//------------------------------//
// Love Hurts 
// Story: When Darkness Falls 
// by MisterEdd 
//------------------------------//

Whompff! Whompff! 

The air whooshed as Twilight furled and unfurled her new wings, intrigued by the sensation of having the feathered extensions on her back and eager to try them out. She folded her wings and sluggishly made her way into the kitchen, deciding that a nice cup of cocoa would help to lift her spirits. Setting the steaming mug down, she opened up Hayscartes’ Treatise on Ponies, preparing to lose herself to Prench dualism and Cartesianism. 

Parcel Post would've called this preachy and metaphysically ludicrous. 

Slamming the book shut, and the chair screeched as Twilight pulled it out and curled up into her bed, her cocoa untouched and her desire to read completely ruined. She threw a forlorn glance at her closet, where the dress she wore for her date hung up before she rolled over and buried her face in her pillow. No matter what she did, she couldn't get that accursed mailpony off of her mind. First, Parcel Post winds up in the hospital and winds up with amnesia, which already made things difficult for her. Then, there was his strange admittance of personal abjuration from reading, a fact that made no sense to Twilight seeing as how he presented himself to her as very intelligent and well-read. The stallion that she met at the hospital had a dull, kind of fatuous look in his eyes, lacking the noticeable shimmer of mental prowess he had before.    

Rolling onto her back, Twilight groaned and stared up at the ceiling, her eyes sore and itchy from crying. She idly placed a hoof over her chest, feeling a slow thumping on the inside. Her chest ached, her heart stinging with every beat. 

Is this how it feels to have a broken heart? 

Being as how she'd never been in a relationship before, or even had romantic feelings towards another, Twilight had no frame of reference, only reading descriptions in romance novels, a guilty pleasure that she gave into every now and then. It was a pain she wished would end but also welcomed it as it reminded her of what she had and lost. 

Frantic tapping sounds erupted from the foyer and Twilight sluggishly pulled herself out of bed, grumbling to herself that whoever it was had better have a good reason for disrupting her private venture into the pitfalls of heartbreak. 

"Yes, I hear you, hold on! Criminy, somepony better be dead or-..." Twilight yelled, yanking the door open. 

Spike and the other Element Bearers rushed in, all of them apparently out of breath as they nearly collapsed against one another, loudly heaving in air. 

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"      

With a trembling hand, Spike held up a semi-crumpled scroll. 

"L-letter from Princess Celestia...Shining Armor and Cadence in trouble...requests Elements of Harmony...King Sombra..." 

"What?!" Twilight's aura wrenched the letter out of Spike's grasp, her eyes darting down the scroll as she frantically read it. "King Sombra has returned and has...taken over the Crystal Empire! Cadence and my brother are in danger?!" 

Tossing the scroll away, she closed her eyes and focused on the situation at hoof, banishing her thoughts of Parcel Post and her own heartache. 

My family needs me and to help them, I need to get a grip. No more Miss Mopey Twilight. 

Her eyes shot open, her strength and sense of purpose renewed. 

"Come on, everypony. We have a kingdom to save." 


~*~


Cadence slowly rose out of bed, her movements lead-hoofed and automatic, as if she were walking in a trance, her eyes never leaving King Sombra's. There he was, the figure from her nightmares, somehow alive and breathing. She pressed herself to Shining Armor's side, taking comfort in his warmth as they stared incredulously at the intruder. 

"What...what business are you referring to? Are you talking about taking revenge against us?" She asked, her voice so quiet and uncommanding for a princess. 

The dark unicorn stared at her in disbelief, his whole body stiff and statue-like. 

"Revenge against you? While revenge is the motivation behind my actions, it's not against either of you." 

"Then why are you here? And for that matter, how are you here? We saw you die!"  

King Sombra nodded and a small grin appeared on his face, though it seemed oddly forced. 

"You did. What folks fail to realize is that death is quite simple. It's coming back from the dead that's the hard part. I'm a master of the dark arts. Did you really think that I wouldn't have a back-up plan for such an inconvenience?" 

Despite answering Shining Armor's question, he was looking past him to observe Cadence, something that the princess found unacceptable. 

"My husband was addressing you. The least you could do is look at him when you speak to him." 

She didn't need a mirror to know that her eyes had reverted back to their retched green state. She could feel her pupils turning red, feel the purple smoke as it billowed out of the corners. 

Curiously, the former ruler's features sagged at her words. 

"I'm sorry, Cadence. It's just that...I've waited so long for this reunion. I didn't mean to be rude." 

His eyes flickered to Shining Armor. 

"I apologize for my rudeness. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to need you to leave the room. I need to speak to Cadence alone." 

Shining Armor's horn glowed vibrantly. "I'm not going anywhere. And it's Princess Cadence!"  

"Must we do this again?" King Sombra groaned irritatingly, his own horn flashing with a fiery red corona. Shining Armor fell to his knees clutching his head, several black crystals sprouting from his horn and the crown of his skull. 

"Shiny!" Cadence's horn erupted in dark purple flames. "Leave my husband alone or you'll be in a world of agony!" 

"So it is true..." King Sombra whispered in astonishment, leaving Cadence very confused. He then resumed an air of stoicism and emitted his horn, banishing the dark crystals from Shining Armor's head. 

"I'm sorry that I had to do that but he did threaten me. I'll make you a deal: if you swear to remain here with me, then I swear to you that I will release your husband and allow him to go free unharmed."

"Cadence...d-don't..."

"And then what?" Cadence demanded, locking eyes with King Sombra. 

"And then...we talk. That's it. So what'll it be, Cadence?" 

Oh, what would Aunt Celestia or Luna do? 

She didn't know if Sombra would keep his word but on the off-chance that he did, Shining Armor could be out of harm's way and he'd be free to go get help. At least then, Cadence could stall for time and, to her own dismay, speak with the ex-tyrant and get a straight answer for her recent affliction. The flames around Cadence's horn were snuffed out, the greens and reds in her eyes giving way to their natural purples. 

"I accept." 

"Done."

"Cadence, don't!" Shining Armor reached out for her before he vanished in a flash of crimson. 

You'll be okay, my love. Have faith in me. 

Cadence spun to meet Sombra, who slowly approached her from the side. 

"Shining Armor had better be safe, Sombra."   

King Sombra winced slightly at her cold tone. "I swore that he'd be unharmed and despite whatever lies you'd heard about me, I always honor my deals." He withdrew a green glass bottle from a hidden pouch in the interior of his cloak and held it up to the light. "Do you know what this is?" 

Cadence squinted. "Is that...a memory potion?"

"Indeed it is! But it's not just any old memory potion. This particular concoction was made from the memories of Princess Celestia herself."

This caught Cadence's attention. "But why? How?"

King Sombra shook his head and popped off the cork. "It doesn't matter how. As for why...I want you to drink it. It contains...sensitive material. Closely guarded secrets, secrets that you deserve to know about your dear Aunt Celestia." 

Cadence peered suspiciously at the bottle. 

As if reading her mind, King Sombra chuckled, "Don't worry, I didn't come all this way just to poison you. I promised that we'd talk and we shall. Right after you drink this." 

Somehow, the dark king's assurances did little to calm the alarms going off in the young alicorn's head. 

"Don't you want to know about your recent ailment? Don't you want to know why you feel an inner darkness gnawing at you like a hungry dog?" 

Reluctantly, Cadence levitated the bottle out of King Sombra's hoof and held it up to her face. She took a whiff, detecting the familiar, musky and nutty scent of a memory potion. Scrutinizing King Sombra's face, she found him staring at her almost sorrowfully, as if he genuinely felt remorse for what he was doing. 

"Be warned. Once you see what is in that potion...you can never unsee it," he said seriously, an almost parental tone in his voice. 

Well...here goes everything. 

Raising the bottle to her lips, Cadence felt its contents slide down her throat.