The Matter Of Friendship

by HeartShieldFiM

Chapter 19 ~ Canterlot Adventures

'Oh, you are right on time!' Celestia said when the ponies entered her throne room. Dash already had arrived, and sat next to the Princess on the floor.
Twilights horn glowed. 'Watch out, guys, this might not be the real Celestia.'
'Twilight Sparkle, don't worry please. I ám the real Celesti..aaaaah!'
Suddenly, another Celestia appreared, but with flashe green eyes.
'Twilight Sparkle, don't worry please,' she mimicked. 'You learn fast, my little pony.'
Twilight fired a beam at her, but it missed. 'There is nothing you can do now,' Chrysalis said.
'Oh no?' Dash bashed into her, but it did not seem to hurt.
'You foolish little Pegasus,' Chrysalis said. A ring of green flames appeared around the pony. Twilight knew what this meant. 'Dash!' she yelled, but it was too late. Rainbow Dash had been sent to the caves where Twilight had been held as well, together with the real Princess Cadence.
'This is what you get when you spy on me,' Chrysalis shouted. 'And for you, Celestia...' she said. 'For you, I have special plans...'
Celestia backed up and said, 'Don't you dare to touch my student or one of her friends.'
Chrysalis only let out a brief laugh and then, the green flames started burning around Celestia as well.
'There you go, little Princess,' she said. She then turned around, looked at the five remaining ponies and muttered, 'Oh, Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. Your favourite princess just got wiped off her throne.'
Twilight Sparkle was stunned. 'You... you can't do that!' she muttered. 'Celestia!'
'Twilight!' the Princess cried, and then disappeared.
AJ snorted. 'Give us our real Princess back!'
Chrysalis laughed. 'How about... no. From now on, I will rule this kingdom!'
'Eh... miss Chrysalis...' Fluttershy stuttered. 'If I may ask...'
'Speak, fool!' the queen of changelings shouted.
Fluttershy cringed. 'Eh... well, you... are... you do need love to... grow stronger, right? Where are you going to find that... that love?'
Chrysalis grinned. 'What a question. I will keep the form of the Princess. My subjects will feed me with love, and I will become the greatest and most powerful being in Equestria!'
The last words, she nearly yelled. Fluttershy was still hiding behind Pinkie Pie.
Chrysalis turned around and walked to the open window. Beneath her, a lot of Canterlot ponies had gathered to ask the Princess what was going on. As soon as they saw her, they started cheering.
Chrysalis waved and shouted, 'Oh, my beloved subjects. Overflood me with your love and affection!'
The crowd went quiet for a moment. A pony in the middle said, 'This is certainly not the way our Princess would talk to us.'
Another one replied with, 'She'd never, éver call us her... her subjects...'
Within moments, the whole crowd was shouting and screaming. 'Give us our princess back, imposter!' 'What have you done to Celestia!?' 'I know who you are! You're Chrysalis!'
Chrysalis turned around to the remaining five. 'Oh, my subjects do not seem to appreciate my appearance. Maybe I should change to... THIS!'
All the ponies looked scared at the queen, remembering the time Pinkie made a crazy face. But all she did was changing back to her Chrysalis-form.
The five sighed in relief, though Chrysalis still appeared to be very scary.
'Good, you five. You will be my... my personal PA's.'
Twilight coughed. 'The 'P' in 'PA' stands for Personal. In fact, you are saying that we are your pe...'
'Shut up, you fool!' the queen shouted.
Twilight squeaked.
'We won't let you take over Equestria!' Applejack shouted. 'Give us our Princess back!'
Chrysalis fired a beam at the pony. 'Hah, you really think you can beat me?'
'We do!' AJ continued, though half of her mane was burnt.
Rarity opened her mouth as well. 'We have beaten you before, lady!'
The queen only laughed once more and turned back at the window. 'You, my subjects. You are not longer free ponies. You are my property now!'
The crowd shouted and yelled at the queen, but she only smiled and waved.
The changelings who had guarded the doors, now changed into Royal Guards and walked down the stairs.
Twilight now looked out of the window as well, seeing the guards first calming down the crowd but then arrest them, one by one.
'What are you gonna do?' Twilight shouted at Chrysalis.
She laughed again. 'Like I said, they are my property now. I can do whatever I want with them.'
'I remember something like this...' Pinkie Pie whispered. 'Oh, yes! That Somber-guy. He also did this. Sorry lady, you're not unique.' She winked.
'Guards!' a very pissed-off Chrysalis yelled. 'Take these five with the other ponies.'
A guard tried to arrest Applejack, but she kicked his flank and ran off. 'Can't catch me!'
The guard chased her down the room, and got her stuck in a corner. Right on time, Pinkie jumped on his back. 'Oh, Applejack! You are right, rodeo's ARE awesome!'
The guard tried to kick Pinkie off, but it didn't work. It was Applejack who knocked him down. She high-fived Pinkie. 'One down, a whole lot more to go!'
She was right. In front of the two, a whole army of guards had united. They were all exact copies of each other, white coat, golden armour.
'Oh goodness,' AJ mumbled.
But all of sudden, one guard blinked and kicked two down. 'I'm a real one!' he yelled.
The same happened with two others. 'Run, ponies!' the first one shouted. 'Run!'
Applejack and Pinkie Pie ran back to the others, who just stood there in astonishment. The all looked at the pile of wrestling guards and changelings, who desperately tried to keep their disguise.
Twilight grinned and kicked Pinkie Pie in her side. 'Ow!' Pinkie yelled. 'Twi, why'd you do that!?'
'Pinkie!'
The pink pony turned around to see anóther Twilight being held by two guards. The same with Fluttershy and Rarity.
'We're in this alone, ah guess,' Applejack said. 'C'mon, Pinkie Pie. We can do this!'
Pinkie grinned and kicked Fluttershy. 'This feels so weird!' she yelled.
"Fluttershy" punched back and Pinkie got knocked down. 'AJ!' she cried. 'Help me!'
Applejack immediately turned around and pinned Fluttershy against a wall. She got unconsious and immediately changed back into a changeling. 'Better,' AJ whispered.
After a fight taking about five or six minutes, Applejack and Pinkie Pie finally had eliminated the three copies of their friends. Sadly, there had appeared a whole lot more in the meantime.
'We can't do this on our own,' AJ whispered. 'Ah think we have to free 'em to help us...'
Pinkie gave her a brief nod and without even thinking, she ran towards the guards holding her friends.
'Pinkie!' AJ yelled, but it was too late...