Chapter 16

Complications

“Nightowl... what did you just say?”

“Princess, I know it may seem hard to believe, but I can prove it! This entire city down here is—”

Cadance narrowed her eyes, trying to mask her anxiety. “This isn’t about what is down there,” she sighed. “This is about why they’re here.”

Nightowl, who had been hesitantly explaining everything as he led them down the cavern, wore a perplexed frown. According to him, the minecarts were nothing but a quicker mode of transportation for those who were brave enough or in a hurry, so they had opted to walk so that he had time to explain everything.

Hefting Caesura’s unconscious body up on his back again, the watchpony halted their march. “Really?” he asked, looking skeptical. “I figured that after we.... Nevermind. I’m more amazed that you’re actually listening to me, considering what you know.”

“It’s because of what I know that I believe you,” Cadance insisted. Nightowl, ever since Caesura had been knocked unconscious, had to be one of the kindest ponies she’d ever known, which surprised her more than she was willing to admit. “You couldn’t make up a lie like that, not when you know what I can do. Trust me, I.... I know a liar when I see one.”

The sudden pause in Cadance’s voice drew both stallions’ attention to her, stopping them before either could start walking again. Shining Armor had made sure that he was on guard, making sure that nopony snuck up on them, but the hesitation in Cadance’s voice distracted him. He knew what it meant.

Before Shining could try and calm Cadance down, Nightowl snapped up to attention. “Wait, then you know something about it?” he asked, his hesitance replaced with what Cadance interpreted as hope.

Cadance was hesitant to admit it, but she slowly nodded. She wished that she had more time to think things over, but with Twilight and her friends in danger, there was no time for caution. After all, they had felt Twilight’s barrier in front of the minecart when they passed through it. “Yes. But I would not get your hopes up,” she cautioned. “Somehow I doubt she’ll listen to reason.”

“The princess? Of course she will!” Nightowl exclaimed. This sudden burst of energy seemed to come out of nowhere, at least from what Cadance had seen of the stallion since she had arrived. That storm seemed like it had taken place months ago, but it had barely been a single day. “She’s more determined than anypony out there, so you can be sure that she’ll welcome you with open arms!”

“Princess?” Shining asked warily, making sure to keep himself positioned between Nightowl and Cadance. “Why would you call her a princess?”

“Same reason that you’re a prince and not a king,” Nightowl quipped without turning around, though Cadance could easily imagine the stallion grinning to himself. The thought had never occurred to her, but it was also the same reason that she was referred to as a princess.

“It’s just a title,” Cadance responded, but her mind was elsewhere. She remembered having an argument like this a long time ago, but the memory was still fresh in her head. Everything from back then was coming back to haunt her, from the similar arguments to the discovery of the—

“I can understand why you’d be nervous,” Nightowl sighed, picking up the pace. “It hasn’t even been that long since the whole fiasco at Canterlot, after all.”

“Don’t remind me,” Cadance groaned, trying to focus on more pressing events. If the situation really was as Nightowl claimed it to be, it was possible that they could strike a deal of some sort, one that could lead to the elusive truth she’d been trying to find for centuries.

As they continued, Shining drew closer to Cadance, looking anxious. “Hey,” he whispered quietly, making sure that they were out of earshot from Nightowl. “If something happens, we’ll use this code. The question will be ‘does it sound like it’s raining?’, and the response will be ‘I hope it is’. We’ll use that in case we get separated.”

Cadance, despite her melancholy, grinned. “Always the captain of the guard, hm? If we stick together, we won’t need it.”

“I was fooled before, but never again. I’m getting a hunch this is more than just changelings being changelings, after all. Especially if we can believe that the—”

“I know. You know what that means as much as I do. I’m sorry to drag you into this, especially after I vowed to leave everything behind and live a normal life with you, but we can’t let this opportunity slip by.”

“Here we are!” announced Nightowl ahead of them, apparently deciding to ignore the suspiciously whispering couple behind him. He stood in front of a small wooden door, one that looked jarringly out of place compared to the stone walls around it. “Before we go in, I ask that you remain as humble and respectful as possible. We’re going to draw a lot of attention, but just keep walking, okay?”

Cadance was surprised at how direct Nightowl was acting, finding some respect for his courage in the denizens of this city. Luna had been the first to encounter the changelings after that fateful day so many centuries ago, but could it be possible that they were wrong about these creatures? The thought was humbling, to imagine that she had been prejudiced for over one thousand years, but after their attack on Canterlot, their barbaric reputation was warranted twenty times over. If they were willing to listen to reason, why had they been so violent?

“Are you sure about this?” she heard her husband whisper. “We still have time to alert the princesses.”

Without another thought, Cadance shook her head. There was no time for that, not when Twilight and her friends were already in danger. “I’m positive. If she truly intends to be civil, I will do the same. I am a princess, as much as I wish otherwise, and it is my responsibility to be an ambassador to those who seek it.”

Shining appeared surprised at the proper tone that Cadance adopted, but he still gave a nod of assent. Deep in her heart, Cadance was reminded of why she had fallen head-over-hooves for him in the first place. Even when he didn’t agree with her actions, he always supported her for who she was instead of what she could do.

“I welcome you, Princess Cadance,” Nightowl announced politely, his tone immediately shifting to one of proper upbringing and careful diction. “I welcome you to Eccondale, the city of changelings.”

Despite the somber mood, Cadance couldn’t help but giggle at how silly the name was. Nightowl had explained the significance of it, but that didn’t make it any less ridiculous. Regardless, the city of Eccondale would not remain concealed after this.

As Nightowl opened the door, giving a nauseatingly polite bow, Cadance stared dumbly at what awaited her on the other side. She had imagined that there would be a lot of buildings, but she would have never expected them to be so wildly expressive. In fact, it reminded her of the Crystal Empire and.... Cadance had to stop herself from thinking further. There had been too many reminders of that place in the last few hours.

Just as Cadance crossed the threshold, she spotted a large wooden sign to her right that was painted with a nauseatingly happy landscape of a sunset behind a beautiful town. In fact, it looked like a professional rendition of something a foal might draw after they first discovered crayons.

In immaculate cursive, the words “Welcome to Eccondale!” were written across the top, but when Cadance looked closer, she saw that the name of the city, Eccondale, had been crossed out with what looked like permanent marker. Beneath it, written in filly-esque chicken scratch, was the name “Neverdale”.

Sighing, Cadance looked ahead at the spire in the center of the city. That sign was all the proof she needed that one of Twilight’s friends had come this way. Who else but Pinkie Pie would write graffiti like that on the welcome sign?

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Twilight Sparkle was back in her library again. It was just like the other nights where she had fallen asleep, but this time she had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity for her guest to show. It was no surprise that Luna was avoiding her, but Twilight had held a small glimmer of hope that the alicorn would at least accept her apology.

As time went on, as relative as time was in the world of dreams, Twilight became more and more frustrated. Her thoughts were muddled because of the sleep spell, leaving her unable to accurately articulate her thoughts and theories, which was frustrating considering that this would have been a perfect time to make a mental checklist of everything that had happened so far.

“Luna, where are you?” Twilight whispered to nopony in particular, but her words echoed like she had shouted them. “I just want to apologize. I really didn’t mean to—”

“Save your sympathies,” came an omnidirectional voice, making Twilight nearly jump out of her hooves.

“Luna!” the unicorn gasped excitedly, eyes twinkling with excitement. “You’re here! I’m so glad to see you again, you see we need to—”

“That is enough, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna’s disembodied voice commanded, making Twilight shrink back into her chair. “You have made it clear what needs to be done. One thousand and eight apologies, Twilight Sparkle, but I do not wish to go through this again.”

The voice definitely belonged to Princess Luna, unless there was another pony with the same voice that could manipulate the world of dreams, but the alicorn sounded uncharacteristically disheartened. Maybe Twilight’s sudden outburst had hurt Luna more than she had imagined, making Twilight feel even guiltier than before. But before she could try to apologize, the world of her library zapped out of sight, leaving her in darkness.

Twilight Sparkle was... somewhere. She wasn’t sure whether, but she was 95% sure that it was somewhere that she didn’t want to be. Despite her sleepy state, memories from before were still fresh in her mind, even those from her dream.

Okay, looks like I need to give Luna some space right now, but I’ve got plenty to worry about. Chrysalis. Changelings. Those weren’t my friends. But if everypony in this city is a changeling, why were they all in different forms, and if they weren’t changelings, why was there a parade celebrating both Chrysalis and the Elements of Harmony? Actually, that’s a great question! Why in the hay would a bunch of changelings be cheering for the Elements of Harmony?!

“She’s awake, so hold your tongue,” came a serpentine voice from somewhere in the area. Twilight hadn’t opened her eyes yet, but considering the fact that she was laying on cold hard stone, she could be reasonably sure that she had been thrown into some sort of dungeon.

Thankfully, it seemed that the disembodied voice was going to allow her some time to gather her thoughts. Taking advantage of the spare moments she had, Twilight tried to make a quick summary of the current situation.

Chrysalis must be involved in this somehow. If I can assume that changelings are involved in this, the possibilities are limitless, but I can also assume that ponies were being foalnapped for changeling feeding, which brings up the question of why the nine ponies did not recover from it. Very little is known about them, so maybe the queen feeds differently than the others, or maybe—

“Twilight Sparkle, I know you’re awake,” the voice hissed, keeping her from continuing her train of thought. “You cannot play dead forever, though I admit the prospect is one I find all too enticing.”

Finally acknowledging the voice, Twilight opened her eyes, taking in the scenery. Just as she had suspected, she was laying down in a small enclosure of rock with a standard cell door consisting of simple metal bars. She had never understood the purpose of standard cells when trying to imprison a unicorn, especially one as powerful as she was, but it seemed that Chrysalis didn’t realize how easy it was to escape.

The queen of the changelings herself stood on the other side of the iron bars, standing proudly with her head held high. Her insect-like frame stood out boldly against the earthy rock behind her, making her spidery teal mane all the more striking. If Twilight hadn’t been so confident in her magical abilities, she would have been terrified of the nightmarish creature.

“So we meet again, Twilight Sparkle,” Chrysalis taunted, slithering forward towards the cell door. “I must say, I’m getting quite the sense of deja vu.”

“Me too,” Twilight snapped, scowling as she rose to her hooves. “I’m pretty sure you know how it ended last time, too.”

“Oh? I’m afraid I don’t, Twilight Sparkle. Would you be so kind as to refresh my memory?”

“I’d be happy to,” Twilight hissed as she pursed her lips and tried to focus all of her magic into her horn. She could feel a small amount undulating through her, but as soon as she tried to manipulate it, the ephemeral energy slipped away.

As Twilight ground her teeth and tried again, she saw Chrysalis burst into maniacal laughter, holding a hoof up to her forehead. “Oh, now I remember,” she cackled, “you just stood around and made ridiculous faces at me! Oh, thank you ever so much for the reminder, I’d nearly forgotten.”

At the peak of her frustration, Twilight managed to grab a small spark of magic, but it fizzled out as soon as it reached her horn, producing a small electric crackle. “Wh-what?” Twilight gasped as she panted, collapsing onto the stone floor. “What did you do to me?”

“Do you really think I’m going to answer that question?” Chrysalis huffed, balking at the idea. “What kind of cut-rate villain do you think I am?”

“The kind that monologues about how silly the power of love is right before she gets blasted to kingdom come.”

“Why, you!” the changeling queen hissed, stamping her hoof on the rocky ground. “Did you think that changelings could only feed on love? You are just as simple-minded as that atrocious excuse for a pretty pink princess! No, love only enhances it, but we feed on all varieties of emotional energy, including magic!”

Twilight had to stifle a laugh, but managed to remain calm. “Oh, thank you for telling me. You really do monologue a lot, which is a really bad habit for an acclaimed villain such as yourself.”

As Chrysalis’ smug grin soured, Twilight found a rather sick satisfaction in watching her squirm. She may have been the queen of the changelings, but she was far from omnipotent.

“Touché, Twilight Sparkle,” Chrysalis grunted through her teeth. “But don’t think that wit alone will get you out of this one. Without your magic, you’ll just have to sit there and watch as you and all of your friends are replaced and sent back to Canterlot, something that should have happened from the very beginning.”

Yet again, Twilight was thankful that Chrysalis had a habit of talking too much. If Chrysalis had intended to replace her friends and infiltrate Canterlot, why hadn’t she done so already? That was only one of many questions that Twilight hoped to have answered once she got the changeling queen monologuing again.

“But where are my manners?” Chrysalis cackled, acting just as dramatically as she had during their first encounter. “Welcome to Eccondale, the city of changelings, but I’m sure you’ve figured that out already.”

Pursing her lips, Twilight put her other questions on hold and tried to learn what she could from the topic at hoof. “Thanks, I’m flattered,” she groaned, rolling her eyes. “I take it you came up with the name?”

Much to Twilight’s surprise, Chrysalis gave a genial smile. “I’m flattered to know that somepony finally appreciates my sense of humor.”

With that fact cleared up, Twilight could already begin making deductions. For one, it indicated that Chrysalis was involved with the founding and naming of Everdale as well, unless their names just happened to be a coincidence, which was unlikely. It also shed a lot of light on what the supposed ‘ransom demands’ were that Page had mentioned.

Making sure that Chrysalis didn’t catch on, Twilight shrugged and continued. “I guess that means that everypony living here is a changeling, then?”

“Pretty much,” Chrysalis responded in a surprisingly conversational tone. “My subjects and I have remained hidden here for centuries, and even though you have found us, I can assure you that you won’t get the opportunity to report it to the princesses.”

Twilight tried not to let her confidence show. Chrysalis wouldn’t be able to keep her from communicating with Luna, meaning the the royal sister would be razing this place to the ground within a week. “Trust me, Chrysalis, you may have been able to stay hidden for centuries, but your time is up.”

The changeling queen paused, regarding Twilight with a mix of uncertainty and scorn. “So she told you my name, did she?” Chrysalis said slowly, taking time to choose her words with care. “What else did she tell you about? Or maybe it would be more appropriate to ask what she lied to you about.”

Ignoring the creature’s taunts, Twilight smirked. “She told me that you liked to monologue a lot.”

“Would you expect any less?” Chrysalis responded uncaringly. “For somepony who survives by acting, being theatrical is a must. What I find to be quite intriguing is that, for somepony who calls herself the Princess of Truth, a certain alicorn has a horrible tendency to tell little white lies.”

“Cadance?” Twilight gasped reflexively, surprised that Chrysalis knew her title. The changeling queen seemed just as surprised, both of them staring at each other for a few awkward seconds.

“Oh, I see that the pretty pink princess has become a little more trusting,” Chrysalis finally muttered, scowling like she had a bitter taste in her mouth. “So she told you her title, did she? But did she tell you about her powers?”

Twilight could sense the anticipation in Chrysalis’ voice, like she had been waiting to make the dramatic reveal herself. Not letting her have it, Twilight nodded politely. “Of course she did. She is the Princess of Truth after all. I don’t think you’re giving her enough credit.”

It was refreshing to see Chrysalis’ eyes nearly turn red with fury, but thankfully, the changeling queen kept herself under control. Twilight didn’t want to push her captor too hard, considering that she was completely defenseless without her magic.

“I see the princesses have grown trusting in my absence,” the changeling queen murmured. “I’ll have to fix that later. But that does not concern you, since you will never see your princesses again. Celestia leaving the castle would cause a panic, and Luna will probably never speak to you again.”

At the mention of Luna, Twilight’s chest tightened. Did Chrysalis somehow know about her last encounter with the princess, and if so, did that mean Chrysalis knew about Luna’s powers too? It was understandable that she would know about Cadance’s, since Chrysalis had replaced her once before, but Luna, from what Twilight knew, had absolutely no contact with the changeling queen during the attack on Canterlot. That raised the question of whether or not changelings had attacked before, or even how long they had been around. It was at least a few centuries, from what Chrysalis had said, but their entire species was a mystery to even the most dedicated historians.

“Did I touch a nerve?” Chrysalis teased, pushing her lips into a mocking pout. “Poor little filly. Don’t worry, now you’ll be able to get some sleep, now that nasty old Nightmare Moon won’t be bothering you in your dreams anymore.”

“Wh-what?” gasped Twilight as she recoiled back. Questions began to pour out of her mouth before she knew what she was talking about. “What do you mean? How do you know about my dreams? What have you done to Luna?!”

“Oh my, I really have hit something, haven’t I?” the changeling queen mused, looking all too pleased with herself. “Trust me, your little midnight rendezvous with little Luna are a thing of the past. If you truly need a princess to talk to, I could always keep you company.”

“Princess? Ha!” Twilight tried to shift the conversation away from Luna, praying that Chrysalis was bluffing. But only moments ago, in her dream, Luna had shrugged her off in her dream. What did it mean? “You’re the queen of the changelings! Who do you think you are to go around calling yourself a princess?”

Oddly enough, the question seemed to hit home with the creature, but Twilight couldn’t understand why. It was just a title, after all. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were actually part of rather limited oligarchy, making the term princess entirely irrelevant, but Twilight had figured that they used their titles to portray a sense of youth. Why would a hideous creature like Chrysalis care about her appearance?

“You’re right, Twilight Sparkle. I am far better than those dull-witted alicorns you call ‘princess’. Those three wouldn’t even notice if you had been replaced. Not even if they had a millenium to notice.” There was an acidic bite in every word Chrysalis spoke, enough to make Twilight cringe. There was some weight to those words, enough to make Twilight consider the possibility. But more importantly, why was Cadance being included with Celestia and Luna? Cadance had never been noted as a ruler, not one on par with the royal sister, so what did she have to do with any of this?

Chrysalis, her sudden outburst withdrawn, returned to mocking Twilight with an amused smirk. “You know, they really wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, would they? You’re just a little bookworm, easily reduced to a simple stereotype, so it would be effortless to have any of my subjects play your role. Every single one of them would be honored to do so, after all, even though their job would only consist of prancing around and shouting ‘Oh my, how I love books, but not as much as I love friendship! Oh, friendship truly is the best thing ever, let me go and sing you a song about it! Friendship, friendship, friendship!’”

It was obvious that Chrysalis was trying to taunt her into saying something careless, but Twilight wasn’t going to fall for that trick. Instead, the unicorn decided to change the subject a little bit and pry more information out of her captor. “If you really wanted to replace me, you could have done so the first night we stayed at the hotel. You could have taken all of my friends as well.”

Nearly in a fit of hysterics from her mockery of Twilight’s nasal voice, Chrysalis calmed herself down. “My dear, you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. If I had truly wanted to replace any of you, I could have done so whenever I pleased, not just at the hotel! Back when you discovered me at the wedding, I considered your powers of deduction to be a threat, but now I see that you couldn’t deduce your way out of a wet paper bag.”

Yet again, Chrysalis was revealing more information about her involvement. She knew about the hotel and their arrival, after all. “Oh yeah? I’ll have you know that I managed to correctly solve every mystery so far on this trip without fail!”

“Ha! I know a liar when I see one, and I see one right on the other side of these bars.”

“So you say, but you can’t deny that I’m right!”

“Actually, I can, but only if you insist.”

Twilight grinned. “I insist, then.”

“You invite your own criticism? How virtuous. You see, not only have you left one of them unsolved, but you also managed to be completely wrong about the other three!”

Twilight calmly took a seat on the stone floor and flashed a condescending smirk at her captor. “Hook, line, and sinker,” she mused.

Chrysalis recoiled, slitted eyes narrowing in suspicion. “What are you bluffing about this time?” she hissed, her playfully sadistic tone vanishing. “I know my liars, and you can’t fool me!”

“I already did,” Twilight stated matter-of-factly, hardly able to maintain her calm facade. “You just admitted that you were directly involved with the disappearances in Everdale.”

Even though Twilight had caught Chrysalis by surprise before, seeing her rendered speechless was something else entirely. The changeling queen was stuck in mid shout, her fangs bared and her eyes wide.

Twilight, barely able to keep herself from gloating, simply presented the facts. “How’d you know that I hadn’t solved one yet? How did you know there were three before it? And even if you knew by proxy, why would you split the incidents into three different ones like I did? I can only think of one reason for that.”

“Why, you—”

“It’s because you were with me the whole time, weren’t you?”

The words appeared to have a physical impact on Chrysalis, who looked surprisingly vulnerable for the first time that Twilight had seen her. Her spidery mane, which had once enhanced her devilish appearance, instead reminded Twilight of a mare who hadn’t had a shower in months, and the holes in her legs, instead of making her appear like fantastical creature, made her look remarkably brittle.

This wasn’t the violent reaction that Twilight had expected, but she wasn’t going to lose the upper hoof in this situation. “You can’t hide the truth from me,” she announced, getting back up to her hooves. “You keep saying that you know a liar when you see one, but I guess you haven’t looked in a mirror lately.”

Something about Twilight’s statement snapped Chrysalis out of her daze, provoking the reaction that she had expected from the beginning. “Silence!” she barked, resuming her threatening posture from before. “I’ll not put up with your incessant prattling any longer! If you say another word, I will drain every ounce of energy from your body so that you shall never speak again!”

Wincing, Twilight ground her teeth together. She was powerless in this situation, which wasn’t helped by the fact that she had no magic to back up her accusations, but with Chryaslis’ slip-up, there was no doubt that Twilight had been going down the right trail. Chrysalis really had replaced somepony, but Twilight had the sinking feeling that she wouldn’t be getting any more information on the subject, so she meekly lowered her head and tried one last question.

“What about my friends?” the unicorn asked, trying to sound as pitiful as possible. Chrysalis could drain whatever she wanted from her, but she had to know if her friends were okay. “I’m alone here, so I take it you haven’t caught them yet.”

Thankfully, Chrysalis didn’t attack. She instead scoffed and turned away. “Honestly, do you think I would put the six Elements of Harmony in the same dungeon? The others may have been dumb enough to underestimate them, but I know how terrifying they can be. I’ll not give you the satisfaction of knowing your friends are safe.”

The others? Who all did that entail? There were so many questions that Twilight had, but most of them would remain unanswered.

With that, the haughty queen spun around and marched out of Twilight’s field of view. “Wait!” the unicorn called out, desperate for any more information she could get. “Tell me one thing before you go!”

The changeling queen paused, looking back over her insect-like wings. “Do not abuse my generosity.”

“Chrysalis, I just wanted to thank you,” Twilight offered, only partially antagonizing her captor. If she could keep the changeling queen’s temper flared, she might get more information.  “Now that I know changelings are involved, I don’t have to worry about blaming my friends anymore!”

Instead of angering her, like Twilight had expected, her taunting made Chrysalis smirk. It was one of the evil smiles that Twilight had become more than acquainted with in recent months. “Oh, you don’t have to worry anymore?” Chrysalis lilted, giving Twilight a patronizing chuckle. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. How can you be positive that I was involved? Do you know how many ponies were replaced, if any? Or better yet, what will your friends think when they realize that you couldn’t tell them apart from an imposter this entire time? I know that I would be quite angry if it happened to me, after all.”

Despite Twilight’s courage, she had to admit that Chrysalis was right. Instead of allowing her to suspect her friends, changeling involvement raised the stakes even further, putting her friendships on the line if she guessed wrong. There was also the issue of the barriers, which were a vital part of her deductions, but if the ponies inside of the hotel could change forms, there would be no way to tell which shapes matched up. Twilight’s enthusiasm from earlier quickly dwindled, leaving her sitting in shock on the cold, rocky floor.

Chrysalis, upon seeing Twilight’s defeated posture, beamed proudly. “That’s what I thought, Twilight Sparkle. Your friendship exists only to make you stronger. You leech power off of your friends just like a changeling, using them for your own devices and throwing them away as soon as they become inconvenient. To you, they’re nothing more than tools, reducing them down to simple stereotypes to the point that they could be easily replaced.”

Chrysalis silently slipped up to the front of Twilight’s cell, looming over her with an intense scowl. “It’s funny, isn’t it?” the changeling queen growled, eyes ablaze with righteous fury. “Friendship is magic after all, just like one of your spells. And what happens when a spell stops working? You toss it away, never to be used again! I don’t think your friends would think so highly of you if they knew you were only putting up with them for their magical uses!”

As if to punctuate her message, Chrysalis stormed out of the room, messy mane flowing behind her like a ragged cape. There was something about her exit that gave Twilight the impression that this wasn’t one of the changeling queen’s obligatory monologues. Something had to have set off that rant.

Unfortunately, Twilight wasn’t going to have any of her questions answered, seeing as Chrysalis’ departure was finalized by the deafening slam from what sounded like a metal door in the distance. There was still a torch in the dungeon to provide light, but all that Twilight could see was a wall of rocks on the other side of the room from her cell. If there were any other cells in the immediate area, Twilight couldn’t see them from where she was.

You can monologue all you want, Chrysalis, but I’ll find a way to stop you. Granted, I have no idea what you’re doing, but I’ll definitely keep you from doing it!

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Over the next hour, or what felt like an hour, Twilight tried to gather her thoughts again. Chrysalis had already incriminated herself with inside knowledge of the disappearances from the hotel, meaning that she had likely been with them the whole time, but who had been replaced? It could have been any one of her friends, but Twilight didn’t want to believe that she would mistake that awful creature for somepony she knew. Then again, Shining Armor had been tricked as well, hadn’t he?

Kicking a loose rock around her empty cell, Twilight began to speculate about who would have had the opportunity to commit the crimes in the hotel. First off, if Chrysalis was involved, did that mean that Red, Nightowl, and Caesura were all accomplices to the changelings? Or did it mean that the three of them were changelings as well?

Better yet, one of them could be the one that Chrysalis replaced! If that was the case, Twilight wouldn’t have to worry about suspecting her friends again, just like before. If Red was actually Chrysalis in disguise, everything would be accounted for, including her ability to frighten the group of ponies in the lobby. Anypony, even if they didn’t know what a changeling looked like, would run for their life at the sight of that oversized bug.

A sound interrupted Twilight’s reverie, snapping her attention to the entrance. She couldn’t see the door, but she had heard it open and shut, followed by a few sets of hoofsteps that echoed around the small area. Gulping, she tried to convince herself that it wasn’t one of her friends, praying that they hadn’t gotten captured.

Thankfully, the figure that came into view was not one of her friends... at least, she hoped it wasn’t. The figures that rounded the corner were a changeling, in its bug-like state like she had seen in Canterlot, and two royal guards that were escorting it, one of Luna’s and one of Celestia’s. Because it was a changeling, Twilight was hit with the painful realization that it really could be one of her friends, but she tried to ignore the possibility. She would know if it was, wouldn’t she?

The changeling, eyes downcast and lifeless, was led off into what Twilight had to guess was the cell beside hers. The night and day guard, which, if they were real, would have started arguing about which princess was better, simply nodded, locked up the cell door, and turned to leave on their way out. One of them gave Twilight an awkwardly long stare, but he didn’t seem like he was afraid of her. In fact, it was reminiscent of how Nightowl had acted when the Elements of Harmony had first arrived.

As the two guards left, hinted by the closing metal door in the distance, Twilight perked her ears to see if she could hear anything from the prisoner in the next cell over. The cells were deathly silent.

“Hey,” Twilight whispered, seeing if she could get the changeling’s attention. Maybe she could get some information out of it about what was going on with this crazy town. “Are you okay over there?”

For a moment, there was no response, giving Twilight the impression that she had said something wrong. What, was it taboo for changelings to talk to normal ponies? If that was the case, then why—

“No,” came the answer, making Twilight jump backwards in her cell. The voice sounded unnatural and tinny, kind of like how Chrysalis sounded. Was this how changelings spoke? “Y-you shouldn’t even be talking to me.”

“Sorry,” Twilight quickly apologized, her mind racing. I’m actually talking to a living, breathing changeling! Oh my, I wonder if anypony has ever had knowing contact with one in its natural habitat before! If I make it out of this, I’m totally going to start a case study with these little guys! Her enthusiasm was almost enough to make her forget about her current plight.

“You see,” the unicorn continued, trying to keep things going, “I’m trying to get out of here. I need to go find my friends, after all. But could I ask you—”

“J-just stop it!” shouted the odd voice. “This is all my fault! You’re just here to rub it in, aren’t you? I’m not a hero like you guys! I’m just a coward, one who can’t even—”

“Woah, hold on!” Twilight interrupted, wondering where in Equestria that painfully personal outburst had come from. “Look, I don’t know what happened, but I’m just trying to escape. If you could somehow help me get my magic back, I could bust the both of us out. C’mon, I’m pretty sure I could even convince Princess Celestia to let you live under her protection if you did.”

Seconds passed, but there was no response from the other side. Twilight had been desperate to find a way out of here, but it also sounded like this poor creature was in need of help. Why wasn’t it saying anything?

“Y-you’re just taunting me now, aren’t you?” the creature finally hissed, its voice distorted, but still sounding like it was on the verge of tears. “I thought I could live a n-normal life! I tried! I should’ve known better than to think I could live with the rest of them....”

In the back of her head, Twilight was beginning to have second thoughts about talking to this changeling. What if it was a trap, one set up to make her sympathize with the creature so that it could steal all of her energy if she tried to escape? Cautious, Twilight tried to continue their conversation. “W-well, we could work it out if you helped me, but—”

“Nice try,” the voice chuckled mirthlessly, causing Twilight’s breath to catch in her throat. “You can’t fool me. You’re just here to guilt trip me, aren’t you? The real Twilight Sparkle would never get captured! The real one will come down here and blow you all to kingdom come before you even knew she was there! I’ve seen how smart she is, and not even Princess Chrysalis stands a chance against her! Yeah, that’s right, I said it!”

Twilight’s heartbeat quickened as she carefully approached the rocky wall between her and the other prisoner. This changeling had seen her before? “W-wait, who are you?” she asked, narrowing her brow.

Again, there was a lull in the conversation. Was this changeling the answer to the mystery that she’d been trying to solve for the past hour? Had this creature been among their group the entire time?

Finally, the tinny voice answered. “I-it is you, isn’t it? Twilight Sparkle? The Element of Magic?” Twilight heard a faint buzzing of wings before the creature spoke again. “You... called me Nightowl.”

“Wh-what?!” Twilight exclaimed, unable to control her surprise. “But...! Wait, why are they locking you up?! You were working with them the whole time!”

Again, the creature took a moment to respond. “I thought Princess Chrysalis would be reasonable,” he eventually whispered, his voice sounding hoarse despite its innately distorted timbre. “So... I brought the prince and princess down to try and talk things over and reach an agreement.”

“No...” Twilight gasped, biting her lip. “You don’t mean—”

“I-I’m so sorry! I thought... I just thought that....”

As the changeling’s mumbles drifted off into what sounded like quiet sobs, Twilight was left motionless in her cell. Cadance and Shining Armor must have been captured too. But why would Chrysalis imprison everypony that came down here? Surely she knew that doing so would only bring the royal sisters' wrath down on her and ruin any chance of negotiations! Was this a declaration of open war? What was going on in that crazy bug's head?

Regardless of what had happened to the prince and princess of the Crystal Empire, Twilight was going to have a nice long talk with the creature in the cell next to her.