Arc Two: Mirror, Mirror
Part Three

If there was one place Princess Celestia would like to be, it most certainly was not this place. She sat at the head of the table in a room so large it could almost be another ballroom. But at the same time it felt so small.

The princess looked as regal as ever, her face betraying no emotion as her eyes scanned the other creatures in the room. The foreign diplomats were currently talking amongst themselves as they waited for her to speak. There was one person from most of the kingdoms in this room. Minotaur, Griffon, Zebra, and Yak. Celestia scanned each and every one of them in silence as she had done countless times before.

Luna was nowhere to be found. Her sister went to make a quick check-up on the alien before meeting here. It should not have taken this long. Celestia pushed her worry aside for the moment, however. If the alien needed to be dealt with, then it was a good thing this meeting was taking place.

A flash of white momentarily distracted her from her thoughts. The diplomats made a brief fuss before they recognized the overly-joyus voice of Discord, which only caused them to make an even louder noise out of protest.

“Princess Celestia!” a voice objected. The princess glanced ahead to see the Minotaur diplomat - a high ranking Colonel named Steel Hoof - standing from his chair, his hands on the table as he leaned forward with his face showing barely contained anger. “Get this buffoon out of here! You said this meeting was for us diplomats only!”

It took all she had for Celestia not to roll her eyes. Instead she looked between the Minotaur and Discord calmly. “I don’t see why Discord cannot attend this meeting,” she stated simply as her eyes rested on Steel Hoof. “Colonel, I do hope you realize that Discord is the only known Draconequus in existence. For all intents and purposes, he is a representative of his species in this gathering of us all.” She looked back to Discord, who settled for floating to her left.

Discord cracked a wide grin as he leaned forward in the air. “Thank you, Celestia. Good to know you have my back! Now, may I ask what this whole meeting is about? I don’t like secrets very much.” He cast a sparkly glance at every creature sitting at the table.

The princess sighed. “I’d hoped to wait for my sister to arrive, but I suppose we’ve waited long enough already.”

“Me tired of waiting!”

“I’m aware, Prince Rutherford.” Yaks never were known for their patience, as Rutherford had just demonstrated. Celestia took a breath before gazing around. “I’m afraid that what I am about to say will be hard to believe. But I assure you that it is the absolute truth.

“Our world has been visited, though whether it is a peaceful visit, I am uncertain.”

Weiss was in the process of waking up before she even knew she fell asleep.

Before her eyes opened, she felt the familiar sense of blankets covering her body. She immediately knew that she was still in the room. The room that Luna was hesitant to let her leave. Luna...

Weiss’ eyes snapped open. Luna. Princess Luna. She sat up and threw the blankets away. There was no way. It just was not possible. Weiss tossed her legs over the side of the bed and lunged off, getting to her feet before she even knew what she was doing. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her.

She remembered seeing the woman’s body shimmer with some sort of power. And then the ears. Ears that she had seen on countless Faunus around the world of Remnant. But she had never seen a Faunus actually turn into the animal they share traits with! It was just absurd! The heiress saw a gleam of light to her left and she turned to see Myrtenaster propped against the wall. She immediately grabbed for it.

Suddenly Weiss felt as if someone had caught her hand in mid-grab. She stumbled slightly and looked to see her wrist enveloped in a dark blue glow. That power. The same one that had changed Luna. Her eyes widened and she turned around. There was that... horse. The horse that looked at her the same way Luna did.

The horse was Luna. Luna was a horse.

“Please be calm,” the horse spoke. “It would be in your best interest to sit back down.”

The horse could speak.

“Wha...” Weiss muttered, wide eyed at the sight before her. “This is...”

“Insane?” Luna interrupted with a raised eyebrow. “Yes, you said that twenty minutes ago. Please do try to remain conscious this time. I do not want to explain this yet again.” Luna began walking forward - her four hooves clicked and clopped each step of the way.

Myrtenaster floated past Weiss’ eyes, covered in the same blue glow as her wrist. The rapier floated above Luna’s head, out of Weiss’ reach. She felt her wrist fall to her side, no longer being held by... magic. This had to be magic. “What... What are you?” Weiss asked slowly. Her head spun. Maybe she was just tired. But this was all so much to take in. “Where am I?” And then the final question. “Where are my friends?”

Luna closed her eyes and shook her head, and used a hoof to gesture Weiss back to the bed. The heiress said nothing and slowly moved backwards, and sat back down on the edge of the bed. “Thank you,” Luna said softly. “Now please remain calm. I do not wish to hurt you, Weiss.” She spoke in a calm manner, but in the same way Weiss spoke to other rich people in Atlas. It offered her no comfort.

“I truly did not wish for you to find out the truth so soon. I wanted to... ease you into it. But alas, I see that it is not possible. I am Princess Luna of Equestria, younger sister to Princess Celestia. And as you can see, I am a pony.” Pony. Weiss continued to simply stare silently. She mulled Luna’s words over in her head.

“I’m dead.” Weiss spoke simply. There was no question to be answered in the words. Weiss knew what she remembered. Torchwick, the mute girl, and Mercury. Ruby and Yang. Blake. Her blue eyes were still wide open.

Luna bowed her head slightly, still keeping her eyes locked with Weiss’. “I cannot deny what transpired. I confess that I’ve seen your memories, Weiss. I have no doubt that you indeed lost your life that night.”

“So... My friends...?” There was a tiny inkling of hope in her voice.

“I’m sorry.” Luna dashed that hope away. She closed her eyes and turned her head away. “I do not know why you have appeared here. In your world you are dead. This world, the world of Equus, is not the afterlife. So it stands to reason that though you have perished in your world, you survive here.”

Weiss lowered her head. “But why? Why am I here? If I’m here, how do I not know that my team is here as well?” This just made no sense. Out of the people who died on that night, she was the one who got to go to another world to live? Ruby was only fifteen. Yang died to avenge her sister. Blake... if she perished as well, she could get to live here, free from human prejudice. But Weiss...

She was the one who got to survive.

Luna continued to speak but Weiss was no longer listening. Another world. She was an alien. She’d died. She’d so foolishly tried to act like a Huntress when she was still in training and she paid the price. Her friends paid the price. More tears began to fall as they completely obscured her vision. She tried to blink them away but she just sobbed and lowered her head.

Princess Luna looked at the crying girl. Oh, how she wished she could say something to lift her spirits. But no, she needed this. Weiss needed to grieve. For all she had lost, she deserved some time alone. “I will be on my way, Weiss. I’m sorry to leave you like this. A guard will be posted outside of your room. You will be free to walk around this floor as you please. But do not try to go anywhere else.”

Luna turned and walked away, hearing the sound of Weiss’ sobs grow in volume. She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, looking to her left as the door closed. The guard looked back at Princess Luna with a blank look.

“Captain Flowers.” Luna greeted.

“Morning, Princess.” Flowers nodded his head at her.

Luna walked forward, putting herself in front of him. “I am trusting you with this. It is imperative that she not be allowed to leave this floor. We must know where she is at all times. Do you understand?”

“Abso-lutely, Princess.” Flowers said with a slight grin on his face. “I’m so happy that I’ve earned this much trust. Coming out of retirement was the best thing to happen to me lately.”

Luna made a sound of acknowledgement and began walking away. “Do not take this mission lightly, Flowers.”

“Oh, I promise you, Princess. I’m taking this very seriously.”

“Well, that could have gone better.” Discord stated flatly, floating along next to Princess Celestia as they made their way through the castle. “Honestly, I don’t see the big deal. From what I’ve gathered, she’s not too much of a threat. You ponies are just so skittish - a little scare and you get sent scampering.”

Celestia resisted shooting him a flat look and instead kept her gaze forward. “I cannot risk anything here, Discord. I know nothing about what she is capable of and Luna has yet to reach a conclusion. For now, I wish to err on the side of caution rather than risk the lives of my subjects.”

“I get it, I do! I just don’t think that she’s all that dangerous.”

“What you think is not what you know.” She came very close to snapping at him, but her voice barely raised above her normal tone. “Luna and I will give her a few days to... sort herself out. But after that point, I must know what she intends to do now.”

The hall was silent, save for her footsteps as she walked forward. She failed to notice Discord lazily trailing behind - watching Celestia as she walked away. His face twisted into a grin. “What would you do in her situation?”

The princess stopped. “What?”

In a flash of light Discord appeared above her, hanging his upper body from a grey cloud. “Think about it, my dear. You’re suddenly thrust into a new world, no idea what happened to you or those you love? And to top it off, you’re being treated as a criminal despite not having done anything in the first place.” He slowly slid his body off of the cloud until his body curled in the air like a snake, suspended in front of Celestia. “It’s the kind of situation to drive someone mad.

“Now, what would you do? Would you just sit quietly and take it all? Or would you try your own way, and try to get home?”

Princess Celestia stopped and stared at him. She stood unblinking at Discord grinned at her. “Well?” His voice was dripping with false pleasantry. “I know what I would do. But it doesn’t fall into any of the above categories.” Discord laughed flatly. “Ah, but I’m past those days. And this is not about me.”

“I don’t know what you’re insinuating.” Celestia said curtly. “If you’ll excuse me, I must find my sister.” She began walking once more, her waving hair brushing the side of Discord’s face as she passed. He scowled at her retreating form as he planted his feet on the ground and stood straight, the tips of his antlers almost scraping the ceiling.

“Try not to send anyone to the moon. Ta ta!” Discord’s voice echoed through the halls.

Celestia’s eyes widened as the telltale poof of his teleportation signaled his departure. She stood unmoving, the empty hall silent save for her own breathing. Her eyes closed slowly as she let out a long, drawn out breath from her nostrils. She gingerly placed a hoof forward, followed by the next one. And then the next.

Her hoofsteps echoed, the sounds acting like drumbeats against her ears.

Weiss stared at the door. She knew she could open it at any point, or even just shout and a guard would have come. But she hesitated. If what Luna said was true, and there really was a guard out there, then she’d see a pony. A talking pony.

Sure, she’d seen Luna. But Luna had started off looking human. Weiss felt silly, feeling this way. But every time she made to step towards the door, she stepped backwards instead. She shook her head and stomped over to the bed, flinging herself onto the covers. The heiress let out a groan of frustration and buried her face into the bed.

She missed Ruby. Her leader, always the rambunctious type, would undoubtedly have opened the door already. And ran around the place a hundred times over. Yang, too, probably would have been out and about. She took solace in the possibility that Blake would be in her situation as well.

Great, now she was angsting her friends again.

Weiss lifted her head and rested herself on her elbows. She sighed and let her head hang, her snow white hair falling onto the bed. Her tiara lay on the stand next to the bed and her ponytail was undone, allowing her usual perfect hair to be messily strewn about on her head. In any other circumstance she would have never allowed herself to do this, but this was not exactly a normal situation.

Weiss let out a groan and flipped herself over and lay on her back, gazing up at the white ceiling. She blinked a few times and frowned. She gulped and turned her head to the door. It would be easy to just walk over and open it. But then she looked away and shut her eyes tightly.

“Having a little trouble, Weiss?”

Weiss let out an ear piercing shriek. She jumped off the bed and reached for Myrtenaster. But as soon as she did, she suddenly found herself suspended above the bed. “Wha-?!” She flailed about widely, looking around for anything to grab but found nothing. “What the?!”

“Oh, did I startle you? I’m sorry. I’ll put you down!”

Suddenly she was falling. Weiss closed her eyes and she saw green. Green and blue. Her eyes opened and she hit the bed. She rolled onto her side and with a sharp gaze, laid eyes onto a monstrosity.

It seemed like a snake, having such a long body it had to loop around just to fit inside the room. Its head looked like a pony’s and it had antlers that mismatched each other. Not to mention the lion’s paw that didn’t match the bird talons. Weiss looked on in horror as the thing’s mouth twisted into a grin.

“Huh. I expected someone a bit taller.” His voice was smooth, too calm for something as terrifying as it. Weiss jumped back as the monster slithered through the air towards her. “But I suppose it makes sense. Celestia and Luna didn’t exactly give me many details about you.”

Weiss took a shallow, shaky breath. “You... You’ve heard about me?”

The thing waved a hand... paw. “Oh, from several sources. Though I didn’t know it was you, exactly. But from your gaze, I presume you have no idea who I am, correct?” When Weiss made no move to respond, the thing’s face fell flat. It stared at her blankly. “You’re scared, right? Sorry, I tend to have that effect on people.” Suddenly it shrunk, still large but small enough to fit in the room without coiling in on itself.

“I believe some introductions are in order. I am Discord, spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Don’t worry, I’m not as evil as the title would have you assume.” Discord bowed, stretching out an arm as he smirked at Weiss, who swallowed the lump in her throat as she slowly crawled forward on the bed.

“I... I am Weiss Schnee...”

Discord straightened out and planted his feet on the floor. “Yes, yes, you are. I honestly did not expect to see you here.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow as she dropped herself off the bed and crossed her arms. “Were you expecting someone else?”

Discord raised a hand to his face, tapping his chin with a finger. “Hm, I suppose so. But that’s not why I’m here.” He smiled yet again, leaning forward with his hands on his hips. “Your arrival here has caused quite a lot of Chaos around here. So many ponies freaking out over the strange storm and shooting star that appeared in the sky. Heck, you crashed right into the side of the castle! I just really wanted to meet the one who caused it all.”

Weiss stepped around Discord, looking at his form. “What the... What are you?”

His eyes suddenly appeared on the back of his head, followed shortly by his mouth. Weiss let out a yelp and stepped back. “I’m a draconequus, my dear! The one and only.” His entire body soon turned around to match his face. “And you, are a human from the world of Remnant, I believe?”

Weiss scowled. “How in the world could you know that?!” She balled her hands into fists and stomped as she spoke. “Are you just playing games with me? I’ll have you know that I am not one to be toyed with, you monster!”

Discord faked a gasp and leaned back, bringing a hand to his chest. “You wound me, Ms. Schnee! You really do!” He gestured to his left side, where there was a gaping hole where his body once was. Where there would be blood and flesh was instead just a glowing white light. As Weiss stared, the hole repaired itself before her eyes. “I’m only kidding, of course. I doubt there’s much you could do to ever harm me. Though I hope it will never come to that.”

Silence reigned over the two as they stared into each others’ eyes. Weiss’s icy blue gaze was mixed with fear and annoyance, while Discord’s showed nothing but pleasantry. They both refused to blink... Actually, Weiss found herself unable to blink. She payed this no mind, however, and continued to stare. This was obviously a test, and she was determined to pass.

After a few more seconds, Discord suddenly let out a loud, hearty laugh which startled Weiss out of her stare. She let out a quiet yelp as the Chaos spirit continued laughing. “And may I ask what is so funny?!” Weiss exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t appreciate being laughed at!”

“Ha, oh, I’m so sorry, Weiss. I just...” Discord let out one last chuckle as his laugh trailed off. “Oh, Celestia was worrying and worrying. But she was so scared to see you! Had to send in her wittle sister to take care of things for her. I just decided to help her out a bit.”

Discord suddenly leaned in close, putting his face right up next to Weiss’. She tried to flinch away but found one of his arms around her shoulders, keeping her in place. “Tell you what,” he whispered, sending chills down Weiss’ spine. “I’ll put in a good word for you. I like you. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of Chaos out of you free of charge. I’m glad you’re here, Weiss.”

He was suddenly gone, a flash of light and then nothing, leaving Weiss alone in the room.

Weiss stood, frozen. She wasn’t sure what she should be feeling. Fear? She had plenty of that, but the way Discord spoke almost seemed calming. But yet her knees were shaking and her heart was pounding. She took a shaky breath and slowly walked towards the door.

She opened it and immediately saw a guard to her left. The guard looked at her and smiled. “Hello, Weiss. I’m Captain Butch Flowers. Happy to meet you. Shall we take a small tour?”

Weiss only nodded slowly.

Arc Two: Mirror, Mirror
Part Three End

Author's Note

I'm so sorry this took so long. But, at long last, here we are! Part Three!

I don't like this chapter. I really don't. There were so many things that I had trouble doing, and it went through so many different iterations before this one... ugh. Also, I hate writing Discord. He's so unpredictable. But I need him for what's coming up.

Anyway, big thanks to everyone over at theRemnants Discord server for keeping me motivated to write. Come join us in talking about random shit and occasionally RWBY and MLP.
-Qrow