Revelations in the Mirror

by TheTimeLordWriter

Haunted Memories

"Time Travel is easy, one only needs to look at their memories and remember that specific time. Like photographs they can capture moments and lock them away for all eternity to be viewed as often as one wishes, but like many things they can trap you in the past in a never-ending time loop. My memories haunt me, but they will not hold me."

Bloodstone felt her whole body falling before she was thrown out of a doorway. Her body hit crystal flooring with a smack. She groaned as her whole body ached. She opened her eyes to see a dark unicorn with green glowing eyes staring at her. In a panic she jerked up, but the figure disappeared into the doorway she just came from before the door slammed shut and disappeared. Her breathing was quick as she slowly processed what had happened. She slowly stood up on shaky legs. It wasn't easy to transverse dimensions; sometimes it would leave you exhausted.

"I'm...free." Her voice echoed through the dark room. Her ear flickered before she turned to look at her surroundings. It was dim, but thankfully not void of light. There appeared to be a window casting light down onto a staircase leading up. She was in a dungeon of some sort. It was probably one of Sombra's pocket dimensions within the castle itself. She remembered a particular one where the staircase led on forever.

She shook herself out and looked at the staircase before her horn glowed in order to study the magic on it. She grunted as she approached the staircase and waved her hoof over it. She blinked as dark crystals appeared on the steps. She backed away from it with narrowed eyes. Those sucked out the magic of those they touched. Not only would it be painful, but it would suck her dry before she reached the top, if there was even a top to begin with. He truly loved to reuse old tricks, stubborn old stallion he was. Sombra found it necessary to barricade her this way? Did he think she was but a foal who would not check? She had to get out before her "master" returned to find she escaped. She looked around the empty room before her horn glowed once more.

She scanned the area with her magic before a wall seemed to bend inward at her search. She approached it before tapping her hoof on it. It sounded real, but illusions was his specialty.

"Too bad you taught me well." She grumbled as she closed her eyes and let her horn glow brighter and brighter. The red glow from her horn engulfed her before a long hum rang out. The wall before her glowed with green inscriptions. She read them through her magic and annualized them all. It was something that took years to learn, but most magical users could do it with some time. Reading through your magic and not your eyes cut reading time by 90% and made it so you could read multiple books at once. However, it all depended on how fast you could process the information. If you could not process the words fast enough, it made the whole spell useless.

Bloodstone bit her lip as she read through the inscription before she opened her eyes and looked sadly at the wall. The inscription stated that the betrayer could pass through, but not without pain following her every step. It was not a complex spell as she could easily remove it, but the spell was not Sombra's intention. No, he was stabbing at her specifically.

"Can you blame me so easily, Master?" She whispered as she pinned her ears back. "It was not easy for me, either." She shook her head as she looked around the room. "Don't you get it? Even you are not that heartless!" She stomped her hoof on the ground and listened to her voice echoing off the walls. She flinched as she heard her pain clearly. It reminded her too soon about the world she just came from and the echos of the voices screaming within. Did he think it was easy to betray him? No, that was one of her sins and a great one that weighed heavily on her mind.

She turned back to the enchanted wall. She did not have time to shout at echoes. If the princesses were successful, than she would have to escape the crystal ponies' wrath. If they were not, her master would still rule these lands. If he found her, it would be a fate worse than one she had just come from. She quickly broke the enchantment before a hole in the wall appeared in front of her. She heard a door opening from the staircase above. Flight quickly took hold and caused her to run into her escape route without further thought. Panic was not one thing Bloodstone was known for, but in this situation was it not required? Action without thought can be the line between life and death, and right now Bloodstone thought she was in that kind of situation.

"Did you hear that?" A crystal guard asked as he looked down the staircase. He was a shining purple hue with silver armor. His armor displayed the Empire emblem which was the crystal heart at his chest. His helmet covered up grey mane. He was a unicorn as his horn stuck out from the helmet of his armor. Another guard took notice and approached his partner. He had a yellowish hue to his coat in his crystal pony form. He was an earthpony and stood slightly taller than his unicorn partner. His mane was bluish silver covered by his armor. He stood a little behind looking at the strange door that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Um...where did this door come from anyways?" The earth pony guard asked as the two stallions looked down the stairs together.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Another male voice scolded from behind them. The two stallions jumped as they both looked at the white unicorn stallion with a blue mane.

"S-sorry, Shining Armor...Sir." The unicorn stuttered out as he tried to recover from the scare. The other guard composed himself a lot more quickly.

"Just another one of... his doors, sir. We thought we heard something coming from down there." He stated as he glanced down the steps. "This place is still crawling with his magical traps." The guard pony shivered.

"Which is why we are still scanning the castle constantly." Shinning Armor stated as he looked through the door. His horn glowed which showed the dark crystals protruding from the steps. "Seal this up immediately! I cannot have anyone accidentally slipping through this door especially not Flurry Heart." The mention of the new princess foal instantly set the guards into action. With a spell from the unicorn guard the door disappeared. Shining Armor nodded before he turned.

"Good work." He stated as he moved off in a trot. The guard ponies glanced at each other before setting back to work.

Bloodstone kept racing through the tunnel before she stopped as she reached an old room. She slowed to a trot as her hoof-steps echoed in the dusty room. She looked around the ancient books before she recognized the room as Sombra's old laboratory. It held all kinds of old equipment. She quickly lit some candles with her magic before she looked at the room closer. One side of the room was one long crystal counter that held off two feet from the ground on the wall. There were tubes and stone inscriptions scattered about the counter. She looked to the center of the room where stone pillars held bowls. Even from here she could still smell the faint scent of blood. She looked over at a stone slab that was stained a dark brown. Many ponies had died here and that seemed to chill the air. Curses rested upon this place. Bloodstone could feel the magic of the resonating anger from Sombra's victims. Angry memories had turned to magic and created a vortex that could lead to one's misfortune. The curse of the dead. Of course Sombra would lead her here. Even in the real world, she was still his pawn to toss about however he pleased. It pleased him to remind her just what she had let him do, what she was responsible for. His sins were hers, and his anger for her could possibly still be restless.

Sombra walked around the room as he held up a stone as he wrote his findings in his own code. He watched what appeared to be a crystallized light on one of the stone pillars. His eyes turned to look as Bloodstone walked in. He smirked as he noticed the tremble in her body as she stepped through the doorway. He chuckled darkly as his tongue ran over his fangs.

"Look at this...the body is gone, but this consciousness can be separated and contained. The essence of their lives can be sealed away, or perhaps into a more useful form. Could it be a key to immortality for us poor mortals?

Bloodstone tried to shake off the anger emitting from the crystal. Whatever poor soul he sealed in there probably had a painful death. She glanced at the corpse on the other side of the room. It was barely recognizable as the skull was ripped open and key organs scattered about. He probably ripped the pony a part alive in order to gain the spirit that now was sealed in that crystal. She had become numb to such scenes, but the emotion coming from the sealed away spirit chilled her. "What use is immortality be if it came at the cost of a physical form? You could do nothing."

Sombra sighed at her before he turned to look at his pupil. "Magic can still be assessed in this form. It is not a physical ability but a spiritual one. Remember what I taught you!" He huffed before he turned and let his eyes glow with a green mist. He shoot a dark beam at the crystal. His eyes widened as the spirit seemed to scream before fading to the dark magic and changing from a light color to a dark twisted mix of black and green.

Bloodstone blinked though she hid her flinch at the ghostly scream. She slowly approached carefully almost too carefully for Sombra's liking. She examined the tainted spirit with her ears pinned back and her head held low. "It appears anger leaves them vulnerable to corruption."

"So it does." Sombra sang as he held his head up triumphantly. He seemed almost giddy at his success. He did always love science and magic, no matter what form. "Good observation. This is the first success I have had at corrupting these crystal ponies. Even after they die they are disobedient. I suppose tonight they all may rest for this good fortune of mine." He smiled at her before approaching and nodding to her. Bloodstone tried not to notice the blood staining his fur and mane. He trotted around her in circles. He tended to forget himself whenever there were new discoveries like this. These were moments Bloodstone remembered best, moments where he seemed truly himself. Bloodstone tried to remain as stone faced as possible, for the spirit now sung a haunting tune. The song was of pure hatred, a hate that could easily kill. She glanced at the spirit and jumped back as two eyes formed outside the crystal.

Sombra stopped in his tracks before he turned to the crystal and growled out. He zapped it with his magic before the spirit once again settled. His good mood gone, he now stood with his usual intimidating stature and hate-filled his eyes.

"It...appears seals fade fast on spirits." Bloodstone stated as she tried to calm herself.

"Interesting..." Sombra suddenly smiled wide. "Magic does not effect spirits as much as physical ponies, and yet their magic can be just as strong as in their physical form. A new type of magic perhaps, not tethered by the physical strain it takes to cast spells?" Sombra's mood suddenly shifted back to excitement as Bloodstone felt a cold chill down her back...or was that just his breath? She turned to look at her master as he smiled down at her. One thing she also noticed about him, he did like sharing his accomplishments. Perhaps that is why he kept her around?

Bloodstone shook off the memory. She did not even notice she had started shaking again. Tremors when through her muscles as if a chill had soaked into her. She turned and trotted out the door. She quickly activated her magic and ran it over her coat. She flicked her head up as she glared at the ghostly black that came off of her fur. The spirit seemed to chuckle at her. She tossed it back into the wall with a toss of her head as she glared at it.

"You cannot haunt me, little spirit. There is no more room." She stated as she looked straight ahead of her. At least now she knew where she was. There was another thing that room cleared up. Sombra was no longer here or else his lab would not be covered in dust. She was safer than before, but not safe enough for her to carelessly continue on. She snuffed out the old candles with her magic before shutting the door quietly. She proceeded on with the red glow of her magic lighting her way. She was currently under the crystal castle which meant all she had to do was go up.

Author's Note:

So, this kind of goes more in depth with what kind of world I am establishing and a peek into Sombra's personality in this one. I like to give my villains a little flare. They need to have a bit more than "Oh I'm evil and I'm grouchy."

So, Bloodstone and Sombra's relationship should be interesting to study, and clearly I am not pulling any punches. Bloodstone is not an innocent pony, and she knows that very well.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!