"Nearly three weeks at this friggin' high school, and we haven't found anything about Sunset Shimmer's whereabouts." Major Canopy ranted to Lt. Sigma as they walked to the gymnasium. "And I swear, if I have to investigate one more report about girls sleeping in the library at night, I will freakin' put my foot through something. If I were in the captain's position, I'd declare 'Operation: Eclipse' a waste of time and resources."
"Lucky you, we ain't got too long here, anyhow." said Sigma. "I 'spect that Cap'n Umbriel will recall all of us from Cantuhbare soon enough."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Ziggy." groaned Canopy. "But I don't want to wait for 'soon enough' to come. I want to get out of here now! I should be out shooting Cartel thugs or gathering intel, not babysitting a bunch of freakin' teenagers or hunting magical horses!"
"Ponies, Canopy. Ponies." Sigma corrected Canopy.
"Whatever, hunting magical midget horses." groaned Canopy, rolling her eyes underneath her mask. "Honestly, I stopped caring about all that cutesy-wutesy unicorn garbage when I was in grade school. I feel like I'm being force-fed this Equestria nonsense. Even if it is real, why do we have to be involved in this tripe? I'd say 'just let the ponies be ponies, and move on with our own lives'."
"Well, that's what I was thinkin'." said Sigma. "But if that was the case, why did Sawnsat Shimmah come ovah to our world to begin with? Gotta admit, that's pretty odd. And to attend one of our high schools, too."
"Yeah, wouldn't Hogwarts have suited her better?" Canopy chuckled. "From what I've heard of this Sunset Shimmer girl...pony...whatever, she'd totally be a Slytherin. Full-stop."
"Oh, so you're not into unicorns, but you are into that ''Arry Potta' mumbo-jumbo." said Sigma.
"Yes, but only in my spare-ti--shut up!" snapped Canopy.
"Man, you need to stop readin' tha' kid stuff, and start readin' bettuh stuff, like 'The Lord of'--"
"And you need to learn how to shut up, and start to respect other peoples' opinions!" Canopy yelled back.
"Fine, fine." said Sigma, waving an armored hand. "By the way, have ya seen Craw anywhe'e?"
"Yeah, he's in the vice principal's office, arguing with Captain Umbriel about Sunset Shimmer." said Canopy. "I'm starting to think the sergeant actually liked that pony."
"Yeah, that's wha' I was thinkin' too!" agreed Lt. Sigma. "Wouldn't blame him, though. I actually met that pony 'round the time Craw went undacovuh at this school. She seemed like a decent li'l lady. Though, that was before we found out she was a pony."
"Wait, you were already here before the rest of us were sent in?" questioned Major Canopy.
"Yeah, I was sent to help the sarge fit in. Ya know, get 'em a nice place to live, and all that. I even took him and Sawnsat Shimmah over to Craw's place, and we all had a nice bite to eat togethuh, as friends."
"I see." nodded Canopy, slowly. "So, how come you didn't stay with him? The way things seem to go between you two, I'd say you and Sergeant Craw are buddies."
"Cap'n Umbriel wanted me back to clean up them Cartel doggies over in Pally." replied Sigma. "Couldn't stay for long. Then Corporal Ghost was sent, 'stead of me."
"Wanna bet Craw's mission would've been better if you stayed with him, instead of having that maniac work with him?" asked Canopy.
"Probably." said Sigma. "But I'm not one to argue with Cap'n Umbriel's orders."
"Well, somebody should speak up every once in a while, don't you think?" asked Canopy. "Not that I have anything against the captain, but it's good to hear input from a third party, don't you think?"
"A real good point, Canopy." said Sigma.
Outside of the Everfree Forest, Ghost materialized out of thin air, the Alicorn Amulet's cord draped around his hoof. He couldn't help but laugh heartily at his triumph.
"Wow, that was just incredible." he said. "Lord Umbriel will be soooo pleased with me."
He tossed the pendant up and down in the air, and caught it with his horn. He grabbed it again, and carefully looked at it.
"You know, I think that I oughta test this thing out." Ghost mumbled. "I wouldn't want to go back to Umbriel to give him a bogus artifact."
He put the Alicorn Amulet around his neck, and he felt a strange sensation in his body. Initially, it seemed very uncomfortable, but then it yielded a more welcoming surge of energy.
"Oh, wow. Umbriel can wait. I've got to do something with this much power!" commented the white Changeling, his red eyes widening. "I've gotta...I've gotta..."
Then he sporadically turned his head at a patch of trees that was separate from the rest of the Everfree Forest, and unleashed a massive concussive blast from his horn. All of the trees in that group were reduced to splinters. Just as quickly as the trees were destroyed, a bluebird flew up to Ghost, chirping angrily and pointing towards one of the broken trees.
"Oh, did I do that?" grimaced the Changeling.
His horn glowed again, and the broken chunks of wood began to cluster together and circle the bird. With a swish of his head, the wood joined together, turning into a wooden cage that trapped the bird.
"There, you have a new home." said Ghost. "Don't expect me to feed you, though."
Then the Changeling made a very obscene sound with his mouth, and teleported away. He found himself in the basement of the Royal Palace of Canterlot. He was now standing in front of the Crystal Mirror. He decided to take a moment to look at his reflection.
"Ghost, you handsome white devil." he snickered, flexing his hooves. "You are really are the..."
"...best freaking thing to ever happen to this place ever." said his voice, except it was coming from...the mirror.
"Um...hi?" said Ghost, blankly knocking on the glass. "Is anybody home?"
"Is somebody out here?" demanded the voice, who sounded began to sound distorted. "Show your face to me, you no-good son of a--"
"I'm right here, buddy-boy." said the Changeling. "There's no need to be violent."
"I don't know who's talking, but why does it sound so much like me?" said the voice in the mirror. "I don't like it one bit. You'd better show your face, before I blast it off!"
"Wow, has it truly come to this?" inquired Ghost, unamused. "Am I seriously being threatened by a mirror?"
"I'm not a mirror, you idiot!" said the voice. "I'm a guy with a gun, and I know how to use it. Now show yourself, or I'll start shooting in every direction."
"Why don't you show yourself, tough-guy?" countered Ghost.
"I am showing myself! I couldn't be more out in the open if I tried!" shouted the voice.
"So am I." said Ghost.
"Then where the heck are you?!" shouted the voice.
"The bigger question, whoever you are, is where are you?"
"I'm in front of Canterlot High School, by the statue." said the voice.
"Are you a Changeling like me, or a pony?"
"I'm a human being, you dumb little sh--"
"Language, sir." said Ghost. "I was simply asking a question. What is your name?"
"What's your name?"
"Ghost."
"Ha! What a stupid liar! You ain't Ghost!"
"Really? And why not?"
"Because that's me!" said the human voice. "I'm Corporal Ghost of the Chrysalis Syndicate."
"But my name is Ghost, too!" insisted the Changeling. "Ghost of the Changeling Empire."
"Wait a minute, I think I just realized something." said Corporal Ghost, whose voice was now coming in clearer. "Where are you?"
"Canterlot Palace." said Ghost the White Changeling.
"That wouldn't happen to be in 'Equestria', would it?"
"Yes, actually." said Ghost. "Come to think of it, 'Chrysalis Syndicate' sounds awfully suspicious. Is Chrysalis the name of your leader?"
"Yep. Supreme Commander Chrysalis is in charge of us over here."
"How interesting. The Changelings over here are led by a Queen Chrysalis. Is there also a Lord Umbriel over there?"
"Captain Umbriel, actually."
"Craw? Sigma? Canopy?"
"Yes, yes, and yes."
"And how about anyone named Celestia and Luna?"
"Yeah. They're the principal and vice principal of this high school the Syndicate is scouring for Sunset Shimmer."
Then Ghost realized that he was speaking to...
"Guess what, Corporal? You and I are counterparts to each other."
"What the heck kind of nonsense is that? First there's that teenage girl that's actually a magical unicorn, and now you're telling me that there's a whole world of magical talking unicorns that are all counterparts to people in this world?!"
"Not all of them are unicorns, corporal." said Ghost. "There's also earth ponies, pegasi, and other magical creatures. The least not being my species, the Changelings."
"And what the heck is a Changeling?"
"We are equine, but with insect-like features. We can fly, use magic, and shapeshift. And by the sound of things, the Chrysalis Syndicate is your world's equivalent of us. Your group is led by a Chrysalis and an Umbriel, just like us."
"But what I don't get is...how the heck am I talking to you, other me?" asked Corporal Ghost's voice.
The equine Ghost tilted his head down, and studied the features of his amulet. He realized that it was glowing ever so slightly.
"I think I have an idea, corporal." he said.
His horn glowed, and a steady white magical projectile shot into the middle of the mirror. The glass shimmered for a moment, and then the human Ghost became visible, standing where the equine Ghost's reflection should be.
"There, now do you see me?" asked Ghost.
"Oh, yeah." said the albino, armored human. "I see it, and I really like it. Kinda surprising, really."
But as quickly as the human Ghost was visible, his image disappeared.
"Hey, what gives?!" shouted Corporal Ghost.
"It looks like I will need to find a way to properly channel the raw power of my amulet to keep the power of the portal at a constant rate." deduced Ghost the White Changeling. "I think I know what Lord Umbriel wants this amulet for now. See you later, human me."
"Ditto here, Equestria me." said Corporal Ghost's voice. "I've got to report this to Captain Umbriel, anyhow. If you see Sunset Shimmer at all, tell her that she's gonna be in very big trouble for wasting Syndicate resources on finding her."
"How badly was it?" asked the Changeling, curiously.
"We've been scouring and patrolling this friggin' high school for weeks now." said the human. "Looks like we're finally gonna be getting somewhere earlier than I thought! Of course, we still need to get into Equestria to do anything about her, apparently. Know anything about how this portal of yours works?"
"I don't know. I only found out about this just now." confessed Ghost the White Changeling. "Maybe Lord Umbriel could tell me more about it! Well, toodles!"
"Don't start tormenting Sunset Shimmer without me!" said Cpl. Ghost.
Then there was complete silence from the Crystal Mirror. After turning his back on it, Ghost took a gander at the Alicorn Amulet wrapped around his neck, and sighed.
"Is there anything this thing can't do?" he snickered. "We'll just have to see!"
Then he looked back at the mirror one last time.
"Geez, that world's Changelings are a military group, but their Celestia and Luna are run-of-the-mill school-teachers? Even a screwball psycho like me can tell the balance between these two worlds was broken somehow. Well, I guess a little unbalance on one side deserves a little more weight on the other; to Lord Umbriel, I shall go."
Then he snickered, and teleported away.