Mirrors

by Di-o-S

The Hall

Deep within the confines of sculpted stone, there lies a hall. In this hall, there is no entrance or exit. It is not glorious and mighty with wealth aplenty, nor is there rich silks covering tables- in fact, there is no furniture at all. The walls are illuminated by the strange magic coursing through it like blood in veins. Mounted on the walls are mirrors, countless and innumerable; where they lead is a guess worth pondering.

And while this place has no door from which to enter, that does not mean it is entirely secret.

A flash of magic burst from the center of the hall. The magic on the walls shined brightly to ward off the unwarranted visitor. The greater of the two wills won, and an unknown mare was admitted access.

She scanned the rows of mirrors, her eyes jumping from mirror to mirror.

"Come on, where are you?" she whispered, continuing in her search. Her eye's locked on a mirror near the ground. "There you are."

She strode forward at a quick pace. The clip-clop of hooves hitting stone echoed throughout the silent hall. Once she was face to face with the mirror, it glowed a luminous light. There was no reflection, only multicolor particles, swirling around on the bright glassy surface.

Taking her hoof she touched it, the feel of the cool glass was only there for a second then nothing, but air.

The wind whistled as it pushed misshapen clouds along their path. The mare now stood on the tip of a mountain. The mare's eyes held no surprise, but instead sadness.

"I remember this place," she said, her gaze traveled along the whole mountain.

The mountain was tall, with steep sides that led to a rocky valley. It had snow sprinkled heavily on its sides. Smaller mountains stood below it in awe, and respect. Wisps of smoke came from its surface, and the snow on its side glinted in the morning sun.

But, if one were to look close enough, they would see the shifting reflections in the sky, and know that sadly they stood in but a memory. The mare knew this but wanted not to be aware of it.

The shifting reflections started to eat away at the landscape.

"No! I need more time!" she shouted at them, hoping that they would leave the mountain be. They heeded her not and continued consuming the landscape. She attempted to stop them with all manner of magic; in the end, it proved fruitless. "I just need more time..." she repeated in a whisper.

Briefly, a flash of light lit up the hall, and in its wake, it left the mare. Standing up, she looked around the hall.

"It wasn't the right one anyway," she thought to herself. "but I miss it all the same." She spent more time musing over which mirror would be "the right one" as she so often murmured. Once she made her decision, she walked over to another mirror.

This one was different; its surface was rough, yet not wholly unshaped. Touching the mirror once again yielded the same result.

The mare found herself standing on a cliff which stood far above a valley.

The cliff-face was ragged and sheer with grass growing in nooks and crannies, and a tree or two clinging to the rough terrain. Below it, a lush forest stood, old and hardy. The tell-tale sound of birds chirping and animals lumbering could easily be heard. A noisy river trickled down the mountain side, and through a forest, which only added to the beauty. Rising up on the left side was yet another cliff, it was less sheer than it's counterpart on the right, but no-less guarding.

High above, where the west wind blew strong, the shifting reflections stood close by; silent sentinels up in the sky.

"Beautiful, but not what I wanted," she said sighing. "Why, show me what is not there? -rather then what I want?" the reflections didn't respond and went on with their endless shifting. "I'll never find it, will I?" she thought despairingly. "No, no, I can't give up; at least not yet."

Without warning, the shifting reflectings started the toil of eating the land about her. But, once their work was done, a mirror appeared in front of the mare.

"Where does this go?" she asked, not expecting to get an answer. The reflections moved around to form two words: "Domum vinctum." The mare couldn't understand nor translate the words.

"What does it mean?" she inquired, but the reflections departed, leaving her to her own devices.

The mirror looked milky, and smooth like marble yet flowed like the wind. Touching the surface of it led to yet another place.

The grass leaned side to side, making the whole of the plains seem like a golden fiery ocean. Bushes acted liked islands to ever-relenting sea around them. However, a dark shadow covered the sun, quenching the brightness below it, and lo! Thunder boomed, making its presence known, and lightning arced across the sky before it.

The mare wasn't spared from the downpour, however sudden, but she didn't mind it. In fact, she relished in it. Something as simple as feeling the rain on her coat brought back memories long hidden.

"I missed this," her eyes seemed reflective as her thoughts turned to what she wanted to find. "and I miss that even more!" The thunder subsided, and the clouds broke unveiling the sun's trapped light back to the plains. The blaze that had been subdued by the rain, returned and the plains radiated a fiery light once more.

The edges of the plains started to ebb away as the ever-present reflections did their work. They weren't even halfway done when another mirror appeared in front of the mare. She couldn't help but think: "Where are they leading me?" before she touched the icy surface of the mirror.

She felt cold stone beneath her, akin to stone above ground yet not. For this stone was deep underground, and carved out by an old river long ago. Crystals sprung from the floor and walls, every single one had its own color. Which creates a spectrum of colors never before seen on the surface, save by magic. An icy river flowed lazily down a well-carved path. On the ceiling of the cave came a blue light, as if many icicles had been made there, and glowed.

The mare looked at the cave forlornly.

"'The Sparkling Caves' or 'The Glowing Caves' as some used to call them, but they've been gone for years... I never thought I would see them again," she said with a sniff, as though she was talking to someone. "If I have to ask again I will: where are you taking me?" No answer came, but the whistling of the cave.

The shifting reflections started their chore, but the mare wasn't too keen on letting them.

"No! I need to know where you are taking me, now!" she stood boldly in front of the advancing line of reflections. They avoided her entirely, much to the mare's annoyment. She started tugging at what ever-shifting parts stood out, but to no avail. They either pushed her back or ignored her completely. And magic had no effect on them.

Defeated, she sat down and watched helplessly as they finished their work. A shadow came over her, and she whipped around only to see yet another mirror.

"And where will you bring me I wonder?" she asked scrutinizing the mirror. It had a dark blue color and a wavy look.

Salt was in the air, and the cry of a seagull was loud and clear. The mare stood on a small rock quite literally in the middle of an expansive sea. The epidemy of being in the middle of no-where.

The coral beneath the water grew plentifully against the rock's surface, and much like the crystals grew in an abundance of colors. Fish, crabs, and jellyfish all lived in, and near, this single rock. Moss crawled all over the rock; the part that was submerged that is.

The sky remained clear with scant few clouds wandering about. The sun shone brightly in its place, and the water below it sparkled in its presence. The water itself was as clear as glass, if one were to take a glance, they would see the sandy sea floor; littered with sharp shells, and smooth pebbles.

The mare took a moment to take in all the sites shown to her.

"It can't be!" she exclaimed, looking around in wonder. "This sea has been gone for- for years! The Crystalline Sea!" The water lapped at the rock she stood on as if to respond. "Where and why, I now wonder, are you taking me to places that are all but gone?"

The shifting reflections responded with the consumption of the sea around her. A mirror appeared in front of her yet again. It was grainy, being a red-orange color.

The feeling of dry dirt was beneath the mare's hooves. High up she now stood, not on a mountain but a plateau which overlooked a rocky desert valley. Few trees and bushes grew here, and the sides of the plateau were stair-like.

The thing, however, that took the mare's breath away was the sunset. The sun was sinking beneath a line of clouds, turning the sky a reddish-orange outlined by purple. The shadows of the land were painted against the skyline, and a light mist lay where the sun finally sank to its resting place.

The moon rose behind her, full and shining. A soft lunar light fell on the land, changing it.

The orange dusty rock took a blue hue. The trees leaves, turned a dark polished green. The crisp northern wind blew in, taking the place of the western wind until morning.

The mare didn't speak but instead enjoyed herself while the moment lasted. The darkened land brought forth many tiny green lights: lighting bug's, and how strange a spectacle it must have seemed. The bugs were uncountable, not that counting mattered.

The sky twinkled, with stars scattered about its expansive surface. And the wind whistled a tuneless tune, as it traversed the quiet land.

Yet, the reflections stayed their ground and did not move. Even as the night waned, they stood silently on the edges of the land. The moon settled back into its bed while the sun peeked over the lip of the land.

A sliver of sunlight sliced through the clouds at dawn's breaking, and it fell upon another mirror.

This mirror was a light blue, and airy to the touch.

The winds: north, south, west, and east gently flowed past her. The mare was now high up, sitting on a cloud. And clouds that had being seen sparingly before now surrounded her. The sky was a mix of dark, and light blue with clouds even higher up crisscrossing.

The mare took note on how the reflections neglected to eat away at the plateau: "What are you rushing for? Not that you weren't hasty already, but you gave me another mirror on the plateau without... doing what you usually do."

The shifting reflections, however, weren't present; only the wind kept her company. Some time had passed before she noticed a mirror behind her. It was as black as night with shining lights fixated on its surface.

Suddenly, she found herself in a place that wasn't in her memory. Stars innumerable glittered all around her, but in the center of her vision a large spiral stood out.

She stared at the spiral in shock that something as massive as it could even exist.

"Nice view, isn't it, Twilight?" a mare's voice asked. Turning, Twilight could see another mare; her coat was made up of constellations, and her mane full of stars.

"How did you know my name?" Twilight asked feeling uneasy.

"I know many things, but to talk about them would take a millennium or two," she responded with a chuckle. "However, you did not seek my hall for no reason, otherwise you wouldn't have been granted entry." Twilight mulled over whether to tell her or not. She thought about the good, the bad, what could happen, and what couldn't, but her thought process was interrupted. The mare laughed, it was rich and clear like a summers day.

"Twilight, my dear! Your thoughts are as loud as if you were yelling," the mare said, her eyes sparkling. "Put your worries to rest, and let me help you." Twilight fidgeted nervously before answering.

"I- I, want to see," Twilight's voice lowered to a whisper before she told the mare.

"Then let's have no more time put to waste," the mare's horn lit up, and a mirror appeared. The mirror looked like any old mirror, a wooden frame with smooth glass fitted into the middle.

"This will lead me there right?" Twilight asked stepping in front of the mirror.

"Yes, it will lead you nowhere else, but there. I swear it," the mare responded. Before Twilight touched the mirror, she turned back.

"What's your name?" Twilight inquired. The mare gave her a sad smile.

"I do not remember, for it has been a long tine since anypony had a need to call me by it," the mare answered. "Now hurry, find what you have sought, but know that once you find it, the hall will not let you pass again. Not out of malice, but until you have a true need to seek it once more."

No grand scenery awaited Twilight on the other side of the mirror. A house carved in a giant tree stood in front of Twilight, and it needed no name given because it is already known.

And there it is, laid bare the secrets of the hall that Twilight had long explored. A hall for those who had memories that stretched back far, and to them, it showed only. But, just as everything beautiful that faded, so will this hall.

Thankfully, that time is far from now, so may Twilight have peace in the short life of this memory before it too fades to forgetfulness.