//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Seeing an old friend [Edited] // Story: From a Mirror to Canterlot High // by mattchilly //------------------------------// Midna yawned and rubbed her eyes. A lot had happened yesterday, from meeting the Woodchip brothers again and nearly getting mauled by their dogs, to Game Night and learning that the next Legend of Zelda game to be released will most likely be Twilight Princess. Groggy, she looked to her right to check the clock and froze as she saw Sunset's sleeping face, a blush slowly finding its way in the Twili's face. ‘Sunset? Why is she…?’ Midna thought as she struggled to calm the blush down, then she started to remember the previous night, ‘...oh right, last night, she came in to help me calm down after Rainbow told us the rumor about the next Zelda game. I guess afterwards, we were so tired we fell asleep. It's a good thing I'm not a guy, anymore, otherwise, this could’ve been even more awkward... by the Goddesses, how is she so cute when she's asleep?!’ Carefully getting out of bed, Midna saw it was around ten thirty A.M. ‘Only ten thirty huh?’ Midna thought to herself, ‘Weird, I normally sleep until noon after Game Night.’ Shrugging Midna started to move towards the door when she heard Sunset move behind her. "Morning," Sunset yawned as she sat up, "Some night huh?" Here Midna was glad she wasn't looking at Sunset, as she was positive her face had become as red as Applebloom's hair. "What, with Rainbow letting us know about the upcoming Zelda game and all." Mentally slapping herself, Midna shook her head, "Yeah, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it." Getting to her feet, Sunset walked over and put a hand on Midna's shoulder. "And knowing you, you've started worrying about telling our friends the truth again, now that this game is coming out," Sunset said as she let out a small chuckle, "It always surprises me how much of a worrywart you can be when just the right thing happens." Midna pouted, making Sunset chuckle, "You're cute when you do that, you know that right?" This statement caused Midna to blush again, only this time, she couldn't hide it. Seeing Midna's blush, Sunset chuckled again as she walked out of the room. When the two entered the kitchen, they saw Applejack and Rainbow were already up and eating some left over pizza both still in their night clothes. Rainbow's was a white sports bra and black yoga pants while Applejack's is a long sleeved dark green shirt and sweatpants. "Morning you two." Applejack said. "How'd ya sleep?" Sunset shrugged. "Can't complain." "Sooo…" Rainbow started with a smirk, "I walked past your room on my way to the bathroom, Sunset, and I saw that, not only was your door open, but you weren't in there. I can't help but wonder where you were." Sunset and Midna ignored Rainbow's comment, although both and to fight back a small blush. "Leave ‘em alone Rainbow," Applejack said, "Like you have room to talk when you and Gilda were going out." "What are you two implying?" Sunset asked as she grabbed her own slice of pizza. "What do you mean?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah, there's no shame to wanting to sleep with your girlfriend," Applejack stated. "Ummm, Sunset and I aren't a couple," Midna said simply, making Applejack and Rainbow look at the two shocked. "Wait really?" Rainbow asked, "But you two are always so close, and Midna keeps on teasing you Sunset." "I do that because her reactions are adorable and hilarious at the same time," Midna said, grabbing a bottle of soda. "Although, I did turn that on her this morning," Sunset chuckled, making Midna shoot a small glare at her. Rainbow snapped her fingers with a grunt, "Guess Pinkie and Fluttershy won that bet," Applejack also let out an annoyed huff. Both Midna and Sunset looked at Rainbow with a deadpan expression, "There was a bet on whether Shimmy and I were a couple?" Midna asked. "Um, noooo," Applejack said shifty-eyed, "I don't know what you're talking about." "Applejack, you're a terrible liar, you know that right?" Rainbow deadpanned before turning to Midna and Sunset, "Yes, there's a bet about whether the two of you are going out. Don't worry, the only one's participating in this bet is just Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy and myself. Rarity, surprisingly, wanted no part of it." Midna facepalmed, then asked, "So, what were the stakes?" "Losing team has to pay for a trip to the movies," Applejack shrugged. "Damn it! Even though Midna and I won the bet last night, I still ended up losing," Rainbow groaned. Midna rolled her eyes, then stated sarcastically, "Yeah, losing a bet on whether two of your friends are dating, I'm sure that's such a disappointment." Rainbow spluttered while Applejack facepalmed. "Anyway's," Sunset said, changing the subject, "now that Game Night’s over, what are you two planning to do?" Rainbow shrugged, "Might just relax and read the newest Daring Do book." "And I've got to get back to the farm soon," Applejack said, rubbing the back of her neck, knowing the hard work ahead, "Hopefully, we'll be finished with the harvesting by the end of the day." "You've been working on this harvest for almost three weeks!" Rainbow exclaimed, "How big is your freaking orchard?" "About as big as the last time you saw it, Dash," Applejack said, "It's just that a lot has been going wrong for the past month: Tractors breaking down, varmints keep making their way onto the farm and causing trouble, crates falling and breaking, animals getting sick. It's just been rough the past couple weeks." ‘As far as I know, Applejack's never had this many problems at once… I wonder what's going on?’ Midna thought as she took a bite of her pizza. "Need some help Applejack?” Midna offered, “I don't think Sunset or I have anything planned for the day." "Yeah, we don't want any of you to work yourselves to the point you're losing sleep over it." Sunset agreed, "... again." "I appreciate the offer you two, but as I said before, we should be done by the end of the day, however, if that's not enough, I promise to contact everyone, alright?" "It'll have to do," Rainbow shrugged, "Hey, Sunset pass me a can of coke, will ya?" Half an hour later, Sunset and Midna said goodbye to Rainbow and Applejack and returned to the couch. "Wonder what's causing all the trouble at AJ's," Sunset said, puzzled, "Do you think it has something to do with the Fused Shadow?" Midna scratched her chin in thought, "Maybe, but I haven't sensed any Twili based magic in town, so I doubt it. Someone might be sabotaging the farm in order to buy it. Next time I go there, I get started placing some wards around the place." "Wouldn't the shield be weakened if it's made to cover such a large area?" Sunset asked. "That's true," Midna said, "maybe if I made it smaller and somehow gave it the ability to radiate some kind of aura… or an array of several ward circles…" "The array is the better option of the two," Sunset stated, "that way, if one part fails, it won't take the entire thing down, but I think you should wait until you tell the girls the truth… I just remembered something, isn't Fluttershy a huge Legend of Zelda fangirl?" Midna groaned and put her head in her hands, "Oh that's going to make telling them the truth SO much easier! Once she knows how I'm connected to the Zelda franchise, she's never going to leave me alone." "You're worrying too much Midna," Sunset said, patting the Twili on the back, "She might hound you for a while, but once the shock wears off, things will go back to normal." "I hope you right Sunset, I really do," Midna sighed. "So," Sunset said, clapping her hands together, "want to head to the firing range for a bit? It might help you relax." Midna gave a small smile, "Sure, I'll grab my bow." —At the 'Perfect Shot' Archery Range— As Midna and Sunset entered the Perfect Shot's lobby, Midna carried a dark green half circle bag over her shoulder, while Sunset carried a large grey case. They saw the range's owner, Trick Shot, at the front desk. Today, she had her Harlequin and Shamrock green hair braided down to her shoulders, contrasting with her dark red skin. She's currently wearing a dark blue hoodie jacket over a black shirt with the picture of a serpent-like blue dragon with ivory claws and a flowing red mane coiled around the spire of a castle. Looking up from her paperwork, she smiled, "Sunset, Midna! Been a while since the last time you two stopped by." Midna shrugged, "We've just been a bit too busy to stop by Tricky. Are there any archery lanes open?" Tricky checked the computer, "Lanes 5 and 6 are free." After handing over twenty bucks to use the lanes for an hour, Sunset and Midna headed in. Once they got to their lanes, Midna opened her bag and pulled out a dark green wooden long bow, while Sunset pulled out a grey composite bow. As the two finished pulling out their bows, and grabbing twenty of the supplied arrows each, they were surprised by a tri-toned green haired teen, dark pink earphones, with light pink skin, and amber eyes joined them. "Midna, Sunset," the girl said, giving them a glare. "Lemon Zest," Sunset said, returning the glare. The three glared at each other for a couple minutes, before the three broke into giggles, "How have ya been since you transferred to Crystal Prep?" Lemon sighed in annoyance, "Crystal Prep... well, it sucks. Almost everyone there has a stick shoved up their ass and an ego to match their bloated heads. Dean Cadance is fine, but Principal Cinch is a downright bitch. Unless students are up to Cinch's standards, they could get expelled, and not even the Dean can stop her due to so many of the School Board Representatives supporting her. I also think Cinch is obsessed with making Crystal Prep stand out more than Canterlot High, so her 'standards' mean that all students need at least a 'B' in all classes." Midna frowned, "That's tyranny." "I know right?!" Lemon exclaimed, "I'm just lucky I'm allowed to keep my headphones, thanks to Cadance. Otherwise, I would have demanded to being transferred back to Canterlot High." "OI! There are others who want to get arrows you three!" Someone yelled causing Midna, Sunset, and Lemon to flinch. As the three walked back to their lanes Lemon smirked as she stood at the start of Lane 4, while Midna took Lane 5, and Sunset took Lane 6. Midna rolled her eyes as she picked up her bow, "So, anything else happen at Crystal Prep?" Lemon picked up a forest camo composite crossbow, "Yeah, I made the sports team, the 'Shadowbolts'." Sunset scowled. "Even the name of the team is a mockery of ours." Lemon nodded and readied an arrow, "So, how's the school been doing? I'd have contacted my friends there, but again, Cinch's rules." Drawing an arrow back, Midna asked, "She's not even allowing you to contact your friends?" The Twilight Princess was disliking Crystal Prep's Principle the more she heard about the woman. "We're not allowed to talk to anyone, outside of family, from Canterlot High," Lemon scowled, "If she knew I was talking to the two of you now, there's a very good chance I'd be called to her office, and lectured about 'communing with those from that embarrassment of a school'." "Well, the Fall Formal's next week and Trixie's been ruder than usual, plus, she's running for Fall Formal Princess," Sunset said as she fired her third arrow which hit the target with a satisfying *thunk*. "The day Trixie becomes the Princess of anything is the day Principal Cinch let's go of her hate boner for Canterlot High," Lemon snarked as she hit her target dead center, then she scowled, "Sometimes, I wish I never won that stupid race and the prize of going to the 'Crystal Prep Boarding School, a gateway to the future', then I wouldn't have to deal with Cinch's BS." Midna pat Lemon on the back, "Well, hopefully something will happen and the Dean can wrestle back control." "Well, the sooner that happens, the better," Lemon said, "Now, let's stop talking about school, retrieve our arrows, practice our archery, and have some fun." —Two hours later— After Midna and Sunset said their goodbyes to Tricky and Lemon, they started the walk back home. After a couple minutes, Midna thought she saw a flash of a large, fluffy, orange hair duck into an ally, but when she looked again there was nothing. Noticing the look Sunset asked. "What's up Midna?" Midna shrugged, "Thought I just saw some orange hair that could compete with Pinkie's on how fluffy it looked, but I guess it was just my imagination." "Really? Kinda find that hard to believe, I mean, how the heck can anyone get their hair as fluffy as Pinkie’s?" Sunset asked raising an eyebrow. "No idea," Midna replied as they turned a corner. They saw that a local fast food restaurant on the other side of the street had someone out front in a large hamburger costume. "You know I kinda pity those who have to do wear those costumes,” Midna stated, pointing out the mascot, “No one respects you and those things have got to be very uncomfortable." Sunset nodded as she had a quick flashback to when she had to wear one for a part time job over a weekend, "Uncomfortable is right, you can barely move in them and while you're in one, you're going to get really sweaty really quickly." However, both Minda and Sunset stopped, shocked when the person wearing the costume turned around and they saw a familiar face, "Wait... is that.... Trixie?" "Yeah… hey, have you noticed that Trixie hasn't bothered us once since the beginning of the month?" Midna asked as she and Sunset started walking again. "...you're right, I wonder why, I mean, she was getting more and more aggressive, then, all of a sudden, she just stops? Something's not adding up," Sunset mused, "maybe the others have an idea as to what's going on." —Two days later, *Monday* Lunch time— "-and that's when we saw Trixie wearing the costume," Sunset said as she finished explaining what she and Midna did last Saturday. "Funny how you brought up Trixie," Rarity said, "because yesterday, my mother sent me to the nearby 7/11 for something and Trixie was running the cash register." "Ya sure it was Trixie?" Applejack asked, "Because last Wednesday, I had to take Apple Bloom to the library and Trixie was working there as a janitor." "So, Trixie has at least three part time jobs?" Fluttershy asked, "No wonder she looked so drained and had such large shadows under her eyes when I saw her during second period." "Make that four," Pinkie said, "I saw her leaving the daycare that Pound and Pumpkin go to yesterday when I went to pick them up. She was wearing a stage magician hat that was light blue, covered in stars, and had a crescent moon. I'm not even sure if she saw me, she was that out of it and let's be real here girls, I'm pretty hard to miss." Rainbow gave Pinkie a deadpan stare, "I think I'm starting to remember someone you told us about once Pinkie... I think his name was 'Shit Sherlock', first name 'No'." Pinkie, Sunset, Minda and Applejack chuckled while Fluttershy gave a small giggle and even Rarity had to hold back a quiet snort of laughter. These were days that Midna always enjoyed. Just having a good time talking to her friends, but she couldn't help herself and wondered how things were going to change after the trip she and Sunset would take to Equestria next week.