Veigar stood still, looking into the mirror, hardly recognizing himself in the reflection. His normal dark, spiked apparel had been replaced. A white tuxedo now covered him, his giant claw/glove had been removed and now he merely wore two pure white gloves to match his outfit. A top hat of the same color as his other apparel sat upon his head, casting the familiar shadow over him, obscuring his facial features from view. He blinked once, the pure white plates in the mirror mimicking the action. With careful movements, he tightened around his neck a simple blue tie until it hung loosely. With stiff movements, the dark mage angrily flipped his collar down. He did not like white, he hated white in fact. But she had insisted, and he had decided not to argue.
His eyes looked over the myriad of details once more, scarcely believing the apparel he was wearing. He felt a feeling growing in his stomach, something he hadn’t felt for a long time. Uncertainty. He blinked once more and a steely look of determination came over his face, he knew this was what he wanted to do, but some part of him was arguing the point, fighting over it like a lion over the last piece of meat. Some lonely friendless part, that thought it knew the way to happiness even though it had never led him there before.
A big part.
The tiny master of evil sighed and glanced to his nearby staff, the steady companion which had accompanied him into the league, and had seen him through it as well. Next to it was a wooden one, about the same size, but teeming with magic that was world’s apart from it’s counterpart. In between the two lightning would occasionally dart from one to the other, the two volatile magics always fighting a constant war with each other. If the inanimate objects couldn’t even get along, what hope was there for the living owners of them?
The evil yordle was reaching to undo his necktie when a knock came at the door, he whirled around and raised an eyebrow, a fact only he would know. “What?!” He called, dark magic flowing at the ready to his hands. Something outside that door made him even more on edge, even more anxious. Which, of course, meant it had to be the voice of reason. Which was, quite frankly, something he didn't want to listen to right then.
“You ready buddy?” Came the voice from the other side of the wood. Despite it’s muffled nature, the owner of the voice was painfully obvious. It was the one Veigar had chosen for his best man. Having lacked any real friends to speak of, Veigar had chosen the yordle with whom he had spent the most time, even if they had hated each other whenever they were thrown into meeting situations.
“Yes Teemo, I’ll be right out.” It was a reluctant statement, but it seemed to be good enough for the swift scout as the sounds of his footsteps retreated down the hall. Veigar took one last glance in the mirror before he exited the room, letting his gaze linger on his shaded face, just one more secret, and he had somehow found a wife who didn’t care about his secrets, who didn’t care about his past, only about their future. So, with a smile no one could see, he left the room.
His steps were heard by everyone as he approached, as his metal boots were the one thing he wouldn’t get rid of, a fact to which everyone in the audience disliked and tried to ignore. He admitted himself into the wedding ceremony, which was already underway, and proceeded to not care if he were doing it incorrectly. No one had briefed him on how weddings were supposed to work and he hadn’t cared enough to look into it, it was merely a formality, after all. As he took his position at the front of the room he looked behind him for a moment and spotted Teemo smiling back at him, to which he ignored and turned to face the door expectantly.
Teemo took no offense at the action, he could hardly blame him in fact. They had had quite a history, and Veigar was entitled to his anger, so long as he could contain it. Teemo looked on the event with a form of respectful awe. Out of everyone Teemo could have ever imagined, he never would have so much as thought that Veigar would get married, it was completely against his former self. He had been selfish and bragging, he would use others as tools to his own ends and would do anything possible to win.
Now though, now that was gone, or at least covered under a lead tarp. Veigar had taken a big step, one that Teemo had to admire him for. He had fallen in love and managed to admit his feelings, especially after she had admitted hers, though she had needed some encouragement. Everyone was awash with mixtures of fear and joy. Fear knowing the duo could probably take over all of valoran if they really put their minds to it, joy for the fact they didn’t seem interested in doing that.
Teemo’s musings were interrupted as music began to play and the door swung open by the purple magic that gripped them. He smiled at the approaching bride-to-be, and she smiled back, but she was always smiling. That was Lulu’s way, a manic grin a day makes the doctor run away as fast as he possible can. Quite a stark contrast to Veigar, who really only smiled when he had crushed someone’s hopes and dreams under his gauntlet’d fist. Whereas Lulu just seemed naturally happy about everything.
She looked amazing in her outfit, the train of her wedding dress was being held aloft by a fairy named Pix, Lulu’s life long friend, and her dress itself was something to behold. At first glance it looked to be silk, but it was quickly obvious that it was pure spider silk. And it was such an amazing white that it made everything else seem grey in comparison. So fantastic was her appearance that Veigar was struck with awe, another feeling that had been gone for a long time.
As she approached the front, with rhythmic bouncing steps, Teemo took an opportunity to look at the audience of the event. Several league champions had shown up, including all the yordles who fell into that department. Ziggs, Heimerdinger, Corki, Poppy, Tristana, Rumble, Kennen... Amumu had even shown up, crying his eyes out in the back of the pews with an odd mixture of joy and sadness.
Lulu at last came to her position, standing and smiling at Veigar, who was too struck with silence to answer. A cough came from the front of the room, and both of the almost-weds looked towards the source. A middle-aged man, dressed in white, looked back with a polite smile, silence fell with the slight exception of Amumu’s lingering sniffles. “Go ahead Marc.” Stated Veigar, a tinge of anger in his voice that had been there ever since his mental snap, something he couldn’t quite seem to get rid of, despite the current events.
Marc nodded. “We are gathered together today-”
“I DO!” Shouted Lulu, interrupting the man with her outburst then turning expectantly to Veigar. Who seemed confused about what had just happened. She looked at him and her face began to turn sad. Everyone else, meanwhile, had absolutely no idea what was going on. Realizing that she was thinking he had had a change of mind, the tiny of master decided that the choice was obvious.
“I do as well!” Veigar responded immediately, and much to his relief Lulu’s face sprung back to it’s usual smile. A shower of rose petals came from above as Pix threw them up in the air, which was followed by a shower of rice.
“We’re husband and wife, weeeee!” Lulu said, grabbing Vegiar by his hands and dragging him out of the room, leaving a stunned audience behind, not to mention an Amumu who had started crying at full strength again. Once they were outside the room, she let go of one of Veigar’s hands, whipping him out at arms length before pulling him back in against her chest and hugging him tightly.
“So where are we going for our Honeymoon?!” She said, releasing Veigar from his prison in favor of bouncing up and down excitedly. “Teemo said you had somewhere specific in mind but he wouldn’t tell me what it was, and that’s just rude.” Veigar didn't respond, opting instead to grasp Lulu’s hand tightly. The act forced her to stop bouncing and match Veigar's stance, the still and motionless one he would take occasionally. He breathed out, all the worry for the wedding leaving his body with the air, and letting his mind come to back to full working order. With a tap of his metal foot his clothing was instantly replaced with his regular attire, an act that Lulu followed as well, her spider silk dress disappearing and revealing she had been wearing her normal outfit beneath it the entire time.
With an invisible grin, Veigar began to run with Lulu down the hall, Pix following dutifully after her. Outside they could hear the gathering of photographers who were struggling to get a look inside the building, hoping to get a picture before the wedding was done and hopefully a few more afterwards. They didn’t know it yet but if they were trying to get a picture of the duo they would have to wait a few days. Not caring about the paparazzi and their misfortune, the pair ran into Veigar’s room, where both their staves rested. It felt good for both of them to have their weapons back in hand, they had had them for a long time after all, they were almost like an arm to them. Lulu took a quick glance at the staff, looking for flaws, and was quite surprised when she saw Veigar swing his against the mirror.
Instead of shattering, like it should have, the mirror began to twist and turn. Lulu looked at it in wonder, then looked to her husband, who’s face was slightly illuminated by the magic roiling in front of them, the genuine, sane smile on his face made her own smile even wider. He glanced at her, and she glanced back. And then, with a simultaneous nod, they jumped into the mirror like the two insane yordles that they were.
It was only moments later when Marc entered the room. He looked to the mirror and face palmed. With a sigh he took a small device from his pocket and turned it on. “Tell them to inform our summoners that Veigar and Lulu are temporarily disabled due to a bug or something.” A response came through the line, muffled, and Marc sighed again. “They’re in a different dimension, I’d say that if anyone tried to summon them, it would definetely qualify as a bug, wouldn’t you?” A short reply. “Yea, I thought so, we’re done here.” He turned the device off and exited the room. He looked towards the doors, crowded with cameras and for the third time in about as many minutes, he sighed. “And now to inform the masses.”
Deep within the mirror, the pair tumbled end over end, but managed to keep hold of each other's hands. It was a disorienting form of transport, and one that had taken Veigar a long time to set up, as well as some threats of personal harm to the right people. It was complicated, the bending of laws of nature, but Veigar wasn't known for playing by the rules. He did what he wanted, and the rules would often be rewritten so they didn't apply. Besides, noone wanted to stand up to the crazy dark mage who could murder you in under two seconds.
Amongst the chaos, Lulu managed to steal a kiss from him. Something she hadn't managed to do up until that point, having been forbade by him to ever do such a thing. “Hey!” Veigar shouted and Lulu began to laugh like a maniac.
“Oh, come on hubby. It’s a kiss secured.” She winked at him and he felt himself blush, a fact which he was happy to discover his permanent shadow hid. With surprising abruptness their tumble ended and they found themselves on the ground, both of them somehow managing to land on their feet. All around them a crowd had gathered, their original intent being to watch the twisting and turning magic in the sky. Now though, it was to look at the two beings who had just come through it.
Lulu’s face began to twist into one of untainted ecstasy as she looked at the crowd, each of them uncomfortable about the manic, dancing eyes that had turned to look at them. Her exclamation turned from a shout to a squeal and Veigar couldn’t help but feel proud as her joy hit the air in the form of speech.
“THEY’RE ALL PONIES!”
When Twilight arrived, Big Macintosh’s face was being stretched by a small humanoid using it's equal small hands to stretch the big stallion's cheeks in ways that Big Mac hadn't thought his face could stretch. It’s voice was high pitched, telling Twilight it was mostly likely female, and she seemed to be excited beyond all sanity by the fact that she could move Big Mac’s face with her own hands. She was babbling excitedly, saying things a little too fast for Twilight to understand, and she was instantly struck with the similarity the creature held to Pinkie Pie. She stood there, stock still, watching the creature, until she noticed something else was off.
Nearer to Twilight than she would have liked was another of the things, but this one wasn’t moving much aside from occasionally clenching and unclenching it’s hands. It looked on silent and watched the female as she busied herself having fun by making Big Mac make silly faces against his will. It’s face was completely shadowed by an impossible hat with a pair of staves were embedded in the ground next to it. One of them black and adorned with spikes while the other was made of simple wood. She raised an eyebrow at this, knowing that mages of other races would occasionally use staves to channel their inherent magic.
With one more glance at the being, to ensure it wasn’t looking at her, she began a simple spell to read how powerful the magic of the two beings was, if it existed at all. She casted it first on the one messing with Big Mac, to ensure his safety while she performed her spell. What she found was a sizable pool of magic, a bit more than the average unicorn would have, but she sensed nothing malignant about it, it seemed to be all nature based. With that decided, she withdrew her magic, and prepared to delve into the pool of magic that the other one now most definitely held.
She was, unfortunately, interrupted by a very upset Applejack who charged on the scene, running towards Big Macintosh. “Get off mah Brother!” She shouted angrily and narrowed her eyes. Lulu looked towards the noise and her eyes widened. She glanced towards Veigar only to find her staff already spinning through the air towards her. She caught it expertly and pointed it towards the earth pony. “Adoribus!” She exclaimed and before Twilight could act, her friend had been turned into a small squirrel.
The surrounding ponies began to back away as the fear center of their brains kicked themselves into overdrive. Twilight managed a single syllable before they all ran away in a panicked stampede, leaving only the squirrel, a stunned Big Mac, and Twilight to face the duo of spell casters. Twilight lifted the squirrel in a ball of magic and placed it on her head, hoping that she would be able to reverse the spell at some point later on. First, however, she would have to deal with the situation at hoof. She leveled her head towards her opponents and began to charge a spell.
The one in blue, the one she hadn’t had the opportunity to use her magic search spell on, leveled his staff at her, and she felt a chill shoot through her, his eyes were alight with insanity and she realized that the next spell he was going to cast could very well kill her and he wouldn’t regret it in the least. She took a step back, in fear, and watched the shining ball form in the end of his staff. He didn’t need to take this long to cast it, he was torturing her, she could see it in his eyes. He was drawing out this moment where he had absolute control, he was enjoying it, reveling in it.
Acting quickly, the female placed her hand upon the staff, brushing against the gloved hand of the being as she did so. Twilight watched as the irrational hatred melted from his eyes, though a spark of insanity always remained. He looked to the one who had stopped him, in response she smiled widely. Then, in far too good Equestrian for Twilight to believe they were foreigners, she began to talk. “We can’t kill anyone! It’s our honeymoon! Pix wrote the rules see!” She pulled a long list from her pocket and showed it to the would be murderer, who looked over it. He looked at it and frowned, though no one could tell, and let his eyes glance over the words.
“Fine.” He responded coldly. The magic in his staff’s point died away and he lifted it to it’s normal carrying position. He frowned and looked at the purple pony with a degree of regret. She, in turn, began to lift herself from her battle position, letting the magic in her horn die away. Just as she had taken a breath to relax herself she felt a sudden weight on her neck which slammed her head into the ground. “Oh, jeez, sorry Twi. I didn’ mean to do that!” Followed by hoofsteps quickly backing away. So Applejack was back to normal, that was good news.
“It’s fine A.J.” She said, lifting her head up once again. “I just wish I knew what was going on here.” She pointedly looked at the female of the duo, who turned to look at the her companion, who merely held gaze with Twilight.
“We’re here on our honeymoon.” He said, the high pitched-ness of his voice holding a shocking tone of masculinity deep within it. She hadn’t heard it the first time he had talked, it had been too short and too quick for her to get any info at all, but now she could scarcely believe it. She filed this oddity away and decided to address the two bigger but still small oddities in front of her.
“Honeymoon?” That couldn’t be right. She must have misheard. A Honeymoon was a time for the couple to relax, to get to know each other better. It made no sense for a couple of newly-weds come to a town where they had no friends of connections.
“Yes.”
Twilight seemed too stunned to respond, most likely due to the fact that it made absolutely no sense. So A.J. decided to fill in the conversation instead. “So let me get this right.” She began, a perplexed look covering her features. “You came here to celebrate your marriage, instead of a mountain resort or somethin’?”
“That’s the jist of it, yes.” Veigar responded, fiddling with his staff, desperately wanting to end the questioning one way or the other.
“Why?”
“I thought Lulu would like a world of ponies.” He answered, looking over to his wife who was bouncing around excitedly, looking at the world of bright colors around her.
“Lulu?” A.J. said, before following his gaze to his wife. “Oh. Well, that sure was thoughtful of ya.” She said, smiling to Veigar, who merely gazed back. “I suppose then that we should introduce ourselves. Mah name is Applejack, but you can call me A.J.” She glanced towards her friend, and proceeded to frown. “That one there is Twilight Sparkle. And lastly,” She paused as she looked at her brother who seemed completely frozen solid from fear. “That’s mah brother Big Mac.”
“He has a squishy face!” Lulu exclaimed excitedly. No one responded to the comment, mostly because AppleJack had nothing to say and Twilight and Veigar were staring each other down, though the emotions on each of their faces were several degrees different from each other. “OH!” Lulu shouted, snapping her finger and pointing upwards for a moment before jumping forward to land next to the twisted dark mage. “This is my husband,” She giggled at the word for a moment, and Twilight swore she could see patches of red show up against the black shadow. “Veigar.”
“...” It was an audible ellipse as the dark mage neglected to say anything. Instead looking towards Twilight and letting his grip move nervously over his staff, knowing with absolute assurity he could kill her before anyone could act. But alas, he was bound by the rules of the great and mighty Pix. Besides, it would probably ruin the honeymoon for Lulu if he went around making unicorns explode.
“Well, hello Veigar and welcome to Equestria.” Twilight said at last, and raised her hoof into the air, pointing it towards the dark mage. He raised his weapon out of muscle reflex, and Twilight flinched backwards. Veigar stopped himself and the air grew tense once again. Lulu laughed and bumped Veigar's shoulder with her own.
The dark mage looked at her from beneath his brim, and Twilight watched from the side. She watched in awe as that ever present dance of insanity faded away, drew itself away, and was replaced with perfect genuine care, something that seemed completely foreign to his evil, angry face. Her grin widened and Veigar’s grip loosened until he handed his weapon to Lulu, who placed it on the ground along with hers, small insignificant sparks forming between them because of their proximity.
Then, he turned back to Twilight and the kindness faded. Insanity didn’t replace it, not instantly, and the mage took it as a good sign. She raised her hoof once again and waited until, at last, the small creature reached forth his own gauntlet and shook. Signifying to everypony present that Veigar wasn’t going to kill them all to satisfy his own tainted blood lust.
Well, not today anyway.
