//------------------------------// // New Friends // Story: The Crystal Vizier // by Lich-Lord Krosis //------------------------------// A sharp breath of air burst through Twilight's throat, a shrill cough echoing through the room she was currently in. She scrambled to her hooves displacing the... bed sheets? Oh. She was in a bed. Swiftly returning to her panicking, she yelped and whimpered in terror as her memories came racing back to her. That... thing. Cadence's broken body lying in a pool of life-liquid, her vibrant pink coat dyed crimson... Shiny's attempt to stop that MONSTER, from... KILLING her... That hit hard. Sure, she was resourceful, and her and her friends were normally placed in dangerous positions... But... that thing almost killed her. Snuffed her light out like a dying candle. Nothing had ever been that... blunt. Emotionless. She shivered once again, wrapping herself in the silk covers of her bed. Her memories of the creature came flooding back now... Long, flowing robes of blue... Claws of white, sharpened to deadly points... Sharp, dagger-like teeth, presumably used to tear meat. PONY MEAT! Wait... no. That doesn't make sense... calm down Twilight... That portion of panic quickly subsided, however, as she realized the monster had lacked... skin. Flesh, meat, hair, just about everything that a living thing SHOULD have. This... creature, was merely a skeleton... A very powerful skeleton... She still couldn't believe it. The single most powerful LEGAL spell in the history of Equestrian Combative Magics, and this skeleton just... took it. Absorbed it. Nullified it. Destroyed her most powerful attack like a piece of wet tissue paper. Now, admittedly, she hadn't studied much of Equestrian Warfare, and mages like Starswhirl the Bearded had definitely come up with and used more refined, dangerous and devastating spells for combat. But seriously, that could have disintegrated a house! A HOUSE! "Twily?" "EEK!" She yelped, her brother's calm voice snapping her violently out of her daymares, the violet mare whimpering and flinging herself as far as she could under the warm covers of the bed she resided in. Slowly, she peeked her head up over the line of the covers, her brother's sympathetic face meeting hers. "S-Shiny?" She whimpered, taking in his... different form. He... looked the same. But something was... off. Wrong. She shrugged it off, blaming it on her raging fears. "Yeah, it's me Twily..." Shining slowly stepped forward, and hoisted himself up unto the bed, wrapping his little sister in a hug. She clung to him, shivering uncontrollably from a mix of cold and fear. He chuckled, nuzzling her mane before speaking softly. "You okay, LSBFF?" He joked, running his hoof up and down her back, soothing the shaking mare. She choked on a few words, before a sigh came out of her mouth. "Yeah... just... confused, I guess..." Twilight pouted, halfway between curious of the... creature, and terrified of it as well. She was... intrigued by it. While it had tried to kill her, she couldn't help but feel jealous of the creature's capabilities. She held the title of most powerful unicorn in Equestria! She was the Incarnation of the Element of MAGIC, for Celestia's sake! To be upstaged by a... skeleton... was kind of embarrassing... "Sorry about... everything you saw..." Shining murmured, his muzzle buried in her mane. Twilight chuckled, and backed away. "No problem, BBBFF. I was just... scared, is all." She smiled, cracking her neck and ruffling her mane, a few of the strands sticking to her scalp knocked free as a result. Shining laughed, and spoke. "Yeah, I could see why." He smiled, and hopped off the bed, motioning for her to follow. She was... hesitant, but trusted her brother. She always did. Now was no different. She gently lowered herself down unto her hooves, her legs wobbling a bit as she attempted to regain her balance. "Hey, I want you to meet... me and Cadence's Vizier." Shining said, quite bluntly. Twilight looked at him, confused at the sudden change of topics, but then she saw Shining's face. Twilight's mouth fell like a busted hinge, and she started sputtering out every caution in the book. "Twily, I need you to trust me. Whatever the nobles have said about him, are wrong. he hasn't hurt a soul since he's been here, and the only reason he attacked you is because you kinda... sorta... were going to kill him..." Shining finished, his argument getting more ridiculous sounding by the second. He stopped and looked at Twilight, who was wide-eyed, and quite obviously terrified of Kel'Thuzad. Knock. Knock. Knock. "Master, are you in there?" Speak of the devil. "Yes, I am. What news do you have?" Shining responded, reaching for the doorknob despite Twilights attempts at stopping him. He finally shooed her away for a moment, and turned the knob, releasing the door from its position. With a blast of chilled air, the heavy oak door swung inwards, revealing the undead mage, his form taking up nearly the entire doorway. As he turned to Twilight's terrified body, wrapped up in the heavy blankets on her bed, he stuttered. "Oh... I... Didn't realize you had... company, sire..." "H-H-Hello... sir..." Twilight squeaked, her voice more quivering and quiet than Fluttershy's. The lich, without skipping a beat, folded one of his long, spindly arms behind his back, and bowed to Twilight, who blushed, quite obviously not used to having twelve-foot skeletal mages bowing to her. "Greetings, my lady." the lich politely responded, turning to his king to report. "Sire, Lady Cadence is awake, if you wish to see her." He droned, his eyes still glancing at Twilight out of the corners of his sockets. "Thank you. Twily, I'd like you to meet my vizier and good friend, Kel'Thuzad." The lich bowed once more. Twilight politely curtsied to the Archlich, and whimpered a small phrase. "A-A pleasure, mister Kel'Thuzad..." She smiled, attempting to be as friendly as possible to the horrific being before her. Goddesses, he was so... cold. "The pleasure is all mine, Lady Twilight." The unicorn winced at the sound of the lich's echoing voice uttering her name, but remained steadfast, and as quickly as she could, scuttled past the mage, following Shining down the hall. They walked and floated for a few moments in silence, the faint clanking of Kel'Thuzad's chains the only sound beside the occasional hoofstep. "So... how long was I out?" Twilight asked, her muzzle facing to her right, at her brother. The lich behind her cleared his throat, scaring her, but she quickly hid her fear. "A week and two days, milady." Kel'Thuzad said, his voice acting as if this was normal. In his experience, she was beyond lucky. The necrotic energies that accompanied all his spells, regardless of what he did, had thankfully little to no effect on the six mares. Sure the ice would have kept them preserved, but he was expecting some blackening of flesh, loss of fur or hair... There was none of that with their exposure to his magics. "A WEEK!?" Twilight exclaimed, turning to the lich and accusingly pointing a hoof at him. "Yes, Lady Twilight, a week. Be thankful you even woke up at all. You friend Rainbow Dash is still asleep!" He teased, floating slowly past the unicorns and reaching the doors to the grand suite, opening them. The doors opened to reveal an... interesting scene, to say the least. Rarity, Fluttershy and a... another skeleton. Okay. They were engaged in a tea party of sorts, the skeleton pouring when they ran low on drink. Pinkie Pie was playing checkers with Cadence, who's form was prone upon the bed, several ugly gashes expertly stitched and bandaged across her barrel and sides. The two guards that were originally on either side of the door were... skeptical of the skeleton, but apparently had joined the tea drinking at some point since Shining's departure, their laughs indicating their enjoyment. "KELLY, YOU'RE BACK!" Pinkie shouted, diving into the air and landing in a very startled Kel'Thuzad's arms. The lich chuckled, putting the hyper pony down at his base. "Yes, Miss Pie, I have returned. Lady Rarity, how is frostweave treating you?" The unicorn looked over her shoulder, revealing a nearly complete scarf of frostweave cloth. "It's incredible, darling! I've never worked with such a forgiving and soft fabric before!" The fashionista praised, going back to concentrating on her work. Shining had moved over to his wife's side, and gently nuzzled her cheek. Twilight was speechless. Her friends... were okay with this?!? They had befriended a... a... No. Breathe... Breathe... This is going to be long week.