Chapter 1

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What happened last night? That was the first thought going through my head as I woke up with one of the worst headaches I’ve ever had. I groaned as I sluggishly tried to get to my feet. My vision was blurry so I couldn’t even see where I was, and my back felt weird. There was the familiar sound of birds tweeting in my ears and the feeling of grass underneath my bare feet. Did someone steal my shoes? Was I in someone’s backyard or something?

The last thing I remembered was going to a party with a few friends of mine, and then nothing… Okay, so I got drunk and now have a hangover. As my sight cleared up, the sensation in my back intensified. I blinked as I noticed my surroundings

“How did I end up in a forest?” I asked, hoping someone else was there with me. Panic set in when there was no reply. I started runni-

*THWACK!*

“GODDAMNIT!” I screamed as I fell face-first into the ground. Ugh… I swear I heard a crack that time. As I stood up again, I finally figured out why my back felt so weird.

It had fucking WINGS on it! Honest-to-god feathery wings!

They were good-looking too! Like the kind you’d see on birds selectively bred for generations. Plus they were glowing! Did a mad scientist experiment on me while I was asleep or something?! Then I noticed something else that had changed about my body.

I was THIN!

I’m going to be honest with you for a moment. I was pretty overweight before I came to this place, but I wasn’t Mississippi fat. Now I looked like my brother, who could eat whatever he wanted and seemingly not gain a pound. I reached up to my face to check that out as well. Thankfully my wonderfully scruffy beard was the same. However I noticed that my skin was much smoother. My zits had been removed as well?

Okay, calm down Isaac. You can marvel at your sexy new body later. The most important thing right now is to figure out where I am and how to get home.

“And the best way to start is to walk around.” I mused, finishing my inner monologue aloud. With that, I steadily made my way through this forest I found myself in. My sense of balance was thrown off by the weight loss and new pair of wings, but hopefully I would adjust quickly.

(1,500 years later…)

You know what sucks about being imprisoned in stone? Everything. You can’t move at all, but you can see and hear everything that’s going on around you. Plus when the stupid ponies that are moving you accidentally drop you, it hurts like a bitch.

I’m not going to mention the bird shit that seeps falls through the holes in the ceiling, because WHEN I get out of this hellhole they’ll be extinct by the time I’m done with them.

So it turns out I had more up my sleeve than just having wings, and I used all my new abilities to great effect. Well most of them, I didn't see the any point to being able to breath bubbles. To elaborate, I somehow ended up in Equestria a millennium and a half before canon. Once my fangasm wore off, I decided to try and change history for the better.

Guess how that turned out?

As I continued my rant in the basement of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters (apparently I wasn't important enough to move to Canterlot Castle) , a familiar chaotic aura permeated the air. One that was affiliated with a certain troublemaker...

"Oh come now Isaac, you know you love me!"

Then out of nowhere as always, he appeared. Discord, the bane of my existence. He was floating in midair with a self-satisfied grin on his face.

"You always were a drama queen, weren't you?" he said, bringing a glass of chocolate milk into existence.

The reason I'm being such a "drama queen" is because you got us imprisoned in stone, you ass!

He tutted as if disappointed with me and replied "Now what did those poor donkeys do to you, Isaac?"

Just go away and let me sulk goddamnit! I roared mentally

"Is that anyway to greet me after I came all this way to free you?" Discord said with a small pout.

You do realize there's no point to it? Even if you do free me, there's no way Celestia and whoever she's roped into wielding the Elements will let us stay that way. At least until Season 3 that is...

"Ah, but that's why I have a plan my old chum!" the draconequus answered, a grin returning to his face.

Oh and what prey tell is that plan? Here it comes...

"To wing it and see what happens of course."

You do realize that there's a time for unpredictability and a time for ruthless strategy, right?

"Of course, but this is the fun way!"

I sighed mentally I wish you'd be more sensible.

In a flash, we were eye to eye.

"Ah, but were's the fun in making sense?" Discord said, that familiar malicious glint in his eye. He laid a claw onto my statue and started pumping energy into it.

As I felt my prison weakening, I decided that I could use a quick walk around before being put back in the slammer.

Come on... I started pushing, and cracks appeared along the surface. To be honest, I've been thinking about what I wanted to do once I got free, and I had a few ideas in storage.

In a small explosion of light and stone, I was free!

"FUCK!" and I was stiffer than a teenage boy in the girl's locker room. There was a crick in my wings that was so bad.

As I began to stretch on my pedestal, cracking my joints to relieve centuries of being stuck in the same position, Discord started talking again.

"Tell you what! While you regain you strength and do that inner monologue thing you do, I'll be taking care of our little Element problem. Tata!" On that note he was gone.

I knew what he'd do, he would manipulate the Elements into acting against their virtues. Except for Fluttershy, he just cheated when it came to her. Twilight would lose hope, Celestia would send back all her friendship letters at the most convenient point, etc... The point is that it would end with us back in stone by the end of the day.

But does it really have to be that way? My previous attempts at altering the course of history had all failed. I got dragged into causing chaos with Discord instead of reforming him, I had no idea when Sombra had come to power so that was a moot point, and I was obviously stoned by that point so I couldn't prevent Luna from becoming Nightmare Moon. So what was the point?

Meh, at least if I try I'll know for sure. I shrugged and dusted off my clothes. I forgot to mention those didn't I? Well, when I woke up in Equestria I was wearing a grey t-shirt, blue jeans, and my sneakers had disappeared. My attire hadn't changed all that much except for the additions of a brown hoodie and a pair of black sandals. The t-shirt and hoodie obviously had holes in them for my wings, but it was still hard to put them on.

With a snap of my fingers, I was just outside the ancient castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Even from here I could see the effects of my friend's rampage. Floating buildings, the day-night cycle happening at random, the chocolate rain. In that moment I had a choice.

Do I watch and/or partake in Discord's fun? Which would end with me being petrified.

Do I just walk away now, and prep for when Sunbutt finds me so I could try to talk her out of stoning me again? At best, I'd be her own personal chaos monkey until she decides to have Fluttershy reform Discord. At worst, she has the Mane Six blast me without even listening to a word I had to say. It's not like she wouldn't be justified, we had done some pretty insane stuff...

The choice was clear, or at least I thought it was.

"Sorry Dissy," I began with a grin, a plan of action already forming in my head.

"But I don't plan on getting stuck as a statue again anytime soon, even if it would only be for a year at the most..."

I walked away with a new resolve and goal in my mind.

I always wondered what it would be like to rule my own country...

Chapter 2

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(Isaac's POV)

It had been a few hours since I had been freed, and I was just bumming around the edge of the Everfree Forest, watching the events of the Season 2 premiere play out before my eyes. As Discord was blasted by the Elements of Harmony and turned to stone once again, I simply turned on my heel and walked the other way.

"I wonder when they're going to start coming after me?" I muttered, as a flash of golden flames enveloped my form. In a second, I had assumed the form of a manticore. Not long after arriving in Equestria, I discovered I could copy the abilities of any living organism through direct physical contact. Unfortunately, the story behind this discovery isn't so grand...

(Flashback to 1,500 years ago)

"AAAAAGGGH!" I screamed, running from a fucking manticore! As in the weird hybrid thing that doesn't exist in the real world but does in Equestria. Yeah, I somehow ended up there. Seriously, what was up with this day?

The reason I knew this was because I eventually came up on a clearing with the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. If that wasn't enough , it wasn't abandoned yet! There were royal guards patrolling around it and everything. So I was in Equestria at least one thousand years before canon starts.

After my initial joy wore off, something else occurred to me. If what happened to me was anything like what happens in fanfiction, I wasn't going home anytime soon unless I figured out how I got here. Even if I did, there would be no guarantee I could get back.

Sorry, I got off track. Now where was I?

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" Ah yes that. To explain how this happened, apparently I wandered into his territory when he was hungry as far as I can tell.

Luckily, manticores were somewhat slow and in this new body I could outrun my pursuer easily. The bad part was that I still hadn't adjusted to it, so I couldn't run fast. Plus there was the-

*THWACK!*

-tripping and falling. On the up side, failure was not an option and adrenaline kept me moving. My breath came out in short pants as I hurriedly got to my feet, sometimes tripping again. Thankfully this guy liked to play with his food, seeing as he wasn't running as fast as he could. How did I know this? Well when I looked back at him he had this amused smirk on his face. What a dick.

As I continued to run, fatigue started to set in and I started slowing down. If I forced myself to go faster, there was no doubt that I would start tripping up even more.

Is this going to be how I die? Eaten alive in Equestria by a manticore before I even got to meet anypony?

God I'm already saying that crap. Eventually, my running space ran out and there was only a cliff.

"Fuck..." I muttered, panting with my hands on my knees. A growl alerted me to the fact that my pursuer was going in for the kill.

I quickly turned around to see the manticore slowly prowling towards me, the smirk gone from his face.

"Nice kitty. Come on you don't wanna eat me!" I tried reasoning with it. Cartoon logic says it should be able to at least partially understand me, right?

My words had no effect, and I slowly started moving sideways, the manticore's eyes following my movements carefully.

"You're not stupid are you? We're by a cliff! If you jump me now, I'll just roll out of the way and you'll fall to your death!"

He made a sound that was probably his equivalent of a scoff, then flared his wings.

"Oh yeah, you have those. And you can tell I can't fly yet, right?"

The smirk returning to his face was all the answer I needed. I fell onto my butt in exhaustion.

"Well... FFFUU-" Before I could finish my swear, he pounced. Admittedly, I screamed little a little girl.

I grabbed him by the jaw in what I thought was a futile attempt to hold him at bay,I didn't expect what would happen next.

A shocking sensation coursed through our bodies, stopping us both cold. New strength filled me as I managed to turn him off the cliff. His roar echoing in my ears as he fell, his wings probably stunned temporarily.

I was hyperventilating as I crawled away from the edge of the cliff, the shock sensation intensifying. I felt something within me changing.

"Shit..." I hissed as I felt my teeth... growing?! I looked down at my fingernails. They were growing, sharpening, heck they even felt tougher!

Then it intensified on my back and tailbone.

"FUCK!" I screamed. It felt like someone was ironing my back! After that was the tearing I could hear and feel. Eventuallly, I passed out from the pain...

When I woke up I had fangs,claws, a scorpion tail, and a second pair of wings. You can imagine how well I reacted to that. But once I calmed down and realized what I did, a whole ocean of possibilities appeared in my head. All I needed to do was touch someone or something and boom, what was once their's became mine.Of course I eventually sought out the changelings, just so I could look at least semi normal.

Now I just have to prepare.

(3rd Person POV)

"Well, I'm glad that's over." said Twilight Sparkle with a sigh, the Element of Magic worn proudly on her head.

"Agreed, that was just dreadful." replied Rarity.

Pinkie Pie couldn't be happier "And, now that it's over, we can have a VICTORY PARTY!" she was already bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"Though I can't shake feelin' we're forgetting somethin'." Applejack continued, scratching her head with a hoof.

"What else is there? We beat that chump Discord, Ponyville is back to normal, case closed!" Rainbow Dash said, eager to get this day over with."

"No, she's right! Remember what Discord said in the vault just before he left?" Twilight answered, her eyes widening in realization.

(Flashback to Earlier Today)

"...then find the Elements back where you began. Now if you excuse me, I have to free a friend of mine who was also stuck in stone." On that note, Discord vanished from the stained glass windows with a chilling laugh

Everypony gasped. Well almost everypony, Fluttershy just squeaked and made herself small.

"Wait a minute, that jerk has friends?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"And if'n he does, why wasn't he there helping him out?" Applejack continued.

"It's not surprising, really. Discord was such a ruffian that he probably drove what few friends he had away." Rarity answered with a flip of her mane.

"Maybe he was hiding somewhere in town, watching from the sidelines?" Fluttershy suggested.

"If that's true, then we're not out of hot water yet girls. We need to comb Ponyville for this guy, ASAP!" Twilight declared, taking leadership of the group once again.

"Right!" the others replied with a decisive nod. On that note, the six of them began their search.

I just hope we can find him before he causes any trouble... the purple unicorn thought, biting her lower lip in worry.

Chapter 3

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(3rd Person's POV)

"Okay, so he isn't anywhere in Ponyville..." Twilight Sparkle declared frustratedly, a few hairs out of place in her mane. It had been a few hour's since they had begun their search for Discord's mysterious "friend", but to no avail, and it was now night-time. Spike was sleeping upstairs. She and her friends were in Golden Oaks Library plotting their next course of action.

"So if he isn't here, then where is he?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Twilight threw her hooves up in frustration. They had told everypony in town to look out for anything else weird that was happening today, but still no such luck

"And if he's not here then he could be anywhere else in Equestria, the world! I have no leads to go on! Any books that mention him just called him Discord's sidekick who wasn't really that important!"

"Relax Twi'," Applejack began, resting a hoof on her friend's shoulders. "We'll just tell Princess Celestia, and she'll have the Royal Guard comb the whole country for this guy. Heck, he might even come to us after a while."

"And the title of Most Levelheaded Pony goes to Applejack!" an echoing voice rang out through the room.

Everypony gasped as a floating figure appeared in the middle of the library. It was bipedal and bore a resemblance to a monkey, but, the only fur it had was on the top of it's head, and a beard. It was much taller than them, but still shorter than the draconequus they had faced earlier today, and wearing an odd set of clothes. Plus it had a white pair of wings sprouting from it's back. By the sound of it's voice it was male, and very amused if the tone was any indication.

"Discord's friend I presume?" Rarity asked, regaining her composure first.

"Yes, milady. I am Isaac Donohue, at your service." he did a mock bow afterwards, a smirk on his face.

"What do you want?" Twilight demanded.

"Nothing really, just to give you a message."

"And that is?"

"That I mean you no harm."

"Huh?" all six of them said in confusion.

"What, is everything that comes to this town bad news?"

"How do we know you're not lying like Discord? He said you two were friends after all!" Rainbow Dash said flying up to Isaac's face so she could glare at him eye to eye.

"Because I'm not as crazy as he is." he replied.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"I mean, that I don't want to be imprisoned in stone for another thousand years.

"Forgive me if I find that hard to believe after what we just went through." Rarity deadpanned.

Isaac shrugged. "It's true. Heck I'll even do community service for the next twenty years just to prove it to you." With a snap of his fingers, he was decked out in an orange safety vest, a work bandanna, and holding a trash grabber in hand.

"What kind of community service?" Applejack said, rightfully suspicious.

"Oh you know. Picking up trash, cleaning up graffiti, overthrowing tyrants, curing diseases, solving world hunger. Those kinds of things. Tell Celestia I'll even take care of the Crystal Empire and King Sombra for her!" he said with a cheesy grin.

"Wait a minute, what Crystal Empire? Who's King Sombra?"

Their uninvited guest chuckled. "Silly purple pony. That would be giving you spoilers! Pinkie Pie gasped.

"What the hay are spoilers?!" at that question, Twilight was greeted to the sight of her pink friend jumping in front of her and pulling out a chalkboard from nowhere.

"You don't know what spoilers are?! Then let Professor Pinkie Pie educate you!" On that note, she started writing on the chalkboard with white chalk.

"You see Twilight, spoilers are when you learn something before you're supposed to. Like somepony telling you the ending of a book or movie you haven't finished, or somepony telling you that I'm planning a surprise party! It totally kills the shock aspect, and it makes it less satisfying once you actually do get to that point." Pinkie then put on a angry face, and somehow crushed the chalk in her hoof.

"Carrot Top rued the day she told Derpy I was planning her surprise birthday party. SHE RUED IT!"

"Okay then..." the lavender unicorn said awkwardly.

"AND SHE PINKIE PROMISED TOO!"

Isaac laughed and ruffled Pinkie's mane. "See, that's the reason I think of you as the Smartest Pony in this group."

"Ah thought ah was the Smartest Pony..." Applejack grumbled.

"No, you're the Most Levelheaded Pony. Learn the difference, if you please."

"So is there anything else you wanted to say to us?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, actually. It's that you're lucky I'm trying to be good now. I may not be as powerful as Discord, but you wouldn't be able to even touch me."

"What! Please, I bet I could stomp you in ten seconds flat!" Rainbow said, taking that as an insult.

Isaac simply smiled and folded his arms behind his back.

"Then prove it, Rainbow Crash."

The rainbow-maned pegasus growled at that and charged at him, intending to buck him into next week. To her and everypony else's surprise, she phased right through him as if he wasn't even there!

*CRASH!*

Which led to Dash crashing into a wall.

"Rainbow!" her friends cried, running to her side.

"*PFFF!*L-Lesson one, whenever you see me I might not be actually there!" a snicker "I have a tendency to abuse Astral Projection like its nobody's business!" the intruder said, bursting into laughter at the end of his sentence.

"I thought you said you meant no harm, you liar!" Pinkie replied angrily.

"Technically, she hurt herself you know." Isaac wiped a tear from his eye.

The Mane Six were not amused by this.

"Okay, fine I'm sorry." he looked genuinely disturbed by their pissed off expressions. "Look, would it help if I gave you guys a present?"

"NO!" They roared.

"Well, too bad! You're getting one anyway!"

The strange, winged being took a deep breath, and exhaled a large ball of golden flames at them.

"AAAAAA-!" Their screams were cut off as the flames engulfed them.

Isaac let out maniacal laughter as they burned.

"Oh, I'd better leave a note for them..." he reasoned, and with another snap of his fingers, his community service gear was gone, and a note on the floor.

The sound of tiny feet running down stairs was heard.

"T-Twilight! What happened? I heard a loud bang, screams, and laughter and-" Spike's words were cut off he saw the scene before him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!" he cried.

"Nothing they won't thank me for later. Now if you excuse me, I have to see how my tan is doing..."

With that, he disappeared.

(Isaac's POV)

I yawned as my spirit took its rightful place back inside my body, which was currently in the form of a brown-coated earth pony wearing red swimming trunks. I had been sleeping on a towel, that somehow had sand in it already. The sound of foals playing in the water assaulted my ears, and the smell of salty seawater hit my nose. Ah, I love the beach so much!

Now for those of you reading this, no I didn't kill them. Do I look like a guy who would want Celestia to bring the sun down on his head?

But I'm not going to tell you what I did to them. I'll leave that as a surprise. Let's just say that their lives have been changed forever.

"Well it's time to get to work." I said, ignoring the startled gaps of the ponies nearby as I changed into a seagull and soared away towards the ocean.

Flying is awesome, aint it? The feeling of the wind beneath your wings, I can see way Rainbow Dash loves it so much.

Now the first thing I needed to was find a tyrant to overthrow. Since I'm too impatient to wait for Sombra to return, I'll just have to find someone else.

I closed my eyes as I flew above the ocean, and started to sense the emotions around me, something else I picked up form changelings aside from the ability to shapeshift.

All I needed to go was head for the largest gathering of hatred I could find. Once I got there I would kill whoever was in charge, and take their place. Unless they weren't the cause of the hate that was. Meh, it's a hit and miss process. Luckily I'm immortal, and as long as I stay on the down-low, Celestia and the Mane Six wouldn't be able to find me.

It was only a matter of time.

(Princess Celestia's POV)

I was worried. Twilight hadn't sent word of Discord's defeat yet, even though I could see Ponyville's return to normalcy from the balcony of my castle. Then why was there no letter?

Was it possible that Isaac was holding them up? Discord had mentioned that he was going to free him, and if there was anypony that monster actually gave a buck about it was him.

As I sat on my throne, a cup of tea levitating in my magical grip, I started to worry somewhat. Isaac wasn't like Discord, he wouldn't play with his enemies unless he genuinely thought they weren't any threat to him. Had he killed Twilight and her friends?

If he did, no one will be there to protect him from my wrath! I thought darkly, though my face remained outwardly serene as always.

On that note,a letter appeared in a gout of green fire. I mentally sighed. It seems I had been worry over nothing. They must have defeated him as well.

I unfurled the note and brought the cup of tea to my lips, it was always refreshing to what lessons her student had learned about life and friendship.

Dear Princess Celestia..... Of course.... Emergency... Had I spoken to soon?... Twilight and the others are....

WAIT, WHAT?!

"*PPFFH!*

I did a spit take for the first time in centuries, it was that shocking!

"Guards, prepare a chariot headed for Ponyville!" I ordered.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong?!"

Something I hadn't expected to happen until at least a year from now! And in excess!

(3rd Person's POV, The Morning After, Canterlot Castle)

"Hey guys, she's waking up!"

Twilight Sparkle groaned as she woke up with a pounding headache and a strange feeling in her back. She felt like she just went through a whole night of non-stop studying again.

"Uggh... What happened?" her vision was blurry...

"That Isaac jerk gave us his present!" she heard Rainbow reply grumpily.

"And what a present it was!" Rarity said giddily.

"Yeah! Hey Twilight, does this mean that I can make my parties last forever?"

"W-What did he do?" she wasn't sure she wanted to know anymore.

"Uh, Twi? You might want to see for yourself." Twilight saw the blurry form of Spike hold up a mirror.

As her vision cleared she realized two things. One, she had two extra appendages. Two, her friends had some extra appendages as well.

"WHY THE HAY ARE WE ALL ALICORNS?!" Princess Twilight Sparkle screamed in what would be her first time using the Royal Canterlot Voice.

(Isaac's POV, Same Time, ???)

I heard a faint echo of the newly ascended Twilight Sparkle and laughed in my head, still flying steadily . Now some of you may be wondering why I'd give six of my enemies a power boost like that? Well, it was all part of my community service of course. Yes, I was serious about that. But if I was going to be doing this, I would do it my way.

Plus it would give me time to get far away from Equestria while they were being coronated.

Anyways, I've found a place that's absolutely ripe with lots of hate. So much so that there are probably Windigoes there that I'll have to deal with. Oh well, no one said becoming royalty was easy.

South Pole, here I come~!

Chapter 4

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(3rd Person's POV)

"How are they Doctor Helix?" Princess Celestia asked the unicorn stallion in a lab coat across from her, standing in the room just outside the one her faithful student and friends were in.

"We're lucky we got them here when we did, your Highness. They were so severely drained of energy that I can't say they would have survived without any medical attention. We had to have all the unicorns on staff give them magic infusions non stop for five hours. I''m surprised they're even awake right now." he replied honestly.

"Alicorns recover from illness and injury faster than normal ponies, but I imagine they will feel exhausted for the next week or so regardless." she answered.

"Your Majesty, do you know how this could have happened? This case is nothing like when Princess Cadence ascended, is it?"

The sun princess sighed. "No, it isn't. The being that did this to them has the power to change other living things into whatever he wants them to be through the use of magic flames. However the transformation itself is powered by the victim's own energy, and I've seen more than a few die in the middle of the process due to the drain."

"If that's the case, then why aren't they dead? Thank you they're not, but I imagine becoming an Alicorn requires at a lot more energy than they have."

"That's what I hope to fin-"

"WHY THE HAY ARE WE ALL ALICORNS?!" a familiar voice screamed. Doctor Helix held his hooves over his ears in pain, and even Celestia looked startled by the sudden outburst.

"I believe your student is awake, your Highness." he winced as he said this.

"Y-Yes." she took a second to compose herself "Shall we go see her."

The stallion simply nodded, and the two of them went inside. Surprisingly, the scene before them wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Twilight was hyperventilating at a dangerous rate. Spike was nearby trying to calm her down. Rainbow Dash looked absolutely miserable. Pinkie Pie was being herself. Rarity had a smile on her face that was so large it looked more appropriate on the pink mare next to her. Fluttershy also looked like she was having a panic attack, but to a thankfully less drastic extent than Twilight. Applejack was calming her down with more success than Spike was having.

Celestia cleared her throat, immediately gaining their attention

"I'm glad to see you're alright after your encounter with Isaac, my little ponies." she said.

"Princess Celestia! H-How did he do this to us?!" Twilight asked.

"As I was explaining to Doctor Helix, Isaac's flames have the power to transform his victims into whatever he wants. The transformation itself feeds on the victim's energy. How he was able to transform you alicorns however, I'm unsure... The energy required for just one of you to ascend is well beyond what all six of you have combined."

"Princess Celestia, what if this Isaac character added some of his own energy to ensure their survival?" the doctor asked.

"I thought of that, but it doesn't make sense. Why would he give six of his enemies a power increase such as this?"

"Um.. Your Highness?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes?"

The timid pegasus squeaked at having the entire room looking at her, but continued on.

"Well, he said he didn't want to do anything bad anymore so he wouldn't have to go back to being a statue. He even said he'd do community service."

"I still think that's a load of horseapples..." Rainbow grumbled.

"Community service?" Celestia asked, an eyebrow raised

"Yeah! He said the usual boring stuff like picking up trash and cleaning up graffiti. Then he said stuff like overthrowing tyrants and curing diseases." Pinkie answered.

The sun princess's eyes widened at that last sentence.

"Then we have no time to lose, we have to capture him before it's too late." she declared resolutely.

"Your Highness? Not that I'm objecting to that, but what if he's tellin' the truth?" Applejack asked.

"Even if he is Applejack, Isaac has been a statue for over one thousand years. That can't have been good for what little sanity he had before. Discord hinted at being aware of his surroundings during his time imprisoned, so I'm sure the same is true for him. Without even realizing it he might hurt whoever he intends to help. Once he is captured and we can ascertain his whether or not he actually means to change, he'll either be re-imprisoned or he'll have to undergo therapy."

"Your Highness, after that's all and done with. Do you think, we could convince him to change us back?" Rainbow asked.

Rarity gasped "Rainbow Dash! Why ever would you want to go back to being a normal pony? We're ALICORNS! We have immortality, the magic of all three tribes, and we're Princesses!"

Then something seemed to occur to her. She turned to Celestia "Are we Princesses, Your Highness?"

"I'm honestly not sure." the elder alicorn admitted. "When a normal pony becomes an Alicorn, it's usually after proving their worthiness of the transformation, and by-extension the right to rule. The energy for the ascension comes from a source that even I'm unaware of. You remember the coronation of Princess Cadence, correct?" everypony nodded. ",However due to the fact that this transformation was given to you and not earned, I agree with Rainbow Dash. Once Isaac has been captured, we'll have him restore you to your proper forms."

Rarity groaned, causing the sun princess to chuckle.

"It'll be alright, my little pony. Besides the life of an immortal is not an easy one." a weary look appeared on her face. "You have to watch as your loved ones grow old and die while you remain forever young. Ponies constantly look to you for guidance simply because you have the most experience, and put countless pressures on you.."

A depressing silence went over the room as the all contemplated this information.

"On a less somber note, I'm surprised to learn you were the first one to realize this Rainbow Dash."

The cyan mare had the decency to look sheepish.

"Actually, that wasn't why I wanted to go back. It's because I wouldn't be able to join the Wonderbolts if I spent all day doing all of that boring political stuff, no offense."

"None taken."

"Wait, Rainbow Dash. It's not like Princess Celestia would just dump a bunch of responsibility on you right after you were coronated. Plus, it's not like they could just say no to you." Twilight replied.

Rainbow frowned. "Yeah, it's not they wouldn't consider something like that an abuse of power and secretly hate my guts for it for the rest of their lives" she said sarcastically.

"That's not an abusing your power, Dashie! That would be using the royal treasury to have an indoor pool filled with fudge installed in the castle. Oh, but it would be so worth it..." Pinkie joked, gaining laughs from everypony in the room.

With a good mood now restored, things were looking up for the Elements of Harmony.

(3rd Person's POV, South Pole, Isaac's Location)

It had been about two weeks since Isaac had obtained his freedom, and he had been flying south as a seagull practically nonstop, only taking breaks to sleep and/or eat.

Why did it take him two weeks to get to the South Pole? Well this universe's Earth was quite a bit larger than the one he was born on, hence the increased amount of time it took to get there.

"Thank god, I'm finally here!" he said, back in his angel form and heavily panting on top of a floating piece of ice. Once regaining his composure, Isaac took a look at his destination from that outside.

It was basically the worst blizzard imaginable being used as a dome covering the actual places where. The hate was absolutely pouring out of this place. The thing about this, was he could sense something even worse than Windigoes hiding in there.

Anger, Resentment, Jealousy.

All of these could be felt in a startling clarity due to how close he was. In fact, their pattern actually seemed somewhat familiar to him.

"It couldn't be ..." Isaac whispered, eyes widening. But the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." he shrugged, turned into a seapony, and dived into the water. If he was right then infiltrating this place from underneath the ice was his best bet.

Erik was a Polar Griffin, a variation of the regular species obviously suited for colder environments. His head, forelegs, and wings (flippers actually) were that of a penguin rather than an eagle. The rest of his body resembled a white arctic lion.

The weak fire in the middle of the igloo he shared with his mate and their cubs. He was attempting to cook what fish she had let him keep from his daily attempt at hunting. Not that he was able to get that much to begin with. It was practically impossible to get pretty much anything these days.

Life had been harsh before, what with the constant war between the tribes, but then she had come to power almost a year ago. Misha. "That bitch!" he thought angrily. She was once like the rest of them, just trying to survive the fighting, if only meaner about it. Then she had gained frightening strength and magical powers out of seemingly nowhere along with a terrifying new form, which allowed her to easily strike down the head of his tribe and take his place. Then she quickly went on to conquer the other tribes and unite them under her banner.

Misha would force them to hand over all of the best food for herself and her loyal slaves, leaving the rest of them with the scraps. Anyone who went against her was swiftly executed along with their family, children too of course. She seemed to thrive off of their hatred of her, because she just kept escalating. Anybody who didn't hand over their fish plus their families was dead. Anybody who seemed to just looked at her wrong got the axe. Her way of speech had changed as well. Before it had the same roughness many polar griffons possessed in theirs, but now it held a strange regal quality.

Before all this, life was relatively pleasant for them, even with the fighting going on around them. Back then he still couldn't hunt enough food for all of them, which is why he and his mate almost always gave their shares to their children. But now his youngest cub was seriously ill, and the others were looking dangerously skinny.

So it was with great surprise that the middle of the floor started to increase in temperature at a dangerous rate. He and his mate pushed their children behind themselves and prepared to attack. Eventually, a hole melted in the melted in the floor, and a seapony came out of it? Then it got even more confusing when the seapony transformed into a weird bipedal creature in a flash of golden flames.

"Finally, ugh.. That would have been so much easier if I could breath fire underwater..."

"Who are you?!"

When he received no reply and the creature continued to mumble to itself, Erik pounced! Maybe his family would have something to eat tonight.

Without even looking at him, the creature's right arm shot out at grabbed onto his forehead, keeping the polar griffin in place. At that moment, Erik's entire life flashed before his eyes. His less than stellar childhood, the daily struggles it took to make ends meet before, and then when everything seemed to turn into a frozen version Tartarus. He had the odd sensation that someone was there watching too.

Then the creature let go, and he was dropped flat on his butt, disoriented by the experience.

"Did.. Did you just read my mind?" Erik asked.

"Yep! That means I'm here to help you with something." it replied.

What?

"My name's Isaac Donohue, Erik. I'm here to deal with your little tyrant issue."

What an odd name...

"You're a fool if you think you can defeat Misha, shapeshifter." his mate said, glaring at the intruder from across the room.

"Ah! Normally that would be true, but I've dealt with her before." Isaac replied.

"Wait, how could you have fought Misha before. We've never seen you before and she loves to publicly humiliate whoever's dumb enough to challenge her." Erik asked.

"I don't mean the meat sack, I mean the being that's possessing her."

"She's POSSESSED?!"

"How else do you explain the new look, attitude, and powers?"

"Bwah?" this was too much for him.

"Look I know you're having trouble processing all of this right now, but you might want to get out of the way."

"OF WHAT?!" he screamed.

At that moment, the igloo was destroyed by a large black shape than ran through the walls straight at Isaac. It was a large female Polar Griffin with slitted blue eyes and mostly black fur and feathers. Luckily, the angel jumped out of the way before he could get bowled over. The griffoness turned around and reioriented herself, glaring at her prey with incredible amounts of hatred. The noise attracted the attention of the polar griffons, who warily exited their igloos to see what was going on.

"Isaac! I knew I sensed thine foul presence! Was Celestia so incompetent as to let you roam free?!" she roared.

"I believe the same could be said of you, Nightmare Moon. But I believe that's more because she doesn't know you're still alive." Isaac said, a smirk adorning his face as he put up his fists.

She scoffed. "Please, as if the Elements of Harmony could kill me. I am a goddess!"

"A goddess who's been reduced to possessing other's bodies because she lacks one of her own anymore, and feeding on their hatred like a filthy Windigo?" he quipped.

"Please, once I regain my full strength I'll seek out my weak other half and claim what is rightfully mine! Then the night-"

"Will last forever. Yada yada yada... Can we just skip to the fighting... " a devious smile "Moonbutt?"

Luna always did hate his nicknames a lot more than Celestia. So it was with no surprise that Nightmare Moon, in the body of Misha the polar griffoness, rammed into Isaac in the blink of an eye, sending him high into the sky.

"I REGRET NOTHING!"

And so the fight for the South Pole began...

Chapter 5

View Online

(Isaac's POV, South Pole)

"I REGRET NOTHING!" I screamed as Nightmare Moon rammed me high into the sky. I quickly regained balance, using my wings to right myself, but she was still coming. I moved to the side and grabbed the griffon whose body she was possessing by the stomach, then pushed her farther away from me.

I inhaled and blew some fire balls at her. She ducked and turned around. Thankfully in a griffon body, she couldn't cast any spells. Wait, why is she opening her mouth? What's that blue light coming up out it? IS THAT A-

*BOOM*

I quickly dodged the large energy beam that would have almost killed me if it hit.

"D-Did, you just shoot a magical blast out your beak?" I asked, already knowing the answer

She had a proud smirk on her face, well as close to one as you could have in a griffon body. Okay then, she's gotten a lot stronger feeding off of their hatred than I thought. What did she do to them?

My eyes narrowed. I had to think of a plan to beat her. Turning the Element bearers into Alicorns, and then doing a marathon flight to the South Pole had put me pretty low on energy. First, I needed to recharge.

I flew down towards the town full of igloos, her right on my back. She kept shooting those blasts out of her mouth and I kept barely dodging them. As she chased me, I took on my own penguin-griffon form. With their eyes accustomed to the harsh blizzards, I was able to see better. I saw a glacier where the townsfolk wouldn't see us. Thankfully I had encountered Windigos before I was petrified, so with a little luck, everything will go according to plan.

(3rd Person's POV, South Pole)

Isaac turned towards the glacier, his wings flapping hard as he could make them. Nightmare Moon was quickly catching up to him. Suddenly, he dived straight for it and his penguin-griffon form became engulfed in golden flames. He shot through the glacier like a speeding bullet. erupting from the other side. The dark being chasing him followed through the melted hole, and when she came out the other side, a clawed sucker-punch hit her in the eye from her left side.

"AAAAARRGH!" she screeched in pain, holding onto it with both hands/talons as it started to bleed profusely.Then, she felt the sting of sharp claws raking across her underbelly. She screamed again, the pain overriding her anger at her opponent. After that, she felt a hit to the back of her neck, and then nothing.

Isaac smirked as his foe fell to the snowy grounds unconscious. She would live of course, and probably regenerate quickly enough, but that was why he had to move fast. He transformed into an injured version of his opponent, and then flew towards the town.

(Erik's POV)

I felt dread as Misha appeared back in the middle of town. She walked with that arrogant smirk we all hated that told us everything. Yet another brave fool murdered by her. I felt even more dread when she set her slitted eyes on me.

"You there, slave. Your queen needs nourishment after dealing with another who would dare to defy me. she demanded in her usual tone of voice.

We both knew she didn't really need it and was just doing it to spite us once again.

"I-I have none, your majesty. What little we had was lost when my igloo was destroyed." that last part may have come out more bitter than I had intended it to. Hopefully she wouldn't notice.

"What was that tone?" Misha asked, her eyes narrowing.

Of course she would notice.

"Nothing, your highness." I said.

"That did not sound like nothing. Dost thou have a problem?" she continued, walking ever closer to me. My mate, who was standing right next to me, held our cubs closer. Misha's eyes bored into me, promising pain and torment if I gave an answer she didn't like.

"No, my queen." I said, my head lowering. Some might think of me as a coward, but what could I do against her?

She smirked "That is what I thought. However I still need nourishment."

"As I said before, there is none that I have left." Please go away...

"I think thou art lying to me," She said, circling me and my family. Oddly enough she was eyeing my cubs. Oh goddess please don't do anything to them.

"I am not, your majesty. You can check the ruins if you like." that last part sounded better in my head.

Her head snapped towards me "Surely, thou dost not presume me to scavenge through it like the peasant that thou art?"

Misha's glare froze me in place.

"N-No, nothing of the sort your highness! I meant that I would do it and give you whatever I'd find!" Dammnit! Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut when I was afraid?

Then she simply swiped at my face with my talons, managing to get my right eye.

"AAARRRGH!" I screamed,falling to the ground. Oh goddess, it hurt so fucking much. I clutched at it, trying to stop the blood flowing.

"ERIK!/DADDY!" My mate and cubs cried out in unison. Run away, you already know I'm going to die at this point!

"Perhaps an example needs to be made out of you, slave. First thou sassed me about destroying your igloo, when it was so obviously in my way. Then, you dared to presume me to be so desperate as to want food scavenged from ruins." She said, walking up to me. Misha raised a claw high, and I was prepared for the worst. I closed my other eye.

Then she stopped, right at my neck. I could feel her claw hovering right over it. I hesitantly opened it, and she was looking down on me with cruel amusement.

"On second thought, let us try something new for a change." Nononono... New meant horrible in my experience.

"Simply killing you would not teach the others a lesson, and I really am quite famished. Perhaps I'll engage in an old habit of mine." she turned her evil eyes towards my cubs again, and I understood her previous look.

OH GODDESS NO! She wouldn't... would she? The hungering look in her eyes said it all though. I half-hoped that someone would offer their own food in exchange for my cubs' lives, but here fish was so scarce it was practically every griffon for themselves.

"P-Please! Use me to sate your hunger, your highness!" I begged, scrambling onto all-fours.

"You would allow me to eat you instead of your children? How admirable..." Misha remarked, staring at me

For a moment it seemed like she would take me up on my offer.

"But I shall decline. Children always taste the best."

My mate stepped foward in anger. Dammnit all to Tartarus! "You... You DEMON! I WON'T LET YO-" Misha quickly rammed into her, sending her flying into the crowd that had gathered around us.

"ALEX!" I screamed in horror.

"Who said you had a choice in the matter?" she said cruelly.

That's it! I had to grab my cubs and fly as fast as possible! As I started to move, her eyes glowed a dark blue, and I felt myself be lifted into the air.

"Don't even think about it." At this point, my cubs had already started flying away. Our tormentor merely smirked, and they too were engulfed in the same glow of her eyes. I started struggling harder as they were dragged back down to her.

"DADDY!" They screamed repeatedly. She opened her mouth, and OH GODDESS WERE THOSE TEETH?!

NO MORE
.
"RRAAAAAGGH!" I roared, breaking out of the telekinetic grip through sheer force of hate.

I was going to brutally murder her if it was the last thing I would ever do in my life. I charged at her, talons bared. Misha actually looked worried for a moment. She should be. I tackled her to the ground, and the two of us wrestled for dominance. I won out, raised my talons high and slashed her across the face.

"AAAAAGGH!" She screamed. Good. She deserves every bit of what I'm giving her. I repeated clawed at her with my talons, watching with an insane glee as the blood gushed from her. In my rage-fueled high, it never occurred to me how implausible this situation was until much later. Her pitiful attempts at pushing me off and then begging for mercy only served to infuriate me more.

"Mercy? You want me to show you mercy when you've never shown any to others at all?!"

"I-I'M SORRY!"

I punched her across the face.

"WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE GRIFFONS YOU MURDERED?!"

Another punch.

"WHAT ABOUT THE CUBS YOU TORTURED IN PUBLIC, JUST TO 'TEACH US A LESSON'?!"

Another punch.

"YOU'VE STARVED MOST OF US TO DEATH YOU DEMONIC BITCH!" I became vaguely aware of what sounded like screaming behind.

"THERE'S A SPECIAL PLACE IN TARTARUS RESERVED FOR SCUM LIKE-What's that sound?" Really it was getting quite annoying.

(3rd Person's POV)

"ISAAC!" Nightmare Moon screamed, slammed into the middle of town with a burning fury. Everyone turned towards her in shock.

"Shit, I thought I had more time." 'Nightmare Moon' swore, before re-assuming her, or rather his, true form.

"What?!" Erik replied incredulously, his fury disappearing.

"Long story short, I was low on energy, I can feed on hate like a Windigo, you seemed like a very angry griffon, I'm sorry for your eye plus all the other stuff I did, and I'll heal you once I'm done with her." Isaac apologized, slipping out from under his attacker.

"Thou judges me for feeding on these birds' hate, when you just did the same! Still a hypocrite I see." his opponent accused.

"I never said I was perfect, but I still think I'm better than you." he replied, shrugging off her insult.

With that, the two of them dashed at each other. Isaac raised his fist, which had become engulfed in bright white flames. Nightmare Moon attempted to shoot another blast out of her beak, but he punched her head downwards before she could let it out.

"NOT AGAIN!!!" She screamed once more as the white flames raced upon her body. The possessed griffoness tried rolling around in the snow to put them out, but to no avail. She fell down, unmoving, as pitch black smoke rose from her body. When the flames finally receded, the slightly singed and unconscious form of Misha the polar griffoness was left.

Silence reigned throughout the town for a moment. It was if they couldn't comprehend what just happened.

"Y-You beat her." A polar griffon stuttered in amazement, breaking the silence.

"WE'RE FREE!" another cried.

On that note, practically everyone broke out in excited cheers. There were tears of joy, laughing, whoops and the downing of what little drinks they had enthusiastically. Their year long nightmare was over at last. They lifted up Isaac, and he was grinning ear to ear.

"WAIT!" Erik cried out suddenly, killing the moment, and everyone turned to him in annoyance.

"What do we do with her?" he inquired, pointing to the weakened and unconscious bane of their existence.

"KILL HER LIKE SHE KILLED OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS!" someone shouted in anger.

Joyous cheers turned to angry cries as mob mentality took over and they encroached upon their soon-to-be victim. They took out spears from seemingly nowhere.

"But before you do!" Isaac interrupted, jumping out of their grip and running towards Misha. He turned her over, and revealed that there was something under her stomach, or somepony rather. A tiny, unconscious, alicorn filly with a black coat, and dark blue mane was revealed. He grabbed her and lifted her up for the griffons to see

"Know that Misha's actions were not entirely her own! This is Nightmare Moon, and about a year ago she returned from her millennia long banishment on the moon, then attempted to conquer the nation of Equestria to the north! Six brave ponies used a powerful purifying magic to purge the darkness from her heart, returning her to her true form of Princess Luna! However, that darkness continued to live on and came here to feed on your hate so she could become powerful enough to try again. From what I can tell, she preyed on Misha's negative emotions and used them to possess her. I used my own magic to seperate the Nightmare from Misha and gave her a physical form again. Neither of them will awaken for a while." he continued.

"Took a lot of freakin' energy to do as well..." he thought somewhat bitterly

"KILL HER WHILE SHE'S WEAKENED THEN!" the same griffon from before shouted. The angry cries started up again.

"Just wait a moment will you?!" Isaac yelled. They were silenced.

He sighed. "I can understand your desire for vengeance well, but at least let her have a trial first? Odds are, with the crimes she's committed she'll be put to death anyway."

"Unlikely considering that Celestia decided to reform Discord in show. Plus she probably got rid of capital punishment as well." the man thought, but he certainly wasn't going to tell them that. Besides, he already screwed canon thoroughly by turning the Mane Six into alicorns.

Discussion broke out among them, as they debated whether or not they should agree to let their tormentor stand trial. An hour passed, and then they seemed to reach a consensus.

"We will agree to these terms." Erik announced, stepping up to him.

Isaac grinned. "Excellent, and I'll be the lawyer to your plaintiff." Of course he didn't even go to law school in his home dimension, but It'd be fun the see if they'd let him be one anyway.

"All according to plan.." he thought.

Chapter 6

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(Ponvyille, 3rd Person's POV)

It had been two months since the Elements of Harmony had encountered the mysterious being known as Isaac, who had proceeded to turn them into alicorns as a 'gift'. Since then, Twilight had temporarily gone crazy because she didn't have a friendship letter to send to Princess Celestia, Princess Luna had been introduced to Nightmare Night, Rarity and Sweetie Belle had grown stronger as sisters, and Apple Bloom had learned to be patient. There was also the constant questioning of whether or not they were Princesses now that they were alicorns, which was certainly getting annoying by this point.

It was night time when a pony and a baby dragon walked into the Golden Oaks Libraby

"Well today was a good day, huh Spike?" Twilight asked her faithful assistant as they entered into their home inside of tree.

Spike yawned. "You bet, Twilight. I still can't believe Rainbow Dash chose a tortoise to be her pet."

"It just goes to show that's more important to be a loyal friend rather than a cool one." the newly minted alicorn said.

"Ain't that the truth?" another yawn. "Well, I'm going to sleep." the baby dragon replied as he went up the stairs. The library had already been cleaned up before they all went on their pet playdate, so there were no chores left for him today.

"Good night." Twilight levitated a few books into a pile, and put down a pillow for her to sit on.

"Good night, and don't stay up too late studying!" the young drake called.

The lavender mare rolled her eyes with a smile, before getting to work.

"The Potential Applications of Evocation and Illusions, by Star Swirl the Bearded." she started to read. It was like that for a few hours, her quietly reading aloud and taking notes. That is, until a familiar sound hit her ears.

*BELCH!*

"Spike? What is it?" Twilight asked, only receiving tired grumbling as a reply. Soon enough Spike was walking downstairs reading a letter with the royal seal on the bottom, his eyes widening as it dragged on.

"You really need to read this, Twilight." he said, handing it to her.The mare's own eyes became as large as saucers at the contents of the note.

"Princess Luna-" she began

(The Next Day, Same POV)

", previously known as Nightmare Moon, is having criminal charges brought against her by the citizens of the South Pole!" she declared, much to her friends' shock. She had gathered them all here right after breakfast.

"But Princess Luna didn't do anything!" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight grimaced. "According to the letter she did, specifically the murder and torturing of hundreds of polar griffons." Fluttershy fainted, while the rest all gasped in horror.

"But Princess Luna wouldn't do something like that! She's not even a hundredth that mean!" Pinkie Pie said.

"Technically girls, she did. The Elements of Harmony didn't just make her sane again like we assumed, it only removed and weakened most of the darkness from her. The darkness then fled to the South Pole where it possessed a griffon and then conquered the tribes. After that it just decided treat them as horribly as possible. They're technically the same pony, since Nightmare Moon is just the darker aspects of Luna made manifest."

"And there's nothin' Princess Celestia can do about it?" Applejack asked.

"No Applejack. Normally the Princess acts as the judge in international crime cases like this, but since she's emotionally attached to the defendant somepony else is being appointed." Twilight replied.

"Wait a minute, how were they even able to send this letter if they were being horribly oppressed like this?" Rarity inquired.

"That's another thing, it was Isaac who freed them."

"Then how do we know this isn't just a trick?!" Rainbow Dash said, her wings flapping angrily.

"Because last night just before we all got in from our pet playdate, a cage with an unconscious black-coated alicorn filly that has the exact same magical signature as Luna appeared in the middle of Princess Celestia's throne room. On top of the cage was the letter, and when the filly woke up she tried to bite the ponies who were taking care of her." Twilight finished.

A tense silence broke out across the room.

"So since ya can't really say that she didn't do it, what's going to happen to Princess Luna and... that demon foal?" Applejack said.

"I don't know girls, a crime like this hasn't been committed before in modern Equestrian history. If it were any other pony, it would be life in prison." The others gasped again.

"Can't Princess Celestia just give her a Royal Pardon like she did right after Luna got turned back to normal?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight paused. "Theoretically she could, but considering the severity of the crimes along with all the griffons and ponies who would be upset if she did, she would lose a lot of international credibility. Not to mention, Luna didn't do anything near as bad as this when she was Nightmare Moon."

"So what?! If that Nightmare Moon foal is pure evil like you said, then shouldn't it just be the one getting put in the slammer?" the cyan alicorn continued.

"Like I said Rainbow Dash, they're the same pony, even if one is just a separated part of the other. By that logic if the Princess gave Luna a pardon then the Nightmare foal would also be allowed to roam free." Twilight replied. The room grew silent again on those words.

"H-How are the polar griffons doing?" Fluttershy, who had woken up a few minutes ago, asked.

"According to the letter, Isaac's been helping them recover by conjuring up food and homes, as well as imprisoning any of Nightmare Moon's followers."

"Guess he was serious about all that 'community service' stuff." Applejack remarked.

"So what do we do now?" Rainbow grumbled.

"Yeah! Can't we testify in Princess Luna's favor or something?" Pinkie asked.

"That wouldn't work, because any good testimony given for Princess Luna would also be given for Nightmare Moon."

"So a Princess is going to spend the rest of her immortal life in prison unless pardoned, which would cause another to lose international credibility and anger thousands? This sounds like a lose-lose situation, but the question is what is Equestria more willing to lose?" Rarity said.

"A little stupid credibility, no question about it! If that pisses off a bunch of ponies and griffons, then that's their problem!" the cyan alicorn said.

"Rainbow Dash! Those griffons have perfectly warranted anger!" Fluttershy scolded in a sudden display of anger.

"So do you want Princess Luna do be stuck in jail for the rest of her life?" Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

Fluttershy had the decency to blush "Umm... No. Personally I think she should be pardoned."

"But then if she is pardoned then that ghastly Nightmare foal is also allowed to roam free." Rarity interjected.

"Well if Isaac turned her into a filly, then doesn't that make her harmless?" Fluttershy continued.

"If Sweetie Belle and her friends are any indication, then foals are hardly harmless. Plus this is no ordinary foal, remember? This is a literal incarnation of evil with all of the Princess's memories at her disposal. If she was pardoned, then what's stopping her from doing something terrible like this again, causing us all to end up right back here again." the white alicorn replied.

"UUGGGH!" Twilight groaned, throwing the letter against a wall. "We're just talking in circles! The only way this could possibly work out is we could make it so that Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon were two different ponies, but we can't!"

It seemed hopeless. Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon would both have to be imprisoned for Equestria and the rest of the world to be satisfied.

(Meanwhile at the South Pole)

Isaac was whistling a jaunty tune as he walked through one of the towns he had liberated from Nightmare Moon's control, enjoying the enthusiastic greetings from the townsfolk. He had spent this last month and a half doing exactly what the letter said, conjuring up food and homes for those who needed it, as well as imprisoning any of Nightmare Moon's followers.

Celestia and the Mane Six were probably freaking out right now, trying to find a way out of pardoning Nightmare Moon and imprisoning Luna. Contrary to what they all thought, he didn't want the moon princess in prison forever or executed. It simply wasn't a part of his Master Plan. When the time came, they would all understand. Sure they would think he was a dick for doing it the way that he did, but it was all meant to be good in the long run.

"Mister Donohue." a voice said, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Yes, Kowalski?" Isaac replied, turning to the smart-looking polar griffon with a clipboard. Yeah, he was surprised too when he met this guy. Isn't it funny how the multiverse works with alternate versions of the same person?

"Constructions on the ship have just reached seventy percent completion. In another two weeks we should be ready to set sail for Equestria." to watch and testify at the trial of course. Of course they're going to be really pissed when Celestia inevitably doesn't execute Luna and then pardons her of her crimes, but Isaac is still working on a way to placate them when the time comes.

"Good, and makes sure Rico does NOT go near the fusion reactor again." Isaac replied. "Seriously, who tries to eat a miniature sun?!" the man thought.

"Right away sir!" the polar griffon saluted before flying off.

Now where was he? Oh yes! Contemplating what he's going to do next. At that moment he heard a deep, menacing voice through the Void between dimensions.

“I am the Overlord! Scourge of Equestria! Corrupter of innocence! If you seek to dominate the weak. If you wish to destroy all who oppose you. If you are willing to pay the price, then you may call upon my aid!”

A black token fell from the clouded sky, and into his palm. Isaac held it up to his eyes, scrutinizing it carefully. It looked like some sort of summoning item. So he wasn't the only schmuck human who got sent to a version of Equestria, and this guy got turned into the freakin Overlord it seems.

"I always did like that game." Isaac thought. He pocketed the coin. This seemed like a good idea to follow. The angel held up a hand and grabbed his wrist with the other, before focusing. A glowing, bronze coin sparked into existence. It depicted him wearing a crown, with the words "King of Angels" written on the other side.

"What's up, fellow prisoners of Equestria? My name is Isaac Donohue, the Deputy Spirit of Chaos and soon-to-be King of Angels. If you need my help, just use this coin to call me!"

With that Isaac opened a tiny hole in the fabric of reality, copied the coin and the message, then dropped it into the Multiverse for whoever needed it to find it.

Now that the ritual was done, Isaac contemplated what he was going to do next. Unfortunately he couldn't just declare himself King of the South Pole or else Celestia would think he had conquered them, and they had decided to form some sort of United Republic. On the other hand, he couldn't just leave them just because they wouldn't make him their ruler, what with the community service and all.

After the trial, he would leave and then start gathering minions, who were always fun to have around.. He already had a few candidates in mind that would need persuading, such as a certain showmare who was probably working on the Pie Family Rock Farm at this point in time...

(Meanwhile, in the Canterlot Castle Dungeons)

Nightmare Moon growled as she kept trying to use her magic to break out of this infernal cell she'd been put in! But alas, they had put a restricting cone on her horn that kept her from using it. So why was she trying to break out of the cell when she knew it was futile? Well, it kept her occupied for one.

"REMOVE THIS CONTRAPTION FROM YOUR QUEEN'S HORN IMMEDIATELY!" she roared. It also gave her something to complain to the guards about.

"Pipe down, Prisoner!" one of said guards shouted.

Nightmare Moon screamed as she started ramming her new tiny body against the bars repeatedly, just aching to kill that guard for his insolence! However, she quickly got dizzy and had to stop.

"Curse this foal's body! If I had the real thing, thou would be naught more than a bloody smear on the wall!" she swore.

"Yeah, that's a big fat 'if'. You're staying right there until your trial, you little monster." the same guard grumbled, currently playing poker with his co-workers.

The mare in a foal's body snarled, before sighing and sitting down.

"Getting angry at these fools will not solve my current dilemma... I must find a way to escape!" But the question was how?

The sound of a teleportation caused her head to snap towards the middle of the room. There were anti-teleportation wards in here! A box wrapped in decorative paper and a bow had appeared. Rightfully suspicious, Nightmare Moon slowly walked to the present and opened it, looking for any hint of a trap and finding none.

Inside the box was what appeared to be a small knife, a key, and a note. It read:

Dear Nightmare Moon,

I believe your situation is positively dreadful, so I've decided to lend you a helping hoof. I don't think I need to tell you what to do with this. When you get yourself out of your cell, head for the caves below this city where you will meet me, and we'll discuss our next course of action.

Sincerely,

A Friend

Nightmare Moon's grin was so scary it could give Tirek and Sombra the shivers.

Chapter 7

View Online

(The South Pole, Two Weeks Later)

The ship had finally been finished. It resembled a large classical pirate ship on the outside, but on the inside it was much more technologically advanced. The fusion reactor was it's power source, which would allow it to run for thousands of years without needing to be replaced. It was placed inside of a special battery casing which was in the center of the boat, beneath the deck in the maintenance room.

"It looks perfect Kowalski! I trust that you tested it as well?" Isaac asked, standing on the small dock where the ship was parked.

"Of course, Mister Isaac. Skipper is ready to pilot it on your order." the smart polar griffon replied.

The man nodded, before walking back into town. The polar griffons had held a raffle to determine who would go and who would stay, since they obviously all couldn't go to the trial. Only 134 were allowed in the ship, excluding him and the maintenance staff of course. Luna's trial was set in another month, so there was no time to waste. He spread his wings and took to the skies, heading off to see another project of his.

(Meanwhile, in Canterlot Castle)

Celestia was idly listening to the complaints of some noble unicorn as always when she held Day Court. Externally, she appeared to be listening with that same calm look on her face that had become distinctive of the Sun Princess. Internally however she was ablaze with thoughts.

She actually wasn't worried about the trial in itself. The logic behind the charges against her sister was warped even by Isaac's standards. The only reason they were being brought up was due to the severity of the crimes that somepony had to pay for. Had his time in stone really dulled his mind that much, or was he planning something else? Celestia was willing to bet on the latter, but the question was what? That was what she was trying to figure out. If by some act of cosmic stupidity Luna was found guilty of the charges, then she would pardon her, no question about it. For now the Moon Princess was waiting in a luxury cell she reserved for the ponies who were accused of things they obviously were not guilty of, yet somehow got arrested anyway.

But then there was the matter of Nightmare Moon in a foal's body. Unlike Discord, Isaac made complicated plans that didn't make much of any sense until he was done with them. What could he possibly have to gain from giving her sister's shadow a body of its own? The thought that this might be a part of his 'community service' somehow occurred to her, but she brushed it off. If he really wanted to do a service to her then he wouldn't have let it live after giving it a body. So how did the Nightmare foal fit into his plans?

Celestia spoke after the noble left, having semi-consciously talked him out of whatever tribalist bill he tried to push. One of the benefits of being an immortal Alicorn princess was the ability to multitask like it was nopony's business.

"Helping Hoof?" she asked.

"Yes Your majesty?" replied the mare she kept as a personal assistant.

"Reschedule all of my appointments for the next two hours for tomorrow. I need to speak with my sister."

"Right away, Your Highness!"

(Ten Minutes Later, The Canterlot Castle Dungeons)

Luna grumbled, reading a book in the sorry excuse for a cell she was forced to sit on until her 'trial'. There was a bed, a bookshelf, and even a stocked mini-fridge. However, her wings were still bound by special ropes and her magic restricted by a cone just like any other prisoner.

"Luna?" a voice called. Celestia strode in front of the bars of the cells.

"Sister! How long must we wait in this 'cell' of ours? Thou knowest as well as we do, that this trial is naught more then a mere farce!" the moon princess replied.

"I know Luna, but there is something I need to ask you. Did you know of Nightmare Moon's continued existence apart from your own?"

"We had strange dreams of involving polar griffons, but had we presumed them to be sleeping terrors conjured up by our own mind out of guilt from our past actions. Unfortunately, we were in the wrong yet again." the younger alicorn said, a bit bitterly at the end.

Celestia frowned "Don't say that Luna. You know as well as I do that the Elements of Harmony work in ways that even we don't completely understand."

Luna sighed "We, I know that sister. I would just prefer it if they did not, so I might be able to 'get on with my life', as I have heard some modern ponies say."

"You'll be happy to note that I'm getting you the best lawyer bits can buy." plus being a Princess of Equestria doesn't exactly mean that you can say no to her, as annoying as that can be sometimes when you want somepony to say no to you.

Luna scoffed "There is no need for that and thou knowest it! Simply hire a foal with enough common sense and he or she shall do as good a job as that lawyer! The foal would probably ask for less money as well."

"True, but it never hurts to be cautious does it?" Celestia replied with a small smile.

"So how is that thing doing?" the moon princess asked.

"According to the guards, she's been surprisingly quiet since two weeks ago."

"Meaning it must be planning something that will allow it to escape." Luna mused.

"But 'what' is always the question in situations like this, isn't it?" the elder alicorn replied.

"Are you sure it was restricted properly, sister?"

"She's wearing the strongest magic suppressors we have have Luna, and her wings are bound as well."

"So it is getting some sort of external assistance. Isaac perhaps?" she remarked.

"No, because it seems unnecessary considering he basically gave her to us on a silver platter right in the middle of the throne room."

"Then the 'why' is what we need to address now." the moon princess said.

With that, the Royal Sisters conversed on their theories as to what Isaac and this mysterious new foe's plans were regarding Nightmare Moon.

(Back at the South Pole)

Isaac touched down in front of a large cave, the entrance to which was blocked by a huge black rock. Smiling, he simply walked right through it as if it wasn't even there.

"I love it how chaos magic makes it so that the laws of physics mostly don't apply to me." he thought. It drained a lot of energy to show off like that though, so he didn't do it often. Inside of the cave was what appeared to be some sort of living area. The floor was carpeted, there were bookshelves everywhere, arcade machines, a TV, and there even appeared to be a fully-stocked pantry room on the far left!

The inhabitants on the other hand did not look so friendly and inviting. They were ponies of all tribes, though obviously not of the Equestrian variety many were accustomed to seeing. They were visibly taller and more muscular than the average pony, as well as possessing thick coats with colors more suited to the cold environment outside. All of them lacked the signature cutie marks on their flanks, except for one.

"What do you want, Isaac!" hissed the pony with said cutie mark as they stepped forward with a vicious glare. It was a unicorn mare with a light blue coat, a platinum blonde mane, and deep sapphire blue eyes. Her cutie mark was of a simple white snowflake.

"Hey!" the man in question said, holding his hands up in defense. "Calm down a little, Herd Leader! What did I ever to do you?"

Her glare intensified. She gestured towards her own body with a hoof. "This! You robbed us of our true forms as well as our primary method of gathering food! "

"Well I think its a fair trade, don't you? I give you guys sentience and all of the knowledge you would need to survive in civilized society. You lose your original ethereal bodies and the ability to feed on hatred. Besides, it's not like I took away your ice magic. Heck, I gave you more magic on top of that! Well, depending on the tribe of course." Isaac replied.

"What makes you think we wanted to be this way?! We were perfectly fine the way we were before!" Herd Leader said.

"Not from my perspective. It seemed like Nightmare Moon had kicked your sorry butts and then locked you away in here to starve until you all died."

"That doesn't count and you know it! I'm tired of you dodging my questions every time you visit. What's your game?!" she roared, as the floor beneath her hooves started to freeze over. Judging by the icy expressions on the faces of all the other ponies, they seemed to be equally pissed.

"I was waiting for the ship to be finished." the winged man replied, almost boredly creating a piping hot ball of fire in the palm of his hand and waving it at the ponies, causing most of them to recoil in immediate fright.

"So you will tell us now?" the mare asked, staring at the fireball warily.

"Yes, actually." he answered, snapping his fingers as the fireball vanished and cushions appeared for everypony to sit on.

"I'm going to be blunt with you Herd Leader. After my business in Equestria is done, I plan on either taking over another country that's currently being ruled by a tyrant or making one of my own, minus the tyrant part of course."

"What does that have to with me and my herd?" the unicorn said.

"Well if the latter comes to pass, then a new country needs new citizens doesn't it?"

"And if it doesn't you're going to leave us inside of here rot, just like the Dark One?" she sneered.

"Of course not. If that happens I'll just turn you back to way you were before, and then let you go free. I'll also let you kept the sentience and knowledge if you so desire. I have to warn you though, the polar griffons actually know that you're the ones that have been manipulating them into constant war with each other, and are rightfully steamed at you." he jovially explained.

"So it's either stay here and be driven out by the polar griffons, or follow you blindly to wherever you seem to be going. What's in it for us?"

"Well if I do successfully manage to take over a country, there's nothing keeping you in the South Pole. I'm sure there are places elsewhere where you could farm others for hatred." which was very unlikely. "If I have to make one of my own, all of you will be given deluxe homes like this place to live in, as well as some starting funds and a guaranteed job." which was also very unlikely.

"I'm still not seeing a positive here."

"Since you're the leader of this group. I will make you immortal as well as a freaking Queen. Any family of yours among this group will also automatically become royalty if you accept." that caused Herd Leader to stop to and think about it for a moment. According to the knowledge that he had put into her head, which she was still rather cautious of using, Queen was a very important title to have. She would have half the power Isaac would in ruling in this hypothetical new nation. The benefits her younger sister, parents, and extended family would get were great even if they weren't going to be immortal as well. While she already had such respect among her followers being the Herd Leader and all, the idea of it being an entire country of beings that worshiped her was pleasing. Plus he said immortal, that meant that odds are she would also become an Alicorn, a pony with the power of all three tribes plus their own at their command. There was just one problem with that.

"If you do fail to conquer a nation." which was very likely. "What makes you think I would marry you, just to become a Diarch and not a Monarch?"

"It's part of system of checks and balances I plan on creating, regardless of whether or not it's a new nation or an old one I'm going to the leader of. To be honest I could just name myself the sole ruler of this new country and be done with it, but what's the point of living forever if you're going to do it alone?" technically speaking there was the Mane Six, the Princesses, and Discord, but he doubted they'd be friends anytime soon. Discord was more of a maybe actually, depending on if Fluttershy manages to reform him.

"Wouldn't we also need to sire a foal? Is that even possible considering what you are?" she actually didn't want to know

"We would be immortal. What point would there be in having children other than simply wanting to? Plus," and in a flash of golden flames, an Alicorn stallion with a monochrome color scheme was staring right back at her with a cheesy grin. "I'm a shapeshifter, that means my DNA also changes form when I do. I could have kids with just about anything." Herd Leader just had to ask didn't she?

"Again, why would I have kids with you?" she could do that with any stallion among her followers

"Well, aside from the assurance that they'd never die and heal from injuries pretty damn quickly? Not much actually. Love isn't a part of the equation. The kids thing is only an 'if'. The only thing either of us would really have to do in regards to each other is appear to be a happy couple in public. We could have secret relationships with whoever the heck we wanted to. If someone found out about these affairs, then we'll simply fake being on bad terms with each other for a couple of decades."

"Why me then?"

"No reason, you're just the first interesting female I've asked to fill the position. If I do manage to conquer a nation I'll just ask a girl from there." he replied bluntly.

Herd Leader seemed to consider it, before huddling up with her dozens of followers in a corner of the large room. They whispered for a few minutes and Isaac politely decided not to eavesdrop on them. Then like the polar griffons before them, they seemed to reach a consensus.

"We have decided to accept these terms." the mare said, walking up to him. If he did conquer a nation, then her herd would just keep their abilities and try to share the South Pole with the polar griffons. If he was forced make a new nation, she would be a Queen and her followers would go down in the history books as founders. Besides a lot of the stallions seemed to really like the arcade machines for some reason.

"Excellent!" Isaac said with a grin, as he snapped his fingers. The rock blocking the cave turned into a proper wall with a see-through door and windows on the side.

"You're all now free to go outside and test your new abilities! I just needed to know so that you wouldn't be hostile to the polar griffons. If I fail to find and overthrow an evil dictator, you'll be seeing me again soon enough. If I succeed, I'll send you guys a postcard." he continued. The tense atmosphere dissipated and chatter broke out among the windigos-turned-ponies.

"So now what?" Herd Leader asked.

"Have you all gotten actual names yet?" the man replied, pointing to the list nailed to the wall.

"No actually. We planned on breaking out tonight." she admitted.

"How did that go?"

"We need a new fridge, we tried using the one we had to break the rock. But it didn't even dent the thing." she had the decently to look sheepish.

"How bad is it?" seriously, conjuring stuff like that took precious energy and focus to do!

She merely pointed a hoof towards the kitchen. Isaac walked into the room, seeing the bent and broken remains. The man groaned and started massaging his temples. He was completely aware of the irony of his next statement, he just didn't care anymore.

"MAGIC DOES NOT GROW ON TREES, PEOPLE!" he shouted.

Chapter 8

View Online

(Dream Sequence)

The scene before him was that of a loud house party. The song was called 'Talk Dirty To Me' if he remembered correctly. There were no ponies, only humans. He looked younger as well, if the beer gut and lack of wings was any indication.

"What is this?" he tried to say, but no sound came out of his mouth. Isaac was dancing, even though he was trying to will his body not to. This was obviously some sort of memory in dream form, but of what? He had gone to a lot of parties before ending up in Equestria.

"Yo Isaac?" a voice said, feeling a hand patting him on the shoulder. He turned to see a vaguely familiar face. He definitely remembered this guy being his friend in some capacity, but the name eluded him.

"Yeah?" his mouth said. The man discreetly pointed to left, and Isaac's head turned involuntarily. There was a rather attractive girl eyeing him with a smirk from across the room. Her style just screamed goth. She had black hair, dark brown eyes, and very pale (almost white) skin. She was wearing a black tank-top that exposed a fair bit of cleavage, black jeans that hugged her hips quite nicely, a silver cross necklace, a pair of spiked black wristbands, and oddly enough brown sandals. Her hair was long and pin straight.

His body moved on its own. Isaac grabbed a pair of sodas but of a nearby cooler and walked over to the girl.

"Like the party?" his mouth asked, offering her a drink, which she took.

"It's alright," she shrugged "But not the best one I've been to."

He chuckled "Okay then, what is the best party you've been to?"

"It was in this club up in Manhattan. I swear the DJ was a feaking magician or something, the entire place was turnt up." Isaac suddenly remembered how much he hated that particular piece of slang. Thank god no one in Equestria talked like that. But alas, the sexiness kept his past self there though. "The drinks tasted amazing and actually got me wasted for once."

"Sounds pretty nice. So, who invited you?"

"Nobody, I just heard the noise and decided to come over." Meh, he couldn't really judge her for that. Isaac remembered getting into a few parties that way in high school.

"So, do you wanna dance?" his mouth asked. "And by dance I meant the monotonous sensual grinding to the rhythm of the generic party music." The man along for the ride thought cynically. He really wished he could wake up now.

"Nah, I've got two left feet. I'd accidentally fall on top you or something."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Isaac's past self said, waggling his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes and playfully shoved him. The two of them just stood there making small talk about stupid things like what drugs they did, what odd things had happened to them, etc... To the Isaac of today, this was absolutely boring. It was worse because he couldn't force himself awake like he usually could when dreaming.

"What would you say if I said I had superpowers?" the girl suddenly asked. Oh, this actually seemed interesting. Unless she was just crazy.

"I'd say you were fucking with me." his past self replied.

She chuckled and snapped her fingers. Just like that, everything stopped. The music, the dancing, just everything besides the two of them. Both Isaacs stared slack-jawed at the sight, before turning back to her.

"H-How did you do that?" young Isaac asked. "Is she the reason why..?" the current Isaac thought.

The girl smirked, holding up a plastic bag, that seemed to come out of nowhere, filled with oval-shaped pills of practically every color imaginable.

"These. I make them myself, and then give them to the people I find interesting in this world." Current-Isaac noticed how she said 'this world'.

"Who are you? WHAT are you?!" his past self asked, backing away slowly. Her smirk turned into an eerie smile as she walked towards the young man. Just as he turned around, ready to start running, she grabbed him by the arm, and then again around the neck. Her grip was unbreakable, not even movable, no matter how hard he struggled.

"As for the who, well.. You wouldn't be able to pronounce my name if I told it to you." she whispered in his ear, her breath warm on his neck.

"As for the what," then out of nowhere Isaac saw what appeared to be a long, red, and rather demonic-looking tail holding the plastic bag from before. The bag was open as her grip quickly changed towards a one-armed bare hug, with her other arm suddenly holding a tall glass of water.

"I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions. Bottoms up!" She stepped down hard on his right foot, a loud crack echoing throughout the time-stopped room. Isaac's past self screamed, and the girl took the opportunity to pour the water and five pills down his throat. Then came the burning sensation, his pain intensifying as did his screams. His tormentor let go of him, causing him to fall to the floor. The soon-to-be angel heard another snap of the fingers, and then he felt himself fall through the flower.

Into what Current-Isaac knew was Equestria.

(Polar Griffon's Ship)

Isaac jolted awake, instantly sitting up in the bed of his private room on the ship he helped build. His body was covered in cold, sticky, sweat. He panted as the pain from the dream faded in only a few minutes

"So... A demon chick gave me these powers and sent me to Equestria? Why?" he mused to himself aloud. She said he was interesting, but how? On Earth, he was just another college student.

Before the angel could think more on this further, he heard a knocking at the door.

"Um.. Mister Isaac? We're about to drop anchor on a beach. The locals are running away and screaming sir!" a young, accented voice said. As the thought of his plans re-entered his head, the troubled frown on his face turned into an excited grin.

"I'll be out in a minute. When the ponies in armor come along, tell them you're here for the trial." he replied, chuckling. With a snap of his fingers, his nightwear was replaced with his usual attire. He walked to the door and opened it, seeing a short and rather nervous looking polar griffon.

"Private, I need to go out and do important stuff." he said.

"B-But sir! What if something bad happens?" the young polar griffon asked.

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Dude, you have Skipper, Kowalski, and Rico of all griffons to help you out if shit goes down. Lighten up a little." Seriously, the only reason the four of them didn't beat Nightmare Moon themselves is because she cheated by killing innocents excessively until they stopped.

Private chuckled, scratching the back of his head."Oh yeah, but what should I tell them?"

"Tell them whatever you want. Besides, they've probably been told to look out for me or something." he shrugged, before disappearing in a flash of golden flames.

(Ponyville Market)

"Thank you, come again!" Applejack said to another happy customer walking away from her stall. There were ropes tightly wrapped around her midsection, keeping her new wings bound. When somepony asked why, she would tell them that they kept getting in her way by sticking out when she didn't want them to. If the pony continued by asking why doesn't she just learn to control them, she'd reply that they were temporary and would be gone soon enough. So what was the point of learning to use them? The same went for her new horn, which was wearing an anti-magic cone on it.

"Excuse me?" a new voice asked her.

"Yes?" she turned to the blue coated unicorn mare in front of her.

"How much do ten oranges cost?"

"Ah only sell apples here." she replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Then what are those right behind you?" the customer said with an annoyed expression.

The former earth pony turned to see that all of her precious apples had been replaced with oranges!

"What in tarna-" she began, but was cut off as she felt a hoof on her head and a shocking sensation spread throughout her body. Applejack saw her entire life flash before her eyes. Her foalhood, Apple Bloom's birth, her parents' death, the day she got her cutie mark, etc... The farm pony fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Why do they always fall for that?" the mare remarked with a snicker.

"Hi!" a certain party pony said, appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh hello-GAH!" the startled unicorn shouted, falling onto her back.

"Ohmygosh, I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up!" Pinkie Pie said, pulling her up.

"I-It's no problem. Why did you do that anyway?" the unicorn asked, regaining her composure

"Well, my knee twitched, my ear flop, and my eyes fluttered! And THAT means there's a new pony in Ponyville. So I came here as quick as I could! So what's your name?"

"Blue Lily, and yours?"

"I'm Pinkie Pie, and-*GASP!*" the pink alicorn gasped, finally noticing her unconscious friend. "What happened to Applejack?!"

"Oh! U-Um... Well, I pointed out she had oranges in her crate instead of apples, and I guess she was so surprised that she fainted!"

"Hmm..." Pinkie muttered, staring at Blue Lily with suspicious eyes, the unicorn sweating with a nervous grin on her face.

"Okay! But that is strange though. Can you help me carry her to the farm where she lives? I'll lead since you probably don't know where it is."

"I would love to Pinkie, but I really need to find my cousin before she goes to work so I can get her house keys. I'm staying with her for the week, and she's usually out of the house busy all day and..."

"Oh! Who's your cousin?"

"Uh.. Her name's Minuette. Maybe you know her?"

"Of course I do silly. I know everypony in Ponyville, and I do mean everypony! I'm surprised that Minuette's just your cousin though. Aside from the different cutie mark, you two look like you could be identical twins!"

"We get that a lot whenever we're in the same place." Blue Lily chuckled.

"Okay then, you run and meet up with Minuette. After that, come back and we can take Applejack to her farm alright?" Pinkie said.

"Yep!" Blue Lily proceeded to turn around and run like the hounds of hell where after her.

(Ponyville Town Square)

'Blue Lily' quickly turned into a nearby alleway and leaned up against a wall, panting heavily.

"Nope! I am not going to chance them finding me!" 'she' said aloud.

"But it's just Pinkie Pie!" a voice inside of 'her' head said.

"Yeah, the one with the Pinkie Sense that could potentially blow my fucking disguise! The simple one that was just supposed to get me close enough to look over Applejack's memories!"

"Yeah, 'potentially'!"

"I used the stupid cousin excuse! When they talk to Minuette about me and she'll have no idea what their talking about, they'll know something's up."

"But they won't know that it's you under this form, you idiot! They've never seen you shapeshift and I doubt Celestia told them that you could. Also, you could just put fake memories in her head!"

"Oh right, we can do that can't we?" Chaos magic FTW.

"No shit Sherlock. Besides, you could get one of Pinkie Pie's 'Welcome to Ponyville' parties out of this scam!"

"You're right!"

"Of course I'm right, I'm you!"

After her inner monologue was over, 'Blue Lily' set back out into Ponyville. Once the day was over with, she would go out and find her 'cousin'.

(Meanwhile in the Canterlot Castle Dungeons)

Nightmare Moon was getting really antsy just waiting for the right moment to escape. She had the bloody key her 'friend' had given her as well as the small knife, but the guards were watching her like a hawk!

"I need a distraction, but what?" she thought, throwing a pebble against the wall repeatedly. Then she realized what she held in her hoof, and facehoofed.

The mare in a filly's body reared up on her hind legs and leaned against the right wall of her cell, looking into the left side of the hallway for any guards. There were none. Lucky for her they were all on the right side.

Nightmare Moon wound up her throw. She may be but a mere filly as of now, but she was still an alicorn! Her horn was coned and her wings bound, but she still had the mighty strength of an earth pony!

Then she let the pebble fly out of her hoof.

*BANG!* The sound of the pebble hitting something metal echoed loudly all throughout the cell block.

"What was that?!" a guard said.

"Let's go check it out!" another continued.

On that note, the guards left to look for the source of the noise.

Nightmare Moon grinned. She didn't have much time to waste. The ancient evil pulled the key out from inside of her mane, and hopped onto the bars. She climbed up them as if they were a ladder. Gritting her teeth, she took the key in her left hoof, put it through the bars and tried to unlocked the door from the outside.

*Click!*

"Success!" she crowed, a bit too loudly unfortunately.

"Hey!"

"Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn, Damn!" she swore repeatedly, running out of her cell and down the hallway as fast as her tiny legs would allow. Nightmare Moon then pulled the small knife out of her mane and quickly cut the ropes binding her wings. She didn't have the key that would allow her to use the door, but if she timed it just right, she could flap her wings as she jumped and propel herself right through the small square window on top of the door!

"You can't escape!"

"That's what you think, FOALS!" she gloated.

Almost.. Almost... Almost...

"NOW!" she jumped and flapped her tiny wings as hard as she could.

*SHATTER!*

She propelled herself right through the window, just as planned!

"VICTORY IS MINE!" she shouted to the heavens. Sure her magic was still blocked off and there were glass shards embedded in her sides, but she was still out of that cell!

Nightmare Moon continued to run up the flight of stairs the door led to, ignoring the pain and the fatigue of her muscles.The unfamiliar hallways of the castle were no obstacle to her. Only it was going to require a bit more glass breakage...

There was no other option.

*SHATTER!*

She broke the next window that looked like it would lead outside of her enemies' main stronghold. The mare in a filly's body opened her wings and rode the wind currents.

"Now I've just got to find someplace to hide for the time being." she said, her eyes scanning the environment. This city was unfamiliar to her, what with her being stuck in the moon during the time it was built. She saw an empty alleyway in what looked like one of the poorer districts of this city and aimed for it, gliding down towards it. It wasn't a perfect landing though, she would admit that as she lost balance upon touching the ground, rolled, and hit the wall.

*THWACK!*

Nightmare Moon groaned, rubbing her head as the dust settled. But then she noticed something. That accursed anti-magic cone was lying broken on the floor. The fall must have done it. Her magic was unbound. She grinned

"Spread out and search the city for her! She can't have gotten far!" she heard. The villain watched as her pursuers passed right over her head.

The ancient evil's grin got even bigger. "Ha! I'm free and there's nothing those buffoons or Celestia can do about it!" Now she just had to find the caves below this city...

The city that she knew absolutely nothing about. How was she supposed to find the bloody caves?! She bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming in frustration and alerting her pursuers to her whereabouts.

She took deep, calming breaths."Okay, calm down. I just need to stay in hiding until I locate the caves, then make a break for it." After that she'd meet this friend of hers, cast off her current body and possess whoever was fool enough to believe they were worthy enough to be her equal.

"Then I'll get my real body back from my weak other half. Then I will kill Celestia! Then I will kill the Element Bearers! THEN I WILL KILL ISAAC!" she shouted at the end, quickly putting her hooves over her mouth and checking to see if somepony heard.

"Once all that's done. Then there will be NOTHING left to stand in my way..." she thought darkly

"And the night will last forever this time!"

Chapter 9

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(Sweet Apple Acres)

"Thanks fer bringin' back mah sister, Miss Pinkie Pie!" Apple Bloom said as the mare in question and 'Blue Lily' carried Applejack into the farmhouse. They were side by side with Applejack sprawled horizontally on their backs.

"No problem Apple Bloom! But I couldn't have done it without my new friend here," the former earth pony replied, gesturing to the mare next to her.

"Why aren't we levitating her again? You're an alicorn for Celestia's sake!" Blue Lily complained, sweat dripping down her face.

"I'm not all that good at using magic yet, so I might accidentally throw her." Pinkie answered sheepishly "But if you didn't want to carry her like this, then why didn't you use your own magic?"

"I'm a dance teacher, so I barely use my horn all day! I don't have enough magical stamina to lift heavy things for long periods of time. Hey kid, do you mind telling your sister to lay off the apples for a while?"

Apple Bloom grimaced, "Ah'll be sure to do that."

The two of them placed the unconscious farm pony on the couch. Granny Smith was sleeping in her rocking chair in a corner of the room, while Big Macintosh was out in the fields plowing.

Pinkie Pie wiped the sweat from her brow with a hoof. "Whew! Now that we're done with this, you've gotta let me show you around Ponyville until Minuette gets back from the clock shop!"

"Is that where she works? Good to know..." the unicorn thought.

"Thanks, but I'd like to look around on my own." Blue Lily replied.

"Aw come on, please?"

"No thank you," the mare politely refused.

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?!"

"No, Pinkie."

"Pretty please with a chocolate cupcake on top?!" the young alicorn asked, pulling said cupcake out of nowhere.

"I thought you said you weren't good at magic yet!"

"I'm not. I pulled the cupcake out of Hammerspace!"

"What?!"

"Just go with it Miss Blue Lily," Apple Bloom advised sagely. "You'll get less headaches that way."

"But how I am a just supposed to accept tha-?!" the unicorn's protests were cut off as Pinkie Pie shoved the cupcake into her mouth.

"Cupcake get! and OH MY GOD IT'S LIKE AN ORGASM IN MY MOUTH!" the disguised being thought, moaning a little while eating the treat.

"Pinkie, I will follow you into the depths of Tartarus itself if get to have more of those heavenly cupcakes." the mare replied, completely serious.

"Then away we go!" she said, dragging her new friend out the farmhouse.

"Wait a minute!"

"What is it now?!" the mare answered.

"I need to use the bathroom,"

"Oh, okay then!"

Blue Lily shut the door behind her magically as she trotted into the bathroom. In a flash of golden flames, she was Isaac once more. The angel man shivered. It was always weird to be a girl.

"Now to check on the polar griffons..." he thought.

Isaac dug his fingers into the top of his skull and then ripped himself in two. Instead of the normal accompaniment of blood and gore, there were his golden flames. When they died down, there was two of the guy! He didn't actually clone himself though. They were two bodies that were controlled by one mind. Each body was half as strong as the original of course. Ahh... The wonders that creative shape shifting could work. Of course when he first figured out how to do this, he got a huge headache due to getting twice the amount of sensory information at once, but practice had turned that into a dull pain the back of his brain(s).

One of them changed back into Blue Lily, while the other teleported out of the room.

The mare walked out of the bathroom with a smile on her face.

"Okay, I'm ready now!"

"Great!" Pinkie dragged her new friend out the farmhouse once more in a surprising burst of speed.

(Pismare Beach, Coltifornia)

Isaac appeared underwater, just under the boat. Thankfully he discovered that he didn't need to breath anymore a long time ago. He swam from out under the ship and to the surface, peeking his head out to see what was going on. The polar griffons holding spears and wearing parkas were at a stand off with the royal guard. All of the beach-goers had left at this point, and the other griffons were watching from the deck of the ship.

"I told you we're here to see the trial of Nightmare Moon!" Skipper, a short but stern looking polar-griffon shouted to a unicorn in purple royal guard armor. Was that Shining Armor? He had a "gift" for him as well. It simply wouldn't do for him to leave Princess Cadance a widow after only a few measly decades together...

"And I told you that you need to dock your ship in a proper harbor first!"

"We haven't had any contact with your country for literal centuries! How were we supposed to know where to park the boat?!"

"Well then you need to go do it now!"

"Okay then where is it?!"

"If you'd let us on your ship we'd show you where it is!" Shining looked exasperated at that point.

"You don't have the clearance to do so, soldier!" Skipper replied.

"Excuse me?!"

Their argument basically devolved into a shouting match at that point. Those watching were trying not to laugh at how red their faces were getting.

From what Isaac could gather, after the polar griffons had stated their reason for coming, the guards were initially sympathetic, so then they just wanted to inspect the ship to see if there was anything dangerous. Skipper immediately denied it, and it just became a cycle of repeating the same thing over and over again. To be honest, he had a reason for not wanting them on the ship. Kowalski had brought some of his machinery along, and more than a few of them qualified as dangerous. Where the polar griffon had gotten the parts to build those machines in the South Pole, Isaac wasn't sure of. They mentioned something about getting the parts from the local seapony colony, but when he checked there were no seaponies to be found.

"Meh, that's something to investigate later.." the angel thought. He would make sure they got out alright before heading off to the Pie Family Rock Farm to get a certain stage magician.

It was as it always was on the Pie Family Rock Farm. The sky was cloudy, the landscape was depressing, and there was nothing but rocks as far as the eye could see.

And Trixie absolutely hated it!

It's not like she had a choice in the matter either. Ever since that disastrous performance in Ponyville, she'd been laughed or kicked out of every town she had tried to perform in since. And to add insult to injury her cart, her home might she add, had been destroyed by that Ursa! Now she was forced to get a job at this stupid rock farm!

"Stupid Twilight Sparkle... She's Princess Celestia's personal student and then became a bucking alicorn on top of that." the blue unicorn mare grumbled, pulling a cart of rocks.

Trixie wasn't even allowed to use magic! The owners' said something about it going "against tradition". She mentally scoffed at that. If that wasn't enough, they had their creepy daughter watching her to make sure she didn't use any.

She took a moment to look back at the face that had been watching her for the past six hours. That same blank, apathetic face.

Trixie shuddered. Truly Maud Pie was the creepiest individual in Equestria, perhaps the entire world! She got back to work before her supervisor actually decided to talk.

"E-Excuse me!"

Trixie and Maud looked up to see a pegasus stallion in a mailpony uniform flying down towards them. When he touched down to the ground, he pulled a small cardboard box out of his shoulder bag and looked at it.

"Are either of you a Miss Trixie Lulamoon?" he asked.

"That would be I, yes?" she replied.

"I have a package for you." he said, handing her the box, which she grabbed in her telekinetic grip.

"Sign please." he said showing her a clipboard which she quickly signed.

"Have a nice day, ma'am!" he said afterwards, flying off to do more mailpony stuff.

"May Trixie open this now?" Trixie asked her supervisor.

"Go ahead." Maud replied in that monotone voice of hers.

The blue unicorn shuddered and proceeded to open her package. Inside there appeared to be a full-looking bag with a note on top. She picked up the note. It read:

Dear The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon,

It's nice to finally contact you! I'm a huge fan of yours. I've been there for most of your performances, including that disaster in Ponyville. After I saw your cart get destroyed, I wanted to help you out! Unfortunately you're a hard mare to find, and then I heard that you were getting laughed out of every town you tried to perform in. After that Twilight Sparkle mare thankfully stopped the Ursa, I tried to figure what actually brought it into town. The two colts who did it, Snips and Snails I believe their names are? They barely got punished for bringing the Ursa into town! They just had Twilight Sparkle give them mustaches. It could have destroyed the entire town and killed a bunch of ponies in the process if that mare wasn't there. You don't really deserve what has happened. Sure you insulted a few members of your audience, lied about your accomplishments, and acted like an obnoxious show-off, but you're a stage magician! It's your job to embellish things for the sake drawing a bigger crowd. Granted you did it the wrong way, but it's not like it seriously hurt anypony.

Anyways, my point is that I want to help you get back on your hooves and then get even better than that. I'm a bit of a talent agent you see. In the bag is approximately 75,000 bits. I want you use it for whatever you need. If you want me to assist you further, meet me at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manehattan. I'll be there for the rest of this month and all of next month, so take your time. On the other side of this note is a photo of me so you know what I'll look like.

Sincerely,

Discerning Eye

After reading the letter, Trixie immediately opened the bag to see that there was in fact a lot of bits in there. Whether or not it was 75,000 remained to be seen, but the blue unicorn was already too far gone to care. It started out as snickering, then chuckling, then giggling, and then full-on maniacal laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! TRIXIE IS FINALLY FREE OF THIS TRIPE!" she crowed.

She started dancing, whooping, and even doing back flips. There was a wide and toothy grin on her face that wouldn't have looked out of place on a certain pink party pony.

"Hey Maud! Tell your parents that TRIXIE QUITS! I'LL BE OUT OF HERE BEFORE THE SUN EVEN SETS HAHAHAHA!" she laughed madly, bringing her face uncomfortably close to her supervisor.

"What happened?" Maud asked in her monotone voice. If you squinted you could see her eyes had actually widened a fraction of a millimeter.

"I'll tell you what happened! Trixie has finally gotten the big break she rightly deserves! She needs to pack her things immediately. Stardom, here I come!" the blue unicorn proceeded to run off.

(Ponyville, 7:25 PM)

"And this is Carousel Boutique, which is owned by my friend Rarity!"

It had been a few hours, and Blue Lily was only half-listening to Pinkie Pie's ranting as she happily ate a cupcake. After a while you just learned to tune it out. Then something occurred to her.

"Hey Pinkie?"

"Yes?"

"Why does it feel like you've been 'showing me around town' for two months?"

"Because the writer's laptop broke and he wasn't able to finish the second half of this chapter until he got a new one recently?"

"What?!"

"I didn't say anything."

Blue Lily looked like she was about to say something, but then wisely decided against it.

"Besides, that would explain my entire situation." she thought. Then she repressed that thought so as to not have an existential crisis.

"Hey the sun's setting!" Pinkie said, pointing a hoof towards the horizon. Sure enough the sky had turned orange, signifying that Celestia was lowering her sun.

"I guess it is. So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yep, have a good night! Ooh, and tell Minuette I said hi!"

With that, the two of them parted ways, both unaware of what forces were at work.

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, 11:00 PM)

"Finally, home at last." Minuette sighed, walking into her two-story home after a long day of selling and fixing clocks.

*CLICK!*

She flipped the light switch with her hoof, only to freeze as she somepony who looked almost exactly like her sitting on her couch.

"Hello, cousin." the doppleganger said with a devious grin.

Her screams were never heard outside of her house due to silencing spell.

Chapter 10

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(???, 11:00 PM, around the same time as last chapter)

"Why didn't Trixie wait until morning before leaving?" the showmare grumbles, walking on a dirt path through a forest. Luckily it wasn't the Everfree, but she still glanced nervously at her surroundings every now and again. She was wearing a brown cloak and a shoulder-bag under it containing her benefactor's 'donations'.

She had done what she said she was going to do, and left in a little under two hours. Unfortunately, her excitement had worn off after a few hours. Still, she was happy about the turn her life had taken. Though she wished this Discerning Eye had given her more info. How was she supposed to find him when she got to the Four Season Hotel? It's not like he told her his room number or where he would be found at certain times of the day.

A cold breeze caused her to shiver, but Trixie walked on.

*Rustle!*

"Gah!" she shrieked, jumping back a little. Out of nearby bush, a cute baby jackalope hopped out.

"O-Oh, just a jackalope." then she scoffed "Trixie wasn't scared." she said to herself haughtily.

"Yes you were." a voice said from behind her.

"AUGH!" she screamed, jumping a few feet forward. She quickly turned around to see none other than Isaac.

"Hello, Miss Lulamoon." he greeted with a smirk on his face, hands in his pockets.

"You! You're the one who turned that Twilight Sparkle mare and her friends into Alicorns!" she said, her legs shaking.

"Yes, but how do you know who I am?" he asked, walking towards her.

"N-Newspapers! Plus you have wanted posters everywhere!" she replied, walking backwards.

"Just for making a few ponies immortal? However, that's not what I came here for. I have need of The Great and Powerful Trixie."

"Why me?"

Isaac snapped his fingers, and in a flash of gold flames there was a unicorn stallion in his place. He had a green coat, brown mane, and blue eyes. He was wearing a black suit, and his cutie mark was of a magnifying glass with a gold star inside of it.

"Take a guess?"

"YOU'RE Discerning Eye?!" Trixie said, eyes wide

"Yep!"

"So what you said in the letter was a lie? Are the bits you gave Trixie even real? Oh Celestia, did you steal them?!"

In a flash of flames, Isaac was back to his true form. "In order: Well, I'm not a talent agent and I haven't been to any of your performances. I've been petrified and all that. Two, they're real if you don't tell anyone that I conjured them up. Three, see answer number two."

"These bits are fake?!" Trixie screamed, taking out her shoulder bag and emptying it.

"Hey, I used good magic to make those!"

"But they're counterfeits! They're illegal, and what do you want with Trixie anyway?" the showmare said, preparing to run.

"Simple, I want to be friends!" Isaac said, grinning.

"What?" the sheer oddness of the question caused her to stop.

"Well to be more accurate, I need a partner. Someone interesting to bounce ideas off of and tell me their own. Someone to keep me grounded by virtue of being less crazy than me."

"Why?"

"A king needs a Royal Adviser doesn't he?"

"Trixie repeats: WHAT?!"

"Let me make this clear." he began, levitating her dropped bits back into her shoulder bag with a glowing wave of his hand. "I plan on becoming royalty in a few months. Whether by conquest or by making my own nation depends on what opportunity comes the fastest. Like I said, a king needs a Royal Adviser."

"Trixie will not help you conquer Equestria!" she yelled, preparing to run again.

"Who says I want to conquer Equestria? This place is fine as is! I'd only conquer a place if it was a horrible dictatorship of some sort." he replied.

"So you can come in as a new, horrible dictator?" she replied, eyes narrowed as she backed away.

Isaac sighed and snapped his fingers, trapping Trixie in a magic bubble.

"Hey! You will let The Great and Powerful Trixie out of this bubble immediately!" she shrieked, banging on it with her hooves.

"Believe or not I'm actually trying to redeem myself by not being a complete jerk-off. I don't want to be stuck as a statue for another thousand years."

"Alright then, why involve Trixie in this?"

"I have no friends or family. Those I unwillingly left behind are probably long-dead by now. If you remember your history books from high school you'll know I was Discord's partner. He's a complete dick with no sense of remorse, and so was I."

"So you're lonely and full of guilt over your past crimes." it was more of a statement then a question.

"Yep."

They were both silent for a moment.

"What's in it for Trixie?"

"Aside from being a Royal Adviser? Odds are if I have my way you'll go down in history as one of the beings who contributed to the start of a new, golden-age of this world. Plus, the money I gave you is still worth something if you don't tell anyone it's fake. Then you'll get some real money once we actually get to the kingdom-organizing phase of my plan." Isaac snapped his fingers and the bubble disappeared.

Trixie spent a few minutes mulling it over. On one hand, she'd be working with one of history's greatest monsters which would instantly mark her as a criminal. On the other hand, he seemed to want to change and was offering her a position of great power, as well a chance to be the kind of pony foals will be taught about in history class hundreds of years from now. She went over all the pros and cons, before making her decision.

"Trixie's in."

"Excellent," Isaac replied with a grin, taking a knee and extending a hand, "So, friends?"

"Friends." Trixie said with a smirk, offering her hoof in return. They shook on it.

"So now what?" she asked.

"Well first, we're going to steal some things from Canterlot Castle."

"WHAT?!" she screamed, causing her new employer to cringe.

"Do ponies always have to scream so loudly?" he asked.

"Trixie thought you said you weren't going to stuff like anymore!"

"Did I say steal? I meant to say borrow. We'll give it back after we're done with it." he said, getting back up and walking forward.

"We're doing this NOW?!" Trixie asked incredulously.

"Of course not. We'll wait until after Princess Luna's trial. You still wanna go to the Four Seasons Hotel in Manehattan? It's a five-star establishment~!" he sung at the end.

Trixie's expression changed to one of delight as she started running to catch up.

"Does a pegasus fly?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

(Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, The Morning After)

Blue Lily smiled as she happily ate pancakes. Her 'cousin' had to go to work early and apologized for not making breakfast for her. According to Minuette's memories. she wasn't that much of a cook anyway.

"Ahh, Pancakes! I missed eating these. Too bad they didn't exist in Equestria before I was petrified." she thought, stabbing a fork into her meal. There was a liberal amount of syrup applied of course.

At the same time, Trixie and her other body were casually walking to Manehattan. At least until they could buy a map, then Isaac could approximate the location and teleport them there.

"So ah see ya like the pancakes, sugarcube." Applejack commented from across the table. She had offered to make her breakfast to thank her for carrying her back home.

"They're delicious. I've had apple pancakes before, but never ones as good as these!" Blue Lily said. Thankfully, Apple Bloom was already at school, Big Mac was out in the fields, and Granny Smith was sleeping.

"Ah aim to please." the new alicorn replied with a tip of her hat.

"You didn't have to make me breakfast though."

"Nonense, it's the least ah could do since you and Pinkie carried me home an' all."

"I figured anypony would do the same if they saw somepony going into a dead faint in public."

"You'd be surprised Lily. What confuses me is that ah fainted just from seeing oranges in mah cart instead of apples." the farm pony said, rubbing her head.

"Maybe you're getting sick?" the unicorn replied with her mouth full.

"I don't think alicorns can get sick. Sides', I woulda felt somethin after I woke up if ah was."

"Can't you ask Princess Celestia about that?"

"Nah, she's too busy with her royal duties and ah wouldn't want to bother her."

"Aren't you a princess too though?" Lily asked.

"Nope, and that's just the way ah like it. These wings and horn here are just temporary until we catch that Isaac fella." she said proudly.

"Speaking of whom, do you have any leads?"

"No, we haven't heard anything about him since he saved the polar griffons from Nightmare Moon."

"Considering all he's done so far is give you and your friends immortality then overthrow an oppressive ruler, why does he have wanted posters up everywhere?"

"Princess Celestia told us some of the stuff he got up to with Discord," Applejack turned a little green at that, "and believe me, you don't want someone like that runnin' around without someone else to keep him in check."

"Yikes." Blue Lily commented. "I wonder if she told them about the time I tested my flames on living things before I actually knew how to use them?" she thought, casually swallowing her breakfast.

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

"Hey Applejack! Open up! Twilight says she has to tell us something really important!" a familiar brash voice proclaimed. Rainbow Dash was looking into the house from the windows.

"Ah'm comin!" the farm pony turned to her guest,"You just keep eating here and ah'll be right back."

"Take your time." Blue Lily said with a smile.

On that note, Applejack got out of her seat and left her alone. The unicorn's grin turned rather malicious as she watched her new 'friend' gallop away. These ponies were just too trusting. Seriously, she left her grandmother alone with a complete stranger. Granted Big Mac was in the fields, but if she wanted to do something to her, the sleeping old mare wouldn't be able to let out a single scream.

"And now it's time for me to spy on you." in a flash of gold flames, Blue Lily transformed into a male fly. He flew out of the Apple residence through a slightly opened window. Isaac flew after Rainbow Dash and Applejack, with speed no fly should have. He managed to land on the country mare's hat, and held on for dear life.

(Golden Oaks Library, Ponyille, Five Minutes Later)

Applejack and Rainbow Dash slammed the door behind them as they rushed in. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were already there.

"Now that you're all here I can explain. Princess Celestia sent me a letter last night. Nightmare Moon has escaped from prison." Twilight said seriously.

The others gasped. Isaac had to resist the urge to scream obscenities about the incompetence of Equestrian law enforcement.

"But luckily the entire city of Canterlot is on lockdown until she's found. My brother, Shining Armor, placed a protective barrier around the city. Nopony can get in or out." she continued.

"Wait a minute, you have a brother? How come you've never mentioned him before?" Rainbow asked.

"And why is he allowed to put a barrier around the city?" Fluttershy added.

"Well, he just never came up in conversation." Twilight said, embarrassed, "As for the second question, he's the Captain of the Royal Guard."

"You're brothers the Captain of the Royal Guard?!" Rarity said, gasping, then seemed to consider something, "Is he single?"

"As a matter of fact,"Rarity's hopes went up. "No. Last I checked he was dating my old foalsitter." Twilight finished.

"Some mares get all the luck." the white alicorn grumbled.

"Wait, if the Royal Guard has got this handled, then why is the Princess telling us this?" Applejack asked.

"She just wanted to tell us this in case Nightmare Moon somehow got out the barrier so we could be on the lookout."

"Even she knows her guards are screw ups." Isaac thought bitterly, already having his other body and Trixie head towards Canterlot as quickly as possible. Plans would have to be accelerated.

"Applejack, there's a fly on your hat!" Pinkie pointed a hoof at him.

His ride looked up and saw him right on the brim. She just grabbed her hat with a hoof and shook him off, sending him flying into the air.

Isaac spun out of control, eventually righting himself in the air.

"Oooooh~." he groaned mentally, "Next time, I'll land on the ceiling if I'm spying on someone." he was dizzily flying up the stairs. He'd leave out the balcony and return to Sweet Apple Acres before Applejack did. The Mane Six proceeded to ask more questions about Shining Armor.

(Back At Sweet Apple Acres, Twenty Minutes Later)

"Blue Lily?" Applejack said, opening the door. Her guest was erm... 'talking' to Granny Smith.

"And ah told you, missy! I don't need help washing the dishes!" her grandmother declared.

"Aren't you supposed to make concessions for guests?" Lily asked.

"It's exactly because you're a guest that ah don't want you doing the dishes!"

"You're old. I'd feel bad if I didn't hel- Oh hi Applejack!" the blue unicorn said, noticing the farm pony come in.

"You're all done?"

"Yep! Seriously, you should open a restaurant with pancakes like those."

Applejack chucked, "Funny you should say that. We actually have a few relatives who've opened some with old family recipes."

"Any in Manehattan?"

"Mah Aunt and Uncle own Les Oranges."

"You're related to Valencia and Citrus Orange?!"

"Yep, my Ma was the former's sister."

"Wow, what a small world we live in. So, I'll see you later!" Blue Lily said, leaving the Apple residence.

"There's somethin' off about that girl." Granny Smith commented, glaring at her as she made her exit.

"Yer just mad she called you old." Applejack replied with a smirk.

"Oh hush you!"

(???, Same Time)

"YOU SAID WE WEREN'T GOING TO CANTERLOT IMMEDIATELY!" Trixie screamed, hanging on for dear life as she rode on the back of her new employer. Isaac had just suddenly starting swearing, grabbed her, and then took off! He had changed into a griffon for identity reasons of course. They were flying as fast as he could go, passing through clouds almost every minute.

"Change of plans! The stupid Royal Guards let Nightmare Moon escape!" the transformed being said.

"How do you expect to get in, and swipe all of that stuff you talked about when the city's probably locked down by now?!" the unicorn asked.

"I'll drill a hole under the city or something! We're just getting the really important stuff!" he replied.

"You don't mean?!" she gasped.

"Oh, I do!" Isaac asked with a grin.

(Canterlot Castle, Princess Cadence's Chambers, Same Time)

'Princess Cadence' hummed as she put on make up. Her 'fiance' was out doing his duties while she could take the time to relax and plan for the future. Like how she would redesign this castle once it was hers.

"Your majesty!" a generic pegasus guard said as he rushed in.

"Have you located our 'friend' yet, Number 24?" she asked, not even looking away from the vanity mirror.

"No, your highness." the guard said, bowing low.

"I said I wanted her found yesterday." Cadence said in a cold tone, glaring back at her subject

The guard started to sweat. "I know you did, but please, we just need more time!" he pleaded. A hand mirror flew right past his face, hitting the door behind him

"How hard is it to find a black alicorn filly in this city?! She should stand out like a sore hoof!"

"Please, your majesty! It's not our fault!" Number 24 said, sweating pouring off his face now.

"Well then, who's fault is it?!" the alicorn replied, her eyes flashing green.

"M-Maybe she's hiding from us because she can't tell we're on her side?"

"Just search harder! You have until this time tomorrow to find her and bring her tome. You don't want to have to be replaced, do you?" the bride-to-be threatened.

"N-No, my queen! I'll get right on it!" the guard answered, running out the door as fast as his hooves would take him.

'Princess Cadence' sighed and got back to applying make up. She had to look good if she wanted to suck as much love out of that fool Shining as possible. It was tough being the Queen of a bunch of incompetent wimps. But still, once she had Nightmare Moon in her grasp, everything would fall into place. All it would take is a quick memory searching spell, stealthily learned from the Starswirl the Bearded Wing, and then would have what she needed.

The pink alicorn grinned maliciously at that thought, her eyes flashing green again, and exposing sharp teeth that a pony should have no business having. Then, she began to sing.

"This day is going to be perfect, the kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small~"

Chapter 11

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(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.

Chapter 12

View Online

(Ponyville, Movie Theater)

Blue Lily smiled as she walked out the theater, a large container of popcorn levitating in her grasp. The movie was surprisingly good. It was a comedy about two stallions pretending to be police officers for the perks that came with a job. She was vaguely reminded of a movie she had wanted to see before getting sent to Equestria.

"Don't you love it when a plan comes together?" she thought. Trixie and her other body had Nightmare Moon, along with Cadence unexpectedly, and were running through the caves. Hopefully, Chrysalis would have to go back to playing Cadence and give up on chasing them. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel bad for how she treated the pink alicorn, but Trixie wanted to help her out. It would have been easier to just wipe her memories of meeting them and go on with the plan. Now she had to keep her away from her friends, family, and fiance while they went looting. She briefly considered the idea of throwing the princess of love at Celestia, exposing Chrysalis and forcing her to jumpstart the invasion

"But I doubt she has her entire plan finished." she thought. Her need of Nightmare Moon was proof. But if she made her attack now, she'd have less time for looting. Celestia was probably still stronger then her at this point, so the changeling queen would get crushed like the bug she was. Some might wonder why the stuff she was stealing was so important that it was worth risking the fall of an entire nation.

They didn't know how Isaac thought. Nor did he think they would want to.

"-and I told her, that I would never date a jerk like him!" a strangely familiar voice.

Blue Lily's head snapped to the left, hoping that it was just a coincidence. Memories of a horrible dub that tried to pass off lesbians as 'close cousins', surfaced in his mind. He had watched it as a child with his sister out of boredom The sight that greeted him was... disturbing to say that least. The was a hot pink pegasus mare with blue eyes. Her most eye-catching feature was her long blonde mane. It was parted in the center and styled into two pigtails with buns. The blue unicorn believed 'odango' was the right word to describe it. Her cutie mark of a simple crescent moon.

The mare she was talking to was even more suspicious. She was a pink unicorn with green eyes and a brown mane tied into a bouncy looking ponytail. Her cutie mark was of the Jupiter symbol surrounded by yellow electricity.

"Why the fuck are Sailor Scouts here?!" she thought sweating bullets. She thought she was in a land of magical ponies, not magical girls!

"Okay time to investigate. " Blue Lily muttered walking over to them.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"Oh, yes?" the pegasus replied, turning to her.

"Have we met before? I heard your voice and when I saw you, it just rung a bell in my mind."

"I don't think so. Should I know you?" the Sailor Moon pony asked, tilting her head.

"Did you go to summer camp around here as a foal?" Blue Lily asked, trying to start conversation.

"No, is that where you think you've met me before?"

"Yeah actually! I remember playing this game with you where we pretended to be superheroes. You had this funny transformation phrase called 'Moon Prism Power'?"

"Sorry, I think you've got the wrong pony."

"I'm sorry for bothering you." the unicorn replied.

"Oh it's no problem! I know I get really confused when I remember stuff too!"

"Goodbye!" the blue unicorn said, turning away.

"It was just a coincidence." she thought, sighing in relief. If she had bothered to listen further, she would have turned pale with fright.

The Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter look-a-likes stared after her.

"What was that all about?" the pink unicorn asked.

"I'm not sure," the pegasus shrugged, "But the strangest thing is that 'Moon Prism Power' thing she mentioned. It sounded vaguely familiar."

"You just said you never went to summer camp?"

"I didn't! That phrase just sticks out in my mind for some reason." the moon pony thought, rubbing her head in confusion.

(Canterlot Park, Some Time Later)

"Fresh air!" Isaac hissed, dragging himself, Trixie, Cadence, and Nightmare out of the hole in the ground. He tossed them onto the grass and rolled over, panting heavily.

"I probably made that worse then it already was." he groaned, holding on to his left arm.

Trixie sighed, "At least we're finally out of the caves. There's so much dirt in Trixie's mane!"

"Like that didn't happen when you were working on a rock farm." the angel replied.

"Trixie is not saying it didn't happen! She's saying she doesn't like when there's dirt in her mane!"

"Why do you talk in third perso-err... pony so much?"

"To magnify my greatness, of course!" she declared, puffing out her chest.

"Woah!" a childlike voice exclaimed.

All four of them turned to see a group of foals staring at them with wide eyes. The sight of a Princess of Equestia, two dangerous criminals, and a washed up showmare crawling out of hole must be interesting. They must of come up on the edge of the playground, thankfully there were no adults close enough to see them. Canterlot nobles must be great parents, right?

"Damn it," he swore, already reaching out with a glowing right hand, levitating the children in his grasp.

"Ugghh... Hey kids, who wants their memories of having ever seen us erased~!" he sung, bringing the little tykes closer to them.

(10 Minutes Later)

Trixie, Discerning Eye, and two pink and black dogs on leashes nervously walked out of the park. Their eyes glanced everywhere for signs of being noticed.

"I repeat: Why does life hate me?" Cadence thought, sulking. First she gets kidnapped, then she gets kidnapped again, and then gets turned into a dog. She just wanted to get married for Celestia's sake! Is that too much to ask?!

Nightmare Moon fought them every step of the way of course, trying to bite them more then once. A few electrical shocks stopped that quickly enough. Now she just seethed angrily.

"Did they have to scream so loudly? What if the Royal Guard actually noticed something happening for once?" Discerning Eye complained.

"You have issues. When you finally become a King and Trixie is your Royal Adviser, she is getting you a therapist."

"Meh, It's probably for the best."

On that note, they started walking through the city. Their destination was Canterlot Castle.

(Canterlot Castle, The Balcony)

"Captain Armor, how is the search for Nightmare Moon?" Princess Celestia ordered from the balcony overlooking the city.

Shining Armor shook his head, "No such luck, your Highness." he was sweating from the effort it took to maintain the barrier.

The sun princess sighed, "And the polar griffons?"

"They've been moved to the Manehattan Harbor."

"That quickly? Your report said their boat was rather large."

"It's nuclear-powered." Celestia's head snapped towards him at that, "That was my reaction, your Majesty."

She just facehoofed, "Of all the things Isaac has done." she mentally grumbled. Who casually gives somepony a miniature sun just to power a boat?

"I need good news, Captain Armor. How are the preparations for you and my niece's wedding?"

Shining Armor blushed with a smile on his face, "They're going great! Cadence has been acting a bit crazy as of late, but I'm sure she's just really nervous and will get better after the wedding."

Celestia chuckled, "Thank you." but then her expression turned serious once more, "Have you noticed else strange as of late? Nightmare Moon could not have escaped on her own."

"There is one thing, Princess Celestia. One of my stallions was replaced by an impostor."

"Tell me everything." her gaze hardened. If this was what she thought it was...

"Camouflage, the one who exposed the fake, had been suspicious of him for a while now, and had informed me of this. He was close friends with Steady Guardian, the one who was replaced. He said that Steady Guardian had been acting odd. He was happier and actually flirting, despite the fact that his wife had been killed by a Manticore only eight months go." Shining Armor began.

"Camouflage's suspicions had been confirmed when he saw the impostor throw out a picture of Steady Guardian's late wife. We brought him back to base on a lie that here had been a Nightmare Moon sighting there. He seemed like he wanted to find her a lot for some reason, almost as if he was scared of failure."

"Once they had him cornered, they exposed him and tried to capture him, but he managed to escape. He left us with a chilling threat."

"What was it?"

Shining Armor's gaze focused on her, "That on the day of the Royal Wedding, Equestria will fall."

Celestia's eyes widened. It was just one thing after another wasn't it?

"Tighten security everywhere. Make sure to keep that barrier up for as long as you can. Whoever was working with the impostor was likely the one who helped Nightmare Moon escape. See if any more of your men are acting out of character."

The white unicorn nodded, "Yes ma'am." and on that note he left.

After he was gone, the solar diarch sighed, letting her muscles relax for once. First, Isaac was running free with some twisted idea of community service. Then, he decided to give them her sister's shadow in filly form. After that the Nightmare escaped, aided by this new foe.

(Canterlot Castle, The Gardens, 4:37 PM)

Discerning Eye, Trixie, Nightmare Moon, and Cadence were hiding behind a bush. Well the first two were, Nightmare Moon was trying to bite them again, and Cadence was trying to escape. The guards were patrolling the place of course.

"I'm going to distract the next guard that comes closest to us. When they all run over here, quietly take Cadence and get inside the castle!" the stallion whispered.

"How are you going to get their attention?"

"Like this." the disguised angel replied, grabbing Nightmare Moon in his hooves. In a flash of golden flames, she was a filly again, only her wings were bound, her horn had a magic suppressor on it, and there was tape across her mouth.

"MMPH!" she grunted, struggling again.

"HEY, GUARD GUYS! I FOUND HER!" Discerning Eye shouted, standing up running into the open with the dark alicorn in his hooves.

The guards looked towards the unicorn with wide eyes, before running to him.

"How were you able to find her? We've been looking for her everywhere !" a guard asked.

"I saw her walking right past you guys on the street wearing a bad disguise! Why didn't you notice anything?!" the unicorn replied, playing the role of the angry, concerned citizen.

"I'm sure if her disguise was as bad you're saying, we would have noticed." the guard replied.

"But you didn't! What if she managed to get out of the city and meet up with those freaky Nightmare cultist ponies?! Then she'd have minions!"

"Look sir, I know you're angry. Just hand over the criminal and we'll make sure she gets back in her cell." another more polite guard asked, reaching for the ancient evil.

Discerning Eye moved her out his grasp, "Oh no! I read the newspaper! I heard how she escaped despite the fact she had wing bindings, a magic suppressor, and was supposed to be under constant watch! I want you to bring me to Princess Celestia so I can hand her over personally!"

"That's impeding a military operation!"

"Like I care! You guys are incompetent!"

"You think you can do so much better?!"

"You're damn right I do! I was only in town on vacation, now I can't go back home until your captain lifts that stupid barrier!"

"Sir, hand over the criminal or you're under arrest!"

Discerning Eye looked past them to see Trixie and Cadence by the door, the former signaling to him with her hooves.

"NEVER!" on that note the stallion turned and ran back out into the city, placing the demon filly on his back with magic.

"HALT!" and the guards started chasing him hook, line, and sinker.

(Canterlot Castle, Hallways)

Trixie shut the door behind her, Cadence in her shoulder bag, and started running for a place to hide. She would stay there until Isaac teleported back to her, as he was the only one who knew where her target was.

She made a turn, but saw a guard walking that way. He spotted her immediately.

"Halt!"

So she went the other way. The blue unicorn saw an open door and went in, closing the door behind her. It was apparently a large broom closet of sorts.

"Hey what are you doin' here, missy?!" the old earth stallion janitor asked, startled.

"Trixie apologizes, senior citizen." the showmare replied, pulling rope out of her bag and tying up the witness. He struggled of course, but he was old.

"MMPH!" he tried to scream, his mouth also blocked by tape. Trixie levitated him into a corner of the room. The blue unicorn put an ear against the door, waiting for the guard to pass.

*FWOOSH!*

Discerning Eye and Nightmare Moon appeared in the middle of the room, having locked on to Cadence again.

"You lost them?" the showmare asked.

"Easily, I turned down an alley and teleported."

"Great, where do we go from here?"

"Celestia's Private Chambers of course. That's where our target is. But we need to be stealthy about it." he said, changing into a generic pegasus guard. Both Princesses, Shining Armor, and probably Chrysalis were all here at once.

"What do we do with them?" Trixie pointed to Cadence and Nightmare Moon.

"I'll change them into mice, stick them into a jar with holes on the cap of course, and leave them. They shouldn't be able to escape."

The showmare nodded. Isaac inhaled, and blew a small ball of golden flames at her. When they subsided, in her place was a generic female unicorn guard. Thankfully the Royal Guard's armor was enchanted so that they would all look the same when wearing, so no one would question their appearance.

He did the same to their captives. They turned into pink and black mice in a jar with small holes on the cap. Trixie put them on the floor. If they were on a shelf they might get the idea to push themselves down in an effort to break the jar.

Cadence was seriously considering murder for a moment, "When I get out of here, back to normal, and married to Shining, life in prison won't be enough to placate me."

Isaac turned to the tiny pink mouse glaring up at him, "Oh look, she's mad at us. Don't worry Princess, on the day of the wedding, I'll be sure to reunite you with your soon-to-be hubby. After altering your memories so you think you were still being held captive by the changelings this entire time of course."

With that, the two disguised thieves left the broom closet.

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, Same Time)

Blue Lily was planning on spending the rest of the day in her 'cousin's' home. Her other body could instantly lock onto and teleport to her due to their connection, no matter the distance between them. She didn't know how long it would take to get half of what they planned on, get rid of Nightmare Moon permanently, and turn Shining Armor into an Alicorn. Come to think of it that last thing would probably disrupt the barrier. Meh, he could put it right back up once he adjusted to the change.

"If only something interesting would happen to pass the time." she thought, just laying on the couch like a lump. TV didn't exist here, so that was out. She didn't want to just spend the entire day at the movie theater either. The unicorn decided Equestrian fiction was boring. At least the books Minuette kept around. Most of them were trashy romance novels, Daring Do, and other such tripe.

"I wonder when Pinkie Pie will throw me my Welcome-To-Ponyville Party?" she continued. It didn't really matter, because everything was going according to plan. Once this week was up, Blue Lily would disappear. Then it was back to searching for a tyrant to overthrow.

*KNOCK!* *KNOCK!*

"Hello, Minuette?! I've got an important letter for you!" an odd sounding voice asked.

"So there's Derpy." she thought.

"Coming!" Blue Lily replied, quickly changing her cutie mark to match.

She opened the door to see everyone's favorite clumsy grey pegasus with a letter in hoof.

"It's right from Canterlot!" Derpy said, giving it to her.

"Canterlot?" she began, grabbing the envelope with magic. It had the royal seal on it. She tore it open and unfolded the letter inside.

A devious smile spread across her face as she read it aloud.

"Dear Minuette, You are cordially invited to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor to serve as one of the bridesmaids. Please come to Canterlot for more details."

"Wow! I didn't know you were friends with one of the Princesses!" Derpy said.

"Yep, we were college roommates and stayed friends afterwards!" 'Minuette' replied, her smile not fading. It was true, she checked her memories, but then why would she and those other two mares go after Twilight and Cadence in the caves in the show?

"Of course. She and the other bridesmaids would have been replaced by changelings! Probably once they get to Canterlot." she thought.

"Well, see ya later!" the grey pegasus waved as she left.

"Goodbye!"

*SLAM!*

As the door closed shut, gold flames engulfed the mare, returning her to his true form.

"Seems I won't have to sneak into the wedding after all." Isaac said, dancing in glee.

Chapter 13

View Online

(Ponyville, Sugarcube Corner, 4:21 PM)

Blue Lily stepped into the bakery with a large grin on her face. She watched as ponies stood in line, sat down and ate, or left with their order in hoof. Pinkie Pie was running the counter, happily taking orders.

"Hey Pinkie!"

The pink mare turned to her and waved, "Hey Lily! Sorry, I can't talk right now. Working and all!"

"That's fine. When will you get off? Something awesome just happened right now and I need to tell somepony!"

"Ooh~!" the party pony's smile got bigger, "My shift ends in about two hours, can you wait until then?"

"No problem!" Blue Lily replied, leaving. There were a few ponies who needed to know Minuette had been invited to the Royal Wedding, especially Twilight.

(Canterlot Castle, Hallways)

Isaac and Trixie calmly walked side-by-side across the hallway, pretending to be patrolling to the ponies who passed them by.

"How much farther?" the disguised showmare whispered.

"Just a few more flights of stairs. Celestia's chambers are near the top of the castle." the stallion replied.

"How do you know the Princess won't be in there?"

"Cadence knows her schedule, which I now know because I looked over her memories. Right now she should be holding Day Court."

Trixie nodded and they went on walking in silence. It was like that for a few minutes, until they turned a corner and saw a certain Captain of the Royal Guard. He was sweaty, horn glowing bright as he maintained the barrier

"Follow my lead." Isaac ordered. His expression changed to one of panic as he ran up to the unicorn, Trixie following after him.

"Captain!" he called, the two thieves saluting when they got to him.

"What is it? Have you found her?" Shining Armor asked with a stern expression.

"No, not yet. But, the guards you put at the Royal Gardens! They've abandoned their posts!" Isaac answered. They were probably still searching for Discerning Eye and Nightmare Moon somewhere in the city. Not that the unicorn in front of them knew that.

"WHAT?!" he replied eyes widening, the he snarled angrily, "I'll have their flanks for this! This is no time to messing around!" he said, running right past them.

"You two, keep patrolling!" the stallion ordered from a distance.

"Yes, sir!" they replied, saluting again. When Shining Armor was out of sight, the two of them started started snickering as they continued on their path, hoof-bumping.

"Even the Captain is an idiot!" Trixie giggled, then stopped to consider that, "Why hasn't Equestria been invaded by changelings before now?" she thought.

"It's not his fault! He probably learned by the example of the last Captain!" Isaac chuckled.

"Why haven't we been conquered yet?" the disguised showmare asked.

"Hmm?" her employer replied.

"Trixie means think about it. The Elements of Harmony were in the Princesses' old castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest when Nightmare Moon returned. According to the newspapers at least. Sure they're in a vault in this castle when needed now, but why not before? The Royal Guards are incompetent, and so are the Wonderbolts when they're not doing aerial tricks." he stared at her with a raised eyebrow on that comment, "I heard that Sparkle's pet dragon temporarily got huge and smacked them around like an abusive parent." the unicorn said.

"I'm assuming when you ask 'why', you mean aside from the Princesses." a nod in return, "Have you heard of Narrative Causality?"

"No."

"In fiction, it's when things happen for the sake of the story, logical or not. Like how this country has been as well off as it has despite the way it's run, or why Twilight's dragon, whose name is Spike by the way, didn't kill or seriously injure anyone during his rampage. The real life equivalent would be Destiny, Fate, or whatever you want to call it. For example, why could six civilian mares brave the terrors of the Everfree Forest, then just so happen to be able to wield the Elements of Harmony, which were the only things capable of defeating Nightmare Moon, who could have just easily killed them before they got to the Elements but didn't?"

Trixie went silent for a moment, "So you're saying that Twilight Sparkle and her friends are the real life equivalents of the main characters in a story? What does that make us?"

"My guess is either side characters or the villains." the disguised angel replied with a shrug.

"And you're okay with that?!" she asked, her voice rising in volume, "Just being there to make six ponies look good?!"

"SHHH!" he hissed, putting a poof on her mouth. When she calmed down, he removed it.

"Of course not, but maybe that can change."

"How?" she demanded quietly, "If anypony's going to be the star it's going to be me!" she thought, scowling.

"I'm not from this world. I shouldn't be here, and yet here I am. Destiny has to account for the changes I've made and are going to make somehow."

"That's fine for you, but what about Trixie?"

"Twilight is special among the Element bearers. She was born in Canterlot, she's incredibly gifted at magic, she's Celestia's personal student, and she's the wielder of the Element that wouldn't appear unless the other five were there. The other five Elements are also powerless without hers. Is it too much of a stretch to say her friends revolve around her in a way? The five of them would probably still be friends, but I bet they wouldn't be as close as they are now without Twilight."

"What's your point?"

"Let me be the Twilight to your Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, etc... I know for sure your life wouldn't be as important in the grand scheme of things without me."

"What do you mean by that?" the unicorn asked, looking rather annoyed at him.

"Your purpose was to teach them that excessive bragging was wrong and could get you in trouble. What if I told you that after that, you'd grow to irrationally hate Twilight for 'showing you up', despite the fact that she was just defending Ponyville from a dangerous beast, and resort to using a dark magical artifact to get 'back at her'? You're angry at her already aren't you?"

"You're damn right Trixie is!" the mare growled, "Why does life revolve around her anyway?!"

"Sure you're angry now because of what I just told you, but what about before we met?"

She looked away from him and grunted, "Trixie... admits to having a few revenge fantasies now and then while working on that rock farm."

"Yes, and do they make sense when you consider all the facts?"

The stage magician sighed, "No, they don't."

"Exactly. I know the signs of Destiny's handiwork, but now you're one of main characters."

"In your story."

"You're fine with being Royal Adviser instead of Queen aren't you?"

Trixie looked at him with an odd expression, almost as if wondering something, before nodding.

"So that's it." Isaac replied. They continued their walk in silence

(Ponyville Market)

Blue Lily trotted to the stand where she met Applejack yesterday. The farm pony was there once again, selling apples and apple-related products to the masses. She'd tell her the news to pass the time before Pinkie got off work.

"What's up Applejack?" the unicorn asked, going up to the counter.

"Hey Lily, here to buy apples?" the farm pony replied with a tip of her hat.

"Sure, but first I need to tell you something really important."

"What is it?"

"Get closer." the orange pony leaned in a little and turned her head, "The mail just came, and Minuette got invited to the Royal Wedding between Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor to be one of the bridesmaids! Isn't that amazing?!" she whispered excitedly.

Applejack's eyes widened, "Are you sure the groom's name is Shining Armor?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because in addition to him bein' the Captain of the Royal Guard, he's my friend Twilight's big brother."

"Okay?"

"Sugarcube, I didn't even know there was a Royal Wedding coming up until you just told me. I don't think Twilight knows either, cause if she did she would have told us."

"That doesn't make sense. She should have been one of the first to know. Did she get an invitation yet?"

"Nope."

"Oh." Blue Lily looked rather disturbed by that.

"Yep, and I don't think she'll like the fact that he just broke up with her old foalsitter without telling her either."

"They dated I guess? Twilight really liked her?"

Applejack nodded.

"That sucks. What was her name?"

"Cadence I think?"

The unicorn looked confused, "Wait, isn't that short for Mi Amore Cadenza?"

"It is?"

"Yeah, I think so. Wait, that means they're the same pony! Your friend was foalsat by a Princess?!"

The farm pony rubbed her head, "I-I guess? Gosh, I don't think Twilight knew either or else she would have mentioned that earlier today."

"How do you not know when your foalsitter is royalty?"

"I dunno, Lily. I'll ask her later. Now how about those apples?"

"Right, I'll have 5 apples." the orange mare nodded, got the produce from her crate, and handed it to the unicorn.

"That'll be ten bits"

Blue Lily reached into her shoulder bag and gave her the money.

"Thanks, bye!" the mare waved as she walked back home.

"Bye, Surgarcube!" Applejack waved in return. Then she sighed, "Now how do I break the news to Twilight?"

"Operation: Angry Twilight is a-go." the unicorn thought. All she had to do next is go home and wait for her prize.

(Canterlot Castle, Celestia's Private Chambers)

Isaac and Trixie walked in, shutting the door behind them quickly. The room was gorgeous as expected. A yellow queen-sized bed, a priceless looking vanity mirror, a window with a view that was probably amazing, pink carpeting, a nightstand, and other such things were inside.

"We have to move fast." the disguised angel said.

"Where is it then?"

He grinned, "Under her bed of course." His horn glowed brightly as he levitated the bed out of their way, letting it down slowly with a soft thud.

What was revealed was what looked like a door on the floor. There was a hole in the middle of the door where it seemed a horn was meant to go into.

"What's with the hole?"

"A door needs a lock doesn't? Celestia's horn must be the key. But first, you need to know this. Once we open that door there's either going to be a loud alarm going off, or Celestia's going to teleport in due to some alert thing she has telling her that someone's in here while she's not there."

"Princess Cadence's memories told you that?"

"No, but it's what I'd do after what happened last time. Anyways, if its the latter here's the plan. I'll try to talk her up to distract her. When I yell now, shut your eyes immediately and keep them closed until I tell you to open them."

"Planning on using a flash spell to blind her temporarily?"

"Yes."

"Let Trixie do it. Brightness is her specialty of course." she smirked.

"But can you lie smoothly without talking in the third pony?"

The showmare huffed, "Yes, I can actually."

Isaac looked conflicted, but then nodded, "Fine I'll trust you. I have to let you do something on this trip, right?"

"Of course."

In a flash of golden flames, the disguised angel turned into a white unicorn with a horn that matched Celestia's in shape and length. He walked over to the door, craned his neck down and stuck his horn into the lock.

*CLICK!*

The door opened inwards, revealing a set of stairs leading down.

(Canterlot Castle, Celestia's Throne Room)

The Solar Diarch's eyes widened as she felt the hidden chamber in her room get opened.

"Excuse me, my little ponies." she said.

Before they could get a word in she teleported away, leaving a bunch of sputtering nobleponies.

(Canterlot Castle, Celestia's Private Chambers, Secret Room)

Isaac and Trixie looked at their objects of desire. One with awe, the other with smug satisfaction.

"Beautiful aren't they?"

"Absolutely! These would be worth a fortune!"

"Ah, but these are worth so much more than money, my unicorn friend!"

"What are you doing here?" Celestia demanded in a no-nonsense tone as she teleported into the room right behind them.

Both thieves turned to her with wide eyes.

"Y-Your Highness? What are you doing here?!" Trixie shrieked, legs shaking in fear.

"Let's see how you do." Isaac thought, faking fear as well.

"I should ask the same of you, changelings." the white alicorn replied, walking towards them.

"What?! We're not changelings?! We were just curious about what where down here!"

The Princess scoffed, "A likely story. Why does your partner's horn match my own then? You wouldn't have been able to get down here otherwise."

"It's just a cone, Your Majesty! See!" the disguised angel said, removing it and revealing an average-sized grey horn instead.

"Thank you quick and subtle shapeshifting." he thought.

Celestia didn't let up, "How did you know this room existed?"

"My older brother was a guard a few years ago before he got paralyzed in an accident! He told me about these even though he wasn't supposed to!" the showmare lied, pointing towards their prizes.

The white alicorn facehoofed, "Her brother was probably one of the guards posted there when she disappeared.Things like these are classified for a reason damn it!" she thought angrily.

"We're sorry, Princess Celestia. Please don't banish to the moon or turn us into stone or lock us in the dungeon or-" Trixie rambled before breaking down crying, tears and all.

"She's good." Isaac thought, looking wide eyed and terrified, but still remaining composed.

The Solar Diarch sighed and walked over to the 'royal guard', wrapping a comforting wing around her, "I won't do anything like that, my little ponies. But Captain Armor will be hearing about this, and you will be punished. Understood?"

"Yes, Princess Cele-NOW!" Trixie shouted. Isaac shut his eyes immediately. The showmare's horn let out an incredible glow, blinding all who would look at it.

*FLASH!*

"Urk!" The Sun Princess grunted, temporarily blinded. She stumbled backward as her eyes felt like they were burning from the bright light.

"Damn it all to Tartarus!" Celestia swore mentally, trying to grab them with her magic but failing.

"Okay open them!"

"Good Job! We'll each grab one and then hold onto each other!"

"Right! Hahaha! The Queen will have an easy time taking over Equestria if it's ruler is this easily fooled!"

*FWOOSH!*

The familiar sound of a teleportation hit her eyes as the white alicorn's eyes stopped stinging enough for her to open them. Alas, they were gone, and they had stolen two of the most potentially dangerous objects in the world.

Celestia grit her teeth, glaring at the spots where her stolen property used to be. Her eyes started glowing with anger, and her rainbow mane turned into one of raging flames.

Then, she just sighed and returned to normal. There was no point in getting angry when what she needed to do was go on a ponyhunt, or bughunt as it were.

"Just one thing after the other." the Solar Diarch growled, running up out of the room.

(Canterlot Castle, Broom Closet)

*FWOOSH!*

In a burst of flames, Trixie and Isaac appeared with the spoils. With a second application, both of them were back in their true forms.

"Nice touch with the Queen thing. Now she'll think changelings are the thieves."

The unicorn bowed with smirk, "Trixie aims to please, but why aren't we out of the castle yet?"

"I still have two more things to do here. Wait here and try to listen out for anything interesting."

"Why?"

"It'll be quick and no fun at all." the angel replied, picking up the jar containing Nightmare Moon and Princess Cadence off of the floor. He unscrewed the cover, reached into it, and pulled out the ancient evil in mouse form. The pink mouse immediately looked grateful about it, if the new bruises and happy dancing were any indication. Though Luna's darkness did not look unscathed herself.

"All right, here's what's going to happen. You're going to let me into your head so I can remove your memories of Cadence, and if you don't I'll change you back into an alicorn and let the polar griffons kill you. If you accept, I promise I'll fuse you back together with your other half. Which will it be?"

Nightmare Moon just hissed at him and tried biting him. He merely tightened his grip, causing her to squeak loudly in pain.

"Keep in mind you can't rule over Equestria and make the night last forever if you're dead."

The black mouse glared at him, then grudgingly nodded. Isaac nodded and put a finger to her forehead. In a moment, she was unconscious as her altered memories took hold inside her mind.

*FWOOSH!*

He was gone in a flash of flames, as always.

(Canterlot Castle, Dungeons)

"Thank you for the tea, servant." Luna said, holding the cup in her hooves.The mare nodded, having passed it through the bars.

*FWOOSH!*

"Hey Luna!" Isaac greeted jovially, both hands behind his back.

"EEEK!" the servant shrieked, falling over in a dead faint.

"Isaac! You swine, what are you up to this time?!" the alicorn of the night demanded, jumping onto all fours. She would have blasted him already if not for this blasted horn cone.

"Is that the way to greet someone who came all this way to return something to you?"

"What?!"

"Think fast!" the angel replied, pulling out Nightmare Moon from behind his back. He quickly ignited the demonic rodent with his golden flames, and tossed her right through the bars at the moon princess.

"AAAAUGH!" Luna screamed when the mouse made contact, the flames spreading onto her body as two became one. She could feel herself grow taller, darker, stronger, and angrier. Memories of their time apart flooded into the complete night alicorn's mind. Changes such as these occurred in the shroud of flames, as the observer watched with a calculating expression.

"See you later." the former human replied as he disappeared once more.

(Canterlot Castle, Gardens)

The squadron of guards flinched as their captain tore into them.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! ALL OF YOU ABANDONING YOUR POSTS LIKE THAT! YOU'RE A DISGRACE TO THE GUARD!"

"B-But Captain, that stallion ran away with Nightmare Moon." one idiot interjected.

"And it takes all of you to go after them?! That should be three, at the most! Even with all of you working together, you still didn't catch them! You guys will be cleaning the barracks with your toothbrushes for a week, including the bathrooms, and I will make you brush your teeth with them afterwards!" the white unicorn's mane had burst into flames in his rage, looking not unlike his little sister when she got that angry.

*FWOOSH!*

"Huh?!" Shining Armor deflated, quickly turning around. Only to receive a burning punch across the face, sending the stallion flying across the gardens, the rest of him quickly catching aflame.

"Captain!"

Isaac just sighed.

*FWOOSH!*

(Canterlot Castle, Broom Closet)

"Anything fun happen?" the angel asked as he reappeared.

"You weren't even gone for ten minutes." Trixie replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you it would be quick. Let's grab our loot and get out of here."

The two thieves held on to their prize and each other, Cadence in a jar having been put in the showmare's bag.

"Wait a minute!"

"What?"

"What about him?" she pointed to the old janitor tied up in a corner, staring at them with wide fearful eyes.

The shapeshifter facepalmed, "I almost forgot." He quickly altered the senior's memories and untied him, leaving him lying unconscious on the floor.

Once that was over, they held onto each other and their prize again.

*FWOOSH!*

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, Basement)

Blue Lily didn't even react as her other body and Trixie appeared. She was sitting in an old chair, reading a book.

"It disturbs Trixie that you can act so differently at the same time." the showmare said, staring at her fellow blue unicorn.

*SLAM!*

Isaac fell over face first, knocked out.

"Gah! What just happened?!"

"I way overused that body's magic reserves. I'm surprised that didn't happen sooner." Blue Lily replied, closing her book and getting out of the chair. In a flash of golden flames, a second Isaac stood in her place.

Trixie just looked between the conscious and unconscious versions of her employer, then shook her head.

"Has Trixie ever mentioned how strange you are?"

"No, but I get the feeling that it might become a running gag." the angel smirked. He stepped over to his other body, and placed a hand on it's back. Flames spread out from his palm, engulfing what was practically a corpse. The flames then receded back into his hand, taking the body with it.

"They really are beautiful."

Isaac looked back at the showmare gazing at their prizes with an awestruck expression, "Indeed. With these, the possibilities are practically endless.

Even in the dim lighting of the basement, the Crystal Mirror and it's prototype looked stunning.

(Canterlot Castle, Cadence's Chambers, Nighttime)

Shining Armor sighed, opening the door into his fiance's bedroom. It had been a long day at work. All he had to do was say goodnight to her, and then he could go back to the barracks and oversee his guards' punishment.

"Shining~!" a familar, yet sultry voice called to him.

The stallion froze, his eyes finally noticing the atmosphere of the room. The light switch was off, but the room was still illuminated by the scented candles everywhere. There were also a trail of rosepetals, leading to the bed. In that bed, was her. Any airs of royalty were completely gone. She looked at him with seductive eyes, a devious smile on her face. Her mane was straight instead of it's usual curls. The only thing she was wearing were purple socks. She was posed sensually, one foreleg holding up her head while the other traced holes in the bed. Her rear legs were splayed on the bedsheets, her hips titled towards slightly him to show just a bit more of her flank.

"C-Cadence?" his voice came out stuttering.

"Yes?" she asked, levitating a glass of wine from the nightstand over to herself. She took a sip before returning it.

"What are you doing?"

"I want to relieve you of your stress of course. I heard you were having a rough day. What with the search for Nightmare Moon, constantly maintaining that barrier, as well as your new... appendages." she replied with a wink.

*POMF!*

His new wings stood up of their own volition, their owner's blush deepening.

"Trust me honey, I would love to, but I really need to punish the guards for being stupid." the new alicorn said.

"I know somepony else who deserves a good punishing."

His legs turned to jelly at that comment.

"D-Don't do this to me, Cadence."

"Do what?" she asked, obviously feigning confusion. She rolled out the bed and slowly walked over to him, hips swaying.

"I just want to give my husband-to-be a good time. Is that so wrong?" she breathed against his neck.

"Well... I guess a quickie wouldn't hurt." Shining gulped, starting to remove his armor.

"Oh trust me... This will be anything but quick." the pink alicorn said, nuzzling him.

Her scent was what did it. Shining lost all restraint and kissed her on the lips, tongue thrusting in already. The two lovers fell to the ground, him on top of her, laying kisses on her neck. 'Cadence' moaned, eyes closed.

"He's surprisingly good at this.", she thought, slightly opening a glowing green eye. The stallion didn't notice, to into his work. She sighed as he reached a good spot, "I need this after those morons failed to kill... whatever that was."

Neither had any idea what fate had in store. For them, for Equestria, for the world, for all worlds.

Chapter 14

View Online

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, Morning)

It was the morning after Trixie and Isaac pulled off their big heist. The two of them were eating breakfast at the table, the latter as Blue Lily to fit in the chair. Minuette had left early for work again, promising to spend the weekend with her 'cousin'. Her invitation had been kept from her as well. It was stealing, but at least she wouldn't be replaced with a changeling.The showmare had been forced to sleep in the basement to avoid being seen, much to her annoyance. The mirrors had been hidden under sheets, and pushed into a dark corner of the room.

"So how do you intend to get to this 'Sunset Shimmer', if the mirror only opens every thirty moons?" the blue unicorn asked, putting a spoonful of cereal in her mouth.

"Meh, I'll probably try and force it open for a little while with chaos magic. If that doesn't work then I'll just wait." Lily shrugged.

"Wouldn't using chaos magic on an interdimensional portal be a really bad idea?"

"Not if you know what you're doing."

Trixie looked confused, "If you've opened portals before, why do you need the mirrors?"

"Trust me, I've tried to leave this world dozens of times once I figured out how. I can send objects and other living things through just fine. Some invisible force always kept pulling me back in whenever I got halfway through. I think whatever brought me here is also keeping me here." the disguised angel replied.

"What makes you think the mirrors will be any different?"

"It's just a hunch." Blue Lily replied.

"What if it doesn't work?"

"I'll just send someone else through in my stead."

The showmare looked amused, "Strange how your plans revolve around other dimensions, yet there's a chance that you yourself can't go to them."

Cadence glared at them from the jar on top of the table, nibbling on the cheese they had given her.

"I wonder if Aunt Celestia would be willing to un-abolish capital punishment?" she thought angrily. Seriously, this was getting old really fast

"Feeling a little down, Princess?" Blue Lily asked, feeling their captive's negativity. The pink mouse just hissed at him.

"Want me to turn you back into a pony?"

The princess of love stopped at that and looked up at her captor, confused.

"You do know she'll make a run for it the moment you give her a chance to?" Trixie said.

"Of course, but we don't want to be worse kidnappers than Chrysalis do we? I'll just turn her into an earth pony, but keep her at her current size."

The former alicorn sighed, "It was too good to be true." she thought.

"Hey, at least you'll be able to talk again. Besides, I think Minuette has an old dollhouse somewhere around here I can put you in."

Blue Lily opened the cap, and put a hoof in, tapping Cadence on the head. The golden flames spread out from that point, the pink mouse squeaking in surprise. As the flames covered her body, the squeaks gradually turned into screams. When they receded, a wingless and hornless Cadence stood on shaky hooves. She looked much less raggedy due to the magic improving her appearance, but she still looked rather exhausted.

"All of my hate!" she managed to get out before falling over unconscious. The unicorn responsible just chuckled, while the other shook her head.

"Like Trixie said before, you're getting therapy."

"It's not like those flames hurt them or anything! They're meant for shapeshifting, not for burning!"

"Trixie repeats: you're getting therapy."

Blue Lily grumbled, "So what do you wanna do today?"

The other unicorn blinked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that we're not doing the mirror thing today. We're doing it early tomorrow morning to match up with the school's schedule. Today is a day to relax and have fun."

"Trixie still finds it rather hard to believe that on the other side of that mirror, there are 'hugh-man' counterparts to everypony in Equestria, and that most of them work at or attend this 'Canterlot High School' place?"

"Its pronounced human. No one said the multiverse had to make absolute sense. Just enough that it doesn't make me want to pull my hair out."

The showmare smiled, "Funny. How does a movie sound?"

"I saw one yesterday, but another won't hurt!" Blue Lily replied with a grin.

(Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library)

"Dear Twilight Sparkle, I believe that the upcoming Royal Wedding is going to be invaded by shapeshifting, parasitic creatures called changelings. Three have already been discovered pretending to be Royal Guards, but all of them have gotten away before they could be captured. Two of them even managed to steal priceless magical artifacts. The ceremony will still be happening on the planned date, but we've increased security ten fold. In addition, Isaac has reappeared. He turned your brother into an alicorn and fused Nightmare Moon and Luna back together. Please come quickly! She isn't listening to reason. Sincerely, Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia." the purple alicorn read aloud, groaning at the end of it all. Her friends stood around her, called over again for important news.

"Seriously! This letter comes right when I was about to go chew him out for not telling me he and Cadence were getting married! Then for inviting Minuette before me!" she grumbled.

"I think there are more important things happening right now, darling." Rarity commented, resting a hoof on her friend's shoulders.

"Yeah! Like finally blasting that jerk Isaac back to stone where he belongs." Rainbow Dash said, looking ready for action as always.

"Ah doubt he's still at the castle, Rainbow Dash. Though why would he turn Twilight's brother into an alicorn and then fuse Princess Luna with Nightmare Moon?"

Celestia's pupil sighed, "That's what we're going to find out!"

(Canterlot Castle, Cadence's Private Chambers)

"Well didn't you have a lot of energy?" 'Cadence' commented, lazily getting up out of bed. Shining lay sleeping, a satisfied smile on his face even now. She sat on the edge of the bed, sipping the wine she had poured last night. Warm or cold, it still tasted good. Her lower body was sore from their activities. Her socks and his armor had long since been discarded on the floor.

"I've avoided sleeping with him as not to sully my body with his, but now that he's an alicorn..."she thought, staring back at her 'fiance'. No changeling queen could claim to have slept with an alicorn except her, mainly because until now all of them were female.

"Perhaps I'll keep you alive as a consort instead of just killing you when I conquer Equestria." she mused, running a hoof through his mane idly. His smile seemed to widen.

Deciding it was time to start the day, the fake alicorn hopped out of bed. Only to notice that she was having trouble walking as well.

"Yep, definitely not killing this one." Chrysalis said, with a satisfied smile of her own. It's good to be the Queen.

(Canterlot Castle, Throne Room, 1:51 PM)

The Element bearers walked into the room, bowing deeply at the hooves of a tired-looking Celestia.

"Your student and her friends, as requested your majesty." a guard said, bowing as well.

"Thank you, that will be all." the white alicorn replied.

The guard saluted, and left the room.

"What can we do to help?" Twilight asked.

"Do we need to do anything to help?" Rarity countered.

"What?!" the purple alicorn replied.

"With the way Princess Celestia made it sound in letter, I expected to see her and Princess Luna fighting in the skies and the entire city in ruins. Yet everything looks normal! No offense, Your Highness."

"None taken, but there is something wrong with my sister, and I think the Elements of Harmony might be necessary to fix it." Celestia said.

"What exactly is wrong with her?" Applejack asked.

"Follow me." the Solar Princess said, stepping off her throne and walking forward. Twilight and friends followed behind her nervously.

(Ponyville Movie Theater, Same Time)

"I thought you loved me!"

"Darling, it's not what you think!"

"No! Nothing will ever be the same again!"

Blue Lily rolled her eyes at the cheesy romantic drama she was watching, idly munching on some popcorn. Trixie, and many other mares in the audience, were tearing up. Some were flat out crying, blowing their noses and everything. The stallions who had been forced to attend due to their marefriends, were in the same bored boat as the disguised angel.

"I had to let her choose the movie! We've seen this two times in a row already. At least movies like this back home tried to make it seem like they were mixing up the formula." she thought, taking a sip of her soda. She never would have taken Trixie as the type of mare interested in movies like this, but then again the cartoon was limited in scope. Plus the Equestria she was in seemed to be an alternate universe anyway, even without her changes.

"Now if only there was a way to make this interesting." her monologue continued, then she facehoofed, "Oh wait, I have chaos magic. Duh."

Blue Lily got out of her seat, prompting her partner's attention.

"Where are you going?" Trixie asked, momentarily stopping her sniffling.

"Bathroom." she replied.

The showmare just nodded and went back to watching the movie. The disguised angel walked out as if she was going to leave the theater, but in a flash of golden flames she was a spider. He climbed up on the walls, making it into the projector, making sure not to let it's light hit him. Inside the projector room was a pimpled, teenage colt sleeping on the job. Isaac rolled his eyes as best he could while being a spider and transformed back into Blue Lily. The blue unicorn touched a hoof to the projector, channeling reality-warping chaos magic into the machine. It started glowing red, and started making sparking sounds.

"Please don't leave me!"

"Why? So you can cheat on me agai-"

The picture changed to crackling snow for a moment, provoking cries of outrage from the mares in the audience, and more than a few sighs of relief from the stallions.

Then, it returned.

"Why? So you can cheat on me again?"

"So I can do this!"

The audience gasped as the cheating stallion suddenly stabbed his wife through the neck, killing her almost instantly.

"Why watch a boring romantic drama when instead you can watch an interesting tragedy?" Blue Lily chuckled.

(Canterlot Castle, Dungeons)

The seven of them walked down the steps of the castle's prison section, guards in the front and back of them. They walked through the hallway, more then a few of them nervous at the looks the inmates were giving them.

"It's not much farther, my little ponies." Celestia said, noticing her subjects' fear.

Eventually, they came across a lone door at the edge of the hallway. Even while not entirely used to their new bodies, the Element Bearers could feel the presence of another alicorn on the other side. There were guards on both sides of the door now, saluting when the Solar Princess walked up to them.

"Here to visit, Your Majesty?" one of them asked.

The white alicorn merely nodded, and the guards opened the door. They walked through.

On the other side was a lone cell, a sleeping black mass inside of it.

"Luna, I've brought visitors?" Celestia said,

There was some grumbling, but the mass now identified as Luna craned her head up to look it them. The princess of the night had certainly changed in appearance. She was about the same size as her sister for one. Her coat was black, her mane was darker, and the black area around the crescent moon of her cutie mark had turned purple. All in all, she looked like a less evil version of Nightmare Moon. Any armor or royal regalia had been tossed in a corner. She was wearing an anti-magic cone and her wings were bound, of course.

Twilight and friends gasped, Pinkie Pie being the loudest of them.

"Holy Moley! You look almost exactly like Nightmare Mo-" the party pony's statement was cut off by Fluttershy quickly putting a hoof over her mouth.

Luna rolled her eyes, "I am aware of my changed appearance, Miss Pie." then her gazed settled on Celestia with a glare, "Tell me, sister, for what reason have you brought them here?"

"I brought them here to talk to you Luna! I'm not going to let you spend decades in here!"

"What? Princess Celestia, what's happened to her?" Twilight asked.

The white alicorn made to explain, but her sister interrupted her, "I was made whole again."

"I'm still not getting it." Rainbow Dash said.

"Isaac came to my good half in her previous cell, and used his magic to fuse her with Nightmare Moon, making us whole again."

"That entire statement is why I don't think you should be in here! You know as well as I do that he is not to be trusted! He's done something to you and you need help."

"Do not mistake my words, Celestia. I still wish to see his head mounted on a pike, but I do owe him for this." the changed alicorn stood up on all fours.

"For fusing you back with your dark side?!"

"For making me sane."

Everypony just looked confused at that statement.

"If I had been made whole again without any changes to Nightmare Moon, I would have gone crazy and tried to blanket Equestria in eternal night once again. I can see that now. But Isaac forced his way into my dark half's mind, on the threat of letting the polar griffons rightfully kill her. I believe he wanted to erase my memories of.... something, or was it somepony? In addition to that, he introduced hard logic into my mind."

Fluttershy's eyes widened in understanding, "Y-You mean?"

Luna nodded, "The reason I became Nightmare Moon 1000 years ago was pure jealousy. I wanted my subjects to love my night as they did your day, sister. I went insane and started believing that I could make my subjects love me by getting rid of the sun permanently. I didn't care that they would all die of the cold eventually."

"You've changed Luna! You aren't that pony anymore." Celestia pleaded.

"Have I really changed? The Elements of Harmony just split me into two and weakened my halves. You would have been unaware of my dark half's continued existence had it not been for Isaac. She had plans, Celestia. After she finished conquering the South Pole, she was going to lead an attack on Equestria that would have doubtlessly killed hundreds. Even my new state of clarity is the result of magical intervention."

The Solar Princess continued, "That's no reason to let the court convict you of her crimes."

"My good half could have avoided the dungeons by virtue of being separate from Nightmare Moon, but now that we are truly one and the same, there is no reason I shouldn't be held accountable."

"You'll be in prison! Your royal title will be revoked!"

Luna rolled her eyes again, "I'm immortal, a century of imprisonment means nothing to me. As far as I'm concerned, I was undeserving of being a princess the moment I tried to create an eternal night."

As the two sisters bickered, Twilight and friends felt rather awkward. They seemed to just be extra wheels to this conversation.

"Twilight dear, does Princess Luna actually have a hope of avoiding prison time other than a Royal Pardon?" Rarity asked quietly.

"I'm not sure, considering her arguments against it." the purple alicorn whispered back.

"Ah think ah have an idea." Applejack said.

The farm pony cleared her throat, "Your Highnesses?"

"What?!" they shouted in frustration, causing the Element Bearers to huddle into a corner in fear. Their eyes softened upon seeing this.

"I'm sorry Applejack, please continue." Celestia said.

The orange mare bravely stood forward again, "U-Um, what if yer literally not the same pony as the one who committed the crimes?"

"I doubt you'll convince me, but elaborate." the moon princess said.

"Ah mean just think about it. The pony who actually terrorized the polar griffons was Nightmare Moon, who was a separate entity from Princess Luna at the time. Now that you're one pony again, it could be argued that you're literally not the same pony as Nightmare Moon, even though she's a part of you. Add in the fact that Isaac messed with Nightmare Moon somehow before fusing her back with yer good half, and you have a reason why you shouldn't be guilty of her shenanigans." Applejack complied.

Luna was silent for a few minutes. Celestia took this as a good sign, "Please, listen to her sister. Even if you're declared guilty, let me pardon you."

The night alicorn sighed, "No. I appreciate your efforts, but no. Even if what you say is true..." she gained a haunted look on her face, "I still have memories of torturing innocents for power and my own sick satisfaction. Adults and children alike. Bodies, dead or alive, piled in the center of town and burned while I laughed. I want to suffer for the atrocities I have committed."

"Luna...." the Sun Princess said.

Her sister's gaze turned to her coldly, "If you pardon me after I am proven guilty, I will lose all respect for you."

Celestia cringed at those words, "I..."

"Leave, sister. Monsters don't deserve visitors."

The solar diarch's head lowered, "I will respect your wishes, Luna." She turned and left the room, the Element Bearers. More than a few of them looked back at the Princess of the Night worriedly. The black alicorn had curled back up on the floor of her cell, turning her face away from them.

When all of them had gone, only then did Luna drop her guard.

She started to softly cry, tears streaming down her face and teeth gritted in frustration.

Chapter 15

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(Ponyville Market, 2:30 PM)

"You're insufferable, has anypony ever told you that?" Trixie rolled her eyes as she Blue Lily walked through town. After the altered version of the movie had finished, she had put two and two together. Needless to say, she was not amused. They also probably got that teenage colt working the projector fired somehow.

"Multiple times, but you can't say my new ending wasn't interesting." the disguised angel replied, grinning.

"That isn't the point! The original ending was fine!" the showmare retorted.

"Oh sure, an ending where all is forgiven, the mistress gets kicked to the curve, and everypony lives happily ever after. That's totally not boring at all." Blue Lily said sarcastically.

"What's wrong with a happy ending?"

"Nothing really, except when they're unrealistic."

Trixie scoffed, "Trixie never thought that you were one of those types of ponies."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The type who get so obsessed with making sense out of a story that they forget its fiction."

The man in a mare's body looked annoyed by that comment, "So you would forgive a stallion who cheated on you? Not just once and then never again because he felt guilty, but repeatedly?"

"Well, no but-"

"Exactly!"

"Fiction is Escapism! They're fantasies to make us forget about reality, so we have hope for the future."

Lily smirked, "Now who's trying to make sense out of a story that doesn't?"

Her partner huffed, "Only because Trixie is trying to get you to stop doing stuff like that! You just can't use chaos magic whenever you're bored with something to make it more interesting, it's counterproductive! Especially, when you're in disguise."

The blue unicorn cringed, but then smiled, "Why Trixie, we haven't even known each other for a week and you already care about me?"

"Please! Trixie is just keeping her meal-ticket safe from being imprisoned again!"

"Oh my gosh it is her!"

An annoying, nasally voice broke their conversation. Both mares looked to see two colts running up to them. The first was rather short and fat, with a dull teal coat and a spiky orange-brown mane. His cutie mark was of a pair of scissors. The other was the exact opposite in terms of build. He was tall, thin, and lanky. His coat was a dull orange and his mane was green. He had a rather dopey look on his face.

Trixie's expression immediately turned sour upon looking at them.

"Oh joy." She grumbled.

"Its the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Snips exclaimed in awe.

"No duh, kid." Lily commented.

He continued on, "Where have you been all this time? Are you unable to get any jobs because you're a lying fraud?"

"Poor choice of words." the disguised angel thought.

The showmare was already angry just at the sight of them, and that comment just caused her face to turn red.

"Are you two still bumbli-" she began.

She was cut off by her partner putting a hoof on her mouth.

"Calm down and don't make a scene. They're just kids, that excuses some of their stupidity. He obviously didn't mean it that way." Blue Lily whispered.

That seemed to placate her.

"So when are you gonna do another show in Ponyville?" Snips asked, excitedly

"Uh.... Yeah! We want to see you do more magic." Snails added on.

"I thought I was a lying fraud?" Trixie asked sarcastically.

"Well yeah, you are." steam started coming out of the showmare's ears, "But that doesn't mean you don't look cool being a lying fraud!"

The stage magician sneered, "I'm sorry, but thanks to you, Trixie has been laughed out of every town she has tried to perform in. I'm also homeless."

The fat colt frowned, "What did we have to do with that?"

"Oh, Trixie doesn't know. Maybe it was the fact that you brought an Ursa Major-"

"Minor." the others corrected.

"Whatever. The point is you brought a giant monster into this hick town of yours, expecting me to defeat it! When Trixie failed, nopony else would ever take her seriously! It also destroyed my cart, which also doubled as my home!"

Ponies started turning to watch the spectacle in the making.

"Trixie, you're causing a scene like I told you not to." Blue Lily said, but she was ignored.

"We wanted to see you beat it up like you said you could." Snails said.

"Even if Trixie could have defeated it, do you think it would have been without property damage?! Ponies could have died or been seriously injured in the crossfire!"

"Miss Twilight beat it without any of that happening." Snips pointed out.

"She didn't beat it! She just put it to sleep and levitated it away!"

"There you are!"

The crowd all turned to see a rather... large unicorn mare who was obviously Snips' mother. She had buck teeth, a blue mane, yellow coat, and pink eyes. Her cutie mark was of three hair-rollers.

"Snips! What have I told you about wandering off?"

"But Mom," the colt whined, "It's The Great and Powerful Trixie!" he pointed to the mare in question.

Misses Snips turned to glare at her, and Trixie glared right back.

"You! How dare you show your face around here again!" the angry mother shouted.

The showmare scoffed, "It's a free country, Trixie can go wherever she wants!"

"My family is a laughing stock because of the nonsense you put in my son's head!"

"Welcome to the club! If anything, your family is a laughing stock because your son and his friend were stupid enough to go into the Everfree Forest and bring an Ursa back here!"

"What did you say about my boy?!" the mare snarled.

"You heard me tubby!"

A collective "Ooooh" went through the crowd at that comment.

"Snips wouldn't have gone in there if you hadn't filled his head with your lies!"

"So it would have been okay if Trixie could actually beat an Ursa Minor?!"

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Misses Snips.

"So what, you expect Trixie to be boring in her performances? That's not how one draws a crowd! Embellishing one's abilities is all apart of being a stage magician! But I guess nopony in this dirty old town would know anything about showmareship!"

More than a few indignant cries went out. The angry mother looked like she was ready to blow, but then she suddenly calmed down. She had a positively evil look on her face.

She smirked, "You wouldn't have to 'embellish' anything if you were actually good at doing something. But I guess that's why you became a stage magician isn't it? You're not good enough to get a real job."

There was silence at that comment. The crowed started backing away in fear as Trixie's mane caught aflame in her mounting rage.

Blue Lily bravely, or rather stupidly, tried to talk her out of it.

"Let it go Trixie. She's not worth it."

Her partner's head snapped towards her, teeth gritted, "If you try to talk me out of this again I will personally find a way to end you!"

The disguised angel's eyes widened, then she quickly backed away with a squeak, joining the crowed in their fright. Trixie started breathing deeply, eventually putting out her mane. In a few seconds, she mas much calmer. Her glare was just as intense though.

The showmare turned back towards Misses Snips, an evil grin on her face.

"If Trixie is as bad at everything as you say, then what does that say about your fat cretin of a son and mostly everypony else in this town? Logically, they all would have never come to see her show if she wasn't absolutely perfect at what she does? Did you see the size of the crowd I gathered? Doesn't that make you all a bunch of complete idiots if Trixie really is that bad?"

Snips started crying at the insult, his mother holding him and glaring at her. That glare was joined by the glares of many other Ponyville citizens.

"No, maybe it is just your son and his friend. After all, they were the only ones dumb enough to actually believe Trixie and go into the Everfree after her show regardless of whether or not she was lying. Nopony else went in did they? Huh, isn't that strange?"

"At least ponies actually like them." Snips' mother replied.

Trixie's grin turned into a scowl at that, "Ponies like me!"

"NO THEY DON'T!" many members of the crowd shouted.

The showmare's scowl deepened, "Please! You're only saying that because you don't like what I'm saying. Then again, Trixie guesses it's only expected of a town full of ponies who run from stampeding bunnies, heckle performers unnecessarily, and were too stupid to remember Nightmare Moon on that Summer Sun Celebration a year ago, despite the fact that they have a statue of her that foals put candy in front of every Nightmare Night right on the edge of the Everfree."

"I suddenly regret telling her the reason I thought the courts would declare Nightmare Moon and Luna the same pony." Blue Lily thought.

"No, we don't like you because you're mean!" a crowd member shouted.

"Don't I have a right to be after I was made homeless because of the monster those little morons brought here?!"

"They're just kids, you jerk!" another crowd member called.

"Does that excuse them of the consequences of their actions?!"

"They got punished already!" Misses Snips replied

"Oh yeah, how?" she knew already, she just wanted to hear her say it.

The obese unicorn looked uncomfortable at that, "Um.. Twilight Sparkle performed mustache spells on them."

Trixie stared at the mare, then just straight out guffawed. She fell to the ground in her laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You're so incompetent that you let somepony else punish your foal? That's not even a real punishment! So you're a bad parent, in addition to being fat and ugly!"

"Well, Ithinkthat'senoughit'stimeforustogoseeyouponieslaterBYE!" Blue Lily quickly said, grabbing her partner and running away as fast as she could.

"HAHAHA!" The showmare laughed as she was dragged.

(Canterlot, Throne Room, 2: 37 PM)

Princess Celestia and the Element Bearers finally had made it back to the room, the guards closing the large doors behind him. They had walked without speaking, think over the current turn of events.

"Princess Celestia, are you really not going to pardon Princess Luna if she's declared guilty?" Twilight asked, breaking the silence.

The white alicorn sighed, "I.. don't know, Twilight. I just got her back after not seeing her for 1000 years, and for her to spend time in the dungeons little over a year after that is... not something I want to happen."

"At least you'll be able to visit her, right? It's not like she's stuck on the moon like last time." Pinkie Pie said, trying to cheer her up.

"I appreciate the sentiment, but it doesn't make me feel any better." the Sun Princess replied with a frown, sitting back down on her throne.

"Sorry..." the pink pony looked down.

Celestia sighed again, "No, I'm sorry. This is just a stressful time for me, and for you as well I imagine."

"So what can we going to do now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

The solar diarch's face became deathly serious.

"Now, we're going to set a trap."

"What do you mean?" her pupil questioned

"In my letter, I told you the changelings were planning an invasion on the day your brother and Cadence's wedding. Isaac is going to be there, if what you told me about him doing community service is true. He'll likely be helping us fight them off if we don't manage to prevent it beforehand, in an effort to garner good publicity. We're going to capture him by temporarily turning him back to stone with the Elements. After that, I'm going to personally make him regret doing this to my sister."

They all flinched at the venom in their ruler's tone, but nodded.

"I'll go and look up as much information on changelings as possible." Twilight declared.

"That would be very appreciated, but first I need to give you six the Elements to hold onto for safekeeping. Even if Isaac wasn't involved, we would need them to deal with the changelings."

(Everfree Forest, 2:43 PM)

Blue Lily and Trixie panted heavily as they ran into the most dangerous place in Equestria. They came to a stop in the middle of a clearing.

"Are you happy now? They'll be looking for you later!" the disguised angel demanded, glaring at her partner. She would also have to explain this to her 'cousin' when she inevitably heard and asked what she was doing with the stage magician. The two of them were out of breath, gasping in air.

"Oh please, like what you did in the movie theater was so much better." the showmare rolled her eyes.

"Nobody knew it was me except you! You caused a spectacle in broad daylight in front of dozens of witnesses!"

Trixie groaned, but then noticed her location, "Why did you drag us in here of all places?" she started looking around nervously.

"Before you decided to throw a bitch-fit in public, I was going to tell you this is where we need to go next!"

"What could you possibly want that's in this Celestia-forsaken place?!"

"A magical pond that clones whoever looks into it when they speak the required incantation." she replied, completely straight faced.

Her partner looked at her, before busting out into laughter again.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You almost had Trixie for a moment there!"

"I'm serious."

She grew silent then, staring at her fellow blue unicorn with her mouth agape.

"Yep, and I don't think Celestia knows about it."

"H-How do you even?" Trixie sputtered

Blue Lily smirked, and walked right past the showmare,

"I'm just that awesome, that's how."

"Wait up! Do you even know where it is?!" the Scared and Confused Trixie shrieked, running after her.

"Nope, so we're just going to have to look around until we find it. It kind of makes me regret never reading Pinkie Pie's mind, but the past is the past." the ancient evil shrugged.

"What do you even plan on doing once we find it? Building a clone army of yourself ? Because there will only be one of Trixie!"

"Nah, I'm just gonna mess with it a little."

The stage magician sighed, walking right beside the being she had decided to work with.

"This all better be worth it once you're in power."

"Trixie, when have I ever lied to you?"

"She doesn't know, and that's what scares her."

The disguised angel chuckled, but then her eyes widened.

"I forgot something."

"What?! Did you forget to make sure the Princess was securely trapped?!"

"No, I forgot to check on the polar griffons. Hopefully, they haven't gotten into too much trouble wherever they are."

In a flash of golden flames she quickly split herself into two once again, the second body taking on the form of a generic looking pegasus and flying away.

(Canterlot Castle, Hallways, 2:55 PM)

"Your Highness!"

'Cadence' turned to see a guard, running up to her, his eyes flashing green as a signal to his identity. After getting out of bed, she and Shining had went their separate ways. He had gone to finally punish the guards who had left their post at the guards, and she continued to plot her takeover of Equestria.

"What is it?" she ordered, mentally swearing. What could it possibly be now?

"Celestia knows about us, and has given the Elements of Harmony to their Bearers to hold onto." he answered, bowing as he approached her. He was in the room when Twilight Sparkle and her friends were told.

The fake princess paled, then growled in annoyance.

"Does she know who I really am?"

The guard impersonator shook his head.

"Good. Get a few of ours on the train the they will take back to their homes. Tell them to either steal an Element and/or replace one of the wielders. Whichever is less likely to get them caught. Just one of them missing or a Bearer out of place, and the Elements of Harmony are nothing more than a bunch of pretty jewelry." She hoped at least.

"Yes, my Queen. Is there anything else?" the changeling drone in disguise asked.

"Teach everyone who is getting on that train the memory-reading spell. The scroll for it is in 'my' room in the bottom drawer by the window. We have no time to carefully observe the habits of these ponies."

The fake stallion nodded, and ran off to complete his mission.

Chrysalis sighed and started walking again, heading towards the ballroom to finish the preparations for 'her' wedding.

(Canterlot, The Streets, 3:13 PM)

Twilight Sparkle sighed, feeling overwhelmed by everything that was happening. She and her friends had their Elements concealed in their saddlebags. Princess Celestia had told them to leave immediately after handing over the magical artifacts. The six of them wanted to stay and help, but she had told them if the changelings saw them walking around every day they would know something was up. Too bad they didn't know about the one on the room.

"Feeling sad you never got to talk to your brother about you not getting an invitation?" Fluttershy asked in her usual quiet tone.

"Yeah, I had hoped after we got through with whatever Princess Celestia wanted us to do I could find him, but then she told us we had to go quickly and..."

"Twilight, it'll be alright darling. I'm sure your brother was just overwhelmed with the wedding preparations and the threat to the city just as the Princess is." Rarity said, patting her friend's shoulder.

"I know that, but then I remember that Minuette got invited before me. No offense to her, but why wasn't I invited before she was? Did I make him mad at me or something?"

"Did you? I wouldn't really know." the fashionista replied.

"Maybe it's because you probably haven't written to him ever since you moved to Ponyville almost two years ago?" Pinkie guessed.

The purple alicorn's eyes widened, then she facehoofed, "Ugh... That's it! I was so caught up with my friendship reports that I must have never sent him a letter! That's why he's mad at me! I didn't even tell him and the rest of my family that I was moving! Everything just happened so fast after we beat Nightmare Moon and..." she sighed again.

"I must be the worst sister ever." she finished, looking down.

"Hey! No more depressing stuff there sugarcube, we've all had enough of that for one day. What matters is that you know what you did wrong and accept that. Once you do get your invitation, you can come back here and sort all this out. Besides, ah don't think you're the only one to blame for this." Applejack began.

"What do you mean?"

"Princess Celestia had to have told your family you moved to Ponyville, and they haven't sent a letter or visited either." she pointed out.

Twilight froze upon realizing that.

Pinkie Pie blinked, "Wow. That's really screwed up."

"Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash hissed.

"Ur.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

The former unicorn shook her head, "No... its fine. This is something me and my family have to fix with each other. But what if I don't get invited to the wedding?"

None of them had an answer to that.

(Everfree Forest, 3:26 PM)

"Here it is, my partner in crime!" Blue Lily grinned. They were in the section of the forest where the brambles and vines were at their thickest. She was pointing to the hole in the middle of all those pointy things.

"Are you serious?" Trixie grumbled, not looking forward to the prospect.

"Are you being a wimp?" the ancient evil countered.

"Those vines could be poisonous!"

"Trust me, they're not."

"Explain for once how you know these things!" the showmare demanded

The disguised angel rolled her eyes, "I know the general future of this world as it would have been if I had never come to it."

"How?!"

"Here's a hint: Daring Do is both real and fiction." With that, the blue unicorn walked into the vines and brambles. She of course got poked numerous times, but it didn't matter. When it was all over, Lily stood right next to the hole leading to the Mirror Pool. There were thorns in her coat and mane of course, but a quick application of magic got rid of them.

"So are you coming or what?" she asked.

Trixie sighed, and went in next. She let out multiple "Ouch!"s as she worked her way through, coming out on the other side with thorns in her coat and mane.

"Now what?" the stage magician groaned, removing the painful pokers with her own magic.

Blue Lily grinned, and hopped into the hole.

"WHEE!" she shouted, putting her forelegs up like it was a roller coaster.

"Of course." Trixie rolled her eyes and jumped in after her employer.

Her ride was much less smooth.

"Ouch!"

"Oomph!"

"WHY?!"

She kept hitting the top and bottom of the tunnel leading to their prize, eventually sliding out face first into the chamber where it was held. Her fellow blue unicorn was admiring the scenery. The water was a glowing blue, and there was exotic flora coming out of the cracks in the rocks.

"No please, don't help a mare up." she groaned sarcastically, righting herself.

"If you had actually asked me, I would have helped you." the man in a mare's body replied.

"You're supposed to do it, regardless." Trixie muttered, walking up to Blue Lily.

"So what do you plan on doing to it?" she asked.

Her employer conjured up a pair of saddlebags, and pulled a jar out them.

"First I'm taking a sample for later experimentation." the unicorn began, unscrewing the cover. She scooped water into the jar, filling it up as much as possible before putting the cover back on. She carefully placed the jar back into her saddlebags.

"Next, I'm going to try and modify the pool!" she finished with a crazy grin, her horn glowing with chaos magic. She shot a beam into the pool, causing it to slowly turn red from the point of impact outwards. Within a few minutes, the unicorn had finished her work. She cut the flow of power, and the Mirror Pool returned to it's original color in a few seconds.

"Did it work?" Trixie asked.

"Oh yeah it did!" the disguised angel answered, her grin widening.

"What exactly did you do to it?"

"Guaranteed minions the next time a pony tries to use this."

"So you are building a clone army?"

Blue Lily's grin widened even more, looking positively monstrous.

"Sort of, they just won't be ordinary clones when I get through with them."

Chapter 16

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(Train to Ponyville, 4:05 PM)

The Element Bearers were chatting happily as they rode the train back to Ponyville. Well... most of them were. Twilight Sparkle was still thinking about the situation with her family of course. How could she not? It's not everyday you realize that you've never tried to contact your family in almost two years, and they've never tried to contact you in return.

'How could I have forgotten? How could they have forgotten?' she thought, staring out the window. Had she and her family really drifted apart like this? She used to be so close with them, especially Shining!

"Twilight?" someone asked, worry in their voice. The purple alicorn turned to see Spike and the others looking at her with concern.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "You still bummed about your family?"

Twilight wanted to lie and say she was fine, but they would never accept that. "Yeah..."

"Well don't worry Twilight!" Pinkie said, scooching over and putting a foreleg around her friend, "Once we get back to Ponyville, I'm gonna throw you a good old fashioned Cheering-Up Party! Then we're gonna help you make up with them! Right everypony?"

The others nodded with smiles on their faces, and Twilight couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks, girls." she sighed, "It's just... I have no idea where to start."

"Ah think the best place to start would be at the Royal Wedding." Applejack commented.

"Yeah, but what if she doesn't get invited?" Spike asked.

"They have to invite her Spike. Even if they've drifted apart they're still family." Fluttershy replied.

"Okay then, but how is the question? It's not like she can bring up all of this familial drama during the ceremony. Weddings are supposed to be fabulous occasions celebrating the union of two hearts." Rarity gushed, her inner romantic shining through.

"Maybe once she gets her invitation, she can go back up to Canterlot and talk it out with them before the wedding?" Rainbow offered.

Twilight perked up, "That's a good idea, but what do I say? Am I just supposed to walk up to them and say, 'I'm sorry for not sending any letters or visiting you but you haven't done either of those things for me?'"

"Absolutely not, darling! This is a subject needs to be dealt with carefully. You know how you feel, but you don't know how they feel. Talk to them for a while, figure out if they're angry at you or not. If they aren't, then just discreetly take them aside and speak your piece. Then let them speak theirs and see what you can do about this. If they are angry at you though..." Rarity said, unsure of what to say at the end.

"Try not to make a huge scene?" Pinkie offered.

"Yes, that!"

Then, a unicorn stallion in a waiter's uniform walked in pushing a food cart, "Excuse me for interrupting your conversation, but your orders are ready "

They all gave their thanks as the waiter left the cart. The conversation stopped for a moment as they took a few minutes to eat some of their meals. Rarity had ordered a salad and water, ever the weight watcher. Twilight had ordered a daisy and egg sandwich with water. Pinkie Pie had ordered a hayburger and pink lemonade. Spike was munching on some gems he had brought with him and drinking lemonade he had ordered. Fluttershy had also ordered a salad and water. Applejack had ordered an apple fritter with water. Rainbow just had a plate of hayfries.

"Where were we?" Twilight asked.

"Trying not to make a huge scene if your family is angry at you." Rarity answered.

"Look, the point is that worrying excessively about what could be instead of what is, isn't going to help ya Twi." Applejack said.

"I can't help but worry! What if I don't get invited to the wedding because they hate me? What if I do get invited but they ignore me the entire time? What if they disown me?!"

"They won't do that." Spike rolled his eyes.

"How can you be sure?!"

"Okay, I can't be sure," the young dragon admitted, scratching the back of his head, "but you have to calm down. I'm not saying you can't worry, but driving yourself crazy might just give you a heart attack."

"I'm pretty sure Alicorns don't get heart attacks!" Rainbow snickered. Twilight couldn't help but laugh. Soon, everypony was laughing. It wasn't that the joke was funny, because it was pretty lame by Rainbow Dash's standards. They were just happy to be there for each other.

"Hahaha! Thanks girls, I needed that." Twilight smiled genuinely, wiping a tear from her eye.

"No problem! Anytime you need a laugh, just come to me!" Dash puffed out her chest.

"Hey! That's my job!" Pinkie halfheartedly complained with a smile.

"There's no rule saying there can't be two comedians in this group is there?" Rainbow smirked.

"No, I suppose there isn't." Twilight replied, her smile growing. She was so lucky to have such great friends.

(Manehattan, The Harbor, 5:17 PM)

Isaac whistled as he flew over Equestria's counterpart to New York City in the form of a generic pegasus. The buildings weren't nearly as tall, but they were up there. There were no cars, but taxi carriages still had loud horns apparently. It even had it's own Statue of Liberty!

The disguised angel touched down on the docks in front of the ship Kowalski had built to get the polar griffons here. He could see them moving around in the windows. It wasn't surprising, since the ship had also been built to function as their hotel for the duration of their stay in Equestria. He had conjured up some gems that they could exchange for bits to buy stuff with. Isaac walked up to the door into the ship, where two polar griffons were standing guard.

"What is your business here, pony?" one of them asked.

The disguised angel smirked and took a look around. No one was looking. In a flash of golden flames, the stallion's head was Isaac's head. It was a rather disturbing image.

Their eyes widened, "M-Mister Isaac! You can go in sir."

He smiled and turned his head back into a pony's head, "Thank you"

It was good thing they knew he could shapeshift, wasn't it? With that, the former human walked right on into the boat. There were polar griffons walking around, chatting, eating, etc... In a flash of golden flames, Isaac assumed his true form. All of their eyes turned to him instantly.

"Hello, everyone. Did you miss me?" he smirked.

They gasped and ran up to him, seeming to ask a million questions. He put his hands up, silencing them.

"Calm down, please! Before I do anything else, I need to know something. Where are Skipper, Kowalski, Private, and Rico?"

"They went to the capital of this land to talk with the once called Princess Celestia about the trial of Nightmare Moon! We heard that she has escaped her imprisonment. Is this true?" one spoke up.

"Yes, Nightmare Moon did escape." they let out various cries of outrage, "However, you don't need to worry! I put her right back where she belongs!"

They all let out sighs of relief. Too bad they didn't know that 'where she belongs' really meant with Luna.

"I really do need to figure how to placate them once they find out the truth." Isaac thought.

"So are there any problems?"

"None really sir. Many of us have been trying to enjoy this 'city' while waiting for news." another polar griffon spoke up.

"Oh really? Please elaborate." Isaac smiled as they starting talking about their experiences in Manehattan. It felt good to be adored by people, or griffins in this case.

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, 5:25 PM)

Blue Lily sighed as she and Trixie finally made it back inside. Turns out the townsponies were looking for them, and they did not look happy. They had to sneak around without being seen. She could have used magic to disguise them, but after messing with the Mirror Pool the unicorn was running low on energy.

"Where did they even get all those pitchforks and torches? Trixie knows this is a rural town but there shouldn't have been enough to arm everypony!" the showmare commented.

"Maybe they got the town blacksmith has them in excess and took advantage of their anger to make a profit?" Lily shrugged. She placed her saddlebags on the coffee table and plopped down on the couch. Trixie sat down right beside her.

"So... What do we do now?" Trixie asked.

"I dunno. We obviously can't go outside until they cool off. Wanna see if Minuette has any board games we can play?"

The unicorn sighed, "That sounds boring, but it beats sitting around until the middle of the night."

"Alright then. Wanna eat lunch first?"

"That would be nice."

"Anything in particular?"

"A daisy and egg sandwich will suffice for Trixie."

Blue Lily rolled her eyes and got up off the couch. She walked into the kitchen.

That was when she, he, heard them for the first time. Actually, that isn't entirely accurate. It was just the first time he heard them on the same side of the screen.

"Are you sure it's wise to be messing with her?" a female voice asked. She had an English accent.

"Wisdom is subjective, dear sister." a male voice replied, bearing the same accent.

"He will notice if you aren't careful."

The disguised angel froze, and looked towards the door leading to the basement. That was where the voices came from. But how? The door was locked and there were no windows to break into in the basement. Lily took out the key from her mane, and opened the door with a soft click.

"Oh, now look what you've done. He's coming down."

"He wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't started talking."

"Trixie! Get over here! Someone's in the basement!" the unicorn called, assuming his true form. He started walking down the steps.

"Who is it?!" the showmare asked, coming up behind him.

"We're about to find out."

"You could just ask us you know." the female commented, sounding amused.

When they reached the bottom of the steps, they saw the intruders. Both unicorns, one of them was a mare, the other a stallion. The latter of whom was examining the doll house containing Cadence in his telekinetic grip. The mare was examining the Crystal Mirror and the Prototype Mirror.

"But we have a feeling you know we are already," the stallion continued.

"Or at least who we're supposed to represent in your eyes." the mare smirked.

"So tell us if you've heard this question before." the stallion smirked, their expressions eerily similar.

The mare took a coin out of her dress and tossed it to the angel.

"Heads, or Tails?"

(Train to Ponyville, 5:51 PM)

*GRUMBLE!*

The loud sound stopped the conversion, and everypony turned to a blushing Fluttershy.

"Eep! Um, excuse me. I need to use the restroom." the shy pegasus quickly left.

"Ouch, that's gotta be embarrassing." Rainbow commented, wincing in sympathy

"Yep. But now that you mention it, I kinda need to use the mare's room too." Applejack said nervously, excusing herself as she got up to use the facilities as well.

"My stomach feels weird." Pinkie groaned, rubbing it with a hoof.

"Oh dear, do you think there was something in the food?" Rarity asked worriedly.

*GRUMBLE!*

"I don't know! All I know is that I have to go now too!" Spike groaned, running for the restroom.

"Wait for me!" Pinkie said, following after him.

"Pinkie, you're a girl! The mares' room is the other way!" the young dragon told her.

"Oops, sorry!" the party pony turned around and ran that way.

"I'll go talk to the staff about this." Twilight got up with a frown on her face, and left.

Rainbow and Rarity were the only two left. They just stared at each other awkwardly.

"Well one of us needs to stay and watch our bags." Rarity said.

"It isn't going to be me." Dash replied.

"So we need to settle this the fair way..... NOT IT!" Rarity sprinted off, leaving the blue former pegasus to look at her mouth agape.

"Some lady you turned out to be..." Rainbow grumbled, trying to think of something else other than her need to use the restroom.

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, 6:02 PM)

Isaac and Trixie stared at the ponies across from them at the table. Their intruders were just happily eating sandwiches.

"So now that I've made you lunch, are you willing to tell us what you know?" the angel asked.

"Ah, but you never answered our question. You just dragged us away from the mirrors and the Princess." the male replied.

"Forgive me for being wary of you two. I thought it was normal to be cautious of intruders." the ancient evil commented sarcastically.

"You two are technically intruders as well if you haven't realized." the female pointed out.

"Alright then, let's try this another way." Isaac growled. He raised a hand and channeled chaos magic into it, causing it to glow with a scary red aura.

"Stop playing stupid games or I'm going to blast you."

They did not look bothered in the slightest at the prospect.

"One, don't you like to play stupid games with others?" the female asked.

"Two, you know couldn't hit us no matter how hard you tried." the male snorted.

"Three, you won't even try to hit us. That would just make a lot of noise and blow your cover." the female smirked.

Isaac grit his teeth and let the magic dissipate. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the coin, still unflipped.

"Tails." he called and flipped the coin. With a soft thud, it landed on heads.

The stallion smirked and turned to his 'sister', "Told you," then he looked up as if in thought, "although that isn't as satisfying as I imagined it would be."

The mare smiled, "Chin up, there's always next time."

"So know that I've played your game, answer me this. What's wrong in the multiverse?" Isaac asked.

The stallion grinned, "You'll have to be more specific than that. There is always something wrong in multiverse. That comes with it having infinite possibilities and all."

"Okay then. What's wrong in the multiverse in relation to me?"

"Wait a moment, what is the multiverse?" Trixie asked.

The mare turned to her, "Think of it like this, my dear. Imagine one day you wake up to have a bowl of cereal for breakfast. There are two brands. In one universe you choose Brand #1..."

",and in the other you choose Brand #2." the stallion finished, "Every time you make a decision, a new universe is created where you made a different decisions. Or at least that's what the science fiction books will tell you. In reality, probability is what causes new universes to form. In one universe you were born a stallion,"

"and in another, a mare. Anything is possible, thus anything exists." the mare finished with a grin of her own.

Trixie's eyes widened, "Wait, then you're..."

"Yes, they are counterparts to each other! Now would you two mind answering my question?" Isaac snapped.

The stallion frowned, "How rude." he turned to his 'sister', "He really is different from the King isn't he?"

"That comes with being a Villain, brother."

The angel snarled at that comment, "I am not a villain."

"Ah, but you wouldn't have been petrified if you weren't, would you? You also forgot the capital V in 'Villain'." The mare replied.

"Enough! Answer the question" Isaac growled.

"I suppose we've riled him up enough, haven't we? Very well then. Your presence here is the problem." The stallion said.

"You mean in Equestria? Trust me I've tried to leave."

"It's not just you, actually. Multiple people from multiple Earths dropped into multiple Equestrias by an unknown force. Most of them are hostile," the mare began.

"Or are destined to become hostile." the stallion finished.

Isaac thought back to his days reading FIMFiction on Earth before he came to this world. A fad that had started. Stories that began with someone becoming someone else and then getting dropped into Equestria, usually by the manipulations of...

"The Merchant." the angel said, eyes widening.

"What merchant?!" Trixie asked. She was getting really confused now.

"That is the form it likes to take the most, yes." the mare replied.

"How are the Merchant's actions affecting the multiverse? I imagine just dropping some humans into a few Equestrias and giving them superpowers isn't much a of a problem.

"Ah, but you have to figure that out for yourself." the stallion sneered.

"Then why bother telling me anything?!"

"Because the King asked us to." the mare replied.

"WHO IS THE KING?!" Isaac stood up, slamming his hands down on the table, and his eyes glowing red with rage.

The two ponies just smiled and said at the same time, "We think you know who he is already."

And then they disappeared.

(Ponyville Train Station, 6:45 PM)

The sun was setting as the train pulled into the station.

"Finally, we're home!" Rainbow grinned, flying out the train.

"I hope you managed to talk to the staff, Twilight." Rarity said, trotting out.

"I did actually, and managed to get our money back." the purple alicorn replied.

Spike groaned as he walked out, "Let's never eat on that train again."

Applejack was the same, looking rather disgruntled. "Ah hear that. All of use were on the can for at least half an hour!"

"My stomach still hurts." Pinkie complained, rubbing her gut.

The others looked to her in worry, "Do you feel sick?" Fluttershy asked.

"Wait, I think I feel something coming up!"

"Is she going to puke?"

"Somepony get a bucket!

*BELCH!*

Pinkie grinned, "Nope, it was just a burp. False alarm."

Rarity's face scrunched up as she covered her nose, "Dear Celestia, why does it stink so much?!"

Rainbow gagged, "Pinkie, that's disgusting even by my standards."

"That hayburger I ate did taste kind of weird."

"Then why did you eat it?!" Twilight asked.

"I said it tasted weird, not bad."

They all groaned at their friend's response.

"Well, I'm heading home. See you guys later!" Rainbow waved as she flew off.

"I better check on my animal friends. Hopefully they didn't get into too much trouble while I was gone. Goodnight everypony."

The shy ex-pegasus walked off.

"Ah'm gonna go back to Sweet Apple Acres. Cider seasons' starting in two days and Big Mac can't do all of the heavy lifting on is own." Applejack said, leaving as well. The others went through their own goodbyes, until the train station was empty.

None of them were aware of the faker in their midst, and that's just how the changelings liked it.

Chapter 17

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(Tartarus, 8:03 PM)

The Princesses, despite the kindness that they are known for, can be incredibly cruel when they want to be. Imprisoning someone in Tartarus was just one example of this cruelty. The place was dark, dry and depressing. Plus it was guarded by the giant three-headed dog known as Cerberus, who would attack anybody who tried to get in or out other than the the Princesses. The only reason Tirek hadn't died from starvation years ago was that he was just as immortal as an alicorn, and thus did not require food. He was still going to be incredibly weakened by the experience though.

Isaac glared at the empty cage in the center of the prison. He knew all of this from looking over Luna's, or rather Nightmare Moon's memories, and felt it necessary to check and see if the evil centaur was still imprisoned. Obviously, he wasn't. Cerberus wasn't that hard to get by. All Isaac had to do was cast a sleeping spell and the mutt fell down like a sack full of rocks.

"Goddamnit Cerberus..." he grumbled. This could only have happened during that 'Future Twilight' incident. No wonder Ceberus suddenly appeared in Ponyville.

The dog was trying to find Tirek, who had somehow escaped.

In a flash of golden flames, Isaac transformed into a timberwolf and began sniffing the cage. His ears perked up when he caught a whiff of his newest target's scent. The former human turned around and started running for the exit, following Tirek's scent the entire way. He did not feel like dealing with a G1 villain anytime soon, so he would get rid of Tirek before he became a problem.

Plus, that magic absorbing ability sounded very useful...

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, 9:27 PM)

'Blue Lily' whistled as she walked back into her cousin's home. She was wearing saddlebags full of books.

"Trixie, I'm back!" she called out.

"Thank Celestia!" the showmare replied sarcastically from the basement.

The blue unicorn rolled her eyes as she headed downstairs. The two of them had gotten bored playing board games, so she decided to head to the library and check out some reading material. While they had looked over what Minuette had to read, most of it was boring as well.

When she made it downstairs, Blue Lily was greeted to the scene of an unamused Trixie playing solitaire while watching Cadence look miserable in the dollhouse she had been put in. The showmare's ears perked up when she saw the books.

"Did you get what Trixie asked for?" she asked.

Blue Lily grinned and levitated her partner's requests over to her.

"Yep, illusion spellbooks and decent romance novels, all just for you!"

The caped unicorn rolled her eyes and grabbed the books in her own magical aura. "Thanks." Trixie replied, and began reading.

Blue Lily smiled and took out her own reading material. Despite Applejack and Cadence's memories she really didn't know that much about Equestrian history, so she sought to rectify that as soon as possible.

"Let's see... 'The Biography of Star Swirl the Bearded' sounds like a good place to start." she muttered, and opened to the first page. Why not start with one of history's most influential ponies outside of the Princesses?

(Filydelphia, 11:07 PM)

Tirek grumbled as he trudged through the darkened streets, wearing a black cloak to hide his appearance. He had escaped that infernal prison months ago, and had been slowly but surely recovering his strength ever since. Once he was at full-power, all of the world's magic would be his to control. Then he could get revenge on those two damned alicorns who had imprisoned him in the first place, and take over the world.

He smiled a sharp-toothed smile as he saw a nervous-looking unicorn stallion walking across the street. The evil centaur's eyes glanced from side to side. There was nobody else around. Perfect. The centaur discretely turned into an alleyway before the stallion could notice.

Then, he waited. He waited for the stallion to get closer. One he was close enough Tirek would drag him into the alleyway, suck every last drop of magic out of him, and then kill him. Then he'd move onto his next meal, but for now he would wait.

*CLIP CLOP, CLIP CLOP!*

Tirek licked in lips in anticipation as the sound of the stallion's hooves moving grew louder. He could already taste the magic in that pony, just waiting to be eaten.

"Yes.... come closer..." he whispered as quietly as possible, in that raspy voice of his.

*CLIP CLOP, CLIP CLOP!*

He had to be careful though. If he screwed up and this stallion managed to get away, those damned alicorns would find out about his escape and toss him back into Tartarus as soon as possible.

*CLIP CLOP, CLIP CLOP!*

Tirek refused to ever go back there. The silence and darkness were absolutely maddening!

*CLIP CLOP, CLIP CLOP!*

Sweat rolled down his neck in anticipation. Just a few more steps....

*CLIP CLOP, CLIP CLO-*

Now! Tirek pounced, grabbing the surprised stallion and dragging him into the alleyway.

"HELP! SOMEPONY HEL-" the stallion's screams were cut off by the centaur's hand over his mouth. After that he started to struggle, but Tirek was still stronger then him even in his heavily weakened state.

"Shhhh..... Just relax. It will all be over a minute." the ancient evil whispered into his victim's ear. It's not like these ponies needed magic to live or anything, and they wasted it on such frivolous pursuits such as friendship and harmony.

The innocent pony's eyes widened in fear, and he tried to use his magic. Unfortunately, that was exactly what Tirek wanted. The centaur opened his mouth and inhaled, cutting off whatever spell the stallion was going to cast.

Magic flowed like a fountain from the victim's horn and into Tirek's mouth, feeding him. As the stallion's magic was drained away, his physical struggling faded into nothing. The light vanished from his eyes, and his cutie mark disappeared as well. Only when there was no more magic left to drain and the poor pony was unconscious from the drain, did the centaur let him fall to the cold hard ground.

The ancient evil chuckled lowly, " See? I told you it would be over in a minute."

While this stallion's magic was only a drop in the ocean that was his full strength, Tirek appreciated every contribution to his recovery. Now to dispose of him. The centaur raised a clawed hand, prepared to gouge out the poor stallion's throat and dump his body in a nearby trashcan.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." a voice remarked from behind.

If Tirek was a lesser being he would have jumped in surprise, but as he is the centaur just froze with widened eyes. Then he slowly turned around to see who had snuck up on him.

It was bipedal, that was for sure. It was probably also male if the voice was any indication. He was wearing blue pants made of some unknown material, a beige hoodie over a white t-shirt, and sandals. The strange being bore an odd resemblance to a hairless monkey, having pink skin. Mostly hairless to be more accurate. He had red hair on his head, eyebrows, and a full beard. His green eyes looked at him with thinly veiled disgust.

His most distinctive was the large pair of white wings folded against his back.

" What? Who are you?" Tirek asked.

"My name is Isaac, and depending on how you answer the next couple of questions I'm going to ask you, I may or may not be your executioner tonight."

Tirek's eyes widened even further, "You're that Isaac? The Herald of Discord, Master of Chaos?"

The angel hummed in agreement, "I used to be, but not anymore. Since Discord is stuck in stone, I'm free to do whatever I want."

"I.... see." the centaur replied. Damn it all! Why couldn't Celestia keep her other enemies under control?! Tirek clenched his fists in frustration. This being was of alicorn-level strength! He didn't have a chance if he angered him.

"I noticed you drained that poor pony's magic and then you were about to kill him? Might I ask why?" Isaac asked.

The ancient evil sweated, "I've been... imprisoned in Tartarus for many centuries. When I finally managed to escape, I was greatly weakened. I've been recovering my strength by feeding on the magic of the Equestrians ever since."

Isaac rolled his eyes, "Why did you think it was a good idea to do one of the things that got you put in there in the first place?"

Tirek grit his teeth, "Why do you care? You and your master preyed on these ponies just as I ha-"

*THUMP!*

His response was cut off by a hard kick to the face, sending him sprawling into a garbage can. Isaac's eyes grew cold and hard.

"Let's get one thing absolutely straight here. Discord is not, nor was he ever, my master. Got it, small-fry?"

Tirek groaned, "Understood."

"Good boy. But to answer your question, I've decided to turn over a new leaf. No more needless chaos for this guy." Isaac replied.

The centaur grunted as he stood back up, "So you've become one of Celestia's serva-" he stopped talking because of the look the angel was sending him.

"No. If I'm going to be a 'good guy', I'm going to be one on my own terms thank you very much. Plus I don't want to get petrified again."

Tirek eyes narrowed, "I find it hard to believe that Celestia lets you wander about her nation without her approval."

"Oh she doesn't. She's actually searching for me right now, but she was always terrible at playing 'Hide and Seek'."

"Indeed."

"Now, next question." Isaac began, walking towards him. Tirek cringed and backed up into a wall, but to no avail. The angel grabbed him by the neck, and pulled up him to eye-level. The centaur gasped, grabbing at Isaac's arm.

"Why shouldn't I kill you?"

Tirek sputtered, "I-I can help you!"

"Oh, how?" Isaac replied.

"Y-You don't have to force yourself to act against your nature in order to remain free! Together we can defeat Celestia and rule this world!"

The angel chuckled, "What makes you think I need your help? What makes you think I want to share?"

"You were never able to defeat Celestia and Luna even with Discord on your side! I can become even stronger than Discord if I continue to feed on magic! Besides, everyone needs a.... friend to look out for them." Tirek answered.

For a moment, it seemed to the centaur like Isaac was considered. He didn't answer immediately, and looked like he was actually considering his offer. Tirek mentally sighed in relief. Once this fool helped him return to his full strength and the Princesses were dealt with, he would feed on his magic. Then, the world would be hi-

"hahahahaha....."

"Oh damn it." the centaur thought.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! A-Are you fucking serious?! That was the weakest attempt to manipulate me I've ever heard. God you're pathetic!" Isaac howled.

He knew all along?! "T-Then why did you bother to-"

*THUMP*

Tirek's question was cut off as the angel slammed him into the wall, his grip tightening around his neck to the point where he could no longer breathe.

Isaac chuckled. It was a low, dark, menacing chuckle.

"Because you're dealing with a sadistic bastard who likes to play with his prey when he has the time for it."

"P-Please! Mercy!" Tirek sputtered.

The angel's smile dropped from his face, "Were you ever merciful to those you preyed on a thousand years ago? I doubt it. If Celestia and Luna had found you, they would have just tossed you back into Tartarus."

Isaac raised his other hand, which had begun glowing with dark red chaos magic.

His smile returned, "I believe in more permanent solutions to problems. Goodbye!"

Tirek's eyes widened, "N-"

*SKLITCH!*

When the poor stallion woke up the next morning, his magic was returned and he had no memory of getting attacked.

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, Basement, 5:00 AM)

Isaac and Trixie stood in front of the Crystal Mirror. Minuette had come home, eaten dinner with her 'cousin', and subsequently went to bed.

"What do you mean Trixie can't go?! She helped steal this mirror!" the showmare complained, glaring at her employer.

"Your counterpart attends the school on the other side. There's a huge chance you'll meet her, or someone she knows which will make people ask questions." the angel replied.

"What about you?"

"I'm not native to the 'pony-section' of the multiverse, remember? I have a much lower chance of running into another version of me than you do."

Trixie grumbled.

"Plus, you won't be able to use magic as a human unless I do something to you." Isaac pointed out.

"Why would you be able to use it? Doesn't the mirror alter whoever goes through it?"

"It does, but not in the way most people think it does. I think, emphasis on think, that the mirror alters the user's body to match their counterpart on the other side. Your counterpart is a teenager, while you're an adult. In a timeline where I never came to Equestria, Twilight Sparkle would have become a teenage human when she went through the mirror despite her actual age. Since I probably don't have a counterpart on the other side, it shouldn't change me. If it does change me and I can't use magic on the other side, I'll come back and tell you."

Trixie sighed, "Fine, but Trixie is going with you when we use the other mirror."

Isaac nodded, "That's fair. Now to get my other body here..."

*FWOOM!*

In a flash of golden flames, a second Isaac appeared. Unlike the one that was in the room before, this Isaac was wearing a strange, triangle-like necklace.

The showmare raised an eyberow, "Where did he-Trixie meant you, get the necklace?"

"I stole it from an ancient evil that Twilight Sparkle accidentally let out of Tartarus." both bodies said at the same time.

Trixie opened her mouth, then closed it.

"You know what? Trixie doesn't want to know right know."

"That's probably for the best."

With that, both bodies fused into one in flash of golden flames. Isaac cracked his knuckles and rubbed his hands together with a grin.

"Now to open the portal!"

The angel faced the mirror and placed a hand on it. He took a deep breath, and focused. He looked for the connection Equestria and this other world. Isaac started glowing a deep, burning red. He used chaos magic to latch onto the connection, and then strengthened it. The mirror was soon shaking and glowing red as well. He grunted in exertion. The angel was close, and he could feel it. Just a little more.... and!

*VWOOM!*

In a burst of red light Isaac had disappeared, leaving Trixie standing in awe.

(Canterlot High School, 5:00 AM)

"WOAH!" Isaac shouted, as he fell out of a statue. Thank god there was nobody here to see that. He groaned as he rubbed his head and stood up. He looked up the sky. The sun was just starting to rise. Then he looked in front at the building before him. Yep. Definitely a High School. Now for the important part.

Isaac looked over his shoulder and grinned. His wings were still there. Then closed his eyes and looked inside of himself. In a flash of golden flames, his wings had disappeared, leaving him with the appearance of a normal human being. His grin widened. Magic was still an option.

He chuckled and said to himself, "Sunset Shimmer, you're going back to Equestria whether you want to or not."

Chapter 18

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(Canterlot High School, Cafeteria 10:37 AM)

"Dear god, this is boring." Isaac thought, having transformed himself into a fly. He was currently hanging on top of the ceiling. Because he didn't know Sunset's schedule, he was forced to wait until her inevitable lunch period came.

He had been here for over five hours already. He would have messed around on the computers in the library to alleviate his boredom, but then there was the chance that he could miss Sunset. So he stayed on the ceiling, trying to drown out the meaningless chatter of the teenagers below him. High school sucked, and one of the happiest moments in his life was his high school graduation. No more shitty school food, no more of the same stupid people every fucking year, and no more patronizing teachers. Well there was one thing he missed about high scho-

"I'm telling you Flash, you're either a complete moron or have balls of steel to be dating Sunset Shimmer." one boy said to the other across the table.

"Oh come on, she isn't that bad." the other boy, now named Flash replied. He had light, yellow-orange skin and spiky blue hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket over a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

"Dude, do you remember what she did to the girl who ran against her in the Fall Formal?"

"Ah, Flash Sentry. Also known as Brad, Gary Stu, and Waifu-Thief to the brony community." Isaac thought. He would have grinned if he wasn't a fly right now. Surely, Sunset's boyfriend would know her schedule!

That last thought stopped him. He had read the Equestria Girls prequel comics. Sunset Shimmer had to be at least a teenager when she left. Twilight Sparkle was in the background of one of the panels as a filly, with no cutie mark. So Sunset has been in this world for at least a decade. Did her dating Flash Sentry, a teenager in this universe, make her a pedo?

"Nah!" Isaac thought, shaking his head. There was no way she was actually attracted to Flash. There was the age gap, and the fact that Sunset was actually a unicorn. She was probably going out with him for popularity or something. Of course that begged the question of why she wanted to be popular in the first place. Eh, he'd ask her when they finally met.

Now where was he? Ah yes! Looking over Flash's memories for Sunset's schedule. It wouldn't be impossible to do so as a fly, just a lot harder. He had to be as close as possible to the target's brain for the spell to work correctly. Isaac buzzed down towards the guitar-playing teen, resting in in his spiky blue locks. Now he just had to get to the boy's scalp....

"Uh, Flash? There's a fly in your hair." the other boy said.

"What? Oh thanks, Norman." with that Flash brushed him off with a hand, sending the angel-in-fly-form flying back.

"Damn it all!" he swore mentally. Ugh, time to try again. He flew down low where nobody could see him.

"Is it gone?" Flash asked.

"Yep." Norman replied.

"Not for long." Isaac thought. He slowly, but surely crept back up Flash Sentry's back. He made sure not to let the other boy see him. Once he reached the boy's neck, he hopped back up into the forest that was his hair, and touched down on the boy's scalp.

"Bingo!" he gloated with a mental grin. Now for Flash's memories... With a healthy dose of magic, the angel reached into the boy's mind and brought up everything he could.

"So as I was sayi-GERK!" Flash Sentry began, only to fall over unconscious.

"Flash?! FLASH!" Norman said, running over to his fallen friend. People nearby stopped their conversations and gasped. In a few minutes there was a crowd gathered around the unconscious teen. Meanwhile, Isaac flew back up to the ceiling.

"So Sunset's lunch period is the one after the next? Perfect." he thought. All he had to do now was wait...

(Ponyville, Minuette's House, 11:03 AM)

Trixie peered out of the door leading to the basement. She looked to the right. Nopony there. Then she looked to the left. Nopony there either. The showmare grinned. All clear. She walked into the kitchen, a jar containing a sleeping Princess Cadence in her hooves. The unicorn looked through the cabinet, finding a box of Happy-Os cereal. She poured herself a bowl of that cereal. Then she took out some orange juice, and sat down at the table.

"Ah! What a glorious morning to be The Great and Powerful Trixie!" the showmare sighed in bliss, holding up a spoon.

Cadence grumbled, having been awakened by the unicorn's loud voice. She blearily opened her eyes, and cringed at the sunlight coming in through the window. The miniature ex-alicorn looked around. Then she remembered her situation.

She sighed, "Can I have breakfast?"

Trixie nodded, "But of course!"

With that, the showmare poured the Princess a smile pile of Happy-Os. Cadence looked at it and sighed again. At least her new kidnappers fed her better than the changelings, although that wasn't saying much.

Trixie raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

The pink mare gave her captor a "are you fucking serious?" look. The Princess chuckled bitterly, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe its the fact that you're holding me against my will? It could also be that your boss has transformed me into various humiliating forms, most recently this." she said gesturing to herself, "Or, what about the fact that my home is going to be invaded on the day of my wedding, and you're not going to do anything to stop it because you want to use it as a diversion to steal something?!"

The showmare cringed, feeling a pang of guilt, but then frowned at that 'your boss' comment. "Wait just a moment there! Isaac is not Trixie's boss!"

Cadence glared up at her, "Really, after all that and what you pick up on is-" Then she caught herself as she realized something. This mare has a huge ego, if how she reacted to the boss thing and her constant referral to herself in the third pony was any indication. She could work with that. She just might be able to trick her into freedom!

After all, to be a Princess of Equestria, one must also be a good politician.

"Now let's hope Aunt Celestia's lessons payed off." she thought. She never liked manipulating ponies, and her Aunt held the same sentiment. In this situation however, it was justified.

"Well then what are you?" Cadence asked.

"Partners!" Trixie answered, glaring down at her.

Cadence put on look of confusion, "Really? From my position it definitely looks like he's your boss. Isaac gives you orders, and you follow them. He also seems to be only one with ideas between you two."

Trixie gritted her teeth, "I'll have you know it was Trixie's idea to not leave you in the caves under Canterlot!"

Cadence raised an eyebrow, "Sure there's that, but what are you getting out of this 'partnership'? You know he's a wanted criminal, and the moment ponies find out that you're working with him, so will you."

"Trixie is going to become Isaac's Royal Advisor when he becomes a King!"

The pink mare snorted, "So what, he's planning to take over Equestria? That hasn't work out so well for everypony else whose ever tried it in the past. What makes you think Isaac will be any different?"

"For one thing, he doesn't want to take over Equestria! He plans on overthrowing a dictator in some other nation!"

So he didn't want to take over Equestria? That was good news Cadence supposed.

"Fine, but if you were really partners then he wouldn't make you just a Royal Advisor. Partnership is about equality. Why are you settling for Royal Advisor instead of a Queen?"

"For that, I'd have to marry him you idiot!" Trixie hissed.

"So? I doubt that he'd take it to mean that you're actually in love with him or something. There are plenty of..." this next part went against everything she stood for as the Alicorn of Love, but desperate times called for desperate measures. "ugh, successful marriages with no love between the ponies involved." she finished, almost gagging at the end.

The showmare scoffed, "That's surprising coming from the so-called 'Alicorn of Love'. Aren't you supposed to take marriage seriously?"

"Of course I do, but as much as I want to make other ponies' love-lives my business I can't. Not unless they let me, and I doubt you'd let me. Plus, even if Isaac's plan works the two of you will still be criminals in the eyes of Equestria! You'd basically be banishing yourself! You'd never be able to see your family again! What would they even think of you?!"

"Trixie's family never cared about her anyway." the blue unicorn replied bitterly.

"Then what makes you think he'll keep his end of the bargain? What makes you think he'll be a better ruler than the one he overthrows if he does keep his end of the bargain? Aunt Celestia has dealt with him for much longer than you have. She petrified him for a reason, you know. Mothers use stories of what he's done to ponies to scare their foals into behaving!" Cadence retorted.

Trixie stopped at that comment. How did she know Isaac would keep his end of the bargain? She had been doubting the truth of his words, but the idea of getting the fame and fortune she so rightly deserved had admittedly clouded her judgement. Discord hadn't changed after a thousand years in stone, so why would his 'friend' be any different? Because he said he was sorry? Anypony could give an apologize and not mean a word of it. She herself hasn't meant half of the apologies she's been forced to give in life! If he was sorry, then why the elaborate plan?

If he was sorry, then why didn't Isaac just submit to Princess Celestia after Discord freed him and let her decide what to do with him next?

Cadence grinned as she saw the showmare actually consider her words. If she was lucky, she'd be out of here before Isaac got back from the world on the other side of the Crystal Mirror!

(Canterlot High School, 11:30 AM)

Isaac mentally grinned as he saw Sunset Shimmer strut in like she owned the place, with Snips and Snails's human counterparts following behind her like the loyal dogs they were. Students cleared a wide path for her as she walked to her table, a few of them jumping away in fear when she looked at him. He watched her chuckle at their reactions.

"Target Acquired." he thought. As he was still a fly, Isaac buzzed down off the ceiling and out of the cafeteria. He flew through the hallways until he reached an empty classroom.

In a flash of gold flames, he turned into a teenage human version of himself. He was shorter, lacked facial hair, and obviously lacked the wings his true form had.

"Showtime." Isaac said to himself, grinning as he walked out of the classroom and back into the hallways. He grinned wider as nobody spared him a passing glance. To them, he was just another student. Maybe someone they haven't seen around before, but certainly not an ancient evil from another dimension!

He hummed as he strolled forward, thinking over what he was going to saw to Sunset Shimmer. He joined the flow of students entering the cafeteria, and when he was finally inside he looked for his target.

Sunset was eating by herself at a table, everyone else staying as far away from her as possible. Well, alone wasn't entirely there. Snips and Snails were there, serving her like waiters. Incompetent waiters, but still.

As Isaac was about to approach her, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Woah there partner. You don't want to do that." a familiar voice said.

Isaac turned to see Applejack's human counterpart looking at him in concern.

"Why not?" he asked. Of course he already knew why, he just wanted to hear her spin on it.

"You're new here, right?" she asked. He nodded and let her turn him around.

"That's what ah thought. Ah haven't seen ya around before, so ah can't blame ya for not knowin'. That there is Sunset Shimmer, the meanest person in school."

"I've heard her reputation, but I've always been one to see things for myself. Besides, she can't be that bad, can she?"

Applejack shook her head, "Ah know it sounds crazy, but she is. Sunset is pure evil. The last time someone went against her, they got beehive stuck in their clothes."

Isaac raised an eyebrow, "Surely you're joking. If someone did that at my old school, they'd get expelled in an instant."

"The thing is sugarcube, nobody can tell on her. She's got some serious blackmail on a lot of people here. Teachers, students, the works. Those people do what she says, and that stuff stays quiet. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna know she's a rotten egg, but nobody's willing to talk to them about her and they've never caught her in the act."

"Really, nobody is willing to go to them about her? I find that hard to believe."

Applejack poked him in the chest, "Believe it. If Sunset doesn't have anything to blackmail ya with, then she'll get some guys on the football team to bully ya into keeping yer mouth shut. She's got info that the varsity captain does NOT want getting out anytime soon. If that doesn't work, she'll have those two rats named Snips and Snails stir up trouble and then frame you for it."

"You mean those two guys who follow her around? They don't look very smart. I doubt they'd make any convincing evidence to frame someone with."

"You'd think that, but they're very good with Photoshop."

Isaac stopped her from taking him any further, "I'm sorry, but this is like something out of fiction. I've got to see this for myself."

He turned around and walked back towards Sunset.

"But ya don't understa-" Applejack began, only to cut herself off with a shake of her head. "Oh who am ah kidding? No one believes anything about Sunset on their first day here." she sighed, "There goes another transfer student."

Isaac continued forward to Sunset's table, ignoring the whispers of the other students as they watched him approach the girl that had terrorized them these past few years.

Snips's human counterpart immediately jumped in his way, "Sunset wants to eat alo-" he began, only for the angel in human form to shove him out of his way.

"Out of my way, Fatso." he remarked. Then Snails jumped in from of him.

"Uhhh..... Su-" Isaac give the slow-witted boy even less time to speak, pushing him aside.

"Same to you, Retard."

Then Isaac made his way to Sunset herself. She had to have noticed what was going on, but she was still eating her sandwich.

"Hey." he said.

No response. She was still eating her sandwich. She probably thought he was just another helpless teenager she could push around whenever she wanted.

"I'm talking to you." he continued.

Still no response. Actually, she seemed to be eating her sandwich slower just to annoy him. Cute.

*SLAM!*

The cafeteria went deathly quiet as he slammed his hands down on the table, right in front of her.

Sunset swallowed, put down her sandwich, and gave him a look so intense it would have cowed lesser beings.

"What do you want?" she asked, glaring.

"What I wanted to see is if you lived up to your reputation. Now that I see you up close, I have to say... you're kind of disappointing."

Sunset looked at him as if he was a worm, "Oh really. Do you want to see what I can do to you?"

Isaac grinned, "Yes actually. I want to know what Princess Celestia's former student is capable of."

She paled at that sentence, while everybody else who had heard just became confused.

His grin widened.

"Now, can we talk in private or do I have to make a scene?"

Chapter 19

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(Canterlot High School, Cafeteria, 11:30 AM)

Snips scratched the back of his head, "Uh, I know Principal Celestia is hot and all, but I wouldn't really call her a Prince-"

"Shut up Snips." Isaac and Sunset Shimmer said at the same time. They then blinked and looked at each other. Isaac smirked and Sunset glared at him.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The disguised angel hummed, "I don't know if I should. If I told you, you might freak out a bit. What I will tell you is that I don't work for your old teacher."

Her eyes narrowed, "Then why are you here?"

"I just wanted to meet you, and ask you a couple of questions. As I said before, are we going to talk in private or do I have to make a scene?"

Sunset scoffed, "You wouldn't." Not in front of all these witnesses. What could he possibly do to her anyway?

Isaac leaned in close so only she could see his face, "Oh yes I would, because unlike you, I can still use magic. You wouldn't want me to get a little bit.... destructive, now would you?" he whispered the last part, making his eyes glow an eerie red for emphasis.

"Oh damn it!" she thought as her eyes widened, "Snips, Snails! Excuse us for a moment."

The ancient evil smirked as Celestia's ex-protege stood up, "Follow me."

With that, the two of them left the Cafeteria. This caused the students to break out into chatter over what just happened.

(Canterlot High School, Hallways, 11:35 PM)

The two of them stopped walking when they reached the empty classroom that Isaac had used to assume his human form. He opened the door for her with a smile.

"Ladies' first." he said. Sunset growled, her fists clenching in agitation as she walked inside. The disguised angel soon followed in after her, closing the door behind them.

"What do you want?" the mare in-a-teenager's body asked, arms folded. Damn it! She was absolutely helpless against this guy, whoever he was. For whatever reason he still had his magic after going through the portal.

He smiled again, "All in due time. But first, allow me to apologize for being so rude. I'm on a tight schedule you see, so I don't have time to take things slowly. You wanted my name, correct?"

In a flash of golden flames, he had resumed his true form, wings and all.

"My name is Isaac, the former Herald of Discord."

Sunset paled even more so, taking a step back in fear. She had heard the stories growing up of course, but she had never believed them until now. There was a living legend in front of her, and she was completely defenseless.

His smile widened at her reaction, "My first question for you is, what do you want out of life?"

The transformed unicorn blinked, her fear temporarily forgotten due to the sheer unexpectedness of the question.

"Umm... what?" was all she could say.

"What I mean is, what did you hope to accomplish by going through the mirror? I've heard second-hand accounts from others, but I want to hear your side of the story."

Sunset blinked. She thought back to her last few months in Equestria, and a scowl reappeared on her face.

"You want to know? Well then here it is. Years ago back in Equestria when I was still Celestia's student, she showed me the Crystal Mirror. When she asked me what I saw in the mirror, I told her the truth. I told her I saw a beautiful, powerful, genius unicorn. Somepony who could become an Alicorn and rule all of Equestria! When I started seeing something strange, Celestia took me away from the mirror. Over the next few weeks, that was all I could ever think about. Of course I wanted to know what it was that I saw, but anytime I brought up the mirror all she'd say is 'you'll learn more about it when you're ready'." she began, doing an exaggerated impression of Princess Celestia at the end.

"Well I was ready, but she was just holding me back as usual. So I started researching the Crystal Mirror behind her back. And what I learned about it was very interesting. There's the obvious fact that it was a portal to this world, but did you know it was created by Starswirl the Bearded? Centuries ago, he and Celestia used mirrors like it to go to all sorts of alternate versions of Equestria! It was amazing!" she folded her arms.

"Celestia found out of course, and we got into an argument. I asked to be turned into an Alicorn like I deserve to be. You want to know what she said to me? She said that being a Princess must be earned, and then said I wasn't her student anymore! Tch, that was fine. I had already learned everything I needed to from her. When she tried to have the Royal Guards escort me out of the castle, I overpowered them and went through the mirror." then she looked down at herself.

"I came out of the statue in front of the school, looking like this. I thought the mirror lead to somewhere important. A place where I could get the power and recognition I deserve. But it turned out that she lied to me. Why show me the stupid mirror if it didn't go anywhere important?!" she yelled, finishing her speech.

Sunset absolutely hated it here. She had to go through puberty again as an entirely different species. She came out of the mirror as a child, so she was immediately snatched up by the authorities and put into an orphanage when they learned she had no family. She had to go through public schooling, and worst of all was the complete lack of magic anywhere. The only saving grace was the fact that the technology here was much more advanced than in Equestria.

Normally she wouldn't have shared information like this with anyone, but Isaac could have killed her if she didn't answer.

Sunset sighed, "And now you know." she folded her arms and glared at him, "So what n-"

Her eyes widened as she looked at the angel in question. Isaac was hunched over, trying to stop himself from laughing. Judging from the look on his face, he wasn't having much success.

He snickered, "Hehehehe-T-that's it? You got mad that Celestia wasn't going as fast you wanted, and didn't do what you wanted her to? Hehehehe! You sound like a spoiled foal throwing a temper tantrum because her parents didn't buy her that toy she wanted!"

Sunset's glare returned in incredible force, "Excuse me?!"

Isaac wiped a tear from his eye, "I'm sorr-wait, no I'm not! That's exactly what it sounds like!" Did she really not get how big being able to go to alternate dimensions, no matter how "boring" they may be is? He wondered why Celestia even took her on as a student in the first place, aside from her magical potential. Did she think she could change her attitude in time for Nightmare Moon?

She resisted the urge to punch him in the face, out of the fear that he would kill her in retaliation. But boy was it looking more and more worth it as this conversation went on...

"So what? You came here just to judge me?!" she spat out.

His laughter died down, "Hehehe... No, not really. I just didn't expect your view of what happened to be so... childish. No, I've still get more to ask you."

She scowled, "What is it?"

"You shouldn't frown so much, you'll get wrinkles early. Anyways, what I want to know next is.... What are you going to do now? It'll have been thirty moons since you left Equestria about a year from now, and the portal will reopen naturally. I forced my way in with chaos magic by the way. What then?" he asked.

"That depends on whether or not you care about what happens to Equestria."

"Oh, I don't. I'm getting as far away from Celestia and the Element Bearers as I can. I don't want to get petrified again." a lie, but he wanted her to answer honestly.

Sunset nodded, "My plan is to steal the Element of Magic, bring it back here, use it's power to enslave the entire student body, and use them as my army when I take over Equestria!" she said, puffing out her chest at the end.

Isaac opened his mouth and looked as if he was going to say something in protest. Then he closed his mouth, turned around, and started snickering again.

"O-Oh my god." He chuckled, covering his mouth to prevent laughter from coming out.

The former unicorn growled, "What's so funny?!"

"Your plan.... It's so bad!" he managed to get out, before descending into snickers again.

"How is it bad?!"

The angel quickly regained his composure and turned back around to face her.

"One, the Elements of Harmony choose their bearers. How do think the Element of Magic will react if someone other than it's chosen tries to use it's power? What if it decides to reduce you to a smoking crater? That's assuming anything will happen it all."

Sunset frowned, she hadn't thought of that. "Well-"

He cut her off, "That's also assuming you'll be able to steal it in the first place. Celestia's been beefing up security around Canterlot ever since I got free."

She didn't know that, but her plan wasn't impossible! "I-"

He cut her off again, "Even if you're able to successfully steal it and use it's power to enslave the entire student body, what do you think is going to happen after you get them all through the portal? They'll be transformed into ponies and will need time to get used to their new bodies. Plus, they're all teenagers. Hardly an effective fighting force."

Isaac may put down the Royal Guards a lot, but even they could deal with something like that easily.

That... made a lot of sense, but still! "Wai-"

Her cut her off once more, "In addition, you know Celestia is going to send someone after you if you somehow manage to steal the Element of Magic. Probably the Element Bearers themselves. What if they take it back before you can try and use it's power? Odds are they're going to blast you into stone just like they did Discord."

"I..." Sunset looked down. As much as it hurt her ego to admit it, her plan sucked. Why didn't she think of all that?

Isaac grinned as she actually considered his words. While in actuality her plan would have almost worked if things went according to canon, he liked to poke holes in other people's logic.

"By jove, I think she's finally getting it!" he said.

She glared up a him, "No need to rub it in! Is that all you wanted to know, or are you just going to make fun of me more?!"

He chuckled, "A few more things, dear. What are you going to do now? Considering I just pointed out all the reasons why your plan won't work and all."

Sunset looked completely lost. What would she do now? At this point, all that was driving her was her goal of revenge on Celestia and conquering Equestria. Now that her plan had been ripped to shreds right in front of her eyes, what was left?

"I... don't know." she finally admitted, sitting down on a desk.

The angel hummed, "You could always return to Equestria, make up with Celestia, and reunite with your family? I'm sure they miss you."

She clenched her fists, "Never." She still hated Celestia for holding her back, and her family.... she doubted they even noticed she was gone.

"Then what are you going to do? I can tell you hate living here as well." he pointed out.

"I DON'T KNOW, OKAY?!" she shouted at him, standing up again. She almost looked as if she was going to cry, Isaac noted.

He chuckled, "Well then. Do you still want power and to rule Equestria?"

"Yes." she said firmly. At least that was clear to her.

"Then say by some miracle that hare-brained scheme of yours actually worked. Do you really think you can be a better ruler than Celestia, who has millennia more experience than you do?"

"Yes!" she said more firmly. She knew it deep down inside that she could be better than that lying, two-faced ex-teacher of hers...

"There would be rebellion you know. The ponies of Equestria wouldn't take kindly to a sudden change in management. If you tried to force them to obey you, they'd just rebel harder. Plus, many of Equestria's allied nations would help the rebels get Celestia put back on the throne. I doubt you could withstand their combined onslaught."

Sunset cringed, sitting back down. "I-I..." What was wrong with her? She shouldn't be getting all worked up from just a few words damn it!

"And, I doubt Celestia or Luna would tell you about the spell they use to move the Sun and Moon. No matter how much you tortured them, assuming you have the stomach for that. They've never written it down because they don't want to risk someone like you gaining control of the celestial bodies. Any attempts at getting inside their heads also fails because their wills are too strong. Celestia has only taught the spell to one other pony, and that's Princess Cadence. She'd never give it up to you either. Since you wouldn't be able to move the celestial bodies, that would get everyone, even Equestria's enemies on your butt. Nobody wants an eternal night on one side of the planet, and an eternal day on the other. Your 'rule' would fall within the year. You'd probably spend eternity banished to the moon or petrified."

Sunset started tearing up, "I.... I..." She broke out into full-blown crying, sobbing into her hands.

Isaac smiled, and in a flash of golden flames he was in his human disguise again. He walked right by her, patting her on the head as he left the classroom.

He left her with this remark, "Like I said, a spoiled foal."

He walked past a gobsmacked Snips and Snails, who were of course eavesdropping. He doubted anybody would believe them if they squealed, assuming they got over their new found fear of him. He'd be gone from this world by the end of the day anyway.

(Canterlot High School, Cafeteria, 11:42 AM)

Isaac whistled as he walked back into the lunchroom, to the wide-eyed stares of everyone inside. Nobody moved or said anything as he walked over to and sat down at what used to be Sunset's table.

Then a mob of teenagers rushed over to him, loudly asking questions.

"What the heck happened?!"

"Where's Sunset Shimmer?!"

"What did you do?!"

These were some of the questions he heard getting asked over and over again. Eventually, Applejack's human counterpart forced her way to the front of the move.

"Move aside, move aside y'all! Let the guy breathe!" she said. People obeyed, and the noise died down to whispers. Applejack looked at him with wide eyes.

"Now seriously sugarcube, what the FUCK just happened?" she asked.

Isaac smiled, "Me and Sunset just talked for a while. Unfortunately, what I had to say left her in tears."

They went silent again.

"No way!" he heard a familiar voice call from the back. Was that Rainbow Dash's human counterpart?

"Uh... Believe it." Snips said, and everyone turned to him and Snails as they walked into the cafeteria with thousand-yard stares on their faces.

Isaac's smile grew wider, "She shouldn't be a problem for you guys any longer."

The silence was deafening. Everyone just couldn't believe that the girl that had terrorized them for so long was reduced to tears by just a few words.

"THREE CHEERS FOR THE NEW GUY!" Rainbow Dash's voice called out, breaking the silence.

Cheers broke out across the room as they dragged him out of his seat and tossed him up and down like a rock star, much to his amusement. He knew they would be happy that Sunset was no longer bothering them, but he never imagined they'd be this happy.

"HIP HIP HURRAY!"

"WE'RE FREE!"

"PLEASE GO OUT WITH ME!"

Isaac grinned at their cheers.

"All that's left to do here is deal with the Sirens I found out about in Starswirl's biography, and then I can go back to Equestria." he thought. Of course he'd wait until the lunch period ended. Mainly not to be suspicious, but also because....

Well, he never was the type of guy to turn down an adoring public.

Chapter 20

View Online

(Canterlot High School, Cafeteria, 12:00 PM)

*RRRRRRRRRRRINNNGG!*

The loud sound of the bell rung throughout the school, signaling the end of the lunch period.

Isaac grinned, "Sorry ladies, I've got to get to my next class."

He looked at the group of admirers that had suddenly sprung up when word got out about what he'd done to Sunset Shimmer. They looked sad.

"Aww... Come on, please?"

"It's your first day, you can afford to be a little late!"

"Yeah, what she said!"

He shook his head, "Like I said before, I'm sorry. But you're looking at a guy who prides himself on being punctual!"

The disguised angel stood up and walked away, hearing the swoons of the teenage girls behind him.

"He's so dreamy..." they said.

"Thank god that's over! I was drowning in jailbait!" he thought, mentally sighing in relief. That was incredibly awkward. He was old enough to be their great-great-great-great-great-great-great.... Well you get the idea.

"Now to find the Sirens." he continued mentally, greeting all of the people who came up to him. It seemed he was already well-known across the school.

Now, how to go about looking for them? Unlike Sunset they didn't have a set location. They've probably been wandering all over this planet for the past thousand years. He had no idea as to where to start looking. Perhaps he could split into multiple bodies and go around sensing for any artificially generated emotions? To explain, anything with the ability to sense emotions can tell when they're genuine and not magically induced, by things like a love potion or a siren's voice.

"But that would only work while they're feeding." he thought. What next? He could always sense for magic, an ability he recently gained from physical contact with Tirek.

"But I don't have any experience actually using it." he continued, grumbling mentally. Without experience, he'd have accuracy trouble. The most he'd be able to get is a general direction of where his targets were. Isaac regretted not looking over the evil centaur's memories, but he wanted to deal with him before he had the chance to try anything funny. However, searching for their magic would still the most effective way of searching for them. He could do that regardless of whether or not he was feeding.

"Assuming they still have magic to preserve their immortality. If they don't they'd be long dead by now, and I would be wasting my time." he finished angrily. Although, if Starswirl used a spell instead of a mirror to banish them here, that means he was still in the early stages of developing interdimensional magic. The unicorn knew the spell he used was incomplete, but he probably didn't care if these Sirens had their powers in this world, just so long as they didn't bother Equestria. That made Isaac wonder why ponies were so adverse to killing their enemies? Even when they really deserved it in his opinion.

"Although if they weren't, Celestia and Luna would have killed me ages ago and I wouldn't be here now." he finished mentally. That was one benefit to their ideology. Of course they still killed their enemies when at war, but otherwise they tended to really not like doing it. Capital punishment was made illegal just before he was even petrified!

As much as he gloated, Isaac really could die someday. They'd just have to exhaust his magic supply in a fight. That way he couldn't use chaos magic to avoid attacks and warp away injuries.

"Hi!" a familiar voice suddenly said behind him.

"GAH!" the angel jumped, falling over again in surprise

*THUMP*

He groaned, his face having met the floor.

"How does she keep surprising me? Oh wait, she's Pinkie Pie. No matter what dimension she's from." he thought angrily.

"Ohmygosh I'm so sorry! Let me help you up!" a pink hand reached down, and he accepted it, allowing her to pull him up.

Isaac looked into the smiling face of Pinkie Pie's human counterpart.

"Thanks! Um... who are you?" he asked, playing the part of the new kid.

"I'm Pinkie Pie! And you're the guy who finally set that meanie Sunset Shimmer straight!" she replied with her trademark grin.

He chuckled, "Is it really that big of a deal? Sure I enjoy the attention I'm getting from it, but she was just a spoiled brat."

The pink haired-girl nodded, "I was so totally a big deal! Sunset Shimmer made everyone sad or afraid all the time!"

"Well then, I'm glad to have helped you guys out. Wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about before I fell over?"

"Yeah! You're invited to a 'Welcome-to-Canterlot-High-and-thanks-for-dealing-with-Sunset-Shimmer' Party at my house!" she said, holding out an invitation.

The disguised angel raised an eyebrow, "A party... Isn't that excessive?"

"No way! I throw parties all the time!" she answered.

"And your parents are okay with this?"

Pinkie nodded, "Yep! They love my parties!"

He chuckled, "Alright then, when is it?"

"This Saturday starting at 10:00 PM! Be sure to be there!"

Isaac smiled, "Okay then. I'll ask my parents if I can go and tell you tomorrow!"

Pinkie's grin widened, "Great!"

"I'll see you later!"

He turned to walk away, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Wait! What's your next class? Maybe we can walk there together!"

"Uhhh...." he went over Flash Sentry's memories to look for something to say, "Chemistry with Miss Zecora? Room 305?"

Pinkie groaned, "Awww.... That's way too far from my next class! If I walk with you there's no way I'll make it on time!"

"It's alright."

"You're right! See you later-er.... What's your name again?"

"I never told you it. My name is Royal Wings, but most people just call me Roy."

"Oooh, fancy! Bye Roy!" the pink haired-girl said, finally leaving him alone.

Isaac sighed, and started looking for a way to escape. Luckily there was a door that led outside nearby! Making sure nobody was looking, the disguised angel slipped out of the building.

In a flash of golden flames, Isaac turned into a flock of birds that all flew in opposite directions. Although one stayed on top of the school building to be an easy teleportation checkpoint. Making this many bodies was stretching himself really thin, but he'd cover a lot more ground this way.

"Let's just hope it doesn't take too long." he thought.

(???, 7:15 PM)

"FUCK MY LIFE!" Isaac thought, still flying everywhere at once. It was night time, and he had been at this job for hours. This was actually worse than waiting for Sunset Shimmer because he didn't know when his search would even end! He could be at this for an entire day! All of his bodies were flying as fast as they could without drawing attention. He had been searching all over this country, which turned out to be this world's America (to no surprise at all), but to no avail. His magic senses hadn't picked up anything at all.

"The headache I'll get when I have one body again might just kill me." he continued mentally, bitter at the prospect. He consoled himself, because if he didn't do this, those sirens might become a problem.

"Come to think of it, they sound like the perfect villains for an Equestria Girls sequel." he pondered. Didn't Hasbro reveal that they were in the process of making one just before he got sent to Equestria for real?

"I think it was called Rainbow Raps or something stupid like that." he finished. Eh, the name could always be worse. Now back to searching.... Dear god though he wished that something interesting would happen to break his boredom. The only mildly entertaining thing he could do right now as a bunch of birds is poop on people's heads, and that got old after a while.

"I wonder if the sirens know about the portal back to Equestria?" his thoughts continued. Probably not, otherwise they would have used it ages ago. Of course that begs the question of why they'd inevitably go to Canterlot High in this hypothetical second movie? Maybe they saw the super-magical friendship beam that Twilight and the human counterparts of her friends would have used on Sunset Shimmer if it wasn't for his changes? That would mean they'd be in the area surrounding Canterlot High at that time. Perhaps, they were already in the country? That gave him some hope for the success of his search.

"Wait, then they have no idea that there's even a way back." he realized. They'd just be miserable for the rest of their eternal lives, feeding on what amounted to table scraps to their kind.. Well he couldn't just let that happen now could he? Before Isaac had been imprisoned, he had siren friends!

"I should probably check and see if they're still alive once I get back to Equestria..."

If they were dead, well then that was that. If they were still alive...? He would catch up and see if they were willing to work for him. Their diet would have to be expanded though. He couldn't have them stirring up trouble and feeding on the wrong ponies now could he?

"Alright then, focus! Back to searc-OH WAIT A MINUTE!" he thought loudly. One of his bodies had picked up something! This one was flying over the harbor of what appeared to be this world's... Florida? He wasn't entirely sure. All he knew was that he had sensed three faint magic signals!

In a flash of golden flames, most of his other bodies appeared besides this one. Of course the one all the way back at Canterlot High stayed behind. They spread out again over the nearby city. Their sensory ranges would overlap, allowing him to get a precise lock on their location.

In about ten minutes, a flock of birds was flying in a circle over what appeared to be.... a WcDonalds?

Isaac mentally sighed, "Stupid copyright laws." The angel could hear a lot of yelling and arguing from up here. Also..... faint singing. He tried to sense for any magically-induced emotions.

"Yep, they're definitely feeding." he nodded. The flock of birds swooped down towards the back of the fast-food restaurant, making sure that nobody was there to see. The flew towards each other, and in a flash of golden flames, the angel was now a wingless version of his true form.

"WHY IS MY ORDER TAKING SO LONG?!"

"MAYBE IF YOU DIDN'T YELL AT US, WE WOULD MAKE IT FASTER!"

"YOU HYPOCRITE! YOU'RE YELLING TOO!"

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?!"

Arguments like these could be heard from inside the restaurant. It was actually a lot louder now that he was closer to the building. He could also he the singing louder.

"Aaah~ah~ah, Aaah~ah." three distinctive voices could be heard among the fighting.

Isaac's eyes widened. Those voices sounded really familiar.

"No way!" he said with a grin, running around to the front of the WcDonald's, "My luck is not this good!"

He peered through the window. It was utter chaos. People were arguing, throwing things at each other, and straight up fist-fighting in there! There was also the eerie green fog floating around all over the floor. Nobody noticed of course.

He chuckled, "Showtime."

(Florida, WcDonald's, 7:26 PM)

Isaac walked into the bedlam, looking side to side for his targets.

*SPLAT*

The disguised angel quickly avoided a thrown cheeseburger, that had hit the door instead of his face. He raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction that the food was thrown from. Everybody seemed to be too busy arguing to notice him.

"Must have been a stray shot." he thought, going back to the job at hand. His magic sense told him that they were near the back, and so he followed it. He carefully avoided getting dragged into any of the arguments.

"Aaah~ah~ah, Aaah~ah."

The ancient evil grinned as he saw three hooded girls singing in a booth all the way in the back. Their hoods obscured their features, but that didn't matter. The eerie grin fog seemed to be coming from their... chests? No wait, the fog was actually coming from the red gems around their necks.

Isaac's grin widened. They were too busy feeding to notice that he'd snuck up on them. Well he couldn't waste an opportunity like this! He crept ever so slowly up behind them, raising his hands up.

*SLAM*

"HEY LADIES! LONG TIME, NO SEE!" he shouted, slamming his hands down on the back of their seats. They jumped in surprise, their feeding interrupted.

"SHIT!"

"FUCK!"

"WHAT THE TARTARUS?!"

Their heads snapped back towards him, and their jaws dropped when they saw him.

"ISAAC?!" The three of them shrieked.

"Hello Adagio, Sonata, Aria. What's new?" he replied, snickering.

They immediately threw off their hoods, revealing their shocked faces.

Adagio Dazzle had yellow skin, big poofy orange hair with dark yellow highlights, and magenta eyes. She was wearing a purple hoodie, blue jeans, and purple sneakers.

Aria Blaze had pinkish-purple skin, purple hair with green highlights in two long pigtails, and hard purple eyes. She was wearing a green hoodie, blue jeans, and green sneakers.

Sonata Dusk had pale blue skin, long teal hair with blue highlights tied into a ponytail, and round magenta eyes. She was wearing a magenta hoodie, blue jeans, and magenta sneakers.

All three of them were staring at him, mouths agape, as if he was a ghost.

"H-How?" Aria asked, uncharacteristically emotive.

"Woah!" Sonata exclaimed.

"W-We thought Celestia and Luna turned you to stone!" Adagio said, pointing at him.

"They did. Discord freed me after he got free. I've been doing stuff around the world ever since." Isaac replied.

"Then why are you in this world? Did they banish you here too?" Sonata asked.

"Starswirl made a portal to here before he finally kicked the bucket. I read in a book that he banished three sirens here. I was interested, so I stole the portal from the Princesses and used it to get here. I just didn't expect that the sirens I'd find would be you."

"THERE'S A WAY BACK?!" Aria jumped out her seat, grabbing him by the collar.

Isaac's eyes widened, "Umm.... Yessssss?"

The three sirens gasped, then broke out into cheers.

"We can go home and regain our true forms!" Adagio exclaimed, eyes sparkling at the prospect. She could swim and eat properly again! No more living day by day on the scraps of negative energy this world had to offer! No more walking around in this hideous human form either!

Aria and Sonata actually hugged each other. Of course once Aria realized who she was hugging, she shoved Sonata down to the floor.

"Oww.... What was that for?!" the siren-turned-human demanded, glaring up while rubbing her head.

"You hugged me." was Aria's reply.

"We hugged each other at the same time!"

"No. You hugged me and that was it."

Sonata grumbled, standing up and glaring harder. "You're the worst!"

Aria glared back at her. "No, you're the worst Sonata!"

Adagio groaned as her younger sisters got into yet another argument.

Isaac chuckled, "I see those two haven't changed a bit."

Adagio gave him a scathing look, "You wouldn't think its so funny if you had to listen to it over and over for a thousand years."

He raised an eyebrow, "Really? I actually expected you to ditch them if that was the case."

She scoffed, "Please, they wouldn't survive a month without me. They're both idiots, remember?"

"HEY!" the aforementioned 'idiots' shouted, glaring at their older sister.

Adagio chuckled, "I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true."

Their glares just intensified. The siren just rolled her eyes and ignored them, "So what are you planning?"

"How do you know I'm planning something?"

She gave him annoyed look, "Tch, don't treat me like I'm stupid. I know you. You're almost always planning something."

Isaac sighed, "You caught me. Sad to say but, I'm going straight."

"I find that hard to believe. You said you stole the portal from the Princesses, and I doubt they're happy about that."

"Oh they are, but I framed someone else for that. Besides, you don't really expect me to bow to their whims and start going on about friendship do you?"

Adagio hummed, folding her arms. "You're right. Your ego is too big for that."

Isaac glared at her, "Hey!"

She smirked, "I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true."

He sighed again, "Point. Anyways, my goal isn't to be their friend and/or lackey. My goal is to be someone they tolerate."

"Oh? And how are you planning do to that?"

"Cutting back on chaos while doing a few good things at the same time. I've already turned the Element Bearers into alicorns, got rid of Nightmare Moon-"

"Oooh! Oooh! Pick me!" Sonata exclaimed, jumping up and down while raising her hand.

The others rolled their eyes, "Yes, Sonata?"

"Who's Nightmare Moon?" she asked.

"Yeah, actually. Who is that?" Aria said.

Adagio hummed, rubbing her chin. "I think I remember you mentioning the name back in the day..."

He facepalmed, "Oh, right! You wouldn't know. Luna went crazy for a while and started calling herself that. Celestia banished her to the Moon for a thousand years. When she came back, the Elements chose new Bearers, who proceeded to blast the crazy out of her. Unfortunately, that crazy took on a life of its own and escaped to the South Pole without anyone knowing. It possessed a Polar Griffon, took over the South Pole, and planned to cause an eternal night. I exorcised it from the griffon and eventually put it back into Luna while making sure she would remain sane from the re-union."

The three siren's eyes widened.

Adagio said, "Well, we've certainly been out of the loop for a whi-WAIT a minute! Before that you said that you turned the Element Bearers into alicorns! Why would you do something stupid like that?!" she finished, almost shouting at the end.

"Would you expect me to give six ponies, who by all-rights should be my enemies, a power-up like that?"

"Nope!" Sonata said.

"No." Aria continued.

Adagio nodded, "True. That would throw anyone who knows you for a loop."

"Exactly. I also told them that I was planning on doing community service."

The lead siren's eyes narrowed, "What kind of 'community service'?"

Isaac smirked, "Oh you know. Stopping problems before they become problems. Earlier today I stopped Celestia's bitchy ex-student from trying to take over Equestria in the future. She's actually in this world. She used the portal almost thirty moons ago because she thought she'd get 'the power and recognition she deserved' here."

Aria sneered, "This world has anything but power."

"Well, she didn't know that. Plus she's very hard-headed so..." Isaac shrugged.

Adagio asked, "So that's it?"

"Not exactly. I also plan on taking over a country in the future."

Aria scoffed, "That sounds like the exact opposite of community service!"

"Not the way I'm doing it. I plan to overthrow as many dictators across the planet as possible. Odds are the ponies, minotaurs, griffons, zebras, etc, of at least one of those countries will thank me for saving them by making me their King. It has to be their idea of course. Otherwise Celestia will think I conquered them."

Adagio raised an eyebrow, "What do we have to do with this?"

He scratched the back of his head, "Well, I was thinking you could be my court musicians-slash-magicians or something? I honestly didn't expect to find you three here."

"Queen."

Isaac blinked, "Um what?" was all he could say

Adagio smirked and walked up to him, resting a hand on his face.

"A King needs a Queen after all. Why not me?"

The disguised angel glared down at her, removing her hand. "How about no? One, I know you. You don't like sharing. You'd find a way to to kill me, leaving you with all the power and attention you could ever want."

She frowned, "Am I really that transparent?"

"Yes. Two, you'd be a Siren again. I like living on land. You like living in the ocean."

Her frown turned into a scowl, "You're a shapeshifter! You can live anywhere!"

"There's no guarantee the country I take over will be underwater. If it isn't, and I was somehow stupid enough to accept your offer, I would have to turn you into something that can live on land."

She growled, "Tch. You always were too smart for your own good."

He raised an eyebrow at that, "How is you killing me for my own good?"

"Shut up."

Isaac chuckled, "You're just too greedy, Adagio."

She glared at him, "Excuse me?"

"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true." he countered.

Sonata and Aria laughed at that, prompting her to turn her glare on them.

"Not so funny when it's you, is it?" Aria remarked with a cruel smirk, arms folded.

He offered her a hand, "So what do you say, ladies? Take my offer as is, or I leave you here."

"WHAT?!" they shouted.

"I told you I was going straight, didn't it? If I brought you back to Equestria but not while under my employment, you'd just go back to causing trouble. I've been stopping problems before they become problems."

Adagio's glare would have melted lesser beings, "You bastard! So we're just problems to you now?!"

"Of course not, but I'm playing the long game now. Think about it. Starswirl banished you three here because you kept making ponies fight each other. Sometimes you didn't even do it to feed, but just to watch them fight."

"So did you!" Sonata pointed out.

Isaac's smile became evil, "Ah, but this isn't about me. If I let you go back to your old ways, what's to stop the Princesses or Element Bearers from sending you back here when they've had enough of it? Or worse, petrifying you like they did me?"

"You could! You always used to brag about how you could take on the Princesses and win! What's stopping you from doing that? Was that just another one of your lies?!" Aria growled.

"Like I said before, I'm trying to go on the straight-and-narrow here."

That got them thinking about it, he noted. They all went silent and seemed to think about their actions.

"Now for the even harder part." he thought.

"Keep in mind, if you accept I'll have to expand your diets as well." he said.

Their heads snapped up. Adagio's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean?"

He raised his hands up, "Once your gems become properly attached to your bodies again, I'll modify them a bit. You'll be able to switch between your siren, human, and a pony form. I'd have to do that anyway because I don't have a pool I can put you in on the other side. You'd have gills again, remember?"

They all stared at him with intense looks, before huddling up and moving away from him. Isaac noticed that the other people in the restaurant were snapping out of their magically-induced rage, wondering just what happened. In a few minutes, they came back. They were calmer, but still very angry at him.

Adagio grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. He idly noted that she was actually rather attractive as a human. All three of them were.

"We accept, but let's get something straight here. We are not, nor will we ever be your servants. If you try to jerk us around or manipulate us, we will end you. The only reason we're accepting is because we hate it here more than we hate the terms of this deal."

Isaac smiled, "Excellent! We can leave whenever your ready. Do you have anything you want to bring with you?"

Sonata gasped, her anger temporarily forgotten.

"My tacos!"

Her sisters groaned in agitation

The ancient evil blinked, "Um.... what?"

"She tried them a few years back and now she always has to get some whenever she has the chance." Aria explained, her face in her hands.

"Fine, Sonata. We'll get them out of the car." Adagio grumbled.

"You have a car?" he asked.

"Of course! Once they were invented, did you really expect us to walk everywhere? The question is, how do you know what a car is?"

"My world is rather similar to this one." he answered.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Adagio sighed, rubbing her temples.

"What is that supposed to mean?" he demanded, glaring at her.

She waved him off, "Never you mind, let's go!"

Isaac grumbled, as he followed the three sirens.

With that, the four of them left the WcDonald's. The people who remained didn't even remember why they were fighting in the first place.

Chapter 21

View Online

(Florida, WcDonald's Parking Lot, 7:33 PM)

Isaac, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata made their way outside. The lead siren took out a remote key and pressed the unlocking button.

*HONK HONK!*

The disguised angel turned his head in the direction of the sound.

He couldn't help but start snickering when he saw the vehicle, "You drive a minivan?"

Indeed. The sirens' mode of transportation was a large, ugly, rusty, grey minivan.

Adagio frowned and smacked him on the back of the head, "Shut up. It gets us where we need to go, and it holds our stuff. That's all that matters."

"Ow! Jeez...." he grumbled, rubbing where she hit him.

"Alright then, get in and tell us where the portal is. I'm driving." she said.

Sonata happily skipped over to the vehicle, opened a door, and went inside. Aria folded her arms and followed suit.

"Umm.... I can teleport, remember? Driving will take us hours." Isaac pointed out, getting in the passenger seat.

"How far is it?" Adagio asked, getting in the driver's seat.

"Well.... I'm not quite sure. It took me all day to find you."

"How did you find us?" Aria asked.

"I split into as many bodies as possible and started sensing for magic signals."

"You can do that now?"

The ancient evil shrugged, "I got the ability from a centaur I killed."

Adagio sighed, "Well where's the portal approximately?"

"Umm.... In front of a high school somewhere in..... New York I think?"

"That'll take all night!" Sonata exclaimed, eyes wide.

"That's why we should teleport!"

Adagio hummed, "Well hold on a minute. Going home calls for a celebration, doesn't it?"

The other two sirens groaned.

Isaac raised an eyebrow, "What kind of celebration?"

"Nothing big of course. Just some drinks while we catch up."

"Since when do you drink?"

The siren shrugged, "What can I say? Humans make good alcohol when they actually care about how it tastes."

"Do we really have time fo-"

His question was cut off as Adagio glared at him, "You said we can leave 'whenever we're ready'."

The angel sighed, "I deserved that didn't I?"

She patted him on the back, "Yes you did. Now teleport us to the portal!"

He nodded, "Alright then. Just let me move my other body off the roof of the school and..."

*FWOOM!*

In a flash of golden flames, the minivan disappeared with all four of them inside it.

(Canterlot High School, The Parking Lot, 7:36 PM)

*FWOOM!*

The old vehicle reappeared in the school parking lot. A white pigeon, Isaac's other body, sat right next to the car. There were no other visible cars, and the lights were off in the school.

They were alone, for now.

"Aria, pass me a bottle of Maipe Malbec Reserve." Adagio ordered.

The pig-tailed siren rolled her eyes, but complied, reaching back into the trunk.

"So we're just going to get drunk in the parking lot of a school? That sure brings back memories..." Isaac noted.

Aria held the bottle forward, "Here, take it."

Adagio grabbed it, "Thanks." She pulled out a wine bottle opener and screwed off the cork.

*POP!*

It gently came off, the liquid inside fizzing. She brought it to her lips and took a drink.

Isaac whistled, having seen the label. "Wow, that's some fancy stuff."

The lead siren grinned, "But of course! Only the best for me."

"So I'm assuming you don't have beer?"

"If by beer you mean that mass-produced backwash Americans call beer, then no."

He chuckled, "Just checking. I'll get my own drink."

The ancient evil opened the door and got out the var. He walked around the back, and opened the trunk. Inside was a large, opened cooler filled with alcoholic beverages.

"Um... Why is there so much alcohol here?"

"Because Adagio likes collecting it." Aria grumbled, already having her own drink in hand.

The siren in question glared back at her sister, "Oh, come off it! If Sonata can have her tacos, I can have my alcohol! It's not like I drink all the time! Besides, what about you and candy?"

He grinned, "Oh? Aria has a sweet tooth?"

"Shut up!" Aria shouted, blushing in embarrassment.

Isaac chuckled and went back to searching for a drink. Sadly, he did not recognize any of the brands. He decided to grab a random wine bottle and stick with that. He got back into the passenger seat.

"Pass me the bottle opener?" he asked.

"Here." Adagio replied, handing it to him.

"Thanks." he said, opening the bottle.

*POP!*

The cork came off, and the liquid starting to fizz. He raised his bottle.

"How about a toast? To your return to Equestria after over a thousand years!"

Adagio chuckled, "Why not?"

Aria smirked, "I can get behind that."

Sonata grinned, "Yay!"

"CHEERS!" they shouted, clanking their drinks together before taking a swig.

(Canterlot High, Parking Lot, 11:04 PM)

"Where is he?" Sunset Shimmer grunted, walking out alone. She had stayed inside the school building after hours, waiting for Isaac arrive. She had kept an eye on the statue leading to Equestria for hours, but to no avail. She figured he was doing something else in this world, and waited for him to show up. After he humiliated her, nobody was afraid of her anymore! People insulted her, tripped her, and 'accidentally' bumped into her the entire day! They laughed at her threats, when they would have taken her seriously only hours beforehand. She knew it was going to be like that for the rest of her time at high school, and she couldn't deal with it. She would not let a bunch of worthless peons get to her like that. So she planned to ask him to take him with her, and drop her off in Zebrica or something. That way she could live the rest of her life as a hermit, in peace. If he refused, which wouldn't surprise her at all.... Then she'd be forced to live the rest of her life here. She could always use the portal to go back when it re-opened naturally and leave Equestria then, but there's no telling where the Crystal Mirror would be on the other side at that time. For all she knew, she might end up in Celestia's throne room!

It didn't really occur to her that she was being over dramatic, or that this entire situation was all her fault. But Sunset was always incredibly stubborn.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Oh my god, she didn't."

"She did!"

Sunset frowned, hearing some faint noises that sounded like.... laughter? She turned to her left, seeing a ugly-looking minivan with the lights on inside. She couldn't see who was inside the vehicle from this distance, but one of the voices sounded familiar. She decided to get a closer look, and started walking towards the vehicle. As she got closer, the voices became louder and clearer.

"I can't believe she just blindly rushed you like that!"

"Yep. She flew right into a bookcase."

Her eyes widened. That was Isaac's voice. She started walking faster. Let's just hope he didn't notice her before she got ther-

"Hey, it's Sunset Shithead!" he called out, seeing her. He was in the passenger's seat, grinning madly.

"........ What?" was all she could say in response to that, mouth agape.

"Get over here and get drunk with us!"

"Don't invite her!" the girl in the driver's seat hissed.

"Why not?"

"You said she was a bitch!"

"So? She might be fun when drunk!"

Was this the ancient evil that she was afraid of? The guy she read about? Right now he was more like those annoying drunk guys you find at college parties. There were bottles and cans littered all over the ground for Celestia's sake!

"I said no!"

"Come on, please? I wanna see what kind of drunk she is!"

"It's my car! I decide who gets inside!"

"L-Lighten up Adagio! I-It's our last night in this world after all!" another girl with long pigtails said, snickering. She was sitting in the back.

The now named Adagio glared back at her, "Shut up Aria!"

"At least hear what she has to say!" Isaac complained.

She growled, "Fine!" then she turned to Sunset with a glare, "What do you want?"

The unicorn-turned-human blinked, "Um... Who are you?"

"Oh!" the disguised angel began, "This is Adagio, Aria, and Sonata. They're friends of mine. Starswirl banished them to this world over a thousand years ago. Just found them a few hours ago and decided to catch up! Got it?"

She nodded slowly, eyes widened and just flat-out disturbed by what she was witnessing.

"Uh.. yeah. So I was w-wondering if you could bring me with you through the portal and drop me off in Zebrica or something?" she hesitantly asked.

Isaac frowned, "Why do you want to leave?"

"Maybe it's because you humiliated me and now nobody is scared of me anymore you asshole!" is what she wanted to say, but that would doubtlessly lead to an early grave.

Instead she settled for,"It's not like I ever belonged here in the first place' right?"

The ancient evil hummed, "True, but that doesn't really give me any incentive to bring you through the portal."

She hadn't really thought of that, "Um..... Well I-"

"BACON HAIR!" Sonata suddenly blurted out, pointing at Sunset with wide eyes.

Everyone turned to her with confused looks.

Aria glared at her, "What are you going on about now?"

"I just noticed that her hair totally looks like bacon! I dare you to tell me that you don't see it!" Sonata replied, glaring right back.

Aria looked back at the unicorn-turned-human. At first, nothing. Then her eyes grew wide in realization.

"Oh shit, it does!" she exclaimed. She started snickering.

"Yes! I'm finally right for once!" the blue-haired siren cheered, grinning in victory.

"You know, now that you mention it...." Isaac remarked.

"SHUT UP! MY HAIR DOES NOT LOOK LIKE BACON!" Sunset yelled, finally loosing her temper. She immediately covered her mouth after realizing what she had said, but the damage was already done. Everyone was staring at her in surprise, silent.

For a moment, everything was quiet

Then Adagio started laughing loudly, "Okay! Just for that, you can drink with us."

"Um... what?" Sunset blinked in confusion, "But I don't want to dri-"

"Don't care. Get in the car and drink with us or I'll make Isaac leave you in this world."

"Adagio! You weren't supposed to tell her that!" The ancient evil hissed at her.

"You were planning on bringing me with you the whole time?!" the unicorn demanded, glaring at him.

He sighed, "Yes. Think about it. I tore your plan to shreds, so you have no reason to stay here. Plus, all of the people you terrorized are probably paying you back tenfold, right? I expected you to come ask me for this."

She grit her teeth in frustration,fists clenched. "You manipulated me!"

"Yes, I did. I do that to a lot of people. You are not the first, nor will you be the last."

"I'm not going to make up with Celestia!"

"I don't expect you to." Not willingly anyways.

"I mean it!"

He groaned, "Alright then. I'll let you drown in your needless self-pity, you stupid twat."

"YOU!" she growled, stalking forward.

Isaac rolled his eyes, "It's true. I can sense your emotions, so I can literally feel you doing that."

Sunset really contemplated punching him in the face, but she knew that wouldn't end well.

She sighed, "Shut up and give me a drink."

The others cheered as Sunset joined their celebration. She opened a door, joining Sonata and Aria in the backseat.

(Canterlot High School, The Parking Lot, 4:00 AM)

Isaac whistled as he cleaned up the mess from their small party, tossing empty bottles into a nearby trash can. The sun was just barely peeking up from the horizon. Adagio, Sonata, Aria, and Sunset were fast asleep in the car. He didn't really need sleep anymore, but it was nice to have when the circumstances would allow it. Alcohol didn't have an effect on him unless he allowed it to. Such was the usefulness of chaos magic and being functionally immortal. He acted as their lookout, using an illusion spell to render the van invisible to anyone he didn't want to see it.

"Now to wake them up." he thought. They had to leave before any teachers or students showed up after all. He walked back over to the van and peered inside. Still asleep of course. He sighed. Time for a magical wake-up call he supposed. He got back into the passenger seat. He raised a hand, sparking with red electricity.

He slowly reached over, and poked Adagio on the forehead.

*SHOCK!*

"GAH!" the lead siren shouted, suddenly wide-awake.

"Time to get moving."

She growled at him, "Don't do that. Ever again."

"The students and teachers are going to be here soon. Plus the sun's about to come out. Do you really want to use the portal in broad daylight?"

Her response was another smack to the back of his head.

"I forgot how violent you are..." Isaac muttered, rubbing his head. Time to wake up the others.

*SHOCK!*

"WHAT?! WHERE?!" Sonata exclaimed, eyes darting everywhere.

*SHOCK!*

"OW!" Aria jumped awake, immediately punching him in the shoulder when she realized who it was.

*SHOCK!*

"SHIT!" Sunset hissed, hitting her head on the window.

"Now that everyone's awake, let's go over what you're bringing!" Isaac smiled, only for the four females to glare at him.

"You're lucky you're our only way back to Equestria." Adagio muttered.

"Yes I am. And I'm going to abuse this luck as much as I can within reason." she smacked him again, "ANYWAYS, your stuff? Remember, only pack what you can carry."

"I have a suitcase full of microwavable tacos!" Sonata smiled, pulling out the suitcase in question from the trunk.

"Equestria doesn't have microwaves, Sonata." the disguised angel pointed out.

Her eyes widened, "WHAT?!"

"Yep."

She almost looked like she was going to cry.

He facepalmed, "I'll show you how to heat them up without a microwave."

"Yay!"

"Okay, everyone else?" he asked.

"I'm fine with just what I have on me." Aria shrugged.

"Same." Adagio replied.

"Make that three." Sunset finished. She really didn't have any attachments to this world. Her foster family would actually be glad she was leaving them forever, as she terrorized them just as much as she terrorized the students of Canterlot High.

"Okay then, let's go!" he grinned, getting out of the car. The others followed suit. The five of them walked over to the statue in front of the school. Isaac knelt down, and placed his hands on the monument.

"Put your hands on my back."

The four women complied. He started channeling chaos magic again, temporarily strengthening the connection between the worlds. In just a few moments, the five of them would be back in Equestria.

"Three.... two... one... NOW!"

*VWOOM!*

In a flash of red light one angel, three sirens, a unicorn, and a suitcase were sucked into the portal.

(???. 4:07 AM)

"Ow!"

"Oof!"

"Eep!"

"PAIN!"

The five of them landed in a pile. Isaac was unchanged but stuck on the bottom, and Sunset Shimmer was a unicorn again. Adagio, Sonata, and Aria were back to their true forms. The sirens were large, aquatic creatures about the size and build of actual horses. Only instead of hind legs, they had appropriately-sized fish tails. They lacked manes as well, having fins instead. Adagio was yellow-orange, and her eye color remained unchanged. Sonata was pale blue, and her eye color remained. Finally Aria was dark purple and her eye color remained unchanged.

*SCHING!*

All five of their heads snapped up to see spears getting pointed at them from all sides by Royal Guards. They were in a large, grassy field instead of Minuette's basement. Shining Armor, decked out in full armor glared daggers at Isaac.

"DON'T MOVE! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!" the captain shouted.

Isaac blinked, "Well.... shit."

Chapter 22

View Online

(???, 4:08 AM)

"I SAID DON'T MOVE!" Shining Armor shouted again, as Isaac started to squirm from underneath the pile he had been stuck at the bottom of.

"Don't get your armor in a twist, Shiny." the angel replied, not obeying as he still tried to get his arms free.

The white alicorn grit his teeth in rage, "You are not allowed to call me that!"

"Oh?" he began, finally getting his arms free, "Why not?" he asked, with an infuriating smile on his face.

"You kidnapped my fiance and turned her into a miniature earth pony!"

Isaac shook his head, "For shame, Captain. I never took you for a racist."

"That is not what I meant!" Shining barked.

"True, but I just like to mess with you ponies." the ancient evil replied, pulling a leg free.

"STOP MOVING!"

"Make me."

"RRAAAAAGH!" the Captain of the Royal Guard roared in outrage, shooting a beam of magic at the pile of criminals.

Adagio's eyes widened, "MOVE YOU IDIO-"

*FWOOM!*

In a flash of golden flames, they disappeared. Well, most of them did. A wide-eye Sunset Shimmer was left behind to fall on the ground, but thankfully the attack passed over her head.

Shining smirked, "Princess Celestia was right. He fell for it."

(Canterlot Caves, 4:09 AM)

Isaac, Adagio, Sonata, Aria, and Sonata's suitcase reappeared in the chamber where one of Isaac's other bodies, posing as Princess Cadence still under capture by the changelings.

"What was that?! I thought you said the mirror was in a basement!" Adagio demanded.

"I don't know. Either Trixie got caught with Cadence or..." he was silent for a moment, "She betrayed me."

The lead siren sneered at him, "This is why I told you trusting a mortal was a stupid idea. Now turn us into something that can run!"

"Shut up. I was trying to expand my circle of friends." he replied. The angel squirmed out from under the pile of sirens, fused with his other body, and re-assumed his true form. He took a deep breath, and exhaled golden flames on the three sisters.

*FWOOM*

When the flames died down, they were human again. They quickly unscrambled themselves.

"Why did you turn us back into humans?" Aria growled, looking down at herself in distaste.

"If I turned you into ponies you'd need time to adjust to walking on four legs. We don't have time for that. Sonata, ditch the suitcase!" he ordered.

"WHAT?!" the blue-haired siren shouted, holding the suitcase close to her.

"It'll only slow us down. It's either tacos or they catch us, and you can't eat tacos if you're PETRIFIED."

She sighed, and dropped the suitcase.

Isaac nodded, "Now get ready to run as fast as you can!"

He raised a hand, and blasted one of the walls down with magic.

*CRASH*

The four of them jumped through the newly created hole, and started sprinting through the caves at top speed. Isaac ignited his hand with fire magic, using it as a torch to light their way.

"What's the rush anyway?" Aria asked.

"Don't you get it? Regardless of whether or not Trixie betrayed me they know about the invasion. They've probably dealt with the changelings already and are looking down here for stragglers!"

"THERE THEY ARE!" a voice called out.

They turned back to see a Royal Guard pointing at them with his spear. He started chasing after them.

Adagio snarled, "Damn it all! We've been spotted!"

"HALT!"

"This way!" Isaac called out before turning left, the sirens following suit.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't picked up that pony in the first place!" the lead siren complained.

"Not the time, Adagio!" he barked back.

"Oh I think it is the time! What was the point of recruiting her anyway? From what you told me, it's not like she was actually USEFUL or anythning!"

"I don't have to tell you shit!"

"Oh yes you do! I am not someone you can get away with telling only half-truths to!"

"I will ditch you right now!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"CAN WE FOCUS ON ESCAPING PLEASE?!" Sonata screamed.

They both went silent as they ran. Isaac nodded, "Right, sorry."

"Why are we running? Can't you just teleport us somewhere they won't look for us?" Aria asked.

"I can't. The South Pole is too far away. Ponyville is a no-go if Trixie ratted me out. We can't go topside either now that the guards have seen us. Celestia and the Element Bearers are probably up there too. They'll be expecting me to teleport into the city."

"So we're sitting ducks down here?!" Adagio demanded, glaring at him.

"Not exactly. I have a plan!"

"What is it?"

"You'll have to trust me!"

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!"

"IT WON'T WORK IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!"

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" Aria and Sonata shouted, silencing their 'leaders'.

Isaac and Adagio grumbled, trying not to look at each other as they ran side by side. It was like that for the next few minutes, with only the occasional encounter with a guard, whom they quickly dispatched. Non-lethally of course. There was no reason. Eventually, they turned into a large dark chamber.

"If I remember correctly, there should be an exit to the surface coming up soon. We'll come out into a park where children play. It's still dark out so we'll be able to blend in with the shadows."

"That won't be necessary." a familiar voice called out.

The chamber lit up, revealing that it was filled with Royal Guards who proceeded to enclose upon them.

Leading them was none other than Princess Celestia, and she did not look happy. Her horn was glowing, a spell at the ready.

The quartet's eyes widened.

"That was unexpected." Isaac commented.

Adagio turned to glare at him, "You lead us into a trap. Perfect."

"End of the road, Isaac. You will not trouble my subjects any longer." the Solar Diarch said, glaring at them as she stalked forward.

The angel sighed, "Well played, Celestia. I have to ask though, did Trixie rat me out?"

"Cadence helped her realize that you make empty promises and came forward."

"Darn. I had such high hopes for her too. The Element Bearers?"

"That's none of your business."

"Fair enough. What happens now?"

"This."

*BLAST!*

She fired her spell at them. Isaac didn't even bother to dodge. The sirens weren't fast enough to avoid it.

That's when everything went dark again.

(Canterlot Castle, The Dungeons, 11:43 AM)

*SPLASH!*

Isaac was awakened by water to the face, sputtering and coughing as it dripped down his body. He was kneeling. He noticed that his hands and feet were chained behind him, as were his wings. The floor was a dull grey, as were the walls and bars. He was in a cell. There was also the matter of the magic-suppressing collar around his neck.

He looked up to see Celestia looking down on him with a grave expression, a bucket of water in her telekinetic grasp.

The angel smiled, "Interrogating me yourself. Smart choice."

"You'd just infuriate anypony else who tried." she scoffed. Shining Armor had offered of course, but she had refused him instantly. He was too angry at Isaac for what he'd done to Cadence. The angel would capitalize on that and enrage him further.

"True."

They just stared at each other for a moment, the silence telling of their relationship.

Celestia's eyes narrowed as she broke the pause,"Why did you let me catch you?" He could have dodged her paralysis spell, and she was prepared to fight him.

He perked up, "Ah, you noticed that? Well, I must admit I didn't realize what you were trying to do until I felt your magic in the caves."

"Informative, but that doesn't answer my question."

"Sorry. Once I realized that you've dealt with the changelings already, there was no reason to run from you anymore. Speaking of which, did you capture Chrysalis?"

She nodded, "Of course. Why did you leave Sunset Shimmer behind when you teleported away from the guards after you came out of the mirror?" It didn't make sense. If her old enemy had indeed recruited her old student, then surely he wouldn't leave her behind? Sunset was a great asset to have, due to her magical skill and potential. But if he didn't recruit her, then why take her with him through the portal?

Isaac shrugged as well as he could through the chains, "She doesn't want to work for me if that's what you want to know. I didn't even offer. She actually wanted me to drop her off in Zebrica so she could live the rest of her life as a hermit. How is she anyway?"

"Isaac hasn't corrupted her to his side. That's good news. Why does she want to be a hermit though?" Celestia wondered. Then she scowled, "She won't talk to me."

"That's not surprising. She's such a hard-headed mare isn't she?"

"What did you do to her?" she demanded. She was happy to have her former student back in her home dimension, and she knew that Sunset's parent's would be as well. However, Sunset hadn't said a word to either of them. Some ponies wouldn't find that really surprising considering how they parted ways, but Celestia knew her old student better than that. She expected Sunset to start accusing her of things or insulting her. Nothing of the sort happened. The unicorn just glared at her silently.

The angel grinned, "Why, I only shattered her self-confidence!"

"Damn him!" she thought. That would explain the hermit thing. The white alicorn growled, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't petrify you again."

His grin widened, "Celestia, we both know that if you really wanted to turn me back into stone you would have had the Element Bearers standing at ready in front of mirror instead of that Goon Squad you call the Royal Guards. That way they could have blasted me the moment I came out of the mirror while I was still disoriented." It was quite obvious when you think about it carefully.

Her glare grew more intense, "Cute. The Sirens? Why did you bring them back to this world?"

"They're friends of mine. I read in Starswirl's biography that he banished three sirens to the dimension on the other side of the Crystal Mirror. Just after you and Luna turned me to stone. I didn't expect them to be the sirens that I knew, but I was pleasantly surprised when they were."

"You're being unusually forthcoming with information." she noted. It was... strange. Isaac only usually let others know what he wanted them to know, whether it was true or not.

"What is he planning?" she thought. He could be lying, but then why lie if he wanted to get caught?

"Of course. The more I tell you, the better off I'll be when you release me."

Her eyes narrowed, "What makes you think I'm going to do that?"

"You need me to change the Element Bearers, Shining Armor, and your niece back to normal. I can't do that if I'm cooped up in here."

"What makes you think I want you to change them back?" Of course she did, but she couldn't let him know that.

"Celestia, you're very paranoid as to who you trust with power. Rightfully so. Some peo-er... ponies, just can't be trusted with it." He thought of Discord, Sombra, Trixie, Sunset Shimmer, Chrysalis, and even himself!

The Sun Princess swore mentally, "He saw right through me!"

"I could have Twilight and her friends petrify you the moment after you change them back." she countered. It was a futile effort to scare him, and they both knew that.

"You could, but then the Polar Griffons would start rioting pretty hard when they learned that the guy who saved them from Nightmare Moon was in stone."

"I doubt they'll mind once I tell them your history."

That would change their tune pretty quickly. Add on the fact that he fused Nightmare Moon and Luna back together instead of killing or re-imprisoning the literal ball of hatred... He winced at the thought of their outrage, "True. My friends? What have you done with them?"

"They've been put in their own cells, awaiting trial."

Isaac frowned, "Why? They actually haven't done anything bad since they've returned. They're not even Equestrian citizens! They've done their time."

The white alicorn smiled, "Being accomplices to a wanted criminal counts." It was cruel of her to say that, and she knew it. But this was an interrogation after all. Besides, it was no less than he deserved.

He sighed, "Touche. What else do you want to know?"

"How much do you know about our future, and why do you know this? The unicorn formerly under your employ said that you told her that you know the future of this world as it would have been had you never come to it."

The angel scowled, "I was hoping she wouldn't do that. Why did she betray me anyway? I actually was planning on fulfilling my side of our agreement."

She shook her head, "Answer my question first."

"I only know events as they relate to your student since her arrival in Ponyville, and that knowledge is limited. Mostly worthless now considering the changes I've made. As to why.... Do you really want to know?"

Celestia frowned, "Miss Lulamoon also said that you gave her a hint as to how you have this knowledge. 'Daring Do is both real and fiction'. What does that mean?"

"What does a popular book series have to do with this?" she pondered inside her own mind.

"It means exactly what it says. From a certain perspective Daring Do is real and fictional at the same time."

The Sun Princess shook her head, "That doesn't answer my question."

Isaac cringed, "I really shouldn't tell you. I will tell you this though. I'm not in this world of my own free will. If I could leave, I would have left a long time ago. I don't even know for sure what type of force is keeping me here."

Her glare intensified, "That's not good enough."

He shook his head, "It's a bad idea." he refused to say anymore on the subject. It's not that he believed that she would react badly to the information, moreso what this information would do to him. It would color his past actions in an incredibly unfavorable light if she jumped to the worst conclusion. While it was true that in the past he had treated her and her subjects like playthings, but he hadn't always thought like that.

Celestia sighed, "I see...."

She turned around and left the cell.

*CLANK!*

The doors locked, leaving Isaac alone.

Chapter 23

View Online

(Dream Sequence)

Isaac mentally blinked, as he found himself walking through the hallways of a castle. Canterlot Castle, if the layout was any indication. However, the color scheme was radically different. The portraits on the walls were different as well. He looked out the window to see that it was night-time as well. This all seemed... familiar, but at the same time new to him, and not just because it was Canterlot Castle.

He was asleep and dreaming, that was obvious. But this wasn't any memory that he could recall, yet it seemed like he'd been here before.

"What now?" he tried to say, but his mouth didn't move.

"This is going to be one of those dreams again isn't ?" the angel thought bitterly. Dream-Isaac hummed, his hands in his pockets. Looking down, he could see that he was wearing a well-designed black suit, a white dress shirt, a red tie, and black shoes.

"Okay, so the formal wear is a hint." Was he going to some sort of gala? He hoped not. Those were always boring.

Dream-Isaac passed by a pair of armored stallions. Their armor greatly resembled the armor worn by Celestia's Royal Guards, only silver where there was gold, and red crests instead of blue. They stopped and saluted him.

"Good evening, sir!" they said.

His counterpart chuckled, "At ease. Continue with your duties."

The two guards nodded and walked past him.

"Okay, what does that mean?" Isaac thought. He was dreaming about himself being in a position of authority? Was he just dreaming about the future he wanted, or did it mean something else?

Dream-Isaac continued walking, admiring the scenery. He made a turn to the right, going down another path. At the end of this hallway, Isaac saw a large door.

"A throne room?"

His dream self suddenly facepalmed.

"Damn it, I almost forgot to shave!" he groaned, running to one of the nearby mirrors on the walls.

Isaac would have gasped had been able to at the time. While they were identical in terms of facial features, there were some clear differences. His counterpart's hair was neatly combed where his was messy, and had a five-o clock shadow that was being magically removed instead of his beard. The most notable difference?

The crown on his head.

"Is.... this the King that those twins were talking about?" the angel thought. An alternate version of himself? Considering how they compared him to the King it made sense.

"But why am I dreaming of being him? Is this one of his memories, or is he experiencing this in real-time?

The King finished, his now clean-shaven face grinning in the mirror. He went back to walking towards that throne room, his humming resuming.

"Is that the toreador march?"

In a minute, his counterpart was at the closed door to the throne room. His grinned returned as he fixed his tie and cleared his throat.

"Showtime." he whispered, before opening the door.

The throne room greatly resembled Celestia's, with two major differences. One was the color scheme, the other was that there was two thrones.

One of which was occupied by a familiar face.

"Luna?!"

"Hello, darling!" the King shouted, a shit-eating grin on his face.

Luna rolled her eyes, then smiled.

"Hello, dear. I assume you managed to drag our daughter back to her tutors?" she replied.

"DAUGHTER?!"

The King strutted in past the sputtering petitioners, before taking his place on the throne next to his.... wife.

"I-I guess a King needs a Queen. But really?Luna of all people? And they have a daughter?!" Isaac would have gagged had he been able. If they ever met face to face, he'd be sure to question his counterpart's taste and sanity.

"Of course. She may be good, but she can't hide from the Master!" he answered, smugness emanating from him.

Queen Luna sighed, "Must you interrupt me like this in the middle of my Night Court?"

"Yes actually. You've been frowning too much lately, and I don't like it."

The alicorn frowned, "Yo-"

"Just like that actually!"

*THUNK!*

She hit him in the back of his head with her hoof for the interruption.

"Ow.." he groaned.

"You know exactly why. Celestia has been free for months now. "

"So Celestia might be evil in this universe?" Isaac pondered. That was good to know.

The King sighed, "I do, yet I've told you multiple times that she will be found before anything serious happens. The guards, our students, and my other bodies are searching the entire country. Even Sombra is keeping an eye open!"

"Good Sombra as well?"

Queen Luna sighed, "That would be more comforting if we even had an idea as to where she is."

One of the petitioners, an old unicorn stallion, cleared his throat. "Err.... Excuse me, your Majesties? I was about to..."

The King nodded, "Right. I apologize for interrupting you."

"Thank you. Now I would to draw attention to the worrying amount of vampire fruit bats that have been seen around Ponyvi-"

The stallion's words were cut off as the dream ended.

(Canterlot Castle, The Dungeons, 1:13 PM)

Isaac's eyes snapped open. He was still shackled to the wall, his wings bound and his magic inaccessible. He had taken a nap to pass the time, but had instead learned something that might be a problem in the future.

The angel sighed, "Seriously though, Luna?"

(Canterlot Castle, Throne Room, 1:42 PM)

Sunset grumbled as a pair of Royal Guards escorted her into a room she never thought she'd see again. There were shackles on her legs. She had been arrested after Isaac had abandoned her.

"Then again, it isn't that surprising." she thought.

"Guards, unshackle her and leave us." Princess Celestia ordered.

The two stallions nodded, removing the cuffs and walking out of the room.

The silence between them was deafening.

"Are you ready to talk, my student?." the white alicorn said, looking down at her.

Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes "I'm not your student anymore. Remember?"

The sun princess sighed, " So now is when you decide to talk to me? I was hoping your time in the other world would have caused you to mature."

The unicorn glared at her, "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"I think you already know the answer to that, but let's not get into that. Your parents worry about you, Sunset."

Sunset scoffed, "And that's supposed to just make up for all the years they spent ignoring me as they argued with each other?"

"They've realized their mistakes, Sunset." Celestia replied.

"Good for them! But that doesn't mean I'm going to forgive and forget."

"I'm not asking you to forgive and forget. I'm asking you to give them a chance."

"And what if I don't want to?"

The white alicorn shrugged, "Then I cannot make you. "

Sunset's eyes widened. Celestia of all ponies was actually not trying to make her do something she didn't want to? When she was her student it was always "go make some friends!" or something like that.

"What... brought this on?" the unicorn asked.

The sun princess looked out the window, at the damaged city of Canterlot. When the Changelings had realized that they were going to lose, they decided to hurt her little ponies as much as possible before they did.

"Your parents aren't the only who have realized their mistakes, Sunset. I've done a lot of thinking since you left."

The young mare snorted, "Is that why you decided to let me out of that cell?"

Celestia rolled her eyes, "Partially. The other reason is that Isaac told me that you weren't working with him."

Her ex-student glared at her, "So if I was working for him you would have let me rot in there?"

She glared right back, "I would try to convince you not to, and if that failed.... Then yes actually. I would feel bad about it, but I would do it. Isaac is a wanted criminal, Sunset."

The unicorn wanted to argue, but she couldn't refute that kind of logic. She decided to change the subject instead.

"So what happened to Canterlot?" Sunset grumbled.

"A changeling queen impersonated Cadence and attempted to launch an invasion. Thankfully, somepony who knew about it spoke up before the queen could finish building up her power and forces."

Sunset raised an eyebrow, "That explains the broken windows and green slime I saw in the hallways."

"It could have been much worse. So.... what will you do now?" Celestia asked.

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"Sunset, please. I'm trying to make amends with you."

"I don't care."

The white alicorn looked annoyed, "You see? This is why you're not my student anymore! You're too immature to accept when ponies are trying to apologize, and you're arrogant enough to want things that you're nowhere near ready for!"

Sunset cringed, and Celestia realized that she had made a mistake.

"Sunset, I..."

The unicorn turned away, "No, no. I get it. You're right and I'm wrong. Just like I'm always wrong."

"Isaac, what did you do to her?" the sun princess pondered, her anger returning.

"I'll just.... show myself out." the young mare said, walking away.

"Sunset please!"

But her ex-student ignored her, walking out of the throne room.

(Canterlot Castle, The Dungeons, 2:03 PM)

*CRASH!*

Isaac blinked as he heard the door to the dungeons opening, and loud hoofsteps afterwards.

Hoofsteps that were getting closer.

He sat there confused as an angry-looking Celestia stomped into view. She glared at him with a frightening intensity.

"What did you do to Sunset?" she asked.

The angel tilted his head, "I already told you that."

"Why is she so... sad?" she specified.

A light-bulb turned on his head as Isaac grinned in realization.

"OH, you mean that! Well then I'll have to tell you what Sunset got up to while in the world on the other side of the mirror. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Her glare intensified, "Don't toy with me."

"I warned you. Well as it turns out, the world Sunset went to didn't have the power she desired. In fact, it didn't have any magic at all. She couldn't even use her own while she was there! Unfortunately that combined with the argument you two had before she left, the fact that the mirror transformed her into an entirely different species, the fact that the mirror turned her into a child as well, and how the locals didn't take her seriously really pissed her off. At least, that's what my theory is. I've never actually looked inside her head. Keep in mind this could be completely wrong."

Isaac's grin got bigger, "So then she decided to take it out on the kids she was now forced to go to school with! At first, it was just stress relief. But as time went by she really began to enjoy it. By the time I got there, there were all scared shitless of her!"

She sighed, "Continue."

"I assume you know that she wanted to be Princess and was angry that you said no?"

The white alicorn nodded.

"Well that changed kinda. Now we get to the stuff I know for sure! She still wanted to be a Princess, only she wanted to you and the other two alicorns out of the picture. She planned on stealing the Element of Magic from your current student when the mirror would have re-opened a year from now, and using it's power to enslave the locals of that world to use as her army to conquer Equestria."

Celestia's fury evaporated, as she started to wonder where she went wrong.

"Unfortunately, she didn't count on me being there! So I took her aside and asked her how she came to be in that world, and what her plans were for the future. You want know what I said to her after?" he asked, eyes glimmering with glee.

"I poked holes in every single one of those plans. I verbally tore her apart. When I was done, she was in tears." he started laughing.

"HAHAHAHA! It was hilarious!"

*THUUM!*

Isaac stopped laughing as the room started to shake and heat up dramatically. Celestia's eyes were literally glowing with rage as she stared at him.

"You.... are very lucky I do not take lives anymore." she intoned.

He smirked, "That's an excuse and we both know it. You just don't want to give me the honor of being the guy who made you lose control."

The sun princess stared at him for a few more seconds, before leaving him to the dungeons.

"That's what I thought."

(Canterlot Castle, Throne Room, 3:14 PM)

Celestia took a deep breath as she sat on her throne, filling out the paperwork that would help start the repairing of the cities. After that absolutely, infuriating conversation with Isaac, she had taken an hour to calm down.

"Your Majesty, your student and the rest of the Element Bearers are here." a guard walked in, bowing low.

"Send them in." she replied, levitating the document she was currently working on over to a nearby pile.

The guard nodded, and walked over to the door. He opened, revealing none other than Twilight Sparkle and friends.

"Good evening, my little ponies. I assume you're here to help with the repairs after getting my letter?"

Twilight bowed, taking the lead as always.

"We came as fast as we could, Princess. How are....?"

Celestia nodded, "Princess Cadence is physically fine, despite the.. changes to her body. Captain Armor has a broken foreleg, but other than that he's fine as well."

She stood up, walking towards her student and friends.

"I'm not going to lie. This could have been much worse than it was. Casualties were kept to a minimum. Most of the damage was to the buildings." she smirked, "There's even some good news."

The Element Bearers felt unsettled by that smirk. It was just so.... different to the Princess Celestia that they were used to.

Applejack cleared her throat, "And that is, yer Highness?"

"The Changeling Queen responsible for this invasion, as well as Isaac have been captured. They are in cells down in the dungeons, awaiting their punishment."

The six of them gasped, before breaking into cheers.

"WOOHOO!" Pinkie shouted.

"That creep is toast!" Rainbow Dash grinned.

Even Fluttershy let out a quiet, "Yay!"

"However."

Their cheers stopped at that.

"The Changeling Queen has been acting unusually smug despite losing. She still has an ace up her sleeve that we don't know about."

Rarity gasped, "Oh, dear."

"Do we have any idea what that ace might be?" Twilight asked.

Celestia shook her head, "No idea, and the Queen isn't saying a word on the matter."

"So what do we do now?"

The sun princess sighed, turning to look out the window.

"It concerns your current 'condition', and the one responsible for it."

The Element Bearers glanced at their additional wings and/or horns.

"As much as I don't want to, I'm going to release Isaac-"

"WHAT?!"

"That's crazy talk!"

Celestia cleared her throat, silencing their protests.

"I will release him while under heavy restraints. He won't be able to use his full power. After he returns you to normal, the six of you will be his parole officers."

"Excuse me fer this, but why us?" Applejack asked.

The white alicorn turned back them, staring all six of them in the eyes with the most serious expression they had ever seen on her.

"Simple, you're going to reform him."

Chapter 24

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(Canterlot Castle, Throne Room, 3:20 PM)

The entire room went quiet at that declaration. Most of the Element Bearers couldn't believe what they just heard.

Twilight picked her jaw up off the floor first, "Excuse me princess, you want us to WHAT?!"

Celestia nodded, "You heard me right. I would like for the six of you to reform Isaac."

"But... WHY?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Um.... It guess it kind of makes sense when you think about it?" Fluttershy said.

Everybody turned to her, causing the shy pegasus-turned-alicorn to "eep!".

"What could you possibly mean, darling?" Rarity asked.

"W-Well he hasn't really done anything nearly as bad as Discord did when he was free. The most I can think of is that he casually messed with ponies' minds, he kidnapped Princess Cadence, he stole those two mirrors from Princess Celestia, and brought those Sirens back to Equestria."

"Those are all still pretty wrong though." Pinkie Pie pointed out.

Fluttershy shook her head, "Oh no! I-I'm not saying they aren't. But he's actually done some good things as well. He saved the polar griffons from Nightmare Moon, and there isn't anything technically wrong with turning us into alicorns is there?"

Celestia smiled, "Thank you, Fluttershy. That was quite insightful of you."

The yellow mare blushed, looking at the floor. "Y-Your welcome."

The sun princess sighed, "Although those good actions probably weren't done for entirely good reasons. When I talked to Isaac earlier, he implied that part of the reason he saved the polar griffons was for good publicity."

"Figures." Applejack remarked.

"I also fear that we may be playing into his hands regarding your transformation into alicorns."

"What do you mean by that?"

The sun princess sighed, "I think he counted on the fact that I wouldn't necessarily want you to stay alicorns when he changed you. So that if he was ever captured, I would have to let him go in order for him to change you back."

Twilight and the others looked deeply disturbed by that, "Princess.... what's wrong with us being alicorns?"

Celestia shook her head, "Nothing at all. It's just the way it happened that doesn't make me comfortable. If you all became alicorns on your own merits, I would have crowned you Princesses of Equestria within a week."

"It would certainly cut down on the paperwork." she thought.

"Instead, Isaac has shown that he can just simply change ponies into alicorns. Imagine if he turned a pony with more... flexible morals into an alicorn."

"That still doesn't make sense when it comes to us being alicorns. You know you can trust us, right?" Rainbow replied.

The white alicorn thought about it for a moment and then promptly groaned, facehoofing.

"Um.... Princess Celestia, are you alright?" Pinkie Pie asked.

She chuckled, "I'm fine. I just realized that I've been acting rather foolish when it comes to your transformation. You're right, I should be trusting you. The Elements of Harmony wouldn't have chosen you if you weren't good ponies."

The solar diarch stood up straight, serious yet smiling.

"Princess?" Twilight asked.

"Which is why I've decided to let you decide what happens. They're your bodies after all. Whoever wants to remain an alicorn will be crowned a Princess of Equestria. If you want to go back to your previous form? Then that is fine as well. Captain Armor will be allowed to make same decision as well."

The six of them had mixed reactions to this news.

Rarity squealed, running around in circles, "This is perfect! ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!"

Twilight gasped at the huge amount of trust her teacher was placing in her, "Oh. Wow! I-I don't know what to say."

"I'm going to be the Princess of Parties! WOOHOO!" Pinkie cheered, pulling confetti out of nowhere.

Rainbow grinned, "Awesome!"

Applejack's eyes widened, "Woah."

Fluttershy looked like she was about to faint, "I-I... You! Me, a Princess?! I couldn't!"

Celestia chuckled, "Relax everypony. You don't have to decide immediately."

Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy let out the breaths they didn't know they were holding in.

She continued, "There is still the matter of Isaac's reformation and whatever the changelings have up their sleeve to discuss."

Everypony became serious once again.

"As said before, the six of you will be his parole officers. Do not let him out of your sight for even a second. You have the Elements with you, so don't be afraid to use them if he tries anything. He will be wearing a special magic suppression collar that will restrict his power down to about fifty percent. He won't be able to shapeshift out of it either."

The six of them nodded, "Right!"

"Then I believe it's time to go get your new charge."

(Canterlot Castle, The Dungeons, 3:40 PM)

"FIFTY-THREE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, FIFTY-THREE BOTTLES OF BEER~! TAKE ONE DOWN AND PASS IT AROUND, YOU GOT FIFTY-TWO BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL!"

"OH MY CELESTIA MAKE HIM STOP!" one of the poor guards shouted, trying to cover his ears with his hooves. He was not alone, as guards and prisoner alike tried to block out the noise.

Their tormentor was none other than Isaac, who was singing badly.

"FIFTY-TWO BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, FIFTY-TWO BOTTLES OF BEER~! TAKE ONE DOWN AND PASS IT AROUND, YOU GOT FIFTY-ONE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL!" he rattled out with a grin, his voice like nails on a chalkboard. With the magic suppression collar blocking his access to the siren magic he copied from Adagio and her sisters, his singing voice was horrible. It was useful for annoying people to pass the time though!

The sirens in question were covering their ears as well from inside their own cells on the opposite side of the dungeons.

"I'm going to drown him. I'm going to drown him like a sack of dumb puppies." Adagio thought, teeth gritted as she curled up in the corner of her cell.

"All of my hate!" Aria's thoughts were similar.

"A-At least we know where he is now, right?" Sonata said, trying be optimistic while she cringed.

"SHUT UP, SONATA!" her sisters replied.

"FIFTY-ONE BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, FIFTY-ONE BOTTLES OF BEER~! TAKE ONE DOWN AND PASS IT AROUND, YOU GOT FIFTY BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL!"

This was the scene that Celestia and the Element Bearers walked in on.

"Why is he so bad?!" Pinkie Pie screamed as she covered her ears. Her friends were in a similar predicament.

Celestia on the other hand was turning red with anger.

"Benefit of the doubt. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Remember, he hasn't done anything that bad since he's been free." she repeated this mantra in her head.

The white alicorn took deep breaths as she walked in front of Isaac's cell.

When he saw her, his grin widened and he began to sing even louder.

"FIFTY BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, FIFTY BOTTLES OF BEER~! TAKE ONE DOWN AND PASS IT AROU-"

*ZAP!*

His singing was interrupted as the sun princess blasted him with a silencing spell. Everypony sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" a guard said, joined by a few others. Even some of the prisoners joined in on the thanks!

Celestia smiled, "Your welcome."

Then she glared at the bound angel, who was scowling at her for ruining his fun.

"I'm going to undo the silencing spell. If you start singing again, I will put it right back on. We need to talk."

Isaac rolled his eyes, but nodded.

*ZAP!*

"So what now? This is the third time you've talked to me today. Ponies might start asking questions!" the ancient evil chuckled!

The white alicorn grunted, "Be serious. It concerns your future after all."

Isaac hummed, "Let me guess. Based on the fact that your student and her friends are here, you're going to let me out on 'parole' in exchange for changing them back to normal?"

"Something like that. The collar you're wearing is specially designed for you by me. I can adjust the settings. You will be at half strength, and I will always know where you are. The six of them will be your parole officers, and they will be wearing their Elements at all times."

He looked at her suspiciously, "What exactly are you planning?"

Celestia chuckled, "Well, you told my student and her friends that you intended to do some community service and surprisingly you have. I figured that you needed somepony to help you along the way to becoming a productive member of society."

His eyes widened in realization, "You intend to have them reform me?"

The angel starting laughing, "HAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that's rich! That might work on Discord, but not me."

The white alicorn rolled her eyes, "You'd be wise not to underestimate them."

Isaac grinned, "If anything, you're underestimating me."

Rainbow couldn't help but speak up, "If you're so hot, then why are you the one in the cell?"

The angel glared at the blue mare for her smug remark.

"How about you be quiet while the adults are talking?"

Rainbow glared back, "Excuse me?! I oughta-"

Her sentence was cut off by Applejack covering her friend's mouth, giving her a look that told her to shut up.

"Thank you, Applejack. I'll agree to this on one condition."

Celestia looked skeptical, "Prisoners aren't normally the ones making the demands."

He smiled, "Ah, but you need me to change the Element Bearers, Cadence, and Shining Armor back to normal."

"True. What is it?"

"My friends, the Sirens? They get released with me."

The sun princess nodded, "They will be restricted just like you are, you do realize that?"

Isaac nodded in return, "Alright."

The white alicorn turned to one of the unicorn guards. "May I have the key to his cell?"

The guard nodded, "Yes, Your Highness!"

He pulled out the key, levitating it over to her with his telekinesis. She grabbed it with her own telekinesis, and unlocked the door.

*CHINK!*

The door opened, and Celestia walked in. She placed her horn on the collar, releasing around half of his full power. Isaac grinned, feeling his strength returning. She backed away.

*BREAK!*

The angel broke the chain on his wrists, legs, and wings. He stood up, and started stretching.

"Ah, that feels much better. Staying in that position for hours did a number on my back." he sighed in relief, touching his toes.

The sun princess rolled her eyes, "Sorry for the inconvenience."

Isaac chuckled, "Oh, it's really no proble-" He cut himself off as he sensed something, eyes widening. He slowly turned his head towards Twilight Sparkle and his friends.

His grin re-appeared as he looked specifically at one of them.

"Why hello there, changeling."

(Canterlot Castle, The Infirmary, 3:50 PM)

"Cadance? How are you feeling?" Shining Armor asked, as he walked into the room. He walked on an unsteady three legs, seeing as his right foreleg was in a sling due to it being broken.

"Better than before, that's for sure." Cadence said, smiling softly from her tiny bed on top of a normal infirmary bed. She was still a bite-sized earth pony rather than a normal sized alicorn.

Shining walked over to her bedside, levitating a flower-vise onto the nightstand nearby.

"Does Princess Celestia have any idea how to return you to normal size?" he asked.

Cadence sighed, "Sadly, no. The only thing that can change me back is..."

"Isaac." Shining growled, but stopped when his tiny fiancee glared at him.

"Calm down, Shiny. Aunt Celestia wouldn't release him without a plan."

The new alicorn sighed, "True. So how have you been adjusting to your new... stature?" he snickered as she pouted.

"Very funny, mister. How are the wings treating you?"

Shining Armor blushed, "They're kind of hard to control. They keep sticking up when I don't want them to."

Cadence giggled, "I had a similar problem when I first got my horn. I kept firing off accidental magic all the time."

The two lovers laughed at their respective predicaments, before an uncomfortable silence began.

The white alicorn gulped, "Cadence... I didn't come here just to check on you again, as much as I would LOVE for it to be that way. I have something I need to get off my chest."

The nurse who was currently attending to the tiny Princess took this as her cue to leave for a moment. Far be it from her to intrude on a personal conversation like this. The two of them waited until the door closed

"What is it, Shining?"

Shining fidget , "While the Changeling Queen was impersonating you, I.... had sex with her."

Cadence's eyes widened in realization, her mouth agape. "Shining, you-"

He looked on the verge of tears, "I didn't know, Cadence! I thought she was you! She.... she had me under a trance half the time due to her magic."

The white alicorn sighed, looking down at the floor. "But I know that doesn't make you feel any better. Look, if you want to call off the wedding I will completely understa-"

"SHINING!" Cadence shouted, cutting him off. He looked back up at her.

The tiny Princess took a deep breath, "This is... a lot to take in. You're right, it doesn't make me feel much better. But I know it wasn't your fault. She even had Aunt Celestia fooled. How could you have known?"

"That isn't an excuse."

Cadence sighed, "It.... probably isn't. Somebody should have been able to tell she wasn't me. But I still love you, and I still want to marry you. You told me about this even though you could have just kept it yourself." she smiled softy, "And that really means a lot to me."

Shining looked up at her, eyes hopeful. "You mean it?"

She nodded, "I do." she chuckled, "You know, this is the part where we would kiss or hug or something. Only..." she gestured at her small size.

Shining started laughing with her, "So you don't hate me?"

Cadence shook her head, "I could never hate you, Shiny. Be angry at you, yes. But never hate you." her eyes narrowed, "Who I do hate right now is that kidnapping, life-stealing, fiancee-bucking, rotten little bug queen!"

The white alicorn chuckled nervously at his fiance's anger, "What about Isaac?"

The pink Princess rolled her eyes, "At least he and his partner fed me decent food regularly. They also didn't gloat daily about how they were going to take over Equestria."

"But he did turn you into a bite-sized earth pony." Shining pointed out.

Cadence shrugged, "True. He also turned me into a poodle and a mouse."

Her fiance's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah, that happened."

Shining started snickering, causing Cadence to roll her eyes again. "It's not that funny."

"Yes, yes it is." he replied, grinning

She glared at him, but couldn't keep the smile from forming on her face. The two of them broke out into laughter. Despite the odd circumstances, they were back together again.

The King of Angels

by Wheenesss

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24