The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer

Seeing Double

The Mixer Chronicles

Book Eleven:
Seeing Double

The excavation continued for days, each new floor giving up more than the last. I received word from Celestia that Haakim’s visit to Equestria had gone well, and that I should continue my work. Five days after I first got to the sight we stumbled upon Zahad’s personal bedchamber. We found a locked stone chest hidden in his room and we brought it back to the camp so I could examine it. When I concluded that it might contain a powerful artifact I sent a messenger to Alim telling him of the discovery. I worked the lock for most of the fifth day, trying to open it but to no avail. The next day I continued to work on the chest and finally managed to open the lock. The others gathered around as I opened the lid. Our eyes widened as we saw that inside the chest was Zahad’s Mirror, the very object I was sent to find. I took the mirror and put it in a special crystal case and sent a messenger to Alim.

The next day I was surprised, both pleasantly and unpleasantly, Celestia and Luna brought Twilight and her friends to visit me. at the same time Alim arrived to see the mirror.

“Mixer, its been too long,” Twilight said.

“We were worried about you, just up and leavin without so much as a goodbye,” Applejack said.

“I’m sorry about that, but I got lucky again and turned a bad situation into a good one,” I said.

“I’ll say, you did a great job finding Saddle Arabia,” Celestia said.

“You happen to be here at the same time I helped unearth an ancient relic of great power,” I said.

“Yes, an artifact that was lost to us many years ago,” Alim said.

“Ohh, what is it?” Twilight asked.

“It can create a double of the user,” I said.

“Can we see it?” she asked.

I looked at Alim.

“Yes, I suppose that it should not hurt as long as Mixer and I supervise you,” Alim said.

I showed them the case and took off the top so they could see it better.

“Wow,” Twilight said.

“I can feel its power even now,” Alim said.

“It looks beautifully crafted,” Rarity said.

“Stay here for a minute, I must get something,” Alim said leaving the room.

“This thing is powerful, I’m nervous just standing so near it,” Luna said.

“I’m sure Mixer knows what he is doing,” Sombra said.

“From what I can tell, you need a spell to activate it, look,” I said picking it up with my magic.

“Careful,” Celestia said.

“I’ve made sure to research it,” I said.

Just then the mirror activated and there was a bright flash.

“What happened?” I asked... myself?

Each pony had a doppelganger facing them. All except Sombra and Luna. Sombra was two completely different ponies, one with a white coat and gold mane, while the other was the same color scheme as the normal sombra, but with an evil look in his eye. Luna was facing Nightmare Moon, the magic apparently separating them into two different entities.

The Sombra’s looked like they were about to fight when Luna and Nightmare Moon yelled in synch, “Sombra behave!”

They immediately stopped and glared at each other. Rainbow Dash was face to face with her doppelganger, who was acting shy and withdrawn.

“Why is my copy such a wimp?” she asked.

“Don't you talk to Rainbow Dash that way!” the other Fluttershy said, getting in her face.

“Um, could you two please stop?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, there’s no need to fight,” the other Rainbow Dash said.

“Interesting,” Twilight said facing her opposite, who had a messy mane and was fidgeting about.

“Indeed,” the opposite Pinkie Pie said observing her double do the same as Twilight’s.

“Oh, I like your mane, did you do it yourself?” the opposite Applejack asked Rarity.

“What this old thing? Why yes I did do it myself,” Rarity replied.

“What in tarnation is going on here?” Applejack asked. looking as each ponies’ doubles looked at each other.

“It appears that I accidentally activated the mirror,” I, I mean we, answered.

“Except that I,”

“Seem to have an exact,”

“Double instead of an opposite.” I went back and forth with myself.

“Not everypony has an opposite double,” Celestia said.

She was right her copy seemed to be the exact copy of her, no physical differences at all.

“I’m surprised, I didn't expect to ever see my sister again,” the copy Celestia said.

“Ok everypony, lets all stop for a second so we can think,” we said.

“I’m confused, we look the same but we look like totally different ponies,” Pinkie said.

“I know, it makes it so hard to try and plan a party,” the opposite Twilight said.

“You like parties too?” Pinkie asked.

“Like parties, I love parties!” the opposite Twilight said.

“Now is not the time for a party,” the opposite Pinkie said.

I heard a thud behind me followed by shouting.

“I won't let you hurt my friends!” the white Sombra said.

“How could you have pathetically weak friends like that?” the dark sombra asked.

“And I can’t believe that I’ll have another chance at her,” Nightmare Moon said.

“You won’t hurt my sister,” Luna said getting in her way.

“We need to diffuse the situation,” I told myself.

“Indeed, I’ll take the Sombras,” I said.

“Alright,” I replied and went to stop Nightmare Moon and Luna.

“I know you are upset, but now is not the time,” I said to Nightmare Moon.

“Is there ever a bad time to take revenge?” she asked.

“Even if you did, it would be you against all of us. You have to accept that you have to cooperate for now,” I said.

“Fine, I’ll restrain myself from attacking her, for now,” she said.

Meanwhile the other me had split the Sombras apart.

“Now that that’s all settled can somepony tell me why we all have doubles, and why they’re so different than us?” Applejack asked.

“I activated the mirror by mistake and created doubles of all of us,” I said.

“And I have to find the right spell in order to fix this,” the other me finished.

“How long will that take?” Celestia asked.

“I don’t know, we found the mirror by chance, there’s no telling where the counterspell may be hidden,” I replied.

“The effect is similar to the Mirror Pond,” the other Pinkie said.

“Did you just say Mirror Pond?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, we sealed it up after an incident cause the town to me inundated with mindless clones of Twilight,” the opposite Pinkie said.

“We had the same problem, except it was Pinkie that caused it for us,” Twilight said.

“So each of you have memories that parallel our’s except they are changed by the nature of your being,” I said.

“It would appear so,” the other Celestia said.

“Except, we don’t know who you are,” the other Pinkie said.

“You don’t?” I asked.

“Nope, never seen you before,” the other Twilight said.

“I haven’t and I never forget a face,” the other Rarity said.

“Wo where are we?” the other Fluttershy asked.

“Saddle Arabia by the looks of it,” the other Celestia said.

“Oh...” the other copy ponies said, looking around nervously.

“What’s wrong with Saddle Arabia?” I asked.

“It is a rather hot place, not too suitable for us regular ponies,” the other Celestia said.

“Yeah, the empress is right, its way too hot here,” the other Twilight said.

Wait, did she just say EMPRESS?

“Empress?” Celestia said, voicing my thoughts.

“What, aren’t you the empress of Equestria?” the other Celestia asked.

“I’m the princess of Equestria,” Celestia said.

“Dear, I have much to teach you about ruling a country,” Empress Celestia said.

“Um, not to interrupt but, you know, shouldn’t we do something about this?” the other Rainbow Dash asked.

“Ok, Princess Celestia and Luna, you should return to Canterlot, let us handle this,” I said, I had gotten better at not talking in stereo.

“Are you sure you will be fine?” Luna asked.

“Yes.” my copy said.

“We will be fine.” I finished.

I was suspicious of this “Empress” Celestia, but the other doubles seemed ok, well except for Sombra and Nightmare Moon.

“You stay here and sort things out while I look for anything on the counterspell,” I told myself.

“Alright, I got this,” my double said.

“I’m sure I do,” I said with a chuckle. Who says that you can’t have a little fun with a perfect replica of yourself.

While I went back to the tower to search for the counterspell, I also talked to the others about what we should do.

“So, the way I see it each pony has a pair,” I began. “Twilight and Pinkie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, and Rarity and Applejack.”

“What about the rest of us?” the “Good” Sombra asked.

“WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE CREATOR IS GOING ON HERE?” Alim yelled.

“I accidentally activated the mirror and it made copies of all of us, well copy isn’t the right term, but you get the jist,” I said.

“I figured that since I just saw you going back to the ruins, and Celestia and Luna leaving for Equestria,” Alim said annoyed.

“We’re sorry that we created such a problem, we’ll help however we can,” the other Pinkie said.

“Perhaps you can help with sifting through the books and scrolls,” Alim said with a sigh.

“I’m great at sorting through books,” Twilight and the other Pinkie said at the same time.

“Sombra, can I count on you to keep an eye on yourself?” I asked.

“You sure can,” he said.

“And I’ll look after the princ...”

“Empress,” the other Celestia corrected me.
“Empress Celestia and Nightmare Moon,” I said.

“You’re putting me with her?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“No, there is one of me for each of you,” I said.

“Fine,” she said with a huff.

So we exited the tent and I brought the Mirror with me so it wouldn’t be tampered with.

“So what did I come up with?” I asked when the party arrived at the tower.

“Each of them has a partner, I split up Nightmare Moon and Celestia between us,” I replied.

“Sounds like a fine idea,” I said.

“That's because it was your idea, or I guess our idea,” my double said.

“Would this be considered talking to myself?” I asked.

“Well, I suppose so, but under the circumstances, it’s perfectly alright,” my copy replied.

“Ok, good,” I said.

Nightmare Moon refused to even be in the tower with Celestia so I had to wait with her in the tent, getting some rest for the night shift. Meanwhile the rest of us helped excavate and sort through any books or scrolls we found. I found out that I could actually communicate with my double through magical telepathy, so we kept tabs on each other, making sure the situation stayed normal.

We searched through the day while Nightmare Moon slept and I dozed off as well. What an odd feeling to be both asleep and awake, I was glad for the amulet, it allowed me to stay sharp. When we had found nothing by sunset, the crew went back to the camp and ate dinner while Nightmare moon and I got up and ate our meal before beginning our shift. Sombra tried to sneak out once, but a ping from my copy took care of that issue.

After that Nightmare Moon and I went to work in the tower. She was much more talkative and friendly with her Celestia asleep and night fallen.

“You know, I used to look up to her,” Nightmare Moon said.

“What?” I asked.

“Before she banished me. I looked up to my sister, thought she was the best thing in the world. Then when ponies started to shun the night she did nothing about it, she didn't even console me,” she said, both with anger and sadness.

“Hey,” I said in a soothing tone, “No pony shuns the night. Why would they? It’s full of magic the day cannot possibly provide.”

“You’re just saying that,” she said.

“You should know from Luna that I’m not,” I said.

“Yes, my alter ego, me before I became this,” she said, a tinge of anger in her voice.

I decided to steer the conversation back to the magic of the night, “You know, the night is so full of mystery, the sky for instance. During the day all you can see is the sun, but during the night a sea of beautiful stars reveal themselves. And the stars are one of the most wondrous things in the world. And the cool nights, with the soft light of the moon, are some of the best times to take a walk and see the amazing creatures that sleep during the day,” I said.

“You mean that?” she asked.

“Ask anypony, I’m sure they will tell you the same. Some of them just don’t realize it,” I said.

“You’re the first pony to tell me that there was something good about the night,” she said.

“And think about these people, they savor the night more than the day. The day only brings the hot sun, while the night brings cool and gentle breezes,” I said.

She began to tear, “You are doing this on purpose,” she said.

“Doing what?” I asked.

“Trying to get on my good side,” she said.

“No, I’m simply telling you the truth,” I said. “Now, the moon should not hide her beautiful face at night, lets get to work.”

“Yes, lets,” she said getting up.

We worked through the night, looking over many books and scrolls until, “Mixer, I think I have found something,” Nightmare Moon said.

“It says ‘Breaking the Mirror”,” she said.

“That sounds like just the thing we need,” I said.

I read the scroll and found that there were three spells to control the Mirror, an activation spell, a cancellation spell, and a spell to destroy the Mirror.

“Well, what does it say?” Nightmare Moon asked.

“It has the reversal spell, unfortunately it could get rid of the original or the copy,” I said.

“Oh...” she said.

“I’m sorr”

“Don’t, I understand, you have to get the original Luna back, and get rid of all of the copies,” she said.

I didn’t say anything, what could I say, “yeah, nice to know you but now you gotta go”.

“It’s alright, you have made me feel better than anypony ever has. I know how my other half feels, I feel all her worst emotions, so I don’t want her to feel like this. Make her happy Mixer,” Nightmare Moon said.

I was dumbstruck, not only was she saying that it was ok for us to zap her away, she wanted me to make Luna happy too. “O-okay,” I finally stammered.

“And make sure that witch Empress Celestia never gets her hooves on this scroll,” she said, her voice dripping with venom.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” I said.

“Good,” was all Nightmare Moon said before turning and walking out of the tower.

I followed and we slept for the rest of the night, the scroll and mirror both magically protected.

When I woke up, or at least one of me, I got up to see what time it was, I looked over at the other cot, which held me and a scroll and the mirror, ok know I know which one I am, I thought.

I was the first one up, so I didn’t wake anypony else up by making any undue noise. Applejack and the other Rarity were the first ones to wake up.

“Morning you two,” I said.

“Mornin Mixer,” Applejack said.

“Good morning,” the other Rarity said.

“Huh?” the other Pinkie Pie said waking up.

“Just sayin good morning,” Applejack said.

“And what a morning it is,” the other me said with a yawn.

“And what a night,” Nightmare Moon said.

“I’m sure it was,” the empress said provokingly.

“Better than you day,” Nightmare said, not in any particular tone, just as a matter of fact.

This got under her skin and she went outside. I followed her, keeping an eye on her. As the other me followed I waited for the others to wake up as well. It did not take long for the others to start stirring. Once everypony was up I told them all to get something to eat, as we would be headed back to the city.

After everypony ate we gathered up what things we needed and headed back to the city with Alim at the head.

“I take it that you found the counterspell?” Alim asked me when we were out of earshot of the others.

“Yes, I have had my double show Twilight the spell just in case we need a backup caster,” I replied.

“I hope you have the mirror and the scroll secure,” he said.

“Yes, I have the scroll and my double has the mirror,” I replied.

“What do you plan to do?” Alim asked.

“I plan to get back to the city then tomorrow I will get rid of the copies,” I replied.

“Why wait?” Alim asked.

“Because, I don’t want to just surprise them with it, I’m a bit more tactile than that,” I said.

“Very well, I will trust your judgment,” Alim said.

When we arrived at the city it was just past midday and we were greeted at the gates by Haakim himself.

“Mixer, you’re back, and with an interesting entourage,” he said.

“Yes, well, I can explain that later, for now we could use a rest. The others are not used to this kind of heat,” I said.

“Of course,” he said.

We followed him into the palace and the others got food and drink while I went with Alim to store the Mirror. While I was off doing that my double was explaining the situation to Haakim.

“So you found the mirror and activated it?” he asked.

“Yes, and I have the counterspell to correct it, but I’m waiting till tomorrow to use it,” I replied.

“Sir!” a guard called running in.

“What, what’s wrong?” Haakim asked.

“It’s the minotaurs, they are moving down from the highlands. They have a warband headed this way,” the guard said in between breaths.

“Why would they attack us now?” Haakim asked.

“How long until they get here?” I asked.

“They will be here in just over an hour,” the guard said.

“That gives us little time to prepare,” I said.

“It gives us plenty,” Haakim said.

“What kind of defences do you have?” I asked.

“We have our walls, but also a catapult,” Haakim said.

“You have a catapult?” I asked.

“Yes, though we mostly use it for celebrations,” Haakim said.

“I have an idea of how we can use that catapult. Can you get me some supplies?” I asked.

“What kind of supplies?” he asked.

“Some spices and a few other materials, some paper or jars perhaps,” I said.

“What are you planning?” Haakim asked.

“Spice bombs. We can use them to disorient the minotaurs, and we can make them fairly easily,” I said.

“I’ll get on that right away,” Haakim said running off to take care of his preparations.

I called the others together to tell them what was going on.

“Minotaurs? What are we gonna do?” Pinkie asked with fright.

“We are going to help the Saddle Arabians defeat them,” I said.

“How?” Twilight asked.

“Because,” I said, a smile crossing my face, “We have all of you.”

“The plan is to have each of you help in the way you are best suited,” my double said.

“Nightmare Moon, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, can you three fly over them and drop spice bombs onto them?” I asked.

“Can I do a sonic rainboom?” Rainbow dash countered.

“Which ones?” Fluttershy asked.

“Our Rainbow Dash and the copy Fluttershy,” I answered.

“What about us?” the other Rainbow Dash asked.

“You and Fluttershy can stay here in the palace. Twilight, I want you and the other Pinkie to give us some battle strategy. If things change I won’t be able to pay attention to the whole city,” I said.

“You can count on us,” the other Pinkie said.

“And us?” Pinkie asked.

“You and other Twilight help the civilians with whatever preparations they need,” I replied.

“And what about us?” Applejack asked.

“You help the guards get everything ready, weapons armor, whatever,” I said.

“Who else is gonna go with me?” she asked.

“You can take the other Rarity. You don't mind do you?” I asked the other Rarity.

“Let’s go Applejack!” she said.

“And what about us?” Rarity asked, indicating her and the other Applejack.

“Can you man the catapult?” I asked.

“I suppose we could,” the other Applejack said.

“Thanks, that leaves me and the Sombras,” I said.

“What about me?” empress Celestia asked.

“You can sit this one out, don’t want you getting hurt,” I said.

“So what are we going to do?” good Sombra asked.

“You can take the east gate, I will take the south with Haakim, and the other me will stay with the other Sombra on the west gate,” I said.

“Ok, anything else?” he asked.

“Yes, if you have to seal the gates with crystal, it is imperative that they don’t get through the gates,” I said.

“I see you have already began to sort your people out,” Alim said running in. “We are preparing the supplies you need for the spice bombs,” he said.

“Good. Can you stay here and protect Amira and Celestia while the battle goes on?” I asked.

“I am stationed in the palace anyway, I am to work on a sandstorm spell to repel them,” he said.

“Ok, I will go to work on the bombs, you get the spell ready,” I said.

“Good luck,” Alim said to me as I left.

The spices were prepared and I made two types of bombs, one for pony use and one for the catapult. I was able to make around twenty of the smaller spice bombs, but only around five larger ones in the time we had left. As I sent the bombs to be distributed to out flyers and the catapult, I heard war horns sound in the distance.
I flew on a crystal up to the ramparts to see what was going on.

“What’s happening?” I asked Haakim, who now had some armor on and two scimitars sheathed at his sides.

“They are here,” he said.

I looked out and saw a large army of minotaurs, all of them with red war paint and and axes in hand. scattered about the horde were banners of a hoof print on a red background.

“There are so many of them,” I said, eyes wide.

“They have gathered under a warchief,” Haakim said.

I looked to see if everypony was in position. OUr flyers were being loaded up with spice bombs, the catapult was being loaded, and I could see the two Sombras and my copy on the other gates.

The horde approached the city from the south and stopped a few hundred feet away from the gate. A large minotaur with a large battleax and ornaments adorning his long horns stepped out from the front of the warband.

“Puny ponies! We will flatten your city and reclaim the land of our ancestors,” the minotaur bellowed.

There were cheers and bellows from the horde as his voice carried across the open space.

“Leave this place now savages!” Haakim shouted back, his voice almost painfully loud.

The minotaurs stamped their hooves and pounded the ground with their weapons, before the chief signaled with his ax for the horde to attack.

I made an audio crystal and sent it to the catapult.

“Fire when they get in range,” I said.

“Ok,” Rarity replied.

I watched as the minotaurs charged at the city, their hooves thundering across the dry earth. I heard the sound of the catapult throwing the first spicebomb. The shell hit and burst, sending a cloud of stinging spice dust into the air, filling the eyes and noses of the some of the minotaurs. Few of the ones hit were able to keep going, but most had doubled over or stopped to rub burning eyes and noses.

I sent up a magical flare signaling Nightmare Moon and the others to start their bombing run. They circled over the approaching horde before three small jars dropped onto the charging minotaurs. These smaller bombs only took out one or two each, unlike the catapult shells.

“We have to do something else, they are not stopping,” Haakim said pacing nervously.

“I can brace the gate with crystal to prevent them from breaking it,” I said.

“Do it,” he said, eye locked on the coming wave of minotaurs.

I created a few crystal from my seed crystal pendant and dropped them into the space in front of the large wooden doors; then crystals started to grow up from the ground and form a barrier in front of the gate, barring entry.

“That should stop them from breaching the gate,” I said.

“Indeed, and not a moment too soon,” Haakim said as the first of the minotaur warriors reached the walls.

They tried beating on the crystal wall but found that it only repelled their axes and clubs. They then took to scaling the walls.

“Ready yourselves!” Haakim said.

“Mixer!” I heard Spike call from farther along the wall.

“Spike, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“Twilight says that Alim will be longer casting the spell than he thought,” the purple dragon said huffing.

“Tell her that we will buy the time that Alim needs,” I said shooing him back to the palace.

By now the first of the scalers had successfully clambered up the walls and were being engaged by the city defenders.

“You shall not take this city!” Haakim shouted as he kicked a minotaur off the ramparts.

By now our flyers had run out of bombs and had flown back to take up another payload, while the catapult was firing the large spice bombs into the crowds of minotaurs. The minotaurs were disorganized before the clouds of spice had done their work, now they were spreading out even more.

“They are gaining ground,” a guard said, as he cut into a minotaur.

“We must repel them,” Haakim shouted as he engaged a minotaur that had cleared itself room on the rampart.

I created six sharp crystals that I was using to help repel the attackers but every time we would knock one off the wall, another would climb up to fill his place.

Nightmare Moon and the others flew in low and knocked a few more off the walls before landing by Haakim and I.

“We are out of bombs,” Rainbow Dash said.

“And so is the catapult,” Nightmare Moon said.

“How many of them are there?!” I asked taking a space that opened next to Haakim.

“Hundreds,” Rainbow Dash said dropping hard on a climbing minotaur.

“And they don’t look like they intend to give up,” the other Fluttershy said knocking another loose.

“How long does it normally take Alim to conjure a sandstorm?” I asked Haakim as we fought off a pair of minotaurs.

“A few minutes, but you are right, he should have finished by now,” he said.

A cry came from behind us as a minotaur prepared to bring his ax down on us. He was surprised when a rope caught his ax and pulled it out of his grasp.

“Thought y’all might need a some help,” Applejack said tackling the minotaur, knocking him off balance and tumbling over the edge

“Thanks AJ,” I said.

“Don’t mention it,” she said as the other Rarity ran up next to her.

“We brought some weapons,” the other Rarity said, showing two spears and a sword.

I heard minotaurs yelling in pain as they were struck by blasts of magic. Twilight was running along the walls from the east gate, firing blast of magical energy at any minotaurs that stood in her way.

“Twilight! what are you doing here?” I questioned.

“I came to help,” she said running up.

“What about Alim?” Haakim asked.

“He wasn't able to use the spell by himself so I left the other Twilight with him to help. She might not be as focused as I am, but she is still powerful,” Twilight responded.

“What about Celestia?” I asked, trying to hide the concern in my voice.

“She has been observing the battle the whole time, just like you told her,” Twilight said.

“We need to do something, they keep coming and the guards are starting to give up ground,” I said.

“That’s why I’m here,” Twilight said, blasting another minotaur.

I could see that as the minotaurs had started climbing, they had spread out to cover more of the wall, trying to find a chink in the defence. The warchief was nowhere to be seen, but the rest were all massed around the walls waiting to get a chance to climb the defence and try to gain a hoofhold.

“Look!” Twilight called.

The air felt thick as winds started to sweep across the landscape. The minotaurs took no notice but the guardsmen knew that salvation was near and redoubled their efforts. Soon the winds ripped and tore at the dry earth, picking up sand and dust, forming the beginnings of a sandstorm.

“Everypony get down!” Haakim shouted.

The minotaurs seemed confused that all the defenders had stopped fighting and crouched next to the low walls and crenulations of the ramparts. Their confusion didn’t last long as strong winds began to tear across the exposed walls, carrying minotaurs of the ramparts and plummeting down to the rest of them.

As the gale subsided, winds began to swirl around the walls, bringing biting winds and abrasive sand upon the minotaurs gathered at the city’s walls.

The howls of the minotaurs could be heard as they were buffeted by the sand and forced to retreat from the battle. From the walls we could see the sandstorm spreading out from the city, like ripples from a pond, pushing the minotaurs farther away and ensuring they would think twice before returning.
There were cheers as the defenders celebrated victory.

The rest of the our group met up in front of the palace.

“How did everypony do?” I asked.

“I had little trouble protecting the east gate,” good Sombra said triumphantly.

“It was surprising,” my copy said. “Sombra was fighting the minotaurs before I even told him to.”

“Obviously Nightmare Moon and the others did great,” Applejack said.

“And Rarity is one heck of a shot too,” Rainbow Dash said.

“And we can’t forget about Mixer,” she said. “Without your help I’m not sure how well we would have done.”

“Indeed,” Haakim said patting me on the shoulder, “Without you we might have lost the gates in the first charge.”

“Alim is the one who saved the day, the sandstorm was what pushed them back,” I said.

We went in the palace and we went to go congratulate Alim on his work. He walked down a flight of stairs flanked by Fluttershy, the other Rainbow Dash, and the other Pinkie Pie.

“Great job Alim!” I said.

“I would not have had the time without you to hold them off,” he said.

“Hey, where’s the other Twilight?” the other me asked.

“Here I am,” she said walking down the stairs, slightly winded.

“And there she is, the one who helped me cast the spell,” Alim said.

“It was tough, but I did it!” she said cheerfully.

I looked around, my copy doing the same, and asked in stereo, “Where is Celestia?”

“Last I saw here she was watching the battle,” the other Pinkie said.

Both of me speed upstairs looking for Celestia and the Mirror.

“What’s up with you?” Twilight asked following us.

“Oh nononono,” I said.

“This is very bad,” the other me said.

“What?” Twilight asked worried as the others followed.

“Celestia is gone,” I said.

“And so is the Mirror,” my copy added.

“I KNEW SHE WOULD BETRAY US!” Nightmare Moon yelled, with a snort of fury.

“Haakim, I sent word to celestia earlier today that we would be ready to go by tomorrow. If she gets here and the empress learns how to use the cancellation, she will have no pony to stop her from getting rid of Celestia and Luna,” I said.

“We have to find her!” good Sombra said.

“Haakim, Alim, you get everypony out of the palace, once you have form a perimeter and don’t let anypony in or out until morning,” I said.

“What are we going to do?” Twilight asked.

“We are going to search this place top to bottom until we find her. But we should wait until the palace is empty,” I said.

After the palace was evacuated we met in the throne room to discuss our strategy.

“We should split into teams to cover more ground,” I said spreading a floor plan of the palace out on a table.

“There are three floors and a basement to cover,” my double said.

“That’s why we are going to split into seven teams of two and one of three,” I said.

“How are we gonna be split up?” Applejack asked.

“Ok, from top to bottom, Applejack, I want you and the other Rarity to check the top floor, it is smaller so you will be the only two up there. Rarity, you and the other Applejack will be on the second floor with Pinkie and the other Twilight. There will be three teams on the first floor, one of me and Sombra, one of Twilight and the other Pinkie Pie, and one of Rainbow Dash and Nightmare Moon. Finally The other me will take the basement with the other Fluttershy, leaving good Sombra to look after Fluttershy and the other Rainbow Dash,” I explained, pointing to each floor in turn.

“What if we find her?” Rarity asked.

“Yell for the others. Should you clear your floor, you will go down one floor and help the others do another sweep.,” I said.

“Um, am I interrupting?” the voice came from a doorway off to the left.

“It’s her!” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Wait,” Celestia tried to say but was silenced by simultaneous tackles from Rainbow Dash and the other Fluttershy.

“What are you doing Rainbow Dash?” Celestia asked as she squirmed under the two pegasi.

“Quiet Empress!” the other Fluttershy said.

“Empress?” Celestia asked before Nightmare Moon fell on her as well.

“This is gonna feel good,” she said as she prepared to start beating Celestia.

I held her back while my copy put a magic inhibitor ring on Celestia.

“We don’t have to beat her, plus this might not even be the real one,” I said.

“What do you mean?” Nightmare Moon asked, still straining to bring her hoof down on Celestia.

“She could have used the mirror to create a copy of herself,” I said, binding Celestia with some crystal shackles.

“What is going on here?” Celestia asked with annoyance.

“Wait, you questioned the title ‘empress’ when Fluttershy said it,” I said, no longer holding Nightmare Moon back.

“Yes, why would you call me empress?” she asked.

I looked at my copy, “This is not good.”

“How could she have possibly done this?” my copy asked.

“I don’t know, she couldn’t have more knowledge of the Mirror that us, she only just learned of its existence,” I said.

“Unless...” I trailed off looking at the other copies.

“What?” the other Pinkie asked.

“Are you saying that we knew about this?” the other Fluttershy asked.

“I’m saying that you seemed to know something that we didn’t,” I said.

“You don’t think that that matters, do you?” the other Twilight asked the other Pinkie.

“Oh dear...” the other Pinkie said.

“What?” I asked.

“You know how we have those memories that are like yours?” she asked.

“Oh no,” I said, already knowing where this was going.

“Yeah, Celestia conquered Saddle Arabia. She probably wants to do the same with you world,” the other Pinkie said.

“We need to find her now, Nightmare Moon, Rainbow Dash, you watch this Celestia, everypony else split up,” I said.

I went with Sombra to check one side of the first floor while my double went with the other Fluttershy to check out the basement.
--

“So we’re checking the dungeon, looking for an ultra powerful alicorn, who could have created an army of copies that are just as powerful as her, great,” the other Fluttershy said.

“Shh, I think I heard something,” I said looking around the gloomy dungeon.

A circle on the ground around a cage drew my attention.

As we got closer the light from my horn started to waver and flicker.

“I thought you were more powerful than that?” Fluttershy asked mockingly.

“It’s that circle, its affecting my magic,” I said.

“Who goes there, is it the shadows, or is it more silly ponies?” an old voice said from inside the cage.

“You are not going to mess with whatever that is are you?” Fluttershy asked.

I stepped inside the circle giving my answer, “Who are you?”

“Ah, this one is new, smells different,” the voice said.

An old unicorn moved to the front of the cage to give me a look. “Ahhh, a unicorn, maybe the old grump Alim kicked the bucket,” the old unicorn in the cage said.

“Alim is still very much alive,” I said.

“What a pity, he would never play any games, always so serious,” the unicorn said.

“Let’s go, he’s just a crazy old unicorn,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, and he has a little butterfly with him. Tell me butterfly does the sky still taste as sweet as it did?” he asked.

“I’m not a butterfly, I’m a pegasus,” Fluttershy said indignantly.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked.

“I sit, and I wait, and I eat when they feed me. On occasion I enjoy a game or two with somepony who likes to ask questions, much like yourself. Care to play?” he asked.

“What kind of game?” I asked wearily.

“The fun kind.” he said.

“Ok, what's the game?” I asked as Fluttershy rolled her eyes.

“Oh goodie, I ask you a question, and then you give me a question. One question then one answer for each,” he said.

“Would you like to ask me a question?” I asked.

“Good, you catch on fast, what is your name?” he asked.
--

Meanwhile on the first floor I was patrolling with Sombra.

“You don’t expect me to go easily?” he asked.

“You don’t have to go quietly, but you will go,” I said.

He continued walking just in front of me when I thought I saw some movement through a doorway. Sombra must have seen my lapse in concentration, because he shot for the door way. I chased him through the door, only to stop dead when the door slammed behind me and I saw Celestia sitting by a window with Sombra standing in front of her, ready to fight me.

“Clever girl,” I said.

“You made it so easy though, putting yourself and Sombra into the same team,” Celestia said.

“Now, you’re mine,” Sombra said sealing the doors with crystal, creating a battleground of crystal formations. I had a magic inhibitor ring with me and tried to get it on his horn as he lunged at me. I was able to get it onto him, but not before he used his magic to cover my horn with the same crystal affliction that he had used on Shining Armor.

“No magic for either of us, just a straight up fight,” I said.

I prepared to jump at Sombra and he did the same as Celestia looked on, watching her new champion fight her newest enemy.
--

“Nothin on the third floor,” Applejack said,

“And nothing on the second floor either,” Rarity said.

After searching the three teams on the third and second floors had met up with Twilight and Nightmare Moon in the first floor atrium.

“Has Mixer come back yet?” Pinkie asked.

“No, he did not come back here,” Rainbow Dash said.

“And we didn't meet up with him or Sombra on our patrol either,” Twilight said.

“We should go look for him,” Nightmare Moon said.
--

“Why did we have to go in the dark scary basement?” fluttershy asked Sombra.

“We aren’t even in the dungeon,” Sombra said.

“Don’t remind me,” the other Rainbow Dash said.

“You two don’t have to worry, I’ll keep this place nice and lit up,” Sombra said increasing the power of the illumination spell he was using.

“Thanks,” Fluttershy said.

The three of them had been sent to check out the basement storage area while Mixer and the other Fluttershy investigated the dungeon.

“I think I see something over there!” the other Rainbow Dash said.

“I don’t see anything,” Sombra said trying to soothe the two jumpy pegasi.

“I think I saw it too,” Fluttershy said.

Evil laughter filled the room as the shadows themselves closed in on the three of them.
Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash screamed and clung to Sombra, seeking safety from the consuming shadows.
--

“It seems we are evenly matched,” I said, huffing after fighting Sombra for countless minutes.

“You will never be my equal,” Sombra said jumping at me again. I was ready and sidestepped him, letting him overshoot me and land past me.

“I might not be as strong as you, but you can’t beat me,” I said as I charged him.
--

The others had looked along my search path until they came to the door that was covered in crystal.

“Mixer are you in there?” Twilight called.

They listened and heard fighting from the other side of the door.

“Rarity can you help me with this crystal?” Twilight asked.

Rarity and Twilight tried to remove the crystal from the door, but it regrew as soon as they shrank.

They heard a thud followed by a loud grunt.

“Mixer!” Twilight called.

“Twilight?” I said as I recovered from being thrown by Sombra.

“We can’t get through the door.” she called.

Sombra charged at me and I moved to the side and tripped him as he passed. “I’m a little busy right now,” I shouted.

“I have grown weary of this display,” Celestia said as she used the Mirror to make a copy of Sombra. This Copy was not an opposite, but the same as the one I was fighting, except it didn't have its magic inhibited.

“Finish him will you,” she said to the new Sombra.

“Gladly,” he said, using his magic to throw sharp crystals at me.
--

“Rarity, Applejack go find the other Mixer and Sombra, maybe they can take care of this barrier.” Twilight said.

The two of them ran to the basement to retrieve the Mixer that was currently engaged in a back and forth with the strange old pony.
--

“How old exactly are you?” I asked shocked.

“Several hundred years, and don't let anypony tell you I’m not still spry,” the unicorn, whom I now knew was called Salazar, said.

“How can you be that old?” I asked,

“You didn’t give me an answer!” he said angrily.

“Mixer, I hear hoofsteps coming,” the other Fluttershy said.

“Mixer!” Rarity called.

“Mixer!” the same call came from Applejack.

“Leaving so soon?” Salazar asked.

“Yes,” I said curtly as we headed towards the voices.

“We’re here,” I said.

“Thank heavens,” Rarity said as we reached the stairs leading up to the first floor. “You need help, Sombra is fighting you in a room and we can’t get in,” she said.

“Where?” I asked.

“Follow us,” Applejack said.

We followed her as they ran through the halls toward where I was fighting the two Sombras.
--

I let out a grunt as Sombra and I rolled across the floor. The other Sombra was trying to toss spikes at me without impaling his counterpart. I ended up on top and gave Sombra a good punch to the face before jumping out of the way of a large crystal.

“Too slow,” I said, just as a smaller chunk hit me.

“Mixer!” Twilight cried as I made a loud “oof”, when I hit the wall.

“We need to get in there!” Nightmare Moon said.

“Are key just got here!” Applejack said as the four of us ran up to the door.

“Let me at it,” I said, lowering the crystal. It was receding slowly, but it would take a minute or so to be able to open the door.

“This is taking too long!” Nightmare Moon said, spreading her wings and jumping through a nearby window.
--

Empress Celestia laughed as Sombra held me down and beat on me.

“Not so tough now are you?” Sombra asked, punctuation his question with another punch.

I tried to throw him off, “You know, you really should use you head,” I said, headbutting him.

He staggered of allowing me to stand up.

“Enough of this!” Celestia said, “Finish him!”

The two Sombras closed in on me, read to do exactly that. Then I saw a shadow through the window, and Nightmare Moon broke through the window and tackled Celestia.

“Get off of me you pathetic excuse of a sister!” Celestia bellowed, Nightmare Moon holding her down.

“Empress!” the Sombras said as they turned around.

I jumped on them and held them down while the other me finished opening the door.

“Quick get rid of her!” Nightmare Moon yelled.

“But we would hit you too,” Twilight said.

The Sombras shook me off, but the other me was already on them and trying to subdue them.

“Do it now!” Nightmare Moon said.

“But...” Twilight said conflicted.

“I can't hold her for much longer, do it now. Don’t worry about me, you still have Princess Luna,” she said.

“Okay,” Twilight said preparing the spell.

“Mixer, thank you,” she said before Twilight cancelled both her and Celestia.

“Now to deal with these two,” I said as both me and my copy each held down a Sombra.

“I’m not going to use the spell on you too,” Twilight said.

“Just use it on me,” the me that had the afflicted horn.

“It’s, alright Twilight, we’re both the same so it doesn’t matter which one goes,” I said.

“Alright,” Twilight said uncertain.

She used the cancellation and both my copy and one of the Sombras disappeared.

“Now, we can deal with the rest of this mess,” I said knocking Sombra out.
--

Down in the basement storage, the shadows melted away and the scared mares calmed down a bit.

“Something happened,” Sombra said.

“Yes, lets get out of the creepy basement,” Fluttershy said.

They hurried upstairs and found the ponies had gathered in the throne room, Sombra bound on one side and no Nightmare Moon.

“What happened?” Sombra asked.

“We were just about to come get you three. It’s time to wrap this up,” I said, for the first time in a while, without another one of me around.

“You took care of Celestia?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, and Nightmare Moon and my copy,” I said.

“Is everypony ready?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, I think we all are,” the other Pinkie said.

All the copy ponies lined up and prepared to be returned.

“It was an interesting day,” the other Pinkie said.

“I’ll miss you guys,” the other Twilight said, starting to cry.

“You definitely got guts Mixer,” the other Fluttershy said.

“You were great, all of you,” the other Rarity said.

“I’ll never forget this,” the other Applejack said.

“It was nice meeting all of you,” the other Rainbow Dash said, shyly.

“Aw, don’t make this sad,” Pinkie said giving each one of them a hug.

“We’re ready,” they said in unison.

“Ok,” Twilight said, preparing the spell.

The six of them disappeared as the spell made contact with them.

“Now we only have to get rid of the extra Celestia and do something about Sombra,” I said.

“Sorry about this princess, but we need to restore things to normal,” Twilight said.

“I understand,” the Celestia copy said and silently accepted the spell.

“What about me?” Sombra asked.

“I have a special spell for that,” I said.

“You do?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, if you could be so kind as to bring me the Mirror,” I said.

She handed me the Mirror and I prepared to use the spell, “Sombra stand next to the other you.”

He walked over to stand beside his bound counterpart.

“Ready,” Sombra said, as his counterpart simply growled and thrashed.

I discharged the spell and both Sombras cried in pain as they were fused back together.

“Ugh, what happened?” Sombra asked.

“It’s a long story,” I said.

He shook his head and laughed, “I’m sure it is.”
--

In the morning we walked out of the palace and told Haakim that everything was settled.
“It is good to hear that,” he said.
“What about the Mirror?” alim asked.
“I locked the Mirror in your study, along with the scroll,” I said.

“Good,” he said.

“It was good to be here and establish the friendship between our nations, but I will be returning to Equestria with the others,” I told Haakim and Alim.

“You will be missed Mixer, one does not often find such good warriors, or such good friends,” Haakim said shaking my hoof.

“I will be sad to see you go, but I will await the next time we get to work together,” Alim said.

I gave Alim a hooveshake and he pulled me into an embrace.

“Good luck my friend,” he said.

“And to you as well but,” I yawned, “I need some sleep after last night.”

“We couldn’t deny you that,” Haakim said with a chuckle.

Author's Note:

I didn't know how hard it was to write in the first person with two of them, so I did my best.
Next book things get real different as Mixer returns to Equestria.