A Shadow of Myself

Christine looked out the window of the station wagon as they passed through the front gate. "Why are there still guards? Is it safe?"

Jordan sighed as she checked on her newborn, Caleb. He was still sleeping soundly. Hopefully, his surges were done. He hadn't had any in three days, which was a good sign. They had been waiting for his surges to pass before making the move. It was necessary since you couldn't bring a surging foal on a plane.

How was she supposed to explain the manor security without upsetting her kids?

"They're just a precaution. In case anyone doesn't believe Sunset Blessing is gone. However, everyone saw the broadcast of her leaving through the portal. Anyone who doesn't believe that is too stupid to get through the gates, and I doubt anyone will try." she said in her most reassuring tone.

It had better be true. She'd give this place away immediately if anyone broke into the house or even came close. Her family would not face that kind of danger. When she'd been offered the house, that was the first thing she feared, but Auntie Sunset had assured her the same thing she just assured Christine. The offer had been one that was too good to refuse. A vast mansion to raise her growing family in? One she didn't have to pay for or worry about utility bills or upkeep? Admission for her kids into one of the best school districts for ponies in the country? Who gets offers like that? It would be insane to refuse.

She hoped that she wasn't insane for accepting.

"We aren't going to get to have friends over, are we?" James, her second oldest at nine, asked mournfully.

"What friends? They're over a thousand miles away," Christine muttered.

"Hey, this will be fun!" Jordan's husband, Blue Streak, assured their daughter. "And you'll get to meet new friends."

"And you can have friends over," Jordan added in. "There's just going to be some extra rules about inviting them over due to the security."

"Do we get our own rooms?" Emily, her third eldest at five years old, asked.

"Yeah, I better not have to keep sharing a room with her. She's so messy!" Christine huffed.

"Am not!" Emily protested.

"You leave your toys everywhere!"

"I'm still playing with them!"

"For a week straight?!"

"Yeah!"

"Everyone gets their own room. They should all be big rooms too," Blue Streak said, interrupting the sisterly argument. "And Grandmare Amanda will have a room too once your Aunt Jackie finishes helping her sell her old house."

After Jackie finishes getting mom's place cleaned up for sale. I hope the change in scenery does her good, Jordan thought mournfully.

"Here we are," Jessie announced as she parked the van in front of the house. "Looks like the current head of security is here to meet you. I haven't been here for a while, but I remember him. He's a nice enough guy. I'll help introduce you as the new Mistress of Wabash Manor."

Jordan almost wanted to chuckle at the title, but she remembered it was a title some people called Sunset Blessing. It was odd, inheriting one of her infamous Auntie Sunset's titles. Sunset's titles invoked different images depending on who you were. You could imagine a powerful mage, a philosopher, the founder of a movement, the destroyer of Riverview, or a bloodthirsty killer. Jordan was an above-average caster and had inherited her dad's affinity for making shields, but Sunset was on a whole other level in both skill and power. Jordan hadn't founded any movements or done much philosophy. She was five when Riverview exploded, and she was certainly not a killer. Her auntie's title felt out of place with her, but it was hers now.

Christine started whistling the Gravity Falls theme, and Jordan raised an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

"Better than the other theme that comes to mind. I could be doing Amityville," Christine replied.

"Everybody out," Jessie instructed. "And smile; you're on candid camera from now on. Your every move is watched by security."

Christine started whistling the theme of Jailbreak. Jordan hadn't been aware her daughter had even seen that show and wasn't thrilled to learn it. It had graphic violence and explicit sexual content. She'd have to review what else Christine had been streaming. Jordan's mother had raised her with the principle that banning things was to be kept to a minimum, and Jordan intended to be that type of parent as well. Now that her daughter was exploring content and subjects that weren't meant for kids, it was time to get more active in talking to Christine about what she was encountering. Her baby filly was growing up, and it was Jordan's job to help her learn how to make responsible decisions, not to shelter her away from everything.

"Want to share a cell with your sister?" Blue Streak asked. Christine promptly stopped her musical performance.

"Christine, help keep an eye on Emily and James. Make sure they don't go wandering off," Jordan instructed. "I've got Caleb, and your father will be keeping an eye on Hugo."

The toddler's ears perked up at his name. "Play?"

"Not yet," Jordan replied. She wasn't sure if he understood; his vocabulary was minimal. He only said about half a dozen words but recognized at least five times that many, if not more. How well he understood any of them was hit or miss.

They exited the van, and the kids stared at the large angel fountain in front of the house. They'd been here about a little over a month ago, so it shouldn't have been that interesting.

"Are we rich now?" James asked in wonder.

Jordan shook her head as she adjusted the newborn on her back. "No. We have a little more money than before since we don't have to worry about rent or utilities anymore, but we're not rich."

"Is rent and utilities a lot?" James asked.

"The bane of adult existence," Blue Streak said with a chuckle.

Jessie waved at the security head. "Hobbs, correct? Let me introduce you to Jordan Streak, your new Mistress of Wabash Manor, and these ponies are her family."

The head of security, a human man in his late forties or early fifties, stepped forward. "Thank you, Doctor Middleton. Mrs.Streak, I hope your trip wasn't stressful. I'm Walter Hobbs. We've cleared your movers to arrive tomorrow, but the guards all chipped in and stocked up the kitchen for you ahead of time."

Jordan smiled. "Nice to meet you, Walter. That was very nice of you all, and it makes us feel welcome. Just call me Jordan. No need to be formal. I'm not my auntie."

"I should hope not. No offense to your auntie, but this facility needed the change in administration," Walter replied.

"Facility?" Blue Streak asked in confusion.

"Auntie's workshop is technically a government installation, even if they can't access it," Jordan informed her husband. She was one of two people on Earth that now had access, and she had no intention of opening its seal. She hadn't considered the fact she was technically some unclassified-classified government official now that she controlled the manor. Too bad they weren't paying her for it.

Walter held out a set of keys. "Wabash Manor is officially yours, Jordan."

She grabbed the keys with her magic and put them in her saddlebag. She assumed Walter hadn't locked himself out of the house. This was it. She was officially the Mistress of Wabash Manor. She was a long way from the little filly crying helplessly in a tree nearly thirty years ago. Maybe in another thirty years, Christine or Emily would take up the mantle instead. If there was still a need for someone to guard the workshop, but it was too early to be worrying about who would succeed her.

"Okay, setting some ground rules for the house, right now. Rules we didn't have back at the other house. You still have to follow the old rules, too," Jordan informed her kids.

"Aww," James said in frustration.

She ignored the comment. "First off, the basement is strictly off-limits. None of you are ever to go down there."

"That's where Sunset Blessing sacrificed foals for her dark magic," Christine whispered to James and Emily.

"No, she didn't. Stop trying to scare your siblings. I will take you down there once just to show you why it is off-limits," Jordan said flatly. "Second rule, stay away from the fence. There is plenty of yard available. There is no need for you to get near the fence. If this place is attacked, the fence is where it will be dangerous. Third, friends coming over must be cleared with security and me and your father both. You don't want the guards jumping them as an intruder. The final rule is don't get in the way of the guards, and if any of them tell you to relocate somewhere in the house, you do it right away. They're here to protect us. We need to cooperate with them."

"So…the house is a prison," Christine concluded.

"It isn't a prison. It just has a few more rules. Give it a chance," Blue Streak said.

"Whatever," Christine mumbled. Jordan rolled her eyes. Christine would get over it once she started school and started making some new friends. She might get over it as soon as she saw her new room. Moving across the country was a big adjustment, but it wasn't anything foals couldn't handle.

"Let's head in," Jordan announced. "I'll show you what the big deal is in the basement, and after that, you can all pick out your rooms. Your father and I reserve at least one of the master bedrooms!"

Christine blinked. "There's more than one?"

Jordan nodded. "There's one in each hall upstairs."

"I reserve one!" Christine said hastily. Both Jordan and her husband giggled. There was at least one thing their eldest wasn't complaining about.

Jordan led the way and opened the front door with her magic. James and Emily almost ran her over as she tried to walk in, and Hugo was right behind them and went scampering under her legs to get by. She had to regain her balance quickly, or she would have fallen over. She promptly checked Caleb to make sure he was alright.

"Hey! No running inside! That's a rule from the old house that's still in effect! You could have made me drop your baby brother," Jordan scolded.

That brought Emily and James to a halt in the massive foyer, but Hugo, now wound-up, was running in circles like a dog chasing his tail. Maybe he was.

She finished entering, and Blue Streak, Christine, Jessie, and Walter followed her. Blue Streak lit his horn and stopped Hugo's circular marathon. Christine walked over to her younger siblings with her horn lit and glared at them, although they didn't seem particularly intimidated by their big sister.

The foyer was empty. There were two staircases leading up to the higher floors. Between the stairs was a wall with two doors; one that led to the dining room, the other led to the basement. There was a discolored rectangular space on the wall between them where once hung a painting. To their right was another door that had led to the rec room, now probably just as empty, and she knew the door to the left led to the guards' station. There were probably at least four cameras watching them, but they were all perfectly hidden, no bigger than a dime each.

"I should note that Miss Blessing installed defenses against all teleportation within the house before she left," Walter informed them as he walked towards the basement door. "There is a necklace that bypasses these defenses that I am to provide you. Only the pony wearing the necklace can safely teleport on the premises and still will not be able to teleport into the workshop. The same defenses have been designed to ward off portals of all types."

So no bears attacking out of nowhere. That was a relief. She wasn't expecting them to after the last group got massacred, but it was still good to hear.

"What happens if we try to teleport?" Christine asked.

"Then you had best learn how to fly really fast because it will redirect you about five hundred feet above the house," Walter said as he pulled out a key to unlock the basement.

Jordan gulped. "New rule I just decided to add…."

"No teleporting," Blue Streak finished grimly. "What about surging foals?"

"Best to keep them off-site until the surges end. For their safety," Walter answered. He then glanced at Caleb. "His surges are over, correct?"

"Nothing in three days; never heard of anything happening after that long," Blue Streak answered. Walter nodded and finished opening the basement door. Jordan noted she would have to stay with Jessie or someone for a few weeks after future pregnancies. Maybe she could adjust the spell or get someone to do it for her…if it was even possible. Her auntie's defenses were notorious for their complexity. They supposedly had thwarted even Princess Twilight Sparkle back in the day, and she couldn't imagine that her auntie hadn't improved on the design in thirty years.

Hopefully, this didn't lead to the same fatal flaw the Bastion's defenses had back then. Once someone was in, it was near impossible for anyone else to get in to help. That's how Sunset Blessing's wife had died. She'd gotten trapped inside with Poly Glot, and no one could get past the defenses that Sunset had built up around the Bastion to stop him. Sunset had sealed her wife's doom by being too thorough, and Tonya/Arbiter was forced to do the unthinkable to bring an end to Poly Glot's mad plans. Sunset Blessing outsmarted everyone with her defenses there, including herself.

Walter opened the door and stepped aside, gesturing for her to enter. "After all of you. Mind the stairs. They are narrow. The basement lights are motion activated."

Jordan went forward towards the basement. "Follow me, and don't crowd one another. Jessie, can you watch Hugo up here? I don't trust him on that staircase."

"Yeah, I can do that. I don't have any desire to see that place again," Jessie said as she grabbed hold of Hugo and cradled him in her arms.

"Is downstairs a bad place?" Emily whimpered.

Jordan paused and considered how to answer. "It isn't a good place or a bad place. It depends on how it is used. It is an important place, and I promised to keep it safe. Be careful on the stairs."

They walked carefully down the stairs. This place had once been all wood and brick, like the rest of the house, but the walls and stairs here had been reinforced with titanium at some point in the last thirty years. The lights came on and bathed them all in calming blue light. There were no cobwebs. Auntie Sunset would never tolerate a spider in her domain. Maybe out in the yard, but never down here. Each of their steps landed with a metallic thud that echoed. She kept glancing behind to make sure her foals were okay.

"This is some peeving horsefeathers," Christine mumbled.

"Check your language around your siblings, Christine. Don't be a bad influence," Jordan reprimanded as she reached level ground.

The room was bright with four shiny metal walls. She was told there used to be a door that led into the pantry with a staircase leading up to the kitchen. The pantry and corresponding stairwell still existed, but they no longer connected here. Auntie Sunset wanted as few ways in or out of this place as possible. The room had one round door that resembled some vault door at Fort Knox.

There were also gun turrets at the top of each corner of the room, tracking their movement.

Christine was the first to notice them. "Holy horsefeathers! They have guns pointed at us!"

"They won't fire. We aren't intruders," Jordan said, trying to reassure calmly. She walked towards the vault door. "Stay close to me."

She touched the door, and it lit up.

Biometrics identified, Jordan Streak. Maiden name, Gilmore. No other alias recorded. User accepted. Please perform the assigned spell matrix.

She took a deep breath. "Now, there are four things that can happen here. I don't do any spell, and we can safely walk out of here. I can also do a spell that it has memorized as an emergency alert that is to be used when someone is trying to pressure me to open the door. You don't want to know what happens if I do that. The third option is I do the wrong spell entirely. I can do that twice, and you don't want to know what happens if I get it wrong a third time. Finally, I can give it the right spell, and it opens. You are never to try to open this door or come down here. The system does not recognize you, and it is…it is not safe for you to try to open this door if it doesn't recognize you."

"We get shot?" Christine asked in a small voice.

"If you're lucky," Jordan answered truthfully. "You don't want to know what happens if the guns aren't able to kill you. This is not a game. This is the most dangerous thing I hope any of you will ever encounter. This basement is going to stay locked after today. Please, be quiet for a moment. Mommy needs to make sure she gets this right."

The guns would fire if things went wrong, yes, but the guns were a false defense to mislead intruders into thinking they were what they needed to worry about. The room had a secondary defense, a true defense. The walls would crush them. It wouldn't be some slow advance as they struggled to get out either. It would be sudden and immediate, with them moving at speeds over two hundred miles an hour. Everyone in the room would die before they knew the walls were a threat. The walls would not move until the door was tampered with, but the guns would fire on anyone who tried to disable them and had extra defenses of their own, further enhancing the illusion they were the only real defense. The room would reset to its original position after and incinerate all the evidence. Even the guards wouldn't know what happened since the cameras were set to turn off at the exact same time, and the door would be barred until the clean-up was complete. It was revolutionary engineering execution.

She shivered. Her foals were never coming down here again. She hoped she never had to either, but she knew it was inevitable she would at some point. The only reason she was bringing them down now was to make it clear this place was not safe and to still their curiosity about what lay behind the vault door. Foal curiosity could lead to the worst happening.

The first thing that had to be done was a masking spell to hide her spellwork from others. It wasn't easy, but not too complex for her, especially after all the drills Sunset had put her through. She had to do this, or the room knew something was wrong. Once the mask was in place, she did the password spell. The password spell didn't do anything. It was a stable spell matrix that simply existed for the sake of existing, at least for a few seconds.

Spell accepted

Various things turned on the door, and bars moved before the vault door simply rolled away into a slot in the wall.

"Follow me, and stay close," she instructed. "Walter, wait here."

They walked as a group into the workshop, and her offspring and husband all gasped. So had she, the first time she had seen this place.

Stairs descended into a huge domed room. All the outer walls seemed to be made of bronze, but she doubted that was what they were made of. The entire dome seemed to be made of circular disks, with more on the floor. Each disk was subdivided into panels with a rune and an inlaid crystal. There were columns with arms attached out to globes. Each of the columns was made up of the same panels and the spheres as well. It made it look somewhat like some warped planetarium.

"Welcome to Auntie's Workshop," Jordan said as they gazed at the room.

"It doesn't look like a workshop," Blue Streak said. "I'm not sure what it looks like."

"It is a combination of workshop and library," Jordan informed him. "Every possible spell can be put together here. Every disk moves, and you can stand in a 3-D rendering of any spell. If you know the right passcode spell, you can stand in the center of the room and request the room to display any spell that Auntie ever created or recorded. There is forbidden and dangerous magic recorded here. Things no one should ever know."

"So…it's a computer, for magic?" Christine asked.

Jordan nodded.

Sunset Blessing had poured a lot into creating this place, and in recent years she had managed to make it do something else. It could cast any of those spells that it was made to display. The unicorn in the center just had to provide the power. Some of the spells were impossibly complex, things that no ordinary unicorn could get right or had a high chance of making a mistake with. Here, all the runes were placed perfectly; there was no having to figure it all out and trying to manage the runes. The workshop did that for the caster. Spells that should have been impossible due to complexity were possible here. Here, you could do wonders, just as long as you could figure out the theory of the spell. It was a genius merger of technology and magic, and it was probably one of the most dangerous things anywhere because of the implications and for the spells it knew or could learn. Jordan knew of some of the spells here, ETS, time-travel, more, and she didn't want to even guess what else Sunset had designed and left in this thing's memory.

"Alright, we've all seen it. Now we can leave it buried beneath the house and never speak of it again," Jordan said, turning around. "Don't tell anyone about this place, not friends, not family. Don't speak of it. Our lives depend on it staying secret."

"I can help with that."

Jordan turned and saw an amorphous white blob floating in through the wall.

"Hello, Rebecca. I see all of Auntie's defenses can't keep you out," Jordan said with a smile. "I'm assuming you are offering to help my foals keep it secret with Dreamwarden methods."

The blob gained a face and wavered. "It is tough to keep me out of anything. As for the help, you're right. I normally wouldn't offer this with foals, but this place is a big deal. It is up to them. I can do nothing without their permission." The Marshmallow made a frowny face. "Um, know this isn't a good time, but I need to share a spell from here, which means I need you to pull it up and permit me to share it. You don't want anyone else present to see this spell. It does things that people shouldn't try to do."

Her brow narrowed. "So why am I sharing it then? Who am I sharing it with?"

"Bob," Rebecca answered. "You know, Bob Bob, Bob the unicorn with the extra capital B. Only mage from Earth who is probably smarter at magic than Sunset Blessing."

"I never met him, but I know who he is. Why am I sharing something dangerous from here with him?" Jordan demanded.

The Marshmallow quivered. "It's kinda a very, very important spell. Something the world depends on being cast correctly. He already knows the spell. The spell was shared with him before, but he is convinced there has to be a better way of casting it or that something was wrong with the file he got. He wants to see Sunset's original…um…record of it. I can't convince him that it isn't any different here, and he insists on seeing it. We need his cooperation."

Jordan considered. "Have her send me permission and tell me what I'm releasing. I trust you, but I'm taking my job seriously."

The Marshmallow quivered again. Rebecca seemed very flustered about this. "That will take some time. We don't have a lot of that left. You're in control of the workshop; the decision is yours."

"Are you trying to pressure me? What could be so important that you would pressure me?" Jordan asked in surprise. She didn't wait for an answer; instead, she turned to her husband. Walter had thankfully remained outside. "Take the kids back upstairs; Rebecca and I need to have a talk."

"Mom's an important pony," James said in awe.

"Come on, kids. Let your mother talk to the nice Dreamwarden in private," Blue Streak said as he started herding the kids out. He looked back at her, then lit his horn, taking Caleb from her onto his back. "Are you going to be okay here?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine. Go let the kids pick out their rooms."

He walked over to her and gave her a muzzle and a kiss. "You've got this. I believe in you. You'll do the right thing," he whispered.

She smiled at his reassurance and watched as her kids were shepherded out. When they were all gone, she took another deep breath. This was day one of being the Mistress of Wabash Manor.

Her eyes turned back to her old friend. "Now, spill the beans. What are you asking for, and why is it so important?"

Rebecca shifted back to her pegasus form and landed in front of Jordan. She gave her a sad look.

"It's a spell to try to do the impossible. It will fail, but it will do enough. A lot of unicorns will die casting this thing, but we have to do it," Rebecca said in a whisper.

Jordan stepped back. "What?! Why would I ever allow anyone to have that kind of knowledge? What are they trying to do?"

Rebecca looked her in the eyes. "They will try to bring Jeg'galla'gamp'pi to our solar system–that's a planet, the oldest planet, older than the universe. It is indestructible, and it will resist the spell. It will only partially work, seeming to be in two places at once while the spell is being cast. Unicorns will die trying to force it to do that much."

"That's insane! Why would we do that?" Jordan asked in horror.

Rebecca sighed. "Because it is the only thing that will hold the Devourers' attention enough for them to refocus on it instead of us and give us time to shoot them down. Time is almost up; they will be here in just a few months. If we don't do this, they will reach Earth, and that's the end of us. Sunset Blessing has tried to find a better way that won't lead to us having to sacrifice so many unicorns in the attempt to hold Jeg'galla'gamp'pi here, but we're out of time, and we're out of choices. It's this, or everyone dies. Bob can't believe there isn't a better way, and we need his cooperation. We're giving him what he asks for. Maybe he will find something, but we doubt it. Not after how many years Sunset tried and failed."

Jordan sat down. She couldn't even process this. The literal end of the world was coming, and even if they prevented it, an untold number of unicorns would die casting this thing. Why had she ever agreed to take control of the manor? She could have lived her next few months in blissful ignorance.

"I'll share the spell and pray he finds a better way," Jordan replied, ready to cry.