Twilight doesn't know what to make up what was in front of her, and neither does her friends. Up there, sitting frozen on the crystal throne, sat a creature that resembled closely to a minotaur. There is a skull that decorates the chest-plate, and another two smaller one over on its knee. Its skin was pale, yet held firmness. Its mane as white as snow, albeit a little paler. However, there is one detail that stood out than the rest, the joints of the pauldrons that connected to the chest-plate bore the cutiemark of the Royal Princesses. Twilight's curiosity was piqued, but wary and anxiety prevents her from studying it closer.
She had heard of King Sombra from her mentor, Princess Celestia, however, if that shadow was indeed Sombra, then who is this? Her mind raced for possible theories, yet none seems conclusive and ended up with more questions than answers.
The creature also held a greatsword, frozen alongside him. It had the crossguard connected to a skull at the base, jagged rows of spike adored one side of the blade with the other was curved, extending straight to the tip engraved with a rune of unknown meaning at the fuller.
Shining Armor walked up to the stunned group. "This is another problem we had to face after Sombra," he said, turning over to the creature, cringing as he had not yet used of how it looked.
"Whatever, this thing is. It is there for a reason, what it is, I don't know for sure."
"So, we're just going to leave it here?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Shining nodded, "For the time being, at least. There is another problem we have to face first."
'Ah right, we still have to face King Sombra.' Twilight thought somberly. But her big brother is right, no matter how much she wanted to study that creature, she needs to prioritize what mattered first.
'This is impossible,' Twilight thought in bewilderment. There isn't any single record of the creature ever existed in the Empire. There are no mentions, no nothing. It almost seems like the creature came into being from out of nowhere.
Twilight sighed as she put the book back into the shelves. Her quest to find both the Crystal Heart as well as research regarding the unknown creature that sat on the frozen throne bear fruitless. As she slide the book in, another book fell, and it instantly caught her interest. Levitating the book, she read the title; Fiends of the Depth.
She raised an eyebrow as she studied the book closer, it was well-preserved, but it held something sinister to it. She dared herself to open it, much to her dismay, nothing had happened except the previous eariness disappearing almost immediately.
She read the book swiftly, gathering key points the tome held. Time after time, it mentions something of a race called 'Nerubians'; arachnid species that lives underground below the Empire. Their presence alone kept the citizen of the Empire wary of these underground dwellers, even the King himself, took notice and resorted to seal the mines to prevent incursion from them.
What Twilight could gather from the tome, it depicted the spider-like creature as nigh impossible to defeat and their number seemingly infinite. At one point, the leader of the new race personally visited the Empire and demanded the King to surrender the Throne to its rightful owners, Princess Amore. Additionally, the book mentioned the name of the leader, Anub'arak, claiming that he is servants of the Lich King, the Guardian of Equestria.
Twilight blinked, she read the text once more, surely she'd read it by mistake. There is no King in Equestria, much less of a Guardian. The Princesses always were their ruler and Guardian. No book ever mentions another Guardian nor King.
Twilight sighed as she closed the book, her research instead gave her more questions than answers, and it frustrated her. She must either ask the oldest being alive or delved more into the matter alone, but it will be another time.
There is another matter to deal with first.
She landed with a bruise. She may felt several of her ribs broken at the moment of impact. She staggered back up, wincing as each movement deliver a small surge of pain through her entire body. The shadow laughed at her, the shadow that is King Sombra.
At the moment that he felt the Crystal Heart was on her hooves, he went straight to the tower after breaking the barrier. Twilight, knowing the King was onto her, teleported to the throne room along with Spike and the Heart. Twilight had told the little Drake to go to Cadence with the Heart. She'll hold the King here.
She knew she has to hold the King, or else everything is lost, damned her test, she doesn't care anymore.
Her horn lit up once more as she launched more magical bolt onto the King, and each time, he manages to deflect it using his black crystals. By his expression alone, he was humoring her, he know she was hopelessly outmatched.
"Give...me, the heart!" the King hoarsely said.
Twilight gritted her teeth. She knew her magic is useless against him, but what can she do? Avoiding the black crystals that formed around her, she launched another bolt, but she aimed not at the King, but towards the crystal walls surrounding them. If her calculations are correct, it will bounce from an angle the King wouldn't expect, and it did.
The King screamed as the bolt pierced through the shadowy head. In response, the shadow threw a blackish beam at her.
Twilight barely dodge each of them until one finally struck home.
She screamed in pain as she once again thrown across the room. At the moment of impact, she felt a crack. Then, she dropped down onto the crystal floor, coughing blood. Her chin lifted, staring at the smirking feature of the King.
"It...is...a pity," he said, then his eyes shifted. Twilight saw, perhaps for the first time, a moment of panic in his eyes. He returned to his shadowy form, hissing at her, more specifically, behind her. Turning back, she saw the unknown creature again. There was a noticeable crack over at the center, but otherwise, remained the same when they left it.
An idea formed on her mind, immediately her horn light up, pouring every magic she could muster. Sombra hissed and lunged at her in an attempt to stop her, but it was too late as blinding light enveloped the room.
Arthas was bored, his body frozen, unable to move, waiting for the Empire's return. He did something similar to his current situation, but even then, there are other personas within him that time, the one that he snuffed out entirely out of his mind. Still, time is sensitive, especially when he was in this state. Many things will pass for who knows how long, as far as his concern, he only slept for a day, while for them, it must be a millennia or so. All he need is to wait until the time comes.
Then, there was a light upon his subconscious like a shining beacon, and like a moth, he followed the light.
~~~
Arthas found himself on the waking world, the eerie hum of the runeblade, Frostmourne, was the first thing he heard. It took his bleary eyes awhile to recognize his surroundings. He put his armored gauntlet over his face, letting both his mind and eye settle to the new environment.
"NO!" Arthas' eyes snapped open upon hearing the King's hoarse whisper. Immediately, he went into action, grasping the runeblade as he shattered the remnants of his frozen prison with his off-hand.
He heard a hiss he knew far too well, his glare hardened upon seeing the being that he once defeated manifested in front of him in the form of a shadow. He can still hear the King's soul echoing within Frostmourne, calling for the shadow to release him. Arthas silenced it, after-all, one less being powering Frostmourne is more or less insignificant.
The shadow, however, sensed it and lunged at him, sending spires of black crystals. Arthas chuckled, accepting the futile challenge as a warm-up. With a single flick of his runeblade, he shattered the crystal shards into pieces. The shadow hissed once more, attempting to escape, but Arthas has no intention of letting it escape.
Frosmourne hummed as it glows pale blue, Arthas whipped the runeblade towards the direction of the fleeing shadow, at once, a skull emerged from the tip of the blade with lightish blue coil swirling around it as it homing towards the intended target.
The shadow found itself coiled as the skull struck it from behind, binding its movement. Arthas walked up to it with almost nonexistent expression, his runeblade at his side. The shadow gave him one final desperate attack, but he grabbed onto its ethereal form as if it was a physical being, his hand glowed similar hue from Frostmourne earlier.
"Torment shall be the only thing you feel, shadow, rest in damnation," he said as he plunged Frostmourne onto its shadowy form before swinging upward to finish it once and for all.
As the shadow dissipates, there was another blinding flash, one that he had to cover his eyes with his hand. There was a cheer outside, one that he would've walked out to see, if not for a single pony that stared at him with wide eyes.
Twilight never once felt so paralyzed, the creature, it, it destroyed the King with ease. It was unfazed as it destroyed the spires that launched at it, destroying it in a single motion. And as the King attempted to flee, the creature's runeblade unleashed a skull that seemingly coiled him to the ground.
Then, it talked! The creature spoke in fluent Equish as it plunged its blade unto the King, finishing him once and for all.
There was a flash that temporarily blinded her, at the same time, magic surges throughout her body, and her earlier wounds healed. When her vision returned, she found herself, both mane and body, sparkled like crystals. She had little time to ponder what happened as the creature then locked her gaze on her. She tensed as the creature walked towards her, with its blade still beside him. She shut her eyes, waiting for her demise, waiting for the cold steel to puncture through her flesh. None came.
Fearfully, she opened one of her eyes, the creature's armored gauntlet was the first thing she saw, offering itself. It beckons her to come closer, still offering its hand. Shifting her gaze to see the creature's face, it wore a warm, reassuring smile. It spoke again in a young, but calming tone.
"Do not fear me, little pony, the shadow has been defeated. You are safe."
Twilight hesitantly took the creature's arm, and as she was helped back on her hooves, the door to the throne room was slammed open.
"Twilight, you won't believe what just-" Rainbow Dash, along with the rest halted dead on their track, her eyes shift towards the unknown creature.
"Oh, hey girls, did it-" Rainbow Dash's shout cut short the purple unicorn sentences.
"Get away from her!" Rainbow Dash flew with a blur, only leaving a rainbow trail behind her as she raised her right forehoof to punch the creature that 'threaten' Twilight. Rainbow Dash blinked as the creature not only dodged her by sidestepping, but she also finds herself anchored in mid-air still with her wings beating.
"As courageous your action maybe, but I do not pose a threat to any of you," the creature turned to the rest of the group who stood agape at the six and a half foot bipedal creature. "All of you."
The creature proceeds to put the shell-shocked Rainbow Dash on the ground as he sheath the enormous runeblade he held on his back, glancing over to the Dais.
"It seems the Heart has returned to its proper place." It said, turning to the pony-turned-crystal crowd with a smile. "For that, I must commend you for helping the crystal ponies and the Empire."
"Are, are you the real king?" Fluttershy asked, the first pony to bypass the initial shock.
The creature blinked, then laughed heartily. "Oh, good grace, no, I am not the King of the Empire, nor do I have any sort of such relation, Princess Amore, however, is the true ruler."
At once, Princess Cadence's ear perked up. "Wait, Princess Amore?"
The creature turned towards the pink alicorn with its eyes widening upon seeing her. It took a moment before it recompose with a cough. "Yes, it seems that her bloodline carries on," it trailed off.
Before Cadence could ask it another question, there was a blinding flash for a moment. Once her eyes recovers, she saw both the Royal Princess stood still as their eyes locked onto the creature. It stares at them, in a state of shock as well, then the Princesses' eyes teared as both jumped at it with a sad bellow, shouting the word:
"Father!"
"Wait, WHAT?!?" Everypony, and dragon, all shouted in surprise as the three hugged each other. Still, with teary eyes, Princess Celestia looked over to the crowd with a chuckle.
"I forgot we haven't yet explain this to them."
Arthas followed the ponies into a massive dining hall, not as spacious as he once had, but large enough to accommodate a dozen groups of ponies. He chuckled as the memory on the priceless expression of the group replayed in his mind as they all took their seats.
Arthas, Celestia, and Luna all sat at the end of the table, the three getting themselves comfortable as the rest nervously fill out the seats, all wore a puzzled expression.
Arthas rest his elbows on the table, his hands connected as he rest them on his chin. There was an awkward silence that filled the room, Arthas decides to shatter the iceberg with the sound of his throat clearing.
"Now, where would I begin?"