//------------------------------// // Doom to the Groom // Story: He Who Wields The Lightning // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Radiance applauded along with the rest of the audience as the curtains closed on Twilight and the other actors of Hearth's Warming Eve play, but she headed for backstage instead of leaving the theater like the rest of the ponies. She found the six there arguing with themselves until a gust of wind chilled them all, causing them to laugh at each other. "Hey, Twilight, that was a pretty good play. For a moment, I believed that you guys were actually the characters in the play," Radiance said as she walked over to Twilight, the two hugging each other before Radiance greeted the rest of the mane six. Twilight released the hug and looked at Radiance sadly. "I'm so sorry about what happened to Sunnysmiles," Twilight said with sympathetic eyes before pulling Radiance back into a hug. "I wish I could have been there for you." "It's alright, Twilight, I'm coping as best I can," Radiance said with a shrug, masking how she truly felt. "You girls mind if I steal Twilight for an hour or so?" They waved the two away and the pair left the theater, walking through the snowy streets of Canterlot while looking at all the decorations. "How are things going with your family? I heard from Celestia that Shining Armor was made Captain of the Guard." "Yeah, he sent my mom and me at least ten letters telling us every detail about it," Twilight said with a chuckle as they walked. "He says, though, that the scariest thing that he had to do was meet Teth...or I guess 'Black Adam' as he calls himself now. I still can't believe what happened with Discord. A god of chaos...gone. And he made it look easy." "Don't worry, he might be a 'stick in the mud,' but Teth is still a good guy," Radiance comforted her friend before her eyes fell slightly. "Hey Twilight, you like to collect books right? Do you think I could borrow some of them?" "Hmm, could I loan one of my best friends since I was little some books?" Twilight asked herself as she placed a hoof under her chin, Radiance shaking her head as Twilight smiled at her. "Well I don't see the harm in it. What kind of books do you want to read?" "Anything you have on resurrection spells and the afterlife." Twilight's eyes widened when she heard the request, but Radiance cut her off before she could say anything. "I know what you're going to say, but there is a chance that I can bring her back. I've found...an item that might be able to save her, to bring Sunny back. I have to try Twilight. It's my fault that she died. I couldn't do anything for her. Please." Twilight hesitated for a moment, but then she sighed in resignation and looked at her friend with a smile. "Sure, I guess I can. I hate to think what would happen if I lost my brother," Twilight said with a worried smile. Radiance gave her another quick hug before walking ahead. Twilight looked at her with fear and worry starting to form in her mind. 'It's a good thing that none of my books actually have anything concrete on resurrection. I'm sorry Radiance, but the dead should stay dead.' S=H=A=Z=A=M The mirror reflected the image of the dark pony, but the pony never saw his reflection. All he saw were the possibilities, the endless universes, all of which were filled with the same weakness and pain as his was. But that would change soon--as soon as he could figure out what to do with Black Adam. It had taken months, but he finally had a plan...or at least the beginning of one. "Is it done?" the dark pony asked the unicorn who bowed behind him in the center of a dark room, kneeling down and awaiting his orders. "Yes sir. Chrysalis knows when the marriage will take place and we have arranged a...distraction that should get rid of Adam long enough for us to get the location of the spheres out of one of the princesses." The unicorn answered with a bow of his head while the dark one turned to look at him, yellow eyes narrowing. "She believes that we will share the information with her on their spheres..." "But by then, Adam will have returned and dealt with her," the pony said with a dry chuckle as he turned back to look at the mirror. "I want no mistakes; no chances. Make sure that Chyrsalis' identity is not discovered until she reveals herself, and make sure Black Adam is gone for a full hour. That is all the time we need. Tell the others." The unicorn nodded and vanished into the shadows of the room. 'I once blamed you for all of this world's weakness, Celestia, but now I see that there is weakness wherever there is realty,' the dark one thought silently as he gazed into infinity. 'But that is why ponies like me were created, to destroy the weak and leave only the strong. This is what you have failed to grasp about me...and what you have also failed to grasp about Black Adam.' S=H=A=Z=A=M "I am sorry about you having to see that, Teth. I don't know why Twilight has been so on edge lately," Celestia said with a sigh as she, her sister, Black Adam and the other Elements of Harmony left the throne room, leaving Twilight alone to deal with her issues. "I guess it could be the fact that her brother is getting married, but she and Cadence got along so well in the past. I don't what has changed." "Neither do I," Black Adam replied, but he kept his eyes on the door with slight concern. He hadn't know Cadence long, but something about her magic felt...off, like she was trying to mask something. "Well, there are still many more things that we must get ready for the wedding, so we should go get those finished," Celestia said with a smile as she walked along, humming wedding music to herself. "Oh, have you seen Radiance? She wasn't in her room and I can't find her anywhere in the castle. I'm beginning to worry." "I am sure she is fine," he responded. But he silently thought afterwards, 'She rarely leaves the room with the spheres anymore.' He and Celestia parted ways from the others, heading towards the entryway where the guests were arriving to greet them. A faint trace of dark magic flashed across Adam's senses and he spun so suddenly towards where he felt the magic that he blew Celestia off her hooves. "I am sensing a very dark magic, near the edge of the land." "What kind of magic?" Celestia asked, but Adam shook his head as he floated off the ground. "There is only one way to find out. I should be back soon, but if not, start the ceremonies without me." He shot off without saying anything else, rocketing across the Equestrian skies with speeds that had once put Rainbow Dash in her place. He reached the town within a few seconds of taking off, but to his shock, he found the city covered in a black sphere of magic that prevented him from sensing the ponies inside. 'This should not be too much of a problem,' Adam thought as he summoned his strength and slammed his fists into the black barrier, watching as a ripple spread across it before it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. He smiled and flew through the pieces only to find a giant fist waiting for him on the other side. Adam caught the fist with his hands, and he felt the creature that threw the punch trying to overpower him, getting a chuckle out of Adam. "You must be the lightning bringer," a massive, stone titan-like creature said, as Black Adam looked past the fist to see a stone face with blue energy running through it looking, at him. "You are far smaller than I thought you would be. What kind of god is so tiny and pathetic." "Maybe only one god, but I am not one god!" Adam roared as he lifted his hand to summon a bolt of magical power that struck the hand. The Titan backed away as it clutched its wrist while Adam threw himself into the gut of the creature, sending it skidding through the streets and through buildings before he threw it into the air. "I am six," he said to it as it crashed into the streets below him. "You are indeed strong. That makes this interesting," the Titan said as he rose back up, towering over both Adam and the building before it let loose a roar, a roar that was followed by a blast of bluish magic that consumed Adam, who threw his hands in front of his face to catch the magical blast. The blast turned to a beam that pushed Adam into the streets, where he could feel the concrete give way under his feet as he was pushed by the power. "But you are still not as powerful as me. I have been alive for well over five hundred years, mastering my powers. You are outmatched." "That is funny, because I have been alive for five thousand!" Adam replied before placing his hands in front of the lightning bolt on his chest, channeling his electrical magic into his hands. Once they were filled with magical power, all he had to do was aim his hands at the giant and watch as the godly lightning cast itself through the Titan's arm. "And my power far surpasses yours." The Titan clutched at where his arm used to be as he looked down at Adam, who slowly floated into the air so he could look the Titan in the eyes. "You are not from this land," the Titan observed with interest, not fear, in his eyes, which was not what Adam was expecting. "You wield a power that nothing can match, not here anyway. Yet you are not a king nor a god. Why?" Adam aimed his arm at the Titan before he began to ask himself the same question. Why was he not ruling over this land? He had been a ruler back home and... 'That is right, because I rule over my people. And I no longer have a people,' he silently thought as lightning crackled along his arm, merging into a torrent of power at the end of his hand. 'All I have now is my vengeance and my promise. And I will keep both of them.' "Be gone." The lightning flashed from his finger tips and drove itself through the head of the creature, separating it from its shoulders and sending it crashing into the buildings beneath it. The body began to fall as well and the ponies all began to scream, until Adam flew beneath it and lifted it out of the way with one hand. "You are safe now," he said in a strong voice to the ponies, but he found that while some of them cheered for him, all of the others were too busy helping those who had been trapped in the rubble, or comforting those who had lost loved ones in the battle. Adam said nothing else as he flew the body towards the stars, where with a push he sent it floating into the unknown. 'It feels odd saving strangers again, almost as if...it reminds me of when I first started as a champion.' He floated back down into the atmosphere and looked at the position of the sun, finding that he had been gone longer than he had wished to. So with a burst of speed he headed back towards Canterlot. S=H=A=Z=A=M Celestia panted heavily as she tried to remain on her hooves, but from the blast of magic she had just taken, she considered it a miracle that she could stand at all. Across the throne room from her stood a triumphant Chrysalis, while behind her in the sky was her changeling army attacking what had been a peaceful city. All of the ponies were silent as they watched the battle taking place in front of the altar, all of them waiting to see what would happen. "Are you ready to give up yet, Princess?" Chrysalis laughed as she stalked forward, Celestia spitting onto the floor in response. "That is brave of you, but you cannot fight me. With Shining Armor's love, me and my children have more than enough power to destroy you and take this kingdom." She motioned to Shining as she said this, who had a blank look on his face despite Cadence trying to snap him out of it. "I will never surrender to you. None of us will," Celestia spat as she fired a beam of magic at Chrysalis, who laughed menacingly as she too fired a beam of green magic into Celestia's. Celestia poured all of her might into the attack, but slowly Chrysalis began to push her back. "Now then, before I end this, are you going to tell me where those two treasures of yours are?" Chrysalis yelled, but Celestia remained silent while she started to get pushed back. Chrysalis let out another laugh as she poured all of her power into the attack, pushing Celestia's magic right back into her horn and sending her flying with an explosion of magic. 'No. I can't fail,' Celestia thought weakly, while she felt herself get sent flying, closing her eyes from the pain. 'Not again. Not--' She expected to hit the ground, but instead she felt herself hit something even harder. She spent a moment wondering what it could be before she felt electrical magic flowing through her. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up into the face of an annoyed Black Adam. "Teth," she weakly whispered, as he looked from her to Chrysalis and then to the invasion outside, shaking his head with a sigh. "Thirty minutes, Celestia. I was gone for thirty minutes," he said to her in an annoyed tone. "And in that time, Canterlot has been overrun with insect-like creatures, the groom is hypnotized and unable to perform his job, and you are being flung across your own throne room by...whatever that is. In thirty minutes." "I'm sorry, she's just so..." Celestia muttered as she tried to stand up, but cried out in pain as she leaned against Adam. "Stay here and rest," he said to her as he picked her up again and flew her next to Twilight and the others, before turning with a look of confidence that made Celestia's face a little red. "I will deal with this." "Okay." "No! They said you weren't supposed to be back yet," Chrysalis muttered so quietly that nopony except Adam could hear it. "But that doesn't matter, I still have enough power to destroy--" A backhand from Adam sent her flying clear out of the throne room and to the other side of Canterlot, causing all in attendance to gasp at Black Adam's power. Adam headed towards the window from which he had sent Chrysalis flying, but he stopped when he saw Shining Armor. "Wake up," he said as he shocked Shining's horn, causing the unicorn to yelp as Adam destroyed the magic controlling him. He groaned and looked around before getting a tackle hug from Cadence, the sight of the two "lovebirds" caused all of the ponies to smile. Even Adam felt himself fighting the urge to smile as well. "Continue on with the ceremonies. I will take care of them." He shot out the window as he said this and split two changelings down the middle with ease, before looking into the streets to see what he was up against. 'There are a large number of them, but they are out in the open and easy to see now,' he thought as he sent blasts of lightning into any changelings that entered his gaze, turning them into ash on the spot. He spotted a family about to be struck down by a pair of insects, but the bugs were quickly paste under his boots. "You need to head somewhere safe," he said to the awestruck ponies before flying off. "You two should be ashamed," he snarled as he freed a pair of guards from the green webbing in which they had been trapped, the two thanking him as he tore the rest of it off of them. "Instead of thanking me, you should be spending this time helping others. Go." The two took off as Adam once again took to the skies, narrowing his eyes as he saw Chrysalis pulling herself out of a pile of rubble. He landed right in front of her with his arms crossed and gaze cold while she, in turn, looked up at him, fear in her eyes. "Y-you're a monster," she whispered before firing a beam of green magic into his chest, only to watch it shatter against his suit, not even leaving a mark on the golden lightning bolt. Adam grabbed her by the throat and hoisted her into the air, slowly crushing his grip as she tried in vain to break free. "You attack innocent lives, try to kill a bride during her wedding day and then try to kill the leader of a nation, and yet somehow I'm the monster," Adam smirked as he tightened his grip, cracking her exoskeleton. "But now I will do to you what I do to all monsters. Crush you with--" "Let her go!" Adam felt a small blast of magic hit him in the side of his head, and he slowly to look at his attacker, finding a small changeling that looked like a little Chrysalis standing before him, terror in her eyes, along with strength. "Let my Mom go." "No...Insectum, RUN!" Chrysalis yelled with more fear in her voice than Adam had ever heard before. Insectum swallowed her fear and fired another blast at Black Adam, who moved out of the way and grabbed Insectum as well, lifting her up to glare into her eyes. "You may be a child, but you have entered the battlefield," Adam said coldly as he tightened his grip on the both of them, causing Insectum to whimper. "And there are consequences for doing so." "Please...kill me if you must, but let her go," Chrysalis begged, gaining Adam's attention. He looked into her eyes, eyes filled with fear for what he assumed was her daughter, and his mouth thinned a bit as his eyes softened, for a moment. Then he brought his arm back and hurled Insectum off into the distance. "She can fly. She will live," Black Adam said to Chrysalis, who looked at him with a look of gratitude before Adam tightened his grip on her throat. "But I cannot say the same for you." He raised his hand into the air and summoned forth the lightning. Magic lightning struck his hand and channeled through his body, then into Chrysalis. How watched as the power coursed through her body, and in a few moments, she ceased to move. He then shot to the sky before coming down in front of the largest cluster of changelings that he could see, tossing the body of their queen in front of them. "Your queen is dead, and if you do not wish to join her, leave," Adam snarled at them. But to his surprise, the changelings all looked down at their queen with heartbroken sorrow in their eyes. Then, in an instant, they all looked at him not with fear, but with wrath. And with an unholy scream they all hurled themselves at Adam, unafraid of him or his power. Adam watched them attack before a tiny smile broke on his face. "Loyal to the end. You have earned my respect." And then he called down the lightning. S=H=A=Z=A=M Shining and Cadence danced with their friends in the center of the garden, while other ponies partied around them, celebrating the happiest moment of their lives. Despite most of their closest friends being there and that they had invited him to join in the fun, Adam preferred to stay as far away from them as possible. He had spent the rest of the day combing the city for changelings, annihilating any that crossed his path. But there was another reason, a reason that he kept to himself as he looked over the city from one of the balconies. "All of that celebrating and you prefer to be up here by yourself?" Adam turned his head to see Celestia fly up beside him, a smile on her face as she landed. He turned away and continued to watch the town, Celestia's smile fell as she walked over to him. "Is something the matter? You haven't said much since the attack." "It is a trifling matter," he said calmly, but Celestia lifted an eyebrow at him before smirking. "That is the first time, I believe, that you have told me a direct lie,and I must say you are bad at it," Celestia chuckled. "What is the matter, Teth?" "It is Black Adam. And...I am simply reminded of my family," he muttered before motioning to the ponies still celebrating. Celestia waited for him to go on, but he ceased speaking there. She tapped him with her wing and motioned for him to go on, getting him to snarl slightly. "There is not much to say. My wife and children were killed by an evil invader, and I used the powers of Sha...the magic lightning, to defeat him. I tried to be a leader of my land, but by the combined efforts of Doomsday, an unstoppable monster, and an organization named C.AD.M.U.S, I lost my nation as well." "I am sorry, Teth, I did not know how tortured your life was," Celestia said sadly before looking at him with curiosity. "But what do you mean by, you were banished?" "In my grief, I slaughtered millions of innocents to find those who had killed my wife," he admitted while clenching his fist, not needing to look at Celestia to know that there was a look of horror on her face. "Until the...heroes of Earth defeated me and I was stripped of my power. And that was only the first time that happened." Celestia looked at him with uncertainty for a few moments before she sat down beside him, looking up at Black Adam with blank eyes. "Alright, tell me your story...from the beginning." Adam took in a deep breath, preparing to tell her five thousand years worth of suffering.