//------------------------------// // Encounter at Canterlot Tower // Story: The Day of Discord // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// "You wanted to see me, Your Highnesses?" "Your timing is impeccable, Captain. Your younger sister and her friends are on their way to rendezvous at Canterlot Tower, we thought you should join us in watching the unfolding events." "At least I won't have to worry about you two being at each other's throats... surprised I've never seen this before..." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The existence of this system is supposed to be hush-hush. Otherwise spying rumors would spread through Equestria like wildfire." Princess Luna comments as Acting Guard Captain Shining Armor stops beside her in front of the magically-projected screen originally generated by Celestia. On the screen itself is a split image with the Element Bearers being escorted through the streets of Canterlot on the left side and Celestia herself on the right side. "'Tis amazing what intelligence this spell can gather... this kind of magic was unknown to me before the thousand-year exile..." the moon princess continues on, staring transfixed at the screen. "Aunt Lulu, focus! They're supposed to be getting the Elements of Harmony to fix all this mess, but we haven't seen this 'Discord' anywhere in Canterlot recently." Princess Cadance comments from the other side of Princess Luna. "I just wish we had an idea where he was, what he was doing right now..." "Apologies, you're right. Must keep flipping through the feeds..." Luna states, snapping herself out of the trance. The magic of her horn blinks repeatedly, each time prompting the image on the screen to change. "That's Ponyville, looks like the crazy animals and weather has taken hold there..." Cadance comments about one image in the bunch that flashes by. "Cloudsdale doused in cola, creamy cheese in Fillydelphia, Manehattan soaked in apple cider... not a lot any of us can do about it until he's defeated." "And the released prisoners are still out there." Shining Armor snorts out as the flipping images stop at a Guard trying to wrestle a released prisoner back into custody. The Acting Guard Captain didn't know what disturbed him worse, the general emptiness of the street or the heckling of the Guard by the few witnesses that were there - he wanted to believe the statements of hatred were the product of the unique circumstances of the situation, but feared that they were not... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The image on the screen changes again, showing Celestia alone at the entryway to Canterlot Tower. The other alicorns as well as Shining Armor watch as the Element Bearers burst through the doors leading inside the building, Lieutenant Steelwing and his escorting squad briefly glimpsed as the doors swing shut again. "Princess Celestia, we came as fast as we could!" Twilight shouts through panting breath. Celestia responds with practiced graciousness: "Thank you, Twilight. Thank you, all." Twilight starts again, spilling all her questions out at once: "Is this about the weather? And the animals' weird behavior? What's happening out there? Why isn't my magic working? Is there–" Celestia finally raises a hoof to interrupt her former student and simply invites the group to follow her into the tower hall. The narration of the sun princess is heard at different volume levels as Luna tries to tweak the viewing angle on the screen to get a better look at what is going on inside: "I've called you here for a matter of great importance. It seems an old foe of mine, someone I thought I had defeated long ago, has returned. His name... is Discord." The group on the screen temporarily stops because of Fluttershy being scared of the stained glass image of Discord. Again Luna fiddles with the screen to present to Shining Armor and Cadance the clear image of the chaotic being in the stained glass depiction - Cadance herself seeing it for the first time - as the narration continues on: "Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I stood up to him, he ruled Equestria in an eternal state of unrest and unhappiness. Luna and I saw how miserable life was for Earth ponies, Pegasi, and unicorns alike, so after discovering the Elements of Harmony, we combined our powers and rose up against him, turning him to stone." Rainbow Dash is heard letting out a positive exclamation, but Shining Armor and Cadance exchange a worried look as they fear about what Celestia will say next on the screen. Sure enough, just seconds later, the conversation turns to how Celestia and Luna can't use the Elements of Harmony anymore, and both Shining and Cadance can start to see Luna beginning to break down in shame, forced to watch the whole ordeal unfold instead of being able to help fix it like before. "Oh no, not again!" Cadance exclaims. "Auntie, please, I know this is tough for you, but please don't turn off the screen! We all need to know what is going on!" "Painful... much too painful..." Luna weakly replies, bowing her head down and letting the magic sustaining the screen stop. At first the image simply starts to go fuzzy, then the screen begins to collapse on itself. "Shining, hang on!" Cadance exclaims again, firing a small burst of magic at the screen. As Luna continues sobbing with her head bowed in shame, the screen is stabilized, though the images are still fuzzy due to Cadance's lower power level compared to Celestia and Luna. "Can you try to get that picture focused again?" Shining asks just in time for Luna to lunge in a comfort cling in his direction, which pulls him flat on his face for a few moments. "I'm trying... there's a lot of interference for some reason..." Cadance answers, her face contorting into a determined stare. Shining and Cadance can only catch little snippets of the conversation about fighting Discord. "Wait... are the Elements of Harmony gone?!?" Shining Armor exclaims in wide-eyed shock as he observes Celestia and the Element Bearers in the same state of shock through the fuzzy images on the floating screen. Just seconds later, the screen cuts out completely, Discord's voice loudly filling the room instead: "Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?" The amplitude of the voice, comparable to the "Royal Canterlot Voice" in magnitude, brings wincing to all three ponies in the room, and when they recover enough they see Discord has somehow completely taken over the "feed", using it to show off the various ways to taunt both Princess Celestia and the Element Bearers. "Oh, I will NOT stand for that!" Shining Armor indignantly shouts, snorting as he sees Discord prance on top of a stained-glass image of his younger sister. "Shining, we have bigger problems to deal with. And maybe we should be helping find wherever those Elements of Harmony ended up!" Cadance suggests, just seconds before the screen morphs into a floating version of Discord's head! The head repeats a line Discord had just delivered to Celestia and the Element Bearers: "To retrieve your missing Elements, just make sense of this change of events. Twists and turns are my master plan. Then find the Elements back where you began." "What does that even mean?!" Shining Armor shouts to the floating projection of Discord's head once the initial shock of the change wore off. "Sorry, but I'm not going to let you help them. Show was fun while it lasted, but this connection is now terminated." the floating head answers before disappearing with a poof of magic, leaving just empty space in its place. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "No!" Cadance shouts, the magic of her horn flickering wildly as she tried to 'reconnect' the magic that had been used to create the floating screen. "Oh, if I could only get my hooves on him...!" Shining Armor growls out. "It's no use. He's got some kind of jamming going on." Cadance sadly reports with a shake of her head. "Then I'll have to find out what's going on myself. Cadance, stay here with Luna, I'll go try to find out what's happening with the Element Bearers." Shining orders, wriggling out of Luna's grip and leaving a disappointed moon princess behind as he turns to leave the suite...