//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7: A Wedding not gone well.… 
// Story: Since When am I Faust? 
// by McDufus_456 
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Since When am I Faust?
Chapter 7: A Wedding Not Gone Well...


It was nearing the middle of the day when the groom stood before Celestia. All the guests were making their way to their seats, and the sound of music began to fill the air. The bride strode up the aisle from the back of the hall, and she happily took her place beside Shining Armor. 

The solar princess looked down at the two, and she couldn’t help but smile at the happy couple. It wasn't easy for the average pony to see, but Celestia was having a difficult time keeping her composure. She had long waited for this day, and now that it had finally come, she had the privilege of being Cadance's wedding officiant. She could barely contain her glee.

Back when Cadance first approached her, asking if she would preside over her wedding, Celestia’s heart skipped a beat, and it took all her willpower not to jump into the air with a squee of delight. The white alicorn readily accepted, and as soon as the pink princess was out of sight, Celestia jumped up and quickly got to work. She made a set of cue cards for herself, and she practiced her wedding speech at every given opportunity. 

There were even days that she brought them to Day-court, practicing during the early part of the day, when the nobility would visit. She did, however, put an invisibility spell on the cards, if only to spare the feelings of those visiting her, but she still wasn't really listening.

Now that she was standing on the stage, Celestia still couldn’t believe how fast the past few weeks had gone. She took one last look at the cue cards, and then she teleported them away. Celestia looked up at the crowd, and she smiled at all the ponies who had come to see her niece's wedding. However, as she stood there, her smile began to falter. Something was missing, or rather, someone was missing. 

The princess blinked a couple of times and checked again, but as Celestia searched the audience, she confirmed her fears that her mother was nowhere to be seen. It just wasn’t like her to miss an event like this.

Biting her lip, Celestia's heart fluttered with worry, and she started looking for a way to delay the ceremony. During that time, her eyes kept drifting towards the back of the hall, and she desperately hoped to see the smaller alicorn walk through the doors, but she never came.

Tia held out for as long as she could, but soon the seconds were turning into minutes, and there was still no sign of the pony. Celestia sighed, internally admitting defeat. Lifting her head, the Princess looked at the audience and began the ceremony with a loud voice. "Mares and gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor..."

While she was still speaking, the doors to the wedding hall suddenly burst open, and a shout of, "Stop the wedding!" echoed throughout the room. 

With a gasp, everyone turned to face the pony who spoke, and there, standing in the back of the hall, was none other than Twilight Sparkle. She was standing in the doorway, and she looked over at Celestia with a serious expression on her face. It was one that yielded no arguments.

At seeing the unicorn, the pink pony on stage huffed, and stomped the ground. "Ugh! Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother!" 

Hearing this, Celestia turned and looked at the pink pony with surprise.

"Oh, uh, I-I mean, why does she have to ruin my special day," The changeling quickly stammered, playing the 'poor me' act as she tried to cover up her mistake. 

"Because it's not your special day! It's mine!" A similar voice rang through the wedding hall. Cadance, the real Cadance, stepped through the doorway. Once the crowd saw the two identical Princesses on either side of the aisle, the ponies looked back and forth in shock.

Even the changeling sputtered at seeing Cadance. "What? You too, but how did you escape?

"We traveled up,"

"Hmph. Clever, you're still too late though."

Looking back and forth at the two, Rainbow’s brow furrowed with confusion, and she threw her forelegs to the side, “Okay, just what in the flying feathers is going on here!?” The rest of the audience nodded at the pegasus's words, silently asking themselves the same question.

Keeping her eyes on her double, Cadance explained to those present, "She's a changeling. A creature that takes the form of somepony you love, and then feeds off of the love you have for them!"

Chrysalis smirked at Cadance’s accurate yet straightforward explanation, and she chuckled to herself. Figuring her little facade had come to an end, the imposter let an evil grin stretch across her face, and she hunched over as she became engulfed in flames. 

The audience let out a shout at seeing the sudden burst of flames, and they watched with horror as the silhouette grew larger and larger. Then, as quickly as the fire appeared, it wisped away into nothingness, revealing an unknown creature. It was as tall as Celestia, if not taller, and its body was covered in a black carapace. 

Chrysalis opened her eyes and looked at the crowd. A moment of silence passed, and she began to laugh hysterically. "Oh, my! You should see your faces! The utter shock! The damned confusion! It's hilarious!" 

Chrysalis laughed a little more as she walked across the stage, but she quickly collected herself before addressing those in the audience. "Yes, I am a changeling. Queen of the changelings, to be precise; and as their Queen, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place I've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it, we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!"

"No! Shining Armor's spell will protect us!"

Chrysalis stopped walking and chuckled at Cadance's comment. Looking at the alicorn, she smiled with a sly grin. "Oh, I doubt that. Isn't that right, dear?" 

The changeling turned to look at Shining Armor. He had a very distant look in his eyes, and a monotone, "Mm-hmm." escaped his lips.

Cadance looked at her betrothed with worry, and she turned her attention to the Queen with an angry scowl. Suddenly charging forward, Cadance tried to close the distance between herself and the Queen.

Seeing this, Chrysalis lit her horn and warned. "Ah, ah, ah. You don't want to go back to the caves, now do you?"

Cadance halted her approach, and she frowned in frustration, knowing she was powerless to do anything against the changeling.

Satisfied with the alicorn's reluctant obedience, the Queen continued her explanation, returning to the stage to use Shining as some sort of prop. "Ever since I took your place, I've been feeding off Shining Armor's love for you. Every moment he grows weaker, and so does his spell. Even now, my minions are chipping away at it."

She tilted her head and directed attention to many black dots banging against the shield above Canterlot. The crowd looked up, and they felt an uneasiness wash over them as they saw the army above. 

Smirking at their expressions of fear, Chrysalis pushed on towards the punchline. Lifting Shining's head with her hoof, she said, "He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control now. And I'm sorry to say, but he is unable to perform his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard!"

Excitement began to fill the changeling, and her wings began to buzz. Slowly, she rose above the stage, and she hovered in place as she exclaimed. "Soon, my changeling army will break through. First, we take Canterlot. And then, all of Equestria!"

"That's enough!"

"W-What!?" The changeling stammered, looking behind her. Standing there stood Celestia and Luna, and both looked prepared for a fight. Chrysalis dropped down and stepped back; she had somehow forgotten about those two.

Celestia turned to her sister, “Lulu, you protect the guests, I'll handle this.”

Luna let out a tired yawn and nodded. “As you wish, sister.”

Stepping forward, Celestia looked at the changeling, "You may have made it, so Shining Armor can't perform his spell." She suddenly lunged forward, locking horns with the changeling, "But! That does not mean we are defenseless!"

“Pff, Could’ve fooled me.”

Celestia grit her teeth and pulled away from the Queen. Flying high above the stage, her horn started to glow, and she fired a beam of magic at the changeling. Chrysalis responded with her own attack, and the two trails of magic collided in the middle. The collision's resulting force blew back a few ponies and several decorations.

While this was happening, Twilight looked up at Luna with a confused stare, "Princess Luna, I thought you would be sleeping by now."

The alicorn looked at the little unicorn and smiled, "Young Twilight, I would never miss my niece's wedding. No matter how tired I might be..." As she said this, she wiped her eyes and yawned, but her words were sincere.

"Aww, that's so sweet..." Cadance cooed, and she ran over to hug her aunt. Luna returned the embrace, and they looked up to see how Celestia was fairing. 

Back at the battle, Chrysalis was screaming as the golden beam neared her head. "Ah...ah ugh Ahhh!" Then suddenly, she glared up at the Solar Princess with a smirk. "Good acting, right!?"

"What!?"

With a sudden surge of power, Chrysalis's beam of green magic suddenly shot forward. It easily overpowered Celestia’s magic, and the alicorn watched in shock as the beam neared her head. Then, right before it struck her, Celestia dove down and dodged the attack. 

She swooped down, delivering a flying kick to the changeling, and Chrysalis flew into a nearby pillar. Cracks spread across the surface as she hit it, and the Queen shook her head in surprise. Looking up from her position, Chrysalis’s eyes widened, and she zipped out of the way with haste. A moment later, the Princess embedded her hoof into the structure. 

The changeling dove to the ground, sliding backward on her hooves as Celestia stomped the ground in front of her. 

Diving forward, the white mare shot multiple blasts of magic at the changeling. Chrysalis dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the attacks. She successfully avoided them as she moved to the side, but as she turned her focus back to the alicorn before her, she was bucked across the room.

Chrysalis furiously beat her wings, and she just managed to catch herself in the air before being thrown out the window. Baring her fangs, she dove at Celestia. The Princess responded by flying towards her opponent. 

The two charged their horns as they prepared to attack, but what Celestia didn't expect was for her enemy to teleport beneath her and shoot her at point-blank range. There was a flash of light and a resounding boom. Then as the light died down, the audience looked horrified to see the Princess laying on the ground, motionless. 

Her feathers were burnt, her fur was charred, and a look of pain laid on her face. The changeling looked down at Celestia and then glanced at her hooves in disbelief. Her evil grin returned, and she threw her forelegs up. "Haha! I've become even more powerful than CelestiAHHH!"

Luna shot the changeling out of the air and stepped forward. “You’re not done yet, you fiend.” 

Chrysalis spun in the air and landed on all fours. Lifting her head, she glared at the Princess. "Maybe so, but I've still won." 

At that moment, the shield above Canterlot shattered, and the changeling attack began. Tilting her head up, the Queen smiled and muttered to herself, "Hmph. Looks like my work here is done." 

While she was looking up, Luna snorted at the changeling’s words, and she shot rapid beams of magic at the enemy before her. Chrysalis looked down, realizing she had left herself open, and let out a yelp as the attacks struck her. With each blast of Luna's barrage, the changeling’s shell would spiderweb with cracks, and she cringed in pain.

With an angry roar, Chrysalis zapped Luna with a bolt of lightning. The alicorn was thrown across the room, and as she flew through the air, the princess maneuvered herself to land on a wall. She used it to rebound, and she shot herself at her target.

Chrysalis looked up with wide eyes as Luna came face to face with her. Then right before impact, the alicorn vanished. Luna appeared behind the changeling and blasted the bug across the room with an explosion. 

Grabbing her coffee, Luna took a sip. “Those who resort to tricks, shall be tricked themselves. Tis only fair.”

Chrysalis flailed her limbs around as she was blasted away, and she hit the wall above the double doors of the wedding hall. Shaking her head, she wiped her cheek and stood up on the wall with a hiss. She looked at Luna, and her eyes went wide at seeing a multitude of magic spheres appear around the alicorn. "Oh buck this!"

Looking for a way out, the changeling glanced at Shining Armor, and she grit her teeth. Dropping to the ground, Chrysalis looked at the princess with a frown. Quietly muttering to herself, she said, "Damn it I hate to resort to this..." Then she flared her horn. 

Luna readied herself for an attack, but she was caught off guard at the sound of Cadance calling out to Shining Armor. The lunar princess looked back, only to see the captain sinking into the ground. He still had a distant gaze, and he was utterly unaware of his surroundings. Cadance ran to his side, and she tried to pull him up, but despite her best efforts, she couldn't keep him above ground.

Seeing that her insurance was guaranteed, Chrysalis smiled to herself and vanished in a burst of green flames. She disappeared a mere moment before Luna blasted a beam of magic at where she had been. It rocketed through the castle, and it shook the castle's foundations when it hit the end of the hallway.

Staring forward, the alicorn grunted in frustration. "She got away…" 

Turning to look at the guests, Luna saw them huddled up against the wall, afraid for their lives. Cadance was now standing with Twilight and her friends beside Celestia, and just outside the windows, Canterlot was under siege. Luna walked up to her older sister and looked down at her. "Tia, are you alright?"

"Yes, Luna, I'm just a bit stunned. I wasn't expecting her to do that, or be that powerful..."

Luna sighed, "Tia, will you at least try not to underestimate our enemies next time? You have always had a bad habit of doing that sister."

Celestia smiled at Luna, and she stuck out her tongue. Luna rolled her eyes at her sister’s antics and stood up straight. "Tia, I will go and search for the Queen. I trust that you will stay here and protect the guests?" 

Celestia nodded to her sister's words, and she lifted herself into a position where she was still on her stomach but sitting upright. Luna then turned to Cadance, Twilight, and her friends and said, "The seven of you, go retrieve the elements of harmony to defeat the Queen. Time is of the essence, we are at war. Everypony move out!" 

They all nodded and ran out the door with haste, leaving the lunar princess to herself. Luna sighed; she was too damn tired to deal with all this crap. The last thing she needed to do was hunt down some shape-shifting bug. 

Walking over to the doors, Luna looked back at the citizens before stepping out. They were still cowering against the walls, but they had relaxed to some degree. Looking at them with a stern gaze, Luna commanded, "All of you art to stay here. The situation is being dealt with." With that, she shut the doors and began her search for the changeling.