//------------------------------// // Off a Mirror // Story: A Beam of Light // by OutofCuriosity //------------------------------// Princess Cadence trotted down the hallways of Canterlot Castle while the sun was lowered and the moon took its position in the sky. She yawned then blinked as she suddenly remembered something. I was supposed to ask Auntie Luna if she wanted to meet Twilight and her friends with me when they arrive. Cadence started to walk in the opposite direction when another yawn interrupted her. Then again, they won't actually arrive until a week from the wedding, I'll just make a note to ask her at breakfast tomorrow. "Two weeks left," she said to herself smiling tiredly. Resuming her original course Cadence continued down the hallway until she reached the doors to her bedchambers and the guards posted at them. "Good night Aegis and Lumber, I'm going to bed early. By the way, you were right Lumber, getting ready for a wedding is surprisingly exhausting work." "I said getting ready for a normal wedding is stressful enough, I can't even imagine what a royal wedding entails. If it was me I'd be an absolutely nervous wreck by now. Well, I won't keep you from a good night's rest anymore, Princess," said Lumber Mill, as he magically opened the doors to Cadence's bedchambers. Cadence nodded in thanks and entered the room, letting out another yawn. As the doors closed behind her Cadence turned off the lights from the chandelier and made her way to her bed in the dark. There she elegantly collapsed on top of the bed covers and levitated her tiara onto the dressing table leaving her shoes and necklace on. Within seconds she was asleep and she remained dead to the world as several obscure figures surrounded her bed in the darkness. She stirred slightly when a dome of green fire engulfed all present and vanished silently. ---------- Cadence slowly became aware of the fact that she seemed to be hanging upside down from the blood rushing to her head and when she opened her eyes only a green blur greeted her. "Hello? Is anypony there?" She tried to ask but due to the cocoon all anypony outside would have heard was muffled gibberish. Cadence tried to push the cocoon apart with her hooves but they were all stuck together in some sort of hard green shell above her head. Okay, I'm hanging upside down stuck inside some kind of green shell. Either I've been captured by some kind of horrible monster who plans to eat me later, I'm having the most realistic nightmare of my life, or Auntie Celestia followed through with her threat of throwing me a bachelorette party. Not sure which option is the most terrifying at the moment. Just breathe and take stock of everything. Hooves. Still stuck in a green shell. Wings. Shell too small to use. Horn. Usable. Cadence summoned her magic and tried to simply push the green shell apart. Nothing happened so she tried again with more force. Still no result. Now thoroughly annoyed the alicorn opted to do her best and blast the shell to pieces, this time she succeeded. The pink alicorn fell to the ground painfully. Groaning she got to her hooves and heard a voice call out 'she's awake'. Blinking as her eyes adjusted to the dimness of her new surroundings Cadence saw to her surprise she was no longer in her bedchambers. Instead she was in a cave which seemed to be made entirely out of crystals, her many reflections staring back at her. Looking around Cadence came upon a very strange sight, a small, relatively, all white dragon sleeping in front of the only passage out of the room. Its wings were spread out, covering the ground just in front of the passage guarenteeing that Cadence would have to fly over the dragon to avoid stepping on it. Additionally, the wings bulged and glowed from the objects underneath them. Behind the dragon several black insect-pony-things with big blue orbs for eyes stared at her. Cadence stared at the bug-ponies who stared back and at the dragon, which seemed to be still asleep. Finally Cadence gathered enough of her wits to form a coherent thought. "Um, hello? Did Auntie Celestia arrange this? If so she has an even stranger sense of humor than I thought." Cadence chuckled weakly as the bugs merely stared and the dragon remained asleep. Cadence stopped laughing awkwardly and started walking towards the strange dragon. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I've got preparations for a wedding to make." Before she could make any attempt to move past the dragon however, it whipped its tail into the alicorn's path. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that child," it said never once opening its eyes. "I've been ordered to keep you here." "By who," asked Cadence. "It won't make any difference if you know, but you aren't leaving unless I'm told otherwise." Cadence backed up and prepared a teleportation spell. "I'd like to see you try and stop me," she challenged. Suddenly, Cadence found herself facing one of the cave walls. Turning her head she found the dragon and company behind her. Ignoring her confusion at the change, Cadence teleported past them and sprinted down the tunnel. She made it about seven feet down the tunnel before slamming face first into what looked like thin air but felt like a stone wall. Holding a hoof to her sore muzzle Cadence sat down and tentatively stuck her other forehoof out. It came into contact with a hard surface in midair. How? This isn't a spell or I'd see the glow of the magic she thought to herself. A second later she found herself facing a wall again. Once again turning around Cadence found the passage on her left. This time Cadence tried to fly past the dragon only to be met with another head-on collision with an invisible wall. She peeled herself off the wall but before she could form a new plan of escape she was tackled from the side by something she couldn't see. The alicorn was slammed into a nearby wall and collapsed unconscious. Around the unconscious alicorn the room blurred and reformed to reveal Aduro standing over Cadence, backlit by the dozens of firefly lanterns clustered by the tunnel entrance. "Put her back in the cocoon and make it stronger like I ordered in the first place. This is your only opportunity to practice imprisoning an alicorn and remember, these have contain Celestia and Luna themselves. Tsetse, relay what just occurred to Chrysalis," the dragon instructed. "There's no need for that, I saw everything," said a voice just behind Aduro. Turning he saw an image of the changeling queen in the guise of Princess Cadence. "Hearing you talk one would think defeating an alicorn was a nigh impossible feat and yet there you are, standing over an unconscious princess," said Chrysalis an amused smirk on her disguise's face. "She doesn't know me, an advantage I won't have over the other Princesses. Now let me do the job you ordered me to do. Also I'd like to request more changelings to assist me. I'd prefer to have too many helpers than too few when the Princess tries to force her way out." Aduro explained, a paragon of militaristic discipline and control. "I can't yet, you'll have to wait until more arrive in Canterlot tomorrow. Inform me when she wakes up again, I want to have a little chat. Now if you'll excuse me, I have wedding preparations to see to." Chrysalis cackled as her image faded from the wall. ---------- Cadence regained consciousness and was greeted with the same green as before. Okay, that's it, I am getting out of here now! However even though she blasted the inside of the new shell with all her power it took her the better part of an hour to break free. She emerged from the shell, protection spell at the ready and was greeted with a blinding white beam that gave off so much heat the remains of the cocoon caught fire and the crystal walls and floor seemed to melt slightly. This assault combined with her efforts to free herself took their toll on the princess. She sank to the floor panting heavily and the protective bubble around her wavered as Cadence struggled to maintain the spell. Across the room behind the cluster of lanterns, Aduro was just as exhausted, despite only having fired the beam of light at the princess. "Now somepony tell me," wheezed Cadence, "why am I here? And who are you?" "Allow me to answer that Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," said a voice that sounded too familiar for Cadence's liking. She turned and saw herself looking down at her with a look of condescension from a flat slab of crystal on the ceiling. Cadence gaped at her doppelgänger, her mouth opened and closed wordlessly. "I am Chrysalis, Queen of the changelings. And you're down there because it would be rather counterproductive for my plans if two Princess Cadenzas were spotted roaming Canterlot." Explained Chrysalis as if it were the most obvious fact of the world. "What plans?" asked Cadence, afraid of the answer she half-knew was coming. "Why the plans I have to feast on Shining Armor's love for you and take over Equestria of course." Unnoticed by either member of royalty Aduro subtly gestured for the changelings behind him to get out of Cadence's line of sight and prepared himself for the oncoming onslaught. He didn't have to wait long. "Don't you dare even go near my Shiny. I am going to get out of here then I am going to march right up to you and expose you to all of Canterlot as the imposter you are. And then I am going to marry Shining Armor and you will be lucky if you only get banished to the sun!" Cadence said, her voice rising the longer she spoke until she was yelling at the changeling queen. "That certainly is a powerful imagination you've got there. You actually think you'll make it past my guards. Well, I have a pleasant lunch with my future husband to attend. Enjoy your stay." The image of Chrysalis vanished, leaving only the echo of her mocking laughter in the air. Cadence didn't say anything, merely looking down at the ground in silence letting the protection spell disappear from around her. Then with a sudden explosion of magic Cadence attacked. She fired a beam that hit the dragon square in the chest and knocked him into the tunnel, causing a cloud of dust to billow out. "You missed." Said a voice directly into Cadence's ear, causing her to whirl around to face Aduro, who stood less than a foot away from her. She fired another beam at him, which he somehow dodged and flew around the room before vanishing before Cadence's eyes. She yelled in frustration, eyes darting left and right for any sign of the dragon when she felt herself being tackled by several invisible...things. These invisible creatures let go almost as soon as they made contact. Now enraged Cadence began to wildly fire off beam after beam of magic and all the while she felt blows landing on her from unseen sources. The fight, if one uses the term loosely, raged for several minutes which seemed to last for an eternity for the combatants. Cadence never saw her assailants straight on, only catching glimpses of the dragon or the changelings in the corners of her eyes. Finally, the stamina of the princess gave out and she collapsed to the ground, not even having the strength to stand. She lay there, helpless, for several moments then watched as the room blurred and focused to reveal the damage inflicted upon it. Unconscious changelings lay scattered all around her but even more stood on guard in case the alicorn got up and resumed her efforts to escape. The walls, ceiling, and floor all had chunks missing, some were even still smoking. Judging by the number of bruises she felt Cadence determined she hadn't fared much better than the room had and her horn felt like it might catch fire if she tried to cast even a simple illumination spell. Then she saw the dragon limp into view, favoring its hind left leg and letting its right wing drag on the ground. Something clicked in Cadence's mind and she remembered the lessons Celestia had given her on the inmates of Tartarus. "You're...Aduro, right? How did you escape from Tartarus? And why, why are you helping these things?" Cadence pleaded, attempting to stand and failing. Aduro stopped limping away and looked down at the beaten princess. "Auntie Celestia always said you never had ambitions for Equestria. She said the only thing you wanted was...Discord." Comprehension dawned on Cadence's face and tears began to form in her eyes as she realized what that imposter had offered Aduro. "Y-you don't have to do this. If you let me go I'll do my best to get Celestia and Luna to not punish you harshly for this. And you changelings, if you had come to us in peace we would have done our best to find a way to aid you, even coexist. We can still find a way if you stop this before it goes any farther and you do something you can't take back." Cadence finished her small speech, tears of anger, pain, and sorrow running down her face. Both the Princess and the dragon noticed several changelings exchanging looks and whispers. Aduro turned away and limped down the exit tunnel but not before responding to the alicorn's pleas, craning his neck to stare one silver eye into her purple ones. "You are offering imprisonment and starvation in place of freedom and food. Even if you could convince the other Princesses to have mercy, the rest of the populace is unlikely to be as forgiving. Unless you can change everyponies opinion before a single changeling starves that isn't an option. And if you could do that, you shouldn't be on your thrones in the first place." With that Aduro limped out of sight. Cadence closed her eyes and wept quietly to herself as the changelings gathered their wounded for treatment. ---------- Some time later found Aduro scaling the walls of Canterlot Castle with a bandaged wing and leg in broad daylight. However to the casual observer, nothing would be seen on the castle walls. To anypony paying close attention small clouds of dust would be seen emerging in a zigzag pattern up the wall and somepony looking straight down the wall would see two small lines bobbing around in unison. But nopony was paying particular attention and Aduro managed to climb up to one of the many balconies unimpeded and unnoticed. He crawled to the doors of the room connected to the balcony and slowed opened the door and peeked inside. The room was dark and dominated primarily by a large bed whose sole occupant was a dark blue alicorn who shifted in her bed. Aduro closed the door and crept back down the wall heart pounding in his throat. He wandered towards a lower section of the castle, checking every window he passed for Chrysalis, before he finally caught sight of the fake pink alicorn. He spotted her in a hallway and crawled through an open window onto the ceiling. Aduro followed her in this manner until she reached her destination: a bathroom. Aduro followed Chrysalis inside when she magically opened the door. Having been in the company of changelings for more than a week, Aduro had learned that changelings couldn't actually digest the food ponies ate and had to throw up any food they consumed in the course of their deception. This is what Chrysalis was preparing to do when she was interrupted by the dragon. Chrysalis had just spit out the last of the daisy sandwich she'd had for lunch when a small circle of light danced across the wall which then morphed into the phrase 'look up'. She did and saw Aduro hanging from the ceiling looking down, (or up), at her. "What are you doing here?" Demanded the Queen as she flushed the remains of her meal away. "I thought I told you to guard Princess Mi Amore Cadenza until I instructed you otherwise. If even a single member of the Royal Guard sees you and reports it back to the Princesses, it makes our plans that much harder. Now get back to the crystal mines immediately or-" "I'll go back once you explain why you seem to enjoy sabotaging your own plans." The dragon said calmly as he descended from the ceiling. "I've risked being sent back to Tartarus to see you because you just needlessly antagonized an alicorn, a mortal one, but an alicorn nonetheless. We were lucky this time because she had already been tired from breaking free of her shell but if she hadn't, there was a significant chance that she would have escaped," Aduro lectured. "As someone who's had a lot of experience keeping things against their will, I recommend that unless you have a hostage prepared, never tell a prisoner their loved ones are in danger, they tend to fight harder for others than for their own sake." "Don't lecture me on how ponies think you fossil." Said Chrysalis taking a step closer to the dragon. "I'd say you took a bigger risk coming here than I did." "Would you prefer I point out the unnecessary risks you took in front of your loyal subjects?" Aduro also took a step closer. "Are you threatening me?" asked Chrysalis, her voice dangerously quiet. Her muzzle was now inches from Aduro's as she glared into his eyes. The ivory dragon was tempted, sorely tempted, to say yes. However his better sense prevailed and he broke eye contact, lowering his gaze to the floor. "No I'm not. What I am saying is that you seem to have forgotten that the consequences of your actions affect me. We are planning to take the seat ot the Princesses' power from right under their noses. I don't want another 1800 years of imprisonment to occur before I see another sunrise. And you don't want to have to live off the scraps of love anymore so can we agree to disagree after we take Canterlot?" Aduro finished, now eager to spend as little time in the Queen's presence as possible. Chrysalis, satisfied with her ability to stare down the dragon, merely chuckled and patted his cheek. "While I admire your commitment to the plan, I think you've forgotten that changelings are born knowing how to decieve. Now get back to the caverns before one of the Guard spot you." Internally however, Chrysalis was already appraising how much a threat Aduro would be to what she hoped would become the Changeling Empire. It seems that the chances of him staying loyal to me are dropping and his becoming a wildcard are increasing. Note to self, get Tsetse to keep me updated on any hints of betrayal. Aduro clambered back up to the ceiling, preparing to sneak back out when he asked, 'By the way, what do you plan to do with the Captain of the Guard after the wedding?" "I plan to keep feeding off his love until I grow tired of the taste then I'll pass him off to one of my more deserving subjects. Why do you care?" "Simple curiosity, you hadn't mentioned his fate in our previous meetings. Now please, will you open the door and let me rest. Fighting an alicorn takes a toll." Gesturing to the door Aduro vanished from sight, leaving the Queen seemingly alone. He's planning something, I'm certain of it. But like he said, it's back to Tartarus if our plan fails. She thought to herself as she opened the bathroom doors and walked out into the hallway. I don't understand, why would he willingly aid the Princesses after his imprisonment? No, it doesn't matter what he does or what he tries to do. The Changeling Empire will come to be, the plan has advanced too far for any one thing to stop it. A small, dark smile formed on the false Princess's face. I think the time has come for the next stage to commence, and thanks to that fossil the work is already half-done. ********** Princess Celestia was sitting at the royal dining table enjoying her dinner and going through the piles of mail that made it through the series of royal mailmen to her. Even though she would have loved to, even Celestia couldn't find the time to read and respond to all of the letters ponies wrote to her. Still she made it a habit to read through at least some everyday. Luna was doing something similar as she ate her breakfast and surveyed her smaller, but still respectable pile of letters. As Celestia lifted a forkful of salad to her mouth her eyes caught sight of a blank envelope among the crayon-colored letters from foals and invitations from adults to grace their places of business with a royal visit. She levitated it to her face, removing the letter inside. As she read the message her expression subtly shifted from mild interest to concern, a change which went unnoticed by all except Luna, who paused in eating her bowl of dried oats to look at her sister. "Tia what-," said Luna before Celestia flashed her a look that said 'this is a matter not for public discussion'. Celestia waved a hoof-servant over and whispered something into their ear. The hoof-servant nodded silently and took the letter and envelope away. Luna raised an eyebrow as Celestia leaned across the table towards her sister. "What's the matter Tia?" whispered Luna. "I just received a disturbing report, that if true, means Canterlot is in grave danger. The anonymous writer claims to have seen a dragon climbing the sides of the castle and that nopony else seemed able to see." Celestia looked at her sister, waiting to see if she understood the implications of the letter. She wasn't disappointed. Luna's eyes widened as she muttered, "You mean that..." "Yes, if we find the evidence described in the letter, it lends credence to the possibility that Aduro has escaped from Tartarus," said Celestia softly. "Luna, until we determine whether or not the letter is genuine I want to you keep the news of this quiet." "We should keep it quiet even if the letter is true," said Luna earning a confused look from Celestia. "If the news that an invisible dragon is roaming the streets, panic could run rampant throughout the entire kingdom. Furthermore, I'm more interested in who sent the letter, especially if what they say is true." "I've already sent it to be analyzed for any clues to the writer's identity and relayed instructions for the sides of the castle to be checked for claw marks. Luna, we need a plan of action. What are your thoughts?" The two alicorns proceeded to get up from their chairs and left the dining room leaving a trail of whispers. Shining Armor watched the pair leave and turned to his fiancèe, "what was that about?" "I haven't got the faintest idea Shining," said Chrysalis, her face the paradigm of innocent confusion. Internally, she was rejoicing. All according to plan.