(A/N: this is my first Sofia the First fanfic and I haven't been in the realm of writing fanfics for a few years so bear with me. The idea for this story came and I couldn't seem to shake it. So here I am. I own nothing. Sofia is aged up a bit.)

"But... I thought you were my friend," Sofia said.

"It appears you were wrong," Cedric said

Sofia's expression drooped. Cedric went to stride past the young woman. Sofia glared at the ground before turning and grabbing her mentor's arm.

"Mr. Cedric, wait!" she cried out, causing him to face her with a cold, hard expression.

Sofia pulled the sorcerer towards her and planted a kiss on his mouth. Cedric looked at the princess in shock, then the look turned to anger.

"What in Merlin's mushrooms was that?" Cedric spat.

"Me trying to tell you that I have always thought you a great man," Sofia said. "You don't need to be a king in order to have respect and admiration. You're great the way you are and I love you."

Cedric's expression was unreadable and Sofia wondered if she was even getting through to him. Cedric made a move as if to kiss the young princess back but then he magically bound her wrists together and pushed her into the chair he'd been in only moments before.

"What-"

"Sorry Princess, but you're not keeping me from my destiny," Cedric said, coolly. "Come Wormy. We have a kingdom to overtake."

Sofia sat in stunned silence as Cedric strode away. After a moment, she stood up and hurried out to the convention to get someone who could unbind her wrists.

"Excuse me," Sofia said to the first sorcerer she saw. "I had a wand malfunction and got my wrists tied up accidentally. Could you undo them please?"

"Certainly my dear," the sorcerer said.

With a flick of the wand, Sofia's wrists were freed.

"Thank you!" Sofia exclaimed.

With that, Sofia took off looking around for possible ways to get back to Enchancia. She saw the broom stand and ran to it.

"Excuse me, could I borrow a broom, please?" Sofia asked the sorceress.

"They're a free sample, take it," the sorceress replied.

"Thanks!" Sofia said.

She hurried out of Hexley Hall and got on the broom. Before she knew it she was in the air, flying away back home. Sofia would have loved to catch up with her mentor before he got to the castle but she knew it wasn't very likely. After all, he had a head start and she only had enough experience on a broom to keep from falling off while flying.

It took longer than she would have liked but Sofia finally arrived back to the Enchancian castle. As she got to the main entrance, she saw Baileywick frozen in place with Cedric's cloak thrown over him.

"Baileywick!" Sofia exclaimed. "No!"

Sofia hurried inside to the throne room where she saw Cedric moving her frozen family off to the side. She felt her heart drop when she saw the confused and slightly fearful expressions on her family members' faces. She looked back at Cedric as he used his wand to move her throne and change it and the throne room to be more grand and glorious, yet dark and scary.

Sofia reached into a hidden pocket on her sorcerer robe and pulled out her wand. She didn't know if she would need it, but she did know that if she had to duel with Cedric, he'd win. He had a lot more experience than her and there were many things she had yet to learn. Bolstering her confidence, she went to grab the wand, missing and falling off the broom in the process.

"Umph!"

"Sofia?" Cedric turned around sharply to look at the princess as she stood up.

"Quick, quick, zap her," Wormwood said.

"Mr. Cedric, please, I know you don't want to do this," Sofia pleaded.

"This is exactly what I want," Cedric spat out. "You Princess have no idea how painful it is to have everyone laugh at you your whole life, to be watching for your every mistake so they can tear you down for it. No, no, you don't know. Everyone loves you."

"But I haven't laughed at you," Sofia said. "I've always believed in you. Not everyone wants to tear you down."

"Well, you're too late Princess," Cedric said.

Sofia saw her mentor's expression darken a bit and she quickly pulled her wand out. She looked Cedric in the eyes as she pointed her wand at him, seeing humor at her pulling her wand out, yet a bit of doubt.

Sofia took that moment to snatch the stone right off of Cedric's wand. Cedric looked at the princess sharply and pointed his wand at her.

"Give that back," Wormwood cawed as he flew at the princess.

"Never!" Sofia exclaimed.

Sofia dodged the raven, losing her grip on the stone and letting it fall to the ground.

"Merlin's mushrooms!" Cedric exclaimed and Wormwood cawed as the rest of the royal family unfroze and the throne room returned to normal.

Sofia glanced at her thawing family, forgetting that Cedric was still armed with his wand.

"Disarmo!" Cedric called, knocking Sofia's wand far away from her.

"Guards, seize him!" King Roland said.

"I don't think so," Cedric said as he grabbed the youngest princess and pulled her against him and pressing the tip of his wand against her neck. "One step further and I gain a new pet. A cat perhaps?"

King Roland glared at the sorcerer as he waved the guards off.

"Why Cedric?" King Roland asked. "This isn't something I ever thought you capable of."

"You never thought me capable of anything!" Cedric snapped. "No one did. I remember the days when my father was the royal sorcerer and yours the king. Everything you did was the greatest thing. But did anyone notice when I did something right? Oh no. They only noticed when I made a mistake!"

"And you made a lot of mistakes!" King Roland snapped back.

"So did you," Cedric glowered. "And so did our sisters. But not one of you could do any wrong in our parents eyes. I, on the other hand, could never do any right. Do you know how hard it is to grow up being put down all the time? To feel like no one will ever tell you good job when you do something right? To be harshly criticized when you make a mistake and ignored when you do something right? No, of course not. No one would dare do that to a pampered prince who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A prince who turned into a king who had everything served to him on a silver platter."

"That is quite enough Cedric," King Roland said. "It's time for this madness to end."

"Ah, ah, ah," Cedric chided. "You see Roland, I hold the ace. Literally. Push your luck too much and the only time you'll get to spend with the princess will be spent sneezing. I know a spell that can change someone into something else permanently. How will you care for your precious daughter if you can't even be around her? But then again, I'd as soon just disappear with the princess permanently than leave her here with you."

Sofia scowled slightly, then stomped her foot down as hard as she could onto her captor's foot and elbowed him just as hard in the ribs. Cedric gasped, loosening his grip on the princess, allowing her to break free of his grip and take his wand away from him. With Cedric no longer holding his ace, King Roland acted quickly.

"Guards seize him!"

The guards quickly captured Cedric. Sofia looked on, as she picked her wand up and pocketed it and Cedric's wand.

"Bastard," Cedric sneered at King Roland.

"Save your breath," King Roland said. "Take him away."

Sofia watched her lifelong friend be dragged away, pained. She hadn't wanted for him to end up in the dungeon. She wanted to help him see that he didn't need to take over a kingdom in order to be great.

"Dad, this is a mistake," Sofia said. "I don't think he really wanted to do this. He was pointing the wand right at me the whole time and could have froze me or followed through with his threat to turn me into his newest pet. But he didn't do it."

"Are you seriously defending him?" James asked.

"Why would you do that?" Amber asked. "Why should you act as though he deserves a second chance?"

"The same reason I gave you a second chance when you tried to sabotage me and my first ball," Sofia said. "The same reason I gave you a chance after you turned me into a cat or made fun of my village friends way of having fun at the sleepover or coerced me to do a huge fancy tea party, scorning my ideas for the party. Because deep down I knew you were better than that and that those weren't some of your finer moments."

"Sofia," Queen Miranda said. "You've always wanted to see the good in others. Sometimes there is no good to see."

"You guys don't get it!" Sofia exclaimed. "Cedric was right. People only want to see the bad in him and refuse to acknowledge his goodness."

With that, Sofia ran out of the throne room, flicking her wand behind her to create a cloud of smoke to hide the direction she went.