Night has fallen; the halls of Crystal Prep have echoed with darkened emptiness. The school doorkeeper was having the last yawns of his shift. Meanwhile, Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare snuck into a hidden spot outside the school swimming pools.
“Alright, we’ve got visual on the main entrance.” Sunny whispered into her arm device.
“Perfect,” Twilight’s voice emerged from the device, “I am just about to disable, the security guard’s monitors.”
“In the meantime,” Sugarcoat mumbled quietly, “we distract the doorkeeper.”
The doorkeeper was already twirling the keys to the entrance in his hand, watching the second hand on the clock. He was rather surprised to see the two girls enter the school building so late in the night.
“Mr. Brick,” Sunny Flare ran up to him, “we’ve just seen some hooligans with a jamming device heading this way!”
The doorkeeper raised his eyebrows. “A jamming device, huh? What kinda prank are you trying to pull?”
Suddenly, the doorkeeper’s radio crackled. “Hey Brick, you might have to do some extra time for me, the cameras just shut down.”
“Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for you.” He furrowed his eyebrows at the girls. “What are you two even doing here so late anyway?”
“I left my wallet here.” Sugarcoat answered, no readable expression on her face giving away the trick.
“We were on our way here to get it back,” Sunny Flare’s tone was very convincing, “that’s when we saw the hooligans, so we ran ahead.”
“I’ve got my personal documents and credit card in my wallet,” Sugarcoat added, “so it’s pretty important.”
“Alright,” the doorkeeper got up from his chair, “you two get it back quickly.” He lifted his radio up to his face. “Hey Break, we might get some company tonight.”
The doorkeeper went out the entrance and the two girls made their way to the swimming pools, through the empty hallways of the school. Finally, they reached the pools. The two girls slid to the secret door, using their flashlights to see. Sugarcoat was using her phone’s built in flash, while Sunny used her wrist device.
“Alright Twi, we’re at the door.” Sunny talked into her wrist device.
“Great, then six hinges to turn on the top and bottom.” Twilight’s voice came out from the device. “And don’t forget to block the window, so Cinch doesn’t get in.”
“You get the hinges, I’ll get the window.” Sugarcoat said.
Sunny nodded and took to the hinges. She slid her fingers into the space between the door and the floor, but it was too narrow to really fit. She pattered around and managed to find little holes, where she could fit just one finger in. That is where one hinge was. Meanwhile, Sugarcoat ran to the window. She took a chain out of her bag and wrapped it around the inside handle, then put a lock on it.
“Sugarcoat, help me, I can’t get the top ones.” Sunny stretched her arms upwards in vain.
Sugarcoat slid her bag behind one of the pillars, then went to her friend’s aid. Sunny held her hands and Sugarcoat set foot on them. Once she was at the top, she slid her fingers around, looking for the hinges.
Sunny’s device than crackled, as Twilight’s voice erupted from it. “Guys, the camera just cut out, what is happening?”
They had no time to question it. A loud metallic creak could be heard from beyond the door. Sugarcoat and Sunny looked in each-other’s terrified eyes, then took off into the direction of an improvised hiding spot: one of the swimming pools. They jumped in straight as an arrow and held themselves close to the wall to avoid floating up.
They could just about see one window reflecting enough light from the outside to illuminate what was happening. They saw the door open and a tall dark torn looking figure emerging from it. A cone of light waved around, like searchlights in a prison, as if it sensed their presence. It slowly stepped towards the chained up window. The lock fell off to its touch and the chain unravelled, letting the figure out.
They waited a few seconds, really pushing how long they can hold their breath and then they pulled themselves out, scrambling for air.
“What is she doing here so early?” Sugarcoat grumbled and scurried to her bag.
Sunny tapped her device vigorously. “Dang, my device got soaked. It’s not working!”
“You won’t need that anymore.” The room got suddenly bright. All the lights have turned on and they could see Cinch standing in the doorway, with the two security guards behind her.
“It seems we have our phone thieves.” Cinch’s lips were trying very hard to not curl into a cold toothy grin.
“Lost wallet, huh?” The doorkeeper shouted. “We’ll see what the police think of that story!”
Sugarcoat got on her feet and looked Cinch in the eye. “You think you caught us, Chrysalis? We’re the ones who caught you!”
The guards looked as if they were standing in front of a raving lunatic. Sunny looked at Sugarcoat in much the same way, wondering what she’s planning. Cinch was unfazed, but she was only trying to suppress a laugh. “You go wait for the police,” she said to the guards, “I’ll give these to a little talking to.”
Cinch dragged the two girls away into the locker room and threw them down onto a bench. “So, you think you outsmarted me, huh? Well, it’s too late for that!”
“We know who you are, Chrysalis,” Sugarcoat kept her serious tone, “we know everything.”
“Oh, pray tell,” Cinch crooned mockingly, “what do you know about me?”
“We know that you are the leader of the changelings, Chrysalis.” Sugarcoat talked with great conviction. “We know that you replaced Principal Cinch many years ago. And we know that Twilight was looking for you, that’s why you bugged her phone. But you couldn’t eliminate her and now we caught you!”
Sunny Flare looked on in disbelief, wondering how Sugarcoat could still be so adamant.
Cinch erupted into laughter. “You’re right. That is all true, I am Chrysalis and I’ve been impersonating a school principal, you’ve caught me.” She mocked the girls with overacting. “There is however, one thing you don’t know yet. And consider yourselves lucky, because not many have seen this side of me.”
She turned her back to them. She let her hair down, the purple streaks revealing a dark greenish blue colour. When she turned back to face the girls, her eyes glowed and her skin was a sickly dark green. A forked tongue rolled out of her mouth, as her pupils contracted into a catlike shape and she let out a staccato hiss, which one could presume to be laughter.
Even Sugarcoat lost her confidence, when this human-like creature, that was once their principal, looked back at them. Sunny let out a loud yelp in surprise.
“That’s right, little ones!” Chrysalis chuckled. “You are looking upon the queen of the changelings. Consider this a privilege.”
The two girls went silent from bewilderment.
“What’s the matter? Are you stunned by my beauty? I don’t blame you.” Her twisted smile faded a little bit, as pure cruelty took over. “Soon, you will end just like anyone who’s seen my face. My people still fill this town and they’ll take good care of you two. Go ahead, try to explain to the police who you think I am, they won’t believe dirty phone thieves. And if you think your friends are going to get out of it fine, you are sorely mistaken. I have my plans for both Twilight Sparkle and that dim-witted Minuette.”
The sirens could be heard from the outside. Chrysalis turned away to listen to it and when her head turned back, her face was once again the face of principal Cinch. “Speaking of which...”
Soon, they were all outside, blue and red flashes filling the darkened school. Cinch lead Sugarcoat’s and Sunny Flare’s walk of shame towards the police car, with a smug grin on her face. A policeman was standing leaning on the car with his arms crossed and an expression that was impossible to read. Sunny was silently freaking out, but Sugarcoat was eerily calm.
“Here they are officer,” Cinch presented the two girls, “these two girls have been terrorizing the school with carefully coordinated phone thefts. Take them away, please!”
The policeman seemed oddly unimpressed. The door to the police car’s backseat opened and somebody stepped out. Cinch was caught by surprise when she saw who it was.
“Are these your friends?” The officer asked the mysterious newcomer.
“Yes.” The newcomer replied.
“Minuette? What are you doing here?” Sunny Flare blurted out.
“I called the police before you came here. I told them of our plan. I told them everything.”
“We’d like to bring all of you in.” The officer said. “This is a complicated incident and we need proof that this woman is in fact Chrysalis.”
Suddenly, a voice could be heard. “That is all true, I am Chrysalis, queen of the changelings, you’ve caught me.” It was distorted, but it was still clearly the voice of Principal Cinch herself. “That is all true, I am Chrysalis, queen of the changelings, you’ve caught me.” It said again. They looked around and saw Sugarcoat holding her phone into the air, with a coy smile on her face. “That is all true, I am Chrysalis, queen of the changelings, you’ve caught me.” She kept rewinding the voice clip.
The principal of Crystal Prep Academy, has been arrested, after students uncovered her involvement with a criminal organization.
One student from Crystal Prep Academy, was conducting a private investigation on Abacus Cinch, the principal of Crystal Prep Academy, after they found links between her and the activities of the now defunct “Changeling” criminal organization. Several other Crystal Prep students ended up being involved with the investigation, resulting in the students breaking into the school to uncover the final piece of the mystery.The police have reviewed the evidence the students have found of the principal’s criminal activity and they found that it matches the profile of the Changelings.
Principal Abacus Cinch first denied the allegations, saying that it’s just part of the students’ ongoing phone robberies, but it’s been revealed that she did plant an activity monitoring device in one of the students’ phone. The students say that they were merely trying to prevent their phones from being bugged, by hiding them away and pretending they’ve been robbed. According to the students, Abacus Cinch has also been extorting one of them into becoming an informant.
Abacus Cinch has since been removed from her office, with former dean Mi Amore Cadenza taking her place. When questioned, Cadenza has revealed, that former principal Abacus Cinch has a history of extorting students into doing her bidding, which is what they suspect to have happened during the controversial last Friendship Games too, which resulted in strange phenomena, that almost took the lives of students from both Crystal Prep Academy and Canterlot High School.
According to the police, Abacus Cinch might have been the last remaining member of the changeling gang. “Even if any changelings remain,” says chief investigator, “their criminal organization has been dismantled and they should no longer pose any threat to public safety.” Chief investigator also asked us to not reveal the identities of the students involved in the incident, just in case.
When asked about why the students didn’t contact the police before they started investigating, they said that they were afraid that they wouldn’t be taken seriously. “We were already in danger,” says one of the students, “it could have been a fatal mistake to reveal that we knew anything.”