Cracks In Our Reflections

by Onyx Archer

Chapter 3: You Talk A Good Game

Chapter 3: You Talk A Good Game

Sunset’s prediction the night prior, for the most part, was correct. The weather that had been completely miserable yesterday, was actually kind of agreeable that morning. While it still wasn’t optimal, it was manageable. Twilight could very easily make it back to the portal in a short drive. However, despite the improvement in the weather, driving was out of the question for a multitude of reasons.

Well, it really just came down to two reasons.

The first reason was rather simple: Sunset didn’t want to drive her motorcycle in the current weather. Besides the fact that it was still incredibly cold, she had reasoned that the roads wouldn’t be completely free of snow. That, and she didn’t want to run the risk of being blinded by the snow. Twilight could accept that reasoning, as it was very much a “safety first” situation. Besides, she wasn’t entire comfortable riding the motorcycle yet.

She remembered the first time she had joined Sunset on the motorized bike. She hadn’t been that scared since the early days of learning to fly, and she had no desire to experience that kind of fear again any time soon. While she had slowly but surely gotten used to it back in the summer, she could easily see the safety concerns of driving it in the snow. When she had arrived for Christmas, Sunset and her had taken the bus. She thanked the fact that she had gotten used to flying, otherwise she was sure she’d have motion sickness.

The second reason to not drive to the portal was also quite simple: Twilight was not going through the portal alone this time. Sunset had agreed to come with her for a short visit, and they didn’t know how long that visit would be. The fiery haired girl made it abundantly clear that even if she was up to driving, she was not up to the idea of leaving her motorcycle unsupervised parked at the school for longer than she had to. Twilight could see the valid concern in that. After all, it’d be very easily to walk away with the bike, even without the keys.

So here they were, sitting at the kitchen island like they had the night prior, enjoying a simple breakfast and making plans for the day ahead of them. Twilight had opted to eat a bowl of a cereal she ended up loving during her various visits to the human realm: Honey Bunches of Oats. It reminded her of home, and she was glad Sunset also liked it, as it gave her easy access to it. It was addictingly sweet, especially with milk.

“You think we can stop by a store to pick up a few boxes of this cereal?” Twilight asked between spoonfuls. Sunset simply snickered at her friend’s apparent addiction to the simple breakfast cereal. “They don’t make this back in Equestria, despite how easy it sounds.”

“Sure, we can satisfy your addiction to human cereal. There’s a small grocery store that’s not to far from here,” the fiery haired girl replied with a chuckle. “I seriously can’t believe they haven’t started selling this stuff in Equestria. Hey, maybe we can start a business making it? I’m sure the people of Equestria would love to buy anything with your seal of approval on it, princess.”

Twilight’s face flushed at the mention of her royal status. She had a point, Twilight’s mere mention of liking something had proven to be a strong marketing tactic, as one Sassy Saddles had proved to her and her friends.

“I don’t know how I feel about using my name to sell something. Again.”

“It’s happened before?”

“Yep. I’m sure Rarity would be more than willing to tell that story. It’s more her story to tell, despite my involvement,” Twilight said, finishing her bowl of food. “I know my word can really affect sales, but it’s for shallow reasons. That kind of stuff doesn’t really sit well with me.”

“That’s understandable. I would have probably loved the influence I’d have over people if I still cared about being an alicorn princess,” Sunset said, carrying their two empty bowls to the dishwasher. “I mean, being an alicorn would be awesome, but I don’t really feel like I’ve... earned it, I guess.”

Twilight smiled, happy to see that the once power hungry unicorn turned human had changed so much in the course of a year and some change. When she had first met Sunset, she was a rude, self absorbed jerk, and she had come a long way since those days. All it took was a magical rainbow laser, and a few friends.

“Oh, speaking of which, are you going to tell Celestia that I’m visiting?” Sunset asked.

“I wasn’t planning on it. I figured you’d want a bit of time to adjust to being back in Equestria a bit before I told her you were back,” Twilight replied. Sunset seemed to breathe a sigh of relief with this news as she sent a thankful smile Twilight’s way. “Maybe you and her can talk during a future visit? Like, visit three or four.”

“Have I ever told you I love how considerate you are?” Sunset asked, approaching her friend. Technically, they were more than friends now, but by how much had yet to be seen. Still, the comment had Twilight’s cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “It’s one of your more loveable traits.”

“What else do you find endearing?” Twilight asked, intrigued by Sunset’s way of wording the compliment. She was glad that the apparent crush Sunset had on her was for more than just one aspect. Afterall, she had learned the hard way that putting someone on a pedestal of any kind based on a single attribute was just setting one’s self up for disappointment. She had, after all, watched Rainbow Dash learn that lesson countless times.

“I’ll tell you later,” Sunset said, smiling coyly at the young princess. As she talked, she began heading towards her room to gather some things for her trip beyond the mirror. “As much as I would love to shower you with compliments, we have a bus to catch in about 20 minutes.”

Frowning for but a moment, Twilight nodded her head, and began headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As much as she loved the honey covered cereal, it was filled with sugar, and that lead to cavities, which meant a trip to the dentist. And if there is one place in all of the multiverse Twilight didn’t enjoy spending much time, it was the dentist office. On the short list of things she didn’t much care for, dentist offices were in the top five, right under quesadillas.

Spitting into the sink and turning off the sink, she gathered her things, and brought them out into the main room. It didn’t take long for her to pack her aforementioned things, and it took her even less time to bundle up in the winter jacket that, thankfully, came through the portal with her. She was happy that Rarity’s hard work hadn’t gone to waste via the process of her shapeshifting in between worlds. Wrapping a scarf around her neck and slipping on her boots, she was ready to head out.

“Will we still be able to run into the store?” Twilight asked, watching her friend bundle herself up. “We’re running short on time as is.”

“We should be fine, if we hurry. The bus is usually a few minutes late, especially when it snows,” Sunset replied, slipping her arms through the loops of her backpack. “I texted the girls to let them know where I’m going. Hopefully I don’t held up by something like crazy weather.”

“That won’t happen, unless you consider getting lost in a good book or something like that ‘held up.’” Twilight giggled. “Do you want to give one of them the journal, so they can contact you in case of an emergency?”

“Nah, I doubt anything major will happen in the next couple of days,” Sunset replied, shaking her head. “It’s not like anything huge has happened since the Friendship Games. You know, unless you call my human counterpart showing up ‘major.’”

Chuckling, Twilight opened the front door of the apartment, holding the door open as the two of them made their way into the hall. Sunset took a minute to lock the door, before putting her keys into her backpack. The last thing she needed was a magic portal to steal the keys from her pocket.

Sunset lived on the floor just below the top floor. It was a rather new building, and seemed a bit out of the price range of a teenage girl. Thankfully, Sunset had managed to bring a small bag of Bits with her through the portal, and the gold exchange rates at the time she came through made living alone extremely easy. She had told Twilight that the bank was quick to give her money at the sight of the gold, and she never really bothered to question it.

Entering the elevator, the two of them made small talk.

“So, I know you’ve told your friends about me, right?”

“Yeah, they’ve asked a bunch of questions about you and the other girls ever since the first time I went through the mirror,” Twilight replied. Her friends had been incredibly quick to ask a number of questions about the human world, as they had never been allowed to follow her in the past. She wished she could bring them through on one of her many trips, but knew it would be way too confusing. “Although, back then, they were more concerned with me meeting Flash.”

“That makes sense. I mean, it’s not everyday you find out a princess has a crush on someone,” Sunset chuckled. “I can totally picture Rarity grilling you for details, only for you to not tell her anything.”

“Oh, I told her about Flash. Mostly because she wouldn’t stop asking,” Twilight giggled. Many a day had been spent with Rarity not so casually trying to get answers about the male that had caught the attention of the former unicorn’s heart. “You know how she is.”

“Yeah. You should have seen her when she found out Rainbow Dash had been spending a bit of time with Soarin after soccer practice.”

“Not so subtly bringing Soarin up in daily conversation, progressively getting more aggressive with her quest for answers?” Twilight asked, a small smirk on her face.

“You know it,” Sunset laughed. “I’ve never seen Rainbow get that annoyed in a while. It was almost like she was channeling her inner Sour Sweet whenever Soarin’s name left Rarity’s mouth.”

“Obnoxiously nice sounding, or incredibly harsh and sarcastic?”

“A bit of both. Sometimes it was like Sour Sweet was in the room with us,” Sunset replied. Twilight had met Sour Sweet briefly, as she and Fluttershy were hanging out every so often. Apparently they got along extremely well, surprisingly enough. Sour Sweet, much to everyone’s surprise, was extremely good with animals, which lead to her helping out at the animal shelter Fluttershy worked at from time to time. “Actually, there was one day where Sour Sweet was over at Fluttershy’s when Rarity had mentioned Soarin. Her reaction to Rainbow’s attitude was hilarious.”

“Seems like she spends a lot of time with you girls.”

“Yeah, she’s the one ‘Shadowbolt’ that I’m around the most. Other than her, they’re more a part of Sci-Twi’s circle of friends.”

“I still feel weird hearing the other me’s nickname... or her name at all,” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s weird being called ‘Princess’ by myself too...”

“Yeah, I can only imagine,” Sunset spoke, holding open the apartment building’s front door for Twilight.

“Thank you,” she replied, smiling at Sunset warmly. “Have you met your human counterpart yet?”

“Nope, I’m steering clear of that awkward moment for as long as possible.”

“No fair,” the Princess of Friendship said, blowing a raspberry at her friend as she walked out the door. She was soon met with a gust of wind, and the snow that had been riding said gust. Her eyes involuntarily shut, the cold air biting at them like a pack of chilly timberwolves. “Ugh, I should’ve borrowed a pair of goggles from Rainbow Dash before I left.”

“Yeah, goggles would be awesome right now.”

The two friends began walking, not enjoying their walk in the least. Their respective scarfs were tightened around their faces, though that offered no protection for their eyes. Thankfully, they didn’t have to walk very far to get to the grocery store, and the bus stop that sat out front. The store was only a short five minute walk, and they were quick to dash inside when the automated doors opened.

Their break from the wind was a short lived one however, as they were in and out with two boxes of Twilight’s new favorite cereal firmly secured in her backpack. They debated just waiting for the bus inside, but in this weather, the driver likely wouldn’t see them through the snow covered glass, so they had to wait outside.

“How long until the bus gets here?” Twilight asked, doing her best to block the oncoming wind and snow. She was starting to think it would have been better to wait another day before leaving, but it was too late now.

“It should be here any second.”

And thankfully, as soon as Sunset finished saying that, the bus was visible, turning a corner a block away. Twilight watched as the bus come to a stop in front of them, opening it’s doors to free the two of them from this frigid air. Sunset paid the driver the necessary fee for the two of them as Twilight made her way to some open seats. Once she had paid, Sunset joined her companion in the relatively comfortable seats.

“Thank Celestia we only have to put up with a few more minutes of this horrible weather,” Twilight said, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. Sunset nodded in agreement, thankful for the invention of automotive travel. “If we’re quick, we can just make a mad dash for the portal.”

“The school is in the direction the wind is going, so we won’t have to deal with getting snow in our face until we are in front of the portal.”

“Oh, right. I forgot the portal was only on the one side of the statue’s base,” Twilight sighed. “If only magic in this world was as convenient as it is back home.”

“It’d certainly make trying to understand it a heck of alot easier,” Sunset agreed. “I’m still barely able to wrap my head around why the girls and I pony up.”

“I still think you could call it something else.”

“Hey, it’s not nearly as cringeworthy as ‘Rainbow Power,’” Sunset retorted, rolling her eyes in mock disgust.

“I guess we both suck and naming magical phenomena.”

“Yeah, Starswirl the Bearded would be so disappointed in us,” Sunset chuckled, earning a laugh from her dark haired friend. “Well, at least you can say you were able to finish a spell that Starswirl couldn’t. Even I couldn’t do that.”

“Well, he apparently disappeared before he could finish it. I’m sure he would have been able to figure it out had he not mysteriously vanished,” Twilight shrugged.

“There you go being humble again.”

“Is there something wrong with me being humble?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Nope, it’s another thing I like about you,” Sunset said with a warm smile. “It’s nice to see that you aren’t letting your status as a Princess of Equestria affect the pony you are.”

“Thanks,” the Princess of Friendship said, blushing at the compliment. “How many other things do you like about me?”

“I like the way you look as a human,” Sunset commented, a mischievous smirk gracing her lips. Twilight’s blush darkened, unsure of how to take that compliment. Did it mean that Sunset only liked how she looked as a human? Probably not, Sunset wasn’t that shallow these days. Although, Sunset had only seen her pony form for a few short minutes, and that was back when Sunset was occupied with trying to steal the Element of Magic. “And that fulfills my compliment quota for the day. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow before you get any more.”

“No fair.” Twilight responded, sticking her tongue at her... what was she now? Was she a friend with benefits? Nope, definitely not. The two of them weren’t that kind of ponies. At least, she wasn’t. She couldn’t speak for Sunset. “Hey Sunset?”

“Yeah?”

“What are we exactly?” Twilight asked, deciding it’d be best to clarify where they stand now, while they waited for the bus to reach their stop. It was certainly better than her thinking that Sunset was into shallow relationships.

“I dunno... I mean, we’re testing the waters before we make it anything official, right?”

“I guess?” Twilight replied, her voice full of confusion. “I’m just new to this kind of thing... I’ve only really been on two dates before, and neither of those ended with me in a relationship.”

“Two dates? I thought Flash was the first time you’ve ever went on a date?”

“Technically, that was the first time I acknowledged a get together as a date,” Twilight explained. “There was this one time where I had lunch with a stallion back in magic school. I was so absorbed in my studies, I didn’t really know he saw it as a date.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Sunset said with an understanding nod. “Hard to picture you to be the type that cared more about books than you do anypony else. What with you being the ‘Princess of Friendship’ and all.”

“I wasn’t always the pony you see before you today... although you technically don’t see a pony right now, since I was turned into a pony by a mirror...” Twilight trailed off. Sunset cleared her throat, snapping Twilight off her random tangent. “Anyway, I used to be a really bad friend. My nose was always in some book, and I didn’t really care about having friends. And then Celestia sent me to Ponyville.”

“And the rest is history.”

“Exactly,” Twilight nodded. “But back to the subject from earlier...”

“Oh, right, sorry for changing the subject like that,” the fiery haired girl apologized, scratching the back of her head nervously.

“It’s okay. I just want to know where our relationship stands... you know, after last night.”

“Yeah, I get what you mean,” Sunset agreed. It was certainly a good question, she thought to herself. “Would you be comfortable calling me your marefriend yet?”

“Not yet... sorry.”

“It’s fine, I didn’t think you were ready for that kind of relationship yet,” Sunset said with a small smile. “I guess we’re one of those couples that are ‘together but not really,” as awkward as that sounds.”

“So... would we be some kind of ‘friends with benefits?’” Twilight asked, grimacing at the term she finished her sentence with.

“Nah, we’re not in that kind of relationship,” Sunset said dismissively. “Those kind of relationships are not really my thing, and I take it they aren’t yours either?”

“Yeah, it’s not something I agree with personally,” she replied, relieved that Sunset wasn’t that kind of mare... girl... She forgot she was still in the human world for a minute, despite the fact that her attention was placed on her currently human friend. “I guess we’ll have to figure out what we are when we get to Equestria.”

“I’m sure the two of us can... together.”

As if the bus had been waiting for them to finish their conversation, it came to a halt in front of Canterlot High. Thanking the bus driver as they got off, the two girls found themselves back in the frigid air of the outdoors. Nodding at one another, the two made a mad dash towards the portal entrance, their hands interlocking halfway. Without wasting a single moment, they both dashed right into the solid looking surface of the base of the still broken statue.

Upon passing through the entrance of the portal, they felt their bodies bend and warp into a new, smaller form. The process wasn’t at all painful, although that certainly didn’t mean it wasn’t uncomfortable. It had been a long time since Sunset Shimmer had felt this strange feeling course through her body, and she certainly didn’t miss it. Neither did Twilight for that matter, yet she had long since accepted the discomfort as a necessary evil.

The two friends soon fell onto their faces, as per the norm with passing though a portal that changed one from a bipedal being to a quadrupedal one. The two of them rose to their feet quickly, with Sunset nearly falling over again, before the familiar feeling of standing on all fours came back to her.

The sound of scaly feet entered the room, alerting Twilight to Spike’s presence.

Sure enough, the young dragon was rounding the bookshelf, his words getting caught in his throat as he saw the unexpected guest.

“Welcome...back... Sunset?”

Author's Note:

Chapter 3 is here! And we've finally gone through the mirror, so we're soon gonna be approaching one of the the central conflicts of the story: The aforementioned "Cracks" in the Mirror Portal. For now though, there's still going to be some build up and stuff, since I don't want to jump head first into the major conflict just yet. When will I? Chapter 7, at the very least. I'll try to make the read until then as interesting as possible.

I think I should take a moment to thank smxsonic for being the proof reader for my writing thus far. I don't give you enough credit man, so here's some credit now. Go check out his work, including "Kamen Rider Harmony," which is the story from him I'm most excited about, given my own love of tokusatsu.

For those of you who don't follow me, and/or haven't seen it, I recently did a short two-shot called "Locked Out Kindness," which is a story that takes place sometime during these first three chapters of this story, only with Fluttershy and Sour Sweet. It's the first of many one/two-shots that act as "extra reading" for this universe, and while not required, it'll definitely be referenced later on. I would appreciate if any of you haven't read it, please go check it out.

Alright everyone, until Chapter 4! Keep it real!
Onyx Archer

Comments

[narusakufan]

So they finally made it through the portal. I can't wait to see what happens next.

[nobody dreamer]

Cute fluffy chapter, especially with them still trying to define where they stand at the moment. Looking forward to seeing how Sunset does back in Equestria, not to mention interacting with ponies she sort of knows (if you count their human counterparts).