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%% Just for clarification, since there seems to be some confusion on this, the "Deceptive Cadence" musical easter egg occurred in "BBBFF" back in Part 1, NOT in This Day Aria.
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* AccidentalInnuendo: Pinkie Pie saying, "Do me! Do me!" when asking a changeling to turn into her.
* {{Applicability}}: Many have compared the changeling invasion to [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror a certain terrorist attack]], especially with the plot resembling another real life event, the Royal Wedding of William and Kate.
* AlternateAesopInterpretation: The stated moral about trusting your instincts is widely dismissed as glossing over [[BrokenAesop the bad decisions it led them to make]] and their other [[BrokenBase controversial actions]]. Fans instead viewed the moral as "even if you're right you still need to have tact and proof, but even an outrageous claim without tact or proof might have some truth so should't be wholly dismissed".
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
** Queen Chrysalis. Is she pure evil, or a WellIntentionedExtremist and[=/=]or ObliviouslyEvil who just wanted to feed her people?
** The changelings. AlwaysChaoticEvil or SlaveMooks looking for food with a bad leader? By the end of the sixth season, the show itself decides that they're the latter.
* AngstWhatAngst: Boy howdy does this get hit with a heavy amount, and don't think they get brought up in later stories because they're never mentioned again.
** Shining Armor took being brainwashed by Queen Chrysalis, tricked into thinking that it was Cadance, shunning his own sister and indirectly leading to her imprisonment in the caves, and failing to defend the city from the Changelings until the very end rather well.
** Heck, a lot of people took things rather well. Twilight took her friends, mentor, and brother shunning her even ''after'' she knows the truth behind the imposter rather well, Celestia took being fooled, her defeat, and failing to defend Canterlot rather well, and most of Twilight's friends took the revelation that they were fooled rather well too, sans Applejack. Heck, Canterlot's citizens seem to have taken almost being a happy meal for the Changelings and their city being invaded [[AllIsWellThatEndsWell rather well]]. At least Cadance has [[EarnYourHappyEnding an excuse to be happy]].
* BrokenAesop: Celestia states the episodes moral is the importance of trusting your instincts. But Twilight's instincts about Cadance being evil were only [[RightForTheWrongReasons half-correct]], led her to go about it in a way [[NotHelpingYourCase discrediting her warnings]], and attack the real Cadance until given proof it was her. The imposter Cadance points out her NearVillainVictory was due to everyone dismissing Twilight, meaning their instinct to trust her instead of Twilight [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter were horribly wrong]]. In short instincts led to far more bad decisions than good while the day was saved more by unrelated {{Villain Ball}}s.
* BrokenBase:
** The two-parter itself, some sees this as one of the highest point of the series. While the others hated it so much, that they ended up leaving the series.
** DJ-Pon-3's eyes are revealed! ...as magenta, not [[{{Fanon}} red]], and this was [[http://comments.deviantart.com/4/1453017/2524697457 later]] [[http://comments.deviantart.com/4/1453017/2562248614 confirmed]] by WordOfGod. Before the confirmation, some vehemently denied it, others assumed it was a trick of the lighting, others still supported it to the point of antagonizing neighsayers, and lastly, there were those who just shrugged and went "At least we know now."
** Chrysalis defeating Celestia divided some opinions on Celestia -- or, more specifically, on how this might affect the common fan interpretation of alicorns as very powerful PhysicalGods. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Either Celestia is still incredibly powerful and Chrysalis feeding on Shining Armor's love really did make her strong enough to defeat Celestia or Celestia is not as strong as she is credited to be]]. Considering that Chrysalis herself was extremely shocked that she managed to do it and Celestia had been shown to be strong enough to neutralize a spell ''Twilight'' produced with little effort, it's likely the former. It should be noted that, even as powerful as she'd become, Chrysalis was visibly straining against Celestia's attack.
** Was the false Cadance being dumb by casually acting evil, like snapping at Twilight about her ruining her plans, having a brainwashed Shining Armor with Celestia being none the wiser, and singing her VillainSong in front of thousands of ponies, including Celestia and the ponies she fooled, or does it just fall under the laws of cartoon logic, MusicalWorldHypotheses and [[MST3KMantra people should just relax]]?
** Applejack apologizing on behalf for everypony, the other half sees that her apology itself as half-hearted and rushed with the others should be apologizing as well, and not just Applejack. Some see the others apologizing as irrelevant since Applejack was the one who told to leave Twilight, she should be the one apologizing as well.
* CatharsisFactor: For anyone who was upset about Celestia and the other Mane Six walking out on Twilight for having warned them that all was not right with Cadance, it is rather satisfying when Chrysalis gloats to the lot of them about how easily she was able to fool them even after Twilight had attempted to warn them of her suspicious behavior.
* DracoInLeatherPants:
** As could have been expected, this happened to Queen Chrysalis before the episode had finished airing, mostly because her VillainSong includes a line saying she's dreamed about this day since she was small, and because she has another line stating that she is pursuing her duty to find food for her subjects. This of course [[SarcasmMode totally justifies]] the MindRape, the terror tactics, and the attempted invasion of a peaceful land. There's also the reprise where she says that "the day she has dreamed of" is taking over Equestria, not getting married.
** A more justifiable example would be the rest of the Changelings; many fans believe they only follow their evil, sadistic queen for the promise of food; food which, however, they can easily see is composed of ''[[ImAHumanitarian thinking sentient creatures]]''.
* EpilepticTrees: Some fans have justified multiple occurrences of the same ponies in a single setting in previous episodes as being Changelings.
* FanficFuel: The Changelings!
** Their Queen alone, being the latest "big villain" in the series, is sure to fuel tons of fanfics, much like Nightmare Moon and Discord before her. Not to mention the fact she's been beaten, but not [[SealedEvilInACan sealed away]] or defeated once and for all.
** There are already four groups dedicated to them over at deviantArt.
** Also, both Cadance and Shining Armor. The former is a new alicorn and so origin stories and world building are inevitable; the latter is both Twilight's Brother ''and'' the captain of the Royal Guards. We may be looking at the HeroOfAnotherStory.
** There is a small upcoming of fanfics that [[AccusationFic call out]] the Ponies for their shunning of Twilight (or in some cases, Twilight for her jerkass behavior). Some of the more popular ones include ''{{Fanfic/Bitterness}},'' ''[[Fanfic/TheNuptialverse Post Nuptials]],'' ''Fanfic/FaithAndDoubt,'' and ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost.''
** There are ''many'' "X is really a Changeling" stories out there, based on the premise of a given character being in truth a Changeling in disguise and this being revealed to everyone during the episode's climax by the "love explosion".
* FanNickname: ''[[Film/BattleLosAngeles Equestria Invasion: Battle Canterlot]]''.
** "Cheeselegs" for Queen Chrysalis.
* FanWank: Celestia's claim about the importance of trusting your instincts is widely seen by those critical of it being {{broken|Aesop}} by and ignoring the episodes [[BrokenBase controversial happenings]] as due to her making it to salvage/avoid admitting her screwups here.
* FranchiseOriginalSin: The show's infamous usage of TheWorfEffect and MilitariesAreUseless pretty much started here, but had [[CurbStompCushion enough mitigating circumstances]] (everyone being caught off guard, Celestia [[WorfHadTheFlu only losing due to circumstance]] even the villain was surprised by, the Mane Six putting up a good fight before [[ZergRush being overwhelmed]].) So it was mostly well received despite these flaws, especially since any action was a pleasant surprise. Later episodes would have action as the expectation, coupled with pushing credible ways [[SortingAlgorithmOfEvil of upping the threat]], would make these contrivances far more common and contentious.
* GeniusBonus:
** In Western European mythology [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changeling Changelings]] are creatures that are switched with human babies, not unlike the Queen switching with Cadance.
** "Mi Amore Cadenza" means "My Love Cadence". However, they may be mixing up Italian with Spanish, since the correct Italian form would be "Il Mio Amore Cadenza", and the right Spanish form would be "Mi Amor Cadencia".
** Arias are generally written for a solo singer, while "This Day Aria" is ostensibly a duet. The irony lies in the fact that the duet is between two characters, where one of them is ''in the guise of the other''. Also consider that, excluding the reprise, the song was sung by the same voice actress Britt [=McKillip=], making it still an aria for all technical purposes. So so many props to Britt for having enough inflection in her voice to make it very easy to distinguish between the real and fake Cadance.
* ItWasHisSled: It’s become pretty well known that Cadance was kidnapped and being impersonated by a shapeshifter. The fact that “This Day Aria”, which makes it very clear what’s going on, is the most famous thing from the episode may be to blame.
* LesYay: After Rainbow Dash saves Fluttershy from the Changelings and picks her up, a kiss-like sound (most likely a "whoosh" sound effect for Fluttershy being lifted off the ground) is heard when their heads are closest together.
* MemeticMutation:
** The final spell that defeats the Changelings has garnered numerous comparisons to the [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Sekiha Love Love Tenkyoken]].
** The scene where Pinkie convinces a changeling to mimic her ("Do me! Do me!") has been spread via the Changeling reinterpreting its Pinkie Pie guise [[http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/297876-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic somewhat]] [[http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/297995-my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic differently.]]
* MisaimedFandom: Queen Chrysalis may have been trying to feed her subjects, but many overlook that this was presented as a throwaway detail compared to the harm and evildoing they caused, her numerous acts of cruelty and jerkassery irrelevant and detrimental to her supposedly sympathetic goals, nor had a given reason they couldn't peacefully acquire love to feed on. Many praise Chrysalis for calling out Twilight's friends for dismissing her warnings which, [[VillainHasAPoint while not incorrect]], ignores [[{{Hypocrite}} Chrysalis was the one who manipulated them into dismissing Twilight]] and this was her [[KickTheDog just rubbing it in their faces]] as opposed to any regard for Twilight.
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Princess Cadance's singing voice. "For I oh so love the groom, all my thoughts he does consume...Oh, Shining Armor, I'll be there very soon!"
* NarmCharm:
** "[[ThePowerOfLove My love will give you the strength]]!" Cheesy, but it leads to a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, and coming from a LoveGoddess it makes sense.
** Shining Armor and Cadance's slow dance. They're just sort of...leaning in and wobbling back and forth together, but oh Heavens, is it adorable.
** You'd think Shining Armor's derpy MindControlEyes would be hilarious and when seeing them in the initial commercial, they were but when put in context, it's really disturbing and depressing, especially at the end "This Day Aria" where the real Cadance cries as the mind-controlled Shining Armor approaches the altar with her fake.
** Cadence and Twilight's SecretHandshake, which seems so much a cutesie shtick in the first part, becomes part of a powerful moment with Cadence desperately trying to prove her identity to Twilight in the mine, who was ready to kill her on the spot.
* NeverLiveItDown: Princess Celestia being [[TheWorfEffect easily defeated]], which prompts some viewers to see how useless Celestia was in the episode. Even though Chrysalis's power was fueled by Shining Armor's love, and even the Changeling Queen herself was surprised by it.
* OnceOriginalNowCommon: [[BrokenBase Controversy on the episodes' overall quality aside]], this finale was considered a game changer by many at the time of its release as it was not only the first big 2-Part finale, but it also dropped the SliceOfLife setup seen in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E26TheBestNightEver The Best Night Ever]] in favor of the more traditional heroes vs. villains scenario that was only exclusive to the season premieres. 7 seasons later, this concept continued on for every season finale except for Season 3 that many newcomers find it hard to understand what made it such a big deal back in 2012.
* ParanoiaFuel: The changelings, as the name implies, they can take the appearance of any pony, mostly your loved ones.
* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Princess Cadance was presumed to be a character [[ExecutiveMeddling forced onto the show]] [[MerchandiseDriven to sell toys]]. True or not, the real Cadance, in spite of [[TheWoobie everything she went through]], was every bit a nice as Twilight led us to believe, and proved [[SilkHidingSteel surprisingly active in saving the day]], without overshadowing others. Many felt that she had [[EarnYourHappyEnding earned her happy ending]] and fans in spite of [[TaintedByThePreview initial options against her]].
* SignatureScene: The "This Day Aria" sequence, as it gave us what many fans consider to be one of the best songs in the series.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: "Love Is In Bloom" sounds a tad like "Last Friday Night" by Music/KatyPerry. It wouldn't be the last time that [=FiM=] has taken a cue from a Katy Perry song. (See: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTPqjKk_xCo Equestria Girls]]")
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The two-parter was Princess Luna's only season two appearance beside her focus episode, "Luna Eclipsed". However, she only appeared for two brief cameos with lines in part one, and only returned for a single line of part 2, uttering only three lines in the entire two-parter. Some people got upset with Luna disappearing during the invasion, leading to multiple interpretations of where she could be, but most of them leading to the meme of "Luna is useless."
* UnintentionallySympathetic: Queen Chrysalis and the changelings were meant to be an AlwaysChaoticEvil race who sought to invade Equestria to steal and [[EmotionEater feed on its love]]. But the implication they needed to feed on love to survive caused them to instead come off as a WoobieSpecies forced to do so and operating under BlueAndOrangeMorality rather than maliciousness. Chrysalis was the only one to show [[KickTheDog excessive/unrelated cruelty]], but this added to the changelings sympathy by being made to commit such and suffering under a BadBoss, and for many wasn't enough to offset that she was trying to feed her subjects. It's only after the fact AscendedFanon that there later appearances would fix this.
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome:
** Princess Cadance and Shining Armor's magic love spell.
** The cave scene at the beginning was well done in terms of lighting and animation, to the point it almost looked like an AnimationBump to some fans.
* TheWoobie: Princess Cadance. The poor girl was kidnapped and held prisoner below Canterlot while Queen Chrysalis was running around as her. She spends her ''wedding day'' locked in a cave underneath Canterlot. By the time she sings her half of "This Day Aria", the heartbreak in her voice will make you want to hug her.
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