Broken Mirror

by GMBlackjack

VI - Purge

>> The purge is a barbaric practice fuelled by paranoia that continually gets validated in increasingly irksome ways.

The process went something like this: Equestria was terrified of cities and their tendency towards corruption - so all cities save for Canterlot itself were torn down and divided up into smaller towns where possible. Ponies were relocated and families were separated. And yet, it seemed as if the corruption hadn't gone away, for violence still broke out all over the place and ponies all in all continued to be stupid and angry.

Instead of coming to the reasonable assumption that the ponies were just peeved about their cities being torn down, the government made an immense leap in logic. They decided the societal corruption was a mental and magical disease that prevailed in larger communities, and that splitting those communities up had just lessened its spread, not destroyed it.

In their great wisdom, the Sisters allowed the creation of the Inspectors and the purge protocol. Government trained unicorns would live in every town and report if the disease manifested itself strongly. As a failsafe, most towns got several Inspectors, who ended up taking over the roles of general law keeping. In theory, Inspectors were altruistic. In reality, most decided they'd use their power to shape the towns into whatever they desired, threatening the ponies with a purge if they didn't comply. Of course, they had to be subtle about it, or else their fellow Inspectors would call a purge down on them, but that wasn't enough of a check and balance.

When Sunset took over the purging personally, those threats and manipulations decreased substantially.

And thus is how the purge got to where it is.<<

~~~

Shimmering death.

That's how Pinkie would describe the intense glow above Cartwheel. She couldn't make out much in the way of details in the glowing doom, but she was sure she saw a pair of fiery wings within the sphere. The citizens of Cartwheel knew what was coming. The mob raged as one: not running, not accepting their fate, but fighting back. Golden lasers shot from the ground, mixed with a hoard of pegasi and other magic missiles. The attacks all burned off the edge of the fiery threat without so much as shifting the flaming ball's shape. The wings within the glow flapped a single time - lighting up the night with a blanket of fire, banishing the stars from sight. The houses melted under the intense wave of heat. Screams rang out for the briefest of moments before all the vocal cords burned into nothing. The grasses lit, chains of fire forming through the vast green sea.

As if that wasn't enough, the fiery star launched itself into the ground, creating a tremendous explosion, vaporizing all that survived the initial flames. The afterimage of the explosion was still burned into Pinkie's mind long after it had dissipated.

The great fiery blemish on the land vanished as quickly as it was created, snuffed out with a single thought, leaving nothing behind but scorched earth with thick trails of smoke. A flat plane of ash served as a scar for the land, a reminder. The fiery globe took flight, leaving with amazing speed, out of sight within a minute. Its work was done. All was silent. Pinkie hadn't budged.

Pinkie realized something in that moment.

Minuette had been in town.

Rarity had been...

Pinkie's pupils shrunk to little pinpricks of intense darkness. Her face became flat and robotic, and her body ceased the mad twitching entirely. She might as well have been a statue.

She took in a long, deep breath through her nose. She held the air in for over a minute.

Then the air came out in an agonizing scream that raged against life itself. Grass rustled, trees shook, and bugs fled from the shrill, devastating noise. Rage. Nothing but pure rage. Murder was in her face while she screamed, plants around her shriveling up just from the intent. And yet, she didn't move. She just yelled, and yelled, and yelled, for longer than a single breath would have allowed. She had no conscious intent of stopping.

Rage at this level cannot be maintained forever. Eventually, the brain becomes incapable of holding the rush of emotion, draining itself of the intensity for its own protection. The scream trailed off into nothing, leaving a pathetic empty husk of a pony.

The first moments were all her trying to keep her mind blank - not to think, not to act, not to go down that path. To refuse giving the light of day to anything. To do nothing at all, indefinitely. This lasted for hardly a minute - images and thoughts started to burrow in through the defenses. It all started with scant images, sounds - Rarity's face, smiling. An explosion. Somepony screaming 'bucker!' in Pinkie's face. Explosions, lasers, ponies being disintegrated. That golden unicorn yelling at her. Fires falling from the sky and consuming everypony.

Rarity, running from the falling fire, Minuette by her side. Rarity scrambled, screaming. Minuette turned to ash beside her, falling into nothing. Rarity's mane burned off, singing her skin. Her entire coat soon vanished, burning down to nothing, her pristine white skin charred to a black. Her legs gave out, unable to work through the intense pain of the fire clawing her on all sides. Her body boiled, the flames eating her slowly until she was nothing more than dust in the wind...

So wrong.

What had they done to this world to call for this? All they had done was show up and try to run away... Try to be friendly... But apparently that was wrong. That wasn't the way things were. That was worthy of death. And it was her fault...

Her fault. She knew it - she had something to do with the fires coming down. That unicorn was right, she, Pinkamina Diane Pie, had killed them. Not just Rarity and Minuette, but them all. It was something she did. She was certain of it in that moment. Nothing else could be right in her mind - her emotionless, drained, sluggish mind. It was all her.

"I'm done," she said, reaching into her mane and pulling out her party cannon. It brought the slightest hint of a smile to her face. The blue color, the energetic appearance, the flowery wheels. She stood there, looking at it for a while, observing her reflection in the blue barrel. So... So sad. So empty. So wrong.

She patted the party cannon. "It's... nice to see you, old friend." She climbed into the barrel of the cannon, angling herself so her head poked out. "Goodbye."

With a celebratory noise and a blast of confetti, Pinkie was launched into the air, sailing upwards for several seconds, the wind whipping through her mane. She opened her eyes the moment she peaked, looking at the ground a seemingly infinite distance below. She had done this thousands of times before - launch out of the cannon, fall, and then bounce to the surprise of all watching. A sorrowful smile crept up her face as she remembered all those parties she was a part of.

Funny, anypony who had seen them would think this was normal, just another one of her tricks.

But she wasn't going to let herself bounce this time.

She began to fall, gradually accelerating towards the ground. The wind burned against her eyeballs, tearing tears from them. She was forced to close them - which let her mind wander.

Don't bounce.

She remembered her life back home, her mission of bringing smiles and laughter to all. The many parties she threw, the millions of smiles she had created. Tears seeped through her eyelids, trailing behind her.

Don't bounce.

Her friends, her best friends. They were there. Twilight. Rainbow. Starlight. Fluttershy. Applejack. Spike. Rarity...

Don't bounce.

She held Rarity's memory close. The graceful and generous mare. Her smile, her laugh, her annoyed looks... Looks that would never be seen again by anyone... Because...

"I'M SORRY I COULDN'T PROTECT YOU!" She yelled to the universe. She spread her hooves out, ready for the impact.

And then she stopped falling. She didn't hit the ground, didn't suddenly cease to exist - she just stopped falling.

She opened her eyes slowly, stomach reeling from the deceleration. She was less than an inch from the ground.

"OH COME ON!" she yelled. "I can't even do that right? Of all the-"

Rarity barreled into her, hugging the pink mare tight. Through her own tears, she screamed at Pinkie. "Don't you ever try that again Pinkie Pie! Pinkie... Oh my gosh Pinkie..."

"Y... You're alive!?" Pinkie's flattened mane vanished instantly, all the color and energy returning to her body with a single pop. "You're alive!" She lifted Rarity into the air and squeezed her tight, laughing and crying at the same time. "You're alive and you saved me! Oh, thank you thank you thank you!"

"Pinkie..." Rarity sniffed, "I didn't do that."

Pinkie looked around Rarity, seeing Minuette standing there. Minuette blinked. "...It was all a matter of following the scream. "

Pinkie grinned, stretching her hoof out to Minuette and pulling her into the hug. "Thank you both!" she cried, crying into both their coats.

"Woah!" Minuette struggled against the cuddly pink pony in vain. "Hey! Not the hugs bucker! Not the hugs!"

Pinkie smiled coyly, sniffing. "Nah, you need it."

Minuette continued struggling and swearing up a storm, but she noticeably didn't attempt to harm Pinkie. She couldn't bring herself to try, there was something about a giggling and crying pony that made her stop, unsure.

Pinkie did eventually release them, beaming. Rarity beamed right back - and while Minuette felt violated, a smile crept up her face without her knowledge.

For seemingly no reason, the three of them broke out into laughter. They fell to the ground, rolling in the grass, laughing at themselves, their situaiton, and the universe...

They let it all out. None of them had been prepared for this mess - something about the situation was just comical. Tears and laughs rang out in the abandoned fields. Occasionally one of them would try to say something only to be overcome by a fit of giggles, which would only make the other two laugh harder. The cycle could not be broken by even their best efforts - laughing on, even as the sky grew brigher and the stars began to vanish. Eventually, the three mares found themselves laying face up, looking at the sky as morning dawned, softly giggling.

Minuette was the first to get out a coherent sentence. "What the buck do we do now?"

"I don't know, darling," Rarity chuckled. "You're the one who supposedly knows where we're going."

"Oooooh, what if she was just pretending she knew what she was doing this whole time!?" Pinkie suggested.

Minuette let out a sharp laugh. "Yeah, I've been completely lost this entire time! I don't even know what the color blue is, much less which direction is down!"

All three of them burst into heavy laughter again, a few seconds passing before Rarity managed a question. "Seriously, where are we going?"

"Neighagra Falls, I think," Minuette snorted. "Large army base there, Princess Twilight as well."

"Oh my gosh!" Pinkie yelled, putting her hooves on her cheeks. "Twilight's a princess here too?"

Minuette laughed. "You really can't pick up on context clues, can you Pinker? Of bucking course she is!"

Pinkie cocked her head, smirking. "You called me Pinker."

Minuette froze. "No. No, definitely not, you're definitely a pigger." There was silence for a moment. "...A cloud-rooting motherbucking pigger who can't identify the mud's distaste for bright colors!"

There was silence for two full seconds. Then they all burst into laughter again. "Minuette... Oh you!" Pinkie spouted.

"Oh, that was devastating Minuette!" Rarity added.

"I know right?" Pinkie added.

"What the flipping buck is wrong with us?" Minuette asked, smile faltering.

"A lot less than there was a few hours ago!" Pinkie said.

"No, I mean seriously, what's wrong with us?" Minuette looked panicked. "Wh-what's wrong with me? You're a bucking earth. And you're a mingler! And... oh my gosh you two are turning me into a mingler. Shit. No. So much no. Nononononono..."

Rarity frowned. "...Why is that so bad?"

"Cause it is! You start giving piggers the idea that they're just as good as you, that they're worth your attention and they start expecting it from others! And that's just against the natural bucking order!" She was shivering now, eyes darting left and right.

"Do I look like part of the 'natural bucking order' Minuette?" Pinkie asked.

Rarity put a hoof over her mouth, stifling a giggle at the word 'bucking' coming out of a perfectly cheerful Pinkie's mouth. Minuette twitched. "No, you do not, and that's the problem! You're taking me out of it! I like my order! It's nice!"

"Yes, well..." Rarity looked into the distance at the ashen land. "...Maybe order isn't that great. Just look at you. And come to think of it, those Concretes seem pretty organized..."

Minuette opened her mouth to object, and then shut it, realizing Rarity had a point. Then she facehooved. "Shiiiiiit why am I even talking to you..."

"We just shared a few life and death scenarios and watched a town burn," Pinkie said, shuddering. "It's called bonding."

"I know what bonding is you twat!"

"Oh really?" Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "Cause you seem awfully bad at it."

It was Minuette's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Are you insulting my social skills, Pinker?"

"Yeah! Watcha gonna do about it? Huh? Huh?" She leaped onto her hind hooves, making a 'come get me' gesture.

Minuette turned to Rarity. "...Is she serious?"

"Rarely."

"That doesn't bucking help."

"Try swearing more. Perhaps it'll start making sense."

Minuette let out a chuckle. Then she sighed. "I'm doomed aren't I?"

"Yep!" Pinkie yelled, sticking a party blower in her mouth. "Time for a 'Minuette no longer hates us' party!"

"I wouldn't go that far just yet, Pinker."

"Okay, fine," Pinkie rolled her eyes. "The 'Minuette doesn't want to be a cruel meany pants anymore' party."

Minuette facehooved. "No, no, you're doing it wrong." She levitated the party blower out of her mouth and lit it like a cigar. She breathed the smoke in and cleared her throat. "It's the 'Minuette's no longer a bitch' party. Never use the phrase 'meany-pants' when insulting, it's degrading both to you and to me."

"Maybe that was the point!"

Minuette twitched. "By Luna's twat, you're annoying."

"Yes, well, that's just Pinkie Pie I'm afraid," Rarity said. "She grows on you like an ugly little dog."

Pinkie blinked. "I really hope you aren't talking about Diamond Dogs."

"What? Why-" Rarity turned beat red. "Oh my..."

Minuette and Pinkie laughed. Rarity sighed. "Yes, be that way, I suppose." She was silent for a moment, a question forming in her mind. "Minuette, what is a mingler? I have a good idea, but I want to know exactly."

Minuette knocked herself aside the head. "Of course you wouldn't know... Heh. Minglers are ponies of differing races mingling with each other like they aren't fundamentally different. Like they're on the same level! Ha! Like unicorns aren't superior. I mean... I mean..." She looked at the ground confused. "Shit..."

"What?"

"If anypony finds out about this..." She gulped, looking at Pinkie. "I can't do this. I'm a soldier. Do you know what happens to soldier suspected of mingling? Of course not. Officially, nothing. Unofficially, there'll be an 'accident' arranged."

"Why on earth would anypony do that?"

"Upsetting the order," Pinkie said. "They have a way. Anything that threatens that needs to be destroyed. It's why Minuette wanted to kill us. And why the town turned against us..."

"Yes, exactly!" Minuette shouted. "No, wait, no that's not quite right... Argh, what are you doing to my head!?"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "It's called thinking, Minuette."

"I hate it already."

Pinkie smirked. "You hated it long before today."

Minuette shot Pinkie a glare. Pinkie just shot a cheeky grin back.

Rarity held up a hoof. "It's become obvious to me that this world will not accept us for what we are or how we act. As much as it pains me to say this... Perhaps we should conform, at least when out in public, so as not to cause more..." She looked at the ashen land where Cartwheel used to be. "...Scenes."

Pinkie sighed. "Yeah..."

"Minuette, how should we act?"

Minuette bit her lip. "Well, simple really. Piggers are the dirt of the earth and are worth less than a pile of shit. All of them are utter trash that the world would be better off without, or better still, if they never existed." She pointed at Pinkie. "Lose the smile. Do whatever you are told without talking back. Do not speak, do not make eye contact unless required, and look downtrodden, damnit."

Pinkie gulped. "Not... Sure I can do that."

"Well talking back is likely a death sentence in many places, unless you're protected. And trust me, until we can get you to the army again, you're not within a damn of being protected."

Pinkie nodded slowly. "I'll try."

"You better friggin try. And do not fight back if you get abused. You're not supposed to."

Rarity slapped Minuette. Minuette took a few steps back. "W-what!?"

"Get that line of thinking out of your head! She's a pony just like you!"

"...I was just-"

"You said it with conviction," Rarity chided. "Stop. Now that I have you talking, let me tell you how disgusting I find this blatant racism! The world is full of wonderful earth ponies, that, if you just get a chance to know them, you'll learn that they are great, strong, amazing ponies who will stick with you to the end. Please just... Just..." She couldn't find the right words.

Minuette blinked, not sure how to respond.

Rarity sighed. "Sorry. I shouldn't expect you to just... change suddenly. It takes more than just getting the giggles in a field after a traumatizing series of events to change ponies... Just... Please. Don't stop thinking about what you're doing. Next time you look down on somepony, think about it."

Minuette blinked. "...Sure. Why the buck not, I suppose."

"Progress!" Pinkie cheered.

"I still think you're all a bunch of morons."

"I've known plenty of genius earth ponies," Rarity said.

"Do you see these eyes!?" Minuette asked. "Show me a smart pigger and I'll laugh like a madmare while my brain adjusts! Which, by the way, it hasn't fracking adjusted yet!" She started laughing.

"Insanity," Pinkie said, "liberating, isn't it?"

"Buck off."

Pinkie shrugged. "Gladly. To Neighagra Falls!" She bounced off in a random direction.

"Wrong way Pinker!"

~~~

Neighagra Falls was a beautiful settlement. It was built around a grand waterfall of the same name, the cascading waters regularly creating natural rainbows around the buildings, of which there were hundreds. Most of them were of medium to high-quality construction, and unlike Cartwheel many had multiple stories. There was even a clock tower, currently striking one in the afternoon. Next to it was a tall castle constructed of stone blocks, adorned with large crystals atop the spires.

Surrounding the town was a stone wall built into the sides of the cliffs. The buildings were completely surrounded, creating a very defensible position. There were three large gates in the walls, all manned by solders, each of them wearing little green hats. Most looked extremely bored.

This boredom curse was about to be remedied for the guards at the middle gate.

Minuette walked up, Rarity in tow. The two unicorns weren't that unusual, they came in and out all the time. What caught the eyes of the guards was Pinkie - who was strapped to Minuette's back like a backpack. The pink pony was talking at an absurd speed. "What did the clock say to the pony? See you in a Minuette! Why did the dog cross the road? He wasn't a chicken, he didn't cross the road, don't be silly! Knock knock, who's there, I dunno you started the joke! Where's that cake? I WANT IT! This is so punny! Who needs a trombone? The sad skeleton!"

"FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA SHUT YOUR ROOTER UP!"

Minuette glared at the guard. "Ex-cuse me? Did you just ask me to shut off my joke pig? Well, see here, I happen to like my joke pig, it makes me smile, keeps me docile."

"Docile in the domicile!" Pinkie blurted.

"Yes, very. Now, do you really want me to shut her up? Because that'd make me cranky, and since I'm here on important government business, well, if I'm cranky..." She took a step closer to him. "Do the math. Don't worry, I'm patient, I can stand here while you work it out."

"Work of play is an oxymoron!"

The guard recoiled. "Er... You'll have to report to the Inspector office once in the city..."

"Not an issue, dears," Rarity said. "We'll be fine."

The guard looked at her closely. There was something about her... He shook his head. "Fine, just... Get that cotton candy cloud rooter out of my sight!"

"I was once a cotton candy cloud, but I rooted myself to the ground! Heehee!"

"Go already!"

Minuette walked in, Rarity alongside her. As they passed through, the guard had the gall to mutter to his partner. "She must have a sad life if she likes jokes that much..."

Minuette ignored them, giving Rarity a subtle hoofbump. "That was fun!" Pinkie blurted.

"Keep spouting jokes," Minuette said, "we're in town. Let's burn the ears of everypony here."

It was very effective - the joke spouting earth pony atop a grumpy unicorn soldier was a very good deterrent to ponies. Minuette herself would have gone mad had she not gotten such priceless reactions from the various citizens. All three races ran from the joke machine without thought - it was just painful to listen too.

Rarity got to look at the architecture without obstruction because of this. The buildings were all unique, made out of stone, wood, and other materials. The colors were bright, with each building painted with vibrant dyes. There was no standardized street direction, window shape, or door height, creating an image of barely maintained order. Despite this, it seemed full of life - before they came in and made all the ponies walk away, there were ponies walking around, doing their business, smiling. Admittedly, the few earths they saw were downtrodden or angry looking, but Rarity couldn't find that surprising anymore.

Eventually, though, they arrived at the Inspector office, a small white building with a lot of scrolls inside, sprawled everywhere in a haphazard mess. A receptionist looked up from what she was doing. "Oh, excuse me, reorganizing the files. What is your reason for visiting?"

"Checking into Neighagra Falls," Minuette said, tapping Pinkie to get her to quiet down. "I am Minuette Turner, with the military. I need to deliver these two to a base."

"Well, the Inspector should be able to see you about that." The receptionist knocked on the door behind her. The door flew open, revealing a graceful white unicorn with a purple mane. Her intelligent blue eyes glanced over them through her glistening monocle. There was a bored look plastered on her smooth face. "Yes, who is it...?"

Rarity locked eyes with the Inspector. They stared at each other's nearly identical faces for several seconds. Minuette's jaw dropped. Pinkie gasped.

The Inspector blinked. "Well then. I am Inspector Rarity Belle. You?"

"...Rarity Belle."

The Inspector paused. "...Fascinating. You should probably come into my office. Saffron, you saw nothing."

The receptionist nodded in understanding, turning back to organizing the scrolls without another word. The Inspector took the three mares into her office, none of them knowing what to expect.

Comments

[BleedingRaindrops]

The door flew open, revealing a graceful white uniocorn with a purple mane.

The Inspector paused. "...Faceinating.

You missed these two near the end there. Rushed, were you?

[Keywii_Cookies55]

Awesome end.

[GMBlackjack]

8170175

Well, today was finals day, so yeah. Dunno why Grammarly didn't pick that up though...

Will fix.

-GM, master of fines.

[ferret]

"What the buck do we do now?"

direciton

The Inspector blinked. "Well then. I am Inspector Rarity Belle. You?"

Welp, they're doomed. Oh well, they had a good run!

The purge is a barbaric practice...

So, ponies who get together and organize are in danger of being infected by a murderous insanity that leads them to form concretions and go open season on their fellow pony... except that this infection is completely imaginary, and the ponies running the show only think that "The Mob" is a thing, and not just a random mob.

This is all Twilight's fault.

[fausticornrules]

8171247 I have SO. MANY. QUESTIONS!!

[Keywii_Cookies55]

8177031 That's the point of a fic like this though, isn't it? To shroud the reality of the situation in darkness and mystery, only revealing enough for lorecrafters to have their fun. Personally, I encourage ferret to piece together everything they can, because who knows, that comment could be entirely true.

If nothing else, it lends well to rereading after the fact.

[Mocha Star]

No, I mean seriously, wat's wrong with us?" 

Wat?

worth your attention and they start expectiing it from others! 

Minuette twitched. "By Luna's twat, you're annoying ."

I get the reference!
😄

amazing ponies who sill stick with you to the end. 

Well, that ending was unexpected!