A gentle breeze brushed past Skeletor’s skull as he gazed over the Empire.
The once bare and shining streets had been buried in snow, and the few crystal ponies he saw were dull and lifeless, carrying themselves like shambling corpses through a frigid hell. They trotted without any purpose as they trudged through the snow, shoveling haphazard paths for the others to follow.
It was all hauntingly familiar. Almost as if he had slipped back to his first day in the Empire.
An empire without love. A kingdom falling to ruin.
He stared at the Crystal Empire, remembering the crystal fair that had taken place only a few weeks before. The shining buildings that glittered in the sunlight, the roads filled with laughter and life.
It had all felt like a distant dream in the face of this waking nightmare.
A light groan eventually tore his attention away from the bleak sight, causing him to face the sleeping princess behind him.
The light that fell through the window quickly fell onto the bed, bathing Princess Cadence in the glow of the morning sun.
Skeletor could hardy recognize the sleeping mare. The once elegant alicorn, who had held her head high when demanding her birthright, had become a shadow of the mare he knew. Her fur was knotted, her mane undone, and her once calculating eyes were heavy with tears and black stains.
She muttered quiet apologies in her sleep, silently pleading for forgiveness from whatever haunted her dreams.
Letting go of a breath he unintentionally held, Skeletor eventually closed the curtains and stepped away from the window. He fumbled briefly in the darkness before he found a candle holder on the nightstand, letting an eldritch glow flow from his fingers and ignite the cold wax with a spark of emerald fire.
He only recalled Princess Cadence’s warnings after he unleashed the spell, the memory of the staircase quickly flashing in his mind as he did so.
A piece of his soul to save him from walking blindly in the darkness. Even if it would regrow eventually it wasn’t good to waste his magic on simple cantrips. He had no idea how much he had already lost, especially after his last encounter with Sombra, so he would need to be more cautious moving forward.
He couldn’t afford to be so foolish anymore. After all, in an alien world with an alien body, his soul and memories were all he really had left.
Although another sleepy groan quickly reminded him of the one other thing he had in this strange world.
While Skeletor quietly contemplated the odd friends and bonds he formed in the Empire, his greatest enemies trotted farther away from the Empire’s reach.
The former general panted heavily as he reached the crest of a small mountain, stopping at the peak to steal a glance back at the long path he had carved through the tundra.
The Crystal Empire was nothing more than a dark silhouette in the distance, obscured by the heavy snow and blue glowing dome that covered what remained of their once vast Empire.
He couldn’t help but marvel at the dark spires. In the past, the days before Sombra and Skeletor’s reign, back when the world had all made sense, he would never look back at the Empire. It was his home, a place he would surly see again whenever he journeyed to the Ruva or Thestral Kingdoms. He would always see it eventually, shining in all of its magnificent glory.
But at that moment, standing on what used to be a well-traveled road for merchants between the Crystal Pony and Ruva Kingdom, he couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever see his home again.
Would this be his final time? Dying on some unnamed hill in a frigid wasteland, a criminal who had stolen the Crystal Heart from its pedestal? Or would he defy everything and return with the power to save his home from the demonic dictator?
He had no idea, but whatever doubt he held quickly disappeared when he felt the chilling presence of his princess pass through him.
The ghostly apparition of Princess Amore appeared ahead of him, beckoning him farther into the tundra with a knowing smile. “Well done, my loyal soldier. You’ve made it farther than I expected you could without me.”
“Of course… Princess,” he called, feeling a second wind shoot through his body. “I… I made sure to grab some small rations and fire wood… Set up a small camp in a cave somewhere back there…” He panted, following behind the princess as she hummed in thought.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to survive with so little? The Ruva Kingdom is still far away from here.”
“Didn’t have…. time to get more… Only a saddle full. Needed to hide the Heart… What happened back there?”
“Are you referring to what happened to that wretched demon?”
The former general only gave a quiet nod, saving whatever breath he had to reach the bottom of the hill.
“I used what little magic I had to wound him. After hypnotizing the guards at the Heart and getting you out of the dungeon, I used what little power I had left to strike. For now, the demon has slipped into his own dreams and his crude puppet has taken control.”
“And the shield?”
“Another one of my spells,” the princess quickly answered. “I could have done more to harm the beast, but the safety of my subjects comes first. They will survive long enough for us to take the Heart to the Ruva kingdom and return with what we need.”
“I…. I’ve been meaning to ask… What’s up there?”
“Something that Skeletor will never expect. We are going to turn Sombra’s twisted creations against the skull faced demon,” she said, letting a wide smile crawl across her muzzle as she looked off in the distance.
Cannon Fodder wanted ask what Sombra of all ponies could have created in the Ruva Kingdom, the spectral princess turned back to him and asked a question. One that everypony knew the answer to, but none ever wanted to hear again, sharing in a silent promise to never speak of Sombra’s worst atrocity.
“Tell me, my loyal soldier. Do you know why there are no foals in the Crystal Empire?”
The Empire was constantly filled with noise.
Wails of pain, shouts of grief, and tearful pleas all filled the air like a storm. Nopony would ever hear the loud protests of General Cannon Fodder except for himself and the spectral creature who guided him.
In fact, not many ponies had even taken note of the general’s disappearance. The only one who had known about the general’s absence was a single stallion, a large blue coated butler who stood at an empty cell in the Crystal Dungeons.
Crumb Catcher had already seen the empty cell earlier that week coming late in the evening with a tray of food and water for the red-faced stallion. Despite the general’s mistakes, Crumb Catcher still had some respect for the older stallion and believed that Cannon Fodder would set aside his petty anger and wild thoughts if it meant helping the Empire find the Crystal Heart.
However, instead of finding an uneasy ally in the Empire’s darkest hour, he was left with an empty cell and a shattered mirror.
Of course, the Royal Spy Master had quickly connected the general’s disappearance and the Crystal Heart’s theft, but there were still so many questions left for him to ask.
How could the general have escaped without a key, or without alerting the two guards stationed outside the dungeon’s only entrance? Why would the general even want to steal the Crystal Heart?
And, perhaps most bizarrely of all, what had happened to the guards stationed around the Heart? From the few moles he had inside of Skeletor’s cult, Crumb Catcher was able to piece together what had happened before the Heart’s disappearance. Strike Iron, a low-ranking member of their group, had contacted the higher members and quickly told them about the Heart’s “horrific” state. Then, she and the higher members returned to the plaza to confirm her story, where the guards had allegedly ignored their questions and kept silent.
This went directly against Skeletor’s orders to inform any late-night wanderer about the Heart’s new protective measures, but what was even stranger was that none of the guards stationed there had reported seeing anypony enter the plaza. In fact, when questioned about the events of that night they had all stated that the angry mob approached them half an hour after their shift began.
There was suddenly two and a half hours that none of them could account for, and none of them seemed to even realize that the incident occurred three hours after they relieved the late-night guards of duty.
With the Prince’s help, Crumb Catcher was able to determine that none of them were withholding any information thanks to the aid of a non-invasive lie detector spell.
Without any proper leads or clues, Crumb Catcher could only try to maintain peace by using his frail network of spies to search for the Heart. Unfortunately, many of them had either defected to Skeletor’s cult after Skeletor was injured, believing that either Princess Cadence or Prince Shining Armor had been behind the magical attack. The few that remained were either less vocal about their treasonous thoughts or were too green to be used as an effective tool.
Drawing in a deep breath, Crumb Catcher heaved a heavy sigh as he reviewed all of his remaining options. If he was going to keep the Empire from falling any further, he would need to ask somepony outside of his circle for help.
The faint sound of hooves soon struck his ears, giving him enough time to dawn a more comfortable mask as Colonel Kernel trotted down the hall.
The overworked stallion dragged himself down the row of cells, studying each one with a cautious glance before letting his gaze fall on Crumb Catcher.
“Colonel, I’m glad you were able to find the time to meet with me,” he asked, keeping a calm facade as he continued to stare into Cannon Fodder’s cell.
Had he taken his eyes off of the cell for a moment longer, he might have noticed the colonel’s gaze beginning to harden. He may have even seen the grey stallion’s tired expression twist into a snarl.
If he had seen any of that, then he would have probably expected the solid hoof that Colonel Kernel threw at him, sending the Spy Master to the ground with a loud cry.
“Mother Bucker! Y-you Bucking dalcop, what has gotten into you?!”
“I’m tired… And I’m really tired of you,” the colonel answered, grabbing the larger stallion by his collar and throwing him onto the wall.
“Stop! Stop! Stop! Wait, wait! We don’t need to trade hooves, Kernel!”
“I ain’t training them, I’m throwing them!” He promised, pulling a hoof away to land another hit.
“WeneedtoputSkeletorbackonthethrone!” Crumb Catcher quickly blurted, causing the other stallion to falter as the words struck his ears.
Crumb Catcher unceremoniously dropped from wall, laying on the floor with a fresh pool of blood forming under his snout.
“You’re kidding… First you wanted me to help you take down Lord Skeletor, and now you wanna play nice and get him back on the throne?”
“That was when I thought the princesses were in the Empire!” Crumb Catcher defended, wincing as he pulled out a handkerchief ad pressed it to his nose. “Buck me, that’s smarts,” he muttered.
“Colonel, I understand we started off on the wrong hoof—”
“You threatened me with the gallows.”
“I warned you about them. Sweet fertile fields above, you guards are all dense.”
A withering glare from Colonel Kernel was enough for Crumb Catcher to realize that any remarks would likely cause new marks on his face.
“Ahem. As-ow-as I was saying, times have changed, colonel, and I need to change with them.”
“So, what, I’m just supposed to believe you’re on Team Skeletor now?” Colonel Kernel asked incredulously.
“I’m on whatever ‘team’ gets the Empire out of this mess. Look, Kernel, I’ve said some things I regret now, but my intention was to never do unjust harm.
“It’s been more than a thousand years since the Empire vanished. Do you know what that means? Everypony outside of the Empire you knew is dead. All of your extended family in Dream Valley, dead. All of the ponies outside of the Empire who could reliably come to our aid, dead. All we had, all we still have, are some vegetable growing in below the Empire and a skull faced demon from Faust knows where. So, when I thought there was even a possibility that the Princesses were secretly inside the Empire, I pounced. I set aside whatever loyalty I had for him so that I could place it in better hooves.
“Then, when I heard that an alicorn had actually come to the Empire, I sent you to meet them. I knew how loyal you were to Skeletor, how much you genuinely liked him, so I hoped your sincerity would move the Princesses and everything would go more smoothly.
“But then the princess who came wasn’t either of them, she told us that well over a thousand years had passed. And now, we’ve lost the Crystal Heart, the one thing we had left in this poor and broken Empire. We aren’t even a real Empire now; do you realize that? We barley even count as a small kingdom!
“Everything I did, I did it for the Empire. I didn’t do it for myself, for Skeletor, or even the princesses. Everything I’ve done, everypony I threatened or lied to, I did it for our home, Kernel. I just want what’s best for the Empire, and I know you do too, enough to hopefully set aside our differences for a truce… So please, please believe me when I say I’m not your enemy.”
“… … I still hate your guts, you know,” Colonel Kernel said, holding out a hoof to the Spy Master.
“I’ll accept that,” Crumb Catcher replied, accepting the outstretched hoof with his free leg. “Now, I apologize for my behavior before.”
“For telling me I’d be in a guillotine? Or for telling me some guard would attack me if I told Skeletor?”
“For… Improperly phrasing a delicate warning,” Crumb Catcher stated, earning another glare from the colonel. “And for manipulating you. I can see now that you would have made a much more reasonable ally than Cannon Fodder.”
“Oh Faust… General and the others don’t even know what’s happened yet,” Colonel Kernel realized, causing Crumb Catcher to wince as he applied a bit more pressure to his bloody nose.
“Ah, well… That’s another reason for why I called you down here,” Crumb Catcher admitted, covering it up with a change in topic as he checked his blood-soaked rag. “But for now, we have more pressing concerns. Skeletor hasn’t woken up yet and it’s only a matter of time before his cult or the conspiracy theorists outside do something stupid.
“If he doesn’t wake up soon then we may have to move on to throwing our full support into Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor. Sadly, as much as I would prefer having them continue to support the Empire, it will mean nothing if the Empire’s citizens don’t accept them.”
“Alright, so what’s your plan then?”
“Firstly, we need to begin leaking information out to the public. Skeletor isn’t dead or bedridden, instead he was called back to Faust’s opulent fields, or he chased his attacker down to the depths of Tartarus and will return soon.”
“Is anypony going to believe that?” Colonel Kernel asked, following the Royal Spy Master back to the entrance of the dungeon.
“Oh, please. They already think he rode into the Empire on a Windigo and used the throne to cave in Sombra’s skull. As long as they think Skeletor said it, most of them will believe it. Especially if it ends up glorifying that necromantic nigmenog,” he joked replacing his soaked rag for a fresh handkerchief as the duo began climbing up the dungeon’s stairs.
“Alright, so how does that help Skeletor get the throne back?”
“Well, that’s the tricky part. While I can’t promise the royal throne, I do have a plan to give him a throne. Of course, that’s assuming he wakes up before the angry mobs begin barging down the castle doors. I need you to help me deliver a proposal to Princess Cadence that may help sooth their tempers.”
“So, you need an extra vote on any council meeting? What about the others?”
“Avid Value is an even larger fanatic than you, so he’s a guaranteed vote. I know Emerald Secret and Copper Plate are both reasonable mares, so I don’t need to worry about their stance. I know you would agree to the proposal as well, but I need more than just a vote from you. I need somepony I can trust. Specifically, a pony who’s famous among Skeletor’s supporters.”
“Famous? Wait, hold on, what do you mean by that?”
“Colonel, after Skeletor relinquished the throne, the only council member he ever spoke to in public was you,” he said, adopting a tone that a parent would usually take with a slow-witted foal. “While the rest of us were obligated to support the Princess and her consort, you sat with him every day for every meal and you were even seen personally escorting him outside of the castle.
“Not to mention, your table in the dining hall has become the source of all of the Crystal Castle’s gossip. Anything we know about Skeletor or his past came from that table. So yes, Kernel, you’re famous,” he bluntly stated, neatly tucking the two bloody rags into his barrel pocket. “Even the Skull Torn admire you. And that admiration is a great tool for us.
“They won’t listen to any of the council members, and Faust knows what the Skull Torn, or anypony outside would do if Princess Cadence tried to lie to them. Buy you, oh Kernel, they would believe you if you told them Skeletor had a replaceable jaw and an extra set of arms.
“So, I need you to personally quell any rumors about Princess Cadence or Shining Armor being involved in Skeletor’s attack. Make them think it was somepony else. Blame it on Grogar himself if you can’t think of anypony else to blame. Just remember. ‘Princess Cadence would never stab Skeletor in the back.’ Can you repeat that?”
“Princess Cadence would never stab me in the back,” Skeletor protested, wincing from Spoon Sugar’s touch as the doctor applied crystal berries to Skeletor’s bare back.
“I’m not saying that she would, Sire, just that that is the gossip going around,” the black robbed stallion defended, quickly replacing his old gloves for a cleaner pair before rewrapping Skeletor’s abdomen.
“I don’t know where they would even get that idea from.”
“Well, aside from yourself Sire, there are only two other ponies in the Empire who can use magic. If you had been stabbed by a knife or a sword, then perhaps the story would be different. But you were skewered by a black crystal that just grew out of the ground. Only one stallion could do that, Sire, and we all remember what you did to that tyrant.”
“Yeah… Right,” Skeletor answered, donning his cloak once more as his mind wandered back to Sombra’s lingering soul. “Um… Doctor, do you know much about Dark Magic?”
“It was Sombra's favorite type of magic,” the doctor shrugged, adjusting his odd wooden mask as he pulled out a stethoscope and placed it fixed it to his mask.
“What about medically? Like the effect of Dark Magic on a soul. Or even seeing how much of one somepony has?”
“Hmmm. I’m afraid I don’t know anything about that, Sire. Only ruvas dealt with anything concerning souls, and even then, there were only a few specialists who studied it. Some of their personal notes are still hogging space in my desk, so I could probably clear them off and take a look at them. Now, deep breath in,” the doctor ordered, listening to Skeletor’s heart as he ran him through a quick test.
“Good. Now out.”
Skeletor easily complied, repeating the process several times as the doctor finished his basic checkup and packed his tools away. “I’d say your heart beat is pretty fast, but it’s consistent with all of my previous notes, so maybe that’s good. Probably… Hopefully,” Doctor Spoon Sugar noted.
“I’m still alive, so we’ll say it’s fine,” Skeletor dismissed, quickly placing a hand on his chest to check his heartbeat. “I’d appreciate it if you could get those papers to me soon, Doctor Sugar. If you can’t find me, then have a maid place them in my room.”
“Of course, Sire,” Doctor Spoon Sugar bowed, earning a gesture from Skeletor to rise before he briskly walked off.
His conversation with the doctor, as brief as it may have been, was very enlightening for Skeletor. From murderous plots to missing Hears, a fallen barrier and a grief-stricken kingdom on the verge of civil war. And to think, it had all happened in just seven days.
Skeletor braced himself against one of the open windows, taking a moment to collect his thoughts as the cold air kissed his skull.
Everything he had done to keep the balance, to build up trust and keep the Empire safe. Undone in a single night.
He felt almost numb, a cold and distant feeling washing over him as he rested his arms against the window’s ledge, watching the world outside slowly burn.
He saw their sadness, their grief, and despite himself, he couldn’t help but see something sickening. Something that he never wanted to see in their suffering.
He saw opportunities.