Three months.
It has been three months since I took over the Kingdom of Abyssinia.
Three Months since I became an Emperor.
Three Months since I acquired the second Artifact of King Twiga the Giraffe.
Three months since King Meowmere of Abyssinia swore his loyalty to me.
Three months since I completed part one of my masterful plan to become a villain who won't get vaporized by the power of friendship.
Oh yes, It's all coming together.
There are still a few stops before I can finally consider myself the undisputed King of all things, but we'll get there eventually.
For all intents and purposes, everything was going well.
So by the rule of cartoon storytelling, that meant things were going to be bad soon.
And I was ready.
"Sire! The Argonauts have arrived at the location of the final Artifact, but they're requesting assistance," The Floating Cloud creature told me as he read the report of my magic artifact collectors.
I smiled as I listened to his report, only to pause as he said something that caught my attention.
"Could you repeat that?" I asked of my right-hand man, and he reread what he said.
I listened to it intently this time, making sure I got everything he said.
"...Shit," I whispered before I started shouting orders at anybody who could hear them, moved myself to a smaller and quicker ship, and started flying in the direction of my artifact collectors.
Making sure that the ruby crown was secured to a holster on my hip like a lamp, and that the amber medallion that was the "Orisa Eye," Was on my neck.
"Your Majesty, we will be leaving swiftly in fifteen minutes, as per your orders," The pilot of the smaller ship told me as I boarded.
I nodded to him as I repeated in my head what Strife just told me.
"King Twiga's final treasure is also being hunted by a pony," I can't let them get it before me.
If Equestria learns of my existence before I'm ready, then I can throw almost the entire plan out of the window.
I'll be fucked!
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The Argonauts, The Storm King's elite squad, were made and designed specifically to have members of different species with different professions, for the simple purpose of finding and acquiring magical artifacts.
By any means necessary.
Those same Argonauts, made up of the Elite of the Storm King's army, were currently standing outside of a large stone temple, covered in moss and vines from centuries of neglect.
"The Storm King is on his way, He'll be here in an hour, all we have to do is make sure that pony does not step foot inside this Temple," Jason, The Leader of the Argonauts said as he walked down the walkway to one of the three ships that the Argonauts used.
Rejoining his squad, the members of the Argonauts who had special code names picked specifically by his magnificent royal majesty the Storm King himself, Jason sat down and crossed his arms, trying to concentrate on listening for any rustling grass or leaves in the thick jungle around the temple, searching for the Pony who might ruin the entire operation.
"Hey Castor," a New member of the Argonauts asked her brother as she laid over him, using his body as a mattress.
"What is it Pollux?" Her brother, a Somali Cat from one of the smaller towns in Abyssinia replied as he cleaned his ear with a claw, ignoring the Sphynx Cat that rested on top of him.
"What's the Storm King like?" Pollux asked, her furless skin catching the few rays of light from between the canopy of trees as she attempted to keep her tan.
"I do not know Pollux," Castor replied simply, closing his eyes and attempting to catch some rest before his new Emperor arrives.
"Then what good are you for?" Pollux asked as she kicked her furry brother, receiving a dull "Ow," From him before she turned her head to another member of the Argo.
"What about you Caenis? You served in his ship for a time, yeah?" She asked as he looked at another new member who joined the Argonauts around the same time as her, "I would ask Asclepius, because 'Girl Power' and all that, but she doesn't really speak,"
Caenis, more commonly known around the ship as Lulu the Aardwolf, shivered in thought as her mind wandered to her King and, hopefully not, Future Executioner.
"The Storm King?" Lulu repeated before giving her answer.
"He's Scary," She told the younger cat simply, her eyes drifting to a pair of large fish hooks she kept as weapons.
"You don't want to make him angry," She said quietly, receiving a blank look from the bald Cat.
"Oh, he's scary all right!" An old Crocodile laughed out loud as he crawled his way to be closer to the conversation, his greying scales covered in scars and chips, his wide smile showing a number of missing teeth, still in the process of regrowing.
"And why is that Nestor?" Pollux asked the old Croc, her interest piqued by having the oldest member of the Argo join the talk.
"Heh, You should have seen it." Nestor smiled as he remembered his first time meeting the Storm King.
"It was After Asclepius healed my Niece, and my tribe vowed to join the Storm King as repayment," He said as he made himself comfortable on the soft ground of the jungle.
"It was at the Storm Base near Hippo-town, Every leader of the new tribes bowed to him as we pledged our allegiance to the boy," He said, ignoring the twitching brow on Jason as he called his King a 'boy'
"And he just sat there," Nestor recounted, "Looking at us dispassionately, some of us were scared he saw us unfitting and would decide to end us himself," Nestor frowned as that memory resurfaced in his mind.
Jason quietly scoffed and ignored the rest of the old crocodile's story, resuming his listening to the forest.
"But then he smiled at us," Nestor shivered as if a cold wind brushed against him, "And it was terrifying," He looked at the Cat sibling, "And if someone can scare you with a Smile and still keep you fed and employed," He laughed.
"Then that's a King worth following!"
Pollux clapped her hands excitedly, joined by the slow and tired applause of her red-furred brother.
"Silence!" Only for everybody to immediately stop making sounds as their leader, Jason the Storm Creature, looked towards the sky.
And at the small airship that floated above them.
"Make yourselves presentable," He told the Argonauts as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his fur.
"The King is Here."