Season 2: Would you side with Twi?

[Lightning Buckheart 29]

If you were helping getting the Canterlot Wedding ready, and Twi was telling you how Cadence was evil, but you didn't know she was yet, would you side with Twi? Or against her?

 

I'd side with her ❤

[Just some guy 1,070]

Yes I would,considering that I had a bad feeling about Cadence when she was first introduced.She didn't exactly act like how I think she would from Twilight's description of her.Plus,evil green auras.If that's not a bloody giveaway that something is up,then Iunno what is.

[Shawn Parks 1,798]

This is a good question.  I thought it was pretty harsh that none of Twilight's friends took her seriously.  Yes, she has been known to be paranoid and to overreact.  But if I were in that situation, I would have stood by her.  Even if it had turned out that Twilight was mistaken - I would rather be wrong by her side than be right against her. 

Edited March 24, 2013 by Shawn Parks

[Memory Lane 131]

I don't know...evil is a strong word. I'd be as supportive as I could based upon her trustworthiness, but she would need evidence to completely win me over. I mean, who wins a trial with only one persons testimony?

[Nohbdy 4,108]

Come on, do I even need to say if I'd side with her?

 

. . .

 

Alright, fine. Hell yeah, I would. Even if it looked like she was simply being possessive of her brother, I'd know her well enough to have faith in her.  Sure, she's been known to let her emotions get the better of her, but this is the mare who had saved Equestria from both Nightmare Moon and Discord. Why the hell wouldn't I trust her? It's totally not to win her affections, I swear.

 

I'm actually a bit disappointed that Celestia and her friends were so quick to not only dismiss her concerns, but also to abandon her without question. One would think that they trusted her enough to let her explain. That scene was painful to watch, and

didn't help.

 

 

[Feather Gem 967]

I'd probably be like; "Lets just go and investigate so that you feel better, Twilight."

Because, if shes wrong...awkward.  But if shes right...this is something you have to know.

[Clarity 3,094]

Everyone's probably going to say yes because they can obviously tell after they saw the episode. 

 

I would probably be skeptical but not altogether untrusting. She's making a serious accusation there, with no evidence, and she quite possibly might just be making it up because she's jealous of Cadence and Shining Armor being together. 

[truth is life 76]

I doubt I would, for more or less the reasons Manaphy states. While I have every respect for Twi, from an outside perspective she's been acting unstably since learning her brother was going to be married and meeting Cadance, and has basically no evidence that anything is going wrong; even witnessing Cadance casting spells on her brother is merely suggestive, not indicative or proof of foul play. It would be hard to say, "Yes, Twilight, we totally need to cancel the wedding" under the circumstances.

[Magic Man 222]

Well, gee, let's see, providing you mean I have to have half a brain at the time, I'm gonna have to say NO.

 

I know a lot of you are going to hate me for this, but sorry, Shining Armor and the others had every right to be mad at Twilight in that episode.. And before I’m accused of anything, let me make it clear that I adore Twilight. She is quite possibly my fav. Pony character and when she started to break down, I doubt blame anyone for just wanting to reach into the screen and give her a big hug. However, I am still willing to admit how she acted in that scene was out of line.

Let’s review: Twilight burst into the rehearsal and immediately made extremely serious accusations against a member of the ROYAL FAMILY with ZERO solid evidence to back any of it up, whilst acting as hysterical as possible and said accusations consisting pretty much of her just screaming "Evil". This isn't on par with the Smarty Pants incident, this is a royal family member and an official royal wedding. This is pretty much as serious as it can get. Also, Twilight picks the near enough the worst way to bring these issues up - at the wedding rehersal, and considering how we don't see a night transistion, I think we can rightly assume the wedding is on the exact same day!

One of the things I like about Twilight is that she is smart and knows when and how to act. The way she handled herself was pretty OOC for her in my opinion.

As for the others, they were already aware of Twilight's possessiveness of her brother, even after the Mane Six discussed it the previous night. Yeah, a lot of people claim they didn't learn their lesson from season zero, but unlike then, in this episode they actually did take the time to listen to Twilight's concerns. All they see is her badmouthing the bride for no reason other than possessive jealousy and an inability to be happy for her brother even after they tried to reassure her, which must have really disappointed them in her. As for Princess Celestia, she has taught and pretty much brought up Twilight, acting like a surrogate mother to her and sent her to Ponyville to learn more social skills. Seeing her prize student acting so immaturely really must have disappointed her because she knows Twilight knows better than that. It's made worse because Cadence is Celestia's niece, her family. She and Twilight are close, but family is still family. 

Shining Armor himself is an even more special case. He and Twilight are siblings and close ones at that, however there has been a certain tension between them over Twilight not being notified earlier on. However, he did expect Twilight to as least be happy for him and the foalsitter she loved. There was no reason, from his point of view, why she should not be accepting of their upcoming union. So when Twilight came bursting in and screeching her accusations like a harpy at who he believes is the mare he loves, she ended up really hurting and alienating him, again because of this aforementioned inability to be happy for him. It's also important to note that if we go by that SA was not as brainwashed yet and was genuinely upset was Twilight, it shows how much he really does love Cadence, as he's willing to defend her.

We also have to keep in mind that SA's explanations were not diabolical in their intent and sounded perfectly believable in context, thus he and the others' reactions can be seen as further justified, which only makes the sting of it all even more painful. I mean, for all we knew, he was right and Twilight was wrong and had just been possessive. Hell, if not for the episode's very last minute, or even half-minute and the episode ended BEFORE that, we would have thought she was wrong too. Then how would the viewers have initially felt? Would it have been all "oh, poor Twilight" or that and "oh, Twilight, you moron!"?

Also, on a minor note, I think SA telling her not to the wedding come is kinda a given, because why should she come to a wedding she's clearly opposed to even happening? I don’t see it as 'you're not allowed to come so to punish you' as it is 'if this is how you feel, then don't come'.

[Wingnut 6,994]

This is a tough question.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and that's why it's tempting to take Twilight's side.  But Chrysalis gained a great deal of intelligence on the palace residents and she was able to fool everyone who lived there, including Princess Celestia herself.  The only pony her spies didn't give her information on was Twilight and that's because she was living in Ponyville at the time. 

 

Twilight was the only pony who knew Cadance's true nature that Chrysalis couldn't put at ease.  That's because the Changeling queen didn't have the intel on Twilight needed to fabricate the authenticity and trust she could with Celestia and everypony else. 

 

So to answer the question at the beginning, I wouldn't immediately side with Twilight.  But I'd like to think I wouldn't just brush her off for OCDing either.  Like Feather Gem, I would hope I had the presence of mind to say "All right, let's investigate this."  Being the only pony with reasonable suspicions about Cadance put Twilight between a rock and a hard place.  Unfortunately, the stress of a big wedding combined with serious reports of an impending attack put everypony on edge and, sadly, nobody gave her the benefit of the doubt. 

[Jessper 735]

I probably would side with her. To be honest, I found it to be rather suspicious how fast everyone dismissed her, considering the princess wasn't all that nice to them. Except for maybe Shining Armor, because it is kind of makes sense to side with your spouse on your own wedding, no matter what anyone around says. 

 

But that the Mane 6(or 5) dismissed her despite how desperate she seemed to be is just wrong, especially considering the lesson they've all "learned" in the Swarm of the century episode, you know, all this "Trust your friends even if what they say and do seems kinda crazy" stuff. Guess they didn't remember that.

Edited March 24, 2013 by Jessper

[Shanks 10,816]

Since Twilight knows Cadence so well I wouldn't immediately side with her but wouldn't just brush her off immediately either. Taking the fact that the Cadence she suspected was really Queen Chrysalis out of the equation something was clearly off about "Cadence" as she acted nothing like the Cadence that Twilight knew. But on the other hoof it is understandable why the others were angry with Twilight, she made some serious accusation of "Cadence" being "evil" with no proof whatsoever aside from some suspicious behavior when for all Twilight knew she could have been acting that way due to the stresses of preparing for the wedding during and impending Changling invasion.

 

Part of the way she acted was also due to a slight possessiveness of her brother and I think the others picked up on that which is probably one of the main reasons why her suspicions were dismissed offhand. Whether her suspicions were right or wrong though they should have been taken a bit more seriously by the others even if say hypothetically the Cadence that was acting this way wasn't Queen Chrysalis in disguise.

[Phoenix237 353]

Sorry Twilight, but no

First off I'm going to assume I had no knowledge of Cadence previous behavior and just the one I was seeing (much like the mane six). If so how am I suppose to tell if she is evil or not. I only saw her for what five minutes. Hard to tell if someone is evil if they are hiding it.

Plus you have to admit that the mane six knew that Twiligh was being protective and the outburst at the rehearsal was being paranoid. If you think about it in their perspective it's hard to determine if she is the Villan. You know she is the Villan because you are seeing what is happening, but take it from the rest of the mane six perspective. They havn't been tailing Cadence to see if she is evil. For all they know that's how she acts right now.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Phoenix237

[Gone for good 1,593]

Oh man the long posts in this thread. I love it when things get overanalyzed and just hoo man these posts are so damned beautiful and they make sense unlike most overanalyzations I've read.

 

Oh yeah, lol no I probably wouldn't side with her.

[Sir.Flutter Hooves 2,953]

I'm sorry Twilight, but no.

 

I know she's right, but what about all those crazy people on the ineternet saying stupid things? Do you believe them? If I heard some one at a wedding saying that the groom's wife is an evil shapeshifter I would put her as just another crazy person trying to get attention.

 

bro hoof /)

[Zygen 6,066]

I think I would if I was one of her friends simply because I was her friend and a good friend would Atleast show some faith in a friend.

 

It's hard to say though as the mane 6 didnt see cadence acting evil and also didn't know her normal behavior like twilight.

 

From the episode point of view definately yes though.

[silvadel 1,393]

Hmm.. an accusation of EVIL against an alicorn from Twilight.  I probably would have been listening to all of the evidence granted and then tried to help her get more and not necessarily fly off the handle.

[UnitP0N13 25]

I'd totes side with her. I'd rather trust my friend and have it turn out to be a fluke than to ignore her completely only for her suspiscion to be confirmed. Sometimes being a friend means you have to trust them even if you feel that they're wrong or if it's just to calm their paranoia.

[Veylon 255]

In hindsight, it's obvious. But otherwise....

 

Remember, Celestia and the other palace ponies have been dealing with Evil Cadance for...days? Weeks? They're used to her acting like this. For any outsiders, it would be very tempting to peg her attitude as a case of Bridezilla and assume that she'd calm down after the wedding. For all we know, Chrysalis was merely imitating Cadance's behavior. There's also the issue that Twilight tends to fly off the handle in certain situations; usually Celestia-related, but apparently other things close to home as well.

 

And her friends know Twilight. She's scared and overexcited, but it'll blow over once the wedding's done and Cadance reverts from Bridezilla mode. Granted, they could've offered some reassurance and support to help keep her from flying off the handle during the wedding. And she really needed their support as she doesn't handle this social stuff well at all. Heck, maybe they should've offered to go grab the Elements for the wedding so that they could do something if she really did turn out to be evil. But really to give Twilight some moral support so she could relax a little. As well as keep an eye on her.

Edited March 25, 2013 by Veylon

[Salixa1234 3]

I think it would be hard to agree with her at first, but if she told me I would probably start watching Cadence's habits. I would probably then agree with her seeing the princes act so odd. Of course I too might wright it of as nerves because they can do such strange things to someone's mind. So, I guess I could go either way.

[Orablanco Account 3,707]

I honestly don't know. Twilight has a tendency to overreact and stress over the silliest things, and I didn't know Cadence personally, so I'd probably chalk any behavior, no matter how rude, to nerves. I probably would have at least considered what Twilight had to say at that cafe scene. Maybe her point would have seemed less crazy if she didn't flat out acuse Cadence of being evil.

 

However, the problem, for me, wasn't how her friends didn't believe her. It was how they treated her afterwards.

 

I can understand Shining being hurt and angry, but flat out disowning his sister and booting her from the wedding is pretty harsh, as was all her friends giving her the cold shoulder and leaving her alone in her misery, followed by her beloved mentor basically telling her she bucked up. And thats all within the span of a few seconds! Geez, you think you could span the shaming out a little bit?

 

The weird part is that no one bothers to look into where Twilight went after the rehearsal. She dissapears for around a full day and the last time she was seen she was emotionally distraight. And they all just go ahead with the wedding and ignore the fact that no one has seen the unicorn with the stress issues for 24 hours.

 

True, true friends indeed!

Edited March 25, 2013 by CITRUS KING46

[Ghost 173]

 Initially, I'm not sure if I would have sided with Twi. Cadence's behavior could have been affected by nerves, as others have said. It had also been a while since the two had last met, and people/ ponies change over time. Although, why would Shining marry Cadence if she became a complete bitch?

 

 However, if Twilight remained insistent something was wrong, I would have at least helped her find out what was going on. Her friends were harsh to dismiss her so quickly. She only wanted whats best for her brother, even if she did seem a bit crazy.  

[Twilight Yagami 16]

I am not entirely sure.  I would like to think that I would but with no real evidence what is one supposed to think.  I can say for certain that I would not have taken so kindley to her harshness and considering how much she contrasted with Twilights initial description of her red flags may have been raised (it was clear that Chrysalis did not do her homework).  Although I don't think I would have encouraged Twilights brusque accusations until we knew for sure.

[Rari-Dash 5]

 I'd like to say that I'd side with Twilight, but I probably wouldn't. I would be too caught up in helping out with the wedding, that I wouldn't notice the little things like the evil green auras, rude comments, etc. If I had seen them though, I'd obviously side with Twilee.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Well, yes. I would side with Twilight because, I didn't really expect her to be right in the end until I saw Cadence's behavior or known as Chrysalis's behavior towards Twilight and her friends. Because we usually expect a princess to be a sweet and kind person in royalty. I guess I would side with Twilight, it was a miracle that she knew why she was acting like that.