Twilight's Equestria - The After Years

by BPM

Chapter 6

An idea stirred inside Twilight. She looked up at the moon for confirmation of her theory. Yes - the moon was indeed blue, which means that she'd slipped away into a mirror world.
Twilight stood still for a moment, closing her eyes and trying to recall the information she had read so long ago about parallel universes. When she opened them, and looked down at the water again, the bubbles and white ceiling were gone. They were replaced with a dark silhouette, reminding Twilight of the caverns beneath the Crystal Empire keep, all those years ago.
---
Canterlot castle was coming into view now, as the guards flew there in record time.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash rushed to the library, where they heard the Princesses were.

"What do you think happened?" Rainbow Dash tried to shift the topic from adoption.

"To you? Or to Twilight?" Applejack knew her friend well, and wasn't about to let her just drop the subject.

"Look, if you don't think I'm fit to be a mother, just say so." Rainbow responded, evidently irked at Applejack's apprehension.

"It's just that, you've lived alone all your life. I don't think you're in a great position to raise a child."

"I know... I've thought about that, too. That's why... I wanted to ask if I could move in with you."

"Wha-"

"Applejack! Rainbow Dash!" A cheery voice filled with nostalgia barrelled into them, stopping their conversation mid syllable. "It's been so long! Wow Rainbow, you look so old! And Applejack, what ever happened to your hat? I've always remembered you with one, but you aren't wearing one!"
---

"What secret?" Rarity stood her ground against Blueblood, pressing him for information.

"Ruby's father isn't dead." Blueblood responded plainly.

"...What?! But I thought that-"

"Yes, I know what you think. We told you that to keep you from worrying. He disappeared much like Twilight did tonight."

"You haven't filled me in on that, either! Will you please just tell me what's going on?" Rarity slammed her hoof into the chariot, making the pegasi outside stumble a bit on the wind currents.
Blueblood breathed a loud sigh.

“I really shouldn’t be the one to tell you, but…”

“Spill it.”

“Tonight, Twilight disappeared under the same circumstances that your husband did all those years ago. It’s true that at that time, we were never able to find any trace of where he went but as time went on, Twilight poured herself into research, trying to find him. She eventually found that he had slipped into the mirror world.”
---

“Mirror World? What’s that?” Pinkie asked.

“Sister, shouldn’t we wait for Rarity to arrive?” Luna asked.

“We cannot wait any longer. We will have to fill in Rarity as she arrives. For now, there is much work to be done.” Celestia replied curtly.

“I had hoped that it would never come to this. As you all know, Luna and I were the users of the Elements of Harmony before you, and you wielded the Elements after us. Of course, when you later gave up those Elements to the Tree of Harmony when Tirek attacked, the essence of harmony took a new form - Rainbow power. I assure you, that was a surprise to me as well as the rest of you, but…” Celestia looked to the side, as if unable to continue.

“Before we took the Elements of Harmony from the Tree to stop Discord, we were warned that taking the Elements would diminish its magic and, over time, its magic would fade. That happened when the seeds of Discord finally were able to sprout. The thing we didn’t consider is that the Tree was holding more than just the seeds of Discord at bay.” Luna continued.

“The Tree of Harmony holds more than just this realm together. It protects it from the magic of the Mirror World. The Mirror World is an alternate realm of opposites. Over the years, its gained many other names.”

“The Dark Realm.”

“Outworld.”

“Detroit?” Pinkie chimed in.

“....No.” The celestial duo rolled their eyes at the interruption. “In any case, the Mirror World is home to all manner of deadly creatures, but perhaps the most dangerous of all is the existence of the Tree of Chaos.”

“Tree of Chaos?!” The four ponies said in unison.

“For every good, there is a bad. The Mirror World is our opposite in almost every way. The Tree of Harmony exists here, and its equal and opposite lives on the other side.” Celestia continued.

“For the past age, the Tree of Harmony has prevented Chaos’ entry into this world by guarding the lines between our worlds with its magic.”
---

“They say that the Mirror World is a cesspool of scum and villany. That as much good as there is in Equestria, there is just as much chaos in the Mirror World.”

“And you say that Twilight just… slipped into such a place?!” Rarity retorted. “Twilight is a master of magic! She’s an alicorn! There’s no way she could have just fell into another world without knowing about it! And that’s another thing! How do you know so much about it?!”

“You’ll have to trust me, Rarity. I don’t know how long Twilight has there before… the world corrupts her.”

Rarity responded with hesitation. "That's preposterous."

"After our... unfortunate accident, I began studying statecraft with Twilight. Amidst my studies, I came across her research. I thought it might have given you some closure, so I asked Twilight if I might tell you, eventually."
---

“Hello, Twilight.” A gruff voice echoed from across the lake in the dark of the wood.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” A faint glow emnanated from Twilight’s horn, signalling her readiness for action. She hadn’t battled in so long, but her combat magic hadn’t dulled.

“Oh Twilight, it’s just me.” A white coat stepped from out of the shadows, with a red mane, and…

“Crimson Dusk!” Twilight took a step back. “No. It’s not possible!”