//------------------------------// // Chapter 33: Andrea Young and Old // Story: There's a Monster Pony Outside My Window // by Halira //------------------------------// Charles ceased caring about the pony he was wrestling with, and the pony seemed too stunned by what happened to care about him. Charles was up and running to his daughter's side in a second. "Andrea! Andrea! Get up! Please, Andrea!" Charlotte cried as she shook her sister. She backed off as Charles reached them and began checking. "Daddy, she's not getting up!" The first thing he did was check her pulse and breathing. She was still breathing, although it was weak. There was blood everywhere, and the pool was getting bigger. How much blood could she lose? Had she already lost too much? "Sunset! What did you do?!" a new voice yelled. He was shoved aside by an older pony with no wings or horn with sparkly crystalline fur. He got ready to push her out of the way when she met his eyes.  "I'm trying to save her. Don't get in my way!" the pony hissed. She then turned to see Miss Newman, who she quickly hurried towards. "No! Not you too! Sunset!" The pony seemed ready to have a panic attack. "The necklace. It has to work. Please work the way you say it does. Please!" The pony stripped the necklace off Miss Newman, causing Miss Newman to revert to being a pony. The old pony didn't wait to find out if that made anything better; she rushed back towards Charles with the necklace in her mouth. She sat down and shoved the necklace into his hands. "Put this on her, now! It's the only chance. It's supposed to work. It needs to work! Don't ask questions, just do it!" Charles didn't ask questions; at the moment, he would listen to anything and take any order if it would save his little girl. Charlotte was still crying as he slipped the necklace around Andrea's neck. She shifted forms in an instant to a tiny pony with sparkly fur.  The older pony shoved him aside and put her ear up to Andrea's side. She listened for a few seconds before sighing with relief. "She's stabilized. She's out cold, but she's stabilized. Don't take that off her; it might kill her if you do. Now, let me check on my sister to make sure taking the necklace off her worked just as well, and if it did, I'm going to kill her for this! What the fuck was she thinking!" Charles could barely process what the pony was saying beyond Andrea was in stable condition and don't take the necklace off her. He just held the tiny pony that was his daughter in his arms.  Kristin was helping Wendy make her way over, giving her a shoulder to balance against. Charlotte was still crying.  "Is Andrea going to be okay, Daddy?" Charlotte cried.  "I think so, for right now," he assured her.  "I'm sorry," Charlotte cried. "She got hurt because of me." Wendy practically fell on the floor as she finished reaching them. "Is she okay?" Charles nodded and showed his wife, Andrea. "She's sleeping, but that other pony says she's okay. She saved her with Miss Newman's necklace." Wendy paled. "Miss Newman said that thing has a time limit on how long that thing can stay on. What happens when we have to take it off?" He shook his head. He hoped they had an answer by then. The old pony came back towards them. "Sunset is going to live, although when I'm done screaming at her, she is going to wish they'd killed her. She has done some insane shit in her life, but this takes the cake. Why are you all here?" "We were out of options. The military was coming to take us away. Kristin, our daughter—" "I know who Kristin is; cut the introductions and stay to the point," the pony snapped. "How the hell did this possibly happen?" A guard came over to the old pony. "Miss Portsmith, we have all the radicals apprehended." The old pony considered it. "Lock them in a basement room under heavy guard and keep the unicorn separated in another room with a full squadron of crystal ponies to keep him contained. I'll decide what authorities to call when I'm finished here. I'm still trying to figure out how to contain the fallout from this. Get my niece, you know which one, on the line and tell her I need her or another warden here pronto." Charlotte looked back and forth between Andrea and the old pony. "You're the old lady pony Andrea from the future!" The old pony cocked an ear at Charlotte. "It's currently the present, and you're from the past, and it's rude to call people old lady ponies. I'd tell you to learn some manners, but since I know my sister, I know you never will." She turned back towards Charles and Wendy. "Yeah, I'm Andrea, and I'm still waiting on an explanation. Sunset is unconscious, and I don't have time to fall asleep to start questioning her. The wardens can deal with that part. I need straight-to-the-point answers, and I'm not in a position to be patient." Charles blinked, it just now registered to him that this pony had the same shade of fur as his daughter's, although his daughter's mane was sea-green and this pony's was iron-grey. This Andrea looked like she was the type that took no-nonsense.  He took a deep breath and answered as best he could. "Those ponies came back in time and were stalking our Charlotte. Miss Newman came and helped us get away from them, but the ponies got on the news and made a commotion that got the military involved then told the world about us. Kristin had put on Miss Newman's necklace, and Miss Newman said that she would have magic later, and with the military already watching us, we knew she would get turned into a science experiment or something. Oh, and some bookies had burned down Miss Newman's house and raided ours that might have kept hunting us too." Old Andrea stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. "And since that all happened, my sister decided she needed to take extreme measures to save you because, of course, she couldn't leave family hanging, even if she had to fuck up their lives in the process. Damn it, Sunset. You'd best forget that Miss Newman moniker. She's Sunset Blessing, and one thing you learn real quick is that name is never a good one to be associated with." "What about Andrea...our Andrea?" Wendy said in a hurry. "What happens when we have to take the necklace off?" Older Andrea looked grim. "I'll make arrangements so that it comes off with her on an operating table with an entire team of doctors ready to save her. I'm not going to let kid me die. They can put it back on and off to help stabilize her through the procedure, to buy more time for them to get things right. That was supposedly what Sunset originally designed this spell to do, help save patients that there seemed no hope for. It's time to put that to the test." Old Andrea watched as the guards escorted the ponies out before continuing. "I'm with you, so they won't mess with you. I'm guessing there is no putting you back where you belong, so we'll need to work something out here. Sunset is still down for the count, so it's up to me to figure that out. Follow me. Sunset can lay right where she is until she wakes up. I'm too old to be carrying another pony around on my back. She'll come upstairs on her own after she wakes up." "I can't walk that well right now," Wendy explained. "I can't carry Andrea safely and support my wife," Charles added on.  The old pony looked them over and let out a small whiny. "Okay, I can manage the filly version of me. So you can support young Mom— I need a better way of addressing you; this is too weird. Anyway, I'm strong enough for that, and I doubt the universe is going to explode if it hasn't already. I don't know how the fuck this all works; I only try to survive whatever new thing Sunset throws at me. I'm going to need a very hard drink when this is done." They all followed after old Andrea as she led them past Miss Newman.  Charlotte stopped to pat Miss Newman on the head. "Feel better soon, old lady me." "It's a little dim down here, so watch your step," old Andrea warned. "When we get upstairs, you'll probably have to deal with most of the rest of the family. I can only imagine Ami will faint— that's my Kristin. Ami lives a rather calm life and doesn't normally get involved with this craziness beyond paperwork. Please don't give my sister a heart attack. I already have a big enough hospital visit to arrange." "What about your versions of us, your parents?" Charles asked, remembering Miss Newman said they lived with her. Old Andrea shrugged as she walked. "They take things in stride. At this point, nothing about what Sunset has done could surprise them. They're probably sleeping. They sleep a lot these days. Careful with the stairs, don't trip." They went up a narrow stairwell in silence. Well, narrow for humans, it seemed to be perfectly fine for ponies, with oddly spaced steps that seemed too shallow and wide. When they exited the stairwell, they found themselves in what seemed like a very ordinary basement. Ordinary, except there were two barred doors with guards standing outside each. One of those doors was exclusively guarded by ponies with sparkly fur. Old Andrea gave each door a quick look, then continued to a second stairwell; this one seemed more standard in construction.  They reached the top of the stairwell and exited into a well-lit foyer. The house's front door was clearly visible, with a pair of windows to either side that stretched up to two stories. Two more stairwells were leading upwards and several doors.  There were also four ponies standing around, staring at them. A red unicorn that bore a striking resemblance to Miss Newman stepped forward to confront old Andrea. "Where's Auntie?" Old Andrea gestured with her head in the direction they had just come. "Your mom is asleep in her workshop. She's well, I looked her over, better than well, and that part is concerning. Her magic is— nevermind.  I'll talk to her in private about that later." The unicorn shoved past them and went down the stairs.  "I might need you in a few minutes!" old Andrea shouted after him.  "I'm checking on Auntie first!" the unicorn shouted back.  "He said Auntie, not Mom," Kristin said in an accusing tone.  "Her sons are weird in that way. I learn not to question it," old Andrea said with a humph. She then smiled at the remaining three ponies."Ami! You know you're my favorite sister, right? Guess what nonsense Sunset brought home! Try not to panic, but I would be grateful if you could help me out here. I'm not up to dealing with mini-me versions of you and Sunset while I'm busy trying to save mini-me me. Can you please do something with these kids while I deal with the adults and the filly on my back?" The other ponies moved away from an older pony wearing glasses whose mouth was hanging open wide in shock.  "Amicus!" old Andrea said as she clopped her hoof on the floor a few times to get the other pony's attention. "Sunset had some time-traveling shenanigans that we need to clean up. The world isn't going to end because of it, and we're going to just roll with it for now. We can freak out later. She brought alternative younger versions of us back with her. My little alternative version needs medical attention, and the other children need to be out from underhoof while me and young Mom and Dad deal with that. Can I count on you to deal with them? I need some help here." Amicus turned her eyes exclusively to Kristin and pointed a leg at her. "Are you sure the world isn't going to explode if I touch her?" "Do you see the filly on my back?" old Andrea asked in exasperation. "You can touch her, and the world will not come to an end. You can figure out all the legal crap that is going to go into this later once we have dealt with the immediate crisis, which is primarily keeping the filly on my back alive past the week or so it takes before this necklace has to stay off for a day. I hope it is a week, anyway; I don't know where it is in it's charging cycle." Amicus didn't seem so sure. "Um...maybe I'm not the best pony to be dealing with this. You know I have high blood pressure. And I need to get to work on the legal legwork for this. It is going to be a nightmare." She turned towards a webbed-winged pony standing beside her. "Maybe you, Mèng? You should know how to occupy kids, and you're the youngest one here. You can sit them down with some video games or something. I remember I was very interested in video games at that age. You know more about that stuff than me." The pony she addressed looked at her skeptically. "You were interested in video games when you were a filly? What was it back then, Pong?" The older pony seemed to take outrage at that for some reason. "I'm not that old! Eighties games! You know, the original Super Mario Bros, Pacman, Burgertime, Contra—" "You played Contra?" Mèng asked in disbelief. "You're Miss Runs-and-Hides-at-the-Mention-of-Violence and that game has a lot of guns." Amicus stomped a hoof. "I was young once, and bolder.  The evidence is right over there. I'll have you know I still know the Konami code!" Mèng blinked then grinned. "Aunt Ami, there is something I can bond with you over! Why didn't you ever mention that before?" She sat and held up her hooves. "I don't have thumbs, you numbskull! You've got your little wing thumbs." "There are special controllers that—" "Is this the time to be discussing video games? My daughter needs attention!" Wendy interrupted.  Mèng's ears sagged. "We'll get back to it. Yeah, I can find something to keep Baby Auntie and Baby Aunt Ami busy." "I'm not a baby!" Kristin protested.  "Me neither!" Charlotte protested as well.  "Rugrats, then," Mèng corrected. "Um, follow me, kids. I'm going to blow your minds." Charlotte and Kristin looked to their parents for guidance. Charles was unsure about letting them out of his sight, but these ponies were supposedly family. That stallion was supposedly Charlotte's son. There was no going back to their home. This would be their home now, and they needed to trust these ponies.  "It's okay. You can go play video games. We'll take care of your sister and get her back here feeling right as rain, you'll see, don't worry," Charles said, smiling. He wished he could stop worrying about Andrea and everything else, but his girls needed reassurance.  He watched Mèng lead them away to a door to the side. He caught a glimpse inside, and it appeared to be a rec room. Ponies had rec rooms. That was both normal and strange all at the same time.  "Um, I'm going to go help Mèng out. Auntie as a kid might be a hooffull," another pony stallion said as he ducked out the same way. Charles guessed that was Charlotte's third son. None of the three looked alike, and they all seemed to be different types of ponies. That seemed odd, but what did Charles know? That just left Amicus standing there, still looking at them in disbelief. Old Andrea watched her with a raised eyebrow.  "Ami, you said you had work to do. Are you going to be okay? Do I need to call your husband and tell him he needs to come home to make sure you're going to be fine? I can do it. I don't want you having an episode with your heart," Old Andrea asked, concern heavy in her voice.  That snapped Amicus out of her stupor. "No, let him have his day out with the guys. He doesn't get out as much as he should. I'll be alright. I'm not used to Sunset's stuff coming home like this and being so personal." She looked at them. "Sorry, I'm being rude. Andrea says little Andrea needs a doctor, and I'm delaying things. It's just that it feels like looking at ghosts looking at all of you, and stuff like this isn't normal, even when Sunset is involved. I know this must be much harder for you than for us. I can only imagine… I'll be here for support when you need me, even if it's a little weird dealing with versions of my parents young enough to be my grandchildren, which must be even weirder for you. I'm making this weirder, and I'm blathering, I'm sorry. I don't know how Sunset or Andrea deal with this kind of thing so calmly; I'm not cut out for this. I'll be going now before I put my hoof in my mouth any more. This is going to be a lot of paperwork." Amicus then scurried up the stairs and out of sight.  "For the record, I deal with things by focusing on action and keep going till I'm forced to sit down and let my emotions catch up. Maybe it isn't healthy, but it's what's needed when you need to make a series of hard choices. I learned that trick a long time ago, and it's one of the things Sunset and I have in common. That's how she manages, always keeping busy. Otherwise, she would break," Andrea said quietly. "We have work to do. I know how this necklace works well enough to know it can keep little me going for days, so I have time to get people settled in, but I need to keep us moving. If we stop to think about everything, we'll collapse under the stress, and that helps no one. Sunset should be along shortly. Follow me."