//------------------------------//
// Mirror of the Golden Apple 
// Story: Contra the heresies 
// by Gabriel LaVedier 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight Sparkle sat uncomfortably before a low, wooden table, a blank smile pasted onto her face as she contemplated her situation. She was entirely out of her element, in situations she could not predict or study, and unsure if she would make it out of there intact. All she could do was nod slightly when attention was given to her, and hope that nothing else was said to her. She wasn’t exactly afraid… She was terrified. This situation was the most nerve-wracking thing she had encountered, more so than anything she had done for the princess.
“Miss Sparkle, may I offer you a bran muffin? They’re homemade. Not quite what you’re used to in your fancy city’s fancy school’s fancy cafeteria, but we like them just fine.” Goody Pie sternly held out a tray topped with irregularly-shaped but good-smelling muffins, nearly stuffing them in Twilight’s face.
“O-oh… Thank you very much, Goodwife Pie. Oh! I mean… Mother…” Twilight blushed a little bit and daintily lifted a muffin from the tray with her magic, though quickly remembered herself and took it up with her hoof. She took a nibble of the top and nodded her head. “It’s delicious.”
“Goodwife Pie will be proper. Ahem. For now.” Goody Pie settled the tray back down on the table. “I understand you are Pinkamena’s… Close friend, but you are not wedded yet, according to Equestrian laws making you our daughter in a formal sense.” The earth pony coughed into her hoof and moved away to her husband’s side.
“Aren’t they great? I told you you’d like it back at the rock farm.” Pinkie popped up suddenly beside Twilight, munching a muffin in one bite then planting a kiss on Twilight’s cheek.
Goodman Pie and Goody Pie both reacted to the kiss with a balking face, but quickly pulled on their socially-acceptable neutral appearances. Goodman Pie casually chewed on his muffin, looking hard at Twilight Sparkle. “Thank you for remembering to use your hooves. Not that we hold anything against unicorns, but we have our ways of doing things here in our Cannonite community.”
“I understand, Goodman Pie. I’m well studied in this community. I understand you and your neighbors hold to an older social understanding, freshly from the grip of the age of Discord, though I understand there were some differences. However, I could not seem to gather any information on what it was before the change to the beliefs of the Cannonites.” Twilight intentionally passed on all commentary about the reactions she received. She couldn’t understand how Pinkie could just ignore such obvious enmity.
“Oh Twilight. You don’t have to understand the rock farm, or the rest of the community.” Pinkie Pie kissed Twilight again and rubbed her head against the unicorn’s neck. “We don’t need to live here. And they can’t actually stop our marriage.”
“M-marriage!? Pinkie! We haven’t made plans like that yet.”
“Don’t you WANT to get married, Twilight?” Pinkie looked at Twilight with huge, wavering eyes, biting lightly on her lower lip.
Twilight looked into Pinkie’s face, and then sighed. “Of course, my little cookbook.”
“Excuse me. I need to… tend to the fields a bit before it gets too late.” Goodman Pie rose from beside his wife and slowly made his way out the door, shaking his head and shooting dark looks back at Twilight, who was focused on the empty, pleasant chattering of his wife.
Goodman Pie slowly trotted along the path outside the rock fields, not even noticing the fine crop of gravel-grade rocks. He was too depressed to be joyous. A filly fooler. One of his daughters was involved with another mare. Talking about marriage. To a unicorn. He could not believe it, yet he was unsurprised. He had allowed Pinkamena to leave the farm, and the community. He had no choice. Her parties were pleasant, but not in keeping with the serious austerity of the community. She had to have her wilding immediately. He should have known she’d love it so much she would remain gone.
Along the road to the next farm he came across a fellow Cannonite, in his plain clothing and dour appearance. He was unfamiliar, but he may have been from a far community. He was a deep gray stallion with a pale brown mane. Upon his back there was a box, and around his neck a string, which held some kind of charm hidden by his shirt. “Good morrow, brother Pie.”
“Good morrow brother. I am sorry, you have me at a disadvantage; you know me but I don’t know you.”
“I know many things, brother. As for me… My name is unimportant. It is enough to know that I am like you, in so many ways.”
“Yes. A fellow Cannonite. But that doesn’t say anything about why you know me.” Goodman Pie suddenly became very suspicious of the other stallion. He didn’t like mysteries. He had enough of that with his curious daughter. Any more mysterious circumstances were unacceptable.
“Oh brother, do not look at me thus. I am merely a stallion from a distant community. And I have come to deliver something to you.” The other pony turned slightly to present the plain, brown box to Goodman Pie.
“And what is this, brother? Haven’t you got a name to tell me before I take this?”
“There’s no need for such suspicion. It’s not even for you. This is for the interloper. The invader. You don’t want her there, don’t want her near your daughter. Go ahead and take it. Take it and deliver it to her before she leaves. You will have your will. Be rid of the filly fooler.” The mystery pony approached closer, offering the mysterious box insistently.
“Away, away! I don’t know you, I don’t trust you! Brother Cannonite or not, I will not simply take that box and give it to anypony. Now please leave or I will summon the elders to judge this case.”
“No, you will not.” The other stallion revealed what the pendant under his shirt was. It looked like a flat disc marked with a crude picture of Discord. The stallion snapped the disc in half, which caused the entire necklace and pendant to disintegrate. His eyes went all swirly and he held Goodman Pie in his gaze. “You will take the box and give it to the filly fooler.”
Goodman pie nodded his head, and took the box, placing it on his back. “To the filly fooler.”
“And you won’t remember you were ordered to do this… Only that you took the box.” The stallion slowly turned and trotted away.
A moment after the stallion vanished Goodman Pie shook his head and looked around again. The other Cannonite was gone, though he could not recall where he had gone. Shrugging his shoulders he turned around and walked slowly back to the house.
“… So we took some pictures at the top of the waterfall in Canterlot, and now we keep them in our houses. Twilight has hers over her desk, and I keep mine over my little workstation in Sugarcube Corners. And in my garret over the bed. And in my mane. See!” Pinkie Pie reached into her puffy mane and took out a small frame, showing off a photograph of herself and Twilight by a tremendous waterfall.
“Yes… That’s very nice, Pinkamena dear.” Goody Pie sipped from her teacup with a slight shiver. “Ah, dear, welcome back. How are the fields?” Goody was rescued from the uncomfortable situation by the sight of her husband.
“Fields? Oh, fields. Yes, they’re… They’re fine. Miss Sparkle? I have a gift here, from the Cannonite community. I received it from a passing stallion and I’m guessing it was collectively given. Please accept this as a token of esteem.”
“Oh thank you fa- Goodman Pie! I’ll wait to open this until we’re back home, but thank you very, very much. I appreciate it greatly.” Twilight took the box and hugged it to her. Pinkie looked at the box curiously but said nothing. Something was wrong with that. She knew the Cannonites. They were generous, but Twilight was an outsider in so many ways. She wouldn’t receive the benefit of their generosity so soon, especially as she was going to become part of the community by Mare marriage. But she just pressed up against Twilight and accepted it. Maybe things were changing.
Later on that night, while everyone in the Pie household was asleep, Pinkie and Twilight in Pinkie’s old bedroom, which was no longer occupied by the other sisters; Goodman and Goody pie were in their own room. However, Goodman Pie could not sleep. He stared at the ceiling, the events of the day thrumming through his head. He couldn’t stop thinking about the box. He wasn’t sure why but something just made him terribly uncertain about it.
To that end he quietly slipped out of bed and slunk through the simple house. Twilight had left the box in the living room, so she would not forget it in the morning. There was hardly any light in the house, so he lit a match and touched it to one of the candles in the living room. The tiny bit of light allowed him to see the box better. He pulled up the corner of it, peering through the tiny crack and tilting it as much as possible to let the light into the small opening.
In the darkness of the box he could barely make out a shimmering edge of gold and the polished surface of a mirror. He caught a bare glimpse of his eye in the mirror.
Red. Splash of red across the surface. Anger. A hoof thrust out, Goodman Pie’s hoof, thrusting out to hit Goody Pie…
Goodman Pie stumbled back with a gasp, the candle blowing out, his heart throbbing in his chest. His breath was sucked in hard and released with a wavering shudder, his eyes wide. The image was fading from his mind quickly, leaving nothing behind but what almost felt like a greasy, disgusting stain on his mind, the tiniest, lingering smudge without details. Just something that felt… Wrong.


- - -


The next morning Goodman Pie was a wreck, having suffered through vague nightmares that bothered his sleep. However, he put on a brave face and saw Pinkie and Twilight off by his wife’s side. He couldn’t even remember what he had seen in the box. It left no impression on his mind. But he knew there was something wrong with it. It felt wrong to give it to Twilight. Yet he couldn’t help but allow her to take it. The filly fooler.
The two mares made their way back to Ponyville with a small cart, which they had used to haul along their personal items, including several items of Pinkie’s cookware. They just added the box to it and pulled along, talking placidly and sharing numerous kisses and leans of their heads. Both of them entirely forgot about it until they got back to Sugarcube Corners and were unloading the various supplies. “Oh, right, that community gift. Pinkie, could you take it upstairs? I’ll put these cooking things back in the kitchen.” So saying, she levitated some of the pans and stockpots.
“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie Pie placed the box on her back and bounced her way up the stairs, feeling whatever it was inside the box bouncing wildly around. She wasn’t worried about breaking it, after all, it was probably a hardy, simple object that was easy to replace or repair. Twilight could do that kind of thing. Her magic was really amazing. Pinkie set the box down on her bed with a sigh and a smile. She wanted to open it up right away. Surprises were ok, but they could be so nerve-wracking. She wanted it to be over right away. She really, really needed it to be over right away. Her hoof reached out to open the box…
“Pinkie! Are you opening the gift before I can get there?” Twilight’s voice practically boomed from below, startling Pinkie into pulling her hoof away.
“Ummm… No!” She wanted to. She wanted to so badly. But she would be a good pony. She liked being a good pony for Twilight. She could manage to wait.
It wasn’t even that long of a wait. Twilight came up into the garret with a bounce in her step, humming a light tune that was very popular around Ponyville. She looked at the box and nodded her head. “Now, to get to this probably lovely gift the community gave us.”
“It’s probably a corn husk doll. Or a plain outfit. Or a rock. But not a really good rock that we plant to make good slabs. A gravel rock.”
“Pinkie, I’m sure it’s something nicer than that. After all, we were guests, and they recognize that we’re somewhat important. I’m sure it‘s… Nice…” Twilight had opened the box with her horn and lifted out the contents with her telekinesis. The contents were more than nice. What they found inside was a kind of personal mirror. An apple-shaped upper portion with a long handle. They were looking at the back of the mirror, which seemed to be made of gold. The perimeter looked like a snake, which led down to the entwined handle with the snake eating its own tail at the bottom. In the center of the rounded portion, there were the cryptic letters, KALLISTHI. (Note: As formatted, this was in Greek.)
“What? You mean they had something like THIS and I never got one? All I ever got were corn dolls and shoofly pie!” Pinkie looked at the mirror with an incredulous narrowing of one eye and a huge opening of the other.
“I don’t think this was really from them. I don’t know…” The telekinesis turned the mirror slowly, revealing the front of it. The snake body around the mirror itself was etched with additional words, on the left, upper middle and right, in the same cryptic script, this time the words, mhlon ths Eridos (This, too, was Greek). But once the words had been seen, the mirror itself absorbed their notice…
“My faithful student…” A haze of brown liquor and mysterious stings over the exposed hide of a grinning madmare. Fire burned and ponies screamed in fear and agony. The wind rushed past twitching ears as hooves hammered the grassy ground. Hooves… Hooves and horns everywhere, familiar. Betrayal by the familiar contact. A splash of white and burning sunlight tracing flaming caresses across a vulnerable body. No. No… No more. No more contact. No more. It’s not right. But it won’t stop. The madmare is fed by the staunch refusal to be slaked or moved by pity. Madness for the madness within. Drunken wheeling, bruises over the whole form, all in a haze of perfidy. The Cocytian realm would tremble at such an act of infidelity. But no. As the madmare grinned and the world burned, the traces of touch continued to invade the secret places.
“P a r t y . . .” The distant, echoing word was said without mirth, without joy, without any emotion. It was a stretched expulsion of noise devoid of meaning. The steady drip of thick liquid was not terrible. The terrible part was the horrid squirming. So noisome and improper. The shine and quick motion. The squirming ceased, to leave only the purity of each drip. Drip. Drip. What friends were there in the dark? There were only bits and pieces of memory left. All with the tiny trophies to signify their passing through life. What did friend matter when there was all the beautiful drip? Drip. Drip. But soon it would stop. The squirming would come again. But that would end too. No worries in the dark. Only the fear that there might one day be no more smiles for the darkness and only some kind of hope for the outside. Blasphemy. Only the dark could be happy.
Twilight finally lost control of the mirror, dropping it back into the box and sending the hideous glass out of eyesight. Twilight and Pinkie both dropped to their sides, hooves over their eyes. They could see it. They could still see it in the spaces behind their eyes. Like a greasy corruption on their minds, fading away into an unclean smudge that buzzed like a distant bee. There. So very there but indistinct. Just something wrong.
Both mares trembled and panted hard, silent for a long few moments, chancing a glance to each other after they uncovered their eyes. Neither had seen the other’s nightmare in the mirror. The sight of one another was the only comfort cutting through the unclean stain that had been stamped on their minds. They quickly clattered closer to one another, embracing tightly, Pinkie in tears, Twilight on the edge but trying to be strong. “What was that, Twilight? What was it?”
“I don’t… I don’t know, Pinkie. The writing was unfamiliar. I know it’s Hipposian, but I don’t know it that well. I can still see the letters themselves and I know I have a Hipposian-Equestrian dictionary at the library. Let’s just leave it here and see what the words mean.”
Pinkie, wanting to be as far away as possible from the thing, nodded quickly and quietly, looking fearfully at the box as though at some kind of monster. No laughter this time. Something hazy and indistinct kept her from giggling at that particular ghosty. She just got up with Twilight and walked out.
Not more than a half hour after Twilight and Pinkie had left Pinkie’s room, Rainbow Dash poked her head into the door. “Twi? Pinkie? You guys home?” She trotted into the room, casting her eyes around until she saw the box. Peeking inside she could see the shining gold and etched letters on the back. “Whoa! Sweet mirror! Man, Twilight is so SAPPY! She gives Pinkie way too many flashy gifts.” Dash stroked her chin as she considered the box and mirror. “I’ve totally got to show the others. I’m sure Twi won’t mind as long as I bring it back.”


- - -


“Well, well. What have y’got there, RD?” Applejack came across Dash at the back door to Sugarcube Corner, upon which she had been about to knock.
“It’s another one of those sappy gifts Twi keeps giving Pinkie. Look at this.” Dash showed off the mirror, placing it in a patch of light that showed off the shine of the gold.
“Well ah’ll be! That reminds me o’ auntie and uncle Orange! That Twi jes gets too fancy. Pinkie’s jes a simple country pony, like me! We don’t need fancy baubles an’ trinkets. We jes need t’know we’re loved.”
Dash suddenly threw a leg around Applejack’s shoulder and snuggled her in close, kissing her cheek. “I love you, Applejack. You and your crazy family and your dozens of dinner parties.”
“Rainbow Dash! Ah told you, that was all Granny’s doin’. She jes wants y’all t’stay around. And ah’ll admit, ah want y’all t’stay too.” Applejack leaned against Dash and rubbed cheek to cheek. “So where was ya goin’ with that?”
“I’m gonna show it to Rarity. This is SO the kind of thing that makes her get all spazzy.”
“Did y’all remember t’ask permission?” Applejack looked sternly at Dash, who started to sweat a little.
“Well, you know… Th-they’re friends. They won’t mind as long as I get it back to them quickly. I’m not gonna lose it. I just wanted Rarity to have a look and get crazy jealous.”
“Sugarcube… That ain’t very kind o’ you.”
“It’s all in good fun. Rarity gets a kick out of it. Besides, it gives her ideas about what she can give Fluttershy, who ALSO doesn’t need fancy toys. Man, our friends are weird. Two fancy-pants mares dating two simple mare that just want them to be there.”
“Don’t spread them ‘weirds’ out too far, Dashie.” Applejack kissed her marefriend and gave her a playfully mock-serious glance. “Ah’m a simple mare mahself.”
Dash chuckled, hugging Applejack to her before they both set off down the short walk  between there and Carousel Boutique.
“… And the trim needs to be organdy; just use the iron for that, I have plenty of iron-activated fabric glue. That will be sufficient for this project.” Rarity was at her drafting table, putting some final sketches on a new dress design. She was giving directions to Fluttershy, who was working on a previous design.
Fluttershy pulled out a long piece of organdy ribbon, measuring it carefully by eye, cutting the piece off, then cutting strips of heat-activated fabric glue. She placed the ribbon halfway down along the lower edge of the dress, with pieces of the glue under it. She pressed the iron down at each piece, sealing the piece of organdy to the rest of the fabric. “It’s another beautiful work, Rarity.”
“Oh thank you, darling, but it’s nothing really. Just something I tossed together for those horrible ponies in Canterlot. It will be nothing compared to the magnificent perfection that I shall construct for your birthday.” Rarity turned from her sketch to looking lovingly upon her marefriend.
“Oh…” Fluttershy blushed deeply and set the iron aside, looking down shyly. “Y-you know you don’t have to do that, Rarity. All I really want is the day with you, and a little party. I don’t need anything so fancy.”
“Now, now… You have bound yourself to an artist, and my medium is clothes. My most precious gift… No, my most precious gift is you, but the pale shadow that approaches that would be the finest bit of couture in all of Equestria.”
“Oh…” Fluttershy was stricken into speechlessness, hiding behind her hair.
“Hey! Anypony home!” From the front shop area came Rainbow Dash’s voice.
“Yes, we’re in the design studio!” Rarity called out.
“Hey there, sugarcubes.” Applejack sauntered casually into the studio, followed by Dash carrying the box on her back.
“Oh, Applejack, Rainbow Dash. What a wonderful surprise. To what do be owe this visit?” Rarity got up from her design table and walked over to stand beside Fluttershy, a good compromise distance.
“You know Dashie. She found some cute li’l trinket that Twi was givin’ t’Pinkie and wanted t’show it.”
“Yea, and this one’s a doozy. You’ve gotta check it out.” Dash came closer, Applejack beside her, placing the box on a table near Rarity and Fluttershy, who crowded around to look in.
“Goodness me! Just look at the fine crafting on this mirror! Such finely-wrought gold, and such beautifully etched lettering. And look at it, Hipposian. That is so Twilight, trying to impress Pinkie Pie with sophisticated foreignness. She really goes over the top.” Rarity looked around at all the eyes looking to her and lightly bounced her hair. “Well, she DOES.”
“Come on, let’s see the rest of it.” Dash nudged at Rarity, indicating the mirror with her hoof.
“Yes, I do suppose we ought to have a look.” Rarity lifted the mirror out with her telekinesis, slowly turning the mirror’s face to them, letting them all see the reflective surface.
The sky was far away, and would be far away forever. The world was black and choked in ash, all the future burned away, all the past faded into a colorless plane of razors. Only pain came from looking back, to a time when all was hopeful and happy. But it had only taken one mistake to turn all that hopeful happiness into the nothingness of the present. Nothing was important anymore, nothing was there to hang onto. There wasn’t even a point to living, there was nothing ahead but the bleak, broken future. Nothing to do but escape.
Tell them lies. Tell them soft, sweet, poisoned little lies to make it easier to get through the day. Sometimes for their benefit. More often for the sheer joy of lying. So much joy in deceit. What could be so pleasant about the truth when lies flowed so much easier and never hurt unless somepony was foolish enough to believe? It was all their own fault if they had the foolish trust to believe. Show them the price of belief. Teach them to never trust again. Loneliness is the only solution. Solitude. Do it all as a single being. No pain in solitude. No sorrow in seclusion.
Gonna cry, little foal? Gonna cry like a little foal and run away? Good! Nopony cares about you anyway. Awww, is that sauce a little hot? Too bad! Aww, it burns and blisters. So what? Don’t be such a little foal! Awwww, your throat is swelling? Stop complaining about it! Why are you all such foals? Stop crying! You make me sick!
Oh dear oh dear… Such unfortunate scars. What a terrible thing to happen to pristine porcelain features. So much promise gone up in flames. Flames… No. No. Just blood. Flames are so base. So coarse. No no… A cut, a cut, a cut… Yes. Blood. So lovely, standing out on the alabaster form. Such ugly scars but such beautiful blood. So sad the scars must always come. Self respect? Self respect comes only from mutilation. Worthless. Worthless without beauty. And beauty flows from liquid life, splitting the fonts of the body to pour and paint the beauty on like camouflage. 


- - -


“Ok…Here it is…” Twilight Sparkle was surrounded by books as usual, tomes on grammar, books containing full lists of conjugated verbs and case-modified other words, as well as the Hipposian-Equestrian dictionary. “It’s kalos. And it means beautiful. The one on the mirror was a modification that means it was given to the most beautiful.”
“Oh! Does that mean you’re the most beautiful, Twilight? I knew it! I knew you were beautiful! I told you…” Pinkie continued to chatter and babble in the background, almost running out her own tongue. She wasn’t filled with her normal chipper energy. Rather, she was putting on a brave face. There was still the unsettling something that had been seen in the mirror. Even if she couldn’t remember, she could feel its wrongness in her subconscious.
“I don’t think it really was for me… I’ve been looking up the rest of the words that I saw. One of them means apple. The shape was enough to tell. The rest of it was a preposition, and the last bit…” Twilight went silent, the book falling to the floor with a heavy thud.
“T-twilight? Twilight? What’s wrong? Twilight!” Pinkie went over to shake Twilight softly, looking at her with fearful eyes.
“E-eridos… A version of a noun. A proper name.”
“What name?”
“The Hipposian Eris. Their name for Discord.” At that moment, there was a scream of several voices from across the town.


- - -


Rarity flung the mirror through her window, the golden abomination flying out over the town, landing with a light bounce in a cart being pulled by Big Macintosh. He heard the object fall into the hay and quickly looked back. He could see the flash of gold but was positioned improperly to actually note what it was. He unhitched himself from the cart and looked into it. He reached in for the handle he saw protruding from the hay and brought the object up to his face.
Muscles. Big muscles. Powerful all over. Pride. But a very well-earned pride. Mares were everywhere. Beautiful mares. All of them fawning and swooning without shame. None of them cared that the others were there. They were only eager to be there with all those muscles, all those bulging muscles. The handsome smile and wonderful flip of hair. Mares loved all of that. They were so easy to draw in. Nothing better that all the mares. ALL the mares. Mares everywhere…
Big Macintosh held the mirror with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. He stuffed the mirror into the space of his horse collar and quickly galloped off, leaving behind the cart of hay and passing by Twilight and Pinkie, who were dashing in the opposite direction.
The two mares burst into the boutique, finding Dash huddled on the floor, Applejack shaking her head, Fluttershy clinging to Rarity and Rarity staring blankly out. “Girls! Girls, are you ok?”
Appleback was the first to respond, finally seeming to clear her head enough. “Ah… Ah jes don’ know whut we jes saw. But it feels terrible in mah head.”
“I don’t know why, but I just want to hold Rarity. I’m always afraid but now it feels like I really NEED her.” Fluttershy squeezed Rarity tightly, hiding her face in her long hair.
“Oh Darling… Y-yes. Hold on tightly. I’ll be here for you. I’ll help you with… Whatever it was…”
Twilight understood, suddenly. “The mirror. What happened to the mirror?”
“That hideous thing? I threw it out of my shop immediately! Twilight, how could you keep such a horrible thing?”
“It was given to me, but not by who I thought. Who took it out of Pinkie’s room anyhow?”
The other three mares looked at Rainbow Dash, even Fluttershy, though from behind her hair. Rainbow smiled sheepishly and cleared her throat. “W-well, I was just borrowing it. I was going to bring it back after I showed Rarity.”
“Oh no, this is bad. This is bad! I checked the writing on that! It’s something connected to Discord!” The other mares started to chatter between one another after that statement. “The mark on the back says it’s for the most beautiful and its front says it’s Discord’s apple. According to ancient Hipposian legends, Discord tossed a golden apple marked with that to the wives of the three leaders of the earth, Pegasus and unicorn ponies of the time. Each one thought the apple was for his wife. That ended the second inter-bellum period and began the third civil war of the Discordian period, the last one before the history gets muddled and completely indistinct. Discord seems to have erased everything.”
“Gracious! I thought we had sealed away Discord and all his horrible little tricks.” Rarity shook her head disbelievingly and stood up, with Fluttershy still attached.
“I don’t think anypony can truly do away with Discord, no matter what. Some pieces will always remain, even if the most troublesome part is locked away. That mirror must have been something he created just in case he was ever defeated. A way to keep spreading chaos through the world. And it does. I don’t remember what I saw, I only remember it was terrible. I can feel it.”
“Yea. Something’s humming in my head. I just don’t know what. It feels really wrong.” Rainbow Dash finally got to her hooves and rubbed at the side of her head.
“That’s what Discord wants. Fear and uncertainty. We have to find that mirror. I’ll write to Princess Celestia and tell her what’s happened. Everypony, find that thing before it hurts somepony else!” Twilight knocked her hoof on the ground then ran off out of the boutique, followed by the others.
The six separated and filtered out through the town. Twilight went to find Spike, who had been given liberty to do as he chose; Rarity carried Fluttershy on her back as she used her horn to try and find any trace of gold, a difficult thing given all the gold used in everyday applications. Rainbow Dash took to the sky with a desperate hunger despite the nagging in her brain, while Applejack happened to notice the hay cart. It was one of the Sweet Apple Acres delivery carts that Big Macintosh used when he wanted to haul in groceries and other items. Applejack ran to Sweet Apple Acres, to get Winona. Big Macintosh would never abandon the cart without a reason. She needed to track him down.


- - -


Big Macintosh ducked into another alley. He had been hiding for some time. Each time he found a quiet, dark place he had to leave thanks to the approach of somepony. He was dedicated to his solitude and privacy. Once he was certain he was safely hidden from ordinary view, he eagerly reached into his horse collar, pulling out the mirror, and dislodging Smarty-Pants, dropping her into the filth of the alley.
All the mares. ALL the mares. ALL THE mares. ALL THE MARES. All the muscles and all the power and all the studliness and all the good mane flicks. All the sunglasses. All the love and adulation and greatness and…
Big Macintosh looked just past the edge of the mirror. He caught a glimpse of Smarty-Pants laying on the floor of the alley.
They all want to snuggle up to all those muscles. Every mare wanted to be the one to feel those things flex, to know what it was like to be pulled in a cart by the strongest stallion in Ponyville. In all Equestria. All the ladies everywhere wanted…
Those mismatched button eyes looked up. Round and pure and sweet. Unconditionally loving. They still had all the emotion in them. He could see it. The mana envelope  was still there, gathering impressions. Gathering memories. Seeing what was happening.
All the mares, all the cows, all the hens, all the jennies, all the b…
But no Smarty-Pants. In all the mirror’s empty promises, there was no Smarty-Pants. That was when the addicting buzzing in Big Macintosh’s head started to feel horrible. The mirror was offering everything but what he wanted. Visions of wonderful things empty of meaning. It was all worthless without Smarty-Pants there to be his companion. Seeing the true uselessness of the mirror, he threw it out of the alley with a grunt, somewhat satisfied when he heard the hateful thing smash to pieces. He then took up Smarty-Pants and placed her lovingly back in his horse collar.
“Over here!”  Applejack ran into the alley from the opposite direction as the mirror had flown, trailing Winona and followed by her friends. “Alright, Big Brother. Y’all’d never leave the hay cart like that. Where’s the mirror, Big Macintosh? ‘N whut did th’thing do to ya?”
“Mm, never mind whut it did. Ah got rid of it. It was a’ ugly, hateful thing. So’s ah threw it over that way an’ smashed it t’pieces.”  Just as Big Macintosh said it, there came a scream from the street.
One more round. One more one more round. Last call? Fine. There’s cabinets full of magic, unending booze bottles at home. The terrible, terrible home filled with screaming and emptiness. Where SHE is hurt. Emotionally. Physically. Constantly. But it’s funny. It’s funny when she gets hurt in alcohol-fueled moments of rage, cruelty and sexual impropriety. If she wasn’t meant to get hurt, she wouldn’t have a disgusting, worthless lush for a mother. No need to think of that. There’s all the colors of the distillery to enjoy. Clear, brown, red, pink, off-pink, green, orange. A rainbow of inebriety drowning in an ocean of flavorful mixes with all the accessories any slowly-dying liver could barely tolerate.
“I’m not that way! Was never that way! I love Pinchy! Colgate’s good to me! I’m getting’ help for that! St-stop it!” Berry Punch violently kicked the mirror from before her, the whole and undamaged thing sliding and bumping along the cobblestone streets while the other ponies looked on in confusion.
Applejack and the others, with Big Macintosh and Winona, emerged from the alley to see the mirror sliding along the ground, breaking and repairing as it bounced, to come to a stop before Ditzy Doo, Carrot Top, and Dinky Doo. “Ditzy! Don’t look at it!” Twilight Sparkle screamed, but it was too late. Ditzy, in eye-spasm mode, had seen the mirror and picked it up.
I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins!
“Honey, do we need to go shopping? It keeps saying I cleaned out the fridge. And keeps saying something about muffins. I mean, I love muffins but this is a lot of them.” Ditzy looked confused, and not just because her eyes were still out of focus.
“Ditzy, look in it again, but don’t show it to anypony else.” Twilight approached slowly, cautiously, keeping her face to the mirror’s back, while all the other ponies looked away.
I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins! I cleaned out your fridge! Muffins!
“It just keeps on repeating the same things.” Ditzy looked at Twilight with a tilt of her head. “What is this? Some kind of joke mirror?”
“It’s no joke, Ditzy. I know this is going to sound strange, but I need you to drop the mirror and let it break. It’s very important that it breaks.”
“If you say so.” Ditzy dropped the mirror on its face, a loud shattering sound ringing around the area. Shards tinkled as they bounced on the solid stones before settling. But almost as soon as they stopped moving, they all flew back again, the mirror repairing itself as it lay on the street.
“Oh no. I should have known. It can’t be destroyed by ordinary means. I sent the letter to Canterlot, now we just need the Princesses here to deal with this. Until then, nopony look at that mirror.”
Those ponies that did not run away from the mirror trembled in fear and looked away from the gold mirror. Carrot Top and Dinky moved away from Ditzy, who stayed by it because Twilight motioned for her to remain there. It was an uncomfortable waiting period, but it ended soon enough, Celestia and Luna flying grandly over Ponyville and dropping to the street.
“We came as soon as we received the letter. Where is it?” Celestia looked down at Twilight with great concern.
“Over there, by Ditzy. She’s not as affected by it as everypony else.”
“We shall retrieve the hideous glass.” Luna grasped the Mirror with her telekinesis and brought it up to before her face. “So this be the offending object.” She slowly turned it from back to front, to face herself and Celestia. “Discord be a fool. This misfit magical contrivance be not powerful enough to…”
The moon… So bright and full. And not passed in a dream. Walking the surface. Bleeding blackness from her eyes, the drops of Nightmare Moon, while she, the princess, suffered in solitude and misery upon the cold and unfeeling lunar surface. Why isn’t Nightmare Moon trapped here? Why only the innocent one? Why must she be tortured with solitude while the malevolent mare lives in a limbo of uncertain location? Why this loneliness for the princess of the night? Why the torment of having to know that time is passing?
Flanks. Flanks. Legs. Bottoms. Horns and tongues and lips and all the rest. No subjects, no students, no personalities. Victims. An endless buffet of helpless, trembling, trapped victims. Violate. Destroy. Humiliate. Horrify. Care nothing for how they suffer. Lascivious miseries and drunken cavorting. Drink the suffering and torture in. Breathe in the heady incense of screams and sobs, violating all and taking away innocence, wants and preferences. Marriage? Relationships? Connections? Burn away paltry concerns in the crucible of lust and indulge in terrible things, to create monstrous situations. Smile with poisoned intentions flashing in hungry eyes. No mirth and no joy in that smile. Only intent to hurt. The promise of ruination.
Luna threw the mirror down onto the stone street with a sudden cry of pain, shattering the glass to pieces and having to watch it come together again. She took up a rock with her horn’s magic and repeatedly smashed the mirror. “Thou insolent glass! We are not thy playthings!”
“Luna! Luna! It’s not working! It’s not working…” Celestia softly rubbed her head, not remembering what scared her so much in the mirror, only feeling the stain of terror.
The mirror recovered after each smash, breaking and repairing and giving up visions of terror from each little broken piece. “Infernal Discord! The infuriating monster doth not give us any rest. We must seal the thing away from all view.” Luna flashed her horn and attempted to coat the mirror in a sheath of stone. But as the stone was laid over, it simply cracked the shell.
“Here, sister, let me help.” Celestia added her own horn’s magic to Luna’s. But even so, the mirror still resisted the coating of stone.
Luna stopped trying to stone the mirror and instead smashed it with the rock again, grabbing one shard of the glass and holding it tight, trying to keep it from flowing back. She held it tight, grunting with effort. And each time she looked at it, she got a small eyeful of her nightmare behind the glass surface. “S-sister… We… We cannot…” Luna finally turned away, letting the piece fly back into the mirror. “We must be utterly out of sight of this monstrosity. We require direction from some pony that may freely look with no fear of horror.”
“Princess!” Two heads turned towards Twilight. “…es! Princesses! I know how you can do this. Close your eyes and get behind a barrier. Ditzy, we need you here. You can guide the princesses’ magic to each piece, they can pull them away and maybe the pieces can be covered in stone.”
“Thy words be most wise, Twilight Sparkle. Thou! The one named Ditzy, come forth and serve thy nation proudly.”
Ditzy walked up obediently, looking just a little intimidated by the presence of both Equestrian princesses. “So what do I have to do?”
Luna pushed the rock to Ditzy’s chest and waited for her to take hold of it. “Thou wilt crush the hideous glass repeatedly and then direct myself and my sister to each shattered piece. Tell us where the fragments lay in relation to our horn’s grip. We shall do the rest when we have it held properly.”
Ditzy nodded and then lifted the rock up, as the other ponies cleared the street. The princesses pulled several loose boxes into a makeshift barricade, their telekinesis then sent to hover over the mirror. “Smash away. And just tell us which way to go.”
Ditzy brought the rock down with a swift motion, loudly smashing the mirror into pieces. Immediately there was a scramble with the auras of telekinesis. “Right, no, left. Right. Forward, down. Princess Celestia, down, got one! Princess Luna, grab on, left, yes!”
The Princesses ended up holding one small shard, separated from the re-forming mirror. They held on tightly, restraining the tiny piece of mirror as it attempted to return to the mirror. A crust of stone slowly formed over it, engulfing it completely and being released. The thing clattered to the ground, trying to situate itself back into the mirror but unable to fit into the space it once did.
Things proceeded like that, for a long while, Ditzy directing the princesses after she smashed the mirror a few times. Eventually, all that remained was the golden portion of the mirror, with irregular chunks of stone crowded around the face of it desperately attempting to fit together. “Huzzah! The deceiver hath been out-done! We are victorious once more!” Luna stepped out from behind the barricade, looking down at the useless mirror.
“We can try to lock the rest in stone by breaking it apart in safety. But later. Where did this mirror come from, my faithful student?” Celestia turned her eyes to Twilight, who suddenly looked scared.
“I… Umm… Well, you see Princess, it was… I just…”
“Oh! My dad gave it to her. He said it was from the community but I think he was lying. Which is weird because he’s a Cannonite and Cannonites aren’t supposed to lie.” It was Pinkie who popped up and sold out her father, drawing a gasp from all the gathered mares, but most of all from Twilight. “What?”
“P-pinkie… He’s your father! He’s going to be my father! You just… Gave him up. I know Rainbow Dash is loyalty, but we should all be loyal.”
“And hooooooooo-neeeeeest.” Pinkie smiled and spoke in adorable sing-song.
“Yes. Honest.” Twilight sighed and shook her head.
“This news be informative. Cannonites, is it? Well, they have long been mistrustful of our rule. Come then, Twilight Sparkle. Bring thy betrothed. We shall all go to question this stallion.”
“They’re a lot more quiet and stable these days, sister. We don’t need to be too worried about them. But she’s right, my student. We must go to their rock farm to find out what we can about where the mirror came from.”


- - -


“I know this is very unusual, Goodman Pie. But I have to learn where the mirror came from. It was an artifact from the Discordian period, or a new creation during his second reign. It came from him, and it spread a lot of hurt. I know you didn’t mean to do anything to hurt anypony. Please, tell me all you can.” Shortly after restricting the mirror, Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Pinkie were all crowded into the small, humble front room of the Pie family homestead.
“Be not so mild, sister. Cannonites have their hatred for us and our ways. We may trust this stallion, so far as he is known to thy student, but his kind have enmity to us. Tell us the truth, sirrah. We are not thy enemy any longer, or so we have been told.”
“I’m telling you the truth, princesses. I took the box. And I gave it to the filly fooler… I’m sorry. I can’t stop saying that when I think about or talk about the box. I didn’t even know what was in it. I saw… Something when I peeked in but it just turned into this feeling in my head. This odd, unsettling feeling, that went away recently.”
“Yes. We have felt that same. The feeling vanished when the mirror was no longer whole. With no reflection remaining the hex was broken. Dost thou remember any detail from thy receipt of that package?”
“I was talking to another Cannonite. He wouldn’t tell me his name. He had the box. I had the box. Then I was giving it to the filly fo- her. It seemed the right thing to do. He was like me. Same build, same clothing, deep gray coat and pale brown mane. He said we was a Cannonite. But that’s all. I don’t even remember where he went after I took the box.”
“This information will be useful. Thank you, Goodman Pie.” Celestia bowed her head slightly and rose, trotting out of the house flanked by Luna.
“The information be trivial at best, sister, but sayeth much all the same. A Cannonite with a Discordian item. You know as well as I that wast no real Cannonite. Even after a thousand years I know it well enough.”
“I know. It’s… I didn’t think there would ever be the need. But I will contact the mountain, see if he can pull away from exile to…”
“Nay, sister. There is a simpler way. A less obtrusive and official way, to reduce the fear that may arise.”
“But that is the job that he had in times before, and there’s no other way…”
“There is. You may not believe in the potency, but there is. Put a price upon this indistinct stallion’s apprehension. And leave the rest to the shepherd of chastening.”


- - -


“Hey! Some more of that stuff over here!”  In a dive bar not far off from the Cannonite community by Ponyville and Cloudsdale, one annoying stallion was making himself more annoying. He had been a dink-swilling parasite before, but this time he had bits. Lots of them. He pulled them from a pouch pretty freely and was ordering the good stuff, tipping generously as well. So the servers dealt with his annoying nature for the sake of their pouches. “Come on, bring it, I paid for it.”
“Here you go… Brother.” A glass of dark liquid hit the table and was passed along the surface by a hoof. But it did not belong to any of the servers. It was attached to a stallion wrapped in a bark brown cloak with a hood up, hiding all except the caramel end of his snout. His hoof was at the end of a leg covered in black, like a proper Cannonite. “I thought I would be polite.”
“Heh. Brother. Works for me. Have a seat.” The slightly-buzzed stallion took up the glass and nodded his head, taking a long, slow sip. “So, you’re a Brother, are you? Brother in what?”
“Brother in Brotherhood.” The stallion had a seat close to the drinker, head turned towards him. “Just a fellow-traveler as far as these things go. A little bit Cannonite. A little bit… Chaotic. Aren’t things like that these days?”
The other one stopped drinking and slowly nodded his head. “Yea… Yea, it is. But a little chaos, now and then, is the mark of the best stallions, right?”
“Stallions over all.” The hooded one smiled a little, sliding his hood up to reveal a handsome face and shiny black mane slicked back with pomade.
“Stallions over all… That’s right. So, what brings you out here?”
“I heard you did something clever. Very clever.” The cloaked figure leaned closer, scooting a little bit nearer.
“I wish I could take credit. But it only happened thanks to the return of… Well, it was the return. You know well there’s still a few of us around. And it pays well. Really well. All I did was pass on a box and suddenly I’m loaded.”
“In more ways than one. But hey, that’s what money is for.” The caramel one chuckled, leaning in closer than before. “And you got away with it?”
“I had a little one-shot mind bender. I told him to forget he had been ordered to deliver the package.”
“Well, there was a little problem. Next time…” Suddenly the second stallion’s leg came up, bringing his hoof to the back of the drinker’s head, quickly slamming it down on the table. “Tell him to forget what you look like.” His other leg reached into his cloak and brought out a set of manacles on a chain, locking one end on the stunned stallion’s leg and the other to the heavy, bolted table.
The rapid assault caught the whole room by surprise, but once the shock had passed several of the larger stallions got up threateningly, while the bartender took up a metal pipe. “I think you may have made a mistake, stranger.”
“Did I? Well, that’s curious. This is a Discordian. You know what that means. Not exactly the most beloved sort around. But maybe you’re especially loving and tolerant. That’s fine. I just wanted you to know…” The caramel stallion opened his cloak, showing a hidden silver badge in the shape of a crescent moon. “Equestrian Constable! Nightwatch patrol stallion executing an arrest warrant on this individual! Anypony want to stick around when the rest of the corps gets in? Nightwatch doesn’t mess around and you know it.”
That was enough. Several of the patrons, stallions and mares, simply ran out of the door, while the others backed slowly away, eventually leaving on their own, the bartender included. “Nightwatch? Constable? How did they find me without tripping any alarms? I wouldn’t be here if I knew there was an counter-Discordian crew after me.”
“Yea, about that. That was a lie.” The stallion took a piece of parchment out of his cloak along with a graphite stick. He wrote out a quick message and then burned the paper on one of the lantern flames along the wall. “Oh, they know I’m here, and my badge number is official. I’m technically connected to the Nightwatch. I’m just not a real constable. I can’t arrest just ANYPONY. But if there’s a warrant out for you, I can get you. For a fee.”
“A bounty hunter? Since when does a bounty hunter have access to this kind of high-level stuff? I thought you guys were low-level subpoena servers telling folks to come to court over vandalism and stealing fruit.”
The bounty hunter pulled out another piece of paper and wrote out another note, after taking the manacled stallion’s pouch and weighing it carefully. He left the note on the arrestee’s table as he walked out of the bar. “I told you. I’m not quite what you think. It’s complicated. But it works for me.”
The restrained stallion pulled at his chain and cried out for help from the ponies that were no longer there. He did that for the entire period between his captor leaving and armored ponies arriving. Gold armored pegasi and silver-armored unicorns. Both sisters had sent their guards. They took the stallion into custody, and looked at the note that had been left for them.
“Hello fellows. I confirmed this was the one. He owned up to it. Don’t bother forwarding the bounty, I took his ill-gotten bits. By weight they seemed to be about right. I’ll remit overage or bill for underage later. Ha! Kidding. Don’t mind his head, I had to stun him for a moment. Eh… Bill me for that if it’s billable. Take care! Nightwatch-supported warrant-server badge number 7777.”


- - -


Luna trotted through the grounds of Canterlot palace, reading a dispatch from the guard detachments that had been sent to formally arrest the Discordian responsible for the mirror fiasco. She smiled at the successful operation, and chuckled when she read the words from the one that had restrained the criminal. She made her way to the hedge maze which held the petrified form of Discord, where Celestia was setting the remains of the mirror. As stated, the gold portion had been broken to pieces and encased in stone. All the separate, stone-coated pieces continued to try and reassemble, but had been pushed away from one another by long stone rods, looking like a spiny ball, or a frozen explosion. That ball had been coated in glass and mounted on a carven pillar, which Celestia was settling near Discord.  “Sister! Did I not say it would be so? The notice hath come. The profusions of sevens have marked the capture of  the wrongdoer. Without need of payment. The matter is thus concluded, successfully.”
Celestia anchored the pillar solidly beside the encased spirit of chaos, looking at him with a triumphant expression. “You always knew how to be a pain. You left your little followers even after we sealed you away. We did all we could to reduce their impact and I think we did a good job. But you just can’t help yourself, can you? I’m sure there are more little traps laid out somewhere, just waiting for the unwary ponies. But this one isn’t here anymore. I don’t even remember what I saw in that thing, and I don’t feel the same unsettled ugliness I did when it was still whole. But I have a memory of that memory. You haven’t broken us, Discord. Whatever ugly horror you intended, failed.” Celestia started to walk away with Luna, but paused, thought a moment, and turned to add,  “And it always will.”

The End