Spiders and Magic: The Kesshōkage of The Crystal Empire

Chapter Seven

Plans are in the Works

“Well, that went better than expected,” Umbra said as she and Nanako were walking down the hallway of the crystal castle.

“Well having the king’s dead body set on fire and stating my intentions also helped,” Nanako said as she cracked her neck due to how stiff it was. “I wasn’t expecting the conversation to last this long.”

“You did go into great detail about who you were and your messed up family of planet-eating aliens. Which was a risky gamble if you ask me.”

“Better be truthful now, then for it to come out later and have everyone shun me or worse. Plus, I’m pretty sure no one here would judge me considering what they’ve done over the years of Sombra’s ruling.”

“Fair point…still aren’t you worried that your family might come here and try to eat this planet?” Umbra asked as Nanako paused upon hearing this. The dark unicorn would sense malice coming from the celestial being as a smile appeared on her face.

“I would kill them, and possibly eat them if given the chance.” She said which caused Umbra to blink in surprise by this. “I made it clear to them that I wasn’t going to go and make chakra fruits out of planets with sentient life on them. Should they do that, then I have no problem going genocide on their asses just to prove a point.”

“...Didn’t think you had a side like this.”

“When you've been around for a long time like you have, you tend to learn a lot and experience things that will change your mindset and opinion of things.” She said as the malice Umbra was sensing vanished instantly. “Anyway, you said earlier before meeting the masses that I had another meeting with a group of ponies?”

“The ten generals of the empire. For years, my father would pick ten ponies to serve him should one of them die off due to age or him killing them. Bear in mind, try not to take their hostility to heart, they’re so used to dealing with my father that they might come off as rude at times.”

“Noted,” Nanako turned her attention to the huge door that she and Umbra appeared in front of. “I guess this is the meeting room?”

“Indeed it is,” Umbra answered as she pushed the double doors open to the meeting. The ponies inside the room turned their attention to Nanako and Umbra as they entered the room. “Greetings, I have brought to you our new ruler. Nanako Otsutsuki.” She said as she pointed a hoof at Nanako; who simply just smiled and waved awkwardly.

“So you’re the creature that took out Sombra,” Blazeheart said as he looked at Nanako up and down. “Hard to believe someone like you could take down Sombra.”

“Given what Umbra showed us. I’m not surprised~” Northstar said as she grinned in excitement. “A being from beyond the stars. I would love to examine you from head to toe~” She said, which caused Nanako to move a bit closer to Umbra.

“Don’t mind her, she tends to be a bit excited when meeting new ponies. Or in your case, a new creature.” Mayfield said. “Pleasure to meet you by the way.”

“Likewise,” Nanako said before looking over at the group of ponies. “Umbra informed me about every one of you and the field you work in. I can only assume you all were only able to due to the bare minimum because of Sombra being a paranoid idiot?”

“Bit of an understatement, but accurate given the dead bodies in the prison cells and on the streets,” said Thunder Hoof as stuck his tongue out in disgust. “Made me sick that I couldn’t do anything about it at the time.”

“Well he’s dead, so you don’t have to worry about having dead bodies around the empire and castle. Speaking of dead bodies. What of those who couldn’t survive Sombra’s mind control spell?” Nanako asked.

“Currently the bodies are being held within the medical wing of the castle. We’re planning on burying them in about a month or two once we locate a proper burial ground for them to rest in.”

“When you do find a resting place for them, I will be the one to bury them all,” Nanako said as everyone in the room was surprised by this.

“As…interesting as that is. I don’t think someone of your status should-”

“You think I care about what my status is? I may be a queen, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to sit on my ass and have you all do the work alone.” She said before moving closer to the group of generals. “You all have stagnated, pushed to the side to rust, and forced to agree with an idiot king for too long. I want generals who aren’t afraid to speak their minds when they see something wrong. I want ponies who are willing to come after my head if I end up becoming a monster. I want ponies to be able to stand together even if the kingdom falls. I will see to it that you all grow strong together and I will be the one to do it.”

“Care to explain how you’re going to do that?” Freeze said with an unamused expression on his face. “It’s not like you can be in two places at once.”

“Oh I believe I can~” A smirk appeared on Nanako’s face as she clapped her hands together. “Shadow clone jutsu!” She yelled as a cloud of smoke engulfed the room which in turn caused everyone to cough while covering their eyes. As the smoke started to disappear, their eyes widened upon seeing multiple copies of their queen spread around the room. “Still think I can’t be in two places at once?”

“....Okay, that answers a few of my questions.” He said before looking at Umbra. “Did you know she could do that?”

“No…though it doesn’t surprise me that she can do that given the fight she had with my father.”

“I can make as many copies as needed to assist those in need of my vast knowledge,” Nanako said before making the clones vanish. “While I wouldn’t mind answering a few of your personal questions. I would like to get down to business with how I would like things to run for this empire. You ten are the smartest ponies in the field you’re working in. With the curse keeping this place hidden from the world, we need to focus on the kingdom’s basic needs.”

“And those basic needs are?” Loyalty asked.

“Knowledge, power, and defenses. We don’t know what’s going on in the outside world, and I am planning on taking a look around once we have this place up to code. But we need to be prepared for anything that might come for this place. Hence the rule I added for everyone in the empire to learn how to fight.” She said before looking at those in the military department. “That’s where you guys come in, I’ll be handing you all a set of books for you and the rest of the ponies to look over and practice. I’m making it a mandatory thing for them to show me what they’ve learned by the end of this week. This includes you all as well.”

“Hm, I take it these books are for hoof-to-hoof combat training?” Emerald asked as Nanako nodded.

“It’s taijutsu from my home planet. These moves will be difficult to perform, but I’m sure you’ll be able to get the hang of it over time.” She said before reaching into her sleeve to pull out a small book, which she then tossed over to the green mane pegasus. Emerald used her wing to catch the book as she looked inside to read its contents.

“Hm…Interesting set of moves. I’ll see what I can do with this, but I can’t make any promises.”

“Perfect,” Nanako said as she looked over at Thunder Hoof and handed him a small book as well. “Thunder Hoof, you’re a construction expert, right? Think you’ll be able to recreate the stuff in that book.” She asked as the earth pony quickly read some of the information within the book.

“Shouldn’t be that hard to pull off with the stored material we have in the storage houses we never used.” Thunder Hoof said as he placed the book in the saddle bag he was carrying. “I’ll have to ask the engineers and Blazeheart if they can make the mechanical parts.”

“Which brings me to Blazeheart’s smithy and Mayfield’s technological knowledge,” Nanako said as she now focused her attention on the stallion and unicorn. “I need you both to work on making what I like to call scientific ninja tools. I have the blueprints and materials for you both, and I will guide you both on how to make it. That is if you’re willing to let me help?”

“Never thought I would be the first stallion to make weapons from beyond the stars. This should be an interesting challenge to test out my skills.” Blazeheart said as he heard the blue unicorn giggle in excitement.

“Oh~! Alien technology! How can I not pass up an opportunity like that!” She said with interest. “I was only limited to making radios and small trinkets, having something like this would boost my skills in that field.”

“The king of stagnation strikes again,” Nanako said in sarcasm. “Whatever weapons and armor you two can make, give them to the knights suited to use them. Loyalty, Rusty, Emerald, and Freeze. I need you to pick your most skilled and trustworthy ponies to train them in taijutsu.”

“Consider it done,” Freeze said before hearing Hailu speak up.

“I take it you have something for me to do, dear?” she asked as the celestial being spoke.

“I’m giving you access to the library and free range of anything plants and drugs for medical purposes. You’re also free to leave the empire to explore the local plant life around. That is if you can defend yourself on your own?”

“Oh, you’re willing to let somepony like me free to roam around~?” Haiku asked in a teasing tone. “I could just leave with my family and never return.”

“If that is what you want, then I’ll allow it.” She answered before looking at the others. “This also applies to the rest of you as well. You’re free to leave at any time you want. Given what you all went through, I do not blame you for leaving. But I would like for you to train someone to replace you if you’re planning on leaving.”

Hm, interesting offer.” Haiku said before making her way over to Nanako. “But I think I’ll stay a bit longer. I’m curious as to how far you’ll go as our new ruler. Will you lead us into a new era, or will you fall from grace like King Sombra? I want to see with my own eyes as to how this plays out.”

“I take it you’re staying then?”

“For now, yes. Plus it seems my daughter Amber has taken an interest in you as a friend. So I will give you a chance to prove your worth to me and do my duty as your general…though if I can make a suggestion, I would like to have a separate workstation far away from Northstar.”

“Is there a reason why?”

“I prefer not to look over my shoulder and see a mad mare trying to take a blood or hair sample from me.” She said before glaring at the mare, who was grinning and showing off her sharp teeth.

“It’s not my fault you have such interesting features that pique my interest. I mean, where on Equis have you seen a pony with multiple fox tails that can be used as extra limbs? You can’t expect me not to try and find out who or what you are~.”

“See what I mean?” Haiku asked as the celestial being nodded.

“I’ll allow it…mainly because I have a feeling that I’m gonna end up in the same situation you’re in given my…alien nature.”

“Oh come on, I would never do anything to harm our queen…within the lines of not killing them.”

“....Well…I know now that I’ll have to sleep with one eye open now.” Nanako said as she shuddered at the thought of her being experimented on…again. “Anyway, you have your orders on how I want things to be run. Show me some progress within a week so I can make sure what I’m seeing is correct and good. Does anyone else have any questions they would like for me to answer?” She asked as the ponies shook their heads. “Good, then this meeting is done for today. You’re free to go as you please.” With that, the ponies would make their way out of the meeting room, leaving behind Umbra and Nanako to talk.

“Well, that was a productive meeting…been a long time since we had one without someone getting their head cut off,” Umbra said as she noticed Nanako letting out a sigh of relief.

“I’m just glad it didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would.” She said before stretching her back a bit. “If there isn’t anything else going on, I’m gonna have a look outside the empire. Mainly because I’ll need to set plans to create a path for ponies to walk on so they don’t get lost.”

“Hm, I suppose that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Don’t want ponies to end up getting eaten by the giant bugs in the forest.”

“We have a forest now?”

“Seems like it from what we got from the pegasus scouts before the meeting. How long will you be out?”

“Possible until nighttime. Having a group of clones to scout the area will help see how the others will be busy.” She said before making her way to a nearby window as she opened it.

“I’ll inform the others of your absence. But do try not to wander off too far, you are our queen after all.” Umbra said as she watched the celestial being casually flop out the window before seeing her fly off into the distance.