It had been a few weeks since Twilight's School of Friendship had opened up. Princess Celestia had been content when the leaders of the other kingdoms backed off, and Neighsay was promptly dismissed as head of the EEA for his actions. It seemed that a new period of peace was at least going to come to Equestria, for the first time in what seemed like forever there were no new threats on the horizon and no long forgotten enemies that seemed poised to resurface.
But even in an age of peace life still goes on, Celestia was to receive an unusual invitation. And it all began when Shining Armor arrived at the castle in Canterlot to speak with her. He soon informed her of the reason for his visit.
"A play? About me?" Princess Celestia commented as she listened to every word spoken. "I'm flattered."
Shining smiled. "Thank Twilight, it was her idea. All to commemorate your onceversary, the anniversary of your first sun rise to be exact. I must say I'm surprised, I thought you'd been around for much longer than a little over a thousand years or so," Then he added. "If it's any consolation, you don't look a day over six hundred, maybe even younger."
Celestia couldn't resist a teasing smirk and a wink. "Watch it, Shining. I may be old but I am a princess. I could have you thrown in the dungeon for such an insensitive remark, but I'm not that kind of mare," Then she decided to change the subject. "But why exactly have you come to me?"
"To invite you to the play, of course," Shining nodded his head. "In fact, our students would be most honored if you would be willing to be a part of our play. Sandbar in particular is really looking forward to meeting with you."
The sun princess smiled and rose from her throne, happily prancing. "Oh, I think that's a fantastic idea! I'd love to join your play!" After a moment of prancing she composed herself and blushed a bit. "Forgive me for getting so excited, prince. It's just, I always felt I could've made a great actress had I not become a princess and ruler of this land. Sadly, I never found the time to take up lessons," Then she grinned. "Perhaps it would be best if I played myself? I know my own character inside and out, after all."
Shining shook his head. "I wouldn't recommend it, princess. Even for a low key play like this, you have no formal acting experience. And as much as Twiy would never admit it, you're not really an actress. We were thinking of something a little bit lower key, maybe managing special affects and directing the performers. That seems right up your alley."
Celestia smiled and nodded her head. "A fine compromise, Shining. I always do work best at managing others. Though I wouldn't sell my acting experiences so short. I do have to put on a mask for the nobility, so I know a thing or two about 'getting into character' as it were," But then she added. "Still, if you think my talents are best suited behind the curtain, I'll trust your judgement. The focus should be on the school and its students after all, not who the lead actress is. I'll come. I'll just need to clear things with Kibitz first, I'm sure he'll say yes but you never know."
While Shining Armor waited for Princess Celestia, back in Ponyville final preparations were unfolding for the play even as they waited for news about whether Celestia would be coming or not.
The students were being helped into costumes, most of them dressed up to resemble unicorns. There was, however, one detail that still needed to be sorted out. Who should play Starswirl the Bearded.
Starlight was handing out the scripts with her magic, and eventually she came to Ocellus. "Ocellus, since you're a changeling, we were thinking you could turn into Starswirl the Bearded for us," She explained to the young changeling. "Since we couldn't get the real Starswirl here to play himself, you're the next best thing."
But Ocellus blushed and nervously stepped back. "A-actually, I was kind of hoping for a smaller part. I'm... not so sure it's a good idea to have a changeling imitate somepony so important, even for a school play."
"Whyever not, Ocellus?" Sandbar questioned the changeling. "Don't you know how lucky you are? Any creature would give their hind leg to be someone so important. And you could impersonate Starswirl so well that nopony would ever know it wasn't actually him."
Ocellus gave a nervous gulp. "I'm... just not sure I'm cut out for it. If I mess up, ponies are gonna notice and they're gonna take offense."
Sandbar shook his head. "And they'd answer to me! Besides, I've seen you impersonate ponies so many times before, it's like second nature to you."
Starlight quickly deduced what the problem was. "You have stage fright, Ocellus. Don't you?"
Ocellus reluctantly nodded. "Is it really that obvious? I thought I'd done a good job of masking it."
"I am a guidance counselor," Starlight declared with a faint trace of pride in her tone of voice. "I didn't get the job without learning how to pick up on things. Besides, when you've hung around Fluttershy long ago you start to recognize the subtle things that others don't always even know they have or do when they're trying to cover something up," Then she added in a sincere tone of voice. "That's why you don't want to play Starswirl the Bearded, you're afraid of being in the spotlight."
Ocellus reluctantly confessed with a sigh. "Yeah, it's true. I know Smolder told me to be brave and more outgoing, and I wish I could be as energetic as Silverstream, or as easy going as Sandbar, or even as brave as Yona, but I'm not any of those things. I much prefer to hang back, let others take the lead."
Sandbar then offered. "Well if you're really that scared, Ocellus, you can take my place. I'll fill in for you as Starswirl the Bearded. It's only one play, I'm sure nopony will mind."
"Really? You'd take the lead role and let me be just a regular unicorn?" Ocellus commented. "That's so sweet of you to offer, Sandbar. You don't have to do this."
"Hey, I dressed up as Starswirl the Bearded for Nightmare Night just last year and read all about him in class," Sandbar replied to the changeling. "Besides, I'd do anything for a friend."
Starlight simply smiled. "Well then, I'll have to Twilight to bring out the Starswirl costume and put the last unicorn costume away."
But Ocellus blushed. "Actually, if everyone else is gonna be in costume, why can't I? It's only fair, they can't transform like I can."
"If you're sure that's what you really want, Ocellus," Starlight replied as she levitated over the costume and a script. "Get dressed and start working on your lines. You'd better start rehearsing too, Sandbar. Dress rehearsal will start soon, and something tells me Twilight will want to get it right in one take."
Not long after Starlight had left, the students were alone on the stage. They were still in the midst of rehearsing their lines, while Twilight was fussing about and grumbling. "Why isn't Shining back yet? And how come Princess Celestia's not with him? It isn't like them to be late."
"I'm sure they have a good reason," Spike reassured Twilight. "They probably had some important royal business to sort out or something. Or maybe the train's running late."
Twilight sighed and shook her head. "I told him to take the chariot, but he was so insistent on just flying in by himself."
However, at that very moment what appeared to be Shining Armor himself came trotting up onto the stage. But his coat seemed duller, and he appeared to be scowling for some reason.
Shining's friends all stopped to look at him, and Braeburn was the first to notice something off. "Hey, Shinin', what's with the new look?"
"Just where the hay have you been all day?!" Fancy Pants demanded of the prince. "Don't you know it's terribly impolite to keep others waiting?!"
Then Soarin noticed something. "Hey, how come Princess Celestia isn't with you? Didn't you tell her about our play?"
"Play?" Shining commented in a low tone, sounding almost devious. "Oh, yes... the play. Well... Princess Celestia will be along in good time. Now, where are the students? I wish to... speak to them."
"They're right over," Starlight gestured a hoof in blissful unawareness. "There's been a slight change of plans though. Sandbar will be playing Starswirl the Bearded instead of Ocellus, she has stage fright."
"I'll give her something to be afraid of," Shining remarked under his breath. "I'll give them all something to be afraid of," He approached the students, smiling in a rather unsettling way. "Hello, students."
Silverstream immediately took notice of the prince's noticeably different appearance. "Hey, now you're all grey and dreary. Is this another projection, like the Tree of Harmony? Are we being tested again?"
"The Tree of Harmony? You know about it?" The alicorn inquired of the young hippogriff.
"Duh, of course we know about it!" Smolder retorted with a snort, blowing a bit of smoke. "We learned about it in class, it was one of the first things Headmare Twilight taught us. Why do you care so much?"
Yona, meanwhile, spotted something on the prince's flank. "Pony's cutie mark is all wrong, shield is upside down. Do cutie marks change over time?"
Sandbar gulped. "They... they don't!"
Ocellus gasped! "Then that means he's an imposter, a changeling!"
The imposter laughed. "Should've known Thorax's protege would see through my ruse," And then he grinned. "Now then, Captain Obvious, here's what you and your friends have won for my little 'pop quiz'." He pulled on a lever as everypony came rushing towards him, preparing to engage him!
A trap door beneath the stage opened up, causing the students to fall! Fortunately, Ocellus, Silverstream, Gallus, and Smolder all quickly flapped their wings to escape. Ocellus then swooped down to snatch up Sandbar, and Gallus retrieved Yona. It took the griffon a lot of effort to carry Yona to safety. "Boy, Yona, you're really heavy! You need to go on a diet!"
"Yona not heavy! Yona perfect size and weight for yak!" Yona remarked with narrowed eyes as she was helped to safety.
Just then, the real Shining Armor came upon the stage alongside Princess Celestia. "What is going on here?!" He exclaimed with fright!
The imposter Shining Armor laughed, lighting up his horn and appearing before the prince. "I'm you! Or I should say, the better you! Your goody-goody two horseshoes garbage makes you weak, it holds you back!" But he was effortlessly subdued by a blast from Princess Celestia's horn.
"Sorry," The sun princess apologized. "I came here expecting a play, not to hear some two bit villain ramble on about how he evil is."
Shining then trotted up to his evil lookalike, quickly encasing him in his signature shield spell. "You've already caused enough damage! I won't let you harm my students anymore," He fiercely declared. "Now then, just who or what are you, imposter?! Who or what sent you here to no doubt try and make me look bad?!"
From within the bubble the fake Shining laughed rather wickedly and flashed a toothy smile. "Come now, do you have to ask that question? Who do you think could have the means to do such a thing? Who do you think would benefit from all of this?"
"What are you talking abou-" Shining began, only to gasp in horror as a realization struck him! "No, it can't be!"
But sure enough, as he turned to look the familiar form of Queen Chrysalis was walking up on the scene, humming a little tune to herself:
This day's going to be perfect,
The kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small.
Everypony was gathering 'round, said I looked lovely in my gown,
What they don't know is that I had fooled them all!
"Hello, prince, it's been a long time," Chrysalis purred in that sickeningly sweet tone of hers. "I see you've been busy. Now you've got an entire school of students, including a traitor to the changeling cause, an ally of that no good Thorax!"
Shining lit up his horn, as did Princess Celestia, Twilight, and even Starlight. Several others stared down at the queen, as if waiting for her to make a move. "You dare to show your face in my presence yet again, especially after the stunt you just pulled. Are you stupid or just really arrogant?" Shining demanded. "If your goal was to make me angry, you've done an excellent job of it so far!"
Chrysalis only snickered. "Come now, Shining Armor. Are you going to insist that clone was my doing? I'll have you know, he has no loyalty to me even though I created him. He was supposed to take your place and infiltrate the group, but instead he ran off on me and attacked your students all of his own free will. I'm very much a victim here too, you can't pin a thing on me."
"Then why seek me out? Why come after me at all?" Shining demanded again as he stomped a hoof down. "You've got five seconds, Chrysalis. Then I'm blasting your sorry hide to kingdom come and back!"
The former changeling queen grinned rather maliciously. "I simply wish to propose one final showdown, oh prince. If you manage to defeat me, I promise I'll be out of your mane for good."
The prince shook his head. "And you think I'll agree to such terms? I know you, Chrysalis. And I know you are anything but a changeling of your word," He then growled. "I'm only gonna say this once. Give up, or get beaten. I've no intention of letting you slip away again. One way or another, you will be brought to justice and put away. Even if I have to drag you to Tartarus by myself."
"A poor choice, prince. I offered you a peaceful and sensible solution. But if that's really the way you want to play, then fine by me," Chrysalis taunted as she lit up her horn and surrounded herself with the sickly green glow of her magic. "Catch me if you can, because I'm sure as heck not gonna simply let you arrest me. I'm not stupid!"
Shining dove for Chrysalis, but he was too late to stop her from vanishing! He roared as his eyes narrowed! "Coward! You're not getting away, Chrysalis! Not this time!" And before anyone could stop him he had flapped his wings and taken to the skies.
"Shining, wait, don't run off by yourself!" Soarin shouted only for his pleas to fall on deaf ears. "That idiot, he's walking right into a trap. We've got to go after him, pronto!"
But Princess Celestia shook her head. "No, this is Shining's fight and Shining's fight alone. We must tend to his imposter and see to it that the clone does not escape," Then she added. "Besides, we still have a play to practice and perform. And isn't there an old saying 'The show must go on'?"
"Does this mean you're going to be the lead actress?" Twilight hopefully asked.
Celestia laughed as she shook her head. "Not quite. I'm not much of an actress, Twilight, much as I'm flattered by your offer. But for right now, I think I know just the place for this evil clone of your brother," She gave a knowing wink. "I think Discord would appreciate a new playmate."
The imposter Shining's eyes went wide with horror! "No, you can't do this to me! This can't be! This CAN'T BE!" He dug in his hooves, hoping to avoid being pulled away, but to no avail.
Thunderlane chuckled. "Boy, that duplicate's lucky. Discord is gonna have so much with his new friend. And I hear his chaos magic is finally back to full power from what Fluttershy tells me."
From high in the sky, Shining observed a trail of prints that did not look pony like. He flew lower for a closer inspection, they looked like changeling prints.
Suspecting nothing he followed the trail as it led away from the stage and out of Ponyville, deep into the heart of the Everfree Forest.
It wasn't until the trail grew closer to the Castle of the Two Sisters (and thus the Tree of Harmony) that the prince became at all concerned. "I don't know if she can do anything to the Tree of Harmony, but I can't risk that chance! That tree is what gives the Elements of Harmony their power!" He thought to himself, rushing towards his destination without a second's hesitation.
The Tree of Harmony was indeed still intact and unaffected, there didn't seem to be any signs of Chrysalis anywhere. Just a trail of sickly green slime, and what appeared to be a bunch of logs with colors that loosely resembled the coats of his friends. Wait a minute!
Chrysalis grinned as she emerged from hiding. "I originally planned to use my clones of you and your friends to seize the Elements of Harmony and take over," She declared, striking the prince with her magic and bringing him to his knees. "But it seems the Tree of Harmony caught on to my plan. My clones went out of control, and the Tree of Harmony destroyed them! So I thought I'd use my remaining clone for a more subtle plan. But now that I have you, you're all that I need! You can wield the Element of Magic, but without the others it's powerless! And once I defeat you, I'll drain every ounce of love from you, severing your connection to your element and allowing me to take over!"
"All this because Starlight led a rescue mission that deposed you, you're pathetic." Shining snarled.
The former changeling queen only taunted. "Mock me at your peril, prince. You won't have anything to be laughing about once my plan is complete! You were a fool to come here alone, and an even bigger fool to think you could win! You're about to learn your lesson the hard way, the last lesson you'll ever remember!"
But then suddenly, there came a gust of wind and a blinding flash! All of a sudden, a glowing projection of Shining Armor emerged from the Tree of Harmony! "That is enough, Queen Chrysalis! Those who threaten the light and harmony of this world will be punished." The projection plainly spoke.
Chrysalis blinked and stumbled back a bit. "No, not you again! I won't let you foil my plans!"
But the projection kept walking forward, not a single blast from Chrysalis could phase it. "Sheer force alone will not help you, Chrysalis," It spoke as it joined up with the still stumbling Shining. It offered a hoof to the prince. "Allow me to assist you, Shining. And together, we will defeat Chrysalis once and for all."
Shining accepted the hoof and his eyes began to glow not unlike the way they did when he was using the Elements of Harmony! "Chrysalis!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs! "You have tried to control that which is beyond your understanding. You have rejected the hoof of friendship multiple times. You starved your subjects to make them obedient to you. For that, you shall pay the price!"
Chrysalis lit up her horn in a vain attempt to stop what happened. She was easily overwhelmed, pushed back, and defeated. "No, this can't be! How could I lose to the likes of you again?! I didn't make a single mistake!"
"Because, Chrysalis, you do not comprehend the power of friendship and its place in the world," Shining explained to Chrysalis in his booming, echoing voice. "And now, your fate awaits you!" But suddenly the prince raised up a hoof, appearing to struggle. "No, I won't end it like this! If I end you here and now, you'd become a martyr for others. You don't deserve that! You deserve to suffer in a place where you will do no harm, Tartarus!"
Chrysalis became stricken with fright, shuddering and shivering all over as the prince approached her. "W-wait a minute!" She threw up her hooves. "I know I've messed up, but... but... you need me! I don't deserve to be in Tartarus, I can help you!"
Shining scoffed. "As if! I know your game, Chrysalis. You're hoping I'll lower my guard so you can stab me in the back."
The former queen began to beg. "Please, spare me and... I'll make it up to you! I can become a spy! An undercover agent!"
The prince only shook his head. "And you'd just keep all the information for yourself. I need you like I need fur rash! This time it really is 'Goodbye, Chrysalis'! I'm going to close the door on our history, once and for all!"
A short time later, a helpless and weakened Chrysalis was tossed into a cell within the confines of Tartarus, locked away alongside many other one time threats to Equestria that included a vicious bugbear and a currently powerless Tirek.
Shining returned to Ponyville afterward, just in time to see the play draw to a close as Celestia (from behind the curtains) used her magic to raise the sun in place of the damaged fake sun.
"Is it finished, B.B.B.F.F?" Twilight inquired when the play was over. "Did you manage to stop Chrysalis for good?"
Shining nodded. "She's in Tartarus now, and she can do no harm to anyone ever again."
Big Macintosh commented. "Ya don't think there's chance of her and Tirek teamin' up, do you?"
The prince shook his head. "I made sure to keep them in separate cells on opposite ends of the complex. And even if they could meet, I've got ways of keeping an eye on them. In the wake of Tirek's escape it became necessary to up security at Tartarus," And he explained. "Guards change shifts regularly and even check up on each other. Nothing gets in or out without their say so, and all inmates visits are heavily supervised."
Twilight smiled and hugged Shining close. "Great! Now that means you can help me run the school without worry," And she added. "You should've seen how well Princess Celestia managed while you were gone, for somepony who's never been an actress she sure knows her way around a theater."
Princess Celestia smiled. "It was nothing, managing others is what I do best. Although, I do have this ever so faint urge to act," She grinned. "Perhaps the next time the Method Mares are in town, I'll see about clearing my schedule and taking a few lessons with them. After all, even as royalty you never truly stop learning."