The Crystal Mirror

---The Crystal Mirror---

--The Journal--
-Past Writings-

Rainbow

When we took the journal, the writing on it glowed purple. Black storm clouds started to block the blue sunny sky above. We hurried inside the library and dumped the bodies outside. A quick spell casted by Rarity freshened the air ridding the smell of the dead. The journal was written in old English writing. It was all fancy and stuff so Applejack gave me it to read. I wasn’t much of a reader, but with Fluttershy listening, I had to try my upmost best.

Day One: The ritual was a success. Not only did I achieve pure immortality but I sealed away the ones who helped me achieve it! Hah, those ignorant fools, thinking they could gain power over some of Equestria. I couldn’t risk having them discover the true power in Pony Ville. Oh but they sure as hell found the gate. They found it and now they are stuck in that dark, death dimension for centuries! Ah, one day I will have to worry about them rising and taking back control but for now, it’s time to enjoy Immortality! April 15, 1867, let this day be remembered forever!

I glanced away from the journal not wanting to read anymore. Unfortunately thing weren’t in my favor because everypony else wanted to piece everything together. If you haven’t noticed that means I need to read the rest. The things I do for someponies… I took a deep breath and read more.

Day Six: It has been revealed to me from my dearest mother that I now have a baby sister. I’m now proudly in charge of my adorable little sis! One day I’ll hope she’ll be just like me. One day I’ll have to tell her that she will die before me. Maybe I can get her immortality as well… Oh well she is still only 2 months old. Later I’ll explain the deeds that a princess must do. Maybe I’ll lead her down my path. Maybe not. Right now my path is corrupted. She is too innocent. Keeping Equestria safe will be my job. From now till the end of time. -[Kiitus Arrow, rahe Resistance]-.

The last few words seemed to have flown past everypony’s heads. Those words weren’t English. Well besides “Arrow” and “Resistance”. I wish Twilight was here, and then this problem solving nonsense would be so much easier. Hell maybe she’d even know what language this is! For now all we know is that Celestia made some made, and is still making some sketch choices. She can’t be trusted. Guess I better ask everypony to see what we can put together. “Guys” I started shyly. “What do you make of all this?”

Applejack

I knew I was right when I said that Celestia was up t’no good. But what’s all this nonsense about the resistance? Heck, “what” or “who” was Arrow! I’d assume it’s a “who” because the “A” was capitalized. I think that’s the one thing I learned from Twi’s… poetry. Yeah I’ll call it that. I swear that crazy filly sometimes…

A loud knock on the door was heard, followed by a shout. “Hey open up! It’s the police”.

Ah shit. I guess we forgot to hide the bodies. I was the first to slowly nudge t’wards the door. I gripped then handle with my teeth and swung open the door. A pony dressed in a preppy police uniform stood at the doorway. Panic shot through my eyes. I knew he had seen the bodies piled outside.

“Do you have any room to spare inside? It’s a bloodbath out there”.

I let out a sigh of relief and let him in. “What do yeah mean bloodbath?” I said quizzically.

“Just look outside”.

I and the others looked out the window to see what a nightmare world looked like. At least forty bodies were piled outside the house and the sky was a blood red color. It had looked like an army had stormed through the place. Then something caught my eye. What looked like Princess Luna flew over the treehouse leading an army of soldiers. Then we saw her. We all gasped.

Twilight was leading the pack.

How could she betray us? I knew I shouldn’t have left her in that damn place. I had to leave though… I would have died. But if I didn’t leave she wouldn’t b’ against us! Then a thought stuck me. “Guys, that isn’t Twi” I said firmly. “When I was in that dimension, they were other versions, other versions of us”. “They were evil-“ b’fore I could finish my sentence Rainbow cut me off.

“So how do we know YOU aren’t a traitor? Can we be sure you’re the real AJ?” The words seemed to explode out of Rainbow’s mouth. I was completely taken away by these words. I hadn’t the darndest clue on how to answer it. So I tried my best.

“I can’t for sure, heck, I don’t even know if I am the real one. But what I do know is if I was evil y’all be dead right now. You guys also don’t have a better choice than to keep me around”.

“Mhhph” Rainbow mouthed as she flopped back down on the ground defeated. “Now Rainbow enough foolin’ around. Continue reading that dang journal, and stop bein’ such a filly bout’ it!” I practically yelled at her.

“Jeesh, fine mom”. Rainbow sighed. I smiled victoriously and sat down next to her on the floor. It was cold and wet, and made a low thud noise when I sat on it. I looked at it suspiciously and shrugged my thought train away. Rainbow was startin’ to read.

-The Final Entries-

Rainbow

Celestia, why did Applejack have to be such a nuisance? I flipped open the journal and read the next entry:

Day 13: My little sis just said my name! Oh this makes me so happy! In more important news, it looks like my calculations were off. The gate will open in a few hundred years, maybe less. It looks like there were lots of power reserves in that place. They seem to be getting stronger by the minute. I have to find someplace saver for my dear Luna. I need to train her to defend herself. Arrow should know what to do. I hope they will still let me enter the Resistance to see him. If not I will find my own means of getting to him. I love him after all. I must get moving, time is short and only getting shorter. -[Kiitus Arrow, rahe Resistance]-.

Fluttershy spoke up before I could start the next entry. “It seems this ‘Arrow’ fellow is very important. Pinkie, do us a favor and check the books to see if you can find him”. She spoke wisely. Fluttershy was always so smart, and that’s one of the reasons I love her, one of the reasons I read books. I want to get smarter. For me… for her.

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie chimed as she searched through the books. I don’t know how she can remain so bright and cheerful through all this. Heck I’m almost having a mental breakdown right now. I saw the police man sitting on the floor, next to the fireplace. He had torn up some of his uniform to create a bandage for a wound he had gotten from outside. He sat there, waiting for a command, trying to return the favor for being sheltered in Twi’s house.
I sighed and continued to read.

Day 21: How could he…HOW COULD HE. He left me, for that dumb WHORE. Just keep calm Celestia. Arrow will train Luna then you can get your revenge. Heh..hehehehe. AHAHAHA, I WILL MAKE SURE HE WATCHES AS SHE GETS HER HEAD TORN OFF AND EATEN BY MANTICORES. THEN HE WONT HAVE A CHOICE BUT TO BE WITH ME. Mother would be so proud…mother… -[kontwòl Arrow, Sunrise touye moun]-

Well now Celestia is also a murderer. Great. We have to fight against an immortal psychopath who rules all of Equestria. Too afraid to read more, I closed the book and looked at everypony else. Applejack was the first to speak.

“Alright everypony we need to formulate a plan, this mystery ‘aint gonna solve itself”.

“But what can we do to stop any of this?” Fluttershy’s voice squeaked out.

“Well I wish we had Twi for that, be she ’aint here right now. That army out there. We need to stop ‘em from tearing apart Pony Ville. I know y’all ‘aint into fighting and such but we’re going to have to do whatever it takes to get Twi back to a normal Pony Ville”.

“Well then the plan is simple” I spoke the words with a high amount of confidence and prestige. “We gather whatever soldiers we can and help Twi get back to a not-destroyed-and-lifeless Pony Ville. Is everyone clear about this?”
Everypony stared.

“It’s worth a shot, but how do we get dearest Twilight back?” Rarity asked.

“We’ll rip the words out of Celestia. We know things she doesn’t know that we know”.

“Wait wha-?” Pinkie said genuinely confused. “But if we know what she knows that we know and she knows that WE know then she knows-“I quickly cut off Pinkie’s rambling.

“Pinkie, you’re crazy and you make no sense. Anyways now we have to finish this journal” I said calmly ready to finish the last two entries.

Day 24: Luna has advanced far enough in her training…Far enough for me to withdraw her from Arrow’s training. Now. Now is my chance to get that WHORE WHO STOLE MY STALLION. I will make her pay. I will make her watch her own ORGANS BE RIPPED OUT OF HER. Ooooh what a glorious day this will be. I can have Arrow all to myself. Once he is mine I can get back to more prominent matters. It seems that the ponies I’ve banished are breaking free. And I think I’ve just gotten the best idea how to keep the gate sealed longer… A sacrifice. Maybe Sunrise won’t have to die after all. Well at least a real death. She will have to die and be reborn into the gate, to preserve the gate’s durability. All in good time…

‘One more damned entry’ I thought as I turned the page. My eyes exploded open as for they could not contain the sheer shock they experienced. The page was smeared in blood; the words looked as if they were scratched on. I took a deep breath as I started to read.

Day 25: NO. WHY. THIS SHOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED LIKE THIS. HE LOVED HER TOO MUCH, HE SHOULDN’T HAVE SEEN. THIS IS ALL HER FAULT. IF SHE WOULDN’T HAVE INTERVEINED WITH MY LOVE, ARROW WOULD BE ALIVE. ARROW JUST JUMPED IN AFTER HER; The gate will be stable for a while BUT NOT MY HEART, MY FEELINGS OR MY SANITY. This is my fault- no. NO. NO IT WAS HER. I SHAL NOT TAKE BLAME FOR THIS. FOR I FEAR I MAY GO INSANE…yes. Yes I’ll send my spirit to the other world. My insanity will leave and be with him. Yes. Nopony will suspect a thing. My sanity will be right over here. HERE I COME ARROW. YOU WILL LOVE ME. YOU WILL LOVE ME-

The rest of the page is to heavily coated in blood to be even remotely legible. A back page proved useless after noting that it was written in that foreign language.

“Why do you think she called it Black War, The Dark Arrival?” Fluttershy asked.

I took a moment, just enjoying the sweet sound of her voice, until I realised what she had said. I thought about it and replied, “Well, the entire event is most probably called the ‘Black War’ and Celestia sent her insanity to the dark dimension so I’d assume that’s the ‘Dark Arrival’”.

“I bet that she’s the darn queen of that place…” Applejack muttered.

“I still think some insanity stayed with her” Everypony turned to look at the guard they forgot about. “She has been acting really crazy lately. Yesterday she requested a hundred guards to defend Canterlot. Now this isn’t the strange part, she wanted the protection from, as she phrased it, ‘move lespri sa ki mal’. That translates to evil demons”.

Then Fluttershy spoke up in a I-just-pieced-together-a-mystery tone. “Wait, that language sounds similar. Anypony else catching on?” She waited for somepony else to realize. I, of course, got it.

“Ohmigod the language in the journal entries!” Fluttershy was a genius. I loved that.

“Good” Fluttershy replied. “Now let’s see what she was saying the whole time”.

-Dreams-

Applejack

Good heavens we can finally get some answers. The guard glanced at the book and began to translate.

“The language is an old, Royal one only spoken by a higher class town or village. Only few speak it to this day. Now let’s get started, -[Kiitus Arrow, rahe Resistance]- means Love Arrow Hail Resistance. -[kontwòl Arrow, Sunrise touye moun]- means control Arrow and murder Sunrise”. The guard flipped to that last page and stared at it unsure of its content. Well this sure is strange. I can’t make out most of the words, but some are legible. Let’s see, Possession… Control… Death… Insanity- the guard’s eyes briefly flashed purple and he dropped to the floor. The journal started glowing and then caught flame. The guard screaming in pain as his skin started…started searing off him!

Then the impossible happened. As the journal turned to ashes, they spun tornado like around the room and exploded. The rapidly diminishing smoke revealed a shadow standing about me and my friends. Somepony other than the guard. Nothing could have prepared us for what the smoke uncovered. Celestia. The dead guard morphed into her, but, her insanity form. Her voice was like a crackled, high pitched eerie psychopath.

“Well it seems you stumbled on something rather interesting have you not?

The only thing I could force out of my mouth was stutters. “Y-y-yee-y-es”.

“Well then I think it’s time you had some time to think about what you’ve learned in the Canterlot dungeon…”

I didn’t have any time to react. Celestia’s horn glowed and we all teleported to a dark and slimy place. I blinked three times and adjusted my eyes to the small chamber we were stuck in. Celestia grinned and teleported away. The cell chamber we were locked up in reeked of blood and piss. It was awful. Shucks if the smells of rotten apples hadn’t prepared me for these smells, I’d have passed out. Unfortunately everypony else did. Now I had to create an escape plan. By myself. Hell.
I searched the room for any possible useful items. All I found was a used bucket –which I could only assume was the toilet- some bones and bed sheets. It would be hours until the others woke up and I knew that Celestia wouldn’t wait long to kill us. Sounds of battle cries and blades clashing together rang though my ears. A war is ahoof and being stuck in prison, isn’t helping.

I hope everypony is having some nice dreams.

Rainbow

“This stench is AWFUL” Rainbow thought. Her eyes started to blur. “I’m starting to feel a little dizzy…” Rainbow drifted off. When her eyes opened up, she was in a whole new world. “This place is beautiful” Rainbow remarked. “Too bad it’s only a dream. I’m going to wake up and be in that horrid smelling jail cell. She started to walk down a dirt pathway. While admiring the sights, a strange, unidentifiable urge, forced her to walk towards a forest. Rainbow knew this forest well. “No…”. Rainbow couldn’t stop herself. Her mind said no but her body said otherwise.

After traveling in the forest for a while she stumbled across the gate. She stared at it with disgust. She was prepared to retreat back to the dirt pathway when something shiny caught her eye. A crystalized sword glistened brightly even in the darkness of thw forest. Almost instinctively she picked up the blade with her mouth. She noticed the word, Loyalty, engraved on it. Before her dream would let her leave, she glanced back up at the gate. A portal violently ripped open and pony made up of pure shadows dashed out of it. Their forms rippled in the wind. One of them was Celestia and she gave Rainbow the coldest, heartless, stare that made Rainbow tremble at the very sight

“’Bout time one of y’all woke up” Applejack said. “And were in the hay did you get that?”

Rainbow was confused. She got up off the floor and noticed a shiny strangely similar blade on the floor. Rainbow knew where she had seen it before. It was the sword from her dream. And she knew that bad things were going to come from that gate. Bad things, she would have to deal with.

“Wake the others” Rainbow said after finding her voice. “We’re getting out of here”.

-Resistance-

Rainbow

Applejack and I quickly pried everypony from the sleep. We had no time to waste. I grabbed my sword as everypony woke up and slashed it against the cell bars. The rusted bars didn’t stand a chance and broke with ease. A few extra quick swipes –which were surprisingly easy considering Rainbow has never used a sword before- an exit was formed. Everypony quickly ran out in fear of Celestia finding out.

We were in for a rough ride, the exit was heavily guarded and that was our only exit. Rainbow was leading the pack a suddenly stopped a few hooves from the exit. “I know how we’re going to get out of here” she whispered rapidly. “Fluttershy and I will fly you guys up and out of that window” Rainbow pointed to a glass window half open, just enough to fit through. Rainbow grabbed Applejack and Fluttershy got Rarity. “Pinkie wait here, I’ll be back in a sec” Rainbow said. Rainbow opened his great wings and flew up towards the window with Fluttershy not far behind. After they landed Rainbow hurried back inside to get Pinkie. But to his horror, Celestia had captured her. And he had not chance of getting her back. Guilt rushed through her.

Breaking the news to everypony was awful. Fluttershy even started to tear up. Now I felt really bad. As we started walking away we were stopped by three ponies in red hoods.

“Yes, these are the ones” said one of the ponies.

“Allow me to introduce ourselves. I’m Red, that’s all you need to know about our names, and you… Where are the other two?” Never mind we’ll get to that later. We need you to stop the evil that’s days away from tearing apart Equestria.”

“Why should we trust you” Fluttershy said.

“You can’t trust your Princess and right now, and we’re all you got from not being re-captured by her. And if it helps, we’re the last surviving three from the Resistance”.

(A/N Wow. I’m badly lazy. Sorry for the long wait (Again) I will try to pick up my pace to write these stories, but with the same passion and good writing as the others. Now I wasn’t really, happy with the way this turned out. I don’t like how I wrote this chapter. Anyhow this will be the last chapter with Applejack as a focus point. I hate trying to write country considering I can’t do it. Enough of my thoughts, tell me how you like this story and what I can do to make it better!)