Battle Between Monarchs

The day had been going as well as expected, with the exception of a seemingly wild accusation from her prized pupil during a practice ceremony for the wedding. At the time, the solar princess and co-ruler of Equestria had simply dismissed her student just like her friends and brother. She still remembered the feeling of massive disappointment she'd felt, a feeling she hadn't had to endure ever since her long lost student Sunset Shimmer.

But unlike her previous student, Twilight hadn't been engulfed in a craving for power. She had only tried warning her, and she'd brushed her trusted student aside. She'd played right into her enemy's hooves, and now she was facing the consequences.

"How? How could I have been so blind?" Princess Celestia questioned this over and over again as she looked over the crashed wedding.

The wedding was supposed to be between Shining Armor, caption of her royal guard, and her own niece Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. She'd known Cadenza since she'd ascended, helped her through the rough first years of being an alicorn. Yet she was blind enough to turn her eye from how different her niece had been acting ever since she'd arrived in Canterlot.

It turns out that Cadenza had been replaced by a queen of a race that had only been heard about in rumors and folklore. This queen, along with the rest of her species has the ability to shapeshift into a perfect copy of another creature. The queen had captured the real princess of love and replaced her, trotting around Canterlot in her nieces body and tarnishing her name. Not only that, but her real niece had been rescued by Twilight from deep within the crystal caverns underneath Canterlot. She was weak from lack of food and water, her mane and tail disheveled as well as her pink coat which had several splotches of black on it from bruising.

The queen herself, stood before the audience that had been expecting a nice royal wedding. She had a black chitin with holes poking through each of her four hooves. On her back was a pair of insect-like wings which buzzed loudly as she hovered in the air. She also had a horn, but hers was twisted and had holes, making it look rotten. She had a greenish blue mane and tail, both equally messy and holed. Atop her head was a small black crown, signifying her spot as queen.

"You are a smart one, much smarter than your mentor." The queen stated, staring down at Twilight who'd taken a protective stance before the real Princess Cadenza. "But I'm afraid you are far too late to stop me. My armies are banging down your precious defences as we speak, and your captain is completely under my control!"

"Who are you?" Twilight asked, her gaze flipping between the queen and her completely still brother.

"I, am Queen Chrysalis! Ruler of the changeling hive, and soon to be ruler of Equestria!" Queen Chrysalis declared, holding up her left forehoof in triumph.

The crowd of attended ponies began panicking, several making mad dashes towards the open doors that led out of the wedding hall. Yet, before a single pony could make it to safety, six guests shut the doors and blocked the way, earning several looks of confusion. Not a second later did all six guests become engulfed in green flames, burning off their disguises and revealing six smaller looking changelings.

The crowd was definitely panicking now, and the Queen was taking it all in with a massive fanged grin. "Trying to leave before the bride and groom kiss? How rude."

Queen Chrysalis turned her back on the crowd of panicking ponies, her eyes locked on the incapacitated Shining Armor. Her horn began to glow, its green aura wrapping around her horn like a snake. Right before she could cast the spell, a loud voice rang throughout the chamber.

"ENOUGH!" Princess Celestia boomed in the royal canterlot voice, something she rarely used anymore.

The sudden shout had caused everypony to face the princess, including the queen and her six infiltrators. Celestia's usual calm mask had been cracked, her normal smile replaced with an uncharacteristic snarl. Her eyes were locked on Chrysalis, the fury of the sun flowing through them.

Celestia advanced towards Chrysalis, her snarl devolving into a still menacing looking frown. She halted right before Chrysalis, their muzzles practically touching and their horns colliding against each other.

"Queen Chrysalis, I shalt give you one warning. Rid your spell on my captain and surrender peacefully, or face the wrath of the sun." Celestia exclaimed, her voice still containing her usual tone but failing to conceal the venom tracing her words.

"You really think you're in the place to negotiate Princess? May I remind you who's got control over the only thing keeping my armies from swarming your city?" Chrysalis responded, her grin still present.

"Just because you've got control over a shield, doesn't mean my subjects aren't protected from your armies." Celestia stated, breaking off their horn wrestle and rising into the air with her white feathered wings. "Just because Shining Armor can't cast his spells, doesn't mean I can't protect my subjects from you!"

With those final words spoken, Celestia charged up her magic and unleashed a beam of pure yellow colored magic at Chrysalis. The Queen reacted with her own magical beam of green energy, meeting Celestia's blast in the middle of its path. The two beams clashed, Celestia's beam ever slowly creeping towards Chrysalis. The Queen had a split of fear shine through her face, desperately trying to pour more power into the blast.

Just as the ponies began to cheer, a twist of power caused Celestia's beam of energy to get pushed back. Suddenly, the tables had turned, with Chrysalis's beam climbing towards Celestia. Before the princess could react, Chrysalis's beam struck her horn, sending her flying downwards into the chambers tiled floors, her golden crown landing aside her with an audible clank.

That made everycreature in the room stare in shock and horror, even Chrysalis had a look of surprise for a few seconds at her own work. Yet, that quickly changed into a grin, then to full on evil laughter. The queen rose into the air with her insect wings, clearly believing she'd just been the victor.

"It appears Shining Armor's love for you Cadence is even more powerful than I expected. I'm even more powerful than Celestia herself!" Chrysalis declared to the crowd of ponies.

Twilight, along with the bridesmaids who were her best friends rushed over to Celestia's side. The alabaster white alicorn grunted a bit, the top of her horn singed black. But she rose back to her hooves, doing her best to ignore the pain from the powerful attack.

Seeing their princess rise again helped calm the six ponies, but only a bit. Twilight helped Celestia stand back up completely, thankful that her mentor was somewhat alright.

"Princess? Are you ok?" Twilight inquired.

"A little drained, but i'm fine. I've taken worse hits from my- from Nightmare Moon." Celestia answered. "But your brother has against his will given Chrysalis a hefty boost of power."

Celestia broke her stare at Chrysalis, her eyes locking onto her prized pupil who she should of listened to from the beginning. "I've made a mistake ignoring your accusations, and now there's a large threat against Ponykind. I need you and your friends to retrieve the elements of harmony."

"But what about Chrysalis and her army? We might not be able to get there before the barrier shatters!" Twilight pointed out.

"If you can't reach the elements in time, then get to safety. Try and alert my sister as well, she's more battle ready than myself. I'll hold off Chrysalis."

"But you're hurt!"

"Nothing a good night's rest won't fix. Now go!" Celestia ordered, breaking eye contact with Twilight and returning her gaze to Chrysalis.

Twilight and her friends took off towards the still guarded doors. Celestia used her magic to engulf the changelings in her aura, lifting them into the air and allowing the mane six to exit the chambers. She then flung the changelings against a pillar, knocking them unconscious. Several guests took this opportunity to leave as well, quickly evacuating the chamber of ponies.

Chrysalis noticed this, but decided to turn her focus once again on Shining Armor. With one quick spell cast, Shining was struck down, his protection spell weakening even more. She was about to finish the job with one last cast, but her attention was captured by a quick bolt of yellow magic that narrowly cut against her mane. The queen's grin faded, replaced with an annoyed frown as she turned to face Celestia once again.

"You really want to fight someone who's far more powerful than you?" Chrysalis questioned.

Princess Celestia levitated her discarded crown from its spot on the ground and set it back on her head. Right as she did this, a magical stream of energy emitted from the purple jewels on her regalia. These streams of purple energy soon changed to a golden color, but it wasn't the color of Celestia's aura. The energy quickly dissipated, revealing a weapon with a long handle and sharp edges. The weapon was a cross between a battle axe and a spear, a weapon she hadn't wielded in over a millennial.

"If it's to protect my little ponies, then i'd do it without a second thought."