Chapter 112 – To Know Thy Enemy

"He was a soldier in the old Tyrant War." she began her explanation, "No other race would even remember it because we Terranuilians age so slowly. He served as a commander for the rebels, but his methods were so brutal that even they couldn't stand him. He even headed up a secret group of mercenaries that would hire themselves out to anyone that paid well enough."

"So, why would your race make him the Law Keeper?" Twilight asked, "Seems like he's more interested in carnage than keeping piece."

"He's got connections. He replaced the last Law Keeper the moment she stepped down from her position." Ssalikka announced.

"Which, I coincidentally learned on the exact same day I told Spike about the Emperor's Chosen." her brother said, "It looked like he had the other two Chosen giving him orders."

"What do we know about the other chosen?" Twilight suddenly asked, "If they're going to cause problems then I'd like to know why. What are they like?"

"Well, you've met the people's voice." Ssalikka said, "Hi mom."

"You all may call me Takka." the older Sunik said as she looked to the ponies and waved at the screen.

"Get her to make you guys cookies." Ssalikka said with a knowing look.

"COOKIES!?" Pinkie asked in a hungry glee as she looked Takka in the eyes.

"Focus!" Applejack said as she separated the two by pushing on the pink mare's chest.

"But…cookies!" Pinkie argued sadly.

"What about the other two?" Twilight asked, "We know Kkelmar is a bruit, and bloodthirsty, but what about the other two Chosen?"

"Chamber Master, Lesstar was my superior while I was working as the General of the Inner-City Protection." Sselekk said.

"You mean 'Homeland Security'." Pinkie corrected.

"You can call it whatever you want Pinkie." the giant Sunik man said with a smile, "He's a serpent with ambitions way too big for a Sunik of his caliber. He's not that smart but likes to scheme and plot."

"I'm assuming the word 'serpent' is used as an insult?" Twilight asked.

"Kind of, it's just a term used to portray wickedness." Ssalikka explained.

"Ah!" the purple alicorn said in recognition.

Pinkie on the other hand waved her hooves in the air in what she thought was a spooky fashion, "Evil…" she drawled out.

"Pinkie, you are an absolute gecko!" Sselekk said with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, I know." she said and made a silly face with her tongue sticking out.

"Treasure Keeper, Kkeltiss is the one you have to watch out for." Ssalikka said, "He's a desperate serpent with a type of auto-immune disease that keeps him bound to his hover chair, but he's also obsessed with finding what he believes is a type of fountain of youth. His entire goal is to become immortal so he never has to worry about death ever again."

"Wait," Spike said as he thought, "Is that the same disease that the King has?" This last sentence caught everyone except for Image and Twilight off guard.

"How would you know about that?" Ssalikka asked, and then bent her eyebrows in confusion, "Has?"

"We were taught that the King had been slain." Sselekk said in the same confusion.

"He was fine when I met him." the baby dragon said, "Sick and bedridden, but fine."

Sselekk and Ssalikka both turned to look each other in the eyes; shock, and awe dominant as they both then turned to their mother, who had the same look on her face. "I knew you were with the prince, but the king as well?" Image asked in surprise.

"YOU GOT TO MEET THE PRINCE?" Ssalikka asked.

"Oh." Spike said and placed his clawed hand to his forehead in aggravation, "Not this again."

"Was he cute?" she asked suddenly, catching everyone by surprise.

"He's younger than Pilit." Twilight said.

"He is?" she asked, "I thought he was older."

"How long have you been ignoring the news?" Sselekk asked.

"They never once mentioned an age." his sister countered.

"Not important." Blade said flatly, "Just please answer the question."

"In short, yes." Ssalikka said in response, "It's a rare disease that only manifests in a few Sunik in general; though the common theme with those Sunik is that they are weakened by some other disease first, not always the same disease but the Auto-Immune disease that hits them after hits them hard."

"Fascinating." Twilight said as she placed her hoof to her chin, "I assume somepony is looking for a cure?"

"The king's physician was until Kkeltiss pulled the funding." Spike said.

"WHAT?" Ssalikka asked, "The Treasure Keeper, the Sunik who's responsible for the welfare of our people, pulled the funding for a project as important as that?"

"From what I could hear," Spike began explaining himself, "Kkeltiss found what he thinks a fountain of youth."

"Oh!" Sselekk said in realization, "That's why he asked for a squad to go invade your world."

"HE WHAT?" Twilight and the ponies asked.

"He only sent a few soldiers," he said, "Your Discord will take care of them." He then opened his eyes in shock, "How do I know that name?"

Suddenly, Breeze and Rainbow Dash began chuckling, "What's so funny?" Twilight asked.

"I just thought of some pranks Discord might pull on the Sunik squadron." Rainbow admitted.

"Same." was all her gunner said in his response.

"I'm confused?" Ssalikka said.

"They can't remember what happened in the Labyrinth; but every once in a while, small memories resurface and fade." Pinkie explained, "Rainbow Dash and Breeze have been remembering things in their sleep for WEEKS now."

"How does she know that and we don't?" Breeze asked as his laughter died out.

"You ponies are strange." was all Ssalikka said.

"Still…" Twilight argued.

"Perhaps it is best to leave the protection of our world with Discord and Riida?" Rarity said.

"After seeing how well she fights, I'd say Equestria is in good hooves." Applejack agreed.

"We need to {snort} focus on the race and these four planets." Tusks said sternly, "If it comes down to {snort} it, we'll get an army together to free your world if it gets conquered."

Twilight sighed in resignation, "Alright." she said, "I just hope everypony is safe."

Blade was just about to say something, but when a small movement caught his attention, he silenced himself out of worry. He looked up, moving only his eyes as he had trained himself so long ago, and spotted it, a spider-like drone, no bigger than his hoof, perched on the inside of their garage. 'Oh, sweet Celestia.' he thought to himself, 'How long have they been watching our moves? I thought they were set on using Image as a spy, not drones. This is bad.' With quick thinking, he changed what he was going to say, "I'm sure they are. Besides the longer we stay in the race, the better chance we have of stopping an invasion before it truly starts." This seemed to calm Twilight's nerves. "Alright everypony." he said gaining their attention, "We've got our course, what's the plan of action? Coach?"

"We know Kkelmar is the most brutal." Tusks said and placed a hand to his chin, his hooved fingers scratching the thick but short facial hair that had been growing, "But I {snort} want us to focus on Kklesstic instead." The questioning looks prompted him to explain, "The more frustrated Kkelmar is, the {snort} more mistakes he'll make. If we can force him into {snort} the final four while being the only {snort} Sunik team left in the race, he'll be alone. No more army behind him."

"I think I understand." Ssalikka said, "But I plan on being in that final four, so don't expect me to just take a dive."

"I wouldn't dream of such a {snort} dishonest thing." Tusks said with a grin. "But, once Kkelmar is out of the race, {snort} we can guarantee that the winner of the race will at least be a more {snort} favorable outcome. To do that I think we {snort} need to remove his backup first."

Rainbow Dash then looked Ssalikka in the eyes, a dare in the twinkle of them as she grinned at the Sunik woman, "I just hope you put up a good race."

"Count on it." Ssalikka said with an identical grin.