Endeavor Mess Hall, Mission Clock at 49:40
Dusk

Food. It’s easily one of the most important things that living beings need in order to survive. It’s also an important part of many social interactions. And where I hadn’t had many social encounters with members of my own species until recently, then I can safely say that I need to take the opportunity. There were some faces that I recognized, and I was recognized by them in turn, but only Cosmo had room at his table for me.

“Well you sure know how to pick em’.” Cosmo observed, having just listened to me explain where the new recruits to Blaze Squad had come from.

“I guess I do, don’t I?” I asked rhetorically. “But enough about me. How have Porter’s ponies managed to fit in with your group?”

“Better than I would have expected.” Cosmo admitted. “They all do tight, efficient work.” I didn’t get to offer a response, as the rest of Cosmo’s usual entourage finally arrived and joined the two of us. When all was said and done there was only one of the nine seats around the circular table left unoccupied.

“Did we miss anything interesting?” Phalanx asked as he cracked the seal on his water bottle.

“Nope. Dusk just got here.”

“Does he know about the kid?” Constellation asked, directing the question at Cosmo instead of simply asking me.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “I’m right here, and yes I know that I’ve got a kid coming.”

“Well as long as you don’t turn out to be a deadbeat dad, you and I will get along just fine.” Constellation replied, all while she seemed to finally relax.

“...Is that all that you wanted to tell me?” I asked.

Constellation nodded with a slight smile. “Someone had to say it.”

“Good to-” Suddenly a tablet clattered onto the table in front of me, and Blueblood muscled himself between myself and Phalanx. “Nice manners.”

“Not now, we’ve got a big problem.” Blueblood said. “Tell me, what do you think that is?” He said as he pointed at the tablet.

With no other clear recourse I picked up the tablet and read the data that was on it. They were results of atmospheric scans. Everything looked normal except one red box with white letters. “Hydrogen based plasma… What is this supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Dusk, that’s stellar matter. The same stuff that stars are made of!”

“What would that be doing in an atmosphere?” I heard Cosmo ask.

“I don’t know, but I’ve got a theory… This Equis wasn’t destroyed by a natural catastrophe. It was destroyed by a single pony.” Blueblood explained.

“A single pony…” Cosmo muttered.

“Oh shit.”

“Now you see why I’m worried?” Blueblood asked.

I nodded as I got up. “Has Archer’s team been recalled?”

Blueblood shook his head. “The plasma in the atmosphere is interfering with the comms. We can’t make contact.”

“Then someone needs to go down there!” Cosmo yelled.

Cosmo was, of course, right. We can’t contact Archer, but sending a Pelican down to the surface would put other ponies at risk. “Blueblood, you’re in command until I get back.”

“And just how do you think you’re getting down there?” Blueblood asked.

At the door I turned and flashed a cocky grin. “I’m gonna take the express elevator.”

***

Surface of Alternate Equis, Concurrent to Previous Events…
Archer

“It’s really him!” Amore said, seemingly fan-maring over the pony in front of us. “It’s really Starswirl!”

While I knew some of the history of Equestria, Rush clearly was lost. “Just who is Starswirl?” He asked.

“Only the most influential mage in all of Equestrian history!” Amore screeched. “His notes have formed the base of modern magical theory for centuries! And here he is, alive!”

Rush rolled his eyes and seemed to ignore Amore’s attitude. “When you let us in you said something about someone coming back.”

That brought the entire atmosphere of the makeshift cabin down a few notches. “She calls herself Daybreaker. From what I can tell she’s responsible for the current condition of this planet.”

“One pony did all of this?” I asked.

Starswirl nodded. “Daybreaker is an analog of Nightmare Moon, forming from this reality’s version of Princess Celestia. She’s the only living being that I’ve encountered here, and based off of that encounter I can safely say that she single-handedly scorched the entire planet using hydrogen that was actively engaged in nuclear fusion.”

“Just how does one individual do that? You’d have to transport the material across millions of miles of space.” Rush pointed out.

“Celestia doesn’t need to pull it that far. All she needs to do is open a portal to the surface of the sun, and she’d be good to go.” Starswirl explained.

“You said that you’ve run into her? As in she’s here?” I asked.

“Exactly, and that brings me to a question. Do you have a way off of this planet?”

“We can take the shuttle back to Endeavor.” Rush replied.

“Is that craft ready to take off?” Starswirl asked.

“Probably not. It would take us a few minutes to get airborne.”

“Then she’ll be right on top of us before we can escape… Any other ideas?” Starswirl asked.

For a few seconds there was silence, before Amore finally spoke up. “I could stay behind, try to hold her off long enough for you all to get away.”

“That’s madness. You can’t hope to stand a chance against that monster!” Starswirl chided.

“Well I don’t see any better options, do you?”

Starswirl just shook his head in disbelief. “Apparently pony-kind hasn’t gotten any smarter in my absence…” He muttered.

STARSWIRL! COME OUT HERE SO I CAN FRY YOU!

“Shit, she’s here!”

But Amore seemed to maintain a level head, the polar opposite of the old wizard’s now frantic appearance. “Like I said, I’ll deal with her. Just get to the shuttle.”

“Alright you two, on me!” I ordered, kicking the door out off its hinges with my weapon trained out towards the fallen monarch.

For a moment, Daybreaker seemed interested in the three of us as we hurried towards the shuttle. But that changed when she saw Amore step out behind us. “Well this is a blast from the past… Princess Amore of the Crystal Empire.” Daybreaker droned as we hurried along.

“So what do I call you now? Daybreaker?” Amore asked, coming across as rather nonchalant.

At that point I stopped paying attention and turned to the shuttle, ducking into the open rear door behind Rush and Starswirl. “So how do you fly this thing?” Starswirl hurriedly asked.

Rush slid into the center chair and powered up the shuttle by flicking a series of switches on the control panel that hung down from the ceiling off to the left of his head. “Just let me worry about that.” He retorted.

BANG!
THUNK!

The whole shuttle shook briefly as something smacked against the back door. “What the hell was that?” Rush asked.

I was closest to the rear hatch, but all I could see was a cloud of tan dust. “I have no idea.”

***

Dusk

I guess drop pods make good express elevators, don’t they? Of course that’s aside from the blistering heat and the lack of simple ergonomics, but that’s neither here nor there at the moment. The hatch had already blown clear off the pod, smacking against the back of what I would assume to be the Ancient shuttle, all while the impact against the sandy-ridden ground had kicked up a massive dust cloud that kept me from seeing much outside of a few feet. But what I could see was Amore, on the ground with a cut on her cheek, and an inferno-haired alicorn standing above her with a shocked-looking gaze glued right in my direction. “Amore, get out of here.”

“Dusk? What are you-”

“I said go. I’ve got this.” I assured her. The princess didn’t waste much time, clambering to her feet and making off towards the shuttle through the dust. “So… Just who the hell are you?” I asked.

The alicorn seemed conflicted for a moment, maybe even choked up before she finally got a word out. “Dusk?” I heard her mutter.

I nodded curtly. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

But the mare seemed to soften, almost as if she was fighting back the urge to cry, or yell, or maybe just incernerate me. I just couldn’t really tell what was actually going through her head from how she was acting. “Dusk…” I heard her mutter a second time.

But as the shuttle’s engines whined and the craft took to the sky, that cloud of dust that was obscuring everything was blown away. At that point I could actually make out the mare’s features, and it didn’t take much to confirm who I was looking at. “Celestia.” I replied.

“It’s really you.” She admitted, all while her mane flickered back and forth from blazing inferno to its normal rainbow hue like a bad light bulb.

I nodded. “So what happened here?” I asked.

“You don’t remember?”

I shook my head, trying to play it safe and roll with what the crazed monarch was laying out. “It’s all… Well, fuzzy.”

“Then I’ll help you remember.” Celestia replied as she held out her hand.

For a moment I hesitated before finally deciding to continue to go along with this charade. It’s me versus an all-powerful god, so how much harm could keeping her calm do? Taking her hand had something of an unexpected result though, as everything around me flashed white before settling down in the interior of some office, likely in Canterlot Castle from the looks of things. But both myself and the Princess were glowing, something to add to the list of unexpected results. “Just what-”

“Just watch.” I heard the Princess mutter.

Wumpth!

Turning around at the sound of a closing door, I found myself staring at a near-mirror image of myself. He even had the same broken horn, but was decked out in a red Royal Guard dress uniform. Looking around the room, I could hear a dejected-sounding sigh. “It’s just not the same…”

On the other side of the office the door cracked open and a mare in Guard armor stuck her head in. “General? Your meeting is here.”

“Thank you Corporal. Send her in.”

The Corporal stepped out of the way and in stepped two ponies. I recognized Princess Sparkle immediately, but the dark-purple mare with the shattered horn was new to me. “Commander Light, it’s been a long time.”

“Long enough to become a General, your majesty.” My doppleganger said, gesturing for the two chairs that were in front of the desk opposite of the trio. “Now come on, have a seat. We need to talk.”

As seats were taken up, the Princess’ companion finally piped up. “Am I in trouble?”

“No. It’s nothing you did Commander Shadow… Or do you prefer going by Fizzlepop? I’m still not totally clear on that.”

“Just Fizz.” The mare replied.

“Alright Fizz… Before I even get into the weeds I’m going to briefly explain some background. Somehow the Storm King knew of my family’s connection to Celestia. My Grandfather, both of my parents, and my pregnant fiance… His personal guards executed them all and them came after me in Baltimare. Commander Porter’s Marines got to me in time to rescue me, but not before those bastards took my horn off.” My doppleganger explained, gesturing to the vacant and scarred tissue that was obscured by his locks.

“General, I’m-”

But my doppleganger cut off the mare. “I know it’s nothing you did. It was the Storm King’s orders, that much we know for certain. But that’s why I’ve been taking such a personal interest in him. Because he took just about everything from me.”

“But that still doesn’t explain why you called Fizzlepop in.” Twilight pointed out.

My doppleganger nodded at that. “It’s because I don’t believe that the Storm King is dead.”

“But he was turned to stone and shattered to bits.” Twilight protested.

“I understand that Princess, but magic-based crystals can be repaired. The Storm King is no different.”

“You’d still need to get the pieces out of the castle vault.” Fizz retorted. But it only took a few moments for her to put two and two together from my doppleganger’s expression. “They’re missing, aren’t they?”

My doppleganger nodded. “I’ve personally confirmed their presence in the vault daily for the last six months. They were still there when I did my inspection yesterday morning, but sometime overnight someone broke into the vault. The Storm King’s remains have been stolen.”

“Then what are you doing about it?” Twilight asked.

“That’s why I called your friend in Princess. I’m putting together a team to go after the Storm King. Fizzlepop is the foremost expert on him that we have… So what do you say Fizz? Are you in?”

“Well, of course.” The mare said. “But what are you going to do when you find him?”

“The Storm King?” My doppleganger asked offhandedly. Fizzlepop didn’t say anything, simple opting to nod the affirmative. “Well… If I’m being honest, I’m going to personally take his fucking head off.”

At that the entire scene dropped away and I found myself standing in front of the deranged former Princess once more surrounded by the sands of the scorched planet. “That’s how it all started.” She softly said. “A desire for revenge. You and Fizzlepop spent two years tracking down the Storm King. And in the end it killed you… When I lost you, I… I couldn’t bear it. I went after the Storm King myself.”

I paused for a moment and came to an assumption. Just as my doppleganger had been blinded by revenge, so had this alternate Celestia. And it was that final straw that broke her. But I found myself intrigued, and finally I put that question to a fateful three words. “Show me more.”

Author's Note

So how's that for a bit of a mind-fuck? I know I've touched on the familiar relations between Dusk and Celestia very lightly before, but from here on we'll be seeing more and more of it playing a role in Reflections.

Get in on the Mirrorverse Discord here!

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