Tear Jerker / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (IDW)

• What Queen Chrysalis has her army do to the Citizens of Wuvy-Dovey Land in issue #3. The Lovecats/Luvcats meet the Changelings with open arms, offering all manner of goodies and just being the sweetest creatures you could possibly think of. The changelings slaughter the Luvcats till there’s practically none of them left, destroy and repurpose their land to their needs with only gloopy green houses left and then turn the remaining population into a food supply. The Lovecats still keep on being affectionate and kind hearted, even after all that’s happened to them.
• The nightmares of Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack from the titular Nightmare Arc are a mix of tearjerking and horrifying. Rainbow Dash is seen with clipped wings tearfully muttering that she "can fly too", Rarity is rejected because of her artistic skills and replaced by her friends, and Applejack having to watch her family starve while they blame her for there not being food.
• If there's any moment that could be considered this, it's Spike's interaction with Nightmare Rarity.
  • In another scene, Twilight Sparkle thought that Spike was killed by one of the nightmare creatures and stated that "Not even the magic of friendship could save Spike".
  • Issue 8 gives us the closest thing to a literal heartbreak when the Nightmare Forces crush the Fire Ruby right in front of Spike.
  • Later on in the same issue we have Rarity seriously considering giving in to the Nightmare Forces due to perceiving herself as worthless to her friends.
• In The Fall of Sunset Shimmer, during the scene where Princess Celestia denounces Sunset as her pupil and bans her from the castle, Sunset says, "This is the biggest mistake you'll make in your entire life." Princess Celestia is then shown standing next to artwork depicting her banishment of Nightmare Moon.
  Princess Celestia: One of many.
  • Moments later, Sunset attacks the guards and jumps through the mirror. Princess Celestia, distraught, hangs the mirror in her throne room to remind her how she failed at being Sunset's mentor, while hoping Sunset comes back.
• The Reflections story arc as a whole is definitely one of the darkest and most tragic stories set in MLP:FiM universe. It focuses mainly on Celestia facing the consequences of her mistakes from the past and goes into a greater detail about what she actually went through at the time when her sister underwent Face–Heel Turn and establishes that it was as much of a tragedy to Luna as it was to her. Tellingly, the ending of the story arc is bittersweet at best.
  • In issue #17, Star Swirl and a young(er) Celestia have been exploring strange new worlds through his mirror, and Star Swirl finds out that Celestia has been sneaking in and out of one world in particular a lot. He chews her out for the great danger she's putting everypony into with it, and angrily asks her what could possibly be worth it. Celestia tears up and replies: "What do you think is worth it?". Star Swirl then seals the portal shut, then harshly tells Celestia to never bring the matter up again. The last shot from the flashback is Celestia fleeing the room in tears, with Star Swirl sadly admitting to himself that he's getting too old for this sort of thing.
    • This leads to a tearjerking bit of Fridge Brilliance: in "Magical Mystery Cure," Celestia tells Twilight that Star Swirl was never able to complete his final spell because he didn't understand friendship. Given that Celestia never went on inter-dimensional trips with Star Swirl again after this incident, it's safe to assume that they had a falling-out, and never patched things up...and that perhaps, on some level, Celestia blamed Star Swirl for the whole thing (that is, in the comic universe at least).
    • In addition, when Celestia finally returns from the magic mirror, she's heavily wounded and collapses from her injuries. Luna, at first chewing out her sister for disappearing out of the blue and stressing her out, doesn't notice, but when she does, she holds Celestia in her hooves and begins crying.
      Luna: Sister? I didn't mean it! I love stress! Wake up!
  • Sombra turning down a deal that would allow him and Celestia to be together.
  • What Celestia goes through in the Reflections arc is just heartbreaking. She loses her sister, she has a falling out with Star Swirl, and even her royal duties can't pull Celestia from her grief. It's established that in her home world Celestia feels nothing but a deep, unrelenting depression that drives her to make stupid mistakes, just so she can be happy (if only for a little bit), and to ignore the price it's going to cost her, which is unfortunately a very real Truth in Television.
  • Main!Luna briefly feeling like Main!Celestia used Mirror!Luna as a Replacement Goldfish for her, though Celestia denies it.
  • Mirror!Celestia attacking Mirror!Luna in order to draw Main!Celestia to her.
  • During the final battle of Main!Celestia versus Mirror!Celestia, everypony comes to realize that even though the Elements of Harmony would seal Mirror!Celestia in crystal, the same thing would happen to Main!Celestia. But, Main!Celestia tells them to go through with it, because it will mean that both worlds will be safe. She says what she believes will be her final farewell to Twilight Sparkle, telling her that she will be a great ruler of Equestria.
  • The ending of the Reflections arc in issue #20. Mirror!Sombra absorbs all of the evil magic of Mirror!Celestia and Mirror!Luna to save Main!Celestia from being trapped in crystal, causing him to turn into a dark version of himself, similar to the Sombra of the main world. The main world members go home, but the mirror has already broken, so the worlds are apparently cut off forever. Celestia keeps one piece of the broken mirror to remind her of her love, hanging it and the tag reading "Always" from a small tree, saying that she was lucky to have somepony that made saying goodbye so hard. In the mirror world, the now-corrupted Sombra cries over a final vision of her.
    Mirror!Sombra: Goodbye, my sweet Celestia.
    • Main!Celestia trying in vain to prevent her love from going through with it, complete with a broken heart in the middle of the "o" of her Big "NO!", makes it even worse.
• Trixie trying so hard to show she has become a better mare in issue #21, even going as far as helping the police try and catch Rough Diamond, only to become the main suspect in the case. She's especially not happy when the police chief mentions her actions in Ponyville, and when Apple Bloom accuses her of trying to make AJ look like a thief, shedding a Single Tear on the latter occasion.
• The cover of Issue 23, with all the pets sadly wondering where their owners are.
• Humdrum's frustration over the Power Ponies fighting.
• Sheriff Tumbleweed throwing away his star in disgrace after failing to defeat the Cattle Rustlers.
• (YMMV regarding whether you liked or disliked the deers) Bramble seeing his father Aspen being taken away by Well-To-Do.
• Lightning Dust being a part of the rogue gallery in Siege of the Crystal Empire can be interpreted as this. She hasn't moved past what happened with Dash and many fans were hoping there was a second chance to come for her, as it was what was originally planned.
  • Especially when she was shown coming to Ponyville's defense during the Nightmare Arc. All it took was the promise to show up Rainbow Dash for her to slide into villainy.
• Sunset breaking down into tears over the school's belief that she's Anon-a-Miss.
  • The way the Humane Five disown Sunset is pretty horrible too, not only for the things they say, but for the way it leaves her literally without a friend in the world.
    • Near the end of the story Applejack says "Yer not welcome here!" We can assume by Rainbow's comment of Get Out! that they were referring to the Human world's version of Sugarcube Corner but do we know for certain that's was what they meant.
  • Twilight brings up the Wendigos to Sunset, telling her how they thread distrust and hatred between ponies. When Sunset asks if a Wendigo could exist in the other world, Twilight explains they don't have to; in a world like Equestria Girls, anyone can be a Wendigo with a few simple clicks of the mouse. With how prolific social media has become, it's heartbreaking to realize she's completely right. Sunset asks how you stop an enemy that can act so easily in a world without magic; Twilight doesn't know.
    • Something even more heartbreaking? Sunset herself did an online bullying campaign against Twilight in the original Equestria Girls movie. Now shes on the other side of the equation.
  • Despite not being what they meant to do, the CMC almost ended up destroying every bit of progress Sunset had made to be forgiven by CHS. Not only that, but at the end of the story, Sweetie Belle even admits to Rarity that the things they posted online will never go away. That in and of itself is rather heartbreaking, knowing that they did something they can never undo.
• Sombra continues to show his Then Let Me Be Evil characterization in Siege of the Crystal Empire, taking no joy from his victories, showing no sign of affection for Radiant Hope, seeming consumed only by the need for revenge which doesn't seem to satisfy him very much when he gets it. He is well aware that both he and his kin are monsters, and that destroying the crystal empire is his only option.
  • Sombra turning Shining Armor to stone in front of Twilight and Cadance in Issue #37.
  • Near the end of the comic, when Hope takes out the Crystal Heart. Rabia tells Sombra to smash it, Sombra takes a moment to look at the Heart silently, a sad and conflicted expression on his face.
• In Issue #41, Rainbow Dash gets into a bad mood that spreads throughout town, until she explodes at Tank for bumping into her. Tank bursts out in tears, immediately causing all of the Mane Six to realize how bad things have gotten.
• Issue #47: Diamond Tiara tells Apple Bloom that Filthy Rich promised to spend more time with her after becoming mayor of Ponyville but he can't because he's too busy running the town. It doesn't help that Apple Bloom looks so shocked to hear this.
• In the first part of the "Chaos Theory" story, Discord is genuinely hurt when Twilight and the others scold him for his Attention Whore antics on the night of the Cosmic Convergence Conjunction. The following issue reveals that Discord was so heartbroken by the rejection that he willingly transformed himself into Accord, believing he would never be accepted by the ponies in his current state. When Twilight discovers this, she suffers an appropriate My God, What Have I Done? reaction.
• After losing her city, her sister, and her student to Accord's influence, Celestia nearly crosses the Despair Event Horizon, even briefly believing Accord's twisted way of bringing order to Equestria may actually be the better way.
• The look of utter sadness on Accord's face when Starlight points out that none of the ponies he's brainwashed into thinking like him are actually his friends.
  "All these Accords... and not a single friend."
• During the "Wings Over Yakyakistan" two-parter, Spike is deeply hurt by the casual insulting of dragons thrown around by the ponies (despite him being nearby).
• Issue #58: Mage Meadowbrook was once in a relationship with a stallion named Aqua Vine. Before she disappeared, Meadowbrook become so preoccupied with finding a special flower that she didn't have time to send him letters. Poor Aqua Vine must have been heartbroken twice over, due to Meadowbrook seemingly distancing herself from him, then simply vanishing from the face of Equestria.
• Issue #60: Gilded Lily becoming distraught over the thought that her special talent not fitting in with the rest of her family's will result in her becoming an outcast to them.
• A minor example, but "Convocation of the Creatures!" shows that some species are still wary of the recently-reformed changelings. Even with their new leader and way of life, the changelings are still being judged by the mistakes of their past.
• Issue #63: Pinkie is horrified when Temperance Flowerdew points out that all the sweets she makes can make ponies unhealthy and sick. The idea that her life's purpose may be ultimately hurting ponies rather than making them happy breaks Pinkie, and she is convinced to side with Temperance's way of thinking.
  • Temperance herself when she realizes the chaos her anti-sugar crusade has brought to Ponyville, with half the town miserable from denying themselves sweets, and the other going on huge sugar binges out of fear they'll never eat sugar again. Her methods may have been extreme, but she wanted to help ponies, not hurt them, which was exactly what her crusade resulted in.
• At the beginning of Issue #68, Tempest stands face to face with a creature she and Glitter Drops were searching for... which turns out to be Ursa Minor — the very same monster that harmed and disfigured her when she was a filly. Seeing it causes Tempest to relive her childhood trauma, instantly turning the badass we know her as into frightened little girl. The change is so sudden and stunning, that it immediately reminds you that for all her brawn and toughness, deep inside Tempest is still a lone, hurt child who felt abandoned in the past and now seeks support and understanding from others.
  • She comes to a similar conclusion herself, when fear from seeing Ursa Minor makes her life pass in front of her eyes. She reminds how she left Equestria to see the world, how she became a warrior, and how she aided Storm King in conquering other lands. She did all that while convincing herself that she is no longer weak and helpless and that she is strong enough to face any danger. But in the end, she finds out it was all a lie and at heart, she is still the same scared child she was back then in that cave.
  • Tempest snapping and venting her frustration on Glitter Drops. Startled by this sudden outburst, she can only keep stepping back and repeating that she is sorry, until she finally bursts into tears, crying that it should have been her, not Tempest, to go into that cave and lose her horn... or worse. Not only it shows that she actually blames herself for what befell her friend, but shocks Tempest enough to finally rethink that day and forgive her.
  • We finally find out what actually happened after the incident with Ursa Minor. Contrary to what Tempest believed, her friends did not outright abandon her. In fact, they kept inviting her to spend time together, but with her horn broken, Tempest was unable to control her magic nor take part in games they used to play before. This made her gradually more upset, until her friends stopped including her. Not because they no longer wanted to have anything to do with Tempest — they didn't want to watch her suffer...
• Issue #74: Zephyr has managed to find himself a job and seems to be doing well at it. However, he still doubts his abilities, even to the point of having anxiety attacks. Even though he gets better, he really does have a problem that he'll have to struggle with for quite some time.
• While things with Cosmos ultimately turned sour, Discord did genuinely care about her at one point, seeing her as a kindred spirit. The Flashback of her imprisonment in Issue #75 shows Discord being deeply regretful over having to do that to her (despite her going too far even for him), and erasing the memories of her from the others so he would take all the blame for her rampage.
• Issue #81:
  • Due to the actions of a reckless child, Rumble is injured, and unable to join his beloved brother Thunderlane in the big show.
  • Before his glider invention gained him the flight and respect he'd been craving, Wind Sock lived a heartbreaking life. He wanted to be a Wonderbolt more than anything, but being an Earth Pony made that dream seem impossible, with some Wonderbolts looking down on him for it.
• Issue #83: Downey Burns and Alder Brown were once the best of friends, before racing rivalries divided them. Downer grew to despise Alder because her tortoise, Silver Blaze, always won the tortoise races, and ultimately chose to cut ties with her.
• Issue #84:
  • Ocellus pushes herself to her limit trying to perfect her midterm presentation. She ends up crying after messing up her practice, distraught that she can't get it right.
  • The reason Ocellus is pushing herself so hard? Because she wants to prove changelings can use their shapeshifting abilities for something good and beautiful. Even after all this time, her species' dark past still weighs heavily upon her.
• Issue #85: Big Mac is clearly hurt when Applejack yells at him in the Flashback, even if he takes it in his stride.
• Issue #86: Marble is terrified over accidentally inviting so many ponies to her party. She bursts into tears several times over the prospect of having to interact with that many ponies at once.
• Issue #87: Big Mac and Silver Streak used to be friends, until Silver Streak grew to resent Big Mac over always beating him at apple cart racing. Silver Streak broke off their friendship, and Big Mac gave up racing altogether.
• Issue #88: After winning the race, Silver Streak looks back mid-gloat and sees Big Mac tending to the downed Rainbow Dash. In that moment, Silver Streak realizes that he has nopony who would do the same for him, and that his focus on racing has prevented him from forging any friendships.
• Issue #90:
  • Zecora's backstory. As a foal, she desperately wanted to learn magic (despite lacking the natural ability to do so). After her closest friends laughed at the idea and doubted she would succeed, she felt totally alone, and retreated further into her studies.
  • Marini's version of events is no less tragic. She and the others hadn't meant to hurt Zecora's feelings (they only wanted to spare her the pain of failing to accomplish what seemed to be impossible), so to them, Zecora distanced herself from the group for no reason, and eventually left the country without even telling them first.
• Issue #93: Scootaloo breaks down over the idea that she and her parents have nothing in common with each other.
• Issue #94: Pinkie Pie is ashamed at herself for lacking the courage to simply tell Cheese how she feels about him.
• Issue #95: Cheese suffers a Heroic BSoD over accidentally bringing the noise-cancelling Muffletta Moss up to the surface, and thus throwing all of Canterlot into silent chaos.
• 2021 Annual:
  • The dispute between Katherina and Jenn, and the ensuing divide, is shown to have affected their sisters, who all miss being together. But the twins, Amber and Fiona, miss each other the most. Fiona admits that she understands why Amber left, but that her need to not leave their other sister Indy alone kept her from following, no matter how much she wanted to.
  • When the Caninia Tree of Harmony's "Loyalty" panel doesn't light up for Katherina, she starts to despair, believing that in allowing her family to break apart, she didn't live up to the Element she was supposed to embody.
• Issue #98: In their youth, Celestia and Luna were given doll versions of themselves by the royal court of Canterlot, to protect as they would one day protect the citizens of Equestria. When the dolls were lost during an encounter with a Kraken, Celestia believed that they had failed to protect them, and the guilt of their assumed failure followed her for years afterward. When Luna surprises Celestia with a portrait of their fillyhood selves and the dolls, Celestia reacts by breaking into tears and leaving the room, showing how much that day affected her.
• Issue #99: Pinkie Pie is utterly heartbroken to learn that Marble's college is so remote that she won't be able to visit her family (or they her) for two years. She not only turns down Marble's request for her to plan her sister's leaving party, but also distances herself from her friends to wallow in her despair.
• Issue #100:
  • Captain Celaeno was best friends with Princess Ocypete in their youth, with the two even planning to go out and explore the world together. When Ocypete's father, Thaumus, learned of this, he gave Celaeno an ultimatum: either he would give her a ship, and she would leave Orinithia by herself, or he would make her sorry if she didn't. Unable to stand up to the king, Celaeno was forced to abandon Ocypete.
  • When they reunite in the present, not only is Ocypete bitter toward Celaeno for seemingly abandoning her, but Celaeno has to contend with the news that her best friend (whom she has secretly been in love with since they were young) is arranged to be married to someone she doesn't even love.
  • The convention-exclusive cover features the main six look at photos of the artists' stand-in ponies. By Applejack's foreleg is a flower next to a photo of a green pony. The pony is Sappho, the stand-in pony for Jenn Blake, an artist that briefly worked on the comics before retiring due to brain cancer.
• Issue #102: The original Knights of Harmony sought to teach other nations the ways of Harmony, helping them find and connect to the Trees in each of their lands. But after their encounter with Discord led to a war, the Knights threw all that away, turning away from the nations they'd befriended. They even went so far as to hide the other Trees of Harmony, taking away the very thing that connected them to the other nations.