Aboard E-201, somewhere over Equis
Dusk

“Alright, we’re ten minutes out from the Canterlot Ruins.” Porter called out from the helm. “Meteor, you ready on those comms?”

“Ready!” Gramps called out. Above us on one of the large old screens appeared Kovac’s face, backed by rock cliffs. “Kovac, you’re on!”

“Good, my infiltration team is coming up the cliffs on the far side of the ruins. We should be in position within half an hour. What’s the status on the armored column?”

“They’re gotten to a point about a half mile outside of what was the city limits, but they can’t go any farther.” Gramps said. “The terrain is far too damaged, likely a byproduct of the last time the Enclave was in town, so they’ll provide fire support as we send infantry in.”

“What about you Dusk?” Kovac asked.

“Steeljack and I are ready to go.” I said.

“What about the dragon? Have you heard anything from Spike?”

“Actually we haven’t, so Comet and Strike are going to pay him a visit with the Rangers. If we’re lucky it’s just an issue with the comms.” I replied. “As for our other friends back in Chicacolt, Radiant is gathering her merry band of misfits. The Rangers will pick them up before they join us.”

“Well then, we all know the plan. Good luck everyone, Kovac out.”

Even though we had discussed the planned assault on the Canterlot Ruins in great detail, more and more I felt something was off whenever I spoke with Kovac. Almost like my gut was telling me that there was something that he wasn’t saying. “Something bugging you too Dusk?” Gramps asked from across the bridge.

“So you and I both have the same bad gut feeling?” I wondered aloud as I walked off the bridge. “Now I’m even more scared!”

The cargo bay was but a short stroll down the corridor, and I found Steeljack sorting through his equipment when I walked in. “Are we there yet?” Steeljack asked as he finished putting a belt-fed light machine gun together.

“We’ll be there in ten minutes.” I said as I picked up my shotgun off the top of a container that was being used as a table. “Did Gramps bring you up to speed?”

“He said you and I were going to go find and kill West Wind.” Steeljack replied as he attached a sling to his weapon. “Although I’ve got to admit, being tagged as a hitstallion is new.”

“I know that it's not idea, but he’s the snake. Cut the head off and the rest dies.” I said as I slung the shotgun onto my back.

“I under that Dusk. Hell, and I can live with the crazy shit I’ve seen. But I’ve never been told to go off someone on purpose.” Steeljack said. “Even if that pony has certainly earned it…”

“Alright, you’ve got a point.” I admitted. “This is definitely outside of what we’d consider normal. Now is there something bothering you?”

“Just the same rather broad ethical question I ask before every mission.” Steeljack replied.

“Want to read me in on it then?” I asked.

Steeljack nodded. “I always ask myself whether we’re doing the right thing or not… Well, I haven’t always wondered that. It all started after that visit to the plantation.”

“Plantation… You’re talking about De Witt, aren’t you?” I asked as I turned around.

Steeljack nodded again and turned to face me. “Granted that one worked out for the best, but it still got me to think about what I’ve been doing. Although I’ve been asking myself that question more and more over the last few years.”

“Was it really that stressful?”

“At times it was.” Steeljack said. “Las Pegasus, the mission to the Pioneer, Canterlot, the Badlands… Pretty much all of the big missions I got roped into were.”

“Sounds like it was fun.” I offered.

“Remember that it was Dart that was in charge the whole time.” Steeljack pointed out. “Believe me when I say she probably had it far worse than I did.”

That point brought me back to my marefriend that we had left in Theater so she could properly be cared for. “Do you think she’ll be OK?”

Steeljack could only shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen her hurt that badly before. At least she’s in good hands...”

“I guess that’s a consolation prize.” I said.

“And probably the best one you’re getting given the circumstances. So focus on the here and now. You can control what happens down there, not what’s happening with Dart back at Theater.” Said Steeljack.

I nodded. “Another fair point, I guess.”

“Dusk, we’re five minutes out.” Porter called out over the intercom.

“Sounds like it’s game time.” Steeljack said as he clipped the magazine box onto his weapon.

Schick-schick

“Damn straight it is.”

***

“Dusk, Steeljack. You’re good to go!”

“Copy that!” I yelled as I hit the cargo bay’s door release. The hatch in the floor immediately slid open, letting the air course about the bay. “Steeljack, you ready?”

“Do you even have to ask?” The stallion called out.

“Well it never hurts to be sure!” I said as I stepped up to the edge of the hatch. “See you on the other side!” Judging by the look of shock I doubt that Steeljack expected me to simply drop out of the bottom of the picket especially when the ground was a good twenty feet away. I hit the broken rock and dirt rather quickly, having fallen like a rather dignified stone. But I made it down in one piece and that’s all that mattered.

THUD!

“Well that’s one way down...” Steeljack groaned as he rolled his right shoulder.

Steeljack wasn’t wrong, that certainly was one way down from the picket. As E-201 pulled away, the drone of its turbines was replaced by the pops of distant rifle-fire. “Who the hell’s shooting?” I muttered.

Steeljack turned and motioned with his weapon. “Sounds like it’s coming from farther down the mountain. Maybe some of the Enclave soldiers got the jump on Porter and the Marines.”

“Well what about the armor?” I asked, looking down to the ridge that the tanks were reported to be parked on. “They were supposed to be providing fire support.”

Steeljack didn’t wait to fish out his radio. “Meteor, this is Steeljack. Come in.” But as his radio didn’t even emit static, he instinctively tapped it against his weapon and hit the transmitter again. “Meteor, can you hear me?”

But Steeljack’s radio still remained silent. “Could the Enclave be jamming us?” I asked.

“If they were we’d be getting a whole lot more than nothing.” Steeljack countered. “And here’s another question… Porter’s Marines took over the armor so the Division’s infantry could advance under their cover. They’re not here either. Just what the hell is going on?”

Logic would dictate that we should be in the middle of a massive firefight right now, but instead we’ve got an empty battlefield. “I don’t know, and I doubt it matters. We’ve still got a job to do.”

It didn’t take much more to convince Steeljack that it was time to get moving. “So we have no working radio, no fire support and no backup. How are we going to make that work?”

“Lets just take it one step at a time.” I replied. “First thing’s first, we need to assess the situation.” As we made our way past what was at one point a building’s foundation, only identifiable by the bricks laid out in the ground in a rectangular shape, filled with piles of broken masonry and other destroyed building materials. “So much for a city… Steeljack, what happened here?”

“They called it Operation Cauterize.” Steeljack replied. “Back when the Enclave was at it’s peak they were launching massive assaults on populated areas. Canterlot was one, although it was filled with supercharged ghouls. It was their first target, and they managed to knock the whole city down in one pass.”

“Sounds like they had some serious firepower at their disposal.” I observed as we came upon another filled-in foundation, this one with some bones scattered across the rubble pile.

“Back then they did, but they’ve understandably taken a serious beating since then.” Said Steeljack.

As I turned my attention forward I saw a wall that was still standing, easily a good three feet taller than myself. I waved from Steeljack to the right corner of the wall. “Stack up.” I whispered.

I slid up alongside the wall and with a barely audible thud I could tell that Steeljack was right behind me. “Ready.” He whispered.

I gave it a three-count before I whipped around the corner with my shotgun shouldered, but that didn’t prepare me for what was waiting for the two of us. While there was a fully-armored Enclave soldier standing on the other side of the wall, there was a Second Division soldier also standing there with him, and both were aiming their weapons at me. “Kill him!” The Division soldier yelled.

I cursed under my breath as I smacked the Division soldier’s weapon away, while Steeljack went at the Enclave soldier. “Aren’t we on the same side?” I asked as I ducked a swing from my opponent. The Division soldier didn’t say anything as he shouldered his rifle again and took aim. “I guess not!”

BANG! Schick-schick

Before the Division soldier got to his trigger I let loose a twelve-gauge shell, catching my opponent square in the chest and sending him to the ground in a crumpled mess. Steeljack’s Enclave opponent joined the turncoat immediately, collapsing to help form a tangled mess of limbs. “Alright, that was too easy.” Steeljack observed.

Steeljack did reach down, offering me a hand in getting to my feet. But I ignored the gesture, instead sliding over to the Division soldier’s dead body. Looking at his face I could see where one of the pieces of the shot slammed into his face mask, tearing right through it like a hot knife through butter. But there was something important missing. There was no blood. Even as I looked down towards the soldier’s chest I didn’t see any of the red bodily fluid. “Steeljack, do you see something missing here?”

Steeljack took a moment to study the crumpled mess of limbs before he too came to the same realization that I had already reached. “Where’s the blood?”

“Glad I’m not the only one who picked up on that.” I said as I started undoing the Division soldier’s mask. As the last clasp was undone the mask flapped away from the soldier’s face, and I quickly tossed it away. Immediately it became clear why there wasn’t any blood. “Steeljack… Does that look like metal to you?”

“Hot damn…” Steeljack muttered. With the mask removed both of us could clearly make out the broken shape of a synth.

“I thought so.” I said as I clambered to my feet. “Have you ever heard of a synth that disguises itself?”

Steeljack shook his head. “Can’t say that I have, but this could explain a lot. The lack of support, the rifle fire we heard when we got here…”

“Then we need to get the lead out.” I replied. “We need to find some sort of command post.”

As we started walking deeper into the ruins I heard Steeljack cough. “What if they don’t have one up and running?”

I took a moment to glance over at Steeljack “What are you getting at?”

“What if this is all just one big trap? What then?”

Now that’s an uncomfortable point… But that would mean that the Division was planning on stabbing us in the back from the get-go. That would mean that we were meant to find Specter in Manehattan, and that everything else we went for was a calculated maneuver against us. “I don’t want to think about it.”

Steeljack took the opportunity to get in my way, and judging by the look on his face he wasn’t all that happy. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am.” I said as I pushed past the imposing stallion. “Do you realize where that line of thinking is going?”

“Yes, I do. We really need to think about how we got here… Even more so now that there’s a possibility that Division soldiers are actually synths.” Steeljack countered.

“And you’re certainly right Steeljack.” I replied. “And I’ll gladly entertain that line of thinking once we deal with the task at hand.” Suddenly Steeljack grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back a step. “What was that for?”

“Take a look.” Steeljack said as he pointed at a large gaping hole that I nearly fell into.

“Huh… Would you look at that?” I muttered.

“Now doesn’t that look familiar to you?” Steeljack asked.

It took a moment, but as I looked at the surrounding ground I realized that we weren’t standing on dirt any more, but a cracked marble slab. “This must have been where the castle stood.”

“Which would make that wall part of the castle too.” Steeljack added as he looked around. “Want to make a guess where that leads?”

“The Nexus…” I slowly said as the realization dawned on me. “This would’ve been the passage down to it.”

“And it’s probably where West Wind is hiding.” Steeljack added.

After a few more moments to myself I finally decided on a course of action. “Steeljack, you stay up here. I’ll go down and see what’s there.”

As I started slowly walking down the broken stairs Steeljack grabbed my arm again. “Be careful Dusk.” He said before letting me go. I didn’t say anything to my old friend. I simply nodded before starting down into the dark passage.

Author's Note

And there we go, the start to the final story arc of Broken Mirror! WOO!!! I can actually see the light of day again! Now I'll be honest, I don't know how long this final arc will end up. But It'll at bare minimum tie off the Broken Mirror story so I can move onto Reflections. Oh, and by the way, it's at eleven chapters as of today... Dear god, this is what happens when I get an idea. Regardless, keep an eye on the blog posts for more on Reflections and more multiverse shenanigans!

In the meantime, anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker