Through the Mirror

by Frysa

Arrival

A royal guard patrolled the darkened hallways of the crystal palace, his horn emitting a spotlight to search for potential intruders. As he walked by one room, a barely-noticable flash of light glowed from within. The guard turned, his light illuminating the door. When he saw nothing, he shook his head and moved on. A few seconds later, a figure wrapped in a black cloak slipped through, her hooves barely making a sound on the tile floor. The figure snuck past several doors, finally stopping at the one she was looking for. With a quick glow of her aquamarine magic, she unlocked it from the inside. The ominous figure stepped in, and a faint blade of light crossed over the eyes of the pony sleeping within.

Princess Twilight Sparkle was asleep, with her dragon Spike in a small bed nearby. The hooded pony walked past, heading for a desk with a crown on it. She picked it up, and accidentally knocked over a lamp, but she quickly levitated it back to its original position with barely more than a sound. Her horn was glowing faintly as she reached into her cloak and pulled out a crown that was almost identical to the original, and placed it on the desk. The heist was almost complete, and the mysterious pony was almost out the door when the dragon turned over in his sleep, and his purple tail tripped her.

She fell with a large crash, waking up Spike and the princess. Twilight rubbed her head groggily, and noticed the pony on the floor. Glittering from her cloak was Twilight’s crown, and the Magic element of harmony with it.

“My crown!” shrieked Twilight. “She’s got my crown!”

The mysterious figure began sprinting away, hooves clattering. Twilight and Spike sprang up, running after her and alerting her friends as she ran down the hallway shouting. Twilight urged her magic to grab the moving pony, but her sleepy mind could not grasp her. She teleported in front of the thief, shouting “Stop!”

Just as the strange orange unicorn was about to barrel into the alicorn princess, she teleported in a flash of blue light. Her cloak hit Twilight full in the face, blinding her for a second. Without the cloak, the thief was revealed to be an orange unicorn with a fiery red and yellow mane. On her flank was the symbol of a sun.

She must be an accomplished mage to teleport like that and get right back on her feet, Twilight thought. She sped up, her friends flanking her, and tried nipping at the bag containing her crown. She missed, and the thieving pony slowed for a second, and Twilight knocked her down, sending the crown flying. It ricocheted off the walls, and hit a mirror. To everyone’s surprise, it went right through in a flash of light! Twilight gasped, and the thief had a conniving grin on her face.

“What did you do to my crown?” Twilight gasped, glaring at the orange pony.

“Sorry it had to be this way,” the strange unicorn teleported right to the base of the mirror, and saluted. “Princess.” With that she leaped through the mirror, vanishing just as the crown did.

~~~

Princess Celestia gathered all six of them at the base of the throne. She sighed with the weight of a thousand years.

“Sunset Shimmer. She was a former student of mine. She studied magic under me not long before Twilight did. When she did not get what she wanted as quickly as she liked, she turned cruel and dishonest. I tried to help her, but she eventually decided to abandon her studies and pursue her own path, one that has sadly led her to stealing your crown.”

“What I don’t understand is where she went,” Twilight said, walking next to the sun princess. “Where’d she take the crown?”

“It’s a place even I know almost nothing about. You shall see for yourself soon.” Celestia had a grim, yet serious, expression on her face.

The four princesses and Twilight’s friends soon arrived in front of the strange mirror that Sunset had disappeared through, along with the crown. “This is no ordinary mirror,” explained Princess Luna. “It is a gateway to another world. A gateway that opens once every 30 moons. We sent it here for Princess Cadence to watch over.”

Celestia sighed with resignment. “I had always hoped that Sunset Shimmer would use it again, to return back to Equestria, seeking my guidance. Obviously, this is not what has happened.”

Cadence spoke up, her eyes filled with urgency. “Twilight, you must go through to this other world and retrieve your crown. Without it, the other elements lose power and Equestria is left with one of its most important means of defense.”

Twilight closed her eyes, thinking of all the times the elements had been utilised by her friends to save Equestria. She knew what she had to do.

“Your crown does not belong in that world,” Luna said. “I fear that Sunset will use its power to bring harm to the inhabitants of that other realm. They may not have the means to combat foreign magic.” She used her magic to put Twilight’s saddlebag snugly over her wings.

“You understand the importance of your mission?” Celestia looked upon her former student. Twilight nodded, swallowing her fear and excitement. “Good. Then you must go at once.” The purple alicorn looked at the mirror, steeling herself for the inevitable.

She was about to step in when a blue colourful cannonball landed before her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rainbow Dash protested. “If she’s going, we’re going too!”

Twilight smiled at her friends, knowing she’d be able to deal with anything as long as it was with them. A hoof on her shoulder shattered her thoughts. “I’m afraid I can’t let you go,” said the stern voice of Princess Celestia. “Sending all of you could upset the delicate balance of the other world, causing havoc that could disrupt that world permanently,” she stepped back. “ This is something Princess Twilight must do alone.”

“Time is of the essence. The gate will close when the moon has reached its peak on the third day.” Luna created an illusion of this happening with her magic, an ominous night sky with a new moon reaching its peak. “Once it closes, you must wait another thirty moons to use it to return.”

Twilight stepped forward, her friends giving her encouragement. She placed her hoof against the portal, and hesitated when it began to glow. She looked back, and Celestia nodded. With trepidation, she stepped through, vanishing in a flash of light. Spike began to shudder violently, and sprinted forward before anyone could catch him. A resounding chorus of “Spike, no!” echoed through the room as the small purple dragon launched himself through the mirror.

~~~

Twilight and Spike were whirled through a spectrum of impossible colours. Twilight felt as though she were being stretched, cramped, and squished all at once. The next thing she saw was black.

She blinked open her eyes, feeling like her brain had been smashed in by a rock. “Ugh…” she groaned.

“Twilight?” said a voice from beside her. “Are you ok?”

She opened her eyes and saw Spike standing in front of her. At least, she thought it was Spike. He had the same colours, but his body was more streamlined and less chunky, and he looked almost like a miniature version of a full-grown dragon.

“Spike? What happened to you? Why are you all…” she gestured at him with a hoof. The purple and green dragon looked at himself, turning around in a circle.

“Twilight… why am I on all fours? Am I ok?” a note of panic entered his voice.

“Oh, Spike. It must be the different dimension,” Twilight stroked his spines soothingly. “You didn’t have to follow me. You could go back if you want.”

The little dragon steeled himself. “No, I’m staying here with you,” he looked up at the princess. “Twilight, did I just shrink, or are you way taller than usual?”

Twilight pulled herself shakingly to her hooves. “I guess the ground does look a bit further away than usual. Maybe we both changed,” she turned around in a circle, observing herself. Mane and tail a bit longer, wings a bit bigger, and… wait...

“Spike, where’s my cutie mark?” A panicked tone entered her voice. If she didn’t have her cutie mark, could she even cast spells?

“Uh, it’s on your forehead for some reason,” the little dragon climbed up to Twilight’s head, peering at the space between her eyes. “Your horn is way longer too, just saying.”

“This world seems strange, but at least we’re still the same species. Let’s see if we can find Princess Celestia. Maybe she’s around here somewhere.” The spires around the statue they came out of seemed to indicate they were in Canterlot. Spike nodded and settled on her shoulder, wrapping his serpentine body neatly around her neck. Twilight took to the air, soaring through the cityscape towards Celestia’s palace. Flying felt easier, somewhat, with her larger wings. The layout of Canterlot was somewhat alike, though there were some new buildings out and about. One of them that particularly caught her eye seemed to be a temple. She saw a procession of priests with long, draping robes enter. She’d have to find a library after this, to catch up on the history of this world and how it differed from her own. She spiraled down and landed in front of the palace and approached a guard.

“Excuse me, sir. I must meet with Princess Celestia. It’s important,” she announced, spreading her wings and lifting up her head.

The guard turned, and stared wide-eyed at her. “You-you’re an alicorn. That’s not possible.”

Twilight gave him a skeptical glance. “Of course it is. Do… you not have a Twilight Sparkle?” She had never thought to consider there may not be an alternate version of herself.

The guard didn’t answer, he appeared to be concentrating, his forehead ruffled and his eyes closed. With a sudden leap, he fit a black sheath over Twilight’s horn and stomped his hooves on the ground. The earth rose up from under her and encased her body, trapping her hooves and wings. Spike growled, and flames began to encircle his snout. Twilight shushed him with a quick sound, and he quieted. She then noticed something strange. This guard was an earth pony. And he had just trapped her with magic.

“How did you do that?” Twilight whispered in amazement. The pony turned to her, a confused expression on his face.

“It’s queen,” he said.

“What?”

“Queen Celestia.”

Author's Note:

Still getting used to the online format. Welcome to feedback and editing help! And yes, the part before Twilight enters the portal is almost entirely referenced from the beginning scenes of the equestria girls movie.

Comments

[Shimmeringsun]

This is going to be interesting. Can’t wait for more!