"What're we going to do?" Borealis Burnout asked Silverlinings. The two of them, Kali, Willow and Platinum all sat around the parlor, in the large estate on the edge of Stableton. They contemplated their predicament: Diamond Jubilee, the mare in charge so-to-speak, was missing; kidnapped in her sleep like so many other ponies in town.
"Well," Silverlinings turned and looked at his partner, "I've already notified Lady Jubilee's lawyers. They're gonna come in and straighten some things out, and-"
"She's not dead!" Platinum snapped. "You act like these lawyers are coming to read her will. She's not dead... just missing." She shifted, restlessly in her seat.
Silver cleared his throat, "Platinum, you-" He was once again interrupted by the doors to the parlor swinging open. In the threshold stood two stallions. One was a light tan with slicked, grey hair. He wore a black tie, white shirt, and a blue and black pinstripe coat, which matched his dark blue eyes. This earth pony's cutie mark was a large "500" with a large blue arrow pointing up. His associate was a dark grey unicorn with a silver, slicked mane with a single streak of red. He wore a red tie, black shirt and a maroon dress vest which matched the rectangular, wired framed sunglasses he wore. This other pony's cutie mark looked like a large "₡", but the line through the cent symbol was a slash of blood. He had a large briefcase at his side.
"Good afternoon." The tan pony smiled a large, white grin, similar to that of a politician: it was too perfect. His teeth were as straight as an arrow and gleamed brighter than any normal pony's. The two new ponies entered the room and glanced around at the group assembled in the parlor.
"Wait a minute," Silver looked over the two, well dressed newcomers, "You aren't Lady Jubilee's lawyers."
"No, sadly, Miss Jubilee's regular lawyers couldn't make it," The tan pony pouted, with an obvious tinge of sarcasm, "but fear not, for we are more than qualified to deal with this particularly precarious, problematic and albeit perplexing predicament in which you poor ponies find yourselves in today."
"Is that a fact...?" Silverlinings wasn't convinced.
"Indeed, my mindful, meticulous and melancholy friend!" The tan pony assured as his associate placed the briefcase on the coffee table in front of the fireplace.
"Melancholy? What would make you think I'm melancholy?" Silverlinings asked.
"It's written all over your face," The stranger pointed out. "All these tired lines and the small bags under your eyes; you, my friend, are one, down-in-the-dumps stallion. In my line of work, you need to learn to read pony's faces."
"And what line of work is that?" the white pegasus inquired. "Who are you guys?"
"Ah, where are our manners?" the tan pony cried. "I am Fortune Five Hundred and this is my associate Blood Money." He gestured to the grey unicorn organizing papers on the coffee table.
"What kind of a name is that?" Platinum Jubilee asked.
The grey pony turned, slightly, and looked at her. The lighting was perfectly positioned so Platinum could only see her reflection in his glasses. He smirked slightly and huffed, "You don't wanna know, kid."
"Now," Fortune cleared his throat to regain every pony's attention, "we are here to properly assign a successor to this vast estate, for this period without Miss Jubilee. Upon her return, power over the property and all the rights therein will return to her."
"Well it's obvious, isn't it?" Burnout piped up. "Platinum is the only blood relative of Diamond Jubilee living here, so isn't she the successor?"
"Not necessarily, my dear," Fortune smiled his fake looking smile. "There are many ins and outs to this sort of thing. As Miss Platinum is not of legal age yet, she cannot take the role of reigning over such a large property. Now please, let us do our jobs."
With that, he took out a pair of spectacles and joined Blood Money at the coffee table. They began reading over papers and Fortune Five Hundred called out bits of information. "Lady Diamond Jubilee has been ruling for close to sixty years... deceased spouse... no living children... Platinum Jubilee: only living relative... mother died in foal birth... father died in war..."
After half an hour, the tan pony turned around and stared at the group, "It seems that there is no suitable heir to the property, so I'm afraid-"
"What about us?" Burnout interrupted again.
Fortune looked at her, slightly bewildered, and asked, "I'm sorry, Madam, what was that?"
Burnout stood up, "Silverlinings and I? He's in charge of pretty much everything else 'official' around here, and I'm in charge of Platinum Jubilee, so why don't we take care of the castle, together?"
The tan stallion took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "My dear, if you let me finish what I was going to say..." As he put his glasses back on, he shot Burnout a look that radiated with pure malice; far harsher, it seemed to her, than she deserved. "Now then, since there is no proper heir to the estate, I'm afraid the property will be placed in the ownership of the government. Now this is where it gets extremely technical. The transaction will take some time to complete, and until such time has come, I suppose we could place the two of you in charge of the property," He looked from Burnout to Silverlinings.
Silverlinings, still not optimistic about the two lawyers, glanced at Burnout before asking Fortune Five Hundred, "And if Lady Jubilee returns...?"
"Well, in the small unlikelihood of Miss Jubilee's return, I'm afraid the property would stay under government ruling."
Burnout, who was now a bit frustrated at the lawyers, asked, "And if she comes home before you can finish the legal papers?"
"Well in the even smaller likeliness of that, then..." The tan pony thought for a moment, "... the property would remain under her name."
'smaller unlikeliness?' Silverlinings thought. These guys really were pricks. "How long," He asked standing up, "will all the paperwork take?"
"A rough estimate sets the date in..." He glanced over at one of the papers Blood Money was shuffling back into his briefcase, "a few months. You know how clogged up the legal system is." He smiled.
'Good,' Silverlinings thought, 'that'll give us enough time to go find Diamond Jubilee.
"Alright girls, are you ready?" Twilight Sparkle looked around the room. Standing around the same table she was were Fluttershy, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Rainbow Dash stood off to the side, a look of unease on her face.
"Twilight," She asked, "are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Well, no," Twilight answered, honestly, "but what's there to be discovered, without a little risk?"
"But Twilight," Fluttershy piped up, "we don't know what'll happen when Rainbow Dash looks into the mirror."
"Precisely," The purple mare nodded. "We don't know; which to me is the scariest thing."
"But Twily," Apple Jack looked down at the dark mirror, "wouldn't it be safer just t' lock the d'rned thing up, an' forget about it?"
"I'm afraid not," Twilight responded. "This is our only lead on the disappearances, and now, it's more serious than ever. Lady Jubilee is missing."
"Then what're we waiting for!?" cried Pinkie Pie. "Rainbow Dash! Just come look at the mirror already!"
"Ya know, Pinkie, you're right," Rainbow Dash smirked and walked over to the table. "I mean, what's the worst that can..."
The cyan mare found herself staring deep into the mirror. Just like the others, she saw herself, horribly twisted from reality. The colors in her mane, red, yellow, blue, were the complimentary opposites in the mirror: green, purple, orange. Her eyes were fuzzy, and grey. Her wings were molting, thin and unhealthy. Rainbow Dash gasped. However this time, the gasps were heard all around the room. All six of the mares could see Rainbow Dash's reflection; not just her! The last gem stone began to glow, then beam with a light brighter then the others. The mirror face cracked and a low humming sound could be heard emanating from it. Before any pony had time to react, the mirror exploded, and a black fog began to fill the room, created from concentrated darkness. The six mares gasped for breath, but it was useless. One by one they began to lose consciousness. They fell to the ground, enveloped in the fog.
"Twilight? Rainie? Any pony?" Silver walked around the corridor where the guests were staying. Not a sign of any of them anywhere. He checked the rooms, one by one, until he got to Twilight's. The door was locked.
"Twilight?" He knocked. "are you all in there? Are you alright?" He waited, but there was no reply. He knocked louder, "Hello?" At this point he was worried. "Twilight, if you're in there, please open the door. It's part of my job to ensure your safety. Twilight?" Silver, not having a key to the room, did the only thing he could do: he broke it down. After trying several times, the hinges finally gave and the door swung to the side. In the room were all the usual furnishings: a bed, night stand, a table... The table. There were scorch marks all over it. As Silver got closer to investigate, his head throbbed and as vertigo set in, he fell to the floor.
Hear me, Mortal...
You know not the powers you meddle with...
We have transcended beyond your petty coil of reality, into a realm of existence beyond your grasp.
Your friends were unlucky enough to stumble upon one of our gateways.
Let them serve as an example.
The six mares slowly made their way up the slope. The ground they were walking on was cracked and scorched. The sky was a fiery, brilliant orange. As they reached the top of the hill, they were able to get a good look at the landscape: spires of crimson red rock jetted out of the ground, stones of the same color, emblazoned with runes of an unknown tongue hung weightless in the sky. In the distance, a tehind herself, at where they had come from. It wasree of endless brilliance stood strong and powerful. Five of the ponies looked on in amazement, but the blue mare in the back looked to be a simple crater, nothing significant about it. She looked around, for some point of return.
Upon finding none, she muttered to herself, "Sorry Sil... gonna be a little late for our date..."