Bonus Chapter

A noncanon side part: what if Excolotis was at the royal wedding?

The wedding was in full swing, many happy friends and family of the soon to be wedded couple had come out to be there. This was one of the biggest events of the year, with one of the biggest royal weddings of all time happening for the first time... well ever.

Excolotis stood towards the back, next to two guards who had been posted by the door. He was nervous about the groom, whose vacant stare put him off. He looked as if he was stoned out of his mind, but he supposed that it could be best explained by shock or stage fright.

The shimmer of the magical field, which turned the light outside into a light pinkish hue, made sure that the entire town was safe from whatever threat was destined to come. He had found it odd that the mysterious terrorists hadn’t made any demands, but even as he spoke, the guards were keeping their eyes open for any disturbances, anywhere.

It was a fine day for a royal wedding, a fine day for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armour.

Celestia herself was presiding over the wedding, her regal white wings flared out to either side as she addressed the young couple. “Princess Cadence and shining Armour, it is my great pleasure to announce you...”

“Stop!”

Everyone’s heads turned as Twilight sparkle stood in the door, her head low and her eyes squinting in anger.

Cadence growled in anger, “why does she have to be so possessive of her brother!?”

Celestia looked at the pink Peagcorn in confusion.

“Uh I mean...” Candace began to cry, “Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother...? Why does she have to ruin my special day?”

“Because it’s not your special day!” shouted a pony by the doors, “It’s mine!”

Excolotis blinked and rubbed his head as another Cadence, this one filthy and ragged, walked out into the wedding chapel. This was getting annoying. He leaned towards a guard, and began to whisper instructions into his ear, “I want these two Cadences rounded up and put in the cells.” he said, “We’ll figure it out later.”

“What!?” said the Cadence in the wedding dress, “But how did you escape my bridesmaids?”

‘Yep,’ thought Excolotis, ‘that’s an evil clone. Dumbass.’

“You should be a bit more careful when you brainwash your victims,” said Twilight, “It makes them much easier to trick! All it took was a bouquet of flowers, and those two ran off after it like dogs and a ball!”

“Clever,” said wedding dress Cadence, ‘But you’re still too late!”

“But I don’t understand,” said Applejack, “How can there be two of them?”

“She’s a Changeling!” said raggedy Cadence, “she takes the form of someone you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them.”

Wedding dress cadence began to glow, and a ring of green flame erupted around her, blinding the ponies nearby. When their eyes adjusted, a large insect like pony was standing where the Cadence was not a moment ago.

This creature was as big as Celestia, though much thinner. Her chitin exoskeleton was a dull green, and her eyes were a bright, toxic emerald. Her black horn was jagged and smooth, with her legs and wings sporting holes. Strangely enough, a small crown was balanced upon her head.

“Right you are, Princess,” gloated the over grown bug, “and as queen of the changelings it is my respon-“

THUNK!

The Changeling queen swayed on her feet; looking down, she saw the spear embedded in her chest. Spike stepped back and Rarity fainted when greenish blood began to drip form the wooden pole. Looking back up, the Queen saw Excolotis, still in a throwing position.

The Queen fell over with a thump, the pole clacking against the wooden tiles and bouncing a few times. “Erhm,” said cadence, “I don’t know who you are, but thanks...”

“Seize her!” shouted Excolotis. The guards rushed forwards and tackled cadence to the ground, keeping her pinned down through their weight and leverage.

“Excolotis!” shouted Celestia, “Explain yourself at one!”

“Apologies, your Grace,” said Excolotis, “But at this time we don’t know who is, and who is not, a changeling. We do, however, have security protocols in place in case of infiltration by spies. Shining Armour came up with it himself, and it is fool proof.”

“So the wedding...?” said twilight.

“Is postponed until further notice.” said Excolotis. “I’d expect it to take at least three weeks to work through the entirety of the local guard.”

However, due to Excolotis’ pragmatic decisions based upon what information he had at the time, Canterlot was overrun by Changelings when Shining Armour was unable to recast the barrier, and as such Canterlot was destroyed. An escape attempt was tried, and succeeded with heavy casualties. However, Luna and Celestia, along with the Bearers of the Elements and the Elements of Harmony, managed to escape to Ponyville.

And so began a long and bloody three year war for Canterlot, followed by a six year civil war when the Terra Rare, Seneca, Diamond and Thunder Wing noble houses tried to split from Equestria. Equestria was shot throughout the country with paranoia and fear for years after, creating a police state because Excolotis fucked up by being excessively paranoid and sensible, which inadvertently caused Equestria to nearly collapse.

The end.