A Shadow of Myself

It took a while, but eventually, Andrea was free of her other self's kids. She was in desperate need of a drink after dealing with them for over an hour. She wasn't going to get drunk, but she sorely wanted to.

Annabelle, that was the name of Andri's daughter. Annabelle had been the hardest one to deal with. The sons, Doug Jr and William, had understood that she wasn't Andri, but Annabelle seemed to be having a temporary psychotic break, and the older woman seemed to be unable to process that Andrea didn't personally know her or have a daughter named Annabelle— or any children for that matter. Andri's daughters-in-law and Annabelle's husband had to eventually lead the older woman away again with plenty of apologies. That left her alone with the sons.

She couldn't explain in-depth to them how she had come to be there. She'd given a general explanation about how bad people had time-traveled to her original time, and Sunset came and saved them. They seemed more shocked to learn that she had only been ten when it happened and that their mother had known all about her and never said anything. Her other self had kept her secret, even from her kids. Further explanations about her transformations and why she needed to change forms had to be given. She was surprised at how much grace they took that news. Maybe after a certain point of weirdness, they just became numb to it.

Andri had never been entirely out of touch with them. She had rotated who she spent Christmas with, spending Christmas with a different one of her children every year, still sending gifts to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She had attended the funeral for her ex-husband four years before, not long before her health deteriorated. Andri never spoke to her children about the goings-on at Wabash Manor, but Andri loved her family. They were not Andrea's family, but she wished she could be part of it. That was part of why it hurt to talk to them. They wanted her to be part of it too, and that's why it hurt them. She wasn't their Andrea.

Thank goodness dealing with them was over.

It didn't take her long to find Charlotte. Her baby sister was seated on a bench, Overseeing kids talking to Empathy. Parents sat beside their kids, ensuring no further outbreaks with kids overwhelming the elephant. She recognized Sunset's grandkids through her adopted brood, but not most of the rest. Whoever they were, they ranked higher in importance than Andri or Amicus's grand or great-grands. There was a class structure to the family. You were either someone Sunset Blessing loved, or you weren't. There were plenty of people here, but those absent stood out the most, even if she didn't know them. She didn't fully blame Sunset Blessing for it. People that she cared about lived their lives looking over their shoulders. It was a mercy not to feel the love of the setting sun. Maybe the old unicorn turned her back on them on purpose, knowing it was a mercy. Was it a kindness for her not to love?

She walked behind Charlotte and leaned on a locker, listening.

"You know, there was a care bears cartoon when I was little," Charlotte said, primarily to Empathy, but loud enough for the kids to hear. "The care bears helped people make friends and care. I know things are a bit different where you come from, but did it use to be that way?"

Empathy gave a sad nod. "That's what the stories say. Those were the golden days. We would go down to Earth and help the bears back then, and we helped defeat a lot of bad guys. I wish those days would come back."

Andrea felt terrible for that universe, but she still felt satisfaction. Charlotte was getting information from him, little by little, without being too pushy. Sunset got pushy.

Charlotte smiled. "I remember a story about how there was an evil spirit that wanted to take away all the caring that had infected a boy, but with the help of the care bears and the care bear cousins, they stopped him."

"I know that tale," Empathy replied. "It happened at a camp. There were two other kids. The spirit was strong, and it took all of us uniting to defeat him. That was the first time the rest of the intuits got their belly badges."

Andrea frowned. That was the second care bears' movie. How did the exact plot of an actual event get translated to a kids' cartoon here? That meant there had to have been someone who knew— someone who had seen or heard. That was well before magic had been introduced to Earth, so it should have been impossible.

"Andrea?"

She turned and looked at her mom, who had come up beside her, and whispered.

"Yeah?" she asked.

Her mom rubbed her arm. "Are you feeling okay? I heard you got shot."

This was coming sooner or later. "I'm fine. Transformation magic saved me. I'm fit as a fiddle. I'm made to take bullets."

Her mom slapped her arm. "Don't you say that! Wild Growth is made to take bullets. You aren't bulletproof. This isn't something to joke about! You could have died!"

"Mom-"

Her mom wasn't going to let her finish. "You could have gone into shock and bled out on the floor! You can't count on some piece of jewelry to save you every time!"

She set her jaw. "Mom-"

"I don't want you to die! Are you so eager to follow Andri-"

"MOM!" Andrea screamed. "I know you're upset, but I'm okay. However, if I had to do it over again, I would still have fought that bear. I'm a grown adult. It's my call."

Her mom stepped back. "You aren't Andri. You don't have to do that kind of thing!"

Andrea looked around. Everyone was staring at them, and every other conversation had halted.

She tried to ignore all the eyes on her and focused on her mother. "No, I'm not her. We had two different lives, but the core of who we are is the same. Andri did what was right. Andri was a protector. Andri didn't care about whether doing the right thing and protecting others would come back and bite her or worse, and I would be ashamed if I didn't do the same."

Her mom was in tears. "I almost lost you once."

"And if I hadn't done what I did back then, we would have lost Charlotte for sure," Andrea said firmly. "I guess that's another thing I have in common with her. She watched Sunset Blessing's back, and I need to watch Charlotte's. Maybe there's some weird cosmic destiny in play."

Her mom continued to cry but stopped trying to argue. Andrea bit her lip then stepped forward to hug her mom.

"I know you worry, but Charlotte is possibly going to be in a ton of trouble due to this magic she has. There's no stopping that. Who would you trust more to watch out for her than me? She needs me." Andrea paused briefly before continuing. "And I didn't realize until today that I needed this. If I had a cutie mark, this would be it. Mom, let me be me."

"Mom, we'll be alright," Charlotte gently said.

Chiming in had been a bad idea. Their mom turned her attention to Charlotte. "You're just a kid. You shouldn't be caught up in all this."

That was a wrong move. Charlotte didn't like being told she was a kid or what to do. Their mom should have known that and probably did, but wasn't thinking straight.

"I'm seventeen, practically an adult! I'll be eighteen in a month. Plus, I don't have a choice about this. It's my magic, and it is part of me," Charlotte childishly fired back.

Time to try to diffuse it before it turned into a shouting match again.

"I think Charlotte and I need to take a quick break from everybody to cool off," Andrea said quickly.

Charlotte balled up her fist. "I'm not going to let her-"

"Charlotte," Andrea said firmly, holding her sister's gaze. "I understand how you're feeling, but you know you have a short temper, and you know you don't always think straight when it gets the best of you." Another thing Charlotte shared with her Sunset Blessing. "You're smart, so put your anger on hold and think. Your magic is working now, and it worked when Sunset pissed you off. That means you could set it off again if you lose your temper. I know you don't want to accidentally open a portal here. Please, let's take a little walk while you calm down."

Charlotte looked around at everyone looking at her. Their mom looked ready to say something again, but Charlotte didn't give her a chance.

"Come on, Empathy. We're taking a walk," Charlotte announced, already on her feet and headed to the door.

The elephant practically fell out of his seat, hurrying after her. "Coming, Miss Charlotte!"

Andrea took a deep breath and followed, glancing over her shoulder. "Sorry, everyone. She is just taking a breather. We're very sorry about the outbursts. You've all been very kind and patient. Thank you."

How many of them would be spending the night? There were a lot of rooms, but there were more of them. At least half of them would need to go somewhere else. It wasn't her problem, but she still wondered which of them would still be here tonight or the morning.

Charlotte was what mattered right now.

She caught up to her sister out in the foyer. Charlotte was already moving up the stairs, with Empath running to keep up with his longer-legged caretaker. What to do about Charlotte? Her sister seemed to have been doing so well with those kids, and like a switch being flipped, she went and threw a childish tantrum.

She followed after her sister. "Where are you going?"

Charlotte gripped the banister tightly. "Walking to my room."

"I didn't mean for you to go hide away."

"I'm not hiding. I need to go to my room. Can you stand outside it and watch Empathy for a few minutes?"

Andrea paused. "Why?"

Her sister stopped and grinned. "If you really need to know. I need to change pads, and I don't want him to be an audience for that."

"Oh," Andrea said with a blink. "That's one of those things I don't think about much."

"Lucky you," Charlotte grumbled as she continued up the stairs.

"Pad for what, Miss Charlotte?" Empathy asked.

"It is a human female thing. Human females have a messy reproductive cycle," Andrea said, saving her sister from explaining.

Empathy gasped. "Oh! Is there going to be a baby Charlotte Human?"

"No, there isn't," Charlotte said tersely. "Don't your females have periods, or estrus, or heat, or something like that?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know those words, Miss Charlotte."

"Let's just say it sucks to be human sometimes," Charlotte replied. She then looked back at Andrea. "And don't go blaming my losing my temper on it!"

"I wasn't going to. You don't need to be hormonal to do that," Andrea said shortly. "Look, I know you're stressed, but you can't blow up like that over stupid little things."

Charlotte turned and pointed at her. "You lost your temper too!"

Andrea scowled back. "You want to compare what each of us has gone through today? I just got done dealing with my other self's kids before getting ambushed by Mom, who wanted to get all in my business about my life choices—this all after getting shot three times and digging Andri's grave. Then I made Mom cry, and that made me feel like crap. Our mother was so worried about us that she was crying, and you lost your temper over what? Being called a child? You want to be treated like an adult? You need to act like one. You looked like a spoiled brat back there."

Charlotte looked ready to explode again, and Andrea felt like kicking herself for riling her sister up once more. Right now, one of the biggest things she could do to protect her sister was not making her angry.

"Let's step back," Andrea said quickly, hoping to diffuse her sister. "You've had a lot of crap dumped on you today too. Getting told your unique ability could let an interdimensional invader in has to be stressful. Comparing who had it worse today is stupid on my part. I'll watch Empathy while you take a shower and do what you need to do to get your head back on straight. If Sunset catches me and asks why you aren't watching him, I'll tell her you needed a few minutes to take care of yourself. She isn't so unreasonable that she'd snap at you for that, and if she does, I've got your back."

Her baby sister seemed to calm down visibly. "Thanks, Andrea." She then turned and looked at the elephant, who barely came up to her waist. "I'll be back soon. I'm going to take care of a hygiene issue and then relax in the shower. Be good for Andrea."

Empathy seemed put out at this. "How long is soon?" Clingy little bugger, wasn't he?

"An hour. Maybe not even that long," Charlotte assured him. "Andrea can get you food while you wait."

"And I won't just promise it and not deliver," Andrea said with a smile. How many times had Charlotte promised to feed him and still hadn't done so?

"I was going to do it," Charlotte insisted. "It just took longer in the other room than I thought, and before that, there was all the ruckus with the bear."

"We get it. Don't worry. Go take care of yourself, and I'll take care of the alien."

Charlotte left, and Andrea motioned for Empathy to follow her. "You picked the right universe to come to. We are stocked full of fruits and veggies here. Any preferences?"

Empathy followed after her. "Do you have cherries?"

"I think the old unicorn might have some in the kitchen. Cherries are common, and she keeps all the common fruits and vegetables. If not, we'll find something close enough. How do you feel about crabapples? Sunset turns those into jelly and jams. She grows them on the property."

The elephant made a disgusted face. "I don't like those but will eat them if there isn't anything else."

Andrea shrugged as she guided him into the dining room. "No problem, plenty of other choices."

It was a short walk through the dining room to get to the kitchen, but when they got there, they found they were not alone. A very posh-looking pony wearing a dress and make-up, probably a relative of Phobia by the looks of her, was sitting at the kitchen table.

The pony looked up from a bowl of soup as they entered. "Aww, the alien has arrived. I figured he would if I waited long enough. I had expected the younger version of my grandmother as well. Where is she? She isn't unwell, is she?"

"She needed to take care of a personal problem. She'll be down shortly," Andrea replied. "And you are?"

"Arachne, eldest daughter of Phobia Remedy, and I'm also the head of S.P.E.C," the pony answered, setting her spoon down with her wing. "I was just spending time with your other sister outside."

Andrea's now narrowed. "What did you want with Kristin?"

Arachne chuckled. "Oh, we just had a little talk, shared a vape, and unwinded."

"Kristin needs to drop that habit," Andrea muttered.

The pony waved it off. "Oh, in Skytree, it is widespread. We're famous for our hookah bars, and I conduct many of my informal business meetings in them, so many that I have picked up the habit. Have you ever been to Skytree? It is quite picturesque. A charming and safe place to live."

"Never been there. I don't get far away from Denver," Andrea answered. "If you'll excuse us. I promised Empathy some food."

Andrea headed to the pantry to see what fruit was in stock, and Empathy huddled close to her legs.

"That pony is watching me," Empathy whispered.

She looked down at him, hugging her leg. "She can hear you too. Ponies have great hearing. Don't worry about her. She isn't going to hurt you."

"She reminds me of the pony upstairs who didn't like me."

"That would be her mother; neither of them will hurt you," Andrea assured him. Then pulled out a tupperware container from the pantry. "Look, we have cherries, just like you wanted. Let's sit down at the table, and you can eat. Don't worry about the scary pony."

He took the container from her and pouted. "I wish Miss Charlotte was here."

She sighed. He was like a small child clinging to his mother. Was he even an adult? He was the same size as that bear, and she assumed those were adult proportions. Maybe he was just simple-minded. That would be their luck, getting an elephant with a mental handicap.

The kitchen table was like a picnic table, with a bench on either side. She led Empathy over to it and had him take a seat across from Arachne, who was still watching him. He didn't blame him for being flustered by her gaze. It was very predatory. He took his seat with reluctance, and when she sat down, he huddled up close to her for protection.

Arachne finally took her eyes off Empathy and picked up her spoon again with her wing. "Tell me, have there been any prior incidents with my grandmother's younger doppelganger? The five of you have been here, what? Twelve years? If I recall correctly. Nothing previously in all that time?"

"You know how long we've been here?" Andrea asked.

"Of course, who do you think signs those guards' checks?" Arachne replied. "They may follow grandmother's orders, but they are still my employees. I get reports. Not as thorough as I like. Grandma has a way of putting the fear of God into her help, and so much that happens here gets sealed by the Dreamwardens, but I do still hear things."

"Nothing that I know of has happened before," Andrea answered.

Arachne nodded. "I always suspected your identities. Names may run in the family. I have a twin sister named Charlotte, and I believe some younger cousins with names like Andrea, Kristin, Wendy, and so on, but to have all those names together with the exact age difference between them as the originals, and you all showing up together and staying under my grandmother's watchful eye? That was a funny coincidence. I could verify nothing, Dreamwarden-sealed information, but it was interesting."

Andrea frowned. She'd always wondered if keeping their names and only getting new social security numbers, fake birth dates, and fake histories would keep everyone off. For most people, it did, but Arachne proved it didn't work on everyone.

Arachne finished a spoonful of soup then smiled. "I remember my mother returning from her trip out here after you first arrived. She brought back an odd souvenir, a pie. She gave it to me to have my people analyze the food contents and the metal composition in the tin—an odd request. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about anything it was made of, other than whoever baked the pie was both a crummy baker and used spoiled fruit. It did have an odd insignia on the tin, a porcupine and a mountain."

"Why did she have a pie?" Andrea asked.

Arachne shrugged. "My mother may monologue, but she can be secretive. She didn't give me an explanation. However, after seeing this elephant and hearing about the bear, I did another quick search on my phone before meeting your sister. I was looking at that second symbol and using the wrong term, not a mountain, a peak. Porcupine Peak, a purple pie from Porcupine Peak."

"I'm sorry, is that supposed to mean something with care bears?" Andrea asked.

"No," Arachne said with a smirk. "Strawberry Shortcake, another TV show and toy line from your childhood. I think this isn't your sister's first incident, nor is it the only universe she has touched."

Andrea licked her lips. "Empathy, is there anywhere named Porcupine Peak in your world?"

Empathy shook his head. "I don't think so, Miss Andrea Glowing Pony."

She got up. "Come on, bring your cherries with you. We need to talk to Sunset right now."

Arachne watched them get up, still smiling. "Do let grandmother know that I helped provide this little tidbit. I'm always willing to give you aid if you need it. If your sister comes down here, I'll tell her where you are."

Andrea wondered what the pony's game was. She clearly was up to something, but there was no telling what. Why hadn't Arachne gone to her mother or grandmother immediately with this news? Why wait and transmit it through her? There was no obvious reason, but it seemed calculated. It didn't matter. Sunset still needed to be told.

Arachne watched the two aberrations leave, and considered what to do next. After they had been done for about thirty seconds her phone started to ring. She frowned. Promptness was all well and good, but she hadn't expected a call back so quickly. Having that call occur while the younger Andrea or the elephant was still there would have been problematic.

She answered her phone. "Arachne here, speak to me."

"Madam, the Hasbro C.E.O has agreed to your requests, although he is confused by why the Pentagon or any other government agency might try to contact him. He is also calling on the company board of directors to discuss your purchase offer. With the figure you named, he expects a favorable response."

Arachne's smile returned. "Thank him for his quick reply. There may be a seat for him at the table with S.P.E.C. Send the rest of the details to me over secured email."

"If I may be so good to ask, madam, why the sudden interest in a toy company?"

"Just staying two steps ahead of the competition. I have a little insider information that says Hasbro will suddenly become much more relevant outside of toys and games. I'm securing assets before others can touch them."

"I see, madam."

"Oh, and Thomas? Please make sure everything is done with the highest discretion. I want no word of this reaching anyone until the purchase is complete."

"I will assure you; no one will be aware. If you'll excuse me. I will continue to take care of business."

She hung up the line and barely contained the urge to flap her wings with excitement. Her grandmother, aunt, and mother were all getting old. If she played this right, she would end in a very good position without disgracing them. Disgracing them inevitably humiliated her in turn; there was no escaping her association with those names, and they could not afford to go down in flames. She would dangle out a S.P.E.C table seat to the people at Hasbro, she was more interested in a bigger seat at a more important table.

Her time was coming.