//------------------------------// // Recalcitrance // Story: Tainted Reflection // by Imperaxum //------------------------------// The Everfree forest, she'd said. Nothing to worry about, she'd said. She was so wrong, it was funny, positively hilarious. A fun she was entirely alright with; bitter and ironic. "Fun, right?" she muttered between wheezing breaths. Whoops, almost tripped over that root. "Right?" she screamed, directed at but not bothering to look to the horrible-whatever that was currently chasing her through the bushes. There'd been so many scary, fearsome, or downright insane creatures to try and eat her, she was quite beyond caring which one in particular was after her this time. As long as it wasn't that chicken thing, it was alright - she'd been caught in its stare, only saved by a wooden wolf that'd jumped the monster, only to bolt after her a second later. It was almost comical, the way these things were knocking each other over to get at her. One would gather that they hadn't eaten in a considerable time; come to think of it, if they only ate ponies, how in the name of everything where there so many? They sure didn't look very appetizing, even to each other . . . Grinning to herself with just a touch of madness, she leaped over a decrepit rock wall, only to stop and buck it as hard as she could. The jolt of pain that shot up her legs was strangely reassuring; it reminded her she was alive. As she heard the monster trip over the rolling stones and fall with a resounding crash, she reflected on the fact she was probably enjoying this a little too much. She was covered in bruises - turns out a rather short lifetime of bouncing around leaves something to be desired in the field of "sprinting crazily around an overgrown forest". Her muscles burned, her skin was dirtied and scratched in many places - no blood, oddly enough - and generally, she felt great. Fear was there, of course, just smothered by irrationality. Smirking a little, she turned away from the scene, only to have that repressed fear smack her back with righteous fury a second later. With a sharp breath, she stared at the massive drop before her. Two hundred hooves away was safety- of course, there just had to be a gorge in between. Ghastly Gorge, she remembered, though not from where she'd learned it. Glancing down, she quickly purged any idea of jumping down into a stream. Though it might be fu- An enraged snarl; to her left, the gorge petered out into a small clearing - a perfect escape route, had not a pack of timberwolves been sitting there. Right, the wooden wolves were timberwolves. Comforting. Now, to her right, the gorge only got deeper - but, what was that? Salvation. A railroad bridge ran across the gorge, and she wasted no time in breaking into a gallop for it. Behind her, she heard the baying of the timberwolves and the roars of the mystery horror even closer. Suddenly, a lone timberwolf leapt out of the bushes at her. She ducked, and the monster soared off the edge and into the gorge below, shattering into kindling. It reformed a second later, to no particular concern in the pink pony; she was almost to the railroad bridge. With a heavy sigh of relief, she got onto the bridge and started carefully making her way across it. One slip on the rail ties, and she would fall to her doom; there was a conspicuous lack of hoofrails, or even space between the edge of the bridge and the rails themselves. The pack of timberwolves started across behind her, but after the lead one tripped up and ended up pitching off the side, the rest slowed down too. The mystery monster was gone, too; apparently it was loathe to leave the Everfree proper. She looked like she was going to make it- -when a train rounded the bend a few hundred hooves away and hurtled down the rails at her. Smoke belching out of the top, whistle blowing furiously upon seeing the obstacle in its way. She was trapped, halfway across the bridge - on one side, the train had just started on the bridge; on the other, the timberwolves advanced, stupidly heedless of the oncoming train. "Oh come on.." she groaned. Peering over the edge, she steeled herself to jump into the rather shallow-looking stream far below. The train continued to blow it's whistle, and she saw the engineer waving desperately at her. All for naught, of course. "Hang in there!" she heard two distinct voices shout in unison, and two pegasi leapt off the train. By now, she could hear the screech of the brakes. It was probably the only thing that allowed them to reach her in time; she had barely enough of it to make out their nearly identical greyish-blue coats before she felt a jarring impact in her stomach, and heard the steady beat of wings. And, you know, she was flying away from the bridge, held aloft by her two saviors. She watched as the confused timberwolves were bowled over by the train, swatting them aside like so many gangly wooden flies. With gratifying speed, she was taken by the two pegasi to one of the speeding train cars. Blinking at the sudden lack of rushing air, she followed the two winded pegasi inside a car; it was empty. Apparently, mid-afternoon trains to wherever their destination was weren't very crowded. The conductor, a beige unicorn, barged in a moment later. "You did it!" he gasped, clearly winded as well from his presumable run down the length of the train. "You betcha!" one of the now obvious sisters grinned, the one with the bow in her light blue mane. She elbowed her sister, "Nice one, Cloudchaser. "Omigosh, Flitter," said the other one, with a slightly crazier mane style, "we just saved Pinkie Pie! The Element of Laughter herself!" The pink pony opened her mouth to correct her, then stopped. Would they be disappointed if that wasn't exactly the case? She didn't want anypony to be unhappy, right? Yeah. Wait. They knew her name. Uh oh. "Thanks," she said instead, smiling gratefully, "I woulda been a goner!" "If you don't mind me asking, Miss Pie," the conductor said, bowing his head slightly, "why in Equestria were you out there in the Everfree being chased by timberwolves? Away from the other Elements?" "You look pretty banged up," Cloudchaser added. "You wouldn't believe me if I told ya." she responded, putting on her best cheery voice. Flitter rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "You okay, Pinkie? Your voice sounds a little . . . off." Yes! She didn't sound like her anymore! Take that! "Uh, this better?" she said, this time imitating her old voice to the best of her ability. She got a happy nod from Flitter. "Well, I should get back to the other passengers and explain what the meaning of that commotion was." the conductor sighed, turning for the door. "Hey," Cloudchaser said, punching her sister lightly, "we should totally go up there with him, and tell everypony just who saved her!" "I don't know, sis," Flitter replied doubtfully, "don't you think she needs some medical attention or something?" "I'll be fine!" said "Pinkie Pie", a little too quickly. When she digested the odd stares, she continued, "I've had worse ouchies before!" "Let's go!" Cloudchaser grinned excitedly, rushing after the conductor. Flitter gave one last concerned look, only to meet a reassuring, lopsided grin from "Pinkie". Not apparently convinced, Flitter stood there staring at her for at least a minute before turning around slowly and following her sister. "Only 'cause it's you, Pinkie Pie." Flitter said as she left. When she was finally alone, "Pinkie" collapsed into a nearby chair, her adrenaline bleeding off alarmingly. Or so it seemed, at least. Pinkie Pie was famous. Enough so that three random ponies on a train knew exactly who she was without a moment's hesitation. And they weren't even in Ponyville; there, she was sure, they had to know who she was. Who're the "Elements", anyway? Not good, not good . . . "Next stop, Ponyville!" a voice yelled from the front of the train. "Really?" she groaned, getting up from her chair. Sure enough, out the window was the town off in the distance, but approaching rapidly. "Miss Pie?" a voice called from a few cars in front. The conductor. "You still there?" Not for long. She ran in the opposite direction; whether she'd jump out the back, or hide, was yet to be seen. Again, she'd get there when she got there. The first car she came to was completely empty. When she got to the second, however, she locked eyes with its lone occupant. A griffon, she remembered. No specifics, but it wasn't exactly giving off positive vibes . . . "Who are you?" the griffon asked confusedly. His feathers were dark, the color of soot; his eyes were framed by a splash of dirtied white. He'd evidently been travelling for some time. More relevant, however, was the fact he had no idea who she was. She decided to go for honesty; at least, she wouldn't outright lie. "I need help," she gasped, "ponies are after me!" "In Equestria?" he replied with a disbelieving snort. "Yes," she nodded rapidly, "they want to make me disappear! Literally!" "What?" he asked, giving her a strange look. "Is this some kind of pony joke?" "No! No! I mean, look at me!" she exclaimed, gesturing at herself. She certainly looked the part, very real bruises and scratches marring her skin. The griffon rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It's not like an Equestrian to beat themselves up for a bit of humor, is it?" "Uh, no." "Are you some kind of criminal?" he asked after a second's pause. "Because the sovereign Kingdom of Eas has no wish to attract the ire of the Sun." "I- what? No!" she said, glancing behind her. "Right, right. And I'm the heir to the Empire." he scoffed. "Wait, you are?" He rolled his eyes. "No, that would be Crown Princess Vaernya, and I'm rather looking forward to her reign." "Miss Pie?" the conductor called again, only a few cars away now. Confusion was evident in his voice, the celebrity he'd been looking for gone. "Look, please, they're almost here!" she hissed. The train shuddered to a stop; she could hear Cloudchaser's excited boasting outside, along with confused replies. A quick glance out the window, and she gasped audibly. There, talking with Flitter, was Pinkie Pie. The griffon wasn't idle during this time, he also got up and looked out. His sharp eyes quickly noticed something was wrong. "What's the meaning of this?" he asked a little harshly, turning back to the wilting duplicate. "I- I can explain, just hide me!" she said frantically. "A changeling, huh?" the griffon said quietly to himself. "Alright, get in my travelling case. That business trip to Appleloosa was a pretty big failure, eh?" "Thank you so much!" she said gratefully as she climbed in the cramped space. "No problem. Name's Jars, by the way." the griffon said, closing the lid. "Reflection." she replied, oddly proud of proclaiming her self-proclaimed name for the first time. As the lid snapped shut and the conductor waltzed in a second later, Jars turned to the intruder with a smile. Reflection. Well, we could use something like you in the East. ~ Once the conductor had left, although a growing commotion outside gave her pause, Reflection grinned to herself. She was going to make it. "Next stop, Canterlot." Jars whispered to the case, "and the Embassy." "Aren't you going to let me out?" she asked. Jars glanced around at the completely full car, ponies packed into every available seat, as the train groaned into motion again. "About that. I hope you're not claustrophobic."