To his credit, Kel'Thuzad was aware of the Solar Diarch's presence far before the matter transference was complete. An energy signal far in excess of even Princess Cadence's was a pretty big hint, he figured.
Also to his credit, he expected to be discovered LONG before he did...
While he was powerful, a creature with the power to control a celestial body... he was not THAT powerful...
While I may not be able to keep her occupied forever, I will GUARANTEE permanent damage upon her body if she touches EITHER of them...
The Archlich snarled, his arms already bathed in frosty splinters of razor-sharp ice as their bodies started to materialize inside the room...
"Kel'Thuzad, NO!"
.........
Princess Celestia was... simple.
Even for an immortal, undying, regent of the sun.
She enjoyed music, dance, lounging in her sunlight.
She had a rather... unhealthy taste for wine and sweets, but her alicorn body kept the ungodly amount of calories it took to keep her body running at bay.
For the most part...
She sighed, looking back at her flanks.
She was quite worried, really. Her pupil...
And future fellow princess...
Had gone missing along with her friends... nearly two weeks ago...
While she knew that they were most likely in no real danger, the reports she had read about this... Kel'Thuzad character, were intriguing. And so she decided, for the safety of her subjects (and her own personal leisure), to investigate herself. Not something she normally did. Now, normally, this kind of situation would be a cause for a nationwide search for the Elements of Harmony. But, seeing as nothing interesting was happening in court, and Luna was already awake, she decided to take the day off. When she arrived at the Crystal Palace, everything was... normal.
Which was... odd. According to her reports from the terrified nobles she had seen, this newcomer was... dangerous, to say the least.
And at least twice her height...
She had decided to approach the situation diplomatically, seeing as reports had mentioned Shining and Cadence... hiring him...
"Interesting..." She droned, walking up to the large double doors of the Crystal Royal Suite. The alicorn tucked the military report back into her saddlebag, and knocked politely on the door. The resounding 'thud' echoed through the empty hall. Yet, despite the rather loud noise, no answer was given.
"Cadence?" she called, her feathers rustling a bit, the entire situation making her feel... uncomfortable. A faint rustling was heard, but other than that small, petite noise, nothing. Celestia was about to turn away, looking for a guard to question...
"Princess C-C-Celestia?"
Celestia stopped mid-step, turning back to the door, pressing her ear up against the wooden surface.
"Fluttershy?"
"Yes?"
"May I please come in?" Celestia asked, her interest heavy at this point.
Where were Cadence and Shining?
"Yes..."
"Thank you."
*Click*
"Fluttershy what... are you... doing?"
Inside the room was... different, than what she expected, to be completely honest. The entire group of the Elements were crowded around a small coffee table, the tea still steaming lightly from its kettle. A nice, wood fueled flame roared in the spacious fireplace, soothing the room with its gentle glow. A magical portal stood a few yards to the right of the elements, and the image was too heavily distorted to make out clearly.
The odd part was obvious.
Shining, Cadence, and Twilight were nowhere to be seen.
In there place, a skeleton sat at the coffee table.
A skeleton.
Now, normally, Celestia would have thought she was hallucinating, seeing as the construct was actually MOVING.
"Miss Celestia, I presume."
Well, and the fact that it talked.
"Princess, yes." Celestia replied, taken aback at the creature's... manners. The skeleton's hoof slowly rising to gesture to an open space on the loveseat.
"Care to join us? I put a new kettle on the fire..." he asked, his voice echoing, probably an amplification spell that allowed him to speak in the first place. The solar princess hesitated. She wasn't sure that this... thing, was the creature everypony back at Canterlot was talking of, but it did have respectable manners, let alone bad ones. She nodded, a gentle smile gracing her muzzle.
"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you." she replied, walking slowly towards them. The elements visibly relaxed, and Pinkie actually sighed, falling back into her seat with relief.
Well, whomever this... stallion is, he has obviously become a fast friend to them...
"Would you like some mintleaf tea, Princess?" the skeleton asked, Celestia slightly unnerved by the construct's... rather hollow eyes, save for the small, gentle pinpricks of blue light that glowed in the center of each socket. She shrugged it off, seeing as she might as well be polite to... him.
"Yes, that sounds delightful." she responded.
The skeleton nodded, and gently tipped the crystal teapot with his hooves, pouring the light brown liquid into the cup that Rarity had floated over to her coaster. From this close of a position, she could see... little lines draped across the equine's ribcage, almost like an intricate puzzle of some kind. Probably the spell keeping him together.
Now, Celestia had dealt with nearly every kind of threat imaginable. Countless attempts on her life have been made, and judging from the pulse still inhabiting her veins, they had all failed. She liked to think herself experienced. Seasoned, even.
She had fought dragons, demons, wereponies, vamponies, minotaurs, and wizards. ALL types of wizards...
Necromancers, she learned, are the most dangerous. Their control over life and death, and their ability to raise the dead are the most troublesome aspects, not including the arcane magics they already wielded with relative ease.
But, back to the point. Necromancers were the most unpredictable, unstable, and powerful mortal enemies she and her sister have ever faced.
By far.
And just by glimpsing the intricacy and expertise of the runes that were BARELY VISIBLE...
Whomever animated this skeleton was VERY good at what they did. The best she had ever seen.
.........
The moment he saw her, he acted.
"KEL'THUZAD, NO!"
Time slowed down for the mage, his combat instincts kicking into overdrive...
She draws power from the sun... every little hindrance counts...
A wave of arcane force flew through the air, smashing into the wardrobes on either side of the small windows in the room. They collapsed to their sides with a groan, effectively shrouding the room in darkness, save for the hearth. With another twist of his claws, the girls sitting around the Princess were in his grasp, their bodies flailing and their voices yelping as they were literally lifted by their own SOULS, and catapulted swiftly to the Archlich's back. In an instant, the shards of saronite that his loyal followers had gathered were surrounding Celestia, their razor edges each pointed at vital parts of her body, ready to strike with a flick of his wrist.
Next, the lich froze the princess' feet to the floor, the metal of her slippers providing an excellent anchor for his magic to work from. The lich then focused on removing her magic as best he could from the situation...
In short, he froze her horn, giving instant frostbite to the flesh that surrounded it...
Satisfied, he threw up wards around himself, and moved his bulk in front of his masters.
In this entire span, the word 'No', had just finished its travel from Cadence's mouth. Less than several milliseconds later, Celestia collapsed, her vision staggering from the monumental pain in her forehead. She yelped in agony when her body hit the floor, not moving.
Her four golden slippers were still frozen to the floor, cracks from the immense cold starting to appear on the metallic hoofware...
.........
Several seconds passed, and the lich slowly lowered his claws, not certain, but satisfied. He swiftly turned to the group behind him, and was met with... mixed results. Rainbow and Pinkie's eyes were wide, there muzzles hanging open. Rarity was hugging a hysterical Fluttershy to her chest, a look of sheer terror radiating from her eyes. Applejack was... lost. She had a look of 'Why?' adorning her muzzle.
Shining and Cadence's eyes were open wide, Cadence's mouth still open from her scream.
Twilight was already halfway past the lich's robes, tears of sheer terror flowing down her cheeks. She plopped down next to the mare that had literally been a second mother to her, nuzzling the barely conscious princess gently before sobbing hysterically into her ethereal mane.
Well... I was expecting a bit more of a fight...
Damn...