A haze of colors and sounds soon sharpened into the inside of the quarters and low groaning. Blackthorn shook his head to regain his senses and turned to see his comrades just waking up. What happened? Then, he remembered – Gladmane, the mirror, and lastly, being suddenly overwhelmed by darkness. He realized that Gladmane’s last words were that he wished them unconscious.
He thought, Pretty powerful magic, that mirror.
He walked towards the wide double doors and tried to open them. They wouldn’t budge, as he suspected.
He told his comrades, “Bad news, friends. Gladmane has locked us in. No doubt it was to keep us from spoiling whatever evil plan he has. That leaves us with only one option: the secret passageway.”
Rootstock asked, “But if Gladmane knows of your nightly pilgrimage to the gingko tree, then surely he’ll have the passage blocked.”
“We’ll know for sure in a moment.”
When Blackthorn pulled the blanket in his stable aside, he and everyone else were surprised to see that Blackthorn’s magic could move the large stone covering the entrance.
He gave a small smile of amazement, “Well, I’ll be…He knew I had made pilgrimages, but he didn’t know how I got in and out. Come on, boys.”
In a straight line, the deer crouched into the underground passage and crawled a good mile or so until Blackthorn lifted the stone on top of the exit. Lifting the stone also parted the bramble bush growing on top of it. One-by-one, the deer lifted themselves onto the ground until the bramble bush rejoined, covering the exit stone in the process. This elaborate route had been perfected years ago so no one would suspect that a bramble bush growing in a tiny corner of the otherwise-glamorous palace would hide a secret passageway known only to the deer. It only took a moment before they looked towards the hills and saw a giant gingko tree touching a giant cloud.
Blackthorn ordered his comrades, “You’ll carry out the plan to go into the castle town and reveal yourself as Dark Riders. I will confront Gladmane myself.”
The rest of the deer guard nodded and rushed towards the castle town. Blackthorn, on the other hand, raced towards the gingko tree.
Mischief landed on the roof and said, “Let her go, Silver. She has nothing to do with this.”
Silver – who had his right hoof covering Gabby’s beak and his left pinning her arms against her torso – chuckled menacingly, “I don’t plan to harm her. How else was I going to get you to duel me?”
Mischief sputtered in disbelief, “Duel you? You’re crazy! There’s a battle going on right now!”
“What’s more important – the battle or this little girl’s life?” With that, he squeezed Gabby a bit.
He held his hooves out as he said, “Okay, okay!” He then scowled, “I’ll play your sick game. But only if you let Gabby go.”
“Fair enough.”
Once Gabby was released from the unicorn’s grip, she pleaded, “Mischief, whatever he wants, don’t do it!”
Mischief calmly said to her, “Gabby, this is just between Silver and me. I’ll be fine. Go find Steven and Vapor and make sure they’re all right.”
After Gabby flew over the rooftops of the castle in defeat, Silver drew his sword and smirked, “Now…shall we begin?”
Mischief conjured up a sword and held it with brave readiness. “Let’s.”
The two stallions clashed swords and stepped up, down, and around the roof as they did so.
Mischief grunted, “Did you lock me in the dungeon when I went to sleep last night?”
Silver mockingly praised, “Excellent deduction, my good friend! Yes, ‘twas I who put you into deep slumber and carried you all the way to the dungeon. You were quite a heavy load, I must say. I had it all planned out: your supposed disappearance, the search, and the note at the entrance saying you wanted to stay on Paraddock. Of course, the note didn’t quite take with your friends.”
“Of course it wouldn’t take! They’re my friends! They know me better than anyone else!” He then added, “Except for my adopted mother, of course.”
Silver then lauded, “You are quite skilled in swordsmanship. Who taught you?”
“Only the best: Roller, Skater, and Flurry!”
A look of surprise etched Silver’s face. “You don’t say? Flurry trained you?” He then smiled wickedly, “Well, that makes it one more reason to take her as my wife.”
Mischief growled as he began to fight more aggressively, “She’s not yours! She never will be yours! She’s mine!”
While the antlered stallion continued dealing harsh blows with his sword now completely enveloped in green magic, Silver expertly deflected them all while mocking, “Careful, Mischief. Your anger makes your fighting sloppy.”
With one swift move, his silvery sword flung its rival out of Mischief’s aura. His silver aura then enveloped the stray sword and rammed the pommel of the hilt against Mischief’s right temple, knocking his opponent down. Mischief looked up to see Silver holding the swords in a scissors formation near his throat.
Silver bellowed out with such bravado, “It’s over, freak! Flurry’s mine!”
That did it. Just like that, something awoke deep inside Mischief. It was primal fury so animal-like it would strike fear into the hearts of many. His pupils slit as his brows knitted in anger. At only a moment’s notice, a red wolf with antlers and blue and white hair jumped at Silver and pinned him against the tiles of the roof.
Silver pleaded in crippling fear, “Let me go! Please, don’t hurt me! I’ll do anything! Anything!”
The wolf didn’t listen and it continued to growl and lower its head towards Silver. But then, his eyes caught a glint of something. He looked up to see his reflection in the sword lying near Silver’s head. Realizing what he had become and what he was about to do, his pupils rounded back to their original shape and the wolf stepped away from Silver. The unicorn didn’t have a moment to take a breath of relief before he was lifted in a green aura.
Mischief, back to his normal self, glared at Silver and growled, “Stay away from Flurry.”
Silver then disappeared in a green flash.
Blackthorn could see a huge mob jeering and shouting at the base of the humongous gingko tree. There were some who tried climbing up the branch-riddled tree without much success. He knew he couldn’t get past the crowd without resistance, so he decided to make his own resistance. With a touch of his magic, he parted the grass in front of him so the two earthen carpets would roll up on either side and reveal the dirt underneath.
Unfortunately, this extended to the ponies who were standing on the mats of grass. The mob parted as they fell from the rolling grass carpets. Blackthorn just made his way through the crowd via the untouched dirt path that followed the parting grass. When he reached the tree, he quickly used his magic to arrange the first two sets of branches into an impromptu spiral staircase. Before anyone could protest, he leaped onto the tree and ran upwards towards the cloud.
Roar Horn fretted, “The Dark Rider is going after the king!”
Sorreil scowled, “Not if I can help it!”
Though the impromptu staircase had virtually disappeared, the acrobat swiftly and expertly jumped and leaped on every branch going upwards. As for Blackthorn, he continued to use his magic to make the impromptu staircase in front of him as he ran upwards. Despite the air getting ever thinner, he knew he had to keep going. He just had to keep going! Finally, just as he was running low on energy, he saw that he was just a few yards from where the treetop disappeared into the cloud. In a sudden burst, he ran up the branches and leapt through the cloudy barrier. He soon found himself standing on a fluffy cloud patch amidst a wide field of flowers, trees, and…a raging battle!
He soon turned his focus to the king and shouted, “Gladmane!”
The stallion turned around to face him and suavely said, “Well, if it ain’t the rogue Dark Rider. So glad you could join us. But I’m afraid your time here will be brief.” He spoke to his mirror, “Mirror, I wish –“ He was caught by surprise when he felt the mirror being pulled from his grasp by a green aura. “Hey!” He quickly grabbed it again and commanded, “Freeze!”
Blackthorn was immediately rendered motionless in a block of ice.
“Huh. Not what I was expectin’, but…” He returned his attention to the deer as he said, “So you thought you could just pull the mirror from my hooves? Ha! Buddy, you were tryin’ to mess with the soon-to-be-most-powerful stallion in the entire world.” Suddenly, he got an idea. An awful idea. Gladmane had a wonderful, awful idea.
“Or better yet,” he smiled wickedly, “I could be the most powerful stallion in the entire world right now! Mirror, I wish to have the powers of everyone trapped inside!”
Blackthorn gave a shout from inside the block of ice, but his cry fell on deaf ears. The mirror’s rim lit up with rainbow light before the colored stream of magic weaved up Gladmane’s arm. White light then obscured him as it grew bigger and Gladmane’s evil laugh could be heard. When the light faded, Gladmane was now over 25 feet tall with wings, a long horn, two fangs, and a mad left eye. His coat color was now a dark purple and his silvery mane was jagged, long, and flowing. His general outfit had also changed, for it was now black armor.
“Thank ya very much for the inspiration, but now it’s time for you to leave the buildin’.”
Sorreil, who had just reached the place where the tree met the cloud and was admittedly running low on breath, saw a green flash of light through the clouds. She was caught by surprise when the Dark Rider fell from the cloud layer. She was further surprised when he hit his head and the helmet unhinged, revealing his identity as one of the deer guard. As he disappeared into the leaves and branches below, she wondered what she just saw. What did this mean?
Before she could wonder any longer, Gladmane’s voice spoke, “Hasta la vista, my dear friend.” He gave a wicked chuckle before he continued, “Now, to make sure no other meddlers can ruin my plans.”
She almost gave a gasp of shock before she remembered where she was. She then heard a crackling sound and tried to discern it before she smelled…smoke! She knew she couldn’t climb down the tree without losing whatever breath she had left, so she had only one option. She ran to the end of the branch she was on and jumped off. As she dove downwards through the air, she realized just how high up she was. Her heart thundered in her ears as she tried to stay focused on making a safe landing.
When the mob glimpsed up to see Sorreil falling down, Reingling screamed, “Aaah! My star!”
Just before she could hit the ground, Sorreil grabbed two individual branches and swung herself onto a third branch close to the ground. As she was catching her breath, the crowd cheered for her amazing landing.
Sprigfield clapped, “That was spectacular!”
Roar Horn praised, “So outstanding!”
Sorreil said between inhales, “Please…listen…”
Reingling spoke loudly to the crowd, “Quiet, everypony! My diva wishes to speak.” He then said to her softly, “Now, what is it, my dear?”
Sorreil, having caught her breath, said, “Gladmane has tricked us all!”
Murmurs and small gasps rang through the crowd.
She continued, “He claimed that the Dark Riders were in league with the Canterlot royals, but the Dark Rider you saw going up this tree was one of the deer guards!”
More gasps sounded.
“He tried to stop Gladmane, but Gladmane stopped him first. And now he’s burning down the tree so no one else can get up there!”
Murmurs both skeptic and confused alike bounced through the crowd until a stallion shouted, “Look! Up there!”
The mob looked up and saw a trail of black smoke tainting the giant cloud where the tree met the airy pillows of white. It was at that moment they knew Sorreil was right. Shouts of “Water!” ricocheted in the air as several ponies ran to get water from Las Pegasus and enlist more help.
Just moments after Gladmane began burning the treetop with his newly-acquired magic, Mischief – who had just sent Silver to the dungeon – caught a whiff of something and sniffed the air. It was smoke! He looked behind him and was surprised to see a giant alicorn version of Gladmane burning a tree on a cloud patch.
He thought to himself, Whoa! Okay, one: how did Gladmane become a giant alicorn? And two: if he’s burning something, chances are it’s not good.
He teleported right in front of Gladmane’s face and said, “Hey, Your Highness! Looks like you’re not on our side after all!”
Gladmane smirked, “You’re right. I ain’t. I’m on my own side. Love my new look? It was courtesy of the powers I got from everyone I trapped in this itty-bitty mirror, including your precious Flurry Heart.”
Mischief gasped before he snarled, “Release them!”
The giant alicorn pretended to contemplate, “Hmm…No.”
He aimed his mirror at Mischief and the beam shot out again. However, Mischief teleported out of the way, appearing behind Gladmane’s head. Just as the giant turned his head, Mischief flew up above his head and aimed a beam of magic at the mirror. Gladmane saw this just in time to pull the floating mirror out of the way.
“Whoops! I’d be careful if I were you, lil’ fella. This mirror breaks, and no one’s ever gettin’ out…including you!”
The mirror shot out the beam again and again, but each time, Mischief managed to dodge it.
After almost a minute of this, Gladmane said, “Know what? I’m getting a little tired of playin’ this game.”
He then heard Mischief’s voice behind him, “Then let’s play a different one.” He turned to see Mischief floating in the air while holding a giant frying pan. “Tag!” With one swift blow, Mischief swung the pan into Gladmane’s face, giving him a dazed look. The antlered stallion smirked, “You’re it.”
Mischief then blew on Gladmane, who fell to the ground out cold. The mirror – no longer supported by Gladmane’s levitation spell – dropped towards the ground.
Mischief quickly teleported it into his hooves and spoke into it, “Don’t worry, guys. I’ll get you out.”
Suddenly, he heard someone call out, “Mischief!”
He turned his head to see the rest of his friends fighting the guards below. He dove downwards before pulling up near the rear of the unit like an airplane. His antlers glowed and released a green burst of magic that froze everyone where they stood. When he flew near his friends, he saw that he accidentally froze them too!
Roller chastised, “You were supposed to freeze them, not us!”
Mischief sheepishly grinned, “Oops. Sorry.”
He lifted the stasis spell on his friends and they breathed a sigh of relief.
Apple Butter smiled, “I’m so glad you’re okay, Mischief.”
Skater asked, “Yeah, where we you?”
Mischief asked as he lowered himself onto the ground, “Do you want the long version or the short?”
Before anyone could answer, more guards came pouring out the castle entrance.
Blaze said as he raised a green force field around the heroes, “We’ll have to hear the short version now!”
After Nova and Mischief added their magic to the field, the antlered stallion quickly explained, “Silver locked me in the dungeon. I got out, saved Steven from certain doom, and dueled Silver on the roof.”
Skater asked in disbelief, “What were you doing dueling Silver on the roof?! There was a battle going on!”
“That’s what I told him! So after that, I sent Silver to the dungeon and knocked Gladmane unconscious. Now all I have to do is free everyone he trapped in the mirror.”
Celaeno pointed to the candy jungle, “Head in there. We’ll hold off the guards for you.”
Mischief asked, “Will you all be okay?”
Nova said, “After what we’ve been through on Paraddock, there’s nothing we can’t handle. Now, when we raise the shield, that’s your cue to teleport into the jungle.”
“Got it.” He then remembered something and asked, “By the way, why was Gladmane burning that tree?”
Skater answered, “So no one else can get up to Paraddock.”
A few minutes earlier, Foxhelm and his bat pony guards appeared in the inner court of the palace via Foxhelm’s magic amulet. They were surprised to see that the rest of the courtyard was empty.
One of the guards said, “You said they would be here with Gladmane in their custody.”
Foxhelm answered, “Something must’ve gone terribly wrong, then.”
The giant double doors of the front gate suddenly burst open to reveal a deer in Dark Rider armor, save for the helmet.
Arbor said in surprise, “Foxhelm? Where are the other royals?”
Foxhelm said, “I might ask you the same thing.”
The deer face-hoofed, “No, I mean Celestia, Luna, Sombra, and the rest.”
Foxhelm’s ears flattened in unease as he said, “Oh, them.” He then smiled sheepishly as he pulled out a recorder, “They left a message.”
He played the recorder and Sombra’s voice spoke, “Hello. This is the King Father Sombra. I regret to inform you that my family and I won’t be able to come to Las Pegasus. There has been a crisis involving an army of abominable snowcreatures. *CRASH!* That was them just now, trying to get into the castle. We are very sorry for the inconvenience and we hope Captain Foxhelm and the rest of Princess Luna’s guards will be of valuable aid to you. We will be with you as soon as possible. Thank you.”
The second bat pony guard asked Arbor, “Now, we want to ask you something: where are the Canterlot royals who are supposed to be here?”
Arbor explained, “Gladmane has trapped them in a magic mirror and blackmailed us into giving our plant growth potion to get up to Paraddock.”
Foxhelm said, “That can’t be good.”
“Thankfully, Blackthorn is going to confront him while the rest of us rally the rest of the citizens to our side.”
“Well, hopefully he’s stopped the king by now.”
Suddenly, a stallion ran up to Arbor and shouted, “Fire! Fire!”
The deer asked, “Where?”
“On the tree! It’s burning down!”
Foxhelm cried, “What?!”
He and three of his comrades flew up to see a tall gingko tree touching the cloud with smoke billowing from the topmost visible part of the giant.
He barked out orders, “You three, with me! The rest of you get water for the fire!”
While Arbor and the other bat pony guards raced out of the inner court, Foxhelm flew with his three comrades towards the rapidly burning gingko tree.
Nocturn remarked, “That is one strong incendiary spell.”
Just then, Echo pointed towards the tree and cried, “Sir, I see something!”
Foxhelm scanned the tree until he saw an unconscious Blackthorn limp against the boughs that had caught him. He ordered, “Let’s go!”
The bat pony guards flew up to Blackthorn just as the latter was waking up.
The deer muttered in a dazed manner, “Huh? Wha -?”
Foxhelm reassured him, “Don’t worry. We’ll get you down.”
The guards loosened the branches’ grip on Blackthorn before lifting him and taking him to the ground before the fire could consume the boughs.
As several Pegasi and bat pony guards flew towards the tree with buckets of water, Steelheart asked Blackthorn, “Are you all right?”
The deer nodded, “Yes, I’m fine…” He then rubbed his head, “…though I think I hit my head on something after Gladmane blasted me.”
A mare then screamed, “Look out!”
Everyone looked up to see fiery debris falling down towards Earth.
Foxhelm shouted, “Get out of the way!”
The crowd scattered just in time to avoid the flaming bits of wood and branches hitting the ground. More fireball-like debris fell to the ground and narrowly missed some ponies and creatures. The flying ponies and guards with the water could barely douse some of the flames before the fire snaked ever downwards. It wasn’t long before the fiery debris got larger. Everyone practically had to get a mile or two away from the tree. Then, just when things couldn’t get bad enough, a huge portion of the tree’s trunk fell from the sky. Foxhelm and Blackthorn saw that they were in its path of destruction, so they swiftly got out of harm’s way as the giant piece of trunk crashed into the ground.
Foxhelm breathlessly remarked, “I sure hope the others on Paraddock are having better luck than we are.”
Up on Paraddock, the Guardians and their friends were faring no better than everycreature on the ground. They could barely hold off Gladmane’s guards while Mischief tried in vain to free the mirror’s captives.
Celaeno grunted, “How do you think Mischief is doing?”
Sky Stinger panted agitatedly as he fought each guard he came into contact with, “What do you think?! If he set everyone free, we’d have some backup right about now!”
Lix Spittle pointed to Gladmane as she nervously said, “And we better have it soon! The giant’s waking up!”
Meanwhile, Mischief shook the mirror in frustration as he said, “Come on! Come on! There’s gotta be a way to free you guys! I have to think!” He then got an idea. “Wait a minute! Mirror, I wish -”
Suddenly, the trees were pulled apart by green magic and Gladmane towered over him. Mischief’s heart dropped when he saw his friends bound in chains like a living hay bale.
Gladmane smirked, “Found ya. Now why dontcha hoof over the mirror and I promise your friends won’t get hurt.”
Mischief pointed the mirror towards Gladmane and commanded, “Mirror, I wish for everyone trapped within to be free!”
Nothing.
Gladmane laughed as his green magic grabbed hold of Mischief and took the small mirror from him. “You fool! You think you can wish them outta here? Ha! Only I can free them from their prison, and there ain’t no way in heck I’m gonna –“
Suddenly, images of Gladmane played on the mirror’s surface, “I wish to – free everyone – trapped in this mirror!”
Greatly confused and stupefied, the once-proud alicorn uttered, “Huh?”
The mirror glowed very brightly before the blinding white light died down to reveal the freed royals and a depowered Gladmane.
The astonished king shakily asked, “How? Howja do that? Only I could free y’all!”
Capri slyly explained, “And you did, through my memories of you while we were trapped in the mirror. I had some inspiration from a certain brother of mine.”
Discord smirked, “Now does this mean you’re indebted to me?”
Capri playfully tapped his arm as she said, “Don’t push it.”
The two draconequui laughed at their little joke.