History Fridge / LovedAndLost

* While interacting with Jewelius in the first chapters, Twilight doesn't act in the same grumpy way she acts while speaking with her friends about Chrysalis' behaviour. He's still a new acquaintance to her, and people are less likely to let loose around new faces to avoid making a bad impression, leading her to speak with him rationally about her concerns when he insists her to tell him about them. Though she has never met Jewelius before the first chapter, she has heard about him from his cousin Cadance who has also made her high opinion about him clear to Twilight. His kind treatment of Twilight, all the way down to his coup, reinforcers the impression Cadance has given about him. Since Cadance is the only fugitive who hasn't lost Twilight's love, the emotionally broken unicorn doesn't question her former foalsitter's words about Jewelius, blinding her to his faults until he stops pretending there's reason or kindness to him.
* Jewelius' decision to [[spoiler:have Celestia and Cadence killed]], but send the Mane Five, Shining Armor, and Spike back into exile seems foolish on his part, until you realize that he could potentially prolong their suffering.
** Being renounced by Twilight and witnessing [[spoiler:the deaths of Celestia and Cadence]] would [[DespairEventHorizon crush their spirits]] and eliminate any chance of trying to escape again.

* It's heavily debated among the fandom whether or not Shining Armor really disowned Twilight. Explicitly speaking, he only revoked her Best Mare post and told her not to attend the wedding. The reason why many fans regard this as disownment is because of how Twilight afterwards laments about ruining her bond with her brother. In this fic, Jewelius witnesses Twilight expressing these fears when he spies on her, so he decides to convince her that she was disowned. After the Changeling invasion is thwarted, Jewelius directly accuses Shining Armor of disowning his sister (and is the first pony to do so) when he asks if Shining did what he did under Chrysalis' influence. At this point, Shining is still reeling from the brainwashing, discovering that the city he's dutybound to protect is under invasion on his own wedding day, and realizing that he defended a monster instead of his true love against his sister who was apparently just misbehaving, and he doesn't have any reason to doubt Jewelius' sensibility yet. Filled with shame, he ends up saying that he was able to make his own decisions at the rehearsal. This answer [[note]] The entire question Jewelius poses: "…What came over you to disown your beloved sister and deem the safety of everypony in Canterlot less important than your precious wedding? Or was it the work of the Changelings that made you so foolish as to betray your own flesh and blood as well as all the ponies you swore to protect as Captain of the Guard?"[[/note]] confirms in Twilight's mind the fear she had about how serious Shining was with his rejection of her, just like Jewelius intended. As a sample of Jewelius' manipulation skills, Shining Armor from this point onward acts like his outburst towards Twilight was disownment, even after he learns of [[spoiler:Jewelius' true role in everything that happened]]. Even if Shining didn't really mean to disown Twilight, he doesn't care due to the immense guilt he wallows in for the majority of the story.

** He even flat-out admits to Twilight's imprisoned loved ones that if he happens to discover a unicorn mare even more powerful than Twilight, he'll [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident stage an accidental death for her]] so that he's free to marry the other mare. The fifth season introduces Starlight Glimmer, a powerful and talented unicorn prodigy of her own right who can strip ponies of their cutie marks and [[EmotionalPowers enhance her magic with her emotions]] to the point that she can give a tough fight for Twilight when the latter is an alicorn. Plus, like Jewelius, she's good at using speeches, propaganda, and emotional manipulation to sway ponies to her beliefs and get them to join her. With that thought, the likelihood of Jewelius carrying out his threat may not be small after all if he found out about Starlight and considered her more appealing than Twilight…

* Chrysalis [[WoundedGazelleGambit turned Twilight's loved ones against her]] by using {{crocodile tears}}. In the 12th chapter, Twilight becomes so upset with her friends and brother's attempts to make her listen to their CassandraTruth that she bursts into tears after screaming a BigShutUp. The crowd that has sided with Twilight becomes even angrier with the disgraced heroes. It's a subtle sign of how bad Twilight's corruption is when she starts using the same tactics Chrysalis used against her, even if her tears aren't faked.

* When Jewelius calls Celestia out of failing to realize that her niece was being impersonated and allowing the wedding to proceed while the threat of unknown attackers was in the air, she becomes very nervous and impotently asks him to calm himself, all the while Vivian points her horn threateningly at her, and the wedding guests and some guards witness this all. After centuries of being [[UniversallyBelovedLeader practically worshipped]], Celestia isn't used to being told off this openly and aggressively by her subjects or one of her nephews whom she has until now known as a kindly stallion. That -- combined with all the nasty surprises that occurred from the moment Twilight and Cadance stopped the wedding ceremony -- explains why Celestia isn't clearheaded enough to offer any other explanations than the frantic way Twilight accused Chrysalis without concrete evidence (which does explain why she wasn't taken seriously, but not really anything else concerning the entire mess). As for why she doesn't take a firmer stance against Jewelius, the last time she did that was at the rehearsal when he tried to defend Twilight in a reasonable way. She immediately commanded him to be silent, and given how everything turned out, she feels like she's in no position to bring him to a heel now. Plus, being on the receiving end of an earful from one of her relatives would likely remind her of her own little sister's StartOfDarkness. After she makes the mistake of telling the heroes to run in her panic and is subdued, her guards take her to the dungeons on her nephew's orders while the wedding guests only glare resentfully at her. All of this explains why she has nothing to say during the sentencing scene; [[HeroicBSOD she's too shocked by how her world has fallen apart in one day]].

** Shining Armor confesses on Jewelius' pressure that he was acting of his own accord when he banned Twilight from the wedding instead of doing it entirely because of Chrysalis' brainwashing. It breaks Twilight's heart to hear that her BBBFF wasn't acting entirely under the effects of brainwashing, even though he's visibly remorseful. Since she hadn't heard from him since moving to Ponyville before receiving the invitation (which didn't come from him) to his wedding when it was around the corner, and he had no trouble banning her from his wedding because she overreacted in order to protect him, she has every reason to suspect that Jewelius is right and Shining Armor no longer cares about his little sister as much as before.
** Jewelius claims that Twilight's friends associated with her only so that they could take advantage of her connections. After all, during the wedding preparations, they brushed off Chrysalis' {{bridezilla}} behaviour toward them and praised her, quickly came to the conclusion Twilight's problem with Chrysalis was jealousy, had forgotten the promise they gave her in "Lesson Zero" (as they themselves realize when Twilight brings this up), and quickly tagged along with Shining Armor to check on the "distraught bride", even though [[TheDulcineaEffect they had only just met those two]] and Twilight was already ashamed of her actions. In light of all of that, it's very tempting to suspect they were kissing up to royalty and abandoned Twilight when they no longer needed her for that [[note]] Jewelius even tells Twilight that they were simply waiting for her to screw up so they'd have an excuse to ditch her, and her outburst at the wedding rehearsal was all they needed.[[/note]]. As for the matter of helping Twilight during the invasion and Applejack apologizing to her, Jewelius can argue it was only a matter of survival and saving face.

* It's heavily debated among the fandom whether or not Shining Armor really disowns Twilight. Explicitly speaking, he only revokes her Best Mare post and tells her not to attend the wedding. The reason why many fans regard this as disownment is because of how Twilight afterwards laments about ruining her bond with her brother. In this fic, Jewelius witnesses Twilight expressing these fears when he spies on her, so he decides to convince her that she was disowned. After the Changeling invasion is thwarted, Jewelius directly accuses Shining Armor of disowning his sister (and is the first pony to do so) when he asks if Shining did what he did under Chrysalis' influence. At this point, Shining is still reeling from the brainwashing, discovering that the city he's dutybound to protect is under invasion on his own wedding day, and realizing that he defended a monster instead of his true love against his sister who was apparently just misbehaving, and he doesn't have any reason to doubt Jewelius' sensibility yet. Filled with shame, he ends up saying that he was able to make his own decisions at the rehearsal. This answer [[note]] The entire question Jewelius poses: "…What came over you to disown your beloved sister and deem the safety of everypony in Canterlot less important than your precious wedding? Or was it the work of the Changelings that made you so foolish as to betray your own flesh and blood as well as all the ponies you swore to protect as Captain of the Guard?"[[/note]] confirms in Twilight's mind the fear she had about how serious Shining was with his rejection of her, just like Jewelius intended. As a sample of Jewelius' manipulation skills, Shining Armor from this point onward acts like his outburst towards Twilight was disownment, even after he learns of [[spoiler:Jewelius' true role in everything that happened]]. Even if Shining didn't really mean to disown Twilight, he doesn't care due to the immense guilt he wallows in for the majority of the story.

** He also straight-out admits to Twilight's imprisoned loved ones that if he happens to discover a unicorn mare even more powerful than Twilight, he'll [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident stage an accidental death for her]] so that he's free to marry the other mare. The fifth season introduces Starlight Glimmer, a powerful and talented unicorn prodigy of her own right who can strip ponies of their cutie marks and [[EmotionalPowers enhance her magic with her emotions]] to the point that she can give a tough fight for Twilight when the latter is an alicorn. Plus, like Jewelius, she's good at using speeches, propaganda, and emotional manipulation to sway ponies to her beliefs and get them to join her. With that thought, the likelihood of Jewelius carrying out his threat may not be small after all if he found out about Starlight and considered her to be more appealing than Twilight…

* When Jewelius calls Celestia out of failing to realize that her niece was being impersonated and allowing the wedding to proceed while the threat of unknown attackers was in the air, she becomes very nervous and impotently asks him to calm himself, all the while Vivian points her horn threateningly at her, and the wedding guests and some guards witness this all. After centuries of being [[HundredPercentAdorationRating practically worshipped]], Celestia isn't used to being told off this openly and aggressively by her subjects or one of her nephews whom she has until now known as a kindly stallion. That -- combined with all the nasty surprises that occurred from the moment Twilight and Cadance stopped the wedding ceremony -- explains why Celestia isn't clearheaded enough to offer any other explanations than the frantic way Twilight accused Chrysalis without concrete evidence (which does explain why she wasn't taken seriously, but not really anything else concerning the entire mess). As for why she doesn't take a firmer stance against Jewelius, the last time she did that was at the rehearsal when he tried to defend Twilight in a reasonable way. She immediately commanded him to be silent, and given how everything turned out, she feels like she's in no position to bring him to a heel now. Plus, being on the receiving end of an earful from one of her relatives would likely remind her of her own little sister's StartOfDarkness. After she makes the mistake of telling the heroes to run in her panic and is subdued, her guards take her to the dungeons on her nephew's orders while the wedding guests only glare resentfully at her. All of this explains why she has nothing to say during the sentencing scene; [[HeroicBSOD she's too shocked by how her world has fallen apart in one day]].

* Everything Ponyville's inhabitants have to suffer because of the raised taxes and trading prohibitions imposed by Jewelius. Mayor Mare tells that whenever anypony tries to resist these unfair laws, Jewelius [[MakeAnExampleOfThem sends his guards to do something]] she doesn't dare to explain further. Some ponies resort to theft in order to help the needy, and Mayor Mare hides them in the town hall to protect them from guards who could appear anytime to act on Jewelius' orders or cause trouble just for giggles. One of the ponies hiding in the town hall is [[AdultFear Scootaloo]].

* Chrysalis [[WoundedGazelleGambit turned Twilight's loved ones against her]] by using {{crocodile tears}}. In the 12th chapter, Twilight becomes so upset with her friends and brother's attempts to make her listen to their CassandraTruth that she bursts into tears after screaming a BigShutUp. The crowd that has sided with Twilight becomes even angrier with the disgraced heroes. It's a subtle sign of how bad Twilight's corruption is when she starts [[NotSoDifferent using the same tactics Chrysalis used against her]], even if her tears aren't faked.

** The hardworking farmer Applejack is forced into grueling and backbreaking slave labor on a galley ship where she is separated from her family. The [[GenkiGirl hyperactive]] Pinkie Pie is denied the joys of having fun or spreading it is confined to closed space doing joyless activities. They both have to spend most of their time below the deck where there's no fresh air, no sunlight, and no escape from [[HeroWithBadPublicity public outcry]] that they've been met with since Jewelius scapegoated them as even the other slaves hate their guts.

* When Jewelius calls Celestia out of failing to realize that her niece was being impersonated and allowing the wedding to proceed while the threat of unknown attackers was in the air, she becomes very nervous and impotently asks him to calm himself, all the while Vivian points her horn threateningly at her, and the wedding guests and some guards witness this all. After centuries of being [[HundredPercentAdorationRating practically worshipped]], Celestia isn't used to being told off this openly and aggressively by her subjects or one of her nephews whom she has until now known as a kindly stallion. That -- combined with all the nasty surprises that occurred from the moment Twilight and Cadance stopped the wedding ceremony -- explains why Celestia isn't clearheaded enough to offer any other explanations than the frantic way Twilight accused Chrysalis without concrete evidence (which does explain why she wasn't taken seriously, but not really anything else concerning the entire mess). As for why she doesn't take a firmer stance against Jewelius, the last time she did that was at the rehearsal when he tried to defend Twilight in a reasonable way. She immediately commanded him to be silent, and given how everything turned out, she feels like she's in no position to bring him to a heel now. Plus, being on the receiving end of an earful from one of her relatives would likely remind her of her own little sister's StartOfDarkness. After she makes the mistake of telling the heroes to run in her panic and is subdued, her guards take her to the dungeons on her nephew's orders while the wedding guests only glare resentfully at her. All of this explains why she has nothing to say during the sentencing scene; [[HeroicBSOD she's too shocked by her world falling apart in one day]].

*** This thinking is flawed by the question of how the Mane Six could have used the Elements of Harmony if their bonds were false. Twilight can rationalize that their bonds used to be real in the instances they used the Elements (the last time was against Discord), but since then, the others have forgotten to see intrinsic value in their relationship with Twilight. This is alluded to when she announces her decision to reconcile with her loved ones and says she believes they have learned their lesson. Though it took some time to take effect, their insistent attempts to get back on speaking terms with her in spite of her sullenness toward them, combined with her getting bad emotions out of her system, restored her trust in them and made her inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
* [[spoiler:Why does Jewelius decide to have Twilight's parents captured [[IHaveYourWife for a bargaining chip]] instead of trying to convince them as well of his good intentions? Because his goal is to mold Twilight into his faithful pawn, and he's using in it a classic tactic of manipulation: isolation from other relationships. It's one thing to charm a lady, but it's another to win her parents' trust, especially when you've recently exiled their other child as well said other child's bride who also used to look after their daughter. If they were allowed to interact with Twilight, they'd likely encourage her to be critical about Jewelius and his character. Besides, Jewelius already has on his plate the manipulation of the entire city of Canterlot, so he may not want to bother with tricking Twilight's parents whom he can declare to be casualties of the Changeling invasion, if he never has to force their daughter back into submission.]]

** Jewelius claims that Twilight's friends associated with her only so that they could take advantage of her connections. After all, during the wedding preparations, they brushed off Chrysalis' {{bridezilla}} behaviour toward them and praised her, quickly came to the conclusion Twilight's problem with Chrysalis was jealousy, had forgotten the promise they gave her in "Lesson Zero" (as they themselves realize when Twilight brings this up), and quickly tagged along with Shining Armor to check on the "distraught bride", even though [[TheDulcineaEffect they had only just met those two]] and Twilight was already ashamed of her actions. In light of all of that, it's very tempting to suspect they were kissing up to royalty and abandoned Twilight when they no longer needed her for that [[note]] Jewelius even tells Twilight that, with her outburst they were simply waiting for her to screw up so they'd have an excuse to ditch her[[/note]]. As for the matter of helping Twilight during the invasion and Applejack apologizing to her, Jewelius can argue it was only a matter of survival and saving face.

** Jewelius claims that Twilight's friends associated with her only so that they could take advantage of her connections. After all, during the wedding preparations, they brushed off Chrysalis' {{bridezilla}} behaviour toward them and praised her, quickly came to the conclusion Twilight's problem with Chrysalis was jealousy, had forgotten the promise they gave her in "Lesson Zero" (as they themselves realize when Twilight brings this up), and quickly tagged along with Shining Armor to check on the "distraught bride", even though [[TheDulcineaEffect they had only just met those two]] and Twilight was already ashamed of her actions. In light of all of that, it's very tempting to suspect they were kissing up to royalty and abandoned Twilight when they no longer needed her for that [[note]] Jewelius even tells Twilight that, with her outburst they were simply waiting for her screw up so they'd have an excuse to ditch her[[/note]]. As for the matter of helping Twilight during the invasion and Applejack apologizing to her, Jewelius can argue it was only a matter of survival and saving face.

** Jewelius claims that Twilight's friends associated with her only so that they could take advantage of her connections. After all, during the wedding preparations, they brushed off Chrysalis' {{bridezilla}} behaviour toward them and praised her, quickly came to the conclusion Twilight's problem with Chrysalis was jealousy, had forgotten the promise they gave her in "Lesson Zero" (as they themselves realize when Twilight brings this up), and quickly tagged along with Shining Armor to check on the "distraught bride", even though [[TheDulcineaEffect they had only just met those two]] and Twilight was already ashamed of her actions. In light of all of that, it's very tempting to suspect they were kissing up to royalty and abandoned Twilight when they no longer needed her for that [[note]] Jewelius even so so far as to tell Twilight that, with her outburst they were simply waiting for her screw up so they'd have an excuse to ditch her.[[/note]]. As for the matter of helping Twilight during the invasion and Applejack apologizing to her, Jewelius can argue it was only a matter of survival and saving face.

** Jewelius claims that Twilight's friends associated with her only so that they could take advantage of her connections. After all, during the wedding preparations, they brushed off Chrysalis' {{bridezilla}} behaviour toward them and praised her, quickly came to the conclusion Twilight's problem with Chrysalis was jealousy, had forgotten the promise they gave her in "Lesson Zero" (as they themselves realize when Twilight brings this up), and quickly tagged along with Shining Armor to check on the "distraught bride", even though [[TheDulcineaEffect they had only just met those two]] and Twilight was already ashamed of her actions. In light of all of that, it's very tempting to suspect they were kissing up to royalty and abandoned Twilight when they no longer needed her for that [[note Jewelius even so so far as to tell Twilight that, with her outburst they were simply waiting for her screw up so they'd have an excuse to ditch her.[[/note]]. As for the matter of helping Twilight during the invasion and Applejack apologizing to her, Jewelius can argue it was only a matter of survival and saving face.

** Jewelius claims that Twilight's friends associated with her only so that they could take advantage of her connections. After all, during the wedding preparations, they brushed off Chrysalis' {{bridezilla}} behaviour toward them and praised her, quickly came to the conclusion Twilight's problem with Chrysalis was jealousy, had forgotten the promise they gave her in "Lesson Zero" (as they themselves realize when Twilight brings this up), and quickly tagged along with Shining Armor to check on the "distraught bride", even though [[TheDulcineaEffect they had only just met those two]] and Twilight was already ashamed of her actions. In light of all of that, it's very tempting to suspect they were kissing up to royalty and abandoned Twilight when they no longer needed her for that. As for the matter of helping Twilight during the invasion and Applejack apologizing to her, Jewelius can argue it was only a matter of survival and saving face.

* [[spoiler:Why Jewelius decides to have Twilight's parents captured [[IHaveYourWife for a bargaining chip]] instead of trying to convince them as well of his good intentions? Because his goal is to mold Twilight into his faithful pawn, and he's using in it a classic tactic of manipulation: isolation from other relationships. It's one thing to charm a lady, but it's another to win her parents' trust, especially when you've recently exiled their other child as well said other child's bride who also used to look after their daughter. If they were allowed to interact with Twilight, they'd likely encourage her to be critical about Jewelius and his character. Besides, Jewelius already has on his plate the manipulation of the entire city of Canterlot, so he may not want to bother with tricking Twilight's parents whom he can declare to be casualties of the Changeling invasion, if he never has to force their daughter back into submission.]]

** Earlier, Shining Armor tries to explain to the original bridesmaids that Chrysalis fired them on the excuse that they just wanted to meet royalty in the wedding. Highly offended that such lies were believed about her, Twinkleshine starts sobbing, unintentionally putting Shining in the same boat Chrysalis put Twilight into.

* It's heavily debated among the fandom whether or not Shining Armor really disowns Twilight. Explicitly speaking, he only tells her that she won't be his best mare and shouldn't attend the wedding. The reason why many fans regard this as disownment is because of how Twilight afterwards laments about ruining her bond with her brother. In this fic, Jewelius witnesses Twilight expressing these fears when he spies on her, so he decides to convince her that she was disowned. After the Changeling invasion is thwarted, Jewelius directly accuses Shining Armor of disowning his sister (and is the first pony to do so) when he asks if Shining did what he did under Chrysalis' influence. At this point, Shining is still reeling from the brainwashing, discovering that the city he's dutybound to protect is under invasion on his own wedding day, and realizing that he defended a monster instead of his true love against his sister who was apparently just misbehaving, and he doesn't have any reason to doubt Jewelius' sensibility yet. Filled with shame, he ends up saying that he was able to make his own decisions at the rehearsal. This answer (note the entire question Jewelius poses: "… what came over you to disown your beloved sister and deem the safety of everypony in Canterlot less important then your precious wedding? Or was it the work of the changeling that made you so foolish as to betray your own flesh and blood as well as all the ponies you swore to protect as Captain of the Guard?") confirms in Twilight's mind the fear she had about how serious Shining was with his rejection of her, just like Jewelius intended. As a sample of Jewelius' manipulation skills, Shining Armor from this point onward acts like his outburst towards Twilight was disownment, even after he learns of [[spoiler:Jewelius' true role in everything that happened]]. Even if Shining didn't really mean to disown Twilight, he doesn't care due to the immense guilt he wallows in for the majority of the story.

** The hardworking farmer Applejack is forced to work in an extremely backbreaking and thankless job as a galley slave where she is separated from her family. The [[GenkiGirl hyperactive]] Pinkie Pie is denied the joys of having fun or spreading it. They both have to spend most of their time below the deck where there's no fresh air or sunshine, and even their fellow slaves hate them.

* Jewelius sentencing the Mane Five and Shining Armor into different forms of slavery is not just because they're deemed to be too dangerous if allowed to remain together, or a matter of treaties. It's also a convenient way for him to humiliate each of them by preying on their personal dislikes and robbing them of their individual subjects of pride.

* It's heavily debated among the fandom whatever or not Shining Armor really disowns Twilight. Explicitly speaking, he only tells her that she won't be his best mare and shouldn't attend the wedding. The reason why many fans regard this as disownment is because of how Twilight afterwards laments about ruining her bond with her brother. In this fic, Jewelius witnesses Twilight expressing these fears when he spies on her, so he decides to convince her that she was disowned. After the Changeling invasion is thwarted, Jewelius directly accuses Shining Armor of disowning his sister (and is the first pony to do so) when he asks if Shining did what he did under Chrysalis' influence. At this point, Shining is still reeling from the brainwashing, discovering that the city he's dutybound to protect is under invasion on his own wedding day, and realizing that he defended a monster instead of his true love against his sister who was apparently just misbehaving, and he doesn't have any reason to doubt Jewelius' sensibility yet. Filled with shame, he ends up saying that he was able to make his own decisions at the rehearsal. This answer (note the entire question Jewelius poses: "… what came over you to disown your beloved sister and deem the safety of everypony in Canterlot less important then your precious wedding? Or was it the work of the changeling that made you so foolish as to betray your own flesh and blood as well as all the ponies you swore to protect as Captain of the Guard?") confirms in Twilight's mind the fear she had about how serious Shining was with his rejection of her, just like Jewelius intended. As a sample of Jewelius' manipulation skills, Shining Armor from this point onward acts like his outburst towards Twilight was disownment, even after he learns of [[spoiler:Jewelius' true role in everything that happened]]. Even if Shining didn't really mean to disown Twilight, he doesn't care due to the immense guilt he wallows in for the majority of the story.

* Jewelius convinces Twilight to accept his proposal and become his queen [[DarwinistDesire because he wants the powerful unicorn to bear him powerful offspring]] who'll continue his legacy. What if said offspring didn't inherit their mother's magical power? Would he [[ParentalNeglect neglect]]/[[AbusiveParents abuse]] them and [[MaritalRapeLicense force Twilight]] to continue birthing foals until he gets what he wants? And if the foals continued to displease him, would he [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness dispose of Twilight]]?
** He also straight-out admits to Twilight's imprisoned loved ones that if he happens to discover a unicorn mare even more powerful than Twilight, he'll [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident stage an accidental death for Twilight]] so that he's free to marry the other mare. The fifth season introduces Starlight Glimmer, a powerful and talented unicorn prodigy of her own right who can strip ponies of their cutie marks and [[EmotionalPowers enhance her magic with her emotions]] to the point that she can give a tough fight for Twilight when the latter is an alicorn. Plus, like Jewelius, she's good at using speeches, propaganda, and emotional manipulation to sway ponies to her beliefs and get them to join her. With that thought, the likelihood of Jewelius carrying out his threat may not be small after all if he found out about Starlight and considered her to be more appealing than Twilight…

** After Twilight stops the invasion, the first thing Celestia says to Twilight is to assure she herself is alright and that her student has a real wedding to put together (instead of, for example, asking if ''Twilight'' -- who's exhausted from stopping the Changelings with the shrinking spell -- is alright, or apologizing for her cold demeanor toward her). During the outlash Jewelius gives the heroes immediately after this, [[NotHelpingYourCase the wording of the only defence Celestia gives makes it sound like she's trying to pin all the blame on Twilight]]. Twilight falls unconscious after Celestia tells everypony to run, so she's unaware that Celestia stays behind to look after her and expresses concern for her when she's subdued. Besides, Jewelius can appeal to his status as Celestia's nephew and claim that he knew her better than most ponies to know she wasn't as warm and caring as she presented herself to be.

* It's heavily debated among the fandom whatever or not Shining Armor really disowns Twilight. Explicitly speaking, he only tells her that she won't be his best mare and shouldn't attend the wedding. The reason why many fans regard this as disownment is because of how Twilight afterwards laments about ruining her bond with her brother. In this fic, Jewelius witnesses Twilight expressing these fears when he spies on her, so he decides to convince her that she was disowned. After the Changeling invasion is thwarted, Jewelius directly accuses Shining Armor of disowning his sister (and is the first pony to do so) when he asks if Shining did what he did under Chrysalis' influence. At this point, Shining is still reeling from the brainwashing, discovering the city he's dutybound to protect under invasion in his own wedding day, and realizing that he defended a monster instead of his true love against his sister who was apparently just misbehaving, and he doesn't have any reason to doubt Jewelius' sensibility yet. Filled with shame, he ends up saying that he was able to make his own decisions at the rehearsal. This answer (note the entire question Jewelius poses: "… what came over you to disown your beloved sister and deem the safety of everypony in Canterlot less important then your precious wedding? Or was it the work of the changeling that made you so foolish as to betray your own flesh and blood as well as all the ponies you swore to protect as Captain of the Guard?") confirms in Twilight's mind the fear she had about how serious Shining was with his rejection of her, just like Jewelius intended. As a sample of Jewelius' manipulation skills, Shining Armor acts from this point onward like his outburst towards Twilight was disownment, even after he learns of [[spoiler:Jewelius' true role in everything that happened]]. Even if Shining didn't really mean to disown Twilight, he doesn't care due to the immense guilt he wallows in for the majority of the story.

* It's heavily debated among the fandom whatever or not Shining Armor really disowns Twilight. Explicitly speaking, he only tells her that she won't be his best mare and shouldn't attend the wedding. The reason why many fans regard this as disownment is because of how Twilight afterwards laments about ruining her bond with her brother. In this fic, Jewelius witnesses Twilight expressing these fears when he spies on her, so he decides to convince her that she was disowned. After the Changeling invasion is thwarted, Jewelius directly accuses Shining Armor of disowning his sister (and is the first pony to do so) when he asks if Shining did what he did under Chrysalis' influence. At this point, Shining is still reeling from the brainwashing, discovering the city he's dutybound to protect under invasion in his own wedding day, and realizing that he defended a monster instead of his true love against his apparently misbehaving sister, and he doesn't have any reason to doubt Jewelius' sensibility yet. Filled with shame, he ends up saying that he was able to make his own decisions at the rehearsal. This answer (note the entire question Jewelius poses: "… what came over you to disown your beloved sister and deem the safety of everypony in Canterlot less important then your precious wedding? Or was it the work of the changeling that made you so foolish as to betray your own flesh and blood as well as all the ponies you swore to protect as Captain of the Guard?") confirms in Twilight's mind the fear she had about how serious Shining was with his rejection of her, just like Jewelius intended. As a sample of Jewelius' manipulation skills, Shining Armor acts from this point onward like his outburst towards Twilight was disownment, even after he learns of [[spoiler:Jewelius' true role in everything that happened]]. Even if Shining didn't really mean to disown Twilight, he doesn't care due to the immense guilt he wallows in for the majority of the story.