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// (10-3) Freedom 
// Story: The Ruler of Ponies and Men 
// by Boopy Doopy 
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Cadance spread her wings and soared through the sky for the first time in forever. She closed her eyes as she did so, taking in the cold rush of wind in her feathers, the warm sunlight on her mane and back, and the smell of the clouds as she flew. Over a year and a half had passed since she was able to fly, being confined to just a single room for nearly a full year and then having her magic on lockdown for months after that. It was nice to have her magic back, freeing in more ways than one. Flying through the skies after so long made her feel like nothing in the world could go wrong and that everything in Equestria was in perfect harmony.
Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last for too long. It didn’t take her more than a few minutes to remember that Sombra was the one to keep her confined and for her anger to come rushing back, so quickly in fact that she nearly crashed into a few buildings thinking about it. This whole predicament was his fault, although even that being the case, she couldn’t really say she hated Alex, if Alex truly existed. He did have pity on her and took her ring off, not to mention, he didn’t throw her into Tartarus like he could have. He was certainly better than what she could say Sombra was, and seemed like a fair enough ruler. But regardless of his ruling tendencies, she deserved the throne, and the throne was what she would get.
The combination of her flight speed and her lack of wing use over the previous months forced her to land earlier than she would have liked, settling herself onto the grass in front of one of the restaurants in Canterlot after several minutes. She breathed heavily from her exertion but smiled regardless, happy that she was once again able to fly where she pleased when she pleased, out of the watchful eye of those in the castle. Yes, she was still angry at Sombra, but more excited that the dumb yellow pony’s plan, Broomstick if she remembered correctly, actually worked. She was especially happy that it worked so quickly, and she was able to get the better of Sombra and Hope so easily, with minimal work, even if it was just a small victory on her part.
She gave a satisfied exhale as she flicked her mane, looking around her to see where she stopped. As she did, she noticed that the ponies around her were largely silent, doing nothing more than whispering amongst themselves as their eyes fell on her. She briefly wondered why they were staring, but after a moment, remembered the trial she was put through some months ago, and how it was meant to shame her. She realized that it also had the effect of attempting to deter her from taking action against Sombra, since nopony in Canterlot would give her the time of day if she did successfully enact her revenge.
“Don’t worry about that,” the mare told herself. “Don’t worry about these ponies. You can’t let their looks stop you. If you do, then they win, which can’t happen. Just act normal for now and come up with a plan. You can work on getting their trust after you’ve secured the throne again. You just need to-”
Suddenly, without warning, she was bumped into by the stallion she was just thinking of, the bright yellow one who told her what to do. She scowled and was one second away from yelling at him when she remembered the looks she was getting and backed off.
“What do you think you’re doing here… Broomfield?” she started, doing her very best to keep her voice under control. “Did you follow me here?”
“It’s Brimstone,” he replied, “and I did, but that was because I wanted to talk to you about… things. Things maybe regarding your horn?”
She wanted to immediately tell him no because she knew what he was going to ask. He was going to ask to join her and tell her that everything would be better if she had his help, that they could share the rulership of Equestria if they worked together, because taking on all of them alone was a nearly impossible task. Of course, what he didn’t know was that she had already done it, or rather, nearly done it, once before. The only thing that stopped her from taking the throne was that, at the very last second, Alex showed up to take control. Somepony who wasn’t even supposed to exist, who was only intended to be a temporary personality of Sombra, went in and stole her throne. Everything was so perfect, and then it all collapsed in on itself because of that one thing.
“And what would that be, mister… what was your name?” she said calmly, doing her best to sound pleasantly happy.
“Brimstone," the stallion told her again, "and it might be best to talk in private?”
She opened her mouth to speak but by the time she did, he was already heading off somewhere else, turning around for just a second to indicate that she should follow him, which she did, much to her own annoyance and frustration.
Eventually, the two ended up in a back alley in a different part of the city, one with very few ponies. It looked a bit run down, for Canterlot’s standards at least, and she could understand why nopony would want to be here. It was a lonely spot, free of any notable buildings except for a few homes and a dumpster near them. It wasn’t an ideal spot for anypony else to stop in, which made it the perfect spot to talk in secret.
“I didn’t think you’d get that ring off your horn so soon,” Brimstone said, smiling at the observation as he jumped straight into the conversation. “I thought it’d be more like years, and you did it in weeks! It’s great to see you flying through the skies again.”
“I’m not sure why it would be great for you,” the former princess countered, all business. “I already told you that I don’t need you, and if you try to get in my way or-”
“I already told you that I want to help you though!” the stallion interrupted. “I know you think you don't need me, but there’s no way you can take them on alone! I mean, didn’t you try to do that before? And that’s how you ended up with a ring on your horn? Next time, unless you’re certain you’ll win, they’ll turn you into stone or throw you into Tartarus! Do you really want to chance that?”
“I don’t, which is why I’m going to take my time and plan out my movements and- why am I even telling you this? Get out of my way or I will hurt you, I’m warning you now!”
“I’m telling you that I have a good plan!” he argued. “Besides, I talked to everypony and they’re all saying the same thing, which is that they don’t want anypony else as their ruler, not even Princess Celestia! You’d be hard pressed to find a way to convince these ponies on your own, so-”
“Then I’ll force them to listen! If they think I won’t, I will, and that means you too! Now get out of my way!”
“I’m telling you it’s a bad idea, plus, how do you plan on even going about it? Whatever idea you have, I’m straight up telling you mine is better!”
“Oh yeah? And what do you have to offer that I can’t already do myself?”
“I’m sure you don’t have Grogar’s bewitching bell, do you?” he answered immediately, the alicorn’s eyes going wide in shock. “Yeah, I thought not, because it’s in my possession.”
“Are you serious? You have it right now?” she asked, completely surprised by his claim before an idea came into her head. “Show it to me!”