Mirror: Book I - Mind

ACT III

Omniscience

I fear not the sorcerers of this world nor the spells they create. For others to turn to their wizards in their time of need, desperate for an answer to deliver their kin from the very turmoil they’ve wrought upon themselves, harbors only an unrelenting, unwavering weight of despair. For those who answer to their call, that is what I fear.

-Starswirl the Bearded

Hundreds upon thousands of stars dotted the black-blue canvas hanging quietly above the village resting in the valley. Not a creature nor critter of the night stirred, and only the dimly lit windows of ponies stalling and studying into the late hours replied to the sparkling spots above. One particular glow shone dimly in one of the windows of the castle, the boy’s shadow cast on the far wall as it danced and flickered with the candlelight’s ember. His quill rested upon the paper, unmoving, as the words of the Princess and his friend echoed through his mind.

You can write anything that comes to mind and the Princess will read it.

Nothing had come to mind, nothing good. Only the unforgettable regrets of his time in Equestria thus far. With a dejected sigh, he dropped the quill and walked away from his desk, and for another night more the letter would remain blank. He paced about his room in uneven intervals as the tribulations played at the forefront of his head. The stench of timber wolves, the ilk of blood and monsters, the riling of the townsfolk, and worst yet an innocent pony lay in a hospital bed, not a single one of them knowing when she would wake up, or even if she ever would. Quietly, as the cold streaks of silver moonlight passed through the window and into his room, he approached the transparent panes and looked longingly up into the sky. Upon every little star, he chose one among many, and the many to his aid, in hopes that a single, desperate wish might be answered. He clasped his hands, and did what he remembered best.

“It’s been a while since we’ve talked, hasn’t it?” The boy mumbled. “Not that you ever answered back, but I guess this means I always believed you were listening.”

A single star spiraled and twinkled as though in response. He continued.

“I don’t know why I’m here, I don’t know why you want me here, but all I ask…” He paused, thinking for a moment. “All I ask is that you give her a second chance, even if it means forfeiting my own.”

His fingers parted and he dropped his hands, and the tiny prayer came to a close. He turned and let his gaze fall back to his desk. It almost hurt to look at the blank parchment upon the surface, so much so his eyes grew tired and heavy. Wetting his fingers he pinched the candle between his digits, and the room fell into a crystalline, blue glow, shadows divided across the floor. The boy lumbered to his bed, fell to the sheets, and laid motionless into the restless night.

“What do you mean you don’t want to go back home?” Twilight looked on, worried.

“I can’t go back home, not yet.” David paced about, shaking his head. “Now that I’ve got a debt to pay, greater than any damage I’ve dealt thus far, I need to ask you guys to hold off on the research.”

“Not to burst your bubble, but we haven’t made any breakthroughs with your little ‘home-sick’ situation here, at least not recently.” Starlight mentioned, shuffling a pile of books. “Obviously you weren’t listening when I told you the specifics on what happens when you try to funnel a human through a literal wormhole.”

“Breakthroughs or not, I don’t want any temptations on the table, at least not until this whole thing is settled.” He stopped, swallowing with fright. “One way…or another.”

“What do you plan to do?” Twilight asked him.

“I don’t know…” He mumbled, stroking a hand through his hair. “If I knew what was being asked of me, then I would just do it. No questions asked, no hesitation. But…” He groaned. “Why do things have to be this difficult?”

The Alicorn rounded her desk and approached the boy with a calm saunter, leading a hoof over his forearm as she looked him in the eyes.

“I’ve already told you this before, and I’ll say it again.” She breathed. “There is nothing on this planet that’s going to stop me from getting you back to where you truly belong, I already made that oath, and as Princess it is my duty.” She searched his eyes. “I know you’re upset about what happened to Apple Bloom, but believe me when I say that the best thing we can do now is wait. Wait, and hope for the best.”

David’s eyes remained fixed to the ground.

“Don’t try to do anything drastic or way out of your league.” Twilight went on. “You’re an intelligent, talented young boy and the Equerry of Ponyville. I have no doubt you’d do anything for somepony like Apple Bloom. But please, just think about what she would want. She would want what’s best for you, too, and that means accepting all the help we can give you.”

Slowly, the boy nodded his head. “You’re right, Twilight.” And his face fell, he took a shallow breath. “I just…I don’t know what to think anymore. This entire trip, whether it be a trick of the mind, some crazy psychedelic prance, or whatever this might be. I thought that at one point I was beginning to get somewhere. That I was finally beginning to figure it all out.”

“Then perhaps this is only another test.” Twilight noted. “You’ve only failed when you’ve given up on finding an answer. Princess Celestia told me that once.”

“Let’s just hope this test isn’t because I decided to do so in the first place…”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.” Starlight muttered past the table.

“Why?” The Alicorn turned, looking askew.

“Twilight, when did you say you found David in the ruins?”

“The day of the Summer Sun Celebration, of course.” She answered.

“After the sun had risen?” Starlight probed.

“Starlight, please.” The boy cautioned. “The help is appreciated, but let it rest.”

“Just tending to my curiosity, is all.” The unicorn reassured, flipping further through her books. “I thought that date had seemed familiar. The Summer Sun Celebration isn’t just the Summer Sun Celebration, it’s also the date Nightmare Moon was banished from Equestria. Ponies often forget because the Sun Celebration was used as a cover up, to forget what happened that fateful night when Celestia condemned her sister to the moon.”

“Alright, but what does this have to do with sending David back home?” Questioned Twilight.

“Don’t you see? The Summer Sun Celebration isn’t just some silly celebration that ponies party to every year, it’s a counter spell!” Starlight triumphed. “It was intended to keep the influences of evil at bay, lest anypony fall into despair over the disappearance of one of their beloved Princesses. Y’think ponies just like to drink and frolic in the sun for no particular reason?”

The two listeners were silent, innocently rolling their eyes around the room.

“Look, my point is this.” Starlight recomposed. “Don’t you find it odd that David appeared in Equestria on the exact date that Nightmare Moon made her return?”

“No doubt it seems a little strange, but coincidences are slippery slopes, even for you.” Twilight answered.

Starlight gave a cocked stare, followed by a stiff nod, unsure whether she should retaliate or agree with something even she wouldn’t have a hard time agreeing with. Coincidences might have been the wrong term, at least to her. Connections might have been the better word. Chronicles, Connotations…

“When the stars align…” David muttered below his breath.

A verse which pony ears could easily pick up, not because the boy had forgotten that pony ears were far more receptive than human ears, but much rather because it was a line neither the unicorn nor the Alicorn could ever forget. They both blinked, staring at him.

“That one night, Princess Luna came to me in my dream.” David began to explain. “She told me that I have some special purpose being here, and one way or another it was my destiny to discover that purpose. It was strange, I felt like somehow…” He searched deep within his mind. “That somehow, our destinies aligned with one another’s. Sort of like when the stars align.”

“You met Princess Luna?!” Twilight and Starlight shouted in unison, crawling up on the boy and staring him deeply in the eyes.

“What did she say to you?”

“What did she look like?”

“What color were her eyes?”

“Was her mane straight, or wavy?”

“Did she say anything about me?”

“Did you remember to bow? And kiss her hoof-”

“Stop!” He pushed out his palms, distancing himself from the frantic, little ponies. “I’m not supposed to be thinking about these things right now, I promised myself I wouldn’t!” Grumbling, he marched for the door and called over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, but I need to be alone right now.”

The sound of footsteps echoed down the hall and faded away, leaving the two ponies at a stand still within the Alicorn’s quarters. Twilight rubbed her hoof apologetically, looking down cast, whilst Starlight brushed her mane aside and gave a tired puff of dissatisfaction.

“You ever feel the need to, I dunno…tell him he’s being a little bitch?” Starlight asked.

Twilight blinked with surprise. Her face scrunched into a harsh scowl as she turned with an open wing and slapped the unicorn upside the head.

“Amethyst Star” read proudly upon the plaque situated over the young mare’s desk space, letting any passerby, coworker or superior know that the employee the fortunately spacious cubicle belonged to did indeed belong to the young, lavender unicorn known as “Miss Hooves” by her fellow employees. It made her feel different to be called as such, but in a strangely good way, almost as if she were an adult already. The idea of growing up was an enticing endeavor, but poor Amethyst soon found that thinking about it was the only enticing part, and experiencing it was, well… She had imagined herself from day one working harder than a mule tied to cart loaded with cargo, but instead the cart had no wheels, and no matter how hard she tugged the cargo only increased in size. That was because she was staring at the bandage around her hoof, her tray of papers to fill out increasing ever so slowly. Almost instinctively, thoughts of certain, young stallion filled her head. A certain partner and dare she say even friend of hers…

With a distinctly familiar click, the door at the far end of the hall closed shut, and the trot of those hooves began. Amethyst had trained her ears to remember that walk, it had happened so many times that by then she was reading this earth mare’s routine, whomever she was. She had always come from Mr. Mikado’s office, always with a stack of papers tucked to her side. Curiosity piqued, the young mare decided that now was the time to finally put her plan into action.

Just before the mare trotted past Amethyst’s desk, she tipped her tray full of papers and sent the flurry of notes tumbling in front of the pony, causing her to drop her own set of documents.

“Whoops! Clumsy me.” Amethyst chortled sarcastically. “Rookie mistake, am I right? Lemme help you clean those up.”

Amethyst was quick and furious with her clean-up, which was just the way she intended to be. On one hoof, the mare could hardly see what she was grabbing, and quite frankly neither could Amethyst. On the other hoof, her so-called “rookie mistake” was already a good enough cover up story to hastily fix the mistake she had made. With a satisfied clutch, Amethyst levitated her stack of papers back to her desk and returned the others to the mare’s side, giving a small smile and a curt nod before letting the pony run off down the hall.

As subtle as she could manage, the unicorn looked to her right and peeked to her left, zipping back behind her desk as she began leafing through her papers, half of which probably didn’t even belong to her. After a good moment of searching, the numbers finally came into view. Accounting documents. She located. Bingo. Amethyst led another careful glance around the room before setting up a folder to shield the paper, and quietly she began scanning the numbers.

“There’s no way…” She muttered disbelievingly.

Already uncertain in her own calculations, there was but one pony she could trust who without a doubt knew their math.

A cluster of peeved equines surrounded the front doors to Doctor Whooves’ laboratory with rants concerning the latest news story from Free Foal Press. As old as the article might have been, anypony still stupid enough to believe it seemingly harbored a limitless amount of energy to shout and scream about the nonsensicals the newspaper implied. Wishes of bankruptcy, eviction, inconveniences, certain injury or even demise flooded the poor Doctor’s mail box nearly every morning since, but today of all days for whatever reason brought the worst thus far.

“Honestly, don’t any of these ponies have jobs?” The doctor grumbled, scanning through the slits of his blinds. “I’ve better things to do than play ‘fortress guard’ in the kitchen and living area.”

Unexpected reinforcements raced from the road further back, coming to a skidding halt as she surveyed the situation before her. Better take the other way around. Amethyst decided.

As Whooves peered outside his window, skillet over his scalp as a makeshift helmet, butter-loaded catapult mechanisms at the ready, the crowd outside had soon begun to disband. He blinked and surveyed the surroundings for any reason to their departure, catching eye of the only two guards in the entire village finally having gotten up this morning to do their job. Sam held his spear threateningly to poke any of the riled colts who dared come any closer, but Ralph lowered his ally’s weapon and simply flared his big, black wings a second after. It managed to scare the ponies away this time, and Whooves began to breath with a sigh of relief.

The very next second, a clatter came from the laboratory, and the doctor rushed inside quick as a whinny. “Not the goods!” He demanded. “By the Bringer of the Sun, I’ll have your hide if you touch anything!”

“Well, you already have my hoof…” Amethyst groaned, picking herself off the workbench as she clicked the window above shut with her magic.

“Remind me to put a lock on that blasted thing.” He shook his head, approaching the mare and stopping her with a hoof. “Whatever are you doing here? I thought you were at the Hall.”

“Lunch break, don’t got much time.” The mare hastened, aiming for the kitchen. “I need you to take a look at something, Doc. It’s something bad, something terrible.”

“What is it?” The doctor fretted. “A doomsday device? Somepony planning world domination? Don’t tell me…the butter shelves have gone dry?!”

“Worse.” She slipped the paper from her bag and slapped it onto the table. “Accounting affairs.”

Whooves exaggerated a flustered, mortified complexion, only for it to calm down the very second after. “Well that doesn’t sound so bad at all.” He shook his head. “Miss Star, you should think better than to misinterpret simple statistics. What could be so bad about a little fun with numbers?”

“Because I think the wrong ponies have been having plenty of fun with our numbers as of recent.” Amethyst gestured to the papers. “See for yourself.”

He trained an inquisitive squint over the young mare before approaching his kitchen table and picking the letters up with a free hoof, fixing his tie and quietly scanning over the lines and numbers. Amethyst could see almost every little twitch and contortion in the scientist’s eyes, his blue pupils dancing back and forth between the digits as the realization settled in.

“Seeing what I’m seeing?” Amethyst asked.

“This was the day before the fire?” His jaw hung open. “Their funding and insurance, every bit led dry.”

“And the Cakes don’t even know it yet.” The unicorn informed. “In fact, I’m fairly certain not even I’m supposed to know.”

“Amethyst.” The doctor blinked, staring the mare down. “How exactly did you come about acquiring such…sensitive information?”

“Remember that ‘switch-a-roo’ trick you showed me when I was younger?” She grinned innocently.

“Oh, Luna on high.” The poor colt groaned, keeling over. “I’m in the middle of committing a serious felony, aren’t I?”

“Hey, easy there.” Amethyst attempted to console. “Just as long as nopony else knows about this, we’re good. No harm, no foul. Right?”

The very next beat, a banging pounded against the doctor’s door, and a deep bellow came from the other side.

“Ponyville Guardsponies!” It was Ralph’s voice.

“I think I’m going to vomit…” Whooves belched.