Mirrors' Curse

by Fluttersnake31

Rating: mature
Tags: Sex, Tragedy, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Main 6, Other, Trixie, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 24544

A mysterious cursed mirror changes the citizens of Ponyville and only Twilight has the power to stop it before Equestria crumbles.

A few months have passed since 'Magic Duel' and Trixie has made a change for the better, but everything changes as the mirror she purchased at a thrift store has a strange effect on those who come in contact with Trixie or the mirror. Luckily, Twilight manages to avoid the effects of the mirror and seeks Celestia for answers. Now she and the survivors must race against time and magic to survive the chaos inflicting Ponyville and solve this mystery before it devours the entirety of Equestria.

Originally, the story was meant to be a comical, random, spontaneous story that my friend mattmankoga made me turn into a fanfic, but has since become one of the darkest things I've written. Editors on my story are mattmankoga (deviantart artist) and PinkiePiePlease (fimfiction fanfic writer, Technicolor Love, Daemeon's Little Colgate). Credits for the references made in the story shall be made as I progress in the story if deemed necessary as I do make a few references to other fanfiction (you do not have to be familiar with the other fanfictions to understand the story).

Published 2013-05-31 05:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-11 03:45:42 UTC

Ch. 1 - Trixie, Catalyst of Chaos

Chapter 1 - Trixie, Catalyst of Chaos

Warning:
Ponies are in this fanfiction.

The Nice and Changed Trixie

The sun was shining brightly as Trixie finished cleaning up after her show. It had been a month since she returned to Ponyville to challenge her rival, Twilight Sparkle, which ended up causing her to have a ‘change-of-heart’ from the events with the Alicorn Amulet. Ever since the life renovation, she had become more honest to the ponies who watched her performances and focused on her entertainment skills instead of trying to spite her old rival. As she returned to the bare essentials of her wagon, she sat down on the old mattress in the middle of her mobile home. The trailer was quite new as she had lost her old one soon after the first time she went to Ponyville and was outfitted with only basic necessities of a life on the move.

“I really need to pick up some more stuff for the wagon. This place looks way too empty,” she thought to herself with the dreaded conviction of having to do a deed too long undone.

Stepping outside again, she was greeted by none other than Snips and Snails, her most loyal, and somewhat annoying, fans.

“Hey, Great and Powerful Trixie, that was your best show yet.” the short, stout,and bluish colt said excitedly.

“Yeah, that was puurdy’ good. Is there anything you want us to do for you?” Snails, the taller of the two added.

Trixie blushed a little, holding back her old boasting habits. “Thank you so much. But how about The Great and Powerful Trixie takes you two shopping with me? Wouldn’t that be magnificent?”

The two nodded in delight and followed Trixie to the local donation store. Various objects and knick-knacks entranced the two colts while Trixie went to look at some dressers. The one she had was in very poor condition. The mirror had been broken when she got it, so she was looking for a better one that could hold the rest of her makeup and costumes that would normally just sit in a box on the floor. None of them seemed to stand out enough for Trixie’s tastes. She continued towards the back of the store where she saw the perfect piece for her trailer. A large mirror stood up from the back of the dresser, and the long table-like area gave her plenty of room on which to place things while getting ready for performances. Coming up and around the mirror to hold it in its place was a beautiful metal piece painted as black and devoid of mirth as Luna’s darkest nights. Its wood was stained a deep mahogany color that contrasted in a sinister fashion with the metal. Trixie stood transfixed by the dresser’s unnatural beauty for several moments before Snips and Snails came over to investigate as to why she was standing in the odd trance.

“Hey, Trixie, are you alright?” Snips inquired. When she didn’t reply, Snails went in front of her and shook her a little, breaking the trance.

Trixie shook her head. “Huh? Oh. I’m sorry. It’s just that this thing is so beautiful that I couldn’t help but be fixated for a bit. I’m ready to make my purchase, are you two ready to leave?”

They nodded, slightly worried. The feelings they got from the mirror wasn’t pleasant like Trixie’s experience. After buying the piece of furniture and taking the two colts out to eat, Trixie retired to her trailer where her new mirror was already set up. It took only half an hour to move it where she wanted it, and another half hour to put her things in the drawers. The day was coming to a close, so she decided it was time for some sleep and laid down on her bed. She quickly drifted into a long, deep sleep.

Who is the Prettiest?

Upon waking up, Trixie felt in a great mood. She had a few days to spare before she needed to leave for her next show, so she was going to visit Twilight and the others. Sitting up on her bed, she could perfectly reach everything she needed on her new dresser. Excited for the day, she put on some simple makeup and looked at herself in the mirror. Giggling a little, she decided to ask it a question.

“Mirror, Mirror, on my wall, who’s the prettiest pony of them all?” Suddenly, the image in front of her began to waver and change. Trixie jumped back a little, confused and scared at the same time. An image of a pony other than herself appeared. A sudden change clicked through Trixie’s mind.

“How is it that the Great and Powerful Trixie isn’t the prettiest?” she said aloud.

“What should we do about it?” a twisted, distorted version of her own voice demanded within the confines of her mind.

“Trixie is the only pony who can be allowed to be the best at everything!” she quickly retorted.

The voice replied simply, “Destroy her.”

Trixie stood up completely, once again in a trance. This time, however, she was moving. As soon as she turned from the mirror, the trance and the memories of the past few seconds since she had asked her question vanished. She shook her head back and forth.

“Huh? Did I fall back asleep?” Feeling very confused, she looked around herself. She saw herself in the mirror as normal. “Ok, I put on my make up. And then? Now I’m over here? That’s strange. Better hurry and meet up with Twilight before I worry anypony.”

Trixie met up with Twilight and Spike at the library. Spike was cleaning up a mess of books as Twilight was awkwardly hovering a few feet from the ground, slightly off balance as she’s still getting used to her new wings. Twilight turned from her work to let Trixie in. “Oh, hello Trixie, I heard your show was pretty good yesterday. I couldn’t go because I was practicing flying with Rainbow Dash, but I’m sure I’ll make it next time.” She smiled and landed, dropping some books down next to one of Spike’s piles.

Trixie smiled kindly and responded, “It’s alright, I bet you’re really busy being a princess and all now. It must be lots of work.”

Twilight giggled, “Really, I haven’t been able to do much since we’re all waiting for season four to start. I’ve just been practicing my flying every other day.”

The first sentence confused Trixie. “What are you talking about? Can you repeat what you just said? I may have missed that.”

Twilight smiled and repeated. “I’ve just been practicing my flying every other day with Rainbow-”

“No, the first part.” Trixie interrupted abruptly.

“That I haven’t been able to do much since we’re all waiting for Celestia’s friend to show up? Well, Celestia said that her friend would be in Ponyville in a couple of weeks and I’m to prepare for his or her arrival.” Twilight glanced awkwardly at her for a moment before explaining what was planned for the day. “Well, anyways, Pinkie and Rarity set up a party at Rarity’s boutique for all of us. They said it would be in honor of my coronation. Again. But it’ll just be Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and us. Rainbow couldn’t make it, so she said you could come along instead.”

Trixie smiled excitedly, “Really!? A party with all of you? That’d be wonderful! But why a small party like this? Doesn’t Pinkie usually like having lots of ponies at her parties?”

“Well, Rarity was really the one to plan it, but with Pinkie’s help. I think she said she had something special planned for it. I don’t really know. But anyways, are you all ready to head over there?” Twilight asked.

“Of course,” Trixie blurted excitedly.

Spike came over to the two before they left. “Why can’t I come with? I’m just as much a part of the group as anypony else.” Spike said jealously.

Twilight was about to reply with an argument that they’d been having all week, but Trixie summed it up much quicker and simpler than Twilight’s response would’ve been. “Spike, I think this party is meant for mares only. We don’t want any secrets that may be shared getting out; now would we?” She smiled at him coyly.

Spike looked a little nervous and replied worriedly. “Oh. I get it now.” Spike went back to finishing his chores, hoping that he wouldn’t be talked about at the party.

Arrival

Upon arriving at the boutique, the two mares were bombarded by confetti and a bouncing pink pony.

“Hiya guys! This party is going to be great! Rarity got some fancy stuff from Canterlot! She says it’s kinda like Applejack’s special cider but better!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly at an impossible fast pace as Twilight and Trixie arrived.

“We’re still waiting for Applejack, so we won’t do much before she arrives, but we can chat a little bit. She should be here soon, so enjoy yourselves.” Rarity added. The main room was mostly cleared out to allow for two sofas and a table. On the table was a variety of snacks and drinks in fancy looking bottles. Trixie recognized that one of the drinks on the table was a specific kind of alcohol that she used to drink a lot during her time working on a rock farm, as she turned to drinking from her depression caused by being run out of every town she had tried to perform in. Even though she recognized that particular brand of alcohol, the other drinks looked a lot more expensive than the one she was familiar with.

Rarity continued, looking over the bottles. “Everything here was given to us specifically for this party by some of my elite friends in Canterlot. They made sure we would have a good time.”

Twilight looked at the various drinks. “Surprisingly, I haven’t heard of any of these kinds of drinks. I don’t typically read about stuff like this.” Twilight said curiously.

“Oh, don’t worry dear, it’s better to experience these with taste instead of reading about them anyways. You’ll see.” Rarity smiled and winked at the curious mare. They all finally sat down on the sofas. On the first sofa, Rarity sat next to Fluttershy, who was quite nervous-looking. Twilight, Pinkie, and Trixie all sat across them on the other sofa.

“So, Fluttershy, how are you today?” Twilight asked nicely, noticing the yellow mare’s distress.

“Oh, uhh, I’m fine, just a little nervous. I just don’t want to end up drinking too much and getting sick.” Fluttershy nervously replied, trying to avoid eye contact.

Rarity quickly spoke up after her, “She’s had some bad experiences with drinking alcoholic drinks. I’ll be surprised if she drinks anything tonight, but it’ll be fine if you don’t dear,” she said, turning to Fluttershy, “we won’t think any less of you if you drink nothing at all.” Fluttershy smiled a little at Rarity and then there was a knock at the door. Rarity stood to let Applejack in, who proceeded to sit down next to Fluttershy.

“Ah’ had a feeling I’d be the last one here.” Applejack chuckled a little. “Let’s get this party going then! What were ya’ll doin’ before I got here?”

“Oh, Rarity was just saying that Fluttershy has bad memories involved with drinking these fancy drinks. That’s really about it, so you didn’t miss anything.” Twilight said informatively.

Applejack turned to Fluttershy, frowning a bit. “Fluttershy, there was nothin’ we coulda’ done to save ‘er... But now ya’ got Angel for company. We know nothin’ like that’ll happen again cause we won’t let it.”

“I know. But- it still was sad.” Fluttershy replied sadly, her volume decreasing.

“Do you mind if Applejack explains what happened?” Trixie asked the shy mare.

“You can tell them. I’ll just step out of the room for a bit.” Fluttershy left into the kitchen and Applejack began to explain.

“Well, ya’ see, back even before we met Twilight; Rarity, her, and I had a party kinda’ like this one, except, we had our hooves on stuff that was way too heavy for any of us, and it was also our first time drinkin’ mature drinks, so none of us knew what we were gettin’ into. Fluttershy ended up drinkin’ the most and thought it’d be a good idea to fly alone into the forest with the cat she had as a pet. Well, we tried goin’ after her but we couldn’t even walk in a straight line. Turned out she accidentaly passed out while flyin’ and crashed into a tree. Killed the cat, but she walked away with only a bruise or two. She was real upset for a while, but then she made Angel her new pet and forgot about it.”

Rarity had already opened one of the bottles while Applejack spoke and drank during the story. Twilight listened intently while Pinkie just played with a yo-yo she pulled out of nowhere.

Trixie was the first to reply to the story. “That’s terrible. Poor cat. Were you all still fillies?”

Rarity spoke up before Applejack, “Of course not, but we were very young mares. Would you like some Trixie?” Trixie nodded and Rarity poured some for her. Rarity got up to bring Fluttershy back in the room. “Fluttershy, you can come ba- What are you drinking!? How’d you find that!? That drink is way too heavy for you or even me!” Fluttershy was drinking out of a glass of heavy alcohol, much different than the fancy drinks in the other room.

“Why’d you have to remind me of her! You should’ve just kept quiet! I- I- Angel’s just not the same! And he’s always so mean to me! Discord won’t stop playing pranks on me and it’s getting old, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings and say anything, and my stare isn’t working on the crusaders anymore, they’re just getting too old I think, I don’t know-” Rarity stopped Fluttershy’s rushed words and rambling with a gentle hoof pressed to Fluttershy’s lips.

“Fluttershy, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything or even had these kinds of drinks here. I think you should head home before you do anything you regret. I promise I’ll make it up to you tomorrow at the spa.” Rarity smiled and kissed Fluttershy’s cheek and embraced her in a hug.

“Th- Thank you Rarity. I forget how much of a light drinker I am. I don’t even know what I’m saying. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She kissed Rarity back and said goodbye to everypony and left for her house, slowly and carefully. Rarity came back into the room and sat down. Applejack was staring at her confused. Twilight and Pinkie were smiling. Distracted, Trixie was looking at some of the few dresses still out for display.

“So Rarity, is there somethin’ between you and Fluttershy we don’t know about?” Applejack questioned.

Rarity blushed, “Oh, you didn’t see anything did you?”

“Sugarcube, we saw everythin’.” Applejack plainly replied.

Blushing even more, Rarity replied. “Well, Fluttershy and I just have our own special kind of relationship, nothing, uh, you know, sexual or anything. It’s hard to explain. You see, we both love to go to the spa together, and we share secrets with each other that we don’t normally tell other ponies. I mean, I’ve known she gets tail extensions even since before the whole thing in the paper with Gabby Gums. A little kiss doesn’t have to be anything that big, it should be fine for good friends to do so in these situations.”

Applejack smiled, “Well, that’s somethin’ I didn’t even notice. Ya’ll do tend to spend a good time together at that fancy spa. And she watches our sisters occasionally too, usually at your request.”

“I had noticed that you two had a special connection with each other that was unique. Actually, at one point I thought of writing about the different connections all of us have with each other that’s unique to all of us.” Twilight added happily.

“Whaddya’ mean?” Applejack asked curiously.

Twilight smiled, “Well, one example is that you and Rainbow Dash are always in a friendly competition.”

Rarity smiled, “And Twilight and Pinkie are completely different but are still friends despite the fact that Pinkie doesn’t always follow logic. We all learned that when you were trying to figure out how Pinkie’s Pinkie Sense works.”

“And Dash and I love to pull pranks and stuff!” Pinkie added, jumping into the air.

“Well, I have a massive crush on Twilight.” Trixie said, standing up, causing everypony to simultaneously turn to her and Pinkie to stop in midair. All noise in the room ceased.

“You do?” Twilight blurted, breaking the awkward silence.

Trixie shuffled back a little realizing her statement was out of context. “I don’t think what I said is what they were talking about.” she thought, blushing out of embarrassment.

“Oh, please tell us more about it!” Rarity asked somewhat excitedly while Twilight still sat there confused, unsure of how to react.

“Oh. Uh. I really don’t think it’s necessary..” Trixie replied, still blushing.

Applejack replied first, “You did bring it up, so why not explain it?” Applejack pulled out some of her special cider and drank some.

“Oh... Okay then, if you really want to hear about it..” Trixie sighed. “Here we go.”

Confessions

Trixie began her story. “It started after you all saved me from the Alicorn Amulet. I realized that all she wanted was to help me, and I never gave her the chance. So I turned and watched as you all set up for the princess’s arrival. That’s when I felt that it’d just be great if I became close with you. Then I helped you with my fireworks. Ever since then, you’ve been on my mind a lot. It might be kinda crazy, but I think I might’ve fallen in love with you.”

Twilight blushed. “Is this what happens when ponies drink this stuff? Is she telling the truth? Of course she is. I can tell by the way she looks at me. How haven’t I seen this before?” Twilight took a sip of the untouched drink next to her. It tasted surprisingly pretty good. Twilight was about to respond to Trixie when she was interrupted by Rarity.

“Well Trixie, while we’re all here, why don’t we have a little fun huh? Mommy’s- I mean- I’m getting bored with all this talking. We could all go upstairs?” Rarity offered, who had been drinking much more than anypony else so far.

“Well, now that i’m a mighty bit un-soberly, so why not talk about things that we don’t talk about when we’re more level headed?” Applejack added. Rarity shrugged and nodded in agreement. “And I think we can save those kinds of things for later, Rarity.” Applejack winked at her mare.

Twilight turned to Pinkie, not wanting to know what they would be talking about while intoxicated. “I’m hungry, let’s make some food while they talk about whatever they’re going to talk about.”

Pinkie smiled, “Okie dokie lokie, Twilight!” She picked up two unopened bottles and took them into the kitchen, hopping after Twilight.

“So, Trixie, you’ve been all over Equestria. What kind of juicy things have you seen during your travels?” Rarity asked provocatively.

Trixie smiled, “Oh, those kinds of things? Well, once I saw Vinyl Scratch and Octavia together back years ago. I think that they both were on something though. But that was back when Vinyl still did those, you know, illegal things. Good thing she stopped that stuff before her career really kicked off.”

Rarity gasped. “You’ve seen them at it? Wow, that’s- what was it like watching the two most famous musicians in Equestria make love together?”

“It really wasn’t much of a big deal at the time, they were hardly known back then anyways. It was just at some party I snuck into in Canterlot in my later years of schooling.” Trixie replied, sighing.

“What’s the matter darling?” Rarity questioned, concerned. Applejack got up and went over to Pinkie and Twilight as she had a feeling that things might get sensual.

“Well, I’d always go to those parties, but nopony wanted to be with me... Like I wasn’t pretty back then.” Trixie frowned.

“Darling, you are beautiful! How about I make it up to you?” Rarity smiled.

“What do you mean?” Trixie replied, blushing from the seductive look that Rarity gave her. Rarity leaned in close and kissed Trixie gently on the lips, surprising her at first. Gradually, she accepted it. As quick as she gave the kiss, Rarity pulled away. Trixie was about to initiate a second kiss, but Rarity had already begun to go up the stairs.

“Follow me, if you want more.” She giggled, winking at Trixie as she went up to her room. Trixie quickly followed, playfully nipping at Rarity’s tail as she chased her up. They went into the bedroom where they hopped onto the large bed in the middle of the room. Beautiful white blankets and sheets covered the mattress along with two gorgeous red pillows. The two mares played on the bed tickling each other for a while before stopping to catch their breath.

“Isn’t everything better when people ship ponies like us together?” Rarity asked happily.

Trixie looked at her confused as to what she meant. “Uhh, can you repeat that?” This was the second time she misheard somepony today, however, Trixie passed it off as part of her drunkenness, disregarding the fact she was completely sober the first time this happened.

Rarity giggled, “I said isn’t everything better when it’s just the two of us together?” Getting up, she went over to a record player on a desk and started some music for the mood.

Trixie smiled, “Oh, yes, of course it is.” As Rarity returned to the bed, Trixie kissed her passionately with it lasting for several moments before they broke away.

“Have you ever done anything with a mare before?” Rarity asked politely, smiling and running her hoof through Trixie’s mane.

“Not yet, but I’ve really wanted to. What about you?” Trixie replied longingly.

“Of course. Applejack and I have done it multiple times ever since the day after we were trapped in Twilight’s house one day.” Rarity replied, not even realizing she was lying. “Are you ready?” Moving towards the end of the bed, she spread Trixie’s legs open.

“Ready for wha-AT. Oooh...” Trixie looked down to see the source of her newfound pleasure and saw Rarity’s tongue as the tool of her arousal. The tongue gently glided up the insides of her legs, getting closer and closer to her private parts each time. Every lick sent a shiver up her body until finally the tongue reached it’s goal, the soft lips between Trixie’s hips. This sent another shiver of intense pleasure through Trixie as she began to moan lightly. Rarity’s tongue continued to lick at Trixie’s clit increasing in speed and depth. Trixie’s moaning got louder and louder as her pleasure skyrocketed. Soon enough, Trixie couldn’t hold herself together and exploded her juices on Rarity’s face.

Smiling widely and seductively, Rarity licked herself clean as best as she could. “You taste wonderful.” she said, winking at her.

Trixie was blushing heavily now as she looked down and noticed that she somehow had soaked the bed beneath her. She smiled at Rarity, surprised and perplexed she spoke, “How did I? What did you do? That was the best thing I’ve ever felt!”

Rarity smiled and kissed her again. “Of course it was, I’ve learned from the best.”

“From Applejack?” Trixie questioned awkwardly, not expecting Applejack to have those kind of talents.

Rarity laughed aloud, “No, that’s ridiculous. I learned from the spa twins, Lotus and Aloe, of course! They almost could have cutie marks just for doing it, but that’d not be a good thing for younger ponies to see in public. Anyways, I have something I need to tell you before we continue.”

Trixie replied, confused. “What is it?”

“Well, I like to be rough, and I’m sorta drunk and might not have control over myself as I normally do.” Rairity nipped Trixie’s ear causing Trixie to gasp. She was surprised how much she liked the feeling of Rarity’s teeth biting down on her tender ear.

Trixie smiled to herself, a sudden desire for much more kinkier rushing through her. “That’s it? I thought you said you were rough?” She saw the sewing machine in the corner of the room and nodded towards it. “I have an idea involving that, if you don’t mind.”

Rarity’s eyes lit up, mind racing to figure out what Trixie’s idea was. “Oh, you can do anything you want my dear.” Trixie smiled with a strange gleam in her eyes that would’ve worried Rarity had she not been drunk.

“So, Rarity, lay down on the table please.” she asked the white mare persuasively. Rarity complied, wondering what Trixie was about to do. Trixie picked up some thick fabric with her magic and began strapping Rarity down with it. Rarity smiled eagerly. the straps held her down tightly, and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to get off of the table on her own. She hoped that this was going to turn out extremely pleasurable.

Something had changed Trixie’s mind now. Her thoughts were starting to become not her own. Not even being completely sober would allow her to control herself now. The strange demented, distorted sound of her voice came clearly through her fogged mind. “Crush her. Kill her. Destroy her.”

Rarity’s voice barely was audible by Trixie, as she lost control of herself. “You know Trixie, i’ve had dreams like this before. I’ve never actually been able to do anything like this with Applejack before. I was too afraid she’d be freaked out by it.” Rarity confessed, not noticing Trixie’s change of mind.

Trixie brushed her hoof through Rarity’s mane and spoke calmly, “Well, you needn’t be afraid anymore.” Trixie picked up a sewing needle and thread and began to sew on rarity’ exposed chest. Rarity winced at the pain a little, but enjoyed it nonetheless. The needle continued on its path that Trixie planned. When she finished, there was a red string sewn onto Rarity’s chest in a heart shape with little dots of blood from the needle around it. Before Rarity could comment on her lovely new string-heart on her chest, Trixie had found some scissors and brought it over to the table. Calmly, Trixie brought the sharp tool to Rarity’s chest. Rarity gasped in pleasure and pain as the scissors sliced into her chest inside the heart sewn to her chest. The scissors traced a familiar shape to Rarity. Blood began to flow from the open wounds as Trixie marked Rarity’s cutie mark inside the heart.

Trixie smiled widely. She wasn’t finished, she only was just getting started. Rarity was beginning to feel a bit dizzy. Noticing this, Trixie summoned a bottle of rubbing alcohol from her trailer.

Rarity was a little confused, starting to notice that something was not quite right. “What’s that you brought darling? More drinks? I could use another drink.” Ignoring her, Trixie just smiled and poured some on her chest. Rarity jolted in her bindings. This pain wasn’t what she had expected, but she faintly liked the burning sensation on her open wounds. Taking advantage of this, Trixie began using the scissors to cut into Rarity’s legs just above her hooves, cutting nice looking circles like little stripes up her leg. Continuing upwards, she made multiple rings of bloody cuts on all of Rarity’s limbs. As soon as she was done with a leg, she poured more rubbing alcohol into the wounds. The pain and pleasure now had become more than Rarity could handle as she squirted from her lady-lips. Trixie smiled from the warm fluids that splashed her face and began to rub Rarity’s pussy with her horn gently. Rarity was getting dizzy again as her senses were becoming too overloaded. She started to feel the table shaking as Trixie began to shove her horn into Rarity over and over again. While Trixie bombarded Rarity with her horn, she began to slice light little lines with the scissors across Rarity’s neck using her magic.

“Trixie, please, slow down, stop the scissors!” She pleaded in between her moans, afraid that Trixie would accidentally cut her neck too deep from the fierce shaking of the table. Trixie slowed down to a stop, removing her horn and glaring at Rarity for interrupting. Instantly, she forced the scissors down into Rarity’s right front leg, the sudden stab causing her to scream loudly in pain. “Trixie, that’s too far! Get it out of my leg, please!” she begged, fearing for her life now.

Trixie just continued to glare. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does as she pleases!” Trixie removed the scissors and repeated the action on the other front leg. Rarity screamed loudly again, not stopping to talk. “Twi! AJ! Somepony save me!” Her mind pleaded as if they would hear her.

When Your Fears and Horrors Come True

“Yay! The cake’s done!” Pinkie said excitedly, jumping up and down. The three mares had been sitting in the kitchen, not saying much of anything to each other except for Pinkie, who had been rambling on about nothing while Applejack sat in the corner and drank her cider and Twilight read a book.

Twilight looked up from her book she pulled out in the middle of Pinkie’s story. “Finally, I was really getting hung-”

“AAAAOUCH!!” The scream caused the three ponies to stop and listen. The kitchen became silent, Twilight bolted up.

“Was that Rarity?” Twilight questioned worriedly.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Rarity’s voice pierced through the floor , easily able to be heard from outside. Suddenly, the scream was cut off, leaving a moment of silence.

“Rarity’s in trouble!” Twilight ran up the stairs with Applejack and Pinkie following closely. Upon arriving in the room, they saw a large pool of blood under their dear friend, the Element of Generosity, who had a pair of scissors through her neck. Tears came to Twilight’s eyes, and she collapsed on the ground from the immediate shock of the death of her friend. Memories of Rarity flashed through her mind. Anger flared up through Applejack, and she stomped up to Trixie, who was still looking down at Rarity and smiling wildly.

“What in the hay did you do ta’ her!?” How could you! I’ll ki-” Trixie looked up straight into Applejack’s teary eyes. Suddenly, Applejack seemed to stop in her tracks, in some sort of trance. Pinkie just stared, still standing by Twilight, not knowing what to make of the situation. Twilight was chaotically crying as memories still ran through her mind.

Applejack turned around and faced Twilight, seeming to still be under a trance. “Ah’ should be a princess! It’s not fair that you and the other five get all the fans an’ I’m treated like a background character! Just cause’ ya’ll have goals you haven’t obtained yet, don’t mean ah’m less appealing or less important!” Applejack spouted out.

Twilight looked up towards Rarity’s body through her tears. Confused, she addressed Applejack with her voice, not looking at her as she was still mesmerized by Rarity. “What are you talking about? Nothing you’re saying makes any sense. Applejack snap out of it!” Applejack seemed not to pay any attention and turned and bucked Twilight into a wall. Crashing to the floor, Twilight painfully stood up, clutching her side. Hearing Applejack running towards her, she managed to dive out of the way before being rammed. Applejack skidded to a stop before crashing into the wall and turned towards Twilight again to charge at her. Twilight teleported downstairs instinctively to get away. Applejack looked around confused as to where Twilight went, then she casually trotted over to Pinkie.

“Pinkie, what in tarnation do ya’ think yer’ doin?” Applejack questioned angrily. Pinkie turned and looked at Applejack. The two froze for a moment as their eyes met. Similar to Applejack, Pinkie was in a trancelike state for a moment.

She shook her head and smiled at Applejack. “I’m playing a game!” Pinkie lunged at the orange mare, hugging tightly, trying to suffocate her.

Surprised by the attack, Applejack had no idea how to react. “P-Pinkie! Get offa’ me! Why are you!?” Applejack struggled to break free, but soon she passed out. Smiling, Pinkie dragged her down the stairs leaving Trixie and Rarity in the room alone.

Trixie shook her head, she seemed to have been staring out into nothingness after Applejack locked eyes with her. She stood there looking at Rarity. “What happened? Why did I kill Rarity? I feel so much better though. I’m not even upset. I need to go back to the wagon.” Trixie thought emotionlessly. She teleported back to her room, leaving Rarity’s carcass alone.

As Pinkie came downstairs, Twilight was rapidly searching through a book about curses she happened to have with her, trying to find out what was going on. She saw Pinkie dragging Applejack down the stairs. “Are you okay? Will Applejack be fine? What’s going on Pinkie?” Twilight questioned worriedly.

Pinkie stopped at the door not turning to look at Twilight. “I need her to help me with some baking of course! We’re going to make some cupcakes!” Pinkie said excitedly. Twilight looked confused but figured she knew what she she was doing and didn’t question it. “I need to find out what Trixie is up to! She must know what is going on with everypony!” As Twilight returned to Rarity’s room her sadness came up again, but she quickly collected herself and focused on figuring out what was going on. Dried blood still covered the table and floor under Rarity. Twilight wanted to throw up at the sight of one of her best friends being lifeless in front of her. “How could anypony be so cruel? Why didn’t Rarity run before she was strapped down? I should’ve seen something like this coming with those drinks. I have to find Trixie.” Luckily, there was some paper and a quill on a desk in the corner of the room. Twilight quickly sent a message to Spike telling him to meet her at Trixie’s trailer along with a message to Celestia recalling the events of the party so far. Hurriedly, she placed a barrier around Rarity to keep any clues and evidence intact. The barrier would not allow anything inside it to leave the barrier. She quickly teleported to Trixie’s trailer and waited for Spike to arrive.

Spike arrived as quick as he could, panting as he arrived. “What’s up Twilight?”

“Something strange is up with Trixie and Applejack. I have to ask her what’s going on.” She went up and knocked on the door. There was no reply. Nodding at Spike with a silent ‘watch-our-backs’ look on her face, she carefully opened the door. As they entered, they saw Trixie staring at a mirror without blinking, not even noticing Twilight and Spike walk in. Spike went over to Trixie and waved his hand in front of her face, there was no response. He turned back to Twilight and shrugged.

“It’s like she’s under a spell or something.” Spike commented.

“Spike, be careful, I think all the stuff that’s been happening has something to do with that mirror. It has a bad aura around it.” Twilight replied while looking around the room, away from the mirror. Spike walked around Trixie then looked at the mirror directly.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything strange with-” Spike’s words trailed off when he became under the same trance as Trixie.

Noticing, Twilight ran to his side and tried to shake it out of him. “Spike! Look away! It’s the mirror doing this, Spike! Spike, please!” Tears came to her eyes, she couldn’t believe what was going on. “Spike!!” she screamed as loud as she could. A thought came to her head, and she teleported the bed outside and pushed the dresser with it’s mirror out of their line of sight. The blue mare and purple dragon still stared endlessly as if the dresser was still in front of them. “Why is this happening!?” Twilight yelled, still crying. Leaving as fast as she could, she went to get Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to check on Pinkie and Applejack and make sure they were safe.

Fluttershy was asleep when Twilight arrived. Twilight’s banging on the door and yelling easily woke the shy pony. “What is it Twilight?” The sleepy, cute mare asked as she opened the door.

“Something bad is going on, and I need your help. Rarity was killed because I think Trixie became possessed by a mirror and now she and Spike are frozen in place. Applejack might be possessed too!” Twilight rushed the words out almost as fast as when Pinkie is excited about something.

Fluttershy nodded, somewhat confused, and followed Twilight. Then the words started to sink in as they ran to the park that Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo would be. “Wait, you said that Rarity was.. K-k-k-killed?” Fluttershy exclaimed.

“Yes, she was murdered by Trixie while under the influence; I think that something has possessed her too.” Twilight replied quickly.

Fluttershy stopped in her tracks. “No, that’s- that’s impossible! She can’t be dead! No! No, no, no!” Tears flowed from her closed eyes and she held herself in place, shaking her head back and forth. “This is just a bad dream, Angel will wake me up soon. Please Angel, I hate nightmares! Angel!” she screamed loudly.

“Please, Fluttershy, we don’t have time for this! We have to find Rainbow Dash!” Twilight quickly helped Fluttershy up, and they continued towards the park, Twilight half dragging Fluttershy, who was still in denial.

When the two arrived at the park, the scene in front of them was not what they expected. Rainbow Dash was holding a completely motionless Scootaloo in her front hooves. Ponies were watching the rainbow-maned pegasus scream in agony.

“Scootaloo! Please, speak to me! Why? Why did this happen out of nowhere? Please somepony help her!” Rainbow yelled, looking around at the ponies standing by still in shock.

Twilight and Fluttershy ran up to the two. “What’s going on!? What happened?”

Rainbow Dash was still wearing flight goggles that were fogged up from the tears that came from her eyes. Seeing Twilight, she took them off quickly. “Twilight, do something please! We were flying and we saw Pinkie wave at us then Scootaloo stopped and turned to me and out of nowhere said she loved me, and she fell to the ground like a stone. We weren’t far enough up to do anything bad, but she’s- she’s paralyzed!” Rainbow Dash said with tears in her eyes.

Twilight thought to herself, “This happened when they saw Pinkie? Is it something that has to do with the mirror?” Twilight used her magic to quickly analyze Scootaloo. “Uh. That’s strange. I’m picking up some sort of substance on her. All I can tell is that it’s something used for the weather. Do you know what it is Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash looked confused and replied angrily. “That- That can’t be right, the only thing I can think of is liquid thunder, but that stuff is only at the weather factory! That doesn’t make sense, try again! Anything with her medical history? Please save her Twilight!”

Twilight replied hurriedly. “Rainbow Dash, I don’t know okay. Look, we need to find Pinkie and Applejack, something terrible happened at the boutique, I’ll tell you on the way! Please, we have to hurry!” Rainbow Dash glared at her, but if the other elements needed her, she had to go with. Carefully, she set the immobile Scootaloo on the ground and left with the other two, letting the doctors to take care of her that had just arrived. Twilight quickly explained to Rainbow Dash what was going on.

“Rarity’s... Gone!?” Rainbow said angrily and growled. She put on her goggles and flew up ahead arriving at Sugarcube Corner before the others. “Come out here now Pinkie and AJ!!!! Don’t make me come in there!” she yelled loudly. There was no response. The Cakes seemed to not be home. Rainbow pounded on the door, tears in her eyes. “Come on! I know you’re in there you two! We need to find out what in tartarus happened to Rarity!” Soon enough, she got tired of knocking and took some steps back and charged into the door with a spontaneous sonic rainboom, making a large hole in the wall. Noticing the door to the basement was locked, she began bucking at the door. Twilight and Fluttershy arrived as soon as Rainbow broke the door down. She ran down the stairs followed by the other two. The scene in front of Rainbow Dash didn’t make anything better. As with Rarity, a pool of blood was on the floor, however, this time there was twice as much blood on the floor as if the victim had been opened up and spilt on the floor. A bouncy pink mane was the only thing Twilight could see as Rainbow and Fluttershy stood in the way in front of her due to the narrow stairway.

“Pinkie? What the buck!” Rainbow screamed in anger and pure agony as another of her best friends laid dead in front of her. The most hardworking pony in Ponyville was now a bloody carcass. Rainbow’s anger couldn’t hold it’s place anymore as it gave away to a deeper sadness of the loss of two of her best friends. “A-Applejack. No! No! Why Pinkie? Why!?”

Pinkie just stood there smiling, Applejack laid sliced open, strapped to a dirty wooden table, her organs spread out onto the nicer looking table beside her. Fluttershy fell to the ground clutching herself tight, trying to block everything out and hold back her urge to throw up.

Twilight took a few steps back up the stairs as she saw the mess behind Pinkie. “Rainbow, let’s get out of here! We need to see Celestia!” she said urgently. Rainbow turned and nodded.

Fluttershy stood up and spoke, “No, w- w- we can fix Pinkie! We’ll use our Elements! L-l-l-like with Discord!” She turned to look at Pinkie. “Pinkie, come back to us, I know this isn’t what you want! We’ll forgive you, but please come back to us!” Pinkie had been watching Rainbow Dash, but then turned to look at Fluttershy. Their eyes locked, and they seemed to freeze for a moment.

Twilight figured out how this epidemic worked now. “Rainbow, run! Fluttershy’s been infected now too! We need to leave!” Twilight screamed. Rainbow stood watching the two as Fluttershy hunched over as a strange tool materialized out of thin air. It looked like a strange cutting tool of some sort. Suddenly, the device revved up with a loud continuous roaring buzz and the weapon’s blade started to vibrate as well. Somehow wielding the foreign weapon in her hooves, Fluttershy raised it up over Pinkie and brought it down diagonally across her neck. Blood spurted profusely as it cut through her, leaving a large, nasty wound. Pinkie’s screams echoed through the room loudly until she fell onto the ground. Twilight gasped loudly, tears in her eyes once again. Rainbow Dash had absolute terror on her face. Fluttershy began to slowly turn around.

Twilight screamed before Fluttershy was all the way facing them, “Rainbow, don’t look into her eyes, grab onto me!” Rainbow turned and clung to Twilight’s leg as she teleported them back to her treehouse, escaping the sight of a wide eyed, creepy smiling Fluttershy.

Infection

Rainbow Dash and Twilight sat in the middle of the library panting. They were glad that they were safe, but Twilight’s morale was broken. Three of her best friends were now dead and she had no idea why. Silently, she cried and went over to the picture of her friends that were on her nightstand. “Celestia, what is going on with everypony? Why is all of this happening? How do I stop this?” Questions and memories racked her brain and she just picked up the picture and held it close to her heart and laid onto the bed, tears flowing freely and silently from her eyes.

The rainbow-maned mare was sitting in the middle of the library, looking just as stunned as Twilight. She took off her goggles, allowing her tears to fall down her face. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were two of her closest friends and now they were gone forever, but what horrified her the most was seeing the mare she’s known since she was a little filly turn beyond backwards into a psycho killer right before her eyes. Fluttershy’s murder of PInkie was still etched deeply in her mind. Rainbow Dash felt like she would never get that sight out of her mind. Standing up, she went to lay by Twilight on her bed, as it was starting to get a little cold on the ground.

“I hope you don’t mind this Twi. I- we’ve been through a lot today. I need to rest a bit.” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight looked up at Dash and smiled weakly. “It’s fine. I’m just glad that we’re okay. We should be fine to rest awhile in here anyways. If this all started here, we have some time before Canterlot gets infected by whatever is going on.” “Hopefully. Princess, please respond soon. I can’t do this alone.” she thought, feeling helpless and unsure of what to do. Turning over to look at Rainbow, Twilight continued with heavy emotion in her voice, “Rainbow, what’ll happen if we can't find a way to stop this? What if we can’t handle the loss of our friends? I can barely even move, I’m so crushed by this. Rainbow, I- I don’t know what to do!” Tears were in her eyes again as she hugged Dash close to her.

Rainbow Dash didn’t really know what to say. She wished Pinkie was there to make everypony happy again; and Rarity, to give something to Twilight to boost her spirits; Applejack, to offer reassuring words of wisdom; and Fluttershy, to hug Twilight back and help with her nurturing ways. All she could do was to stay with her, no matter what. “But, Twilight needs me too. I won’t fail her, or the memories of our friends. We’ll fix all this, I know we can.” Now hugging back, Rainbow Dash smiled to herself knowing she would not let Twilight down.

“Twilight, we can fix all this. You’re a princess, and I will never leave your side. I promise, I will never fail you.” Rainbow said proudly.

Twilight smiled again, “Thank you, Rainbow. I’m glad that you’re okay.” Surprisingly, even to Twilight herself, she kissed Rainbow Dash on the cheek.

Rainbow blushed a little. “Uhh, Twi, are you okay? You’ve never done that before.” Rainbow replied, confused a little despite that she liked it.

“I learned from Rarity and Fluttershy that sometimes, a kiss between friends is okay, even without needing any romantic relationship. Rainbow, I love every one of my friends. I love you with all of my heart and would sacrifice anything for you, and the same with Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and even Spike. I’m dedicated to all of you just as much as you are to us. We are going to fix everything, not just for our own survival, but for them too. We should get some rest, we have a long journey ahead of us.” Twilight said as she pulled the blanket over them and closed her eyes. Rainbow Dash smiled and fell asleep as well, still holding Twilight in the comfort of her hooves.

Back at the trailer, Trixie and Spike began to break out of their trance. Trixie shook her head and looked at Spike. “What are you doing here? Why is my mirror moved?” She asked awkwardly, her mind still somewhat fuzzy.

Spike looked at her, also confused. “Uhh, well Twilight and I were coming to figure out what happened to Rarity and saw you staring at that mirror. And now I guess I’m standing here looking at you.” Spike looked around the room. “Twilight?” There was no sign of Twilight around. “Trixie, I think you need to get rid of that mirror or destroy it. Twilight said that something bad happened and when we saw you staring at it in a trance, well, I just have a bad feeling about it and it’d be best if we got rid of it.” Spike was unsure exactly of what to say. All he really knew was that something bad happened to Rarity, and it involved Trixie and this mirror.

Trixie was puzzled. “The mirror? Why would the mirror have made me fall into a trance? It’s just a normal mirror, but- wait a second. I guess I have been noticing that I might be having some strange trances once in awhile. Now that you mention it, I seem to phase out whenever I’m around the mirror. Maybe you’re right about it. Do you want to help me put it outside so I can return it later?”

Spike nodded and they began to lift it outside. A thought came to Spike, and they stopped before it left the wagon. “Don’t you think we should break it? That might fix whatever’s going on.” Spike picked up a rock from outside and prepared to throw it at the mirror.

“Well, if you think so, go ahead.” Trixie said. Spike picked up the stone and threw it as hard as he could. He completely missed. The rock bounced weakly off the wall. Trixie sighed and spoke in her usual ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude, “Spike, that was seriously pathetic. Watch the Great and Powerful Trixie shatter this thing with a single kick.” Trixie went up to the mirror and bucked at it. Somehow, she stopped in mid-kick. “Huh? My body won’t let me kick it!”

Spike gasped, “Oh no! We have to tell Twilight! It must not be letting us destroy it because of it’s magic!” Trixie nodded and they ran out towards Twilight’s house. On their way, they saw Fluttershy, staring awkwardly at her self.

Spike rushed over to figure out what was wrong. “Fluttershy, are you okay? What happened? Why are you covered in blood!?” Spike asked the mare.

Holding a strange device in her hooves as if it’s handle would comfort her, Fluttershy replied emotionlessly. “Spike, I don’t know what happened, I- I blacked out, and when I came to I was covered in blood and had this loud thing in my hooves. Then it stopped vibrating and making noise after making more strange noises as if it was dying. I’m so scared Spike, but- it’s like I’m not scared at the same time. I could even feel extremely happy right now, I just can’t tell. What’s going on Spike? Did I kill somepony? With this thing i’m holding?” She held it out to look at it for a sec before dropping it to the ground abruptly and looking back at Spike in a rather emotionless way, as if she can’t convey her feelings through her facial expressions anymore.

Inspecting the strange tool, Spike cautiously circled around it. It was covered in almost fresh blood. Trixie spoke up before Spike could think of how to respond. “Well, we have no idea what’s going on either. Do you know if Twilight’s at the library?”

Fluttershy remembered the gruesome scene of Applejack at Sugarcube Corner and emotion came back to her in full force. “Oh no! I have to see if they’re okay, Pinkie went insane and- and k-k-killed Applejack! Twilight and Rainbow Dash are there too!”

Spike gasped, “We have to make sure Twilight’s okay!” The trio galloped towards Sugarcube Corner. Fluttershy opened the door to the basement and stopped as soon as she saw the remains of Pinkie Pie. The two behind her halted in response, almost knocking Fluttershy down the steps. “What’s wrong Fluttershy?” Spike asked, being too short to see around her.

An awful, high pitch scream rising in volume filled the room. “I killed Pinkie!” Fluttershy wailed. She clutched herself in a tight ball, screaming as loud as she could. Spike and Trixie now could see the gruesome image in front of them. A raggedly sliced, lifeless Pinkie laid at the bottom of the steps along with the bodies of a few stray ponies that must’ve been unfortunate enough to come near whoever committed this terrible crime. Among the five other carcassas was Mr. and Mrs. Cake, both with equally devastating wounds as Pinkie. Spike threw up immediately as the reality of the scene sank in. Trixie used her magic to lift Spike back outside and pulled Fluttershy onto her back and carried her own, her cries starting to get quieter as several moments passed.

“Look, we need to see Twilight, she’ll know what to do.” Trixie offered. Getting up off the ground, Spike nodded hesitantly with tears in his eyes. They began to head back towards the library until when they were about halfway there, at which point Lyra and Bon Bon happily walked by. The two watched the dragon and bloody mares walk by.

“What happened to you?” Lyra asked in shock as the two mares noticed the blood on Trixie’s hooves and Fluttershy’s coat.

Trixie set Fluttershy down carefully, as she was pretty heavy, which isn’t what Trixie expected. “I think there’s some sort of curse going on. I’d stay away from us if I were you. We don’t want to accidentally curse you too.” Trixie warned as she looked up at Lyra. The two temporarily locked eyes for a bit.

Bon Bon took a step back, unsure of what just happened. “No! You’ve been cursed too!” Bon Bon shook Lyra out of her trance, but as soon as Lyra turned back to her, she fell into one as well.

Spike managed to shake them out of it and turned to Trixie. “Trixie, I think they just got cursed from looking into our eyes!” Spike said worriedly.

“I’m so sorry! Please, forgive us! We didn’t know we would curse you!” Trixie apologized, hoping the two wouldn’t get mad.

The two mares just looked at her awkwardly. “Curse us with what? Are you feeling okay?” Bon Bon asked as if nothing happened. The two walked away going back to chatting.

Trixie turned to Spike, “This doesn’t make sense, if they were just infected by looking into our eyes, how come Twilight and the others never got infected the moment I saw everypony?”

“Well, what if something caused it to change or start affecting others? Like some kind of virus?” Spike replied, unsure of how viruses or curses worked.

“That’s not good! We have to tell Twilight somehow without seeing her.” Trixie said. Spike nodded and turned towards Fluttershy, who was fast asleep, eyes slightly puffy from her crying. Pulling out his quill and notepad, he quickly sent her a note.

“We should get somewhere safe, away from everypony else just in case more ponies look into our eyes.” Spike said. Trixie nodded and teleported them back to her trailer and shut the door. After teleporting the bed back into the room, she set the sleeping Fluttershy onto the bed and laid on the ground next to it, taking a few pillows to rest on. Spike stood awkwardly and looked at Trixie, “So. Uh. Can I lay down somewhere?”

Trixie sighed, “You can lay by me, if you don’t want to lay by Fluttershy. I won’t bite or anything.” She cleared some room for him next to her.

Spike smiled weakly and cuddled up to her, imagining it was Twilight. “I- I hope Twilight can fix everything. It’s only been a little while, but I miss her so much already. I can’t even go see her until this is all over. If I even get to see her then.” Spike said, a sad expression on his face. He soon fell asleep followed by Trixie.

About an hour earlier, Apple Bloom was walking through Ponyville on her way to meet up with Scootaloo after she finished with her flight practice with Rainbow Dash. Today was different though, her sister was gone to party with friends which left Apple Bloom and her brother to take care of the farm without Applejack. Apple Bloom’s thoughts went over the morning’s conversation:

“Apple Bloom, ah’ gotta hurry to Rarity’s for some fancy party, so ya’ll have ta’ work hard without me today, so wake up!” Applejack said loudly.

Groaning, Apple Bloom got up from her bed. “What do ya’ mean by fancy party? What are ya’ gonna do there?” the filly questioned sleepily.

“Well, I’m probably gonna’ drink some cider and have a great time with mah’ friends.” Applejack replied bluntly.

Apple Bloom sighed, “I wanna go to a cool party. Ah’ bet it’s one of them parties with that special cider ya’ll never let me try.”

Applejack playfully glared at her and got up after finishing her breakfast and put on her saddlebag. “Have fun Apple Bloom, see ya’ tonight.” Applejack smiled and left.

Apple Bloom had now finally arrived at the park. There was a crowd of ponies standing around something, murmuring as t here were some medical ponies trying to take care of somepony. Apple Bloom wedged her way through the crowd. “I hope that it’s not Scootaloo or Rainbow Dash. I wonder what happened.” She got closer and closer to the center until she saw the orange filly.

“Scootaloo? Scootaloo! What happened!” She asked loudly, worried. Before receiving a reply, she saw the doctor turn to a nurse next to him shaking his head with sorrow and closing his eyes. The crew began lifting the stretcher up into an ambulance. Apple Bloom ran past the others straight to the doctor. “What happened to Scootaloo!?” She yelled.

The doctor sighed heavily, “I’m sorry, filly, but she’s been paralyzed by liquid thunder. We tried to save her but to no avail. I’m really sorry.”

Tears came to her eyes as she realized that her friend was paralyzed and couldn’t be saved. She had to tell Sweetie Belle. Running as fast as she could, she went to Carousel Boutique. The door was wide open when she arrived, the faint smell of blood coming from upstairs. Carefully, she went up the stairs. Hearing quiet sobbing coming from Rarity’s room, she decided to investigate in there first. Upon walking into the room, she saw the same scene that Twilight had left behind except now there was a large bubble around Rarity’s body with Sweetie Belle standing inside it, tears in her eyes. She looked at Apple Bloom through the barrier.

“A-Apple Bloom. My sister’s dead.” Sweetie Belle said slowly and full of grief.

“That’s not right! Ah’ just saw Scootaloo was p- paralyzed! We gotta’ tell somepony about her and yer’ sister!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, tears starting to come to her eyes. Assuming that the two tragedies were linked, she began to question Sweetie Belle, desperate for answers. “Do ya’ know what’s goin’ on? Is everything turning to chaos? Where’s mah’ sister?”

“Apple Bloom, stop asking so many questions! I don’t know whats going on!” she said harshly through teary eyes. Sweetie Belle stopped to think for a moment and tried to calm down before continuing, “And about your sister, I don’t know where she is. But I do know Pinkie knocked her out though, and she left with her. I heard most of it from my room, cause’ Rarity said I had to stay in there during the party. After I heard my sister scream there was some more commotion and stuff going on and listened to what was happening. When I thought it was safe, I came out here and s-saw. I- I saw my big sis was hurt bad.” the filly began to cry more and stuttered as she spoke. “I teleported inside this bubble to see if there was anything I could do. She was still alive, but she just looked at me and smiled. Then she- she- she’s gone now!” She broke into tears and pounded on the barrier from the inside, somehow unable to escape it. “And I can’t teleport out now, the barrier won’t let me leave or use magic!” she wailed loudly.

Apple Bloom, also crying, replied, trying to make things seem fine. “D-don’t worry Sweetie Belle, I’ll find Twilight after I get my sister, she’s probably at Sugarcube Corner. They’ll know what to do. I’ll hurry, ah’ promise!” She left in a sprint towards Sugarcube Corner, hoping Applejack and the other remaining four of her sister’s friends would be there.

Round Two

Back at the library, a letter appeared out of nowhere and shot into Twilight’s face, waking her up from her nap. She smiled in relief as she saw the letter and woke up Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow, I got a letter! Read it with me, it might be from Celestia.” Twilight said excitedly, shaking Rainbow Dash a bit. Rainbow groaned and got up. Twilight opened the letter, it was from Spike, which was what she wasn’t expecting.

“Spike? Is he infected by it too?” Rainbow asked as they read the message, which explained that Spike, Trixie, and Fluttershy were alive and okay and that the ‘curse’ is spread via looking into the eyes of other ‘cursed’ ponies.

“Well, yes, but they must be okay. Or it’s a trap. I have no idea how this curse affects everypony, but I should probably find something to cover my eyes before we go back outside though.” Twilight replied cautiously.

“We’re leaving already?” Rainbow asked sleepily and in distaste of the idea they had to go before her nap was finished.

Twilight giggled and replied simply, “No, I have to pack some supplies just in case the train is infected and we need to escape or fly to Canterlot. Don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of time to get more sleep.” She got out of the bed and went downstairs to start preparing for the trip to Canterlot as Rainbow Dash fell back asleep. Always being ready for emergencies, Twilight pulled out a checklist on the things she needed and began working away. After packing and trying to do some research on the mirror to no avail Twilight went to sit down. Soon enough, Rainbow Dash woke up and went to sit over by Twilight, who was resting by her saddlebags, trying to think about what the mirror could be or where it was from.

“Well, it’s about time we get going. It’s dark out now.” Rainbow noted. It was just an hour after sunset.

Twilight sighed, “Yeah, we probably should. Anything you need to do before we leave?”

Rainbow thought for a moment. There was something she wanted to do before they left, but she wasn’t sure how Twilight would react to it. “Well, I- uhh- close your eyes and relax a bit. I wanna try something.”

Confused a little, Twilight obliged and shut her eyes. Rainbow lightly kissed Twilight’s cheek, placing a hoof on her flank. Twilight smiled lightly and pulled Rainbow Dash closer to her with her wing. With another kiss, Rainbow pushed Twilight back a little. A pillow was levitated over to them and landed under Twilight’s head while the two mares were still in mid-kiss. Dash slid her hoof to Twilight’s clit and gently began to rub it. Moaning lightly, Twilight slowly slid her tongue between Rainbow’s lips. Their tongues met and danced together, picking up in intensity as Rainbow’s hoof rubbed Twilight faster, making her become moist. Her pleasure increasing more and more, Twilight casted a spell to make Rainbow Dash feel everything she was feeling at the same time. Surprised, Rainbow squealed a little and then doubled her speed, her hoof vibrating rapidly. Both mares squirted intensely at the same time, covering the floor in their juices. The two smiled at each other and hugged close.

As Twilight looked upon the mess in front of her, the realization of what they just did sank into her mind. “What have I done? I’ve never had intercourse with another pony before. I was waiting until I met the right pony. How did I allow myself to do this so easily? I love Rainbow Dash, but...”

Rainbow could tell something was bothering Twilight. “Twi? I didn’t like, do something wrong, did I?” Rainbow asked, concerned.

Twilight sighed, “Rainbow Dash, what we just did, this isn’t right. We shouldn’t just do these things just because we’re in this dire situation. I- I should’ve said something.”

Rainbow stepped back a little, deep guilt in her chest making her almost want to cry. “Twilight, I’m sorry. It just. I felt like- like something I wanted to experience just in case one of us. I didn’t mean to pressure you.” A tear came from her eye. “I’m so sorry Twilight.”

“Rainbow Dash, it’s okay, but, why did you want to do this? Was it from what I said before?” Twilight asked.

“Well, mostly, I just felt like it was something we should do. I don’t know. I- I’m not thinking straight. What you said earlier, about you loving me, I thought that we should experience this before something bad happened to one of us. I’ve never done anything like it before, but I’ve always wanted to, but, I don’t know. I guess I’m just shaken up from losing the one who I loved the most along with my two best friends. I never had the chance to tell Pinkie how much I cared about her.” Rainbow Dash began crying once again. “None of them. I never had the chance to say how much I cared about them! I’m just so scared Twilight. I miss them. You’re the closest pony to them that I have left Twilight.” She turned away embarrassed.

Twilight came over and embraced her in a tight hug. “We both are scared Rainbow Dash. We just have to keep positive thoughts and move forward. I forgive you, and I love you too Rainbow Dash. Let’s get our stuff and go before it’s too dark.”

As soon as the two finished putting on their saddlebags, there was a knock on the door. Twilight quickly put on a pair of sunglasses on and Rainbow put on her goggles. Carefully, Twilight answered the door.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash had jumped back the moment they saw it was Fluttershy. “Twilight, it’s Spike! He just suddenly started to v-violate Trixie! Th-th-then Trixie k-killed him!” Tears were in the yellow mare’s eyes.

“What happened, why are you fine all of a sudden?” Twilight questioned, fearful that another weapon would appear in her hooves like before.

“What do you mean? I’m not like Pinkie was am I? Twilight, you have to stop Trixie!” Fluttershy stepped towards the two again but they also took another step back.

“Fluttershy, you’ve been affected by whatever is happening to everypony! We have to find a way to fix this. If you’re okay, come with us and don’t look into anypony’s eyes.” Twilight said quickly.

“I’ll try as hard as I can to keep control of myself, I won’t slow you down.” Fluttershy said nervously. The three mares left the library on their way towards the train station. As they ran, a blue unicorn noticed Twilight and began running after them.

“Fluttershy, just keep running, she’s probably gone crazy!” Rainbow yelled as they ran from the pony.

“Wait, Twilight! Something terrible has happened! You have to help her!” The pony yelled after them. Twilight’s instincts told her that this one wasn’t infected, but she didn’t let her guard down.

“Colgate, who needs help? What happened?” Twilight asked cautiously.

Colgate stopped to take a breath. “It’s crazy, Lyra and Bon Bon were walking together in the marketplace and then suddenly they started going up to other ponies and gathering an army of sorts. Then they went to Carrot Top’s house and set it on fire! I was on my way to find you; we have to save her if we can!”

Twilight sighed and quickly replied, “Colgate, we need to get Celestia to help. If you want to come with us, we could use the help.” Colgate nodded and followed, knowing herself that even if they went to try and save Carrot Top, they’d arrive too late anyways. As they continued on through the town, the four mares could see the smoke from the fire lighting up the night sky at Carrot Top’s house when they turned the corner. An angry mob of ponies cheered around the building. “How could this be happening? They all aren’t even showing the same symptoms as each other. This can’t be an illness, it has to be some curse or a powerful magic. I’ve never read anything about it in my books. I didn’t find out anything while Rainbow was asleep either.” The four continued onward until Fluttershy tripped over something. As Twilight quickly helped her up she noticed the strange but familiar item that Fluttershy stumbled upon.

Unfortunately, Fluttershy saw it too. “Oh no! Th-th-th-th-the chainsaw!!!!” Fluttershy screamed in horror. Before Twilight could ask how she knew what the strange device was called, Fluttershy picked up the weapon and revved it to life, losing control of herself once again.

“Run!” Twilight yelled immediately. The three mares began to flee as fast as they could as Fluttershy chased after them with murderous intent in her eyes.

“Twilight, lead her to Whitetail Wood! I have an idea!” Rainbow Dash yelled as an idea came into her head. Twilight nodded, trusting that Rainbow knew what she was doing. Flying up ahead, Rainbow left the two unicorns to run for their lives, the loud engine of the chainsaw behind them. Luckily, Fluttershy wasn’t able to catch up to Twilight and Colgate as they ran.

When they were about halfway to Whitetail Wood, Colgate had an idea. “Twilight, I’ll try to lead her away, you and Rainbow need to get to Canterlot!” She stopped without receiving a response from Twilight. “Hey! You want to get her, you’ll have to go through me! You haven’t had an appointment in almost a month anyways!” Twilight stopped further ahead, sounding her distaste for the idea with a growl. She didn’t want anypony to sacrifice themselves for her, and she needed as many unaffected ponies as she could get to help. Fluttershy caught up and swung at Colgate, narrowly missing. Colgate jumped back, “Twilight, hurry on ahead! You have to survive, princess!” Swinging again, Fluttershy managed to slice Colgate’s hoof a little. As Twilight ran over to try to save her, a bright light enveloped Colgate. Suddenly, she completely disappeared from sight.

Twilight stopped in her tracks as she saw Colgate vanish. “What’s going on now?” She yelled rhetorically. After Fluttershy’s initial confusion, she turned back to Twilight and gave chase. They were in the Whitetail Woods now, running on the wide path that was familiar to Twilight, as it was part of the Running of the Leaves course. When she got into the thicker area, she was starting to worry about Rainbow Dash. Out of the blue, a loud ‘thwack’ sounded behind Twilight as she weaved through a narrow path between some trees. Upon turning around, she saw an unconscious Fluttershy under a branch.

Rainbow walked over to Twilight, looking at Fluttershy with a frown on her face. “I’m so, so sorry Fluttershy.” She turned back to Twilight, who was shocked at what Rainbow Dash managed to muster up the courage to do. “Let’s hurry to Canterlot, can you fly?” Rainbow said, speaking somewhat quickly. Twilight could notice that she was shaking a little from having to knock Fluttershy unconscious.

“Y-yes, I should be able too. But we can’t go too fast, i’m still not that great yet.” Twilight replied. Rainbow Dash nodded and they lifted off to fly to Canterlot.

Let’s Fly to the Castle

“So, Twilight, what do you think is going on? Why is everypony going crazy?” Rainbow asked, breaking the silence they had while they were flying.

“Well, I honestly still have no clue what’s going on. It has something to do with that mirror that Trixie had. I couldn’t find anything about the mirror in any of my books. I’m afraid we’re dealing with some powerful magic. I knew that we had to go see the princess as soon as I saw Spike get entranced by the mirror. I hope that she knows what’s going on.” Twilight replied. They continued flying silently for a little while until finally, they got to Canterlot. The scene in front of them didn’t assure much help as they hoped. Ponies were running about frantically, some not even noticing anything wrong. Loud moans and various screams echoed through the city from the streets and nearby houses.

“I can’t believe it! How did it spread so quickly? We have to hurry to the castle!” Twilight exclaimed her thoughts aloud. They flew to the castle as quick as they could. Seeing Luna, the two flew up to her quickly. A barrier was around Luna when they arrived. Twilight quickly inspected it and determined that it would keep the infected ponies out. Walking easily through the barrier, they noticed Luna was laying on the ground clutching herself. Luna was shaking and crying profusely, her eyes wide open, staring into the distance. There were marks on her flank that seemed to be from a riding crop or something of the sort. The two mares figured that she had gone through some sort of traumatic experience.

“Luna? Are you okay? What happened here?” Rainbow Dash asked worriedly.

Luna jumped up and took a step back, startled that ponies got inside her barrier. She calmed herself when she noticed that it was Twilight and Rainbow. “Princess Sparkle, I’m so glad you’re okay.” Coming over to hug Twilight for a moment, Luna stopped shaking, feeling secure that nothing bad would happen for a few moments at least. “I apologize that you look upon us like this, but our sister has lost her mind. All the other ponies seemed to become strangely insane as well. We- I mean, I, had to put my sister in a sleeping spell. I am unsure of when she will awake.”

Twilight’s heart sunk into her stomach. “Celestia. She’s been affected too? What is this spell? How is Luna okay?” She helped Luna up. “Princess Luna, do you know what is going on? How do we stop this?” Twilight asked.

Luna sighed, “I am still unsure of what exactly is going on, however, I seem to be immune to whatever is affecting everypony. Have you learned anything about this on your own?”

“Well, other than that it travels via ponies’ eyes, it originated from some strange mirror that Trixie recently purchased. It also has periods of downtime where everypony forgets what they did while the curse, or whatever it is, was taking effect, which can be quite frightening. Not only that, but it also has different effects on different ponies. On Pinkie and Fluttershy, they become homicidal whereas Applejack seemed to only become upset and aggressive, spouting nonsense about ponies not liking her. Lyra and Bon Bon seemed to head an army of other infected ponies and burned Carrot Top’s house down. I think they were holding some strange flags too, but I can’t quite remember. According to Fluttershy, Spike’s hormones must’ve increased to very high levels enough to cause him to violate Trixie. I’m not sure what you have seen here, but I didn’t think the curse would spread to Canterlot so quickly.” Twilight replied, stating off the facts as if she had to do a report on the situation.

Luna thought for a moment after Twilight finished. “Wait. You said it’s from a mirror? That might be how my sister managed to fall under it’s effects. She has recently found a mirror in the old dungeons of the castle and put it in her room. Young princess, I fear that the two mirrors have the same type of influence on ponies!”

Twilight gasped, “How could that be possible!? You mean that there are two? We have to destroy them!”

Luna nodded and replied, “We should teleport there to avoid any confrontations with the guards.” Twilight held onto Rainbow as the three were teleported into Celestia’s large room. Upon arrival, they saw Celestia and a pony with his head over her crotch, audibly licking her. There was another pony held up by all four limbs with shackles hanging from the ceiling. A riding crop floated in midair, between Celestia and the chained up mare.

The mare screamed loudly, “Princess, please stop! It hurts too much!” Replying to her pleas, Celestia struck the pony with the riding crop twice. Tears fell from the mare’s eyes as she was held there, her face red from total embarrassment and abuse. Some of the marks were now drawing blood, which dripped occasionally onto Celestia.

“Lick me faster, subject!” The princess ordered in between moans. Another strike was given with the riding crop upon the unfortunate guard licking at the princess’s clit. Despite his pain and torment, his member was rock hard from the fact he was sexually pleasuring Princess Celestia, something that he’d only ever secretly joke with buddies about when he was off duty and away from the castle.

“Celestia, you have to stop this now! You are being infected by your mirror!” Twilight yelled loudly, stepping forward boldly.

Celestia looked up in surprise and then smiled widely, pushing the pony between her legs away with her magic, revealing a very moist pussy that seemed to stare at Twilight itself. “My most faithful student, I’ve waited for you.” she replied. Smiling with a look that you would see on an animal joyfully stalking its prey, she got up and stood at the end of the bed, which was quite soaked both from Celestia herself and also the mare held to the ceiling. “And you brought me my sister too? How wonderful! You know me too well. We’re going to have such a fun, fun time.”

Twilight knew that she wouldn’t be able to get Celestia’s help now. Terror filled her mind, but she hid her feelings in a false expression of anger. “Celestia! Stop this madness! You aren’t thinking normally! Please, come to your senses!”

Celestia giggled madly, “Oh, I’ve already came several times today! Now why don’t you join me here? Take off those sunglasses and relax, you look tense. You really shouldn’t stay up reading so late when I can occupy your time in a much better way.” The pastel-maned alicorn took a few steps closer to them.

Luna interjected quickly before Twilight could say anything. “Twilight, don’t argue with her, there’s no use, just destroy the mirror!” Twilight nodded, lowered her head and charged straight at it, horn glowing with magic. Instantly when Twilight collided with it, the mirror shattered into millions of pieces. Knocked unconscious, Twilight fell to the ground without any visible injuries. The room became deathly silent, along with all of Canterlot.

Aftermath of the Broken Shards

While Luna ran to Twilight, checking to see if she was okay, Rainbow Dash stood confused as she took in the scene of the rest of the room. Everypony was frozen in place except herself and Luna. She awkwardly went over to Luna to help check on Twilight. “Is she okay? She didn’t hurt herself did she?” Rainbow asked, worried.

Luna looked back at Rainbow Dash, a weak smile on her face. “She’s fine. Just unconscious from the blow. I can cure the effects of the concussion. Check on my sister please.” Rainbow nodded as Luna began to cast a spell. Celestia was completely immobile and in the exact same position as she had been in when the mirror was shattered. Curiously, Rainbow tried to move her, but the princess didn’t budge an inch.

“Luna, they’re frozen. They all are frozen! What did we do?” Rainbow said in anger.

Luna went over to Celestia, looking over her for a few moments. Slowly, she began crying until her cries echoed throughout the castle, as if the building was completely empty. “Sister, please move. I can’t live without you! Please say something!” Luna screamed, clutching her frozen sister.

Behind the two, Twilight slowly got up. “Did we do it? Are they okay?” Slowly, she took in the scene and understood Luna’s cries. She went over to the princess of the night and embraced her with a hug. “We’ll figure this out, you won’t be separated from your sister, Luna. I, Princess Twilight Sparkle, will make sure of this. We have to destroy the other mirror. That must be what we need to do.” Twilight said with confidence. Luna hugged back tightly, still wailing at what seemed to her as the loss of her sister.

Rainbow spoke tiredly when Luna’s cries faded to a whimper. “We should get some rest if we’re going back to Ponyville. It is the middle of the night and we need more sleep than the little nap like earlier.” At mention of the time, Luna stood up glaring angrily at Rainbow.

“I know what time it is. And until sister is back, it’ll have to stay that way.” Luna said harshly, leaving the room with a flash.

Twilight stood up, “Give her some alone time Rainbow. It must be hard for her, being away from her sister again. But you’re right, we need to get some decent sleep. We can go to my parents’ house, it’s not too far from here. We’ll meet up with Luna later.” She brushed herself off and the two walked out of the room.

The halls of the castle showed the same picture as Celestia’s room. Ponies were frozen in place, like perfect stone statues that captured the image of a chaotic frenzy throughout Canterlot. It was worse once they got into the city. There were bodies of ponies dead, bodies alive, and even ones in between life and death. Buildings on fire looked as if they came out of a painting, flames just as immobile as the ponies as if time itself had completely froze. Luckily, Twilight’s parents house had been unscathed. As soon as they arrived, the two mares thoroughly checked the building over for any potential dangers or hazards. Luckily, nothing was out of the ordinary, and the house was empty. Exhausted, they went into Twilight’s room she used when she was still a filly and laid on the tiny bed together.

“Twilight, will we be able to save everypony? What if this happens again in Ponyville? We’ll be alone, along with all those that were unaffected. However many ponies that’d be.” Rainbow asked, her final remark somewhat cold and sarcastic. She was holding Twilight close to her, which felt natural to them both now.

“Rainbow, I don’t want to think about that right now. I just want to sleep. Maybe we’re just lucky and this was all a dream.” Twilight said blankly.

Rainbow sighed, “I wish this was just a dream. But you’re right though. Let’s sleep, we have a lot more to deal with tomorrow.” Exhausted from the day’s events, she soon drifted off to sleep.

Twilight however didn’t fall asleep as quickly. A lot of things were still itching in her mind. “That thing is still affecting Ponyville. I just hope that we can stop it and make everything normal again. How normal will it be when we stop it though? So many ponies were probably killed or scarred and I’ll still have so many of these horrible memories. Rarity. Applejack. Pinkie. Fluttershy. Everypony that was already killed. I miss them so much. Who knows who’ll be alive when we return to Ponyville. I’m so lost without you all. Two Elements of Harmony is not enough. And nopony can ever replace my friends.” With silent tears in her eyes, Twilight finally slept, glad that the first half of her mission to fix everything was complete.

Ch. 2 - Apple Bloom, Savior of Ponyville

Author's Note

I hope this chapter makes up for the chaos of the first chapter since it's more focused on one character versus many xD. Anyways, would love to hear feedback and whatnot ^~^

Ch. 2 - Apple Bloom, Savior of Ponyville

Chapter 2 - Apple Bloom, Savior of Ponyville

Findings of a Filly

Apple Bloom ran towards Sugarcube Corner with a heavy heart, the paralysis of Scootaloo was still on her mind, along with the ghastly image of Rarity’s dead body at the boutique. All the medical ponies and transfixed bystanders were absent as she arrived at the park for the second time that day. “What in the hay is goin’ on around here? How’d Scootaloo get paralyzed? What happened at Rarity’s? Ah’ gotta find my sister.” Distressed and nervous, the young filly sat down to rest herself for a few moments. The wind started to pick up a little, seeming to whisper a warning to her as it blew through her mane and tail. Slowly, the filly stood up again and started in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. Remembering Sweetie Belle mentioned that Pinkie left the boutique with Applejack, Apple Bloom decided that there would be the best place to look for her sister

The main market area had a somewhat different air about it as the filly arrived. It was a busy time of the day as usual, but Apple Bloom’s already worried mind made everything seem more chaotic. Almost at her destination, she caught a glimpse of Lyra and Bon Bon talking to Golden Harvest. Apple Bloom decided to stop and listen to the conversation, hiding in a nearby bush. She had to figure out what was going on, so maybe she might hear something useful.

“I think Colgate would love that! A surprise party for her fifteenth year as a dentist? Who wouldn’t love that?” Lyra said happily.

“What made you decide to set up a party for her though? I mean, you should know as well as I do that no pony likes going to the dentist. No pony is going to want to go because she’s just a dentist. It’s not like she’s the princess or anything.” Bon Bon said condescendingly.

Golden Harvest sighed heavily. “Look, she’s my best friend and I think this is something we should do for her. I’ve noticed that she doesn’t really like her job that much anymore, so I think we should do something nice for her. Without her, none of us would have bright and healthy teeth. We owe her something back. Especially for all the fillies and colts that cry and whine about getting their teeth checked. Not many other ponies can deal with that kind of stuff you know.”

Bon Bon replied in a more neutral tone this time. “Alright, I understand. We can talk about it some more tomorrow. It’s getting late and you should be heading home. See you later.” She smiled as Golden Harvest nodded and left.

“Catch you later Carrot Top.” Lyra added as Golden left. She turned back to Bon Bon. “That’s nice of her setting up that party for Colgate. Do you think she’d throw a party like that for us?”

“I doubt it. We don’t really hang out with her that much. Ever since you and I met, you don’t really ever talk to her, and I hardly see her myself. Anyways, what was up with Trixie? She didn’t seem normal. She seemed like, really weird today with all that talk about ‘cursing us’ or whatever. Even stranger was that she was covered in blood! Also, I didn’t really notice it at first, but my mind’s been really hazy all day. I feel like I have a hangover or something.” Bon Bon placed a hoof on her head. “I’m feeling really sick now too.”

Lyra placed a hoof on her. “I don’t really remember seeing Trixie earlier, but are you feeling okay? Was it those oranges we had? I knew that they would be bad. I should’ve got fresher ones. I think one of them tasted like- a frog?”

Bon Bon staggered a little. “No it’s not that it’s- I don’t know. My head just really hurts right now.”

Lyra placed a hoof on Bon Bon’s forehead. It was normal temperature, which worried Lyra a little. “Bon Bon, you feel just fine. It doesn’t feel like a fever or anything like that. Want me to run and pick up something for it? I’ll let you rest here.”

“No, Lyra, I’m fine. We’re fine. It’s Harvest’s fault. She’s just too damn nice. It’s like she’s better than us. But have you seen her around Colgate? Harvest’s a total bitch. I don’t even know how her and Colgate are friends. Maybe they’re both just annoying bitches.” Bon Bon said bitterly as she went over to the side of the building for something to lean on, her sudden change of language startling Lyra. Random other ponies started to slowly gather around them, they were all the ponies that have made eye contact with the two mares throughout the day except for Golden Harvest. Apple Bloom also noticed the uncomfortable approach of various ponies who all began to make a circle around Bon Bon and Lyra. She ducked a little further into the bushes to hear more of the conversation.

“Bon Bon, what are you saying? What do you mean she’s a bitch? It’s not ‘cause of that little prank she pulled on you in school is it? She told me about it. She said you’d get mad if I told you that she told me about it. But it wasn’t that bad, you both were fillies, things like that happen. She thought you would laugh.” Lyra responded, not sure of where her friend’s hostility is coming from.

Bon Bon looked up at Lyra, anger in her eyes. “I cried for three days because of that. I should’ve never told her about that crush I had on that other filly. She didn’t have to humiliate me like that.” The random mob of ponies had gotten closer and now caught Lyra and Bon Bon’s attention. “Why are they all looking at us?” Bon Bon questioned aloud.

“We’re going to enact revenge on Golden Harvest with you. We hate her just as much as you.” a tall stallion with a blue mane said.

Bon Bon smiled wickedly, a small flash of insanity flickered in her eyes. “It’s like my childhood wish that day come true. Come on Lyra, we’re going to burn her house down, with her in it.”

Lyra looked at her wide-eyed in shock. “You can’t be serious can you? That’s crazy! It’s murder! We can’t do that Bon Bon. All she did was write that you liked that other filly on the board, nothing to kill her over!”

“I thought you would do anything for me Lyra. Do you honestly love me? This is what I want and I need you to do it with me or I will leave you forever. “ Bon Bon said coldly.

Lyra hesitated for a moment, confused from Bon Bon’s shift of attention. Her belly rumbled in hunger, breaking the short silence before she gave in to Bon Bon’s desires. “Yes, Bon Bon. I will do anything for you.”

Bon Bon smiled and the two mares led their army away to gather torches and other weapons, leaving Apple Bloom shaking in fear. “What’s goin’ on with everypony? They can’t kill Carrot Top! Ah’ gotta find mah sister! Ah’ can’t stop them alone!” The filly rushed the last short distance to Sugarcube Corner. Bloody hoofprints stained the ground and floor as she entered the broken hole in the wall that used to be a doorway, seeing the tracks coming from the open basement door. Scattered pools of blood defiled the floor of the once happy pastry shop. Surprisingly, the counter and display shelves were completely untouched, baked goods sitting as they had since morning, unscathed by whatever horrors occurred here. Feeling a little hungry herself, Apple Bloom picked up a cupcake from the shelf and ate it, placing the correct amount of bits for it on the counter. “Hopefully Mrs. Cake will see the bits so she doesn’t think somepony stole it. That’s the last of my bits. Aw, ponyfeathers.”

With her courage replenished and a satisfied stomach, she carefully proceeded down the steps. Immediately when she got to the bottom, the overwhelming amount of blood on the walls and floor, plus the horrible stench, caused her to vomit. Bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Cake laid on the floor along with the body of her friend Twist and two others she didn’t know. Tears filled her eyes as she continued looking into the room. A few feet deeper into the room, she noticed a ragged, lifeless Pinkie Pie. She screamed loudly, turning wildly and crashing into a pile of empty cardboard boxes in a corner. The sight reminded her of when Winona accidentally ripped up a toy that she had when she was younger. However, instead of cotton everywhere, blood and guts had covered the floor and spaces around the bodies..

With Applebloom shaking in horror and fear, she continued to search deeper into the basement. Finding her sister was a higher priority now than before, but what she saw on a table at the end of the room caused her to freeze in horror of what she saw. Her nerves stopped registering her senses, as she couldn’t feel the warm, smelly, liquidness of urine run down her legs as fear and sadness had fully captured her body now. “Applejack!” She screamed in horror as loud as her lungs allowed. Whoever killed her sister was different than the others, doing it in a less gruesome but still horrifying way that looked carefully executed and planned. The cutie mark was missing on both sides of her sister’s flank and specific organs were pulled out via nicely cut holes in her chest. It could’ve been seen as some sort of delicate medical operation that went terribly wrong. Apple Bloom had to look away from the terrifying sight, as it was too much for her. “What do I do now? Who’ll be there to give me advice on things? She’ll never get to see mah cutie mark!” Her eyes filled with tears as she quickly unstrapped her from the table. Holding Applejack’s body tightly to her, she sat and cried loudly. Applejack was the one who raised her the most. She was the one pony she spent the majority of her time with in her life. Now Apple Bloom would have to run the farm in place of her. Now, she’d have to work as hard as she could on the farm in memory of her. Besides her family, working on the farm was what Applejack lived for, breathed for, and would’ve died for if none of this happened.

Moments passed as Apple Bloom held her older sister. Finally, she stood up and went back upstairs, carrying Applejack with her. Outside, chaos ensued frantically in the streets, yet Apple Bloom barely took notice. Instead, she went through the back door and into the yard behind Sugarcube Corner. It was quite empty back behind the building, and there was a moderately sized backyard as well. Quickly raiding a small shed, the filly found a shovel and began to dig graves for all the ponies in the basement. When she finished, there were seven graves in a row. In the middle one, she laid her sister. To the right of that one, she placed Pinkie. The other casualties went in all the remaining graves. Apple Bloom went back in the shed to search for something to use as gravestones and found some unused landscaping tiles and a permanent marker to label them. After a few minutes, the tiles were written on and placed as gravestones. Still crying silently, she stood to look upon them. “I’m sorry ya’ll had to have suffered like this. May you all be at peace.” she said sadly. Having more she wanted to say, she kneeled in front of her sister’s grave. “I’ll make sure to have a proper funeral when all this crazy stuff is over. Ah’ can’t really consider mahself’ a filly anymore, so I’ll leave this as a gift for you sis’.” Slowly, she took the bow from her hair and placed it onto the grave before her, letting her mane fall down her back. The filly laid down onto the ground and fell asleep, trying now to sleep all this horror away.

Great, Powerful, and Almost Blind

“For a baby dragon, he’s kinda’ heavy.” Trixie thought to herself, chuckling a little. It was quite peaceful in her wagon as she laid there. Fluttershy slept deeply on Trixie’s bed, as cute as ever despite her yellow coat stained red in places from blood. Sleep wasn’t something that would bind Trixie for long as she was only asleep for about fifteen-to-thirty minutes before she woke up again. Unsure of whether it was because of Spike’s weight or her own experiences that day, she decided to stay awake. “I really need to shower, I smell like blood and sex.” She thought with distaste. When she tried to slowly move Spike off of her, Spike held onto Trixie. Carefully, she tried to take his arms off of her. Spike wouldn’t let go and held tighter each time she tried. “Spike, get off. I need to clean up.” she said quietly.

Spike grunted and pinned Trixie down. “No.” His eyes opened and it seemed as if he was getting bigger to the point he was over twice his size. His large dragon member was pressing against Trixie. He looked Trixie up and down then bared a sinister smile.

Trixie gasped as she knew what was going through the crazed dragon’s mind and struggled fiercely to break free. A sleepy Fluttershy was awoken to the sounds of Trixie’s struggling and scared the yellow pegasus as she took in the picture before her. “Dragon!” she screamed loudly and fled the wagon as fast as she could, not realizing it was Spike.

Trixie still struggled. “Thanks for the help, Fluttershy.” she thought sarcastically. As Spike was about to prod her, she casted a spell that produced a bright flash of fireworks right in his face to temporarily blind him. Immediately, she ran for the door and shut it tightly. Spike crashed into the wall loudly, shaking the wagon. Trixie pushed the mirror in the way of the door. “There. So if he breaks the door down, it’ll break the mirror and we’ll be free of this. I should’ve never even left my wagon this morning.”

Inside, Spike stopped in mid charge once the mirror was fully blocking the door. Instantly, he reverted back to normal. “Uhh. My head. Trixie? What’s going on? Where is everypony?” Spike asked.

Trixie stomped with her hoof. “That was supposed to break the mirror! Why did it change you back? What gives!?”

“Change me back? Back to what? What happened and where’s Fluttershy?” Spike questioned, not remembering what just happened.

“You grew bigger and tried to uh- do things I’d rather you not do. The great and powerful Trixie wishes not to have intercourse with a dragon.” Trixie said with a slightly disgusted tone.

Spike stood awkwardly. “Interwhat? Can you let me out of here? I really don’t like being trapped in such a small room alone. It makes me feel like I’m in a cage or something.”

Trixie scoffed. “Why would I do that? You’d just come after me again. And for your sake, It’d be best if you saved your virginity for Rarity.”

Spike gasped. Surprisingly, he knew that word. It had come up in a book Twilight was reading when she needed him to look it up for her. “How do you know that I like Rarity? And I can’t believe you would bring that up! You’re sick, Trixie. I don’t think of her like that. Gross. Speaking of Rarity, is she still in trouble? Twilight said she was in trouble earlier.”

Trixie stopped for a moment, remembering what she did to Rarity. “Oh. Right. She’s dead. I killed her.” Trixie said emotionlessly.

Spike staggered back and silenced for a few moments. “It was your fault from the beginning then isn’t it. How could you!” he yelled in rage as his size increased again. Loudly, he ripped through the metal of the side of the wagon with his claws as he clawed his way out. Trixie stood horrified, unable to run. She just bought that wagon a few days ago. Spike climbed through the hole he made and chased after Trixie. Quickly, he swiped at her, clawing a nasty wound upon Trixie’s right eye, blinding it. Trixie screamed in agony as she fell to the ground. Now trying harder to escape, Trixie casted a spell of illusion that mimicked invisibility temporarily. Confused, Spike looked around frantically, unable to find Trixie, who sneaked around to the other side of the wagon to hide. Quickly giving up and losing interest, he roared and ran off to cause havoc on Ponyville.

When Spike was gone, Trixie hurried back to her wagon to treat her wound. Using a first aid kit she kept in a drawer of the new dresser, she awkwardly wrapped her injury up. “Stupid dragon. I should’ve killed him too. Now I only have one eye! Damn this hurts. I’ll be a laughing stock again. The Great and Half-Blind Trixie. Almost killed by a baby dragon. Just bucking great!” she said angrily to herself as she finished up. “What do I do now? I have to hide. Can’t let Spike find me again. Definitely not going towards the middle of town. I’ll go to Fluttershy’s place. If she ran there, she’ll look over my wounds. It’s far enough from everypony else, so it’ll be a safe place to wait this all out. Maybe.” Trixie quickly packed her first aid kit and some food into her saddlebags and hurried to Fluttershy’s cottage.

Pinkie’s Premonitions

The roar of a small engine disturbed Apple Bloom’s peaceful slumber. It was the middle of the night now, and other sounds of chaos could be heard throughout Ponyville, but this new sound startled her. “Is that some sort of engine? It sounds like the thing Flim and Flam drove, but smaller and more chaotic sounding.” Apple Bloom said curiously to herself. She started to notice the sound coming closer. It was inside Sugarcube Corner. Worried now, the filly got up and took a few steps back. A piece of metal started cutting into the buildings back door, cutting a hole big enough for a pony to walk through. Watching in awe and horror, she now knew what killed Pinkie and the five others that she first saw in the basement. Out of the blackness of the house stalked a demented looking, blood covered Fluttershy. The filly screamed in horror. “Fluttershy? Why did you kill them? And Pinkie? Please don’t kill me!” she yelled.

Fluttershy slowly walked towards her. “Stay. Out. Of. My. Basement!” the pink maned mare yelled, her voice sounding very deep and disturbing.

Apple Bloom ran to the shovel and held it up to defend herself. She noticed a bruise on Fluttershy’s forehead. “Maybe if I hit her there, it’ll stop her for a moment for me to take that from her. I could use that motor.” she thought to herself. Since Fluttershy was moving slowly towards her, revving the engine to her weapon, Apple Bloom had time to think of a plan. Turning the shovel around, she threw the handle side at Fluttershy’s bruise. Luckily, it knocked the mare back a ways with a loud whack, causing her to drop the chainsaw. Apple Bloom ran to pick it up as fast as she could. Fluttershy recovered and glared dizzily at Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom held out the weapon in front of her. “Come any closer and I’ll have to use this!” Fluttershy stood in place, glaring at her. Soon enough, the machine began to sputter and eventually die out. Immediately, Fluttershy collapsed onto the ground like a puppet whose strings were cut.

Moments passed as Apple Bloom stood on guard, watching the mare. Eventually, Fluttershy stood up awkwardly. “Apple Bloom? Why are you holding that horrible thing? Get rid of it! Hide it so I don’t use it again, please!” Fluttershy pleaded with tears in her eyes.

Apple Bloom nodded and quickly dug a hole and buried the device. “There goes for learnin’ how it worked.” She went over to Fluttershy. “Are you okay?”

Fluttershy was sobbing but stopped to look at her. “I- I’m okay. I’m so sorry about A- Applejack. W- We got here too late. We couldn’t do anything.”

“It’s not yer’ fault. Somethin’ strange is goin’ on. I could hear ponies doing crazy things out there.” Apple Bloom sadly replied, embracing Fluttershy in a quick hug.

“We should get to my house, I need to make sure Angel Bunny is okay. And my head hurts a lot too. Maybe I hit my head or something. I don’t know.” Fluttershy said, rubbing her temple.

Apple Bloom sat down on the ground. “How’re we supposed to do that without gettin’ ourselves killed out there? If ya’ didn’t notice, the chaos hasn’t died down at all for however long I’ve been asleep.”

Fluttershy thought for a moment, unsure of what to do. “Well, I could try to carry you? But I don’t know if I’m strong enough to hold you that long.”

Apple Bloom brainstormed as well until she came up with an easy solution. “Aha! Follow me Fluttershy!” she said excitedly.

Fluttershy awkwardly nodded and followed the filly back into the house but going upstairs into Pinkie’s room this time. “What are we doing? This is Pinkie’s room.”

“She showed me a secret that she said I’d need to know someday. Just trust me on this one. Stand on that rug.” Apple Bloom commanded quickly. Fluttershy nodded and stood in place as Apple Bloom grabbed Pinkie’s party cannon and placed it on top of Pinkie’s bed facing a certain direction. Next, she went and picked up a radio and placed it on a table, putting in a specific cassette into it and pressed play. A random theme song started to play and Apple Bloom quickly grabbed some streamers and went to stand by Fluttershy on the small round rug.

After a few moments of the two listening to the track, Apple Bloom began to chant spontaneously along the beat and tune of the song. “By the power of the great pink pony, ah’, Apple Bloom summon the flight of a pegasus to be bestored- be bestoled- uhh- given to me, an earth pony, in a time of need. An’ uhh, I-” the filly stopped to think for a moment and tried to remember the chant.

Fluttershy stood there awkwardly. “Are you okay Apple Bloom? What’s all that stuff you’re saying?”

“It’s just what Pinkie said I needed to say if I used her emergency party cannon.” Apple Bloom said, annoyed from the interruption.

Fluttershy replied nervously. “E- emergency party cannon?”

“Just watch.” Apple Bloom quickly replied. Immediately, she threw the streamers all around the room, confusing the yellow mare even more. After that, she made some balloons and placed them around the room. Lastly, she moved Fluttershy off of the rug and lifted the rug out of the way, revealing a storage area underneath it.

“I’ve never seen this before, what’s in there?” Fluttershy asked, still unsure of what was going on.

Apple Bloom smiled at the mare. “This is where she stores the stuff for her party cannon, along with the key to the emergency cannon.” Apple Bloom opened up the door leading into a small dip in the room. There were numerous cannonballs packed with streamers and confetti inside, but what Apple Bloom didn’t expect, was a letter under the key to the emergency cannon. “I think she left me a letter in case I used this. But how’d she know?” She picked up the letter and they sat down to read it over.

Dear Apple Bloom,

I have this funny feeling that some of my friends might get seriously hurt today and knew you’d need some information. I know I don’t know what’s going to happen, but just be careful and stay safe. Don’t let chaos ruin your life and mind. Spread laughter in the dark times and keep your friends close. Don’t give up on them ever, you will need them. Applejack loves you.

Pinkamina Diane Pie

a.k.a. Pinkie

Apple Bloom’s eyes were starting to tear up. She gave the note to Fluttershy as well, who also started to cry. Several moments passed until Apple Bloom abruptly stood up, took the key and went over to the regular party cannon on Pinkie’s bed, aimed at the wall. Apple Bloom fired the cannon at the wall, revealing a secret slide downwards.

Fluttershy gasped loudly. “How long was that there? Where are we going!? We can’t go down there, it’s all dark down there! I’m scared of the dark!”

“We have no choice. It’s only dark for a little bit. Trust me.” the filly stated.

“But I can’t! I can’t handle all of this, can’t we just go home? I don’t want to be here anymore, I can smell the blood still!” she sobbed.

Apple Bloom quickly pushed Fluttershy down the slide, catching her by surprise. Quickly, she followed. The slide twisted and turned as Fluttershy screamed with her eyes tightly shut until they landed on a mattress. At the bottom was a large room where it looked like Pinkie made her party cannons. They landed in the middle of the southern half of the room. Next to them was a large Hot Air Balloon and a long cylinder space upwards above it. Around the walls of the room were fuses lined up and all connected with a single fuse that started at a small little terminal in the middle of one wall, where the lighting end was not to be seen inside it.

“Apple Bloom! We could’ve been hurt! I’ve been through enough today. I want to go home. With Angel. And my teddy bear.” Fluttershy said sadly, missing the safety of her cottage.

Apple Bloom was looking around in wonder. “She could have her own business or something! Wow! Ah’ didn’t even know ponies had this kinda’ technology.” The awestruck filly immediately went to the Hot Air Balloon. “Come on, this is what we’ll use! I don’t know how this is an emergency party cannon though, but if you want to go home, let’s hurry.” Fluttershy nodded and stood in the Hot Air Balloon with Apple Bloom. The filly pushed the large button that was the only indication of starting the balloon, as she never had started one herself. Instantly, the balloon was launched upwards through a long, vertical corridor that stretched high for miles. Fluttershy cowered on the floor of the balloon as they flew up. With a loud crash, they went straight through the roof of the corridor. The two ponies braced each other as rubble and the like fell upon them. When they were through, Apple Bloom stood to see where they were.

“Fluttershy! I don’t know how, but we came up through the town hall! That corridor was right under town hall! Ah’ hope nopony got hurt.” Apple Bloom said excitedly, looking down onto the town. No pony was to be seen except a few stragglers not knowing what had happened. “All the chaos stopped. Do ya’ know what happened Fluttershy? What’s goin’ on?” the filly asked calmly.

Fluttershy slowly stood up. “Well, I think that whatever it is, it just happens when it wants. Can we just hurry to Angel please?” Fear was felt in every word the mare spoke and Apple Bloom knew that Fluttershy couldn’t handle very much more of any of the death and destruction they’ve witnessed so far before giving up.

Apple Bloom put a hoof on Fluttershy. “We’ll get there as fast as we can, ah’ promise.” Apple Bloom turned her head towards the balloon and saw a strange device that was making ticking noises up inside it. “Ah’ have a feelin’ we should get off of this. Like now.” Apple Bloom said worriedly.

“Uhh, okay if you think so. But we’re so- high up.” Fluttershy gulped as she looked down from the balloon.

After thinking for a moment, the filly came up with an idea she knew that Fluttershy wouldn’t enjoy. “Can ya’ try and carry me? To your house?”

Fluttershy stared wide at her. “I- I- I can’t do that!” The beeping started to quicken above the two.

“We don’t have time, grab me and jump!” Apple Bloom commanded loudly.

Fluttershy nodded and grabbed Apple Bloom. Opening the door, she prepared to jump. The device inside the balloon had begun beeping rapidly. Taking a quick deep breath, she spread her wings and jumped. Almost on cue, the balloon exploded in a bright flash of color and sound. The blast managed to push Fluttershy in the direction of her house, allowing them to glide the entire way. Apple Bloom turned to see the remains of the explosion. Confetti and streamers seemed to fall like rain behind them. “Wow, now I know why it was called the Emergency Cannon. It covered almost the whole town in confetti!” She continued to admire the colors until suddenly, one of her lower hooves got cut from a tree branch. “Fluttershy, what’s going on? I caught a branch on my hoof.”

Fluttershy spoke with exhaustion, “You’re really heavy Apple Bloom, I’m sorry. Almost there!”

Apple Bloom continued to be scratched up by trees until they were close enough for her to let go and walk the rest of the way, causing Fluttershy to freak out for a moment before realizing they were hardly even five feet from the ground. After landing next to Apple Bloom, the two walked the rest of the way. Upon arriving at the door, they met with Trixie, who sat impatiently at the door.

“It’s about time you showed up. Discord wouldn’t let me in until you came back. Where’d you run off to anyways?” Trixie said bitterly at Fluttershy.

“Hey, you should be lucky we aren’t dead! Why are you being mean again? Ah’ thought you changed.” Apple Bloom said, defending the exhausted Fluttershy.

Trixie scoffed. “Old habits die hard little filly. And I wasn’t going to sacrifice myself looking for her either. Just open the door so we can rest.”

Apple Bloom just glared at her and nodded to Fluttershy, who went up to the door. “Why should we even help Trixie? She’s just a big meanie pony. Ah’ don’t even think she changed.”

A familiar voice answered from inside as Fluttershy knocked. “Why hello, my little pony, what is the password to enter?”

“Discord, please let us in, we need some sleep while we can.” Fluttershy said softly.

Discord smiled to himself, “But that would be too easy my dear Fluttershy. Can you at least say it? You are the one who thought it would be fun aren’t you?”

Fluttershy sighed to herself. “I like peas.”

The Draconequus sighed as well. “You’re right, it’s only funny when Twilight says it. Well, come in then.” Trixie and Applebloom stared blankly, quite confused as to what that was about. Discord opened the door, smiling brightly again as the three ponies came inside. “You three have been through quite a lot it seems. Why don’t you tell me all about it? This’ll be quite fun don’t you think?”

The three sighed to themselves simultaneously as they began to tell their stories of the day’s events.

The Truth Lies in Your Mind

“Well, that was quite a chaotic story! Would you like to tell another story to me please? I just love hearing such stories.” Discord replied, laughing and smiling as the three ponies finished explaining all they’ve been through.

“Where’s your guest room Fluttershy? The Great and Powerful Trixie needs some sleep before the sun rises.” The blue-coated mare said tiredly, looking out the window. As she was the first to tell her story, she didn’t really care to listen about the other two ponies’ stories and was just sitting off to the side, waiting until they were done.

Fluttershy replied quietly and wiped her teary eyes. “It’s just through this hallway.” The mare led Trixie through a small hallway into a room that usually is used by the cutie mark crusaders when Fluttershy watches over them. The room was outfitted with various possessions of the three fillies laying on the ground and many colorful posters hung on the walls as well. “I- I don’t remember if you heard me, but I told Twilight that you killed Spike. I’m just glad that you didn’t. Thank you.” Fluttershy said softly.

Trixie glanced at Fluttershy awkwardly. “What? Oh that. Whatever. He’s still a kid. Cursed or not, I wouldn’t kill him. Why is it so important to you anyways?”

“I need to tell him that Rarity loved him. He needs to know before anything bad happens to him.” Fluttershy replied sadly but harshly, turning to leave the room.

“Look, I didn’t do it on purpose, if you’re trying to put me on a guilt trip it’s not going to work! I am the Great and Powerful Trixie!.” The blue mare said harshly and slammed the door right in Fluttershy’s frightened face. Hoofsteps were heard loudly as Fluttershy ran to her room to cry. Trixie just rolled her eyes and sat on the bed. “I didn’t know that stupid mirror would make me kill Rarity. It’s not my fault! It wasn’t me!” she thought angrily, tears coming to her eyes. “What is wrong with me? I changed to be good, to fit in. I embraced my new friendships with Twilight and them. Now I’m being a total bitch again. Is this what I deserve? Was I really that bad? I’m so stupid!” Slamming her hoof onto the bed, Trixie began to cry quietly until she fell asleep.

Back in the living room, Apple Bloom was sleepily laying on the ground watching Discord perform little tricks with Angel. “Discord, do you know what’s goin’ on with everypony? You’re good at chaos-y things. Is there any advice you can give me? What do ya’ know about the mirror?”

Discord sighed. “That was the most predictable question you could’ve asked, little filly. Personally, I think it would be more fun to let you figure out its secrets on your own. If I told you what I knew, that would just ruin the ending now wouldn’t it?”

“Ending? Ending of what? Do ya’ mean that these mirrors are the end of the world!? We gotta do something!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, standing up.

Discord smiled, seeming to find what he was looking for in Apple Bloom’s eagerness. “Do you want to play a game with fate, Apple Bloom? You see, there is one way to reverse the effects of this catastrophe. Are you interested?”

Apple Bloom looked at him cautiously. “Just cause you’re good now don’t mean ah’ trust you. What’s this game of yours? How do I save mah’ sister?”

The grin on Discord’s face grew larger and he began pacing around Apple Bloom. “To put it simply, you must not allow Twilight Sparkle to destroy the mirror that infected poor Trixie and the rest of Ponyville. There is no hope for saving your sister if Twilight destroys that mirror.”

“Are you crazy!? She has to! Ah’ bet she’s bringing Celestia here to help too! You’ll see!” The filly replied loudly.

Discord frowned a little, still walking circles around Apple Bloom. “You’d rather let ‘Princess’ Twilight Sparkle be the big hero again and let everypony suffer, or be a hero yourself and save the ponies who are close to you? Who is more important little filly? The Princess or your sister? Hmm?”

Apple Bloom turned and glared at Discord, causing the draconequus to stop and smile right back at her. “If yer’ a liar, I’ll make sure you pay for lying to me! What do I do to make sure Twilight doesn’t break it?”

“Good choice Apple Bloom. Now, it’s quite simple. In order to bring back your sister and friends, just break the mirror yourself. Smash it to little itty bitty pieces.” Discord said happily, acting out the shattering of the mirror, exaggerating the beauty of it.

Apple Bloom looked at him blankly. “How’m I supposed to do that if nopony else who’s tried can? And how’s smashing it going to bring back everypony?”

Discord just smiled. “You’re immune to the mirror’s effects Apple Bloom. You’re the only pony who can do it. And you’ll see when you’ve broken it.”

Applebloom was confused for a moment. “Why am ah’ immune? Ah’ just don’t get it.”

“Just get some sleep. You have alot to prepare for tomorrow.” Discord mused, lounging on the sofa now.

Apple Bloom sighed and looked outside. The moon still held high in the sky, illuminating the night sky. “It’s still night? That don’t seem right. I need sleep so I can break that mirror.” she thought to herself as she laid onto a pet bed to sleep.

Morning Distractions

Morning came quite late for Fluttershy, despite the fact that the moon still shone brightly. As she got up she fed Angel and did some quick chores before heading downstairs where Trixie and Discord were eating. “Good morning everypony.” She said to them, smiling.

“But is it a good morning, my shy little mare? Isn’t there anything different here?” Discord said, waving his arm through the air to provoke her to take a look around the room.

Fluttershy looked around, confused for a few moments before she smiled widely. “Oh! Trixie made breakfast. Thank you Trixie, I’m glad you’re back to being nice again.

Trixie blushed a little. “Yes, I did, and it’s fine. I’m sorry about last night Fluttershy. I let myself go because I wanted to hide my guilt from starting this entire mess. Will you forgive me?”

“Of course I will. It wasn’t your fault though. I’ll be right back I’m going to check on Applebloom.” Fluttershy smiled and began to leave the kitchen but was immediately interrupted by Trixie.

“Where is Apple Bloom? I was the one who woke Discord. Is she in another guest room? I didn’t see any other rooms and assumed she was with you.” Trixie said worriedly.

Fluttershy gasped and ran through all of the rooms in search of Apple Bloom. Trixie awkwardly stood in the living room, not wanting to mess up Fluttershy’s house. Moments passed until a teary-eyed Fluttershy came into the living room and collapsed on the ground crying. “She’s gone! She’s all alone out there. What if she gets hurt? Discord, you need to help us find her, please!”

Discord had been watching the ponies and their frantic running around with delight. He sat down on the sofa casually. “Why she’s probably off to destroy the mirror like I asked of her.”

Anger flared through Fluttershy. “How dare you! She could get killed out there! If anything happens to her I swear-” Suddenly Fluttershy’s voice disappeared at the snap of Discord’s finger, causing her to panic for a moment then she just glared at Discord. Trixie stood shocked, slightly fearful of Discord.

“Now Fluttershy, you wouldn’t want to cause another fit all across Ponyville with your anger would you? Now just listen to me. The fits seem to occur randomly and last about half an hour to an hour. There hasn’t been one since yesterday.” As Discord finished, he gave Fluttershy her speech back.

“We need to make sure Apple Bloom is okay, come on Trixie!” Fluttershy said angrily. She didn’t want Apple Bloom hurt since it’s her duty to keep the fillies safe when Rarity and Applejack are busy, or in this case, dead. The two mares immediately left towards Trixie’s trailer where the mirror was. Upon arrival, they saw Apple Bloom looking it over. “Apple Bloom, get away from that mirror! Please!” Fluttershy yelled as loud as she could.

Apple Bloom turned to Fluttershy. “Ah’ guess I really am immune to it, like Discord said.”

Fluttershy understood now that Discord’s intention was good. “Well, in that case hurry and destroy it!”

Trixie just sighed. “I don’t think she knows if she’s infected or not. Just like us now. Wait until a fit comes just like Discord said. I bet that soon, we’ll see that everything’ll go insane and she’ll be as bucked up as the rest of us.”

“When did you get so negative?” Apple Bloom said, annoyed. “Fine, we’ll wait and I’ll show ya!” She sat down on the grass and the others followed suit. Small, little fires blazed across town. They could see a nearby fire right in front of Sugarcube corner where a group of ponies were sobbing and crying. “Looks like everypony saw what happened.” Apple Bloom said blankly, trying to suppress her own emotions.

Tears came to Fluttershy’s eyes and she looked away, whispering to herself. “I didn’t mean it. It wasn’t me that killed her. I swear it wasn’t me!” Trixie laid a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as Fluttershy quietly sobbed. A short tender moment broke once Trixie got up to try and start a fire.

“Ugh, this isn’t working. How do you even do this? I don’t even know a spell for a real fire.” Trixie growled to herself. “It doesn’t help that I can’t even see as well as I used to. My eye is hurting again.” Trixie thought as she rubbed her temple. “I give up on the fire.” She said in defeat, sitting down next to an unimpressed Apple Bloom.

“Seriously? I’ll do it then.” Apple Bloom said disappointingly. Within minutes, she managed to start a fire. “It’s not that hard. I learned from my sis. You should ask Fluttershy to replace yer’ bandages, they look pretty bad.” Apple Bloom sat down again, watching the crowd around Sugarcube Corner disperse, carrying littler torches and putting out the larger fire.

After being asked, Fluttershy began to replace Trixie’s bandages on her eye. “So, Spike did this?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah. I used an illusion to get away though. What happened to you? You’ve got a bruise on your head.” Trixie replied.

Fluttershy looked away, not wanting to think about when she lost control of herself. “I don’t want to talk about it.” she said quietly. Trixie just shrugged and let Fluttershy finish the bandages. Just then, two ponies carrying torches came over to the three.

Once they came close enough, the three could see that it was Caramel with another earth pony mare. “Apple Bloom? Are you okay? Your brother’s been looking for you everywhere!”

Apple Bloom’s eyes lit up at mention of her brother. “Where is he? Is he okay?” the filly said worriedly. The two mares also stood up, hoping for some good news.

“Yeah, he’s fine. For now. Come with us to Sweet Apple Acres to see him. We should hurry too.” Caramel replied, looking towards the sky, which now was quite cloudy.

Apple Bloom nodded quickly, adding wood to the fire so it would last until they came back. “Let’s hurry, ah’ think whatever pegasai left are settin’ up a storm.”

Flame in the Rain

An unexpected sight awaited the mares and filly as they reached the Sweet Apple Acres barn. Big Macintosh was tightly buckled to a vertical beam of wood inside the barn. A few ponies stood outside of the barn, whispering among themselves and occasionally glancing and staring at Apple Bloom as they entered.

“Granny Smith, what in the hay is goin’ on? Why’s mah’ brother up there?” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she ran up to her.

Big Mac turned his head to look at his younger sister and smiled, a great amount of stress lifted from him, knowing she was still alive. “Yer’ okay. Don’t worry ‘bout me, I’ll be fine. Ya’ aren’t infected are ya’?”

Tears came to the filly’s eyes and she went up to hug her immobile brother. “A- Applejack’s gone! I missed you so much. What happened here?”

Tears also came to Big Macintosh’s eyes. “Apple Bloom, when the skies clear, just make sure to run as fast as ya’ can from this place, ya’ hear? Ah’ don’t want you to see what happens when it comes back.”

Apple Bloom looked up towards him in sorrow and anger. “Ah’m not leavin’ ya’ here ta’ die!” she yelled stubbornly. Suddenly, the wind picked up and the clouds in the sky began to disperse.

Tears now freely ran down her brothers face. “Listen, Apple Bloom. You can’t stay here. Escape while you can and don’t come back until this is all over!” Big Macintosh said loudly and sternly. The wind had now begun to blow the door back and forth chaotically. Apple Bloom didn’t move and stayed where she was, somewhat worried about Big Mac’s seriousness.

Trixie and Fluttershy had been standing just outside the barn watching the filly and stallion. Instinctively, Trixie began to back up away from the barn until she noticed something bulge up from the ground near Fluttershy’s hooves. “Fluttershy, something’s coming out of the ground by you! Watch out!” she yelled, afraid of whatever it was.

Both Fluttershy and Apple Bloom turned towards Trixie. Confused, the yellow mare looked down at the ground and saw the growing bulge in the ground begin to take a familiar form. “No! I won’t kill anymore please! Go away!” she screamed, trying to flee but couldn’t pick up her legs at all. As with the first couple times, she grabbed the handle of the chainsaw once it broke through the ground and swung it wildly in the air.

Apple Bloom immediately began tearing at the rope that bound her brother. Big Mac yelled in disagreement, “No, If ya’ untie me, thing’s’ll just get worse!” Applebloom continued to ignore him as the once-again-crazed Fluttershy slowly came towards the two.

“Apple Bloom, we need to leave! Get to the mirror before it’s too late!” Trixie yelled, hoping to also distract Fluttershy.

“No! Ah’ can’t leave ‘im!” the filly yelled back, finishing with one of the ropes. As Apple Bloom continued to untie her brother and Fluttershy kept coming closer, a group of pegasai quickly cut through the sky, eliminating the clouds that blocked a bright full moon. The sudden illumination of the ground and barn seemed to cause everypony to stop for a moment.

Once the moonlight reached Big Macintosh, a loud yell was heard as he began writhing in pain. Horrified, Apple Bloom backed off away from both him and the ever advancing Fluttershy, who now stopped to watch this new scene. Before her and Trixie’s eyes, Big Macintosh began transforming. Hair began to fall off of the stallion and his skin began to shrink and merge with his bones. An unnatural aura formed around Big Mac as his entire body began to shift and gain a new layer of dimension. Alongside the wretched yells from him that became more and more guttural, his body shape became more canine as his snout became longer and blocky and his hooves became clawed. Once the transformation completed and a sickening scent appeared in the air, Apple Bloom and the others knew what now stood before them; a timberwolf with a red wooden body and green eyes bared its teeth at them.

As if on cue, Trixie screamed Apple Bloom’s thoughts, “Run! Get to the Mirror!” Trixie turned tail and began sprinting, hoping that Apple Bloom was following.

Still in shock of what she had witnessed, Apple Bloom was held fast in place in the corner of the barn. Fluttershy smiled widely as the timberwolf turned towards her, attracted by the loud noise from the chainsaw, or perhaps the tiny fragment of Big Mac holding on to protect his sister was the reason it ignored Apple Bloom.

Fluttershy lunged at the beast, chainsaw blaring. Dodging quickly, the timberwolf prepared for battle and growled loudly at her and snapped at the mare. Flying quickly into the air, Fluttershy easily avoided the attack. With a few quick slices of wood, Fluttershy cut a piece out of the roof in an attempt to crush the timberwolf. Big Mac just rolled out of the way and grabbed a piece of firewood in his teeth and flung it at the pegasus. With an aerial spin she dodged and sliced the log in half, surprising Apple Bloom, who was still unmoving, mesmerized by the two.

“I can’t believe Trixie abandoned me. Now I’m gonna’ be stuck here til one of them is dead. Then i’ll be next.” the filly thought to herself, about to cry in hopelessness. “Ah’ shoulda just stayed behind. Why’d this have to get my brother too? Are all a’ my family just supposed to die?” Apple Bloom curled up and began to cry, trying to block out the sounds of fighting around her.

After a few more minutes of fighting, suddenly a large explosion sounded and blew a hole through the back wall of the barn in bright, pretty colors, giving Apple Bloom a chance to escape. While the sound didn’t attract the attention of Fluttershy and Big Mac, the bright fireworks did. A horrified Trixie stood on the other side as the two crazies stared her down. “Come on Apple Bloom!” she screamed.

This time, Apple Bloom listened and sprinted through the hole and not looking back. Immediately as she passed through the hole, Caramel and the mare from earlier set the hole on fire, stopping the two from chasing Apple Bloom, or at least slowing them down enough so she can escape. “Hurry you two! We’ll do what we can here.” Caramel said quickly. Apple Bloom quickly nodded and ran with Trixie to the mirror as the barn behind them began to catch fire.

Now that the clouds were gone, making their way back to the mirror and Trixie’s trailer was quite easy with the full moon’s light guiding the way. Upon arrival, the two stopped a moment to rest from nearly sprinting the entire distance.

“Well, hurry and end all this Apple Bloom. Please.” Trixie said in between breaths. Apple Bloom nodded and took a deep breath and looked at the mirror.

“Here goes. For big sis. For everypony!” As she finished speaking, she took a few steps back and charged headfirst at the mirror. Upon impact, the mirror shattered into hundreds of shards. Apple Bloom dizzily stepped back until she collapsed onto the ground, barely hearing Trixie yelling her name in joy.

Licking the Wounds of Your World

Apple Bloom woke up in her bed with a bandage around her head. Slightly confused, she got up and brushed her chaotic mess of a mane and went downstairs. Tears came to her eyes at what she saw when she came into the kitchen. She immediately ran up to her sister and hugged her tightly for several moments.

“It’s true. Yer’ back. I missed you so much.” the filly said with tears in her eyes.

Applejack also had tears in her eyes. “Ah’m so sorry ya’ had to deal with that Apple Bloom. Had ah’ known what’d happen, ah’ would’ve never went to that party. But it’s okay now, ah’m back. Everypony’s back.” Applejack smiled, still tears in her eyes.

Apple Bloom still held tight for a few more moments until she broke the hug. “So, everypony is fine now? What happened to the mirror? Is Big Mac okay?”

Applejack smiled at her. “Twilight took the remains of the mirror to study what exactly happened. Ah’ know that everypony who was uh, killed, were brought back somehow. Not even Twilight knows how that happened.” Applejack sighed, but then smiled again. “You know, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are waitin’ for ya’ to go visit them. Yer’ a hero Apple Bloom. Ah’m proud of ya’.”

Apple Bloom smiled. “Ah’ guess I am a hero. Does that mean I’ll get a cutie mark in heroing? Wait, that ain’t a word.” she thought to herself as she left to visit her two friends. When she was outside, she was greeted by the two other fillies and exchanged hugs and the like.

“So, what really happened? I just, like, woke up and the town was in total disaster.” said the still confused Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle looked off in the distance. “You don’t want to know, Scootaloo.” Apple Bloom nodded in agreement and Scootaloo just shrugged.

“Well, what do you want to do today, Hero of Ponyville?” the orange filly said enthusiastically.

Apple Bloom blushed a little. “Well- erm- Uhh. Ah’ don’t know, why do I have to pick?”

As soon as she asked that question, a familiar bouncy, pink pony lifted her up onto her back. “Well, if you won’t pick, then how about we just have a party instead!” the voice said happily.

“Pinkie Pie! Yer’ alive!” The filly jumped in joy and hugged Pinkie as they bounced towards Sugarcube Corner, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo following close behind.

“I am?” Pinkie stopped for a moment pondering, “Of course I am! ‘Cause if I wasn’t, you’d be sad and i’d be sad and Rainbow Dash would miss me of course!” She continued to bounce their way to the party.

Upon arrival at the shop, Apple Bloom was greeted by friends from school and all over town. Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Trixie were already there, waiting for the heroic filly. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were there to celebrate. They all greeted Apple Bloom positively, even though Tiara and Spoon had noticeably fake smiles plastered on their faces. The orange filly went to enjoy the party for a while before going up to talk with her sister’s friends.

Rarity was the first to talk to Apple Bloom. “I want to apologize for everything you’ve been through dear. I’m so thankful you managed to undo all that chaos. Would you like to have a drink? Don’t worry, it’s filly-friendly.” the elegant unicorn said smiling.

“No, that’s fine, but thanks anyways. How come Twilight’s not here?” Apple Bloom asked, confused as to why the recently coronated princess hasn’t shown up to congratulate her, or at least be with her friends.

Rainbow Dash answered somewhat bitterly. “She’s too busy studying that broken mirror to come party with us I guess. ‘Orders from Celestia’ or something.”

Applejack scowled at Rainbow. “Twilight has her royal duties that she need’s ta’ tend to. Ya’ know, responsibility an’ such?” she said sarcastically.

Apple Bloom just rolled her eyes at Rainbow and her sister, then left them to find the other two crusaders. However, after not seeing Spike anywhere either, curiosity got to her mind and she slipped out of her own party to try to find him. Before leaving however, she was seen by Zecora.

The zebra offered a cup of juice to her. “I congratulate you with this tasty punch, but won’t you stay for lunch?”

Slightly embarrassed that somepony saw her trying to leave her own party, Apple Bloom just made a quick response. “Zecora, ah’ need to see Twilight, don’t tell anypony that ah’ left, please!” she had an important attitude about her as she explained what she was doing. Zecora nodded and let her leave through the back door. “Ah’ just have a feeling about that mirror. Twilight would’ve at least would’ve shown up to say something, right?”

As the filly left, she turned to look at the now unscathed Sugarcube Corner. “Breaking the mirror couldn’t’ve fixed everypony’s houses too could it? Ah’ need to make sure everything’s okay with Twilight.” Ponyville was quite empty despite everything looking normal again. Apple Bloom assumed that they were all staying home for today or were at the crowded party. Finally, she made it to the library and knocked. No answer. She knocked a few more times until it was finally opened by a tearful Spike.

“A-Apple Bloom, it’s you! Come inside quick!” the dragon said, hiding the sorrow in his voice quite poorly. He pulled her inside and locked the door behind her. Inside the library all the lights were dimmed and the windows were all curtained. Spike led her through a messy maze of books until they came to a large purple crystal that housed Twilight inside of it, completely unmoving.

“Holy ponyfeathers, Spike! What happened to Twilight? Was it the mirror that did this?” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“I don’t know what happened. Everypony came back to life and when I came home, Twilight was like this. I thought she was in Canterlot still though. And we haven’t heard anything from Princess Celestia either. I thought all that horror was over with, then this happened.” Spike said, upset and as confused as Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom sighed. “Well, looks like we gotta figure this out on our own then. Spike, what happened to the broken mirror?”

Spike sat down on a pile of books. “It’s still over by Trixie’s trailer. That’s where everypony found you knocked out. Everypony was so distracted by you that when they asked about Twilight, I said she was studying it here. Apple Bloom, some strange magic is still in that mirror I think.” Just then, it was as if a light lit up above Spike. “That’s it! We’ll try to use it to cure Twilight!”

Apple Bloom smiled. “Yeah! We can try to get all the pieces and bring them back here. We should hurry before the party is over though, so nopony gets suspicious.”

Spike nodded in agreement and the two prepared to leave. Outside, it was still eerily empty through the streets of ponyville as the two went through the streets until they arrived at the broken mess on the ground in front of Trixie’s trailer. Despite their happiness from seeing the shards still there, the two heard voices from inside the trailer.

“Oh, Trixie, you know, before yesterday, I never realized how attractive you are.” One of the voices said seductively.

Trixie giggled. “You know, we were drunk. Are you sure you want to do this again though?” A moan was heard inside the trailer as the filly and young dragon listened in a mixture of disgust and curiosity.

“Of course I do. I rarely ever can get any of the others to do any naughty play with me you know, and as long as you don’t kill me again, we should be fine.” Rarity said in between light moans.

Apple Bloom stepped away from the wall. “Spike, I don’t think the mirror’s effects wore off! Ah’ don’t know what they’re doing in there, but it can’t be good.” she whispered over to him.

Spike turned towards her, looking as freaked out and horrified as her and whispered back. “You’re probably right, lets hurry and get these shards and get out of here. I bet they ditched the party.” There was a hint of jealousy and worry in his voice as he knew Rarity was in there. Quickly, the two went over to the broken mirror shards and began collecting them in Apple Bloom’s saddlebags.

Once the rest of the shards were collected, the two quietly left, but something Apple Bloom remembered began itching into her mind. “If Twilight’s in that crystal, does everypony else know or did they lie to me? Applejack said Twilight took the shards of the mirror. Somethin’ just ain’t right about all this. Mah’ sister never lies.” She and Spike were completely silent as they returned to the library and carefully set the shards of the broken mirror on the floor as they arrived. Several minutes later, and multiple slips leaving little cuts all over Apple Bloom’s hooves, she managed to piece the mirror back together as Spike watched. As soon as she put the final piece in, the mirror fused itself back into one whole object causing the two to take a step back in surprise.

“Well, the mirror’s put together but what did you want to try and do with it Apple Bloom? Nothing is happening.” Spike asked.

Apple Bloom pondered for a few moments until she found an answer. “Maybe if we put it in front of Twilight, we might be able to free ‘er from that crystal.”

Spike nodded and the two lifted the mirror and carried it to where the crystallized Twilight lay. Using nearby books, they leaned up the mirror to face Twilight. Suddenly, a bright light engulfed Twilight as words slowly appeared on the mirror’s surface.

You seek to be free,
Of the fires of chaos.

Fires of lust,
Of passion,
Of death.

The only escape with red stained hooves,
Or losing something,
Never to be found once lost.

One or the other is your choice,
Either way you are damned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Apple Bloom thought aloud, “It makes it sound like I’m trapped or something. Is it talkin’ about Twilight?“

Apple Bloom’s thought was cut off by Spike tapping on her shoulder. “You think that this could be all a dream? It can’t be a dream, I remember everything that’s happened.” The purple dragon said worriedly.

Apple Bloom turned around towards Spike. “Don’t ya’ think it’s a little weird how everypony came back from the dead? An’ how Twilight is stuck in that thing still? What if the mirror has some strange magical properties that’re makin’ us imagine all this? Ah’ gotta solve the riddle if I’m ta’ get out of here Spike. We probably should see if mah’ sister and her friends can help us somehow.”

Spike nodded in agreement. “But what if they don’t help? What if you’re wrong Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom glared at him. “Don’t think like that, ah’ just know I’m right. There’s gotta be a way to fix everythin’, we have to try. Now let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long day.”

Spike set the mirror up against the wall. As he stepped away, he realized something was very wrong. “A- Apple Bloom, I don’t have a reflection in the mirror! What’s up with this thing?”

Apple Bloom went over to the mirror, standing behind Spike. “Why’s it show my reflection though?” She said worriedly, getting just a shrug from Spike. “Tomorrow ah’ gotta get Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to try to help us.” She wandered over to a chair and sat down in it. “Well, goodnight Spike.” She closed her eyes and eventually fell asleep, thoughts of her chaotic experience in her mind.