//------------------------------// // Caught // Story: An Alternate Ending to A Canterlot Wedding // by MeadowRosePony //------------------------------// BOOM! SNAP! CRACKLE! POP! The guards jumped as the sound of explosions reached them. "What the..." One of the guards said, looking over at his partner. "Are those explosions?" BOOM! "We'd better check this out. The castle may be under attack!" The other one said as he knocked on the vault door. Unknown to the guards, Twilight watched from across the hall. As they ran by her she clutched her invisibility cloak tighter, afraid of a single strand of mane escaping and giving her away. Silently she counted them as they passed. 'Ugh, there's still two left!' Twilight resisted the urge to groan. Silently, she moved closer to the vault. There was one standing guard outside the vault. 'So the other one must be inside.' Twilight had a brief moment of panic before remembering the rock Discord had insisted on her bringing. Twilight grinned as she teleported outside and tossed it through one of the stain glass windows. "Who's there!" The guard shouted as he flew through the shattered glass. 'One down, one to go.' Twilight grinned. Walking over to the vault she knocked on the door. The guard opened the door and looked around. "Flash?" He called for his partner as he spotted the broken glass. Hearing his name, Private Flash Sentry flew back into the hall, only for them both to be hit with paralyzing spells. "Wha-!" The guards gasped before being hit with snooze spells. Twilight covered them with her invisibility cloak and slipped inside the vault. 'Now where are those elements?' She thought as she looked around the room. "Ah ha!" She whispered triumphantly as she spotted the chest used to hold them. Using her magic, she quickly levitated them into her saddlebags. "Twilight!" Twilight spun around as she heard her name. Twilight cringed as she saw Rainbow Dash barreling through the now open window. Not that a pane of glass would of made much difference at the speed Rainbow Dash was traveling. "Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called again as she landed in front of Twilight, leaving skid marks on the marble floor. "There you are!" Twilight stared at her friend, her breathe caught in her throat as her heart pounded in time to her throbbing head. Fluttershy landed next to Rainbow Dash, having followed her through the window, though at a much safer speed. Especially considering they were flying through a broken window. "Twilight? What are you doing with the Elements of Harmony?" Fluttershy asked, taking a step towards Twilight. "I...uh..." Twilight stammered, taking a step back. "Oof!" She whirled around, only to see she had backed into a Royal Guard. "Miss Twilight Sparkle, your presence is requested by Princess Celestia." He stated. "Nonononono!" Twilight's eyes shrunk to pinprinks as she spun around in a panic. Only to find all her escape routes blocked, cornered by Royal Guards and her friends. A few minutes earlier BOOM! SNAP! CRACKLE! POP! Years of training prevented Shining Armor from jumping at the explosions. Putting on his 'Captain of the Royal Guards' face he turned towards the door to his office. Almost immediately a group of guards burst through. "Captain Shining Armor, Sir! Explosions have breached the front gate!" One of the guards yelled. "Discord." Shining Armor growled, narrowing his eyes. "I want squadrons two, four, six, and seven to the front gates. Squadrons three, five and nine to the Royal Chambers, Squadrons eight and ten evacuate the castle grounds of all non essential personnel. Squadron eleven to the vault. Squadron one with me!" Shining Armor sent off messenger guards as they burst through the door with instructions for their units. "Find the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. And somepony alert the Princesses!" "We are already aware of the situation, Captain." Princess Celestia said as Princess Cadance trotted over to give her fiance a quick kiss. "Princess Celestia!" Captain Shining Armor said, snapping to attention. "As you were, Captain." Princess Celestia said. "Is this the work of Discord?" Shining Armor asked as he lowered his hoof. Princess Celestia nodded, "I believe it is." Shining Armor and Cadance fell in line behind her as they made their way to the front gates. "What are your orders, Princess?" Shining Armor asked as they entered the hall of murals. "It appears you have everything under control, captain. Continue as you were." He nodded as Princess Celestia continued, "Although I fear the explosions were simply a decoy." "Why is that?" Cadance asked. "This is not Discord's style. He is more likely to just appear and start creating chaos. This is too standard, too orderly. I'm afraid he wouldn't find amusement in this." "Right you are, Celestia." "Discord." Celestia frowned as she looked around the room. "Show yourself!" "Oh come now, princess, what fun would that be?" "What do you want, Discord?" Cadance demanded. "What do I want? Hmm..." Discord appeared above them, stroking his goatee. "I'm not sure exactly. You see, I've already gotten what I wanted, thanks to your prized student." He said, turning towards Princess Celestia. "Twilight?" Cadance said softly as Shining Armor readied a blast spell. "What have you done with Twilight!" Shining Armor yelled, lowering his horn. "Release my student immediately!" Princess Celestia commanded. "Release her? What ever do you mean Tia?" Discord asked innocently. "Are you saying you don't have Twilight Sparkle?" She said sternly. "Think wisely before lying to me, Discord." Discord gasped dramatically, "Why Tia, I'm offended you would suspect me of stooping as low foalnaping. The very idea of me lowering myself to the practices of common criminals! I am a tactical genius! I would never do something so basic and degrading. How insulting!" Discord harrumphed and crossed his arms. "Then why are you here?" Princess Celestia asked suspiciously. "Why to gloat, of course!" Discord answered as a bunch of foam number ones appeared and started cheering him on. "The practices of common criminals, huh?" Cadance muttered to Shining Armor. "I heard that you know." Discord said as he appeared shrunken down on her head. "Ahh!" Cadance yelped as Shining Armor moved to smack Discord off with his hoof. Before he could though, Discord had already transported himself into the painted glass windows. Discord's voice rang out through the hall as he danced from scene to scene. "I don't know why you ponies are all so hostile. Here I am, doing nothing but having a friendly conversation, and all you ponies can think of is violence and baseless accusations. No wonder Twilight was so upset." "Discord! No more games. What have you done with Twilight Sparkle!" Princess Celestia shouted as her blast shattered the window pane he was currently in. Discord reappeared in another scene, only for that one to be shattered by Shining Armor. "Where is my sister!" Shining Armor demanded angrily. "Release her at once!" Cadance shouted as she blasted the next window Discord appeared in. They all looked around the other windows to find him before his voice rang out. "Are you all quite done?" Discord asked drolly. "Stop hiding, coward!" Shining Armor shouted, his magic releasing itself in a wave that took out all of the remaining windows. He panted heavily as the large release of magic exhausted him. He gritted his teeth and scowled as laughter rang out through the hall. "And they said I was destructive! Ha Ha Ha!" Discord appeared on the ceiling, rolling around as he laughed hysterically. "Oh my chaos, that was perfect! You can't defeat me with a magical love shield wave! I'm the Lord of Chaos! The Master of Madness! The Tyrant of Turmoil! The Devil of Disarray! The Crown of Crazy! The Menace of Mayhem! The...hmm... I actually don't have any more...Note to self: come up with more titles..." They all glared at him. "Seriously though?" Discord said after he caught his breathe, "Did you honestly expect to defeat two supervillians with the same spell? I mean, sure it worked on ole Queen Chrissy, but I actually have my own power, I didn't just hijack some ponyelse's." Discord thought to himself for minute. "By the way, why aren't you 'Queen' Celestia? I don't see any other alicorns taking the title." Princess Celestia opened her mouth to respond "..." "Actually, never mind." Discord interrupted, "I don't need another lecture about pony inanity. I get enough of that from your student." Shining Armor looked like he was about to explode as he glowered at Discord. "You..." Shining Armor barely got the first word out before he was interrupted. By yawning. "Do you have any original insults, Shiny Pants?" Discord started pulling a long strip of paper from Shining Armor's mouth. "Let's see...abomination, beast, brute, degenerate, (seriously? What are you, a school teacher?), demon, devil, evil spirit, fiend, hellion (haven't heard that one in a while...) imp, jackal, jerk, loony (hmm...I might be able to use that), menace to society (you've been spending way too much time in Canterlot...), mephistopheles (props for that one), monster,..." Cadance blasted the paper while Princess Celestia blasted Discord. Both shots simply bounced back, making them have to fly up to avoid being hit. Discord sighed and stretched. With a flick of his wrist the paper rolled back into Shining Armor's mouth with a snap, making his eyes roll like slots as he sat back with a thump. "Well, this has been fun." Discord said as he stretched, "But it appears I'm needed elsewhere." With that he teleported away with a lot of smoke, sparkles and confetti with a large fanfare. *cough cough* "I'm the princess of love and I'm beginning to hate that creature." *cough* Cadance said as she flapped her wings to clear the smoke. Then tried to wake up Shining Armor. "Gah!" Shining Armor shouted as he was woken up with a large bucket of ice water. He looked around him at the still hazy room as laughter rang out. And at the two scowling, soaking wet alicorns. He groaned. 'I knew I should have stayed home today', he thought to himself, as he subtly moved his tongue around in his mouth. (It still felt papery.)