“What are you doing?” Trixie asked as she approached Aura in a small clearing in the forest. The youngling had disappeared from the group during the strategy meeting and only Trixie seemed to notice. Now that she was closer, Trixie could see that Aura examining some plants of the ground. “… Picking flowers? Now of all times?”

Aura shook her head. “I’m not good at things like this… My brother’s much better, and General Mystic’s a veteran.” She let out a depressed sigh and lowered her head. “I’d be better off just staying out of their way…”

Trixie turned around to look at the group of changelings, who now seemed to be arguing over something. She turned back to Aura and said, “Well with that attitude, you really would be better off staying out of everyone’s way.” Aura’s head lowered even more. “Instead of thinking about what you can’t do, why don’t you think about what you can do?”

Aura’s ears perked up and she looked up at Trixie with a questioning look on her face. “What I can do? … I don’t know if I-”

“Well, Trixie could use a helping hoof,” Trixie said, cutting Aura off. “We don’t have enough food, and Trixie wagers we would fall quickly if we went into battle on empty stomachs. You can help Trixie search for something edible to eat in this forest.”

Aura jumped up and a faint smile formed on her face. “Well… I do know quite a bit about plants and berries and such… Enough to identify which ones are safe to eat, at least.”

Trixie grinned and patted the youngling on the head. “Well that’s good… Don’t tell anypony this, but botany isn’t one of Trixie many talents.”

Aura giggled and winked at the blue pony. “Don’t worry, Miss Trixie. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Twilight was humming to herself as she read her copy of ‘Surprise Visits, and How to React’ when a sudden knock at the door startled her, causing her to look around for her assistant. “Spike! Can you get that for me?”

“I’m a little busy right no-Whoa!” Spike shouted as he fell from his spot atop a rather flimsy stepladder, being buried in the many books that he was carrying at the time.

Twilight sighed and begrudgingly made her way to the door. “Never mind, I’ll get it… You just focus on cleaning that up.”

Spike rubbed his head and groaned as he emerged from the pile of books. “Sure thing, Mum,” he muttered, before getting to work on cleaning up the mess.

Twilight opened the door to see who it was that had interrupted her precious reading time, but was stunned completely into silence as she laid her eyes on the tall figure of the dark-blue alicorn at her door.

“Good evening, Twilight Sparkle,” the visitor said. “We hope this isn’t a bad time.”

Twilight quickly shook her head and moved aside to allow her visitor entry into her library. “No, no, no! Of course not, Princess! I’m just… surprised, that’s all. Please, come in!”

Luna nodded and walked into the library. She saw Spike sluggishly sorting out a pile of books by one of the bookshelves and then turned back to Twilight. “We apologize for this sudden intrusion, Twilight Sparkle. We have no time for small talk, so we shall be brief: Equestria is in danger, and We need your help.”

“Ah, darn it! She’s not in again?!” Applejack shouted in frustration after she once again received no response after knocking on Trixie’s trailer’s door. “Where does she go all the time?”

“Applejack, darling, is it really necessary to keep coming back here every day?” Rarity asked, trying to get the agitated farmer away before she tried breaking and entering into the trailer.

“You bet it is! Have ya seen the damage to our farm? The repairs ain’t gonna pay for themselves, y’know?”

“Wasn’t she attacked by a changeling?” Fluttershy asked, before ducking behind her mane when Applejack turned to face her.

“She still used the farm as a weapon! Twilight confirmed that it was Trixie’s magic that set all them traps, and there were more all ‘round Ponyville! Why, Ah don’t know, but she damaged our farm an’ we need compensation!”

“Hey, did you hear?” a random pony in the background asked.

“About Princess Luna coming to Ponyville?”

“Why would she come here? And in the daytime, no less.”

The girls turned around and tuned into the conversation taking place behind them. There they saw Shock, Lyra and Bon Bon.

“I heard a rumour that she’s seeking the power of the Elements of Harmony,” Shock said.

“Is that true?” Lyra asked.

Shock shrugged and shot Applejack a quick glance. “Don’t know. That’s just what I’ve heard. Maybe Equestria’s in danger?”

“She did go into the library,” Bon Bon pointed out.

Shock nodded his head. “If I were the other bearers, I’d rush over there, right away.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at Shock and almost spoke out when she caught him sending a quick smile her way, but she was cut off by Pinkie Pie, who had appeared suddenly from underneath her hat.

“Did you hear that, guys?!”

Rarity, a little taken aback by Pinkie’s sudden and strange appearance, nodded slowly. “Y-Yes… I think we should make our way to the library, to make sure that everything’s okay.”

“But… what about Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asked.

Applejack reached a hoof up to push Pinkie Pie off of her head and then turned to face Fluttershy. “Ah’ll go find Dash. You three head on over to the library and find out what’s goin’ on.”

The other three mares nodded and ran off down the street together, towards the library. Once they were out of sight, Applejack casually walked past Shock, stopping for a second to say, “Ah don’t know what ye’re up to, but Ah’m on to ya…”

Shock raised an eyebrow at Applejack. “I’m sorry?”

“Ye’re the one that knew about the changeling attackin’ our farm, an’ you were sendin’ me signals just now.” Before Shock could respond, Applejack galloped down the street, heading towards the area of Ponyville that was covered by cloud.

Shock grinned and slowly followed after the mares that were heading towards the library. ‘She’s good, for a simple farmer… But Lord Odysseus is better. Even if she figures everything out, by that time, it will be too late.’

“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not approve of this plan!” Trixie shouted out as she levitated a few berries to her mouth.

“Well then you should have said something earlier!” Alexander shouted.

“Trixie was gathering food! Food which you are eating right now, you ungrateful oaf!”

Alexander stomped his hooves on the ground, slightly intimidating Trixie, before being calmed down once again by his sister’s pleas.

“I agree. I don’t approve of this plan, either,” Aura said.

“Okay, then we’ll take a vote. All in favour?” Everyone besides Trixie and Aura raised a forehoof. “All opposed?” Trixie and Aura were the only two who raised their forehooves this time. “Looks like it’s decided, then.”

“You said you needed Trixie to win Princess Luna’s favour!” Trixie protested.

“Ah, yeah… Well, that was just to calm the prince down,” Chill said. “Truth is, as long as we free her, there shouldn’t really be much of a problem… After all, one thousand years ago, it was Princess Luna who first proposed peace with the changelings.”

“But still… why does Trixie have to play decoy?!”

“We need someone who can use illusions,” Chill told her.

“Mystic can use illusions, right?!”

“They’ll go easier on you, because you’re a pony.”

“… You think?”

There was a lengthy silence before Chill nodded. “Probably.”

“That doesn’t inspire much confidence!”

Aura cleared her throat to gain the group’s attention. “I cannot say that I approve of this plan! Trixie has done so much to help me. I can’t let her put herself in harm’s way like that!”

Trixie almost felt like hugging the youngling, but she restrained herself, both to save face, and to keep Alexander from tearing her legs off.

“Truth-be-told, she won’t be in that much danger at all,” Mystic assured the two. “She’s a talented illusionist, and not too shabby in physical combat. Just so long as no captains or generals show up, she’ll be fine.”

“And if any do show up?” Aura asked.

“Then it means she’s doing a good job,” Chill answered with a laugh. “And in that case, she just fights for as long as she can and then surrenders. That way her life won’t be in any danger, and all we really need is enough time to reach the castle dungeon. Once we’re in, we can rescue Princess Luna, and then she can appeal for Trixie’s release.”

Trixie thought about it for a second before shaking her head. “That’s all well and good, but what if they have no problem with killing Trixie?”

“You scared?” Alexander asked with a mocking grin. “Well too bad! In case you haven’t realised, we’re out of options! If we don’t rescue Luna, then Odysseus will kill you anyway! And not just you, but the rest of us, too!”

Trixie winced at the harsh reminder of their current situation and turned to face Aura for a moment. “… Fine,” she sighed. “It seems that Trixie has no choice in the matter… This may be her only chance to get out of this alive.”

“But Miss Trixie-”

Trixie cut off Aura’s protests with a hoof. “Don’t worry, Aura. The Great and Powerful Trixie will not allow herself to die at the hooves of mere guardsponies,” she said with a reassuring smile.

“… Are you sure?” Trixie nodded. Aura paused for a moment before saying, “… Okay then… If you’re okay with it, then… I guess I am, too.”

Chill clapped his forehooves together to bring Trixie and Aura’s attentions back to the group. “Right! Now that that’s sorted, let’s go over the plan once more.”

Chrysalis dodged yet another magical attack by Celestia with a sharp glare directed at the pony princess.

“Queen Chrysalis, isn’t it about time that you surrendered?” Celestia asked as her horn glowed gold again, ready to unleash another spell. “Your troops aren’t doing so well, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

In actuality, Chrysalis had noticed… but she was so focused on her own battle that it was difficult to give them any proper orders. Celestia’s mistake was giving her that moment to catch her breath, and the changeling queen decided not to waste the opportunity.

Her horn lit up and, almost immediately, a blast was fired into the air. Celestia watched in confusion as the magic took on a strange pattern, and then grew even more confused when the changeling troops started to fall back. She ordered her own troops to hold their ground. “So, you’re ready to talk this out civilly?”

Chrysalis scoffed at the question and stood tall before the princess. “I didn’t want to use this new technology,” she said. “It’s so temperamental and hasn’t been tested much… but you’ve forced my hoof, Celestia!”

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Be alert, everypony! She’s up to something!”

Moments later, the changeling troops began to move back to the battlefield, only this time, they were all carrying something… Something that the ponies had never seen before.

“What are those?” Celestia asked.

“Those are the OMLR-02 model ‘matchlock rifles’,” Chrysalis answered. “A new weapon that recently entered the testing phase. They are based off of the ‘gunpowder pistol’ that was invented nearly one hundred years ago by an Equestrian scientist.”

“The gunpowder pistol? You would make a weapon out of a tool used for sport and festivities?”

“Oh, sure. Because your subjects don’t do that all the time,” Chrysalis said as her troops arranged themselves into rows. The front row raised their rifles up, ignited the attached fuses with their magic, and took aim. “Our scouts are more efficient than you seem to give them credit for.”

Celestia ordered her troops to continue advancing, but carefully. “So, you still refuse to give up, then?”

Chrysalis gritted her teeth together and shouted just one word: “FIRE!”

A series of loud bangs echoed throughout the air. Celestia’s eyes widened as she witnessed many of the ponies advancing forward fall to the ground. The rest of them all stopped, some looking on with mixtures of horror and surprise, and some dropping to the ground and shielding their ears.

“First battalion, back!” a changeling standing behind all of the rows shouted. “Second battalion, forward!” The first row of changelings all moved back, although some of them were more sluggish than others, and one seemed to need help from a comrade. Once at the back of the row, the battalion started readying their rifles for another round. The next battalion moved forward and took aim.

“Well, well,” Chrysalis said, more impressed than she thought she would be. “It seems a few didn’t quite fire right, and the aim could do with a little work… but overall, a successful first run in the field, don’t you think?” Celestia didn’t respond. She instead intensified her glare at the changeling queen. “It’s fitting, really… After what your ponies did, it will almost be as if my sons are taking their revenge from beyond their graves.”

Celestia turned to face her troops, which were awaiting new orders whilst getting ready to defend themselves against another attack from the changelings. “Pull back the wounded! Have them seen to immediately and then continue advancing… but prioritise defence!” Her troops obeyed her orders immediately and she turned back to the queen. “What you just said, about your sons taking their revenge… what did you mean by that?”

“Well you see, it was my son Odysseus who developed this new weapon. The ‘Odysseus Matchlock Rifle Mark One, or OMLR-01, was his attempt at providing us a means of standing up against those fast-flying griffons. He’s quite the genius, you see. Always thinking up great ideas and finding new ways to help our kingdom grow stronger.

“And it was my other son, Alexander, who devised this formation and developed the ‘slow match’ to make the weapon much more efficient in combat. Though not quite as smart, when it comes to militaristic issues, he is a genius in his own rights, and together, my children invented the Odysseus Matchlock Rifle Mark Two. The OMLR-02 that you just witnessed being demonstrated on your troops.”

“You must be very proud,” Celestia said. “But what I want to know is why would they be taking their revenge. For what reason?”

“Oh, please,” Chrysalis said with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t even dare think that you can pull the innocent act on me! I already know full well what you did, and I will never forgive you for it!”

Before Celestia could ask what she meant, she was distracted the sounds of the second wave of rifles being fired. By letting her guard down for just that split-second, Chrysalis was able to blast her with a powerful magical attack directly to the chest.

“Don’t aim for the heads!” Chrysalis shouted as she kept her eyes focussed on the heaving princess. “The aim is off, so aim for the less protected areas! If possible, go for the legs!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

Celestia teleported a short distance away and gave herself a moment to recover. As she once again settled her gaze on Queen Chrysalis, her eyes were once again emitting a blindingly white light. Only this time, her eyes were also burning with anger. “You are trying my patience…” she said as magic began to spark furiously out of her horn. “I’ve given you enough chances… I will not allow my little ponies to fall!”

“We’re nearly there,” Alexander said as the group neared the grand city of Canterlot. “Get ready to sneak in as soon as Trixie starts her distraction.”

“How d’you think she’s gonna do it?” Chill asked, donning a pony form together with Alexander and Aura. Mystic’s group were to sneak in from the back, to increase the chances of at least one group successfully reaching Princess Luna.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Alexander said. “Just as long as it helps us get by unnoticed.”

“From what I’ve seen of Miss Trixie so far,” Aura began, “It will probably be something flashy. I’m sure we’ll know when she’s begun.”

The three changelings stopped just a short distance away from the main gate, hiding behind a large boulder as they waited for their signal to enter.

“Ooh, maybe I should have stayed with Miss Trixie after all,” Aura said, starting to get cold hooves as the time to start the operation drew near.

“Relax,” Chill said. “I’m sure she’ll be fine, and it’s not like you’ll be able to do much anyway, even if you were there.” Aura’s face fell and Chill bit his own lip. “Uh, n-no offence, of course!”

“But I-”

“Sis,” Alexander said, “I’m not gonna risk losing you. Not after I finally got you back, after thinking you were dead.”

Aura looked up at her brother, who was doing his best to avoid any eye contact, and smiled. Her words of thanks went unheard through the sounds of explosions. The group looked up as bright, multicoloured lights filled the air in the distance.

“Ah, looks like she’s started,” Chill said.

Alexander got up, followed by Aura and Chill. “Man, she sure doesn’t hold anything back, does she?”

Chill nodded. “Despite being so against this plan earlier.”

The three waited for the guards at the gate to leave their post and then made their way towards the city.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” a guard shouted as he fired a blast of magic at Trixie, who was storming through one of the streets of Canterlot, her face hidden behind a plastic mask of Princess Celestia. She had found it in a costume store in the city and swiped it when nopony was looking. Even if she could have used Luna as a ‘get-out-of-jail-free card’, she still wanted to make sure that her reputation was safe…

‘In hindsight, Trixie should probably have removed her signature hat and cape before starting all of this…’

“Cut ‘em off, stallions!”

Trixie scoffed at the poor attempts to capture her and unleashed a flurry of flashy spells to elude the pursuing guards just long enough to evade them, but not long enough so as to lose them completely.

“After them! Hurry!” a guard shouted after the group spotted Trixie up on the rooftop of a nearby house.

Trixie jumped down into an alleyway and continued running from the pursuing guards… right into a dead end. “Oops.”

“We’ve got you now!”

Trixie turned around and fired a blast of magic at the guards. It was deflected by a barrier spell by one guard and the other two charged towards her. She dodged an attack, delivering a kick into the stomach of one of the guards. The other guard managed to scratch her foreleg, prompting Trixie to retaliate with a kick to the face. “… Oops. Again.”

The other guard soon charged forward, along with three more that had arrived to back him up. Trixie found herself outnumbered… but not at all outmatched. Once she was done with the guards, Trixie ran back out of the alleyway, only to find even more guards waiting for her outside.

“Oh, horseapples,” she said as she released a smoke bomb, allowing her to turn the tables on her ambushers and push past them. “Catch me if you can!” she shouted, provoking each of them into chasing after her.

In another part of the city, Alexander was leading Chill and Aura through dark alleyways, making sure to stay low and out of sight of public sight.

“Alright, if I remember correctly, the entrance should be around here,” Alexander said as the group exited an alleyway and found themselves standing outside of several large warehouses.

“You sure about that?” Chill asked as he began looking around.

Alexander shrugged and joined him in their search. “Dunno. Mother and Odysseus are the ones who know the layout of Canterlot’s crystal mines. But if my memory serves me correctly, I vaguely recall that there was an entrance in this warehouse area.”

Aura found something strange and called out to her brother, “Doesn’t this ponyhole seem out of place?” She motioned to the ponyhole at her hooves as her brother and Chill approached her.

“Not… really,” Chill said, leaning down to examine it. “Why d’you think that?”

“The rest of the ponyholes were all spaced well apart from each other. In Manehatten, Ponyville, and here in Canterlot, too. But this one…” Aura pointed a hoof down towards a ponyhole just one meter away, “… Is right beside another one.”

Alexander whistled and walked over to the other ponyhole. “It’s just like you to notice small things like that,” he said, causing Aura’s face to brighten up. “Still, you’re slightly off… It’s this one that seems odd, considering there are no holes to open it.”

Chill and Aura approached the ponyhole and worked together to force it open with their combined magic. They found a passage leading down, one which wasn’t very well constructed, and didn’t smell much like sewage.

“Looks like one of those old mineshafts from black-and-white movies,” Chill commented.

Alexander nodded and used his horn to summon some light. “Let’s go. We can get into the castle through here.”

Mystic lead her party through the palace’s gardens cautiously, using her illusions to hide them from the occasional guard or two that they would come across and making use of the large garden ornaments and hedges remain unseen.

Another explosion drew the two guards guarding the drawbridge away for a moment and so she took the chance to make things easier in the long run.

“Everyone wait here,” she ordered, running alone towards the control hut for the drawbridge. She knocked on the door and stood back as it opened. The guard inside was wearing the same goggles that she had seen the other guards around Canterlot wearing and he had tried to shout something before Mystic knocked him out with a roundhouse kick to the head.

She quickly ducked inside and pulled the guard back inside, tying him up and applying some tape over his mouth. “Best to leave no causalities. Don’t want to start another war after this one is over…” Once she was down, Mystic turned around and faced the controls for the drawbridge. “Okay, now to commit a little sabotage.”

After taking just a quick moment to acquaint herself with the controls, Mystic pulled the lever to raise the bridge, causing the few ponies that were crossing it to fall into the moat below. She watched as they swam back to the city-side, unable to access the castle-side from the moat due to the steep slope guarding it. She then used her magic to bust up the controls, rendering them unusable for the time being. She chuckled and then left the hut. “Well, that was certainly fun.”

“HALT!”

Mystic’s eyes shot wide open as she was confronted by several guards.

“We know what you are, Changeling! Surrender now, or we shall take you down!”

Each of the guards started to collapse one-by-one, and before any of them could realise what was happening, they were all down for the count. Mystic looked at her troops with surprise as they stood over the bodies of the unconscious guards.

“I told you to wait over there,” she said.

The troops all saluted. One of them stepped forward and said, “We apologize, sir! We will accept any punishment that you offer us!”

Mystic laughed to herself again, unnerving her party a little bit, before letting out a sigh. “We’ll discuss that later. For now, we have a job to do.”

“Sir!”

“Target is now running through Mane Street. Eight more guards injured, zero casualties.”

Precision Perfect slammed his hooves down onto the table in front of him. “What are those buffoons doing?! Why are they having so much trouble with just one pony?!”

“Isn’t it about time we head out?”

Precision turned around and growled at the pony behind him. “Shut up, rookie! Us captains need to remain here at the castle! In case you didn’t hear the first time, we’re at war, and the enemy could attack at any second!”

“But we can’t just let this civil unrest go on! We’re more than just personal protection to the princesses; we’re guardians of this city, of all cities, and of all of the ponies in Equestria! We preserve the peace and we’re there to aid those who have nowhere else to turn!”

“We’re nothing of the sort!” Precision shouted. “We’re soldiers! We’re willing slaves who have sold our lives to the crown! Now stop your pointless babbling and be ready to repel enemy attacks!”

The other captain ignored his comrade’s tirade and made his way towards the door. “Sorry, Precision Perfect, but I can’t just sit by and do nothing while the citizens of Canterlot are in need of us, and definitely not when my own troops are falling at the hooves of this villain!”

Precision scowled as the other captain left and then slammed his hooves onto the table once more. “I know what that rookie’s up to… He’s trying to upstage me, and win the princesses’ favour! It’s not enough he’s married to royalty; he still wants more!”

“Captain, sir, if you feel that way, shouldn’t you go after him?” one of the guards beside the captain asked.

“Didn’t you hear me?!” Precision shouted, causing the guard to flinch. “I have to be here to protect the castle, and the royal family!”

“Sir, two more injured! Still zero causalities!”

Precision gritted his teeth together before stopping as a thought crossed his mind. “How many injured in total so far?”

The guard took a moment to tally up the total. “Fifteen.”

“… And what has the target done, besides disrupting the peace and resisting arrest?”

“Well… property damage, but only minor things, like windows and random things that happened to lie in their path.”

“So that’s it?” he asked. “No thievery, no assaults, no kidnappings… nothing?” the guard confirmed this, and Precision put a hoof to his chin. “The target has proven that they can easily lose our guards whenever they want to… so why aren’t they? And why are so few of our guards sustaining injuries?”

“You think it could be a distraction, sir?” one of the guards asked, earning a scowl from his captain. “Eep! Uh, sorry, sir! Just thinking out loud, sir!”

“… A distraction…” Precision mumbled to himself. “A distraction! That’s it!” He lifted his helmet up off of the table and placed it onto his head, and then picked up his bow and quiver that were lying beside it.

“Sir, where are you going?!”

“There was a pony who could use illusions who came to break the changeling prisoners out of the dungeon! This must be that same pony! I have to go and protect Princess Cadance!” He was about to head out of the door, but stopped for a moment to say, “I need you to alert every captain in the castle! Tell them that the enemy is here, and that they must protect the royal family at all costs!”

The guard saluted. “Sir, yes, sir!” he shouted before running off through the castle.

Precision also left the room, running down a different path to his subordinate.

“STOP ALREADY!” one of the guards shouted, clearly growing impatient with Trixie’s messing around.

“Gah! Leg cramp!”

“Suck it up! We have to capture this criminal before they cause more disturbances in our fair city!”

Trixie almost felt sorry for the guards chasing after her. She actually had to slow down so that they could keep up… ‘And I thought I was bad at physical activities. Well, that heavy armour couldn’t be making it any easier, I suppose.’

“That’s far enough!”

Trixie noticed a stallion ahead of her and slowed to a stop when she noticed the armour that he was wearing. “A captain…”

“That’s correct,” the white unicorn before her said. “Captain Shining Armor, to be exact. And you are?”

The guards behind Trixie stopped and rejoiced when they saw that their beloved captain was standing ahead of them.

“It’s Captain Armor!”

“Yes! It’s over now!”

“No way she’s getting out of this!”

Trixie scoffed and tilted her head up. “Can’t you see this mask? Tri-Er, I’m wearing it for a reason, you know?” ‘Nice one, Trixie. Just go ahead and almost blow your cover, why don’t you?’

Shining Armor’s horn lit up, and a pink barrier started to form itself around the two of them. Trixie, assuming that it was merely designed to keep her from escaping, didn’t bother moving. The guards behind, though, did. They moved back, telling each other to stay out of the captain’s way.

“You are under arrest!” Shining Armor declared. “Turn yourself in now and we will be much more lenient on you!”

Trixie yawned and then lit her horn up… “What?!” she shouted when her illusion didn’t form.

“You’ve been using illusions around the city, haven’t you?” Shining Armor asked. “This barrier is designed to cancel out illusionary magic. I think you’ll find that they won’t work so well in here.”

Trixie glared at the captain before turning her attention to her side.

“Don’t bother. There’s another barrier on the outside that will prevent you from leaving without my permission.”

Trixie stomped a hoof on the ground, frustrated at how easily she had been trapped. ‘Darn it! Things were going so well! I guess I let my guard down big time…’

Shining Armor took a step forward. “Last chance… Will you surrender peacefully?”

Trixie turned her attention to the castle in the distance behind her, and then back to Shining Armor. ‘I have to delay the Royal Guard as long as possible! Guess I have no choice…’

Trixie ran forward, horn flaring and head lowered. Shining Armor immediately took up a defensive stance and nimbly dodged the first magical attack fired his way.

“Very well then! You asked for this!” he shouted as he drew his spear. He lunged the tail end towards her, not wanting to kill his target. She dodged the first two attacks, but was hit square between the eyes by the third.

Trixie teleported back a little bit to gain some distance, surprising Shining Armor. He didn’t think she’d have had that kind of magical ability, with how little damage she had actually done to the city.

Behind him, Shining Armor could hear the cheers and praise sent his way, and would have blushed from them had he not been entirely focused on the battle he was in.

“Amazing!”

“Two barriers, and still able to fight!”

“He’s not a captain for nothing, y’know?!”

Trixie felt blood trickle down her face from where she had been hit, though it was obscured by her cracking mask. Her glare towards Shining Armor intensified. “Oh, it. Is.” For a split-second, Shining could have sworn that his opponent’s horn glowed black. “ON!”

Alexander poked his head up from the hole he had made above himself. He surveyed the area around him and confirmed that they were indeed inside the castle.

“Well?” Chill asked. “Did we make it inside?”

“… A slight miscalculation,” Alexander admitted, causing Chill to sigh. “We’re inside, but I have no idea where abouts. Certainly not the dungeon, that’s for sure.”

He climbed out of the hole and pulled Chill and Aura up with him. “Well, at least there are no ponies around,” Chill said.

“Indeed,” Alexander agreed. “Now we just have to be careful, and find that dungeon…”

The three heard hoofsteps moving towards them and quickly ducked out of sight behind a very large plant pot.

They didn’t poke their heads out to see who was there, but they could hear the conversation between the two ponies.

“Sir! No unusual sightings so far, sir!”

“… Private?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Why is there a hole in the floor here?”

“… WHAT?! W-When did that happen?! A-Apologies, sir! I-I’ll have somepony take care of it right away!”

“You fool! It’s too late for that now! The enemy is already inside the castle! And even worse, I’ve lost the princess!” A loud sigh could be heard from one of the two ponies. “Princess Celestia will have my head on a plate if anything happens to her beloved niece!”

“Sir, should I help you look for her?”

“No! Alert the other guards to this break-in! I’ll look for the princess by myself!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

…

“Oh! Sir, I forgot to report: Captain Shining Armor has engaged the pony causing civil unrest in combat, and-”

“You fool! Now’s not the time for that! Just do the job I have assigned to you!”

“Sir! Apologies, sir! I’ll get right on it!”

Once the two ponies had trotted away in separate directions, the three changelings came out of their hiding place and exchanged nervous glances.

“So? Which way?” Chill asked.

“Hmmm… beats me,” Alexander said.

“What about that ‘sixth sense’ you told me about?”

“That’s very specific. It doesn’t work for everything,” Alexander said with a shrug. “Otherwise it would be OP.”

“… It would be what now?”

“Guys,” Aura said, drawing their attentions. “I’m worried about Miss Trixie. Didn’t you hear what they said?”

Alexander groaned. “Look, we’ve been over this! She’ll be fine!” ‘Probably.’

“But she’s engaged in combat with the stallion that beat out mother!” she pointed out. “Ooh! I never should have agreed to this! Letting her go all alone like that…”

Chill looked down at Aura sympathetically. “Princess, with respect, she’s a pony… We can’t afford to worry about her right now, when our own race’s future is under threat.”

Aura looked down at the ground with a saddened look. “Miss Trixie… Miss Trixie never abandoned me, even after she found out that I was a changeling.”

“Princess-”

“No!” she shouted, startling the two older changelings. “I can’t do it! I can’t abandon Miss Trixie, no matter what! I have to help her! If no one else will, then I have to!” With that, she stormed off through the castle, looking around for an open window to fly out of. Unfortunately, all of the windows that she passed by were sealed shut.

“Princess, wait!” Chill shouted as he and Alexander gave chase.

“Aura!” Alexander called out.

Aura ran around a corner and bumped into something. She lifted herself off of the ground, rubbing her sore nose. “Owww…”

“Oh my. Are you okay?”

Aura opened her eyes and flinched at what she saw. Before her stood a pink pony with a striped mane of three different colours, purple eyes, a pair of pegasus wings… and a unicorn horn…

“P-Princess… Cadance…”