Author's Note
The beginning of this story is an alternate ending to the comic Reflections. Here are the important things to know from the reflections arc:
- There is a parallel universe called Mirror World where everyone good is evil and vice versa. The regular world is called Prime World and the two worlds are starting to crash together.
- The Main Six have been sent into Mirror World to join forces with Good King Sombra and to use the elements of harmony to imprison evil Celestia (Celestia the Desolate) and Evil Luna (Luna the Red) in magical crystal to stop them from ravaging Mirror World.
- Celestia the Golden and Good King Sombra are in love. Celestia the Desolate wants to trade Sombra the safety of Celestia the Golden for the spell that will allow her to travel to Prime world.
- Everything that happens physically to somepony from one world happens to their double in the other. If Luna the Red got bopped on the nose Good Luna (Luna the Blue) would feel it too.
Part 1
Mirror World
“Last chance Sombra! Care to hand over the keys to the other kingdom and live in this desolate landscape with your lady love?” Celestia the Desolate scowled as she shouted across the courtyard.
Good King Sombra was prepared for this game.
“I don’t believe for one second that you would leave this place so easily. You can’t have both worlds, Celestia! You are to stay in this one and you will no longer harm my ponies!”
Rainbow Dash, inpatient as always was barely held back by Apple Jack.
“This ends right here, right now!” Rainbow shouted.
“Your right” Celestia’s gleeful disdain somehow deepened.
“It will end today but not without me knowing the magic to get to the other Equestria!”
“And just how do you intend to get that?” Shot back Sombra.
“What if I brought your very special somepony here?” said Celestia.
Something clicked in Luna the Red’s mind. Though the royal sisters were a hundred paces away from their enemies, atop a parapet, the change in Luna’s stance was perceptible even to the ponies bellow.
“You know… you never did tell how you were going to do that.” Luna said in a low voice.
Luna had not expected that she was going to feel hesitation that night. She had been getting ready for a fight. A showdown to end this frustrating stalemate of a war. They would crush the forces of supposed “good” with finality. The two of them had been far too long ravaging what was left of these broken ponies and their broken lives in this broken wasteland.
In her haste she had not thought deeply about what Celestia had planned for the confrontation. Cele was confident that they were going to win and so, then, was Luna.
Luna had always slept well with the knowledge that her sister had things well in hoof. Cele knew what she was doing and had always treated Luna as, if not her equal, at least her partner in the deeds of resting power from the “righteous”. And, it always seemed to turn out well. Since Luna had joined her sister’s cause things went in Celestia’s favor. Despite Cele’s obvious, cynical self interest, Luna trusted her. They were blood after all. But, for the first time since she had again joined her sister’s side she wondered if that had been a mistake.
Luna was brought out of here momentary reverie by Twilight Sparkle’s defiant voice.
“That’s NOT going to happen!”
“Our Celestia will never fall for some cheap trick to lure her here!” Apple Jack chimed in.
“Oh its not a trick.” Celestia the desolate cooed.
“I bet she'll come running if her sister’s life is in danger!”
“What?” Luna said stepping back, closer to the edge of the balcony. She only just had enough time to connect the dots. “No! What are you...” Was all she got out.
Suddenly a torrent of crackling divine fire lit from Celestia’s horn and tore over Luna. She didn’t so much feel pain as she felt the magical force rippling through her body. It felt like it was moving her bones.
Luna had been blown off the castle and across the courtyard. She was dropping, seemingly lifeless, toward the ground. Sombra just barley caught her. It knocked the wind out of him but he was able to protect her from the worst of the fall.
As he was recovering from the catch he suddenly dropped Luna. Her coat was singeing the exposed leather of his armor and he could feel the heat painfully as it conducted through the metal. He then noticed that her shoes, peytral and crown were ash and slag. And she seemed… dimmer. What had Celestia done to her? Sombra probed her mind gently with his magic but all he could find was that she was in a deep unconscious.
He looked up at Celestia’s gloating face and something else startled him. Everywhere that her magic had touched the castle, the stone had not merely shattered – as it normally would given an offensive spell of power – it had vaporized. Veins of molten rock were creeping into the stone of the castle from wherever the spell had grazed it. As it spread like a disease the stone blackened, popped and began to disintegrate. Somehow the magic had the power to keep going; searching for things to destroy. Sombra had never seen Celestia, or anypony for that mater, use magic this powerful.
Realization dawned on him and his heart sank.
“Oh Luna, what have you done.”
Prime world
Celestia the Golden’s brow furrowed as she peered out the Canterlot window. The green that suffused the air and blotted out the sun had thickened with time. It was somehow a symptom of the two worlds getting too close. It held a miasma not like a cloud but like putrid gas that had congealed in her sky.
Her sky.
And Luna’s, now, again. After a thousand years.
She had thought that once Luna’s inevitable return had brought back companionable rule that she would not feel the weight of her kingdom as acutely. But, although delegation of the myriad duties of state was now shared between two sovereigns, the heaviness remained.
Had she felt this before Luna’s fall? She had been so busy then; filled with the new life energy of building a kingdom. Filled with the deep validation – she would have, at that time, called it a mandate – of the love of her many subjects.
Was that love though? If she had been a cruel ruler, a despot and tyrant, would there not have been zealots that would have extolled her virtues as a just and strong matriarch? A ruler who punished those who did not believe in her righteous vision of the betterment of pony kind? Who cleansed seditious elements from pony society?
Some of these followers would, of course, be sycophants motivated by personal gain but, she knew, many would be true believers. Was this not the same “love”?
And she was, to these poor ponies, more than a ruler. She made the very sun itself move across the sky, had magic far beyond any unicorn, had kept her subjects safe for more than a thousand years. They knew nothing else; how could they not love her?
Love her as an entity above and outside there lives. Worship her. That's what it really was. Worship. She had never intended to be a god.
—
Oh, but for her sky.
She loved her little ponies from the depth of her heart. All their accomplishments and all their struggles not overcome. They were precious to her. And her true, first love was the sky. And later, her sister of course. She had loved her sister so much that she had given Luna half of her most prized possession.
Tia had always been a little confused as to what to do with the night. There was the moon, of course, and it was surely beautiful but night was the time of rest, was not darkness enough?
Luna knew what it was for. She had known since before she knew anything and she had done such incredible things in her domain of shadow. Her heavenly creations had made Celestia's heart race, brought tears to her eyes and forced her to silence. Some nights, in the early days, she would stay long after twilight just to watch her sister and her art. They would be cold cloudless nights but the tapestry of stars would radiate Luna’s unknowing, authentic mastery like warmth.
It had not occurred to Celestia that such beauty could be brought to her refuge.
—
The feted miasma above was getting so thick that it looked like it could… crack? A black splintering line spidered across the ceiling of the world like glass under pressure.
Just as Celestia’s eyes began to widen with shock Luna lifted off the ground and flew, back first, into the mirror, into the only passage to the other world. Celestia let out a scream and leaped for her sister, picking her limp body off the floor, covered, as it was, with the pieces of the mirror.
“The mirror! Twilight sparkle and her friends won’t be able to get back! Oh no...”
Luna’s pallored coat was smoking and the worlds began to come apart.
And then they began coming back together as one. The anxiety and shock on Twilight's face was wrinkled deep as cracks formed in space itself between the worlds. A bird flew through a hole in the sky from one world to the other. An entire building appeared into where, before, there was only the dusty plain the Castle of Two Sisters sat on.
“I don’t think I can fix this.” Twilight said as the Main Six began equipping the Elements of Harmony.
Meanwhile a ripple of reality cut through the air and the royal sisters of the green Equestria were pulled through into the other, dying one.
“Celestia!” Sombra cried as he saw his love and her sister appear in the middle of the battlefield.
“HAHAHA! This is even better than I could have hoped for!” Celestia the desolate delighted.
Celestia the golden, holding her dear sister's body, offered it to Sombra.
“I’m Fine. Here, take Luna.” her face had hardened.
“Wait, what are you doing?” said Sombra.
“Ending this.” Celestia replied as she flew into the air.
“Oh, the kitten has claws!” Her malevolent counterpart mocked.
Celestia the golden was a reverse meteor. Her path beginning on Terra, she crackled upwards and blazed with magical fire towards her foe, towards her self.
“GIVE… ME… YOUR… WORLD.” Celestia the Desolate bellowed.
“NEVER!”
The suns collided. The earth and moon shook.
Luna gasped and began to return to consciousness.
It was the elements turn to act. Twilight rallied her team. There were a variety of expressions on their faces from forceful anger on AJ to apprehension on Fluttershy. No matter their demeanor they all were at least somewhat afraid… well except maybe pinkie pie. Was she blowing bubble gum?
Twilight was calm. “Lets get up there and do this.”
And so they left the safety of the ground. Apple Jack and Rarity rode atop Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle respectively. Fluttershy picked pinkie pie up by the tale while Pinkie did her best impression of Super Pony. They Looked like a motley lot once airborne but the Celestia’s had eye’s only for each other.
“We both know this fight has no winner. Just give up.” Celestia the Desolate prodded.
“I don’t think so.” Celestia the Golden was now entirely a being of enchanted flame. Wisps of fire streamed from her eyes and her coat was ablaze with incandescence.
“This is for my sister!” she screamed as she streaked once again across the sky towards her doppelganger.
Just as they were about to collide again, a magical barrier appeared separating and surrounding them. Two spheres held the princesses of day. They were trapped. Sombra’s horn was glowing brightly with magic, his face pulled tight by the strain of his effort.
“Twilight Sparkle! You… your friends! Do what you have to do NOW! I can’t hold this much longer!”
“Right!”
Twilight began floating in the air without the assistance of her wings as did her companions. There eyes and gems of Harmony were glowing. They hovered in a circle around the two Celestias, their attention focused on one of them.
A thin blue crystal sprouted into life on the bottom of the orb holding the pony who had wasted this world. The crystal encasement then began spreading like a moss. Each crystal structure grew outwards on the magical prison's surface, and then sent out seeds to sprout into more shining blue confinement.
“NO!” Celestia burst with desperate rage.
“You’ve got her! Keep it up, everypony!” Someone said.
“Wait! Stop!” Sombra barked.
Everypony had been watching the Celestia bent on trans-dimensional conquest. It was Sombra who first noticed that the crystal had begun to form on both spheres.
“HA! You can’t take me out without taking out her. Decision time Sombra!” Celestia the Desolate’s emotions had flipped to delight at the suffering this crisis would cause her enemies.
“My offer of leaving you two alone while you let me rule the world is still on the table!”
“Celestia!” It was all Sombra’s heart would allow him to say.
Celestia the Golden heard him but she was only able to spare him a moments glance. Her heart ached as well but for another cause. She steeled herself for what she must now do.
“Twilight sparkle! Don’t you six dare stop! You have to imprison us both. It should bring balance back to our worlds. Take Luna back. You and she are in charge of Equestria now. I leave it to you."
Twilight's heart, on the other hoof, was not just hurting it was breaking.
“What? NO! Princess! I can’t do that! I can’t leave you here!”
“You must. A wise pony once told me, making the decisions you don’t want to make is part of what we have to do… I’m making this decision for you. I’m sorry.”
“No! I’m not ready for this. There has to be a way to save you!”
“I’m so proud of you, Twilight. I know that you will be an amazing leader in Equestria. Goodbye.”
Twilight knew deep in her being that this was as it must be. She had spent most of her life under Celestia’s tutelage; she was a second mother to her and to say goodbye now was the hardest thing she had ever done. But, she had not just developed her mind and her attachment to her tutor in those years of contentment and study. She had also touched upon a depth of wisdom not found among everyday ponies. A wisdom deep enough, maybe, for acceptance.
Sombra on the other hoof had been fighting a thousand year war. Surrender would have meant the deaths of countless innocents. Giving up had never been an option.
“NO!” he roared, his face twisted with pain. “There has to be another way!”
Celestia’s voice was calm, resigned, almost at peace.
“We must restore the balance between our worlds. I’m so sorry my love. Please forgive me.”
“NO!” he shouted again. “I won’t let it end for you like this!”
“Goodbye Sombra. Twilight you must tell my sister how much I lu...” Celestia’s words to her student were cut short as the last of the crystal crept into place.
Sombra used his magic to fly to his mate but time had run out. The crystal prison had sealed. He beat his hooves on the floating bubble crying for his lost love. It's surface rang in the sudden, new, silence.
The magic aura around the crystal orbs faded as they began dropping from the sky and, being heavy with magic, embedded themselves in the earth. Sombra tried piercing the crystal with his own magic but it deflected off its perfectly smooth surface like a pebble off a frozen lake.
He howled as his heart split and split again.
He was then tackled by a yellow Pegasus.
“oh the stars…”
Luna was seeing double but that was the least of her problems. Something else was very wrong. She couldn’t get her hooves under her. Her wings felt tangled like she had too many of them. She was also confused in a way she had never been before; it wasn’t just that her mind was foggy or deadened from the attack on her by her trusted sister, her sisters doppelganger, it was that her mind seemed, somehow, like an entirely different place. It was much bigger and yet, much more full then it once had been. And then the strangest words came spilling from her mouths.
“They will aid in her escape…”
“What mind”
“Love”
“the trail to magic is” “Lit by the moon”
“Sister love” “I trusted you” “I love you” “We’re alone now”
“The throne where we used to” “Play”
“Your pulling” “It hurts”
“Let me be!”
“I’m leaving” Luna the blue said, her voice full of remorse. But it was not her wings that unfurled into an angry V. Luna The Red visibly struggled with the first few strokes of her wings. As she desperately clawed her way upwards and towards the Everfree forest she veered to one side. Perhaps it was not her eyes alone she saw with. But it was her determination and furry that pushed through her confusion as she rose and tilted towards the wood again. And it was her exhaustion that overcame even her rage. Both Luna’s fainted.
Strange that Fluttershy, the most sensitive of the elements, was the only pony to still have her head. Maybeit was because she was already familiar with the depths of sadness that the world had to offer or, maybe,it wasbecause she could feel the emotional importance of this crucial moment.
If it had been any other pony pinning Sombra to the ground he would have been indignant maybe even wrathful but, instead, he was just stunned; staring into Fluttershy’s sky blue eyes he saw his sadness reflected but also… a concern that went further.
“Shhhhh” was all that she said, her tone hushed. She then looked up to where Twilight Sparkle lay by one of the crystal patterned spheres, weeping. Anger flared in him again, could she not understand his pain? But faded just as quickly. Of course she understood. She was the element of kindness, of empathy. Her understanding ran deeper than he could ever know.
Realization dawned on him as Fluttershy walked to Twilight. These ponies did not need an angry king loudly cursing the fates; washing them in his bitter tide of rage. They needed to grieve and for that they needed each other.
They needed ponies who they had deep friendships with. Relationships of trust.
“I will go to Luna” he said to no one in particular.
Luna the blue was awake and standing. Her wings drooped to the ground where her empty gaze also fell.
“Luna” Sombra said softly as he slowly approached. Sombra had never met this Luna before though his Love had spoken much about her.
She did not seem to hear him so he repeated her name louder.
“Luna”
She startled slightly.
“Hello, are you alright?”
He had decided not to mention his name; this Luna only knew King Sombra as a cruel monarch much like his worlds Celestia.
Slowly she raised her eyes to Sombra seeming to just barely see him.
“Are you injured?” He said.
She did not respond only stared at him. Her eyes shifted to the side as she looked past him to the castle and the two blue orbs that lay at its feet. Her expression did not change but tears began welling in her eyes.
And so too did they come to Sombra. His sides began to quiver as his legs became week and the force of what had happened struck him again.
He struggled against the surging pangs of his heart, each wave of sadness and loss threatening to push him under; to suck the air from his lungs. He tried to make himself not feel but one cant win against the forces of nature.
Just as he was about to completely loose control he saw, through the distortion of his tears, movement in the distance. Oh heavens, the other Luna he cursed to himself as he bobbed to the surface of his grief. She might try another attack, maybe even attempt to unseal the spheres…
But, instead, she ran. She began zig zagging, awkwardly, towards the forest lurching forward at a gallop than seeming to lose her way and slowing to a trot. She would then sprint forward again making gradual progress towards the wood.
Sombra considered following her but, for one of the few times in his long life, he felt too week of spirit. It was OK anyways, the main threat had been subdued. Luna could probably be found or would turn up eventually.
Sombra looked back at Luna the Blue and his resignation was sidelined by unease. Something strange was happening to her. Every lurch towards the forest that the other Luna made every scrambling heave towards escape seemed to cause this Luna to shudder a little, caused her eyes to squint.
“We must... Go...” She said haltingly.
“Go where? Luna, this, this is all over. We have to...” But he didn't know what they had to do.
He then noticed that there were several other ponies around him.
“We must… get closer…” Luna said she then looked in her counterpart’s direction. As soon as she saw Luna the Red she, herself, began stumbling forward.
“Luna stop! We can find her later!” Insisted Sombra but this only seemed to push her from a clumsy canter to a full, mad, gallop.
Sombra and the others jumped into action following her down the slope. Twilight Sparkle was beside him. Her face was wet from tears but she no longer showed grief, only determination.
“It looks like the worlds have separated again” She said between breaths “Some things, some... Ponies were taken back to the appropriate world… but others weren’t”
Sombra then realized that only Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were with him. Apple Jack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were gone.
“I can fix this. I can free our Celestia and figure out some other way to bring balance and… and put everypony back where they belong!” Sombra didn’t think Twilight sounded very sure of that but he only spared here a worried glance.
“Luna WAIT!” he yelled “She has great power in the Everfree! The trees will eat you alive!”
He turned to his companion “Twilight, I’m week. I don’t think I could hold her.”
“I don’t know if I could either but maybe I don’t have to.” Twilight's horn began to glow and the dead grass around Luna the Blue’s feet turned green then became thick and finally shot upwards with new growth. Luna was oblivious to her changing surroundings but she began to slow; unable to maintain her fast gallop.
“I don’t think they can fly right now” gasped Twilight. As the gap between them began to close the grass started shearing itself into a path to Luna. The fallen stocks created a mat that was kicked into plumes as they passed.
Luna struggled more and more with the grass and then finally looked down. Her horn shone brightly and a dome of blue fire erupted from her body. The power and heat of the fire was immense and it moved quickly, incinerating the magical grass as it passed. Sombra had just enough time to cast a protective sphere around them as the fire washed by but it quickly fizzled and the effort caused him to stumble. Fluttershy and Rainbow reared when faced with the wall of flame.
Twilight on the other hoof hadn’t stopped. She leaped forward, her horn and hooves glowing with magic, and hit Luna with a graceful thunk. Luna went limp in Twilight's forelegs and they rolled a short distance through the burnt grass.
As they tumbled their sweat and tears mixed with the ash of this briefly verdant wasteland, dyeing their coats black.
