STORY #23
How It Should Have Ended (Redux)
Inspired by Mikazuchi
It had all happened so fast. I was just minding my own business when that pony leapt at me from the shadows, stole my crown and then managed to escape through that strange mirror.
I had never been robbed before, so needless to say I was rather scared. I was being consoled by Princess Celestia when the door swung open and Geo entered, panting profusely. When I saw him, I galloped over and leapt into his arms for a hug. He knew that I had been crying, if the redness of my eyes was anything to go by, and so he began petting my mane in an attempt to console me.
"I heard about what happened," he whispered. "Are you okay, Twi?"
"I'm fine," I sniffled. "They didn't hurt me, they only seemed interested in stealing my crown."
"You're fine?" he parroted, to which I nodded. "If that's the case, then why can I feel a lump on the back of your head?"
I didn't reply, choosing instead to sigh and bury my head into Geo's chest. As he continued to comfort me, the door swung open and John entered — screaming at the top of his lungs.
"All right, you bastard!" he bellowed. "Show yourself now, and perhaps I'll go easy on you! Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it, you hear me?!"
He rushed around the room, checking behind pillars and curtains, while making exaggerated martial arts noises. I saw Geo facepalm out the corner of my eye, before he finally addressed his friend.
"John!" he shouted. "Knock it off, will you? They've long gone by now — escaped by going through some kind of portal." He pointed at the object in question, and John cocked his head at it.
"Is that another one of Ace's experiments?" he asked.
"No," I replied. "It's something of ours. From what Celestia told me, it only activates once every thirty moons."
"And the thief went through it?" John checked.
"Yes..." I replied hesitantly. "Why do you ask?"
He chuckled and walked over to the throne. Reaching behind it, he pulled out two baseball bats. He threw one to Geo and walked over to the mirror. Geo seemed to get the hint and joined him.
"We'll be back in a few minutes," John said confidently.
Before anypony could stop them, they had stepped through the mirror — and into the unknown.
But as quickly as they had gone in, they were back. I gasped with glee when I saw that John had my crown in his belt. But that glee soon turned to shock when I saw that both their bats were covered in blood — and that Geo was counting some teeth he was holding in his hand. "Oh, no," I said. "Please don't tell me that you beat the crap out of her in order to get my crown!"
"Nah," John replied. "We never even saw the bitch. But we did learn that she put the crown forward as a prize of some kind... even though she had already stolen it. So we just smashed the cabinet open, took it back and then ran. Oh, wait, that reminds me..." Without warning he turned back to the mirror and smashed it to pieces with the bat. "Now nobody can follow us back." He grinned.
"And what about the teeth?" I asked. "Where did they come from?"
"You know Flash Sentry?" Geo replied, to which I nodded. "Well, it turns out that he has a human counterpart..."
He trailed off while I facehoofed so hard, I managed to set off an earthquake alert.