Luna wasn’t lost. The stadium, while big, was not an endless maze of corridors. There was no basement. There were no trap doors, or sliding wall, or torches that opened secret doors when they were twisted. The hallways were clearly labeled so that the attendees would be able to easily get in, find their seats and enjoy the show.

Luna wasn’t lost. The walls had some time ago changed to blackened bricks. Every few feet was a torch burning on the wall, providing poor illumination for the hallway that twisted and turned in random directions. The maze of corridors had been left behind, once Luna had gotten out her marker and started marking the paths they have already gone down. Every so often, Luna and Derpy would pass by a door with an iron bar window. The room on the other side of the door looked like a prison cell.

No, Luna wasn’t lost. Lost didn’t even begin to describe where she was.

Luna stopped walking and sighed. They had already gone on for what seemed like miles. Wherever they were, it wasn’t the stadium anymore. Luna wasn’t even sure if they were still in Ponyville.

“I’m sorry,” Derpy said for the hundredth time.

“It’s not your fault.”

“But it is! If I didn’t push the button, then we wouldn’t have fallen. Now we’re lost, and we don’t know how to get out, and I’m scared I’ll never see my Dinky again!”

“Your what?”

“Dinky! My daughter! She’s the whole reason I’m in this contest. She’ll be so scared if I don’t come back. Then she’ll start to cry, and then I’ll cry because I made her cry, and then—”

“Whoa! Calm down, calm down. I’ll get us out of here. I’m just taking it slow and trying to find the normal way out. I don’t want to start breaking down walls if I don’t have to. Besides, if worst comes to worst, I could always contact my sister for help.”

“Like when you open and close your mouth while thinking?”

“I don’t—do I actually do that? Anyway, I can channel my magic through Equestria and find my sister that way. Although, I’d rather not have to do that.”

“Why not?”

“Well...” Luna said, feeling uncomfortable. “I’ve kind of been so caught up in my research that I’ve been ignoring her lately, and on top of that, I’ve been sneaking around behind her back and keeping secrets from her.”

“Oh,” Derpy said. Such a simple response yet it made Luna feel even more guilty.

Luna started walking again, and Derpy followed. “Anyway, don’t worry about me,” Luna said. “You need to chin up. You couldn’t have known there was a trap door there. There shouldn’t have been a trap door there. This stadium is portable. They just set it on any flat ground. No digging required. There shouldn’t even be a lower level.”

“Maybe the hallway was slanted, and we went up when we chased the unicorn?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. It seems unlikely. I’m willing to believe anything at this point just to get out of here.”

The wall in front of the pair slid open. A pink pony carrying a piñata bounced out and the wall slid back down. The pink pony set down the piñata and looked at them. She raised a foreleg into the air. “Hi, Princess Luna,” she said as she waved.

“Pinkie Pie?” Luna said, blinking. “How does everypony keep recognizing me? You know what? I don’t care. Do you know how to get back to the stadium?”

Pinkie giggled. “We’re still in the stadium! So, you get back to it by not going anywhere. Bye, Princess Luna!”

Pinkie twisted a torch, and the wall in front of her slid open. She bit onto the piñata’s string and hopped through.

“Wait!” Luna called out as the wall slammed shut, but Pinkie Pie was already gone.

“Maybe we should try and follow her?” Derpy asked. She walked up to the torch on the wall, reached for it, but then stopped and drew back.

“Really, Derpy. It wasn’t your fault. You touching another switch isn’t going to cause anything bad to happen.”

Derpy came back towards Luna. “I don’t know,” she said. “Could you do this one?”

Luna smiled. “Of course.”

Luna grabbed onto the torch with her magic and twisted it. A metal cage fell from the ceiling and landed on the pair. They were knocked off their hooves as a bottom to the cage slid into place. A voice laughed in the distance. That annoying, nasally laugh.

“It seems you fools have fallen into my trap.” The masked unicorn walked out of the darkness from down the hall and strolled towards the captured ponies. He gave a wicked sneer as he laughed again.

Luna got up. She wasn’t going to be fooled again. Little did this unicorn know he was dealing with an alicorn. Luna would just calmly bend these metal bars and then have a nice chat about why it was wrong to kidnap ponies. Except that Luna had no idea where the ponies were being held, or how to get out of wherever here was. She didn’t think she could physically force the information from a pony, even one such as this. She would have to wait. Strike when the time was right.

Luna whispered to Derpy, “Follow my lead.” Derpy nodded.

As the unicorn approached, Luna raised her hoof across her forehead. “Oh my! We’ve been captured. Whatever shall we do?”

“And I’m the Mare of Mystery, D—wait. I think I followed the wrong lead.”

Luna and the unicorn stared at Derpy. Luna sighed.

“You are a strange one,” the unicorn said. “No matter. Two more ponies will be perfect for my plans. And neither of you are unicorns. How lucky.”

The unicorn levitated the cage and started walking down the hallway. Luna caught a glimpse of his cutie mark. It looked like a bunny. Had Luna been captured by a villain with a bunny cutie mark? That couldn’t be right. She must have seen it from a bad angle. The unicorn walked to the next torch and twisted it. The wall opened to a new passageway that he started to go down.

Luna couldn’t remain silent anymore. “This has been bothering me for too long, and I need to know. Where are we?”

The unicorn laughed. Luna hated that laugh with every fiber of her being.

“We are in the ancient catacombs,” he explained, “deep beneath this stadium’s—”

“Ancient catacombs?” Luna asked, shaking her head. “This stadium was assembled a week ago!”

“... assembled atop the ruins of—”

“What ruins? I’ve read the geological reports of Ponyville. There are no ruins here.”

“... within the parallel, secondary dimension—”

“Just admit you have no idea where we are!”

The unicorn tsked and turned up his snout. “It matters not where we are. All that matters is that it suits my purposes perfectly.”

“And your purposes would be...?”

“Becoming the ruler of Equestria!”

“Wow... big goal. So you must have a way to deal with the princesses?” This could be important information. It was doubtful this unicorn had anything that could actually threaten Luna or her sister, but it was best to play on the safe side.

“The princesses will be no threat to me once my plan is completed.”

“Your plan being…?”

“Becoming the ruler of Equestria!”

Luna’s head began to hurt. Something told her this unicorn was not playing with a full deck of cards. Or even half a deck. Probably safe to assume the cards had fallen out of the box, and the unicorn had decided to play a board game instead.

They had come to a dead end. The unicorn twisted another torch, and the wall slid open revealing a large room. The room was filled with cages much like the one Luna and Derpy were in. Each cage contained two or three ponies. All earth ponies or pegasi. So this evil mastermind was afraid of magic messing up his plans. Interesting. Luna would be sure to show him all the magic he wanted. Just as soon as she found out if he really did have anything dangerous. Even an idiot could be a threat with the right magical focus.

Luna’s cage came to a stop at the far left end of the row of cages and was lowered to the ground. The unicorn walked in front of them all and turned around.

“Welcome, my instrumental friends. I would like to thank you all for being here today. It is because of all of you that I shall get the power needed to rule Equestria. That is, once I take it from you. I know you all must be wondering what I mean. You aren’t unicorns. You have no magic for me to take. But you’re wrong. I will steal from you the power that you do possess. The power of bad baking!”

The unicorn laughed his annoying laugh again.

Luna tried to resist hitting her face with her hoof and failed. “That’s your plan?” she asked.

The unicorn stopped laughing and looked nervous. He clearly wasn’t expecting anypony actually to question the absolute genius that was his plan.

“Y-yes. That is my plan. I will steal your bad baking ability and make myself, The Worst Baker in Equestria!”

“And?”

“And? And what? That’s my plan.”

“You’re going to take over Equestria... by baking bad...”

“Yes! Clearly, you don’t understand just how bad a baker can be. I can make something so stinky that any pony that smelled it would pass out! Or... or I could make a cookie so spicy that any pony that ate it would shoot fire out of their mouth!”

“And how will that help you rule Equestria?”

“Those are just little examples of my new-found powers. There are a million ways I could use bad baking to seize control of Equestria.”

“Name one.”

The unicorn growled and repeatedly stomped his hooves against the floor. Luna was feeling a little bad but, after the ordeal he had put her through, revenge was sweet.

“My evil plans are not for you to question!” he bellowed. “You will bow before me! You will all bow before me! Soon, all of Equestria will bow down before the might of Snuggle Cakes!”

Luna nearly choked with laughter. The other trapped ponies began to giggle too.

“Your...” Luna was having a hard time breathing. “Your name is Snuggle Cakes?”

“Yes!” His confidence slowly faded from her face. “What, why? Is there something wrong with my name?”

“No... no-nothing... it’s just that...” Luna was getting her laughter under control. “Honestly, I was expecting something more sinister. Something like Dark Arts, or Blackest Runes, or, I don’t know, something that doesn’t sound like a pet name between two love-struck ponies?”

“My mother named me Snuggle Cakes. I love my mother.”

Now Luna did feel bad. “Your name is fine... it just isn’t the sort of name I’d expect from a villain.”

“... Which... is why… this has all been a trick! Yes! A trick. To think the future ruler of Equestria would actually be named Snuggle Cakes. What a fool you are. I am actually the evil magician, Dark Arts!”

Luna had had enough. This was just sorry. It was time to use her powers to bust out of here and bring this wannabe bad-guy down. Derpy would love this. It was a shame that Luna would have to reveal her disguise. She wouldn’t be able to compete after this, but the ponies of Equestria came first. Luna grabbed onto the metal bars with her magic and got ready to pull. It was then that her body locked up.

“I suppose you all are wondering what this is?” Snuggle Cakes said as he walked back and forth, levitating a small black stone. “This is a null-stone. Something developed by the ponies of the WBEs to make the ending of their competition something spectacular. Normally, when magic is channeled into the stone, it nullifies the bad baking aura, allowing a pony to bake as well as they are able. Once the magic is removed, though, the bad baking aura comes rushing back, and if the pony is skilled, they can draw in the aura and cause something huge to happen.

“However, that’s not what I’m doing. What I’m doing is pulling magic out. The aura in all of you will forcefully amplify, and then with a spell, I will use the stone to pull all of that energy into me!”

Luna gasped as the waves of magic washed over her. How could such a small stone be producing so much power? She felt like she was drowning in an ocean during a storm. Such unbelievable magic. That stone could remake the very fabric of reality. Or unmake it! She had to do something. Luna struggled to get a hold of her magic. Just one spell. Any spell to interrupt this.

All of Luna’s strength was being used just to keep herself standing. She was an alicorn. The second most powerful being in Equestria next to her sister. If she could barely move, then what was happening to the other ponies?

The other ponies. Luna had to protect them. It was her duty. She slowly turned her head. They must be so scared. It would be a mercy if they had just been overwhelmed and lost consciousness.

The other ponies. Luna had to look at them, see their pain, use it to fuel her anger; her magic.

The other ponies... were fine?

The rest of the caged ponies were alright. They looked a bit worried and confused but certainly not like they were struggling against an overwhelming magical force. So the magic was operating at a level that only Luna could sense. Great. She was probably the only one that could do anything, and she could barely even move. Worse still, that idiot likely had no idea of the power he was channeling.

Luna tried to alert Derpy. Let her know that it was all up to her now. The fate of all of Equestria. Luna slowly moved her head. One of Derpy’s eyes swiveled and looked at Luna. Derpy turned and gasped. Luna only managed a weak smile. She was unable to speak.

Derpy tapped her chin with her hoof. A look of deep concentration was on her face. She looked around the cage, at the ceiling, at the other ponies, at Snuggle Cakes. Derpy’s face lit up. She walked over to Luna and opened her saddle bag. She pulled out the rope. Luna was glad she had decided to bring a rope. It was amazingly useful when needed. Derpy flipped her neck and sent one end of the rope up through the bars on top. She bit onto the falling rope and pulled it to the front of the cage, where she wrapped it around another bar.

Snuggle Cakes was too caught up in his stone to notice anything. Derpy rummaged through one of Luna’s saddle bags and then went to the other. She pulled out Luna’s scarf. Derpy knotted the end of the scarf together and then tied it to the end of the rope. Luna’s beautiful scarf. She had never even gotten a chance to wear it. Hopefully, it would still be salvageable after all of this.

Derpy went back into Luna’s bag and pulled out a pair of glasses. She looked down her muzzle in confusion then placed the glasses on Luna’s face. Derpy turned her head to the side and looked at Luna. She then bit onto the glasses and returned them to the bag. She pulled out the map of Ponyville and the medical strips.

Derpy started folding the map and had soon made a paper glider. Of course! The glider would hit Snuggle Cakes and then, once distracted, Luna would be free to act. The rope and scarf were going to be used as a launcher to get the glider all the way across the room. Derpy was a genius!

Luna then noticed Derpy tugged on her necklace. Derpy brought Luna’s necklace over her head and around her invisible horn. She then attached the necklace to the glider with the medical strips. Luna suddenly realized she had no idea what Derpy was thinking.

Derpy adjusted the placement of the scarf holding the glider. She looked out across the room, seeming to do one final calculation. She then bit onto the rope’s end and tugged hard. The make-shift pulley system sent the scarf forward and then whipped the glider into the air. The glider flew to the left and crashed into the corner of the room.

Luna had a sudden sense of foreboding. Derpy looked at her and smiled. She had apparently done whatever it was that she had thought Luna had wanted her to do. Now Equestria was doomed.

“This should be enough of an amplification,” Snuggle Cakes said. “Now, to cast the spell and take your powers for my own!”

Luna felt like screaming as the magical pressure increased, but then, it suddenly stopped.

Luna looked around. Snuggle Cakes was no longer channeling magic. He had his back turned to them. The stone was on the floor. Now was Luna’s chance to... to... She couldn’t move! Her hooves seemed to be rooted in place, and her ears were ringing. No. That wasn’t ringing. That was... music?

Snuggle cakes turned around.

The ponies in the cages stamped their hooves in applause. Snuggle Cakes looked around in confusion. Luna had no idea what had just happened. Derpy was smiling and humming the song again to herself.

“Wow,” Snuggle Cakes said. “I have no idea what spell I just cast but that certainly wasn’t the right one. I’m sure there was an instruction manual around here somewhere...”

“Super Luna!” Derpy whispered. “Now’s your chance! I’ll cover for you!”

Derpy looked to where the necklace had fallen. It suddenly all clicked for Luna.

Luna mentally reached out to her necklace and willed herself towards it, making sure her saddlebags would be left behind. She vanished and reappeared above her necklace. She let her disguise drop. “Snuggle Cakes!” she yelled, using the full force of the Royal Canterlot Voice.

All eyes were now on Luna. Snuggle Cakes’ eyes went wide. “P-P-P-Princess Luna!” he managed to say.

The other ponies were whispering among themselves.

“It’s Princess Luna!”

“Look, the princess!”

“I thought she’d be taller.”

“The princess is naked!”

Luna’s eye twitched. Of course, her being seen without her royal adornments was going to be the front-page news tomorrow. Never mind. She had this moron to deal with first.

“Hey, everypony!” Derpy yelled. “I just want to let you know that Super Luna already rescued the pony that was next to me, and that she’s most likely safe, so we don’t need to go looking for her or wonder where she is until she reappears later.” Derpy looked at Luna and winked.

Snuggle Cakes laughed, his nasalliness causing Luna to grit her teeth. “I don’t know how a word of my plans reached Canterlot,” he said, “but it doesn’t matter. I had a contingency plan just for you, Princess Luna.”

Luna prepared herself. This would have to be quick. If Snuggle Cakes had realized what the null-stone could do to her... no time to think of that. Time to act! The door at the far side of the room banged open. Everypony turned to look.

An earth pony stallion with a brown-coat and dark brown mane was on the other side of the door. “Hey, Snuggle Cakes,” he said, “I know you had that ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on your door, but I just wanted you to know there’s been this pink pony and baby dragon... that have... been...”

The earth pony looked around the room, at the cages, at Luna, and back at Snuggle Cakes. “This isn’t right at all,” he said. “Your dressing room is at least ten times as big as mine! And what’s with all the ponies in cages. Why is the princess here? And what is up with this room? My door is five feet down from yours, but the wall on this side must go down for twenty. How is your room bigger on the inside than the outside?”

Snuggle Cakes looked around nervously then said, “... within the parallel, secondary dimension—”

“That is it!” Luna yelled. “I have had it with you!”

Snuggle Cakes looked at Luna and then ran towards the exit.

Luna gave chase and screamed after him, “You are the worst villain ever!”

Once Luna had reached the door, she heard a snap, a twang, and a cry of surprise. Luna slowed down and watched the unicorn dangled from the ceiling and the baby dragon wearing a top hat and cape celebrating beneath him.

“Alright!” Spike said. “It worked! I knew it would!”

Luna walked up to the dragon. “Hello, Spike,” she said.

Spike turned around and looked up at Luna, his eyes growing panicked. He quickly took off his hat and stuffed his cape and mustache inside it. He looked left, right, then down at the hat. Spike took a deep breath and blew green fire on the hat. It quickly dissolved into smoke and blew away.

“Princess Luna,” Spike said, grinning widely and holding his claws behind his back. “Fancy seeing you here. This... uh...” He looked up at the unicorn dangling by a rope trap from the ceiling and sighed. “This is exactly what it looks like.”

“I should hope so. Good job, Spike.”

“Huh? Uh... yeah. I did do a pretty good job, didn’t I?”

“I’ll say. This one has been slippery, but thanks to you, we got him.”

“Hi again, Princess Luna!”

Luna turned to see Pinkie Pie wrapped in streamers and also hanging upside down from the ceiling. “Don’t worry about me. I’m not trapped! Well, I am, but not on purpose! Let’s just say that spring-loaded streamers-in-a-can need to be opened away from the face.”

“So, what should we do with him?” Spike asked, still looking up at the unicorn.

“We’ll need to send word to my sister, so she can call for the royal guards.”

“The royal guards?”

“Oh yes. kidnapping, dark magic, attempted takeover of Equestria. This is one bad pony.”

“Wow! I knew he was bad, but all of that?”

“So he wasn’t a McRuderson at all!” Pinkie shouted. “He’s worse! He was a Meany Beany Jamboreeny!”

Luna looked at Pinkie Pie and then Spike. Spike shrugged. Luna cleared her throat. “Yes... well, I’m glad you’re here Spike. I’ll need you to send a letter to my sister. And how would you like to take credit for all of this?”

“Really? You want me to take the credit?”

“Oh yes! Write that letter, and don’t even mention I was here. This was all thanks to you.”

Spike blushed. “Thanks, Princess Luna! I need to go find some paper and a quill!”

As Spike ran off, Luna looked at Snuggle Cakes. She used her magic to change the rope into chains and levitated the unicorn in front of her. She would have to make sure he didn’t escape until the guards got here. With any luck, her sister would just send the guards and not come herself.

Luna sent her magic into the room behind her to break the locks on the cages. She also grabbed the null-stone and moved it towards her with telekinesis. This thing was dangerous. She squeezed, and the stone shattered into dust. The WBEs would just have to come up with some other gimmick for the finals.

Luna was heading towards the front of the stadium with the freed ponies following behind and Derpy trotting happily beside her. Luna spotted a group of panicked ponies outside the waiting area.

“Can I help?” Luna asked as she got close.

The ponies turned around and quickly bowed. “Princess Luna,” the official-looking pony from before said. “Thank goodness you’re here. Somepony sealed the door with magic, and we can’t get in! All the ponies inside are trapped!”

Luna eyed Snuggle Cakes, who was doing his best to look away from her.

“Let me get that for you,” Luna said as she undid the spell and threw the doors open.