Toxic Love

by Silvermyr

7. A Sister's Love

Cadance had seen much heartbreak and hurt in her life. Being the princess of love came with certain works that were not mentioned in the brochures, for example that she was the pony most unhappy mares and stallions visited when their romances did not work out. It was not a responsibility she enjoyed, per se, but she was one she felt proud preforming. Helping crushes bloom into something more was always sweet, but helping ponies when they were at the lowest and then see them learn to love again was the most beautiful thing she ever saw.

Yes, she saw hurt sometimes. But she had never seen it on Twilight’s face and she had never been the cause of the hurt. ”How… how could you do this, Cadance?” Twilight asked quietly, staring at her as she laid on her bed. ”How… I never thought you could have done this…”

”I know it was wrong of me, I know!” Cadance pleaded, trying and failing to keep her voice steady. ”But there was no other way! I need him in my life, Twilight! I need him! I couldn’t do nothing!”

”Sombra, Cadance. It was Sombra you went to. You knew nothing good could ever come from dealing with him.”

”But I hoped it might!” Cadance said. ”There was no other way, so this one had to work! It just had to!”

”So you have placed Celestia-knows-what spell on my brother and to top it off you managed to get Dark Magic into yourself too!?” Twilight said sharply. ”And that ’had to work’? Really!?”

Cadance made an unhappy sound, fully aware of how pitiful she must appear. ”Yes,” she peeped. ”It had to work.”

Twilight sighed. Cadance wanted to cry like a little filly, because she knew what that exasperated sigh meant. It meant that Twilight was disappointed and angry with her, but also that she was going to let the blame (and brutal lecturing) wait. Right now Twilight was thinking about how to fix the problem. Cadance knew she did not deserve such a wonderful pony’s help, but she still nearly weeped because she would have it.

Shining Armor was not well. She could not have dealt with his insanity alone. Twilight had appeared like a saving grace in the darkest hour and offered her help. Cadance could only weep with thankfulness. ”Thank you, Twilight. Thank you.” She clapped her hooves together in a praying gesture.

”You’re my sister-in-law, not to mention my friend,” Twilight said, sounding almost bemused. ”Of course I will help you, even if I am disappointed. Now then, I need to know. Just what do you know of the spell you used? You say you know it inside and out, so describe it to me. Every little step.”

Cadance nodded and recited the spell. It still came as natural as breathing to her, though she still did not know what it did.

When she was done, Twilight looked thoughtful. ”Well, there are good news and bad news.”

”Give me the good news first,” Cadance said quickly. She needed something good right about now.

”Most of that was not actually dark magic. You’ve just preformed what we mages calls a bound spell, or an enhancement. Basically, that means that most of the ritual was not actually an effective spell at all, but only a way to tie another, lesser spell to Shining Armor.”

”And what is this lesser spell?” Cadance asked.

”That’s the bad news. I don’t know,” Twilight said. ”The binding magic is not dark magic, so that I can recognize from your description. But the spell you bound to Shining Armor is dark magic, and I’m not good enough at dark magic to recognize its spells.”

”So what I did was binding an unknown, dark magic spell to my beloved?” Cadance asked, ears dropping. ”Can you find out what the spell is?”

”There are two ways to do that,” Twilight explained. ”Either we observe the effect of the spell directly, or someone needs to tell us. I don’t think we can directly observe the spell on Shining; not when we don’t know what we are looking for.” Twilight grimaced. ”So we will have to ask Sombra.”

”Do you think he will tell us?” Cadance asked hesitantly.

”Not unless he has something to gain,” Twilight said. Her lips were pulled in a taut, angry line. ”But we don’t have much of a choice.”

---

”Ah, Sparkle. I almost expected you.”

”Sombra.” Twilight said the name as if it was a blasphemy.

”That is King Sombra to you,” Sombra snapped. The next moment he smoothed his expression into a smile. Twilight came to think of a snake when she saw it. ”But I am nothing if not forgiving. Please tell me, to what do I owe the honor?”

”What have you done to Shining Armor?” Cadance asked. ”You promised in your contract that you would not hurt him! I demand you tell me what has happened to him!”

”I did not hurt him. You did, Mi Amore.”

”DON’T YOU DARE!” Cadance screamed. She would never raise her voice against another pony normally, but the circumstances were not normal. Shining Armor was not well and Twilight relied on finding information here and now. It was all too much for her to handle Sombra’s insults on top of everything else. ”DON’T YOU DARE SUGGEST THAT!”

Sombra chuckled. Cadance felt like ice cold water trickled down her neck when she heard it. ”Oh, I dare. But since I am a benevolent king, I will explain just what you did to him. If you ask me nicely, that is.” Sombra smirked and got something challenging in his eyes.

Twilight glared back. She gritted her teeth. ”Please, explain what has happened to Shining Armor.”

Sombra eyed Twilight and Cadance, one after the other. ”Tell me, do either of you know what dark magic is? What it really is, at its essence?”

”I assume you will tell us,” Twilight said neutrally.

Sombra smirked again. ”Dark Magic is the magic of corruption. It is the most beautiful magic of all, for it is the one form of magic that affects other magic. The magical power to influence magic. So simple, yet so complex…” For one moment, Sombra looked happy. Not snide or sarcastic, but genuinely happy, like someone talking about something they were interested in. Then his normal, condescending demeanor returned.

”I digress. What is important is this: for you, Cadenza, dark magic results in a maddening, all-consuming, obsessive love. That type of love that devours all rational thought until you can only think of your lover. That is what has happened to Shining Armor. My dark magic enchantment taints all your magic slightly, and your magic is your love- any time you feel love, you radiate a little of your magic, and with it my dark magic taint.”

”So when I love Shining Armor…?” Cadance asked quietly.

”When you love him, he is fed dark magic, and his love for you became the obsessive madness you see in him now. And before you try to deny, tell me something: have you loved your daughter as of late?”

Cadance’s breath caught in her throat. Flurry Heart fainted just when she felt a powerful surge of love for her. She stared at the floor, her entire body numb from what Sombra implied. When she spoke again, her voice was hollow. ”Was this… why that stallion I made fall in love with Rose Quartz…?”

Sombra nodded. ”Dark magic can do a lot to the weak and unprepared. Insanity… or worse.”

”So… this is my doing? All of this is…”

”You, yes indeed,” Sombra smiled. ”Being loved by you is a death sentence, Cadance. And the best part is that no other pony can safely dispel dark magic from another pony. Can you, Twilight?”

Cadance turned to her sister-in-law. Twilight chewed on her lip. ”There is nothing that prevents dark magic from being dispelled,” Twilight snapped at Sombra. ”I am the element of magic! I will find a way to remove it safely.”

”Then you had better hurry,” Sombra smirked. ”The longer he is exposed, the worse he will become.” Sombra looked back to Cadance. ”Before long you will be married to a psychopath, who will stop at nothing to make you his in whatever way his addled mind can think.”

”Shut up! SHUT UP!” Cadance screamed in powerlessness. ”How can you do this! What did Shining Armor do to deserve this!? Leave him in peace! Please, I beg of you!”

”What did he do?” Sombra looked almost amused by that question. ”Why nothing at all, he is but a pawn in our great game of chess. He will be sacrificed when the time is ripe, and that will be the end of his torment. But you, Cadenza… the sheer audacity that someone like you sits upon my throne… it makes my blood boil in anger. Merely killing you would be too little… no, I will take everything from you. Anything you love will wither and die, leaving you all alone. Because it is not the dead that suffers, it’s those they leave behind. And you will be left behind again and again, until you have nothing but despair in your heart.”

Comments

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Sombra you monster!

[Razath]

He's a terrifying genius. I love it!