Princess Twilight Sparkle looked down at her assets. They truly were not good. She was flanked hard from two sides, and their forces were insurmountable.
A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead.
Princess Cadence had fought hard and put up a good fight, but in the end, she was overwhelmed and taken out. Now, Twilight stood alone against the two mighty apposing forces. Their assets were impressive, to say the least. Twilight considered going through with it, hoping that it was not as bad as it seemed, and that her two opponents weren't as strong as they seemed, and were merely putting on a front. But the thoughts of how much she could lose caused Twilight to banish that thought. She knew if she failed this time, there was no coming back. But if she withdrew know, there was a chance that next time, she might just get the upper hoof. But at the same time, she had invested so much this time. Was it worth the sacrifice. But maybe she could get it back. Maybe her opponents would destroy each other first, allowing her to take on the winner. She had to decide quickly, she didn't have much time. So, the Princess sighed, and did what she had to do.
"Fold," Twilight said as she put down her cards on the crystal table.
"Smart move, Twilight," Celestia said with a twinkle in her eye. She then turned to her sister, who facial expression was unreadable. Smiling right at the Princess of the Night, Celestia pushed all of the crystalline chips forward. "All in," she said.
Twilight and Cadence exchanged glances, but then brought their attention back to the two sisters looked in intense mental combat.
"Oh, thou wants this pot, dear sister?" Luna replied with wide eyed innocence. She then pushed all of her chips forwards and said darkly, "Go ahead. . .take it from me."
The entire room went silent as Celestia and Luna stared at each other. Tension and suspense filled the room. Luna gave Celestia a curt nod, and the Princess of the Sun held up her cards.
"I have-"
The door suddenly swung open and Spike ran in pushing a tea cart. "Alright! I got everything. Tea, biscuits, cookies, crumpets, even-," the little dragon noticed the looks the four Alicorns were giving him, and immediately clammed up.
The focus then went back onto Celestia and Luna.
"Hmm. . .alright. . ." Celestia said, "I have, four-."
SLAM!!!
Guards-pony Flash Sentry burst into the room and shouted, "Princess Cadence! A Changeling Spy is among us!"
"WHAT!?" Cadence exclaimed, a look of horror on her face, "How do you know for sure?"
Flash Sentry shuddered in horror, and he said, "Princess. . .follow me and I'll show you. . ."
Cadence looked around at the other Princesses, a worried look on her face. Celestia went to her niece's side and draped a wing over her.
"Don't worry. I'm certain we'll be able to get to the bottom of this," Celestia said.
"You're majesties," Flash said urgently.
Cadence nodded, "Yes. Let's go."
Flash, the four Princesses, and Spike entered Shining Armor's commanding office. The door appeared to have been bucked down. Flash led everyone into the room. While everyone else let out a gasp, Cadence let out a horrified shriek. Shining Armor was completely encased by green Changeling slime and plastered to the wall with a horrified expression frozen on his face..
"Shining! No! NO!" Cadence screamed as she ran to her husbands bound form.
"I'll get him out!" Twilight said as she ran over to her brother and used her magic to burn away the goo. The Prince of the Crystal Empire slid down onto the floor. Cadence hugged the unconscious body of her husband tearfully.
Luna stared onward in shock, while Celestia turned to Flash Sentry and shouted, "Get a doctor! NOW!"
Flash saluted and obeyed.
". . .so, he seems to be alright, albeit unconscious," the sapphire colored Crystal Pony said as nervously adjusted his glasses, speaking to the Princesses who were gathered in the waiting room of the Crystal Empire hospital, "When he wakes up, he should be good as new. That I assure you, your majesty."
Cadence nodded stiffly, "That's all well an good, but I must ask how a Changeling even got in here!"
The doctor shrank back timidly.
Cadence sighed, and walked out of the building.
"Cadence, wait," Twilight said, reaching out to her sister in law.
"I refuse to wait," Cadence said curtly as she walked outside and down the crystal street, "I am going to track down that Changeling Spy."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked nervously.
"Cadence, the Changeling Guard is at work. They will apprehend the Changeling soon enough," Celestia said.
"When ponies do things by the book, they often miss important clues," Cadence said as she walked on with a purpose, "And I think we already have a good one." Cadence then started running in the direction of the guard barracks.
"What could she be up to?" Luna asked, staring after the pink Alicorn.
"Spike, you stay here and let us know when Shinning Armor wakes up!" Twilight called back.
"Sure thing, Twilight!" Spike said with a salute, and he ran back into the building.
The Princesses arrived at the barracks, and it didn't take too long for them to Flash Sentry.
"Flash Sentry," Cadence asked seriously, "How did you come to discover that Shining Armor had been ambushed?"
Flash took of his helmet, revealing his flaming blue mane. Twilight felt her heart jump a bit as she watched him shake his hair free. His face was humorless, however, as he answered Cadence's question.
"Well, the last time I saw him was early this morning. He had mentioned that he had work to due concerning the meeting your majesties were having today, and that he planned to do some catching up with Princess Twilight this afternoon. Then he went into his office, and I went back to my post outside. I soon noticed that he was staying inside for a while, so I got concerned. I knocked first, then I called his name. When he didn't answer, I got worried and bucked the door down, and then I saw him."
"So you were the first one to see him like that?" Cadence said while raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, your majesty," Flash said dutifully.
"Mm-hm. . ." Cadence said, studying the guards pony meticulously. After about a minute, she nodded and said, "Dismissed."
Flash nodded and walked off, but not before shooting Twilight a quick look. Twilight noticed the gesture, and found herself blushing as her heart pumped a bit harder.
"Cadence," Celestia said, "I don't think we really learned much of anything out of that conversation."
"Yes we did," Cadence said, "We learned that Flash Sentry was on duty outside of Shining's office during the time which he had to have been attacked. And that he was supposedly the first one to see him after he was ambushed."
"Wait a minute," Twilight said, not liking at all where the conversation was going, "You're not saying that Flash Sentry is the Changeling Spy?"
"Why not?" Cadence replied, and she nodded to herself and said, "Yes, yes, I'm sure of it! A royal guard can get places where normal ponies can't. He got his chance to get close to Shining, and he used it!"
"But why did he tell us about it!?" Twilight exclaimed, "He burst into the room and alerted us, remember? Why would he report his own crime? Why wouldn't he just replace Shining Armor?"
"Very true, Twilight," Cadence said, but then she smiled, "But maybe attacking Shining was just a diversion, and alerting us was a way to throw suspicion off of himself so he could enact his real plan."
"What do you mean, real plan?" Luna asked, eyeing Cadence suspiciously for some odd reason.
Cadence blinked in response to Luna's tone, but then shook it off and said, "I mean, what the Changeling really wants," Cadence pointed at Twilight, "is you Twilight."
"What!? Me?" Twilight said in shock.
"Forgive me, Twilight, but it's quite obvious that you have feeling for Flash Sentry," Cadence said with a small smile.
"UGGGGH! Not you too! I don't like him like that!" Twilight complained.
"Twilight, please don't deny it. This is serious. The Changelings would love to drain the magic from Equestria's newest Princess, and this is obviously a plot to do just that!" Cadence said.
Twilight stamped in place, looking around uncomfortably, and she finally said, "Well even if I did feel that way about him, you still have no proof that he did it! Someone else could have easily slipped in quietly while Flash Sentry was standing guard."
"Who?" Cadence asked in genuine curiosity.
"Spike."
Everything went dead quiet as the other three Alicorn's stared at the one that spoke.
"You. . .don't mean that, do you?" Twilight asked in disbelief.
Celestia hung her head low and sighed, "Spike was gone for a while to get the food and refreshments. He, or rather the Changeling disguised as him, had plenty of time to do it. A small dragon could easily slip in through windows. Also, the hero who recovered the Crystal Heart could easily get around with no questions asked."
"NO!" Twilight shouted loudly, her voice echoing around for a mile around her. She quickly clamped a hoof over her mouth as her eyes went wide. She then calmed herself down with Cadence's breathing technique, and then said, "Celestia, I'm pretty sure Changelings can't turn into dragons."
"We do not know that for sure, Twilight," Celestia said.
"But-"
"Don't think I like saying this," Celestia said gravely, her eyes looking saddened, "But we have to explore every possible angle. The fact that this all happened during our visit is certainly no coincidence. Spike may have been replaced upon arrival. The plan could have been to have other Changelings carry Shining Armor away and replace him while Spike returns home with you, Twilight, and drains your love. For it's clear that your bond with Spike is strong."
"A very well formulated theory, dear sister," Luna said suddenly, a dark look passing across her face, "But there is one last angle we have yet to explore.'
"Oh?" Cadence said.
Luna nodded, "Our third suspect," she pointed her hoof straight at Cadence, "IS YOU!"
Cadence's jaw dropped as Twilight and Celestia stared at Luna in disbelief.
"Luna! Don't be ridiculous!" Celestia said.
"It happened once, did it not?" Luna said, not taking her eyes off of Cadence.
"Luna!" Cadence said, sounding flustered, "I - I was in the room with all of you when it happened!"
"There is no reason to believe that Shining Armor was attacked during out meeting," Luna said sternly, "According to Flash Sentry, Shining Armor entered the room earlier today, before we arrived. You had time to do the deed."
"Enough!" Twilight shouted, "If Cadence were a Changeling, why would she encase Shiny in slime? Wouldn't she just feed off of his love without having to capture him?"
"The Changelings planned to bring Shining Armor back to their hive, so he was captured for the journey," Luna said, her face angered and disgusted, "However, it turned out today was the Royal meeting, so it had to wait. If Flash Sentry hadn't knocked down that door, we would have never known about it, and tonight, both the Prince and Princess of the Crystal Empire would have been lost." Luna threw open her wings and towered over Cadence. "Well, we shall not allow that to happen! We may have missed the battle at Canterlot, but we shall make amends by defending the Crystal Empire against the Changeling threat!"
Cadence cowered back from the furious Princess of the Night. Twilight quickly jumped in between the two Princesses in defense of her sister in law.
"Luna! Stop this right now!" Celestia shouted, pushing Luna back down with her ivory wings.
"Please, listen Luna," Twilight said pleadingly, "When Cadence got replaced during the wedding, I could tell. She wasn't acting at all like the Cadence I knew. But right now, Cadence is acting like the Cadence we all know and love. I'm positive that this is the real Cadence! So please, don't do this."
The slight magical breeze and glowing white eyes faded away as Luna settled down. She hung her head and sighed. "I am. . .so very sorry my dear niece. . ."
"Don't worry," Cadence said as she caught her breath, still shaken by the Moon Princess' wrath, "I understand why you'd be upset, considering what happened at the wedding."
"That still doesn't excuse my hasty accusation," Luna said in shame.
"Luna. . ." Celestia said. However, she was interrupted by a scroll that materialized before her. She quickly opened it and read it. "Shining Armor has awoken," she said.
"He probably knows something about the Changeling Spy! Let's go!" Twilight said, and all four Princesses ran off to the hospital.
The three Alicorns and dragon smiled as they watched Cadence and Shining Armor embrace each other and share a quick kiss.
"Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" Cadence said in relief.
"Don't you worry, my love," Shining replied, but then he go serious and said, "But soon, nopony is going to be okay if we don't do something fast."
"What is it? What's wrong?" Twilight asked nervously.
Shining got out of bed and said urgently, "We have to get to the very top of the Crystal Palace. That's where we'll find the Changeling."
"I know how to get there! Come on!" Twilight said, and soon the group was off.
After sending Spike to gather together some guards for backup, Shining Armor and the four Alicorns went down the dark stair well, through the door, and up the crystal stairs to the very top of the tower where King Sombra had hidden the Crystal Heart.
"This is it," Shining Armor said, a grave expression on his face, "Up here, the Changeling Spy is in plain sight."
"Umm. . .I don't see any Changeling Spies here," Twilight remarked.
Shining Armor pointed out through the west facing arched opening that overlooked the Empire. "Out there. Look!"
The four Princesses ran over and looked out into the distance. They could see houses, fields, and many Crystal Ponies going about their business.
"I don't understand," Cadence asked in bewilderment, "Where's the Spy?"
"Right behind you," Shining said as he drew a dagger from within his tunic.
