Reflecting Shield

by Evilhumour

Chpater Five

Chapter Five

“Come on in, Cadance,” a voice called out. “I just got breakfast set up for your new friend; just hoping that she doesn’t have any allergies.”

I was left so dumbfounded by what was happening that it took Princess Cadance nudging me to get an answer out. “Uh, no, your majes-”

“Please, call me Twilight, I won’t take anything else,” the voice chided me, causing me to frown. I did not pout.

“Okay… Miss Sparkle,” I said awkwardly, as I opened the door and stepped inside into a very cozy-looking kitchen covered with pictures of ponies doing things together. I easily recognized the Princess of Friendship and I suspected the rest of the mares shown were the fabled Elements of Harmony. And underneath them was the same purple pony interacting with other ponies that looked like them, maybe the children of her friends? Still, there were so many pictures that… I kinda felt a sadness from it all. That this was all she had left of them, pictures and memories.

Looking away from what had to be a fake picture with her highness and a massive purple dragon, I spotted the Princess of Ponyville hovering over a countertop, with a number of books set up around her as her magic carried some vegetables over to her, while whatever she had already set up smelled wonderfully, causing my stomach to grumble.

“Please take a seat; I’ll be with you in a moment,” the mare said, eyes focused on her task.

Doing as I was told, I pulled out a chair with my hooves while Prin-buck, can’t keep calling her the Princess with two Princesses in the same room-Cadance used her magic to pull out her own chair.

“That smells amazing, ma’am,” I said. All of a sudden a wooden spoon flew out to boop me lightly on the nose!

“I said to call me Twilight, missy,” the mare lectured me, eyes still focused on the meal. “Need I remind you again?” The accursed spoon flew menacingly around my face, daring me to snark at it.

“No ma-, er Twilight,” I said meekly. I was, however, strongly tempted to send the boop back to that spoon. See how it lik--why was I trying to pick a fight with a spoon?

“That’s good and before you explode my cutlery with your glare, can I have your name as somepony forgot to mention such a thing?” the purple mare said with an amused tone as she flipped the page with her magic while stirring up the pan of heavenly smelling breakfast food.

Cadance bumped her hooves together sheepishly before tilting her head to the side. “Didn’t you get my letter?”

Twilight turned her head to glance at the mare before turning back. There was… something in her gaze that made me feel really sad and I realized that even with all the tin ponies, the so-called Princess of Friendship was very… lonely.

My thoughts were distracted as Twilight let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “I know you’re trying to help set up that new message-delivery system, Cadance, but it’s not without its problems. I wish Spike was here but he’s off on one of his trips again.”

“So there’s been no word on where he is?” Cadance asked, shooting me a glance that told me to hold my tongue. Twilight shook her head and her magic grabbed the food - a little roughly - and placed it in front of us. The aroma was almost enough to make me forget the conversation but I filed away that interesting tidbit about Twilight’s dragon to mull over later.

“No,” Twilight said sadly before forcing a half-hearted smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “So, who are you and why did Cadance bring you to me?” she asked as she sat down before looking at me properly for the first time. Her eyes widened a bit, her tongue licking her lips before taking on an amused look on her face. “Oh, I see.”

“See what?” I asked as I did my best not to just shove the food in my mouth, the hair on the back of my neck prickling up a bit.

“You kinda look like my big brother did, when he was your age,” Twilight said with a somewhat sad but happy smile on her face. “I can show you a picture of him later, if you want, miss...?”

“Reflecting Shield, ma-” I meeped as the spoon flew from the sink and booped me on the nose again. Okay, no one, not even a spoon boops my nose twice! Grabbing it with my hoof, I sent the boop back into the spoon, causing it to buckle ever so slightly.

Smiling proudly at my victory, I heard light snickering before turning around to see Twilight looking at me with an at-ease smile. “I hope you learned your lesson, as I do need to get a new spoon now.”

“Sure did, Twilight,” I said, really at ease with her. She was certainly more laid back than what I had expected from her. Taking another forkful of the meal, I had to hold back a squeal of joy as to not embarrass myself. My ears did flick a bit, though. Traitorous ears. “This is so good! I can’t remember the last time I had something as good as this!”

“Thank you, but I’m not half as good as Pinkie Pie or Applejack were,” she said, rolling her eyes as she took a bite of her dish. “Of course, I was a bit preoccupied with my latest project, to be perfectly honest, so that stole some of my attention.” She then turned to me, holding out a tea kettle out. “Would you like some?”

“Eh, sure,” I said, holding out my teacup out to her. Biting my lip as I tried to keep the cup steady in my hooves, I waited for the Princ-Twilight to finish pouring me a cup. “Thanks… so,” I said awkwardly, looking around the room. “You are working on a project?”

I had heard of some the great projects that she had produced and I was kinda curious, kinda desperate to stall.

“Yes, I am working on perfecting the changeling detection measures with a new field of science,” she said as tilted her head. “Through my research of genetic testing of ponies and changelings, I have discovered that the deoxyribonucleic acid present in each test subject I interviewed is individually designed for that pony or changeling, albeit with some replication within the acid in confirmed lineage. I am hoping to increase the availability and the precision of my latest work as you know that aether testing can be fooled if done with the correct spells and this is all going over your head, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…” I said awkwardly. I don’t think I could even say half of those words, let alone understand the whole purpose of this. Weren’t changelings our friends now? “There’s still a need for it?” I asked, doing my best to recall all I had heard about this kind of stuff about the bugs. “I mean, didn’t your friends and you go stop that queen bug Crssys-Cree-” I trailed off, the name was really hard to say as my lips were not made to say bug names.

“We did stop queen Chrysalis during the second changeling invasion, Reflecting, and we did manage to write up a treaty with her successor, but like every other race, there are good changelings and bad changelings,” Twilight said. “This is simply a precaution to prevent a potential issue from occurring.”

“Ah, I get it, I guess,” I said shrugging, taking another bite of this breakfast. The look Twilight sent at me told me she knew I didn’t get it but she didn’t press the issue. Changelings didn’t even come into Equestria besides those who ran the emotion stations.

“Is it because you cannot read or are you generally not that interested in global affairs that you don’t know about our current standings with the Changelings?”

“Whoa, what!?” I spat out the food, coughing as I tried not to choke to death on it. “What the Tartarus makes you think I can’t read?”

“Besides your reaction?”

“Yeah!” I shouted, rubbing my throat. Who the hell asks a question like that?

“Well to start, I know for a fact that most ponies will try to avoid contact with a princess instinctively, especially if they’ve done something that could be viewed as unpleasant,” Twilight said as she sipped her tea. “Like punching one in the face.”

I paled, looking at Cadance who seemed equally surprised that Twilight knew this.

“They will look for diversions and ways to escape the notice of a princess, to which the most logical choice of action in that state of mind would be to read the letter Cadance was leaving for you as to prolong the time you had to interact with my sister in-law. Had you read it, it would have asked you to meet with me on the following day. Luckily, I had some of my Guards warn me in advance of your sudden arrival so I could make you breakfast too.”

“How do you I just didn’t read it because it’d be the wrong thing to do?” I frowned, my hooves pressed into the tablecloth.

“You strike me as a mare that does not care for being right or wrong in front of other ponies, only doing what you feel is right,” Twilight answered serenely, a half smile on her face. “For instance, you are arguing with me to defend yourself while most ponies would be too scared to do so. I have little doubt that you would have opened the letter and read it while Cadance was at your kitchen table.”

I shifted my eyes, ears folding backwards, wondering how could she read me so well…

“Another point to the matter is that, once again, most ponies would not sit down at the table of two princesses, but instead take the opportunity to look at my pictures and read where they were taken, instead of observing them from afar. I could add onto this, pointing out your current body posture and what it tells me, but I know that it would be needlessly cruel to carry on,” she said, looking straight into my eyes despite my desire to drop my head and curl up into a ball.

I let out a tiny sigh before steeling myself. “Yeah, you got it,” I muttered bitterly, sticking a forkful of the food into my mouth. It no longer tasted as good as before but I wasn’t going to pass up free food just like that. “I can’t read or write beyond my name and a few other bits.”

I took a chance to look at them and saw that they were pitying me! Snorting, I glared at Twilight and asked, “So what, was this whole thing a show to you two? Some sort of game where you take a mare like me and ‘fix’ her up?” I placed my hooves on the table and leaned across it to stare down the princess with my mind yelling at myself for mouthing off like this! Buck anyone who tried to pity me but I couldn’t do this to the princesses! I didn’t want-

“Of course not,” Twilight said, not even flinching - she was still looking at me calmly. “While I could easily teach you all that you need to know, I know that if a student is not willing to learn then it is a pointless gesture. Added to that, I doubt you would accept me or any other authority figure in educating yourself and that the practice you mentioned is a horrid and self centered act that I have done my best to squash after seeing the usual aftermaths when the patron abandons their charges.” She actually snarled at the last bit, her eyes narrowed in semi-anger.

Blinking, I slunk back into my seat and let out a weak, “Oh.” I felt really awkward now, not sure what to do. Staring at my hooves, I shook my head and pushed myself up. “I’m sorry, but I think I lost my appetite or something.”

“It is fine, my little pony,” Twilight said, going back to her calm and collected face as her horn lit up, levitating a piece of paper with her cutie mark on it and a few lines scribbled underneath it before passing it over to me. “This will identify you to my Guards if you ever wish or need to come back and I am not here.”

“Wait, you’re actually giving me free run of your house-castle tree thing?” I asked, blinking in surprise.

“I trust you are smart enough to realize that if you take anything of significant value, there will not be many places you could go that the Guards will not find you.”

“Right, a former juvie like me doesn’t have much places to run to,” I muttered under my breath, only to remember that I was with princesses and they could hear stuff. My eyes snapped upwards as I tried to think of some way to get out of this situation.

“It is perfectly fine, my little pony,” Twilight said, holding a teacup to her lips. “The past is the past and as you are an adult, your records are sealed and gone.”

My ear flicked as that meant nothing to the rest of the Guards who made my life hell.

“Thank you, Twilight,” I said with a nod of my head, a smile forming on my face. “You’re pretty cool.”

“I do try my best, my little pony,” she smirked at me. “Now I believe that you wish to be leaving, Reflecting?”

Either that mare was reading my mind, or my face was giving away more than I’d realized. “Yes,” I admitted. “I could use some time to think some more, and burn off a little excess energy while I’m at it.”

“If you just want to run for a while, there’s a path through White Tail Woods,” Twilight told me. “I’ve found it’s very effective when I just want to get away.”

“Thank you.” I stood up. “Both of you.” Then I headed for the door.

After a moment, I paused. “Um, which way is it?”

Both princesses exchanged glances, then Twilight’s horn lit up, levitating a sheet of paper and a quill over to her. As she concentrated for a moment, I saw the quill blurring over the paper, and then the entire thing lit up. Setting the quill aside, she hoofed the paper over to me. “This should show you the way,” she said.

Looking over the paper, I saw it was a hurriedly drawn but still detailed sketch showing the roads that would lead me from Twilight’s front door to the woods she had named, which were some distance away but still close enough that I could easily get there on foot. Thanking her again, I headed out.

---

It was late afternoon by the time I had finished my run and made it back to Ponyville, and I was feeling much better as I walked up to my front door. Sweatier and tireder, perhaps, but better than before.

That feeling disappeared the instant I saw Sweet Scent standing outside with an ugly look on her face and my stuff on the curb.

“You,” she said in a nasty tone, a hoof kicking my couch, “have been broken my rules again.”

I groaned. “Why is my stuff out here?”

“Had enough of you,” she barked. “No more. You out.”

“What?!” I shouted, shoving my face into hers. “What the Tartarus are you talking about!?”

“Important rule you signed; no ponies allowed in building,” she shoved me back. “You had not only early guest but several large stallions walking around. No good, Reflrecting, so you are out!”

“Like I could have stopped them if I wanted,” I snapped. “I’m a civilian; they were tin ponies accompanying a princess, and I wasn’t even awake when they showed up outside my door!”

“Like princess would ever see you,” she sneered. “Go own, take stuff and get out before I call Guards on you.”

Growling at her, I grabbed my stuff that had been thrown into a cardboard box, tossed it onto my couch and began to drag it off.

And backed right into somepony.

Muttering a curse under my breath, I looked up to see Holy horseapples it was him again!

“Need a hoof there, Reflecting?” Either Little Bird or Little Pebble asked me, looming over me.

“I…” For a moment there, I was tempted to say no, but finally decided to give my pride a rest. “Yeah. I wouldn’t mind.”

He nodded sharply, and with a gesture to follow, he grabbed my couch.

“If not for the princess finding out, I would have left a lot sooner,” he said to me as we began walking down the street. “She has her eye on you and I don’t need to lose my job because of you.”

Snorting as I walked beside the towering Guard, I shot back him. “Wouldn’t expect any of you guys to be nice to me.”

“For someone like you, never.”

I snorted disgustedly, knowing exactly what he was referring to. Still, I was in no mood to remind him of the details, lest he decide it was worth it to just leave me here, and kept silent otherwise.

I was still fuming over my ex-landlord’s behavior by the time we reached the castle at the end of the town, and barely noticed where we were until its door opened, revealing Princess Twilight once more.

“Reflecting! I wasn’t expecting to see you again today-” Her eyes suddenly drifted to my couch, and she gave my escort a look. “Um, is there a particular reason you brought your furniture with you?”

“My jerk of a landlord kicked me out,” I replied, shooting a look at the tin pony next to me. “‘Cause she saw these guys in the hall outside my apartment. And since there’s a no guests policy that-” I cut myself off before I said something incredibly profane and got myself into a lot of trouble.

Twilight frowned. “That’s not right,” she said sternly. “Surely your rental contract would allow exceptions for unexpected guests, or Princesses and their Guards.”

“I said about the same thing; she didn’t believe me about who they were,” I replied while also ignoring the fact I couldn’t have actually read the damn thing. “The one good thing is, I don’t have to put up with her and her crap anymore.”

“But on the bad side, you don’t have an apartment anymore,” Twilight said. “That, at least, I can fix. Come on in, I’ll get you set up in one of the guest rooms.”

If I’d been carrying anything then, I would have dropped it in surprise. “Really?”

Twilight nodded. “I’ve got plenty of space, and to be honest, I wouldn’t mind having some company in here again,” she said. “It has been a long time since I last had anypony stay with me; my last student was Moon River, and she moved out about sixty years ago.” She then flicked her eyes to the tin pony scowling next to me. “Little Pebble, please take her belongings to the guest room.”

He nodded stiffly, then headed up the stairs into the castle, Twilight moving aside to let him pass. Then, she gestured to me to come in too, though I saw her nose wrinkle a bit. “Come on, I’ll show you to the restroom,” she told me. “No offense intended, my little pony, but you really need a shower.”

“Preaching to the choir here, Pri-er, Twilight,” I said. “I would have taken one first thing when I got back to my place if that… er, mare hadn’t been waiting outside for me.”

Twilight’s eyes flashed for a moment, but then she shook it off and led me down the hall to the restroom. When she was done making sure I knew where everything was, she left me be, and I quickly got to work cleaning myself off.

---

Nearly two hours later, I was ready to collapse.

Twilight had been polite about it, but she had made it clear that she expected me to be clean when I was done, and had assured me that I would feel much better after a thorough cleaning. Consequently, I had taken far longer than I’d planned to, not only rinsing off but taking advantage of the brushes in the shower to give myself the deepest, hardest scrubbing I’d ever experienced to get all the dirt and grime out of my coat. And despite everything I felt about looking good, I actually felt goodish.

By the time I was all dried off, Twilight had also finished preparing dinner, and it proved to be just as good as what she’d fixed earlier. After that, she’d shown me to my room, and I got yet another shock of the day: not only was my couch there (and looking much cleaner than it had earlier), but all my stuff was put away while it was clear that she hadn’t poked around.

There was also some furniture I didn’t recognize, but I figured it had come with the room, which Twilight had confirmed when she’d seen my questioning look. Not the least of which was an actual bed, one like nothing I’d ever slept on before, even when I’d been living with my parents as a filly.

After pointing a few other things out to me, Twilight left me with a cheerful “Good night, my little pony”, closing the door behind her.

That was when everything I had been through that day finally sank in, and I promptly gave in to my non fighting instincts. Stumbling over to the bed, I pulled back the sheets and crawled into it.

I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Comments

[Krazyfan1]

imagine the landlords face when she realises the truth

[Asolem2]

Looking away from what had to be a fake picture with her highness and a massive purple dragon

Oh no, that one is very real

Snorting as I walked beside the towering Guard, I shot back him. “Wouldn’t expect any of you guys to be nice to me.”

“For someone like you, never.”

I am getting very curious about this mutual hatred between Reflecting and the guards

“I said about the same thing; she didn’t believe me about who they were,” I replied while also ignoring the fact I couldn’t have actually read the damn thing.

And of course she knew that and abused it for her own benefit

Twilight’s eyes flashed for a moment, but then she shook it off and led me down the hall to the restroom.

Twilight is not a happy pony right now

[Asolem2]

I snorted disgustedly, knowing exactly what he was referring to.

I'm starting to suspect it has something to do with the one time she reflected magic