Chapter 10-4: Translucent Reflections
The panic that had rocked the Crystal Empire had died down after the invading army of Another Riders was driven off. And while the city and its citizens were safe, there was no rejoicing amongst the heroes who had prevented the attack.
Tsukasa had taken Thorax with him to parts unknown, aiming to help him get his new Amazon powers under control. Anton, who had discovered a horrifying truth about his homeworld’s demise, had become overwhelmed by rage. Lyra and Bon Bon had to keep him from leaving his room so his wounds would properly heal. Starlight Glimmer, who could barely process the weight of her own sins, isolated herself in a guest room, not coming out for anything.
And of course, Tom Decade and Twilight Sparkle…two who seek the courage to love each other. Who are held back by their own perceptions of themselves and each other.
—-------
Today was not a good day for Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, known to her close friends and family as Cadence.
As the princess of love, her innate powers allowed her to feel all sorts of different types of love and attraction, but in different ways. Feelings of insecurity in love, however, were actually unpleasant to her, hence her drive to try to fix them.
And right now, the amount of that she was feeling gave her the sensation of a migraine, hangover and ice cream headache combined.
“Ugh…” The pained princess rubbed her temples. “I’ve got to help them…if not for their sake, then for my brain’s…”
“Cady? You okay?” Shining Armor walked in, with Flurry sleeping peacefully in a harness around his abdomen.
“Shiny…” She whimpered a bit. “It’s just too much…they’re all hurting, I can feel it.”
The former Guard captain merely embraced his wife, the love he felt for her soaking into her weary mind and giving her reprieve from her pain.
“Ahhh…” Cadence sighed with relief. “Thank you, Shiny. I needed that,” She gave her husband a smooch on the cheek. “Now, time to do what I do best.”
“Um…” Shining Armor became nervous, considering his wife had taken an unusually strong interest in his sister’s relationships recently, and she could be overzealous when it came to her “duty”.
“Shiny, please…I can tell how much they’re hurting over this,” Cadence pleaded. The former guard captain simply couldn’t remain strong in the face of his beloved wife, but steeled his reason.
“I think maybe we should broach the subject with the princesses- at least in Twilight’s case, all things considered. Dunno about Tom though,” He commented.
“Maybe Aunt Luna? She does specialize in dreams, after all,” Cadence pondered. “I guess we could go ask them.
The couple nodded and started making their way to the meeting hall, hoping they could find some help.
—---------
“I told you, I’m fine,” Anton grumbled. “So can you take these things off me!?”
Due to his previous outbursts, Anton was currently in a series of medical restraints until he was cleared by doctors.
“No can do, Tony,” Lyra chided. “Especially since the doctor said you need to stay in bed!” A look of frustrated concern was covering her face. “And you still have a lot of explaining to do, mister!”
“A LOT of explaining,” Bon Bon chimed in, as she was sitting across the room, reading a tabloid. “Like why you turned into a raving lunatic when you saw King Sombra, for starters.”
“And who’s this ‘Biwa’ anyway!?” Lyra exclaimed. Anton twitched at the mention of the name.
“Biwa is…was…a friend of mine,” Anton sighed. “...you remind me of her. That’s all.” Lyra just frowned.
“Tony…please tell us the whole story.” Lyra pleaded. “Even if you think it won’t do any good, or if you think it’s none of our business, please…”
Anton sighed. “...I guess there’s no reason not to,” But he looked at both of them sternly.
“What I am about to say does NOT leave this room under ANY circumstances unless I say otherwise!” He commanded. Lyra and Bon Bon just nodded their heads…
—----------
Twilight laid on top of her guest bed, sighing. She had finally confessed her feelings for Tom! Not only that, but Tom reciprocated! So why doesn’t she feel happy?
“I just don’t get it…” The confused pony just rolled onto her side. “What am I doing wrong?”
Just then, there was a knock at her door.
“Twilight? It’s me,” Princess Celestia’s voice came from the other side. “May I come in?”
Twilight bolted out of bed and quickly answered the door.
“Of course you can! Why wouldn’t you? I mean, you are the princess after all! Well, not of the Crystal Empire, but-”
“There’s still a door between us, my faithful student,” Celestia chimed in, snapping Twilight out of her rant.
“Right, sorry…” She said embarrassed as she opened the door. The princess walked in, and gently hugged her student.
“I’m glad you’re alright, my faithful student.” She said, “But the monsters aren’t what I’m here to talk with you about.” She went and sat on the bed, and patted at her side to get Twilight to sit next to her. Twilight simply walked over and sat without any hesitation.
“Tell me, Twilight- you and Tom…” The princess started, already noting the blush on her student’s face.
“What!?” Twilight just buried her face in her hands. “Don’t tell me…you heard me too…”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Twilight.” Celestia reassured her student. “You are a young mare, after all.”
Twilight just squeaked in embarrassment.
“It’s just…I don’t know if I can be in a relationship…” The young alicorn muttered sadly. The solar princess was curious.
“What makes you say that?” She asked calmly.
“I’m supposed to be a princess… and he’s a hero who fights monsters… we have responsibilities to a lot of others… wouldn’t a relationship get in the way of those?” Twilight asked, sniffling a bit.
Celestia chuckled a bit. Twilight was confused…was her mentor laughing at her?
“What’s so funny?” She asked, pouting a bit.
“I’m sorry…I didn’t notice that you really have matured into a fine princess.” She commented. “I went through something very similar a long time ago.”
“You did?” Twilight asked.
“Yes…I fell in love with the most wonderful kind of man.” Celestia started.
“Wait, ‘man’? Not ‘stallion’?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes…it was when we first used Star Swirl’s mirror…I ended up in a human dimension.” The princess explained. “And it was there that I met him. My beloved.” The princess sighed longingly, pulling out a small gold trinket that looked like some sort of ancient letter.
“But…he is no longer with us…yet he will always be in my heart.” Celestia finished.
“So, you mean…” Twilight started.
“It’s the reason I never sought any more romantic partners after. Because for all this time, my heart still belongs to him.”
“I…see…” Twilight sighed a bit herself.
“But that is exactly the lesson I want to impart on you, my faithful student- you love Tom. And he loves you too, by the sound of it. And if it’s meant to be, you two can make a relationship work.”
“But…” Twilight stammered.
“Twilight, listen to me. Don’t let love pass you by. If you really want to be with him, then you should.” Celestia replied.
“...do you really think I can do it?” Twilight asked nervously.
“Trust me, Twilight- you’ve overcome many difficulties in both your duties and your own life. You can do this.”
“...alright, Princess…I’ll try.” Twilight said, slowly gaining confidence. “Thank you.”
The solar alicorn gave her student one more hug as she got up to leave.
“Oh, and one more thing…I want grandkids.” The princess said teasingly.
—---------
The space between the physical plane and the aetherial space was one Princess Luna frequented. As part of her duties, she would find the dreams of those in need and either offer guidance, support, or removal of nightmares.
This time, her trip was of the highest priority- speaking to the sleeping Tom Decade about what had happened earlier. She looked for the dreams that the young hero was having while he rested to recover from his hard-won battle.
“Ah yes…there he is.” Luna nodded. Compared to the last time she had visited his dreams, the bubble looked much more peaceful. She casually strolled towards the bubble, and with a small zap from her horn, entered the dream…
This time, the dream seemed to be taking place in a large city, akin to Manehattan but with more urban sprawl.
“Hmm…unusual he would dream of a city…but where is he?” She looked around, only to see a large, menacing fleet of flying machines descending!
“PEOPLE OF THIS PLANET! I AM EMPEROR BADGUY, SUPREME LEADER OF THE BADGUY EMPIRE! TREMBLE IN FEAR AT MY GENERIC VILLAIN MONOLOGUE!”
The strange ships halted in the air for some reason, as if to hype up dramatic tension…
“Halt, Badguy! We will not allow your evildoing!” Luna heard Tom yell out, but then saw five beings jump out- they looked like versions of Tom’s armor in different colors!
“The Overpowered Leader! Red Rider!” The first one, primarily red, was announced, followed by the others.
“The Edgy Loner! Blue Rider!”
“The Dorky Comic Relief! Green Rider!”
“The Out-Of-Focus Big Guy! Yellow Rider!”
“The Token Girl! Pink Rider!”
“Five Riders Assembled! Rider Sentai Zi-Oger!” They announced it as one.
Luna just stood there for a moment, trying to comprehend what she was looking at. She remembered she had seen many foals reading what they called ‘comic books’, and this looked to be something right out of one. As she was considering her next move, the red colored Rider noticed her standing there.
“Princess Luna?” The Rider asked. It was Tom’s voice coming from him. “Ah…so this is a dream.” Everything save for the team of Riders seemed to stop.
“Take five, you guys, I’ve got a guest.” Red Rider…erm, Tom said as he disengaged his transformation, the other four disengaging to be variants of Tom…except for Pink Rider who looked oddly like a human version of Twilight Sparkle. They went over to a random group of trailers and each entered one.
Luna didn’t seem fazed by this though, she was more than familiar with the nature of dreams.
“Well, this dream…tis much more cheerful than last we visited, invaders notwithstanding.” Luna chuckled.
“Hey, being a Rider isn’t all doom and gloom…” Tom replied. “So, what brings you to my brain today?”
“Well, we wished to talk with you regarding what happened today.” Luna started. “My sister and I both have questions we hope you can answer.”
“Go ahead,” Tom shrugged. “But first, I’d like to make things a bit more comfy,” As Tom spoke, a small cafe table appeared, and the two took a seat, drinks appearing before them- a cup of tea for Luna, and a soda for Tom.
“So, are you interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with Miss Sparkle?” Luna asked as Tom took a swig of soda, causing him to cough and sending the soda out his nose.
“*cough* WHAT!?” Tom was bowled over by the bluntness of the princess’s question. “W-where did that come from!?”
“DO NOT LIE!” Luna shouted. “We know you and Twilight Sparkle share strong romantic feelings for each other!”
“Agh…” Tom groaned in a combination of frustration and physical agony. “Alright…yeah, I like her. But she’s a princess! I’m just a guy from another world who kicks monsters in the face until they explode! What would our friends think? Her family? The rest of the country!? I care about her a lot, but if others will try to hurt her because of how I feel-” Tom ranted but was stopped by Luna holding a finger to his mouth.
“The most painful fights are the ones we wage in our own hearts.” Luna said gently. “My sister can tell you that much.” She sighed. “I strongly urge you to go to Miss Sparkle. Convey your feelings.”
Tom thought this over. There were a LOT of dimensions to consider, but…he needed to make a choice.
“Alright, Princess…I’ll talk to her first thing.” Tom replied, his voice filled with conviction.
“Most excellent!” Luna cheered. “We are glad you have found your courage, young Tom.”
“Thanks…” Tom replied.
“We must go now, but we shall see you again in the waking world.” Luna said as she opened a portal out of the dream.
“Right…thanks again.” Tom said.
“If you truly want to thank us, we very much desire grandchildren to spoil.” She teasingly said as she walked through the portal.
“Wait, WHA-” Tom started but the closing of the portal cut him off. Luna merely giggled to herself.
“This must be what our niece experiences on a regular basis.”
—---------
A few hours passed, and Tom was up again, and walking around. He decided to search for Twilight- Princess Luna was right, he needed to say something!
He walked around the castle for a bit until he spotted Twilight sitting on a chair, staring out a window.
“Uh…hi.” Tom stammered, and Twilight yelped a bit.
“Oh! Um…fancy meeting you here…” Twilight mumbled.
“Er…” Tom was nervously rubbing the back of his head. “Sooo…”
“Yeah, um…” Twilight wasn’t much better.
“Right now, the courage that I have to stand up to monsters…please let me have some for this!” Tom thought to himself, as he breathed in.
“Twilight, I…do you remember when I first appeared here?” Tom started. “When I was panicking, you acted with kindness and calmed me down. And when others in Ponyville began casting doubts on me, you stood up for me. You…you mean a lot to me.”
“I guess…that’s the same with me.” Twilight replied. “You’ve been risking yourselves for our sakes, standing up against the Another Riders. None of us could really do anything against them, but you stood up to them and protected us…I like you a lot, Tom…more than I would a friend.”
“So…should we give it a shot?” Tom asked. “Being a…couple.”
Twilight smiled bashfully. “I’d like that.”
Tom and Twilight reached out and started holding hands, as fireworks started going off outside…to the pair’s bewilderment. They looked around and saw a familiar tuft of pink sticking out of a large vase nearby.
“Pinkie Pie…” Twilight said in a scolding tone. “Were you eavesdropping?”
“Yipes! I’ve been compromised!” Pinkie yelped as she jumped out of the jar. She was holding what appeared to be a primitive walkie-talkie. “Come in! Position has been compromised!”
Elsewhere, Princess Cadence was positioned near a bunch of now-emptied firework launchers. “Mission is a success, you may drop cover.” She said through another walkie-talkie. Rarity approached and the two high-fived at the success.
—--------
Cozy Glow walked down the corridors of her home. She was a bit confused.
“Daddy’s work friends all came back…and they were scared.” She said to herself, but overheard the adults talking.
“...of course we weren’t going to engage him!” Sombra yelled. “He said it himself- under no circumstances are we to engage Decade directly!”
“Oh come on! He’s just some dimension-hopping bum now!” Discord yelled back. “With the three of us-”
“Enough.” Sombra interrupted. “These were orders from the boss himself. If you wish to complain, you can complain to him.” Discord blanched at the thought.
“Well…maybe we could figure out a more fun way to do things.” Discord said nervously.
At that, Cozy decided she knew what she had to do next. She marched down to the hall where her daddy’s office was, and knocked.
“Daddy? May I come in?” Cozy asked.
“Of course, pumpkin- let me get the door.” The man who Cozy now called daddy said sweetly. She heard the noise of several deadbolts being shifted. The door opened.
“Daddy!” Cozy cheerfully ran into her “daddy’s” arms.
“It’s good to see you too, sweetie.” “Daddy” said. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, your work friends came back, and I heard them talking…Daddy, who’s Decade?” Cozy said. At the mention of Decade, the man’s eye twitched.
“Where did you hear that name?” The man asked, his voice becoming gravely serious.
“T-the others were saying something about not engaging him…they sounded scared too. Daddy, is Decade a bad guy?”
“The worst guy, sweetie…” The adult man started. “He goes around to different worlds and destroys them! Everything there…everything that ever is, was or will be in that world…gone.”
“I-is that true?” Cozy shook.
“But don’t worry- as long as I’m here, Decade will never hurt you.” The man said to his adoptive daughter.
“O-ok…” Cozy stammered.
“I’ve got some more work to do, why don’t you go and find your mum?” The man suggested.
“Okay!” Cozy said as she walked out the door. The man shut it behind her and then began to grow enraged.
“Decade…of course it’s you again…this time, I’ll make sure I put an end to you! Damn you, Decade! DAMN YOU!”
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That Super Sentai bit was hilarious.
Ah shut up, Narutaki!
I didn't know that Lyra gave Anton his nickname. Do you think he likes that?
11491631
Knowing him...probably not. But he's kind of grumpy by default anyway, so it's kind of hard to tell.
11491632
Well he better get used to it since he's slowly growing attached to Lyra and Bonnie, mainly the former since he said that she reminds him of Biwa. And after the special that involves Geiz, I hope Tom and the others will help Starlight soon.
Narutaki's here as well, eh? Well...not saying I was expecting this, I'll say that now.
11492098
Well only the real Narutaki would say that to Decade. He's a troll.
Not going to lie I like the old version of this story before the rewrite but this new draft is just as good as the old one heck both story could been they own sad alone story keep up the amazing story
Ancient letter? I wonder who?
Oh fucking hell, Narutaki.
Damn!
The sentai bit made me LOL, not only is it spot on but it also definitely sounds like something someone in a rider based world would do to make fun of their multi-colored sister series.
sooo... wuten's reading this story now. and im happy about that
11617699
I commissioned him to read a couple chapters, since it takes me a while to produce new ones.
Figured I'd try to give you guys something to fill the time.