Princess Luna had noticed a new quirk of her sister: she had grown adverse to mirrors. At first, when all she saw were cloths draped over the ones in her sister's room, Luna surmised that Princess Celestia was merely tired of seeing herself, but the situation grew stranger when Celestia began to dismiss, even get angry at servants who tried to polish or clean the glass cases in the palace.

On the night after the sinking of their nephew's boat, Luna heard her sister awaken. Silently, she followed into a dark, forgotten basement. There Celestia sat, peering through a mirror. Encased in gold, ornate, curving lines stretching out from the sides in a near mystical manner, it was one of many enchanted mirrors hidden throughout the palace.

Luna wasn't sure if it was the sound of her breath, a shift in the floor, or merely her reflection caught in the mirror, but in a few moments, Princess Celestia noticed her. Turning to Luna, she sobbed. Luna ran, faster than ever in her life, towards her sister. Forcibly, she gripped her sister in an embrace, forelegs and wings both. Tears rolled down upon Luna's back, but she did not let go. Luna looked again to the mirror herself. She did not know what it was, what it did, but she knew what it was not. This mirror was not one that had brought such heartbreak to Celestia, at least, not one in her time.

It was not until Shining Armor found them that the sisters broke their embrace. He, the captain of the Royal Guard, had grown worried, scared at the seeming disappearance of the princesses. He did not say, however, how long they had been there.

"Alright, Wonderbolts!" Spitfire shouted as she held her radio talk button, "We are about to cross Luna Bay, expect heavy resistance over Vaverfront, we can't land until we've secured air superiority." Though CAF Vanhoover, where they had last refueled, was already close to Olenia, securing the Vaverfront base was critical for further operations in Olenia. As the Vanhoover City docks rushed underneath the Wonderbolts, Spitfire took to the radio again, ordering, "All Wonderbolts, status report."

"Wonderbolt Two," called in Soarin, "Everything's good in here."

"Wonderbolt Three," replied Rainbow Dash, "I'm a bit cramped, but my plane is feeling awesome!" Though Dash was a newer member of the squadron, her acts as part of the Elements of Harmony quickly solidified her position amongst her fellow 'Bolts.

"Wonderbolt Four, A-Ok!" announced Surprise.

"Wonderbolt Five, ready to split off on your mark," confirmed Blaze. Once the Wonderbolts crossed the bay, they planned to split into two flights to cover the region. She would lead the second flight.

"Wonderbolt Six, all systems nominal," reported Wave Chill.

"Wonderbolt Seven, all good, but Six is speaking some strange words," teased Thunderlane.

"Wonderbolt Eight, what everypony else said," answered High Winds.

"Alright, Wonderbolts, weapons tight," ordered Spitfire, "Our allies may have captured planes, so focus on splashing the ones with visible Changeling emblems. Wonderbolts Five through Eight, break north." As the coast crept into view, half of the Wonderbolt planes banked to the right. Spitfire's flight pressed due west, and foreign planes grew from specks above the horizon.

"Vater, sie ist wach! Sie ist wach!"

Queen Velvet found herself in a straw bed, with nothing but a candle between her and a Changeling. Her instinct, her upbringing, her knowledge told her to escape, to fight till her hooves were shattered if she ever wanted to see her kind again. Her body screamed differently, screamed to stop as she moved a single hoof. As her muscle screamed, it escaped her body through her muzzle, a shriek of pain echoing for just a second before Velvet stilled.

"Hey! Hey hey hey," called the Changeling, "Don't move, you are hurt. I am sorry, I do not know your language. You do not know mine. Do you know Equestrian?" The Changeling began to trot forwards, but Velvet cried out, through gritted teeth,

"Keep your shredded hooves away from me!"

"Ah, you do speak Equestrian!" exclaimed the Changeling, "Please, mein Vater says you are important. He kept you secret when he fished you out of the sea. We are harmonists, I swear."

"And where in Tartarus am I?" Asked Velvet, unsatisfied.

"This is Dytrisium. Please, allow me to treat your wounds. I am Keratin, what is your name?" Keratin outstretched a hoof, and Velvet warily pressed her own cloven hoof against it.

"Velvet, I am Velvet," she admitted, hoof collapsing to the floor.

"Hey hey, do not strain yourself!" called Keratin, "My Vater- sorry, father- wants to talk to you."

"Does he at least know Olenian?" muttered Velvet. "You do know most deer aren't fond of harmonists?" she chuckled, "Not when that would mean I should have my brother's throne."

"So it really is you, Queen Velvet," An older Changeling, Keratin's father, addressed Velvet, stepping into the room- or perhaps had been waiting at the entrance for all Velvet knew, only given the light of a single candle. "My name is Chalcone, I could not believe my eyes when I saw you over the side of my ship, out in the Olenian Ocean."

"I washed that far out?" exclaimed Velvet, "I was trying to escape to Equestria, but one of your U-boats attacked."

"Hey, I am an honorable battleship captain," protested Chalcone, "Well, nothing much honorable anymore under Chrysalis, but I would prefer not to be likened to those Maar-damned Unterseeboot cowards."

"Maar?" asked Velvet, "I knew you Changelings arrogated whatever you felt like from Griffonia, but not religion."

Chalcone snorted, but did not meet Velvet's eyes. "Well," he said, "I got it from a friend. A dead one now, at least, that's the best I can hope for after the death of the Aquileian Revolution."

"Flight Group South," addressed Spitfire, "We're the last line of air defense from Vaverfront Air Base, focus all firepower on their Stukas, we can't let them give their ground forces any breakthrough."

Spitfire herself was already taking care of the lone fighter that had snuck past the northern battlefield, an Sv 109. Though the Changeling pilot was quite nimble, she kept right on its tail, spraying tracers that got closer each burst. Suddenly, the Changeling pulled up, halting their engine so Spitfire would overshoot.

It didn't gain enough altitude. Spitfire's Hurricane slammed into the canopy of the 109, shredding the pilot as both planes became piles of metal. The impact shattered Spitfire's own canopy, and she cried out in pain as glass showered onto her. She slammed the radio button, shouting, "Wonderbolt Lead, my plane is going down. Wonderbolt Two is in charge now." She tried to unlatch her harness, but it was stuck. Frantically, she picked a larger shard of glass, and slashed at it. Barely above the treeline, she leapt out the broken canopy, and unfurled her wings, catching the wind just before she would've rammed into a tree.

Above her, another Hurricane blazed past her, weaving and turning against a Stuka whose tail gunner lit the dim dawn sky. A stray tracer flashed in front of Spitfire's muzzle, and she reared back. Inside the Hurricane, Surprise pressed in her radio, saying, "This is Wonderbolt Four, I have visuals on Lead, she's out okay!"

Princess Luna had not visited a dream in many nights, but this night, she chose something she had not done in an even longer time. This night, she visited her sister's dream. When they were young, Luna and Celestia would share dreams, visit realms and wonders from countless minds together. When Celestia discovered nightmares, when they visited the sleep of a Crystal Pony who lived under the oppression of the terrible King Sombra, Celestia learned why she was not the sister with the power of dreams.

This night, Celestia's dreamworld was an empty, thin stretch of land, endless in front of Luna as she saw nothing else but ocean. Always, when they were young, Luna had seen dream ponies gallivanting about in Celestia's dreams, but now there was no trace of life, even the ground was barren, hard earth. The sky turned dark, and Luna looked up, a great ring of fire hovered in the sky, the moon in the sun's shadow, and the land in the moon's shadow.

"I suppose it's new to you, sister," noted a voice behind her, loud yet soft. Luna knew it was Celestia, yet there was something different. "I've been here every night for over a thousand years. It started the day before I…" Celestia trotted forwards, passing beside Luna, appearing not as her pastel self, but clad in crimson, with a mane of fire. She looked at Luna, tears flooding from her eyes that looked just like the eclipse above. "This is who I see in the mirror."

Author's Note

Will Spitfire get her plane replaced with a... Spitfire?