Cadance, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike all hid in a storage room while a group of guards passed by in search for them.
“I think they went this way,” one of the guards said.
“Come on, let’s not let them get away,” another one said.
All ten fugitives let out sighs of relief when their pursuers were gone.
“How are we going to get out of here?” Rainbow nervously asked.
“The entire castle is crawling with guards,” Rarity added.
“Through here,” Cadance said to everyone. “Why do you think I led you all to this room?” She then showed them an area in the room where the floor was missing and the big hole dropped down into a cavern filled with glittering gems.
“Is this the- ” Fluttershy started to ask.
“Yes,” Cadance interrupted to answer her question. “This is the entrance to the underground caverns where Chrysalis imprisoned Twilight and I.”
“Jewelius said she got through my shield using these tunnels,” Shining said. “So we must go through and find the way Chrysalis came in.”
“Then let’s go, everypony,” Celestia told the group.
One by one, they all jumped down through the hole into the caverns. Celestia and Luna used their magic to arrange some big boxes to cover up the hole and avoid giving suspicion to their pursuers.
Meanwhile, squads of guards were patrolling everywhere on the castle grounds looking for the escapees. Twilight Sparkle walked down the hallways of the castle thinking about the most recent moment she had with Cadance, Celestia, her brother, and her former friends.
“Twily, don’t let Jewelius do to you what Chrysalis did to me!” Her brother’s last words echoed constantly in her mind. Could everything they said be true? If so, then that would mean that she was on the wrong side. Suddenly, Twilight’s train of thought was interrupted by the sound of arguing as she came to the doors to the throne room.
“We have to deal with this matter immediately!” said an angry voice that sounded like Fancy Pants.
“The matter is being dealt with,” said another angry voice that sounded like Jewelius.
“I’m talking about the changelings,” Fancy Pants argued.
“And I told you we have bigger problems to worry about besides those pathetic insects!” Jewelius argued back.
“Those insects pose a greater threat than the exiles you’re trying to catch!”
“You forget those ten exiles are the ones responsible for those bugs becoming a threat. Therefore, it is very important that they be found and made examples of!”
“What is this obsession with those ponies? Aren’t a few of them members of your family? Don’t you feel any sort of concern for them?”
“They dared to oppose MY rule! Any and all traitors to the new king of Equestria must and will be punished!”
“So this is about you?!”
Then Twilight decided to enter the throne room. She carefully opened the door and entered. Sure enough, Jewelius, Vivian, Fancy Pants, and Fleur Dis Lee were all in the throne room. As soon as Twilight entered, the argument stopped and all eyes turned to Twilight.
“I’m sorry,” Twilight nervously apologized when she realized she had caught everypony’s attention. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s alright, Miss Sparkle,” Fancy Pants politely assured her. “We were just about to leave.”
“Vivian will show you out,” Jewelius told the couple.
On command, Vivian began leading Fancy Pants and Fleur Dis Lee out of the throne room. But then Fancy Pants stopped for a moment to say something to Twilight.
“Miss Sparkle, you are an intelligent and noble young mare,” he said in friendly and concerned tone. “I want you to know that everypony trusts you and you can trust us.” With that, he left the room with Vivian and Fleur leaving Twilight alone with Jewelius. Twilight stared after Fancy Pants with a concerned and suspicious expression on her face.
“Did you forget your manners?” Jewelius asked her impatiently.
“No, my lord,” Twilight answered and bowed respectfully to him. “You seem upset. Is everything okay?” she asked noticing the unhappy expression on her new mentor’s face.
“Some ponies just don’t know the importance of certain issues over others,” Jewelius complained. “They don’t understand how much work a ruler has to do to keep his kingdom together.”
“They’re just scared about a possible second attack by the changelings,” Twilight said. “You remember what happened when they invaded Canterlot during the wedding?”
“Yes, and I also remember who it was that allowed for that disaster to happen,” Jewelius replied shifting the blame. “But apparently they all seem to forget who was really to blame for that horrible event. You remember don’t you?”
“Yes, but-” Twilight said but was interrupted before she could finish.
“And do you remember how it happened?”
An uncomfortable look formed on Twilight’s face as she remembered the saddest and most painful thing that ever happened to her in her entire life. The memories of the wedding rehearsal, her desperation to tell everypony something was wrong, their complete and remorseless rejection of her suspicions and her, and the feelings of heartbreak and loneliness. She felt a few tears taking form in her eyes as she remembered everything. Jewelius could see she was feeling very upset at having to remember those moments, but he had a smile of satisfaction to see that the methods he used to turn this young unicorn, who was once loyal to his aunt, over to his side.
Jewelius remembered a week earlier, he visited Twilight in the medical wing right after exiling the three alicorns, her brother, Spike, and her five friends. Twilight had finally recovered after using that tremendous spell to capture all the changelings, and was eager to know what had transpired while she was out. The room was empty with only Jewelius there sitting by her bed with a warm, friendly, and concerned look on his face.
“Are you alright, my dear?” he asked in a gentle tone.
“I’m fine,” Twilight assured him. “What about you and everypony else?”
Jewelius gave her a warm and satisfied smile. Little did she know that smile wasn’t a sign of relief for her well-being, but a sign of relief that she still didn’t suspect him of anything foul.
“Don’t worry, the changelings are well confined and the citizens of Canterlot are okay,” he told her.
“But what about the princesses, my brother, and my friends?” she asked greatly concerned.
“They have been exiled from Equestria,” Jewelius said with false sympathy. “They had to be made examples of.”
A look of great concern spread across Twilight’s face. “But without the princesses, who will lead Equestria?”
“You’re looking at its new king,” Jewelius answered with a mild bit of pride.
“But it wasn’t their fault,” Twilight pleaded. “Chrysalis fooled everypony.”
“But not you.”
“Well… yeah, but-” Twilight tried to say.
“You saw the signs, you knew what was really going on, and you were the only one who actually tried to do anything about it,” Jewelius interrupted. “And in the end, with some guidance from me, you not only exposed the fake bride for what she really was, but you also helped expose the others for the ponies they really were.”
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked confused.
“I hate to tell you this, Twilight,” Jewelius explained sporting a look of sympathy on his face. “But I’m afraid your friends, your brother, and even Celestia were all frauds too.”
“What?!” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.
“They were never really your friends. You’re a very special unicorn, you’ve got more power than anypony has ever seen. You were only ever a means to end. Celestia took you under her wing because she knew she could use you to do her dirty work while claiming all responsibility for your success.” As Jewelius explained everything, Twilight’s heart sank deeper and deeper. “Because of your connections to the princess, your ‘friends’ saw you as the key to making all of their dreams come true. And your brother, once he had found his very special somepony, it was time for him to move on with her while you, his precious little sister, faded from memory. Your little outburst at the wedding rehearsal showed them that you were no longer of use to them, so they turned their backs on you.”
Twilight had a look of pure heartbreak on her face. Her jaw hung open and tears streamed from her eyes. No, this couldn’t be true! It just couldn’t! “I was only trying to help them, protect them, show them the truth,” she wept.
“They don’t care about the truth,” Jewelius said trying to sound reasonable. “They want to see the world the way they want it to be. The reality of things frightens them so they’d rather ignore it than accept it. And in the end, it was that kind of backwards thinking that sealed their fates. Twilight, I know this is all so hard to take. But you can’t keep living in a fantasy all your life like they did. You have to wake up and face reality.”
For awhile, Twilight didn’t say anything and just sat upright in her bed with a miserable look on her face as she took in everything Jewelius told her and remembered all the good times she had with her loved ones as well as the wedding rehearsal where all the happiness came to an end.
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Twilight said with visible sadness in her eyes. “I was taught friendship is magic, but now I find out that there was no friendship. I don’t know what to do with my life anymore.”
“Perhaps I can help you with that,” Jewelius suggested. “Twilight, as the new Holy King of Equestria, I offer you to become my student. Will you let me teach you the true lessons of true friendship and make you into the mare you were destined to be?”
Twilight began to feel her heart lift. Hope was starting to burn inside her once again. However, she still couldn’t help but feel she needed to do something for her former friends and loved ones. “I… I appreciate the offer, I really do. But is there anyway I can convince you to give the others a second chance?” she asked with pleading eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Jewelius said looking quite remorseful. “But I’m afraid the charges against them are too great.”
“What about Cadance?”
“She was the one who foolishly let the beastly queen in the castle in the first place,” Jewelius gently argued.
“But Cadance, the real Cadance, is a very pure and kind pony, I can attest to that,” Twilight assured. “Besides, she’s been through so much during this entire ordeal. She doesn’t deserve this fate, so will you please let her back into Canterlot, Your Highness?”
Jewelius’s left eye twitched a bit. For Twilight to plead for the pony he hated most of all to be let back into the kingdom infuriated him on the inside. But for her to refer to him as ‘Your Highness’ was a sign that she now saw him as the new rightful ruler of Equestria. So he calmed himself down and started forming another plan in his mind.
“If that is what you want, my new faithful student,” the false king warmly falsely promised. “Then I will see to it that Princess Cadance is reinstated by the end of the week.”
Twilight gave him a warm and thankful smile that eventually faded as she thought once again about the others.
“What’s wrong now?” Jewelius asked concerned.
“I need to be alone for a little while,” Twilight replied with new tears of sadness developing in her eyes.
Jewelius realized why and started heading for the door. Before he left the room, he turned back to say one last thing to his new student with sympathetic eyes. “I’m exceedingly sorry, my dear.”
Twilight gave him a small nod to let him know she accepted his apology and started sobbing in her pillow as the unicorn king left her alone in the room.
Outside the doors of the medical wing, Jewelius was met by his assistant, Vivian.
“How did it go?” she asked her master.
“I think she took it-” Jewelius started in a sympathetic tone with a look of pity on his face. But then he dropped the act and displayed a more sinister expression and finished with a more sadistic tone of voice. “-rather well.”
“Yes, I remember,” Twilight answered her king and mentor.
“Twilight, my faithful student and eventual bride,” Jewelius spoke. “You know how big a threat those exiles are for all of Equestria and we need to devote a lot of our resources to putting a stop to their menace. I hope you know that everypony in Canterlot trusts you. They look up to you. You are their light in the darkness. So I believe it would be most beneficial if you could tell them that their wise and noble king has everything under control and that special precautions are being taken so that the changelings will no longer a threat to worry about.”
An uncomfortable and suspicious look spread across Twilight’s face at this request. “Is this true or are you asking me to lie to calm everypony down so you can devote everything to stopping the exiles?”
There was a moment of silence between the two. “I think it make everypony feel a whole lot better,” Jewelius finally answered with a sly look on his face.
Twilight bowed in acceptance of the request. However, deep down she was not happy. She had gotten her answer but it made feel that something wasn’t right. The feeling of great suspicion she was felt during the wedding had returned and she was going to get to the bottom of it.
Elsewhere, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Spike, and the Mane Five were walking down a dark tunnel.
“I can’t see anything,” Rainbow complained. “Does anypony know where we going?”
Suddenly, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel and got bigger and brighter the closer they got to it.
“Look everypony, there’s a light up ahead,” Cadance said. “Maybe that’s the way out.”
The group headed toward the bright light and after a moment they found themselves facing a bright green forest with sunshine falling on all the plants.
“YAY!” Pinkie squealed with excitement. “We finally found the way out!”
Celestia looked back and saw the way they came out was the entrance to the mines carved in the side of a big mountain.
“This must be the other side of the mountain which the castle rests upon,” Luna concluded with her sister.
“So this is where Jewelius showed Chrysalis how to get through my shield spell,” Shining observed the mountain and mine entrance.
“So where do we go from here?” Fluttershy asked.
“We can’t go anywhere near Canterlot,” Rarity added. "It's not safe there anymore."
"And nopony will believe us about what Jewelius has done," Applejack said. "Not even Twilight."
"Great! Now I know how she felt," Rainbow commented miserably and remorsefully.
“Maybe we can find someplace to hide in Ponyville until we can figure out a plan,” AJ suggested. “Ah got family there that ah know would never sell us out, ah hope.”
“What do you think?” Rarity asked the princesses.
“Well, it doesn’t look like we have any other opinions,” Celestia said.
“Then to Ponyville it is,” Cadance agreed.
As the group started entering the forest to make their way to Ponyville, Shining Armor stopped for a moment to take one last look back at where they came with an expression of great concern on his face.
“Be careful, Twily,” he silently said to himself and then rejoined the group as they disappeared amongst the trees.