The Gambit

Twilight came to, her head swimming. She kept her eyes closed, trying not to be ill. After a while, the nausea faded enough that she decided to chance opening her eyes. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if she had or not. Perfect blackness was all that greeted her sight.

With an effort, she fought down the rising panic that she might have been somehow rendered blind. She tried to bring her forelegs down to rub at her eyes, but the motion was stopped short by clanking chains. She realized that her hind legs and even her wings were similarly chained. She didn’t know what the chains were attached to, but the surface she was on was hard and cold.

She tried to think through her fear. She wondered if the blackness really was due to blindness, or if she was simply in a place of darkness. There was only one way to be sure. She focused on calling light to the tip of her horn. Nothing. She tried harder, but the concentration needed kept slipping away from her. Magic was out of the question, for the time being.

“Hello?” she called, “Is there anyone there?” There was no response but the echoes of her voice. That meant that she was in a large chamber, or perhaps a cave. Memories of the last time she found herself in a dark cave brought the uneasiness to a new pitch. She found herself breathing too quickly, there in the darkness.

She knew she had to calm down, to think of a plan that would help her to escape… wherever this was. She thought of her friends, using the memories of their friendship and all the adventures they had come through together as a defense against the dark. As she did, her painfully thudding heart slowed. Finally, she felt centered enough to think back, to try and remember what had come before this nightmare…

The Friendship Express clattered along the tracks merrily. The six of them were on their way to answer a request by Princess Cadence.

“This is the third time in as many weeks,” Rainbow Dash said. “With all this travelling, I haven’t been able to practice any flying recently.”

“Oh, come now, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied, “How can you complain about visiting such a lovely place as the Crystal Empire?”

“Anything gets boring if you do it enough,” RD pointed out.

“Oh, nonsense,” Rarity scoffed, “Besides, this is the first time we have an alicorn princess as a travelling companion.”

“Why should that make a difference? It’s still the same old Twilight… no offense.”

“None taken. I feel the same way,” Twilight responded, “I just wonder why Princess Cadence asked us to come. I hope nothing bad is going on.”

“Um… if it was too serious, wouldn’t the Princess ask us to bring the Elements of Harmony along with us?” Fluttershy said.

“Sure she would, sugarcube. I think we all should just relax and enjoy the scenery.” Applejack added.

A whoop came from outside the train. “Woohoo! Crystal Empire, here we come!” Twilight turned to see the back half of Pinkie Pie, since the rest of the pink pony was sticking out of the window, her mane bouncing wildly in the wind. She leaned out a bit too far, and suddenly started to lose her balance, pitching forward with a cry. Applejack quickly grabbed her hindquarters, and pulled her back inside the carriage. Pinkie fell onto her rump with a whuff of expelled breath.

“Woah there, partner! I said ‘enjoy the scenery’, not ‘join’ it!”

“Whoopsie, my mistake,” Pinkie quipped, giggling. The rest of the group dissolved into laughter in response.

Even in dire straits as she was, the memory warmed her. No matter how dark things got, her friends would be there for her. She had to believe they would be able to help her. Somehow, they would find her. Holding onto that thought tightly, she used the happy memory to strengthen herself, and tried again to summon up her magic, determined to escape this.

An unknowable time later, she began to feel concerned again. No matter how she tried to concentrate on her magic, an itching on her one flank kept distracting her. She tried to remember what could have caused that. A jumbled impression of something hitting her there flitted through her mind. She grasped at the elusive memory, but could get nothing more tangible.

She pulled up the last firm memory she could, then began to work backwards, piecing her memories together…

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” The rest of the group ignored their little greeting ritual, as usual. Twilight didn’t care. Cadence smiled at her, and then past her to the rest of her friends.

“Thank you all so much for coming here once again. I know that it’s a long journey.”

“We are most grateful to be invited to the lovely Crystal Empire once again, Princess,” Rarity gushed, as high as usual on the beauty of the place. Hovering nearby, Rainbow rolled her eyes. Cadence nodded to Rarity in response and her smile faded.

“Since Shining Armor is away on an official visit to Saddle Arabia, I asked Princess Celestia to send you six here. I’ll come straight to the point… It’s about King Sombra.”

The six looked at her aghast. “He’s come back?” Fluttershy asked, trembling slightly.

“No, Fluttershy, it’s not as bad as that,” Cadence reassured her.

“Otherwise, you would have asked us to bring the Elements.” Twilight said, thoughtfully. Cadence nodded. “King Sombra was destroyed by the Crystal Heart, thanks to you and Spike,” she admitted, “But such a powerful unicorn is still as dangerous as he was in life. We have heard that some ambitious unicorns are looking for his horn. They believe it will grant them his power.”

“You want us to find the horn before they do, right, Princess?”

“That is it exactly. Twilight, I would like to talk to you alone. There is some more information I have to share, but I’m afraid it is not something that anypony but an alicorn should hear. If you will come this way…”

“Wait a minute, Princess,” Twilight interrupted, “With all due respect, anything you want to tell me, you can tell all of us.”

“I knew that you would say that, Twilight, but I must insist that we talk alone. If you still want to tell your friends afterwards, then do so.” There was a new note to her voice, one of unshakeable royal authority. Twilight was a bit taken aback, but rallied herself. Perhaps the Twilight from before would have been cowed, but now that she too was a Princess…

“It would be the same thing in any case, Cadence. Please tell us all.”

There was a tense silence as they faced off, neither willing to back down.

“Um…” Fluttershy began. They both turned to her. She wilted slightly under their glares, but then her expression became determined.

“Twilight, if Princess Cadence thinks it’s better to tell you this information alone, then perhaps you should listen.”

“Yeah, Twilight,” Pinkie said, looking more serious than usual, “We trust you!”

The others murmured their agreement. Twilight wavered.

“All right,” she consented finally, “But I’m just going to tell them anyway. I won’t leave my friends in the dark, no matter what.”

Cadence inclined her head and said, “Of course, Twilight. This way, please.”

Her horn and the door to the room glowed with the aura of magic that Twilight had recently learned only alicorns were able to see, and she went through the door. As Twilight followed her, the door closed behind her. Twilight watched as Cadence stepped towards a nearby table, a book lying open on it. And…

And then she had woken up here, chained and alone in the darkness.

A moment later, that darkness was broken as a blue light as bright as the sun stabbed at Twilight’s eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut, the nausea shaking her again. The light still seemed to be burning through her eyelids, but she could do nothing except wait as her eyes adjusted to it. At least she now knew that she hadn’t been blinded.

After what seemed like an eternity, she felt ready to open her eyes again. The light had subsided to something just barely tolerable, and she squinted at its source. It proved to be a horn. The light let her see the face of a unicorn… or rather, as she recognized it, another alicorn, framed in the natural stone archway.

“Cadence?” she asked, incredulous, “Is that you?”

Princess Cadence didn’t reply, her expression cold and hard. Then she moved forward. As she did, two changelings appeared in the opening behind her. Twilight froze in shock, chills chasing themselves up and down her spine.

One of the two changelings turned to a torch attached to the rough-hewn wall. It’s curved horn kindled, and it touched the tip to the torch. A flame of the same colour immediately began burning. Spontaneously, the other torches ringing the chamber began to light themselves. In their light, Twilight could see that she had been right in her guess that she was inside a large cave. The chains were attached to the floor and the rock she found she was lying on.

Cadence came to a halt a few paces in front of her. Then she smiled cruelly. This was worse than her earlier expression, and Twilight felt the dread deepen even more.

“Ah, you’ve finally rejoined us, Princess… are the accommodations to your liking?” Twilight couldn’t believe that her former foalsitter and friend could have spoken to her like that. Her mind raced, and a nasty thought crystallized. Cadence’s smile got wider as she saw the realization dawn. She laughed unpleasantly.

“You’re not Cadence, are you? You’re a changeling. You’re Queen Chrysalis!” Twilight accused, straining at her bonds. Not-Cadence’s expression changed to anger instantly.

“Hardly…” she spat. Her horn glowed with a light blue magical aura, peeling back the illusion. The changeling’s head and shoulders appeared. It wasn’t Queen Chrysalis after all, although this changeling bore her a strong resemblance.

“You should watch your tongue more closely, Princess. You are speaking with the one who is soon to be Queen of the changelings. My name is Mimic.”

“You all look the same to me,” Twilight told her. Mimic’s eyes narrowed, and she suddenly swung a hard hoof at the captive Twilight. The blow hit her across the cheek and snapped her head to the side. Mimic stepped back a few paces as the illusion slid into place again.

“Perhaps a little more time here in the darkness can remind you of your royal manners, Princess.” She turned to go.

“Wait!” Twilight managed to gasp, her ears still ringing from the slap, “What have you done with the real Cadence?” There was no response as Mimic walked out. The guards followed, the torches dwindling, and then beginning to gutter out. Twilight choked down an urge to scream as the darkness closed in once again.

***

Time passed. It could have been five minutes or a whole lifetime. Sometimes the fancy took her that this blank darkness was all that there was, and all her life before this had been some kind of a dream. Desperate to escape such thoughts, she tried to think about something, anything else.

She tried her magic again, to no avail. But a new thought occurred to her. She had seen Mimic’s aura, a pale blue that was quite unlike the sickly green colour of the guard’s. That was a puzzle right there. So far as she knew, all books that spoke of the changelings said that they had the same aura.

She strained to cast her light spell again. The burning itch in her flank had lessened, and she realized that she could produce a glimmer of light now. Whatever was keeping her from using her magic was weakening. She clutched at that hopeful thought. She might yet escape this...

The light she had gathered was feeble, but it was enough that her eyes didn’t need to adjust as much as before when Mimic returned, with her three guards in tow. She stared at Twilight and her still-feeble light spell for a moment, then smiled her cold smile again.

“I see you’re feeling better, Princess. Perhaps now we can have a polite conversation. I can see we still have enough time before you recover your full power. Of course, I will simply give you another dose of venom long before that happens.”

“Venom?”

“The venom that prevents you from using your magic, of course. I thought you were intelligent, Princess. Of course, the side effects are rather unpleasant, but not fatally so. Don’t worry; you’ll have months or years to get used to it.”

Twilight tried to ignore the ice settling into her stomach at that thought. Where were her friends? She had to believe they were looking for her. She had to keep Mimic talking as long as possible.

“How long have you been pretending to be Cadence?” she asked. Mimic gave her a look of scorn.

“Why, since the beginning, of course. Your friend Cadence has been keeping my subjects company for a while now. Luckily, your brother Shining Armor has been helping me… how to put this delicately…” she leered “…pass the time.”

Sudden rage made Twilight reach for her magic again. She was going to blast this evil monster right out through the wall of the cave. Despite her resolve, the feeble wave of magic that was all she could produce wasn’t even sufficient to jostle her. Mimic’s laugh was mocking.

“Oh, don’t be like that, my dear… we are sisters now, after all. Well, back to our little talk. Shall I tell you the rest of the story? I would hate to deprive you of the realization of how badly you were deceived.”

Twilight sagged against the chains, exhausted from the magic she had tried to use and unable to respond.

“Of course, we have to go back to the very beginning…” Mimic said.

“Everything that happened was part my plan, you know. Poor Mother. Always so certain that she was the smartest, the one who had others dancing to her whims. Pride goes before a fall, they say. Ah, well. I digress…

“We captured your friend on her way to her wedding. I had been posing as a friend of hers, listening to her gush about her husband-to-be, and you, the ‘great sister’ she was getting. Even your little greeting ritual. So cute. So useful. I kept this information from Mother, of course.

“I knew that Mother would be discovered eventually. She never did spend enough time learning about her target, looking down on you ponies as blind and stupid. Another flaw of hers, her tendency to underestimate her foes.

“And when you finally discovered her secret, she sent you down to the caves, where I was waiting for you. Of course, I had arranged for her to know that I would be there. And she led you to me. No doubt she thought that, as angry as you were, you would do her the favor of getting rid of me. It might have worked, had I not known exactly the best way to trick you into believing me to be the true Cadence, with that silly song and dance.

“Knowledge is power. A secret, hidden knowledge, is even more powerful.”

Twilight interrupted her. “If you say that, then why did you send the anonymous threat to Canterlot?” Mimic made a self-satisfied noise.

“That is because there is something that is even more powerful than a secret. Do you know what that is? A secret that is revealed in order to hide an even deeper secret. Do you know when one’s enemies are the most vulnerable? When they have a false sense of security. And the more tension there is before the ‘deception’ is uncovered, the stronger that feeling becomes.

“Mother thought it useful to her little infiltration, as well. If they were looking for an external threat, who would think to keep an eye on the new bride-to-be… part from overprotective little sisters? It served me even better, since once you found out that Mother was an imposter, it made you more inclined to believe in me, especially since I was the one who revealed it to you.”

She laughed wickedly.

“But to continue… Mother knew that I was posing as Cadence, but she played along. She had to know that once I had your trust, trying to expose me would be useless. I’m sure she thought she could get rid of me at a later stage. A pity she did not know how much I had studied for the role of Cadence… enough that I could break her control over that stupid brother of yours, that I could feed him the energy needed for his spell. Safely encased at the heart of it all, the spell missed me, and instead smacked my mother full in her ugly face. I enjoyed that immensely, by the way.”

“You know the rest from there, my dear. Now, do you have any questions? It would please me to indulge your curiosity.”

Twilight thought hard. She could buy some more time with this. Besides, she had already come up with a question or two.

“Why is your aura not green?”

Mimic sighed and pouted slightly. “Why did you choose the most boring question? It’s a talent a few changelings have, to change their aura colour at will. Not very useful, generally, since so few can even see them. But in this case, it was perfect. Mother had to be careful not to use her magic anywhere near the Princesses. I had no such problems, of course. Just one more sign that I am meant to rule, not my mother.”

“And that is what this whole thing has been about… hasn’t it?”

“Yes, indeed,” Mimic purred, “Once I rule the changelings, things will fall into place very quickly. And with the power I have gained from your brother’s love, I am now more than an equal to Mother. And now, I have you too… I found the Crystal Empire a bit far-flung for my liking.”

She paused and Twilight watched numbly as the colour of her aura shifted from Cadence’s light blue to magenta, and Cadence’s features dissolved into her own.

“Centrally located as Princess Twilight Sparkle, I will have ample excuses to visit Canterlot. Right under the nose of Celestia. Perfection.”

“But why now?” Twilight wondered, speaking more to herself than her tormentor, “You must have had plenty of chances before.”

“So I did, but Celestia has always kept a very close eye on her favorite student. Once you had taken the step of becoming an alicorn, she finally let her surveillance magic slip. Not to mention that now I can remain a Princess. I would hate to have to demote myself.

“Now, it is about time that we draw this little drama to a close, don’t you think?”

“So are you going to get rid of me, like you did Cadence?”

“Why, my dear, who ever said that I had gotten rid of her? I am not a complete monster, after all. She is imprisoned and in much the same state as you, but alive. You will join her shortly. At least she will have company now. And after that, I think I will celebrate my victory.” And she smiled her cold smile again.

“Such celebration would be premature, I’m afraid, my daughter,” a familiar voice said calmly.

Mimic’s eyes widened, and she spun to face her escort. The middle guard shimmered, the small form growing larger as Queen Chrysalis dropped the illusion she had been holding. Twilight could do little more than stare in shock, as stunned as Mimic. The changeling princess was the first to recover her aplomb.

“Well, well, Mother,” she snarled, dropping her Twilight disguise, “You are not as stupid as you appear.” At that, the Queen arched an eyebrow.

“Whereas you are exactly as stupid as you appear, daughter dear. I have been waiting for this for so long. Your traitorous little insurrection ends here. However, if you surrender yourself, I will spare you.” Mimic drew herself up imperiously.

“Oh?” she said, “I do not think you would find it that easy, Mother. If you surrender, I will end you quickly. You are weak, and I have been feeding from the love of that prize fool of a stallion for months. I am more than a match for you now.”

“For me? Perhaps. But I am not alone here, daughter dear.” As she spoke, the two “guards” who had been flanking her shimmered as well, revealing themselves as two other changelings that were virtually indistinguishable from Mimic herself. Each held in telekinetic grip something that looked like a hollow pipe. “Perhaps you remember your sisters, Princess Larva and Princess Pupa?”

Mimic evidently did, staring at them. She tried not to show it, but Twilight could see the sudden fear she was feeling. It would have been immensely cheering if not for the fact that Twilight was now chained up with four royal changelings.

“Why?” Mimic asked, “Why take her side, my sisters? We can defeat her if we work together.” She licked her lips nervously. “Join me. We three can rule together…”

“Useless. Your sisters know that they would be better off with me than you.” Queen Chrysalis nodded to the two princesses. “Subdue her.”

Both princesses quickly lifted the tubes to their mouths, and in a flash, Twilight realized that this must have been how she had been brought down. They aimed the end at the hapless Princess Mimic, and puffed out a breath. Two small darts hit her in the flank, and Mimic collapsed like a puppet with cut strings.

Queen Chrysalis crossed over to the captive Twilight, with a cold and haughty expression. As she approached, her horn began to glow with lurid green light. Certain that she was about to be killed and able to do nothing to stop it, Twilight squeezed her eyes shut.

There was a series of quiet clicks, and the chains snapped open, releasing her. Still weak, she sagged to the stone chamber floor. She waited for the end.

“Twilight?” called a voice, softly, “Is that you? Are you alright?” Even as weak and strained as it sounded, Twilight could hear it was Cadence’s voice. Twilight dared to open her eyes. Standing over her were Queen Chrysalis and Cadence, the latter looking very thin and worse for wear. Twilight accepted her hoof and tried to pull herself to all fours. She still felt shaky, but she was getting stronger. She turned to the changeling Queen.

“Why?” she asked. Chrysalis smiled.

“My daughter was the one who came up with the plan to invade Equestria. I knew she would use it as the cover for her own plan to take control of my subjects for herself. So I let it happen. I thought that Celestia would stop me for sure, at which point I would have told her all about Princess Mimic. Then I would have given back Princess Cadence and used her as a witness to the events.

“As it happened, I prevailed even over Celestia, and thought that my daughter had unwittingly handed me control over the whole of Canterlot. Of course, then she used that young colt as a weapon against me. And she won, in the short term.

“With my weakened position among the changelings and her installed as the Crystal Princess, there was no way to get close to her. I had to wait for her to make a move. And finally, she did.

“And now, there is one more thing to be done. With the remaining princesses, and with you and Cadence here to tell the truth, I can make sure that Princess Mimic will never be a bother to anyone again.”

“Why should I help you?” Twilight asked suspiciously.

“Because in return, I will release both you and Cadence, and you can go your own way, back to those friends of yours, back to being a Princess. And she can finally be with her new husband.”

“How do I know you will keep your word?”

“You don’t. But what other choice do you have?”

Twilight considered it. There really was only one thing to do.

“Twilight?” Cadence asked suddenly, “Why do you have wings?”

***

Chrysalis began to laugh.

After their business was concluded, Twilight and Cadence were both released on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. Neither of them felt up to flying, so they walked in silence. Twilight ignored the fact that Cadence kept glancing worriedly at her as they walked.

When the tension got too much for her, she opened her mouth to speak. Before she could get a single word, Twilight turned, grabbed her and pushed her roughly against a rock.

“What? Twilight!” she cried.

“Shut up!” Twilight snarled. “Don’t talk to me. You are not trusted, do you hear me? Don’t think you can trick me, changeling!”

“Don’t be such an idiot,” Cadence replied, her own face beginning to flush with anger, “I’m not a changeling! You think this is easy for me, either? I missed my own wedding day, my husband has been living with an imposter, and if you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been trapped by those monsters for months!”

“All of which is exactly what a changeling would say to make me think they were the real Cadence!” Angry tears were spilling from Twilight’s eyes; she couldn’t stop them. “I can’t be sure. You won’t trick me again!” They stayed like that for a long time, breathing hard.

Then Twilight’s eyes widened suddenly as a realization dawned. No wonder Chrysalis had let them go so easily. It was just another move in the game. Whether this was the real Cadence or not, she could never be sure. She could never be sure of anything. If she doubted this Cadence now, who else would she be forced to doubt as well? Her friends? Her teacher? If that was so, wasn’t it just better to believe that she really was the genuine Cadence? The anger drained away, leaving only sadness and weariness. She left her hooves drop and turned away.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “That wasn’t fair of me. I will trust you, for now. But be careful. If there is any hint that you are not who you say you are, I will tell Shining Armor everything.”

She sensed more than heard Cadence agreeing with her, and they began to walk again. All the while, the memory of Chrysalis’ laughter continued to ring faintly in Twilight’s head.