//------------------------------// // Starlight's Regret // Story: Equestria Discord 2: Springtime with Discord // by Epicdiscord214 //------------------------------// The Reflection laughed his lungs out from his handheld mirror while Starlight Glimmer placed Rainbow Dash unconscious in a capsule beside Pinkie Pie. She looked and saw four empty capsules further down the row. Tirek couldn't help but smile at his progress. "THAT WAS HILARIOUS!" the Reflection cackled. "I NEARLY BUSTED A GLASS GUT! HAHAHA!" "Yes, yes, that was very intimidating." Starlight said without emotion. "Look, I don't care if it was funny or not. As long as the plan keeps going, we need to focus on that." "Starlight, honey, you're not seeing the big picture here." the Reflection said. "We need this to be funny. We need all attention on me." "Of course." Tirek agreed. "How else can we make sure Discord doesn't miss our prisoners?" "Prisoners?" Starlight asked in reaction. "Tirek, isn't that a little harsh for you?" "You seem to forget, Ms. Glimmer," Tirek explained, "Until we get what we need, we have no time for charity. We need to keep Discord distracted so much, he won't notice the girls are disappearing. Only his Reflection can get his attention. Now, with 1/3 of the magic, his leave from his mirror can be extended." "That'll be a much longer time to carry out my threat." the Reflection added. "Carry out?" Starlight asked. She chuckled. "I'm sorry, Professor Tirek, but it sounds to me that you're going to let this reflective clown terrorize Canterlot." "I am." Starlight was obviously hoping for a different reaction, and that's why she gasped. "What? Tirek, you never said anything about endangering everybody." "Like you should talk." the Reflection said. "Okay, I admit, I'm not an angel," Starlight returned, "But even I agree this is nuts. You said it yourself, you believe in equality." "I do." Tirek said. "Like you, I believe that all people--big and small, young and old---should be acting the same as everyone else. And with what I have in mind, they're going to do just that. However, you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs. This is what you agreed to do. Now then, I believe Applejack is your next..." "No!" Starlight stood up. "Lying, kidnapping, and letting six girls get turned into experiments, I can handle. However, I draw the line at endangering everyone in town. To that, I say, farewell." Starlight turned around and approached the stairs. However, right before she could grip onto the rail, she felt Tirek's cold grip on her shoulder. He turned her around and she was petrified at seeing the anger in his eyes. "Don't even try it, Starlight Glimmer! No one walks away from me! "Don't turn your back Hahahaha Don't turn your back Hahahaha My marionette Don't let me get A heart attack Don't break our team Don't be a fool You can't begin to dream How much I can be cruel Don't turn your back Hehehehe Don't hide your face Hehehehe It was your sin That started in The first place If you leave, my friend And slam the door shut Then you're a loose end That I am forced to cut Just stay, child And please, don't spurn us Believe you me, that's the last thing you need If you run wild Than I'll pull out the furnace And shove you in top speeeeeeeeed HAHAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEHEHE! HAHAHAHAHAHA Do you concede Don't turn your back Hahahaha Or turn away Hahahaha You know it's right So, dear Starlight What do you say YOU'VE ALREADY SEALED THE DEAL SO YOU BETTER STAY ON TRAAAAAAACK HEAR WHAT I SAID DON'T TURN YOUR HEAD AND WHATEVER YOU DO... DON'T TURN YOUR... BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK HAHAHAHA" "You... make some excellent points, Professor Tirek." Starlight replied with fear trembling in her voice. "I'll just stick to the plan." She picked up the Reflection's mirror and walked away. As soon as she left, Tirek stroked his beard down. "She's becoming a bit of a wildcard. No matter, I have ways of dealing with wildcards." Starlight approached Discord's mansion where she found the rest of the girls, Twilight, and Flash Sentry tending to the footprints implanted on Discord. She approached them and stopped behind them. "Say, where's Rainbow Dash?" Applejack asked. Starlight suddenly got nervous at the sound of it. "I don't know." Sunset Shimmer replied. "Perhaps she went home to rest. That other Discord really got us all nervous. Discord, what was that thing anyway?" "That was his Reflection." Fluttershy replied. "His what?" Rarity asked. "Oh, pardon me." Discord said with a hint of embarrassment in his tone. "I only told Fluttershy about him and I assumed she already told you." "I didn't have the time to talk about it." Fluttershy said. "You two share things?" Twilight asked arcing an eyelid. "Why, of course." Discord replied. "We're friends. Anyway, here's the story. Around the time I got my powers, I also gained a living Reflection. He seemed to be an expert on my powers and helped me learn how to control them. However, when I started making friends, he felt like I was betraying him and told Starlight I hypnotized Principal Celestia to get me expelled. Of course, I took it personally and threw my Reflection in the trash. I thought he was gone for good." "I... had no idea." Starlight lied. "If I had known who told me, I'd..." "It's all right, Starlight." Fluttershy said. "That's not the issue right now." "Yeah." Discord agreed. "Right now, I gotta teach him a lesson!" "How?" Flash asked. "Your Reflection is untouchable. All you can really touch is glass. We need to think this through." Starlight got nervous, but she still worked in secret. She pulled out her handheld mirror without anyone looking and opened it. The Reflection grinned wickedly and nodded at her. She closed the mirror and stuffed it back into her pocket. Starlight approached the conversing crowd and spoke up. "Why don't you face him?" "What?" Discord asked confusingly. "Obviously, this guy is going to keep to his word and terrorize Canterlot." Starlight explained. "The only way to stop that from happening is if you teach him a lesson." "Haven't you been paying attention?" Twilight asked. "He can't hurt him. All he can do is break some glass. I haven't been learning about this magic for long, but I know what the problem is." "That's not what I meant." Starlight said. "The Reflection has to be communicating with our world from somewhere. I've watched a horror movie once and saw that reflections have their own parallel world. Discord's Reflection seems to be breaking all that and terrorizing us from his world." "That can't possibly be true... can it?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "It's like a regular Monday for us." Discord said. "I suppose, with my powers, I can enter this parallel world and fight him on his turf, but I have to enter exactly where he is." "So we've got to find him, keep following him, and let Discord handle the rest." Sunset Shimmer said. "We're going to have to pair off if we're going to cover more ground in this city." "All right." Discord said. "I'll take Fluttershy." "Okay." Fluttershy agreed. "Twilight, you're with me." Flash Sentry said. "Right." Twilight agreed. "I might need Applejack." Starlight said. "If you say so." Applejack agreed nervously. "I guess that leaves Sunset and I." Rarity said. "Okay." Sunset declared. "We've got to find the Reflection and lead him towards Discord. Ready?" "BREAK!" everyone declared loudly. Everyone turned to leave, but Twilight stopped to look around. "Hey, has anybody seen Spike?" In another part of town, Fluffy the cat ran around a corner and into an alleyway. He screeched loudly when he ran into a dead end. He turned and Spike the dog walked slowly towards him. "All right, wise guy." Spike growled. "Now, I get to get all vicious and..." The cat meowed and pointed at the street. "Starlight entering a black car with an unconscious Applejack?" Spike repeated in a question. "How dumb do you think I am?" Fluffy grabbed Spike's head and spun it around. Spike dropped his jaw when he saw Starlight Glimmer holding Applejack over her shoulder. She entered a black car that started to turn its wheels. Spike ran to its back and saw a series of letters on the license plate: "TRTRS NDSTRY". That was the only thing Spike could see before it drove off. Spike was too confused to go after it or notice that Fluffy was still next to him. "What the..." Spike asked. He saw Fluffy beside him and didn't react. "Truce?" Fluffy meowed. "All right." Spike said. "Let's figure out what's going on."