Chapter 3: Rarity's Story

Ben groans as he open his eyes a while later. Where is he? The stallion slowly recovered as he saw something standing above him in concern. Its Rarity...and a few corpses and monsters! Of course, at first, he didn't react.

"A new arrival," A corpse named Mr. Waddle spoke in concern.

"Oh my, my darling must've fainted." Rarity giggles a bit. Ben groans as the unicorn helps him up a bit. "Are you all right, darling?"

"What, gah!" Ben yelps in surprise and alarm upon seeing the undead in front of him. He remembers what happened now. "What happened?"

"Oh goodness, it appears that we got ourselves a breather!" Mr. Waddle exclaims in surprise and amazement. There hadn't barely been any living ponies down here before.

A zombie unicorn named Lyra Heartstrings push Mr. Waddle aside, grinning excitedly while saying, "Coool! Does he have a dead brother?"

A dead colt named Pipsqueak pokes Ben, saying, "He's still soft."

Ben yelps as he was frightened while going back to the bar stand. A zombie pony named Slugger smiles while saying, "Yeah, a toast for the happy couple!"

Slugger clangs his mug with rotten apple cider with his pals Salty and Tex before the first stallion drank his stuff. Of course, some of it pours out with Tex eagerly taking some and drinking it, despite the rotten apple cider coming out of a hole from his own chest.

"To the newlyweds," Tex said with a Southern American accent.

"Wait newlyweds?!" Ben yelps in shock. He remembers his wedding vow rehearsal...and how he somehow summoned Rarity!

"Yes, you remember? In the woods, you said your vows so perfectly." Rarity giggles while showing the ring on her hoof. Ben looks horrified. He has unknowingly wedded a dead unicorn!

"I did? Oh yeah...I did, didn't I?" Ben groans in dazement. He hits his head on a table like mad trying to wake himself up. This has to be a bad dream, it has got to be! "Wake up, Ben! Come on, wake up, you idiot!"

"Coming through, hey," A voice spoke up. Ben looks up and yelps as he saw a head on spider legs called Mr. Carrot Cake crawling over to a table, smiling to him. "Hey, I am Mr. Carrot Cake, your head waiter." The living stallion gasps in fear. "I will create your wedding feast."

Suddenly Ben yelps as one of Rarity's eyes popped out. A rotten dead donkey named Bray came out, smiling while saying, "A wedding feast! I'm hungry as a donkey!"

Ben ends up screaming in fear. Rarity quickly cover he eyes socket to block Bray as she say sheepishly, "Small donkeys. They can be pests."

"Wow, you got lucky to have her." A voice said, making Ben turn to see who spoke. It is an undead baby light purple with a light chartreuse dragon with moderate sap green scales, a greenish gray underbelly and light lime ears and chartreuse green eyes. His name is Spike the Dragon. "Guys would kill to get a filly like her...too bad I can't because..."

Ben screams in alarm as he backs away, colliding into some ponies in fear while yelling, "Back, back!" The stallion trips, much to the concern of mostly everyone in room. As Ben got back up, he grabs a sword...which is stuck right in Spike which causes him to be used as well. "I got a...uh...I got a lizard!"

"Dragon, okay? Not lizard. I don't do that tongue thing." Spike snaps as he sticks his tongue out at Ben. "Anyway, wouldn't you used Slugger for the short guy?"

"He's too big! Anyway, I'm not scared to use him! Now I want questions now!"

"Uh, don't you mean 'answers'?" Salty corrects Ben in concern.

"Right, answers, thanks." Ben said while sweating a bit. "I want answers as to what's going on here, where am I and who are you creatures?!"

"You're in the Underworld, land of the dead and we're the undead." Spike explains to Ben with a shrug. "And what's going on here?" Well..."

"Spike, please." Rarity interrupts Spike gently before smiling lovingly to Ben. "It's kind of a long story."

"What a super duper drastic story it is!" Someone is heard giggling. Everyone turns to see a spotlight on a grinning smiling zombie pink pony, "Hiya, name's Pinkie Pie, at your service. This story is one of romance, passion...as well as murder most foul. Kinda scary but you're in the underworld!"

"Oh yes, this is going to be good." Tex said with an amusing smile on his face to Ben who yelps and drops Spike in the progress.

Spike got back up, explaining, "I've heard this story many times before. It brings tears to my eyes each time and very lovely for a lovely creature." The baby Dragon sighs lovingly to Rarity, much to Ben's notice.

"Hit it boys!" Pinkie calls back. Music begins to play as the pink pony bounces near some skeletons whose uses their skulls to be tapped like on a xylophone. Another skeleton plays on a piano as Pinkie begins to sing.

Pinkie: Hey, give me a listen
You corpses of cheer
At least those of you
Who still got an ear
I’ll tell you a story
Make a skeleton cry
Of our own jubilisciously Corpse Bride

Skeletons: Die Die
We all pass away
Don’t wear a frown, cause it’s really ok
You might try and hide
And you might try to pray
But we all end up
The remains of the day

As the song continues, a worried Ben tries to sneak out, only for Tex to pull him back in.

Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah
Yah, yah, yah

That's right.

Pinkie smiled, looking at Rarity as she continues her song.

Pinkie: Well our filly was a beauty
Known for miles around

Rarity got onto the stage, giving a smile that made Spike sigh lovingly. As Pinkie continues, we see a silhouette of the white unicorn with another unicorn, male, shown from the shadows.

When a mysterious stranger came into town
He was plenty good lookin'
But down on his cash
And our poor little foaly
She fell hard and fast
When her daddy said no
She just couldn’t cope
So our lovers came up with a plan to elope

Ben gulps a bit, mostly because the monsters and corpses force him to dance with them. When will this nightmare end?!

Corpses & Monsters: Die Die
We all pass away
Don’t wear a frown, cause it’s really ok
You might try and hide
And you might try to pray
But we all end up
The remains of the day

Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah
Yah, yah, yah

Pinkie sat on the table. She unknowingly kick the tray that is holding Mr. Cake's head before the said head roll down from her shoulder, right onto the table. Pinkie scats a bit while the song goes on.

Yah, yah, yah, yah, yah
Yah, yah, yah

The skeletons dance a bit as Pinkie said, "That's right!" One of the dead ones turn into a bass while another plays him like one, "Oh yeah, right! Come on, boys, pick it up; Hee hee hee!"

"This is cool!" Spike exclaims as he watch a skeleton playing the bony saxophone with Pinkie playing a bony xylophone.

"Right, like it," Pinkie giggles to a skeleton op. "All right, Comet Tail, take it!"

The mentioned stallion skeleton took off his bottom half and plays it like a guitar while another skeleton plays the trombone. Pinkie grins while exclaiming, "Yeah; Neato!"

Ben looks nervous as he is forced onto the dance floor. Pinkie goes up to him while dancing with her, though the stallion did so unwillingly. The skeletons then remove their own heads, placing it on one another's body until the last head was kicked away, landing right onto a skeleton with no head.

"Nice!" Pinkie giggles. Ben gasps as he saw two skeletons dancing with him. The stallion was forced to watch the pink pony sing once more.

Pinkie: Yeah, so they conjured up a plan to meet late at night
Told not a soul, kept the whole thing tight

Pinkie held a part of Rarity's dress over her while smiling madly. Spike laughs a bit.

Now her mother’s wedding dress fit like a glove
We don’t need much we’re already in love
Except for a few things, or so I am told
That the family jewels and the satchel of gold

We see Rarity waiting for her lover near a tree, waiting so anxiously.

Then next to the graveyard by the old oak tree
On a dark foggy night at a quarter to three

She was ready to go
But where was he!?

"And then?" Tex asks Psycho curiously.

"She waited." Pinkie said with a nod.

"And then?" Tex asks again with Lyra and Spike joining in.

"There in the shadows, was it the stallions?!"

"And then?!"

Pinkie looks concerned as she continues, "Her little heart beat so loud."

"And then?" The first two asks anxiously, following by Mr. Cake. We see a shadow silhouette of an evil figure approaching the shadowed unicorn...who screams before all went black, much to Ben's shock and horror.

"And then filly everything went black."

Ben looks stunned. Whoever Rarity's former lover was, he must've killed her...probably for her money! The spotlight returns to Pinkie who is on top of the piano while the pink one sings once more.

Now when she opened her eyes
She was dead as dust
Her jewels were missing
And her heart was bust
So she made a vow right under that tree
That she’d wait for her true love to come set her free

Pinkie held Ben and point to Rarity who smile and awaits his hoof. The stallion looks alarmed as he was shoved to her, causing Ben to dance with her. Looks like his wedding vow rehearsal was mistaken for proposing to her...and he succeeded in getting married to a dead mare!

Always waiting for someone to ask for her hoof
When out of the blue comes this groovy young stallion too
Who vows forever to be by her side
And that’s the story of our Corpse Bride

Rarity's hoof broke off, causing Ben to land in some of the monsters' arms. As he yelps and make the upper foreleg let him go, he danced a bit. During the whole thing, he back away and run off quickly, much to Spike's notice before the baby Dragon left secretly.

All (but Rarity, Spike & Ben: Die Die
We all pass away
Don’t wear a frown, cause it’s really ok
You might try and hide
And you might try to pray
But we all end up
The remains of the day

Once the song is done, Rarity saw Ben leaving, much to her confusion. Didn't her new husband want to stay with her? She quickly follows him.

"Yeah," Pinkie giggles a bit with a smile.

-----------------

Noteworthy coughs a bit like crazy before smoking his pipe can. Twilight sighs as she looks out a window of her home. It has been a while and Ben is still missing. Where could he be?

"Twilight, get away from that window." Upper Crust orders Twilight, making her sigh and come back to her adopted parents, Jack and the princess.

Just then a red and blue parrot flies in and lands on a counter. Jack recognizing him ask in surprise, "Mr. Loudmouth? What are ye doing here?"

"Rawk! I just came along to see Ben and Twilight's wedding. Is Ben around here?" Loudmouth asks Jack eagerly.

"That son of his messed up the wedding rehearsal," Jet Set explains to the parrot with a frown. "We don't know where he is, the fool has gone missing."

"I am sure that my son will come back. Ben is terrified of the dark." Celestia explains gently to Twilight and her parents. "When he was a colt, Ben would wet his combinations regularly whenever he has a wild dream. Right, Jack?"

"Arrr, don't be reminding me." Jack groans in annoyance. "You don't want to know how many PJs that my boy has to go through that time."

Just then the group heard knocking at the door, causing Jet Set to respond, "Enter!"

The door opens while Caramel came into the room, saying, "Princess? Your nephew is here."

"Very well, let him enter." Celestia sighs a bit. Fireblaze comes in with Blueblood following with a smile on his face.

"Prince Blueblood. I hope the room is to your liking." Upper Crust said to Blueblood with a smile. While the prince may be Celestia's nephew, he doesn't prefer to stay at her home for various reasons.

"Yes, thank you. You were indeed a most gracious hostess...unlike my mother." Blueblood remarks while nodding. Celestia rolls his eye of course. Her nephew and his mother never seem to get along.

Suddenly Loudmouth spoke out to Blueblood, "Ugly Blueblood."

"Huh?"

"Ugly, fat Blueblood."

"I'm not that fat...am I?" Blueblood protests, feeling shocked and offended by what Loudmouth just told him. He looks at himself in the mirror....yep, he's fat. "You never lie, do you, Mr. Loudmouth?"

"Never," Loudmouth answers with a chuckle.

"Ahem, that 'unpleasantness' aside, sadly it pains me to be the bearer of bad news." Blueblood said with a shrug. Twilight and the others looks confused. What is Blueblood talking about? The prince motions a hoof as an announcer named Dr. Hooves came in. "Dr. Hooves, mind repeating tonight's headline for everypony?"

Dr. Hooves clears his throat, ringing a bell before shouting, "Hear ye and hear ye. Ben Mare was seen on this night on the bridge in the forelegs of a mystery mare! The purple haired temptress and Master Mare has slipped away into the night; all right, for the weather. Scattered showers..."

"All right, that will be all!"

Dr. Hooves nods as he leaves. Twilight, Jack, Celestia, and the adopted parents were shocked to hear this announcement. Ben ran off with another mare?! The purple unicorn and Ben's parents refuse to believe this!

"Mystery mare; what other mare does he know?" Celestia ask in disbelief. As far as she knows, Ben doesn't know any other mares outside of his mother and Twilight!

"Or what you are led to believe." Blueblood remarks in amusement as he elaves. "If you need my assistance in anyway, you know what to do."

As the doors are closed, Twilight, Jack and Celestia looks worried. This cannot be true, Dr. Hooves must be wrong! After all, there isn't any other mare for Ben besides Twilight!

"Rawk; What; Ben's gone?" Loudmouth gasps in shock and worry. "Don't worry Celestia, and Captain Jack. I'll find him....no doubt about it. "

"Be careful, Loudmouth." Celestia said to Loudmouth gently.

"Don't worry, Celestia. You can count on me; Mister Loudmouth....to the rescue!"

Loudmouth flies out of the window to look for Ben. A worried Upper Crust spoke, "Good heavens! Jet, what should we do?" With Ben gone, that means her and Jet's chance to get back to the top are ruined!

"That does it, fetch me my gun!" Jet Set exclaims furiously. He is going to find Ben and shoot him down for this!

"Celly, do something." Jack said in worry, fearing for his son's safely.

As Horte came in with Jet Set's gun, Celestia uses her magic to grab it. She said, "Jet Set, calm down. The town crier must have a slow news day. You know how it is, there is always something to cry about."

"Well, regardless, we are still one groom short for the wedding tomorrow." Jet Set remarked with an angry frown, "And the financial implications?!"

"It must be a scandalous embarrassment to everypony!" Upper Crust exclaims in disgust at what she believed Ben to be doing.

"Upper Crust, Ben knows how important honor is to our family. He would never disgrace his family by running off with a mare that our son doesn't know. I know of the connection between him and Twilight, I can sense it." Celestia insists calmly to the upset Upper Crust. "Give us a chance to find him; At least until dawn."

"Oh very well. Until dawn."

Twilight sighs sadly in sadness while mumbling, "Ben." What has happened to him?

Author's note
Well, Rarity's story is revealed and how will get out of the mess that he finds himself into? In the next chapter, as Ben tries to get away from his 'wife', the unicorn gives him a gift of his dead dog Winona. Then the stallion got an idea on returning to the surface with the help of the Moochick with Spike coming along with him and Rarity. Read, review and suggest.