Now Lyra won’t help her become Student Pony President.

The writers?

Hey people, just a hint for y’all:  
Background ponies’ voices change EVERY TIME they speak.  
It happened to every BG Pony who’s ever talked (e.g. Bon Bon, Carrot Top, Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, Caramel, Shoeshine, etc.)  
So Lyra “having a voice” is not really a big thing, since it’ll most likely change if she ever speaks again .-.

@Muffinshire:
 
(1) She didn’t banish them, she must have instructed them to guard the Cadance during the wedding.  
(2) They wouldn’t be under mind control, just direct orders from their queen herself (both changelings and mind-controlled ponies have green-glowing eyes).  
(3) And why did they fall for the bouquet trick? Good question, I’m not sure how to answer that (maybe the original pony’s strong desires also get emulated?). It could be any number of reasons.
 
Yea you can tell that the animators used copies of the same background ponies multiple times in the same frame, but background ponies like Lyra, Colgate, Octavia, Derpy, etc have special emphasis, I don’t think the animators would use them so haphazardly.

*could

@GoldenPwny
 
If her three bridesmaids were changelings, why would she have banished them to the caverns, why would she need to mind-control them, and why would they have fallen for the bouquet trick? Citing the appearance of identical ponies in the background is no evidence - duplicates show up all the time in any episode with a significant number of background ponies. It’s a consequence of the limited set of background ponies the animators have to draw upon.

I think it’s not a secret that background ponies designs tend to be used multiple times, even in the same scenne… Lyra is still a background pony.

Just as an additional point, one could argue “Well Goldenpwny, what if the Lyra at the wedding was the changeling?”
 
Possible, but unlikely as you can see Lyra (not dressed in a bridesmaid outfit) being chased by three changelings when they eventually take over. A changeling probably wouldn’t be chasing another changeling, so the Lyra at the wedding was the real Lyra and the one in the dungeon was a changeling.

@Drasvin:
 
True, but it was still a changeling’s imitation of her voice, not Lyra’s genuine voice.
 
@Muffinshire:
 
If Chrysalis was able to penetrate the barrier, than getting 3 more changelings for support shouldn’t be much of a problem either (the shield was designed to keep out an army, which it did, but it’s wasn’t a perfect defense grid).
 
 
And if you’re still not convinced she was a changeling, the ‘real’ Lyra was present at the wedding (she wasn’t wearing a dress, you can see her next to Colgate when Celestia is starting the proceedings (“Mares and Gentlecolts…”)

I don’t think the changelings would care so much about the bride’s flowers, to me it was the ponies jumping to get it.

@Goldenpwny  
I’m not sure eyes glowing green prove anything Changelings can do that but the mind controlled victims also do that
 
and the boquet trick Twilight did I’m not sure why changelings would fall for that or care about it

Remember, Changelings can emulate voices. Even if that Lyra was a changeling, she most likely was using Lyra’s voice.

@FlyingSaucer, donut64s, RIG:
 
It really looked like these three (including Lyra) were Chrysalis’s changeling posse (and the evil leader typically is harsh on her personal posse, it’s pretty cliche). They kissed her ass in this scene and guarded the real Cadance in the underground chamber while Chrysalis attended the wedding (their eyes even glowed green, they weren’t real).
 
So no, sorry, you did not hear the real Lyra’s voice. Deal with it.

There were no changelings besides Chrysalis in the city until the barrier broke. The bridesmaids were real, but they got banished to the caverns and mind-controlled (remember, the “you’re not going anywhere!” bit).

@ Golden
 
These were not changelings. These were the bridesmaids that were replaced by them. This is probably what got them tossed in the caves to begin with.

Since “Chrysalis” treated her badly, it’s the real lyra and not a changeling…

@chrysalis  

@Goldenpwny  
what? no, we are sure this is the real lyra.

you got it  

SILENCE LYRA! LEST YOU BRING ABOUT LYRAGATE!

Technically, since this was a changeling, we still haven’t heard Lyra’s voice.

Yay no creepy image.