Daytime Swirl stretched her long arms and yawned. It was an early Sunday morning and there was already lots to do. She had a pool party to go to and had to look nice.
She was just an 11 year old, and she was already very pretty. She ran over to the mirror and tied back her long, blonde, thick mane with a pink hair tie. She looked in the mirror. Something was different, but she couldn't tell what it was.
Then she realized. Her mane was brown! She shook her head and looked again. It was blonde this time. Startled, she walked back to the mirror to do her makeup. She decided for the party, violet eyeshadow and red lipgloss, and for the rest of the day, blush and mascara.
~***~
When Daytime Swirl finally arrived, the pool looked amazing. A waterfall hung over the side, landing in the hot tub above the pool. She couldn't wait to swim!
She dove right in and began to swim. She looked at the sparkling water and saw her reflection.
Something was stuck to her mane and fur. “Are those....ashes?” she whispered to herself. She raced out of the pool grabbing her towel as she ran.
Something was wrong. Whenever she saw her reflection it was different. Her mane was blonde, not brown. And her fur was just fine. No problems.
She just didn't know what she was going to do about this. All of the sudden, her cellphone rang and she picked it up with a warm hello. A voice just like hers was on the other end.
“Don't come here! Leave your reflection alone!” whispered a cold, quivering voice. The phone went dead. Daytime Swirl just stared at the phone in awe. The number that called her was the same as her current number.
She spread her wings and flew home as fast as her eleven-year-old wings could carry her. As she arrived at the door, she took a gasp for breath. She just wanted to collapse onto the cold stone of the porch.
She opened the white steel door to her house and limped to the shower. She had a quick wash, and put on a hot pink tank top with black skinny jeans and green clips in her mane.
She was scared out of her mind because of what had just happened. She suddenly remembered her current homework. It was supposed to be done by now. By the time she was finished, it was already 9:30 at night and she was excruciatingly tired and she flopped into bed.
The next morning was a school morning, Monday. She brushed her mane and teeth quickly and threw on a white ruffled T-shirt and pink shorts. Daytime Swirl had a bright yellow-checkered backpack and a blue lunch bag, just as bright as the yellow.
She arrived a few minutes before the bell rang at 9:00. She had arrived at 8:58, cutting it a little too close.
The bell shrieked at Daytime Swirl race for the door. She turned a sharp corner and skidded to a halt at her classroom door. The walls were pale gray, and so were the floors.
Daytime Swirl sighed at the dullness of the classroom. It had pale yellow walls that looked like they were made of sand, and ugly gray tiled floors that looked like they had at least and inch of dust packed on them.
The students were forced to keep desks very clean, and were allowed to wear no neon. It was horrible. Most of the time Daytime Swirl had no socks, but only because almost all her socks had neon on them. She LOVED neon!
It seemed like years before her first recess bell chimed from the hall. As fast as a bullet, Daytime Swirl jumped up from her desk and zoomed down the hallway.
“Daytime Swirl! Stop this minute! No running!” Mrs. Hadberry shrieked at Daytime Swirl. Daytime Swirl wiped the gross teacher spit from her cheek and winced at Mrs. Hadberry's bad breath. She slowed down “Sorry Mrs. Hate- I mean, Hadberry.” she replied, walking away.
All the students in the school had nicknamed Mrs. Hadberry, Mrs. Hateberry. She was so grumpy all the time, it was hard to resist! Daytime Swirl trotted silently down the empty halls, walking past boring rooms and boring doors.
She finally arrived at the field door, where she burst through and ran for the soccer field. This was her favorite part of school, playing soccer with her friends, Star Charm and Berry Cake.
Berry Cake was a small pony for her age, with a shoulder-length brown mane and brown eyes. She was fun and tough, also outgoing. Star Charm was taller with a short black mane and green eyes. He's fun, friendly, and really great to everypony he knows.
Star Charm quickly snapped a smile on and kicked the ball towards Berry Cake. “So Daytime, how was the pool party?” asked Berry politely. Berry always sounded like she was speaking to the queen when she talked, so polite and elegant, like she had never met Daytime and wanted to make a good impression.
Daytime went pale. She didn't really want to talk about this subject. “It was...um...nice.” Daytime turned away right after she answered Berry Cake.
Berry ran up the field and kicked the ball to Daytime Swirl as Star tried desperately to block the ball from getting in the net. Just as soon as the game ended, the bell gave a shriek and Berry and Daytime Swirl covered their ears.
“That bell is horrid!” fumed Berry Cake. “Could they make it any louder?” added Star Charm. “Star, I really hope that was sarcasm!” moaned Daytime Swirl. They all laughed.
“Well, time for lunch. See you there!” Berry ran off, and Star Charm chased her. Daytime Swirl walked quietly down the hall, turning her head to look at the mirror.
She gasped when she saw it. “The school!” she whispered. In her reflection, she was not standing in the hallway. She was standing in smoky ruins!
She reached out a pale finger and touched it to the mirror. She nearly screamed when it went right through. He pushed her hand in further, and it continued to go through the mirror. Daytime Swirl took a large step, and her foot entered the glass. A voice screamed as Daytime's right pinkie followed her through the mirror.
“STAR CHARM! DAYTIME IS GONE!” Berry screamed.
