have to wait. At least one of you has manners instead of a certain pegasus.”

“Oh you are so-” Before she could attempt to tackle Amber, Sunset quickly used her magic to restrain Rainbow Dash as she levitated over to her.

“Rainbow Dash, what part of we’re not trying to start a fight did you now understand? We don’t know what’s going on and we don’t want to rush into something that might be a trap. All we can do is wait for this Queen Nanako pony to explain what’s going on. Once she does that, we can explain how Cadence is the Crystal Empire’s true air to the throne and everything will be settled, okay?”

“Gah! Fine, but don’t say I didn’t say so when I suggested that we just charge in there and take the throne by force from Sombra.” She said before feeling herself placed on the ground and the alicorn’s magical grip loosening up.

“Something seems off about that pony,” Peter said as Sunset turned her attention to the spider knight.

“What do you mean? She seems normal-” Before she could finish, she turned her gaze on the earth pony as she noticed she was standing on her hind legs. “Oh…I see what you mean."

“I can only hold that pose for an hour or five depending, but it seems like she’s been doing it for years and has been used to it.”

“You think that person she mentioned has something to do with it?”

“If she does, then I can only assume that she’s just like me.”

“A human that was brought here by the same magic Twilight used to bring you here?” She asked as Peter nodded. “You think that King Sombra is using the human to change the ponies' physiology?”

“Hard to say, we need to get inside before we assume the worst.” He said before looking over at Amber, then above her as an idea appeared in his head. “Doesn’t seem like there's a barrier around the place, think you can keep her distracted while I climb over it to get a better view?”

“You can try, but I doubt you’ll make it far due to the archers shooting you down on sight,” Nanako said as she was behind Peter and Sunet. The moment they heard her voice, they quickly turned around to see the celestial being standing behind them with a mask covering her face. “Greetings inhabitants of this planet,” She said, which in turn caused Sunset to yell in fear as she teleported herself, Peter, and Rainbow Dash away from her and next to Cadence and the others. Upon seeing Nanako, Sunset, Shining Armor, Peter, Rainbow Dash, Cadence, and Applejack quickly stood in front of the ground as they took up some form of fighting stance and glared at Nanako. “Not the reaction I was going for, but I suppose it’s to be expected seeing how I was behind you all for a good couple of minutes. So you all must be the ponies that Poison Cross informed me about. Not going to lie, not doing a good job with the first impression.”

“W-Who or what are you?” Applejack asked, causing Nanako to huff.

“That’s kind of rude don’t you think? And here I thought gracing you with my presence would be a good thing seeing how I am the queen of this kingdom.” Nanako answered as she noticed their confused expressions.

“Wait, are you Queen Nanako?” Peter asked as the celestial being nodded.

“Indeed she is,” Amber said as she made her way over to Nanako. “Introducing Queen Nanako Otsutsuki, princess of the Otsutsuki Clan, Kingslayer of King Sombra, and the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire.” She said with confidence as Nanako rolled her eyes to her compliments.

“A bit much on the whole title aren’t you?”

“Well you are the one that defeated King Sombra, so why wouldn’t I hold you with such regard?”

“Just dial it down a bit in front of others if you don’t mind?” Nanako asked as she looked over at the ponies from Equestria. “Now back to the topic at hand, care to explain who you all are?”

“That’s queen Nanako?” Rarity asked as she looked at the celestial being up and down. “...If you don’t mind me asking, who is the tailor that designed that lovely outfit you have on?” She asked as her friends stared at her with deadpan expressions. “What? You can’t expect me not to ask somepony a question like that. I mean, the glowing aesthetic, the neighpon style clothes, and the mask…well not to my liking, but it does fit the theme well.”

“Aw, thanks. Nice to see someone taking an interest in my attire.”

“You made it all by yourself!? That’s even more impressive. Would you be willing to share some tips on-”
“Rarity, focus please?” Peter asked before focusing his gaze on Nanako, only to widen as Pinkie Pie began zooming around the celestial being with interest.

“Hi!I’mPiniePieandIliketosaywelcometoEquestriaandwhatareyou?Youdon’tlooklikeapony.Areyouan alien?Areyouaminotuar?Whydoyoulooklikesomeonefromneighpon-?” Before Pinkie Pie could continue, the celestial being placed a hand over the pink earth pony’s mouth before speaking up.

“Please refrain from talking so fast. While I can understand what you’re saying, others can’t.” She said before removing her hand from the pony’s mouth. “Now to answer your questions in order. I’m not a human or an alien…well, I suppose I would be classified as an alien due to being from space, but I am a celestial being for layman’s terms. As for my attire, I don't know what neighpon is, but this is an attire I made myself. You see I got the idea from-”

“Excuse me, but aren’t you forgetting something?” Cadence said as she and Shining Armor glared at the Nanako. “Just who are you and what happened to King Sombra?”

“Like Amber said, my name is Nanako Otsutsuki, the new ruler of the Crystal Empire. As for King Sombra, well let's just say he’ll be on early retirement for a long time…by early retirement, I mean he’s dead.” She said before noticing their shocked expressions.

“Y-You killed King Sombra?” asked Fluttershy, still hiding behind Applejack.

“I did give him the option to surrender, but he chose death over being in prison for the rest of his life.”

“And you couldn’t just let him spend the rest of his life in prison, or better yet reform him?” Peter asked as Nanako shrugged. “Don’t you at least feel sorry about taking another life?”

“...If I’m being honest, no, I don’t. I mean, would you rather have him here ready to kill you all? Because after looking at what he did to the ponies of the Crystal Empire, he’s better off dead than rot away in a dungeon, or plan something in the shadows to try and usurper me from the throne.”

“But there had to be a better way than just killing him.”

“What? With the power of friendship?”

“Well…yes,” Peter said, causing Nanako to stare at him for a moment before looking at the others. “Okay, saying it out loud might sound ridiculous. But trust me when I say this, that friendship is a powerful weapon.”

“You can’t be serious? You thought that the power of friendship was going to beat a corrupted unicorn with one thousand years of magic experience under his belt?”

“Well duh, we’re the Elements of Harmony!” Rainbow Dash said with her chest puffed out with pride. “We defeated countless enemies before you came along, and we could’ve beat King Sombra.”

“...Given what I’m seeing, only six of you can fight, the rest…yeah, I have my doubts you all could've taken King Sombra down. Not with such…naivety and luck on your side. Which isn’t what I call the best to have.”

“Hey! Watch it jerk! We’ve been defending Equestria for like, a long time. So don’t look down on us like we’re nothing!”

“I would watch your tongue pegasus. Otherwise, you’ll be sorry.” Amber said as she was about to take a step forward, but stopped due to seeing Nanako’s hand in front of her.

“Easy Amber, don’t bother trying to do anything violent like that rainbow hair pony was attempting to do.” She said before looking at Sunset. “I told you who I am, now you'll tell me who you all are or we’ll cut this conversation short and try again tomorrow when you’re more level-headed.”

“My name is Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset answered before pointing a hoof at the others. “These are my friends, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and P…Spider Knight.” She said as the only one that was waving at Nanako was Pinkie Pie, the others were either glaring at her or trying to avoid eye contact. “We were sent here by Princess Celestia to save the Crystal Empire from King Sombra, but it would appear that you’ve taken care of that.”

“I have my doubts that she did.” Rainbow Dash muttered before feeling Sunset elbow her in the ribs lightly.

“Nevertheless, the Princess would be grateful that the Crystal Empire is freed from King Sombra, and Princess Cadence can take her position as Princess of the Crystal Empire.” She said before noticing some of the ponies working on the walls of the empire. “Though I get the feeling that you had something to do with the way the empire looks now?”

“For the most part. I mean the moment I touched the crystal heart, the entire place changed along with it having a giant forest that I’m assuming you all came out of thanks to those signs I left behind. Right now we’re in the process of reenforcing the walls and setting up defenses for possible invaders.”

“...Wait, you found the crystal heart!?” Cadence yelled as Nanako nodded. “But how? Princess Celestia and Princess Luna couldn’t find the crystal heart themselves, how were you able to find it?”

“He hid it inside the throne in a secret room.” She answered as the pink alicorn stared at her with a dumbfounded expression. “Don’t see why people assume it would be someplace far away like a library or underneath the castle. But yeah, sound the crystal heart, touch it, and boom. I became the ruler of the Crystal Empire.”

“Well that and we pretty much want to see how well she does…so far she’s doing a really good job. At least in my opinion.” Amber added.

“...W-Well, while I can understand the situation you ended up in for the most part. I think there might be a problem with that.” Sunset said as Nanako and Amber raised an eyebrow at her before hearing Shining Armor speaking.

“My wife, Princess Cadence is the sole heir to the throne of Princess Amore, which means that she’s the rightful ruler of the Empire.”

“Excuse me, but we already have a ruler, and it’s Queen Nanako. And with all due respect, your wife can’t be our ruler seeing how she didn’t save us from a tyrant.” Amber said before hearing Rainbow Dash speak up.

“Well too bad, 'cause the real ruler is her.” She said before looking over at Nanako. “So get your stuff and leave, chop, chop, buddy.”

“Rainbow Dash, don’t be rude.” said Rarity before looking over at Nanako. “Please forgive my friend’s rudeness. She tends to be a bit…straightforward when it comes to certain stuff.”

“I’m sure we can work something out with the Princesses. If you were to come with us and explain to them what happened, I’m sure they'd be willing to make some commendation to live in Ponyville or something.” Peter said as the celestial being shook her head.

“While I can understand her distrust and attitude towards me, I can’t simply up and leave. Especially seeing how I’m stuck here due to a magic book that’s no longer working, and because I’m here to help improve and make the crystal ponies able to stand on their own once I make sure they can stand on their two hooves.” Nanako said before patting Amber’s head. “And with all due respect, what makes you think she’s fit to run a Kingdom? Just because someone is the heir, doesn’t mean they’re capable of running a kingdom. Not only that, I was elected by the ponies to be their leader, so giving the throne over to a mare that appeared out of the blue might not go so well.”

“Yeah, right. You expect us to believe that the ponies elected you?” said Rainbow Dash. “For all we know, you could be using some kind of mind control spell just to make them elect you or something.”

“...Nanako, can I please knock this jerk down a peg or two?” Amber asked as the celestial being shook her head.

“She can assume all she wants. All that matters is that I’m the current ruler of this place. And unless you can do something about it, there’s nothing you all can do about it.”

“You can’t do that.” Shining Armor said. “This kingdom was once part of Equestria and the princess sent us to reclaim it.”

“Well, to put it in layman’s terms and how your rainbow-colored friend would say. Too bad, you’ll have to find some other hunk of land to rule over. So, chop, chop~,” She said before noticing their dumbfounded expressions. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to. Come back when you have a better attitude, or camp out in front of the entrance until tomorrow when we talk again.”

“Wait!” Sunset yelled, causing Nanako to pause and look over at her. “I understand that you’re the…new ruler of the Crystal Empire, but does the empire have an Ambassador to represent itself in Canterlot besides you?” She asked, causing Nanako and Amber to look at each other.

“Hm, we never did assign someone as an ambassador for the Crystal Empire did we?”

“I figure Umbra was an ambassador for the Crystal Empire?” Amber asked, causing Nanako to shake her head.

“No, she’s more of an advisor than an ambassador. Plus given her…suicidal tendency, she’s not suited for that role as an ambassador…yet.”

“Which brings me to a suggestion,” Sunset continued. “Have my friend, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, be the representative of the Empire. In addition, Shining Armor, who is the captain of the royal guard, can help with training your military.”

“Hm, while that is a good idea, there’s a bit of an issue. I don’t trust you guys one bit. Even more so thanks to your rainbow-colored friend there for the disrespect.” Nanako said, which caused some of them to deadpan at Rainbow Dash, who in turn snorted and looked away in annoyance. “If you want me to trust you, then you’ll have to gain my trust. And I can tell you this much, it’s going to be hard to do that.

“Hm, then perhaps we need to prove it differently.” Shining Armor said before moving towards Nanako. “How about we settle this in a duel?” He asked, which took everyone by surprise except Nanako as a look of interest appeared on her face.

“Hm, interesting, going with the whole “action speaks louder than words” approach?” She asked as the stallion nodded. “You got guts kid, something that empire smiles upon. But are you sure you want to fight me? I did take down King Sombra, and you don’t know much about me.”

“I can say the same to you as well. So I say we’re both on even terms of not knowing who can do what.”

“Hm, suppose that’s fair,” Nanako said before looking at Amber. “Is the training ground still open?”

“Well it’s still early in the day, so yes, it’s still open.”

“Perfect, then we’ll have the battle there,” Nanako said as she motioned for Shining Armor and the others to follow after her. “Try not to disappoint me, kid.”