The Dark Mirror Saga: Book 1: The Tale of the Last Caribou

“Good morning, Twilight!” Said Rarity as she passed by carrying a bunch of sewing materials needed in her club.

“Morning, Rarity!” Twilight greeted back, waving a hand at her friend. She felt her cheeks redden but not because she was embarrassed or anything of the sort. Oh no, it was due to the best reason to blush over: she was happy.

Canterlot High had changed very little after their little incident with the Dazzlings. In truth, the three sirens were long gone, nowhere to be seen nor found. Not that she really minded their absence at all. They had been despicable in the way their manipulative music worked. To cause so much harm and negativity for their own sake? And it wasn’t even because they needed it to survive, just for the sake of power? No, she wouldn’t feel bad for their demise… although she did feel like she had failed them.

“There you go again, trying to fix other problems that aren’t your own. Who’s to say they could be redeemed? They rejected our aid and sealed their fates. There was nothing else I could’ve done,” she murmured to herself whilst walking around the school.

It was an odd arrangement, to say the least. She could spend her time going around the school as much as she desired and even go into classes. Of course, she wasn’t a student but Principal Celestia didn’t really mind it. Not after everything she had managed to do in favor of Canterlot High. After all, her primary motive was to spend time with her human friends and, to a lesser extent, learn more about the human world.

Twilight was, if anything, a true academic through and through.

“I wish I could spend more time here!” Twilight said to herself as she stretched out a bit, wriggling her fingers and popping a few joints in the process. “He he he~ Cute and weird,” she said with a small blush before a snicker cut her off. Turning to the side, she found Sunset Shimmer with a playful smirk. “Sunset!” She exclaimed, her blush intensifying and hiding her hands behind her back. “You didn’t happen to see me doing anything embarrassing, right?”

“Oh, you mean this?” Sunset wriggled her fingers as a response, chuckling. “Don’t worry, Twilight, I did the same thing when I arrived. You’ll get used to it sooner or later, but that was adorable.”

“R-Right,” Twilight coughed, trying to regain some of her composure. “Say, Sunset, has anything happened lately? Everyone seems to be on edge. Please tell me we don’t have to worry about magical incidents,” she pleaded.

“Ha, I wish! Finals are approaching. Sign me up for some new freaky Equestrian mishap over taking exams,” Sunset replied.

“But… exams are so fun! All you have to do is study hard!” Twilight replied rather eagerly.

“Yyyyeeeeahhh… No,” Sunset sighed and crossed her arms. “That aside, you’re here for a casual visit or something?”

“I had some free time and I said to myself ‘Hey, it’s been a few weeks since I traveled to the human world. I wonder how everyone’s doing. And here I am. Maybe I should’ve made sure you weren’t as constrained. But I couldn’t help myself!”

“Wow. Fluttershy wasn’t kidding. You are in a good mood. Any reason in particular?”

“That’s the best part. I don’t have any! I’m just happy and content,” Twilight replied with a friendly grin.

Sunset nodded and snapped her fingers. “Say, mind if we--”

“Sunset Shimmer!” The voice of Vice-Principal Luna shouted suddenly, causing the yellow-skinned girl to flinch. “Come here this instant!”

Sunset gulped before grabbing Twilight’s shoulders. “You haven’t seen me, okay? Cya!” And with that, she was off at a speed that Rainbow Dash would be proud of.

Twilight blinked, confused, a moment prior to the vice-principals arrival. “Darn it! She escaped, again!” Luna sighed, defeatedly. “I swear that girl would achieve so much more if she focused that energy on something productive rather than avoiding doing her chores.”

“Uhhh… hello, Prince-- Vice-Principal Luna. Is something wrong?” Twilight asked once the older woman took a breath.

“Oh, greetings, Twilight Sparkle. Or is it Princess? Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” Luna replied, waving a hand back and forth lazily. “Have you seen Sunset Shimmer?”

“...No?” She offered unconvincingly.

Luna merely raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. Well, my work never ends. Have a pleasant day,” she said as she turned to leave.

“Uhmm, Vice-Principal, may I ask what’s the matter? Perhaps I could help you,” Twilight offered.

Luna stopped and turned to face her again. “Your offer is appreciated, Twilight, but this is a task for Sunset Shimmer.”

“Which is?” Twilight insisted, tilting her head sideways.

“To retrieve an artifact I may or may not have misplaced in the school’s basement.” Silence set in between the two until Luna blushed slightly. “I don’t like going there myself.”

Twilight had to suppress a giggle at that. They may be counterparts, but she’s anything like the Luna I know! “If that is all y-you require,” she shook her head and cleared her throat, shaking off the humor from her voice, “then I believe I can easily do it. I’m not your student and, if anything, I’m part of the reason your school went through so much turmoil.”

Luna stood silent for several seconds as she mused her options and the offer intently. “Are you… certain? I wouldn’t wish to interrupt your activities; much less so order a Princess around.”

Twilight nodded. “It is no issue, Vice-Principal. As it happens, I am left without much to do. It seems I came to visit during an inopportune time. Please, I would be happy to aid you,” she said, smiling.

Luna nodded and reached inside her left pocket, pulling a photo and handing it to Twilight. “This is what I need. I… do not remember where it is. You may search for it as you see fit… just… try to not use magic? We have enough to deal with now that your friends have suddenly gained such abilities.”

“Of course,” Twilight took the photo and tucked it inside one of her pockets. “Do you need it in a hurry?”

“Not really. So, please, do not feel pressured to find it quickly,” Luna said, now turning to leave once more. “Thank you, Twilight. Now, if you excuse me, duty calls.”

“Have a good day,” Twilight said as she saw the woman bee-line towards Trixie. She turned around, not wanting to see or hear the chewing the magician was going to get for practicing her tricks inside the school. Instead, she made her way to the basement. Following the signs and directions proved easy enough and soon she was at the entrance of the stairway leading down the poorly illuminated place.

Without thinking too much about it and showing no fear nor hesitation, she began to descend. “Huh, now that I think about it, this is the only place in the school I hadn’t visited yet. Take that out of the checklist,” she murmured, doing just that in her mental list. It didn’t take her long to reach the bottom and after that, the double doors that sealed the basement properly. Turning on the lights, she found the small room housed a few boxes filled with cell phones, hand-held consoles, and other retrieved and lost items. “So that’s where they put them? Clever.”

Stifling a laugh, she opened the unlocked doors and was… instantly disappointed. “Honestly, is this what everyone is so afraid of?” She said while scanning the room brimming with old boxes, odd furniture, a grand piano, a harp, several half-finished paintings, and who knows what else covered with white, dusty sheets. “The Forbidden Section of the Royal Library is ten times scarier than this place. If they fear a lonely, dark, dank basement, they would hate visiting the Everfree Forest at night,” she finished with a chuckle before stepping into the room, the door closing behind her.

Pulling out the photo from her pocket, she inspected it but soon found out that the poor light above her barely provided any aid at all. With a sigh, she illuminated her hand with a faint magical glow. “Technically, I’m not using magic, just the light,” she muttered to herself. Now with proper illumination, she saw the object she had to find was some sort of cube. “Huh? That looks… weird? What even is it? A puzzle? A jigsaw?” Shrugging, she tucked the photo away. “At least it won’t be hard to find. I think.”

Thus, the search began. Back and forth she traveled, searching inside open boxes for the cube, inside the piano, on the ground, on top of the furniture pieces. But no luck. Ten minutes ticked by quickly, then twenty, forty, until an hour passed. Despite the lengthy search, she kept on searching in the same cheery, content mood she’d found herself in.

Suddenly, the telltale ringing of a magical device being activated froze her where she stood. “Hello?” She called out, looking around in search of anyone but found nothing but air. “Hmmmm, I know I heard something. Oh, Celestia, please don’t let it be another long-lost magical artifact trapped in this dimension.”

With a new resolve in mind, Twilight increased the light coming from her hand as she slowly moved around with her other hand outstretched, also glowing with magic but only acting as a detector. “Come on, where are you?” She passed her left hand over objects slowly, not wanting to miss the object by accident. She searched for several minutes without success and was about to stop when the aura around her hand turned blue for just a moment. She smirked. “There you are.”

Moving slowly towards where the blue glow guided her, she soon found herself in front of a large blanketed object. As she reached for it, however, the glow around her hand suddenly became incredibly cold, the color shifting to a sickly black. “Gaaahhh!” She gasped, pulling her hand back as it stopped glowing. She inspected her hand for a few seconds, but found it unharmed; the unpleasant sensation went away without a trace. “What was that?” She voiced out as she stared at whatever was lying underneath the blanket.

Frowning at it with defiance, she reached out for it again. She took a hold of the blanket and pulled it to the side; dust clouds blinded her for a few moments as she began to cough. When the dust settled down, she saw it and her eyes widened. She took an involuntary step back as she couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing.

“What… but I thought… why is there another one here? Did Sunset know about it?” She muttered, unable to comprehend what was in front of her. But there was no denying it. It was another portal mirror.

It was similar in size and design to the one she used to travel to this dimension, but there were… ominous differences to consider. First of all, the color. It was almost entirely black with only a few silvery pieces adorning it. Second, there were plentiful small cracks running alongside the frame that didn’t appear to be caused due to aging or brute force. If anything, they appeared to be merely cosmetic in nature. Third, and that was the most alarming yet eye-catching difference, the top of the mirror had a sun and moon wrapped in chains.

A sun and a moon that looked eerily similar to the Princesses’ Cutie Marks blended together.

Twilight gulped, staring into the darkened reflection of herself. Even the mirror itself was dark, almost as if blackness wanted to pour out from it. “There’s no way Sunset wouldn’t have warned me about this mirror being here… which means she doesn’t know it exists,” Twilight reasoned, swallowing hard and feeling her palm sweat a little.

The appearance of the mirror was one thing, but the longer she looked at it, the more curious and repulsed she felt. Repulsed? No. Not repulsed. Something else, similar to revulsion but not quite as strong struck her.

Aversion. Yes. The longer she looked at it, the more aversion she felt toward it. Not enough to cull her equally growing curiosity, though.

“I have to tell the Principal and the girls about this. We can’t risk having this portal--,” she blinked and a chill ran down her spine. Without thinking about it, she reached into the mirror and gasped when her hand passed through the liquid-like surface of it. Pulling her hand a moment later, she shuddered. “This very active portal remains here where anyone or anything could use it.”

She stared at the mirror for several moments, perhaps minutes, maybe seconds. She didn’t know. As she stared at it, she almost felt as if something was staring back at her at times. Shaking her head, her doubts and fears vanished and she stood resolute. “What if it is dangerous? I should… I should see what lies behind it. For my human friends and for Equestria, I must know,” she gulped, taking a step forward. “I won’t take too long, though. I can’t let Sunset or the rest of my friends worry too much and wonder where I went off all of a sudden. Go in, make a few observations, return. Simple plan, easy to follow, no risk of failure.”

She took another step forth, then a second, and then a third; her right leg crossing the mirror without incident. The coldness and eerie feeling running up her leg made her courage falter for just a moment before she pushed herself to go through the mirror. No matter what, she’d discover what was beyond it.

“Let’s see what dimension lies beyond this mirror,” she said before taking a deep breath and, after closing her eyes, she crossed the threshold.