"Oh, Gods," Jars muttered.
Reflection stared down at the bloodless hole in her leg, mute and wide-eyed. Her breaths were hoarse and ragged, and she glanced around frantically to the griffons surrounding her, hoping that maybe she was imagining it all.
No such luck. "Get her to the infirmary!" Vorsl ordered, stepping forward and breaking the shocked silence. Immediately the griffons sprang into action, easing her on to a makeshift stretcher. Someone offered her a jug of whiskey, apparently a staple of their healers; she drank until the jug bounced out of her shaking hooves.
She glanced up at Vorsl. The old griffon was seemingly unruffled, barking commands to his staff, whose growing panic was stifled by action. For that, she was distantly grateful, although her thoughts were starting to slip away, the rhythmic jarring of the stretcher blending together, formless-
"Hey," a toneless voice called through the haze.
""Hey!" it yelled again, and everything cleared, her mind focusing on the voice. It was Jars.
"W-what?" she stammered, shaking her head quickly. With an inner chill, she realized her vision was literally going spotty, blackness swirling around unnaturally. She closed her eyes.
"Reflection," Jars began, shaking her with a claw, "we're taking you to the infirmary, but we don't have a healer. We need to get an Equestrian in here, or Gods now what'll happen to you!"
That really woke her up. "No!" she said instantly.
"We barely know anything about magic!" Jars shot back. "This isn't a question, Vorsl already sent a guard to the nearby clinic."
"No!" she almost screamed, wincing as she was dumped on a bed. "Do you know what they'll do to me!"
"You'll have to be alive for them to possibly do something later!" Jars fully shouted.
"Jars, they'll kill me . . ." Reflection whispered, her thoughts breaking up again.
"I'm sorry." the griffon sighed quietly.
~
Consciousness filtered back slowly, in fits and starts. First Reflection heard a conversation outside, without comprehending a word spoken. Next came feeling the coarse blanket draped over her; finally, her eyes shot open and everything came together at once.
"I'm alive?" her first words mirrored her immediate thoughts.
"Hey," a tired Jars greeted her, sitting in a chair beside her bed. He was a wreck, his feathers matted in sweat and bags under his eyes. His posture was bent, but he quickly straightened up upon noticing her looking at him.
"Did last night really happen?" Reflection asked, sweeping away the heavy blanket that covered her, and stretching painfully. Every limb in her body ached terribly, but nothing worse than that for now, thank-
Actually, who to thank? Jars had explained to her the pantheon of griffon Gods, and the Equestrians she saw seemed to swear by Celestia - but who would she thank?
"Reflection?" the voice of Jars cut through her mind, and with a start she realized that little train of thought had completely blotted out everything else around her. One moment conversing, and all it took was a moment's errant thought to totally sidetrack her.
Agh! There she went again! What was wrong with her? "Here." she said quietly.
He nodded. "You had that distant look of yours. Anyway, as I said, yes. Yes it did,"
Alright, add completely ignoring someone talking to her from right next to her. "Shoot."
"Yeah," Jars sighed.
A few seconds passed. "Jars," Reflection said finally, breaking the silence, "did you take me to the Equestrians?"
He frowned. "We had a big argument. Then, well," he hesitated, "your limbs started flickering whenever you moved. So we called a pony doctor here instead, and . . ."
The griffon trailed off, and Reflection swallowed nervously. "And?"
"He was a unicorn, and he cast a 'spell restoration' spell." Jars sighed again.
Expecting the worse, he glanced at Reflection. She sat in bed, unmoving, staring straight ahead. With a heavy groan, she fell back on back. "So that's what I am. A spell."
"I'm sorry," was all Jars could offer.
"What did he do after?" Reflection asked softly, screwing her eyes shut.
"He left quickly, and headed off in the direction of the Castle," Jars said, "and the clinic he came from's the other way down the street."
"I feel a little better." Reflection admitted, "but kinda weird. Figures, somepony else's magic is a part of me now."
"We know precious little about magic," Jars said slowly, rubbing the back of head awkwardly, "and the Equestrians surely know what's going on. We might have to fully explain and get their help."
"Jars," she began sharply.
"For your sake." he finished.
She groaned again, and pulled the covers back over her. "Thanks."
He stared at the limp pony and sighed. "Get better, alright?"
Reflection suddenly sat up, her face contorted in disgust. "Bucket." she commanded, holding a hoof to her stomach.
"Wha-"
"My body's rejecting his magic." she said. A guess more than anything, but a guess that sounded logical. Probably.
A bucket was handed over, and she promptly threw up into it.
The vomit glowed a sickly blue.
"That unicorn's magic was blue-" Jars observed, before adding, "eh, guess it's not the time?"
Reflection groaned again and sunk below the covers, the bucket hanging from a hoof that drooped over the bed.
He could hear muffled sobbing.
~
"Six hundred ninety-three bottles of mead on the wall, six hundred ninety-three! Take one down, pass it around, six hundred ninety-two bottles of mead on the wall!"
Jars deeply regretted teaching Reflection that particular tavern song. She'd waken up the next morning and immediately begun belting out the lyrics, starting at one thousand, and showed no signs of stopping.
"You tell her." Vorsl said, stress tainting his stoic demeanor. The two griffons stood outside the doorway to the infirmary, glancing worriedly at the open window.
Jars stepped in, fidgeting slightly as he waited for Reflection to notice him. Eventually, her singing died down and she turned to face him, a loopy grin on her face.
"Denial . . . " he whispered to himself.
"So? What's up?" she asked cheerily, sitting up in bed. "How's my favorite griffon today?"
"Add crazy, too," he said under his breath. Raising his voice, "Not great."
"Oh?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, "you find out you're nothing more than a thinking, feeling spell?" she spat the last word, despair evident in her cheerful voice.
"I- no," he said, shuffling awkwardly, "well . . ."
"Spit it out," she ordered.
"The Elements of Harmony are standing outside the front door, " he stated, trying to keep his tone neutral, and failing.
It looked like someone had punched her in the gut. "Pinkie Pie's there?" she asked after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah. They asked for the 'clone'." Jars said, regretting his word choice immediately after he closed his beak.
"Figures," she sighed, starting to stiffly get out of the bed.
"They looked pretty frantic," Jars added, helping Reflection to the infirmary door, arm around her shoulder. He tapped her with a claw. "Hey, we'll make it." he said.
She glanced at him, wincing as she limped along. The leg she'd been wounded in had been wrapped in bandages, but they shifted a little and she saw the hole still there. Bigger than before.
"We?" she said, trying to take her mind off of the disturbing sight. One that threatened to break her already stressed sanity.
"We." Jars repeated firmly.
"Thanks," she mumbled, and a small smile tugged her face.
"The Equestrians believe we're trying to cripple the Elements by keeping you," Vorsl said without preamble as they made their way through the hallways of the Embassy.
"Huh?" Reflection asked, blinking at the light streaming through the big windows.
"They've always been suspicious of Crown Princess Vaernya's intentions, but they've grossly misinterpreted this one," the Ambassador continued, "I- I think that Pinkie Pie's Element, Laughter, isn't working."
"Why'd they need the Elements?" Reflection asked, taking a few deep breaths. Panicking would not help the situation.
FUN
She blinked.
FUNFUNF-
She shook her head harshly, grimacing, focusing her thoughts on Vorsl's words. "Klaus said he'd been out on a walk this morning, when a battered pegasus flew into the square. There's some kind of nightmare creature on its way to Canterlot, and the Elements tried to stop it."
"And?" she asked, afraid for the answer.
"They failed. The Element of Laughter didn't work. The messenger was saying something about 'splitting' it."
Reflection gulped. She was just a shadow, right? A reflection? A shard of Pinkie's soul?
The Element of Laughter wouldn't work without a whole Pinkie Pie, and destroying the clones seemed to-
She kept those thoughts to herself, following Jars and Vorsl silently. Looking out a window into the courtyard of the Embassy, she stopped in her tracks upon seeing six figures standing there, with several others behind them, past the gate.
As the griffons looked on, she wiped away some of the grime on the glass, and inhaled sharply. Pinkie Pie stood there, bouncing slightly, a perfect mirror image of her - days ago! That electrifying thought was complemented by noticing her own reflection, transparent but distinct. Distinctly different, that is; the green cloak she'd grabbed at the entrance of the infirmary, the headband holding down her mane, the cuts, bruises, and bags under her eyes built up a very different pony than the pink pony standing outside.
And her whole demeanor. Bent, ragged, tired. None of that boundless energy the original had. In a way, that was comforting
~
As she stepped out the door, she could feel the stares of the Elements; especially the purple one, the one who tried to make her disappear. Twilight Sparkle, was it?
Her thoughts weren't strictly on them, though. It struck her that this could be her final moments of living; if they didn't do away with her, she'd surely waste away soon. Although the morning was grey, the wind raw, the confines of the courtyard oppressive, they all seemed brighter and livelier than anything she could remember. As she glanced about to ordinary objects, she breathed out and stared straight ahead.
The calm of accepting one's fate descended on her.
"Twilight Sparkle," Vorsl stated, as the two groups stood to face each other.
"Ambassador," Twilight replied, but her attention wasn't on the griffon.
"The game's over, clone," the rainbow Element - Loyalty, was it? - said harshly.
"Rainbow Dash!" the white one, Generosity, said.
"What?" Dash said, pointing both forelegs at Reflection. "It's right there! Just blast her and get it over with! That nightmare isn't slowing down!"
"She-" Jars began.
"We're thankful you decided to help us, Ambassador," Twilight said, nodding to the griffon. Closing her eyes, her horn started to glow-
"Hey!" Reflection spoke up, unable to sit by idly anymore. "I'm right here!"
"Who said that?" Twilight asked, glancing around. "Pinkie, is that you? Now isn't the time to be throwing your voice around!"
"Hey." Reflection repeated, drawing the gaze of everyone around her.
"What's with your voice?" Twilight asked, cocking her head at the pony.
Reflection sighed. "Sounds different, don't it? Of course, that won't make a different when you kill me, huh?"
"What's wrong with you?" Twilight asked yet again, confusion evident.
"J-just get it over with." Reflection said, her voice breaking slightly. "You want to use the Elements, you have to get rid of me. I get it."
"No, I don't," Twilight said, furrowing her brow, "these are abstract concepts, yet you're just a spell; I can sense it unraveling as we speak. I don't even know how you lasted this long."
"Don't remind me," Reflection huffed. "Anyway, it was nice knowing you. I'm - I was, Reflection." And with that, she closed her eyes serenely. Only to be slapped by Jars.
"Snap out of it!" he hissed. "You made it this far, you're not giving up now!"
"They named you?" Twilight asked.
"I named myself," Reflection sighed, "fitting, huh? It's all I am."
"Wait, wait," Twilight said, her horn losing its glow, "you're saying you named yourself? You know you're a spell?"
"I know I'm gonna die," Reflection said quietly, but harshly. "I just want to get it over with. Waiting is the worst part. I can feel my thoughts slipping away . . ."
"You can think?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah."
"Beyond, say, a simple idea like 'fun'?"
"Yes!" Reflection snapped.
"Hey, everypony," a new voice butted in. It was Pinkie Pie. Reflection flinched at her presence, her thoughts starting to degenerate into a whirl of FUN-
"She's a pony!" Pinkie continued.
"The nightmare, Pinkie!" Twilight reminded her, then processed her words. "Wha- she's a spell!"
"No, she's a pony." Pinke repeated. "I can feel it; she's like me, but . . . different!"
"Yeah, listen to her!" Jars cut in.
"B-but the Element of Laughter . . ." Twilight trailed off.
"We can share, can't we?" Pinkie said, giving a lopsided grin to Reflection. For her part, she returned it as best she could.
"This wasn't the plan," Twilight sighed.
"She's a vowed subject of Crown Princess Vaeryna. I wouldn't hurt her." Vorsl said with a fierce glare.
Twilight smiled wryly. "Don't you mean High King Graesl?"
"Right, right." Vorsl snarled. "I'm sure she'll help you."
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Reflection jumped at it. "Yes! I will!"
"A Seventh Element of Harmony?" Twilight asked, blinking. "That sounds like a foal's fantasy."
"Not my fault I exist." Reflection observed, drawing a stare from Twilight.
"I have so many questions . . ." Twilight muttered, then turned to the horizon. "Come on, then. We've got a monster to banish."
~
"So, what's it like?" Twilight asked, as the group made its way down the winding paths of Canterlot. The black stain of the nightmare was moving up along the river fed by the Canterlot Waterfall; they'd explained the nightmare forces had attacked the city decades ago, but not at this strength. It had taken the form of an army, used weapons of dark magic. This time, it was just a huge, ethereal black shadow.
Truthfully, Reflection didn't fully understand all the details, but the basic concept was simple enough; big monster coming to Canterlot. She could hear the rising panic of the city, screams of alarm echoing off the walls and driving into her ears, reminding her of the responsibility that had been thrust into her hooves.
"Huh?" Reflection asked.
"Being a spell. What can you think about? Are there things you can't comprehend?" Twilight asked, clearly intending to go on, but cut off by a sharp glare from Jars. The griffon had refused to stay at the Embassy, opting instead to stay loyally by his cook's side.
His friend's side? That thought was desperate, yet hopeful. She hoped it was true . . .
Oh right. Twilight Sparkle. "I dunno." she said, shivering at the wind. A side-effect of the Canterlot weather team's attempt to stop the nightmare, she'd been told. A failed attempt, apparently.
"Wow," Twilight breathed, "you really are another pony. This is incredible! The mirror pool created life!"
"I don't know about that, silly," Pinkie Pie spoke up from the front of the group. "I think she created life!"
"This is ground-breaking," Twilight continued, heedless.
"There it is!" the orange pony, the Element of Honesty, yelled. Black tendrils snaked over the edge of the nearest hill, an unearthly glow coming out of them. Sickly blue, with the taint of dark magic.
"Alright girls!" Twilight said, turning to the Elements, "let's do this!"
"Wait, wait," Reflection said, yet again drawing the stares of everyone in the vicinity. "I- I don't know what to do! How do I make it work?"
"Shoot." Honesty breathed.
"Oh, no," Twilight agreed.
"Just how am I supposed to be the Element of Laughter? I haven't laughed in like, a day!" Reflection exclaimed.
"She's been kinda occupied with slowly dying," Jars added unhelpfully.
"I- oh, no." Twilight repeated. To Reflection's horror, her horn started to glow - then, stopped, as Twilight bit her lip in frustration.
"Oh, no . . ." Reflection echoed. "We didn't really think this out, did we?"
She squeezed her eyes shut, hearing the cry of the nightmare in the distance, feeling the rough cobblestones under her hooves. She wasn't the Element of Laughter. She was another pony, different - and yet, they couldn't use the Elements without her.
But they could use them without her, couldn't they?
She shook off the thought, and opened her eyes as a hoof was put to her shoulder. She turned her head, ignoring the Elements and griffons now arguing, ignoring the flash as the sunlight glinted off a Jars' drawn axe. Pinkie Pie stood there, greeting her with a surprisingly serious, yet genuine smile.
"Hey there, me." Pinkie said.
"What do you want?" Reflection snapped, then sighed sadly, "I'm sorry. I- I just, there's so much to take in. So many things happening, I- I didn't ask for it."
"No, I'm sorry." Pinkie said, frowning slightly. "I thought the mirror pool was the solution to my problem. I didn't think of the consequences, and look where we are."
"What? Sorry?" Reflection said, shaking her head, "No, no. Whatever happens, if, no, when Twilight there decides my created life is less important than the safety of a city - which, I can't really blame her when she does - I'm glad I had this at all."
Reflection glanced to her hoof, which flickered at the movement. "J-just tell Twilight to do it. I'll go back to the mirror pool, lose mysel- no, even faster, she can just cast a spell that undoes another one. That'll work, right?" she laughed bitterly.
The look on Pinkie's face told her that wasn't the laughter she was looking. "Look, Reflection," she started, getting a grateful smile from the pony at saying her name, "you don't need to be me, to be the Element of Laughter."
"But I am you." Reflection said, frowning.
"Silly, I see it in you!" Pinkie reassured her, wincing as Jars screamed at one of Elements, "You're a different pony!"
"Coming from you . . ." Reflection trailed off with a hopeful smile.
Pinkie nodded quickly. "Of course! Remember how Celestia and Luna used the Elements in the past?"
"Not really." Reflection admitted.
"Well, they did! Celestia's like that Vorsl over there, all wise and noble. Could you imagine him acting like me?"
Reflection thought back to her first hours. "Heh, no." she said, cracking a wry grin.
"Exactly," Pinkie said, poking Reflection in the chest, "being the Element of Laughter isn't about laughing. I became its bearer because I laughed off my fears; look at you!"
Reflection looked down at herself quizzically.
Pinkie laughed at that. "I think almost any other pony would be really afraid right now! You're all accepting and resigned, ready to sacrifice yourself!"
"If you put it like that . . ."
"And, laughter isn't about laughing at everything. It's about finding joy in the little things, being thankful and happy for the things most ponies are too familiar with to appreciate!" Pinkie continued, matching Reflection's growing smile. "You stepped out to meet us, and what were you doing? Being grateful for the simple little things around you, the wind, the morning-"
"How did you know about that?"
Pinkie winked. "And you can appreciate that more than most." she said, finishing with a loopy smile. "Look, whatever happens, I know you're up to it, alright?"
Reflection breathed in deeply, then exhaled with a sigh. "I think I know what you're getting at."
Pinkie jumped back with a grin. "Alright! Let's go! When these babies do their thing, it'll go all tingly, and then wham! Goodbye monster!"
"Ahem." Reflection said to the arguing ponies and griffons, the nightmare growing uncomfortably close.
"Hey!" Pinkie said loudly, and everyone stopped and stared at the two. "I think we're all sorted out."
A pause followed, and Reflection took a deep breath. The nightmare's screams were the only thing in the air.
"I'm grateful for the little things," Reflection said quietly, "thankful for Jars, my first friend; for the wind, for the sky-"
"And, you're really brave, too." Pinkie added, grinning wildly as a light wind was stirred up, seemingly by the mere words, "you face your fears and accept them."
"I sure laughed at the bar last night," Reflection said, laughing a little in the present, "but that isn't what the Element of Laughter has to be about."
"It's about taking what you get and being happy with it." Pinkie said, turning to the other Elements. "Come on, girls! Rarity, where's your generosity? Fluttershy, can you spare some kindness for this poor pony? Applejack, let's be honest; you don't really want her to disappear, to you? You know she's a real pony-"
As she spoke, the wind whipped around the Elements. As Pinkie's voice was drowned out by the combined howling of the wind and of the nightmare, almost upon them, the Elements around all their necks began to glow.
Pinkie slowly unclasped the Element from her neck, and offered it to Reflection. The pony took it with a shaking hoof, and together, they soared off the ground, eyes bright with magic. They were soon followed by the Elements.
"Wow," Jars breathed.
A glittering rainbow smashed into the nightmare, blowing it away like any normal fog. Its screams faded away as a round of cheering could be heard coming from the city, most not noticing the fact there were seven ponies up there, protecting them.
As Reflection opened her eyes, absolute power flowing through her, she looked down at her flickering form. The pain was beginning to seep through her euphoria - honestly, what else did she expect from using an object of supremely powerful magic?
A thought occurred to her. A crazy, insane thought. But she had nothing to lose. She glanced around forlornly at the griffons, her friends; to the trees, to the stones. She didn't know what would happen, but maybe she wanted that. She'd spent all of her short life fighting against fate; maybe, just this once, it was time to put herself entirely willingly in fate's hands. She was just going to die anyway. Whatever happened, she'd have no regrets.
Bowing to the will of one, and the dissent of none, the Elements of Harmony sprang into action again. The rainbow blast that was chasing the nightmare away reformed into a solid beam, to the surprise of the others.
And that beam of light returned, to strike Reflection head-on, her body silhouetted against the blinding kaleidoscope of magical colors.
Her vision faded to black, and she didn't fight it.