//------------------------------// // Intermission: A Chance to Takeover // Story: What If... // by Petalled //------------------------------// King Sombra had taken over the empire again, and I didn't know what to do now. I heard about what happened and now it looks like we are the last ones taken advantage of. I knew I was useless in saving my family, I can't do anything which is why my aunties probably still looked at me as if I were still a child and offered my sister-in-law to rule the whole land alone. I knew her friends wouldn't also either. I knew it would only be her. I felt pity for my own sister-in-law when I should be feeling proud. I could see the look in her eyes when she came to see me and tell me about Auntie offering her Equestria. I felt vengeful towards her, not Twilight. No, I could never. ''Honey?'' came the voice of my husband. ''Have you looked outside? It seems like King Sombra has taken over the empire again.'' I turned around to face him. ''That won't happen. Grogar would cover everything in darkness including him. You heard what he did to your sister and her friends.'' Shining hung his head. ''I only wish I could do something to save everyone and Equestria. But Flurry Heart is just a child! And we were planning to have another baby too.'' His hoof circled the little hump growing on my stomach. I smiled as I squeezed his shoulder. ''I love you, honey. We'll meet again. I don't know when but I'm certain that someone will fix this once and for all. There has always been a way, no matter how long it takes." Shining returned my smile and held onto my hoof for support. "You're right," he whispered blissfully before the window came crashing upon us, the shards scattered across the crystalline floor. "Honey! Grab Flurry!" I shouted out, and my husband was already on his way to our daughter's room, bringing her in my hooves. King Sombra finally made an appearance out of thick black smoke as we all coughed, the crystal heart levitating before us. He ate it. In. One. Whole. I looked at him in shock as my husband tried to console me, our baby held safely in both of our hooves. "Lovely to see the Crystal Family again, but only this time we won't be seeing each other for long." Shining stepped forward. "Looks like you didn't learn a thing over at my sister's school. Might as well lock you in a room with her babbling on and on about her friendship speeches." ''Not that, anything but that!" he acted out dramatically before returning to his normal. "Anyway, all the other nations fled before darkness could grab them for a thousand years. I quickly took the chance to have what was mine before this land turns to darkness as well, and again." "If you knew you'd turn to darkness again, then what's the point?" I asked him, eyeing him skeptically. "To spend my last minutes ruling my empire, of course. I already know what the darkness would look like for a thousand years so I'm used to it by now." I gritted my teeth as I powered up my horn and blasted it at his face. He took it as a minor step back before powering magic of his own and blasting it my way but my husband stepped in front of me to protect me. ''Shining!'' I cried out. ''Dada!'' Flurry shouted. Shining fell to the floor, left unconscious. I ran towards his body with Flurry still in my hooves. "Shining, please, wake up!" I asked for one last favor for him to do before the ancient blue ram had smashed through another window. "It's finally time, Cadence," he weakly said as he touched my face. "Goodbye, we'll see each other soon. I... love... you..." My voice echoed throughout the throne room as I screamed his name out for the last time, falling onto my knees as tears streamed down my cheeks uncontrollably. Everyone was gone, but I still had my first ever daughter left. I wasn't going to leave her hanging so might as well take her with me into the darkness while holding onto my husband so the three of us would be in this together. "Say goodbye, Cadence..." Grogar hissed as shadow claws approached us. I looked into my daughter's eyes filled with innocence. "Mama, what's going on?" she asked me in that irreproachable, adorable voice. "Everything's going to be okay, sweetheart. Just hold onto Mummy and Daddy for me." Flurry was confused but did as she was told. She held onto her father's hoof while also holding onto mine. "I love you..." I said as I smiled at her before the darkness had got to us, covering us from our torso to our horns. We screamed together in pain. The last of my hearing I could only hear my daughter calling out, "MOOOM!" For a thousand years, I watched generations pass by with my Aunties, husband, and two foals along. Auntie Celestia helped me have my second foal out. It was corrupted by the darkness but Luna had taken care of it, making it into a normal foal. At least I still had my family with me and that was all I needed. A break from my royal life and a break with my family. Hopefully, one-day somepony finally fixes this and we can finally get to reunite with the others.