I’m sure everypony among us has heard the words:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
Beautiful words, for whatever it’s worth. They were written a long time ago, but they still resound in the soul of anypony who reads them. And, as the Princess of Love, I can assure you that every word is true.
But there are other words that are just as true, but nopony likes to hear:
Love does not want to let go.
Everything has its dark side, and love is no exception.
I keep my eyes closed for several minutes while I wait to make absolutely certain that my Shining is asleep. I don’t much like keeping things from him, especially things this important, but like Auntie Celestia told me when I was little: sometimes, a princess has to do what a princess has to do. And Princess Mi Amore Cadenza does not intend to let her very special somepony down.
It’s honestly a bit hard to judge whether he’s really asleep nowadays. The body that Twilight and I made for him doesn’t breathe (and therefore doesn’t snore), and has no real natural movement to it. Most of the time I have to cast a small spell just to be sure that Shiny has actually fallen asleep. I do that now…
Yep! He’s out like a light. Even after all this time he’s still a heavy sleeper. His stories of the problems it caused him in the Royal Guard always make me giggle.
I feel a little guilty for leaving him alone, but he shouldn’t notice anything. I’ll be back in bed in a few hours, in time to wake him up by nibbling on his ear. He always did enjoy that.
My horn flares briefly, and I vanish from our bed, reappearing in what has become my nightly abode. Most ponies say that it isn’t healthy to be getting only a two or three hours of sleep every night. I say that I’m a damn alicorn princess. A walking demigod amongst ponies. At my age, I can raze whole cities to the ground by myself, or grow a forest overnight through will and magic alone. I do as I wish, when I wish, where I wish. And what I wish is to help Shining. Besides, my husband has gone centuries without the ability to feel the breeze on his face, to taste food in his mouth, or to be intimate with his wife for my sake. I can make do with a bit less sleep every night for his.
I appear in a blue flash deep underground. These caverns were first mines, then prison cells when their veins of gems ran out, and then they became something much darker with coming of King Sombra. They were his laboratories.
Of course, I’ve long since dispelled the last remnants of his dark magic that lingered here, substituting my own – considerably less lethal – defenses in their place. That, plus the rumor that I may or may not have been involved in concocting, that Sombra’s ghost haunts this place, always seeking fresh ponies to devour, has kept ponies away. This place is my secret, and what lurks down here would be scandalous if it were known to the public.
No, I don’t keep little fillies and colts down here and drink their innocent blood to retain my eternal youth. Nor am I some serial killer who likes to lure innocents to their doom and bake them into my pastries. I do not plot to summon unholy abominations from another dimension to consume the world. (Why would I? I live there.)You really shouldn’t believe what those conspiracy rags tell you.
Revolting but true side note: Sombra actually did try drinking the blood of foals to retain his youth, if his notes are to be believed. Didn’t work.
No, what would be scandalous for me if it were known is the fact that, while I did smash his vile instruments of torture and burnt his experimental devices to cinder, I didn’t fully destroy all of Sombra’s work. While I hate to credit the evil stallion for anything, whatever else he was the tyrant king was a genius. Ruthless? Yes. Cruel? Yes. Megalomaniacal? Yes. Utterly repulsive? Yes. A dark genius in spite of everything? Also yes.
In Sombra’s own quest for immortality and ever-increasing power, he plumbed the depths of biology to the extent that even now, almost a millennium and a half later, we are still catching up to him on some things. His remorseless tactics, such as deliberately introducing injury and disease to helpless prisoners and carefully recording each progression before testing a cure, gave him a wide knowledge of pony biology. What I find most simultaneously fascinating and yet disturbing are his extensive writings on alicorn physiology.
I knew for a long time that my predecessor as princess of the Crystal Empire had been an alicorn. When Sombra staged his coup, the cruel master of dark sorcery faced off one-to-one against the demigoddess that protected the empire and its Crystal Heart. And the goddess fell. And the Crystal Empire fell. With a victory like that in hoof, Sombra was able to declare himself king and nopony, not even Auntie Celestia and Auntie Luna, dared to challenge him for years.
What I didn’t know, until the time came to clean out these caverns, was that Sombra had claimed the broken corpse of his enemy as a trophy and an experiment. There’s no easy way to say this: he dissected her piece-by-piece, documenting everything he saw. He used her body parts to fuel dark magic, such as when he tossed her heart into the molten metal he used to forge the Alicorn Amulet. Then he mounted her skeleton in a glass case and kept it down here to examine and gloat over at his leisure. The skeleton was still there when I found this place. And it’s still there now.
I haven’t told anypony about it. Not even my aunties. Not even Twilight. Not even Shining. The princess’s remains still have a touch of magic about them, even after all this time. I’d like to bury the bones with honor, and I still intend to do that someday, but… I’m afraid I may need them. I still don’t know how I’m going to make Shining a new body, but some instinct tells me these old bones may be important. Until I can get my Shiny out of that crystalline prison, I won’t get rid of them.
I walk through the illusionary wall hiding the door, deactivate the jinxes carved into the walls, and identify myself to the crystal golems I’ve made to guard this place. Once this cavern was Sombra’s laboratory, and now it’s mine. I have rack upon rack filled with potions, ingredients, alchemy reagents, and chemical solutions. My bookcases are covered in tomes mundane and magical by authors from Staswirl to Celestia. My notes, and Sombra’s as well, are neatly organized into binders and filed by topic, date, and relevance. Twilight would be proud, if the alicorn skeleton in a glass case sitting beside one of my chemistry sets didn’t freak her out first.
All that is expensive, but truthfully I couldn’t care less what this costs me. I’m wealthy on my own, and I have all the resources of our prosperous empire backing me up. Shining gave up his very afterlife – and I have no doubt at all in my mind that it would have been a very pleasant one, with his parents and old friends and even our precious children – just so I wouldn’t have to spend an eternity without him. The least I can do in return is create a proper eternal body for him.
I crack open my notes to where I was last night and get to work.
The sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon when I teleport back to our bedroom. I sigh lightly in relief when I see that Shiny is still asleep where I’d left him. I crawl softly into bed – not an easy task for a mare my size, let me tell you – and tuck myself under the covers. The feeling is simply divine. The sheets are imported Canterlot silk, soft and smooth and oh so comfy. The mattress is soft enough to be mistaken for a cloud, and as a born pegasus I assure you that I know what that feels like. Our bed is cool to my touch, just the way I like it. I snuggle up like a foal and prepare for my short hours of rest.
Then the guilt hits me. Always does whenever I’m enjoying something nice. Shining can’t feel this. He hasn’t felt the smooth touch of silk on his coat in hundreds of years. He couldn’t taste the sweet fruit I snacked on while I worked, not even if I fed it to him like we did on our honeymoon. Even now, the reason the bed is cold is that his body doesn’t generate any actual heat, having no need to do so. And why is that? Because Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is a selfish witch who insisted on imprisoning his very soul rather than accepting the inevitable. Because she couldn’t be like her aunties who, when the time came, bid the stallions they had loved goodbye and mourned for them, but didn’t allow their feelings to turn into obsessive clinging.
I feel like such an awful, self-centered pony. I practically blackmailed Shining Armor into accepting this – demanded he sacrifice everything for all eternity just to please me. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was thinking about committing suicide if he died, but now I think that, at least on some subconscious level, I was playing on his good nature. He’s always wanted to be the knight in shining armor, to protect the lady fair from the wicked dragon. So I made a dragon for him to save me from, and then insisted he suffer day by day to keep it away from me. What kind of wife does that?
You know the worst part? I haven’t changed a bit. No matter what my aunties might say, Princess Cadence hasn’t grown past the spoiled, selfish foal that clings to her favorite toy forever. I still, even knowing how much I’ve hurt him by making him live like this, can’t bring myself to let him go. I suppose Chrysalis and I aren’t as different as I liked to believe. I feed on another’s love to sustain myself just as much as she ever did.
When I turn my head to look at him, tears well up in my eyes. Oh Shining, why couldn’t you be the alicorn, and I the statue?
It’s later in the morning. Everypony is up and about again. This time we’re attending something of a fair Twilight set up in a field at the edge of the Empire’s capital for her World Forum of Peace and Cooperation. She’s as darling as she ever was as a filly. I’m glad she’s an alicorn now – she’s a wonderful addition to the family.
Shiny has duties he has to attend to setting up for events later this evening, so for now it’s just me and my pair of guards. Normally I’d walk the Crystal Empire without them, but with so many strangers here Shining insisted. After what I’ve done to him, how could I say no? Besides, I don’t want to be any more of an emotional leech on him than I already am.
Walking between the tents, I spy some of my family among the crowd. I wave and call them over for a little chat, and they happily oblige. There’s Diamond Eyes, my great-great-great-granddaughter, by way of my son. She’s with her husband Gallium, and their beautiful little filly Snowflake. She’s only a few months old, and still being pushed in her stroller. But even she knows enough to squeal happily at the sight of Grandma Cadence. I smile and nuzzle the little one a bit. I’ve always liked foals, ever since I foalsat as a side job at Auntie Celestia’s recommendation. I can clearly remember the names and faces of every generation of my own foals ever since I carried the twins so long ago. That’s part of what makes attending their funerals so hard for me.
The conversation I have with my descendants is ordinary and rather trifling, but pleasant. I keep my Serene Alicorn Facetm and enjoy chatting with my family about the same thing for the latest time in a long series of such talks. Really, after you’ve had the same conversation a dozen times or so, it ceases to be intrinsically meaningful and instead becomes about whatever pony you’re spending time with. And I always enjoy seeing my ever-growing family.
Then, all too soon, it’s over, and the trio and I go our separate ways. I wish them a happy day and ask that they visit their old fuddy duddy grandparents whenever they can. They agree, and I smile to see them trotting off to enjoy Twilight’s fair. Hopefully I’ll see them again very soon.
I do my own thing, for the most part. Since Shiny isn’t here, I pick up a caramel apple (still a favorite) despite the twinge of guilt it causes, and munch on it as I sit back and relax. There’s lots of love and happiness in the air here – I can always feel it – and their joy is my joy. That’s part and parcel of being an alicorn, especially the Princess of Love; you feel what the ponies around you feel. It’s why I still rule, in spite of all the irritations and distractions it’s brought me. I simply trot around, exchanging pleasantries and basking in the warm glow of others’ happiness. The only thing that could make this better is if a certain somepony was with me. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you who.
It’s hours into today’s WFPC fair, though for a mare like me such a span passes in a metaphorical eye blink. Judging from the position of Auntie Celestia’s sun, I would hazard a guess that we’re nearing midday. The carnival is more packed than ever, as the ordinary ponies – or “commoners” as the stuffier nobility might call them – come out to join the delegates. I’ve had a thoroughly enjoyable morning making small-talk, mingling, and soaking in affection.
“Princess Cadenza?” comes a voice through the crowd. I turn to face it. It’s Lady Rose Quartz, though I don’t see her son anywhere. She gives me flourishing bow. “Your majesty.”
“Oh, there’s no need to be so formal. Not here. Just call me Cadence,” I answer. I’ve got an excellent poker face – thanks Auntie – and keep it, but even glutted on happiness as I am I can sense that this is no coincidental meeting. This mare has been seeking me out. Alone. “May I call you Rose?”
“Her majesty may call me what she wishes,” she replies, looking up from her bow.
I sigh slightly and resist the urge to roll my eyes. “It’s good to see you here. I trust you’re enjoying the festivities?” I wave a hoof around at the carnival.
“They have been… delightful, your highness,” she says. I can feel the disdain rolling off of her as she lies to my face. It’s never pleasant, but I’ve gotten used to this sort of insincerity. Comes with the job, you know.
“Was there something you wanted?” I ask her in a pleasant tone. I’d rather get this done as quickly as possible and get back to metaphysically stuffing myself with my little ponies’ pleasure. She probably wants to lobby me for some pet project or perhaps influence my opinion on some piece of legislation or another. It’s a necessary part of governing, but I find it thoroughly tedious.
“You are perceptive as always, majesty.” She gives me another bow while I again resist rolling my eyes at the theatrics. Her eyes flick from side to side. “Might we speak somewhere slightly more… private?” she half whispers.
“Very well,” I tell her. Again, I honestly just want this over and done with as soon as possible, and appeasing her paranoia seems the easiest way to get that. “Follow me.” I lead our little group to something of an alleyway between carnival tents before addressing me guards. “Gentlecolts, if you would kindly ensure our privacy for just a few moments, I’d be very grateful.”
The two stallions nod and take up position on either end of the makeshift alley. My horn flickers and we’re encased in an invisible bubble. The sound around us disappears. All either of us can hear are each other, now, and nopony else will be able to listen in on what we’re saying.
“My thanks for your valuable time, your highness,” she says.
“So, how may I help you?” I ask her.
“Your majesty... there have been… whispers… among the nobility.”
“There are always whispers among the nobility,” I reply drily. “Please, spare us both the pretense and tell me what it is you want.”
She swallows. “Of course, your highness.” She gives another bow. “It is about your… husband.”
About Shiny? What are they saying now? A thousand different possibilities flash through my mind, each worse than the last. I keep my face serene, but wings start to ruffle slightly. The movements are so small that nopony but a pegasus might notice, and Lady Rose, like all crystal ponies, is an earth pony.
“Do go on,” I prod her, my tone slightly lower now.
“Some of us… question his continued… suitability for the role.”
What?! How dare they?! After all Shining Armor has done for the Crystal Empire, these useless layabouts are calling his suitability into question? My wings twitch a little faster now, my feathers standing on end.
She continues. “In light of his… impairments, some of us feel that it may be time for her highness to… take a new consort. Perhaps one capable of… siring foals?”
My wings burst out into their full glory. There it is. They want me to toss aside Shiny – after everything he’s endured for me – like so much worthless garbage and replace him with one of them. I don’t doubt that the “good lady” Rose Quartz has a certain stallion in mind, who by some total coincidence is also her bachelor of a son.
I confess: I don’t think I’ve felt such apocalyptic levels of rage towards anypony since the day I first arrived at the Crystal Empire and felt the citizens' collective misery and suffering under Sombra. My inner god-queen, that imperial voice that resides in the hearts of all alicorns, wants me to smite this insolent mortal into dust and ash on the spot for her audacity and call down a curse on her household. I’m seriously tempted. And I could do it too.
Lady Rose Quartz had better thank her lucky stars that Auntie Celestia was such a good tutor. She taught me not to go down that route, warned me of what lay at the end. Sombra. Chrysalis. Nightmare Moon. Discord. Tirek. I don’t want to be the next great tyrant of this world, but I swear by the sun and moon and stars that this… witch is making it seem a very attractive proposition.
In the end, I compromise a bit more than I think Celestia would approve of.
“Leave,” I hiss between gritted teeth. I can sense her rising panic, the sense that she’s stepped too far out of line. She backs away as I take a few steps forward, towering over her. “Leave my presence.” The wind picks up, and my eyes start to glow a solid white. “And don’t you ever dare to say such things in my hearing again, or I swear by all that is holy what I will do to you will make King Sombra look MERCIFUL!” The last word I roar in my Royal Canterlot Voice. It’s so loud she actually topples over from the sheer volume, the tent flaps around her quaking as if in a strong wind.
She flees as fast as her legs can carry her without another word. A very wise decision.
Some would say I should feel bad for scaring a mare so. But right now, the only thing I really feel bad about is leaving her alive.
Love is wonderful, but it is never kind.
Woah bad ass Cadence for the win!
Holy shit.
I asked for a look at Cadance's mind... and you deliver like a damn freight train. Her pain and guilt, overshadowed only by her stubborn(petty?) refusal to give up and let go. The reaction at Lady Rose's comment hints at some kind of slowly growing mania or issue. I'm not saying she is going to go full Nightmare, but cracks are beginning to show in her facade. This cannot go on forever, and not because of Shining—a dutiful and loyal solider to the end, I have no doubt he would endure countless eons just to spare his wife a moment of pain—but because of Cadance.
Also, I admit that I giggled at the trademark symbol... which is a bad thing. This isn't the story for silly little touches like that. I would advise you delete it.
BBBCGFF? Big Brother Best Chrystal Golum Friend Forever. I wonder how much of the Empire's budget goes for Windex?
Uh oh. Cadence be cray cray
Honestly though, that was pretty rude thing to say. How is that any business of the nobility? What do they care, except for you know the usual, who gets their pawn to marry a princess and thus giving them status and connections. Disgusting.
Serene Alicorn Facetm
Heh.
So is Rose basically a hate sink? http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HateSink A character PROGRAMMED to be there just to be hated by the audience?
4804183
You really think Twily would be capable of that sort of thing, even on the off chance Cadence wanted it? She hasn't changed that much
4804978
I'm of the opinion that even the darkest stories need some humor, and this isn't even as grimdark as other pieces I've posted on this site.
4804987
As the euphoria of being free from Sombra's grip passed from memory to legend (because most everypony involved died), the hero worship Spike enjoyed became more academic than real emotional experience. They still revere him, but not so fervently as their ancestors.
Don't forget that we haven't actually seen either of the Blueblood twins DO anything yet. Shining's opinion of them is his own, and is undoubtedly colored by his negative experiences with their ancestor, and vice-versa.
The crystal ponies merely have a crystalline tinge to their coats. Shining is literally, visibly, an animated crystal statue. To many ponies, this basically necromancy with a pretty face, and Shining is a glorified lich in an unnatural union with their princess. It would not help at all if it were known where Twilight got her inspiration from.
You'll have to wait to see if he dreams. More will be revealed in future chapters.
4805051
'Tis their duty to see to the health of their princess. And the Royal House, should something... unfortunate befall her.
4805064
That depends on your point of view, but I will admit to modeling some of her personality on one particularly despised villainess:
static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Lady-Tremaine-disney-villains-16283356-295-307_7915.jpg
4805401
True, but this is the wrong type of humor. Humor in a dark story should come from dialogue or be situational. The trademark symbol is more meta humor, a sort of fourth wall break, and it REALLY breaks the mood and draws the reader out of the scene.
4805607
The mood in which the joke takes place is a scene where Cadence is happily chatting with her distant grandchildren and nuzzling a cute baby pony. That part of the chapter is overall pretty lighthearted, meant as it is to show how Cadence copes with the results of her actions: self-confidence (in her ability to make Shining a new, more suitable body) and the literally supernatural connection she has to the mood of her subjects (pretty good, at present).
4805713
Again, true. However, again, you have to consider the tone of the story as a whole. This story is dark. What humor you have had has all come from dialogue and the character';s own jaded view of the situation. Then all of a sudden, you bust out this Scott Pilgrim-like meta goofiness. It's jarring, and takes the reader out.
Still, to each his own, I guess. Just politely suggesting that deleting that one little thing would help out.
4805064
You make that sound like a bad thing. Not every corrupt bastard has a sob story or interesting history or grand intrigue. Plenty are just greedy and wanton and that's the end of it. If it can be that way in real life, what's the problem with it here? o-o
Age begits wisdom as much as madness, and everyone handles it just a bit differently. Love, it seems, is not something that's meant to be eternal. If it were, it would not be so valuable. I can sense the rise of a new sort of villian here, and you deliver in spades. Well done, especially the world-building with the alicorn skeleton. I'm very impressed.
4806382
The same problem as with moe blobs. (see entry on page) http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Moe
4806865
I'm not a troper. Leads to too much over-thinking of things that don't even require analysis.
4807294
It means they're not so much a character with a personality that can evolve and grow, but a means of triggering an emotional response.
You can have a truly awful character without them being a hate sink.
Guys, could we wait until we're a little further than two chapters in before you start declaring characters flat, please? Rose Quartz does have more personality, but thus far has had only two scenes where she's even shown up. These first two chapters were to introduce Shining and Cadence and to show how they've been dealing with their new situations.
Another great chapter. Only complaint is that it is RACKS of bottles, not wracks.
4807495
Just because you can doesn't mean you're required to, or should. Nor does being this 'hate sink' (this is why I'm not a troper, it sounds like someone's devaluing a story and concept when they just reduce it to criticism memes) take away from the story. If the antagonist is not a focus of the story, giving them over the top fleshing-out actually cheapens the character and makes the story feel like it's just spitting out exposition on unimportant points. If the author feels like giving this particular antagonist a larger role, then maybe he'll flesh it out. If not, it works perfectly fine as-is for the story. Wait and see.
4807948
The point is, is when such techniques reduced a character to a prop, this is fine for characters who are just there for scenery, but a character who actually has a ROLE in the story? It's like having a prop used for crowd scenery being in the foreground.
And the bigger point? Is that it took me OUT OF the story, instead of drawing me DEEPER into the story. It reminds me of the 'sad rock' my first grade class had.
Also, it's part of why Diamond Tiara is a poorly used character, in the Call Of The Cutie, she was Every Bully, as she was designed to be, a 1-D antagonist for Applebloom to externalize her problems. But once she began making repeat appearances, the writers only able to have her keep making impact by making her a WORSE pony each time, but ultimately still a 1-D villain, it created a uncanny valley effect (that's an actual term BTW, it refers to when similar is almost like something, but not quite like something, making it feel unnatural, compared to something that is not like something, but has a few traits that are, and thus making it endearing), that she's been a static character with repeated major appearances in story in a cartoon that CENTERS around character development, makes her stick out like a sore thumb and draws me out of enjoying the show.
Apologies if that too far off topic, but they don't feel NATURAL to me in story where I spot them.
4807542
OH! SORRY! Didn't see this message! Sorry!
4808167
Then it's less a technical problem, which was where I took issue. You made it sound like this story was failing due to your problem with the particular antagonist. Which I was prepared to list as many stories as I could find where they do not develop every character with a role simply because they are a character with a role, and both the flow and story experience prosper for it. Instead this is a personal pet peeve, which I do not have a problem with. We all have things that jar our immersion or just things that get under our skin, and it varies wildly between each of us.
Now that i understand what you meant, I retract my objection. I still don't agree, but I'm not you - my peeves are different, and extremely specific. So this is completely A-OK.
I wonder if the voice is really Shining's subconscious or something more sinister? Sombra's spirit maybe? Living in Shining and subtly influencing the situation until he has a shiny new Alicorn body to take over?
Please do make more chapters I do quite like them. Ok goofy noble speech aside make no chappies plz
I am pleased to finally find a fic in which demeaning somepony's SO is dealt with extreme prejudice.
This is really good, and very well-written, so I'm definitely leaving an upvote. It is also a nonstop parade of sadness and loss, so I'm going to stop reading here.
You've done a great job writing something incredibly bleak and hopeless while treating it with respect. If I had it in me to slog through a few more chapters of tragedy, I definitely would, but I'm not really in that kind of mindset right now.
...I'm liking this new Cadence.
5311500
Same :D
Cady gon cra cra.
Suspiciously Specific Denial
4804622
Well, it could have been worse. Cadance could have ended up leading a crusade against a greater deity to reclaim Shiny's soul, and then being turned into the manifestation of all the suffering souls' hunger for her trouble.
[quote} I say that I’m a damn alicorn princess. A walking demigod amongst ponies. At my age, I can raze whole cities to the ground by myself, or grow a forest overnight through will and magic alone. I do as I wish, when I wish, where I wishThis sounds way out of character for Cadance, unless something along the centuries has made her more aggressive. Even though I'm not a Doctor Who fan anymore, when I was I found it interesting how the Doctors personality keeps changing with age. His longevity means his character is constantly shifting along with his morals, particularly about killing.
This is him committing genocide and drowning a mother and her children.
media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln1rxusmUj1qedxgk.png
But yeah... I can't imagine Candace ever even thinking like this. She is too modest.
This really bugged me, if this is a couple centuries ahead of the show, then she shouldn't be talking about this as if it only recently happened.
Mi Amore Bathory?
Song is about Cadence doing silly stuff in her basement.
Mi Amore Lovett?
Ah, I guess you didn't predict the Sombra Origin Comic perfectly. Not that I'm holding that against you of course; that would be silly. Besides, it matches what I believed once myself.
Oooo, how deliciously dark. I see now why you're a fan of my stories. If only you knew.
You know, I'm glad that Cadance actually understands how important Shiny's "sacrifice" is to her, and is working tirelessly to "help" him. I mean, the romance is definitely there. That's dedication.
>Diamond Eyes
Hey, that's kind of awesome.
Tee hee. But if you want to use a proper ™, the alt code is 0153.
Awwwwwwwwwwh shiet!
I do approve of this chapter. Most definitely, yes I do.
Excuse me as I get a barrel to properly store the pure unfiltered glory of this story with the delightful dark flavor I'm relishing as I sip said story from a goblet with a smug smile. The excellent Cadance is brought out so well in this story and oh my it seems I'm only on chapter two.
first, princess amore is a unicorn not an alicorn
second, alicorns are gods not demigods. they dont die. when they do, they simply respawn.
third, he wouldnt have been able to dissect her because her alicorn bodies heal rapidly, its the reason for their immortality
fourth, if she was an alicorn she wouldnt have died, especially in a 1v1 match. hes a unicorn with a knack for dark magic against a goddess beyond the mortal realm, she wouldve ultimately not have even been grazed. and celestia + luna can wipe the floor w sombra. i mean really, they 1 shotted him instantly. and how powerful is he really, or genius in any way, if his mind control can be broken by celebrations?