No sooner had I entered the chamber with the others than my locket suddenly buzzed. I guess it just got reception again. I trotted off to one side of the chamber to take the call and stopped when I was certain nopony was looking. I then flipped it open.
The scowling face of Opaline appeared before me. "Misty! What is taking so long?! We have a-" She suddenly stopped. "Wait. Is that... pizza in your mane?"
"Yeah. I just had lunch- I was really hungry, and sometimes you get so into eating that-"
"The crown, Misty. Do you have the crown?"
I paused before answering, knowing the probable reaction. "Err, no. I didn't get it. I kinda got captured and am now sorta a prisoner in the castle with the others, but also sorta not as they let me roam around the place freely."
"Oh. Bother."
That caught me by surprise. "I must say Opaline, you're taking this remarkably well."
"Well I can hardly shout at you with those three ninnies over there, can I?" Opaline answered, her facial expression making her displeasure more than clear. "This is, of course, a setback. But we can work around it. Time for the backup plan."
"You had a backup plan?" I asked, slightly surprised. If she did, Opaline was crazy prepared.
"Who do you think I am? Queen Chrysalis?" Opaline replied, looking a little annoyed. "Anypony worth their salt creates a backup plan if the main plan goes wrong. And then creates backup plans to the backup plans in case the original backup plans don't work. You said you were in the castle, correct?"
"Yeah, that's right. It's quite nice, actually, but the limited space does get a bit boring after a while."
"You miss being at home, don't you?" Opaline commented. "But you being in the castle is quite convenient. It can, amongst other things, put you in the correct place for disrupting my opponents. And this is where I play my next card."
"How?" I asked.
"The Royal Celebration is tonight," Opaline continued, her face focused on something. Probably some paper. "This means that all eyes will be on Pipp Petals and not on... ugh... Queen Haven, which means that we can act." She then went off on a strange rant. "Honestly, how long has she been keeping my seat warm? About twenty years, isn't it?"
"Twenty five," I answered.
"Close enough. But anyway, her time is limited anyway. I'll get her out of the way later, but at some point I'll have to get rid of her. But no matter. Our plan depends on the public's attention being distracted whilst Pipp is performing, and that means we have a limited window to act."
This seemed to be going round in circles. "I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but what actually is the plan? I'm not quite sure what you're asking me to do here."
Suddenly, there was a shimmering near me, and a fog began to form below something else.
As I looked over, I saw a crown moving upwards out of the fog, before it was deposited on the ground near me. I picked it up and took a close look at the crown. "It looks just like the one the Queen wears!" I said.
"Exactly," Opaline replied. "The crown you are now holding is an exact replica of the false Queen's crown, perfect in each and every detail. She won't be able to tell it or the real one apart. And that is exactly why I need you to act."
"Am I needing to switch it over mid performance from behind the Queen's throne?" I asked.
There was a brief pause. "Did you have that idea all by yourself?"
"Well, I may have seen it somewhere but-"
"Forget it. It's a stupid plan. Far too much can go wrong. What I do need you to do, however, does not concern the stage. As you probably know, the Queen has her own chambers. It's in there the Crown is kept, in a vault and lockbox. Whilst the concert is going on, I need you to access the room, switch the crowns over, and then escape. Return to me as fast as you can."
I felt uneasy over this. Far from being the narcissist I had expected, Queen Haven had been surprisingly nice. OK, she was perhaps a bit haughty and she could be a bit cold at times (but having said that I had stolen from her), but otherwise fairly reasonable. I wasn't sure about this. "How do you want me to get there?"
"Climb some stairs, do acrobatics, charm your way in, I don't care!" Opaline paused. "You seem to be having doubts about this."
"Do we really need to steal from them?"
"Excuse me?"
I spoke again. "Do we really need to steal from them? Is there another way?"
"May I remind you of what is at stake if we fail? Without that crown there is no realistic way I can defeat the One with the Stripes and prevent this world from being destroyed!"
Destroyed? What?
But I had no chance to speak up before Opaline continued. "And besides, there's something in it for you. If you get this artefact to me in one piece... I'll give you your Cutie Mark. Something I want for something you want. It's an even swap, is it not?"
I chose not to share what the text had disclosed to me the previous night. "Of course, Opaline. I won't let you down."
"Good. I've got to go now- one of the other agents has news for me. Besides, I think those other ponies want to talk with you."
"Hey! Misty! Over here!" Sunny's voice called to me. Oh no? What had she seen? Did she know I was working at crossed purposes with Opaline?
"Try not to act too suspiciously, Misty. Opaline Out."
I quickly dashed over to them as Opaline's head vanished back into the compact. "Sorry guys! I got distracted! I have a very short atten- ooh! Shiny!"
So, it turned out that Zipp's plan was remarkably similar to the one Opaline had cooked up. But something Opaline had said had me curious. She had said to switch the crowns over, but I thought Queen Haven didn't take the crown off? At least that's what Zipp had said. If there was a crown in there, what could that mean?
Night had fallen, and crowds had begun to assemble at the bottom of the palace, ready to get into the main room for the big performance. The news media was constantly talking about it. I was currently sneaking through the access tunnel Zipp and Sunny had identified. They wanted to see if a pony could fit through it properly. I'll admit I'm pretty skinny, but I was able to get through it with minimal difficulty.
Once on the other side, I switched on some night vision goggles in the room. Unfortunately, it was pretty packed, and there was no obvious pathway forward.
"Really?" I asked myself. "Why in every heist is there a room filled with random junk? This is gonna take ages to move!"
But move it I had to, if my friends were to find a way in. I began to shift stuff to make a suitable path and clear the way. It sure did take me a while, but eventually the path was clear.
My radio suddenly buzzed. Zipp had given us radios so we could stay in contact. "Misty, you there?" the voice said. The voice of Sunny, to be precise.
"Receiving you loud and clear, over?" I replied. Sunny had taught me correct radio protocol, but I hadn't quite followed all of it.
"What's the condition of the tunnel, over?"
"Seems good to go. Plenty of space, over?" I neglected to mention I'd cleared some gaps to let them through. I could hardly have expected them to do all the work.
"Excellent. Make sure to keep watch for guards."
That I could do, at least for a bit until Opaline needed me to get moving. "Understood. Over and out!"
I headed forward through the room and climbed up an access chamber, before spotting what appeared to be some sort of control box before me. Of course! The platform next to me was an elevator! They could use that to get up here more swiftly!
I pushed the down button to send it down to the bottom of the chamber. I got ready to go, before stopping. Was I really doing the right thing?
Truth be told, were any of us? I looked back at my flank and weighed up my options. If I went through with this, I would get that Cutie Mark- in theory. But if I didn't, then what would happen to the world? And could I trust a word Opaline was saying?
As the light started to fade, I had to make my move. There was no turning back. I had to get up there and get that crown like there was no tomorrow.
As there might be no tomorrow.