//------------------------------// // The Backstop // Story: The Day of Discord // by GJT_Productions //------------------------------// "Oh, for goodness... his magic is strong here, I can't get a good signal because of all the interference...!" "Honestly, Your Highness, I'm amazed it works as well as it does at all..." "Not now, Captain, I need... to... concentrate..." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acting Guard Captain Shining Armor looks over nervously at Princess Cadance as Princess Celestia continues trying to get a stable image inside the floating frame of yellow magic. The sun princess sticks her tongue out - something Shining had previously seen his younger sister doing - as an image of a heavily-distorted landscape, presumed to be somewhere near or inside Ponyville, flickered between bursts of "static". "With how distorted this place is, I wouldn't be surprised if Twilight was somehow able to teleport her and all her friends back to Ponyville without having to stop for line-of-sight readjustments..." Princess Cadance comments. "Yes, but why would Discord allow that if it means them finding the Elements of Harmony? There must be something we're missing here..." Shining Armor answers. "Which is exactly why... I'm trying to get... alright, it's stable enough. No guarantees it'll hold for too long, though..." Celestia adds, grimly focused on the screen in front of her. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shining Armor and Cadance squint as they try to make out something recognizable on the screen, which still flickers and distorts once in a while despite Celestia's best efforts. The scene appears to be the inside of the the Golden Oak Library in Ponyville, with Twilight and Spike visible from the perspective of the "camera". The now desaturated fellow Element Bearers dart in and out of the camera's view. "Wait a minute, something's not right. Everypony except Twilight and Spike looks... greyscale." Cadance somberly comments. "Maybe it's because of the spell not working correctly?" Shining Armor offers. "No, the effect is real. And that's what is worrying me." Celestia confirms, sliding sideways toward a desk in the royal office the three ponies were currently watching events from. "Spike just pulled a book off the shelf... where'd it go?!" Cadance exclaims, referencing the images on the screen as the voices of Twilight and some of her fellow Element Bearers sound out in a distorted manner, interrupted by bursts of static: "Fluttershy, you'd better...!" "I don't have any book..." "Hey, do you even know what...!" "No, but if you want it, I want it!" "Beats me." "Get back! All of you! This is my book, and I'm going to READ IT!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I see Twilight's overprotective book behavior hasn't changed since she moved to Ponyville." Cadance comments again, letting out a slight giggle in spite of the serious mood in the room. "More than that though, that's where Discord put the Elements of Harmony!" Shining Armor exclaims, pointing to the flickering image on screen. "Yes, she's found them, but..." Celestia somberly speaks again, seeming to lack the relieved excitement she should've had at seeing the Elements relocated. It quickly becomes apparent why Celestia is not excited as Twilight makes her now apathetic friends wear each of their Elements, putting on her own crown and having Spike become "the new Rainbow Dash" to wear the Element of Loyalty in her place. The already somber mood of the three watching fell even more so. "I've got a very bad feeling about this..." Shining Armor comments as the group starts leaving Golden Oak Library. To keep the group in view, Celestia's horn flickers in its magic in attempt to switch the view of the "camera", but results in an intense static effect on the floating screen at first. She growls in frustration, making a comment as she again concentrates trying to get a clear image: "Discord has manifested close by, it's increased the interference. I can't afford to have a blocked signal...!" Cadance and Shining Armor exchange nervous glances, now quite worried that a clear image will not return for a critical point in the fight against Discord, but after more flickering from Celestia's magic horn the image resolves again, albeit in complete grayscale instead of color. "No use, can't do any better with all the magic interference..." Celestia growls out, shaking her head and letting out a snorting sound as she does so. "What's with the target on him? And the overdramatic poses? Does he think the activation will be..." Shining Armor worriedly comments, quickly followed by a shushing on the part of both Celestia and Cadance. On the screen, the three ponies watching see Twilight Sparkle attempt to use the Elements of Harmony against Discord, producing a spectacular light show... and not much else. Shining and Cadance watch the screen in petrified horror as the apparently defeated Element Bearers begin to disperse, tossing the Elements of Harmony away like trash as they do so, while Discord seems to happily skate away to cause more chaos. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The only one that didn't seem horrified by what was just shown on the screen was Princess Celestia, interestingly enough. With a look of fierce determination, a flicker of her magic causes the screen to disappear, and she shuffles over to a desk underneath which can be seen a large sack. "Your Highness, what are you...?!?" Shining Armor asks in stunned confusion. "This is the backstop, Captain. Nothing else will work now." Celestia bluntly states as she uses the unicorn magic to pull the large sack out from underneath the desk, then yanking the cords open and letting its contents spill out. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance are quite surprised to find rolled-up scrolls - dozens of them at minimum - pour out of the bag and roll to a stop in front of them! Shining levitates one up using his own magic, studying the seal on it carefully. "These have Twily's seal on them." Shining Armor says to Cadance after his careful study, surprised enough to let the scroll drop back down to the floor again. "The friendship letters?" Cadance guesses tentatively, her and Shining looking over at Celestia as she does so. "Yes, I am sending them all back to her! It's the only option left to us now!" Celestia all but shouts, beginning to levitate scrolls from the large pile and poofing them away with the spell that would send them to Spike in Ponyville, expression fiercely determined as the process follows some kind of pacing that only Celestia can determine from Canterlot. "Wait... ALL of them?!? One after the other?" Shining exclaims, eyes growing wide as he realizes how painful such a "spamming" is going to be on the baby dragon. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, Captain..." Cadance nervously comments, her tone clearly also sounding if she was not happy about it happening either... It was thus the younger alicorn princess and the Acting Captain of the Guard watched uneasily as Princess Celestia continued implementing her "backstop", the only sounds in the room being the "poof" of each scroll as it was sent away by the determined Celestia to Spike in Ponyville...