Sounds promising. I shall look at it eventually

I guess the sleep spell also prevented the shield from bursting despite the changelings attacking it.

Though an "auto-restore" spell might have been more efficient in order to undo Celestia's damage, combined with Luna's power, it might not be difficult.

Then there's the issue of the elusive Trace Spell, in which Celestia or Luna could trace their location by seeking their magical signatures, unless Twilight already thought of that.

First I was like then I was like then I was like

keep it comin I wants MOAR!!!!

So wait Shining Armor was under no spell and yet he couldn't even tell what was real or what to believe, is there something Chrysalis didn't tell Celestia or did I miss something?

>>11720271172027

Chrysalis defeated Celestia, took her form and made one of lesser changelings take her form to take 'herself' into custody. Then she hid Celestia in chrystal caves and made up whole 'I defeated queen' story.

>>11707851170785

This story assumes a relatively weak Celestia (and Luna), which is in keeping with the fact that Chrysalis defeated Celestia in direct combat.  Believe me, Celestia -wished- she'd thought of casting a Trace spell on Twilight or Shining Armor!  But she would have had to do so ahead of time.

As for the shield--it would have burst if the changelings actually had attacked it!  In this version of events, they never did--Celestia caught Chrysalis off guard and she never had a chance to summon them. =)

>>11720271172027

Shining Armor was confused because of Twilight's sleep spells--he was groggy and disoriented.

>>11738581173858

Iinnnteresting theory!!

So let me get it together:

1) In the show, Twilight noticed somethink was wrong, but when she tryed to tell her friends, they ignored her ands stick up with Cadence, and when Twilight was so desperate to call Cadence evil, everyone betrayed her, her friends were very angry on her, teacher was totaly dissapointed, and brother did not wanted to have anythink to do with her at all, and when Twilight was right, all they did was, " sorry " and " you should trust your insticts "

Yea, when she was right no one belived her or even hated her, but when she was right in the end what saved entire kingdom, just thanks and thats all, you can go back to bying egghead as usual.

2) In this story Twilight capture her brother to save him, and Celestia was incredibly angry on her, she was ready to get rid of Twilight ( when Twilight who saved Equestria 2 times do mistake - banish her as useless mare, but if someone would capture Twilight, I bet it would be just normal crime with little consequences, Capitan of the Royal Guard >>>>> Hero and saviour egghead ), and the only reason she was not punished was because she was right, yea.

Way to go, trust your instincts and we will say thank you and forgive you if you were right, but if you were wrong, well, we will just hate you forever or even banish you.

3 ) In this fanfic  Twilight realize that she was right and all her friends and her mentor and even her parents treated her badly, so she alowed anger and dark power in, got some revange and kick some flanks, beat up her brother, beat up Chrysalis, and almost died in the end, only so that her friends and mentor will say somethink more than simple sorry.

I find it incredible unfair, Twilight was right alot times, she saved Equestria with her friends twice, and yet no one trusted her when it was the most importand, if in the end she would be wrong, her live would be ruined, and for the fact that she was right and helped save Equestria ( again ), she got " Thank you " and " you should trust your instincts ".

I find it truly phatetic that she got so little for bying right and helping to save everyone ( again ), and she would lose everythink if she would be wrong, Twilight deserve far more respect, trust, and far bigger appology.

>>13328491332849 So I wasn't the only one thinking that Twilight should have gotten way bigger apology in the show? Because come on! She has saved your buts two times and she does it yet again and you just say thank you?! Not right.

>>14179751417975

Yea, and the worse is that if Twilight would be wrong and screw up, who know how many weeks she would have to appologice and make up to her friends and brother and Celestia to get back they trust, and Twilight forgive tham all in a moment in the show.

>>14194991419499 Totally. I know they're friends and all but come on. I wouldn't forgive my friend that easily after something like that happens. Geez Twi, how much do you like your friends?

>>14201591420159

Lets say she like tham faaaar more than they like her, I m sure you remember how much Twilight had to deal with in episode with Discord, there was no other episode where Twilight got so beat up and screwed than in that episode.

Twilight had unbelivable faith in her friends even when they were split up, and after Discord finished with her friends, Twilight had to tolerate annoying lies from Applejack, Flutthershy was bullying her alot, Pinkie was annoying, and the best of all Rarity, she made Twilight carry a giant builder for her twice ( by the size of Tom, it was probably 2-4 Tons weight ), until than I had no idea Twilight and Rarity  were so unbelivable strong for Unicorns what do not do physical labor to often.

Even when Twilight found book with elements in it, she had to chace it, crash into rock Tom, and had a fight, I must say Twilight was very patient back than and quite ressistant, even episode with Pinkie sense was not as painfull, and in episode with Pinkie Twilight was smashed every step and was crushed by heavy cargo droped by Derpy and got backup right away, but it is on side note.

>>14233271423327 Wow. You're right...Twilight has a lot of physical pain from her friends though.

>>14239941423994

Well, there were also good parts and her friends are often willing to help, and Twilight also ignored PinkiePie when parasprites attacked, however the clue is to learn from your mistakes, both for Twilight and her friends, after all friendship reports are symbilizing learned lessons, Twilight even used those lessons to get her friends back from Discord control, so I was very supriced that in the wedding everyone acted like those lessons never existed to begin with.

Also yea, Twilight get in painful situations more often than her friends ( they do too but less often ), and no matter how often I watch this pain , it still amaze me that Twilight for an magical student who focus on books and knowledge above athletic sports can be so strong to lift that 4 tons boulder ( not to mention that lady who is afraid to get her hoof dirty was able to carry it or even dig it out of solid rock without any equipment ), just because they lost they horns does not mean they are earth ponies as strong as Applejack or Big Mac, but I quess when they got the elements they got powered up, they are totaly more durable than other ponies.

An interesting premise. Please continue. Oh and look its on EQD now.

>>13328491332849

Sounds like Twilight is afflicted with Cassandra's curse.

(A latent "gift" from Discord perhaps?)

>>13328491332849

>>14179751417975

Seems to me that you will absolutely love this fanfic if you haven't already read it: Post Nuptials. Check it out from start to finish, because there is far more going on in everyone's heads than the first chapter implies.

Now I wonder why Twilight didn't do this. It makes much more sense than her plan in the show. Looking back, it was kinda dumb.

Well done, sir.

Now finish it.

>>14406801440680

Well because without Shining Armor the Barrier would not be maintained, he had to send a magical pulse into it to hold it up. If he missed even one pulse I am willing to bet 100% that either it would have fallen or the changeling army would have broken through it no problem. He is according to Twilight the only one who can put up the barrier after all.

So outside of fanfic logic Twilight would have literally doomed the city and since breaking through the floor and finding Cadance is unlikely to the Nth Degree Shining Armor would not have the power to make a whole new barrier. Game Over basically. But that is assuming she could kidnap Shining in the first place considering Cadance was in the house probably all night, or even make a bag which stops magic since nothing in the show shows that stopping magic is even possible.

I would say she didn't do that in the show because it is entirely impractical.

----------

>>14240781424078

i believe that parasprite episode was a massive example of communication malfunction. when Pinkine first saw the parasprite, she immediately goes into a spiel of finding musical instruments and never said why the parasprites are implied to be something bad. granted, this should have piqued Twilight and Co's curiosity and should have pressed Pinkie for answers...

to be fair to Twilight and Co, they had they right idea of sending the parasprites to the Everfree forest. only Pinkie knew that the surest way of getting them all was to Pied Piper the creatures...

Soooooo how exactly is this 'to be continued'? Seems to me like a good AU one-shot.

But eh, what do I know.

>>14201591420159  If I was right, I would troll my friends and family over it relentlessly for months and months until I got bored of it.  I would also use it in every debate as proof of my superior intellect and how they should instantly acquiesce to all my demands since I am a super genius and always right.

One oddity:  There WAS a spell on Shining Armor that was controlling his mind in the show.  If it's not there this time, then Chrysalis has other plans...

>>13328491332849 well i am glad that i am not the only one that didnt like a lot of things in the wedding episodes and i totally agree with you, its like lesson zero never happend (where is the lesson about listening to your friends problems?). and i cant look past the fact that both Shinning armor and Candece are both a Gary Stu and Mary Sue.

This took an unexpected direction and ended up somewhere I didn't anticipate. Definite +1 for exploring an alternate possibility and bringing it to a conclusion that was both reasonable and non-obvious.

It seems like you try to avoid using the word "said" at all costs... It's very distracting.

An excellent story!  A very well thought out story so far, with great characterization, and a distinct lack of impossible logical steps. The next 2 parts premise also look very promising, specially the third one.

I have one question however: What about the Changelings outside the shield? With Shining Armor sleeping, wouldn't they be able to break the shield?

Wait, are the chapters meant to be alternative scennarios? Or will the story continue from where the first chapter left? I'm really interested, especially at how the "Sad" label will play out.

Now, about the second season finale and the not-trusting-Twilight issue, the problem I have is that the episode was a mess about it. Honestly, just like in this story, Twilight pretty much got lucky in her conclusions, and could as well have been wrong. Apparently she hasn't meet Cadence for many years, one could expect her to turn out different than her filly memories, and there is also the wedding-stress aspect. Twilight did wrong at jumping into accusations, instead of talking to her friends and teacher in a way that didn't look like she was crazy and overprotective and stuff. The others had put a lot on effort in the wedding; Celestia, especially, had to be taking care of the kingdom the whole day and just wanted to relax... I could go on. But then the episode seems to claim that Twilight was totally right in everything, when again, we know her arguments weren't that strong (And the green spell had a perfect explanation), and the moral is suddendly about "trusting your instincts" wich I don't think really applies to what we saw...

But anyway, you know at the end when the real Cadence spends time with the other five ponies, individually? Wit Twilight present in every instance, andthey are all nice and happy and having a good time? Am I the only one who thinks that those scennes were meant to imply that the others and Twilight could make amends? Even if it wasn't directly shown for the sake of time and pacing?

Quite interesting, but above all the first movement is definitely believable!

I hope to see more soon.

Thanks for the comments, folks!  I'm intrigued that this chapter set off a discussion about whether Twilight was treated unfairly by Celestia and her friends.  I think there's merit on both sides of the question.

A lot of you were wondering how the shield held in Movement 1 with Shining Armor subdued.  The answer, as I mentioned above, is that it did weaken, but it was never tested, since the changelings never attacked.  When Chrysalis realized her bridegroom had been kidnapped, she put her plans on hold.  When she was finally confronted by Celestia, she was taken by surprise and didn't have time to summon them.

And now... I'm about to submit the second chapter!  I hope you like it.

Nice.

much better than the actual episode

>>16140461614046

Eh, by no one acting stupid there really wasn't much fear of the protagonists failing. It feels like too much was lost for the sake of removing a character's mistake. Maybe if things hadn't been resolved so neatly I would have enjoyed it more; perhaps Chrysalis should have had a backup plan or something?

>>11954281195428

One could argue about the weak Celestia and Luna part if you take your arguements from the show.

For one there was a room full of ponies so you could imagine Celestia holding back while Chrysalis wouldnt care to do the same, for two Chrysalis took the power of love from Shining. The same power that defeated even her later. So if she is so powerful by default then Cadence is double that? But then how did she overpower Cadence

Nevermind me i just find it annoying when people just go OMG CELESTIA IS WEAK without even thinking or taking anything else that happened there into consideration.

>>16141171614117 while some of that is true, this is probably one of the better versions of the whole idea if things went differently. it actually gave me a reason to care about the characters instead of just raise an eyebrow what normally happened. sure the show had a time limit and had to get the plot to go somewhere, but here it just seems natural.

Oh, geez.

Celestia: "Shining Armor, I need you to protect the city against a dangerous enemy who seeks to destroy us all!"

Shining Armor: "Of course, your majesty. Who are we defending against?"

Celestia: "I'm not telling."

Anyway, I've kind of always had it as headcanon that the real Cadance was a bridezilla before she was kidnapped and Chrysalis imitated that. All the main six except Twilight had had experiences with bridezilla before and thus were relatively unfazed by her complaints. Which left Twilight running around alone in a panic because she was the only one in her circle who didn't know that it's relatively normal for brides to act like this.

Hmmm there are a few like Mirror's Image that make chrysalis more through with her impersonations and "the Reception has been cancelled" with Chrysalis winning, so I would guess those are out? And Cadance being a total bitch just doesn't work, so her not remembering Twi and being such a cunt in reality would be hard to swallow.

So I wonder what other paths would you take.

But it sounds the next one will be a Chrysalis' victory.

Just a thing. The princesses called Chrysalis by name before she introduced herself and while she was still impersonating Cadance.

Let's hope it doesn't end with Twi embarrassed and humiliated.

I think Shining Armor overreacted when he was reunited with the real Cadence, the real question should be whether or not she forgives him for what happened.

I still think that if Chrysalis had actually married Shining Armor her rouse would have been discovered, because the nobiltiy would bat eyes at how Shining Armor's protectino spell faded after he married Cadence, and soon enough Chrysalis would be found out, only thing this at that point Chrysalis would likely prove hard to stop.

Not so much for weak Ceelstia or Luna, so much as strong Chryalis, part of me desprately wants to see a chapter where Ceelstia pretty mcuh flings Chrysalis around Canterlot and threatens her into giving back Cadence,

but enough about me, this is an excellently written fic, I love fics like this and have found both chapter to be extremely interesting, well thought out and just generally excellent reading material I look forward to the next chapter, maybe one where Chyrsalis try's to fool Twilight as well.

Best of luck!

I wonder why no one thought about comparing the COLOR OF THE MAGICAL AURA....

Well, if we're doing Alternate Universe set ups, have you ever considered what it would be like if Cadence had never been interested in Shining at all?  That is, Chrysalis had replaced her before their relationship started.  Heck, I always thought it would have been more interesting if Chrysalis had loved Shining Armor and Cadence hadn't.  Then she either wouldn't have been planning to invade or would have been planning to keep him around after.  You could work a better moral lesson into that, too.  Either something about seeking love under false-pretences (if she was peaceful) or about love not always being enough (if she wasn't).

I think the only problem a reader may have with the story, is that it's a foregone conclusion. We already know Cadence was Chrysalis, and that takes the mystery out of what is basically a mystery story. If we all had not watched a Canterlot wedding, would the story feel different I wonder?

>>16141321614132

I'm still under the impression that Celestia held her power back so she didn't turn most of Canterlot, and it's mountain, into a sheet of glass, personally.

This is just what I needed after a week of haveing no internet...thank you sir.

Amazing writting, but I feel the need to write something I was thinking while reading it (because of both the story and the comments here).

The second season finale did have its flaws, and some may have liked it far less than others, and again, this fan fic is greatly written, it feels like everything fits together, and it feels like the story really could have gone like this... but seriously, the episodes could not have really gone specifically like these chapters for a lot of reasons... a tv episode and a written fan fic are two different things. With the actual episodes, a season finale in this case, there is a time limit (Both screen time and production wise); there is a structure; there are things to show and a need to make something that isn't lacking content or just a whole resolution of anticlimatic talk (as logical as it may be in retrospective); there are excecutive limitations (Luna was extremely lucky to get a cameo back then), and not to mention what it was expected to be in the end: An almost-Disney-movie-like toy commercial for a set with a lot of publicity; among who knows how many other things.

Criticism is good, but I'm worried that fans may become too aggressive. As always, I'm rather glad they could make something so good from a toy commercial (For starters, a pink alicorn princess that came out of nowhere was made into a perfectly likable character, a babysitter and big sister figure for Twilight), it just could have gone so really wrong.

Also, one of the things I feel is what has really made the show great since the beginning is that, somehow, it manages to inspire and promote the artistic side of many people, and in so many fields. I think the fact that it actually makes people create things such as this fan fic is no small deal.

Just saying. Great fan fic again.

First!

Image: http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r76/Kanrabat/Reaction%20Images/slowpoke.jpg

But seriously, this one is a great alternative. A little less absurd than the first one. Now I'm really looking forward the (last?) one were Chrysalis would have done her homework and would have pulled the perfect acting job to actually win!

I like this version of events even better than your last in all but one respect: the ending.

That has got to be one of the saddest happy ending's i've ever seen.

I mean, props for the story. It's great work. I'm looking forward to the last movement.

Still... my feels...

“I don't know, Spike.  I mean, the princesses had some ideas, but... well, anyone who would kidnap someone on the verge on their wedding must be a pretty horrible person!”  Twilight felt a sudden spasm, as if she'd been struck by an otherworldly bolt of irony... but she shook it off.

I laughed so hard at this.

Really neat idea for a fic, and well executed too.

I like the Twilight/Spike interaction in the second chapter especially, for whatever reason. It's just a cute slice-of-life moment, with him only remembering the candy, and Twilight nagging, I guess.

Not sure if it's a premise in these alternate takes that Shining Armor isn't actually being enchanted? Or did it just expire in the first chapter before Twilight actually checked? If he actually was enspelled, it seemed like a bit of an easy sell that his wife was a duplicate. Totally kosher if he was in his right mind though.

Since Shining Armor always struck me as pretty dutiful, that sad ending really seemed right. Feels natural that he would get all depressed and kick himself in the flank endlessly over not finding out that his wife-to-be had been replaced. That would have anyone questioning if they deserved their true love after all.

Next one is a bad end, I'd think? Chrysalis acting a bit smarter seems like it would cause a huge disaster for our plucky heroes. Well, I'll be tuning in next time to find out. Same bug time, same bug channel.

Hhhm. I'm put in a difficult position, here... The whole of this chapter is weaker than the sum of its parts, because it feels unfortunately like a "take that!" aimed at the actual episode. And I really don't like the portrayal of Shining Armor.

But if I did not like the whole, I very much enjoyed many of the parts that made it up! Luna is simply great, a wonderful mix of uncertainty, anachronistic exuberance, and general oddness - “We are royal and eternal!  Do we not enjoy the privilege of oddity?” was such an awesome line! Celestia is also wonderfully well done, and gave me a strong sense that she was reminded of all the loves she had lost over the centuries by this Perfect Wedding. And finally, Spike gets to make a lot of sense, and show plenty of depth, when he's not trying to learn baccarat.

YOU have turned him AGAINST ME!!

Image: http://media.steampowered.com/steamcommunity/public/images/avatars/07/074edee14182beb3c18a2adba114a9c5a76fab72_full.jpg

  That last chapter was sad....  I have to say I liked the first solution the best.

“I wonder... whether that entire 'threat' thing might not be nothing more than a ploy from Cadence!”

*In de Lancie's voice*

Twilight Sparkle... Is a conspiracy nut

Cookie to whoever gets the fanfic reference

A pretty good story, very interesting.

Ah no more i was hoping for more ow well it  was cool while it lasted

That... Was sad. Great story though.

Both one and two worked for me. Three...not so much.

Very well-written. A couple misspellings, but a great work nonetheless.

You have my +1 & fav.

The wedding went off without a hitch.

Image: http://magnetinspirado.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/beaker-oh-shit.jpeg

Can't wait to read the rest!

I liked the references, and I want to know what Twilight's dream was an allusion to, please.  

You know, randomly deciding to kill people unnecessarily really is one of the most common cartoon (and action movie) villain flaws.  Interesting to see things play out with a less insane Chrysalis (because making Twilight disappear immediately after she accuses you of being an imposter is actually the opposite of covering it up).

Very good in fact better then good this was amazing so because of that I shall now go forth to check out your other work...

Good use of the scent concept.

Though I wonder why no one tried a tracking spell on the real Cadence...

Wow that was kind of a dark ending. I think I liked the previous ones better.

You wrote The Combinatorics Project? Wow. I read this whole thing and didn't even notice. Those are two very different stories, and both are well-worth loving (and their places in the featured box).

You were very astute in noticing a lot of things, which is also something I noted with The Combinatorics Project (and in hindsight, is what connects them as being by the same author.) I loved your little lines about how Pinkie should have been paying royalties for singing happy birthday (which I was actually thinking as I read it) and Twilight's little feelings about things she had done in the alternate universes of other chapters. It's wonderful that these thoughts blend in seamlessly with your writing. I think I may need to check out all your other works

I hated this last chapter! I'm sorry, but... I love Cadance.

And I love Cading, so... Yeah. First chapter was best chapter.

“Maybe I can dress up in a big long fireproof robe that covers the wheelbarrow and pretend to be a bunch taller than I really am and Spike can set me on fire and we'll scare all those meanies off!”

Is this supposed to be Princess Bride?

It's a shame this story is finished, I'd have liked to see a part in which Twilight and Chrysalis come to this:

Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rUMQUNhjMaU/URVQulzJ1FI/AAAAAAABSzA/abQWVsXEBxA/s1600/mylittlepony4dfBIG.jpg

Wait wait wait wait...they just presumed Cadance dead without even looking? They had a funeral while she was still alive? If they knew Alicorns could withstand a lot, they should have not jumped to conclusions like that. I pin Cadance's death on those morons through their negligence in that case.

>>20568522056852

Image: http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTAxz_MwmNihhjQVmz24OuvFcjtcmabpWIUIJAWN7ZS5PfkEh8m78aNOMDoNw

Good story!

As cruel as I may sound like (and I hate to be cruel), some part of me was hoping to see a version where there were no changelings, the Cadence was real and Twilight just badly messed up. It would have been equally cruel as the last part. What would have Twilight done? Maybe she would have just walked away, out of shame, and never returned. Everyone would eventually forgive her, but they could not find her. The cruelty would have been immense: broken friendships, Sharmor and Cadence both blaming themselves for losing Twilight, maybe their marriage would have ended up in a divorce. Celestia going insane when her locator spells fail. No more Elements of Harmony, so other enemies would have taken over Equestria. And so on.

Using greed-growth to upsize Spike and let him teleport Twilight to Celestia? Brilliant.

I also like how your changelings are silent like the ones in canon were.

>>20563242056324

: "Conspiracy nut? Not at all. I will admit that prier to Nightmare Moon's release I was rather hung up on her possibility. But I was proven right so…"

((Do I get a cookie?))

I remember in one of the interviews the writers saying that the original idea for the wedding didn't involve Changelings, and instead was about Twilight mistrusting Cadence, who was indeed the original one suffering under the stress of the wedding.

Anyway, I think that you exhausted all the (reasonable) changes that could happen due to choices of the characters. It was a fun exploration of the alternatives, thanks for writing it!

>>22622802262280

Yes, the original was going stale so I had to get more, here you go.

>>14813401481340 I guess now you see where the Sad tag comes in!  I agree that Twilight and her friends made amends in the episode, but I think showing Cadence with each of them was more about showing how the real Cadence is a good sport and a load of fun, which is a very refreshing relief at that point.

I do think you have a good point in that Twilight could easily have been wrong about Princess Cadence, as someone else pointed out she was in the episode's original story.  Although some signs, like the evil grin, are harder to write off than others.  I don't think the spell she cast on Shining Armor has a -perfect- explanation, as Movement 2 gets into.

Anyway, writing a version in which Cadence was genuine from the start might have been tempting, except that these chapters are single-point-of-departure stories, meaning I'd made up my mind not to alter what happened before the story diverges from actuality.  Before reading on, can you identify the one exception I allowed myself to that rule?

Answer: It's what Spike believes the word 'bachelor' to mean.

>>16141171614117 Fair point!  I think I tend to enjoy stories without as much conflict as the norm, or at least I have more tolerance for lack of conflict than others.  Sometimes I find it enjoyable to reason things out carefully step by step.  There was a Lion King fanfic wherein that happens that I especially liked.

>>16141321614132 Interesting point about Celestia holding back.  True, she may have been, but I feel like a strong Celestia would have been able to win regardless.  When you've been around the block a few thousand times, you learn tricks for avoiding collateral damage, or so I assume.  In any case, I'm not saying the episode proved that Celestia is weaker than we thought--that's just the interpretation I chose to go with in this story.

As for how Chrysalis was taken down by the power of the same pony she defeated originally, I think the key is that the love between her and Shining Armor was much more powerful than Cadence's magic on its own.

>>16154551615455 Hehe, yeah, yeah.  Celestia never said she was easy to work with--everypony just assumes she is.   I like your concept that Chrysalis was just imitating a catty Cadence, though her good nature at the end of the episode seems to counterindicate that.

>>16157641615764 You were hoping for Twilight not to end up embarrassed and humiliated--I wonder if the actual ending was even worse for you!   Good catch on the use of Chryaslis's name; I fixed that.  I didn't actually read the other fics you mentioned until you mentioned them, but fortunately my path ended up being sufficiently different, I think.

>>16184871618487 Comparing magical aura colors?  That. Is. A. Good. Point. I guess it's the same reason only Pinkie noticed being grayed out in The Return of Harmony.

>>16187841618784 Agreed, that would be an interesting story, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone's written it!  As noted above, though, I was avoiding changes that altered the story's background.

>>16301611630161 All good points!  And thanks!

>>17045391704539 Uh oh.  If Movement 2 hit you in the feels, I shudder at what Movement 3 may have done!

>>17157561715756 I'm glad you liked the Twi/Spike conversation in Movement 2!  I really enjoyed writing that part.  And yes, I'm assuming that Shining Armor isn't actually being enchanted by Queen Chrysalis's healing spell--it's just that she drains love from him at the same time, and he's already topsy-turvy for her.

>>19689201968920 I can understand your feeling that way.  I mean, Movement 2 kind of was a take-that kind of deal.  I love FiM, but I love to make fun of its shortcomings too.  

>>20566452056645 I notice this comment got two thumbs up.  Good to know at least three people appreciated the sad ending!  I wasn't sure how I'd end the second or third chapters until I got to their respective ends, but once I'd written them I knew I'd made the right decision.  I can't exactly explain why the story had to end sadly, but somehow I know that aesthetically the whole composition fits together better this way. ++ = pretentousface

>>20567452056745 Twilight's dream actually wasn't an allusion to anything, although I may have been vaguely thinking of Lauren Faust's Galaxy Girls concept when I wrote it.

>>20573332057333 The same reason they didn't track Shining Armor in Movement 2--no one had thought Cadence was in danger, so they didn't bother placing a trace on her before she was abducted.

>>20616282061628 If it's worth anything... I love her too!

>>20631272063127 Eeeeyup!  Pinkie is the max reference.

>>21083352108335 Celestia imagines that Chrysalis had spirited Cadence away somewhere outside the city--she has no way of knowing she's right under Canterlot Palace.  That said, she and Luna do continue searching even after the funeral.  I'm now imagining that Luna even suggests to Celestia that they could tear up the palace floor and look in the old crystal caves, but that Celestia tears up and says that it's extremely unlikely they'd find her there, and that she might well already be dead. Since the mood is much more somber than in Movement 1, they narrowly decide not to further damage morale by wrecking the palace.  When they eventually discover Cadence's body, Celestia feels absolutely terrible about this decision, and spends the next hundred years in emotional exile, never letting herself get too close to anyone as a twisted repentance for her failure.

Does that make you feel better?

>>21116202111620 Wow.  You've got the spirit of the thing, I must admit!  But as noted above, I decided not to make any changes that had to occur before the divergences in the story.  However, Soge says the original episode concept began as you describe.  I wonder how embarrassed Twilight would have been if they'd gone that route.

>>22707392270739 Fascinating!  There's a good moral there too, if not exactly a thrilling adventure.

I'm glad you liked my story!  But I think there are reasonable alternatives I didn't touch.  One I was tempted to explore takes off in the crystal caves after Twilight verifies Cadence's identity.  Chrysalis laughs evilly, and a spark appears in Cadence's eye.  When I first saw the episode, I feared that even this bedraggled Cadence was still somehow a fake, meant to boondoggle Twilight even further.  But what could the purpose of that have been?  To drain Twilight's love as well, perhaps?  It would have been fun to plot out.

Looks like I used a poor choice of words. The tracking/trace I'm referring to is not a "homing beacon" spell that would be placed before hand. The tracking/trace spell would be cast once the pony in question goes missing, and it would search for the pony's individual magic signature (all ponies have magic, remember that) so it would work a bit like a radar. Unless Cadence was in a place that was magically sealed off, she would have a very strong return since she's the third most powerful alicorn in Equestria.

And how difficult would it be to trace an alicorn, given that there are only 3 in Equestria at that time?

>>24242862424286 Yes, thank you! Though I imagine that things really go to hell in her country during that century of emotional exile, as a distant ruler can be interpreted as one that doesn't care.

>>24247052424705 It's certainly reasonable to hypothesize the existence of such spells.  One story I loved assumed that Celestia and Luna can find the location of any pony anywhere through the use of their cutie mark--so those who wish to hide must remove them. However, for this story, I chose to assume Celestia and Luna were relatively weak and don't have any spells that can locate particular ponies.  They could probably have found Cadence except that her magic had been drained from her.  Why did I do it this way?  More suspense!

>>24251882425188 Sure--have it your way!

Rather interesting.