History FanFic / PrincessCelestiaTheChangelingQueen

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask:
** Alternia has worn and literally continues to wear Celestia's appearance in public. The main story is from her point of view, so the reader follows along her inner thoughts even as she must continue to present herself as Celestia. It is implied that “Celestia’s” more puckish sense of humor that her closest confidants like Cadance and Twilight see is more from Alternia herself.
** We also get brief glimpses of Chrysalis in her private chambers in Chapter 13 following the failed attack on Canterlot. Chrysalis had forced herself to hide her emotions until she got back, where the fact that ultimate victory had been ''so close'' for her until one moment's letdown of her defenses ruined it all finally caught up to her.

** Alternia's youngest changeling sister Belladonna is another name for the plant 'deadly nightshade'. Belladonna, although the youngest, is very good at combat. [[spoiler:She ends up leading the Shadow Empire hive, tenacious warriors who viciously attack Chrysalis’ hive after receiving news of Chrysalis slaying their mother and Alternia.]]

** Alternia has mentioning her sister Chrysalis.

** [[spoiler:Alternia's HeroicSacrifice ends up revealing that Celestia was a changeling queen all along in front of a crowd of ponies, exposing the truth to all of Equestria. Blueblood and Candace manage to avert chaos by convincing the populance that she's indeed the benevolent princess that rule Equestria for a thousands years, while Shining Armor also convince the generals of the same thing.]]

* MamaBear: Chrysalis flies into a murderous rage whenever she perceives a danger towards her daughter; too bad that she's so easy to set off, and quite quick to jump to conclusions that are often wrong. Alternia has shades of this towards her student Twilight as well.

** Alternia's mother's name is Chamelia, adapted from the animal 'chameleon'. She had been planning to reveal the existence of changelings to the pony princess sisters and sought to establish peaceful diplomatic relations with them; when Chrysalis [[TheCoup vetoed the idea by force]], Chamelia's last words to Chrysalis was a warning to Chrysalis that she had to adapt to the world changing around them, lest the whole hive fails.

* WellDoneDaughterGal: At least part of Chrysalis' animosity towards her sister stems from jealousy at clearly not being the favored successor of their mother, as well as part of why Chrysalis launched the coup against Chamilia.

** Subverted when Luna discovers Alternia’s true identity, as she immediately demands to know where Celestia is and threatens to torture her to get the information. This horrifies Twilight and Fluttershy, who desperately try to talk Luna down as torture had been outlawed for several centuries, only for a confused Luna to reveal that she ''wasn't'' going to torture [[spoiler:Alternia]] at all, she only wanted to intimidate her.

** Subverted when Luna discovers Alternia’s true identity, as she immediately demands to know where Celestia is and threatens to torture her to get the information. This horrifies Twilight and Fluttershy, who desperately try to talk Luna down as torture had been outlawed for several centuries, only for a confused Luna to reveal that she ''wasn't'' going to torture spoiler:Alternia at all, she only wanted to intimidate her.

** Alternia's mother's name is Chamelia, adapted from the animal 'chameleon'.

** Part of the reason Chrysalis launches her coup against her mother is because Chamilia had been planning to establish diplomatic relations with the ponies and reveal the changelings' existence. To Chrysalis, that is suicidaly stupid since changelings live on deception and secrecy.

* FreudianTrio: Ultimately Invoked [[spoiler:in the final chapters of the story, after Celestia reawakens from her ''very'', very long slumber and Alternia from her not-quite-so-long-but-still-lengthy coma. Celestia (superego) and Luna (id) both conclude that the Nightmare Moon incident had stemmed at least partially because the two sister were unable to work out an agreement, and so ask Alternia (ego) to become a third Princess of Equestria to mediate disagreements between them. Alternia accepts the offer.]]

* BeneathTheMask: Literally for Alternia, who has had to wear the mask of Celestia for over a thousand years. While it’s not a total personality overhaul once she takes off her disguise, she's definitely a different character when she can let down her disguise.

* CoolHouse: During the ''Film/{{Inception}}''-like intrusion of Luna and Twilight into Fake Celestia's mind, they come across a house based on Canterlot Castle.

* FallingChandelierOfDoom: At the end of Alternia's and Twilight's duel in a gravity-inverted wedding hall, an altar (from the ceiling/floor) drops onto Twilight's head -- well, it would have had Alternia not teleported to shield her at the last moment.

* GoodAllAlong: Everypony thinks at first that Alternia replaced Celestia recently and that the real one is missing while the changeling is evil. But she's actually the Celestia they've known all along. Luna is the partial exception to this since this is not the same Celestia who banished her a thousand years ago. [[spoiler: Blueblood knew from years before, however, and supports his dear aunt.]]

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Chrysalis realizes who "Celestia" really is when [[spoiler:Alternia lets slip that she knows exactly how Alternia was near-mortally wounded (a spear through the chest) during Chrysalis' coup of the Everfree Hive, something which only those who were there would know.]]

** This is also what the original Celestia's choice to forcibly implant her vast memories into Alternia's mind is portrayed as. Alternia has chronic problems keeping her own memories separate from those given by Celestia.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Celestia tells [[spoiler:Custard exactly what his group's actions have led to and how they have betrayed Harmony after he is imprisoned but still refuses to renounce his racist views.]]
-->'''Celestia:''' Harmony demands of it, you say? Let me tell you what you and the rest of your organization has done for "harmony". You broke your oaths of loyalty to the Equestrian military, which were to protect and serve innocents of all species. You were selfish and never gave the changeling delegation any generosity. Instead, you selfishly chose to follow your own goals instead of considering the wishes of others. You failed to show kindness to those whose only crime is that they were born different from you. [[spoiler:You provoked the Invasion of Canterlot. Yes, your attack on Chrysalis’s daughter provoked her attack on Canterlot.]] Thus, your organization inadvertently ended the laughter of so many ponies in a time of celebration. You lied to yourselves. Feeding and creating a false dream of a supposedly better, pony-only Equestria, when for more than five hundred years, we’ve been accepting immigrants into our society and have seen no ill-effects. Finally, you rejected friendship without considering its magic and instead, abused magic to inflict heinous crimes. Crimes, whose only result, was to create an almost irreparable rift between ponies and changelings ever co-existing, never mind co-operating. You nearly caused a war! Have our military academies taught you nothing about the destructiveness of what conflict brings? Have you not attended the Hearth's Warming Eve celebrations? You were never getting rid of discord, [[spoiler:Corporal Custard]]. You’ve been causing it.

* TheCoup: A thousand years prior, Chrysalis seized control of her mother Chamlia's hive this way. It is how [[spoiler:Alternia was wounded to the edge of death fighting -- in futility, as it turn out -- trying to protect Chamlia]].

* SpoilerOpening: See the title and coverart.

* GoodAllAlong: Everypony thinks at first that Alternia replaced Celestia recently and that the real one is missing while the changeling is evil. But she's actually the Celestia they've known all along. Luna is the partial exception to this since this is not the same Celestia who banished her a thousand years ago. [[spoiler: Blueblood knew from years before, however, and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming supports his dear aunt.]]]]

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Alternia has worn and literally continues to wear Celestia's appearance. The main story is from her point of view, so the reader follows along her inner thoughts even as she must continue to present herself as Celestia. It is implied that “Celestia’s” more puckish sense of humor that her closest confidants like Cadance and Twilight see is more from Alternia herself.

A long, long, long, long, long, long, long, while later...\\

* EyePoke: Alternia and Twilight simultaneously, after they make up and Pinkie Promise to be friends.

** Alternia's mother, Chamelia throws herself to catch Chrysalis's spear, saving Alternia, but taking a mortal wound in the process.

** Alternia thinks that this might have been Celestia's reasoning for spoiler: shoving all her memories into her. At the time, Alternia isn’t happy with what Celestia had done and swore to punish Celestia when she had the chance again -- Celestia’s last lines before going into a deep sleep is to let her, reasoning that in such case there would at least be an Equestria to return to.

** Alternia has a couple. Threatening her little ponies, threatening Twilight, mentioning her sister Chrysalis.

* ParentalFavortism: Chamelia seemed to favor Alternia the most when the changeling sisters were little and had been grooming her to be her successor, something which Chrysalis noted all too well.

** Changelings themselves hold ponies in suspicion as well, at least those who haven’t spent extensive amounts of time disguised among them.

* CassandraTruth: No matter how many times she tried to tell everypony that she is actually Celestia, it took Luna and Twilight invading the changeling's mind to figure out that Alternia was telling the truth.

* CoolHouse: During the Film/{{Inception}}-like intrusion of Luna and Twilight into Fake Celestia's mind, they come across a house based on Canterlot Castle.

* TheExile: Alternia, after Chrysalis launches her coup against their mother and is believed dead.

* OhCrap: The magic of Shining and Cadance's love blasts all the Changelings out of Canterlot except for “Celestia”, exposing her true form and leading to a brief imprisonment by Twilight, Luna, Shining and Cadence. Alternia only had a couple seconds to realize what Shining Armor’s and Cadance’s love blast was going to do to her disguise, and could only get out one small telepathic plea: “I’m sorry, Twilight!”

** [[spoiler:Zecora introduces herself formally to “Celestia” and Chrysalis at Camp Draco, whereupon she reveals herself to be Belladonna and publicly accuses Chrysalis of killing Alternia and Camilia.]]

* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler: 'Equestria First']] is full of ponies that think they are this. In reality, [[spoiler: they are simply [[FantasticRacism racist]]]].

* AbsoluteXenophobe: [[spoiler: Equestria First has FantasticRacism towards all non-ponies]].
* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler:Lamia lost a leg and an eye to a group of racist ponies, which would lead to Chrysalis' invasion of Canterlot.]]
* BatmanGambit:
** [[spoiler: It is implied that Celestia instigated this in her meeting with Alternia, betting that transferring her memories to Alternia would lead her along a set of outcomes that would lead the changeling queen to freeing Luna and reassembling the Element Bearers for that purpose.]]
** [[spoiler:Alternia makes a plan so that Chrysalis would forgive her daughter, Cyndra, for betraying her hive. It worked.]]
* BeneathTheMask: Literally for False Celestia, [[spoiler:Alternia]]. While its not a total personality overhaul once she takes off her disguise, she's definitely different.
* BerserkButton: False Celestia, [[spoiler: Alternia]], has a couple. Threatening her little ponies, threatening Twilight, [[spoiler: mentioning her sister, Chrysalis]].
* BigBad: [[spoiler:The leader of Equestria First turns out to be Major Golden Star, a relatively minor character among several that appear early in the story during the Equestrian chief of staff meeting only to return for the climax.]]
* BrainBleach: False Celestia, [[spoiler: also known as Alternia]], needs it after Twilight asks an innocent question on whether [[spoiler: her sister]] Chrysalis gives birth to her drones.
* CassandraTruth: No matter how many times she tried to tell everypony that she was actually Celestia, it took [[spoiler:Luna and Twilight invading the changeling's mind in order to figure out that Alternia (Fake Celestia) was telling the truth.]]
* ChekhovsSkill:
** Fake Celestia's rather fond of, and very good at, using changeling portal magic. [[spoiler: This is very useful when she has to save Twilight from a falling altar.]]
** An Inverted example with [[spoiler:Alternia's constant problems separating Celestia's memories from her own. The mix-up slip-ups happen enough that Chrysalis is able to deduce from careful observation that "Celestia" is a changeling queen.]]
* CliffHanger: There are multiple cliffhanger chapters in the beginning of the story.

* CoolHouse: [[spoiler: During the Inception-like intrusion of Luna and Twilight into Fake Celestia's mind, they come across a house based on Canterlot Castle.]]

* DarkIsNotEvil: While "Celestia" is one of the Changeling species, [[spoiler: her care for her subjects, especially Twilight, is genuine, and not driven by the need to feed off love.]].
* EvilCounterpart: Chrysalis to False Celestia, [[spoiler: who is Chrysalis's younger sister]].

* FallingChandelierOfDoom: At the end of false Celestia's and Twilight's duel in a gravity-inverted wedding hall, an altar (from the ceiling/floor) drops onto Twilight's head [[spoiler: false Celestia throws herself over Twilight and saves her.]]
* FantasticRacism: [[spoiler: Equestria First is composed of ponies that are against non-ponies living in or even interacting with Equestria]]. False Celestia is not amused. [[spoiler: Chrysalis]] is [[YouMonster downright]] ''[[MamaBear murderous]]''.
* ForcefulKiss: [[spoiler: What Original Celestia does to Alternia to save the changeling's life (with a transfer of love energy to go along with it).]]
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: The real Celestia doesn't, but the fake one relies on all ponies' love and admiration to perform the godly task of moving the sun and moon.
* GoodAllAlong: Everypony thinks false Celestia replaced Celestia and that the real one is missing and that false Celestia, a changeling, is evil. But she's actually the Celestia they've known all along. Luna is the partial exception to this since this is NOT the same Celestia who banished her a thousand years ago. [[spoiler: Blueblood knew from years before, however, and [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming supports his dear aunt.]]]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Alternia's mother, Chamelia throws herself to catch Chrysalis's spear, saving Alternia, but taking a mortal wound in the process.]]
** [[spoiler:Her daughter, Alternia would end up doing the same thing, saving Chrysalis from a deadly fire spell, but nearly dying in the process.]]
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: False Celestia, [[spoiler: Alternia]], thinks that this might have been Original Celestia's reasoning for [[spoiler: shoving her memories into her]].
** [[spoiler: Custard and the 'Equestria First' ponies]] think that they are doing this. [[SubvertedTrope They are so very]], [[NiceJobBreakingItHero very wrong]].
* IKnewThereWasSomethingAboutYou: [[spoiler:More than one character knew that Celestia was hiding something, but Chrysalis is the only one that correctly deduce that Celestia is a changeling queen, however she didn't expect that she would be Alternia in disguise.]]

* IndyPloy: [[spoiler: When original Celestia decides to have Alternia take over as Celestia, after the former is badly wounded after the Nightmare Moon incident.]]
* [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask The Changeling Wearing The Mask of Celestia]]: Changeling Celestia has worn, and literally continues to wear Celestia's appearance.
* LivingLieDetector: [[spoiler:Becuase changelings can sense emotions they can also tell whenever someone is lying or not, Alternia and Chrysalis make heavy use of this.]]
* MamaBear: Chrysalis flies into a murderous rage whenever she perceives a danger towards her daughter; too bad that she's so easy to set off, and quite quick to jump to conclusions that are often wrong. Arguably, False Celestia has shades of this towards Twilight.
* MeaningfulName: On several occasions confirmed by WordofGod
** False Celestia's name [[spoiler:Alternia]] is a portmanteau of the words 'alternate' and 'Celestia'
** [[spoiler: Alternia's younger changeling sister Simulacris is an adaptation of the word 'simulacrum' which means likeness/similarity]]
** [[spoiler: Alternia's youngest changeling sister Belladonna, is another name for the plant 'deadly nightshade'. Belladonna, although the youngest is very good at combat.]]
** [[spoiler: Alternia's mother's name is Chamelia, adapted from the animal 'chameleon'.]]

** Luna and Twilight, in an attempt to determine where the original Celestia was, invades "Celestia's" to inspect her memories without her permission, something "Celestia" is furious about on learning what happened.
** [[spoiler: This is also what the original Celestia's choice to forcibly implant her memories into Alternia's mind is portrayed as.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Twilight has this reaction after she realize that Alternia was telling the truth all along.]]
** [[spoiler:Princess Luna doesn't take well at all the fact that she nearly killed her sister a thousands years ago, and has indirectly forced Alternia to rule Equestria as Celestia.]]
** [[spoiler:Cyndra has this realization after her sister reveals how much damaged she could've down by giving away vital information about the hive, even if it was for the greater good.]]
** [[spoiler:Queen Chrysalis reveals that she actually regret killing her mother and her sister, Alternia.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Luna and Twilight, when they are interrogating [[spoiler: and then invade the mind of "Celestia", only to find out that they really owe everything to her]].
** [[spoiler: Custard and the 'Equestria First' ponies attacked a changeling delegation led by Chrysalis's daughter, ultimately causing the changeling's invasion]]. And it wasn't even the first time they screwed up like that. [[spoiler:And while their attempt to take Chrysalis's life at the peace talks fails, exposing the group, it puts Chrysalis into hyper-paranoid mode]].
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:In-Universe, Chrysalis and her sisters are shocked once they realize that Alternia was alive.]]
* OhCrap: The magic of Shining and Cadance's love blasts all the Changelings out of Canterlot [[spoiler: except for Celestia, exposing her true form and leading to a brief imprisonment by Twilight, Luna, Shining and Cadence.]]
* PhysicalGoddess: Original Celestia. The False Celestia, while still powerful in her own right, needs love to fuel it in order to approach the Original Celestia's capabilities.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Celestia tells [[spoiler:Custard exactly what his group's actions have led to and how they have betrayed Harmony]].
-->'''Celestia:''' “Harmony demands of it, you say? Let me tell you what you and the rest of your organization has done for "harmony". You broke your oaths of loyalty to the Equestrian military, which were to protect and serve innocents of all species. You were selfish and never gave the changeling delegation any generosity. Instead, you selfishly chose to follow your own goals instead of considering the wishes of others. You failed to show kindness to those whose only crime is that they were born different from you. You provoked the Invasion of Canterlot. Yes, your attack on Chrysalis’s daughter provoked her attack on Canterlot. Thus, your organization inadvertently ended the laughter of so many ponies in a time of celebration. You lied to yourselves. Feeding and creating a false dream of a supposedly better, pony-only Equestria, when for more than five hundred years, we’ve been accepting immigrants into our society and have seen no ill-effects. Finally, you rejected friendship without considering its magic and instead, abused magic to inflict heinous crimes. Crimes, whose only result, was to create an almost irreparable rift between ponies and changelings ever co-existing, never mind co-operating. You nearly caused a war! Have our military academies taught you nothing about the destructiveness of what conflict brings? Have you not attended the Hearth's Warming Eve celebrations? You were never getting rid of discord, Corporal Custard. You’ve been causing it.”
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Alternia's HeroicSacrifice ends up revealing that Celestia was a changeling queen all along in front of a crowd of ponies, exposing the truth to all of Equestria. Blueblood and Candace manage to avert chaos by convincing the populance that she's indeed the benevolent princess that rule Equestria for a thousands year, while Shining Armor also convince the generals of the same thing.]]
* SecretKeeper: After "Celestia" reveals her true nature, the Mane Six plus Blueblood, Shining Armor, Luna, and Cadance keep it a secret. [[spoiler:It holds for most of the story. Alternia's sisters Belladonna and Simulacris are told as well in order to convince them to drop their blood feud against Chrysalis, Chrysalis eventually puzzles it out and Alternia admits to it at the formal agreement to the peace treaty, and Equestria eventually finds out after Equestria First launches its attack at the signing ceremony and Alternia takes the shot meant for Chrysalis.]]
* SecretSecretKeeper: Prince Blueblood and Philomena actually discovered "Celestia's" true identity before she reveals it in the story, the former after "Celestia" rescued him from a fire when he was a young colt. They kept it secret because they still loved her as his aunt and her master.
* SliceOfLife: The first part of the fic is mostly Slice of Life, focusing on Celestia's reveal and [[spoiler: explaining her backstory, including how Alternia came to be Celestia]].

* TranquilFury: Fake Celestia, [[spoiler:Alternia,]] is notable for suppressing her anger very well.
* WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk: Subverted. When Luna discovers [[spoiler:Alternia]]'s true identity, she immediately demands to know [[spoiler:where Celestia is]], and threatens to torture her to get the information. This horrifies Twilight and Fluttershy, who desperately try to talk Luna down... only for a confused Luna to reveal that she ''wasn't'' going to torture [[spoiler:Alternia]] at all, she only wanted to intimidate her.
** Played Straight, when Alternia,Luna, and Blueblood later interrogate several of Chrysalis's changelings, they use various tactics to make the changelings talk, but its:
*** Zig-Zagged, with Luna AGAIN in the same changeling interrogation scene. She frightens the changeling, then proceeds to act rather very friendly with her, consequently getting the changeling to slip up and [[spoiler: give her the location of Chrysalis's hive in the Badlands]]