The Princess that Equestria Never Had

by rillegas08

Canterlot Reclaimed

The next few minutes were spent deciding their attack strategy. Twilight suggested that while Discord had fun with the Changelings outside the castle, the princesses and the royal guards make sure that the path to the library remain clear, while the six ponies would go to the throne room to fight Queen Chrysalis.

"I cannot allow young ponies to go up against such a foe alone," Princess Celestia asserted. "If she is indeed stronger than she was in your world when she defeated me, I fear you six will have no chance against her."

"With all due respect, Princess Celestia," replied Twilight, "you know the power of the Elements of Harmony."

"We know your concern for the ponies of Equestria, big sister," said Princess Luna, "but perhaps Princess Twilight knows what she's doing. She has had many experiences in her world that could not have happened here, and brings unique knowledge with that experience."

"Actually, I can only give a best guess. The Elements are very powerful, and we were able to defeat many difficult enemies, but as I said, we couldn't get to them before the Changelings overcame us and brought us back."

"Perhaps I can suggest an alternative which may satisfy both our concerns," answered Princess Celestia after a few moments of thought. "When I defeated Nightmare Moon over a thousand years ago, I used all six Elements. As you may recall from the old pony's tale of the Mare in the Moon, the sixth Element could only appear after a spark ignited the five. I am able to use the Element of Magic, and for all you've grown in the past few years, my magic is ancient and strong. Would you be opposed to going with Princess Luna to the library while your friends and I opposed Chrysalis?"

This posed a challenge to Twilight. Would she decide to take the safe road and have Princess Celestia's more powerful magic defeat Chrysalis with her friends? Or would she trust in the strength of the magic among her friends and herself to be strong enough against the Queen of the Changelings?

"Maybe it's been a while here, but the Princess Celestia in my world knew that the bonds of friendship through the Elements create the most powerful magic there is. It's the kind of magic that can transform a unicorn into an alicorn princess, and the kind of magic that causes Equestria and the Tree of Harmony to thrive. I'll stay with my friends. Also, I have no idea where to begin looking for the book that will help me get back to my world." As she spoke, her friends gathered behind her, supporting their friend.

Princess Celestia smiled. "Very well, Twilight. I trust your judgment. Go; Princess Luna and I will keep the path to the library clear."

Princess Luna lowered the moon as her older sister raised the sun, no doubt signaling to Chrysalis that Celestia had broken free of Nightmare Moon's power. The six ponies were the first out of the chamber door, and turned toward the throne room. Then the guards, followed by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Twilight couldn't be certain, but she thought she heard Discord ask Celestia if she wanted to join him around Canterlot, believing it would be more fun reclaiming her city alongside her. Twilight shrugged it off and focused on the task at hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Princess Celestia," said Discord, "a moment, if you would."

She broke from the guards, and Princess Luna held back as well.

"Continue on with the royal guard, little sister. I'll join you momentarily."

Princess Luna nodded, and continued with the guards. She remained at the rear of them as Flash Sentry led them. They encountered few changelings along the way, although Luna noticed that they encountered more as they moved closer to the library. Did Chrysalis know where they were going and sent more to try and stop them? or was it just coincidence, and the increased numbers were because they were on their way toward a different part of the castle for some other reason?

A group of six changelings guarded the library door. The guards overpowered them and quickly ran them off down the hall. Flash moved toward the princess. His face was stoic, although Luna thought she detected caution, not as a precaution as a result of his position in the guard, but caution toward her. Whether or not it was, she understood why anypony would be wary of her. Only hours before, she had been the terrifying villainous Nightmare Moon, bringing with her eternal night and inflicting nightmares among all who opposed her. It would take longer than a few hours for somepony to completely trust her again.

"Princess Luna, the doors to the library are tightly locked. We considered the unicorns among us to fire their magic at them to break them, but we decided to ask you first. There might be a strong magic in the locks to protect against such entry."

"Good thinking, Flash. We'll see what we can do."

Luna made her way to the front of the group, her ears picking up the whispers of one stallion to another. She momentarily glanced in his direction, and for just a second she was greeted with the eyes of about half the guards watching her as she walked. One unicorn, with dark brown fur and a crimson mane, quickly faced forward, daring a quick glance to her. She assumed this was the guard that had been whispering what was no doubt the thoughts of most of the others. Luna reached the front of the group, and faced the locked doors.

"I know what you're all thinking," she said, closing her eyes and lowering her head. "It wasn't very long ago we - I - brought fear upon you all. Darkness, nightmares. Regrettably, I hadn't been myself for over a thousand years." At this she turned toward the group. She had expected some to still be afraid, but nopony was. "I had forgotten my purpose as a princess of Equestria: to protect ponies as they slept, from nightmares and those who would harm them. Including themselves. My sister has already forgiven me, but I know that with how I've treated many, others may not be so quick to forgive. I would understand if anypony still has qualms about trusting me - "

"Princess Celestia trusts you," interrupted the unicorn that had whispered just moments before. "That's enough for me to trust you."

Princess Luna smiled and turned back toward the door to the library as a window lit up with the rainbow of many colors. Luna galloped toward the window and looked out toward the throne room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Princess Celestia's little sister turned the corner with the royal guards, Celestia turned toward Discord.

"What is it, Discord?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to join me as I have fun with the changelings around the city," he replied. Normally he would cause himself to do odd things as he spoke with somepony, but this time he made no such effort. "They've lived under fear for so long, it would do them well to be reassured by their beloved princess, long lost to them."

"What you say is true, Discord," she replied, "but can I trust you not to harm the ponies?"

"After how I acted a thousand years ago and I was imprisoned by you and your sister as a stone statue, I understand why you ask. Twilight assured me that if I cooperated here, then I could have more fun without being limited. I think I'll start with King Sombra. The ponies in Canterlot and Ponyville have only just begun to be free from villainy, and my chaos wouldn't be welcomed."

Celestia smiled, her voice sounding slightly amused. "You've become more compassionate, Discord. Is Twilight so powerful that she can calm a draconequus like yourself without resorting to imprisoning him?"

"It's funny you should say that, Princess. According to her, she's known me for a long time in her world." Discord looked at his wrist, where a watch with a sundial appeared. "Oh, look at the time. We should get going if we want to distract as many changelings from protecting their queen as we can. Would you like to join me?"

Celestia agreed, and they started flying around Canterlot, careful to stay out of the view from the windows in the castle after they remembered that Chrysalis might see them. They didn't want Chrysalis to leave the throne room before Twilight and the other ponies reached it to keep her occupied. The changelings quickly noticed them, and transformed into the images of various individuals, including those of Princesses Celestia and Luna, Nightmare Moon, Discord, and other citizens of Canterlot. One transformed into the image of their queen, but other changelings near it argued with it, and it changed into Discord instead.

Discord had paused fighting the changelings as he watched the scene unfold, as Princess Celestia fired bolts of magic toward the false images of herself and her sister. He smiled as he thought of an idea.

"You'll want to stop attacking the changelings for a while, Princess. You're about to be a queen. Is there a place we can go where the changelings can't reach us for a few seconds?"

"There is a series of abandoned tunnels deep below Canterlot. It's been so long since somepony used them, nopony remembers them." Discord nodded and teleported both himself and Celestia to the caverns underneath the castle. Once there, Celestia spoke up again. "Why am I trusting you to do this and not do something horrible to me?"

"Because it'll be so much more fun to mess with the changelings than with you, Princess." He quickly turned her into Chrysalis's image and teleported them both back up to where they were, although he kept hidden to see what would happen.

As he suspected, the changelings had stopped fighting while they were in the caverns and most had been looking for where they went. The rest continued their search for the ponies of Canterlot to absorb their love as was their purpose when they attacked Canterlot in the first place. Then some looked into the sky where the disguised Celestia was floating down.

"Progress report," she said.

The changelings bowed to her, then one spoke up. "We were fighting Princess Celestia and the draconequus, but they just disappeared a few moments ago. We're still looking for them as we speak."

"Once you find and capture them, bring the Princess to me. I have plans for her."

Suddenly, from the castle behind Celestia there was a bright multi-colored light. Celestia turned and trained her eyes on the windows, trying to see what was going on, but Discord appeared and prevented her from taking too long. He quickly turned the changelings into pieces of fruit with faces on them, and turned Celestia back to her original form.

"Thank you," she replied, her colorful mane flowing again. "The queen is too forceful."

"No time to chat," said Discord, his expression suddenly serious. Emanating from the castle was a globe of magic, picking up all the changelings as it passed them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Darling, are you sure this is going to work?" asked Rarity as the six ponies made their way toward the throne room.

"Not 100% sure," answered Twilight, "but it's got to. Even if it weakens her just enough, we'll have the upper hand."

"Hold on a sec," interrupted Rainbow Dash. "How sure are we talking? Closer to 100% or closer to 50?"

"Closer to fifty. I'm about 70% sure it'll work flawlessly."

"That's a lot of room for things to go wrong," said Fluttershy, but she spoke this quieter than her usual speaking voice, and nopony heard her. It didn't matter, however, as everypony was thinking the same thing.

"Changelings up ahead!" said Pinkie Pie. "30 knots and closing!"

That's not the right unit of measurement, Twilight thought, but let it slide.

Everypony braced themselves for battle. Turning the corner, they saw two changelings. They changelings noticed them and transformed into copies of Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Applejack started galloping toward them, but two bolts of magic shot past them, hitting the changelings before they stopped transforming. They turned to look at Twilight, who now had a serious look on her face.

"Save your strength for large numbers of them and for Chrysalis. We'll need it."

"Your cutie mark will disappear faster if you keep using magic," said Fluttershy quietly. Twilight turned to her and asked what she said, but in reply Fluttershy just pointed a hoof at Twilight's cutie mark. There were now only four white spines behind the magenta six-pointed star.

"Oh no. I forgot about that. Thanks, Fluttershy. Okay, new strategy: fight any changelings we come across. I have to reserve my magic as much as possible."

It wasn't long before they reached the throne room, the doors guarded by two of the royal guards and two changelings. Rainbow Dash and Applejack went for the changelings, Rainbow on the left and Applejack on the right. The guards seemed confused, but joined the two girls after seeing the others walking calmly toward them, sunlight streaming through windows the guards couldn't see but glinting off the Elements of Harmony. Once the changelings were subdued, the guards opened the doors, and the eight of them stepped into the elongated room.

Chrysalis was standing near one of the windows, and turned her head as she heard the door open. She started walking toward them, capturing the two guards in fiery green circles. "I assume you six are the reason the sun is up and my changeling army is getting disorganized. I knew something was amiss when Princess Luna, disguised as Nightmare Moon, brought her sister here."

"How in tarnation could she have figured that out?"

"Her eyes didn't have slits for pupils like they did at my wedding."

"The only reason you were able to marry my brother and took over Canterlot was because I wasn't there to recognize that something was wrong with my foalsitter!" cried Twilight, and she started running toward Chrysalis. Applejack bit on Twilight's tail, stopping her from running far.

"Simmer down, Sally."

Twilight stopped struggling and calmed down. She glared at Chrysalis. "What happened to Shining Armor?"

"You don't want to know what I did with Princess Cadance?"

"I know what you did with Cadance. You imprisoned her in the abandoned caverns under the castle, where she would have stayed because you never sent me down there and I rescued her. What happened to my big brother?"

"He and Cadance reunited after I was done with him. The last I saw of him, he was descending into the caverns, unable to fight."

A fire burned within Twilight, a burn more intense than when she uncovered Chrysalis's plan in her world. Then, she still had a chance to save her brother and sister-in-law, but here, they were gone forever. In this world, she could only bring justice to the one who had crossed them.

"Come on, girls. It's time for Shining Armor and Princess Cadance to have justice."

They gathered together, but it wasn't long before Twilight recognized that they were vulnerable to an attack from Chrysalis. Sure enough, she looked down and saw a ring of green fire gathering around them.

"Scatter! She'll capture us!" Five of the ponies left quickly, but Fluttershy was too afraid to move away in time. The circle closed around her, and a dome started appearing. Rarity and Twilight simultaneously levitated her off the floor before it closed completely.

"Not many have been able to escape that. Either you're lucky or you've experience my magic before somehow."

"I'm not from this universe. A strange magic transported me here, and you were defeated there. Attack her!"

Twilight teleported her friends in a circle around Chrysalis. Rarity started levitating nearby objects and throwing them at Chrysalis. Rainbow Dash flew, and Applejack and Twilight galloped toward her. Pinkie Pie fired off her party cannon. Fluttershy, not sure what to do, stood where she was, giving The Look towards Chrysalis. Chrysalis dodged each of their attacks, ducking when Rainbow Dash flew at her, and stepping aside from the ponies who were galloping toward her or firing bolts of lime green magic at the projectiles. After a few minutes of attacking and dodging, Chrysalis suddenly stopped: she'd accidentally looked at Fluttershy, and was paralyzed from the effects of the Look.

"The Elements! Now!"

As they had a few hours before against Nightmare Moon, their combined energies filled the Elements, which glowed with the colors appropriate to each pony, hovering above the floor. Their eyes shone white with power. Fluttershy was the last to activate her Element. She broker her gaze from Chrysalis and had barely enough time before Chrysalis was able to regain her senses. Unfortunately for Chrysalis, it was too late to counterattack, as a ball of rainbow-colored magic swirled around the six ponies, ever expanding. The sphere pushed away from them, pushing away changelings that had gathered to watch the battle, and pushing the Queen of the Changelings against the wall.

The sphere of magic kept spreading, sending the changelings out of and far away from Canterlot, to the far reaches of Equestria. The force of the magic pushed Chrysalis to her limits, the pressure of the magic pushing the power she'd taken from Shining Armor many months before out of her.

Chrysalis fell to the floor, defeated and weak, as the glow of the Elements died down and all six ponies were set back on the floor. Celestia and Discord transported into the throne room, and soon Luna and half of the royal guard that were with her entered through the door. Twilight told them to take the weakened queen to the dungeons looked at her cutie mark; she only had three white spikes left, and one of them was nearly faded.

"Congratulations, Princess Twilight," said Princess Celestia, smiling. "The strength of the magic of friendship is very powerful indeed."

"It seems like it's just as powerful as the magic between two ponies who truly love each other. The same kind of thing happened in my world when Shining Armor and Cadance touched horns after they were reunited."

"Would you like us to look for them and bring them to you when we find them?" asked Discord.

"No. If you are able to find them, they won't know me, although they'd be grateful. I only have a few more hours left. We should find that book."

Comments

[Commander Darklight]

wait I thought shiny and cadence died but then you were like 'If you find them they wont know me

[Commander Darklight]

5920776 now i know there is a sequel already in the works but you do realise you have perfect material to write the third book you got glimmer, tierec and still got sombre to defeat it would be awsome of her to suddenly remember the other world and have a little panic attack