A Certain Magical Friendship - MIRROR_NOISE

by Sora2455

Reflected echo - continue_the_fall

“Railgun does not fully understand your intentions, Railgun says, however if you intend to hold me captive it will be met by heavy retaliation from my people.”

“Oh, Sissy!” Kuroko moaned. “Can you really not remember anything of our deep, everlasting love for each other?!”

She reached forward to wrap both forelegs around Misaka 9748, which proved to be a mistake as one of the lightning bolts in 9748’s fur was jiggled loose.

-ZAP-!

“Don’t touch me.” 9748 said in a complete monotone that somehow still managed to sound contemptuous, looking down at Kuroko’s smoking body.

Twilight, who was rummaging through cupboards and bookshelves on the other side of the Golden Oak’s library’s basement, looked up and over at the two of them. “4:55 PM. Subject 0004 displays intense hostility to 0003, supposedly her friend.”

Kuroko moaned “Actually, this is normal…” at the same time as Spike yelped “Wait, I’m still taking notes?”. Ignoring both of them, Twilight went back to rummaging in cupboards.

9748 looked around at the underground room. Whoever designed it had apparently been on a B-grade sci-fi kick when they had – there were large scientific instruments taking up much of the floorspace that 9748 was reasonably sure were decorative. The roots of a large tree dangled down from above and wrapped around some of the equipment, giving the room an air of abandonment despite the fact that it was clean and well-maintained.

“Ah-ha!” Twilight crowed. “I was hoping that there would be one of these down here!”

Kuroko flopped around on the ground to face Twilight, and she, Spike, and 9748 all stared at the contraption that she had telekinetically pulled out of one of the cupboards. It resembled a wide-brim hat comprised primarily out of light-bulbs, and thus looked like an even lower-quality prop than the rest of the basement lab.

“I’ll just place this on Stagehand to get a baseline reading –” Twilight said, proceeding to do so “– and then I’ll record Railgun’s brainwaves, and hopefully the comparison will tell us –”

-Zap!- -Bang!-

Just before the device touched 9748’s fur, a bright flash and the smell of ozone suddenly filled the room as a spark jumped from her tea-coloured mane to the device, causing all of its light-bulbs to shatter explosively.

Spike yelped, and toppled backwards off of the counter-top he had been sitting on.

Kuroko looked up with wide eyes at one of her pigtails, which was swinging back and forth with the force of the glass shard that had whizzed through it.

Twilight, who had been standing at ground zero, blinked uncomprehendingly. Several red lines traced themselves across her muzzle, and the metallic smell of blood began to mix with the ozone.

For a moment, there was complete silence.

“What –” Twilight found her voice “– what was that for?!”

“You did not ask Railgun for permission to read her brainwaves, Railgun scoffs.”

One of Twilight’s sleep-deprived eyes began to twitch. “And because of that, you decided to blow up a valuable scientific instrument in my face?!”

“Yes, Railgun says, glad that the rude pony has understood her point.”

“You – agh!” Twilight let out a noise of pure frustration. She turned away in a huff, using her magic to pull a first-aid kit out of another cupboard. She walked into the nearby bathroom, set herself up in front of the mirror, and slammed the door shut with a purple aura.

The moment the door closed, 9748 immediately turned around and began to walk back up the stairs.

“W-wait! Sissy, where are you going?!” Kuroko vanished with a flash and reappeared in 9748’s path.

“Railgun is leaving, Railgun states the obvious.” The Sister said, shoving Kuroko out of the way. “Railgun has much better things to do than to entertain the fantasies of ponies she doesn’t know, Railgun adds with a note of scorn in her voice.”

In a way, the monotone voice and emotionless eyes made it worse. Kuroko stared wordlessly as the object of her affections walked out, the dismissal obvious in the way she didn’t look back.

---

“W-wow, she’s really eating all of it!”

“Applejack, fetch more of them fruit!”

“Yes granny!”

“The Apple family ain’t gonna lose in a battle of food!”

Saten and Uiharu were both sitting on their haunches, watching dumbly. Though neither of them had reacted much at the time, the both of them had been just as surprised as Kuroko when the white-and-gold Index had shown up at the Academy side of the portal unexpectedly. Any worries they might have had had about her intentions, however, had been completely forgotten in the face of the desperate struggle in front of them.

Uiharu in particular seemed completely flummoxed after watching Index devour the leftovers of a banquet that had been set up to feed an entire town. <B-but… if I add up the volume of the food, it comes out to greater than her body mass? Is she descended from a pink fluff-ball whose stomach leads to another dimension?>

Mystery-hunter Saten, on the other hand, had sparkles in her eyes. <I really get the feeling here that I’m watching a legend in the making!>

“U-um…”

Saten and Uiharu turned to face a new pony – one who had dark pink fur, and a Cutie Mark of three flowers. “Well, it’s just that I don’t think I’ve seen you around Ponyville before, and I just wanted to say welcome!”

There was a short pause.

<U-um, Uiharu, I get the feeling she just said something really nice to us, b-but…>

<M-my Equish isn’t much better, Saten. Ah! I know! We can communicate through our shared theme of flowers!>

Index finished draining the punch bowl before turning to face the two of them. <She said welcome to Ponyville.>

<O-oh, right…> Uiharu deflated. <Um, could you tell her thanks from us?>

Index repeated the message. The other pony, feeling that continuing through an interpreter would be too awkward, smiled nervously and walked off.

Surrounded by the oppressive power of the language barrier, Saten and Uiharu only had only one pony they could really talk to.

<Um… I don’t think we were ever introduced.> Uiharu started, inwardly cringing. Of course they were never introduced – she’d never met the robe-wearing pony in person until just before they all jumped down the portal. <I’m Gatekeeper, and this is Satin.>

Index swallowed a big mouthful of apples and nodded. <Nice to meet you. My name is Index.>

She said this in an entirely pleasant way, a friendly smile prominent on her features. It was a stark contrast, Uiharu couldn’t help but think, from the soulless expression she’d been wearing back when she’d faced down Nightmare Moon by herself, holding Misaka off with one metaphorical hoof.

But where Uiharu was nervous, Saten was excited. <So where’d you learn to speak Equish?>

<A better question might be where I learned to speak Neighponese.> Index observed, her ravenous eating put on pause for now as she fully committed to the conversation. <Seeing as how I’m from Canterlot originally.>

The old earth pony who’d sent Applejack off for more food blinked and leant in to examine the apple pie Index had been about to eat, unsure if she should count this as her victory.

Uiharu, who was just as much of a fangirl about the aristocracy as Rarity was, suddenly had the nervousness in her eyes replaced by stars. <Ah, really?! Oh that’s so exciting! Canterlot is so romantic – all the dukes and princesses and fancy cocktail parties…>

She got a far-away look in her eye, probably remembering something she read in a Shōjo manga.

Index sweat-dropped. <Well, yes, I’ve heard it’s like that.>

Saten’s amateur detective instincts flared up. <Huh? You’ve ‘heard’ it’s like that? But didn’t you just say you were from there?>

<Oh, well…> Index hadn’t planed to get this personal with a ponies she’d just met, but… <It’s just, I don’t have any memories from before a year ago. My life before then is one giant question mark to me.>

<What?!> Saten and Uiharu shouted in surprised stereo, startling the few ponies still hanging around Pinkie’s party.

<T-that’s terrible!>

<Wait, if you can’t ever remember being in your hometown, do you even know who your parents are?>

<I-it shouldn’t be too hard to find them! After all, there can’t be very many earth ponies living in Canterlot!>

<Huh?> Index tilted her head to the side, and in a slightly confused tone of voice said <What makes you think I’m an earth pony?>

Saten opened her mouth, couldn’t find any words, and closed it again. Next to her, Uiharu sat in a similar state of confusion. But…

<Railgun would say that it is the lack of wings and a horn, Railgun deadpans.>

Saten and Uiharu both jumped. ‘Misaka’ seemed to have arrived on scene while they were distracted with Index.

<Ha ha, very funny short hair.> Index greeted 9748 with an annoyed scowl. She gulped down the pie in front of her, re-lighting the fire in the eyes of the elderly earth pony watching.

<Railgun?> Saten asked timidly. Confusing things seemed to be raining from the sky at this point. <Are you okay? You’re talking about yourself in the third person.>

<Why is everypony thinking that Railgun is somehow injured, Railgun asks in exasperation? Railgun had a full diagnostic immediately before departing, so Railgun is fine, Railgun states furiously, hoping it will end the discussion.>

Saten and Uiharu stared at 9748, taken aback at her monotone vitriol. Even Index found the time to raise an eyebrow in-between gulping down the last of the party food.

<A-anyway!> Uiharu interrupted, hoping to steer the conversation back to friendlier waters. <T-the Equestrian girls’ town is certainly nice!>

<Y-yeah!> Saten joined in, catching on. <Their weather team are really on the ball – not a cloud in the sky!>

<Oh, yes-yes. Grandmother is always saying that Dash Rainbow is greatest weather pony she is ever seeing in over 50 year!>

The terrible Neighponese heralded the return of Applejack, hitched up to a cart of apple-based foodstuffs. Index’s eyes lit up and she zipped over to the cart, her eyes devouring the food before her hooves had even touched it.

<You can speak Neighponese? Railgun says, surprised that one of the locals speaks a civilised tongue.>

Applejack raised an eyebrow at the rude narration. <Why is so surprising that Applejack has hidden deepness? Also, since when is Railgun providing own narration? That is being more Pie Pinkie thing.>

<Apricot straddle?> A third pony randomly joined the conversation, her head bursting unexpectedly out of the new punch bowl Applejack had brought on her cart.

All others in attendance paused to stare.

Slowly, Saten raised the tablecloth to find the rest of Pinkie’s body standing under the table, her neck rising up into the part of the table where the punch bowl was. Applejack, with a confused look on her muzzle, gently pushed Pinkie’s head back down into the punch. There was a gurgling sound, and the punch drained out the hole Pinkie had been plugging with her neck.

<When did - > 9748 began, only for Applejack to shush her. <It is better that we are not knowing.>

<Maps free!> Pinkie cried, springing out from under the table. Her mane was wet and smelled of fruit juice.

Applejack sighed. “Pinkie, ya know nopony can understand ya when ya go on like that, right?”

“Wait, really?” Pinkie blinked, confused. “What, is my accent that bad?”

“…sure. Let’s go with that.”

“Fiddlesticks.” Pinkie pouted. “How ever am I going to get them to join in my funerrific party games if I can’t sing them the rules?”

“Pinkie, ah’m pretty sure everypony knows how to play ‘pin the tail on the pony’. Ya don’t need to get into a fuss on account a’ that one.”

Pinkie inhaled in a loud exited gasp. “That’s a great idea! Thanks Applejack!” She zoomed off into the distance, presumably to fetch the necessary materials.

<Are we really going to be performing reconstructive surgery as a form of entertainment, Railgun asks in sick fascination?>

That monotone question earned 9748 puzzled looks.

<N-no.> Applejack corrected, honestly confused. <’Pin tail on pony’ is game, not doctor-working! Is fake tail, picture of pony! Is funny when player miss and pin tail to pony foot by mistake!>

<I see, Railgun murmurs. It appears that mocking the disabled and disfigured is an acceptable form of amusement here, she notes to herself.>

<Aren’t you a little old for foal’s games, though?> Index asked Applejack, appraising her critically.

<Is Applejack too-too old? Is Index not similar age?> Applejack responded somewhat defensively.

<I’m 14.> Index immediately replied.

<U-uiharu and I are 12!> Saten cried, not wanting to be left out.

<And Railgun is one week of age, assuming we are counting the opening of her tank as the moment of her ‘birth’, Railgun adds.>

Saten turned around. <Okay, seriously, is there an in-joke that I’m missing, or…?>

<N-neighpon ponies are really so young?> Applejack spluttered, having apparently missed everything after ‘12’. Land sakes, Apple Bloom wasn’t much younger than that! The Neighpon ponies looked seriously older than they really were!

The conversation radically changed direction at that point, because Pinkie zoomed back to the party, gesturing everypony off to where she'd set everything up.

As the overexcited party planner hurried everypony along, a thought occurred to her.

"Hey, wasn't there a stallion with you guys? Where'd he go?"

---

“Right.” The brown earth pony said, slamming a device down on the ground that appeared to be comprised primarily of stop-watches that had been duct-taped together. “The rest of the Lad Brigade is holding the beavers at bay just ahead, which means we have one shot at this. Time’s already fuzzy inside this breach, and this device should let us abuse that to have a single object ‘touch’ all times at once – in this case, your right forehoof. Any questions?”

<I have no idea what you just said.>

<Oh, right. Basically, if you stick your right forehoof in here it’ll either seal this breach for good or collapse all of time and space down to a single point.>

<You’re joking! Would there even be an afterlife left after something like that?!>

<Let's find out!> The earth pony said, a mad gleam in his eyes.

<Let's not!>

---

"I haven't a clue." Index said, completely honestly.

Comments

[Sora2455]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVEN'T UPDATED THIS SINCE AUGUST.

[JMP]

Hey, glad to see this back. Now to go back through the story so I remember where Mikoto went. Also, Toaru Majitsu no Index III anime 2018 HYPE!!!

[timmoogle98]

Dammit Doctor.

[furryman]

8640751
A sequel?

[JMP]

8704704
Season 3. The Index novels do have a sequel, though. It's called "New Testament: A Certain Magical index" (Shin'yaku Toaru Majitsu no Index) and just continues right where the last volume of Index ends. Dunno how much Season 3 is gonna cover; there's a lot that happens after where Season 2 ends

[VikingOtaku6]

I am unbelievably bittersweet about coming to this point. Oh, parting is such sweet sorrow!

[Malandy]

This chapter! So funny!

And surprise-ish Touma!

Next chapter must wait until food. Lol at having food break after this chapter. nvm, no food yet.

Typo:

really nice to use > really nice to us

[Malandy]

<’Pin tail on pony’ is game, not doctor-working! Is fake tail, picture of pony! Is funny when player miss and pin tail to pony foot by mistake!>

And yet, IIRC from a few minutes ago. That situation of game actually never happened!

----

Typo:

loose in a battle > lose in a battle