Celestia ventures into the Mirror Equestria alone in hopes of saving Sombra. However, she soon finds herself stuck in more than what she signed for.
In hopes of saving her lover from the dark magic he had absorbed, Celestia ventures into the Mirror Equestria alone. There, she unites with old and new friends who will aid her in her quest.
However, things get complicated soon, and everyone finds themselves in bigger, more dangerous trouble as they uncover dark secrets behind what's happening around them. Forced to make decisions they don't like, their morality challenged and their hope waning, the group of friends fears that saving Sombra is the least of their worries.
Note: originally posted on Herny 101's (I was the co-writer) account but he since moved on and hasn't posted anything in a while so, with his permission, I will continue it.
This story has nothing to do with my other (similar) story, To Reassemble A Broken Heart. The two are set in different universes. Therefore, no previous reading is required.
Cover art by RedchetGreen. The artist hasn't responded for over a year.
The shadows cast by the moonlight shifted in angle, signaling her that time was running out. She moved to the window and opened it, preparing to fulfill her duty. She had, after all, to raise the sun before departing. As soon as the moon began to sink in the horizon, she did her magic, raising the sun that immediately greeted her tired eyes with its piercing light.
“I have to make this quick,” she said to no one, leaving the window and going back to her secret work. There stood a great mirror, and beside it was a table flooded with scrolls and blueprints.
“Let’s go through this one more time.” She levitated a massive checklist and went through it quickly, but still careful to not miss anything. It didn’t help that her hoof was shaking due to the speed of her heartbeat. “Alright, everything is checked!” She wiped sweat that she hadn’t realized was on her forehead.
She looked at the cracked mirror, only to find a small hole in it. Her heart skipped a beat, but she face hoofed once she realized the mistake. “Of course, everything but the one thing I didn’t put on the checklist for some reason!” She pushed some scrolls aside and levitated a little bag. She opened it, extracting a small piece of glass.
“Now, this is the final touch, Celestia. It must work. You worked so hard for this,” she said, before giving a nervous chuckle. “And now I’m talking to myself...again. Totally a good sign.”
Carefully, she placed the piece of glass in the hole in the mirror, fitting in it perfectly. Celestia held her breath when a moment passed without anything happening, but soon the cracks in the mirror healed, and it looked as if it was never broken to begin with. Celestia let her breath out, giving a triumphant smile.
The smile, however, quickly faded once she reminded herself of what she was about to do.
Giving a deep sigh, she lit her horn, causing the jewels on the mirror’s frame to glow, the mirror’s surface becoming liquid-like.
“Only one thing left.” She levitated a note and stuck it to the mirror’s frame. She carried her saddlebag, then brought a long, thin object covered in fabric and placed it on her back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before finally stepping into the other side of the mirror. As soon as she did so, the mirror’s jewels dimmed and the glass surface hardened again.
“Celestia? Are you here?” came Luna’s voice as she descended the stairs to Starswirl’s room. “You don’t usually miss on the...breakfast.” She looked around the empty room, until she came across the object that, to her knowledge, shouldn’t have existed anymore.
“Is this...no way!” Her face reading concern, Luna galloped up to the mirror. “How did this happen?!” It wasn’t long before she saw the note and picked it up, her heart racing as she read the contents.
“Dear Luna
I believe you know very well where this mirror leads, and I believe you know why I would go through it again. I’m sorry for going alone, but I couldn’t bring myself to get anypony else from this world involved in the problem that I created in another one. Don’t bother trying to follow me; I placed a lock on the mirror that only I can open.
I’ll try my best to come back safe, sister. If I don’t, know that you, Twilight and Cadance are more than capable of ruling Equestria without me.
Take care, Luna.”
“No…” Luna looked up from the note, tears welling in her eyes. She tossed the note away and threw herself at the mirror, trying her desperately to go through it, but to no avail. “NO! Why did you do this?!” She lied on her stomach in front of the mirror, burying her face in her hooves. “Why…”
Celestia stepped out of the portal, her eyes still closed. A breath of fresh air gave her enough reassurance to open her eyes. She didn’t know what she had expected, but it was worse than this. Her eyes were greeted by a Canterlot tarnished with trees, bushes, and small gardens with flowers of all colors. Some buildings were still being repaired, but they took nothing away from the beauty of the scenery.
I didn’t expect this place to look almost more beautiful than MY Canterlot. Color me impressed, Celestia thought, starting away from the portal, which was in the base of a statue of Sir Discord.
As she trotted, ponies would eye her with either raised eyebrows or shock, but she would just smile and wave at them. She approached a small garden that was full of blue flowers. Staring at them gave her a warm feeling in her chest, a weird sense of accomplishment, but at the same time, it caused puddle of sorrow in the pit of her stomach. She inhaled the perfume, then stretched her foreleg in an attempt to pick a flower.
“Picking flowers from a public garden under my watch will cost you a fine,” a voice approached Celestia, a familiar voice. So familiar that it sounded just like her own.
Celestia turned to face herself. Her other self. The other Celestia had an Anugyptian cape on her head, accompanied with the iconic black lining of her eyes.
“I thought I would never see you again,” alternate Celestia continued, smiling warmly.
“You and me both,” Celestia chuckled, leaving the flowers to give her counterpart a short hug.
The other Celestia widened her eyes, taken aback by the hug. As the original Celestia broke the embrace, alternate Celestia avoided eye contact, covering her eyes with a hoof.
“Anything wrong?” Celestia asked, tilting her head.
“Yeah yeah, I’m just a little drowsy,” alternate Celestia answered, rubbing her eyes.
“If you’re okay, then I really need to test something, and I need to test it quickly.” Celestia approached her counterpart with nervous steps.
“What is it?”
“I apologize in advance.”
“Wait, wha-OOF!” Before alternate Celestia could look up to see what was happening, she found one hoof on her shoulder and another in her stomach.
She...she punched me! alternate Celestia thought, the moment of the punch feeling like a minute as her thoughts raced. Does that mean she still hasn’t forgiven me? But she just hugged me. This doesn’t make sense!
Celestia took a step back after her successful attack. She looked at her foreleg, chuckling.
She chuckled. She’s enjoying my pain! I knew she hadn’t forgiven me yet! She must have come here for revenge! What am I going to do now?!
“I’m so sorry! But I needed to test the portal,” Celestia apologized.
Alternate Celestia blinked twice before looking up. “What?” she coughed.
“I needed to make sure that the counterparts were no longer connected. I just punched you, but I didn’t feel any pain! I succeeded!” Celestia chuckled in a mixture of happiness and disbelief, scratching her head.
“Oh...really…” alternate Celestia muttered with a forced, twitchy-eyed smile.
“Yes!” original Celestia replied, before her smile started to subside. “Wait a second...now that I remember, I must make the test in both ways.”
“Here.” Before Celestia could react, her counterpart approached her and delivered a punch to her stomach. “You can thank me later.”
Damn...good thing I haven’t had breakfast yet! Celestia thought upon receiving the blow.
Alternate Celestia sighed, placing a hoof on her counterpart’s shoulder. “I didn’t feel that. Are you happy now?”
“Now, could we please move to the castle? We’re making quite the scene here.”
Celestia took a look around her, and quickly noticed the weirded out ponies. “Sounds like a good plan.” She placed a foreleg on alternate Celestia’s shoulder, before the two trotted in the direction of Canterlot Castle.
“So tell me, why didn’t you just, you know, test a slap?” alternate Celestia asked.
“Because it might not be enough to trigger the connection. Maybe the counterparts could only feel sharp pain? It was all a part of the equations Starswirl had created.”
“Yeah, tell me more about that later.”
A stallion had been watching from the beginning. He stared with a gaped mouth as the twin Princesses trotted away.
“I stopped drinking, why am I still seeing things?!” the stallion exclaimed.
“I like what you did with the place,” Celestia said, as she and her alternate self trotted down a hall in Canterlot Castle. Turns out even the castle was adorned with nature. Green vines hagged the windows from the outside and flowers hanged on the walls, planting peace in the heart of the beholder. “And I’m not just talking about the castle.”
“Well, I guess adding green to a place that had previously been barren was the best way to show our good intentions to the ponies of Canterlot, don’t you think?” alternate Celestia replied.
“This is some lovely lavender!” Celestia admired, approaching one of the flowers on the wall.
“Um, this is not lavender,” the counterpart said, raising an eyebrow.
Celestia blinked twice, before realizing the flower was blue, not purple. “Oh. Um, yeah. I didn’t mean to say ‘lavender’.” She blushed, scratching her neck.
Alternate Celestia laughed. “Looks like you’re tired.”
“You don’t say,” Celestia muttered, rubbing one of her eyes.
“Now come, there’s a pony I’m sure is dying to meet you.”
The two Celestias resumed their way until they reached a door. They opened it, revealing a table with various breakfast foods on it, and a dark-purple Alicorn with a curly mane putting everything in place, her back facing the two counterparts.
“Luna?” Celestia whispered.
“You came just in time, sister,” alternate Luna said in an almost monotonic voice without looking who was behind her. “The breakfast is…” She finally turned around, taking a moment to adjust to the scene.
“You’re talking to me?” original Celestia said playfully, a wide smile on her face.
“T...Tia?!” Luna’s voice suddenly gained emotion, as she galloped towards Celestia and threw her to the ground in a tight hug. “I can’t believe you came back! How?!”
“Yeah, good morning to you, too. We have plenty of time to talk later,” Tia said, patting Luna on the back. She took a glance at the other Celestia, and found her staring at the ground away from them, a tiny smile barely visible on her face. Tia stood up and dusted herself. “Don’t you think you should give your sister a hug, too, Luna?” She nodded towards the other Celestia.
“Well…” Luna hesitated, eyeing her sister for a moment, then facing Tia again. “I see her everyday. Same can not be said about you!”
“If you say so,” Tia giggled, but inside she felt something was up. She trotted towards the table, admiring the delicious treats. “You did well preparing this, Luna! These are some fine cupcakes!” she said, levitating the pastry from the plate.
“Um, that’s an eclair, not a cupcake,” Luna said with a raised eyebrow.
Tia blinked twice, realizing she was indeed levitating an eclair. “Oh, yes! Eclair. That’s what I wanted to say!”
Luna and the other Celestia both burst laughing, causing Tia to blush.
“Looks like you really need to sleep,” alternate Celestia said.
“No doubt about it,” Tia agreed, taking a bite from the eclair.
“I believe I already know why you’re here,” Luna said, her expression serious.
Tia stopped munching, swallowing hard. “I guess it was very obvious,” she replied. “Looks like I don’t need to explain much.”
“Yes, but I need you to explain one thing,” alternate Celestia said, clearing her throat. “What is that long thingie on your back? A staff?”
Tia blinked, glancing at the long object on her back. “Oh, this? Well...you’ll find out soon,” she answered, finishing the rest of the eclair. “Right now, I really need you to…to escort me to the closest bed,” she yawned, swaying in her steps.
“Gotcha,” Luna said, rushing to Tia’s side and, with a wave to her sister, she escorted the drowsy princess.
Alternate Celestia watched the two trot away, hanging her head low and releasing a long sigh.
“This is the bed, right?” Celestia yawned. “I don’t want my drowsiness to cause me to sleep on a cactus by accident...or something.”
Luna laughed. “I assure you this is a bed.”
“Thank goodness!” Celestia sighed in relief, tossing her staff and saddlebag to the side and throwing herself on the bed.
“Sweet dreams,” Luna said, using her magic to place a blanket on Celestia.
“I need an alarm to wake me up in time to…”
“To what? Lower the sun?” Luna teased. “You’re not the Princess of the Sun in this world, Tia. You’re a guest. Just sleep well.”
Celestia chuckled. “Fair enough.”
Luna was about to leave the room, but Celestia called her. “Hey, Lulu?”
“What is it?”
“Take care of your sister, okay?”
Luna seemed taken aback by the statement, her smile waning. She looked away for a moment, then answered, “Sleep well, Tia.” With that, she trotted out the room, closing the door behind her.
“Hm, that’s weird,” Celestia muttered to herself, pulling the blanket over her body. “I must see to that issue...when I wake up, of course.” She yawned, turning to her side.
Hold on, Sombra. I’m coming for you. With that thought on her mind, Celestia let herself drift to sleep.
The unicorn king paced in the cave, the sound of the icy wind whistling mixed with his occasional growling. A dark cloud surrounded him, obscuring his features.
“Ce...Celestia,” he said as softly as his rough voice could allow, suddenly facing the exit of the cave.
“Ugh, just forget about her already!” another voice called. A part of the dark cloud formed a shadowy figure with crimson eyes on the wall. “Caring about others will only slow you down.”
“Yes...maybe you’re right…,” Sombra replied, hanging his head low. But quickly, he turned to the shadow, shouting, “NO! I can’t...I...I love her!”
“Would you just shut up?!” the shadow snapped back. “I can give you anything. I can make you stronger than ever. You don’t need that pointless sentiment you call ‘love’!”
Sombra growled at the shadow, firing a beam of magic. The attack created a hole in the shadow’s body and the wall behind it, but the shadow quickly recovered.
The shadow stretched its arm, clutching its claws around Sombra’s face. “Resistance is futile, Sombra. You either accept this power, or I make you accept it! There’s no way around it!”
Sombra screamed, cutting the shadow’s arm with his magic. Again, the shadow recovered instantly. Sombra then placed his forelegs on his face, as if trying to take the dark magic off of him.
“Keep trying. Your agony only makes me stronger.”
Sombra pulled on his face harder, screaming in pain. Eventually, pieces of his skin tore apart, blood and black liquid pouring into the ground. More and more blood poured, and the dark liquid filled the floor and began to move out of the cave.
Sombra screamed louder.
Celestia shot upwards in her bed, breathing heavily and wiping sweat off her forehead.
“Fucking nightmares!” she cursed through her teeth, slamming her foreleg on the bed. She took a moment to breath normally and calm her nerves.
She looked at the window, seeing the sun was still up. “I actually woke up before the sunset? With how tired I was, I thought I would sleep until the next day...maybe this is the next day.” She chuckled, throwing the blanket aside and stepping off the bed. She put on her crown and wore her regalia and horseshoes. Before leaving the room, she glanced back at her staff, but decided that it would be safer where it was.
“It sure feels weird to not have to do any of my royal duties,” Celestia said to herself as she trotted through the halls. Even though it was basically the Canterlot Castle she lived in back in the original Equestria, the decoration was different enough to confuse her.
Finally, she found her way to the garden. And what she saw took her by surprise.
Standing there were the alternate Celestia and a unicorn stallion with a white and orange coat and a Cutie Mark of a sun. The two were facing each other with fierce scowls, their stances giving the vibe that they would jump at each other’s throats at any moment.
Celestia began to wonder, Is that…
“Sunburst!” alternate Celestia called, her wings flared. “Try to dodge this!” She dashed towards him, throwing a series of lightning speed punches.
Sunburst would either completely dodge the punches or block them with his forelegs, but soon he received one on his face, forcing him to create a distance between him and his opponent. He recovered quickly and lounged at Celestia. He threw several punches, which Celestia easily dodged, but when she attempted to throw a punch herself, he ducked and gave her a fast blow to her stomach before she could react, pushing her several feet back.
Alternate Celestia chuckled, as if she was happy to finally receive damage. “Not bad.” She lit her horn, several magic beams shooting from it.
Sunburst began to fall back, jumping in all directions to avoid the energy attacks. When he was far enough, he blocked the last beam with a magic shield, preparing to execute an attack of his own. He furrowed his brows in concentration, and a powerful beam emitted from his horn.
Alternate Celestia stood her ground, raising her foreleg. The beam pushed against her hoof with immense power, but she barely moved an inch back.
When the attack was finally over, Celestia’s horseshoe was red due to the heat of the beam. She smiled. “Pretty impressive, Sunbur-OUCH! OW OW OW! HOT!” She yelled in pain as she quickly removed her reddened horseshoe, blowing at her burnt hoof.
“Why are you two fighting?” The original Celestia trotted up to her partner, an eyebrow raised.
“Oh, Tia, you’re awake!” alternate Celestia said, still waving her hoof in the air to cool it down. “There’s nothing to worry about. Me and Sunburst here were just training.”
Celestia blinked. “Training? I gotta say, it looked pretty fierce.”
“Yeah, I like to teach my students the hard way!” alternate Celestia smiled confidently, throwing a punch in the air, which nearly hit the original Celestia in the face.
Sunburst trotted up to the two identical Princesses, his eyes wide. “Princess...who...who is that?!”
Now that he was close, Celestia could inspect him. His appearance was very different from the original Sunburst. For starters, he didn’t wear a wizard’s cloak. He simply had a black bow tie around his neck. His mane was combed stylishly, unlike original Sunburst’s unkempt mane, and instead of a goatee, he had an orange mustache like some Canterlot elite stallion. Celestia had to stifle a giggle as she stared at his over the top mustache.
“Ah, Sunburst!” alternate Celestia placed a foreleg around her counterpart’s shoulder and pulled her closer, grinning. “Let me introduce you to my twin sister: Princess Tia!”
Original Celestia widened her eyes. “You...your twin sister? Tia?!” she whispered.
“Better than explaining your complicated love story, don’t you think?” alternate Celestia whispered back, still holding her grin.
“Good point.”
“You have a sister other than Princess Luna?” Sunburst scratched his head. He then had a look that spoke of hidden suspicion. “Where was she all that time?”
“Well, you know the story, Sunburst. Three sisters, one of them lost for a long time, orphans. I thought I would never see her again!” alternate Celestia began, faking a dramatic tone and a sad face.
Please don’t say something corny, Princess Tia thought.
“Y-You don’t have to tell me if it upsets you.” Sunburst waved a hoof, his expression softening.
Thank goodness! both Celestias thought at the same time, sighing in relief
“Now, back to business,” Celestia said, releasing Tia from her grip and adjusting her Anugyptian cape. “You are improving rapidly, Sunburst.”
“Of course I am!” Sunburst chuckled, sticking his nose in the air.
He sure is very different from the Sunburst I know, Tia thought, looking at Sunburst with contempt.
“Oh, sister!” Celestia gasped.
“What?” Tia answered her twin.
“Not you, that sister!” Celestia pointed at the air behind Sunburst. There, Luna was flying clumsily, before landing and limping her way to the two alicorns and a unicorn, her body covered in scratches and small wounds.
“Luna!” both Celestias exclaimed in unison, rushing to their sister’s side along with Sunburst.
Luna placed one foreleg on the other shoulder to ease the pain. “Ugh...it was...it was her again!”
“Damn it!” Celestia cursed under her breath. “I warned you from engaging with her alone!”
“I had to! One of my guards was in danger. And when I thought she was far enough...she surprised me from behind.”
“If I was with you, she wouldn’t have stood a chance!” Sunburst said, adjusting his bow tie.
Luna frowned at the cocky unicorn. “Don’t be a high horse, Sunburst! You’re just a student, and my sister’s student for that matter.”
Sunburst gritted his teeth, shifting his gaze away.
Tia looked between the three of them in confusion. “Who’s ‘her’?”
“A monster. At least, that’s what we know so far,” Celestia answered.
“She looks like some sort of a mutated unicorn,” Luna added. “She has the head of a unicorn but also has claws and can use her mane...ah!” She gasped as she rubbed her injury.
“Here, I’ll escort you to the clinic,” Celestia offered, stretching her foreleg.
Luna eyed her sister’s foreleg with a scowl. “I can go there on my own!” She trotted off, fighting against her limp.
Once Luna reached the entrance to the castle, Tia trotted up to her, offering her a shoulder to lean on.
Celestia gritted her teeth as she watched the scene, then groaned and stomped her hoof on the ground with all her might.
Sunburst stepped back, fear evident on his face. “I...I guess our training is over for today.”
“No!” Celestia snapped, which was enough to freeze Sunburst in his place. “We’re going to train some more!” She took all of her horseshoes off, her horn alight.
Sunburst gulped.
As Tia and Luna trotted down the hall, they could hear explosions coming from the garden.
“AAAHHH! TAKE THIS!”
Tia watched in disbelief as Luna fought the punching bag as if it was an actual enemy, gaining the attention of everyone in the gym. It impressed her how she could have so much stamina only a few hours after having her injuries bandaged. Maybe it was the healing potion she had been given. Tia wasn’t sure.
Luna showered the bag with punches, then gave it a final blow with her hind leg that sent it flying through the wall and out of the gym.
Luna sighed, smiling and wiping her sweat. “This is much better!”
“Are you sure you’ll be fine doing this not long after being injured? Shouldn’t you take some rest?” Tia asked.
“Nonsense! I always feel better after...emptying my feelings on the punching bag.”
“More like blasting the poor thing with your emotions.”
“Hey, you don’t understand how I feel after being defeated by that ugly monster! I swear, if she only didn’t take me by surprise…”
Tia patted Luna on the back gently. “It’s okay, you did your best.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “How can you you know I did my best? You weren’t there!”
“Hush, you! I’m trying to make you feel better. Don’t ruin it!” Tia scolded playfully, giving Luna a light push on the shoulder.
“I know,” Luna giggled. Soon, her smile was replaced with a serious expression. “Tia, I...I know why you’re here. What are you going to do? Why didn’t you bring the Elements?”
Tia’s expression darkened, her gaze wandering around the gym. “Twilight and her friends gave up the Elements to save the Tree of Harmony. Besides, they can’t help us, as we saw that they could only transfer the dark magic into another pony. That’s not what we want to do. That, and I didn’t want to involve Twilight and the others in this. This problem was caused by me, and I should solve it…” She wrapped a foreleg around the other tightly, looking at the ground.
“Tia, you can’t do this alone. We will help you.” Luna put a hoof under Tia’s chin to raise her head.
“Thank you.” Celestia smiled. “Now, first of all, I need to do a research about dark magic in this world. I’ll head to the library.” She turned around and started towards the door.
“See you later, Celestia!”
“Tia,” Celestia corrected.
Luna tilted her head. “Yeah, I can call you Tia, too.”
“No, I’m now Princess Tia. Your sister came up with a cliche story to avoid explaining Sombra’s incident to everypony. In short, I’m her long lost twin sister.”
Luna face hoofed. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Celestia giggled. “Later, sister!” With that, she trotted off, leaving a smiling Luna behind.
“This a lost cause!” Tia released the three books from her magic, rubbing her temple. She thought using magic to scavenge her way through several books at the same time would get her to her goal quickly, but she still didn’t find anything useful. She sighed, taking her reading glasses off and setting them on the table.
“Having a rough time?” alternate Celestia said, trotting up to her counterpart.
For a pony who had just been in an explosive fight, she looked pretty clean. Perhaps Sunburst didn’t stand a chance.
“Not as much as the student you just killed,” Tia replied flatly.
Celestia laughed. “Sunburst is fine. We always feel better after fighting. On the inside, of course, since I’m sure he’s now exhausted physically. You can say that fighting brings us closer to each other.”
“I see.” Tia put her glasses back on her face, her magic picking three new books from a shelf in the library.
“You know, Canterlot library is still recovering,” Celestia said after reading the titles of the books, to which Tia put the books down. “We don’t have a big variety of books about magic or dark magic here. If you want those subjects, seek the Silver Oaks Library in Ponyville.”
Tia faced Celestia with a slightly widened eyes. “Silver Oaks, you say? Is that library run by…”
“Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia finished her counterpart’s sentence. “No. That mare used to run it, but she disappeared a few months ago. No pony knows where she is. If you ask me, it’s for the better. That pony was horrible.”
“Oh.” Tia took her glasses off again, standing up. “I shall go there while the sun is up.”
“You should take somepony with you. Ponyville can hide some unpleasant surprises. I would go, but I’m really busy.”
“I’ll see if Luna is feeling good enough to accompany me.” Tia started towards the door, but then stopped and turned back to Celestia. “Speaking of Luna, what’s the matter between you two?”
To say that Celestia’s expression darkened would be an understatement. She gave a little groan, avoiding eye contact with Tia. “It’s...complicated. You really don’t want to hear it now. Just go and check on Luna.”
“Oh. Okay then.” Tia decided to not press further, and resumed her way out of the library.
Ponyville, then? Tia thought. Let’s see where the Silver Oaks will take me.
