(The Skies Above Canterlot, Afternoon)
"Of course Shining Armor would put a bubble around it." Isaac grumbled, perched on a cloud, looking down at the protected city. They were at a height that no one below could see them.
"What's the problem? You said we'll just dig a tunnel under the city." Trixie commented, still riding on his back.
"Yes, but with that barrier we have less space to work with. We're better off using the..." his eyes widened in realization, then he facepalmed.
"What's wrong?" the unicorn asked.
"There are already caves below Canterlot, we could just use those!" he groaned.
"What makes you think there's a way into the city from there?"
"Season 2, Episode 26." he said. It wasn't breaking the fourth wall if you're actually there now, is it?
"What are you talking about?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll tell you about it later." Isaac replied, waving her off.
"Okay.." she looked frustrated by that, "Then how are we going to get down and into the caves without anypony seeing us?"
"We'll teleport into the caves from here." he said.
"Do you know where there are?"
"Nope, but I know someone who should be in there right about now. I'll teleport to her. She'll also provide us with a layout of the castle, and maybe the location of our targets."
"'She'? Who is this mare?" Trixie asked.
"Someone who won't be important until later. Now hold on." with that Isaac closed his eyes and extended his senses. "Changeling emotion sensing powers, go!" he thought somewhat humorously. He was searching for the biggest source of love.
There was one that stood out, but it was above ground, so that was probably Shining Armor. Then he found another one, just as big, but tinged with sadness and despair.
Isaac opened his eyes with a grin "I've found her."
(Canterlot Caves)
Cadence sighed, trying to wipe dirt out of her messy mane. Every day it was the same thing. She would wake up, eat crappy food, her imposter would gloat at her, she'd cry a little, go to sleep, and do it all over again the next day. The pink alicorn had been stuck here for a month already. Every day she'd lose a little hope that her friends and family would notice something was off with her imposter.
*FWOOSH!*
"Gah!" Cadence jumped back as a ball of gold flames appeared in the middle of the chamber she was trapped in.
"Are we in?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
"Do you see a raggedy-looking pink alicorn?"
Is this smoke cleared, she saw a wide eyed blue unicorn riding on top of a stange bipedal being, staring right at her.
"Trixie does!" the mare replied.
"Ah," the biped said, looking at her too now, "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, I presume?"
"Y-Yes, are you here to rescue me?" hope swelled up inside her.
"Sorry, but no." that hope was crushed. "But you do have something we need." with that, Isaac began walking towards. Cadence tried moving away, but space was limited. She was backed up against a wall soon enough. The princess closed her eyes. She felt a hand touch her forehead, and her entire life flash before her eyes. Then, she fell over with a groan, unconscious.
"I have the castle layout, lets go." he said, turning to walk away.
"Wait! We can't just leave her here." Trixie complained.
"Why do you care? She'll slow us down if we bring her. Besides, if she's gone then her captors won't act accordingly."
"Trixie demands you explain!" the mare demanded, glaring at him.
Isaac groaned, "The reason a Princess of Equestria is down here is because she's been replaced by an impostor. The imposter and her subordinates are planning an invasion on the day of the Royal Wedding, a few weeks from now I presume. That invasion will be the diversion we need to get the rest of the stuff I talked about."
Trixie looked thoughtful, "Well, we still can't leave her down here. She might mention us to them."
The angel groaned, "I could just erase her memories of this entire encounter and be done with it!"
"Can't you do that splitting thing you talked about again? Just shape-shift one of the bodies into her!"
"Yeah, but each body is about as half as strong as the one it split from. If we get into a fight we'll be at a major power disadvantage."
"Do it anyway. They can all teleport to each other, right?" Trixie commented.
Isaac sighed, "Okay, get off of me first." Trixie hopped down.
The former human seemed to claw into the top of his head, then ripped himself in half. Instead of blood and gore in between, there were the golden flames. The right side filled in itself, becoming an identical duplicate. The left side had the flames consume itself. When they subsided, an identical copy of Princess Cadence stood in its place.
Isaac picked up the unconscious Cadence, while 'Cadence' just sat down, looking bored already. "Now, we find our way into the city." they said at the same time. It was rather eerie. He then proceeded to tie her up, so she'd been unable to struggle when she awoke.
"Where's the exit then?" Trixie asked, walking up beside him.
"I'm not sure," he admitted, causing his partner to glare at him. "But I do know that we just have to keep going up until we see a light coming out of the ceiling."
With that, Isaac casually kicked one of the walls down, and the two of them hopped through it, beginning their adventure. He casually repaired the wall behind him so they wouldn't notice when they came to check up on 'her'.
"By the way, what does Nightmare Moon have to do with your plans?" the blue unicorn asked, adjusting her cloak and bag.
"I wanted it to be a surprise, but I guess I can tell you..." as he explained, Trixie's eyes widened is amazement.
(Canterlot)
Nightmare Moon grinned as she watched her would-be pursuers run right by her. It was amazing what a raggedy dress with no wing holes, a dirty hairband, and a pair of slightly broken glasses could do to hide one's identity. Plus she was in the much poorer district of the city, so she didn't stand out at all. To the random passerby, she appeared to be just another orphan living on the streets.
After escaping yesterday, she managed to find her current disguise lying in an alleyway. It was unbecoming of the future queen of Equestria, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Then she spent the rest the day, searching for the caves mentioned in her 'friend's' letter, but to no avail. The flooding of the streets with guards also limited the places she could look.
"I'll just keep hidden until they think I've already left the city, then they'll have to drop that blasted barrier and go searching elsewhere." she thought. Once that happened she'd be less restricted in her search.
"Excuse me, little filly?" a voice asked. Nightmare Moon turned to see a generic unicorn guard.
"Y-Yes, sir?" she replied, changing her voice to match her body accordingly.
"Have you seen this criminal?" he asked, pulling out a picture of her in her prison cell, glaring at the camera.
"No, sir." she replied, shaking her head, while internally gloating.
"Alright then, be safe, and alert us if you do."
"I will!" and with that they parted away.
"Why are Celestia's guards so incompetent?" she honestly wondered for a moment. Seriously, she was right in front of them with an admittedly flimsy disguise and they didn't notice anything off.
"The first thing I'm doing when I'm queen is retraining all of these buffoons." Nightmare Moon grumbled. How was she supposed to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies with guards like these?
The mare in a foal's body returned to the alleyway she had slept in last night, to see a pegasus guard already there. He was examining the remains of the magic suppressor they had put on her horn.
"Damn it!" she thought. Now she had to get rid of him.
"E-Excuse me, Mister Guard?" she asked, making sure to turn on the cute.
"Hmm?" the guard turned, the suppressor in hoof, "Yes?"
"M-My house is right over there." she said, pointing to the cardboard box she had slept in last night.
With that, the guard's eyes softened and he moved out of the way.
"Sorry I'll be out of here." he started walking out of the alley.
"Thank you" she replied, "Foal!" she thought, walking towards her box. Unfortunately, through a stroke of fate or just bad luck, she stepped on her dress and didn't notice in time to stop moving.
*RRRRRRIPPPP!*
The guard turned around to see Nightmare Moon's wings exposed through her ripped dress.
"BUCK!" she swore, getting ready to run.
"Hahahaha!" the guard laughed unexpectedly, causing her to freeze, "You almost had me there! The queen will be pleased that I've found you. Maybe then, Number 24 can stop riding our flanks!"
His eyes flashed green at that comment
(Princess Cadence's Private Chambers, 30 Minutes Later)
"My queen we've found her!" Number 24 said, rushing inside.
'Princess Cadence' grinned, and stopped drawing up the invasion plans She rolled up the scroll she was using and hid it in the vanity. Not that it mattered. Shining Armor was completely under her thrall and she had told everypony else to stay out of her room, but you could never be too careful.
"Excellent. Let's go and meet our 'friend'. If anyone asks, I went to use the bathroom." she said, getting out of the chair.
Number 24 just nodded and saluted.
(Canterlot Caves, One Hour Later)
Princess Cadence groaned, her eyes fluttering open. Isaac and Trixie were walking across the mine rails. The former had her hoist over his back like a bag of potatoes.
"Oh great, she's awake." the angel complained.
"It's not like she can escape, so what's the problem?" the blue unicorn replied.
"Huh?!" then it all came back to her, "Please! You have to take me back to my family and friends! The impostor is planning an invasion of Canterlot and-"
"We know." Isaac commented with an eye roll.
"You could at least sound more sympathetic about it." Trixie said.
"There's no need to get the mare's hopes up."
"I don't understand, do you even care?!" the pink alicorn asked, trying to glare at her new captors from her position on Isaac's back.
"Of course we care. But we're using the invasion as a diversion to borrow stuff." the angel replied.
"Hundreds of innocent ponies will die or be enslaved if we don't stop thi-" her sentence was interrupted by the snapping of Isaac's fingers, causing a zipper to appear and close itself across her mouth.
"Relax princess, it's not like we won't be helping fight them off."
"We are?" Trixie asked.
"Well I am. You and whoever else we manage to recruit by then will be looting the castle at the same time."
"Publicity reasons I suppose?"
"Yep, and to genuinely make sure Equestria isn't conquered."
"Does anything nice you do not have a sketchy additional motive?" the unicorn asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not since I gained changeling powers a millennia ago and started plotting."
"Why does life hate me?" Cadence thought bitterly. First she gets kidnapped by an impostor planning an invasion of her home. Then she gets 'rescued' by these jerks. She had to get out of here! The bride-to-be started struggling, trying to get out of Isaac's grip.
He grimaced, "Calm down, Cadie." he said patting her side, "It's not like we won't be returning you home. Just when it's most convenient for us."
"Do they want a ransom or something?" she thought.
"After we get out of here, how are you going to find Nightmare Moon to make sure things go as they should?"
"Emotion sensing, remember?" he said, pointing to his head, "I'll just look for the most concentrated source of hate in the entire city and warp right to her."
"UNHAND ME IMMEDIATELY!" a familiar voice screamed.
"Speak of the Devil and she shall appear." Isaac grumbled.
"What is she doing here?! Shouldn't she be above ground?!" Trixie hissed.
"Quiet," he whispered, "and stay low. That's what we're going to find out." With that, they started walking very slowly. They followed the sound of Nightmare Moon's yells through the caves, hiding behind the crystals and rocks.
In a few minutes, they followed their target's captor to an opening. It was a just a wide space with tons of crystals .
"There." Trixie said, pointing to what appeared to be a struggling Nightmare Moon carried in by a strange black bug-pony hybrid of sorts.
"Changelings, it had to be changelings." Isaac sighed, facepalming, "Then that means Queenie must want her too for some reason." They probably helped her escape too now that he thought about it. Celestia would have slapped a magic suppressor and wing bindings on her so fast it wasn't even funny. Add in the constant watch and the demon foal wouldn't be able to breath without them noticing. Though that didn't mean much considering how bad at their jobs the Royal Guard were. Chrysalis probably gave her the means to escape, and Nightmare Moon did the rest.
"Changelings? That's what these shapeshifters are called?" Cadence thought, staring at the thing. She recalled Aunt Celestia mentioning them as a rather infamous race, but she'd never seen them before.
"Sorry about my subjects." a new voice said. It had a strange distortion to it, almost as if special effects had been added to it with a computer.
A black, Celestia sized changeling walked in. She had a long dark-teal mane with holes in it. Similar holes existed on her hooves, tail, and wings. A green carapace was on her back. She had slit-pupiled, green eyes, and wore a small black crown on her head. More regular changelings followed in after her.
"You're rather difficult to find. Let her go." she ordered, and the changeling complied, letting her down.
"The 'friend' who gave me the tools to escape, I suppose?" Nightmare Moon asked, glaring at the queen.
"Guilty as charged." Chrysalis said with a chuckle. Her subjects backed off as she circled the millennia-old evil, whose eyes never left hers.
"So what do you want with me?" the dark alicorn demanded.
"Nothing much, I just wanted to pick your brain." she replied.
"Oh really?" she looked rightly skeptical
"Yes you see, you have something I need in order to complete my plan"
"And that is?"
"The knowledge of how to move the celestial bodies, of course. Once I conquer this land, I need those to keep going so the other nations don't get suspicious while I solidify my rule here."
"What makes you think I would assist you, a mere insect, in taking over my kingdom?" Nightmare Moon replied, her glare intensifying.
Chrysalis growled, "Your kingdom! Like you'd be able to conquer it! Please, all you and your good half do is move the moon, a giant rock. Celestia moves the sun, a star! That which gives life to so many things on this world! Plus she did your job during your stay on the moon. Compared to her, and your counterpart, you're nothing but a cast off shadow."
The dark alicorn gnashed her teeth at that comment, "You'll regret those words!"
"Oh, I don't think I will," she said with chuckle, levitating the demon filly in her magical grasp and bringing her face to face, "You're stuck in that foal's body with a pitiful amount of magic." she continued, tossing Nightmare Moon against a wall.
*SLAM!*
"GAH!" the dark alicorn screamed as her back hit the will, erupting with pain.
"While I've been feeding on the love that fool Shining Armor has for his fiance for over a month now. With the amount of raw power I possess, I bet I could defeat Celestia herself!" she finished proudly, walking towards her foe.
"Damn it! Trixie, If Chrysalis tries to off her, stay quiet and out of sight with Cadence while I get her." Isaac ordered, laying the pink alicorn down on the ground.
The showmare nodded, pulling her charge closing to the wall they were hiding against.
"Y-You won't kill me. The knowledge I have is necessary for your plans to work!" Nightmare Moon said, shakily standing up.
"I lied. I learned a memory-searching spell in my time pretending to be Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. I just felt like letting an enemy live for once. Now I don't!" Chrysalis replied, levitating the dark alicorn into touching foreheads with her.
*SHOCK!*
Chrysalis shrieked as she ripped her head away from the demon filly, a headache already forming.
Nightmare Moon chuckled, "You think is the first time someone has tried to enter my mind without my permission? Please, a strong enough will can force parasites like you out easily."
The changeling queen growled, chucking her against a wall again, "Why do they always have to do this the hard way?" then her expression changed to one of sadistic delight, "Oh, who am I kidding, I love it when they do it the hard way!" she pointed towards her gathered subjects, "Two of you! Torture the information out of her, and don't forget to take pictures!"
Two changelings merely saluted and went for Nightmare Moon.
"LEEEEERROOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYY JEEEEEENNNNNNNNNKKINNSSSS!" Isaac shouted, finally charging in at them.
"I've always wanted to say that in a serious situation!" he thought. The angel was met with changelings attacking on all sides. He started punching his way through.
"ISAAC?!" Nightmare Moon screamed.
"What is that?!" Chrysalis demanded.
"Someone rescuing an undeserving jerk!" he quipped, changing his right hand into a dragon's claw. Isaac began slashing at
his foes, drawing blood more than once. He still kept moving.
"Get her out of here!" the changeling queen ordered, and the two changelings with the dark alicorn complied, grabbing their target and running like Cerberus was after them.
"Nope!" Isaac took a deep breath, and exhaled a scream of flames. Normal, hot, red, burning flames!
*FWOOSH!*
Changelings screamed as they were set on fire, more than a few trying the 'stop, drop, and roll' routine, giving him the opportunity to run right past them.
"Must I do everything myself?!" Chrysalis said, stepping in front of him.
"What can I say, Chryssie?!" he began as he dove, sliding right under her, "It's so hard to find good help these days!"
"Why did I say that? That was so cheesy!" he thought, mentally facepalming.
The queen growled and quickly turned around, firing a large green magical blast at him. Isaac heard the sound and swore, getting back to his feet. He jumped to the side.
*ZOOM!*
"F@#$!" he shouted, grabbing his bleeding left arm. Unfortunately he hadn't managed to avoid the entire attack. Regardless he kept running.
Chrysalis started running after him, a scowl on her face. Isaac had Nightmare Moon in sight, he just needed to catch up, grab her, and get the hell out of here! He started flying to get extra speed.
The angel took a quick breath, breathing fire at the changeling that wasn't holding his target. It screamed, falling over quickly as it starting burning. The other cringed and started running faster.
"You won't escape!" the changeling queen roared, picking up speed as well
"That's what you think, b@#$%!" he replied, though inwardly sweating. Isaac held out his right arm, and conjured up a baseball-sized rock.
"Let's hope my aim isn't rusty." he said to himself. Then he threw it right at the back of the changeling's knee, with almost pinpoint accuracy.
It yelped and tripped, tossing Nightmare Moon into the air. Isaac grinned, and caught her in his right arm in one fell swoop.
"NO, DAMN IT!" Chrysalis had started flying as well, and begun shooting magic blasts at them, knocking down rocks.
"I didn't need your help!" Nightmare Moon complained, already trying to bite him on the arm that was holding her.
"I'm not doing this to help you! Now shut up and hold on!" he replied.
*FWOOSH!*
In a flash of golden flames, they disappeared. The changeling queen's eyes widened as she stopped.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAUGGGH!" she roared, blasting more rocks in rage.
"I don't have time for this!" Chrysalis said, flying backwards. She had to get back to playing Princess Cadence before anypony started wondering where she went.
(With Cadence and Trixie)
*FWOOSH!*
With that, Isaac and Nightmare Moon reappeared. They fell on the ground, the former panting in exhaustion.
"You got her?" the showmare asked.
"Let go of me, damn it!" the dark alicorn complained.
"What do you think, Trixie?" the angel said sarcastically.
"Sorry for giving a buck." Trixie replied, folding her forelegs.
"It's alright," Isaac began, standing up and snapping his fingers, causing zipper identical to the one Cadence had to appear on Nightmare Moon's mouth, "But we need to move quickly!"
"What happened to your arm?!" the blue unicorn asked, noticing the injury.
"Nothing I can't heal myself when Chrysalis isn't chasing us!" he said, picking up Cadence in his left arm and cringing very hard "Now move!"
Trixie looked annoyed, but nodded. The two of them started running again, their prisoners in tow.