A World, Reflected

by Bliss Authority


Chapter 6: A House, Divided

Chapter 6:
A House, Divided

The physical education class was not nearly as bad as Twilight had feared. They were made to run laps, and Twilight found that she easily kept pace. She was never the fastest runner and her bipedal stride was awkwardly balanced; but years of the Running of the Leaves had given Twilight speed and endurance. And if anything, this form had more stamina.

If she marveled at the ease with which she ran, then Twilight was astounded by the girl who had lapped them in - 20 seconds? 30? After passing them, she had the audacity to turn around and run backwards so she could properly call them slowpokes, beckon them onward with a lazy curl of her hands, and laugh at them.

Rather, Twilight would have been astounded if she didn't have a very good idea of who this girl was from her performance alone. Her hair was the wrong color - in that it was only one color, that of redwood - but on this side of the mirror Twilight's had also turned dark; everypo- everyone's hair was more drab in the reflected world. This girl's form was lean and taut, bronze skin effortlessly shifting over the hydraulics Twilight imagined in her legs, and she had a prominent nose that accentuated her carmine red eyes. The catcall of "Oh, come on, I can do this in ten seconds FLAT if I wanted to!" was pure Rainbow Dash. If her blazing speed and perfect form didn't tip Twilight off, then the showboating would clinch it.

Twilight felt it wise to outpace the girl that JFK's History teacher called Corona, and her cronies. She had a fair guess she was a reflection, and of who; that name being damn close to 'coronet' brought to mind a notorious grade-school bully. Fortunately, outrunning her was no great task. Corona was literally dragging her feet, scraping up clouds of dust with the soles of a very thin pair of sandals, and she wasted her ragged breath comparing Twilight and the girl who was well on her way to passing them again to dogs.

Twilight didn't know why being called a bitch was any more insulting than being called a cur, but the venom in Corona's voice was clear enough. Twilight picked up speed.

"See, if the egghead can put some effort in, you slackers can. You going to get outrun by a nerd?" not-Rainbow catcalled. Twilight wanted to scream at her, but didn't have the breath. She had been made a big enough target as it was by her history teacher.

~~~~

The other shoe dropped in the break between second and third period.

Twilight was at the lockers - tall, thin metal chests of a dull off-white color - putting away her textbooks for American History. She was about to retrieve books on natural history (what was called Biology in this world) and on baking, cooking and the economies of home and hearth.

That was when she felt the shove. It was a solid push from behind her shoulders, sparking nerves
(in her wings/in empty air)
and so sudden that she reverted to equine instinct and tried to break her fall on the tips of her
(forehooves)
fingers. The torsion filled her eyes with stars and tears, and she grunted pain.

She whirled around to see Corona, canine teeth snarling at her in a parody of a smile. Then the door slammed shut behind her, and she heard her mocking laughter followed by a whisper: "That's what you deserve for making me look bad in front of two whole classes."

Corona literally never saw what hit her.

Twilight almost missed it; a blur of bronze flying up into Corona's nose, whipping her head back with the fully transferred force of the blow and lifting her off her feet, back into another locker with a dull metallic shudder. She was too shocked to react for the second it took Iris to fling open Twilight's locker with a bloodied, bronze hand.

It was then than Corona noticed the red rivulet streaming down her lip. "BY NODE!" she screamed, clapping a white handkerchief over it, still sprawled over on the floor. "YOU BROGH BY NODE!"

"Oh, was it a new one? Sorry," the girl said, her jaw set in a grimace that made it clear exactly how sorry she was. "That's what you get for shoving people you don't like in a locker, you asshole!"

Twilight and Corona both shrank into their uncomfortable seats, Twilight in awe and Corona from sheer terror.

"You'll ged dedehntion for thith!" Corona said, pointing her free hand at Iris. "You punjed oud a studen'! Ith my wor'gainst yourth!"

"Not quite," said another voice.

This voice belonged to someone that Twilight recognized. Someone with a face and frame that was both delicately featured and rugged, like a stone carving of a colt; someone with almond-shaped eyes that were as grey as stormclouds. He smiled (barely) at Corona and cocked his head, as if inviting her to take a move, his dark black - or was it gleaming blue in the light? - crew-cut hair fluttering from the motion.

He may have been wearing a black jacket of a curious glossy material over a white shirt with blue shoulders, and he may have been wearing the same style of denim trousers that this world's Applejack wore. But he also wore a brooch resembling a shield struck by lightning, and Twilight could easily imagine him in full armor. And an iridium ballroom mask. And with cobalt-blue hair. If he wasn't the Knight-Protector going incognito, Twilight swore she would purchase, and eat, one of Rarity's hats when she got back.

"She had three witnesses. The girl you pushed, Big Mike - and me," he said. Behind him, Big Mike stepped aside and made himself visible - and he stared down at Corona with a look that combined contempt and disappointment. The color drained from Corona's face. "You're right; Iris is getting detention."

"She had it coming a long time! Gimme a break, Flash!" Iris whined - and Twilight reared back. That's why she recognized his voice. He was the reflection of Flash Sentry, Cadence's personal guard - the only one who successfully fought off Sunset's enchanted sleep.

"Yes, she did," said Flash - and Flash folded his arms. Around one shoulder was a red cloth armlet with the words Safety Patrol. "So here's what's going to happen, Iris. She's getting detention for shoving a student. You're getting detention for punching a student. And we're going to keep a close eye on the both of you, because according to the student handbook -" he wrinkled his nose at that for a fraction of a second - " - that's NOT acceptable behavior from EITHER of you."

Twilight was about to object that self-defense was quite a different thing from unprovoked attack when Iris held out an arm and stopped her. The girl was grinning; and Flash nodded to her.

"Worth it," she said. "My parents aren't going to give a crap about this - hell, they might spring for McDonalds for kicking your ass - but I wonder how Papa deBeer's going to feel about his little angel getting detention?"

"Thith wath a thetup!" Corona screeched, leaping to her feet at Iris - and bouncing off Big Mike's chest, for he had interposed himself between the two a half-second in advance.

"E'nope," Mike said. "This the hill you wanna die on, C'ron? C'mon."

She settled for making a gesture with her middle finger that Twilight more commonly saw performed pegasus pinions, then stomped off.

Twilight turned to Iris and sighed. "Thank you," she said. Then she turned to the boy. "And thank you... Flash, right?"

"A nickname from the soccer team," he clarified. "My actual name is -"

"- Brad (Asshole!) Cutebottom." Mike said, with a broad grin. Iris started laughing; Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Hikaru Hoshou," Flash corrected through gritted teeth. He slugged Mike in the arm. "I went to Rocky Horror once. As a favor. To Ross. ONCE, 'Seabiscuit.'"

"Hell, lay off the 'Biscuit' crap, Flash. I was kiddin'." Mike replied, his wide eyes mixed with his upturned cheeks.

Flash indicated the hallway. "Come on. Let me get you a drink or something, miss. A soda, I mean." Then he turned to Iris with a scowl - and snorted, his frown melting upward into a grin. "And a Gatorade for you, Iris."

"Thanks. I could drink a lake," she replied.

Iris. Twilight recalled that Iris literally meant 'Rainbow' in Bellepheric, the language of Commander Hurricane's memoirs. She nodded; this wasn't surprising, but it was helpful data. Consistent data. She didn't know what 'Hikaru' meant, but it SOUNDED like a name from Nihihipon; she could look it up later.

"Why would you call Mike 'Seabiscuit?'" Twilight asked.

Iris leaned in with a feral smirk, cupped a hand to Twilight's ear. "Cause he's hung like a horse," Iris stage-whispered. Mike turned as red as the stallion he reflected.

Twilight blinked. Then she started giggling, and then started laughing.

They stared at her. "Long st-ha-hory," she said. "Short version: Horse puns are funny."

"You are a weirdo," Iris pronounced, rolling her eyes. "I think we'll get along."

As she started walking down the corridor, Flash laid a hand on Twilight's shoulder and murmured, "We REALLY need to stop running into each other like this."

Twilight's heart leapt, and she turned to look at him. UP at him; he was a head taller than Twilight's human form. His eyes were closed, and he had a very slight smile. Then he opened his eyes, and looked back down at Twilight.

They were a dark grey, but there was a gleam in them like lightning; and his expression was the serious smile of a squad-mate watching your back.

"I guess I owe you," Twilight said.

"I'm not counting," Flash replied in a normal tone of voice. "God - the last thing I want is for you to think you owe me."

Twilight would perk her ears up if she could.

~~~~

The 'cola' that Flash had bought her was soda-pop with so much corn syrup in it that she counted it as a sort of candied beverage; it reminded her of her brother's stash of Honeydew. It had something else, too, a subtle bitter flavor that reminded her of the nuts Zecora had offered her as an aid to meditation. It wasn't unpleasant, but Twilight wouldn't buy it on her own initiative.

Iris, meanwhile, had drunk what looked to be more than a liter of a pale, milky orange drink, and wasn't even done with the bottle. She wiped off the excess with the back of her hand and grunted. "Oh man, I so needed that."

"What'chyall need is to be more careful," Mike said, pointing at both Iris and Twilight with his splayed fingers. "If I hadn't been keepin' an eye on Miss Lucy here -"

There was a tinny snap; Twilight found that she was clenching her fingers around her empty cola can. "Sorry. Run that past me again? If you hadn't been what, Mike?" she said in a voice as syrupy sweet as the drink had been.

"Now, don't be that way, Luce," Mike said. "Little bird might have told me something about your troubles, and it don't take straight A's to tell that you were looking for them at JFK. SOMETHIN' broke your dog's leg. I've half a mind to return the favor."

Twilight didn’t have a good response to that. Spike’s leg was still in a cast; he had pleaded to come with her anyway. It was just as well for Spike’s sake that the school had a no-pets policy - and that he could still make himself useful with the computer in Twilight's room. So she just nodded.

"Mike, is that really any of your business?" Iris said, folding her arms - everything but her wide and averted eyes emoting anger. Something about this frightened Iris. Twilight couldn't say she could blame her; that was the rational response.

"I trust him. A fair bit more than I trust some of our old circle," Flash said. He was polishing his brooch with his thumb as he said it. Iris blinked, then nodded.

Mike snorted. "You think I wouldn't know what my sis gets up to? She's my sis, and Honest to a fault." Twilight heard the capital as a glottal stop, a slight hesitation before 'honest.' "I got as much of a right to look after her friends as all y'all, and right now that means Lucy Bolido."

"Okay, fine, you can sit with the cool kids and scare off their potential boyfriends," Iris said in a good impression of exasperation. Twilight wasn't fooled.

Neither were Flash and Mike. "We're sorry we didn't tell you earlier, Lucia," Flash sighed. "Again, it was a favor to Jackie - one of our old circle of friends, one I'd like be friends with again."

“You all know each other, of course you do," Twilight said. Thinking out loud, sounding out her ideas. "A…” Twilight considered how to word it. “Circle of friends - once, at least. A farmgirl. An athlete. And - and a fashionista? A veterinarian? A comedian?”

Iris narrowed her eyes. "How the hell could you know that?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Twilight said. "Jackie did, but I get the idea she can smell bullshit." Twilight blinked at her own vulgarity; she generally didn't have that foul a mouth... as an adult. Her old teenage habits were coming back to her in the company of profane teens, it seemed.

"Giving you more credit than one of her oldest friends," Iris snarled, balling up her fists.

"Friends drift apart all the time," Flash said, looking up into a florescent light fixture. "Besides - Jackie is a made-in-the-USA country girl, Carrie a rich urban immigrant. Why are you so surprised they were incompatible?"

"Because it happened over-fucking-night!" Iris got up and brandished her bottle of Gatorade like a knife. "You think it's coincidence that they have a screaming argument the night of that harpy's stunt? You remember what happened on what was supposed to be 'the best night ever,' don't you?"

"I used to date 'that harpy.'" Flash maintained his straight face for about a second. Then he sighed. "So yeah, you've got a point. We just don't have proof."

"The Gala," Twilight said, mostly to herself.

Iris glared at Twilight. "Yeah. The Grand Galloping one. Fall Formal last year."

"What happened at the Gala?" Twilight asked. "What did -" she caught herself before using the name Sunset Shimmer. "- this 'harpy' DO?"

Iris raised an eyebrow at this, and turned to Mike. "She knows, or guesses, about our entire circle of friends and she doesn't know what happened at the Gala?"

"Ey'nope," Mike replied. "If she were gonna con you, doncha think she'd pretend to know it all?"

Flash and Iris exchanged raised eyebrows. Mike shrugged, palms up. Then as one, they turned to Twilight.

"Our friend was named Carrie - so they reenacted Carrie," Flash said.

Twilight shrugged. "I'm not familiar with the story," she said.

Iris kicked the floor, turning away from Twilight. "Not a Stephen King fan?"

"Not yet," Twilight conceded, offering a hand. "Adventure novelist?"

"Horror," Mike said.

"Carrie, the one from the book? Unpopular girl, even the nerds don't let her eat at their table," Iris said. She still refused to look Twilight - or any of her friends - in the eye. "Somehow she managed to get crowned Prom Queen. Well, the head bitches in charge couldn't have that. So in the middle of prom, they -"

Iris took a deep breath, then choked back a sob. She was shaking, crown to heel, her knuckles white. "They dumped a bucket of pigs blood on our Carrie, Luce," Iris ground out. "While she was in her prom dress. The expensive, silk prom dress, that she made."

Twilight put her hands over her mouth to prevent her rising bile's escape. Oh, Megan, Daniel and Molly return on the Starless Night, she knew that Sunset was willing to spill blood for arcane power - but to spill blood just for a prank, just to humiliate a rival...

"Eyup," Mike said, as he took the empty Gatorate bottle from Iris' unresisting hand, a pocket knife damn near materializing in his other hand. He cut the bottle into a crude bucket, and handed it to Twilight. "About our take on it too."

Iris sat down with a heavy slump like wood dropped into a bundle, her neck rolling with it. "And Jackie fuckin' abandons her that night, over some stupid... petty... god-damned... argument."

Twilight thought about this, tamping down her rising breakfast eggs with force of will. "That's what gets you about all this, isn't it, Iris?" she murmured. "It's not about your enemies did. It's about what your friends did. It's about their disloyalty when dusk fell."

Iris jerked her head up in a way that reminded Twilight of Corona's head taking a punch. That was pure Rainbow Dash, and she immediately regretted making Iris - Rainbow - Rainbow's reflection hurt. "Seriously, 'when dusk fell?'" that reflection snarled. "You're going to psychoanalyze a stranger with some wise sounding shit from out of Harry Dresden?"

"You read the Dresden Files?" Flash asked with a smirk. "Seems like a book for -"

Iris chuckled. "Don't you fucking call me an egghead," she said, circling a loose fist above her shoulder. "Don't you fucking dare."

"Where I was... studying," Twilight said with a distorted smile, "it's idomatic."

Iris leaned back. "Iiiiii think you mean 'idiotic.'"

"Idomatic," Twilight repeated. "It's a saying. It means 'when things are starting to get -'"

"I get it," Iris grumbled. "I got it the first time. Does every saying where you're from sound like it's from a cheap paperback with a dragon on the cover?"

"Probably," Twilight said, shrugging. There were certainly enough dragons back home for a whole library of pulp fantasy novels.

Iris snorted, her lips curling into a smile.

Twilight sighed. "Look, Iris. I'm not sorry about asking all these pointed questions, but I am sorry about hurting you in the process," she said. "I just - I just want to help you and your friends. Your OLD friends," Twilight amended. She took a deep breath, mulling over her words carefully; Iris was giving her a familiar raised-eyebrow look that mirrored Rainbow Dash's expressions of incredulity. "I think you and Flash are right. I think my enemy - our mutual enemy - tried to tear your circle of friends apart. And I think I know why."

"Sure you do," Iris said, rising from her seat with a roll of her eyes.

Twilight stood up too - not interposing herself between Iris and the exits, not being aggressive, but asserting her will. "I know that Flash's ex-girlfriend - Sunset Shimmer, by whatever name she stole - is after the Princess' Crown," Twilight said softly - and at that, Iris and Flash both froze, staring at her with mouths agape. Mike's shock was more subdued, one hand stroking his chin and the other holding up his arm.

"Jack told you about the Princess' Crown," Flash said, snarling.

"No - *I* told her about it," Twilight said, folding her arms. "Because Sunset stole it from me. Because I know it's NOT just a cheap trophy. And the reason why she went after your circle of friends was simple." Twilight made a fist, then opened it - waggling her fingers. "Divide and conquer."

"You have as much proof of what Amber did as we do," Iris said. But she was facing Twilight now, her wide red eyes locked on Twilight's, her arms open. Twilight didn't think that Iris believed her, not when she didn't have the evidence. But Rainbow's reflection in Iris was, at least, willing to entertain the possibility that Twilight COULD get to the bottom of it.

It was then that the warning bell rang for 3rd period.

Twilight smiled. "The game is afoot," she said as she got her Home Economics textbook.

"How do you figure, Sherlock?" Flash asked - with a broad smile.

"Carrie is the fashionista." Twilight knew this beyond a shadow of a doubt; the girl who made a silk dress on her own had to be Rarity's reflection. "And there's no way she'd skip a class on -" Twilight opened the book to an illustrated page of dress patterns and grinned. "- this. I think I'm going to learn something useful third period."

Iris laughed. "At this school? That'll be the day."