900 LIKES!!! SMoTE Deleted Content, and Q&A. · 4:31pm Jan 31st, 2021
Thank you. I don’t know what else to say aside from thank you. I’ll be honest, I’ve seen a few comments that said we’d get here, but I didn’t really expect this to happen so soon. I mean… 900 likes. That means that 900 people read my story and enjoyed it enough to leave a like.
Over 800 people… I don’t know why, but I didn’t think about the implications of having that many likes. Over 800 people, each with unique personalities and traits, people I may never meet directly, read my story and enjoyed it.
I’m so happy to know that. Thank you all you favoriting, liking, commenting, and just reading SMoTE. I can’t say it enough. As a gift, enjoy some deleted content from the story that won’t make it in.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting to hit 900 before Chapter 34, so the deleted content from chapter 34 is in here as well. Nothing here is canon, so no spoilers… I think? I mean, I do plan on reusing the ideas used in the deleted interaction from Chapter 26, but I’ll just reincorporate it for another character. And like I mentioned, there’s nearly 2/3 of a chapter of deleted content for chapter 34. So, just skip those if you’re actually really worried about possible spoilers.
Finally, post any questions you have about the story in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! Thanks again!
(An extra that would have been added to Chapter 15, where Skeletor judged a pie contest. While I was writing the bread interaction and working my way to this scene, I realized, “Hey, they probably don’t have the ingredients for full on pies ready, plus this scene is actually pretty gross,” so I dropped it. Warning, it describes Skeletor puking. Skip if you don’t want to be grossed out or are uncomfortable with descriptions of vomit.)
“Oh god, I regre-LEGH! BLUGH!” Vomit erupted from Lord Skeletor’s throat as a menagerie of crystal berry, chocolate, key-lime, and crystal carrot pies flowed from his jaw freely, landing inside of his porcelain throne back at his castle.
“Oh god, IT CAME OUT MY NOSE HOLE!” Lord Skeletor screamed feebly as more chunks of pie joined their brothers.
“There, there, my lord, let it all out.” Emerald Secret consoled as she patted her master on the back.
“O-ho-ho God! I-is that corn? Who put co-B-BLEGH!” Lord Skeletor asked as he glanced at the colorful mess inside the bowl.
“Out of curiosity, my lord, who do you think won?” Emerald Secret asked as a nervous and jovial smile gently touched her muzzle.
The sound of Lord Skeletor emptying his insides was all the response she received as the Crystal lord buried his head further into his porcelain throne.
“… Congratulate the chocolate pie mare… And get me some water…” Lord Skeletor weakly commanded his advisor. Emerald Secret simply nodded before trotting off to deliver the news to Cinnamon Sweet about her victory and fetching a glass of water for Lord Skeletor.
(Originally at the end of Chapter 26. Removed because I didn’t think that Sombra impersonating Princess Amore would have translated well to the audience at the time. Though, fuck me, some of you were theorizing about this even without this bit added in the chapter. Also, removing this allowed Crumb Catcher to be his own character, rather than a henchman for another. I felt good about discarding this because I could explore CC in different ways, allowing him to become more than just a pony that very few people like. I decided to reuse this idea on Cannon Fodder to both make him relevant again and make him and Sombra a real threat to the Empire. It’s lost its “What a Twist!” potential since a lot of comments have already predicted it, so I won’t drag out the suspense for the audience. A lot of you are smart enough to know the “twist” before it’s even revealed.
The usually quiet halls of the Crystal Castle were filled with rampant whispers about what was happening outside. A few miles away from the center of the Crystal Empire, on the edge of what was left of the Crystal Pony Kingdom, something unknown to them had arrived. Hushed conversations about another deity like Skeletor arriving, to teary confessions of fear that something was invading their recently freed home were passed between the guards and maids who rushed through the halls. As ponies continued to either silently panic or boast their hopes, a is single stallion remained calm in the face of the unknown, because only he knew the exact truth.
Only one stallion was blessed with the gift of the truth, an he alone carried the burden of keeping it a secret from those who quietly worried. He was the only one who had been given the truth, the one who had been chosen to lead a revolution against the self proclaimed “Master of Evil,” a stallion of cunning wit who held his true allegiances close to his barrel. The Royal Spy Master, Crumb Catcher, was the only one who knew that a new age was coming to the Crystal Empire.
Crumb Catcher was blessed with knowledge that nopony in the entire Empire possessed. He knew who and what their supposed “lord” was. He knew that the one who claimed to be the rightful ruler of a kingdom in Tartarus, the demon who openly gloated to the Empire about his ability to deceive the princess while wearing the face of a monster, was really King Sombra. The dark ruva had faked his own death to trick the crystal ponies so that he could use their love and admiration to fuel the barrier over the Empire. And when he was in the privacy of his own room, the demonic ruva gloated to the empty walls about how his deception had been carried out flawlessly.
It was an ingenious ploy, tricking three ponies into believing they saw the death of Sombra when, in reality, Sombra had actually just bludgeoned a grey crystal pony stallion of a similar build to death until his face and skull were no longer recognizable. Sombra had convinced the entire Empire that he was dead, and he protected himself behind a wall of lies that could never be knocked down by any average crystal pony. But, at that moment, there was something the the king of evil would have never expected. The return of the Alicorn sisters.
Unfortunately, his gift of knowledge was both a blessing and a curse. He was forced to keep his tongue held down and leave the ponies of the Empire to keep guessing about what would happen, and was only allowed to give the guards a vague warning so that Sombra could not be privy to what he knew.
As he lamented his inability to leap for joy openly at their return, he returned to his quarters to briefly rest before the sisters would descend upon the castle to slay the horrible beast. As the Royal Spy Master, Crumb Catcher was given the previous Spy Master's room, the central hub of every hidden hallway and path in the castle, the heart that hung directly above the throne room.
Unlike the other offices and rooms for the rest of the council members, the Royal Spy Master's suite was a fortress of enchantments and spells to keep it hidden away from prying eyes, with enough magical defenses and shields to hold off a teenage dragon. During Sombra's initial rise to power, the previous Royal Spy Master, Star Shine, used that room as a safe house for the palace staff who were privy to the secret passageways. Under the cover of Princess Luna's night, the thestral Spy Master would search the Empire for non-enslaved thestrals to take back to her room, allowing a great number of thestrals to hide right above Sombra's throne room. After gathering enough guards and civilians under her command, the previous Spy Master launched an attack on the ruva to allow hundreds of thestrals to fly away while he was distracted. She and the other thestrals knew that their plan was suicidal, but she still went through with it to make sure her race was safe.
It was unclear to Crumb Catcher as to what happened to her afterwards, since everything he knew about her, from her daily life to her last plan, was left in the pages of her own private journal. If he were were forced to make a guess about what happened to the old Royal Spy Master, he would have optimistically hoped that she leapt on her own blade before Sombra took the reigns of her mind. While Crumb Catcher would openly chastise the previous Spy Master for failing to protect the princess, he would also internally praise her for her sacrifice that day. It was one of the few traits he appreciated in the thestral mare, and it was something that he wished to share with the rest of the Crystal Empire, so that she would be remembered in history for her brave sacrifice.
Alas, until the demonic ruva was dethroned and beheaded, he would have to carry her story in his heart and keep it a secret as well. With so many secrets weighing on his soul, he felt that he could collapse from fatigue at any given moment. But, luckily for the Royal Spy Master, there was something that gave him hope for the future. Or rather, there was somepony who gave him the hope he so desperately needed.
“Your end is near, Sombra,” he boasted as he entered the sanctuary of his private office. Even with the guaranteed safety of the enchantments that surrounded the room, the Royal Spy Master felt hesitant to raise his voice above a low whisper.
The many hidden passageways in his office were covered by large wooden doors with several reinforced enchantments placed on them, allowing only those with the proper clearance to pass through his personal domain. A gentle breeze from outside the castle found its way into his office through the passageways specifically designed for thestrals. Their passageways were larger in size but fewer in number for their wings to fit through, which allowed thestral guards to come and go with ease as they made their nightly reports. Unfortunately, because of the atrocities committed by Sombra during his reign in the body of a ruva, the passageways were filled with dust and cobwebs due to the near extinction of one of the five remaining mortal pony races.
Aside from the many doors, holes, and bookcases filled with reports from previous Royal Spy Masters, the only items of note were his deck and a large dresser that held the weight of a luxurious mirror. He gazed longingly into the ancient silver mirror, committing the intricate designs on the frame to memory as he felt a great sense of pride swelling up inside of him. Crumb Catcher bowed deeply to the dresser that sat in his room, displaying his loyalty to the only pony he would ever follow.
“The ones who will lead an assault on the demon have returned. It is all as you foretold, your highness,” he praised. As he closed his eyes and prostrated himself to the mirror, he heard a voice that could cause brutal storms to be silenced with a whisper, the voice of a true goddess, the sweet and delicate voice of the one who warned him of Sombra's new identity as Skeletor, the voice of his beloved princess.
“Excellent work, my loyal pony. You may rise,” she commanded.
The Royal Spy Master, and faithful servant to the true princess, looked up in admiration at the silver mirror, staring into the enchanting emerald colored eyes of Princess Amore as she looked down on him. Her brilliant green eyes outshined the amber colored jewels that decorated her platinum crown, sparkling with an unspeakable sense of love and affection that she felt for her subjects. The only thing more beautiful than her gaze was the delicate smile that decorated her muzzle, a delighted smile that could easily calm the primal rage of dragons, and a smile that Crumb Catcher valued more than anything else in his life.
“You have done very well so far, my subject, better than I could have hoped for in fact,” his wonderful goddess praised.
“I live only to serve, your highness. I thank you for choosing me to be your soldier in the fight against evil. Once the demon is slain, we can reveal you to the Empire once more.”
“I truly wish that I could, but I cannot,” she suddenly lamented without warning.
A large sense of confusion suddenly washed over the Royal Spy Master as he heard his goddess sigh. Panic clung to his heart like a vicious parasite, draining him of any hope for a small second before a wave of questions drowned his reasonable sense of worry.
“But… But the plan—“
“Will go on as expected,” his highness interrupted, causing her most loyal subject to fall silent in an instant. “Rest assured. you’ve done well to aide me in my release. When Sombra flaunted his ability to change shape to the masses and revealed his true wickedness to the crystal ponies, I knew there was nopony else I could rely on aside from you. Your initial disloyalty to the disguised tyrant made you one of the very few ponies I could trust. You’ve done excellently, my loyal subject, and I am pleased that I placed my faith in you.”
“Of course, I will do whatever is needed to aide you, your highness. But, why wouldn't we immediately share the good news that you're alive?”
“Because we cannot be sure that my cousins will prevail. Should they fail, it's likely that he would take their forms and masquerade as them. Should that happen, I will need you to help me defeat him in a more direct manner. Sombra’s curse still weighs heavily on me, and so long as he lives in the form of Skeletor, I am bound to this reflective prison. While my spirit is able to roam the halls of my castle, and I can deliver you valuable information, I can only speak through this silver mirror.”
“I'm certain that your cousins will succeed, your highness.”
“I hope they do. But, if they fail, I will need you to rally an army to overthrow him once more.”
“If such a terrible fate shall befall the Empire, then I will avenge them without hesitation, your highness. Ever since you revealed yourself to me, I have sworn to help you with all I have. Be at ease, your highness, I will carry out your orders and deliver a swift death to the disguised tyrant,” he solemnly promised.
“I am sure you will, my loyal subject. I promise, that in return for your devotion and loyalty to me, you will be handsomely rewarded once the Empire is freed, and I will have what is rightfully mine.”
With those words, the true ruler of the Crystal Empire faded into nothing, allowing the mirror to return to its normal state as a reflective decoration. Crumb Catcher looked upon the mirror with a smile on his muzzle, gazing lovingly into his reflection for a few moments before a serious expression crossed his face. While he was disappointed that the princess’ return wouldn’t be immediate, he knew that it would only be a matter of time.
History would smile upon him and use him as an example of the most noble of souls, the one who would pave the path for the Princess of Love to retake her empire.
(Outtake from Chapter 31. This scene was eventually replaced by Avid Value’s perspective. I felt like the scene here had Skeletor shift from one emotion to another too quickly. So, I allowed this to happen off screen and had him talk with Avid Value instead. I thought that the character interaction allowed them to develop more as separate characters and as possible friends.)
Skeletor sat on the edge of his bed, resting his skull against the palm of his hand as he played loose memories of his time as the Empire’s lord in his mind. His limbs felt heavier than usual, and his skull felt like a gentle wave was repeatedly crashing into the walls of his mind.
Skeletor thought he would feel relieved, or at the very least hopeful for the Empire once he abdicated the throne, but he didn’t. He wouldn’t dare to say that he felt sad about his decision to abdicate the throne, and he wouldn’t think if saying that he felt numb. He simply didn’t understand what emotion he was feeling.
He tried to find a reason to bounce off the walls in joy, to leap out of his bed and skip around the room, or to at least feel a smile grace his malleable jaw. Skeletor waited for his spirits to rise, for reality to finally settle in and fill his with an immense amount of joy. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the happiness he longed for.
He had gotten almost everything he could want, a way off of the throne and a possible way back home, along with the added bonus of having human contact again. Skeletor knew that he should have been happy, but he just wasn’t.
The reasons he planned to list for being happy shriveled away as if they never existed, and any attempts to ignite the spark of his hope for returning home was dampened by the bitter memories he made in the Empire. It felt like every memory he had had been wasted.
As he fell to his bed and stared at the fabric that was draped on the four posters of the bed, a wandering thought taunted him with the many changes that would happen because of his abdication.
He suddenly realized that it wasn’t his room anymore. Soon, Princess Cadence and Prince Armor would occupy his old room, claiming it as their own while he would hopefully be provided a room in the castle. Skeletor thought of asking Emerald where his new room would be, but tossed that idea aside after he considered how busy she would be with the new royal couple.
He wondered about who he was actually supposed to ask for help now that he wasn’t the Empire’s leader. He obviously couldn’t trouble Princess Cadence or her husband with a trivial matter like where his new room would be, and he wasn’t sure if he was actually allowed to bother any of the council members with his problems. Pulling a random maid aside would probably help, but then he began to wonder just how much a random maid could help him.
Skeletor’s thoughts were soon occupied with questions regarding how he would plan to spend the rest of his days in the Empire. He doubted that he would be allowed to remain a jobless bum that mooched off of the royal family, sooner or later he would be expected to do something to earn his life in the castle.
Even though he didn’t have any skin on his skull, Skeletor would have sworn that he felt his features physically pale as more thoughts and questions began to swarm his once calm mind.
“What the fuck am I going to do?” He groaned, bringing his hands to his skull to rub his face.
With great reluctance, Skeletor brought himself off of his bed to let his sockets wander the royal bedroom. The room was still in the same condition that his attempts at magic had left it. A frozen pillar of ice in the corner that held a pile of partially scorched red fur cloaks. The once plentiful bookshelf that offered dozens of spells had lost a small number of ancient tomes and gained several patchworks of books that would fill the gaps in the shelves. A gentle breeze fluttered in through the shattered window that Skeletor had destroyed on his first night in the Empire. The gaping hole in his wall had been hidden by a pair of curtains that he managed to steal from an empty room in the castle. Finally, Skeletor turned his attention to the broken wardrobe that once held a large mirror.
The sight of the once magical mirror brought a delicate smile to his jaw. It was so small that not even Skeletor noticed the corners of his upper jaw as it shifted by fractions of inches. If there was one good thing that came out of his abdication, it would be that Sombra’s soul would finally be removed from the Crystal Empire. Skeletor had no way of knowing if the advancement of magic had allowed ponies to exorcise evil spirits but he still chose to believe that they did, regardless of how little he understand their society.
He almost felt like gloating to the undead stallion, but chose to remain silent instead imagined the pony equivalent of the Ghost Busters shooting Sombra with magic lasers. With that pleasant thought in his mind, Skeletor found a reprieve from his stomach-turning feelings.
As he played the Ghost Busters theme in his mind, using Sombra’s screams to accentuate certain parts, Skeletor lifted himself off of the royal mattress, intent on cleaning up the mess that he had left after his studies.
There would be time to lament his decision and worry about the future later. At the moment, it was time to be thankful.
(Outtake and deleted dialogue from Chapter 31 which eventually became partial dialogue for Chapter 32. While it felt right at the time, I later realized that I had essentially shelfed (turns out shelf can’t be a past tense verb) a good antagonist and made all of his actions before this moment moot and pointless. So, I went for a more antagonistic approach complete with a good monologue and tried to flesh him out more in Chapter 32. I also took him out of Chapter 31 because I didn’t feel like it fit in with the atmosphere of the prior scenes established in this chapter.)
Bitter rage burned inside General Cannon Fodder as he was dragged off by four larger than average guards.
His plan to storm the council room and demand an explanation for what had happened during his absence was instantly thwarted when he passed the threshold of the castle. Without a word, the general was plucked out of his small group of returning guards and carried away to the secret passages that the maids used. The general made sure to not go quietly, demanding both his release and an immediate explanation from the guards. However, the guards remained silent as a fifth member trotted over to the guards the general had brazed the storm with, explaining that the general was being temporarily detained for some minor infraction.
The general thrashed about as they carried him off, struggling against the steel chains that bound his legs together. Cannon Fodder briefly worried that the demon had found out about his attempt at regicide or that Crumb Catcher had failed at his own attempts and blamed Cannon Fodder. Either way, Cannon Fodder was fairly certain that he was going to be unfairly executed by the demonic monster.
After several minutes of maneuvering through the cramped corridors that were littered throughout the castle, the guards led him to a staircase that was hidden behind an illusion spell. It only took Cannon Fodder a second to recognized where the path led to, causing his bitter hatred for a certain blue furred stallion to swell with immense rage.
He remembered using the exact same path that they followed, and he knew where it would end. It was a room that belonged to a dear friend, and it was a place that was given to a lecherous snake.
Unlike the other offices and rooms for the rest of the council members, the Royal Spy Master's suite was a fortress of enchantments and spells to keep it hidden away from prying eyes, with enough magical defenses and shields to hold off a teenage dragon. It was a fortress of power, the silent symbol of the Empire’s strength and devotion to Princess Amore.
The room itself was located directly above the throne room, acting as a hub for spies from across the Empire to converge and deliver information to the Royal Spy Master. The placement of the room was supposed to represent the duty of the Spy Master to always watch over Princess Amore, protecting her from threats that the princess would be ill-prepared for. However, that meaning died with the princess, turning the room into a shadow of its former glory as the new Spy Master was ordered to protect a false king.
After the guards forcefully shoved him through the doors of the Royal Spy Master’s suite, he stood in the center of the empty room and allowed his eyes to travel across the familiar setting.
The walls were covered with enough books to make it seem like a part of the Royal Archives, each one containing secrets and knowledge about the Empire that could only be shared between the Spy Master and the princess. While the ancient books of the Royal Archives had been locked to their shelves with heavy chains, the ones inside the Spy Master’s Suite were unbound from any heavy metal, only relying on the enchantments placed on them by the most skilled mages amount the Ruva Kingdom.
A lingering memory of Star Shine’s crude joke came to Cannon Fodder as he glanced at the largest book on one of the lower shelves. He couldn’t remember how their conversation led up to that vulgar joke, but he remembered how much he blanched at the thought of a book containing a detailed description of Princess Amore’s, “romps,” with her concubines.
As his eyes traveled up the tall shelves, he saw the many boring holes that filled the ring of the ceiling. A thick layer of webs obscured most of the thestral passageways, causing the general to almost miss some of them at a casual glance. He wondered if the heavy webs implied that Star Shine had actually died at the beginning of Sombra’s reign, just like Emerald had told him.
He didn’t want to believe that she died so easily that day. A piece of him hoped that she would have used the room as a safe house for the palace staff who were privy to the secret passageways. He wanted to think that the thestral Spy Master would search the Empire for non-enslaved thestrals to take back to her suite under the cover of night. But, if the dust and webs above him were any indication, then it was a misguided hope.
It wasn’t as if he had hoped that she was still alive, it was much simpler than that. He had just hoped that she went out on her own terms, fighting Sombra with her last breath so that she wouldn’t become one of his many toys to torture. It was what she would have wanted.
The sound of the door opening behind him drew Cannon Fodder’s attention away from his memories as he turned to look at the shameful replacement that Star Shine had left behind. The two guards who had positioned themselves at either side of the door nodded to Crumb Catcher before leaving, allowing the Spy Master and the General of the Crystal Guard to be alone.
“Hello, General Fodder. I apologize for making you wait,” Crumb Catcher said in a neutral tone of voice as he trotted past Cannon Fodder to sit behind the ivory desk that was positioned behind and above the throne beneath the Spy Master’s suite. Just like the room itself, the seat and desk were a symbol that boldly declared that there would always be a watchful eye to keep the princess safe, a symbol that had been tainted by the stallion behind it and the demon under it. “How was your expedition to the Ruva Kingdom? I assume something caused you to return earlier than anticipated. Were there any issues?”
“Stop with the ‘pleasantries,’ Crumb. You better have an explanation for this,” Cannon Fodder demanded.
“Rest assured, I only had your best interests at heart,” Crumb Catcher said as he lifted a placating hoof in the air. “I had you escorted here to prevent you from… Making a mess. Apologies, I tried to find a less insulting phrase, but that was all that came to mind. I’m glad that the guards were quick to carry out my orders.”
“Who do you think you are?! You can’t order my guards around. I’ll—“
“Do what, General Fodder?” Crumb Catcher interrupted as he rose from his seat. “Because I must warn you, you’re not in a position to make threats to anypony, let alone myself. So, enlighten me General Fodder, what would you do if I found this amusing?”
“Don’t think you can threaten me, colt! I’m the general of the guards, for Faust’s sakes.”
“Are you sure about that? If so, then why did none of the guards who escorted you listen to a single thing you said?” He asked in a mockingly innocent tone of voice, as if he was a colt asking where snow came from.
Cannon Fodder wouldn’t dare to admit it out loud, but Crumb Catcher was right. Whatever control he had over the guards had vanished in the time he went to search for the Ruva Kingdom. He felt his teeth scream out in frustration as he began to grit them, however, that didn’t deter him from scowling at the blue coated stallion.
“I brought you here to discuss your plans for dethroning Skeletor,” Crumb Catcher informed him as he sat back in his chair. “Since he is not currently sitting on the throne, I thought it would be best too give you a strong recommendation. Leave him be and don’t speak with him.”
“Leave him? Wait, why aren’t we just tossing him in the dungeon yet?”
“I’m keeping him out of the dungeons for the safety of the Empire. You are going to make sure he stays out of there because I said so.”
“But we can beat him! We’ve got an alicorn princess, a unicorn, and a buck-load of thestrals! Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t,” Cannon Fodder demanded.
Crumb Catcher only stared at him incredulously before massaging his forehead with his hoof. “Beat him? General Fodder, there’s nothing to ‘beat’. We can’t bring harm to Skeletor because it will inevitably hurt the princess. Yesterday, Skeletor abdicated the throne to her willingly and, in turn, earned the respect of a good number of guards that I brought to the throne room who were vehemently against him. Not to mention, the ponies of the Empire are uncomfortable with the new princess. To put it simply, they don’t trust her.”
“Don’t trust her?” Cannon Fodder parroted incredulously. “She’s an alicorn, ins’t she? They have a choice between a Faust-abandoned demon and a real princess, and they want him? That’s insane!”
“No, I actually find myself agreeing with them on this matter,” Crumb Catcher calmly revealed.
“But… But Skeletor’s a demon!” General Cannon Fodder argued. “You agreed with me, you helped me try to get rid of him. You know as well as II do that he’s a demon from the deepest depths of Tartarus.”
“I didn’t help you, ‘try to get rid of him’. I only moved you aside so that I could watch over Skeletor for some time. I already had a plan in place should you decide to proceed with your own… suicidal attempts at regicide.
“While our interests did align at one point, they did so for two different reasons. You are blinded in your belief that Skeletor is a monster, while I am motivated to keep myself next to the one who will allow the Empire to prosper. I helped you only because I believed that Princess Celestia or Princess Luna would return and take control of the Crystal Empire.
“However, instead of having the solar or lunar diarch as our princess, we’ve been told by a new alicorn that she is entitled to the crown because of her blood and her ascension. For now, I’m biding my time to see how she acts, and if she proves to be better for the Empire, then and only then will I decide on whether I will support the princess or not. If she fails to gain the love and admiration of the crystal ponies, then I’ll simply need to placate them by placing Skeletor back on the throne.”
“You’d… You’d actually help a demon? You’d actually try and get him back on the throne?!” General Cannon Fodder shouted, to which Crumb Catcher shrugged.
“If it helps the Empire, then I wouldn’t be completely opposed to the idea. Of course, I don’t plan on making any moves yet. As of now, I’d like to see how events unfold and make sure the bag isn’t torn before I place all of my crystals inside it.”
“… You’re insane. I can’t believe you’d actually try to help that thing.”
“If doing whatever it takes to help the Empire is insane, then I believe you and I wouldn’t be having such a civilized conversation at the moment. I’m trying to make you understand, but you’re failing. General Fodder, I believe for you to simply follow my instructions.
“Any harm that befalls Skeletor will be pinned on Mi Amore Cadenza, and if you act against him, then you will only incite the ponies of the Empire to rise up against her,” he explained. “So, even if we disagree about who should rule for the moment, we should be both be able to agree that killing one and dethroning the other won’t end well for anypony involved. If you wish to continue this inane and pointless plan of harming Skeletor, then I will be forced to stop you. General Fodder, don’t force my hoof on this matter.”
Cannon Fodder struggled to find a good argument against Crumb Catcher. His emotions and mind clashed for dominance, arguing to listen to the stallion or leap over the desk to strangle him. He understood what Crumb Catcher had told him, and he absolutely hated it. Killing Skeletor or exiling him would only cause the princess to suffer, and as long as he stayed away from the throne, then there wouldn't be a reason to attack him. Skeletor had lost. His stolen throne and castle had been ripped away from his claws, and any attempts to take it back would be swiftly dealt with by Crumb Catcher and his spies. In a sense, everything was perfect. The Empire would thrive, the ponies would be freed of the demon, and peace would fall upon the land once more.
“… So, if we can’t hurt him, then what’s the plan now?” Cannon Fodder finally asked.
“Just do as I say, General Fodder. Ignore him, he’s nothing to you anymore. As far as you should be concerned, you bought the crops grown with his ashes and pissed on them. He’s not a threat to the throne or the Empire at the moment, so return to your duties and leave him be,” Crumb Catcher instructed, to which Cannon Fodder gave a shallow nod of acceptance before turning to leave without another word.
As Cannon Fodder begrudgingly trotted out of the Royal Spy Master's suite, he thought about what his life would be like with his greatest enemy defeated. Cannon Fodder had won, but he couldn’t understand why he felt like he had failed.
(Extra from the previous scene that I wanted to include but couldn’t.)
“I thought you hated him! I thought I knew you.”
“That’s the issue, General Fodder, you don’t know me. If you really knew me then I wouldn’t be in this position today,” he revealed. “When you and Mrs. Secret were looking for candidates to fill the position, I stepped forward believing that I was simply going to be the Head of Staff, not a Spy Master. I was given a task that demanded me to do more than I was ever prepared for, and I’ve done it without complaint.”
“What are you yapping about? You’re Star’s student, she should have trained you for this.”
“It’s assumptions like those that landed you in this predicament, General Fodder. In the future, I’d recommend looking at my predecessor’s notes more thoroughly should you ever get the chance. But, that’s besides the point for now. The main issue isn’t that you don’t know me, it’s that, even now, you constantly fail to understand me.
“General Fodder, do you think it was easy to constantly act as ifI had everything perfectly under control, do you honestly believe that I enjoyed a single moment of the power that my position offered me? I did everything that the Empire wanted of me, I used my network to protect and help the ponies of the Empire, I gathered intel to give ponies proper homes and food, and I was the one who convinced Skeletor to allow us to celebrate the Crystal Fair and listen to our anthem.
“I didn’t volunteer for the position of Royal Spy Master, but I still accepted it. And, while I admit that I allowed a small tinge of fear to guide my judgments for a time, I didn’t allow it to control me as you have. Instead, I chose to use other’s fear to my own ends, allowing my network to grow in case I would ever need to play an active role in Skeletor’s demise. Of course, I’ve also prepared a network of ponies who are completely loyal to him as well. If necessary, I could use either one at any moment to help or hinder either Skeletor or Mi Amore Cadenza,” he explained, draping the honorifics for both the demon and the alicorn princess.
Cannon Fodder felt his heart threaten to burst out of his chest as his blood pressure rose. He wanted nothing more than to leap over that desk and beat the stallion’s head over one of the bookcases. He abandoned any attempts at understanding the stallion as Cannon Fodder allowed his anger to consume him. Crumb Catcher was willing to help a monster, a legitimate demon, and betray a pony chosen by Faust to serve the Empire.
“That being said general, there is still a chance for us to still strive towards removing Skeletor from the Empire,” Crumb Catcher assured him in an attempt to placate Cannon Fodder’s rage.
“A chance? A bucking chance?! She’s a princess! You should be rallying with me against the demon right now!”
“No, General Fodder, what I should do is tell Mi Amore Cadenza that the general of the guard returned and acted hysterically, so I had no choice but to send him to the Medical ward where he had an accident. What I should do, is get rid of you and move on with my plan. But I’m not. Instead, I’m wasting my precious time attempting to convince a stubborn stallion that he shouldn’t do something insanely stupid.”
(Originally the opening for Chapter 33, which was then moved to Chapter 34, and then kind of shoved part of it back into Chapter 33. After seeing a few comments, I realized that Shining Armor was pretty quiet in Chapter 31. Now, I’ll admit that I didn’t really know how to write him. I’ve seen many interpretations of his character, and the few that I like don’t paint him in too good of a light, like in Talion in Equestria, and The Odd One where he’s a different brand of asshole in each. Whenever I find a version of him that I think has an interesting character, he’s usually portrayed as a darker character that has less than ideal views of other races and is usually a dick to anything that he deems a threat to his wife or sister, which is everything that’s not a pony, and sometimes whatever looks like his sister. Whenever he has a nice character or personality, it’s usually because he has no distinct personality that I can find. Like in Off The Mark, Shinning is a really nice guy in this story, but he’s not really “Prince” Shining Armor, he’s the guard Shinning Armor. He’s basically the excuse why Cadence isn’t a viable candidate for a romantic interest in most stories. In a lot of ways, I see Shining as a background character that accidentally went too far away from the others, and now he’s just stuck with the big players. He’s just kinda there and other times he’s not. I didn’t want to just write him out of the story like I’m planning to do with, Spike and I didn’t want to kill him off like other writers have done either. So, I used his silence to my advantage and reworked the scene below to have a better grasp on who he is and hand wave his quiet demeanor. It was good too because her breakdown was a bit too early in this draft. Also, I apparently suck at writing about girls crying. Who knew?)
The first day of Princess Cadence’s reign had possibly been the worst day of her life, second only to the day she was kidnapped by a mythical bug monster that impersonated her.
She spent a great deal of time going over every document Skeletor signed, rechecking every decree that was recorded, and reviewing every single record that Copper Plat had on Skeletor, from his schedule to his speeches, she failed to find anything that could justify most of her negative assumptions. For a moment, she thought that her assumptions had been proven when Copper Plate mentioned that she had disagreed with Skeletor’s stance on trial by combat. Cadence felt reassured in her assumptions about Skeletor, only for the Head of the Archives to reveal that Skeletor was against the concept and had passed a rule stating that all trials by combat would be non-lethal and that killing a pony in a duel would be considered a crime.
At most, the only debatably bad thing she could find about the demonic looking creature was his decision to implement placebos in the medical ward. So, Cadence was left to stew in her own thoughts as she prepared to have her first evening of court in the Crystal Empire.
Cadence was no stranger to court proceedings, she had sat on many of them with Princess Celestia and she had offered her own input on a situation on more than one occasion. She easily assumed that she was perfectly prepared to deliver her judgment on their concerns and pleas after spending a good deal of time catching up on the biggest issues that the Empire was facing.
A few of their requests and questions were reasonable, such as what they should expect going forward, would relationships between two mares and stallions still be permitted, and if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were still alive and well in Dream Valley. Cadence, heeding her council’s warnings, omitted any mentions of the Empire’s displacement whenever she talks about her adoptive aunts, but still reassured them that they were both fine.
Unfortunately, any hope for a relatively civil transition of power was abruptly uprooted by her own oversight that came to her attention when a yellow coated pony said, “A few of us on the avenue were wondering about Skeletor, your majesties. He didn’t really say what he would be doing while you both ran the Empire.”
That was the beginning of everything slowly growing worse. She tried to explain that Skeletor had no desire for any positions in the castle or the Empire as a whole, but there were many ponies that interpreted her words as, “I don’t want him involved.”
Granted, she really didn’t want to hand any power over to him, especially if he was telling the truth about being a Role-Player stuck in the body of a demon. However, Skeletor had told her himself that he wasn’t searching for a new title, and that he would be completely content spending his days toiling away with spells and magical studies of the archaic dark arts. Unfortunately, nopony in the Empire seemed to believe her at all, and any reassurances that Skeletor vocalized had been silently dismissed by the ponies as him being forced to continue Cadence’s alleged lie.
Court had quickly descended into chaos with each question or request revolving around Skeletor’s absence and well-being. While none of the crystal ponies had vocally accused her of suppressing him or outright said that they didn’t trust her, it had become clearly evident as time wore on. Once again, Cadence found herself suppressing her abilities to see emotions for the sake of her own well-being.
The onslaught of negative emotions directed solely at her had been too much of a strain for her. She had never felt such pure abhorrence pointed at her before. Back in Canterlot, there were ponies who hated her and felt jealous of her, but they were sprinkled throughout Canterlot and only interacted with her on rare occasions. In the Empire, however, it was just too much for her to handle all at once in the throne room.
Court was ended much earlier than it was supposed to, only causing the animosity directed towards her to grow with their doubts about her benevolence. She felt physically ill from the thick miasma of malice that filled the halls of the Crystal Castle, and was once again forced to dispel her ability to see emotions. Unfortunately, that only made matters worse for her straining thoughts.
Without her ability to see the emotional spectrum of ponies nearby, Cadence felt almost helpless. Her ability had become a coping mechanism after the invasion of Canterlot, allowing her to always be on the lookout for any creature that wished her harm. It was a crutch that offered her some peace of mind in the weeks following her liberation from the catacombs of Canterlot. It allowed her to take comfort in the knowledge that she was surrounded by ponies who loved and cherished her, something that had been severely lacking in the Crystal Empire.
The topic of Skeletor was once again brought up at the last council meeting of the day, where Cadence practically begged her new council for help. After a short deliberation between the council members, Crumb Catcher stepped forward and suggested that Skeletor should be handed the title of Duke. It was a position that only offered power over a small plot of land any ponies who live in the Duke’s fief, but it was also a prestigious title that could only be carried by the highest members of nobility. While this practice was slowly abolished to make room for elected leaders of fiefs in Equestria, a Duke was still considered a respectable title in the Empire.
As Emerald Secret advised her, it would have been best to quickly placate the demands of her subjects for Skeletor to have a title, lest the barrier fall or they come in demanding a very specific title.
Cadence could hardly believe the situation she found herself in. There was an actual chance that ponies would rise up on mass to overthrow an alicron, the symbol of unity and divine harmony, in favor of putting a LARPer back on the throne. She had only been the ruler of the Empire for less than two days and she was already being treated like a complete failure of a princess.
With that bitter thought, Cadence and Shinning Armor retired to their room in Celestia’s suite to end their laborious day. Her thoughts swam in the darkest recesses of her mind even in the comfort of their room, taunting her with every growing failure she faced and every distrusting gaze that tickled the back of her skull. The only thing that stopped the onslaught of dark thoughts was Shining Armor's gentle touch as he wrapped his forelegs around her.
Cadece was both surprised and thankful when Shining wordlessly embraced her, holding her tightly as they sat only a few feet from the door. Her hooves clung to him desperately, as if she was afraid that letting go would mean that she could never hold onto him again. Without any prying eyes to watch her, Cadence allowed herself to cry while Shinning held her.
Guttural sobs scratched the walls of her throat as she fire into his fur, staining his neck with tears and snot while she cried. She barely noticed the hints of tears that marred her own coat as Shining held her. Shining Armor didn’t allow himself to break down like Cadence had, he proved to be a pillar of support for her in an Empire that hated her. She would have felt pathetic about it if her mind wasn’t already fraught with anguish. Cadence absolutely hated it. She hated feeling weak and powerless, she hated feeling like a burden to Shining Armor. Above all, she hated herself.
Finally, after crying until she lost the strength to summon more tears, she fell limp in his embrace, allowing herself to be coddled like a foal that had gotten their tail stuck in a door.
“Cady, do you want to talk about it?” Shining Armor asked after giving his wife a few more minutes of suffocating silence.
She nuzzled his neck lightly as she tried to rub her eyes with a foreleg, giving herself precious moments to form her thoughts before she answered. Part of her wanted to say no, to stop the uncomfortable conversation that was bound to come, but a larger part of her wanted to relay on Shining. Cadence pressed her cheek deeper into his fur for a moment before she spoke.
“I… I don’t understand… Why do they hate me so much?”
“They don’t—“
“Yes they do!” Cadence interrupted loudly. Without warning, her forelegs found the strength they needed to hold onto Shining more tightly. “They hate me, Shiny! They… I don’t understand. I just want to help them. I… I just want them… I don’t know what to do.”
“We’ll find a way through this, don’t worry,” Shining promised.
His words were the only reassurance she had at the moment, and she held onto them like they were one of Celestia’s visions. He was the only one in the entire Empire that she could trust, the only one who made her feel safe.
“I hate this... I hate this so bucking much," Cadence said, gaining a small amount of control over her words as her pain slowly turned to anger. "I just… I wanted everything to be perfect. I never… I never cared about being a princess. I hated it because I never really felt like one, like I was just Princess Celestia’s shadow. It didn’t matter if I delegated peace negations with other kingdoms, volunteered to held give aid to creatures that were struggling in other countries, all they cared about was what flavor of cake Celestia had. Faust Abandoned, most ponies remember me as the princess that was replaced by a changeling!
“But… I wanted to do something good for the ponies here, to be remembered for helping them… Am I being selfish, Shining?”
“No, not at all,” Shining quietly reassured her as he tightened his embrace around the disheartened mare. “It’s not wrong to want praise for doing something good, it’s the way of life. You’re not at fault for just hoping for more. Everything's going to work out in the end, you can’t expect perfection on the first day,”
“But it needs to be perfect, Shining. I’m a princess, I have ponies that should be relying on me, a crumbling Empire that can’t even be called a kingdom, I… I need to help them, even if they don’t want me to.”
“Cedence, I know, but you can’t get it all done in a day. That’s all it’s been, just a bad day, it’ll get better.”
“... And what if it doesn’t? What if they never accept us?” Cadence worryingly asked.
“They will, Cadence. I’m positive that they’ll realize how good you are, they just need time," he promised.
Cadence didn't respond to his promise, and instead chose to silently sniffle as she melted into his embrace once more.
While she listened to the rhythmic beat of Shinning’s heart through his neck, her own heart steadily returned to a normal pace. She felt tempted to just pass out in his forelegs, to leave the waking world and retreat to the corners of her mind to hide away from her problems, to crawl under her bed and let a pair of real princesses fix her problems. Soon, as her eye lids slowly began to grow heavier, she began being mocked or comforted by a loose memory of Skeletor’s own words as she plummeted into the realm of dreams.
“I’m afraid, your highness…”
With those words echoing in her mind, she held on to her own fears, refusing to allow anypony, even her own husband, from knowing the nightmares that would now haunt her in the waking and dreaming realms.
(Outtake from Chapter 34. I kept trying to reuse the scene of court descending into chaos, but the more I tried, the more stupid it felt. I was reminded of a comment someone once wrote that said, “I’ve heard of people eating the Stupid Ball, but I’ve never seen someone FUCK the damn thing!” And that’s how I felt about Cadence letting the ponies know about her lack of a plan to reward Skeletor. Also, I thought that having a scene like that take place off screen would just be a dick move to the audience.)
Court was ended much earlier than it was supposed to, only causing the animosity directed towards Cadence to grow with their doubts about her benevolence. Shining Armor could only hold his wife tightly as they teleported away, giving her a shoulder to lean on as a teal aura began to envelop her horn. He could only catch a glimpse of her magic as it flashed across the length of her horn, but he knew well-enough what spell it was. A memory tickled his mind of the rare moments he saw her use that spell to suppress her ability to see emotions. He remembered playfully accusing her of using her ability to cheat at a game, which led her to using that spell and kicking his flank to Cloudsdale and back.
That pleasant memory quickly faded to the depths of his mind as he felt his wife began to quiver at his side, prompting him to quickly wrap his hooves around her as he tried to comfort her. Her slow and shuddered breaths sent waves of emotions through Shining as he tightened his embrace.
No reassurances or words escaped his throat as he silently held her. The words in his mind were muddled, and any promises he prepared sounded hollow in his mind. In the end, he could only continue to fail his wife by biting his tongue in fear.
Cadence was eventually the one to break off their embrace as she trotted away to gather the council and reconvene in the council room. As the meeting wore on with Cadence answering any questions raised by her council, she eventually convinced them of Skeletor’s decision and asked her council for a solution to their latest setback.
(Deleted from Chapter 33. Originally, Skeletor would have been more conscious of whaat he was forgetting and would have suffered another “episode”. Of course, I changed it to have him shrug off the weird feeling and I think the story is better for it. It also introduced the idea that Skeletor was being monitored, but I moved that a bit and changed it. I also reworked the hospital scene for the new Chapter 34 and I like it a lot better now.
The second day of Skeletor’s life away from the throne began without any fanfare. It was by no means normal, so much had changed in the span of three days, but at the same time nothing really felt “new” to him.
He didn’t wake up with soul crushing regret, and he didn’t feel uncomfortable in his new room either. In an odd way, it felt abnormally normal, as if he couldn’t be bothered with anything like regret. It was almost like a dream, like he was just walking into a place prepared by his imagination.
After rising from his bed, Skeletor laid flat on his stomach to drag out the chamber pot that had been hidden under the mattress. Thanks to Avid Value’s help with cleaning the mess Skeletor left under the royal bed, he was able to find out that there was a chamber pot under each bed in the castle, allowing ponies to use them at leisure. Skeletor resisted the urge to slap himself when he thought of every time he had to search desperately in the mornings to find a place to relieve himself.
Once Skeletor was done, he grabbed the frayed stick that was sitting on the short nightstand next to his bed and began to clean his teeth as he paced around the dark room. Unlike the Royal Bedroom, Skeletor’s new room was closer to the main floor and filled with wooden crates and barrels.
Each container held a large assortment of gems, every one of which being plucked from the earth by an enslaved stallion or mare under Sombra’s reign. When Skeletor asked why they weren’t in the vault, Avid Value revealed that crystals were a consumable commodity and were more akin to a crop than a rare material. Of course, gems alone couldn’t fill bellies, and without any connection to the outside world to trade them, they were essentially piles of rocks with no value in a crumbling empire.
In hindsight, it made sense considering that most of the houses were made of crystals and that the streets were literally paved in gems. It would have been all too easy to put any concerns about the Empire’s finances behind him if they could just cut out a chunk of the sidewalk and sell it to another kingdom.
With nothing better to do than to mindlessly drag the frayed stick against his teeth, Skeletor opened one of the crates with his free hand and took out a random gem. He wasn’t sure what type of gem was orange, but he assumed that it was just as valuable as any other random gem in the crate.
He admired the cut and size of the crystal, watching the many reflections of himself stare back with equal interest. Skeletor couldn’t help but think of how valuable it would have been back on Earth. He could have bought anything, like a promise ring or a nice present for…
Skeletor’s brushing slowed to a crawl as he wondered why he would think of getting a promise ring. For a moment, his mind wandered to Evelyn, reminding him of his girlfriend back on Earth, filling him with memories of their time together back home.
Skeletor’s hand soon fell from the stick that was in his mouth, coming to a rest at his side as he stared at the orange crystal. Evelyn. He couldn’t believe that he had almost forgotten about her. How could he have forgotten about her?
Any lingering tiredness that clung to his mind was washed away by the sobering revelation that he had almost completely forgotten about her. She was one of the most important people in his life, and he almost forgot about her.
Skeletor suddenly wondered when the last time he thought of her was, when he last imagined falling into her embrace when he returned to Earth in his old body. He worried about every moment he spent not thinking about her. As he tried to focus on his memories of Evelyn, a faintly familiar flare of pain shot through his mind as he stumbled on a memory of her saying his name. Another thing he had almost forgotten about was the horrible pain that he felt whenever he tried to remember his own face or name.
He quickly released his grip the orange crystal to clutch his skull as he fell to his knees and screamed as the pain began to spread from his skull to his body. It was as if lightning was rising apart his tendons and thunder had threatened to crack his skull open.
Fresh tears began to well in his eye sockets as he grew deaf to his own screams.
Skeletor wasn’t sure when he stopped screaming, but when he had, he realized that he was laying on the floor. His breaths were haggard and his vision was blurred by the tears that filled his eye sockets.
His sore limbs that begged to be left alone as he slowly rose from the floor. He slowly lifted an arm to wipe the drool that fell from his mouth, and cleared his eye sockets by blinking several times to clear his bleary eyes. There was a dull throbbing pain that attacked every inch of his skull
Skeletor’s skull protested with a new flare of pain as his fingers weakly pressed against his skull, causing him to quickly withdraw his hand.
He wanted to curse his misfortune, to damn the pain with his vitriolic words, but his throat and jaws were too busy drinking in air to fill his lungs at that moment. After the passing minutes turned into nearly a quarter of an hour, Skeletor finally lifted himself off of the floor and braced himself against a nearby crate. Without the modern convenience of a clock, he had no idea how long his episode lasted and could only pray that it hadn’t been an entire day.
When he was finally able to rise to his feet once more, Skeletor supported himself against a crate of gems as the fresh fury that assaulted his skull started to fade away. Skeletor took a moment to weigh his current circumstances and decided to seek help. Whatever was happening was definitely a medical concern, and Skeletor knew better than to just ignore the problem and hope it could go away on its own. Finally, with a new resolve to cure his recent ailments, Skeletor pushed himself off of the crate and began to plan his day, all while a pair of eyes watched him in a mixture of annoyance and concern.
There are many things to fear when in close proximity of a monstrous predator. Some ponies would worry about being caught in a beast’s claws and being ripped to shreds, others would possibly worry more about dying than the pain that would proceed it, and then there are those who would be more concerned for their family’s reaction to their death rather than their own demise. Each monster, from the smallest spider to the largest hydra can spark a different sense of dread and worry in each and every pony in Equestria.
For lieutenant Star Burst, the demon known as Skeletor didn’t make her fear for her life or her livelihood, he made her worry about how much longer she would be able to keep her hearing.
She stuck to the shadows of Skeletor’s new room, lightly massaging her sore ears with a fore hoof as she hid from the screeching demon. Star Burst had no idea why touching a random garnet caused the demon to release a cry of agony, all she knew was that it hurt like Tartarus and he passed out after screaming like a banshee for a solid three minutes.
After taking a few moments to make sure that the strange creature wouldn’t suddenly rise from the floor, and confirming that her hearing could properly return, Star Burst glided over to him and placed a wing on his back to feel for his heart beat.
She allowed herself to breathe a light sigh of relief when she felt the steady rhythm of his heart through the membrane of her wing. The last thing she wanted was for him to die on her watch and accidentally cause a civil war in the Crystal Empire. Due to her position as a lieutenant and her talent for concealing herself in darkness, Star Burst was given the pleasure of secretly foal-sitting the odd demon and making sure that he wasn’t plotting vengeance or something stupid.
Before she could make her way to Crux Heart to ask the stallion if he could give her a second opinion on Skeletor’s health, the demonic biped slowly stirred from his rest and began to wake up. The lieutenant quickly hid behind one of the many stacked crates and barrels full of gems, silently begging that he wouldn’t suddenly scream again as soon as he woke up.
While she hid in a nook between a few crates that were clustered together, Skeletor weakly turned his head to the side as he continued to lay on the floor. Because of the angle of his head and the severe lack of facial features, Star Burst wasn’t sure if Skeletor had actually regained his consciousness or if he had just turned over in his unconscious rest. She chose to believe that he had regained some sense of clarity after listening to his breath. The change in the rhythm of his breaths promised a swift end for her if she attempted to check on him again.
After nearly fifteen minutes, Skeletor finally began to rise off of the floor and supported himself against a stack of crates for several minutes. When the demon had finally regained his balance, he walked over to his bed to pick up the strange tribal staff he carried and secured it to his back before leaving the room.
Star Burst was quick to fly out of her hiding spot and squeeze through the top of the door before Skeletor closed it behind him. The only indication of her presence to the demon was a gentle breeze that kissed the back of his hood, prompting him to look behind himself for only a moment before shrugging it off and walking down the hall.
Thanks to a rechargeable camouflage enchantment that the prince placed on her uniform, Star Burst was able to do her job more efficiently. She adopted her more appropriate nighttime uniform, a sleek black padded vest that hugged her barrel. It was lighter than the winter uniform that the other Night Guards were wearing, although, it also offered less protection against the elements and from physical attacks. However, that wouldn’t be a problem so long as she remained unseen and unnoticed.
The enchantment on her vest was good, but it wasn’t a professional enchantment. Small hints like her still visible shadow and the light shimmer that kissed the air around her would betray her if anypony noticed. So, Star Burst silently glided in near the ceiling, avoiding the light that protruded from the windows or torches that lit the halls.
As she followed Skeletor in secret, the once lord of the Empire gave small greetings to the occasionally passing guard on patrol and several maids who were busy at work cleaning another room. He had stopped several times to question his own direction before he finally found a familiar path and walked without any hesitation in his steps. After almost thirty minutes of walking through the elaborately laid halls of the castle, Skeletor had finally reached his previously unknown destination.
The medical wing of the Crystal Castle was a battlefield. Every bed had been occupied by a pony, and several makeshift beds had been erected and laid in any place that was able to fit them. There was a cacophony of coughing fits that was accented by a few disgruntled groans as patients began to wake up with the rest of the Empire. The ceiling, from what she could see, was a tapestry of different crystals, each carved and placed to create a series of beautiful images depicting nature.
It was like the room found a special and disturbing balance between pretty and sickening. She was reminded of the colorful hospital rooms for young ponies and how they would usually be decorated in popular book illustration and rainbows. She hadn’t thought much of it when she was a filly, but looking at the scene before her ignited a faint feeling of fear that tickled her mind when she was younger.
As her mind wandered to trickling memories of her youth, Skeletor placed a rag over his jaws before stepping inside, holding it against his skull as his gaze traveled across the many beds and hanging curtains. Star Burst, for her part, elected to stay just outside of the room in fear of catching whatever the patients were carrying. So long as the blue Goliath was within eyesight and ear shot, then she had no reason to put herself at risk. If a zombie demon like Skeletor was worried about catching something, then it only made sense for Star Burst to share his concerns.
Star Burst wasn’t able to get a good look at the pony that caught Skeletor’s attention, and only saw a mess of sheets that appeared to spring to life and trot over to him. It was a shadow of fabrics that moved like a pony on ice skates, gliding over to Skeletor before Star Burst could even notice it.
“Sire, it’s good to see you,” the pony, a stallion by the sound of his voice, said. Due to her standing just on the other side of the threshold, with the doors still being left open, she only saw the back of Skeletor’s hood and cloak, which hid the stallion from her line of sight.
“It’s good to see you too, Doctor Quartz. Though, I should mention that I’m not royalty anymore,” Skeletor reminded him. His voice was slightly muffled by the hand that was holding a scrap of fabric against his skull, but Star Burst still heard a good amount of what he said.
“Ah, yes… Apologies, we’re still trying to get used to that. So, is there something you needed? I’d hate to rush you, but we’re busy trying to gather all of the medicine you provided.”
“Oh? Um… Do you mind if I asked why?” Skeletor asked with a controlled voice.
“The princess declared that all placebos were to be removed from the infirmary, and that they would need to be delivered to the Alchemist Tower. I can’t believe sh would suddenly do that without any warning. A lot of ponies in here are doing better thanks to your potion, and she just wants to stop that? It’s unthinkable, especially since we’re already running on a dwindling number of potions left over and a few reserves of plant-based medicines,” the doctor complained.
“Ah… I-I see… Well, Cannon Fodder should come back from the Ruva Kingdom soon,” Skeletor consoled, causing Star Burst’s ear to flick at the familiar word. “With luck, whatever supplies he can bring us will be enough to buy time until Princess Cadence can receive aid from Canterlot.”
“Princess Cadence? I thought that the new princess was Mi Amore Credenza,” the doctor questioned.
“Oh, right, yes. Apologies, she told me to call her Cadence and I remembered that bit better. Anyway, what uh…” Skeleton trailed off as he continued to search the many filled beds, perhaps searching for a sign of hope for the sickly ponies. “I… I’m sorry, I… How low have supplies gotten now?” Skeletor asked as he looked over the many restless ponies.
Star Burst could only guess that the stallion was taking a moment to find his words, judging from the long pause after Skeletor’s question.
“Too low,” the doctor finally answered. “Is there anything you need help with, sire, because I really need to return to work.”
“… No, I’m fine,” Skeletor stated. “I just… Wanted to thank you and the others for your services. You’ve helped a lot of ponies, doctor. Thank you.”
Without another moment of doubt, Skeletor quickly turned on his heels to walk out of the medical ward. As he moved, Star Bust finally saw stallion she heard. If Skeletor was a monster that leapt from the pages of a foal’s book, then the doctor was a relic that trotted off of the pages of a history book. He was covered mane to hoof in a black robe with a dark wooden mask that bore a striking resemblance a large parrot. The mask clearly wasn’t made for the doctor, as it had an opening for a horn slot that had been covered over with a wrapping bandage, which were similarly applied to any cracks that were running along the beak.
Once Skeletor had unknowingly passed by his silent observer, Star Burst stole one last look at the ponies inside the medical ward before she continued her mission to observe Skeletor.
Originally from the previous scene, I wanted Skeletor to try and get some medicine or do something, but then I realized, “Crap, I’m introducing a hanging gun with no plan to take it off the wall,” so I changed it, allowed it to be more about Star Burst’s own personal growth and went with that. Then I changed it again and now it's an exploration of Crux Heart's character in Chapter 34.)
...
“Okay Skeletor, just trust the pony doctor… The magic pony doctor from a medieval age that doesn’t know your biology,” Skeletor said to himself, giving the bottle along look before he tucked it away in his cloak. “I think I’ll wait for a second opinion,” he reasoned as he continued to walk away from the medical wing with a bottle of opium jingling in his cloaks' hidden pocket.
(Takes Place Before All Previous Scenes. Originally, before I had Cadence’s arrival planed out, I planned to have Thorax be caught and brought before the council, where he would be the one to reveal the truth about the Empire’s displacement. However, I changed that plan later on in favor of exploring his character in a different way. While the Thorax in my rough draft would have aligned with the canon Thorax, I wanted to explore a changeling’s devotion to their queen and hive, allowing Thorax to possibly have a character arc where he goes from a drone who worships her to a king that praises the efforts of his hive. Here are just a few things that I cut or didn’t have the ability to add. Also, I’ll just say that I’m not a fan of how confident I made Skeletor in these scenes. He’s a bit too confident for the blubbering buffoon that I've written now.)
“No…” Lord Skeletor surprisingly announced to his council.
“I-I’m sorry, what did you say?”*1 One of his council members asked.
“I said no. We will not erase a piece of history just because it has that bastard’s face on it.” Lord Skeletor stated as he stared into the portrait of King Sombra.” Lord Skeletor stated firmly.
Before anypony in his council could object, he rose from his throne and approached the painting of the tyrant. Lord Skeletor glared at the painting with a fierce intensity as he drew nearer, each step growing more loud and powerful as the distance between him and the affronting piece of “art” shrank drastically. In a matter of moments, Lord Skeletor stopped to appraise the painting closely, staring into the lifeless green eyes of the tyrant king.
“Do you know what I see when I look at this painting?” Lord Skeletor rhetorically asked his council. “I see the arrogant face of a tyrant who thought he was god. I see someone who didn’t know what it meant to be king. That sickening smile, those sadistic eyes, it all shows who Sombra thought he was. And even then, his best version of himself was a disgusting and repulsive monster.
“This, mares and stallions, is a piece of history we can’t forget. This shows us the face of arrogance, the face of pure and corrupted evil. Scholars will study this painting, picking apart his vanity paint chip by paint chip, telling the story of the monster who claimed to be a King.
“He was not a king, because a true king never appoints that title themselves. I never asked for a title, I simply gave my name and you provided one for me. A real king is someone who was chosen to lead, picked to represent, and destined to protect their citizens. This isn’t a king, this is the Devil. And it brings me great satisfaction to know such an arrogant fool will never wear that smile ever again, because now he will burn in the depths of hell forevermore. Doomed to live a life of agony and torture for all eternity. This is what we shall strive to never become, and never repeat.
“I know my decision upsets some of you, and I know many of you wish to erase him from history all together, to forget him entirely. But we must use this to learn, and become better. We will strive to build a place where demons like him will never rise to power, a land that will have no place for monsters like him, and we shall start a legacy that will curse the name and face of the beast forever.” Lord Skeletor finished before he turned his attention back to his council.
His council sat in a stupefied silence as they took in his bold message, looking at the painting of the monster in a brand-new light.
“You eat… love… Can you explain that?” Skeletor asked.
“I see ponies who are in love, and I eat their excess love.”
“Riiiiiight… So, you… eat emotion by….”
“Feeding off of the love in the air.” Thorax explained.
“Oh, thank Christ. So then, so you don’t need to eat… ponies, right?”
“NO!” Thorax exclaimed in a disgusted tone. “Why does everypony think that? We see love emanating off of ponies, we suck it up, and we get full. We don’t eat pony flesh, or blood, or anything like that.”
“Okay. Okay… Sorry for assuming, I uh… This is very new for me, I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Oh? Uh… Thanks, I guess… Nopony has ever really apologized to me before, or whatever you are. What are you, if you don’t mind me asking.”
“One of a kind, and we’ll leave it at that,” Skeletor replied stoically. “I’m more interested in learning about you. You said that you fled an invasion, could you elaborate on that?”
“Yes, the invasion of Canterlot.”
“Canterlot? Seriously? That can’t be a real place. Emerald, please tell me that’s not a real place.”
“Not to my knowledge, my lord. I’ve never heard of a place called Canterlot.”
digested the information the changeling had delivered.
“We need to tell the citizens carefully,” Colonel Kernel stated firmly, breaking the deafening silence that had dominated the room a few moments ago.
“How? How do we tell them that we’re three thousand years in the future?” Avid Value asked in earnest.
“Maybe start it as a rumor?” Crumb Catcher suggested.
“And how long do we leave it as a rumor for, until somepony outside of the Empire tells them?”
“Well I don’t hear you coming up with any brilliant ideas.”
“I’m thinking about this from an economic stance, your job is to focus on the ponies so that I can focus on keeping a roof over their heads.”
“What do you mean, ‘economic stance’. How does being flung three thousand years into the future do anything to the economy?”
“Inflation, you moron. If bits were essentially worthless in our time, they must be cheaper than dirt now, and that doesn’t even consider Lord Skeletor’s invention. What if the outside world managed to invent steel in the three thousand years we were gone? Or what if they made a better and more valuable metal? Steel was the only promise we had to the citizens that they would get paid, what are we going to do if steel turns out to be worth less than gold?!
“You’re all thinking about how much the citizens are going to freak out, I’m freaking out because if we can’t fund the Empire then there won’t be an Empire, and with no Empire, there are no citizens, and no citizens means all of the Crystal Empire’s history disappears, and then nothing we did would matter! It’d all be for nothing! Our history? Gone. The laws Lord Skeletor passed? Abandoned. The crystal ponies? Homeless and starving! Everything is going to be ruined!”
“QUIET!” Skeletor shouted as he banged his scepter on the floor.
…
“I don’t think we need to worry too much about our financial status. Avid, are the bits in the vault marked with a date?”
“Yes, each one has the year it was made printed on it. Why?”
“I might be wrong, but that could possibly be a great boon to us. On my world, three-thousand-year-old coins were considered treasure to collectors and museum owners. Heck, a thousand-year-old coins were considered rare collector items.
“If we managed to find a way to slowly get three-thousand-year-old bits out of the Empire, we could possibly sell them for current day bits, and quite a few at that. The trick is doing it slowly. If we suddenly flooded the market with three-thousand-year-old bits, then they’d definitely be worthless,” Lord Skeletor surmised.
“Princess Cadence, Prince Armor, and a select few are currently our only connection to the outside world,” Lord Skeletor continued. “Hopefully, not too many ponies outside of the Empire know about its return. It’s likely that there won’t even be a Crystal Empire once the rest of the world discovers us.”
“Won’t that be a good thing?” Emerald asked.
“Possibly, in fact it could be the best thing that ever happened to the Empire. But there’s a real possibility that other kingdoms will see our Empire and attack us with their more advanced weapons and spells to take our resources.
“The outside world has devices none of you could imagine, it’s likely that they’ve invented flying machines, projectiles that can travel the speed of sound, and weapons of mass destruction. Right now, they’re unintentionally holding information hostage from us. The only way we can find out what they know would be basically interrogating them with questions until they pass out, figuratively speaking of course.
“Nations where I came from changed immensely in only a few hundred years. I can only dream of how advanced the nations out there are with magic aiding them.”
“Thorax, I, Skeletor, Lord of the Crystal Empire, have come to a verdict regarding you. You will be officially recognized as a citizen of the Empire and given amnesty for your part in the attack on Canterlot. In exchange, you will obey my orders and serve the Empire diligently. You will protect your new home, and in return, you will be treated as any other pony in the Empire.”
“Hold on sire, we need to consider something first.”*2
"Consider what? He's a perfect fit for the role and he'll get other changelings to help out."
"And they all have a queen,” Cannon Fodder reminded him before he turned his attention back to the changeling. “If you serve the Empire, you can only serve one leader. If you accept, you and the other changelings must renounce your queen."
"Wait, now can't he just—“
"I accept." Thorax immediately answered.
"Wait, what?" Skeletor asked. "You'd renounce your queen that quickly?"
“So… You know how to read?”
“Um… Yes?”
“SPECTACULAR! Thorax, I hereby make you the official… official… Literacy Expert! And I command you to spread the knowledge of reading and writing to all who wish to learn! In exchange, you’ll be given ample love to survive, and free boarding inside the palace.” Lord Skeletor offered.
“Um, can I get a few other changelings I know? T-there aren’t a lot of changelings like me, but there are some who would really like to help in exchange for love.”
“Of course!”
“So, this is Elytra, Rostrum, and Kevin.” Thorax introduced the three changelings.
“Greetings Elytra, Rostrum and… I’m sorry, what was your name?”
“Kevin.” Kevin replied easily.
“… Huh… That’s an… Interesting name.”
“I get that a lot.” Kevin responded with a shrug of his shoulders.
“I see… So, you sought asylum in the Crystal Empire so you could be wed… As much as your case moves me, I cannot simply allow you to waltz into the Empire without thinking of my citizens.” Lord Skeletor told the two yaks.
“W-why not?”
“To allow you into the Empire sets a precedent, that any who cross the border can simply become citizens. As such, I shall devise a precedent starting now. Anyone who wishes to become a citizen of the Crystal Empire must do the following…
“Firstly, you are to provide any legal documents to prove you are who you say you are. Secondly, you are to proclaim the Empire as your own, as the land that you pledge your loyalty and fealty to. And lastly, you are to prove your loyalty and devotion to the Empire by studying its history, culture, and laws, and then taking a test to prove your desire and strive to become a citizen.” Lord Skeletor announced to all those in his court. A pause of silence filled the throne room as his council and the two female yaks digested his words.
“That… That what we need to do?” The smaller yak asked Lord Skeletor.
“Yes. Return to Yakyakistan to get any legal papers and return to our border. There will be a specific point set up where you will ask for asylum, and there you will be tested and graded. Emerald.” Lord Skeletor called out, leading his advisor to straighten her posture as her lord addressed her. “How long would it take for us to set up a checkpoint for these two, and many others, to ask for asylum?”
“Um, I believe a good deal of time, my lord. We’ll need time to position guards at certain points around the border, set a schedule for changing shifts, hire ponies to make, give out, and grade your test, and find somepony who knows how to read to look over passports and other legal papers. Considering the time and resources needed to set up a physical checkpoint, perhaps even several, we may be able to get it done in… Three months?”
“I see. And what of you two? Could you wait three months to become legal citizens?” Lord Skeletor asked as he turned his attention back to the two yaks.
“Um… Fionna can wait three months if Mary can wait three months?”
“And Mary can wait that time if Fionna can wait that long.”
“Excellent!” Lord Skeletor exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. “In that case, you will be given the materials necessary to study for the test. Copper, do we have any history books we can provide them with?”
“No sire, we don’t have any books for public consumption.” Copper Plate replied.
“Wait, what? Why am I hearing about this now?!”
“I’m sorry your majesty… …
….
“What? Well I can’t have that. Reading is a vital skill to have for… Well, for anything. We’ll attack the literature and illiteracy problem later.” Lord Skeletor stated. “Anyway, that threw a wrench into my plans. Alright, in that case, you’ll need to learn the Crystal Empire’s pledge of allegiance!”
“Um… What pledge?”
“Good question!” Skeletor exclaimed before his skull lowered to Emerald Secret so he could whisper to her. “Pst, Emerald, do we uh-do we have a pledge of allegiance for the Crystal Empire or something?”
“Well, we did have one, but the king who shan’t be named made it illegal.”
“Well fuck that guy, make it legal again.” Lord Skeletor muttered before he turned his attention back to the yaks. “Ahem, well, when three months roll around we should have everything set up for accepting new citizens! Come back then and we’ll welcome you to the Empire with open arms!”
“Thorax, my official… official…”
“Literacy Expert.” Emerald Secret whispered to him.
“Literacy Expert! How are you doing thus far?”
“Oh, I’m doing great, Lord Skeletor. Rostrum was able to find some some foals books from Yakyakistan, and everypony seems to really like Ben the Big Blue Beagle. We’ve made so much progress with our studies now!”
“Excellent, I—! Wait… How did he get books from Yakyakistan?”
“He bought them.”
“Bought them? Aren’t books supposed to be rare or something!?” Lord Skeletor asked his Literacy Expert.
“Here, yes. Everywhere else though,” Thorax shrugged. “about as common as bits.”
Lord Skeletor stayed silent for a few moments as he processed that information. Not a sound was made by the dark lord or his subjects as he took his time to take that bit of news in, manipulating the knowledge he now possessed to bend to his whim, and discover a way to use it to his advantage.
“I see… Thorax, you and the other changelings are the only ones who has seen the world outside of the Empire in the past thousand years. Thus, I want you and… Kevin to take as much money as you see fit and buy more books, specifically regarding history outside the Empire. Aim for books made to teach classes and perhaps a few dictionaries and encyclopedias if you can. Grab as many as you can carry and bring them back immediately. Find Kevin and act on these orders with great speed.” Lord Skeletor commanded the changeling, who saluted in response to his orders.
“Yes sir! I’ll do it as quickly as possible.”
“Excellent, you are dismissed, Thorax.” Lord Skeletor stated in a calm tone.
With another quick salute, Thorax’s wings buzzed lightly before he flew off towards Kevin’s house. As Thorax flew away, disappearing in the distance, Lord Skeletor watched his shrinking figure soar through the air.
“So, the outside world has already improved vastly compared to the Empire… If this is the case, then Yakyakistan may be an even more beneficial ally.” Lord Skeletor said as he folded his arms behind his back.
“What do you mean?” Emerald Secret asked her lord.
“I mean, they’re already ahead of us in terms of literature and definitely technology, which in turn means that they have teachers and scholars who could help bring our Empire out of the dark ages.”
“But I thought the dark ages ended with Sombra.” Emerald Secret interjected.
“Uh, different dark ages. Forget I said anything.” Lord Skeletor said, with a shake of his head and an idle wave of his hand.
“The point is, we can hire scholars from Yakyakistan to come teach our citizens and perhaps sell their own books and technology to us. If they have books available to the public, and the resources to teach literacy to most of their subjects, then they must also have a method of mass-producing books! And if we can get our hands on that method, then everybody in the Crystal Empire will be able to read and write for themselves!” Lord Skeletor exclaimed with a contagious joy that brought a smile to Emerald’s muzzle. It gave Emerald a sense of happiness to see her lord so adamant about helping the citizens of his Empire, unlike the old tyrant who would have scoffed at the idea of teaching literacy to the masses.
Emerald Secret held no doubts in her mind that such a venture would take time, money, and above all else, extreme patience. In fact, if she were a more cynical mare, she would have said the entire attempt was impossible. But, something about her lord’s animated movements, his enthusiastic tone, and the sheer determination he exuded, gave Emerald a sense of hope that couldn’t be shaken off by something as trivial as small doubts.
And, if her lord’s plans proved to be a success, it would be another accomplishment to add to the history books, books that could be read by all of his loyal and thankful subjects.
Skeletor poured over the books at his disposal when Thorax returned.
Each history book read like a strange fantasy story, a group of heroines that banished demons with rainbows, mythical beasts that ravaged the lands, and goddesses that controlled the day and night. Skeletor read and reread the words in the history books several times, debating which parts were literal and which ones were bolstered or fantasized.
He wanted to doubt things like the texts that stated Princess Celestia and Princess Luna controlled the Sun and Moon respectively but, when he brought it up to his advisor, Emerald seemed adamant that every word was a complete and undisputed fact.
Skeletor did his best to find the faint line between fantasy and fact that existed in the books, but each word and passage seemed to only make that line thinner and thinner, as if there was nothing between fantasy and reality.
“Laughter, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, and Magic…” Skeletor muttered under his breath as he reread a passage that referred to six heroic mares who vanquished an evil Queen with the power of friendship and rainbows.
The first time he read through it he laughed, but then he read it a second time, and a third time, and each time his terror grew just slightly more. The book described a queen of the night who wanted to create an eternal night, a god of destruction that made reality it’s plaything with cotton candy clouds and broken gravity, and more recently, a queen of insects that could take the shape of anypony they chose, and those were all of the recent parts from the past few years. There were parts of the book that dated further back that described a group of manipulative sirens who could rob any creature of their free will with their voices, a centaur that would devour any and all magic he came into contact with, and of course there was a section that described the sadistic King Sombra.
“There was a story from my world*3, a story of children prodigies who became gods in another world with their knowledge and skills. Together, these children created a nation, and they defended it. The smartest child of their group, the one who led the others from behind the scenes, had an interesting concept of what it meant to be a nation. He stated that to be a nation, you only needed to simply proclaim that it was a nation.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand, my lord.”
“… Look at that house right there,” Skeletor said, as Emerald Secret followed his extended arm to find a fairly well repaired house. “Let’s say, for hypothetical reasons, that the pony that owns that house suddenly says. ‘this is my nation, the nation of Four Walls.’ And thus, he has a nation in name, but not in recognition. His nation would last for as long as the outside world deemed it, and it would crumble under the feet or hooves of any other recognized nation. It would only take a few guards to take down their ‘nation’ and enforce the rules of the Crystal Empire over them.
“The only thing that keeps this Empire from being rubble is the outside world’s lack of interest in us. But soon, we’ll have enemies whether we want them or not, countries and kingdoms that will see us as a threat to their rule, it’s only a matter of time. So, I plan to protect my Empire, and protect my citizens, I will not let your homes become meaningless in the eyes of the world. Even a just cause needs power to win.”
“I thank you all for being here.” Skeletor said to the assembled ponies.
“You are some of the best artisans, carpenters, and blacksmiths in all of the Empire. You are the best of the best in your respective fields of craft and I expect that expertise to shine through the task I’m assigning you all. However, should you accept this job, know that history will look at you in one of two ways. You will either be seen as heroes and innovators, or you will be vilified and seen as masters of destruction and war.” Skeletor warned them.
“I want you to build this.” Lord Skeletor said as he presented a crude drawing of a catapult.
“You want us to make a spoon?” One of the blacksmiths asked.
“No. I want you to recreate a weapon from my home, a device that could throw heavy projectiles, such as boulders, a great distance with enough force to shatter reinforced walls like they were made of cardboard. This is what my people called a catapult, and I am tasking all of you with reinventing it here. While my knowledge of the weapon is limited, I feel confident enough in all of your abilities to create it despite my poor artistic talent.”
“How is it supposed to work?” A carpenter asked.
“A series of pulleys and gears were used to build up tension in the arm of the catapult until it was released, allowing it to throw a projectile at the enemy. I’m not sure how many were used and under how much tension the were put under, so I expect you all to find this out for me. I’m sorry that I don’t know more about it that could help you, I was never someone who dedicated time to learning about weapons and these were considered ancient by the time I was born.” Skeletor admitted.
“This sounds pretty advanced by our standards. How ancient is it exactly?” An inquisitive artisan asked as his eyes tried to dissect the image Skeletor drew for them.
“If I’m not wrong, I’d say these are around two thousand years old, maybe a little more.” Skeletor commented idly, causing all of the ponies in the room to freeze up.
a zebra wearing a pink jacket *4
“Erebus my friend, I believe our troubles may be at their end.”
A cloud of grey smog poured from the vents above, culminating into the face of a bulldog with two piercing yellow eyes and a bright red leaf for a nose.
“What is it now meat sack?” The living cloud demanded.
“A funny kingdom far away, a place where we can surly play. A—"
“Just gimme the stupid paper,” Erebus interrupted as he stole the newspaper to look at the front article.
“Oh… This should be a fun place.”
“They’ll be completely off guard, they won’t expect a demon and his bard.”
*1 I didn’t have names for any of the council members, or an idea of how many there would be when I wrote the argument about Sombra’s portrait.
*2 I didn’t originally plan for Cannon Fodder to take on an antagonistic role against Skeletor, but as the story slowly progressed, I found myself drawn to the idea of making him someone who stands against Skeletor.
*3 By this point, Skeletor would have already revealed his past, but I’ve decided to keep him tight lipped for now.
*4 Finally, I wanted to include two characters that probably won’t make it into the story, Zeb the Zebra and Arabus the cloud demon. I wanted to include something from Gen 1, and I thought that the cloud demon and his zebra partner would be good, but the longer I tried to write their dynamic, the more I thought, “… … Fuck me, am I just writing a stand for this zebra?” Granted, that was their dynamic in Gen 1, and I thought having a demon cloud would be a good possible antagonist for Skeletor, but I could never think of how to progress the dynamic between the pair of villains and the skull headed lord of the Empire. I wanted them to see a newspaper article of Skeletor and be inspired to go to the Empire, but I had no idea what to do from there. I might try this again in the future, but don’t hope for this pair to appear in SMoTE.
A special thanks to Mimic Kairatta and Duckmagee for creating art for SMoTE. Thank you so much, it really makes my day whenever I see them. Consider giving these two a follow or a positive comment! Once again, thank you everyone for your continuous support. 
If you have any questions about SMoTE, post them below and I’ll do my best to answer them! Thanks again!
About the description of Shining, I agree, it is difficult to portray him outside of his circle of friends or family, he was rarely depicted in the series in an official form. Maybe in the comic book "Friends Forever Issue 26" you will find a couple of ideas, as well as for Prince Blueblood
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I do have plans for PB's character, though that's a whiles away. By the time I do reach it, I may have changed my mind again and again on how to approach his character. Still, I'll take a look into that comic just to see how they portrayed the two princes.
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Thanks. About the cut scenes, about the pie is strange, the Crumb Catcher and his games are too dreary, about Thorax too much pulled to Skeletor, about Yaks is also unclear, why are they here? Well that Zebra has not added his stand =) And reflections Cadance ( on the role of Skeletor, his), the scene with the bat-pony, a scene with Skeletor and crystals and walk to the hospital was just wonderful, it is a pity that they are not added. They complement the story well, answering the question of why Cadence can't hand over the throne to Skeletor in the future. In one case, he's a demon in the other, he's a cosplayer. The scene with the crystals is very interesting and his reflection on his future is also very interesting. And watching him, his reaction to Crystal, negotiating with the guards, with a pony in a strange (medical) mask, getting information about medicines. they create intrigue. What will the princess and princesses think then? It is a pity that this is not present in the main story. Thank you for letting me read it here.
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You're welcome. I do plan on keeping elements of the deleted content from chapter 34, just reworked and retooled to be better for the story. I felt like Skeletor being involved in this scene didn't allow the story to do more than just say, "bad stuff is happening." I think, now, the chapter is closer to, "Bad stuff is happening, and Crux Heart can help."
The Yaks were two girls Yaks who were trying to get to Equestria after leaving their home, and ended up stumbling on the Crystal Empire instead, where they planned to live since Skeletor would allow them to be gay.
I'm glad you've enjoyed reading some of the deleted material, and I'm glad that you also enjoy reading SMoTE!
i was saving this for 1000 likes but what the hell
isn't it great to have the love of your subjects MYAHAHAHAHA
i.postimg.cc/pT5Pw6yv/900.jpg
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OH MY GOD! This is amazing! Thank you, thank you so much for this. This is absolutely amazing, Duck. God, I can't even begin to describe how amazing this it. You're amazing!
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glad you like it
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Of course I do! Your art only gets better and better every time, and I love the work you put into these. Thank you again, Duck, this means a lot to me!
This might not be canon but it brought a smile to my face none the less.
But seriously absolutely wonderful work with these, kinda of shame Erebus couldn't make the cut but whatcha gonna do.
Though does make me curious at what first major enemy or perhaps recurring rival Skeletor might meet/make as things develop. That is to say more open enemy not those like Cannon Fodder and such who are scheming with a desire to plant a knife in Skeletor's back.
Also that mention of a certain dragon does make me wonder what will happen to Spike and how/why you plan to write him out of the picture?
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Ah yes, Spike, the inevitably severed character from most displaced stories. I love the little guy, I think he's a good character and he's a good fit for the cast, but... Let me put it this way, in good human stories where he's there, he's not there. Like, he'll be there for one scene, or Twilight will mention his name once, and that's it. He's like Owlicious in a sense. You know he's supposed to be there, but none of the characters in the story acknowledge him. I didn't want to have him be there for less than half a chapter and then drop him like a bag of bricks, so I just decided to nudge him out entirely. Why pretend to stick to canon when I'm clearly not? Also, him not being there was another slight touch of me trying to show that this isn't the mlp universe we know. It's similar, but the character aren't one to one in SMOTE and MLP.
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See what you mean and it is a interesting exploration in difference from canon too.