A Shadow of Myself

Charlotte noticed Rainbow and Starlight as soon as she stepped into Flurry Heart's throne room. However, in addition to them, there were two other familiar faces standing by carrying backpacks. Tempest's family stood near her, but no one was near the other woman who stood impatiently tapping her foot. There were guards stationed around the room but no sign of the princess.

She stopped as soon as she took notice of the pair. "You two are coming with us?"

Tempest hoisted up her bag onto her back. "Phobia Remedy is in danger. I will not sit this out."

The other woman, who Charlotte couldn't remember the name of after meeting just once, gave a brisk nod. "The Marshmallow insisted I help retrieve Phobia Remedy, Josie, and the others. I personally believe this is unnecessary and stupid, and I argued with Rebecca about it. I told her she was too emotional and that we should let you handle it, but when my Dreamwarden gives an order, I can either obey or resign my post as her bodyguard."

Tempest chuckled. "Celestia help us now that cream puff has been released from your moderating influence."

The other woman crossed her arms. "Let's get this over with quickly so I can get back to her as soon as possible. I fear what trouble Rebecca will get into while I'm away."

Charlotte looked at them in disbelief. "How did you guys even find out what happened?"

"Because I told Tempest, and I assume the Marshmallow learned about it through Bursa."

Sunset stepped into the room, looking smug. She paused, lit her horn, and floated out four bracelets from her pack.

"Flurry Heart can't be here right now. She is taking care of a government function. However, she left these with me. I am giving them to you four," Sunset said as the bracelets floated over to Rainbow, Tempest, Starlight, and the other woman. They were exact matches to the one Flurry Heart had given her.

Rainbow to it in her hands. "What is this?"

"It turns you into a pony while wearing it," Charlotte answered, frustrated she might have to deal with her infatuation across different species now.

Sunset nodded. "It took Flurry Heart and me working together to resolve how to make them work for our vampire allies, but we resolved the issues. I didn't even have to do that much; the princess understood the concepts as well or better than me. I'm a little put out by this, to tell the truth. I created this spell and spent years trying to perfect it, but Princess Flurry Heart and her mother were the ones to finally perfect the spell in this form. Oh well, credit given where credit is due."

Tempest looked at her bracelet in disgust. "I do not require this, Blessing."

A slightly overweight middle-aged man, who Charlotte assumed was Tempest's husband, reached a hand out to her. "Honey, don't be so hasty. You're tough as nails, but I've always heard you were even tougher as a unicorn. You're going someplace dangerous. I want you to have every tool at your disposal."

"We want you to come back safely as much as you want Phobia back, Mom," Tempest's daughter added as she hugged her mother.

The other woman examined her bracelet skeptically. "Tempest being a pony is one thing, but I was never a full pony. I got halfway through the transformation before it stopped and was rehumanized very early on. I was so young when it happened I don't even recall the experience. Plus, also unlike Tempest, I have useful human magic."

"I don't know anything about being a pony either," Rainbow said as she fingered her bracelet.

Starlight's bracelet was on the ground, and he shook his head as he looked at it. "I'm already a noble steed. I don't need this thing. How am I supposed to even put it on?"

Sunset groaned. "This is an extra level of protection for all of you. Any injury you sustain while in pony form can be canceled by removing the bracelet. I'm no healer. If you get hurt, I can't help you. Charlotte will be wearing hers once we have arrived in the other world. I need you all to stop whining, put your packs on, and then put your bracelets on. Rainbow Brite, you can assist your horse with his before putting yours on."

"I'm already a horse!" Starlight asserted.

"And you'll be a pony instead!" Sunset snapped. "Do you want to be the biggest target for our enemies to shoot at? If you do, I'll hear no complaints and show no mercy when you're bleeding out on the ground. I'll also take full advantage of having a horse by riding you. I'm old and don't look forward to walking."

"That last part is a convincing incentive," Starlight muttered, then sighed. "Fine! Whisp, can you hurry up and put this despicable shackle on my leg?"

Rainbow picked his bracelet off the ground. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. The tiny devil horse will not be allowed to mount me!"

"That could have been worded better," Tempest muttered. Her daughter giggled.

Charlotte was tempted to tell the stallion what he had just implied Sunset was going to do to him but decided to hold her tongue. They could educate him about common terminologies later. She was surprised Sunset didn't say something, but then again, that would be another slight delay spent dealing with Starlight's ego, and Sunset seemed to be in a hurry.

Rainbow slipped the bracelet around Starlight's leg, and it snapped tightly against him. There was a brief flash of light, and there was now a pegasus, with Starlight's coloration of fur and mane, along with a small rainbow lining along the edge of his otherwise pearly white wings. He was also considerably shorter than he had been.

He blinked a few times before looking up at his rider, who now towered over him.

"I'm short!" he said in outrage.

"You look about average height for their stallions. I think you look adorable," Rainbow said with a giggle. She then pointed at his wings. "And those are new."

He turned his head to look at his wings. After blinking a few more times, he gave them a few cautious flaps. "Do these things work? Can I fly on my own?"

"They should work perfectly well, and you'll get a chance to test them later," Sunset said gruffly. "The rest of you, except Charlotte, need to stop stalling and put your bracelets on. If we arrive in the middle of trouble, I want you all to be able to survive."

The other three looked at their bracelets with a mixture of apprehension and reluctance, but one by one, they did as instructed. Rainbow was the first; in a flash, she transformed into a pony closely resembling Rainbow Dash. The shade of blue was slightly brighter, her mane longer, she had the same rainbow trim on her wings as Starlight, and her irises were bright blue instead of magenta. Tempest put hers on and transformed into a unicorn that looked exactly like she had back when she had been a unicorn before, at least based on what Charlotte could remember from the old pictures. She'd never met Tempest as a pony.

"What the hell!?" the Marshmallow's bodyguard shouted after putting her own bracelet on.

Sunset grunted in annoyance. "Calm down, Blanche. You'll set yourself on fire if you don't remain calm."

"Why am I a kirin?!"

Sunset shrugged. "Flurry Heart and Cadence must have decided to be progressive and include kirins among the possible pony tribes to become. Kirin are overall the best craftsponies as a tribe. You could call it one of their defining traits. From my understanding of your background and magic, you're a bit of a craftswoman at heart."

"My horn is intact?!"Tempest screamed, looking cross-eyed up at her forehead.

Charlotte's cantankerous older self growled. "Are we going to go through this with all of you? Tempest, would you like me to shatter your horn to make it feel more familiar? No? Then regain your composure."

"You look bad-ass, Mom!" Tempest's daughter said, clapping her hands together.

"Urgh!" Sunset groaned. She then turned her gaze at Rainbow, who was giving herself a full inspection and trying out each of her limbs, seeming most interested in her tail. "Do you have any objections?"

Rainbow stopped examining herself to look at Sunset. "No, I'm good. This lasts as long as I'm wearing this? Charlotte said something about a time limit."

"This one has no time limit. It is a vast improvement over the last version. You can wear it for the rest of your natural life if you wish, although you will need to take it off to get to the stuff in your pack. That's your cure for vampirism, or at least your way of bypassing its effects since it is on hold for now. You're welcome," Sunset informed her.

"Thank you!" Rainbow said, hoping in place and fluttering her wings. Oh, this was going to be bad. If she seemed this cute while Charlotte was still human, she'd be irresistible as a pony. Rainbow grabbed hold of Starlight with her forehooves. "You hear that! We can stay like this and not be vampires!"

"I still think I'm too short, but I suppose that's good," Starlight said. "The wings are nice, and I do still look handsome."

"Adorable. If I were fifty years younger…."

"Sunset, you pervert!" Charlotte shouted, red-faced.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at her. "You're a younger me. You'll have the same attraction. Still, I was serious before. It's a silly superficial attraction, so you'll hopefully get over it. Her too, once she figures out you and I are the same."

"Do you have to be such a nasty creep, Blessing?" Blanche demanded.

"You're smoking, kirin," Sunset said in a bored tone.

Blanche gasped and sat batting at her mane using her hooves before realizing it was her hooves that were actually on fire. She shook her hooves frantically before doing the fantastic feat of somehow shoving both forehooves into her mouth simultaneously. Luckily, both her mane and her mouth seemed to be fireproof. Even though she didn't seem to notice, the tassel on her tail was also burning but slowly fizzled out while she sat there in shock.

"Well, three satisfied recipients, one who might figure out at some point that being immune to fire can be useful. A seventy-five percent approval rating that may improve in the future is a success in my book. Tempest, say your goodbyes. I'm going to start preparing the spell with Charlotte," Sunset said with satisfaction.

"Who is going to numb my pain?" Charlotte asked, suddenly realizing that there didn't seem to be anyone who could do that.

"Do you know how to do that, Tempest?" Sunset asked

Tempest glowered at her. "You know I never learned how to do advanced spells."

"No, I only assumed you didn't. I'm completely unfamiliar with how skilled you were before your injury as a foal. You could have been some unicorn prodigy," Sunset corrected. "Any guard know a good numbing spell?"

The guards all shook their heads. More than half of them weren't even unicorns.

"You'll just have to deal with it," Sunset said. "Luckily, the return device I gave you kept a record of every place you teleported to or from. That means I don't have to spend time searching for a suitable landing spot this time. You can take us directly to where you were right before you portaled yourself and Bursa to Wabash Manor. You can thank me for having the foresight to include that feature."

Charlotte groaned. "We'll be in a cave then!"

"Good thing I know how to do a light spell. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Tempest knew that much as a foal, and it should come back to her, and if it is still too dark, we can insult Blanche's mane or something repeatedly until she bursts into flame. Once you recover from the trip, you can put on your bracelet and cast your own light spell if you haven't forgotten how to do that already."

"Blessing, I know your game, and I know you deliberately go out of your way to make others not like you, but can you please tone it down? It is exhausting to deal with," Tempest said in a tired voice.

"I think you are completely unaware of what game I'm playing, but by the time you figure it out, it won't matter anymore," Sunset muttered cryptically. Charlotte was unsure anyone but her could have heard it, even with pony hearing, and she only heard it because she was closest in proximity and used to straining her ears to hear Sunset's muttering.

Sunset turned her attention again to Charlotte. "Sit down so we can get this over with quickly. I have been up almost twenty-four hours and want to get to this Autobot base soon so I can nap."

Charlotte blinked. "Why haven't you slept?"

"None of your concern, girl!" Sunset snapped. "Now sit, and let us begin."