Loss of a Heart

by Cora Zone Unicorn

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Cadance, King Sombra, Tragedy, Crystal Ponies, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Sad, Other, Romance
Length: 2433

An alternate ending to "The Crystal Empire" where Spike didn't come along, and Twilight failed to find the Crystal Heart in time.

Twilight Sparkle has failed at getting the Crystal Heart in time, letting the former king, who enslaved the entire kingdom over a thousand years before, return to take over the Empire.

Now, with the Crystal Heart permanently gone, Twilight is now bound to King Sombra for all eternity...

Because of this, it even left the only pony who can save her, her loved ones, and the empire, powerless against him.

Inspired by THIS image!!!!

Cover art by SapsDrow

Now with Dramatic Reading by ME!!!

Published 2015-05-13 19:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-13 19:40:01 UTC

End of the Pain

Twilight was at the highest point of the Crystal Palace. Trapped in the center due to the security alarm that the, (for now) shadowy figure of the former king had set many years prior. She had tried to escape by using her teleportation, but Sombra had thought ahead, and had placed a spell on the trap so that no pony would be able to teleport out of it.

The Crystal Heart was laying flat on the floor, a few feet away from where Twilight remained incarcerated. If only she hadn’t had pushed Spike away. He would’ve been a huge assent with helping to get the heart to the crystal ponies.

But, of course, she had decided to follow Celestia’s instructions exactly. “In the end, it must be you, and you alone,” she had told her, earlier, that day. And now, because of her stubbornness and her sister-in-law’s magic fading faster than ever before, the entire empire will return to being enslaved once more. However, Twilight was certain that, this time, she, her friends, her brother, and Princess Cadence, will soon join them.

Through a small opening in her little crystal cell, Twilight could see that Cadence’s magic had faded. The once clear blue sky was replaced by the dark, and snowy tundra. She could hear the screams of many of the local citizens of the Crystal Empire. All of them, she assumed, running toward where the Crystal Heart usually stood.

By the time all of them made it to the location of where the heart would be, King Sombra had entered the kingdom. A giant platform made of crystal rose from the ground. His body now returning to its former glory. No longer a shadow, but now a full-fledged unicorn. A unicorn wearing his crown, and his red cape once more after a thousand years.

The main six, Spike, Shining Armor, and his wife watched in fear, alongside the crystal ponies. King Sombra had finally returned.

His horn had began to glow a dark shade of emerald green. He looked up, staring at the highest point of the castle where the Crystal Heart laid. The magic had engulfed him, teleporting his off of the platform that he had been standing on, and into the tower.

The purple unicorn was taken aback when a sudden flash of light suddenly came out of nowhere, nearly blinding her. After a few seconds, Twilight rubbed her eyes with her hooves. Her eyes became blurry as they were adjusting themselves from the light. Once her vision had cleared, a look of great horror took over her face as she saw none other than King Sombra right in front of where she was imprisoned.

However, he wasn’t looking directly at her. No, his eyes were fixated on the heart. The tip of his curved horn began to form a little orb of dark green magic. Her eyes widened as she quickly realized what he was about to do.

“No,” Twilight shouted.

But it was too late. A sharp burst of his magic hit the heart like a laser, destroying it into millions of pieces. Twilight’s hooves covered her mouth. Tears were forming in her eyes. A lump began to form in her throat, nearly choking her.

She soon began to regret her little outburst from a few moments ago when the unicorn king looked her direction. Her surroundings then began to shake and dissipate, releasing her. There Twilight stood in front of the evil monarch. She would have teleported away from him, but she was too afraid. Plus, she was pretty sure that if she were to teleport, he would do the same.

The stallion stepped toward her, his red eyes never looking away from her violet ones. The purple smoke from his peripherals, along with his mane and tail began to flow more rapidly as he walked toward the mare. The closer he got to her, the more she feared for her life.

Her eyes began to burn, for she hadn’t blinked since he first laid his eyes on her. Her heart was beating fast. It was so quick that she thought it would explode inside of her body which would leave her to die from bleeding internally. She surely thought that was going to happen once he had put his hoof underneath her chin, making her look at him.

Twilight hesitated. “W-w-what do you want from me?

He gave an evil, yet, compassionate chuckle. A wide smile spread across his face, revealing his sharp fangs.

The purple mare grimaced. She then felt something heavy around her neck and hooves. One of her eyes popped open and looked down, seeing shackles and chains upon herself.

Not only that, but her chains seemed different from the rest of the ponies down below. Her own shackles were attached to the demon, himself.

She had found herself frozen when she heard the king speak. Her eyes stared into his once more.

"What I want.... is a queen."

Twilight didn't say a word. She just kept staring into his red, possessive eyes. For a split second, she could’ve sworn that she saw some type of sparkle appearing in his pupils. And the longer she stared, the more that her own eyes became like his.

Two years…

Two years since King Sombra had returned and had successfully taken over the Crystal Empire again.

All of the crystal ponies, the main five, Spike, and the prince and princess had been in chains, forced to do labor for the king and his queen.

But it was just Princess Cadence now. Locked in her own little cell with shackles still around her hooves. She was curled into a fetal position, the same way she had laid herself every night since King Sombra had imprisoned her, her loved ones, and her citizens.

Every night she did nothing but lay herself in that same exact position, crying herself to sleep. Her multicolored mane was disheveled, and faded. Her body was dirty from the amount of labor she was forced to do, and her chains and neck brace had left deep scars in her fur coat and skin.

She was all alone. No pony to keep her company. No pony to put a smile on her face. All due to the others, one by one, slowly becoming executed. First Spike, then Fluttershy, and then Pinkie Pie, and so on until they reached her husband a few months back.

Pretty soon, she will be gone as well. Half of her was happy. No longer would she be tortured and alone. She wouldn't be miserable anymore.

But, the other half of her didn't want to go. She wanted to try to find a way to still save her rightful kingdom. She was supposed to rule and protect it. After all, her cutie was the image of the Crystal Heart.

However, the heart was gone; destroyed by the tyrant. Without the heart, there was no way, possible, that she or any of the crystal ponies could defeat him. Thus, making her weak and vulnerable. Not even the simplest of magic would do her any good.

Cadence's ears suddenly perked up, as she heard the sound of hoof steps coming down into the corridor. She lifted her head, staring at the door in front of her. She listened to the tumblers as, whoever was on the other side, began to open it.

The door open to reveal the silhouette of stallion. A stallion that seemed to be completely made of crystal. He wasn’t exactly a crystal pony, but he also was certainly not a regular stallion. Cadence recognized him immediately, and knew what was about to happen.

The stallion, whom was dressed in royal guard apparel, lowered his head, taking her chains in his mouth. He gave her an intense look, his eyebrows furrowing together. She would have glared at him but she was too distraught to do so.

The Princess of Love struggled to get up, for the shackles on her hooves were pulling her down due to their heftiness. Not only that but she was pretty malnourished. She didn’t have that much energy in her body to do anything. After a few attempts of trying, she was finally up on all fours. Although, once she was standing, you could see that she was looking pretty thin, being that her ribcage was showing.

The guard yanked her chains a bit, gesturing for her to come with him.

No use resisting him, she thought.

She began to take a few steps toward, who she now realized, was an earth pony. Her weak legs only having enough energy to go so far. The moment she had gotten beside the guard, she collapsed on to his back. He let out a grunt as he caught the mare’s body onto his back. The alicorn may have been thin to do the lack of being fed but the metal and steel that was attached to her, has added quite a bit of weight.

The stallion, with Princess Cadence on his body, began to walk out of the dungeon, but not without closing her cell door. He carried her throughout the halls of the palace, only taking her off of his backside, and holding her by the waist for support when they were to go up stairs.

Finally after ages of walking through countless hallways and stairs that seemed to be a thousand steps or more, the two were now where they were meant to be: The King and Queen's throne room.

The guard set the, still unconscious, mare gently on the cold tile floor. He looked over her, feeling bad her. She looked so fragile.

Without warning, a booming voice called out to the earth pony.

"What is it, son," they said.

The sudden burst of a voice caused the stallion to jump a little. He was going to call out for the king. He didn't expect for him to already be out.

The guard cleared his throat before speaking. "I-I have brought the princess as you requested, your Majesty."

King Sombra raised an eyebrow. He looked down a bit to the guard's left, to see the sleeping mare on the ground beside him. He gave him an approving, yet vicious smile.

"Well, done," he said.

He gave his Supreme a tiny nod. The unicorn king took a few steps toward the two of them. The young stallion was sweating nervously as he stood directly in front of him.

The king glanced down at the sleeping princess. "Leave us."

The earth pony nodded, saluting him before leaving the room. Sombra waited until the guard was completely out of sight.

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," he said, snarling at the name, for just saying it tasted like bile.

The princess's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her full name being called, despite it being said with no good intentions coming her way. Her eyes looked up from where she was lying. She wasn't surprised that it was, none other than, the king, looking down at her. Cadence knew that she was going to face him sooner or later.

"Y-yes," she responded weakly, licking her dry lips.

"Do you know what today is," he asked, pacing before her.

Cadence got up from the floor, using as much of her strength as she could. "I believe I can come up with a pretty good answer... Yo-your majesty." Having to say that made her sick.

Sombra raised an eyebrow at the alicorn. “And… what would that be?”

She tried to give him a sort of a scowl, but failed. Instead, she decided to answer his question.

“The day where you finally end my pain and misery,” she replied, her legs shaking.

He turned toward her, surprised, but at the same time, delighted. The stallion walked in front of her, placing his hoof underneath her chin, chuckling.

A confused expression spread across her face. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, I’m not the one who plans to ‘end your pain and misery,’” he said, making air quotes with his forehooves.

“What are you talking about?”

Sombra smiled a wicked smile. “Darling,” he called out, “would you come out here, please?”

Not too far from behind them came a unicorn mare. Upon her body was a purple cape and a silver crown, similar to her lover's, on top of the front her hair, which seemed to be in some sort of perm.

The tip of her horn was tinted red as well, much like Sombra's. And her eyes were red with a purple mist flowing out from her peripherals, again, much like the king's.

Cadence could not believe her eyes. It couldn't be who she thought it was. She thought she was dead. She was told that she was dead!

But she could recognize those eyes and mane anywhere! Here she was making her way towards her and the tyrant that had caused her, and every pony on the empire, nothing but pain.

What made it even more unbelievable was that she was now bound to him.

"Hello, my dear," she greeted him.

Sombra smiled at her, giving her a full kiss on the lips. Cadence's eyes widened, and was completely stunned.

After their lips had parted, his lover had looked the weak mare into the eyes.

"Twilight," Cadence said in a whisper. The queen gave her a short nod, confirming her identity.

Due to this news, Cadence's legs finally gave out, making her collapse once more. The queen smirked at her.

"I-I-I thought you were dead," she said, her voice now very raspy. "W-we all thought you were dead."

"Oh, no, Cadence. I'm very much alive... However, you won't be much longer."

Cadence watched as the king wrapped his arm around Twilight's waist. "No. No! This can't be true! This isn't like you! He's controlling you. He has to be!"

"Oh, sis," she began, "Sombra isn't controlling me." Her horn began to glow; dark green magic with specks of dark purple and black beginning to form along with it. "It's just that I've simply had a loss of a heart."

Cadence eyes began to swell up in tears, crying one last, and final time.

Author's Note

Woo!!! My very first ever completely dark fanfic. Teeny tiny bit of romance between Sombra and Twilight in the beginning but not much. Still surprised that I actually wrote this whole thing in like, less than 2 days, or a day and a half.

Anyway, tell me what you think. Don't forget to please like, favorite, and LEAVE A REVIEW!!!