(Present Chapter 32): Wake for the Living
"Shiny? Are you ready?" Shining Armor hears from outside his room, the voice easily piercing the thin walls.
"Oh, uhh, yes dear!" he responds, adjusting his helmet and trying to open the door to let her in.
As his magic begins turning the doorknob, he feels a sudden surge of magic wrap around it and yank it open, startling him.
"Good. I am as well," the towering mare says, walking into the room with bold confidence that matches her sparking, hot-pink ethereal mane and height, almost twice his own.
She looks him over with an intense gaze, pausing at each part of his ceremonial armor.
As the alicorn's gaze rises up to his eyes, he glances down with a blush, pretending to examine her hooves. The thin, feather-like scales trailing up them have magically spread all the way up to her chest, he notes. One of the signs he had long since learned meant she was extremely stressed.
She smirks at his reaction.
"I hope we can get this over with quickly. I'm sure you are nearly less of a fan of this than I am," she mutters, looking away.
Shining Armor nuzzles her neck, catching her attention. "It'll go quickly. Then we can get back to the wedding plans?" he attempts questioningly.
With a bit of relief, he notices the red-pink scales slowly recede back down to her cannons and fetlocks.
"You always know just what to say," she finally admits, before roughly, playfully bumping him aside with a feathery clawed wing. "Let's go Shiny," the ceremonial princess says, looking back at her little hubby with a loving glance.
"Yes Cadence," he says, following the Longma-Alicorn out of his room quickly, trying to keep up with the mare's longer stride as they walked to the courtyard where Luna and Celestia were holding the "Funeral" of Weiss Noir.
'At least, it might as well be one, with how sappy Aunt Celestia and Luna are about this mess,' Cadence thinks, rolling her eyes.
A shadowed stallion in a thick cloak walks down the indestructible cobblestone roads leading into New Canterlot, glancing at the various dubious characters that were making the pilgrimage to the ceremony being held by the Equestrian Princesses.
For a moment, his eyes two other cloaked figures, and smirks at them.
'Ah ah, wouldn't want to blow all of our covers, now would we?' he thinks to himself, him and the Zebra dressed up as a priestess staring one another down for a moment before deciding that their dealings didn't warrant breaking their disguises.
As he passes by a bunch of earth ponies hauling gigantic bricks and more indestructible boulders to repair and pave the foundations that would soon be an entirely rebuilt and renewed city, he takes the time to note the other individual, a mare in a wheelchair being pushed by a blank-faced cretin of a pegasus who fails to notice or care about his gaze.
The one in the wheelchair, however, does. Her various missing limbs long since healed take nothing away from the ageless look in her eyes, one filled with bitter disdain. She doesn't even know who he is, and she already hates him.
'Perhaps it's that we all seem to have had the same idea for our outfits?' he thinks to himself. He finds himself grateful for Luna's utter ineptitude upon her return, one that allowed him and several of his troupe to join the proceedings as "Descendants of the noble Longma".
Not that Black Angel held a shred of sympathy for the mad lord, or any care for their plans to 'redeem' him, but he did have a purpose in coming here, ever since his Materia was stolen and eaten by that foolish spirit during their spat with Weiss.
In the middle of what once was the crater left in Canterlot's place, there was a massive statue of glassy stone, a purple obsidian structure that seemed all too garish and grim in the middle of what would surely be another pastel nightmare at the hooves of the royal architects, once they began planning to place a city where now there was nothing but flat stone.
He noted the differences between this new statue, and the one that once held lord Weiss's magic lamp. The first and most obvious one being the difference in its plaque. Rather than the bold and appealing title of "The Adversary", it now held the boring and inaccurate moniker of "Weiss Noir : The Sage of Darkness".
With a shrug, Black Angel dismissed the new engraving at its base. If even the majority of Griffonkind failed to remember what Weiss had done to deserve his old title, then he saw little reason to remember it either.
The subject matter of the statue itself was of course, the madpony himself, knelt down in repose with each of his six limbs poised in various positions, ranging from the fist holding up his chin, to the one scratching the top of his head, and the four remaining ones holding various items.
Rather than his lamp, this time, the statue held up two books with quills poised above them in two more hands, one of the books made of marble, carefully worked into the grip of the obsidian hand, and the other left in the same material as the rest of the statue.
Hanging around the statue was a small crowd, made up of the various Chapter Black members who hadn't been successfully associated with anything criminal, as well as various ponies he didn't recognize. The Elements of Harmony were there as well, fitting their nosy little task as the princess's lapdogs.
Black Angel merely held himself at the back of the crowd with the other hopeless fools claiming the right to bear witness to what he is sure was meant to be a more private affair. Distant descendants of his various Councilmen, no doubt, or ponies conniving enough to fake the ancestral papers.
Upon seeing the chariots of the princesses slowly arriving to the site, the shadowy stallion pulls his hood tighter, and prepares a thick coating of enchanted sugar around his hooves, in case he needed to make a quick escape. He noticed the Zebra in Priestess Garb smile in a malevolent way, before schooling her expression into something more sober.
He merges into the crowd as they land, and watches carefully as they slowly make their way in front of the statue.
Luna felt conflicted, as she stood in front of the individuals who had chosen to be present for the unveiling of this statue.
Celestia may have been resolute to see it through, but Luna was the one to have laid the plans for Weiss's imprisonment all those years ago.
It felt like betrayal. Her sister was eager to agree with her plan, gleeful at the idea of being able to return Weiss to sanity one day, if they could only keep him trapped long enough to destroy Sombra in his stead. Celestia hated him enough, and in the right ways to feel somewhat guiltless at the idea of denying Weiss his revenge.
Luna did not.
She would be the first to speak. Celestia wouldn't speak at all, despite her usual proclivity to speeches in the modern era.
The alicorn stepped forwards, looking over the familiar faces in the crowd. Weiss's mercenaries, Tempest Shadow, and the hedgehogs under her command. Zecora, the only child of his dearest friend. Sunset Shimmer, the pony he had saved in another time.
"Subjects. We are gathered here to honor a sacrifice, one made by an individual who had no impetus to do so, save the goodness in his heart," Luna begins.
"Since taking charge of the Shadow Realm of ancient times, he was forced to be many things for the ponies who followed him," she begins, speaking loudly to all the people gathered.
"He was a sword," she says, glancing to the statue.
"A shield," she glances back to the crowd, who awkwardly stand around, most of them having never actually met Weiss.
"A teacher," her attention turns to Sunset, who looks genuinely regretful.
"A scoundrel," to Celestia, who stares at the lamp, heedless of her sister's words.
"A ruler," to Tempest Shadow, who looks torn.
She looks inwards. "And more besides," she explains quietly.
"Weiss Noir gave himself to darkness, wounded and destroyed by loss. And yet, even in that wretched form, he assembled together the black feelings in his heart into something resembling good, and made a sacrifice for Equestria."
She begins to pace around the monument as she speaks. "Perhaps, it is merely my sentimentality ascribing to him what he does not possess. He claimed to have done it from mere spite, and yet... Weiss made a sacrifice to get the Elements of Harmony to their bearers. He forged from what was in his black heart the desire to do good in that moment, and sacrificed something I know now to be more precious to him than his own life. The only thing precious to him that yet bound him to this world, he tossed aside for us all."
"His revenge," Princess Luna explains, causing a murmur in the crowd, as she pulls out the magical lamp from where it was kept nearby, placing it at the base of the statue where all can see it.
"Weiss Noir will not be freed from his imprisonment yet. This prison we have kept him in was once a punishment, perhaps, but now, it is our reward," she attempts, forcing down the bitter sting of what feels to her like a lie.
"He spent his life obsessed with revenge, and, if allowed to pursue it, he would destroy himself to obtain it. This, I will not allow, no matter how much it pains me. On the day Sombra, the ancient tyrant of the Crystal Empire, is destroyed by our hoof instead of his, that day will be when we set him free. That day, we will save him from this wretched destiny, and I, Princess Luna, will see his soul mended, if it requires eternity to achieve."
She glances down for a moment, a brief instant of weakness. "He may hate me for this gift, as may some of you who see his vengeance as righteous, but I will pay that price to see him live. Hatred is an old friend, in that respect," she finishes, stepping aside.
After a moment of slow walking, she pauses, and returns her attention to the crowd one final time.
"And know this ye ponies, the day of Sombra's end..."
"Is fast approaching." she booms with menace, before finally returning to her sister's side.
Celestia looks to Cadence next to her, the mare standing an inch or so taller than her "Aunt".
She wanted the Princess of Love to make a statement of her own, and said as much before, but now, seeing the look on the princess's face, she realizes it would be a poor decision to force the matter, her fellow alicorn looked uncharacteristically stone-faced, and her scales had grown.
She looks to the Zebra Priestess, who insisted on giving a statement of her own, and had the letters from Weiss to prove that they too had bonded at some point. Celestia didn't recognize her, but knew that in Weiss's brief months of freedom, he had more than managed to deal with many ponies in secret.
The zebra, seeing nobody else making their own approach, walks to where Luna stood.
"Good speech. A bit loony, but it star-ted us off nicely. A well-mooning sentiment," the Zebra begins, making Luna's face contort with disgust at the poor-taste of the zebra's puns.
Celestia raises a wing, blocking her sister, something was wrong.
"That's princesses for you, they'd never say say anything ali-corny at a time like this," she smirks, turning to face the statue of Weiss.
So, I'd like to start my speech about this statuesque individual by pointing out the obvious. Lord Weiss Noir is evil. Evil with a capital 'E'. Some of the things this rock-solid guy did should have gotten him stoned, if you glass-k me."
The priestess jabs an elbow at the statue, leaning up against it. "Get it?"
"What is the meaning of this? If you think I will allow you to clown all over this-" Luna attempts, pushing past her sister towards the punny Zebra.
"Somber affair?" the Zebra interrupts, waggling her eyebrows.
It isn't even a good pun, out of place, and barely recognizable and yet, Celestia can see the smug, self satisfied look of a Zebra who feels particularly clever. The dangerous kind.
As Luna ignites her horn, the Zebra turns to the crowd, twirling Weiss's brass lamp around her hoof. "Now, me? I'm an old friend of the Brass-tard. And I'm not just blowing smoke up your asses when I say he's downright wick-ed" she insists, reaching behind her in such a way that Luna's blast of magic passes right around the mare.
She glances at the inert lamp. "Not exactly the brightest, but hey, what can you do? Before I go, though, I'd love to leave you all enlightened."
Pulling a potion from behind her back, the priestess rips off her disguise, her eyes igniting in a vile green color.
"Get her!" Luna shouts, those capable of fighting rushing towards the laughing Zebra, spells and soldiers already in flight to get her from all sides. She dodges them all with loud laughter, slipping over bodies and under spells as she continues to speak.
"I am Councilmare Malusi, Loyal Servant of Weiss Noir, and the only pun-ishment he will be getting... is mine!" she cackles, throwing down the bottle and flooding the area with bright blue smoke that explodes from it.
"Consider this... Bail."
As the smoke clears thanks to Luna's erupting, terrifying magic creating a powerful wind, she looks around frantically, panic shining through as she fails to spot Weiss Noir's lamp, or the one who stole it.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" she shouts, desperate tears already breaking through her mask as Celestia and the others scramble to mobilize, weaker ponies already beginning to feel the effects of some kind of Poison-Joke-like toxin causing various chaotic effects.
Cadence tromps towards the guardhouse with Shining Armor, only for a crippled mare to be wheeled in front of her, the unicorn glaring at the princess as the pony pushing her along stares disinterestedly.
"I have urgent business to attend to," Cadence says quickly, trying to walk around the ponies as she ignores them. The guard needs to be given orders immediately to catch that Zebra before she does something everypony will regret.
"I know, and we know where she has gone," the mare says, making the duo pause.
"Who are you?" Cadence insists, her sparking hair crackling for a moment with dangerous pink arcs.
She wheezes a breath. "I am Chrysalis, and we wish to help you prevent The Anathema's escape," the mare says, green flames erupting from her body as she and her cohort reveal their true forms, one bug-like pony that seems otherwise normal and healthy and...
The Queen of the Changelings herself, so riddled with holes and scars that it defies reason that she is still alive at all. A thick stone mantle around her neck bears the Crystal Heart embedded in it.
"At any cost."
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Hmmm, not sure who you are yet, but you seem interesting
Hah, nice work Dizzy
Oh dear, you intend to make things a little more interesting don't you
Hello witch-thief
Well now, that's interesting
Oh snap! This get's spicy!
Even if...Cadence is a bit of a surprise. We haven't seen her in this fiction, did we?
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This is her first appearance. Explanations are forthcoming in future chapters.
I have a strange feeling that the foal discovered in the last part chapter and Cadence are one in the same and that she is an Alicorn/Longma hybrid.
Well, at least weiss seems to have some friends besides the princesses that don't seem to want him dead.
Ah Chrysalis, it seems that Weiss loves you just as much as I. Namely, not at all.
I love Changelings as a race, but Chrysalis can go jump of a pier with cement wing.
Well, that answers my questions about wedding invasion. There won't be any.
Oh sweet a fan of if emps had a TTS. Though damn weiss you don't leave this half assed.
who Anathema again? sorry it been a while on the names
hello chrys and Candance!
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There's no one named "Anathema". Chrysalis is referring to Weiss.
Can you give me a link to the old cover art again? Im on a nostalgia trip rn
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https://imgur.com/iTtzoNp
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Ty
These recent plot points are redoubling my interest in the story. I love it.
Waaaaaaiiiiit. Bruto you son of a biscuit! You still kicking?
Do you mean "Black Angel"? Or is he intended to be a different character?
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Corrected mistake! Sorry about that!
Wait, did she Tony Stark herself?
Ha this looks to be going like I expected sweet.