Imprisoned within reflection

Beautiful

If one were to look at the night sky of Equestria, one would most likely describe it as such. The stars shines bright in ocean of darkness in the sky, with moon lighting the land below the heavenly view. The Everfree Forest was quite peaceful this night, as the animals and monsters within rested in deep slumber and the night sky was clear of any offending clouds, showering the dark forest with white light of the moon.

Deep within Everfree Forest, the castle of the two sisters stood tall, even though it had seen better days thousand years ago. However, below the castle, in the basement of this wonderful place, stood a single room, which was in circle shaped with stone walls. The diameter was only 20 meters, but it was enough to serve it's purpose, as in middle of the room stood a single mirror.

The mirror in question was full-length standing 2 meters tall and 1 meter wide. The frame was made of gold with beautiful carvings along the sides, with the surface of the mirror itself still perfectly intact, reflecting the moonlight that shined towards it from a hole in ceiling of the room. However, this was not a normal mirror in question.

Within this bright mirror, stood a single room, which was as tall and wide as the mirror itself, with the back wall only a meter from the surface of the mirror. Within, sat single bipedal, wearing a armor over his body, his flesh long ago being replaced by dark mist that animated his armor, earning him the name 'Wraith' from those who saw it. Armor itself was mix of purple, gold and grey, even though there were dried blood on the surface.

The armor was designed to inspire fear among the enemies of it's wearer, so it was no surprise that the surface designs were complex, with metal curved into shape similar to spikes in some places. The armor completely covered the body, with upper arms, middle of the body and back of the knees being only ones unarmored, with dark mist taking the place where the flesh would be visible.

The helmet was of intimidating design, with two horns standing in the top. The helmet covered the face part almost completely, leaving only thin Y shaped space in the middle, with red eyes of it's wearer glowing through as the purple gem glowed in middle of the forehead, with two similar gems in chest and waist of the armor.

As he continued to watch the moon above, he could feel the familiar ache in his soul as he saw the reflection of a mare in the surface of it, which brought painful memories back to his mind. He could still remember the first time he had seen her, and taken her offer to step into her service as adviser and knight/enforcer.....

He smiled as he looked at his opponent, the ignorant child hero and his group of fools that followed him. The wise old tree loving elf, the seductive mage, the dutiful paladin, the sarcastic rogue, the hothead dwarf, the handsome bard, the sharp archer, skilled thief.... the group was like taken from children's stories, with all of them following the charming, young hero on his way to get famous and 'save the world' crap.

" Your days of terrorizing the world is over, Xalecian Nexus. Today, you will pay for your crimes of destroying this village and slaughtering everyone here" The self-righteous hero proclaimed, making him laugh at the foolishness of this child. The village had been full of thieves, rapists and murderers, with the village itself build by the riches they had stolen.

"Oh, is that so? So you would rather kill me, than to thank me of killing this village of criminals that you heroes oh so dutifully ignore in exchange of money that you seem so eager to give to anyone who does your work for you? This village" he motioned his hand around, gesturing the burning village and masses of slaughtered corpses on the ground "Was build on the mass graves of people and thousands of poor and innocent who fell to their victim, and you sanction their actions?" he questioned, enjoying when the self-proclaimed heroes of the group started hesitating in their battle stances, shifting nervously as they took glances at each other.

Of course the young fool didn't see the harsh truth of this world "While what they did was wrong, it does not give you permission to just go around and kill people. The guild -" he interrupted the young fool before he had to listen this bullshit of right and wrong "The guild would have investigated a week, before they would declare that the village was clear, thanks to right amount of money in right places. Your guild is one of the most corrupt ones in this world, and if your not willing to act to prevent hundreds of women and children of losing their lives or being raped and made poor by people like this village, then the Legion will gladly be known in history as ultimate evil to preserve the rights of people, unlike your filthy guild of heroes" He said in angered voice as he took a step towards the young fool.

The Legion was the group started by him, to replace the corrupt guild of heroes that had once, centuries ago, actually done it's job instead of letting innocent suffer so that they could become richer. Those who followed him knew that if he died today, they would continue his work. There were several things preventing the corruption and crime spreading in ranks of Legion, such as the dark guardians that were sentient. If needed, they would take over and continue recruiting people to take lesser evil for greater good.

The young hero was about to say something, but he didn't give him the change as he shadow stepped in front of the young fool and swung his blade, which was barely blocked by the fool. The others quickly joined the battle, previous thoughts gone as they started fighting him.

The battle itself lasted almost two hours, with the dwarf, rogue, thief, paladin and the young fool having serious injuries, with mage and elf knocked out by use of magic. It had been a lucky shot from the archer that had hit him in the chest, the arrow going through the armor thanks to it's special design and magical assistance.

He could see the dark spots in his vision as he was in his knees, hands on the ground as he spat the blood out of his mouth and coughed, feeling his life slowly starting to fade away. "You're a fool, you know that?" He said loud enough to group to react, turning their attention back to him from nursing their wounds.

"What are you now talking about? We already defeated you" The archer said in arrogant voice, which made his chuckle between the coughing as he raised himself back to standing position, swaying as he leaned against his sword "Yes, you might have defeated me, but what now? Do you plan to return to your corrupt guild and have a party, ignoring all the crimes that you call 'heroes' committed in last few centuries? Or do you plan to clean that corruption from the ranks of heroes and make the real difference?" he questioned as his vision started having black edge, adding to reality of his dead the cough that almost brought him back to his knees.

The young fool stayed silent as he though to himself, most likely realizing all the corruption he had seen in his last few visits. The fool had apparently found a group that while it help criminals. they were willing to face their actions if greater good was in question, if one were to judge from their protests of not letting the corruption continue.

He laughed within his mind as the fool answered "i'll make the guild what it once was, to protect the people that we are supposed to serve. While you might have had the right idea, your way of doing so is wrong, Xalecian. I'll change the guild even if it's the last act i'll do" The fool made a promise as he put his hand into fist in front of his heart. Good, at least the Legion would have less resistance with the guild in two factions, the corrupt and pure.

"Good for you" He said as his vision filled with black as he collided with the ground, sending him into darkness that death brought to those who died. The same darkness that to most, would be the final destination after life, with all senses and abilities simply disappearing.

But to some, the reality makes it interesting......

Darkness. That was the first thing he saw. Black as far as he could see, though he wasn't sure if he had eyes anymore, because he couldn't feel anything. His mind was hazy as he tried to move, only to realize that his own body wasn't reacting to his commands. Did he even have a body? He wasn't sure, but he knew that this wasn't hell or heaven at least.

It began as barely a whisper, but he could hear beautiful voice in this darkness, speaking some ancient, unknown language as it circled around him, coming closer and closer with each second. It felt like eternity before the source of voice stopping in front of him. He could hear her (he was pretty sure it was she) speak something, but he couldn't understand other than intrigued tone, which turned into confused one after a small pause.

It was then when he felt something push into his mind, his mental shields breaking away as foreign words pushed into his mind, creating connection between this new, beautiful language and his own. The progress was slow, but after some time he could feel the  foreign source stop invading his mind as the female in front of him spoke "Can you understand me, creature?" The beautiful voice asked in questioning tone.

"Yes" was his answer, though he wasn't sure if he spoke aloud or if his thoughts were made into physical sound by something. "Good. Tell me, what is a creature like you doing in the void?" The female (he was correct, it was female voice) questioned him, making him wonder for a moment for his answer. The void was, if he remembered correctly, the empty space between dimensions. But how did he get here? Didn't he just die a while ago?

"I am....not sure why I am here" he answered after moment of silent thinking, feeling his senses starting to wake up as he felt his body being held immobile by the something. "Interesting....tell me, what would you be willing to do to escape from this place?" The voice asked, making him realize just exactly what she wanted. He was smiling inside as he answered with humorous tone "So that's your game, huh? Very well, i would be willing to do anything, if released from this place and returned back to life"

The source of voice stayed silent, clearly thinking about something while he tried opening his eyes, before realizing that they were already open. He could feel the cold against his body, but the pulse of his heart and blood in his veins confirmed that he was, somehow, still alive.

"If i get you out of this place, will you swear your complete loyalty to only me, Princess Luna, until the time comes that either you die, or I die?" The female (Princess Luna? She's royalty?) asked in serious tone, making his body tense as chill went up his spine for because of her tone. She was the first that had ever gained any reaction from him, so it would be interesting to see where this would lead to.

"Yes, I will swear my life and loyalty to you, Mistress" His answer seemed to satisfy her as he heard her give a beautiful chuckle at his answer. He could feel the foreign presence in his mind as it searched for something, before retreating away as the same presence wrapped around his body "I accept your oath of loyalty, Xalecian Nexus" Princess Luna answered as he saw the Princess in question stand in front of him, smile on her face just before his vision was suddenly turned white and he could feel strong magic pull him from the darkness....