The Crystal Vizier

by Lich-Lord Krosis

The Truth Revealed

The various undead denizens and workers of ‘Icecrown’ scattered out of the way of the archlich as he made his way to the peak of the Frozen Throne. Kel’Thuzad had not directly seen his master since his brethren had been transported here via his memories, and frankly, he wasn’t sure what to expect of the alicorn.

When he had been forced to his ‘knees’ by his king when he needed to access his mind for information, it reminded him in several ways of the way Ner’Zhul had forced him down when he first met him face to face.

Except... worse.

It was as if his very mind was sapped of it’s ability to think.

With Ner’Zhul he could beg, but if Shining decided to force him down again...

He could, for all intents and purposes, make him enjoy it...

Bend his mind around his fingers... er, hooves.

The thought terrified him.

“It shouldn’t.”

Kel'Thuzad looked up, to witness something he had never seen Arthas do in his presence, if ever...

Shining had taken off the Helm...

“My king... I... how...” Kel'Thuzad stammered, his mind drawing blanks as to why his friend was able to resist the Helm’s call.

When the alicorn chuckled, and moved towards him, the lich attempted to start another question.

Shining stopped him with a hug. Kel'Thuzad flinched at the unexpected affection, before slowly closing his arms around the prince, his mind racing.

“Thank you, Kel.” Shining said as he withdrew, his horn igniting and retrieving the Helm from it’s pedestal of ice nearby. Once it was secured under the alicorn’s cloak, the lich responded.

“F-for what, Shining?” Kel’Thuzad asked, genuine confusion evident in his tone.

“For staying by my side.” Shining simply stated, a small smile on his muzzle.

“I... It was my pleasure, Shining.” Kel’Thuzad stated, a light chuckle escaping him.

“Now... Shining, how did you take off the Helm?” the archlich questioned.

At the undead wizard’s question, the stallion’s visage turned serious quickly.

“We have a LOT to discuss, Kel.” Shining grimly stated, a hint of uncertainty plaguing his voice. The archlich nodded, his mouth closing for the fist time since the hug.

“To the palace, then?”

“Yes, my chambers please.”

.........

With an arcane pop, the pair exited the portal, stepping into the magically heated chambers of the Crystal Palace.

Before he could even speak of the... odd gathering before him, his queen had rocketed to his king, embracing him in a full body hug, bringing him to the ground in the process.

The rest of the guests in the room were quite stunned by their arrival.

Around a small crystal coffee table, quite a few familiar faces sat.

Queen Chrysalis, parts of her body still raw and light green from her injuries. She was currently holding a small crystal teacup in her magical grip, giggling at the affection being portrayed by the two royals beside the archlich.

Not to mention the love she was probably basking in from it...

Next was Twilight Sparkle, who was currently getting up from her chair to help smother her brother in affection.

Last was a clearly embarrassed Eola, her skeletal form replaced with an illusory one, a lanky, snow white unicorn mare with a pale blue mane.

.........

Now, normally the archlich wouldn’t be confused in the slightest about the gathering, but several aspects about the group did concern him.

For one, Chrysalis wasn’t disguised. And as far as he knew, Twilight’s last encounter with the changeling queen was... less than amicable.

The second aspect of the situation that was confusing to the wizard was that Twilight seemingly did not care that the mare across from her was quite clearly undead.

Or her observation skills are not as great as I originally thought...

But no, the main reason the archlich was so confused was what the group was wearing.

His queen was currently wearing a set of purple and gold armor that was clearly not intended for her lithe frame.

Or her wings...

If his memory served him correctly, Kel’Thuzad recalled that the armor used to belong to his king, back when he were the size of a normal pony. She was wearing a padded purple silk robe underneath the armor to give herself a bit of cushioning, and the bulky armor looked, quite frankly, adorable on her. Her mane was done up in a single braided ponytail down her neck, and a small silver diadem adorned her forehead, her horn holding it atop her head.

Twilight was wearing exactly what he would expect her to wear, but not of the appropriate gender. She wore a stylized wizard’s robe and stereotypical pointed hat. She also wore a surprisingly realistic faux beard, even if it did hang below her muzzle, clearly not attached properly.

Chrysalis wore a rather revealing silk outfit, similar to what one would see a dancer wear at a risqué bar or speakeasy.

Figures...

His fellow lich’s garb, however, is what REALLY surprised him.

She wore a simple set of iron armor, a horned spectacle helmet adorning her head. The armor looked... surprisingly well fitted for her, considering he had never seen her wear anything similar before...

“H-hello, m-m-master...” Eola whimpered in a combination of fear and embarrassment as Kel’Thuzad’s gaze lingered on her.

“Hello... Eola...”

Peering over at he table they were seated around, Kel’Thuzad some sort of board game, several game pieces and dice strewn about the crystal tabletop. In front of where Twilight was seated, there was a small divider, presumably to hide something from the other players.

“Eola, what is it you are doing?” Kel’Thuzad asked, confusion plastered across his usually expressionless face.

“We’re playing Ogres and Oubliettes... master...” Eola stammered, removing her helmet to let her long mane billow around her muzzle, partly obscuring her eyes from view.

As if a switch was thrown in his king’s brain, he stopped cuddling with his wife and sister, and immediately started barraging them with questions.

“How far are you into your campaign?!” Shining exclaimed, totally betraying the supposedly serious nature of their reason to be here.

“We’re not too far in, Shiny, but didn’t you say that you had something you needed to discuss, first?” Cadence questioned, still hugged close to her prince.

Kel’Thuzad raised a brow, staring at the alicorns.

Can... can she speak to him?

As if the switch was thrown back, Shining nodded grimly, getting up from the floor with his wife. He sighed, before turning to Kel’Thuzad.

“We should have a seat...”

The archlich sighed as well, nodding in agreement.

.........

The archlich was surprised that his king was okay with Twilight staying to hear the conversation between rulers, but he knew better than to question him.

Around the same small crystal table, the small gathering sat.

Anub’arak and Chrysalis occupied a loveseat to the right of the archlich, and Twilight sat with Cadence and Shining across from him. Titus chose to stand by the door to the small chamber, and Eola sat to Kel’Thuzad’s left.

Shining’s gaze had not left the table in front of him for several minutes, before he spoke, looking up to his archmage and friend.

“Now... first and foremost, Kel’Thuzad...”

“Would you lie to me?”

Kel’Thuzad felt every eye in the room shift to him.

“M-my king... Shining...”

Kel’Thuzad took a deep, meaningless breath.

“I would never attempt to intentionally mislead you, my friend.” the undead wizard smiled. “Even when my previous king was committing the most heinous and cruel acts, never once did I attempt to deceive or trick him.”

“My loyalty is to the Lich King, and no other... you know this.”

.........

Shining's stance softened immensely.

“Well then this situation just got infinitely more serious and complicated.”

“What has happened my king? Say the word, and I will see to a solution immediately.” Kel’Thuzad spoke.

“There is no easy solution to this problem, my friend...” Shining spoke, a look of sympathy taking over his muzzle.

“Kel’Thuzad...”

“You never had a brother.”

.........

“W-w-what?”

Author's Note:

The plot thickens...

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

Another update so soon? Such productivity!

“Kel’Thuzad...”

“You never had a brother.”

Dun, dun, duuuunnnnn!

[lunarstallion]

Oh, it's gonna be this kind of situation, huh?

[novablade223]

hmmm mind tampering i think. someone or something tampering with Kelthzads mind to make him relaquse half of the sunwells power to a bother he dont had