With a resounding *SNAP*, a portal exploded into existence next to the Crystal Throne. The ponies surrounding Luna turned their heads, only to gasp in horror when a bloody, lifeless Celestia greeted their sight. Cadence ran into Shining's outstretched hooves, the Lich King dropping the still bloodied Frostmourne to the floor. Kel'Thuzad gingerly floated past them, moving towards the group of guards and physicians surrounding Luna's body. The guards formed up around their fallen princess, the telltale sharpened black and purple armor of the Lunar Guard signifying their allegiance.
Kel'Thuzad stopped short of the group, and the chain inhabited by Celestia laid the corpse before them.
Don't hurt them, please...
Kel'Thuzad snorted at the request of the goddess, but was willing to give them a chance.
"Gentlemen, I admire your... devotion, to your ruler. However, I require her body. Please stand aside..." the lich asked kindly, uncharacteristically. The lead guard stomped his hoof to the ground, cracking it with the force of the blow, and fanned out his wings.
"We would rather DIE than let you touch her, you... FREAK." he spat. Kel'Thuzad bit back a retort.
And a frostbolt.
They're not making it easy...
The Archlich turned to his ruler, who was walking towards the commotion, Cadence under one of his massive wings. Frostmourne was once more pinned to his flank, the blade now curiously dry of blood.
"Captain Mistfang, let him pass." Shining eased. The captain turned to the prince, eyeing up the alicorn before scoffing rudely.
"We do not answer to you, Commander Shining Armor." he hissed. Kel'Thuzad's left middle finger twitched, an urge to rip the disrespecting guards head from his spine restrained. This... PIG, was obviously trying his damnedest to provoke a fight.
He didn't want to pick a fight with an lich.
He REALLY didn't want to pick a fight with an Archlich.
He ESPECIALLY didn't want to pick a fight with an annoyed, stressed, and tired Archlich.
"PRINCE Shining Armor, CAPTAIN." the Lich King hissed. The end of the sentence was punctuated by a deeper, throatier voice. The captain stuttered for several seconds, then sighed. He withdrew from the corpse, uttering a curse under his breath. His men followed suit, bowing to the prince as he used his wings to cradle the Lunar goddess' body before him. The trio marched from the room, making their way down the long halls of the Crystal Palace.
Kel'Thuzad reached out to his former servant, hoping he could still hear his thoughts.
Lal'theron, you may not answer to a necromancer anymore, but I hope you know WHY I released you.
Silence passed for several moments.
Yes... I do...
Meet me in Celestia's chambers.
Kel'Thuzad nodded, and spoke to his king.
"My lord, Marrowfrost will meet us in Princess Celestia's chambers. I suggest we move there. QUICKLY." the archlich boomed, his voice reverberating through the empty hall, Cadence having evacuated the palace shortly before they had returned. Shining nodded, understanding.
"Sure Kel." Shining turned at the corner, and moved towards the large twin master bedrooms that were reserved for the Royal Sisters. They approached the door emblazoned with the sun, and parted the door with magic. Shining handed Luna's emaciated corpse to another of Kel'Thuzad's chains, and turned to the Solar and Lunar guards that followed them.
They looked... terrified. Upset.
He knew Celestia and Luna chose their personal guards for different reasons... but to them, they were family. They likely saw their pseudo-mothers' deaths and mourned genuinely. He... he had to say something. He stood up as tall as he could, cleared his throat, and spoke.
"Soldiers! I know not why you joined the Royal Guard. I know not why you chose this profession. This DUTY. But I can guess..." Shining spoke.
"You wished to help protect our HOME. Our people. Like I did..." Shining's eyes tingled, unable to spout tears because of his... condition, but still able to feel the sensation.
"I know you mourn for our princess' deaths, and I do as well. But if you really wish to help us, find the BEST physicians and doctors you can, and meet us back here." Shining stopped, surveying his brief audience. They seemed... calm. Collected.
"Understood?" he asked, replacing the commanding tone of an officer for that of a friend. A fellow guard.
Family.
.........
"YES SIR!" they shouted, saluting the prince, before galloping off, their hoofsteps echoing away. Shining smiled, and turned inside, closing the door as he went.
.........
"My lady, my king. Please, set them on the blankets before the fire." the skeleton echoed, his voice crackling. The couple nodded to Kel'Thuzad, who as gently as possible set the bodies before the hearth. Kel'Thuzad had been thinking of this part for a LONG time...
It's the only way. Undeath will not suit them...
"Lal'theron, whenever you are ready." the lich spoke. Lal'theron's gaze snapped from Celestia's corpse to the necromancer several seconds later. He nodded.
It was time.
"My lady, my king. Before I was an advisor for Lord Kel'Thuzad, I was a priest. In an age long forgotten, my people prospered outside the limits of Lordaeron, in the beautiful land of Quel'Thalas." the revenant spoke. Shining nodded, Cadence turning her head in confusion.
"A priest of what, Marrow- Lal'theron?" Cadence caught herself.
"A priest of the Sunwell, my lady. In Quel'Thalas, the land was sustained and nurtured by the mystical Sunwell, a font of magical light that healed and blessed those who touched it's divine and holy waters..." the revenant looked down at this point.
"Then the SCOURGE happened..." Lal'theron looked to Kel'Thuzad. "HE happened..."
Cadence and Shining nodded, well aware of Kel'Thuzad's past.
"The Scourge under Ner'Zhul ravaged my homeland, and corrupted the Sunwell forever..." Lal'theron spat. Kel'Thuzad sighed. He might as well explain it, then.
"My lord, when your predecessor resurrected me into lichdom, he did so without the Lich King's influence. A near impossible feat for a Death Knight such as Arthas..." Kel'Thuzad gestured to Lal'theron. "Unless he used... a catalyst." Shining nodded, putting the pieces together in his head, one at a time.
"You... you corrupted the Sunwell?"
"Worse. I absorbed it. Harnessed it. USED IT. While I admit I am thankful for my blessing, I did not wish to corrupt such a pure... force." Kel'Thuzad admitted. He growled, furious with himself once again, and looked to Lal'theron.
"Lal, the day you saw me... you were livid. I remembered the times we had together, hunting Lynxes and Dragonhawks, practicing our magic lessons..." Kel'Thuzad laughed lightly. "I didn't want to... lose you." He sighed.
"Brother..."
.........
"WHAT!?!?!?" Shining and Cadence shouted in unison.
"Yes, Lal'theron is my brother."
"And I KILLED him."
"For my own... SELFISH reasons..."
"I made a mockery of your religion, Lal. I AM a mockery."
"I made YOU a mockery."
"FOR WHAT?!"
“A decade and a half of hollow, sentimental joy?!”
The lich sobbed, openly now. He floated angrily to the corner of the room like a child, and growled.
"Brother... you were not yourself..." Lal'theron began, beginning to come to his senses.
He had to remind himself still, that Kel’Thuzad’s only crime...
Was curiosity...
"BUT I TURNED YOU INTO A MONSTER! A BEING OF DARKNESS!" Kel’Thuzad roared, turning to the small undead stallion.
"I saved YOUR BODY!”
“But... but not your mind..." he sighed angrily, falling slowly to the bed. He hadn't felt grief like this in... ever.
Horrific, painful guilt stabbed his nonexistent heart.
"Brother... now is your time to give back.” Lal’theron spoke, resting his skeletal hoof on his half-brother’s pauldron.
“To... to make amends...”
“Save these... INNOCENT people!" Lal'theron pleaded.
"Let me have the power, Kel."
Kel'Thuzad wondered what it was like to die.
What it would be like to truly, finally die.
To move on to whatever hell he was destined for...
But then, Kel’Thuzad amirked, chuckled lightly for a moment.
He was no stranger to death.
"Alright."
.........
A bright light was all Kel'Thuzad saw.
Then the pain of having your body ripped to shreds assaulted his brain. As the last remnants of the Sunwell's power flowed into the waiting hooves of the priest, his vision dimmed.
.........
"I forgive you, brother."
.........
Darkness.
.........
ok pretty interesting how you are managing this, i am close to lvl 100 with a Death Knight on Drakkari server, for now the knights of the ebon blade are seeing you, hope you dont dissapoint!
I like this chapter.
And every second they spend talking, the bodies cool all the more, meaning more power to revive them. Get on with it!
I didn't play this game. The backstory and plot are both interesting, and Kel is, well. Behaving fairly normal for a person freed from their necromantic bindings. I think I know what would happen to Celestia, except for the part if her body is going to be alive or undead.
There is no Solaire...
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I feel the same disappointment.
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He said he wouldn't allow them to be in undeath so probably alive.
I am very much interested, please continue!
Why doo you keep calling her a goddess when she is even in this story merely another race of the pony species? She is just a powerful spellcaster. Not even all that powerful compared to the elites of Azeroth, weak compared to the heavy hitters, and an ant compared to the top dogs. Medivh is closer to being a deity than she is.
7285891 Again, alicorns, for the sake of this story, are gods and goddesses. Also, last time I checked, Medivh never had the power to LITERALLY move a celestial object.
That act in itself is god status worthy. Not to mention the fact that her sister and her's final fight ended up killing almost three thousand Equestrians.
Also, Kel'Thuzad himself was not exactly a pushover either. Yet literally the only reason he was able to incapacitate Celestia was because he caught her by surprise by quite literally popping into existence behind her.
Personally, if I were, I would have added something to my spells that were holding Celestia after getting a grip on the situation. Something that would give me a backdoor so to speak in the event of a future confrontation. I can see Kel'Thuzad doing that, too. He didn't get to his position by not being a sneaky bastard.
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Doesn't change the fact that the alicorns perform their feats by using magic instead of some sort of divine power. Magic that, canonically, a group of unicorns performed before there were alicorns. You can make them goddesses of course, because it is your story. But, can you give them something that actually makes them godly instead of relying on things that other ponies (groups of ponies) can also do? I'm sure you get my point. A mage who casts a fireball the size of the Empire State Building is no more a god than the group of weaker mages who perform the same spell by working together.
Oh, and in a previous comment you said that alicorns in the show are treated as, and basically are, goddesses. The show very clearly shows them as being powerful mages and they are treated that way with the ponies being amazed by the princesses magic. Not worship and their magic is treated as just that, magic. Not divine. You can do what you want in the fic, of course, and change and do whatever the hell you want. It'd still be a great story. You are a talented writer.