Final Thoughts

To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure why I decided to write this alternate ending. Perhaps it could be a way to show both sides of the coin. Instead of entering paradise, it's paradise lost. Forgive me reader for deciding to write this. If you've thought the first chapter was sad, you've entered a whole new domain of sad. Warning, this chapter will not be for the faint of heart, viewer discretion is advised.

Alternate Ending: Paradise Lost

Shining Armor continued to embrace his wife once more, that beautiful mare of his that he had lost. No longer would they ever be separated from each other again, for they would finally be together once more, for the rest of eternity, in paradise.

"Promise me" Shining Armor said as he was embracing his wife. "Promise me, that'll you'll never leave me again."

Cadence hugged her husband even harder after that request that he had made.

"Shining Armor" Cadence whispered into Shining Armor's ear. "I promise you as your wife, that I will never leave you, my husband ever again."

"Cadence." Shining Armor said "I love you."

With that last statement, Shining Armor kissed his wife once more. But, something was very wrong. Her lips felt cold and they tasted like that of dirt from the ground. Shining Armor backed away, shocked as to what he found. Something was very wrong. Suddenly to Shining Armor's horror, his wife Cadence began making a loud shriek, her flesh began melting from her body. Soon Princess Amore Cadenza was nothing more than a puddle of red and pink liquid.

With Cadence gone, the scenery began to change for the worst. The stream that ran through the fields had begun to catch on fire. Soon it wasn't a river of water, but that of a dark and evil liquid, one that is not pleasant to drink. The sky had changed from a warm and friendly light blue, to a hue similar to the crimson color of blood. The air began to fill with the smell of fire and brimstone. Shining Armor fell straight to the ground and began to weep.

"What is going on?!" He cried out.

The meadow had changed as well. No longer was it full of flowers and grass, but it looked as though a fire had swept through, destroying and burning everything in its path. The few plants that remained, were wilted and had perished. A once beautiful landscape, now reduced to a wasteland, but worst of all were the screams. It was as though hundreds of thousands of ponies and other creatures were being tortured brutally over and over.

"Where in Celestia's name am I?!" Shining Armor cried out now utterly horrified.

"You wanted paradise." A cold voice said coming from nowhere. "I gave you a glimpse of what you wished for. A place of no pain, no heartache, and most important of all... your wife Cadence… and then I took it all away. Welcome to your new home, Tartarus."

The voice left Shining Armor to his fate, for Shining Armor would soon learn the full fury of what Tartarus could offer. Aside from the pain of the physical anguish of the fire, the thirst, and the starvation, the worst of it all was the sole fact that Shining Armor would have to be without Cadence. There would be no drugs to dull his senses, for time works much more slowly in Tartarus, our mere seconds are their hundreds of years and for each one, Shining Armor will linger, pondering how he can never be reunited with his beloved wife and foal. He will have the rest of eternity thinking about that.