//------------------------------// // Chapter 24. Loyalty is Rare for Royalty. // Story: Skeletor, Master of The Empire. // by Hotel_Chicken //------------------------------// Thunderous clangs of hammers striking hot steel and iron rang throughout the forge, only drowned out by occasional sound of steel being dipped into barrels of oil to quench the blades. After several days of experimenting with the strange metal, the blacksmiths had discovered how inefficient quenching steel in water was and began experimenting with any liquids they could get their hooves on. After three days of experimenting, and with the help of the Alchemist Guild, they discovered that the oil used for lamps and fire pits allowed the steel to cool more efficiently. Sitting next to one of the many barrels of oil that the Empire’s forge had on hoof, was the best of all the blacksmiths in the forge, Rage Issues, a crystal pony of pure muscle and power that dwarfed even the largest of guards. His thick white coat had been trimmed to down to only a inch or so, allowing his skin to breath in the blazing inferno of the forge. What little remained of his golden mane and pristine white coat was buried under a thick layer of grime and dust that painted his body in ash. His hardened gaze never allowed any emotion other than contempt and anger to cross his face, two emotions that he very rarely felt during his recent freedom. He sat on a stool designed for minotaurs, hunched over a large barrel filled with oil for the hot metal to cool off in. It was an uncomfortable position for most ponies to sit in, but looked almost natural for the hardened blacksmith, a testament to the years he spent training under a minotaur in Yakyakistan after moving there with his family as a foal. After a long life of living under the banner of the Yak Kingdom, Rage Issues eventually moved back to the Crystal Empire once he reached stallionhood, taking the many lessons he had learned from his mentor to an Empire that often looked down on him for his family’s decision to leave. Years of backhanded compliments from idiotic Yaks who claimed that he and his tutor were, "better than they expected" had forced Rage Issues to leave the Yak Kingdom and return to the Empire. Of course, the "compliments" he had received from the Yaks had somehow managed to find their way to the Crystal Empire. Word of his family's choice to leave the Empire had spread far through the crystal pony kingdom, and thus he was once again faced with judgment from morons who thought his work was automatically inferior because he had been taught by a "bipedal cow." Even though his eyes displayed a permanent scorn and resentment for the world that shunned him, and his muzzle never allowed his lips to curl upwards, the loud beating of his heart gave away the immense joy that he felt as he worked. Even as he pulled the cooled steel out of the barrel to inspect the blade with a scrutinizing eye, he couldn’t help but feel happy and prideful in his work. After three years of having his body work without his mind, forced to watch as his hooves made obvious mistakes when handling metal, and compelled to spend days or even weeks away from the forge, the freedom his lord gave him allowed him to work however he wanted once again. His artistic spirit began to flow as he and the other blacksmiths and artisans began working on Lord Skeletor’s steel coins, designing the perfect representation of their new leader into each one with pride. Even with their new blades and armor, Rage Issues and his fellow blacksmiths took inspiration from their questionably undead lord and used a bone themed aesthetic into the pommels and guards of the swords. The first few designs of the new armor and weapons were questionable at best, but a perfect balance between the old and new design was soon found for the guard’s armor and weapons. If all went according to plan, the new guard armor would be distributed in by the end of the day and Lord Skeletor would be presented with his crown. Rage spared a glance at the concealed room of the forge, hidden behind a heavy tarp where one of the gentler and well-trained blacksmiths were busy placing sapphires into Lord Skeletor’s crown. Since ruvas were the ponies who were usually taught how to crust jewelry and other types of metal with crystals, only a few crystal ponies in the Empire had a vague idea of how to encrust items with crystals. It had taken many days and nights to perfectly place the smaller crystals inside the crown, and it was nearly complete. As his eyes lingered on the dark grey tarp that separated the lucky stallion from the rest of the blacksmiths, the door to the forge opened for one of the council members to trot in. The council member’s brown coat and coarse black mane and tail were one of the first things that drew Rage’s attention to the stallion. Unlike most of the crystal ponies in the Empire who had brightly colored coats and manes, the young council member had darker colors that were usually associated with the lower class of ponies. The stallion wasn’t able to hold Rage’s attention for long however as he quickly brought his eyes back to the freshly made sword to look for any flaws as he cleaned it. He had already known why the youngest council member had come to the forge, it was blatantly apparent by the joy filled trot and the all too pleasant smile he wore on his muzzle. It was odd for Rage to see Avid Value so happy. Before "King" Sombra had taken over the Crystal Empire, Avid Value was the definition of a walking corpse. His half glazed eyes and disheveled fur told Rage of the countless hours Avid had spent working under the prior Royal Banker. Before Lord Skeletor's rise to power, Rage Issues had only spoken to Avid Value once because of a misprint on the year put on a few hundred bits. During Lord Skeletor's reign however, Avid Value had come to the forge almost daily to check in on the progress of their lord's crown. “Good morning Rage, how are you doing today?” Avid Value asked as he took a seat on a nearby stool. “Fine. You?” Rage asked in turn as he continued to look over his work, running an old rag across the wet blade to remove any oil or grime. “Wonderfully. Lord Skeletor should be waking up soon and I wanted to see how our, 'Project' is coming along.” “Almost done,” Rage replied in a nearly monotone voice. “Fantastic! I can’t wait to see the look on Lord Skeletor’s face, or should I say, ‘the look on his skull’? I mean, he doesn’t technically have a face so saying skull would be grammaticallycally correct. But would he be offended by that? I mean, he technically has a face but—" “Stop talking,” Rage interrupted bluntly. “Right, right. Rambling again, sorry,” Avid Value apologized as he chuckled nervously. “I’m just nervous about his gift. I mean, what if he doesn’t like rubies? Or what if we guessed the measurements wrong, he might be upset if that happens.” “He won’t.” “You’re right. It’d take more than that to upset him. Still, he may not like it.” “He will.” “But how can you be sure!?” Avid Value asked in an impatient voice. Rage took his eyes away from the sword in his hooves to look at Avid Value with a single raised eyebrow, silently asking the stallion a thousand questions with his eyes alone. The smaller stallion swallowed nervously under Rage’s gaze as beads of sweat, either from the intense heat of the forge or his own growing worries, began to fall down Avid Value’s face. “I-I’m not questioning the quality of your work, Rage. I’m sure that it’ll be beyond my expectation, I’m just not sure if it can meet Lord Skeletor’s. I mean, he’s from Faust’s garden for her sake!” “You sure?” “Positive. You heard what I said a few days ago. About the paper money and deities who know how to read and write, the many layers of heaven where leaders are voted for so they can represent their layer to Faust, the fact that he was from a place that was over the rainbow that can't be traveled to by flight or sailing?” Avid Value asked in one breath. A faint memory of Avid Value going off on one of his tangents played in Rage’s mind, and he vaguely recalled Avid Value mentioning Lord Skeletor’s “secret”. “A bit,” Rage replied with a shrug. “Well, then you should know how high his standards are. We can’t have anything that’s even a fraction less than pure perfection.” “Simplicity’s best.” “That’s not always the case, Rage. Princess Amore always wore amazing robes and high-class jewelry that was made millennia before you or I were born. Lord Skeletor may wear this crown for as long as she wore her tiara. Maybe even longer since it’s made of steel.” “Uh-huh,” Rage said as took one last cursory glance at the steel blade before he placed it in a barrel full of similar blades for the guard. “So, how long until it’s ready?” Avid Value asked. “Few hours.” “Will it be ready for court though?”
 Rage simply shrugged as he turned back to the molten steel to begin pouring it into the mold. “Maybe.” “It needs to be ready by then, Rage,” Avid Value complained. “It’s bad enough that he’s gone this long without a crown. If it takes any longer, he may think that we don’t care, and if that happens he may leave us, and then—" Rage huffed tiredly as he reached for a pouch full of fresh mint flowers, a type of plant from the subterranean farms that helped blacksmiths breath in the usually smoky air and, as a bonus, it acted as a nice snack for the blacksmiths to eat whenever they missed lunch. Even though Rage hated the tangy smell of mint and the stinging sensation it usually left in his nose, it did help to keep it around for situations where Avid Value would panic. “Breath,” Rage commanded as he shoved the pouch over Avid Value’s muzzle. The young council member was startled by the pouch being shoved into his face, but complied after a few moments to take in several large gulps of air. "Thanks," Avid Value said as he took the pouch off of his muzzle. "You're right. I'm worrying too much. I just... I want to make sure he'll be happy." "He will." "But—" "No buts," Rage admonished as he hit the council member upside the head with a hoof while also making sure that it wouldn't be hard enough to actually hurt the stallion. "Trust me." "I do... I... You're right, you're right," Avid Value admitted as he chuckled humorlessly. "Heh, if I had a bit every time I admitted that. So, a few hours, huh?" "Yup." "Alright. As long as he gets it today. Thanks for everything, Rage, I'll make sure to let Lord Skeletor know who made his gift. In the meantime, I have to get ready for breakfast with our lord. Is there anything else I need to know before I leave?" "Armor's done." "Really? That's wonderful, not only will he get a crown, but a new set of armor for his guards to wear. I'm sure he'll love it. At least I hope he does, I mean maybe we should postpone and—" "Stop talking," Rage interrupted again with a heavy sigh. "Right, you're right. Deep breaths, Avid. Everything's going to work out. Okay. Thank you, so much, Rage. Have a good day!” Avid Value said happily as he trotted out of the forge. “Take care,” Rage told him as he left. Once Avid Value was out the door, Rage returned to his work and began hitting the hot steel to properly shape it, doing his very best to craft another fine set of swords and spear tips for the royal guards. The blissful smell of blueberries drifted to what remained of Skeletor's nose as he took a sip of his blueberry tea, a rare delicacy in the Empire that had proven to be less effective than his honeysuckle tea, but was still much tastier. A brief sense of alertness spiked through his mind as the flavors danced on his tongue, giving him a bit more energy to confront the day and chase away the grasp of sleep that still clung to his mind. The day before, court had been extended by nearly an hour due to the amount of guards begging for forgiveness. Somehow, the stallion they were sent to look for literally vanished into thin air in an alley on Amethyst avenue, and the guards were kicking themselves senselessly for losing a crystal pony that could apparently do magic. It took Skeletor a good deal of time to convince the guards that he wasn't upset, although their news definitely didn’t do anything to ease his concerns. There was only one magical pony in the Crystal Empire that Skeletor knew about, and he knew that invoking the dark stallion's name would only send the crystal ponies into a frenzied panic. If Skeletor wasn't certain before, he definitely was at that moment. It became evidently clear to him that the pony was being possessed by Sombra's ghost, since there was no other reasonable way for a crystal pony to use magic. He was furious that Sombra would use one of the crystal ponies as a meat puppet but he was also very confused by Sombra's actions. Why would he possess a random stallion? Why would he have that stallion trot to Yakyakistan? And most concerning of all, why hadn't Sombra swapped to a new host once he was discovered? It would only make sense to jump out of “Thorite”, if that even was his real name, and possess one of the guards that were pursuing him. It was yet another mystery and terrifying fear that would plague the confused human, causing him to lose hours of sleep for another night as he turned to his limited collection of books for answers. Information regarding ghosts, spirits, and specters was either vague, contradictory, or entirely fictional, which left Skeletor with absolutely no answers to his ghost problem. At the very least, his concerns regarding his own guard were steadily decreasing with each passing second. After pestering Crumb Catcher with a hundred questions that could all be summed up to, "Am I going to be literally stabbed in the back by a guard?" Crumb Catcher reassured him that his small network of spies hadn't found out anything horribly nefarious regarding Cannon Fodder or the other guards. From what Crumb Catcher could gather so far, Cannon Fodder's trip to the Alchemy Tower was his only act of defiance against Skeletor. Skeletor desperately grabbed onto that small bit of pleasant news, using it as one of the few good points of his day to calm his nerves. Even though it wasn't much, it was still something to distract him from the darker fears and worries that paraded in his mind, something to keep the nightmares at bay while he stole a few hours of sleep. "Another busy night, my lord?" Emerald Secret asked from her seat at the dinning hall's table for royalty and council members. "What gave it away?" Skeletor asked as he fought off a loud yawn. "A few things, though your posture is certainly one of them. I'm not too sure it's good for your shoulders to slouch, my lord," Emerald observed as she ate her breakfast. "Fair point," Skeletor said as he cracked his back, causing the vertebrae of his spine to pop loudly. A few ponies from nearby tables, including Emerald Secret, winced at the sound of his bones popping back into place, though Skeletor was too tired to notice their reactions. "Do we have a schedule for today set up?" He asked. "Yes, my lord, I even took the liberty of leaving space open for a brief rest after lunch, though I would highly recommend that you try to get at least eight hours of sleep a night." "Noted," Skeletor replied as he took a sip of his tea. "So, same as usual then? Council meeting, other meetings, lunch, court, and then a hopeful bath and dinner?” He summarized. “Yes. Depending on what the other council members bring up during our morning meeting, the schedule for today shouldn’t change too much.” “Speaking of the other council members, why is it that they’re rarely all here for breakfast?” “Crumb Catcher is usually busy organizing the staff in the morning, Copper Plate is still watching the Heart spin with other ponies, and Colonel Kernel is over there,” Emerald told him as she pointed at a table at the far end of the room where the colonel was sitting with a small group of guards. “Why isn’t he sitting over here?” “He’s sitting with his friends right now. Would you like me to fetch him?” “Nah, let him be. He looks like he’s having a good time anyway. So, what about Avid Value, what does he do in the mornings?” “Well, I’m actually not too sure about that. He should be here soon though, so perhaps you could ask him.” “Maybe,” Skeletor said with a shrug as he returned to his small breakfast. Aside from the small cup of tea that kept him from falling into the loving embrace of the sandman, or whatever the pony equivalent was, a warm piece of toast covered in crystalberry jam and a bowl of baby carrot slices were all he had for breakfast. It was a slightly larger serving than most of the crystal ponies were able to get, and it was better than the meager amounts of food that the Empire was able to scrape together a few days ago. Crystal ponies were working tirelessly to either gather crops from the overgrown subterranean farms or trying to replant and fertilize the dead farms that hugged the outermost edge of the Crystal Empire. Skeletor had tried his best to aid the farmers and had successfully managed to use a few spells to help the crystal ponies in their efforts, however, his magic still wasn’t strong enough to make the plants grow in an instant. At best, he had sped up their growth by a few days, but a few days in the future didn’t help the Empire in the present. His desperation to please the crystal ponies and his moral inclination to help them caused him to spend more sleepless nights pouring over magical spell books. His search for knowledge yielded almost nothing to him, and his efforts to help had given them very little in terms of profit. At the very least, the Empire was getting by and it was slowly repairing the damage caused by Sombra. Skeletor focused solely on helping to repair the physical damage of the Empire and left the emotional and mental healing up to the professionals, such as the doctors and nurses who survived Sombra’s reign. While there were spells that could theoretically heal the mental scars Sombra left, Skeletor refused to try his hand at using mental magic on anyone for fear of accidentally lobotomizing them in the process. As Skeletor tried to think of new ways to help the crystal ponies in the medical wing of the Crystal Castle, he failed to notice Avid Value trotting up to the table to join them until the small brown pony spoke up. “Good morning your highness, Emerald,” Avid Value said as he took his seat. “Good morning Avid, we were just talking about you,” Emerald told him. “Heh… Uh, good things I hope?” Avid nervously asked before he stole a quick glance at Skeletor. His sudden shift in behavior from happy and pleasant to shy and worrying didn’t escape Skeletor, it was something that he had slowly grown accustom to when he spoke to the crystal ponies. “When isn’t there something good to say about you?” Skeletor jokingly asked in turn. “We were just wondering what the council did in their spare time. Nothing more than idle chatter, really.” Skeletor’s words appeared to ease Avid Value’s worry, allowing the stallion’s posture to relax as he nodded his head in satisfaction. As Avid Value gave his order to one of the castle’s servants, choosing to go with a simple slice of bread with jam and a glass of water, Skeletor’s thoughts briefly wandered back to his other council members. He was silently grateful to have someone around who actually knew what they were doing, since he barely understood the first thing about being a king or whatever he technically was. Everyone in the Crystal Empire called him a “lord”, but he didn’t know if that was higher or lower than a king. Sombra was a king, although that title was self-imposed, and Princess Amore was a princess, even though she should have been an empress since she ran the Empire. And, while Skeletor ran the Crystal Empire, he didn’t really count as an Emperor since two of the three kingdoms in the Empire were gone. So what the fuck am I? After deciding to shelf that question for later, possibly indefinably if he could manage, Skeletor turned his attention back to Avid Value. “So Avid, how has the distribution of… bits? Yeah, how has that been going?” “It’s going steadily, your highness. For now, ponies in essential jobs such as the medical professionals, bakers, cooks, reconstruction workers, guards, and farmers are being compensated for their work either with extra rationing or bits depending on their preference. The steel bits have started production and will be distributed soon, your highness.” “That’s good… Is there any threat of running out of materials to make steel?” Skeletor asked. “Not as of yet. A good deal of raw iron ore was mined during… his reign, and any of the armor he had built during his rule was melted down by the blacksmiths a few days ago, so we shouldn’t have to worry about that for now. Oh, and the new armor for the guards is done too. The court guards should be ready to display their new armor by later today during court.” “Excellent. Uh, while we're on the note of armor would... Ah, never mind," Lord Skeletor dismissed as he looked back down at his breakfast. "Is something wrong, my lord?" Emerald Secret asked. "Well I... I was just wondering if it would be possible to commission a set of armor for myself. But, I mean, it's not a big issue, I can just stick with this." "You... Want armor?" Avid Value asked in a stupefied tone. "Well, it's uh... Expected for leaders in my land to wear armor. And while my current attire is suitable it leaves me feeling... exposed, so to speak," Skeletor explained. In truth, while a set of armor would solve his clothing issue, it would also have had the bonus effect of preventing a sword from being run through his abdomen. At least until he managed to keep up a barrier spell for more than ten seconds, then he would be able to just throw up an invisible shield around himself whenever he wanted. “I'm certain that can be arranged, your highness. And, since you mentioned your home, I was wondering if it would be possible for us to learn more about it? For example, like about your friend, Trevor?” Avid Value hesitantly asked with a nervous smile. Trevor? Skeletor wondered as he searched his memories for anyone named Trevor. A few seconds of confusion soon gave way to realization as Skeletor remembered his conversation with Avid Value a while ago when he was telling the young stallion about his friend, Tuvar. He supposed that Trevor and Tuvar sounded similar enough to get confused, so Avid Value had probably forgotten his name or misheard it. After shrugging off Avid Value’s little slip up, Skeletor rapped his fingers against the surface of the table, searching for any excuse not to reveal anything about his past. “Well, I’d love to and uh… I uh... I can’t think of a good reason not to soooo I’ll… tell you a bit about my friend, Tuvar first. Maybe after a bit, I can talk more about my country too.” "Oh, yes please! I'd love to learn more about your home, my lord!" Avid Value beamed. “I’d love to hear it too if that’s alright, my lord,” Emerald Secret added on. “O-of course! Um… Well, I guess the best way to start is how I met Tuvar at a… group meeting for fictional writer enthusiasts.” “You were a writer?” “In a vague sense of the word,” Skeletor replied with a nervous chuckle. "We uh... used aliases to publish short stories about uh... a young caravan of heroes that taught valuable life lessons to younger generations. I used the pen name, 'Demo-Man' while Tuvar used the name 'Two-Face' for his," Skeletor told the pair as he tried to make his mundane life on Earth sound more interesting than it really was. As the lord of the Crystal Empire began embellishing his life’s story to the two council members, dozens of ears turned towards their table to catch anything and everything Lord Skeletor said. Faint whispers began to spread across the tables in the dining hall as ponies stole glances at Skeletor while straining their ears to steal any knowledge they could from Lord Skeletor. Like many of the crystal ponies who lived within the Crystal Empire, the palace staff and guards barely knew anything about their strange leader. Lord Skeletor, appearing oblivious to the sudden interest directed towards his table, regained his council members, and many ponies with good hearing, about his exploits in his home country. He spoke passionately about his time writing stories about a group of adventurers who inspired songs and stories to be written about them, and how his writing eventually led him to meeting a good friend named “Two-Face.” Apparently, he and his friend bonded over the tales of two adventurers who would sail the seas on a ship that voyaged through fiery seas of war, turmoil, and anger. Lord Skeletor and his friend took it upon themselves to sing the praises of the crusading heroes, writing down the tales of their heroic deeds for thousands to read and entertain the world with a blooming love story between the pair of heroes. While Lord Skeletor captivated his secret audience with wonderful escapades and lessons of morality and truth, Colonel Kernel did his best to convince the other guards at his table to not eavesdrop on Lord Skeletor. It was an effort in futility for the new colonel as his words fell onto the ears of ponies who were too enraptured with the tale of the young heroes to listen to their colonel. After failing several times to convince the guards to stop listening to Lord Skeletor’s private conversation, Colonel Kernel dismissed himself from the table and trotted out of the room. He could only pray to Faust that Lord Skeletor would either be lenient towards his eavesdropping subjects, or that he would remain oblivious to them for the duration of breakfast. Either way, it would be out of the colonels hooves, for the moment, he had more pressing concerns than the gossip circles that would erupt after breakfast. As one of the highest ranked guards in the Crystal Castle, Colonel Kernel had the honor of being one of the first guards to be outfitted with their new armor. A small smile pulled at the edges of his muzzle as his stomach began to turn in on itself. The prospect of wearing armor made of the mystical metal known as, “steel” was both invigorating and nerve-wracking to the new colonel. He wondered how much heavier steel armor would be compared to his platinum and iron armor, and how much more he would need to clean and buffer his armor to get rid of any smudges or scratches. The question of how it would feel against his fur coat also briefly drifted through his mind as he unconsciously wiggled his withers in his current armor. Though it wasn’t unbearably uncomfortable, it was certainly a size or so too big for the colonel. Colonel Kernel had considered brining the issue up to one of the blacksmiths before, but had always found a reason to avoid speaking to them due to one certain pony there, Rage issues. A stallion of unparalleled strength that towered over most ponies, with a deep and booming voice that commanded respect from anypony who heard it, and a pony whose presence alone caused a shiver of fear to gallop down the colonel’s spine. He had hardly spoken to the stallion during his training under Lieutenant Bolt, and after his first meeting with the imposing blacksmith, he feared the day when he would need to talk to him again. The harsh glare Rage Issues shot at him would stick in his mind forever, a constant reminder of how unworthy he was to wear the armor of the royal guards. Now, instead of having the tough stallion begrudgingly hoof him a set of hand me down armor to him, the imposing stallion would be hoofing him a set of custom armor that was made of the strongest armor in the Crystal Empire, and possibly in whole the world. He could only imagine the amount of contempt and hatred that would burn in Rage Issue’s eyes. As Colonel Kernel suppressed another shiver of dread from causing his armor to shake, he nearly trotted right into Crumb Catcher after he turned a corner abruptly. After stumbling over his own hooves for a few moments, Colonel Kernel narrowly avoided cantering right into the higher council member. “Oh! Sorry, Mr. Catcher, I didn’t see you there,” Colonel Kernel quickly apologized. “It’s perfectly fine, colonel. I’m actually glad since this saves me time from tracking you down,” Crumb Catcher said as he dusted off his coat sleeve. “Oh, was there something you needed?” “Well, Lord Skeletor advised me to find some… ‘friends’ in the guard, so to speak, and I thought it would do me wonders if we got to know each other better. Do you mind if we trot and talk?” “Um, sure. It’s uh… nice that you’re trying to find more friends, my dad usually said that—" “Ah, yes, I’ve heard much about your father,” Crumb Catcher suddenly interrupted. “You have, or rather 'had' a noble father, Smell Feast, and a noble mother named Smooth Talk, whom apparently had a misfortunate accident involving a rickety chandelier coincidentally around the same time he met his second wife’s sister and hired her as a maid. “During Princess Amore’s rule, he called in a favor to have you act as a trainee under Lieutenant Bolt, a skilled thestral guard who, in my personal opinion, was a decent lieutenant during his service to the crown. Though if there was one issue the lieutenant had, it was his insatiable lust and his desire buck anything that had a vagina. You should know, after all, it was your duty to make sure his room was cleaned up after his nightly romps,” Crumb Catcher rattled off without any pause. The temporary member of the council could only stare at Crumb Catcher with wide eyes as he slowly processed what Crumb Catcher had said. “How… How do you know that?” “Because, colonel…” Crumb Catcher paused as his eyes dragged along the halls of the castle. It was only at that moment that Crumb Catcher noticed how barren the halls were and took note of how many guard posts were left vacant. As Colonel Kernel looked at the surprisingly empty halls of the Crystal Castle, Crumb Catcher took the opportunity to get closer to the colonel and whisper into his ear. “I’m the Royal Spy Master,” he admitted in a hushed whisper. “Wait… Really? But I thought—" “That I was just the ‘help’? That I was simply the butler? Well, I am, but I’m also the one who makes sure that Lord Skeletor is safe. But what’s more important, is that I make sure my friends are safe, and I’d like to think of you as a friend. You see, our lord’s paranoia has caused him a… lapse in judgment when it comes to his royal guard. He has this ridiculous notion that the guards might be against him.” “Why would he think that?” “In truth? Because General Cannon Fodder has been planning to stage a coup against Lord Skeletor and our lord found out about it,” Crumb Catcher said dismissively, as if he were talking about something mundane like a boring piece of gossip. “H-how—" “I’ve known for some time about the general’s plans to overthrow Lord Skeletor,” Crumb Catcher admitted with a snide grin. “In fact, I knew about it before Lord Skeletor managed to stumble upon the general’s dirty little secret. I was surprised it took him so long to catch on, it was a good thing I managed to… ‘convince’ Purity to reveal her findings to Lord Skeletor while conveniently forgetting to mention my involvement.” “Then… W-wait. What do you mean by that?” Crumb Catcher chuckled as his mischievous smile grew wider. “Well, I helped the general, of course,” he stated while grinning from eye to eye. Colonel Kernel was completely dumbstruck by Crumb Catcher’s blunt reply. His heart began to beat faster as he tried to make sense of his situation. A council member, the Royal Spy Master no less, had just admitted to aiding another council member in a coup against Lord Skeletor. “Why are you telling me this?” “Why? Because I need you, colonel. While I was content leaving you blissfully ignorant of everything going on, certain… ‘events’ have caused me to expand my inner circle. From what I’ve heard, there’s a magic user in the Empire that’s disguised as a crystal pony. There are very few ponies I know of who can use a disguise spell for as long as that ‘stallion’ did, and even fewer who can still use magic without altering their disguise.” “Who?” “Must I spell it out for you colonel? There was one pony who frequently flaunted her ability to disguise herself with magic, and it would only make sense for her cousins in Dream Valley to share that ability.” “You… You don’t actually think that it’s—” “The princesses, Princess Celestia and Luna?” Crumb Catcher rhetorically asked. “I’m not saying it’s for certain, but if I were a betting pony, I’d probably believe it full-heartedly. But I’m not a betting pony, and I hate being wrong. So, whether or not ‘Thorite’ was one of the princesses in disguise or not, I still need allies. “So, colonel, I need to know one simple thing. When the time comes to seize power from Lord Skeletor, whose side will you stand on? Will you march alongside Lord Skeletor to the gallows, or shall you join us in a new era of peace and tranquility under the reign of the Crystal Empire’s true leaders?” “I… I…” “You don’t have to give me an answer now, colonel. Take your time to think it over,” Crumb Catcher said cheerfully as he patted Colonel Kernel on his withers. After a moment of patting him, Crumb Catcher pulled the other stallion in closely so he could whisper directly into his ear. “Oh, and if you’re thinking of running to Lord Skeletor and telling him about our conversation, just know that it would end very poorly for you. I know how many guards love Lord Skeletor and how many despise him, and if I sold them out to Lord Skeletor in the hopes of avoiding his ire… Well, let’s just say that the body count would be substantial. And each and every one of them would be dead because. Of. You,” he threatened. A familiar sense of fear washed over Colonel Kernel as he stood motionlessly. His heart pounded inside his chest, pressing against his ribcage before strangling itself to take up as little space as possible inside of him. “Just some food for thought. Take care, colonel,” Crumb Catcher said as he trotted away from the colonel. Colonel Kernel could only stand still as he watched Crumb Catcher disappear behind a pair or doors that sat a few yards away from him. A shuddered breath escaped him after he saw the door fully close, feeling the intense weight of his conversation with Crumb Catcher crash into him. Once his brain finally began to work properly, his breathing began to hasten as his legs started to buckle underneath him. With a few simple words, Crumb Catcher managed to deliver a terrifying ultimatum to the newest member of the council, causing his mind and body to react violently to the prospect of being stuck between choosing his new, and terrifying, lord or to side with the goddesses that governed Dream Valley. "He... He... Oh buck," he muttered to himself before his eyes rolled into the back of his skull as he fell unconscious.