"How could you?"
Cadance jerked her head up at the sound of the voice.
The dungeons under Canterlot were actually quite comfortable, all things considered. They were cleaned out regularly; the food was serviceable enough; and the benches, while not soft, weren't simply bare stone. There was also plenty of light, as befit dungeons built by the Princess of the Sun. Even the sections Luna had designed were well lit, though there it was with the silvery glow of the moon rather than the golden warmth of the sun.
Along with all of that, every door was well oiled, which meant Cadance hadn't even realized there was another pony in her cellblock—other than the guards—until that pony had spoken.
"Twilight!" Cadance jumped up from the bench where she'd been spending her time in silent contemplation—as one properly should while in a jail cell—and bounded over to the bars.
She recoiled a moment later, as she saw the white-hot fury on Twilight's face.
"How could you?!" shouted the other Princess, stomping across the stone floor to stand directly in front of Cadance's cell.
"Twilight, I was just trying to—" Cadance spoke hurriedly, only to be interrupted by Twilight.
"No! No, Cadance! I don't want to hear that you were trying to save me, or that changelings can't love ponies, or that Chrysalis doesn't love me!
"Because she does love me, Cadance! She loves me more than anypony else ever has in my entire life! I never knew a pony could be so kind, could show me such sweetness. She cares about me more than anything, almost as much as her hive. And I don't think you can even understand how much that is.
"No one… no one's ever understood me the way she does. She knows all my favorite foods, she knows just when I want them and how I like them made. She knows how to cheer me up, and when to leave me alone. She knows the things that annoy me, and the little things that make me happy. She knows how to make me laugh.
"And… she accepts me. If I want to read a book, she'll just sit there and let me read it. She doesn't tell me I need to get outside more or get my muzzle out of a book." She paused, blushing. "Okay, maybe that’s actually pretty good advice sometimes, but I don’t need to hear it every single day! No matter what some of my friends think.
"A-anyway… she would actually ask me to read to her, did you know that? I'm not sure how much of my more advanced magic texts she understood, but she was surprisingly fond of scientific treatises. Horror stories and murder mysteries, too. Hated romance novels, though. Which, I mean, thank Celestia, but wow, surprising, right?
"And… and… the way she laughed was like music. She mostly laughed at other ponies, but she would always apologize when I told her to, and she'd always get this adorably guilty look on her face…"
She trailed off, breathing in long, shuddering gasps. Cadance stared at her, shock and a slowly growing look of horror on her face.
"Twilight…" she said unsteadily, "Twilight, do you actually love Queen Chrysalis?"
"I DON'T KNO-O-OOOW!" wailed Twilight, throwing herself against the bars and beginning to sob.
Cadance moved forward, reaching through the bars to wrap her hooves around Twilight and cradle her. The two guards stationed at her cell started approaching, but Cadance rolled her eyes and shook her head at them, and they sheepishly moved back to their posts.
"Shh, Twilight, shh." Cadance whispered comforting sounds to Twilight, stroking her mane and squeezing her tightly. She rocked her as she cried, and slowly, over several minutes, Twilight calmed down. Finally, she pulled back, wiping at her eyes with a hoof.
"Why, Cadance? Why did you do that to us?" asked Twilight, voice trembling.
"Twilight—"
"Do you even realize what you did? What you took from us?" Cadance shrank back, refusing to meet Twilight's eyes. "I liked Chrysalis, Cadance. She was a good friend, and she wanted to mean more to me, and… and I really wanted her to mean more to me, too.
"That's why I agreed to let her try. I could have refused. She might have argued, but if I'd insisted, she would have listened. I didn't, though, because I thought it would be easier to let her down if things didn't work out. And… and I think because I was interested. She'd grown on me after so long together. She was so fascinating, so different from every other pony. I wanted to know about her, to learn what made her tick.
"So... I dated her. I really enjoyed it, most of the time. The rest of the time… the rest of the time was what you did."
Twilight took a deep breath, letting it out slowly with only a slight shudder.
"Why would you do something like that, Cadance?" she asked.
Cadance made the mistake of looking up to meet Twilight's eyes, then flinched away. There was anger in those eyes, yes, but worse was the sadness, the dismay. And even worse than that was the disappointment. She closed her eyes, trying to think, but as she did a realization came to her. All those emotions on Twilight's face, all the anguish and betrayal… she felt those same things in her own heart. Slowly, she turned back to face Twilight.
“I could ask you the same question, Twilight,” she said, voice stinging like a whip, and this time it was Twilight who recoiled. “You know what that… that monster did to me and Shining Armor. What she did to Celestia, what she did to you and your friends… what she tried to do to all of Equestria.”
“Cadance—“ Twilight tried for indignation, but Cadance overrode her like a raging Goddess.
“You can sit there and talk about how much she cares for you, but you know she doesn't give a damn about any of the rest of us. I was scared for you, Twilight, because unlike you, I’m not letting myself be blinded to what she really is. All the sweet talk and all the kindness in the world don’t change the fact that she is a terrible person, Twilight, who has done terrible things. And you’re going to sit there and talk about her to me like she’s as harmless as Fluttershy?”
Cadance rose up to her full height, looking down at the smaller pony, and Twilight shrank back under her furious glare.
“So it’s not about how could I do this to you, Twilight. It’s about how could you do this to me. How could you betray me like this?!”
“S-she’s not really evil, Cadance,” Twilight tried to say. “She just—“
“She just does evil things,” finished Cadance with a sneer. “And that makes her actions excusable, does it?”
“No, but—“
“Did she ever apologize to you, Twilight?” Twilight flinched back again, and Cadance stepped forward, seeing the answer in the other pony’s eyes. “I didn’t think so. She attacked your kingdom, Twilight. She hurt your friends and family, oh so cruelly, and she hasn’t even apologized to you for it?!”
She bent down, to look Twilight right in the eyes. “How can you even look at her without hearing Princess Celestia tell you you had a lot to think about? Without hearing your own brother dismiss you from his wedding? Without remembering when you found me in those crystal caves under Canterlot?”
Twilight looked back at her, and tears started to fall from her eyes. “Because I think I might love her,” she whispered.
She bent her head again, and Cadance stared at her in dismay. She shook her head slowly, gazing at the gently weeping pony, then took a step back and went down on her haunches.
“Oh, hell,” she muttered.
“Why didn’t you just ask?” said Twilight in a choked voice. “You didn’t even try talk to me about anything!”
“I… couldn’t, Twilight,” Cadance said faintly. “If you’d been brainwashed, if it had just been some trick—“
“So instead you decided it was better to just sneak around behind my back,” spat Twilight bitterly. “Was it all just for revenge, Candace?”
“N-no, Twilight!” Cadance’s hoof flew to her mouth. “Whatever you might think of her, you know what horrible things Chrysalis did! It doesn’t matter what her reasons were or how you feel about her, she did those things willfully, even gleefully! She needed to be punished for what she did, Twilight. And if seeing justice done meant I could steal her love the way she tried to steal mine, well then that was just appropriate—not to mention a nice bit of icing on the cake.”
She gasped, blinking in surprise. “Oh my. Well, maybe it was a little bit about revenge,” she admitted guiltily, with an uneasy ruffle of her wings.
“Well then I hope you’re happy, because you got your revenge.” Despite the bite of the words, there was no venom in Twilight’s voice, just a bland nothingness. Dampness dotted the fur of her cheeks, but her eyes, while red, were dry. “Because that beautiful, amazing, wonderful—and, okay, frequently very mean and nasty—changeling is sitting in her hive, probably crying her eyes out, because you took her love away. You got yours back, but who’s going to help her?”
“I don’t know, Twilight,” Cadance shook her head, then blinked in surprise as she noticed Twilight was holding her hoof out. “What are you doing?”
“We can help her, Cadance.” Twilight sniffed back a few more tears and nervously licked her lips. “Just like her... I don't know much about love. So I need your help to figure out how I feel. And if there's ever going to be any peace between you two, one of you has to make the first move. I want it to be you, Cadance.”
Cadance just stared at her, and Twilight took a deep breath. “I know how much you must hate Chrysalis. What she did to you was terrible. But now you’ve done something awful back to her, Cadance. You’re even, the scales are balanced. Now we just need to stop the cycle, to stop something like this from happening again. If you really hate her, if you think she’s a monster, then you can prove you’re better by helping her now, by being better than you think she is. And I think you might be surprised by how much better she can actually be.”
Cadance didn’t say anything, but she shifted uncomfortably, and Twilight took that as encouragement to continue.
“I know you want an apology. You deserve an apology, one that’s serious. Not an apology that I force her to make, or one that I make for her as her fellow Changeling Queen. An apology that she means, because she understands exactly what she did and why it was so wrong. After what you put her through yesterday, I think she actually might.”
Cadance hesitated a moment longer, then, slowly, began to reach out with her hoof.
“And… I want you to help me too, Cadance. Because I feel something for Chrysalis. I know it’s at least friendship, but that’s all I know. Maybe I do love her… or maybe I dislike her still, even if I see her as a friend now. I don’t know, because I can’t separate what she's done from who she actually is. And you just made things worse. I might love her, and even if you hate her... I think you’d want me to know that. And if I don’t, I need to be able to move on, instead of being trapped in this fog. I can’t think of anypony more able to help me with that than you.”
Cadance’s hoof touched Twilight’s, and for a moment she held it there. Then she pulled away, retreating several steps back into the cell.
“Please, Cadance—“
“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Cadance said, voice low and sorrowful. “I know it’s terrible of me, but as much as I want to help you, I can’t. After everything that's happened, I… I just can't—“
“It’s okay, Cadance,” hushed Twilight, giving her a small, not quite steady smile. “That’s actually kind of the answer I was expecting. After what she put you through...”
“Thank you for understanding,” Cadance said quietly, and they shared a brief moment of silence. “So, what will you do now?”
“What I always do,” said Twilight, and now her smile was normal again. “Ask my friends. I just decided that the one I asked first should be the one that could help me the most.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“It will,” said Twilight confidently. “Because friendship is magic!”
“I’m kind of starting to get tired of hearing that catchphrase of yours,” said Cadance, with a small smile. “You overuse it a bit. But what if your friends can’t help?” Twilight gave her a look, and she shrugged. “I do want to help you, Twilight. And if I can’t bring myself to do it directly, I can at least help you make a plan.”
“Well, in that case… I’ll have to come up with the answer myself. I can make my own decisions, you know. I do it quite a lot. I even did it before I became a Princess.” She suddenly brightened up. “I could make a checklist! Or a pro/con list, the only list almost as good as a checklist!”
“Con: attacked your sister-in-law and locked her in a cave on her wedding day,” said Cadance sourly, making a face.
“Pro: is very attentive to my wants and needs,” shot back Twilight.
“Con: tried to enslave everyone you know and love.”
"Pro,” said Twilight, then blushed and continued in a quiet voice, “...is a very good kisser.”
“Ewww! Ew ew ew! I needed to hear about that as much as you need to hear about Shining Armor and me.” They made disgusted faces at each other, then broke down into giggles.
"Thank you, Cadance," said Twilight, once they'd calmed down. "Even if you can't help, at least you're willing to try understanding."
"Anytime, Twilight. Take care, and good luck."
Cadance watched her leaving, chewing her lip in thought. Just before Twilight opened the door, she came to a decision.
"Twilight, wait!" she called out, unlocking her cell door with a spark of magic and trotting out. Both guards tried to move forward to stop her, but she brushed past them like they weren't even there, coming to a halt a few steps from Twilight.
"I do want to help you, more than I have," she said to the surprised pony. "And there's one thing I can do that might at least answer some questions for you."
She lifted her head, magic running along her horn, and then fired a beam down into the center of Twilight's chest. Twilight shied back in surprise—and a little bit of fear—and Cadance pulled back at the same time, drawing the beam back like a fisherpony working a pole.
When the beam came out of Twilight's chest, it carried a cloud with it. It was spherical, a roiling mass of gray that occasionally shot out flashes of black and red light, mostly black. Twilight stared at its tumbling, swirling surface with horrified fascination.
"What is that?" she asked.
"It's your heart, Twilight," replied Cadance, closing her eyes. "Or, at least, it's a representation of a part of your heart, one that deals with your feelings for Chrysalis."
"Oh." Twilight stared at the nightmarish cloud, face falling. "Do I really hate her that much?"
"What? Oh, no." Cadance shook her head. "You're just confused. That's why it's a giant mess of clouds instead of a pure ball of light. Those flashes of light are your feelings towards her, trying to shine through. As you can see, your confusion has mixed up your feelings: red light for hate, black for love." She grimaced. "I never knew love for a changeling was black, yet I'm hardly surprised."
"So… what you're saying is… I'm confused," said Twilight dryly.
Cadance sighed and cancelled the spell, causing the cloudball to fade away. "Yes. Sorry, that wasn't as helpful as I thought."
"It's okay, Cadance." Twilight gave her a smile. "At least I know there is some love in there."
"I'm… glad to hear it too. Kind of..."
They waved goodbye, and Twilight started for the door. Just as she put up a hoof to push it open, Cadance stopped her again.
"Twilight?" The pony looked back at her. "I'm… I'm sorry. About everything. Maybe… you're right, maybe she actually can love. Maybe she actually loves you, and you love her." Cadance let out a sigh. "And if that's true… I'm a terrible Princess of Love."
"No, Cadance, no." Twilight trotted over, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "We have a difficult calling, being the Princesses of Friendship and Love. It's the kind of thing we're always going to be learning about. And if I can learn something new from Starlight and Trixie, you can learn something from Chrysalis and me. It's not like we're Princess Celestia or Luna, where our special talents are predictable."
She snorted. "Let me tell you, that was one awkward conversation for a filly. 'Look Princess, I've mathematically solved your most important duty!' I got a bit of a lecture that day, trust me."
"Thank you for being so understanding, Twilight. And so forgiving." Cadance shuffled her hooves nervously. "Do you think… maybe you can put in a good word for me with my aunts?"
"I'll… think about it," replied Twilight, with a sigh.
Cadance smiled back. "That's fine. Probably more than I could reasonably expect, actually. Thank you."
Cadance saw Twilight out, then turned away. Head down, lost in thought, she trotted back to her cell, ignoring the pained expressions on the guards as she walked inside and locked the door behind her. Climbing up onto the bench, she lay down on her side, head on her forelegs, to contemplate her future.
I wonder what being a statue will be like, she thought idly. At least the weather in Canterlot is pretty nice. And the castle's groundskeepers take good care of the Royal Gardens. Maybe it won't be that bad.
yeah, unless there's going to be a war between the Empire and Equestria I don't see Cadance spending much time in the dungeon so Flurry Heart should be fine
Well... at least you own up to your mistakes Cadence.
Petrification??? That's a bit harsh, isn't it? I'm thinking something a bit more humbling, maybe even asking Chrysalis what to do with Cadance. Er, within reason of course!
Seems TW still cannot distinguish between Friendship and Love (since the former is the only thing she has known for, not the latter). Hope the Element of Honesty and Ponyville's Romance Sage can clear her feeling for her.
That was all quite a bit more realistic and nuanced than I was truly expecting. But you know? I liked it for that. I like that Cadance isn't just suddenly repentant and that they don't just reconcile so easily; that Twilight's appeal to her better nature falls on deaf ears. That's good.
Not enough Cadance...you should be ashamed for what you have done, maybe spending time as a Changeling Queen will change your damn mind asshole
Cadance's punishment shall be: a decade banished to The Crystal Empire, and no sweets shall be baked in all the empire.
Basically sent to her room and no dessert.
that is awesome.
7813113 that punishes the entire Empire. Then there definitely will be war
Honestly that had about as much sense as and was as overly forgiving as the episode where Discord betrayed everypony to what might as well be MLP Satan.
Hmmm... Cadance doesn't seem to have learned her lesson at all. She even turned it around on Twilight like she was the one in the wrong. Well guess who's sitting in a jail cell Cadance? It's not Twilight so maaaaybe you're the one who fucked up.
I have a hard time feeling sympathy for Cadence when this talk could have happened had she not been a crazy bitch and tried to mind control her sister in law into loving ponies. That's pretty up there compared to Chrysalis, who did what she did for her people. And she tried to murder Chrysalis too. I guess it's good they're trying to be civil about this, but seriously, Cadence really really fucked up, and a dungeon stay doesn't seem like a fair punishment in my eyes.
Not to say I'm not enjoying the story, because I am a lot. Just... so long as we don't forget Cadence is a hypocritical bitch at the moment, I think we'll be golden.
7813059 I'm just not sure what sort of political entity the Empire constitutes, or its military development. Would it be akin to Germany attacking Poland? Missouri attacking the rest of the US? Sparta attacking Athens? Northern Ireland spitting angrily at Great Brittain?
It doesn't seem to be a country unto itself, really, but at the same time it has it's own Crystal Guard, so it might be. Does the Empire have the agricultural backbone to subside on its own without Equestria, much less wage a campaign against them? Equestria seems to be the type of setting where one or two heavy hitters matter more than an army so Shining on the warpath probably constitutes a significant enough threat, but then Shining is a former loyal Guard captain so he may be inclined to try to Diplomance Cadence out of there rather than attack the people he was recently brothers in arms with/sworn to protect.
...
Not sure where I was going with this actually. Writing while tired is a good way to start a Tangent farm, I guess.
I love that the lock means nothing to her.
7813073
We don't actually know what Celestia and Luna are thinking about doing to her. Cadance might just be imagining the worst possible thing.
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So what you're saying is, it's canonically consistent.
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Or the guards. The poor, poor guards.
The bit in the Author's Note about Shining coming for a conjugal visit reminded me of the story of The Legend of Anne Bonney and Mary Read. When asked what they had to say at their sentencing that might lead to their hangings, they replied, "Mi'lord, we plead our bellies." Both were pregnant, and since British law forbade killing an unborn child, their sentences were stayed temporarily.
Celestia and Luna certainly would not make a statue out of a pregnant mare!
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No, I am saying that it hits the "WTF? Why?" levels that canon did. Not exactly an insult, but didn't really understand enough to really say much of substance. It was one of the low points of logic that is about the same logical level of Rainbow Dash almost selling Fluttershy into slavery/indentured servitude for a year.
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I was making a joke. I get the issue, and it bothers me a bit, too, but, well… people aren't always reasonable, and I don't see why ponies would be any different. It might not make sense to forgive someone in this case, but being sensible isn't most character's strong point.
she deserved at least one hit to the face.
oooooooh you litte.....
oh yes, all the hard work she put in her dating plans for Twilight right?
naaahhh Cadance is slightly higher.
I think Cadance should stay at lest a small time in the prisson cells, just long enough to feel her guilt. I don't exactly want her to feel like her revenge was less evil than what she thinks Chrysalis did.
I like it that it at least looks like Cadance wouldn't be able, or would not just give the "bam he is your special somepony" solution. I hate every version of her, where she can exactly tell when a person is the right spcial somepony. Princess of love or not, there are always reasons for me, why she shouldn't be able to help exactly as much as she is doing.
No matter if she is actually able to do it, I had seen once a movie where the person only got a small help to find out about his love himself, to experience everything and well he already had someone that he wanted. (or her?....I forgot).
I don't think Cadance would be already a pro in seeing trough every movement a pony makes and see the "love walk", "the love sigh", that she could say if every movement was about nothing else than love if you know what I mean. It is a bit like the lie detector thing with Applejack that not everyone likes or that Luna even evades the dreams or sometimes tries to own a dream if the Human that doesn't even lived in Equestria before, doesn't wants it. I mean if one of her ponys doesn't want it either, then the dream world can be her domain as much as she likes, but she doesn't owns the dream of the ponys. It just can be done pretty awful.
I'll be honest, I don't like Villain-Cadence. That said, this sounds like the start of a redemption arc.
That... actually went way better than expected.
At least they talked it out like adults, and Cadance saw what she did. It didn't change her feelings that much, but she understood. Or at least tried to, and that's what counts.
And that's good - evil Cadance was... well, felt way too out of character for her.
And indeed, Twi, that catchphrase of yours. Should probably think of more ways for saying it
So, now for the really hard part - figuring out what to do next.
I also liked that little touch of how useless the guards really were in that cell - if Cadance really wanted to, she could just walk away and no one (well, barring a few select individuals) would be able to stop her.
That says more about her guilt than anything else, that she's willingly staying there, awaiting judgment.
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Cadence did, in fact, learn a lesson - that Chrysalis might actually be worthy of love and be capable of love herself. Which, just because she is, doesn't free her from justice or revenge against her for the lives she harmed. Cadence's reasons for doing this are the same reasons any of us would try to kill Chrysalis (or anybody, really). "You attacked my family and stole my loved one." <-- Wars have been started for less, where hundreds or thousands and more have died.
As I said before, Cadence has the very BEST reason to hate Chrysalis and do almost anything to get her back for what was done. Twilight WAS partially at fault here, she did betray Shining and Cadence for her own desires. There's no arguing that, it happened, anything said against it is just excuse piled on excuse.
If someone showed up and broke all your shit and beat your ass and took your woman, and your family and friends were like 'Hey that's a pretty cool guy, let's hang out.' you'd have been betrayed by them.
THAT said. Cadence, for an Equestrian, took it too far. She's now down just the same as Chrysalis. She became what she hated. The only difference is she didn't try to enslave an entire country yet. Which, is kind of a huge war crime but we're discussing personal matters here.
It's easy to just point the finger at Cadence and go 'Wow what a massive evil bitch', but if in the same breath you defend Chrysalis or go 'oh she's better now', then you are all enormous hypocrites, because Cadence has done LESS than Chrysalis, just the same sort of thing. The only difference is that due to this being fanfiction, we got to explore the damage done to those harmed by her well-deserved revenge, we got to see the pain in Twilight and Chrysalis, we got to see Cadence blinded by the justification of her hatred. So she looks worse than Chrysalis due to the format when even at her worst she was still not quite as bad as Chrysalis was to her.
While I may be pulling for Twisalis to shine through, and we're supposed to view Cadence as the bad guy, she's still less of a bad guy than the totally-not-reformed villainess that we're all rooting for, and has a lot of good reason to have done what she did, even if she went a little psycho with it. At least she didn't sing a song about how evil she was being. (THAT'S Disney evil.)
So, in the end. both Twilight and Cadence are right and wrong. Twilight is wrong for betraying her brother and sister-in-law regardless of circumstances, Cadence is wrong for involving Twilight so deeply in this and hurting Twilight just to try and teach her a lesson she was wrong about in the first place. Twilight was wrong for being incredibly selfish and sweeping everything Chrysalis did under the rug (there's a word for that, where you ignore the bad things someone does because you're in love with them, I think it might actually be considered mentally unhealthy) and Cadence was wrong for not conducting her revenge in a more formal, reasonable way that could have resolved things for both her and Chrysalis.
Though, to be fair, I think this was something Chrysalis needed so she could understand herself, Twilight, and what she'd done to everyone before spending so much time with Twilight. So this whole thing was progress for everyone involved.
7813073 Good, going through the comments I was starting to think i was the only one who caught that part.
7813073
Weeeeeeeeeell....
She did try to mindrape a fellow princess...
7813408 It's more like if Angela Merkel personally attacked Vladimir Putin on Russian soil.
“Ask my friends. I just decided that the one I asked first should be the one that could help me the most.”
So, Twilight still considers Cadence a friend and concedes that Chrysalis owes her an apology. Very diplomatic and in character for her. Cadence seems to have realized that she's a moron. Great chapter.
7813885
Those are all fair points. My main issue with Cadance is the whole "all love is mine" mindset and attempted mindrape of her own sister-in-law and fellow princess. That's the stuff I find truly reprehensible, her mindset and actions against Chrysalis are all pretty understandable but her actions went too far and she targeted her own family with a perversion of her talent/powers/portfolio.
Cadence deserved a punch in her face... damn, this chapter just make me HATE Cadence even more .-.
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As we can see from context that was not premeditated. She'd devolved into a reactionary psychosis at the time. You aren't meant to read that and think 'this is how she always feels about things', it was a reaction due to being shot down by Twilight to her face after feeling consistently betrayed by her and yet deciding Twilight still must be saved - and from the object of her revenge deviating from the plan of her revenge to begin with.
Straw that broke the camel's back. Cadence was going loco in her anger and justified revenge, and when it all smashed right in her face she completely lost it. As we see here, when she's calmed down, she's QUITE reasonable and resembles her normal self almost entirely.
But yes, as I said and you agreed, she went too far. I just don't want you to come away from this thinking that the character was portrayed to always think/believe that way. From my reading of this based on context and reactionary clues, Cadence flipped her bit and tried to solve the situation with anything and everything available to her because she no longer had the ability to be subtle and 'gentle' in her approach. Sort of a 'Holy CRAP, do whatever it takes now and fix anything I broke later!' reaction, simmering in her addled mind. There is a price to be paid mentally for letting your revenge get the best of you. I'm not someone who says revenge is wrong or evil, because I don't believe in being a doormat and I believe you should be able to bring down your detractors - but just understand where you as a person end and the need to get your own back begins.
Good to see that Cadance saw reason. Her hate towards Chryssie I can totally understand, but now she also knows that she did something horrible.
I doubt she'll get petrified, her behaviour was partially caused by traumatic past events.
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Kinda reminds me of a certain Blue Horse that goes super jealous of her sister getting all the pony love while they hid away from her night. If Cadance can be talked down, as Twilight seems to have done, they won't need to feed her a rainbow to the face.
Anyone else notice how extreme alicorns get without a lot of mental training to remain "balanced"? Ponies throw temper tantrums, alicorns get you a scorched earth zone like The Badlands.
Hmmmmmmmm expulsion from Equestria and a visa ban for 10 years+
Enjoy your life in the Crystal Empire.
Like I said before, I like this story more than most others of yours.
And Im honestly happy to be it like this. I had seen other stories where Chrysalis was reformed and Armor and Cadence were so consumed with hatred that they not only deviated from their characters but basicly became antithesis of themselves.
So good job
I love how prison in Equestria is more or less an honor system. Reminds me of another fic where being in jail was basically like a day-job, and they'd send you home at night.
Well, Twilight was a complete and total moron in this chapter. After what happened earlier, Cadence is the last pony she should be talking to about this. The standing assumption should be that Cadence is just going to keep trying to break up the relationship and make things messier, and even if Twilight was too stupid to realize it on her own someone else should have told her this. I think this whole chapter would have worked much better if it was Shining Armor talking with Cadence because of his deep connection with both Twilight and Cadence, but their parents, another princess, or Twilight's friends would also have made more sense here.
Also, don't worry about Flurry Heart. The canon timeline isn't that important (and makes no damn sense anyways), so let Cadence sit in prison as long as makes sense for the story. She can shit that little monster out whenever things get sorted out (and Shiny lets her out of the doghouse for fucking with Twily's heart), and since it will almost certainly happen at some point after the end of the story anyways there's really no reason to give it any serious thought or attention in this story.
7813691 you seriously think Cadance is worse than Chrysalis here
ell, as I recall from the previous story there were further attacks besides the one on screen
7816849 yes I still think Cadance is worse, mostly because I'm ready to believe that she more or less did it because of seeing it as dates or because it was just something that her kind sees as harmless. I know she did poison Celestia and something like that (that is the only thing I remember right now), but I actually see it as a different culture right now.
I mean normally in such storys Celestia would ven mention to Twilight or the main char, that they have to treat them carefully even if they don't agree with their culture, exactly because it is something they are used to do, something they probably don't know better. As far as I remember in this story Chrysaslis species even evolved the way that they more or less feel the need to do such stuff, that it would be some kind of urge they have to statisfie.
7816709 I think your right, after scenes like what happenes last chapter, it is always odd to see if sometimes exactly those "wannabe Villains", are the one that the main Char (Twilight in this chase) can trust the most. I think even her friends or someone else could have been a better choice for now. I mostly feel like Twilight is trusting Cadance to fast in this matter. She was just betrayed and has nothing better to do, then to actually trust her with something she really hated to do a short while ago.
7814647 For me it happened one chapter to fast, I don't exactly believe in changes in the characters personality that happens that fast, or more or less easy.
I don't exactly see how Twilight betrayed Shining or Cadance, I wouldn't let others deny me something, just because they had a bad experience with it. This was Twilights own little adventure, not something she did to get back at Cadance.
I can't say for sure, since I don't remember the details anymore, but one or two comments sounded liked they mixed the show with this story to more or less save Cadance in their comments, but it is their own opinion.
7814438 very good, another explanation I hardly can think of sometimes, but yes that is something I hated Cadance for too this time. It actually happens quite often in some storys, intended or not.
7813330 yes
7813298 YES
For what it's worth I think you are handling Cadance perfectly. She is the only character in the story to have the appropriate amount of hate for Chrysalis that the queens past deserves. The way Cadance behaved was wrong, but everyone just shrugging off the things Chrysalis has done and continues to do just because Twilight likes her is also wrong.
If you are trying to stay close to show canon, what about Thorax and the massive idiot ball the changelings are holding? Cause with how the changelings are acting in this story, they should have already become the colorful, nauseating changelings.
Twilight: ok time to win Chrysalis back.
RD: and how are you going to that?
Twilight: Re-establish the first Equestrian army group and the Royal Chaussers and attack her hive in a high tempo combined arms assault that will short circuit their decision cycle and have me in her chambers inside of two weeks.
RD: Sweet! I want to be a major general!!
Oh if Cadence has permanently messed up Chrysalis and Twilights chance at true love, I will show the full force my magic can give. She will wish she was dealing with all of Tartarus itself rather than me! I may be reformed, but nopony sabatoges love, especially those who I now consider my friends! I have seen the heart of Chrysalis, and I can see it clear that deep down Twilight does love her as confused as she may be. Cadence BEST hope Twilight and Chrysalis can work things out!
7817033 Even Shining was willing to accept the fact that Salis was dating his sister (after checking she wasn't being brainwashed)
Cadence was a total b#$%& here, point. u_U
7825178
That's the joke also, you missed the others:
should be
7827101
Shh, stick to the script!
7828427
Dammit, I'm slow
So is everyone just going to gloss over the fact that Cadence tried to rape Twilight?
Literally forcing love into someone's head as they are crying and screaming at you to stop. Violating them on the very base level. That is not just abuse of her power and assault of a princess. That is literal mind rape.
7843911 I guess so
Amazing, how everypony seems to think that's how Celestia and Luna solve their problems.
Besides, given her background Cadance is far more likely to be banished to the moon or sealed in eternal ice for a few centuries.
7843911
I would also like some clarification, as I don't see a dark tag on here.