My Little Pony Fan Labor Wiki:Workshop/Post Nuptials

Post Nuptials is a fan fiction written by Darth Link 22. It is set around the time of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's second wedding during the events of the two-part  episode "A Canterlot Wedding". In the story, the main characters deal with the emotional fallout caused by the changelings' invasion, including Twilight Sparkle's outburst at the fake Cadance (Queen Chrysalis) during the wedding rehearsal, her friends' cold reaction towards said outburst, and everyone's subsequent guilt over their actions.

The story has since spawned a direct sequel and two standalone side stories, making this the first installment of a series of fan fictions called the Nuptialverse.

Style
Post Nuptials is written in past tense from an third-person point of view. It is divided into ten chapters told in a slightly anachronic order, each having an omniscient narrator and focusing on a different character, starting with Twilight Sparkle. Chapter 2 is set immediately afterward and is told from Princess Celestia's perspective. The next six chapters take place during the events of the second chapter and are synchronous with each other, each told from the perspective of Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike, respectively and in that order. Chapter 9, told from Shining Armor's perspective, is chronologically the earliest chapter, taking place before chapter 1. The final chapter returns to Twilight's perspective and is set after the other nine chapters.

Summary
The story opens immediately after Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's second wedding ceremony, held after they thwart a changeling invasion plot during the first ceremony. Twilight Sparkle is in her suite preparing for the postnuptial reception when she is by her five friends. The five express great remorse for shunning Twilight when the latter had accused Cadance, later revealed to be the changelings' leader Queen Chrysalis in disguise, of being evil during her wedding rehearsal. Twilight insists that she has already forgiven them, and that only Chrysalis is to blame. The five are shocked by Twilight's leniency and tearfully hug her, promising to throw a party for her for when they return home.

Soon after the reception begins, Princess Celestia retires to her bedchambers. Princess Luna notices something amiss and visits Celestia in her room to find her crying. Celestia tells Luna her belief that she has let her kingdom down by letting Chrysalis fool her, and her shame over hurting Twilight by ignoring her warnings. Luna offers to let Twilight speak with Celestia, but Celestia feels she cannot face Twilight and refuses. Luna nevertheless tells Twilight what is troubling her mentor as the reception ends, and Twilight enters Celestia's room to comfort her. The two reaffirm their love for each other before falling asleep.

Meanwhile, during the reception, Twilight's friends continue to feel guilty. They run into other guests at the party and discuss their feelings with them: Rainbow Dash with Soarin'; Rarity with Fancypants; Applejack with her cousin Apple Fritter; Fluttershy with Iron Will; Pinkie Pie with Princess Luna; and Spike with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Each of them resolves to talk with Twilight again, except for Spike, who confesses that he views Twilight like his mother and now believes she would never want him as a son. Additionally, Rainbow meets with Scootaloo and asks her about her parents, but is perplexed when Scootaloo suddenly becomes uncomfortable and leaves; Pinkie, meanwhile, admits to Luna that she has been hiding her past from her friends and the Cakes, and makes a Pinkie Promise with Luna to tell them about it.

The setting shifts to Twilight's arrangement of the second wedding. Shining Armor finds Twilight and tells her his plans to call off the wedding, believing he has failed as a potential husband, a guard captain, and a brother. Twilight angrily rebukes him for doing something that would break Cadance's heart. She then confesses that she is still mad at everyone for ignoring her, and that she is afraid of what could have happened if she had been wrong about the fake princess. Twilight agrees to talk with her friends the next chance she gets while Shining agrees to go on with the wedding, making Twilight his Best Mare again in the process. When approached by her friends before the reception, however, Twilight is taken aback by their guilt and decides to wait before she reveals her true feelings to them.

Twilight awakens the morning after the reception and, with encouragement from Celestia, meets with her friends on the train ride home, all of them ready to hear Twilight's side of the story. Twilight admits her anger at her friends and her fear of losing them over her outburst, but the five assure her that they had planned to talk with her after the wedding and would have forgiven her if she was wrong. After the six friends happily reconcile with each other, Twilight and Rainbow Dash bring up their plans to investigate Spike and Scootaloo's odd behavior from the reception, while Pinkie mulls over her promise to Princess Luna.

Twilight Sparkle
Twilight Sparkle plays a central role in Post Nuptials for the part she plays during the wedding rehearsal scene in the episode A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1. In the scene, Twilight believes Shining Armor's bride Princess Cadance to be evil after seeing the princess putting her friends down and seemingly casting a brainwashins spell on her brother. After Twilight verbally assaults Cadance for her behavior and sends her running off in tears, her friends, Shining Armor, and Princess Celestia become disgusted with Twilight's behavior and abandon her, leaving her brokenhearted. By Part 2, however, Twilight discovers that her suspicions are correct as "Cadance" reveals herself to be the changeling Queen Chrysalis disguised as the real princess, and takes it in stride when Applejack apologizes for everyone ignoring her, saying that Chrysalis had fooled everyone.

Twilight serves as the focus of attention for all the other characters who, in every chapter, mention her outburst against the fake Cadance and her subsequent heartache at being shunned by her friends. In the first chapter, Twilight still appears to take her friends' ignoring her in stride, and seems incredulous that they still feel guilty. She also expresses embarrassment in her own failure to gather evidence of the fake princess's evilness before making accusations, comparing her actions to her freakout in the episode Lesson Zero, which she uses to rationalize her friends not believing her. However, it is revealed in Chapter 9 that not only does Twilight still harbor a grudge against her friends, but she fears that they have little faith in her and would never have forgiven her if she had turned out to be wrong. It is only by Chapter 10, when she confesses her fears to everyone and is assured otherwise by her friends, that she manages to truly forgive both them and, to an extent, herself.

Mane Five
Twilight's friends—Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity—collectively play a major role in the story. During A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, the five conclude from Twilight's behavior towards Cadance that their friend is being possessive of their brother, and that the fake Cadance's own foul behavior stems from premarital stress. When Twilight drives Cadance away and is banned from the wedding by her brother for it, the five express their disappointment in Twilight by cold-shouldering her as they leave to find Cadance, leaving Twilight despondent. In Part 2, after Queen Chrysalis taunts the five for ignoring Twilight, Applejack apologizes on their behalf.

Reception
Post Nuptials has been met with great popularity and acclaim among users at FIMFiction. Most readers have praised the story for providing closure to the subplot in the  episode "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1" wherein Twilight Sparkle's friends dismiss her suspicions of Princess Cadance, which is briefly addressed in "Part 2". Critics, including Darth Link 22 himself, however, have found the story to be too long and repetative in its presentation of the characters' individual chapters.

On June 29, 2012, the day of its completion (sans revisions), the story garnered 548 "likes" and 9 "dislikes" from readers. As of March 2013, the story has received 1,381 "likes" and 29 "dislikes". It has also received 94,484 views, and has been listed as a favorite of 1,826 users.

Possible animated adaptation
On February 16, 2013, FIMFiction user "BronyRanger" announced plans to create a fanmade animation based on Post Nuptials. The adaptation will omit all hints to the original story's sequel Families, alcohol references, and the make-out scene between Vinyl Scratch and Octavia in chapter 6 to better adhere to the canon and kid-friendly nature of . Darth Link 22 has expressed interest in contributing a rewrite of the story for the adaptation.