A Shadow of Myself

Well, Charlotte had to say, Rainbow's room certainly reminded her of home back at Wabash Manor. There were bloodstains all over the floor, the walls, and…she looked up…yep…ceiling too. This was just like home after one of Sunset's bloodbaths.

"No! You can't come in here now! Ack!"

Rainbow ducked behind Starlight. He still had a few bloodstains on his flank but seemed far less perturbed than his rider. He glanced at her and then snorted.

Her mom chuckled nervously. "It's not so bad. Charlotte's seen worse. I mean, there's not even a dismembered limb."

"Mom!" Charlotte hissed. "You aren't helping."

"I'm just trying to make a good impression with the girl who saved your life!" her mom hissed back.

Rainbow peaked out from behind Starlight. Charlotte smiled at her, suddenly wishing she wasn't looking beat up and pathetic in a wheelchair. She tried to sit up a little straighter, and her eyes fell on a spot on Rainbow's brow.

"Um, you've got a little something-" she pointed with her good hand.

Rainbow touched her hand to her brow and rubbed at the dried blood. She sighed. "I'm sorry. This has never happened before…I've never had this much…I must look like a monster."

"No, you aren't a monster. You have a lot more color to your face than you did before. It looks nice," Charlotte said.

Rainbow came completely out from behind Starlight, still moving cautiously. She also revealed she was wearing nothing but a large white towel wrapped around herself. Charlotte could be oblivious about many things, but one of the significant differences between her and her other self was she never went through a phase of denial about who and what she was attracted to. Oh no, she couldn't deal with this right now.

"Sunset, can I borrow your necklace?" Charlotte asked. "Just for a few minutes, so I'm not confined to this wheelchair. I'm sure a few minutes of not healing won't stop Flurry Heart from healing me later."

"You're asking to be a pony? Since when do you-" Sunset flicked her eyes back and forth between Rainbow and Charlotte before smirking. "Oh, I see. It's mutual. That's a clever way of getting yourself in check and focused."

"What's she talking about?" Rainbow asked in confusion.

"Yeah, what are you two going on about?" Charlotte's mom asked.

Starlight gave a very loud snort. "Oh, come on! The ugly little human and her slightly less ugly but still demonic pony version can't be the only ones with sense. Wait, they aren't. I, the noble Starlight, knew what was going on from the start."

Sunset lit her horn, and the necklace floated out of her bag towards Charlotte but stopped short. Charlotte looked at her questioningly.

Sunset actually looked embarrassed. "Lord help me, I had a serious brain fart there. The necklace can't be used right now. You're in casts, very hard ones. While getting tangled in your clothes is annoying, you probably don't want to think about what those casts will do to your legs if you transform while wearing them. It wouldn't be a pleasant feeling. Good thing my brain started working again. I swear listening to this big noble buffoon turns my brain to mush. Like, I lose intelligence just listening to his idiocy. Rainbow Brite, how did you put up with years of his inane chatter?"

"I beg your pardon!" Starlight huffed, then let out a long agitated whinny.

Rainbow patted his back. "Starlight isn't so bad. Yeah, he has a high opinion of himself, but he's my oldest friend, and always looks out for me. He's also very smart and brave."

Starlight held his head higher and practically posed. Rainbow certainly enabled his ego.

"Brave or fearless?" Sunset asked. "There is a key distinction between the two. Being brave means overcoming fears. Being fearless means failing to recognize or be cautious around danger, and that means stupid."

The horse fixed a wrathful glare on Sunset. "Do you go out of your way to ensure I don't like you?"

Sunset smiled at him. "I think you're just intimidated being in the presence of a superior life form. I mean, look at you. You can't even reach behind your back with your legs like a pony can or grip anything with your fetlocks. You're muscular, sure, but I still place my money on most earth ponies being stronger. I bet my niece, who is only partly a pony, could easily beat you in an arm-to-leg wrestling match, but sadly, we can't even check since your inferior body lacks the joints to do it. However, I'm sure you make an excellent beast of burden, like an ox or an ass– I think you even bear a strong resemblance to the latter."

Starlight took a threatening step towards Sunset, who lit up her horn in response. Charlotte had had enough.

"She's trying to make you mad. Don't give in to her!" Charlotte shouted. She then blinked as she realized why Sunset was doing it. "She's trying to see if you can keep your vampiric tendencies under control if you're angry. She's testing you."

"And you're interfering with that test, girl," Sunset growled. "Ensuring they can control themselves is important. You should have kept your maw shut."

Starlight stepped back and shook his head. "She was focused on me!"

Sunset shrugged. "Oh, I had intended on trying the same with your companion, but I hadn't figured out what buttons to push yet. She would have been a far better target since your protective nature would have kicked in. Still, she isn't as easy to read as you are, and, cruel as I can sometimes be, I didn't want to get too personal with the insults by bringing up her failures or her infatuation with my younger incarnation."

Rainbow blushed brightly. "I don't have a-"

"Yes, you do," Sunset and Starlight said in chorus. They met eyes after, and both flicked their tails.

Her mom coughed. "This would be cute–my daughter's first real crush and all–"

Now it was Charlotte's turn to blush. "She's not my first crush!"

Sunset nodded. "That's true enough. I happen to know she has had at least three, and most recently, before this, she was caught staring at Flurry Heart's flank. To her credit, the princess has a very nice set of flanks. If I were fifty years younger–"

"Did not need to know either of those things," her mom said, regaining control of the conversation. "Anyway, not to be a disapproving mom, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with my daughter hooking up with a bloodthirsty vampire."

Charlotte:felt like her face was going to explode. "Mom! I'm–"

"Not going to have any time for any hookups," Sunset said. "Plus, we're going to a desolate wasteland that smells like a landfill caught on fire, and the two of them will be spending every waking minute with me and the big pompous brute. Do you honestly think anything is going to happen under those circumstances?"

"That is a good point," her mom conceded.

Sunset nodded. "It will be a good chance for them to get to know each other. Then Charlotte can realize Rainbow Brite is an insecure woman-child with basically no life experiences, and the vampire can realize Charlotte is just a younger version of me."

"A greater turn-off I could not imagine," Starlight said smugly.

Charlotte glared at him. "Aren't you going to at least try to defend Rainbow's honor?"

Starlight shook his head. "Not this time. She's my best friend, practically my sister, but the devil pony is mostly right in this case." His eyes widened. "Oh no! I'm agreeing with her again! I feel filthy just thinking about it!"

Rainbow started to cry. "How could you?!"

The horse seemed oblivious for the moment. "I know, agreeing with her is so-"

"About me!" Rainbow yelled and punched him in the side.

To everyone's shock, the blow knocked Starlight right off his hooves and straight against the wall. Rainbow gasped and covered her mouth before running over his crumpled form.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that. I didn't think I could do that! Please be okay!" Rainbow sobbed.

He raised his head, looking dazed. "I'm alright. The great and noble Starlight can…ow…that hurt. I'm alright."

"Well, giving them that blood certainly gave them some utility," Sunset said with a hint of smugness. "I'm satisfied they won't go into a bloodlust and can control their craving for blood. We do need to work on the temper tantrum, but I think this is a good first lesson for that. We'll depart tomorrow afternoon."

Charlotte wanted to box her other self. "You're despicable; you know that?"

Sunset smiled at her. "It's my way of saying I care."

Rebecca entered the dream realm and immediately got bombarded by dreamers calling out to her and feelings of dreams that fit her M.O. to visit. This wasn't anything new. It happened every time she went to sleep since she was announced to be a Dreamwarden, even before the public knew her actual identity and only knew The Marshmallow. It could be a little tiring and a bit overwhelming. She wasn't Arbiter, Ghadab, or Miss Seapony (Yinyu), so she could only split her attention so many ways before she fried her brain. There was never enough of her to go around.

She did a very brief survey of the dreams and picked out the hundred or so she felt needed the most urgency, unsure as always if she was overlooking someone in even more dire need. One of the sad facts about being one of the living Dreamwardens was having to accept that while she was omnipresent in the dream realm, she was not omnipotent, and she divided herself accordingly, giving full attention to each of the dreams she intervened in.

"You're running late, Rebecca," Arbiter said.

"I know," Rebecca replied with the feeling of a sigh and created a visual avatar for herself, her globby marshmallow form. "But Russel had a rough day at work, and I was listening to him tell me about it and trying to cheer him up."

"Marriage is such a distraction, especially one you can't deal with here," Ghadab grumbled, forming his commonly used burning bush avatar.

"I need my distractions, and I like that I have to ask what's on my husband's mind instead of knowing before he does. Being able to read your spouse's mind but they can't read yours just isn't good for a relationship. This feels more balanced. I'm sure Arbiter agrees with me," Rebecca replied.

"I do. I felt the need to distance myself more and more from Sunset due to that. I don't know how Phobia managed to keep her relationship happy for all those years when she could read Rosetta's mind," Arbiter's voice answered.

"The nightmare queen's wife is less of a twisted ball of insecurities than your wife, that's why," Ghadab said with a hint of disinterest. "You need to be secure in yourself to be secure in such a lopsided power relationship."

Arbiter then made her own avatar– her normal half-human, half-pegasus, sorta-angel avatar. Moses formed his immediately after, forgoing any more creative expression and just appearing as his usual physical self. She didn't feel Solomon yet, so she wasn't the last to arrive. Yinyu, present as always, did not form an avatar.

"How are you doing today, Miss Seapony?" Rebecca asked, trying to put some perk into the question.

"She's still moping and barely engaging with us. This needs to stop. At least she's still tending to her role in dreams," Arbiter informed her.

Ghadab glowed angrily. "You could be nicer to our slut sister, you puffed-up angel-wannabe! She has suffered a terrible loss!"

Arbiter frowned. "So says the burning bush. I sympathize with Yinyu and understand her grief, but we don't have time for her to go through a depressive period right now. There is too much going on this year. She can cry all she wants next year if there is a next year, and I'll cry right along with her. It's not like I haven't been trying to help her with the grieving process."

Rebecca considered for a moment. "She can sit this talk out unless we need to vote. We've got this. Can you give her some music, Arbiter? Something somber on a violin; it has to be a violin."

"You're going to make her cry," Moses said.

"She needs to cry. It's more healthy to cry when your kid dies than not to cry," Rebecca asserted.

"I agree," Arbiter said.

"As do I," Ghadab grumbled.

Moses sighed. "Okay, I agree too. An informal majority vote is achieved."

The sound of a violin playing a soft melancholy tune began playing. Rebecca was unsure if it was something original Arbiter created on the spot or an older melody, but it was undoubtedly sad enough sounding.

"Are we working to musical accompaniment now?" Solomon's voice said.

"It's for Yinyu to encourage her to cry. You're late as usual, Solomon," Arbiter said.

Solomon formed his avatar, a simple replication of his true form, a thin Ethiopian man in his younger thirties. "I was attending to some late incoming reports from Uzbekistan that we needed. I was also filing the reports from China."

Moses's ears perked. He had been born in that general vicinity during their first war and was brought to the USA as a refugee, so he had a personal interest in the various -stans. "Do we have enough corporeal world information to head that off?"

"I can never promise anything, but I have enough to start some talks to head this off. We don't need another genocide breaking out in that area," Solomon said.

While Dreamwardens could sometimes be said to be aloof of the world's problems due to their neutrality, they all agreed that genocides were really, really bad. Ghadab had died in a genocide. Moses's parents had been killed in a genocide, and he almost died too. Plus, Rebecca got to have the opportunity to walk through the site of a genocide that still had all the corpses lying about. On top of all that, they all had memories of entire worlds being eradicated. So, whenever the possibility of genocide came up, they all took a vested interest in stopping it, even if it did violate their implied neutrality. One of the great things about implied neutrality was it wasn't a promise to be neutral; it was just making people think you promised to be neutral. It is all in the wording.

There was a general feeling of relief that circulated among the six of them at that news…well…five of them. Yinyu was still very focused on her grieving, and it was hard to get her to focus on much else. Even a 'hey, we might stop a very bloody war where tens of thousands could die before it happens''.

"And the news from China?" Arbiter asked.

Solomon sighed. "They are still secretly mobilizing to start invasions into Mongolia and Vietnam once the Devourer threat has passed. They are confident that the other major powers will be too militarily depleted to do anything about their aggression. Sadly, there is no sign any country has realized what they are about to pull."

"It isn't our place to get involved in these petty wars," Ghadab said. "They aren't interested in eliminating any population, so they should be beneath our notice."

Rebecca waited for Yinyu to butt in. She usually had extreme opinions about China and its ambitions, but it seemed her grief was enough to overcome her hatred of the government that she died opposing.

"I do have other news from China," Solomon continued. "A little side project I have been keeping to myself, using only non-magical agents to ensure it didn't leak to all of you until I was ready to discuss it."

Arbiter raised an eyebrow. "And what did you feel warranted working in our blind spot?"

Solomon smiled. "Something to help Yinyu get her head together." He looked at Rebecca. "I might need your assistance with this by having you take a little trip out to South Korea."

Rebecca's face turned into a frowny emoji. "I hate international trips. They always end with me running for my life. I'm pleasantly plump and jiggly. I'm what happens when you breed a Jigglypuff with a Snorlax; I don't run well!"

"I didn't even know Rebecca knew what a pokemon was," Arbiter said with a smirk. "Now I'm having to imagine her just saying Marshmallow for every single thing."

"What's a pokemon?" Ghadab asked in confusion.

"A thing for kids that I'm guessing wasn't popular in rural Southern Morocco," Arbiter answered.

"Apparently not," Ghadab agreed. "We played with animals and sculpted sand. Lots of sand dunes where I grew up."

Arbiter sighed. "This is why we have to waste so much time explaining things to you in that extradimensional side-project we have going."

"Forgive me for growing up in a non-consumerist society, heathen," Ghadab growled.

"Focus on some kids' dreams and figure it out, you foul-mouthed nomad," Arbiter snapped back.

Solomon clapped his hands. "If our deceased elder siblings are done insulting one another, perhaps I can explain what I have in mind?"

"Fine," Ghadab said with annoyance. "I've been dead longer than her, by the way. I should get more respect."

"You don't have to spend every moment with him, or you'd understand, but carry on," Arbiter said, doing a duel flap of her left hand and wing. "And you died only a few days before me. You don't have that much death seniority."

"Are you two seriously arguing about death seniority?" Moses asked. "You know I have millions of past lives I can resurrect into bodies, including Sha'am."

Rebecca giggled. "We are such a happy dysfunctional family."

Solomon rolled his eyes. "You think Dreamwardens are these grand beings, then you become one and learn they are squabbling children half of the time. Anyway, to get back on track, I'm announcing I found Yinyu's sister, along with other family she may not have known about."

Everyone went silent, and the feeling of Yinyu's shock permeated their group. After a brief pause, Yinyu finally decided to make her avatar. It was the typical seapony, with the rainbow scales and the fearsome mouth that could cause it to be mistaken for a dragon. She also made it about a hundred times bigger than she usually did, so it towered like a colossus above them all.

Yinyu fixed her gaze on Solomon. "My big sister is alive?"

Solomon nodded. "She is alive and well– for the time being. She is being watched for anti-shimmerist views, along with several of her descendants. I don't think she is loud or important enough to get drug away to a prison or some reeducation camp, but she's definitely on a list." He held up a hand. "Before you start requesting anything rash, I have started plans to get them out of China. It may take some time, but I can do it. In the meantime, I was hoping Rebecca could help you talk to her. She and her family have no magic."

"China is big, but I suppose I can project to most places in China from South Korea," Rebecca said. "I don't like traveling out of the country, but I suppose this is worth it."

Yinyu's fins and tails twitched nervously. "What would I say? I haven't spoken to her in decades. She doesn't even know I'm the Dreamwarden Yinyu Wu Yan. I ran away because of what I did to her. She might not forgive me."

"Beating your sister within an inch of her life with a violin is pretty tough to forgive," Moses agreed. Yinyu's fins all slumped.

"Not helping, Moses!" Arbiter hissed.

Rebecca shifted forms to her regular pegasus form and looked up at her oldest friend. "But you know the last time you saw her; she tried to reach out to you despite that. You might have rejected her back then, but that doesn't mean she won't extend her hand again if you make an effort. It is worth trying."

Yinyu rubbed her fins together. "Okay, I'll try. I wish Phobia were still here to help me be brave."

"If it makes you feel better, I've confirmed she knows the actual story of what happened to you when you tried to escape China, not the Chinese government's amended version," Solomon said. "Knowing you laid down your life like that should earn you some respect."

Yinyu gave a timid nod. "I hope so. Can we not talk about this more right now? I need to process this news."

"That's fine. We can make arrangements later," Solomon replied.

Rebecca smiled, happy for her friend, then looked at Moses. "So…moving on to other business; did you get the information I asked you to look into?"

"Are you still seriously pursuing your convoluted plan to counter Sunflower Smile's questionable prophecy?" Solomon asked with a huff.

Rebecca fluffed her feathers. "Hey! Sunflower might not be the same level storyteller as Jeniffer Tanner, but she's still a storyteller, and I take her art seriously."

"But it is so much harder to interpret her work. Miss Tanner is much more straightforward, and she didn't give any similar prophecy," Solomon countered.

"Better safe than sorry," Rebecca asserted.

"I still don't understand the diabetic-in-waiting's plan," Ghadab grumbled. He tended to grumble a lot.

"No one but Rebecca understands Rebecca's plan. It's as insane as she is," Arbiter said.

Rebecca stuck her tongue out. "You guys just don't have any flair for creativity!"

"The only creature that shares your flair is Discord, and you know how nonsensical and convoluted his plans often turn out to be," Arbiter said dryly.

"I got the information about the bug's family," Moses said. "She's got several living relatives in Nevada. I'll forward the information to your office."

Rebecca did a hoof pump. "Yes! Stage nineteen of my brilliant plan is complete."

"Nineteen?!" Solomon asked in shock. "How many stages are there?"

"Thirty-seven!" Rebecca said proudly.

"Rebecca always goes big," Yinyu remarked.

Solomon shook his head. "I'm going to need a drink after this."