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Mirror1,498 words
The Other Side (Part 1)968 words
The Other Side (Part 2)572 words
The Other Side (Part 3)570 words

The Other Side (Part 1)

The Other Side

“She jus’… disappeared?” Apple Bloom said, regarding Sweetie Belle with a look of confusion.

“Yes, that’s what I said! One minute she was here, looking at that mirror, and the next, she was gone!”

Apple Bloom looked towards the mirror in question. “Are ya sure? Maybe she walked out while you weren’t lookin’, or somethin’.”

“I only looked away for a second! If she went anywhere, I would have seen! Why won’t you believe me?”

“’Cause it don’t make any sense! Here, look, I’ll show you!” With that, she walked over to the mirror, Sweetie looking on with fear.

Standing in front of the mirror, Bloom stared into her reflection. Then, she started making funny faces, giggling the whole time.

“See? Ah told ya, theres nothing strange about this mirror!”

Sweetie Belle, her fears somewhat abated, trotted over. “Really? But I was so sure…”

Reaching out her hoof, she touched the cool, smooth surface of the mirror.

And immediately began screaming.

Her body began to fade away, beginning with the hoof on the mirror, and slowly spreading across her body. Grabbing her by the tail, Apple Bloom put all of her Earth pony strength in trying to tear Sweetie away from the mirror, but it was no use, the unicorn filly would not budge. Eventually, the fading reached her tail, and then moved on to Bloom’s face, paralyzing her in a state of pure agony until she, too, disappeared.

***

“Sweetie Belle? Sweetie Belle, can you hear me? Wake up! SWEETIE BELLE!”

Slowly opening her eyes, Sweetie looked up into the concerned face of her earth pony friend. “A-Apple Bloom? What- what happened?”

Helping her to her hooves, Apple Bloom replied. “Don'tcha Remember? The mirror in Zecora’s Hut?”

Memories flooded back into her mind, Scootaloo vanishing, finding Apple Bloom, The mirror…

“The mirror! That must have been what happened to Scootaloo! We need to find her!”

“Ah think we have bigger things to worry about. For one, we need to Figure out where in tarnation we are!”

Looking around, Sweetie couldn’t tell what she meant by that. “What do you mean? We’re in the club…house?” Even as she said it, she realized what Apple Bloom meant.

It did look like their clubhouse, only… different. The walls were rotted, with jagged holes torn through them. Gone was the furniture, as were the various posters and drawings they had stuck up. Everything was a dull shade of grey, and the Whole place smelled of mildew and decay. No longer was it a place of welcome and fun with friends; It was now nothing more than an empty shell.

Sweetie began to cry.

Putting her hoof on her friend’s shoulder, Apple Bloom did her best to comfort her. “Aw, don’t cry, Sweetie, It’ll be alright.”

After a minute, Sweetie Belle began to calm down.

“How… How could this have happened?”

“Ah don’t know, but ah’ve got a feelin’ it has something to do with that mirror.”

Sweetie thought for a moment. “Maybe… Maybe it was cursed!”

The yellow filly laughed. “Don’t be silly, Sweetie Belle! There’s no such thing as curses! Miss Twilight said so herself, an’ she knows more about magic than anypony!”

“How can she be laughing at a time like this?” Sweetie thought.

“Then what do you think happened?”

“Ah don’t rightfully know, but we’ll never find out if we just stand here! We should go find Scootaloo, maybe she knows what’s going on.”

“O-ok.”

And with that, the two fillies set off, Apple Bloom trotting along confidently, with Sweetie reluctantly following.

***

Soon, they reached the Orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. The trees, instead of being lush and full of ripe apples, were leafless and overgrown, branches spiking out in every direction. Rotten fruit littered the ground. Oddly, there were no flies to be seen, though neither filly noticed.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle! We should go check mah house, and the barn! Even if Scoots’ ain’t there, maybe somepony else is!”

“Yeah, maybe…”

Apple Bloom stopped and turned towards her friend. “Sweetie, you all right?”

“No, not really.” Then, she voiced the question that had been running through her mind ever since they left the clubhouse. “Apple Bloom?”

“Yeah?”

“How… How are you so calm?”

“Huh?”

“This entire time, I’ve been so scared, but you seem fine! You were even laughing earlier!”

“Oh! That’s because… Well… Here, when we get back, remind me to tell ya’ll about Sunnytown.”

***

It wasn’t long before they reached the barn. Like the clubhouse, the barn was in a state of disarray, the paint flecking off the walls, ivy and creepers growing up the sides.

The sight of part of her home in such bad condition upset Apple Bloom, but she pushed that feeling aside, choosing to press forward rather than dwell on it. With Sweetie hesitantly following, she strode right up to the door, swinging it open.

The first thing the Earth pony noticed was the color. Compared to the grays of everything else, the splashes of crimson across the walls and the floor stood out like an allicorn in a room full of donkeys.

Yet, instead of a welcome change, the color did nothing but send chills down both fillies’ necks.

Blood.

Blood everywhere.

Sweetie tore her eyes away from the horrible sight, before vomiting on the dirt floor, Tears mixing with what was left of her lunch. Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, was transfixed by what was in the center of the barn; a set of golden rings, and a striped hide.

“Zecora…”

This was too much for even Apple Bloom to bear. She fell to the floor in a fit of tears.

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