//------------------------------// // Interlude 1: On the Other Side of the Mirror // Story: Sealed by a Minute // by Revanius //------------------------------// Equestria The remaining members of the main six and the three gathered princesses waited with bated breath as the clock slowly ticked down, with each passing minute they grew more and more nervous for their friends, for Twilight and Spike. They were in a different dimension chasing a dangerous unicorn who had stolen one of the Elements of Harmony, one of the core defenses of their world. What's more, there was a good chance the two could be trapped on the other side of the portal for years and all they could do was wait and hope. Rainbow Dash paced impatiently around in front of the mirror, she had been the first to want to go with Twilight and was not happy that she couldn't do anything for her friend. Applejack was pawing at the ground while Princess Cadence tried to comfort the cow pony. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were leaning worriedly at the mirror while Fluttershy alone appeared calm, though they were all certain she was just as nervous as the rest of them. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna hung to the back, the Princess of the Night glancing out the window at the moon as time slowly started to run out. "Where is she?" Rainbow finally said looking to the mirror. "What if she needs our help." "I'm sure she'll be fine Dashie," Fluttershy said trying to keep calm. "This is Twilight dear, I'm sure she can handle this Sunset Shimmer pony," Rarity added. "Yeah, maybe she got held up having fun with some new friends over there." Pinkie said. Rainbow paced a few more times then her wings puffed out. "I can't just stand here and do nothing for her, I'm going." She declared running for the mirror. "Rainbow! Wait!" Applejack shouted suddenly standing up. The pegasus ignored her and jumped into the portal only to crash against a solid surface. Princes Luna dropped her gaze from the window. "It is too late," She said, "the portal is closed and will not open again for another thirty moons." "No," Rainbow said softly. "No! that can't be true, we can't just leave her there!" The pegasus pushed against the mirror as if she could force it to work again if she pushed hard enough. Rarity turned to the princesses. "Can't you do something? Together you have more power than anyone in Equestria except maybe Discord." Princess Celestia shook her head sadly. "No we can not, Luna could move the moon back into position on our side but we have no power to affect the other world. And if the two worlds moons are not in synch the portal will no open." "What about Discord?" Fluttershy asked. "His magic can go against reality itself, maybe he can open the portal again." The princesses considered the idea. "Perhaps he can do more than we can with the portal but finding him might prove difficult without all the elements, and even more difficult to control him if we can find him. Still, we will try." The Princess of the Sun said. "For now though there is nothing we can do, as hard as it is we can not help Twilight Sparkle at this time." Princess Luna said. "For now you must turn in, we will discuss this further tomorrow." "Turn in?" Rainbow questioned. "How do you think we can sleep now. Our best friend is trapped in a different dimension and we can't do anything to help her!" "Exactly you can't help her at this moment, and if you think exhausting yourself will help then I am sorry to tell you it will not," Luna said sternly. "Wait," Applejack said her voice hoarse. "What are we gonna tell Twilight's family, her parents? her brother? What do we tell them?" "Shining." Cadence breathed, her already broken heartbreaking even more at the pain her husband would be in when he learned Twilight wouldn't be coming back. He was waiting in the throne room keeping security in the castle, expecting his sister to be back tonight. "I'll tell Shining Armor." "I'm going to tell her parents then, they need to know their daughter is lost in a different dimension." Rainbow Dash said shooting out the window before any of them could protest. Applejack watched the rainbow streak fade away before she noticed someone hadn't spoken since the portal closed, Pinkie Pie was still laying on the case staring at the mirror. "Pinkie Pie, you okay?" She asked. "I never said goodbye." "Huh?" "When she left you all said goodbye, I didn't I just smiled as she walked through the portal" Pinkie said still looking at the mirror. "I was sure she'd be back, I even thought she'd have fun over there. But now she might never come home and I never said goodbye to her." "Oh," Applejack rubbed a hoof behind her head as she thought of what to say. "Well maybe yer right about her having fun over there, maybe she has friends who'll look out for her." "Or maybe she's all alone because none of us did anything." "Well, she's not really alone, Spike there with her. And those two together Ah'm sure they'll find a way to get back home in no time." Pinkie brightened a little at the thought. "Right, yeah she'll probably be back with plenty of stories about her new friends on the other side. I better go start planning her welcome back party!" Pinkie zipped away leaving a small cloud outline of herself, Celestia gave a small smile to the scene. "Alright now my little ponies there will be plenty of time to find a way to Twilight tomorrow but that will not be possible if you do not get to sleep." "What about Rainbow Dash, maybe we should wait for her to get back," Fluttershy said not wanting her friend to return without them waiting for her. "I do not believe she will be back before morning if she truly intends to fly all the way back to Canterlot," Celestia said. "And if she does we will tell her you wanted to wait." Once the other ponies had left Luna turned to her older sister. "Do you think it is possible can we bring Twilight back when the portal is sealed?" She asked. "We have to try do we not, we can't just abandon her and hope she can find a way to open the portal from the other side. Though I fear we will not be able to, but we must still hope we can." "Perhaps Discord can..." "Even if he does cooperate it is not a certainty, this mirror is made from powerful magic, magic I am not sure even chaos can change." "How can you be sure?" "Because when Discord was freed and started changing Equestria, the mirror was left untouched even when everything around it was altered." *** Rainbow Dash was feeling more than a bit faint by the time she finished telling Twilight's parents everything that had happened. Flying from the Crystal Empire to Canterlot at full speed then telling Twilight's parents, after rousing them from their sleep, had really taken a lot out of the pegasus pony. But despite her growing exhaustion and heavy breathing she had soldiered on. The Sparkles themselves were in absolute shock by the time Rainbow had finished her tale, neither able to believe what they had just heard after being roused from their peaceful slumber when the pegasus had crashed through their window. Night Light slide to the ground shuddering with every breath while Twilight Velvet remained standing with tears falling silently down her face. This made for a rather uncomfortable silence for the three, though the silence would not last long. "This is a joke right?" Twilight Velvet asked. "It's just a horrible prank right. Well it's not funny so tell us why you are really here alright. What's really wrong?" "I'm sorry Mrs. Sparkle, but it's really not a prank, it's the truth." "You mean my daughter, my little Twily, is trapped in a different dimension with no way to get home for thirty moons. And neither you, the princesses, or any of her friends did anything to help her. Is that what you are telling me?" She demanded sharply. Rainbow flinched at the words knowing they were true, they were the very same words she had said to herself on the flight over. "Yes, it is. We failed our friend. I'm sorry again that you had to hear this." By now Twilight Velvet was shaking in what was either anger or grief, Rainbow couldn't tell. "Get out," She said flatly. "Get out of our house." "Velvet." Night Light said still on the floor. "Not now Night," Velvet said turning her head back to Rainbow. "Just leave, please." Rainbow knew she shouldn't leave them, not when they were hurting, not after they had just received the news, and she definitely knew they should not be alone. But Rainbow also knew she was not the one that could be there for them, not her, and the only ones who could were still in the Crystal Empire. The pegasus nodded rising shakily into the air, her wings barely seemed to be able to lift her. "Wait," Night Light said getting up. "You can't make the journey all the way back by wing, I'm a little surprised a pony even as skilled as you managed that." "It's fine, I need to get back to them anyways, they need me there." "Still you can't fly back after using up all that energy," His horn lit up floating a small pouch over to them. "Take this, it should pay for the train ride over to the Crystal Empire." "I can't take your bits, not after the news I brought you." Rainbow protested, not to mention the broken window she had made in her entrance. "I'll be fine, I've done worse than fly tired before." Night Light was about to respond when Twilight Velvet cut him off. "Just take it and go." She said before slowly trotting out of the room. Night Light used his magic to bring the coin pouch a bit closer, Rainbow feeling like she was about to fall after just hovering accepted the pouch before lowering herself to the ground. "Thank you, I'll pay you back for everything." "There's no need, just try and get my daughter back home, please." Night Light said following his wife. *** "I'm so sorry Shiny!" Cadence said to her shocked husband. Shining Armor had been frozen since Cadence told him the portal had closed before Twilight could get back through and had been completely unresponsive as Cadence explained the slim chances of reopening it before the next thirty moons passed. But Cadence's apology brought him out of the stupor. "Why are you apologizing Cadence? you did nothing wrong." Shining said nuzzling Cadence slightly. "Because I didn't do anything to help her, I should have gone with her, maybe then she would have made it back." Cadence explained tears falling freely down her face. "You know you couldn't have gone with her, Celestia and Luna said it could affect the balance of both our universes otherwise I would have gone after her myself," Shining said he pulled her into a hug wrapping his hoof around her, both shedding tears at their lost family member. "And she'll find her way back, this is Twilight after all." Cadence gave a small hiccup before responding. "Yeah, knowing her she'll be back before we know it with plenty of stories about what she learned over there." "Probably." He said with a laugh that was only a little bit forced, Cadence mimicked the laugh. "Wait, I was supposed to be helping you feel better not the other way around," Cadence said once she calmed down a bit. "You did Cadence," Shining said pulling her into another hug. "Trust me, you did." *** The book had not been removed from its place or even touched in many moons and had a fine coating of dust over the spine. Princess Celestia had barely looked at it in years, not since Sunset Shimmer had vanished through the mirror, though she could remember every message in it word for word. A few times since she had considered writing in it, to try and reach her wayward student but every time she thought better of it if Sunset wanted to make a change or get reform contact she had her own, at least Celestia assumed since the journal's twin had vanished with its owner. It was quite possible Sunset had long destroyed the journal or buried it somewhere in Equestria after Celestia had removed her as her personal student. But she doubted it, Sunset had a sentimental side no matter how much she tried to hide it and a tendency to collect keepsakes and hold onto them even if they were painful for her, so her former student most likely kept it close at hand. It was also possible the journal did not work in the dimension Sunset now called home and anything Celestia wrote in it would never appear. Still, she considered writing in it now, that if Sunset would answer it would accelerate their chances of getting both her students back. But that was a very big if to go on, assuming Sunset still had the journal with her it was not too likely she would share it with Twilight, the Sunset she knew was not one for sharing, especially her keepsakes, and there was also the chance that Sunset was not in any condition to help Twilight with anything. Another possibility she did not like but had to consider was that Twilight lost and Sunset had defeated her or that both had been badly injured in whatever conflict might have come over the crown. It would explain why neither of them ever came through the portal. Celestia shook her head turning away from the book once again, it was too unlikely that Twilight would get any message through the journal and too great a chance that Sunset might try and use the journal for her own gain. She had to have faith in her student to find her own way home and if they could help her from Equestria they would do so. But unless Sunset or Twilight wrote sent a message to that journal, she would not use it.