Spheresby Neon Icy WingsChaptersMillennia Past - PrologueChapter 1: A Plan In the WindChapter 2: Mirror Mirror Tell Me AllChapter 3: The Dreams That BeChapter 4: Resignation, New beginningChapter 5: Dinner Before DawnChapter 6: On Track, Don't Look BackMillennia Past - PrologueA prologue of the past (rewritten) One thousand years ago, in a dark forest that was being besieged by a rain storm hid a strange being, and it was hiding from the Royal sisters. It hid inside a cave with an entrance so small that it put a wooden door there and it paced in front of an ornate mirror. The strange being was bipedal, while his right side was onyx black his left was marble white, he also had red eyes. And it seemed to be talking to the mirror, "It's not my fault they are on to us. Well, at least we still 'poisoned' Luna." Strangely enough, he was answered by a different voice, "Yes, but the 'poison' won't take effect for some time and we could have used it for something more rewarding!" He turned, flaring the black and white cape he wore slightly as he glared at the pure black biped in the mirror, "I'm the brains that says oh, why don't we go through the tunnel net work and surface in the kitchens, you're the brawn that says let's burn down the door, steal a cake and blind our enemies with its frosted goodness!" The twin in the mirror shifted and looked away as it crossed its arms, "That was once and we both know it K." K shook his head and snickered a little, "Twice C. You forgot the time with the bachelor party where you-" C seemed to grab the mirror from his side with his teeth bared as he growled menacingly at K, "I get it K." K shifted a little and stopped snickering, "Well, what are we going to now? If I know them, which I do, then they will be coming here to use the elements on us." C let go of his side of the mirror and nodded, "Yeah, cause you had to go do a Discord and cause the chain of events that's gonna get us stoned." As he said the last part K snickered again, causing C to give him a very unamused look, "It's not funny. Discord had the same stuff we have and it barley helped him. If we're not careful we'll also be the Princesses garden gnomes." K sighed as he turned to the side and leaned against the wall, "Where did we go so wrong?" C shrugged and gave a chuckle, "I think it went wrong the moment they found out our little secret causing you to 'poison' Luna and cause serious injury to her personal guard." K turned back to the mirror with a small frown, "You're right. But what do we do now?" C gave a small grin as twisted ideas formed in his mind, "We set a trap for them. Like you said, they will be coming to turn us to stone or whatever it is the elements do. And when they do come, we'll be ready." Even K gave a dark smile to that, "Good. All in favor of setting a trap?" Both of them raised their hand and looked around before lowering them again, "Oh, right Discord's not here." K turned from the mirror and walked towards the door as one of his arms glowed dark blue while the other glowed dark green. He lifted his arms and let some of the glowing light fly to the door as they started making strange intertwining patterns on the floor in front of the door. Once the rune was finished and his arms stopped glowing he turned back to the mirror, "When they get here they will be trapped by the magic in the rune and then we can have a nice chat with them." C scowled a little before giving a contemplative look, "Don't you know it's bad to monologue in front of your enemies?" K frowned again as he turned away slightly, "I never get to have any fun." C gave a sarcastic chuckle, "Well, don't worry. I'm sure the princesses will crash through that door any day now." Right after he finished that sentence the door shattered into splinters causing K to shield himself with his cape. Once the dust cleared away he let his cape drop and gaped in awe at what stood before him, the Princesses Celestia and Luna wearing the Elements of Harmony in all their glory. He glanced down and saw they were a few steps from the rune, so he decided to try and trick them into it, "What a surprise this is! And what an honor! My dear Princesses." He said with a mocking bow and flare of his cape. Luna stepped forward, just a step away from the rune, an angry scowl adorned on her face, "We have come to stop you K! You have done too much in these recent months! You helped Discord, slipped something into our soup and harmed our favorite guard! For these crimes we cannot forgive thee!" K rose from the bow with a cocky grin and chuckled a bit, "Whose asking for forgiveness? Certainly not me." Celestia stepped up to the side of her sister wearing a calm yet angry look, "I just want to know why K. Why did you do all of this?" K once again flared his cape and laughed, "A magician never reveals his secrets!" Luna started to tremble as her angry scowl started to become saddened, "We considered you our friend K." K's cocky smile to started to shift to one of slight regret, "I did too. But, things change." Luna let out a scream of fury as she jumped at K, her sister not to far behind only for both of them to be caught by magic green and blue chains coming out of the symbol and being chained to the floor. Celestia, still calm even through the slight pain in her wing examined the symbol, "This is beyond your magic K. Who helped you?" K's cocky smile returned as he gestured to the mirror where C was waving from, "Besides myself?" The royal sisters were shocked by the mirror, especially Celestia, "What kind of mirror is that?" K started moving the mirror closer as C started to explain, "Well, this mirror is enchanted to let one see their true or hidden side. Me being K's opposite." As K finished moving the mirror he bent down beside the sisters and raised his hands, showing his palms as three glowing spheres appeared. One was dark green, another dark blue while the last one was bright teal, "A friend gave us these. And these gave us enough power to trap you here." A dark smile flashed across his face, "What do you have to say to that?" Celestia gave a smile of her own which confused K, "I have nothing to say. For actions speak louder than words." Celestia then lowered her head and lifted it with great speed causing her horn to hit his out stretched hands sending the spheres flying. K stood up and ran after the flying spheres while the rune started to weaken as the Princesses started to slowly get up. At seeing this C started to panic, "Hurry and grab them fool!" K jumped and grabbed the green and blue ones simultaneously absorbing them back into his skin. He reached for the teal one but slipped, causing him to only bump it, sending it flying toward a wall which it phased through, out into the rain. K and C were in a state of shock before they turned back to the sisters who both had glowing white eyes. C looked at K, "What do you have to say?" K turned from C back to the angered sisters, "Oops." He then looked to the ceiling, "Curse you Discord!" He raised a fist to the ceiling and pointed an accusing finger at it, "You set me up!" The royal sisters then unleashed a stream of rainbow magic that wrapped around K and the mirror, as well as kicking up large amounts of dust. As the effects of the Elements wore off the Princesses they coughed as the dust settled, revealing the statue of K pointing at the ceiling and a half statued mirror that still reflected the room. Luna gave a sad sigh as she turned to her sister, "Come sister. I think we should place him in the royal gardens." She turned back to the statue, "He always did like nature." Celestia nodded and started levitating him out, leaving only Luna and the mirror. Luna sighed one last time as she started levitating the mirror, but as she looked into it she gasped and let it drop, causing a loud thud. Celestia peeked back in with a worried look on her face, "Are you alright sister?" Luna, still gasping for breath, nodded, "Yes, sister. We are fine." Celestia looked skeptical but left her sister alone anyways. Luna shook her head as she gazed at her reflection. Everything was the same, except for the lizard like teal eyes. Shrugging it off she levitated the mirror once again and stepped outside with it in tow. Chapter 1: A Plan In the WindChapter 1: They are awake. One thousand years into the future, K and C were forgotten in the annals of time. In the present day nearly one week after the wedding of Princess Cadence and Shinning Armor, Canterlot was rebuilding from the Changeling invasion. Though there were many workers rebuilding the buildings and roads that were hit by the changelings landing, there were very few working on the gardens. It was scheduled to be only one Pegasus mare working the gardens, but some off duty guards thought it would be cruel, so they decided to pitch in. The mare sighed as she filled the last hole in her sector of the gardens and moved on to start cleaning off the nearest statues. This mare's name was Neon Fracture. She was a dark blue Pegasus with a black and teal mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a circle of different colors separated by cracks the likes of which would seem to belong on a broken mirror, there were ten colors, going clockwise, were blue, pink, red, green, purple, black, white, teal, yellow and orange. The first statue she started to clean was the one that belonged to Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. As she cleaned off Discord's statue she was reminded, with disgust, of what he did to her. Specifically when her third place flight camp trophy came to life and flew her around Canterlot. As she cleaned off the last scorch mark and bits of dirt she sighed in relief to be done and to, once again, forget about him. Finally finished with Discord's statue she moved on to her favorite statue in all of the gardens. The statue was an interesting work show casing a bipedal creature wearing a cape and pointing to the sky next to a mirror held up by a stone stand. For as long as she worked at the royal palace, mainly the gardens, that statue was her favorite for she found it interesting and different from the rest, sans Discord's but she disliked his ever since he escaped. As she started wiping the mirror off she started to hum a song her mother taught her when she was a filly. As she wiped a scorch mark off the mirror she saw the reflection of somepony flying towards the gardens. She turned around and squinted at the Pegasus that was flying and smiled when she recognized who it was. As the figure got closer she waved and her smile grew wider. The figure landed a few yards away and waved back before trotting closer, "Hey, Neon!" Neon chuckled at seeing her childhood friend again, "Hello, Storm." Storm Cloud was a light brown Pegasus stallion with amber eyes and a blond and silver tinted mane. His cutie mark was a black cloud shooting out two silver lightning bolts. He neared his friend and gave her a hug which she returned. He looked her over, taking note if anything was out of place, "Are you alright Neon? I heard about the wedding getting crashed and Canterlot being attacked." Neon chuckled slightly at her friends concern, "You could have written a letter you know. But, I'm fine Storm. Though the gardens have seen better days, it could be worse." Storm gave a sigh changed to slight nervousness, "I wanted to come and see for myself, seeing as I heard those creatures that attacked could take the forms of different ponies, I wanted to make sure you were alright." Neon smiled and put her hoof on her friends shoulder, "I'm touched Storm. But, I'm fine. Honestly. Though it is good to see you again." Storm's smile returned as he started walking a little ways off, "It's good to see you too! We should have dinner tonight at that old diner we used to go to." Neon nodded in agreement, "That sounds great Storm." She sighed as she turned back to the statue she was cleaning, "I'd love to chat Storm, but I have statues to clean." Storm chuckled and flapped his wings to take him into the air, "It's alright. I have to check into a hotel any ways. See you tonight Neon!" She turned and watched him fly into the semi-outskirts of Canterlot with a smile on her face before continuing cleaning the statues. For three hours she cleaned the statues and other assorted items in the gardens before thanking the guards and heading to the apartment she owned in Canterlot right before the sun was being replaced by the moon. But, when she left, a mirror held by a stone stand reflected a figure that wasn't there. The silhouette of a bipedal creature stood there with two red eyes and a creepy smile, in silence. After a few minutes the creature's silence was interrupted by a laugh to the mirror's left. The creature in the mirror turned to see the statue of Discord. It looked to Discord's face to see the eyes glowing, "Well, it sure has been awhile since you two showed your ugly mug in that mirror!" The creature sighed and shook it's head before turning away from him, "We have been asleep for the last hundred years Discord. Well, except for your little excursion into freedom." Discord laughed again before his voice took a calm yet happy tone, "So, what did you think?" The creature sat there, contemplating it's answer, before it gave it's response, "It was amusing. Much better than what we've had. That and Nightmare Moon's return sure made everything worth watching." The creature's smile returned wider than before at the memory. The lord of chaos chuckled in amusement, "There were rumors that you had a hand in that." The creature in the mirror nodded, "Yes, I did. I was hoping the poison would be left intact after the Elements restored the Princess. Sadly it was destroyed." Eyes of three other statues next to Discord and the creature started to glow, as did statues further away, though they glowed dimmer than Discord's and their voices were distorted and impossible to understand. The creature turned to the statue on it's right, a pony holding a flag, "You felt it too, did you? Sad that your soul is too weak to be restored." The other statue's voice made a noise that Discord sighed at, "True my friend. How cruel fate was to make you sight a cockatrice right after you saved that village from a manticore." The creature in the mirror spoke to all the statues of the gardens as if addressing a crowd at a speech, "You all know that you're all stuck here. Those frozen by cockatrice or Elements, time has eroded the strength of your ever lasting souls trapped by the magics that seal your body. But, it seems my ticket out of this place has come at last, hidden in plain sight at that." The creature could almost hear Discord's smile before he even spoke, "Ooh! Can I come along Kwazy?" Behind the mirror it thought it over for a good bit before it sighed, "Fine, but I'll approach her first considering you look disturbing to anyone who knows you." Discord was silent for a little while before he said anything, "I'm not sure of that was a compliment or an insult." The creature chuckled, "It'll give you something to think about while I sort things out. If I play my cards right and you and our little friend don't ruin it, we'll be out of here within months." The silhouette vanished from the mirror and Discord chuckled and his chuckle seemed to echo as his eyes stopped glowing along with the rest of the garden's statues, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened that night. Chapter 2: Mirror Mirror Tell Me AllChapter 2: Mirror, mirror on the wall The Pegasus mare known as Neon Fracture walked to her home in an apartment building in lower Canterlot, under the light of Luna's moon. She walked through the front doors, happily greeting the old unicorn stallion behind the counter and walked up the staircase to the very top of the complex. She trotted up to a door, took a key out from her hoodie pocket, and unlocked the door, entering her home. It was nothing spectacular. In fact, it was a little run down, but, it was what she had called home for more than half her life. As she locked the door, she looked to a picture on a set of drawers, showing a Pegasus mare with a purple coat and yellow eyes and a light green unicorn stallion with brown eyes. Both smiling, gently hugging each other. She smiled and put a hoof on the picture, "Hello, mom. Hello, dad." She trotted further into her home, straight into her bedroom. She took off the hoodie she had been wearing, threw it onto the bed and went into the bathroom. As she took a hair brush out of a drawer she started to talk to herself, having nopony else to talk to, "So, me? Have you made a decision yet?" She looked intently at her reflection as she gripped the brush in her wing and started to brush her mane, "Should I leave Canterlot? I mean, it's been a year since mom passed away," She stopped looking at her mirror and looked to the floor, "Actually thinking about it, it seems my parents were the only things keeping me here." She moved the brush from her main and started brushing her tail, "I guess I should. Even the Gardens haven't been as bright as they did before. What, with Discord and then the Changelings." She continued to brush her tail, looking to the floor with her eyes closed, for awhile longer. She sighed and put the brush back when she heard a chuckle. Her head shot up and she looked around frantically for the intruder. She cautiously exited the bathroom and quickly glanced around before shutting the bathroom door and locking it. She sat on the ground wondering what to do, when a voice spoke from within the room, "Really, is that how you react to everything?" She squealed in fear, jumping a little bit, almost falling into the tub and looked to the source of the voice, but, saw nothing but her mirror, "W-where are you?" The voice sighed, "Look inside the mirror." She shakily got up from her place on the floor and slowly walked up to the mirror. She felt her breathing increase in speed, as she gazed upon a pure white creature with red eyes in her mirror, a creepy smile adorning its face, "Surprise." She tried to speak, feeling her heart beat pump fast and loud, but, manage to say little, "W-w-wha-what are y-you?" The creature seemed disappointed, its smile vanishing, "I am not the scary. You are over reacting," She felt her heart slow, but, still knew it was beating faster than normal, at the creature's calm attitude, "Now, my I ask your name?" She stuttered for a moment before gathering herself, thinking, It's in the mirror, it can't even touch me! Right? Shaking the doubts from her mind she looked the creature straight in the eye, "Neon Fracture." The creature smiled again and raised its arms and hit its claw like appendages together to create a slapping sound, "Oh, I applaud you! Not even ten seconds ago you were a stuttering ball of uselessness, now your actually behaving like a reasonable living thing! Bravo! Bravo." Neon gulped and started to muster some courage to deal with this strange being, "Not to be r-rude, but, what are you doing here?" The creature chuckled showing two rows of sharp teeth, "Well, it's just that I have been oh, so bored for this last thousand years, give or take, and I think you can cure that. Simply by living your life." Neon frowned, still cautious of the creature, " What do y-you mean? Who are you?" The creature frowned and rose, what she assumed to be, a brow, "Surely you should know. You must have seen me a thousand times!" It smiled as it spread its arms wide, as if for a hug, "Its-a me, K! Your favorite statue! Well, half of it anyway." She groaned as it hit her, making her cover her face with her hooves, "Ohh, not another Discord!" K let his smile drop, along with his arms, "Not the reaction I wanted." Neon let her hooves fall away as she looked to the door, "I should tell the Princess." K chuckled nervously, "You really shouldn't! I mean it's not that complicated to understand! All you do is live your life! We just hang on for the ride, talking to you every now and then. Mainly through mirrors or other reflective surfaces! We could give you advice on certain things too, you know." Neon looked back at the mirror with a thoughtful frown on her face, "And how do I know I can trust you and your friend, at least I think you have a friend from all the 'we's' you put in there." K started to sweat a bit, "Well, I'll keep both of them under control. Promise!" Neon raised a brow at the mirror, "And how can I trust you?" K shoulders slumped, as he gave her a small glare, "Oh, yeah. Don't give the mysterious creature in your mirror the benefit of the doubt. It's almost like he did something bad to you." Neon put a hoof against her forehead and thought for a bit, before sighing, "Fine, I'll give you and your friend or friends one chance. Then I tell the Princesses. Got it?" K nodded furiously with a nervous smile, "Yeah I get it! Sure!" He raised one of his arms and looked at his wrist, "Oh, look at the time! It's about time I went and talked to my friends about out little agreement! Ta!" Neon looked on, baffled at the sight of the creature just vanishing into steam. She shook her head and turned away from the mirror, "I hope I just imagined that." She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and groaned, "I don't care if I just brushed my mane, I'm taking a shower." She stepped towards the bathtub, opened the curtain and stepped into it, closing the curtain behind her. She turned the hot water on a tad, before turning the cold on as well until the two were the perfect heat. Sighing, she relaxed under the gentle fall of the water, as she imagined how nice it would be to have dinner with Storm Cloud again, and to get that weird delusion out of her memory. _____________________________________ An hour later, she stepped out of the bathroom with water droplets clinging to her mane, a towel wrapped around her midsection and a smile on her face. She trotted to her bed, where she removed the towel and threw it into her hardly used clothes hamper. She looked to the clock that was hanging from her wall, to see that it was almost time for her dinner with Storm. Smile widening, she slipped the hoodie that lay upon her bed and trotted to her front door. Giving a small wave of goodbye to the picture, she walked outside her door, locked it, went through the apartment complex, and trotted down the street to an old diner. It wasn't a fancy diner like the kind in upper Canterlot, but, she would pass up all of them for that one. She looked at the old sign that topped the door. It read, 'Hotcake's Diner.' She grinned gently at the old sign and trotted through the diner's door. A yellow middle aged earth pony mare with a red mane was sat behind the bar, looked up at Neon and grinned broadly, "I see you came here too, sweetheart?" Neon chuckled at the mare, "Hello, Hotcake. How's business been lately?" Hotcake shrugged, "Same as it's always been dear. Anyway, Storm is at your old table sweetheart," She winked at Neon, "Maybe you're actually doing it after all?" Neon smiled and shook her head, "I told you the last time I was here, Storm is my friend, nothing more." Hotcake laughed, "Last time you were here was just before Stormy moved to Ponyville," She waved a hoof, as if in dismissal, still wearing a smile, "Aw, get on then. I'll bring your usual food and drink over. But, I'll let you know, I know a relationship when I see it, and I've never been wrong before!" Neon laughed as well, trotting over to a table near the back. Storm looked away from the drink he was sipping, "Hey, Neon." She felt her grin widen again as she sat down, "Hello, Storm. How's your dad in Ponyville?" Storm's glee faded as he set he drink down, "He passed a month ago." Neon gasped lightly and brought a hoof over her mouth, "I didn't know! I'm so sorry." Storm grinned a little again, "Eh, it's okay. My old man went the way he wanted, in a small place where it was nice and quiet." Neon smiled lightly, "He never did like Canterlot." Storm laughed and put on a gruff, old voice, "That city is full of loud, obnoxious bafoons! I'm going to Ponyville like my sister, where I can actually hear the birds over the sound of others talking about themselves!" Neon chuckled and looked up to see Hotcake set the food and her drink down. She took a bite of her daisy and rose sandwich, "So, how's Ponyville been?" Storm chuckled as well, "It's been up and down. One moment nothing's going on except a picnic, the next a herd of bunnies run through town eating most of the crops." He shook his head, still chuckling, "Sometimes, I think it's crazier than Canterlot!" Neon nodded, "I've been contemplating moving there actually." Storm rose a brow, "Really? But, you love Canterlot. You love the Gardens." Neon shook her head, "Ever since my mother passed away I just felt like there's been something missing. I don't really know anypony here anymore, other than mister Lockkey, the apartment owner and miss Hotcake, but, everypony else moved away. Like, you moved to Ponyville to care for your father, and Icy Wing moved to Trottingham to chase after her obsession of mysterious creatures." Storm put a hoof to his forehead, as if in thought, before his eyes went wide, as did his smile, "If you do move to Ponyville, you can stay at my place if you like." Neon smiled at her friend, "Thanks Storm! I was going to think about it more, decide where to stay and such. But, since lodging seems to be taken care of, I'll move as soon as possible!" Storm nodded, "Sounds good to me! And, since my vacation will last a few more days, I might be able to stay here and help you with your move. Or at least accompany you to Ponyville." Neon got up from her seat and hugged Storm, before setting down a tip for Hotcake and heading toward the door, "I'll give my letter of resignation tomorrow and make all the plans," She waved to Storm before opening the door, "Bye, Storm! See you tomorrow." She walked out of the door and down the street with a big smile on her face, It'll be nice to catch up more with Storm! And since I won't be working at the Gardens much longer, maybe I'll be able to see Icy again! With a giggle and a bounce in her step she headed home once more, seeing a shining tomorrow. Little knowing just how crazy Ponyville was and just how real her encounter with the strange being was. But, in that one beautiful moment, none of those things mattered, for Storm, her friend, would be there with her all the way. Chapter 3: The Dreams That BeSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 4: Resignation, New beginningSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 5: Dinner Before DawnSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 6: On Track, Don't Look BackSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Millennia Past - PrologueA prologue of the past (rewritten) One thousand years ago, in a dark forest that was being besieged by a rain storm hid a strange being, and it was hiding from the Royal sisters. It hid inside a cave with an entrance so small that it put a wooden door there and it paced in front of an ornate mirror. The strange being was bipedal, while his right side was onyx black his left was marble white, he also had red eyes. And it seemed to be talking to the mirror, "It's not my fault they are on to us. Well, at least we still 'poisoned' Luna." Strangely enough, he was answered by a different voice, "Yes, but the 'poison' won't take effect for some time and we could have used it for something more rewarding!" He turned, flaring the black and white cape he wore slightly as he glared at the pure black biped in the mirror, "I'm the brains that says oh, why don't we go through the tunnel net work and surface in the kitchens, you're the brawn that says let's burn down the door, steal a cake and blind our enemies with its frosted goodness!" The twin in the mirror shifted and looked away as it crossed its arms, "That was once and we both know it K." K shook his head and snickered a little, "Twice C. You forgot the time with the bachelor party where you-" C seemed to grab the mirror from his side with his teeth bared as he growled menacingly at K, "I get it K." K shifted a little and stopped snickering, "Well, what are we going to now? If I know them, which I do, then they will be coming here to use the elements on us." C let go of his side of the mirror and nodded, "Yeah, cause you had to go do a Discord and cause the chain of events that's gonna get us stoned." As he said the last part K snickered again, causing C to give him a very unamused look, "It's not funny. Discord had the same stuff we have and it barley helped him. If we're not careful we'll also be the Princesses garden gnomes." K sighed as he turned to the side and leaned against the wall, "Where did we go so wrong?" C shrugged and gave a chuckle, "I think it went wrong the moment they found out our little secret causing you to 'poison' Luna and cause serious injury to her personal guard." K turned back to the mirror with a small frown, "You're right. But what do we do now?" C gave a small grin as twisted ideas formed in his mind, "We set a trap for them. Like you said, they will be coming to turn us to stone or whatever it is the elements do. And when they do come, we'll be ready." Even K gave a dark smile to that, "Good. All in favor of setting a trap?" Both of them raised their hand and looked around before lowering them again, "Oh, right Discord's not here." K turned from the mirror and walked towards the door as one of his arms glowed dark blue while the other glowed dark green. He lifted his arms and let some of the glowing light fly to the door as they started making strange intertwining patterns on the floor in front of the door. Once the rune was finished and his arms stopped glowing he turned back to the mirror, "When they get here they will be trapped by the magic in the rune and then we can have a nice chat with them." C scowled a little before giving a contemplative look, "Don't you know it's bad to monologue in front of your enemies?" K frowned again as he turned away slightly, "I never get to have any fun." C gave a sarcastic chuckle, "Well, don't worry. I'm sure the princesses will crash through that door any day now." Right after he finished that sentence the door shattered into splinters causing K to shield himself with his cape. Once the dust cleared away he let his cape drop and gaped in awe at what stood before him, the Princesses Celestia and Luna wearing the Elements of Harmony in all their glory. He glanced down and saw they were a few steps from the rune, so he decided to try and trick them into it, "What a surprise this is! And what an honor! My dear Princesses." He said with a mocking bow and flare of his cape. Luna stepped forward, just a step away from the rune, an angry scowl adorned on her face, "We have come to stop you K! You have done too much in these recent months! You helped Discord, slipped something into our soup and harmed our favorite guard! For these crimes we cannot forgive thee!" K rose from the bow with a cocky grin and chuckled a bit, "Whose asking for forgiveness? Certainly not me." Celestia stepped up to the side of her sister wearing a calm yet angry look, "I just want to know why K. Why did you do all of this?" K once again flared his cape and laughed, "A magician never reveals his secrets!" Luna started to tremble as her angry scowl started to become saddened, "We considered you our friend K." K's cocky smile to started to shift to one of slight regret, "I did too. But, things change." Luna let out a scream of fury as she jumped at K, her sister not to far behind only for both of them to be caught by magic green and blue chains coming out of the symbol and being chained to the floor. Celestia, still calm even through the slight pain in her wing examined the symbol, "This is beyond your magic K. Who helped you?" K's cocky smile returned as he gestured to the mirror where C was waving from, "Besides myself?" The royal sisters were shocked by the mirror, especially Celestia, "What kind of mirror is that?" K started moving the mirror closer as C started to explain, "Well, this mirror is enchanted to let one see their true or hidden side. Me being K's opposite." As K finished moving the mirror he bent down beside the sisters and raised his hands, showing his palms as three glowing spheres appeared. One was dark green, another dark blue while the last one was bright teal, "A friend gave us these. And these gave us enough power to trap you here." A dark smile flashed across his face, "What do you have to say to that?" Celestia gave a smile of her own which confused K, "I have nothing to say. For actions speak louder than words." Celestia then lowered her head and lifted it with great speed causing her horn to hit his out stretched hands sending the spheres flying. K stood up and ran after the flying spheres while the rune started to weaken as the Princesses started to slowly get up. At seeing this C started to panic, "Hurry and grab them fool!" K jumped and grabbed the green and blue ones simultaneously absorbing them back into his skin. He reached for the teal one but slipped, causing him to only bump it, sending it flying toward a wall which it phased through, out into the rain. K and C were in a state of shock before they turned back to the sisters who both had glowing white eyes. C looked at K, "What do you have to say?" K turned from C back to the angered sisters, "Oops." He then looked to the ceiling, "Curse you Discord!" He raised a fist to the ceiling and pointed an accusing finger at it, "You set me up!" The royal sisters then unleashed a stream of rainbow magic that wrapped around K and the mirror, as well as kicking up large amounts of dust. As the effects of the Elements wore off the Princesses they coughed as the dust settled, revealing the statue of K pointing at the ceiling and a half statued mirror that still reflected the room. Luna gave a sad sigh as she turned to her sister, "Come sister. I think we should place him in the royal gardens." She turned back to the statue, "He always did like nature." Celestia nodded and started levitating him out, leaving only Luna and the mirror. Luna sighed one last time as she started levitating the mirror, but as she looked into it she gasped and let it drop, causing a loud thud. Celestia peeked back in with a worried look on her face, "Are you alright sister?" Luna, still gasping for breath, nodded, "Yes, sister. We are fine." Celestia looked skeptical but left her sister alone anyways. Luna shook her head as she gazed at her reflection. Everything was the same, except for the lizard like teal eyes. Shrugging it off she levitated the mirror once again and stepped outside with it in tow.
Chapter 1: A Plan In the WindChapter 1: They are awake. One thousand years into the future, K and C were forgotten in the annals of time. In the present day nearly one week after the wedding of Princess Cadence and Shinning Armor, Canterlot was rebuilding from the Changeling invasion. Though there were many workers rebuilding the buildings and roads that were hit by the changelings landing, there were very few working on the gardens. It was scheduled to be only one Pegasus mare working the gardens, but some off duty guards thought it would be cruel, so they decided to pitch in. The mare sighed as she filled the last hole in her sector of the gardens and moved on to start cleaning off the nearest statues. This mare's name was Neon Fracture. She was a dark blue Pegasus with a black and teal mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a circle of different colors separated by cracks the likes of which would seem to belong on a broken mirror, there were ten colors, going clockwise, were blue, pink, red, green, purple, black, white, teal, yellow and orange. The first statue she started to clean was the one that belonged to Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony. As she cleaned off Discord's statue she was reminded, with disgust, of what he did to her. Specifically when her third place flight camp trophy came to life and flew her around Canterlot. As she cleaned off the last scorch mark and bits of dirt she sighed in relief to be done and to, once again, forget about him. Finally finished with Discord's statue she moved on to her favorite statue in all of the gardens. The statue was an interesting work show casing a bipedal creature wearing a cape and pointing to the sky next to a mirror held up by a stone stand. For as long as she worked at the royal palace, mainly the gardens, that statue was her favorite for she found it interesting and different from the rest, sans Discord's but she disliked his ever since he escaped. As she started wiping the mirror off she started to hum a song her mother taught her when she was a filly. As she wiped a scorch mark off the mirror she saw the reflection of somepony flying towards the gardens. She turned around and squinted at the Pegasus that was flying and smiled when she recognized who it was. As the figure got closer she waved and her smile grew wider. The figure landed a few yards away and waved back before trotting closer, "Hey, Neon!" Neon chuckled at seeing her childhood friend again, "Hello, Storm." Storm Cloud was a light brown Pegasus stallion with amber eyes and a blond and silver tinted mane. His cutie mark was a black cloud shooting out two silver lightning bolts. He neared his friend and gave her a hug which she returned. He looked her over, taking note if anything was out of place, "Are you alright Neon? I heard about the wedding getting crashed and Canterlot being attacked." Neon chuckled slightly at her friends concern, "You could have written a letter you know. But, I'm fine Storm. Though the gardens have seen better days, it could be worse." Storm gave a sigh changed to slight nervousness, "I wanted to come and see for myself, seeing as I heard those creatures that attacked could take the forms of different ponies, I wanted to make sure you were alright." Neon smiled and put her hoof on her friends shoulder, "I'm touched Storm. But, I'm fine. Honestly. Though it is good to see you again." Storm's smile returned as he started walking a little ways off, "It's good to see you too! We should have dinner tonight at that old diner we used to go to." Neon nodded in agreement, "That sounds great Storm." She sighed as she turned back to the statue she was cleaning, "I'd love to chat Storm, but I have statues to clean." Storm chuckled and flapped his wings to take him into the air, "It's alright. I have to check into a hotel any ways. See you tonight Neon!" She turned and watched him fly into the semi-outskirts of Canterlot with a smile on her face before continuing cleaning the statues. For three hours she cleaned the statues and other assorted items in the gardens before thanking the guards and heading to the apartment she owned in Canterlot right before the sun was being replaced by the moon. But, when she left, a mirror held by a stone stand reflected a figure that wasn't there. The silhouette of a bipedal creature stood there with two red eyes and a creepy smile, in silence. After a few minutes the creature's silence was interrupted by a laugh to the mirror's left. The creature in the mirror turned to see the statue of Discord. It looked to Discord's face to see the eyes glowing, "Well, it sure has been awhile since you two showed your ugly mug in that mirror!" The creature sighed and shook it's head before turning away from him, "We have been asleep for the last hundred years Discord. Well, except for your little excursion into freedom." Discord laughed again before his voice took a calm yet happy tone, "So, what did you think?" The creature sat there, contemplating it's answer, before it gave it's response, "It was amusing. Much better than what we've had. That and Nightmare Moon's return sure made everything worth watching." The creature's smile returned wider than before at the memory. The lord of chaos chuckled in amusement, "There were rumors that you had a hand in that." The creature in the mirror nodded, "Yes, I did. I was hoping the poison would be left intact after the Elements restored the Princess. Sadly it was destroyed." Eyes of three other statues next to Discord and the creature started to glow, as did statues further away, though they glowed dimmer than Discord's and their voices were distorted and impossible to understand. The creature turned to the statue on it's right, a pony holding a flag, "You felt it too, did you? Sad that your soul is too weak to be restored." The other statue's voice made a noise that Discord sighed at, "True my friend. How cruel fate was to make you sight a cockatrice right after you saved that village from a manticore." The creature in the mirror spoke to all the statues of the gardens as if addressing a crowd at a speech, "You all know that you're all stuck here. Those frozen by cockatrice or Elements, time has eroded the strength of your ever lasting souls trapped by the magics that seal your body. But, it seems my ticket out of this place has come at last, hidden in plain sight at that." The creature could almost hear Discord's smile before he even spoke, "Ooh! Can I come along Kwazy?" Behind the mirror it thought it over for a good bit before it sighed, "Fine, but I'll approach her first considering you look disturbing to anyone who knows you." Discord was silent for a little while before he said anything, "I'm not sure of that was a compliment or an insult." The creature chuckled, "It'll give you something to think about while I sort things out. If I play my cards right and you and our little friend don't ruin it, we'll be out of here within months." The silhouette vanished from the mirror and Discord chuckled and his chuckle seemed to echo as his eyes stopped glowing along with the rest of the garden's statues, as if nothing out of the ordinary happened that night.
Chapter 2: Mirror Mirror Tell Me AllChapter 2: Mirror, mirror on the wall The Pegasus mare known as Neon Fracture walked to her home in an apartment building in lower Canterlot, under the light of Luna's moon. She walked through the front doors, happily greeting the old unicorn stallion behind the counter and walked up the staircase to the very top of the complex. She trotted up to a door, took a key out from her hoodie pocket, and unlocked the door, entering her home. It was nothing spectacular. In fact, it was a little run down, but, it was what she had called home for more than half her life. As she locked the door, she looked to a picture on a set of drawers, showing a Pegasus mare with a purple coat and yellow eyes and a light green unicorn stallion with brown eyes. Both smiling, gently hugging each other. She smiled and put a hoof on the picture, "Hello, mom. Hello, dad." She trotted further into her home, straight into her bedroom. She took off the hoodie she had been wearing, threw it onto the bed and went into the bathroom. As she took a hair brush out of a drawer she started to talk to herself, having nopony else to talk to, "So, me? Have you made a decision yet?" She looked intently at her reflection as she gripped the brush in her wing and started to brush her mane, "Should I leave Canterlot? I mean, it's been a year since mom passed away," She stopped looking at her mirror and looked to the floor, "Actually thinking about it, it seems my parents were the only things keeping me here." She moved the brush from her main and started brushing her tail, "I guess I should. Even the Gardens haven't been as bright as they did before. What, with Discord and then the Changelings." She continued to brush her tail, looking to the floor with her eyes closed, for awhile longer. She sighed and put the brush back when she heard a chuckle. Her head shot up and she looked around frantically for the intruder. She cautiously exited the bathroom and quickly glanced around before shutting the bathroom door and locking it. She sat on the ground wondering what to do, when a voice spoke from within the room, "Really, is that how you react to everything?" She squealed in fear, jumping a little bit, almost falling into the tub and looked to the source of the voice, but, saw nothing but her mirror, "W-where are you?" The voice sighed, "Look inside the mirror." She shakily got up from her place on the floor and slowly walked up to the mirror. She felt her breathing increase in speed, as she gazed upon a pure white creature with red eyes in her mirror, a creepy smile adorning its face, "Surprise." She tried to speak, feeling her heart beat pump fast and loud, but, manage to say little, "W-w-wha-what are y-you?" The creature seemed disappointed, its smile vanishing, "I am not the scary. You are over reacting," She felt her heart slow, but, still knew it was beating faster than normal, at the creature's calm attitude, "Now, my I ask your name?" She stuttered for a moment before gathering herself, thinking, It's in the mirror, it can't even touch me! Right? Shaking the doubts from her mind she looked the creature straight in the eye, "Neon Fracture." The creature smiled again and raised its arms and hit its claw like appendages together to create a slapping sound, "Oh, I applaud you! Not even ten seconds ago you were a stuttering ball of uselessness, now your actually behaving like a reasonable living thing! Bravo! Bravo." Neon gulped and started to muster some courage to deal with this strange being, "Not to be r-rude, but, what are you doing here?" The creature chuckled showing two rows of sharp teeth, "Well, it's just that I have been oh, so bored for this last thousand years, give or take, and I think you can cure that. Simply by living your life." Neon frowned, still cautious of the creature, " What do y-you mean? Who are you?" The creature frowned and rose, what she assumed to be, a brow, "Surely you should know. You must have seen me a thousand times!" It smiled as it spread its arms wide, as if for a hug, "Its-a me, K! Your favorite statue! Well, half of it anyway." She groaned as it hit her, making her cover her face with her hooves, "Ohh, not another Discord!" K let his smile drop, along with his arms, "Not the reaction I wanted." Neon let her hooves fall away as she looked to the door, "I should tell the Princess." K chuckled nervously, "You really shouldn't! I mean it's not that complicated to understand! All you do is live your life! We just hang on for the ride, talking to you every now and then. Mainly through mirrors or other reflective surfaces! We could give you advice on certain things too, you know." Neon looked back at the mirror with a thoughtful frown on her face, "And how do I know I can trust you and your friend, at least I think you have a friend from all the 'we's' you put in there." K started to sweat a bit, "Well, I'll keep both of them under control. Promise!" Neon raised a brow at the mirror, "And how can I trust you?" K shoulders slumped, as he gave her a small glare, "Oh, yeah. Don't give the mysterious creature in your mirror the benefit of the doubt. It's almost like he did something bad to you." Neon put a hoof against her forehead and thought for a bit, before sighing, "Fine, I'll give you and your friend or friends one chance. Then I tell the Princesses. Got it?" K nodded furiously with a nervous smile, "Yeah I get it! Sure!" He raised one of his arms and looked at his wrist, "Oh, look at the time! It's about time I went and talked to my friends about out little agreement! Ta!" Neon looked on, baffled at the sight of the creature just vanishing into steam. She shook her head and turned away from the mirror, "I hope I just imagined that." She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and groaned, "I don't care if I just brushed my mane, I'm taking a shower." She stepped towards the bathtub, opened the curtain and stepped into it, closing the curtain behind her. She turned the hot water on a tad, before turning the cold on as well until the two were the perfect heat. Sighing, she relaxed under the gentle fall of the water, as she imagined how nice it would be to have dinner with Storm Cloud again, and to get that weird delusion out of her memory. _____________________________________ An hour later, she stepped out of the bathroom with water droplets clinging to her mane, a towel wrapped around her midsection and a smile on her face. She trotted to her bed, where she removed the towel and threw it into her hardly used clothes hamper. She looked to the clock that was hanging from her wall, to see that it was almost time for her dinner with Storm. Smile widening, she slipped the hoodie that lay upon her bed and trotted to her front door. Giving a small wave of goodbye to the picture, she walked outside her door, locked it, went through the apartment complex, and trotted down the street to an old diner. It wasn't a fancy diner like the kind in upper Canterlot, but, she would pass up all of them for that one. She looked at the old sign that topped the door. It read, 'Hotcake's Diner.' She grinned gently at the old sign and trotted through the diner's door. A yellow middle aged earth pony mare with a red mane was sat behind the bar, looked up at Neon and grinned broadly, "I see you came here too, sweetheart?" Neon chuckled at the mare, "Hello, Hotcake. How's business been lately?" Hotcake shrugged, "Same as it's always been dear. Anyway, Storm is at your old table sweetheart," She winked at Neon, "Maybe you're actually doing it after all?" Neon smiled and shook her head, "I told you the last time I was here, Storm is my friend, nothing more." Hotcake laughed, "Last time you were here was just before Stormy moved to Ponyville," She waved a hoof, as if in dismissal, still wearing a smile, "Aw, get on then. I'll bring your usual food and drink over. But, I'll let you know, I know a relationship when I see it, and I've never been wrong before!" Neon laughed as well, trotting over to a table near the back. Storm looked away from the drink he was sipping, "Hey, Neon." She felt her grin widen again as she sat down, "Hello, Storm. How's your dad in Ponyville?" Storm's glee faded as he set he drink down, "He passed a month ago." Neon gasped lightly and brought a hoof over her mouth, "I didn't know! I'm so sorry." Storm grinned a little again, "Eh, it's okay. My old man went the way he wanted, in a small place where it was nice and quiet." Neon smiled lightly, "He never did like Canterlot." Storm laughed and put on a gruff, old voice, "That city is full of loud, obnoxious bafoons! I'm going to Ponyville like my sister, where I can actually hear the birds over the sound of others talking about themselves!" Neon chuckled and looked up to see Hotcake set the food and her drink down. She took a bite of her daisy and rose sandwich, "So, how's Ponyville been?" Storm chuckled as well, "It's been up and down. One moment nothing's going on except a picnic, the next a herd of bunnies run through town eating most of the crops." He shook his head, still chuckling, "Sometimes, I think it's crazier than Canterlot!" Neon nodded, "I've been contemplating moving there actually." Storm rose a brow, "Really? But, you love Canterlot. You love the Gardens." Neon shook her head, "Ever since my mother passed away I just felt like there's been something missing. I don't really know anypony here anymore, other than mister Lockkey, the apartment owner and miss Hotcake, but, everypony else moved away. Like, you moved to Ponyville to care for your father, and Icy Wing moved to Trottingham to chase after her obsession of mysterious creatures." Storm put a hoof to his forehead, as if in thought, before his eyes went wide, as did his smile, "If you do move to Ponyville, you can stay at my place if you like." Neon smiled at her friend, "Thanks Storm! I was going to think about it more, decide where to stay and such. But, since lodging seems to be taken care of, I'll move as soon as possible!" Storm nodded, "Sounds good to me! And, since my vacation will last a few more days, I might be able to stay here and help you with your move. Or at least accompany you to Ponyville." Neon got up from her seat and hugged Storm, before setting down a tip for Hotcake and heading toward the door, "I'll give my letter of resignation tomorrow and make all the plans," She waved to Storm before opening the door, "Bye, Storm! See you tomorrow." She walked out of the door and down the street with a big smile on her face, It'll be nice to catch up more with Storm! And since I won't be working at the Gardens much longer, maybe I'll be able to see Icy again! With a giggle and a bounce in her step she headed home once more, seeing a shining tomorrow. Little knowing just how crazy Ponyville was and just how real her encounter with the strange being was. But, in that one beautiful moment, none of those things mattered, for Storm, her friend, would be there with her all the way.
Chapter 3: The Dreams That BeSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 4: Resignation, New beginningSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 5: Dinner Before DawnSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 6: On Track, Don't Look BackSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.