//------------------------------// // Mirror Mirror. // Story: A Lost Soul Returns: The King of Monsters // by Dark Star the Crazed //------------------------------// The irrationality of a thing is not an argument against its existence, rather, a condition of it. ~ Nietzsche. Soul woke up, got out of bed, and went downstairs where he found his fillyfriend Trixie and her little brother Hex. He noticed that on the far wall was a large, golden, oval, mirror that had a figurehead at the top that looked like a goblin. It had two pointy ears and a grinning teeth full of fangs. He thought it was strange looking but figured that it might have been a gift from Charm, Trixie and Hex's mother. Though the weak demonic aura coming from it wasn't helping calm his mind. "Hey Trixie!" Trixie turned her head away from her breakfast and gave Soul a curious look. "Do you know where that weird mirror came from?" Trixie gave a small smile and nodded. "My mother sent it to me... It's an old family heirloom. Supposedly if a pony looks into it when they are alone then they will see their soul mate... If they are older than fifteen that is... I have not had the chance to test it yet..." "What if they are not older than fifteen?" Trixie shrugged. "They all say that any young filly or colt who looks into the mirror when they are alone disappears... Just a myth though... Nopony knows how or why that part of the myth came to be..." She looked up at the clock and then to her little brother. "Hex. Come on, it's time to go to school." The little unicorn looked at the clock, sighed, and nodded before getting up and putting his saddlebags on. "Do you want me to walk you to school?" The little unicorn smiled and shook his head before opening the door and walking out. "... Ok then..." Trixie looked down with a sad smile on her face. Soul picked up on it immediately. "Hey Trix... What's wrong? I've never seen you so, pardon the pun, blue." Trixie looked up at Soul and sighed. "I'm bored... I've got nothing to do..." Soul smiled and kissed Trixie. "Well... I was going to Fang's castle to see if Cheshire could help me... I've been getting these really weird notes... First one was about 'the seal weakening' and 'my father being freed'. Second one, which I got last night, was about needing a new sword and that 'The Deceitful Rat' had it. You could tag along if you want..." Trixie smiled at the shade and stood up. "That sounds nice... Are we going to be back before Hex gets home from school?" Soul just shrugged. "Doesn't matter anyway... He can cook... Better than I can in fact..." "Come on Trix, I'm sure that's not true." Trixie just gave Soul a deadpan look. "Soul... I burn water... Water... I'm serious... I put a pot of water on the stove and it catches on fire... That is why I always use the microwave..." Soul just blinked and got a look of confusion on his face. Water puts fires out. Trixie giggled at her coltfriends face. "I'm kidding... I'm just not a good cook." The look turned into a smile as Trixie and Soul walked out the door. The moment after they did a strange green aura surrounded the mirror that had been emitting the slight demonic aura. The glow stopped and the image of a little brown colt formed in the mirror before he vanished. When Trixie and Soul made it to Fang's castle Trixie looked at her coltfriend. "Is it just me, or is this place bigger than Celestia's castle?" "It's bigger... Any other questions before we go in? I'm not saying I don't like to talk to you it's just that I don't want to stop looking for Cheshire... The dude messes with my senses... He is like a leprechaun... I see his aura one second, I look away, and he is completely gone." Trixie thought for a second. "Just one... Who is Cheshire?" Soul blinked before remembering that Trixie had never met the demonic cat. "You won't believe me but... He is Fang's pet cat." Trixie raised an eyebrow at Soul. "I swear that he can talk! I swear on... The grave of Starswirl the Bearded that he can talk!" Trixie rolled her eyes and opened the doors. "I will believe it when I see it." She turned her head towards the door and jumped back in far at what she saw. A white stallion wearing a black leather jacket. What scared her is that the right half of his head was missing the skin, it was torn off showing his muscles and parts of his skull. "What the buck is wrong with your head!?" The stallion blinked. "I retained the image of what my body looked like after I died... I was a very violent and competitive pony who always thought I was the best... That's why Fang chose me to represent the fifth sign of The Black Zodiac..." "The Black Zodiac?" Trixie looked at the stallion and then Soul. "What's The Black Zodiac?" "A group of thirteen ghosts that can be used to open The Eye of Tartarus... A way to ultimate power... Fang isn't going to use them to open it... He employs most of them as guards... In fact he is trying to prevent it from happening... See if they are allowed to roam free then the eye will never open, if forced to gather in the same place then the eye will open and grant whoever forced them into the same area unfathomable power... So... I forgot what the signs were... Who are you?" The stallion blinked and looked at Soul. "My name is Clay... I'm The Torn Prince... Anyway... Come on in Soul..." Soul smiled and walked in and Trixie tried to follow. Only to be blocked by Clay. "No entry for you..." "What!? Why not!? Wait... Is it because I insulted your face? I'm sorry I was just spooked... I didn't mean it..." The stallion just kept blocking her path. "Nope... King Fang told me to guard the doors and not let anypony I didn't recognize in... I have never seen you before... But thanks for apologizing..." The ghost felt a slap to the back of his head and turned to see Soul holding something. "Is that a hayburger?" Soul nodded and Clay looked back and forth between the burger and Trixie. "Come on in..." Clay moved out of the way and caught the hayburger when Soul tossed it to him. Trixie just stood there blinking. "Hurry up before I change my mind..." Trixie yelped as she was lifted inside by Soul's magic. She heard the door close and looked at Clay who had finished the burger. "Why are you two here anyway? The king and queen are in Prance... They will be gone for..." He paused for a second. "One month and four weeks... Wonder if she'll be pregnant by the time they get back..." "Clay... Have you seen Cheshire?" Clay stopped talking and looked at Soul. "The king's cat? Yeah he's in the library... He usually is... Just ask Gamble, he's the librarian, where he is and he will take you to him." Soul and Trixie nodded before walking off. Five hours later. Hex opened the door to his house and stepped in, quickly followed by Scootaloo, he smiled at his fillyfriend before her face contorted to one of discomfort. He saw her legs shaking and pointed up the stairs. "First door on your right." "Thanks! I really shouldn't have had that second milkshake..." Scootaloo dashed off to the bathroom and Hex gave a soft sigh before smiling. He went into the kitchen and looked at the fridge. He saw a note, took it off, and read it. "Went to Fang's castle with Soul to look for somepony named Cheshire and ask for help. Don't know when I will be back, you can bring your friends over, no funny stuff and make sure that you clean up any mess you make. ~ Trixie." Hex just smirked and placed the note on the table. He got a glass of milk and was about to go sit down when something caught his eye. The mirror was glowing. He walked over to it and looked at his reflection. Soon his reflection was replaced by an image of Scootaloo. The young colt blushed when he remembered the legend about the mirror. Suddenly the image shifted again and this time took the form of a smiling brown colt. Hex was confused and just kept staring at the mirror. "I want to play... Come on... Touch the mirror and I'll take both you and Scootaloo away... Far away from the adults..." Hex shook his head and saw the colts face contort in anger. "But I want to play!" He watched as the colts ears became curved and pointy, his hooves grew sharp claws, his eyes turned into glowing red dots that were surrounded by an abyss of darkness, and his mouth became filled with sharp, curved, teeth. He watched as the colt started to come out of the mirror and panicked. Frozen in place he felt the clawed hooves of the creature wrap around him. Scootaloo came down the stairs and saw what was happening. She ran over and bucked the creature in the face causing it to let go of Hex. "Hex we need to get out of here!" Hex nodded and the two young ponies ran towards the door. Only to see it disappear. "You can't leave! I want to play! Come on! We can be the best of friends! Just like all the others!" Hex and Scootaloo looked to see that the creature had turned back into a normal colt and was now bouncing up and down in front of them. "Come on! I didn't mean to scare you! I just didn't want you to leave! I just wanted to play!" Scootaloo blinked at the colt. He looked normal, acted normal, sounded normal, but she knew that he was a strange demonic creature. "Others? What others?" Scootaloo and the brown colt looked at Hex. The brown colt smiled and ran back over to the mirror. "The others! Like Sunshine! I met her when the Lulamoon family lived in Bittan." The mirror showed an image of a light yellow earth pony filly with a golden mane. She was wearing a frilly black dress kind of like Silver Spoon occasionally wears. "Her parents were ignoring her and she wanted to have somepony to play with. So she came to play with me! Oh and then there is Cherry!" The image switched to a little red earth filly with a brown mane. "She got lost and hurt and I helped her! She decided to stay and play with me after that!" "My family hasn't lived in Bittan for two hundred years... How are they still alive?" The colt stopped bouncing. "They're not... Well their bodies aren't but their ghosts stay and play with me!" The colt smiled. "So come on! Let's go play!" Scootaloo and Hex looked at each other and shook their heads. "W-why not?" "Our families would be sad if we disappeared... Sorry... But listen there are a ton of ghost fillies and colts in the Everfree Forest... Well in the city inside of it anyway... How long have you been in there?" The colt shrugged. "I think... Five hundred years maybe? Why?" Scootaloo and Hex smiled at the little colt. "Well... What if you stopped... Haunting the mirror? I'm sure you cold make friends without having to use it..." The colt looked down and thought for a second. "Ok... I'll try! Hey guys! We're leaving the mirror!" The two living ponies watched as about fifty fillies and colts emerged from the mirror. "Come on! I know where there are a ton of ponies like us! Follow me!" They all nodded and lifted off the ground before flying out the house through the walls. The door opened and Trixie and Soul walked in. "Um... Why were tons of ghost fillies and colts flying out of the house? Hex... Scootaloo... Did either of you find and open the book of the dead or something?" The two ponies shook their heads. "They... Were living in the mirror!" Trixie just looked at Hex. "I don't want to know... I have met a ghost pony named Clay that had the skin on the right half of his face missing, so Fang chose to represent The Torn Prince in The Black Zodiac. As well as a ghost pony named Gamble that had his hind legs removed after he lost a bet with a mobster in Manehatten, who Fang chose to represent The Torso in The Black Zodiac... Apparently there are eleven others..." Trixie sighed then she gave a small smile. "Oh by the way... Hex would you be ok with being alone here for a few days? Me and Soul have to go to Manehatten." The colt nodded. "I'll be fine! I am able to take care of myself!" Trixie smiled and turned to Soul. "I'll go get packed... Hex remember to brush your teeth every night ok?" The little blue unicorn nodded and went upstairs with his sister. Scootaloo said goodbye and left. She had to get home before Rainbow Dash began to worry. Soul just stayed down in the living room before looking at the mirror. "Mirror mirror on the wall, is Trixie meant for me at all?" He snickered at the little rhyme he said before turning away from the mirror. That is why he didn't notice when the mirror's image shifted. Instead of his dark blue coat and will-o-wisp cutie mark, it had become a light azure with a wand surrounded by what seemed to be a sparkling mist. Nothing is so common as the wish to be remarkable. ~ William Shakespeare.