I fiddled with my bow tie, before sighing.
Luna walks up and lays a comforting hoof on my shoulder.
“It’ll be okay, Little Knight. Everyone’s nervous, but I’m sure you’ll do fine,” she chirps.
“I know,” I said, nervous. “It’s just that, I can’t shake the feeling that the city’s going to be attacked.”
“As do we. We have increased the security for the wedding. We just hope it will help,” she says, surprising me.
“You speak the old dialect?” I ask.
“Yes, though we are trying to get used to the new dialect,” she explained.
“Your world has many surprises, I tell you. First, the dominant species here aren’t bugs, but rather ‘ponies,’ then I learn you all can use magic that is much more advanced than mine,” I pondered, chuckling.
“Well, little Knight, we hope thee have a wonderful time here,” Luna said.
I wasn’t paying that much attention to the wedding until Twilight bust in.
Even then, I was focusing on ‘Cadence,’ who I still suspected to be an imposter.
Then Twilight revealed that she suspected the same thing, and the real Cadence showed up.
“No! This is my special day!” Cadence shouted.
“How did you escape!? My bridesmaids held you there!” ‘Cadence’ shouted back, clearly infuriated.
Feeling that I must step in now, I got up and spoke, startling many of the ponies attending the wedding.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but I must ask you to leave. While you may have kidnapped Cadence and Twilight, I am offering you a chance at mercy,” I said, attempting to negotiate.
Then, Twilight shouts, “This so-called Cadence is not a pony! She’s a Changeling!”
That surprised me. I had read every single book in Twilight’s library, so I knew about changelings. They happened to be bugs like me. But if this imposter was a changeling, then why had they been so hostile to me if I was a bug, too?
My thoughts were interrupted as ‘Cadence’ suddenly let out an evil laugh, before green fire washed over her, revealing the imposter’s true form.
“Queen Chrysalis!” Celestia shouted, startling me. I didn’t know she had entered the room.
What happened next was a clash of magic so powerful, my jaw would’ve touched the ground, if I had one.
I saw Celestia fire a beam as hot as the sun she moved at Chrysalis, who fired a green beam in return.
I smirked (figuratively), as the sun princess’ beam pushed forward, but the false queen wasn’t done yet.
“NO! I will NOT lose! Not now! You will all FALL!” She screeched, before her beam began pushing forward, and magic flew everywhere, harming several ponies.
Alarmed, I dodged a stray bolt of magic, before rushing forward to assist my comrade. Unleashing my Vengeful Spirit, I fired the magical missile at the Changeling Queen.
To put it simply, the powerful projectile did shit against her. (Yes, bugs swear.)
Then the beam of energy reached Celestia. “Tia!” I shouted.
Rushing over to her, I kneeled next to her and got out the first aid kit I got when I came to Canterlot.
“Knighty..” Oh, lord, now everyone’s using that name. “You have.. to stop.. Chrysalis.”
“But.. you’re hurt!” I cry.
“I will.. be okay. Now, go!” She said, wincing.
Getting off my knees, I shouted to guard.
“Hey, sir!” He rushed over. “Quickly, get her somewhere safe. I need to stop that false qu- AAGHH!”
I’m interrupted as a bolt of magic impacts my back and sends me flying out the window, screaming in pain.
I couldn’t tell how far and how long I fell for, but when I landed, my already abused body is knocked senseless.
I think I felt my shell crack.
Getting up, I hold back a groan of pain. My vision’s blurry, my suit’s ruined, and...
Oh shit.
I’m surrounded by thousands of changelings. And they do NOT look friendly.
“Surrender, now, weakling!” one shouts.
“Like shit I will,” I growl. ‘What have I gotten myself into?’
All at once, they come at me, hoping to kill me through sheer numbers. And, yeah, they’re probably going to get close.
But they made one mistake.
They left the sky open.
Opening my Monarch Wings, I flap them before drawing my Pure Nail, just as the changelings crash into each other in the spot I was just in.
Looking up, they snarled, before opening wings of their own.
Well, looks like I’m outgunned, too. My Monarch Wings don’t allow for actual flight, rather a flap that would serve as a double jump. But these guys can fly.
They grin as they realise the same thing.
Two words exit my mouth before they swarm me.
“Oh shit.”
They’re on me in seconds. I can’t even slash my Nail before they dogpile me, trapping me under their weight.
What they don’t realise, is that I have another trick up my shell.
I unleash my other spell, the other version of the Vengeful Spirit, the one that aims upwards.
The result is all the dogpiled changelings atop me getting vaporised.
Sitting up, I survey the carnage around me. Changelings are attacking the entire city. They assault stallions in the street, fly around firing bolts of magic at other ponies, and... Oh, by the Pale King, no. They’re attacking mares and their foals! That false Queen shall pay!
Battling my way back to the castle, I run into Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow! Quick, we need to get to the castle and stop Chrysalis!” I said in an urgent voice.
Strangely, she says nothing, and walks forward with a frown on her face.
Realising that ‘Rainbow’ is a changeling, I unsheathe my Nail, but before I can attack the fake, the real Rainbow slams into her imposter and sends it flying into a wall, where it slumps downwards, unconscious.
“Thanks, Rainbow! Now, quick, get your friends! We need to get to the castle and stop Chrysalis!” I shout.
“Yes, sir!” she says, before zooming off.
I turn my head back to the castle and narrow my eyes as hundreds of changelings approach.
I ready my Nail, before I lower it in shock as every single one of the bug-ponies disguises itself as a random member of the Mane Six.
I sigh, seeing their stupidity.
I shout to the imposters, “You know, you suck at espionage!”
They all get an insulted look on their face, before the real Mane Six arrive.
Seeing my problem, they quickly get into a battle stance, while I heft my Nail.
Silence reigns for a few seconds, before the fakers charge at us. It doesn’t take long for me to see we’re surrounded, and I shout, “Twilight! You and your friends need to get inside the castle!”
“But how!” The unicorn said.
“Hang on to me!” I yell.
Twilight reluctantly grabs on to my shoulders, while the other five ponies quickly grab onto their ‘leader.’
I then jump onto a wall, grab on, then fly forward as I unleash my crystal dash.
Humorously, all six of my passengers are screaming their heads off.
I smash through the huge double doors leading into the castle, but my crystal dash disengages right then, and I crash into the floor before smacking into a wall.
The Mane Six were luckier, since they slid across the floor before stopping.
Unfortunately, I think I’ve cracked my shell more.
Bugger.
I run into the throne room and find the cursed queen sitting in Celestia’s throne.
“Chrysalis! Call off the attack!” Twilight shouts.
“Yeah! Or we’ll make ya!” Rainbow boasts.
“And give up such a good source of food? I think not!” Queen Chrysalis hisses.
I take a step.
The Queen looks at me, and her eyes widen slightly in recognition.
“I remember you! I met you in the hall to the throne room! Then again during the wedding! You puny bug!” She said.
Suddenly two changelings dash in front of me. I ruthlessly slash at them with my Nail, and they fall dead.
Ignoring the gasps from behind me, I talk to Chrysalis.
“Oh? You call me puny? I was born and made to contain the greatest evil ever known to my home. I had no name, no mouth to speak, and no emotions to get the better of me. I’m a Knight, and I served Hallownest before its’ fall. Then I sealed away the blight that caused the fall of my home, and destroyed its’ source. I’ve had to kill to save my home. What makes you think I won’t do the same here?” I growl, angry that this false Queen would think me puny.
I smirk as the queen’s smug face becomes one of shock.
She quickly recovers, and she screams, “You killed my children! You bastard! I’LL KILL YOU!”
She rushes at me in a blind rage, and I parry a blow from her sharp horn.
And so begins the boss battle of the False Queen.
After I parry her blow, I attempt to lunge at her and get in a good slash, but she teleports behind me and double bucks me in the thrones.
Groaning, I get back up and quickly block an attempt by her to ram me with her horn.
I try to dislodge my Nail from the block, but it gets stuck on a groove in her horn.
“Damn it all!” I curse.
She smirks, before she taunts me.
“Aw, little grub too weak to defeat me?”
I groan in annoyance, but not because of her taunt.
“The second stage of my life cycle is the nymph (skin 1), not the grub! Remember, I’m a different species from you!” I groan, dragging my hand across my face.
Chrysalis just looks at me incredulously, bewildered that I didn’t get angry about the taunt, but rather, how she got it wrong.
I use this moment of confusion to lunge at her, and I successfully manage to get a few slashes in.
I dash backwards as she swipes at me, and I see her horn begin to glow.
‘Oh, crap.’
I get flung into a wall by the Queen’s magic, picked up again, then flung into another wall.
This process repeats for several minutes.
When Chrysalis is finally done with me, I groan in pain, before staggering to my feet.
“How are you so resilient!? I’ve been smashing you around, yet your exoskeleton doesn’t even look cracked!” She rages.
I rush at her in her moment of rage, but she sees the attack coming, and before I can adjust my course, I end up on her horn.
She flings me off my horn towards the girls who scream when they see my broken body sliding towards them.
“KNIGHTY!” “NO!” “COME ON, KNIGHT! GET UP!”
“I... will.. not.. FAIL..” I groan.
Getting up, I cry out as a jolt of pain sweeps through my right leg, and fall onto one knee, panting.
Closing my eyes, I begin focusing my SOUL.
I hear the girls gasp as my body begins glowing, before I feel my wounds healing themselves, cell by cell.
Slowly, but surely, my body stitches itself together, and I stand back up.
Opening my eyes, I see the shocked Changeling Queen standing in the hall.
I grin, and heft my Nail.
But before I rush at her, a wave of pink overtakes my vision.
As my vision clears, I witness the changelings get flung out of Canterlot by a strange barrier.
Suddenly, I remember Celestia.
Rushing outside, I quickly locate the hospital, and I begin dashing my way there.
Quietly opening the doors to the Canterlot Hospital, I walk up to the receptionist’s desk.
“Excuse me, I’m looking for Princess Celestia’s room,” I ask.
“She’s in room 027,” she said, before looking up.
The poor pony pales considerably, before asking, “W-why m-m-might you want t-to v-visit her?”
“I was at the wedding ceremony when Chrysalis revealed herself, and I attempted to help Celestia when the two rulers dueled, but Celestia lost, so I told a guard to bring her here,” I explained.
“O-okay...” she said, still a bit unnerved.
I rolled my eyes before making my way to Celestia’s room.
“Hello, little Knight,” The princess said.
“Greetings, Princess,” I said, bowing.
“You don’t have to do that, Knighty,” she giggled.
I blushed before griping, “Great, now you’re calling me that all the time.”
I glared at the princess as she snickered at my misfortune. She may be a royal, but if she keeps this up there’ll be some bits to pay!
“I thank you for saving my life back there, and stopping Chrysalis,” she said, grateful.
“You’re welcome, though in a way, protecting you and your subjects is my job, if I’m a Knight!” I joked.
Suddenly, she got serious.
“Knight, I promise you, we will find you a way home. Until then, you are welcome to stay in Ponyville and safeguard it from danger. We owe you that much,” Celestia offered.
I thought for a moment, before I came to a conclusion.