The shadows seemed to engulf Twilight as she sat in the dark. Even the light of her horn couldn't keep them back.
She had been sealed in the cave and had been wandering for hours.
"Hello?"she shouted, hopeful that somepony would hear her
Someone did...
"WHO GOES THERE"a great booming voice shouted.
"eep" Twilight shot behind a rock"...u-uh Twilight, Twilight Sparkle...who are you?"
Two great red eyes opened in the darkness, lines marring them.
"hmph, you are the first being I have met in over a thousand years...Twilight Sparkle" He said as he walked into the light, rolling the name as if it were alien to his tongue. the light was striped across his massive body because of colossal bars blocking him from her.
"my name is Naruto"as he said this his eyes turned slightly blue.
"What are you?" Twilight asked, staring at his fox-like face
Naruto seemed to almost grimace,"I am a kitsune,probably the last of my kind, and you are?"
"A unicorn",said Twilight"how in the name of Celestia did you get down here"
"NEVER mention her to me" he shouted, his voice returning to it's loud booming state,his eyes glowing red in the darkness before calming.
"look," he said as gently as he could as Twilight poked her head out from the rock she had found herself behind.
"I have a proposition for you" he paused to allow Twilight to carefully walk up to the bars.
"I, Naruto, the greatest of the tailed beasts will serve you, if you free me from this prison." he paused to allow her thinking time.
"how did you get in here in the first place?" she asked tapping her hoof against the nearest bar to test the strength.
"Celestia"he snarled,"the tyrant has kept me here drawing upon my power to keep herself alive."
"b-but Princess Celestia is an alicorn, they're all immortal" Twilight shouted, defending her mentor.
"Hm-hm-hm" Naruto chuckled"that's what she'd like you to believe, hell she even had her sister convinced when I was free" he said as he looked upward mournfully.
Twilight's disbelief was obvious when Naruto looked back towards her.
"look, you may find this hard to believe, but you unicorns arent the first species to be tricked by her."
"Ponies" Twilight corrected.
Naruto's brow raised in disbelief"there are other species like you? her power has grown indeed..."
"Power? Princess Celestia has always been this powerful, hasn't she?"
"hmph, thats what she'd say, but she has done horrendus things, committed unspeakable atrocities to gain power"
Twilight was seething, this fox, albiet a large one, was accusing her teacher of being a tyrant! the nerve!
"before you start shouting young one, allow me to show you my evidence." Naruto said holding his clawed hands out in between the cages bars and gently pressing one to Twilight's forehead.
Images flashed through her mind of destruction, death and chaos,a fox she recognized as Naruto weeping over the body of a dark furred fox, all to the sound of laughter she recognized as her teachers, but instead of being a kind, melodic sound the spite and malice hurt her ears.
"gah" she cried as she dropped to the floor.
"It may be confusing, but the voice you heard was your teacher."Naruto said as he lowered himself to the ground and closing his eyes.
"how did you know she was my teacher?" Twilight asked.
"A door once opened can be travelled through both ways"he said before continuing at her confused look.
"when you looked into my memories, i looked into yours"he finished.
Twilight paused for a moment ,Celestia was her teacher, almost a surrogate mother for a significant part of her life, she had taught her most of her magical abilities that she had needed, was a tyrant. could she just betray her? But then again if Naruto was right, then celestia had been doing this for millenia, through many different species.
"If it helps I was in the same position that you were in now"Naruto said, his eyes staying shut.
"what?"
"I was a student of Celestia" he said, almost gagging when he spoke her name.
"Naruto?" Twilight asked apprehensively.
"hmm?" he grumbled half opening his eyes.
"I have decided to free you"
Naruto stood there, shocked before smiling, at least, she thought it was smiling. "Thank you...words cannot describe how much i owe you,no, how much this land owes you for freeing me"
"what do I have to do?"Twilight asked looking around for any locks or hinges she could try to force.
Naruto smirked "It isn't that simple small one,there is a tag just here"he said pointing to a spot on the cage, "you have to remove it and then I shall be free"
Twilight walked up towards the tag before tapping it with her hoof,"are you sure this is it?"she asked.
"yes, but there is one condition. You and i will be bound together, my power will become yours and yours mine"He said
Twilight slowly reaced up and pulled off the tag.
the pain hit her like a steam train, the feel of kitsune energy burning its way through her system caused her to black out.
when she awoke Twilight was immediately aware of something small and furry on her face. using her magic she lifted the object revealing it to be a small fox. inspection of the area showed the cage still remained, but appeared to have been broken out of.
turning back to the fox she said"well little guy, I don't suppose you've seen someone like you but bigger have you?"
"Do not mock me youngling"the fox said in Naruto's voice causing Twilight to lose focus on her magic.
"umm...okay."before standing from her place on the hard ground,"so you're out now, what do we do?"
"first we find a way out of here"Naruto said taking charge from his new perch on Twilight's back.
"where is here?" Twilight asked looking around.
A loud cackling echoed through the caves
"The caves beneath Canterlot, once home to greedy unicorns who wanted to claim the gems that could be found inside. And now, your prison."said a voice Twilight recognized.
"Cadence!"she shouted, before turning to a random tunnel"somepony, can anypony hear me?"
"my ears are very sensitive you know"Naruto said appearing in her view from above.
Cadence laughed mockingly"It's no use. No one can hear you. And no one will ever think to look for you, either. Most ponies have forgotten that these caves even exist. Which is why they are the ideal place to keep the ones who try to interfere with my plans."
"Plans? What plans?"Twilight asked, panicking
"The plans I have for your brother, of course."Said Cadence, appearing in a crystal
"Don't you dare do anything to my brother, you... you monster!"
"Only way to stop me is to catch me!"Cadence's voice echoed in the dark caves as her image on the crystal disappeared "Over here!"her image shifted to another crystal as Twilight ran towards it "Nope, over here!"
Twilight in her frustration began firing her magic at any moving image before the wall infront of her gave way.
"I cannot tell you how frustrating it is knowing the walls not even a few feet from my cage are breakable by an angry outburst"Naruto deadpanned as the dust cleared, revealling a beaten looking Cadence.
"Twilight!" she exclaimed before the unicorn was on her.
"ah-hah, found you!" Twilight said smugly.
"Please! Don't hurt me!"Cadence screamed as she lay pinned "Twilight, it's me! Please, you have to believe me. I've been imprisoned like you. The Cadance who brought you down here was an imposter"
"A likely story" Twilight shouted sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Cadence stood and began to recite the short song that she and Twilight used to sing when they were younger. realization dawned in Twilight's eyes, the Cadence in Canterlot was a fake! She began to tear up at the prospect of having just assaulted one of her oldest friends.
"I'm so sorry" Twilight said, tears dripping to the ground at her feet...I-I just,"
"it's okay"said Cadence with a benevolent smile that Twlight had only seen on her teacher...'former teacher' she corrected herself.
The cruel cackling of the fake rang through the caves again
"C'mon"Twilight said, standing and drying her eyes,"We have to get out of here. We have to stop her!"
The false Cadence stood from her bed and walked towards her mirror.
"This day is going to be perfect,the kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small," she sang gently holding her hoof out as if admiring it before her smile turned spiteful.
"Everypony will gather round, Say I look lovely in my gown, What they don't know is that I have fooled them all"her eyes flickering green in the shadows cast by the early morning light.
"This day was going to be perfect, The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small" Cadence walked into a large open cavern, a pinicke look on her face.
"But instead of having cake, With all my friends to celebrate, My wedding bells, they may not ring for me at all"She said looking down at the ground.
"I could care less about the dress, I won't partake in any cake"sang the false Cadence knocking over tables as she danced by herself around the room.
"Vows, well I'll be lying when I say"she walked over to a mannequin,cupping its cheek in her hoof.
"That through any kind of weather,I'll want us to be together"she lifted the mannequin's face to her own before lifting it's hat with magic.
"The truth is I don't care for him at all"she continued destroying the hat with a blast of magic.
staming on the ashes she proudly proclaimed"No I do not love the groom,In my heart there is no room"
before turning to the mirror, smirking cruelly and saying"But I still want him to be all mine"
Cadence ran through the caves hurriedly looking for an exit"We must escape before it's too late,Find a way to save the day"
"Hope, I'll be lying if I say"she looked to Twilight who now had Naruto trailing behind her, running on his own.
"I don't fear that I may lose him,To one who wants to use him"she stopped, spotting a flicker of light in the distance
"Not care for, love and cherish him each day"Cadence approached a minecart,seemingly their only way of getting to the light, and began to desperatley push.
"For I oh-so love the groom,All my thoughts he does consume"Twilight lifted her into the minecart with magic and began pushing"Oh Shining Armor, I'll be there very soon"she finished just as the minecart's wheels began to turn and it rocketed down the slope, Twilight only just holding on and Naruto grasping her tail for dear life.
The cart rocketed down the track at a horrendus speed,Twilight and Cadence's hair lashes around them.
'oh no' Naruto groaned internaly, seeing a buffer ahead of them in the center of a large cave.
the cart hit with an almighty crash against the buffers sending it's occupants flying into the air. Twilight managed to grab onto Candace's back, but Naruto began to plunge back into the darkness.
"Naruto!" Twilight called out, reaching with her free foreleg.
"go on , don't worry about me" he shouted to her, before turning and muttering," have things i need to do" and diving into the darkness
"Finally the moment has arrived" the false Cadence sang to herself as she walked up the aisle.
"for me to be one lucky bride"she smirked as she approached the altar, flanked by Twilight's 'friends'.
"oh the wedding we won't make! He'll end up marrying a fake"Cadance sang looking for an escape route, while Twilight stared back into the abyss after her new friend
Cadance stood on her hind legs and put her forehooves against some rock pushing with all her might, all the while singing
"shining armour will be..."
"mine, all mine!" the fake Cadence muttered under her breath while staring into shining armours dazed eyes