//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 - Through a Mirror, Darkly // Story: My Little Equestroid: Stompin' is Magic // by ForeverChasingRainbows //------------------------------// **Rainbow Dash** Coasting to a halt in the night air, Rainbow Dash surveyed the landscape outside of the strange prison in which she had been confined. The rush of power, of energy from the strange crystal she held had abated enough that she thought to pause for a moment and consider her situation. The land spread out beneath her was unfamiliar, at least in terms of her specific location - but the stony sand, scrub plants and occasional rocky spire or mesa gave her some hope she wasn't too far from her friends' camp, or at least a nearby town. Need to get some height, figure out where the hay I am. Rainbow glanced skyward briefly, considering the stars. Some light would probably help too, she thought. Although... aren't you meant to be able to, like, navigate by stars or something? Nuts, I totally should have taken Twi up on that astro-thingy-whatever she wanted to show me. Well, I guess if I just pick a direction and fly I can find somepony to ask for directions. Unless, a treacherous voice in the back of her head added, you're not even in Equestria any more. Shut up brain. Not helping. If this is Equestria, the voice persisted, then where is the moon? Even as the thought pushed its way into her mind, Rainbow began scanning the sky for the familiar orb. Don't be an idiot, the moon is right... uh, not that way, over... umm... Spinning back and forth more frantically, Rainbow Dash fruitlessly searched for a light in the sky bigger than a star. Where is it? Where the hay is the freaking moon?! An orange glow on the horizon suggested an answer that Rainbow Dash was all-too-ready to grasp on to. She let out a nervous chuckle as the sky began its slow transition from starry night to the blue of day, glancing around self-consciously even though there was nopony else there to see her almost lose her cool. Heh, woo, that was... okay, okay. It's sunrise, the moon set already. No need to freak out here. After a few more calming breaths, Rainbow couldn't help but think that dawn and daylight were just what she needed right now - she was thoroughly fed up of dark, confined spaces. Seeing the first rays of sunlight illuminating the tops of the tallest rock spires and mesas above her, the hovering pegasus paused to turn her back on the sun and watch the light flow down and over the desert. She felt the temperature shift running down her length as the sun reached her, a tiny shadow appearing against the rock-strewn sand below and in front of her. A slight shiver followed the temperature change as warmth returned to her body. Ooh, that's nice. Much better. Rolling onto her back, still cradling the strange red crystal she'd taken from her prison in her legs, Rainbow took stock of her situation. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, sky still tinted pink in the dawn light, and a few wispy clouds drifted above her. There's definitely something freaky going on here. Where the hay is everypony, and why don't I remember what happened? "Can't remember," a scratchy, irritating voice asked from behind her, "or won't?" "What the-" Rainbow Dash span in the air, almost losing her grip on the gem she was carrying. After several frantic moments of spinning in all directions, eyes and ears alert, she tentatively confirmed that she was, in fact, still completely alone in the sky. And now I'm so tired I'm hearing things. Awesome. Rainbow closed her eyes, trying to slow her breathing. Her body seized the opening, gleefully informing her that it was damaged and exhausted. I feel like I flew through a tornado backwards, and I don't think I've slept properly since we left Ponyville... gotta find somewhere to lay low for a while. Although, none of those guys had wings - maybe I should try laying high instead. Rainbow's heart sank a little as she looked up. Ugh. Why did it have to be cirrus? Never a nice low-altitude cloud around when you need one. Trying to ignore the heavy, itching feeling telling her her feathers were in total disarray, Rainbow Dash forced her tired muscles into one last push upwards. *** Almost a minute of straight vertical climb later, Rainbow Dash was getting increasingly worried. The clouds were definitely closer, but there was absolutely no way this was normal. Why are they so freaking high? I swear, when I find the idiot who's been leaving all this crap to float out into the Badlands, they're gonna get it. Another sharp, painful spasm pulled at the muscles across her back. Ow! No way, you are not allowed to cramp up yet. Come on, I'm almost there! Pushing herself to climb just a little further, Rainbow Dash began to notice more details of the scattered scraps of cloud above her. Details that didn't make any sense, unless... Oh crap, it's too diffuse... it's not even refined, she thought despondently, her ascent slowing. It wasn't even a proper, factory-produced cloud, it was just the raw materials for one. Even if she did hammer it into shape herself, Rainbow couldn't be confident it would hold together as she slept on it. What am I meant to do with unrefined water vapor? I don't have a freaking weather factory! Damn it, I flew all the way up here for nothing. Frustration and despair warred back and forth in her mind as Rainbow floated beneath the insubstantial cloud. She felt a sudden irrational urge to buck something, shout, scream, find somepony to blame all of this on and just- "Just what?" The voice again. Not mocking this time. Eager, needy... hungry, in a way Rainbow found profoundly disturbing. As if the thought of violence excited it. Her nostrils flared as they caught the scent of blood in the air, there and gone in a half-remembered flash. Rainbow Dash's anger imploded, leaving her feeling hollow and spent. "Shut up. You're not real," she mumbled. For a brief moment she was terrified the voice would respond, but it remained silent as she started a slow, spiralling glide back towards the ground. She could see plenty of rock spires littering the Badlands from this altitude, but she didn't have the strength left to flap her wings. It was all she could do to keep hold of the stolen gem in her legs. As the sun began to separate from the horizon, beginning its daily traversal of the sky, Rainbow touched down atop a rocky pinnacle, collapsed into a heap and immediately fell into an exhausted sleep. **Fluttershy** Come on, you were fine talking to him earlier! Fluttershy admonished herself as she tried to calm the panicked butterflies in her stomach. After briefly reflecting on the turn of phrase, she lamented the fact that metaphorical butterflies were a lot tougher to calm down than real ones. Fluttershy tried to resist the urge to hide behind somepony else, putting them between her and the large, iron-clad stallion, but she was finding it increasingly difficult. She had expected that learning a little more about him would make him less intimidating, but the longer the group sat talking around the campfire the more nervous Fluttershy found herself becoming. Seeing him attacking a pony was a little worrying, but that isn't it. It's only really been... since he could talk? Is that what it is? Fluttershy thought uncertainly. Was I less nervous around him because I was thinking of him as an animal, and now I think of him as a pony? Risking a glance over toward the huge grey stallion, she flinched and drew back behind her mane as the nervous feeling in her belly intensified. Am I really that shallow? He hasn't changed at all, but now that I can't help but see him as a stallion... a strange and really, really big and intimidating... oh goodness. Fluttershy closed her eyes, holding back the rising fear and berating herself internally. Oh no, that really is it... and he's going to notice and then he'll want to talk to me and I'll be too nervous and he'll be upset and it'll cause a scene and everypony will be looking at me and thinking about what a horrible pony I- Dragging her runaway thoughts to a halt, Fluttershy tried to take a deep breath and calm down. No. I'm better than that. Come on Fluttershy, get a hold of yourself. Just make it home, maybe vent to Rarity in the spa, and put this horrible day behind you. Be brave. Another nervous twinge ran through Fluttershy as thoughts of courage brought another pony to mind. I wish Rainbow was here. She isn't scared of anything. Well, except confined spaces, and... still, she's so much braver than I am. It must be nice not to be afraid all the time. If it was any other pony, Fluttershy might have been just the teeny-tiniest bit jealous; but Rainbow Dash was her best friend. For the longest time, Rainbow had been her only friend. A strong flier oozing with confidence, the brash and vivacious filly had forced her way into Fluttershy's life by simply refusing to take 'no' - or at least a negative squeak that was meant to be a 'no' - for an answer, and Fluttershy had never understood why. She hadn't really questioned it too much though - friends had always sounded so nice, but she hadn't really known exactly how to go about getting some. When a friend found her, and turned out to be a shining example of the pony she sometimes dreamed of being, Fluttershy had just held on for dear life as the frequently terrifying roller-coaster ride that was her fillyhood continued. When Rainbow Dash was around, Fluttershy always felt like she could borrow some of her friend's courage. She didn't know what Rainbow got in return - she'd always been too afraid of shattering the illusion to ask - but Dash had always been a loyal and steadfast companion. As the stallion's story of how he came to meet his partner drew to a close, Applejack put voice to Fluttershy's own thoughts. "Where the hay is Rainbow Dash?" The question hung in the air unanswered, bringing an uncomfortable halt to the conversation. "That is an extremely pertinent question, Miss Applejack," Princess Celestia said, approaching the group with Princess Luna trailing reluctantly behind. Fluttershy tried and failed to suppress a startled flinch at the pair's appearance. Princess Luna's trepidation was expected, but Fluttershy realised there was something troubling Princess Celestia as well. The elder alicorn's face always lost a little of its warmth when something bad had happened, such as when the Princess had told them about Discord's escape. There was still a sense of purpose and intensity there, and... Fluttershy's muzzle twitched as she suppressed a sneeze. Is something burning? A tiny flicker of light caught her eye, drawing Fluttershy's gaze to the ground behind Princess Celestia. It was only visible for a moment in the dark, but each of the alicorn's steps was clearly leaving a small, glowing print in the ground. "There is never a good time or an easy way to deliver news like this," the Princess said, "so I shall speak plainly. The Element of Loyalty is no longer in Equestria." Fluttershy felt her body and mind freeze up as the group almost exploded into chaos. Before anypony could get too carried away, Celestia continued to speak over the noise. "I do not know exactly what this means, or how it might have happened," she declared, eyes focused on Thirty-Thirty, "but we are getting to the bottom of this, now. At best, Equestria's greatest defense, the combined power of the Elements, is lost to us at the moment we need it most." Fluttershy flinched back as Applejack surged to her hooves. "Forget the dang Elements," she protested angrily, "what about Dash?" "In magical terms, Rainbow Dash is indistinguishable from the Element itself," Celestia replied. She didn't seem fazed by the outburst, and maintained her focus on the alien stallion, although a hint of regret entered her voice. "It can't be separated from her, in the same way nopony could take away her ability to fly or manipulate weather. If the Element is gone, then... so is she." Applejack sat back down with a heavy thump, mouth working silently as she tried to process what she was hearing. Fluttershy recognised the same stunned, empty emotions she felt on the faces of her friends as her brain simply stopped functioning. "And," Celestia added pointedly as she continued to face down Thirty-Thirty, "I want to know why." Princess Luna broke in hesitantly, "Sister, please, there is no need for this." Celestia's eyes closed, her expression unreadable. "He wouldn't-" "Luna... you're asking me to gamble our entire domain," Celestia said, without turning to look at her sister, "every one of our little ponies' lives. Everything I swore to protect." Fluttershy looked back towards Princess Luna. The dark alicorn's expression was desperate and afraid, and her astral mane writhed as if battling against itself. It obviously took an effort of will to force out her almost inaudible reply. "I ask for a thing far greater than that. I lost it, then forfeited my claim to it long ago, but that does not lessen my need for it." Still facing away with her eyes closed, Celestia jerked as if the words had physically struck her. Fluttershy thought she saw something flickering across the Princess' features, a tiny crack in the armour of the ages. Absolute silence descended on the group. Fluttershy didn't even dare to breathe. When Celestia spoke again, something seemed to be missing from her voice. Some of the usual confidence and gravity, the surety that had steered Equestria alone for so long, was simply absent. "I didn't mean to-" she broke off, before finally turning to face Luna once more. Then Celestia tried again, words coming slowly, as if she was carefully laying each on fragile ground. "Luna, I want to trust you. I really, truly do." The next word hung unspoken for several long seconds before Celestia eventually forced it out, "But, after what passed between the two of you..." "You have no idea what it was like," Luna breathed, voice rough and low. "None." "Then help me understand," Celestia said, emotion breaking back into her voice once more. "Imagine galloping full-tilt into a waterfall of tar. It clings to your coat, fouls your eyes and nostrils." Luna's voice strengthened a little, but grew no less strained or bitter. "'Tis cloying and overwhelming. You cannot see, you cannot breathe. It seeps into your mane and feathers, but it does not stop there. It sinks into your skin, pours into your mouth, permeates your entire being. Clings to and stains every part of you until you can't tell where it ends and you begin. Except it isn't some irritating sticky substance you can just wash off. It's a mind, a living, roaring, tumultuous mind that you've violated and it's already so mingled with your own that you don't even know who you are any more. You should have been ready. You should have known better - or should you? Was that you, or was that her? Or are you her, or him, or both, or neither? Besieged by centuries of memories, all of them familiar and all of them terrifyingly alien..." Luna paused to take a slow, trembling breath, closing her eyes briefly, before steadying herself. "I do not know how many hours it took to put myself back together," she said, opening her eyes once more to meet her sister's. "Thankfully, I have substantial experience in maintaining the core of mine own identity under... difficult circumstances. But that was only the beginning of it. Can you even imagine what that feels like? Not just to commit such an act, to be told of the feeling of vulnerability and violation, but to remember actually feeling all of those things; of being so intermingled with your own victim that you remember fearing and hating yourself beyond reason? And worse still, you alone will remember what happened when you wake. You will have to confess, to inflict a second shadow of that pain once more to even have a hope of forgiving yourself." The mention of her confession seemed to pull the Princess's attention back to her surroundings, and her teal eyes began to dart back and forth across the ponies around her as if seeing them for the first time. All of them were shaken to some degree, all displaying various levels of shock and sadness. Princess Luna recoiled from the ponies around her, and Fluttershy felt something cold and sharp slide into her heart as she realised Luna was afraid of her, of all of them. The negative emotions weren't directed at the Princess, but that didn't seem to have registered in the distressed alicorn's mind. "I should not have- My friends, please, do not look at me like..." Luna stammered weakly, standing in a slight crouch with a wing half-extended before her, as if shielding herself. Celestia reached out toward her retreating sister. "Luna, wait-" "DON'T LOOK AT ME!" Luna cried, voice shaking the ground as her form was swallowed by a sphere of darkness. The globe swiftly shrank to nothing and disappeared, leaving no sign of the Princess. **Twilight Sparkle** Twilight's rational mind still couldn't really grasp where the last few hours had gone. There didn't seem to be enough events in her memory to cover all of the time. Princess Luna had teleported away just before the first guards had come charging in to investigate the noise of her outburst, and then one of the medics from the aid station had sought out Celestia to tell her that the four Night Guards had simultaneously disappeared from their beds. The next bit she had stumbled though in a half-aware haze. The carriage ride back to Canterlot and civilisation had been almost completely silent. Nopony seemed to be able to put words to the situation, including Twilight herself. She couldn't seem to summon up much in the way of feelings at all. Even Pinkie Pie hadn't been able to produce any of her habitual cheer. Twilight and her friends had been led to a castle room that resembled a strange combination of a guard bunkroom and a suite from a fancy hotel. It was almost like a small apartment, with a large main room, balcony and a bathroom, but the main room was obviously for sleeping - and accommodating more than one or two ponies, based on the number of beds it contained. Probably for diplomatic entourages or something, Twilight thought absently as she stared up at the vaulted ceiling. It was painted blue, a little deeper in tone than the sky, ornamented by curving traceries of thin gold that formed winding floral patterns. So far there seemed to be thirteen blooms in each vaulted section, and the ceiling was divided into a three-by-seven grid - apparently without the need for supporting pillars at the vault junctions, so presumably there was some architectural trickery at work - meaning there were approximately two hundred and seventy-three small golden flower heads above her. She'd be able to verify that estimate when she finished counting them all. The five ponies had only made it a short way beyond the door before simply setting themselves down in a huddle on the floor. The room held eight wood-framed single beds, four along each side, and one larger Princess-sized bed at the back opposite the door. All of them were pristine and unoccupied, however - none of them had spoken since the door had closed, but the ponies had instinctively gathered close together for comfort. Thirty-Thirty had paced out onto the balcony, one large metal shoulder visible at the side of the connecting archway as he leaned back against the external wall. Neither Twilight nor her friends had said anything to him for hours, and she couldn't help but feel like this was somehow his fault. Her rational mind knew it wasn't, but emotions weren't known for their accommodation of rationality. There hadn't been any actual accusations, but there hadn't been any inclusion or defense of the alien giant either. Twilight tried to focus on her task - she'd finished verifying the precise number of blooms in the ceiling pattern and moved on to calculating the means and standard deviations for the number of petals on each, per ceiling segment - but it just wasn't holding her attention. There was another problem, one too large and too terrifying to consider, that had been roughly thrust into the center of her head and was resolutely refusing to be ignored. It just didn't make any sense. Rainbow wasn't old, she wasn't sick. She was fit, healthy and ready for anything. She couldn't just... go. Not like that. It couldn't possibly be right. She wouldn't abandon her friends. Twilight gave up on the ceiling and let her head settle down onto the floor. Although she took some comfort in the closeness of the warm bodies around her, every muffled sniffle or shudder tugged at her heart. She was all too aware that there was one less pony than there was supposed to be. Would have been sprawled out on top of the pile on her back, snoring like a jackhammer- The thought brought an image to mind, and Twilight's shoulders bounced once in a small, silent laugh. Then they moved again as something broke loose inside her, the silent shaking building into a steady rhythm as Twilight struggled to understand what she was feeling. Something wet tracked down her cheek and trickled onto the leg beneath her head, and the bodies around her shifted closer as she shook uncontrollably. Some time later, exhaustion claimed her once more. **Thirty-Thirty** They had a city. Forests, grassland, rivers... everything they could want. Vast, sweeping fields full of crops, rolling hills and shaded valleys had passed by beneath the chariot during the impossible journey across the sky. The place he had awoken in was so similar to home he hadn't even considered this new world might be different, and now the reality was really beginning to sink in. And they had a city. Straight out of a story book, a towering amalgamation of marble and gold standing proud astride a mountain; at its heart the kind of opulent, awe-inspiring castle that he still couldn't quite believe existed even as he stood in it. The balcony provided him with a truly memorable view of the fantasy cityscape at night, the stars and moon lining the peaks and edges of the rooftops in silver light. There was just enough movement in the chill night air to tug at loose bits of his mane, but it wasn't cold enough to drive him back inside. It also didn't appear to be enough to stop many of the inhabitants going about their business, if the small figures in the streets below - and, to his perpetual bafflement, flying above them - were any indication. I am a long way from home. Thirty-Thirty had already long passed the point of throwing his hands up and abandoning explanations in favour of 'It's magic', but that didn't stop sights like the one spread before him beginning the cycle of disbelief and wonder all over again. It certainly gave him something to concentrate on besides how fantastically awkward the whole situation was becoming. The emotions on display and the euphemisms being used were all suggesting one particular fate for the small blue pony that he'd barely met, but he wasn't sure that spirits living in a world of magic actually did things like dying. I can't exactly just ask 'em to spell it out, but on th'other hand I don't really need to. I can't think of another reason why they'd all be this angry and upset. Thirty-Thirty reached up to touch the bandage wrapped beneath his arm. It still stung a little, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it had been. A tentative peek beneath the cloth pad held against his side confirmed that the wound had closed, but it would likely be tender for quite some time yet. He was an obvious target to blame. It wasn't fair, and it did make him quite angry when he focused on it, but it was at least understandable. Hopefully they'd get over it. The stallion focused his attention on something else that had been popping into his head intermittently - whether or not he should transform back again. Fluttershy's admonition not to do so because of his injury notwithstanding, Thirty-Thirty was mostly convinced the rest of the locals would find him less intimidating if he stood a little more like they did, not to mention towering over them a little less. 'Less I'm close enough to them that it's extra creepy or something. I mean, I'd ask, but... He peeked back through the balcony arch into the darkened room, unable to make out anything but an indistinct pony pile in the middle of the floor. I get the feelin' these ones aren't gonna want to talk none, least not for a while. Guess I'll just have to wait it out, he thought ruefully, turning back to the moonlit cityscape. Not like I'm short on time. **Twilight Sparkle** The sun's glow was barely preceding it over the horizon when Twilight returned to consciousness. She did so because there was a loud bang, and then something hard and wooden hit her in the back. Or, as she rapidly realised, she had been flung into something. After a few very confusing and stressful moments that a pony should never be forced to endure before imbibing large quantities of caffeine, Twilight managed to bludgeon her thoughts into something resembling order. A rather interesting tableau presented itself for her inspection. It looked like a Night Guard had burst in through the double doors of the room, causing the initial loud bang - and then everypony had apparently gone completely insane. The pile of sleeping ponies on the floor had exploded as ponies far more used to early starts than she was had bolted upright, and now they were all talking over each other, yelling and demanding explanations that they weren't going to stop to actually listen to. Twilight could distinctly feel a headache coming on. Also, everything was upside-down. Without bothering to roll over, Twilight pushed a little magic through her horn and created a sound-dampening bubble, sleepily modified from a privacy spell normally used to stop ponies eavesdropping on conversations. Everyone inside the area, except for her, should be incapable of making a sound for a second or two. The mob in front of her began to glance around in confusion at the sudden silence. Taking a deep breath, Twilight yelled "QUIEEEEEEEEET!" Or, at least, she tried to. Her mouth moved, and she could feel the vibrations in her throat, but no sound emerged. She was just as silent as everypony else. Ponyfeathers. Dropping the botched spell, Twilight took advantage of the confusion the sudden lack of sound had caused to get the first word in. She realised it would need to be something good, something that would grab everypony's attention before they started yelling again. Instead, her treacherous caffeine-starved brain went with the first thing that popped out of her imagination. "Pancakes." It is far too early for this. On the positive side, everypony had stopped arguing. They were instead all staring in absolute confusion at the upside-down purple alicorn resting against the foot of one of the room's beds. "Okay, 'm 'wake-" Twilight tried to right herself and fell over sideways, one wing slowly pawing at the air. "Ow. I'm awake. What's happening?" "You're all coming with me, right now," the intruding guard replied. "The Princess needs you." It took a second for Twilight to recognise Nightshade, given the pristine state of the Night Guard's armour. None of the previous night's damage was apparent, and she had even replaced her lost helmet. Stranger still she seemed to be completely uninjured, with no traces of the tears in her wing membranes or the various cuts and bruises that had covered her body. Twilight was, thanks to her past research, well aware of exactly how fast Noctrals were capable of healing given the right - she suppressed a shiver of discomfort - incentives, but even they had limits. Self-imposed limits, with punishments that are very... well, one thousand years ago. Although, if the stories they tell about what happens when they go too far are true, then- No. It's still not justified, not even then. There has to be some other way. "Which one?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Princess Cadance," Nightshade replied sarcastically. "You can run and ask stupid questions at the same time. Move." "What is so important that it couldn't wait just a couple more hours?" asked a thoroughly dishevelled and obviously annoyed Rarity. Between gritted teeth, Nightshade growled "It is past time to lower the moon, and the Princess will not wake. She... needs your help." Twilight tried to remember how her legs worked as everypony began to move, albeit sleepily and reluctantly. As the guard led the way out of the room, Applejack's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why exactly ain't ya gone to Princess Celestia 'bout this?" "Because the Princess is asking for you," the guard replied, not bothering to turn as she quickened her pace, "and repeating the same thing over and over." "What exactly is she saying?" Twilight asked, as the heavy hooffalls of their bipedal visitor followed the group out of the room. Nightshade's reply galvanised the entire group, and they rushed to catch up with the accelerating guard. "'Loyalty lives'." **Rainbow Dash** Rainbow's eyes opened to darkness. Not night, but a complete absence of anything. She could see her own muzzle just fine, and a downward glance confirmed the rest of her prone body was present - but there didn't seem to be anything else around. She got a strange impression that should have been worrying, but she couldn't seem to bring a particular reason to mind. Rising to her hooves, Rainbow turned slowly in place. Only once she had spun all the way round did she see anything but a featureless void. Somehow, there was now a mirror standing where there had been nothing a moment ago. Rainbow Dash flinched as she took in her reflection. Okay, I know I don't normally worry about this sort of stuff, but... wow. I look terrible. Approaching until her muzzle almost touched the mirror, Rainbow Dash examined herself. Her coat was dirty and matted, and her mane was a total mess; loose hairs and split ends everywhere, and the colours weren't even separate any more. Dark rings had developed around her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in days. It was almost like looking at a completely different pony. Angling her body a little to one side, Rainbow extended her left wing and ran her eyes along its reflection. The whole thing felt tender, and the feathers were in complete disarray. Ugh, that is gonna take forever to preen out. Then, as she closed her wing, her eyes tracked back up to the mirror-Rainbow's face. Dash froze solid as she locked eyes with somepony that definitely wasn't her. It was her own face, but there was something behind the eyes that was horribly wrong in a way she couldn't properly define. As she stared, the mirror image slowly smiled at her. Rainbow Dash tried to step back in the face of the utterly deranged grin, but something held her in place. "Hello me," the reflection said. That voice, it's... wait, I don't sound like that, do I? That is totally not how I sound! "Wha-" Rainbow stumbled over her words as she tried to control her panic. Her muzzle was only a hoof's breadth from the mirror, but she couldn't pull away. Aside from talking, she couldn't move a muscle. "Who the hay are you? What is going on?" "Really?" the mirror-Rainbow asked incredulously. "Ya don't even recognise yourself?" She reared back, giving a few demonstrative beats of her wings. "Well, a better version of you, but still." As the reflection spoke, her eyes changed. The red in her irises deepened, before they flashed briefly with an inner glow. Rainbow blinked, and the reflection shifted again. A golden choker appeared at her throat, set with a stone the same bright scarlet colour as her eyes. A familiar crooked shape, reminiscent of the one on her flanks - the stylised lightning bolt of the Element of Loyalty. There was something a little off about it that she couldn't quite put her hoof on. Hey, doesn't it normally bend the other way? "You might hide from it out there," the reflection declared, "but in here? I'm you. The one pony you can never hide from." Still paralysed, Rainbow Dash could only watch as her duplicate stepped forward, through the surface of the mirror. "Well, Dashie," the mirror-Rainbow said, voice low and teasing as she stalked around her frozen counterpart, "I know me..." Rainbow strained with every fiber of her being, trying to move, to run, to get away from whatever this thing was. She couldn't even make her eyes move, and the mirror in front of her was completely blank. She couldn't see what her double was doing, but she could feel it brushing against her coat and tail as it walked around behind her. Rainbow shuddered as she felt a wing trailed lightly across her back, feathers tickling her coat. "Rainbow! Rainbow, snap out of it!" Something else started to move inside the mirror, the shadows shifting and twisting slowly. The mirror-Rainbow leaned in close and whispered into her ear, "...and I've always been my own worst enemy." "It's no good Princess, she can't hear me." The shapes inside the mirror twisted and sharpened into the dilapidated interior of a disused house. Into the shape of an earth pony, pale green with a yellow mane. The memory of what came next slammed into Rainbow, dropping a lead weight into her belly. Her racing mind tried to deny it, to suppress it, to hide from it, but the images playing out in front of her eyes were undeniable. "No! We are not going to lose her! Not again!" "You can't," she pleaded with her double, desperately trying to tear her eyes away from the scene in front of her. "That wasn't me, I didn't-" Rainbow swallowed thickly. "Don't make me watch this. Please." "Oh, we're gonna watch, Loyalty," the mirror-Rainbow spat contemptuously. "We're gonna watch all night, until you realise what you really are." "I don't care if it's too dangerous..." "...she's our friend!" The mingled cry was too loud for Rainbow to process, an explosion that was felt through her bones rather than heard. She couldn't even flinch as the mirror before her burst into a hail of razor-sharp fragments, each sparkling with reflections of the coloured light burning up the darkness behind it. Somehow not a single one of the shards touched her, and as the world collapsed, the light wrapped Rainbow Dash up and kept her safe. "No, no, she's waking up! I'm losing-" Twi? Everything was too loud, too bright. Rainbow thought she could hear Twilight, but the voice kept fading in and out. "-ainbow? You need to-" "-everything we can to reach-" "-you have to fi-" "-hear me?" As the dream collapsed, Rainbow Dash heard one final thing shouted into the void. She didn't understand it, but she was grasping for every scrap that might help her make sense of her situation. "Find ~BraveStarr~!"