As the smallest, most insignificant snowflake in all of history slowly drifted to the ground on a frigid morning, a completely unrelated event was taking place universes away.

A series of events began a domino effect that would shake the foundation of a lost Empire, setting it on a historical path that would define generations of creatures from dozens of races.

And because of its distance, because its history would never interact with the snowflake, it was completely insignificant and inconsequential. Whether that Empire thrived or crumbled would mean little to anyone or anything else, but to those that lived there, it meant everything. Their story was not a fantasy to be left on a dusty bookshelf, it was a historical moment that caused worlds to clash, alliances to be formed, and civilizations to fall.

Behind the concept of space and time, above the natural understanding of reality, through the veil that separated universes, and inside the pure paradoxical chaos that made up the endless void, was a relatively inconsequential planet called Terra; One of the millions of mirrored worlds that resided in the multiverse, a world brimming with magic, a place of mythical creatures that once only lived in the imagination of children and artists.

By either some cosmic coincidence or divine intervention from a cosmic creator, these old fabled characters had become real, living in near harmony with each other on the small planet under the leadership of two divine sovereigns whom controlled the rise and fall of the sun and moon.

Terra was a home to many magical souls, from buffalo nomads to zebra shaman, shapeshifting changelings to obnoxiously boisterous yaks, flying dragons to sleeping thestrals, and many, many more.

Dragons flew through the sky in flocks, buffalo roamed the country side in nomadic herds, and prides of griffons hunted for free game in the untamed forests, killing the most dangerous of predators and mindless beasts. The world was a menagerie of magical species, a collection of monsters and beasts that were blessed with sentience, each one motivated by their own religions, beliefs, and morals.

And yet, almost in spite of their maniacal and cruel storybook counterparts, most of the inhabitants of Terra lived relatively peaceful lives, deciding to live in a state of equality rather than a kingdom of division and apprehension. However, not everything in the land of sunshine and rainbows was bathed in the pure light of Harmony.

Underneath the warm sun and tranquil moon of the two princesses, below the heavens of bliss and joy, under the silver lining of the ominous clouds that hung in the sky, and buried in the norther regions of the largest continent on Terra, was the Frozen North.

The Frozen North was a barren wasteland that laid past the Crystal Mountains; a place where eternal Twilight reigned supreme, crops never dared to grow, and the howls of the dead sang an eternal song of pain and damnation that accompanied the relentless blizzard that buried any creature that wandered into the Frozen North.

The storm of snow that bombarded the Frozen North was a magical phenomenon that materialized the frigid touch of death itself, a remnant of the effects of a terrible storm that washed over Equestria long ago. While the love and warmth the ponies and other creatures of Equestria chased away the never-ending winter, the North simply adapted and outlived the vengeful spirits that had caused the Great Winter in Equestria.

With the vengeful spirits gone, the storms ran rampant and became a chaotic flurry of eternal winter, and the once luscious green fields of the Fertile North had been buried by the white sheet of death that plagued the land.

There were only two places of refuge from the eternal storm that cursed the Frozen North, the makeshift Yak Kingdom of Yakyakistan that laid on the outermost reach of the storm, and the disheveled remains of the once brilliant and beautiful Crystal Empire.

The Crystal Empire was a testament to the innovation of the first settlers of Equestria, a divine jewel that stood as a monument to the abundant magic the first settlers had discovered. The Empire was a glorious bastion that withstood the test of time, and fought the battle against the onslaught of nature. The Empire may have won that battle too if it weren’t for the menace that was King Sombra, a name that struck fear into the hearts of any creature that heard it from hushed whispers.

King Sombra was grey ruva stallion with a flowing black mane of fire with a blood red horn that jutted out of his head. He was once a normal ruva like every other ruva in the Crystal Empire, using his magic to study the effects of crystals to create new magical spells.

His thirst for knowledge soon evolved into a desperate hunger for power, leading him to the doorstep of the Demon Lord himself, Grogar the Goat. After King Sombra struck a deal with the father of monsters, he returned to the Crystal Empire and ruled it for three years after he usurped the throne from Princess Amore. He was a greedy ruler who desired to expand his own domain with force and strength, to crush those he thought of as beneath him. The king had successfully enslaved the crystal ponies, driven the thestrals into hiding, and committed total genocide on the ruva that had lived in the Crystal Empire, leaving him almost unopposed after causing his own race to go into near extinction.

He ruled over the Empire with an iron hoof, forcing his will over his subjects by using forbidden and dark magic that he learned from Grogar. With his newfound power, he completely stripped his remaining subjects of their free will and used them as slaves to mine magical crystals to strengthen his own magic.

His evil and sadistic acts would not go unnoticed by the other kingdoms and tribes, however. King Sombra had rightfully earned the ire of most of the world, his only allies being those he brainwashed. With a legion of innocent civilians acting as mighty warriors at his beck and call, King Sombra created a mighty army to invade Yakyakistan, deciding to take the entirety of the Frozen North before he set his sights on the rest of Equestria.

All of King Sombra’s plans would fall through however with the direct intervention of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna deciding to lead their armies to his capital. As the celestial and lunar guards defended themselves against the brunt force of King Sombra’s enslaved army, the two princesses of Dream Valley confronted King Sombra directly to end his reign of terror. An epic battle ensued that shook the foundation of the continent as two ascended gods fought a malicious demon.

In the end, King Sombra fell at the hooves of the sisters and used their magic to banish King Sombra to an eternal realm of darkness. Sadly, in a last act of defiance and desperate spite, King Sombra latched himself onto the souls of his enslaved subjects, forcing them to share his torment for all of eternity.

The two sisters could do nothing to stop his counter spell and verbally cursed the mad king for damning his entire enslaved army to suffer his fate. Neither of the sisters were able to bring back his enslaved citizens from the realm of darkness without bringing the self-proclaimed king back as well, but they were able to modify the spell ever so slightly.

Instead of damning King Sombra and his slaves to an eternity in the realm of darkness, they would be kept there until a being that was able to permanently kill King Sombra stepped hoof into the Frozen North. On that day, the chosen hero would slay King Sombra and pass on the Empire to the descendants of Princess Amore.

And until the destined hero was found, the Empire would become lost to the memories of time, becoming an old mare’s tale that would be told to the young foals of Equestria until the story itself was forgotten as well.

Life would continue to move on without the Crystal Empire, uncaring to the plights of the ponies trapped in a pocket outside the concept of time and space. The truth of the matter was that nopony, creature, or being would be “destined” to save the Empire. The only thing that could save the Empire would be a cosmic coincidence. Or perhaps it would take manipulation from a higher power.

Either way, as the historians waited and died with their bated breaths, hoping for the eventual return of the Empire, time continued on without any consideration for those who experienced its effects.

The banishment of King Sombra and the crystal ponies was only the first of several great catastrophes that would occur on Terra. Heroes lived and died, misconceptions started wars, a Goddess of Chaos buried Dream Valley under a forest of entropy, and a princess of the night turned into an Empress of Nightmares.

Just like the frozen remains of the Crystal Empire, the rest of the world fell into a state of disrepair as hope became a rarer commodity with each passing day. The Equestrian Diarchy turned Monarchy took it upon themselves to bring peace and harmony back to the world in spite of the grim reality they all faced.

Princess Celestia’s attempts to fix her kingdom led to a scant few eras of peace in the world where creatures of every race lived in near harmony after far too many bloody wars and a terrible number of graves. Unfortunately, not all the sentient races of Terra would experience this peace.

Many species had gone extinct or drastically changed during the Crystal Empire’s absence. The Deer and Caribou Kingdoms fell victim to a plague that made them infertile, the sea serpents and sirens had waged a war that nearly wiped both of their species out, and the diamond dogs had reverted into mindless beasts after centuries of inbreeding and cannibalism. Life continued to move on without these many races, as if they didn’t matter at all to the cold reality of time.

So much had changed about Terra since the disappearance of the Empire, and even more would change with its reemergence.

The bellowing winds of the Frozen North sang an agonizing song of pain as the spirits of those who died in the terrible tundra followed the winds to their final destination. Snow fell from the heavy clouds above without any care for where they landed, disappearing into the large drifts of snow that covered the Frozen North.

As the snow continued to fall haphazardly from the dreary clouds, a sudden and surprising stillness fell over the Frozen North. For the first time in millennia, not a single snowflake fell from the skies and the voices of the damned stopped their wailing songs of pain.

A brief moment of stunning silence filled the usually chaotic winds of the Frozen North, pure and undisturbed silence. And like a minotaur firing off a glass cannon, the deafening silence was shattered with the screams of reality itself being torn apart.

An orchestra of fear, anger, and suffering filled the momentarily silent air as a massive earthquake shook the centuries of snow off of the abandoned ruins of the Crystal Empire. Flurries of snowflakes exploded as the violent winds of the Frozen North turned into a monsoon of snow that washed over the frozen tundra.

The clouds began to swirl as the fabric of reality was briefly ripped apart and the seams that held that specific portion of reality together let loose loud explosions of thunder as they snapped apart, an announcement to the world itself that something was coming.

As the fabric of reality tried to mend itself, it fought against the outside force that was causing it to unnaturally tear. The thing that had struggled to hold the tear in place finally relinquished its grasp on the hems of reality after something was hurdled through the tear and landed in a large pile of snow.

The aggressive snow storm returned to its usual chaotic nature a short time afterwards as reality was stitched back together. As the world continued on as if nothing happened, the thing that had been tossed through the portal began to wake up.

The figure groaned as it sat up slowly, a wave of pain shooting through his body suddenly as he did so. The being was a creature from another world, a human man turned demonic monster.

The man was completely underdressed for the freezing climate of the Frozen North, his only protection against the natural elements were two purple greaves on his shins, two similarly colored vambraces on his forearms, a dark purple cingulum that covered his crotch, and a navy-blue hooded cloak that covered his head and back. His spiked shoulder plates and ornate cross-bone harness offered little protection against the cold but were still able to cover up his almost naked body.

The man’s skin had turned into a deep and unnatural shade of blue and he gained the well-defined muscles of an Adonis, along with herculean strength that most men would kill for. His once normal hands and feet had turned into draconic claws and feet similar to a tyrannosaurus-rex, a mockery of his old appendages. The last and most significant change the man had gone through was everything that rested above his broad shoulders. His neck, face, and hair had completely disappeared, only leaving a demonic humanoid skull with large fangs where his once dull canines were located.

The man groaned as his conscious mind entered his new body, his stiff muscles screamed in agony as he tried to stand up in his dazed state of mind. Most of his memories alluded him as his thoughts swam through a murky swamp of confused questions and jumbled memories. He was only lucid enough to know that he shouldn’t have been out in the snow, and he had a faint memory of a man in a leather hoodie who sold him a staff.

He placed a hand to his temple as he tried to force his memories to become clear and linear once again. As his mind fought to put the pieces of his history back together, he nearly failed to notice the odd texture of his head. His fingers lightly traced the ridges of his skull, feeling the rough texture of his new skull as they did so.

As the man’s senses returned to him, a terrifying pang of fear ran through his soul as he felt his fingers press against his bare skull. His other hand flew to his face to desperately attempt to feel something familiar, to find his nose, ears, hair, anything that wasn’t bare bone. One of his thumbs brushed against the inside of his jaw, causing him to recoil from the feeling of his thumb inside his jaw.

“Wh-What?! N-No no no no. Where’s my fucking face? What the fuck is going on?!” The man screamed before he began to hyperventilate.

Panicked thoughts raced through his mind at a rapid speed until everything was drowned out by his screams of fear filled the air, a desperate cry for some type of normalcy and sense of understanding. His wailing panicked screams were laced with a series of expletives and cries for help from anybody who could hear his pleas.

He continued on like that for nearly half an hour, until his lungs had effectively given out and he resided to curl himself up and quietly sob. No tears left his hollow eye sockets as he wept. The only telltale sign of his distressed state were the haggard breaths that tried to fill his lungs.

He placed a hand on his well-defined chest to feel his rapid heartbeat, a confirmation that he still had a pulse, which unfortunately did almost nothing to calm his nerves. If anything, it set him more on edge as he waited for his heart-beat to slow down until it completely stopped, waiting for an inevitable death that never came.

As the seconds turned into minutes, and the minutes turned into irrelevant measurements of time, the man finally uncurled himself and sat on his knees. His focus was directed on the snow that surrounded him in every direction.

“H-hello?” He called out with a hoarse voice, waiting patiently for something to respond. His teeth clattered against each other as he felt the cold embrace of the Frozen North.

“A-anyone out there? Helllllo?” He said a little louder. The wailing cries of the storm were the only response he received.

As his gaze traveled across the arctic grounds around him, his eyes caught a familiar scepter lying a yard away from him. It was a six-foot purple staff crowned with a golden horned ram’s skull that he had bought from a man dressed up in a long leather jacket.

He reached out for the familiar object, grasping the nearest part of the scepter to pull it towards himself. He held onto the Havoc Staff tightly one hand while he used the other to hold the edges of his navy-blue cloak closed.

As he stood up, using the staff to steady himself on his trembling legs, he mentally prepared himself for an arduous journey to find a way out of the eternal winter he was lost in. His worries and questions about his new body were pushed aside for his survival instincts to take hold.

He didn’t have the luxury to wallow in grief or panic more than he already had, he could only trudge forward and silently pray for a miracle.

Thousands of years of darkness passed in a matter of moments for King Sombra and his enslaved army, time becoming a relative fantasy to the ponies that were trapped inside the realm of darkness. Generations and lifetimes had become seconds for the displaced Empire, and it had finally returned.

The body of a grey ruva with etherial mane of black fire laid motionlessly on the crystal floor of his throne room. The lord of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra, awoke from his long banishment with a sudden start after being brought back to the realm of the living. His body ached after his confrontation with the two Alicorn sisters, a battle that waged on for hours had left him worse off for wear physically but no less powerful in terms of magic.

The grey ruva stallion eyed his throne room wearily, keeping a look out for a surprise attack from the Alicorn sisters.

As his green eyes traversed the throne room, he noticed the damage from his battle with the two sisters had grown larger with age, the architecture of the room failing to hold itself together after years of being left alone in the frozen climate.

King Sombra wasn’t sure how long it had been since the battle, nor did he know why he was freed from his banishment, but his lack of knowledge didn’t prevent a wicked smile of glee to etch its way across his muzzle. He looked to his right to see the frail green body of one of his most “loyal” of slaves, Emerald Secret.

She was still sound asleep after the sleeping spell the lunar princess placed on her, a spell that prevented King Sombra from forcing Emerald Secret to join the fray as a living shield for her king.

King Sombra quickly tried to feel his dark magic in her mind, confirming that she and all of the other subjects of the Crystal Empire were under his control. Even if most of his slaves were asleep he still had them, which meant he could still use them once they woke up.

As King Sombra felt the magic inside of his enslaved citizens, taking account for how many slaves still drew breath, he felt another magical signature a mile or so away from his Empire. A foreign type of dark magic born of pain and suffering was coming towards his domain.

King Sombra used his magic to summon a scrying orb made from pure refined crystal to look at the possible threat. Seconds ticked by slowly as his magic honed in on the individual until an image of an odd creature appeared in his scrying orb.

The revived king observed the creature with a bemused fascination. It was an odd creature, bipedal in nature like a dragon or minotaur, but without any of the scales or fur either of the races had. It had no discernible snout pushing out from under its blue hood, and any other facial features it may had had were completely obscured by an unnatural shadow.

The most striking feature of all however was the large scepter in its hand, a long staff with a golden horned ram skull embedded to the top of the scepter. King Sombra could feel an overwhelming amount of power emanate from the ram skull, a testament to the power the being must have wielded within their own body.

A herald of the Demon Lord, Grogar, perhaps? The king wondered to himself. If any creature could have freed King Sombra from his bonds, then it would have had to have been Grogar or one of his disciples.

It would have explained how he and his slaves were rescued, but that explanation brought a great worry along with it. King Sombra had raked up a considerable debt to the Demon Lord, Grogar, in exchange for his new dark powers. A debt that he had failed to pay because of his defeat at the hooves of the Alicorn siblings.

Unfortunately, that theory brought a horrifying sense of realization to the freed king. Grogar would have only freed him if he could be of use to the demon lord; Which meant that Grogar either sent a herald to tell him of Grogar’s commands, or Grogar had sent a debt collector to take his power back from King Sombra.

King Sombra’s eyes narrowed to slits as he watched the creature in his scrying orb. He would not be bullied by a low rate demon into paying Grogar his dues. The demon lord would get his souls when Sombra had conquered all of Equestria, and not a second sooner.

Well, if one of his heralds has come then I should prepare. The king reasoned as he turned to trot over to his large crystal throne, a chair made of obsidian that was decorated in the most pure and ornate crystals the Empire could spare. After sitting himself down on his throne, he sent a mental command to two of his recently awakened slaves to escort the creature to him and waited for his orders to be carried out by his mindless drones.

The man turned demonic monster trudged through the winter hell-scape slowly, the snow crunching gently beneath his monstrous feet as he ignored the bitter cold that assaulted his nearly naked body.

He lost track of time while walking in one direction, minutes merging with hours as his body refused to stop moving. Moving forward meant feeling warm, and feeling warm meant staying alive for a few more precious minutes. He wasn’t sure what he’d accomplish with those scant few minutes of life, but he hoped that he’d at least reach civilization before he died. It was a cynical dream, but a dream none the less.

The idea of dying alone in a frozen wasteland was a grim thought that he tried to ignore. In a morbid way, it reminded him of the timeless question, “if a tree falls in the woods and no-one’s around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Except instead of a stupid tree in a forest, it was his life being meaningless once his corpse was buried under a mountain of snow. He'd become a frozen and mummified corpse that would be lost to time, possibly only to be discovered by some wild and hungry animal.

Disturbing thoughts about his final moments on Earth were the only thing that took his focus away from the bitter coldness that nipped at his skin. The man wrapped himself more tightly in his navy cloak as he tried to protect himself from the elements as best as he could.

As his body continued to move forward, he eventually saw a silhouette of a tall spire off in the horizon. A spark of determination ignited inside of him as he stared at the spire, a beacon that signified civilization and salvation.

A desperate smile spread across his surprisingly malleable skeletal features and a nervous laugh escaped his throat. He moved at a much brisker pace as his resolve to keep moving was invigorated by the silent promise of salvation. He didn’t dare question the sight he saw before him, fearful that doing so would make this wonderful gift disappear without a trace.

He saw several smaller spires that surrounded the tallest one, all connecting to a triangular tower that reminded him of the Eiffel Tower in France. Parts of the tower shimmered and gleamed with a beautiful shine that grew more brilliant with each closer step, as if it was made of beautiful diamonds. He stared longingly at the breathtaking view, convinced that he was staring at the gates of Heaven itself. The hope and joy he felt however diminished as several more details about the structures became more apparent.

Black jagged rocks jutted out of the spires at odd angles and several spires were struggling to hold up their own weight under the brute force of the winter climate. Years of abandonment took their toll on the structure, a bleak shadow of its former glory that created an ominous tension in the air as the man continued to look at the decaying spires.

He also saw many smaller structures surrounding the base of the spires, multicolored towers of crystal that littered the area around the base of the structure, blocking his view of whatever building the spires were attached to.

Large black spikes made of crystals stuck out of the smaller towers, as if they were reclaiming the area those buildings stood.

A sense of foreboding fear washed over the man as he stared apprehensively at the monolith of dread at the center of the cluster of buildings and towers. Despite the uneasy feeling the decrepit ruins brought him, he continued to move towards them.

His resolve never faltered as he approached his only hope for sanctuary, his body on the other hand did. Unknown hours of plowing through the snow had finally took their toll on the demonic man, and his muscles gave into the deathly embrace of the cold.

His sockets stared at the strange city that laid less than a few miles away from him, so close. If he had only woken up a few miles closer to it, then he may have survived the arctic plain.

As he looked at his only hope sit perfectly still, far out of his reach, he felt his consciousness slip from his mind slowly before he was consumed by the darkness.

The snow softly crunched under four sets of hooves as two enslaved guards went to find the strange creature their master ordered them to intercept.

The two enslaved guards trotted briskly towards the creature, their mental cries for rest going unheard by their bodies. Both of the enslaved guards wore full black body armor, complete with helmets that covered their eyes and muzzles to make them less distinguishable; a cruel tactic to strip them even more of their individuality so that they could become just one of the many faceless drones that served King Sombra unwillingly.

Their will to fight their dark lord’s commands diminished greatly over time with each order. After being forced to do unspeakable acts to the Equestrian army and especially to their own citizens, they began to feel less motivated to take back their own bodies. Even if they ceased actively fighting against the dark magic that used their bodies as puppets, they still felt the urge to beg for some semblance of mercy, to be allowed the ability to close their eyes so they wouldn’t have to witness their own atrocities.

But their silent pleas were no use to the dark spells that enchanted their bodies.

Their bodies continued onwards to meet the strange creature their king saw and eventually found it lying face down in the snow not too far outside of the Crystal Empire. It was a strange bipedal creature in a long cloak that was decorated in a thin blanket of snow. One of its large claw like appendages firmly grasped a long staff with a golden horned ram’s skull on it, while the other claw laid at his side flat against the snow.

Without much grace, the two enslaved guards lifted the creature up by its large arms using their hooves and draped its arms over their withers to drag it to their king. As they did so, the creature’s limp hand dropped its large scepter into the snow next to the enslaved soldier on his right.

The enslaved pony quickly picked up the scepter with its hoof which had an immediate effect on him as the power of the scepter flowed through him which was accommodated by an uneasy sickness overcoming him. And for the first time in many years, Cannon Fodder blinked on his own.

A small sense of clarity washed over Cannon Fodder as his body moved forward. While his momentary glimpse at possible freedom wasn’t much, but it was enough to spark some sense of curious hope inside of him as he glanced over at the other enslaved soldier.

Cannon Fodder had no idea who the pony under the armor was since it covered up their face and their flanks, preventing him from seeing the pony under the mask or the cutie mark on his flank. The stallion he had been walking with had a dull mustard coat of fur, a complimentary color to his own burgundy colored coat of fur.

Cannon Fodder’s eyes then glanced down at the unconscious creature they were dragging, taking in its form with an interested and concerned eye. It was larger than any of the minotaurs he had seen, standing somewhere between two to three ponies tall. He felt the cold and naked skin of the creature’s arms around his withers, its skin was colder than the frozen tundra they found it in, and Cannon Fodder cautiously wondered if the creature was already dead.

He prayed to the Great Weaver, Faust, that Sombra would be pleased if the creature was dead. While the idea of Sombra being happy created a pit of anger inside Cannon Fodder’s stomach, the thought of King Sombra being upset that the creature was dead filled his body with a horribly overwhelming sense of dread.

As his doubts and worries continued to fuel his overactive imagination, he and the other enslaved soldier made it to the border of thee Empire. Cannon Fodder used his newly freed eyes to look at what remained of the once glorious Crystal Empire. Buildings made of crystal and beautiful stain-glass windows mixed into piles of rubble that littered the once magnificent streets of the fallen Empire. Several houses that belonged to dear friends of Cannon Fodder were reduced to nothing and the ones that still stood were on the brink of collapsing.

Cannon Fodder tried to remember what had happened before he woke up a few minutes ago. He remembered being forced to fight against the Equestrian soldiers of Dream Valley and he remembered seeing many of the other enslaved soldiers fall over almost lifelessly when… When something blue flew overhead. If Cannon Fodder had to guess, he’d say it was probably Princess Luna using sleep magic on the battlefield.

The small blue alicorn with an etherial mane of stars was the first of the two sisters to make it to the Empire. Many of the thestral ponies that flew away from the kingdom when King Sombra started to purge the Empire had come back cladded in lunar guard armor so they could defend themselves against their mind-controlled friends and neighbors.

The memory of Cannon Fodder throwing a spear into the neck of one of the thestral ponies wormed its way to the forefront of his mind, deep regret and shame filled his soul as he remembered slaying somepony who came to help him and the other slaves.

Cannon Fodder knew it wasn’t his fault, he knew that no matter how hard he struggled that he would have still been forced to throw that spear. But a deeper part of him still blamed himself, calling him a traitor and a coward for not even trying to fight against the dark magic anymore. Deep down, he had hoped that the thestrals would have shown him the mercy of death so he could have been freed from his invisible bonds, and he hated himself for still being alive when better stallions and mares were dead.

He had failed his Empire by not killing King Sombra when he still had control of his own body, when the tyrant had slain the princess. He never thought the frail ruva would have done anything to Princess Amore, it was supposed to be a relaxing day court like any other day. The princess would have listened to her subjects’ many problems and requests and she, along with her council, would give their opinion on the matter.

Cannon Fodder failed to read the devious smile on King Sombra’s face as he entered the throne room, and he failed in his mission as head of the guard when he didn’t immediately jump in front of the princess. Cannon Fodder blamed himself for everything that happened, for the rise of Sombra, for the enslavement of the empire, for the complete purge of the ruva and for what happened to the foals. Especially for what happened to the foals.

Cannon Fodder glanced back at the creature he and the other slave carried, it was yet another body to add onto the pile that he had inadvertently created. The small part of him that hoped Sombra wouldn’t be upset by the creature’s death changed its attitude and desperately hoped that the tyrant king would kill Cannon Fodder in a blind rage. Maybe then Cannon Fodder would find peace, peace in the depths of tartarus where he could at least shed tears for his atrocities, peace in a flaming inferno where he would suffer for being a failure.

King Sombra waited patiently in his throne room for the two nameless slaves to bring Grogar’s possible disciple to him. His eyes wandered over to the now awake Emerald Secret standing next to his throne. Her raven colored tail and mane were brushed back, allowing him to see her blank jade eyes looking at the throne room doors with a thousand-yard stare. A small smile crept onto King Sombra’s face as he looked at the crystal mare’s emerald colored coat, it stood out like a crowned jewel against the blue and white interior of the throne room.

As his eyes danced over Emerald Secret’s body, the throne room doors opened to reveal the two slaves he sent out carrying the body of the creature he saw in the scrying orb. King Sombra rose from his throne to approach the unconscious creature, igniting his horn in the purple and green bubbling aura of his magic to lift up the creature’s hood.

King Sombra was surprised by the odd yellow primate skull that was hidden under the navy-blue cloak, he remembered that the Demon Lord despised necromancy and wondered if the old goat had actually changed his opinion on the matter. Grogar had always made living creatures with his magic, using the souls of ponies and other sentient creatures to craft monsters like kirin, hippogriffs, and chimeras. Grogar had sworn off using his magic to only bring something partially to life, stating that a partial life was a waste of one.

King Sombra looked at the golden horned ram staff that the slave with a crimson coat held in his hoof. The dark magic that radiated from the scepter was almost overwhelming and King Sombra briefly wondered if that was actually Grogar’s skull on the scepter. He dispelled that thought as quickly as it arrived however and returned his eyes to the blue skinned and furless creature.

King Sombra eyed the unconscious creature with a wearier and more interested expression. The creature in front of him had some semblance of power, but nothing compared to Grogar. Still, it could have been a great asset to King Sombra, all it would need was the proper motivation.

King Sombra decided to ignite his horn in a brilliant shade of red as he placed a spell on the creature in front of him. He planned to learn of the creature’s origins by stepping into its mind, allowing him to see if it was actually one of Grogar’s creations and, if it wasn’t, he would break the creature using its greatest fears. Having an intimidating monster by his side would be a great weapon to use against the sisters, after all, if he didn’t know what the creature was then the odds were that the sisters didn’t either, and they wouldn’t be properly prepared to fight it off thus giving him an edge in their next battle.

Entering the creature’s mind was easier than what King Sombra expected. He had assumed that the creature would have had spells to protect his mind against intruders such as what King Sombra used to prevent Princess Luna from entering his mind and the minds of his slaves, but there was nothing to prevent King Sombra from entering the creature’s mind. It was possibly the easiest time he ever had to get into another being's mind since their conscious usually put up some form of a struggle to protect the victim's mind, but Sombra faced no difficulties. There was no guardian to pass, no embodiment of the mind for him to dominate, there wasn't even the impactful push of thoughts that would usually run through a pony's mind. Then again, the creature clearly wasn't a pony, and King Sombra had only ever entered the minds of ponies.

To King Sombra’s complete surprise, he found himself inside an ominously pitch black void instead of the vibrantly colored and chaotic mess that the Mind-Scape usually provided. No memories mixed with thoughts, there was no music from the past that merged with idle chatter, he couldn't even feel the creature's magical signature inside its mind.

"What the hell is this?" A high pitched and nasally voice asked. King Sombra turned his head to stare at the blue creature that was standing upright on its hind legs with it’s back to the king as the front legs held the scepter close to its barrel. King Sombraknew that there was a different name for the upper limbs on a bipedal creature, but he didn't care enough to recall that memory at the moment.

“Oh fuck… I’m dead… Nononononono!” The creature began to panic as it looked in a random direction of the void, still not noticing the ruva standing behind it.

King Sombra arched an eyebrow as he watched the panicking creature, he could feel the fear bleeding off of it but he couldn’t see it. Fear usually manifested as waves of energy that would flood the Mind-Scape, causing a slew of memories and random thoughts to collide and smash into each other adding another layer of chaos to the hectic Mind-Scape.

“Hello? Anybody out there?” He asked the seemingly infinite black void. An echo of his voice was the only response he received until King Sombra stepped forward to confront him.

The creature turned to King Sombra as his hooves impacted the grounds of the Mind-Scape. Once the creature saw the dark king of the Crystal Empire, his eye sockets surprisingly seemed to widen in horror at the king’s visage. He trembled before the the last ruva of the Crystal Empire, falling onto his backside as he slowly tried to back away from the intimidating king. He unconsciously tightened his grip around his scepter as he crawled away from King Sombra, his once towering form reducing to a quivering mess of a demon.

King Sombra took great joy out of seeing the creature so terrified, allowing him to brush off his concerns about not seeing any physical constructs of fear in the creature’s mind.

“Ho-holy shit…. Are… Are y-you one of the f-f-four horsemen?” The creature stuttered out in what King Sombra assumed was faux fear.

King Sombra immediately stopped in his tracks as those words passed through the creature’s teeth and his eyes widened in an unbridled rage as the creature’s words rang out inside his head. King Sombra physically shook as he tried to restrain the anger inside of himself, attempting to control the fury that burned inside of what remained of his blackened soul. “You dare… You DARE call me a Whorse!?” He shouted at the creature.

King Sombra had been called many things, a tyrant, a monster, a demon, the spawn of Grogar and Death, but nopony had ever been bold enough to ever even think of calling him a prostitute. He didn’t understand what the creature implied about him being one of four prostitutes, but he didn’t really care what the creature was implying. The blue skinned beast had gravely insulted the king by calling him a sex worker, and King Sombra would make him pay for that.

Without any hesitation, King Sombra launched a conclusive blast of magic at the creature before it scrambled to its feet and dodged his attack. King Sombra shot another beam of magic from his horn at the blue skinned monster and managed to strike its arm. The creature let loose a cry of pain as black crystals began to form on his right bicep, his arm loosing most of its feeling as the dark crystals began to spread across his muscles.

As King Sombra galloped towards the creature to blast it at a closer range, the creature reacted by swinging its scepter at King Sombra in a fit of panic. King Sombra felt the golden horns of the ram skull dislocate his jaw as the scepter was cracked against his muzzle and was about to release another burst of magic before the creature swung the scepter again.

The monster brought down the scepter on to the stallion’s head repeatedly, bashing his head in with the ram’s skull several times as he wildly swung his scepter like a baseball bat. King Sombra was too dazed to launch another attack, and was only broken out of his daze by the immense pain of the ram skull shattering his horn. The pain didn’t last long, as the next swing from the creature shattered the king’s skull, causing him to fall lifelessly to the floor of the black void. Even as the darkness melted around the creature, and the king of the Crystal Empire returned to the real world, alive and well after being ejected from the monster's mind, the strange monster didn't stop its assault on King Sombra for even a moment.

The grotesque scepter was wrapped in a green aura and quickly flew to the open hand of the enraged beast, allowing him to continue his attack in the real world and kill King Sombra with a single blow. Each hit was accompanied by the sound of bones being crushed as the golden horns of the ram skull pulverized the king’s own skull. The man continued to viciously beat the King's corpse with his scepter, closing his invisible eyelids as he swung so he wouldn't have to look at the bloody mess of brains and flesh that decorated the floor.

The blood of a tyrant painted the walls of the throne room that fateful day, signaling the end of a tyrant's reign, and the beginning of a new chapter in history.

The veil that had been placed over the minds of the crystal ponies had been fully lifted, memories of what they had done under King Sombra’s rule flooded their minds. A terrifying fear that he would return to strip them of their free will again had forced many of the citizens to hide in the remains of their houses, barricading themselves in the disheveled buildings and run-down stores.

Only a few select ponies knew for certain that the old king wouldn’t return since they had all witnessed him get savagely beaten to death by the monster he had dragged in. Among those who witnessed the end of the old king were Emerald Secret, Cannon Fodder, and a yellow pony with a purple mane named Track Record.

After being freed from his bonds, Track Record went to spread the news that Sombra was dead while Cannon Fodder rushed off towards the armory to grab a weapon to possibly use against the monster. Which unfortunately left Emerald Secret alone with the creature, at least until two maids came in to… take care of the mess.

Emerald Secret silently watched the two maids clean up the blood that painted the walls of the throne room, her eyes never leaving the two mares who had the misfortune of being sent to the throne room by the yellow coated pony. Just like her, they were terrified by their ominous new dark master who, after killing King Sombra, had decided to silently look out the open window and let his gaze travel over the Empire.

He didn’t say a word, make a claim, or give any grandiose speech about his rise to power. He just stood motionless by the window, watching the clouds lazily drift by in the sky and the citizens dragging themselves on the streets. If it weren’t for the gentle rise and fall of the mysterious creature’s shoulders and the rapid tapping of his right foot then Emerald Secret would have been convinced that he had died standing up.

She couldn’t read the creature’s body language since she had never seen anything like him before, and she was silently grateful for that. Emerald Secret tried not to move, hoping that the creature’s sight was based on movement, leaving her completely invisible to the beast that had beaten the tyrant king to death.

Once the old king stood in front of the creature, he used a spell that seemed to make the creature more aggressive. King Sombra and the monster stood still for nearly a full minute before a crack suddenly appeared on King Sombra’s horn and blood leaked from his eyes.

An instant later, King Sombra's horn exploded into a hundred shards, freeing the blue bipedal behemoth of whatever spell King Sombra was casting on it. The beast then held out its hand to let the scepter fly into its grasp before it repeatedly hit the corpse of the old king with it. As he was distracted beating the king’s corpse, the two enslaved guards galloped out of the throne room, leaving Emerald Secret alone in the room with it before the two maids that were sent by Track Record when he bumped into them in the halls.

While Track Record seemed overjoyed by the creature’s actions, Cannon Fodder was absolutely horrified. His steely white mane grew a few hues lighter at the sight of the beast bashing in the old king's skull. As soon as Track Record galloped off to scream the monster's praises, Cannon Fodder ran out after him to do something.

Cannon Fodder would gather the rest of the liberated guard and come back to… to do something. Maybe build up a small battalion to attack it? No, no, if it could kill King Sombra then a small group of guards on the brink of starvation wouldn’t be a threat to it. Emerald Secret thought to herself.

The only alternative was that Cannon Fodder ran away and… and that he wasn’t going to be coming back.

Of course, he’s not coming back, he did the bucking smart thing and ran from it! Why the buck am I still in a room with it?! Emerald Secret internally questioned before her eyes momentarily flicked to the blue skinned behemoth. While a part of her was overjoyed that their old king had been slain, a much larger part of her was too terrified of the creature that did it to think about how elated she was.

It was a creature straight out of Tartarus, with a furless body and a disturbing primate skull for a head that held two prominent fangs in its jaws. Everything about the creature from its appearance to its demeanor painted a terrifying portrait of a dark mastermind that had easily overpowered King Sombra. It hadn’t even bothered to use its magic to kill the king, it had made a spectacle out of beating the tyrant to death with the skull of one of its victims.

Emerald Secret tried to avert her eyes from the dangerous monster that that had risen to power, worried that catching his glance would earn his ire. She didn’t know what it wanted, what it was, or what it would do. For all Emerald Secret knew, it could have been a tyrant far worse than King Sombra, if such a thing was even possible. All she could do was pray to Faust that she would be saved from her waking nightmare.

As Emerald Secret worried about what her new dark lord would do or say, the bipedal demon nervously stole a sideways glance at her from the corner of his eye socket, terrified to accidentally meet her irises with his invisible eyes.

The idea of not moving had worked surprisingly well and, if it weren’t for the quick glances he had caught from the green furred creature standing a few yards away, he might have actually believed that he was actually invisible. But they knew he was there, and they weren’t doing anything. Anything yet at least.

He had expected them to do something by that point. He waited nervously for one of the other creatures to attack him and planned to jump out the window since the door was most likely guarded on the other side. Maybe there was an entire army on the other side of the door waiting for him to run, waiting to skewer him with a plethora of sharp weapons as soon as he opened the door. There had to be some form of righteous retribution waiting for him.

He had just killed one of those… things by bashing its head in with his scepter, which was still painted in a fresh coat of blood and brain matter from his attack.

He forced back the bile that threatened to jump from his stomach and turned his eye sockets back to the crumbling empire that stood below the window. He watched the dazed and dull pastel colored ponies stumble in the streets with a terrified fascination. The odd creatures below him had an odd resemblance that reminded him of ponies from his uncle’s ranch, except the creatures below had colorful coats and appeared to be incredibly malnourished.

They dragged their bodies through the streets sluggishly, tears staining their cheeks as their eyes scanned what was left of the crystal houses. The few who had spotted him looking down from the window quickly trotted out of sight like their lives depended on it.

The few that didn’t run away immediately seemed too terrified to move, a sensation he was all too familiar with at the moment. Even as the snow began to pile onto their fur, the few paralyzed ponies still refused to move until one of the others forcibly pushed them away when they saw the reason for their fear filled gazes.

His eye sockets quickly moved from one pony to another, from destroyed buildings to crumbling towers, desperately searching for some sign of human life out in the snow. There was nothing familiar from his home, no people, cars, or even normal looking buildings.

His hand slowly lifted back up to his chest to feel his heartbeat to see if it was still there, not that it gave him much comfort when he confirmed it anyway. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind as he felt his rapid heartbeat pounding in his chest. Where was he? Was he dead? Was it a dream? How did he get there? Where was “there”? And most importantly of all, would those things kill him?

He had murdered one of their own right in front of them, it would only make sense that they’d try to get some sort of revenge or something. He knew it was only a matter of time.

He also knew that they were intelligent since he could hear a faint whisper from the two ponies in maid dresses behind him. Whenever he caught just a faint sound from them, he’d turn his head hoping to see a human or something standing there, only to see the same two ponies freeze under his curious gaze whenever he looked at them.

He could also faintly hear some chatter coming from the streets below, cries of joy, exclamations of fear, and a few cautious voices could just barely be heard over the sound of the wind. The man leaned a bit closer to the open window, trying to hear the subtle sounds of conversation on the ground below to make sure that they were talking. He knew they could talk, the grey one in the black void could talk, so of course they could all talk. But even so, he wanted more proof of it, as if one shred of evidence to the contrary could tell him that they couldn’t talk. That they weren’t alive…

That he hadn’t just become a murderer.

The pit in his stomach began to grow as he remembered viscously attacking that other creature. He didn’t feel bad about killing it, it was an act of self-defense after all. What ate away at his mind was how easy it was, and how he would probably need to do it again if one of those creatures attacked him. The only thing that had allowed him to kill the other creature was a sense of pure adrenaline and his natural fight or flight instincts taking over. It had all happened so quickly too.

One second, there was a demonic horse standing in front of him and then, in the blink of an eye, there was a corpse on the floor. He couldn’t remember attacking it clearly, he could only remember swinging his scepter like his life depended on it. He couldn’t even remember how long he was hitting it for, it was all just a blur to him.

Part of him was secretly grateful that he could only remember a few flashes of what he did. If he could have remembered it all clearly, he probably would have emptied his stomach on the floor of the large crystal room.

As his thoughts wandered to what he had done, each sliver of a memory slipping from his grasp before it could pain an accurate picture, the two large doors to the throne room opened again. Out of the corner of his eye socket, he could see a small platoon of the creatures in modified roman armor. They wore steel cruppers that went from their flanks to their withers, along with helmets that had purple crests that matched the purple accents in their armor. Many of the soldiers were brandishing spears, somehow holding them in one of their hooves as they stood on their other three legs.

A majority of the guards held stoic expressions as the entered the room, at least until their eyes spotted the corpse of the other creature laying in a wool sack. The man held his breath as the creatures stared at the sack and slowly turned their gazes to his back.

Ever so subtly, the man placed one hand on the window sill, waiting for when he would need to leap out of the window to make an escape.

The stunning silence that filled the room set his nerves on edge as he waited for one of them to do something.

Track Record arrived with a small group of sixteen guards by his side, along with Cannon Fodder who had taken up the rear of the group. While Track Record had been ecstatic when the creature killed King Sombra, Cannon Fodder had been severely worried. It was only because of Cannon Fodder’s insistence that some of the guards came armed with spears.

The creature had just slain the tyrant with ease and since the Empire wasn’t on fire and they still had their free will, Track Record chose not to worry. Some ponies may have called him overly optimistic at the idea of having a literal demon as their new king, but in his eyes, anything was better than King Sombra.

Some of the guards he brought shared his enthusiasm when he described the scene he witnessed while a majority of them remained skeptical about the tyrant’s supposed demise. However, when their eyes landed on the recognizable remains of King Sombra sticking out of a wool sack, they all became firm believers of Track Record’s fantastical story.

Unfortunately, Track Record couldn’t fight back the small grimace on his face as he stared at the bloody sack. While he was over ecstatic that the king had been killed, he couldn’t help but feel a bit queasy at seeing the lifeless corpse of another pony, even if that pony was a monster in a pony’s coat.

Their eyes collectively landed on the one who had killed King Sombra as it overlooked its new domain with an unreadable expression on its face. One of its hands rested on the window sill while the other firmly grasped his scepter, openly brandishing the proof that he was the one who had single hoofedly killed King Sombra.

With the arrival of the guards, the two maids quickly departed, leaving the corpse of King Sombra in the sack that sat in the throne room.

The guards threw each other cautious glances as they waited for their new leader to acknowledge their presence. Cannon Fodder made his way to the forefront of the group and looked at Emerald Secret, making sure that was alright before he turned his attention back to the bipedal beast.

“So… Can it talk?” One of the guards asked Cannon Fodder. Before he could answer, the tall creature turned its head towards the armored ponies that had entered the throne room.

Many of the soldiers flinched under his gaze as he stared at them. The lavender hood he wore had hidden his face from the guards when they initially arrived, only Track Record and Cannon Fodder had caught a glimpse of what it looked like when the old king. Even though both of the guards had seen what laid under the hood, neither of them was completely comfortable looking at it.

“I… I can…” He quietly said as he turned his head to the armored ponies. “You can talk too?” It asked them.

Several guards nodded their heads to his question, too afraid to answer verbally as their words became stuck in their throats. An awkward silence fell over all of them as each one waited for someone else to speak next.

“Was it you… You killed King Sombra?” One of the guards asked. The creature appeared to tense up as the guard asked that question.

“… Is that the one I killed?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper, almost as if he was asking that question silently to himself.

“Yes?” Track Record stated with some skepticism. He was originally under the impression that their new majesty knew who Sombra was, and had come here with the explicit purpose of killing the tyrant.

A sudden sense of worry and unease washed over the once optimistic Track Record. He had thought the creature was a being sent to answer their silent pleas of freedom, that it was a skilled mage that had practiced and prepared to slay their king. But was it all just a coincidence? Was the only reason why King Sombra was dead was because he was simply unlucky?

The other guards appeared to share the same thoughts as they looked at their new leader. The news that the creature didn’t even know who King Sombra was a startling revelation. If his goal wasn’t to kill King Sombra and free the Empire, then what was it? It couldn’t have been to take over the Empire, he would have needed to know who was in charge in order to do that.

“Um… What… What should we call you, my…? My Lord?” One of the guards fearfully asked.

“What?” The creature asked the guards, causing the guards to flinch under his scrutinizing gaze.

None of them wanted to acknowledge him by a title like prince, simply because they were worried that such an assumption would earn his ire like it had King Sombra. The old king had made it his mission to kill any creature that referred to him as a prince, enforcing the self-imposed title of king on everypony.

The guards in the throne room didn’t know if their new dictator wanted to be a prince, a king, a god, or heck, maybe he wanted the title of a princess. They didn’t know what would please him or what would anger him, and after seeing what he had done to King Sombra, none of them were eager to unintentionally upset their new leader.

“Well… You killed King Sombra, which makes you the new leader of the Crystal Empire. S-so what do you want us to call you?” The same guard asked.

A moment of silence filled the air as the guards waited for their new leader to do or say something.

The guards waited with bated breath as their ruler contemplated their seemingly innocent question, a war raging within his mind that none of the guards would completely understand.

The creature looked down at the hand that laid on the window sill, his thumb rubbing roughly against his index finger for a moment as if he was trying to wipe something off of it. His hand slowly lifted to one of the perturbing fangs, allowing him to run his thumb along the long tooth.

“Skeletor.” Their majesty finally answered.

The guards gave their new leader time to follow his answer up with a title or perhaps even a last name. Many of them assumed he’d choose to be called “King Skeletor” or “Emperor Skeletor”. But, when no more words escaped his throat, the guards took his silence as a sign to thank Faust that they hadn’t somehow managed to upset Lord Skeletor unintentionally, and left their new ruler to his own devices as they left to inform the citizens of their new overlord.

Skeletor stared at the crystal throne that sat atop a tall dias with a sense of mild interest. A small flight of stairs carved from sparkling amethyst crystals led towards a single black obsidian chair that had velvet cushions that had fallen apart from years of cold weather. The carpet beneath his feet was in a similar state of disrepair, fraying at the seams with large patches of cloth missing from it.

The rest of the throne room didn’t fare any better, crumbling support pillars, massive holes in the ceiling that let snow fall into the room, and torn banisters lined the walls. The cleanest part of the throne room was where he had killed the old King, the spot being attacked vigorously with soap and water by the two maids that had been called in to take care of it.

The crystal floors and walls that the maids cleaned sparkled with a vibrant beauty the allowed the magical properties of the crystals to shine through them. A warm and inviting aura radiated off of the crystals that they had cleaned; breathing new life into the throne room that set Skeletor’s nerves at ease whenever he looked at the crystals.

Skeletor allowed a content sigh to escape him as he stared longingly into the crystals, letting his concerns and problems dissolve as he lost himself in the intricate patterns inside the crystals. The calming patterns in the crystals lulled him into a sense of security and comfort in the bizarre fever dream he found himself in, giving him a pleasant part of the nightmare to stare at.

He glanced over his shoulder to see where the green pony was standing earlier, wondering if she was real or another figment of his imagination.

Needless to say, Skeletor wasn’t completely convinced that what he was seeing was real. He expected to be woken up in a hospital bed at any minute. It made sense to him after all, he couldn’t believe that he had been sent to wherever he was, and then inexplicably turned into a king or something.

Skeletor didn’t believe that there was any chance that any of it could have been real, to him, it was all just an incredibly vivid and weird dream. He wondered if someone at comic con had drugged him, or if the hospital he was in gave him the wrong medicine. For a brief moment, he also entertained the idea he had actually lost his mind and he was stuck in an insane asylum.

All of those answers made sense, and all of them held the silent promise of being able to go home at some point.

He threw another glance at the spot the green furred pony stood earlier before he turned his attention back to the intricate patterns in the crystal walls. The pony had left the room around the same time as the guards, quickly bowing to him before she trotted out of sight with the bloody sack that held the other pony’s body. He had idly wondered what they were doing with it when they left, but quickly shook that question out of his head.

It didn’t matter what an imaginary pony did with a fake corpse, what mattered was how long they were gone and how much time must have passed while he was unconscious in the real world. He’d wake up in a bed, freed from his rubber mask and scrubbed clean of his blue body paint. Then he’d be able to talk to his family, ask what happened and, hopefully, be sent home immediately after with a clean bill of health. Everything would make sense when he woke up. He’d remember his name and what happened before he passed out at comic con.

The absolute worst part of his nightmare was not being able to remember his name. He had remembered nearly everything else about himself and his family with the exception of his name and face, and it made him feel sick to not know what it was. But, that would be easily fixed when he asked them, or maybe he’d wake up and suddenly remember his own name.

He just needed to keep reassuring himself that everything was fine and it would all work out. He’d wake up from his weird fever dream and forget about it a few hours later, all of it turning into nothing but passing memories as he went on with his life. In the meantime, he’d simply lose himself in the shimmering beauty of the ornate crystal wall in front of him as he tried to bury the memory of when he attacked the other pony.

As he stared into the reflective surface of the crystal walls, he saw a faint image of his skeletal face staring back at him. The crystals weren’t reflective enough to show his face in detail, but Skeletor was still able to see the ghost of a reflection staring back at him if he stared hard enough. Skeletor felt the pit in his stomach grow as he looked at the animate skull staring back at him. His heart beat steadily rose as the face of death stared into his soul, promising an unfortunate end to his life very soon.

Skeletor quickly tore his eye sockets away from the wall after he noticed his new reflection. He desperately tried cling to a memory of what he should have looked like, or what he sounded like, of what his Damn name was. He tried to remember anything that could reassure him that he was a living human being.

Skeletor gritted his teeth in frustration as he tried to remember something from his life. He remembered his mother’s name was Saryn, he had a brother named Rand, and he had a girlfriend named Evelyn. He could remember them so clearly, so why couldn’t he remember his own name or face?

What was my name, dammit!? He questioned within his mind. Anger and bitterness welled up within him, allowing his emotions to overflow as he struggled to latch onto a clear memory of his life.

Unbeknownst to Skeletor, as he continued to fight a battle against his own memories, his emotions triggered a spark of magic to run through the staff in his hand. The magic of the staff took the confusion and misery of its master’s mind and created a spell of guidance to reveal what laid hidden to him.

While the spell failed to show him any of his memories in full detail, the sudden burst of dark magic from his scepter did reveal something else.

As dark energy crackled through the ram skull of his scepter, causing the dried blood on it to flake away, a bolt of magic leapt from the ram horns and struck one of the crystals that stood behind the immaculate throne. Skeletor only noticed what was happening when a thunderous explosion of magic alerted him to the mystical scene happening right next to him.

He watched in an awed terror as the magic reflected off of the crystals behind the throne, hitting the center of the throne room and revealing a spiraling staircase that descended into a void of darkness.

Skeletor stood there momentarily in stunned silence as he stared into the black abyss below him. Another layer of his nightmare had opened up to a shadowy abyss that called out to him. A faint siren’s song whispered sweet reassuring promises of comfort and safety, compelling him to slowly make his way towards the edge of the descending staircase.

“What the fuck…” Skeletor muttered under his breath as he tried to peer into the darkness below him.

He hesitantly placed one of his feet on the first step, testing its durability before he put all of his weight on it. The stone stair beneath his foot stood firmly in place, not budging an inch underneath him.

Before he continued on, he looked back to the throne room doors as if waiting for someone to tell him not to go down. Skeletor stared at the closed doors for a full minute, counting the seconds in his mind, before he took the next step down.

“Down the rabbit hole we go,” Skeletor said to himself as he steeled his nerves and continued down the spiral staircase.

Emerald Secret and the guards, along with a hoofful of cleaning staff, stared at the sack that held the old king’s corpse. Several ponies covered their noses with their hooves as they attempted to block out the smell of his rotting carcass.

Their gazes never left the bloody sack as fear had compelled them to not look away. Each of them was worried that, at any given moment, his corpse would spring to life and slaughter them all. But, that wouldn’t happen. They knew that the old king was really dead, but reasoning did nothing to dissuade their immense fear.

“So… What do we do with it?” Track Record finally asked.

Emerald Secret pondered that question and had thrown out a series of answers that wouldn’t work. They couldn’t give him a proper burial, and it wasn’t like they could just toss his body in a trash can. Emerald Secret had briefly thought of throwing his body in the pit, but quickly tossed away that idea as well. First, they would need to get all of the other corpses out of it and give them respectful send off.

“It’s obvious,” Cannon Fodder stated firmly. “We burn it and then we burn the ashes.”

“But… Shouldn’t the citizens know that he’s dead first?” One of the maids asked.

“I tried that," Track Record told her. "They didn’t believe me when I told any of them.”

“But we have his body as proof," one of the guards spoke up. "That’ll work better than your word.”

“Alright then, raise your hoof if you want to touch his corpse, let alone parade it around the Empire on a stick,” Cannon Fodder stated to the collected ponies. To the shock of no-one, not a single hoof was raised. “Thought so, none of us even want to touch it because we’re afraid it’ll burst to life at any moment. So, I say we burn it and get it over with.”

“So how do we convince the ponies outside that we’re finally free?” Emerald Secret asked.

“We’ve got a walking monster as proof in the throne room!” Cannon Fodder exclaimed.

“Hey now, you can’t talk badly about our new lord like that,” Track Record admonished.


“That thing isn’t our lord, it’s our next tyrant. You think a monster like that helped us out of the goodness of its bucking heart? Tartarus no! We just traded one monster for another, and as soon as we burn this corpse we’ll have to burn that thing next!”

“We can’t do that! Lord Skeletor saved us!”

“It was a coincidence! He just killed the first pony he saw and that was it! His bloodlust may be sated now, but once he gets that itch again he’ll kill any random pony he can get his hands on. I say we kill it quickly and wait for Princess Celestia or Princess Luna to come from Dream Valley.”

“They did come and guess what, they’re gone. I don’t know about the rest of you, but Princess Luna knocked me out the moment she arrived. She and Princess Celestia must have fought King Sombra, and since I didn’t see either of them when I woke up, then that means they’re DEAD!” Track Record shouted loudly at Cannon Fodder as tears began to well up in his eyes.

A stunning silence filled the room as everypony stared at Track Record with wide eyes. None of them had really considered the fact that the princesses were already there a few minutes before they fell asleep, and none of them had known that they were locked in a dimensional void for over a thousand years. The only ones who knew about their imprisonment were currently rotting inside of a sack or in another country.

Slowly, tears began to fall from Track Record’s eyes as his own words slowly caught up to him. The pain and misery he had felt from years of being a slave had burst forth like a broken dam, letting all of his emotions rush forward as he openly wept in front of everypony in the room.

“They’re… They’re dead…” Track Record silently spoke, as more tears rolled down his cheeks. “King… Sombra killed them… And now you want to kill the one creature that avenged them?! I don’t care if it was a coincidence, I don’t care what Skeletor wants! He killed Sombra, and that’s good enough for me! That bastard enslaved us, made us kill our friends, he… He made me kill my mom, dammit….” Track Record quietly admitted as he fell to his fore hooves to cry.

Tears filled the eyes of all those present, memories of the atrocities they were forced to commit flooding to the forefront of their minds. Cannon Fodder placed a hoof on Track Record’s withers as he fought back his own tears.

“Who’s left?” Track Record quietly asked them. “Princess Amore is dead, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are probably dead too… All of the Alicorns are dead. Sombra killed our goddesses. All we have left is Skeletor… He killed Sombra, he avenged everypony who was ever killed by Sombra, he freed us from Sombra. Can’t we give him a chance?”

Silence was his only reply as everypony around him considered his words. Their princesses, the goddesses who brought peace to Terra for hundreds of years, were all most likely dead. There wasn’t anypony left who could even face off against their new lord, was there any reason to try fighting a battle they knew they’d lose?

“So… We just accept Skeletor as our new leader?” One of the maids asked.

“I mean, he did kill Sombra,” one of the guards added on.

“But why did he do it?" Another guard asked. "He didn’t know who Sombra was, so why'd he kill him?”

“Well, we could ask Lord Skeletor,” one of the maids suggested. "Maybe he could sense the evil in Sombra? Or, maybe he had a different reason for killing him."

“You’re suggesting we talk to it?” Cannon Fodder asked.

“Do you have a better idea?” The maid asked.

“Alright, one thing at a time everypony,” Emerald Secret firmly announced. “First, we burn Sombra’s remains to a crisp. Then, we’ll discuss what to do about… about Lord Skeletor.”

Several guards and maids nodded their heads in agreement as two guards went off in search of a matchbox to light the corpse on fire.

“Do you think he’s still where we left him?” Emerald Secret asked Cannon Fodder quietly.

“Yeah. I had two guards placed outside the doors just in case it tried to leave. It should still be in the throne room when we get back,” Cannon Fodder reassured her. "I mean, where could it possibly wander off to?"

“Fuck… You… Stairs!” Skeletor complained between large breaths as he physically climbed his way up a disturbingly long staircase.

After he had reached the bottom of the first staircase, he had found a strange door that led to a stone wall. After hitting the door with his scepter in a fit of anger, the stones behind it crumbled away to reveal an ascending spiral stair case in a white void.

After looking at the void of light that stretched in every direction, giving the room an appearance of something between a wall and the concept of infinity, he decided to go up the new staircase.

A decision that he was greatly regretting with each passing moment.

Twenty consecutive minutes of walking had stripped Skeletor of his strength, his legs wobbling loosely under him with each shaky step. And with each step forward, he considered the possibility of throwing himself back down the stairs, letting his body tumble down the seemingly endless staircase so his pain could end. But each time he thought of just turning around and falling down, he’d look up to see the top of the stairs just a few flights higher so he continued on with great effort.

He had no idea what was at the top of the tower and he didn’t really give a damn at that point. Unless it was a gallon of water or an elevator back down then nothing at the top of those stairs would be worth it.

“Fuck… Stairs… Fuck ‘em…” Skeletor mumbled to himself as he silently promised to find the architect who built that staircase and make them walk up it.

Thoughts of his situation being a dream vanished as he felt his lungs burn. Since he had never felt pain in a dream, he went to the next plausible answer, it was all a delusional fantasy. He was most likely walking up a large staircase at the hotel he was staying at after assaulting a mailbox with the scepter he bought at comic con.

That was the only thing that made sense to him, it was the only thing that explained away all of the craziness. He just needed to let whatever drugs were in his system wear off or wait to be carted off to a hospital. They’d fix him up, and everything would make sense again.

Skeletor stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He looked down to see how much progress he made and was taken aback by how high up he was. He desperately cringed to the wall behind him as he shoved his body against it, trying to get away from the edge of the stairs as best he could.

Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down. Skeletor thought to himself as he looked in the opposite direction. When he looked up, he could see the end of the stairs just a flight above him and decided to continue on his arduous trek. His muscles burned with an indescribable pain as he continued forward. As Skeletor neared his goal, he began skipping every other step, physically throwing his body forward to catch himself on the step above him so he could get to the top sooner.

After a few grueling minutes of tormenting his body by pushing it beyond its limits, Skeletor reached the peak of the staircase.

“I… I made… it…” Skeletor croaked out as he passed the final step. His body immediately gave out afterwards, demanding him to rest and recuperate for a bit before he killed himself.

His chest heaved up and down as his burning lungs demanded oxygen. His throat felt like it was made of solid concrete, making breathing a much more painful task for him. Skeletor couldn’t find the strength to move any of his limbs after he collapsed and resided himself to laying on the cold floor of the circular room.

As Skeletor laid on the floor, his head fell limply to the side allowing him to see something through his blurred vision.

A perfectly cut diamond in the shape of a heart hovered in the center of the room two yards away from him, emitting a strange thumping noise that sounded like the bewitching lullaby of a mother's heartbeat. The siren serenade of the heart called out to him, begging him to come towards it. As much as he wanted to answer the call of the heart, his exhausted body refused to move from its spot on the floor.

With a great deal of effort, Skeletor weakly raised a hand towards the shimmering heart, reaching towards it as if his arm could just stretch the rest of the distance and grab it. As his mind fell into a drifting haze, his arm fell to the ground with a loud thud and his conscious was wafted away into a calming sea of darkness.

Emerald Secret swallowed nervously as she followed the others up the impossibly large stairwell. A million worries and fears raced through her mind as she thought about where Lord Skeletor had gone and what he planned to do.

After she saw that massive pit inside Sombra's, or technically in Lord Skeletor’s, throne room she had assumed that he created it using some dark spell to create a hole to Tartarus. But, those fears soon changed to confusion once she, Cannon Fodder, and Track Record reached the door at the bottom of the stairwell, which led to an enormous stairwell that went up into an infinite void of white light.

Needless to say, none of them were too eager to follow their new lord up there, but fear of the unknown and their insatiable curiosity had driven them up the impossibly tall staircase to seek answers. All three of them were silent as they climbed the staircase, worried that once the deafening silence had been shattered that the steps under their hooves would give out.

They didn’t know what their new lord was doing or why he was doing it, but several thoughts and ideas had made themselves known in Emerald Secret’s mind. Was his plan to invade the homeland of the final resting place, to usurp the throne of Faust herself, to wage war with heaven? She fearfully wondered as she and her two compatriots continued their ascent.

She had no idea where the staircase actually lead to, only that it was impossibly high and surrounded by a blinding white light on all sides, which left one possibility that she wasn’t too thrilled about.

Faust Faith had described a scene very similar to the one Emerald Secret found herself in, a description of an old pony walking up a large staircase to reach the luscious fields of heaven where they would be reunited with all of those who passed away.

After King Sombra had effectively crushed her entire faith in a year, Emerald Secret became convinced that there was no staircase to an eternal paradise. But, after finding the impressive staircase that seemed to stretch on forever, she began to believe that she would actually see heaven if she kept going forward; and she was horrified of the thought that it would possibly be on fire when she arrived, wiped out of existence by the terrifying monster that had become their lord.

The oppressive silence that hung over the weary trio of travelers soon became too much for Track Record, as he stomped his hoof down roughly on one of the steps.

“Faust all-loving, how high does this thing go?!”

“Looks like we’re about two thirds of the way up,” Cannon Fodder stated as he shot a glance over the edge of the stairs.

“We should probably take a break,” Emerald Secret suggested. “We’ll need to conserve our energy if we want to make it there.”

“Or, we could do what I said. We could go back, get all the guards we can, and then come back,” Cannon Fodder told the pair of ponies walking with him.

“I am not walking down these steps just to go back up them. Besides, what if Lord Skeletor needs us up there?” Track Record reasoned.

“Oh, Faust’s song, he doesn’t need any guards to help him. He killed Sombra by himself, he can probably handle whatever he’s gotten himself into.”

“And what has he ‘gotten himself into’?” Emerald Secret asked in turn. “For all we know, this staircase could lead to Faust’s doorstep.”

“Then all the more reason why to go back down. I don’t know about you two, but I’d rather not be around when Faust smites him with a flick of her ear.”

“Stop talking like that,” Track Record warned through his gritted teeth.

Cannon Fodder only huffed in response to Track before he sat on one of the steps.

“So… What do you two think this is?” Emerald Secret asked the pair.

“My bits are on an actual stairway to paradise,” Track Record stated as he looked at the top of the staircase. “What about you?”

“I think so too,” She replied before she turned her attention to Cannon Fodder. “What do you think?”

“Doesn’t look big enough to be a staircase to paradise, but at this point, I wouldn’t be too surprised if it was. First a demon killed Sombra and then we used the corpse as a bonfire to keep the citizens warm. So far, this is only the fourth weirdest thing I’ve seen all day.”

“Wait, what’s the third weirdest?” Track Record asked him.

“The Empire itself. It looks… Well, worse. I mean, it was already up the river Styx without a bit, but now it looks… I don’t even know. Deader I guess? I just don’t remember the Empire looking so beaten and broken.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean. I couldn’t even find my shop under all of the rubble and snow.”

“You own a shop?” Emerald Secret asked Track Record.

“Yeah, a little bakery a few blocks from here on Amethyst Avenue.”

“So, you’re a civilian then? Why are you still here?! This is guard duty, not citizen work,” Cannon Fodder chastised.

“Well I wanted to make sure Lord Skeletor was alright. Besides, she gets to come with you and she’s not a guard.”

“That’s because she outranks most of the guards.”

“Really?” Track Record asked as he turned his head towards Emerald Secret. “Soooo… Who are you?”

“Nopony important,” Emerald Secret replied quietly as she avoided Track Record’s eyes.

“Heh, ‘nopony important’ she says. She used to be the advisor to Princess Amore, she’s one of the most important ponies in this whole castle. ‘Nopony’ my right cutiemark.”

“I was the advisor. Back when Princess Amore was still alive…” Emerald Secret corrected. Another heavy silence fell over the trio as memories of their former princess resurfaced in their minds.

“… Did she ever get a proper send off?” Track Record asked the two, causing Emerald Secret to tense up at the memory of Sombra’s eventual rise to power and her princess’ prior murder.

“No. Sombra didn’t let her rest peacefully…” Emerald Secret stated. She decided not to elaborate on the atrocities committed to her princess’ corpse by the tyrant, King Sombra.

“That bucking bastard… I hope he gets whipped for eternity in Tartarus,” Cannon Fodder angrily muttered under his breath.

“Whipping’s too good. I hope he drowns in the river Styx,” Track Record added on.

Emerald Secret was about to contribute to the conversation and continue their fantasies of Sombra’s eternal torment, until the wailing moan of Lord Skeletor echoed down the staircase.

His words came out loud and slurred, as if he was suffering from delirium. “Hie-Maahn, Ah’ll get’chu ahned then bhyeast man’ll do wha diddy…”

“Is he talking to somepony up there?” Emerald Secret asked.

“It sounds more like something those zebra shamans chant when they do their weird faux magic,” Cannon Fodder added on before another strange slur of words drifted from the top of the staircase.

“What if he needs help?” Track Record questioned.

“Then that’s too bad for him. What the heck could we do anyway, be moral support?” Cannon Fodder asked in a condescending tone.

“Well it’s better than sitting on our tails and doing nothing,” Track Record argued.

As more unintelligible moans echoed from above, Track Record got to his hooves and trotted up the stairs with a new sense of direction, invigorated by the confirmation that his new lord was at the top. His pace increased by every few steps, his resolve to get to their new lord to thank him growing with each passing second.

“Damnit, civilian, slow down! You don’t know what’s up there!” Cannon Fodder shouted as he trotted after him.

“My name is Track and I do know what’s up there, Lord Skeletor is!”

“Bucking suicidal idiot,” Cannon Fodder muttered as he slowed down his pace. Emerald Secret soon trotted up next to him as they both climbed the steps, causing him to throw a thoughtful glance at her as they followed Track Record.

“Emerald, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you tagging along? I understand the fanatical idiot up ahead, and as a guard it’s my job to make sure the citizens aren’t hurt by that thing, but why are you here?”

Emerald Secret didn’t reply instantly, taking a few scant moments to organize her thoughts before she decided to answer. “I suppose I just wanted to follow you, to stay close to somepony I personally knew before the fall of the Empire. The other council members and nobles are gone, along with most of the ponies I befriended. You’re the only pony I know that’s still alive.”

Cannon Fodder stopped trotting for a moment as he absorbed her words. “The… The council is dead? I thought Sombra would at least keep them… All of them are gone, even Dice?”

“He was beheaded. Sombra didn’t allow a single ruva in the Empire aside from himself to live,” Emerald Secret delicately said, as if saying it any louder would have killed Dice a second time.

“Faust all-loving… I can’t… That bucking bastard!” Cannon Fodder exclaimed as he stomped his hoof against the stairs. “Dice didn’t even have a working horn, he wasn’t a threat, he was just a colt… You’re sure he didn’t get away?” Cannon Fodder practically pleaded, hoping beyond hope that the youngest member of the council had managed to escape.

“Sombra made me watch… He made me watch them all…” Emerald quietly admitted as tears squeezed past her eyes.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Cannon Fodder said as he was about to put a reassuring hood on her shoulder. “I didn’t know you—”

“No!” Emerald Secret suddenly shouted as she batted his hoof away before it could touch her.

Pure fear flashed in her eyes as she looked at Cannon Fodder, her heart beat rapidly beating as she instinctively backed away from him. For a single, solitary, moment Emerald saw the worried face of her familiar friend turn into the sinister face of King Sombra grinning wickedly at her.

Cannon Fodder watched Emerald Secret panicking form with intense concern as she backed away from him. His own heart stopped beating for a second as he tried to make sense of what was happening to his friend. “Emerald, are you—"

“I’m fine! I-I just want to f-forget about it,” Emerald quickly interrupted as she trotted past Cannon Fodder.

Cannon Fodder stayed in place for a few more moments, wondering why Emerald Secret had panicked, before he began trotting up the stairs after her. Silence once again filled the air as they made their way up the stairs, both of them getting lost in their own thoughts as they stole quick and worried glances at one another.

Emerald Secret and Cannon Fodder caught up to Track, who was resting his body on the stairs for a moment as he tried to breath. However, the sound of Lord Skeletor screaming above them gave him a second wind that allowed him to gallop up the stairs.

“AAAHHHHH!”

“Lord Skeletor!” Track Record shouted as he galloped towards his lord.

Emerald Secret and Cannon Fodder swiftly followed, making quick work of the last flights of stairs before they reached the entrance to the room at the top. Track had gotten up only a half a minute earlier, using the time Emerald Secret and Cannon Fodder took to arrive to catch his breath.

“Lord… Skeletor… Are you okay? We…. We saw a staircase in…. in the throne room and… and….” The rest of Track Record’s sentence died off as he looked at what his new lord was holding.

In his hands laid a powerful artifact that had been designed to bring love and unity to all of the Empire in the days before King Sombra’s reign.

Lord Skeletor followed Track’s gaze and saw the Crystal Heart in his hands, apparently only just realizing that he was holding it. He stared at the Crystal Heart in awe as he admired its beauty, entranced by the elegance of the large magical diamond.

The heart released a rhythmic pulse that appeared to beat in sync with Emerald’s own heart, or perhaps her heart was beating in sun with the Crystal Heart. Either way, Emerald and the others were completely breathless at the sight of the majestic relic.

“You… You found it… W-what are you going to do now?” Emerald Secret asked fearfully as her new dark master cradled the Crystal Heart in his massive arms live a foal.

With the Crystal Heart, Lord Skeletor would be able to unleash an aggressive assault on Equestria, threaten his disloyal subjects to fall into place or risk having the heart shattered, or worst of all, absorb the ambient magic inside of it to add onto his own well of power. Her new dark master would become a truly unstoppable threat that could vaporize his enemies with only a single thought.

“What’s ahhh… What’s it for?” Lord Skeletor asked as he continued to stare into the Crystal Heart.

“It’s for protecting the Empire,” Cannon Fodder accidentally blurted out before he covered his muzzle with his hoof.

“Huh… Cool… How does it do that?” Lord Skeletor asked idly as his eye socket traveled the facets of the Heart.

“It uses the spirit of love and harmony to shield the Empire from the storm. King Sombra hid it from us so that we could only feel warm in the mines below the Empire, he said we’d never find it, but now… Now you have it…” Track Record told him as he took a step towards his new lord.

“If we can put in back where it belongs, we can help everypony in the Empire. Lord Skeletor, can we please place it back at the base of the castle?” Track Record begged, causing Lord Skeletor to shake himself out of whatever trance he was momentarily trapped in.

Lord Skeletor’s eye sockets locked onto Track Record’s desperate gaze. The worry and fear that Track Record held in his eyes chilled Skeletor to his core, causing his breath to nearly become hitched in his throat as he looked into Track Record’s soul through his eyes.

“Uh… Yeah, yeah, take it,” Lord Skeletor said as he held the Heart out to Track Record.

Track stared at the Heart with an apprehensive joy as he tried to convince himself to reach out and accept the Heart. He fell back to his haunches as his shaky forelegs lifted up to take the Crystal Heart, holding it in his hooves as if it was made of the most delicate glass. As he clutched the Crystal Hearth close to him as his own heart pounded violently inside his chest.

The calming pulse of the Crystal Heart allowed his racing heart to relax, a sense of serenity and comfort that enveloped his soul like a warm blanket. Track Record felt tears threatening to spill past his eyes as a disbelieving smile stretched across his muzzle.

“Th… Thank you!” He exclaimed as he held the Crystal Heart tightly. Before Lord Skeletor could even get a word in, Track Record threw a foreleg around Lord Skeleto’s torso before he galloped towards the stairs and raced out of the room.

“H-Hey, be careful damnit!” Cannon Fodder chastised as he trotted after him.

Emerald Secret was about to follow them before she stopped to look back at her new lord who laid on his back holding his stomach in pain.

“Are you alright… My lord?”

“Y-Yeah, fuck that hurt though. That guy’s got a vice’s grip. Just…. Go on without me… I’m just gonna lay here for a bit… Go do the thingy with the big thing…” Lord Skeletor commanded them with a disinterested wave of his hand as he laid on the floor.

Emerald Secret hesitated for a moment before she followed his orders and turned her back to Skeletor. She threw a last glance at the prone figure of Skeletor lying on the floor.

“Thank you… Lord Skeletor,” Emerald Secret quietly said before she trotted down the stairs.

It was a silent trip down the dozens of flights of stairs, the distant sound of Cannon Fodder yelling at Track becoming white noise as Emerald Secret became lost in her own thoughts. For the first time in a little over three years, the Crystal Heart was going to be returned to its pedestal at the base of the castle for all of the citizens to see. She should have been completely elated about the prospect of saving the Empire.

But despite the fortunate news, a nagging voice at the back of her mind demanded that she stay skeptical and refuse to believe that anything fortunate or remotely good could happen to her or the Empire. After years of misery and pain caused by her old king, Emerald Secret had lost the will to hope for a brighter tomorrow, to wish for good fortune, and to pray for salvation. But now, because of a monster that looked like it was torn from the pages of a horror story had given her just that, the ability to hope.

For the first time since the death of her princess, Emerald Secret had something to hope for, and she was terrified that believing in that faint hope would only make it hurt worse when it disappeared, snatched from her grasp by the deceiving demon that had become their new lord.

That’s his plan, isn’t it? To give us a false sense of hope, to tear it away from us and watch us wallow in grief? Why doesn’t he just kill us. Emerald Secret bitterly thought as she continued to head towards the distant voices of Cannon Fodder and Track.

It was odd in a way, each one of them held onto a certain belief about their new king that couldn’t be swayed or influenced by the others. Emerald Secret could only decide how she felt about her new lord after they returned the Heart to the central plaza at the base of the castle while Cannon Fodder and Track already had very clear opinions.

Track Record revered his new lord, displaying a type of fanaticism and faith that was only given to the Alicorn princesses. In contrast to Track’s optimism, Cannon Fodder had a clear sense of distrust towards Lord Skeletor, seemingly preparing to attack the demon at any moment should the need arise.

Part of Emerald Secret wanted to be optimistic like Track was, believing that the darkest age of the Empire had finally over, but she was held back her experience with Sombra. She couldn’t trust a demon disguised as a unicorn, how could she trust a demon that didn’t even hide what it was?

A part of her wanted to believe, she yearned for a piece of hope to cling to and never let go of again, to embrace that small piece of her that believed Lord Skeletor was doing good. But what proof did she have that he didn’t have some nefarious ulterior motive? Granted, he gave them the Heart, but who was to say it was the real Crystal Heart, and what if he was going to prevent them from activating it? He could have just been giving them that false sense of hope before ripping it away from them to watch their last bit of hope shrivel up and die.

These thoughts continued to move through her mind like a raging storm as she mechanically went down the staircase, not even noticing when she reached the darker staircase that led to the throne room.

Her memories of the things Sombra did to her flooded back into her mind as she looked at the ominous staircase to his throne room. Each and every disgusting deed brought on by the tyrant piled up inside her head, causing a vicious amount of bile to build up in her throat, begging for sweet release to rid herself of all the toxins inside her.

It took a great deal of effort on her part, but she managed to push down the bile and suppress the dark memories that haunted her.

Even though Sombra was dead, he still haunted her thoughts, he still held some amount of control over her. He was dead, and yet he still forced her to feel terrible and disgusted. He still made her feel small and weak, completely helpless to the power that he commanded through his dark magic.

Flurries of snow fell violently from the sky, pelting the crystal ponies’ coats with a barrage of snowflakes for minutes on end as they waited for answers. Were they freed, were they saved by the Alicorn sisters, what happened to the Empire, and where had all the Equestrian guards gone when the citizens blinked.

Over a thousand crystal ponies gathered at the base of the Crystal Castle, each one murmuring rumors that had spread through the Empire about the fate of King Sombra. Many had believed that the king had been killed by the Alicorn sisters while others argued that a strange monster had been the one to kill the tyrant.

Descriptions of the unknown creature varied widely between the citizens of the Crystal Empire. Some said that it was a two headed monster that had the head of an albino ram and a monkey. Others claimed that it was a teenage dragon with a yellow snout that stuck out of a purple hood. And a small percentage of ponies argued that it was a hairless minotaur in face paint.

Only a very select few citizens had received an accurate description of the creature from family members who served in the guard. The guards had gone into vivid detail when describing the bipedal giant to their families and often made great exaggerations when talking about how it killed the old king, making claims that ranged from the beast eating Sombra’s brains to it beating Sombra to death with his own skull.

The only factor that remained consistent in each story was King Sombras demise at the hands of a mysterious creature that had yet to make itself known publicly.

As the ponies waited outside for answers, getting caked in snow as the rumors spread more rapidly through the crowd. The chilling air nipped at their skin as they clamored together, using their fur coats and the breath from their hushed whispers to create a hint of desperate warmth to keep themselves alive. It wasn’t until a mustard colored pony with a purple mane trotted out of the castle with the Crystal Heart wrapped tightly in a foreleg.

A gasp of surprise rushed through the crowd as they stated at the Crystal Heart. Thousands of eyes locked onto the lost relic that laid in the mysterious stallion’s foreleg as he breathed heavily. Some ponies had recognized him as the baker who used to live on Amethyst Avenue, while others remembered him as the insane stallion that had spread the initial rumor that a monster killed the king.

“Lord… Lord Skeletor found the Crystal Heart!” He shouted with unbridled glee as he held the artifact above his head.

Soon after he shouted that, a red stallion with a silver colored mane wearing high ranking guard armor ran through the front doors of the castle.

“Bucking too old for this… Track… Stop before anypony… sees…” He trailed off as he noticed the sea of crystal ponies standing a few yards away from them. “Buck… Track! Get back here with that thing, right now!” He shouted at Track Record.

“Why?! We’ve got the Heart, we need to put it back!” Track shouted back as he trotted towards the pedestal that stood between him and the crowd.

“We don’t know if it’s real! What if it’s a trap?!” Cannon Fodder argued as he trotted in front of Track Record to stop him.

“It’s obviously the Heart! We need to put it back and save the Empire!”

“We’re not putting that thing on the pedestal until we know what it is! You think he’d just hoof the Heart over to us as he miraculously found it in a few minutes?! It’s Hogwash!” Cannon Fodder exclaimed.

As the two of them shouted at the top of their lungs desperately trying to convince the other how their plan was flawed, they both failed to notice Emerald Secret quietly trotting up behind them. She passively watched the two of them fight over who was right and who was being either too naive or too untrusting, her eyes moved to the crowd of ponies staring hungrily at the Heart.

Hope swelled inside their hearts as they stared at the pulsating Crystal Heart. While some of them held slight skepticism and worry thanks to Cannon Fodder’s arguments, the overwhelming sense of hope nearly suffocated the fear that lingered in the back of their minds.

They desperately clung to the hope that Emerald Secret was too afraid to openly embrace, igniting a sense of faith inside her that she instantly stomped out of her mind. She couldn’t have blind hope like them, she had seen the monster that had “discovered” the Crystal Heart. She had been tormented by Sombra with false promises of freedom for years, dangling it in front of her like a carrot on a stick that was just out of her reach.

And here she was again, the promise of freedom being dangled in front of her, tempting her to slam the Heart onto the pedestal only to realize that it was a fake. Or maybe it was real and, at any moment, Skeletor would arrive in a cloud of dark bellowing smoke and proclaim himself as the new ruler to the amassed ponies before he would snatch the Heart from Track Record’s hooves.

It was all a game to Skeletor, a way to hurt them even more than how Sombra did, and all she could do was play his sick game.

As Track and Cannon Fodder continued to argue loudly, she trotted up behind them and took the Heart from under Track’s foreleg and went around Cannon Fodder.

She trotted towards the center of the plaza, walking with the same apprehension as somepony marching towards the gallows to be hanged. Cannon Fodder tried to go after her to prevent her from doing something potentially dangerous, but Track pinned him to the ground before he could even take a step.

The muffled voice of Cannon Fodder screamed unintelligible words that tried to convince her to stop. His warnings and concerns fell on deaf ears as she approached the lone pedestal. It stood erected like a tombstone, a symbol of the Empire’s death when Princess Amore drew her last breath. King Sombra had left it as a reminder of what they lost, of what they could never have again.

Emerald Secret stood in front of the pedestal, the Crystal Heart beating with a furious thunder as it got closer. Emerald Secret could feel the Heart being pulled towards the pedestal by an unforeseen force.

She lifted the Crystal Heart to the pedestal and, for a split second, accepted the hope that burned inside of her.

An overwhelming sense of security and safety washed over her instantly once she let go, reminding her of the warm touch of Princess Amore’s magic.

A luminescent blue aura exploded from the Crystal Heart, passing through her and everypony in the Empire and bathing them in the love the princess felt for them and the Empire when she was still alive.

Emerald Secret was too stunned to hear the uproar of cheers that boomed behind her. All of her attention was solely dedicated to the spinning Crystal Heart in front of her, watching it with a stupefied gaze as her mouth fell open.

It had actually worked. Peace and love had been restored to the Crystal Empire.

A joyous smile graced Emerald Secret’s muzzle as she stared at the regal beauty of the Crystal Heart. Years of torment, pain, and misery had finally come to an end, the years of the King Sombra's rule were finally over. Relief and joy flooded the Empire as the crystal ponies cheered in glee. For only a moment, everything was right with the world until it was instantly shattered by the ear-piercing cry from the heavens.

“Fuck! IT HURTS! GAAAAAAAAAAH!” Lord Skeletor screamed in agony from the top of the tower.

Hundreds of crystal ponies flinched at the wailing cries of pain that echoed through the air, drowning their joy and laughter. Fear flashed across their faces as they stared up at the barrier that was erected to protect the Empire from the never ending winter. None of them knew where the screams had come from, except for the three ponies who had talked to the voice's owner.

“Lord Skeletor!” Track Record shouted as he galloped back to the Crystal Castle.

Emerald Secret stared at the top of the tower in horror for a few brief moments before she rushed off after Track Record.

The harsh light of morning leaked through the blinds of a nearby window, allowing the morning rays to land on the invisible eyelids of a weakened lord of darkness.

Consciousness returned to Skeletor at a snail’s pace as the beams of light stirred him from his deep slumber. The first thing Skeletor noticed was a damp rag resting on the frontal bone of his skull.

His stiff arm moved up so the palm of his hands could blindly dig into his temples before he took the rag off of his head.

“M-my lord, you’re awake?” A vaguely familiar feminine voice asked him.

The sudden noise in the relatively quiet room pushed Skeletor further into the realm of consciousness. He opened his invisible eyelids and was greeted to the sight of a tapestry of colors above him. He stared at the intricate patterns that were designed into the ceiling for a long time, taking in the mural of spring time flowers and that interwove into a river of greens, purples, and blues.

“Where… Where am I?” Skeletor weakly asked as he slowly rose from the confides of his blankets.

“You’re in the infirmary, my lord. How are you feeling?” The green mare asked him. Skeletor turned his head to the right of his bed to get a better look at the pony, blinking his invisible eyelids to clear his vision.

“Like crap... What happened?”

As his vision began to clear he noticed her green coat had a noticeable shine to it, as if each individual hair on her body was kissed by the frost of winter. Her raven black mane was combed back and braided into a beautiful half updo. Her eyes were also more lifelike, a stoic fire of pride and happiness burning behind her once dull green irises. Beneath those passionate eyes laid a genuine smile on her muzzle as she looked at her lord, something that Skeletor hadn’t seen at all since arriving at the Crystal Empire.

“You returned the Crystal Heart, my lord. Once we placed it at the center of the castle’s plaza we heard you screaming from the tower. When we galloped to the stairs, we found you lying unconscious a flight away from the top of the tower. You were unconscious for a day, my lord, and all of us were terrified that… Well, no use in worrying about that now that you’re awake,” she quickly explained.

Skeletor only nodded dumbly as his eyes drifted down to the two demonic feet that poked out from under the covers at the base of his bed, one of which was heavily wrapped in pink tinted bandages.

“It’s… It’s real…” Skeletor mumbled under his breath.

“Pardon, my lord?”

“I… I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked what you said, my lord.”

“Lord?… Right. Right. Right. I’m uh… I’m just thirsty… Could you get me a glass of water?” Skeletor asked before his stomach decided to voice its own desires with a loud growl. “And uh, something to eat too?”

“Of course, my lord. I’ll go to the kitchens and tell them to prepare a meal for you. I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic to hear about your recovery!” Emerald Secret beamed as she happily trotted out of the room with a prominent pep in her step.

Skeletor stared at the door that Emerald Secret had left through, praying that a real human doctor would walk through the doors at any given moment to tell him he was hallucinating. As the seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, Skeletor slowly brought a hand to up to his face to feel the rough edges of his skull.

“It’s real… oh fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” He panicked as he clutched the sides of his skull with both hands.

“This can’t be real, this can’t be real… I’m… I’m hallucinating! Wait, no I’m…. I’m not hallucinating, I’m-I’m dreaming, I’m… Oh fuck me! What the fuck is going on!?” Skeletor exclaimed as he attempted to bite his lower lip, a nervous tick from his past life that failed to work in his demonic body.

Skeletor winced in pain as one of his new large fangs chipped his lower jaw. “Ow! Fuck!” He shouted as he quickly held a hand to his jaw.

“Oh god, I-I’m not dreaming, am I? B-but this can’t be real right?” Skeletor rhetorically asked himself as he pulled himself out of bed.

As he stood up, he noticed that his skin was covered in a strawberry scented salve and wrapped in bandages that left little to the imagination. The only piece of clothing left on him was a black pair of underwear on his crotch and every other article of clothing was placed on a pile next to the bed. Skeletor quickly redressed himself once he saw his clothes, using the purple cloak and hood to cover as much of his exposed body as possible, as if not letting other see him would allow him to deny the existence of his monstrous feet or disproportionately sized muscles.

After properly covering himself, Skeletor ran a finger across the new imperfection on his jaw and noticed that it had seemingly vanished in the time he used to dress himself. His hand blindly searched his jaw bone for any hint of damage before his attention was taken by the sound of the door opening.

Skeletor turned to see the green pony from earlier trot into the room with the Havoc Staff in one of her fore-hooves. He stared at the hoof for a long moment as he tried to figure out how such a flat limb could grab anything, let alone a large scepter that towered over the pony.

“Here’s your scepter, my lord. The cleaning staff wanted to make sure that it didn’t have any… stains on it from Sombra.”

“Oh… Uh, Thanks…” Skeletor said as accepted the Havoc Staff.

“Not a problem. I went to the kitchens and told them that you’d like a meal and some water, my lord. If you’d please follow me, I can lead you to the dining hall for breakfast.”

“Alright then, thanks uh… I’m sorry, but, what is your name?”

“Emerald Secret, my lord, your royal advisor. Allow me to say that it is a wondrous honor to serve you, my lord.”

“Why do you keep calling me lord?” Skeletor asked as he followed Emerald Secret out of the door and down the corridor. As he stepped out of his room, he noticed that the hall had a plethora of guards lining the walls outside his room, standing at attention waiting for an order. Skeletor felt himself tense up as he looked at the surprisingly stoic looking colorful ponies in battle damaged armor, he never believed something so oddly cute could look so menacing.

“I-I’m sorry sire, I had just assumed you preferred the title of lord since you never corrected that guard who asked for your name. What would you like to be referred to as, you could be a king, a prince, or perhaps emperor would be better.”

“Wait, hold on, why would I be any of those?” Skeletor asked as he stole a glance at one of the many stoic guards. They wore the same iron armor he had seen in the throne room, but instead of spears each of these ponies were armed with a gladius that was sheathed at their right hip. Skeletor could feel the eyes of the guards he passed by stare at the back of his hood, borrowing a hole into the back of his skull with their intense stares as he felt them silently size him up.

“Because you’re the new… Well, we can discuss titles with the rest of the council. After you killed King Sombra, you could call yourself a demigod.”

“Demi—Hold up, I killed your king, right?”

“That was the title he made us use, yes.”

“So… That just makes me the king?”

“If you want. Personally, my lord, I don’t think the title of king holds as much weight as a lord. Not to mention, that even though a majority of the citizens adore you, I’m not too sure how they’d react to having another king,” Emerald Secret advised.

The full weight of his position fell upon him like a bolder at that moment. He shuddered at the sudden power he had accidentally amassed, a great responsibility passed down onto him that he had never rightfully earned, and no idea how to properly wield it. And that was a lot of power to just thrust on someone who wasn't prepared for it. One wrong word or action and it'd be a revolution of tiny colorful equines demanding for his head to be put on a spike.

“And… Everyone is alright with me being king? They’re okay with what I did to the old one?” He asked as he threw a quick glance at one of the many sheathed gladiī, waiting for one of them to pull out their swords and run it through him.

“ ‘Okay?' My lord, forgive my bluntness, but that is a complete understatement. To say they were 'okay' would be like saying the Crystal Heart looks ‘nice’,” Emerald Secret commented jokingly, as if calling the Crystal Heart nice was a grave insult to its angelic beauty.

“... So, you’re perfectly fine with me killing him? There won’t be any repercussions?”

“Of course, you won’t. Anypony who wanted to do something stupid like avenge that bastard would have to get through all of the guards first. Nopony here is about to let our new leader come to harm.”

“W-well surely there must be someone else who could take up the mantle of king right?” Skeletor asked, secretly hoping that the immense responsibility of leadership would go to someone else. He'd rather be an alive nobody for a few years than a dead somebody in a few weeks.

“Nope. Thankfully that wretched tyrant never attempted to sire an heir to the throne, so you are fully unopposed in the matter.”

“B-but there must be somebody more qualified,” Skeletor stated.

“Unfortunately… You might be the last,” Emerald Secret said quietly with a tinge of pain resonating in her words. “The sun rose this morning, albeit very oddly, so there’s hope that the Alicorn sisters may be alive. But sire, even if the princesses could lead us, I’m sure there’s nopony else your subjects would want to follow other than you,” Emerald Secret reassured.

Skeletor didn’t quite understand the reference to a sun rising or acorn sisters, so he chose to ignore it and move onto a more important matter.

“Right, subjects… Uh, out of curiosity, what are they?”

“The crystal ponies, my lord. Oh my, I just realized that you probably didn’t even know that. My mistake, I’ll be sure to have Copper Plate prepare a history lesson for you regarding the Empire’s original formation. Oh wait, we could have a play instead! I know that the actors haven’t had much time to rehearse, but I’m sure they’d be thrilled to present a show for you. Not to mention it would do greatly to boost morale of the Empire even more!” Emerald happily chirped as she trotted down the hallway a bit kore quickly.

“Oh, it’ll be a lovely addition to the next Crystal Fair. It won’t be ready for this fair, but if we’re lucky the actors and actresses can be ready in a few months and you can watch it then. In the meantime, Copper Plate’s history lesson should be enough to get you started on the basic knowledge you’ll need. Wait, no that might not work though… My lord, pardon me for my question if it offends you, but can you read?”

“Of course, I can read.”

“My humblest apologies for believing otherwise, my lord.”

“It’s alright… So… Where am I exactly?” Skeletor asked as he looked at the crystal walls that made up the interior of the castle. Large monoliths of multifaceted crystals towered over him, allowing the ceiling to rise a few dozen yards above his head. The ceiling was high enough to allow several large candlestick chandeliers to hang over overhead that held brilliantly bright orange flames that danced on blue candlesticks.

“The medical wing of the castle,” Emerald Secret told him. “Track Record and I tried to bring you here as soon as we heard your screams, though it ended up taking a few more guards to come and help move you. N-not that you’re overweight or anything! It’s just that there were a lot of stairs and—"

“I get it, Emerald,” Skeletor interrupted. “I meant more specifically where I am like… Continent wise. Are we somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle or maybe the North Pole? How far away from America are we?”

“I’m not sure where those are. We’re in the Crystal Empire, in the Frozen North of Equestria.”

“Equestria? Damnit, you might as well have said Narnia." Skeletor muttered to himself as he continued to follow Emerald Secret. It took around another minute or so of walking until they reached two elegant doors that reached to the peaks of the ceiling.

Skeletor silently marveled at the intricate carvings that were etched into the massive rectangular sugilites that acted as a pair of doors to the dining room. Although time had worn away most of the carvings, allowing them to nearly disappear with age, he could still see the figure of a tall pony with wings and a horn carved into each door. A pure image of divinity and regality staring into his eye sockets with half lidded eyes and a warm smile on her muzzle.

Emerald Secret pushed the door open with surprising ease. “After you, my lord.”

“Thank you,” Skeletor said as he entered the lavish dining room.

The dining hall was filled with several extraordinarily long tables that barely came up to his knees, covered in white tablecloths that held dozens of plates made of clear crystal plates and platinum silverware.

The velvet colored chairs were much larger and closer to the ground than what he was used to, the legs of the chairs barely letting the chair rise three inches above the floor. The seats of the chairs were also much larger than what was normal for human chairs, allowing a pony to sit comfortably on the chairs with all four limbs touching the seat.

Skeletor walked towards the table with the largest backrest that was placed at the head of the centermost table and took a seat, deciding to sit cross legged in it as he did so. Skeleton waited for Emerald to either leave the room or join him for breakfast, only to notice that Emerald Secret was standing stock still at the entrance like a decorative statue.

“Um… Are you going to take a seat too?” Skeletor asked, feeling awkward that he was the only one sitting at the low table.

“Thank you for the invitation, my lord,” Emerald Secret replied respectfully with a bow before she trotted up to the table and took a seat to Skeletor’s right.

Before Skeletor could attempt to strike up some form of conversation or ask Emerald Secret a few questions, an orange furred stallion with a bright albino colored mane trotted into the room through a smaller door that was tucked away to one of the corners of the room. Skeletor took notice of the comically large chef’s hat perched on top of the stallion’s mane that slightly swayed from side to side whenever the pony would trot on a different hoof. He somewhat admired the balance needed to wear something that clearly wasn’t designed for a pony’s head, and if it were designed for a pony then Skeletor would question why someone would design something so unfit for a creature like the stallion.

He also noticed an image of a frying pan that hovered over a small fire on each of the stallion’s flanks. Skeletor’s invisible eyes flicked over to Emerald Secret’s seat to see if she had an image similar to the one the stallion had. Surely enough, an image of a magnifying glass with a question mark inside of it was on full display on her left flank and, even though he couldn’t see the other one, he would have guessed that a nearly identical image was on her right flank as well.

“Good morning, your highness. It’s an honor to prepare your meal, Lord Skeletor, I’m the head chef, Pan,” the stallion introduced with a respectful bow. “I would also like to apologize for the quality and stock of our food at the moment. We couldn’t find any of the lambs in their pens and the subterranean farms are either so overgrown that we can’t get to the actual crops, or they’re completely dead. What’s even more strange is that the food in the pantries is completely stale or mummified. Thankfully though, we still had plenty of jars of crystalberry jam and used it to make a large amount of stew for the citizens,” Pan said through a clearly nervous smile.

“Wait, stew made of jam?” Skeletor questioned which prompted a response from the green mare sitting to his right.

“Desperate times call for intuitive solutions, my lord. Since you were indisposed of, the new council took up the obligation of keeping the citizens fed and warm while we try to fix the Empire. Don’t worry sire, any big decisions in the future will be left up to you, now that you’re awake,” Emerald Secret reassured.

“Alright…” Skeletor said, before a noticeable growl from his stomach reminded him of his need for food. “So, you only have stew at the moment?” Skeletor asked the stallion.

“Yes. My humblest apologies, your highness.”

“Well, when in Rome, I suppose. Could I get one of those jam stews then?”

“I’m sorry, your highness, but there isn’t any meat in that dish.”

“That’s fine,” Skeletor said with a wave of his hand. “Never really liked soup with meat in int anyway, too soggy for my tastes.”

“You’d be fine with something that wasn’t meat?” Pan asked with a look of pure bafflement on his face.

“Of course, I’m not a picky eater.”

“B-but aren’t you a carnivore?”

“Carnivore? Oooooh, you mean these,” Skeletor said as he tapped a finger against one of his menacingly sharp fangs. “I’m actually an omnivore.”

“A what?”

“Omnivore, it means that I can eat whatever I have on hand. Whatever you prepare for me will be great, Pan,” Skeletor reassured him.

“Thank you for the preemptive praise, Lord Skeletor, I’ll make sure that we can not only meet your standards, but surpass them later on once we have more ingredients on hoof.”

“I’d like that very much, thank you,” Skeletor said, causing Pan to nod in satisfaction and bow before he trotted off back to the kitchen.

“So, I take it that ponies aren’t omnivores?” He asked Emerald Secret.

“No. While we used sheep for meat whenever carnivorous creatures visited the Empire, we mostly used them for getting wool to make blankets and bedding. Though, for some reason, all of the sheep are dried up husks,”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s strange, a few days ago the pens were full and the farms were perfectly fine. But something happened while Princess Luna placed us under a sleep spell. Some of the council members believe that it happened because Sombra died, but a few of us, myself included, believe he did something during his fight with the princesses.”

“Why would he do that?”

“We’re not sure, but it’s the only explanation that we have,” Emerald Secret answered lamely, as if she were ashamed of her own explanation.

“Alright. What else can you tell me about the Empire?” Skeletor asked as he tapped a finger on his knee.

“Oh, yes. While I may not be as well versed in history as Copper Plate, I believe I can give you a brief history of the Empire while we wait for your food to arrive,” Emerald Secret said before she cleared her throat to prepare for a small lecture to catch her new lord up on the history of the Empire.

“The Crystal Empire was formed by the crystal ponies, thestrals, and ruvas, who had initially refused to settle in Dream Valley with the pegasi, earth ponies, and the unicorns. During their trek towards the north, the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies accidentally summoned spirits called windingos. The windingos brought a terrible storm that made the Frozen North a much more treacherous landscape. While the ponies of Dream Valley were able to chase away the spirits through the power of acceptance and love, our ancestors weren’t as lucky. The storm of the Frozen North made the windings too strong to chase off with our love, so they did the next best thing they could, they survived.

“Inside of the tunnels that would one day make up the foundation of the Crystal Empire, our ancestors found a magical crystal they named the Crystal Heart. With it, they were able to erect a barrier over a good portion of the Frozen North, allowing them to erect the first buildings that would make up the Crystal Empire. Centuries later, Princess Amore found our Empire and became the representative of Dream Valley, eventually becoming the ruler of the Crystal Empire after speaking on behalf of the Empire for nearly a thousand years. Peace and happiness continued to power the Crystal Heart, allowing us to be protected from the storm.

“But then, a power hungry ruva tampered in the dark side of magic and used his newfound abilities to overthrow Princess Amore… … For three years, he made us suffer. He took advantage of our removed freewill, using us as a physical shield to prevent the ponies of Dream Valley from marching towards the Empire. So, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna flew in with heir pegasi and thestrals instead, and Princess Luna used her magic to send many of the crystal ponies to sleep, preventing them from harming themselves or her soldiers. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to send everypony in the Empire into a dream, so a large portion of Sombra’s slaves were still able to fight their forces. Nopony is really sure what happened after that. The slaves that were awake claimed that they blinked and suddenly, all of the thestrals and pegasi were gone and the Empire was on the brink of collapsing.

“Many of us believe that Sombra… That he killed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and that the death of the diarchy of Dream Valley did something to the Empire. But some of us hold out hope since the sun rose this morning, which either means the sisters fled and teleported their army away, or they died and the unicorns of Dream Valley took up the mantle of raising the sun and moon,” Emerald Secret explained.

“Wait, what do you mean raising the sun and moon?” Skeletor questioned.

“You don’t know about the Alicorn sisters? My lord, the sisters raised and lowered the celestial bodies since the Goddess of Chaos severed their ties to Terra’s gravity. At first, the ruva and unicorns took up the job of moving them, causing entire bloodlines to lose their magic by sacrificing it to continue cycles of night and day. It wasn’t until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arrived that the sun and moon began to regularly rise and fall once again.”

“Really?” Skeletor asked with a subtle skepticism that he attempted to disguise as genuine interest.

While he was willing to accept that unicorns, pegasi, and the other creatures she listed were real, Skeletor doubted the validity of the latter half of Emerald Secret’s explanation. It sounded more like a religious story than a historical record, especially since her story involved a God.

“Oh yes, I’m surprised that you don’t know that part. Even the dragons know about Princess Celestia and Luna.”

“Dragons… What do you mean by dragons?” He asked in a suddenly less optimistic tone.

“Dragons, they’re the flying creatures of the Dragon Lands. Do you not know what dragons are, my lord?”

“No, I know about them I just… They’re supposed to be…” Skeletor was about to say ‘fictional’ but, due to him having a conversation with a talking green pony, he realized how dumb that would have sounded. “Sssssupposed to be exceedingly rare, right?”

“Not necessarily. While they don’t leave the Dragon Lands often, they do occasionally send a drake as a representative to discuss peace in exchange for a great sum of gems, rubies, crystals, and other valuables,” Emerald Secret explained to him. “Sombra used quiet a few dragons during his reign, but his paranoia eventually got the better of him and he disposed of them. Since he couldn't control them like he could the crystal ponies, he believed that they would turn against him when he least expected it.”

Before Emerald Secret could continue her “small” lecture, the chef came out of the kitchen door balancing a goblet of water and a bowl of steaming lavender sludge on a platinum platter on one of his fore hooves.

“Your meal, your highness,” Pan said with a bow after he placed the platter in front of Skeletor who stared at the bubbling slop with a new sense of hesitation.

Skeletor delicately picked at the purple colored goop in front of him with a spoon, experimentally prodding it before he committed himself to eating the thing that was placed in front of him. As he poked at the crystalberry jam stew he all lost failed to notice the look of longing on Emerald Secret’s face as she stared at the stew. If it weren’t for the sudden rumbling coming from her stomach, he may have missed it entirely.

Once Emerald Secret had realized that the rumbling of her stomach had betrayed her, she sheepishly looked away from his meal. “A-apologies, my lord.” She said as she looked anywhere except where Skeletor sat or his stew was set.

“For what? If you want some, I’m sure you can ask the chef for some.”

“I can’t. T-there are still a lot of ponies that need to eat, and I’m going to have some later anyway,” She stated with a smile which turned into a slight grimace as her stomach began to growl once again.

“Emerald… When was the last time you ate?”

“Yesterday.”

“And how much did you eat?” Skeletor pressed on.

Emerald remained quiet for a few moments before she quietly muttered, “Enough.”

With a heavy sigh, Skeleton took his goblet and quickly drained it before he partially filled it with the stew, handing over the rest of the bowl to Emerald Secret.

“M-my lord, I can’t accept this.”

“You can and you will. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine with this,” Skeletor said as he gestured to the steaming sludge in his goblet.

“My lord, I’ll be fine waiting a few hours. You need to eat,” Emerald Secret argued.

“It’s fine, Emerald. Besides, I’m not about to eat something I might not like and probably won’t finish in front of someone who’s practically starving.”

“Really, my lord, I—"

“Please Emerald, just eat a little bit. For me?” Skeletor pleaded.

Emerald Secret looked at the bowl of stew in front of her with a sense of apprehension. While her thoughts argued against the idea of eating some of Skeletor’s food, her stomach made a much louder argument.

“Thank you, my lord,” Emerald replied with a slight nod of her head before she picked up a spoon with one of her hooves.

Skeletor watched the spoon in her hooves with complete bafflement and felt almost tempted to ask her how she was able to hold something with her hooves, but pushed that question away from his thoughts and looked at the unappealing purple mush in his goblet.

Skeletor reluctantly scooped up a small portion of the stew using his own spoon and swallowed thickly as he mentally prepared himself to eat the unappealing stew. The stew had consistency of malases and the texture of a smoothie along with the smell of of a berry pie that had been left in the sun for too long.

As quickly as a viper, Skeletor closed his jaw around the bowl of the spoon, swallowing the stew quickly to avoid letting the taste linger on his tongue for too long. A moment or so later, the small aftertaste of crystalberry jam stew hit him in an instant. While the stew wasn’t absolutely horrendous, he still thought that it was far from pleasant. It certainly wasn’t as bad as the black bread he had eaten at school when a student gave a presentation about the holocaust, allowing the other students to eat what the victims of the Holocaust did in order to explore the subject from a different angle.

He continued eating the stew with a great reluctance, not letting any of it go to waste since food was so scarce. He’d sooner let himself starve to death than let such a limited resource go to waste, even if he absolutely despised the taste and feeling of the unnaturally warm berry mush.

He desperately wished that he still had a goblet of water to wash the bitter taste out of his mouth. As Skeletor tried his best not to gag on the next spoonful of crystalberry jam stew, he heard a satisfied noised coming from Emerald Secret next to him

Emerald Secret was an amazing contrast to Skeletor at that moment. While he absolutely hated the flavor and texture of the stew and did his best to fight it down, Emerald ate it with a feverish gusto, shoveling spoonfuls of stew into her muzzle as if someone else would steal the bowl from her at any moment. It was then that Skeletor noticed just how thin she really was.

If Skeletor stared just hard enough, he could see the barely visible outline of Emerald’s ribcage pressing against her skin, hidden under the shimmering hairs of her thick fur coat. He questioned how he failed to notice it earlier and chastised himself for feeling so reluctant to eat the stew. Emerald Secret and the other ponies in the Crystal Empire were teetering on the edge of starvation, and he wanted to complain about the food not tasting good? He should have been thankful to get anything considering how many ponies were still waiting for their fair share.

Skeletor took the time to appraise his own body in comparison to Emerald’s. While she was small and thin, he was a towering monolith of muscles. He was at the peak of physical perfection from the neck down, and the mare next to him was a small starving creature.

As Emerald Secret continued to eat the stew that sat in her bowl, Skeletor delicately placed the mostly full goblet of stew in front of her, breaking her out of her food induced trance.

“Here. Take it,” Skeletor quietly said.

“My lord, please, you’re being too generous, I—"

“You’re starving, Emerald, I’m mildly hungry. This isn’t up for debate,” Skeletor stated firmly as he pushed the goblet of stew closer to Emerald before he unfolded his legs and stepped out of his chair.

“Where are you going, my lord?”

“The kitchen. If there’s a way I can help them, I will,” Skeletor promised as he made his way to the door. While helping the ponies would be nice considering that they fed him and took care of him while he was unconscious, his motives for helping were somewhat more selfish than that. He desperately needed something to distract himself so he didn't scream his head off, and if helping in the kitchens could offer him some reprieve from his mental breakdown of sanity then he'd take it.

Emerald Secret sat in silence as she watched Lord Skeletor knock on the kitchen politely door before entering. Once he left the room, she turned her attention to the barely touched goblet of crystalberry jam stew. She gave it a hesitant sniff before she ate a small spoonful of his stew, savoring the flavor as it touched her tongue.

It had been years since she had something actually edible, King Sombra hadn’t allowed anypony either than himself to eat full course meals, only allowing his slaves to survive on the barest minimum to keep them weak against his magic.

Emerald Secret quickly chased away those memories, refusing to allow the tyrant to take residence in her mind and continue to haunt her with memories of the past. Sombra was dead, her new lord had seen to that.

It was all such a strange turn of events; First the Alicorn sisters came to fight Sombra, then they disappeared into the ether, and a demon took up their crusade to put an end to Sombra. Not only that, but it apparently discovered a secret staircase to the tallest tower in the Empire and found the Crystal Heart, giving back to the crystal ponies without hesitation and seemingly oblivious to the painful ramifications that would befall him when they returned the Heart to its pedestal.

It felt as if she was just waiting for the other whorseshoe to drop, for Lord Skeletor to reveal that it was actually all an elaborate ruse. And yet, there he was, leaving Emerald Secret more stew as he went to help the kitchen staff in some capacity.

How is it possible for a demon from Tartarus to have a heart made of honeysuckle? She wondered to herself as she tossed another glance at the kitchen doors. Part of her chastised herself for letting her lord go in unattended while another part of her was overly curious about what he was doing.

Dark magic wasn’t a creative force, so Lord Skeletor most likely wouldn’t be able to use any magic to cook. So, if he couldn’t use magic, how did he expect to help the kitchen staff? It could have been possible that Lord Skeletor’s power wasn’t only limited to dark magic, but having more than one type of magic was considerably rare for ruvas and unicorns. Most ruvas had solely devoted themselves to cooking, medicine, farming, combat, or crystal sculpting.

Sombra was one of the few ponies who knew how to use crystals to amplify his magic, allowing him to dip into forbidden spells and develop an affinity for dark magic. Through his experiments, he was able to create a spell using black quartz to nullify ruva and Alicorn magic, and slaughtered them all so he could rule unopposed.

Emerald Secret pushed the memories of the past with a greater force than before, desperately trying to not let her thoughts linger too long. Loose chains of thought led her down the winding paths of her memories where her dead friends and family lived. Those memories were a constant reminder of what she lost to that monster, of all those who he murdered.

Emerald Secret felt tears building up in her eyes as she failed to avoid recalling the life she had before Sombra. No matter what, nothing would bring them back to her. She had to force herself to move on and forget about them, leave their memories in the past where their smiles and laughter couldn’t haunt her.

Tall mounds of snow littered the streets of the Crystal Empire as everypony prepared for a grand celebration. A smile adorned the muzzle of everypony who was helping fix the Empire, sweeping up rubble and shoveling piles of snow to clean the streets and reclaim their home. Anyopony who wasn’t working was relaxing with a warm bowl of crystalberry jam stew, savoring the first real taste of freedom that they had in three years.

Uproarious cheers and joyful conversations filled the air as everypony talked about their newfound freedom. Families that were once torn apart reunited, friends embraced each other as they mourned those they lost, and separated lovers refused to leave their partner’s side.

Tears of happiness, sorrow, and disbelief fell from hundreds of eyes as they roamed the streets in search of ponies that they desperately hoped were still alive. Unfortunately, many of them would have to accept that the crystal ponies they knew were dead, overworked or tortured to death for Sombra’s sick pleasure.

In order to commemorate those they lost, the ponies chose to carve the cutiemarks of their deceased friends and family into the walls of the tunnels that went into the green caves. Since their bodies were either tossed into the frozen tundra or thrown down the deep pit that rested a few miles away from the Empire, they couldn’t be given a proper send off.

Their bodies would never be graced by the embrace of warm fire, allowing their ashes to be spread over the green caves so they could fertilize the soil, which would have allowed their spirits to help younger generations of ponies survive in the Frozen North as their ancestors did for them. While the ashes of their bodies could not be used to keep the Empire alive, many ponies burned items and went to spread their ashes over the infertile fields underground, giving their families a more symbolic burial while also helping the Empire.

Some ponies were enraged that King Sombra’s corpse was burned, stating that it technically counted as a burial for their old tyrant, even though his ashes were never used to help the farms and gardens in the caverns thrive. His ashes would never taint the fertile fields of life-giving food that laid in the caverns beneath the Empire, protected from the never-ending storm and illuminated by citrine stalactites that hung from the ceiling.

While some of the farms had spontaneously grown into a jungle of crops and vines that were nearly impossible to navigate, a majority of them had completely whitened up and died as if death itself took a stroll through the farm. It was one of the many unexplained anomalies that occurred after Princess Luna and Princess Celestia arrived and subsequently vanished. A majority of the food had either become petrified or rotten, their homes and businesses were shattered, and the ponies they had been forced to fight against disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Rumors about what happened to the Crystal Empire traveled like a fire in a library, each one more extravagant than the last. Some believed that the Goddess of Chaos, Eris, owed a favor to Sombra and repaid the tyrant by snapping her talon claws, causing the Empire to fall into a terrible state of decay. Others theorized that Sombra unleashed a powerful spell to expel the princesses and their army, which in-turn took a heavy toll on the Empire.

The other theories ranged from the impossible to the inane, eldritch gods to distortions in reality itself, and none of them had guessed that they were tossed thousands of years into the future. The crystal ponies were entirely oblivious to the world outside of the magical barrier that protected them from the never-ending winter. To the creatures outside of the Empire, nearly three thousand years had passed since the spell Princess Celestia and Princess Luna placed on Sombra, and only less than a day had passed for the crystal ponies since the arrival and sudden disappearance of the princesses.

As many ponies heavily debated what had happened during their small gap in memory, others busied themselves with working, eating, or listening to an enrapturing tale of a demon slaying a foul king.

Track Record stood on top of a large pile of snow, regaling the crowd of crystal ponies that surrounded him with everything he had witnessed when Lord Skeletor first appeared.

“And with a mighty swing of his scepter, he caved King Sombra’s skull as if it was made of dough!” Track exclaimed proudly to the group of enraptured ponies. “King Sombra screamed in agony as Lord Skeletor continued to fight him, using his own physical strength to attack King Sombra, while the cowardly tyrant only tried to run away in fear. King Sombra launched a volley of spells at Lord Skeletor in rapid succession, nearly obliterating the throne room with his immense power. But, no matter what, Lord Skeletor continued his assault against King Sombra, hitting him again and again until the ruva's horn shattered into a thousand pieces!” He finished.

The crystal ponies surrounding him listened in complete awe as Track recalled the fight between King Sombra and Lord Skeletor. While his descriptions weren’t entirely accurate, since Track looked away as soon as he had free control of his body, he could still hear the battle happening behind him after he averted his eyes.

As Track continued the epic tale of Lord Skeletor’s liberation of the Crystal Empire, a group of royal guards patrolled the streets, helping the citizens by clearing the streets and answering any questions they could. Among the many guards that walked the freshly shoveled streets of the Empire was the captain of the royal guard, Cannon Fodder.

Cannon Fodder was in the midst of moving a large chunk of crystal to an ever-growing pile of derby when he overheard Track’s passionate story, causing him to look at the Crystal Castle with an unwavering glare. While many crystal ponies had accepted Lord Skeletor without hesitation after delivering the Crystal Heart, Cannon Fodder still held onto his suspicions regarding the new demon that sat on the crystal throne.

He knew better than to blindly trust the demon because of two coincidental good deeds. Lord Skeletor didn’t kill Sombra to free the crystal ponies, he did it because Sombra was the first one he saw. And when he handed the Crystal Heart over to Track, he had no real idea of how the Crystal Heart worked or any understanding of how powerful it was. Cannon Fodder knew that if he had woken up to any other pony, and if he did have an iota of an idea of how powerful the Crystal Heart really was, then Skeletor would have done something different, something that would hurt the Empire and its citizens.

And yet, everypony else ate out of his claws, praising him as if he were the world’s first male Alicorn. In Cannon Fodder’s mind, they were too trusting, and too willing to sing the praises of a demon that they hadn’t even met. He wouldn’t allow himself the naive pleasure of being willfully deceived by the demon, letting his guard down so that Lord Skeletor could strike like a viper at any given moment. He'd stay vigilant and alert, ready for whenever Lord Skeletor would reveal his malicious nature to his unwitting subjects.

Cannon Fodder refused to let his guard down after what happened to Princess Amore, and he absolutely refused to kneel down and accept the bipedal demon as his new king. For the moment, he’d act the part of a loyal subject, carrying out his orders without question until the demon got comfortable. And then, he’d strike the monster down and save the Empire from being enslaved again.

All he had to do was wait for the perfect moment to strike, when the demon was at its most vulnerable. Once the demon was dead, the Empire would thrive once more under the leadership of… ... Somepony.

That was unfortunately one of the few hitches in his plans. He had no idea who would take over once the demon was dead. Cannon Fodder wasn’t a politician, so he couldn’t and wouldn’t take the throne, and he, like many other ponies, still wasn’t sure what had happened to the diarchs of Dream Valley.

The sun and moon had fallen and risen over the horizon, leading many ponies to believe that they were either alive or that the unicorns had once again taken up the burden of moving the celestial bodies. Though, even though they still moved, now they moved in an odd way. Instead of rising from the east and setting in the west, the sun now rose from the east until it reached it's apex in the sky and slowly fell back down to below the horizon of the east. What's more, while the moon still rose from the east and set in the west, now it physically dragged the night sky behind it. Cannon Fodder didn't know if this was the doing of the God of Chaos or the incompetency of the unicorns in Dream Vally who were raising the celestial bodies while the sisters recovered. He desperately hoped for the former, knowing that if they were alive, one of them would be able to take the throne once the demon was slain.

But he had no guarantee that the next ruler wouldn’t be an even more despicable monster that would capitalize on their lack of a proper ruler. He had hoped that somepony worthy of the throne would usurp Sombra, and that hope had been spat on with the arrival of a demon. He couldn’t hope for something good to happen, he had to make it happen.

The few minutes that Lord Skeletor worked in the kitchen threatened to turn into eternity as Emerald Secret sat at the table with an empty goblet and an clean bowl. She had no idea what her new lord was doing in the kitchen and she wasn’t too opposed to leaving it as a mystery.

While she somewhat trusted her new lord, she hadn’t crossed the threshold to blind obedience and complete acceptance like Track Record had, so she was a little uncomfortable with leaving her lord unsupervised in the kitchen. She was almost certain that Lord Skeletor wouldn’t do anything to harm or impede the kitchen staff, but a small nagging voice at the back of her mind refused to allow her to fully relax.

The eerie silence of the room also didn’t help her paranoia, the quiet and still air painting a morbid picture in her mind as she wondered what was going on behind that closed door.

She actively reminded herself that Lord Skeletor wasn’t King Sombra but, once again, those thoughts were questioned by the lingering voice that remained at the back of her mind. Each of her greatest concerns and fears came forth to cut down any counter argument, making her question what her feelings were in regards to Lord Skeletor.

She didn’t fully trust the strange creature that appeared from nowhere, but she allowed him the benefit of the doubt after he had returned the Crystal Heart. But, even though she wanted to trust Lord Skeletor, she couldn’t silence the voice at the back of her mind that made her doubt his intentions.

Emerald Secret looked at the door that Lord Skeletor walked through, steeling her resolve to confront the unknown and confirm that she had nothing to worry about.

Swallowing her fear, she stood up and trotted to the door with the bowl and plate in her hooves, giving her an excuse to go inside and see if they were alright.

She hesitantly opened the door to peek into the kitchen, her eyes scanning the room full of busy ponies who were running around with cooking, cleaning dishes, and carrying cauldrons of soup to take to the front of the castle to distribute it.

Once she stepped inside, her bowl and goblet were taken by one of the staff and brought to a large sink. As she watched the pony trot to the sink, her eyes finally fell on Lord Skeletor, towering over the many ponies with a mixing bowl cradled in his left arm. His scepter was slung over his back as he worked, allowing both of his hands to cook.

“Oh, hey… Emerald, right?” Lord Skeletor asked.

“Yes, my lord, Emerald Secret,” she replied as she continued to watch her lord stir the ingredients inside the mixing bowl. “So, have you been helping the kitchen staff cook this whole time?”

“Of course, what did you think I was going to do, just wash dishes?” Skeletor rhetorically asked with a small chuckle.

“No, I suppose I’m just… Surprised that you can cook.”

“Yeah, my grandmother taught me. I used to go to soup kitchens with her to help out on the holidays, I figured I could take some of the things I learned from my time in the kitchens and help out a bit,” Lord Skeletor elaborated as he continued to stir the mixing bowl.

“An entire kitchen dedicated to soup?” Emerald Secret questioned as she searched Lord Skeletor’s skull for any signs of deceit or smug glee.

Of course, Emerald Secret was unable to read his alien facial movements, and the usually blank look of his skull didn’t allow for a wide range of emotions to come across to her. She was, however, able to understand what it meant when a creature shook its head from side to side, even if said head was just a skull.

“Not just soup. Sometimes we’d have sandwiches and other things to serve the homeless who came around Christmas,” Lord Skeletor replied as he poured the contents of the mixing bowl into a cooking pot that hung over a low flame.

“So, how was your stew?” Lord Skeletor asked as he grabbed a jar of crystalberry jam and poured it into the bowl.

“Quite nice, my lord, it reminded me a lot of crystalberry ice-cream. Princess Amore would let the council join in on her desserts at least once a month, and she’d always allow us to get whatever we wanted. Crystalberry ice-cream was my to-go choice whenever the time came around,” Emerald Secret fondly recalled as her mind wandered to a better time.

She quickly pushed the memories of her princess to the back of her mind where it would join the rest of the memories of those she lost. “My lord, I’m sorry to interrupt your work but we need to attend to other matters now that you’re awake.”


“Like what?” Lord Skeletor asked as he stopped stirring his mixing bowl.

“Well, you need to address your subjects, my lord. Many of the ponies are worried about everything and need leadership. Making an announcement that you usurped Sombra would put many of their worries at ease.”

Lord Skeletor went rigid as those words reached his nonexistent ears. “A… Anouncment? Like… Like a crowd?” He apprehensively asked.

“Only a few thousand ponies, my lord. I’d hate to pry you away from helping the staff, but this is of the utmost importance,” Emerald Secret informed him.

“W-Well I uhhh, I-I’m just so busy helping the chefs and I—“

“Don’t worry about it, your highness,” the head chef, Pan, said to Lord Skeletor as he took the mixing bowl from his claws. “You’ve helped out enough with us, don’t need to get your… your uh…. hands! That’s it! Don’t need to get your hands any dirtier helping us. We all appreciate your help, your highness, but me and the colts can take care of the rest. Ain’t that right, colts!?” Pan shouted over his shoulder to the many cooks and cleaners.

A chorus of, “Yes Chef!” was his instant reply.

“See? We’re all good here, your highness. Go take care of the citizens, me and the colts will prepare some lunch for you later,” Pan said as he led Lord Skeletor and Emerald Secret out the door.

“B-b-But I can do more, surely!” Lord Skeletor practically begged as Pan escorted them over the threshold of the kitchen.

“Don’t worry your pretty little… Skull over it, your highness. We can handle ourselves. Take care out there, your highness,” Pan replied before he shut the door, not allowing Lord Skeletor to get any final say in the matter.

Emerald Secret’s hairs stood on end as she saw the door close right in front of her new lord, flashbacks of Sombra’s temper tantrums playing in her mind as an orchestra of agonizing screams sung in the background of her thoughts. She instinctively braced herself for whatever her dark lord would do next.

As Emerald Secret prepared for a cascade of anger to flow from Lord Skeletor, obliterating anything that even slightly upset him, Lord Skeletor took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

“Oooookay… Talk to a crowd… I can do that…” Lord Skeletor quietly said as he walked over to the large doors of the dining room.

“Talking to a crowd… Of ponies… That I’m the king of….” Lord Skeletor stated with a nervous chuckle. “Ooookay. That's fine, it's fine... Fuck me...”

Emerald Secret stared at her new lord in complete bafflement, wondering why anything that wasn’t nailed down wasn’t thrown across the room or on fire. She had to actively remind herself that Lord Skeletor wasn’t Sombra, she shouldn’t have expected him to act exactly like him.

“Are you coming, Emerald?” Lord Skeletor asked her, causing her to shake herself out of her stupor.

“Y-yes, my lord!” Emerald Secret called out as she quickly trotted to the doors.

The sun slowly approached its peak in the sky as Cannon Fodder and the other guards stood at the entrance of the balcony that overlooked the Crystal Empire, waiting for Lord Skeletor to arrive and speak to his subjects.

Thousands of ponies below the castle gathered to get a glimpse of their new lord, counting the seconds that it took for their mysterious master to make a public appearance. All they had to go off of were the vivid descriptions Track had given them, which quickly became muddled and confusing as more gossiping and exaggerating ponies spread their own ideas of what Lord Skeletor looked like.

Each pony had their own version of what they thought he looked like with one of the very few consistent factors being his skeletal face and bipedal body. And even then, ponies took the opportunity to greatly exaggerate those features, creating allusions that he was a giant that towered over the buildings and inventing stories where he wore the skulls of his enemies as trophies.

He was able to catch a few of the many bits of gossip that rang through the crowd, ignoring some of the more absurd parts such as Skeletor having wings or him having a second head inside his mouth. Cannon Fodder soon turned his attention away from the crowd gave the door an untrusting glare that went unnoticed by any of the other guards, scowling as he imagined Lord Skeletor marching through the doors with the same smug confidence Sombra wore.

After a few minutes of silently glaring at the door, Cannon Fodder returned to his stoic appearance as the doors began to open.

The crowd below the balcony immediately fell silent as Lord Skeletor walked through the doors with deliberate slowness, each step lasting longer than it should have as he made his way to the railing. Cannon Fodder’s eyes locked onto the scepter that Lord firmly held in his grasp, parading the skull of an enemy as if it were a trophy.

He had no idea who the ram skull belonged to and he quite frankly wasn’t too interested in who it was. All that mattered is that Skeletor had slaughtered another creature and used its head as a decoration.

Once Lord Skeletor finally reached the edge of the balcony, his advisor, Emerald Secret, joined his side, prompting Cannon Fodder to trot up to Skeletor’s other side. As the only two council members left from Princess Amore’s council, he and Emerald Secret needed to stand by their new lord to ease the ponies and show their support for their new lord. Cannon Fodder wasn’t thrilled about deceiving the ponies into believing that he supported Skeletor, but the new council members made it clear that it was necessary to ease the transition of power and show the crystal ponies that they were safe.

“H-hello my… My subjects,” Skeletor hesitantly announced to his crowd of admirers.

Brilliant smiles filled the faces of every mare and stallion in the crowd, and lively eyes stared at him in appreciation and wonder as they dedicated his image to their memories. Cannon Fodder was able to notice that a few ponies in the crowd backed away slightly once Lord Skeletor spoke, but maintained their composure to not show open fear.

“I want you to know that, starting today, you are all free…” Skeletor announced to the amassed ponies.

Silence once again dominated the air as Lord Skeletor’s words hung in the air.

“Free what?” One of the crystal ponies in the crowd shouted.

Hundreds of ponies flinched at that question, fearing that Lord Skeletor would seek retribution for being interrupted by somepony. Even Cannon Fodder shrunk back at the sudden question, wondering if he could keep up his facade of loyalty if Lord Skeletor ordered the pony to be cut down.

“Um… J-just free? Like, not slaves anymore?” Skeletor explained.

The air stood still for only a moment before a thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the crowd below them, causing Lord Skeletor to jump back in surprise. Cannon Fodder had to suppress a small smile that would have given away his hidden glee. Lord Skeletor had revealed that he could be taken by surprise and even startled, meaning that he wasn’t omnipotent and he was easily startled.

As the chorus of cheers died down another pony shouted a question to Lord Skeletor, emboldened by the last pony’s question. “What are we going to do with the Empire?”

“Great Question, citizen!” Lord Skeletor told them, before he kneeled down to Emerald Secret and whispered to her in a panicked voice. “What else do I say!?”

“Well, what do you plan to do as the new lord?” Emerald Secret replied.

“I don’t know!” Lord Skeletor whispered back before he stood up to his full height to address his eagerly waiting crowd.

“Ahem. As the new lord of the Crystal Empire, I… Promise an era of prosperity and happiness for all of you! I Uhhh… You see I-I believe that together, we can make a better Empire, one you will be proud to call your home!” Lord Skeletor announced to his crowd, causing an uproar of cheers. “Yes! We are stronger together, than we are when we’re divided. Together, we will lead the Empire into a brighter tomorrow and start an era of peace and prosperity!” He promised, causing more cheers to erupt from the crowd.

Cannon Fodder looked at Lord Skeletor, briefly letting down his guard as he attempted to reevaluate the demon turned king. With a quick yet subtle shake of his head, he banished those thoughts from his mind and returned to his stoic position and plan.

If it weren’t for the power vacuum created by Lord Skeletor’s death, Cannon Fodder may not have hesitated to run a spear through Skeletor’s abdomen. He could wait until a capable leader was found to fill that position of power, and then he’d be able to rid the Empire of the new demon.

“Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I… I have important plans to start!” Lord Skeletor quickly said before he turned on his heels and made his way towards the balcony doors.

Cannon Fodder and Emerald Secret soon followed him through the doors as he departed, Emerald Secret trotting in front of her new lord to lead him to their next destination.

“Oh god, that was terrible…” Lord Skeletor complained as he held a hand to his face.

“I thought it was a wonderful speech, my lord,” Emerald Secret reassured him.

“You and I have two very different ideas of ‘wonderful’ then,” Lord Skeletor complained as he followed Emerald Secret down a corridor that was decorated with large blank canvas frames made of bismuth.

“Where are we going, exactly?” He asked Emerald Secret as he tried to look for a hint of paint anywhere on the blank canvas.

The frames had once held portraits of King Sombra during his rule, but with the crystal ponies’ new-found freedom, they searched for any artwork of the old king and burned them to ash, using them to fuel the fires that kept the citizens warm as they cleared the streets of snow.

“The meeting room, my lord. The other council members are already there waiting for us,” Emerald Secret replied as she continued trotting down the hallway with Lord Skeletor and Cannon Fodder in tow.

“Council?” Lord Skeletor questioned the green mare.

“They divide tasks to carry out your orders. For example, if you ever wanted or needed to be involved with military strategy or know about the guards in the Empire, you would go to Cannon Fodder for that,” Cannon Fodder didn’t appreciate being used as an example by Emerald Secret, but elected to not voice his aggravation with her.

“If you need to talk about issues involving finances or using the treasury Avid Value will be the pony you’ll want to speak to. As your Advisor, I have a seat on the council to advise you of decisions and how they could affect the average pony. Sombra… He disbanded—” Murdered Cannon Fodder bitterly thought as he mentally chastised Emerald Secret for her choice of wording. “—the council. Cannon Fodder and myself are the only ones from the last council, all others are new except for Copper Plate. She retired from the council a few years before Sombra’s rise to power, so he never took any interest in her.”

“Huh… Like Game of Thrones...” Lord Skeletor muttered under his breath.

“What game, my lord?” Emerald Secret asked.

“Nothing!” Lord Skeletor quickly exclaimed, causing Cannon Fodder and Emerald Secret to tense up. “Er-I mean aaah, it was nothing. Just forget I said anything,” Lord Skeletor said in a quieter tone as they continued to move towards the council chamber.

The air stood still as they continued forward, none of them too eager to break the now established silence after Lord Skeletor’s sudden reaction to Emerald Secret’s question for clarity. Thankfully, they didn’t have to stay immersed in silence for long as the sound of muffled bickering from the last door of the hall began to reach their ears.

A verbal jousting match of insults between two stallions arguing over who was being the bigger idiot. It wasn’t until the doors began to open that their unintelligible argument became clear.

“—you hedge-born levereter!” A regal voice shouted, which was answered by a voice made of silk that came from the other stallion.

“Levereter?! You pompous prick, I’m trying to make sure the Empire is standing!”

“The Empire stands for its citizens, and the citizens need the Fair you sorner!”

“Oh, so now I’m a sorner? That’s funny coming from a smell-feast like you!”

“Quiet!” A third elderly voice shouted as the door opened up completely, revealing two stallions and an old mare sitting at a circular table with two open seats and one unoccupied throne.

The owner of the third voice, an old mare with lavender fur, a graying mane, and a pair of thick brim glasses, turned her attention to the three new occupants of the room. “Lord Skeletor, Emerald Secret, General Cannon Fodder, thank you for attending today,” she said as she bowed her head, prompting the other two stallions to follow suit.

One of the stallions had a blue coat of fur and slightly lighter blue hair that was combed back and trimmed to give it a sleek look. The stallion wore a black tuxedo coat that appeared to be made specifically for his body, allowing him to give off a more noble look than the other two ponies. The twin tails of his tailor-made suit nearly covered the images of a pair of diamond encrusted hand mirror on each of his flanks, only allowing a small amount of the handle to be seen.

The other stallion was much smaller than the other two by about a head and didn’t wear a scrap of clothing. His brown coat was on full display, shimmering in the candlelight of the room like his black mane and tail. An image of three differently sized stacks of gold coins adorned both of his flanks, showing his talent at handling money and organizing funds.

“Uh, hi miss….” Lord Skeletor trailed off as he waited for somepony to finish for him.

“Copper Plate," she answered.

“Thanks. Um, so this is the council I presume?” Lord Skeletor asked as he took a seat on his personal seat.

Even though the chair was designed for larger ponies like Sombra, the chair looked relatively small compared to Lord Skeletor. The back of the chair only came up to the base of his nonexistent neck and the cushion sank deeply into the seat of the chair as he placed himself down on it. In contrast to Lord Skeletor’s obvious discomfort, Cannon Fodder and Emerald Secret took their seats without any issue.

“Allow us to introduce ourselves to our new lord,” Emerald Secret announced as she took the seat next to Lord Skeletor’s right. “I am Emerald Secret, your royal advisor. It is my sworn duty to advise you on decisions that… Require a different perspective on the matter,” she said carefully, as she avoided using any words that would question Lord Skeletor’s skills as a leader.

When Emerald Secret finished her introductions, she turned to the blue stallion sitting to her right, prompting him to introduce himself. “Greetings, Lord Skeletor, I am Crumb Catcher,” he said with a polite bow. “I supervise the staff whom serve your meals, clean the castle, and keep everything pristine. Aside from my duty as head of staff, my duty is to bring whispers of gossip or relevant news to you that could help please your little ponies, Lord Skeletor. I also act as the Royal Spymaster, weeding out any ponies who may have ill intentions and wish to harm you. Rest assured, I will do everything in my power to make sure you are safe, Lord Skeletor.”

Lord Skeletor slightly nodded in satisfaction at Crumb Catcher’s introduction before the brown coated stallion went next. “I’m Avid Value, your highness. I oversee the Empire’s treasury, imports, and exports, making sure that we have enough money to keep the Empire standing. It’s an honor to serve you, your highness.”

“Fustilarian,” Crumb Catcher muttered under his breath.

Thankfully, before another argument could erupt between Crumb Catcher and Avid Value, Copper Plate cleared her throat and spoke to her new lord.

“Greetings, your majesty, my name is Copper Plate, I am the head of archives for the Crystal Empire. Emerald Secret told me that you may want to look into some of the Empire’s history at some point. If you do, then please know that the archives would be more than willing to supply you with any information you need,” Copper Plate finished with a courteous bow to her lord.

All of the council members and their lord turned their attention to the last pony at the table who sat with a stoic expression on his face as he stared at a random spot in space.

“General Cannon Fodder, reporting for duty… Sir,” Cannon Fodder said emotionlessly.

An intense stillness filled the room as everypony, sans Lord Skeletor, stared at Cannon Fodder with wide eyes at his introduction.

“Uh, he’s in charge of the military and guard patrols, my lord,” Emerald Secret added on as she shot Cannon Fodder a quick look from the corner of her eye.

Cannon Fodder kept his stoic expression as Lord Skeletor silently evaluated him, seeming more surprised than angry at Cannon Fodder’s abrasive tone. He looked at the burgundy colored stallion with an inquisitive gaze, his eye sockets dancing across the platinum armor that covered his body and hid the image of a shield that was present on both of his flanks.

“Very… Interesting names…” Lord Skeletor commented idly as he squirmed in his throne, trying to find a more comfortable position to sit in.

“So… What uh… What do we do?” Lord Skeletor asked his council.

Crumb Catcher released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as Lord Skeletor redirected the attention of the council to their work. “The last item that was up for discussion was the Crystal Fair, which was postponed until we could speak with you, Lord Skeletor,” Crumb Catcher stated.

“What’s the Crystal Fair?”

“The Crystal Fair was established by Princess Amore so that we could renew the spirit of love and unity in the Empire so we could protect it from harm. This’ll be our first Crystal Fair in three years after… After what happened,” Emerald Secret explained to him. “Some of your subjects wanted to celebrate right away, but we decided it would be best to wait for your recovery first.”

“But before we do any of that, we need to discuss restructuring the Empire,” Avid Value interjected.

“I think the moral of the citizens should take priority in this matter, Avid,” Crumb Catcher countered.

“Morale won’t mean much when a roof falls on their head and they die, Crumb Sucker,” Avid Value argued.

“Will you two stop acting like little colts!” Copper Plate shouted as she threw a soul crushing glare at each of the stallions.

Crumb Catcher quickly stood up from his chair and pointed an accusing hood at Avid Value. “He Sta—"

“I don’t care who started it, I care about who will end it, and that’s Lord Skeletor’s decision,” Copper Plate interrupted. “You’re at the big mare’s table now, so act like a grownup and not like a foal. Both of you!” She added on after noticing Avid Value stick his tongue out at Crumb Catcher.

Copper Plate sighed to herself before she bowed to her new lord. “Apologies, my lord. These two are still new to this position, I’m sorry for their actions and I beg that you be merciful towards them,” She apologized.

Lord Skeletor stared at the mare for a few brief moments, his gaze flicking from her to everypony else in the room. Even though Cannon Fodder and the others couldn’t see his eyes, and weren’t even sure if he had any, they could still feel something looking at them that sent shivers down their spines. It was similar to the feeling of being alone in the darkness, the power of paranoia creating imaginary enemies that stalked them from the edges of the shadows as if they were prey.

“Um, it’s alright, ma’am,” Lord Skeletor eventually said as he held up a hand.

“So, my lord, what do you think?” Emerald Secret asked.

“About what?”

“The last topic. Should we put our resources towards repairing the Empire or helping the morale of our citizens through the first Crystal Faire in three years?” She elaborated.

“Oh! Right… Uh... I guess…” Lord Skeletor paused for a few moments as he stroked his lower jaw with a finger, debating the best course of action for the council’s time and funds. “Put priority on the hospitals and... uh, residentials?” The new lord guessed, which earned an enthusiastic nod from Emerald Secret as she wrote that down for the records of Lord Skeletor’s decisions.

“Excellent choice, sire," Avid Value stated. "Now we can approach the issue of our budget.”

“Alright, so uh…. How does it look?”

“... We honestly have no idea, sire,” Avid Value admitted with a hint of sorrow. “The treasury was locked by Sombra when he took over the Empire. Only a unicorn, ruva, or other creature wielding dark magic could open it; and since you have dark magic we were wondering if you’d be willing to unlock the treasury for us to access.”

“Dark magic?” Lord Skeletor questioned before he looked at the golden horned ram skull on his scepter. “Right… Right, dark magic… fuck me, it’s dark magic. Ahem, so where is the treasury?”

“It was moved to the vault directly under Sombra’s bedchambers, which is technically now your bedchamber, I suppose. We don’t know if there’s an entrance from your room, your highness, but we do know that the front entrance was locked with a complex spell that none of us could unlock,” Avid Value told Lord Skeletor.

“Alright… So, should we get it open now then?” Lord Skeletor asked his council.


“If you wouldn’t mind, your highness, I think that would be an excellent idea.”

“But we still need to discuss other concerns,” Crumb Catcher stated. “We can unlock the vault after attending to other pressing issues.”

“What’s more pressing than getting bits back in the hooves of the citizens and paying somepony to fix the buildings?” Avid Value asked with a glare.

“That right there. We need to discuss what we’ll do with the bits. Who gets them first? Do we pay the guard first or the builders? What about the cooks and the bakers? When will they be paid? We need to think these issues through before we leap to a decision.”

“We should at least know how many bits we have before we decide who to pay.”

“It’s a vault, it’ll be brimming with bits.”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“Colts!” Copper Plate shouted again, earning everypony’s attention as she did so. “Don’t argue points to each other, convince your lord. This is a council, all decisions are made by Lord Skeletor, and you won’t get anything done if you’re trying to shout at each other and not acknowledge your lord,” she chastised the arguing duo.

Both of the stallions muttered quiet apologies to Copper Plate before turning their attention to Lord Skeletor. Thankfully, before either of them could continue their attempts to persuade Lord Skeletor, while subtly insulting the other council member, Lord Skeletor held up a hand to preemptively silence them.

“I… I think we should check the vault. We can’t make any decisions without knowing how much… bits you have,” Lord Skeletor stated as he stood up from his small throne. “Let’s go unlock this thing and get it over with. Rip off the band-aid, so to speak.”

Once again, neither Cannon Fodder nor the other members of his councils understood his last statement and decided not to question their lord or ask for a more detailed explanation about band-aids as they stood up from their seats.

Emerald Secret held the door for her new lord and fellow council members as Avid Value led them all to the vault. Cannon Fodder decided to take the rear of their little group, staring intently at Lord Skeletor’s hands as he waited for the demon to show the slightest hint of hostility. He briefly debated if one of the other council members could take Skeletor’s place as ruler of the Empire if he killed the demon right then and there.

Copper Plate was more of a scholar than a leader, Avid Value and Crumb Catcher were too inexperienced, both of them only being trainees to the previous council members when Sombra rose to power, which only left Emerald Secret. Cannon Fodder didn’t have the patience to listen to whatever nobles were left drone on about problems that don’t matter, and he wasn’t sure how long he could listen to them before considering stupidity a capital offense punishable by death. Emerald Secret seemed to be the prime candidate for princess, even if she wasn’t an Alicorn like Princess Amore was.

She had spent more time with the princess than most of the other council members combined, allowing her to learn the princess’ intimate secrets. For all intense purposes, Emerald Secret seemed to be the perfect candidate to take the throne, but her new views towards Lord Skeletor would make convincing her to rise to power an uphill battle against both her and the demon.

As Cannon Fodder went through the list of ponies who could possibly help him kill the demon and ponies who could take the throne, he and the rest of the council made their way down the stairs and towards the vault door.

The large iron door that separated the crystal ponies from their bits and treasures, money and antiques the tyrant had stolen from his ponies driving them into financial ruin which prevented them from paying smugglers to help them escape the Empire.

Appraising the door by pressing a hand against the cold surface of the iron, Lord Skeletor ran his fingers across the smooth surface of the door.

“Well, it worked once…” Lord Skeletor said to himself as he raised his scepter and slammed it against the door.

A loud clang rang throughout the hallway as spurts of dark magic flew off the ram skull’s horns once it hit the vault door. Everypony within earshot flinched at the noise as the sparks of dark magic sank into the door with an ear-piercing screech.

Cannon Fodder and the other council members, along with the few guards who had witnessed Lord Skeletor’s methods were… Surprised, for a lack of a better term, since they had expected something more eloquent than hitting the door with a skull. Thankfully, while his methods were questionable, they were very effective.

Streams of dark magic phased through the enchantments placed on the iron door, easily untying the intricate spells that prevented even the most powerful of mages from unlocking it. The door slowly creaked open to reveal a room of gold coins that nearly buried the council and Lord Skeletor as the door opened, a tidal wave of shimmering gold that came up to their chests as it poured out and came up to Lord Skeletor’s thigh. A few more coins trickled down the large pile

“Scrooge McDuck, eat your heart out…” Lord Skeletor mumbled as he stared at the large collection of gold coins.

Cannon Fodder and the others didn’t know who Lord Skeletor was talking about, and they all silently elected not to prod him for an explanation.

Lord Skeletor kneeled down to grab a handful of solid gold coins, feeling them trickle between his fingers as they fell back into the pile. A look of pure awe and amazement washed over the demon’s face as he examined the gold coins, looking closely at the designs of Princess Amore that were engraved on each bit. It was a parody of the princess that completely failed to capture the raw beauty that emanated off princess Amore. Each golden bit was simply a bastardization of her visage in comparison to her, but they were one of the few images of her that remained in the Empire after Sombra’s rise to power.

“My word…” Avid Value mumbled as he stared at the pool of valuables that filled the hole. “This is… This is terrible…”

“What?” Skeletor asked as he felt the gold coins slip through his fingers.

“I didn’t think Sombra had used so much of the Empire’s resources to ally himself with the few measly dragons he found. Even in death that tyrant found a way to vex us!” Avid Value shouted as he stomped his hoof on the ground.

Skeletor looked back at the pit of treasure in disbelief. “Are you kidding me, this is huge, Avid. It’s a load of solid gold!” He shouted as he grabbed a handful of gold and held it up to Avid Value’s face.

“Exactly, your highness. This is a meager amount of money compared to what we had I was younger. Copper and brass used to bury this pitiful amount of change under a mountain of value and treasure. But this… Bucking Sombra, I can’t believe he would deplete our resources like this!”

“Copper? Guys, this is gold! Gooooold. How can brass and copper compare to this?”

“Because it’s more valuable… Sire, you do know that gold is the lowest unit of currency in Equestria, right?” Avid Value asked Lord Skeletor.

Skeletor’s face turned back towards the thousands of gold coins that spilled between his fingers staring at the almost worthless treasure that he was sitting in. None of them understood how their lord’s skeletal face could show such a variety of expressions, but they knew what disappointment looked like on any creature. It was as if Lord Skeletor had been told that there was no such thing as the tooth pixie and that all the bits under his bed were just loose change his parents had lying around.

Does he even have parents? Cannon Fodder idly wondered. He quickly banished the thought of Lord Skeletor’s parents from his mind after only succeeding in conjuring images of much more demonic versions of Skeletor. He didn’t need to know or think about his past to know that Lord Skeletor was just a demon spawned from the depths of Tartarus. And the mental image of Skeletor with lipstick and eyeliner unnerved Cannon Fodder to no end.

“So... This is just pennies...” He said quietly after a few moments of contemplation.

“I’m not sure what that word means, your highness.”

“It means this is worthless… What should we do?” Lord Skeletor asked Avid Value in complete fear.

“I uh… I’m not sure.” Avid Value weakly admitted.

Lord Skeletor shook his skull back and forth as he looked at the collection of gold bits with terror. “Nononononono. There’s … There’s gotta be something we can do. What if we offer them an I.O.U. with interest?” Lord Skeletor desperately asked his advisor.

“Um, could you elaborate, sire? I’m afraid that I’m not familiar with that term,” Emerald Secret asked.

“We simply promise the citizens recomposition over time, possibly promising their descendants interest over the course of their lives. The Empire will technically be in debt to its citizens,” Lord Skeletor elaborated as he began to pace back and forth on the pile of bits, more or less talking to himself rather than his council.

“If we go through with this it’ll possibly hurt in the long haul, maybe amassing about a million dollars or so, but if we don’t then we’ll have an uprising of angry citizens who don’t know what we’re doing… Assuming they’ll even like the idea of an I.O.U. Fuck me, how do you pay someone in promises, we’d need at least a hundred contracts and something to use as an indicator for our wealth. America had most of its gold in Fort Knox, but gold is worthless here… Wait… This could work,” Lord Skeletor said to himself as he picked up a gold coin.

“How much is this worth?” Lord Skeletor asked his council as he held the coin towards them.

“That’s a five bit, your highness,” Avid Value answered.

“And what does that equate to in crystals?”

“Uh, it depends on the crystal, my lord. Why do you ask?” Emerald Secret asked.

“Where I’m from, we have a saying. ‘it’s worth its weight in gold.’ The term was used to describe the value of salt for another country since they never had it before. To them, salt was the most valuable resource around. If brass and copper are the most valuable metals, and we don’t have any of that, we need something of equal or greater value to equate these coins to,” Lord Skeletor explained to his council.

“You could buy salt for less than a bit in your country?” Crumb Catcher asked with a surprised tone. “Your lands are… Interesting, Lord Skeletor. Unfortunately, Dream Valley is the only place where ponies have been able to find large deposits of salt. The Empire doesn’t have any export or valuable materials aside from crystals, and most crystals are more abundant than gold. We do have platinum and iron, and while this are valuable, they’re mainly used for armor and weapons.”

“… By any chance, do you know what steel is?”

“Sorry, sire, but I don’t think any of us know what that is.”

A wicked grin split across his skeletal face as he looked at the door. “Thank you, Professor Steiner,” Lord Skeletor quietly said before he turned back to the council. “If we could use something as a promise of how much wealth the Empire has, we can promise the citizens a portion of that wealth for accepting its value. It’ll be nearly impossible for them to accept the idea of gold suddenly skyrocketing in value without something more valuable that these coins could be measured against. Avid, how much is this vault door worth?”

“Including specialized enchantments? A few thousand bits, but it’s not like we can sell the door to anypony.”

“And what if it was an even stronger metal, a metal that was so stronger than iron, and technically the rarest metal in all of the Empire?”

“Something stronger than iron? The only thing stronger than iron is enchanted iron,” Cannon Fodder stated.

“And steel,” Lord Skeletor replied firmly. “It’s also the only thing this Empire doesn’t have that it can reasonably get. Or, well, make. If we make a certain amount of steel and limit the amount of steel released to the public, we can make something more valuable than all of the scraps of brass and copper in the Empire. Sure, those small sums of brass and copper will be valuable, but nowhere near as valuable as a metal that doesn't even exist yet. I need a blacksmith, a couple of them, and an alchemist or two. You have alchemists, right?” Lord Skeletor asked them.

“A few, but not many. Most of them work in the royal archives alongside me, your majesty. How soon would you like them?” Copper Plate asked her lord.

“Immediately. Cannon, I assume you know where the blacksmiths who made your armor are. Find them and bring them to the council room immediately. I want this issue resolved as soon as possible. Crumb Catcher, get somepony to organize these… bits into neat and tidy stacks. Avid, I want every bit accounted for so you’ll help Crumb Catcher oversee the maids or whoever he gets to clean this up. Emerald, come with me back to the council room,” Lord Skeletor ordered his council.

Cannon Fodder and the others nodded at their lord’s orders, dispersing once they were delivered to set his plan into action. Cannon Fodder wasn’t too sure how much he could trust Lord Skeletor’s promise of a metal stronger than enchanted armor. But on the very, minuscule, minute chance that it could work, he’d be willing to try it if it didn’t involve blood magic or sacrifices.

Skeletor walked silently through the hallways of the once luscious castle, a frown etched on his skeletal face as he stared at the fires that lit the halls. The flames flickered and danced on the candle chandeliers that lined the dark hallways of the Crystal Castle. Despite the light offered by the fires that hung above his head, it could barely pierce the thick darkness that enveloped the hallways.

He looked at the slightly swaying forms of the crystal guards, each guard fighting a battle against their own bodies as they tried to win the war against sleep. As Skeletor looked at the pony who was guiding him down the many halls, he noticed that the orange stallion also appeared to be beating off sleep deprivation with a twig. The guard’s eyes threatened to close permanently with each slow blink as he led Skeletor to his bedroom, fighting the urge to fall asleep mid step.

Skeletor turned his attention back to the lavish walls made of crystal, not noticing the subtlety of the love magic that was woven into the cracks of the castle. The hypnotic beauty that radiated off of the walls nearly lulled him into a blissful sleep that managed to calm his already shot nerves.

He was no one on Earth, just a directionless man who wanted to live until he was eighty. Now though, he was lucky if he’d live another eighty seconds. Skeletor still waited for a blade that never came, an angry guard who wanted to avenge King Sombra, or an army of citizens who despised his rule.

One of the things he feared most was the ponies uprising because he had said the Empire’s equivalent of, “Let them eat cake.” That dumbass line got a queen in his world beheaded when her subjects complained about not having any bread to eat, and Skeletor desperately wanted to avoid having his head placed on the chopping block for poor word choice.

The finance situation almost made Skeletor’s heart writher up and die as despair overwhelmed his mind. Money often led people to take drastic measures in order to attain wealth and power, the lower class clawing their way to the top through a multitude of methods, which could easily include his corpse being used as a stepping stone for someone who wanted it badly enough.

Hopefully the alchemists and blacksmiths could take the basic knowledge he had about steel and create at least a few bars of it. He only had the most basic of knowledge thanks to his science teacher’s absurd fixation with metals and incorporating them into his lessons and lectures, and Skeletor had been so tempted to let those memories of high school fade into the recesses of his mind. Thankfully, that annoyingly catchy song his teacher played on loop during study hall had made that nigh impossible, allowing him to call back on the knowledge that he kept hidden away at the back of his mind with the rest of his unimportant thoughts and memories.

Even one bar of steel could promise a great profit for the Empire, and give Skeletor a bit of breathing room before his new subjects came to smother him with demands. But if his plan didn’t work, he’d be paying his subjects/murderers in his own blood once they rose up to overthrow him.

As his thoughts took a grim turn towards every worst-case scenario, he failed to notice that the guard in front of him coming to a stop, causing him to accidentally bump the stallion's rear with his leg. The guard jumped at the physical contact and quickly galloped away from Skeletor as if he was about to be flailed.

“Oh! S-sorry,” Skeletor quickly apologized as he shouted to the stallion. His apology fell on deaf ears as the guard galloped down the hallway.

He briefly considered running after the pony, but quickly tossed that thought away with a powerful yawn. Skeletor turned his attention to the guard posted next to the door, noticing how the guard was suddenly much livelier and more attentive.

“Um… This wouldn’t happen to be my room, would it?” Skeletor asked as he pointed at the door.

“Yes, Lord Skeletor, these are your private chambers,” the guard replied stoically.

Skeletor barely noticed the hint of worry in the stallion’s voice and wouldn’t have assumed anything was wrong if it weren’t for the light shaking of the guard’s armor. Skeletor decided to leave before he ended up scaring the pony enough to run a sword through his chest. His girlfriend’s love of animals had taught him the importance of a fight or flight response and when he should avoid a scared animal, which was 99.999% of the time if he wanted to keep his fingers or, more importantly, his life.

He quickly opened the door and closed it behind him, allowing him to escape to the sanctuary of his new bedchambers as he felt the weight of recent events fall on him. Thrusted into a strange world, in a body that wasn’t his, and forced into a position of overwhelming power he didn’t want. While the idea of holding such power on Earth felt immensely appealing to him, the actual practice of ruling had been… Stressful, for lack of a better term.

Skeletor slid down the door frame as he leaned against it, holding his knees against his chest while he breathed in deeply.

“Fuck,” he said as he banged the parietal bone of his skull against the door. His invisible eyes lazily danced around the room as he lost himself in the mess of memories he had created in the last day and a half.

The candle that rested on the nightstand next to his new bed shone with a steady green flame, illuminating the interior of Lord Skeletor’s room with an ominous green glow. His eye sockets glanced at the royal sized bed with four posts that dwarfed his old one in length and width, but was much closer to the floor than he would have preferred, only standing a little bit taller than the tables in the dining hall.

He looked around the rest of the lavishly furnished room that was decorated with the finest silks and fabrics money could buy, or an evil tyrant could steal. It was more likely the latter of the two.

A large mirror sat on a wooden dresser across from the bed on the other side of the room. The wooden dresser sagged to the side as the wood struggled to stop the spread of rot that ate away at it. A wooden cupboard in a similar state of disrepair sat directly across from Skeletor on the other side of the room which Skeletor could tell only came up to his shoulders. The only wooden furniture that wasn’t rotting away was a bookcase that was lined with ancient tomes.

As far as Skeletor could tell, those were the only pieces of wooden furniture that he ran across in the castle, everything else was either made of crystal or platinum. It made sense, there weren’t a lot of trees to cut down for wood in the frozen tundra outside the Empire.

The final thing that Skeletor’s eyes landed on was a stain-glass window, right next to the wooden cupboard, that let streams of moonlight flow into the room. The image of King Sombra stared back at Skeletor with a sly grin on his face as he looked into Skeletor’s soul. Skeletor got off of the floor to walk towards the window glaring into the jade colored eyes of the grey colored stallion.

“You… You fucking did this, didn’t you?” Skeletor accused as he pointed a finger at the imitation of King Sombra.

It was the only thing that made sense to Skeletor, one minute he was buying a prop from a man in a leather hoodie, and the next he was in the middle of literally nowhere. And then, when he passed out, he was suddenly in front of the evil stallion in a void of darkness.

But why would King Sombra do that? Did he want a monster to serve him, did he purposefully make Skeletor look like the character he was dressed as at comic-con? Did he also mess with his memories to make him forget his real name and face? He could remember a few parts of his old body, like the mole on his right arm that was missing, the scar his cat gave him on his hand when he had stupidly pulled her tail, the discolored patch of skin that was on his knee that he could never explain, they were all gone. His skin was nearly flawless if he ignored the unnatural color and the darker patch of blue on his right arm where King Sombra hit him.

Sombra… He had stolen everything from Skeletor. He ripped him from his home, his family, his friends, everything. Skeletor felt his knuckles turn white as the grip around his Havoc Staff tightened. In a flash of fury, Skeletor smashed the window with his staff, letting shards of glass rain down to the streets. He continued taking his aggression out on the window, striking it with enough force to send the shards of glass flying across the street.

Skeletor stared at his handiwork with an exhausted gaze, several shards of glass stuck to the edge of the frame as more rays of moonlight poured through the gaping hole in his wall. Bathed in the light of the moon, Skeletor looked out to the Empire, hundreds of candle lights illuminating the few houses that withstood the test of time. His anger slightly diminished as his eye sockets caught the moon, it’s enchanting beauty reminding him of his home on Earth.

The angelic glow of the celestial body was perfectly framed by the alignment of alien stars that filled the sky. He felt his pent-up aggression melt away as his memories carried him back to a better time, a moment when he and his girlfriend Evelyn were stargazing, watching a meteor shower that he didn’t much care for at the time.

The outdoors were cold, the grass was too damp, he hadn’t brought a blanket since he assumed they would be sitting in their car, and the meteor shower was nothing too special. Sure, it was nice for a few moments, but it failed to capture that sense of childlike wonder he had when he had seen fireworks for the first time, or when he saw his first ever Super Moon. Watching a meteor shower meant almost nothing to him, and he might have not gone to see it if it weren’t for his girlfriend’s enthusiasm.

Evelyn was his complete opposite, a girl who lived life by doing things that made her happy, enjoying the beauty of nature and all the wonders the world had to offer. He didn’t like being adventurous, he didn’t like going outside, and he practically seethed whenever he had to spend time with people he didn’t know. But with her, none of that mattered. All that mattered was seeing the beautiful smile that graced her lips, watching her eyes light up with a glee that he envied, holding her delicate hands in his own.

“I love you,” He told Evelyn as he watched the stars reflect in her eyes.

“I love you too, Ke—" The rest of Evelyn’s sentence was cut off by the sounds of reality screaming in agony inside his brain.

“FUCK!” Skeletor exclaimed in the real world as the painful sensation of static wretched him from his happy memories and forced him to face his agonizing present.

He writhed in pain as he fell to his knees, clutching the sides of his skull as the shrill screams of something unnatural punished him for reliving a pleasant memory. Skeletor breathed heavily as the torturous sting started to die down, his chest heaved as he desperately tried to fill his lungs.

His anger was reignited by the horrible pain, and even though it didn’t run as brightly as it did before, he channeled that anger into his scepter subconsciously. Deep inside, Skeletor wanted nothing more than to rip Sombra apart again after he realized what the demon stallion did to him, and his scepter was more than happy to comply. Unfortunately, while the intent and reason for killing Sombra a second or even third time was clear, Skeletor simply didn’t have enough power for the scepter to grant his subconscious wish, so it did the next best thing and repaired the window.

The flash of blinding light above Skeletor drew his attention to the once destroyed window, allowing him to marvel at the artwork that had replaced it. Brilliant colors of glass mixed in unique shapes to form version of himself standing triumphantly over the corpse of a grey stallion as his free hand reached towards a blue and green sphere that rested just outside of his grasp. It was an enchanting display of work that mesmerized Skeletor not simply for its beauty but also for its magical nature.

After staring at the new window for a short amount of time, letting the pain from his punishment slowly diminish as he did so, Skeletor turned his attention towards his Havoc Staff. Spurts of green and black auras sparked off of the ram skull, fizzling out of existence once the strange energies dropped to the floor. Skeletor slowly stood up as he appraised the new window, quickly noticing that it was made out of the shards that he had smashed, leaving small flaws in the glass where parts of the picture didn’t properly align or where they left gaping holes to be filled by the sonic background of the night sky.

Skeletor’s eye sockets lingered on the small sphere that was placed at the peak of the window, staring at the unmistakable planet that he was born on. His fingers lightly pressed against the image of his home before it, and the rest of the window, fell apart when a stiff breeze blew it down.

A shard of green glass that had been used to make the image of his home fell to his feet and shattered when it hit the floor. The small shard was quickly buried under a pile of colorful glass as the rest of the window joined it on the floor, once again leaving a hole in Skeletor’s wall that allowed unfiltered moonlight to shine down on him.

He stood in stupefied silence with his hand still outstretched. A few tense moments passed before Skeletor’s anger once again broke through the surface and he let loose a shrill scream of pure hatred as he cursed everything for his pain. He took his scepter and began to smash the cupboard to pieces, taking out all his rage on the most destructible thing in the room. The wooden walls of the cupboard snapped apart with each swing of the Havoc Staff, the cupboard soon collapsed from its lack of support, allowing a cascade of red fur capes to fall out of it.

Skeletor barely took notice of the fabrics, too focused on destroying something while he screamed his heart out, all the while imagining that it was King Sombra with each swing.

“You fucking bastard! Fuck you and you’re godamn fucking-J-Just FUCK YOU! You piece of fucking shit, you mother fucking—” Profanity was woven into each word that was thrown from Skeletor’s jaw. While his knowledge of profanity was unfortunately limited, it did allow him to verbalize what he was feeling. Pure and unadulterated rage filled his veins as he continued attacking the furniture. When there weren’t any large pieces of wood left for Skeletor to smash he turned his attention to the rest of the room, looking for his next target as he continued to work out his aggression.

Skeletor quickly moved towards the dresser and reared back his arm to swing at it, before something in the mirror caught his eye. Or rather, the lack of something. He looked at a mirrored reflection of his room, his eye sockets darting back and forth between the room behind him and the mirror, hoping beyond hope that the mirror was playing a trick on him.

Finally, he looked fearfully back at the mirror, staring at the reflection of his room that didn’t have him in it. He continued to stare at the mirror, as if hoping to somehow find his missing reflection somewhere inside of it. His anger quickly faded as fear and mild curiosity began to consume him. His mind failed to process the concept of not seeing his reflection in a mirror, and he dropped his Havoc Staff as he backed away from the mirror.

His thoughts tried to reject the reality in front of him as his mind fought to find a hint of reason in the madness that suddenly made up his life. Skeletor felt himself grow sick as he stared at his missing reflection, bile threatened to rise from his stomach as he felt his body physically grow older with each passing second. Before anything worse could happen, Skeletor grabbed one of the many red fur robes that laid on the ground and threw it over the anomaly that threatened to tear his mind asunder.

“Out of sight… Out of mind,” Skeletor muttered to himself as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Skeletor could feel a headache starting to grow in his skull as he tried to dispel the memory of the mind-breaking… thing he saw. Even the memory alone of the reality distorting mirror caused Skeletor to feel sick to his core. He didn’t know why he couldn’t see his reflection and he didn’t want to know, a good amount of ideas were already going through his mind and he hated just about all of them.

It was just another thing to add to the ever-growing list of shit that made Skeletor’s life worse. First, he was forced to leave his home, then he lost his body, and now he was slowly losing his mind. Or maybe he had already lost it.

“No… No, it’s fucking real… Christ, this is all real…” Skeletor quietly said as he looked at the red fur cloak that hid his nonexistent reflection.

He picked up the Havoc Staff and backed away from the mirror, pointing his scepter at the mirror as if it would keep the anomalous properties of the mirror at bay. He slowly sat down on the edge of his bed with his scepter still pointed towards the mirror, unfortunately he hadn’t taken the height of the bed into account and quickly fell on his after misjudging the height of the pony sized furniture.

“Fuck!” He exclaimed as he fell on his back.

A blast of magic flew off of the ram’s skull at his sudden spike in confusion and fear, hitting the book case with a blast of concussive magic that destroyed a large section of the shelves. Dozens of books exploded into a flurry of burning pages that threatened to set the rest of the shelf on fire when the smoldering paper drifted towards the shelf.

Skeletor quickly leapt off of the bed and grabbed another one of the red fur cloaks to smother the fire before it began to spread and swallow the entire book shelf.

“Shitshitshitshitshit!” He repeated as he smacked the small fires with the spare cloak before the fire could grow too large.

The fires soon died after Skeletor beat them off, leaving behind a partially burnt bookcase and several badly damaged books.

“Good fucking work, numbskull,” He said to himself as he assessed the damage he caused. Several books were lightly burned and an entire shelf had completely collapsed, causing an entire row of books to litter the floor.

Skeletor winced as he looked at one of the more badly damaged books, which had been reduced to a pile of loose pages and a broken spine and decimated set of covers. Another book, or maybe even more than one book, was turned into smoldering confetti thanks to his little light show. Bending over, Skeletor picked up one of the few books that weren’t damaged beyond repair, only having a slightly singed cover and a few bent pages.

“Well... Technically they’re mine so… I think they’re mine now, at least, so maybe nobody’ll care that I did…. This… I hope,” Skeletor said as he read the cover.

Skeletor almost scoffed at the title, “Magical Theory and Practice” but the memories of the past day and a half hit him over the head like a baseball bat, painfully reminding him that he was in a world full of magical ponies in a magical castle… That used magic… Meaning that they’d probably have hundreds of magical spells. Magic that he had just demonstrated that he could wield in some capacity.

Magical spells that could theoretically send him back home.

A wide smile split across his skeletal features at the revelation that he could use magic to send himself back to Earth and he quickly scanned the pages for any relevant information. It wasn’t long before Skeletor found a glossary of spells and saw the answer to all of his problems, teleportation.

“ ‘Picture a familiar setting in your mind, then pick a specific area of the location of to appear at. Failure to do so may lead to appearing inside, on top of, or under something that may result in severe injury or death.’ ” Lord Skeletor read aloud.

“ ‘Teleportation can only be done with a basic understanding of the layout of the location, and should only be done with the thought of the location in mind. The spell caster must want to have the absolute desire to go to their location in order to teleport.’ Check. ‘Blah, blah, must have an ample amount of magic within them,’ Big maybe. ‘and should only be used as a means of traveling distances that can be measured in yards. The minimum space needed to teleport is one yard. Teleporting an inch away from the previous location or half a yard could result in….’ Oh fuck... Okay, got it, laziness is a big no-no. That's fine, I'm okay with that… Fuck the poor bastard who discovered that,” Skeletor quietly muttered as he tried to push the mental images of the side effects out of his mind.

“Alright! Let’s do this!” He shouted as he tossed the book aside and held his scepter towards the ceiling.

Skeletor closed his eyes as he concentrated on a mental image of his home on Earth. His memories painted a perfectly accurate portrait of his room and he focused on imagining himself there.

Energy pulsated through the Havoc Staff as it’s master’s wishes were carried through it, magic gathering around the golden horns of the ram skull like a superconductor. Naked to the eyes of any mortal, arcane symbols formed in a unique pattern to travel through the seams of time and space without breaking the overall fabric of reality. An orange oval portal appeared before him, glowing with a warm energy that reminded him of his mother's embrace.

He was completely petrified by the distortion in reality that stood before him, forced to stare in awe as the space that submerged reality and time danced in front of his eye sockets. Overwhelming wonder and astonishment washed over him as his gaze lingered on the edges of the portal, observing the bent parts of reality clumping together around the portal like a picturesque frame.

The swirling portal sent Skeletor into a trance like state as the puncture in reality emanated an enchanting aura. It called to something inside him, filling him with an immense feeling of love and acceptance that he refused to ignore. It wasn’t a hyperbole to say that he was draw to it like a moth to a flame, ignoring the dangers he knew were there in order to get closer to the concept of perfection and grace itself.

Skeletor was thankfully able to shake himself out of his hypnotic state and reappraised the orange portal in front of him. He had no idea if the portal actually worked, if it would send him home or send him six feet underground, literally and metaphorically. For all he knew, the portal was just a wall of plasma that gave off the illusion of being a bottomless pit of warm hues that mixed into a sea of desire, singing a promising song of safety that slowly began to pull him back into his trance.

Skeletor slapped himself across his cheek bone as he realized that he was falling back into a daze, allowing him a few more moments of clarity before he inevitably became too fixated on the beauty of the portal to think straight.

He couldn’t delay it any longer. His possibly one and only chance of heading home was a few feet away from him. He would have preferred to stay in the castle, learn some more about teleportation, and then get out of dodge, but the risk of being overthrown and beheaded by his subjects didn’t allow him the pleasure of time. Besides, his family were probably worried sick about him, and he needed to get back to them before they declared him legally dead. He refused to let them worry sick about him, or worse, think that he actually did die.

After taking a few steps away from the portal to get a running start, Skeletor took off and sprinted towards the portal.

“SO LONG, WONDER-HELL!” Lord Skeletor shouted with wicked glee before he leapt through the portal.

Skeletor was glad that he took a running jump through the portal since the momentum felt like the only thing that carried him through the void. Skeletor felt himself get the equivalence of sea-sickness from floating in the infinite space for somewhere between a millisecond and eternity. Skeletor could taste sound, see smells, and feel the warm embrace of the portal become bone-chillingly numb in his heart.

Hours passed in a matter of seconds for Skeletor once he emerged from the other side of the portal, falling flat on his face against a well-placed carpet that somewhat managed to soften the blow. He groaned as he stood up from his position, forcing his muscles to find feeling in his legs to help him stand up. He was forced to lean against the Havoc Staff as he stood up, using it as a third leg to keep himself balanced on his two jelly-like legs.

Skeletor heard the sound of someone gasping behind him and turned to look at a white stallion clad in platinum armor gaping at him. The guard’s eyes widened as he looked at the shrinking portal, his gaze rapidly moving from Skeletor to the vanishing hole in reality.

"My lord, what was that?!"

“Uhhhh… What was what?" Skeletor asked as he looked at the petrified guard.

"T-the orange thing you stepped out of! … Sir," The guard tacked on as he reigned in his outburst.

"Oh, that thing. I... was testing my divine abilities in this realm," Lord Skeletor explained as he attempted to exude an aura of confidence and regality.

"What was it?"

"A portal. I was attempting to travel somewhere, but ended up in the throne room instead. I'll need to test it out more."

“Oh, uh… Alright, do you need somepony to escort you back to your room, sir?”

“No, I… I can do it myself,” Lord Skeletor replied as he tried to open another portal that could send him home.

As he stepped through the portal, he went through the similar feelings of sea sickness and nausea. Fortunately, the second time he went through the portal felt more diluted than the first time.

He soon fell into one of the many piles of snow that filled the streets below his window. On the street below, he could see right where his bedroom was thanks to the new window that his scepter made. The brief smile that image brought to his face quickly melted back into a frown as he attempted to concentrate.

“Okay… Let’s try this again…” Skeletor muttered as he opened another portal to send him home without much fanfare.

Like the other portal, it completely failed and only managed to open a hole in reality that led back to his bedroom. He barely even noticed the odd sensation of going through folds in reality the third time and quickly raised the Havoc Staff to try again but was stopped by a sudden wave of fatigue that threatened to overwhelm all of his senses.

The room spun around Skeletor as he dropped to his knees, feeling the air being forcefully dragged out of his lungs by some unseen force. He felt his legs turn into soft rubber under his own weight, his arms becoming little more than a pair of table legs to keep himself somewhat upright, and his head began to swing in a sea of delirium and confusion. Skeletor felt tears leak from his eye sockets and he struggled to keep his body from failing him, desperately trying to claw at his non-existent throat to force some oxygen back into his body.

When his body finally began to cooperate with his mind, he filled his lungs with haggard breaths, fighting the urge to spill the contents of his stomach all over the floor of his bedroom as he did so. It was an uphill battle for Skeletor as he fought tooth and nail to reclaim some sense of normalcy over his conflicted and hurt body.

Skeletor’s arms eventually gave out under him, causing him to lay prone on the floor for what felt like hours as air filled his lungs and tears spilled from his eye sockets. He wasn’t sure how long it was until he regained feeling in his arms and legs, though if he had to guess he would have said an hour or so since he was pretty sure he blacked out at some point during his body’s latest attempt to drive him to his mental breaking point. The third one that night alone with doubtlessly many more to follow if he didn’t get back to Earth soon.

Still feeling the lingering symptoms from going through three magical portals, Skeletor slowly crawled over to the book he discarded and looked at its contents again. When his vision became clear enough to read the next few pages, Skeletor stumbled across a section titled, “drawbacks of magic” and found a section relating to teleportation.

" 'Teleportation is reliant on the stamina and endurance of the spell caster. The distance traveled between locations will be instantaneous, but many advantages will be negated by the energy that is exerted. Teleportation is not a displacement of place, but of time. It uses the physical stamina of the spell caster to take them to a location faster at the price of using the energy they would have needed to gallop there.’ Wait… So… I would need to be able to run to Earth if I wanted to get there. Nononono, there has to be something more here,” Skeletor said before he began skimming through the passage for any hint that there was still hope.

As Skeletor began to feel the effects of his spell casting take a more drastic toll on his body, he closed the spell book and slowly got back up to place the book on one of the few shelfs that remained in the bookcase.

“Fuck it. Fine, a problem for tomorrow,” Skeletor stated as he walked back to his bed.

Once he got under the warm covers of the bed, he licked his fingers and pinched the green flame to extinguish the candle on his nightstand. The room quickly descended into darkness as the light of the fire faded and the glow of the moon became obscured by wandering clouds, letting the shadows of night obscure the world around him as he laid in bed. Through the darkness, he could see the familiar shapes of the bookcase and the mirror, which he quickly averted his eyes from as he tried to forget about the disturbing mirror.

He closed his eyes to fully bask in the darkness and buried himself under the blankets of his bed. Skeletor found solace in the memories that weren't blocked off from his mind, using their memories as a light at the end of the tunnel to give himself hope. He remembered the smiling faces of his friends and family, of his half-brother Rand, his mother, and Evelyn. His family fueled his motivation, allowing the lingering pain in his body to dull as he distracted himself with his final goal.

He could play the role of king for a while, bullshit his way through it and convince the crystal ponies that he actually knew what he was doing.

He’d simply bide his time, learning as much as he could about his abilities and strengthen his power until he found a way to get back to Earth. Even if it took years for him to get strong enough, he’d find a way to go back home.

The sun slowly peaked over the distant horizon as it began its ascent into the sky, signaling the coming of morning and the end of a calm night. The golden glow of morning caused the shadows that fell from the still standing buildings to stretch across the Empire, creating a series of arrows that pointed towards the Crystal Castle.

The few citizens who were able to wake up at the break of dawn occupied their time by embracing the warmth of the sunrise, enjoying their ability to once again bask in the warm light of the sun with their own volition. Many of the citizens couldn’t remember the last time they got to watch the sun rise or were able to enjoy the beautiful stars that dotted the sky at night.

They embraced the simple pleasure of watching the sun rise with overwhelming joy. Many of them were unable to fight the tears that threatened to spill past their eyes as they stared at the horizon. While most of those tears were tears of joy, some of them were made of bittersweet sorrow as many of the crystal ponies began to believe that one or both of the Alicorn sisters fell to Sombra’s hooves. The unfamiliar rise and fall of the celestial bodies was a sign to them that something had happened to them, and it was all too easy for them to believe that the princesses had truly died.

The ponies who still held onto their faith in the Almighty Weaver, Faust, either prayed to her for the safety of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna or prayed that they were able to rejoin their cousin, Princess Amore, in heaven. Many of them sent a prayer of thanks to their goddess for delivering a beast that could deliver divine judgment onto the old tyrant, believing that Faust had used the fires from the depths of Tartarus to weave a monster that could kill the demon in a pony’s coat.

Some claimed that he was the son of Faust, others believed he was Faust’s antithesis, and a very select few had been bold enough to assume that it was Faust wearing a disguise. None of them would ever guess that their dark lord was a human turned into a fictional character, leaving the origins of their master a mystery that would be debated until the end of time.

As many of the citizens stared at the rising sun in awe and wonder, one pony had his attention pointed directly towards the Crystal Castle. Cannon Fodder’s eyes struggled to stay open as he stared at the broken window outside of Lord Skeletor’s bedchambers. Cannon Fodder barely got an hour of sleep before a vivid nightmare of King Sombra made him wake up in a cold sweat.

Unlike the usual nightmares that revolved around Princess Amore’s murder, his newest nightmare was almost solely devoted to the blue demon he was forced to call his lord. The demon stood on a pile of corpses that led to his throne, letting the monster look down on Cannon Fodder as he mourned the death of Emerald Secret. Cannon Fodder woke up as soon as he felt a golden ram horn pierce his withers and refused to go back to sleep after he woke up.

He spent the rest of the night patrolling the castle, often asking guards if they saw anything suspicious. One of the guards, Stone Wall, had reported that Lord Skeletor appeared before him when an orange colored portal opened up in the hallway early on into the night. At first, Cannon Fodder was quick to dismiss the guard’s claims as hallucinations brought on by sleep depravity since he, like everypony else, knew that there was no such thing as portal magic. And even if there was such a thing, instant teleportation was a much more efficient and practical means of travel for the most skilled unicorn and ruva mages.

If the demon knew magic to open portals, then he would have known about proper teleportation. However, there was no guarantee that the creature could use magic like unicorns and ruvas did, it didn’t even have a horn to channel its magic through. Unless it was using the ram’s skull as a conduit for magic, but if a pony could ever figure out a way to do something like that then more than just unicorns and ruvas would be lifting things with their mind. Earth ponies, crystal ponies, pegasi, and thestrals would all be using magic to teleport and cast spells if it were possible. And since nopony had ever discovered a way to channel magic through something to imitate unicorn magic, even with the most powerful mages on Terra looking into it. then it was almost impossible for Lord Skeletor to do it.

“Almost” being the operative term since Cannon Fodder still had no idea what Lord Skeletor was capable of. Ever since Lord Skeletor was dragged into the throne room, he had been a complete anomaly that Cannon Fodder couldn’t figure out. He was clearly a magic user and he clearly knew some spells, yet his methods for casting spells were crude and different from ponies, hitting a door with his scepter and using his own raw strength to beat Somrba to death. There must have been at least a dozen less messy spells that could have killed Sombra much quicker, granted Cannon Fodder wasn’t opposed to the violence and brutality of Sombra’s death, but he was confused by it.

Maybe his new lord was a sadist, and he simply found pleasure in hurting his enemies without relying on magic? It would explain why he didn’t launch any noticeable spells at Sombra, but wouldn’t explain why he hit the vault door to open it. A simple wave of his scepter or hands should have been enough to send a spell at the door and remove the enchantments Sombra placed on it, so there was no real reason for him to hit it with the ram’s skull.

Skeletor was an anomaly wrapped in a mystery, more importantly though, was that he was a threat to the crystal ponies. Cannon Fodder couldn’t have the luxury of questioning Lord Skeletor’s actions, he simply had to observe him and learn more about the monster before he enacted a plan to kill it. Traditional weapons such as spears and arrows were thrown out the window since Cannon Fodder wasn’t sure those would work on Lord Skeletor. Using fire was also thrown out since Lord Skeletor was clearly a demon from the deepest depths of Tartarus, meaning that he might have actually enjoyed fire. So, the only thing that could reasonably kill Lord Skeletor would be a ruva or a unicorn, and the old tyrant, Sombra, made sure that there were no other ruvas in the Empire.

Lord Skeletor would rule unopposed until the unicorn guards from Dream Valley could arrive to avenge Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The possibility that the Alicorn sisters died in an epic battle against Sombra seemed to grow by the day, as more and more ponies became convinced that their technical demigoddesses were killed. Sombra had managed to kill one Alicorn, and even if they outnumbered him, it wasn’t too far of a leap in logic to think that Sombra got the upper hoof and used his momentary advantage to strike them down.

It was unthinkable, almost sacrilegious to believe, and yet it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. And what did that make Lord Skeletor as a result? A demon that killed a monster that murdered demigoddesses? Would that make Lord Skeletor stronger than Alicorns, or did he just have an advantage at fighting monsters like Sombra? Maybe he just got lucky in his battle with Sombra, it did look like Sombra was caught off guard, and Lord Skeletor didn’t give him any time to cast any spells either.

That was another odd thing about Lord Skeletor. Magic users such as Alicorns, unicorns, and ruvas preferred to fight at a distance to give themselves time to cast spells. However, instead of staying back to give himself the opportunity to launch any offense magic at Sombra, Lord Skeletor decided to fight him head on.

It would have made sense for a none magic user to attack in close quarters to prevent the unicorn or ruva from casting a spell, but for a magic user to fight a magic caster head on? It would be like a meteor creating another crater on the moon, there would be some damage but overall it would be a waste of time and energy on the attacker’s part while the other could throw up a shield to keep themselves safe from the assault. If Sombra had managed to put a shield around himself at any point during the fight, then things would have probably turned out much differently.

And yet, he didn’t. Or maybe he did and Lord Skeletor shattered his defenses? Or perhaps Sombra was about to but then his horn shattered? Cannon Fodder desperately hoped that it was the latter of the two options, since breaking a shield with strength alone would take a force equivalent to a dragon’s might. If Lord Skeletor had the strength of a dragon, then fighting him would become a much more arduous, if not impossible, task.

Cannon Fodder turned his attention away from the castle, watching the sun rise as it marked Skeletor’s technical second day as lord of the Empire. He wondered how many more sunrises he would see before the demon’s true intentions were revealed, before he would enslave the crystal ponies like Sombra did, before he would start to torment and kill them.

He watched the sun rise, committing it to his memory like it was the most precious treasure. It could have possibly been the last time he would ever see the sun rise.

Skeletor dragged himself out of bed as the light of morning poured through his completely shattered window. He felt his sore muscles scream out in defiance as he moved out from under the comfort of the blankets.

A cold breeze from the window nipped at Skeletor’s bare skin as he stood up to examine his new room. The mess of wood chips, shattered glass, and singed papers were scattered around the room haphazardly by the wind that drifted in through the open window.

Skeletor winced at the mess that his fit of rage left behind, wondering how the ponies outside his door would react if they saw the room.

Just… Just gotta relax. You can’t get beheaded for a messy room, right? Skeletor reasoned as he tried to calm his nerves.

Glancing at a small pile of paper that was lying on the floor near his bed, he subtly pushed the mess under his bed with a foot.

Better safe than sorry. He thought as he cleaned his room by pushing more of his mess under the bed or, in the case of the smashed cupboard, cover it with a few well-placed cloaks and blankets.

As Skeletor busied himself with cleaning his room and rearranging the bookshelf from least damaged to spare confetti, his eye sockets roamed the many titles of the tomes.

Magic Theory, Dark Arts, Forbidden Spells, wow, what a blatant title. I wonder which one of these has a cleaning spell… Or an immortality spell. He wondered as he looked at the books relating to magic.

If he was going to be stuck in magical pony equivalent of the North Pole then there was no reason not to take advantage of it. After all, what was the point in having dozens of spell books if you couldn’t exploit it? Not to mention, knowing an immortality spell would greatly reduce the chances of being killed and beheaded by angry multi-colored ponies.

Granted, there was no way to know for sure if he could still use magic once he got back to Earth, but there was no harm in seeing if he could do something besides making a vomit inducing portal to seemingly random places.

Thinking about the mind-altering portals caused a shiver to run up Skeletor’s spine as he picked up the book he started reading the night before. Unfortunately, the book didn’t offer much that made sense to him, delving into philosophical questions and theories about magic that completely went over his skull and made him question the meaning of life. Before he could fall into the pit of despair that would make him ponder his own mortality and the thin veil that hides the terrifying unknowns of the afterlife, Skeletor placed the book back on the shelf and preoccupied himself with hiding cleaning the rest of the mess.

The rest of the glass, paper, and wood chips were swept under the bed quickly after he reorganized his now sparse bookshelves. With nothing else to distract him, his invisible eyes drifted to the covered mirror that rested on his dresser. Memories of his missing reflection danced in his mind as he stared at the cloak that separated him from the strange mirror.

Skeletor debated whether or not he imagined his missing reflection, and steeled his nerves to confirm that his reflection was still missing by walking towards it and tearing the cloak off of the mirror. Skeletor held his breath as he clenched his invisible eyes shut, slowly peaking one eye open to look at where his reflection should have been.

Just like the night before, his mirrored self was completely absent. Skeletor looked at the mirror from different angles, searching the corners of the mirror in the vain hopes that it was somehow hidden from him.

He hesitantly reached out towards the reflection of his room, touching the smooth surface of the mirror as he examined it more closely. Skeletor’s fingers only rested on the mirror for a second before he suddenly felt his fingers start to burn from the contact and he quickly pulled his hand away from the mirror as he felt it singe his fingertips.

“FUCK!” Skeletor let loose a yelp of pain before he instinctively blew on his fingers, desperately trying to cool off the burning sensation in them.

Skeletor felt the lingering sting that mirror left on his fingers, the pain faintly reminding him of the time he accidentally touched a hot stove when he was younger. He quietly cursed under his breath as he tried to dull the pain by waving his hand frantically as if he could somehow shake the burning feeling off of his hand.

“Fucking stupid mirror, fucking piece of shit, I—“ Lord Skeletor quietly muttered before a knock at his door interrupted his silent tirade.

Grumbling to himself, he quickly threw the cloak back over the mirror before he grabbed his Havoc Staff and went to answer his door. Once he opened the door, he saw Emerald Secret standing on the other side with a bright smile on her face.

“Good morning, my lord, how did you rest last night?” Emerald Secret asked in a chipper voice.

“Uh, good, good. What about you?”

“I slept wonderfully, my lord, thank you for asking. I’m sorry to wake you up so early, but there are a few issues that need your attention. If you could please follow me, my lord, I can explain everything on the way to breakfast,” Emerald Secret said as she stepped aside to let Skeletor leave his room.

Skeletor threw one last glance over his shoulder to look at the covered mirror and the mess of his bedroom before he nodded and followed Emerald Secret down the hallway.

“So, what’s happening?” Skeletor asked.

“Well, firstly, the alchemists have been attempting to take the information you gave them to create a small amount of steel, and I think you’ll be happy to know that they've been working all night to work on the process. Secondly, some farmers were able to make some headway into the overgrowth in the subterranean farms, and gathered a decent number of crops for feeding the Empire. Oh, and Crumb Catcher and Avid Value were able to come to an agreement regarding the Crystal Fair and the expenses. If it would be alright, my lord, the rest of the council was thinking about celebrating the Crystal Fair by the end of the week.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. Is there anything I need to do for it?”

“Aside from providing your seal of approval, we need you to participate in a few events such as judging the pie eating contest and overseeing the jousting tournament. We’ll unfortunately have to forgo the petting zoo since all of the livestock in the caves were… Well, for lack of a better term, mummified, so this year we were thinking about gathering extra blankets to hand out.”

“You found extra supplies?”

“There were a lot of ponies who fled or… died during Sombra’s reign, leaving their houses and their possessions to be taken by him.”

“Fucking pony Hitler,” Skeletor stated as memories of documentaries surrounding the hordes of stolen property the Nazis stole during World War II. “So, what did he do with them?”

“He created large and odd collections. Sombra had several different chambers for his collections, including one that was completely covered from the floor to the ceiling in blankets, and another that was completely stuffed with pillows. We handed out a good amount of them during your initial in-disposal after finding the Crystal Heart, but we still have a large surplus of them. We’ve also expanded the medical ward by converting the diplomatic bedchambers into makeshift infirmaries. A few of the noble families that are still around have also allowed regular ponies to take up residence in their homes, since most of the Empire has been reduced to rubble. I hate to say it, but the Empire is more like a kingdom now.”

“What’s the difference?”

“An Empire is made up of many kingdoms that answer to one leader, my lord. The Crystal Empire was originally made up of the Ruva Kingdom in the Diamond District, the Thestral Kingdom in Pearl Paradise, and the Crystal Pony Kingdom in Sapphire Sector. These three kingdoms made up the Crystal Empire, and they all directly answered to Princess Amore. The Ruva Kingdom was ransacked after Somra stole the throne, and most of the thestral kingdom flew away once Sombra started his genocide of the ruvas. With no more thestrals or ruvas, Sombra tore the kingdoms apart for materials, wealth, and to get rid of any areas where his enemies could gather. All that left was the Sapphire Sector where the Crystal Castle was built.”

“So most of the Empire is just rubble then, along with most of its housing as well.”

“Correct, which is why some of the remaining noble families allowed the commoners to stay with them. The crystal ponies in the castle right now are either your personal staff, your guards, or heavily malnourished or exhausted from being forced to do strenuous and heavily taxing work. I’m sorry to say that we’ve lost nearly a hundred ponies so far,” Emerald Secret grimly informed Skeletor, causing him to stop mid-step as he took that in.

“Oh my god… How… Oh Christ, Emerald…” Skeletor said as he buried his face in his free hand. “How many… Oh fuck, how many of them were kids?”

“ ’kids’? What is that?" Emerald Secret asked.

"What? They're-they're children. You know, the thing that pops out when a mom and dad have... sex," he explained as he braced himself for the number of children casualties.

"Ah, you're referring to foals. Un… Unfortunately, there aren’t… any foals in the Crystal Empire,” Emerald Secret told him as terrible memories began to flood her mind.

"Wait, what!? What do you mean there aren't any children? What happened?”

"Well... our... The tyrant king used foals to... to..." Emerald Secret chocked on her words as a cascade of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Emerald? Emerald, are you alright?" He asked in a panicked concern as he kneeled down next to her. When the lord placed his claw on Emerald's withers she went completely ridges and quickly swatted it away with her hoof.

“NO!” She shouted as she backed away from Skeletor with a look of pure terror on her face. “I-I’m sorry, my lord, I-I just don’t like being touched. I didn’t mean to, I ju—"

“It’s alright, Emerald. I…” Skeletor stopped when he was about to reach out to her again, noticing the panic and fear that danced behind her eyes as she flinched at his movement.

Skeletor’s hand fell back to his side as he slowly backed away from Emerald Secret, making himself look as small as possible as he did so. “Everything’s okay, Emerald, no one is going to hurt you,” Skeletor softly said as he gave Emerald Secret the space she needed to feel more comfortable.

“I… I’m sorry, my lord, I… I’m fine now,” Emerald Secret lied, with a painfully forced smile on her muzzle.

Skeletor looked at her with sympathy in his invisible eyes, one of the few emotions that couldn’t come across clearly with his skeletal face. He waited in silence as Emerald Secret fixed her mask, hiding the emotions that threatened to bubble to the surface. Skeletor’s mind raced with a thousand words, a hundred hypothetical conversations, and no real idea of how to console her. He had no idea how to help her and he was too scared of hurting her to try.

One slip up, one wrong word choice, could have caused irreparable damage to her, hurt her in worse ways than he could even imagine. With no idea of what he could say to try and take the first steps to help her, he chose to stay silent, he decided to be pathetic and let her work it out herself, he chose to be selfish.

Skeletor wore a mask of calm patience as his heart pounded in his chest, fighting the urge to help in the fear of hurting her.

“Alright,” Skeletor quietly said as he willfully accepted her lie.

If she would reach out to him, then he would help her, but if she wouldn’t, then he’d keep his thoughts and worries to himself, like a coward. A sickening silence filled the halls as Emerald Secret led Skeletor to the dining hall, only broken by the occasional sniffle from Emerald Secret as she fought to keep on her own mask to hide her pain. Skeletor tried to look anywhere but at Emerald Secret as he followed her, drowning out her silent sorrow as he lost himself in his own thoughts.

Idle chatter filled the dining hall as many of the guards and maids seated at the tables ate their breakfast rations. Nearly every table was filled to the brim with ponies sitting down to eat their breakfast, the only exception being the table for royalty that sat at the end of the room, completely secluded from the other tables.

At the royal table, Copper Plate sat across from Cannon Fodder as she ate her crystalberry jam stew, listening to Cannon Fodder drone on as he used the monotonous conversation from the other tables to hide his hushed conspiracy with her. The waiters had already set plates for the council and their lord, leaving their lord’s stew under a shiny platinum cloche that kept his food warm.

“Don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions a bit too quickly?” Copper Plate asked in a bored tone as she stopped another spoonful of crystalberry jam stew into her muzzle.

“I’m not jumping to conclusions,” Cannon Fodder scoffed. “I let my guard down once, and I ended up letting a monster disguised as a pony get too close to Princess Amore, I’m not turning my back to an obvious monster.”

“An ‘obvious’ monster? May I ask what’s so monstrous about returning the Crystal Heart?” Copper Plate skeptically asked.

“I’ll admit I was wrong about the Heart being real, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong about him,” Cannon Fodder argued.

“And you want to be right about him being evil?”

“I want to be prepared.”

“Whatever. Why don’t you talk to the others about this?” Copper Plate incredulously asked.

“Avid Value’s too enamored with that dumb mythical metal, Crumb Catcher would tattle to Skeletor—"

“Lord Skeletor,” Copper Plate corrected.

“So that he could kiss up to him,” Cannon Fodder continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “I need you to help me convince Emerald to take the throne once we get rid of that demon. You were on the council before either of us and you spent more time with Princess Amore, she'll listen to you.”

“And why should she take the throne?”

“Because she’s the only qualified pony I can think of. There are a few nobles left from Princess Amore’s reign, but I don’t know enough about them to trust any one of those brown snouts to hoof over the Empire to them. Emerald’s the best choice—”

“Aside from the one we already have?”

“The one we have now is a literal demon! Li-ter-uhl dee-muh-n! We need to get rid of him before he kills us all!” Cannon Fodder quietly argued as he tried to keep his voice below a hushed whisper.

“Look, Cannon, I’m old, and I’m tired,” Copper Plate stated bluntly. “I’m not going to spend the last few years of my life fighting a battle against a demon I know we can’t beat. Besides, Lord Skeletor hasn’t given us any reason to doubt him.”

“He’s a demon! That’s reason enough.”

“And Sombra was a pony. If a regular ruva can turn into a monster, I don’t see why a monster can’t be a decent pony,” Copper Plate reasoned. While she wasn’t entirely sure what Lord Skeletor was, she didn’t think Cannon Fodder was too far off with his assessment of Loed Skeletor being a demon, mainly because of the fact that he had an actual skull for a head. But, just because he was possibly a demon didn’t mean that he was evil... Probably.

“Somra wasn’t a pony, he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing and Skeletor is just a wolf out in the open,” Cannon Fodder stated firmly.

Before Copper Plate could offer a retort, the conversation from the other tables that hid their conversation abruptly died as dozens of eyes locked onto the doors of the dining hall. Lord Skeletor stood at the doors with Emerald Secret at his side with a weary smile that struggled to reach her eyes. While many ponies may have missed such a minor detail, being too fixated on the large creature that was next to her, Copper Plate was able to see the sadness in Emerald Secret’s eyes.

Lord Skeletor said something to Emerald Secret and started to walk towards his seat, taking long and deliberate strides to cross the room quickly, falling and catching himself with each of his long legs, similar to how minotaur and dragon diplomats walked when they came to the Empire. Copper Plate compared his movement to the slithering of a cockatrice, observing the mesmerizing spectacle with curiosity and interest as she watched him walk with only two legs.

Lord Skeletor awkwardly shuffled into his seat as Emerald Secret took a seat between Cannon Fodder and Lord Skeletor, her smile slightly growing by a hair as Lord Skeletor fumbled around in his large chair.

“Good morning, Lord Skeletor,” Copper Plate said with a polite bow.

“Good morning… I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Copper Plate,” she informed him, watching her lord silently repeat that word to himself as he dedicated it to his memory.

“Thank you. And you’re Cannon, right?” He asked as he pointed a finger at Cannon Fodder.

“Yes…” Cannon Fodder curtly replied before turning his attention towards his stew.

Copper Plate resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Cannon Fodder’s lack of tact. For somepony who planned to start a coup, Cannon Fodder had no ability to hide his thinly veiled disdain to most ponies. Cannon Fodder made it his job to make sure ponies knew how he felt about them, refusing to dance around his opinions with fluffy words and usually being extremely blunt with no regards for what happened. While that usually worked against nobles and criminals, his blunt attitude wouldn’t do him any favors if he actually decided to go along with his inane plan to overthrow a creature that reportedly beat Sombra to death with his own skull.

Thankfully for Cannon Fodder, Lord Skeletor either didn’t notice his attitude or wasn’t concerned enough to point it out. In fact, it seemed like Lord Skeletor wasn’t too concerned with anything around him, as he became completely mesmerized by the reflective cloche that covered his food, staring at the warped reflection of his skull with a strange look on his face that sat on the borders of fear and astonishment. The other two council members soon took notice of their lord’s odd fixation and broke him out of his trance with a light cough from Emerald Secret.

“My lord, is everything alright?” She asked.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine. Fine,” Lord Skeletor dismissed before he hesitantly reached towards the cloche to unveil his stew, throwing a quick glance at his reflection before he placed the cloche next to himself.

A lull of silence swallowed the ponies and demon at their table as Lord Skeletor ate his morning meal, occasionally looking back at the distorted reflection of himself in the cloche. Regular conversation from the other tables soon filled the air once again as some ponies stole quick glances at their lord, watching in a mixture of fascination and awe as he poured the contents of his goblet down his jaw.

Copper Plate’s eyes lingered on the visible hole under her lord’s jaw where the water from his goblet should have fallen through to pour down on his chest. She watched the water disappear into thin air as it went into his mouth, subtly observing her lord’s eating habits with intrigue as she mentally added her lord’s digestive system to her list of growing questions and quandaries.

Clearly uncomfortable with the growing silence between them, Lord Skeletor cleared his throat to speak to his present council members. “So, are the other two council members going to be joining us?” Lord Skeletor asked as he looked at the several empty seats for council members and diplomats.

“Avid Value is still busy with counting our finances and checking in on the alchemists, and Crumb Catcher is busy setting up preparations for the Crystal Fair,” Emerald Secret informed him. “We told him to wait for your decision regarding the Crystal Fair, but he was too excited to even entertain the idea that you wouldn’t approve of the fair.”

“Speaking of which, Lord Skeletor, what is your decision for the Crystal Fair?” Copper Plate asked.

“If we can do it, then I don’t see a reason not to,” Lord Skeletor replied easily with a shrug of his shoulders. “I know I just have to sit there and look pretty…” He trailed off before the stole another glance at his reflection. “Or just sit there… Emerald, is there anything else that needs my attention?”

“Hmmm… Well, some of the citizens have requested to reopen the court,” Emerald Secret told him.

“Court?”

“An allotted time where ponies can come to you with grievances ranging from the mundane to the most paramount of problems.”

“So, ponies come to me with problems and I try to fix them… Huh. Just like in Game of Thrones…” He quietly muttered.

Copper Plate raised an eyebrow at his strange comparison to throne games, feeling an urge to ask her lord to elaborate on it before catching a quick look at Cannon Fodder and Emerald Secret who seemed to tense up at those words. Copper Plate chose to ignore his comment about throne games since inquiring about it appeared to draw a negative reaction out of the other council members, and planned to ask them more about it once they were in private.

As the other council members sat in silence, Lord Skeletor mulled her words over while chewing his lower jaw. Copper Plate felt a shiver run up her spine as Lord Skeletor’s fangs became more prominent as they nearly reached the edge of his bottom jaw, a clear sign of a predator that mainly used meat it its diet. If it weren’t for the fact that she had just seen her lord eat crystalberry jam stew, Copper Plate would have been more skeptical towards Emerald Secret’s claims of him being an “omnivore”.

She had seen a few references to animals that had a similar diet in the many tomes that filled the archives, and some of the few stories they had regarding minotaurs claimed that some of the lower class minotaurs lived off of a diet of vegetables and livestock. She imagined that Lord Skeletor’s large fangs would easily tear through flesh and that his black claws could shred a pony to ribbons with ease, making the fact that he was an omnivore all the odder. His body was clearly made to be a predator, to hunt for food and devour it with gusto when they caught their prey, and yet he seemed completely content eating something that had no meat in it.

Copper Plate was soon knocked out of her wandering thoughts by her lord’s voice as he gave an order to his royal advisor.

“Alright. Emerald, go prepare whatever we need to start court. Find the other two council members and prepare seats for them in the throne room. I want all council members to be present for whatever decisions I make.”

“With pleasure, my lord,” Emerald Secret said before she got out of her chair and trotted towards the doors.

Copper Plate noticed that Lord Skeletor’s skull subtly turned to watch Emerald Secret trot away, until she disappeared behind the doors to the hallway. His gaze stayed on the door for a few sparse moments before he turned his attention to his two remaining council members.

“Is everything alright, Lord Skeletor?” Copper Plate asked.

Her lord remained silent for a few seconds before answering, seemingly debating his choices before he gave her an answer. “.. No. I… I need your help,” he finally replied before he turned his skull towards the ever-stoic Cannon Fodder.

“Something’s wrong with Emerald. Cannon, you’re her friend, right?”

“We could be classified as such,” Cannon Fodder formally replied with a raised eyebrow.

“… If you don’t mind, I want you to talk to her. You know more about her than I do so you probably won’t say anything to set her off,” Lord Skeletor told him.

Copper Plate watched a range of emotions dance over Cannon Fodder’s face as he appeared to struggle with the order. Whether it was because he was uncomfortable talking to other to fix problems or because of something else, Copper Plate wasn’t sure.

“… Yes sir,” Cannon Fodder quietly said, as he got out of his chair and trotted toward the doors of the dining hall.

“Before you go, take this to her,” Lord Skeletor told him as he held out the stew that Emerald Secret left. “Waste not, want not, am I right?” He rhetorically asked with a smile as his upper jaw appeared to raise a hair of an inch.

Cannon Fodder eyed the small portion of stew with skepticism for a brief moment before he accepted it and went to find Emerald Secret. Once Cannon Fodder left the dining hall to search for Emerald Secret, Lord Skeletor turned his attention to the only council member that still sat at his table. Copper Plate felt a twinge of instinctive fear flare up in the back of her mind as her new lord focused solely on her, ignoring everypony else in the room as he stared down at her.

“Mrs. Plate, I have a few questions I need to ask.”

“I’ll answer them to the best of my ability, Lord Skeletor. And if it would please you, you can call me Copper,” Copper Plate quickly responded as she tried to keep herself composed by convincing herself that there was nothing to worry about or fear. She wore a pleasant smile on her muzzle as she awaited her lord’s questions.

“Thank you, Copper… I… I want to know why there aren’t any children-er-foals in the Empire. What happened to them?” Lord Skeletor asked her.

In a matter of seconds, Copper Plate’s cheerful smile died as she was confronted by the memories of foals being ripped away from their mothers' hooves. The Crystal Mines. Those... things that came out. Copper Plate felt bile build up in her throat as she tried to force herself to forget those tragedies.

She swallowed thickly as she felt a shiver run down her spine, mentally preparing herself to tell her lord about the dark rituals that Sombra preformed to increase his power.

Dread and fear filled Cannon Fodder’s soul as he trotted down the hallway to find Emerald. His mind wandered to Lord Skeletor’s choice of words, repeating the ominous message he left Cannon Fodder with before he hoofed over the partially eater bowl of stew.

Waste not, want not...

Cannon Fodder contemplated the meaning of his strange statement, imagining a dozen hidden meanings that could be interpreted as thinly veiled threats. Could the demon have learned about his plots against him? Did it know that he wanted to put Emerald on the throne as soon as Cannon Fodder slew him?

If so, then what guarantee did Cannon Fodder have that the stew he was carrying was safe to eat? What if Lord Skeletor poisoned it using his dark magic and he was planning on having Cannon Fodder being an unknowing accomplice in her death?

Cannon Fodder threw a cautious glance over his shoulder before he tossed the contents of the stew into one of the many crystal pots that decorated the hallway. Like every other plant pot in the Empire, the once beautiful flowers had completely withered to dust, adding an air of dread to the nearly barren halls. Most, if not all of the artwork that depicted Sombra, from paintings to tapestries, were torn off of the walls and burned to keep the crystal ponies warm.

He tore his eyes away from the light silhouettes that the old pieces of art left on the naked walls, staring at the empty bowl in his hooves as he briefly entertained the idea of throwing the bowl itself in the dead crystal pot. After a few moments of consideration, Cannon Fodder put the bowl behind the pot since the dirt inside was too hard to bury it.

Taking comfort in the idea that Cannon Fodder may have prevented an assassination attempt on one of the few friends he had left from the time before Sombra, he returned to his duty to look for Emerald, occasionally asking the sparsely placed guards if they had seen her trot by. It didn’t take long for Cannon Fodder to find Emerald talking to Crumb Catcher in one of the hallways.

Crumb Catcher was busying himself with making one of the empty pots look more presentable by placing small pillars of various colorful crystals into them while Emerald was speaking to him. Once Crumb Catcher noticed Cannon Fodder trotting towards them, he gave the pot full of crystals one last appraising glance before he bided farewell to Emerald and trotted towards Cannon Fodder. Before he left, Cannon Fodder could have sworn that he saw the ghost of a smug smile on Crumb Catcher’s muzzle when he trotted past him.

“Hey Cannon, what are you doing here?” Emerald asked him as his eyes lingered on the retreating form of Crumb catcher for a few moments before he turned back to Emerald.

“Skel… Lord Skeletor asked me to find you.”

“Oh, does he need me for something?”

“Not really, he… He just wanted me to talk to you, see how you were doing, I guess?” Cannon Fodder answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Ah… Well, he’ll be happy to know that I’m doing wonderfully, nothing to worry about,” she stated with a less convincing smile on her muzzle.

“You’re sure? Emerald, if something’s bothering you, I’m here to listen,” Cannon Fodder assured her as he reached up to place a comforting hoof on Emerald, before she shied away from him as his hoof came closer to her.

A look of subtle worry flashed across Emerald’s face as she eyed Cannon Fodder’s hoof wearily, as if it were holding a dagger covered in fresh blood. Cannon Fodder was briefly reminded of how Emerald reacted on the staircase when they were looking for the demon, pure fear that he had only seen from ponies who had witnessed the death of Princess Amore with their own eyes.

“Can… Can you please talk to me, Emerald?” He asked as his hoof fell back to his side.

A suppressing silence engulfed them both as Cannon Fodder waited for a reply. He watched one of his oldest friends struggle with an inner conflict that he wanted to help her through. Cannon Fodder stood completely still as he resisted the urge to comfort her with a gentle nuzzle. Ponies were physically affectionate creatures, relying on touch to show each other that they were safe, an evolutionary trait they had received from their ancestors back in the early years of Terra, when demons roamed freely and when the word "Eris" held no meaning.

“I’m fine, I just… I need to find Avid,” Emerald stated before she turned to trot down the hall.

Cannon Fodder felt his body lock up as he watched Emerald trot away, his mind and body arguing for dominance as one demanded action while the other pleaded for a plan. His mouth hung open as he tried to find the right words to say, refusing to let a single syllable escape his throat until he had thought of the right words, until he found the magical statement that would fix everything and make her feel better, but only one word came to mind.

“Wait,” Cannon Fodder said quietly before his voice raised to call out to her. “Wait!”

Cannon Fodder’s legs suddenly moved without hesitation as he trotted after Emerald. “Please I… I don’t know how to help you if we don’t talk. Please, just tell me what’s wrong and I can help,” he told her as he started trotting a few feet behind her.

“It’s… It’s nothing, I’ll be all right. I just need to find Avid and tell him to meet us in the throne room,” Emerald dismissed.

“It’s not all right, Emerald, something’s wrong and you’re hurting. I just… I want to help you, Emerald. I know what Sombra did is still—"

“You don’t know!” She shouted at him. “You…. I’ll be fine,” Emerald quietly muttered as she continued to trot down the hall, leaving Cannon Fodder alone with her words echoing in his mind.

“What did that bastard do to you?” He asked as Emerald trotted out of earshot.

Skeletor braced himself against the wooden dresser of his room as he fought for control of his stomach, swallowing back the building bile that crawled up his non-existent throat at the recent memories of his conversation with Copper Plate.

The things Sombra did should never be said aloud, never repeated under a quiet breath, and never heard. Dark Magic was an entirely different form of magic, one that came at a disturbingly high and grotesque cost, and it freely flowed through Skeletor’s own veins now that he was in the body of a fictional character.

He tried to purge any lingering memories from his conversation with Copper Plate from his mind, drowning them in a sea of kittens and puppies to calm himself.

His vision became hazy as the memories began to resurface with a violent vendetta, driving him to the brink of despair as his imagination took her words and created a vision of death and gore that sickened Skeletor to his very soul. His mind composed a chorus of crying foals, fillies, and colts who were taken from their homes, sometimes dragged out of their beds by their own parents who had fallen under Sombra’s complete control.

Skeletor violently pulled one of the drawers of the dresser open to empty the contents of his stomach, the acidic sting of his stomach burned his throat as his mind took his moment of weakness to attack him with a barrage of disturbing scenes of death and torment to add fuel to his growing fire of disgust and pain.

Skeletor hung his head over the open drawer as he fell to his knees, clutching the edge of the dresser to keep himself upright as his body gave up on him. He breathed heavily as he regained his breath, tearing his eye sockets away from the pool of vomit to look up at the still covered mirror. Skeletor saw the vague shapes of gore and death in the unkempt cloak of crimson fur, causing him to unconsciously paint more vivid images in his mind that built up more bile in his throat.

He stayed like that for a few sparse minutes, collecting enough pleasant memories to bury the death and despair he had imagined under a mountain of distractions. Random catchy jingles and annoying repetitive songs were tossed around in his mind haphazardly in an attempt to drown out the imagined cries of pain, which only caused their cries to grow in intensity until they were the only things he heard.

Tears fell from his invisible eyes as he lost the battle against his mind, allowing the scenes of carnage and bloodshed to dominate his thoughts. Skeletor tore himself away from the dresser and went over to his bed to sit down, burying his skull in his hands as his imagination began to overwhelm him with visions of suffering foals at the bottom of a disgusting pit.

As Skeletor’s imagination plotted to push him towards more dark thoughts, a soft knock on his door that roused him from his thoughts, allowing him a small reprieve from his internal torment. After grabbing his staff and wiping off his jaw with one of the discarded cloaks, Skeletor walked over to the door as the pony on the other side knocked again.

Once Skeletor opened the door, he saw Emerald Secret with her hoof raised to knock again before she quickly put it back down.

“Hello, my lord, are you ready?” She asked.

“Ready for what?”

“For court, my lord. I informed Avid Value and Crumb Catcher about your plan to host court with all of the council members present and I also took the liberty of asking Crumb Catcher to find somepony to spread the news of court being open today. We likely won’t have many ponies coming to court today, but we should expect more later on in the week,” she informed him.

“Court? Oh, right, right, I uh… That’s now?” He asked as he dragged a hand down his skull to banish the last of his disturbing thoughts.

“It’s actually scheduled to be an hour from now, my lord, I just thought you’d like to get prepared, perhaps you could use the hot springs to freshen up?”

Skeletor unconsciously ran his invisible tongue along the top of his mouth at her words, slightly recoiling at the fresh taste of vomit that filled his mouth. “Yeah, I think that’d be good. Um… Do we have any tooth brushes?”

“Is that another word for a chew stick? If so, then I can arrange that to be placed with the rest of your toiletries. If you’d follow me, my lord, I can lead you to the hot springs under the castle.”

Skeletor simply nodded to Emerald Secret before he left his room, prompting Emerald Secret to escort him down the hallway and several flights of stairs. Skeletor’s invisible eyes wandered the halls, following the intricate patterns that naturally formed in the walls. Skeletor was able to catch faint glimpses of his reflection in the many faces of the walls reminding him of his first encounter with his reflection in the dining hall earlier that day.

He saw the skull of a strange monster staring back at him whenever his gaze would flick to a random part of the wall, feeling a chill run up from the base of his spine to the bottom of his skull whenever he would catch the empty eye sockets of his doppelganger. Skeletor moved the hood of his cloak closer to the edge of his face to avoid seeing g his reflection and searched the halls for something to distract him.

His invisible eyes eventually drifted towards the oddly silent Emerald Secret, watching her traverse the halls with ease, unburdened by Skeletor’s plights and silently suffering with her own problems. Skeletor briefly thought how to best approach his question before he decided to throw caution to the wind and act on instinct, too worried that his own “if’s” And “should’s”.

“Hey Emerald, how are you feeling?” He asked.

“Wonderfully, my lord. Crumb Catcher assured me that preparations for the Crystal Fair are going off without a hitch and Avid Value is ecstatic with the progress the alchemists and blacksmiths are making with your creation. They were able to produce the ‘pig’ iron and are in the process of preparing to make the first ever bar of steel,” she summarized.

“That’s nice, but… How are you doing?”

“If you’re referring to my… To earlier this morning, then rest assured that everything is fine, my lord. Cannon Fodder came to speak to me on your orders and I’m feeling much better because of it.”

Skeletor released a quiet sigh of relief at the news and let a small smile touch his strangely malleable jaw which defied nature, presumably a result of his new body being based off of a cartoon villain, though he wasn’t too interested in looking into it since feeling himself smile felt like he still had a face.

“That’s good to hear…. And, Emerald, I’m… I’m sorry for asking an uncomfortable question this morning. Christ, I had no idea about… that,” Skeletor told her, feeling his thoughts begin to stray towards his conversation with Copper Plate.

“That’s… It’s fine, my lord, everything is alright now,” she reassured him with a struggling smile.

Skeletor remained oblivious to her silent plights as Emerald Secret successfully deceived him with very little effort.

They continued walking down several winding corridors and hallways in awkward silence which was only broken by the occasional cough or random noise from one of the many doors that lined the halls. After walking down several flights of dimly lit stairs, Skeletor was led through a pony-made tunnel that was too low for his stature, forcing him to crouch down as he followed Emerald Secret.

Skeletor was able to see a dim blue light at the far end of the tunnel, a dull light that just barely cut through the darkness that blinded Skeletor, the vague shape of Emerald Secret’s body was the only thing that prevented him from getting lost in the shadows. After stumbling through the darkness for close to a minute, the blue light at the end of the tunnel became more noticeable, allowing the outline of Emerald Secret’s body to become more defined.

Maneuvering around an oddly placed pillar of stone, Skeletor shielded his eyes from the sudden explosion of light that appeared from the other side of the pillar. After a few moments, Skeletor looked to see a small cavern completely bathed in blue bioluminescent light from the thousands of glow worms that hung from the ceiling of the cave.

The floor was tiled with dull orange mosaic crystals that were mostly obscured by a thick layer of grime that had fallen from the ceiling. A few yards away from the entrance laid a pool of pristine water that shimmered in the light of the bugs that hung from the stalactites.

“I’ll fetch one of the maids to find you some toiletries, my lord,” Emerald Secret told him as she excused herself, disappearing behind a pillar of stone that obscured Skeletor’s view of the entrance to the hot spring.

Skeletor walked towards the pool of warm water, piping one of his newly monstrous toes into the to test its temperature. He recoiled slightly at the warmth of the water, buy was relieved by a second toe joining the first, allowing his body to accommodate to the now pleasurable temperature of the water.

Without much thought or care, Skeletor stripped himself of his cloak and limited clothing, including the black underwear that offered him only a morsel of modesty. It was an irksome task to maneuver the cloth around his much larger feet, snagging on his larger than average feet as he pulled them off. It was also the first time Skeletor had properly disrobed, allowing him to look at his body in full detail in the reflective surface of the water.

The face of death stared back at him with an expression of fear and hesitant wonder, mirroring Skeletor’s actions perfectly as his hand touched the surface of the water. Light ripples from the contact caused his reflection to shift slightly as he drew closer, feeling his arm sink into the water until it reached his bicep. His hand touched the bottom of the surprisingly shallow pool of water, giving him a brief reminder that everything in the castle, aside from the doors, was designed for the proportions of an average sized pony.

After taking his arm out of the water, Skeletor stepped into it. The water barely came up to his knees while he was standing, and only came up to his waist when he sat down, causing his upper torso to feel incredibly cold by comparison. He slipped deeper into the water, laying on his back as his skull rested on the ledge of the pool so that he could feel more comfortable.

His tense muscles relaxed as the warm water enveloped his body, felling his concerns and worries melt away as his spectral eyes close. A moan of pleasure escaped Skeletor’s throat as he laid in the water, savoring the blissful relaxation that the pool offered him.

His mind wandered to the last time he had used a hot tub, which had been years ago, a crime that he would never commit again now that he had his own personal hot spring. The last time he had felt the luxury of warm water surrounding him was when he first caught a glimpse of Evelyn leaving the pool to go to her room at the hotel he and his family were staying at. He had only noticed her because of her pale complexion and her albino hair, but he thought nothing more of her when she left the room.

They had bumped into each other the next day at breakfast in the lobby, sharing one of the few tables that sat near the beginning of the line for breakfast. Idle chatter between them soon evolved into interested conversation, which miraculously led to them friending each other on Twitter. Months of being friends online led them to exchanging usernames on Steam, Tumblr, and eventually exchanging phone numbers. Skeletor wasn’t sure what had compelled him to ask her on a date to the prom since she didn’t even live in the same town as him. But, somehow, some way, she said yes.

Thinking about that night brought a smile to his face. Prom was absolutely horrible, all the movies that made it look grandiose and wonderful had been extremely exaggerated, either that or his school was being extremely cheap. It didn’t matter that the food, music, dancing, and even the Photo Booth were subpar or horrible, all that mattered was hearing her laugh, becoming lost in her eyes, and being near her.

He briefly wondered if he would ever be able to see her eyes again, if he would ever be able to feel her hand interlock with his. Skeletor unconsciously started to curl his fingers, momentarily tricking himself into believing that the warm water that slipped through his fingers was Evelyn’s warm embrace. The illusion of being near her only lasted for a dying moment of time before his mind started to drift towards the rest of his family on Earth.

He knew that his family would wait for him, but would she? It wasn’t as if he was accusing her of being unfaithful to him, but how long could he have expected her to wait before she believed he was really dead? It wasn’t like they were married or anything, they had only casually dated for around three years. If it actually took him years to get back to Earth, who was to say that she wouldn’t have already moved on by the time he finally got back?

Skeletor quickly chased those thoughts away, sinking deeper into the water until only his nasal bones stayed above the water. He lost himself between thoughts of young deaths and a dying relationship, fighting to keep his emotions in check as his tormenting mind re-doubled its efforts. The only thing that was able to pull him from the brink of despair was the sound of hooves echoing from the dark tunnel.

Skeletor turned to the source of the noise to find Emerald Secret trotting into the cavern with a stick in her front hoof. Glancing down, Skeletor swiftly covered his groin with his hands to hide anything unpleasant from Emerald.

“Apologies, my lord, it took me some time to find a chew stick, I was only able to find it thanks to Crumb Catcher,” she said as she held out a hoof towards Skeletor, causing him to stare at her hoof more than the small twig with a frayed end.

How the hell is she holding it with her hooves? He wondered as he used one of his hands to accept the stick, using the other to discretely conceal his family jewels.

As Skeletor took the stick from Emerald, he noticed that his fingers were more wrinkled than dried prunes.

“Court should start in about fifteen minutes, my lord,” she informed him as she pulled a towel off of her back and draped it over red foreleg. “I trust that you had a relaxing bath?”

“Uh… Yeah, I guess I just lost track of time,” he replied as he looked at the stick he held in his pruny fingers. Lifting the stick to his mouth, he rubbed the frayed ends of the twig against his teeth to remove and plaque and clean out the lingering taste of vomit that his earlier panic attack left him with.

“Do you need me to do anything else, my lord?” Emerald asked in a slightly weaker voice.

Skeletor noticed her sudden change in tone and her slightly fighting legs. He stopped brushing for a brief moment as his incorporeal eyes watched her tail tuck between her legs, something Evelyn had told him scared animals did to protect themselves.

“I just need a little privacy. Would you mind going behind that pillar for a bit?” He asked as he wondered what was making Emerald worry.

Emerald nodded, a bit too quickly for his liking, and she cantered behind the pillar that separated her and Skeletor.

He rinsed the taste of vomit out of his mouth with water from the hot spring, not worrying about any bacteria or germs that were inside of his bath water, before he stood up and grabbed the towel that Emerald left for him. While he was drying himself off, Skeletor became disturbingly familiar with his new skeletal face, having to dry off his jaw from the inside out after letting it soak in the hot spring. Skeletor gagged on the towel a few times as he felt it hit brush up against his teeth and invisible gums.

He noticed that trying to access the inside of his mouth from below his jaw would only lead to him touching bone, while reaching directly through his mouth allowed him to feel his tongue, gums, and, much to his chagrin, his uvula. If he delicately placed a finger in his mouth, Skeletor could feel something that felt like the inside of his cheek, but if he pressed too hard, it would pop like a bubble and reform shortly after. After a few more experimental pokes popped his invisible cheek again, Skeletor stopped playing with his ghostly features and dressed himself with his limited clothes.

Skeletor briefly pondered if any of the staff in the castle would be able to make him a pair of pants, but shook that thought away as he focused on more important matters. He could worry about clothing when he got back to Earth, and getting back there meant not getting killed in the enemy kingdom of the Emerald City from Oz, and the only way to do that was to make sure the ponies were happy. Simple. Easy. Absolutely fucking terrifying. He thought to himself, as he held the cloak closer to his body like a security blanket.

He firmly grasped the Havoc Staff in his free hand, using it as another item to give him a little more distance between himself and the rest of the world. When Skeletor walked around the stone pillar, he saw his new advisor peering into the darkness with trepidation as she watched the small flakes of dust twirl in the air, closely observing it as if a vicious monster would jump out at any moment. Clearing his throat slightly startled Emerald, knocking her out of her worried state and upgrading her to absolute terror as she stared at Skeletor.

Fear flashed across her eyes as she gazed at him, bracing herself as if Skeletor would lunge at her in a moment’s notice to strike her. “Are… Are you alright, Emerald?” Skeletor stupidly asked.

Emerald regained her composure a few moments later, although her mask of calmness had become a warped mess that allowed her true emotions to seep through. “Yes, my lord, everything’s fine,” she replied before she began trotting down the dark tunnel.

Skeletor stayed in place as Emerald’s hoof clops grew more distant before he eventually plunged into the darkness to talk to her. “Emerald, can you please tell me what’s wrong?” He persisted.

He had assumed that her conversation with Cannon Fodder had helped her deal with the memories of what Sombra did to the poor foals that he captured, but clearly something else was bothering her. She had been completely fine until she handed him the chew stick, as if a light switch was flipped, the normal mare suddenly became timider and more fearful of him. Was it his sharp fangs that worried her? Had he done something to scare her without realizing it? He had no idea what caused her to suddenly change but he desperately wanted to know.

“Well… I’m just worried about the Crystal Fair, that’s all, my lord. Nothing you need to be concerned about,” she lied. Or maybe it was the truth? Either way, he’d need to dig a bit deeper to see where the root of the issue laid.

“Really? What’s on your mind then?”

“Just thinking about the festivities, my lord. We… We will be having a celebration, right?” She meekly asked

“Of course. Why, is there something wrong with it?”

“I’m happy to say that isn’t the case, my lord,” she said with a much happier tone prominent in her voice.

Alright, not the festivities then. So what’s bothering her? He questioned. “So, what are you going to do during the fair?”

“Standing by your side, my lord, along with Cannon Fodder and a few of the guards.”

Skeletor paused briefly at that little tidbit of information before he reminded himself that he somehow managed to become king of a bunch of colorful equines. It made sense that there would be guards surrounding him, although the protection they would offer failed to make him feel safe. If anything, the knowledge that a group of highly skilled soldiers would be surrounding him with weapons caused him to feel the exact opposite of safe. All it would take was one well-placed poke with the sharp end of a spear and he’d be a dead man. Yet another thing to add to the ever-growing list of fears that would keep him from getting a restful night’s sleep.

“How many guards?” He asked as he tried to not betray his relaxed and calm facade.

“Half a dozen, not including Cannon Fodder. The guards will create a circle around you while Cannon Fodder personally escorts you from inside the circle. The outer ring of guards is in place to protect you from threats in general, while Cannon Fodder acts as a last line of offense to anything or anypony that gets past them. Though I don’t believe you’ll have to worry about anypony in the Empire attacking you, after all, you liberated us from Sombra,” She said as she led him out of the dark tunnel and up a spiraling staircase.

Skeletor had a few doubts about Emerald’s claim about everyone being happy that the old king was dead. While the disturbing atrocities that he had committed would make him hated by thousands, if not millions, Skeletor knew that monsters like Sombra still had a number of supporters ever after their demise. He was reminded of the many groups and organizations that had devoted themselves to the memories and corpses of monsters like Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

Ignoring those worries for the time being, Skeletor directed his attention back to Emerald and her concerns. “Good, so everything will be alright? There’s nothing to worry about for the Fair?”

“None that I can think of, my lord,” she said happily, seemingly forgetting about her own lie as she thought about the Crystal Fair.

So, it’s not the fair, it’s not the foals, Skeletor shuddered at the drifting images of foals being tormented in his mind. so what is it? Should I call her out on her lie? He wondered as he tried to focus on Emerald’s plights.

“I see… Is there anything else I should know? Something I should be worried about?” He asked as he tried to lead her to revealing her underlying problems.

Emerald was quiet for a few moments as she contemplated his question before she finally answered under a quiet breath. “Everything is fine.”

Skeletor wasn’t sure if the answer was directed towards him or if she was trying to convince herself, but he took it as if it was an answer to him. He slightly nodded his head as he followed her up another staircase, inwardly debating the best course of action to indirectly ask her what was wrong before he once again threw away any sense of planning in favor of action.

“Emerald, if you won’t tell me what’s wrong then that’s your decision to make, just know that I want what’s best for you, and if you think you know what’s best then I’ll respect that. Just know that I’m here if you need to talk,” he told her.

Tense moments of silence filled the space between them as they reached the peak of the stairwell. Skeletor could see the debate raging on inside of Emerald’s mind as her ears twitched erratically as they fought to turn towards Skeletor’s footsteps, only earning a few degrees of freedom before they were swiftly returned to their front facing position. Her ears continued to fidget until she finally answered with something he dreaded to hear.

“Thank you, my lord, but, like I said, everything is perfectly fine.”

Skeletor’s left hand firmly grasped his knee to prevent it from bouncing as he sat on a throne overlooking the many crystal ponies who came to meet their lord. Dread brushed up his spine as he sat on his throne, looking at all of their silently pleading eyes and their weak bodies.

Many of the crystal ponies who came to attend court were those who had taken up temporary residence in the medical wing of the castle, and were some of the most tormented ponies in the Empire. Unlike most of the ponies who were used as soldiers, a majority of the ponies who came to him during court were those that had been forced to work in the mines for the entire three years of Sombra’s rule. Several of the attendants were supporting each other both physically and emotionally, either needing someone to help them stand or needing someone to say their words to Skeletor for them.

Skeletor’s own words either consisted of reassuring the crystal ponies that Sombra was dead and wouldn’t return, or parroting the words of his council as he heavily relied on them to ease the ponies who came to him. He had only asked for one break once a young mare, whom had lost touch with reality, asked where her daughter was.

He knew where she was, he knew where they all were, and so did most of the citizens of the Crystal Empire. The mare's loose grasp on reality left her as one of the few blessed ponies who weren't burdened with the knowledge of what had happened to the foals. It was both a blessing and a curse, to be free of the painful memories that haunted her sleep and to be left without any answers to where her little Sunshine was.

Once she was escorted back to the medical wing, Skeletor requested that she be put on suicide watch and had to briefly explain what the concept of suicide watch was. It was then that Crumb Catcher had informed him that dozens of parents had already died at their own hooves after being released from Sombra’s spell.

Skeletor was left with his own thoughts as his council members debated the ethics of forcing those who wanted to die live, each of their arguments became background noise as Skeletor fought to focus on anything that wouldn’t add to his growing terrors. The only thing his council members had agreed on were that it was his order and, by all right, his final decision. If he were in a clearer state of mind, Skeletor may have thought about the ramifications of his decision and asked his council to do what they, as a majority, thought what was best, but his current state of mind prevented him from doing so. With a wave of his hand, Skeletor ended their meeting break and reluctantly returned to the throne room.

He had lost count of how many ponies had come to see him, how many desperate and tearful eyes looked up at him, how many of them begged for their nightmare to really be over. A few of them had asked if he knew what happened to the solar and lunar princesses, hoping that he would be able to shed some light on their sudden disappearance. Unfortunately, he was just as, if not more, confused by it. Any time one of them asked if the princesses were still alive, he would tell them that he believed the princesses were alive and assured the crystal ponies that they would find out for certain soon, although he planned to postpone “soon” to “indefinitely.”

The crystal ponies that arrived later in the day requested help rebuilding their homes, shops, and underground farms, tasks that were handled by Avid Value’s input on the cost of repairs and finding capable hooves for the job. A handful of guards had also gathered the courage to ask if they could resign, and a few of them appeared to be more than willing to jump on their own spears if Skeletor had refused their request.

They were officially relieved from their duty by Skeletor’s royal decree and Cannon Fodder was tasked with handling the official process of their resignation. While Cannon Fodder tried to argue that the first few guards who asked couldn’t resign, his attempts to persuade Skeletor soon died out once over two dozen guards had come to be relieved of duty.

Hours sluggishly trudged on as more ponies came to the throne room, Skeletor could have sworn that he saw the life in their eyes dying the more he spoke of empty promises to look for the diarchs of the sun and moon, to rebuild the Empire so that it could regain its former glory, and to essentially fix every problem in the Empire overnight. It was an exhausting experience for the human turned mythical villain, and one that he was barely prepared to handle on an emotional level as he tried to maintain his composure and fight against the bile that desperately crawled up his throat.

After an entire day of listening to the crystal ponies, the sun finally began its slow descent outside the castle as last of the ponies were escorted out of the throne room. Skeletor pensively watched the throne room doors as he waited for another pony to trot in, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn’t have to hear any more stories of their suffering or give them any more promises of false hope.

He released a loud sigh of relief once the throne room doors were shut, leaving only Skeletor, his council, and a large amount of stoic guards in the throne room. Skeletor then proceeded to slump into the cushions of his throne, throwing away his masquerade or power and poise as he sunk into his seat. His skull rested in his left hand for a few brief moments as the memories of court replayed in his mind.

“Is everything alright, Lord Skeletor?” Crumb Catcher asked from his seat.

Four pillows were placed on either side of the dais with one placed directly next to Skeletor’s throne. Emerald Secret sat on the pillow next to Skeletor, using her position to whisper relevant information to him whenever he couldn’t understand their terminology or failed to understand what they were asking for. Crumb Catcher and Cannon Fodder were sat to the right of the dais while Copper Plate and Avid Value sat to the left of it, allowing a senior council member to sit next to one of the newer members and keep an eye on them.

“I’m fine… I won’t have to meet with anyone else, will I?” He asked no-one in particular.

“That was the last one, my lord. I didn’t think so many ponies would hear about court so soon,” Emerald Secret told Skeletor.

Crumb Catcher’s posture slightly straightened as he wore a prideful smile on his muzzle. “Of course, it was Lord Skeletor’s wishes and I executed them to the best of my abilities,” he bragged.

“You mean the maids executed them,” Avid Value stated from his side of the dais.

“I’ve accomplished more than you, wandought,” Crumb Catcher shot back bitterly.

A fierce glare from Cannon Fodder and Copper Plate prematurely stopped either of them from continuing their argument. While Avid Value brooded over his inability to get another word in, Crumb Catcher was immensely proud that he was able to get in the last word. Neither of their attempts to insult each other managed to catch Skeletor’s attention since his mind was too preoccupied thinking about the many crystal ponies who came to court in seek of help.

Several guards shifted nervously as Skeletor sat sill with his head in his hand as the silence inside the room became deafening while everyone waited for him or someone else to speak up. The silence soon became too much even for Skeletor, prompting the new lord of the Crystal Empire to take his head out of his hands before he fell asleep on his throne.

As he raised his head, he noticed that all of the room’s occupants were staring directly at him. Skeletor was able to catch a few eyes that were quickly torn away from him when he raised his head and he saw the nervous tension dance across their faces as they tried to not gawk at Skeletor.

Skeletor slightly tensed up when he noticed how much attention was pointed towards him and attempted to redirect it to the other council members.

“Avid, how are the alchemists doing?” He asked.

Avid Value noticeably perked up at his question before he turned to Skeletor. “Wonderfully, your highness! I’m proud to say that they made leaps in progress so far, and we believe that it will only take a day or so to perfect the process. The alchemists and blacksmiths were able to make a few ounces of steel and we believe it won’t be long until we can start molding them for coins.”

“Excellent, but we can’t use the steel as direct currency,” Skeletor stated without hesitation.

“I’m… I’m sorry, your highness? Wasn’t this endeavor started to help our financial situation?”

“And it will. It’s a resource that we can control and make as much of as we want. Making too much steel will make it worth less than gold and not making enough will cause its value to be too high for anyone to actually use. So, if we flood the Empire with steel coins…” Skeletor led, rolling his wrist to prompt Avid Value to finish for him.

“Then… We’d still have a financial crisis on our hooves… So, what do we do?” Avid Value asked.

“We need something that can also be made and give it an arbitrary value, using the worth and cost of steel to give the new currency value. My government had paper currency that was given worth by a place called the Federal Reserve Bank, which held all of our country’s real value. We can afford to make a few coins of steel, but there needs to be a more accessible currency that can equate to steel,” he rattled off as he tapped his fingers against the staff of his scepter.

“You use paper as currency?!” Copper Plate shouted as if it was the most blasphemous thing she had ever heard. Noticing the many shocked stares that the council members and Skeletor threw at her, she nervously coughed into her hoof. “Apologies, Lord Skeletor. It’s just… Paper is really scarce in the Empire.”

“How scarce?”

“Well… I think the only paper in the Empire is in the Royal Archives.”

“But what about books? Shouldn’t there be dozens of books in the Empire?”

“Books are a rare commodity among ponies of all races. Very few ponies even know how to read, so the texts aren’t designed to be available to the public. The only books in the Empire should be in the castle,” she informed him.

“Sooooo… How bad would it be if someone say, completely hypothetically, destroyed some books?” Skeletor hesitantly asked.

“It was punishable by death during Princess Amore’s rule, your highness.”

A sudden spike of fear pierced Skeletor’s soul as he remembered the partially destroyed bookshelf in his bedroom. “Ah… W-Well, we should definitely fix the book problem then.”

“What problem?” Copper Plate asked.

“The book problem,” he repeated. “Books are a treasure that outlives and outweighs any monetary value, for they hold the keys to the most important thing in existence. They possess knowledge, history, and lessons that are passed down from those who were brave enough to fail so that those in the future could succeed,” Skeletor rattled off, as a flood of words that just so happened to sound inspirational fell out of his mouth.

“First, we’ll have the alchemists find a way to make paper,” he stated as he hopped out of his throne and began pacing the floor. "I know that there are methods that can use animal skin or plant fibers, but I don’t know much about them. It’ll be trial and error to make paper, but with it we can use it to make more books and use it as paper currency. The Empire doesn’t have any cattle, so we can’t use animal skin or cotton, unless we can use a few blankets and pillows, but that would hurt the citizens... And there are barely any plants either. Wait… Who knows the most about agriculture here? How are the subterranean farms doing?” He asked his council.

“That would technically fall under my title, my lord,” Emerald Secret answered. “As I told you earlier, the farmers were able to cut through the overgrown vines to get to the crops.”

“Excellent. Once the alchemists have completed perfecting the process of making steel, have them focus their efforts on making paper. Tell them to use any of the rotten foods or any dead vines and leaves to try and make something with them.”

“Paper made of plants? That’s ludicrous,” Cannon Fodder stated firmly. “You’re asking the alchemists to turn water into wine without magic.”

“Without magic… Wait, the alchemists don’t use magic?” He asked his council. Each of them shared worrying looks for a few quick moments before Emerald Secret cleared her throat.

“There were a great number of ruvas who were part of the alchemist’s guild, but once Sombra rose to power…” She trailed off as the memories of Sombra’s many atrocities, the ghosts of her many friends lingered inside her mind as she suppressed the memories of their demise.

A look of realization washed over Skelerot’s skull as his posture suddenly tensed up. “Right. Right, I uh… Okay…” He quietly said.

A brief silence befell the throne room as many ponies sent silent prayers to the all-loving weaver, Faust, and Skeletor sent a silent prayer to his own god. Skeletor let out a breath as he resolved to focus on the incoming economic crisis at hand rather than the recent tragedies of yesterday. As much as he wanted to take a few moments to mourn the dead, he had to worry about one life: his own.

“Are there spells for making paper?” He asked Copper Plate after letting the silence hang in the air for a few more short seconds.

“There are a few conjuring spells, but they need physical matter to transmogrify.”

“Alright, do we have any books that have chapters dedicated to the process of making paper or any spell books that have spells for making paper?”

“There are a few that might be helpful. Should I go find them?”

“Yes. Making paper is one of our top priorities right now. With paper currency we can solve out financial situation, not to mention we’ll have more books so it won’t be a death sentence if someone say, accidentally destroyed a few books,” Skeletor stated as he stared at the ram skull on his scepter. “The only concern is my magic, I’m… I'm Sooooo powerful that doing something as menial as creating paper may be a laborious task, like asking the sun to warm a cup of tea,” he lied. “We’ll need the alchemists to work on making more paper with their own methods in case I can’t refine my immense power enough to do it. Who is in charge of the alchemist guild?”

“That would be Purity Flame, my lord, the mare you met with earlier today,” Emerald Secret answered. “Would you like one of us to deliver your orders to her?”

“Do it tomorrow. The sun has already set and she’s probably worked all day. Tomorrow when she wakes up, tell her my orders and ask her to meet with me. An issue we need to deal with now would be the medical ward. How are the doctors doing on supplies?”

“The medical cabinets are almost fully stocked, my lord, but the main issue afflicting the ponies isn’t physical, it’s mental,” Emerald explained. “The doctor’s aren’t ruvas, so they can’t use any spells to ease the minds of the patients.”

“What about anti-depressants for the suicidal patients? Do we have any of those?” Skeletor asked.

“ ‘Anti-depressants’? Is that a spell?” Emerald asked in-turn.

“No, it’s…” He paused for a moment as he mulled his response over in his mind. A deceptive plan formed in his mind that, while morally apprehensible, would also prove beneficial to the ponies suffering from mental trauma. “… Do any of you know what a placebo is?”

“I’ve never heard of that term,” Emerald stated as she looked at her other council members. Each one shook their head at the question, confirming that none of them had ever heard of a placebo before.

“Well, it’s… A magical medicine,” Skeletor lied, as he began concocting a plan that could possibly help the crystal ponies. “It’s a medicine for the mind that uses hope and belief to strengthen a creature’s vitality. It can’t magically cure all problems, like severed limbs or deadly diseases, but with enough time and effort it can help with problems plaguing the mind, and we-er-I could create an elixir that could possibly help them. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s better than nothing so it’s worth a shot.”

“Fascinating, your highness,” Crumb Catcher praised before he asked one simple question that could have derailed all of Skeletor’s plans. “How do we make it?”

“… The first main ingredients in a placebo are faith and trust; all the other ingredients are secret,” Skeletor continued to lie. “Should the other ingredients ever be explained, then it can lead to disastrous consequences. Where I come from, a man fighting off a deadly disease that caused hiss blood to rapidly multiply was given a placebo to help. Even though they were never designed to fight against such a deadly disease, they worked, but once he found out the other ingredients in his placebo medicine, it stopped working. So, to assure that the medicine won’t lose its magic, I and I alone will make it and give it to the doctors to use on the patients. I’ll need to use the kitchens early tomorrow, they should have everything else I need to make it. Now, is there anything else we need to do for what little remains of the day?” Skeletor asked as he glanced out of one of the windows.

The sun slowly fell beyond the horizon with the moon beginning its ascent from the same horizon. Skeletor quickly did a double take as he realized that he was watching the sun set and the moon rise at the same time towards the east of the Empire, the two celestial bodies moving uncomfortably close to each other as the day ended and the night begun. Skeletor silently watched the twilight sky become engulfed in darkness as it slowly swallowed everything above the clouds. Tentacles of shadows crawled over the horizon to complexly obscure the sky, causing Skeletor to slightly recoil at the unnatural process of turning day into night.

He swallowed thickly before he tore his gaze away from the sky, deciding not to question the rules of his new reality for fear of losing what little remained of his sanity.

“I think it’s time we all retire for the night, unless there are any other pressing matters I should know about,” Skeletor said calmly as he turned towards his council.

Out of the corner of his eye-socket, Skeletor noticed that a few weary eyed guards stifled their yawns. Many of them had stayed for the entire court session, only leaving for the allotted bathroom break and lunch break, standing at attention even as Skeletor and his council took an impromptu break after the childless mother came in asking to see her daughter again.

Skeletor’s council perked up at the mention of retiring for the night, hopping off of their cushions as Skeletor walked towards the large throne room doors. The guards at either side of the door moved quickly to open it for him, allowing him to leave the room and head towards his only slice of sanctuary in the fantasy land from hell, his bedchambers.

After a few helpful directions from the two guards that flanked Skeletor’s side, one of which being Cannon Fodder, Skeletor was led back to his bedroom. Once he was confided to his room, Skeletor released a deep sigh of relief as he tried to relax on his bed.

Moonlight trickled through the open hole in his wall that was left by the smashed glass mosaic of Sombra, offering a small amount of light to illuminate his pitch-black room. Skeletor placed his scepter on the floor and laid in bed for a handful of restless minutes. Flashes of pleading voices and tearful gaze appeared in Skeletor’s mind before he fumbled blindly on his nightstand for a small candle.

Holding the candle in his hand, he picked up his scepter and placed the wick of the candle against one of its golden horns and closed his eyes. Focusing on the image of fire inside his mind, Skeletor concentrated on the candle in front of him and tried to force magic to flow through his scepter.

After a minute of imagining fire erupting from his scepter, and subtly rubbing the candle against the horns of the ram skull as if the slow friction could miraculously light it, Skeletor opened his eyes to look at his failure. He saw a spark of energy fly off of the horns and ignite the wick of the candle, causing a small emerald colored blaze to spring to life and dance on top of the cold wax.

Skeletor flinched in surprise at the now lit candle, watching the green flame move with a chaotic life that refused to bend to the whims of existence. As if the candle existed to solely spit in the face of reality, the small fire managed to illuminate the entire room as if it burned with the wrath of a small sun.

Using the surprisingly bright light from the relatively small flame, Skeletor took several books off of his shelf to skim through their pages, blindly searching for anything that looked like the most basic of beginners guides for magic users.

From the small parts that Skeletor could somewhat grasp, magic worked off of taking a concept and dumbing it down to its most basic factors. Skeletor wanted fire, so the horns became hot enough to make it through heating the horns, he wanted to kill Sombra a second time, so his magic created an image for him to relive the memory.

In the most basic of terms, magic could be theoretically considered a form of life that grows with its caster, meaning that the magic that obeys the whims of its caster ages and learns as the caster grows. Even though he was a grown adult, his magic was still in its infancy since he had never used it, so his magic would take any of his orders as literal while also dumbing them down to a point that could achieve some type of satisfaction.

An example would have been the staircase that opened in the throne room a day or so ago. He had wanted whatever shroud that was used to obscure his memories removed, and his magic had dumbed it down to revealing or finding something hidden. And while his powers weren’t enough to remove the seal that hid some of his memories, they were strong enough to reveal the hidden path to the highest tower. His magic also couldn’t actually bring Sombra back to life for him to kill the evil stallion a second time, so it took the idea of, “I want to kill Sombra again.” and turned it into, “I want to experience killing him again.”

The purpose of magic was to appease or satisfy the caster by either giving them what they wanted or doing something similar that could satisfy them. Skeletor wasn’t sure how it applied to his portal spell, since he definitely wasn’t satisfied with the end result. Perhaps it took his idea of “I want to get home” and turned it into, “I want to leave.” His powers weren’t strong enough to open a portal to Earth, so his magical essence was forced to dumb down his order into something more manageable.

If a spell caster was powerful enough, they could circumvent the “dumbing down” phase of casting their spell so that they could achieve what they actually wanted. He was powerful enough to remove the basic lock spell from the vault, so there was no need to dumb his desire down from, “I want it unlocked.”

Deciding to test out his spells once more, Skeletor picked up one of the more heavily damaged books from his shelf and placed it on the floor. After stepping back a few feet, Skeletor lowered his scepter to press the frontal bone of the ram skull against what remained of the book’s cover.

Swirls of magic swarmed the remains of the old tome for a few moments before several tendrils of magic quickly darted between his legs to reach under his bed. Ashes and shreds of paper flew out from under his mattress to merge with the ins book, slowly repairing the damage caused from his accidental combustion spell. In a few brief moments, a patchwork of papers mended the cover of the book and repaired the burned and frayed pages.

The pages inside the book were left mostly blank after the spell restored the book, with only a few lines of text and images that managed to survive the initial combustion spell. The parts of the book that were burned away were replaced blank sheets of paper that held fair images and faded words that were taken from the burned scraps that were hidden under Skeletor’s bed. Many of the pages were numbered incorrectly, and several of them used letters instead of numbers to mark the pages.

While Skeletor was happy that the book was repaired, the fact that it was now mostly illegible and still badly damaged caused him to feel a stab of fear that cut through his cheerful spirits. Copper Plate had told him that damaging books were a death sentence in the Crystal Empire, and he wasn’t too sure how his status as king would protect him.

King Henry was able to murder his wives and thousands of other people without any repercussions for his actions, but that was on Earth. Did the same rules apply in magical pony land? Skeletor wasn’t brave enough to find out that answer and did his best to repair the covers of the other books on his shelf, superficially fixing the exteriors instead of the interiors. Afterwards, Skeletor used the wooden remains of his cupboard to fix the shelf of his book case and used the cloaks to make a large curtain to cover his broken window.

With nothing else to do, Skeletor returned to reading more of his limited collection to learn how to control his abilities and learn what else he could do with them.

Copper Plate trotted along one of the many rows of books in the royal archives, her eyes roamed each of the shelves in search of anything that could help Lord Skeletor. Her gaze trailed from the title to its corresponding chain, making sure that each of the books were still securely chained to their locks.

It was odd how she found comfort in the sight of chains, a symbol of repression and confinement that should have brought forth a hundred memories of Sombra’s reign. And yet, seeing her catalogue of knowledge safe on their shelves brought her a sense of silent relief. Even after Sombra’s takeover of the Empire, the history of the crystal ponies and their princess were still safe, their culture and beliefs were untouched by sullied hooves and monstrous claws.

A small smile crept onto her muzzle as she checked her list of books, happy to confirm that the archives still had most of their books with the only exception being those that Sombra stole for his private study. Her smile faltered slightly at that wandering memory, but she knowledge that Skeletor had promised to find a more efficient way to make paper reinforced her smile by two-fold. Any lingering worries about him were tossed away by his plans for the Empire, helping their economy crawl back from the brink of collapse and improving their production of literature and texts.

Copper Plate’s eyes stayed firmly placed on the books as her ears moved towards the sound of hooves clopping in the isle next to her, briefly reminding herself that the pony in the next isle was somepony she could trust near her valuable collection of knowledge.

“Oh, Copper, I think I found a book that might help us,” Emerald Secret called from the isle next to Copper Plate.

Copper Plate trotted to the next isle to see Emerald marveling at a thick tome that was dedicated to agriculture and farming. “Do you think there’s anything in here about using plants to make items?” Emerald asked while she squinted at the title of the book as if she were interrogating it.

“I doubt it,” Copper Plate answered. “That book doesn’t have anything that goes beyond the subterranean farms and what time of year the sun crystals glow brightest.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate,” Emerald said as her posture dropped slightly.

“It’s fine, Emerald, we’ll find something down here to help Lord Skeletor and the Alchemists,” Copper Plate reassured her as she patted Emerald’s withers.

Emerald initially flinched at the contact, but after a moment of consideration, she melted into Copper Plate’s embrace.

“I’m fine, Copper.”

“And I’m a stallion,” Copper Plate responded with a roll of her eyes. “I might be old, but I’m not blind, thank Faust. Something is eating at you, and the other council members have noticed too, not to mention Lord Skeletor has noticed as well.”

“It… It’s nothing,” she lied. “I had a talk with Cannon Fodder and everything is settled now.”

“Oh really? And what was settled?”

“The… The Crystal Fair. I was worried that we might not have one this year,” she stated with a far too cheerful smile. “But Lord Skeletor assured me that we would be hosting the Fair this year in celebration of Sombra’s death and the Empire’s liberation.”

“No offense, dear, but that’s codswallop. Look, Emerald, I want to help you, but I can’t help you unless you let me.”

“I don’t need help, I can deal with it myself.”

“A lot of ponies say that, but not many of them mean it,” Copper Plate told her.

Emerald bit back a retort to let Copper Plate’s words sink in, possibly reminding her of how many times she had told other ponies that she was fine or that she could deal with it alone.

Emerald had been an invaluable addition to the royal Archives for the past two days, giving Copper Plate a first-person account of Princess Amore’s death and the final moments of King Sombra. Many tears were shed over the memories of Princess Amore and solemn smiles were shared between the two as they fondly remembered Princess Amore for the pony she was behind her mask of regality.

They provided each other a shoulder for her to cry on for their woes, gave an ear to listen to their problems, and openly discussed their greatest fears and worries. Emerald’s belief in Lord Skeletor was one of the few things that eased Copper Plate’s worries about what would happen to the Empire, and she was one of the few ponies Copper Plate considered a friend in the post-Sombra Empire. If there was even the slightest hint of a chance that Copper Plate could help Emerald in any way, she would take it.

“Promise not to tell anypony? It’s… It’s stupid…” Emerald muttered.

“Don’t worry, Emerald, nothing you say will leave these walls,” Copper Plate said as she gestured to the lifeless walls of the archives.

Emerald took a deep breath as she found the courage to not only admit her fears go herself, but to share them with another pony. She shared her personal fears with Copper Plate, struggling to find the right wording that wouldn’t make her sound like a filly that was afraid of the dark.

Copper Plate listened intently to her words, holding no judgment or ill-will towards Emerald as she spoke, only nodding her head and offering a shoulder to cry on whenever Emerald needed it.

Emerald’s problems would not be fixed in a single night, no magical phrase or inspirational speech would be able to alleviate all of her fears in a single night. All she could do in a single night was take the first step on a long journey to recovery, one that no one should trot alone. No matter what, as long as she reached out, Emerald's friends would be there to help her along her expedition.

It would take a long time, a time only marked by how many tears would fall from her eyes and how many nights she spent awake. And by the end of her journey, Emerald would overcome her fears with her strength and the power of her friends. No matter what, her friends would be there to help her down the path to healing.

The sun rising from the east marked a new day for the Crystal Empire. Unlike the moon which rose in the east and set in the west, the sun rose from the horizon of the east where it would later fall again, like a ball bouncing in slow motion.

The tendrils of the night chased after the setting moon, tearing the darkness of the sky away to reveal a beautiful blue backdrop of the sky. Hundreds of crystal ponies watched the skies, sometimes nipping at themselves to confirm that they still weren’t dreaming.

As many crystal ponies rose in the early morning to embrace the beauty of their world, one creature completely ignored the majestic nature of the planet, locked within the confides of his bedchambers in the Crystal Castle as he experimented with his magic.

Inside his room was Skeletor and a collection of red cloaks that were clumped together in a corner, the two stared at each other intently, or at least Skeletor pretended that the inanimate pile of cloaks were staring at him. He imagined that the lump of red fur was King Sombra: the pony who had cursed him by bringing him to a world of equines, the monster that had locked away his memories, the demon that he desperately wanted to kill a second time.

Skeletor’s left hand rose quickly as he struck a confident pose, spreading out his fingers as he prepared to unleash one of the magical spells he had seen in the ancient tomes that lined his bookcase.

“I have unlimited Power!” He shouted with glee as lightning leapt from his fingertips at his fabricated foe.

As the lightning struck its target, electricity began soaring through Skeletor’s veins and burned his insides. Immense pain shot through Skeletor’s body immediately as his spell began to take its toll, causing him to scream out in agony, “FUCK! That fucking hurts!”

Skeletor immediately cut off the spell and clutched his twitching arm as he felt the residual electricity run through his limb. Streaks of static and lightning flickered across his arm as he held it close to him.

“Fuck me, fuck! Fuck, okay, magic hurts like a bitch,” He said to himself as he focused on the pain soaring through his arm.

The smell of burning hair promptly knocked Skeletor’s thoughts away from the pain he felt, causing him to focus on the fire hazard that begun to grow in the corner.

“No! Stop being on fire, STOP BEING ON FIRE!” He exclaimed as he held out both of his hands towards the growing flame.

A blast of ice magic flew from his open palms towards the fire, snuffing out the fire while the bitter sting of cold magic swallowed his hands.

“Coldcoldcoldcoldcoldcold. COLD!” He shouted as he began flailing his hands to get his blood circulating through them again. After failing to get any immediate results, Skeletor began blowing in them in a vain attempt to make them feel warm before he shoved them under his armpits.

“Fuck,” he squeaked as he felt the frigid touch of death assault his senses.

Skeletor shivered as he felt the cold embrace him, his jaw clattered hysterically and his legs trembled. He quickly wrapped himself in the blanket that laid on his bed to warm himself as he shuffled back to the open book on his nightstand. After hours of reading and deciphering the cryptic and confusing passages about magic and teleportation.

From what Skeletor could piece together, there were two types of teleportation known to equine kind. The first was creating a portal that was designed to fold reality to take something a certain distance at the cost of time. This type of travel was known as “Portal Walking”, an ability only used by the most powerful of unicorn mages such as someone, or rather somepony, named Starswirl the Bearded. Portal Walking was soon replaced by teleportation once it was discovered by a mage named Clover the Clever.

Teleportation itself was the act of moving to a location instantaneously, with the only downside being that it was the equivalent of a blind leap of faith into a dark room.

While a portal would guarantee going to a location safely, a teleport was a blind leap into a place with no idea how safe it would be. If a person/pony knew the location well, then they could teleport to that location without being worried about ending up inside a wall, but that wouldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t end up inside a piece of recently moved furniture or inside a pony that happened to be in the spot the other pony was teleporting to.

The cost of teleporting to an area within the caster’s field of view was a more practical use of teleportation while traveling great distances was something more suitable for using a portal. Apparently, portal walking faded into obscurity once the ponies settled in Equestria and began using teleportation for ponies and physical objects.

Skeletor personally preferred using portals since he was too worried that teleporting could, and most likely would, make him end up inside of a wall or halfway through the floor. Once Skeletor decided that opening a portal back home would be the wiser and safer option of the two, he began looking for a means to get more power to open a portal back to Earth.

He learned that magic was similar to muscle in the sense that it became stronger with more use and became weaker with fatigue and age. The only way to make it stronger was to exercise it by casting more spells, and if he didn’t regularly practice and use his magic then there was good chance that it would become lethargic and possibly dangerous. Ponies who had used magic after years of inactivity would often suffer a magic attack, which was the equivalent of a heart attack in their soul.

Magic attacks were almost always lethal to the caster, sending them into a coma like state known as living death where they would starve to death or die of thirst despite anyone’s attempts to help them. Skeletor was immensely grateful that one of the first signs of a magic attack was extreme fatigue, it was the only thing that prevented him from experimenting more with his magic on his first night in the castle. If he had kept using the portal spell that night then it would have been very likely for him to become another victim of a magic attack.

Taking a break from his self-taught magic lessons, Skeletor flopped onto his bed to rest his body and mind. Using magic drained and affected certain parts of the body depending on what the spell uses. Transportation spells used overall physical strength and endurance as the fuel to enact the spell, elemental spells such as lightning and ice drained him emotionally, removing his sense of glee and fear respectively, and his one attempt at a levitation spell had given him a major migraine as it fed off of his conscious thoughts, causing his mind to sit still for an uncomfortable amount of time as any train of thought was diverted to physically moving an object. What was worse, was that Skeletor acted more like a mindless machine than a person while he used his levitation spell, leaving him practically defenseless until the object went to where he wanted it to go.

Sombra had avoided the cost of his power by using something other than his body, mind, or emotions to pay it for him. Skeletor was fairly certain that the power he achieved was from his sacrifices, but the fact that the sacrifices, pit throws, and other atrocities happened after his initial spell to take the Empire left a large hole in his theory. Sombra had found a way to subvert the cost of his spell without sacrificing foals, meaning that Skeletor could find a way to do so as well.

He wracked his brain as he tried to think of how Sombra avoided having a magic attack and there was no way he was physically, emotionally, or mentally strong enough to cast his enslavement spell, let alone keep it constantly running for three years. Enchantments like his lock spell or the spell he used to hide his staircase only needed to be casted once since they were affecting an object, if he had placed the concealing spell on himself of another pony then he would need to actively concentrate and focus on that spell to keep it intact.

As Skeletor laid on his bed his thoughts drifted towards the different uses of enchantments, a soft knock at his door pulled him away from his thoughts. Quietly groaning to himself, Skeletor pushed himself off of his bed and walked towards the door with his havoc staff draped over his back with the small holder that was attached to his harness.

After slapping himself in the face to wake himself up, Skeletor opened the door to see a brightly smiling Emerald Secret standing on the other side. Skeletor suppressed a yawn as he tried to greet her.

“Morning, Emerald.”

“Yes, it is morning, my lord, and may I wish you an absolutely wonderful morning,” she replied cheerfully.

Skeletor nodded as he stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him, making sure not to reveal how much of a mess he made to Emerald as he slipped out.

“Yeah, wonderful, wonderful. So, what’s on the itinerary today?” He asked.

“Well first is breakfast, followed by a meeting with the master of the alchemist guild, Purity Flame, to discuss your plans for finding a new method to mass produce paper. Then court will be opened for an hour until we need to break for lunch. Afterwards, Crumb Catcher requested that you pose for your portraits so Art could paint your visage.”

“Why do I need my portrait painted?”

“Well, I and the rest of the council believed that you would like to have your image replace all of Sombra’s old portraits. Crumb Catcher also brought up the idea of commissioning a statue of you as well, but Avid said that it wasn’t in our budget at the moment,” she explained as she led Skeletor down the hall.

Skeletor briefly considered the idea of getting a statue of himself before a stiff headache reminded him of his inability to remember his old face and what he looked like now. “I don’t think portraits will be necessary, Emerald.”

“Why not?”

“I… Uh… Feel like the money for the artist would be better spent on expenses for the Fair and other things,” he lied.

Skeletor didn’t know how he was able to look at his reflection in the water or in the dining hall, but he did know that he didn’t like it. He was unnerved by his own reflection, disgusted even. Having portraits and paintings of himself hanging all throughout the castle would have only been a constant reminder of the monster he became.

Sure, he was glad that he was more muscular and could do magic, but that didn’t make up for the fact that he was a legitimate monster.

“Ah. Well, my lord, there’s nothing to worry about. Art is more than willing to do it for free. In fact, I think that he’d pay you for the chance to paint your portrait.”

“W-well… What about your previous princess?” He asked.

His sudden question caused her to trip over her front hooves for a moment before she caught herself. “What about her, my lord?” She hesitantly asked.

“Well, you ponies looked up to her, right?” Skeletor asked in a leading tone. Emerald simply nodded in response as Skeletor continued speaking. “And I assume that Sombra removed any art of her, right?”

“There are only a few pieces of art left of her. Anything that wasn’t built into the foundation of the castle was stripped from the Empire and burned to ash or smashed into rubble.”

“So, wouldn’t the crystal ponies feel better if they had art of the former princess again? I mean, I know I would certainly like to see what my predecessor looked like,” he said with a knowing smile as he watched Emerald’s ears stand at attention and her tail swished back and forth happily.

“In fact, why don’t we honor her memory. Does the Crystal Fair happen on the same day every year?”

“It did, before Sombra took over. The last Crystal Fair was supposed to be a month ago.”

“Then we’ll make this Friday the official day for the Crystal Fair, and we’ll call it… Uh, what was her name?”

“Princess Amore.”

“Prrrrincess Amore Memory Day!” He announced while rolling his r’s and pointing a finger to the air. “In fact, we shall honor the memory of all those who died under Sombra’s cruel reign. What do you think, Emerald?”

“That sounds wonderful, my lord! I’m sure the citizens will love it!”

“GREAT! Go find Art and tell them of my plan, I’ll find my own way to the dining hall, I’ll be fine without a guide.”

“At once, my lord!” She stated before she turned to gallop away from the path to the dining hall.

Skeletor chuckled at his success to avoid having any reminders of his face hanging around the Empire while also finding a way to make the ponies happy as well. The happier they were, the less likely he’d be taken to the gallows.

Briefly looking back to make sure Emerald was out of earshot, Skeletor cleared his throat to get the attention of one of the guards who stood nearby while he was talking to Emerald.

“I require a guard to escort me to the dining hall,” he said with fake confidence.

“Um, didn’t you say—"

“Never-mind what I said, just do what I said,” Skeletor firmly stated with fake anger, causing the guard to shut up and lead Skeletor to the dining hall since he failed to remember how to get there himself.

Cannon Fodder slowly rose from his mattress as he wiped the crust out of his eyes. He yawned loudly as he stretched his legs and arched his back to pop his spine. His eyes lazily took stock of the few things in his spartan room. His armor was meticulously placed on one of the spare training dummies that matched his height and build almost perfectly. A weapons rack of spears, his gladius, and a battle axe that was passed down from his father’s father back from when his grandfather, Glass Cannon, had served as a member of Princess Amore’s royal guard.

Even though Cannon Fodder didn’t know how to properly wield his grandfather’s battle axe, seeing it brought a smile to his muzzle as he carried on his family’s tradition of serving Princess Amore. That smile quickly vanished as soon as he remembered how he was the last of his family to serve her, that he was the one responsible for her dying. He didn’t jump in front of her, he didn’t defend her, he let his guard down and she paid the price, and now he was forced to serve a demon.

Cannon Fodder hopped off of his uncomfortable mattress as he stared at the blank picture frame that hung over his weapons rack. The bismuth frame once held a beautiful portrait of Princess Amore, painted by his mother when his father served the royal guard. Cannon Fodder, like everypony else with a painting or piece of art of Princess Amore, was forced to take any art or memorabilia of her to the center of the Empire for Sombra to incinerate them.

He scowled at the memory of Sombra’s arrogant smile as he watched the fire consume her image. The bastard forced all of his enslaved subjects to watch their possessions burn in a column of fire that nearly blinded them with its bright flames. It only became worse once he forced the few ruva and thestral slaves he had to throw themselves into the fire and dance around on the streets and in the air.

Cannon Fodder wondered if Dice, Star Shine, and Torch Wind were commanded to burn themselves that day or if they were fortunate enough to be among the first batch of ponies who threw themselves into the pit. He hoped that their deaths were quick, that they weren’t tortured by the monster that had murdered Princess Amore.

A rhythmic knock from his door took his attention away from the blank picture frame to the stallion standing at his opened door. Cannon Fodder frowned at the blue stallion that came into his room unannounced.

“What are you doing here? Did you come to talk about polishing my armor again?” Cannon Fodder asked as he began placing his armor on his body.

“And good morning to you too, General Fodder,” Crumb Catcher replied as he trotted into the room and closed the door behind him.

“You better have a damn good reason to be in my room, Crumb.”

“I do actually. I’ve come to speak with you about something very dire, something that could threaten the security of the entire Empire,” he cryptically told Cannon Fodder.

“And what would that be?”

“Regicide,” Crumb Catcher said as he ran a hoof over the dusty chest that held Cannon Fodder’s spare blankets. “I know about your plans to kill Lord Skeletor.”

“What are you talking about?” Cannon Fodder asked, not allowing his sudden change in emotion to manifest physically as he kept his voice calm and continued putting on his armor.

Crumb Catcher chuckled humorlessly as he wiped the dust off of his hoof with a rag. “You seem to forget, General Fodder, I’m the not only the head of the staff, I’m also the Royal Spy Master. Even if it's something as mundane as an empty bowl next to a crystal pot, I hear about it. My one goal in life is to not repeat the failures of my predecessor. She should have been able to see Sombra’s attack coming and informed you so the guards could stop it. But she failed, she let Sombra slip past her eyes and the princess paid for Star’s inability to do her job.”

“You take that back you prick! Star was a damn good pony, better than you!” Cannon Fodder shouted at Crumb Catcher as he took up a fighting stance, completely prepared to literally beat some sense into the thick headed stallion for insulting the precious Royal Spy Master.

“Be careful what you say, General. It’s not smart to openly insult the stallion who holds your fate in his hooves. All it would take it a word and Lord Skeletor would be on you in an instant,” he threatened with a vile smile.

“Then why don’t you? In fact, what’s stopping me from cutting your head off and saying you were plotting against him?” He asked as he glanced at the spear that was leaning against his wall.

He was physically stronger than Crumb Catcher, if necessary, he could beat him to death and claim self-defense, but he had no idea how many ponies besides Crumb Catcher knew his secret. The only way Crumb Catcher could have known about his plans was if one of the maids overheard him, which meant at least one other pony knew about his plan. For all Cannon Fodder knew, the entire castle staff was informed of his treachery and they were waiting for Cannon Fodder to kill Crumb Catcher before they went to warn Lord Skeletor.

“Because you’d be no use to me if you were dead and you would be down a possible ally if I died. And since you’re planning regicide, you need all the friends you can get,” Crumb Catcher stared as he made a point of looking at the weapon with a bored gaze. “While hoofing you over to Lord Skeletor would definitely put me in his favor, I believe having you as an ally instead of an enemy would help me more-so, especially with your inane plan to place Emerald on the throne,” Crumb Catcher elaborated.

“What do you mean? What do you get out of this?” He asked skeptically.

“I get to be on the right side of history if Lord Skeletor is actually evil. In all honesty, I like him but that doesn’t mean I trust him. He’s an unknown creature who wandered into our lands and managed to kill a monster even the solar diarchs couldn’t defeat. And speaking of the beloved princesses, we still have no idea what happened to them. While many ponies are willing to accept that they’re dead, I am a bit more…”

“Hopeful?” Cannon Fodder guessed.

“Fearful. Yes, that’s it, fearful,” Crumb Catcher stated firmly. “If they are still alive then I have almost no doubts that they’d want to remove Lord Skeletor from the throne. And, as much as I like him, I like being alive and on the princesses’ side more. There's absolutely no way I'll be standing next to him if or when the Princesses arrive.”

“So, you want to get rid of Skeletor then?”

“Lord Skeletor, and I want to be prepared. I don’t want him to be evil and I don’t necessarily want to get rid of him, I simply want to be alive at the end of all this.”

“... So, what’s your plan now?”

“Simply to watch for now until something happens. So far, watching him from a distance has revealed a lot of interesting things about him. Do you want to know something about our new lord?” Crumb Catcher coyly asked. Before Cannon Fodder could reply, Crumb Catcher whispered to him in a conspiratorial manner, “He hides his messes under the bed, he destroyed a few books from his personal collection, he doesn't use the chamberpot under his bed, and I don’t think he likes his reflection.”

“What makes you say that?” Cannon Fodder asked with a raised eyebrow. He didn't understand why the demon would be afraid of its own reflection, but if Crumb Catcher was telling the truth, then perhaps Cannon Fodder could find a way to use that to his advantage. He had definitely noticed how Lord Skeletor kept stealing long looks at his reflection in the dining hall, giving Crumb Catcher's last statement some credence to consider it possible.

“Because he covered it in one of Sombra’s old cloaks.”

“And how do you know that?”

Crumb Catcher scoffed as he waved a hoof dismissively. “Please, General Fodder, as a servant to Lord Skeletor, it is my duty to clean up for him, especially his private bedchambers. After seeing his spotty attempts to hide the signs of his outburst, I decided it would be best to leave the room the way it was. I once heard a rumor that Silver Spoon had swept up all of the rose petals in Princess Amore’s room and the princess was absolutely livid. So, I’d rather not take my chances and accidentally upset a being who caved in Sombra’s head with a decorative stick. For all I know, he might like having a broken window in his room and closing it could earn his ire. I didn't even dare to touch whatever mess he left in the top drawer. I'm going to play my cards right and not step on anyone's tail, especially his.”

With a swish of his tail, Crumb Catcher smacked Cannon Fodder’s muzzle as he turned around to leave Cannon Fodder’s room. “If you insist on being a moron, then I’ll drop our deal and tell Lord Skeletor everything. For now, play nice and do as Lord Skeletor says and everything will be fine,” he told Cannon Fodder as he wore a smug smile on his muzzle. “I trust you can do that, can't you General?”

Cannon Fodder glared at Crumb Catcher as he gave a stiff nod to him. Crumb Catcher’s smile only grew at Cannon Fodder’s obvious reluctance and anger as he trotted out of the room, leaving a livid Cannon Fodder alone in his own room once he left.

Once the door was closed, Cannon Fodder waited for a few moments before drew his gladius from his weapons rack and stared into the eyes of his reflection. He berated himself for letting somepony find out about his plans and briefly wondered if Copper Plate told somepony, or worse, somepony overheard him talking to her in the dining hall. He had made sure to keep his words below the quietest of whispers as he spoke, only raising his voice by a hair whenever one of the other tables was being obnoxiously loud.

He stomped a back hoof as he snorted, throwing a seething glare at his door as he reevaluated what he knew about Crumb Catcher. Before Sombra came to power, he was nothing more than a common butler for the higher up nobles, the only reason why Emerald and Copper Plate suggested him for the position was because he was one of the few ponies who knew how to read and write. Cannon Fodder didn’t think Crumb Catcher had what it took to be part of the council, and Avid Value was only with them because of his tutelage under Torch Wind.

Cannon Fodder would have never expected one of the green horned council members to blackmail him, let alone find out about his plan. If it weren’t for Crumb Catcher’s position on the council, Cannon Fodder wouldn’t have hesitated to silence him permanently. For all he knew, Crumb Catcher had a plan in place in case he died where one of his little spies would go to Lord Skeletor and tell him about Cannon Fodder’s plan.

How much would he tell him? Would he tell him about Emerald? He thought fearfully. He didn’t care about his own safety, but if his actions got Emerald killed as well, or worse, if she was the only one punished for his plan then he wouldn’t be able to live with that guilt.

Crumb Catcher had Cannon Fodder in his hooves, his life and possibly the life of Emerald rested in his grasp. Cannon Fodder sulked for a brief moment before he embraced his rage and stabbed the wooden dummy in his room, burying his gladius deep into its chest as he pictured Crumb Catcher’s horrified expression. He refused to be anypony’s puppet.

He had spent three years being a plaything for Sombra, he wouldn’t allow that to happen again. Just like he had done with the demon, he can act like he was on Crumb Catcher’s side. The arrogant stallion would eventually drop his guard, and Cannon Fodder would take the upper hoof to kill him and Lord Skeletor in order to protect the Empire. He wouldn’t fail the ones he loved again, he’d fight the entire guard if it meant keeping the citizens and his friends safe.

He just needed to bide his time, learn Crumb Catcher’s secrets and use them to get rid of Lord Skeletor. It was only a matter of time until his plan came to fruition, all he had to do was wait. Sooner or later, he’d get his chance to save the Empire, and when it came, he’d take it without hesitation.

The day passed by with relative ease for Skeletor as Emerald led him through his schedule. After she went to find a pony named Art to tell them that Skeletor wanted paintings and pieces of art of Princess Amore for the Crystal Fair, she went straight to the dining hall to fetch Skeletor for his meeting with the master of the Alchemist Guild, Purity Flame.

Together, along with the higher members of the Alchemist Guild, Skeletor and Purity Flame were able to use a few alchemist spells designed for ruvas to make a single sheet of paper. While the progress they made was extremely minimal, it was enough to prove that it was possible to use plant fibers to make paper. Skeletor tasked the alchemists with making two types of paper, one for books and one for currency. He informed them how durable the paper currency would need to be and informed them about how paper money in his land was mostly made of cotton.

When one of the alchemists asked where Skeletor was from, he brushed off the question by simply stating, “Very far away,” and he left it at that.

He didn’t want to get into the intricacies of being from another universe/plane of existence/reality. After seeing the sun and moon rise and finding out about magic, Skeletor realized that he wasn’t on some far away planet in his dimension, he was in another reality all together. Once he came over that surprising revelation the way anyone else would, a flood of tears and complete denial, he decided to keep that information closer to his chest than any other secret he ever had.

He wasn’t sure how the crystal ponies would react if they knew of his other worldly origins, and he definitely wasn’t too eager to find out. Skeletor already knew that he was a monster in the eyes of most of the crystal ponies, and he heard some of the guards and maids whispering about him being an actual demon. It was only a mixture of fear and respect that kept most of them from running away from him whenever he entered a room and only a few of them were truly fearless in his presence.

While being feared was slightly better than being hated, he doubted that their fear of him would prevent them from eventually uprising if they were angry enough. Once they realized that they held an advantage in strength, speed, and probably even intelligence, they’d lose that small sense of fear and overthrow him for a more capable magic equine. If he wanted to keep what was left of his head, he needed them to at least respect him more than they feared him.

After accomplishing their task with the smallest amount of progress possible, Skeletor and Emerald went to court where the other council members were already seated on their cushions. Court went about as well as Skeletor expected. Several more ponies were placed on suicide watch, four more guards were released of their duty, and Skeletor approved the reconstruction of a church for a deity called Faust.

At first, Skeletor was hesitant to approve the reconstruction of a house of worship and not an actual house for living in, so he approved the construction with the caveat that it would be used as temporary housing for crystal ponies who had lost their homes. He then asked Emerald to schedule a meeting with the reconstruction team to see how they were doing, and hopefully find a way for Skeletor to help them make the process go faster.

Once court was finished and dinner was served in the dining hall, Skeletor returned to his room to continue his studies of magic. During court, Skeletor had requested several magic books from Copper Plate under the guise of wanting to make paper.

While making paper was one of the things he wanted to accomplish, Skeletor was more concerned with learning what the limitations of magic were. Most of the books didn’t offer anything that his own didn’t and only one of them offered anything new to him.

Magic fell under three categories based on what it used to power a spell, emotional, mental, and physical. Mental magic was used for spells such as levitation, barriers, and enchanting by using the caster’s conscious thoughts as a source of fuel. While lifting things with his mind sounded good on paper, in practice it was a different beast of burden altogether that sent Skeletor into a zombie like trance. Emotional magic such as elemental spells fed off of a person/pony’s emotional state while other spells like transmogrification, teleportation, and portal walking used physical strength as a source of energy to power the spell.

Some passages theorized that it was possible to substitute one energy source for another, such as using physical strength to power a levitation spell or using emotional magic to enchant an object. Skeletor knew that the theory was sound since he was told that the Crystal Heart used the power of love to keep the barrier over the Empire, and he wondered if it was possible for him to substitute his energy with something else.

Sombra had found a way to use a different energy source for his magic, and it was likely an outside force that he drew the energy from since his spells never suffered any fatigue or decay. If he could just find what Sombra used to increase his magical power, he could open a portal straight back to Earth and say goodbye to knockoff Narnia.

Skeletor closed his book as he went to search through his room again. If Sombra had a secret object or a hidden spell book that allowed him to use a different source of energy, then Skeletor could repurpose it and use it to power his spell back to Earth. It was a long shot, but it was still better than sitting around and waiting for something to happen.

He opened the drawers of his dresser for the third time that day. After cleaning out the top drawer of aged vomit and emptying the other drawers of their random assortments of crystals, Skeletor tried and failed to see if there was a hidden compartment in any of the drawers. Even though he knew it was useless, Skeletor still searched the drawers regardless of the obvious outcome.

Skeletor then proceeded to remove every book from his shelf in the hopes of opening a secret passage to a room of divine relics and artifacts, or at least a hollowed-out book that held the secret to his escape from his magical world. He searched high and low for Sombra’s secrets for hours. Faced with no other options, Skeletor turned his attention to the one item in the room that clearly had magical properties.

He stared apprehensively at the concealed mirror on his dresser, wondering how Sombra could have used a mirror of all things to increase his power. It didn’t make any practical sense to Skeletor, but then again, he was in another reality where the laws of nature, physics, and rationality didn’t apply to his worldview. The mirror was the only thing in the entire room that stood out to him, so there must have been something that it could offer him.

After taking a deep breath, Skeletor tore the cloak off of the mirror to confront his missing reflection. Like all the times before, his mirrored counterpart was nowhere to be found. Skeletor took his Havoc Staff off of his back and pressed the ram’s skull against the reflective surface.

Thanks to his earlier experimentation, Skeletor was able to find out spells focused through his scepter didn’t take as large of a toll on his mind, body, or emotions as they did when they were focused through his hands. Skeletor closed his invisible eyes to focus his efforts on casting a spell to reveal the mirror’s secrets, dumbing his own spell down to revealing secrets in general in case his magic wasn’t strong enough to attack any of the enchantments placed on the mirror.

Skeletor felt the room drop by a few degrees in temperature as his spell began to take effect, bending and reshaping reality to his whims. In a flash light that would have blinded Skeletor if he had kept his eyes open, his spell on the mirror finished allowing him to take the secrets he desperately needed.

With joy and hope soaring through his soul, Skeletor looked into the mirror early before he recoiled from the monster he saw inside of it. A truly vicious and vile creature stood on the other side of the mirror, looking at Skeletor with an equal amount of surprise before his expression melted into a villainous smile. Skeletor couldn’t believe what was on the other side of the mirror. He gazed into the sickeningly green eyes of the beast that had caused him so much torment, the villain who had traumatized thousands, the monster that he killed on his first day in the Crystal Empire: King Sombra.

“Hello, Skeletor,” the monster said to him.

“What the fuck? Y-You’re supposed to be dead!” Skeletor shouted as he stepped away from the mirror.

“Heh. ‘dead’? Creature, I was already dead long before you arrived,” The spirit of Sombra said as his eyes took in Skeletor’s form. “You only destroyed my vessel, a chamber that kept my soul latched onto the mortal coil. I lost my life to have a greater power, and that power has a steep price. My deal with Grogar costed my Empire many souls, and I was never able to fully repay him. I have a large debt that you have inherited. And you will pay it,” he commanded.

Skeletor’s fear gave way to boiling rage as he heard Sombra’s words. “The… The hell I will! Go fuck yourself you piece of—“

“SILENCE!” Sombra roared, causing the room to shake as his booming voice reverberated off of the walls.

“You stopped me from repaying my debt. Because of you, Grogar will come, and he will take what is his by force,” the spirit warned. “Once he comes, he will take the Empire and all of their souls. You are no match for him, but together, we can pay off our debt.”

“Our?… Th-there’s no fucking ‘our’, there’s you burning in pony hell and that’s it!” Skeletor shouted back. “You ruined my life, you ruined their lives! Fuck you!”

“What do you mean I ruined your life, I never met you before, demon.”

“Bullshit. You brought me here, you turned me into… Into this!" He stated as he gestured to his overall body.

“I did no such thing. I never attempted to summon you to my kingdom. I don’t know how you came to my Empire, but I do know of your plans to leave,” Sombra replied with a sickening smile. “I also know of your various failures, and I know you won't get anywhere without help. Together, we can claim the power needed to send you home. Just align yourself to me, and I can set you free of your bonds of leadership.”

Skeletor remained silent for a few sparse moments as he actually considered Sombra’s words. Thankfully, sanity pulled him away from his temptation and lead him towards his anger once more.

“I’m not joining you! And I don’t believe you, either! So, fuck off!”

“Fool! You don’t understand the power you’re trifling with by being king of the Crystal Empire. Grogar is far more powerful than I am, and he will claim your power to collect my debt.”

“That’s your debt. Not mine, not theirs, yours. So, I don’t need to worry about it.”

“You moron! Do you actually think that matters to Grogar? He was promised a large sum of souls with interest, interest that has had many ages to grow while my Empire was banished. What will you do when he comes? Do you think you’ll be safe in your own home by the time arrives, do you think any amount of distance will stop him?” He asked.

Sombra’s silver tongue lulled Skeletor into a state of compliance for a brief moment. Because the spell was using energy from Skeletor’s train of thought, his mind was left open to persuasion and verbal commands. It was only his pure rage that kept him from agreeing with Sombra, but even rage could not keep Sombra’s velvet voice and sweet promises from invading his mind.

“I’ll… I’ll think of something.”

“Heh. Pushing your problems off until it’s too late, then? Very well, but, there is hope for you,” he said with a knowing smile. "Check the top drawer."

With great reluctance and an overwhelming curiosity that tempted him to give into the mystery of Sombra's strange order, Skeletor tore the top drawer open and prepared himself for the worst. Skeletor had expected to see anything from a portal to hell to an eldritch abomination of darkness, but he he didn't expect the seemingly mundane object that was actually there. Inside his drawer, resting on top of a folded velvet blanket was a leather-bound tome that had been dyed green, with no noticeable markings or images on the cover and an image of a golden rose that was carved into the spine of the book.

“Inside that book is everything you need to get home. I can teach you how to escape the Frozen North, how to open a portal back to your home in Tartarus,” Sombra promised.

“Tart… No… NO! Fuck you! I’m not going to join you, so just go back to hell where you belong!” Skeletor exclaimed as he banged his palm against the mirror, causing him to quickly pull his hand away once he felt the stinging burn the mirror left on his palm.

“You blithering oaf! You’ll never get out of the Empire without my help. Do you think the Alicorn sisters will let a demon like you live outside of Tartarus?! They’ll kill you in an instant! Face it, beast, you’re nothing compared to them or me! Nothing!”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Skeletor shouted as he smashed the mirror with the skull of his scepter.

Shards of glass exploded from the frame of the mirror as Skeletor unknowingly released a ball of pure anger infused energy into it. Shards of glass that bounced against his skin burned him like falling embers, a thousand small burns hitting him instantly after he smashed the mirror.

Skeletor breathed heavily as he felt the effects of being completely drained of his sense of anger. His mind became hazy as his other emotions rushed to the surface to replace the rage that was burning in his veins moments ago, causing him to feel a whiplash of other emotions. Joy, fear, relief, sorrow, and lust smashed against each other to form a mangled monstrosity that attempted to fill the void inside of him. His mind struggled to understand the foreign feeling of being completely drained of an emotion and nearly shut down as a result. After a minute of drowning in a sea of mixed emotions, Skeletor was able to cling onto one emotion to keep himself afloat.

Uproarious laughter filled the air of his room as Skeletor laughed at the absurdity of his situation. Thrown into a foreign world in the body of a monster, given the title of king to creatures that could easily overpower him, cursed to have no recollection of his name or old face. Not to mention he was now apparently responsible for Sombra’s debt to some demon. It was painfully hilarious to him.

Skeletor openly dove into the madness of his life, losing himself in complete bliss as he began to realize how dire his situation really was. Skeletor briefly lost his mind in the ecstasy of his own pain and misery, laughing at the cruel joke life had played on him. He laughed louder than he had ever laughed before, enjoying the soap-opera that was his life after comic-con.

He wasn’t sure how long he was writhing on the floor as he laughed. It was only when the sun finally set that his laughter finally began to die down, allowing him a reprieve from his short stint of madness. Tears trailed down his cheekbones as he stared at the ceiling of his room and short chuckles of insanity escaped him with each passing breath as he laid on his back.

His body finally found its emotional equilibrium when his anger and rage had filled the pit their complete absence had left. With his emotions back in order, his mind slowly found its delicate grasp on reality once more, pulling Skeletor back to his sanity after a few more minutes of insane chuckling.

Soft chuckles soon devolved into ragged breaths as Skeletor reclaimed the final pieces of his sanity. Tears of joy turned into tears of repressed sorrow as he stared at the reflective surface of the ceiling. A kaleidoscope of insane demons looked down at Skeletor, reminding him of the monster he had become.

Temptation pulled at his heart as he remembered the book and the box that Sombra had summoned for him. As he silently pleaded for the book to be gone along with the mirror, he looked over to the dresser and saw the top drawer was still open. Skeletor slowly got up and shuffled towards the dresser to look closer at Sombra’s “gift”.

Skeletor picked up the mundane looking book, searching for any sign of obvious evil or darkness. There was no cover made of pony skin, no screaming face carved into the back, not even an ominous title or author name. And yet, despite its average appearance, it held the darkest secrets Skeletor could imagine.

The worst part was, part of him felt tempted to use some of those spells. It would be so easy to strip a pony of their free will, to make them just a tad bit more agreeable, to make them obey without hesitation. He’d never have to be worried about them overthrowing him or sending him to the gallows. He could gain more magical power by using the blood of ponies, making his attempts to go home much easier.

Quiet whispers pulled at Skeletor's thoughts, tempting him to open the book and read the dark spells inside of it. The easiest route home was under just a few millimeters of paper, just a single page could send him back to Earth. All he would have to do was to open it and read to his heart’s content and he’d be back home. But at what cost?

Skeletor’s grip on the book tightened as he thought of the atrocities Sombra committed for power, the lives he ended and ruined. Sombra had done the unspeakable to keep the crystal ponies enslaved, and Skeletor could never cross that line to get what he wanted.

“Not today, Satan pony. Not today,” Skeletor said to himself as he walked over to his bed to hold the book over the candle on his nightstand.

He was too drained emotionally and mentally to use his own magic to burn the book to cinders, and in a way, he was grateful for that. Because of his inability to use his own magic to instantly incinerate the evil tome, Skeletor was treated to a show as he watched the book burn in the fire with a vacant expression on his face. The flames lapped at the pages like a rabid animal, consuming the book and erasing it from the world. Even as the fire began to kiss his fingers, he held onto the book and watched it burn to ash.

All he could think about was how Sombra's ghost still roamed the halls of the Crystal Castle, watching Skeletor from the shadows as Skeletor continued to fail time and time again. The old king was mocking him, and what was worse, he was threatening to take the Crystal Empire back. At that moment, all thoughts of returning home were shoved aside as the anger inside of him made him crave revenge for what Sombra had done to him and the crystal ponies. He couldn't, in good conscience, leave them alone with the demonic stallion, even if Skeletor desperately wanted to return home. Even if Skeletor couldn't vanquish Sombra for good, he'd at least make the effort to try.

“Before I go home, I’ll make sure to kill you Sombra… Count on it,” he promised as he continued to watch the book burn in his hand.

Far away from the Crystal Empire, beyond the border that separated the Frozen North from the rest of civilization, was the capital of Equestria. The marvelous city of Canterlot sat on the side of the tallest mountain in all of Equestria, allowing the rulers of the land to look over their kingdom from their castle at the peak of the mountain.

Canterlot Castle was the pinnacle of unicorn architecture, a lavish fortress of enchantments to protect the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of the Moon when Dream Valley was annihilated. The pristine castle was the crowned jewel of Canterlot, a beacon of hope to the ponies of Equestria, and home to the two most powerful rulers on Terra.

Princess Celestia walked to her room with several guards escorting her. The recent invasion of the shapeshifting monsters known as changelings had caused security in Canterlot to increase by two-fold, allowing the princesses to have a large squad of battle-hardened soldiers to devote themselves solely to the protection of the Equestrian royalty.

Despite the hardened faces and cold gazes of the guards that surrounded Princess Celestia, she knew that they were all ecstatic at the prospect of protecting her from some unknown evil.

What they didn’t know was that she and her sister hardly needed anypony to protect them. The only threats that could harm the immortal princesses were eldritch abominations and chaotic gods of chaos which the princess doubted her guards could defeat. The truth of the matter was that her guards were for the more mundane threats, like paparazzi who wanted a picture of her bathing or religious zealots who believed she was the reincarnation of Faust.

The guards that surrounded her sister on the other hoof were tasked with keeping more insidious ponies at bay. Cultists of Nightmare Moon and would-be assassins who wanted to get rid of the, “Dark Empress of the Night” were an unfortunately common occurrence for Princess Celestia’s younger sibling. While Princess Celestia and her staff were able to shield Princess Luna from most of the verbal lashings and outcries from angered subjects, Princess Luna’s domain over the realm of dreams allowed her to see the nightmare most of her subjects still saw her as.

It wasn’t her sister’s fault that a demon had corrupted her mind, Princess Luna was simply a victim to the demonic whims of monsters from Tartarus. Princess Celestia had to restrain herself whenever she heard the nobles whisper ugly lies about her sister. She could have easily incinerated the belligerent ponies or sent them to the dungeon for spewing slander about her sister, but Princess Luna had told her not to.

For some inane reason, Princess Luna believed that a thousand years trapped on the moon wasn’t a sufficient enough punishment for her crimes. What was more maddening, was that there was no punishment to be delivered. All of her crimes were committed by the demon that had stolen her body, and yet Luna still blamed herself for the actions of the demon that possessed her.

It wasn’t fair to her sister, to the mare who had suffered a thousand years on a desolate rock in the sky. Princess Celestia hated the demon that caused her sister so much grief and she condemned the father of monsters, Grogar, for creating such a vile abomination.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Princess Celestia crossed the threshold of her bedroom to let her anger and worries melt away as she entered her sister’s domain.

But, before she could leap into the land of dreams and relax, a flicker of green fire magic appeared near her horn. In a spark of emerald flames, a book of dark spells materialized in front of the solar diarch of Equestria. A book from a time long forgotten, from an empire that only existed three thousand years ago.

A sign that something had happened to the once lost Crystal Empire.

The third day of Lord Skeletor’s rule came and passed without much haste or historical importance. After retiring early on the evening on his second day of ruling, on the third day Lord Skeletor had refused to leave his room.

When Emerald Secret had trotted to his room to fetch him for court, Lord Skeletor delegated Court duty to his council, stating that he trusted them to come to any decisions during court, and that if they couldn’t they would need to come to him for a final say on the matter. After she asked why, Lord Skeletor told her that he would be too busy practicing his speech for his subjects while working on spells to make paper to go to court. What was odd though, was that before he delegated Court to them, he asked Emerald Secret to fetch him a series of books from the archives that related to magic and any literature relating to spirits. Emerald Secret didn't question her lord's odd demands, but still kept the questions in her mind as she accomplished her task.

While Emerald Secret was fine, if not somewhat hesitant, about holding court, the other council members held a range of silent opinions towards Lord Skeletor’s choice. Even though nopony would openly say anything negative about Lord Skeletor's decision, Emerald Secret knew that Cannon Fodder wasn’t too keen on letting Lord Skeletor have a day away from court.

During the first court in history to not have a member of royalty present, several more ponies were placed on Lord Skeletor’s newest invention, the “Suicide watch”, two more guards were relieved of duty, and at least a dozen chefs and bakers were given permission to use the castle’s facilities to prepare food the Crystal Fair. Among the many chefs and bakers was the yellow pony who had come along with Emerald Secret and Cannon Fodder on their way up the mysterious staircase.

Track Record wore a bright smile as he trotted into the throne room, but that happy face soon melted away when he noticed that Lord Skeletor was absent. Once he asked where their new lord was, Emerald Secret informed him that Lord Skeletor was busy preparing for the Crystal Fair and shared the news that the Crystal Fair would mark the beginning of a new holiday for the Empire. While Cannon Fodder and Crumb Catcher had done a good job spreading the news about Lord Skeletor’s new holiday, there was still a large number of ponies who were completely oblivious to the news about Amore Memory Day.

Lord Skeletor for his part was oddly silent the day before the Crystal Fair, only coming out of his room a few times to use the chamber pot in the drawing room. Why he hadn’t used the one under his bed, Emerald Secret and the others had no idea.

It wasn’t until dinner time on the fourth day of his rule that Lord Skeletor left his room to eat in the dining hall, and even then, his skull was buried deep into one of the books Copper Plate and Emerald Secret brought to him. Emerald Secret and the other council members threw weary glances at their silent lord, watching his head slightly bob every now and again as he dove into the passages.

A stifled snore from Lord Skeletor informed the council members of whenever he dozed off to sleep, which caused Copper Plate to cringe as his sleep deprived state threatened to make him use his book as a pillow. After dinner, an obviously drowsy Lord Skeletor excused himself from the table to return to his studies in his bedchambers, leaving the council members to throw each other concerned looks.

“I have never heard a more terrifying snore in my entire life,” Avid Value muttered under his breath.

Copper Plate chuckled lightly at Avid Value’s statement. “You should have heard Princess Amore whenever Torch Wind talked about taxes. Sometimes I wondered if she was part dragon with how loud she snored.”

“Is that why the door has a soundproof enchantment on it?” Crumb Catcher asked.

“I can vouch for that,” Cannon Fodder added on. “My grandpa said that my great, great, great granddad, Red Shirt, almost knocked the door down when he heard Princess Amore snore for the first time. I always hated that damn enchantment. What if somepony broke into her room? None of the guards would be able to hear it,” he complained.

The slightly mirthful mood of the table instantly died down as they remembered how Princess Amore was killed. Emerald Secret buried the memory of Princess Amore’s death and tried to move the conversation back in a positive direction. “So, Crumb Catcher, is everything ready for the Crystal Fair?”

“So far, splendidly. The bakers who came to court today will make a wonderful addition to the festivities. The arena for the jousting tournament has also been cleaned up and the armor has been polished to perfection. The only real issue is the crystal flugelhorn players, a hoofful of tone-deaf daws if you ask me.”

“Speaking of music, are we going to play the national anthem?” Copper Plate asked.

Emerald Secret was about to reply before she realized that she had never asked Lord Skeletor. “I’m… sure Lord Skeletor wouldn’t mind… But just in case, I’ll go ask him,” she said as she stood up from her seat.

“Come now, Miss Secret, I’m sure Lord Skeletor would be ecstatic to have the anthem played,” Crumb Catcher reassured her.

“There’s nothing that will upset him in the song, is there?” Avid Value asked.

“Of course not! Well… How do demons feel about fire?” Crumb Catcher asked after a moment of consideration.

“Lord Skeletor isn’t a demon!” Avid Value argued, earning the attention of a few guards and maids who were sitting at other tables.

“I meant no offense towards Lord Skeletor. I’m just pointing out his species,” Crumb Catcher retorted.

“What makes you say he’s a demon?”

“Do you have a better idea for what he could be?”

Avid value opened his mouth to retort, before he closed it and quietly pondered Crumb Catcher’s question. “He… Maybe he’s an undiscovered species?”

“A species that has a weird monkey skull for a head?” Cannon Fodder asked incredulously. “Face it, colt, we’ve got a bona fide demon running the Empire.”

“We don’t know that for sure! I mean, Lord Skeletor said that he was from a country when we went to the vault."

"And Tartarus is a large place. I'd be surprised if there weren't massive continents that dotted the sea of fire under our hooves," Crumb Catcher rebutted.

"Well, what if he’s like Eris or something? Maybe he’s a god.”

“Of what? Death?” Cannon Fodder asked in a mocking tone, before a look of sudden realization dawned on his face. “All-loving Faust… He might be the god of death…”

“Cannon, you’re grasping at straws,” Copper Plate told him.

“No! It makes sense! Eris is the Goddess of Chaos, and she's made of random body parts from different species. Skeletor is a bipedal version of Death from the book of Faust. Oh Faust, we’re all screwed…”

“You’re overreacting, General,” Crumb Catcher reassured him. “The odds of Lord Skeletor being a god like Eris are incredibly slim. A demi-god, maybe, but I doubt he’s an actual god.”

“Well if he’s not a demon, and he’s not a God of Death, then what is he? There’s not much else besides…. Oh Faust, he’s Grogar…” Cannon Fodder said as his eyes grew wider in fear.

“Please, Grogar is just a foal’s tale,” Avid Value stated, before a hesitant fear ruined his calm facade. “Right?”

“Debatable, since demons were also a foal's tale. Besides, isn’t Grogar supposed to be a goat?” Crumb Catcher asked with a raised eye brow.

“Yeah, but he’s got a goat head on his scepter!” Cannon Fodder argued.

“It’s actually a ram skull,” Copper Plate corrected. “And here’s a funny idea: Why don’t we just ask?”

A heavy silence was the only response to her blunt question as the other council members took a moment to replay her words in their heads. None of them wanted to approach Lord Skeletor so openly, but they struggled to think of a good reason not to ask. Sure, they could claim that he might get upset and kill them like Sombra had whenever somepony referred to him as a prince, but they didn’t have any proof that Lord Skeletor had as short of a fuse as the tyrant.

He wouldn’t be offended if we asked, right? Emerald Secret wondered. “So… How would we ask him?” She asked the other council members.

“Well, it’s not like we can just drop it into a conversation,” Avid Value stated. “And is there even a way to ask that question naturally? ‘Oh, hi Lord Skeletor, so the alchemists have made some progress on the steel, I have a few plans for our finances, and what species are you?’“

“What if we had somepony else ask?” Crumb Catcher proposed. “If a pony came to court to ask Lord Skeletor that question, it would make sense, and if he does get upset and murder somepony then none of us will be harmed.”

“Lord Skeletor wouldn’t murder somepony because of a question,” Avid Value admonished.

“And what would he kill a pony for? Will he never kill a pony again after Sombra? Does the pony need to be evil like Sombra? What if he gets offended by somepony blessing him when he sneezes and he decides to kill them?” Crumb Catcher asked. “Now granted, I’m not saying that Lord Skeletor is a murderer or that he would defiantly kill somepony for looking at him oddly, but the fact of the matter is that we don’t know.”

“He’s got a point,” Cannon Fodder added on. “Emerald and I heard him muttering something about a throne game in the halls, and when Emerald asked if he could repeat what he said, he blew up!”

“I wouldn’t say he, ‘blew up’. I’d say he… was surprised by my question,” Emerald Secret explained.

“Surprised enough to shout at us. How many times have you heard him shout, Emerald?” Cannon Fodder asked.

“I… I suppose it was just that one time.”

“And we still don’t know what set him off that time. What if asking what species he is, is the thing that sets him over the edge and makes him kill one of us?”

“You’re making assumptions again, Cannon, and you know what they say about ponies who assume things,” Copper Plate admonished.

Cannon Fodder simply grumbled in response as he crossed his fore legs.

“You know… Maybe we should wait for Lord Skeletor to tell us himself,” Emerald Secret suggested.

“That’s fine and all, but I think we’re all forgetting what this conversation was about,” Avid Value told his fellow council members. “Are we sure Lord Skeletor will be alright with having the national anthem play for the Crystal Fair?”

“As much as I loath to admit it, Mr. Value has a point, miraculously,” Crumb Catcher stated, earning a glare from Avid Value. “I concede the point that, perhaps, Lord Skeletor may not be a demon. If this is the case, then there should be no problem with the anthem’s lyrics. Alternately, we could ask Lord Skeletor if he could approve the lyrics before the anthem is played and, if necessary, we can modify it.”

Cannon Fodder suddenly stomped a hoof on the table in rage at Crumb Catcher’s suggestion. “We are not changing the anthem! It’s been three damn years since it’s played, and I’m not accepting anything other than the original anthem!”

“Are you sure, General Fodder? I’m sure Lord Skeletor would have a good reason to change it if necessary, and it will still be the same anthem, just with different lyrics. It will make Lord Skeletor happy if we ask him, wouldn’t you agree?” Crumb Catcher asked with a restrained contempt dancing on his tongue.

After a few moments of glaring at the royal spy master, Cannon Fodder surprisingly nodded and gave up his side of the argument. “Fine. We can ask Lord Skeletor,” he muttered bitterly.

As if he was summoned from the depths of Tartarus from his name alone, a orange colored portal opened up near the table for Lord Skeletor to emerge from. The dining room fell deathly silent as their dark lord trudged through the portal, seemingly oblivious to the wide-eyed stares he was receiving as he rubbed his eye sockets.

“L… Lord Skeletor?” Avid Value dumbly asked, earning the attention of his drowsy lord.

“Hmmm? Oh, hello,” Lord Skeletor said as he stifled a yawn. “Crumb Catcher, has the Empire invented coffee yet?”

“... I’ve never heard of coffee before,” Crumb Catcher replied after a moment of pondering Lord Skeletor's question.

“Of course there’s no coffee…” Lord Skeletor muttered to himself as he dragged a hand across his skull.

“Lord Skeletor, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing back in the dining hall?” Copper Plate asked.

“… I…. I was refining my magic,” he replied after a moment of silence. “The books I have been reading had passages about strengthening a creature’s capabilities to use magic by casting a variety of spells. I figured that, with my immense and incredible power, if I casted more mundane spells then I could refine my magic enough to do something as menial as conjuring paper. It’s a very complicated process to understand. Sorry for interrupting your dinner, I’ll take my leave and return to my complicated work.”

“Wait,” Avid Value said before Lord Skeletor had a chance to conjure another portal. “Uh-your highness, we were just talking about the Crystal Fair, and we were wondering if it would be alright to play the Empire’s anthem. I-if that’s alright with you, Lord Skeletor.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Lord Skeletor replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Now, I need to return to my room to continue stre-er-refining my magical capabilities since they're so immense. Like, you can't even fathom how powerful it is, so don't even bother thinking about it. Good? Good. Bye!”

With a wave of his scepter, Lord Skeletor opened a mystical portal that stood as tall as his staff and stepped through it. Once Lord Skeletor was completely swallowed by the portal, the oval distortion in reality collapsed on itself, leaving a room of bewildered, terrified, and confused ponies to simply gawk at the area where the portal appeared.

“Well… That was unexpected…” Copper Plate said as she turned her attention back to the rest of her dinner.

Skeletor returned to his bedchambers through his orange portal and instantly collapsed face first onto his bed once his portal collapsed behind him. His muscles burned with the fury of a volcano after his experiments with opening a portal back home. Hours of studying and experimenting had left him no closer to his goal of returning to Earth.

“Push through the pain… Just gotta try again in a few minutes… maybe an hour…” Skeletor grumbled to himself as he flipped himself onto his back.

His mind wandered to the many failures of his attempts to open a portal home. He knew it was a fruitless endeavor since he wasn’t powerful enough to open a portal all the way back to Earth, but part of his mind just refused to accept that fact. If he got back to Earth, then he would likely be able to open a portal back carrying whatever ghostbusters tech and cross necklaces he'd need to take care of Sombra. Skeletor eventually convinced himself that he would be able to eventually create a portal to take him back home if he just did it enough times and strengthened his magical powers.

His first attempt to leave the Empire that day resulted in him falling into a deep bank of snow that was pressed against the barrier that covered the Crystal Empire. After nearly freezing to death for the second time in one week, Skeletor opened a portal to the hot springs under the castle, then to the only room in the castle that Skeletor knew had a toilet, and then to the dining hall before he finally returned to his room.

Each portal was influenced by a small thought at the back of Skeletor’s mind; a desire to get out of the Empire sent him to the border of the Crystal Empire, a desperate need to get somewhere warm placed him in the hot springs, a slight need to use the bathroom landed him inside the drawing room of the castle, and then a small desire to see his council again placed him in the dining hall.

To make matters worse, Skeletor barely had any idea what to say for his speech to the crystal ponies to start the Crystal Fair. Part of him was hoping to push that off in the vain hopes of returning home and not needing to worry about it, but reality firmly stomped on any aspirations of heading home by proving how weak his magic was. Add on the fact that any of the paper Skeletor managed to create earlier that morning crumbled apart after an hour, Skeletor felt even worse.

No paper meant no money, which meant the Empire would get upset and send him to the guillotine, and then bam, off with his head.

“Why the fuck is the money problem my problem? Christ, I guarantee King Henry never had to deal with this shit. Then again, apparently, I’m the only damn magic user in magical pony land. Fuck me,” Skeletor complained before he sat up and buried his face into a pillow.

He a loud scream escaped his invisible throat and was muffled by the fabric that was pressed against his skull. “FFFFFFFUUUUUUUCK!”

Skeletor’s face remained firmly planted in the pillow as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. After a few moments of weakness where he was tempted to fall asleep and push his problems back further, Skeletor took his skull off of the pillow and walked towards his book shelf.

After taking one of the blank books that he repaired off of the shelf, Skeletor took a bottle of ink and a quill out of his dresser drawer to prepare writing for his speech for the Crystal Fair. Fresh ink dripped onto the mostly empty pages as Skeletor mindlessly tapped the quill on the paper. The ink stain dried on the page as he tried to think of a single sentence to start his speech with, and he idly wondered if he could plagiarize a speech from his home.

“I have a dream… No, I'm not butchering that speech... Fore score and.... …. God damnit, I’m so screwed.”

The plaza beneath the Crystal Castle was bustling with crystal ponies. Hundreds of voices filled the air with joyous wonder as they eagerly waited for the festivities to start.

A crowd of crystal ponies gathered around the Crystal Heart as it spun on its pedestal in the plaza, admiring its beauty as it shimmered in the sunlight of the early morning. The dozens of guards posted around the Heart fought to stop the smiles that crept onto their muzzles as they gazed at the happy faces of the citizens.

The stoic guards were reminded of a time when they wore their armor with pride, when the worst threat to the citizens was a belligerent drunk who had too much salt. For a few brief moments, some of the guards were convinced that Sombra was just a bad nightmare and that the princesses were all still alive. Their blissful escape from reality would only last for a few seconds before a solemn face in the crowd or the distinct lack of colts and fillies became noticeable.

Among the many crystal ponies who became lost in their memories was Emerald Secret. Unlike most mornings where the walking reminder of change was standing next to her on two large legs, that morning Emerald Secret was allowed to contently stare at the sun’s slow ascent into the sky. She and the council, sans Cannon Fodder, waited patiently on the balcony of the Crystal Castle for Lord Skeletor to arrive so that the festivities could start.

Emerald Secret sat next to Copper Plate as they watched the sun rise, silently enjoying her time with the older mare as she remembered how helpful she had been.

While Lord Skeletor still caused Emerald to feel a chill of fear run down from her crest to her croup, she was slowly becoming more relaxed around him thanks to Copper Plate's advice. The eldest member of the council was surprisingly helpful with Emerald's problems, teaching her a plethora of ways to relax herself through breathing exercises and calming techniques that helped to quell her fears and anxieties. She wondered if there was anything she could do to repay Copper Plate for her help and considered convincing Avid Value to give more funds to the Alchemist's Guild to quicken the process of making paper.

It would be beneficial to the Empire in the long run, but more importantly, it would also make Copper Plate happy to have more paper to write with. Her obsessive fondness for books was a delightful quirk that Emerald admired, the pure joy and happiness her new friend felt whenever she spoke passionately about books was a reminder to Emerald that happiness still existed in the world. Even after the cruel reign of Sombra, despite the countless deaths and unspeakable tragedies, ponies like Copper Plate still found the strength to smile. And maybe Emerald would find the strength to wear a genuine smile too, no longer plagued by the memories of her past and the waking nightmares that tormented her mind. Some day, she wouldn't remember the cold nights that Sombra summoned her to the throne room, or the sickening smile he wore as his hooves slammed against her barrel.

Just as her thoughts began to wander to the darkest memories of Sombra's rule, she was forcefully pulled away from them by the sound of the balcony doors being opened behind her. Emerald’s ear reflexively twitched in anticipation as she heard a dozen sets of hooves and a pair of draconic feet walk through the open doors. Her heart raced for a few moments as her mind briefly flashed back to the synchronized hoof beats of Sombra's slaves marching through the Empire, but a gentle touch from Copper Plate brought her back to reality.

Emerald initially flinched at the sudden contact, but relaxed once she followed the owner's hoof and gazed into Copper Plate's sympathetic eyes. A light smile graced her muzzle as she nodded to the older mare, silently thanking her for her support before she breathed trough her nose and released a breath through her mouth, repeating the action several times as Lord Skeletor walked towards them.

The six guards escorting Lord Skeletor cleared a path for him to walk towards his council, creating a wide enough berth for Cannon Fodder to trot alongside Lord Skeletor to the near edge of the balcony. Just as Lord Skeletor passed the halfway point, the Crystal Empire's flag began to rise on a pole above them, casting a large shadow over the crowd as it waved in the air. For the first time in years, the crystal ponies were able to look up at the flag of their nation, a purple flag with a ringed snowflake in the center. As Emerald watched the flag wave in the air, she sent a silent prayer to Faust, begging the divine weaver to give her a sign that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were still alive, hoping beyond hope that they had survived their battle with King Sombra and fled to safety.

The idle chatter of the crowd below them instantly died as the crystal ponies set their eyes on Lord Skeletor. He walked with silent confidence as he puffed out his chest like a minotaurian general, exuding an air of pride to all of his subjects as he approached his council. Lord Skeletor’s imposing body gave him the appearance of a perfectly carved statue, a furless figure with flawlessly chiseled muscles.

Once Lord Skeletor stopped next to his council, he and the other council members waited for the flugelhorns to play. As they stood a few yards from the edge of the balcony, the low buzzing of the flugelhorns filled the silence as a light blue crystal pony took her place on the raised platform below the balcony. Her brown mane was brushed back with a white headband to hold it in place, and a single white bow-tie that was tied around her neck. The white color of her clothing perfectly matched the color of her cutie mark; a harp in the shape of a heart with a music note leaning against the soundboard of the harp. Emerald struggled to remember the blue pony’s name, and soon gave up trying to remember it.

The trumpeters in the orchestra took their cue to begin playing the national anthem, allowing the two bells of each instrument introduce the patriotic melody of the Crystal Empire’s anthem. After a few short notes, the music stopped to allow the blue mare to sing the first few hymns of the anthem without any interruption.

The mare sung the notes beautifully, as if she had been practicing that one song for her entire life, giving the song a new sense of life that Emerald Secret had never been able to appreciate before. Long ago, Emerald Secret would listen to the anthem with a sense of patriotic love, but the mare on the stage was able to give a performance that struck Emerald Secret's soul. Emerald Secret was so taken aback by her playing that she almost forgot to press her hoof against her chest.

The words left the mare’s throat without hesitation, filing the air around the crowd as the lyrics danced in the air with the booming drums. Memories of the once mundane anthem turned into brilliant battle cries of love and admiration for the original composers of the song. Many ponies openly wept at the familiar tune, felling a true sense of safety for the first time in three years. The song officially marked the end of a dark trial, and the beginning of a prosperous future.

As the anthem finished playing, Lord Skeletor walked towards the edge of the balcony to deliver his speech to his subjects. Lord Skeletor raised his arms up slowly, holding the strange scepter in his right hand as it touched the heavens. The gold horns of the ram skull caught the light of the early sun, allowing the light to brighten Lord Skeletor’s skull as it was reflected from the ram horns.

“My subjects!” Lord Skeletor shouted loudly, gaining the complete attention of all the crystal ponies. “It is my pleasure to announce today as a new holiday! The Crystal Fair will now take place on Amore Memory Day! We shall remember those that have died and keep them close to our hearts. Let us not be sad for their deaths, but instead, let us celebrate their lives before the arrival of he who shalt not be named on such a joyous day. Let us remember the glorious lives they lived and not those they lost, let us find comfort in what they accomplished and saw, and let us remember the best of them,” he stated proudly.

The crowd broke into applause as their lord stood silently before them and continued to cheer until he held up a hand. It wasn’t a command for silence, but a solemn request for his citizens to contain their joy for a few more brief moments. The loud cheers slowly died down as Lord Skeletor kept his left hand up, it wasn't until a deafening silence fell over the crowd that he finally lowered his hand. The few tense moments of silence felt like an eternity before it was effectively shattered by his next words.

“I will never be able to know the pain you feel,” he stated with a more solemn tone, causing Emerald and the other council members to look at him in shock. “The burdens and memories that you carry are yours alone, and I cannot even hope to understand it. I could lie, I could say that I know what it’s like to lose someone close to you, but I don’t. Not like you. I have lost friends, family, I have lost more than I could have ever imagined… And you have lost even more. Many of you have lost your innocence, some of you have lost your sanity, and even more of you have lost your families. Everyone hurts in different ways and everyone faces that pain in different ways; I don’t know your pain, just as you do not know mine. Pain is different for all of us.

“But, one thing we all know well is the love of family and friends. I have stared into the bright eyes of newborn and gazed into the dull eyes of a wonderful woman who laid on her deathbed; and I have felt the same love for both. Loss is different to us all, but we all have the same understanding of love.

“So, let us take our love and think fondly of the lives that were lived, and not the ones that were lost.

“For those that are religious, pray to your gods. For those who have lost faith, hope that their last moments were painless, and please believe that you shall meet them again in reincarnation or in another world. Let us not waste our breath cursing the life of the old tyrant, let us come together and celebrate the lives of those who you have lost. And with that, let us honor the memories of those who have died and celebrate the lives they lived!” He shouted.

Although the cheers weren’t as loud as they were earlier in Lord Skeletor’s speech, the smiles were much more genuine and grateful. If Lord Skeletor had shown Emerald his speech before hoof, she may have made a few adjustments, but his speech still managed to get his point across. The Crystal Fair and Amore Memory Day were a time to celebrate memories and not just grieve for what was lost.

The streets of the Crystal Empire were filled with laughter, tears, and blissful memories of the past. Many of the guards surrounding Lord Skeletor and Emerald failed to stop smiles from spreading on their muzzles, except for Cannon Fodder of course.

While suppressing a smile was a menial task for him, because of his experience with keeping a stoic frown on his muzzle during his time as Princess Amore's personal guard, he struggled to fight off the contemplative look of his eyes as he squinted in deep thought. He tried to pick apart Lord Skeletor’s speech, searching for double meanings and subtle threats in his passionate words. Lord Skeletor’s voice may have sounded sincere, but Cannon Fodder couldn’t believe that anything other than lies could pass through the lips of a demon.

A small hint of doubt circled around his thoughts as he went through Lord Skeletor’s words once more. He trotted next to Lord Skeletor without any idea of what was going on around him, and actively ignored the ponies who would bow to their new lord before they returned to milling about the city as they continued their activities. The sound of laughter went through one ear and out the other as he listened to his own thoughts, and it was only when the smell of fresh bread drifted to his nostrils that he found his way back to reality.

His eyes glanced up to Lord Skeletor’s sockets before he followed his dark lord’s gaze towards a stall selling bread. Steam rose from the collection of loaves and other baked goods, creating a curtain of mist that promised a warm salvation from the frigid temperatures of the Frozen North. Cannon Fodder looked back at Lord Skeletor to see him gawking at the stand with a hanging jaw.

For a brief second, Cannon Fodder wondered if the jaw bone would fall off of Lord Skeletor’s skull and questioned what would happen if a piece of Lord Skeletor fell off. Lord Skeletor touched the sides of his strange looking skirt before he looked at his hips and grimaced. “Uh… Emerald, by any chance, do you have any… what did you call it… Bits?” He asked his Royal Advisor.

“A few, my lord, why?”

“Well… I figured that, as the leader of the Crystal Empire, I should partake in the delicacies of my subjects and give them my praise. But, I can’t get any of their food without bits.”

“Why not just ask for a loaf of bread?”

Lord Skeletor stared at Emerald with an expression that spoke of pure befuddlement. “I can’t do that. I mean, look at that vender. He’s so thin, he could eat hoooo-whole house. And yet, he’s still selling food instead of eating it. The least I can do is pay for it. So… uh... Could you lend me some bits?”

“Lend? I… Of course, my lord,” Emerald said as she fished out a small pouch of bits from her saddle bags.

Lord Skeletor counted the bits inside of the pouch as he approached the stall, completely oblivious to the vender’s dismay as he approached. The stallion behind the counter had a deep blue coat of fun and a black colored mane of hair that was a few hues lighter than Emerald’s midnight black mane. The stallion bowed deeply to Lord Skeletor and patiently waited for Lord Skeletor to command him to rise. Seconds turned into a full minute as Lord Skeletor watched the stallion bow to him and he began to shuffle on his two large feet in an uncomfortable way.

“Is… Is he alright?” Lord Skeletor asked Emerald.

“Yes, my lord, he’s just waiting for you to allow him to rise.”

“Oh? That’s a thing I have to do? Sorry, I uh… Never needed to ask my subjects to do so before. You may rise, Mr…”

“Fresh Bake, your majesty. I’m honored to meet you. Would you like some bread?” The stallion asked.

“I’d love to, Fresh Bake. How much is it for a loaf?”


“They’re two bits for now since not many ponies have a lot to spend, but I can I just give you—”

“Nope,” Lord Skeletor cut him off. “As much as I like giving to charity, I’ve never been a fan of receiving it. So, I’ll give you two bits for a loaf and… do you guys want anything?” Lord Skeletor asked his guards.

The guards surrounding Lord Skeletor threw each other quick glances before they responded with a polite head shake to tell him they were fine. Lord Skeletor nearly shrugged before he turned to Emerald and Cannon Fodder. “What about you two, want anything from here?”

“I’m fine, my lord,” Emerald replied as Cannon Fodder just shook his head.

Before Lord Skeletor could pay for his loaf, he heard the unmistakable sound of a stomach rumbling and he turned his attention towards the source. Fresh Bake shrunk under Lord Skeletor’s gaze and kept his eyes away from the sockets in Lord Skeletor’s skull. Heavy silence fell on the group as they watched the stallion hide the fear that was rising inside of himself.

Cannon Fodder glanced at Lord Skeletor, watching him stand as still as a statue as he observed the slightly trembling stallion. The oddly malleable bones on Lord Skeletor’s skull contorted in unnatural ways, allowing his eye sockets to grow as has brow arched upward.

“You haven’t been eating much,” Lord Skeletor stated in a quiet tone.

Fresh Bake flinched at Lord Skeletor’s comment, most likely fearful that his own body had somehow insulted the demonic lord before him, and attempted to defuse the fearful situation with a lighthearted joke. “Heh… Kind of hard to make a living if you end up eating the product.”

Lord Skeletor remained deathly silent as his sight traveled across the dark blue hairs on Fresh Bake’s coat. His gaze lingered on the loaf of bread Fresh Bake had for his cutie mark, taking in the detail of the highly stylized image on his flank with a look of mild curiosity which quickly morphed back to sadness when he counted the visible ribs on Fresh Bake.

After spraining the stallion’s body, Lord Skeletor took four bits out of Emerald’s pouch and placed them on the counter. He then proceeded to take two loaves of bread and held one of them towards Fresh Bake.

“Here you go,” Lord Skeletor said as he held the loaf of bread to Fresh Bake’s muzzle. “I insist that you eat something. A doctor cannot perform surgery if they’re sick and a baker cannot cook if they’re starving.”

“My lord, please, I’ll be—” Lord Skeletor didn’t allow the stallion to finish his sentence before he turned his skull towards Emerald.

“Emerald, please remind me; who is the leader of the Crystal Empire?”

“You are, my lord,” Emerald responded with a raised eyebrow.

“And my word is absolute, correct?”

“Y-yes…” She replied a bit more hesitantly. A sudden pang of dread rippled through Cannon Fodder’s soul as he felt Lord Skeletor’s change in tone.

“Then as ruler of the Crystal Empire, I order you to have some of your bread,” Lord Skeletor commanded with an unwavering firmness that quickly melted into a concerned and troubled voice. “Think of the other ponies who come to you for food. If you end up dying because you haven’t eaten, then they won’t be able to eat either. I admire your resolve to help others in these troubling times, but sometimes you need to help yourself first. So please, eat something to keep up your strength.”

And with that, Lord Skeletor left the second loaf of bread on the counter and walked away from the vender. The guards escorting him were quick to form a perimeter around Lord Skeletor after shaking off their initial shock. Cannon Fodder couldn’t help but to peek over his shoulder and look at Fresh Bake as they left.

The stallion was watching Lord Skeletor and his entourage with disbelief clearly written on his face, and Cannon Fodder couldn’t blame him. It didn’t make any sense to Cannon Fodder. Lord Skeletor was a living demon that had crawled from the deepest pits of Tartarus, he had killed the old tyrant and effectively conquered an entire Empire without even raising his voice. There was no reason for him to pretend to be nice to his citizens. So, why was he acting nice to them?

As Cannon Fodder pondered the reasons behind Lord Skeletor’s actions, he looked up to see the large demon eating his loaf of bread with a delighted moan.

“Oh~ mawh gawd, thith ith thoo goowd,” he said with a jaw full of bread. Cannon Fodder tilted his head ever so slightly to take a peek at the hole under Lord Skeletor’s jaw bone, and was heavily surprised by the fact that he couldn’t see the bread in his skull from his angle.

“Thanks again, Emerald, I’ll pay you back when we get to the castle,” Lord Skeletor promised.

“There’s no need to that, my lord.”

“Nonsense. I’ll pay you back and that’s final,” Lord Skeletor stated as he took another bite of his bread.

While Lord Skeletor ate his meal, his skull turned towards the ponies outside of his group of guards. A colorful sea of crystal ponies happily trotted towards the jousting arena, laughing and making bets on who would win the joust. Because bits were still sparse in the Empire, ponies gambled with promises to reveal embarrassing secrets or deals to pay the winner in free snow shoveling since there were still large piles of snow that littered the streets of the Empire.

Lord Skeletor’s gaze seemed to wander back to Emerald, who was trotting next to him. His hollow eye sockets stole a glance at her flank for a few brief seconds before he turned his attention to her head.

“Hey, Emerald, I’ve been meaning to ask… What are those tattoos you all have?” Lord Skeletor asked.

“Tattoos?”

“The things on your thighs,” he explained as he gestured to the image on her side.

“Oh, you mean our cutie marks?” Emerald asked as she pointed at one of the magnifying glass with a question mark on her flank. “It’s our special talent. My talent is noticing finite details in written records, and I specialize in finding inconsistencies and incongruities in any and all legal documents that enter or leave the Crystal Castle.”

“Huh. So, where do you go to get them put on?”

“Put on? They naturally appear whenever we find out calling in life, usually we find it when we’re very young. Personally, I found my special talent when I noticed that the profits of my father’s shop were declining even though business was booming. It didn’t take long for my mother to find out where he was spending the profits,” Emerald recalled with a bitter tone.

“What was happening to it?”

“A harlett with a ruby pair of lips for her cutie mark was what happened to it. Father and the whorse decided that their sex life was more important than his wife and daughter, so when he was caught he made a choice.” she stated with a chilling anger. “That bastard and his whorse moved to the Thestral Kingdom of the Crystal Empire soon after, I haven’t heard from him since then. Not that I care, they were perfect for each other, a pair of lowlives who thought sex was more important than family!” Emerald shouted.

Emerald breathed heavily as she seethed over her bitter memories of her family. After a few moments of stewing in anger, she noticed the concerned looks the ponies outside of the guard circle and Lord Skeletor were giving her. She wilted as she remembered who she was talking to and began to apologize.”

“Sorry for ranting, my lord, I… I…”

“It’s fine, Emerald. I get it,” Lord Skeletor dismissed. “Fathers can be real assholes sometimes, I know from experience,”

“Experience?” Emerald parroted.

“Let’s just say that my situation was similar to yours and leave it at that. I’m grateful that you were willing to share that piece of yourself, but I don’t wish to drag up my own misfortunes. Besides, today isn’t a day of anger at the past, it’s a day of loving fond memories! If thinking of your dad makes you upset, then fuck him! Don’t even give the memories of him the time of day. Today is about your happiness, not his sex life! So be happy, and live in the moment!” He exclaimed happily as he threw his hands into the air.

Emerald faintly smiled at Lord Skeletor’s apparent enthusiasm, her grievances with her father melting away as she focused on her happier memories.

“So, Emerald, what’s on the itinerary for today? A pie judging contest? Perhaps a play performed by a local theater group?” Lord Skeletor asked with an upbeat tone.

“Well, the jousting tournament will be starting in a few minutes. I’m sure if we start trotting over there now, we could see the first round before it’s too late.”

“Oh, a jousting competition? Excellent! I can’t wait! I’ve never seen one in person before, this will be so exciting,” Lord Skeletor commented, prompting his group of guards to guide him towards the arena.

Cannon Fodder had to admit to himself that he was also looking forward to the jousting tournament too. He fought valiantly to keep a smile from spreading across his muzzle as he trotted with the group to the arena, a battle the other guards that surrounded Lord Skeletor had sufficiently lost once they saw the makeshift arena a few blocks away.

The sound of deafening cheers flooded the air as their group drew closer to the arena, filling Cannon Fodder with a sense of nostalgia as he remembered his first time going to a jousting tournament with his father. For a brief second, every problem Cannon Fodder faded away as the memories of his father filled his mind. His father’s warm smile and soulful eyes gave Cannon Fodder a sense of warmth and pride that he hadn’t felt in years.

He lost the valiant battle against his muzzle when a small smile raised the edges of his lips as he trotted towards the arena. A small flicker of hope burned inside of him, prompting him to recapture the experience he had with his father.

The Crystal Fair flew past Skeletor in the blink of an eye. The joyous festivities, fine food, and wonderful music had all ended too swiftly for him. As he stared at the crystal ponies cleaning up their stalls and decorations, Skeletor couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness for not being able to celebrate for a little while longer. He desperately wanted to visit one more stall, play one more game of pony shoe toss, eat just a little more crystal berry pie, to do anything to keep himself distracted.

For the first time in days, Skeletor truly felt at ease, as if a heavy burden was lifted from his shoulders thanks to the celebration. Even though the weight of his fears and anxieties returned after the fair was officially over, it felt lighter than it had before.

A content smile was plastered on Skeletor's jaw as he recognized a few of the ponies below who were cleaning. The few ponies that he had managed to talk to during the festivities were a colorful cast of characters who held fun little quirks in their personalities. Fresh Bake trotted alongside a petite mare who was spending the fair by patching up any damaged blankets and fabrics ponies would bring her. Skeletor had briefly played with the idea of asking her if she could sew him some more clothing, but he quickly dismissed that idea when he saw the large pile of fabrics she still had to go through.

A group of guards passed by the pair of ponies as they patrolled the streets, allowing Skeletor's eyes to wander towards another familiar pony who was in their path. Onyx Comet, one of the many competitors in the jousting tournament, sat off to the side of the street with a crystal guard sitting next to him. The two spoke passionately about the tournament, lamenting Onyx's unfortunate loss in the fourth round, but keeping their spirits up that he would win next year.

Skeletor's smile slowly fell as he listened to their conversation. While he could only catch bits and pieces due to their distance from him, they spoke loud enough for him to catch a few choice words and promises that they shouted to the heavens. "Next year, I'll show Thunder who's a better jouster, count on it! I'll show that blowhard once and for all," Onyx told his friend.

As Skeletor heard his words, he wondered if he would even be around for the next Crystal Fair. How long will it take to get home? A month? A year? Years? Skeletor grimly pondered as he rested his chin on the ledge of his window, being mindful of the pieces of glass that still stuck out from the frame of the window.

Night quickly befell the Crystal Empire as Skeletor wondered about his old life. He wasn't sure how his family and friends were reacting to his disappearance. His mom, his half-brother, and his girlfriend Evelyn were all probably worried, if not terrified. He almost knew for a fact that his dad didn't give a damn, his father never cared about him. A bastard child born out of wedlock, all because his father couldn't keep it in his pants. Rand's mom may have cared about Skeletor, he had never really spent enough time with her to know how she felt about her husband's bastard.

Skeletor watched the alien celestial bodies turn from day to night, the small sun fell beyond the horizon of the west as the moon drifted through the air, bringing the tendrils of night along with it. Skeletor allowed a humorless chuckle to escape himself as he stared at the bizarre spectacle in the sky, a grim reminder of how far away from Earth he was. He found some small sense of solace in the familiar stars that were held in the tentacles of the night, constellations like Orion's Belt and the Little Dipper filled the unfamiliar sky above him. How stars from his home had found their way into an alien sky, Skeletor had no idea, and he didn't care enough to wonder anymore. He wouldn't question the one thing in the world that reminded him of home.

If Skeletor stared up at the stars for long enough, he could convince himself that he was on Earth, stargazing with Evelyn. The memories of her lovely face, her stunning eyes, and her enchanting voice lulled him to sleep that night, allowing him to completely forget all of his fears and worries for the night.

A deathly silence permeated the council's meeting room on the beginning of the second week of Lord Skeletor’s reign over the Crystal Empire. The days after the Crystal Fair had allowed the Empire to make great strides in their attempts to repair the damages caused by Sombra.

Buildings were being rebuilt, victims of mental or physical trauma were being treated in the medical wing of the Crystal Castle, and the Alchemist Guild had made excellent progress in their attempts to use cotton to make paper; though Lord Skeletor appeared somewhat uneasy about the alchemist’s decision to use their own bedding and blankets to get the cotton needed.

While the buildings could be fixed with a few weeks of hard work, and the physical scars left on some ponies would naturally heal with time, the mental lashings Sombra inflicted on them would take years to repair. When Lord Skeletor heard of the issues in the medical wing involving the ponies who were placed on suicide watch, he hesitantly suggested giving them a magical medicine of his own design. Cannon Fodder didn’t initially believe that the “placebos” Lord Skeletor created would do anything other than hurt the patients, but to his surprise, some of the patients were calming down slightly. His elixir was a secret concoction that had the potential to help those who have a strong sense of belief in their hearts, at least that's what the demon claimed.

Still being wary of the demon, Cannon Fodder snatched up a jar of the “placebos” and, with the surprising help of Crumb Catcher, tasked one of the alchemists with finding out what was in it. While Cannon Fodder was still extremely uneasy about Crumb Catcher, he was relieved to know that his fellow council member shared his skepticism for Lord Skeletor’s remedy. If it turned out that his magical drink was actually a poison or complex concoction that could turn ponies into mindless zombies, then he and Crumb Catcher would be able to use his own creation against him.

As Cannon Fodder and Crumb Catcher waited for the alchemist to deduce what Lord Skeletor’s placebos were made of, they continued to play the part of loyal council members for the days following the Crystal Fair. Unfortunately, playing the part of loyal lap dog appeared to be harder then either of them could have imagined.

One sentence was all it took for the conversation to completely die, much to the confusion and worry of Cannon Fodder.

Lord Skeletor looked towards the general of his Empire in a mixture of horror and disbelief, as if he had told the demon the most blasphemous thing to ever leave a pony’s throat. The silence in the room dragged on for an uncomfortably long time, causing time to feel as if it was struggling to crawl forward in the room. Seconds sluggishly moved by as Lord Skeletor looked into Cannon Fodder's eyes with complete shock.

“What… What are they in the dungeon for?” Lord Skeletor eventually asked the General of the Royal Guard in a stupefied tone.

Cannon Fodder briefly glanced at Crumb Catcher to see if he knew anything about Lord Skeletor’s sudden shift in mood. Crumb Catcher made no attempt to relay any silent messages to his ally, choosing instead to stare at Lord Skeletor with an equal amount of confusion to the rest of the council members.

“Illegal relations. They were caught in the caverns below the Empire and were detained,” the general easily replied.

“Illegal? Why the hell is being gay suddenly illegal!?” Lord Skeletor questioned loudly, causing his council members to instinctively flinch back at his outburst. The council members threw confused looks to each other at their master’s inquiry, silently asking if anypnony else knew what their lord was talking about.

“Um, I don’t believe being happy is illegal, my lord,” Copper Plate replied hesitantly.

“What? No, I mean gay, like homosexual, the thing those two mares are: Gay! When a mare really likes a mare or when a stallion really likes another stallion. For Christ's sake, do I need to draw a picture?” Lord Skeletor exclaimed as he attempted to explain his foreign terminology to his council.

“Well, in that case, being ‘gay’ as you call it is illegal,” Crumb Catcher explained. “It was Princess Amore who had told us that having feelings towards a member of the same gender is a sickness of the mind that could spread to other ponies who are near them. If two ponies of the same gender were together, then that would pollute the love that powers the barrier over the Empire, and thus leave us vulnerable to the elements outside. Some citizens, like the ones in the dungeon, decided to ignore the divine word of Princess Amore, and conduct their debauchery in secrecy. The two mares who were captured were too lax, and were easily apprehended, all that remains is your decision for their punishment, sire.”

As his explanation dragged on, their lord violently seethed in anger, an unbridled rage threatening to spill out of him after hearing Crumb’s explanation.

“Well then, I officially abolish that law,” Lord Skeletor announced firmly.

Many of the lord’s private council were taken aback by the sudden tone in his voice, a commanding anger that hadn’t been heard by anypony who served the new lord. Before any of his council members could object or question his sudden decree, he stood up from his chair and banged his scepter against the ground. His seat scraped against the floor as it flew back several feet, allowing Lord Skeletor to stand to his full height and completely tower over the seated ponies. Any thoughts of questioning his decision died instantly as their instincts took hold, telling them to run away from the predator that had suddenly turned aggressive.

“I wish to know every law, and I will announce whether or not I believe they should be enforced. If any of you disagree, then please present your reason as to why and I will take that into consideration. However, I will remain firm on this point; if two ponies of the same gender love each other and are of consenting age, then they should be allowed to be together. And if I hear anything about it being a mental issue then I will be making serious changes to whom I allow on my council. Is that clear?” Lord Skeletor rhetorically asked his council.

Everypony in the room knew that their lord’s order was not up for debate, at least not while he was so agitated after hearing about it. With a great haste, all of his council members nodded their heads in agreement to their lord’s order.

“Good then. Cannon Fodder!” Lord Skeletor called out, causing the guard to reflexively salute his lord.

“Go down to the dungeons and bring those two mares to my throne room. Copper, I want to officially abolish that law by tonight if I can, bring any legal documents needed to do so. And Crumb…” Lord Skeletor seethed, causing the head of staff to swallow a nervous lump in his throat.

“Go to the kitchen and ask the staff to prepare two extra servings for tonight. Emerald, prepare a statement for the citizens in regards to my order. I want to know every counter argument the citizens could use, I don’t want to be blindsided by a fact or ‘fact’ from some arrogant douchebag,” he demanded. “Also, look into the claim about it being, ‘tainted’ love and see what jackass pulled that out of their hat. I want to know how qualified they were to make that claim and hear their argument. Are there any questions?” He asked the rest of his council.

“Um... Is there anything you need me to do, your highness?” Avid Value worryingly asked. 


“… Not for this. I don’t see how this issue could impact our financial progress, and I wanted to visit the alchemists to see progress on producing paper first hand. Once this meeting is dismissed, I'll need someone to guide me to the Alchemy Tower, so you can help in that regard. Emerald, delay court until tomorrow and make sure the two mares are comfortable when they arrive to the throne room. The rest of you have already been given your duties, so unless there is anything else I should know about, then I want my orders to be carried out swiftly,” Lord Skeletor finished.

Cannon Fodder decided that it would be best to bring up his desires to retrain the guard at a later date for another meeting since he had accidentally earned the scorn of the demon he called his lord.

After Emerald Secret had brought up the possible need for stronger placebos for some patients, Lord Skeletor stated that he would attempt to help them later on and dismissed his council. Each of the council members hastily trotted out of the meeting room to complete their tasks, with the exception of Avid Value. The youngest council member waited patiently for his lord to speak, and was rewarded with an order to wait outside the council room for Lord Skeletor to collect himself.

Cannon Fodder felt a tinge of fear for Avid Value being forced to be near the demon when he was in a volatile state. If Avid Value said one wrong word, it could have been the end for him.

Skeletor sat alone in his chair in the council’s meeting room. As he breathed through the nasal cavity of his skull, he buried his face into his hands and let out an exhausted groan. His high of anger faded away, leaving him with a sobering sense of dread as he was left alone with his own thoughts.

“Fuck me… I just made an enemy of the church, didn’t I? Ooooh that’s not good…” Skeletor said to himself as he leaned against his chair.

“Wait to go, dumbass, you probably pissed off the pony pope,” he berated himself. “That’s definitely going to bite you in the ass. If there’s a religious organization that heavily agreed with that law, then you’re screwed. Fuck, not to mention Princess Amore was seen as a damn goddess… fuuuuuuuuck,” he groaned as tapped his fingers on the table.

“Fuck me, I reeeeally hope they aren’t like some of the countries on my planet. I can see it now, revolutions led by religious groups that now have a physical monster to vilify and use as the devil,” Skeletor stated as he wondered what had compelled him to speak out against his council.

Equality for them didn’t help him with his plans of getting home, if anything, it hindered him since he would now need to worry about religious organizations in the Empire gunning for him. A leader may have power, but a church held a great influence that could persuade armies to rise and topple empires. He could vividly imagine the outcry from the Empire. Burning effigies of himself would be paraded through the Empire along with hundreds of pitchforks and torches that would move in rhythm to the chanting of, “Kill the King.”

History would possibly smile upon his decision to legalize it, stating that he was ahead of his time. But who cared what history would say about him when his skull was in a basket and his body was on the other side of a guillotine?

It wouldn’t matter to him because he would be put on a spike and skewered, or maybe even tortured by the ponies for legalizing something that went against their religion. While he knew enough spells to protect himself, such as a portal spell that could give him some distance between himself and an angry mob, he was only one man against thousands of ponies. They had numbers, knowledge of the Empire’s layout, and the ability to kill without hesitation.

He didn’t think he could kill any of them like he had Sombra, even if he could use magic to make the act of killing them easier. The mental toll and strength needed to actively kill something without relying on instinct was too much for him. Even if he took down a few of them, hundreds upon thousands of ponies would be there to take their place. No matter what, if he were to upset the crystal ponies enough, he would die by their hooves.

After taking a deep breath and berating himself internally for another minute, he rose from his seat and walked over to the doors of the council room. Outside of the room, Avid Value was sitting patiently with his ears facing Skeletor and his head pointed away slightly. Skeletor desperately hoped that the Alchemists could deliver on their promise to make paper. If they were successful, then Skeletor could use it to gain public favor, though he highly doubted that it would give him any more sway than any of the religions in the Empire.

Without any prompting, Avid led Skeletor down the hallway towards the staircase to go to the Alchemist’s tower which was about ten minutes away from the council room on foot. For ponies, walking there was exceptionally quicker because of their four legs, so Avid trotted at a slower and more relaxed pace to allow Skeletor to follow him without practically speed walking down the halls. After nearly a full minute of silence between them, Skeletor decided to get a pony’s perspective on his abrupt decision to legalize gay marriage.

If Skeletor knew which religious leaders to butter up to and who to be on guard for, he would be able to avoid being dragged through the streets by an angry mob of religious ponies. And if it turned out that the pony pope was someone Skeletor wouldn’t be able to convince or bribe, then he’d have a head start on running out of the Empire. The Thestral and Ruva Kingdoms were still abandoned and left unexplored by the freed crystal ponies. If worst came to worst, he could run to the Ruva Kingdom and rummage through any of the books left there to find a way to send him home using less taxing methods.

“Avid, I have a few things that I need to ask you.”

“Of course, your highness, what do you want to know?”

“I want to know how my decision will impact the Empire. How will the religions react, how will the citizens react, and so on and so forth? Start with religions, how will they react to my decree?”

“There isn’t really anypony in a high enough position of power to question it. Sombra banned all religions worshiping Faust during his reign, burning every Church of Faust in the Thestral, Ruva, and Crystal Pony Kingdom in the Crystal Empire. I believe he had the priests of the churches burn them down themselves before he forced them to… desecrate any of her religious texts,” Avid informed him.

“Jesus Christ, just when I think that I couldn’t hate that asshole any more than I already did… So, to clarify, there is no religious authority to oppose me in my decision?”

“None, your highness.”

“I see…” Skeletor simply stated as he wondered how happy that should have made him. On one hand, the possibility of him being put on a spike and flailed drastically decreased, but only because of the atrocities Sombra committed. Being thankful for one less threat almost felt like he was being thankful to the tyrant that had ruined the lives of thousands.

“Did anything in those religious texts talk about being gay, or call it blasphemous?” Skeletor asked.

“Not that I know of for a fact, your highness. I wasn’t literate like the priests were, and by the time I had managed to teach myself, I felt no need to read the book since the priest would read all the passages to us. The memories are a little hazy, but I don’t believe any of the texts of Faust directly stated that there was anything sinful about being… Gay, as you called it. I know that it was heavily frowned upon by each of the pony races, but I’m not sure when it was officially abolished... My lord, if I may ask, why did you change the law?” Avid Value asked.

“‘Why?’ Because it was stupid, that’s why,” Skeletor responded harshly.

“Oh… Uh, would you mind me asking why it’s stupid?”

“Because it is! People-er-ponies deserve to be allowed to be with the one they love. There’s nothing harmful about gay marriage, and gay ponies aren’t so different from you or anyone else in my council. It’s aggravating to think that laws like these existed in the Empire, and in a moment of clouded judgment, I made a decision without taking any time to consider it.

“Morally, I feel justified in my decision, but intellectually I’m at a cross roads. I begrudgingly admit that I’m not too familiar with your magic so they may have a point. And, on another note, I regret exploding at the council the way I did. Your culture and mine varies in ways I can’t even imagine, forcing you to change your culture in a day because it doesn’t align with mine feels… Morally grey, I suppose. It almost feels like I'm bullying the Empire into embracing my opinions,” Skeletor explained before he let his shoulders slump. “You’re a pony, Avid, do you know anything about magic powered by the love of the citizens?”

“Only that it powers the barrier above the Empire.”

“… Is there any validity to the claim that love shared between the same gender can affect the barrier negatively? Like, was there a point in history where it fell because of same sex love?”

“None that I know of… But…”

“But?”


“I…” Avid paused as he mauled over his words inside his head. “There was a reason why the Crystal Heart was hidden. When Sombra first came to power, he attempted to make his slaves… He tried to power the heart by having ponies… have sex with eachother,” Avid quietly told him, forcing the words to leave his body. “That was the only time the barrier fell. I don’t think that the love of… Gay ponies will make it fall but… Lord Skeletor, why are you so passionate about this? Are you… You know,” Avid asked as he danced around calling Skeletor gay.

“No, I… I had a friend, back where I’m from, who, to put it lightly, wasn’t accepted for his preferences. Trevor uh, ’swung for the other team’ so to speak, and his mom didn’t like that,” Skeletor began to explain as he remembered one of his close friends back on Earth.

“He was raised to be a strict Christian and his mother saw it as a ‘terrible sin’ to like another man, because some book that was rewritten a dozen times claimed it was. It hit him pretty hard when his mother called him… Well, I’m not going to repeat it, but just know it hurt him a lot. And it hurt me too.

“Trevor was like a brother to me, sometimes he was more of a brother than my actual damn brother. And to hear about his mom shouting at him like that just… It just pissed me off! He was a good kid, got great grades in school, never did drugs or anything like that, was part of the swim team, he even took dance lessons since he was eight for Christ’s sake! But apparently, none of that mattered because he liked guys!” Lord Skeletor exclaimed angrily.

“It wasn’t fair to him… Trevor was… Well, he was a better man than me. Heh, I actually felt a little jealous of him sometimes. But no matter how I felt, he was there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on, or a friend to lean on. And when he needed a shoulder to cry on, I was there for him. Trevor wasn't a sinful monsters or anything like that, he was a good man and an amazing friend, and all he wanted to do was love Bedar. So, Avid, that’s why I legalized it. Because at the end of the day, people and ponies should be free to love who they want.”

“So… So then, you believe that there’s really nothing wrong with it, sire?”

“Of course not. Why? Do you have an issue with my orders?” Skeletor asked in an aggressive tone, as if begging Avid to insult his friend so he could have a reason to attack him. A protective fury burned inside of Skeletor as he looked at the smaller pony, waiting for the moment to let that fire explode from him.

“It’s not that, your highness! It’s just… Nopony was ever as vocal as you were. I just… I just wanted to believe what you said was true,” Avid quietly admitted as they passed by a pair of guards standing at a door.

Neither of the guards appeared to hear Avid’s quiet admission, leaving Skeletor alone with the little grain of knowledge that Avid had given him. Avid's words hung in the air as he led Skeletor down the hall, the quiet echo of his voice filled the silence inside Skeletor’s mind as he processed what his council member told him.

Taking a chance to confirm his suspicions, Skeletor approached the subject delicately to see if he had misinterpreted Avid’s words. “Avid… It’s not my place to pry, but… Is there anything you want to share with me?”

“Not necessarily, your highness. Anything we discuss should be for the benefit and growth of the Empire. The happiness and stability of the citizens comes before anything else. E-except your happiness, your highness,” he quickly tacked on.

“Alright… So, how will my decision involving the legalization of gay marriage, and by extension practices of gay relationships, affect the citizens?”

“I’m afraid that I’m the wrong pony to ask that question, your highness. I deal more heavily in the finances of the Empire, if you want a firm grasp on the public’s opinion, then I’d recommend speaking with Crumb Catcher. Though, if I had to make a guess, I’d say that there will be a few very happy ponies. I don’t believe that public relationships between the same gender will start appearing left and right, but I do think that some ponies will sleep better knowing that they won’t be punished for their choice in partner,” Avid stated with a small smile that was quickly hidden by a look of pure profesionalism.

“Speaking of punishment, what would have happened to those two mares in the dungeon if I hadn’t intervened?” Skeletor asked. Since burning and desecrating books of any kind was apparently an automatic death sentence in the Crystal Empire, Skeletor wondered if the punishment for being gay was of a greater or lesser value.

“… Before the rise of Sombra, gay ponies who were caught were, ‘cleansed’ by ruvas using mind magic,” Avid quietly admitted, causing Skeletor to stop dead in his tracks. “I believe Sombra was able to modify the spell used for the ‘cleansing sessions’ and used it to take over the Empire.”

“They… They would have been brainwashed?” Skeletor fearfully asked as thoughts of his friend being tormented flooded his mind for a brief moment.

“I’ve never heard that term be used, but it’s a fitting title for it,” Avid replied, completely unaware of the effect his words had on Skeletor.

Skeletor’s blood boiled as he imagined the torture those captured ponies must have gone through and the experiments they were forced to go through to be ‘healed’. The thought that a spell like that was regularly used by its government caused Skeletor to look at the previous beloved princess in a new light. He had been told stories about her love for her ponies, how she promoted love for all in her Empire when she ruled.

Now, to find out that a supposed Princess of Love would commit such atrocities, he felt nothing but disgust for the previous princess. Skeletor briefly entertained the idea of stopping the artisans from recreating artwork of Princess Amore, but quickly banished that thought as soon as it arrived. Even in death, the princess held sway over her kingdom from beyond the grave. If Skeletor were to call off the restoration of her paintings a few days after commemorating a holiday to her, then he would only be seen as another Sombra, another tyrant to be dethroned.

With no way to vent his frustration towards the dead princess, Skeletor decided to turn his fury towards the spells that she used to brainwash her subjects.

“After we meet with the alchemists, I'm going to go to the court room, speak with the mares, and then find Copper so that I can see those spell books,” Skeletor told Avid with a deep anger resonating in is voice.

“W-why?” Avid fearfully asked as he tried to control his voice. Skeletor admonished himself for a brief moment for accidentally startling Avid with his tone and decided to speak with a gentler voice that held no vitriol, but still commanded respect.

“Tell me, Avid, burning and desecrating books is a death sentence, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Well, first I’ll abolish that law, and then I’ll ‘accidentally’ cast a fire spell on the pages containing that brain washing spell,” he promised as he quickened his pace towards the Alchemist’s tower.

The new announcement regarding marriage was, of course, met with confusion, discourse, and partial acceptance. The few citizens who had feeling for a pony they knew they could never marry before felt a wave of joy wash over them as they were given the freedom to be who they wanted to be. Silent mares and stallions who had hidden feelings and fantasies felt encouraged to openly practice their newfound freedom and explore the possibilities of forming relationships that were once taboo, but decided to keep their lives secret until others made the first move.

While a small minority of homosexual or “gay” ponies, as the new lord liked to call them, welcomed this new announcement with open hooves, some questioned the logic behind their new lord’s decision. But, while many were confused or even resentful of the new law, very few felt the compelled to vocally object the new law to Lord Skeletor out of a mixture of fear and impeccable respect.

Among these confused ponies was a yellow stallion who had been baking a loaf of bread with his friend, Fresh Bake. Track Record had mindlessly rolled flattened the dough under his hooves as he listened to Fresh Bake regale him with his time spent with a mare named Lacey who he reunited with at the Crystal Fair. The two had been foal hood friends back when they were still looking for their Cutie marks, and had only stumbled across each other by chance during the festivities.

From how fondly Fresh Bake spoke about the pale blue mare, Track Record was fairly certain that the two of them would be spending a lot of time together in the foreseeable future. As Track Record was marveling at the possibly blooming love between Fresh and Lacey, he caught low whispers from ponies who were trotting outside his shop. Like everypony else, they were gossiping about Lord Skeletor’s latest law, something that had been the topic of a silent controversy ever since it was created a few hours ago.

Track Record wasn’t against Lord Skeletor’s law, since his new lord had helped save the Empire from the tyrant, brought back the Crystal Heart, and established a holiday in honor of their previous princess, all in the span of less than a week. But, even though Track Record didn’t hate the new law, he was still very confused by it.

Princess Amore had taught them that the perceived love between two mares or two stallions was just a sense of confusion that plagued the minds of those who strayed from the path of love, and she had told them that the false love between two stallions or two mares would weaken the barrier over the Empire. It felt counterintuitive for Lord Skeletor to legalize something that would undo a great deal of his hard work, but his lord must have had his reasons. Even if Track Record didn’t know the reasons behind Lord Skeletor’s actions, he still trusted his new lord.

Lord Skeletor hadn’t given Track Record or any of the other ponies any reason to doubt his wisdom and leadership. He was certain that there must have been a good reason for Lord Skeletor’s decision, and he hoped that his lord would reveal those reasons at the assembly later that day.

A large crowd of ponies had already converged around the castle before the flugelhorns were scheduled to signal the beginning of Lord Skeletor’s announcement. From the window of his shop, Track Record could see the balcony of the Crystal Castle, an empty platform that was only important because of who would stand on it. Two large flames danced on the ends of the balcony in stone burning bowls that had the Crystal Empire’s flag carved into the bowls.

Above the balcony, two tapestries of the Crystal Empire’s emblem hung on either side of the doors, a recent addition that was added to the Crystal Castle after Amore Memory Day. Track Record was so busy being lost in the memories that the Crystal Empire’s emblem invoked in him, he failed to notice his friend trot up to his side until he bumped him.

“Are you doing okay, Record? You’ve been staring out the window for a while now.”

“I’m alright. Just… Waiting for Lord Skeletor’s announcement,” Track Record replied as he turned his attention towards the sun, watching as it started its slow descent from its peak in the sky. While it took the citizens of the Crystal Empire some time to adjust to the odd new movement of the sun and moon, they were able to still tell the time of day thanks to the position of the sun.

“Yeah, I’m kind of anxious myself. I’m a little worried that he’s going to make normal relationships illegal now after he legalized the uh… What’s it called again?”

“Gay?”

“Yeah, that. Heh, kind of weird that he’d use the word ‘happy’ to describe those relationships. But anyway, I just hope that being ‘gay’ isn’t a mandatory thing now. I mean, he wouldn’t do that, right?” Fresh Bake asked with a concerned smile.

“We’ll just have to wait for his announcement,” Track Record replied.

In truth, Track Record was just as confused as Fresh Bake was. The guards and maids of the castle who started to spread the gossip about Lord Skeletor’s new law failed to say whether or not gay relationships would be a mandatory practice in the Empire like previous relationships had been. Relationships could only be formed between a mare and a stallion during Princess Amore’s reign, and consensual relationships were nonexistent during Somrba’s cruel reign over the Empire. So, Track Record was left to wonder what his new lord’s plans were and what they would entail.

Would every relationship need to be between two mares or two stallions, would the old relationships still be allowed to be practiced, was there a new form of punishment for ponies who practiced the old forms of relationships? So many questions went through Track Record’s mind, and like a sign from the heavens promising to answer them, the booming noise of flugelhorns bellowed through the Empire to signal Lord Skeletor’s announcement.

With great haste, Track Record and Fresh Bake galloped out of his shop and towards the Crystal Castle. Track Record’s eyes never left the balcony as he raced down the streets with Fresh Bake in tow, dodging the few ponies who cantered to the plaza instead of breaking into a full gallop.

The mysterious deity that had chosen to take the form of a monster to slay Sombra stepped onto the balcony above the crystal ponies. A face for evil to fear gazed down upon a crowd of colorful ponies who looked back up at him with a mixture of emotions. A hush descended over them as they waited for Lord Skeletor to speak. For a brief moment, Track Record thought that his silence spoke louder than anything he had ever heard.

Lord Skeletor’s silence demanded the respect and attention of the crystal ponies, a power that even the terrifying tyrant, Sombra, failed to achieve. The tyrant used his powers of fear and manipulation to force his slaves to show him respect, while Lord Skeletor’s presence simply demanded it naturally.

After taking a deep breath, Lord Skeletor’s voice boomed over the crowd. “Citizens of the Crystal Empire! I thank you all for gathering here today. I know that you all have important things to do, so I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible for you. I realize that many of you have questions regarding my decision to allow ponies of the same gender to form relationships, and I have appeared to shed light on my new law. To put it bluntly, I saw nothing wrong with the relationship of the two mares who were arrested earlier today.

“The two mares I met were delightful, a farmer and a miner, two ordinary ponies who help their fellow citizens day in and day out. They were no different than the pony standing next to you right now, they held the same aspirations, desires, and fears that all of you have.

“When I entered the throne room, the miner offered her life as tribute to me without any hesitation, in the hopes of sparing her lover from punishment. She was willing to die for her love, to sacrifice herself to keep her lover safe from harm. I have never seen something so moving in my long life.

“The disbelief on their faces when I told them that no harm would befall them both warmed my spirits and threatened to shatter my hope. To know that they had been living in fear for years, even under the rule of Princess Amore, hurt me deeply. They didn’t deserve to live in constant fear, they were good mares who simply wanted to express their love for one another. As such, I have come to the decision to rescind any laws that harmed ponies who sought relationships with the same gender, and I have decided to pass a law legalizing the union between two mares or two stallions,” Lord Skeletor told them.

Low whispers made their way through the crowd of crystal ponies as they silently picked apart Lord Skeletor’s words. A few ponies threw around theories about which mares he was talking about while others questioned if there was anything more to his decision. Quiet questions about the lord’s preferences in sexual partners and ideas about what motivated his choice rippled through the crowd, with only a select few voices reaching Track Record’s ears.

He didn’t care about what the ponies around him were saying, even when Fresh Bake whispered something to him. His attention laid solely on Lord Skeletor, watching his lord silently observe the ponies sharing hushed comments. After allowing his subjects to part with a few more quiet words to the ponies next to them, Lord Skeletor banged his scepter against the balcony to gain the attention of the crowd once again.

All eyes and ears instantly turned back to their lord. Conversations died without any resolution, fearful whispers were cut off without hesitation, and their worried glances were forcefully pulled towards Lord Skeletor.

“If there are any remaining questions I—"

“What about the law Princess Amore passed?!” A stallion in the crowd shouted.

Thousands of heads in the crowd turned to their neighbors, searching for the unidentified voice that interrupted Lord Skeletor, even Track Record’s attention was taken away from Lord Skeletor as he searched for the stallion who spoke out against Lord Skeletor. Whoever the stallion was, they faded into the anonymity of the crowd, becoming one of the many confused faces that looked around for the culprit.

With nowhere else to turn their attention towards after their quick search turned up nothing, the crystal ponies looked back up to Lord Skeletor to hear what he would say. Lord Skeletor glanced behind himself to look at the closer doors to the balcony for a few moments before he returned his focus to the crystal ponies. He fiddled with the collar of his navy-blue cloak, loosening it slightly as he quietly cleared his throat.

“Heh, yes well… Well … There's a good explanation that I have... You see, the thing about that is… She was… uh … She was manipulated!” Lord Skeletor suddenly exclaimed, causing the crowd below him to gasp in surprise. Quiet conversations between ponies started up again as they asked each other for confirmation on what they had heard, even Track Record felt the urge to check with Fresh Bake to see if he didn’t mishear Lord Skeletor.

Taking advantage of the crowd’s surprise, Lord Skeletor continued his explanation with vigor. “Y-yes, I too was appalled by this news. You see, she was lied to by a… A dark spirit that disguised itself as a heavenly ange-ahhhh-I mean messenger! Yes, a fake messenger that claimed to be sent from Faust! The false servant of Faust whispered lies into Princess Amore’s ears, warning her that if two ponies of the same gender loved each other, that it would break the barrier.

“She hated hurting her subjects, forcing them to find love in the opposite gender when they had already found love, but her fear for them and her blind devotion to the lying demon drove her to do anything to protect them. The monster who lied to her used this opportunity to gather the pain she was forced to inflict on her subjects and… and he created a body!” Lord Skeletor revealed to them, causing them to gasp once again. The conversations broke out of whispers and into loud conversations. Questions flew in the air as ponies began to panic at the sudden revelation that their princess, their goddess, was manipulated.

“That’s right! The monster who deceived your goddess was none other than the one who killed her! Like a coward, he chose to deceive her in a form that wasn’t his own, and when his plan failed to lead to mass genocide like he wanted it to, he took it into his own hooves and made a physical body. How else do you think a mortal could slay a goddess? Only a demon of pure evil could slay a goddess of love,” Lord Skeletor revealed to them.

Suddenly, everything made sense to Track Record. He had always wondered how somepony like Sombra could exist, a stallion of pure evil that held not respect for the Alicorns or any sense of morality. Sombra wasn’t a pony at all, he was a demon disguised as a powerful ruva the entire time. How had he not seen it before?! It explained why Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, goddesses who could raise and lower the sun and moon, had difficulty fighting him even when they outnumbered him.

Everything began to make sense as the final puzzle piece fell into place. Sombra was a demon, a monster from the deepest depths of Tartarus. That’s why it took a monster to save them, because only a monster could slay the demon that had disguised itself as a pony.

“I understand that this is a shocking revelation for all of you,” Lord Skeletor told them, breaking Track Record out of his trance as he looked back up at his lord. “It is another thing to add onto the list of atrocities committed by Sombra. He used the spell that was designed to brainwash gay ponies, and turned it on the entire Empire. And now the trickster devil is dead, forever banished to a place where he may never harm us.

“And now that he is dead, I shall end one of his many sickening deeds. I do not know how many times the dark stallion was able to deceive Princess Amore into legalizing, but know that I shall remove them. I will not let his wicked deeds sully the name of your previous princess, I will not let her history and legacy be tainted by his evil. I will purge the Empire of his sins, and bring glory to Princess Amore’s memory!” He exclaimed proudly.

The many ponies below broke out into a chaotic chorus of cheers at his statement, feeling overjoyed at the prospect of purging all of Sombra’s monstrous acts. Lord Skeletor would honor the memory of Princess Amore by fixing the problems caused by Sombra, all while singing the real praises of Princess Amore to his adoring subjects.

Track Record joined in the uproarious cheers, praising Lord Skeletor for honoring their goddess. He was so swept up in the loud cheers that he failed to notice Lord Skeletor disappear behind the balcony doors as the crowd continued to cheer his plans for the Empire.

The faint cheers of thousands of ponies seeped through the closed doors of the balcony. The quiet roar of ponies chanting the name, “Skeletor” trickled in through the walls of the castle, allowing Skeletor to listen to the repetition of his adopted name as he walked alongside Emerald Secret.

The green coated mare was patiently waiting on the other side of the balcony doors as Skeletor delivered his planned speech. Everything was going surprisingly well and, despite his speech being made up in under ten minutes, the crowd received it well until one stallion in the crowd shouted at him.

Thankfully, Skeletor was able to improvise an explanation that didn’t demonize Princess Amore or vilify himself for suggesting that she wasn’t perfect. He was actually pretty proud about how quickly he was able to pull that lie out of his ass. Not only had he managed to avoid any judgment for changing the law, but he also managed to use Sombra as a scapegoat for any future decisions. If there was another law passed by Princess Amore that Skeletor didn’t like, he could just blame it on Sombra and instantly win the Empire’s approval.

Skeletor wore a brilliantly bright smile as he walked towards the throne room, catching the occasional glances of the stoic guards that were standing at attention in front of one of the doors in the castle.

“… My lord, may I ask a question?” Emerald asked as she kept pace with Skeletor.

“Certainly, Emerald,” Skeletor replied.

Emerald cautiously glanced at a pair of guards standing at one of the doors in the hallway, waiting until she and Skeletor were a good distance away from the guards before she spoke to him in a hushed whisper. “… Why did you tell the citizens that Strike offered her life for Dally, and why didn’t you use their names?” She quietly asked.

Skeletor’s cheerful demeanor suddenly dropped like a stone in a lake once Emerald asked him those questions. His moment of triumph disappeared with those few words, reminding him of how fragile his secret really was. If he had done the smart thing and talked to the mares alone, then Emerald Secret wouldn’t have known about that particular lie, thus leaving one less loose end in his lie.

While he had told the truth about both of the mares being terrified of what would happen, he had lied about one of them offering themselves as tribute in the vain hope of saving their lover from whatever horrors they imagined. The crux of his original speech was a complete fabrication, something only he and three other mares knew, or would ever know. And, unfortunately for Skeletor, one of the three mares that knew was trotting right next to him after he had told a bold-faced lie to the entire Empire.

Skeletor subtly looked back at the two guards that they had passed, hoping that Emerald had waited long enough for them to be out of earshot before she spoke to him. He knew they weren’t close enough to overhear them, but that small conformation brought a little comfort to Skeletor.

Instead of answering immediately, Skeletor took his time to think of a proper answer that would satisfy Emerald. He couldn’t think of any reason not to lie to her since Emerald already knew the truth about the loving mares, whom had accepted their “fate” and embraced each other for what they believed would be the last time, so he decided to share his real reasoning.

“To answer your second question first, Emerald, for anonymity. I wanted them to be protected in case the citizens aren’t happy with my decision. If any of them want to air their grievances or look for a face to point the blame at, I will be the only one.

“And for your first question, I told the citizens that one of them tried to defend the other so the citizens could have less to argue against. If they think that one of them was passionately willing to die for the other, then they’ll think more critically about their own beliefs regarding love. If it’s something worth dying for, then it’s something worth protecting and defending.”

“I think I understand… So, what is the plan now?”

“Firstly, I need to have court open for anyone who still has questions. Gather the rest of the council and tell Crumb Catcher and Cannon Fodder to spread word about court being open tomorrow.”

“You’re not going to open it today?”

“No. It’s too short notice and it will only hinder us. I need to have the other council members throw me hypothetical questions the crystal ponies may ask. I was too taken aback by the random stallion earlier, and I won’t be caught with my pants down again.”

Emerald glanced at Skeletor’s bare legs with a raised eyebrow for a brief moment before she shook her head and turned her attention back towards their path down the hall. After a few seconds of silence, Skeletor took notice that Emerald wasn’t immediately carrying out his orders and looked down at her.

“Is there anything else we need to discuss, Emerald?” He asked.

Emerald remained quiet for a few moments as her ears danced on her head, eventually pinning themselves down to the base of her skull as her posture slightly lowered, as if she were a kicked puppy or a scolded child. “My lord, if I may be so bold to ask, how much of your speech was truthful?”


“As much as the ponies needed it to be,” Skeletor cryptically replied. “If anyone were to ask, I’d tell them that I discovered a hidden journal in my room that belonged to Sombra. And if they ever ask to see it, I’ll tell them that I burned it to a crisp in a fit of rage.”

“… … So then, the proof is gone?”

“Ashes in the wind, with my word being the only thing left of it. And who would dare question the word of a lord? Now, if that is all, I need to return to the throne room. Copper Plate should already be there, so have the rest of the council members meet us there as well.”

“Yes, my lord. Is there anything you wanted to do before that?”

“No. Heading to the throne room is my top priority.

“Um… My lord, the throne room is in the other direction…” She pointed out cautiously.

“… I knew that. I was just… taking the scenic route to the throne room, imagining which walls would look nicer with a portrait of myself or Princess Amore on it,” Skeletor lied as he gestured to one of the many blank walls. “But you’re right, I can admire the craftsmanship and beauty of my castle later. I will leave you so you can find the other council members,” he stated as he turned on his heels and went in the opposite direction of Emerald.

As Skeletor walked down the hall, he thought about how lucky he had been so far with all his lies. Skeletor didn’t want to imagine the repercussions his deceptions would lead to if anyone else in the Empire found out. Then again, he had already lied to them about placebos, so what were a few more lies to add to the pile? So long as it kept him alive and them happy, he’d be fine with lying through his teeth.

It did hurt him somewhat to give the ponies in the medical ward a false sense of hope with the watered-down jelly that he fed to them. But, if they believed that it was medicine for the mind, then it had a real chance of helping them. He just needed to let their imagination take that false hope and run with it.

So long as they believed his lies, he could keep them happy and content until he finally went home. The only foreseeable problem was Emerald and the two other mares he spoke to in his throne room. While he was certain no one would believe either of the mares if they told anyone, Emerald had real power in the Empire and nothing to lose if she shared Skeletor’s secrets with the other council members.

He had made it abundantly clear to all three mares that not a single word was to leave the throne room, but what did he have to enforce that rule? They weren’t loyal to him, they didn’t love him like they did with their princess, they feared him. Emerald unknowingly held the silver bullet that could end his life, the truth to his lies that could send an angry mob on him in an instant. And if she were to ever let that truth slip, even accidentally, it would undoubtedly cause a disaster.

Skeletor’s thoughts momentarily drifted back to the magical book that Sombra offered him. The easiest answer to his problems were burnt to a crisp and reduced to ash. He fought against the brief pang of regret that wormed its way into his soul, reminding himself that nothing in that book could have actually helped him. It was a book of dark magic and nothing more, and he could never use the spells that Sombra had placed on his slaves.

Without the possibility of his morally repugnant and easy answer, Skeletor turned to the small sense of hope that he carried inside of himself. It was a fickle and fleeting sensation that slowly shrank with each failed spell, but it was still there. So long as he held onto his own sense of hope, he could take it and run all the way back home with it.

A methodic tapping noise accompanied the ticking seconds of the clock that hung in the Purity Flame's office. The second hand passed by the minute hand with a loud click, signaling the hour’s end as the clock chimed. It was a strained noise, gears grinding against each other in the most unnerving way possible to create a high-pitched screech that would allow the alchemists to work well into the night.

Lord Skeletor sat on his seat with his legs crossed on an orange colored cushion and his hand resting on a small table that stood between him and a pink colored mare with a bright blue mane. The painful chime of the clock caused Lord Skeletor to momentarily stop his tapping as the noise assaulted his ears, or at least whatever the equivalent of ears were for a skull. The mare, the head of the Alchemist Guild and the most well-versed alchemist on hoof, Purity Flame, winced at the noise going off in her office.

On other days, the terrible noise managed to bring the ghost of a smile to her muzzle, letting her recall all the nights she spent in her old master’s office working. Once upon a time, the screaming gears were a reminder to her to wrap up any experiments quickly before her master came to the office and saw her using his equipment. But now it was all hers. Her office, her comfortable chair, her beakers, her books, and her annoyingly obnoxious clock.

But, due to the early arrival of Lord Skeletor, that noise now brought forth a deep sense of dread from within her. He had arrived a few minutes earlier than she was expecting, catching her at an inopportune time and causing her to rush to make her lord a cup of fresh dandelion tea. In her great haste, she failed to properly warn her lord of the noisy clock in the office, and she feared that such an assault on his senses would be seen as an act against him.

When the terrible noise finally stopped, Lord Skeletor rubbed the side of his skull for a few moments before he turned his attention back to his cup of tea. Two steaming cups of dandelion tea sat on small ceramic purple plates that had the emblem of the Crystal Empire painted on the surface. The rich scent of dandelions wafted from the two warm beverages as Purity patiently waited for him to take the first sip.

“So, what did you say this was again?” Lord Skeletor asked.

“Dandelion tea. I was able to brew some earlier thanks to a friend who was working in the flower fields in the green caves.”

“So, it’s made of actual flowers?”

“Yes, they’re absolutely delicious,” Purity replied with a happy nod of her head.

Lord Skeletor hummed to himself as he looked at the golden colored tea. He leaned forward slightly to reach for his cup of tea, gingerly picking it up by lifting the plate towards himself.

“When in Rome,” he said to himself before taking a tentative sip of his tea. “Hmmm. Not bad. Anyway, Purity, what was it that you wanted to talk about today? Are there any issues with the steel production or our paper project?”

“Well… Yes, there is an issue, Lord Skeletor,” Purity replied. “You’ll be happy to know that the other alchemists and I, along with the blacksmiths, have finished filling the new vault with steel like you requested, and most of the alchemists have now shifted their focus towards making paper.”

“Excellent! I’m glad to know that you’ve been making strides in progress. How is the paper task coming along in comparison?”

“It’s… A process. My lord, the reason why I asked for your audience today is because some of the alchemists believe we could have more success if they went out for materials.”

“Oh, do you need more plant fiber from the farms?”

“No, my lord, we’re doing fine with physical materials. What we’re lacking is references. You see, the Alchemist Tower used to mainly be comprised of ruvas who would hire other races as their apprentices. As such, most of their work was conducted in the Ruva Kingdom with only a hoofful of ruvas working in the Crystal Castle.

“Ruvas rarely shared any of their knowledge with the other kingdoms, and may have seceded from the Empire all together if it weren’t for the Crystal Heart keeping all the kingdoms safe. So, with this knowledge in mind, many of the alchemists were hoping for your permission to travel to the abandoned Ruva Kingdom in search of more texts involving the production of paper. Out of the three races in the Crystal Empire, the ruvas were always the most literate and well read, so we believe that they may have devised a way to produce more books than the other kingdoms.”

“And they didn’t share this method with the rest of the Empire?”

“The ruvas and unicorns were never one to eagerly share their wealth of knowledge freely. Knowledge and magic were power, and they wanted to horde as much of it as possible. Not that all magic users are like that! You’re not like those grubby dagger heads, you’re a wonderful magic user. Not like them, with their cloud pointers.”

“Um… Yeah, screw… uh… those guys,” Lord Skeletor said as he took a sip of his tea. “I’ll… I’ll bring this up with the council later. I’d like a group of guards to escort the alchemists to help in the expedition into the Ruva Kingdom. If the rest of the council approves, then I want you to take everything that could benefit us. Especially any books that have magical spells in them, or books on magical theory.”

“Of course, Lord Skeletor. We’ll give you any of those four-legged narwhals wrote.”

“Erm... Yeah, good. Anyway, unless there’s anything else we need to discuss, I think I’ll be heading out now,” Lord Skeletor excused himself, standing up from his seat and quickly making his way to the door. “Thank you for seeking an audience with me, Purity, I’ll tell you what the council’s final decision will be a while later, perhaps a few days or so. Goodbye!” Lord Skeletor waved off as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Skeletor quickly strode down the halls of the Crystal Castle, putting as much distance between himself and the Alchemist Tower as he could.

“Racist ponies… Fuck me, why am I not surprised?” Skeletor muttered under his breath as he dragged a hand down his skull. “Slaves, homophobia, racism… Fucking rape, and child torture? What else ya got for me world?!” Skeletor suddenly shouted to the air, before quickly covering his mouth with both hands.

His hollow eyes darted around the empty hallway, searching for any wandering ponies that may have overhead him. Skeletor released a silent sigh of relief once he confirmed that he was alone, once again allowing his powerful facade drop as he slowed down his pace. His gaze wandered the walls of the castle, eventually settling on one of the new portraits of Princess Amore that someone painted.

“… Brush Past… Nye-Heh... Fucking pony names,” he said to himself as he read the signature of the artist at the bottom corner of the painting. The look of surprise on his council’s face when he asked where the signature was on the first portrait brought a light smile to Skeletor’s face. “Can’t believe they never signed their own paintings before this.”

Skeletor stared into the golden eyes of a light pink pony whose coat color could easily be confused with a light tan. If Skeletor looked closely enough, he could count the brush strokes the artist used to make the texture of Princess Amore’s pink coat. The color of her fur blended perfectly with the two massive wings on either side of her barrel, the transition between fur and feathers were subtly with a strip of fur that gradually disappeared along on the humorous of the wings.

A dark pink flowing mane was draped over her withers with sapphires woven into the braids of her mane. The princess’ crown comfortably sat between her foot-long horn and her luxurious mane, it was a platinum crown with amber colored jewels that accentuated her bright eyes. Her loving gaze stared back at Skeletor as she wore a gentle smile on her muzzle.

His eye sockets slightly narrowed at her perfect smile. Memories of the frightened faces of the two gay mares he met filled his mind as he stared at her portrait. Out of the corner of his eye socket, Skeletor caught the faint reflection of his skull in the bismuth frame of Princess Amore’s portrait. As he stared into his reflection, becoming momentarily lost in the eyeless monster’s gaze, he found himself unconsciously comparing the hideous creature to the literal goddess that was in front of him.

“Fuckin’ bitch…” Skeletor grumbled as he took his attention away from the portrait and continued his trek down the hall.

While walking down the empty hall of the castle, Skeletor reached over his shoulder and pulled the Havoc Staff off of his back. As he continued walking down the hall, with little regard for his surroundings, he looked at the ram’s skull on his scepter and briefly debated the futility of opening another portal back to Earth. Any hope of heading home slowly started to decay with time. Each failure had attacked his resolve with an impressive fury, nearly destroying any yearning for success that he carried inside himself.

His desperate desire to see his family, his friends, and to see Evelyn once more, all of it became background noise in his mind. A dull numbness washed over Skeletor as he resided himself to his fate, slowly accepting that there was no chance of ever going home. Skeletor resisted the shrinking urge to open a portal back to Earth, he knew that any attempts would only bring him pain and misery after his inevitable failure. After putting the Havoc Staff back on his back, Skeletor began to banish any lingering hope in his mind as he walked alone, and he started to accept that he was the only human on the entire planet.

I'll be alone... Forever.

“No… No, fuck that,” Skeletor muttered before he abruptly stopped walking to look out one of the nearby windows. Skeletor stared at the horizon of the Empire, looking at where the barrier met the snow. His invisible eyes scanned the area for any hint or indication of where the Ruva Kingdom could be.

“The Ruva Kingdom has everything I need. I’ll get out of here. You hear me Sombra?!” Skeletor shouted as he turned back to the empty hallway. “I’M GETTING OUT OF HERE! AND WHEN I DO, I’LL MAKE SURE TO SEND YOU TO HELL BEFORE I GO!” Skeletor threatened as he screamed to the air.

The faint sound of galloping hoofbeats immediately answered his shout as two guards name bursting through the doors on the far end of the hallway. Skeletor froze when he saw the gladius being carried in one of their mouths by the handle while the other held a spear in his right forehoof. A brief moment of fear broke Skeletor out of his rage as he suddenly became very fearful for what the guards would do to him.

His fight or flight instincts flared in his mind as he imagined how easily one of those weapons would pierce his exposed skin. Skeletor took a hesitant step back as the guard holding a spear trotted towards him.

“My lord, we thought we heard shouting. Is everything alright?” The guard asked as the other guard surveyed the hallway for possible threats.

After getting over the initial surprise of seeing two ponies run into the hallway, Skeletor shook his head to bring himself back to the present. “Yes I… I stubbed my toe, but I’m alright. Since you’re here, I’d like someone to escort me to the council’s meeting room.”

“Yes, Lord Skeletor,” the guards both replied before they led Skeletor down the hall.

Copper Plate shuffled through the many papers on her side of the table, scanning each paper for the tenth time that day to see if there were any laws that Lord Skeletor would disapprove of. She found several questionable laws that gave a great deal of leniency to nobles, several easily exploitable laws, and one odd law on marriage that allowed for a marriage to be declared void if one of the ponies was impotent.

After reading that law, she cross-referenced any surviving records of divorces to see if that law was ever used. Surprisingly, it had been used in a majority of ruva divorces but hadn’t appeared in any other court matters that took place in the capital of the Crystal Empire. Aside from that specific odd law, there weren’t many others that stuck out to Copper Plate. Then again, even the previous law regarding gay ponies never caused her to raise an eyebrow, so to be safe she decided to bring every law involving sex, marriage, and family structures.

It sickened Copper Plate to know that Sombra had been manipulating their princess for years, disguising himself as one of Faust’s apostles so he could feed her sweet lies. Were it not for Lord Skeletor, the crystal ponies may have remained completely oblivious to Sombra’s nefarious and cowardly acts against their princess. It was no wonder to the Master of the Royal Archives as to why she couldn't find any references to Princess Amore's, or rather Sombra's, claims about gay love being harmful to the barrier. Unless those texts were in the Ruva Kingdom, then there was little to no reason to doubt Lord Skeletor's claims about Princess Amore being manipulated by the monster that called itself a pony.

Copper Plate felt a pang of pain in her chest as she remembered seeing her princess smile upon her subjects while she carried her own torture. The agony of being persuaded by what she must have believed to have been one of Faust’s chosen messengers, carrying his abhorrent orders out without question. Or maybe she did question them, at least at some point. If Princess Amore would have carried out any of his orders, then there was no reason to kill her unless she had refused at least one of them. Perhaps she had caught on to Sombra’s ruse and was murdered by the bastard as a result.

She would have to ask Lord Skeletor what else he knew since Emerald had told them all that, in a fit of justified rage, Lord Skeletor had burned Sombra’s personal journal and destroyed the only record of his cruel deeds against the princess. While Copper Plate was upset by the destruction of something precious like a book, knowing that it was the personal memoir of Sombra helped to lessen her anger towards the act of damaging a work of literature. If she were in Lord Skeletor’s position, she may have acted irrationally as well and ripped it to shreds with her own hooves.

As Copper Plate organized her papers into a pile of laws that were organized by date of approval, the other council members were busying themselves with their own tasks. Cannon Fodder went over his proposal for reopening enlistment into the guard and his proposal to have the alchemists give their surplus of steel to the blacksmiths to forge armor for some units of the royal guard. As he quietly went over the financial costs of armor and weapons with Avid Value, Crumb Catcher sat in his seat with his eyes closed and his ears perked at attention, seemingly content staying inside his own head instead of speaking with any of the other council members.

Finally, Emerald Secret was busy looking over Lord Skeletor’s schedule for the next few days. Due to his spontaneous actions and orders, Lord Skeletor’s schedule was left fairly open to allow Emerald to reschedule anything should he decide to suddenly pass a new law or make another holiday. While the council members were finishing up their own tasks in preparation for Lord Skeletor’s meeting with Purity Flame to wrap up, Copper Plate finished her own task and gently laid the last paper on top of her pile.

It had taken the better part of two days to find any questionable laws for Lord Skeletor to review, but she had accomplished it nevertheless. It brought her a small amount of pride to know that she would be helping to undo some of Sombra’s evil, working with her lord to purge his influence from the Empire and bring the crystal ponies into a new era of peace and love. Copper Plate envisioned a prosperous Empire under the leadership of Lord Skeletor, one where books and literacy would be a massive part of the Empire’s infrastructure. She could hardly contain her joy at the prospect of having more accessible possibilities for literature. And to think, an old mare like herself would help Lord Skeletor in his quest to bring knowledge to the Empire, it was like a fantasy she would have dreamed up as a filly.

As Copper Plate became lost in a fantasy of having enough books to fill an entire town, the doors to the council room were opened by a pair of guards who wore blank expressions on their faces. Behind them, Lord Skeletor was wearing a small smile on his jaw, or perhaps that was just his resting face.

“Sorry to keep you all waiting,” Lord Skeletor apologized as he entered the room.

“You’re actually earlier than scheduled, Lord Skeletor,” Emerald corrected as she checked off something on her list.

Copper Plate glanced at the clock hanging on the wall, which was one of the few remaining functional clocks in the entire Empire. Just like Emerald had said, Lord Skeletor had actually arrived ten minutes earlier than the council planned for, likely a result of him attending his meeting with Purity Flame early after he skipped breakfast in the dining hall.

“Excellent. Then if we’re all ready, I would like to bring up the first point of order for our meeting,” Lord Skeletor stated as he sat in his seat. After a pregnant pause to wait for his council members to speak up to agree or refuse his request, he looked over to Emerald. “Um, I can do that, right?”

“Of course, my lord. You’re free to do as you wish,” Emerald answered.

“Excellent. My first order of business is the abandoned Ruva Kingdom. Purity has told me that a few alchemists have expressed a desire to travel to the abandoned Ruva Kingdom. General Cannon Fodder, I would like to request for you to assign some guards as escorts for this mission. Are there any objections or questions?”

“Yeah, I have one,” Cannon Fodder stated as he placed his hoof on the table. “I don’t think this is a good idea. The Ruva Kingdom is a three-day trot away from the Crystal Castle, and searching all of the libraries and alchemy towers there will take a few weeks at best.”

“Really? It would take that long?” Lord Skeletor asked with surprise evident in his voice.

“Yes, my lord,” Emerald answered. “The Crystal Castle is at the center of the three kingdoms. The edge of the Crystal Pony Kingdom is a few hours south from the castle, the Ruva Kingdom in the Northwest is a three-day trot, and the Thestral Kingdom in the Northeast is a five-day trot to get to. Before Sombra, we heavily relied on carriages pulled by thestrals to go to the castles of the other kingdoms.”

“There’s more than one castle in the Empire?”

“Technically, they're palaces though I honestly don't know the difference between the two," Emerald explained. "Each of the kingdoms had a prince or princess who would rule over their kingdom and report to Princess Amore. The center of the Crystal Empire was designed for all three races, while the kingdoms themselves were designed specifically for each race.”

“I see… How much of the Crystal Pony Kingdom has been searched so far?”

“Most of it since many of the crystal ponies lived there before Sombra’s reign. The palace in the Crystal Pony Kingdom was commandeered by the guard of the Crystal Pony Kingdom to prevent any of the ponies from stealing anything, not that there’s much left after Sombra anyway. Most of the maids and guards in the Crystal Castle right now were actually servants and guards from the crystal pony palace.”

“Really? Interesting. Has anyone tried to go to the other two kingdoms sine Sombra died?”

“There’s no reason to,” Crumb Catcher stated. “The other kingdoms in the Crystal Empire are completely abandoned, and the Crystal Pony Kingdom had the largest agriculture out of the three kingdoms. There’s nothing the other two kingdoms could offer us.”

“So, we have no idea what’s in there?” Lord Skeletor inquired.

“Nothing’s there though,” Avid Value pointed out. “Sombra already robbed those kingdoms of their finances and valuables, so there’s no treasure to help the Empire’s economy or art worth recovering.”

Lord Skeletor mulled over the points offered by his council members, humming to himself as he rubbed a finger against his jaw. “So, you all believe it would be unproductive and impractical to attempt to search the other kingdoms,” Lord Skeletor surmised.

“… Not in so many words, but yes,” Emerald hesitantly answered.

“I see… What if I were to allow some of the alchemists to go unaccompanied?”

“That would be unwise,” Emerald stated. “The other two kingdoms of the Crystal Empire are too unsafe for anypony to go. The Ruva Kingdom’s buildings are unstable and are bound to collapse at any given point, and the Thestral Kingdom caved into the underground cities in the caverns below it. Even if the alchemists are willing to go, entering either of the other kingdoms would be too dangerous.”

“Alright then. In that case, I’ll need to tell Purity that the alchemists won’t be allowed to enter the Ruva or Thestral Kingdom. It’s unlikely that any methods the ruvas used to make paper would help us,” Lord Skeletor reasoned after hearing the other council members' opinions.

Copper Plate’s eyes widened slightly as she realized what Lord Skeletor’s intent was. If the expedition to the Ruva Kingdom wasn’t carried out, then their hopes for learning a method to mass produce paper would be pushed back indefinitely.

“Wait, shouldn’t we think about the benefits of searching the Ruva Kingdom?” Copper Plate asked. “It’s dangerous, sure, but it could help the Empire greatly! Think of all the magical tomes and history books they have in the Ruva Kingdom.”

“It’s not worth it,” Cannon Fodder told her. “I won’t be sending ponies there just so we can find out a better way to make paper. There’s more important things to worry about.”

“Actually, Copper Plate may be onto something,” Crumb Catcher added on. “The Ruva Kingdom was renowned for their spells and their medicine. As wonderful as your remedy is, Lord Skeletor, you yourself have told us that it is only limited to mental health issues. I’ve heard rumors from when I was younger that ruvas had medicine that could regrow detached limbs and extend lifespans.”

“If that were true, then we’d have those medical books in the Crystal Castle,” Avid Value pointed out.

“You clearly don’t know much about magic users then,” Crumb Catcher simply stated.

“What the heck is that supposed to mean,” Avid Value asked with a glare.

“It means that they’re greedy. Ruvas and unicorns don’t openly share their knowledge with, ‘inferior’ races as they call us. Their greed for holding knowledge is only outmatched by a dragon’s greed for gems.”

“Hey! Not all ruvas are like that," Avid Value argued.

“Then you’re either incredibly lucky or stupidly naive. Knowing you though, I’d lean more towards the latter.”

“You take that back, you arrogant ass!”

“You—"

“ENOUGH!” Lord Skeletor shouted as he banged his fist against the table, causing cracks to spread out from under his hand. A terrified silence engulfed the entire council as they stared at their lord, watching him silently fume in rage at the actions of the two newer council members. “I won’t pretend to know anything of the other races, but I know enough to understand when someone’s being racist. Crumb Catcher, you’d do well to watch your tongue. I've already had to deal with one racist pony today, and I'd rather not deal with another,” Lord Skeletor advised as he took his fist off of the table.

Once Lord Skeletor noticed the damage he caused to the table, briefly wincing at the sight of the many spider cracks that stretched from the point of impact. After rubbing the side of his hand for a few moments, Lord Skeletor turned his attention to Emerald.

“How are the patients in the medical wing of the castle doing, Emerald?”

“Better than usual… Though, I cannot lie, my lord, having more proficient medicine on hoof would be a great boon to the doctors. The Ruva Kingdom may have more advanced medicine then what we have on hoof.”

“Allegedly,” Cannon Fodder stated firmly. “I’ve worked with ruva guards before, and they never had their ears regrown or their horns reattached if they lost them.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t,” Crumb Catcher retorted. “Only the higher classes in the Ruva Kingdom were able to afford that treatmemt. How else do you explain Lord Caster’s great age?”

“I… He just got lucky to live so long.”

“Yes, and I suppose it’s lucky that he managed to outlive his grandfoals,” Crumb Catcher sarcastically agreed.

“Really?” Lord Skeletor asked as he began tapping his fingers against the table. “Well, that certainly changes things. Even if their medicinal knowledge isn’t as grandiose as Crumb Catcher has made it out to be, I’d like to think that there is something valuable there worth retrieving… I think we should put the expedition to the Ruva Kingdom to a vote. All in favor of the mission, raise your… hooves.”

Crumb Catcher and Copper Plate raised their hooves first, followed by Avid Value who hesitantly raised his own hoof after mulling it over. Lastly, Emerald raised her hoof as well, leaving Cannon Fodder as the only one who didn’t vote against it, much to his shock.

“Emerald? You just said how dangerous it was, and yet you’re willing to send ponies in there?” Cannon Fodder asked.

“I’m thinking about the ponies in the medical wing, they need help and the doctors we have on hoof aren’t able to give them what they need. You know as well as I do that most of them are just nurses and assistants, all of the actual doctors were ruvas with the exception of two or three crystal ponies and a thestral.”

Before Cannon Fodder could retort, Lord Skeletor offered a compromise. “It seems that the rest of the council has come to an agreement. Cannon Fodder, if it would make you feel better, the guards can call off the endeavor and return to the Crystal Castle if any of them get injured. If it’s serious enough, we will never bring up the idea of searching the other kingdoms,” he suggested.

“But—”

“Calm down, General Fodder,” Crumb Catcher interrupted. “Our lord has been generous enough to offer this deal when he could simply order us. Surly, you can see to reason, can’t you?” He asked with a harsh glare directed at Cannon Fodder.

Cannon Fodder held his ground for a few moments, before submitting to the rest of the council and dropping his argument. “Fine. I’ll find a few guards to escort them.”

“Thank you, Cannon Fodder,” Lord Skeletor thanked him. “So, what else shall we discuss today?”

“I brought you a list of laws that could be considered questionable, along with any of the papers necessary to abolish a law or change it,” Copper Plate said as she gestured to the stack of papers that sat near her.

“Excellent, Copper Plate. We can get that started after the meeting. What else do we have for today?” Lord Skeletor asked them all.

The rest of the meeting was carried out over the course of an hour and a half as Lord Skeletor worked with his council to help the Empire. Avid Value took the reins of the meeting for the first hour, eating away the minutes with concerns regarding the Empire’s finances. The rest of the meeting was taken up by Cannon Fodder’s request to have the blacksmiths start working on steel armor and weapons. Lord Skeletor postponed Cannon Fodder's request, stating that he would like more time to think about the issue to discuss how the increased production of steel would affect the value of the amount they already had in the vault.

Once the meeting was called to a close, the other council members left Lord Skeletor and Copper Plate alone in the meeting room. The two of them spent a great deal of time going over laws and making the necessary changes to keep some and entirely abolish others.

Copper Plate was surprised by Lord Skeletor’s signatures, each one was a squiggly mess of letters that barely blended together, almost as if Lord Skeletor had never written his own name before. Copper Plate wondered if there was a reason for his ugly handwriting, such as him using his non-dominant limb or something along those lines. Nevertheless, even with a sloppy signature, Lord Skeletor was able to abolish several laws and made changes to the wording of some of them, allowing for a wider range of interpretation and use in the Empire.

The quill and ink danced on the many forums and legal documents that Copper Plate passed to her lord, signing new laws and abolishing old ones left and right. There were a few instances where Lord Skeletor needed clarification on a law and the exact phrasing used. A majority of laws that were once punishable by death or exile from the Empire were changed into less severe crimes that would be punished by varying amounts of time in the dungeons.

While Copper Plate easily agreed with most of the changes, one major point of contention was his disapproval of trial by combat. Copper Plate’s fur bristled when Lord Skeletor claimed that it was a, “barbaric” act, and she quickly informed Lord Skeletor that it was a time-honored tradition that dated back to the ages before Equestria was colonized by the ponies.

Though he was reluctant, Lord Skeletor did allow his subjects to continue practicing trial by combat with the condition that all trials by combat would be non-lethal and that a non-partial medical professional would need to be in attendance to help either of the injured ponies. After Copper Plate wrote up the necessary additions to trials by combat, Lord Skeletor signed his name to seal the law and officially pass it.

Copper Plate’s eyes began to grow weary after nearly three hours of uninterrupted work. Her struggle to keep herself from dozing off after the combined efforts of sleep deprivation and work came together to send her to Luna’s domain in the Dream Realm. Unfortunately for her, her efforts weren’t enough to escape the watchful eye sockets of Lord Skeletor.

“Are you alright, Copper Plate?”

“I… I’m fine, Lord Skeletor,” Copper Plate replied as she stifled a yawn.

Lord Skeletor raised a brow ridge at her before he took a moment to observe the clock that hung in the council room. “Wow, I didn’t think we were in here that long, it’s almost lunch time by now. How about we get something to eat and then you can take the rest of the day off.”

“N-no, I couldn’t,” she tried got say as a yawn sabotaged her statement.

“Yes you could, it’s easy really. All you’ll need to do is it eat a bit and then lay down on your bed. It's so easy that a foal can do it, I’m sure you could too,” Lord Skeletor teased.

Copper Plate suppressed a light chuckle at Lord Skeletor’s wit, or rather lack thereof. “But court—"

“Will still go on without a hitch,” Lord Skeletor interrupted as he stood up from his seat and cracked his back. Copper Plate cringed at the sound of bones popping into place along Lord Skeletor’s spine, feeling the phantom pain of her own bones cracking with each loud pop. “You wouldn’t be much help if you fell asleep during court. Besides, it’s only a day. You’ve worked yourself down to the bone and you deserve some rest.”

“I… Thank you, Lord Skeletor,” Copper Plate said in earnest as she stood up from her seat and delicately placed all of their papers into her saddlebags.

“And thank you for your help today. It means a lot to me,” Lord Skeletor graciously said as he walked alongside Copper Plate at a steady pace down the hall. A welcoming silence fell over the two as the went to the dining hall, allowing them to internally bask in their accomplishments and relax.

A warm smile wormed its way onto Copper Plate's muzzle as she trotted next to Lord Skeletor. Any fantasies about an Empire full of literature and knowledge became possible thanks to her lord, something that she wondered if Princess Amore could or would ever do. The old princess was more concerned with the loving embraces of ponies than the comforting touch that words offered the soul. But Lord Skeletor, he understood the importance of literature, the value of knowledge, and the elegant beauty of written language. With him ruling over the Crystal Empire, Copper Plate's dreams to have an Empire full of literate ponies grew closer to becoming a reality with each passing each day.

The Crystal Heart, the symbol of love and faith that the crystal ponies felt towards one another, slowly spun on its pedestal in the plaza of the Crystal Castle.

Half a dozen guards stood at attention at key points around the heart, standing a few yards away from the mystical artifact to give it a large berth. Three guards watched the Crystal Heart spin on its pedestal while the other three faced away from ancient relic, observing the crowd of crystal ponies who would trot towards the Crystal Heart to bask in its beauty.

Emerald Secret and Copper Plate, ponies of high positions who melted into the crowd of regular faces, watched the Crystal Heart. Their time spent together staring at the Crystal Heart had become a silently planned schedule between the two of them, a time where they would meet up to relax and remind themselves of what they protected by helping the Empire.

It had all started on the day after Lord Skeletor had returned the Crystal Heart. While their lord healed from his injuries in the medical wing of the Crystal Castle, Emerald stood outside to watch the Crystal Heart like a hawk, as if taking her eyes off of it for even a moment would cause it to disappear. Because Emerald was so focused on the Heart, she failed to notice her new fellow council member, Copper Plate, trot up next to her and take a seat.

Nothing beyond a simple “hello” was exchanged between them that morning, and nothing more really needed to be said. They both had questions they knew the either couldn’t answer.

Was anything she had seen real? Was Sombra truly gone? What would happen to the Empire under Lord Skeletor's reign? So many questions, and not a single answer to be found.

Emerald unconsciously returned to the same spot the next day, observing the Crystal Heart from afar as Cannon Fodder assigned new guards to key positions to protect the Heart. Unlike the time during Princess Amore’s rule, they couldn’t trust that the power of love in the Empire would keep the Crystal Heart safe from sticky hooves or thieving claws since all the enchantments that kept it safe before had fallen soon after Sombra took over the Crystal Empire.

As she watched the crystal guards take their positions around the Heart, Copper Plate once again joined Emerald to silently stare at the Heart until it was time for the Royal Advisor to check up on Lord Skeletor.

Every day that Emerald went to look at the Crystal Heart, Copper Plate would trot along sooner or later and silently join her. It wasn’t until the morning after Emerald’s confessions to her that they started to talk more as they watched the Heart. Small talk and thoughts about how the weather in the Empire would be without thestrals to move the clouds that formed inside the barrier soon turned into long and drawn out conversations about fond memories of the past and hopes for the future. It was thanks to these conversations that Emerald was eventually able to get a better understanding of the older mare she spent her time with.

Copper Plate had been working in the royal archives of the Crystal Castle for years before she gained a place on Princess Amore’s council, originally taking the position of royal advisor before she convinced the princess to add a seat for representatives of the archives. It was then that Copper Plate became the first council member in history to be given more than one spot on the council. A close friend of Princess Amore, Cider Law, took the position of Royal Advisor before it was eventually passed on to Emerald Secret.

The last council member who acted as the representative of the Royal Archives, Dice, was apparently one of Copper Plate’s nephews from her step-brother’s side of the family. That news was given with a somber tone as they both recalled the plucky ruva stallion. He had shared his aunt’s love of literature to the point of burning thousands of candles to stay up late reading any text he could get his hooves on.

They both held fond memories of the plucky stallion, swapping delightful tales where Dice would go off on a tangent about the use of the word, “and” in the books in the Royal Archives and other such things. Emerald thoroughly enjoyed having somepony to talk to about the past, sharing pain and joy with Copper Plate as if they had been friends since foalhood.

“So, how have you been?” Emerald finally asked her after allowing the silence between them to go on for a few minutes as they silently observed the Crystal Heart.

“I’ve been doing alright. Lord Skeletor gave me the day off yesterday after our meeting.”

“I heard about that. How was it spending two hours alone with him?”

“It was actually pretty nice. There were a few times he asked for some help interpreting a word or a law, and aside from one thing, I don’t have much to complain about.”

“Oh? What was the one thing?”

“He wanted to get rid of trials by combat. He said they were, ‘barbaric’. I talked him out of it, thankfully, and he just added a few safety precautions to it.”

“Really? That is strange. Did he say why they were, allegedly, ‘barbaric’?”


“Based on the stipulations he added to it, I think it might have been the killing part. I can sympathize with him on that, even though it's already rare for ponies to die in trials by combat, there were always a few exceptions where somepony wouldn't hold back or some idiot tripped on their own weapon. Aside from that, nothing too strange happened during our meeting. So, how have you been doing, Emerald?”

“I’ve been doing well for the past few days. I'll admit, I still feel a brush of panic sometimes, but I’m usually able to push past it without anypony noticing,” Emerald replied as she took her eyes away from the Crystal Heart to look at Copper Plate. “Thank you, by the way. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“You’re welcome, Emerald, it was the least I could do for a friend,” Copper Plate told her with a kind smile.

Emerald sat on those words for a few moments, briefly debating a question that had nagged at the back of her mind for a while. “… What about this? You, sitting next to me when you could be inside reading. I don’t really think we were more than colleagues when you started doing this. So, why?”

Copper Plate stayed quiet for a few moments, almost alarmingly so as she thought of the right words to say. A serious expression fell on her face for a few brief moments before a light chuckle escaped her, causing a smile to break across her muzzle as she looked deeply into Emerald’s eyes.

“It’s funny actually. It’s the same reason Amore came to me for teatime for a whole year,” Copper Plate stated, surprisingly dropping the princess’ official title. “She said I looked lonely. I was always squinting when I read, and I always had a serious expression on my face when I was younger. Most of the ponies in the archives stayed away from me since I always looked angry.

“It wasn’t until Amore pointed it out a few years later that I realized what I was doing. Because of that, I was usually… I was always alone in the archives. Princess Amore noticed and decided to talk to me, just like what I did with you. You were lonely, and I don’t think anypony should feel lonely,” she told Emerald.

Emerald allowed those words to swim through her mind for a good amount of time. Copper Plate’s Words were twisted by Emerald’s subconscious fears and anxieties. Suddenly, every sweet and genuinely caring word became a sickening bastardization of what Copper Plate actually meant. A single word rang out in her mind louder than any other thought that was racing though her head.

Lonely.

She was lonely. She was alone and that’s why Copper Plate sat next to her on those days, because Copper Plate pitied her. That’s all it was, wasn’t it? Pity? A charity case? She was just a broken mare that somepony pitied, a side project for somepony to fix!?

Her raging thoughts and bitter hatred faltered once a foreleg wrapping around her withers, pulling her into a tight hug with Copper Plate.

“I’m glad we’re friends, Emerald. I haven’t said much, but you’ve still helped me too. Just having somepony to call a friend in these odd times feels like I found something that I was missing for years. And, in a way, I was missing this. So, thank you,” Copper Plate quietly said.

Emerald didn’t respond immediately to Copper Plate with words, instead, she wrapped a foreleg around Copper Plate to embrace her as well. She closed her eyes and suppressed the negative emotions that clouded her judgment, silently cursing herself for letting her mind wander to such dark and twisted perversions of Copper’s kind words.

“Thank you, Copper.”

No more words were shared after that, as they both fell into a comfortable silence.

Skeletor blankly stared at a page full of numbers and mathematical equations that he pretended to understand while listening to Avid Value go over the Crystal Empire’s finances.

Avid Value went into great detail about the bits being distributed to the Empire and the amount of bits in the Crystal Castle’s vault. While circulation of currency would allow the Empire to remain stable for some time, Avid Value greatly stressed that their current monetary system would eventually collapse if enough ponies began saving up their bits, causing them to fall out of circulation unless they were used.

As important as this meeting was to Skeletor and the overall stability of the Empire, Skeletor still struggled to keep himself awake during his private meeting with Avid Value. After foregoing sleep the night prior to experiment with his magic, such as learning levitation and lifting light objects, Skeletor became the embodiment of a walking corpse thanks to his severe lack of sleep. The Royal Treasurer’s words became a lulling melody of large numbers that barely made any sense to Skeletor.

Avid Value, in comparison, was extremely lively and full of energy as he threw himself into his work, pacing back and forth between a blackboard and an abacus to calculate the cost of sending an expedition team to the Ruva Kingdom. Skeletor chose to spare no expense in making sure that the ponies going there would be safe, giving them an ample supply of rations, blankets, and other necessities. Needless to say, even though it was going to be a small group of ponies going to the Ruva Kingdom, it was becoming a very expensive endeavor for the Empire.

Since all of the old carts and carriages had rotted away and fell apart, Skeletor needed to commission a few carpenters to build a new carriage out of a naturally purple colored oak that grew in the subterranean farms in the lower regions of the caverns. Apparently, the once small saplings grew to enormous heights in the time between the Princesses’ and Skeletor’s arrival, causing the bipedal creature to wonder what Sombra did to the Empire during his battle with the princesses.

Two prominent theories crossed Skeletor’s mind, those being that either the Empire time traveled or a spell was used to make the Empire age by at least a few hundred years. Skeletor tossed out the time travel idea since the crystal ponies themselves were fine, and if the Empire did time travel then it should have just plopped down in another moment of time without any damage. One other theory also crossed his mind, though it was one that he desperately wanted to ignore.

He feared that whatever spell Sombra used to bring him here caused the Empire to decay by generations in the span of a few seconds. The issue with that theory was that Sombra said that he didn’t summon Skeletor, though, that could have easily been a lie. How else would Skeletor have ended up in the Crystal Empire is Sombra didn’t pull him from his world? Whenever someone got taken to another world in anime, it was usually because they died or because someone in the other world summoned them, and he was pretty sure that he didn’t die before he appeared in the Crystal Empire. At least he hoped that he didn’t die at comic con.

Skeletor shook those thoughts out of his mind as he turned his attention back to Avid Value once he heard his adopted name.

“—tor, is something wrong?” Avid Value asked.

“Hm? Sorry, I was just caught up in my own thoughts for a moment,” Skeletor waved off. “What were we discussing?”

“Taxes for this year, your highness. I recommended pushing those off until next year, when the citizens are more financially stable. By that time, we should hopefully perfect your plan for paper currency. Speaking of that, do you have an idea for what we should call it? Maybe something like, paper bits?”

“Why do… Oooh right, you never had paper money before. They’re just called dollars.”

“Doll-hairs… Hmmm, that could work. We also need to discuss the different value between doll-hairs and bits.”

“They’re ‘dollars’, Avid, not doll-hairs. And for the second question, I need to know how much a bit is worth.”


“It’s a bit. It’s worth just that,” Avid Value stated.

“Okay, so what comes after a bit?” Skeletor asked.

“I’m not sure what you mean, your highness.”

“Like… Damnit, you don’t have a concept for change, do you?”

“Well, we’re trying to change it now. Aren’t we?” Avid Value asked as he looked back at the blackboard full of complicated mathematical equations, graphs, and other things Skeletor couldn’t understand.

“That’s not what I meant,” Skeletor said as he stood up from his seat and walked over to the blackboard. “Do you mind if I clear some space on this?”

“Not at all, your majesty.”

“Great.”

Skeletor wiped away a small part of the blackboard to give himself a decent amount of space to work with. He waved his hand, causing a light green aura to surround a piece of chalk to lazily pull it to his palm. Even though he didn’t need to use any magic to grab it, exploiting his powers for mundane purposes gave him a sense of control, allowing him to feel the potential power he had at his fingertips.

After allowing the piece of chalk to spin in the air for a few moments to extend his comforting feeling of power, he drew the symbol for cents and dollars on the blackboard and began his explanation.

“Where I come from, money can be broken down into different forms of currency. For example, one penny is the lowest form of value. Five pennies are a nickel, two nickels are worth a dime, two dimes and a nickel are worth a quarter, and four quarters is the value of a one-dollar bill. A one-dollar bill is worth one hundred pennies, twenty nickels, four quarters, and ten dimes. There are a number of coin combinations to make a dollar bill, like using ninety pennies and a single dime, or three quarters, two dimes, and a nickel. Do you understand?”

“Yes... But, what’s a bill?”

“It’s a type of dollar. A dollar is valued by the number on it. For example, we had one-dollar bills, five-dollar bills, ten-dollar bills and so on. The difference between each bill was the number and the picture of the president on it, giving each a different set value.”

“Alright. What’s a president?” Avid Asked as he began writing on a spare piece of parchment paper.

“How?… Right, right. You’re a monarchy, of course you wouldn’t know,” Skeletor said as he put the piece of chalk down. “A president is a leader elected and voted for by the people.”

“The ‘people’ choose them? And then they get their portrait put on money?”

“Not every president, just the ones from a long time ago near the beginning of my country’s independence,” Skeletor explained.

Avid Value wore a contemplative look on his face as he digested Skeletor’s words, letting a low hum escape his throat as he did so. “I see... your highness, do you mind if I say something that you may not like?"

"I... guess?"

"This whole system that you're trying to create is... Confusing, for lack of a better term. While I see the benefit of having different valued 'bills' so that ponies won't need to physically carry thousands of bits around with them to spend it, the idea of 'change' is... complicated.

“From what I can tell, you want to institute a plan that could be broken down into different levels of value that most of your subjects won't understand. Not everypony in the Empire can do complex math that breaks down something into one forth or one third of something else.

"Your plan for dollars is interesting, and it would be more efficient to carry that around since it could be folded up. But you're plan to create 'change' is perhaps too... advanced for some ponies to understand," Avid Value said delicately.

"Really?... Well, I suppose that makes sense. Then what do you recommend?" Skeletor asked

"Well... I'm... Also hesitant to institute the plan for paper currency," Avid Value quickly admitted as he clenched his eyes shut, almost as though he was expecting Skeletor to explode on him.

"Um... Okay, why?" Skeletor simply asked.

Avid Value opened one eye to look at Skeletor before both of them opened and his posture relaxed. "You're... not mad?"

"Of course not. I may not know much, Avid, but I'm not an idiot. Anyone who refuses to listen to experts, such as yourself, on things they don't know is a moron. So, please, tell me what you think we should do. Take your time and walk me through it," Skeletor said as he put his hands together and patiently waited for Avid Value to speak.

"Well... Firstly, I know that transportation of paper currency would be more practical for large scale purchases, it's impractical in longevity. If there's a fire or it gets wet, then it's gone. Bits don't deteriorate with age, and steel bits would last for generations."

"hmm. That does make sense. So, how should we proceed?"

"I think your plan for paper currency is still valid, your highness, but I'd also like to recommend starting production on steel bits as well. I believe it would be better to use dollars for large payments, such as housing and furniture, but nopony in the Empire will even be able to afford those expenses yet, so I believe it would be best to postpone the plan for paper currency."

"Alright then. That's reasonable. I should have expected that an American currency system wouldn't have been very practical.

"A-mare-ik-an? What an odd name, what does it stand for?" Avid Value asked.

"Oh, it's the name of my country. I was born in the U.S.A., which is the United States of America."

"Interesting. How far away is your country, your highness? I don’t remember hearing about any countries with beings that shared your stature or appearance.”

“Ah, well um... I’m uh… Fffffrom a faraway land. Farther than any ship bound by sea could sail, higher than any thestral can fly, a place that is on the other side of the rainbow. It'd be impossible to see it in your life time, but perhaps one day it will be possible for ponies to travel there,” Skeletor cryptically replied.

“Wow… I can’t… That’s amazing, Lord Skeletor!” Avid Value exclaimed with a wide smile as he began writing even more on his papers.

“Yes, yes. It is a fascinating place,” Skeletor dismissed as he pretended to be horrible at being humble. The less he had to say about his home, the better. He didn’t want word to spread that he was an alien from another planet, and most likely another dimension, since he didn’t want to find out how they’d react to that.

“So, taxes,” Skeletor said, bringing the conversation back to its original topic. “They won’t happen until next year then?”

“Yes, your highness. Even if we held taxes this year, not many ponies own land to tax. The lands in the other two kingdoms are desolate, and not many crystal ponies owned land before Sombra’s reign. The farms used to be owned by the Onion family, but… They’re all gone as well. So, the farms have fallen under the jurisdiction of the Crystal Castle.”

“I see. And how are the subterranean farms doing?”

“Fairly well. Pretty soon, we won’t have to eat crystalberry jam stew. It’s not terrible, per say, but it’s definitely… An acquired taste.”

“Yeah, it makes broccoli taste a lot better in comparison,” Skeletor joked as he continued to search for some sense of meaning in the numbers on the blackboard. “I assume the taxes go towards the upkeep of the Empire and the safety of its citizens, correct?”

“Essentially. A large amount of it also goes directly to you.”

“Me?” Skeletor asked as he tore his attention away from the blackboard. “I get paid?”

“Of course, your highness. You’re the leader, why wouldn’t you get paid?”

“I… I just never thought kings got paid… huh. So how much do I have to pay in taxes?”


“Ha! Good jest, your highness,” Avid Value chuckled as he looked over his papers. “Royalty doesn’t pay taxes, Lord Skeletor.”

“… Really?” Skeletor asked as he imagined never having to pay taxes again. “That’s… nice? Soooo, I get paid and I don’t have to pay taxes.”

“Correct. The bits you earn go into the Crystal Castle’s vault.”

“Which is also the Empire’s vault, right?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Okay…” Skeletor simply said, as his own brain started to fail him. “Well… Good. Good, Goooood, good. I’m... glad to hear that. Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

“Not for today, we already went over the budget for the expedition to the Ruva Kingdom earlier. I’m surprised that Cannon Fodder decided to lead the group instead of assigning it to Colonel Kernel.”

“It is surprising. I just hope everything goes well for them. They’re leaving tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, your highness,” Avid Value confirmed.

Skeletor nodded as he reassured himself that he was right. Cannon Fodder and his quickly assembled team of guards would escort three alchemists to the Ruva Kingdom, allowing one alchemist and three guards to be sent to each alchemy tower in the Ruva Kingdom. They had a surplus of supplies for their mission, taking two weeks’ worth of food for what should have only been a week and a half, and enough blankets to smother a small elephant.

Even though the barrier that hung over the Empire protected the Crystal Pony Kingdom and the Crystal Castle from the assault of snow from the never-ending winter, the other ruined kingdoms were still exposed to the unnatural elements of the Frozen North. There simply wasn’t enough love in the Empire to make the barrier expand over the other two kingdoms, meaning that the crystal ponies would have to leave the safety of the Crystal Pony Kingdom to search the alchemy towers of the Ruva Kingdom.

If Skeletor had known that, he would have been much more hesitant to agree to Purity Flame’s request to have a small number of alchemists search the Ruva Kingdom. Even if there was something there that could help Skeletor and the Crystal Empire, he didn’t feel good about it. Once again, the ponies would be risking their safety while Skeletor sat on his throne collecting bits and leaving all the hard decisions to ponies he just barely knew.

“Are you absolutely certain that they have enough supplies for the trip?” Skeletor asked.

“I’m fairly sure. The only thing I could think of is medical supplies, and that’s one of the main reasons they’re going.”

“What about weapons? Are there any wolves or other animals in the Frozen North?”

“None that I know of. The only other creatures that lived in the Frozen North were the animal stock in our Empire or the animals and Yaks of the Yak Kingdom,” Avid Value told him.

Skeletor’s mind stopped for a brief moment after he heard that. “Yak Kingdom? There’s a Yak Kingdom?”

“Yes. Yakyakistan is a kingdom to the most northern edges of the Frozen North, bordering between the Frozen North and the Northern sea. They were a wonderful trading-based economy, often giving the Empire food, wool, and other valuables in exchange for fruits and vegetables that could only grow under the Empire.”

“Really? Why didn’t anyone tell me about this before?”

“I... Well, I suppose we all just assumed you knew. But even if we didn't, there wasn’t much of a reason to tell you. The yaks usually came to us for trade since their thick fur allowed them to easily traverse the snow, and as far as they know, we’re still under Sombra’s control. They cut off all ties with us once Sombra… Well, the less said the better,” Avid Value said as he avoided talking about a clearly uncomfortable subject.

“I see. Reconnecting ties with… Yakyakistan, can come later. Once the Empire is stable enough, we could try sending a representative there to tell them that Sombra has been dethroned.”

“A wise decision, your highness… And if it would be possible, could we also consider getting into contact with Dream Valley?” Avid Value hopefully asked.

“What’s Dream Valley?”

“The kingdom of Equestria, which is the land below the Crystal Empire. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna rule… ruled over the pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies that call Equestria their home. Relations between Dream Valley and the Crystal Empire were always harsh before Princess Amore arrived, and we became friendlier over time. I was just wondering if it would be possible to send some guards to Dream Valley to tell them that we were freed, and perhaps we could find out what happened to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.”

“How far away is Dream Valley?”

“Nearly four weeks by hoof, your highness. It’s quicker to get there by wings, but none of the ponies left in the Crystal Empire can fly.”

“Hmmm… I’m already concerned about sending anyone to the Ruva Kingdom, though it would help contact the outside world… For now, we’ll wait for them to come to us, and if they don’t, we’ll send someone over to Dream Valley once we have more fit and well-equipped guards. How does that sound?”

“It sounds wonderful, Lord Skeletor. If the princesses are still alive, then I’m sure that they’ll return soon. I’m sure the princesses will be happy to meet you!”

“… Uh… Right, yeah, I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic,” Skeletor said as he felt a chill run up his spine at the possibility of meeting the princesses of Dream Valley. How would they react to him being ruler of the Crystal Empire? They’d probably attack him on sight, or call him a monster and turn the crystal ponies against him.

Avid Value, being completely oblivious to Skeletor’s concerns, packed away his papers and abacus and wiped off the rest of the blackboard with a rag. “I think we’ve covered everything we needed to, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Hm? Ah, yes, we’re done for today. Will I see you for lunch today?”

“Unfortunately not. I wanted to speak with the blacksmiths to discuss something important. I’ll be around for court though.”

“Excellent. Thank you for this meeting, Avid. If there’s anything else we need to talk about, just come find me,” Skeletor told him.

“Thank you, your highness,” Avid Value replied with a bow. “I’ll see you later. Have a wonderful meal at lunch,” he said before he trotted out of the room, leaving Skeletor alone with his thoughts once more.

Avid Value trotted down the halls towards the blacksmith’s forge in the lower levels of the Crystal Castle with an extra pep in his step, humming a light melody that held no rhyme or structure. He wore an enormous smile on his muzzle as he made his way down the stairs, replaying the words that Lord Skeletor had told him when he asked about his home. Avid Value resisted the urge to squeal like a cheerful filly as he thought about the biggest secret he had ever been told.

A land beyond the rainbows, where nopony could sail or fly, a place where complex math was used to make money, and where everypony had a say in their government, it was so obvious.

Lord Skeletor was from the fertile fields of the afterlife, a disciple of Faust who was sent from the heavens. There had been rumors about him being a disciple or vessel for Faust, sent by the Devine Weaver so he could strike down the tyrant known as Sombra. However, Avid Value never placed much merit into those theories. But now he had Lord Skeletor’s own words as proof for those claims, and he trusted Avid Value enough to tell him.

Avid Value felt his spirits soar at his lord’s admission, resisting the urge to burst into tears of joy as he focused on Lord Skeletor’s commitment to helping the Empire. Even after freeing them of the monster that had enslaved them, Lord Skeletor remained in the Empire to see them through their recovery, fixing the injustices that remained even after Sombra’s death.

Avid Value had always had wandering thoughts that sought temptations in the flesh of the same gender, feeling a tight pull on his heart that he never felt for any mare. His closely held fantasies had been dubbed as sinful emotions that tainted the magic of love that powered the barrier, causing Avid to feel like a freak of nature that lived in paradise. But now, after finding out that Lord Skeletor had lived in Faust’s divine realm, he was certain that there was nothing wrong with what he felt.

It was like a heavy burden had been lifted from his withers and the demons that taunted him for being abnormal had been chased off by Lord Skeletor’s blessed divinity. He had always felt like an outcast, worried that the ponies around him knew of his secret. On a few brief occasions, Avid Value thought of submitting himself to a group of ruva doctors to remove those thoughts. But each time he thought of doing that, flashes of the strained smiles “fixed” ponies had kept him from seeking “help”. And he was so happy that he never went through with it

Lord Skeletor had given him the truth, and told him that there was nothing wrong with him. If his highness was fine with two stallions or mares loving each other, then that must have meant Faust taught him to think that way. Avid’s preferences in love were accepted by his highness, and he wouldn’t have to hide himself anymore.

He was free to be whoever he wanted to be, released from the crushing fears that had plagued him since puberty when he met a stallion named Iron Clad. Nothing romantic ever happened between the two, but the vivid dreams he eventually had for him caused Avid Value to realize how he felt for his friend. Those feelings reemerged and grew with age when he met Red Blaze, who ironically ignited a burning passion inside of him.

His feelings never disappeared, and even with his attempts to court mares failed to lessen the fire he felt for the same gender. He had never crossed the line that would lead him to entering the bed of another stallion, but now he had a chance to explore how he truly felt.

Avid Value didn’t expect to find his soulmate in a few days or even a few weeks, but he felt hopeful that he would one day be able to walk with his head held high as he trotted next to a stallion who shared his interests and desires. He was free to pursue whomever he wanted, all thanks to Lord Skeletor.

The smile on his muzzle grew wider by a hair as he thought about his plan for Lord Skeletor. Avid Value hoped that the blacksmiths would be able to use their new supply of steel to craft Lord Skeletor's gift, something that he had lacked since his first day in the Crystal Empire.

After all, a perfect king deserved the perfect crown.

Cannon Fodder anxiously paced from one end of his room to the other as he made a mental checklist of everything he needed. He threw a glance at his large saddle bags, visualizing the contents of his bags as counted how much food and water were packed away.

He had spent the past two days planning out his expedition to the Ruva Kingdom, making sure that he had enough supplies, tools, and well bodied guards for the journey. The trip would be comprised of seventeen other guards and six alchemists, allowing each alchemist to have three guards next to them at all times. Cannon Fodder would lead the group through the ruins of the fallen kingdom, allowing his memory of the kingdom’s layout to guide him to any of the alchemist or mage guilds that he scarcely remembered passing by in the Ruva Kingdom.

While Cannon Fodder led the expedition, Colonel Kernel would take temporary command of the Royal Guard in Cannon Fodder’s stead, allowing Cannon Fodder to enact his plans away from the prying eyes and ears of Crumb Catcher’s spy network. Without Crumb Catcher’s lackies constantly looking over his withers from the shadows of the halls, he’d be able to find out how many allies he still had in the Empire.

Being the general who failed to protect Princess Amore had earned him the silent scorn of a large number of guards, each one throwing judgmental glances at him whenever his head was turned away. He started to feel paranoid when his guards would whisper to one another, occasionally mentioning Lord Skeletor whenever Cannon Fodder trotted by. Crumb Catcher managed to feed Cannon Fodder’s paranoia with warnings about certain guards and their silent conversations.

He didn’t have to believe Crumb Catcher, and he absolutely didn’t want to, but Crumb Catcher’s warnings always made Cannon Fodder feel more on edge. His journey to the Ruva Kingdom was his last chance to salvage some respect from the guards he would be leading. If Cannon Fodder failed at that, then he may as well have decided to attack Lord Skeletor with a spoon and hoped his death would make him a martyr to the other ponies of the Crystal Empire so that they could band together and overthrow the demon.

Cannon Fodder purposefully chose guards who appeared to be resentful towards Lord Skeletor, using Crumb Catcher’s seemingly infinite knowledge to find anypony in the guard who were either upset by Lord Skeletor’s latest law or who resented being led by a non-pony creature. Others took his claims that Princess Amore was being manipulated as blasphemous, believing that Princess Amore was infallible due to her godhood.

To them, there was no way Princess Amore had been manipulated by a demon, she was a princess, the pinnacle of power and purity. She would never be foolish enough to fall for the sweetened words of a demon, even if it was disguised as one of Faust’s apostles.

Even though Cannon Fodder didn’t believe Princess Amore was infallible, due to years of working directly under the princess and seeing her in a different light than the rest of the Empire, he could still use their blind faith to her as a tool to dethrone Lord Skeletor.

But in order to use anypony, Cannon Fodder would need to find out who among them actually held a great distaste for Lord Skeletor. Crumb Catcher could have easily lied to him, feeding him a list of ponies who were actually completely loyal to Lord Skeletor since he still didn’t know where Crumb Catcher’s loyalties lied.

For the moment, Crumb Catcher was just as much of a threat to the Empire as Lord Skeletor was. Neither of them could be trusted, especially not the blue skinned demon.

After Cannon Fodder threw one last glance at his personal supplies and took a moment to think if he was forgetting anything, the general nodded to himself and left his room to prepare for his journey into the Ruva Kingdom.

As he trotted towards the office of his second in command, Colonel Kernel, he kept a list of orders for the colonel to carry out while he was in the Ruva Kingdom. It wouldn’t be too much, just making sure that the guards were paid, that they were assigned their regularly scheduled patrols, and sign any papers necessary for any stallion who spontaneously decided to drop out, something that Cannon Fodder personally loathed doing.

To Cannon Fodder, abandoning their position in the guard during the Empire’s new tyrant was the equivalent of allowing him to do as he pleased without resistance. It boiled Cannon Fodder’s blood to know that they had abandoned their posts, especially while a demon sat on the throne. The guard was the only line of defense left that posed even the slightest of a threat to Lord Skeletor, and most of them had just up and left.

To make matters worse, the stallions who left were some of the very select few that still respected him as a general. The ones who remained still followed his orders without much question, but he had lost their respect a long time ago. Only their secretly shared hatred for Lord Skeletor could allow the guards to fall under Cannon Fodder’s complete command. He just needed to separate the more sensible ponies from the delusional idiots that thought Lord Skeletor was some sort of god.

While he was silently contemplating the possibility that he would need to sleep with one eye open during the expedition in case of any “accidents”, he failed to hear Crumb Catcher trotting towards him from behind. It wasn’t until he began talking that Cannon Fodder finally noticed him.

“Good morning General Fodder, I trust you slept well?” Crumb Catcher asked.

“It was fine,” Cannon Fodder bluntly replied as he trotter a little faster, making sure not to break into a canter to get away from his fellow council member.

“That’s good to hear. Are you prepared for your trip? You’ve been so busy these past two days that I haven’t been able to talk to you.”

“I have everything I need. I just need to talk to Colonel Kernel quickly and then I’ll leave.”

“I can go talk to him. I haven’t had a good excuse to speak to the colonel yet, and I would love a reason to talk to the stallion,” Crumb Catcher offered.

“Thanks, but I’ll do it.”

“Oh well, that’s fine. I’ll just speak with Lord Skeletor about a few interesting rumors I’ve overheard,” Crumb Catcher casually said as he turned to trot down the hall in the opposite direction.

It didn’t take long for the implications of his words to click into place for Cannon Fodder. It was a reminder of who held the power in their little deal. Cannon Fodder would simply need to refuse Crumb Catcher only once and that opportunist would go galloping to Lord Skeletor. But Cannon Fodder couldn’t piece together why he was threatening him then of all times. There wasn’t anything to gain from talking to Colonel Kernel in his place, it was as like Crumb Catcher was begging for an excuse to go tattle to Lord Skeletor.

“… What do you really want?” Cannon Fodder finally asked.

“An excuse to talk to a nice stallion,” Crumb Catcher calmly said as he stopped trotting and smoothed out the sleeves of his suit. “I’m sure he couldn’t be a worst conversationalist than Lord Skeletor or, fields above forbid, Avid Value. I’d love to hear how the colonel feels about our new Lord. If he shares our views, then we could all discuss… ideas,” he coyly said with a smug smile.

Cannon Fodder scowled at Crumb Catcher, but bit his tongue to stop any harsh accusations from leaving his muzzle. It was almost as if Crumb Catcher was purposefully acting untrustworthy to test Cannon Fodder and see how he would react.

“… Fine,” he eventually said. “I’m going to go say goodbye, tell Colonel Kernel to meet me and the rest of the expedition team at the plaza in an hour.”

“I’ll make sure to relay your message to him. Be safe on your trip, General Fodder,” Crumb Catcher said as he trotted towards Colonel Kernel’s quarters.

Cannon Fodder’s gaze hardened as he watched Crumb Catcher trot away, silently cursing fate for tethering him to the manipulative stallion. After seething in his own anger for a few more moments, Cannon Fodder trotted towards the alchemy tower to make sure that the alchemists coming with them were ready for the journey.

Colonel Kernel, a grey coated stallion with a dirty blonde mane and tail nervously tapped his quill tip on the rim of the inkwell that rested on his desk. A blank piece of paper sat on in front of him, waiting for the ink to stain the pages with a soliloquy of words that would beg for General Cannon Fodder to reassess his decision.

Father time taunted the new colonel with a slowly ticking clock placed at the other side of the room, a relic left behind by his superior’s-superior’s-superior. Each chime from the clock loudly mocked him for passively waiting, becoming a slave to the whims of time. Colonel Kernel looked at the ticking second hand of the clock and recoiled when he noticed how much time had passed.

The colonel looked back at the blank sheet, searching for the perfect words to use to convince General Cannon Fodder to demote him. He couldn’t handle the stress of being a colonel, the only reason he was promoted to the position of a colonel due to all of his superiors dying under King Sombra’s rule.

As Colonel Kernel stared at the clean sheet of paper, silently cursing his inability to find the right words to convince General Cannon Fodder to make a different decision, he threw caution to the wind and put a cap on his ink well. He had spent two days struggling to think of the best words, and he had failed miserably. There wasn’t enough time to find the right words, if he wanted to have his position given to somepony more competent, then he would need to speak to General Cannon Fodder personally.

Colonel Kernel was slightly startled when he opened the door to see a blue coated stallion on the other side, but quickly regained his composer when he realized it was just the head of the staff, Crumb Catcher.

“Ah, hello Colonel Kernel, good to see you,” Crumb Catcher said as he stepped aside to let Colonel Kernel leave his room.

“Good to see you to, Mr. Catcher. Is there something you needed?” Colonel Kernel asked as he trotted into the hallway.

“Nothing I need, but General Fodder wanted me to fetch you. He forgot to tell you to seek out Lord Skeletor and bring him to the plaza for the expedition team’s departure.”

“M-meet… Lord Skeletor?” He nervously asked.

He had never actually met the Crystal Empire’s newest master, only catching glimpses of his new Lord and hearing leftover whispers of Lord Skeletor’s conversations with the council members. There was never a reason to directly interact with Lord Skeletor before, and he was completely fine leaving it that way, staying away from the figurative stage of politics and life that Lord Skeletor took complete control of.

“Of course, colonel. You’re going to work alongside the council for the next few weeks, you were bound to interact with him sooner or later. Listen, I know that Lord Skeletor may look intimidating, but he’s a kind and just ruler. Steel your nerves, be respectful to him, and everything will be fine,” he reassured him.

“I-I’m not nervous. I’m excited!”

“And I’m a ruva,” Crumb Catcher sarcastically joked. “Colonel, you don’t need to lie to me. Truth be told… He scared me too, at first. But he’s a kind and gracious creature once you get to know him.”

“He is?” Colonel Kernel asked before he coughed into his foreleg. “I-I mean, of course he is. He’s our leader, we can’t expect any less of our lord, right?”

Crumb Catcher silently chuckled to himself as he held a hoof to his muzzle. “Yes, I suppose we can’t expect any less. Anyway, Lord Skeletor should still be in his bedchambers. Miss Secret usually goes to fetch him, but she’s preoccupied this morning with our dear Royal Archivist.

“If you go now, you should have time to eat breakfast with Lord Skeletor before you both need to go to the plaza in an hour. Have a good time and get to know Lord Skeletor. I’ll see you at the council meeting later today before court. Take care, colonel,” Crumb Catcher told him before he trotted away.

Colonel Kernel nodded to himself as Crumb Catcher left, taking deep breaths as he prepared himself to speak directly to Lord Skeletor.

“Meet Lord Skeletor, easy enough… Just have to put one hoof in front hoof the other… No pressure… Oh, I’m so bucked…” He quietly muttered as he trotted down the hallway.

After a few minutes of trotting down the halls aimlessly, he finally decided to ask one of the guards for directions to Lord Skeletor’s chambers. It was difficult to hold a conversation with another guard without receiving cold stares that spoke volumes of their inner rage towards him.

Three years ago, most of the ponies in the castle outranked him and had rightfully earned their position in the guard while he had used his family’s connections to become a trainee under Lieutenant Bolt. His father had pushed him into the position, stating that becoming a guard would teach him important life lessons about responsibility.

Now, he was responsible for more than he had any right to be. Colonel Kernel hadn’t earned his position, it was simply passed down to him because all the more qualified and capable ponies were dead. He wasn’t a warrior or a colonel, he was a farmer, no matter how much his father claimed that his cutie mark was a larger than average spear. And now, he was walking to the door of death himself to eat breakfast with him.

No matter how reassuring Crumb Catcher’s words were, Colonel Kernel still feared for his life and his immortal soul. Lord Skeletor held this natural aura of dominance and power that terrified Colonel Kernel, he was a pillar of strength that made everypony around him look like a group of foals. From what Colonel Kernel heard, Lord Skeletor had effortlessly beat Sombra to death with Sombra’s skull, and then he used his own skull to beat what was left of Sombra’s skull, and that was just because Sombra looked at him funny.

One wrong word out of Colonel Kernel, and it would be off with his head. While Lord Skeletor hadn’t killed anypony in the near three weeks of his rule, there was nothing to really prevent him from doing so. Even with an army of crystal ponies against him, Lord Skeletor would utterly crush them with his physical strength and magical prowess.

Far too quickly for Colonel Kernel’s liking, he was in front of Lord Skeletor’s door. Colonel Kernel eyed the door nervously before looking at the empty spot next to the door where a guard should have been. Nopony had been brave enough to guard it after the first night, and it seemed like General Cannon Fodder wasn’t too concerned with having somepony stationed there.

With so few guards to patrol the Crystal Pony Kingdom and guard the Crystal Castle, General Cannon Fodder positioned guards to protect other things such at the Crystal Heart, the Royal Archives, and the medical ward in the castle and makeshift medical tents that filled the backstreets of the Empire. There just wasn’t a need to protect a creature like Lord Skeletor since nopony posed an actual threat to him, even the guards assigned to trot with him at the Crystal Fair were more for show than his actual safety.

After steeling his resolve and swallowing his fears for the moment, Colonel Kernel knocked on the door and waited. Colonel Kernel’s hardened and professional demeanor crumbled as tense seconds turned into uncomfortable minutes, his heart boomed in his chest as he raised his hoof to knock again. Once again, there was no response from Lord Skeletor, leading the colonel to wonder if he was at the wrong door.

Reluctantly, Colonel Kernel pressed an ear against the door to see if he could hear anything. An unnerving and deathly silence was all he could hear, and he could have sworn that the sound from the halls became dulled when he listened to the unnatural silence of Lord Skeletor’s room. Colonel Kernel released a shuddered breath as he pulled his ear away from the door, allowing the natural noises of far off creaking doors and gentle breezes from open windows to fill his ears almost instantly. It was almost like the basic concept of sound died when he listened for any noises from the other side of the room, possibly due to a silencing enchantment that Lord Skeletor must have placed on the door.

Colonel Kernel wasn’t a ruva mage, so he only really knew that sound silencing enchantments stopped sounds, and he wasn’t sure if it worked both ways or not. He couldn’t have known that silencing spells only worked in one direction, so he simply assumed that Lord Skeletor hadn’t heard him knock because of the enchantments.

The colonel took a few calming breaths as he prepared to open the door to see if Lord Skeletor was still in his room. His hoof felt heavier than it had ever felt before, and his muscles felt like they were fighting against him, but he managed to do it.

Opening the door, Colonel Kernel felt the chilling embrace of death wash over him as a strong breeze flew through the open window of Lord Skeletor’s room. The low hum of magic in the room drew Colonel Kernels attention to the four posted bed where Lord Skeletor sat with a book on his lap.

Colonel Kernel waited for Lord Skeletor to acknowledge his presence but appeared to go completely unnoticed by his lord. A light green aura enveloped a page in Lord Skeletor’s book, lazily turning the page with a light levitation spell as he continued to read. Lord Skeletor appeared to be in another world as he read, barley moving a muscle as his eyes scanned the pages in front of him. If it weren’t for the green aura occasionally turning a page in his book, Colonel Kernel would have assumed that Lord Skeletor fell asleep sitting upright.

“Um… Lord Skeletor?” Colonel Kernel said, finally breaking Lord Skeletor out of his trance. His voice was barely above a squeak as he spoke, fear gripping his vocal cords as he worried for his own safety.

“Hm? Oh! Uh… Who are you?” Lord Skeletor asked while he wearily eyed Colonel Kernel.

“Colonel Kernel, reporting for duty, sir,” he said with an immediate salute. “I’m sorry that I interrupted your reading, sir.”

“At ease, colonel, it’s alright. You’re Cannon Fodder’s temporary replacement, right?” Lord Skeletor asked as he closed his book and placed it on the nightstand next to his bed.

“Yes, sir,” Colonel Kernel said as he put his foreleg down. “I was instructed to come meet with you as soon as General Fodder prepared the other ponies for their mission. He wanted to see us before he left.”

“Excellent, I was hoping I could say a few parting words. If you could take me to them, then that would be greatly appreciated,” Lord Skeletor said as he stood up and grabbed his scepter. Colonel Kernel simply nodded as he stared into the eye sockets of the ram skull that crowned Lord Skeletor’s scepter, becoming lost in the black shadows inside the ram’s skull.

“Yes, sir,” he said with another salute before stepping aside to allow Lord Skeletor to leave his room first.

Colonel Kernel trotted behind Lord Skeletor once they left his room, keeping at least two feet between them as he followed Lord Skeletor to the dining hall. A minute of calm silence went undisturbed until Lord Skeletor looked down at Colonel Kernel, whom had stated a few hoofbeats behind Lord Skeletor.

“Have you seen Cannon Fodder today?” Lord Skeletor asked him.

“Not yet, sir. He just sent Mr. Catcher to tell me to escort you to the plaza.”

“Hmmm. I hope they have everything they need,” Lord Skeletor mused before he fell silent once more. The silence only remained for a minute before Lord Skeletor asked him another question. “What are your thoughts on this expedition?”

“From what I’ve been told, the mission is to find any medical books in the Ruva Kingdom and alchemy books to make medicine and paper respectively,” Colonel Kernel replied.

“Along with any magical tomes they can get ahold of,” Lord Skeletor stated. “They’re potentially risking their lives, going into treacherous terrain in an unforgiving snow storm, all for the hope of finding medical and alchemy books. So, what are your thoughts on the expedition? How do you feel about my decision?”

“It’s not my place to question your decision, sir.”

“Aren’t you a colonel?”

“Yes, but—”

“Then you have some experience from Princess Amore’s rule,” Lord Skeletor assumed. “How would she handle something like this?”

Colonel Kernel took a few moments to consider his response since he had never directly spoken to the princess, but Lord Skeletor held the impression that he had. He didn’t want to correct Lord Skeletor, since could have given the wrong impression. After all, he wouldn’t want to accidentally insult his lord by telling him he was wrong about his assumption.

“I… Sssshe would trust her decision since she was the princess. She knew better than everypony, that’s why she was the princess.”

“And what if she needed a second opinion?” Lord Skeletor immediately asked.

“… Then she’d think about the Empire as a whole,” he guessed.

Lord Skeletor didn’t make any comments for a while, quietly mulling over Colonel Kernel’s words as they went down the halls. Colonel Kernel felt uneasy with the sudden lull of silence, fearing that he had given Lord Skeletor an answer he didn’t like.

“How do you know if you’ve made the right decision?” Lord Skeletor suddenly asked.

Colonel Kernel was struck silent by Lord Skeletor’s question, the lull in conversation was suddenly much more welcoming than his interrogation. As Colonel Kernel tried to formulate an answer that would satisfy him, Lord Skeletor continued to speak.

“You’re a colonel, you’ve made more tough decisions than I have and I respect whatever you say. So, I need to know, do you think I should let them risk their lives, let alone order them to do so? Should I call off the expedition entirely?” He asked as he stopped and turned to look down at Colonel Kernel.

His new lord had put far too much faith in his decision-making skills, and maybe Lord Skeletor knew that. It was all just a test to see if he deserved his position as a colonel. While answering the question wrong would almost guarantee that he would be relieved of his position, a bad answer could also spell the end of his life.

“I… I’ve always found that, difficult problems have easy answers. When I wanted to make a choice, but couldn’t decide, I just flipped a bit.”

“… You flipped a bit?” Lord Skeletor asked almost incredulously. Colonel Kernel noticed a hint of anger in Lord Skeletor’s tone and quickly tried to amend his statement. “You dealt with serious issues and problems… By flipping a bit? You balanced life and death, weighted hard options and difficult choices... On. A. Bit? You gave orders based on what a small piece of metal would tell you to? Am I hearing this correctly, colonel?”

“W-well, it’s because then I’d know what I wanted. If it came up as a snowflake and I was unhappy, then I’d know that I wanted heads, and then I’d just do what I would have done if it came up as the other option. So, if I ever had to do something that I felt conflicted over, that's what I'd do to find out what I really wanted to do,” Colonel Kernel explained, omitting the fact that he had mainly used this technique to decide what he wanted to eat for dinner.

Lord Skeletor hummed to himself as he looked off to the side, debating the admittedly shoddy advice that Colonel Kernel gave him. As Lord Skeletor thought about Colonel Kernel’s words, the colonel was inwardly screaming at himself for giving Lord Skeletor such faulty advice. He couldn’t believe that he had just told Lord Skeletor to flip a bit. His lord had come to him asking for his thoughts and he told the ruler of the Crystal Empire to flip a bit?

Colonel Kernel wondered if stupidity was a valid reason to be put on a death sentence, and quickly worked out a plan to weasel his way out of his situation and apologize to Lord Skeletor. But, before he could try to salvage the situation and beg for mercy, Lord Skeletor turned his attention back to Colonel Kernel.

“I see… Do you have a bit on you?” Lord Skeletor asked.

His hooves instantly flew to the small satchel of bits that hung under his barrel and pulled out a single bit for Lord Skeletor. As soon as Colonel Kernel offered them measly bit, he realized that he should have hoofed over his entire satchel.

Lord Skeletor accepted the single bit and twirled it between his fingers, subtly studying each imprecation, scratch, and discoloration he could find on the bit. In a flash of movement, Lord Skeletor tossed the bit into the air with the flick of his thumb, and struck like a snake as he snatched it out of the air before slapping it against the top of his other hand.

His hand was too high for Colonel Kernel to see what the bit landed on, and nothing in Lord Skeletor’s demeanor gave away if he was upset or happy with the result. After a few moments of complete stillness, Lord Skeletor handed the bit back to Colonel Kernel and simply said two words before he went back to walking.

“Thank you.”

“You’re uh… You’re welcome, sir. So, what did you decide?” Colonel Kernel asked as he put the bit back in his small satchel and cantered to catch up to Lord Skeletor’s long strides.

Instead of replying to Colonel Kernel’s question, Lord Skeletor chose to remain silent as he contemplated his decision. Colonel Kernel didn’t press his lord anymore as they trotted and walked respectively, and only opened his mouth to speak once he noticed that they had briskly walked past the dining room doors

“Are you not going to eat, sir?” The colonel asked.

“I’m not hungry right now, breakfast can wait. Since you’re here, there are a few things I want to talk about before the expedition team leaves, and you’ll be able to help. I’ve been worried about the Empire’s defenses; We have an hour before Cannon Fodder and the team leaves, so I’d like to resolve an issue I’ve had for a while.”

“What issue, sir?”

“The Crystal Heart,” Lord Skeletor replied. “I’ve been concerned about its safety. Cannon Fodder assured me that the guards standing by would protect it, but his answers always felt dismissive. I’d like a second opinion on the safety of leaving it open for the public. What stops someone from just walking up and taking it?”

“Isn't that what the guards surrounding it are for?” Colonel Kernel guessed.

“Yes, yes, I know about the guards. Half a dozen or so, if I remember correctly. I understand that they're the first line of defense, but what if someone got past them, which ponies do all the time already. What’s stopping them from reaching up, grabbing the Crystal Heart, and running? Cannon Fodder just said that the guards would stop them before they went too far, but I’m not satisfied with that. If I’m going to have the general and a good amount of guards leave the Crystal Castle, then I’m going to make sure we’ll be alright without them.”

“So, you decided to continue with the expedition?”

“Yes. You were right, Princess Amore didn’t second guess herself and I can’t afford that luxury either. Thank you for your advice.”

“You’re welcome, sir. I live to serve,” Colonel Kernel said proudly, before a more sober and weary tone took over his voice as he asked Lord Skeletor a question. “So... what are you planning for the Crystal Heart?”

“… I’m not sure, yet. I’d like something like a fence, but I’m sure that will cause some sense of uproar among the crystal ponies. Their happiness and safety is my primary concern,” Lord Skeletor told him.

Colonel Kernel briefly looked up at Lord Skeletor with wide eyes before he hid his surprise under a mask of calm professionalism and quiet contemplation. He hadn't expected Lord Skeletor to care about how his subjects felt about his decision. From the colonel's perspective, the word of the leader was something that should have been taken as law because they earned the power that they wielded, and to question any decision made by them was to question the power they held. Lord Skeletor had more than earned his power, not only by slaying Sombra but also by rebuilding the remains of the Crystal Empire. So for him to question his own choices and measure them against the desires and needs of the crystal ponies felt almost baffling to Colonel Kernel. It was almost as if Lord Skeletor believed that he should serve the Empire, and not the other way around.

"What do you think, colonel? Do you have any suggestions for my dilemma?" Lord Skeletor asked.

Once again, Colonel Kernel found himself in the uncomfortable position of offering advice to Lord Skeletor, something that should have been handled by an actual council member.

"What if... What if you… you put a gate around it during the night? I remember that the nightshift at the Crystal Heart was always the hardest since the ponies standing guard would usually be lulled to sleep by the Heart's energy. That could work... Uh, right?" Colonel Kernel suggested.

To Colonel Kernel's shock, and partial horror, Lord Skeletor's jaw adjusted to allow a large predatory smile to split across his skull as he looked down at the colonel.

"You might be on to something... Do you know where the blacksmiths are?"

"I do."

"Good, take me to them. I want to see if a portable gate is possible and how much it would cost. Then we'll see Avid Value and see if it's within the Empire's budget," Lord Skeletor commanded.

With a quick nod of his head, Colonel Kernel took the lead and guided Lord Skeletor to the blacksmith's forge in the Crystal Castle. While he trotted towards the forge, he couldn't stop the small smile from breaking across his muzzle as he went down a flight of stairs. Lord Skeletor was clearly pleased with his suggestion, and if he was lucky enough, then maybe he could get through the next two weeks without accidentally angering his lord even once. He had a near brush with Lord Skeletor's ire when he mentioned flipping a bit, but as long as he was clear in his actions and spoke with a tone of authority and knowledge, then he'd hopefully be able to appease Lord Skeletor. Then, he would be able to hoof the position back over to General Cannon Fodder and possibly quit the guard. While making his lord happy certainly gave him a small sense of pride, the overall fear he felt during his conversation wasn't worth it.

He'd just need to play his part in Lord Skeletor's council for the next two weeks and everything would be fine.