• Published 28th Mar 2021
  • 5,760 Views, 894 Comments

Cinematic Adventures: Corpse Bride - extremeenigma02



The Mane Six and Spike are back for another adventure. This time they venture into Tim Burton’s undead realm to help a nervous groom work through his wedding nerves. Only problem is he is already married...to a corpse.

  • ...
9
 894
 5,760

Revelations

Late that same evening, things were only getting much worse for young Victoria. She sat in her chair by her vanity while Hildegarde helped her finish getting ready. Victoria was dressed in a beautiful wedding gown with her hair all done up in a tight bun which also held the wedding veil securely in place. One would think this was meant to be the happiest, most jubilant day of her young life.

Yet the poor girl felt a terrible feeling of dread and despair. Her one true love gone, possibly forever, and she had been betrothed by her parents to some newcomer earlier that same night. All she could think about was Victor, as she looked into the mirror and Hildegarde finished up.

“Miss Victoria, we must leave for the church now…” Hildegard informed her gently.

The old maid looked at Victoria and could see the obvious pain and sadness in her eyes. She truly felt bad for her, wishing there were some way she could help. But she knew that was impossible at this point. Yet when she looks up, it’s obvious she’s been crying.

“Yesterday, I thought my wedding would be happy,” Victoria said sadly. “Now I feel like I’m caught in the tide, pulled out to sea.”

A single tear fell below her porcelain cheek, as she stood from the chair. Hildegarde took her face in her hands, brushing away the tear with an offer of reassurance.

“The sea leads to many places dearie,” She said. “Maybe you’ll find somewhere better.”

With that, the old maid regretfully lead the young bride from the room toward her fate. They proceeded to leave the mansion and climbed into one of the carriages outside. The carriage took them to the church outside town. Not a single star shined nor even the moon. It is a somber, ponderously bleak night accentuated by the sound of lugubrious organ music.

As the wedding progressed, Victoria stood dully at the altar, wearing her austere ivory wedding gown. Like a girl completely dead to the entire world around her, she paid no mind to anyone in the room looking at her or Pastor Galswells, who officiates the ceremony. Not even the portrait of the Duke, which has been brought to the church and placed in a seat of honor, as if to bear witness to the ceremony.

Her husband to be, Lord Barkis, stood at her side with a smug smirk on his face as he went through his vows. Much like Finnis Everglot, he wore a rather formal wedding suit with a matching towering top hat.

“With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine.”

He slipped an ornate ring onto Victoria’s finger and when he let go, Victoria let her hand fall limp to her side as she stood with wide eyes. The silent crowd sat, stiff and starched in their grey suits and dresses. Among them, Hildegarde sat amongst the crowd, feeling sorry for the young Everglot. Pastor Galswells nodded toward Victoria, gesturing it is her cue to move on.

Realizing er fate had now been sealed, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes in sorrow before taking the candle from the table.

“Wit this hand I will lift your sorrows…” Victoria whimpered. “Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle, I will light your way in darkness. With this ring, I ask you to be mine.”

She slid a gold ring onto Barkis’ chubby finger. He offered a saccharine smile, as much for the crowd as anyone.

“I now pronounce you, man and wife,” Pastor Galswells announced.

The entire room remained silent as the grave, all but Hildegarde who sat in the back of the church sobbing. However, her tears were not of happiness for Victoria, but pity. She felt so terrible for the poor girl, yet there was nothing she could do for her. Her only hope was that something would come along to help the girl out of this predicament.

As for Victoria, as Barkis leaned in for a kiss, she turned her cheek at the last moment lest he kissed her lips.

<>

Back in the Land of the Dead, Victor strolled the desolate, abandoned alleyway behind the tavern. His heart was in shambles after the news from Mayhew that Victoria was getting married. Many emotions ran through him in the heat of the moment: Betrayed, heartbroken, every form of hurt. Approaching a coffin at the end of the alley, he sat near it and pulled out the flower Victoria had given him. Looking down upon the slowly dying flower, he sighed sadly.

“I’m too late…” He said sadly.

Letting the little flower drop to the ground, he slumped down and stared at the ground in defeat. Unbeknownst to him, a certain group of ponies and a baby dragon came beside him and sat by his side. Twilight reached out her hoof and placed it comfortingly on Victor’s hand.

“We’re so sorry Victor,” She said regretfully.

“I cannot begin to fathom just how broken you must feel right now,” Rarity added.

“You poor, poor dear,” Fluttershy wept.

Fluttershy approached from his other side, hurling her arms around him in a hug. Victor, hesitant at first, slowly found his arms coming around the timid Pegasus and returned the hug. Slowly but surely, everyone joined in on the hug as well. After a few moments, they drew away.

“It sucks,” Rainbow shook her head. “But just know we’re for ya till the end buddy.”

“Yer darn tootin’ sugar cube,” Applejack nodded.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie might know something to make you feel better,” Trixie suggested.

Pulling off her hat, she reached her hoof deeply into her hat. After a few seconds, she drew out a large bouquet of flowers and handed them to Victor. He gave a small ghost of a smile before it quickly vanished.

“Thank you all so much for trying,” He sighed. “But I’m afraid it’s no use. Victoria’s getting married tonight, and I won’t even be able to see her one last time. Not even to tell her… I love her.”

Even with her stone-faced expression she always maintained, it seemed for the tiniest moment Maud Pie actually starting showing some emotion. A small tear threatened to trickle its way down her cheek.

“The saddest thing about life after death is knowing the ones you love most in the world must move on without you,” She said plainly.

Pinkie, however, had no problem letting her tears fall freely down her face. She drew a box of tissues from her mane.

“Oh, it’s just so sad!” She cried. “You two were so good together!”

She blew her nose comically before putting the box back into her mane. Little Spike hopped off Twilight’s back and approached Victor. Fluttering his wings, he floated up and landed along Victor’s lap. Victor looked down upon the little dragon, softly petting the scales along his head.

“Don’t worry Victor,” Spike smiled. “We’ll help you get through this somehow.”

Victor smiled faintly again as he looked up toward the group of ponies, who all smiled at him (minus Maud). Before he could say anything, they heard a commotion from the back door of the tavern. Everyone looked at each other curiously before Victor got up and they made their way to the door. Peering into the cracked door, Victor saw Emily, Bright Mac, and Pear Butter talking with Mrs. Plum.

“Oh Mrs. Plum, what am I to do?” Emily asked concerned. “He just walked off without saying a word. Are all men like this?”

“Well I’m afraid none of them are very bright,” Mrs. Plum responded. “They get something in their heads, and you can’t do a thing with them.”

Hearing their talk made Pear Butter frown, as she remembered her father. How he walked away from her when she and Bright Mac got married. And all because of a silly feud he allowed to consume his mind. However, he was still her father and she loved him so dearly. She only wished there were a way to reconcile and for them to finally have closure. Bright Mac noticed his wife’s discomfort and pulled her closer to him.

“Don’t y’all worry now Emily,” Bright Mac spoke up. “Ah’m sure Victor will come round eventually. He just needs time fer all this tah sink in properly. Ah mean after all, this did come upon him rather quickly.”

“Ah gotta agree with Bright Mac,” Pear Butter nodded. “Once he gets more comfortable with the idea, everything will work out just fine.”

It was then Elder Gutknecht came into the kitchen carrying his old book and set it upon the table.

“My dear, we have to talk,” He said.

Maggot, who was residing under one of the pages, had this oddly cheery expression on his little face.

“Let me tell her please,” He offered excitedly. “Let me tell her.”

“What?” Emily asked.

“There is a complication with your marriage,” Gutknecht explained.

“I don’t understand.”

“The vows are binding only until death do you part.”

“What are you saying?”

“Death has already parted you.”

A collective gasp came from Emily, Bright Mac, and Pear Butter simultaneously. Gutknecht was absolutely right. If Emily’s already dead and Victor is still alive, that meant Emily could never be with him.

“The moment he realizes he ain’t really married,” Pear Butter realized. “He’ll simply drift back.”

“If he finds out, he’ll leave,” Emily gasped. “But surely… surely there’s some way to fix this? Please help me, Elder Gutknect. There must be something you can do.”

“Well, there is one way,” Elder Gutknect thought.

“Oh, please, please, let me tell her,” Maggot spoke excitedly.

“It requires the greatest sacrifice.”

“Go on, get to the good part.”

“What y’all sayin’?” Bright Mac asked worriedly.

“We have to kill him!” Maggot answered gleefully.

“What?!?!” Emily and the Apples gasped.

While the three undead souls were utterly shocked at the offer, none were more so shocked than Victor and the group of living Equestrians. As if it weren’t difficult enough that their human friend found himself engaged with an undead, yet very kind bride, now the undead would have to ‘kill’ Victor just to make sure he and Emily could be legally married. Spike was so mortified by even the slightest suggestion of that remark, his purple scales turned a pale shade as he cringed at the thought.

“But Elder Gutknecht,” Pear Butter spoke up. “If we do that, Victor would be givin’ up the life he had… forever!”

“Unfortunately yes, my dear,” Elder Gutknecht nodded, turning the pages. “He would need to repeat his vows in the land of the living and drink from the ‘wine of ages’.”

Elder Gutknect turned to a single page in the book that displayed the sketch of the very bottle. It appeared as grim as the elder referred to it, with a skull drawn along the front of the bottle. The Maggot crawled its way around the page, chuckling over the thought knowing what this brew will do to the boy. Emily gasped in horror, while Pear Butter and Bright Mac looked toward her with concern.

“Poison!” Emily uttered.

“Yer proposin’ we’d ‘poison’ that boy?!?!” Bright Mac asked.

“This would stop his heart forever,” Elder Gutknect explained, approaching Emily. “Only then would he be free to give it to you.”

“I could never ask him,” Emily sighed, crouching.

“She shouldn’t have tah to do that,” Pear Butter agreed. “Keepin’ a weddin’ vow is one thing. But askin’ that poor boy to throw his life away… just to be married? That ain’t a choice at all!”

“Those poor ponies…” Bright Mac sighed. “And our little Apple Pie… they became such good friends! We can’t ask them to let this happen.”

Victor and the group looked on the whole time. Initially, the very thought they were considering to poison Victor would’ve been more than enough to make a run for it. Yet when Twilight and her friends watched closely, they could see how reluctantly they all are to even go through it. Especially Emily, a bride who practically waited her whole ‘after life’ to meet her perfect groom, was suddenly put in a position to decide whether to murder Victor or not.

Before the Equestrians could act, a sight leaves the group very surprised. Victor Van Dort, slowly walking into the room, and toward the undead souls. In particular, he approached Emily.

“You don’t have to,” Victor spoke. “I’ll do it.”

“Victor!” Twilight called out.

The Princess of Friendship, along with the majority of her friends, quickly rushed into the room the moment Victor made his choice.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“You realize they were just talking about poisoning you, right?” Rainbow asked, raising a brow.

“I know…” Victor nodded. “But what else is there?”

“My boy, if you choose this path you may never return to the world above,” Elder Gutknect warned. “Do you understand?”

The Equestrians looked on toward Victor, who merely turned toward Emily. He reached his arm out, took her undead hands gently, and slowly lifted her up the ground as their eyes gaze toward each other.

“I do,” Victor answered.

“Oh Victor…” Applejack spoke softly.

<>

In the town square, the Dead have gathered around the statue. The Corpse Bride and Victor stand together to address the gathered crowd.

“Gather round! Gather round, everybody,” Victor called out. “We’ve decided to do this thing properly. So grab what you can and follow us. We’re moving this wedding party ‘upstairs’.”

“Upstairs?” A corpse woman spoke. “I didn’t know we had an upstairs.”

“Sounds creepy,” A corpse child said.

“Let’s go!” A corpse girl shouted.

The undead children ran off with Scraps following closely behind. Soon the entire place was bustling, as the Dead prepared for the upcoming party at the new venue. The hard-working crowd soon began to break out in song.

https://m.

Just as Victor hopped off to join the crowd, Rarity quickly approached Victor.

“Victor, wait!” Rarity called out. “You can’t honestly want to go through with this!”

It was then the Black Widow herself zipped down along her web.

“She’s right dear,” The Black Widow replied. “You can’t get married looking like that.”

The spider’s eyes settle on Victor’s filthy, tattered jacket. The spider studied him carefully, shaking her head, and gave a light whistle. All of a sudden, dozens of her fellow spiders descend from above and land upon Victor. Rarity, slightly terrified by the spiders, initially shut her eyes in horror… before taking a quick peek.

Before Rarity’s amazement, the spiders swarmed over Victor… initially tickling him soon as they land. But soon they repaired his tattered suit in Land of the Dead style. The plain, austere fabric now interwoven with glistening spider webs, and glowed with a sinister elegance. Rarity dropped her hooves over her eyes, looking down in astonishment.

“Well… now you look very dapper,” Rarity smiled sheepishly.

“RARITY!!!” The girls shouted

Soon Mrs. Plum lead the singing, stirring a brew of an odd, gnarled ‘dish’ with the other members of the kitchen staff.

“Did somepony say ‘cake’?!” Pinkie cheered, midway.

In the meantime, all the soldier corpses were performing a slight routine out along the square (Even a few reenactments of their glory days on the battlefield). All of whom gathered around Victor, ready to stand by his side for the big night ahead of him.

Victor and the soldiers turn and stared, as the female zombies approached with awe. The Equestrians looked up toward the staircase and they couldn’t help but share the same sentiment. The Corpse Bride, feeling her old cheerful self again, gazed upon the party preparations swirling around her. Her eyes settled on Victor, as the spiders lower her wedding veil upon her head. She beams at the party preparation, as the music reached a fever pitch.

As the crowd gather around Victor and Emily, who prepare to lead them to the ‘upstairs’, there was so much happening all at once. A group of skeletons stagger under the weight of a grotesque, towering wedding cake, decorated with tangled roots and spider webs. It tilted and swayed precariously from side to side. It’s so massive the skeletons dance on the first three layers. Mrs. Plum, on top of the cake, placed the finishing touched as Pinkie Pie hopped along the top. She brushes a bit of frosting with a hoof and licks the frosting for a taste. She turned toward Mrs. Plum and nodded her head with approval.

Some of the skeletons were polished to perfection, while Bojangles’ band packed their instruments for the trip.. even themselves into the coffins. Soon everyone was marching through the streets of the Land of the Dead, ready to go forth for the biggest wedding of their ‘afterlives’.

With that being said, or rather ‘sung’, the residents of the Land of the Dead proceeded toward the living world. Of course, the group of ponies and Spike were all very uncertain of exactly how to feel about all this. On one hoof, they couldn’t be happier for Victor and Emily seeing how this all worked out. But on the other hoof, neither one couldn’t help but feel something was just all… wrong.

All they could do now was going along with it, hoping everything will work out for the best…

Or so they think…