When Sombra returned once again, most crystal ponies panicked, as was their wont. The most feared pony in their entire history, once the subjugator of their entire race, refused to stay down. Panic was inevitable.

Cadance surrendered to him almost immediately, with but one request. If Sombra wanted to claim his throne back, he needed to do so through the proper channels. He would have obtained rulership not through coup or conquest, but through entirely legitimate means. The other princesses would have no answer. All he would have to do was navigate the Empire’s bureaucracy.

This would go down as the most cunning plan in all of Cadance’s reign.

Warning: this story contains gratuitous amounts of bureaucracy. Reader discretion advised.