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...