//------------------------------// // Talking Windows // Story: Twilight Sparkle the Dragon // by PlutoMilo //------------------------------// Twilight met up with them outside the city limits. “Twilight! Darling, what ever happened to you?” Rarity gasped as soon as she caught sight of her dragon friend. Twilight crinkled her snout, “Gee thanks. I got chased by more cotton candy,” Clumps of the stuff were grafted to her scales, sticking to her horns, and stuck to parts of her hair. The tufts of fur near her tail were stiff with the stickiness from the chocolate milk. Combined with the dirt and bits of wood from earlier, Twilight looked as if she had flown straight into a rebel tornado. Twilight scraped some cotton candy off of her horns before speaking, “Let’s get this over with, come on,” She performed a quick cleaning spell on herself, knowing that would have to do for the time being. She led the way to the castle. The guards opened the doors as they approached. The fact that Marshal or Bulwark didn’t wink or acknowledge Twilight at all put her on edge. Whatever the Princess had summoned her and her friends for, it wasn’t a good thing. Spike followed, hiding himself a bit between Twilight’s forelegs. The oppressive atmosphere set everyone on edge as they made their way to the Hall. “Celestia, we came as fast as we could,” Twilight announced the moment she saw her mentor. “Thank you all,” Celestia said in an uncharacteristically serious voice. “Is this about the weather?” Rainbow asked. “Or the crazy animals?” Applejack added. “Corn is turning into popcorn,” Twilight said monotonously, halting her speech as her mentor held up a hoof. With a jerk of her regal head, Celestia motioned for the group to follow her down the Hall of Heros. Spike clambered up onto Twilight’s shoulders as they walked. “I’ve called you all out here for a matter of great importance,” Celestia began, “An old foe of mine, someone who I thought we’d defeated long ago, has returned. His name is Discord. Discord is the mischievous spirit of disharmony. Before my sister and I put him away, he ruled Equestria in a constant state of chaos. Seeing how no pony could live under his rule, we turned him to stone using the Elements of Harmony,” “Discord is a draconequus right?” Twilight asked and then thoughtfully added, “I want to know how he channels his magic,” “Don’t get all egg-heady on us now!” Rainbow protested, “We have a mission,” Celestia smiled and continued her explanation, “I thought the enchantment Luna and I used would last forever. But since neither of us is connected to the Elements anymore, the enchantment has worn off,” Twilight’s mouth hung open. She hadn’t really taken the time to ponder what it had meant when she and her friends used the Elements against Nightmare Moon. They were the absolute true bearers now.  Neither of the two sisters could wield the most powerful weapon known to pony-kind. That responsibility was placed on her and her friends’ shoulders. They were the defense of Equestria now. Twilight shuddered at the revelation. When Magic had judged her back in the old castle, Twilight never really took the time to realize what it meant when it settled into her so smoothly. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest as if reminding her what responsibilities she had. She tuned back into the conversation in time to hear, “...must wield the Elements once again to stop Discord from throwing the land into eternal chaos,” Silence reigned as Twilight gently met each of her friends’ eyes. If one of them wanted to back out, they wouldn’t do it, simple as that. No one here asked to be an Element Bearer, it was thrust on them with little to no thought. There was no obligation for any of them to do as Celestia bade. To her surprise, the only hesitant eyes she met were Pinky’s. “Eternal chaos comes with chocolate rain. Chocolate rain!” Pinky exclaimed, somehow shoving her muzzle into Twilight’s face despite the drastic height difference. Twilight shuffled back, attempting to regain her personal bubble back. Spike hummed with Pinky in agreement but stopped to wonder, “But won’t all the plants die without normal rain?” Pinky ceased her gravity-defying, personal bubble popping antics to stomp gently on the carpet, “Aw pony-feathers! I hate it when common sense takes over!” Twilight gently patted the pink mare on the shoulder before turning to her mentor and nodding. Celestia blew out a nearly inaudible breath as if she could read Twilight’s thoughts of abandoning the mission, and walked to the huge doors at the end of the Hall. Even from the distance Twilight was at, she could tell the doors were heavily enchanted. Celestia gently inserted her horn into the keyhole and let a pulse of magic out. From the way her mentor’s magic reacted with the locking enchantment, Twilight knew if any other creature tried to do the same thing, they wouldn’t like the results. Each magic circle of the locking enchantment performed a different task. If Twilight weren’t so well versed in the study of Magic, she would’ve been concerned about the multiple overlaying sigils and circles. Most of the time, overlaying magic circles would have disastrous results, however, this situation was different. This array was probably cast by none other than her mentor. That was Celestia’s specialty, overlaying magic circles that interacted together like gears. Each one was part of a bigger whole and only one would need to be powered for the whole thing to activate. With a rumble, the doors slowly slid open, revealing a jeweled chest. The chest was levitated up by Celestia and Twilight could hear Rarity mumble, “Oh that case is gorgeous,” The chest opened with a creak. Spike’s grip tightened when the chest was empty. Thankfully, Twilight wasn’t the only one that let out a gasp. Her fear mounted when Celestia dropped the case in shock. It took a lot for an Alicorn’s focus to waver enough for a spell to fail. There was a prickling near the base of her skull and she twisted around just in time to see the Discord depiction on the window panes vanish and move to another window. “This doesn’t make any sense. That door is protected by a spell only I can break,” Celestia muttered as she paced around. Twilight hissed a warning a moment before the window-Discord laughed. “Make sense?” His voice asked from everywhere and nowhere at once in mock sympathy, “What fun is there in making sense?” “Discord!” Celestia snapped, eyes darting everywhere, “Show yourself!” “Did you miss me, Celestia? I missed you,” Discord crawled from one window to the next, “It was quite boring to be set in stone. But you wouldn’t know because I don’t turn ponies into stone!” “What did you do with the Elements?” Rainbow Dash demanded aggressively. “Oh, I just borrowed them for a little-” Discord sat up from where he’d slumped over against the depiction of Fluttershy, “A dragon? Do my eyes deceive me?” He snapped his lone paw to vanish in a flash of light, only to reappear on a closer window. He leaned forward and eyed Twilight speculatively. Despite only being a window depiction, Twilight could almost see the interest in his eyes. “Oh dear, I might need to change the rules of my little game. I love it!” he exalted, bouncing to another window. “Return the Elements, Discord!” Celestia threatened. Discord yawned, made a show of relaxing, and if Twilight wasn’t mistaken, he rolled his eyes, “Oh I had forgotten how boring you can be Celestia,” Rainbow took to the air and charged the glass panes, “How dare you insult the Princess!” Discord vanished just as Rainbow smashed headfirst into the window. He reappeared in time to see Rainbow slide off the pane, nursing a bruise on her head. “You must be Rainbow Dash. The Element of Loyalty. Always loyal hmm? I doubt it,” he said sinisterly. “I cannot believe we are wasting our time talking to a tacky window,” Rarity scoffed and Discord turned his attention to her. “Ah, the beautiful Rarity, the spirit of Generosity,” his tone grew smug, “It’s a wonder how you haven’t given yourself dry my dear,” “So you know who we are, big deal,” Applejack snapped, “And what’s with these comments?” “Oh I know much more than who you are, Honest Applejack” Discord chuckled as he grew in size. Twilight huffed, smoke issuing out her nose, and Discord’s smile stretched across his face. “And you Twilight Sparkle, though your appearance does throw me off, you are the most powerful here. You wield Magic. A pony raised-dragon holding the Element of Magic! The chaos will be amazing! Fluttershy, Kindness. Pinky Pie, my personal favorite, Laughter.” Pinky stifled her giggles as Discord began to dance atop Twilight’s window depiction. “Enough stalling! Where are the Elements?” Rainbow growled. “Oh, you ponies are so boring. Fine, I’ll tell you. But I’ll tell you my way,” Discord vanished and reappeared on the most central window. Twilight hoped she was wrong, but she was sure she saw the simmering rage in his eyes. “Retrieving your missing Elements will just make sense with this change of events. Twists and turns are your Master’s plans, then find the Elements back where you began,” As he spoke, his serpentine-like body writhed around the windows, appearing and disappearing randomly. Window-Discord settled back onto the appropriate pane and stilled. The tingling on the back of Twilight’s skull vanished, signaling his presence disappearing. The only sign he’d been there at all was the echoing laugh still reverberating through the Hall. “What do you reckon he meant about ‘twists and turns’ and then ending up back where we started?” Applejack wondered aloud. “‘Twists and turns’ like a maze?” Spike asked, tightening his grip when Twilight reared up onto her hind legs to peer out the window. “A maze! That’s it! Discord probably hid the Elements in the Palace Labrinth! Good job Spike!” Spike smiled happily. “Good luck my little ponies. The fate of Equestria lies in your hooves,” Celestia intoned, bowing to them. Everyone gaped. In all her years as her pupil, Twilight hadn’t ever seen Celestia bow to anyone, much less six commoner ponies and her dragon student. To everyone else, it was a shock to see their ruler bow to common folk like them. Twilight watched as each pony’s resolve hardened and they bowed back, “You can count on us Princess,” Rainbow Dash declared, “Come on! Faster we get down there the better,”