Right. In the interest of no longer derailing the prompt thread, here is a thread for discussing general stuff.

First question, obviously: I'd like to know whether the people around here prefer Twilight getting Cadance before/after her getting together with Shining Armor, or basically taking her away from him (regardless of whether it was Cadance or Twi who initiated the relationship).

Personally, I prefer the second option. First of all, I don't care much for Shining Armor. MLP, give me a male character I can work with. Furthermore, the canon relationship of the "Knight in Shining Armor" (even the name is lazy. On the other hand, maybe we should suggest this as the name for a clopfic to the M/M shippers) with the girliest and pinkest, cliche princess is just not very interesting.
Second, I ship Twi with all the princesses/royals/mares. In my headcanon, she is just the ultimate lesbian brainwashing weapon. And she deserves to win, with all the time she saved the country from evil (not to mention the princesses. Isn't it fairy tale stuff that the person who actually saved the princess gets to marry her?).

Anyways, I am interested in what you all think, so go ahead and tell me.

I normally lean towards option 1, if I don't plug my ears and hum really loudly until Shining Armor just goes away. My favorite resolution to this was probably "My Princess Alluring" where(spoilers) Shining Armor still bags a Princess, just turns out to be Luna. He gets Best Princess, Favorite Character(Twilight) gets the Princess of Love, Celestia screws Rarity, happily ever after(except the hugely unresolved love triangle with Twilestance.

I honestly wasn't big on Twidance before "My Princess Alluring" and 'Three's A Crowd' and now I've started a collab for it. How times change.

3187885 Ah, that one is mature-rated, isn't it? Too bad, that.

I wonder if it's actually because of Shining Armor that there is so little Twidance. I mean, most other fandoms I've looked in, canon relationships are broken off with almost comical regularity, but around here it is pretty often only for clop fics.

I think it is because of Shiney that the things derail. Most authors don't want to go to the trouble of getting rid of him. Atleast with Twilight/Rarity you can just have a 'talk to Spike about him being a child' chapter.

I would prefer Option 1, where Twilight and Cadence get together without stealing her away from Shining. While Shining tends to be fairly useless he often seems to take the same role as Spike does in Twilight/Rarity fics which is one thing that irks me is how much Spike is dismissed in these shipping stories. He is young and a child but he does show maturity (at times) and he is an important part of Twilight's life but Shining is also a part of both their lives, both Cadence and Twilight. Shining is the barrier between Twilight/Cadance just as Spike is the same for Twilight/Rarity, though Shining is less easily dismissed by writers.

So I while I would prefer a supportive Shining prompting either one to go after the other, I don't mind stories that has Shining break it off when he realizes Cadence doesn't love him in that way. It's either that or Cadence and Twilight as alicorns have long lives if not immortal and so they hook up after Shining's death.

3188205 True.

3188707 Just to clarify, by saying "stealing" I don't mean for Twi to literally work against her brother. In fact, I am quite sure that a large dose of drama would come from her being unwilling to threaten her brother's happiness ( and I would write it that way). I would say that either Twi or Cadance is very much in love with the other, but has reasons for not trying to pursue the relationship. Then Shining Armor enters the picture, Cadance marries him ( I don't think he is that bad. Just uninteresting as a character, and obviously miles below his sister in princess-worthiness). Then the work begins to get the two princesses together.

How in God's name can I have a test to prove AJs honesty that actually requires honesty?

3220613 Maybe Applejack finds an error in Sweet Apple Acres tax filings that would devastate the farm and possibly cause them to lose it, but the ERS auditor overlooked it? Be honest and possibly have her family become homeless, or lie. Put her top two priorities against each other

3220665 -nods- That's my problem, Nothing during the Nightmare Moon incedent that would work...