Twilight Sparkle the Dragon

by PlutoMilo

Arrival

Twilight saw her friends off at the train station. Each pony brought something different.

In Rarity’s case, she had several carts worth of luggage that Twilight had to help the poor conductor heave onto the train. Rarity already had her inspiration glasses on and was drawing up sketches and making patterns.

Fluttershy had sent her bird friends ahead and only brought a book. Likewise, since Rainbow didn’t have much to do, only a pair of goggles rested around her neck. She was off to the side stretching. Spike sat obediently next to the yellow pegasus and quietly observed the rest of the station.

Applejack and Pinky were comparing their pastry recipes. Pinky arrived at the train station with her baker's hat already donned, toting a huge party cannon. Knowing Pinky, the cannon alone would be enough for the earth pony. Meanwhile, Applejack had several baskets of the Apple family’s prized apples on her back.

“I don’t trust the quality of any ol’ apples. They need to be Apple family grade,” she had proclaimed when Twilight sent her a questioning glance.

Twilight stayed at the station long enough to wave back at Spike as the train pulled away. Sullenly, she walked back to the library since the flight there would be a lot faster than the train. She would’ve flown back, but she didn’t think she could deal with the gasps and pearl-clutching without snapping at somebody.

---

Half an hour later, her bag was packed and she threw herself up into the air from the library balcony. The air currents were in her favor and warm air gently lifted her higher and higher toward the towering parapets of Canterlot.

As she approached, her magic senses grew more and more confused. Canterlot was a city of unicorns. Of course, there would be a lot of magic saturating the air, but not this much. The leylines near and around the mountain were working overtime, sending more and more magic power into the city.

The very air was tingling with magic and Twilight frowned. Too much magic could start attracting undesirable creatures. Celestia should know that. So why was Canterlot like a shining magical beacon?

Twilight began her descent, spotting her friends milling around the train station. As she dove, her hair prickled uncomfortably. It finally registered when a pink sheen sprang into existence less than a meter from her nose.

In her panic, her only thought was to teleport. Hitting her nose on anything wasn’t worth the amount of pain. In the back of her mind, she went through all the stories of ponies who’d tried to teleport past an enchanted barrier. None of them ended nicely. But she was going too fast to stop, nor did she want to bash her nose into a barrier as strong as this one. If it’d been a weaker one, she wouldn’t have any qualms about smashing straight through it. The magic in the barrier called to her and she knew this was her brother’s magic.

Shining Armor specialized in shield magic. He was made Captain of the Guard because the strength of his conjured shields were unheard of. She wouldn’t be able to get past this barrier without draining a nearby leyline and blasting the barrier multiple times.

There wasn’t any time to charge her horns for a proper teleport. Her talons snapped and she disappeared soundlessly in a flash of light. Discord would’ve been proud if he’d seen. This was the second time she managed to teleport properly using his method.

She reappeared a few feet off the floor, still pointed at the ground and her body going the same velocity as she was a moment ago. (Ok so maybe not completely perfect, but at least she hadn’t left her tail behind or cut off a wing in her haste).

Twilight drew her wings close and tucked her legs as close to her body as she could, not wanting to break something as she landed. Unfortunately, this only served to make her fly through the air faster than she already was going.

She unceremoniously plowed horns-first into the train station floor, her scales tearing up the wood as if they were leaves. She groaned as she slid to a stop, splinters sticking out between her plates. As her friends gathered at the edge of the furrow, Twilight spat out a lone plank of wood.

“Sparkle!” A familiar guttural voice roared, “What in Celestia’s name are you doing?!”

Out of pure habit and instinct alone, Twilight sat up, stiff as the boards she just crashed through. Pieces of wood rained down the sides as Twilight jostled the broken planks.

“Nothing, Bulwark, sir!”

A grizzled pegasus guard landed on the undamaged part of the station, “This sure looks like a great deal of nothing, Sparkle!” he roared again sarcastically.

Twilight clambered out of the broken planks clumsily. Her horns ignited and easily repaired any damage there might’ve been. If anything the station floor looked freshly built rather than the worn look it had before.

Bulwark’s grey coat was lighter than the last time she’d seen him. His beard looked more like fresh snow and his scar over his eye had darkened some. He wasn’t any taller nor shorter, something she privately was amused about. Despite his shorter-than-average stature, he could be terrifying when he wanted to be.

“You know better than to teleport past enchanted walls, Sparkle,” Bulwark remarked gruffly. His armor clanked as his wings rustled uneasily.

“Aww, I didn’t know you cared sir,” Twilight jested, “I had a lot on my mind,”

Bulwark hummed noncommittally, “Glad to see you with some ponies your own age. How’ve you been, Tyke?”

“Good Uncle Bulwark, sir,” Spike responded shyly from under Fluttershy’s wing.

“You all go set up. I need to have a chat with Bulwark’s illustrious Captain,” Several of her friends shuddered from the dark expression on Twilight’s face.

Spike quickly took his spot on Twilight’s shoulders when Bulwark barked out a laugh, “I’ve heard of the Captain called many things, Sparkle. But you’ve managed to increase that list by one more,”

Twilight rolled her eyes, “Where is this Captain of yours?”

Her friends took that as their queue to leave and soon, it was just her, Spike, and Bulwark with the guards surrounding the station.

“I believe he is in the barracks,” When Twilight turned to leave, he rested a shoed hoof on her shoulder, “Don’t be too harsh on him, Sparkle. He’s trying his best,”

Twilight snorted so puffs of purple smoke rose out her nose, then she drawled, “Yes he's trying so hard,”

With that, Twilight launched herself into the air, flying directly to the barracks.

Author's Note:

Edited - 11/10/21

Comments

[The A I]

Ooooh shining's in trouble~

[Majestickfire9]

This is such a different take than what I usually see in stories and I am LIVING for it! This is awesome so far!

[link4]

trying so hard... im sure. doesn't take long to write a letter.... or have the princess send it for you.

[KvAT]

10975520
Yeah, it picked up considerably ever since Discord first appeared. Is a bit of a shame that they skipped some of the better episodes, like the Dragonshy one, but eh, in hindsight a dragon vs dragon would be a bit too "regular" to read, and they would've skipped the mountain entirely since they have three beings able to fly, which means the three can taxi the other three easily.

One I would've liked to see is the Zecora one, though. With them needing to accept Twilight's residence, them not accepting Zecora would've been extremely hypocritical, and Twilight will surely call them out on it.