The muffled sounds of the coronation could be heard in the caves, which made Shining Armor even more determined to get to his bride. He pushed on the rock with all his might, hoping that somehow it would cause it to move. Twilight was right by his side, helping him push as well (even though she knew this would never work). But, she wouldn't dare leave her brother at a time like this. After a few more pushes, Shining let out an exasperated sigh and said sullenly, "Oh, we're never going to save her."
The loving sister placed a hoof on his shoulder and consoled, "We will."
The two backed away from the rock and looked around for another exit. Due to the limited lighting, it was very hard to find any ledges or holes in their prison. She continued, "We just need to find…"
She looked up at what seemed to be a protrusion and narrowed her eyes. It was! There was a ray of light that beamed down on the ledge; that could be their freedom! They're going to save Cadence! Twilight went over to her brother and tapped his shoulder. He looked up and smiled when he saw the exit. He nodded to her and went by her side. Twilight's horn glowed, in a flashing light they disappeared, and then reappeared on the ledge. There were rocks that acted as a staircase up to the hole, they weren't exactly sure where it led, but it was there only way out. The two only got in a few steps until they saw a pair of three green glowing eyes. They backed up a bit in fear; once the eyes got into the light they saw it was the old bridesmaids. Twinkleshine, Lyra, and Minuette whispered eerily, "You're not going anywhere."
The three unicorns charged up their horns and blasted at the two escapers. The three blasts combined as one powerful ray, which blinded the brother and sister. Twilight closed her eyes and got ready for the impact, but when it didn't come, she opened them up and saw Shining Armor using his magic to form a shield. Unfortunately, his magic is very weak and it didn't seem like he could keep it up for long. The three ex-bridesmaids walked closer to the two, causing them to back up closer to the edge. Shining got down on one leg and began sweating; his shield was slowly fading away. Lyra growled, "You will not mess with Metamorphosis' take over."
Twinkle joined in, "You and all of Equestria will be crushed under the King and Queen's iron hoof."
As they were talking, they got up closer to the diminishing shield, causing the beam to get stronger and the two to get closer to the edge. Twilight looked around for a way to escape, but there was nothing there. This can't be the end can it, she thought depressingly. She looked around once more and saw a bouquet of purplish gray flowers wedged in rocks. Looking at the bridesmaids one last time, she surrounded the flowers in her horn's aura and levitated the flowers closer to her. Shining looked back at her and asked, "What're you-"
She responded, "Trust me."
She levitated the flowers above the bridesmaids' heads hoping for a reaction. Seconds later, the unicorns stopped their magic and looked up at the bouquet. Shining let go of the shield and looked at the three questionably. Twilight moved the bouquet in a mocking motion, enjoying the sight of the bridesmaids following it like dogs. She finally threw the bouquet and the three leaped at it shouting, "I want it!"
Shining only raised an eyebrow. He looked down at this sister and queried, "How did you know they would fall for that?"
"Once you become a bridesmaid, it's in your genetic code to catch bouquet of flowers, especially if you're desperate enough to try," she explained to her confused brother. The two only chuckled at the response. After a little laugh, the two began climbing the rocks to their freedom.
Metamorphosis smiled and said, "I do."
The wedding was soon to be over, finally he and his queen will soon take over Canterlot. Maybe even all of Equestria! Nothing can go wrong now, he thought very happily. He looked up at the two princesses (Luna and Celestia) and gave them a fake happy, sugary smile. Celestia announced, "Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, it is my and my sister's great pleasure to pronounce you-"
A booming sound of a door opening could be heard and then a shout, "Stop!"
Meta's eyes shrank and he turned around and saw Twilight standing at the door. What! How did she escape!? He whined, "This isn't supposed to be ha-ha-happening!"
The crowd of ponies looked at him and started chattering in confusion. Luna and Celestia gave him suspicious stares. He continued, "I mean, can't you tell! She's ruining mine…I mean, me and Cadence's big day!"
Luna asked, "I don't understand. Why are thou messing with Shining Armor and Mi Amore's special day?"
Twilight was about to answer, until a voice thundered, "Because it's not his special day!"
The bearer of the voice appeared and the crowd gasped. Meta just clenched his teeth in anger. The real Shining finished, "It's mine!"
Well, I guess I can just drop the act now. Thank Taurus! Meta thought gleefully. He asked, "How did you escape my minions?"
Twilight answered, "They were bridesmaids, just throw a bouquet and they'll go running."
Pinkie began laughing and everyone stared at the party pony. "What? It's funny because it's true! Heehee," she giggled. Turning his attention away from Pinkie, Meta scoffed, "Hmph. Clever. But it doesn't matter. You're too late."
Applejack looked back and forth between the two captains and asked, "Ah-ah don' understand. How can there be two of 'em?"
Shining Armor walked up the aisle and explained, "He's a changeling. He takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your affection for them."
Everypony muttered in shock and confusion, as they stared at the duplicate Shining Armor in the room with suspicious eyes. Anger building inside of him, Meta's eyes shined a dangerous green, causing the guests to gasp in fear. He boomed, "ENOUGH!"
Green flames circled around him and soon engulfed his entire body, which sent bright a light around the whole room. Once everypony's eyes adjusted to the light, they all gasped at the monster's transformation. The white coat turned a disheartening black, the cool blue hair turned into a sickeningly dark green, and his eyes no longer a calming blue but a spine-tingling green. Once the transformation was done, Metamorphosis laughed at the pony's expressions. He chimed, "Right you are, Captain. And as king of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria has more love than any place we've ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it, that we'll gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!"
Twilight corrected, "Is that so? Well, they'll never get the chance. My brother's protection spell will keep them from even coming in contact with us."
"Oh, you mean the spell that your brother wasn't able to do. You know, with being imprisoned and all," Meta pointed out. The brother and sister shared worried looks, which caused the king to break out into laughter joined by the brainwashed Cadence. Shining only growled at the changeling. He stomped his hoof on the ground and charged up his horn to get ready to shoot the unsuspecting king. But once the beam left his horn, it got countered by another ray. Out of the shadows came another changeling, it was the queen, Chrysalis. She warned, "Ah, ah, ah. Don't want to go back to the caves, now do you?"
Shining clenched his teeth in frustration, but backed down. The queen went on, "Ever since my husband took your place, he has been too busy feeding off Princess Cadence's love for you. So, every moment he doesn't do the spell, the shield grows weaker. Even now, our minions are chipping away at it."
Shining was about to point out something, but Meta interrupted, "Plus, I know you taught Cadence the spell. She can't perform it either. She may not be my wife (unfortunately), but she is under my total control now."
Shining Armor and Twilight's eyes went small and they both gasped. Meta finished, "And I'm sorry to say, she'll be unable to help Shining Armor perform his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard!"
"Not my bride!" Shining exclaimed, his heart breaking at thought of his wife being taken away. Chrysalis chortled, "Ha ha ha! Soon, our changeling army will break through. First, we take Canterlot, and then all of Equestria!"
The king and queen smiled maliciously at each other, until they heard hoofsteps and a voice that snarled, "No."
They turned to look behind them and saw Luna and Celestia with livid expressions. The two glowered at the princesses. Celestia warned, "You won't," she continued, "you may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self-"
Luna finished, "We can protect our subjects," the two flew up into the air, "from you!"
The two put their horns together, charged up, and shot a beam down at the queen. Chrysalis charged up her horn and shot a beam at them, which was thinner than the princesses. The larger beam cut through the smaller one, getting closer to the changeling. She shouted, "Oh, no!"
Luna and Celestia smiled triumphantly, knowing that this will all come to an end very soon. Their eyes shrank when they saw Metamorphosis coming to aid his wife. He bellowed, "My queen!"
He charged his horn as well and joined his power with his wife's. Both of their powers combined were enough to push back the princesses' ray. Luna and Celestia's eyes widened when they saw the green beam drawing near. Out of love and protection, Celestia pushed Luna out of the way and got thrashed by the beam. The eldest crashed down on to the ground, her crown flying off to the corner of the room. The whole room gasped in horror that one of their princesses were defeated. The crowd began panicking and ran outside of the castle for their safety. In the fray, Twilight shouted, "Princess Celestia!"
Her and her friends ran down to their fallen princess. Meanwhile, Metamorphosis just stood in shock. He beamed, "Ah! Princess Cadence's love for you is even stronger than I thought! Consuming it has made us even more powerful than the royal sisters!"
When Twilight and her friends went by Celestia's side, she wasn't responding to their calls. The protégé cried, "Celestia, please answer."
Luna walked up to the disheartened student and consoled, "Don't fret; I will take care of my sister. It's only right, due to her saving my life. But, Twilight and friends," the six look up at the moon princess, "the Elements of Harmony. You must get to them and use their power to defeat the king and queen."
The six friends looked at each other and nodded. Four of them threw of their dresses and ran to the door, but stopped once they saw the fashonista trying to collect the dresses. The five shouted, "Rarity!"
She stopped what she was doing, threw off her dress, and ran up to the group. Meta laughed, "Oh, I don't think so."
He shot a beam out at Twilight. Shining Armor was about to go save his sister, but he got shot at by Chrysalis and fell to the ground unconscious. Just to take precaution, she knocked out Luna as well when she wasn't paying attention. The beam-unfortunately-hit Twilight and caused her to get wrapped in a green gelatinous cocoon. The five friends gasped and turned around to help their friend, until she shouted, "Don't worry; I'm fine!"
Fluttershy asked, "A-Are you sure?"
She grunted, "Yes, I'm okay! Just go!"
The five nodded and began running outside. Chrysalis flew up, went towards the door, and shouted, "You can run, but you can't hide!"
Twilight struggled in the cocoon when she felt herself being levitated towards Metamorphosis. The wiggling did nothing except get her back hooves out, as well as her head. She glowered at the king and warned, "You won't get away with this!"
He chuckled, "I'm afraid I already have."
He laughed once more when he saw Twilight's struggling get increasingly harder. He said, "I wouldn't struggle too much if I were you, the cocoon only gets tighter if you do," he added, "not that I'm saying you should stop. I'm pretty sure tightness will accent your features quite nicely."
Her face turned bright red in embarrassment and anger. She kicked her back legs at his muzzle, which caused him to squeak in pain. She fumed, "Pervert!"