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 the two thwart a changeling invasion plot during the first ceremony (shown in "A Canterlot Wedding: Part 2"). Twilight Sparkle is preparing for the postnuptial reception when she is visited in her suite by her five friends. The five express great remorse for shunning Twilight after the latter accused Cadance, later revealed to be the changelings' leader Queen Chrysalis in disguise, of being evil during her wedding rehearsal (shown in "A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1"). 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 apologize to each other and fall asleep.

Meanwhile, during the reception, Twilight's friends continue to feel guilty for how they treated Twilight. Each of them meets one of the party's guests, who help them overcome their guilt:


 * Rainbow Dash is asked out by Soarin' on a date. As the two spend time together, they are approached by Scootaloo, who brags about Rainbow to Soarin'. When Rainbow asks Scootaloo about her parents, Scootaloo becomes uncomforable and leaves. Rainbow remembers that she had reacted harshly towards Scootaloo over the Cutie Mark Crusaders' gossip column (shown in "Ponyville Confidential"), and tells Soarin' her embarrassment of being forgiven so easily by Twilight for something similar. She resolves to redeem herself by helping Scootaloo once she and her friends return to Ponyville.
 * Rarity bumps into Fancypants and happily catches up with him. As she sees Rainbow fly off together with Soarin', she tells Fancypants about what happened between her and Twilight. Fancypants asks how Twilight must be feeling, to which Rarity realizes that she and her friends have never considered that, and decides to talk with Twilight again.
 * Applejack tries keeping her mind off her guilt when she meets with her cousin Apple Fritter. Their conversation quickly turns to the subject of Twilight, who Apple Fritter praises for her ingenuity as an honorary member of the Apple family. Applejack is pained by Apple Fritter's compliments and, when asked what's wrong, tells her cousin about the incident. Apple Fritter suggests she should talk to Twilight again in the morning so they can better understand each other's feelings.
 * Fluttershy wanders away from the party towards the royal sculpture garden and hedge maze. She is joined by Iron Will, who tells her that, since their last encounter (shown in "Putting Your Hoof Down"), he has discovered that his assertiveness seminars, which he had designed to fight bullying, have turned all his clients into bullies instead. Fluttershy empathizes with Iron Will and, once he tells her he is working to atone by getting back in contact with his old clients, resolves to do the same with Twilight.
 * Pinkie Pie is found binging on cake by Princess Luna. Luna deduces Pinkie is ignoring her own feelings of guilt and cautions her that doing so is not healthy, comparing Pinkie's delusions of abandonment (shown in "Party of One") to her own transformation into Nightmare Moon after drinking uninhibitedly to escape her jealousy of Celestia one thousand years ago. Pinkie admits she has been hiding her past from her friends and the Cakes, and that she had angered her birth parents by running away from home. Luna makes Pinkie promise to discuss her true feelings with her friends, as well as to talk with Twilight again.
 * Spike shamefully hides from Twilight instead of joining the others in apologizing to her. Sweetie Belle finds him and offers to dance with him to cheer him up. Afterward, Spike reluctantly admits to her, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo that he thinks of Twilight as his mother and now believes she would never want him as a son since he abandoned her. He makes them promise not to tell anyone else what he has said, and adds that he plans to give them a gift meant for Twilight when they return home.

The story then shifts to Twilight's arrangement of the second wedding. Shining Armor finds Twilight and privately 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 tells him doing so 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, each 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 reassure her that they had always planned to talk with her after the wedding, and would have forgiven her if she was wrong. After the six reconciled friends happily embrace 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 tell her friends and the Cakes about her own problems.

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.