A Knight's Aria

by chillbook1

Chapter 9

Lady Vocal summoned chains around the trio’s hooves, binding them to the floor. She took Wub-Wubs’ sword and cape, and she covered Derpy’s eyes with a rag. She threw Wub-Wubs’ gear to the side and laughed maniacally.

“All of these years, just to be saved by my own creation! My only mistake, no less.” said Vocal, laughing.

“Milady? What…?” said Wub-Wubs.

“She’s evil, stupid!” said Vinyl, struggling to free herself.

“This one is sharp, but not exactly fair.” said Vocal, pacing back and forth. “Is it evil for me to clean up my toys?”

“Huh?” said Derpy in confusion. “This is about toys?”

“I’ve been locked away here for far too long. Long enough to forget that idiocy such as this exists. You mare. You’re friends, your family, your loved ones, your comrades, your enemies! All of you are my toys! I made a mess, and I am trying to correct it.”

“Mess? What mess?” asked Wub-Wubs. “You couldn’t possibly fail at anything, milady.”

“I did fail, though. Muussa was a failure.” said Vocal. “You were at war, against my wishes. I had to punish you for your disobedience. Your war was coming to an end, but it was too late. My design was flawed, so I set out to start afresh.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I wanted to erase your kind from my Muussa and make a new people. But the question was simply how to destroy you without hurting the land? And then it hit me! I would let you finish your war.”

“You wanted them to fight?” asked Vinyl.

“Not at first. But when it got started, it had to end. I wanted to see the clans destroy each other, but the flames of war were dying down.” said Vocal. “I had to rekindle it, add a spark, so to speak. I faked my death to restart the fighting, but I… miscalculated. I was supposed to re-form in 3 years. I didn’t return to consciousness until recently. I leave with my creations warring at each other and when I come back, all of a sudden there’s an entire different species defiling my land!”

“That’s what the shadow is for.” said Wub-Wubs, finally understanding. “The shadow was going to erase all of Equestria so that you could make Muussa again.”

“Yes, that is the purpose of my Shroud. It’s working amazingly, by the way.” laughed Vocal. “The cities you call Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Appleloosa are all gone, and the Shroud is spreading quickly to your capital.”

“Lady Celestia will stop you.” said Wub-Wubs.

“Silence, foal! You call yourself a loyal Muussist, yet you go out and you worship your false gods!” shouted Vocal. “There is only one ‘Lady’ and she is the one who will destroy you all!”

“Wait a moment! The Opera of Ash was your doing?”

“Of course.”

“You are the reason my parents are dead? My brothers? Baritona?” said Wub-Wubs angrily.

“And you three are next. As soon as I remove the Dimension key from this insolent little mare, I will add you to my collection and then, Equestria will have no chance of stopping me!”

“Collection?” asked Derpy.

“Of course.” said Vocal, rustling Derpy’s mane. “I couldn’t just kill you all. That would be… short-sighted. I’m a creator, some would say an artist, and your kind may be useful inspiration later down the road. The Shroud doesn’t destroy, just archives. The Shroud makes contact, spreads the molecules into the air, and traps them in the smoke, which I will retrieve for a nice, easy clean up.”

“Why are you telling us this?” asked Vinyl. “Why not just ‘archive’ us and be done with it?”

“I need you for the Key. The colt is not a danger to me, and the pegasus has no power over her eyes.” said Vocal, chuckling a little. “Only a Muussist could defeat me, and the only one here is yours truly.”

“What about me?” asked Sir Wub-Wubs.

“Only a true Muussist, not the traitorous filth you are. You pledged your allegiance to me, but it was all false words and empty promises. You care not for me, but instead for yourself, how to better yourself and advance.”

“That’s not true! We cried when we thought you passed! We ended our own lives!”

“That’s exactly it! You broke under the pain. You didn’t endure, you didn’t persevere, you just gave up! You should’ve tried to avenge me, or to revive me, but instead you just rolled over and died!”

“I’m sorry, milady. I’m sorry for how I’ve wronged you. Please, allow me a chance to correct my blunder.” said Wub-Wubs.

“What’s the point? As far as I’m concerned, there was only one true Muussist, besides me, and that was Muussa himself! Muussa was perfect, kind and warm and strong. He loved and adored me, my perfect pet, my friend. He met his end protecting me from a gruesome creature, one who would have surely killed me. He was perfect and I wanted to replace him.”

“Lady Vocal.” said Sir Wub-Wubs. “Please. I beg of you, give me one more chance to serve you properly, milady. I promise, I will be just as loyal as Muussa, just as protecting.”

“Really?” asked Vocal. She hovered Sir Wub-Wubs’ magic, dubstep sword over to him and pressed it into his hoof. “Prove it.”

“How?”

“Kill yourself. Kill yourself to show your allegiance.”

Sir Wub-Wubs, without hesitation, removed the blade from it’s sheath, PON-3 FINAL3 playing from his weapon. He pressed the blade against his throat, shot Vinyl a smile then began to drag the blade across his neck, cutting deeply into his throat .

“Enough.” said Vocal, stopping the blade and healing his wound with her golden aura. She pointed her horn at his hooves, shattering the shackles into dust. “Come, child. We have work to do.”

“What may I have the honor of helping you with, milady?” asked Sir Wub-Wubs, bowing before his creator.

“Obviously, I need to be on the surface to collect the Shroud, and to spread more. Unfortunately, I need the mare in order to do that. She has the Dimension Key deep in her heart and I need it out. As humbling and degrading as it is, I need your help for such a task. You see, the magic of they Key is fairly new to me, and I cannot fail. If the Key is lost, then I am trapped here forever.”

“You need me to remove the Key from Scratch? That will take some time, milady. A few hours at least. I’m sorry I can work no faster, but that magic is complex and intricate, and one wrong move will destroy both Vinyl and the Key.”

“Take your time.” said Vocal, dragging Hades across the floor. The chains broke away as she hefted him out of the door, shutting it behind her. Sir Wub-Wubs raised Vinyl into the air with his magic, a smile spreading across her face.

“Nice one! She’s gone!” said Vinyl. “Let us out so we can bail!”

“No can do, Scratch.” said Wub-Wubs, pushing Vinyl’s back to the wall. He magically rearranged her shackles, chaining her hind legs to the ceiling and her front legs to the ground.

“What are you doing, Wubs?! Let me down from here!”

“No. Lady Vocal gave me a task and I plan on completing it to the best of my abilities. Now sit still. I don’t want to hurt you unnecessarily.”

“Sir Wub-Wubs?” asked Derpy. “Did you… betray us?”

“It’s not that simple, Derpy. I wouldn’t expect either of you to understand.” said Wub-Wubs. He pressed his horn against Vinyl’s chest, right over her heart, bathing them both in a blue aura. The black staining Vinyl’s coat slowly faded, her eyes reverting back to their natural color underneath her shades.

“Are you seriously giving us up for her?” asked Vinyl, giving another fruitless attempt at escape.

“Yes. How could I not? Do you realise who she is? ‘The All-Maker’ is not an honorary title. She has created me, and my people. I cannot deny her any request.”

“But she’s using you, dummy!”

“I know. That is her will.”

“You’re really going to sit there and let her destroy Equestria? The place you worked for over a thousand years protecting?” asked Vinyl. “You’re going to let her kill Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? You’re refusing your destiny here!”

“My destiny is to serve my Lady. Lady Vocal is my Lady once more.” said Wub-Wubs. “And she’s not going to kill them. You heard the All-Maker. They will be archived, frozen in suspended animation.”

“Them, yeah, but what about us? What is she going to do to us?” asked Vinyl. Sir Wub-Wubs remained silent, concentrating on his work.

Lady Vocal dragged Hades’ sleeping body out of the castle and down it’s hard, hot stairs, none too gently. Hades’ head bounced off of each of the stairs, resulting in a concussion or two. Lady Vocal smiled, knowing that blunt trauma would be the least of his worries. She brought him over to Styx River, the judgement place of all spirits who entered Tartarus. All except her, of course.

“How many have you drowned in these waters?” asked Vocal, knowing that even if Hades could answer, he would bite his tongue. “How many souls have you sent to your Fields? Where would you go, Hades? Would you be allowed into Paradisa? Or would you be subjected to the Fields of Punishment?”

“Asphodel.” he muttered, still not fully awake.

“Ah, yes. The Fields of Asphodel. You think you would have the fortune of wandering aimlessly for all of eternity? I would imagine that Asphodel is even worse than the Fields of Punishment. You trot and trot until your hooves start to bleed, and when they bleed, you start to crawl until your knees give out. By that time, your hooves are all better, so you get up and start walking. Is that what awaits you, Hades? Sounds like hell. Enjoy.”

Vocal grabbed Hades by the mane and inched him closer to the River. She took his head and shoved it into the dark, purple water. Careful not to get herself wet, she inched Hades into the water, watching as his skin melted and evaporated into thick, grey fog. She smiled and turned towards the castle, where her last servant was hard at working freeing her from this cage.

“Perhaps the child wasn’t such a mistake.” she said.

Sir Wub-Wubs sat in silence, his magic feeling around Vinyl’s soul, searching for the Key. An hour passed, Vinyl’s rage and Derpy’s sorrow both growing at exponential rates. Just when Vinyl was about to blow a gasket, Lady Vocal returned, but Hades was nowhere to be found.

“How far along is the process?” asked The All-Maker.

“Very close now, milady. Only a few more minutes.” said Wub-Wubs. “What happens when the Key is out?”

“We go to the surface and collect the Shroud. By that time, it should have finished it’s job and I can begin New Muussa. Perhaps I should name it after you.”

“What about Vinyl and Derpy?”

“We kill them, of course. An Espy is dangerous enough on her own, and now she has access to a Dimension Key? If she ever learned how to use her eyes, we’d be in deep trouble.”

“You are going to kill them?” asked Sir Wub-Wubs. “I thought you would say that.”

“See? She’s going to kill us!” said Vinyl. “Are you going to let her?”

“I cannot disobey my Lady.” said Wub-Wubs simply.

“Look at that!” laughed Vocal. “Finally, a true act of loyalty! My child, you a truly a masterpiece, worthy of your sacred name of-”

“Another thing that I cannot do is allow you to hurt my friends!” said Wub-Wubs. His horn glowed bright purple, a shockwave blasting out of it. The wave hit Vocal in the chest, sending her flying into the wall, and melted the handcuffs confining the mares. Sir Wub-Wubs removed Derpy’s blindfold and dragged her off of the ground.

“Traitor!” said Vocal, rising to her hooves.

“I am no traitor, Lady Vocal. I do intend on serving you, just not like this. My friends will not be harmed!”

“Wubs! Let’s go!” said Vinyl, grabbing Wub-Wubs by the hoof. Derpy rushed into Lady Vocal, knocking her back down to the ground and buying them precious seconds to escape. They ran at full speed down the stairs and back to Lady Vocal’s bridge across Styx River. Sir Wub-Wubs willed his horn to glow and began to sing his father’s song.
“Intruders beware of what you’ll find in here, you are foolish to step through these walls!” sang Wub-Wubs. “By Vocal I swear, I will bring you great fear and send you all down Hades’ halls! Lady, please guide us, protect us, disguise us, from those who would bring us all harm! Please grant us your wisdom, your skill and precision, your wit and your devilish charm! Beneath, our mighty hoof, enemies will all fall, and act, as proof… of the power of Treble’s Great Wall!”
A large, blue wall of energy formed behind him, stretching across to each end of the River. He ushered Derpy and Vinyl across the bridge and back to the entrance, Wub-Wubs humming and whistling complicated songs all along the way. They made it to the staircase just as they heard Vocal slamming into Treble’s Wall, chipping and shattering the magical energy.
“We have enough time. We’re already almost there, right?” said Wub-Wubs.

“Yeah. We can see the crack from here! Let’s go!” said Vinyl, dragging him to the exit. Wub-Wubs pushed Derpy out first, then Vinyl, he himself staying just inside Tartarus.

“What are you doing?” asked Vinyl. “Come on!”

“I’m staying.” said Wub-Wubs.

“Huh?”

“I’m staying in Tartarus with Lady Vocal. This is our only chance of her staying here. I have to collapse the portal to reverse the Shroud and to lock her in here.”

“Then come out here and do it!” shouted Vinyl desperately.

“It can only be done from the inside, I’m afraid. I will be locked her for all of eternity, serving my Lady the way I was meant to.” said Sir Wub-Wubs. “Go. Tell Lady Celestia what happened, so that she doesn’t pin the blame on Hades. History should at least have an accurate retelling of what happened.”

“I’m not leaving you, Wubs!” sobbed Vinyl, tears flowing down her face.

“Aria.” he said simply.

“What?”

“My name. My name is Aria.”

“Hey, Aria. I’m Vinyl Scratch.” she sniffed. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” said Aria, at peace at last. “Go now, Vinyl Scratch. Go home and be safe.”

“Is there anything you want to say before I go?” asked Vinyl.

“Trust only that which you can see. If you cannot see, then trust your ears. If you cannot hear, then trust your heart. If you cannot love, then all hope is lost.”

“Here.” said Vinyl, removing her shades and revealing her deep, red eyes. She put them onto Sir Wub-Wubs face, shielding his eyes. “Those are my favorite shades. Don’t forget me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Scratch.” said Aria, his horn glowing neon purple. Black smoke shot from the outside towards Tartarus, entering the crack and hiding him from view. The fissure began to close, sucking in all of the Shroud like a vacuum. Just as the crack shut completely, Vinyl could hear one last word.

“Goodbye.”