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Mare in the Mirror 17

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A My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fanfic.

Tags: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Dark, Romance, Sad

This story is a sequel to Fillystata.

Trixie is haunted by nightmares and begins to question if she let Twilight down in Dappleshore. When her dreams filter through to the waking world, Trixie scrambles for answers. How far will it take her, and can she face the mare in the mirror?

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“Please …” Luna begged, her voice but a dry whisper. Panic took her as Twilight walked away from her, her only hope and the only thing on her mind quickly disappearing like sand through the hourglass. “I'll give anything. I'll prove I love you! I'll prove it to you, if you just give me one chance.”

Twilight slowed down and stopped. She turned her head and looked at Luna over her shoulder. It was a burrowing gaze, as if it looked straight through to her soul to judge her. “Then tell me this,” she began. “To prove your love for me you say you will give up anything?”

Luna nodded desperately at this.

“There is not much that you could give me, is there?”

Luna felt the hope disappear as if swept away by a riptide, replaced by empty despair. It was true, she had nothing to give but herself and her word. “I-I have only myself.”

“You do have something else too, I think,” Twilight said. Luna wasn't sure what she could be talking about. “You have friends, don't you? Somewhere out there, at least, unless you think they have forgotten you, is that it?”

Luna shook her head, though a sliver of doubt rested in her heart. Perhaps they had forgotten her.

Twilight continued regardless. “Then, if you have friends, will you give them up for me?”

Luna looked away. This was one thing where she felt no doubt in her heart. “No,” she said. “To abandon or hurt my friends … that must be the one thing you could never ask of me. Anything but that.”

Twilight turned around but stayed where she was. “So you would rather lose me than your friends? I might still stay or walk away. This might be your last chance.”

“If you have to ask this of me,” Luna said slowly, “then you are not the one I loved, and I was right to condemn you when I did. If you have to ask this of me, then you must truly be the monster I at first feared and you are but toying with me.”

Twilight walked back, stopping at the edge of the lake where she had been sitting before, opposite shore from Luna. “And if I now say I would never ask that of you?”

“Then you may yet be toying with me, but I will have no choice but to trust you,” Luna whispered, desperate for a drop of water to quench her thirst. “But I already did. I was wrong. I let my fear mislead my heart and turned my back on you, and on Trixie. I wish I could take every word I said back.”

Twilight walked around the pond and sat down next to Luna. She dipped her hooves in the cool water, scooping it up for Luna to drink. “I would never ask you to abandon your friends. And I also forgive you. We all get lost in this darkness when we are alone.”

Luna sipped the water from Twilight's hooves and almost laughed with glee at the cool, refreshing sensation. She closed her eyes and dipped her head into the lake. It no longer rejected her, and she drank deep.

When she opened her eyes again a glimmer of light met her from the deep. She pulled out of the water and looked between Twilight and the light. “There's something down there,” she said.

Twilight looked into the water. “I come here sometimes. At times you can see things in the water, that's how I first talked to Trixie. Mostly it just shows places.”

The light flickered faintly, like a little star in the night sky reflected in the water. Luna looked up at the starless sky and back down at the water. It definitely wasn't that. She looked at Twilight briefly to see if she might be thinking something, then reached out for the glittering thing with her magic. There was a moment of silence as she searched around in the darkness of the water, then something small and sharp turned up among the mud.

Luna pulled it out and washed it clean.

“It's a piece of glass,” Twilight said.

“A mirror,” Luna elaborated. “A piece of a mirror.” The small fragment of glass floated out of the water, sparkling. Luna wasn't sure in what light.

Twilight nudged her excitedly, and she turned to look around. Something had changed about the small piece of garden they were sitting in. Luna stared at the colors bleeding through the black cover, a warm light spreading without a source. She looked back at the mirror and smiled.

*          *          *

“My Queen.” The royal guard bowed deep in front of the grand dais whereupon Trixie lay, slung back lazily on a small mountain of pillows with Celestia in a leash beside her. She gave little indication of having heard. The guard coughed a little nervously and continued. “I regret to inform you that we have no new intelligence on the escaped phoenix. It hasn't been seen since yesterday when it was spotted near Fillydelphia.”

Trixie lifted a hoof and waved it a little as if to say, “Go on”. A golden light surrounded a piece of candy on a nearby plate. It floated gently towards Trixie. She licked it with a passive expression.

“Uh … yes, m-moving on,” the guard stammered mildly. “The reports from the farm count seven dead, six of them ours. More were injured.” Trixie opened a lazy eye to regard the pony in front of her. He shifted uncomfortably. “They met some opposition, but I am told he fell in the end. The rest appear to have escaped in the chaos. We are not quite sure how many, but they must have fled into the forest.”

Trixie nodded and closed her eye again. “Throw the body to the wolves. Have every tree on the farm uprooted and the ground salted. Let them starve in the wild or plead before me for mercy. Remind the population of the penalty for supporting traitors.”

The guard looked down at his notes and shifted somewhat. “I am told some of the trees are magical, Your Majesty.”

A minor scowl crossed Trixie's face. “Then recruit some unicorns from the school and just get it done already. Do I have to tell you everything?”

“N-no, My Queen,” the guard hurriedly spoke.

Trixie returned to passively licking the piece of candy while rolling the end of the leash around her hoof.

The guard moved on, not wishing to test his luck. “The fugitive is still at large somewhere in the east, and there is still the matter of your commander. We have reason to believe she led the search parties astray deliberately.” The silence told him to continue quickly. “She tried to flee when confronted but was apprehended near Dodge City. She's waiting in the dungeon.”

“Bring her before me,” Trixie said coldly.

The guard bowed and turned hurriedly.

“And my heir as well. I wish her by my side in this matter,” Trixie added as the guard was halfway across the grand hall.

*          *          *

“So …” Trixie looked down at Blue Jet chained up on the floor of the throne room between two pegasus guards. “I must say, I have had quite enough of your little games, Commander.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Blue Jet said without moving her gaze.

Trixie regarded her with a look of boredom. “I assume you have nothing to say in your defense?”

“Would it make a difference?”

Trixie sat down on her pillow and picked up a piece of candy. “Would you tell me if it did?”

“Probably not.”

“Well, it probably wouldn't, then,” Trixie said. Blue Jet remained silent as Trixie watched her. After a few minutes Trixie gave a light shrug. “So be it. Blue Jet, I hereby condemn you to death and disgrace in the eyes of your country.”

“And so that it shall not be said that I am not merciful—” she said and turned to look at the young pegasus next to her. Scootaloo looked up through tears. She felt like she had been crying for days. “—I leave your manner of your death to my heir's decision.” A sinister smile played on Trixie’s lips as she spoke.

“I …” Scootaloo struggled to speak through sobs. She looked to Celestia for strength, but the princess didn't look back. She hadn't done for a time now, not since that day … Scootaloo didn't want to remember that day. “I won't!”

“Well then, if that is what you want I will just have to make the decision for you, won't I?” Trixie said casually. “And I've got a real desire for whips today. A good public flogging should satisfy my craving.”

Scootaloo looked at Blue Jet. The blue mare lay in chains, silently watching Trixie. Her expression was one of acceptance of her fate, steadfastly refusing to beg or show fear. She didn't look at Scootaloo. “I …” If only she could be brave like that, Scootaloo thought. If the only way she could help the commander, who had been so nice to her, was by making her end as painless as possible … she tried to imagine what that would be.

Trixie was about to say something when Scootaloo broke her off. “Beheading. I-I choose beheading.” Trixie smirked and ruffled her mane. A shiver ran down Scootaloo's spine as she looked down, trying not to cry again. She didn't want to cry ever again.

Trixie's reaction bothered her. She remembered how Trixie had fooled her with Rainbow Dash, promising not to kill her but not to let her go. “With a guillotine, a sharp one, as sharp as the guards can make it. Not a rusty old one,” she added quickly.

“Clever pony,” Trixie said. Scootaloo wasn't sure if there was a hint of disappointment or if it was more amusement, but it was quickly gone either way. “My heir has spoken. Take her away and have the courtyard ready within the hour. I don't want any chances for escape, do I make myself clear? Make sure my subjects know they are expected to attend.”

*          *          *

Fluttershy felt exhausted and drained after what seemed like ages of wandering, trying to find her friends and her way. But now at last, as she trotted through this garden, the surroundings seemed to grow increasingly familiar with every step. She felt a little life bubble up again within her, a little hope, and a warmth she thought she should never feel again.

There was an anticipation in the air, as if they were getting close to something. Even color and smell had returned to the otherwise dark and eerie landscape, creeping in like paint slowly soaking a piece of canvas.

She breathed in deeply and listened. Did a bird sing somewhere far off?

“Can you see it?” Pinkie cried with a bubbling enthusiasm and joy which had been rare of late, gone for what seemed to Fluttershy like ages. Pinkie gave a joyous squeal. “Colors and hues and shades other than grays, hoorays!”

The sudden elevation in the mood was contagious. Even Manna, for whom everything remained blacker than night, found the new smells and sounds uplifting.

Fluttershy blushed as Pinkie picked a small white flower from a nearby bush and gently, with her tongue sticking out in a great expression of concentration, placed it behind Fluttershy's right ear.

“T-thank you, Pinkie. Oh …” She paused and looked up. “I think I see something ahead.”

A warm light shone among the trees and bushes some distance from where they were standing. All except Manna turned to look in the direction Fluttershy was pointing. Rarity was the first to speak. “Well what are we waiting for? I'm not getting any younger,” she said and marched past Fluttershy with Spike hurrying after her. The others looked at each other before following.

Light flowed out from the small glade and the lake in its center, a warm glow that seemed to come as much from within themselves as from the glade itself and nowhere in particular. Pinkie burst past the others at a full gallop into the glade despite her wounds and pounced on a young figure by the water. “Twilight!” she squealed and hugged the lavender unicorn who returned it awkwardly. “I found you, I found you!”

“Luna!” The others chimed in as they noticed the other occupant of the glade, lying beside Twilight by the water. The princess looked a little flushed as she was surrounded by her friends on all sides. Only Manna remained behind, standing uncomfortably at the edge of the glade as the others rejoiced at the reunion.

Luna looked up and noticed her. She looked at the others then back at Manna and stood up.

Manna tensed as the others seemed to quiet down and soft hoof steps in the grass approached her. She began to open her mouth to apologize, but a hoof gently stopped her. “If my friends have forgiven you, then I need no more reason than that to do the same,” Luna spoke and hugged Manna. “I too have made mistakes. Terrible mistakes. No pony should be friendless.”

Manna stood, looking for a moment rather befuddled in Luna's embrace until, after a while, she hesitantly returned the hug. She couldn't see it, but she could feel the warmth as the light permeated the area, washing away the shadows and gray colors. Flowers and trees shed their ash-like demeanor and broke out into full hues around the little lake.

“Ooh,” came Pinkie's old characteristic exclamation of appreciation. Everypony else looked around at the changing scenery. A warm glow played in the waters of the lake now.

Luna gave Manna a gentle pat and walked back to peer down into the water. Familiar gardens peered back up at her, trees and flowers she had somehow thought she should never lay her eyes on again. “I think it is time for us to go home,” she said. The others turned to look at her as she faced Twilight. “Twilight … Trixie, I no longer know which name is yours.”

“It is but a name,” Twilight said and reached out a hoof to Luna. She looked suddenly older, still the young filly on the outside but with many more ages now reflected in her eyes. “I think I remember … I was lost and alone, and I wandered but couldn't find my way in this darkness. But now it is gone, or fading, and I remember. I gave it all to Trixie, and we were always one. So call me Trixie if you prefer.”

Luna reached out and gave her the little piece of glass she had fished out of the lake. “Take these to remember us by. I get the feeling they will help you more than they will us, and if … if we don't go to our deaths, I promise we will try to find you a way back too.”

Twilight looked at the little pieces of glass as Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Manna came up to her with each of their pieces. They floated around her like a little necklace as she looked up at the five ponies and one dragon. “Thank you. I-I hope I'll see you all again.”

“We will never forget you, or our promise,” Luna said and kissed her.

Luna’s horn glowed as she turned to the lake. The reflection in the water took on a solid sheen and a strange depth. She looked back at Twilight before stepping into the water, the others following behind her.

*          *          *

Blue Jet was pushed unceremoniously down on the hard wooden block, and her head placed in the stock as she was tied down securely. The blade loomed over her, and her eyes looked out over the masses of silently terrified ponies watching against their will. There was nothing in her eyes to suggest it, but in her heart she begged for a miracle.

She had done what she could for Celestia, for Scootaloo and for Rainbow Dash, for all the ponies she served, but if change was coming to Equestria it looked like it would come too late for her. At least she knew she had done the right thing, but had it been enough or too little too late? She closed her eyes as Trixie landed on the platform overlooking the gathered ponies.

Trixie smiled, the sinister smile of a monster escaped from somepony's nightmare and on the prowl for blood. Celestia and Scootaloo were led up behind her by the guards surrounding the place. Celestia looked sick, her eyes absent of any light.

“My beloved subjects,” Trixie began, trotting calmly back and forth as she addressed the ponies. “It is not a simple matter to run a nation. It requires dedication, hard work and sometimes sacrifice. Have I not been good to you? You are here because you have all shown loyalty to the throne, loyalty to me. Some of you may have doubts. Perhaps you worry about the long night. Well, all things good come to those who wait, and those who serve.”

She stopped in front of the guillotine and turned back to face the crowd.

“You have served me, so I have served you in turn. You are well fed, safe, many of you are better off than you were. That is my gift to you for your show of loyalty. Those who serve are rewarded in equal measure. I would return the sun to shine upon your lands too, but you see, its light falls on all equally and not all are deserving as you are. There are those who will not serve, who would betray us, betray Equestria!“

She pulled up Blue Jet's head for all to look upon the condemned pegasus. “This one has betrayed us! She would bask in your sunlight without serving her part! Let this be a lesson to you all. The night is here to weed out all these parasprites from our midst.”

“If you hear a pony speak out against me, you know who to blame for your eternal night. Tell them what you think of that! Show them what you think! Rid Equestria of these vermin, and the day shall be yours again!”

She turned to Scootaloo, the smile on her face taking on a terrifying twist. “Now, if my heir will have the honor,” she said and held out a hoof to the young pegasus, “of performing the execution that she in her wisdom has chosen for this … stain upon Equestria.”

Scootaloo tried to stay steady. She had known it was coming. She knew Trixie would find a way to make her do it. Why? Scootaloo thought she knew why, to turn her into a monster like Trixie herself. She was Trixie's heir, she was to be like her. It had slowly dawned on her, crept up like a sneaking shadow. And she would rather die than let that happen. But Trixie wouldn't let her die, would she?

“Well?” Trixie said, a dangerous hint in her tone. “Perhaps my heir didn't hear me. We all do our part, every one of us.” More was conveyed between the lines than in the words themselves.

Scootaloo knew what would happen if she refused. Trixie would force her, or torture them both. Likely she would do both. She owed it to the commander to spare her the torture, to make sure it was quick. Perhaps that was all the force and persuasion Trixie needed. Maybe that was all it took to turn her into a monster.

Scootaloo stood up slowly. She tried to ignore the feeling that she was doing it against her will. Blue Jet lay on the guillotine, neck under the raised blade, eyes closed. All it would take was a pull and it would be over. Scootaloo placed her hoof on the lever and looked at the blue mare. “Please forgive me,” she whispered through her tears.

“You never needed forgiveness,” Blue Jet whispered back.

*          *          *

The air was fresh and cool, the moon casting its familiar light upon the gardens. Her moon, her garden … Luna breathed in the night air as she stepped out into the gardens of Canterlot. It had been so long, everything looked as she remembered it and yet … felt different. For one thing it shouldn't be night, Luna knew instinctively. She was also fairly certain that it shouldn't already be winter, or had they been gone longer than she thought? But even more than that, the place felt wrong, the calm that always hung over the castle and its gardens was gone, replaced by a repressive feeling of fear.

For a moment she wanted to reach out and lower the moon, but thought better of it. That would surely give away their return if it wasn't already well known. Instead she turned to her friends appearing from the mirror of the small lake in the garden. Luna hoped the strange light reflected by the waters didn't alert anypony to their presence here.

She was about to ask them the question they were no doubt asking themselves when her ears caught something. She stopped and raised her head, listening. “I think I hear a voice,” she said. “Do you hear it too?”

The others stopped and looked around with bated breaths as they listened to the sounds of the garden. The light breeze, a rustling of branches, and then a voice, too vague to make out the words but there nonetheless.

“Sounds like something is going on over there,” Spike said, pointing a claw in the direction of the sound.

Luna set off in that direction. As she made her way through the winding paths of the garden surrounding the castle, the voice became clearer.

“Tell them what you think of that!”

Luna recognized the voice and picked up her pace.

“Rid Equestria of these vermin and the day shall be yours again!”

She came to a halt in one of the grand arches separating the garden from the castle proper. Masses of ponies had gathered in the castle courtyard. Frightened ponies, grieving ponies, their faces worn with fear and despair. The presence of the guards made it abundantly clear that none of them were there totally of their own will. Yet no doubt it was the presence of Trixie which exerted the greatest influence. Luna watched from the shadows as Scootaloo rose at Trixie's request. Behind her was Celestia.

Luna couldn't believe what she saw over the heads of the assembled ponies. Celestia lay kneeling, a guard standing like a gargoyle next to her holding the other end of a leash. The princess, Luna's sister, looked weak and gray, her eyes distant as she stared straight ahead. There was nothing of her former presence and power evident in her posture or expression. She looked for all the world like a doll.

“Look!” Spike directed her attention to where Scootaloo was now standing, trance-like next to the guillotine and the center of the grim spectacle—a bright blue pegasus.

Luna knew that mare. She had watched some of her shows and personally recommended her to the position as commander of the royal guard. Luna's lips quivered as the scene unfolded before her, too fast to think. Scootaloo placed her hoof on the lever, there was a pause, something deep within the young filly seemed to struggle, and lose.

There was a click and a deathly silence as the heavy blade fell.

A hushed gasp surged through the crowd as the blade came to a halt mid-air, bathed in a faint blue glow. Several seconds seemed to pass before Luna noticed what she had done, or all the eyes now turned towards her and her friends. Murmuring voices filled the courtyard, and ponies nervously backed away, frightened of what this could all mean.

Up on the stage Trixie turned slowly and regarded them with a dark expression, her one good eye turned towards them. “My my my.” The crowd silenced at her voice. “What a surprise.”

Luna spread her wings and set off, the blade balanced precariously in her magic. All eyes were on her as she approached the platform, her friends making their way through the parting crowds behind her. Scootaloo, as if released from invisible bonds, made like a bolt towards them. No pony stopped her as she fell crying around Fluttershy's neck. Trixie watched the scene with a curious glint in her eye. Even Celestia had lifted her head a little to see, there was a faint glimmer of recognition in her blank stare.

Blue Jet too had opened her eyes to look up at Luna as the princess of the night landed on the platform. The commander looked up at her, a smile and silent “bless you” forming upon her lips. It was a short smile. There was a faint glow, then a sickening snap. Luna stopped and stared as the commander's head made a sudden 180 degree turn, a look of shock now in her eyes. The crowd gasped.

“What did you do that for?” Cried Pinkie as Fluttershy hugged Scootaloo tighter and turned so the filly wouldn't have to look at the dead commander.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Trixie said coldly, dropping the limp body in the guillotine. “I forgot to ask if any of you would have liked the honor. How very thoughtless of me.”

Luna looked as the body grew still and felt the tears well up. She pulled the commander out of the guillotine and lowered the blade before turning to look at Trixie. An unseen wind carried Trixie's snowy mane as she loomed tall and threatening in the dim starlight, awaiting patiently as if it was all the same to her. Luna's face hardened. “I will make you pay for what you have done.”

Trixie didn't twitch a muscle, her calculating eye watching them coolly but without ever leaving them out of sight. “Oh? And what, pray tell, do you intend to do? Accept it, Luna,” she said as she walked up to Luna, her cold mane brushing against the princess. “You have no hope. You are nothing before me, haven't you learned?”

Luna followed her as she circled around her.

“I am everything you could have been, and more,” Trixie continuer. “But you were always too weak, too afraid to take the power for yourself. Well, I was not afraid. Nightmare Moon's power is mine, more than you ever knew or dared to grasp.”

“Nightmare Moon was defeated once!” Rarity countered defiantly, her voice hard despite the weight of many ages. “We'll defeat you as well!”

Rarity expected a laugh. Nightmare Moon had laughed a lot at them, but Trixie's eye just narrowed, and no hint of laughter escaped her lips. “You will, will you? You do not possess the Elements of Harmony, in fact I made quite sure to destroy them. They are dust, just ask your precious Celestia.”

“You also seem to be one pony short. Unless, let me guess, the dragon is the new somepony right?” Her mane lifted the scowling dragon by the chin then let him go as she circled Rarity. “Yes, I heard that story. You haven't learned, have you? But I have.”

“You see, I knew Celestia was hiding something from me and plotting behind my back with her commander. And here you are even though last I checked you should be trapped in the land of the dead. But of course, I of all ponies should know there are ways out of there. So I took a bit of insurance this time.”

Luna stepped in her way as Trixie turned to Celestia. “You won't hurt my sister again!”

“Oh Luna, I would never dream of it.” Trixie smiled. “But would you?

Luna found herself taking a step back, her legs moving of their own accord.

Trixie walked past her and stopped in front of Celestia's kneeling form. She gently lifted the princess' head a little, showing a small scar just above the heart. A shimmering of prismatic sunlight flowed through Trixie's mane as she lifted a hoof to indicate her own scarred face.

Trixie smiled at Luna's look of horrified realization. “Think very carefully of what you would lose if I was gone. Your Trixie, your beloved sister, everything you've ever loved. Surrender yourself to me, and I will spare you the loss. I will be your Trixie if you like it.”

She reached out an inviting hoof at Luna. “Surrender, Luna. You have no hope of defeating me anyway. I am not the Nightmare Moon you once were.”
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distantFOX's avatar
Holy bananas, I so badly want to know how the story goes! You have me hooked.