At the altar
Celestia walked the halls of the castle alongside her loyal maid, Sweet Creme. Or at least, that was what everyone saw when passing by. In reality, those who walked through the corridors without arousing any suspicion were Queen Chrysalis along with one of her changing soldiers. Both had managed to deceive the Princess of the Sun, captured her without anyone noticing, and had supplanted her, to carry out the last step before their expected invasion.
As she walked, the false Celestia was delighted to see how all the ponies looked at her with admiration and bowed to her. Chrysalis was a queen, and she had hundreds of changelings bowing before her, but the knowledge that an entire kingdom now stood at the tip of her hoof, and that every naive pony in the kingdom trusted her completely, it was something that excited her in a great way. Almost to the point of making it difficult to contain her laughter.
The time of the big wedding was about to arrive, so the corridors were full of dozens of ponies that began to make their way to the main hall of the castle. With each greeting a pony made, Chrysalis would pause briefly and greet them with a friendly smile. Despite the fact that for the Changeling Queen all those ponies were just a source of food, she perfectly maintained Celestia's facade so that no one suspected anything until the time was right.
Chrysalis paid special attention to the greetings she received from foreign dignitaries. Beings from other races, from distant regions, who thought they were greeting the unique and magnificent Princess of the Sun, when in fact they were greeting a dark Queen who only thought of lies and power.
“Thank you very much for inviting us to this wedding, Princess Celestia.” A huge parrot-like bird said, a dignitary from the distant country of Ornithia. “We are glad that you want to meet with us, so that our kingdoms can enter into new trade alliances.”
"The pleasure is all mine." The false Celestia answered with a kind smile. "I hope that from today, our kingdoms can be more united than ever."
"New kingdoms, more love to steal, hehe…" Chrysalis thought as she put a fake smile on Celestia's face, already savoring all the love she would steal as she expanded her empire.
After greeting each of the dignitaries, Chrysalis and Thorax maintained their facade and continued on their way to the bride's room. Where Cadance must have been receiving the last adjustments to her dress before going up to the altar.
Once they entered the room, the fake Celestia and Sweet Creme saw that the Princess of Love was standing at the end of the room in front of a mirror. Next to her, a dozen mares ran around her, from one side to the other, checking that her dress was perfect, as was her makeup, and all of her, so that Cadance would be perfect on the most important day of her life. Cadance kept a worried look as she stared into nothingness despite all the commotion.
Spike and his five friends from Ponyville were also there, oblivious to all of the excitement. After Applejack joined them, they had gone to the room where the wedding dress was after Princess Celestia had told them to stay safe. There, Cadance soon arrived with her assistants, and while she was putting on her dress, Dusk's friends told her everything that had happened with the false Dusk. Now, after being afraid for a long time, they all jumped when they saw Celestia appear, going straight to her so she could tell them what she found out about Dusk's whereabouts.
"I'm afraid we still don't know where Dusk Shine is, but we’re still looking." Chrysalis said, looking with a false look of concern at Dusk's friends. At that moment, Chrysalis was distracted to see that the baby dragon that accompanied the mares kept in a corner of the room. His eyes were closed, as if he had a strong migraine, and repeating Dusk's name over and over again. "What's wrong with Spike?" The fake Celestia asked, looking puzzled at the little dragon.
"I'm... Trying to call Dusk... LISTEN TO ME, DUSK!" Spike responded with an effortful face, shouting Dusk's name again, while launching a small flare of green fire.
"Are you calling Dusk?" Chrysalis asked.
"Yeah... A while ago, when Discord appeared, Sunset Shimmer used a spell to put Dusk to sleep. That time, before Dusk forgot about Sunset, he told me that I was the one who woke him up. Somehow he heard my cry for help, when Sunset was bothering our friends." Spike replied, looking worriedly at the fake Celestia. "I know it sounds silly, but maybe we… have some special sibling bond. If I say his name many times, maybe Dusk can hear my voice again."
The false Celestia approached the baby dragon and tenderly stroked his head.
"Keep trying Spike. I'm sure your bond with Dusk is special." The false Celestia said with a tender smile.
"Try all you want, little gecko. Do you think that love will give you a special bond with your adopted brother? Hahaha!" Chrysalis sneered cruelly in her mind while perfectly maintaining Celestia's friendly facade. "You have no magic, lizard. A being without magic must simply accept that it’s scum, nothing more." Chrysalis thought, vaguely remembering one of her past lives, when Crystal had begged Celestia to teach her magic. A pathetic creature that only served a greater purpose, to create her. The one and only perfect Changeling Queen.
Chrysalis looked at the rest of the ponies in the room and briefly narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Apart from Dusk's friends, none of the other mares in the room paid attention to 'Celestia'. All the other mares were only focused on Cadance and making sure she was the spitting image of the perfect bride.
"I'm impersonating Celestia. They should be looking at me. All their love should be for me!" Chrysalis thought, full of jealousy and fury.
"It's almost time, Cadance. Everyone is already in the great hall, and Shining Armor must be nervous, waiting for you at the altar." The false Celestia smiled and approached where Cadance and her assistants were.
"Auntie Celestia!? When did you arrive?" Cadance asked in shock. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed when her aunt entered the room. "I… I don't know if we should go through with the wedding…" Cadance added, lowering her head with a worried look.
"Don't worry, it's just the nerves about the wedding, that's all." The fake Celestia said, approaching Cadance and smiling sweetly at her.
"It's not that. Dusk's friends told me what happened." Cadance said with a frightened look. "With him lost... I don't think it's right to go ahead with the wedding."
"Dear Cadance. You know how important this wedding is to everyone. Not just for you and Shining Armor, but for the entire kingdom." The fake Celestia said with a look of concern. "For the first time we have foreign guests in our castle. We’re opening the doors of Equestria to the world. We can't cancel everything and just say go away. I know it’s a great burden, but it’s the duty of a princess."
"You... do you really think it's the right thing to do?" Cadance asked, looking uncertainly at who she thought was her Auntie Celestia, the most trusted pony in the world.
"Of course. Trust me." The false Celestia said, smiling tenderly. Internally, Chrysalis could barely contain a mocking laugh. "I promise you this will be a wedding everyone will remember."
After listening to who she thought was her dear aunt, Cadance calmed down a bit. However, feeling an unpleasant taste in her mouth, Chrysalis turned her head to see Dusk's friends. The Changeling Queen could feel how the baby dragon and those five mares were taken aback by her response.
"I think it's best for all of you to go get your dresses as well." The false Celestia said, looking at Dusk's friends. "I promise you that very soon you’ll meet with Dusk." She added, promising something that she really intended to fulfill, but not in the way the mares thought.
Dusk's friends and Cadance's assistants left the room. As soon as everyone left and taking advantage of the fact that Cadance had her back turned, the false Celestia put on a sinister smile.
"Everyone trusts every word I say, and they shouldn't have any reason to think otherwise. After all, I am now Celestia, the pony who has taken care of them for centuries." Chrysalis thought, smiling evilly. "It's exhausting to smile and act nice all the time, but it's well worth it, hehe... The taste of love is more enjoyable when you see that the one who stabbed you in the back is a being you always trusted, hahaha!" The Changeling Queen thought as she looked at Cadance. She wanted the climax of her long-awaited plan to arrive as soon as possible.
Once they left the room, Spike and the girls began to walk down the hall to the room where they had kept their dresses. Despite following what 'Celestia' had told them, Spike and the girls walked with uneasy looks.
"Don't you think the Princess was acting weird?" Rainbow Dash asked with a worried look. "A few minutes ago, when we told her that the impostor had pretended to be Dusk, she said that she promised to find Dusk. And now she comes here without Dusk? And she says that everything is fine and not to worry?"
"I know." Fluttershy replied with the same concerned look. "What she said about this wedding being important is true. But I don't think that's more important than- Ouch!" Fluttershy suddenly stopped talking as she rounded a corner and bumped into someone.
The yellow pegasus crashed into one of the foreign wedding guests, a huge cat in a red suit. Upon colliding, both fell to the floor and several bits, which seemed to fill the pockets of that feline creature, fell on the floor.
"Oh! I’m sorry. Really, really sorry." That huge cat said quickly. He got up to help Fluttershy up. Although subtly he didn’t stop looking at all the gold coins he had dropped.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault. I was distracted." Fluttershy apologized with a shy smile. Although the cat seemed not to care. He barely helped the mare and immediately began to quickly pick up the bits on the floor.
"Let me help you." Fluttershy said, also bending down to pick up the money. Same gesture that Spike and the other mares did. All except Applejack, who just stared at the cat with one eyebrow raised.
As soon as the mares bent down to pick up the money, the hair on the back of the cat's neck stood up, and he looked suspiciously at the ponies. However, his gaze radically changed to surprise when he saw that those mares were actually only helping him. After collecting the coins, they returned them to him.
"Here you are, sir..." Rarity said, giving him the collected coins.
"Capper, at your service." The huge brown cat answered with a deep bow. He opened one of his pockets for the ponies to drop the coins into it. "It was a pleasure." The cat added, after verifying that he had every last coin he had dropped and started to walk quickly.
"Aren't you going to the wedding, Mr. Capper? The main hall is on the other side." Pinkie Pie asked, seeing that the cat was going in the opposite direction to where he should go.
"Uh… No, sorry. My diplomatic duties call me. I’ll have to be absent from the wedding." Capper said, stopping and putting on a nervous smile. Then he started to continue on his way, but for some reason he stopped and looked at the mares that had helped him. "Perhaps... You should get out of here too..." The cat whispered with a weak voice.
"Uh? What did you say?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"N-Nothing! See you later, dear ponies! And thanks." The cat added with a nervous smile. He turned around and walked quickly down the hall.
Losing sight of Capper, the mares looked at each other, not having heard what the cat whispered and continued on their way. They couldn't waste any more time. The wedding was only minutes away and they weren't even dressed yet.
"I don't think that cat was a diplomat." Applejack said to Rarity as she walked.
"Of course not. He was a thief." Rarity answered without looking at her friend, as if what she said was the most obvious thing in the world.
"You knew!?" Applejack asked in shock.
"Well, you just needed to see his suit. It was very cheap cloth." Rarity replied with a shrug. "And when the coins fell, I think it was logical to come to that conclusion."
"How can you say that? You saw that cat and his companion in the queue at the entrance to the castle, and you said you liked their outfits." Applejack asked.
"Well, yes. I said that their outfits were very original. I was struck by how well put together their wardrobe was, using only low-budget fabric." Rarity said with a thoughtful look.
"But if you knew they were thieves, why did you help that cat to rob the castle!?" Applejack whispered loudly.
"Applejack, we don't know what the situation is like in other kingdoms. Perhaps they were really in need of money." Rarity said with a charitable smile. "When we find Dusk and this whole wedding is over, I'll pay for the bits they stole myself." The unicorn added. Applejack finally understood that her friend had let the thief steal, as it was impossible for her to deny her generous soul.
As the mares walked, another one who managed to hear what Applejack and Rarity were talking about was Capper the cat himself. He had simply pretended to go in another direction and then, when the mares turned their backs on him, he secretly followed them since he also had to go in that direction.
Just as the mares rounded another corner, Capper was left waiting behind. Then, just as they had planned, his cat companion came out of another room, their pockets also full of bits.
"The security inside the castle is horrible. It seems like all the guards are outside, like they're expecting an invasion or something." Capper's partner said, a cat with white fur and black stripes. "Intercepting those invitations and pretending we were Earls of Abbysinia was a great idea!" He added while playing with a valuable pearl necklace in his paw.
"Yeah, I know. But it's time to go. I have a feeling that something very bad is about to happen." Capper said with a confused look.
"Well, always follow your hunches, and I can’t fit any more jewelry in my pockets anyway." The white cat joked and started to walk towards the exit. "Let's go!" He added, seeing that Capper, despite saying that they should leave, remained motionless.
"I wonder if I should warn them…" Capper whispered worriedly, remembering how kind those five ponies had been, and how, despite finding out he was a thief, they let him go with the loot. "What am I thinking!? They… They’re not my problem!" Capper finally said, shaking his head to ward off such feelings. Friendship may be the norm for Equestria, but outside of the kingdom, it was every creature for themselves.
Capper discarded the idea of alerting those mares, thinking that the best thing was to get out of the kingdom soon before his heart began to be infected by that annoying 'friendship' that all the ponies there felt. Then he ran to where his partner was and they both began to run towards the castle's exit.
"By the way, what warning did you want to give to whom? And what is that bad feeling you feel?" The white cat asked as he ran.
At that moment, Capper remembered a few minutes ago when 'Celestia' had appeared down the hall, greeting all the foreign dignitaries heading towards the main hall.
"It's just... a good swindler knows how to recognize another..." Capper replied as he fled with his partner. Ready to return to their lands with pockets full of the gold and jewels of Equestria.
After her consciousness faded to black, the real Celestia finally began to wake up. She slowly raised her head and tried to remember what had happened. She tried to get up, but the pain in her side prevented her from doing so. Only then did Celestia remember the wound Chrysalis gave her with the dagger. Then she touched her neck and felt the necklace of stones that Chrysalis herself had put on her, so that she couldn't use magic.
"How long was I asleep?" Celestia thought, trying to snap out of her daze so she could warn everyone of the danger they were in.
With much effort, Celestia got up and looked around her. Everything was very dark, and as much as she tried to illuminate her horn, the necklace that Chrysalis had put on her prevented her from using her magic. However, after her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Celestia saw that she seemed to be in some kind of cavern with glowing walls and various crystals all over the place.
"It's the old Canterlot mine…" Celestia whispered when she finally recognized where she was.
The cave was a very old abandoned mine that existed even before the founding of Canterlot. Many unicorns had dug for magical gems and crystals that were so rare and valuable due to their unique magical properties. With those valuable crystals, many unicorn families became rich and built their fortune until they became part of the noble families of the kingdom. However, after the crystals ran out, the mine was abandoned and that place was forgotten until the alicorn sisters built their castle on top of those mines. This place was so old that Celestia quickly understood why Chrysalis had chosen it as her prison. No one would ever know that she was in that forgotten mine.
As she looked around, a faint green glow caught Celestia's attention. The alicorn walked slowly and silently in that direction. Her side was still burning with pain, but she trudged on regardless.
After verifying that everything was silent and that there was no one nearby, Celestia approached the source of the green light and her eyes widened in horror at what they saw. There were several dozen large greenish cocoons, all of them emitting a faint green light. And in each of those cocoons, there was an unconscious pony floating inside.
Celestia slowly approached the cocoons and recognized several ponies. One of her chefs, her gardener, at least five of her guards, and several ponies invited to the wedding. With that, Celestia was finally able to understand the extent of Chrysalis's invasion. The Changeling Queen must have captured all those ponies long before the wedding, all so that her changeling soldiers could supplant those captured ponies. And by disguising some of her soldiers as royal guards, Chrysalis had ensured that the magical control her guards had was useless. Since the only thing that the changeling soldiers had to do to evade the control was to pretend that they were carrying out the inspection with one of the fake guards in disguise.
"It's quite an army..." Celestia whispered in shock.
Suddenly Celestia stopped when she saw that in one of the cocoons, was her beloved maid Sweet Creme. She must have been captured the night before and supplanted by the Changeling Queen herself. Celestia tried to break the cocoon with her horn, but it seemed that they were very resistant and she would need magic to break them.
After giving up as she couldn't break Sweet Creme's cocoon, Celestia kept going on silently, promising that she would be back for her and the rest of these ponies.
"Why didn't I wake up in a cocoon? Shouldn't there be someone keeping an eye on all of this?" Celestia thought worriedly about the possibility of an attack from a changeling soldier.
Moving forward, Celestia saw that on the floor there were several circles drawn on the ground with diagrams inside. Arcane circles used to transport things from one place to another. This surprised Celestia, since she thought that thanks to those magic circles, Chrysalis had managed to teleport all those captured ponies there. But those magic circles must have disappeared after being used once, there was no point in them still being marked after being used. Then Celestia saw that at the tips of the circle diagrams were several small crystals. The changelings had used the leftovers from the same mine to reinforce the arcane circles so that the magic circles wouldn't wear off so easily after using them more than once.
"They’re very clever... They’re using everything against us. That way they can keep capturing multiple ponies without having to carry them all the way here and thereby keeping their invasion a secret."Celestia realized that this invasion that her kingdom was suffering was planned down to the smallest detail.
Celestia suddenly froze at the sight of something lying on the ground. And after verifying for a few seconds that what she had seen wasn’t moving, Celestia lowered her gaze and approached to take a closer look at what was on the ground. There, was a mix of pony and bug, with fur very much like Chrysalis's. This was an unconscious changeling soldier. And next to it were three other changelings that were also unconscious. All facing a cocoon that seemed to have been opened from within. As she got closer, Celestia saw that some hoofprints of the viscous liquid that filled the cocoons, left the cocoon, and were lost in the distance.
"Dusk Shine..." Celestia whispered in surprise and with a look of hope. Her student was the only one she hadn't seen captured in a cocoon and that he was skilled enough to have knocked out four changeling soldiers to make his escape.
Celestia was suddenly startled and turned around hearing a noise and seeing a green glow behind her. Upon doing so, Celestia was surprised to see that the changelings had teleported another pony to encase it in a cocoon. Then her eyes went wide with shock.
'Flashback of Dusk Shine.'
The night before the wedding, Dusk was spending a quiet night in the Ponyville library. Knowing that the next day would be a very important day, Dusk had taken out his list to check that everything was in order and that he hadn't forgotten anything before traveling to Canterlot the next morning. At that time of the night, he had already finished his preparations and was posing in front of the mirror with his suit for the wedding. Not out of vanity, but rather to make sure he knew his best pose for a photo since he knew that a princess's wedding, especially Cadance's, had to be perfect.
'Knock-Knock' Dusk was distracted when he heard someone knocking on the door. He opened it and was surprised to see his marefriend there with a sweet smile.
"Applejack? Isn't it too late for a visit?" Dusk asked, a little confused.
"Yeah, I know. It's just... I wanted to see you." Applejack replied with a tender smile. "Also, there is something I would like to show you."
At his marefriend's request, Dusk raised an eyebrow a little incredulously since it was too late for a night walk. However, seeing Applejack's tender look, Dusk couldn't refuse and accompanied her. At the request of Applejack herself, Dusk kept his wedding suit on blushed when his marefriend told him that he looked very handsome in it.
As they walked, Dusk took the opportunity to ask Applejack about the meeting with Grand Pear and how their relationship was going after so many years apart. Applejack simply replied that everything was fine, and for some reason, she kept asking Dusk several questions about his past with his brother.
"So one of the happiest memories you have with Shining is when you were both young and you two baked cookies with your grandma. That's so sweet!" Applejack smiled from the happy memory.
"Yeah, we weren’t always so distant from each other. Ever since Shining entered guard school, his attitude changed." Dusk said with a sad smile.
"And you’ve hated him ever since?" Applejack asked, looking carefully at Dusk.
Dusk stopped and looked away uncomfortably.
"I don't know if I would say I hate him. Although maybe he does hate me..." Dusk said, reflecting on his feelings towards his brother. He shook his head and looked at Applejack. "And what’s with this sudden interest in my brother and my childhood?"
"It's just simple curiosity. I want to know everything about you before I meet your parents.” Applejack answered.
Despite Dusk's confusion, he continued talking about his past and his brother, understanding that perhaps all those questions were due to his marefriend being nervous about being introduced in front of her in-laws. They continued walking in the stillness of the night, heading to the edge of the Everfree forest.
"Applejack, we should go back. It’s dangerous to enter the Everfree Forest at night." Dusk said, looking concerned at where his marefriend was taking him.
"Trust me. It's a surprise." Applejack said, affectionately taking a hoof from Dusk and looking him straight in the eye. Those beautiful eyes that had never lied to him and in which Dusk blindly trusted.
Dusk put aside his insecurities and entered the dark Everfree Forest with his marefriend. After walking for a while, Dusk began to hear some noises around him, so he immediately became alert and stopped.
"Applejack, take my hoof. I think we should get out of here… Applejack?" Dusk said, looking to his side, and got scared when he saw that his marefriend was no longer by his side. "Applejack!?" Dusk yelled. He knew that it was a horrible idea to scream in that dangerous forest, but he needed to find his marefriend soon and get out of there.
Suddenly, a green flame appeared out of nowhere and attacked Dusk from the side. Fortunately, the lavender unicorn was already on alert and with his magic he was able to protect himself from that surprise attack.
"Who's there!?" Dusk shouted, pointing his magic-charged horn in the direction from which someone had attacked him.
"As skillful as I expected. That's why I couldn't risk it, and it was necessary for me to come in person to face you." A voice suddenly said from the shadows.
The shadow of a pony approached Dusk, where he kept lighting up his surroundings with his horn. Then Dusk was surprised to see Celestia's personal maid, Sweet Crème staring at him with an evil grin and a green gleam in her eyes.
"Sweet Creme?" Dusk asked, staring at the maid. "No..." Dusk whispered, quickly understanding that it was too strange that Celestia's maid was there and had attacked him with that green fire.
Seeing that Dusk quickly understood that what he was seeing was just a disguise, the false Sweet Creme smiled mischievously and used her changeling magic to show her true form. The green flames surrounded her body and the Changeling Queen Chrysalis appeared before Dusk's surprised eyes.
"One point for discovering my disguise." Chrysalis said, smiling amusedly as she toyed with a crystal on her hoof. "I had been in that disguise for hours pretending to be unconscious in the castle infirmary. I wanted so much to return to my true form. Although soon I’ll have to disguise again to continue with my defenseless and scared maid act." Chrysalis added, as she stretched her neck and took advantage of those seconds of freedom to move with her true form.
For his part, Dusk's brain was filled with questions. Not understanding 'What' was what was before him. Was it some kind of insect pony? How was it that she had transformed her appearance so easily? What kind of magic was she using? Why had she attacked him? And why was she talking now as if she didn't feel threatened by him? However, there was something that powerfully caught Dusk's attention and made to one question the one that worried him the most at that moment.
"Did she mention she was in the castle infirmary? Canterlot Castle was attacked!? Will the Princesses be alright!? But… If 'that thing' was in the castle, how did she get here?" Dusk thought with confusion and fear. His cunning brain saw the crystal in the Changeling Queen's hooves and understood. "It's a magic crystal. If she used an arcane circle with magic crystals, she could have transported here easily, and she can come back whenever she wants. But... That means..." Dusk thought, reaching a conclusion that scared him even more.
"Who are you?" Dusk asked, feeling a chill. He asked that to start clearing up some doubts, but also to save time. Since his instinct and his eyes began to feel something that put his entire body on high alert.
Most unicorns never saw dark magic ever in their lives. However, Dusk had already experienced several encounters with that sinister type of magic, in his encounters with Nightmare Moon and the curse he recited at the Tree of Harmony. It was especially that last experience, in which his own body and soul were surrounded by dark magic, that made Dusk's eyes quickly recognize the subtleties in the dark magic that surrounded the sinister creature.
"The aura emitted from this creature resembles that of the roots that suffocated the Tree of Harmony. But the crown she’s wearing is different. The dark aura surrounding it… It's more like the one that surrounded Nightmare Moon." Dusk thought, while his eyes were gaining that peculiar ability to recognize dark magic. For some reason, his heart accelerated when he focused on that cursed crown. "What is this feeling!?"
"My name is Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen, and future ruler of Equestria." Chrysalis answered, feigning kindness as she calmly approached Dusk.
"What do you want with me?" Dusk answered firmly in his voice. However, he took a few steps back, to keep the distance between himself and the so-called 'Changeling Queen'.
"What do I want from you? Very simple, to use you for my purposes." Chrysalis answered with a calm. "I’ll use you to get closer to my enemies and to remove some annoying obstacles from the path."
"Use me?" Dusk asked, narrowing his eyes harshly. His horn lit up more in a show of force. "Try it if you dare." Dusk added with determination.
It was the queen's turn to use her magic. However, instead of attacking Dusk, she simply used telekinesis to float something to her. An orange mare that was surrounded by green magic.
"Applejack!" Dusk shouted, seeing that the Changeling Queen had captured the orange mare.
"Dusk! Please, help me!" Applejack said in a weak voice as if her throat was being squeezed by Chrysalis's magic. "I'm scared... Save me."
"Let her go!" Dusk yelled.
"But of course." Chrysalis said smiling wickedly. "Only if you bring before me the Elements of Harmony."
At the request of the Changeling Queen, Dusk widened his eyes in horror. It seemed that this creature knew very well the power that the Elements of Harmony had and wanted to appropriate that power. It was then that Dusk understood how meticulous that creature was being. Not only did she intend to attack Canterlot Castle, but she also wanted to make sure that no one could use those powerful magical items against her.
"Hurry up, I don't have all night." Chrysalis added. At the same time, she concentrated her magic around Applejack and she cried out in pain.
"Alright! I’ll do it!" Dusk cried out in desperation. Then he shone his horn, and in an instant, a chest appeared in front of him. He opened the chest with his magic and dropped the necklaces and the crown with the gems of the six Elements of Harmony on the ground. "There. Now let her go!"
After seeing that Dusk effectively made the Elements of Harmony appear, noticing the soft magical aura they emitted, Chrysalis smiled victoriously and removed her magic from Applejack. She fell to the ground and held her throat. Then Applejack hurried to go to where Dusk was.
"Are you okay?" Dusk asked, glancing at Applejack with a look of concern, then back to Chrysalis seriously.
"Yeah... Thanks." Applejack replied, holding her sore neck.
"Not at all." Dusk said without looking at the mare. "Now that I saved you, could you do me a favor and stop imitating my marefriend?"
At that moment, 'Applejack' opened her eyes in surprise. Everything had gone according to plan, everything except that part, in which apparently Dusk had discovered that she wasn't the real Applejack. That took the changeling soldier completely by surprise.
"W-What are you talking about?" The fake Applejack asked, getting genuinely flustered.
"Chrysalis came here from the castle teleporting through an arcane circle. It means someone must have drawn the finish circle here." Dusk answered, looking at Chrysalis. Then he glanced at the fake Applejack and smiled proudly. "Also, my marefriend is a warrior. She would never have begged me to save her if it meant putting others at risk."
"But… if he knew I wasn't the real Applejack, why did he help me?" Thorax thought, the changeling soldier who had imitated Dusk's marefriend. "Did he think the Queen was really strangling me?" Thorax thought, touching his sore throat. His Queen had told him that she wouldn’t have actually hurt him, but a little while longer and his vision would have gone complete black.
Seeing that his facade had been exposed, the false Applejack surrounded herself with green fire, showing his true appearance to Dusk, that of a changeling soldier who was there to deceive and capture him. Then Thorax gave a high-pitched shriek, and two more changeling soldiers leapt out of the shadows. They pounced on Dusk and immediately filled his horn with slime. A green and viscous slime that temporarily blocked Dusk's magic.
While he was being crushed by the two changing soldiers, the lavender colt watched as Queen Chrysalis approached the Elements of Harmony. She reached out one of her hooves to take them. However, as soon as she did, the Elements of Harmony reacted violently and shot out magical bolts and energy that made her pulled away her hoof as if it were fire.
Dusk smiled victoriously from under the changelings. "I thought that would happen. Nightmare Moon was also unable to touch the Elements. I guess they have some kind of ancient protection, so I dropped them on the ground."
Chrysalis looked at the colt with a violent gaze, as if she was imagining skinning him alive. However, after a few seconds, she smiled sinisterly again. "I didn't intend to use them. I just wanted to get them out of the way."
Then the Changeling Queen approached the Elements of Harmony again and opened her mouth above them. The same viscous green liquid that the changeling soldiers had used to soak Dusk's horn and block his magic shot from her mouth to make a small cocoon around the Elements of Harmony, covering them completely.
"Nothing will be left to chance. I've been planning this for centuries, and everything has to be perfect." Chrysalis said, smiling evilly after finishing sealing the Elements of Harmony. Then she approached Dusk, staring at him face to face, and began to use her magic to hypnotize him and make him fall asleep. "Sleep well, Dusk Shine. When you wake up, your beloved Equestria will be very, very different from what you remember, hehehe."
As his world faded and his eyes closed, the last thing Dusk saw was the changeling soldier who had disguised himself as Applejack approaching Chrysalis. He used his magic and transformed into an exact copy of Dusk Shine. After that, the real Dusk fell sound asleep, without even imagining that while he slept, an impostor was imitating him, deceiving his friends and his brother to infiltrate the royal palace.
"Dusk! Dusk!!" Dusk's mind slowly came out of the trance he had fallen into hours ago. Spike's voice began to be heard over and over again around him. This finally made the colt’s eyes shoot wide open.
The first thing Dusk saw when he woke up was a strange green mist around him. It was after a few seconds that he understood that what surrounded him was not fog, but rather something very similar to the green and viscous slime that the creatures that had attacked him used to enclose the Elements of Harmony.
"Am I in a giant cocoon?" Dusk thought. He looked around and noticed that it was difficult for him to move his body.
Dusk stopped struggling when he noticed that two shadows passed in front of him. He narrowed his eyes and saw that two of those creatures called changelings were passing in front of his cocoon. Both walking upside down, carrying another huge green cocoon. It was only at that moment that Dusk realized that it wasn't that the changelings were walking upside down, but he himself who was hanging upside down in his own green cocoon.
When the changelings were farther away from him, Dusk concentrated and felt that his horn was released. It seemed that the slime that the changelings had used on his horn had dissolved when they encased him in his cocoon, or perhaps they had removed it themselves since he was already knocked out.
"What time is it? What day is it!? That trance they put me into was very powerful." Dusk thought as he remembered everything that happened. "If it hadn't been for Spike, I might never have woken up."
Dusk activated his magic broke his cocoon from the inside. He fell to the ground and got up quickly.
As soon as the changeling soldiers heard a noise, they turned back, only to see to their surprise that one of their victims had freed itself.
"Well, now I'm the one with the advantage." Dusk thought quickly, taking advantage of the surprise of the changeling soldiers to make the first attack.
Dusk quickly used his magic to launch magical rays at both changelings, hitting them directly. Stunning them and causing them to fall unconscious. Just two seconds later, two other changeling soldiers who had also heard the uproar jumped up and pounced on Dusk. However, he managed to teleport away before the changelings fell on him. As soon as Dusk reappeared behind the changelings, he used his stun ray again to knock the both of them unconscious.
Dusk remained motionless and on alert, looking around, not knowing if someone else would attack him. After several seconds in complete silence and with his body in maximum tension, Dusk finally relaxed a bit when he saw that no one else was approaching. He approached the unconscious changelings and looked at them carefully. H touched their skins, seeing that more than skin, their bodies were reinforced with a kind of hard chitin, like the exoskeleton of an insect.
After taking a closer look at the body of his enemies, Dusk noticed a greenish glow coming from behind what had been his cocoon. Dusk used a sleep spell on the changelings, to make sure they didn't wake up for many hours, and then he approached the area that emanated that dim green light. Upon doing so, Dusk opened his eyes in horror when he saw that that brightness came from several dozen cocoons, all hidden in that cave in which they were. And each one of those cocoons contained a pony within it, completely asleep in a deep trance.
"I must tell the Princesses and the others as soon as possible." Dusk whispered when he realized the full danger the kingdom was in.
Dusk looked around and risked shining his horn to see better and thus try to recognize where he was. He verified that he was in a huge cave, surrounded by several crystalline walls and large pieces of crystal everywhere. With this data, Dusk immediately realized that he was nowhere he had been before. This place was unknown to the vast majority of Canterlot's ponies, except for a few bookworms who had read all the Canterlot books and remembered every detail read by heart.
"History of Canterlot, Volume One... These must be the old crystal mines on which the capital was founded..." Dusk whispered, discovering where he was. However, far from being happy, he was even more discouraged when he discovered that. "The entrances to the mines were blocked centuries ago… How am I supposed to get out of here?"
Dusk's best spell, teleportation, was closed as an escape option, since Dusk didn't know exactly how deep the mines were in Canterlot. And without knowing the exact point from where he was, and how far he needed to go, the teleportation spell was useless.
As he walked looking up at the ceiling, thinking of a way to escape, Dusk was distracted when his hooves collided with something. He looked down and saw some magic crystals surrounding the drawing of a magic circle on the ground.
"I was right, the changelings used arcane circles powered by magic crystals to teleport me and all these ponies here..." Dusk thought with a pensive look while his hoof touched the circle.
Having confirmed his theory, Dusk's next option was to think about using the magic circle to escape from the cave. However, that had the same problem as using his teleportation spell. Without a point of reference to go to, Dusk couldn't calculate how far he had to move.
"There is another magic circle in the Everfree Forest, which the Changeling Queen came to attack me with. But even if the changelings didn't erase it, if I appear there, it’ll take me too long to get to Canterlot to prevent their attack..." Dusk thought, wishing with all his being that it wasn't too late to avoid the changelings' attack. "There must be another way! Think!"
'End of flashback.'
Back in the present, far from the ancient crystal mines of Canterlot, Sunset Shimmer and Luna had run back to the castle. After talking to Sweet Caramel and discovering that there could be more than one impostor hanging around the castle, they both needed to inform Celestia and the castle's royal guard as soon as possible.
"Let's split up. You look for my sister and I’ll report to Shining Armor what we found out." Luna said after she and Sunset entered the castle. "If you see Sweet Creme, don't do anything until we meet. If she is also an impostor, we must exercise caution."
After that, Luna went to the main hall looking for Shining Armor. Sunset went to Celestia's room. There, a guard informed her that Princess Celestia had left her room to meet Shining Armor at the guard's headquarters.
Seeing that Luna would surely meet Celestia since she must be together with Shining Armor, Sunset's priorities immediately changed. The only thing that mattered to Sunset was knowing where Dusk Shine was and that he was safe. The only clue she had was that Sweet Creme could be an impostor, and she could know the whereabouts of the colt she loved so much.
"I have to catch a rat." Sunset whispered with a fierce look. She then headed towards the second impostor's last known whereabouts: the castle infirmary.
Quickly Sunset went to the palace infirmary. It was a small room away from the main halls, used only occasionally when a guard was injured in routine training, or for an occasional stomach ache or other minor ailment from one of the palace servants. Once there, Sunset was disappointed to see that no one was there. However, she decided to inspect the place well before leaving to make sure the Sweet Creme impostor wasn't hiding there.
It was in that search that at one point Sunset got distracted and looked intently at the floor next to the medical care bed. After a couple of seconds, Sunset lit up her horn, and the floor under her hooves reacted. Shining and revealing the drawing of a magic circle, on the edges of which were some magic crystals.
"Did someone use magic to hide an arcane circle?" Sunset thought, looking thoughtfully at the magic circle. However, her train of thought stopped when suddenly the magic circle shone,and a big flash blinded her. An impact force followed that pushed her away.
"Yes! I knew it would work!" Dusk Shine suddenly said happily as he appeared from the teleportation circle.
While Dusk had been trapped in the old Canterlot mines, he was able to remember his conversation with Queen Chrysalis. Thus, he remembered that she had said that she had spent hours in disguise in the castle infirmary. Knowing that, Dusk took a risk, and using the infirmary as a point of reference, Dusk was able to activate the arcane circle and teleport there.
After looking around, Dusk smiled as he recognized the castle's infirmary. However, he was startled to see that with the momentum of his magic, he had pushed someone there into the wall, and various medical supplies. A mare with yellow fur and red and yellow mane, a mane which completely covered her face.
"Sorry, I couldn't have known someone was here." Dusk said with worry and approach the mare. "Are you okay?" He asked, offering the mare a hoof to help her up.
After the surprise blow, Sunset was quite stunned. However, she was quickly regaining her senses and instantly recognized the voice of the pony who was speaking to her. Sunset quickly brushed her mane away from her face and stared at Dusk with a look of astonishment. For his part, after Sunset parted her hair to reveal her face, Dusk stared at her with the same surprised expression.
"I… Have I seen her before?" Dusk thought, feeling a strange sensation when seeing that yellow unicorn.
"Dusk... DUSK!" Sunset yelled excitedly and jumped to hug the lavender unicorn tightly.
For a moment, Sunset forgot everything that implied revealing herself in front of Dusk and hugging him that way. For a moment, Sunset was just herself, feeling enormously relieved and happy to see that the only pony she cared about in the world, who had been missing until just moments ago, had appeared safe and sound in front of her eyes.
"Uh… Do I know you?” Dusk asked as the mare hugged him. For some reason, He was blushing at the strong and warm embrace of that mare.
It was only at that moment that Sunset's logical mind returned to normal and she realized how much she was risking by hugging Dusk. Then she quickly stopped hugging Dusk and used her magic to make a hood appear over her head to hide her face.
At the strange gesture, Dusk simply raised an eyebrow in confusion, not understanding why that mare hugged him so familiarly, and then backed away and hid her face. A face that he had seen only a few seconds ago, but for some reason, itched at his mind.
Then Dusk opened his eyes wide when he understood that he was making a serious mistake. He himself had witnessed the ability of those changelings to transform at will into any pony, and now they were preparing to invade Canterlot. Dusk couldn't trust anyone, much less unknown ponies.
"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Dusk said, radically changing his attitude. He got into a defensive stance and pointing his horn at the yellow mare.
"I… I'm sorry." Sunset responded nervously, raising her hoof to adjust the hood well and make sure that Dusk couldn't see her face. Even if she lied, Dusk could find out and attack her. "I... I know your name because I’m Princess Cadance's student."
"Cadance's student?" Dusk asked suspiciously. He had never heard of Cadance having a student. Though to be fair, he hadn't been to the castle very long, so he couldn't tell for sure. "Prove it." Dusk demanded, starting to light up his horn to stun that mare at the slightest suspicion.
Seeing that Dusk was only seconds away from attacking her, Sunset quickly thought of some way to verify that she knew Cadance, without revealing anything about her true identity, since that would put Discord's release at risk. Sunset grimaced uncomfortably at having only come up with one thing in such a short amount of time.
Red with embarrassment at what she had to do, Sunset Shimmer crouched down, and began to dance and sing.
"~ Sunshine, sunshine ~ Ladybugs awake ~ Clap your hooves ~ And do a little shake ~" Sunset Shimmer sang, doing the same childish dance that she had seen Dusk do as a young colt, when Cadance came to take care of him as his babysitter.
At the end of her dance, Sunset realized that with her last movement, she had shaken her flanks in front of Dusk. The thought of her crush seeing her private bits made the yellow mare's face turn even redder, and she quickly got up and stood in front of Dusk. For his part, Dusk finally relaxed. At the same time, he couldn't help but raise his hoof and hide his laughter when he saw how clumsy, but at the same time tender, the yellow mare looked when doing that dance.
"Cadance makes you greet her like that too? Even though you're an adult pony?" Dusk asked with a small smile, forgetting all his suspicions about that mare, after she showed him the secret greeting that Cadance used with the ponies she held dearest. "So Cadance really has a student, who would have thought, hehe... Tell me, what's your name?" Dusk asked kindly. More and more interested in that mare with the red and gold mane while also feeling the strange sensation that meeting that mare was of the utmost importance.
Sunset froze at the question. With all her might she wanted to tell him her name. Tell him she was Sunset Shimmer, his childhood friend. The mare who had sacrificed everything to make him Celestia's student. The mare who had sacrificed everything for him to he was happy with his friends in Ponyville. However, as much as that was her greatest wish in the world, she knew that if she did, she risked unleashing a creature that would bring chaos to the entire world.
"My... My name..." Sunset stammered, feeling that something so simple was making it immensely difficult for her, having her beloved Dusk in front of her, staring at her. "M-My name is…"
Suddenly, the door to the infirmary was flung open. Princess Luna entered, looking annoyed at Sunset Shimmer.
"There you are, Sunset! I knew you had stolen my hood!" Luna huffed and pointed at Sunset. Luna's annoyance was such that she only focused on Sunset upon entering the infirmary. However, after pointing to the culprit behind the theft of her hood, Luna's eyes finally noticed that Sunset wasn't alone there. "Dusk Shine?" Luna gasped after noticing that the lavender unicorn was there.
After noticing Dusk, an awkward silence hung in the air. One in which Luna got nervous when she noticed that she had made a huge mistake.
"You... Your name is Sunset?" Dusk said, while holding his head and closing one eye. Like he suddenly had a big headache. "Sunset..." Dusk repeated in pain, as if something in his head was struggling to come out.
"Glimmer! My name is Sunset Glimmer!!" Sunset yelled the first name of the family clan that came to mind so that Dusk wouldn't remember her actual name. "I’m from Manehattan; grew up my whole life there. And by the way, I'd rather you call me Miss Glimmer, since I don't know you well enough yet, Mr. Shine." Sunset quickly added, pretending to be upset. She looked askance at the colt in the hopes that her quick planning had worked.
"Glimmer?" Dusk said slowly opening his closed eye as his headache disappeared. "I… I'm sorry, Miss Glimmer. I… I didn't mean to disrespect you."
Luna and Sunset internally sighed in relief. They couldn’t even imagine the disaster that would have occurred if, in addition to being invaded by shape-shifting impostors, they had released the Lord of Chaos at the same time.
"Is everything alright, Princess? I heard you were looking for me." Shining Armor said suddenly as he entered the infirmary without his armor.
Just as Shining was getting ready to dress in his wedding tuxedo a few minutes earlier, one of his guards had informed him that Princess Luna was looking for him. The stallion stopped all his preparations for the wedding and hurried to meet the Princess of the Night.
As soon as Shining Armor entered, both he and Dusk were surprised to find each other there. Then they both stared at each other in silence. Neither was sure how to react, since in addition to having various unfinished business, at that very moment, both of them had other important security matters for the kingdom to think about as well.
"It's... It's good to see you, Shining." Dusk said nervously and looked away.
Shining only remained silent at his brother’s nervous greeting. He had almost been tricked by a fake Dusk, so Shining Armor needed to make sure that this time the lavender colt that was in front of him was really his brother. However, after seeing Dusk's uncomfortable look, he narrowed his eyes and cleared his suspicions.
"I see... You’re the real Dusk..." Shining confirmed.
"What do you mean ‘the real one’?" Dusk asked, but then remembered the last thing he'd seen before he'd been knocked out the night before, when the changeling soldier had transformed into a copy of him. "Wait... Is there a fake Dusk hanging around the castle!? Are my friends alright!?”
"We already captured the impostor. Princess Celestia is questioning him at the guard headquarters." Shining Armor answered his brother stoically as he tried to process all the mixed feelings he had for his brother right now.
"How did you know it was the real Dusk?" Luna asked, who was surprised that the captain of the guard stopped suspecting Dusk so quickly after only seeing him for a few seconds.
"It's a theory, but I think those changelings don't understand emotions very well. They don't understand that somepony can have many different feelings towards the same pony at the same time..." Shining Armor answered, narrowing his eyes a little at Dusk. "The impostor who supplanted Dusk pretended to have only hatred towards me. But when I entered here and saw Dusk's uncomfortable look, I knew that he felt many things when he saw me enter, right?" Shining added, putting on a fleeting sad look before looking seriously at Dusk again.
"Yes... You're right..." Dusk looked back at his big brother with some concern. "I don't hate you Shining, but there are still things we need to talk about."
Knowing that they couldn't waste any more time given the situation they were in, Shining simply nodded and silently agreed to save this for later.
"Princess Luna, why were you looking for me? Is it something to do with the wedding?" Shining Armor asked, looking seriously at the blue alicorn.
"We believe there is another impostor in the castle." Shining Armor widen his eyes in surprise at what Luna said. "We talked to Sweet Caramel recently, and she suspected that her sister- Huh!?” Luna was perplexed when, halfway through talking, Shining turned around and bolted out of the room. “Captain?! Where are you going?!”
"Princess Celestia was alone with Sweet Creme!" Shining Armor yelled as he ran off. It didn’t take a genius to know the dangers that the princess was now in.
Quickly understanding why Shining had run so scared, Dusk, Luna and Sunset hurried to run after Shining. They quickly reached the barracks, where Shining Armor had asked two guards to guard the door after he left.
"Is Princess Celestia still interrogating the impostor!?" The captain quickly asked.
"No, Captain. The Princess returned to the castle only a few moments after you left." One of the guards answered.
Just as Dusk, Luna and Sunset also arrived, Shining Armor hurriedly opened the doors of the barracks. Once inside, he illuminated everything with his magic, and he felt his stomach sink as he saw what he had most feared to see.
"The changeling is not here..." Shining Armor whispered in fear.
"I-I don't understand..." One of the guards entered. "No one entered or left besides the Princess and her maid."
"Maybe it wasn't the Princess who came out..." Shining deduced from the situation.
"Shining, this isn’t an attack by a lone changeling. It's an invasion!" Dusk hurriedly explained to his brother. "There are dozens of ponies encased in cocoons in the crystal mines below Canterlot!"
"What?" Shining Armor said, his mind in shock upon receiving such information. "What are these creatures? What are we up against!?"
After a second of silence, it was Luna's turn to speak.
"Her name is Chrysalis…. My sister told me about her." Luna said weakly. She knew that the origin of the creature was a secret, but she felt that in such a critical situation, Dusk and Shining Armor also needed to know. "She is a dark creature that faced my sister centuries ago. Celestia thought she was dead, but… it seems she was mistaken." The mare had a look of pain at the thought of what her sister had to face in her absence.
Without giving them even a second to digest the shocking news, the group of ponies were distracted when the castle's bells began to be heard. Wedding bells, announcing the beginning of the great event.
"The wedding is starting...?" Shining Armor was even more confused. A check of the time showed that it was right time for the wedding, but how could it start if HE wasn’t even there?!
In the castle's main hall, all the wedding guests stood up when the wedding bells started ringing. They directed their eyes towards the front door.
Two little fillies bounded happily through the doors, throwing flowers down on the great red carpet that led to the altar. After everything was covered with beautiful flowers, Celestia appeared from the door with Cadance, who looked radiant in her beautiful wedding dress.
As soon as Cadance appeared, she looked towards the altar and put on a surprised look when she saw that Shining Armor was not there.
"Don't worry, he will come, I assure you." 'Celestia' said, whispering from behind to Cadance in a tender voice. "We must continue, everyone is waiting for you."
"It’s okay, I know that Shining would never abandon me." Cadance answered, taking a deep breath to calm down and starting to walk towards the altar.
As the Princess of Love made her way across the carpet, closely followed at all times by Celestia, everyone's eyes were drawn to how beautiful Cadance looked. Before their eyes was a beautiful princess. Quite possibly the most beautiful mare in the kingdom. Her cheeks were blushed and her eyes full of emotion, knowing that this was the most important day of her life.
All those feelings of adoration and love towards the Princess of Love didn’t go unnoticed by the false Celestia. Who did her best to keep her false smile serene, knowing that very soon all that love would be stolen and turned into food.
"I wonder what the first thing all these ponies will feel when they see their beloved Princess turn into a murderer..." False Celestia thought, stopping just before reaching the altar and lowering her head, to hide her face. "The fear obtained by the betrayal of a loved one... It’s the most delicious flavor..."
"Auntie Celestia? Is something wrong?" Cadance asked, just as she reached the altar. She stopped and turned to see that her aunt was no longer following her.
"I suppose... I hate not being the center of attention." 'Celestia' replied, charging her horn with a huge ball of golden magic and looked at Cadance with a sinister smile.
Before anyone could react, the false Celestia whipped her head around and launched the powerful ball of energy at Cadance. The mighty attack hit the mare squarely and sent her flying far away, smashing her into a pillar by the side of the altar. Causing Cadance to cry out in pain at the surprise attack.
After 'Celestia's' attack, all the ponies in the main hall froze, pale and speechless at what they had just seen. Despite seeing it with their own eyes, their brains refused to believe what they had just seen… The kind Princess Celestia had attacked her beloved niece? It was impossible! It couldn't be true! Their eyes were deceiving them!
After Cadance's scream, everything was completely silent, until it was 'Celestia' herself who broke it with a cruel, sadistic laugh.
"Do you think I was going to let someone else steal my attention!? I am Celestia! The Princess of the Sun! All the love and attention from the ponies is for me, and only for me!" The fake Celestia yelled, mocking the injured Cadance. Whose dress was all ripped and looked like she would pass out at any moment. "Do you think I adopted you so that one day you would steal my throne? Of course not! You were just an orphan I took pity on. Everyone here thinks you're a Princess, but what they don't understand is that the only legitimate ruler of this kingdom is me! Hahaha!" The fake Celestia let out a hysterical and terrifying laugh.
With 'Celestia's' words, the ponies in the hall slowly snapped out of their shock and began to tremble and cry, not understanding why their beloved princess was going crazy. On any other occasion, everyone present would have rushed to Princess Cadance's aid, but the one who had attacked the pink alicorn had been none other than the most loved and respected pony in the kingdom. The pony that had protected them for hundreds of years… Had she fallen into madness!?
Everyone in the room had the same great conflict: The nobles of Canterlot, the servants of the palace, even foreign dignitaries, who knew of Celestia's power and wisdom. And among all those terrified ponies were also Spike and Dusk's friends. All of them were trembling, with tears in their eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing and hearing.
"A-Auntie…" Cadance said weakly. She tried to get up, but she was so sore that she just fell to the ground again.
"I'm sorry, dear niece..." The fake Celestia said. She approached Cadance and lit her horn again to charge a final and definitive attack against the pink alicorn. "There is an alicorn of the sun, and an alicorn of the moon. I think you will become the alicorn of the ashes…"
"CADANCE!!" Shining Armor suddenly shouted. Who had run from the guard barracks when he heard the bells, going ahead of Dusk, Luna and Sunset. He arrived just then at the main hall from a side entrance.
Seeing that 'Celestia' had attacked his fiancée and was about to hurt her even more, Shining Armor ran at full speed, and quickly used his magic to teleport right in front of the fake Celestia. He then charged at her with a magical shield, which was his specialty. Thus, the false Celestia was hit squarely and was pushed by the force of the charge to the other side of the altar.
"Don't you dare touch my fiancée, you dirty creature." Shining Armor said with a furious look. He stood in front of Cadance to protect her and pointed his magic-charged horn at the fake Princess of the Sun.
"SHINING!!" A desperate voice shouted. A voice that Shining knew very well.
From the front door, the real Celestia appeared, who was being held by the pony who had screamed, the pony who had been teleported to the crystal caves minutes after Celestia herself had fallen there. That pony was the real Cadance, who watched in horror as her fiancé was protecting an impostor.
Not able to turn his head after hearing the warning cry, Shining closed his eyes in pain as something stabbed deep into his chest, straight for his heart.
Taking advantage of the fact that Shining Armor had turned his back on her, the altar's 'Cadance' plunged the dagger she was carrying deep into Shining's body. It was the same golden dagger with which minutes ago she had also stabbed Celestia. With the great difference that this last blow was deadly, mortally wounding the young captain of the royal guard.
None of those present had understood why 'Celestia' had attacked her niece. And now, much less did they understand why Princess Mi Amore had stabbed her fiancé. It was all part of an elaborate plan. One to discredit both alicorn princesses and show how those kind princesses could be cruel and wicked. And of course, all being part of a very elaborate plan to make everyone present fall into insecurity, and that the love they felt for their princesses would turn into fear, panic and horror. A plan that had worked perfectly and that was already beginning to generate the first cries of terror in the audience present.
After sinking the dagger and removing it from Shining Armor's chest, everyone present was shocked to see how the unicorn's white fur was turning crimson from the blood that stained it. Screams of horror ringed through the air from the very sight of the murder. It was something that none of those peaceful ponies had even dreamed of in their worst nightmares. An act so horrible, that it made everyone present freeze in horror at such a scene.
'Cadance' held Shining as he grew colder, and his vision blurred. Shining's mind still didn't understand what had happened. The last thing he managed to understand was that he heard the distant cry of his beloved, and now, that same mare whom he loved was looking at him with tears in her eyes.
"Shining, darling. I… I am so sorry!" 'Cadance' cried, while looking directly at him. Until she closed her eyes, and in just an instant, her lips curved into a sadistic smile. "I had to kill you because the truth is, I never loved you... Now, my dear, you’ll go to the other world, knowing that no one ever loved you." The fake Cadance mocked as Shining lost consciousness, falling little by little more into the arms of death.
After Shining closed his eyes, the fake Cadance's eyes turned bright green. Then she looked directly at Celestia, who for a second was stunned at the horrible scene she had just witnessed. And in doing so, the false Cadance smiled devilishly and levitated her golden dagger next to her face. She stuck out her serpent-like tongue and slowly licked up the blood staining the blade.
"I love the taste of a broken heart." The cruel Queen Chrysalis said with the sweet voice of Cadance.
End of chapter 19