Hey guys! First fanfic on this site and first MLP story, yay! I'm a bit of a pegisister (or however you spell the female word for brony, lol.) Well, enjoy! Please review and let me know how I can improve! Feel free to message me here too. :)

I surveyed the ashes of my home, clutching my backpack, which held the only things I had left—five necklaces and a crown. They were relics of my childhood.

Long before the fire that had destroyed my home, I had loved to play on the banks of the river that ran outside our backyard. I had found all sorts of interesting trinkets that had washed up from other kids who played at the river. But these pieces of jewelry were by far the most intriguing. They seemed to be made out of real metal, with colorful stones that sparkled and shimmered like sunbeams. Each stone had a different color and a different shape. Sometimes as a child, I would put on the crown (which was a bit small on me) and admire my reflection in the mirror. The crown had been my favorite. That was why I had never told anyone of it. I had shown my big sister the first necklace I found—one with a blue balloon-shaped stone—and she told me it was probably a party favor from the birthday party another girl had had the week before. I didn't believe her but she was convinced. Ever since then I kept the other necklaces hidden, and I didn't dare mention the crown.

I opened the backpack and gazed sorrowfully at the sparkling beauty inside it. I would have to sell those jewels. I needed money so badly. Surely I could give up my childhood playthings in exchange for enough money to buy a meal.

It was a short walk to the local pawn store. Not my favorite place in the world to be sure, but probably the easiest to get money for these pieces of jewelry.

The line at the counter was so long I almost turned back, but the thought of all the money I could get for the jewelry kept me there. I found myself wandering, scanning the shelves, checking the place out while I waited.

I stopped in front of a full-length oval-shaped mirror roped off in a corner. A sign taped to its frame read "NOT FOR SALE: DO NOT TOUCH".

I looked closer and realized to my surprise it didn't seem to be doing what a mirror normally does. I mean, it wasn't reflecting me. I could see the image of what looked like a village at night beneath a sky filled with twinkling stars. I would have thought it was a painting, but the whole image was too shiny for that. Maybe a movie screen that just looked like a mirror?

Glancing around, I ducked under the ropes until I stood right in front of the mirror. I wanted a closer look. And boy, did I get one.

I tripped over my shoelace, which had somehow come untied, and fell into the mirror. And when I say into, I mean straight through.

I expected to end up in a pile of glass on the floor. What I got was anything but.

I was caught in a swirling purple maelstrom, spinning faster and faster, screaming, trying to keep a hold on my backpack. The last thing I remember thinking was how stereotypical tripping over my own shoelace had been.

An instant after thinking that, I hit a solid surface hard and blacked out.