//------------------------------//
// Into a Princess' Dreams 
// Story: The Nightmare of Princess Cadence 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
//------------------------------//

													Chapter 5
“Into a Princess’ Dreams”

Throughout the rest of the day, Princess Cadence spent most of the day sleeping only to come down for dinner with her loved ones.  When she went back to sleep that night, Cadence had the intention of going back to sleep trying to keep the memories of Chrysalis out of her mind, but that would not be the case.  After falling asleep, Cadence opened her eyes to find herself in a place that she knew all too well.  It was dark, it was creepy and it was a place that she knew all too well.  The area in which she was in was surrounded by crystals and her disheveled reflection was seen everywhere.  Cadence could see that she was covered in bruises, her mane was a mess and her gold crown was missing from her head.  In other words, she was in the same state that she was in when Twilight found her.

“Hello?” she called out to no reply.  “Is anyone there?   Can someone get me out of here?”

All that she could hear was silence, then suddenly, the sounds of evil laughter came out of the darkness and a large pony with green magic appearing out of its horn, greenish blue hair and holes in its legs stepped forward towards the frightened princess of love, smiling evilly as she stepped forward towards her.

“You’re not going anywhere, Princess,” laughed the creature evilly.  “As long as I rule your dreams, you shall not relive your wedding day again.”

Cadence cowered in fear at the sight of the creature who then pointed her horn right at her, ready to impale her.  Tears began to form in Cadence’s eyes as she tried to not let Chrysalis get the best of her, as the Queen of the Changelings advanced towards her.

“Why do you do this to me, Chrysalis?” she cried, fearing for her life.  “Every night since Shining Armor and I defeated you, you have been coming into my dreams and tormenting me. Why, I beg you? Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

Chrysalis reared on her legs and was about to charge, only to have her legs land down hard on the surface, causing some of the crystals to break.  

“Because I had a dream since I was small to marry somepony who had more love than anything in the world and use that love to make my race grow stronger than ever,” explained Chrysalis, who stared evilly at Cadence.  “By having you relive the moment of our invasion of Canterlot, I will weaken you to the point where you can no longer maintain your love for Shining Armor and once I destroy your inner spirit, I will take control of your body and this time, it will not be an imposter of you walking around.”

This made Cadence gasp in horror and the pink alicorn tried to fight Chrysalis, charging at her with her horn fully powered.  But, she was too weak and Chrysalis used her magic to send her flying into the crystal walls, nearly killing her.

“You foolish mare,” chuckled Chrysalis, evilly as Cadence struggled to get back to her feet.  “Don’t you see?  My inner torture of you has left you weak and helpless.  Now, you are mine for the taking and there is nothing you can do about it.”

Just then, Twilight and Luna appeared and just saw Chrysalis advancing towards her prey like a hungry predator.  Both the Princess of the Night and her sister’s most faithful student had to help Cadence and charged towards Chrysalis as fast as their hooves and wings could carry them.  Just as Chrysalis was about to fire her magic at Cadence and finish her off, Luna fired a blast from her horn and struck Chrysalis in the back, causing her to fall flat on her face.  Cadence, who had been cowering in fear, looked up to see Luna with her wings opened and her horn pulsing.

“Twilight! Aunt Luna!” she cried as Twilight ran to hug her foalsitter who was badly hurt.  “I’m so glad to see you!”

“It’s all right, Cadence, your safe now,” said Twilight, but Chrysalis had other ideas and was just about to fire another blast at Cadence and Twilight, but Luna charged and struck her in back, causing one of her wings to be injured.   As Chrysalis laid on the ground, Luna charged forth and pointed her horn straight at Chrysalis’ face.

“Princess Cadence, Twilight Sparkle, get out of here now!” ordered Luna, in her royal Canterlot voice.  “I’ll hold her off!”

“But, Aunt Luna…” protested Cadence.  But, Luna was not going to let her niece and her sister's student be put in harm's way.  If there was going to be one pony who would not make it out alive, it would be Luna.

“I said go!” shouted Luna, as Chrysalis got up and tackled Luna to the ground.  This caused Twilight and Cadence to run off as Luna was lying there at Chrysalis' mercy.

“Princess Luna,” sneered Chrysalis, as she observed the downed Luna.  “Come to save your precious niece.  How very sentimental of you.”

And as Luna struggled to get back on her feet, Chrysalis charged at Luna, kicking her down with one of her holed hooves, as the Princess of the Night rolled into one of the walls.  

However, Luna managed to hang on and despite the beatings she was taking, charged at Chrysalis once again as Twilight and Cadence were now torn by either leaving Luna to fight Chrysalis and possibly never return to Equestria or to stay and help Luna defeated Chrysalis.

“Twilight, we have to something!” cried Cadence, not wanting to leave her aunt to her doom.  “Aunt Luna can’t fight her alone!”

“No, Cadence, we have to go,” cried Twilight, knowing that Cadence's safety was more important.  “You have an entire life to live by.  She’ll be fine.”

Cadence just stood there frozen as Chrysalis and Luna took to the air and began to fire magic beams at each other.  For a moment it seemed that Luna got the upper hand, but Chrysalis, still holding on to some of the love she had absorbed from Shining Armor, fired a blast at Luna and struck the Princess of the Night in the chest, causing her to yell in pain as she fell to the ground below.

“Aunt Luna, no!” yelled Cadence, as she ran towards Chrysalis with her horn now becoming charged once again.  

“Stay right where you are, princess!” growled Chrysalis, who had her horn right at the wounded Luna’s chest.  “One more step, and say goodbye to your precious Aunt Luna!”

Tears were now beginning to form in Cadence’s eyes as she wanted to save her aunt and extract her revenge against Chrysalis for ruining her wedding, but that was all hanging in the balance now.  Clearly, Chrysalis was going to kill Luna and wanted Cadence to watch her succeed in doing so.  Knowing that something needed to be done, Twilight teleported to where they were and fired a blast of magic at Chrysalis, sending her back once again. 

“Twilight!” she cried, relieved that her aunt had been spared, thanks to her sister-in-law.  “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet, Cadence!” replied Twilight, as Chrysalis began firing blasts at Twilight and Cadence, looking to put them next to the wounded Luna.  Both sisters-in-law jumped and dodged each blast that was fired upon them.  Although she was weak, Cadence did manage to flap her wings and attempt to fly away from Chrysalis’ range, but it was no use as a blast hit her in the left wing, causing her to crash land on her chest.  

“Cadence!” yelled Twilight as Chrysalis advanced towards her prey and for a moment it seemed like Chrysalis was going to succeed and both Twilight and Cadence were hoping and praying for something, if anything that could help them now…