Kamen Rider EqG

by BioniclesaurKing4t2

Chapter 10: Warped Image

Warped Image ɘǫɒmI bɘqɿɒW

The Next Day, Saturday

Vinyl Scratch sat on a bench in the outdoor covered section of the mall, off to the side. She was tapping her foot and gently bobbing her head to the music streaming through her headphones. None of those tiny earbuds would do, only full coverage headsets could convey the soul-charging tunes and beats she relished in. Wow that sounded flowery.

Ignoring that distracting thought, Vinyl sank back into the music, not minding that the area was oddly empty for being a mall on the weekend. What she did mind was that the music was starting to sound off, before static rose up to interrupt it. Don’t tell her this pair was wearing out already.

When tapping the headphones did nothing, she pulled herself upright and took out the music pod to hit pause. Upon pressing the button, the screen glitched out and the headphones gave a sharp static squeal—she jerked them off her ears, quickly shutting the device off. She slouched back into the bench with a defeated sigh.

Then paused. Something wasn’t quite right, she could still…hear something. She checked the player’s screen. Yeah, it’s off. She glanced around. Okay, the emptiness of the mall was starting to be a bit disconcerting. And nothing that could be making that…

Gently, she lifted the headphones back up to her ears. As she brought them closer, a noise became audible. It was clearly some sort of garbled static, but as she listened…it almost sounded…she stiffened. Voices?

On the wall behind her, the 10-foot window warped, an image appearing of a black skeletal amalgam hanging upside down, staring out at her. It leaned away from the window, swinging back in for a glossy white fox head to warp through and swing up on a long and jointed metal neck, twisting and lunging down as its toothy jaws sprung open—

A window warped in the Mirror World, and an Advent Cycle flew out, zooming down the mall before skidding to a stop. Its cover opened and seat rose, Rainbow stepping out as Talon. She’d felt puzzle pieces starting to fall into place around this Discord fellow and it seemed like she wasn’t alone among the group. Now if only this new monster would be kind enough to just explain everything to them. Where was it, by the way?

The whistling ringing had died down, but as Rainbow looked around for a sign of it, she saw a broken pair of headphones lying at the corner of a building. She would’ve ignored them if they hadn’t looked so familiar. She ran over to them, catching a glimpse around the corner and stopping in shock.

Ambulance sirens set the scene, a conscious and responsive Vinyl being wheeled up to the rescue vehicle by a pair of EMTs.

“And you’re sure you didn’t see anything suspicious?” asked Detective Danny Haygan.

“There was nothing you could see that was unusual,” Rainbow technically didn’t lie.

“Okay, thanks,” the detective fronted, pretending to scribble down the noninformation, not satisfied but making no headway. “You can go.”

Rainbow walked back to the police tape with the gathering crowd but turned to the scene again. There was nothing he could’ve seen, but if she’d gotten there sooner… She whispered to herself, “What was this?”

* * *

“What was that?” snapped the mysterious figure. He swiped through a few mirror views before coming across the culprit. It had surprised him by reforming itself like the Dispider before, and had become notably more explorative than the others of its batch. He’d thought that would be a good thing. Manglethal hung from the corner of a ceiling like a metal spider with its three feet; branching from its overburdened torso were a half dozen too-many-jointed arms and legs, carrying such features as ending in empty ball joints, a hand attached to an elbow, and a second, bare animatronic humanoid skull head at the end of another arm which bore only a left eye while its main pink-snouted white fox head had only a right eye. It was currently ignoring him.

“Excuse me,” he said calm but forcefully, hands behind his waist.

Manglethal rotated its neck to look at the figure in the reflection, twisting its head sideways in curiosity. Some blood was smeared on its jaws.

“Do you like trying my patience?” he said. “Those weren’t my orders, I need those Riders distracted, not fired u—”

Manglethal lunged at the mirror, the image in front of the man shattering to static. He didn’t flinch, simply falling silent with an intense stare. With a wave he dismissed the screen.

“As much fun as a wild card can be,” he hissed, “I don’t need a rogue Monster drawing more attention than I wanted. And no one disobeys me.”

* * *

Back at the scene, lead detective for the case Danny Haygan, recognized the city over as coming from a family of cops by his police uniform-blue skin, watched Rainbow from a distance as his long-time partner, Detective Bays, came over.

“I get the feeling she’s hiding somethin’,” Haygan said, Manehatten accent showing. “She knows more about what’s goin’ on than she’s telling us.”

“You think she did it?” Bays asked, a woman with pale aquamarine skin.

“I don’t think I’d go that far,” Haygan replied. “Yet.”

One of the EMTs handed Vinyl’s wallet to the detective, before a female EMT called to him, “Hey Rabbit, gimme a hand, here.” He left the detectives to help her get the gurney into the ambulance.

Taking out Vinyl’s ID, Haygan found a printed card taped to it. “Great,” he said, reading it.

“What?” asked Bays.

“Look at this. It says here that she ‘doesn’t communicate verbally’.”

“This is gonna be tough,” Bays sighed. “We gonna need a sign language interpreter?”

“Hang on,” said Haygan. “I got an idea.”

“Uh-oh. What is it this time?”

Haygan held up the ID, then nodded over to Dash. “Two birds one stone.”

Bays raised her eyebrows (“Oh?”) and he raised his back (“Yeah?”), the two making their way over.

Trying to make sense of why a monster had suddenly attacked someone and then just left instead of waiting for Riders or even kidnapping them, Rainbow was caught off guard when the detectives walked up to her again. “Um, yes?”

“Just one more question,” Haygan said. “Are you close friends with this, uh, Vinyl?”

“I…guess we’re kinda friendly,” she said, trying to act normal without looking unaffected by the incident. “Don’t actually know her too well. Why?”

“According to this,” he held up the card, “she doesn’t like talking. I just thought that a familiar face might help her open up a bit. There’re a few things I need to know and she might be able to help with that. It’ll just mean tagging along for a little bit.”

“Sure.” Rainbow, you—, she started berating herself. Well, you might as well learn more before reporting this to the group. And keep these two from finding out.

After arriving at Canterlot General Hospital, they were led by a friendly nurse named Asuna to outside of Vinyl’s room, who thankfully only needed a few stitches, where they met with the light tan Dr. Stable.

“Her injuries are quite peculiar,” Dr. Stable described to the detectives as Rainbow pretended not to listen in from a distance. “They appear to have been caused by something with a very powerful vise grip that was attached over her head from ear to ear. The scarring on her hands indicates that whatever it was, it had a jagged edge, and that her hands were caught inside and were used to push out against it.” He imitated the motions. “She certainly fought back. Damage to the headphones you found nearby suggests that they may have taken a good portion of a presumably fast initial impact. They may well have saved her life.”

“So what,” Bays asked, “a weak bear trap from above?”

“I said they were quite peculiar,” repeated Dr. Stable, “but trace from the wounds did appear to be rust, I’ve sent it to your labs.”

“Right,” Det. Haygan said, “and can we see her now?”

“Well,” Dr. Stable replied, “she was a quick and easy fix, but she’s still recovering.”

“We’ve only got a few questions,” Haygan pressed with a friendly plead.

“We’ll be gone before you know it,” Bays added.

The doctor looked at them a second. “I suppose she’s in fit condition.”

“Thank you,” Haygan smiled him away, waving for Rainbow.

Inside, Vinyl was sitting up in a hospital bed, not hooked up to any machines, but with bandages on her hands and around her head. No headphones, so she had to make due with the music in her mind. She looked up in surprise as everyone suddenly walked in.

“How’s it goin’?” the man said. He held up a badge. “Just a few visitors with a few questions here.”

Vinyl looked at the two detectives, then saw Rainbow stepping around them. She gave a small wave to Vinyl, who hid a sigh. Not hidden to the detectives, though, who exchanged a brief look.

“So, I think you know what we’re here to find out, right?” asked Haygan. Vinyl nodded. “Did you see who attacked you?”

Vinyl stole a glance at Rainbow. Taking a breath, she faced the detectives and raised her hand halfway up only to stop, tilting her head from side to side, then wobbled her hand like a scale.

“You kinda did?” Haygan interpreted.

Vinyl raised a finger but paused, then shook her head.

“Yes we have no bananas? No we have plenty?”

Vinyl shrugged.

Haygan sighed. “Did you see what they used? What were they carrying?”

Vinyl had started to raise her arms straight out in front of her before shaking her head to dismiss his suggestion, proceeding to move her arms open and closed several times.

“A gator? They used an alligator?”

Vinyl paused again, then dropped her arms, facepalming with a shake of her head.

Haygan put on a smile. “Thank you for your time.” He nodded Bays out of the room with him, leaving Rainbow alone with Vinyl.

“Well?” Bays asked as they stopped outside the door. “If Rainbow was part of the attack, Vinyl certainly didn’t seem to remember that part.”

“Nah, I don’t think she’s involved in that,” Haygan said. “Now I’m just hoping she can get more info outta Vinyl. I got the feeling there’s something she’s not comfortable telling while we’re around.”

Satisfied that the detectives were out of range, Vinyl let her tension go, reaching over to the bedside table for a small notepad and pencil as Rainbow came over, glancing around. She started writing something.

“You sure you wanna do that?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, your hands…”

Vinyl stopped writing, flipping to the next page to write something else. She showed the second page to Rainbow: Nah, it’s fine.

She flipped back and finished writing the first note. Don’t think they’d believe me. Have a feeling you will.

“Why, what happened?” Rainbow whispered. “What did this?”

Vinyl wrote another note, tearing off and handing the page to Rainbow as she wrote on the next page. Monster. Came from above. Didn’t see much. Then she showed her the next page. Black metal skeleton. White fox head.

Rainbow stopped short at the description of a robotic animal. Well, she had been pulled into the Mirror World, it made sense she could see the thing.

Seeing Rainbow’s reaction, Vinyl sighed and smiled, writing another note. Something tells me you do know what’s up.

“Well…,” Rainbow started, but Vinyl had another note ready.

Need help?

Rainbow chuckled. “No thanks. You rest up now, ya hear? We got this one.”

Vinyl gave a thumbs up. Rainbow nodded and was about to leave, but Vinyl wrote one more note. Listen for static, then look up.

“Got it.”

Gathering up the pages, Rainbow walked to the door, already thinking what array of Vents she’d use against this fox monster, but stopped as she stepped between the detectives waiting right outside.

“She didn’t see anything,” Rainbow said as casually as she could.

“Really?” Haygan asked in fake surprise. “That looked like quite the gripping conversation in there. What was all that about if she didn’t see anything?”

Rainbow silently crinkled the pages tighter into her hand. Think, think. She looked Detective Haygan in the eyes. “She wanted me to feed her cat.”

Haygan looked to Bays and sighed.

“Can I go home now?” Rainbow asked.

Haygan rubbed his temples, gesturing down the hallway. Rainbow walked away before switching to a jog.

“And back to square one,” Haygan sighed.

“So now we’re just waiting for trace?” suggested Bays.

“Yeah, nothin’ else we can do now,” he replied. “What’s the world come to these days, huh? First people in costumes and so-called invisible monsters, and now attacks like this. Weird things are happening everywhere now, even showin’ up on the force. I mean, have you seen the new guy’s car?”

Bays rolled her eyes and started down the hallway. “Here we go.”

“Bright red and black,” Haygan continued, walking after her, “front like a racecar, and it’s got an extra pair of wheels in the back that point straight up. When does he expect to use them, so he can keep driving in case he ever flips over? Does he plan on doing that very often?” Bays was already turning the corner, and Haygan sprinted to catch up, calling after her, “And what’s with that belt he always wears? It looks like there’s a face on it half the time!”

* * *

“And now to our evening report,” said the ORE newswoman. “To follow on our earlier breaking news, a high school student became the victim of an alleged attack this afternoon at the Capriole Mall.” The camera view cut to an on-scene shot of the bench in front of the window from behind a line of police tape. “Authorities report the student, who is underage and will therefore not be identified, is recovering at Canterlot General and will be released in the coming days, but refuse to elaborate as to the nature of the incident, citing an ongoing investigation. The student has also declined our requests to speak privately. Speculations are flying about a possible connection to the Armored Hero incidents that had recently died down, but no reports of any such superhero at the scene have come to light.”

“Poor Vinyl,” Fluttershy said, “I hope she ends up okay after this. Did you ever meet her?”

She and Discord were watching the news report on a TV at the school. It was the weekend, but he still had a shift so she’d decided to visit him to keep him company, despite everyone else. But Discord didn’t respond, instead staring at the screen.

“Discord?”

“What?” he said, glancing around to remember his surroundings. “Oh, yes well, no more than any other student. I saw her a few times. But anyone being affected like this is terrible.”

Fluttershy took a closer look at the image on the news. “The window, huh?”

Discord sighed. “Is it too much to project my issue with reflections onto serious situations like this?”

That’s exactly what he would say, Rainbow’s words echoed in Fluttershy’s mind. Unwelcome as those words were, they made their point. Discord did sometimes seem to almost frame their conversations around reflections, as if he was allowing—inviting her to let on more of what she knew. No, she knew Rainbow’s claims about him and the Mirror Monsters were ridiculous. Still, and she hated to admit it, but the easy leaps a suspicious mind could make of the situation were…unsettling. It was so easy to defend him when she wasn’t thinking about the dissenting opinion, but did that at all mean…

“And I thought I was the one with all the spaced out pausing,” Discord said. “Sorry for asking, it was probably insensitive. I shouldn’t be bothering you with my delusions.”

She wanted to quell his fears, but she couldn’t reveal the truth. And if Rainbow really was right…

“Maybe…there are reasons,” she said slowly, carefully, Discord looking over curiously, “to be worried about reflections.”

From his screen, the mysterious man watched their conversation unfold in a contained steaming rage.

“So,” he breathed with a hiss. “You dare try to undo all my hard work? To unravel the weaving of my masterpiece? Unforgivable.” Turning away, he took a sharp deep breath, then let it out to compose himself. The silence was broken by the sudden sound of an electrical surge and a pained static screech. “You’re getting a reprieve,” he said without turning.

Off to the other side of his dark lair, Manglethal was sprawled against the ground, its mess of limbs each stuck down by globs of a Gelnewt’s goo. A bluish silver Mirror Monster with a bulbous jellyfish head and pronged projections coming off its hands stood over it, having been administering controlled shocks for its disobedience. Manglethal’s head jerked up to look at the man, shaking slightly, a spark jumping between its teeth.

“You’re good at interference, aren’t you?”

In response, Manglethal gave a shrill howl accompanied by a static squeal, the floating screen next to the man wavering.

“Please don’t make jokes about that,” Discord said.

“No, I wasn’t,” Fluttershy said, trying to find a safe way to steer this. “I just mean…she mentioned the Armored Hero, right? Me and my friends have been…‘looking into’ what he was doing, and it in…may involve…mirrors.” Discord was giving her that kind of look you give a child spinning a fantasy as they go. But she had him on the line, she should at least try to reel in some detail. Maybe something that could get Rainbow off his case. “Yeah, it was mostly Ra—this one friend who was following the story. She remembers everything about it. How about you, do you remember what you were doing when you first heard about him? We’ve heard her story countless times.”

“Goodness, um,” he humored her, “well I wasn’t the biggest news watcher back then, so I may have missed a few of the stories. But I know I first heard about him after coming here.”

She knew he’d become janitor before they first stumbled across the Mirror World, but as for the first missing person Cavalier had admitted was connected, she wasn’t so sure. “Well, when did you start working here?”

“Oh, a good month or so ago,” he replied. “Right around the point when you’re getting the hang of it and stop counting.”

Convenient non-answer, Fluttershy though, seemingly in Rainbow’s voice. No, he had a perfectly valid reason for not having an exact answer. Bad Rainbow conspiracy theory, no food for you! “Speaking of…,” Fluttershy muttered to herself. After Rainbow found something like Vinyl’s attack, shouldn’t she have called some sort of a meeting, or a discussion at least? How come she hasn’t yet? She slid out her phone to double check.

“I’m still not too keen on doin’ things like this,” Applejack said.

“Yeah,” added Pinkie, “you told us Rarity and Fluttershy were just running late. Now it turns out you didn’t invite them at all?”

“So?” Rainbow said. Following a rather unusual request, the girls had gathered not in their normal base in Twilight’s lab, but in its Mirror World duplicate, and with several notable absentees. “They’d be impossible to convince in a divided crowd,” she explained, as if the justification was understood.

“Meanin’ we’re the easy swing votes,” Applejack said.

“A crowd being what’s divided could end up the least of your worries,” Sunset spoke up from a table off to the side. Unlike its other version, the tables weren’t lined up neatly, there was less stuff cluttered around, and the open door lacked Twilight’s fancy lock, orange evening light streaming in to partly illuminate the scene. “Aren’t you taking this a bit too far?”

“Too far is what this new monster did,” Rainbow shot back. “How are we heroes if we let this happen?”

Sunset sat up at that. “We had and still have no way of predicting monster activity, just reacting.”

“No way?” repeated Rainbow. “We know who’s behind it!”

“We have a person of interest,” Sunset reiterated, “barely even a suspect.”

“Who else could it be!?”

“Anyone!”

“Sunset’s right,” Applejack interrupted.

“You were the first one to suggest him!” Rainbow countered.

“And what are you suggestin’?” Applejack replied. Rainbow fell silent. “As us or as Riders, jus’ swooping in on someone who looks suspicious isn’t the best or the right thing to do.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie said, “if you’re so on this hero angle, then imagine the optics if you go after the wrong guy. It typically takes the whole third act to make up for that.”

Rainbow groaned. “Then we can at least look close enough to know if he is the wrong guy or not.”

“You mean if he’s the right guy or not,” Sunset said. “Being assumed innocent comes first, remember?”

“I’m sorry,” scoffed Rainbow, “I missed that lesson in Gov. and Econ. because I was thinking about a classmate who almost got their head bitten off by an invisible monster on the loose.”

“And that’s bad, I agree,” said Sunset, “but this won’t help.”

“Is this a sign of things to come?” Rainbow asked. “Monsters have been leaving people alone for over a week, now. Have we just been lucky? Is that over? Are they back with a vengeance?” The others looked between each other dolefully. “Catching monsters in the act isn’t enough, we need to stop their ringleader now, before things can go any farther. That villain had a monster straight up attack someone we see almost every day, and we,” she got caught up on a choke, “we might have known who they were. We shouldn’t have let it get this far.”

“I’m surprised it got this far, too,” said a new voice. Everyone turned to see Fluttershy standing at the mirror on the wall with crossed arms. “I thought we were a team in this.”

Rainbow stuttered to say, “L-look, Fluttershy, this—”

“No, I get it,” she dismissed. “Naïve little Fluttershy can’t be trusted as a judge of character even when she’s the only one who knows the person we’re all throwing accusations at.”

Rainbow sank to the table and buried her face.

“As fun as I’m sure this is gonna be,” Applejack said, getting up, “I got something tomorrow I gotta be ready for. Y’all know where I stand on this, I’ll expect you to have Rainbow sorted out next time we meet.” She walked over and left through the mirror without another word.

Fluttershy came over and took a seat opposite Rainbow, politely folding her hands and sitting perfectly straight. “I assume I’m allowed to sit here, as you do seem to be missing someone at the moment.” Rainbow didn’t respond.

“There’s clearly a problem here,” Pinkie piped up, crouching with her hands on the table and reach-walking them towards Rainbow, “and Pinkie Pie’s Patented Friendship Counseling Technique will be the surefire remedy to—”

“Pinkie, you can go, too,” Sunset said, eyes locked on Rainbow. “I’ve got this handled.”

“You?” Pinkie replied, immediately dropping the persona. “Well…alright, if you’re up for it.” She backed away towards the mirror, surprised but sensing someone on a mission. “See you later, then.” She backed through the mirror and vanished.

In the silence that remained, Rainbow and Fluttershy glanced around a bit. This isn’t how either of them had predicted showing up here would go.

“Alright girls,” Sunset said in an imposingly calm manner, moving over to their table, “you’re both straightening this out before we leave.” She could tell she was coming on a bit intense, and she should know the strength of their friendship by now, but she was able to tear them apart by setting them at odds just like this, and this time the conflicts were actually real. She wouldn’t risk letting this group fall apart around her, not over something like this.

Rainbow leaned away from Sunset a bit. It was that extreme attitude that had made her scary in the first place all that time ago. “First of all,” she started to Fluttershy, “you have to understand that—”

“No,” Sunset cut in, “she doesn’t have to understand. And don’t be so defensive, we’re building bridges, not walls.”

Rainbow gave a long wince, then let out a sigh. She got it. No more fronts, time to let them all the way in. Sunset being so stern actually made it easier to open up to Fluttershy instead. “I…I shouldn’t have just tackled the first theory I saw because I was angry at our lack of progress. I only saw what I wanted to see, and I can tell it made me straining to be around. It was a bad choice that led to a bad call. I’m sorry.”

Sunset turned to Fluttershy. “And is there anything you’d like to say with regard to the defense of your position?”

“You callously ignored who Discord is now,” Fluttershy answered to Rainbow. “He may or may not have started off the same as that other Discord, or however our world duplicates work, but the different things they went through changed each of them into different people. Whatever about Equestria’s Discord made you suspect him, our Discord is completely different and that didn’t deserve to be overlooked.”

“A very good point,” Sunset said in an off sort of cheerful.

“I know you want the answer before anything else bad can happen,” Fluttershy continued, “I do too, but I also know you know that jumping to conclusions isn’t how we’re gonna get it, and for briefly losing sight of that, I forgive you.”

“But that’s not the only thing you’d like her to know,” Sunset added in the same tone. “Fluttershy, if you will.” Fluttershy looked to her, then looked away and shifted nervously. “It only works if you actually say it.”

Fluttershy gave a moan, but then her own deep sigh. Even for her, this part was difficult. “I did not appreciate being left out of this secret meeting designed to undermine my position on this important issue facing the group. Rejecting my input directly to me without a thought earlier wasn’t much better, but this time it stung. However…I can’t say that I’ve been as ironclad in my confidence as I’ve been letting on, and though I still feel firmly that I’m right, I can understand the uncertainty and shouldn’t expect to have my word go without question just because I said it. That is, I’m sorry for mocking you for doubting or disagreeing with me.”

Sunset turned to Rainbow to prompt her again, but Rainbow raised a finger to her face before she could speak.

“I am also sorry if I hurt you by doubting and ignoring your judgment,” Rainbow said. “You’re a very caring and forgiving person, and sometimes it just feels like you give chances where they shouldn’t be. But, you clearly have your reasons, and though I don’t always see the same things, you still deserve to be listened to on that.”

“Thank you,” Fluttershy nodded.

The two stood up and hugged over the table. Sunset sat back and sighed to herself, hiding a smile. Crisis averted.

With nothing else pressing happening, and with plenty of time left before they’d actually need to leave, the three just hung around, finding topics new and old to discuss and laugh about as it got later.

The mysterious man was back at the pizzeria, standing in front of the open curtains to the pitch black backstage area, the type of place it enjoys so much.

“You’re on early tonight,” he said into the darkness. “It seems someone I thought I’d written out of the script has returned to the stage. See that they don’t find the spotlight, it could disrupt the performance…and the show must go on.”

From behind his back, he held out a very particular microphone. In the darkness, a pair of glowing eyes blinked on, staring at it.

* * *

Nighttime

Discord pulled his janitor cart through the dark and empty hallways of Canterlot High, an uneasy feeling floating in the air.

He normally preferred the night shift on weekends, which the school was happy to give him, because it kept him away from most people. Except for Fluttershy’s visit earlier, though, she was fine. She wasn’t ‘most people’. But something was off about this shift.

There were many types of darkness, he’d come to find out, like total black darkness, foggy gray darkness, and streetlamp yellow darkness. This was blue darkness, under the light of the moon reflecting in the windows and throughout the halls. But there was something else about it. Something.

He stopped, and the creaking of his cart’s wheels echoed out. Then a clatter. He sprung to attention.

“Fluttershy?” he called, though doubtful. “A-are you back? It’s awfully late…”

He saw a brief blur of motion out of the corner of his eye and quickly turned, seeing a large mirror on the wall and giving a small jump before steadying himself.

“Oh, heh,” he sighed. “It’s me.” His own reflections had unnerved him for a while, but he knew it had to be nothing, right? Fluttershy’s far-fetched story had put that in clear perspective. Staring right at this one…it wasn’t so bad after all. Nothing to be worried about. “It’s only me,” he repeated. He started to walk away.

“That’s right,” sneered a voice that sounded just like his own. Discord spun back, seeing his reflection suddenly with its arms crossed and wearing a cruel smile. “It’s you.”

He barely had time to gasp. The mirror rippled and his reflection was replaced with a tall brown monster that reached out of the glass at him.

Still in the mirror version of the lab, Sunset and Rainbow heard the whistling ringing. For Fluttershy, however, it felt somehow different. Some extra instinct gave her an unexplainable sense of urgency. But before the girls could pinpoint where it was coming from, the sound seemed almost to shoot through the air right past them.

“What the?” Sunset said. “You don’t think this one is—”

“It’s jumping through the Mirror Plane!” Rainbow finished.

As she reached for her Advent Deck, however, the mirror in the room warped. She looked over, but no one had arrived.

“Uh, where’s Fluttershy?” asked Sunset.

TimE 12()()FM 3rd hNtgi
Ybsh//jalaySTN// :ont*icaLoL#Lo-Lo-Lo—

Discord was pushed into the north wall of the pizzeria’s Greeting Hall, veiled in darkness with the curtains drawn shut. Standing in front of him was the imposing form of a brown humanoid bear with a small black top hat: Jawzbear. Discord was steadily realizing he couldn’t be dreaming, a deep-seated panic setting in.

“W-wh—,” he stuttered. “What do you want from me?”

The bear monster only stood there, staring at him. Glaring. Then its head gave a small shake as a scratching static sound rose up, brief shrill screeches and garbles jumping out as if tuning a radio. As the peaks settled out into a background of cleaner static, an artificial squeak emerged and expanded into the distinct sound of an ‘nnnn’, then an ‘ehhh’ before cutting out. It was…talking?

“Never forgive,” Jawzbear’s voice box crackled. “Never forget.”

Discord fumbled his hands against the wall behind him, but found nothing. Jawzbear stepped forward, and he sank to the floor, hopeless.

“Don’t close your eyes,” the bear growled. “It’s not over yet.”

Jawzbear raised its arms, Discord flinching, but the monster grabbed its own head instead. Against the straining and springing of metal components, Jawzbear tilted and twisted until it tore the brown casing off its metal skull. Then it turned the head around in its grasp and pushed the open neck hole at Discord.

He caught the head in desperation, seeing in through the hole a jungle of wires and crossbeams spanning and jutting around the inside the head with no room for his own, the body of Jawzbear visible through the eye holes. Its strength would overpower his in seconds.

“N-no, no!” Discord pleaded in the vain hope for help. “Why…?” he whimpered.
Flutter Vent

A swarm of glowing pink butterfly projectiles strafed Jawzbear’s right side, triggering a barrage of small explosions that made it recoil. A moment later, a yellow-suited Kamen Rider flew in with a kick that sent Jawzbear stumbling across the room and collapsing into the cashier counter, bringing a section of the counter with it to the floor.

“Are you okay?” asked the petite voice of the Rider, leaning down to him.

Discord blinked a few times to regain focus, but despite looking at an off-brand Armored Hero outfit, what he’d heard had been clear as day. “That can’t be…,” he started. The Rider paused. “Fluttershy?”

The Rider gave a nervous wave. “Hi,” she said. “I guess I had my own secrets to keep, too.”

Discord shook his head. “Is there still a chance I’m just dreaming?”

Fluttershy was about to respond, but the nearby wreckage shifted. Still on the ground, Jawzbear held up its head casing facing them, and the decapitated head opened its jaws and roared at them, echoing through the room.

“One thing I’ll need to admit,” Fluttershy said, “is that I’m really only brave for the first move of a confrontation before I have the chance to look around, realize what I’ve just gotten myself into, and determine that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.” She grabbed his hand. “Run!” {Burn it Out}

As Fluttershy pulled Discord to his feet and ran through the doorway deeper into the building, Jawzbear stuffed its head back on, giving a deep, slow laugh. From elsewhere in the establishment, a clunking sound accompanied the rising growl of machinery as the main generators fired up full, dim lights blinking on throughout various rooms across the premises.

Rainbow and Sunset warped into the Central Hall through an empty fire extinguisher case as Talon and Leona, immediately having Fluttershy leading Discord cut right between them.

“Whoa!” Sunset let out, backing up. “This place needs a crossing guard.”

“Is that Discord?” Rainbow asked, looking after the pair. “So wait, was he really related?”

“You think I know more?” said Sunset. “Where are they going?”

While the Riders were facing down the hall, a Jawzbear now with a slightly tattered casing silently melted out of the darkness behind them, looking over their shoulders curiously.

Sunset crossed her arms. “There’s something right behind us, isn’t there?”

“Probably,” said Rainbow.

As Jawzbear raised its arms, the two turned and grabbed onto it. It tried walking through them, but together they pulled and shoved it through the door into the now lit Main Party Room 1, lights flickering and the humming from the generator room coming from beyond the northwest corner. Crawling around on the ceiling, Manglethal ignored the figures below and tapped at an unlit bulb, an electric spark jumping from its appendage and surging the light on to burst a second later, Manglethal recoiling.

Jawzbear stumbled through the debris of tables and chairs from past nights of battles, scraping the Riders off him in the process. He shook his head and turned back to them as they pulled themselves back up. They dared to push him around? Tall and thick, his imposing presence conveyed a simple message: he does what he wants and goes where he pleases. Jawzbear let out an echoing roar, the Riders covering their ears as the light bulbs above strained before bursting one by one, bringing the room into a total, unnatural inky darkness.

Though they’d been standing feet apart, Rainbow couldn’t see Sunset anymore. A deep, slow laughing drifted around her as she tried stepping through the darkness, but no matter where she turned it never sounded closer. Then the hair on her neck raised.
Strike Vent

Rainbow spun around as Jawzbear’s open maw reached towards her head, grabbing its face with her taloned gauntlets, left hand on its chin and right hand over its right eye as it twisted its head around at unnatural angles to push closer. It pushed with a near unstoppable force, Rainbow’s feet sliding back and sparks spitting from her gauntlets’ claws, her arms straining towards giving out. Leaning over to push down, its mouth reached around her head, and while her grasp kept it from biting, its inner jaws pulled loose of the head casing and snapped inches away.

Rainbow ducked as she shoved its head to the side, kicking off its stomach and rolling back. As she sprang to her feet again, she faintly saw its shape drifting away and melting into the darkness, its deep laugh fading. As her heart and breathing calmed down, ambient light returned to the scene, streaming from under the doors to Parts and Services a few feet to the left.

Hearing a shambled scraping, she looked up to see Manglethal crawling across the ceiling. Black metal skeleton. White fox head. Exactly as Vinyl had described.

“Oh, so it was you, was it?” Rainbow called up to it. Manglethal looked down at her for a second, then scurried over to a large open square vent entrance near the ceiling on the west wall, loudly vanishing though it as its metal walls echoed. “Get back here!” Not knowing the blueprints, she didn’t know if these doors would let her follow, but she pushed through them anyway.

Back in the darkness, Sunset looked around for any sign of anything. “Rainbow?” she called. No response. She dropped a card into her lionhead slotter but left it sitting open, hand on its mane. Taking long and slow breaths, she stood perfectly still, waiting, listening.

A large pair of glowing white eyes blinked on in the darkness a short ways away as a music box began to play a chilling children’s melody. Well, it was no tune Sunset ever grew up with. Trying to ignore its attempt to intimidate her, she adjusted her footing and stared down the eyes. The eyes and music abruptly shut off mid-note, again leaving total darkness and silence. Sunset took a breath and held it, focusing on anything she could sense. Seconds passed.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Pause…

A form in the darkness began to move, Sunset snapping her slotter closed.
Attack Vent

Jawzbear rose out of the murk right in front of Sunset, starting a screech—cut off by a mirror whoosh and the red Pantheraleo lunging in and tackling Jawzbear with a roar. The humanoid lion wrestled Jawzbear away from his master, though the beast was almost a foot taller than him, and when it got its footing back, it grabbed his hand in its powerful grip and began pushing back. Pantheraleo growled as he struggled against Jawzbear’s sheer strength, but found himself slowly being overpowered, Jawzbear pushing him down to his knees as its deep laugh echoed.

Sunset looked around in the darkness, having already lost track of the dueling pair. Then an orange and yellow display flared up with a roar, flame jets spewing through the vent slits in Pantheraleo’s mane melting the shadows away and forcing Jawzbear to try shrinking away from the light. But their hands were grasping each other’s, and Pantheraleo held tight.

Jawzbear tried slipping around Pantheraleo towards the Backstage area that connected the two Party Rooms, but the Advent Beast saw its move and maneuvered to stay between them. With a screech, Jawzbear shoved Pantheraleo with its full strength to break away from its grasp and disappeared back into the darkness towards the door. Seconds later, the unnatural darkness faded away, bringing the room back into faint view.

Sunset sighed, then heard a commotion echoing through the ceiling vent. She raced over to Parts and Services.

Rainbow raced through Parts and Services and took the only door deeper, entering a large and open dark room full of humming generators. Spinning around and losing her direction while finding nothing, she remembered the advice Vinyl had given her: listen for static.

Standing still, she listened. The humming and whirring were loud and distracting, but if she listened closer…closer. The background noise fell away in her mind, revealing the hidden, garbled sound of static. Barely audible, it seemed to be coming from…right above her—

With a metallic shriek, Manglethal stretched down from the ceiling like a slinky, jaws clamping down onto Rainbow’s helmet, shrill and jumbled static screeching in her ears. She grabbed at the jaws with her gauntlets but was lifted clean of the ground, swinging around in her struggle. Desperately she jabbed and slashed at Manglethal’s face, sparks spraying, prompting it to squeal and flail, swinging her back and forth and back and throwing her across the room.

Rainbow tumbled to the ground, her gauntlets flying off and clattering away. She pushed herself back up and Manglethal immediately swung in again and rammed her in the chest with its nose, an electrical jolt jumping to her as she flew back even farther, slamming her back into a control panel on the back wall, the jolt jumping to it and powering up the panel, the lights in the room coming to life. The Generator and AC room was basically a large warehouse with bare cement walls and floor, silver pipes running along the walls, and humming machinery with gauges and dials everywhere. A pair of raised platforms ran along the side walls as balconies with guardrails.

Rubbing her head, Rainbow saw Manglethal crawling across the ceiling towards her again, quickly slotting a card—
Wing Vent

—as the monster lunged down at her, a pair of large metal wings folding around her a second before it rammed into them with a loud clang.

Manglethal examined its quarry’s new shell before dropping to the floor. It pounded with its handless limbs, battering the metal feather scales and threatening to knock them off. Inside the wings, Rainbow pushed out to hold them steady against the onslaught. If she could get off a Blast Vent, it might buy her some time. Maybe racing in alone was another bad idea. A white mechanical hand sticking off an elbow grabbed over the top of the wings.

Following the sounds of a battle, Sunset saw Manglethal pounding on a folded Wing Vent, racing up a short set of stairs onto the left balcony. Sneaking up to the monster from above, she opened her slotter and reached for her Advent Deck.

Manglethal clamped its jaws onto the edge of the outer wing, pulling back. Inside, Rainbow heard the screech of metal bending as half of her protection was pried open. Through the gap created, Manglethal’s right eye and empty left eyehole locked with her gaze.

But as something landed behind Manglethal, it let go of the wing, which folded back down as best it could, and twisted its head around with a snarl. Staring back at it was Sunset, holding up her slotter, hand on the gauntlet’s lion mane.

“Burn with me,” she said, pulling the mane.
Sun Vent

Manglethal stared as her armor began glowing red and yellow, letting out a shriek as the light flared.

A blast of light and heat peeked around the edges of Rainbow’s Wing Vent, followed by the metal clanking and scraping of Manglethal scampering over the guardrail and up the machinery into a vent. Then something rapped several times on the wings.

“Knock, knock,” came Sunset’s voice.

“Who’s there?” Rainbow replied.

“Not the creepy fox thing,” Sunset said.

“Good enough for me.”

Rainbow opened the wings and Sunset helped her up. The end of the right wing was bent outwards and wouldn’t fold back properly, so she decided to despawn the entire setup, the locking points on her back letting go as the pack gave a slight glow, shattering away as it fell into quickly fading glass shards.

“Why here again?” Cavalier asked himself, responding to the monster alarm only to find himself back in the Central Hall of the pizzeria. Then the dark hallway sunk into an even deeper darkness, the sound of deep laughing quickly approaching.
Guard Vent

He caught his shield and looked around, turning to a loud thumping sound behind him, but his shield was shoved back at him, ramming him into the wall as the deep laughing passed right by, leaving as the extra darkness faded.

If it was ignoring him, that was a bad sign. He ran after it.

Sunset was looking over one of the control screen in the generator room, which displayed a secondary map layered overtop of the pizzeria’s floor plan. Rainbow stood impatiently nearby. Sunset pressed a few buttons, mechanical whirring echoing through the open vent shaft from what sounded like several distances.

“That should do it,” said Sunset, nodding to Rainbow. “Do it now.” Rainbow slotted a card.
Blast Vent

A column of wind swirled around Rainbow’s right arm and she thrust it up at the vent, a tornado shooting off and sweeping into the duct. A series of clanks echoed out, getting fainter for a second before getting louder and louder, a harsh wail rising to accompany it as the tornado burst out of the vent again, Manglethal flying across the room and crashing onto the floor.

“Yeah?” Sunset cooed.

“I’ll admit, I had my doubts for a minute there,” Rainbow replied.

Left in the center of the room with no walls or bars to grab or climb on, Manglethal was all but trapped, its lack of a coherent limb arrangement preventing it from moving effectively on a flat surface. It scrambled awkwardly across the ground towards the doorway, its three legs tripping over each other and the other appendages it couldn’t figure what to do with before simply grabbing the cement and trying to drag itself.

After leading Discord through a random door out of the Central Hall, Fluttershy was catching her breath leaning to keep the door out of Main Party Room 2 shut. It was just bright enough to see across the room, as the lights seemed to be spending most of their output lighting up the glass bulbs themselves instead of their surroundings.

“That thing,” Discord trembled, “it came out of the reflection. That’s what you meant earlier, right?”

“Yeah,” was all Fluttershy could think to say. As she looked around the room, she noticed the hole in the left wall and how it was much darker beyond it. And how that darkness was spreading out through the hole. “Um, not to cause alarm, but we might need to move again. Now.”

But as she fumbled with the door handle, the darkness slid back into the hole, revealing a view of Pantheraleo. He turned to her, spreading his arms wide in some sort of a message. That’s when she heard a deep laugh echoing from behind the door.

“It’s back,” moaned Discord, backing away and grabbing his head. Fluttershy’s eyes shot around the room, noticing a glint in the far corner of the room, beyond the stage.

“This way,” she said, grabbing his hand again, “we can go through mirrors.” As they traversed the room, however, the sound of the door bursting open came from behind. “Keep running!”

All the lights above them began blowing out in a wave spreading across the room towards the mirror, a deep darkness sweeping up behind them. They were almost there, but the last light, right above the mirror, blew out, a pair of glowing white eyes blinking on in front of it. Fluttershy brought them to a stop as Jawzbear gave its slow deep laugh. Its jingling melody started up, and she pushed Discord backwards as the eyes moved towards them step by step. Flipping a wing sheath on her butterfly shield open, she slotted a card.
Attack Vent

The mirror behind Jawzbear warped, and it was suddenly rammed by a giant butterfly, its music cutting out. Dustwinger rose and rapidly beat its pink wings, buffeting Jawzbear as clouds of sparkling dust fell from them that ate away the deep darkness and partially illuminated the room.

“Even if it would be for Vinyl,” Rainbow said, looking around, “I don’t think Aquileo would have enough room in here. Would you do the honors?”

“Don’t think you’re the only one mad about that,” replied Sunset, holding up the red starburst card with a gold lion head emblem and slotting it.
Final Vent

Sunset’s katana flew into her hand from a flash, Pantheraleo stepping up behind her and blazing up his mane. Manglethal looked up from its failed scarper as Pantheraleo roared, a massive lion’s head of fire bursting from his flames and streaking at it. It desperately tried scrambling away and got itself tangled up.

Sunset jumped up as the lion’s mouth passed around her, the construct dragging her as her sword ignited. She swung it to draw an ‘X’ of fire in midair and shoved it forward with the blade. As Manglethal extracted its bare second head from under the second knee of its third leg, it turned to the approaching ‘X’ with a shriek, the flaming brand stamping itself over its torso and crossing several of its limbs.

The lion’s head opened its jaws wide as it reached the immobilized Manglethal, Sunset thrusting and impaling it through the center of the ‘X’, the jaws of flame clamping down on it and surging the entire head in through the wound. Manglethal sprang its head at Sunset with a hiss, its body being shredded by a fiery explosion as soon as it moved, the heat wave washing harmlessly past Sunset.

This time, Manglethal’s energy condensed immediately, floating up out of the burning spot in front of Sunset. Pantheraleo leapt at the energy ball, absorbing it on contact.

As Cavalier followed the deep laughing into the large room, he saw the thick cloud of sparkling dust spreading throughout the room. Fluttershy was trying to lead someone he didn’t recognize through it, probably a monster kidnap victim, but her own Advent Beast seemed to be accidentally hampering her efforts.

“This way!” he shouted, waving to them. As they made their was to the door, Cavalier noticed the monster and groaned.

A howling Jawzbear was swinging at Dustwinger, but after it saw Fluttershy approaching the exit, Dustwinger lifted away and sank back through the mirror. Looking through the dust, Jawzbear locked onto Discord again. Cavalier watched Jawzbear, its eyes still alight, forcefully stepping towards them through the cloud.
Arc Vent

As Fluttershy led Discord past him, he raised a golden horseshoe pointed right at Jawzbear, then drew back and threw. Meant to soften it up for the main fight, the boomerang spun through the air and hit Jawzbear’s shoulder, sparking a small explosion…which ignited the sparkling dust cloud, spreading a raging fireball across the room in a split second, the blast wave knocking an unprepared Cavalier clean through the doorway and to the floor. Luckily, he’d had his shield out already, which took the brunt of it. Sprinklers in the Central Hall were triggered by the smoke, but due to a budget maximization strategy, they had only been placed in this hall to prevent fires in the central hub of the building. Fortunately for the building, the fireball had burned itself out immediately.

Despite the brief event, the room had been scorched barren. A ball of energy floated amidst the crackling of scattered flames and flickers soon to die out. Cavalier pulled himself back up, blinking his vision straight again to see the state of the room.

“It’s time they closed this place anyway,” he muttered.

In the remaining Party Room next door, Rainbow and Sunset ran to check on the floor-shaking boom, passing by a line of balloons tied to chairs of a table. A fourth balloon now floated alongside the previous three: blue, yellow, red, and now brown.
Now it’s all burning, burying the nightmare.
Crumbling away, but the scars remain there.
Smoke’s licking the skies, crashing down to the floor.
Maybe it’s safe now? Salt the ground to be sure.

Dustwinger re-emerged from the mirror sitting against the wall, now cracked but still intact, and absorbed Jawzbear’s energy.
Salt the ground to be sure…

The mysterious man looked away from his screen as the Riders met up. His delicately planned machinations were now in utter ruins. His masterwork, his ‘Portrait of a Frightened Man’, gone forever. But with a loss as total as this, he knew he couldn’t remain mad.

“No better way to build anew,” he said begrudgingly, “than after the old has been torn away completely.” And in its place…he would create a new masterpiece. They were already so close as it was. It was time for them to meet the one behind it all.

“Mental note,” Sunset said after she and Rainbow had been filled in, “keep your power and my power away from each other.” That’s when the whistling ringing returned. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

The noise echoed from all around them before settling down in one direction: inside the scorched Party Room. The cracked mirror propped in the far corner began to warp and ripple, a black silhouette fading into view, red-on-yellow eyes glowing piercingly.

Rainbow and Sunset immediately raced in, opening their slotters in preparation, Cavalier staring for a second before following. Fluttershy stayed back with Discord, keeping him out of sight away from the doorway.

“Who’s there!” Rainbow demanded as they reached the mirror. The form within the silhouette faded in to show itself, the glowing eyes subsiding, but it still stood half in shadow from the dark room. They recognized what they saw of him. There was no doubt anymore.

The figure spoke, not to them, but at them, in a subdued but sinister tone. “I don’t need to introduce myself to something I’m going to destroy…”

“You’re right, you don’t need to,” Sunset said, stepping forward. “I know who you are. You were the only one it could be.” She pointed at him. “You’re Discord, the Spirit of Chaos.”

He did not respond immediately. “I recognize that title,” the figure said calmly, staring at them. “It is mine, but that’s not my name.” He feigned a sigh as he continued, “Oh, but I suppose I can see where your confusion stems from. That’s the name of the other me. The one from the world behind the mirrors.”

“Wait,” Rainbow cut in, “aren’t you the one from behind the mirrors?”

“But who is truly the ‘real’ them?” the figure replied. “From your reflection’s perspective, you’re the reflection.” He gave a slight, creepy chuckle. “This Spirit of Chaos is called Turmoil.”

“Alright then, Termite Motor Oil,” Rainbow continued, “you dared to show your ugly face, now get with the monologuing. Why are you doing this?”

“Why?” repeated Turmoil. “Why, revenge, of course.”

“And what did our world ever do to you?” Rainbow demanded.

“Your world?” he taunted, his voice livening up. “Your world? Oh, no, no, your world isn’t my target, it’s just in the way. There’s only one treasure in this world that I seek: the portal out.”

“How do you know about the portal?” accused Sunset.

“I had a bad experience with its twin,” Turmoil recounted. “I was thrown out of my old world, and they barricaded the door behind me, how rude. So now, I have to take the long way around, which just so happens to go right…through…you.”

“If you’re not after these worlds,” Cavalier spoke up, “then why are you still terrorizing them?”

“These worlds?” Turmoil repeated innocently. “Terrorizing? Oh, I haven’t the power to terrorize in these worlds, just…antagonize.”

“That’s what you call kidnapping the entire population?” he pressed.

“Over on this side of the portal, there was no magic,” Turmoil said, frustration in his voice rising. “I was trapped in this world, all but powerless, for longer than I care to remember. I couldn’t stand looking at it anymore—I just had to do something as I left.” He hissed a deep breath, calming again. “Now, however, the only interest I have is finding the portal’s duplicate over on your side. Although, it’s been so long since I came through that everything’s changed, and I’ve forgotten where it was. Minor issue, I’ll solve it soon,” he said, waving the air away. “Once I’m through it, however, I shall finally regain my true form, and my infinite powers will return at last!” A maniacal tone crept into his voice. “I’ll use the world I find as a testing ground of sorts, just to make sure I remember how to do everything, before moving through the mirrors again to my true prize. Oh, how I will savor the moment when it comes. The world that cast me out, at my mercy once again.” He savored the moment early for a second. “You should be thankful. Of the four connected worlds, yours is the one I have the least interest in ruining.”

“Speak for yourself,” Sunset and Cavalier said simultaneously, both stepping forward. Sunset paused, glancing over at Cavalier.

Turmoil hid a smirk, and continued with another fake sigh. “Oh, I suppose that if you’re going to get all up in a tizzy about me coming after your world, I might as well give you a one-chance pass. You leave me and my Mirror Monsters alone, make no further attempt to stop us from finding and getting through the portal once it opens again, and I promise I won’t bother you or your world anymore.”

“Only our world?” Rainbow pressed, not needing a group pause.

“But of course,” grinned Turmoil. “What more could you possibly care for?”

“Yeeeeaah, no, not happening,” Rainbow replied. “We surely won’t back down from defending our world, but neither will we leave another one defenseless.”

“Are you sure?” taunted Turmoil. “I’m sparing you. This game has no continues if you lose, so choose wisel—”

“No deal means no deal,” insisted Rainbow, “and none of us would hesitate to give the same answer over again.”

“Not for a second,” Sunset confirmed.

“Good,” Turmoil said, drumming his fingers together. “I was hoping you’d say that. I hope you’re all prepared…because you’re in for a bad time.”

Sunset wouldn’t let him steer the conversation anymore. “Why are you even telling us all of this, anyway? What could you possibly get out of revealing your plans to the enemy?”

“Oh, well aren’t you genre-savvy?” Turmoil cooed. “It’s all to see your looks of frustration turn to anger when you realize that knowing my plan gets you no closer to stopping it. I like riled-up adversaries. They don’t think as clearly as they would otherwise, and it’s always amusing to watch…them…squirm…” The mirror warped as his image faded away on his last words.

The Riders stood in silence, processing what they’d heard. Sunset turned to Cavalier.

“Care to elaborate?” she asked.

Cavalier looked away. “No comment.”

Rainbow looked back at the door where Fluttershy and Discord were surely listening from.

“Don’t say it to her,” Sunset warned as she walked by.

“What?” Rainbow replied, following. “I was almost right.”

“I-I had been hearing about what happens at the school,” Discord said, having slid to the floor, “but I never actually thought…”

“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” comforted Fluttershy.

They looked up as the others walked out the door.

“I…I only heard some of that,” Discord said to them. “W-was that my reflection? What was it doing?” He paused and looked away. “Am I responsible?”

Sunset looked to Fluttershy, who nodded.

“None of this was your fault,” she said. “It never has been.”

“Never?” he repeated. “I…then it wasn’t me. It really wasn’t.”

“No,” Fluttershy continued. “It was all a trick. You were just caught up in a villain’s plans.”

“But, but this is great,” he said, excitement starting to rise in his voice. “Ha! I’m not crazy. Does that mean this is over?” He looked back to them. “Can I clear my name and get rid of this black cloud hanging over me? Can I get my old life back?”

Fluttershy paused. This would hurt. “I’m afraid this can’t go public. The school has contained its stories well enough, but this reaches too far beyond it.”

The excitement faded from his face. “No, that was…thank you, for your best.” He turned to the opposite wall. “I feel like I need to…to go away for a while anyway. I just need to…not be here for a bit. I’m sorry, Celestia, you had such high hopes for me.”

Fluttershy put a hand on his shoulder. “It might be the safest option.”

Rainbow and Sunset walked away.

“I mean,” Rainbow whispered, “I know it’s for the best overall, but…”

Sunset sighed, leaning against the wall. “Best doesn’t mean everyone wins.”

“But was Turmoil right?” asked Rainbow. “Do we have any better chance to stop him after his speech?”

“I’m not sure,” Sunset said, “but it did clear up a lot. As for the rest of the answers, I think someone else should have our attention now.” She looked over at Cavalier.

Back in his dark base, Turmoil watched the Riders on his projected screen.

“Well, well, well,” he mused, hands crossed behind his back, “isn’t this an interesting development? Look who’s got my attention now…”

The image zoomed in on one Rider in particular.

---

Next time, on “Kamen Rider EqG”…

Silence.

Stillness.

A tall frameless glass mirror stands in a dark room, reflecting what little light hits it. Six other, identical mirrors also stand scattered around it.

—crash—

The mirror suddenly shatters, glass shards raining to the ground and splintering further. An Advent Deck falls onto the pile of broken glass.
Shattered

Comments

[raven618]

There are so many bombshells dropping I feel like I'm in London during the war. We know who the enemy is, and they are from the Equestria behind the mirror. That is information that Princess Twilight should definitely be made aware of.

And next time, vented. Please let it be Cavalier.

[Moproblems Moharmoney]

Interesting usage of the mirror world/portal world concept.