//------------------------------//
// XVI - The Secret 
// Story: Broken Mirror 
// by GMBlackjack 
//------------------------------//

>> Ah, Destiny...

Some of us are wired to understand it, to feel it. To feel the pain which we take in this... thing known as life. I am one of them, a certain pink bundle of cotton candy is another. We see things differently than anyone else - we see that there are heroes, and there are villains. That what can go wrong will go wrong. And that some individuals are at the focal point of destiny, deemed to be important for seemingly no reason whatsoever.

It is a cruel joke, really. Some people are doomed to never amount to anything, forced into a life of mediocrity. Some are thrown into the spotlight and toyed with by the events unfolding around them. Some of this is predictable. If you were born into royalty, expect to be on the scene of endless drama and action, an unending swirl of chaos that the general public eats up like some kind of show. The same rule does not follow for those of low stature. Many a cosmic plaything have been taken from perfectly normal lives and families and thrust into their destiny. Some take the call gladly. Others, not so much. It doesn't matter - it still happens. The call cannot be refused. Usually.

There are those who can defy destiny, ignore it and supersede all the rules. This is different from those like me, who just know how things work. Defiant ones don't know exactly what they're doing. They haven't the foggiest idea that they are free from the ties of destiny... They could change things, in theory. Destroy prophecies. Create new ones. 

Here's a spoiler. In the end, the joke's on them. Because they can do this - because they can defy destiny, nature, and all the rest, they become entangled in the destiny of others. Unless, of course, they wanted to live a boring life as a farmer or something. They could probably remain unimportant all they wanted. They would know their place, and nobody would ever find them.

Tragic either way, really. In the end, choosing your own destiny still means you have one. There is no true escape. 

But the question to ask is thus: do we truly want to escape?


~~~


Their eyes eventually adjusted to the intense brightness. What they saw through the door made their jaws drop. Inside... Well, it looked like outside. Except it was much brighter - the grass was a vibrant green, the trees lush, and the sky a brilliant blue. The houses that dotted the rolling hills were all unique - no two looking anything like the others. Some were tall and pointed, others barely large enough to fit three ponies inside. Some were painted all the colors of the rainbow, while others were a simple beige. Some looked like palaces, others like sheds. There were farms, fountains, and even a few cloud houses floating around. 

But none of them held a candle to the glorious structure in the center. It seemed to be a building composed entirely of magic, with hundreds of round symbols rotating along the outside, more than a few resembling clocks and hourglasses. Directly above it was a fiery globe that illuminated the area, sparking off soft golden magical energies. This light revealed something - this wasn't outside at all. They were in a large cavern. To the left shadows from trees cast onto the 'sky,' and there were no clouds whatsoever beyond the ones that made up the houses, and in one section far away there was a cave opening in 'mid-air.' The gigantic cavern was fake - a convincing lie, to be sure, but still just a cavern dressed up to look like a paradise.

But the ponies that lived here didn't seem to care. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, all lived and moved with genuine smiles on their faces, waving greetings with one another, and in the case of one individual, dancing in public. 

They were living in harmony. 

Fluttershy spoke first. "This is... Some secret you have here, Starlight." She extended her hoof. "I'm Fluttershy."

It was Starlight's turn to let her jaw drop. "F-Fluttershy? My gosh... Your reputation precedes you."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "It... Does?"

Starlight bowed slightly. "It is an honor." She stood up and turned to Twilight. "You must be Princess Twilight Sparkle of Harmony, then."

"Yes," Twilight said, mind reeling.

"Still trying to get into my head then?"

"Oh! Sorry, that's automatic-"

Starlight held up a hoof. "No need to apologize. I could use the practice in mental defense. Plus, I did just drag you all down here against your will, you have the right to some leeway."

Twilight blinked. "...Well, that's a first."

"I'm the first for a lot of things!" Starlight smirked. "Come, I'll treat you to dinner, we can talk more there. I guarantee you won't be harmed. Unless you've got some racist savage in your group, but..." She looked at Pinkie and Applejack. "I doubt it."

Fluttershy nodded. "Lead the way."

Starlight did just that - trotting down a simple brick road towards the building made of magic. they passed dozens of ponies on the way there. Most just waved, smiled, or said: "hey Starlight!" One unicorn stallion walked up to them, laughing. "Quite the crop you've got us this time, Glimmy."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "You know newcomers don't like being equated to farm produce."

Applejack raised a hoof. "Ah don't mind."

"I do," Rarity said.

The stallion shrugged. "Eh, really, does it matter?"

"First impressions are everything," Starlight said. "By the way, the purple one is not only royalty, but she's also reading your thoughts right now. Am I correct in assuming they're extremely lewd?"

The unicorn turned beat red. "Uh..."

Twilight smirked coyly. "Quite the imagination you got there."

Minuette burst into laughter. The stallion just galloped off, blushing furiously.

"Well, hew as a treasure trove of information," Twilight said. "...I think I'm just more confused now."

"It's best to explain over a meal," Starlight said. "And when everypony's sitting down. To be fair, most start freaking out by now."

"Lady, we've had out entire worldview turned completely upside-down in the course of about a week," Minuette pointed out. "It'd take quite a bit to faze us at this point."

"It looks like home..." Rarity said, rubbing a hoof over the grass. "The grass feels right..."

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "More and more surprises from you. I expect I'll have just as many questions for you as you will for me."

Pinkie grinned. "Yay! Questions!"

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Crap... Questions..."

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "Questions are the essence of understanding."

Pinkie giggled at this.

They soon arrived at the magic house. Starlight lit her horn, causing the hundreds of magic symbols to rotate, twist, and lock into place- forming a door that she reached out and opened. The interior was filled with clocks - all ticking continually in a rhythmic way, creating an oddly soothing sound. Many of them glowed slightly with blue magic, while others appeared to be completely clockwork. A few of the mares became nervous at all the clockwork everywhere - though they took the fact that the house was bigger on the inside in stride. 

Rarity smiled. "Oh? You make clocks?"

"Time is an amazing thing," Starlight said. "When I'm not helping run this place, it's what I do." She opened one of the clocks, put on a pair of glasses, and used her magic to shift a gear slightly to the left. "Sorry, it was off by a fourth of a second. Come, the dining room's this way."

They entered a room filled with just as many clocks as the entryway, in the center of which was a table that could seat six ponies. With a quick spell, Starlight increased the size to seat more. She opened a few dozen cupboards, setting plates and silverware for nine. she grabbed several fruits, vegetables, and even a few desserts, setting them out to be enjoyed. "Please, sit."

"Woah... This looks delicious." Applejack said, sitting down.

"I've gained a talent for quick meals over the years," Starlight admitted.

"We should give you some of ours!" Pinkie said, pulling a cake out of her mane along with a platter of cookies, setting them on the table. 

Starlight blinked. "I... I didn't think it was possible for an earth to acutely manipulate magic..."

"Everypony says that!" Pinkie giggled.

"Oh! I have some manticore meat!" Minuette said, setting some on the table.

Rarity facehoved. "Really Minuette? In front of our host?"

"I won't judge," Starlight said. "I've sampled meats myself. Can't really produce them down here, you understand, but I'm known to enjoy some bits from time to time. Please, eat. Let us figure out what in Equis is going on here."

"Agreed," the Inspector affirmed, digging into a quesadilla. Twilight looked at the food item with uncertainty. 

"First..." Fluttershy said, "introductions. You know me and Twilight. These are our friends, Inspector Rarity Belle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Commander Minuette, Pinkie Pie, and Iris Shard."

Rarity raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing.

"Well, I don't have any fancy titles..." Starlight admitted, looking at all of them closely. As Pinkie dug into a pineapple, Starlight swiftly used her magic to return her table to a spotless, clean state. "But I do have this little secret here."

"Tell us about this place," Fluttershy said, stars in her eyes.

"Well... It doesn't really have a name. It's just... A place of harmony. Here everypony is happy and cared for, and there's no division. Unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies - and now alicorns I suppose - live together in harmony. It goes a little beyond that though. We have a few griffons, zebras, dogs, and even a dragon living amongst us."

"You yumff a muffin' drammn?" Rainbow Dash asked, spewing bread crumbs everywhere.

Starlight made the mess vanish. "Yes, her name is Tem. Lives over in the cave built into our 'sky.' A gentle creature, surprising for how large she is, with a love for everyone."

"How did this... amazing place come to be?" Fluttershy asked.

"I... I started it some time ago. A rather traumatizing experience as a filly - my best friend was killed for daring to treat an earth pony with kindness - I swore I could create a safe place for all like him and those he cared about. I already knew about this cavern - discovered the empty place when I was a young filly, had to climb out with my own four hooves. Anyone who I saw hurting of afraid, I took here. It... was literally a cave at first, and they relied on me to provide everything for them. But, over time, I got better at magic, and ponies with more varying skills entered, and we just... made it work, in the end." She paused. "That's the extremely abridged version. We were almost discovered several times in the early days, my hometown was purged, and my adventures to learn the complex magic needed to keep this place hidden could fill several books."

"Cool!" Pinkie said. "Oooooooone thing though - why'd you drag us in?"

Starlight moved to answer, but Fluttershy raised a wing. "I believe I can answer that. You can't take any chances that your secret gets out. Anypony who gets close is forcibly taken in and not allowed to leave."

"...That is correct," Starlight said pensively. 

"What?" Rainbow Dash blurted. "You're going to keep us here!?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't let there be any chance we get discovered." She looked at Fluttershy with sad eyes. "I... I know you have a great vision of the future for Equestria. Ponies stumble upon this place and speak highly of you. But... we have a future here. There's not one out there."

"Bullshit!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Fluttershy, we aren't taking this, are we? Are we?"

"...Dash, we were fleeing to Griffonstone. We were on the run." Fluttershy shook her head. "And Starlight's right - even if we are trustworthy and have no intention of telling, mind reading exists. Torture exists. And they'd find this wondrous place and run it into the ground."

Twilight nodded. "That's exactly what they'd do..."

"So what?" Rainbow Dash shouted. "We're just going to sit here and do nothing?"

"That... Might not be a bad thing," Rarity said. She saw Minuette nodding in agreement.

"...Really? Really?" Rainbow Dash threw her hooves into the air. "This is stupid!"

"No, it's not," the Inspector said. "It's smart."

Rainbow Dash was clearly not happy, but she shut up. Twilight frowned. "Rainbow..."

Rainbow Dash groaned. "Don't do anything stupid, I know, I know..."

Fluttershy turned to Starlight - nothing that the unicorn was adjusting the silverware again. "What else can you tell us about how this place works? That was no ordinary tunnel back there."

"Time distortion," Starlight said. "Time inside here is sped up considerably. This place has only existed for a few decades in your time - but in here it's been centuries."

Twilight gasped. "C-Centuries?!"

Starlight nodded. "I've seen multiple generations rise up, grow old, and die. I've known hundreds of ponies. I've seen this place change so much..." She stopped for a moment, pondering something deeply. "So much..."

Fluttershy smiled warmly at her. "From what I've seen, you've done well."

"Thanks. I know that; I know that, but... still hard sometimes. I'm older than Tem. And yet, here I stand, always keeping this place hidden and ticking..."

"That... is an awful lot of clocks you got there," Applejack observed.

"I'm a tinker in my free time. There's no technology taboo here, though I'm one of only a few here to embrace it." She smiled. "It doesn't appear to have driven us into the ground."

Applejack shivered slightly, not liking the implications, but said nothing.

"...We'll give you the benefit of the doubt," Fluttershy said, frowning. "I am curious though, how do you deal with those who aren't so accepting?"

Starlight nodded sagely. "Most will come around after living here a few years. A few never adjust and become hermits near the edge of the cavern system, rarely seen by anyone. However, rarely there are some that refuse to change, no amount of therapy seems to help, and they actively make life worse for the other residents. Those we have to put to death."

Everypony nodded sadly. Then Minuette frowned. "Wait, if they can't be helped, why not just mind-wipe them? I mean, that's what Twilight did..."

Starlight twitched. "I was wondering how you managed to stay hidden... I was hoping it was a method a little less atrocious. I banned mental conditioning a long time ago. It caused a lot of terror and horror I do not want to revisit."

Twilight lowered her head. "...I feel you."

Starlight scratched her chin. "Now it's my turn. How did you come here?"

Fluttershy drooped. "I'm... Not sure how much you know about the world outside. War has broken out with the Concretes. Our secret was compromised. Neighagra Falls has fallen."

Starlight's ears went flat. "I'm sorry..."

"Yes, it's horrible. We are no longer welcome in Equestria - the ponies are against everything we stand for, and our allies are not willing to help us in these trying times. We were fleeing to Griffonstone when we found this place."

"Well, I'm sure we can offer more for you here than Griffonstone."

"Except freedom," Rainbow Dash muttered.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. She'd need to have a talk with Rainbow Dash later. "Yes," she said, turning back to Starlight. "You probably have more to offer. I've been to Griffonstone - the place isn't as pristine. As... welcome."

Starlight delicately drank some of her drink. "Thank you. Does... Your Society still exist?"

"Presumably," Fluttershy said. "Though without our protection I fear for the other sects."

"Don't be. There's nothing you can do besides have faith in them." She frowned. "You know, part of me was hoping that one day I'd receive news that you'd done the impossible and changed the world. I suppose I always knew it'd never work out... But I could hope."

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes but remained silent. 

"That being said, you still haven't fully explained why you're here - how you found this place. It was no accident, your actions on the surface were not those of ponies wandering randomly. You were looking for something."

"We found a map in a book," Rarity said, sliding the journal to Starlight and opening it to the right page. "We were curious as to what this point was."

"...Concerning..." Starlight said, holding the book up to her glasses. "Do you mind if I borrow this?"

"Not at all," Rarity said. "I'm not getting anything else out of it. Twilight?"

Twilight shrugged. "No problem."

"Thanks," Starlight said, filing it into a bookshelf. "Now... Here's the big question..." She pointed at Rarity and Pinkie. "They're different."

"Uh... Yeah. Yep. From.. far away," Twilight said, quickly glancing at Fluttershy. "Not Equestria. They're from a nation beyond most maps. They aren't limited by our way of thinking."

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "...Did you just consult Fluttershy on what to say?"

"...Yeah, that's normal for me though. Been working on changing that."

"I think you're hiding something," Starlight said. "Iris there knew who I was. She said the grass was like 'back home-' and I had to rewind the genetic code of this grass back a thousand years to make it this green. Not to mention the pink pony with the unusual powers that defy all explanation." She folded her hooves. "You don't have to tell me, you know, but I'd appreciate it."

Fluttershy turned to Pinkie and Rarity. "Your choice."

"I don't mind," Pinkie said.

Rarity nodded. "Neither do I. I... trust her for some reason." She cleared her throat. "My name isn't Iris Shard. It's Rarity Belle - yes the same as the Inspector over there. We might as well be the same pony, on the surface. But I'm from another... Well, another world. A world where there was no Nightmare Fuel, no Concretes, and everypony lived in harmony."

Starlight nodded. "And how'd you get here?"

"Twilight - a different Twilight - decided to perform some tests on Pinkie's unusual powers. A vortex of sorts was opened as the two of us were sucked in. We appeared outside the Concretion."

"We miiiiiiiight have started the war," Pinkie said, glancing around nervously. "Not on purpose!"

"I saved them," Minuette added. "Took them to the Falls, and then we got tangled up in the whole Mingler Conspiracy..."

"And then all of us made mistakes," Fluttershy said. "And we ended up here."

Starlight looked at Rarity and Pinkie, sad. "This world must have been horrific for you. I can't imagine what you must have felt..."

"I went insane for a while," Pinkie said. "That wasn't fun."

"No. I imagine not... Do you mind me asking what your world's version of me is like?"

Rarity smiled. "Not at all! You're strong, a bit compulsive, very talented with magic, and accepting of others. The other you is a good leader. Granted, she fought against us at first and almost destroyed time itself - but she's a close friend now."

"Saved us a few times!" Pinkie added.

Starlight laughed. "Sounds like somepony I'd like to meet one day!"

Twilight nodded. "I know the feeling."

Starlight lit her horn and cleaned up the entire table in two seconds. "Now that that's out of the way, time to get you settled in."

"Settled... in?" the Inspector asked.

"Why, yes, it's time to build you a house. Or houses. It could be anything, really."

Pinkie pulled a lightbulb out of her mane - it lit up. She rummaged around her hairs and pulled out a photograph. "Something like this!"

Everypony crowded around. "Is that... her castle?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Rarity said. "That is the castle of the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle."

Fluttershy put a hoof on the picture. "The grass really is that green over there..."

Starlight examined the photograph closer. "A castle. Fitting for a princess. I'm not sure I can make it as large as it needs to be..."

"It's bigger on the inside anyway," Pinkie said.

Starlight grinned. "Ah, an excuse to go all out then? Very well - follow me."