//------------------------------// // White on Black // Story: White on Black // by TheSexyMenhir //------------------------------// White on Black Ch.17 “White on Black” Breadn could do nothing but stare at his hooves, as the sobs of the white diarch echoed across the ruins of the courtyard. He felt ashamed. Why, he didn’t know, after all it wasn’t him that had caused the riot. He had actually warned Merry about this. It was the other ponies, the ones that had burned and plundered the castle grounds. He had only tried to protect his kids. It was really all that unicorns fault. If he hadn’t upset the crowd with his speeches, this would have never happened. Why did he have to pour oil into the fire? His rhetorics had turned the ponies he knew as his friends into monsters. And what about those guards? Wasn’t it their duty to protect the people? Shouldn’t they have seen this coming? NO! Instead the waltz into the crowd like barbaric brutes, swinging their authority around like a sledgehammer. It was all their fault. His body trembled with barely contained anger. About the situation, about the stupidity of other ponies, and about the world at large. A hoof touched his shoulder. Merry was looking at him, an expression of concern on her face. The anger left as quick as it had come. Together the two of them looked at the sobbing alicorn. Maybe it wasn’t important who was at fault. Breadn turned to an earth pony that lay near him. “Hey, you are Balsa the carpenter, aren’t you?” Maybe it was just important who could fix this. --- Celestia and Chrysalis lay in the rubble of what had been Canterlot Castle, the white alicorn burying her snout in the changeling queen’s side. Chrysalis didn’t know how long they had lain like this, and to be frank, she didn’t care. Right now the outside world was unimportant, except for the mare that lay next to her. Slowly, very slowly, Celestia sobs died down a little bit. “Are you alright?” The question was stupid and hollow, but the actual words weren’t important. Chrysalis just needed to show her almost bride that she was there for her, that she would listen. When Celestia finally looked up at her, something inside Chrysalis broke. Those eyes, that had been filled with the pure joy of being alive just moments ago, now were nothing but empty glass-like orbs. Celestia. In the oldest Equestrian texts this name was already mentioned in veneration. Even in the songs of the changelings, that were woven not with words but with emotions and thoughts, and that had survived even the reign of Discord, mentioned her only as “the ancient one”. As Chrysalis stared into those lifeless mirrors of amethyst, she shuddered as for the first time since she had met her, she could feel the millennia being reflected from Celestia’s features. She looked tired, as only those that have seen the rise and fall of empires can be. “Are you okay?” The same stupid question. An anchor, no, a bridge to gap the unbelievable gap that had opened between them. Chrysalis had lived for a long time, but compared to the being before her... NO! She couldn’t allow herself to think like that. This was Celestia, the mare she loved. “I can’t do this anymore.” Celestia said. Her voice was barely more than a whisper, that was nearly drowned out by the cracking sounds of the embers that once were the front gate. “Don’t say this...” The words escaped Chrysalis lips without even bothering to ask the brain for permission first. It was as if her body was reading from a script that nobody had ever bothered to show her. She could only stare as this macabre play unfolded and left her life in ruins. “Why not? Should I just continue to smile like nothing happened?” Once again the anger flared up in Celestia’s voice. “Should I just pretend that everything's going to be good? That a few nice words will make all this undone?” “No,” Chrysalis replied meekly, unable to find the right words. “My castle is gone, my subjects fear me, and those who don’t fear me want to kill the woman I love! What keeps me here, why should I stay? Why should we stay?” While with each breath more and more rage seemed to returned to the white alicorn, it only took Chrysalis one look into her eyes though, to see that this was only temporary, nothing more that the last struggle of a dying flame. “And you would have me abandon my people I presume,” Chrysalis asked. “Yes! Why shouldn’t you? Hasn’t what happened today been a lesson to you. No matter what you might think your bond with them means, they will leave you before long!” Celestia was back to screaming, but her voice lacked the white burning rage of the goddess. Chrysalis wasn’t sure if she was relieved, or if this scared her even more. “I...” she tried to reply, only to be interrupted by Celestia. “Must you really continue until I hold your dead body in my hooves? Oh Chrysalis, I love you, but as long as we stay here it just can’t be. Come with me! There are places in this world which can never be reached by mortal ponies,” the alicorn pleaded. “You know as well as I that you can’t run away from your problems,” Chrysalis replied, looking away from the alicorns tear filled eyes. “Really, can’t we? I’m older than even the oldest unicorn, and I command over powers far beyond the reach of most. Tearing apart the veil between worlds and creating a place just for us two, isn’t beyond me.” “That’s not what I’m talking about.” Chrysalis couldn’t help but raise her voice as well. “Then what are you talking about? What’s holding you here?” Celestia screamed even louder. “I thought you would know this best,” the changeling queen replied as her eyes wandered over to where the Element Bearers were standing. The six ponies had only stood by, looking nearly as tired as the princess herself. Especially Twilight looked like she was about to give up ponykind altogether, much like her mentor. “It was from you that I learned that there’s something more than just power, or feeding on the love of others. How about you follow your own teachings now?” Chrysalis reprimanded the mare that had just devastated an half a mountain. “I... I’m just so tired. I don’t think I can stand up against my own little ponies like this.” Celestia said, her shoulders sagging even deeper as the borrowed power that the rage had brought with it, left her again. Chrysalis didn’t know what to reply to that. All she could do was hug her lover, hoping that Celestia would feel that was there for her. Then she noticed something in the distance. “I don’t know. I think, if you give them a chance they’ll be sure to surprise you,” she said with a bit of chuckle. Celestia looked at her confusedly. Her confusion grew even greater when she followed her gaze. --- Approaching the two royals was, what could only be called a procession, but what a procession it was. The ponies that had gathered were all beaten and bruised, their skin burned and their coats stained by the ashes, yet the held themselves with some form of regality. Among them were banner bearers, but whatever flag they were hoisting was wrapped up and hidden. A single slightly chubby green unicorn with a slice of toasted bread for his cutie mark, lead the procession. When they were only a few meters away from the assembled Element Bearers and the two immortals, they stopped. Shakily Celestia rose to her legs, once again summoning the rests of her rage to face whatever the ponies of Canterlot had thought up now. Her voice was ice cold as she spoke, “What do you want now? Have you come to finish us?” As if on cue the ponies fell to their knees. Like a wave the motion went through the ranks, until none remained standing. All of the ponies that had rioted through the gardens, were bowing before Celestia. The green unicorn was the only to raise his head. “We want to apologize.” … “Hah...Haha...hahahahahaheheheahaha...” The laughter hung in the air. Had Celestia gone and slapped the unicorn in the face she couldn’t have left a stronger impact. “Do you see this? Hah,” Celestia guffawed bitterly. “Now that they have seen what I can do, now that their lives are on the line they come crawling back,” she barked, with a spite filled voice. Breadn was sweating bullets. His body was trembling, like crazy and he had nothing to reassure him but the knowledge that Merry was standing only a few steps behind him. “No your majesty,” he said, surprised by how calm his voice sounded. “I still have my doubts about allowing the changelings into Canterlot, but I’m sorry for not trusting you. You have lead us all for years, and sacrificing who knows how much, and the one time that you asked for something from us in return, we threw all those sacrifices in your face. For that I’m sorry.” Celestia was left speechless. A part of her still wanted to be angry, wanted to rage and trash until nothing remained, but seeing the green unicorn standing before her, trembling but still speaking his mind, she found it harder and harder to hold onto her anger. “Er.. I …” Breadn struggled to say the next few words, only for Merry to walk up besides him and pick up where he had left of. “I... that means we, want to show you something, your Highness,” she said. Hopefully everybody stared at the solar diarch. “...fine, show the way,” Celestia replied. It wasn’t clear if the words had actually gotten through to her, or if she was only complying because refusing would have meant more work. Either way Breadn and Merry lead Celestia, Chrysalis and the Element Bearers out of the castle’s courtyard and towards where the hedge maze had originally stood. A wooden stage had been set up, on top of it two wooden poles that held another roled up banner between them. Chrysalis could make out the ponies and changelings she and Celestia had invited to the wedding and that had formed two rows in front of the stage. In addition some royal guards that looked heavily bruised but otherwise fine filled the ranks.  As Chrysalis and Celestia drew closer, the banner bearers went into position, and finally unrolled the flags they had hidden so far. Celestia stopped in her tracks and couldn’t help but chuckle. Meanwhile Breadns hooves smacked loudly against his face as he watched the pictures. All of the flags showed a mixture of Celestia’s sun cutie mark, and Chrysalis shield heraldry, but apparently none of the ponies actually had agreed on which way exactly the two should be combined, or even what shape both symbols had. A few dozen different iterations flanked the aisle through the crowd. Two mares rushed up to Celestia and Chrysalis, handing them their crowns. Or at least they would have, hadn’t their regalia currently been buried under a few tons of stone. But admittedly the flower wreaths looked impressive. It began to dawn on Celestia just what the ponies were trying to do. She shared a look with Chrysalis and made her decision. Together the two immortals walked down the aisle. Twilight rolled her eyes as she saw two stuffy looking Unicorns arguing over two books that she identified as “The rules of Royal matrimony” and “Weddings for Dummies”. With a lavender flash she appeared on the stage. Another bit of magic and the two arguing ponies found themselves dumped into the audience. Twilight search her memory for a bit until she remembered the exact passage from the books she had studied the night before. “Dear Community. Today we have gathered here to witness how two ponies come together to testify their love before the world.” she intonated. For a short moment she had to fight with her own conscience that screamed at the idea of leaving out a part of the ceremony, but a look around her only reassured her that just this once it might be all right not to do everything by the book. “So I ask you Chrysalis of the black swarm: Do you take Celestia of the sun as your wife?” Chrysalis had to force herself not to blurt the answer out as quickly as she could, out of fear of being once again interrupted. She took a deep breath. Looked at Celestia and said, “I do.” Twilight smiled and turned to Celestia. “So I ask you Celestia of the Sun: Do you take Chrysalis of the black Swarm as your wife?” Celestia looked around. The occasional moans of those that had been injured, the smell of burned wood and molten stone in the air, and not to mention the last glow of her sun that she had yet to send back behind the horizon. This wasn’t the wedding she had wanted. Then she looked at Chrysalis. The features of the changeling queen showed anxiousness, and hope. Celestia had to smile, even though the answer should be clear, she still stared at her as if she feared that in the last second she would change her opinion. A tiny spark of life flashed in her eyes. Maybe this was the wedding she wanted after all. “Yes, I do.” The crowd broke into cheers, and Twilight had to scream in order to be heard, “You may kiss the bride.” Chrysalis looked somewhat bashful and slowly brought her muzzle closer to Celestia’s, only for the alicorn to wrap her hooves around her head and draw her in for a deep passionate kiss. Behind them the last banner unfolded.