The Elements of Turmoil

By RadaVonVon

Chapter 8: Stained Glass Windows

The Equestrian summer was blisteringly hot. Cicadas chirped through the streets, filling the air with meaningless noise as humidity soaked into their fur and seeped into their bones, warming them from both the inside and the outside. Heat waves simmered from the pavement in visible smears of light, distorting images around them.

Such was the case with the foals and Twilight Sparkle. The letter had called specifically for Twilight and the foals of the Elements of Harmony, asking that the rest of them stay behind. Thankfully, the carriage with the white Pegasus guards traveled at such a high altitude that they weren’t down near the ground, where the heat was coming from every angle. Rather, they had a light breeze blowing on their faces as they traveled in the direction of Canterlot.

Princess Celestia had summoned them, for whatever reason. She hadn’t specified, though Candied Chaos had heard Discord mumbling to himself and to Pinkie about some kind of imbalance, but Chaos had shrugged it off every time, passing it off as something that didn’t involve her.

Being raised by the ultimate embodiment of chaos and a pink party pony wasn’t exactly the most conventional of upbringings, though, in retrospect, Chaos couldn’t imagine the prospect of being raised by the modern equivalent of a ‘normal’ family. She glanced over at Twilight Sparkle, who looked unnaturally excited.

The six foals and Twilight were crammed into a small chariot pulled by three strangely well-muscled Pegasus guards. She was smashed between Twilight Sparkle, who hadn’t bothered initiating conversation, and Apple Core, whom was too busy constantly chatting to Sir Prize about things regarding their family. Something she, unequivocally, was uninterested in. She turned slowly to Twilight. “Hi!” She greeted cheerily.

Twilight Sparkle was brought from her reverie of hanging over the edge of the chariot to turn to her, and blinked, almost in surprise. Chaos paused, grinning. “So, do you like cupcakes?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I love cupcakes! Have you ever made them from scratch? I like to make them inside out! Have you ever made inside-out cupcakes?”

“No…”

“You must have! They taste particularly good if yo-“

“Listen, I’m really sorry, but I’m not feeling all that well and I’m not up to talking.” Twilight elucidated plainly.

Chaos, taken aback, only stared at Twilight, blinking. For once, she was at a loss for words and slumped back into her seat. She’d never particularly spent time with anyone outside of her anomalous little family. She paused, as everypony seemed to be in conversation, aside from the other pony sitting on the far end of the chariot. The dragon one.

He seemed so… introverted, though. He paused, deciding to go down the row and decide, based on what she knew so far of each of the ponies, whether they were introverts or extroverts. The ride would be somewhat lengthy… Perhaps she’d entertain herself.

Gem was an introvert. Clockwork… Introvert. Solar Flare… Introvert. Sir Prize and Apple Core? Extroverts. She wasn’t too sure about herself. At this point, Twilight seemed rude, so she didn’t bother qualifying her. She tapped a back hoof in anxiety. What would the Princess be like?

She wasn’t entirely immune to the fact that Discord was disliked in Ponyville, and perhaps Celestia and him weren’t entirely loving of each other, but…

She pondered this for a moment. “Hey!” She turned back to Twilight. “Is Celestia gonna like me?”

“Why?” Twilight turned, furrowing her brow, almost in disgust. Chaos recoiled. Twilight flickered her eyes before her gaze, ordinarily so stiff, had just softened. Twilight smiled, almost sadly. “Ah. Well, I think so. The Princess isn’t discriminating or anything, and-“

Candied Chaos interjected, “But, do you like me?”

“Huh?”

“Do you like me? I know you don’t like Dad, but that makes sense. Someone tries to destroy your home and turn it into a chaotic mess, however comfortable that may be…” She paused. “I guess I understand. I don’t know the full story either, but I know Mom loves him, and… I do too, I guess. That’s all I need to know and to be content with who he is.”

Twilight simply kept her mouth shut, though the tenseness underneath her lavender coat had returned, and Chaos sighed to herself. Thankfully, the chariot landed almost immediately, avoiding any further awkward conversations with the unicorn.

They had landed just outside the gardens. Whilst walking through the area, Candied Chaos couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease. There was something… unholy about this place. She shuddered and continued walking until they were inside the castle, and her sense of worry only grew as they walked through sets of stained glass windows, many featuring Discord and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. She felt her throat tighten and she took a deep breath, shaking.

Gem, the pony-dragon she’d been talking to earlier at the party, the only one who had really responded to her, glanced at her, blinking and cocking his head toward one of the stained glass windows, raising an eyebrow.

Chaos nodded slowly. She’d known enough about what had happened long ago, but only could wonder if Celestia would react similarly. Twilight pushed open a large chamber door with odd inscriptions and more details on it, made of marble with dark colours swirling and ducking just beneath the visible surface of the stone.

When the doors were opened, the throne room was revealed. A soft, downy carpet, a dark shade of crimson, covered the floor. The same tile, an eggshell marble covered the floors. Columns stood at attention, lining the carpeted pathway to the Princess’s throne, with more of the white Pegasus guards standing between the columns, dressed in glossy gold armor, shielded from any possible debris or weapons that may come flying in their direction.

The princess herself was breathtaking. The descriptions she had heard from her father had always been some kind of insult, but the filly had to wonder how one could insult one as majestic. Her coat was an iridescent white colour, shining a full spectrum from a certain angle, causing her to shimmer in the correct light and angle. Her mane and tail flowed elegantly on some unseen breeze, appearing almost liquid as it shimmered and wavered even further with each movement she made. Her wings, though folded in, were massive, with well-preened feathers that gleamed just as brilliantly as the rest of her did. She wore a golden breastplate with inscriptions all along it, a brilliant purple gem set in the center, matching the tiara that was sophisticatedly placed on her head, adorning her lengthy horn.

It wasn’t until Twilight tapped her that she realised her mouth was hanging open. Though the young mare had heard stories about Princess Luna, the other princess was nowhere to be seen, it seemed. An empty throne, made of dark onyx, with several multi-faceted diamonds set in the back, giving the illusion of a limitless night sky.

She was just beginning to examine the solar princess’ throne when her train of thought was broken as she realised that at some point, Princess Celestia had stood up and was now in front of the seven ponies. She gulped, sitting back on her haunches.

The princess smiled graciously, and Candied Chaos felt herself relax slightly. Some of the guards were staring at her oddly, whispering and pointing alabaster hooves. She shook it off.

“I’m sure there’s a great deal of confusion as to why I was so secretive in summoning you lot here.” Celestia said slowly, her eyes scanning over the group, though she was smiling good-naturedly. Chaos relaxed, observing her hooves had been shaking for some bizarre reason. The violent thumping in her chest had finally slowed to an oscillating cadence she was barely aware of.

Everypony slowly glanced at each other before nodding slowly. She noticed many of the other  foals looked even more nervous than she did, more so than she did. Particularly the brown one with the purple mane. Whatever his name was. Clockwork?

“Well,” The matriarch continued, swishing her magnificent tail behind her. Candied Chaos got a glance of her intricate cutie mark, a sun. Precipitously, she snapped her head toward the guards. “Please, leave us. I am safe with these seven. We have matters of the utmost secrecy to discuss.”

Each of the guards nodded in unison, still at attention, and marched out unanimously. Celestia waited until the last one had left before opening her mouth to continue. “Now, I’ve discovered something rather disturbing. There is an imbalance in Equestria, between harmony and chaos. It is unidentified, but both Luna and I agree that it has something to do with you six.” She swished her glorious horn over the foals. “I had Twilight accompany you here because she was one of my students, and I trust her greatly. We detected two imbalances.” The Princess paused, cocking her head for the seven to follow her. She led them closer to the throne, where she pulled out a large, extravagant map of the known world, with Equestria in the center.

Celestia pointed to Equestria, where Canterlot was high in the northern area, with Ponyville lingering more toward the center. “We are here.” She motioned to Canterlot before moving her hoof, adorned with a beautiful, sparkling glass shoe, westward. “This is a land known as Dystopia. It’s been long abandoned, it’s a wasteland. She moved her hoof to the farthest edge of the map, to an area haphazardly circled in scarlet. “This is where we’re sensing a disturbance. It seems to be resonating throughout Equestria, sending waves of… Well, disturbances throughout the entire map, but, for some reason, it appears to only be affecting Equestria.”

The princess coughed before continuing. “Eh hem, ah, so, there’s another disturbance. Yesterday, we sensed it centered in Sugarcube corner, in a very concentrated area. It’s you six.” Celestia said slowly, and Twilight Sparkle shot to her hooves. “What?! That’s impossible. Princess, these are just six foals. There’s nothing special about them!”

“Twilight,” Celestia interrupted sternly, and Twilight nodded slowly. “I’m sorry, Princess.”

Princess Celestia nodded. “As I was saying, “Even some of the most skilled ponies in Equestria cannot exactly identify exactly what the issue is, but we believe you six are the answer. That’s the only thing we seem to be able to agree upon.”

“Please, follow me.” Celestia purred deliberately, picking up the Equestrian map and hovering it around her in a graceful orbit as she walked over to a doorway Chaos hadn’t noticed upon first entering the palace.

The ponies got to their feet, trotting after the Princess, who took shockingly large strides but never seemed to trip over her lanky legs even once. Finally, they reached a stained glass window that, evidently, Twilight hadn’t even seen before, as she gasped when she saw it.

The six foals, each standing around what looked like a raging fire, a multicoloured swirl of magic coursing from each of them and mixing and eddying and running together. The window itself cast broken rays of light upon the cool tile floor.

Celestia sat on her haunches, nodding to each of them and taking a deep breath. “I understand you’re merely foals. I’m asking a lot of you. But, I need each of you to go destroy this source of trouble before it kills Equestria.” She said seriously.

There was a dead silence until Twilight gawked at the princess, gaping. “B-but, they… They’re foals!” She leapt to her hooves. “You can’t ask this! Ask the Element Bearers to do this! We’ll do this, we-“

“Twilight Sparkle, the problem is that my own magic only strengthened it. The Elements of Harmony will do the same thing. There’s something unidentifiably special about these six. The universe has its way of fixing itself.” The Princess elaborated, looking skyward at the arched ceiling. “And I believe these six are the answer. It may or may not have something to do with their relation to the Elements of Harmony.”

Twilight’s pelt was standing on end. “You can’t ask this! They could be killed!”

Celestia snapped toward Twilight. “You expect me to risk the lives of foals for fun?” She hissed. “Do you think that this is what I want to do? I wouldn’t ask this if it wasn’t our last option! This is the last opportunity we have before Equestria is destroyed!”

The familiar, nervous thumping returned in Chaos’ chest. Was… Was Celestia asking her to save all of Equestria? She could only stare blankly forward, her legs unable to support her while she trembled violently. She felt sick.

Twilight’s gaze snapped to Chaos, at which point she jumped. “What about her? She’s Discord’s offspring! This! You want THIS to save Equestria?” She snarled, her ears folded back. “What about my son? You can’t just be asking us to give up our children!”

Celestia bowed her head. “Twilight, you are accusing a foal of incapability because of her parents.” She glared. “Has all that I taught you meant nothing? Does it mean nothing to you?” She got to her hooves. “Not only that, but this is our last resort. It’s this, or death to everything that lives in Equestria. I have a device that will allow you to watch them from your library as they go on their journey. You will be able to monitor them every second. I would not be asking this if it wasn’t our last chance.” To Chaos’ surprise, Celestia shed a small tear. “I do not enjoy making sacrifices, or threatening lives. I no longer have a choice. We are in the calm before the storm.”

Twilight sat there, suddenly on her haunches. The lavender unicorn was staring darkly at the ground. Celestia moved forward, resting the tip of her horn on Twilight’s head. “I know you have lost much, and you wish to lose no more. But unless you want to lose everything you have, risks have to be taken.” Celestia smiled sadly, and Twilight nodded.

The princess turned back to the six, who were now shaken up and nervous. Celestia bowed her head sadly. “If you do this, you will be doing all of Equestria a service, and you will receive a remembrance long after your lives have ended, whether they are cut short or not. I will not lie,” Celestia took a shaken breath. The stained glass window was now behind her, illuminating her silvery coat with a myriad of hues. “The road will be dangerous, and potentially life-threatening. But you are Equestria’s last hope, and I can only do nothing more than beg you to help us.”

The six sat in stunned silence. Very, very slowly, the grey foal with the blonde mane, Sir Prize, got to his hooves, every limb shaking. “I-I’ll go.”

The remaining five stared at him, but he held his head up in faux confidence. Chaos felt her heartbeat strengthen. “I will!” She leaped to her hooves. “I… I’m gonna prove myself.”

Celestia stared oddly at her, something between bewilderment and amusement plastered on her face. Slowly, each of the foals stood up and nodded, except for Clockwork. He sat there blankly, seven sets of eyes on him. “There’s… no other solution? Nothing at all?” His voice was unnaturally high and he gulped audibly.

“I’m afraid not.”

The colt feigned self-assurance and stood up slowly, stumbling several times. “O… kay.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, hanging her head.

Celestia smiled sadly. “I’m very sorry I’ll have to ask this. Thank you. Each of you. Twilight, I’ll give you the maps and any necessary items they’ll need, along with a list of optional items.”

Twilight nodded, soberly getting to her hooves with each of the foals shaking. They returned to the throne room in dead silence. Chaos’ thoughts wandered back to what Twilight had said about her just several minutes before. Was that what the pony thought of her? Her stomach dropped. Was that what… everypony thought of her?

She stared at the floor, skidding her hooves over the tile. Suddenly, she wanted to go back home. And make cupcakes. She only glanced up momentarily to watch Celestia handing Twilight the same rolled up map and six different blank saddlebags, as none of them had cutie marks yet.

It just now hit her what had been asked of her. A filly. She had just been asked to travel to, uh. Wherever it was, whatever the place was that Celestia had said, to save Equestria. It dawned on her that the same had been asked of her mom when she had first met her dad, but for some reason, she couldn’t wrap her mind around that, or the concept of her father being evil. That eluded her entirely.

The Princess called them in, addressing them thoughtfully. “First off,” She began with a sigh. “I’d like to thank you, each of you. You are doing Equestria a grand service today. I’m afraid I cannot tell you exactly what you are about to face, but we can only hope that it will be without trouble.” She bowed her head. “I wish each of you the best, and a safe journey, and that you leave together tomorrow morning on the crack of dawn.”

Twilight gaped. “So early?”

“We have little time to waste, unfortunately.”  Celestia nodded, eyes cast downward. “Be prepared to face dragons, diamond dogs, rogue ponies, bandits, hydras… Anything. Things are not always as they seem.” She warned. “Somepony may try to trick or double-cross you. And, remember: If something you see doesn’t seem real… It probably is not. I have one last gift to bestow upon you, it’s the only thing I can hope to give you that may help you.”

She floated a book over to Twilight, one with a large skull and crossbones on the cover. Twilight stared at it, already carrying a great amount of bags and maps on her back. She flipped through the book thoughtfully. “Creature identification, ward spells, basic first-aid, and anti-venoms?” She asked.

Princess Celestia nodded. “Yes. Should you be attacked, this should help you in your hour of need.”

Twilight dipped her head sluggishly, still seeming shell-shocked from the news. “And, Twilight…” Princess Celestia grabbed one last thing. “I have one thing for you and for the rest of the Elements and their partners. This.” She floated over a large glass orb. “You will be able to watch them through this.” At this point, Clockwork was helping Twilight Sparkle by grabbing each of the foal’s saddlebags and distributing them, as there was no particular order. They were already filled; judging by their weight, but Chaos hadn’t bothered to look through them quite yet, and simply fastened the saddlebag to her flank.

Celestia nodded again. “Once again, I apologize. I ask that you do not share this information with anyone outside of your families to avoid panic. I’d like to have this problem taken care of without causing a panic.”

Each of them nodded obediently. “Thank you.” Celestia smiled sadly. “You may go, it is probably best that you are honest when you share this information with them.”

With that, they turned and left. Chaos leisurely ambled over to Solar Flare. “Uh, hi!” She said quickly, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh. Hi.”

Chaos grimaced. “My name’s Candied Chaos.”

“I know. I’ve met you.”

“Yeah, but not that well! If we’re gonna be doing this world-saving journey or whatever then we should at least get to know each other!”

The Pegasus blinked. “I… I guess. Sorry. I’m still kinda, y’know. Freaked out.”

“I think this is gonna be fun!” The filly chattered, bouncing beside her newly-made friend.

“We’re risking our lives. It doesn’t sound all that fun to me…” The blue filly trailed off slowly, shifting on her hooves while they walked back to the chariot. Chaos glanced over to Twilight, Clockwork was talking to her softly about something, his brow furrowed.

She noticed everypony was scared-looking, except for her. She bounced around carelessly. “Come on, everypony! No need to be so glum!” She chirped, attempting to forget what Twilight had said previously.

Her efforts were, for the most part, entirely fruitless. She bit on the inside of her cheek, trying to think of a way to cheer everypony up, but she managed to come up with nothing. Her ears fell and she sighed.

They each entered the carriage. Clockwork was sitting next to Twilight this time, with Candied Chaos on his other side, and Gem on her left side.

She cocked an ear toward the mother and son in an attempt to hear what their conversation had been previously, as he was speaking so lowly.

“We’ll be fine.” Clockwork murmured, Twilight was silent. She had her eyes closed and seemed to be trying to focus on the edge of the chariot. “Princess Celestia wouldn’t send us on some stupid mission thing if she thought she was just going to send us to our deaths. It’s all going to be fine, I promise.” Clockwork smirked meekly.

Twilight only stared downward somberly.

The trip back to Ponyville was far quicker than the trip to Canterlot was. Chaos assumed it had something to do with the wind.

It had begun to cool down, thankfully. Much of the breeze had taken over as the sun was now beginning to set. The filly was aware that everypony would be waiting at Sugarcube corner when they got back, Twilight would have to deliver the news, and… Well, she wasn’t too sure, then. They’d leave in the morning.

A weight dropped in her stomach. She’d never even attended public schooling, and now she was going to go off and save the world? She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about this. Celestia would never misguide them, but… What if she was just trying to kill them for some reason?

She shook herself free of the thought immediately. Why would Celestia send them with so much equipment, then? She looked up, gasping when they sailed straight through a thin, wispy cirrus cloud. The cloud came in contact with them and dissolved immediately, shattering in tiny droplets and moistening their coats, though it simply rolled off anticlimactically.

Celestia’s sun was now mostly down over the horizon, only about a quarter of it remained visible, sending the rays of light shooting across the sky in a faded mix of hues that went from reddish, to purple, to blue, to purple, and on the other side of the sky, she could clearly see the swimming inkiness of Luna’s night, a thin crescent moon hanging loosely in the air. The smell was crisp, so high up. Far away from the heat of the day and humidity, as the air was much thinner at this altitude.

She took in a long, deep drink of the air, sucking out all of the oxygen it was worth, and exhaled. The unseen force tugging on her heart lightened slightly as she looked up again into the uninterrupted purple sky, the stars were just beginning to peek through the wisps of clouds.

She looked back down at her lap, deciding she might as well examine the contents of her bag. She opened it carelessly, sorting through items. There was general first aid, a blanket, a canteen, and what looked like several packs of dried, compressed flowers that needed water to be added, and a small volume of hay. In all, the food would last around a week, if carefully rationed out. She furrowed her brow. Did Celestia really think that was how long the trip would take?

Her stomach began to sink. Of course, they were going to pack food.  What a silly thought. She had already established this: Celestia would never do anything to purposely cause them harm. It was a silly thought. Luckily, she had no more time to question the matter as Ponyville was visible on the horizon and they had already began to descend.

Once they landed just in front of Sugarcube Corner, everypony stumbled out the door, looking worried. “Are you guys okay?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously, flitting about. “We got worried.”

“Go inside, everyone.” Twilight said calmly, not the slightest hint of stress in her voice as she gathered the things from the chariot, thanked the guards, and came in after them.

“Miss Twilight, can Ah please ask ya what’s goin’ on?” Big MacIntosh asked slowly. “Yer white as a ghost.” He pointed out while Apple Core leaned against the stallion.

“Well, uh, everyone. There’s been… A development.” Twilight sighed out the last few words. “Take a seat, everyone.”

With some trouble, considering the number of chairs that were on the sides of walls or upside-down, kept by an unseen force, everyone found an area to sit. Twilight’s eyes scanned the group. “I’m going to ask that no one interrupts while I explain, and know that this is the Princess’ request, and not my own. I have no control over this.” She took a deep breath and began to explain, albeit shakily, “There is a disturbance in Equestria. It’s settled in a region called Dystopia, and it seems to be resonating throughout the kingdom.” Twilight bit her lip while Chaos remembered what the name of the area was. “Princess Celestia believes our foals have something to do with it, and that they may be able to stop it. I don’t know why, I don’t know how. This is what she told me.”

Twilight paused, seeming as though she had to recall what the Princess had so blatantly told each of them. “She asked the foals to go to Dystopia and stop whatever the source of this disturbance is. She calls it some kind of… imbalance. Her and Luna both noticed that there was a concentration of… Something else, here, in Sugarcube Corner. We can only assume this is because of the party. She thinks that our foals are… Special, and that they can fix it. Evidently, this was her last resort. She didn’t want to do it, but it’s either this, or Equestria dies. She asks that we don’t share this information with anyone but our own families. So, no one outside this room.” She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.

A dumbfounded hush had fallen over the room during some point of her talking. “But,” Her voice cracked. “She sent me with… This thing.” She pulled out the orb with her magic. It was more of a sphere, Candied Chaos observed, as it had a flat bottom that allowed it to be set on surfaces without rolling to one side or the other.

“It should allow us to watch them as they go, so we can monitor them. I’m going to set it up in the library. There’s… There are several spare rooms, so whoever wants to stay there to keep an eye on it is welcome to.” Twilight added.

“She just…” Blueblood stood up, his ears back on his head. “She expects us to simply give up our foals? Just because she said so?!” He snarled.

“Please.” Twilight looked at him gently. “This isn’t easy for any of us.” She swallowed loudly. “Each of them has agreed to go. The Princess is sending them with plenty of supplies and saddlebags, and has assured me that this is her last resort, and she wishes there was some other way. There may be no danger at all, but this is just a precaution as the journey will be long.” Twilight nodded, beginning to regain some confidence, as it seemed. “But, ah, she asked that… That they leave tomorrow morning.”

“WHAT?” Soarin leapt to his feet. “That’s ridiculous!”

“Please!” Twilight snapped. The room began to erupt into echoes of agreement and begrudging protests. “SHUT UP!” Twilight screeched. A hush fell over the group once again, and Twilight breathed heavily for a moment. “They’re going to do it, and the Princess pretty much ordered it! Whether you like it or not, they have to go, okay? It’s either this or all of Equestria is destroyed! I’m sorry! You know that you guys and your foals are the world to me! I’d never do anything to risk any of their or your lives! So, please, I’m asking you to do me this favour and just go along with it. I don’t particularly like this either, but it’s something we have to do! You guys remember facing Nightmare Moon?” She snapped her head to the other five mares in the room. “That was scary, wasn’t it? We risked our lives then! Our parents would have tried to have stopped us, too. But Equestria was in trouble! What choice did we have?”

Twilight scanned the crowd. “Discord! We were scared! We were terrified, and we were almost torn apart! But, we won, didn’t we?” Twilight scanned the group. “If it weren’t for Pinkie Pie, he’d still be stone. So, listen, I ask you, this isn’t easy. But we have a choice to make, and maybe it’s time that we allowed our foals the choice that we had.” She smirked weakly. “Maybe, they’ll find their cutie marks!”

Scootaloo didn’t even chuckle at this, she was stone-faced, as were the rest of them.

Twilight took a deep breath. “If you’d like to stay in the library tonight, please come with me. We need to pack some extra food and any extra essentials. They have blankets, about a week’s worth of food, and a canteen in their saddlebags that the Princess provided.”

With that, Twilight left, and ponies slowly began to follow after her. For some reason, without protesting. Candied Chaos glanced over to the draconequus in the room. “Can I stay here?”

“Yes.” Discord answered almost immediately. He scrunched up his face, brow furrowing.

“Everything okay, Cordy?~” Pinkie sang, twirling around him and bouncing circles around him.

For whatever reason, the chimera didn’t answer.

~XXX~

A good lot of you aren't commenting, and I'd really like it if you did just to let me know you're here and what I should work on. Thanks to my regular commenters.

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