//------------------------------//
// Not You Again 
// Story: Alliance of Adversity 
// by Touch the Sky 
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Queen Chrysalis smiled to herself. Telling her subjects to make a threat on the city after she had already infiltrated Canterlot had been an excellent idea. After all, it meant that no other enemies of Canterlot could get in during this crucial stage of the operation and spoil the party. She studied her disguise in the mirror. Flawless, of course; she prided herself on being entirely precise in her disguises, right down to matching the number of eyelashes. She was the exact replica of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, or as she had been called by some passing ponies, Princess Cadence.

It had been foal's play to get the real Princess Cadence out of the way; disguising as Shining Armour's mother, she had lured the princess to a deserted hallway in the castle under the pretence of having a family heirloom of some kind which she would like Cadence to wear at the wedding.  There she had been able to catch the trusting pink alicorn unawares, banishing her through the floor into the maze of catacombs beneath the castle, having already cast a spell so that the alicorn could not use her own magic to escape or even do anything. She had then taken up the guise of the princess herself.

Shining Armour had thus far evaded her, irritatingly since she could go for a quick snack on his love, and she needed to set up her magical hold over him as soon as possible so that it would have fully taken hold by the time of the wedding in two days. She had seen both Princesses Celestia and Luna, however, and they had been fully taken in by her disguise, Celestia informing her that she had sent for her most faithful student- a 'Twilight Sparkle' who was apparently Shining Armour's sister and Cadence's old foal-sitting charge, and said student's friends who would, Celestia assured her, be quite capable of dealing with the wedding preparations.

Chrysalis made a mental note to bring up Twilight Sparkle in a casual conversation when she finally ran into Shining Armour. If the mare was going to arrive here and recognise 'her', then Chrysalis needed to be able to converse with Twilight Sparkle about the past without arousing suspicion.  Just as she thought this, the stallion she most wanted to see appeared around the corner ahead of her.

"Cadence!" he said happily, speeding up as he approached. "I haven't seen you all day!"

Chrysalis forced a smile onto her face. "Where have you been?"

"I was overseeing the guard," came his reply. "And trying to relax a little... casting this protective spell all the time is very taxing, you know." His tone told Chrysalis he was questing for sympathy; twisting her smile into even more of a simper, she leaned forwards to rub her head on his mane.

"Oh you poor thing," Chrysalis said soothingly. "Do make sure you get some rest, won't you?"

"If you say so," Shining Armour smiled, but Chrysalis was frowning. There didn't seem to be a trace of love coming off him- not a single wisp! She opened her mouth slightly to taste the air, but there was just nothing. 
She felt him move back and look at her, equally curious. He tilted his head questioningly and Chrysalis quickly forced the smile again. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked. "Or some cake?" The best way to a stallion's heart is through his stomach, she reasoned.

He shook his head. "No, that's okay. I'm not very hungry." He continued to look at her, almost unblinking. "Are you feeling all right?" he asked eventually. "You're looking at me like something is confusing you. Do I have something on my muzzle?"

"No," Chrysalis said shortly. His lack of love was confusing and worrying at the same time. If he wasn't really in love with Cadence, how would she ever be able to draw enough power from him to defeat Celestia and Luna? Shining Armour flicked his tail awkwardly, and then moved closer again. 

"Are you sure you're okay? You seem stressed. Can I do anything to help you?"

Since her primary objective for this meeting had failed, Chrysalis decided to pursue her secondary objective in hopes of later being able to exploit his love. "I'm fine, I'm just a little anxious about everything that still needs to be done before the wedding. But I'm really looking forward to seeing Twilight Sparkle again," she said, summoning the smile again. "I know she and her friends will make our wedding perfect."

"Oh, yes. I remember Princess Celestia telling me she was sending Twilight an invitation." Shining Armour glanced at her. "She's a good friend of yours, isn't she?"

Chrysalis laughed. "Why, I haven't seen her since she was a foal! I used to foalsit her while her parents went out to..." She slowed down. "Your... flugelhorn recitals." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Oh, of course," Shining Armour said quickly. "She always loved having you as a foalsitter."

Chrysalis was not taken in. Ponies might be fickle creatures, giving away their love so freely, but there was no way this one wouldn't have recognised his own sister's name. His question had been the same kind of questing, 'safe' question she often used to discover things that she should know about those she was imitating. She glanced out of the window; sure enough, the force-field around the city was dark green. The one thing changelings could not do was change the colour of their magic to match their form. She glanced at Shining Armour's cutie mark, just to be sure. There was no green. She sighed, shoved him into a room off the corridor and slammed the door. "Hello, Metamorphosis."

"Cadence?" Shining Armour looked at her in confusion. "Who are you talking to?"

"You, you imbecile. As if any of these pretty ponies would ever forget their own sister's name."

"'These pretty ponies'?" Shining Armour echoed. Then he groaned. "Chrysalis?"

"Of course," Chrysalis snapped. "Now, leave, and bring back the real Shining Armour from wherever you've stashed him. I've got plans for this wedding and I won't have you messing it up for me."

"Ha! I got here first," Metamorphosis hissed. "I'd thank you to get out of my new kingdom and return Princess Cadence from wherever you put her."

"If you got here first," Chrysalis said, "How is it that I'm here at all? Your shield spell keeps out all hostiles, correct?"

"Yes," Metamorphosis said grudgingly. "But only for now. As soon as I had absorbed the love of Princess Cadence, I was going to take out Princesses Celestia and Luna with the power I gained and lower the shield to allow my hive in to take over."

"My plan exactly," Chrysalis said. "I suppose you sent spies to my hive to find out what genius plans I had formulated so that you could copy them, didn't you?"

"Not at all!" Metamorphosis sat back on his haunches proudly. "I came up with the idea myself." 

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

"Um... with the aid of my generals," Metamorphosis added.

"Good for you," Chrysalis said. "But bad luck. I was here first, so scram."

"I'm afraid I can't," Metamorphosis said icily, "much as I wish to leave your company. My soldiers are under orders to attack as soon as the shield is lowered- as are yours, I suppose?"

Chrysalis nodded. "What's your point?"

"How do you propose I leave through my own changeling-proof shield without lowering it first?"

Chrysalis blinked. Then, "You idiot."

"Essentially, my dear Chrysalis, we're trapped here together without a powerful source of love to aid our takeover. We must either remain here within the forcefield, or lower the shield to escape and expose our soldiers to the full might of Celestia and Luna. Of course, if Celestia should decide that there is no longer a significant threat after the wedding, she will order me to lower the forcefield anyway and our armies will attack regardless."

"We could always bring the real Cadence and Shining Armour back and lie low as other ponies until the wedding is over. We might be able to harvest enough love from some married couples to take down the Princesses anyway."

"Somehow, I think that Cadence, wherever you've stowed her, won't just forget about being imprisoned. If you lured her into a trap by disguising as somepony close to her, then I'm sure after talking to them she'll realise and loudly make it known that there are imposters in Canterlot."

"I assume the same can be said for Shining Armour?"

"Of course."

"Well then, it seems we are at an impasse," Chrysalis said. She stamped a golden-clad hoof moodily. "The only possible outcome here appears to be defeat. Worst case scenario, we have to marry each other and then be defeated."

"I'll have the divorce papers ready as soon as I wake up on the moon," Metamorphosis replied.

Chrysalis grunted in acknowledgement, then tipped her head slightly on one side. "Hold on. Maybe there's a way we can win here."

"How?" Metamorphosis asked eagerly, wanting to salvage the remains of what had been an amazing plan, even if his generals had said so themselves.

Chrysalis bent her head close to his and began to mutter her plan in a furtive whisper; Metamorphosis nodded along thoughtfully. A few minutes later, the two rival monarchs parted ways with a cover of cheery little cooing goodbyes, so that their audience of nobody felt ill.