//------------------------------//
// Warped Reflection 
// Story: Reaper: Requiem's Reflection 
// by Ise no Kami 
//------------------------------//

	Slowly, Twilight's muscles began to come to. She groggily opened her eyes, hoping to see what effects that burst of magic may have had. If she had an idea of what the magic had done, perhaps she could reverse the effects. Unfortunately, she hadn't woken up fully, and what little she could see was a blur. All she could make out was Daniel, lying beside her, slowly waking up as well. Finally, her vision cleared. She got up, and looked around...and was left speechless.
They were standing by a lone statue in a ruined garden. Much like Canterlot, the entire area was on a massive terrace set into the side of a mountain. However, there was no beautiful view of Equestria, only the soul-crushing image of desolated wasteland for miles all around, a dead orange sky looming above. A large castle stood where the Everfree Forest should have been, seemingly the only patch of land that had remained untouched. Looming above them was a much darker, much more sinister castle, reeking of evil. But that wasn't what had startled Twilight. Much had changed...but she had been here once before, when Celestia had asked for her aid fixing her interdimensional mess.
This was the other Equestria, where King Sombra had been good. The world that should have been forever separated from her own.
Before she could ask Daniel how this was possible, guards flooded out of every entrance the garden had, zeroing in on the two visitors. The guards looked much more menacing than the ones Twilight had seen, with armor that seemed to radiate the same evil energy that the castle did. It seemed this world's Sombra truly had given in to evil.
So many thoughts swirled through Twilight's head as the guards pushed her toward the dungeon. Daniel, on the other hand, was completely calm. He knew that he could have fought his way out of this situation if he so chose. However, the whole situation was rather intriguing to him. This world was so different from the peaceful Equestria, he couldn't help but get curious. Let's just see how this plays out, he thought.
The two were unceremoniously dumped into a cold dungeon cell. They were surrounded on almost all sides by dark, thick stone, the only exit blocked by strong steel bars. Little light was allowed to enter the cramped cell. Twilight realized that this was the same cell she was kept in once before. Does Sombra only use this one cell? she thought.
She figured now was as good a time as any for answers. "Okay, what was all that?" she asked Daniel. "How in the hoof did we end up here?"
Daniel's curiosity fell away at that as he realized he had trapped Twilight in this world. "I told you that my world was four dimensions in one," he started, turning to face the floor. "That flash of light was what would happen when someone switched planes. If I had to guess, I'd say I've become...'interdimensionally sensitive,' for lack of a better term, as a result of living in that world. That's why the mirror shard reacted to me."
Twilight said nothing, but she was trying to stifle her inner nerd. If repeated dimensional travel could lead to a result like this, then Daniel could help make so much progress in the world of interdimensional research. However, that would mean nothing if the two of them didn't get out of this alive. For now, she just had to calm down and think up a plan to bust out. What she didn't know was that Daniel already had a plan in mind, and it wasn't exactly subtle. Or well thought out.
Before Twilight could come up with anything, the guards returned, and opened the cell doors. "King Sombra has requested an audience with you," one guard stated. Suddenly, all of Daniel's previous enthusiasm came back to him, a wry smile cracking on his face as he and Twilight were escorted out of the cell.
Is he bipolar!? Twilight thought to herself.
The two were escorted down a familiar hall. In Equestria, Daniel remembered seeing numerous stained glass windows in the hall's Equestrian equivalent, many of which portrayed Twilight and her friends in their feats of heroism. Looking at the jagged holes in the walls, it seemed like similar windows once lined this hall, but had been destroyed, save for the few pieces of shattered glass that still clung to the window frames. The hall seemed to get progressively darker as it stretched on; apparently this Sombra hadn't heard of lighting. Finally, the escort came to a large door, its dark color causing it to disappear in the thick darkness. The guards opened the door, and pushed their prisoners through.
Through the door was a large throne room. At each corner, a small waterfall finally broke the monotony of the cold dark stone of the castle. The walls to either side had large windows, revealing that the desolate orange sky had turned red with the coming of the night. A dull red carpet led up to a throne, upon which sat a dark gray stallion with a pitch black mane and tail. His dark purple robe signified his noble status. His horn was stained red and curved upward by evil power. The whites of his red eyes were not white, but a sick green, and purple mist radiated from them.
Daniel's smile grew wider with sick glee. This was the big shot evil master of the castle. To be fair, the pony's dark power was significantly stronger than the little power all other ponies seemed to possess, and it was based in the darkness like his own. Even so, it wasn't nearly enough. He had half a mind to just blast the dark king right there, just to show him how powerful the dark arts can truly be. He held back this urge, trying to milk some more answers out of the situation, but a cocky chuckle managed to pass his lips.
Sombra stared hard at the Grim Reaper, clearly angered by this chuckle and what it implied. Instead of letting loose, however, he turned to Twilight. "Why and how did you come back here?" he inquired forcefully.
"Oh, whoops. My bad," Daniel replied casually, as if he was as chummy with Sombra as Twilight was with Celestia. No, the tone was off. It was more like he was mocking the dark unicorn. Twilight's eyes grew wide, her pupils shrank to their smallest level, and her mouth seemed to droop off her muzzle. She was trying to escape, and Daniel was going to get them both killed. "We'll just go back and-"
"SILENCE!!" Sombra boomed. On cue, all of the guards pointed their spears at their prisoners...and Daniel summoned his scythe at that exact same moment.
"Ah-ah-ah," Daniel chided, his mocking tone now laced with malice. "Please don't do anything rash. I'd rather not kill anyone tonight."
"You insolent little brat!" Sombra scolded. "What makes you think you have any right to defy me!?"
"What right?" Daniel repeated. "Uh, how about the small fact that I was born with far more dark power than you could ever hope to have." A wicked grin spread across his face. He was enjoying this way too much.
"Seize him!"
Two guards charged forward with their spears. Rather than cut them down, Daniel let them approach before letting out a burst of dark power. The guards were thrown into the far wall, and fell to the ground, battered and unconscious.
"Like I said, didn't wanna kill anyone today," Daniel mentioned, shrugging innocently. "So, can we go home now? I promise I'll come back and play with you another time."
Sombra quickly rose, his body convulsing with rage. He stared down Daniel with the intent to kill, and summoned his own scythe, its dark blade fused to a skewed pole.
"Well, now I've done it," Daniel noticed. The cocky smile had finally left his face, but the change came more from boredom than worry. Screwing with this dark lord wannabe was fun, but it was growing old. The guy was too predictable. At that moment, Sombra lunged forward to strike Daniel down himself, swinging his scythe with his dark magic.
In a single swing, Daniel cut Sombra's scythe in two, the blade keeping its momentum and lodging itself in the back wall.
"You little..." Sombra muttered through his teeth, clearly enraged, but realizing he couldn't win. He straightened his posture. "Both of you go back to your own world. Never come back here again."
"Fine by me," Daniel replied. "We'll just head back and-"
Suddenly, the room was filled with a sickly green glow. Everyone turned toward the windows to get a glimpse of the light's source. Daniel was rather confused by what he saw, but Twilight and Sombra filled with dread.
The sky itself had turned green.





"So, what's this about?" Daniel asked as he rushed back to the garden with Twilight. His curiosity now spawned from genuine concern, rather than a need for entertainment.
"My Celestia once travelled back and forth between our world and this one to meet with Sombra," Twilight replied.
"Seriously? That guy's her type?" Daniel asked bluntly. "Never would have guessed."
"He was a much better pony back then," Twilight mentioned, surprising Daniel.
Seriously!? It was a joke!
"The point is, her constnt travel between their worlds broke down the boundary between them. By the time my friends and I got involved, it was ready to shatter entirely...and the sky looked just like this."
"Oh crap. What did I do?" Daniel asked rhetorically, dread rising within him as well.
They reached the garden, and made a beeline for the statue where they woke up. If Daniel touched that statue, they could return to Equestria the same way they came. Unfortunately, they didn't make it very far. A bolt of green energy shot forth from the sky above, smashing the statue to smithereens.
"And there goes our ride," Daniel noted irritably.
When the dust cleared, there was little left of the statue. In its place was a lime green wolf, its eyes a similar green. It had long, large, jagged whiskers, flowing with green energy and twitching as if they were appendages preparing to strike. Similar "whiskers" adorned its flanks, along with a similar tail. Twilight suddenly recognized the description: this was the silhouette from Rainbow's dream.
"I'm guessing these are new?" Daniel asked, sensing Twilight's shock. She nodded absently. The wolf turned toward them, and its eyes narrowed. It pounced...and was met with the business end of Daniel's blade, dissolving into nothing immediately upon its death. Just then, Sombra emerged from the castle to check on the situation, only to find his unwanted guests still around, and their sole exit in ruins.
"What is the meaning of this!?" the dark king inquired.
"Had a fun time with you, Sombra," Daniel replied, "but it looks like playtime's over." Just then, five more wolves beamed into the garden.
"Twilight, get out of here," Daniel ordered. "Make your way to the city gates, and wait for me there."
"What about you?" Twilight asked.
Daniel stepped forward to face the eldritch abominations. "You still don't get what I'm capable of, do you?" he asked. "These things are nothing before me.
The wolves all pounced at once, and Daniel sliced through all five in one strike. More immediately came down from the heavens.
"Go!" Twilight flew away towards the city gates.
As Daniel looked up to see her go, he saw something that would have terrified lesser men...or ponies. Beams of sickly green light rained down from the heavens across all of this warped Equestria, as far as he could see. Each one was an abomination, touching down on this already desolate world, certain to kill more people. "Well, this should be fun," Daniel noted sarcastically, grimacing.
The new wolves pounced. Rather than stand his ground, he lunged forward as well, destroying them all as he rushed forward. Again, wolves spawned in the garden, turning to tail him as he raced through the castle halls. Without stopping, he leaped forward, spun around in midair, and threw his scythe, nailing all of the wolves behind him. He turned back around just as he hit the ground, continuing his stride as before. He gathered his wispy shadow power in his right hand, rematerializing his scythe. As he continued on, more wolves appeared to bar his path. He swatted each one aside, but the numbers were getting ridiculous. It was clear by now that there would be no end to these beasts.
Eventually, he found his way out of the castle and into the city...the decrepit city. There was no trace of the regal and elite air put off by its Equestrian counterpart. In fact, it looked like no one had lived here for quite a while. The buildings, once elegant, were now falling apart. The city was deserted. It seemed the population fled once their ruler turned to dark power. So this was the reward for tyranny: isolation and desolation.
Suddenly, a large green bolt blasted the deserted street. From the light emerged a green titan, covered in lime armor, carrying a massive shield and a claymore that shone withe green energy. The helmet visor opened to a black void, within which were set the same malicious green eyes as the wolves.
"So there are big ones," Daniel noted. "Alright. Let's see what you've got!"
He rushed forward, seeking to take the behemoth down with one strike. Instead, his scythe was blocked by the titan's shield. The monster reacted immediately, bringing down his giant sword. Daniel barely had time to jump out of the way. Hey, an actual challenge, he thought. Let's have some fun, shall we?
He rushed forward once more. This time, he noticed the titan lowered its shield. Rather than strike it again, Daniel, swiftly moved to the behemoth's back, striking before it had a chance to react. He made sure to put enough power into this strike to cut right through the beast's armor. Sure enough, it died on the spot.
That's it? he thought, disappointed. So much for that.
He proceeded down the deserted road, quickly catching site of the city gates. Twilight was waiting for him there. She appeared to be unharmed, despite the chaos around her.
"Good to see you're alright," Daniel mentioned, relieved. "How'd you avoid those things?"
"Turns out I didn't have to," Twilight replied. She explained further when she saw Daniel's quizzical look. "They didn't attack me. Some of them looked right at me and did nothing. Looked like some of the guards noticed that, too."
"So they're after me," Daniel realized, slumping against the city wall. "Dammit!" He pounded his fist against the wall. "I screwed up your worlds, and now they're trying to kill me. Great. Just great." Pleadingly, he looked to Twilight. "You said the boundary got this bad before. How did you fix it?"
"Well, my friends and I were trying to stop the evil Celestia and Luna, but-"
"Oh, it's one of those worlds," Daniel interrupted, facepalming.
"Well, in order to restore the balance between our worlds, Sombra had to absorb the evil of this world's Celestia and Luna," Twilight finished.
"So that's how he ended up like that," Daniel noted. "Sadly, that's not gonna help us this time." He paused. "At the very least, any idea where we can lay low while we're here?"
"Well, the Celestia and Luna here should be good now," Twilight mentioned. "We should see if they can help." She pointed a hoof toward the castle in the distance.
"Then that's where we're going," Daniel decided, getting up. He paused, then shot Twilight an apologetic look. "Hey, sorry for dragging you into all this."
Twilight closed her eyes, as if to show understanding. The two then left the city.





A swirling mix of anger, worry, and hatred raged inside of Sombra as he walked along one of his numerous dark hallways. He had taken on the evil energy to prevent this exact occurrence, and this one boy managed to break the boundary anyway. To make matters worse, he had brought an endless horde of monsters with him. In one fell swoop, Daniel had destroyed the peace he had fought so hard to protect.
"Yes, that boy is a real piece of work, isn't he?" Sombra stopped. The voice had come from the darkness ahead. He squinted, but was only able to make out a small patch of shadow that was thicker than the rest.
"I am in no mood to deal with you, intruder," Sombra asserted. "State your business, and get out of my sight!"
"Ah, see, there's the problem," the voice started casually. "I was just going to sit back and watch from the shadows, see how things unfolded. However, the situation changed rather quickly, so I'm going to have to take an active role in these matters. To do that-"
"Get to the point," Sombra barked, his patience reaching its end.
"I'm going to have to...borrow you," the voice stated. Dread and realization suddenly rose in the dark king, but as he backed away, the shadows crept toward him, engulfing him.
"I'll make sure to take good care of you."
And everything went black.