(After the events of Dance Magic and Movie Magic)
At the mall, Juniper Montage had begun her new job as a movie theater usher. Just then, the TV monitors started playing the winning music video of the Chance to Prance Competition.
Juniper groaned. "Those girls! Ugh! Ahh! First, they get me kicked off the Daring Do set, and now they're everywhere! I bet they'll be at the premiere tonight. I bet I'll be the unlucky one ushering them to their seats. Ugh!" She then slapped the standing poster board and threw it. Afterwards, her walkie-talkie came on.
"Juniper, where are you?" asked her boss. "We need you back at the popcorn popper, stat!"
"What was that... boss?" asked Juniper imitating radio static. "Can't hear you! ... Losing you! ..." She then walked over to a Sun-glasses counter. "Dang! If those girls hadn't shown up, I would have played Daring Do! Tonight would have been about me. I would have been a star!" She then tried on some red star shaped glasses and looked at the counter clerk, but he shook his head. Juniper then looked in a mirror. "You're right. They are a bit much."
Just as she Juniper put the mirror down, a wisp of Equestrian magic floated inside the mall and enchanted the mirror, transforming it into a crystal mirror. Confused by what she had just seen, Juniper picked up the mirror again. But instead of her usual reflection, she saw a beautiful, world-famous movie star vision of herself. The image then smiled at her. "Whoa!" And she dropped the mirror. "What was that?" She bent down to touch the mirror's glass and a flame popped out. "Ahh!" Juniper then picked the mirror up by the handle and saw her beautiful reflection blowing kisses at her. "Incredible!" She then looked at the price tag and tossed the money on the kiosk clerk's table. "Keep the change. Something tells me this thing's worth it."
Elsewhere in the mall, Sunset was sitting at one of the café tables with her friends. She then wrote to Princess Twilight about her fears of magic being in the human world. "Dear Princess Twilight, tonight's the night of the big movie premiere. All my friends are really excited, and I should be, too. Except I can't seem to keep my mind on anything other than our new powers, and the rogue magic that's loose in this world, and how scary but exhilarating it all is. How does it work? How can we be prepared for it? When will it show up again? Well, you see the problem. With the weight of all Equestria on your shoulders, you must have some advice on how to—" She reached the end of her journal. "Oh, no! Shoot."
"What's the matter, Sunset?" asked Pinkie.
"Oh, I just ran out of pages in my journal. That's all," replied Sunset.
"Chillax, SunShim," said Rainbow.
"Um, who's "SunShim"?" asked Fluttershy.
"That's Sunset's new movie star name," answered Rainbow. "I just made it up!"
"For sweet apples' sake, we only have bit parts in this flick," reminded Applejack. "We're not movie stars."
"Yet, darling. Yet," corrected Rarity.
"There's more bothering you than just journal pages, isn't there, Sunset?" asked Twilight.
Sunset sighed.
"C'mon!" said Pinkie leaning on Sunset. "Share your troubles." She grabbed Sunset's cheeks and squeezed them. "It might help soothe your stressed nerves."
"Uh, I don't wanna take any of the fun out of our big night," said Sunset.
"I said spill it, SunShim!" yelled Pinkie.
"Okay, okay," said Sunset. "It's just that things have been calm around here, magic-wise."
"And that's bad how, precisely?" asked Rarity.
"It's not," said Sunset. "It's just that instead of enjoying the fact that things are calm, I'm constantly thinking about things that could go wrong, even when they already aren't."
"Like... what things?" asked Fluttershy.
"I don't know," admitted Sunset. "I shouldn't even be thinking about this stuff right now, and neither should any of you." Just then, Sunset received a reply from Twilight in her journal.
"Look! Twilight's writing you back!" said Pinkie. "Hey, everybody, Sunset's getting an Equestritext!"
"What's it say?" asked Applejack.
"Princess Twilight wants me to come back to... Equestria," said Sunset. "Oh boy…"
Back at the movie theater, Juniper had become obsessed with her new mirror, basking in the fame and attention that her reflected self was receiving; wishing it was actually her. "It's like this mirror is the only one around here who gets me."
Her boss then walked up to her with a broom. "Popcorn spill at the condiment counter."
Juniper then held up her mirror. "Does this look like someone who cleans popcorn spills?"
But instead of Juniper's famous reflection, her boss only saw his own. "No. It looks like someone about to fire somebody."
Defeated, Juniper took the broom and walked over to the spill. "Ugh! This is the worst! Hey, I know what will perk me up, a little Mirror Me time." So she took out her mirror and gazed at her famous alter ego. "That's more like it! I wish this popcorn would just clean itself up, so I could just stare at you all day." Suddenly, the mirror then magically vacuumed up all the popcorn.
Her boss walked over. "Whuh? Done already? I'm shocked."
Juniper laughed nervously. "You and me both."
A while later, Sunset walked over to Canterlot High, and secretly walked into the statue.
(Equestria)
Sunset came flying out Twilight's crystal mirror in her original unicorn form and crashed into a stack of books. "Man, that trip was a lot rougher than the last one."
Starlight Glimmer then walked over to her. "You okay?"
Sunset's vision blurred slightly. "Princess Twilight? Is that you?"
"Nope! Starlight Glimmer," said the purple pony.
"Oops," said Sunset. Forgetting she was in Equestria, Sunset tried to stand on two hoofs and found it mildly difficult.
Starlight looked at her in utter confusion.
Realization hit Sunset and she dropped back onto all fours. "Whoa, that feels a little weird after all this time. Starlight Glimmer, you're Twilight's student, right?"
"Yep," answered Starlight. "She wanted me to give you this." Using her magic, Starlight levitated a new journal to Sunset, thinking she would catch with her own. Unfortunately, Sunset had forgotten about her own horn and tried to grab it with her hoofs. Starlight then pointed to her own horn to remind Sunset of the power she possessed.
"My magic!" said Sunset as she levitated the journal into her saddlebag. "Wow it's good to have this back."
"Twilight wanted to give the journal to you herself, but then she and her friends were called away to solve a friendship problem," explained Starlight. "That happens a lot around here."
"That must be stressful, huh?" asked Sunset. "Never knowing when you might be called on to save the day. Dropping everything at a moment's notice. How does she do it?"
Starlight Shrugged. "Sorry, she just told me to give ya the journal."
Sunset sighed. "So, are you sure she won't be back anytime soon?"
"Pretty sure," answered Starlight.
"O...kay..." said Sunset. "I guess I'll be going now." She tried to stand up, but then remembered she wasn't human and got down on all four again.
"Hey," said Starlight. "What's it like back there?"
"It's pretty different," answered Sunset. "And not so different at the same time. It's kinda hard to explain."
"Guess you kinda have to go there to really get it, huh?" asked Starlight. "I, uh, don't suppose..."
"You really think Princess Twilight would be okay with that?" asked Sunset.
"I don't know for sure that she wouldn't be okay with it," said Starlight.
"That's not a particularly compelling argument," said Sunset.
"Twilight wants me to learn as much as I can about friendship," said Starlight. "And I'm not learning a whole lot just hanging out here in her castle."
"Well, I haven't ever seen you in that world," said Sunset. "So chances are you aren't gonna run into yourself."
"...is something you don't hear every day," added Starlight.
"So, just lay low," continued Sunset. "Don't draw too much attention to your—"
Starlight scoffed. "You'll barely even notice I'm there!"
"And, introducing you to my friends would be a nice distraction," added Sunset.
"But you'll also totally notice I'm there!" said Starlight "And it will keep your mind off of other things that might be bothering you." She then Sunset a pleading look. "So? What do you think? Can I go back with you?!"
Sunset looked at the mirror. "Sure." And the two walked through.
(The human world)
Starlight came out of the statue first, groaning. "What happened?"
"It's all pretty weird at first," said Sunset as she helped Starlight stand up. "But try and roll with it."
Starlight wobbled unsteadily on her new feet. She then looked at her front hoofs only to discover they now had digits. "What are these?"
"Hands," said Sunset.
Starlight then looked down. "And what happened to the rest of my hoo—"
"Feet! Those are feet," said Sunset. "Remember the whole thing where I said you need to lay low? Now would be a good time to play it cool.
"Oh, Right. Heh, Play it cool," said Starlight. She then got down on her hands and feet and tried to gallop.
Sunset quickly picked her up. The students around the two girls started whispering.
"Heh-heh, you did say I'd make a good distraction," said Starlight.
"Huh-huh," agreed Sunset.
"What are those large gray things on their arms?" asked Starlight.
"They're called duel disks," answered Sunset.
"Duel disks?" asked Starlight.
"We use them to play duel monsters," said Sunset. "You play?"
"You bet!" said Starlight.
Sunset then handed her own duel disk to Starlight. "Follow me, I'll show you how to use it."
Back at the theater's snack counter, Juniper wanted to experiment with her new mirror. So she scooped up some popcorn and poured on the ground. "Mirror, pick up this popcorn!" But nothing happened. Then two girls walked up to the counter. "Mirror, I command thee, pick upeth this poppage of corn." Once again, nothing. "Ugh! Why won't this thing work anymore?" So she poured some more popcorn on the floor.
"Like... we were gonna eat some of that," said one of the girls.
Juniper then pointed the mirror at the girls. "Mirror, make these annoying people go away." But the girls walked away on their own.
"Well, that kinda worked..." said Juniper.
Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity then walked into the theater.
"Juniper Montage?!" asked Pinkie.
"Whoa!" said Juniper as she jumped in surprise.
"What in the blazes are you doin' here?" asked AJ.
"Were you invited to the Daring Do premiere?" Pinkie.
"Ooh, that's exciting! No, crazy! No, concerning! No! Just no! No offense."
"I wasn't invited," admitted Juniper. "My uncle Canter felt bad about firing me, so he pulled some strings and got me this job."
"You work here?" asked Fluttershy.
"As little as possible," answered Juniper.
"Y'know, if you hadn't tried to sabotage the movie, you could be celebrating with us tonight," said Rainbow.
Juniper gritted her teeth in absolute anger. "This should be my night! I would have found a way to be in the film if you all had stayed out of it! I would have been Daring Do! Everyone would've loved me!" She then held up her mirror to the six girls. "See?!"
But the girls only saw their own reflections.
"Say what?" asked Pinkie.
"Can't you see what's right under your noses?" asked Juniper. "Ugh! I wish you'd all just go away and leave me alone!" A storm of blue magic then shot out of the mirror and pulled the six girls inside, leaving only Fluttershy's barrette behind. A rush of blue magic then went up Juniper's right arm and her eyes flashed green. After pinning Fluttershy's barrette on her shirt, Juniper looked back into the mirror. "Hmm, looks like I may be finally getting the hang of this."
Her famous reflection then appeared in the glass and waved. "Hi, me."
A couple minutes later, Sunset and Starlight finally arrived at the mall. Sunset then tried to call her friends on her phone, but she couldn't reach anyone.
"Six cell phones, all straight to voicemail," said Sunset.
"I'm sure they're around," said Starlight. "By the way, thanks for teaching me about the duel disk."
"You're welcome," said Sunset in worried tone.
"Don't worry, I'm sure their fine," said Starlight. "What's the worst that could have happened?"
"Well now, magic is on the loose here," said Sunset. "And it doesn't work the same way it does back in Equestria. Any number of terrible things could have happened. And lately, I spend eighty percent of my time thinking what could go wrong."
Starlight gave Sunset a shocked look.
"My friends are probably fine," said Sunset trying to sound more positive. "I'm overreacting, but maybe not. I can't tell anymore."
"I'm guessing this is the problem you wanted to talk to Princess Twilight about, right?" asked Starlight. "Because, you can talk it over with me if you want."
Sunset then checked her new journal for a response from Twilight, but nothing was there.
"Or you could just journal with Princess Twilight about it," corrected Starlight. "Whatever works?"
"It's just... I know my friends and I have been given special powers for a reason, and I want to be ready for whatever is gonna be thrown at us," explained Sunset. "Now I feel like I could never really relax and let my guard down, so I end up obsessing about it and can't get out of my own head."
"Hmm… that's a toughie," said Starlight. "Guess my advice would be to just trust things will work themselves out in the end. If you spend too much time worrying about the bad things that might happen, you'll miss out on all the good stuff that's already happening."
"Like how Princess Twilight's student is now teaching me a lesson?" asked Sunset.
"Yup, like that," answered Starlight.
Sunset chuckled. "Thanks." She then put her arm around Starlight's shoulder. "Come on, let's go take a look around the theater."
Meanwhile, Twilight and the girls found themselves trapped in a vast and colorless limbo world with nothing but a large mirror-shaped window and discarded popcorn on the ground.
"Uh... any clue of where we are or what just happened?" asked Rarity. "Anyone?"
"Pinkie Pie's on the case!" said Pinkie. She then began looking around for a wall or some kind of end to the world they were trapped in. "Nope, no wall over here. Come out, come out, walls, wherever you are!" But as she ran around, she just kept ending back up in the same place she began. "I don't get this place! There's no walls in here anywhere!"
"Somehow, some way, that dang Juniper sucked us all inside of that mirror of hers," assumed Applejack.
"Or into some kind of limbo behind it," said Twilight.
Fluttershy began curling her hair in a nervous way. "I think I might be freaking out a little bit."
"You call that a freakout?" asked Rainbow.
"It's sort of a deep-down-inside freakout," answered Fluttershy.
"On the upside, there's popcorn in here!" called Pinkie. "Mmm, sticky..."
"How could this happen on the evening of my very first movie premiere?" asked Rarity. "Of all the nights! Curse you, cruel fate!"
"Not our number-one problem right now, Rare," said Rainbow.
"Mmm, true," agreed Rarity. "But perhaps we can agree it's in the top five."
"Is there really no way out of here?" asked Applejack.
Pellets began falling on the girls.
"Oh, my heavens!" called Rarity. "What's that?!" She then created a force-field with her geode.
Rainbow caught one of the pellets and sniffed it. "Chocolate-covered almonds?"
Using the power of her own geode, Twilight froze the almonds in place.
"Dibs!" called Pinkie. And she started munching up the candy like Pac-Man.
Back in the normal world, Juniper was using the mirror to vacuum up a mess of chocolate almonds on the floor.
A couple seconds later, Sunset and Starlight arrived at the theater lobby. Once Sunset noticed Juniper, she grabbed Starlight's hand and pulled her behind a prize grabber machine.
"What's wrong?" asked Starlight.
"It's Juniper Montage!" said Sunset quietly.
"Who's that?" asked Starlight.
"She's trouble," answered Sunset. "Huh, that's Fluttershy's barrette. Wait here, Starlight."
As Juniper was stared at her mirror, she then noticed Sunset's reflection approaching hers. "Sunset Shimmer, I was wondering if you'd show up."
"I'm, uh, looking for my friends," said Sunset. "I don't suppose you've seen them?"
Juniper giggled mischievously.
"Where are they?!" asked Sunset.
"I'll never tell," said Juniper.
"You don't have to," said Sunset as he grabbed Juniper's arm. Her geode then showed Juniper's quarrel with her uncle Canter and how she sucked the girls into the mirror.
"No," breathed Sunset.
"What?" asked Juniper.
"I know you want people to like you," said Sunset. "But trust me, the magic in that mirror is only gonna make things worse for you."
Juniper gasped. "How did you know about my mirror?"
"Never mind that," said Sunset. "You have to get rid of it!"
"You're just saying that because you want the mirror for yourself!" said Juniper.
"What I want is my friends back!" said Sunset. "Please, Juniper! You wished them into that mirror, maybe there's a way you can wish them out."
Juniper's eyes glowed green. "Or maybe... I wish you'd join them!" And the mirror sucked Sunset into the limbo.
"Sunset!" gasped Starlight. She then quickly ducked down.
After hearing Starlight, Juniper briefly scanned across the theater. Luckily, she didn't see anything, so she went back to her mirror.