//------------------------------//
// Chapter 8: Mirrors Hold Reflections. Duh. 
// Story: Undead Robot Bug Crusaders: Unusual Lives 
// by Banjo64 
//------------------------------//

Twilight’s new castle had a bit of a mixed reception among the citizens of Ponyville. On the one hoof, it was hideous. The big block of crystal that slightly resembled a tree looked like some rich billionaire had dragged a building all the way down from the Crystal Empire and plopped it in his backyard. More than a few ponies had initially though Filthy Rich, or at least his wife, had been responsible for its appearance.

But on the other hoof, it was a bucking castle made of crystal. Not many small country towns could claim to have such a thing. A few ponies were also delighted that their local princess wasn’t living in some dusty old library anymore. Plus it was located on the edge of town instead of dead center like the library, making it easier for the townsfolk to know which way to run when the explosions started. Again.

And there was the little detail that it had been built by the power of Harmony itself, so it wasn’t like anypony was going to dare ask for it be removed or anything.

So, despite many a pony still grumbling about it, Ponyville as a whole has agreed to just get used to the bizarre new addition to the scenery. And besides, it was just a castle. As far as typical Ponyville crises went, a bit of controversial scenery was a cakewalk.

At least, until ponies started entering the building. Then the crystal abomination revealed it’s true form.

“Dang it. Was it three lefts and then a right, or a right and then three lefts?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I think it was a left, third door to the right, and then make another right,” answered Scootaloo.

“No, we definitely went up a set of stairs at some point. And I’m pretty sure there’s no stairs to the left,” added Sweetie Belle.

The three fillies sighed. There was no denying it: they were lost. 

“Horseapples. This castle looked far less confusin’ from the outside. It’s got to be bigger than Canterlot or something. How the hay are we goin’ to find the library in this place?” cried Apple Bloom.

“I dunno about that. I’m pretty sure the castle in Canterlot at least has higher ceilings. But yeah, this place is huge. Maybe we should just wait for Twilight to get back?” suggested Sweetie Belle.

“No way. We’re not waiting days for the answer. We’re finding that dictionary and settling this now,” said Scootaloo.

“We won’t be gettin’ no answer if we can’t find no dictionary, Scootaloo. Are ya sure your hivemind can’t just tell us?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I still say it should be an e…”

“No, it’s obviously an i…”

“Morons. It’s clearly…”

“... had a farm, E-I-E-I...”

“Shut up, Twitch!”

“I told you, it’s not that I can’t get an answer, it’s that I can’t get an answer anypony agrees on,” said Scootaloo.

“Forget the dictionary. How about a way out of here? Ah mean, ain’t changelings good at navigatin’ places like this? The castle can’t be nearly as confusing as your hive,” said Apple Bloom.

“Hey! Our hive is not confusing! It’s highly organized!” objected Scootaloo in an offended tone.

“Girls, I’d hate to interrupt what was probably going to be a long and interesting argument over changeling construction, but I found the library,” called Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo paused and turned towards Sweetie Belle. She was standing by the third door down from the right. The two fillies let out sighs, begrudgingly accepted that their semi-friendly argument wasn’t going to happen, and followed their friend through the door. 

It was indeed the library, or at least one library considering whose castle this was. There were bookshelves, reading couches, a globe and a mirror. Said mirror quickly drew their attention, as it was hooked up to some kind of fancy looking machine.

“Wait, is that what I think it is?” asked Scootaloo.

The three curious fillies made their way over to the mysterious mirror, their quest for a non-marshmallow dictionary put on hold.

“This must be that magic mirror Twilight was talkin’ about the other day. She said it’s a portal to another dimension,” said Apple Bloom.

“Yep. Another world world full of talking monkeys with fancy machines,” said Scootaloo.

“They're called humans, Scootaloo. We actually met one in the future, remember?” reminded Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah. Come to think of it, didn’t Dr. Brown mention somethin’ about a ‘multiverse department?’ Ah guess this sort of thing’s real common in the future,” said Apple Bloom.

“Maybe. It’s not like they’d let us find out either way, because spoilers. But that’s in the future. Right now, we have this one portal in front of us,” said Sweetie Belle.

“A portal we are not going through,” said Scootaloo.

The three fillies nodded in agreement. Their trip to the future a few days ago had hammered home an important detail about their own conditions.

“Yeah. Through there is a world with no magic. Two of us need magic to stay alive, and the third will have a mental breakdown as soon as she’s disconnected from her hivemind. So, no adventures to the human world today, or ever,” said Apple Bloom.

“Kind of a shame though. I’d really like to see what it’s like on the other side. Maybe next time Twilight goes through she can bring a camera or something,” added Sweetie Belle.

But as soon as Sweetie Belle finished speaking, the portal began to glow as the device hooked up to it turned on. The three fillies gasped and back away.

“I didn’t touch it!” cried Sweetie Belle.

“Me neither!” said Apple Bloom.

“Same here!” said Scootaloo.

There was a loud bang and a flash, and then three fillies came flying out of the portal, landing face first on the floor. The CMC looked down at the newcomers with shock and surprise. The three fillies looked very, very familiar.

“Ugh… did somebody catch the license on that truck?” asked the yellow one.

“I think I tasted purple for a moment there,” said the white one.

“I can’t feel my toes…” said the orange one.

The CMC looked at each other in silent agreement. This was hooves-down the second craziest thing they’d ever seen.

…

Or then again, the third. This was just a hair less crazy than the flammable lemons.

“Uh, hello?” said the normally-a-pony Sweetie Belle.

The three ponies-from-the-mirror looked up in surprise, then shook.

“I don’t suppose your names are Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootloo?” asked Pony Sweetie Belle.

The room was silent for a very awkward moment.

“Um… girls? Am I seeing things, or is there a talking unicorn over there that sounds just like me?” asked Mirror Sweetie Belle.

“I don’t think she just sounds like you, Sweetie Belle. I think she is you,” said Mirror Scootaloo, glancing over at her friend.

Mirror Belle looked down at her hooves, gave a gasp, then looked back at her counterpart in amazement.

“Oh my goodness. If you’re me as a unicorn and we look the same then I… I’m adorable!” cried Mirror Belle.

There were a series of thunks as four fillies facehooved at the same time. This was immediately followed by two “ow”s. The exception was Pony Belle, who just blushed.





“This is so weird. It feels like Ah’m standin’ on tiptoes, only it’s way more comfortable than it should be,” grumbled Mirror Bloom as she struggled to stand upright.

“Well, hooves are basically giant fingernails. We really are walking on tiptoes, just with one really big toe on the end of each leg,” explained Mirror Belle, who was laying down, looking at her hoof in fascination.

“Yeah, with four legs. It feels like I should be hunched over when I’m standing like this, but I’m not. How the heck do you walk while keeping track of this many legs?” added Mirror Scoots as she tried to step forward with a foreleg.

“I dunno. How the hay do you keep upright with only two legs and no tail?” countered Pony Scoots.

“And what the hay is a fingernail? Ah know ya humans have fingers, but do humans have some kind of hand-horseshoe they have to wear? Because that doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Pony Bloom.

“It’s not that kind of nail. She’s talking about that mini-hoof you see on the tip of fingers. You’ve seen a minotaur, Apple Bloom. You had to have noticed them,” said Pony Belle.

“Wait, there are minotaurs here too?” asked Mirror Belle with an awed expression.

“Sure, why not. Unicorns, minotaurs, why not dragons or elves too? We’re in fantasy land, Sweetie Belle. Anything’s possible at this point,” said Mirror Scoots.

“Well, we do have dragons but I’ve never heard of elves…” mumbled Pony Bloom.

“Fantasy? Equestria? Yeah, right. If anything’s fictional here, I’d say your world is out of sci-fi. I mean, self-driving carriages? How is that even possible?” countered Pony Scoots.

“How is anything possible? How are we even here? Are our worlds reflections of each other, or part of some bigger whole? Is one of us the real version of Equestria, or is there another, purer dimension that all of us are pale imitations of?” asked Pony Belle.

Everpony paused to look at Pony Belle in disbelief.

“I’m just saying that’s a stupid question, Scootaloo. Especially after our trip to the future. And I think we’ve got better things to do today than get philosophical. We have guests, after all,” said Pony Belle.

“Fair enough. But that does beg the question, why are y’all even here? Is somethin’ weird happenin’ on your side of the portal we should know about?” asked Pony Bloom.

“Oh, well, not really. We were just poking around the statue after school when we realized that the portal was open, so we figured why not pop in and see what’s like over here?” explained Mirror Belle.

“And over here there’s a bunch of talking horses, apparently,” added Mirror Scoots.

“We’re ponies, not horses. That’s like saying humans are monkeys or something,” corrected Pony Belle.

This once again earned her some strange looks.

“What? I mean, they look kind of like apes, so I figured it was an accurate comparison,” said Pony Belle.

“Fine, ponies. That just makes this place seem even more cutesy,” grumbled Mirror Scoots.

“Hey! I resent being called cute,” said Pony Scoots.

“You kind of are. With the big eyes, tiny wings, and fuzzy orange coat you almost look like a plushie,” said Mirror Belle.

Pony Scoots turned away with a huff, her face quickly turning red.

“Well, I dunno about being a plushie, but I guess if you wanted you could just…” Pony Bloom started to say but then clamped her hooves to her mouth.

“She could what?” asked Mirror Bloom.

Pony Belle and Pony Scoots gave Pony Bloom annoyed looks, but then let out sighs.

“Whatever. It’s not like they’re really secrets anymore. Let’s just say that the three of us are kind of weird, even by pony standards,” said Pony Belle.

“Wait, weirdness is some kind of standard here?” asked Mirror Bloom with a raised eyebrow.

“It is in Ponyville. This town’s been dubbed Equestria’s biggest weirdness magnet,” admitted Pony Scoots.

“Ponyville? You live in a town called Ponyville? Seriously?” asked Mirror Scoots in disbelief.

“Yes, really. We didn’t pick the name, but that should just show how crazy this place is,” said Pony Belle.

“A town named after your own species? What could possibly be weird by that standard?” asked Mirror Belle.

“A town full of crispy looking undead, time travelin’ robots, and shapeshiftin’ bug ponies corrupted by evil purple slime with eyeballs,” answered Pony Bloom.

The room was silent for a moment, before Mirror Scoots carefully put a hoof to her face.

“Forget anyone falling through from our side and stealing magic. I’m suddenly a lot more concerned about something coming out from this side. What’s next? Magic stones that erase memories? Mirrors that act as pocket dimensions? Sticks that control storms?” asked Mirror Scoots.

“Well, we really don’t need sticks to do that one,” commented Pony Belle.





After a rather familiar story session, the humans-turned-ponies could only stare at their counterparts.

“Wow. And I thought the whole siren thing was messy,” said Mirror Belle.

“Seriously, you have the nerve to call our world sci-fi after you traveled to the future to watch your Sweetie Belle get turned into a robot? What the actual heck?” asked Mirror Scootaloo.

“Yeah, our lives are weird. Though come to think of it, if you three are us from another dimension, maybe you girls have weird secrets similar to ours?” suggested Pony Belle.

The three temporary ponies put their hooves to their mouths in thought for a minute or so. 

“Well, I dunno if it counts as a secret, but I do have a pacemaker,” said Mirror Belle.

“You have a what now?” asked Pony Bloom.

“A pacemaker. It’s… basically a machine in my chest that help my heart work properly,” explained Mirror Belle.

“Wait, you have some kind of machine inside you and you still decided to travel through the portal?! What if it come out wrong when you turned into a pony and… and… well, I guess if that had happened you wouldn’t be talking with us right now,” said Pony Belle with a blush.

“Well, to be fair we didn’t know about the whole ‘turn into ponies’ thing. But yeah, I’m really happy that didn’t happen,” said Mirror Belle, looking a little pale at the idea.

“Still, that kind of matches up with our Sweetie Belle’s secret. Maybe you two have something similar? Like, human Apple Bloom, did anything happen to you that’s related to death, or zombies, or something?” asked Pony Scoots.

“Well, there was the time Ah technically died,” said Mirror Bloom.

The local CMC looked at Mirror Bloom with dropped jaws.

“Ah mean, Ah was medically dead for a minute or so. Ah got really sick when Ah was little. Like, had to spend ages in the hospital sick. There was one point where my body was so messed up Ah wasn’t breathin’ and mah heart stopped, but Ah managed to come back from that. So, yeah, Ah technically died,” explained Mirror Bloom.

“Huh. That’s weird. And kind of disturbing, really. But at any rate, that makes it two for two. There’s definitely some sort of parallel here,” noted Pony Belle.

“How about you, other me? I’d really like to know what’s the human equivalent of being a...” started Pony Scoots before she had a hoof shoved in her mouth.

“It’s personal,” said Mirror Scoots.

Everyone in the room, including the other humans, looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah, I have a bit of a secret, but I haven’t told anyone, not even my friends or Rainbow Dash. And I don’t plan to until I feel ready. So just believe me when I say I know there’s a parallel, and leave it at that, please,” said Mirror Scoots.

There were a few sighs of disappointment across the room, but the matter was dropped for now. Key words being “for now.” Mirror Bloom and Belle were going to torment their friend endlessly until she spilled the beans.





At last, it was time to go. The humans had to get home before their siblings got worried. This hadn’t exactly been a planned trip, after all.

“Welp, it’s been fun. And kind of weird, but still fun. We’ll see you around, I guess,” said Mirror Scootaloo.

“Yeah. And maybe next time you three can call ahead first? It was just dumb luck that the three of us were here to greet you,” said Pony Scoots.

“But there definitely is going to be a next time. This place is amazing! And cute. Oh, so very cute,” said Mirror Belle with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Pony Belle didn’t say anything. She was still a little embarrassed that apparently she was cute to even herself.

“Anyway, y’all take care now. Ya need a hoof to get back through the mirror?” asked Pony Bloom.

“If y’all don’t mind,” said Mirror Bloom with a blush.

There was a moment of awkwardness as the local ponies helped their counterparts hobble through the mirror. At last, they were through, and everyone’s names could be used properly once again.

“Whew. Wasn’t expecting to deal with that today,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Since when do we ever expect to deal with anything that happens in this town?” asked Scootaloo.

“Eh, it happens from time to time. Like with mah cousin Babs or Thorax. We had a little time to prepare for those. Now, where’s that dictionary?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Wait, why did we need to find a dictionary again?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“We were arguing over it’s an ‘i’ or an ‘e’ in… uh… what was it again? After everything with the human versions of us I completely forgot,” admitted Scootaloo.

“I believe it was the word ‘believe,’” said Goose.

“That has an ‘i’ and an ‘e’, Goose. I think it was…”

“I bet it was p-”

“SHUT UP, TWITCH!”

“I think it was… er… horse apples,” cursed Apple Bloom.

“Darn it. We went through all this trouble and didn’t even get what we came for. And we still have no idea how to get out of this place,” grumbled Sweetie Belle.

“Could be worse. At least we’re not lost in a bunch of caves,” said Apple Bloom.

“Yeah. At least in here’s there’s windows and… wait, was that another insult at changeling hives?!” demanded Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle just sighed as her friends started arguing and grabbed a book off the shelf. This was going to take a while.

None of them noticed the small black dot residing in the corner of the library...





-Begin Transmission

Agent SCTL14 reporting.

Mission completed, full analysis to follow.

Results promising. Protocol B may be enacted sooner than anticipated.

Unfortunate and unexpected complications occurred. Personal request that Protocol B be enacted swiftly.

-End Transmission