Twilight quickly used her magic to form a 'bubble' around her body, blocking the Changeling Queen's magic. "Nice try! But in case you forgot, I'm the sister of Shining Armor, and more importantly, the student of Princess Celestia herself! You think you're the first to try to mentally control me? Think again. Many unscrupulous ponies have been after me ever since I became the Princess's student!"

The Queen bared her teeth. "So, you think to resist me? Me, Queen Chrysalis?!"

"My ruler was, is, and always will be Princess Celestia," Twilight replied. Then, taking a shot in the dark, she added, "By the way, this was a very nice plot of yours to try to drive a wedge between the Princess and myself. Unfortunately for you, we're already researching a means of undoing whatever you did to change me in the first place."

The Queen blinked. "How did you know it was my doing?!"

Mentally, Twilight nearly face-hooved at how easily her opponent was suckered into the verbal trap. "Easy, you just told me." Her friends all giggled a little.

Chrysalis, however, was not amused. "If you will not submit to my whim, then I'll just have to tear your friends apart!" She motioned to her subordinates, who rushed forward. Before they could move much, however, they all slammed into a barrier.

Twilight's Changeling eyes were blazing. "Attacking me is one thing, but attacking my friends is another. You will not have them or me!" With a yell, she forced the barrier forward, slamming all of the Changelings, the Queen included, out of the train. With another application of her potent magic, Twilight sealed the hole made in the train. She then used her Changeling powers to look like her old self again, before using another spell to awaken the comatose guard.

"Ugh... wha? What happened?" he asked, shaking his head to clear it.

"Don't worry, the Changelings have been dealt with," Twilight said. "Let's get the train moving again."

Nodding, the stallion stumbled out, still a little woozy from his impromptu nap.

Rarity looked at Twilight. "Most impressive, darling. It just goes to show, there's nopony in the world who can match you for power."

Twilight blushed. "Well, like I said, some of the less scrupulous nobles in Canterlot have tried to either take advantage of my naivete, or outright control me with magic. Mental defenses were some of the first spells the Princess taught me."

Spike nodded. "I remember this one time, that Prince Blueblood tried to mind control her into letting him into her suite, which has a massive library in it, as you all saw. He sulked for weeks when she didn't even notice at the time."

Twilight grinned at the memory. "I'd forgotten about that. He wanted some of the books the Princess had gifted to me as her student. When his spell failed - repeatedly, I might add - he outright demanded to my face that I let him into my library. I just told him no, and said that he'd have to talk to Princess Celestia."

Rarity looked like she'd swallowed a lemon. "And to think I once desired to be his wife. I am happier than ever now that the Grand Galloping Gala was such a spectacular failure."

Applejack smirked. "Shucks, ah think we're all a bit happy it didn't turn out like we thought it would. Jus' a bunch of high-falootin' nonsense."

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Yeah, well, I'm a bit peeved that the Wonderbolts were too busy to talk to me after inviting me to the VIP section. Still, I guess that's celebrity life for you."

Twilight smiled. "The Gala may not have turned out like any of us wanted, true. But we all learned a valuable lesson, no?"

The mares all chuckled as the Friendship Express puffed its way down the tracks to Ponyville.

*****

Chrysalis staggered to her hooves along with the other Changelings that had been with her. "Damn it all! This wasn't how it was supposed to go!"

"Then how was it supposed to go?" an upset voice said from behind.

Chrysalis froze. She knew that voice. Slowly, she turned around, to come face-to-face with Princess Celestia & Princess Luna, but the two rulers had also brought an entire platoon of Canterlot Royal Guards.

Desperate & angry at the same time, Chrysalis quickly used her magic to cause a nasty dust storm, giving the Changeling Queen and her kin to escape from the might of Equestria's rulers & Canterlot's finest. Disappointed in their attempt to capture Chrysalis in hopes of finding a way to return Twilight to normal, Celestia, Luna, and the Royal Guards walked out of the entrance to Chrysalis's lair, as Celestia pondered about what Chrysalis was trying to do with Twilight as a Changeling.

But then, Luna looked over at her older sibling & asked, "Is everything alright, sister? You've been worrying since you told me about Twilight turning into a Changeling." "I am worried about Twilight, Luna. I'm just concerned that there might be no way to reverse the damage that Chrysalis has done to Twilight" Celestia answered, as Luna tried her best to comfort her own sister.

"Look, I...Understand that Twilight is like a daughter to you, my dear sister. But I can most definitely promise you that Chrysalis will face justice for her crimes." Luna said, hoping to lighten Celestia's mood. Thankfully, it seemed to be working, as Celestia looked at her younger sister with a gentle smile on her face & replied, "I appreciate your reassurance, Luna."

However, little did either of the two princesses know, but someone was watching them from above, away from their sight of view. But it wasn't Chrysalis nor her Changelings, but something else entirely.