Shadow Through the Mirror

by King-Mac-13

Shadows on the Horizon

As the week continued, Sunset had just gotten used to the tent set up at the school. She and her friends would stop by every so often to talk with Grimoire or help him with understanding the world. She would also enjoy talking to Grimoire about Equestria whenever she had the chance to see how things had changed, or didn’t. Today, with a shortened practice and the others all off fulfilling various obligations, she decided to stop by again. When she arrived at his tent, the scene she saw was a bit confusing.

Grimoire was pacing back and forth within the tent, going from machine to machine. He often mumbled to himself as he worked, “Huh… that’s weird.” This was nothing new, as far as Sunset remembered. What was strange, however, was that he was doing so with another Grimoire (the only difference being that this one had blue hair rather than the usual deep red) sitting nearby looking at a chess board.

The blue Grimoire moved one of the white pieces. “Bishop to king’s knight five.”

Grimoire, without looking back at the board, replied, “Queen to king’s bishop one. Stalemate.”

Blue Grimoire sighed. “Again.”

“You put up a good fight.” Grimoire started to record something in his notebook.

“But another tie? We can do better than that?”

“Can we? We know each other’s strategies and thought processes. Neither really has an advantage…”

“Um… what?” Sunset wasn’t certain how to take what was in front of her. She knew there was likely a Grimoire in this world, but she assumed he wasn’t anywhere near here. After all, he didn’t go to the school and Twilight said she didn’t know anyone named Grimoire from Crystal Prep.

The red haired Grimoire turned toward Sunset. “Oh! Hey, Sunset.” He waved his hand and the blue haired version disappeared. “Wasn’t expecting you for a while.”

“I figured as much. Duplication spell?”

“A modified form allowing others to tell the genuine article.”

“Huh… I thought you only sang to yourself when you were bored.”

“Sometimes I like to have someone to talk to. I hope you don’t mind if I work while we talk for the moment. Shouldn’t be too long, just need to set up the scan. After that, it pretty much runs itself.”

“I don’t mind, but now I have to ask what you’re scanning for.”

“Alright then. Go ahead.”

Sunset smiled and rolled her eyes. Some things never change. “What’s the scan for?”

“Something that doesn’t make sense. You told me about how you brought an element of harmony in to this world and filled the area with magic as a result. You also told me about your exploits against the Sirens and at the Friendship Games. However, looking at the numbers, there’s more magic in this world than there should be.”

“What do you mean by too much magic?”

“All the magical adventures you’ve had, I’ve been crunching the numbers into the scanner. But there’s more magic here than what you told me about.”

“How much more, exactly?”

“You and your friends constitute 30% of the magic in the area. Another 30% is miscellaneous magics, likely from the portal’s opening before being stabilized and guarded. The next 20% comes and goes seemingly at random. And the last 20% fluctuates in strength, meaning that it’s mobile. I also wanted to investigate a couple locations, but they are private property and I can’t just walk in and test it.”

“Do you know who owns it? If it’s close, someone from the school might be able to help with that.”

“The first one is Camp Everfree.”

“That’s shouldn’t be too hard. Twilight’s actually seeing one of the councilors, and it is family run, so that might help. Why do you want to look there, anyway? We brought the magic back with us.”

“True. But that doesn’t mean we have an explanation about how it got there. I’d like to find out.”

“Fair enough. And the other site you were looking at?”

“It’s a compound registered to an ‘Iron Wolf.’ Which I have learned is an organization that has no records I can access. I don’t know members or any connections to contact the group for permission to investigate.”

“That doesn’t help…”

“No. No it doesn’t.”

“So, what’s the plan now?”

“I monitor the situation and keep record. It’s all I can do.” He flipped a switch and placed his notebook in his bag. “But enough about that for now. What’s on the agenda today?”

“Just us. The others all something to take care of.”

“Alright, then.” He takes out some refreshments and sits down at the table. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

Sunset smiled and sat down across from him. The two talked about Equestria, their days at school, and magic for nearly an hour.

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Meanwhile:

“Another week, another school trip!” Gloriosa took in the scene of Camp Everfree. She always enjoyed the feeling before the campers arrived. The excitement and anticipation of what the week would hold. And without Filthy Rich’s shadow over the camp, she felt even better. If only Timber could be as enthusiastic. He was spending most of his time hanging out with that girl, Twilight, from Canterlot High School. He wasn’t even here! But that didn’t matter. Gloriosa knew she had this.

The tents were all set up. The mess hall was stocked. The left over damage from the Canterlot visit were fixed. The camp was perfect.

Until something strange happened.

A strange figure walked up to the camp from the main road. A large man dressed in some weird combination of fur and leather. The mask covering his face was adorned with two rows of antlers and had a pattern that gave off the impression of having four eyes.

Gloriosa didn’t like the look of this guy and he couldn’t be here for the campers’ arrival. “Um… excuse me, sir. You have to leave.”

The man turned his head toward Gloriosa. He remained silent, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Okay… that’s unnerving. Gloriosa couldn’t let that keep her quiet, though. This guy had to leave! “I’m serious! This is private property. You need to leave…”

She was cut off when the man appeared in front of her in an instant. He remained silent. Watching.

Gloriosa nearly had a heart attack, but she had a job to do. “Sir, if you need help, I can see what I can do, but you can’t just walk into this camp. It’s private property.”

“Where are they?” The man finally spoke. His voice was raspy and haunting.

“What are you…?”

“The gemstones. Where are they?”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

After a minute of silence, he replied, “I think you do know… Gloriosa Lily.”

“How do you know my name?”

“Answer my question, living one. Where are the gemstones?”

Gloriosa’s mind returned to the visit from Canterlot High and the gems that gave her magic power. Why is he looking for those…? Whatever it is, it can’t be good. “Sir, you have to…”

She was cut off when the man’s hand flew up to grab her neck and lift her up off the ground. She could still breath, making it clear that this was the threat of force rather than the use of force. “You will tell me their location, or I will have to find out by other means.”

Gloriosa was in shock and couldn’t speak. But even if she could, she wouldn’t endanger her campers, present or past.

“Fine then.” The bottom row of eyes on the mask began to glow red. The glow spread across the mask and eventually reached his hand. Gloriosa could feel the energy from the man probing her mind. Her thoughts were forced to the faces of the campers that now held the gems. When the glow stopped, the man dropped her back to the ground. “Canterlot High School…” The man turned and started to walk away.

Gloriosa struggled to stand back up. She found speech difficult and her mind was clouding. Whatever this guy did, it had definite repercussion s on her mind. “Don’t you dare hurt them! Do you hear me?”

“I don’t plan to. As long as they stay out of my way.” With that, the man disappeared into particles of some kind.

Gloriosa balanced herself using the sundial. I have to warn them… She passed out soon after this thought.

\/

An hour later, she awoke in her bed. She felt rested, as though she had been out for a while now. When she looked into her cabin mirror, she saw no signs of the man’s choke hold. Huh… I guess it was a weird dream… As she made her way outside, she found the new campers arriving. Okay, Gloriosa. You got this. As she greeted the new campers, she couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about the future. Something big was coming… and it had something to do with Canterlot High.