Materials Group Lab, Two Hours Later…
Cloud Runner

It's safe to say that modesty isn’t the first thing on one’s mind after being imprisoned for over one thousand years. Amore’s reaction to realizing that she was otherwise half naked was all the proof I’d ever need. Unfortunately for the Princess there wasn’t anyone available to make her a new (and far more modest) outfit. So after much searching and agonizing, our search of the store rooms turned up an unused ODST training uniform. While it didn’t fit at first, Radiant managed to warp the material enough so that the cargo pants wouldn’t fall right off the Princess. As for the t-shirt… Well, Amore inadvertently discovered the classic female solution to a shirt that is too large.

She simply drew the bottom of the shirt up through the collar and tied it off in a knot, While I’d wouldn't be caught dead drooling over another mare, especially with Sky in the same room, I did make mental note that the Princess looked great. And judging that I caught Sky staring at Amore’s well-toned body, I seriously doubt that I’m the only one to think so.

We were still in the lab, but Halsey had the base commander reconfigure the room. Couches, chairs and small end tables were bought in all in an effort to make the space feel more comfortable for us visitors. But us visitors didn’t get much of a chance to speak with Amore as Halsey had intended, as the base commander had deemed that a psychological evaluation was a necessity given the circumstances surrounding her restoration. And with that in mind, the Senator got asked to assist due to his perceived neutrality in dealing with Equestrians… Fed, of course, by the fact that he didn’t know that our species existed until only a few hours ago.

“So… Let's see if I understand all of this correctly.” Del Rio said as he put his tablet down. “Your time as a ‘statue’, for lack of a better word, only came about because you successfully pissed off the individual who decided to turn you into that statue when you revealed that you were well aware of his origins… Origins that caused him to exhibit pain while in proximity to an artifact you’ve referred to as the crystal heart.”

Amore swallowed her pride and nodded. “That’s about the size of it.”

Del Rio simply grasped the bridge of his nose. “So then why did you try to kill ‘Sombra’ after you woke up?”

“And you wouldn’t?” The Princess retorted. “As much as I helped create the circumstances that led up to my predicament, Sombra had tried to kill me the last time I saw him. It may have been thousands of years from his perspective, but keep in mind that I only perceived a change in time equivalent to a matter of seconds. How was I supposed to know that he had turned on the Umbrum? How was I to know that he had in fact been working towards some form of personal redemption? Unless I’m mistaken I was a broken statue at the time.”

Del Rio simply nodded and typed down a few final notes into the tablet. “Well… I really don’t see anything here that screams ‘potential problem’. With that in mind, I think it’s safe to say that you’re free to go whenever you please.”

“Thank you Andrew.” Amore gracefully replied.

After the Senator left I looked around and realized that I was the only other pony in the room that wasn’t part of Sombra’s cadre. “So… What now?”

“We discuss your friend Dusk.” Amore retorted as she leaned forward, resting on her elbows. “Did you notice something unusual when he first spoke to me?”

“You mean while you were trying to choke Sombra out?” Sky observed. “Ya… All he did was open his mouth and you just stopped dead.”

Amore nodded. “That’s because I recognized him… Well, his voice at least.”

Sombra chuckled. “You do realize that he’s-”

“Sombra, don’t.” Amore scolded. “I know you’ve read the same history books that I have… So tell me, what do you know about the Broken Mirror Paradox?”

Sombra stopped and seemed to mull his thoughts over rather carefully. “Princess… You do know what you’re suggesting. I’d hate to break it to you but Dusk is still here. And you’re the only one to claim to have an interaction with something that meets the profile of a Fracture.”

I glanced at Sky and noticed that she looked just as confused as I was. “What are you two going on about?”

Sombra and Amore both exchanged glances before Sombra simply motioned to the Princess. “What we’re referencing is a prophecy that was ancient even in our time. While it certainly may have lost some of it’s accuracy when it was translated from the pre-Imperial dialect-”

“Just get on with it!” Sky yelled. “And please explain to me how a prophecy can be called a paradox. Because unless I’m mistaken those are two completely different things.”

“Right…” Amore muttered. “As for that last question, the translation into the more modern form of equish didn’t make any sense. As such most scholars came to believe that the writing was the basis for some sort of theory regarding the existence of the universe. Simply put, the writings suggested that the development of our culture, as well as those far outside of our own realm, were influenced by beings of immense power. Our best translation of the term used to describe these beings was fracture.”

I briefly thought back to my encounter with the rebel a few hours ago, and the pony-like figure that dealt with the situation. “What exactly did this prophecy say?”

“Just give me a minute to recall…” Amore replied. “Ah, yes. The one who breaks the mirror will spawn the fractures that will move ponykind… There was some sort of image inscribed on the original tablet, but it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen it.”

“With no real title to go off of the researchers who were responsible for the original translation referred to that text as the Broken Mirror Paradox.” Sombra added. “But even so, I highly doubt that-”

“Was this being wearing some sort of armor?” I asked.

Amore nodded. “The last thing I remember before waking up was seeing a unicorn wearing white and gold armor of some sort. But his face was-”

“It was glowing a bright yellow, right?”

Amore’s eyes went wide at that final question. “Yes… Yes indeed. But how did you know?”

“Because I’ve seen one of these ‘fractures’ myself.” I said. “When I was trying to cut through the core room I was jumped by one of the insurrectionists. I was about to get iced when that thing showed up and… Honestly I don’t know what it did. It and the soldier just vanished.”

I saw Sky shake her head. “Cloud, I saw the security camera footage. You slipped and fell on your ass!”

“No I didn’t…” I said, my gaze turning to my armor still against the wall of the room. “And I think I have a way to prove it.” I got up and practically leapt across the room with a flap of my wings, skidding to a stop right next to my armor.

“Buddy, showing us heads-up footage of you falling down isn’t going to help.” Sky pointed out, likely having figured out where I was going with my line of thinking.

“So tell me something… How many insurrectionists were here?” I asked.

Sky shrugged. “Fifteen if I remember correctly.”

“See, that’s another problem.” I said, thinking back to our first encounter with Frank Kodiak. “There were twenty of those guys.” I pressed a button on the side of the helmet and a holographic interface appeared. After some scrolling I came across the recording of when we first met the Spartan. “Just listen to this.”

“What’s the strength of the opposing force?”

“Twenty strong. All armed with old rifles… But get this, they’re all equipped with some sort of Mjolnir setup.”

I looked over at a stunned-looking Sky and frowned. “How do you not remember that?” I asked.

Sky shrugged. “I have no idea. I distinctly remember Frank saying that there were fifteen of these guys.”

I nodded and skipped ahead to the spot where I was running into the core room. “Alright… So then listen to this.” With a flick of my wrist the display grew in size and angled to the seated ponies could see what I had seen.

“Whatever the hell you are, don’t even think about it. Seriously, don’t do it!”

“Just take it easy.”

“Why should I? Your buddy took out my whole squad!”

“Stand down!”

“No, stay back!”

“Now… Be gone!”

The footage stopped on the flash of light that preceded the disappearance of both the pony and the insurrectionist. I shut off the display and turned my attention to the shocked expressions that plastered the other ponies in the room.

“That certainly sounded like Dusk.” Sky murmured.

“I see what happened…” Said Amore. “The Fracture, it must have erased those soldiers from existence.”

“Then why leave proof behind?” Sombra asked. “Why leave proof that five humans were simply… Deleted, for lack of a better term.”

I sat back down in my chair and thought of something rather bold. “What if we were supposed to see what that thing did?” I offered. “You know, have proof that these Fractures do actually exist.”

“That’s insane.” Radiant spat. “What would the point be?”

And that right there is an excellent point… What’s the point? This thing obviously changed memories of countless ponies and humans, so why leave proof that something had actually changed? “If that’s Dusk… Or at least a representation of him, what if the Fracture left Cloud’s memories alone as a warning.” Sombra posed. “Maybe whatever the original prophecy was referring to is going to happen in our lifetime. Think about it, that thing sounded like Dusk.”

“So we know the ‘who’ but not the ‘how’.” I pointed out. “Princess, the prophecy makes it clear that whoever breaks the mirror is the source of the fractures… But what does the mirror refer to?”

Sky must’ve realized something, because she perked up immediately. “The portals…” She said. “The ones that connected our Equestria to the Wasteland reality. Those were officially called Quantum Mirrors.”

“There are portals to other universes?” Amore asked.

“There are, that’s how I came to this reality from the Wasteland.” Sky replied. “What if Dusk destroyed the last portal on our end after his team returned?”

“That could fit the bill…” Amore admitted. “But we need to know for certain.”

“Well we can’t do that from here.” Sombra observed as he pulled out a radio. “Jerome, this is Sombra. Can you hear me?”

“Affirmative. What do need?”

Sombra shook his head in what looked like disbelief. “Well Spartan… We need to go home.”

Author's Note

WOO!!! Another one down, and we're on the trail to some answers and eventual foreshadowing for how Broken Mirror will end. So far I'd say I'm feeling pretty proud of this here effort... Granted this chapter was a bit short like the last one, but that's what happens when you cut a chapter in half.

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