The cave was dark. Darker than midnight with no moon or stars. Mystic Quartz lit her horn, revealing damp stone walls. the sound of dripping water filled the empty chasm.
Or was it empty? Mystic squinted, her eyes catching the glint of a reflection from the light of her horn. Slowly, Mystic advanced, her hoofsteps echoing through the shadows. Mystic's eyes narrowed when she saw the source of the reflection. It was a mirror, cracked and covered in dust. The young Unicorn could barely see herself in the mirror. The outer edges of the mirror played host to an old, decaying wooden frame. There was something carved in it, but Mystic couldn't make out what it was.
Mystic easily wiped the mirror clean with a spell. As she studied herself in the mirror, her reflection began to warp. She grew taller, as if she were aging in the mirror, but not in real life. A silver crown rested on her head. A jet black gemstone in the shape of a star was settled in the center of the crown. Mystic's older reflection grinned out at her maniacally. Frightened, the unicorn backed away from the mirror.
"Run if you will, child," The reflection said in a high voice. "You cannot escape your destiny." The reflection's eyes glowed crimson and she laughed maliciously.
Fear sliced through Mystic's mind as the carvings began to glow with a fierce silver light. The reflection's laugh echoed through the cave. The carvings were soon discernible as words.
"For in this mirror, you shall see, the one the soul does long to be," Mystic Quartz read fearfully. The laughter grew louder, invading Mystic's head. The dusky blue filly turned tail and ran into the darkness, her reflection's laughter turning into a maniacal shriek of joy.
"Run, run, little filly! You cannot hide from me!" The reflection screamed after her. Blackness engulfed the Unicorn.
Mystic awoke, gasping for air and sweating profusely. It was still dark. The reflection's laughter seemed to continue echoing through her mind. Mystic shook her head, trying to shake the memory of the mirror from her mind.
Afraid she'd made noise in her sleep, Mystic tip-hoofed to her father's bedroom door. Obsidian's snores assured her that even if she had made noise, her father had not heard her. Trembling, Mystic made her way to her father's study, where he kept all his books. She lit her horn, keeping it at a soft glow as she scanned the shelves for history books. Mystic needed to know what that mirror had been, if it was even real.
Unsurprisingly, all the books had something to do with politics. That's all Obsidian cared about, after all. Frustrated, Mystic trotted quietly back to her own room, shutting the door behind her. She paced back and forth in front of her window, racking her brain for something, anything that could give her a clue as to what she'd seen in her dream.
"Clover the Clever," Mystic whispered suddenly. The Unicorn Second would surely have a book that could help her. After all, she was Starswirl the Bearded's pupil. Knowing she'd be unable to sleep, Mystic glanced at the star-shaped clock that Aurora Dawn had gotten her after Mystic got her cutie mark. 6:00 a.m., just before sunrise. Mystic knew that Clover was an early riser, so without a second thought, she teleported herself to the street outside the Second's home.
Snow was falling softly. Mystic could see her breath in the cold pre-dawn air. A light was on in the house in front of her, casting a welcoming glow into the darkness. Clover the Clever lived in a small, rundown shack, which was very unusual for a Unicorn, especially one so closely associated with Princess Platinum.
Taking a deep breath, Mystic strode to the homely front door and knocked. "Coming!" Called an unsure voice from inside the little hovel. The door cracked open, revealing a purple iris. "Oh! Mystic Quartz! Please, come in!" said the mare, opening the door and smiling warmly. Though Clover was very polite and welcoming, she was obviously confused.
"Did I wake you?" Mystic asked quickly, stepping into Clover's home.
"Oh, no, I've been awake for a few hours," Clover answered, and Mystic believed it. "Is everything alright, Mystic?"
"Yes," Mystic answered quickly. "I was just thinking about something I read in school and sort of wanted to know more about."
With a joyous grin, Clover gestured to her extremely large and overcrowded bookshelves. "Help yourself! Would you like me to make us some tea?"
"That would be lovely, thank you," Mystic answered, trotting to the shelves. The young Unicorn picked a book at random and checked the index for the word "mirror". Finding nothing in the first book, Mystic tried another. And another, and another.
Several books later, the sun had risen and Mystic Quartz was growing frustrated. Scanning the books, one in particular caught her eye. "Mysterious Artefacts of the Old World." Mystic read the title a few times, trying to remember what the Old World was. Giving up, she asked Clover about it.
"The Old World is what historians call the period of time before the three tribes began relying on each other. From the beginning of time until the point where the Earth Ponies began handling food, the Pegasi began handling weather, and the Unicorns began handling, well, everything else," The wise mare explained as she poured two cups of hot tea. Clover levitated the cups to the little end table that sat beside the bookshelves.
Nodding, Mystic flipped to the index. This time, she hit pay-dirt. In the index, there were page numbers listed for something called the Mirror of Destiny. Mystic remembered the frightening words her reflection had said in the dream. "You cannot escape your destiny." Feeling a rush of fear and excitement, Mystic flipped to the first page number listed, page 78.
The page contained a large hand-drawn picture which took up about half of the page. It was exactly the same mirror Mystic had seen in her dream, just cleaner and much nicer looking. The simple wooden frame was not rotting; in fact, it was really very pretty. Carved into the frame were the same words that had glowed silver in the dream. "For in this mirror, you shall see, the one the soul does long to be."
There was a short paragraph underneath the drawing. Hungry for information, Mystic read: "The Mirror of Destiny's origins remain unknown. Its only practical use was discovered in the court of Lord Copper, the Unicorn Duke of Trottingham. Research shows that Lord Copper may have used the Mirror of Destiny in order to determine the integrity of his servants. The Mirror, obviously, shows the viewer his or her destiny. Destiny is unchangeable, and Lord Copper, knowing this, made each member of his palace stand in front of the mirror. Lord Copper made sure to stand just out of the mirror's frame so that no other pony could see his own reflection. Those ponies whose destinies were deemed threatening by Lord Copper were executed."
Shaken, Mystic closed the book. Clover spoke suddenly, causing Mystic to jump. "Don't forget about your tea. It's not very good when it's cold."
Mystic nodded, and took a large gulp of her tea. "Hey, Clover?"
"Yes, Mystic?"
"Do you, uhm, mind if I borrow this book for a little while?" Mystic asked, then quickly added. "My father is probably wondering where I am, and I'd like to keep reading."
"Certainly! By all means, take as long as you need to read it," Clover said, grinning from ear to ear. Smiling weakly, Mystic stood and walked shakily to the door.
"Thank you for the tea," Mystic said as she left. Clover bid her a warm goodbye and shut the door behind Mystic. The lavender maned filly didn't think she'd be able to teleport back home, so she began walking. The snow had stopped since this morning, but it was still very cold, and Mystic hadn't worn her boots or scarf. When she finally arrived home, she was shivering violently, and the levitation spell she was using to carry the book was threatening to implode.
"Where have you been?" Obsidian shouted, opening the front door as Mystic walked unsteadily up the sidewalk.
"At C-Clover the Clever's house," Mystic stammered, punctuating her sentence with a sneeze.
"What in Equestria for?" Obsidian said, caught off guard. He'd been expecting his daughter to say she'd been at Aurora Dawn's house.
"School st-st-stuff," Mystic answered. Obsidian harrumphed and sent Mystic straight to bed with some hot soup. Mystic laid her book on her desk and sipped at the soup. Part of her wanted to tell Aurora Dawn about this, and part of her didn't.
A stronger part of her intuition told Mystic that Aurora would say it had just been a weird, freaky dream. Mystic was inclined to believe this intuition; Aurora had always been the one to find the logical explanation. The problem was, Mystic believed that Aurora's explanation would be far from the correct explanation.
Mystic was beginning to believe she had seen her destiny. And she wasn't sure it was such a bad thing.