When a tale of a city made of magic and steel surfaces, Twilight and her friends journey to the farthest reaches of Equestria to find this place of wonder.
When a tale of a city made of magic and steel surfaces, twilight and her friends journey to the farthest reaches of Equestria to find this place of wonder. This is a story of a pony alicorn princess and changeling royalty. Who see past their differences at first but see that they are not so alike as they thought.
It was a sunny day in the town of ponyville. Birds were chirping and everypony was happy,
except for one pony, the princess of friendship herself Twilight sparkle. She was walking towards her crystal palace, a look of concern upon her face and Spike at her heels.
"It can't be that bad Twilight." said her faithful assistant.
"But it is that bad Spike!" replied Twilight.
"Come on twilight who says they aren't friendly?"
"All the pones that went missing in the area where it's said to be situated is why they aren't friendly."
"I guess you have a point." Twilight had been in canterlot when she received a note that said "Hey twilight it's me, Daring do. I just want to say that the city of Magicae Anni is real and is deep in the badlands. The rest you'll have to find yourself. Also I'm writing this in a hurry, ancient totems and stuff." At this news twilight had rushed to her palace and to send a message to all her friends to meet her.
"Well let's just hope their leader is negotiable" said the worried alicorn.
"Okay, so is everypony here listening?"
"Yeah Twilight, do ya think we wouldn't?"
"Just making sure Rainbow."
"So while in canterlot I received a message from A.K yearling and-"
"Wait you got a note from Daring do?!"
"Yes rainbow I did so can you jus-"
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"
"Will ya settle down Rainbow!"
"Sorry AJ I got a bit carried away"
"So as I was saying, a place by the name of Magicae Anni has surfaced and the legend about it does not sound inviting."
"Whatever do you mean darling?"
"I mean that this city could be extremely dangerous. just listen and you'll see what I mean" Long ago there was a creature of purest black who knew all that was to be known. It had traveled all over equestria, learning all it could. When it saw it could not learn more from the books it read, it built a city made of magic and steel. It said that all who dare take it's knowledge would be reduced to bones and ash at his hooves. Everypony heeded its warning but one selfish pony did not. He amassed an army of a thousand warriors and marched to this city. He stated that no single pony could defeat him and his army. The creature thus said leave now or incur my wrath. The foolish pony merely laughed. The creature then struck with speed rivaling that of a bolt of lightning. In a matter of seconds the army lay motionless and their leader dead. The city then vanished without a trace. But this tale is said to be a mere myth, a lie, a lesson for those who are ignorant and selfish. For no pony griffon nor dragon has ever found this city, or rather come back alive. This was the tale of the city of Magicae Anni, or better known as The Empire of gears.
There was a collective and audible "Gulp" from near all the ponies at the table.
"A thousand warriors." Said Rainbow Dash.
"M-m-matter of seconds." Continued Rarity.
"All of em' gone." Finished Applejack.
A frightful squeak came from Fluttershy. Four of the six ponies where shivering in their seats. A look of utter terror on their faces.
"Twilight dear, do you think it's wise to go knocking on the door of a pony who took out an entire army!?"
"I know it's risky Rarity, but if it works then we could gain a powerful ally."
"And what happens if it doesn't work Twilight?"
"Well Rainbow, we'll just have to hope that we can defeat them."
"Well only one way to find out!" Said pinkie pie readying a blue cannon.
"FIELD TRIP!" Announced pinkie firing the cannon.
When they got off the train at the edge of the badlands everypony was nervous and on edge. Come on Twilight it can't be that bad. Thought twilight as they were traveling. I mean, what could go wrong? Oh. They could think we're invaders, we could accidentally offend their culture or they could think we're announcing war. Twilight was shaken out of her thoughts by Spike.
"Twilight are you okay?"
"Yeah Spike. Just wondering what could happen when we get there."
"Don't worry Twilight everything is gonna be fine."
"Rarity do ya have to wear that hat?"
"Applejack do you honestly think I would go who knows how far without a hat to shield my lovely mane?
You also have a hat too you do realize."
"Well at least mine aint' got feathers stickin' out everywhere!"
"Humph! you wouldn't know fashion if you saw it."
"Why I oughta- wait does anypony else hear that?" There was a noise akin to that of a bee buzzing but much lower and quite distant. They were far into the badlands now, too far to call for help or run and hide.
"I hear it too AJ. But where is it coming from?" Said Rainbow Dash.
"T-t-twilight! W-w-what's that!?" Stuttered Spike pointing to a cloud of dust in the distance. There was at the front of the dust cloud a large bipedal.. thing heading right towards them. It then stopped right by the ponies. It stood almost three times as tall as the ponies. It had glowing purple eyes and metallic black...skin? Runes, glyphs, and lines ran all over the Thing, all glowing the same purple as the eyes. It's legs were like that of a goat but with claws at the bottom. It had a hawk like head. It had two sets wings, one that was like a normal falcon's but had protrusions that made them look like dragon claws and another that looked like two rings with flattened angled spokes. It's arms were like that of a Minotaur but it's forearms were a bit bulkier than the biceps. It then transformed its forearms into sets of two small cannons.
"You have trespassed the territory of the city. Prepare to be destroyed!" It said in a deep and distorted voice. Twilight was about to fire a magic beam when the thing stopped aiming at the ponies. It then made an action like it was covering its right ear while staring blankly into the distance.
"Is it broken?" whispered Applejack without taking her eyes off the thing.
"Better not take our chances." replied Twilight in the same whisper as before. The thing then sprang back into action, grabbing them all via tail, arms, legs and wings. Rarity and Fluttershy shrieked, Rainbow and Applejack tried to fight back, and Twilight was panicking. the thing then spread its second set of wings and the spokes inside started spinning. they with the thing, where now hovering a short distance off the ground and heading at a rather quick pace across the badlands.
"Okay twilight, let's try not to panic." Thought Twilight to herself.
"Well, what if its taking us to a more painful death?!"
"If it wanted to kill us it would have done it back there."
"Or maybe it wants to put us in a cell and interrogate us for information"
"Or it's taking us to the city."
"Wait, what?!"
"Just a hunch."
"The mind is a maelstrom of thoughts. a council if you will, where only one will help in dire situations"
The group had now calmed down and was making sure that everyone was alright.
"AJ you okay?" said Rainbow
"Yup, Fluttershy?"
"I'm fine, what about Pinkie?"
"Okey dokey loki!"
"How is this thing hovering without flapping its wings?"
"Ya' know that's a good question RD."
"I'm quite surprised that none of us are hurt yet it said it would destroy us." said Rarity.
"Maybe it changed it's mind." replied Fluttershy.
"Does anyone know where we're going?"
"Come to think of it, none of us knows Spike."
"Well this is just great isn't it! We hear a spooky legend about a city in the badlands,
we get captured by this thing and now where going to who knows where!" said Spike.
The ponies all stared with dropped jaws at the city. The enormous gates flanked by two more of the bipedal things. Their carrier thing then landed, folded it's second set of wings back and started walking towards the gates. Almost as if on cue the gates slowly opened and the thing walked inside. They were then carried to a hexagonal platform inset in the ground. They stopped on top of the platform,which proceeded to move downwards. They had traveled down with the platform until they reached a large room filled to the brim with what looked like mechanisms of some sort. The room had a plethora of sounds seemingly constantly playing, clicks, whirrs, whistles and the occasional pshh of steam. They then arrived to a large intricately decorated door that opened seemingly on it's own accord. Beyond lay a room with an obsidian throne with glowing purple symbols ingrained in the tar black rock. And atop that throne lay an equine shaped creature in a cloak who then moved its hoof like it was playing charades with nopony in particular. The thing carrying them then set them gently on the ground.
"Greetings and bienvenue, my esteemed guests, to the empire of gears." Said the cloaked figure.
"Um.. Hello I am-"
"The princess of friendship, Twilight Sparkle.
With your friends and elements of harmony, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow dash, Pinkie pie and Fluttershy." It said pointing to the ponies in turn.
"Oh and let's not forget the loyal assistant of twilight and savior of the crystal empire, spike."
"..."
"Oh dear where are my manners! My name is Metallum larva and I am the creator of all you see before you." He said as he took off his cloak.
"He's a changeling!?" Thought Twilight to herself.
"Yes, and he's the ruler of this place!"
"Not to be offensive but I'm quite surprised that you're a changeling." said Twilight.
"No, don't worry I get that quite often." He said with a fanged grin. He didn't look like a normal changeling, he had purple pony-like eyes not the blue bug like ones. His horn seemed hollow and like that of an alicorn, no curve in it at all. Two sets of wings were on his back, one set was like Pegasus wings, the other were like a dragonfly's but more rigid. And he had a very scruffy iron grey mane and tail.
"Now I'm sure that you're all bursting with questions so let us take a stroll while we talk." He motioned for the ponies to follow him and started walking.
"Excuse me Mr Metaliu-"
"Just call me Mirror Mask Twilight"
"Oh sorry, what was that thing that brought us to you?"
"Ah, those are golemic constructs."
"Golemic- what?"
"Golemic constructs, let me explain. So I'm sure you're familiar with the timber wolfs correct?"
"Yes we know them."
"Well they are also golemic constructs, they are animated with the unpredictable magic of the everfree and their shell is made of wood."
"I didn't know that."
"Well I didn't know either, Only when I focused research on them did I find out. It's a tad bit difficult to explain the process."
"My turn, why do they look so weird?"
"Well Rainbow, I took bits and pieces of animals and put them in such a way that every piece can work together perfectly. And no I didn't use actual animal parts just the structures." Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh.
"I actually got the idea for the claw wings from an old changeling tale about the yveltal, a creature that is said to suck the life out of anything it touches. I have a library filled with old stories like that." Continued Mirror.
"Well what do ya' call em'?"
"That is a bit of an odd one to answer Applejack, I am on the fence with two names Edmyron and ironside. though I use them interchangeably."
"I suppose it's my turn, we saw that one of these ironsides just stopped and put it's hand to it's ear, what does that mean?"
"That my dear Rarity, was it receiving a message from yours truly."
"How did a message get so quickly from here to there?!"
"Well Twilight I have a receiver and emitter connected straight to my chair. any command I give is then sent or received via a specific frequency of energy through the very air itself! And can only be detected via crystal arrays within the machine."
"That's...brilliant!"
"Yes but I can't go everywhere with my chair, trust me I've tried, so I've set it so that a whistle followed by hoof movements is a way to give commands. You know, you're lucky that I knew who you were because if I didn't-" He looked back at the ponies. His pupils weren't round as before they were instead like that of chrysalis at the wedding, just mere slits.
"-You'd all be dead where you stand." Said Mirror his voice distorted demonically.
"But let's not dwell upon that" Said Mirror in a cheerful tone, his eyes and voice back to normal.
"Ah we're here! this is a project I've been working on, take a look."
"Behold! My most incredible invention yet!" Said Mirror Mask motioning towards a tarp covered object in the center of the room."Coffee!" He announced while the tarp was removed."What in the hay is this...coffee?"Asked Applejack. "Well my dear AJ, coffee is the best thing since chocolate cake!"He proclaimed picking up the already filled mug in the machine and taking a sip."It revitalizes, it energizes, it wakes and it hypes!" Said Mirror Mask in a very salespony type voice."Don't believe me? try it yourselves!" He said as an Edmyron handed them all a cup of the stuff.
"It's a bit bitter darling."
"Pleh! it tastes like mud!"
"Agreed RD, this aint' that tasty!"
"I like it." interrupted fluttershy
Pinkie however was taking a long sip that seemed to last an eternity, every one looked at her, when the cup was empty she set it on a nearby tray and looked at everypony with dilated pupils. She mumbled something that sounded like "awesome" and then stared into the distance. After about a minute she snapped out of it."Oooookay..." He said as he levitated a clipboard towards him "Note, some ponies react differently. Side effects may vary.." He said slowly as he wrote on the clipboard. Mirror took another look at Pinkie. "..greatly." He wrote.
"I see that some of you don't like the bitterness. so try this variation I call a café mocha" He said as he gave them clear crystal mugs filled with coffee."This is more like it!" Said Applejack. "Agreed, this is much more pleasant."Said Rarity sipping her coffee happily. An Edmyron then came and gave a piece of paper in Mirror's hooves. He then started to smile from ear to ear as he read, letting out an exited squeal as he did so. "Everypony! I have something else to show you all! Follow me!" He said as he began trotting happily towards a door.
"This is gonna be awesome~!"mirror said entering yet another room with a tarped object. "Mares and gentle dragon, I present a work of brilliance only rivaled by coffee!" He proclaimed grabbing the tarp with his magic. "A thing I call the D0BLD3! an intra-linking prototype." He said as the tarp came off.
"Whoa!"
"It's looking at me!"
"How is it hovering?"
"He's kinda cute."
"What does it do?"
"To answer your questions. yes. it's a long story. he is isn't he and this is what he does." he said as he whistled and waved his hoof. The prototype then went to what looked like a pile of cannons, metal bars and wheels. It then out of nowhere generated small octagonal plates in a sphere around it and then in a flash of light turned that pile of scrap into a Edmyron shaped creature. Except it had a second pair of arms below the other two, no propellers for the second set of wings, a normal lizard tail, a pair of elytra replacing the normal wings, cannons attached to its back below the wings resting on it's shoulders and wheels on the bottom of it's feet.
The ponies all stood speechless looking at the now quite large prototype in front of them."So what do you all think?"He said a hint of pure joy in his voice. "Um... hello?" He asked as saw he got no reply from the still speechless ponies. About ten seconds later they all snaped out of their trance.
"It's awesome!"Said Rainbow jumping in the air.
"it's scary!" Said Futtershy hiding behind Applejack.
"You must teach me to do these things!" Said Twilight.
Suddenly a light began flashing on one of the walls. Mirror then ran up to it, a look of worry on his face. a panel of some sort then folded out from the wall. "Why now of all the bucking times they could have come, why now!?" said Mirror, anger quite clear in His voice. he whistled and moved his hoof in very fast patterns towards a nearby Edymron who then saluted him. "Everypony!" He called out trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. "A situation has come up, I fear I must depart to provide my assistance. This Edymron will guide you to your room, it will be safe there. But whatever you do don't leave your room until I say you can. Got it?!" The ponies all nodded in agreement. "Good." said Mirror turning and running down a hallway.
When they all arrived at their room everypony was on edge. "what's happening?" Thought Twilight. "What could be so severe that he had to leave?" Continued Twilight, pacing as she thought. then another one of those panel things folded out of the wall. a puzzled look sat on Twilight's face as she approached it. Please enter command or message. was at the top of the screen. "Command?" Wondered Twilight to herself. What is happening? Typed Twilight in the panel. ERROR: Command unknown. was then printed below her line. Where is Mirror?
ERROR: Command unknown.
How do I use you?!
ERROR: Command unknown.
help.
Command recognized: Would you like to send a message or see the full list of commands? (M/C)
M
Okay then, here is a list of all available recipients: Mirror Mask.
To send a message type /msg. to join a chat type /room
/msg
To who shall this message be to?
Mirror Mask.
You can now type your message.
Mirror where are you?
There was a pause of about five seconds, then there was a reply. I'm ok and I'm on my way. She let out a relived sigh.
"oh will celestia want to hear this." thought Twilight
"This room is awesome!" Said Rainbow Dash ordering her third cafè mocha, she took a sip then continued.
"A full buffet of food, cloud beds, an amazing kitchen and an awesome view!" Stated Rainbow.
"Twilight darling, have you spoken with Mirror yet?" Asked Rarity brushing her mane.
"Well, I haven't got a chance to." Replied Twilight rolling a scroll of parchment.
"So go talk to him then! It's not like he told us not to ask him anything." Said Rainbow lazing on one of the beds.
"I guess I should, shouldn't I." Said Twilight standing up.
"Well see you all later" Announced Twilight walking out the room.
"Hey pinkie, do you think Tank would be cool if I bring home a D0BLD3 as a pet?" Asked Rainbow.
Twilight had been wandering through the now silent hallways of the city, searching for their host. At which she had heard humming from a nearby balcony. Upon getting closer she saw that it was Mirror, standing and staring at the stars that lay scattered across the night sky. Twilight then heard a song being sung by the very figure in front of her.
"Summer in the hills,"
"Those hazy days I do remember."
"We were running still,"
"Had the whole world at our feet."
"Watching seasons change,"
"Our roads were lined with adventure."
"Mountains in the way, couldn't keep us from the sea."
"Here we stand up in arms,"
"This is home where we are."
"Ever strong in the world that we made."
"I still hear you in the breeze,"
"See your shadows in the trees."
"Holding on memories never change."
After the last verse Mirror let out a sigh, and began to speak.
"What will I do? I can't exactly be quiet forever."
"if only they knew." said Mirror a hint of sadness in his voice.
"What's wrong?" Asked Twilight walking onto the balcony. Mirror, at the sudden announcement of Twilight's voice jumped and spun around to face her a snarl on his face.
"Oh, it's just you twilight." Said Mirror returning to his normal stance.
"twilight I need to tell you something."
"what is it Mirror?"
"I don't suppose you'd be up for a story eh?"
"I'm listening." Said Twilight sitting on her haunches.
"Well, it all began when I hatched. I won't go into details, but let's just say that I was..." Mirror scrunched up his chitinous muzzle, moving his hoof in a circular motion. "Different. All my hivemates where all just cutouts of each other. Me, on the other hoof..."He gestured towards himself." Well you can plainly see the difference. I was bullied by most of the hive when I was young, but it stopped very quickly due to two reasons.One was due to Chrysalis punishing those who did. And two, I was the heir to the throne."
"You were a prince!?" Exclaimed Twilight.
"Yes, shocking isn't it." Said Mirror with a deadpan stare.
"Now where was I? Ah, yes. I was leagues ahead of my entire hive in magical ability. Although unlike my hivemates I had a rather different type of magic."
"What do you mean different? Isn't there only one type of magic?" Asked Twilight.
"Well..." Said Mirror sheepishly. "No, not quite."
"You might want to prepare yourself for this." Said Mirror holding a hoof out towards Twilight.
"Prepare myself for w-" Said Twilight, before being cut off by what was going on. A small gray cloud hovered above Mirror's hoof, Faintly sparkling with tiny purple lightning bolts.
"Wha..." Said Twilight simply staring at the cloud, her eyes the size of dinner plates.
"I said prepare yourself, didn't I?" Retorted Mirror with a grin on his face.
"How..?"
"To be honest, I don't know either. I just hatched with it I guess." He said as he quelled the miniature storm.
"What other magic do you have?!" Asked Twilight, nearly tackling Mirror.
"I'm sorry Mirror, I-" Apologized Twilight, half of it getting cut off.
"It's okay," He said, rubbing the back of his head with a hoof, smiling as he did so.
"I knew you liked magic, But nearly bowling me over? Now thats commitment!"
The two shared a laugh, then continued.
"Ahem, so I have storm magic-" He conjured the cloud again."-I have ice magic-" A blue ice crystal formed in his hoof.
"And I have..." He looked around suspiciously, then whispered into Twilight's ear."Shadow magic." His horn glowed and a nearby shadow pulled itself away from the floor and coalesced into a shiny black sphere.
"So what do you think, eh?" Said Mirror eager for her opinion.
"You have complete control over it?" Asked Twilight, weary of the sphere.
"Yes I have control..." Mirror rolled his eyes."But I can also do-" He formed the shadow into an appendage with a claw."-this."
"And-" He ignited the ball, it turned into a large black and white flame. "-This!"
"Wow, that's.. That's.. Just, wow." Said Twilight clearly at a loss for words. The two sat there, staring at the ball of shadow-fire.
"Buck! I forgot about the story!" Exclaimed Mirror, the ball dissipating into it's components.
"Sorry About my language I don't have much of a filter." Said Mirror, his cheeks a dark maroon.
"It's okay, go on with the story." Said Twilight giggling at Mirror's accident. "Any-who Due to my position as heir, Chrysalis vowed to protect me. But there was a skill that I did not possess that separated me even more from the hive's infrastructure." He looked at Twilight sternly."I cant feed off love, I could not stand the stuff. I can absorb it, but I puke it out half an hour later as a big puddle of green goop." He shivered after he spoke. "So that was a problem obviously, living in a place where the only thing for food makes you sick."
"But I found an alternative!" He said enthusiastically "you see there was this one griffon trader carting a load of fish that got captured. So of course I was curious, I asked one of the Infiltrators What they where used for. he replied,They are some kind of food that the griffons eat. I wouldn't advise eating it though, one tried it. got sick for a week." Mirror said waving his hoof like a ventriloquist holding a dummy.
"So as I could not eat love, I tried one. and thus I found a thing that I could eat, and that I am an omnivore!" Mirror stuck his chest out proudly at this fact. "Now at this point in the story I was now permitted to go with some of the Infiltrators, One of the most note worthy was a trip to the city of Canterlot."
"And due to the infiltrator that I went with not caring about my well being,-" Mirror grumbled. "-I wandered and found my passion. Knowledge and magic! I had discovered the place known as the library. I read all the books on magic, and even tried a few spells. After I read a few books, the infiltrator found me and I had to leave."
"I Insisted that I go back again though." Mirror chuckled. "Everything seemed perfect, a weekly trip to the Canterlot library. My own personal room and sneaking out nightly to go and fish. It was great... Until She came along." Mirror growled the word.
"Who came along?" asked Twilight.
"Pupa.-" Mirror at her name slammed his hoof down, a large dent was left. "-Chrysalis' new heir. I, the original one to inherit the throne was ignored!" Mirror's pupils were slits.
"Chrysalis said that she was a perfect child and kept all her attention on her." Another slam, and yet another dent" After Pupa was born Chrysalis acted like I was an annoying ink mark that wouldn't come out of her throne!" Twilight could sense the hatred emanating from Mirror.
"And after I tried to suggest that we make peace with the rest of Equestria, Chrysalis banished me!" Mirror sat there breathing heavily, after a few moments he inhaled and exhaled. Slowly calming down.
"Sorry, I got a bit carried away." Mirror said his head low.
"After that I journeyed across Equestria to learn all that I could, I trained and honed my magic. Then i made this place." He motioned to the wall and doorways behind them. "I warned the ponies to not steal the knowledge that i acquired." Mirror stared at the moon. "Then this one idiot of a pony came marching to my doorstep with an army. I told them to leave but that pony laughed at me! And..." He paused."Well I don't think I should go into detail with that one."
"So turns out that the original spot for this place had a foundation of soft clay, so I had to move it deeper into the badlands. I still use that old site for mining sometimes. And I've been here ever since." Mirror sighed.
"If you're so alone you could come live in ponyville." Said Twilight a hopeful expression on her face.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Twilight, will I be accepted for who I am?"
"Well they may be scared at first but th-"
"NO! I won't be accepted fully, there will always be a pony that will be scared!" Exclaimed Mirror standing up and wearing a frown on his face.
"There will always be one that looks at me like I'm a parasite!" He punctuated the last word by stomping his hoof down.
"There will always be one that doesn't want to be near me!" Another stomp, His pupils were slits.
"There will always be one that thinks I'm a monster!" The last stomp left glowing purple cracks in the floor.
"...I" Said Twilight who was cut off.
"Excuse me princess, but I must be going. It was nice having a chat with you." Announced Mirror his voice only bearing anger. Twilight simply stood there, the echo of mirror's footsteps fading. The hallways of the great city, had become quieter than ever before.
"Whoa there Twilight, could ya slow down fer a minute?" Said Applejack, a hoof on the partially panicked Twilight. The group had been assaulted by Twilight's fast-spoken words for about five minutes prior.
"How?! HOW?! What did I say to offend him?" Thought the panicked Twilight.
"Twilight, it's okay. You didn't mean any harm. I'm sure it'-" Said Spike, trying to comfort the panicked mare before getting cut off.
"I don't know what I did wrong, was it something I said? Did I ask a bad question? Did I-" Rambled the alicorn, her pupils the size of pin-pricks.
"TWILIGHT! SNAP OUT OF IT!" Shouted The orange earth pony, who brought a hoof sharply against the side of Twilight's muzzle. The room had now been removed of all sounds, and had become deathly quiet for a few moments.
"Applejack! What in Celestia's name has gotten into you!?" Exclaimed the white unicorn.
"It was for her own good." Said Applejack, a serious expression on her face.
"And what is slapping your friend going to hel-" Said Rarity before being interrupted by Twilight.
"It's, it's okay Rarity. I, I got a bit panicked there. Thanks Applejack." Said Twilight holding a hoof against her cheek.
"I couldn't let my friend have a panic attack now, could I?" said Applejack comforting the alicorn.
"Hold on a second." Said Rainbow dash, taking a sip from the beverage in her hooves and then continuing.
"If this guy was kicked out of his own home." She took another sip as she got up from the bed she was on.
"And lives here all alone." Another sip, now coming to the group at the center of the room.
"Why didn't he jump at the chance to come to ponyville?" She took yet another sip.
"I don't know, he left before I could ask him." Said Twilight. A clock chimed eight times with a high pitched bell.
"It's getting late, I think we should rest before anything else happens." Said a pink maned pegasus, her voice a near whisper.
"I suppose you're right Fluttershy, this is a lot of information to take in at once." Said Twilight rubbing her temple.
"So is it agreed then?" Asked Rarity.
"Yeah lets go to bed." Said Spike flopping onto one of the cloud beds. The rest of the ponies flowed suit, and once they were all comfortable, Twilight extinguished the purple-flamed lamps that lit the room.
"Where am I?" Thought Twilight to herself. A dark grey hallway encompassed her, the walls studded with black flamed torches.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Said Twilight to the echo filled corridor.
"Goodbye princess Celestia, It was pleasant to meet you." Said a familiar yet eerie voice. Twilight stood frozen as she saw Mirror standing over a weak Celestia.
"Twilight please, help me!" Called the white alicorn. Twilight lunged forward, but seemingly out of nowhere large black chains bound her to the spot. She watched as Celestia helplessly reached with a hoof towards twilight, her face stained with tears. With a flash of light and a deafening thunderclap, her mentor lay motionless and dead.
"She tried you know." Said mirror in a near mocking tone. Twilight stared at the cadaver, her eyes streaming with tears.
"But even her best was not enough." Mocked Mirror walking around Twilight.
"No,no no no no." Wept the broken Twilight.
"Lightning is a rather quick way to go, though she was a means to an end so that is justified." Said Mirror walking around the corpse.
"To be honest, I prefer shadow evisceration." Mirror said poking the dead Celestia.
"Its not pretty, but no amount of resuscitation and healing spells will bring you back from that." Announced Mirror facing Twilight.
"Well, toodles!" Said Mirror with an eerie smile on his face.
Twilight felt something force itself down her throat and into her stomach. In a moment Twilight felt spikes pierce her flesh. All she could see was the insane smile on Mirror mask's face.
"AAAAAAAH!" Screamed Twilight bolting upright, her body drenched with sweat.
"AAAAAAAAH!" Screamed Rarity an octave higher, nearly shattering the windows.
"Aaaaaaaah." Screamed Fluttershy, her attempt being more of a whisper than a scream.
"AAAAAAAH!" screamed Applejack, A bit of her accent leaking though.
"AGARAGAH!" Screamed Rainbow, gurgling as she did so.
"AAAAAAH!" Screamed Pinkie, crawling at ludicrous speeds across the walls. The group's ears only heard ragged breathing and racing heartbeats.
"Don't worry, I Spike the magnificent will protect you." Mumbled the still sleeping Spike.
"Uhhhhh.." Said Applejack with a quizzical look on her face.
"Twilight you alright? I swear the first scream came from you." Asked Applejack looking towards Twilight. Twilight was shivering and shaking, the nightmare still fresh in her mind.
"I'm fine." Lied Twilight.
"Twilight dear, if there is something wrong you can talk to us." Said Rarity, laying a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
Suddenly three large booms sounded off nearby, Startling the ponies and waking up the dragon.
"Wha? is pinkie throwing a party?" Said the groggy Spike. Then an Edmyron walked into the room carrying a tray with a wax sealed scroll atop it.
"A message?" Said Twilight as she levitated the scroll to herself.
"What does it say?" Asked Rarity.
"You are all cordially invited to the Festin du matin." Read Twilight.
"The, what?" Asked Applejack.
"Wait there's more. Ahem AKA breakfast, don't be late. The food will get cold. This edmyron will guide you."
"oooh! A scroll just for breakfast? This place is fancy." Said Rarity as they followed the metal creature down one of the hallways.
They Arrived at a large room with a dinning table in the center, and seven ornate wooden chairs sat by it. Each plate had gold embellishments in the shapes of cogs around them. A card with the name and cutie mark of the six ponies and dragon sat on them. Each one of them took their seats, and each of them reacted differently.
Rarity goggled at the plates and chairs. Applejack admired the flawless grain of the wood. Fluttershy commented on the softness of the seats. Pinkie just sat with a grin on her face. Rainbow was jittering for some odd reason. And Twilight milled over her nightmare.
"it's okay, Mirror isn't evil." Thought Twilight.
"But he is a changeling, masters of deception."
"He just wanted to learn about magic, not to conquer all Equestria."
"Hey Twilight!" Said Pinkie.
"Hi pinkie." Said Twilight, distracted from her thoughts.
"Can I tell you something." Asked Pinkie.
"Sure, what is it?" Said Twilight. Pinkie suspiciously looked around then said.
"Ever since we came here everypony's been really really happy, and Mirror seems like a real fun pony."
"And that means, what?"
"You and Mirror could be great friends silly." Said Pinkie gently placing her hoof on Twilight's nose.
Pinkie gasps and then says "I could throw you a "I'm now a friend of Mirror" party!"
"There can be pinatas, a big cake! Everypony will come and- Oooh shiny!" Said Pinkie being allured by a glowing balloon floating by. The pink pony hoped after the odd balloon down a corridor and out of sight.
"Maybe Pinkie is right, we should try to be better friends with Mirror." After a few moments group of Edmyron came in and set large platters of food on the table.
"Hey Fluttershy, can ya pass the coffee over." Said Rainbow heaving piles of food onto her plate.
"Hey sugarcube, I think ya had too much coffee." Said Applejack staring at the sheer amount of cups on Rainbow's place.
"Pfft, nah I'm right as a rainstorm." Said Rainbow, still jittering.
Twilight took some time to study the table and the different types of food. She saw the standards, daises daffodils oats etc. But she also saw a several large platters of gemstones all sorted by carat and color, all by Spike of course.
"Wait where's Mirror?" Thought Twilight. And no sooner than two seconds later a scroll bearing Edmyron stood next to her. She opened the scroll to see Mirror's message.
I am sorry I could not make it to breakfast, I had some things to be done urgently. But I will join you all once the matters are dealt with.
-Mirror Mask P.S: Meet me at 8:30 tonight in this room alone.
"What have ya got there Twilight?" Asked Applejack. Twilight jumped and nearly fell off her seat. "It's just a, note saying that Mirror won't be able to make it to breakfast." Sputtered Twilight, A forced smile on her muzzle.
"There anything else?" Asked Applejack putting some toast on her plate.
"Nope!" Lied Twilight, Applejack narrowed her eyes.
"Well if that's the case." Said rarity, gesturing with her fork. "We should hope that-" Rarity stared at the quivering mess that was Rainbow Dash. "That's it! Rainbow Dash, I am cutting you off!" Said Rarity levitating the sheer amount of coffee cups away from Rainbow.
"No! My precious!" Said rainbow grabbing a few cups. She held them like they were her only source of life, she promptly hissed at them soon flying off to somewhere unknown.
"We might need to do somethin' about her." Said Applejack.
"Agreed" Said Rarity. The only sound thereafter was of spike munching on his gemstones.
After they finished their breakfast, another scroll edmyron came. Twilight opened the scroll.
1. Yes, I know where Rainbow is. we bumped into each other. 2. The sewing parlor is on the B level and on the left. 3. The orchard and farming area is on the ground floor, door 6-Y. 4. Pinkie is already in the bouncy room. 5. The bird conservatory is on the 63rd floor, decorated door you can't miss it. 6. The library is on the east corridor right at the end. 7. I think you get the idea.
It took a moment for Twilight to register what the last note meant, it then occurred to her what he meant.
"So rarity I hear there is a sewing room on.." She looked back at the note for a moment. "..Level B, I don't suppose-" said Twilight, being cut off
"Wait! Did you say sewing room?" Asked rarity leaning towards Twilight, her eyes a bit larger than usual.
"Um. Yes why is that so importa-" Said Twilight, cut off once more.
"Twilight! Don't you see? If this room is just a dinning hall," she motioned all around her. "Then this sewing room must be just, if not more, grand!" Twilight swore that, if she had a device that could measure joy, Rarity would be off the charts.
"Excuse me everyone, I have a room to go see!" Said Rarity trotting towards a door before pausing.
"Where is the room again?" Asked Rarity, staring sheepishly at Twilight.
"Level B, on the left." Replied Twilight.
"Thank you!~" Sang Rarity, the door closing behind her with a clang.
"Well, she seems happy." Smiled Applejack.
"Fluttershy, according to this letter," said Twilight reading the note again. "there's a bird conservatory on the sixty-third floor."
"That does sound nice, meeting all the birds." said Fluttershy.
"Well he said the door is decorated, apparently you cant miss it." Said Twilight sounding a bit sceptical.
"Fluttershy, go and meet the birds, ah' won't stop ya" Said Applejack, cheering Fluttershy on. Fluttershy left with a smile on her face, and a quiet Squee.
"Twilight, ah'm startin' to see a pattern here." Said Applejack looking at Twilight.
"So, what's fer me?" Asked Applejack, Her eagerness barely showing through.
"There is a farm and orchard on the ground floor, door six-Y."
"Well," Said Applejack walking towards a door. "Bye Twilight, good luck on your room." Waved Applejack, the door closing behind her with a clang.
"Come on spike, we have a library to explore!" Said Twilight, a large grin on her face. When they reached the large entrance to the library, the doors slowly opened revealing a huge expansive room filled with stacks upon stacks of bookshelves.
"Whoa, Rarity wasn't kidding." Said Spike, flabbergasted. Twilight's face seemed to have some trouble choosing between a look of joy or astonishment.
"Twilight? Twilight? Hello, Equestria to alicorn?"
"Oh, sorry Spike. I um.. Got a bit distracted by all the books."
Spike raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Ya don't say huh." Twilight fixed Spike with a deadpan stare. "Har, har, har.."
"So Spike where should we start first?"
"I don't know, you're the book-worm!" Said Spike crossing his arms.
"Oh come on, There must be at least one thing that you'd like to read in here."
"Twilight the only things in here are old legends and history books," Said spike, annoyance in his voice.
Spike spotted an Edmyron standing at a bookshelf nearby. "I can't just say-" Spike cleared his throat.
"- Excuse me, I'd like a book with a daring hero and thrilling storyline, and he'd just go and get it!" Said Spike trying to prove a point. Unbeknownst to him, the Edmyron had heard his request and walked to a bookshelf on the other side of the room, and returned with a moderate sized, leather-bound book.
"Like I said there's only boring books in here." Said Spike holding his claw out facing upwards to accentuate his point. The Edmyron then promptly put the book in his outstretched claw. Spike felt the book in his claw and looked at it. "Huh?"
Spike observed the book closely. "What's this? The great adventures of Tsul Karoo: The bearer of fire."
"So what was that Spike, 'There's only boring books in here'." Mocked Twilight with a smirk on her face. Spike looked at the book, then at Twilight, then the book, then Twilight. He opened his mouth to say something, but sighed in defeat instead.
Spike opened the book and started to read. "Wow, this is good, to bad i don't have a chair to sit in." Again the Edmyron headed off to the far side of the library.
"He's bringing a chair isn't he." The Edmyron set an ornate armchair behind Spike.
"Well then..."
"It's pretty dark in here, too bad i don't have a reading lamp." The Edmyron set a tall lamp next to the chair and switched it on, bathing Spike and the book in light.
"I officially now like this place" Said Spike his voice bearing a hint of defeat and joy simultaneously.
Twilight giggled at what had transpired before her.
"So Spike, aren't you coming to help me look for books?" Spike replied without taking his eyes off the book. "Nah, Tsul first, books last."
"you can ask him though." Said Spike motioning to the Edmyron, still not taking his eyes off the book.
Twilight walked up to the Edmyron and asked. "Are there any books documenting this city's mechanisms and structure?"
"And any books on the process of Golemic animation?" The Edmyron walked two steps then turned to Twilight, it motioned it's claw like it was a cat. Twilight was a bit stumped. "Uhh.." The Edmyron repeated the action. "Do you want me to follow you?" The Edmyron nodded.
"Oh, OK then." Twilight said as She followed the Edmyron. The Edmyron stopped at an isle of the library and motioned towards it. Twilight looked up and saw a sign that said 'Building journals and mechanisms.'.
"OK, but what about the Golemic animation?" Asked Twilight.
The Edmyron merely shook it's head.
"Oh well, thank you nonetheless." Said Twilight to the Emyron. It bowed and walked back to it's position.
Twilight started to read the books she was guided to.
After a half hour of research Twilight found out a quite a few things about the city, one was that the entire city was a huge conglomerate of extremely complex mechanisms. Two was that Mirror mask designed the city to house thousands of rooms, yet leave the mechanisms more than enough room to function. And three was that a large crystal somewhere in the place held a huge amount of power collected by the occasional lightning storm, the power was used to heat a literal lakes worth of water into steam to power almost three-fourths of the city.
Twilight mentally clapped at the feat.
She figured that she'd might as well copy some of Mirror's schematics for use throughout Equestria.
"Urk- Dammit, need to oil that door." Twilight saw a door open on the far side of the room, Mirror walked into the library and went out of Twilight's view.
She heard a voice,
"zu haalvut tahrovin, zu koraav kun lah ko golt." But Twilight didn't recognize the language at all.
"zu fent koraav tahrovin ko miraad se dii wundun." Twilight saw Mirror seemingly teleport out of the room and through the door he came in. A loud clang sounded as the door closed.
"Huh..." Was the only word that came to Twilight at that moment.
"Wait a second, didn't Mirror mention that his name was ancient changeling?" Thought Twilight.
"Well technically.. No, but that is the logical assumption."
"But that didn't sound like ancient changeling at all."
"I suppose.. But didn't Mirror mention that there are ancient changeling stories in here?"
"He did, but I don't know where to find the story section."
Twilight, instead of using her mind's voice said that last bit out loud.
The nearby Edmyron Walked up to her and pointed to a sign suspended over a set of bookshelves on the opposite side of the room. The sign read, "Ye olde Changeling tales."
"Well, thank you again." Said Twilight. The Edmyron bowed once more, and returned to it's post.
"let's see what we have here." Thought Twilight. Twilight pulled out a book and was greeted with:
"Narratio de insignis creatura."
"Of COURSE it's written in ancient changeling!" Thought Twilight as she facehooved. Twilight at this moment felt very stupid for not realizing this sooner.
Twilight took the book and walked to the Edmyron.
"Is there any chance there is a translated version of this?" Asked Twilight holding up the book. The Edmyron shook it's head.
"Oh come on!" Shouted Twilight mentally.
Twilight heard laughing in the direction of Spike.
"Is there any books here to learn ancient Changeling?" Asked Twilight. The Edmyron turned around, took a large book out of the shelf behind it, and presented it to Twilight.
"Huh? Ancient Changeling to Modern English/Prench."
"Well, thanks!" Said Twilight. The Edmyron winked at her.
"This is gonna take awhile." Thought Twilight setting down the book to read it.
If Twilight was something, then that something was that she was a very fast learner. After just two hours of study she estimated she knew a fifth of the language already.
However a certain dragon broke her focus.
"No Tsul! Don't give up the fire, it's all the world has!"
"Spike I'm trying to concentrate!" Was what Twilight wanted to say.
"Perspicio ego temptatis Spike!" Were the words that came out.
"Twilight what did you just say" Asked Spike.
"Loquellam meam non cognoscitis?" Asked Twilight, worry strewn across her face.
"Uhh.. You feeling alright?" Asked Spike, his eyebrow raised.
"O, non! Ego perdidit in hunc Disputatio." Said Twilight clasping her head in her hooves. Twilight took deep breath, then said
"Okay, now do you understand me?"
"whew, I thought I lost you there." Said Spike letting out a sigh of relief. The two then heard a deep voiced bell ring six times. Twilight looked out of a window nearby and saw that it was already dusk.
"Uhh, Spike I think-" Started Twilight.
"That we should get to the room?" Finished Spike.
"Yeah." Agreed Twilight.
Twilight and Spike made their way through the city and to their room.
"What ya got there Twilight?" Asked Spike seeing the book under Twilight's wing.
"Oh this?-" she held the book in her magic,
"Just some old changeling stories. I figured since I can read it, I might as well." She noticed spike was holding something.
"What's that?" Twilight asked.
"The great adventures of Tsul Karoo: The bearer of fire" Spike recited word for word.
"It seems we both picked up something to read."
"Rainbow! Snap out of it already." Was heard from their room.
"It's no use Applejack, something nefarious is going on here." Said Rarity, in a rather serious tone.
"What's going on?" Asked Twilight. Rainbow dash sat on the far side of the room, holding her head in her hooves. Twilight walked over to Rainbow and said, "Rainbow, what's wrong?" Near immediately, Rainbow returned to normal.
"What happened? I..." Said Rainbow before fainting. Rarity and Applejack spoke in unison, "Is she okay!?" After a moment Twilight said, "Yeah she's fine, just a bit shook up."
"What happened here?" Asked Twilight.
"Well, when we got here-" started Rarity.
"Rainbow was all fine and dandy-" Continued Applejack.
"Then all of a sudden, she was sitting on that spot-" Said rarity pointing to where Rainbow had been.
"Kept on mumblin' about ice, and cryin' an' talkin' bout' a mask." finished Applejack.
"Odd, I did a scan on her and nothing showed up."
"Ah' told you it aint' magical." Said Applejack.
"Well what if the magic was made to not show up on a scan?" Retorted Rarity
"Girls can we-" Said Twilight, cut off as usual.
"Stay out of this." Was simultaneously uttered by Applejack and rarity. Twilight chose to heed their warning, instead laying on her bed and reading.
Fluttershy and Pinkie entered their room together, telling Rarity and Applejack about their rooms. At some point the argument between AJ and Rarity became a Mexican-style staring stand-off. But twilight was more interested in the book she was reading.
In a time where the sun and moon moved on their own accord, There lived a race that held The world in It's gentle yet firm grasp. They did not force the plants and animals to bend to their will, Instead they became one with energy around them. They knew the ways of the universe, They knew not chaos, only a source of energy to be used. They were gifted the powers of sadness, anger, and fear, They used these powers deftly, building great machines and cites that touched the sky. They were extremely adept researchers and magic users, They made music that tied to their emotions, And held knowledge above anything else. But one day a new power came into their realm, One that enslaved the world totally. They used magic to shackle the sun and moon, And treated chaos and imbalance as if it were a poison to the world. The plants and animals had their freedom taken by force, And declared war on the originals yet they did nothing wrong. Their cites were erased and their history clouded, They killed thousands of innocents and Drove them into hiding. But there was a prophecy the originals had faith in,
Twilight's irises became pinpricks when she read the next paragraph.
"He who control the shadows, are the one that will lead us, They have conquered the evil within themselves to see the darkness within the light. There will be one who bears the elements three, And his reign will set this world free from it's prison. Against harmony he will battle six, And see that they all fall. In a world of black and white, He will stand, a stoic grey guardian. "
"Everyone, you all might want to see this." Twilight said, a look of still terror latched to her face. She set the book face up. While they read, Twilight did a thousand yard stare.
"Well that's not very nice!" Said Applejack.
"controllin' the sun an moon, enslaven' the world." Applejack said as she shook her head.
"I don't see the problem, it's just a story." Said Rarity.
"Don't you see?! We attacked the originals!" Shouted Twilight, looking like a crazy mare. Rarity and Applejack looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Oh Twilight, you nearly had me for a moment." Said Rarity, wiping away her tears of mirth.
"Us? Attack anypony? Heh, good one Twilight." Said Applejack giggling between sentences.
"Okay then. Let me clarify," Said Twilight her tone extremely serious.
"What did the first line of the story say?" Asked Twilight, truly determined.
"Sigh, 'In a time where the sun and moon moved on their own accord'." Said Applejack reluctantly.
"Alright, now what was the second thing the invaders did in the story?"
"Twilight dear, do we really-" A hard glare answered Rarity. "Fine, 'They used magic to shackle the sun and moon'."
"And what do princesses Celestia and luna do?" Asked Twilight a small smirk on her face.
"Control the sun and moon." Applejack and Rarity said in tandem. They stood for a moment before sharing a look of terror between them.
"Twilight you surely aren't saying?.." Said Rarity shakily
"Yup.. We're them." Said Twilight with a deadpan stare.
"But,But, that could just be a coincidence, right?" Asked Rarity.
"'treated chaos and imbalance as if it were a poison to the world.','plants and animals had their freedom taken by force,', it just fits too perfectly." Said Twilight accentuating with her hoof.
"Ah' think Ah' need to lie down a bit.." Said Applejack slowly walking towards one of the beds.
"I..think so as well..." Said Rarity, looking the same as Applejack. Twilight also had her doubts.
"Happenstance! That's all it is!" Thought Twilight.
"'Tell someone an absolute truth, and they think it's a lie.'" Thought Twilight to herself.
"B-But, harmony is good right?!" Thought Twilight, fruitlessly.
"'Absolute harmony breeds stagnation, which breeds sterility.'" Retorted Twilight.
"B-B-But-" Attempted Twilight.
"We can't run from the truth, the only thing we can do, is ask ourselves-" Started Twilight.
"Are we really the good guys?" Thought Twilight, lying down and staring at the ceiling.