//------------------------------// // Stop #3: Raising of the Frost Queen // Story: The Crystal Vizier // by Lich-Lord Krosis //------------------------------// The archlich was tired. Very tired. Kel'Thuzad sighed, cracking the vertebrae of his neck with several loud pops, the stress on the magical bonds between the bones melting away as he did. If I have to restrain myself that often in court, I may have to find a way to suppress my anger... Maybe I can find a way to mimic qualities of my lesser brethren's... passiveness. For a small amount of time, of course. I rather enjoy being able to think and feel emotion... The mage thought back to the accusing, provoking comments of the unicorn that had scolded his queen. Fire Fight, his name was, if his memory served him... Ah... I stole his position as archmage... Not that the comments were pointed at Lady Cadence in particular, mind you. These hateful words were directed entirely at his king, and to some extent, him. The pompous rat had insulted his prince's decisions of converting the Crystal Empire into another capital of Equestria. Mostly for reasons of territory and tax complications. Greedy bastards are all the same... Of course the noble chose the day AFTER his master had left for Canterlot to address his temporary citizens... "If he chooses to prey upon Princess Cadence like an animal, then I shall treat him as an animal if he continues..." the lich growled to himself, approaching his room. When he reached to his chambers, Kel'Thuzad was perplexed to find a magically singed hole in the icy "door" to his room. His quickly returned anger flared through him, his claws clacking slightly as their bony fingers crossed paths. His chains sliced cleanly though the obstructing remains of his barricade, sending shards of razor-sharp ice and frost in all directions. IF THIS... PIG, IS IN MY CHAMBERS... I CARE NOT THE CONSEQUENCES... He... Will... BURN... Kel'Thuzad snarled, blasting his way through the last of the icy ward, before his chains flung ice in all directions, creating a fine mist of frost to make him appear more ominous... He had an appearance to keep... The lich's eyes darted through the room, only to find something that he had hoped his master would have dealt with first. Twilight Sparkle. The mare was currently oblivious to the mage's violent entry, skimming through a worn tome of a book as a cup of tea floated in her magical grip. Twilight was plopped down upon the paralyzed covers of his bed, and from a quick once-over by the mage, she some sort of ward surrounding her. She turned to the lich as she heard him sigh, watching his anger dissipate quickly, his flailing death-circles of brittle metal returning to their usual gentle rhythm of movement, flowing slowly over calm currents of icy cold. Now... how to go about this... Twilight was supposed to have gone home with her friends yesterday. AFTER she saw Princess Celestia. Shining had not told him of what she had said, but he had a few guesses on her feelings towards him now... "Twilight... I'm sorry." is all that issued forth from the maw of the lich, his arms falling almost limply to his sides. His eyes dimmed, an indication that he had closed them, and he hung his head to the mare. ......... He heard nothing but the shuffling of fur against frosted blankets for a few moments, but then heard the soft clacking of hooves on crystal flooring. They approached him, and the lich braced himself. Whatever she did to him... he could take it. Even if it means dying AGAIN... ......... A light feeling of pressure surrounded Kel'Thuzad's ribcage, and the lich curiously opened his eyes. ......... "Thank you..." Twilight whispered, the unicorn hugging tighter to the frigid ribcage of the lich, her emotional tears of happiness stinging her eyes as they partially solidified on their way out. The lich sputtered for a few moments, wondering why he was receiving such affection from a mare who's second mother was all but MURDERED by him. "Twilight... why? I killed her!" he gawked, the unicorn only increasing her strong hold over his bones, the ivory ribs creaking lightly from the her contact as they grinded against eachother. "Because you saved her..." she sobbed happily, shivering lightly before somehow hugging even tighter, the pressure now starting to become uncomfortable to even the lich. "You didn't kill her... you killed Nightmare." Twilight said, pulling away from him, her fur partially solidified by the cold of his bones. "But I DESTROYED her body!" he argued, hardly believing that a mare that close to Celestia would just forgive him for his atrocities this easily. Pelting her with frostbolts that could have obliterated lesser creatures, engulfing her in a blizzard that ripped frozen flesh from her body, swarming her with her undead former subjects, all before tricking her into getting impaled on Frostmourne, which almost ate her entire torso away afterwards!?! Who forgives THAT?! "But you saved her. And I am thankful for that." Twilight smiled, and came in for another hug. The lich didn't resist, but this time he at least warmed his bones into the upper forties, so the mare didn't freeze to death. The mare visibly relaxed as the enchantment ran through him, her fur slowly going down from it's raised state. "Twilight... I... you... you're welcome." he finally said, giving up for the moment, before embracing the unicorn back, hugging her smaller frame to his gargantuan form. He smiled lightly, the lich feeling a sense of relief flooding his nonexistent veins. Well... that went better than expected. It still doesn't fully answer why she is here, though... "Twilight, why didn't you go home with your friends?" he asked softly, his form still enveloping the unicorn, who pulled away slowly at his question's utterance. "I didn't want to miss our lesson! As disgusting- I mean, enlightening Naxxramas was, I would like to learn a little more about your worlds... practices." she sheepishly smiled, her forehooves crossing before her in an awkward stance. The lich frowned. It is two days after our first lesson, isn't it? "I... are you sure? Naxxramas has a lot more to show than just the Construct Quarter, Twilight." the lich argued, not wanting to move on from his old home's halls just yet. "Yes, I'm sure it does, but can we perhaps... go somewhere else today?" she smiled, giving her a dreadful case of puppy dog eyes... ......... Good thing he hated dogs. Still, he didn't want to scare off his first apprentice in nearly a millennia, so a change of scenery wouldn't kill him for today. The little display with Patchwerk was... embarrassing, to say the least. ......... "Very well, Twilight. I will give you one day of freedom. What do you wish to learn or observe? My mind and memories are at your command..." he snickered, mock bowing to the mare, who visibly relaxed at his answer, her body growing lax. She sighed, and thought. "Can we see something... big?" ......... "Elaborate, please." the lich asked, intrigued by her vague question. "I mean something... powerful. A necromantic miracle! Something that dwarves the basics!" she asked. The lich rubbed his chin lightly with the sharp tip of a single finger, his memories flooding through his empty head like a wave of water. The Wrathgate? No, to much death, not enough resurrection... The first Fall of Naxxramas? No... I don't want her to see that. Yet... The Battle for Light's Hope CHapel? No... ......... Ah... the crown jewel of the Scourge... Perfect... With a move that startled the unicorn, who had gone back to reading her book in the meantime, Kel'Thuzad drew Bloodsurge, before slicing a straight path through the air before him, a whitish-grey portal exploding from the slash. The mare closed her book, and looked to him. The lich smiled, and gestured with both hands to the gateway. She gulped, nervous about being in another of his... memories. She quickly shrugged it off with a stomp and a snort. She was the bearer of the Element of MAGIC. What good would that title be if she didn't know ALL types of magic? She gently trotted through the portal, the lich following her through the slash in reality quickly. As the last of his blue frostweave robes flowed through the gash, it collapsed with a sound of shattering glass, startling the mare. ......... COLD. VERY COLD... Twilight shivered from the frigid, dry air of Icecrown, her fur not designed for the sub-zero temperatures of the glacier. Kel'Thuzad quickly conjured her up a cup of steaming honeymint tea, and a magically heated blanket, choosing a more natural remedy than a regulation ward for once. The mare nodded quickly in thanks, before being startled once more by the loud sound of crunching ice, immediately to her left. ......... She looked up. And up. And up. There stood a human that came halfway up Kel'Thuzad's frame, reaching up to his waist in height. The man did not breath, and his form stood stock-still, concealed by a set of armor unlike any Twilight had ever seen. It was near jet black in color, and covered in skulls and runes, all plated or etched in the mysterious metal. From the man's back, a long, ragged cloak of linen blew in the winds of the glacier, flapping silently. The man's face was almost completely obscured by... The helmet! She had seen that helmet before! It was the Helm of... Domination? This must be her brother's predecessor! The previous Lich King! The man took another heavy step, his boots crushing any resistance out of the snow and ice beneath them with loud crunches. "Kel'Thuzad, is that..." Twilight began, before he finished her thought. "Arthas Menethil... The Lich King..." he grimaced. Arthas traveled slowly, methodically past the duo, down to the edge of a sheer cliff nearby, emotionless. Twilight blinked lightly every few seconds, the constant snowfall of Icecrown crowding her eyelashes with white. The lich noticed this out of the corner of his vision, and teleported them closer to his former master with a snap of arcane energy, the mare yelping in surprise. She frowned up at the archlich, before looking back to Arthas. The man slowly kneeled down, brushing away a thick layer of white snow with his bare hand. He gazed into the frozen ice beneath, as if... looking for something... Arthas slowly rubbed the last of the snow to water between his fingers, and stood slowly. "Kel'Thuzad, how does this..." "Shush, child. Watch a master at work." the lich scolded quietly, anticipating the coming of the events he recalled so well. With a grinding of worn leather on metal, the man drew... Frostmourne from his cloak... He gazed into the eyes of the ram head that adorned it, as if... fighting. Debating. With a snap like a whip, the sword was level with the ground, the unholy strength of it's master holding it without waver. Twilight watched in amazement as the snow... changed direction. In a display of peaceful buildup, the gentle snowflakes swirled around the Lich King, almost framing him with their patterns of travel. All to late, Twilight noticed something... They weren't circling him. They were circling the sword. One by one, the snowflakes fused into the blade, bursts of dark blue magic echoing across it's surface, the runes etched in it glowing with necromantic power as they awaited their master's command. With a barely perceptible smirk, the Lich King slowly drew the sword down, the blizzard stopped, drained completely. Twilight was about to object to the mundane spectacle, expecting something... exciting. In a move that took the mare by surprise, the man thrust the blade of the damned into the ice beneath him, an echoing smash of wind and ice almost rippling throught the glacier as the ground... shook? With a whisk of frigid wind that bit through the thick blanket over her body like a scythe through wheat, the snow surrounding Arthas blew away in all directions. With another snap, They were atop a nearby rock, further away from the site. Twilight stared in disbelief as the ice... broke. As if something was... breaking free? With a rippling smash, a claw the size of the Ponyville library exploded from the ice, before crashing down unto the ice nearby, chunks of frigid snow flying in all directions. With wide eyes, Twilight watched a massive form lurch free of the ice, growing with each passing second. Bones the size of trees hung from the construct's body, strips of preserved, decayed flesh strung in between a few like macabre works of art. Twilight yelped as the ice near the rock exploded with movement, a massive protrusion smashing it's way to the surface of the frozen plane with an audible echo. A massive tail, nearly as long as some of the larger of Canterlot Castle's towers exploded past them, raining small chunks of ice and snow upon them. Twilight barely noticed. The form lumbered towards the cliff edge, tearing the rest of it’s gargantuan body free from the ice. It’s massive talons dug deep into the crumbling face of the glacier, tremors running through the millennia old ice. With a low, unimaginably chilling growl, the behemoth stretched a wingspan the size of Ponyville. The beast stood still for a moment, before leaping off the edge, it's decayed wings lifting it into the sky with several gargantuan flaps of necromantic power. In a flash, the pair was on the cliff edge. ......... "How... how many..." Kel'Thuzad smirked. With a deafening, blood-curdling roar that shook the glacier violently, the dragon’s maw lit up with a blinding surge of necromantic power. Twilight covered her ears as a wave of sickly blue light erupted from the undead army below, the sea of necrotic flesh and decaying bone roaring to life with necromantic energies. Twilight's flank plopped down into the snow. Well, she wanted something... big.