//------------------------------//
// Mirror Mirror 
// Story: What Lies Beyond 
// by Sparx 
//------------------------------//


Mirror Mirror	


Two days after Iris was given to her, Rainbow Dash was flying over the forest beyond the mountains. She couldn't be loving the blade more. It was almost as cool as her, and together they were 100% cooler. She couldn't help but beam in joy as she flew about to and fro.  "So awesome!" She squealed as she dipped and dived, sheath snug at her side. 

Suddenly she felt the blade begin to rattle in it's sheath. "Huh? What's wrong Iris? Where are they?" Dash scanned the ground for threats. Iris shook harder as Dash turned her head up. "What the-" before she could react she was hit directly in the chest by a black blur. She was hit hard and lost control of herself, she began falling as Iris rattled even harder in her sheath. Dash saw the ground race up towards her as she struggled to regain her composure, but she'd had the wind knocked out of her hard, and she couldn't focus. She panicked as she fell past the trees. She managed to open her wings right before landing but still slammed against the ground, rolling over until she finally managed to cough up a bit of dirt. "Ow. Not exactly my best landing ever." She shakily stood herself up and applied force to each of her legs. They seemed alright. She inspected her wings. No breaks, but she decided it wouldn't be too fantastic an idea to get back in the sky with that "thing" flying about. She looked around and determined the direction she believed home was in and began walking. Everything looked so different from the ground around here. The trees stood tall, almost giant. The ground was rather light brown and almost sandy but the trees and plants were very green and healthy, with even vines and flowers growing off the damp looking trunks. Dash continued down a dry dirt path for what felt to be half an hour. She probably could have flown off by now, she didn't hear any signs of flying overhead. But she felt compelled to continue down this road she'd found. Maybe there would be some fantastic treasure at the end of it. Her interest peaked, she continued to walk down the path, until it opened up to a rather simplistic looking cave. 

"What do ya think Iris? Wanna check it out?" Dash smiled to her new blade. "Couldn't agree more, let's go in." Rainbow Dash stepped into the cave, eager to see what lies inside. The cavern seemed to be very well lit with a light coming from a few yards away. The cave was damp and a little cold with the sound of a whistle echoing off the walls. Moss and mildew grew on the stone walls and a musky odor filled Dash's nostrils. She gave a slight smile as she continued down the path. She was probably the only pony to ever come down this way. After what felt like only a moment, Dash came to an opening in the cave, a room of stone and she looked up with amazement. Atop a small stone shrine at the top of carved steps, was an enormous ovular mirror. The top of the room was dome shaped with an opening in the center, explaining the wind and light. "Holy cow." Dash had to take a moment to soak all of the room's splendor in. The mirror was composed of a reflective, violet, almost black glass. The frame that held it in place was hard silvery stone, carved in great detail with symbols of ponies and dragons and various other creatures. The shrine was composed of three rings of stone, stacking like a pyramid and the stairs were carved very carefully into the structure. "What is this? Did somepony make this? Or is it something magic?" Dash looked around the room, but aside from stone and moss, there was really nothing else in this cave. This mirror was the only thing in here. 

"I kinda wanna have a closer look..." Dash spoke as she made her way to the steps. She placed her first hoof on the first stair... nothing wrong. "Wait, why am I being so cautious? It's just some stairs... leading up to a rather large, dark mirror..." Rainbow Dash swallowed hard as she continued to walk up the steps. She felt an overwhelming presence as she walked closer, as if she wasn't alone. She peered over her shoulder, but there wasn't anything there, the room was as bare as when she entered. She continued on her way, but felt the presence again. She looked again, still nothing. "Iris... keep alert. Kay?" Dash looked to her blade, but it remained silent in it's sheath. Dash made the final step and could see herself in the mirror, but something was off. The reflection showed her inside a much different looking cave. The mirrored cave was almost completely covered in moss rather than the small patches in the cave Dash now inhabited. It was a bit more beautiful in the reflection, violet and dark blue flowers popped up from the moss. "I guess it is magic. But it seems harmless enough." Rainbow Dash placed a hoof against the glass and her reflection moved completely in synch. When Dash touched the glass though, Iris shook incredibly violently in it's sheath, almost hurting Dash before she jerked her hoof back from the mirror. The instant her hoof left the glass the blade stopped jumping about. "What is it Iris? There's nothing here." Dash scanned the room again, still alone and empty. perhaps there was something on the mirror that could've poisoned Dash or caused her to blow up. 

"Alright, so we won't touch it then." Dash looked back to the mirror and noticed something else was off. Her reflection wasn't wearing Iris. "Strange." Dash didn't think too much about it though. This just seemed like something that could happen. Magic was more of Twilight's thing. She checked the room once more and saw nothing. Well if this is all there is, I should probably leave. It's pretty cool though, I'll have to show this to Twilight, she loves this kind of stuff. With that, Dash Spread her wings and flew up through the skylight in the cave, not bothering to look at anything but her destination.

What Dash had failed to notice before she left, was when she had spread her wings, her reflection stopped synching up with her and began watching. After Rainbow Dash left, the reflection smiled and narrowed her eyes. "Well now. What have we here? It seems I've been awakened after all these years." The reflection gave out a low, subtle chuckle to herself. "I should be thankful to my double for finding the mirror." Dash's reflection forced one hoof against the mirror, and applied a bit of force, pushing her hoof through to the other side of the mirror. The cyan fur transformed to a darker shade of bluish violet. "Lovely." She forced the rest of her body out of the mirror. Fully emerged, her mane and tail became a gray-scale rainbow, her eyes a pale, neon green. Her cutie mark altered to hold a black cloud with the gray rainbow. "Freedom! Now, what to do with this... Rainbow Dash?"




As Dash continued to fly back home she realized that Iris was shaking incredibly violent. "Iris what is it? Where are they?" Dash searched around, but still nothing. She continued to fly, and in time Iris fell silent. "Either you're being very finicky today... or we just avoided meeting something I hope I never meet in the rest of my life." 
Dash continued to fly off, and from a tree far below her, a small black creature watched her leave with eyes glowing of the deepest crimson. When Dash left it's view it jumped down from the tree, standing upon two legs with a tail, spikes and a pair of batlike wings. "Welcome back Mono Dash, your servant awaits your next orders."