• Published 11th Feb 2013
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Princess Celestia: The Changeling Queen - vren55



Thanks to the love bomb at the Royal Wedding, Princess Celestia is revealed to be a Changeling Queen. How will Equestria, deal with this? And why is Celestia a Changeling Queen in the first place?

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Chapter 3: Prelude to the Trial

Chapter 3: Prelude to the Trial

“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”

― Friedrich Nietzsche

The Inverted Wedding Hall...

After the Changeling Queen collapsed, Shining Armour and Cadance rushed forward and with a heave, managed to yank Twilight from under the Changeling.

“Twily! Are you alright?” asked Shining Armour, frantically examining his little sister. Twilight nodded, her eyelids drooping from exhaustion.

“I’m alright BBBFF,” said Twilight with a small smile. Shining Armour beamed in response and trapped Twilight within a very tight hug.

“Umm Twilight, I hate to interrupt the moment, but what are we going to do with her?” Rainbow asked, pointing at the still form of the Changeling Queen. Twilight and Shining Armour broke their embrace and headed to the figure lying on the wedding hall’s ceiling.

“We need to find out where Princess Celestia is and she is the only one who knows,” said Twilight, her brow furrowed. “Shining, I remember reading Canterlot has a dungeon. We’ll have to put her there first.”

“I agree. And Twily, there’s also something else you have to do first,” said Shining, pointing up at the floor of the wedding hall.

“Oh, eh... Haha... Got it BBBFF,” said Twilight sheepishly. The unicorn released the gravity spell and everything fell back to the right place, literally, with a crash and clatter. The pegasi and unicorns carried or levitated the earth ponies safely down, while Cadance gently carried the Changeling Queen with her magic. Quickly gathering themselves around the Changeling, the ponies lifted the unconscious being up and, according to Shining’s directions, headed to the Canterlot dungeons.

The dungeons had been constructed a long time ago. They were archaic, musty and damp, with cold stone floors, and metal barring that was slightly rusted. Magic symbols shimmered and shifted on the walls and bars, indicating spells for imprisonment, subversion of magic and reinforcement. These cells had been constructed in a bygone era and had been rarely used even then. Shining Armour had the keys to these cells, but the long time it took for him to find the right key indicated his unfamiliarity with the facility.

“Okay, let us get out of this place,” said Rarity eagerly, not wanting to spoil her mane any further.

“Everypony, wait just a minute. I don’t think we should let anypony, but ourselves know about this,” said Cadance.

“If everypony were to know that Auntie had been impersonated and is now missing, they would panic. We need time to recover and establish stability over Canterlot before we tell the public,” explained the princess calmly, despite frowns from the seven ponies and the dragon.

“But ain’t that lying?” said Applejack. Cadance shook her privately recalling one of her lesson’s with Celestia.

“Cadance, one of the most powerful things the truth can do is suggest things that otherwise are not the truth. Unfortunately as Princess, there will be situations when you will have to tell these partial truths for the betterment of all ponies.

“Not necessarily. We can just say that Princess Celestia is unavailable. The public will assume she is resting after her fight with Chrysalis,” said Cadance.

Rainbow grumbled, “Speaking of the fight with Chrysalis, no wonder she lost. She must have known who Chrysalis was all along and botched the fight on purpose!” The other ponies voiced or nodded in agreement as they made their way back to the surface.


The public took Cadance’s explanation exactly as she expected them too. Shining Armour easily deflected the nosier ponies’ questions. Although some of them were unsatisfied, the explanations were accepted. Now, staff and public cleaning crews rushed around, trying to reset furniture, repair glassware and restore Canterlot to its former glory.

In the midst of all this activity, Cadance and Twilight met in an embrace, on a secluded tower away from prying eyes.

“Twilight, I never got to thank you for finding me in the caverns,” said Cadance gratefully.

Twilight chuckled wryly, “It was just an accident. Chrysalis sent me down there after I got too close to the truth.” Twilight winced. “Right after I freaked out and made everypony turn on me.”
Cadance’s eyebrows and ears rose, as Twilight sheepishly described what had happened in the wedding rehearsal. At the end, she bore a frown that could only be described as contemplative.

“Well, we know now that you were right, but you certainly did not do explain yourself well.”

“I know,” sighed Twilight, her head dropped down, only to have it lifted by a tender pink hoof.

“Twilight, you’re not to blame for freaking out,” said Cadance. Twilight sniffed and blinked, but was unable to stifle her tears. Feelings that had once been suppressed began to overflow. The dismissive looks on her friends’ faces and the scars from Shining Armour’s rebuke returned with a vengeance. Unable to hold the flood back, the unicorn broke down in tears. Cadance held Twilight in her hooves and wings, allowing the foal she had once foalsat to sob into her fur.

“But I am to blame! What if I was wrong? What if you were suffering from pre-marital stress?” The unicorn paused, the horrifying apparition of a Changeling Queen rising up in her mind like some hideous monster. “Like I was wrong about Princess Celestia.”

“I still shouldn’t have gotten so angry at you,” said a voice. The two mares turned to see Shining Armour, Spike and the rest of the Elements of Harmony.

“I may have been brainwashed, Twily, but it was no excuse for me to yell at you like that. I’ve been a horrible brother,” said Shining Armour, head fallen and tail dragging on the ground.

“We should have been there for you,” said Rainbow dismally.

“We were so obsessed with the wedding... but that was no excuse for being such rotten friends,” sighed Rarity.

“Sugarcube, ya never lied to us. We should’ve listened to ya,” said Applejack, touching her Stetson.

“Instead, we were all big meanies,” said Pinkie, her fur and hair seeming less pink than before. Fluttershy couldn’t say anything, she was sobbing so hard Twilight could hardly hear anything she said. It was then Twilight noticed a small impact by her foreleg, caused by a baby dragon tearfully hugging her leg, spewing apologies.

“Please forgive me, Twilight! I didn’t mean to be such a jerk. I was just so hyped up for the wedding and—” He was silenced by Twilight nuzzling him, tears flowing from her eyes.

“I forgive you all,” said Twilight, the widest smile on her face. Everyone’s eyes expanded, not expecting the sudden apology. As realization that they had been forgiven registered itself in their minds, they surged forward, wrapping each other with their hooves, wings and claws. Content with sharing their warmth, laughter, joy and tears.

As Cadance laughed and cried with the other ponies, she couldn’t help remembering something Celestia had told her long ago.

In my long years, I have learnt something incredibly powerful about the bonds of love between couples, friends and family. While the bond can become twisted, hammered, torn and smashed apart, all it takes to repair the bond is for one party to be willing to forgive the other, and the other party to seek forgiveness. That bond of love will then be re-forged, stronger than ever.


Canterlot dungeon...

I awoke suddenly, stiffer than ever, cold and feeling absolutely horrible. My horn hurt and the entire front of my carapace ached. When I opened my eyes, I was met with pitch black silence. Luckily, Changelings see very clearly in the dark and I soon managed to make out my surroundings, only to groan at the irony.

I was in my own castle’s dungeons. The ones I ordered built to house criminals and dangerous creatures. Escape was a possibility, but the effort outweighed the results. I had built these dungeons in a bygone era, a time of unrest and had accounted for everything, except for the possibility of being imprisoned myself. I could escape. With my power, I could blast my way through the steel and rock, but to what avail? To become a fugitive in my own country, leaving my ponies leaderless to weather the inevitable challenges and storms?

Then again, anything may be better than facing my ponies. This was the moment I dreaded for all my life. It was the moment when my costume, never been shed in the presence of any being, now ripped apart for all to see.

And it was my fault. I failed the ponies I loved. I could have avoided this situation.

In retrospect, I tried my best. The ‘sense’ that all non-ascended Queens were born with was only meant to warn, never to direct their actions. I had no idea where my enemy was. In the little free time I had, I was scouring the area around Canterlot. Sometimes by air, other times I used the telescope mounted on the Canterlot Observatory. I found nothing and yet, the pounding buzz at the back of my head would not dissipate. The Changeling Queen was still in the area. I knew not where nor had I any idea how close she was.

Nonetheless, the signs had been obvious. Cadance had seemed strange. She had initially been quite enthusiastic about the wedding and had scrutinized every feature. Eventually, as the items, the gift selections, decoration choices and all the clutter and details of the wedding built up, she became more aloof and more easily annoyed. Shining Armour was the only one who could talk her out of it, and even he seemed to have difficulty. I should have noticed it, but I had seen many a bride turn into horrifying madponies during wedding preparations, such as the 1st Duchess of Canterbridge, who ended up happily married for the rest of her life. So I dismissed those troubling signs, which was quite natural, but my next error was inexcusable.

I failed Twilight.

I had not seen my faithful student for quite some time. Not since the incident with her wanton misuse of the ‘Want-It-Need-It’ spell and another incident in which she almost trapped herself in a time loop. We had exchanged many letters, but we were not able to talk prior to the rehearsal. When she came barging through the Wedding Hall, throwing her accusations at Cadance, they seemed incredibly shaky. However, I should have immediately realized what happened. Instead I was unable to comprehend why my faithful student did an about-face on her old foalsitter. So I brushed it off as one of Twilight’s sudden bouts of mad panic. I abandoned her in her time of need. In light of such folly, I was tempted to throw myself against the walls of my cell, but that would only spark a painful magical feedback. Maybe I deserved the pain, but I needed my wits about me

Yet, I cannot understand why I did it. Maybe it was the stress of a possible Changeling Queen in the area. Maybe the earlier incidents made me take in her opinion with more salt than I should have. There is nopony who has shown more incredible devotion to... to my mask than Twilight Sparkle. Nopony has ever earned the title of ‘the faithful student’ better than she has. This is why love confuses me. For I have learnt that even if one loves somepony, they are still capable of doing incredibly harmful things to that pony.

And now, due to my shortcomings, the fact that my ponies knew about my identity was the least of my worries.

“Right you are little princess! And as Queen of the Changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects.”

I cringed as I recalled the single being which I had dreaded hearing for so long, a voice that caused me to seize in fear. That voice, whose memory sent tremors through my body and paralysed me like a windigo’s icy embrace. I had been bound in place as if there were chains wrapped around my hooves. The golden regalia I wore had never felt so heavy and so cold on my neck and hooves. A nightmare in the making, brought back by one voice.

The voice belonged to Chrysalis, my older sister.

Suddenly, I was brought out of the whirlpool of my fears and self-hate when I heard the ominous creak of the dungeon door being opened and saw light shining into the dark. Twilight and her friends were coming, most likely to interrogate me or accuse me, and for good reason. They would demand an explanation. I could not give them one, or not one in its entirety. What could I do?

What I have always done, I composed myself, drew myself into a regal posture, held my head high, and prepared for the trials ahead.

Author's Note:

Woah... That was... Phew... tiring. Thank you so much for following this story! I hope to continue to enthrall you with more chapters. Please like if you have already faved (I mean you do like the story I hope). And seriously, if you have a deviantart account, fav the cover art, because I’m pretty sure more than half of you were drawn by the cover!