Mirror's Image

Chapter 17

Twilight found herself in a rather awkward situation, lying on her back after having been knocked off her hooves by Pinkie Pie. Said mare had somehow managed to squeeze herself inside her party cannon and then launched herself at Twilight.

How she had done that without either of them breaking any bones would forever remain a mystery to Twilight, so she just chalked it up to Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie. It was easier that way.

Still, accepting that Pinkie Pie was a peculiar case did little to change Twilight's current situation. She was still on the ground with Pinkie invading her personal space a bit too much to her liking. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Sucker Punch was about to correct that.

Despite the fact that he was invisible at the moment, Twilight knew that he was getting ready to pounce on Pinkie Pie. "Stand down!" she yelled, before Sucker Punch could act on his intentions. "She's a friend," Twilight assured him.

Sucker Punch stopped in his tracks and backed away. However, he didn't stray very far, Twilight was sure of that.

"Who are you talking to?" Pinkie Pie asked. She looked around but saw nopony around, other than her other friends, the Crusaders and the guards.

"I have invisible changeling guards," Twilight said, now noticing that Sucker Punch had settled on the top of the carriage. She noticed some other things too, including a new presence in her vicinity. That was a problem to worry about later though, as she had a pink pony to address. She looked up at Pinkie Pie again. "Help me up, will you?"

"Okey-dokey," Pinkie Pie said, not even bothering to ask about Twilight's invisible guards, as she extended a hoof to pull Twilight up and back on her hooves.

"Thanks," Twilight said. "I really missed you-ahh!"

Twilight was once again knocked off her hooves and onto the ground. She groaned in annoyance from the extra weight pressing down on her.

"I won!" Rainbow Dash claimed from the top of the pony pile.

"Did not," Applejack retorted. "You used your wings again!"

"Nopony said I couldn't!" Rainbow Dash laughed, much to Applejack's annoyance.

"Uhm, girls?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I think Twilight would like to breathe again."

"What?" Applejack asked, before looking down at the conveniently placed purple pillow she and Rainbow Dash were crushing. "Oops, sorry 'bout that that, sugarcube."

Rainbow Dash and Applejack scrambled to get off of the flattened changeling. Both of them quickly helped her back onto her hooves for the second time in a matter of minutes.

Twilight looked a bit woozy after that second smack she had endured. Getting hit by three grown ponies in quick succession wasn't what she called fun.

"We're so sorry about that," Applejack said with a soft chuckle. "Ah guess we got a bit overexcited."

"Just a little bit?" Twilight rubbed her head a few times, making sure that it was still attached.

"Can you blame us?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We really missed you and we were so worried about you, Twilight."

Twilight allowed her expression to soften and turn into a smile. "I'm happy to see you too, Rainbow Dash."

"We sure are glad to see you in one piece," Applejack said. "Ya'll had us so worried and we had no idea what to do at first but when Princess Luna said that she'd go after you, the three of us obviously couldn't stay behind."

"So we started a rescue mission!" Rainbow Dash said. "But after finding our way into the hive, Daring Do-style, you were already gone!"

"Ah think Rainbow nearly had a heart attack at that point," Applejack pointed out with a playful jab at her friend. "Not that ah could blame her, cause ah..." she trailed off as she noticed Big Macintosh stepping out of the carriage. "Ah'll have to get back at you," she told Twilight, before running past her and towards Big Macintosh.