The Masked Accuser

by Psyga315

Prologue/canterlot wedding

She didn’t want to admit this to anyone, not even herself, but when the real Cadance entered the altar and ousted the fake, she felt scared. Worried. Regretful. The one time she doubted her student and she was right, though that was just one thought drowned out by bigger thoughts. How she could have been fooled by this imposter? How could she have allowed her to live in the city for who knows how long? How could she have failed something she and the Royal Guard have been preparing for ever since they received the threat? The thoughts loomed in her mind as the Queen made her declaration of an invasion. But... she had to make a stand. She had to make sure she didn’t fail.

And yet... she did. She was defeated. This rarely happened to her, but she was defeated in front of her subjects. The subjects she vowed to protect. And a while after, her faithful student and her friends failed to stop her army as well. All hope seemed lost... Though it seemed that through sheer luck, a miracle sprung out. But the more she thought of it, the more it bugged her. Her entire kingdom, as well as many others, would have been conquered had it not been for Chrysalis not paying attention. Had it not been for Chrysalis underestimating the power of Cadance’s love...

Though... Was that just a coincidence? Was Chrysalis dumb enough to let Shining Armor cast a spell right in front of her? Or perhaps Chrysalis was just planning for that to happen? Was there a plan bigger than just an invasion that she didn’t know about? Was the invasion just an excuse for something to happen? There could be many different reasons why just when all seemed lost did victory shine through and almost all of them convinced Celestia that it wasn’t by fate or luck.

“Sister, is something the matter?” was enough to snap her out of it. Celestia looked towards Luna.

“No. I was just... looking back at how much our Cadance has grown since she became an Alicorn.” Celestia said. She bit her lip as she indeed remembered Cadance when she was younger. Though all she thought was "How could I have been so blind?". Luna gave her an odd look. She then looked at the party in progress.

“Pinkie Pie knows how to throw a party. I heard she livened up the Gala a while ago, and that it was the best Gala by far.” Luna said.

“Yes. It was the best Gala indeed.” Celestia said.

For the rest of the night, things went swimmingly, though there was one sight that Celestia cringed at. As the carriage carrying the married couple trotted off, there were a few ponies trying to catch up to it. At first, she assumed that they wanted the bouquet, but she could have sworn she heard something like “Don’t go! We need you! Who will protect us?”

She shook her head. It must be her imagination. It was getting late anyway. She nodded to Luna and headed off to her chambers to sleep. Hopefully, the day after the wedding would be relaxing.

---

As soon as Celestia raised the sun, she heard knocking on the door. She opened the door and saw Luna.

“Dearest sister, your student is raising complaints about not being able to leave Canterlot.” Luna said.

“What? I could swear we took down the shields after the Changelings were gone...” Celestia said. She went out of her room and headed to the train station.

---

Turned out she didn’t need to go that far to see what the problem was, as she saw thousands of ponies standing outside of the castle grounds, chattering. Twilight was just by the doors when she got out, along with her friends and assistant.

“Wh-what is going on here?” Celestia asked.

“I don’t know! I woke up and I saw these ponies blocking the path to the train station!” Twilight said. That’s when one of the ponies in the crowd, a blue Unicorn, got up and pointed to Twilight.

“There she is! Twilight Sparkle! The one who exposed the Changeling! The one who saved us from them!” After the Unicorn announced her, the crowd stomped their hooves and cheered loudly.

“W-what? No! That was Cadance who exposed the Changeling and saved you! Not me!” Twilight tried to elevate her voice so that the crowd could hear her, though it immediately settled down once she spoke..

“But it was you who brought her at the altar! Had you not done that, we wouldn’t be standing here right now!” The pony said.

“Well... there is that... But what is going on here?” Twilight asked.

“We want you to be our princess until Cadance comes back from her honeymoon!” The Unicorn said. Twilight could see some of the crowd nodding their heads. Twilight and Celestia’s expressions briefly matched each other’s. Widen eyes, dropped jaws, and a cocked stare of disbelief. A brief moment, before Celestia’s face changed. Eyes focused, jaws straightened, and speaking in her confident voice.

“Subjects, I appreciate your thankfulness towards Twilight for her actions in finding the real Cadance and saving Canterlot, but I will not let you guys try and make a princess out of someone who clearly isn’t ready. Besides, you have me and Luna to rely on.” Celestia said. The blue Unicorn scrunched her eyes and gave her a cold glare.

“I personally respect you, Celestia, especially with what you’ve done and what you tried to do to protect us, but I don’t feel ready to give half of my trust to someone who wasn’t even there when the attack began.” She said. Celestia gave a sigh.

“She didn’t have enough time to get here. By the time she arrived, the battle was long over.” Celestia said.

“Then surely she would have known about the attack! It’s not like she was oblivious to it! No one would be able to miss something as catastrophic as an invasion!” The Unicorn said. Celestia remembered how Luna jokingly asked if she missed anything, something that probably wouldn’t fly by these ponies. Before Celestia could answer, someone else did the job for her.

“I actually have known about the invasion.” Luna trotted out from the doors. “But like Celestia said, the battle was over by the time I got down there. You try flying from the moon to Canterlot in under an hour.” The crowd of ponies began to chatter amongst themselves. Several of them nodded. Celestia and Luna could read their lips.

“The Queen was pretty strong... I doubt even the Elements would have defeated her...”

“Come to think of it, it did pass by pretty quick.”

“Yeah, we were wrong to judge them...”

Celestia smiled for a bit. It was nice when she and her sister calmly explained to the subjects what was going on. She spoke to them.

“I deeply apologize for what had happened that day, but at least you all understood that the situation was out of our hooves and that it was solved in a pretty quick span of time.” Celestia’s face was less stern now. Another pony, a red Pegasus, flew up and smiled back.

“You do care about us! You do want to protect us!” He said with joy. It was then that one of Twilight’s Pegasus friends glared, flew up to the same altitude, and spoke back to him.

“Yeah, of course they do! What kind of pony went up and decided that they don’t!?” Rainbow Dash asked. The red Pegasus settled back down with a whimper. Silence came as the group heard murmurs and scuttling. The center of the crowd began to part, giving room for one pony to pass by to the front. As the front row of the ponies parted, the Mane Six looked at the pony and memories of pride leading to a fall played in their heads, though Rainbow Dash’s memories were more related to anger-inducing.

The pony wore a purple and dark-blue fedora that covered the top of its head. Its face was obscured in a dark-blue mask with a baby-blue see-through fabric to act as eyes. A purple suit was laid over the body of the pony, with a dark blue cape that fluttered about in the wind. Its hooves were taped up with dark-blue leather straps. At the bottom of its neck was the letter M on a purple background. Rarity had to do a double take. She designed this outfit, but she could swear that she still had that and a few copies back in Ponyville, hidden away in one of her many closets and collecting dust.

“I am the one responsible for this gathering.” The masked pony said, confirming its voice that it was indeed a mare. Twilight fell over trying to tilt her head to get a better look.

“M-Mare Do Well? But... That’s impossible!” Twilight stood up.

“HEY! WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THIS!?” Rainbow Dash yelled at Mare Do Well. She chuckled.

“This is no joke. I am simply the will of the ponies’ voice, and they have spoken. They feel scared, frightened. They want to know that they can sleep at night, knowing that there’d be no nasty problems happening under their nose. They want to feel protected. Something Celestia, as a Princess, as a ruler, had failed to do. They want Twilight to rule Canterlot temporarily until Cadance comes back. Then she’ll be the new Princess.” Mare Do Well said.

“B-but I don’t want to get rid of Cele-” The red Pegasus tried to protest, but Mare Do Well looked at him. Even without being able to see her eyes, the Pegasus backed down with a single meep.

“We just said that we cared about our subjects, that the situation was out of our hooves and that it was quickly resolved." Celestia said.

"Yes, but I can't help but feel that this could have all been prevented." Mare Do Well said. There was a crowd of murmurs afterwards. Celestia kept the look on her face.

"You’re acting as if the invasion had cost innocent lives.” Celestia said.

“Really?” Mare Do Well simply moved out of the way so that a gray foal could make his way to the front. The murmurs ceased. Most of the crowd muttered, some began to whimper. Celestia herself had no idea what Mare Do Well had planned. Mare Do Well looked to the foal and nodded to him. "Tell them your name, sweetie." She said.

“M-my name i-is C-coal... M-my parents... My... My parents...” Coal’s legs began to shake. The ponies could already tell in his voice that this was not good news. “They... they...” Coal couldn’t take it anymore and slumped to the ground. He hid his face into his hooves and sobbed. Mare Do Well stepped forward as some of the other ponies, including the blue Unicorn, escorted Coal away.

“His parents were killed in the invasion. The only reported casualties so far. I was doing the head count last night while you ponies spent your time focusing on other things. Do you wish to speak of how the situation was resolved without incident? Do you wish to party through the night and neglect your broken kingdom, not knowing that at least one foal’s life was changed for the worst? It may be the best wedding to you, but to poor Coal, it will be nothing but a bad memory that he will be lucky to repress.” Mare Do Well said. A few of the ponies in the crowd began to cry.

“But... Changelings don’t-” Twilight tried to protest, but an orange hoof reached to Twilight’s body. She looked over and saw Applejack, hat hung so low that her eyes aren’t visible, though she could see droplets of water fall from her head to the ground.

“Let ‘er continue...” Applejack muttered. Twilight bit her lip and looked towards Mare Do Well.

“Some ponies in this crowd feel safe with just you and Luna protecting them, Celestia. I can agree to that, but knowing that Coal’s life, as well as the lives of other ponies, is forever changed because of this makes me worry about Canterlot’s safety. And I’m not the only one who thinks that. I only ask that Twilight extends her stay in Canterlot so that the citizens feel safer. Then, once Cadance comes back-” Mare Do Well could have said more, but Celestia spoke up giving the same stern voice she had when she confronted the Changeling Queen.

“Out of the question. You ask for me and my sister to hand over my crown to a pony that isn’t ready to receive it yet. As for Cadance, it will be her and her alone who will decide if she wishes to replace me as Princess.” Celestia said.

“You don’t mind if Cadance becomes our new Princess, but you do if Twilight takes the title for a few days? Why? Many of your subjects, I included, have agreed that she helped save Canterlot from being turned into a feeding ground.” Mare Do Well said.

“Yes. She did help save Canterlot. She was right about the false Cadance, and I shouldn’t have doub-” She realized what she was saying and stopped herself, but it was too late. The ponies began to chatter rapidly, almost in a panic. Celestia looked over to Luna, who now had the face of disbelief. They didn’t know. Luna didn’t know. But now they did.

“What was that? I didn’t quite hear that.” Mare Do Well said. Celestia only had a half-second to breathe. On one hoof, she could actually mean that and the confession fell upon deaf ears. On the other hoof, she was just asking if she could repeat what she just said, knowing full well what it was. Only a half-second before Applejack sobbed.

“Yeah! We shouldn’t ‘ave doubted Twilight! But we just thought dat Cadance was getting’ stressed! We didn’t know she was some bug-pony!” Applejack fell over, continuing to sob as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie tended to her. The chattering increased. Mare Do Well glared at Celestia. She could read her body language. Checkmate, her body said.

“Care to explain to the crowd just what happened during that dress rehearsal?” Mare Do Well said. Celestia glared at Mare Do Well.

How did she know what happened? She thought. She closed her eyes and growled. Luna backed away and shuddered from hearing Celestia’s irritation.

“It was during a dress rehearsal. We were practicing for the wedding when Twilight came in and accused the false Princess of being evil. However, we didn’t believe her at first, since she came off as petty and jealous.” Celestia said. Twilight looked down, as if she was a filly getting scolded by her mother. Celestia opened her mouth and tried to speak some more, but a shout filled the air.

“SHUT UP!” Every pony turned to look at Fluttershy in the air, her wings spread out and eyes glared at the Princess. Her friends were rendered speechless. Only few ponies have seen her like this. Like Applejack, tears fell from her burning eyes too. “She may have been petty. She may have been jealous, but she was also concerned for her brother! She tried to tell us about that imposter many times, but we were too busy with the wedding! For a brief moment, being a bridesmaid was apparently more important than having a strong bond! We should have listened to her concerns! She was right! This like the time Twilight went crazy over the Friendship Reports! HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING!?” After that shout, there was nothing but silence. No crying, no muttering, not even a breath. Even Mare Do Well was stunned with this. A minute passed and the only sound that came out in that meeting was Fluttershy’s own breathing. She fluttered back to the ground.

“There... That’s what I wanted to say... This whole time... Since the rehearsal. At first, it was just a nagging feeling, but after 'Cadance' revealed herself, it turned into something bigger... I didn’t want to say anything about it because I feared I’d get rejected like Twilight... or be told that it isn’t the time to regret... I didn’t say anything since that day... because if I did... Something would cause me to explode... I... How could I be so cruel to her!? I... I can’t look at you guys the same way!” Fluttershy said. She ran towards the crowd of ponies as the sound of crying passed through them. She ran past Mare Do Well, who simply shook her head and regained her composure.

“Well, that was lovely. You passed off a concern as... what did you say again? Ah yes, ‘petty and jealous’. Jealous towards whom, you may ask? Her brother? How wise for a ruler to disregard a warning like that, from her own student, no less, and accuse her of incest. Thank you for confirming my suspicions, oh 'wise and noble leader'.” Mare Do Well said. She and the crowd saw Celestia's stern face break in front of them. The face she showed instead was one nopony had seen save for a few. Her eyes closed, her lip frowned, and even her hair seemed to flow less. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. Soon, she took to the skies and glared down at Mare Do Well.

“That isn’t what she’s trying to say! Stop trying to twist ponies’ words, you prick!” Rainbow Dash shouted at Mare Do Well. Mare Do Well simply chuckled.

“Kindness knew what she did was wrong and bottled up those feelings to avoid her friends’ wrath. What do you feel, Loyalty? Do you feel the same thing as her? Or do you feel nothing from betraying your very Element? What must it feel to go against your Element and leave one of your closest friends for a pony you barely met?” Mare Do Well said.

“WHY YOU!!!” Rainbow Dash had enough. She zoomed towards Mare Do Well. She would have given her a knuckle sandwich if it hadn’t been for her tail being restrained.

“DAHH! STAHP!” Applejack tried to speak with her teeth on her tail.

“Honesty, I appreciate you trying to stop Loyalty from pummeling me, but tell me, did you feel awful for buying a lie? Did you even know it was a lie until it was too late? I’d forgive you if you said yes.” Mare Do Well said to her. Applejack hesitated to speak due to her grapple, but the tears said it all. Pinkie Pie bounced towards Mare Do Well. When she finally stopped, her snout was touching Mare Do Well’s, her eyes bulging out and going right into her own.

“Stop making things so dreary! We were having a good time until you showed up!” Pinkie said. She sounded angry, much like Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, but she still had a fraction of happiness in her voice.

“Laughter, how nice of you to defend your friends... I...” Mare Do Well laughed. It wasn’t a sarcastic laugh, but a full out ‘Pinkie poured flour over herself’ kind of laugh. “I got nothing. I guess you didn’t make your friend smile?” Mare Do Well tilted her head. Pinkie sighed and walked back to the group.

“Mare Do Well, I must ask where you got that outfit from. It simply looks fabulous...” Rarity smirked, as if everything that happened before didn’t.

“Of course it is. You made it after all, though I’ve given the outfit a different purpose... A less... petty purpose.” Mare Do Well said. Rarity’s smirk dropped. She backed away. "What's wrong, Generosity? I thought making clothes was what you pride yourself off of... or am I to expect that's only when you do it to impress royalty?" Celestia’s opened her eyes and looked to Mare Do Well.

“I understand. You ponies don’t realize firsthand the consequences of what you have done. By neglecting the concerns of one pony, for choosing someone’s comfort over the safety of Canterlot, you have caused significant damage. Not just to this kingdom, but to its ponies. You were just too busy celebrating to notice the wounds that these ponies must lick. But I shall show you. Seize them.” Mare Do Well said. The ponies marched towards the castle. The guards readied themselves for a possible attack, though with the two Princesses, they were more or less backup. Luna scowled as light emitted from her horn and her eyes glowing white.

“Get away, thou ungrateful whelps!” Her Royal Canterlot Voice echoed through the crowd. There was a loud thunder crash, causing the crowd of ponies to back away in panic. Some even ran away from the castle. She was about to fire off a blast before one calm voice sounded out.

“Luna.” Celestia said. She stepped forward as Luna settled down. She looked at the crowd, not with scorn, bitterness, or sorrow, but with compromise.

“As I stated, Twilight’s not ready to be a princess. Not yet, anyways. She has much to learn and yet she’s nearly completed her learning.” Celestia said. Twilight looked at her with curiosity.

Just what was she talking about?, she wondered.

“She can’t become one overnight, or any time soon. We need patience. But, if you ponies wish for it to be so, Luna will take my spot as Princess until either Twilight is eligible to become one herself or Cadance returns and decides to rule Canterlot.” Celestia said. The Ponies who supported Celestia in the protest, Twilight and her friends, and even her sister all shouted one large word: "WHAT!?"

“Sister, shouldn’t thou rethink this?” Luna asked. Celestia looked to her.

“Luna, I’ve done a terrible thing yesterday. I’ve let my ponies down, and they are upset and scarred by this. The least I could do is acknowledge their wishes.” Celestia said.

“Noble words for you to say, Celestia. You, at the very least, know the consequences of what you did. Your Bearers, on the other hand, don’t. I shall show them what sort of damage was caused on Canterlot firsthand, and then I shall bring them into a building of my choosing and make sure they understand what they have done.” Mare Do Well said.

“Is that all? Is that all you will do to them?” Celestia looked to Mare Do Well, who gave her a nod. “If I step down right now, would you promise me you’d be merciful on my student’s friends?” Celestia asked.

“Ahhh… You have the soft heart of a mare...” Mare Do Well chuckled, though she straightened up once Luna glared at her. “Yes. I promise they won’t be harmed... physically.” Mare Do Well said, muttering the last part. Soon, Twilight stepped forward.

“Don’t do this to them! Please! They were fooled into leaving me and I could understand why they did so! But I’ve forgiven them! Please don’t harm them!” Twilight said, trying to hold back her tears. Mare Do Well went up to Twilight simply put his hoof on her head and brushed her hair. She looked at her like a parent would to their child.

“Magic... You may have forgiven them, but they haven’t. I haven’t. Not yet. And... perhaps you haven’t forgiven them either...” Mare Do Well said.

“WHAT THE BUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?” Twilight shoved her head off Mare Do Well’s hoof and glared at her. Mare Do Well was briefly fazed before she spoke.

“I can feel it in you. A pony who you hate to the very core. You may have forgiven your friends, but you still feel bitter about something that happened on that day. Who’s to say you haven’t really forgiven them and that there’s some repressed anger towards them for not standing by your side? Or perhaps it’s anger towards your mentor for not helping you see the error of your ways? Is there a pony in your life that you can’t forgive?” Mare Do Well asked.

“I… I…” Twilight muttered. She never thought of that until now. Mare Do Well nodded to the ponies as they grabbed Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie and dragged them off. “No! Wait!” Twilight shouted.

“Give it some thought. I know you have some anger in you, Magic.” Mare Do Well said, walking off with the crowd. Celestia and Luna shared the same glare

“Don’t go back on your word!” Celestia said to Mare Do Well, though he paid no heed. The only ponies left at the castle were the three: Luna, Celestia, and Twilight. Luna growled, proceeded to punch the castle wall with her hoof and chipped the brick.

“I could have easily restrained the crowd and stopped this whole riot.” Luna said.

“Yes, you would have… but what would that prove? It’s like Mare Do Well said. They’re scared and worried about how we rule Canterlot. If we silence them like that, that would only confirm their fears.” Celestia said. She could hear sobs from Twilight. There she thought of something. Maybe she could help her after all. Perhaps there was something wrong to all this… Maybe there might be a miracle to fix this. Celestia went over to Twilight.

“What was that you said before, when that foal came and cried?” She asked.

“That… That…” Twilight fought through the sobs, but as soon as she figured it out, she stood up, her voice cleared of any sadness. “The Changelings couldn’t kill something that would provide food for them! They wouldn’t waste it!” Twilight said.

“And how, pray tell, does that help?” Luna asked.

“Something’s very fishy about all this. I’m gonna try and fix this, Princess. By the end of the day, we’ll be smiling and partying like yesterday!” Twilight said to Celestia.

“I hope you do.” Celestia said, walking off.

“H-hey! Where are you going!?” Twilight asked Celestia.

“I wasn’t lying when I said that I would step down. Mare Do Well was right... Even if the situation was out of my hooves, there was a point where I could have prevented it. I have a lot to think about.” Was all she said before she flew off into the skies. Luna and Twilight were stunned. How could they begin their investigation into Mare Do Well after seeing Celestia depart like that?

A slight cough gave the answer. Twilight turned around and saw the red Pegasus.

“Um… Hi? Don’t suppose you need help?” He asked them.

Comments

[The Great Derpsby]

One question.

Who is "Leon"?

[Psyga315]

3498610
I was going to say this somewhere down the road, but I guess the earlier the better.

When I first started on The Masked Accuser, the Mare Do Well character was going to be a Stallion and his name would be Leon (as in Stal-leon). During the drafting of chapter 2, a more sensible idea emerged from my head, and so I scrubbed through chapter 1 to fit that idea. This meant changing Leon's name to Mare Do Well and all mentions of his gender and stitched costume (there was a plot point that the Mare Do Well outfit was stitched up to fit a stallion), as well as a plot point involving his anger towards Rarity that would serve as foreshadowing. I'll explain more when the story finishes.

But basically "Leon" was originally Mare Do Well before she got changed to the character she is now, and what you saw was just a mistake on my part. My apologies.

[Black Kyurem]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! This is just sweet justice, dear friend! Please, continue this story! Black Kyurem would die to know how this turns out! HAHAHA!!!

[ElJorro]

Less...Petty Purpose...

Hit it right on the head.

[Tank the turtle]

Err... while a cantalot wedding does have probelms, the case presented here seems a bit lacking. First when the numbers of casualties among the whole city population is only 2, theres not a lot to complain about. There might be some cries of concern but there wouldnt be a revolt like this.

Also that weird mentioning of incest is weird. While people can be jealous when a family member gets married especially when they are younger than said family member, its not incestuous in nature. Its more like concern that the the new spouse could potentially unbalance a family dynamic. This usually fades quickly, but considering that Shining didnt introduce his bride to be until the day of the wedding there wouldnt be enough time to get to know each other. This would be more the mind set they would have.

This is countered by the fact Twilight knows and likes Cadance, which is the sole thing that shouldve been mentioned. Adding the incest comment to the mix is weird.

[marinus18]

One thing though is that Twilight wasn't actually right. She thought fake Cadance to be evil but she truly believed her to be the real Cadance. The same kindhearted and gentle filly that foalsat her and that she had such a strong bond with.
I think Cadance may be even more hurt with that. That Twilight would believe she could turn into something like that. Also we don't really know if Chrysalis is evil, she does care about her subjects.

Strange that Celestia gives in so easily to such demands though.

[Tali_The_Lamia]

6476856
Ok maybe chrysalis isn't evil, still its completely alright to invade a country and enslave them?
Also twilight just believe it wasn't cadence not a changeling.