//------------------------------//
// Closing The Door 
// Story: The Bug in The Mirror 
// by Skijarama 
//------------------------------//

“Are you sure you have everything packed, Little One?” Fangs asked with a quirked eyebrow, his eyes darting from Minuette to look at the pair of saddlebags leaning against her bed.

Minuette let out an exasperated sigh. “Ugh. Yes, Fangs, I have everything I need! Why do you keep asking me that?”

“Just making sure,” Fangs defended, lifting a hoof with a small smirk. “I wouldn’t want you to go on this trip of yours and forget something important.”

Minuette blew a raspberry at him, drawing an amused chortle from the imprisoned mirror bug. She then shook her head and frowned. “Well, we are forgetting something important…”

The history exam had come and gone with no fanfare, and Celestia had called her in once or twice to question her on the mirror. Those meetings had been clinical and to the point, but Minuette had told the solar alicorn all she could about the mirror. She had also brought back a series of written questions to get Fangs' answers on them without having to remove the mirror from her home.

But now it was the first day of Summer Vacation, and Minuette’s family had made arrangements to head out of Canterlot for the week to get away from everything. If Minuette recalled correctly, they were going to be headed down to that village at the base of the mountain - Ponyville, she thought it was called. A wholly different place from Canterlot, but close enough that, in the event that something came up, they would be able to come home swiftly.

There was just one problem. The mirror stayed here.

	And Minuette didn’t like that.

Fangs gave her a warm smile. “Minuette…”

“You should get to come along, too! You’ve been in Canterlot for so long, now. It must be boring!”

“Just getting to spread my wings and soar the skies outside on occasion is more than enough for me after the tarp,” Fangs shot back with a coy grin. “Really, it isn’t a big deal.”

“But why can’t they let me take you with me?!”

Fangs rolled his eyes. “Well, for one thing, I am your friend, but I am not your family, and this is a family trip. Secondly, you’re still the only pony who can perceive my existence. Therefore, bringing me along would only serve to throw a monkey wrench into your family time.”

Minuette went to offer up some protest, but Fangs held up a hoof, silencing her before she could begin. He leaned in, a far more amused smirk spreading across his fanged muzzle. “You and I both know that, if you took me along, you’d spend more time ogling my teeth and chattering at me than seeing the sights and being with your family. Which, in my humble opinion, rather defeats the purpose.”

Minuette spluttered incoherently for several seconds, searching desperately for some witty comeback, but none were forthcoming. In the end, she just settled for puffing up her cheeks and sticking her tongue out at the bug. She hated it when he was right and it inconvenienced her!

Before the two could continue, there was a sudden knocking at the door. Minuette almost jumped out of her skin before turning around. “What is it?” she called out.

The door popped open a second later, revealing Sunspot on the other side. He smiled at her. “Hey, kiddo. We’re gonna be rolling out of here in about an hour. You got everything?”

Minuette nodded, pointing to her saddlebags on the bed. “Yup, I do.”

“Good. In that case…” Sunspot stepped to one side and pushed the door all the way open to reveal there was somepony else standing just outside the bedroom.

Minuette sprang up to her hooves with an excited gasp, her eyes igniting with delight. “First Aid!” she exclaimed, bounding over as the filly trotted into the room and enveloping her in a warm embrace. 

“Oof!”

First grunted in surprise from the sudden impact, falling back onto her haunches. She giggled a moment later, once her breath returned to her, and returned the embrace. “Hah! Hey, Minnie!”

“What are you doing here?!” Minuette asked with a huge grin, pulling back to look into First’s face.

First Aid rolled her eyes, playfully pressing her hoof to Minuette’s nose. “What do you think, silly filly? I wanted to come and hang out with you.”

Minuette’s grin widened at the prospect of hanging out with her oldest friend. But then her eyes wandered past First Aid’s big grin and settled on her father, and her burst of enthusiasm died on the spot. She deflated, turning back to First. “Heh. Well… I mean, we’re kinda…”

“Yeah, I heard,” First Aid admitted, her ears drooping as she glanced back at Sunspot. “Your dad told me what’s going on.”

There was a brief pause. Sunspot cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the two foals. “Like I said, we’re leaving in about an hour. I figured you could spend that time hanging out, if you wanted,” he explained with a shrug.

Minuette blinked in surprise. That was surprisingly lenient on her, given their time constraints. But there was probably some sort of secret ulterior motive behind it all. Probably distracting her so that she wouldn’t bother them while they got their own last-minute preparations out of the way or something like that.

But oh well. Who cares? And who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth?

But then again, there was the time she had studied Fangs’ teeth for hours on end, and he had come as a part of a birthday present, so that made him a gift…

…Minuette quickly shook her head and dispelled such notions. She put on a huge grin and nodded like an excited puppy. “If I wanted? Dad, c’mon, you know me!”

Sunspot chuckled while stepping out of the room. “Yeh, I do. Have fun. Pearly will come to get you when it’s time to go. Don’t have too much fun, you two!” he said before the door closed shut with an audible click.

The two fillies sat together in silence for a few seconds before disentangling from their hug and wandering into the middle of the room.

“So. Ponyville, huh?” First asked after a short silence, sitting on her haunches. “I think Lyra mentioned that her family’s going to be moving down there next year.”

“Mhmm,” Minuette replied, sitting across from her. “I’ve never been there. Dad says it’s really small and quiet, though.”

First Aid’s smile turned predatory. “Quiet? And your folks are taking you there? Oh, Celestia have mercy on those poor ponies…”

“May Celestia have mercy indeed,” Fangs added from the back of the room with a grin.

Minuette rolled her eyes at the twin jabs before joining in. “Ha! Oh yeah, those country ponies won’t know what hit ‘em! Look out, Ponyville, the beast is coming for ya! Rawr!”

She struck a pose as she said this. For some reason.

First Aid giggled again. “Ha ha! Ah. Ya know, my train stopped there for a little bit when I was on my way to Manehattan.”

Minuette perked up, leaning forward slightly. “Oh yeah? What’s it like?”

“It’s small, quiet, and rustic. It’s actually really nice to look at. I didn’t get to see much of it before the train got moving again, but what little I saw was really nice. I could see a lot of hills and trees, and there was so much grass. There’s also this big spooky forest right next to it, too. Canterlot is beautiful, but it kinda lacks in the nature department sometimes.”

Minuette took in the information with equal parts excitement and dismay. It sounded like a nice change of pace. She’d never even seen a forest in person before, for pony’s sake! It sounded new and exciting, and she couldn’t wait to go and see it for herself.

Her eyes wandered over to Fangs, and her smile faded as she reminded herself that he wouldn’t be seeing it.

Fangs met her gaze. He smiled. That same, reassuring smile he always gave her whenever she got stressed out. Somehow, this time, it felt unfair.

“Minnie?”

Minuette snapped back to First Aid as the other filly’s voice sliced through her momentary reverie. First’s smile was gone, replaced with a curious frown. “What is it?”

Minuette hesitated for a second, before heaving a quiet sigh. “Gah. It’s nothing…”

A pause.

“...You don’t get to take Fangs, do you?”

Minuette blinked, looking up to First Aid in shock. “Wha- huh? How did you know?!” she asked, confused.

First Aid’s smile returned, softer this time, and far more distant. “What can I say? I know you a little too well,” she said in a lower voice.

Minuette just stared at her for a moment. After a few seconds, she realized that her mouth was hanging open, and she clamped it shut with an audible snap. She leaned tentatively forward. “But… I thought you didn’t believe in Fangs.”

First Aid didn’t say anything at first. She stood to walk toward the mirror, her smile fading away. She sat down in front of it, and from Minuette’s position, Fangs appeared to be towering over her, looking down at her with curiosity.

Several seconds passed before First Aid spoke. “I… I don’t know,” she confessed, lowering her head. “I want to believe. I really do…”

Minuette was quiet for a few seconds, her mind racing. After a moment, she rose to her hooves and walked over to sit beside her oldest friend. She draped a foreleg over First’s shoulders, drawing a curious glance from her. Minuette smiled.

“Well, why don’t you?” she asked.

First Aid heaved a sigh, shrugging her shoulders. “Because I can’t see or hear him? Because he sounds like something straight out of a little filly’s story? Because a magical bug pony trapped in your mirror that only you can see just doesn’t make any sense to me?”

Minuette might have winced at those remarks, once upon a time. Not this time, though. This time, she just sat there and listened, letting her friend get her thoughts and her feelings out into the open.

First Aid continued, running a hoof over her face. “But, at the same time, you’ve just been so… adamant about it. I know you, Minnie, and you’ve got the attention span of a wet noodle. I know that you aren’t the type to fake something for such a long time. Especially not these days. We aren’t tiny fillies anymore, we’re teenagers.”

Minuette opened her mouth to protest the bit about her attention span, realized First had touched on the exact point Celestia had, and promptly closed her mouth.

First’s lips tugged up into a tiny smile at seeing that reaction. “Heh… But besides all of that, we all know that your mirror is magical, now. Twilight and Moondancer spent all that time with you to research it. It put you in the hospital for pony’s sake! Hay, even Princess Celestia herself took an interest in the stupid thing! After all of that, how could I deny that there’s something magical about it?”

First then looked away, her ears drooping. “And, if there’s magic on it… magic that strong, then… Maybe Fangs is real, too.”

Minuette smiled softly at that, once again reminded that, for all of their joint antics, First Aid had always had a sharp mind. She patted First on the back before standing up and positioning herself next to the mirror. “Well… if it helps, Celestia believes in him.”

First Aid blinked in confusion, sitting upright. “Huh?”

Minuette just grinned and glanced at Fangs. He offered her a smile. “If ever there was a time for you to convince her, little one, it would be now.”

That was all the confirmation Minuette needed. With little fanfare, she began to recap the story of Celestia’s visit, from her initial examination to the finer points of their protracted discussion about the ‘lock and key’ aspect of things. But she didn’t stop there. She went on, explaining the confrontation with her own parents that had followed, before, at long last, revealing the clever little gambit employed by her father to prove Fangs' existence.

When at last the story came to its end, First Aid was silent. Her wide eyes turned to look into the mirror before narrowing as if trying to divine something obscured by a heavy fog. She was clearly trying to find Fangs somewhere amidst the reflection. 

There was a clear war raging behind First’s eyes. Minuette could see it plainly in her friend’s face. She was so close to believing, so close to finally being able to enter the fold! She just needed one more push. One last little nudge, and at long last, Fangs would have another friend in the circle.

Finally, First Aid turned back to Minuette. Her lips pulled up into a small, sad smile. “I guess that settles it, then, doesn’t it?”

Minuette’s heart all but skipped a beat. She leaned in eagerly, her grin widening even farther. “So you believe me? You believe in him?!” she asked eagerly, ready to throw herself against First in a tight hug.

First looked back into the mirror, her smile growing. “...I can’t see him. I can’t hear him… But if Celestia herself believes in him… who am I to say she’s wrong?” she finally said with a shrug. “I can’t argue with that… so… yes, Minuette…”

First Aid turned back to Minuette and spoke the three little words she had so longed to hear. “I believe you.”

When Celestia had told Minuette that she believed her about Fangs, she had been overjoyed. The gratification, the validation of years of persistence and silence, all of it had been overwhelming in just how happy it had made her feel. But this was different, somehow. It wasn’t as violent of a surge of joy, but it was so much stronger.

She didn’t squeal, she didn’t laugh or jump or do anything like that. For the first time in her admittedly short life so far, her joy was expressed only by the tearful embrace she gave to her oldest friend. First Aid returned the hug without a word.

“Thank you,” Minuette whispered, giving First Aid a squeeze. “Thank you so much. Y-you have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that…”

“You’re welcome,” First replied, her voice also a low whisper. She gave Minuette a pat on the back before leaning away to give her a warm smile. It was then that First noticed the tears in Minuette’s eyes, and her smile became a concerned frown. “Are you crying?”

	“No!” Minuette denied in a pathetic whimper, rubbing a hoof over her face. “J-just liquid happiness! O-or something. That thing Twilight’s brother says.”

“Liquid pride?”

“Y-yeah! That thing! Sniff.”

First Aid giggled softly before hugging Minuette again. Neither of them said anything for a long while, just holding each other close. Minuette took the opportunity to truly process the full gravity of what just happened. It almost felt too easy. After years of playing off the existence of her best friend as little more than a figment of her imagination, finally, she was getting to share him with the ponies she cared about.

It was almost surreal. The only thing that could make it better would be freeing him from the mirror.

…But that wasn’t going to happen. It was impossible. Not even Celestia could pull it off. And if the princess couldn’t do it, then who could?

Minuette shook her head, dismissing such thoughts. There was nothing more she could do about it now. All she could do for Fangs was exactly what she had been doing for him from the very beginning, and with Celestia as her literal and figurative witness, she was going to do just that.

“Well?” First asked after what felt like forever, pulling out of the hug to give Minuette a big smile. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Minuette took a deep breath, then turned back to the mirror. “Uh huh. Fangs? You ready?”

Fangs just smiled. “...I am.”

With that confirmation, Minuette took her place next to the mirror and nodded to First. “Alright. First Aid, meet Fangs the mirror bug!”

First hesitated for a moment. There was a final vestige of doubt lingering in her eyes, but she only needed a few seconds to overcome it and speak. “Uh… h-hi, Fangs. My name is First Aid… but, uh, you knew that already, didn’t you?”

Fangs merely smiled. “I do, yes… it is a pleasure to finally speak with you, First Aid. And, though I confess such a sentiment is long overdue, I wanted to thank you for standing up for Minuette when she first tried to reveal me to you and your old friends.”

Minuette relayed his words, and First Aid blinked in surprise as they came up. She shifted on her haunches, clearly trying to adjust to this new situation, but before long she spoke again. 

“You’re welcome.”







“Minuette! Come on, it’s almost time to go!”

Minuette shot an irritated glance over her shoulder at her bedroom door. “In a minute!” she hollered back before returning her attention to First and Fangs. The two had been engrossed in their discussion for a while now. First Aid had been extremely awkward and reluctant at first, but in time, she began to adjust to the situation. And before long, the two had been animatedly talking about a whole assortment of things.

Many of which revolved around poking fun at Minuette, which was categorically unfair!

Now, though, Fangs and First were both giving her a small smirk. She felt like she was being picked on again, and pouted appropriately. “What are you smiling at?”

Fangs snickered, shaking his head. “Oh, nothing, but you really should be getting a move on. You don’t want to keep them all waiting for too long.”

“Yeah, and I should probably be heading home anyway,” First agreed with a reluctant nod once Minuette conveyed his words. “I don’t wanna hold you guys up.”

Minuette sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “I know, I know. I just… ugh. You guys just met. But now I gotta go, and you can’t talk to each other if I’m not around…”

Fangs simply smiled at her, that same, confident, comforting, reassuring, and altogether unfair smile he always gave her. He nodded towards the door. “Go on, little one. There will be time enough for us to get to know one another when you come back. Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know you’re not, and that’s part of the problem!” Minuette lamented, smacking her face into the glass with a comical thud. 

It was at this time that the door swung open with a click, and Pearly poked her head in. She looked about ready to give off some dramatic, exasperated huff, as was the norm when dealing with Minuette being stubborn. But instead, all she did was blink and offer up a warm smile. She turned to First Aid. “First, it’s time for you to head home. Minnie has to get ready to go.”

First rose to her hooves. “Okay. Lemme say goodbye real quick!” she turned back to Minuette and gave her a large smile. She then stepped forward and wrapped Minuette up in a warm hug. “Have fun in Ponyville, Minnie.”

Minuette wanted to protest, but the words died in her throat. So she just smiled, rolled her eyes, and returned the hug. “I will.”

First pulled away a second later, then looked back to the mirror. She nodded at Fangs before turning and heading for the door. She gave Minuette a little wave as she went. “Bye, Minnie!”

Minuette waved, calling her own farewells after her until First Aid disappeared through the door. A few seconds later, the tell-tale sound of the front door opening and closing echoed through the home. Pearly gave a sage nod, her attention returning to Minuette.

“...She knows, doesn’t she?”

Minuette gave an enormous grin. “Yup! One more friend for Fangs!”

Pearly laughed softly at the declaration. She stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind her. She came up to Minuette’s side and sat down, draping a foreleg over her shoulders. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Minuette didn’t say anything. She just took a moment to smile and leaned into her mother’s embrace. The two sat in silence for a few short moments, enjoying one another’s company. Then Pearly patted Minuette’s shoulder. “But really, grab your things. It’s almost time  to go.”

Minuette’s eyes lingered on the mirror. “Are you sure we can’t take him?” she asked pleadingly, putting on her best puppy dog face as she looked up at her mother.

“Did I not say earlier that taking me with you would defeat the entire purpose?” Fangs commented with a chuckle.

Minuette ignored him.

Pearly gave Minuette a soft smile before stepping forward. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but yes, I’m sure. Your father and I discussed it a lot, and we think it’d be for the best if Fangs stayed here.”

Minuette blew out a raspberry in disappointment. “Bleh. Okay…”

Pearly chuckled and ruffled Minuette’s mane. “Hey, look at it this way. You’ll have all kinds of stories to tell him when you get back. And besides, what would we say to the ponies at the hotel if we walked into the lobby carrying an entire vanity mirror when we’ll have one in our room?”

“Um… I don’t know?” Minuette answered, looking down.

“Exactly. So we leave him here,” Pearly said with a sage nod. “Er, no offense to you.”

“None taken,” Fangs replied, giving Minuette a meaningful look. “I don’t mind staying here.”

Minuette hesitated for a moment before fulfilling her role as Fangs’ messenger, relaying his words back to Pearly, who nodded gratefully.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Minuette groaned in frustration, scuffing the floor with a hoof. “Ugh. This is dumb…”

Pearly giggled at her daughter’s all-but catchphrase before rising to her hooves. “I’m sure you’ll change your mind once we get there… Go ahead and say goodbye, then meet us downstairs.”

“Ugh. Okay,” Minuette relented. She couldn’t help but smile and giggled when Pearly leaned in to lay a quick, needlessly sloppy kiss into her mane. She squirmed away, parent and daughter sharing a short laugh before Pearly took her leave and headed back downstairs.

Minuette watched her go, before turning back to Fangs. “Well… I guess I gotta go, huh?” she asked dejectedly.

Fangs nodded. “That you do. I look forward to hearing all about it.”

Minuette looked down, closing her eyes. “It’s just that… You’re gonna be all alone again, you know?” she asked, imagining him left all alone in this room with nopony to talk to for the next week. “Even if First could come by while we were gone, she still can’t talk to you unless I’m here.”

“I know,” Fangs replied with a sage nod. “But I cannot hog you forever, nor should I. Don’t worry. I will make do. One week will hardly be the blink of an eye to me. You’ll all be back before I even have a chance to think about the fact you’re gone.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Minuette muttered before rising back to her hooves. She looked at Fangs again, her eyes roving up and down his form. A moment later, she stepped forward and wrapped her legs around the frame in the closest approximation to a hug she could give him. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“Of course you will,” Fangs replied with a sage nod. “Take care, Minuette. And have fun!”

Minuette pulled back from the mirror and offered him a big smile. Then, with only a slight bit of hesitation, she turned from the mirror and stepped out of the room. She paused in the doorway, looking back at Fangs one more time.

He just smiled at her, and somehow, she knew everything would be alright.

With that, she stepped out, closing the door behind her.