Ordeal of the Crystal Princess

by PostNinja

Chapter 2: Harsh Reality

King Sombra, the ruler of Crystal Empire and Scourge of Equestria, couldn’t completely hide annoyance from his face as he looked down at the alicorn in front of him. For a moment Sombra had thought that he had finally managed to crush Cadance’s resistance to his magic when she had actually kneeled down in front of him when commanded to do so.

Yet in the end, the so-called “Crystal Princess” didn’t give in. She kept resisting whatever dream world his magic conjured out of her imagination. And by doing so, she refused to submit to his power.

And there was nothing he found more aggravating than that.

He kicked a piece of the broken mask away with a sigh. It had taken him days to craft and enchant it. Unlike the crude helmets he used on normal ponies, one for an alicorn needed special care in it’s construction.

Well, no matter. He would break Cadance eventually. Seeing Amora’s legacy used for his own ends would make all this time and effort worthwhile, and remove the only real threat to his reign.

He stepped towards the alicorn who was still trying to rise up and calmly slapped Cadance on the side of her face with his hoof with enough force to send her tumbling on the side.

Sombra couldn’t deny that the whimper of pain as her back hit the railing gave him just a little bit of satisfaction. The alicorn would learn her place eventually. She just needed proper education.

“Silence. I didn’t give you a permission to speak.”

The look of pure hate she gave to him would had probably made almost anypony to think twice about what they were doing. But then she proved yet again that she was a slow learner.

“Monster! Tartarus will freeze before I wi...” He didn’t bother giving her enough time to finish and slammed his hoof down on her wing, earning himself an actual scream of pain from the alicorn this time. If only all his problems could be solved simply by inflicting pain.

As amusing as it would have been to continue this for the rest of the afternoon, until she would no longer have enough energy to even scream, he already knew from experience that physical abuse would not be enough to break Cadance. She was like all others of her kind. Willing to suffer through any kind of agony inflicted on them as long as they could comfort their egos that it somehow protected their subjects.

Such idiocy. It almost made him vomit in disgust to the foolishness of such naive ideals. Nations existed to serve their rulers, not the other way around. Turning her into a martyr was the very last thing he was going to do. The crystal ponies and the rest of Equestria needed to see that there was nothing King Sombra couldn’t break. That their precious princesses were just as fallible as anypony else.

And if no amount of pain inflicted on her would be enough to make Cadance to submit to his will, maybe it was time to change his approach.

For a moment it seemed that the alicorn was going to speak, but when he rose his hoof again, ready to slam it on her face this time, she gritted her teeth and stayed silent. It galled him more than he wanted to admit that this was the extent of progress he had made with her.

Sombra’s horn glowed as he cast his spell, black smoke forming out of thin air and covering the alicorn, forming into metal chains and a collar.

“You have been as charming company as always, dear Cadance...” he turned around and gestured for the two guards standing on the sides of the doorway, who in response walked past him to the alicorn. One pulled her up to stand, while the other grabbed the leash of her collar. As he started walking away, the two guards followed him, dragging the uncooperative alicorn with them.

”...but I think that now is time for a small walk around my city.”

---

Cadance walked between the two guards, knowing that if she wouldn’t, they would simply drag her across the ground as they walked the streets of the Crystal Empire. The bruises on her cheek and wing still ached but she was determined not to show it, adamant in denying Sombra any satisfaction he tried to get out of her.

The alicorn didn’t know where Sombra was taking them, and didn’t much care. But after they had walked for a while, she was unable to resist looking around, she spent most of her time in a windowless cell below the ground after all.

She glanced around them and what she saw made her heart ache in sympathy for these ponies she had failed to save. The streets were dirty and tarnished, buildings ramshack and there were barely any sounds at all. It was like the city had barely anyone living in it.

And the fact that it was true made everything look even more bleak. Two thirds of all adult mares and colts had been sent to wage war in the south. Those who remained were either too young or too old to be of any use in fighting, or then they were needed for some duty inside the city itself.

But despite how horrible state the buildings were in, the worst part was those crystal ponies who were visible. Many were wearing Sombra’s ugly helmets and concentrating on some sort of manual labor, either carrying supplies or then constructing yet more gates and walls to further fortify the city.

Cadance knew full well from experience that those helmets imprisoned their minds in a dream or a nightmare, depending which one was needed to fool their bodies to do what was demanded from them. It was probably for the best that Equestrian ponies didn’t know that when they fought against Sombra’s troops, they were fighting against ponies who thought they were defending Crystal Empire and their families from monsters.

But somehow those ponies who were either lucky or unlucky enough to be fully aware of reality were even more desperate sight.

Cadance could see them here and there, walking across the streets with their heads hanging low. Most weren’t even in chains anymore, Sombra had so completely crushed their spirits that those weren’t needed. They didn’t talk to each other or meet each other’s gazes, their expressions so filled with hopelessness and silent resignation to their fates that it was like they weren’t even really alive.

Cadance doubted she could ever even hope to understand how Sombra could call this almost derelict ruin a nation.

They walked past the city square which was where in better times crystal ponies had gathered in for celebration. Now it was empty besides a gigantic statue of Sombra, made from stone and dark crystal. It was an ugly, crude thing, a hoof raised in a victorious gesture towards the sky.

How much the alicorn would had given to see it crumble and have Sombra’s mad tyranny to follow it’s example! Right now she was in no position to help anyone, so her hopes laid with Celestia and everyone else back home.

She was certain that they would find a way. Even now, after everything that she had seen, she refused to let go of hope. That was the only thing Sombra couldn’t take away, no matter how hard he tried.

Cadance’s head snapped up when the guard holding the leash of her collar pulled it and the other one pushed her to walk faster. The alicorn was about to resist, but then thought better of it. She would save her strength and pick her battles.

Finally they arrived in front of a some sort of barracks. The yard was filled with Sombra’s helmeted soldiers, all standing in ordered lines. They stood unmoving like statues and Cadance knew that they would keep doing so until their bodies would collapse out of exhaustion.

A heavily armored stallion was standing in front of the soldiers, his helmet more both more massive and decorated, marking him as some sort of officer. With all those plates on him, he looked more like a living battering ram than a warrior. Apparently even Sombra had to delegate when it came to commanding his army.

Cadance wasn’t sure should she had been encouraged by the fact that even Sombra couldn’t be in two places at once, or disheartened by the apparent evidence that those who wore those helmets could still be organized into an actual army instead of being just a swarm of mindless weapons.

“Princess, do you know why I am going to win this war?”

The alicorn rose her head to look at Sombra who had turned to look her with a smug grin. She knew that he was just taunting her, but still couldn’t resist saying with every bit of determination she could muster into her words: “You are not going to win. Celestia and everyone else in Equestria will defeat you.”

One of the guards slammed his hoof on her side, knocking air out of her lungs and making her to fall down on her side. But she just clenched her teeth and refused to show any visible sign of pain, even when her chest burned and all she wanted to do was gasp for air.

Sombra came closer and then gestured for the guards again, who obediently pulled her up to stand as what must had been at least hundred helmeted ponies stared at them in silence.

”I am going to win because Celestia is weak.” Sombra grabbed Cadance’s chin with his hoof, forcing her face him. “I am going to win because as we speak, Crystal Heart is spreading my influence across Equestria.” The unicorn chuckled, and then grinned to her. “In time, Celestia will be fighting alone.”

Cadance refused to believe it and if her hooves wouldn't have been chained, she would had slapped Sombra just to make that arrogant smirk disappear from his face.

Instead the alicorn did something she would never had thought she could bring herself to do, and spit in the unicorn’s face. ”Never!”

For a single second Sombra just stared at her with an expression of utter confusion, the unicorn’s eyes widening in surprise as he turned to look down on his cheek. It was like he had trouble fully comprehending what had just happened.

That single moment of disbelief and shock on Sombra’s face made Cadence’s lips curl into a smile for the first time in weeks.

“You...DARE?!”

Cadence didn’t have time to understand that the blast of dark magic had hit her and sent her flying in air before she collided with the wall of the barracks. The alicorn felt the metal chains press against her back, crying in pain as she felt her wings being crushed between the stone wall and her own body by the force of the impact. Then she fell down on the ground, gasping in pain when she fell on her left wing, the side of the alicorn’s face hitting the crystal pavement, sending another wave of pain coursing through her and giving her yet another bruise on her face.

Yet as she laid there with her eyes closed, every single part of her body aching in agony and gasping for air, Cadance was still smiling, burning that expression of stunned surprise on her captor's face into her memory.

That was probably why when Sombra’s shadow came to tower above her, the metal clad hoof immediately slammed down on the alicorn’s wing again so that the alicorn's smile was replaced by a grimace of pain.

When the pain had ebbed enough and no more abuse was coming into her way, Cadance opened her eyes, looking up to the unicorn.

Apparently the reason why the alicorn had been given a moment of pause from the abuse was because Sombra had used it to regain his composure. Little by little Cadance could see how the fanged expression of rage was replaced by a sober, neutral stare and the trails of smoke vanished from the unicorn’s eyes.

“There is also….an another reason.” Sombra’s tone of voice gradually shifted into a more controlled tone as he spoke ”But that one I will show you, instead of explaining it.”

Cadance clenched her teeth when the guards pulled her up again, making most of her limbs ache in protest. This time she wasn’t even given an option to walk on her own and instead the guards just dragged the alicorn after their liege as Sombra entered the barracks.

The interior of the building was just as crude and unpleasing to the eye as the outside had been, the walls bare and only a dim lighting from some torches illuminating it. There were beds and tables lined against the walls, but from the way how Sombra just walked across the hall towards a reinforced door on the side made it clear that this was not what they were here to see.

Sombra stopped in front of the door and turned towards Cadence, a measure of his previous smugness returning. ”I am going to win because as long as there is somepony foolish enough to oppose me, I will never run out of soldiers.”

Before Cadance had time to understand the meaning of the unicorn’s words, the door opened and they walked in. Even in the gloom she could make out the long lines of cells and barred doors. A prison?

The alicorn was about to say something, but then Sombra smiled, gesturing for silence. That was no reason to actually stay silent, but it gave Cadance enough pause to hear what he had wanted her to hear, stunning her into silence more effectively than the unicorn’s words ever could.

The muffled screams, sobs and whimpers.

And then she saw the dozens motes of sickly green light in the darkness and her eyes widened in horror.

In every cell, there were at least half-dozen ponies, pegasi and unicorns. Some were chained, others stumbled aimlessly from one end of the cell to another. Some were completely unmoving and silent, but others…

She could hear how they were sobbing or screaming, the metal helmets making their sounds of anguish and horror faint but still audible. Some kept trying to break free from their chains, a few were even trying to remove their helmets in vain.

This unsettled her more than any beating, and she felt tears falling down her face as her mouth felt dry.

None of these ponies were from Crystal Empire. They were all from Equestria.

“Some of them are quite resistant.” Sombra walked next to her and continued speaking in a tone that sounded like he was talking about the weather. ”With crystal ponies, I had ample time to prepare, so there is barely any trouble, they don’t even try to resist the helmets. Alas, ponies from Equestria are a bit more troublesome.”

Sombra was clearly enjoying this and Cadance was still too shocked to interrupt the unicorn, so he continued with that same smug tone. ”Most break in hours, some resist for days or even weeks. A few don’t give up at all, and their minds are eventually broken beyond repair.” Sombra sniffed in distaste ”What a waste of resources.”

Cadence felt bile rise up her throat. The alicorn had known that something like this had been going on, but this was the first time she had seen it with her own eyes. And it was all made worse by the fact how she could feel the horror and pain of all these poor ponies with her magic, even through Sombra's supression.

But she couldn’t allow Sombra to win this, to see her afraid. So the alicorn steeled her mind and tried to turn her horror of this scene into anger towards the unicorn.

“No.” Her voice wasn’t as strong as she would had liked, but it had to do. ”They will find a way to break the dark magic in those helmets. And when they do, your armies will turn against you.”

Sombra still smiled, but Cadance continued, finding more strength with every word. ”You are a king, yet you have no subjects. Only slaves. You told me that Celestia will fight alone.” Cadance’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the unicorn, who was no longer smiling ”But you already do so. There isn’t a single soul in the entire Crystal Empire who fights for you.”

Sombra opened his mouth to retort, but the alicorn wasn’t finished. ”You are king of nothing and no one! You must be the most lonely pony in all of Equestria and beyond!”

This time there was no rage or a furious blast of dark magic. Sombra stared back at her, looking like he had just heard something very distasteful and rude, but Cadance didn’t flinch back and met the unicorn’s gaze.

They stared at each other for a long moment, neither turning away. Then Sombra started smiling, saying two words in a level, calm tone: ”Shining Armor.”

This time there was nothing Cadance could do to mask the fear and distress from her face as the alicorn repeated her husband’s name to herself.

"Shining Armor, please be alright...”

Author's Note:

This got bit dark.

And it can probably still get worse.

Comments

[Eruantalon]

Wow.

[Sun Dial]

Been waiting for this kind of a story. Can't wait to see how it ends up.

[Saggitariutt Jefferspin]

Man, this is excellent. I would never have guessed that English isn't your first language.

[lordgriffin]

Well I think there is a bit too much emphasis on sadism, but that aside this is the most promising story I have seen in ABOUT 2 years...provided it doesn't "Cop out" Thank you, so fr well done

[RDash]

This is good!

[Unity Bringer]

All I can say is more. This certainly deserves more attention!