//------------------------------// // Explanations and Unexpected Visitors // Story: The Crystal Vizier // by Lich-Lord Krosis //------------------------------// "H...How is that possible..." Cadence whimpered, looking at the Crystal Heart. The Archlich turned his form towards Cadence, sharing her concern. "I... I am unsure, my lady. What I do know is this, however. While your husband was successful in contacting Death, he would have perished had Sombra not used the Heart as a phylactery before him." Kel'Thuzad stated, claw gesturing calmly to the stallion next to his queen. "Master... as much as I share your hate for this mongrel, he was the savior in this case. While you are a truly gifted necromancer, whether you like it or not, Sombra had remade the Heart into a vessel." The stallion solemnly nodded, his face devoid of emotions. "After you passed on, the Heart pulled your soul in, trapping it within the chamber inside. However, as your wife was currently channeling her magic to avert the... consequences of full death, part of your soul must have somehow transferred through the Heart, into Lady Cadence." He explained, his claws gesturing to each component of the process as he did. "If he was a... leech, is he still alive?" Cadence whimpered, hugging her side against Shining tightly. Kel'Thuzad chuckled. "It's a lich, my lady. No, he is VERY dead." Kel'Thuzad assured, a grin of macabre kindness decorating his skull. Cadence sighed in relief, and released Shining, before walking up beside the Crystal Heart. "So... does that mean I'm..." Shining began. "Yes... you are... I am sorry, for whatever it is worth." Kel'Thuzad stated, his claws folding behind his back once more. Shining sighed, plopping his flank upon the crystalline floor, staring into the gemstone. "Cady, I..." Shining began, looking to his wife, who's eyes were still glued to the Heart. She turned and stopped him with a hug. When Shining attempted to pull away, the princess only pulled him in tighter, her face scrunching up as she did, using all her physical strength to stay anchored to her prince. Finally, after what in actuality was several minutes of silence, she withdrew from him. "Shiny... I love you. More than anything on Equus. More than the GODS THEMSELVES. I don't care what you are, or what you'll look like. I love you for YOU." She stated, her voice becoming more stern as she did, her face melting into a gentle, loving state at the same time. She pulled him in from the back of his head, pressing her lips to his, ignoring the undead mage in the room with them. Shining hesitated, but soon gave in to the warmth of his mare's mouth pressed against his own. The soft, silken fur of her muzzle tickling his lips as he kissed his wife. His princess. HIS QUEEN... He kinda liked the sound of that last one... "Ahem..." Kel'Thuzad coughed, attempting to break the awkward silence that pervaded the room. The Royal Couple pulled away, Cadence breathing heavily. Shining, not winded in the slightest. "I... apologize for my interruption, but I must finish my thoughts. It will not take long." The couple nodded once more, smiles present on their muzzles as they cuddled against eachother, Cadence's head propped under Shining's chin, against his neck. "While you are not fully... dead, you still are limited by undeath." Kel'Thuzad said, his gaze turning to Cadence once more. "For instance..." He started, hesitant to release his thoughts into the verbal plane. Oh gods... here we go... ......... "You may not... sire children." Time stopped. One small fiber in the back of Cadence's mind snapped. Like a twig. All her life, she had wanted a foal. A foal to nurture, to love, to call her very own. And she wanted to have it with HER stallion. Being told this... it was a knife in the heart. "Wh-what?" She whimpered, her muzzle curling downwards. He mind scrambled to take control of her emotions once more. It failed in its conquest. Like a pheromone blitzkrieg, it stormed her brain, overwhelming every single emotion she felt with grief. She had started hyperventilating, her eyes wandering to her husband, who had crossed the distance between them in the shortest amount of time required to reach his princess. She fell into his embrace, her eyes starting to water terribly. He held her as tightly as he could, attempting to squeeze the sadness from her assaulted body. He wrapped his hind legs around her as well, pulling them to the floor as Cadence started to wretch and wail her sadness away. He cradled her, soothing her with gentle brushes and squeezes from his hooves. "Shh... Cady... I'm here, baby..." He crooned, his muzzle burying itself in her mane, attempting to console her in every way he possibly could. Her wails only intensified, her grip only strengthened. Shining's eyes turned to the Archlich, a look of mild sadness adorning his visage, as if he had... known. Had... Had Death told him? Nevertheless, the lich remained stock-still. As uncomfortable as he was, he was not about to leave his master's side. Unless he ordered him to, of course... "Continue, Kel'Thuzad." "W-What?" He gasped, baffled at his masters... rather idiotic request. He wanted to ail his beloved with more... horrors? "If you get it out of the way now, she'll be better off." Shining said, his hooves squeezing his princess tighter against him, her writhing body attempting to burrow as deeply into his embrace as it could. A particularly loud howl of anguish echoed throught the throne room, making even the hardened mage wince. Hell hath no fury... "V-Very well." He droned, his arms relaxing, cancelling his teleportation spell. He would see it through, even if it killed him. And if what he read about Alicorns was true... That statement might be literal. ......... "For the last time, Rainbow, we aren't there yet!" Twilight shouted down the aisle, the Ponyville Express rocketing towards the Crystal Empire with incredible speed, courtesy of Twilight's spellwork on the engine. "Ugh!" Dash groaned, her head slamming back into her seat, her eyelids drooping to a half-closed position, indicating her state of immense boredom. "Twilight darling, why are we driving up to the Empire in this absolutely HORRID snowstorm?" Rarity complained, her usually flawless ivory fur bundled into the thickest (yet stylish) winter getups imaginable, he face the only part of her body showing. Twilight groaned, turning her head to look across the aisle, humoring the fashionista ONCE AGAIN. "Because Princess Celestia fears for Shining Armor and Cadence's safety!" She exclaimed, unfurling a piece of parchment, emblazoned with a wax seal of the Celestial Sun. "She has been receiving numerous reports from distressed nobles of a new advisor my brother and sister-in-law have indicted into their council." She explained, her friend listening in on her words, excluding Rainbow, who was snoring obnoxiously in her seat near the front of the cart. "He has been reported, and I quote, as being 'generally horrific, cold, skeletal in appearance, and quite tall'." She finished, her friends looking at her with a large variety of expressions. Most were inspired by horror, others by curiosity. One in particular was one of happiness. "OOH! A skeleton! Sounds spooky!" Pinkie exclaimed, her outburst eliciting a soft 'eep' from Fluttershy, who nestled further into her own large pink mane, attempting to find consolation in it's warmth. "Pinkie, this isn't a game." Twilight berated, looking back out of the frosted window, her eyes just picking up the top of the Crystal Palace in the distance. It seemed... normal. Despite the freak blizzard, that is. While the weather up near the Frozen North was always... chillier, the blizzard that currently engulfed the outskirts of the empire could put one near Ponyville to shame, its ferocity cracking several of the windows of the train car as they traveled. "So... anyone know any jokes?" Pinky asked, her usual jovial behavior eliciting a light laugh from the lavender unicorn, who turned to the pink earth pony, humoring her. As she turned, the train car turned with her. A barrage of screams filled the train car, the candles inside of the braziers along the walls snuffed out from the icy gusts that swirled through the cabin from the now broken windows. terrified, and now in the dark, the six mares attempted to retrieve their footing, but lost it when the train car was tipped over, and slammed into the snow bank, off to the side of tracks. Twilight was desperately attempting to hold unto something, succeeding in grabbing hold of a chair that was still bolted to the floor-turned-wall. 'KRAAKOOOOOM' A blinding light surged through the cabin, illuminating the quite terrified mares with it's intensity. Twilight panicked. She summoned up a teleportation spell, praying to Celestia they were close enough to the castle... ......... "OOF!" Twilight exclaimed, her form landing atop of a writhing pile of bodies. Her friends, hopefully. As her vision cleared, she saw several things. One, they were no longer onboard the train. Two, they were in the throne room of the Crystal Palace. Three, she was staring into a scene straight out of nightmares. A bloody and bruised Princess Cadence lay in a pool of crimson, her life fluid flowing freely from several gashes in her chest. Her brother was desperately trying to keep her awake, shaking her gently to keep her eyes from closing. She saw... She screamed, drawing the attention of the... thing, that was leering in over them both, claws of white ablaze with a eerie blue flame. The prince and creature looked to her with an expression of confusion, her face turning from a violent snarl to a visage of untethered rage, her horn flaring before letting loose a blast of energy from her horn that could blow a boulder the size of a house apart. The volatile energy warped and rocketed throught the air, before impacting the creature's outstretched hand. The impossible became possible. The dark violet orb fizzled and popped, before dissipating entirely. The creature snarled, turning his attention to the unicorn, her plans backfiring further and further by the second. Shining attempted to... stop him? The creature paid him little mind, or simply did not hear him, the blizzard that raged outside now flooding in from a massive, jagged hole in the wall. The creature's claw outstretched, and in an instant, she was... okay? Yes... she was... fine. Just... tired. So... tired... The last thing she saw before the cold covered her eyes, was the creature bending in over Cadence, his hands bathed in spectral flame once more.