Shattered Equestria

Jagged Reflections

By

TheSleeplessOne

This chapter has been proofread and edited by Icarus720. A big thanks to him! Any additional errors should be pointed out in the comments section.

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Chapter 2 - The Pieces Fall

Twilight and the others entered the room containing the broken mirror. Celestia and Luna stood side by side watching the group filter into the room, patiently waiting.

The terrible condition of the mirror drew Twilight’s attention. Memories of Canterlot High slammed into her like Applejack bucking a harvest. Fear enveloped her face as her mouth tugged into a frown. "Everything is so damaged. Why would anyone do this?” Twilight asked. “How am I going to see my friends again?" She ran her hoof over the melted frame and locked her jaw. "We will definitely get to the bottom of this, Princess!"

"If we can repair the mirror, we should be able to adjust it for you to see your friends again, but first I must ask you to inspect the mirror. Perhaps you can see something we did not." Celestia raised her horn and cast the shadow banishing spell once more. The same eerie pseudo-light illuminated every corner.

Twilight trotted around the mirror, inspecting it as only she could. Several “Hmms” later she shook her head in defeat. "I really wish I’d read up on rare metals before we came. Do any of you see anything?” She asked, looking over to her friends.

Rainbow Dash flew up to the mirror and looked at the warped image of herself in the remaining shard. "Everything else seems to be broken or missing. Why is this piece still here?"

"That's a good point Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, as she began inspecting the remaining shard. A soft purple glow enveloped the shard and spread into the rest of the mirror. "I can't feel any magic at all. It's as if this was just an ordinary mirror. I'm sure you've cast the same spell already, Princess Celestia." As she was speaking the purple glow faded into the mirror and fired out of the shard enveloping Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, that tickles!" Rainbow Dash said in-between laughing and wriggling.

Twilight gasped. "W-what the... what just happened. It ate my magic, and now I seem to know that Rainbow Dash possesses pegasus magic." She brought her hoof to her face. "Which is obvious!"

Celestia sighed and walked around the mirror. "Both of us agreed that the mirror is just orichalcum and dragon glass now. The mirror's orichalcum is still capable of absorbing magic and channeling it into the glass. That is how you were able to use the mirror.”

“Those rubies fed the orichalcum so the mirror always projected the same spell. The rest of the dragon glass is missing and those same rubies are no longer here." Celestia motioned her hoof to the dull sockets that surrounded the frame. “Even without the rubies, a spell could be fed into the orichalcum and the glass would strengthen it considerably, before ejecting it. Be very careful what magic you use to inspect the mirror, Twilight. Even without the extensive damage any magic expelled will no longer be under your control."

"Maybe you got some thieves on your hands. I'm bettin' those rubies are worth a lot. Might even be a dragon; I know Spike likes to eat 'em." Applejack looked towards Twilight and continued, "We could always ask Spi-"

"There is no need to ask Spike, Applejack." Celestia interrupted, "Neither thieves nor dragons could get into this room without me knowing. The ability to break this glass is beyond them; I even enchanted the rubies against theft. Twilight would probably fail if I had asked her to bring them to me." Celestia opened her mouth to say more, but stopped, snapping it shut.

Twilight took this chance to ask more questions. "Why would the rubies be hard for me to remove? I'm sure there is a book, even records, on how they were enchanted."

A nearly unreadable expression flashed across Celestia's face as her gaze slid from the mirror back to Twilight. "No, they were... lost after the destruction of the Castle of Two Sisters. They are powerful, in the wrong hooves they could be dangerous."

Applejack watched Celestia, an awful feeling washing over her. The last time she felt it, Flim and Flam had tried to pass off their miracle tonic as real. She wasn't sure why the Princess would give off this feeling now.

Celestia noticed Applejack's stare and took a step back. Again, she lost her composure for only a moment before looking over to Luna. "We kept most of our dangerous books locked away beneath the Castle of the Two Sisters, right Luna?

"We believe so, there are also hidden rooms containing the most dangerous of books," Luna explained, her face deep in thought.

Rarity maneuvered forward with grace bringing attention to what she said, "I believe you are correct, darling, I've used one of them. A dreadful thing that Spike brought me when I was having difficulty creating. He said he had gotten it from that Castle. It turned my vision into obsession. I believed my ideal of Ponyville was better and the book made it true. Sorry about that, Twilight, I know you had to fix it all." She gave Twilight an apologetic smile and proceeded to stare at the ground..

"Actually, Luna and Cadence had to help clean up that dark magic." Twilight corrected, "There was so much, I couldn't do it on my own."

The feeling nagging Applejack was fading. Celestia had certainly never given reason to distrust her in the past. Overthinking it wasn’t going to help anyone so she let the matter drop. Besides, there was a more important matter she should focus on. "S'pose it wouldn't be thievery then. D'ya have any idea who might've done it? Ah know Discord says he is innocent, but Ah've heard that before. He speaks real weird like, and it's hard to tell when he’s lyin'."

Discord walked from behind the mirror as if he'd been there the whole time. "Words hurt, Applejack." He peered at himself in the remaining shard and made faces. His reflection continued making faces as he walked over to Celestia, wrapping his arm around her neck as if they were friends. "Dear Celestia here, she keeps tabs on me. She can tell whenever I do any magic in Canterlot. Fluttershy may have reformed me, but one can never be too careful I ysuppose."

He snapped his fingers and appeared next to Luna, both of them now wearing a shirt that said "Reformed Rulers". His voice getting low he said, "I'm sorry Celestia, you simply can't join this club, it is a bond your sister and I share, that you cannot. But onto more important matters." He snapped his fingers again and teleported into the middle of the room, shirtless. "You haven't detected any chaos magic, now have you?"

Celestia's eyes closed and her brow furrowed in irritation, her patience with Discord running low. She turned towards Applejack. "Discord did not damage this mirror. I have neither detected his magic nor seen him ever do anything so precise. However, I may forget that if he does not stop. We have no time for games, the anomalies will get worse the longer we take to correct this. I didn't want to do this, but I can track the rubies. Whoever took them is strong enough in magic to detect when I do this. It will make them that much harder to find."

"First, I have a question, Princess Celestia. How do we know the anomalies will continue to get worse? I was reading Star-Swirl's book The Fundamentals of Time and Space: A Guide to Anomalies and Paradoxes and it only mentioned the dangers of casting spells into the anomalies." Twilight asked, her head tilted to the side.

Celestia's couldn't hide her defeat. "Twilight, Star-Swirl created this mirror by himself. I helped him make it. It took us many years to create the spell that the mirror functions on. Even with my alicorn abilities and Star-Swirl's unprecedented magical power, we still had to create the rubies that powered it. It is very easy to go through that mirror, Twilight. Coming back, to the correct world, requires maintaining a link or finding another mirror." Celestia waved her hoof over the sockets and continued. "The rubies maintain the link required to return. If the rubies disappeared from this world, the mirror would simply cease functioning. The anomalies tell us that the rubies remain and still power this mirror. In its current state, the mirror malfunctions and tears holes in our world. I do not question if they are a fool, or want to bring ruin to us all, but those anomalies will become gates."

Pinkie was the first to speak. "Soooo, all we have to do is find the rubies to fix this, right?" She turned back to her friends, her face full of cheer. "We’ve beaten Nightmare Moon, Discord, and even Sombra. This should be a piece of cake. Speaking of cake, I'll throw a "The world is not ending today" party afterward, to celebrate!" She leaped into the air, party cannon now under her, and yanked on the rope at the end. An explosion of confetti filled the room.

Twilight grinned at Pinkie, shaking the confetti out of her mane. "She's right girls! We can handle whoever is causing this. Princess Celestia, cast that tracking spell!"

The rest of the Mane Six nodded and murmured in agreement. They turned and looked towards Celestia.

“We have to be prepared first.” Celestia motioned to Discord. "You have my permission to bring the Elements of Harmony to us. Do so quickly, I wanted more time before trying this, but our lack of information has left no other course."

"How did you know I could still get them? They are the only way to stop me." Discord's face jumbled up, the eye on his jaw and ear blinking in rapid succession.

"Fluttershy took a vow never to use them against you," Celestia glanced over to Fluttershy before continuing, "so they are useless against you now. I have put my hoof out in trust of you, perhaps one day you will do the same for me. Now go! We cannot afford to lose more time."

Discord snapped his fingers disappearing, instantly reappearing with a golden chest, various gems embedded into it. "I'm touched really, your kindness knows no bounds." He snapped again, and the box appeared in front of Twilight, his other arm making gagging motions near his mouth. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go enjoy the anomalies before you fix them." A third snap of his fingers and only an outline remained, playful laughter fading away before it popped.

Celestia's eyes narrowed in displeasure at the wanton mischief maker's early departure, then steeled herself for what was to come. "Now! Luna, be on guard, whoever did this will be aware of our presence during the spell. I will have to maintain focus while finding the ruby."

She lowered her head, legs locked and back arched. A radiating green filled her eyes, trails of black smoke-like magic leaked from her eyes. The magic enveloped her horn and black sparks danced on the tip. She drew upon the dark alicorn magic and brought the matrix that locked the gatestones into her mind's eye. The symbols for the combination taking their place inside the matrix, she fed dark magic into it. The spell complete, a black line of energy streaked out the window to the north.

Celestia's eyes widened and her legs buckled. The lapse in concentration broke the spell, forcing the dark magic back into her horn and flinging her into the wall.

She shook her head and stumbled to her feet, seeming unaffected by the backlash. Clarity hit her with the intensity of a ton of bricks and she ran to the window, eyes darting around wildly.

******

The solid white alicorn knew the tracking spell was coming for the gatestone. He made no effort to stop it, continuing to scry on the group. He was feeling far too good from being young again to care that Celestia was about to discover him.

Energy flowed into every bone and muscle invigorating them to the peak of youth. He felt unstoppable. His face had filled out removing the wrinkles, golden irises alert and clear. Strangely enough, his beard had been shorter when he was old, the age reversal had it trailing the ground once again. The cut in his left ear, left so long ago by a near miss with a dragon, melted back into his skin to be replaced with his fine coat. He still wore the "perfect" hat that he had found on a homeless pony. He had compensated the poor fellow and added bells to the "hattiest hat to ever hat". He'd kept the blue robe, at first, but his wings were simply too large to allow a comfortable fit.

The dark magic raced through the window, striking the gatestone. It pulsed softly, outlining the room in an eerie photo-negative. As quickly as it started the magic faded and the Celestia in the image flew across the room. The alicorn couldn’t contain his grin at the spectacle.

"Hello, old friend," He said to himself, the smile fading and his eyes becoming hard. "We have much to discuss, or rather I do. I couldn’t care less what you have to say now. Many of you had words to say, I listened at first. Of course, the ascension experiments in those worlds failed. It took so many tries before I realized I had to come home to get what I needed."

He looked back to the scrying image and violently shook his head back and forth. Sighing he said, "Honestly, despite all those worlds I still find myself the target of my own conversation." He shrugged before trotting closer to the image. "You are expecting me now, let's see what you do."

Best not to rush off, she may yet take the bait. Perhaps the purple alicorn will reveal a few of her secrets as well, He thought, staring intently at the scrying image.

******

Worry etched into her face, Twilight watched Celestia looking around wildly in the window. With the practice of a spell well used, she concentrated for a moment and teleported next to her. Celestia's horn was showering sparks and enough magic that Twilight felt it.

Twilight scanned the skies, seeing nothing, and brought her own magic into her horn. She let the magic glide through the window and expand in all directions. Her mind filled with the locations of everything inside her magic's radius. She found nothing but the guards and various dignitaries staying at Canterlot Castle, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Princess, what is going on? Why are you acting like this?" Twilight inquired her mentor.

Celestia jumped, grazing the window with her horn, a deep gash of molten rock left behind. "He is here, Twilight! Oh, he is here. He shouldn't even be alive." Recognition flashed in her eyes and she turned galloping for the mirror. "All of you come to the mirror, immediately. That tracking spell should have had eleven tracers, did you all only see one?" Celestia asked, urgency filling her voice.

Twilight and her friends replied,
"Yes, Princess."
"Jus' one."
"A single thread, dear."
"Maybe?"
"Can you show me how to make that color?"
"My eyes were closed, sorry."

"Sister, are we in danger? We are still watching for those that would do us harm, it is still only us," Luna's voice quivered, eyes hinting excitement at the potential battle.

"Luna, we are anything but safe right now." Celestia took another quick glance around the room. "If anything, even those you recognize, enter this room, I need no hesitation. Use as much force as you feel necessary."

Luna's mouth snaked into a devilish grin. Fires of battle-lust danced in those blue orbs as her horn glistened with the soft black of a night sky, spell ready. "So it shall be, Sister. We stand at the ready to make all trespassers pay dearly."

"The spell should have found all eleven rubies. It only found one, and with it, a danger far greater than anything we have faced." Urgency filled Celestia's voice and her face was impassive, only her eyes showing the distress she fought beneath. "Twilight! I must ask you to do something in my stead. It will take all of you. I must stay behind and protect Equestria in the time you are gone.

Twilight's eyes widened, her face a mix between giddiness and fear. "Anything, Princess. But where are we going? And why can't you go with us?"

Celestia closed her eyes, her muscles went rigid as if bracing for impact, "It pains me to say this, but you must go through the mirror in its current condition. Not only that, but you must do so immediately." Celestia's eyes opened and burned into Twilight's. "I know who has taken the rubies, and I have a good measure of why he might be here." Celestia softened her gaze and vision belaying her trust. "Please ask nothing further, my most faithful student. This knowledge would only distract you from getting back to us quickly. I will take care of my little ponies here."

Twilight hesitated, opening her mouth to speak several times before saying, "I understand, what do we need to do?"

"The Elements will keep you together, you must find the missing rubies and bring them back to this world. I will do what I can to retrieve the eleventh one. I could only feel the other ten tracers. They ended at the mirror. I am sorry, such information will serve you little but I have faith."

Celestia turned away for a moment then continued. "I will link my tracking spell to each of you as I cast the spell to open the gate. It will ensure correct transportation to locations containing the rubies." Celestia ran her hoof over the remaining glass shard in the mirror. "These mirrors have counterparts in every world I've visited, I have no doubt other worlds do as well. When you have found the rubies, the tracking spell will expire. The transportation spell will cause the next mirror you visit afterward to bring you home.”

"How long you reckon' we'll be gone? Ma' family can handle the apple buckin’, but who is going to protect them from all this?" Applejack asked, concern heavy in her voice.

Celestia nodded her head at Applejack. "I plan to station the royal guard throughout Ponyville, including Sweet Apple Acres. If the anomalies get worse evacuation will be the only option. Your family will be well cared for, Applejack."

“Ah s’pose Ah can’t ask more than that from ya.” Applejack conceded. “We’ll just hav’ to hurry and get back.”

Celestia motioned to the mirror a final time. "I can’t predict what places you will visit or what dangers await you. Please stay together, your friendship has overcome each problem Equestria has faced. I have no doubts you will overcome this as well." Her eyes filled with green energy, and the edges of her eyes bled dark magic. "First the tracking spell!" Celestia cried, her horn crackling with black energy.

The energy raced from her horn into each of the Mane Six. They lifted off the ground and spun, colors inverting to negative before a bright flash and the energy dissipated. They looked over themselves, unchanged.

"It is done, now you must gather near the mirror." Celestia backed away from the mirror, her breathing heavy.

The Mane Six worked their way to the mirror and looked toward Celestia. Each one brought their hoof up to their respective element before nodding their head at her. The group was a bundle of emotions, excitement, terror, curiosity, indifference. The only thing they shared was the uncertainty of what they would face.

Before any of them could say anything, Celestia's said, "I say this again, trust in yourselves and each other. The fate of Equestria rests with you."

Blinding light enveloped her horn, face contorted in concentration. This was a spell she had not cast in a long time. She brought the spell to bear against the tracking spell, intertwining the magics as best she could. Six white threads attached themselves to the Mane Six and her horn fired on the frame of the mirror. The metal glowed the same color as her magic before the light faded. A bright light shone through the shard and each thread appeared to stitch into it. The threads went taut and in the sockets of the mirror glowed a golden color. A horrible wrenching sound shook the mirror. Dazzling, golden blades resembling hands on a clock, burst from the sockets, thrashing into being. The magic blades swept down cutting the threads, replacing them with a new blazing line of gold connected to the Mane Six. Like a fisherman reeling in a fresh catch the lines retracted and pulled on their new prey.

Twilight immediately knew something was wrong. Her mind jumped into action and she analyzed the magic being used. She attempted a counterspell but it was drawn from her into the mirror. With no other options, she screamed to Celestia, "What's happening? You have got to stop this!"

Celestia was already moving, Twilight's scream spurring her on. She gathered the energy to stop her spell but only her threads responded. All six ponies struggled, hooves skittering against the floor to slow the insidious cords. Golden light poured from the shard obscuring the Mane Six. Silence followed several distinct crackles, a golden haze drifting downward before melting into air. The Mane Six had vanished.

"Luna, I know this looks bad but stay on guard, I have no doubt he will be here any moment. We will have to trust in them!"

The mirror began to fall apart; the blades slamming into the frame over and over. Chunks of twisted metal flew in every direction. It didn't take long before the blades shimmered out of existence above a heap of useless scrap.

Six distinct sounds should have been heard, but the cacophony of metal being shredded made sure they weren’t. The Elements of Harmony, embedded in the jewelry, had not made the trip.

******

Victorious laughter echoed off the walls. The white alicorn couldn't believe what he had just seen. She had reacted quicker than he anticipated, but the results were just too perfect. With a thought, he had the gatestone wrapped in his magic and he thought about the room that contained the ruined mirror.

A keening pitched through the air as the gatestone tore a hole in space. A simple barrier spell came to mind and with little effort, he cast it. A clear, golden bubble popped into existence around him. With a satisfactory nod, he stepped through the hole. A solid black bolt slammed through the barrier into his chest and staggering him backward. Bells tinkled as he shook himself off and regained his footing. The barrier had taken the brunt of the hit but what got through singed his mane.

"Luna, Luna, Luna, I taught you that spell. I'm glad to see you mastered it!" The white alicorn said, his face twisting into a sadistic grin.

Luna stared at him, her mouth agape. She snapped her head between the alicorn and Celestia unable to form the thought needed to speak.

The air filled with crackling as a burning beam of yellow sped toward the bearded alicorn. A golden light formed in front of him and redirected the blast into the wall, leaving a glowing hole in the super-heated rock.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” he chided. "That is new, for you. I have seen it before in other Celestias. Didn't work there either." He swung his head back and forth in disappointment causing his beard to sway. "That is no way to treat an old friend. I'm only here to talk after all." The smile melted into a snarl as another black bolt slammed into his side.

"Luna, you always were persistent. Even after failing to cast nearly as well as your sister here, you'd keep on trying. Just as before, you only fail. Shame Discord decided to be as unreliable as he is in every universe. With him here, you might have a chance." He chuckled, the menace in it not lost on either of them.

"We doth not know what has changed you, Star-Swirl. You were our mentor." Luna looked truly confused. "We will not stand by while you bring such strain to our dear sister."

Star-Swirl's chuckle evolved into a laugh. His entire body shaking as the laughter warped to deranged. The bells on his hat creating a truly disturbing background. "What happened? What happened?" He screamed, his eyes finding Celestia. "She happened, you foal! I was so close to what was mine, so many years of labor. I discovered true ascension and before I could become immortal like that weather-beaten alicorn you worship, she banished me!”

His voice reached a fevered pitch, his stare at Celestia burying each word like a hatchet. “I spent 700 years in that universe, Celestia!”

The silence that followed brought him back to his senses. "Excuse me, those were worse times. Luckily for you, Celestia, I found an alternative way to attain immortality. I doubt you'll enjoy it much, but you made your choice 700 years ago." He said, his breathing calm, posture relaxed.

Luna thought about her memories with Star-Swirl. He had saved her sister from an alternate universe, one Luna had accidentally summoned. He had taught her magic despite her sister's teasing and her difficulty in learning it. What's more, he always had time to listen to her. He never looked down upon her for her different ideals. The texts Luna had read since coming back said he’d simply disappeared. Her mind could not comprehend the Star-Swirl before her.

"Why did you banish him, Sister? I-I thought after me, you wouldn't banish another." Luna's voice cracked as she spat out the last sentence.

The issuance of betrayal made Celestia unable to meet her sister’s eyes. She knew no matter what she said the damage had been done. "Luna, I banished him because he was the largest threat to Equestria we could have ever faced. You know we ventured in other worlds after your banishment. What you don't know is that he began to age. Strong unicorns like Star-Swirl live for a very long time, but it's not forever. He couldn't come to terms with that, so he began researching how to become an alicorn."

Her eyes narrowed, words spoken through gritted teeth. “When our own texts proved insufficient, Star-Swirl went to other universes to obtain that knowledge. Instead of taking the true path like Twilight Sparkle, he instead forced it upon himself through time magic. I can’t fathom how many lives were lost to find that spell; Of the ones I discovered, they number in the thousands, Luna."

Star-Swirl's expression hadn't changed during the conversation. "Actually, it was probably closer to tens of thousands, my most faithful student." His voice took on a mocking tone, a satisfactory grin on his face. "It is your fault really. You knew I was aging and you refused to help me find the key to ascending to alicornhood. I even see we have an alicorn of magic now. Shame both her and Luna haven't gone beyond a lesser alicorn. The domain was mine to take.”

“Did you replace me, dear Celestia?" He sneered at her. "Did you hope to forget what you had done by helping a different unicorn?" As he finished the last statement his eyes lost focus and his face became a mask of rage. "Well, truly it doesn't matter. I have taken the domain of time. It is far more limited than the domain of magic, but I'm making do."

His head jerked as he looked past Luna. "You of all ponies should know what banishment does to you. You were banished to the moon because you dared try to usurp your sister. I was banished to another world because I dared to reach for the same power she possesses."

Celestia could hold her tongue no longer. "You were banished because your obsession destroyed your morals. I could not stand by while you pillaged universes for information, and if resisted, rained death upon them. Your partial ascension extended your life considerably, but still you continued. What other choice did I have?"

Tears welled in Celestia's eyes as she continued. "I looked up to you as a father. Do you have any idea how hard it is to see someone you love turn into a,” she choked on the last word, “monster.”

“You did everything you could to avoid hurting others for the longest time. We got into so much trouble while exploring those universes, but you never raised a hoof against anyone." She fought back a sob, tears now freely falling to the floor. “After your obsession drove you toward madness, I had no choice. I had to lure you into a universe I knew you couldn't easily leave and seal you there. I couldn't even say goodbye because you would have escaped and hurt more ponies."

"If what our sister says is true," Luna said, "then you deserved the banishment the same as us. We understand now what we were doing at the time. The Elements of Harmony cleared our vision of the Nightmare."

She looked at her sister and saw the anguish in her eyes. "We do not know thee anymore Star-Swirl, but we do know thy machinations." Her words gained volume as she regressed to her old Canterlot ways. "We have seen thine magic, we know not what it did to our friends, but we cannot imagine it to be helpful." She narrowed her eyes and snorted. "Your intent is clear even before your arrival. It lends credence to the words of our dear sister. You will not find an ally in us this day." She slammed her hoof into the floor and lowered her horn.

Star-Swirl channeled the golden glow of magic into his horn and erected his barrier once more.

He turned back to Celestia, making a point to ignore Luna. "Rebellious and stupid as her younger years. No wonder you banished her the first chance you got." He winked at Celestia, drawing hatred into her eyes. "Ah, now that’s a look we can work with! Truly, we must get down to business eventually. Catching up is great but unlike Luna, I plan to fully ascend."

His lips curled into a terrifying grin. "For that, I will need your help, Celestia. It won't be a fast process I'm afraid. No, I must first take everything from you as you did from me." His magic lifted up a piece of cooled rock, fallen from the nearby steaming hole. His magic caressed the rock slowly evaporating it into nothingness. "Like that rock, I will erode your family, friends, kingdom..."

He paused, putting his hoof up to his beard. "Oh! And your life into nothingness. That last part is most important. Your essence is the only way to achieve full ascension." He flashed a full grin at her. "I doubt subduing you will be easy, none of you ever were, but we can start right now!"

The hatred in Celestia’s eyes grew and her tears fell no more. Sadness was replaced with anger and the room's temperature was beginning to rise. "I won't give into you, no matter what you do. I will defend my little ponies until my dying breath."

Star-Swirl's amusement was apparent in his voice. "No, no you misunderstand. Your life comes last. I already started with your friends, although that was a happy accident."

"You have done no suc-" Recognition flashed in her eyes. The same color magic as his had produced the blades that had botched the transportation spell. He sabotaged the mirror! "You trapped the mirror! But how did you know about Twilight?" She half asked and explained to herself. "You had to have done it when you came through."

"Always the best from my ‘most faithful student’" His grin grew when she stiffened to her old nickname. "I only had to say it twice before you remembered. The mirror was meant for you. I wanted you to experience the worst possible outcomes in your life before I ended it. Unfortunately, that fate now awaits those six ponies you sent in your stead. I truly hope they weren't 'friends' of yours." A slow sinister laugh gave follow to his statement.

Celestia's looked at the destroyed mirror and her eyes widened, but not to his statement. She already knew that something terrible had happened to Twilight. She had no choice but to trust in her. Among the rubble of the mirror, she had seen the glint of gems. She knew what they were.

Her magic lashed out grabbing hold of the six Elements of Harmony, holding them up before her. "It seems not all went to plan. The Elements were unable to pass to the other universes. We had never tried to take them with us on any journey. They defeated Nightmare Moon, I have no doubts they would work against you too." She began whirling the Elements around her.

"It is as she says, these defeated Nightmare Moon. Together we should be able to use them to stop you." She had picked up on Celestia's bluff. The Elements no longer worked for them, they required the Bearers now.

Star-Swirl looked at the Elements and then at Luna, a ponderous "Hmmm" following. "So that is how you took care of Nightmare Moon? I dare say, I will be able to stay in order!"

"Technically, your friends will be unharmed, for now, but the same cannot be said for Luna." With alarming speed, his horn gathered up the needed magic and his mind recalled the proper matrix. Drawing from his domain, he combined time with a polymorph spell. He had to make it count, similar to the time travel spell he had written long ago his domain could only affect a pony once.

In an instant, the spell was complete. With howling laughter, he fired the distorted beam of golden energy into Luna. At first, nothing happened.

Luna looked down at her golden glowing mane. Her own magic detected nothing wrong, but she was wary. "What have you done to us?” she hissed, “If giving us a glow is your idea of combat, we do believe you have lost."

Suddenly, a strange sensation crept through her body. It felt very similar to the dream-walking she did every night. A growing disconnection with her surroundings, as if she was in two places at once. The feeling intensified and her balance gave out. The room began to spin, the glow changing from golden to a myriad of colors. The colors began to flow through her mane and up her neck. Her vision became distorted, filtering through various tints as they continued up to her horn. The Elements of Harmony began to accelerate around Celestia as a rainbow erupted from Luna's horn. Almost as if Discord himself were conducting the act, the rainbow flowed in reverse before splitting and attuning with each gem. As the six rainbows faded, so too did the Elements.

Luna screamed.

Author's Note

For anyone confused by "the hattiest hat to ever hat". It is a canon (as far as comics go) quote.

Chapter 2 really gets things going. Whether or not you saw the foreshadowing for the villain, it is one I haven't seen. I hope to do him justice but we're off to see Pinkie Pie next! If you check the comments or the blog you'll find a strawpoll that will be going until all six mares have had their time to shine. It designates in what order they will appear. Vote for your favorite, leave some feedback, and thanks for reading!