//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Princess Cadance finishes the job // Story: Princess Cadance Saves Equestria (Wait, What?!) // by ThePinkedWonder //------------------------------// Oblivious to the turn of events in the Crystal Castle, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, sped through the currently empty streets of the Crystal Empire. They all wore their respective Element of Harmony around their necks and were on the way to the Crystal Castle. Twilight said, “I hope Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry Heart are okay!” “Don’t worry, Twilight. I doubt Sombra would hurt them and probably has them in a cage or somethin’,” Applejack assured. Rainbow said, “But when we get there, we’ll kick his flank so hard, he’ll never come back!” “And I like the sound of never having to fight him again,” Fluttershy admitted. “But let us finish him off quickly. I have five dresses I need to finish before the next fashion show in three days.” “And I have a very important cake I need to bake, plus three more to hide in case of ‘cake emergencies’,” Pinkie said. “Wow, Rarity, Pinkie. You two have gotten really used to saving Equestria, if you’re already thinking about what to do after we win,” Rainbow remarked. Twilight said, “Well, I’m glad you guys are so confident and--” The six friends spotted a screaming gray figure in the distance running toward them, seemingly at a fast rate. “Wait, who is that?” Applejack squinted her eyes. Partly because of her eyes’ squinting, as well as the figure simply coming closer, what the figure was became clearer. “Is that Sombra runnin’ towards us?!” “Yes, it is!” Fluttershy answered. Twilight started, “I guess he’s taking the fight to us, so--” But before the bearers of the Elements of Harmony could unleash their instant-win move, a female voice bellowed, “Sombra, get your flank back here! I’m not done with you yet!” The friends gazed toward the sky and spotted a pink figure approaching at a rapid rate.  “Wait, is that Princess Cadance?” Rarity asked. Sombra ran closer still, making the friends grit their teeth once they lowered their heads back to him. Every muscle in their body tensed up. But he didn’t attack. He instead dove to lay at the hooves of Twilight Sparkle. “Please, Princess Twilight Sparkle, you gotta help me!” Looking down at Sombra, Twilight rubbed her head. “What? Help you?” Rainbow asked, “And why would we ever help you?” Princess Cadance reached the group, landed, and said, “Hold up, girls! I’m dealing with him!” Sombra yelped and crawled around Twilight to hide behind her with a fearful frown. He lay a little too close to the Princess of Friendship’s rear. It was made worse for Twilight that her friends' and sister-in-law's eyes were on her and the cowardly Sombra. “Uh, Sombra? Too close,” Twilight said with her cheeks bright red. After a gasp, Sombra crawled two feet back. With Sombra a more comfortable distance away, Twilight’s cheeks returned to their normal lavender color. “Princess Cadance? What’s going on?” “I thought you needed our help?” Rainbow asked. Cadance answered, “I did, but Sombra...encouraged me to fight for the Crystal Empire and my foal myself.” Pinkie stared more closely at the shaking Sombra and set a hoof on her cheek. “Uh, okay, but I think he learned his lesson.” Sombra nodded his head. “Yeah, I did, and I’m so sorry, Princess Cadance! I won't be bad anymore, so please don’t blast me again! I have three foals.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Uh, Sombra? I can smell a lie from a mile away, and when ya said all that, I smelt four lies.” "Okay, I stand corrected," Pinkie conceded. Rainbow asked, “Uh...not that we lie a lot, Applejack, but If that’s true, why couldn’t you tell when one of us lied?” “I did. Who do ya think was behind y'all gettin’ indigestion the day after yer lies?” “Oh...so that’s why!” Rarity exclaimed. “Wait, if that’s true, then when Twilight got an awful case of indigestion the day after she told us she was kidding about wanting to marry books…” The friends stared at Twilight, who wore one of the hugest embarrassed grins in Equestria’s history. Her red face was visible from the moon. “Uh, girls? I hate to interrupt your little confession moment, but help! She’s pulling me away!” The friends broke from their trance to see Princess Cadance dragging Sombra in the direction of her castle. Forcing herself to look past her “confession”, Twilight pulled Sombra closer to her with her magic. She also made sure to place him in front of her. “Wait, Cadance! I know you’re mad, but this isn’t the way we deal with villains that say they’re sorry!” Pinkie explained, “Yeah! We let them off easy and let them reform! That way, they’ll save us someday!” Cadance responded, “Well, I’m sorry, but we’re not doing that this time and he’s not actually sorry anyway! But I’ll make you girls a deal: Let me do my ‘job’ for five minutes, and then you can decide what to do with him?” Twilight stared at the still-shaking Sombra lying on the ground. Everything she learned about friendship told her that this would be wrong. Even if it would be FUN to watch. “I don’t know, Cadance. This just doesn’t feel right, and as the Princess of Friendship--” Cadance interrupted, “I’ll buy you a new book, Twilight, and I’ll ask Princess Celestia to let you legally marry books.” Twilight gasped and formed a big smile. “Can I get three?” “I’ll buy you two.” “Deal!” Twilight tossed Sombra toward Cadance with magic, who “caught” him with her own magic. Princess Twilight had never claimed to be perfect at friendship, and she’s also an expert haggler. Though, if you ask me, the Princess of Love still won that deal. “All right, Sombra, Let’s go!” Princess Cadance flapped her wings and flew away, carrying a screaming Sombra with her magic. The five minutes Cadance would “do her job” with Sombra would be the LONGEST five minutes of the ex-King’s life. Once the two were out of sight, Rarity said, “Hold on. Did Princess Cadance actually save the Crystal Empire and possibly Equestria all by herself?” Fluttershy answered, “I...think so.” Pinkie poked her eye and yelped in pain. “Nope, this is real.” Applejack gave a deep sigh. “Guess I now owe Big Mac one-hundred bits.” “You think that’s bad? I owe Spike and Starlight one-hundred bits each. They said that she’d do it eventually, but I didn’t listen.” Rainbow looked to the blue crystal statue of Spike five feet away. To her, it had a bigger grin than usual. “I owe Silverstream straight ‘A’s for this semester,” Fluttershy added. “You girls should consider yourselves lucky, because I owe Maud five-hundred bits,” Rarity admitted. Twilight said, “I got it the worst: I have to pay Sunburst a thousand bits.” Pinkie hopped in place with a smile. “But I think we should go to the Crystal Castle; we still have to decide what to do about Sombra after Princess Cadance is done with him.” Sounds of magical blasts in the distance could suddenly be heard. They came from the Crystal Castle. “If there’s anythin’ left of him,” Applejack commented. “Or the rest of our bits if we lose the bet that we all made with Lord Tirek about Princess Celestia saving Equestria by herself,” Rainbow remarked.