Princess Celestia cringed in some disgust as the last of the skin peeled away from the rabbit with a sound similar to rending flesh, the muscled form of it's body slowly revealing itself. A few chilled squirts of life-fluid exited the animal as she did, but for the most part, the rabbit bled little. Twilight surprisingly laughed happily in triumph, the mare having failed several times to correctly sever the skin around the...
Well...
The anus of the rabbit. She had tried just simply peeling the skin off, which resulted in the removal of several inches of the rabbit's intestines as well before she realized her mistake. Kel'Thuzad was quick to correct her.
After Celestia had returned from her puking session in the bathroom attached to his room, of course.
"Well done, Twilight." Kel'Thuzad praised in the background, a quill scribbling away on a piece of parchment. She smiled to him, before turning back to her lightly bleeding project. For the next part of the test, Twilight grabbed a simple, long-bladed scalpel next, a bit of frost seeping from the runed blade. Celestia seemed to take great interest in the tool, and the enchantment laid upon it.
"Are all of your tools enchanted, Kel'Thuzad?" she asked. The lich nodded.
"Most of them, yes. Why?" Celestia's eyes lowered in interest, a small smirk adorning her muzzle.
"I am quite the enchanter myself." The archlich leaned his form back, raising to his full height. Enchanting, while more of a small hobby for himself now, fascinated him greatly when he was alive.
His interest in the complicated practice of the ancient high-elven art carried over into undeath, seeing as he always seemed to have extra time on his hands. If Equestrian methods and enchantments were different in design and complexity...
Maybe HE would actually learn something for the first time in centuries...
"Is that so... care if I see an example, then?"
Celestia nodded, her horn glowing a gentle shade of orange, before a snap of magical teleportation echoed through the tall room. When the lich looked down on the sword, his eyes widened at the complex and intricate patterns of alien spells blanketing the golden blade. The sword itself was little more than a dagger to him, about the size of Bloodsurge. A wrapping of ornate... leather.
The handle was wrapped in leather.
Not faux-leather.
Leather.
Something that he had not yet seen in Equestrian culture, for fairly obvious reasons.
Maybe she isn't as peace-loving as she claims...
Ignoring the organic component of the sword for the moment, he moved forwards, up the hilt. An intensely bright orb of what seemed to be... sunlight, floated in a small hole between the handle and blade, chiming gently with a spectral song.
"She's... beautiful." Kel'Thuzad complimented. Sincerely. Never had he seen a blade this heavily enchanted. Barring Frostmourne, of course. The fact that it seemingly drew power from the sun, an aspect he had never before seen within a weapon, exceeded his expectations.
That, and he was a sucker for mixing glamor and beauty with functionality. Something that was quite easy to tell, what with his Nerubian ornamentation.
"Thank you. I've just finished the final touches on it within the last few decades, actually." Celestia smiled, grasping the sword within her telekinesis. With a flurry of movement, the blade was finished its path, a pillow nearby that was formerly frozen solid now charred and smoking from the heat and enchantments of the blade.
Then it fell to pieces.
Charred, destroyed pieces.
The lich smirked at the brutal yet efficient strike, a small round of applause issuing from his large claws.
"Bravo."
Celestia turned to the lich, a smirk of satisfaction adorning her muzzle.
"Thank you. Its been a while. I was beginning to think I'd lost my touch."
Twilight screamed.
LOUD.
They both turned in alarm to their apprentice, and witnessed a rather disturbed Twilight crying heavily, tears nearly flowing freely form her eyes.
"Twilight! What happened!?" Celestia was the first to respond to her hysterical daughter-in-law, the sword clattering loudly to the ground as she enveloped the unicorn in an embrace of feathers and warmth. Twilight was consoled little to none, and continued her rather sudden bout of horror, vomiting once as she pressed her teary face into the celestial alicorn's barrel.
Kel'Thuzad, however, was more interested in the 'why'.
It didn't take long to find out.
Befitting her nature, the studious young unicorn had made a long incision along the side of the rabbit's stomach. Her reasoning was obviously to remove the organs first, rather than risk harming them when she cut apart the rabbit. She had started near the bottom of the creature, and had only removed several inches of intestines when she struck it's reproductive organs.
Three sets of glossed over, quite dead eyes stared back at him, from behind a slightly transparent membrane of muscle.
It was pregnant...
Emphasis on the 'was'...
Damn it all...
.........
"WHAT IN TARTARUS WERE YOU THINKING, KEL'THUZAD!?!" Shining roared, causing several crystal ponies around the throne room to jump. The archlich was unfazed by his master's rage. In fact, he had prepared for it on his way to the court room. While he loved his new life, he was quickly learning that until he purified the Helm of Domination, his master was prone to violent mood swings, that often ended in something getting destroyed.
Sometimes it was a chair.
Sometimes it was a table.
Sometimes it was HIM.
He didn't judge, though. Liches were no strangers to death. Him, least of all.
"Master, I understand your frustration, but your sister is hysterical, and needs affection! I will take over court if I must, but you MUST GO TO HER!" Kel'Thuzad's voice roared. For several moments, the liches stared eachother down. Admittedly, Kel'Thuzad was taking a monumental risk in raising his voice to his king. He was the one being that could rip him apart with the flick of his hoof, and the lich was nearly powerless to stop it if it happened.
.........
"Fine."
Shining turned to his right, looking a terrified-looking guard in the eyes.
"Spear Point, alert my wife of my absence from court, and tell her to meet me in the archmage's chambers." the guard recovered remarkably quickly from his prince's intimidating presence, and saluted him. He then turned from his post, and galloped out of the throne room, off to the Royal Quarter. Shining Armor then turned to the court.
"Court is adjourned until further notice! If you have any concerns or questions, please direct them to my vizier and archmage, Kel'Thuzad!" The prince quickly turned to the lich, and sighed, his temper dissipating. "I leave them in your capable hands, Kel'Thuzad." Shining remarked.
"I will do my best, my lord." Kel'Thuzad bowed, his form reaching below his master's impressive height in a sign of submission. In a frighteningly loud smash, Frostmourne tore itself from its makeshift pedestal of ice and crystal nearby, strapping itself to it's master's side. With that, the prince nodded to Kel'Thuzad, and with several gargantuan flaps of his massive wings, he was out of sight, rocketing towards the Royal Quarter.
The lich sighed, before raising to his full height once more. He turned his skull left and right, breaking the small strands of ice connecting it and his neck. He turned his eyes to the court, whom nearly all stared in either fascination or fear.
Obviously not every one of them has seen me, then. Better make a good first impression...
With a unintentionally menacing grin, and clap of his claws, he chuckled.
"Alright. Who's first..."