Andrea took a deep breath and knocked on her parents' door at the hotel. It took them a moment or two to answer, but eventually, it opened, revealing her dad.

He looked up at her and grinned. "Still getting used to you running around o-natural. You'd think the hard part would be that you are naked and human-ish up above, but the real hard part is having to stare upwards all the time. I have a lot more sympathy for ponies now. What can I do for you, hun?"

She rolled her eyes and gestured down the hall. "I'm guessing Char isn't getting up before noon with the hangover she will have, and Empathy will take care of her if she wakes up earlier than that. I wondered if you and Mom wanted to come have breakfast with me…and Amicus."

Her dad paled slightly at the mention of Amicus. "I…I don't know. I'm not sure how your mother will react, either."

"It isn't going to get any easier putting it off longer, and Amicus isn't going to pull herself out of deep depression by being neglected," Andrea reminded him. "I know we're all hurting, but she's got less time than the rest of us to recover. Empathy's right; ignoring her is just hurtful. We've been with her for twelve years, so she's not just the other Kristin; she's our Kristin, too, the only one we have left. We need to show her we love her."

Her dad frowned and looked down so she couldn't see his face. "It's hard…knowing that the Kristin we knew will never get to experience as much as Amicus or live the full life Amicus has. We look at Amicus, and that's what we see."

Andrea put a hand on her dad's shoulder. "I understand, but Mom still technically gave birth to Amicus, and Amicus and Kristin share the first eight years of their life and much of their personalities. We need to be better towards her. No one said family was easy, and our family is about as weird as it gets, but she's family."

He chuckled. "When'd you turn into the wiser adult?"

"When I realized I needed to take care of what family I had left. We've lost a lot. I don't want to lose more," Andrea whispered, just loud enough to hear.

He nodded. "Your mother and I will be down in a bit. I'm going to need to talk her into it. You go ahead and get Amicus and wait for us in the lobby."

"Okay, see you down there soon," Andrea said, grateful that he had agreed. He would be able to convince her mom to come down. She'd listen to him.

As the door shut, she turned and saw Empathy watching her from Charlotte's doorway. The little bugger really needed to get his own room.

"You're going to help Miss Ami?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to spend some time with her, but I need you to stay here. Charlotte will probably feel awful when she wakes up…or did she already wake up?"

"She's asleep, but she woke up three times last night to go to the bathroom," Empathy said with a shiver.

What was with him and bathrooms? Andrea didn't understand. "Well, that's good, I guess. She will probably feel bad and be grumpy, so don't take it personally if she gets a little snappy. She's just uncomfortable."

He nodded. "Okay. Are you going to take Miss Sunset, too? She's Miss Ami's sister."

Andrea sighed. "I'll check to see if she wants to come, but I think she spent time with Amicus before she went to bed. I'll still check. You just worry about Charlotte for today."

"I will help Miss Charlotte feel better!"

"You can try. Make sure she eats and drinks plenty of water once she wakes up," Andrea instructed.

He saluted, using both his hand and trunk. "Yes, Miss Andrea." He then retreated into the room and shut the door.

"Guess I'm checking on Sunset first," Andrea said as she turned and went to Sunset's door. She knocked a few times and waited. When she didn't get a response, she went to strike again, but her fist connected with air as the old unicorn opened the door.

Sunset looked up at Andrea's fist. There was red irritation around her orange pupils. "What can I do for you?"

"Have you been crying?" Andrea asked with concern as she looked at the unicorn.

Sunset frowned. "Did you hear?"

Andrea shook her head.

"Then don't assume anything," Sunset replied. "What do you need?"

"Pleasant as always," Andrea muttered before forcing herself to smile. "I'm getting Mom and Dad to go out for breakfast with Amicus and me. I wanted to know if you want to come along? You know…get the whole family together. Charlotte wouldn't be there. since she's hungover, but not really, since you'd be there."

"Let's not get in the habit of thinking there's a spare Charlotte," Sunset said dryly.

Andrea stepped back quickly. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then consider the implications of what you are saying more," Sunset said just as dryly as before. "To answer your question. I am unavailable today because I have a lot of work to do making sure you, Charlotte, Phobia, Josie, and I suppose even Sapphire are safe. I hope you have a fun day."

She closed the door before Andrea could ask any questions. That was a very odd combination of people to lump together. Josie and Sapphire? Andrea hadn't seen the two of them in ages. What was Sunset up to? Probably nothing good, but there was no dragging information out of her. The unicorn had left her those names to brood on, and had done it deliberately. That would nag at her all day.

Last door to go to was Amicus.

It didn't take Amicus long at all to answer the door, which was surprising. However, Amicus seemed like she had been expecting someone else because she was looked shocked to see Andrea.

Amicus's ears flattened. "Is everything alright? Are you coming to tell me something else bad has happened?"

"What? No!" Andrea responded in confusion. "I came to invite you to breakfast with me, Mom, and Dad."

Amicus stepped back and partially closed the door. "I couldn't. I don't want to be a bother to anyone."

"You aren't a bother. You are family. We care about you and want to spend time with you," Andrea assured the old earth pony. Amicus looked a little odd without her glasses. She hadn't worn them since the day the bears attacked.

"Your parents can't stand to be around me," Amicus said, looking away.

Andrea sighed. "They need to get over that, and today is going to be the first step in that. They don't hate you. I know it might be a little awkward at first, but once you guys get to talking, it should smooth out."

"Did Sunset put you up to this?" Amicus asked in a suspicious tone.

Andrea shook her head. "No, it was Empathy. He is worried enough about you and the rest of us that he actually gave us a firm talking to. Can you believe it? I didn't think that elephant had it in him to chew us out."

Amicus blinked and looked around, then put on a tight smile. "Little Charlotte got drunk? Well, I suppose she isn't that little anymore. I think the first time Sunset was drunk was not too long after turning eighteen, right after starting college. So, Charlotte isn't that much younger than Sunset was when she first did, maybe a few months younger. It's a shame that the three of you all had to be held back a year of school due to everything that went on when you first arrived."

Andrea's eyes narrowed. "You do know something, don't you?"

The old earth pony looked increasingly uncomfortable. "I don't know if I should say anything. I keep my sister's secrets."

"Why are you so loyal to her?" Amicus asked in frustration. "Me and Charlotte had to keep close to her due to our circumstances, but I never understood why you and Andri stook around. She is not your responsibility, and being near her is a danger. She isn't even nice!"

Amicus nervously chewed on her lip. "How about this; if you drop asking me about what she's currently up to until when she is ready to reveal it, I will do to your breakfast, and I'll explain why I decided to stick around, even when I wouldn't let my foals normally come near her, and even though I was terrified the whole time."

Dropping the subject wasn't something Andrea wanted to do. Still, this get-together was about Amicus, and Amicus had even provided something to keep herself talking, something that didn't tread on subjects like Kristin's death. Plus, Andrea really was curious about why nice old Amicus stuck to nasty old Sunset. Family was great, and all, but Sunset was toxic.

"Deal," Andrea agreed. "Let's go wait in the lobby."

Amicus looked her up and down. "If we are going out to eat, you might want to go as a pony. You're a little too large, even standing, for the tables at most restaurants."

Andrea looked up and down the hallway to ensure no one was about to see her. Once she saw it was clear, she adjusted her earnings and shifted to crystal pony form.

"I could swear I'm looking at her when I see you," Amicus whispered, tearing up. "You know, she changed the least after becoming a pony, which could be because she was a crystal. We all treated the crystals with so much suspicion early on that they never felt like they were included with the rest of us ponies. I'm ashamed to say I was guilty of that too. Anyway, she lived a full life, and she was in a lot of pain towards the end, so I'm not as sad about her as I am about the others. It was her time, and she's at peace, but I still miss her."

Andrea half-smiled. "Well, you still have me. I'll be your younger big sister if you'll be my older little sister. Not to try to replace what we lost, but to treasure what we still have."

Amicus smiled as she walked forward and hugged Andrea. "I think I'd like that.

An affluent-looking woman and man sat at a cafe in Marquette, Michigan, sipping coffee and waiting for their salads to arrive. There weren't any other customers at the moment. This was a tiny mom-and-pop place tucked off the main road, and it was between meal rushes. They hadn't been there too long, as their expected guests were known for being fast.

The woman glanced at her husband over the edge of her coffee and then looked down disapprovingly at his shirt.

"Dear, you are dribbling coffee on yourself," she lightly scolded.

He sat his cup down and pulled at his shirt to look at it. "Sorry, this mouth is odd. I don't know how humans drink like this."

She glanced towards the front and was relieved to see the person watching it hadn't overheard that comment.

"Careful what you say," she reminded him. "Don't want to blow our cover."

He glanced the same way she had and nodded. "Will do. I do have to say it is kinda nice not having to worry about being recognized. We need to thank Luster for these necklaces. She was able to reproduce the preacher's work exceptionally. Do you think we can make a quick stop while heading back through Detroit?"

"What's in Detroit?" the woman asked.

"Um, comic book convention," he responded shyly.

She rolled her eyes and giggled. "I should have known. I'm not sure that will be a quick stop with you, but we can do it. We have time before we are due home, and this meeting is the only thing on my schedule today. Thank goodness Spike isn't here; otherwise, the two of you would bankrupt the royal treasury at that convention."

"Cadence, have some faith!" he mock protested.

"I have faith in your love of comic books," she said with a smirk. "You love our daughter and me equally, then your sister, then them. It's okay, though. You at least have your priorities in order, and all your love should be allowed to be expressed. What's your prey today? I know you are normally on the lookout for some issue."

"Fourth variant cover of the second issue of the Avengers versus Power Ponies mini-series, preferably signed by the artist."

She frowned. "I thought you already had all the variant covers of every issue in that series."

He grinned broadly. "You know, this is why I'm the luckiest husband in either world. Even though my hobbies aren't your thing, you still pay close attention."

"Helps to know when shopping for gifts I know you'll like," she said off-handedly. "So what happened? I know you had that issue."

"It's one that got caught in my temper when I found out that poor stallion deflowered our daughter– before we found out she accidentally broke his…you know." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Human or pony, males had such weak constitutions when discussing injuries to that area.

She laughed. "At least that incident brought an abrupt end to her considering trying to be the Princess of Lust. I'm glad that was a very brief stage. I feel bad for that stallion, though. Some mares are too much to handle. I'm blessed I have someone who can handle me, but I feel bad for our daughter. I think that has made her put herself into forced abstinence. She's missing out on a beautiful expression of love."

"She'll find someone who can deal with her that's a good fit and pounce, eventually. Ponies have desires. It's natural," her husband said with confidence.

She hoped so. "Speaking of which, these necklaces allow us to try out new things tonight. I read up on all the positions that we normally would never be able to manage. I even consulted with Yinyu Wu Yan last time I was here, anticipating it."

"None of that dominatrix stuff, right?" he asked worriedly.

She sat her cup down and put a hand on his. "You know I'm not going to do anything in the bedroom you aren't comfortable with. After the one time, I know that makes you exceedingly uncomfortable, and I would never push you to try it again. There's plenty of other things for us to do."

A pale but muscular-looking raven-haired woman suddenly sat down next to them. "Well, I arrived to hear the wrong conversation."

The woman at the counter looked up with a start at the new arrival, looked at the door to the shop, and back at the before hurrying over to take her order.

"Sorry, miss. I didn't hear the door. Normally I'm right on top of it whenever the door opens," the employee said apologetically. It wasn't a lapse. The door had never opened.

The raven-haired woman grinned at her. "It's okay. Doors and I don't get along much. Um…they might need to order for me. I don't have any money."

Cadence smiled. "Just a small house salad with light vinaigrette dressing and a glass of skim milk for her. We should have another guest arriving soon, a pony. You can have the chef prepare the same for the other guest now so it will be ready."

The server nodded. "Be back in just a minute with your drinks. He should be about done with the grommet salads."

The raven-haired woman gave them a dirty look as the server walked away. "You're lucky I can't eat. Skim milk?! Such an abomination!"

"Just poking some fun at you, Rebecca. I'd never have ordered that if you were here in the flesh and not just projecting," Cadence said with a smile. "By the way, I like the look."

"It's supposedly what I would look like if I were human," Rebecca replied. "I tried on the preacher's necklace years ago and got something close to this. Black hair would never fly with me normally, I prefer my happy blonde, but it works well with this form."

Cadence nodded. "So, is Josie going to agree to the mission?"

"Yeah, Josie didn't believe me there were real care bears at first, but once I convinced her I was serious, she agreed. I didn't mention who Charlotte is connected to. I was afraid that might scare her off. She is eager to work with you, though."

Cadence sighed. "We're going to have to tell them all eventually. If we're going to be a team, we shouldn't keep big secrets like that. It sews distrust."

Rebecca shrugged. "Force of habit, I guess. It comes with the job. You just keep Miss Nightmares safe; I'm planning on retiring in the next few years if things go well, and I want the opportunity to see her again. By the way, you should know, the Storyteller, the big one, went and told the story of the origin of the nasty death robots. She did imply they'd be here soon."

"The six of you have been vaguely implying that for some time; what's the problem?" Cadence asked in confusion.

"The origin part," Rebecca fretted. "There was this person… one like me…from a long time ago that kinda-sorta helped unleash them on the universe. I'm worried about the fallout of people learning that."

"That is what I meant about the damage of keeping secrets," Cadence said with a frown. "I had already suspected. All of you seemed far too versed in how they are constructed not to raise suspicion."

"Yinyu and Arbiter are also worried about how the story might impact Luna," Rebecca said slowly. "There are some parallels between her and Joss. Yinyu and Arbiter think it could be hurtful to her. The rest of us aren't as worried. Luna's a big girl; we think she can take it, but Arbiter wants you to pass her concerns onto Celestia, so I'm letting you know."

"I'll let the others know. Sadly, her big sister isn't always the most aware of what's going on in her head. It's caused trouble before," Cadence said, wondering if it was something to be concerned about or not. This was not the time for Luna to have an emotional breakdown and doubt her worth.

The conversation paused as the server came towards them with a cart loaded with two large salads, two smaller salads, two mugs of milk, and a coffee pot. She quickly sat out the salads and mugs before refilling the cups of coffee.

"Sorry about the delay; I wanted to bring it out all at once. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Do you have any chocolate cake?" Rebecca asked.

The woman smiled. "Yes, we do! I'll bring a slice out when you are finishing your meal." She then turned her cart and walked away.

"You can't even eat anything when projecting," Shining Armor said.

"Yeah, but I can dream," Rebecca said wistfully. "Surprised Cadence didn't order any chocolate pudding."

Cadence quickly grabbed the menu. "They have chocolate pudding?!"

"Yeppers. I spotted it on the menu out of the corner of my eye," Rebecca chuckled.

Shining Armor shook his head. "You have no idea what you just unleashed on these poor people."

Cadence was already standing up and waving to the server. "Ma'am! Add chocolate pudding to the order!"

"One serving?" the woman asked.

"All of it!" Cadence said, a frenzied look in her eyes.

Shining Armor waved. "Believe me, she'll eat it; she won't even get a belly ache or put on any weight. Go ahead and whip up as much as you can. We can pay in advance."

The woman blinked. "Um, alright. Let me go figure out exactly how much that is." She scurried to the back. It was unclear if she was talking about how much pudding there was or how much they'd be paying up front.

The bell on the door frame as the door opened and jangled it. A pale blue pegasus mare with a white mane walked in and looked around. The server hurried back, and when she saw who it was, she smiled.

"Sapphire Sky! Good to see you again. I will be with you briefly."

Sapphire looked at their table and gave them a curious look before pointing at them with a wing. "No rush. I think I'm with them."

"Oh! Then take a seat. Your salad and milk are already there, and the pudding will be coming," the woman said before hurrying to the back.

"Pudding? Guess that confirms it," Sapphire said as she beat her wings a few times and flew over to the table, taking the last unoccupied seat.

"How'd you know it was us?" Rebecca asked.

Sapphire smirked. "Well, for starters, you have no smell, and the air currents in this room are passing right through you."

"You're good," Rebecca chuckled.

Sapphire turned her attention to Cadence. "And second of all…pudding. I doubt I'll be getting any."

Cadence didn't contradict her.

"So, I guess the psycho-preacher doesn't have a monopoly on her special brand of magic anymore," Sapphire said as she looked Cadence and Shining Armor over.

"Luster Dawn got a good look at the preacher's work a few years back and was able to replicate it, with a few improvements," Shining explained.

"That should drive her nuts, good," Sapphire replied. "What's up? I don't get called into meetings like this every day."

Cadence sobered up from her pudding delirium. "We are planning a scouting mission headed by me. We need a fast flyer, and Rainbow Dash is currently unavailable. We have other options than you, but you were the second choice after her."

"You know, I do more than fly fast," Sapphire reminded them.

"We know, but that's the attribute we're in most need of. This is a scouting mission with some diplomacy. We're completely unfamiliar with the geography of where we are going, and there will be hostile parties present. We need an aerial view from someone who can move quickly without attracting attention to ourselves."

"You can't just use satellites or something to map this place out? Is it in Equestria?" Sapphire asked.

"It isn't on Equestria or Earth. There's a third universe, possibly more," Cadence whispered. "We're going in blind and trying to assess the situation and make contact with possible friendly locals who are being subjugated."

"How big is this scouting team? Who's on it? What're the stakes?" Sapphire asked in quick succession.

"Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Luster Dawn, Phobia Remedy, Empathy Elephant, and Josie Woods are confirmed, along with me," Cadence answered. "There's at least one more critical person that we are waiting for an answer from that the mission can't happen without, not you. You're but not critical. We need the person that will get us there and back."

"Did you say Empathy Elephant?" Sapphire asked, looking like she wanted to laugh. "Are we bringing an actual elephant from the zoo on this trip, or did some pony's parents have extraordinary ideas about pony names? And what are we bringing the Queen of Nightmares for? She isn't exactly an adventurer."

"Phobia is needed for a different type of scouting and possible diplomatic contact. So was the only workable choice to fill the role," Shining explained.

"We need to know if there is a warden or if their dream realm even works the same, and sorry to say this, but this team is the best of the expandable people we can assemble," Rebecca said in a sad tone. "We've got other big things going on, and there's certain people we can't afford to lose if something goes wrong with this."

"Well, that's not cheerful at all," Sapphire said dryly. "Plus, I don't care for being called expendable."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm not thrilled with Cadence being labeled that way," Shining Armor said, gripping his hands into fists.

"We already discussed this. It was either our daughter or me to lead this expedition; the other three are too important right now, and I'm not letting her go into harm's way," Cadence said firmly.

"Sure that went over well with Flurry," Sapphire said.

"Cadence and Flurry nearly came to blows over it," Shining replied. "Only way I kept them from doing so was to force them to have to go through me to get to the other."

"Did you wet yourself?" Rebecca asked.

"No comment," Shining answered, looking away.

"You still haven't answered about the elephant," Sapphire reminded them.

"You'll have to see him for yourself. I haven't yet. He's one of the natives," Cadence answered. "I need to stress this is a vital mission. A dark wizard has learned how to cross over to Earth from that universe, and he has already conquered that universe. We need to know what we're up against and what allies we can find over there."

"And you're stressing it because you're afraid I'll say no. Why are you worried about that?" Sapphire asked with suspicion.

"Because we need Sunset Blessing to help us get over there," Shining whispered.

"Hell no! I'm out. If I'm option B, you can go with option C," Sapphire said, standing up in her chair. "Someone else can fly if a fast flyer is all you need. There's other options. Heck, she has a daughter that is reasonably fast."

"The preacher won't be coming!" Cadence assured her quickly. "Not technically."

"What do you mean by not technically? Is she, or isn't she?" Sapphire asked.

"It's an alternate, younger, human version of her. Eighteen years old," Shining explained. "Doesn't have the whole messy history."

"Technically not eighteen for a few more days," Rebecca corrected. "She has the same temperament as the older one but isn't broken like the older model. Also, I think she's an atheist, so no preaching. Her human magic opens up interdimensional portals. That is how we get you to the other world."

"Why does she even exist? What insanity is the preacher up to?" Sapphire asked in bewilderment. "Is she into cloning now?"

"Long story," Rebecca replied. "Nothing's ever simple with Sunset Blessing involved. The girl seems nice enough from my meeting with her, and she shouldn't be held accountable for things her other self did. From what I observed, young Charlotte and Sunset Blessing have a lot of friction. Charlotte could use some more positive role models."

"The original may need to puppet the younger one's magic to get us there; that won't require her to come. She's already designed devices to get us back once we're there," Cadence said, sounding sad. "Puppeting another's magic is considered skirting the border of dark magic. It is said to be extremely painful to the one being puppeted. I hope another way may be found, but we may be forced to allow it. I feel so sorry for the girl if that's what has to happen."

Sapphire growled. "Sunset can't help but inflict pain and suffering wherever she goes. She's not a pony; she's a cancer. I thought she could turn herself around after adopting those foals; I was wrong."

"Well, her latest person to inflict pain on is Charlotte, even if it isn't malicious," Rebecca pointed out. "If you came along, you could try to help Charlotte out. She needs more friends, and aside from the portal thing, she's just a normal human girl coming up on the age things went off track with the original. Maybe you can help make sure she doesn't go off track."

Sapphire chewed her lip. "I'll go. This seems important enough. I can hold my nose and my tongue in regard to Blessing. As for the girl…we'll see. I'm not making promises about a person I haven't met. I'll try to keep an open mind about her."

Author's Note

Apologies to anyone who saw first posting of he chapter. It somehow lost a large section of the talk between Andrea and Amicus. I have fixed it.