//------------------------------// // Episode 25: Reflections Part 1 // Story: EoH Evolution: Season 3 // by Bahamut0 //------------------------------// Beyond the mirror Celestia had passed through earlier, there was another world. One so much like hers, and yet not the same. Namely because she and her sister weren't the rulers of Unity. No, their counterparts were far less noble and benevolent than they were. And they wanted nothing less than total dominion over Unity. And now, they had a force to help realize their ambitions. "So. You want us to topple King Sombra and put you two on the throne, right?" A figure asked. His clothes were tattered and ripped in some places. The scrap of clothing on his upper body could barely be considered a shirt. He then had a wicked smile on his face. "Sounds like fun. Maybe I'll actually get some joy out of crushing him. Me and my crew have been looking for a good excuse to wreak some havoc. Of course, having two hot employers does give me more of an incentive to actually try." Mirror Celestia sighed in annoyance. "If you think defeating Sombra is going to score you any affection from me, forget it. Besides, I could do much better than a simple brute like you. Still, you and your companions stand to gain a sizable reward for your services. Do we have a deal Burst Stream?" "Yeah. We've got a deal." Mirror Burst said with an evil smile. "Let's see how an army stacks up against me." Wicked purple lightning danced around Mirror Burst's body as he left and met with his gang. "Well guys. Let's go have some fun. . . " The next morning, Mirror Sombra could safely say he was having a bad time. He'd heard received a distress message from Unityville, and rushed out with a small troop of guards! And upon arrival, both he and his guards were brutally beat down by the group attacking the town! "Who. . . are you?!" Mirror Sombra growled as he struggled to his feet. "Why are you doing this?!" Mirror Burst tilted his head in interest as he saw Sombra trying to rise. "Me? My name's Burst Stream. Personally? I'm doing this because I enjoy trashing those beneath me." He sneered at Mirror Sombra! "Never thought I'd see a king on the ground before me." Mirror Burst's fist was soon enveloped by magic, and he stopped it an instant from the side of Mirror Sombra's head! Wicked purple lightning dancing around the gathered energy and magic! "I don't know how you've given Celestia and Luna a hard time. Maybe one of them is soft on you because of a crush? It'd explain why they gave me explicit instructions to keep you alive and leave a message. You've got a week to raise a white flag. Otherwise," A few bolts of purple lightning shot out from Mirror Burst's hand and nearly struck Unityville! "I can't promise me and my crew will leave anything left standing when we're done here. Or. . . anyone." Mirror Sombra just stared in horror at how casually Mirror Burst and his gang strolled away from the destruction they'd caused! He was the king of Unity. His people relied on him for leadership and protection. But against this crew of villains, he was completely outclassed! They completely thrashed me and my guards. It looks like my world's Celestia has decided to spring for some extra power. And there's only one way to even the odds. As repairs were made to Unityville, and the wounded were tended to, Mirror Sombra found himself staring at a mirror in his castle. "I don't know if there's any power in my world that can match those monsters. But maybe there is one in hers. . . " And with that, Mirror Sombra stepped through the mirror into the Unity we all know and love. Celestia was certainly shocked to see her original lover so badly wounded. "Sombra!" Celestia ran to his side, and helped him lean on her. "What happened to you?" "It looks like my world's version of you has decided to launch her first strike against me." Mirror Sombra said as he clutched his side. "She's recently hired a gang of villains to terrorize my people and defeat me. And they almost very well did. Most disturbing is that they are lead by the counterpart of your last lover. The one who you told me about during your last visit. Burst Stream." Celestia was frozen in shock. "I'll. . . summon both teams of elements immediately." "You still haven't talked to him, have you?" Mirror Sombra asked. His question making Celestia halt. "I know his transformation during that forced wedding must have reawakened bad memories. But outside of acting a bit more charming and flirty, did he ever act outside of how he normally behaves?" ". . . No." Celestia said with a sigh. "The look in his eyes was still the same when he carried me out of the chapel. Though he used his dark side, his heart never changed at all. But the fact is I hurt him. Even if I didn't mean to, I broke his heart to try and protect him because I didn't want to lose him. It would be so easy to just start again. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to. But I've given this a lot of thought." Celestia took hold of Mirror Sombra's hand. "At least for now, we can resume what we had. We were worlds apart, and yet we found each other. How could I just leave you to face your greatest threat alone when you so desperately need help?" The pair of rulers smiled at each other. Celestia sending out her summons to both teams of elements a minute later. Both teams of elements had assembled at Castalot Castle. Nightmare Moon tagging along because she wanted to see how Celestia was doing. "Thank you all for coming." Celestia said with a nod. She then gestured to Mirror Sombra. "This is King Sombra from Mirror Unity. He's. . . my first boyfriend." Both sets of elements had expressions of shock and amazement. But the reaction Celestia was paying attention to the most was Burst Stream's. His face didn't show any signs of dejection or sadness, but she did notice a look of understanding in his eyes. Shaking herself away from her thoughts, Celestia returned to the matter at hand. "Sombra has come here because his own world is under attack by Luna and me's counterparts." Celestia stated. "And they've recruited powerful warriors to ensure Sombra's Unity falls to their power. Even more troubling, is that these warriors are the counterparts of the Elements of Heroism. We can't let this evil triumph! Especially when it's faces are ones we're very familiar with." Burst Stream was silent as he stepped forward after discussing the situation with his team. "Like I'm gonna let some jerk with my face run around and hurt innocent people. And I think all my friends aren't gonna let that stand either. We're in." "Count us in too." Twilight Sparkle said with an enthusiastic nod. "It'd be interesting to see all the twists this mirror version of our world has. And we'll do our best to help too!" Celestia smiled gratefully. "In that case, let's confront this dark reflection." And with that, the assembled group of heroes proceeded through the mirror to Mirror Sombra's kingdom. "If you'd excuse Sombra and I for a moment. We have much to go over." As Celestia and Mirror Sombra began to talk, Burst Stream watched them conversing with a contemplative look in his eyes. "Feeling a bit jealous, are we?" Nightmare Moon asked as she stood next to Burst Stream. "She did mention that he was her first love." "Honestly Moon? I'm not sure how to feel." Burst Stream said with a sigh. "There is one thing I do know. I'll always love her." He then looked at Nightmare Moon. "But. . . don't go thinking that there isn't any room for you in my heart. Like you said, it's an even playing field for you and Celestia right now." But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't looking in your favor. Those two? They looked pretty happy together. Meanwhile, Celestia's conversation with Mirror Sombra was nearing its end. "You haven't changed at all since I saw you last." Celestia said with a fond smile as she and Sombra looked out over a balcony. "Just like how I left you, in fact." "And I'd say you're still as radiant as ever." Mirror Sombra said as he inched closer to Celestia. "It really was a shame what that Shining Dawn character did to you and Burst Stream's relationship. I know you didn't mean to break Burst Stream's heart. You did it because you thought he would be safer in the end. But he and his friends triumphed over Shining Dawn's army and Burst Stream destroyed Shining Dawn. Surely that's enough ground for you two to reunite as a couple?" Celestia sighed. "I really want to, but I'm not so sure that I should. Burst did triumph over Shining Dawn, but he nearly died before gaining the power of his nightmare form. Sometimes, I have nightmares where Burst is standing before me. Saying that the pain he feels is all my fault and screaming that he hates me just before transforming into his nightmare form and shattering!" "I do love him Sombra. Just as much, or maybe even more than you." Celestia said as she held herself. "And I need to ask you. . . do you feel like you've been replaced? Or that you've become a place holder ever since I came to see you again?" Mirror Sombra took a deep breath. "The way I see it, I've been shown up. Burst Stream underwent years of training and was willing to give his own life to save your sister and make you truly smile once more. Even when he was so outclassed, he pushed forth with all the power he had! If that doesn't make him someone worthy of your love, I don't know what does. As for me feeling like a place holder, I don't see it that way." "All I see. . . " Mirror Sombra held Celestia's hand, and smiled at her. "Is a chance for us to rekindle the love we once had." Celestia smiled, but her smile soon faded when she heard sounds of panic coming from the streets! The purple lightning shooting into the sky tipping her off as to who had arrived to make trouble! "It looks like Mirror Burst's gotten more bold since his last attack." "I'll go out with the Elements of Heroism." Mirror Sombra said with a determined gaze! "It's time to show why you don't attack my city while I'm home!" Burst Stream saw Mirror Sombra running towards them. "I'm guessing our evil twins are making trouble. C'mon guys! Let's show these bad reflections what heroes are made of!" And with that, the Elements of Heroism and Mirror Sombra dashed to the city center where the counterparts of the Elements of Heroism, The Scourge, were attacking! "Well, well." Mirror Burst said as he stepped forward. "Isn't this a lame joke." He carefully noted their counterparts' appearances and how they contrasted with them. In the light, Mirror Burst's skin and hair looked like a tarnished white. Even his eyes were a dull blue compared to Burst Stream's! Burst narrowed his eyes at his counterpart! "Only four of you? I thought there'd be more members of your little gang." Burst gestured to his team of elements. "Because I've brought over plenty of friends to this little brawl." "Hmph. The ninja I wanted to join up said his blade serves no one." Mirror Burst scoffed. "The delinquent trio of Skyborn brothers are an idiot, a coward, and a jerk respectively. Then there was that overgrown mutt who lives with Timber-wolves in the forest and the weird plant guy who just sits in a weird grove. And the thief I considered adding to my crew just screamed that he'd ditch us in a heartbeat. None of them wanted to join in on the fun, so I guess that means I've got much more fun to myself." Mirror Tyrannus snorted. "I don't see why YOU call the shots. Last I checked, I was the big one of us!" He then loomed over Mirror Burst! "Come to think of it, I don't see why I should follow you!" Mirror Ty swung at Mirror Burst, but Mirror Burst caught it! "Ty, Ty, Ty." Mirror Burst said with a sigh as he broke Mirror Tyrannus's arm! "Big doesn't always mean strong!" He then grabbed Mirror Ty by the throat, and begin to squeeze! Strangling the brute! "I could easily just end you right now. But honestly? Where's the fun in killing you? No. . . no I want to hear you beg for mercy. Ironic that the life of a big bully like you is in the hands of someone smaller than yourself." Mirror Tyrannus struggled to get his apology out. He decided his life wasn't worth the point he foolishly tried to prove. "I. . . I'm sorry! I *ack*! I give!" "Good~." Mirror Burst sand as he loosened his grip and slammed Mirror Ty's head onto the ground! Leaving a small crater. "Just like a T-Rex. Big and stupid. Still, I don't know why I even bothered bringing him along if he's so weak compared to me. Yo Inferno! Steel! Looks like it's just the three of us." Mirror Inferno just shrugged as he walked over to his counterpart. Mirror Inferno's appearance looked like that of a complete slob. He never tried at anything, so he put no effort into anything. Even his best punch at Inferno didn't leave a mark! "Whatever dude. I tried. I'm out." "Wow. How disappointing." Inferno Flare said with a shake of his head. "This guy's not even worth half of my best!" And with that, Inferno knocked out his counterpart with a single punch. Meanwhile Steel Edge had just dodged a swipe from a concealed weapon courtesy of his counterpart! "Packing hidden weapons? Not my style! But then again, you're my counterpart. You've got no honor!' "Heh! What good's honor compared to victory?!" Mirror Steel said with a sneer. A gigantic mistake as Steel Edge bashed him in the face with his shield before Mirror Steel could react! With Mirror Steel and Mirror Inferno out could, that just left Burst Stream against Mirror Burst! "So you're me, huh?" Mirror Burst said with a smirk. "Let's see how alike we are!" He powered up his magic, and let loose a destructive blast of purple lightning! "I WONDER, CAN YOU HANDLE THIS?!" Burst Stream kept a relaxed stance, and knocked the lightning away with his hand alone! "My turn." Burst Stream powered up his magic and unleashed a blast of white lightning that hit his counterpart straight in the chest! Leaving a massive scorch mark against Mirror Burst's chest! "You. . . hurt me." Mirror Burst noted. "Well then, CAN YOU TANK THIS! DARK LIGHTNING OVERDRIVE!" Wicked purple lightning and energy gathered in Mirror Burst's fist! But before he could make contact, Burst Stream teleported out of his way. "Huh?! GAH!" Burst Stream had teleported behind his counterpart and kicked him in the head! "Looks like you don't have as much experience with an actual fight. At least, not any where you've been pushed to your limit. From the looks of things, you haven't trained a day in your life." "All I know's that I got Avatar blood in me!" Mirror Burst spat! "What's the use in training when I've got the power already in my blood without any of the work!" Mirror Burst swung wildly at Burst Stream! However, his frenzy of punches were completely random! Leaving him wide open! Burst Stream punched his counterpart in the stomach! As Mirror Burst struggled to get air back into his lungs, Burst Stream charged up his White Lightning Overdrive! "You. . . YOU CHEATED!" Mirror Burst screamed as he pounced at Burst Stream! "YOU CAN'T BE STRONGER THAN ME!" "Wrong." Burst Stream said before unleashing his ultimate attack! "WHITE LIGHTNING OVERDRIVE!" And with a single punch, it was over. Not long after Burst's punch connected, Mirror Burst exploded in a blast of white lightning! A silent scream as he was disintegrated! "Now all we need's a plan to deal with Mirror Celestia and Luna." Mirror Sombra breathed a sigh of relief. "I should have figured you would make short work out of them. Especially given the fact three members of your team are avatars. But speaking of my world's Celestia and Luna, we'd best discuss them at the castle." Back at the castle, Mirror Sombra had gathered his council. Needless to say, both sets of elements were shocked to see who the council was comprised of! Chrysalis, Flim and Flam, Derpy, and Trixie were all sitting at the meeting table! "I take it you're quite familiar with all my friends here in a way. But it couldn't hurt you all to get more familiar." Both teams of elements began retelling their encounters with their versions of the mirror counterparts in front of them. It went without saying that the mirror counterparts were equal parts shocked about how their versions from the other side of the mirror acted. Chrysalis, in particular, felt sick to her stomach. "How. . . how could someone be that awful?!" Mirror Chrysalis said in complete horror upon hearing Night Fang retell what the standard Chrysalis had done to Narico. "Trying to kill that nymph. . . simply because he could have become a new king!" Night Fang nodded. "Don't go apologizing. You're not the one who did the unthinkable. You've got the same face," Fang then sniffed Mirror Chrysalis. "But you've got a completely different scent to you. But I think we're all getting off topic talking about how bad your counterparts are." "Indeed." Mirror Sombra said with a nod. "We must find a way to defeat my world's Celestia and Luna. They're avatars, so they're immortal. Banishing them would only work for so long, and we don't have our own Elements of Harmony to use on them." Mirror Sombra turned his attention to the Main 6. "I'd have asked you to bring yours, but I have no idea how being in my world would affect them. However, I do have a plan to render the dark sisters harmless." "And just what does your plan entail?" Burst Stream asked with a raised eyebrow. Mirror Sombra cleared his throat. "Just a simple containment spell to use on them." "You're lying." Applejack said as she slowly stood up. "We can tell how much you care about yer home yer highness. But your friends here all care about you. So buck up, an' tell 'em what yer planning on doing. Be honest with us." Mirror Sombra sighed. "I plan to extract the evil from my world's Celestia and Luna and hold it within myself. After that, I'll isolate myself from the world. No one will ever have to suffer their cruelty any longer!" "Sombra. . . " Burst Stream said as he approached Mirror Sombra and put his hand on Mirror Sombra's shoulder. "LET'S SEE YOU GRIT THOsE TEETH!" And Burst Stream punched Mirror Sombra in the face, and caught him by his cape before he hit the floor! Celestia was shocked! "Burst! What are you doing!?!?!" "Listen up!" Burst Stream snapped as he pulled Mirror Sombra up to face him at eye level! "How can you be so gutless?! Do you honestly expect yourself to contain all that evil within you if you haven't even faced your own dark side yet?!" Burst Stream transformed into his nightmare form! "If you're not willing to face that side of yourself, then you'll have nothing left! Do you WANT to put Celestia through something that painful?!" Burst Stream let go of Mirror Sombra. "You know something? I was jealous of you because of how easily Celestia got back into things with you. But now? How could I ever be jealous of a glass king like you?" Now that he had the entire room's attention, Burst Stream decided to take matters into his own hands. "Here's what's going to go down." Burst Stream began. "Me and Sombra are going to fight the dark sisters. Alone. But not before I teach him to deal with his dark side." And with that, Burst Stream breathed a sigh of relief. "Good talk." Burst Stream locked onto Mirror Sombra. "Here's what you've gotta do. Close your eyes, and focus on your core. You should see a door with nothing but darkness in it. Go inside, and whatever happens next depends solely on you." "Well. . . here goes nothing." Mirror Sombra said nervously as he did as Burst Stream instructed. Sure enough, he came face-to-face with his dark side. "Uh. . . hi?" "Hello there." Mirror Sombra's dark side greeted plainly. "I didn't expect to see you." Mirror Sombra was completely shocked at how tame his dark side was. "Well, I suppose I came here to make peace with you. But it seems like you're already at that stage. It looks like I won't have to worry about having to abandon Celestia because of my plan after all. Although, I would still need to be a world apart from her. . . " "About that?" Mirror Sombra's dark side said with a small smile. "I think there's a way we can fix that. Here's what we need to do. . . " Mirror Sombra nodded, and returned to the real world when he opened his eyes again. "I'm ready." He smiled at Celestia. "And I'll be coming back for you." "Well then," Burst Stream said with a smirk. "Time for a royal rumble!" TO BE CONTINUED!