The Lich King's Return
by Ayanle Mohamed
Chapters
Return of the King
Part I: The Creeping Frost
On a particularly cold autumn day in the mystical land of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle sat, alone, in her library. It was late afternoon, and she was still shaking off the day's adventure. She closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of Ponyville. Just outside her window, she could hear Bonbon and Lyra having a small tiff. Heh, another little squabble. Those two will be over it by the day's end, Twilight thought to herself. She peeked out the window, when she noticed how distressed Bonbon looked. Concerned, she tilted her ears, trying to focus on the words, hearing only parts of the conversation.
"...I swear to you, Lyra, I'm not messing with you! I saw it, shambling through the forest..." Bonbon's voice was fading fast.
This sent Twilight's inquisitive mind off the edge. What did Bonbon see? Her voice was coming back into focus, and Twilight angled herself to try to read the mare's lips.
"It was blue, and tall, and it didn't walk on four legs like a pony, it walked on two like that little purple dragon does." Bonbon's voice was starting to crack, she buried her head in Lyra's mane out of fear as it sank in that some eldritch thing was near the town.
More out of curiosity than concern for the welfare of Ponyville, Twilight stretched out her tired muscles, rearing to investigate. She quickly left a note for Spike that read as follows: "Dear Spike, if you are reading this, I haven't returned home yet from the Everfree forest. There's been reports of a strange creature, and for the safety of the town, I feel I must investigate. Your dear friend, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight always left a note behind whenever she went into the forest after her brush with the Cockatrice. If Fluttershy hadn't found her that day.... No, I shouldn't think about that. Twilight thought, pushing that traumatizing day out of her memory. She couldn't afford to get disheartened before even leaving her library. She filled a small pack with water in case she was in the forest for a while, and strapped it over her back. Stepping foot out of her book-filled home, she was shocked to find that the subject of her search was, in fact, standing stock-still in the center of town with a flock of ponies curiously, yet cautiously, eyeing him.
Whatever this creature was, it was wearing an armor set quite unlike what anything Twilight ever saw before; it was blue, like Luna's Royal Guard, but it completely obscured the wearer, exposing nothing but a small T-shaped slit in the helmet. The armor seemed old, almost ancient in fact, with dents and scratches poorly covered up with paint, and a tattered cape made of black fabrics that conveyed a feeling of depth, as if you could walk into the cape and fall into a black abyss. What concerned her more than this was the wearer; it was a tall, gaunt creature, strangely strong enough to wear such heavy looking armor in spite of such a frail physique. Okay Twilight, she thought to herself, it could be friendly. It could also be very, very dangerous, so just be cautiously optimistic and prepared for anything. Taking a step forward, and a very deep breath, she spoke to it in front of the crowd. "H-Hello? My n-name is Twilight Sparkle... Who are you?" She said, with shaky breath, making the crowd doubly awed at both her bravery, as well as the creature's response.
It's head tilted down towards Twilight, ancient armor creaking, and she suddenly noticed the obscenely large blade that somehow stuck to his back with no visible sheath. "Hello, miss Sparkle. It's very pleasant to meet you." it said, with a voice neither deep nor high, and with an oddly demure politeness she would have expected from Fluttershy, rather than this gaunt ghoul. Incidentally, Fluttershy, as well as the rest of Twilight's friends were watching this exchange, clutched with fear, except for Pinkie, who watched with a childlike curiosity. It took off it's helmet, letting down a flowing white mane which barely covered a nearly hairless face. "I am the Lich King, I haven't decided on a name for myself yet. Can we please skip the pleasantries? I'm very nearly freezing to death right now." He said. Twilight realized how much he was shivering, and turned around. "Does anypony have some liquid rainbow on them?" She bellowed into the crowed. Pinkie Pie jumped forward with a glass bottle of this burning fluid, poured it down the Lich's throat without asking permission or giving warning, and watched as he jumped higher than she's ever seen anypony jump, scream higher than she's ever heard anypony scream, and run faster than she's ever seen anypony run.
The stranger dipped his face in a birdbath, taking in the unclean water, watched for a second as the steam sprayed from his mouth, and turned back. "What are you trying to do, kill me, Pinkie?" he screeched, completely losing his cool. Pinkie felt a moment of embarrassment at her borderline-assault on this stranger, when his words suddenly gained meaning. "Wait, wait, wait, I never told you my name! How do you know my name? Are you a psychic? Or a Stalker? Ooh, do you have a Pinkie-Sense for names?" she ranted, going off on her own little tangent. "Speaking of names," said Twilight, "What do you mean you haven't settled on a name? And what exactly is a 'Lich King'? "
The Lich stared at her with a sly, knowing smile. "All that and more, will be answered soon, my little pony. Before all that, however, I require three things. The first, please have your dragon Spike send a letter to the princesses Celestia and Luna, requesting them to come. I have something deathly important to tell them. Secondly, I request that Rainbow Dash stop staring at me with so much contempt. I'm not hostile, I swear it.", said the Lich, causing Dash's eyes to widen with surprise and her cheeks to flush with embarrassment. "As for the final request, I haven't slept in over 19 billion years. Is it at all possible for you to drag me to a bed? I'm about to collapse, you see." He said, living to his prediction a moment later. Twilight mustered up the willpower to magically lift him, and floated him to the Ponyville Inn. She paid the 20 bits for him to stay a night, and stowed his armor and the massive sword underneath his bed. This situation is certainly odd, she thought, but I can't help but wonder how it will play out...
The Lost Kingdom
Part II: Frozen Melancholy
Applejack and her 5 friends all sat in the Lich's bedroom at the Inn. He had been sleeping for 4 days straight, and Applejack was worried he wouldn't be awake when the princesses arrived. The strange visitor snored slightly and rolled over, letting Applejack get a good look at it's face. Unlike most creatures she's seen, it was hairless, except for a flowing white mane and small stubble over his chin. His complexion was pale, yet dark, and he was remarkably thin. Just what is this weird feller? How can I trust him to be near the princesses? she thought, just as he jolted upright. He had a blank look in his eyes, and that's when Applejack noticed for the first time that one eye was a cold, pale blue, and the other was a deep, dark red, like an apple that was fully ripe. He stared off for a few seconds, when Applejack worked up the nerve to speak.
"So... Lich King... I reckon you had a bad dream?" She said, with a confident voice that hid her pure fear.
The Lich King looked at her, sighed, and spoke. "I'm a Lich. I never dream, I only speak. Applejack, I should let you know, your father, Cortland, has a message. He says he's been watching you grow, and is sad he wasn't there for Applebloom's birth. He says that he regrets trying to sell apples to those bandits in the Badlands, and is so sorry he had to leave you."
Applejack's jaw clenched, and her heart burned. "Are.... are you saying my father's still alive?" she asked, hopeful. The Lich King shook his head, and Applejack's heart sank.
Fluttershy spoke up: "But, Mr. Lich King, how can you have a message from him if he's not alive?" The Lich looked at her, slightly amused, and she immediately regretted breaking her silence.
"I don't want to have to explain this multiple times, Fluttershy, so please, be patient and wait for the princesses. Also, how's Angel Bunny doing?"
Fluttershy was very shocked at the sudden name-drop. She couldn't wait any more. "How do you know all our names? Have you been watching us?"
The Lich King's eyes seemed to darken at this, and he spoke. "I guess I owe you at least one explanation. I have been watching you, yes. I've been waiting for a moment of total peacetime, where I could integrate with pony society, and rebuild my old life."
"What old life?" Asked Pinkie. "Were you a doctor? or a farmer? or a soldier? Oooh, I bet you were a baker like me! Did you make cakes? is that giant sword meant for cutting giant cakes?"
The Lich let out a hollow, airy laugh. "Close, Pinkie. I was a King. THE King. As a Lich, the only Lich to ever exist, I was king of the dead. In fact, I am dead. Sort of. It's hard to explain. I guess I'm not a king any more, seeing as how my kingdom is gone."
Rainbow Dash, who up till this point was sitting quietly, spoke up. "Oh a king, that's what you were?" She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Tell me, what happened to your kingdom? Did you forget it in your other pants?"
The Lich's eyes were tearing up, and Rainbow wondered if she crossed the line. He reached into the sack at the end of his bed, and produced two stones. "Listen closely, Rainbow. See these two stones? Nearly identical, but one is slightly different. The stone in my left hand is my world, where I was born, where I grew up, where I died, and where I was reborn." He said, casually mentioning his undeath. He crushed the stone in his hand, until it was dust. Blowing the dust away, he placed the second stone where the first used to be. "This stone is your world, where we are now. My world is gone, forever, and reborn in the form of Equestria. I survived my world's death, and sat alone, in the cold vacuum and endless expanse of space, until even that had to die. I witnessed the heat-death of the universe, miss Dash, and watched the flash that created another. I sat, waiting and watching, as the great floating rocks slammed together to make Equestria, and I waited until your world developed enough to have a decent population of the dead. Then, I hitched a ride on an incoming asteroid, and left a smoking crater in the Everfree forest, where I made my landing."
Twilight Sparkle's eyes widened with recognition. "The Agister asteroid! Princess Celestia said it was going to hit Ponyville, but mysteriously started pulling to the left! Your extra weight must have changed it's trajectory!"
Now the Lich was really crying. "Are you calling me fat?" He said, through wet eyes, and Twilight realized that, in spite of his alleged age, she was talking to a child. Well, I can say without a doubt he's probably harmless, she thought to herself, The Princesses arrive tomorrow morning. I'm sure they can sort this all out.