Chapter 19

The Magic Words

Page shivered uncontrollably, keeping her eyes focused on the road ahead of her. She and Preston, after discussing their plans, quickly realized that they wouldn’t be able to save Twilight by themselves. There was only one option left: escape and inform Princess Celestia.

The thought of the royal sisters coming in and trashing this city was a comforting thought, but it was hard to remain calm while surrounded by what must have been hundreds of emotion-stealing monsters.

“Oi, calm down,” Preston urged, giving her a nudge with his wing. “They can’t read minds, alright?”

Wincing, Page thought back to the interrogation techniques that Preston had used. She had no idea that he could be so cruel, considering his generally aloof demeanor, but she couldn’t complain, even though it had ended with Preston clocking the creature on the back of the head. Did Red know about this darker side of him? Sighing, Page tossed the thought away, focusing on more important matters.

“I’m calm, alright?” she lied, bristling and trying to cover up her anxiety with anger, an instinctual response of hers. “It’s just the music. It creeps me out.”

Preston didn’t respond for a moment, making Page anxious. From what their captive changeling had told them, the music that played at every street corner held the emotions of pony inside of it, providing them with an endless supply of emotions to feed from. It made her feel sick. Whose emotions were these? Was it somepony she knew?

“I follow ya,” Preston mumbled. He looked unnaturally calm despite their present situation. “If that creature wasn’t lying about this Heart of Equestria, of whatever the hay it’s called, we have a battle plan. If the royal sisters can storm in here and shatter it, the changelings will eventually starve out.”

Page had to admit that she liked the sound of his plan, but there were too many loose ends. “What about the music?” Page asked, doing her best to keep a passive expression as a few other changelings passed her by.

“You haven’t caught on yet?” Preston sighed. “We just need to make ‘ole Chessy undo the spell. I’d bet anything that she’s the one behind it.”

“W-wait, Caesura?” Page whispered, nearly tripping over herself. “No, she wouldn’t do something like that! Why—”

“Calm down,” Preston seethed through his teeth, his placid expression refusing to budge. “And don’t take me for a foal, Page. I may not have grown up here like you, but I know more about this town than anypony. I’m a reporter. It’s my business to know these things. I knew that Dotted Line and Red were keeping secrets from me. I knew that you were covering for Caesura.”

Despite where they were, Page froze in the middle of the street, drawing a few wary looks from the suspicious ponies around them. In a panic, she recovered with a nervous chuckle, waving to the creatures and catching back up to Preston. From what Preston had told her, the changelings were all on the verge of a city-wide panic, seeing as the Elements of Harmony had found them.

“So you knew this whole time?!” Page whispered harshly as she trotted back up to Preston’s side.

“I was investigating why the nightwatch didn’t actually watch anything. I figured it had something to do with the secret Red and Dotted Line were keeping. Turns out I was right. I heard the whole conversation, Page, and you can’t tell me she’s not suspicious.”

Trembling, Page scrambled to offer some kind of explanation, but the facts all pointed irrefutably towards a certain disheveled unicorn. “But... she told me—”

“She lied, Page. You gave her the benefit of the doubt, and she abused it. It’s as simple as that.”

“But...” Page whispered, but didn’t her finish her thought.

“Look,” Preston sighed, “I never actually saw her arrival. I was bluffing. I only overheard you two talking at the shack one night, something about how grateful she was that you were covering for her. Now, listen to me. If you tell me the truth, we’ll have a better chance of wiping these creatures off the map. A pony like her isn’t worth protecting.”

Page was conflicted. There was no arguing with Preston’s line of reasoning, not when she knew that Caesura had strong ties to this city, but how could she betray one of the few friends she had made? Even now, as she listened to the music, she knew why it sounded so familiar. It was similar to how Caesura had always played in town square, right down to the instrumentation.

“Listen to me, Page!” Preston demanded, still keeping his voice subdued so they wouldn’t attract attention. “This isn’t about saving a friend, one who lied to you and betrayed your trust. This is about keeping Equestria safe from changelings. All I need to know is whether or not Caesura is somehow linked to this place.”

The demand was a reasonable one, but Page couldn’t answer immediately. Even if Caesura was responsible for the music she was hearing, Page wanted to know why the unicorn had done it. Sadly, there was no way of knowing that, since Caesura was still in jail.

“Fine,” Page grunted, masking her anxiety again. “Caesura isn’t a wandering musician at all. She’s actually a runaway. A runaway from Eccondale.”

Page noticed her friend wincing, momentarily losing his calm facade. “Wait,” he murmured, looking askance. “You’re saying that Caesura’s a changeling?”

Silently, Page nodded. “That’s the only answer. It was about two months ago that Nightowl and I found her in the Everfree Forest. One night, we heard some shouting inside of the Everfree, so we ran in to investigate. I found her first first, but she nearly attacked me with her instrument cases. I mean, she seemed really scared, but I finally talked her into relaxing. I knew that there was supposed to be some hidden city in the forest, but I had never met anypony from it. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t be curious about it! Caesura was hesitant to trust me, but I finally convinced her to tell me what was going on. She told me she was running away from home to escape her overbearing mother, or something like that.”

Preston nodded as he listened. “And how do you know she wasn’t lying?”

“Trust me, Preston. Caesura may be a good liar, but when I first saw her, she was terrified. I know it’s hard to imagine, but she was shaking like a little lost filly. So when Nightowl came up to see what was going on, I made a split-second decision. I wanted to know what this hidden city was like, so I told him that Caesura was a traveling musician who got lost in the woods. After that... well, you know the rest.”

“I do,” Preston responded quietly. “Red got her a house in Everdale without Dotted Line knowing. That’s what drew my attention in the first place. But, you have to admit, no matter how you look at it, Caesura is one of them. She abused your kindness and used it to orchestrate these disappearances.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Page whispered, voice trembling. Red Tape had been her best friend growing up, but when she became Dotted Line’s secretary, the boisterous pegasus became distant, letting their friendship fade. Caesura had been like an answer to prayer, becoming Page’s only friend outside of the guard shack. Had it all been an act?

“Either way, we know what to do,” Preston stated. “We get out, inform the princesses, and force Caesura to undo her musical hex. I already know the quickest route to Canterlot, so just follow my lead.”

“Wait a second,” Page murmured to herself. “Were you the one that flew to Canterlot for help?”

For a moment, Preston’s impassive expression faltered, his cheeks flushing. “Yeah,” he answered quietly, pursing his lips. “I knew about the ransom note, since I was the one in charge of keeping everypony calm, so I played along with with the ransom demands for the first few weeks. But after seeing the strain it was putting on Red... I had to do something. She’d been on the verge of a mental breakdown ever since Dotted Line disappeared. After seeing that, I had to do something, so I snuck out and informed the royal sisters. I know it was a risky move, but....”

As Preston trailed off, Page gave his shoulder a calming pat. “You did the right thing,” she sighed, trying to forget about Caesura for the moment. “Even now, I still think of Red as my friend. I know I haven’t been the nicest mare in town, but.... Okay, I guess I was just a little defensive about her. I was worried that you’d take her away from me completely. But hey, you seem like a nice enough stallion.”

Page took an unnecessary amount of delight from watching Preston’s face turn a bright shade of red, standing out against his olive-colored coat. “W-well, ya see,” he stammered, starting to sound like his old self again. “I haven’t really said anything to her yet, so it’s not really official, but that’s not important! She’s safe in the jailhouse right now, so let’s get going. We’re almost to the edge of town.”

Stifling a laugh, the sky-blue pegasus felt her spirits lifting. “Oh, you haven’t told her how you felt, hm? That letter of yours totally spilled the beans. I can’t believe you wrote something like that, Romeo!”

“Wh-what? I didn’t—”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” Page chuckled, shaking her head.

“W-well, what about the other Elements of Harmony?” Preston blurted out. She could tell that he was awkwardly attempting to change the subject.

“They’ll be fine,” Page mumbled, trying to convince herself of that. “We came down together, but got separated. We took the minecarts, but apparently they weren’t made for two ponies. I actually got to ride down with Applejack, but the cart crashed thanks to the weight. She managed to shove me out of the way just in time before it went off course. I came out fine, thanks to her quick thinking, so I flew over to the wreckage, but by the time I finally found it, she was gone.”

“Woah,” Preston gasped. “Think she’s okay?”

“Of course!” Page answered confidently. “I mean, c’mon, she’s one of the Elements of Harmony! She wouldn’t get taken down by something silly like that!”

Preston gave a forced laugh, probably just humoring her. Sadly, that tiny moment of happiness was cut short when Page noticed that one of the ponies in the sparse crowd didn’t fit in with the rest. All of the creatures here were wild mixes of colors, looking like they had run headlong into a paint shop, but this mare was a blindingly burnt orange with a dirty blond mane.

“Red!” Page exclaimed, ignoring the surprised creatures around her and taking off like a bullet.

As soon as the pegasus heard her name, the mare shot into the air like a bullet, swiftly diving into one of the houses by the edge of the city and slamming the door behind her. Page was right on her tail, landing in front of the door and preparing to buck it down. But before she could, her common sense caught up to her. There was no way that Red would be in a place like this, not when she was supposed to be in jail!

As Page opened her mouth to warn Preston, an olive-colored streak crashed into the door, shattering the wood off of its hinges. Page, recoiling from Preston’s unnecessary roughness, could only pray that they had enough time to escape before the entire city knew they were there.

“Red!” came Preston’s booming voice as the dust settled.

Page, taking a curt glance at the stunned creatures in the street, quickly jumped inside the house to drag Preston out. If they didn’t hurry, the changelings would alert the queen. If that happened, their only hope for telling the royal sisters would be lost.

“Page?” a familiar voice called out from inside the house. “Page!”

Her heart caught in her chest. Her ears may have been deceiving her, but her eyes were telling a similar story.

“Nightowl?!”

As much as Page tried to deny it, Nightowl was standing in the back of the entry room of the house, eyes wide and jaw agape. Red leaned weakly into his side with a weary expression, but her unreadable gaze was focused on Preston. It only took a moment for Page to realize what was going on.

“Preston, run!” she shouted, slowly backing off. “They’re changelings!”

“Wait!” Nightowl cried out, but neither Red or Preston were listening. “We’re not changelings! Look, I found Red passed out in one of the minecarts, so I woke her up, but now.... Page, listen to me, Red needs—”

“How can I believe you?!” Page cried, wings flared. “The Nightowl I know is in another city right now!”

Upon hearing that, the gray stallion’s eyes widened. “That means...” he whispered, crestfallen. “W-wait, I can prove it! Your name is Page Inkwell! Your special talent is writing! You joined the nightwatch with me seven years ago because—”

“Stop!” Page cried. “You can’t be him! He’s in jail right now, back in Everdale, along with Red and Caesura! But how do you know all of that about me? This doesn’t—”

“Because I am Nightowl! Look, I don’t have much time to explain, just listen to me! We need to get out of here and find Princess Cadance! Red is still under her spell!”

That was when Page finally noticed what Preston had been staring at the whole time. Red, who had been silently waiting at Nightowl’s side, wasn’t returning Preston’s gaze. In fact, she wasn’t gazing at anything. Her eyes were entirely white.

Wincing, the sky-blue pegasus tried to tear her aways away from the unnatural sight. Was that how she had looked when Cadance had used the spell on her? The memory of the truth spell sent shivers racing through Page’s spine, recalling the intense rush of emotions that erupted inside of her while she had been under its sway. It was impossible to imagine such intensity lasting for more than a single minute, much less however long Red had endured for. How was she still able to stand? As Page looked closer, she realized just how badly the burnt-orange pegasus was shaking. Her entire body appeared to be struggling at the mere concept of standing.

Before Page could ask for clarifications, her head began to ache again. Ever since Cadance had used that spell on her, certain memories had started causing headaches, possibly because of how blurry they were. The memories in question revolved around scenes from when she was asleep, which weren’t normal for a pony to have. She could remember being knocked out and carried around Everdale before ending up inside on some sort of bed, but she had been unconscious the entire time.

“Oi, could somepony kindly tell me what’s wrong with her?!” Preston shouted desperately, but Page was hardly paying attention. She was focusing on a certain memory that she had overlooked, one that had been brought up by Cadance’s truth spell. During her time under its effects, she had been so overwhelmed that she completely ignored one of the memories it brought up.

Page wished that she had a time spell so that she could go back and slap herself silly. If she hadn’t been so focused on proving Twilight Sparkle wrong, she would have noticed a vital clue, one that only she knew.

“H-hey, calm down,” she heard Nightowl plead. “Since when did Princess Cadance has a—”

“Preston!” Page barked, grinding her teeth together in frustration. “You need to hurry up and go fetch the princesses. I’m going to find Twilight Sparkle.”

“Are you crazy?!” Preston cried, forcibly tearing his gaze away from Red.

“Don’t try and stop me,” Page ordered, turning towards the doorway. “I’m probably too late, but there’s something I should have told her. If I had, we would’ve been able to avoid this mess. Preston, go find Princess Cadance and get Red fixed up, then alert the royal sisters about what’s going on here.”

As Page steeled herself to fly, she heard Preston calling out behind her. “Page!” he belted out. “This is ridiculous! Ludicrous, even! I don’t care what wacky epiphany you think you had, but you’re coming with us!”

“Hey, Preston? If you aren’t making out with Red the next time I see you, you’ll have some explaining to do.”

Laughing at her horribly inappropriate farewell, Page took off into the sky, making a beeline for the spire at the center of the city and praying that she made it in time. After all, Twilight Sparkle was already in the hooves of one of the most dangerous creatures in Equestria.

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Twilight had no idea where to begin. How was she supposed to come up with a plausible theory off of the top of her head? Her first problem was that, since Chrysalis was claiming to have replaced one of her friends, her earlier theory was almost certainly wrong.

“I’m waiting, Twilight Sparkle,” Chrysalis teased. “Is our brilliant detective out of ideas already? We haven’t even started!”

Instead of responding with something snarky, Twilight closed her eyes and focused. Chrysalis’ taunts were difficult to ignore, thanks to the emotional manipulation from the Heart of Equestria. So far, the changeling queen had not given her any sort of limit on how many guesses were allowed, so there was no need to rush.

“Twilight Sp—”

“Let her think!” came an unexpected shout from behind, derailing Twilight’s train of thought. Cadance stood defiantly where she was, her posture fitting the role of an alicorn princess.

Twilight did her best to interrupt, silently praying that Chrysalis wouldn’t make good on her threats against Shining Armor. “Cadance, I—”

“It’s fine,” the brightly colored alicorn assured, giving Twilight a motherly smile. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t harass you, okay? Trust me on this one. I’m here to protect you, not the other way around.”

Slightly confused, Twilight nodded. Cadance had never acted so regally in the time that Twilight had known her, but how could she be so calm at a time like this?

“Okay then,” Twilight sighed, nodding. If Chrysalis was going to force her into this ridiculous duel, Twilight was going to play by her own rules. “My first theory is as follows: none of my friends were ever replaced.”

“Oh?” Chrysalis mused. Twilight caught her making a covertly threatening glare in Cadance’s direction. “Well, my dear detective, let me tell you a little something.”

With that, Chrysalis’ jagged horn burst to life, but the sickeningly green glow was overshadowed by the azure light radiating from the massive gem in the chamber’s center. A small, ebony heart appeared, just like before, and the creature’s eyes faded into a deep shade of black.

“I didn’t replace anypony you know.”

Wincing, Twilight accepted the lie. She had been expecting that answer, but deep down, she’d been dreading it as well. That proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that one of her friends had been replaced. But what about the wording Chrysalis had chosen? Why didn’t she say she had replaced one of Twilight’s friends?

“Chrysalis, that didn’t prove me wrong. I said that you never replaced any of my friends, not somepony I knew. There’s a difference.”

For a moment, the creature’s expression faltered, but it was masked by her lifeless, ebony eyes. Bringing a hoof up to her chest, Chrysalis responded with a nauseatingly friendly tone. “I’m offended, Twilight! I didn’t replace one of your friends!”

Twilight thought that she had been onto something, but Chrysalis quickly denied the possibility that she had replaced somepony outside of the Elements of Harmony. During this duel, Twilight knew to be on guard for wordplay like that, just in case Chrysalis tried to slip in a few misleading answers. Either way, the detective had already formed a strategy to get as much information as possible. She wasn’t going to try and solve these mysteries right out of the gate, not when she could force Chrysalis to give her whatever lies and truths she wanted. After all, this wasn’t a whodunnit mystery anymore, since Chrysalis had already admitted to being the mastermind behind all of the disappearances.

“Okay then, Chrysalis. How about this? I say that everypony but me was replaced by changelings. How does that sound?”

Chrysalis’ eyes reverted back to their usual green color and the ebony heart vanished. “How heartless of you, Twilight,” Chrysalis huffed, mocking offense at the idea. “You truly have no faith in your friends, nor yourself. It’d be a shame if a certain five ponies heard you say that.”

Frowning, Twilight averted her gaze for a moment. She had gotten so caught up in this wild game of deductions that she had nearly forgotten about how her friends would feel. What if they were listening in? It seemed like the kind of trickery that Chrysalis would resort to.

“Fine,” Twilight grumbled, more upset with herself than anything else. Was she truly that terrible of a friend? “But my theory still stands. Your move.”

Wearing a genuinely disappointed frown, Chrysalis nodded, but she didn’t use her lying spell again. Instead, she turned to Cadance. “Fine. Now, Cadenza, would you be a dear and let me use that wonderfully handy truth spell of yours?”

Wordlessly, Cadance did as she was told, materializing a pink heart in between the two of them. The sight of Chrysalis with pale, white eyes was quite intimidating, but it proved that Cadance’s truth spell was working.

“I am thankful for your help, Cadenza. Twilight Sparkle, only one of your friends was replaced.”

Why would Chrysalis bother to thank Cadance? Ignoring the question, Twilight nodded. “I need clarification,” she demanded. “Who do you consider to be my friends?”

Without hesitation, Chrysalis answered, eyes still a milky white hue. “Your friends refer to Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Cadenza, and Shining Armor. I will also say this next sentence to avoid confusion. Changelings will be included as ponies if any changelings are involved.”

“Thanks,” Twilight responded, finding that last clarification quite helpful. That narrowed down the amount of possible wordplay involved. Despite that relief, Twilight found herself bothered at the inclusion of Cadance and her brother. Either way, it knocked out one possibility, but Twilight already had enough evidence to prove that Page had not been the one that Chrysalis replaced.

“Chrysalis, how many ponies had been replaced by changelings on the night that Page was taken?”

Chrysalis’ haunting, soulless eyes turned towards Cadance again. As the changeling queen nodded, the glow faded, returning Chrysalis to how she had been before. In a way, she looked refreshed, but also rather weary.

“That’s not a valid theory,” Chrysalis stated flatly. “You cannot simply ask me questions and have me answer them. If those were the rules, you would only have to ask me who I replaced. That wouldn’t be very much fun, would it?”

“You’re right,” Twilight grumbled, knowing that things wouldn’t be that easy. “But you’re not making this any fun, either. Everything’s so open-ended!”

“Really?” Chrysalis hummed, flashing Twilight a smug, toothy grin. Her horn lit up once more, creating a familiar black heart. “If you’re not going on the offensive, then allow me!”

With a blank, ebony gaze, Chrysalis recited her lies as if from a script. “Your barrier spell lied to you. I changed forms inside of the hotel and skewed the results!”

For a moment, Twilight almost took those words at face value, but quickly remembered Chrysalis’ spell. That meant that Twilight’s barrier spell was accurate, but it also limited Chrysalis from changing forms. Why would she give out free information like this?

“Okay, what about other changelings? Did any changelings take other forms inside of the hotel?”

With a cursory nod and a few flashes of magic, Chrysalis eyes turned white again, signifying Cadance’s truth spell. “Nopony inside of the hotel changed their forms.”

Wincing, Twilight gnawed on her bottom lip to help her focus. If nopony changed forms, she was back where she started, and she couldn’t rely on wordplay between the terms ‘changelings’ and ‘ponies’. The only difference was that Twilight didn’t have to worry about accusing her friends, which offered a surprisingly simple answer.

“Okay, Chrysalis, how about this. You replaced Rainbow Dash, who took the opportunity to throw Page out of the window while she was left alone on the upper floors. Nightowl stowed Page in the closet before that so I wouldn’t see her.”

“Nightowl did not put Page in the closet. I did not throw Page out of the window. I shall also confirm the accuracy of your barrier. Page passed through a magical barrier three times, and all such barriers were created by Twilight Sparkle.”

The suddenness of Chrysalis’ rebuttal was disheartening, but not crushing. However, it completely shattered Twilight’s only working theory about the mystery of room 201. Besides Nightowl not putting page in the closet, which hardly mattered, the fact that Chrysalis did not throw Page out of the window caused a few logical issues. Strangest of all was that, unprovoked, Chrysalis had revealed that Page had gone through the outer barrier, based on that number.

Trying to quiet her panic, which was bolstered by the Heart of Equestria, she shot back a response. “Define throw! And define yourself!”

“When I speak of myself, I refer to myself in any form. When I speak of throwing, the term constitutes picking something up and sending it through the air. I shall rephrase my earlier statement, but it still stands. I never forced Page to exit room 201 in any physical way.”

Dumbfounded, Twilight scrambled together a counter to Chrysalis’ truth. “Then you replaced Rarity and did it indirectly! With magic!”

“Magic counts as forcing Page to leave the room in a physical way. I did not use magic to remove Page from room 201.”

As soon as Twilight could come up with anything, it was immediately shot down by the white-eyed creature in front of her. It felt like she was trying to fight against a brick wall, one that made snarky comments every time she messed up.

“Then my earlier theory stands! Page left the room of her own volition!”

“Page did not leave the room intentionally.”

“Then maybe she sleepwalked out of the room!”

“Page does not sleepwalk. Page was unconscious when she left room 201.”

“Then...” Twilight gasped, beginning to back away from the unsettling creature in front of her. How was that possible? If she could trust Cadance’s truth spell, which had been active the entire time, how had Page gotten out of the room while the inner barrier was down and the outer barrier was still up? Regardless, there had to be an answer somewhere.

With a gentle sigh, Chrysalis’ eyes returned to their natural color, making it seem like letting the spell dissolve was painful. “What, are you done already?” she taunted, buzzing her wings and hovering to the stunned unicorn’s side. “Feel free to throw in the towel. After all, those spells are quite tiring to use for such an extended period of time. I may have good practice with it, but I’m far from perfect. I’m sure Cadenza wouldn’t mind, either.”

Baring her teeth, Twilight stood proud and defiant, refusing to let Chrysalis intimidate her. “Not a chance,” she hissed in response. “I’ll never give up. Time is on my side, after all. You won’t be able to keep the royal sisters from finding you. All I have to do is stall for long enough and they’ll eventually find their way here. After all, you can’t keep Cadance awake forever. Eventually, she’s going to have to sleep, and then she’ll tell Luna where you are.”

For a moment, it looked like Cadance was about to say something, but she was silenced when Chrysalis held up a dark hoof in her direction. “Cadenza will do no such thing when she is finally allowed to sleep. After all, I have her precious husband as a hostage. The instant that Celestia or Luna sets hoof in this city, Mi Amore Cadenza will be filing to be officially declared a widow.”

Twilight winced, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught Cadance’s reaction as well. The alicorn appeared shocked, like she hadn’t expected Chrysalis to carry through with her threat, which added more to the list of things that didn’t make sense. Twilight couldn’t begin to understand what was going on between the two mythical creatures.

“Now,” Chrysalis mused, “where were we? Ah, yes, that’s right. I was waiting for our detective’s brilliant explanation of how Page disappeared from room 201. If you would, detective?”

Huffing indignantly, Twilight remained as calm as she could. “Okay, how about this? You replaced Pinkie Pie! You and Caesura were together on the third floor, thus nullifying Caesura’s alibi! Besides Rainbow Dash, you two were the last ones down to the lobby, giving you plenty of time to stop by room 201 and toss Page out of the window!”

Blinking, Chrysalis appeared to ponder over the theory, giving Twilight the impression that she had gotten close to the truth. This was a theory she had only recently hatched, but it made a surprising amount of sense. By replacing Pinkie, who was with Caesura, Chrysalis would have free reign over the hotel for a precious few minutes. Sadly, those hopes were dashed as soon as Chrysalis fired up her lying spell again.

“Caesura and the pony with her stopped at the second floor on their way to the lobby.”

“Then how about this? Caesura teleported into the room before going down to the lobby!”

“Caesura can teleport.”

“Caesura teleported Page out of the room!”

“Caesura can teleport other ponies.”

“Then you teleported into the room!”

“Caesura and the pony with her separated on their way down to the lobby.”

“Then you teleported with her!”

“I can teleport while in the form of an earth pony.”

Grinding her teeth, Twilight took a step back so that she had some space to think. She was running herself in circles with this mystery. Before answering, she went over all of the facts again. Her barrier results had not been tampered with, so it seemed like a good place to start.

Okay, let’s try this again. For the outer barrier, there were 21 clear shapes and 18 blurry ones. Clear shapes indicate walking, and blurry shapes indicate running or higher speeds. Four of the clear shapes belonged to Preston, Red, Caesura, and Nightowl carrying Page, none of whom left the hotel. Subtracting those four, we have 17 clear and 18 blurry. If I assume that 17 clear shapes account for 17 blurry ones, there’s one left over. That leftover pony exited the hotel and didn’t come back while the barrier was still up, and there’s only one pony that could be: Page. The inner barrier is even simpler. One shape belongs to Nightowl carrying Page, three shapes belong to Nightowl himself, two shapes belong to Rarity, and I account for the last two. Everything seems conclusive. If only Chrysalis’ stupid memory ball worked!

“I’m waiting, Twilight Sparkle,” Chrysalis sung, apparently having undone her spell in the meantime. “Dazzle me with your astounding deductions.”

Pensive, Twilight nodded. She may have been stumped with Page’s disappearance, but there were plenty of other mysteries that needed to be solved.

“Fine, let’s move on to another mystery. The lobby. I propose that the 11 ponies that Caesura brought in were all changelings. Skylight told me that nopony but Dotted Line and Red knew about your existence, so it wouldn’t make sense for the 11 of them to be your accomplices. I also propose that you replaced Rarity, and that you took control of the situation by pretending to play a game, knocking out Red and Preston with your levitation spell once the lights went out!”

Once again, Chrysalis paused to think before enacting her spell again. “The three ponies that were left behind in the lobby were conscious.”

“Ha, that doesn’t prove anything! You knocked yourself out with levitation as well!”

“I rendered myself unconscious.”

“Then you had one of your accomplices knock you out!”

“Somepony rendered me unconscious.”

“Then... you knocked yourself out on accident!”

“I accidentally knocked myself out.”

“O-okay, you didn’t replace Rarity! The 11 changelings worked by themselves!”

“Caesura did not attend the party. The 11 ponies that Caesura brought in were not changelings. The changelings caused the disappearances in the lobby without help from inside the hotel.”

Twilight Sparkle found herself absolutely flustered. First off, there was that completely irrelevant statement at the beginning, but that was the least of her worries. No matter what theory she put forth, Chrysalis was prepared to shoot it down without a second thought. For the first time since the entrance exam to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight felt like she was completely inadequate. Sure, she had doubted herself plenty of times before, but she’d never felt as utterly clueless as she was now.

But it wasn’t over yet. Twilight just had to find a hoofhold, something that she could latch onto and branch out from. If she could solve one of the other cases, she would know who was behind it, and if it happened to be one of her friends, she knew where to start for the other mysteries. This was only the beginning.

“Okay, next mystery!” Twilight announced, taking a deep breath and preparing herself for the worst. “The note on the fountain. I propose that Caesura placed it while trying to levitate Pinkie Pie!”

Much to Twilight’s surprise, her opponent’s eyes regained their verdant color, indicating that the lying spell had faded. “I have no response,” Chrysalis stated nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders.

Blinking, Twilight raised a hoof to object. “Wait, does that mean—”

“Absolutely. Congratulations, Twilight Sparkle, you solved the mystery of the note. Brava.”

Cautious, Twilight pursed her lips. “That’s it? You’re just giving up?”

“Of course not! I just can’t prove you wrong at the moment. And honestly, that one was so simple that it would be pointless for me to try and defend it.”

Now that she had found a small glimmer of hope, Twilight wasted no more time in moving on to the next mystery. “Alright, next! Mezza’s petrification! I propose that her statue was fake, and that you planted it out there before we all went to find Eccondale!”

Chrysalis gave a weary yawn as she turned to Cadance and nodded. Within moments, her eyes glowed an iridescent white. “Mezza’s statue is real. Mezza was petrified instantly.”

Nodding, Twilight tried to attack it from another angle. There was a very limited set of possibilities for this case, considering the barrier that she had created. “Then I propose that Mezza was a changeling! She was working with you and trying to confuse us!”

“The Mezza you saw was not a changeling.”

“Good to know. If Mezza was really the victim here, you must have teleported outside, found a cockatrice, then teleported it inside of the barrier so you could force her to stare at it!”

“No teleportation was involved.”

“What about a petrification spell?”

“I do not know a petrification spell.”

“Then you could levitate something on the other side of the barrier, meaning—”

Before Twilight could toss another wild theory out, Chrysalis rammed her hoof into the floor and nodded intensely to Cadance, who released the truth spell immediately. Now that her eyes were back to normal, Twilight saw the frustration that lay within them. The changeling queen looked rather upset, like a mother scolding her filly.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she chided, “do not take advantage of what I am offering you! I am allowing you to use Cadenza’s truth spell as well as my own, but I am starting to regret that decision! You should be using your intellect and knowledge of your friends to make at least somewhat educated guesses, not just lambasting the both of us with nonsense until you blindly stumble upon the right answer!”

The sudden tirade caught Twilight off guard, but she refused to back down. “Well, you never set any rules! I’m playing your game by your rules on your terms, so you don’t have any room to complain like a selfish little filly!”

“Selfish little filly?! This coming from the ungrateful foal who doesn’t understand a single thing about Equestria! You want to know so badly what—”

“I’d bet I know more than a monster like you! You’ve been cooped up in this cave the whole time, so don’t you lecture me about—”

“Girls!”

The sudden shout snapped Twilight out of her sudden fury, catching her completely off balance. Chrysalis appeared to be just as surprised, her once threatening eyes shifting to an unreadable glare. Twilight recognized the voice of her old foalsitter, letting its scolding tone sink in. It was the same one that had chided her as a filly when she stayed up too late to read.

“Cadenza, you would be wise to not interrupt us again,” the changeling queen hissed, but there didn’t seem to be any malice left in her unnaturally tinny voice. “I make no apologies for what I have said.”

Before Twilight could make a retort, her opponent spun around and returned to the Heart of Equestria, placing a dark hoof against it and drawing deep breaths. Watching the changeling queen brood would have normally warranted a lengthy session of gloating, but the look on Cadance’s face told Twilight that nothing of the sort would be allowed

Twilight, working to calm herself, tried to object. “Cadance, I just—”

“I know, Twilight,” the alicorn sighed, sounding as if she were lost in thought. There was something about the way she held herself that made her appear like she hadn’t slept in days. “Please, all I ask is that you play along. As you may have noticed, we don’t have much of a choice in the matter, not when... not when she has Shining Armor as a hostage. I know it’s difficult to control yourself around the Heart of Equestria like this, but there’s no other option.”

Frowning, Twilight glanced back and forth between the other occupants of the room before finally landing on Cadance. “So she told you about the Heart, didn’t she? Cheeselegs over there is being awfully generous with information. Also, I’ve got to ask you something. What’s up with the Crystal Heart? It’s like a miniature version of this thing here, not to mention your cutie mark, so what—”

“Cadenza!” came Chrysalis’ piercing voice. “You are not to speak unless I allow it! Do not forget our agreement!”

Twilight looked to the alicorn for some kind of answer, but Cadance merely nodded, stepping away from Twilight and lowering her head submissively. Once again, there was no reason for any kind of deal like this to exist, not when Chrysalis had Shining Armor locked up in the dungeon somewhere, so Twilight couldn’t understand why Cadance was acting so meek. She was an alicorn, and in Twilight’s experience, alicorns weren’t ones to give up without a fight.

The more that Twilight thought about her situation, the more questions popped up. The most glaring issue that Twilight noticed involved the rules of the duel itself. She couldn’t lose. If she stalled for a long enough time, the royal sisters would notice the lack of contact with the Elements of Harmony, even if Cadance stuck to her end of the bargain. It was only a matter of time before Chrysalis was found and ousted. What drove the changeling queen to agree to this? She had rigged the duel from the very start, but not in her own favor. No matter how Chrysalis chose to play, she would lose this duel by the very rules she had created.

“Allow me to get things back on track,” Chrysalis coughed, sounding like she was forcing herself to sound stoic. “In case you haven’t noticed, Twilight, the mystery of Mezza is not suited to simple truths and lies. I suggest that you think through the events you witnessed before you make another blind accusation.”

It was unnerving, hearing the villainous creature speak with such a professional attitude, but Twilight remembered Cadance’s warning. She had no choice but to play along at this point.

Silently, Twilight closed her eyes and reimagined the scene. It began with her extending the barrier, knocking a few monsters out of the way and leaving only eight ponies inside. They divided into groups, some going solo, but they all ended up together at Mezza’s statue. In the meantime, from what Twilight knew, Mezza had been actively trying to split the group up for an unknown reason. The earth pony had blatantly lied to Rarity and Pinkie, saying that Twilight had ordered them to split up and search, but she had also distracted Rainbow Dash and drew her away from Fluttershy. The most logical conclusion was that Mezza was an accomplice to her own petrification, but that made absolutely no sense. As for the rest, Twilight had heard Mezza scream about her daughter, another confusing event. Regardless, Twilight had gone to the barrier, found an imprint in the grass, and ran into Rainbow Dash at the scene of the crime.

Gathering her thoughts, Twilight decided that making an accusation based on what she knew would be ill advised. “I would like to ask for some clarification,” she announced. “Was Mezza truly looking for her lost daughter, Dolce?”

Chrysalis considered this for a moment, but she spoke without any enchantments. “You forget that I may only speak the truth that I know. How can I be sure what another pony’s motives are? After all, who is to say that she even exists?”

“Okay, let me rephrase this,” Twilight sighed, feeling silly for forgetting such a simple fact. “Does Dolce exist?”

After taking a moment to ponder over the question, Chrysalis enchanted herself once again with a lying spell. “Dolce is a character of fiction. She is dead. She does not exist in the real world.”

“Thank you. I think I know what’s going on, now. I believe that this crime was committed from outside of the barrier. One of your changelings took the form of Dolce after they heard the cockatrice’s cry, which sounded once my barrier pushed it to the perimeter. This changeling contacted Mezza and told her to split everypony up and meet her back by the barrier to talk in private. Once there, she tricked Mezza into staring at the cockatrice. How does that sound to you?”

The changeling queen grinned knowingly, the same kind of grin a filly would wear when she had a secret that everypony wanted to know. “The crime was committed by somepony you didn’t know. Somepony took the form of Dolce.”

That was odd. Why would Chrysalis give away such an important piece of information when she could have given away something more trivial? Twilight had been oddly specific with her theory on purpose, trying to bait Chrysalis into releasing more hints than she needed to, but she hadn’t expected it to succeed this well. Chrysalis could have attacked one of the less significant details, which would have been the smarter move, but she instead chose to add something more revealing. Did this mean that the rest of her theory was correct? Or was Chrysalis baiting her somehow?

Before Twilight could reply, Chrysalis let her spell fade, taking a deep breath and steadying herself. “I believe you’re starting to understand this one,” she remarked, regarding Twilight with a wary eye. “In fact, I feel that you can easily solve it with the information I’ve already given you. Though, of course, you would have to figure out who I was first.”

“One last question. Did you change your form inside of my barrier?”

“Come now, Twilight Sparkle. I believe you already know the answer to that question, but let me make things more difficult for you. Cadenza, if you would be so kind....”

Within moments, Chrysalis eyes were alight with magic. “While inside of the barrier, I took no more than three forms.”

“I figured as much,” Twilight snorted. There was something fishy about that statement, but it didn’t directly interfere with her current theory. In fact, it didn’t narrow things down at all. “Fine then, back to business. Let’s talk about Page’s disappearance.”

“Very good,” Chrysalis praised, her cynical attitude returning. “I’m delighted to see that I finally managed to talk some sense into you. I guess I should watch what I say, then!”

“Oh?” Twilight countered, imitating Chrysalis’ smug attitude. “It’s a bit too late for that. I’ve already figured out how you managed to petrify Mezza inside of my barrier. It’s time to put this mystery to rest.”

“Really? Oh, I must say, watching you steadily go insane is such a treat! What are you going to say next, that I replaced you? I’d be more than happy to rev up the old lying spell to counter that one!”

“Sorry, Chrysalis, but I’ve got a better theory than that. Let’s get back to Page’s disappearance from room 201. I propose that you had a changeling waiting in the hotel when we set the barrier up, one that hid on the second floor and waited for the perfect opportunity to throw Page out of the window!”

Upon hearing this, Chrysalis let out a satisfied cackle, rearing her head back in a theatrical gesture. “Brilliant!” she cried through her hysterics. “I never even considered that possibility! Congratulations, Twilight Sparkle, you have successfully outwitted me by concocting a theory too ludicrous to counter!”

“Joke’s on you, cheeselegs,” Twilight hissed, actively trying to keep her opponent’s jabs from phasing her. “If you can’t counter my theory, I win.”

Chrysalis sounded like she didn’t even hear Twilight, seeing as she was still in the middle of her villainous reverie. “If you insist!” she gasped in between cackles, turning her attention to Cadance. “I’d like to start this one off with a few truths, if you don’t mind.”

Nodding to Cadance, Twilight smiled. “Please do.”

With a tiny flash of light, Chrysalis’ eyes became pearly white, just like before. “You saw every single pony that was inside of the hotel that night. There were no ponies, changelings, or other creatures hiding in any other rooms.”

Grinding her teeth, Twilight tried another angle. She had been fairly confident with her earlier idea, but it seemed that Chrysalis wouldn’t allow her to continue down that road. “Okay, that still doesn’t prove me wrong! I probably saw this mysterious guest and mistakenly thought they were part of the 17 townsponies in the lobby!”

“No more than 28 different ponies were ever inside of the hotel on the night of the disappearances. Nopony passed through the outer barrier more than twice.”

Silently, Twilight counted the ponies that she had seen at the party. Sure enough, the number checked out. “W-wait a moment,” she stammered. “Does that mean 28 different ponies at the same time, or throughout the whole night? What about changelings taking different forms? What about Cadance and Shining Armor?”

“No more than 28 different ponies were ever inside of the hotel on the night of the disappearances. This does not mean 28 at the same time. Leaving and entering the hotel again would not change that number. Changelings, regardless of their form, only count as one. Cadenza and Shining Armor as excluded from that night, as it was technically morning when they arrived. I shall also add one more addendum. Between when the ponies in the lobby left and when the outer barrier fell, the number of ponies in the hotel never exceeded 11.”

Beginning to grow anxious, Twilight gnawed on her lower lip some more in the hopes of finding some wordplay in that statement. It was airtight. “Okay, that proves that it wasn’t some mysterious third party,” she mumbled to herself, taking a deep breath.

Chrysalis, upon hearing this, motioned for Cadance to release her spell. “And now, the icing on the cake. I hope you’re ready, because I’m feeling rather generous at the moment.”

Before Twilight could answer, she glanced up at the sudden green glow, realizing that Chrysalis had just readied her lying spell. With a sharp flick of her spidery mane, the villainous creature began to pace back and forth in front of the Heart of Equestria, unable to contain her bubbling excitement.

The lies she spouted were beyond anything that Twilight could have been prepared for.

“Rainbow Dash threw Page out of the window!

“Applejack threw Page out of the window!

“Fluttershy threw Page out of the window!

“Rarity threw Page out of the window!

“Pinkie Pie threw Page out of the window!

“Caesura threw Page out of the window!

“Nightowl threw Page out of the window!

“Red threw Page out of the window!

“Preston threw Page out of the window!”

Twilight, gasping for air, began to feel physically ill. Breathing became a chore. Each repeated sentence was like another stroke of a magical hammer, pounding in the nails that kept her from escaping this infinite loop of logic. This was impossible. Absolutely impossible!

Chrysalis had listed off everypony that could have possibly thrown Page out of the window. Page didn’t leave of her own volition, but she didn’t sleepwalk either. Chrysalis already said that she hadn’t done it herself. The ponies that were down in the lobby couldn’t have done it in the time allotted, either, not to mention how none of them went through the barrier more than twice. Even if one of them had flown out of the front door and up to the second floor to grab Page on the way out, they would have left extra shapes in the outer barrier, violating Chrysalis’ truth.

Desperate, Twilight’s mind worked at breakneck speed. There had to be some kind of wordplay involved, something that would render all of those statements moot.

“Wait a second!” she exclaimed, regaining her energy. “One of the ponies in the lobby, once they were outside, could have levitated Page out of the window without passing back through the barrier!”

“There were two unicorns in the lobby.”

“Wait, if you had replaced Rarity, would that count as a unicorn?”

“I do not count as whatever race I am disguised as.”

Wincing, Twilight combined that with the earlier facts. None of the changelings had changed forms in the lobby, meaning that Rarity had been the only unicorn. It would be impossible to accurately levitate Page out of the window without a decent line of sight, so unless Rarity had walked outside to do it and then walked back in, Rarity couldn’t have done it, once again ignoring the imprints on the outer barrier. There were only a few options left, but Twilight wasn’t going to give up so easily.

“You’ve made your point, but now it’s time for me to make another. You only said that none of the changelings changed forms inside of the hotel, but the keyword there is inside! Once outside, one of them changed into a unicorn and levitated Page out of room 201!”

“Page was levitated out of room 201.”

With that one sentence, all of Twilight’s theories crumbled beneath her, leaving her trapped in the endless loop of logic Chrysalis had caused. No, it’s not over yet! Think, Twilight Sparkle, think! There has to be something she’s left out!

“Aha!” Twilight shouted, standing defiantly before her ebony-eyed opponent. “It’s just semantics! Page wasn’t thrown out of the window, was she? She could have been pushed, or anything else! You only said that you didn’t force her out of the window, but you used throw for everypony else!”

Chrysalis’ toothy grin widen from ear to pointed ear as she watched her victim squirm. “Page wasn’t thrown out of the window.”

“That’s...” gasped Twilight as she took a step backwards, faltering yet again.

This wasn’t possible. There was an answer somewhere, otherwise this duel wouldn’t work. Her barrier had given her accurate results, which Chrysalis had confirmed, and those results told her that Page left room 201 in the small window of time between when the inner barrier was lowered and the outer barrier was up. In the outer barrier, only one shape indicated a pony carrying another pony, confirming Chrysalis’ insistence that Page had been thrown out of the window and not carried. But when levitation was impossible as well, the culprit must have done it from inside, but if that was true, nopony could have done it!

Huffing for breath, Twilight felt her fear and desperation begin to peak, aided by the insipid effects of the Heart of Equestria. This was a trap, one that Chrysalis had created to make Twilight panic. That must have been why she had taken their duel to this unnatural gem! There was no other reason!

Chrysalis’ statements were irrefutable. Page’s disappearance happened within these constraints, so it was still possible, but how? Twilight just had to find the hole in this claustrophobic logic trap, then she could finally earn some breathing room.

Sure enough, there it was: a small dot of light amidst the impenetrable darkness of Chrysalis’ black lies. With newfound resolve, Twilight took a step forward towards the sickeningly smug creature and returned her mocking glare. Chrysalis had left somepony out of her long list of possible culprits, and Twilight wasn’t going to let that fact slip by.

“Nice try,” Twilight laughed victoriously, peering down her nose at her opponent. “You won’t be able to corner me that easily. I’m onto your tricks! You’ve been choosing your words carefully, dodging my theories and refusing to give me a straight answer from the very beginning. You forgot somepony on that list, you know, and it’s time that I called you out on it. Lying is a bad habit, after all.”

Twilight found a strange satisfaction in watching the creature avert her inky, black eyes. With this one theory, all of Chrysalis’ lies would be blown away. It was time to break out of this logic trap and shine some light through the darkness of this impossible mystery.

“I propose that Skylight Dreamer threw Page out of the window!”

“Skylight Dreamer threw Page out of the window!”

Cackling echoed throughout the chamber. In that moment, Twilight’s heart sunk into her gut. The final nail pounded into place with that finishing hammerstroke, sealing room 201 inside of an unsolvable mystery. In the blink of an eye, the speck of light at the end of the tunnel was swallowed by Chrysalis’ lies, completing the logic trap. No matter where Twilight looked, she couldn’t find the light again.

None of this made any sense. This wasn’t scientifically possible! Once again, she counted through everypony that had been in the hotel that night. Twilight and her friends made six, then Red, Preston, Page, Nightowl, and Caesura made 11. After adding the desk clerk working the hotel that night, Caesura’s 11 accomplices, and Preston’s five friends, the total came up to 28. No other pony could have been inside of the hotel outside of the ones just named. 28. Not 27. That cursed number. 28. 28. 28!

Twilight felt like she was encased in ice, shivers racing down her spine. Despite how much she willed herself to move, she couldn’t, like her mind was caught in an infinite loop around this impossible mystery. Because her gaze was locked on the rocky floor, she didn’t even notice when Chrysalis lifted her spell and approached her. She was defenseless.

“Are you feeling alright, Twilight Sparkle?” Chrysalis hummed, voice dripping with mock pity as she sauntered towards her prey. “If you give up, I’ll gladly give you the answer. I’m sure your friends will forgive you for being the worst friend in Equestria! Though, I must say, I’m pretty sure you have some tough competition for that title. After all, you couldn’t even tell them apart from fakes! You don’t know the difference between friends and hideous monsters! Shallow relationships must run in your family, seeing as how I managed to steal away Shining Armor for weeks without him noticing!”

In her paralysis, Twilight heard Cadance’s hoofsteps ringing out, but she couldn’t react. How could she react? No matter what she tried to do, her thoughts couldn’t escape this infinite loop of contradictions. Over and over, she counted to 28, replaying memories in her head at blazing speed. No matter how many times she counted, there was no way to stop at 27. 6, 11, 12, 17, 28. Every single time. No deviance. There was no other data to work with. The 28 different ponies in the hotel was an irrefutable fact. None of those 28 could have committed the crime. Unless.... No, Twilight knew that she hadn’t done it herself. There was no reason to confirm her own innocence.

“This is going too far! Please, you don’t have to do this Ari—”

“Silence! Don’t you get it, Cadenza? This is my validation for all these years! You know exactly what I’m talking about, and don’t deny it!”

“I-I understand, but—”

“Then I respectfully ask that you remain silent and allow me to be happy for once! Is that too much to ask for?!”

“This.... This isn’t happiness! You’re just—”

“You have no room to lecture me on the subject of happiness, Cadenza! You have no right!”

Ignoring her foe’s cries, Twilight ran through the facts again, unable to move on until she’d cleared this up. Every ounce of brain power was feeded into this loop, draining her of her mental faculties.

21 clear shapes, 18 fuzzy shapes. Count the entrances. Count the exits. Count. Count. Count.

“Oh, Twilight, I’m sure that one of your friends hates you right now, if not all of them! The one I replaced can now be certain that you don’t care about her at all, at least, not enough to tell the difference between her and an evil queen! You may not be able to appreciate the irony of this moment, but rest assured, I am enjoying every delightful second of it!”

She’s lying. I care about my friends. I really do. This is insane. Insane, but possible. It happened. Something happened, and Chrysalis is trying to keep me from figuring it out. Think! But what if I can’t figure out who it was? I’ve already guessed wrong more times than I can count, but that doesn’t mean I’m a horrible friend... does it? How many times have I guessed wrong? 17? 18? 21? 28? No, not those numbers again. Anything but those.

“Now you know how it feels, Twilight Sparkle! The magic of friendship failed the very moment I replaced one of your friends! Imagine this pain for—”

“Enough! I command you to—”

“You command me? What do I owe you for all of these years?!”

“This isn’t about me. This is about Twilight Sparkle, one of my closest friends!”

Twilight, forcibly snapping herself out of her self-induced stupor, stomped her hoof on the ground to interrupt the two. Enough was enough. She had failed. There was no point in denying it anymore.

“Shut up!” Twilight cried, clenching her teeth together and forcing her quivering body to stay still. Behind her tightly closed eyes, she could feel a dampness leaking onto her cheek. “I admit it. I haven’t been as good of a friend as I should have been. You fooled me, Chrysalis. You fooled me.”

Her words echoed through the chamber, ringing back to her ears like a foreign language. Those were the words she had been dreading to say, but now that she had them out in the open, it didn’t feel as bad as she thought it would. In fact, it felt rather refreshing. Hearing them echo back at her only made her bleary eyes film over even more.

As Twilight raised her head, she saw the blank expressions of Chrysalis and Cadance. Twilight knew that she looked like a nervous wreck, with bloodshot eyes and a stream of tears running down her face, but that was who she was at the moment. She had failed. There was no reason to keep up the tiring facade of false strength.

With a heavy sigh, Twilight forced herself to stand proud, despite how painful it was to admit her own failure. Throughout her entire life, her greatest fear had been that she was inadequate, a flaw that had led on her on countless adventures. Each of those adventures had taught her something different, even if she hadn’t put down her thoughts in a letter to her mentor every time. If there was anything that Twilight had learned from her time in Ponyville, it was that failure was part of life, not something to be avoided at all costs. Thanks to all of her friends, she now knew that admitting her failures was the only way to overcome them.

Sometimes, it was okay to be weak. A detective needs to be strong... but Twilight Sparkle was no detective. She was nothing more than Twilight Sparkle, and Twilight Sparkle was far from perfect.

Finally, Chrysalis broke the silence, her caustic demeanor reduced to nothing but shock and confusion. There even appeared to be a hint of fear in her eyes as she took a step backwards. “Then you... surrender?” she choked out.

Cadance shook her head wildly, leaping to her side and trying to meet her downcast eyes. “No, Twilight—”

“Of course not,” Twilight stated plainly, raising her head to stare at the roof of the chamber and letting her tears flow free. Failure wasn’t the end. Failure was the beginning. It was time to learn another lesson.

“This is just an apology. From what you said, Chrysalis, my friends can probably hear all of this. Girls, if you can hear me, I’d just like to tell you how sorry I am. I should have noticed sooner. I’m not asking for you to forgive me, I just want you to know that I really do care about you. All I ask... is that you still call me your friend once this is all over. B-because... you’ll always be mine....”

Once again, Twilight’s quivering voice faded into the distance. Silence reigned.

Now that she finally had time to clear her thoughts, Twilight took advantage of the stillness and delved into her memory. There was something specific that she wanted to check, something that Chrysalis had inadvertently let slip before this pointless duel began. Without the stress of inadequacy and failure on her shoulders, Twilight’s thoughts became uncannily clear. Failure existed so that ponies could learn from their mistakes, after all. There was no reason that she couldn’t learn from this failure.

There it was. The key to solving these fantastical mysteries had been staring her in the face this entire time. Amidst the darkness of Chrysalis’ lies, another speck of light emerged, one that Twilight hadn’t noticed before. Once she realized that this small speck was there, other specks began to emerge, dotting the expanse of Chrysalis’ trap like brilliant stars in the sky.

With only a few simple deductions, the darkness began to wane, drowned out by the truth. Dawn had arrived. There, standing amidst the light, was the friend that she had ignored. The one that Chrysalis had replaced. Everything made sense again.

“I’ve solved it,” Twilight whispered. There was no need to make her voice any louder than it was inside of the reverberant chamber. “I know who you took, Chrysalis. I know who you replaced.”

The soft, firm statement seemed to have a physical impact on the creature, who was still stuck in stunned silence. “You have?” she gasped breathlessly. Slowly, her bewildered expression sank into an unreadable glare, masking whatever emotion she was feeling.

“You heard me. Go ahead, taunt me for being a horrible friend. Laugh at me for my failure. I accept it all. It doesn’t change the fact that I’ve seen through your lies... and your truths.”

Chrysalis gave a solemn nod, stepping backwards towards the Heart of Equestria and letting its azure glow envelope her in a brilliant blue aura. “Then we’ll end this here, Twilight Sparkle. If you are so confident about your answer, you shouldn’t need another chance. After all, in order to confirm the truth, I shall use either Cadance’s truth spell or my own to repeat what you say. If you guess wrong, you will surrender unconditionally and this duel will be over. Are these terms acceptable?”

Twilight turned to Cadance, who hesitantly gave a silent nod of approval.

“I accept.”

Chrysalis took a deep breath, as if trying to dispel the heavy atmosphere that hung in the daunting chamber. “Twilight Sparkle, I replaced one of your friends on the first night that you arrived in Everdale. All I ask is that you answer my simple question.

“Who was it?”