Author's Note

SO here we are. A full month later than I anticipated, but we're here. I originally wanted to have this chapter be longer, but I decided to split it into two and flesh out the 'epilogue' before actually writing the epilogues.

We're nearing the end, ladies and gents, and I must say it's been a fun ride. This is the first story I've ever written that I really felt was actually GOOD. Not in the moment you think it's good and it's really bad kind of good, but actually one that you are proud of. And I'm really happy about that. =).

So anyway, here's the somewhat final chapter, Ch. 24: The Queen Revealed

Ch.24: The Queen Revealed

POP!

Cadence's magic dumped the three of them unceremoniously onto the castle grounds, landing in the main courtyard with a THUD and a few curses on James' part.

"Sorry! It's been a little while since I teleported three ponies," Cadence apologized, dusting the dirt off of her tattered clothes, "Oh dear, James, you feeling okay?"

James felt a little sick, a sign of Cadence's mistake, and stayed sitting down for a moment more to let his body catch its proverbial breath, "I'm fine, but remind me to never teleport with you again. I don't think my stomach would be too happy."

"HALT! In the name of the Crown, put your hands in the air!" A feminine, but forceful shout came from in front of them.

The order was obeyed swiftly by all three as they got to their feet. Approaching them and leveling spears at them were three Solar guards, fanning out to the three's flanks.

"Corona, I know you're just doing your job, but for the love of God, put your spear down. I'm too damn tired and I'm this close to committing a war crime on the next person to threaten me," James boomed, still keeping his hands in the air.

"James?" Corona's face relaxed with relief as she gestured to her fellow guardsmares to lower their weapons, "Goddess, where have you been? We've been tearing the city apart looking for you!"

"I'll tell you on the way, but it's imperative that we get to the Princess and the ceremony. She and everyone in that hall is in danger!"

"What do you mean? Who's threatening the Princess?" she lost her balance for a moment as James pushed past her, soon following him along with the others.

"The Cadence about to be married is an imposter and she intends to invade the city with an army, if what Cadence here has told me is true!"

Corona gave a glance back to Cadence, who shot an apologetic smile and wave towards her, "My oh my. I get the feeling I'm gonna have to earn my paycheck tonight."

She shot a glance to her subordinate, "Send a runner to Princess Luna immediately and inform her that James has been recovered. Pass along this possible threat to the Lieutenant, we will inform the Crown."

"Yes, Ma'am," she quickly flew off to carry out her orders.

A low rumble of the ground stopped them in their tracks, the pink shield above them flickering off for a split second before hastily reappearing once more.

"That doesn't sound good," Corona mumbled.

"No it doesn't. Come on, we have to stop that wedding," James motioned to the door.

The trip to the great hall was brief and swift, Corona taking point to guide them there. Coming to the ornately decorated, wide double doors, James abruptly stopped in front of them.

"Alright, what's our move here?" he confided, the others formed a group huddle around him.

"If we can get her to reveal herself and her true nature, Princess Celestia should be able to take care of her," Twilight chimed in.

"Are you confident in her abilities to dispose of this imposter? We don't even know who she is or what she can do, especially since she's leading a supposed siege on the city," James suggested, a small crease in his brow.

Twilight snorted, waving her hand dismissively, "I haven't seen Princess Celestia fight someone she couldn't handle. We can count on her."

"If you all can handle this, and I agree that the Princess should be more than enough to handle this imposter, I need to regroup with my squad and lieutenant to repel this possible invasion. There should be guardsmares stationed in there that should be able to help you," Corona stated as she got to her hooves.

"Be well, and Be safe, Corona. I don't want to have to be your pallbearer at your funeral just yet," James nodded.

"I'll be fine, James. Be safe," and with that, she started to jog away.

With Corona having left, he turned back to Twilight, "That reminds me Twilight. What about the other Changelings outside? We can't just waltz in and---"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, James, but right now, my husband is about to be married off to some insect tyrant and I refuse to let that happen. Now can we get in there and stop this bitch?" Cadence abruptly cut him off with an annoyed, retributive glare.

He sighed, rising to his feet, "Yeah, you're right. Come on, y'all, let's get this over with."

And with those words said, he shoved the heavy doors open in a surprising display of strength, one that even he was startled by.

"Made in God's own image, yes sir," he muttered, eying up his muscles.

"Stop the wedding!" Cadence shouted, crossing into the great hall with Twilight and glaring at the imposter.

The crowd gasped, looking to each other with a startled and confused manner. A faint whisper permeated through the bodies of ponies to gauge what was happening.

"Two Princesses?" James heard the southern drawl of Applejack, "But how can that be?"

"She's a Changeling! She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power off the love you have towards them!" Cadence explained, taking a step forward past James and standing defiantly towards the imposter.

"How did you get past my gu- bridesmaids?" the imposter snarled.

"Guess your bridesmaids aren't as good as you think. Now, I'm only going to ask this once, but step away from Mr. Armor and put your hands behind your head," James threatened.

The fake Cadence laughed, "And what are you going to do to make me? I've already got your aces in the hole."

She held up her dress for James to see his .45 nestled comfortably in her garter belt on her left leg. James cursed silently to himself, the suspicions in the back of his mind coming true. He put on a cocky, sure look, "Ah yes, bravo. You got my gun. But I don't need a pistol or a rifle, which I also assume you swiped, to kick your ass."

"Oh hoh hoh," she continued to laugh, her horn pulsing with green magic. There was a flash of light and the once pink, supple skin the imposter once had began to burn away to black, chitinous skin via a ferocious green magical flame. It seemed not to bother her as she kept that sinister look on the whole time she transformed. Supple, majestic pink wings turned to spidery, silky ones. Soon, Queen Chrysalis in all her glory stood before them, still clad in the wedding dress, but without her veil.

"You're a clever man. It seems I underestimated you, but no longer," her pointed snake tongue wove around in the air in some form of 'intimidation' stance, "I have Shining Armor under my total control. And when my changelings break the shield, we'll be able to DEVOUR so much love, that we will be more powerful than we ever dreamed of!"

"Shining Armor's shield will prevent them from ever making it through!" Cadence shot back, a twinge of desperation in her eyes.

Chrysalis cackled to herself, placing a hand on her chest, "Oh, don't you think I've planned for that, dearie?"

James shot forward in an attempt to restrain her.

"Ah ah ah, we wouldn't want dear Luna to go to the caves, now would we?" she threatened.

"Wha- What did you do to her?" he faltered, burning with a newfound anger. Celestia looked both worried and furious as well; he couldn't tell which one.

"That's for me to know. And if you wish for her pretty little fingers to remain on her hand, you three will stay right where you are," the queen smiled malevolently.

Twilight, Cadence, and James, however reluctantly, did as they were told and stood down.

Chrysalis continued, "Ever since I took your place, Cadence, I've been feeding off the love this stallion has for you. Every moment, he grows weaker and weaker. His love is sweet and rich in energy. Why it's the most invigorated I've felt in a long while. And when my changelings taste his love, they will be unstoppable. First, we take Canterlot and then, All of Equestria!"

"No, you won't," Celestia glowered, taking a step towards Chrysalis, "You may have weakened Shining Armor's shield spell, but since you have so foolishly revealed yourself."

Her horn lit up with the soft yellow glow James had become so familiar with, Chrysalis following in her example, "I shall protect my subjects from you!"

James' eyes hurt as they strained to protect themselves from the explosion of yellow and green light that shot from Celestia's and Chrysalis' horns. The raw power was enough to knock him down to his knees, similar to a really windy day back in Kentucky, as he and many others moved their hands over their eyes and watched.

Their attacks met in the middle and soon it was a battle of magical strength, both straining and wrestling for control. It was maybe five seconds, but soon and to the surprise of everypony in the room, the sickly green beam was slowly gaining ground. Celestia's eyes widened, struggling more and more against Chrysalis' attack, but it was too late. She was thrown back, sliding across the marble floor, dazed with crackles of green lightning coursing around her horn.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight shouted, running over to her. The crowd screamed and panicked, most rushing out of the room in desperation

Even Chrysalis herself was surprised by her victory, standing there with an astonished expression for but a millisecond. Quickly, a cocky, arrogant grin spread across her face and she evilly laughed.

"Go, you must get the elements of harmony, quick- argh!- ly, Twilight," James overheard Celestia mutter to Twilight and her friends. Cadence tried to rush towards her husband while Chrysalis was distracted, but was knocked unconscious swiftly with a spell from her and trapped in a gooey substance.

He heard a rustling of dresses behind him and he turned to see the six girls, and most of the guests, hurrying for the exit. Chrysalis, hissing at the group, swung the doors shut with her magic, trapping them in. Her ingenious plan would have succeeded to, if there wasn't a white fist heading straight for her jaw.

James' fist connected, letting out a harsh WAP, and Chrysalis staggered backwards before falling into the pulpit.

"I've just about had it up to hear with you," James barked, backing up from the dazed queen and trying not to show how painful his hand felt from the punch, "Get up. GET UP! We ain't finished yet!"

Chrysalis looked dazed for a moment, her eyes unfocused and her mouth slightly agape. She had the most piercing of headaches, but quickly snapped to James.

"You insufferable man!" Chrysalis hissed back, getting to her hooves and wiping away some green blood that trickled out of her nose. James put his fists up, hoping to bait her into a fistfight with him. Smartly, she backed away and lit her horn again.

He sprinted forward, needing to act quickly before he took a face full of magic, and threw a punch again. Chrysalis was ready this time, daintily dodging out of his way, and shooting a bolt of magic at his back. It singed his clothes and he let out a grunt of pain as his skin burned. He recovered quickly, whipping around to face her, and eyed his pistol, still strapped neatly in her belt. He was surprised she hadn't pulled it out already and shot him, which he may be able to use to his advantage. If he could just get to it...

He wasn't paying attention for a split second and narrowly dodged another punch. He could feel the force of the air hit his cheeks as her fist sailed by him. He was about to retaliate with his own strike, but she'd already grabbed his head in her magic and threw him into the wooden pulpit. His skull made contact and the mahogany pulpit made a nice head shaped crack in its frame. Bits of jagged planks fell to the ground aside a crumpled James.

God, everything hurt. His eyes saw stars and static as he tried to reorient himself, his arms and legs swinging wildly around as he tried to grab onto something and get back up. His head throbbed something fierce and the pain was almost too much to bear. Another swift kick to his liver made him double over in agony and clutch at his abdomen, feeling as though he would throw up.

Damn, this bitch was strong, both physically and magically. He suppressed the twinge of hopelessness that was starting to surface in his mind and slowly turned to face his opponent again. His legs were about level with her knees and seeing his opportunity to recover, he gave a brutal kick to her right kneecap as she was charging a nasty looking spell. Chrysalis hissed in pain, similar to an insect, and backed away from him quickly, clutching her knee in agony. It gave him enough time to get to his feet again and capitalize on his advantage. He ran at her like a linebacker, grabbed her by the collar of the dress, and threw her down on the ground. Sitting over her chest, he repeatedly punched and smacked her brutally, some of her green blood flying to the side after a particularly hard one. She lit her horn to try and get him off her, but he grabbed it by the shaft and began to bang her head against the floor.

Chrysalis was able to desperately wrest her hands out of his restraints, delivered a punch across his lip, and threw him off her with a surprising show of strength. She shot away from him like a deer and was up again.

She eyed him like an angry lion, eager to devour and destroy her prey. James didn't give her the chance to, as he was upon her once more. She threw up a quick shield, James barreling into it and only being temporarily stopped, and frantically reached for the pistol on her belt. He wildly smashed and struck the magical defense as she did, the magic starting to flounder under his continuous pressure. Just as she fished out the silvery piece, her shield shattered into pieces and scattered across the floor like glass before disappearing. She leveled the barrel of the gun to James face, but he quickly slapped it out of her hands, the handgun skidding across the marble a few feet away from them. He jabbed again, the pale knuckles whiffing entirely as she leaned away and delivered her own forceful strike to his face. His cheek cut on her coarse chitinous knuckle and some blood flew out of his mouth.

She pressed her advantage, taking control of the fight and advancing on him. He weakly put up his arms to block his face, but it didn't do much to stop her advance. A particularly hard punch hit him in his rib and knocked some of the air out of him, more speckles of blood flying out of his mouth as he stumbled backwards.

This was going from bad to worse. He hadn't anticipated Chrysalis being as strong as Celestia and certainly couldn't keep this up much longer. Hopefully, Twilight and her friends were on their way here and could finish the job. He dodged a punch weakly and landed a punch across her snout. This short-lived victory became his downfall as Chrysalis delivered an extra hard strike across his cheek.

It dazed him enough as he stumbled backward and fell to the ground, groaning from the pain. He felt his eye swelling and more blood starting to trickle out of his nose. His hands weakly reached for his face in an attempt to nurse his wounds, his head pounding and throbbing as he desperately tried to get back up. The hard clop of hooves reached his ears as he heard his enemy walk away, stop, and presumably grab something off the ground, at least he thought so. Now, her hoof falls were becoming closer and he tried to frailly crawl back away from her.

He mustered the strength to look up, seeing Chrysalis smiling wickedly and leveling the barrel of a familiar handgun towards his face.

"Any last words, you insolent man? Tell me..., I must hear them before you die," she chuckled.

He saw a flash of blue magic behind Chrysalis.

"Yeah, I do," he smiled back up at her, "Hi Honey."

Chrysalis' face dropped, her stupid smile wiped away in an instant. She whipped around to see a very VERY angry Princess Luna behind her. As he gazed into his beautiful beau's face, the only description he could come up with for how furious she looked was 'murder-fuck'. As in, the glare she gave Chrysalis suggested that she would murder the queen and promptly fuck her corpse so there was no chance that she could ever find her way into Heaven. He felt both aroused in a weird way and terrified to see this pissed off.

No words were exchanged as Luna promptly blasted Chrysalis with some death spell. He didn't really know what the exact spell was, but it didn't look like it had anything but murder on its mind. The queen had thrown a hasty shield up, but the sheer power in the beam pushed her meters back. Honestly, he was surprised he wasn't vaporized as soon as Luna shot the damn thing, not that he was complaining. He flexed his abdomen to try to get up and help his girl, but it quickly voiced its pain to him, his muscles failing and forcing him back down, only able to watch and hope Luna could finish the job.

Luna didn't let up, shooting another spell towards Chrysalis, and ferociously attacked her shield. The queen was slipping, James could see her clearly getting tired, but was still a threat. She shot a spell through her shield, singing Luna on the shoulder. His beautiful mare let out a screech of pain, which was enough to get James to try to sit up again and help fight. Luna was quick on the 'retaliatory draw' and shot a spell towards her, knocking Chrysalis back a little more and finally breaking her shield. She reached for the queen's neck, but Chrysalis was fast enough to catch Luna's wrists. A struggle ensued, horns crossed and neither giving up ground, as each grit their teeth in exertion. They stayed locked like this for about 10 seconds, but slowly, Luna began to lose ground as Chrysalis began to push Luna's hands away from her neck. Luna was pushed farther and farther back until Chrysalis let go and gave a swift punch across Luna's face, the blue alicorn falling to the ground.

James shot up, quick enough that he could retaliate but not fast enough for Chrysalis to hear. Before she could hit Luna again, or even worse hit her with a spell, he was on her, wrapping his arms around her neck and wrestling her away from Luna. Chrysalis sputtered for air, her hands flying to her neck to get him off. Her legs kicked, she coughed and struggled, but his hold was firm. Her charcoal black face started to turn red and punched wildly at anywhere on his person.

Unfortunately for him, she landed another solid elbow to his abdomen, possibly hitting his liver or another important organ again. He stumbled backwards in pain, heaving a little as his stomach suppressed the urge to throw up. His head pulsed with pain and his stumbling and head pain caused him to lose his balance, gracelessly flopping onto the deck again. He grappled with himself, wanting to stay down and try to recover, but his soul pushed him on.

He could hear the intense spell battle going on, the two monarchs having switched to a battle of magic from a physical one. James painfully turned himself over, the sudden pressure on his stomach causing the urge to vomit to return in full force. His right side stung in searing, burning agony, clenching his teeth and suppressing the urge to scream. With his right arm guarding his abdomen, he pitifully crawled with his left arm towards his silvery pistol.

God, this feels as bad as when he got hit by that grenade, though with much less burning. How did his younger self ever push through this much pain?

Miraculously, he completed his Herculean task, fumbling with the pistol before finally getting a good enough grip on it. His arms shook while he weakly pushed himself up.

Luna landed a hit on the mad queen, knocking her backwards and skidding across the floor. She stopped about 6 feet away from James, looking badly bruised, beaten, and running on fumes.

"Hey," James weakly yelled to her.

She glanced at him, a streak of green blood falling from her mouth.

"Safety was on, dipshit."

BLAM! BLAM!

Chrysalis' head exploded with green blood, two neat, but large .45 holes planted squarely in her forehead, her blood pooling underneath it and staining the pristine, white marble a sickly green.

After a few seconds, for the first time in awhile, James relaxed. He let out a long, relieved exhale, his shoulders softening and his body eased.

It was as he was easing himself, and consequently as the adrenaline was leaving, that he was reminded of something. That something being the excruciating amount of pain that he was in. Everything returned at once as it hit him just how bad of a shape he was in.

His fingers began to get that prickly feeling and his head was starting to spin. With his few remaining seconds, he sat down on the marble floor, laid his head down with what little strength he had left, and promptly passed out, the frightened yelp of his Princess being the last thing he heard before being whisked off to his involuntary nap.