-------------------------------------------- Inspired by a comment on Derpi #3760767. -------------------------------------------- Evening Silvershade inspected herself in the ornate mirror leaning against the wall. Her latest lingerie spree would have set most back an entire payday, but it was mere grains of sand compared to the private beach of a fortune her parents had amassed. Every article was custom tailored - bow ties, corsets, nightgowns, panties, stockings. Even the garter straps were color-matched to her one charcoal gray ear, something she considered most sophisticated. She stepped away and turned back, holding a pose somewhere between seductive and insufferable; one stockinged foreleg raised, black velvet wings splayed low, eyes lidded, fanged muzzle stained with the disgustingly smug smirk of someone diagnosed with terminal Dunning-Kruger syndrome. Her tail flicked, revealing just how tightly the fabric shaped itself to her rear. /Damn I look good. I'd fuck myself./ A dreamy sigh flowed out of her as she sat on the floor in front of her reflection. /Stars, I wish there was a stallion me./ Her reflection winked. She stared at it. Rubbed her eyes. Looked again. Her reflection was now distinctly masculine, with a bow tie color-matched to its one charcoal gray ear. It turned and stepped away, then looked back, perfectly replicating the pose she'd made earlier. It reached out its lifted foreleg and beckoned her. Her eyes widened. /Is this really happening?/ The reflection nodded, as if answering her. Something in the back of her mind was screaming to run far away and not look back, but temptation smothered that urge with a pillow. She walked up to the mirror. Touched its surface. Pushed - ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< - and stepped through. She nearly stumbled over her own hooves in surprise. "Welcome, Miss Silvershade," Not-Evening greeted her, in a voice with all the polish and sharpness of an ice skate. Evening, by contrast, was struggling to remember how talking worked. "... W-what are you?" "I am known by many names, but the one I prefer is Erised. Quite elegant, I think - as is the rest of me." Evening looked around the room, a near identical copy of her own. "Where am I?" Not-Evening tilted his head, now adorned with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "Come now, do you really not recognize our own house?" "I do, but the doors should be on the right side ... hold on, /our/ house?" "Of course. I may be confined to this mirror world, but you brought me into your parlor; thus, it becomes my residence as well." "Oh." "To be honest, I don't entirely understand the intricacies of its mechanics, and I've had thousands of years to contemplate. I doubt you'd figure it out anytime soon." Evening smirked. "Pff, a bat pony's superior intellect could /easily/ comprehend it." "Really? Please, educate me." "It's simple. You're a genie in disguise." Dead silence. Not-Evening blinked. "/What/?" "I made a wish and you appeared." "I'm not a genie." "You're not a good liar." His eyes narrowed. "Oh, you want me to tell the truth?" She sat and crossed her forelegs. "The whole truth, and nothing but the truth." "Fine. I know what your wish was." The internal screaming began again. Temptation finally acknowledged the attempted pillow smothering hadn't worked. "You wanted a stallion version of yourself to take to bed. A quick fling; nothing more, nothing less. And I was willing. But then you walk into my home and call me a liar to my face? I won't tolerate that." "I still have two more wishes, y'know. And that means you have to do whatever I want." "/I'm not a genie./" "I wish for you to be completely quiet until I leave." Another silence. "... You think I'm just a toy you can throw into a closet when you're done with me, don't you? An /object/." "Says the /thing/ trapped in a mirror. Now shut up." "I most certainly will /not/," Not-Evening snapped. "Typical mare. Always thinking with what's under your tail and nothing else." Evening recoiled. "/Excuse me?/" "Did I stutter?" She couldn't think of a good retort, so she huffed haughtily, turned on her heels and stepped back through the mirror with her nose up. ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< And immediately tripped over the gilded frame. Her reflection cackled. - Resonant Harmonic read his assignment for the fifth time. This was indeed the specified address - the same address he'd paid a visit to just a few moons prior, in fact. It was one of the very few places he hoped to never visit again, but the forces of fate have a rather sadistic sense of humor. Just as he opened the wrought iron gate, a squeak from above caught his attention. Looking up, he noticed the shutters of a second floor window had been folded outward. A few seconds later, a large, expensive-looking mirror sailed through, smashing onto the stone brick path leading to the front door. He stared at the mess for a moment, then looked back to the window. A blue-gray thestral returned his gaze with disdain. "Cursed?" "Yep." --------------------------------------------