After a long ride, Twilight got off at Dodge Junction and looked due south, where she knew the Bad Lands lie. Ruefully, she took off and began to trek the towering Macintosh hills that lie in the path. She had reached the other side, and stopped to contemplate how she would enter the Bad Lands without being noticed. But at that moment, a couple of changelings slowly crept up and surrounded the young alicorn.
She startled and cried out, and the changelings pounced on her, dragging her further down the hill, into the Bad Lands. Twilight looked in terror upon the changeling's castle, which was identical in shape to Canterlot castle, but colored black with some dark shades of green. The changelings forced her down some stairs in front of the castle, and shoved her into a room, leaving her right after.
Twilight picked herself up and shook off the dust that had gotten in her coat and mane.
"Twilight!" a familiar voice cried.
"Cadence!" Twilight ran to her sister. Even in the dreary situation, they performed their secret hoof shake.
"Sunshine, sunshine
Ladybugs awake!
Clap your hooves
And do a little shake!"
"Oh Cadence," Twilight said. "I'm sorry we're in this mess."
"You? I'm sorry that you got dragged into this mess. I don't even know why the changelings want to hold us here."
"Hold us? There's not even a door here in this dungeon. Why don't we get out right now?" Twilight charged for the corridor to the surface.
"Twilight, don't! There's a-" Twilight was flung back and landed next to Cadence. "Force field." She looked down at Twilight. "Did you think I hadn't tried that already?'
"I guess not" Twilight let Cadence help her up. "Wait! I could use a spell to cancel the force field" she made her horn glow.
"I tried that, too, but changeling magic works different than pony magic. Nothing I do works."
"So… we really are trapped here?" Twilight couldn't hide her despair.
"Yes."
"So what do we do?"
"We hope. What else can we do?"
"You're right." They both settled down on the ground. "Why do they want us?"
"They're trying to take over Equestria again. I guess they think we're their biggest threats. With me out of the way, Shining Armor can't banish the changelings again if they take him over again. With you out of the way, the Elements of Harmony are useless."
"But what about Celestia?"
"The love the queen sucked from Shining was more powerful than her, remember?"
"Oh yeah. But how does the queen expect to slip into Equestria again? Nopony will let a changeling in, so she has to transform into somepony that's trusted and wouldn't appear somewhere the same time she does."
"Well, it couldn't be me, because that would be obvious, since she did that last time."
"So if it's not you, that only leaves…" She gulped.
"You."