Marshmallow Dreams

by Halira

Chapter 41: Angel in the Mirror

With the three demons now sitting quietly off to the side, it was time to focus on the task at hand.

Jess stepped over to her dad and motioned me to follow. "Dad, this is Rebecca." She bent down and reached her hand through me. "She isn't here right now. She's halfway between the dream realm and the waking world. She's able to see Aunt Arbit— she's able to see and hear Aunt Tonya while like this."

I looked around. "Who is kind of absent at the moment. Hey! Arbiter! Where are ya? It's almost showtime. Oww!"

I rubbed my head where I had just been thonked by her staff. Even with me only halfway in the dream realm, that thing hurt! She was standing in her angel-partial form, right next to Jess's dad, even though he was unaware. She immediately turned her attention to looking at her brother and examining him closely.

"What was that for?" I asked, still rubbing my head.

Arbiter ignored me, but Jess's dad gave me a baffled look. "What was what for? I didn't do anything."

I shook my head. "No, your sister. She bonked me on the head with her staff thingie. Even if it is just a dream, it still feels real. She's next to you, examining you. She can only see what I can see."

Arbiter turned away from her brother and looked around the room. It was like everything was fascinating to her.

"She's here?" Jess's dad asked, almost disbelieving.

I watched Arbiter looking around the room. As I turned my head to follow her, it seemed like she was constantly being distracted by something new that came into my field of vision.

"Yeah, she's here," I answered. "I'm not sure what she's doing, though. She's just looking at everything. She's like a kid in a candy store, or me in an art gallery."

Arbiter turned from examining the creepy doll and looked at me. "I'm sorry. I just don't get to see the waking world like this. I see memories of it, impressions in dreams, seeing it again like this—even if I can't touch anything, even if I can only see what's in your field of vision, I can't describe how much I've longed for it. You aren't trapped in the dream realm, so you wouldn't understand."

She turned and looked at her brother with a blissful look on her face. "And here's Paul, as in him actually being right here, in real life. I don't know what he's thinking, and it's wonderful."

I blinked and looked at Jess's dad, Paul. "Um...okay, she's just enjoying herself. She told me once before that being dead is a miserable experience for her, and I guess she's thrilled to be seeing all this stuff and you for real again."

Arbiter nodded. "That's a very understated way of saying it. Do you mind turning around for a moment? I'd like to see my nephew and niece, and all of the demons. I can see them all in their dreams, but not like this."

I did as she requested—Arbiter just flowed with my field of vision as I turned around. Once everyone else was in my line of sight, she started examining them each in turn.

The Dreamwarden frowned at Jess and the others, seemingly musing to herself. "Hmmm, it's fascinating to see the differences between real life and how they picture themselves in their dreams. They can be minor things, but things worth noting. These are insights I normally wouldn't have. Phobia is so lucky." She shook her head. "But this isn't why I am here. I need to think like family instead of like a Dreamwarden."

"So… what's she doing now?" Robby asked as he looked around himself as if he expected to find his aunt lurking.

"I think we can begin what we intended to do," Arbiter said before I could respond to Robby. "I know you had changed how you wanted to do this. I'm not sure if your new idea will work or not, but we can try it."

I nodded to Arbiter, then turned back to Paul. "Alright, she's done with her looking around. Here's what I'm going to try. I'm going to turn into a mirror."

"You mean you'll be miming Aunt Arbiter, like you practiced," Jess clarified.

I shook my head. "No, I mean, I'll be turning into a mirror."

"A mirror-mirror, like what Arachne spends an hour posing in front of every morning?" Charlotte asked from behind me. I immediately heard her get slapped by a wing. "Well, you do! You hog the bathroom to yourself while I'm waiting to go pee! I don't know who you think you need to practice posing to impress."

"I'm practicing applying my makeup!"

"You don't have anyone to impress, and you've got a vanity mirror in our room for that!"

"It's not as big!"

"Will you two shut up!" Moony bellowed, and his voice came out far deeper and more stallion-like than before. It even made me jump, but it brought an end to the argument.

"Let me just do the thing, and we'll see if it works," I said quickly, and then immediately shifted shape and moved off to the side of the room away from everyone.

I was a wide and tall mirror, stretching as wide as one side of the room. I had eyes and my mouth up on top so I could talk, but I was reflecting everything that I saw—Paul, Jess, Robby, Nightscape, the demons, and Arbiter. It took everyone by surprise when I changed shape, but there were gasps as the others all saw Arbiter in the reflection. They turned and looked at where it was reflecting she was at, next to Paul, and back to the reflection again, and then to the empty space beside Paul again.

Paul reached out a hand to his side while looking at the reflection, trying to grasp at his sister, but it just passed through her. She was even less in the room than I was. She stepped forward and put a hand up to me to touch her reflection.

"It's almost like I'm here," she said breathlessly.

"I can't hear what she's saying!" Charlotte yelled.

"Oh," I said sheepishly. "Um, I'll try to reflect that too, somehow. This might have a slight delay and not line up with her lips."

Arbiter stepped back from me and stood beside her brother. "Can you hear me now?" Her voice echoed back from me a second behind each word. It was a little disorienting on my end, but the rest of those present probably couldn't hear anything but my echo.

Paul covered his mouth as he looked at Arbiter into me. "I can hear you. This is happening. This is really happening." He looked like he was going to cry.

Arbiter shifted shape, and she was back in her pony form. "This shape is more familiar to you. It's not my true shape anymore. I don't have a true shape, but it is one I still use sometimes." She gave a frustrated shake of her head. "I apologize if I seem off to you. Being a Dreamwarden and stuck in the dream realm—it does things to you. I feel like I lost so much of myself and had the holes stuffed with things I could never explain to anyone."

Paul tried again to grasp at his sister and failed. He looked back at the reflection in me and addressed it. "It's alright; you don't have to apologize. You've been...dead...for years. I wouldn't expect you to be the same. Even if you hadn't died, it's been so long; you were bound to change anyway."

She smiled at him. "Thank you for that. I wish Dusk were here. I never got to see him after his birth. He must be so big now as well, and already started school." My echo of her voice was still not lining up right, but I was afraid I'd mess something up if I tried to fix it. I was lucky it was working this well.

Paul smiled. "Yeah, he's getting big, and he drives his sister crazy sometimes."

"Well, he needs to learn to stay out of the garage when I have projects in progress. He could get hurt or mess something up," Jess said in an annoyed tone as she crossed her arms. She then seemed to realize she was interrupting. "Ignore me. I'll keep quiet. I'm just part of the scenery."

Paul smiled. "He does go looking for Jessie in the garage when he knows he shouldn't. He adores his sister and tries to see all the things she is doing. She's practically his hero. I keep intending to get her a large shed with a lock for her projects, but haven't gotten around to it."

Jess grimaced. "You need to hurry up and do it. It's not a little thing. Dusk could get hurt. It isn't even safe for you or mom to come in while I'm working. I need a secure space." She shook her head. "I'm just going to go check on Phobia, so I don't keep interrupting. This time is for you, not me; we can talk about the garage and shed later."

Jess walked out of the room and up the stairs. Arbiter looked sad at her leaving, which confused me. Jess had magic, so it wasn't like Jess was someone the Warden of Song never got to see.

"She's a good girl," Paul said. "I don't understand any of the stuff she works on, but I know she is doing important work."

Arbiter turned her attention back to her brother and smiled. "Yes, she has been a godsend to us all, and I know how dedicated she is. You have good reason to be proud of her. I know I'm proud to have her as my niece."

Paul rubbed his hands together. "I spent many nights hoping that I would suddenly get magic through some random happenstance, and then I would be able to see you again. Now that I can talk to you, I don't know what to talk about."

Arbiter tried reaching out to touch him, and her ethereal hand passed through him. She scowled and withdrew it, and forced her smile back to her face. "Well, I have things I wanted to tell you."

He looked at her eagerly. "What did you want to say?"

She sat down. "That I forgive you, for all the stuff that happened when we were growing up, and for not being there for me in those years leading up to ETS. I understand. I was challenging to deal with, and not someone that even family would have sought out. You had no way of knowing how much trouble I was in, and I didn't do my part to reach out to you. I want to tell you that I forgive you and love you. You're my brother, you'll always be my big brother, and I need you to know how much I care about you. You may have understood that I had forgiven you, but I needed to make sure I said it."

Paul started to cry. "What really happened that day, Tonya? What happened the day you died? I heard the official line, but I want to hear it from you. I want to know what went on in your last hours."

Arbiter steeled her expression and looked around at all present. "This doesn't leave this room. I'll know if any of you tell anyone. I'm not compelling anyone to keep it secret—I can't do that from here anyway, but I want to hear everyone promise."

There was a chorus of promises given, including mine. Arbiter looked around herself. "I know you're listening, Jessie. I know you too well; give me your promise."

"I promise," Jess's disgruntled disembodied voice replied.

The Dreamwarden nodded to herself and turned back towards her brother. "The official line isn't entirely true. Poly Glot did get out; he did set off that mist spell, and he did commit carnage throughout the facility. What he didn't do was make the facility explode; that was me, and it wasn't an accident."

Me and everyone else gasped at the admission. Paul took a few steps back from his sister. "You? Why would you— how could you… why?"

Arbiter sighed. "I had no real choice, at least not any reasonable one. Poly Glot was going to get into the Chorus room. The Chorus was something that held an unimaginable amount of magic. He was planning on doing something far worse than blowing up a city. None of you would have likely survived the long-term fallout of it, and you'd probably be driven mad early on. It wouldn't have just impacted Riverview; it would have directly affected the entire eastern half of the continent, and indirectly everywhere else. Billions would have died. I couldn't let it happen. I was the only one standing between him and that future, and I made the only choice I could."

"How did you do it?" Arachne asked.

"I'm not telling you that," Arbiter said in quick response, while laying her ears flat. "That's a secret I will keep even beyond my grave. Not all knowledge is good, and there are things out there that have no beneficial application. True evil is rare, but it exists."

"Yet, you used whatever this knowledge was for good if it stopped the bad guy from doing worse," Arachne countered, not backing down.

"That's enough, Arachne," came a soft voice from the stairs. The group turned to see Phobia Remedy, followed closely by Tempest and Jess. Luckily she was in my field of vision since I wasn't very good at turning to look right then—being a big bulky mirror. Phobia stepped into the room and looked at Arbiter. "You have me at a rare disadvantage. I'm fully awake and less aware."

Arbiter smiled back. "Hardly a disadvantage. I envy you."

Phobia gave her fellow Dreamwarden a regretful look. "And I mourn for you, and Yinyu, and Ghadab." She turned her attention back to her foals. "Arachne and Charlotte, you two need to be more respectful, especially you, Arachne. You dream of being a leader? Then you better learn not to disrespect those you want to have listening to you. Even if you aren't trying to get someone to listen to you, others can still see how you treat those around you and know your character by that. I expect better of you."

Arachne hung her head in shame. "Yes, Mom. Sorry, Mom."

Phobia then turned her attention to her son. "And you; I expect you to apologize for yelling at your sisters the way you did. I heard that from upstairs. Intimidation is only to be used as a last resort before violence, and you should never be on your last resort with those you love. Those who regularly turn to intimidation inevitably find themselves turning to force, as it's the only way to go further. That's a lesson I had to learn the hard way, and don't want you to have to learn in the same manner."

Moony hung his head. "I'll try to be better, Mom." He looked over at his sisters. "I apologize. I shouldn't have yelled like that at you."

Phobia walked forward and hugged her son. As soon as she released him, she walked over to her daughters and hugged each of them. Everyone was quiet as this went on. Even with Arbiter in the room, and even knowing how easily frightened the Warden of Fear was, Phobia Remedy still somehow had the most commanding presence. Phobia might have scolded her son about intimidating others, but she passively did precisely that to everyone around her. Although I understood that she wasn't doing it on purpose, it was merely the reputation she held, whether it was fair or not—that it wasn't done on purpose was an important distinction from those who did.

When she finished her hugging, she turned to Arbiter. "I did not interrupt merely to chastise my foals. I needed to remind you that Paul and Jessie need to sleep soon, as they have to leave early in the morning. Rebecca has also been very gracious in helping you, but she is starting her classes in the morning and needs her sleep. Your conversation had made a turn into territory best not discussed anyway."

"I am getting tired," I admitted. Holding the shape of a mirror and making the sound from Arbiter come through was much more draining than my normal projecting. "I'd be happy to do this again. It feels good helping people."

Arbiter looked disappointed but nodded. "You're right, Phobia, and thank you, Rebecca. You can also add that I'm also having to all but restrain our brother and sister from joining in, so for those reasons, we need to bring this to an end. They're only keeping out of sight out of respect, for the moment, but I think them getting involved would turn this into chaos."

"Ha, yes, it would, " Phobia replied. "Wrap this up, and perhaps you can do this again around the holidays, if Miss Riddle agrees. Perhaps we can even work out some time for Yinyu and Ghadab in the future so that they won't be chomping at the bit for their chance."

Arbiter turned back to Paul. "I guess I'll hopefully get to talk to you again in a few months and get to meet Dusk as well. I'm sorry this was so brief."

Paul was still crying. "I'll be looking forward to it. Goodbye, Tonya."

"Goodbye, big brother," Arbiter replied. Then she simply vanished.

With no reason left to be an inanimate object, I returned to my normal shape. It was a relief since the strain of maintaining that had been growing increasingly worse. I'd never felt that when projecting before, but I'd also never tried holding my shape as a mirror and trying to make all the sounds I was hearing get repeated back. I didn't immediately return to my body, but I was ready for some real sleep.

"Thank you for doing this, Rebecca," Jess said as she went and laid a hand on her dad's shoulder while he was busy wiping tears from his eyes.

Paul sniffled and looked over at me with a sad smile. "Yes, thank you very much. I know Tonya's not entirely gone, but after her death, she may as well have been for me. I couldn't even remember the last thing I said to her before it happened. This feels better."

I giggled. "Anything I can do to make things better is worth it. You don't have to thank me for that. I love seeing people happy."

"Dad?" Robby said as he stepped forward with Nightscape walking beside him. "I wanted you to meet Nightscape, the mare I intend to marry."

I watched the trio with a smile on my face until Phobia Remedy stepped over to me.

"Um… sorry about scaring you," I said as penitently as I could. "I didn't think anyone was there and didn't realize that if there was, anyone would notice me."

She took a deep breath before replying. "I forgive you for taking two years off my life. Jessie is not wrong when she says I can startle or frighten easily. I've been trying to get over that, but I might never get completely better. We'll put the incident behind us. My first thought was that one of Arachne's spiders had gotten loose again and was under me. I don't have arachnophobia, but having Goliath crawling under you can frighten anyone. He would probably send my mother—who is deathly afraid of spiders, into a panic for hours."

"I'm guessing that if it is named Goliath that it is big," I said, cringing a little.

She nodded. "Oh, yes, he is big. He also doesn't eat bugs; he eats birds."

I involuntarily shuddered. Nope, nope nope, with a cherry on top, nope!

Phobia shrugged. "Arachne keeps many spiders, but it is just Goliath that manages to get out. He's bigger and stronger than the others, and I swear he's more intelligent than a spider has a right to be. I've been tempted to contact Fluttershy in Equestria to come look at him. It may be good to contact her no matter what, since my daughter's magic at least partially resembles Fluttershy's."

"She's the nice quiet one that likes animals, right?" I asked.

Phobia nodded. "Correct. Anyway, I didn't want to waste your time discussing my daughter's abominable pet. I wanted to say that I was impressed with your usage of your powers, and that you were far better and capable with them than I expected. That mirror idea was creative, and I admit, I am intrigued about its possible future application."

I blinked. "Um, thanks. What do you mean, future application?"

The Dreamwarden looked around at the others then leaned forward to whisper to me. "If you were to get a particular job perhaps, I think that your ability that you displayed today might become even better, and gives us a way of safely and effectively communicate and make appearances where we couldn't before. Allowing Arbiter, Yinyu, and Ghadab the ability to address waking world authorities directly, and allowing the rest of us to meet with those same authorities without needing to travel, which is always a safety concern."

I frowned at her. "I'd have to travel still. I don't have an unlimited range. I would need to at least be in the same metro area, and I'm still not sure how much a crystal pony can hurt me. "

She waved it off. "The OMMR would cover your travel expenses. You'd probably get paid a higher salary than me. I also think that what Crystal did to you today is likely the extent of what they can do to you, although we will have someone run some tests."

"I'll think about it. It isn't a requirement that I do that, right?" I asked. I wasn't eager to have crystal ponies testing their magic sucking powers on me.

"No, it is not," she replied with a shake of her head. "Although your willingness to do so might factor into other decision-making processes."

Her meaning was clear. If I was unwilling to use my powers as she wanted, she might vote against me becoming a Dreamwarden. In principle, I had no objection to it. Still, I worried that I wouldn't be able to work as an architect if I was busy traveling around acting as a meeting service between Dreamwardens and average non-magical humans. That was asking me to give up my goals and aspirations to just act as a go-between for others.

"We can talk about this some other time, in greater privacy," Phobia said as I was still wondering how to respond. "Go back to your body and get some sleep, and good luck with your first day of class tomorrow."

I let myself smile again. "Yep, going to be exciting! Have a good night, and watch out for giant spiders."

I saw Phobia Remedy nervously looking underneath herself just before I let my projection go.

Comments

[badninja]

That mirror would be very helpful. I wonder what will be the tipping point for Rebecca into the decision into becoming a dream warden?

[Starlight Nova]

If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?

[Halira]

10533826
Not the same personality, but the same voice. Here is about what Rebecca's voice should sound like.

[Halira]

10533826
Don't have many other specific voices in mind, but my editors say they imagine Jess's voice to be like this: