//------------------------------// // Pillow Talk and First Meetings // Story: The Crystal Vizier // by Lich-Lord Krosis //------------------------------// With a heavy sigh, the prince collapsed to his bed, the princess reading silently unresponsive to her husband's antics. "So, how'd it go?" she asked without looking away from her novel. Shining muttered something into his pillow, a burst of magic erupting from his horn. Frostmourne lit up with the blue aura that had become the symbol for the prince's magical grip, and floated towards its pedestal, specially crafted by Kel'Thuzad himself. The lich had been VERY keen on the prince not being anywhere NEAR Cadence with the greatsword attached to him. "Ugh..." Shining groaned, shuffling further up the bed, attempting to get his gargantuan body fully on top of it. Cadence lowered her book to witness a laughable scene. Shining was face-down in his pillow, his rump several feet into the air. His wings were lazily drawn to his sides, the one closer to her actually unfolded somewhat, sprawling out to cover her much of her own side of the bed. "Tired, Shiny?" Cadence laughed, floating her book over to the nightstand nearby. She then flopped herself onto her side, her back and flanks pressed up against her king's underbelly. Shining took a few moments to respond, seeing as he had to dig his muzzle out of the fluffy pillows that kept him hostage. "No, just annoyed." he admitted, sneakily grabbing his princess with one massive foreleg, before quickly lifting her. She squeaked in surprise, but stopped her struggles when she opened her eyes to come face-to-face with the same dorky colt she had fallen for all those years ago. The prince had used his unnatural strength to lift her atop his frame, their noses touching in an unspoken symbol of affection for one another. With a cocky smirk, the stallion leaned forwards, capturing his mate's muzzle with his own. The mare shivered at his aggressiveness, Shining usually waiting for her approval before initiating anything. While she usually enjoyed her dominance when it came to their love life, having her hubby engage in the act was exciting. "Ah! Shiny..." Cadence yelped, the prince quickly exiting their lip lock to nibble away at her withers, teasing the sensitive flesh with his probing teeth. Shining's smirk set her body ablaze with emotions, mostly those of the intimate nature. She wanted nothing more than to let her troubles and worries slip away into a night of loving passion with her husband, but business before pleasure. As much as it pained her to interrupt her husband's advances, she had to know what the two kings had discussed. Shining was enjoying himself, to say the least. Never before had the prince felt this... this... confident. Authoritative. Territorial, even. He felt it was his duty to protect and please his mate. He felt more aroused than he had since before his ascension. So, when his princess groaned slightly, and pushed his bulky form away with a single, dainty forehoof, he felt panic unmatched. Had he overstepped?! Had he hurt her?! UPSET HER?! Whatever it was, he was ready for a scolding... Or a night on the couch in the corner... "Shiny? Are you okay, honey?" Cadence asked, her head cocked to the side. When she had literally pried herself away from her husband's affections, he had frozen. His heartrate, now nonexistent, was not the cause of concern. Shining had just started hyperventilating, and his pupils had shrunken to pinpricks of their usual size. When he started shaking like a leaf, the princess had to restrain her laughter. He's scared of me?! Cadence's adorable giggles brought the king down from his panic attack, his confusion evident in his face. "Honey, you're not in trouble. I just need to know what you and Anub'arak discussed, then we can get back to our fun..." she slyly grinned, sensually grinding her body against his, causing a shiver of excitement to run through the large stallion's body. For several moments, the prince stammered stupidly. Then, something clicked in his head. ......... "Anub'arak is still bound to me. He's undead, like me and Kel'Thuzad. He promises not to kill Kel'Thuzad again, and hopes that they can remedy whatever problems that there are between them. That's it." Cadence spent several seconds stammering this time, her husband's rather abrupt and rapid explanation catching her brain off guard. She raised her hoof to ask a question, but the offending limb was quickly pushed back to the mattress by her husband's MUCH larger one. "No. No words. FUN TIME." Shining growled playfully. With that, the princess was pounced by her suddenly roguish husband. ......... Kel'Thuzad was angry. Well, more annoyed than angry, actually. He had resurrected several hours ago, and had yet to tell his king. He needed time to think. But, if anything is to be learned from the past, he had long stopped thinking. He HAD to know. With a grunt of annoyance, he slung his embroidered frostweave satchel over his skeletal shoulder. Throwing several items into it, including Jaina's frost magic spell book, he sighed. This was it, then. What will I tell her? Will she even remember me? Shaking his skull violently, he rid himself of the thoughts. He'd thought enough. Any more, and he would stop himself from going through with the trip. With a slice of saronite through air, the portal was made. From studying maps, he had pinpointed the approximate location of Ponyville, but was nearly clueless of the village's makeup and design, making the exact location of Twilight's residence a bit of a mystery to the lich. Shrugging to himself, Kel'Thuzad floated through the portal. What's the worst that could happen? ......... "AK! What the hell?!” Kel'Thuzad sputtered, the lich whipping around in confusion as copious liquid covered his chilled body. The substance froze bones together and inhibited his movement. When he was finally free of the sudden rainstorm, he turned around. "Gods damn it all..." he spoke, his echoing voice traveling across the empty clearing quickly. As he rid the last of the offending substance from his robes, the lich turned to his surroundings. Not much to be said. The small fountain he had teleported into decorated a large town square of sorts, spurting controlled streams of water into the surrounding miniature lake. The cobblestone and grass of the clearing were blanketed with a small layer of fresh snow, several small flurries still falling. The edges of the square were decorated with dormant food carts and booths, this part of town obviously used as a marketplace of sorts. In the distance, the mage could make out the towering treehouse that HAD to be Twilight's library. It was on the opposite side of town. Damn... "WOW... what are you?" In an instant, the archlich was whirled around, a frostbolt ready to launch into the unsuspected pony's face. His hand slowly lowered at the sight of the small group of foals he had probably just scarred for life. "Uhh... hello?" the archlich greeted, his intimidating and horrifying presence probably scaring the children out of their minds. He was soon proven wrong. "Hi mister!" a small colt clumsily staggered forwards from his group, much to the dismay of his friends. His hooves were clearly not used to snow boots, seeing as the colt had stumbled several times in the few yards between them. A mishmash of brown and white fur decorated the young colt, and he spoke with a distinctively Gilnean accent, which caught the mage off guard. "H-Hello, little one." the lich greeted, rather surprised at the hospitality of the small group. "Well, howdy, mister! Welcome to Ponyville!" a filly in the back of the group greeted, much to the lich's surprise once more. An awkward silence washed over the clearing, the only sounds to be heard being the gentle *clinks* and *clanks* of the lich's soul chains. ......... "Say, do any of you know how to get to Ponyville Library, by chance?" Kel'Thuzad asked. Before any of the other colts and fillies could answer, however, another voice piped up. "I do! I live there!" a proud voice proclaimed. The lich's eyes scanned the small group, only to square on a small, lizard like being, purple in color. Twilight's brother... "Ah... Spike, I presume?" the lich greeted, his form slowly lowering to bow to the small whelp. "Uhh... yeah. How do you know my name, sir?" he asked uneasily, quite obviously disturbed that this... thing, knew his name. The archlich chuckled, and raised to his full height once again. "Come now, surely your sister has told you of me?" Spike shook his head, his form visibly shaking in fear now. "Well then, I believe introductions are in order." "I am Kel'Thuzad. Archmage to your brother and sister-law, and vizier of the Crystal Court." he smirked. This will be one LOOONG trip...