An Excessive Dream of Victory

"I don't have the strength to repel them..."

"My love will give you strength."

No! Queen Chrysalis thought as she stared at the royal couple. Princess Cadance in her tattered wedding dress and Prince Shining Armor in his guard's uniform, clasped hands as they stood on the throne room's podium. Their eyes began to glow as they were enwreathed in light, their mutual love powering up Shining's unicorn magic. The ponies slowly levitated into the air, waves of bright pink magic radiating from their horns.

The queen of the changelings fell to one knee, knocked off balance by the building repellent spell. Dismay and fear welled up within her as she realized that she had lost. Even as her changeling swarm terrorized the streets of Canterlot below, after her own magic had defeated Princess Celestia herself, and as the Prince's sister and her friends had failed to stop her, she was being beaten by the very ponies, the very love, that she had tried to feed on. The queen's mane flowed behind her as gusts of magical energy began pushing her backwards. In moments the spell would be released and she and her changelings would be blasted away from Canterlot, banished back to the badlands they had hidden in...or worse.

There was one hope left. A spell the queen had been crafting during the weeks she had been impersonating Princess Cadance. A spell combining the natural magic of changelings with old unicorn magic, which Chrysalis had surreptitiously taken from the Canterlot archives. A bewitching spell more powerful than what she had used on Shining Armor, more powerful than ANY changeling magic she knew, useful for corrupting the minds of a room - or a castle - full of hapless ponies.

Queen Chrysalis still felt the power of Shining Armor's stolen love welling within her. She took a breath and focused herself, quickly weaving the spell in her mind and dumping all of her remaining magic behind it. Her crooked black horn glowed a bright green , pushing back against the waves of pink still erupting from the royal couple. The spell was untested - it might not even work - but the desperate queen focused it anyways, her stubborn pride and spite overwhelming any concern she had for safety.

Just as Shining and Cadance's magic reached a crescendo, Chrysalis finished the spell. The changeling queen took one last look at the royal couple, then willed herself to cast it. There was a crash of window glass around her, a bright flash of blue-white light before her eyes, and then blackness.

"...queen, are you alright?"

"Ugh..." Chrysalis groaned as she came to. The changeling queen opened her eyes to find herself in the familiar throne room of Canterlot Castle, lying prone on the red carpet leading up to the podium. Her breath hitched as she looked up to see Shining Armor standing above her, hand outstretched, a look of concern on his face.

The queen's muscles tensed, and she pushed herself up into a kneeling position, willing away a mild headache in the back of her head, wary of any attempt to attack her while she was dazed and unprepared.

"You must have fainted while we were rehearsing the ceremony. Are you sure you're alright?" Shining asked again.

"Yes..." Chrysalis replied, warily taking his hand, "I'm fine." She pushed her mane out of her eyes with her free hand, then looked around the room.

Cadance was gone. There was no sign of the pink alicorn princess. Princess Celestia was also missing, though she was securely cocooned against the chamber wall just moments before. Chrysalis surveyed the crowd and observed that Twilight Sparkle and her five friends were absent as well. The only ponies present were a few dozen wedding guests in tuxedos and dresses plus several Canterlot Castle servants in their starched white uniforms. They all stared back at her with looks of concern and apprehension.

"Shining, I-" Chrysalis turned back to Shining Armor, but fell silent upon looking into his eyes. There was a pale green glint around his blue eyes, nearly imperceptible to passers-by but a dead giveaway for changeling mind control magic.

"Yes, my love?" Shining Armor smiled back warmly.

A feeling of elation began bubbling up inside the queen as she dropped Shining's hand and paced towards the assembled guests. Everypony had the same green glint around their eyes.

An evil smile crept onto Chrysalis' face. It worked! Her inner voice cried. The bewitching spell actually worked! She strolled back to the prince and took his hand. "What day is it, Shiny?" she asked innocently.

"What do you mean?" Shining replied with a chuckle. "It's the day of our wedding, my queen."

The changeling bristled upon hearing the word 'queen.' She looked down and realized, somewhat obviously, that she was undisguised. Her dark-skinned form was clad only in the holed black fabric slip she usually wore while in disguise. This must be the spell's doing, she thought with trepidation. It works without me hiding my true form!

"Of course, Shining." Chrysalis replied smoothly. "And will my drones be arriving soon?"

Shining Armor frowned. "Drones? I...don't think we're expecting any more guests..."

Queen Chrysalis stared back in puzzlement. Her mind felt alone, the weak magical link she shared with her changeling swarm unusually absent. She also couldn't help feeling that she was naked, standing there undisguised amidst dozens of ponies who didn't consider her a threat. Shaking off Shining's hand again, the queen crossed her arms as if cold and strolled over to the castle window. She looked outside to see ponies happily strolling the streets of Canterlot - and no protective magical shields or swarms of changeling drones in sight.

"I...must go...find my hive," Chrysalis muttered, making eyes for the doors.

"Go?! There's no time, your majesty! The ceremony begins in an hour!" a nervous servant-pony proclaimed.

"You don't want to call off our wedding, do you?" Shining asked worriedly as he stepped towards her.

Chrysalis turned and surveyed her stallion prize, as well as the crowd of ponies murmuring behind him. She felt the glow of his love radiating towards her, warming her body and empowering her magic. The same glow she felt more faintly from every other pony in the castle. It felt good, very good, and it was all directed at her, the real her, not the prissy pink princess she had forced to disguise herself as.

The prospect of leaving this love behind, even for a moment, suddenly seemed foolish. She had WON, Shining was hers, she had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The marriage awaited, along with a feast of affection from the hapless, bewitched ponies of Canterlot. This day really was going to be perfect.

"No, of course not, Shining," Chrysalis replied, licking her lips and grinning evilly. "Let us be married today!"